Talent Show

"God, Joe!" he said stepping back.

"I scared you?" she laughed as she climbed through the window. "Well, mark a point for me."

"Not funny." he said.

"Whatever." she said sitting down, smiling.

"So," he said sitting on the side of the bed. "Have you thought about this talent show thing?"

"Yeah, and I can't think of anything." she said. "We can't do the tango, that would be repeating ourselves. And we can't do the dance from Grease either."

"Why not?" he asked. "At least we know those things."

"Well, I don't know why you want to do this stupid thing int he first place." she said walking over to hi and sitting down by him.

"What about acting...something to act out." he said, light a cartoon character with a light bulb over his head.

"I don't think so, Dawson." she laughed.

"C'mon Joe?" he said. "You are a great actress, and I know you could do this."

"I wouldn't say I am a great actress, or singer, or anything." she laughed standing up.

"I wouldn't say that." he said looking at her. "You are a great friend, you are a great singer in my book and actress. But mainly a great friend."

"Thanks, Dawson. But I really don't think I want to humiliate myself in front of the whole school to do a skit on stage." she said.

"Joe, it will be something everyone knows." he said standing up beside her. "Not Romeo and Juliet, because that has been used too much. Time to give that Shakespeare play to rest."

"Then what?" she said. "That is really the only one I know. And the only one we can do together and make it sound true."

"Well, we can do the death scene, or we can do the balcony scene?" he said in a questioning tone.

"You do want to do it, don't you?" she laughed.

"Yeah, but if you don't want to then we don't have to." he said.

"Which one do you want to do?" she asked him.

"I was thinking the balcony scene." he said, with a huge grin. "How about we do the recent movie version of Rome and Juliet. Put a little twist to it."

"You mean the one with Leonardo DiCaprio, and Claire Daines?" Joey asked.

"Yeah," he said.

"Well," she hesitated. "Why not, sure." she smiled.

"Great!" he said, sweeping her up into a hug, and twirled her around in a circle. "I'll get us a copy of the script made tomorrow. I can write them down from the movie, then print up two copies."

"Fine, but let's not say what we are doing just yet. Ok?" she said.

"Okay." he smiled.

Jen had been thinking of her chat with Eric the other night. Even though she helped prove he was a bad person, and was about to do some thing that could have cost someone there life she had been thinking of what Eric had said to her. Maybe in not so many words, but he had said that he was willing to help her win back Dawson.

'There are ways. Simple ones really...' Eric had said to her. Now she found herself wondering what those simple ways were. She got off her bed, and walked over to her window. She looked out and saw Joey leaving Dawson's window for the evening.

She missed feeling Dawson's arms around her, missing him talk to her and making her troubles seem so far away. Why did she break up with him? She really didn't know. She did want to try life on her own, but it didn't turn out that way. She wanted another chance with Dawson. She wanted Joey back to being just his best friend. But that won't happen now. There is no one for Joey to run to, to confide in about troubles between her and Dawson. And Dawson has made it clear that he is really in love with Joey, not like he seemed to be with her. It was merely infatuation on his part, but it was turning into something more on her part. She was in need of something to take her mind off this. Something to make her stop thinking of breaking up her friends.

Jen grabbed her coat, and went out for a walk. She would clear her head, and think of something. A vacation or something would most likely do the trick. But how would she get away, and not get her grams mad at her...that was the stumper.

Pacey was sitting by the lake at the ruins, and pitching rocks into the lake. He was still being haunted of thoughts of Jen. Not so much of Abby, but whenever thoughts of Jen faded there was Abby ready to take up the space. He hoped that taking a walk, and clearing his head it might help him figure out what he was thinking in his head. It wasn't working, and he wished he knew of some other way to stop the thoughts of two girls plaguing him. Or at least figure out which one meant more to him.

"Hey, Pacey." a familiar voice said from behind him.

"Hey," he turned to see Jen, walking up to him, and sitting beside him. "Jen. What are you doing out here?"

"Trying to think. You?" she asked.

"The same." he laughed.

"What are your troubles?" she asked him, smiling. "Girls?"

"Yep," he said as he threw his last rock. "You?"

"No, not girls thanks. I am strictly heterosexual. I thought I said that before." she smiled, her eyes trailing off at the water.

"No," he laughed. "I meant the opposite. Guys?"

"Oh, yeah." she said. "And its a likely guess you know who..."

"Dawson?" he said, with a smile.

"Yeah," she said. "I know I said I was alright with him being with Joey, but the truth is since Eric said those things to me about breaking them up, I can't stop thinking that maybe he's right."

