03x22 - The Anti-Prom

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Episode 322 - The Anti-Prom

[Scene: Outside Dawson's House. Joey and Dawson are walking up to the porch talking about the upcoming finals.]

Joey: Oh, I hate finals. What kind of a sadist bases 1/3 of a semester's grade on whether or not you can recite the opening to the Canterbury tales in perfect middle English?

Dawson: Joey, we've been over this a thousand times. Your pronunciation is flawless.

Joey: Maybe so, but I'm still gonna continue torturing myself until test time. I just have to.

Dawson: Of course you will. I'm well aware of the potter neuroses.

Joey: I prefer to think of them as quirks.

Dawson: Do you?

Joey: Yeah.

Dawson: Well, whatever works for you.

Joey: I could get into the leery neuroses.

Dawson: Uh, we don't have to do that. Besides, I'm, uh, nervous enough on my own right now.

Joey: Why?

Dawson: Uh, well, there's A... There's an event looming on the horizon, and, uh... I seem to recall a certain pact made by 2 high-school freshmen regarding said event.

Joey: Junior prom. We both agreed if we didn't have dates, we'd go together.

Dawson: So you do remember.

Joey: Are you asking me to prom?

Dawson: I don't want to go with some random person and have it mean nothing. You know, I want to go with my oldest friend. That'll be something I'll always remember.

Joey: Or we can both agree that it's a meaningless event and not go at all.

Dawson: But it does mean something. There are a million reasons why proms are ridiculous and stupid, but we made that pact because it obviously mattered to us. It's a rite of passage. And I can't think of any better way to move forward than to fulfill a pact made by 2 old friends and just have a good time.

Joey: Ok. Ok. But I have 2 rules-- no cheesy corsage for me and no blue ruffley- tuxedoey-shirt-thingy for you.

Dawson: Done.

[The door opens and Mitch and Gale are in it kissing.]

Mitch: That's one for right now.

Gale: I have to get to the restaurant.

Mitch: You do not.

Gale: I have to go, honey. Honey.

Dawson: Ahem.

[Commercial Break]

[Scene picks up where it left off]

Joey: You know, I'm not wearing a watch, but I'm probably at least late for something I should probably be at, so...I'll see you guys later.

Dawson: See ya.

Gale: Uh, sweetheart, we should probably talk about what you just saw.

Mitch: You know what? I'll talk to Dawson. You should probably go ahead and get to the restaurant.

Gale: Ok.

[Kiss]

Dawson: This should be good.

Mitch: You ok?

Dawson: [Snorts] you know what? Yeah, I am.

Mitch: About what you just saw—

Dawson: What I just saw, dad, was something I've seen about 5 million times over the course of my life.

Mitch: But under the circumstances, don't you think we should talk about it?

Dawson: [Laughs] dad, at this point, I'm numb.

Mitch: You're numb?

Dawson: Yeah. I mean, you and mom have always had a relationship that's been a little dramatic. All the while, I've been in the middle through all the backs-and-forths and ups and downs, and a little while ago I realized I don't need to do that. I can just sit back detached and watch from afar.

Mitch: You can do that. But I think you should know that what's going on between your mother and me is a lot more than casual.

Dawson: Are you saying that you and mom are getting back together?

Mitch: No. We haven't discussed that.

Dawson: In that case, I would prefer you left me out of it entirely. I'm enjoying the numbness. You haven't talked to mom, you don't know even what she's feeling.

Mitch: I was married to your mother for 20 years. There's some things I know without having to ask.

[Scene: Inside Doug's Apartment. Pacey and Andie are there studying for the upcoming finals.]

Pacey: How's the studying going?

Andie: Fine.

Pacey: You want anything? Can I get you water? Lemonade?

Andie: No. I'm good.

Pacey: Ok. Um...

Andie: Do you... Want me to go?

Pacey: Why would I want you to go?

Andie: I don't know. I just get the feeling that... I don't know. That you want me to go.

Pacey: Uh-uh. I don't want you to go.

Andie: Ok.

Pacey: Look, I just-- sometimes I... I just feel kind of...

Andie: Thirsty? Tired? Mad? Sad?

Pacey: Yeah.

Andie: Sad?

Pacey: Yeah. Uh, it's... Something like that.

