Disclaimer: As you probably already know I do not own these characters. Please don’t sue.

Rating: NC-17 for the entire series, although individual installments may vary.

Author’s note: This section is being narrated by Pacey.

Feedback: I’d love some feedback. Good or bad, send it to allegras_world@yahoo.com

--Pacey--

She’s outside lounging in a plastic kiddie pool when I get home. She’s wearing the tiniest black bikini I’ve ever seen as she idly flips through a magazine. Her body is amazing. She’s perfectly shaped, tanned, and has legs that seem to go on forever. They are the kind of legs that lead to lots of naughty thoughts...trust me on this, I know.

Josephine Potter. I can’t remember a time when she wasn’t a part of my life. Sure, we’ve had a kind of weird relationship over the years but we’ve always been there for each other when it’s really counted. She’s one of my best friends and I guess that’s why I’ve been so confused by these feelings I’ve been having about her lately. I have no idea where this attraction for her came from but it’s very intense at times. Sometimes I look at her and I’m just blown away by how beautiful she is. Just this morning as we were drinking our coffee together I couldn’t stop thinking about her hair and how soft it looked. I wondered how it would feel to touch...to have my fingers tangled in it. I thought I was going to have to leave the room, the feeling was so overwhelming. I was afraid I might actually reach out and touch her.

“Pacey is that you?” she calls out, squinting slightly in the bright sunlight, as she notices me in the doorway.

“Yeah, it’s me. What’s going on out here?” I ask, stepping outside onto the patio.

“Don’t ask,” she sighs, discouraged.

“Bad news?”

“Our air-conditioning system is so fucked up that it needs to be totally re-installed and it’s going to cost a fortune. I went out and bought this pool for $10 instead.”

“Oh God, not another summer without air-conditioning.” This is seriously bad news...I still have vivid memories of near heat stroke from last summer.

“It’s small, I know,” she tells me, gesturing at the pool, “but we can all squish in or take turns...or I suppose we could go out and buy another couple of them, they’re only $10.”

I pull one of our rickety lawn chairs over, kick off my shoes and dip my feet into the pool. I take a deep breath and ask, “How much?”

“You don’t want to know,” she tells me.

“That bad?”

She eases herself up from her reclined position, touches my knee and with sympathetic eyes answers me. “Two thousand dollars.”

I pull off my shirt and toss it aside, leaving me in only a pair of shorts. “Scoot over.”

We manage to fit into the tiny wading pool together but it’s close quarters. This is probably a bad idea I realize as soon as I feel her smooth, bare, leg against mine. I think I must be a bit of a masochist because I put myself in these kinds situations all too often. I wonder what she’d say if I were to run my hand along her leg. I quickly shake the thought from my head, this is Joey Potter I’m thinking about!!!

“How’s the gym look?” she asks, tossing her magazine to the ground.

“Like a high school gym decorated for a school dance,” I answer truthfully.

I’m a high school guidance counselor. People find it hard to believe and I don’t blame them, it surprises me sometimes as well. I was in college when I started doing some volunteer work with high school students for a project in one of my classes. To my surprise, I found that I worked really well with teens. I had had so much trouble in high school and never had anyone that I really felt like I could trust and I think that’s why I could really relate to these kids and why they trusted me so much. It was then that I knew what I wanted to do, much to the disappointment of my father who was still hoping I’d change my mind and go into law enforcement.

The bad thing about working at a high school is that they are always trying to rope you into chaperoning something. I’ve gotten pretty good at dodging their requests but they finally got me. It’s the end of the school year and my number was up. I spent my day helping students decorate the gym with streamers and balloons for the very last dance of the year. Then, to top it all off, I have to go back tonight to chaperone. I can hardly wait.

“Don’t you find it funny that when you were in high school you never went to dances but now, as an adult, you’re not just going to one but you’re even helping decorate for it.” She smiles that crooked little smile that is distinctly hers.

“Oh yeah, it’s hysterical,” I say dryly. “To be honest, I’m not finding the idea of spending my Saturday night at a high school dance anymore appealing than I did in high school.”

Her foot splashes some water onto me. “Well, you are on a ‘hiatus’ from dating so it’s not like you have any other plans.”

“Are you making fun of me?” I ask, splashing her back.

“No, of course not,” she grins.

“So, you wanna come with me and be my date?” I ask because suddenly the whole night seems like it could actually be fun if she was with me.

“I would Pace but Connor and I have dinner reservations tonight,” she tells me. “How long is the dance, maybe I could get by after dinner?”

“No, it’s okay. You go have a nice night and leave me to deal with all those hormonally charged adolescents by myself,” I tell her, feigning hopelessness.

