Cut back to the video arcade. Harley enters, followed by her boyfriend Patrick.
HARLEY: You sure he’s in here?
PATRICK: Would I lie? A guy told me he saw Pacey come in here earlier.
Once inside, the two of them are forced to squeeze through a crowd of people, all gathered around one machine.
HARLEY: What’s going on?
One of the younger kids looks over at her.
GUY: These two guys have been playing the same game for over two hours. It’s insane. They’ve spent ten bucks in quarters.
Harley manages to squeeze up to the front, where she sees Dawson and Pacey in a heavily involved game of ‘Joust’.
DAWSON: Give up, yet?
PACEY: No way! I’m just getting started.
Harley rolls her eyes at their ‘macho’ dialogue.
HARLEY: Um…guys?
PACEY: Hey Harley. How you doing?
HARLEY: Could you come with me? I gotta…
DAWSON: We’re a little busy right now.
She sighs.
HARLEY: This is important, Dawson!
PACEY: So’s this!
Frustrated, Harley sneaks around to the back of the machine and pulls the plug.
Much to the surprise, the screen suddenly goes blank.
DAWSON & PACEY: HEY!
The crowd disperses, now that the two of them no longer has their attention.
DAWSON: I was winning!
PACEY: S’ya! In your dreams, Leery!
Harley walks back up to them.
HARLEY: Now, if you two are done with your testosterone-laden rampage, I need your help. Joey’s in trouble.
Dawson and Pacey share a glance, then look back at her.
DAWSON: She can take care of herself.
HARLEY: Not this time she can’t!
Pacey sighs bitterly.
PACEY: What? Derek can’t help her?
HARLEY: That jerk’s the reason she’s in trouble.
That manages to get their attention. Pacey and Dawson step closer, listening to her intently.
HARLEY: I overheard them talking. He stole this thing she wrote for a competition tonight. He was just using her.
PACEY: Not a surprise. I knew that one of these days Joey’s guy-of-the-week would end up being a creep. All in favour of feeding him his own intestines, say ‘aye’!
Dawson shakes his head.
DAWSON: Wait a minute. Just wait!
Pacey looks at him, surprised.
PACEY: Excuse me?
DAWSON: Why do you want to hurt this guy, Pace? Because he’s a creep, or because Joey was seeing him?
PACEY: What difference does it make?
Dawson turns to him.
DAWSON: It makes every difference. For the first time, everything makes sense.
Harley and Patrick stare at him, even more confused than Pacey is. Dawson notices this, and walks up to them.
DAWSON: Have either of you seen ‘There’s Something About Mary’?
Patrick starts to laugh.
PATRICK: That movie rocks!
Harley rolls her eyes.
HARLEY: Whatever! Yeah, I’ve seen it.
DAWSON: Well, when you think about it, Mary had the same problem Joey has. She had all these guys interested in her, one by one revealing their faults and their flaws.
PACEY: Yeah, yeah…and she ends up with Ben Stiller by the closing credits. What’s your point?
DAWSON: Yeah, but why did she choose him?
PACEY: Cause he’s the main character.
Dawson smiles.
DAWSON: And something else. He realized something that the others didn’t. That they all had put more importance on ‘winning her over’ than anything else. They forgot friendships, ethics…nothing else was important to them except winning. In the process, they lost everything about themselves that made Mary love them in the first place. That’s what Joey was trying to tell me.
PACEY: Tell you? When?
DAWSON: At the Regetta, back in junior year. That day I almost killed you. She asked me to be ‘the person I used to be’. She was trying to tell me, and I didn’t listen. I’ve been going about this all wrong. It’s not about outdoing each other, Pace…it never was. That’s the reason she’s never been able to choose between the two of us. There wasn’t much of ‘us’ left when it came to her. I see that now.
The two of them turn to Harley and Patrick.
PACEY: How can we help?
*****
Cut back to Worthington. Joey is sitting outside, alone. She’s curled up, hugging her knees. Her eyes are red from tears.
A moment later, Audrey walks up to her. She sits down.
