"What you thinking?" "Nothing." "Just Joey." "She and Jen got on a train for New York a couple of hours ago." "Don't they have school tomorrow?" "No." "No, they don't. lt's Ditch Day." "The night before our Ditch Day me, Alice, Carol, Ted and Bobby were sitting at my house and we didn't have anything to do." "So we got in our car, and we just started to drive south." "We drove all night, all day, all the way to the Virginia state line got out of our car, looked around, turned back and drove home." "I've never done anything remotely like that in my entire life with anyone." "Why not?" "Wait." "What are we doing?" "What about Life?" "I was about to retire in style." "We're gonna abandon Life for a little while." "We're gonna get in a car and drive." "Whoa, Tex." "I wasn't making a suggestion just basking in a nostalgic impulse." "Doesn't matter." "This is exactly what we need." "Why does this sound like a Bruce Springsteen song?" "It is." "Exactly like that." "It's epic and romantic and crazy and perfect." "Plus, we have no choice. lt's not enough just to recognize your fears." "It may be enough for right now." "No, it's...." "I just can't wait." "Time is running out." "Don't you feel it a little, the absolute urgency of this moment?" "Come on." "You're very quiet today." "I know. I'm sorry." "Don't be." "Tell me what's on your mind." "lt's not important." "We'll see." "You know the song "Sweet Jane"?" ""Sweet Jane." Cowboy Junkies?" "It's Lou Reed, actually and Cowboy Junkies covered it a few years ago, but that's the one." "It's stuck in my head." "I used to really love that song." "Learned it by heart." "Did I perhaps mention my list of destinations in the city while you go to your boring college meeting?" "Several times." "l figured out when and where we need to meet for dinner at 8 if we gotta make the train at 1 1 ." "You are flirting with maniacal, sweetie." "Do you know where the admissions office is?" "l'm sure we'll figure it out." "Excuse me." "Don't you think we should head downtown so you have time to find it in the maze that is Greenwich Village?" "You don't want to be late." "This is a very, very fast-paced city." "I'll try to keep up." "Witter." "What the hell are you doing here?" "lt's Ditch Day." "l heard you'd be here, Drue." "And far be it for me to miss out on even a morsel of your flamboyant wit." "Thank you." "Administration has kindly informed me that given my questionable attendance and disciplinary records that participation in "ditching" would result in failure to graduate." "So I told them to stick it." "And yet you're still here." "Funny how that works." "Yeah." "They called my mother." "Look, Drue, I have this quiz right now." "It's really more of a test than a quiz." "He just calls them quizzes." "I have a lot of studying to do, so" "So, what do you say, after this quiz, once our attendance is duly noted you and I, we blow off afternoon classes, and we go get dangerous?" "Boy, that sounds real tempting, but no." "Witter, sometimes you just gotta say, "What the hell," and live a little." "See, I have this test today then I have another test tomorrow that's twice as big." "Ouch." "Hate to be you." "Does make you wonder, though." "Wonder what?" "What it is Joey's doing at this moment as you rot away in academic prison." "Jen Lindley?" "l'm so glad you're here." "Princess of SoHo, love of my life." "Look at you." "What'd you do to your hair?" "Joey, this is Typo." "Typo, Joey." "Typo." "You are looking at one of the very best people in a city of 1 2 million." "And the future of the expressionist movement." "She knows that flattery will get her everywhere." "What brings you two ladies to the city?" "Well, Joey's taking care of me." "She's my keeper." "Well, you always needed one of those." "Hey." "She's also just never seen New York." "What kind of young lady's never been to Manhattan?" "I can't imagine where you buy clothes." "Okay, come on." "Sit down for a second." "I want to know everything about everyone." "What's everybody doing?" "Who's married?" "Who's pregnant?" "Anyone die?" "We're all still here." "Some we don't see so much anymore." "I try to see Ben and Monica for lunch at Barney Greengrass on Wednesdays." "Today." "Today is Wednesday." "l know." "I cannot wait to show you" "Aren't we forgetting about your meeting with the Admissions guy..." "...from the University of New York?" "You're applying there?" "Actually, I got in." "I just gotta go meet the guy." "Baby, is it possible that we'll get you back?" "I'm contemplating it." "What do