“Well, it does sound like your kind of crowd,” she quips, patting my leg as she laughs.

~~~*~*~*~~~

Letting myself into the house, I glance down at my watch. 1:45 am. The dance officially ended at midnight but it took another hour and a half to clean up and make sure the kids didn’t loiter around in the parking lot. Policing teenagers is definitely not something I’m good at nor is it something I want to be good at. I’m glad it’s over and there wont be another dance until school starts back up in September.

“Pacey, is that you?” Dawson asks, half-asleep, from the couch where he is sprawled out. He is only visible by the glowing blue light of the Television.

“Expecting someone else?” I ask flipping on the light.

“What time is it?” he mutters, sitting up and rubbing his tired eyes.

“It’s almost 2. Are you okay man?”

“Yeah, I must have fallen asleep watching TV...”

“Why aren’t you spending the night at Elysse’s?” I ask him, referring to his girlfriend, whom he is rarely separated from.

“She’s in Monterey this weekend...visiting her parents,” Dawson sighs dramatically.

“Ah, that explains everything,” I say, rolling my eyes.

“I won’t get to see her until Monday.”

“You’ll survive,” I tell him, watching as he listlessly flips the TV off. “You should have just gone with her.”

“I wasn’t invited,” he replies flatly.

“Is that what you’re upset about?”

“Well, I just don’t know why she wouldn’t want me to come with her. I’ve already met her parents and I thought they really liked me...”

“Did you tell her you wanted to go?”

“Not exactly...”

“Dawson, man, don’t worry so much. Maybe she didn’t think you’d want to go with her...she probably thought she was doing you a favor.”

“You think?” he asks, looking up at me hopefully.

“Yeah, of course,” I reassure him. “Now go to bed.”

“Okay, will you turn off the lights and make sure everything’s locked up before you go to bed?”

“Sure, but what about Joey?”

“I’m not sure if Joey’s coming home tonight.”

“She staying over at Conner’s?” I ask, trying to keep my voice neutral.

“Yeah, I think so,” Dawson says, already shuffling off down the hall.

“I think I need some aspirin,” I mumble to myself, turning and heading to the kitchen.

~~~*~*~*~~~

I’m right at the edge of sleep when I hear the front door open. It’s Joey and Connor. I can hear the muffled sound of their voices as they enter Joey’s bedroom which, as luck would have it, is right next to mine. I begin to rummage around my desk for my Walkman...I know I won’t get to sleep if I have to listen to them. Their voices raise but not enough for me to actually make out what they’re saying but it sounds like they are arguing. Before I can get the headphones on I hear the front door close loudly and the sound of a car starting up. I hear Joey leave her bedroom and I stand in the middle of my room, trying to decide if I should just get back into bed or if I should go out and check on her. This is Joey though, so it really isn’t much of a decision.

I find her in the living room, still wearing her little black dress, sitting on the couch with her legs tucked under her. I can tell she’s been crying.

“Everything okay?” I ask and her head snaps up in surprise.

She gives me a hollow smile and nods her head. “Did we wake you up?”

“No, I haven’t been home long enough to get to sleep...”

“Oh, that’s right, the dance...” she remembers. “How did it go?”

“Not too bad. I broke up a couple fights and monitored the punch bowl to make sure no foreign substances were added. Pretty exciting, huh?”

“Sounds better than my night,” Joey sighs.

“What happened?”

“I don’t know...” she shakes her head. “Everything was off tonight. Connor was getting on my nerves. Actually, I think we were both annoying each other equally. I thought we had finally salvaged the night after we got back from the movie but then we got into some silly argument over what to do tomorrow, isn’t that stupid? He’s going down to Redondo beach in the morning with his friends and he wanted me to go. I told him I just wanted to spend the day at home and he got upset. We’re like two selfish children who both want their own way, it’s pathetic. The worst thing is that I’m glad he isn’t spending the night tonight...does that make me a terrible person?”

“No Joey, that doesn’t make you a terrible person. I think it’s normal to want to have some time alone,” I tell her. “Connor shouldn’t try and make you feel bad for not wanting to spend every minute of every day with him.”

“We have been spending a lot of time together lately...” she trails off. “Maybe I just need to do some things without him once and a while.”

“Yeah, exactly. It’s normal to go through ups and downs in a relationship.” I can’t believe I’m giving Joey relationship advice, it’s really quite humorous considering my own track record but I can tell she feels bad and I just want to make her feel better. It’s hard though, part of me wants to tell her to dump Connor...that she deserves so much better than him. I don’t though, it’s not my place.

“It’s just that sometimes I think...” She stops and shakes her head. “Never mind. You should go to bed Pace...get some sleep.”

“I don’t mind staying up if you want to talk.”

“No, I think I just want to be alone right now. Thanks anyway,” she smiles softly.

“Are you sure?” I ask again, hesitant to leave her.

“Yeah.”

“You know where I am if you need anything,” I tell her.

She nods her head and I reluctantly turn towards my bedroom. I hate to leave her but what can I do? She’s a grown women and I can’t force her to talk if she doesn’t want to. I glance back at her one last time as she stretches out on the couch and I hold back a groan. God, she’s sexy. There’s no way I’m going to get any sleep tonight.

To be continued...