Andie: Yeah. Maybe it's time that you come out of this cave, just get back out there.

Pacey: Back out where?

Andie: Out there. You know, go to the prom.

Pacey: With who, Andie?

Andie: I don't know. Anybody. A girl. You could go with me, if you wanted to.

Pacey: You don't have a date to the prom?

Andie: I am currently sifting through offers. I have just yet to make my final decision.

Pacey: Do you want me to ask you to the prom?

Andie: [Laughs] I just want to see you happy again.

Pacey: I don't think that the prom is going to act as some magical happiness elixir for me. And you're probably better off taking one of those guys up on their offer.

Andie: I'm sure I will.

[Scene: Inside Joey's Living room. Bessie is sitting on the couch as Joey is telling her about earlier.]

Joey: Dawson asked me to prom, and I said yes. And now I feel like I made a huge horrible mistake. I mean, he reassured me that it will only serve to re-cement our admittedly shaky friendship, but...I don't know.

Bessie: What about the undeniable romantic implications? Not to mention Pacey.

Joey: What about Pacey?

Bessie: What did you think accepting Dawson's prom invitation would do if not put you right in the middle of his tug of w*r with Pacey?

Joey: [Sighs] well, I--I know. I'm just--I'm trying. I'm trying so hard just to get things back to the way they were.

Bessie: Come on, jo. You're not that naive.

Joey: I have to be. I'm backed up into a corner. I don't have any choice.

Bessie: You always have a choice.

Joey: Well... No appealing choice.

Bessie: So you're looking to me to provide the magical key to this problem?

Joey: Yeah. [Sighs] I gotta say, you've been a little thin in the advice department lately.

Bessie: Give me a problem that actually has a solution, and I'll solve it.

Joey: You're right. I mean, no matter what I do, somebody gets hurt. Including me.

[Scene: Inside the School Cafeteria. Andie and Jack are sitting at a table talking while watching people get their tickets for the prom.]

Andie: I hate the stupid prom. Stupid prom can kiss my ass.

Jack: What's wrong with you?

Andie: I thought that Pacey was gonna ask me to the prom, but no, instead I must humiliate myself and go alone.

Jack: Better you than going with an ex-boyfriend that you're not over yet.

Andie: I am so over him. I am! That's why I want to go with him is because it'll be safe.

Jack: Mm-hmm.

Andie: So what about you? Did you get your tickets yet?

Jack: No. Working on it. See, the theme this year--couples. They're going to have every couple's names on the balloons, the little place cards, on those cheesy prom souvenirs.

Andie: So?

Jack: So when you go to buy your tickets, you gotta say who you're bringing, which means I have to march over there and tell the whole world I'm bringing a guy.

Andie: Don't you think when you show up with Ethan, they're gonna figure out that he's your date?

Jack: He's not my "date" date. We're going as friends. He calls it the next step towards self-acceptance and actualization, whatever the hell that means.

Andie: I don't see what you're so worried about. It's not like you to care what other people think.

Jack: You see who's selling the tickets?

Andie: Barbara Johns?

[Scene: Outside the school at a picnic table. Jen and Henry are getting up from eating and are walking back to class while talking.]

Jen: So, you know what they're having this weekend is the junior prom.

Henry: Really?

Jen: Yeah. God, is there a more ridiculous and embarrassing ritual than the prom? The way that it totally reinforces traditional gender roles, rewards the cool kids, punishes the geeks, I mean, the pressure this one single night exerts on the common teenager... To make hollow, awkward romantic gestures like pinning a cheap corsage on taffeta, having drunken sex with some guy whose name you won't remember, and then puking in the back of some cheesy-ass rented limo, I mean, it's just so overwhelming.

Henry: You've never been to a prom before, have you?

Jen: Well, no. But I know enough about them to know it's a sad—

Henry: so, in other words, you're asking me to go.

Jen: [Sighs] yeah.

Henry: I'd love to.

[Scene: Inside the School Cafeteria. Jack is trying to get his tickets.]

Barbara: Ok. Date.

Jack: And, um, Ethan Brody.

Barbara: Excuse me?

Jack: Ethan Brody. E-T-H-A-N.