"Right about what?" he asked.

"That I want to be with Dawson again. That I want to break them up." she said, in a low voice.

"Hey, Jen..." Pacey said turning her around to face him. His hands on her shoulders. "Look, you are nothing like Eric. You couldn't do that." he said, his hand caressing her cheek then went back down to her shoulder.

"You sure?" she asked, not sure herself.

"Yeah, I am." he said with a smile.

"Because I have little faith in myself at this point." she laughed.

"Well, I don't." he said. "Look, what id we did something for the talent show together?"

"Are you serious?" she asked with a laugh. "What do you think we could do together?"

"I don't know." he laughed. "It was just an idea."

"Well, let me think it over, ok?" she said, smiling at him.

"Okay, you know where to reach me when you come to a conclusion." he smiled as she stood up.

"Yeah, I do." she said. "Pacey, thanks for being there for me through all of this."

"That's what a friend is for, is it not?" he asked with a smile.

"Yeah," she said backing away. "Talk to you later. Bye.?"

"Bye." he said.

Pacey watched her walk away. He was falling for Jennifer Lindley the more he spent time with her. Now it was certain, he wasn't interested in Abby, well he was at first. But now he realized he was more interested in Jen. He had to help her get over Dawson, and an easy way to do that is spend as much time with her as possible to keep her mind off Dawson.

Joey came walking into Dawson's room hoping he would be there. But he wasn't, where he went she didn't know. But she wished she did. She had to tell him she couldn't do this play thing. She had been thinking about it all night, and she didn't feel comfortable acting in front of the whole school...

Joey went over to Dawson's bed and laid down. She stared at the ceiling and tried to think of a good way to tell him she didn't want to do this...but she couldn't think of one easy way. She knew he wanted to do this a lot, but he didn't seem to be bothered by stage fright...and she was. She closed her eyes, and relaxed. Maybe relaxed to much, because she found herself slowly drifting off to sleep.

Dawson walked into his room with a couple of movies in one hand, and a soda in the other. He had only taken a few steps toward his bed when he saw Joey sleeping. He smiled, and sat the tapes on top of the TV and the soda next to the TV. He walked slowly over to her, and bent down on his knees next to the bed. He took is right hand and moved her hair behind her ear. His smile got even wider, and he leaned over and kissed her cheek. She moved slightly in his direction, and opened her eyes.

"Sorry," she said in a low voice, but smiling.

"For what?" he asked.

"For falling asleep while I waited for you." she sat up, and her face went serious. "We have to talk about the talent show, Dawson."

"I know," he said standing up, and sitting beside her on the bed. "We can't do the play." his voice sounded upset.

"What do you mean?" acting surprised, but inside she was relieved.

"Some other kids are doing it for the talent show." he looked at her, smiling. "So, we have to come up with something else."

"Like what?" she asked. "The only thing we know are the dances to Grease, and Dirty Dancing."

"Then let's do one of those." he stood up, and walked over to the TV, and picked up the movies.

"I rented them both, so we could decide, then practice the moves afterward."

"I swear, Dawson..." she laughed standing up and walking over to him. "You always think I am going to say yes,"

"I know you will..." he smiled. "Just like you know what I would say to things before I say them."

"I guess, but not all the time." she said.

"Yeah, not all the time, but no one knows what someone is going to say to a certain subject all the time." he turned around, and turned on the TV. "I just know you about this."

"At least its something I have already done in front of the school," she said walking over to the left side of the bed, and sitting in her usual spot for Movie Night. "I mean, we got a great reaction to it at the last dance."

"Yeah," he said sitting down on the right side of the bed, and picking up the controls. "We did. And I wasn't all surprised by their reaction to your dancing."

"What do you mean by that, Dawson?" she asked.

"Nothing," he said. "I just meant that you were better at the dance moves than me."

"I don't think so." she laughed. "Let's watch the movie now." she smiled.

"Alright." he started the tape, and it was Dirty Dancing.

"Okay, Baby...watch carefully and learn." Dawson said in a sarcastic tone.

"Yeah, well Johnny, if you think you are so rusty you better watch and learn." she joked back.

They both laughed, and turned their attention to the movie.

Pacey had walked around for hours trying to think of something to do with Jen for the Talent Show he talked her into doing with him. It had to be something good, and that would require for them to spend lots of time together. Unaware to Jen through the whole time they practice their routine about his alternative motive. He had made a pathetic list of things for them to do.

