(Dawson enters from a side door to find Joey.)

Dawson: Joey, hey.

Joey: Dawson, please tell me you guys have The Crucible.

Dawson: Belinda checked it out about an hour ago.

Joey: Oh. Well, serves me right, I guess, for being that girl.

Dawson: What girl?

Joey: The girl who rents the movie the night before an all important paper is due because her debilitating attention deficit disorder's gotten in the way of her actually reading the book.

Dawson: Since when are you that girl?

Joey: Between taking care of Baby Alexander and getting the B and B up and running, I-- I haven't had a lot of time for that pesky endeavor known as schoolwork.

Dawson: B and B? I thought you worked at the marina.

(Joey shakes her head)

Dawson: What happened?

Joey: That's a long and exceedingly soapy story, Dawson. So, what's up with you? Has Eve helped you add any more crimes and misdemeanors to your record?

Dawson: Eve left town, actually.

Joey: Well, thanks a lot, Dawson. Guess I'll see you around school. I'll be the one cloaked in failure.

Dawson: You know what, Joey, what if I told you you didn't have to do the paper.

Joey: I'm listening.

Dawson: After we got the assignment, I went up to Green and I said, "Look do you really want this standard five pages of footnotes and cryptic encyclopedia passages chronicling the Salem Witch Trials or--"

Joey: Let me guess, you sold him on the idea of making a movie instead. Classic Dawson Leery.

Dawson: Here's the best part. Jen and Pacey are also excused from the paper as long as they lend me a hand with the--

Joey: I guess my invitation got lost in the mail.

Dawson: I would've invited you, I just--

Joey: Forget about it. So what's it about, the movie?

Dawson: Well, since we’re reading The Crucible and studying the Salem Witch Trials, I figured, why not do a documentary based on something that happened right in our own back yard? Witch Island. (He wiggles his fingers trying to make it sound scary or something.)

Joey: So, basically you're ripping off The Blair Witch Project.

Dawson: I am insulted. I am making a real documentary. I want to try to use the myth of Witch Island to tell a larger story about hypocrisy and religious persecution. So, are you in?

Joey: Well, if I blow off the paper, then I fail the class. And if I fail the class, that could be the beginning of a long and tragic downward spiral that dooms me to wait the tables of Capeside's greasy spoons for eternity, so count me in.

[Opening Credits]

[View from Dawson's video camera]

(Principal Green sits at his desk, facing the camera.)

Principal Green: (missed words here) twelve teenage girls, really, were banished to a small island off the New England coast because they were suspected of practicing witchcraft. One night, a year later, a fire raged out of control killing them all.

(Mitch's face on camera)

Mitch: Hands down, best High School make-out place ever.

(Gale standing on the street, facing the camera)

Gale: I think that's where your father and I made love for the first time.

Dawson: God, Mom.

(the camera turns away)

Gale: Honey, are you okay?

[Outside Capeside High]

(Joey, Jen, Pacey and Dawson walk up together.)

Jen: I gotta say, Blair Witch was a joke. I wasn't remotely scared, that girl was irritating beyond measure and I had to run to the snack bar in dire need of dramamine.

Joey: I was scared.

Pacey: It's no surprise there, Potter. After all, you are quite the skittish kid.

(He pokes her, she shoves him.)

Dawson: I thought Blair Witch was groundbreaking. Hollywood laid to waste by some duds with a camcorder. How cool is that?

Pacey: Frankly, I think my father makes scarier movies with his home video camera. You guys want scary, check out the Whitter Family Christmas Project. Guaranteed. Make you

[Inside Capeside High]

Jen: Now, before we're off to see the witch, I would like to opine that there are no such thing as witches.

Pacey: Here we go.

(Jen hits him playfully.)

Jen: I say witch is just a buzz word. For a girl who happens to follow her completely healthy, totally natural urges and explore her sexuality. But see, you can't do that in school in the 1690's without getting the good townsfolk all up in arms. So what do these puritanical, impotent creeps do? Instead of reaching for the Viagra, they brand these girls as witches, they send them off to this godforsaken island to die a horrible solitary death.

Joey: Well, lucky for you, Jen. I mean, we live in a world where you can follow your natural urges without fear of persecution.

Jen: You're right. I would've been so burned at the stake by now.

