The Wallflowers
Cut to a small, confined room in the high school. Hetson is there, having gained a black eye thanks to his brawling. Dawson is sitting next to him.
HETSON: I’m an idiot.
DAWSON: No argument there!
Hetson gives him a look.
DAWSON: Sorry. I just don’t appreciate being kept somewhere for something I didn’t do.
Hetson chuckles.
HETSON: I’ve never been in a fight before!
Dawson raises an eyebrow.
DAWSON: Never?
HETSON: Never! Not even when I was in high school. Oh sure, I got beat up a few times, but never actually threw any punches.
Dawson smirks.
DAWSON: So, how did it feel?
HETSON: Surprisingly really good. Harley’s never going to forgive me for it, though.
Dawson scoffs.
DAWSON: Are you kidding me? Beating up Wilder will definitely get you some cool points. It humiliating her that’s gonna cost you.
Hetson groans.
DAWSON: I wish I had done that. After what he did to Joey, I really wanted to.
Hetson sighs.
HETSON: Could someone explain to me what it is about Miss Potter that’s so special? I don’t get it. It seems to me as if every young man in this city is convinced she’s this perfect, ideal woman. I look at her, and all I see is someone who’s so screwed up that she has no business even being in relationships.
Dawson smiles.
DAWSON: You wanna know why? My reason, at least?
Hetson nods. Dawson then takes a deep breath, while his mind wanders back.
DAWSON: When I was in second grade, there was this bully who used to beat me up after school. No specific reason. He’d come up with a different one every day. Either I looked at him funny, or it was because of my Close Encounters lunch box, or whatever. Well, anyway, Joey’s dad had bought her this dress. He wanted her to start acting ‘more like a girl’…she was kind of a tomboy back then.
HETSON: I fail to see what these two stories have to do with one another.
DAWSON: Just wait for it. Anyway, one day Joey noticed I forgot my homework in class, so she runs it out to me. She gets to the schoolyard, and sees this bully cornering me. All of a sudden, she runs up and hits the guy. Breaks his nose.
Hetson’s eyes go wide.
HETSON: Owch.
Dawson laughs.
DAWSON: Yeah, he ran off after that. Never bothered me again. Joey, well…she took off then, so I followed her. When I found her, she was crying. I asked her what was wrong, and well…she was sad because she couldn’t help herself. She hated that she wasn’t ‘perfect’ like everyone wanted her to be. I just told her that I’d hate it if she were.
Dawson smiles.
DAWSON: After all these years, it’s still like that, really. People may think Joey’s perfect…that she’s infallible…but I don’t. I’ve seen her at her worst moments. She gets on my bad side sometimes. Tells me what I don’t want to hear. She’s stubborn, indecisive. She’s my best friend, but I don’t put her up on a pedestal. I acknowledge all her faults, but I…I love her all the same.
Hetson looks at him, amazed at the story.
HETSON: I don’t believe it, but you’re just as verbose as she is!
Dawson laughs.
DAWSON: Who did you think she learned it from?
Hetson laughs back, as they sit there.
*****
Back at Worthington, in Hetson’s office.
David Wilder packs up his suitcase, prepared to depart. He walks towards the door, only to see Joey standing there.
JOEY: Leaving so soon?
Wilder’s face is bruised and battered. He is definitely not amused.
WILDER: I had a bad night.
She crosses her arms.
JOEY: Well, don’t expect me to feel sorry for you. It serves you right.
His mouth hangs open.
WILDER: Listen, Joey…I don’t know what you think I am, but you’re wrong.
She smirks.
JOEY: Am I?
She walks around.
JOEY: You know, after you left town, I got involved with someone. Name was Charlie He made a career of convincing naive girls he was really a nice guy, when all along he only wanted one thing from them. The more I think about it, the more I realize just how much you two have in common.
She looks him in the eye.
JOEY: Maybe you don’t realize what you do is wrong…I don’t know. But I do know this…I’m never going to let someone take advantage of me like that again. Or my friends.
She walks away, turning back one last time.
