"l'm bored." "Good." "Good?" "Aren't you concerned about me due to the recent tragedy?" "It's precisely because of the recent tragedy that you need some boredom." "Keep reading." "I'm serious." "Why read a book about the future when the future in the book is the past?" "Everybody's future eventually becomes the past, Pacey." "Yeah, but 1 984?" "Big whoop." "It happened. lt's over." "It was no big deal." "How do you know?" "You were in diapers." "VH1 Behind the Music, thank you very much." "The point is, these people in the '50s spend their lives worrying about the future." "When it gets here, turns out it's okay." "Except for Boy George." "But who could have predicted that?" "What's this stuff?" "Oh, nothing. lt's just junk mail." "Junk mail?" "lt's just college mail." "It came over the summer." "You get junk mail from Princeton University?" "It doesn't mean anything." "It comes from everywhere." "I mean, like for instance" " Like I'm gonna go to St. Olaf College." "Or the University of Hawaii or Valparaiso University." "Where's that?" "It's, like, in Brazil or something." "But you are gonna go somewhere." "Not right this second." "It's early yet anyway. I mean, you know, maybe I'll just...." "Maybe I'll just go to one of those fictional colleges." "You know?" "Like on those lame high-school TV shows." "That go on for way too long and then just in time to save the franchise all of a sudden there's this amazing college just right around the corner, where all the principal characters are accepted." "Just to be safe, we should probably start the application process." "So, Miss Lindley, it says here you want to go to college." "I did until I saw how many forms I was gonna have to fill out." "But I intend to get started. I do." "I've just been really busy with- -football. I know it's not gonna help me get into college." "But I did start." "I don't wanna quit until it's- -done. I am so glad that I did this Early Action thing." "Oh, it's just like this giant weight has been- -placed around my neck." "It's a big decision." "I can't afford to apply to a zillion places." "Everyone thinks I'm going to film school." "You're not?" "Maybe I will, maybe I won't." "If the aptitude test says I'm suited for law enforcement it's obviously in serious need of retooling." "Have you been talking to my brother?" "She said what?" "Your sister tells me you're not quite as far along in the college application process as you could be." "Do you know my sister?" "Are you sure there's nothing else I should be doing at this point?" "I mean, couldn't we call or something?" "How can anybody be sure of where they want to spend 4 years?" "I'm sick of answering these questions." "Where do I see myself in five years?" "Wish me luck, lady." "I'll probably still be here." "I'm the first person in my family to apply to college." "That can work to your advantage." "Elite schools are looking for people with diverse backgrounds." "You're at the top of your class, Joey." "The "top" top?" "Number four." "And your board scores are phenomenal." "I think you should be able to get into practically anyplace in the country." "This must be where the " but" comes in." "The lvies" " Georgetown, Duke, Stanford, I mean...." "These schools accept only a miniscule amount of the people that apply." "And hardly anybody ever gets a free ride." "So you're telling me I've set my sights too high?" "It's a crapshoot." "Do I think that you're smart and talented enough to be one of those people that gets in?" "Yes." "Do I think you should prepare yourself for the possibility that you might not be one of those people?" "That couldn't hurt." "Jenny!" "Jenny!" "What?" "You no longer answer to Jenny?" "Not since I left the 21 2 area code." "Not so fast." "Can I walk you home?" "Carry your books?" "Buy you a soda at the malt shop?" "That's what people do for fun here, right?" "Drue, I'm gonna say this in the nicest way possible." "Go away." "If I didn't know better, I'd think maybe you weren't happy to see me." "No, really?" "Here I am, your chum from the city cast adrift in a small town with no good Chinese food and you don't roll out the red carpet." "You don't sit with me at lunch or introduce me to your friends." "You already seem to know my friends." "They knew you were here before I did." "And they didn't warn me." "I wonder why that is?" "Okay." "Busted. I didn't tell them I knew you." "I wanted to lay low." "Soak up some impressions of Jen, Version 2.0." "So, what do you say?" "You and me, one milk shake, two straws." "Catch up on old times. I missed you these past two years." "No, you didn't." "You didn't miss me." "You missed my idiotic willingness to try out any illegal substances that you got in Washington Square Park." "Come on." "Not all that Ecstasy turned out to be headache medication." "You make