* * * * *
Joey wakes up and looks at the clock. It's almost 6 o'clock in the evening and she's been sleeping for hours. She feels like crap. It's a good thing she didn't go on that trip with Bessie and Bodi because she would have been miserable by this time. 'And what am I now?' she wonders as she looks in the mirror. Her hair is a mess and sticking up everywhere, she has dark circles under her eyes and her throat feels like it's on fire. She doesn't care, though. All she wants to do right now is get some orange juice and crawl right back into the bed.
She makes her way into the kitchen slowly. As she reaches the refrigerator, the room starts to spin a little. Grabbing the counter for support she blinks several times and tries to steady herself. "Man, what was that?" she mumbles as things begin to finally come back into focus.
Opening up the refrigerator, Joey takes out the orange juice carton and pours herself a glass. She leans back against the counter and drinks it. Her head is pounding so she decides to get back to bed. She sets aside the empty juice glass and turns back down the hall to the awaiting warmth of her bed.
* * * * *
"Hello?" Dawson says as he picks up the phone.
"Some Kind of Wonderful," he hears Pacey's voice say.
"What?" Dawson is very confused and wonders what his friend could possibly be talking about. Then again, he is talking to Pacey Witter so one never knows . . .
"Some Kind of Wonderful," Pacey repeats.
"Sorry, I'm afraid I don't follow," Dawson says.
"The movie . . . you know."
"Yeah, I've seen the movie. Cheesy 80's flick with the classic rich kid/poor kid scenario as the main plot line. And in the end the guy gets the girl as always. So?"
"No, this one was different. The guy and the girl were both from the wrong side of the tracks. But she wanted to be uptown. He wooed her and in the end she realized what she really wanted wasn't money, she just wanted to be herself."
"Yeah, okay, and then they lived happily ever after. Are we even close to approaching the point yet?"
"You still don't remember the movie. He didn't end up with the high school sweetheart. He ended up with the drummer with the weird car and the weird hair."
"He was gay?"
"No, Jesus, have you ever seen this movie Dawson?" Pacey asks.
"I'm beginning to wonder. Look, I can't remember every movie I've ever seen, okay? And since that one is at least ten years old I was barely in school when it opened. Cut me a little slack here. Besides, what does any of this have to do with anything? Are you playing Trivial Pursuit with yourself or something?"
"Forget it," Pacey says. "I was just sitting around here watching movies and that one made me think to call you. Maybe some day you'll remember the plot."
"Okay Pace. Sure, whatever. Hey, are you sure you feel okay? Maybe whatever has Joey staying home tonight is contagious."
"No, I'm fine. Forget about it . . . Hey, speaking of Joey, have you talked to her today?"
"No, why? Have you?"
"No, and that kind of worries me. Bessie and Bodi left yesterday afternoon and I haven't talked to her since. You'd think that by now she would have gotten bored and called one of us to come over or something."
"Maybe the phone isn't working again. I know they were having trouble with it the other day," Dawson suggests.
"Oh yeah, that's right . . . Well, it might not be such a bad idea for one of us to go by there though. I mean, she is sick. Maybe she shouldn't be by herself," Pacey says.
"Yeah, you may be right. Well, I can go over and check on her. It's not like I'm doing anything else anyway," he says.
"Okay. And, hey, Dawson? Take the cell phone with you and call me back, okay? I just want to be sure everything is alright."
"Yeah, okay, I will. Bye, Pace," he says then hangs up and gets up to find his shoes.
* * * * *
Joey opens her eyes again and this time looks to see the clock by her bed reads just after 8pm. She rolls over and moans at the pounding that has begun behind her eyes. Her head feels like it's on fire while her feet are ice cold. She shivers and curls up, trying to find some warmth. Finally, unable to stand the pulsing pain in her head for another second, she gets up to find some aspirin.
As soon as her feet touch the floor Joey realizes she should probably just stay in bed. She can't, though. How will she ever sleep with this headache? She needs to rest and as soon as she takes a few aspirin she can come back in here and do just that.
She walks unsteadily towards the kitchen, staying close to the walls for balance. She steps onto the tile floor and walks slowly towards the cabinet beside the sink. She feels dizzy and feverish but she keeps searching the cabinet for the pill bottle. When she finally finds it, she leans against the counter and struggles to remove the safety cap.
Joey looks up from the bottle she is struggling with and suddenly realizes something is not right. The room seems to blur together and she can't manage to find her focus. She rubs her eyes but this doesn't offer much help. The top pops off the aspirin but it's a little too late. Joey slides down to the floor. As the pills spill onto the floor around her withered frame, no one is around to hear them fall.
