Joey was sitting in her room, listening to some music on her CD player, when her older sister Bessie comes into her room without knocking…
"You know Bessie, if you curl your hand up into a fist, and snap your wrist back and forth close enough to my door, you achieve the action of KNOCKING on a door… It's customary before entering someone's personal space…" says Joey, turning down the volume of her CD player…
"Funny, Joey… Very funny… Listen, I'm going up to Boston for a while to visit a college roommate friend of mine. Lucky for you Bodie's in a good mood lately, he's letting you have the weekend off, it's your "vacation" so take advantage! Here's 10 bucks for you, PLEASE try and make it last the entire weekend. I'm taking Alexander with me, so that'll take some stress off of you for the weekend…"
Joey, pleasantly surprised at the time off she's getting for the entire weekend, grabs the 10 dollar bill from her sister's hands and tucks it in her drawer.
"Now, if you could help me with my suitcase? Carrying a baby does not make for light traveling…" asks Bessie
Joey is lugging her sisters suitcase into the truck, when she sees Pacey riding his bike down the path to the Potter household.
"Awright! You're moving out! It's about time Bessie and Bodie smartened up, and shipped you off…" remarks Pacey, as he approaches Joey
"Retard…" replies Joey, busy tying down the suitcase to the back of the truck
"That's all I'm getting these days? Retard?" asks a shocked Pacey "man, I don't know what the hell Dawson's done to your sense of verbal retaliation…"
Joey can't help but laugh at the fact. Strange as it may sound, ever since Dawson and her have been going out, she's been less and less mean to everyone. Joey feels she can let down her guard now, she's got someone to depend on emotionally. Joey finally feels she can crawl out of the hard shell of cynicism that she created for herself due to her mother's death.
"Well, what can I say?" replies a smiling Joey
"Oh, I don't know… You could go back to calling me a simp in your own backwards and twisted ways, which I usually do enjoy, gives me something to look forward to on a regular basis…" says Pacey
"Naahhh, I wouldn't want to give you that satisfaction, now would I??" says Joey, unusually cheerful. Whenever she starts to think about Dawson, she just can't help but get that way.
"AARGH!!! Come on, Joey, work with me here… You usually give me something to razz on, I mean I should be cracking PMS jokes at this point of our endearing little chats…" says Pacey
"Whatever Pace… So what're you planning for the weekend??"
"The same old ancient routine - I don't know, have an idea, or a clue…"
"Figures… So that means Deputy Doug's not putting you through any crap this weekend???"
"Ahhhh, Douglas… He's taking his love interest, who I haven't met thus far, down to the Cod for the weekend… If I remember his words correctly, he was planning on some "strip searching and some thorough investigation…" Doug took his handcuffs with him, so I'm thinking he's in for a wild weekend with this woman, or man, whichever the case may be…" Pacey is cut off by Joey
"Spare me the gory details… Did you bring the videos I asked for?"
"Yep, got them right here… The Rock, Crimson Tide, and Die Hard… What's with all the macho guns a blazing, witty one liner, explosion packed movies?"
"I've been climbing into his room since I was 7 and we basically watch nothing but ET week in and week out… I'm sorry, but the phrase "phone home" has lost it's appeal, and I'm just getting a little sick and tired of hearing Dawson quote the movie like scripture…" says Joey, as she take the videos from Pacey
"Mind if I join in on movie night? I've got nothing better to do…"
"Just climb in the window like you usually do, I doubt Dawson will say anything…"
"I'll bring the popcorn…"
"Whatever… see ya…"
A pretty blonde girl was plopped up on her bed in her room, with an issue of Seventeen in her hand… All of a sudden, she hears some rattling outside her window… The girl slowly gets off her bed, walking towards the window. She hears the rattling noise again. She opens the window, only to find some tree branches scraping against her window.
"Oh, just some tree branches" exclaims the young blonde.
As she's closing the windows, a figure dressed in a black ankle length trench coat with a black fedora hat and handkerchief wrapped around his face, hiding his face silently makes his way into the room, and hides himself in the closet. The blonde doesn't notice, as she closes her window and takes a deep breath. She goes down to the kitchen to get a glass of milk, and when she comes back up to her room, she lies down in her bed… Before she pulls back her issue of Seventeen back up, she stares in horror at what's written on her ceiling directly above her in red : "Sweet Dreams, Bitch…"
The blonde, scared to death now, runs to her window and checks the lock… Right then and there, the closet doors burst open, and out comes the figure in the trench coat and the hood. The girl turns around and screams, but before she can finish her scream, the trench coated figure pulls out a small hatchet and swings at the girl, but the girl manages to duck in time…
"CUT!!! CUT!!! Excellent, guys! That was great!" says Dawson, behind his professional camera, the gift from his idol Steven Spielberg.