it sound like we never had any fun." "I don't have that kind of fun now." "I don't know what you hope to gain by this trip down memory lane-- lt's not that I don't dig this whole hip-to-be-square thing, because I do." "I just think that we should hang out." "Hang out?" "That's all." "So, what do you say?" "No way." "Not ever." "Never gonna happen." "They're closed." "It's okay. I know the owner." "Oh, hey." "Hey." "Your mom's in the back." "Some fish-related crisis." "That's the only kind there is around here." "You staking out a seat for the early-bird special?" "No. interviewing for a job." "The bartending job?" "l may not be Coyote Ugly material but I can make a Seven and Seven." "I believe you." "So how's it going?" "The interview." "Okay. I guess." "At least I hope so." "I really need this job." "I was tending bar all summer up in Provincetown." "And now that the tourists are gone, bye-bye job." "C'est la vie." "Sorry about that." "Tonight's special just changed from red snapper to ahi tuna." "Hi, honey." "You know, Gretchen, everything certainly looks great on paper." "I do have one more question." "What are your plans for school?" "School?" "College." "Are you going back soon?" "Because I was hoping to find somebody who could stay for a while." "No, I...." "I'm on break." "You know, indefinitely." "is there a reason for that?" "Not a very interesting one." "So, Mom, do you want me to set tables or what?" "Yeah, honey. it is getting late." "You know what, Gretchen?" "Instant decision time here." "Can you start tomorrow?" "Yes." "Tomorrow, today, yesterday." "That's great." "Whenever you're ready, gentlemen." "Look out, Jack, inside!" "Good catch, Jack." "Take five, men." "Not too much water." "Don't want you cramping up out there." "What's up?" "You are not gonna believe this." "Something good?" "Bad?" "What?" "Something good." "Okay, you know Ms. Watson, the college adviser?" "Yeah." "She actually called Harvard for me." "And?" "And the woman she spoke to not only said that everything looked good but she remembered my essay." "My essay." "Out of thousands!" "Mine!" "That's great, Andie." "McPhee!" "Break's over." "Let's go." "Duty calls." "Okay." "Go, team!" "Go to Jack!" "l got it. I got it." "You got it?" "Oh, I'm sorry." "I'm really, really sorry." "That looks a lot worse than what you led me to believe." "Dad said you wouldn't be here today." "Oh, it's fine. lt's nothing." "The worst part was the sound it made when they popped it back in." "It was so gross." "You guys, ER does not prepare you for that kind of stuff." "McPhee, sorry about the shoulder." "Oh." "Yeah, thanks." "Anything else?" "We were wondering if the party was still on." "What party?" "Was it a surprise or something?" "What surprise?" "The birthday party." "Hey, Lindley, happy birthday." "Party tonight, dude." "You know it, dude." "You didn't tell me it was your birthday." "Happy birthday!" "No, no, no. lt's not." "Her birthday's in May." "So it's not your birthday." "But people who say "dude" are attending your birthday party." "You might wanna look into that." "Yeah." "Can I ask you a question?" "What does it mean if you dream that your teeth are slowly receding back into your head and the world's leading experts are powerless to stop it?" "It means you shouldn't stay up all night stressing about college." "You'll get in someplace great." "They'll give you tons of financial aid." "And everything will be perfect." "Yeah, that's what I thought too, until yesterday." "What happened yesterday?" "I had a meeting with the new college adviser." "So?" "l'm fourth." "Fourth?" "Fourth in your class?" "Joey, that's amazing!" "Yeah. lt's amazing, but...." "All the places that I thought I wanted to apply to they're looking for people who are number four and they're you know, concert violinists, or they won the Westinghouse Science Prize." "Or they're legacies like Andie." "I mean maybe I shouldn't even bother. I'll just be wasting the application fees." "Your defeatist attitude has got to go." "What does Pacey say?" "Pacey's barely gonna graduate." "I can't exactly cry on his shoulder about my tragic lack of extracurricular activities." "If I tell Pacey how stressed I am, he's just gonna think that I'm this..." "...pathetic, whiny cry-baby, you know?" "Look going to these schools could open up opportunities you've always dreamed about, right?" "Yes." "So your dreams are your dreams." "You can't apologize for them." "Just talk to him." "You'll probably find out they're his dreams too." "Unacceptable." "Excuse me?" "You throwing me a birthday party." "Unacceptable." "So you found out about that." "Yeah." "Well how could I not?" "I spent the morning fielding birthday wishes from complete strangers." "My French class sang to me, in French." "Oh, bummer." "Hey, Palmer!" "Jason, I'm