One was a magic show. Jen his assistant, and he was the magician. He knew she wouldn't go for that, but he had to write something down. Another thing he wrote down was a duet. They would sing a song together, but it was obvious no one like his singing, so he crossed that one off for now. The last thing he could thing of was a comedy skit, or a dramatic skit. They were both alright actors, and he knew at least she would give that a thought.

Pacey had told Jen to meet him at the ruins so they could discuss this. He kept looking at his watch to make sure she was coming. He felt like she was gonna ditch him, and a part of him wouldn't blame her if she did. After all, she was used to Dawson's ways...what would she see in Pacey but a friend.

"Hopefully something..." he said to himself.

Just then Jen came walking into the ruins. She saw Pacey on one of the benches looking at a piece of paper in his hands. She knew doing this talent show was a good way to keep her mind off of Dawson, and she knew it was the only thing keeping her mind off Dawson. She stood still calming herself down, and telling herself she will not say one word about Dawson or even his name. Jen put on a smile and walked over to Pacey.

"Hey," she said sitting beside him.

"Hey," he said looking up, and smiling at her.

"So, how are the ideas coming?" she asked trying to look at the list.

"Not good." he said standing up.

"Well, let me hear what you have come up with." she said pulling her leg up, and under the other leg turning sideways.

"Well," he said turning to her. "They are just thoughts, I mean we don't have to do any of them."

"Just tell me already, Pacey." she laughed.

"Okay, well...the first idea is sort of depending on one of two things." he said.

"Which is?" she asked.

"If you can tolerate my singing, and if you can sing." he said, with a smile.

"Why?" she asked with a smile.

"Because its us doing a duet." he said.

"Well, what's the others?" she asked standing up.

"A magic show, or a skit." he said bluntly.

"It sounds like you want to do the singing idea." she said, sarcastically.

"Well, Yeah." he said smiling. "I think I can sing pretty well, but I don't know...it's up to you." he said handing her the list, and walking over to the lake.

"Pacey," she said following him.

"Yeah," he said turning around to face her.

"Let's do it." she smiled. "Granted, I don't think you'll like my voice either, but its up to the judges who gets into the talent show right? So, if we suck they'll tell us. Right?" she said smiling.

"I guess so," he laughed. "Are you really okay with this? I mean, if you have a better idea..."

"Not a one." she said.

"Okay, then we have to find a song to sing..." he said grabbing her hand and running out of the ruins. Both of them laughing the entire way.

Dawson was waiting for Joey after her sixth hour class on Thursday, the day before they had to try out. Dawson saw Joey coming out of her class room, and he grabbed her arm turning her around to face him.

"Hey, Dawson," she said, in a mad tone. "All you had to do was say my name, ya know?"

"Sorry," he said pulling her with him.

"Hold up, Dawson," she said pulling her arm free. "What's the hurry?" she said stopping in place.

"I'll tell you when we get there...ok?" he said walking up to her, giving her a smile. "Trust me, its a good thing."

"A person told me once not to trust anyone who says 'Trust me'..." she said flashing him a half smile.

"Well, you can trust me. Now come on." he said taking her hand, and taking off.

They reached the auditorium, and Dawson let go of Joey's hand. He reached into his pocket, and pulled out a key. Joey looked over his shoulder, and saw the key.

"Dawson, how did you get the key?" she asked.

"The teacher." he said, as the lock clicked. Signaling it was now open. He smiled, and placed the key back in his pocket. "Come on," he said taking her hand. "I have to lock it when we get back inside." he pulled her in, and shut the door behind them. He took the key back out of his pocket, and locked it.

"Okay," Joey said turning around with her arms crossed. "Now spill it, Dawson. What are we doing here? And why would the theater teacher give you his key to the auditorium?"

"He said we could use it to practice." Dawson said walking over to the light switch. "But he doesn't want anyone to know we are in here, so I had to lock the door behind us. That way if the janitor comes by, finds the door locked, he won't think we are in here. Or any other teacher."

"But won't they take the hint when they hear the music?" she said, uncrossing her arms.

"We wait till three." he said walking out on to the stage. "By then all the teachers will have gone home, and the janitor will have already come by."

"Well, that leaves us with about twenty minutes of doing nothing." she said following him on stage.

"No, we can still practice," he said turning to face her.

"How?" she asked.

"Easy, without music." he said taking her hand. "We know the steps, we just have to put the moves in the steps, and add the music later." he said pulling her into his arms.

"How is it easy?" she said, almost in a whisper. "Is the music in your head?" she smiled.