you think?" "Dumb question." "Well, I can't believe it." "It's so far away from where we live, Jen." "And honestly, I can't believe there's even any debate about whether or not you wanna go back." "What about that thing they always say, though that you can never really go home again?" "Mr. Witter, my favourite and only senior." "I hear all the college acceptance letters have officially been sent." "How are your options?" "They're narrowing by the minute, sir." "Well, relax." "This quiz is the first quiz of the rest of your life." "Whoops." "Well this happened." "That's it?" "That's all you have to say?" "After six hours on the road?" ""This happened."" "Aren't you supposed to have a spare?" "Supposed to, yeah." "Have?" "No." "I gave it to some kid who needed a ride home." "Well, I'm excited." "This is the kind of unforeseen complication that makes trips like this an adventure and not just an excursion." "What was that for?" "Inspiration." "Now I'm gonna go use my body to hitchhike us a ride." "You hide." "Nobody picks up a babe and her boyfriend." "I'm not so crazy about the hitchhiking idea." "Why not?" "You ever see The Hitcher?" "Rutger Hauer." "Just trust me, we would regret it." "Okay." "Well, what, then?" "Walking distance." "Come on." "You're up for adventure." "Mr. Witter." "Jen, what did we say the name of the admissions guy was?" "Thomas Stevenson" " Ton." "Because you said Steve Thompson the last time I asked." "And the time before that, you said Thomas Stetson." "One of those. I forget." "You don't have a meeting at the University of New York, do you?" "What are we doing here?" "I gotta see my dad." "I've just been thinking about things lately why things are the way they are and I'm just not gonna know until I see him." "But you should take in the city." "You got one day and so much stuff to see." "And I'm" " You know, I'm gonna be fine, most likely." "Just meet me at 8:00 in front of the Mercer Hotel for dinner, okay?" "You were paying attention to my schedule." "Be careful out there." "l feel like I won't see you again." "You will." "Yeah, I will." "What?" "I'm coming with you." "I'm your keeper." "is it just me, or does this seem eerily like The Twilight Zone?" "Anyone here?" "Hello?" "is anybody here?" "Hello, there." "How goes it?" "That must be Irv." "That's me, Irv of Irv's Garage." "How can I be of service to you two today?" "Our tire blew out six miles down the road." "Son, this is your lucky day, ain't it?" "I got some tires in stock." "Great." "We'll take one." "Be my pleasure." "And a ride back to our car." "Oh, boy." "Now, there we've got a problem." "The only vehicle I got to take you there is my truck here, Eleanor Roosevelt." "And unfortunately, Mrs. Roosevelt's taken ill." "She's got a busted carburettor." "I'm the only one here that do any work, all alone." "Be most of the day to get her fixed." "What if I helped you fix the car, then you drove us back?" "I'd like to learn about Eleanor Roosevelt." "That is the most generous thing I've heard all week." "Thank you, son." "Now you just step in here." "I'm gonna show you the secrets of an automobile." "Come on and see." "This here is the air filter." "All right." "You guys have fun." "Nothing better than a man who smells like motor oil." "l'm gonna find us something to eat." "Okay." "What's your name, son?" "Dawson." "All right." "This is the air filter, Dawson." "Right down there is the carburettor." "Whoa, whoa, whoa." "Jen, Jen." "Look." "After urgent realization and revelation you travelled all the way to New York to see this man to confront him about something in what I'm feeling will be one of the seminal moments of your entire life." "I've been there." "At least close enough to know that it only happens once so you better take a second to think about what that's gonna be." "Okay." "So how about we talk about that quiz?" "It was a piece of cake." "Never even broke a sweat." "You think you aced it?" "No problem. lt was so easy." "Jen, what happened to you?" "I used to hate Capeside." "When I was a little girl, like, 1 2, l" "God, I just hated it." "And I know it sounds ludicrous now, but it was because of my Grams." "I was totally petrified of her so whenever my mom would want us to go visit, I just...." "l just completely didn't want to go." "And there was this one time, and it was a Friday and we were supposed to go for the weekend, just me and my mom because my dad had all this work to do." "And I just complained and fought with her in the cab, all the way to the train station." "And we get