JOEY: Oh, and if it makes you feel better, you did do your job as a teacher. You taught me to look out for myself…and that’s a lesson I’ll never forget.
She leaves, as Wilder simply watches her go.
*****
As Joey exits the school, she sees Pacey sitting by the road. Slowly, she sits down next to him.
JOEY: Well, that chapter of my life is now closed, thank god!
PACEY: (muttering) Whatever…
She looks over at him, her face softening.
JOEY: I’m sorry for yelling at you back there, Pacey. But you picked a really bad time for a confrontation.
He sighs.
PACEY: Why don’t you trust me? Could you at least tell me that?
JOEY: I do trust you.
He scoffs.
PACEY: Not as much as you trust Dawson, apparently.
She rolls her eyes.
JOEY: You don’t get it, do you? With Dawson and I…things are different than between you and me. And not for the reasons you think.
PACEY: Enlighten me.
JOEY: How long have I known him? Not even I can remember that far back. But as long as that’s been, whenever I had a problem, I went to Dawson for help. Back when we hated each other, he was the only person who would ever listen. I would just climb through his window and explain my crisis of the week…and somehow, he’d find a way to make it all better. This was long before I ever had feelings for him.
PACEY: Yeah, but now you do.
She gives him a doubtful look.
JOEY: You’re so sure of that?
PACEY: Would we be having this conversation if you didn’t?
JOEY: It doesn’t matter, Pacey. Whether or not I have feelings for Dawson doesn’t change the fact that I would have gone to him for help either way. He’s my best friend. Despite whatever hormones we’ve gained over the past decade, it doesn’t change that.
Pacey thinks for a moment.
PACEY: What if it were different? What if I had been your best friend, and Dawson the casual acquaintance? Do you think things would be different between us?
She shrugs.
JOEY: Who knows? Does it matter?
PACEY: I don’t know…
The two of them sit there in silence.
V.O.(Pacey): And as I sat there, one thought kept going through my head. That ‘yes, it did matter’…
*****
Cut back to the present, with Pacey in the same dark room he started in.
PACEY: …that I did care. All at once, everything was different.
He sighs, turning around.
PACEY: All this jealousy I’ve had towards Dawson…it’s been for the wrong reason all along. Because Joey’s seeming dedication to him wasn’t for the reason I thought it was. It was just friendship. True friendship. I wanted that commitment from her, but I went about it the wrong way.
He looks once more at his unseen audience.
PACEY: And I realized that I didn’t want that at all. Joey, well…she’s someone who’s always represented the ultimate goal for me. To succeed in breaking away from being the loser everyone always thought I’d be. Tonight, I turned into that guy again. But before that…these past few weeks…I’ve actually made something of myself. I have people proud of me! And I owe it all to Dawson.
He sighs again.
PACEY: Dawson? What am I going to do about this? We can’t just keep this up. Sooner or later, one of us is going to end up hating each other.
Finally, we see who he’s talking to. In front of him is a personal computer, with a small camera positioned on the top.
On the screen, an instant message window pops up:
Jlindley: So? What are you going to do?
PACEY: I don’t know. Something…anything! This had to end, and there’s only one way to do that.
He looks at the screen again.
Jlindley: Wish I could be there.
He smirks.
PACEY: Well, you could always stop being a cheapskate and buy one of these camera things yourself!
Jlindley: LOL
Pacey smiles more.
PACEY: It just ain’t the same if I can’t see your impish face rolling their eyes at me. And sarcasm doesn’t come as well on IM!
So long ago, I don't remember when That's when they say I lost my only friend
A smiley icon appears, with it’s tongue sticking out. Pacey starts to laugh, as the camera pans out the window.
Well they said she died easy of a broken heart disease
As I listened through the cemetery trees
*****
Cut to later on, outside the high school. Dawson exits the front door. He only goes a few feet before he encounters Pacey.
I seen the sun comin' up at the funeral at dawn
The long broken arm of human law
DAWSON: Hey!
PACEY: Hey! Thought you’d need a ride home.