Dawson: Okay, I think it's time to set up for some interviews. Joey, could you lend me a hand?

Joey: Sure.

Dawson: You guys wanna set up some interviewees?

Pacey: Ja bo, mein director. (Uh, I know that's something in German but didn't have the time to look it up) Have fun, kids. Now doesn't that just warm your heart? Kevin and Winnie taking those first tentative steps back to the wonder years.

Jen: Actually, it just makes me really glad that you and I had the forethought never to hook up.

Pacey: Amen, Sister Christian.

Jen: Why is that, do you think?

Pacey: Well, if you look at the clinical research you'll find that the smart-ass sidekick, he never gets the girl.

Jen: (pitifully) Aw.

Pacey: No, the real reason there was never a you and me is because you and me, we don't need anything from each other.

Jen: I'm sorry, I left my decoder ring back in the cereal box.

Pacey: See you, as the girl whose wanton ways had her banished to the boonies, you needed the affection of the unblemished, small-town pure heart to validate you in your oh-so-vulnerable time. Me, as the perennial black sheep of the Whitter brood, I guess I just needed the love and affection of a woman whose drive and devotion would so shame me to the core that it would force me to get in touch with, uh, I don't know, shall we call it my inner achiever? You and me, we're different. We're on a level playing field.

Jen: And I thought that Dawson was good at deconstruction.

[Capeside High Office]

(Andie enters, catching Principal Green, who's on his way out.)

Andie: Ah, Principal Green, do you have a moment?

Principal Green: Now is not the best time.

(He tries to keep walking, she stops him.)

Andie: I just want you to know that I take my appointment to the head of the disciplinary committee with the utmost seriousness and I am determined not to lose your trust.

Principle Green: That is an earnest attitude, now if you'll excuse me--

(He tries to leave again, she stops him again.)

Andie: Oh, I just want to let you know that the last few weeks have been tumultuous to say the least, but I'm pleased to report that I have my priorities in order.

Principal Green: Good, I'm glad to hear that. Why don't you check with me later?

Andie: I'd like to run by a few ideas if that's all right. (He gives up and shows her into his office.) Okay, I've read the rules of conduct...

[Outside Capeside High]

(Joey is setting up a tripod and Dawson prepares the camera.)

Dawson: I can't tell you how much I've missed this, Joey.

Joey: Me too.

Dawson: I just-- I feel lucky.

Joey: So do I.

Dawson: Like-- like I've been able to recapture a feeling that I lost somewhere along the way.

Joey: I know what you mean, it's like--

Dawson: I mean, granted, you know, it's only for a school project, but it feels good to be making movies again.

Joey: (pauses) I thought you were talking about us. You and me.

Dawson: Well that-- that, too. Obviously. I mean it, you know, I- I miss the whole let's-make-a-movie bug thing, before things got really angsty, but I'm really glad we're friends again.

Joey: (nods.) Friends. Right.

[Dawson's camera view]

(Grams sits at the table, speaking to the camera.)

Grams: 300 years ago, harlots who were practicing witchcraft were banished to that island. And what happened there is proof positive that the good Lord doesn't take lightly to those who dabble in the black arts.

(Bessie with Alexander on her knee.)

Bessie: One time, in High School, this kid disappeared there. He was a big stoner. One of those guys who has Led Zeppelin Four playing in his head at all times, so everybody said he probably got wasted and drowned. I don’t know. Some people say that the witches got him.

(Girl)

Girl: Yeah well, kids just mysteriously disappear there over the years and they say it's the witches or whatever, but I think the CIA or the NSA has something to do with it. It's just like our government to come up with some occult back story to cover up their malfeasance.

[The dock]

(Pacey, Jen, Joey and Dawson enter, walking to a boat docked nearby.)

Pacey: Nobody brought snacks? Oh come on, guys, what's a field trip without the snacks? Nobody brought the Doritos? Or HoHo's? My kingdom for a (missed word) wrapped in tin foil.

Boat Guy: It's the Dawson Leery party, right?

Dawson: Present and accounted for. Mind if I ask you a couple of questions? I'm making a movie.

Boat Guy: Only if you return the favor, all right? (He pulls out a camera.) So, uh what's your movie about?

Dawson: I'm making a documentary on Witch Island.