Barbara: No, no, no. A boy cannot go to the prom with a boy. The definition of a prom date is a boy and a girl.

Jack: Well, I don't think that's any of your business.

Barbara: To be honest, I don't understand why you feel the need to cause a spectacle and ruin the prom for the rest of us, but if you feel you have to do so, I can't sell you a ticket till I talk to Mrs. Meyer, head of the prom committee.

Jack: You're not gonna sell me a ticket?

Barbara: What exactly is it the two of you will do, anyway? Take a nice prom photo for grandma's photo album? Dance stubbled cheek to stubbled cheek? Share a romantic kiss under the moonlight? You don't think that's gonna weird out even the ones who are sympathetic to people like you?

Jack: You can't do this.

Barbara: Like I said, jack, I'll check with Mrs. Meyer, and you can come back and try again. Next!

[Jack turns to leaves and runs in to Dawson.]

Dawson: What's up, jack? You ok?

Jack: Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. I--I gotta go.

[Jack Leaves]

Barbara: The theme of this year's prom is "couples." Please state your name as well as the name of your date.

Dawson: Barbara, you're in my gym class. You know my name.

Barbara: Please state your name as well as the name of your date.

Dawson: Dawson leery and Joey potter.

Barbara: Oh? Happy couple back together?

Dawson: Something like that, yeah.

[He turns to see that Pacey overheard this.]

[Scene: Outside the school on the steps. Jack, Andie, Dawson and Joey are sitting there talking.]

Joey: They can't do this. We won't let them.

Andie: Yeah. We'll--we'll lodge a formal complaint. Not only will you get your tickets for free, but we will get Barbara Johns to apologize in front of the whole school on her hands and knees.

Jack: Guys...

Andie: We could go to Mrs. Meyer and tell her what Barbara did. She has to sell the tickets. It's discrimination.

Jack: Guys!

Andie: What?

Jack: I appreciate the support, I do, but it's ok. I'm just not gonna go to the prom.

Andie: What? You have to go! At this point, it's political.

Jack: That's just it. It's a prom. It's supposed to be fun. Why does my entire life have to be a fight? Why is something that's normal for someone else have to be so political for me?

Andie: 'Cause that's just the way it is, and until things change, you have to fight. And we'll be there with you. All the way.

Jack: Just wanted to go to the prom. That's all.

Andie: Well, if you're not going, I'm not going.

Joey: Me, neither.

Andie: Good! Then we'll boycott, and we'll organize.

Dawson: I've got a better idea. Jack, you're right. Let's hold our own prom. Right? An alternative prom. Think about it. Why are we paying 80 bucks a pop to sit where they tell us to sit, eat rubbery chicken, and listen to a special selection of Barbara Johns' favorite tunes when we can hold the anti-prom? Where it's not about who you bring, but who you are.

Andie: I like it. Yeah, I think it's a great idea, Dawson.

Joey: Yeah.

Jack: What would an alternative prom be without a couple of gay guys?

[Scene: Inside the Leery Fish House Kitchen. Dawson is talking to Gale and Mitch about the Anti-Prom.]

Dawson: Should you guys choose to take me up on this proposal, I worked it out and the revenue from ticket sales will offset the cost. I'm telling you, we can totally make this work.

Mitch: You've obviously given this a lot of thought. I only have one question--why?

Dawson: I don't know. Big things are happening all around. I'm just trying to facilitate my own big thing. If the answer is yes.

Gale: Should we say yes now or continue to t*rture him?

Dawson: Mom, thank you. You guys will not regret this, I promise.

Gale: But you do realize this is my restaurant, so I will be here.

Mitch: And every prom needs a chaperone.

Dawson: Ok. Great. [Laughs] I'm gonna go hang some flyers.

[Dawson Leaves]

Gale: Well, he seems to have gotten through yesterday's events unscathed.

Mitch: He says he's numb at this point.

Gale: Is that a good thing?

Mitch: I don't know. But he did seem, surprisingly enough, totally ok.

Gale: Well, that's a relief.

Mitch: Kind of got me to thinking, though.

[Gale samples something from one of the pots.]

Gale: Mmm! Who put cayenne pepper in this marinara sauce?

Mitch: Gale?

Gale: Yeah?

Mitch: I thought maybe we should discuss what we're doing here?