gonna see you there, right dude?" "You know it, man." "Excellent. lsn't this great?" "Yesterday I didn't know that guy at all." "Today..." "See you later." "...paisans." "This party's been great to get to know people." "Good." "But the fact that it's not my birthday that puts no damper on the festivities?" "I like to think of tonight as an omnibus, retroactive birthday celebration." "It covers all the parties we missed while we were apart." "Plus I'm doing a public service." "Getting you out of the funk you've been in since that guy dumped you." "First, he didn't dump me." "I dumped him." "Technicality." "Second this isn't a funk. lt's me." "Harsh." "Third, it's not my birthday." "Another technicality." "Look, I'm gonna let you in on a little secret." "Something the old Jen used to know." "People are sheep." "They need a reason to celebrate, okay?" "That's where l come in. I give them something to celebrate." "You." "Tell me, why on earth would I actually attend this little shindig?" "You can't miss your own birthday." "But it's not my-- -l know." "But everyone here thinks it's your birthday." "So work with me, okay?" "If you don't show up..." "...that makes you a stuck-up" "Don't say it." "I'd hate for turtles to die while they're dragging the creek for your body." "It starts at 8." "Dress is casual." "But not that casual." "You might wanna go home first." "Spiff yourself up a little." "Okay?" "See you later." "You know, Jack, things aren't as bad as you think they are." "In fact, this whole injury could be a really good thing." "Oh, yeah." "Let me guess. lt'll give me more time to work on my applications?" "Exactly." "Yeah." "You don't want to get behind." "Not like you already aren't." "Look, Andie, I am in some serious pain here." "Just lay off the lectures a little bit, just until I get some..." "...pills in me." "Sure thing." "Thanks." "Although you might want to consider that this whole experience could make a really great essay topic." "Yeah." "Yeah, that's good. I'm gonna get working on that when I get home." "Are we done with this little shopping excursion of ours?" "Almost. I just wanna get a present for Jen for her birthday." "It's not actually her birthday." "I know." "Just seems kind of rude to show up empty-handed." "I am never eating a home-cooked meal again, am I?" "Yeah, looks like you're stuck yet again with four-star gourmet cuisine." "So Gretchen seems to be working out." "Oh, yeah." "So far." "I just wish I knew she was gonna stay for more than a few months." "Now, why would this beautiful and bright and talented young woman who could be at college getting an education choose to be tending bar?" "Because maybe college isn't the be all and end all that parents say." "Maybe once you get past the rhetoric of all these books that nobody reads college is basically just a holding pen for 1 8 to 22-year-olds." "Like an airport that everyone stops at on the way to someplace else." "Like prison with better meals." "Tell me you're saying these things just to get a rise out of your mother." "Most people aren't in college to learn." "They're there to drink and mingle with the opposite sex." "I'm not complaining, but how did I end up with the only 1 7-year-old in the country who thinks that's a bad idea?" "I'm not opposed to it." "I just think the whole idea of higher education's a bit of a misnomer." "People should call things what they are." "Like when people are running away from problems they should admit they're running away?" "Are we talking about somebody I know?" "Your father and I noticed that all of the college applications coming in the mail seem to be coming from zip codes more than 1 000 miles away." "Right." "And you never thought that your movie-obsessed son might want to go to California?" "We don't have a problem with you going to California or New Mexico or Alaska, if that's what you really want." "We don't want you to make a choice that'll affect your whole life based on the wrong criteria." "Like?" "Like the desire to put a continent between you and a certain girl we both know." "If I tell you my problem, do you promise not to laugh or tell me I'm crazy or that I should just get over myself?" "I think I can probably do that, yeah." "I found out yesterday that I'm fourth." "My class rank." "I'm fourth." "That's your problem?" "That's not a problem." "That's a reason to quit studying." "I don't know why I bother." "I knew you wouldn't understand." "Okay. I'm sorry." "That was bad." "Can we try that again?" "Yeah?" "This time you gotta cut out that stuff about being number four." "Because I know that can't possibly be the reason you're so bothered." "Well, no, it's.... lt's just that I always thought that if I did well in school these doors would open for me, you know?" "Maybe I was just being naive." "Maybe