Boat Guy: I'm making a documentary about all the people making a documentary about Witch Island. Ever since Blair Witch hit, every geek with a camcorder and a dream's been out here, so a little luck, this baby will get me on the festival circuit, right?

Dawson: What can you tell me about Witch Island?

Boat Guy: You know, you kids think its all spooky fun and kitschy cool and all that, but don't get so caught up in your Scooby-Doo adventures that you get stuck out there past dark.

Jen: Oh come on, we don't scare that easy.

Boat Guy: (talking really fast) Oh sheesh, you call me a liar? You call me a liar? Is that what you're saying, huh? Listen, girls died out there. You don't think they're a little, uh, ticked off about what happened all those years ago? You think thery're above, uh, taking their anger out on an errant teeny-bopper or two every once in a full moon, huh? These girls, sometimes they just, uh, they can't control their natural urges, you know? Okay, all aboard, let's go.

(The boat pulls away from the dock. Dawson records.)

[The docks on Witch Island]

(Dawson and co are in the boat. Wendy comes out to welcome them.)

Wendy: Hey, gang. Welcome to Witch Island. I'm Wendy Dalrymple of the Capeside Historical Society and I'm here to answer any questions that you may have about Witch Island, which, I'm ashamed to say, represents a particularly dark period in our nation's history.

Jen: Oh good God.

Pacey: Uh, you wouldn't happen to have a snack bar or anything up there, would you? Cuz I'm famished and Cameraman over there decided to cancel the 7-11 run before we got on the boat.

(Jen sticks her tongue out to the camera.)

Wendy: You'll find some refreshments at our gift shop, young man, along with a lovely selection of our witch themed souvenirs.

Jen: (hoping out of the boat) Oo, I like souvenirs.

Wendy: Making a little movie, are we?

Joey: He's ripping off The Blair Witch Project.

Wendy: Seen it. Come with me, I'll take you to the cemetery. Goes over real well with you filmmaker types. It's got a lot of atmosphere.

Dawson: Hey, Joey, you realize the Blair Witch was fake, right? Whereas my documentary is real.

[Witch Island Gift Shop]

(Jen picks up a book called Charms, Spells and Formulas.)

Jen: Pacey, check this out. (Reads) Has that wicked crush got you down? Do you stare at him for hours without getting so much as a glance in return? Do you ever call and hang up, rifle through his garbage? Has the thought of disfiguring his girlfriend every crossed your mind? Stalk no more, ladies,

for this handy dandy incantation will turn the object of all your affections into a love sick puppy dog.

Pacey: Dream on, Lindley.

Jen: What, you don't think it'll work?

Pacey: Well, not to be a naysayer-- no actually, to be a naysayer, my belief in the power of spells is somewhere up there with my belief in the validity of sea monkeys.

Jen: I'm gonna try it.

Pacey: On whom?

Jen: You.

Pacey: Me?

Jen: Who better? You're not attracted to me in the slightest.

Pacey: Not in the least.

Jen: Ouch.

Pacey: No, I didn't mean it like that. You are certainly quite the little ubervixen and I am nothing if not fond of you, but you're just not my type.

Jen: Right back at ya, man.

Pacey: (defending himself) I'm brooding... and comely.

Jen: I'm sure that you score way high on some girl's cute-o-meter, Pace. Just not mine.

Pacey: Oh, better catch than Ty the bible beater or that skirt chasing Neanderthal Chris Wolfe.

Jen: This from the guy whose last two relationships have ended with the girl either leaving town to avoid prosecution or cool out in crazy camp for the summer.

Pacey: Ouch.

[Witch Island Cemetery]

(Dawson films as he, Joey and Wendy wander through the graves.)

Joey: There are only twelve.

Dawson: What?

Joey: There were thirteen witches, Dawson. Thirteen girls were sent here and there are only twelve graves.

Wendy: Smart girl. Nobody ever picks up on that. Her name is Mary Waldeck.

Dawson: What happened to her?

Wendy: Her body was never found. No one knows for sure what happened, but there are two distinct schools of thought. For those that like a good ghost story, well they believe that she really was a witch and she haunts the island to this day. But for those romantics out there, they believe that her lover came and took her away from this awful place.

Joey: Her lover?