Gale: What we're doing where?

Mitch: This thing you and I are doing. I thought maybe we should discuss what it means.

Gale: Can't we just enjoy it and see where it leads? Why do we always have to analyze everything? Hello! I asked a question. Who put cayenne pepper in the marinara sauce?

Mitch: [Sighs]

[Scene: Inside the School Cafeteria. Jack and Andie are selling tickets to the Anti-Prom at a table right next to Barbara's table.]

Andie: can you believe this, jack?

Jack: I know. This thing could actually turn out to be a success.

Andie: In a manner of speaking. Hi.

Barbara: Just because the dregs of society go to your prom does not make it a success. Nobody that matters would be caught dead there. I certainly wouldn't go if you paid me.

Jack: Good thing, 'cause we don't want your kind.

Barbara: And what kind is that, the good Christian kind?

Jack: [Laughs] this is not about religion, Barbara. I mean the kind that hates people. The intolerant, judgmental, hypocritical kind. The close-minded, immature, bigoted kind.

Andie: With bad fashion sense.

Jack: Really bad.

Barbara: Look, at least I'm not going to hell.

Jack: That's it? That's your whole comeback? Ooh! The thr*at of eternal damnation is a pretty good comeback. Well, that thr*at is not yours to make. You just don't get it, do you? You're totally missing the point.

Barbara: Huh.

Jack: Next!

[Scene: Inside Jen's Bedroom. Grams is fitting a tux for Henry while Jen sits on the bed watching.]

Grams: And to think I was going to give this to the goodwill.

Jen: You're gonna look great, Henry.

Henry: I feel like a busboy.

Grams: It's the burden of men, dear. While out on the town, you must stand in the background and let your woman shine.

Jen: Oh, I think that Henry shines just fine on his own, grams.

Grams: He certainly does.

[Teapot whistles]

Grams: ooh, there's my tea. I'll be right back.

[Grams leaves]

Jen: Ok. I...I think it's time that you and I had the talk.

Henry: The talk?

Jen: Yeah. The prom sex talk.

Henry: The prom sex talk?

Jen: Come on, Henry. Like it wasn't going to come up sooner or later.

Henry: Not necessarily.

Jen: Oh, ok. Tell me that you weren't thinking that you, me, and the prom didn't mean the distinct possibility of drunken, backseat, rented limo nooky?

Henry: I--I didn't rent a limo.

Jen: Ok, that's not the point. The prom puts a lot of pressure on kids to do it just for the sake of it. Then you end up doing it 15 minutes before curfew, and it's completely unromantic and way too fast, and it--it just generally sucks. And you can never take that back or change it, so... So I thought that maybe we could make the decision right now not to do it.

Henry: Oh, um, I'm in no race. You know that.

Jen: Ok.

Henry: But we... We are gonna do it eventually, right?

Jen: [Laughs] come here.

[Scene: Inside Andie's Bedroom. Andie walks in with Pacey following shortly behind her.]

Andie: To what do I owe the honor of this visit?

Pacey: I'm just bored, I guess.

Andie: [Laughs] you always knew how to flatter a girl.

Pacey: I try. So, um, guess you're probably going to that whole alternative prom thing.

Andie: Mm-hmm. Oh, ho! You are not gonna believe what I did today. I threw my ticket back in Barbara Johns' face. Know what that witch said to me when I bought it? "Oh, that is so brave, Andie. A girl going to the prom alone." Ooh!

Pacey: Why would you go to the prom alone? I thought you were sifting through offers.

Andie: Yeah. Well, uh... Turns out that I didn't have any.

Pacey: So why didn't you just tell me that?

Andie: Because I didn't want a pity ask, ok? And it doesn't matter anyway, because all of my friends are gonna be there, and at this point, I'm just going to support the whole stupid alternative prom thing.

Pacey: You should have been able to tell me. And it wouldn't be a pity ask, because it can't be pity if it's an honor. Andrea McPhee... Would you go to the prom with me?

[Scene: Outside Joey's house. Dawson walks up to the house in a tux, and Bessie is there waiting with a camera, as Joey comes out onto the porch.]

Dawson: Hi.

Joey: Hey. So... Hey.

Dawson: Wow. You look...