"This puppy's gonna get you an A in film class, man..." says Pacey, as he pulls the hat and hood of his costume
"You guys hurry up with this thing, my grandmother will kill me dead if she sees what you've written on top of my bed!!!" says Jen, who plays the pretty blonde. "Do you have any idea how hard it is to wash that stuff out!?!?" she is obviously stressed out.
"We can film some more tomorrow, I guess… Here, let me help you with that" offers Dawson, getting up on her bed with some paper towel and wiping off the message.
"So what do you guys have planned for tonight???" asks Jen
"Movie night…" says Dawson, still trying to wash out the red
"Let me guess… You, Joey, a big bag of popcorn, constant feuding on whether Empire or Jedi is better, all the while watching a Spielberg film the both of you have seen a good 6 dozen times??" asks Jen, sarcastically
"Actually, we both agree that Empire was a better movie…" laughs Dawson
"Oh…" says Jen. She's lost, she's trying to make small talk with Dawson. She wants to be part of Movie Night, now that she's not romantically involved with Dawson. She wants to be part of this ritual. The problem's not Joey. They're not what one would call best friends, but they manage to get along without Joey getting defensive. Jen starts to think to herself
Jen, fact check… Are you still in love with Dawson ??? Nahhhh… He's just the sweetest guy I've ever had the pleasure of meeting… I wish I was Joey right now… We were in love with each other, me and Dawson… What happened to us? Oh yeah, he was in love with me, but he loved Joey… Of course, after I dumped him… Why I ever did that, I will never know… It must have been that time of month again… You know what, this is none of my business, Dawson and Joey's love life… Yeah, I don't want someone who won't give me all their love… Who am I kidding??? I can't have him back, but I want someone to care for me right now… AAAAARRRRRRGGHHH!!!
Jen is stressing out right now… She silently counts to 10…
"Jen.. Hello????? Jen… Mission control to Jen… YO! Ms. Lindley!" says Pacey, in between glances at Dawson.. "Uhh, Houston we have a problem…"
Dawson also notices Jen staring out into space.
"Jen…" says Dawson. That's all it took for Jen to snap out of her trance…
"What? huh?" replies a confused Jen
"I've been asking you for the past minute if you want to join in on movie night…" says Dawson, packing up his camera…
"Oh, yeah I'd love to…" says Jen…
"Great, show starts at 9:00…"
"Sure your grandmother isn't going to have an aneurysm over this? The same woman who would jump at the chance to put an iron-cast chastity belt on you if she could, and wear the key around her neck until you tie the knot?" remarks Pacey
Dawson and Jen nervously look at each other, and decide not to divulge the fact that Jen isn't exactly a saint.
"Nahhh, she's cool about it… I promised I'd take a quick look at the bible some time this week, just so she could chill out… Fat chance of me cracking that book open… I've been looking everywhere for cliff notes on it..."
Everyone laughs a little… After Dawson and Pacey leaves, she's still a little bit stressed out, so she grabs the secret pack of cigarettes she has hidden in her bookbag, and heads out to the docks down by the Icehouse to try and relax a little…
While she walks over to the docks, she can't help but think to herself a little…
Question number 1 : do I want Dawson Leery back??
She pauses a little
It wouldn't work out, he's head over heels in love with Joey, and I don't want to hold him back… He deserves happiness… Question number 2 : Do you hate Joey Potter?
Joey may act like Queen Bitch every now and then, but was before… I'd probably act the same way if I had to put up with the crap she's had to put up with… Then again, she might go postal if she suffers through what I've done back in NY.
Question number 3 : Does it bother you that Dawson and Joey are made for each other?
Admit it, Jen… It pisses you off… They deserve each other, but I can't do anything about it…Be a better person, don't let it bug you… Do it for Dawson??? He didn't love me while we were together… But he didn't know he loved Joey… And I did dump him… Dammit, but I dumped him because he didn't love me, but he didn't know that he didn't love me! Freaking catch 22 vicious cycle…Life's a bitch… AARRGH!
