1. INT. BATHROOM. NIGHT.
Shown in an extreme close up, there are various pink things knocked over in LILY's bathroom.
In an in-and-out of focus shot, the masculine LILY's chipped pink nail polish can be seen. Her
high heels, kicked over by the side of the tub, can be seen. In a close up shot, there is a doll on
her bed. In a medium shot, LILY is seen in the bathtub, wearing a torn dress. Her chest is flat,
and her hair is short. Her makeup is smudged across her face as though she's been crying, and
her eyes are closed. She is still, and the only sound is the tap occasionally dripping. In a close
up shot, there are four dead white roses in a water glass.
EXT. STREET. DAY.
The masculine LILY walks down a residential street, wearing a boy's school uniform. She is
wearing very bright pink headphones, and the audience can hear "Here Comes the Sun"
(cover). Her phone buzzes, pausing the song. She pulls out a blue phone with a pink case.
There is a text from "mom", reading 'coming home late tonight, working late tonight :( sorry
Charlie.' She smiles and giggles a little, turning up the volume on her phone. Titles appear as
she walks home. LILY unlocks the door with her key.
LILY
Mom? Dad?
There is no answer, and she smiles again. She rushes upstairs.
INT. BEDROOM/BATHROOM. DAY.
There is a close up shot of an abandoned boy's school uniform in a pile in LILY's bedroom. The
camera pans to look at a variety of awards on her walls in the name of CHARLIE ROSS and
pictures of the masculine LILY with short hair. LILY grabs a locked box from under her bed and
brings it with her to the bathroom. The lock to the bathroom clicks, and she starts running a
bath. As it fills, LILY opens the box. Inside, there is a white purse, some nail polish, a blonde wig
and a few other assorted feminine things. The masculine LILY pulls out the bright pink nail
polish and paints her nails, blowing on them as they dry. The roses are still alive in this brief
close up shot. In a close up shot, she steps in to the bath and rinses out her blonde hair. It is
about the length of an overgrown pixie cut. The song fades, until LILY is left humming on her
own.
LILY
Here comes the sun,
And I say it's all right...
In a medium shot, she wraps a towel around herself. It is clear from this shot that she is flat-
chested. She runs a hand over her chest and her hands tremble slightly. When she looks in the
mirror, she looks more like a man than a woman. When she shakes her head, her features are
the same, but on a cisgendered woman. This more feminine version of LILY is shorter and
thinner, with a more angled face and longer hair. She runs a still hand over her chest, where the
towel swells in the shape of her breasts.
2. She takes a can of Venus shaving cream and puts it on her face, where a man would shave.
She picks up a pink women's razor to her face, getting rid of some very short stubble. She
brushes her hair and puts it in to a matching towel, then walks across to her bedroom. There is
a close up shot of her running her hands over the various fabrics of her closet. Most of them are
men's clothing, but two or three are clearly women's. Her hand lands on a pink dress. She pulls
it out of the closet and rests it on her bed.
LILY sits down in front of a mirror and, looking around like she's afraid someone might see, she
pulls a small bag of makeup from a her backpack. In this shot, there are a few textbooks visible,
making it clear to the audience that she is a student. She brushes her hair hurriedly, drying it
with the towel. She puts on makeup like someone who's only done it once or twice, nervous
around her eyes. She slips the dress on. We finally see all of her in a medium shot, from within
the mirror and she smiles at herself, twirling and giggling quietly.
She reaches for the blonde wig, a door opens and closes somewhere downstairs and she
startles, grabbing the feminine things from the bathroom and stuffing them in the box from
before and shoving it back under her bed. She starts panicking, grabbing at a man's shirt.
MIRANDA
Charlie? Where are you?
Upon hearing her mother, she has a clear change of heart and puts the shirt back in a drawer.
She looks at herself in the mirror and fixes a small smudge below her eyelid, fidgeting about like
she can’t quite decide if she fits in her own body.
MIRANDA
Charlie?
LILY smoothes down her dress and tucks her short hair behind her ears. MIRANDA walks down
a hallway, then up the stairs. She is a woman of average height, short blonde hair and pastel
coloured clothing.
Nervously, the feminine LILY puts on a pair of silver high heels. She takes a calming breath and
opens the door. The feminine LILY is not awkward on her feet, giving the audience the idea that
she has walked in them before. Outside her door, MIRANDA is facing with her back to LILY.
LILY takes a deep breath and smooths down her dress anxiously.
LILY
Mom?