Joey: It's just a dress, Dawson.

Bessie: Ok, picture time! [Giggles]

[Bessie takes some pictures of Joey and Dawson as a couple.]

Joey: we should probably go. We don't want to be late.

Bessie: Always hated having your picture taken. Well, so, Dawson, where's the corsage?

Dawson: We made a deal-- no corsages-- but I had to bring something. So I thought I'd bring these.

Joey: Diamond earrings?

Bessie: Wow.

Joey: Dawson, I can't take these.

Dawson: Relax, they're my mom's. They're on loan, like at the academy awards. I thought they would look amazing on you.

Joey: I--i can't wear them. What if something happens?

Dawson: If something happens to what, your earlobes? Stop it. Put 'em on.

Joey: They are beautiful.

Bessie: So put them on, and I'll get one more picture. Ohh.

Joey: Thank you.

Bessie: 1...2...3!

[Scene: Outside the Leery Fish House. Mitch and Gale are welcoming the prom attendees.]

Gale: Hi. Hi.

Mitch: Welcome.

Gale: [Sighs] oh, boy. Interesting crowd.

Mitch: Lock the cash register.

Gale: I'm on it.

[Scene: Inside the Fish House. Ethan and Jack are sitting at a table alone. Jack seems kind of nervous.]

Ethan: Hey, can you believe we wore the same thing? [Laughs] yeah, well, I thought it was pretty funny. [Sighs] jack, I'm not expecting you to dance with me, if that's what you're worried about.

Jack: No. No, I'm not worried about anything. Nah.

Ethan: Ok.

[Henry and Jen come up to them.]

Jen: Hi, there.

Jack: Hey.

Ethan: Hey.

[Dawson and Joey join the table as well.]

Dawson: Hey, jack, Ethan.

Jen: Hey, you guys. Joey, I love those earrings.

Joey: Thank you.

Andie: Hey, guys!

Dawson: Shall we dance?

[Joey and Dawson get up and Andie and Pacey take their seats.]

Jen: Come on, sit down.

Andie: Great. [Laughs] wow, Jen, your dress is fabulous.

Jen: Thank you so much. You look awesome.

Andie: Thank you. [Laughs] thanks. Hey, Ethan.

Ethan: Hi, Andie.

Andie: Henry.

Henry: Hey.

[Scene: On the dance floor. Joey and Dawson are dancing together. Joey looks over Dawson's shoulder to see Pacey sitting there. Jen and Henry are dancing together and talking.]

Jen: So, here we are.

Henry: Yep.

Jen: At the prom.

Henry: Yep.

Jen: So, what are you thinking?

Henry: I wasn't thinking about sex, ok?

Jen: Henry, chill. You're allowed to think about sex.

Henry: Well, I--I wasn't.

Jen: No, I'm sure. I'm just saying if you were, it's fine. You can think about sex, I can think about sex, it's just that tonight that it's not a factor. Right?

[Cut to the Jack and Ethan standing watching the dancing going on.]

Ethan: I'm glad, you know.

Jack: About what?

Ethan: That you had the courage to bring me, jack. I know it's not easy. Even for me. When brad and I first told people what was happening—

Jack: can we maybe put a pin in the "when I was a young gay boy" stories for tonight? It's not providing me with a lot of solace right now.

Ethan: What I was gonna say, jack, is that brad and I never did anything together. In fact, for all my bravado, I've never asked a guy to anything like this.

Jack: Wha... You mean all that crap about actualization, you've never actualized?

Ethan: I guess I thought it was a hurdle we could jump over together.

Jack: At my high-school prom where you know no one, and I know everyone? Tell me, how "together" is that, Ethan?

Ethan: So you win in the courage department.

Jack: No, I don't, because I was tricked into it. Courage would have been telling you that I'm not ready for this, that however healthy this might be for my sexual identity, I really don't want to be here right now.

Ethan: Well, I'm sorry.

Jack: So am I.

Ethan: Where are you going?

Jack: I'm going to get a soda. I was wondering, wise gay sage that you are, coke, diet Pepsi-- what's better for my self-actualization?

[Jack Leaves]

[Scene: Jen and Henry are in a line waiting to get something, and talking]

Jen: You know, there are other things that we can talk about. Besides sex.