Wendy: Yeah, I'll give you the cliffnotes. Mary was an orphan. She was taken in by a family called the Bennet's and raised alongside their own son, William. William and Mary got along famously, so much so in fact, that in time they fell in love.

Dawson: Uh-oh.

Wendy: One night, Mary and William were found in bed together. This did not go over well with the god-fearing Bennet’s, and in the blink of an eye, Mary was no longer their daughter. She was a witch.

Joey: That's horrible.

Wendy: Can you imagine what this poor girl had to go through? This is a young girl, no older than you, put on trial, banished to some godforsaken island for crimes she didn't understand, much less commit. She was separated from the love of her life. I think that that's what makes this island such a charging place. Cuz if you've ever loved somebody that you couldn't be with, you can feel it in the air, the sadness, the longing, the uncertainty.

Joey: Are you taking this down, Dawson.

Dawson: What do you mean?

Joey: Soulmates torn apart by circumstances beyond their control doomed to wonder what might've been. There's your movie.

Dawson: What about the fire, where did that happen?

Wendy: Through the woods, at the church.

Dawson: Can you take us there? I'd love to get some footage.

Wendy: No. Because I never ever go into the woods. And if you kids are smart, you won't either. But if you do decide to go, we do have maps in the gift shop.

[Witch Island Gift Shop]

(Jen stands over a cauldron, reading from the book.)

Jen: slow and feet on the floor chant these words to make him yours. (she drinks) Your turn.

Pacey: Excuse me? I'm sorry, it sounded like you said something about me consuming that godawful muck.

Jen: It says right here that both myself and the object of my affection must ingest of the potion for the spell to work.

Pacey: No, no, no, no, no.

Jen: Please? Pretty, pretty, pretty please? You don't have to swallow the branches, I promise.

Pacey: Fine, fine. But Lindley, payback is gonna be a bitch. (He drinks.)

Jen: How do you feel?

Pacey: Less than fresh.

(Wendy enters quickly with Dawson and Joey behind her.)

Wendy: What is going on in here?

Jen: Just a couple of crazy kids practicing a little bit of black magic.

Pacey: Yeah, you know--

Wendy: You shouldn't mess with things that you don't understand (To Dawson and Joey) Here, this will take you through the woods and to the church. And, oh yeah, don't get lost because it's very dark, it's very dangerous, and there's an excellent chance that you will never be seen or heard from again, okay?

[Witch Island Woods]

(Pacey, Jen, Joey and Dawson walk together.)

Jen: Take that Mary Waldeck girl, for example, was she a witch? I think not. Sounds like she just had a bad case of the warm and fuzzies.

Joey: It's too heartbreaking for words.

Dawson: I couldn't disagree more.

Joey: How do you figure?

Dawson: It clearly illustrates how love can thrive in even the worst of circumstances.

Joey: Yeah, and look what happened to her.

Dawson: Nobody knows what happened to her.

Joey: Well, I think it's safe to assume that Mary died a very sad and lonely death, separated from the one boy she ever loved.

Dawson: No, I don't buy that. If two people are truly, madly, deeply in love, they'll figure out how to be with each other.

Joey: They were young. They were split up for a long time, maybe-- maybe he forgot about her, maybe he met someone else.

Dawson: If he didn't meet somebody else and forgot about her than obviously they were never meant to be in the first place. See my point?

Joey: Could you be any more naive?

Dawson: Could you be any more cynical?

Jen: Could you be any more irritating? Pipe down, you guys, we're here.

Pacey: What do you think the chances are that they've got a men's room in there? I went a little heavy on the witch's brew. I'll be right back.

(Walks off into the woods.)

[Capeside High.]

(Andie walks up to a girl wearing a skimpy dress.)

Andie: Spaghetti straps and open toed shoes? Not on my watch.

(A guy in a letter jacket starts to shut his locker that's plastered with pictures of girls. Andie stops him.)

Andie: Inappropriate display of the female form. Statute 97.1, offensive and disgusting.

(Andie stops a guy with long hair and a guitar.)

Andie: Excuse me, 'scuse me, in case you didn't know, Elvis has most definitely left the building, and in his absence there will be no sideburns creeping past the earlobes. Rules of conduct, baby. Read em, learn ‘em, live em.

[Witch Island Church.]

(The gang opens the door and walks inside.)