AUDREY: This seat taken?
Joey doesn’t answer. She just continues staring off into space.
AUDREY: No witty remark? I must be loosing my touch.
JOEY: I’m not really in the mood to talk right now.
Audrey looks at her.
AUDREY: Yeah. Hetson Jr. was eavesdropping filled me in of Derek the Dipstick.
Joey doesn’t say anything.
AUDREY: Listen, I know how you’re feeling right now. A guy you cared about hurt you. This is college…it happens all the time. You’re feeling lost, and I really can’t blame you. But last year I was kinda lost, too. You didn’t give up on me then. Because, Joey Potter, believe it or not, there are people who care about you. Who really care about you, not like that looser with the bad haircut. I care about you…and so does Dawson. And Pacey. And Hetson, in his own unusual way. We’re here for you if you need us.
Joey turns to her, smiling.
JOEY: Am I a bad person?
AUDREY: You? You’re the epitome of good, Joey.
JOEY: I don’t mean ‘good’ as in ‘nice’. I…it’s hard to explain.
AUDREY: Try me.
Joey sighs.
JOEY: Something’s come to my attention recently. I've spent so long judging myself by who I'm with or what I'm doing. It's like 'Joey' doesn't even exist, except in someone else’s mind. I’m shaped by someone else’s perception of me, and I hate it. Whether it was Eddie, or Wilder…or even my best friend, there was always another person deciding on who I was. By going to Paris, I thought I would be able to finally discover who I am. But you were right…I was running away. Just like I always do.
She wipes away a tear.
JOEY: Well, this is where I stop running. From now on, I’m going to stop depending on other people to dictate my life. If I accomplish anything this year, it’s going to be finding out who and what I am. Alone.
Audrey smiles at her.
AUDREY: You mean single, right? Not alone. Not while I’m here.
Joey smiles back at her. Then they hug.
AUDREY: Come here, you!
*****
Cut to the home of Professor Gregory Hetson. He is in his office, going over some notes, when suddenly the doorbell rings.
He groans.
HETSON: Can you get that, Harl?
No answer. He reluctantly gets up, and answers the door.
Standing on the other side is Harley and Patrick, accompanied by Dawson and Pacey.
HARLEY: Can we come in?
Hetson motions them to come inside, although he stares suspiciously at both Dawson and Pacey.
HETSON: And you would be?
HARLEY: Oh, these are friends of Joey’s. Pacey Witter…he was one of the chaperones at the spring dance last year. The other one’s Dawson Leery. He’s the director for that movie we were in.
Hetson gives Dawson a cold look.
HETSON: As in the one I didn’t get a permission form for?
Dawson’s eyes go wide, in a ‘deer caught in the headlights’ fashion.
DAWSON: Um…well…you see…
Something clicks inside Hetson’s memory.
HETSON: Dawson? Daw-son! Are you the email guy?
DAWSON: Email guy?
Hetson groans.
HETSON: Great! More of the unfortunate souls to fall under Joey Potter’s spell?
PACEY: The first ones, actually.
Pacey points to Dawson, then to himself.
PACEY: First and second. Well…third if you count the gay guy, which I don’t!
HETSON: As long as you don’t try to beat me up, I don’t care.
PACEY: Oh, believe me, I have the intention of beating up somebody else entirely. Younger, greasy hair…
DAWSON: Have you heard about Derek?
Hetson sighs, nodding his head.
HETSON: My little cupcake over there can’t keep a secret.
HARLEY: Dad!
She looks at him, slightly annoyed.
HETSON: You want retribution against this kid, that’s fine by me. No one will ever accuse me of being Miss Potter’s biggest fan, but her backstabbing little himbo is scum personified. I have to warn you, though. You’re way out of your league. The guy’s smart. He’s too damn smart.
A small smirk appears on Pacey’s face. He has a plan.
PACEY: That may be true. But we know something he doesn’t.
HARLEY: Which is?
Pacey wanders around the room, taking in the scenery. As he speaks , he motions in the air dramatically.
