Read the rest of the series before you read this.
Never Say Goodbye
Dawson ran out of his last class the second that the bell rang. He had been waiting to jump up and leave for five minutes. He was finding it impossible to concentrate on anything other then Joey. He had barely eaten lunch, but he didn't even feel his hunger. He didn't even stop to think that he hadn't eaten all day, he only thought about where Joey could be. Dawson grabbed his bookbag and flew out of the school. He had found her in his closet yesterday, why shouldn't she be there again? He dashed off towards his house.
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"Hey, Jen?" Pacey asked carefully. "Jen, hon, you know you haven't been home since yesterday."
"Did Pacey just call me hon?" Jen thought. "Man, that sounded really bad coming from him." Jen giggled softly.
"Jen, what's funny?" Pacey asked, relieved to hear her laugh. Jen didn't want to say that she was laughing at Pacey. "Just thinking of Grams' response when I finally get home," she lied.
"Well, I think going there now would be a good idea," Pacey said. Jen knew that he was right. "If you insist," she agreed. They walked silently along the docks until they got to Jen's house.
"What happens when she freaks out on you?" Pacey asked, worried, as Jen let herself into the house. "Don't worry," Jen responded. "Grams?" Jen yelled into the house. "Grams, I'm home." Jen's grandmother came into the hallway, rubbing her face with a tissue.
"Jennifer," she said, although she didn't really sound too concerned. "Where have you been?"
"I went to school, Grams."
"You had the patience to pay attention?"
"No," Jen laughed quietly. "No, I hid in the bathroom. I wanted to stay out of your way until you made the funeral arrangements so that I wouldn't cause any trouble."
"Well, I guess that was thoughtful of you, Jennifer, but I really do want you here. I need you. I need your help." Pacey nervously watched them both standing there looking like they were about to burst into tears at any moment. He turned around to quietly tiptoe out the door, but Jen's grandmother called him back.
"Pacey, is that your name, young man?"
"Yes'm. I'm really sorry about what happened," Pacey stuttered nervously looking at his feet.
"Grams, Pacey has been taking care of me since yesterday. He's been really great," Jen said. Her grandmother eyed Pacey carefully.
"Thank you," she finally said, as she looked down to look at the floor. "For taking care of Jennifer." She looked up and her eyes met Pacey's. She gave him the beginnings of a smile and turned away. Pacey smiled, said goodbye to Jen and kissed her forehead, and walked out the door shaking his head.
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As Dawson ran through the middle of town, he realized that he had promised himself to get Jen and her grandmother flowers. He went to the florist and ordered a dozen tulips. He figured that he's ask his parents to pay him back some of the money when he explained what the flowers were for. He then thought that it would be a great idea to get flowers for Joey. He ordered a dozen roses arranged in a bouquet of six red roses surrounding six white ones. He happily started back to his house, only walking so that he wouldn't ruin the flowers. When he got into his house, he put his bookbag on the couch and carefully laid the roses on the table. His parents weren't going to be home for another few hours. Dawson gazed up at the staircase and decided to go to Jen's house first. He didn't want to forget about her again and wasn't sure that he would be in the mood to see her after finding Joey. Besides, if Joey tried to leave, he'd see her out the window. He figured that he wouldn't be spending too long at Jen's, anyway.
"I think that if Joey watches me bring Jen flowers and gets the wrong idea again I'll go nuts!" Dawson muttered to himself as he rang the doorbell. Jen answered the door. She put on a fake smile when she saw Dawson. She really didn't want to have to deal with him at the moment.
"Jen, I'm really sorry for how I've been acting towards you. We got these flowers for you and your grandmother and send our condolences. We being me family and I," Dawson said sweetly. Jen softened when she saw the tulips.
"Why, thank you, Dawson. Do you want to come in?" Jen asked, taking the flowers.
"Um... no," Dawson said nervously, trying to think of an excuse. "I--I don't want to intrude. Goodbye," Dawson turned to go.
"Dawson," Jen said in a very firm tone.
"Yes," he said, slowly turning back to her.
"You never found Joey, did you," Jen said as a statement.
"No," Dawson admitted, "But I think I know where she is."
"Go, Dawson. Good luck," Jen sighed. Dawson thanked her and ran back to his house. Jen shut the door and joined her grandmother in crying.
Dawson tore into his house. He carefully picked up the roses, smoothed his hair, and went up the stairs. He paused for a minute before he entered his room. He slowly went in and walked to his closet. He took a deep breath and opened the closet door to find.......
Nothing. "Damn!" Dawson yelled, banging his head against the wall. "Ow." He had to find Joey. Where was she? Dawson called her house and got no answer. He couldn't chase her again. He just couldn't. He glumly went back downstairs. He opened his bookbag and sat down to start his homework when he realized that in his haste to get home he had left his math book at school. He dumped everything in his bookbag on the floor to confirm that he had forgotten it.
"Of course," he sighed. he carefully put the roses into his bookbag in case he saw Joey on the way to school and left to get his math book.
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Joey looked at her watch and realized that she could safely go to the school. She sighed and stood up, a little cramped from having been sitting in the same position for so long. She started slowly walking to school and then broke into a run. She had no idea why she started running, but she couldn't stop until she got to the school. When she regained her breath and composure, she went in to tell her decision to whoever was there.
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Dawson sadly kicked a can in front of him down the sidewalk. He was almost to the school and he hadn't seen Joey. When he finally got to the school, he came to a complete stop. Joey was walking out of the building!
"Jo...Jo!" he screamed at the top of his lungs and ran over to her. he wanted to take her in his arms and make sure that she didn't run away again. He restrained himself, though. "Jo, we need to talk," Dawson said, making a point of calling her Jo.
"So talk," Joey growled.
"I'm so-- what's that?" Dawson spotted the pamphlet in her hand that said France. "You made a decision about France?"
"Yes," Joey replied coldly. "I decided to go." Dawson was mortified.
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Next up, the confrontation. Really! Keep that feedback coming!