"Yep," he said. He wrapped his arm around her waist, and they slowly started to slow dance.

"This isn't what we are doing, Dawson?" she said.

"This is a warm-up." he whispered.

"Oh," she whispered as she laid her head on his shoulder.

Pacey and Jen went to the theater room, and shut the door behind them. Jen walked over to the closet, and pulled out the CD player the teacher said they could use. Pacey pulled out the CD that held the song they were gonna sing out of his book bag, and walked over to Jen. She was just plugging in the CD player when he handed the CD to her.

"Okay," she said taking the CD out of the case. "What song is it on here?" she asked as she placed it in the CD player.

"I don't know." he laughed. "All I know is the song is on there."

"Okay, let me look..." she said laughing. "Here it is." she pushed the forward button three times, and hit play. "Let's listen first, okay?" she said as the music started.

"Yeah, good idea." Pacey agreed as he walked to the teacher's desk and sat down.

It was the love theme to "Footloose" 'Almost Paradise':

"Guy: I thought that dreams belong to other men
'Cuz each time I got close
They'd fall apart again
Girl: I feared my hear would beat in secrecy
I faced the nights alone
Both: Oh, how could I have known
That all my life I only needed you
Both: Whoa-oa
ALMOST PARADISE
We're knocking on heaven's door
ALMOST PARADISE
How could we ask for more?
I swear that I can see forever in your eyes
Paradise!
Guy: It seems like perfect love's so hard to find
I'd almost given up
You must have read my mind
Girl: And all these dreams I saved for a rainy day
They're finally comin' true
Both: I'll share them all with you
Now we hold the future in our hands Both: Whoa-oa
ALMOST PARADISE
We're knocking on heaven's door
ALMOST PARADISE
How could we ask for more?
I swear that I can see forever in your eyes
Paradise!
Guy: And in your arms salvation's not so far away
It's getting closer, closer every day
Both: Whoa-oa
ALMOST PARADISE
We're knocking on heaven's door
ALMOST PARADISE
How could we ask for more?
I swear that I can see forever in your eyes
Paradise!"

The song started to fade out, and Jen walked over to the CD player, and stopped it. She turned around and faced Pacey.

"What made you think of this song, Pacey?" she asked him, genuinely curious.

"I don't know," he said standing up. "Would you believe that was the only duet in my house."

"No," she laughed.

"Then I really don't know." he said, smiling. "You think we can pull it off?" he asked.

"Maybe," she said. Let's try it once, and we'll see. Ok?" she asked, turning back to the CD player, and hitting play.

"Sure." he said, clapping his hands together, and following her into the middle of the floor.

Dawson and Joey were finishing the dance steps to Dirty Dancing, for the third time, when the song finally ended. Dawson walked to the CD player, and switched it off. He was sweating a little bit, and he had taken off his sweater after the first time. He had on a white t-shirt underneath it. Joey had taken off her sweater also, but she was wearing a purple short top. So when she lifted her arms they went up a little too far.

"Well," he said coming back over to her. "You think we got it down?"

"Yeah," she said sitting down on the stage. "In fact, I think we have it down better than we did at the dance." she laughed.

"Because this time we have prepared for it." he said joining her on the floor. "Last time was a spur of the moment thing. We'll have to improvise for the part that Patrick Swayze jumped off the stage, since I can't do that." he laughed.

"And why not?" she asked, with a sarcastic smile.

"Because of the orchestra pit." he said pointing.

"I know," she laughed. "I was joking. So what are we gonna use to improvise that part of the dance with?"

"I don't know." he said standing up. "We might have to ask the dance teacher for suggestions at lunch tomorrow." he said looking down.

"Why don't we just watch the movie and watch them dance, and take some things from there?" she said looking up at him.

"Or we could do that." he smiled.

"You just like to do things the hard way." she smiled. She held up her hand to Dawson, "Help me up." she ordered.

"Yes, ma'am." he laughed, taking her hand. He pulled her up so fast and hard she fell right into his arms.

"I bet you like this, huh?" she smiled.

"A little," he smiled. "Come on," he said as he started pulling her off the stage. "We have to get going. I have to leave this on the theater desk for him to find tomorrow, along with a thank you note."

"Wait," she said freeing her hand. "We need to get the CD," she said kneeling down to open up the CD player. She placed the CD in the case, and grabbed their sweaters as she stood up. She jogged back over to Dawson.

"Now we can go." she smiled, walking ahead of him.