to the platform, and...." "And for some reason, I still don't know why, but...." "But she just turned to me and said:" ""Jen, you don't want to go, fine." "Stay here." "Go home and be with your father."" "And I just remember being shocked that I'd won that I got to go spend the whole weekend with my dad." "I really loved my dad, but" "Hi there." "What do you want?" "Let me have a tuna salad" "We're out of tuna." "Okay." "How about the chicken salad?" "We're out of chicken salad too." "Egg salad?" "Nope." "What do you have?" "Beef." "Roast beef?" "Sort of." "Okay. I guess I'll take two of those." "Can I get a couple of Cokes?" "Pepsi." "Right." "There are two young women here to see you and one of them is saying she's your daughter." "Angel, I am so glad you're here." "Hi, Dad." "Hello there." "You a friend of Jennifer's?" "Yeah, Joey Potter from Capeside." "Joey Potter from Capeside." "Pleasure." "Nice to meet you, Mr. Lindley." "Please, call me Theo." "What brings you and my daughter to Manhattan?" "Well, I've never been here, and Jen was...." "Jen got accepted to the University of New York." "Donna?" "Yes." "My daughter was accepted to the University of New York." "Cancel the rest of my day, and make reservations for three at the Westside Grill in 30 minutes." "Dad, you don't have to" "My daughter was accepted to college." "It doesn't even matter which one." "That's a big event in any father's life." "Huge, even." "It's way more important than some lame business meeting." "We're gonna celebrate." "" Mos Eisley." "You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy." "We must be cautious."" "Hey, Mack." "Did you miss me?" "You, Gilbert?" "Always." "Gilbert?" "Shut up and take this." "Look, Gilbert, this is a picture of a short, balding Asian man in his 40s." "lt's not exactly my doppelganger." "He could be your twin brother." "They don't even look at the picture." "They just wanna see something." "Hi." "Who's your friend, Gilbert?" "He got an id?" "David Kebo of Rhode lsland?" "What can I get you, Dave?" "Can we get three rounds of your finest tequila?" "And I'd like to start running a tab, please." "Sure." "Thank you." "My father's idea of a birthday present." "Creative, isn't it?" "When was your birthday?" "You know why I brought you here?" "Because you didn't want to drink alone." "Well, yeah." "But there's more." "This bar we're sitting in, the Big Ace Saloon is near your local community college, which, I understand is becoming an increasingly likely alternative for you." "Yes." "You know, man at school today, I felt that the place is getting a little lonely, you know?" "l mean, everybody's gone." "lt was Ditch Day." "Well, I know-- l'm not ready for this conversation yet with anybody and especially not with you." "That's fine. I just thought you should see this place, you know?" "But, hey, despite the stigma of failure and loss we're surrounded by good people." "Smart people, people of substance." "Let's toast, shall we?" "To the future." "And my grandpappy had this car, big car." "You understand, back in those days a car like that was a precious commodity." "lt still is." "Yeah." "You're right, there, little girl." "I'll get yours fixed up." "Then you two lovebirds can be on your way." "Where are you headed?" "Hard to say, lrv. lt's hard to say." "Anyhoo, Grandpappy and me were headed- Irv?" "Yes?" "How much will this cost us?" "Cost." "You mean money?" "That's not really polite." "Irv is doing us a tremendous favour" "Sixty bucks." "Excuse me?" "Sixty bucks for the tire." "Then another 20 bucks for the ride." "Honey, give him the money." "Okay, I'm confused." "Didn't I just help you fix your truck?" "Yes, you did, Dawson." "That was mighty nice of you." "And you're gonna make a crackerjack mechanic, boy." "But you won't help us?" "I can't help you when you don't have any money." "What about generosity?" "Good luck to you two lovebirds." "Well that happened too." "I got it." "Hey, Henry, how's it going?" "Let me get a Glenlivet on the rocks, splash of water." "Your best Shirley Temple for my daughter." "Whatever Miss Potter would enjoy and, Henry, tell him that we're here." "He'll know what to make." "Dad?" "Yes, sweetheart?" "Nothing." "Nothing, I forgot." "She's too modest to say it but Jen was accepted to five out of the six colleges that she applied to." "Honey, that's fantastic." "That's excellent." "When I applied to school I was only accepted at one, Princeton." "But it made the decision-making process a lot easier." "Well, Jen has a lot of choices." "She