The Lost Boys

* * * * *

Joey hears a horn honk out front and knows her ride for school has arrived. She grabs her books and dashes for the door. "Bye Bess, bye Bodi," she calls towards the kitchen as she leaves.
Pacey smiles at her as she walks out. "Good morning. Your chariot awaits m'lady," he says with an exaggerated bow towards the Witter family station wagon.
Joey giggles at him and rolls her eyes. He is standing in front of the car and grinning at her.
"What's the deal with you today?" she asks as she walks towards the car. Pacey quickly goes to her side to open the door for her.
"Me?" he asks. "What are you talking about? I'm as normal as ever."
"You know, coming from Pacey Witter I have *no* clue what that means!" she says with a laugh.
Pacey gets in on the driver's side and smirks. "Very funny," he replies.
"Seriously Pace . . . what's gotten into you? Why are you in such a good mood?" she asks. There is a certain weariness to her voice as she tries to decipher what is going on with him.
Pacey fidgets in his seat. "Nothing," he insists. "I really don't know what you are talking about."
She continues to stare at him suspiciously. "Hey," she says suddenly, "you have keys!" she indicates the set of car keys he is using at that moment to crank the station wagon.
"Huh? Oh . . . yeah," he replies absently. His thoughts are very scattered this morning. Joey was right about something being up with him, he's just not ready to tell her about it yet.
"So?" she questions.
"So . . ." Pacey says, lost as to what they are discussing.
"The keys dummy! Did you steal them from Doug or what?" she asks.
"Oh . . . no, my mom let me drive today. I turned 16 last week. She finally just decided to let me take the car so I'd stop hot wiring it I guess."
"Cool, so you're picking me up for school from now on then?" she asks with a sly grin.
Pacey replies, very seriously, "Of course."
"You're weird today, Pace; weirder than usual even. I'm going to get to the bottom of this one way or another," Joey says.
Pacey just squirms uncomfortably in the driver's seat and tries to formulate a plan in his mind as to what his next step will be.

* * * * *

"Dawson! Hey, wait up!" Jen calls as she rushes down the sidewalk towards him. Dawson is just getting ready to enter the front door of Capeside High School. He turns and sees Jen and stops to wait for her.
As Jen approaches, she notices how dazed Dawson looks. She can tell he's upset about something. This immediately saddens Jen. In the past few weeks, ever since that weekend Joey got sick, she has seen a distance growing between Dawson and herself. She knows what this means . . . they are growing apart. She's seen this coming but, still, it's hard.
"Dawson, what's wrong? Are you okay?" she asks.
"I don't know," he says miserably.
Jen leads him over to a nearby bench and they both sit. The quad is clearing out as time for homeroom grows closer and they are practically the last ones left in front of the school now.
"What's going on? What happened?" she questions in a concerned voice.
Dawson looks at her with a rather lost expression and says, "I honestly don't know . . . Something is going on, but I'm not sure what it is."
"Do you feel like talking?" she asks.
"No, not really," he says. He sees a rather hurt look cross her face and he quickly says, "I'm sorry Jen. I just meant . . ."
"I know, it's okay," she assures him. The bell rings, signaling that they are both late for homeroom. "We'd better go," she says as she gets up.
Dawson gets up, too. "Great," he rolls his eyes. "I can't wait until this day is over," he says and the two of them walk together towards the school.