Jen arrives down at the Icehouse and orders a lemonade to go… She walks down to the docks and sits on one of the stumps… No one seems to notice her, as she lights up… With each drag, she relaxes a little bit more. Just what she needed, she thought…
Pacey is leaving the video store, his shift just ended. He hasn't had dinner, and he's pretty hungry, so he decides to swing by the Icehouse. As he's finishing his fish sticks, he sees someone sitting on one of the stumps of the dock… She's got a cigarette lit in her hand. Seems awfully familiar to him. He gets up and walks over to the girl, only to see that it's Jen…
"Jen… I didn't know you smoked…" says a rather surprised Pacey
"I quit… But I have one every now and then when I'm stressed out…"
"One?" asks Pacey noticing half a dozen cigarette butts on the dock…
Jen looks at the ashes and what remains of the cigarettes, and sighs
"Does this have anything to do with your little out of body experience you had today while we were filming?" asks Pacey
"You're pretty perceptive… And here I thought you were just some typical high school clown seeking attention…" replies Jen
"Yeah, you and everyone else in this small-minded town…" says Pacey, as he sits down next to her… "Is it off limits for discussion?"
"Is what off limits for discussion?"
"The fact that your brain went for a stroll a few hours back, and the resulting effect being that you're back to sucking nicotine?"
Jen sighs… Pacey's not that shallow, he's just a goof off by nature… She can't keep it bottled up inside forever…
"How do I put this?" pauses Jen as she gets ready to bare her soul to Pacey
"Can I take a wild guess?"
"Give it a shot"
"Does it have to do with one budding film maker who you used to have romantic connections to who lives next door to you?"
"You ever given thought to becoming a psychologist? You have the gift…"
"You don't want him back, you just wish that you had some more time together so you wouldn't have dumped him… But you know you would have gone nuts, knowing that he was subconsciously fantasizing about one Joey Potter … am I right?"
"In a word : yes…" sighs Jen, as she lights up another one…
"Jeez, Jen, you're gonna get to Dawson's house smelling like a Marlboro manufacturing plant…"
Jen looks at the cigarette in her hand, and throws it into the water, as well as the entire pack… She just sits there on the stump, wondering…
"I mean, what if? What if I hadn't dumped him? What if we were still together…"
"You did the right thing by letting him go, I wouldn't go as far as saying you dumped him… Now you're whining over could'ves, would'ves and should'ves… Jen, life goes on… It's not like a record where you can just skip a track or two, or go back to a part that you liked…"
Jen looks up at Pacey, starts to realize that Pacey is much more than a goofball… He's smart and intuitive, he sees things like this. She can see why Ms. Jacobs fell for him.
"Do you mind if I ask where you get all this stuff? I mean, you sound like Anne Landers, listen to yourself…" laughs Jen
"You think I don't read Seventeen? YM? Teen People? Cosmopolitan?"
Jen gives him a strange look
"Call me nuts, but last time I checked the demographics of said publications are geared directly towards young females… And if I'm not mistaken, we're about 70% sure you are a male…"
"Hey, when you live in a family with 3 older and menstrually diverse sisters, you have to share a bathroom with them… Makes for some obvious bathroom literature…"
"Hey, I read Cosmo and YM just like the next girl, but why can't I see things like you do?" asks Jen, getting up off the stump
"Ahh… Since this IS your life at it's present stages we are dealing with here, you would take a gander at all that's happening with a subjective point of view… Me, on the other hand view it objectively since it's not my life…" says Pacey, as they walk off the docks, heading for Dawson's place
"I don't recall ever having read that in any of my magazines…"
"You wouldn't… Some crap Deputy Doug laid on me after I got home the night Tamara left…" says Pacey, looking down at the floor… The memory of his former English teacher and lover cause him pain…
Jen notices the inner pain caused by the memories and decides to change the subject…
"So, what do you think Dawson's got in store for us? Or should I say, which Spielberg movie are we going to be forced to watch this time around?"
Jen and Pacey walk off laughing and giggling…
Dawson and Joey are in Dawson's room, just hanging around…
"Dawson, how about we watch something with a little more excitement to it? I'm getting tired of movies with significant thematic content and crap like that… No offense, let's just watch something entertaining…" says Joey, squinting her eyebrow, expecting the worst. When it comes to movies, Dawson can get so idiotically passionate about them...
"All the movies we watch are exciting…" says Dawson, half joking
"Then why is it that I fell asleep during Casablanca?" asks Joey, with a raised eyebrow
Dawson sits down on the bed next to her
"Oh, I don't know, maybe you weren't engaging in this particular activity" says Dawson as he leans in on Joey, and kisses her. The kissing soon escalates to a make out session, when Pacey and Jen walk in.