MIRANDA turns around and when she sees LILY, there is no expression on her face. From
MIRANDA's perspective, it is the more masculine LILY, the one who looks like a man in a dress
and makeup rather than a woman in a dress and makeup. MIRANDA looks from LILY’s shoes to
her face without expression.
INT. BEDROOM. NIGHT.
3. The feminine LILY is sitting on her bed. She chips at her nail polish anxiously, tapping her feet
nervously. She starts crying quietly, sniffling a little. She wipes at her eyes, smudging her
eyeliner as she does. She lies down against her pillows and sighs, closing her eyes and thinks
back to an hour ago.
INT. KITCHEN. DAY.
MIRANDA
What is this, Charlie? What are you trying to say? Do you need more attention, what? What is
it?
LILY
(mumbling)
My name is Lily. I’m trying to tell you that – I’m Lily. Not…more attention just…less…I don’t
know, less “he”. Not “he”, “she”. “Her”. I’m Lily.
In a close up shot, a car's tires come to a gentle stop on a driveway. A car door opens and
shuts and the sound of a car alarm locking is heard.
MIRANDA
(shouting)
This is not my sweet boy!
LILY
(shouting)
Neither am I!
MIRANDA
I can't handle this, Charlie, you're not my son, you're not -
LILY
I AM NOT CHARLIE!
MIRANDA
YES YOU ARE!
There is a close up shot of BILL opening the front door with a key, the many keychains jingling.
4. LILY
My NAME is Lily. Lily. LILY.
BILL stands at the door of the kitchen and when LILY turns around, he drops his keys, seeing
the more masculine LILY.
BILL
What is this Charlie? What are you, a tranny?
MIRANDA glares at Bill as LILY starts crying and storms back upstairs.
MIRANDA
No, Charl – Lily – that’s not –
INT. BEDROOM. NIGHT.
From her room, LILY can hear BILL and MIRANDA arguing.
BILL
Where do we take him, Miranda? There has to be a doctor, to fix him, someone -
MIRANDA
He’s not – she’s not – wrong, just –
BILL
Miranda, this isn’t right.
MIRANDA sighs, pressing her palm against her forehead.
MIRANDA
Maybe you’re right.
LILY screams and covers her ears, crying hard. The masculine and feminine LILY blur in to one
another as she wipes at her makeup, scratching her nails and ripping her dress angrily. She
kicks off her shoes and she looks as though she's trying to tear off every piece of herself,
anything that defines either her male or female personality.
The feminine LILY smashes the picture of herself holding a diploma, and the masculine one
tears down an award with the name "Charlie Ross" printed in bold. The masculine LILY clips her
nails down to stubs, the clipping sound harsh. The sounds of arguing downstairs rise and,
distracted, she accidentally clips her nail too short and winces. The feminine LILY is seen
sucking on her injured finger, her eyes shut tightly.
5. In a medium shot, both the more masculine and feminine LILY are back to back curled up on
the bed, mirror images of each other. They sob quietly, unaware of each other and unable to
take comfort in the other.
The audience can see a quick succession of shots of LILY as a little boy, playing with a doll in
an empty room, the same one on her bed. There is a shot of her crying as MIRANDA cuts her
hair, then to the pink things from the opening scene. The masculine LILY pulls on her short hair,
looking angry, and then all in a rush, the feminine LILY stands up and goes to her closet, pulling
out the large white handbag seen earlier in her box of feminine things and filling it.
In it, she puts a variety of girl things, including the makeup case from earlier. From downstairs,
she can still hear MIRANDA and BILL arguing. As they get louder and start shouting, she puts
clothing in the bag, then her wallet, her phone and a charger. She goes to the bathroom and
grabs a perfume bottle and the feminine LILY catches a glance at herself in the mirror, a brief
thing, like she hadn't really meant to look. She puts her shoes back on and stops, looking at the
doll on her bed. The masculine LILY's eyes water at the sight of it and she picks it up and holds
it, observing it quietly. She hears MIRANDA yelling downstairs, and makes a decision. She goes
to the desk and quickly writes out a note. She folds it and writes "mom and dad" on the back of
it.
Footsteps can be heard going up the stairs and the feminine LILY looks around her room, then
she walks towards her bedroom window.
MIRANDA
Charlie, we need to talk to you, we've found this wonderful doct - Charlie?
The room is empty, and the window is open. Her curtain is billowing with the wind. On her bed,
the note she left for her parents is by the bear. MIRANDA goes towards it and opens it.
EXT. NIGHT. TRAIN STATION.