When they got to the theater room Dawson heard someone in there singing. He held up his hand to Joey, and slowly walked to the door. At first she held out her hands as to say 'What?' but then she heard the voices too. She walked up to the door with him. The door was slightly open, and Dawson peeked in to see who it was. He let out a soft laugh, and turned to Joey, he moved so she could look. Her reaction was the same.

"You have to put the key in there..." she whispered. "But that would also mean letting them know we hear them, and we have to disturb them."

"I'll write the note to the teacher now," he whispered back, taking her arm and pulled her around the corner. "Maybe when I am done, they'll have left."

"Alright," she said crossing her arms, "But it would be more fun to go in there and disrupt their duet."

Dawson sat on the floor, and opened his book bag. He looked up and just gave Joey a look that would say something like 'silly, Joey.'. He pulled out his notebook, and a pen. He started writing, and as he did that the music ended in the theater room.

"Joey, go see if they are leaving." Dawson whispered.

"Yeah, yeah..." she said waving her hand at him.

She looked around the corner and saw that they were indeed leaving. Jen was smiling a extremely huge grin at Pacey, who must have cracked a joke, because she jokingly punched him in the arm. They walked out of the hall, as Dawson came up from behind her.

"They are gone." she said aloud, as she walked ahead of him to the room.

"Good, now I will leave this on his desk and lock the door behind me." he said as he walked into the room. He came back out, and checked to make sure the door was locked before they left. It was, and they left the building.

"Pacey," Jen said smiling. "You are actually pretty good."

They were walking in the park, and they stopped at a bench. Jen sat down on the table, her feet on the seat. Pacey sat down by her feet.

"Thanks," he smiled. "So are you, Jen."

"I never said I wasn't." she laughed.

"No, you said I might not like how your voice sounded either." he said.

"I did not." she said, laughing.

"Yes, you did." he said looking at her. "At the ruins, yesterday."

"How did you remember that." she smiled.

"I have what your ex said to me when I gave him directions to the high school..." he paused, and tapped his forehead, "total recall." he said.

She hit him playfully in the shoulder, and he laughed.

"Well, we have to try out tomorrow after school." she said, getting down off the table.

"Yeah," he said standing up, and walking up to her. "Do you think we'll get in the talent show?"

"I don't know." she said, crossing her arms in front of her. "What do you think?"

"I always say to look on the bright side." he said. "So, yeah."

"Well," she said as she started walking off. "I hope your right."

"You know," he said as he jogged up to her. "It might not hurt if you tried thinking positively either. In fact," he said, placing his finger on his chin. "It might help bring us luck."

"Oh, you think?" she laughed, uncrossing her arms.

"Yes," he said. "I do think that."

"Well, then fine." she said, looking up at him then back in front of her. "From now on I will try...try, mind you, to think on the positive side. Alright?" she asked him, looking up at him.

"Well," he said, acting like he was thinking it over.

She hit him in the arm, making him grab his arm, and laugh.

"Alright, its fine." he said still laughing. "You know you hit me more than Joey does." he said laughing.

"Well," she said, laughing. "Maybe for me it's a reflex." she said. She moves her hand to strike him again, and she gets him.

"Hey, what was that for?" he asked.

"Oops!" she said her hand going over her mouth, "I guess it is a reflex." she laughed.

"Oh, you wanna play that way, do you?" he smiled at her in his Cheshire cat way. "Alrighty then..."

"No, Pacey..." she said walking backwards. "Whatever you are thinking, don't do it." she said with a laugh.

Pacey started to walk faster after her, and then when she started to do the same to get away from him Pacey started running. She let out a scream with a laugh, and started running away from him. He tackled her, and they fell on the ground. Pacey rolled her over, and their faces were close. And if Pacey smiled at her, Jen smiled back and their faces slowly started to go in for a kiss, but they got an unexpected visitor in their face. They started laughing, and pulled each other up.

The dog was just a puppy, but it was on a leash. Pacey looked up from messing with the puppy to see who he belonged to. He saw a girl running over to them smiling. She had red, curly hair. It was long, and looked like it went to the middle of her back. She was wearing a black sunflower dress that went down to her knees. She was beautiful, and Pacey couldn't believe it either. He shook what he might be feeling off, he wasn't gonna get struck by another cupids arrow. That would put him in a triangle he didn't want right now. He stood up, with puppy in his hands, and handed him to her.

"Thanks," she said smiling at him.

"No problem." he said smiling back at her. He looked at Jen, "Let's get going." He walked over to Jen, and they started to leave.

"Bye." the girl said holding the puppy. She watched them leave until they were no longer easy to see.