Dawson sighs.
DAWSON: Tell me about it!
Pacey bites his lip.
Now it always seemed such a waste
She always had a pretty face
So I wondered how she hung around this place
PACEY: Maybe it’s just me, but I liked seeing Wilder get what’s coming to him.
Dawson laughs.
DAWSON: Yeah, I really hated him. I shouldn’t have, but I did. I guess that, even after all this time, I just naturally hate anyone Joey’s with.
Pacey takes a deep breath, those words like a dagger in his heart.
Dawson’s face falls, immediately realizing his mistake.
DAWSON: Sorry. I didn’t mean it like…
PACEY: (whispering) I know.
Hey, come on try a little
Nothing is forever
There's got to be something better than
In the middle
Pacey prepares himself for what’s to come.
PACEY: But you know something, Dawson? You’re gonna have to get used to it. Because there’s no guarantee that it won’t happen again. Some time in the future, she might be with someone else who isn’t you. Heck, you might have to stand back and watch as her and said somebody live happily ever after. But there’s one thing I can promise you, Dawson…
But me & Cinderella
We put it all together
We can drive it home
Pacey’s voice cracks, indicating it’s the hardest thing he’s ever had to do.
PACEY: (whispering) …it won’t be me!
With one headlight
Dawson’s mouth hangs open. He doesn’t quite understand what’s happening here.
DAWSON: You…you don’t know that, Pace!
She said it's cold
It feels like Independence Day
And I can't break away from this parade
He nods.
PACEY: Yeah…yeah, I do Dawson. I know it because I’m making sure of it. I’m out…I’m done with it.
DAWSON: Pacey…
But there's got to be an opening
Somewhere here in front of me
Through this maze of ugliness and greed
PACEY: One day…one day she will choose. Either she picks you and I end up hating you, or she picks me, and you end up hating me. As bad as the former would be, I couldn’t stand the latter. The one thing that’s stopping us from being real friends…the one person who’s ever come between us…is Joey Potter!
Dawson shakes his head.
DAWSON: We can deal with it!
Pacey’s eyes begin to turn red.
And I seen the sun up ahead
At the county line bridge
Sayin' all there's good and nothingness is dead
PACEY: No we can’t, Dawson. Say it as many times as you want to, that won’t make it anymore true. You will never be over that girl! Ever! So that means I’ll just have to be. You said it yourself…a long time ago, I had the choice to make, and I turned my back on you. Well this is where I take it back…try to anyway.
He closes her eyes.
PACEY: I’m not going to let her decide whether or not we stay friends, so I’m taking that choice out of her hands. I choose you!
We'll run until she's out of breath
She ran until there's nothin' left
She hit the end-it's just her window ledge
Pacey turns around and takes a deep breath.
PACEY: There are two kinds of people in this world, Dawson. Those who look out for themselves, and those who sacrifice everything they have for everybody else. People are always saying that I like to ‘play hero’, but that’s not entirely true, is it? A hero’s a hero because he takes risks. Because he makes sacrifices. Well, here’s hoping I can live with mine.
Hey, come on try a little
Nothing is forever
There's got to be something better than
In the middle
But me & Cinderella
We put it all together
We can drive it home
With one headlight
Pacey walks away. Dawson watches, awestruck…he can’t believe what’s just happened.
Well this place is old
It feels just like a beat up truck
I turn the engine, but the engine doesn't turn
As Pacey walks away, suddenly he feels different. As if a giant weight has finally been lifted from his shoulders.
Well it smells of cheap wine & cigarettes
This place is always such a mess
Sometimes I think I'd like to watch it burn
The camera pans up, as the two friends finally close the longest chapter of their lives.
I'm so alone, and I feel just like somebody else
Man, I ain't changed, but I know I ain't the same
But somewhere here in between the city walls of dyin' dreams
I think her death it must be killin' me
Hey, come on try a little
Nothing is forever
There's got to be something better than
In the middle
But me & Cinderella
We put it all together
We can drive it home
With one headlight
Fade to black
End credits
The Wallflowers