* * * * *

"Hey Jo, how was marine biology this morning? Enlightening as usual?" Pacey asks as he meets her beside her locker after first period.
"Yeah," Joey rolls her eyes, "fantastic as ever."
"Did you finish your term paper yet?" he asks.
"Yep, turned it in last week," she says as she rummages through her locker trying to find her geometry notebook.
"Always trying to show us average students up," he teases.
"Oh Pace, you're not average. An average grade would be a C, and since you are pulling a stellar D minus, I'd say . . ."
"Don't ever start!" he cuts her off. "Like Deputy Doug hasn't reamed me enough."
Joey grins and shuts her locker as they start down the hall together. "I'm sorry, I'm only teasing. You know, I have to take Doug's side on this just a little though."
"You think I'm the town loser, too?" he asks.
"No, of course not. I just think you don't try hard enough. You're not dumb; you just don't care. If you spent a little less time trying to displease your family just to spite them, you might find that applying yourself actually makes you feel better about who you are."
He looks over at her and smiles slightly. "Thanks Jo. I know in some ways you're right . . . sometimes I just think that I've wasted too much time goofing off to ever really turn my life around. Ten years from now, I'll probably be right where I am now, only with less hair." He laughs, but stops when he sees the look Joey gives him.
"Don't . . . this isn't a joke. You never give yourself enough credit," she says.
"But you do . . . and that means a lot more to me," he replies. They are stopped now in front of the door to her next class. The look Pacey gives her is intense, more intense than she ever expected from him. She starts to say something but then she sees Dawson and Jen approaching.
"Hey guys!" she calls over. She's not entirely happy to see them together, but she's not surprised either. Dawson hasn't been spending as much time with Jen lately, but technically they are still going out.
"Hey," Jen says as they walk over to Joey and Pacey. Dawson just nods and smiles. Joey knows immediately that something is wrong. She gives him a look and he looks away. "Um, Joey?" Jen says. "Can I talk to you?"
"Uh . . . yeah, sure," Joey replies and they walk together a little further down the hall. Pacey and Dawson stay behind. Dawson is too worried to notice the girls and Pacey is too busy trying to figure out what's going on with Dawson.
"You okay, man? You don't look so hot," he says.
"I'm fine, it's just . . . I'm fine," Dawson replies.
"Yeah, okay," Pacey says skeptically.
Meanwhile, Jen and Joey are talking quietly on the other end of the corridor. "What's wrong with him?" Joey asks.
"That's what I'd like to know," Jen says. "He's really upset, but he won't tell me why. He just has that look on his face every time I see him today. So, I was hoping, maybe, you'd talk to him?"
"Me? Why me?" Joey asks.
"Oh come on, don't give me that! He's your best friend. You know as well as I do that if he is going to talk to anyone, it'll be you."
Joey sighs, "Alright, you're right." They start back over to the guys just as the bell rings.
"I gotta go, see you ladies," Pacey says.
"Bye Pace," Jen calls and Joey waves. "Well, I better get to class. Bye."
"Later Jen," Joey says.
"Bye," Dawson says weakly.
"Dawson, you going to class?" Joey asks once they are alone. Hardly anyone is left in the hall and the late bell will ring in the next thirty seconds.
Dawson shrugs, "I dunno."
"Okay, what is it?" she asks.
"What's what?"
"You know, what's wrong? You're acting very strange," Joey says.
"You're going to be late, Jo," he says.
"I don't care, Dawson! I'm not worried about that. I'm worried about you. What's your deal?"
"It's . . . it's . . . that's just it, I have no idea! I don't know what's wrong," he says in frustration.
"Then how can you be so sure something is wrong? Maybe whatever it is isn't what you think," Joey says.
"No, something is up. My mom . . . she's really upset, I mean *really* upset. I can just feel it; something is going to happen. And I don't think it's gonna be good."
"Well, until it happens worrying about it won't get you anywhere. Why don't you just try to put it out of your mind and tonight you can talk to your mom about it."
"Yeah, I guess you're right," he says.
"Of course I am. Now, we had better get to class before we both get detention. I'll see you at lunch, okay?"
"Yeah, okay, bye Jo," he says and heads off towards his next class. She watches him go and wonders what could be going on with his mom. She figures she will find out soon enough and turns to go to her own class.