also has impeccable judgment." "So, what about you, Joey?" "You know where you're headed?" "I think I'm headed to Boston." "What about New York?" "This whole city is an education." "And an inspiration." "What do you think?" "l don't know. I think it's kind of big." "Big?" "Biggest city in the country even though the island itself doesn't have much space." "But it's amazing." "You know, I've lived here for 30 years and it still continues to surprise me every day." "How?" "How what?" "How does it surprise you every day?" "Good question." "A city like New York where everything's moving at this constant, driving pace it's like a living organism breathing and changing and over time, your relationship to it becomes like this incredible romance." "At first, it's intoxicating irresistible." "And then, slowly, it becomes comfortable and safe." "You have this cellular connection to it as if you've known each other forever, like your oldest happiness." "And sometimes you're on the outs, and sometimes you're making up." "And every now and then, you catch yourself in this transcendent moment where you think to yourself:" ""Oh, my God, I'm madly in love with you." "And I always will be."" "And I think that's when it surprises me." "Wow, that's a good answer." "I can't think of anything." "Well, that's just too damn bad, isn't it?" "Please?" "I'm sorry, I love travelling with you, but I cannot give you your sandwich until you figure out how to fix this and get us moving again." "It's a perfect opportunity for you to rise to the occasion." "You know I'm starving." "I can imagine." "You haven't had your beef sandwich." "Did you know that Willowby was famous for their beef sandwiches?" "Okay, we'll walk back into town, call my parents have them wire us money." "First of all, do you have any idea what it means to wire money?" "I've seen the commercials." "It's the fastest way to send money." "Okay, and second of all how did your experience of Willowby so radically differ from mine to the point you think they actually have a 24-hour Western Union?" "Hand over those dollar bills, boys." "You're playing with Daddy now." "How you boys doing?" "Quite well." "You having a good time?" "Mighty big fun, Mack." "Dave?" "Dave?" "Yeah, Dave." "You're from Rhode lsland, right?" "Yes." "I was born and raised in Rhode lsland." "Me too." "What brought you to my establishment?" "I was in search of, you know, good folks, good fun." "And you, sir, have plenty of both." "Well, thanks, Dave." "I appreciate that, really." "But that's not really what I meant." "What I meant was what highway brought you from Rhode lsland to my establishment?" "That" " Well, we took the Chesapeake Highway to the Sam Adams Turnpike." "Then from the Sam Adams Turnpike, you get on Clayton Road, take that" "You have to excuse my friend Dave." "He's a little drunk" "Your hundred dollar bill is spent." "And, Dave I don't know any of those names." "Well, that's too bad." "Are you calling me a liar?" "I just got some bad news." "Nothing serious." "I have to go to the office, take care of some stupid business stuff." "I'd love to stay." "Go ahead and order anything more you want." "I know your taste buds have yet to be satisfied. lt's all paid for." "Henry will take care of you." "I want you to take your friend out and show her an amazing night in New York, okay?" "Show her some magic." "You're never gonna find a better tour guide than my daughter." "She knows this town better than anyone." "Great to meet you." "lt was" "Jennifer, I love you." "You get more beautiful all the time." "See you around." "Have a safe trip home." "I'll call you." "So below us is Wall Street, World Trade Center Tribeca, Lower East Side SoHo, Washington Square Park Flatiron, Union Square." "In the distance, that's Midtown." "Rockefeller Center, the theatre district, Radio City and the Empire State Building." "God, I do love this town." "So this is New York City." "No, this ain't the half of it." "And it is so much better up close." "Yeah, but still, Jen, I mean thank you." "This blows my mind." "You blow my mind." "Well, thank you." "And thanks for coming with me today, I needed you." "I know." "Hey, Jen?" "Yeah." "What happened after your mom left you at Grand Central Station?" "I spent that weekend wandering around the city just walking by myself." "Where did you sleep?" "The first night, I slept in the parking lot of an office building that I always used to pass on my way to school." "Next night, I fell asleep in the vip room of this club called Purgatory." "And