Spoilers: None, but read the days in the right order or this will make no sense at all.
I don't own The English Patient.
Remember, anything can happen in fanfic....
Groundhog's Day: Day Four
Joey woke up, startled by her alarm clock. "Shut up you damn thing!" she screamed while slamming down the off button. Today was not going to be her day, she could feel it. She was tired and didn't want to go to school. Luckily, it was Friday. Friday the second. Friday the second? "No, not again," Joey moaned. Maybe something had happened to Pacey and Jen after she had left. "Why is this happening!" Joey said aloud.
"I hear no movement, Joey. Hurry up. You don't want to be late for school," Joey heard Bessie yell.
Screw school, Joey thought. Looks like I'll be repeating yesterday's performance, except I'll make sure Pacey and Jen are okay before I fall asleep. Joey got herself ready. She grabbed something to eat and ran out the door. She wasn't worried that she would be late, though. She knew that she'd be ten minutes early. She didn't even bother to bring her books. She stood patiently at her locker, pretending to put in her combination, awaiting for Dawson to cover her eyes.
"Guess who?" a familiar voice playfully said from behind her as Joey's eyes were covered.
"Okay, Dawson, we need to talk," Joey said, not even bothering to humor him. Joey took Dawson's hands off her eyes and turned around. "We have to get Jen, and Pacey will be there in a minute. Let's go."
"Whoa, Joey, what's going on?" Dawson asked, confused.
"I'll explain it to you in a minute," Joey said. "Don't worry." She paused. "We have all the time in the world," she realized. Dawson looked even more confused as Joey dragged him by the arm to Jen's locker.
"Morning, Joey," Jen said sleepily, but happy to see her.
"So?" Dawson asked anxiously.
"We're waiting for Pacey," Joey answered. "He should be here right about--" she saw him come up behind them, "-- now," she smiled.
"Did I hear my name?" Pacey asked.
"Okay, we're all here, let's go."
"Let's go where?" Jen asked.
"Yeah, Joey, please tell us what's going on!" Dawson groaned.
"Do any of you remember my talking about the day repeating itself?" Joey sighed. Everyone shook their heads no. "I'm going to explain to you what's going on. We're ditching school, though, because it will take a while. No one will get in trouble, and you'll understand why when I explain it. You guys coming?" The three exchanged glances, but finally nodded yes. "Good," Joey said and headed for the door.
Joey told Pacey, Dawson, and Jen every detail of the last three days, only omitting what happened when Dawson and Jen got drunk. They were sitting in the Ruins trying to make sense of it all. "No, Jen, it couldn't have been a dream," Joey added, even though Jen hadn't said anything.
"How did you... wow. I guess the day really is repeating itself," Jen said, shocked.
"Right. You've known about too many things happening to make this up," Dawson agreed.
"So how do we stop this? And sorry, Dawson, we tried that yesterday," Joey rolled her eyes. Dawson had just opened his mouth to speak.
"You don't even know what I'm going to say!" Dawson exclaimed.
"I tried going alone with you to your house and going to sleep. Didn't work," Joey said, annoyed.
"Maybe it's the alarm clock?" Pacey suggested.
"Pacey, that is one of the stupidest things..." Jen started.
"Wait," Joey interrupted. "By this point, I'll try anything. How about we destroy my alarm clock and then all go to Dawson's to watch The English Patient? If it works on Alex, I'm sure it will put me to sleep, too. We'll all be together so nothing can happen to anyone, okay?"
"Okay," everyone agreed. They left for the video store and got the movie. Then, they went to Joey's house.
"Stay here," she whispered and climbed into her window. She silently picked up her alarm clock and tiptoed through the hall. She opened her front door. "We're in luck, everyone," she called. "Bessie's not home. She won't be home for another couple hours, I'm sure, and I don't feel like rowing you all to Dawson's, so we'll watch the movie here. Too bad, we could have taken the copy we use on Alex if I knew Bessie wasn't here and saved a trip to the video store. Doesn't matter though... now to do one thing first..."
Joey stepped outside to where everyone else was gathered. She took the alarm clock and threw it against the ground. She grabbed a rock and smashed the two pieces that had formed from the impact into ten. She began to scream as she stomped on the pieces, breaking them up even further, and then dropped them all into the creek. Joey looked up to see her friends staring at her, stunned. "Oops," she said nervously smiling her half-smile. "I may have gotten a little carried away."
"Sure you're not crazy?" Jen asked cautiously. Joey shook her head, and everyone stared at her for a moment before they followed her into the house.
The English Patient was working quite well. Joey was nodding off and it was only a half hour into the movie. She started leaning into Pacey's shoulder. He looked down at her and smiled. No consequences, huh? he thought. No, I can't tell her anything. She still remembers everything each day. He put his arm around her. Joey stirred slightly, but didn't really notice. She wasn't quite asleep yet and heard Jen say something.
"This is kind of ridiculous, isn't it? I mean, the day is repeating itself? And did you see how violent she was with her clock?"
"I believe her," Pacey said, not really caring to listen to Jen since he had Joey in his arms. Joey smiled slightly.
Good old Pacey, she thought, woozy.
"Yeah, well I do, too," Dawson said, eyeing Pacey and Joey jealously. He should be comforting her, not Pacey. Didn't Pacey get the hint when she wouldn't kiss him?
"It's just a little too weird for me," was the last thing Joey heard Jen say before she fell into a slumber.
Please send feedback! This part was tame, but things may get more interesting when the gang decides to try staying up all night in Day Five.