* * * * *

Gayle lifts her head to look at the clock on the bedside table. She's surprised to find that it's almost 11 o'clock in the morning . . . she's been lying here for three hours. She gets up and walks over to the master bathroom. Looking in the mirror, she sees the bloated cheeks and puffy, red eyes that are telltale signs of her morning-long crying spree. She splashes her face with cold water but isn't able to help her appearance much. It doesn't matter though . . . nothing really matters except what she has done . . .
The biggest mistake of her life . . . that's what this might turn out to be. She could lose everything she has, all that she has worked for, everything she loves, in one fell swoop. The thought sends a shiver down her spine. It would be so easy to run and hide from this. All she'd have to do is leave . . . but what would she be left with then? No, if she doesn't face things she cannot go on. Running away would only hurt Mitch and Dawson more, and they of all people deserve more from her. She owes them the truth, and soon enough they will both have it.

* * * * *

Dawson is relieved when the last bell rings, signaling the end of this day. It's been one of the longest days he can remember. He was late to three of his six classes. He can't remember one thing that any of his teachers said all day. One thing is for sure; it was pretty much a waste of eight hours.
Gathering his books, Dawson heads down the hallway until he runs into Pacey. "Hey, how's it going Gilligan? You seen Ginger and Mary Ann lurking around here anywhere?" Pacey asks.
"Nope, sorry," Dawson replies.
"What's wrong man? You still down in the dumps?" Pacey asks.
"Nah, it's nothing, I'm fine," he says.
"Yeah, that's what you keep telling me, but . . ."
"Well, there you are," Joey says as she and Jen round the corner. "We've been looking for you two everywhere."
"Ah, our fellow castaways have arrived!" Pacey smirks.
"Whatever, so are you taking us home or what?" Joey asks.
"But of course. The Witter family limousine awaits your arrival my sweet," he says.
Joey rolls her eyes and Jen giggles. "Don't laugh, that only makes him worse," Joey tells her. They all walk towards the exit, laughing as Joey and Pacey swap insults.

* * * * *

"See you guys later. Hey, call me later, okay Dawson?" Joey says as he and Jen get out of Pacey's car in front of their houses.
"Yeah, okay. Bye," he says. Jen waves and Pacey pulls off and heads towards Joey's house.
"What do you suppose is going on with him?" Joey asks.
"I don't know, but for someone who told me she was going to stop being interested in him, you sure do like to talk about the guy."
"He's still my friend, Pacey," she says.
"Friend, yeah, okay," he mumbles.
"What's that mean?" she demands.
"Nothing, did I say something?" he asks, feigning innocence.
"Hmm," Joey says but doesn't carry the conversation any further. She's too worried about Dawson to bother with an argument with Pacey anyway.

* * * * *

"Mom? You in here?" Dawson calls. He looks by the door and sees his father's suitcases. Just then, he hears yelling upstairs.
"What? You what? I . . . God, I cannot believe this!" Mitch Leery yells. He appears suddenly at the top of the stairs and starts thundering down them.
"Mitch, wait!" Gayle says as she follows behind him, but he doesn't stop. He just keeps walking away.
"Dad?" Dawson says in confusion. Mitch finally stops and looks to see his son. "What's going on?" he asks.
Mitch sighs heavily and looks back at Gayle. Then, with the most hurt, pained expression Dawson has ever seen, he says, "Ask your mother." After that, he grabs one of his suitcases and leaves, slamming the door behind him.
Gayle collapses on the stairs in tears. Dawson rushes over to her. "Mom? Mom, what's happening? What's going on?" Dawson asks.
"I . . . something awful has happened," she responds.
"Oh, come on, how awful could it be?" he asks. But, he knows it must be pretty bad for his dad to leave like that.
She looks up at him and, with tears streaming down her face, says, "I'm pregnant, Dawson."
His expression is one of pure shock. It takes a minute just for what she has said to sink in. Then, the questions all bombard him at once. There's so much to ask. But, ultimately one question stands out. "Is it Dad's?"
His mother looks completely broken and alone as she says, "I don't know, Dawson, I just don't know."

* * * * *