I've just set these goals that are really unrealistic." "And certain people get into certain places because of their parents" "You're not even listening." "No, I was listening." "Look, we should just all have your problems." "You're sitting here with the brightest future in the world with a guy who won't get into anyplace where they don't give him his own tools." "Put your shoes on." "Let's go out." "Out?" "We can't go out." "Yeah." "Just when this conversation gets emotionally complex you want to bail." "Who's the guy in this relationship?" "You are." "As the guy, you have a choice." "You can stay here and prove how sensitive you aren't or we can go to Jen's un-birthday party." "Right. I'll get my shoes." "How you doing?" "l want your phone number." "Look at that." "There's our host." "On a good day, he'll ruin your chances of getting into college convince you he's the sausage king of Chicago and wreck your dad's car." "Somehow, you end up thanking him." "Can I ask the inevitable question?" "Was he my boyfriend?" "No." "Was he an indiscretion?" "Yes." "But to be quite honest, I'm not sure what he remembers." "We were both chemically altered at the time." "I don't think I need to go any further than that." "Witter!" "I knew you couldn't resist a party." "I see you brought the Prim Reaper." "We came for your immortal soul." "That is, if you have one." "I'd just like a drink." "That's one for you." "And for you." "Oh, no." "No, no. I don't think so." "It is a proven fact that you, madam, cannot hold your alcohol." "Let me get this straight." "You can drink at parties and I can't?" "Yes." "Because as you rightly pointed out, I am a guy." "If I'm gonna get in trouble for being a guy I think I should get to act like one every once in a while." "You know, with your advance permission and approval." "Of course, I wouldn't, you know, do it without asking you first." "That's fine." "That's fine?" "Yeah." "We'll both be guys tonight." "Cheers." "Drue." "So the guest of honour finally decides to honour me with her presence." "Unavoidable." "Listen, I'm working on a little theory." "This isn't your house, is it?" "I am shocked. I welcome you and 65 of your friends into my home and this is how you repay me?" "By accusing me of what, exactly?" "Misrepresenting my place of residence?" "What could I possibly gain by such a tactic?" "Plausible deniability." "I know what you're doing." "See, if you throw a wild party at your own house, you will get caught." "But if you throw the same party at some stranger's summer house there's nothing to link you to the scene of the crime." "Plausible deniability." "That's a pretty sophisticated theory you got going on there." "l'm a pretty sophisticated girl." "Yeah." "Oh, and I almost forgot the best part." "The thing that elevates this whole " happy birthday, Jen" thing from a mildly amusing runner to a potentially ingenious little plot twist." "And that would be...?" "Should the cops show up and ask who's responsible for this mess all the drunken masses will remember is that it was Jen's birthday." "So it's just impossible that my intentions are pure?" "That all I wanted is for you to have a good time?" "I wouldn't say that it's impossible." "I'd put the chances around 3 percent." "You know what?" "I have a theory about your theory." "I think the first half is right." "I think this isn't my house." "Because maybe my house wouldn't impress anyone in this town least of all you." "Maybe my house isn't even a house." "What's this?" "Some sort of riddle?" "Come over here, man!" "Party calls." "See you later, birthday girl." "So number four with a bullet, huh?" "How do you know that?" "Kenny Reiling and friends have already established a betting pool." "Kind of pathetic, isn't it?" "I mean 1 2 years of being a control freak about school." "Almost giving myself an ulcer hunting snails and building balsa-wood bridges for extra credit." "And where does that get me?" "Fourth." "Joey, which is amazing." "I mean, the race isn't even over yet." "is that what you're doing?" "Celebrating?" "Yeah." "The future." "Whoopee!" "Joey, everything's working out exactly the way you always wanted." "With your grades and SAT scores, you can go anywhere." "Not you too, Dawson." "I mean, can't two people sit down and make small talk without the subject of college coming up?" "I mean, isn't that possible?" "I mean, what's next?" "Are you gonna ask me where l see myself in five years?" "I don't have to." "You wanted to be an anthropologist or an oceanographer." "Yeah." "Dawson do you know how much money anthropologists make?" "Besides, I was just saying that to get your goat." "Your buttons are so easy to push." "Well, were so easy." "So you never had any desire to do great heroic things with your life?" "See faraway places, uncover lost