The feminine LILY runs towards a train station, her high heels clicking. It is pouring rain and she
shivers. She is still wearing the torn dress. She runs down the stairs towards the platform. She
pauses at the edge of the tracks and starts crying again, folding in on herself. She runs her
hands through her hair, looking hurt and lost. The train pulls in on an empty platform, surprising
her. She pauses and takes a deep breath before stepping on to the train.
Sitting on the train, she observes her nails, only to see that they are impeccably groomed and
that she is dry. She pulls a mirror out of her bag and her makeup is not smudged, her hair is
curled gently. She looks at herself and sees the cups of the dress filled more naturally. She
startles and looks up. In the aisle across her, MIRANDA and BILL are sitting.
MIRANDA
Wrong
BILL
6. Freakish
MIRANDA
Abomination
LILY covers her ears, looking afraid.
LILY
I am not WRONG!
INT. NIGHT. BATHROOM.
Shown in an extreme close up, there are various pink things knocked over in LILY's bathroom.
In an in-and-out of focus shot, a more masculine LILY's chipped pink nail polish can be seen.
Her high heels, kicked over by the side of the tub, can be seen. In a close up shot, there is a doll
on her bed. In a medium shot, LILY is seen in the bathtub, wearing a torn dress. Her chest is
flat, and her hair is short. Her makeup is smudged across her face as though she's been crying,
and her eyes are closed. She is still, and the only sound is the tap occasionally dripping. In a
close up shot, there are four dead white roses in a water glass.
She opens her eyes and sits up, then looks at nails. They are still chipped, like she's been
picking at them. There is a bit of blood at the bed of one. She takes a deep breath, sniffles once
or twice and smooths back her hair. She steps out of the tub, the ruined dress pooling at her
feet. She dries herself off and looks in the mirror and with a small, sad smile, the masculine
LILY starts reapplying her makeup.
MIRANDA is pacing in front of LILY’s door, and in her nervousness it is clear that she shares
mannerisms with LILY. She smoothes down her blouse and knocks on LILY’s door.
The masculine LILY’s head snaps up, and she considers the door. It takes her a moment to
open it. There is a shot where both LILY and MIRANDA are mirror images of each other, bent
forwards as if bearing a weight on their shoulders, before LILY opens the door.
MIRANDA sighs when she sees the mess in LILY’s room and looks as though she’s about to
say something, but she changes her mind last minute. MIRANDA sits on her bed and pats the
spot beside her, and LILY sits by her mother. They both look straight ahead, neither with
enough words to fill the empty space.
MIRANDA
I thought I was progressive enough.
LILY looks up at MIRANDA slowly, with some unreadable expression on her face.
LILY
It’s not a competition.
7. MIRANDA runs a hand through her hair again.
MIRANDA
I love you, Charlie. I want Charlie back.
LILY
You can keep him.
MIRANDA stands up and leaves, closing the door quietly behind her. The shot is unbalanced,
now that MIRANDA has left. LILY pulls at her hair for a moment before she stops, goes to her
mirror again and starts clipping her hair out of her face. She opens her box again and pulls out
the wig gently, smiles at it.
She is seen folding a piece of paper before walking out of her room. Her high heels step on a
picture of her male self and she looks guilty, but makes no move to correct the picture.
EXT. NIGHT. TRAIN STATION.
The masculine LILY walks calmly towards a train station, her high heels clicking. Instead of her
short blond hair, she is wearing a blond wig that falls a few inches past her shoulders. She is
wearing a different dress, a better fitting one with an unbuttoned pink rain coat on top. She is
wearing some kind of padding that fills where her breasts should be. It is a clear, dark night and
she walks slowly down the stairs towards the platform. She pauses at the edge of the tracks and
looks upwards towards the stars, smiling peacefully. The train pulls in the on an empty platform,
she pauses and takes a deep breath before stepping on to the train.
BILL leaves LILY's room, slamming the door behind him. The wall trembles with the force of it.
MIRANDA is kneeling on the floor, crying. Because she is so close to the bed, she could almost
be praying. Her hands are clasped around LILY's doll and the note is discarded on the floor. It
reads "My name is Lily" in a rushed, cursive hand.
MIRANDA
(whispering) I'm sorry, Lily.
On the train, both the masculine and feminine LILY sit across from each other. The masculine
and feminine LILY are wearing the exact same dress, just in different sizes. There is a brief
close up shot of the masculine LILY's nails chipped and the feminine one frowns, pulling a bottle
of pink nail polish from her bag, sitting evenly between the two of them. She pulls at the
masculine LILY's hands and fixes the smudges. The masculine one smiles at the feminine one.
But when she looks up, the feminine LILY is gone, and she's holding the nail polish in her right
hand.