Henry: Of course.

Jen: We--we could talk about... Summer. We could talk about what we're gonna do this summer. I thought we could take a couple of day trips up to Nantucket, go see some concerts up in Boston.

Henry: Sure. When I get back from football camp.

Jen: What-ball camp?

Henry: Football camp. In Cleveland. 8 weeks. I leave at the end of june.

Jen: You're leaving me for the whole summer to go to football camp, and you tell me this now?

Henry: Well...What's wrong with now?

Jen: You don't devastate your girlfriend with the news of an impending 2-month separation in the middle of prom. That ruins the night.

Henry: I've ruined the night?

Jen: And as for later goes, whatever slim possibility may have existed that you and I might actually have sex, you can just forget about that now.

Henry: We already established we weren't having sex tonight.

Jen: Come on, Henry. That's just what you say to alleviate the pressure and make it seem spontaneous. Of course, there was a chance. It's our prom!

Henry: Wh-wh-- damn.

[Cut to Dawson and Joey Dancing, when Joey pulls a little back from Dawson to see his face.]

Joey: Could I ask a brazen but obvious question?

Dawson: Yeah, of course.

Joey: Why did you bring me here tonight, Dawson?

Dawson: What?

Joey: Was it just so you could throw jabs at Pacey?

Dawson: What are you talking about? I had no idea Pacey would be here.

Joey: You don't think I get the subtext of every one of those looks you keep throwing his way? I mean, Dawson, you might as well get on the P.A. And scream, "she's mine, Pacey. Ha. I win."

Dawson: Actually, that's not what I'm thinking.

Joey: Then what are you thinking?

Dawson: I'm thinking, what right did he have to show up to my mother's restaurant at a prom that I organized. What exactly is he trying to accomplish?

Joey: Now, given the circumstances under which this night originated, what right do you have to exclude anyone?

Dawson: I'm not excluding him, jo. I haven't said a word to him.

Joey: Fine, but that hasn't stopped you from parading me around all night like I'm some sort of a prize.

Dawson: Parading you? I'm not parading you around, Joey. You're my date, and I'm dancing with you. It's not my fault if they keep staring at us.

Joey: You're right. None of it's your fault. None of it's anybody's fault. It's just happening. And who cares what it's doing to me?

Dawson: Ok. You know, let's just start over, ok? It's just Dawson and Joey at the prom having a good time. Ok?

Joey: I need a breather.

[Scene: Outside the Fish House. Jack is standing by the water's edge alone when Joey joins him there.]

Joey: Care to make a run for it?

Jack: Yes, please. Ohh.

Joey: So, what are you hiding from?

Jack: I am hiding from Barbara Johns.

Joey: She's here?

Jack: No. Yeah, in a way, she is. Oh, man. She was right, Joey. You know, I don't belong here. I'm not gonna dance with Ethan. I'm not gonna have my picture taken with him. And whatever good time I was gonna have tonight, I just ruined it by the way I treated him.

Joey: I remember a conversation less than a year ago, under these very stars, and all you could see was the pain and the loneliness that made your life different from everyone else's.

Jack: As opposed to now, when all I can see is the pain and loneliness that makes our lives the same? Look. I know how sad it is to hide from something that you really want, Joey.

Joey: I just want everything to go back to the way it was, you know? All of us friends again, and--and me not caught in the middle.

Jack: Well, if you want things to get back to the way that they were, you have to set the example. Dawson and Pacey, those two just aren't gonna do it themselves right now.

Joey: How about we hide out here for a while first?

Jack: It sounds good to me.

Joey: Thank you.

Jack: Thank you.

[Scene: Inside the Fish House. Mitch and Gale ate dancing together and talking.]

Gale: You know, this might be a tad presumptuous, but I took the liberty of packing a bag. I thought maybe I could stay over.

Mitch: I'm not sure that's such a good idea, gale.

Gale: Mitchell, what are you talking about?

Mitch: I'm not here just for your whim, gale.

Gale: [Laughs] excuse me?

Mitch: Go ahead and laugh, but you know, we've finally gotten back to this point in our relationship by being honest with each other. I'm not gonna stop that honesty now.

Gale: Ok. So if the honest thing is to talk about it, let's talk about it.