civilizations?" "When it comes down to it, you'd be happy here in Capeside?" "Look, I didn't say that." "Don't put words in my mouth." "I'm wondering why someone who's about to get what she's worked for her entire life is trying to drown herself with 80-proof fruit punch." "Look, don't do this, Dawson." "Okay." "Cheers." "Okay, that looks good." "Poker time, gentlemen." "Who's playing?" "How about you?" "You up for a game of cards or you need to ask the old ball and chain?" "I'd be happy to just find the old ball and chain right now." "I think I saw her talking to Dawson." "Oh, no wait." "That's wrong." "She took a walk with birthday girl." "Which is why you should stay and play cards with us." "So, what do you say?" "Five-card draw." "Are you in or out?" "Well, it's your money." "Joey, I think that we've walked far enough." "What do you need to tell me?" "ls here good?" "Yes." "Here's good." "Good." "Because I would like to make a toast." "All the love and happiness in the world to my friend, Jen, on her birthday." "Well, thank you very much, Joey." "But you do know it's really not my birthday." "That's all right. I mean, we're not really friends." "I'm just kidding." "I'm kidding. I'm kidding." "We are." "I think we are." "Do you think we are?" "I can't really even pinpoint exactly when we became" "You know what?" "Let's not delve too far into it." "Because we'll remember why we're supposed to hate each other." "l don't hate you." "l know." "I love you." "Joey, Joey, you love everybody tonight." "Let me ask you something." "Do you think you can summon up enough brainpower for one question?" "is it about our future?" "No." "No, it's purely about the present." "Shoot." "Do you happen to know where Drue lives?" "Ding, ding, ding." "I do know the answer to that one." "Drue lives in an apartment at the yacht club, with his mother." "Okay." "And what about his father?" "Taos, New Mexico, I think." "I guess he ran off with some New Age chippy." "Nice, huh?" "Left him high and dry." "" You Too Can Get Into the College of Your Choice."" "Please tell me that's a joke between the two of you." "It's not a joke." "It's a very helpful book." "Maybe so." "But as a birthday present, or an un-birthday present it pretty much sucks." "Okay." "And what's your problem?" "My problem is that not everyone wants to spend every moment thinking about college." "Some of us want to actually enjoy the remainder of our senior year, Andie." "And I don't?" "No." "You don't." "Since you finished your applications all you've done is get on my case about mine." "Look, don't get me wrong, okay?" "I'm happy for you." "I'm glad that everything's going so well and you've got everything under control." "But I don't need you to control my life." "And you don't need to branch out into Jen's." "So you want me to just watch as you back yourself into a corner and ruin your entire future?" "It is not my future that I'm concerned about." "It's the present." "Look, 24 hours ago, my year officially began to suck." "The only thing I was looking forward to in this damn school was football." "I don't even have that now." "So can we please just forget about the future for now?" "Just for tonight?" "Okay." "There you guys are." "I've been looking all over for you." "Except here." "Because if you'd looked here, you would have found us." "Because this, Andie, is where we are." "Ignore her." "So where's Jack?" "Avoiding me." "Am I too controlling?" "Yes." "Yes." "Thanks for the vote of confidence." "lt's not a judgment." "Some people like salad dressing on the salad." "And some people like it on the side." "Okay." "Well, you know, it's just I want everyone that I know to be able to live up to his or her potential." "Well I have great potential as a waitress." "That's great, Joey." "What do you say we get out of here?" "All right?" "I've got somebody that I owe an apology to." "No, no, no." "Stay here." "Before anyone leaves this spot we have a very important question to answer." "Where do we see ourselves in five years?" "And not the version that you answer to your college adviser." "Come on." "All right. I plan to be working on my master's thesis:" "Are Men Necessary?" "And I guess I'll be in PR." "Because that's all I've really ever been good at in life..." "...painting a happy face on disaster." "Andie!" "Well, you know." "Think about it." "Okay, you're up." "You tell me." "All right." "That's an easy one." "You will have graduated from a ridiculously expensive Ivy League school moved to New York, where you will have taken a job in a funky Soho art gallery where your starting salary is less than a year's tuition." "And why New York?" "Because New York is finishing school for cynics like us." "I'm not a cynic." "Okay, you're not exactly sunshine personified, Joey." "Okay, you guys." "Come on." "Right