"Dawson, you may want to remember a funky little vital function called breathing… You know, suck oxygen, heave carbon dioxide… I only bring it up because failure to do so just might get you killed…" smirks Pacey
The sight of Dawson and Joey passionately kissing each other etched itself in Jen's memory. She was trying her best to keep herself in control of her emotions.
"You may want to remember knocking on the door next time, guys…" says Dawson, getting off the bed
"Not like it would have made a difference, I mean, you are Mitchell Leery's son… Mr. Man-meat Jr… Or is it Mr. Man-meat II??" asks Pacey
"Oh, for the love of God, Pacey…" says Joey, rolling her eyes
"So, what are we watching tonight?" asks Jen, trying to change the subject before she explodes
"I'll leave that up to you guys while I order the pizza…" says Dawson as he runs downstairs
"OK, so what've we got?" asks Jen, trying to keep in control of herself…
The gang is munching on some pizza in Dawson's room, Joey and Dawson on Dawson's bed, Jen sitting on the floor, and Pacey on a chair next to the bed. They are watching The Rock, and it's the scene where Nicolas Cage and his girlfriend are getting intimate.
Dawson smiles at Joey, and she smiles back. They start to kiss a little. Pacey breaks away from the movie to see his friends engaged in the lip lock. Jen, sitting on the floor, doesn't notice what's going on behind her.
"Dawson, press stop, I gotta use the bathroom…" says Jen
Dawson doesn't respond, and Jen still doesn't notice
"Dawson…" repeats Jen, as she turns her head to look at Dawson. Pacey can't help but cover his eyes at what's going to happen…
Jen sees the two, as Dawson breaks away..
"I'm sorry, Jen, what did you say?" asks Dawson
Jen can't take it anymore, she gets up and goes out the window silently, holding back up the tears
"What got into her!?" asks Joey, getting up from the bed.
"She said she had to go home…" says Pacey, trying to cover for her…
"Then what's with the Fugitive impersonation?" asks Dawson
Pacey shrugs, as Dawson goes to look out the window, to find Jen. He sees her sitting on the dock…
"Excuse me a sec…" says Joey. She can see through Pacey's lie. Something's wrong with Jen. Joey feels this is not something to be discussed with males, because some things are meant to be kept a secret between girls. Joey gets up, climbs down the ladder and walks towards the docks.
Meanwhile, Pacey and Dawson are left alone.
"What got into her?" asks Dawson, as he gets up to get another coke.
Pacey doesn't quite know how to spill it Dawson. Pacey thinks to himself - best course of action, don't spill it at all…
"Women - any member of the male persuasion who can successfully understand the inner workings of the female mind is either a god among men, or a lying transvestite…" says Pacey
Outside, Joey sits down next to Jen
"I'm not very good at this, Jen… I mean, girl to girl talks… I usually hear about Dawson's troubles, which he does blow out of proportion most of the time…"
"Why are you doing this? I thought you hated everything about me…" asks Jen
"I owe you… If you hadn't told me about Dawson…" says Joey, before she notices Jens face, streaked with tears. "Jen, it's Dawson isn't it? You want him back, don't you?" continues Joey, who doesn't know what to feel right now.
"No, I don't want him back… I just wish he still cared for me, I just wish that I had someone to lean on like I did with Dawson… But I don't want Dawson…" says Jen, trying to reassure Joey that she doesn't want him back
"I don't know what to say, I mean, I know from experience before we got together that he's sweet and attentive…"
"One of the many reasons I fell in love with him to begin with…"
"One of the many reasons I am in love with him… So do you want a boyfriend right now, is that what you're saying?"
"No, but I just need someone to unload on about my problems…" says Jen, trying to hide the fact that most of her problems involve Dawson. "Grams isn't an option, and I get the feeling that Dawson just doesn't want anything to do with me…"
"He wouldn't have invited you to movie night if he didn't want anything to do with you… What about Pacey? As strange as it sounds, he's got this insight that's just shattering…"
Jen wondered. Back at the docks, she felt close to Pacey, a sort of bonding…
"Sounds like you're trying to fix me up with him…" laughs Jen, through the tears, as she gets up.
"Where are you going?"
"Back to Dawson's… I'm not going to let my crap ruin movie night…"
Movie night goes on without a problem. As Jen goes home, she starts to think to herself.
This is all so damn tough to figure out! No matter where I go, there's always something to nag me… I need a vacation… I need a freaking vacation…
A slow smile creeps across Jen's face…