The One I Wanted

A monologue for high school (grades 9-12), drama. By FreeSchoolPlays.com.

THE CHARACTER

TESS -- seventeen, alone in her bedroom, phone in hand. She has just opened the decision from the one college she has wanted since she was twelve. It is a no. She is talking herself through the next five minutes.

THE MONOLOGUE

"We regret." They put "we regret" first, like they're doing me a kindness, getting to it fast. (she reads it again, lower) "After careful review." Careful. Somebody was careful about me. Somebody read my whole life -- the essay I wrote nine times, the summer I didn't take off -- and was careful, and the answer was no.

(she sets the phone down like it's hot)

I have a sweatshirt. It's in the drawer. I bought it in eighth grade with birthday money because I was so sure. I told Nadia I'd room with her. I told my grandmother at Christmas. I -- I have a whole life stacked up behind a door that just got locked, and I'm standing here holding a key that doesn't fit anything anymore.

(a long breath; she's shaking a little)

Okay. Okay, wait. Say the true thing, Tess. Not the movie thing. The true thing.

The true thing is I'm embarrassed. That's the part nobody warns you about. Not sad -- embarrassed, like I told everyone I could reach a shelf and I couldn't. And I want to hide until August.

(she picks the phone back up, but doesn't look at it)

But here's the other true thing. I didn't want that school. I wanted to be somebody. I decided at twelve that this was the door where the good version of me lived, and I've been shoving everything under it ever since. The school was just the shape I put it in.

And the good version of me -- she doesn't live behind their door. I've been carrying her the whole time. She wrote the essay nine times. She's the reason it hurts this much -- because she's real.

(she stands, steadier)

So. I'm going to be embarrassed for exactly today. I'm going to keep the sweatshirt, because it meant I wanted something, and I never want to stop being a person who wants something that much. And tomorrow I'm going to open the other letters. There's a whole stack I stopped seeing.

(at the door, quiet)

They were careful. Fine. I get to be somebody, careful of me too.

PERFORMANCE NOTE

The turn is the line "Say the true thing, Tess. Not the movie thing." Before it, let her spiral -- the sweatshirt, the promises, the locked door. After it, she stops performing grief and starts telling herself the truth, and the truth is what steadies her. Play the recovery as hard-won and shaky, not triumphant; she is not fine, she is choosing to stand up anyway.

An original work by FreeSchoolPlays.com, free to perform -- attribution the only requirement.

Audition prep notes

Full piece: 13 beats, ~351 words -- short (2–4 minutes), about 2 min at a natural pace.

Start with the objective

Before you run it, name your character's objective in one sentence: what do they want in this moment, and what is in the way of getting it easily? Pace, volume, and movement all follow from that one sentence, not the other way around.

Map the beats

The current text breaks into 13 spoken beats. Use those breaks as a starting map, but test each one: a beat ends where the character's tactic changes, not merely where the paragraph does -- two paragraph-breaks may play as a single acting beat, or one may split into two.

Pacing for this length -- short

This is the classic audition length: build one clear arc from an opening state to a changed state by the end, with a single clean tactic shift in the middle to show range without over-plotting.

Delivery approach -- Drama

Build from a real stake: name what happens if the character does NOT get what they want in this moment, and let that cost show in your body, not only your voice.

Framing for High school (9–12)

Layer subtext on top of a plain objective: name what the character wants, then find at least one tactic change mid-piece (asking becomes demanding, joking becomes pleading). Ground it in one specific, sensory detail rather than a general mood.

Forensics eligibility -- Dramatic Interpretation

This piece reads as Dramatic Interpretation. That classification is illustrative only -- not official, not an NSDA, NCFL, or UIL certification. Always verify current eligibility with your event's own published rules before entering it in competition.

Generic coaching guidance for actors preparing this piece -- not a substitute for your director's or coach's notes.

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