* * * * *
"Hey Jen," Joey says as she walks up to her locker on Monday morning.
Jen turns around, surprised to see Joey actually smiling at her. "Joey, uh, hey. What's up?" she asks curiously, wondering why she's being so nice.
"Nothing. Just thought I'd say hey," she says.
"Oh, okay. Hey, have you seen Dawson?" Jen asks.
"No, I figured he'd be with you. I haven't seen him all day."
"Hmm, that's weird. I hope he's okay."
"I'm sure he is," Joey replies.
Jen gathers her books together and they start walking down the hall together. "Joey, I'm sorry if this seems rude but I just have to ask. Why are you being so nice to me?"
Joey looks at her for a second, wondering how to answer. Finally, she sighs. "Actually, the truth is that I just thought a lot about it this weekend and I realized that we should be friends. Neither of us have any other girl friends and you seem nice enough so . . ."
"And what about Dawson? You don't see that as a slight stumbling block on our road to friendship?" Jen asks.
"Well, I thought about that. But, I guess I realized that Dawson can only be with one of us. And, I'm just glad he didn't choose someone like Abby or Nellie."
Jen laughs at the thought of Dawson with either of those girls. "They'd eat him alive for sure," she agrees.
Joey laughs, too. "See, I knew we could get along," she says. Jen smiles, glad that they've found some common ground. She's still not sure that Dawson has made his final decision but she's not going to let him stand in the way of her friendship with Joey.
* * * * *
"They had lunch together," Pacey says to Dawson as they walk down the hall together after fifth period.
"Lunch? Joey and Jen?" Dawson asks incredulously.
"Yep. Where were you anyway?" he asks.
"I had some stuff to do," Dawson says.
"You mean you were too chicken to face both of them this morning. You stayed home trying to avoid them then felt all guilty for not being at school. It's your Opie complex."
"Gee, I thought I was Richie Cunningham. I must be regressing," Dawson replies.
"Either way," Pacey says. "You're just a do-gooder. You always will be. Be careful my friend. You know where they say nice guys finish."
"Yeah, trust me, been there done that," Dawson says.
"Poor pitiful Dawson," Pacey laments. "Two beautiful woman want him and whatever is he to do?"
"Shut up, you're just jealous anyway," Dawson says.
"Hey, you know me. I'm always looking for action. But, I think you can have this lover's triangle for yourself. I'm moving on to bigger and better things."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Dawson asks.
Pacey raises his eyebrows and grins mischievously at his friend before saying, "Co-eds."
Dawson can't help but laugh. "You are way too much."
"That's what they tell me my friend, that's what they tell me," he replies. Dawson continues laughing as they make their way to class.
* * * * *
Jen is standing outside after school talking to Cliff. He's leering at her as usual but she's trying to just be friendly. She's actually waiting for Dawson but she doesn't want to be rude to Cliff. Finally, she spots Dawson and smiles. "Sorry Cliff, I have to go. See you later," she says and dashes off, leaving Cliff standing alone and not looking too happy.
"Dawson, hey," she says as she approaches him.
"Hey," he replies, not sounding too enthusiastic.
"I haven't seen you all day," she says.
"Yeah, it's been a long day," he says. He starts walking away from the school and Jen follows him.
"Are you mad at me about Friday?" she asks.
"Mad? No, why should I be mad. I sort of figured you were mad," he says.
"Not mad, Dawson, more like confused. I really do like you. I just want to know that the feeling is mutual. And I want you to be honest with me about your feelings."
"I'm really trying," he says.
"I know. Let's just not rush into anything, okay?" she says.
"Yeah, okay," he replies. Maybe they can make things work out after all. At least he'll get a chance to try.
* * * * *
Dawson sits in his room pouring over his US history homework. He's been sitting here for hours but he can't seem to concentrate. He's reading a question about Manifest Destiny for about the tenth time when he hears something at the window. He looks over and is surprised to see Joey coming into the room.
"Jo . . . hey . . ."
"Hey," she smiles. "What are you doing?"
"Attempting homework but not making much progress," he tells her. "What are you doing here?"
"Oh, I was just in the neighborhood," she smiles. "Actually, I haven't talked to you much lately. I wanted to see how you were doing."
He smiles a little. "Fine, I'm fine."
"You and Jen are okay?"
"Yeah, sure. Why would you ask?"
"Pacey mentioned that Jen might be a little . . . put off by me. I really didn't want that, Dawson. I never meant for that to happen. I'm sorry if I screwed things up for you."
"No, you didn't," he assures her. "Actually, we're doing better. I think we'll be okay."
"That's good," Joey says.
"Really? You really feel that way?" Dawson asks, sounding unsure of what she is saying.
"Yeah . . . I mean, things have been weird with us lately. I'm ready to get back to normal. You and Jen seem to have fun together and care about each other a lot. I'm just glad to see you have someone who makes you happy. And I plan to find someone of my own so . . ."
"Anyone I know?" Dawson asks, almost afraid of the answer.
"No, not Pacey so get your mind out of the gutter. Pace and me are just friends. We figured that out pretty quick."
"Well, I hate to say it, but I'm happy to hear that," Dawson admits.
"I know you are," Joey smiles. "I swear, you're always looking over my shoulder, you know that," she teases.
"Someone has to watch out for you Jo. You tend to forget to look before you leap sometimes," he says.
"Yeah, like that day in detention . . . someday I'll learn to keep my big mouth shut."
"No, I think it's good you said all that stuff. Now we can get past it. We can keep being friends without having any secrets between us."
Joey nods at this and tries to believe what Dawson is saying and what she has been telling him. She does want him to be happy. And, if Jen makes him happy, then so be it. She can live with that. Whether she'll really be able to find someone else and get over him is debatable though. She doesn't see it happening but she knows she has to try. And she can't just keep things up with Dawson the way they have been or their friendship is going to suffer. So, Joey knows that, at least for now, she has to sacrifice her own feelings in order to preserve her relationship with her very best friend.
"So, how about we watch a movie?" she says.
"Sure, what movie do you want to watch?"
She smiles, remembering her conversation with Pacey in the tree house a few weeks back. "How about 'Pretty in Pink'?"
Dawson nods, not really knowing the story, which is probably a good thing. They sit down on the bed and watch the movie and it feels almost like old times . . . almost.
