Kübler-Ross Model
FIRST SESSION :: 02/10/16
DR: CHEN: Please state your name for the record.
DEMETRIUS: Demetrius Warner.
ELENA: Elena Primrose.
DR. CHEN: Okay. I’m going to ask you a series of questions now. Are you ready?
ELENA: Like we have a choice.
DEMETRIUS: Yeah, go for it.
DR. CHEN: Do you know why you’re here?
[ thirty-five seconds of silence ]
DEMETRIUS: I would guess it has something to do with the fire.
DR. CHEN: How do you feel about it?
ELENA: Like they all deserved—
DEMETRIUS: Really shitty.
DR. CHEN: Why did you do it?
DEMETRIUS: I didn’t. Elena did.
ELENA: I was bored.
DEMETRIUS: Normal people don’t set fire to a school out of boredom, Elena. Normal people…normal people do other things.
ELENA: Hah! You don’t even know what the definition of normal is.
DEMETRIUS: I know it’s not you.
DR. CHEN: Why did you do it, Elena?
ELENA: Because why not? They were all wastes of space. All the cliques, all the shit. Dmitri never stood up for himself—
DEMETRIUS: I didn’t need to! High school is fucking high school, Elena. It was almost over and we were going to be out! All I had to do was keep my head down for another few months and then it was going to be over! It was going to be over and fucking done with. We were almost out. I didn’t want your help. I didn’t need you.
ELENA: You always need me. You’re weak. You are weak. You always just took it. Kasey ruined you, tore you down in front of everyone because you’re—
DEMETRIUS: I let him!
ELENA: Because you’re weak! Because you have no backbone! And for fucks sake, Dmitri, stop cutting me off before I actually punch you in the face.
DR. CHEN: Who’s Kasey?
ELENA: Dmitri’s piece of shit boyfriend.
DEMETRIUS: Jesus, shut up!
ELENA: Wow, I’m sorry. Dmitri’s ex-tool.
DR. CHEN: What happened with Kasey, Demetrius?
DEMETRIUS: Nothing – god, Elena. Nothing happened with him. I liked him and he liked me, but things just didn’t work out because that’s fucking high school.
ELENA: Is that how we’re telling the story now?
DEMETRIUS: Shut the fuck up for once, Elena.
DR. CHEN: What was going through your head when you started the fire?
ELENA: I guess a lot of things more than boredom. I kept thinking, I hate this place. I hate this place with every fiber of my being. I wanted out, before June. I just wanted to be done with the fucking place. When you were in high school, did you actually look at the people around you and ever think ‘gee, I bet they’re going to be some swell people when they realize high school is just an illusion’?
DR. CHEN: No.
ELENA: Yeah, because you knew these people would always just keep wasting oxygen.
DR. CHEN: Rarely are people the same as they were in high school, Elena. People change. Kids are hormonal and desperate to fit in, it makes them cruel.
ELENA: So you excuse it? The bullying, the pushing and shoving?
DR. CHEN: Of course not. Did you really think they would all be the same ten years from now?
ELENA: Yeah, I did. I do. I don’t regret it.
DR. CHEN: So you don’t feel any guilt at all for what you’ve done?
ELENA: No. Wastes of space.
DR. CHEN: There are kids in the hospital that never did a thing to you, and they might not make it. You don’t feel bad at all about that?
ELENA: What will they be missing? The suffering and agony of life? Oh no.
[ DEMETRIUS starts drumming fingers anxiously ]
ELENA: I made sure Demetrius was outside before I set the fire.
DR. CHEN: Because you care about him.
ELENA: Yeah.
[ one minute, twenty-seven seconds of silence ]
DR. CHEN: Demetrius, did you know that Elena was going to set the fire?
[ seventeen second pause ]
DEMETRIUS: No. I knew she was doing something, but I thought she was just…I don’t know, triggering the fire alarm or something.
ELENA: Well, technically.
DEMETRIUS: Yeah, that’s fucking hilarious, Elena.
DR. CHEN: You locked the doors so no one could get out.
ELENA: Not all of them. I didn’t lock the gymnasium ones.
DEMETRIUS: I asked her not to when I realized what she was doing.
DR. CHEN: Did you try to stop her from setting the fire?
DEMETRIUS: Of course I did! I didn’t want her to do it. I realized what she was doing before she did it and I begged. I wanted to go back in and just keep going through the day. We were so close. We were so close to the end and she was ruining it.
ELENA: Here we go again.
DEMETRIUS: People are dead because of you! People are fucking dead because of you, Elena! You’re a fucking murderer and I’m a part of it because you just had to pull me into your psychotic shit. You could’ve left me in there like the rest.
ELENA: Oh please, like I’d ever.
DEMETRIUS: You should’ve left me in there and started it on your own.
DR. CHEN: Are you suicidal, Demetrius?
DEMETRIUS: Not until Elena ruined my life.
ELENA: You know, you are probably the most melodramatic person I’ve ever had the displeasure of meeting. ‘Not until Elena ruined my life.’ That’s actually hilarious. Do you know how many times you talked about killing yourself just in the past year?
DEMETRIUS: I was never going to do it.
ELENA: Because of me.
DEMETRIUS: No. Because I knew that it wouldn’t always be this way.
ELENA: Then I suppose that makes you the optimist out of us, huh?
DEMETRIUS: Fuck you, Elena.
ELENA: What bothers you the most, Dmitri? The fact that I did it because you didn’t have the guts to or that Kasey doesn’t care that you’re here?