Dawson: (reading a historical plaque) Listen to this, the townspeople built the church cuz they thought it would help the girls find God. They sent a minister over every Sunday, but the girls teased him so mercilessly, eventually he gave up and stopped coming.

Jen: I could hang with those girls. (swinging her arms around absent-mindedly) I wonder if Pacey loves me yet.

Joey: They were murdered.

Dawson: Beg your pardon?

Joey: It says here that a group of men from the mainland treated the island like their own personal brothel. When word got out, the bible-thumpers got together and decided enough was enough. And then an angry mob came, corralled the girls into this church, and set it on fire.

Dawson: And that's when William must've run off with Mary.

Joey: Hold on, Romeo. Why are you reading into this all of a sudden? How do you know that William didn't light the torch?

Dawson: Uh, I don't know, maybe cuz he loved her?

Joey: How do you know he was such the enlightened male, Dawson. I mean, if the whole town thinks your girlfriend's a witch, maybe it's just easier to go with the flow.

Dawson: That's not the story I'm interested in telling.

Joey: Well, a good documentarian looks at the story from all possible angles, Dawson. Not just from the perspective of his coy and annoying little view.

Jen: Hey, has Pacey showed up yet?

Joey: Not since he went out in search for the perfect tree.

Dawson: We gotta get back, its starting to get dark.

Jen: You know, I'll go find him. You two go back to that boat guy and make sure he doesn't leave without us and well meet you back at the docks.

[Witch Island Woods]

(Dawson and Joey walk together to the docks.)

Dawson: Joey, why does my optimism have you so irked?

Joey: That's not what's irking me, Dawson.

Dawson: What is it?

Joey: What's going on with us?

Dawson: Joey, this is not the time or the place to run through an exhaustive dissertation on the state of our relationship.

Joey: Right, you know we should just stand back and watch it crumble around us. We'll just deal with it when it's more convenient.

Dawson: We're friends, why can't we just leave it at that?

Joey: Friends.

Dawson: Yeah, you take away everything else that we are and that's what we are. We're friends.

Joey: Dawson, you can't just will a friendship into existence.

Dawson: You know, I give up, Joey. For the first time in my life, I have no idea what you're talking about.

Joey: Of course you don't.

Dawson: Well, explain yourself.

Joey: Dawson, what exactly do you know about my life these days? I mean, think about it. Do you know how I lost my job? How I did on my PSAT's? How the Potter sisters are eking out their meagre living? And you know, I don't know a thing about your life, either.

Dawson: Joey, I'm sorry if I've been distant, but I thought that's what we needed.

Joey: You know what the last year of my life has been? This wide-awake nightmare of conflicting emotions. And no matter how bad it got, there was always one thing that kept me going, and that was us. Our bond, our connection, whatever you want to call it. You know, it made me feel like I wasn't alone, like I was part of something special. So I'm not standing here whining about being friends or not being friends. It's just, for the first time in my life, I'm not feeling that connection, Dawson, and it scares me.

(The boat engine starts.)

Joey: Wait!

Boat Guy: There you are, great. Get in, let's go.

Joey: No, we can't leave yet. We got split up from our friends.

Boat Guy: Stupid, stupid, stupid. Didn't I warn you guys about getting stuck out there past dark? I'm pretty sure I did.

Dawson: They'll be here any minute.

Boat Guy: Nuh-uh. No way. I'm not staying. Weird things happen out here at night. So you come with me now, or I can come back in the morning and find out who's still alive.

Dawson: We're not gonna leave without our friends.

Boat Guy: Fine. I warned you guys. I told you. Whatever you do, don't go in the woods.

(Boat drives away.)

[Witch Island Woods]

(It's dark now. Jen and Pacey walk through the woods with a flashlight.)

Jen: Do you feel it yet?

Pacey: Feel what exactly?

Jen: The spell.

Pacey: Yeah, yeah I am starting to feel something. I think I'm starting to feel a little lost. That's what it is, lost.

Jen: Yeah, I know. I gotta say, the idea of a wholesome, biblically-themed meal this evening with Grams isn't sounding too gosh-darned unappealing. I'd even consider saying grace. But instead I am traipsing around some haunted forest with the likes of you.

