- Charles Templeton: Your mother was worried half out of her mind when you didn't come home last night.
- Matt Templeton: I told her I'd be late.
- Charles Templeton: This isn't late, Matt. It's dawn. Where the hell have you been, anyway?
- Matt Templeton: None of your business.
- Charles Templeton: Matt, as long as you're living under this roof, everything you do is my business.
- [walks over to Matt]
- Charles Templeton: Look, I just want to make sure you're not doing something you'll be sorry for later.
- Matt Templeton: [not buying it] Get real. You don't care about me. You don't care about Mom either. And the only reason why you're back in this house is 'cause you're flat broke.
- Charles Templeton: [slaps him hard]
- Matt Templeton: There's Dad I know.
- Matt Templeton: [on the phone] Yeah, Mom, hi. I just wanted you to know I got here safe and sound. Okay, I'll be home in a couple days. Okay, Mom.
- [hangs up]
- Vivian Conrad: That was so sweet.
- Matt Templeton: I don't like my Mom to worry.
- Vivian Conrad: Well, all mothers worry about their children.
- Matt Templeton: Yeah, well, this is different.
- Vivian Conrad: It is? How is this different.
- Matt Templeton: I did something a while back that really scared her a lot.
- Vivian Conrad: It sounds like it must've been pretty serious.
- Matt Templeton: It was serious.
- Vivian Conrad: Well, do you wanna tell me about it?
- Matt Templeton: I don't think I really wanna talk about it right now.
- Vivian Conrad: I hope you know that you can tell me anything and it's never gonna change the way I feel about you.
- Matt Templeton: I tried to kill myself.
- Vivian Conrad: Why?
- Matt Templeton: To get away from my Dad.
- Vivian Conrad: What did he do to you?
- Matt Templeton: It started when I was about 6. He used to slap me with his hand. That wasn't so bad. When that didn't work, he used to whip me with a belt. A *thick* *black* *leather* *belt*. Anything would set him off. If I didn't win a swim meet, if I didn't bring home straight A's on my report card.
- Vivian Conrad: Oh, Matt.
- Matt Templeton: He'd just grin at me and then he'd snap that belt. I can still hear it.
- Vivian Conrad: Did your mother ever try to stop it?
- Matt Templeton: She tried, but he'd just slap her down and keep coming at me.
- Vivian Conrad: When did it stop?
- Matt Templeton: It stopped... it never stopped. There were times he beat me so hard, I thought he was gonna kill me. That's when I decided to kill myself and save him the trouble. But my Mom walked in on me.
- Alec: You know, I can't believe you actually showed up today.
- Matt Templeton: Sorry, man, but it's not like I've been hiding out.
- Alec: Yeah, well, you could've fooled me.
- Matt Templeton: Alec, have you ever cared about someone so much, that it hurt. That if you left them behind, you thought you'd die?
- Alec: Once.
- Matt Templeton: Well, then maybe you'll understand what's been going on. I'm in love.
- Alec: Well, that explains a lot. You finally did it, didn't you? You did it and you kept it all to yourself. Well, come on, Matt, who is she?
- Matt Templeton: Vivian Conrad.
- Alec: [Alec's face drops]
- Matt Templeton: We've been seeing each other since the beginning of the summer. We're in love.
- Alec: Oh, man. You are in way over your head.
- Katherine Templeton: I didn't know whether to show them to you or not.
- Charles Templeton: [calls Matt into the room] Matt, get in here!
- Katherine Templeton: Charles, he leaves for school soon.
- Charles Templeton: You let ME handle this.
- Matt Templeton: What?
- Charles Templeton: What's going on here?
- [holds up credit card]
- Charles Templeton: This is Vivian Conrad's credit card. I want an answer.
- Matt Templeton: [looks at his mother] I'm in love with her, Mom.
- Katherine Templeton: You can't mean that.
- Matt Templeton: Vivian's the best thing that ever happened to me.
- Charles Templeton: You must be out of your mind.
- Katherine Templeton: Matt, she's a grown woman. She's married and she has a child. You haven't even finished school.
- Matt Templeton: Vivian wants me to finish school. She's the only reason I'm bothering to go back.
- Katherine Templeton: This just... isn't normal.
- Matt Templeton: Oh, sure. Like this family wrote the book on being normal.
- [walks away]
- Charles Templeton: JUST A MINUTE. I'm not through with you yet.
- [tries to grab Matt]
- Matt Templeton: [knocks his hand away] DON'T YOU TOUCH ME AGAIN.
- Matt Templeton: [Matt sees his father beating his mother] Get away from her, you hear me! Leave her alone!
- [Matt starts to struggle with his father]
- Matt Templeton: [Matt gains the upper hand] Where's your belt now, Dad!
- Katherine Templeton: Matt, stop it!
- Matt Templeton: You got two choices; you could pack your bags and get out of our lives or I could finish you off right now! Which is it gonna be!
- Alec: You did WHAT?
- Matt Templeton: I copied the letter she sent me. The one about how I made love to her, about how she missed being with me, *everything*.
- Alec: Tell me you're making this up, man. You *are* making this up?
- Matt Templeton: No, I really did it. I plastered it everywhere. I plastered it all over the club, all over their neighborhood, *everywhere*.
- Alec: What did you do that for?
- Matt Templeton: BECAUSE, the Conrads are running around telling lies about me, THAT'S WHY. I can't let them get away with that, Alec. I want everyone to know the truth about *me* and *Vivian*.
- Alec: The truth about you and Vivian? The truth is she used you. She used you and she dumped you.
- Matt Templeton: You don't understand. We loved each other.
- Alec: Matt, it had nothing to do with love.
- Matt Templeton: Damn it, Alec!
- Alec: Matt, I know what I'm talking about.
- Matt Templeton: No you don't. No one understands.
- Alec: Matt, I do understand.
- Matt Templeton: [looks away, annoyed]
- Alec: Did she give you a shirt too?
- Matt Templeton: [Matt looks at him]
- Alec: I thought so. Matt, I hate to break this to you, but she does this every summer. Last summer it was me. Don't worry, man, you'll get over it. I did.