here, right now, let's make a deal." "In five years, we'll get back together and see if these predictions came true." "Deal." "Deal." "Okay." "Shall we?" "We shall." "Watch out, you guys." "Oh, wait." "You guys how are we gonna remember the date?" "It's not really Jen's birthday." "I'll remember." "Do you promise?" "So you think we're the only two people not having fun?" "Everyone else could be having fun." "Or they could just be imitating the fun they see in movies." "Yeah." "Hey, you idiot!" "I've been working on that all night!" "Should we--?" "They're guards." "They're slow as hell." "They'll never catch him." "I forget you actually know these people." "Yeah." "Well, it's all part of being on a team, I guess." "Or on the sidelines, as it may be." "Right." "I don't know." "Funny, you think something's making your life hell and then when it's gone, you really miss it." "But then again, I guess you probably know that feeling." "Yeah." "Excellent. I love this girl." "It's like she's trying to lose." "Strip poker?" "I leave you alone for two seconds, and you end up playing strip poker?" "Originally, this was just " poker" poker." "Until I started kicking his ass." "Then he decides to change the stakes on me." "But I'm finished now, and we can just leave." "Why leave?" "There's a half-naked chick in the room." "Until now, nobody's taken off anything other than socks." "So it's just all good, clean fun?" "Yeah, exactly." "Just good, clean, American guy fun." "Deal me in." "Excuse me?" "You heard me." "Now, what does a girl have to take off to play this game?" "Okay, that's enough. lt's time for us to leave because you're drunk bordering on disorderly and definitely insane." "Yeah, let's go." "Show them?" "Finished?" "Stand up." "Let's go." "You want me to stand up?" "Yes. I'd like for you to stand up now." "And why would I do that?" "Because you are forcing me to make the ultimate guy manoeuvre." "You can put me down now, please!" "You know, I can't believe I'm saying this, but thank you." "For the party. lt turned out not to be so horrible." "Well, thank you for coming." "I hope I got the number of candles right." "It'll do." "So should I make my wish?" "First, your present." "Hate for you to squander it on something that may be in this box." "Listen...." "Drue, I'm sorry about your parents." "Joey told me." "I'm sorry that I just assumed everything would be the same." "That was stupid of me." "lt was." "What are you waiting for?" "Open it." "All right." "But you didn't have to do this." "l know." "I know I didn't have to." "I wanted to." "What the hell is this?" "l think you know what it is." "Ecstasy?" "I thought I made my feelings perfectly clear on this subject." "Too clear." "Which led me to suspect the lady was protesting too much." "God, I am really an idiot." "You haven't changed." "And you have?" "Please." "Your hairstyle, maybe." "People don't change." "Not that much." "Yes, they do." "They grow up." "They accept responsibility." "They see that "die young, leave a good-looking corpse"  is not all it's cracked up to be." "I don't want your present." "Fine." "But since you're such a paragon of responsibility I guess it won't bother you if I just leave it right here." "For safekeeping." "Hey." "Just wanted to make sure that you got home okay." "Yeah. I hitched a ride with my one good arm." "I thought maybe Dawson gave you a lift." "Not that I care. I'm not going to get too involved in your life or anything." "You know, this is all your fault." "I know." "That's why I'm here apologizing." "I'm not copying the apology part." "I'm sorry. I really am." "I'm sorry that I wasn't more understanding with football." "And I'm really sorry that I got all over your case on college." "Keep going." "You want me to abase myself further?" "Basically, yeah." "Okay, Jack, you seem to think that I am, like really obsessed with the future, and I'm not." "I mean, I don't want it to get here any quicker than you do." "Yeah, well, you have a funny way of showing it." "Look, in less than a year, my life is gonna be completely changed." "Everything is gonna be different." "I'm gonna live somewhere different." "I'm gonna have different friends." "Everything is gonna be different." "And you know, in times of uncertainty, I look for things that I can fix." "You can't fix me, Andie." "I've gotta make my own mistakes in my own way and in my own time." "It's not just me." "You've gotta work on letting go of things you can't control." "Like where you're gonna go to college." "Or where l'm gonna go to college." "Agreed." "But do you realize next year will be the first year ever that we won't be in the same school together?" "I tried to start kindergarten without you." "What?" "That is such a story that Mom and Dad told you." "And besides, how could that possibly be