[ thirty-two seconds of silence ]
DR. CHEN: We’re going to take a break, okay?
DEMETRIUS: Demetrius Warner.
ELENA: Elena Primrose.
DR. CHEN: Okay. I’m going to ask you a series of questions now. Are you ready?
ELENA: Like we have a choice.
DEMETRIUS: Yeah, go for it.
DR. CHEN: Do you know why you’re here?
[ thirty-five seconds of silence ]
DEMETRIUS: I would guess it has something to do with the fire.
DR. CHEN: How do you feel about it?
ELENA: Like they all deserved—
DEMETRIUS: Really shitty.
DR. CHEN: Why did you do it?
DEMETRIUS: I didn’t. Elena did.
ELENA: I was bored.
DEMETRIUS: Normal people don’t set fire to a school out of boredom, Elena. Normal people…normal people do other things.
ELENA: Hah! You don’t even know what the definition of normal is.
DEMETRIUS: I know it’s not you.
DR. CHEN: Why did you do it, Elena?
ELENA: Because why not? They were all wastes of space. All the cliques, all the shit. Dmitri never stood up for himself—
DEMETRIUS: I didn’t need to! High school is fucking high school, Elena. It was almost over and we were going to be out! All I had to do was keep my head down for another few months and then it was going to be over! It was going to be over and fucking done with. We were almost out. I didn’t want your help. I didn’t need you.
ELENA: You always need me. You’re weak. You are weak. You always just took it. Kasey ruined you, tore you down in front of everyone because you’re—
DEMETRIUS: I let him!
ELENA: Because you’re weak! Because you have no backbone! And for fucks sake, Dmitri, stop cutting me off before I actually punch you in the face.
DR. CHEN: Who’s Kasey?
ELENA: Dmitri’s piece of shit boyfriend.
DEMETRIUS: Jesus, shut up!
ELENA: Wow, I’m sorry. Dmitri’s ex-tool.
DR. CHEN: What happened with Kasey, Demetrius?
DEMETRIUS: Nothing – god, Elena. Nothing happened with him. I liked him and he liked me, but things just didn’t work out because that’s fucking high school.
ELENA: Is that how we’re telling the story now?
DEMETRIUS: Shut the fuck up for once, Elena.
DR. CHEN: What was going through your head when you started the fire?
ELENA: I guess a lot of things more than boredom. I kept thinking, I hate this place. I hate this place with every fiber of my being. I wanted out, before June. I just wanted to be done with the fucking place. When you were in high school, did you actually look at the people around you and ever think ‘gee, I bet they’re going to be some swell people when they realize high school is just an illusion’?
DR. CHEN: No.
ELENA: Yeah, because you knew these people would always just keep wasting oxygen.
DR. CHEN: Rarely are people the same as they were in high school, Elena. People change. Kids are hormonal and desperate to fit in, it makes them cruel.
ELENA: So you excuse it? The bullying, the pushing and shoving?
DR. CHEN: Of course not. Did you really think they would all be the same ten years from now?
ELENA: Yeah, I did. I do. I don’t regret it.
DR. CHEN: So you don’t feel any guilt at all for what you’ve done?
ELENA: No. Wastes of space.
DR. CHEN: There are kids in the hospital that never did a thing to you, and they might not make it. You don’t feel bad at all about that?
ELENA: What will they be missing? The suffering and agony of life? Oh no.
[ DEMETRIUS starts drumming fingers anxiously ]
ELENA: I made sure Demetrius was outside before I set the fire.
DR. CHEN: Because you care about him.
ELENA: Yeah.
[ one minute, twenty-seven seconds of silence ]
DR. CHEN: Demetrius, did you know that Elena was going to set the fire?
[ seventeen second pause ]
DEMETRIUS: No. I knew she was doing something, but I thought she was just…I don’t know, triggering the fire alarm or something.
ELENA: Well, technically.
DEMETRIUS: Yeah, that’s fucking hilarious, Elena.
DR. CHEN: You locked the doors so no one could get out.
ELENA: Not all of them. I didn’t lock the gymnasium ones.
DEMETRIUS: I asked her not to when I realized what she was doing.
DR. CHEN: Did you try to stop her from setting the fire?
DEMETRIUS: Of course I did! I didn’t want her to do it. I realized what she was doing before she did it and I begged. I wanted to go back in and just keep going through the day. We were so close. We were so close to the end and she was ruining it.
ELENA: Here we go again.
DEMETRIUS: People are dead because of you! People are fucking dead because of you, Elena! You’re a fucking murderer and I’m a part of it because you just had to pull me into your psychotic shit. You could’ve left me in there like the rest.
ELENA: Oh please, like I’d ever.
DEMETRIUS: You should’ve left me in there and started it on your own.
DR. CHEN: Are you suicidal, Demetrius?
DEMETRIUS: Not until Elena ruined my life.
ELENA: You know, you are probably the most melodramatic person I’ve ever had the displeasure of meeting. ‘Not until Elena ruined my life.’ That’s actually hilarious. Do you know how many times you talked about killing yourself just in the past year?
DEMETRIUS: I was never going to do it.
ELENA: Because of me.
DEMETRIUS: No. Because I knew that it wouldn’t always be this way.
ELENA: Then I suppose that makes you the optimist out of us, huh?
DEMETRIUS: Fuck you, Elena.
ELENA: What bothers you the most, Dmitri? The fact that I did it because you didn’t have the guts to or that Kasey doesn’t care that you’re here?
[ thirty-two seconds of silence ]
DR. CHEN: We’re going to take a break, okay?