the last night, I slept in the dorm room of this guy that I met at a bar." "And why didn't you go home to be with your father?" "I did." "I have to go." "I know." "I'm sorry." "Are you gonna be okay?" "I'm gonna be fine." "Are you gonna be okay?" "Yeah." "Yeah, maybe for the first time." "I feel like...." "What?" "I still feel like I'm not gonna see you again." "We'll see." "Jen, the train leaves at 1 1 ." "Make it." "I mean, we need you back there." "I take back every obnoxious thing I've said." "Ever?" "No." "Just today." "Why?" "Because you built a fire." "That's a lot more than most guys I've been with could do." "Out of driftwood and twigs and, you know, only using wet matches." "l'm impressed." "Three years of Boy Scouts will do that." "It's extremely sexy." "How sexy?" "Wait a second." "First, you gotta tell me, what's going on with you?" "Okay." "Today is a perfect example." "It's a perfect example of how our visions for our lives conflict with the realities. I still have my distortions and my delusions." "I still think that everything should be perfect and that Joey and I should have slept together for the first time." "What I realize is that I gotta let go." "You know?" "It's time." "And there's so much ahead of me." "There's college, there's this new baby and there's you." "So, what are you saying?" "I'm in love with you." "And I no longer remember what we're waiting for." "Neither do I." "Jennifer?" "I took a cab here." "What?" "All the way I had these visions of coming in and announcing that I wasn't going to Capeside." "What are you talking about?" "And you'd smile." "And we'd go for a walk." "Jen, it's really late." "And I came up the stairs I unlocked the door, and I put my bag down and I didn't hear anything, so I thought maybe you weren't there." "I was just resting. I'm awake now." "And then I heard something." "I heard a voice, a whimper very far away." "And...." "And then I heard it again." "And this time, I recognized it and I knew that it was Annie." "Who?" "Annie Sawyer." "She lived in the apartment downstairs with her parents." "She was probably the age I am right now." "She was my favourite person in the whole world." "And she was in our apartment?" "You were having sex with her." "But you were careless." "You left your bedroom door open and I could see in from the hallway I could see through the opening, it was" "Jennifer, you need some help." "Have you talked to anyone about this?" "And I backed out the hall and I went down the stairs, and I slipped out the front door and I disappeared onto Fifth Avenue in a big crowd." "It was after that that things started to get really bad, didn't they?" "You have imagined, in great detail something that never actually happened..." "...a very long time ago." "Dad who are you?" "I'm your father." "You knew didn't you?" "Oh, God, all this time." "My life got uglier and messier and you sent me away." "You...." "You made me feel ashamed." "You" "You punished me for all these things that were beyond my control." "You saw me standing in the doorway and you never said anything." "I wasn't...." "l didn't" "No. I don't need a confession." "That's not why I came here." "I don't need you to apologize for all the pain you've caused me and I don't have to forgive you." "All I have to do is forgive myself for these things that I can't change." "Goodbye, Daddy." "What do we got, Mick?" "Got him for drunk and disorderly." "You know the drill." "So, what do you wanna do, Doug, arrest me?" "I should." "More, I'm just curious." "About what?" "You're not satisfied with being a moron and failure?" "You gotta add drunk to your list of credentials?" "What?" "This is it for me!" "This is my whole life right here!" "This is all I get!" "Pacey." "Pacey." "Get off of me!" "I want to make love to you." "So much." "So much." "And I really believe that that was why we came here." "But it's not." "And as much as I want you, and I love you..." "...we're not gonna do this." "Why not?" "Because when we go there it's not gonna be because you have something to prove to yourself." "It's gonna be because we love each other and because we're prepared to show each other what that really means." "So it was good." "I needed to go back, and I did." "And now I'm done." "l got what I needed." "You know you're not done." "Not even close." "We're only just starting to make sense." "No, I'm finished." "Jen" "Tom, I get it." "I do, and I appreciate it and I'm really glad that we could do this but I don't have anything else to say." "I'll see you around."