true when everybody knows it's a fact that I, the more responsible one, am definitely the older sibling?" "All right." "I can't walk, Pacey." "Before, I have to drag you, kicking and screaming, but now you want to be carried?" "No." "It's a woman's prerogative to change her mind." "But tonight you're one of the guys, remember?" "And guys walk." "So come on, number four." "Out you get." "Watch your head." "I don't really feel so good." "Guess what." "You're gonna feel even worse tomorrow." "And you won't be any closer to getting into an lvy-covered institution." "Pacey?" "I've been doing some thinking." "Yeah." "Drunk thinking." "Maybe...." "Maybe that's not what I really want." "Maybe I just want to stay here." "You know?" "I mean...." "l mean, look, it's really beautiful here, and...." "And I could just" "Just what?" "Stay here and work as a waitress all your life?" "Forgive me if you lose me here, Jo." "But honestly, you haven't made sense all night." "Even before you were drunk." "l wanna be with you." "I wanna stay and be with you." "If you wanna be with me, staying here would be a really stupid idea." "Considering I don't plan to be here." "I plan to be wherever you are." "Really?" "Yes, really." "Not that you deserve to hear such things right now." "I know, I know. lt was a very stupid thing to get drunk." "Yes, it was. I mean, let's face it here, Jo." "You are destined for academic glory." "And your boyfriend is circling the drain, which is a problem." "In fact, that is a very big problem." "You couldn't possibly have thought you could solve your problems in one night, with alcohol, of all things." "No." "No." "Because alcohol has that effect on problems." "It just never solves them." "Ever." "And I would hate to think that I fell in love with a moron." "So you're in love with me, huh?" "Well, not currently, no." "Right now you're just a crazy, drunk girl I gotta get in that door without waking up the customers at her sister's BB." "But generally speaking, yes." "May I kiss you right now?" "Yes, please." "But I'm still not carrying you." "Please?" "Nope." "You can give me the eyes." "It's just not gonna work." "Oh, come on." "Honestly, you don't...." "Jo, what do I look like?" "Just fell off the turnip truck?" "You think I'm gonna fall for this?" "Jo...." "Halfway." "That's it. I swear." "I'm not kidding." "My back's killing me here." "I guess." "Since you're up." "Oh. I'm sorry. I saw the lights on, and I thought you were my mom." "It's okay." "She went home early." "So..." "...congratulations on the job." "Thanks. I feel like I owe you one." "Can I take a rain check?" "Oh, we're not gonna drink." "But for every quarter that I bounce into that glass you're gonna tell me one thing that's bothering you." "How do you know something's bothering me?" "Please." "Oh, there." "See?" "Perfect." "So spill." "All right." "Earlier this evening my mother accused me of wanting to go to California so I could run away from my problems." "And you think she's right?" "I don't know." "I mean...." "The past few weeks, I've seen things that make me want to run screaming." "Like?" "Don't make me answer this." "Come on." "This is much more therapeutic than drinking." "I've seen how much she loves him." "I've seen it in her face." "I've seen them hold hands." "I've seen them kiss." "And tonight, I saw them fight." "Which is something I've seen them do every day since the first grade." "But not like this?" "Yeah." "I think it was actually worse than the kissing." "You know, Dawson it might interest you to know, I did take one film class in college." "Was it a huge waste of time?" "No, it was great, actually." "Know what my teacher said was the most bogus line in Hollywood cinema?" ""There's no place like home."" "The Wizard of Oz." "Exactly." "It's what everybody remembers." "But it doesn't resonate with the rest of the story." "Think about it." "Home is this desolate, grey place where a nasty old lady is trying to kill your dog." "And Oz is" "Technicolor." "And sure it has its problems." "You know, poppy fields, flying monkeys" "Talking trees." "But along the way, you make friends." "Good friends." "With people that you never even knew existed when you were growing up." "Straw people, tin people" "And lions." "Exactly." "And you help each other realize that all the things you want to be you already are." "And it's fun." "Well, if it's so much fun what are you doing here?" "I don't recall you getting to ask any questions as part of our deal." "What if I can bounce a quarter in that glass?" "Never happen." "You're not even gonna let me try?" "Oh, you can try, but you're gonna have to use your own money because I worked very hard to earn these quarters." "You're not gonna loan me one lousy quarter?" "No." "l don't think that's fair." "Well, that's too bad."