Mitch: I can't keep playing this game. Is it a slip-up? Is it a relationship? Is it a Saturday-night arrangement? What is it?

Gale: What do you want it to be?

Mitch: Nah. You know what, gale? I'm sick of being the one always anxious to define our relationship or lack thereof. What I want is for you to define it for once.

[Cut to Pacey sitting alone at the table and Joey coming up from behind him.]

Joey: I've been meaning to ask you something all night, Pacey. Would you like to dance with me?

Pacey: Yes.

[Cut to them dancing.]

Pacey: How come this feels so right?

Joey: I think it was those dance lessons.

Pacey: Where did you get those? They're not you.

Joey: Why, because I'm just a poor tomboy, or 'cause Dawson gave them to me?

Pacey: Neither. You see this? [Points to her bracelet] This is you. It's not showy or gaudy. Just simple. Elegant. Beautiful.

Joey: It's my mom's bracelet.

Pacey: I know.

Joey: How do you know?

Pacey: Well, because you told me. 6 months ago. You were wearing that, uh, blue sweater with the snowflakes that you have. We were walking down the hallways at school. I was annoying you as per usual. You said, "look, Pacey. "I just found my mother's bracelet this morning, so why don't you cut me some slack?"

Joey: You remember that?

Pacey: I remember everything.

[They dance closer to each other, but then Joey looks up from his shoulder and sees Dawson. He turns and leaves the building and Joey pulls away from Pacey, and Pacey already knows without asking what just happened.]

Joey: Dawson. Dawson, wait. Dawson, wait.

Dawson: How could you do that to me? Are you trying to hurt me?

Joey: No! I'm trying to set an example. I'm trying to get things back to the way they were.

Dawson: You can't go back to the way they were, Joey. Don't you get it? You can't climb through my window, pop in E.T., And have it be the same, ok? You can't dance with him at the prom I organized and expect me not to be hurt.

Joey: You said tonight was about you, me, and our friendship. And if that was really the case, it wouldn't matter who I danced with.

Dawson: I said tonight was about moving forward, Joey. What did you think that meant? You can't have thought that that's all I wanted. The whole reason I suggested this whole stupid alternative prom wasn't about jack, it was about you, all right? And maybe I tried too hard, but I didn't want to miss my chance to dance with you, to hold you, to make you remember what it was like between us. I thought maybe, you know, if I could make it perfect...

Joey: That I would pick you? Say it, Dawson. You thought if you orchestrated this whole evening, that I would be convinced into picking you over Pacey, right?

Dawson: You have to pick somebody, Joey. I just wanted to remind you what you'd be missing if you didn't pick me. 'Cause you'd be missing a lot. So would I. We'd be missing everything. [Dawson kisses her] That's how the evening was supposed to end.

[Scene: Outside Jen's House. Jen and Henry are returning from the Anti-Prom arguing.]

Jen: I think I can take it from here, thanks.

Henry: Wow, I think those were the most words you've said to me since I told you about football camp.

Jen: Henry, I'm not in the mood.

Henry: Fine. Then, let's talk about something else, like why would you make such a big deal about there being no possibility of us having sex if you were planning to do it all along?

Jen: I wasn't planning on anything. I mean, I thought that-- that maybe if it happened, if it felt right and-- and natural, then yeah, maybe we would, but you know, it doesn't even matter.

Henry: Because of football camp? You know, I hate it when you do this. You get extreme about the future of our relationship at the first sign of one of your insecurities.

Jen: This isn't about my insecurities, Henry. It's about your cowardice,

Henry: what?

Jen: And the fact that I planned our entire summer together, and you weren't even thinking about spending any time with me. For the first time in my life, I made myself vulnerable to somebody... And now I just feel stupid.

Henry: Jen, my decision to go, it's-- it's got nothing to do with you.

Jen: Exactly. But if this were a real relationship, your choice for those 8 weeks, it would have had at least something to do with me. Good night, Henry.

Henry: Jen, I won't go through this again. I can't. This time, there won't be any posters or grand declarations of my feelings towards you. You walk in that house, and it's not just good night... It's good-bye.

Jen: Good-bye.

[Scene: Inside the Train Station. Ethan is about to go to the train when Jack runs after him to stop him.]