PACEY: While smart and cunning our friend Derek may be, he doesn’t know what we know. That we have something just as smart, just as cunning…and who plays the game much better than he does. Dawson Leery.
All eyes go towards Dawson, who looks confused.
DAWSON: Pacey? I’m not that good…
PACEY: You tricked yourself into film class in tenth grade, Dawson, and I remember what you did when we were on the road with Billy. You are that good!
A smile slowly appears on Dawson’s face. A small, mischievous smile.
DAWSON: Well, if that’s the case…let’s take him out!
*****
The scene quickly shifts to outside a clothing store, later in the day.
Soon, Dawson and Pacey step out, both dressed in black suits.
PACEY: Any chance I don’t look as stupid as I feel?
Dawson laughs.
DAWSON: We want to look inconspicuous.
PACEY: Well, I got news for you, D! We’re not infiltrating the secret service…we’re breaking into a school. God, we look like the Blues Brothers!
DAWSON: Don’t be silly, Pacey…the Blues Brothers wore hats.
Pacey rolls his eyes.
DAWSON: You have the package?
Pacey pats his jacket pocket.
PACEY: I picked out something especially devious for our young mastermind. That is, if this plan of yours works.
DAWSON: It will. From what Harley told me, this Derek guy is confident. He’s too confidant. I’m willing to bet he’s overconfident…and that makes him careless.
Dawson reaches into his own pocket, and takes out a pair of sunglasses. He puts them on.
DAWSON: Shall we?
Pacey smiles, then takes out his own glasses.
PACEY: You know what the difference between you and me is, bro…?
He places them over his eyes, and grins ear-to-ear.
PACEY: I make this look GOOD!
*****
Some time later, at Worthington…
The main hall is becoming crowded, as several people gather around for the competition to start. Derek is there, having placed his entry on a nearby table.
A few feet away, Dawson and Pacey are watching him. Dawson takes off his glasses, inspecting the area.
DAWSON: You sure you can handle this?
Pacey takes out a small manila envelope, the exact same kind that Derek put the poem inside. He shows it to Dawson.
PACEY: Just distract him, Dawson. I’ll do the rest.
With that, Dawson loosens his tie and walks towards Derek.
DAWSON: Excuse me? Derek?
Derek looks towards him.
DEREK: Umm…do I know you?
Dawson shakes his head.
DAWSON: I don’t think so, but I know you by reputation.
Dawson offers his hand, which Derek shakes.
DEREK: Thanks, Mr…?
DAWSON: Eddie! Eddie Dolan!
While they’re talking, Pacey circles around towards the table. Quickly, he switches the envelope for the one in his hand. He replaces them, and takes off before anyone even notices.
Meanwhile, Dawson and Derek continue talking…mostly about the competition. Until, without any warning, Chris shows up.
CHRIS: You’re here, too? I’m almost convinced Capeside is a suburb now.
Dawson’s eyes go wide.
DAWSON: Chris?
DEREK: Ah, so Eddie here’s another Capeside resident, huh? You two know each other?
CHRIS: Eddie?
Chris stares at Dawson suspiciously. Dawson looks worried, fearing his cover is now blown.
However…
CHRIS: Yeah, we go way back. How you doing, Ed?
DAWSON: Not bad.
Casually, Derek picks up the envelope from the table and waves it at them.
DEREK: Well, you two get reacquainted. I’m gonna go win this thing.
Derek takes off, leaving Dawson and Chris alone.
DAWSON: He’s a friend of yours?
CHRIS: Yeah. Kind of. Though he could stand to be taken down a peg. Why did you think I didn’t get your cover blown ‘Ed’?
DAWSON: I simply assumed you had a momentary burst of conscience.
Chris laughs.
CHRIS: Yeah, right! Remember who you’re talking to, Dawson. I’ll be seeing you. Though, if I were you, I’d scram before Derek realizes you just screwed him big time.
Chris walks over to Derek, leaving Dawson to consider their conversation. He then leaves to join Pacey.