Pacey: Why am I always the bad guy, huh? Do I deserve this? I don't think so. What is it about me that inspires such vitriolic diatribes? Take Andie, for example. She goes away for the summer and sleeps with a mental patient. So I break up with her for conduct unbecoming a girlfriend, something which I think I was pretty justified in, yet somehow she manages to turn it around so that I feel like the creep at the end of the day. How does that happen?

Jen: You think you're the creep? Just wait till some sweet, innocent freshman gets a crush on you and then you accidentally on purpose break his smitten little heart, thus derailing his next (not sure if it was the word 'next' or not) love life forever.

Pacey: You know, love has this horrible habit of messing everything up.

Jen: That it does.

Pacey: But sex is nice.

Jen: (looking a little surprised) Yes it is.

Pacey: Yes it is. Sex good. Love bad. You toss it into the wok, it messes the whole thing up.

Jen: This is true.

Pacey: I'm starting to think that casual sex is maybe the way to go.

Jen: Sex is never casual, Pacey.

Pacey: Perhaps, but what if both partners agreed to the terms beforehand.

Jen: Like a pre-nup?

Pacey: Yes, exactly. Like a pre-getting-busy agreement. I'm just thinking out loud here, but the concept of two horny teenagers coming together for some gleefully nasty coitus and parting as friends is positively revolutionary in this day and age.

Jen: Sounds killer in theory.

Pacey: No guilt.

Jen: No shame.

Pacey: No head games.

Jen: No bad mix tapes.

Pacey: I hate those. You know, this may be the witch's brew talking, Lindley, but you are starting to look all kinds of cute.

[Witch Island Gift Shop]

(Joey sits reading from Mary Waldeck's diary while Dawson is in the background.)

Joey: (reads) Another day goes by without word from William. It's been but a few weeks time since I arrived on the island, yet it feels like an eternity. This time apart has me wondering if our bond was but an illusion.

Dawson: Is that what you think, Joey? That our relationship was some slide of hand magic trick you made to fill up some hole in your life?

Joey: Look, I didn't say that, Dawson. Don't put words into my mouth.

Dawson: I don't have to.

Joey: Dawson, don't you ever wonder where this is going, where we are exactly? I mean, is this just the first act or is our story ended and we're just too stupid to realize that?

Dawson: Why do we have to figure all that out right now? What's wrong with just living the present for once.

Joey: Because the present sucks, Dawson. I mean, excuse me for thinking back and looking forward, but I'm just trying to make sense of what's happened to us.

Dawson: Joey. (he walks over to her.) Joey, you yourself once told me that some love stories never end. What happened to that girl?

Joey: She offered herself to the boy she loved and the boy she thought loved her back and he rejected her.

Dawson: Joey, listen to me. If we are truly meant to be, then we will find a way back to each other. It's as simple as that.

Joey: Are you so sure about that, Dawson? Listen. (Reads.) I fill my days with memories of him. I remember how he used to look at me, as if i was his most valuable treasure. Has he found a new treasure? I can't help but wonder if we will be able to find our way back to each other. The road before us seems so very long and my head is clouded with such dark thoughts. I feel our bond grows weaker by the day and I'm powerless to stop it. (a bell rings)

Dawson: That's probably them.

(Dawson and Joey leave. A suspicious Wendy watches after them.)

[Witch Island Church]

(Pacey and Jen are inside the church as Dawson and Joey enter.)

Pacey: Hey, you rang?

Dawson: I thought you guys rang.

Jen: We didn't rang.

Joey: Somebody rang.

Pacey: Well, this is mighty peculiar, people.

Dawson: What?

Pacey: There's no bell here.

Dawson: What?

(They all look up into the steeple which is bell-less.)

Joey: Ok, I'm now sufficiently wigged.

(Later. Joey sits reading the diary. Jen looks on.)

Jen: How goes the seventeenth century soap?

Joey: She just got a letter from William.

Jen: Do tell.

Joey: (Reads) November tenth, Sixteen-ninety-three.

Jen: That's today.

Joey: That's also the anniversary of the fire. (Reads.) A letter today from my beloved William. He has made me so happy. He says he's coming tonight to take me away from this godforsaken place, yet i am scared. He says there are those in town who feel we should be punished further for our crimes. (looks up) That's the last entry.

Jen: So you think he came back for her?