Jack: Ethan, wait! Wait. What are you doing? Are you leaving?

Ethan: Are you kidding me?

Jack: Look, I-I'm sorry for the way that I acted tonight.

Ethan: No, jack, I'm sorry. You clearly weren't ready for this.

Jack: That's just it, because I don't know what this is, so maybe we should define this before we decide who's ready.

Ethan: What are you saying?

Jack: I-I'm saying... Ok, I'm saying that tonight... I don't think that I was uncomfortable with bringing a guy to the prom. I think I was uncomfortable with taking someone that doesn't feel the same way about me as I feel about him.

Ethan: Jack, I really like you.

Jack: Then why all the hurdles? Why this whole journey for us to be together when all you had to do was just lean over and—

Ethan: kiss you.

Jack: Yeah, something like that.

Ethan: Because, jack, I don't wanna kiss someone who isn't ready. And I don't know if you're ready, so I'm afraid-- you're gonna have to kiss me first.

Jack: How do you know that I couldn't?

Ethan: I don't know. I'm guessing.

Jack: Then maybe you're guessing wrong. Maybe I am ready.

Ethan: Ok, so here we are--a lone train station, no one around, no lights, no cameras, no network television to cut to commercial. It's just you and me. So kiss me, jack. I dare you.

[Scene: Outside the Fish House. Pacey is walking Andie home from the Anti-Prom.]

Pacey: I honestly believed that when I came over to invite you to the prom, it was because I wanted to go to the prom with you, and I can't tell you how much I wish that were the truth, but as soon as I got there, I realized that I wanted to go to the prom because—

Andie: I know why you wanted to go to the prom, Pacey, and I'm sorry that it didn't work out for you. But at least you got to dance with her.

Pacey: What can I do? Really, I would do whatever it takes to make this up to you, Andie.

Andie: What it would take is something that I don't think you can give me right now, and I'm not mad at you, Pacey-- honestly, I'm not. I just-- I just really feel bad for you.

Pacey: Did I tell you what I'm gonna be doing this summer? I'm gonna sail true love down to key west. Just me and the sea. How's that for Hemingwayesque, huh?

Andie: So when are you gonna leave?

Pacey: Right after finals.

Andie: Have you told her how you feel?

Pacey: Andie, she already knows how I feel.

Andie: I mean, have you really told her, Pacey? You can't just leave without letting her know. I mean, that's not like you. You--you don't just stand and let things happen, and you don't run away, either. You have to tell her that you love her, and you have to try to get her back, because if you don't, I promise you, you will regret it.

Pacey: Maybe.

Andie: No, Pacey, you will.

[Scene: Outside Dawson's House. Dawson is sitting in a chair reading when Joey comes up to join him.]

Joey: Hey.

Dawson: Hey.

Joey: Um... I brought these back for you. They're so beautiful, I-- I'm not quite sure they're me, but... Really fun time wearing them. So, I'm not going to deny that when you kissed me last night... I felt something. Something that I wasn't expecting, and something that... Probably will always be there. I can't keep hurting people, Dawson, and I can't choose, so I'm telling you the same thing that I told Pacey. Please don't make me. I'm not ready, and I can't do it.

Dawson: Ok.

Joey: Ok?

Dawson: I'll wait. You can call me an eternal optimist, but I have faith. This whole year, I've been on this... Soul-searching journey... And I feel like I've finally come to the end. And what I found... Was you.

[Gale goes running by them and into the house. Shouting for Mitch to join her in the Living Room. Dawson and Joey come into the house and watch what is going on.]

Gale: Mitch! What? Mitch. Come here.

Mitch: What is it?

Gale: Just come here. Um, here, sit down.

Mitch: What are you up to?

Gale: Just this. Last night, you asked me to define this relationship, and I wasn't ready to do it. I have just been so afraid of-- of screwing up, of making the same mistakes twice. But I'm not gonna let that fear stop us from being together anymore. So, if our fate is to make the same mistakes all over again, then by god, I hope we make those mistakes as well as we did the first time. Is that a yes?

Mitch: Well, you didn't ask me a question.

Gale: You know the question.

Mitch: You know the answer.

[Dawson and Joey both look at each other and then back to Gale and Mitch. Both of them are smiling.]