Joey: No. He probably played her for a fool and took up with some well-bred hussy from the mainland.

Jen: Come on, Joey. Hop on the happy train. Sounds to me like those two were madly in love.

Joey: Yeah, you know, I hate to be one of those girls who mistakes pop lyrics for profound thought, but sometimes love just ain't enough.

Jen: And I hate to be the one to burst this whole subtextual bubble that you're living in, but do me a favor, Joey. Don't let somebody else's love life dictate your own.

(Later. Dawson and Pacey sit in the back of the church, watching Jen and Joey.)

Pacey: You're not filming anymore, hombre?

Dawson: I'm not feeling particularly visionary at the moment. Let me ask you something, Pacey. Do you think I made a mistake?

Pacey: When and where.

Dawson: I told Joey that we needed some time apart.

Pacey: Do you think you made a mistake?

Dawson: Not at first, but I look at her now, and I see how far apart we've drifted and I-- I don't know. What if I was wrong? What if we don't end up together and it's all my fault?

Pacey: You wanna know what I see when I look at you, Dawson? For better for worse, I see a guy who consistently wears his heart on his sleeve. So no matter how harsh it may seem in retrospect, when you decided to put some distance between yourself and Joey, I know all you were doing was just following your heart. And with that in mind, I really don't think it's possible for you to have made a mistake.

(Later. Dawson and Joey are asleep in the pews. Pacey and Jen sit close in the front of the church.)

Jen: So you really think we can pull this one off?

Pacey: I don't see why not.

Jen: You don't have any feelings for me, right?

Pacey: None whatsoever. No-- no offense, of course.

Jen: None taken, of course.

Pacey: You for me, feelings?

Jen: Hardly even think about ya?

Pacey: You gotta love that.

Jen: So what do we do now?

Pacey: Uh, should I take my pants off?

Jen: Maybe we should kiss first.

Pacey: Yeah, that's a good idea.

(They move in to kiss. She pulls away just as their lips touch.)

Jen: Wait, is this the spell?

Pacey: I-- I don't know. I don't care. All I know is that in November of 1999, four hyper-verbal teenagers wandered off in the woods on Witch Island to film some ridiculous documentary for history class, and eight hours later, two of them started making out.

(They kiss.)

Pacey: That was--

Jen: --weird.

Pacey: Yeah. Let's try again.

Jen: Okay.

(They kiss.)

Pacey: How 'bout that, more weird?

Jen: Not so much.

(They kiss some more.)

(All of a sudden, they pull apart as tons of loud sounds come out of nowhere. People are yelling. There's fire outside the windows. Blue writing appears on the walls. There are girls' screams and chanting.)

[Witch Island Church]

(There's more yelling as they try to open the door. It won't open. Pacey bangs against it. A huge fireball bursts in through the window. Afterwards, everything is silent. Pacey bangs on the door. Joey opens it. They run out the door.)

Jen: Can we please just go home now?

Joey: Look I don't care if we have to swim home, let's just get the hell out of here.

Dawson: There's gotta be a logical explanation for all of this.

(A scream echoes through the woods.)

Pacey: Okay, well why don't you send us postcards, Bob, because I for one am not sticking around to find out.

(They run to the docks. The boat is there.)

Joey: Hey, the boat's there.

(They fumble with the boat as they try to leave.)

Dawson: Get in, get in.

Pacey: Watch out. All right.

Dawson: Get it, get it, get it.

Joey: Go, go, go, go, go.

(Dawson tapes as they pull away from the docks.

[Capeside High School.]

(Dawson shows the footage just shown to the class.)

Dawson: To be quite honest, I envisioned a much more straightforward documentary on the history of Witch Island, but I was surprised by what I found there. A love story, pure and simple. Two soulmates torn apart by the social climate of their time. And while what happened to us is certainly open to interpretation, there's no disputing the fact that the island embodies the emotional turmoil of a girl who didn't know what the future held for her and the boy she loved.

Principal Green: Nice work, Mr. Leery. A tad derivative in the wake of the whole Blair Witch phenomenon, but inspired work nonetheless. I particularly like the part where—

Girl: Hey, what's that all about?

Dawson: What?

Girl: It looks like two people standing on the dock watching you go. See, look close.

(Dawson rewinds the video. Sure enough, there are two figures in silhouette standing on the dock. A student comes in from the hallway.)

Student: Principal Green, we've got a situation here.

[Capeside High Cafeteria]

(Andie and Belinda are behind a table from which extends a huge line of students.)

Andie: Milling and making a filthy den in the library. One week's detention. (bangs her gavel.) Next!

Principal Green: Miss McPhee, you care to explain what's going on here?

Andie: Principal Green, I took your advice and I ran with it. I've teamed up with Belinda and we've taken the first steps toward improving the quality of life at Capeside.

Principal Green: What could all these students have possibly done wrong?

Andie: Each and every one of them was in direct violation of the rules of

conduct.

Principal Green: The rules of conduct were prepared in 1957, of course they're going to be in violation. Now after you dismiss these students, I'd like you to stop by my office.

[Screen Play Video]

(Pacey sleeps behind the counter. The sound of the bell on the door wakes him. He looks up to see Jen looking impishly at him.)

Jen: So when are we gonna talk about it?

Pacey: Talk about what, exactly?

Jen: What happened out there.

Pacey: What did happen out there, Lindley?

Jen: I don't have any idea, but I would just prefer if it didn't get in the way of our experiment.

Pacey: Perhaps we should take the shadowy, ill-explained events of our brief sojourn in the woods as something of an omen.

Jen: No.

Pacey: No?

Jen: No. If nothing else, that gooey little melodrama just proves that love mucks everything up.

Pacey: So then your thinking would be that we should still have sex?

Jen: Yes.

Pacey: Well, all right then. Okay. (pauses) Do you wanna do it right now?

Jen: Um, do you?

Pacey: I'm kinda tired, actually.

Jen: Oh, fine. Roswell's on in five minutes anyways. You just let me know

when you wanna do it, and I'll do it too.

Pacey: Okay, so let me get this straight. If I am ever in need of... a release, you're just gonna help me out.

Jen: Exactly, but keep in mind this is a two way street.

Pacey: Of course. Well, that sounds fantastic.

Jen: Doesn't it?

Pacey: It does.

Jen: Good.

Pacey: Should we-- I don't know, should we kiss on it?

Jen: No.

Pacey: No?

Jen: No. Kissing is intimate and we're not about intimacy.

Pacey: Perhaps we should just shake on it, then.

(They shake.)

Jen: Shaken.

Pacey: It was good seeing ya.

[Dawson's bedroom]

(Dawson and Joey sit on the bed watching the frozen image of the two figures on the dock on tv.)

Joey: Who else could it be other than Wendy and that boat guy? I mean, he's a guy, she's a girl, they both had access to the island, they left the boat out there for us. I mean it's the only possible explanation.

Dawson: The only possible explanation?

Joey: Let's hear your version.

Dawson: Okay, the girl is Mary Waldeck and the guy is William Bennet. Look at those clothes, that hat, those are 17th century clothes if I've ever seen them.

Joey: I think the crack habit has definitely come between you and your cognitive powers, Dawson. Obviously, Wendy and the boat guy were screwing with us the whole time.

Dawson: Skeptic.

Joey: Sucker.

Dawson: Cynic.

Joey: Gullible.

Dawson: I don't know, maybe you're right. Maybe we've seen the world according to Dawson one too many times and we should just slip out of the Movie theater into the harsh light of day.

Joey: I don't know, Dawson. I mean, maybe you're right. Maybe William and Mary found their way back to each other after all.

Dawson: You think?

Joey: It's just a thought.

Dawson: Joey, I want to apologize.

Joey: For what?

Dawson: For taking our friendship for granted. I was wrong to think that we could just pick up right where we left off.

Joey: Well, it's not entirely your fault, Dawson. I mean, look at us. We've spent years intellectualizing every little feeling and it doesn't count for anything. All that matters is what we do, how we take care of each other. So let's not talk this to death. Let's take it slow and check in with each other every once in a while. Dawson: That sounds immensely doable.

Joey: Good. (looking back at the tv) I think this is one X-file we're never gonna close.

Dawson: Not unless we go back.

Joey: No.

Dawson: Come on, Joey. A sequel?

Joey: Let's just see how this one opens first.

Dawson: By the way, how did you do on your PSAT's?

Joey: Brilliantly.