Title :My happy ending
Author :Tristan
Rating: G
Date :7/21-24/04
Summary :The gang go to their 10 year high school reunion.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Joan of Arcadia characters...I wish I did...Emmy nods and everything...here's to the people who do... I hope I do ya at least some justice. The beginning sequence contains dialogue used without permission from various epi.s of "Joan of Arcadia" created by Barbara Hall... "My happy ending" Avril Lavigne.
Dedication: To my JoA buddy, Alyssa , for our e-mails back and forth and getting me to write a fan fiction. And to Barbara Hall for creating my new favorite show...and to anyone else who needs or deserves a dedication for any reason at all.
Feedback :This is my 1st fan fiction so tell me what you think (but be nice...lol)
"'I need you to run some errands' ...'all about your choices'... '...pick on a Supreme Being your own size'... ' faith is believing when there's no reason to believe' ...' where do you people get this stuff?' ...'everything is connected, Joan' ... 'it doesn't have to make sense... we don't...doesn't mean it's not real' ... 'sometimes people need the choice taken out of their hands' ... 'they believe in me... even in the silence' ... 'I simply exist whether they believe or not' ... 'is your connection w/ Adam gone because he's with Iris?' ... 'how's this gonna work?' ... 'you won't let me go out on a date...unless it's with you...but if I ask you out on a date, a real date, you wouldn't go' ... 'I'm not some charity case, Jane' ... ' Violence begets violence, yo' ... 'doesn't it always seem like something gets in the way of what you hoped for?' ... ' Adam's all 'ohhh' about Iris' ... ' unchallenged' ... ' so you're ok with me and Iris?' 'I have to be' ... ' I sensed this weird 'item' vibe' ... 'Kiddos...Rave on' ... 'I'm about 'A''... ' do you have to talk...is there an off-switch?' ... 'who knew you would get so good at being so mean?' ... ' do you know what Grace is?' ... 'he's not that into her' ... ' you believe this crap?' ... ' I need something real, something I can hold in my hands' ... 'we don't know anything about her, she could be a total psycho'... 'ring, ring...that's my life calling' ... 'everything is connected, Joan' ... ' Casper, Casper, why ya bugging', Snow White wants to see you jumpin'...' ... 'let's see you make one' ... 'your talking about God...he isn't real'.... ' isn't real' .... ' isn't......'
"NO..." Joan yells as she awoke to her usually bedroom.
"Jane..." a familiar sleepy voice quickly says.
"Sorry... I just had a really weird dream.." Joan says, also as sleepy as the familiar voice.
"Well, go back to bed..." he kisses her on the head , fixes his pillow, and falls back asleep.
Joan lies on her back thinking about the dream she just woke up from 'Adam, Grace, Iris, God... what's it all mean?" she thought. Confused to the greatest extent she rolls over to the side and tried to go back to sleep...
"Morning, Jane." The familiar voice calls as he kisses her cheek. "What's for breakfast?"
"Um...I was thinking old pizza, a burrito, and some leftover Chinese..." Joan laughs going back to her past again. First the dream now the leftovers... it's gotta mean something. She loses her train of thought as she searches through the mail and finds a letter addressed to "Joan Girardi". "umm...I guess she didn't get the memo that I got married" she thought. "Look this" she says to her husband. "The 10 year high school reunion... that's so weird...do ya wanna go?"
He reads the invite before answering "Sure" plainly.
It'll be fun." Joan says assuring him, but mostly assuring herself. High school was so long ago... going back is going to be ... well just weird. It was a month away so she still had time to back out if she had to.
"Gotta run honey. I'll call ya later," calls the voice of a wonderful, loving husband who she's been madly in love with since...
"K. See ya" and the door slams on what was a completely confusing morning.
"Morning, Adam."
"Morning" Adam calls back to his strangely friendly neighbor. He must be in a good mood because he usually never talks to Adam. He takes the greeting as a sign for a good day and strikes up a conversation with his neighbor. "Ya know the craziest thing just came in the mail today?"
"What's that?" the man asks coming away from his fence up to Adam's driveway.
"An invitation to the 10 year high school reunion. Can you believe it?!?"
"Are you gonna go?"
"I figure I should. I mean it'll be fun right? And if I don't want to be there anymore I don't have to wait for my parents to come pick me up , I can just lea..."
"Scared of the past?" his neighbor interrupts.
"No just... terrified" Adam laughs as he walks away. "See ya later."
"Bye" the neighbor calls before going back to his mowing.
Joan dials the phone, hoping it's not too early in the morning to be calling.
"Hello?" the voice on the other end calls.
"Hi Mom. I had the weirdest dream last night. Grace was there and Iris and Adam. Kinda freaky."
"Hi honey. That's ironic. I had a dream about all of them too."
"Again with the mother-daughter dream vibes. You'll never guess what came in the mail today..."
"Reunion invitation?!?"
"How did you...?"
"More vibes. I just got called to organize and chaperone."
"Do 28 year old adults really need chaperones?"
"Who knows? But I said yes. It'll be good to see my old students again."
"Well I can help if you need any."
"That would be great, honey."
"Ok I'll come in the afternoon around noon."
"Sounds like a plan, but I've got to go, call waiting."
"Ok bye. Love you."
"Love you too."
Joan puts down the receiver into its charger stands. "I guess I have to go now, " she thinks.
"Grace...mail's here." Grace comes downstairs slowly but surely and finds her cubby, takes out the mail, fumbles through it and opens a fancy envelope...carefully of course (You can't just rip a fancy letter like that wide open), looks at it for a while, throws it down, and walks about 2 steps before her friend noticed, picks up the paper, reads it and stops Grace.
"Grace... what's the problem?"
"Reunions are overrated. People just go to brag about their lives and to make everyone else jealous of them." Grace voices.
"Don't you wanna see your friends?"
"No , not really..."
"Not even one of them?"
"I only had 2 friends in high school and they're together happy without me."
"So go and see them."
"I had a bad reputation in high school and if I go back they will all just find someway to ridicule me..."
"So go show that you don't care."
After pondering this thought for a while Grace says, "Well I do wonder how many kids Girardi and Rove have already made," laughingly.
"Go and have fun."
"Hey Iris...something came in the mail for you."
Iris comes running towards the kitchen. "Sorry mom can't talk...I'm gonna be late for work..." She grabs her keys of the counter and heads for the door.
"It's for your high school reunion" Iris' mom took it upon herself to open the mail for her.
Iris pauses, she was almost out the door. "What?" she asks returning into the house.
"Your reunion" her mom says plainly.
Iris takes the paper from her mom, reads it, and goes into another world, it seems, which scares her mother and Iris, as well, because when she comes to there are tears in her eyes and the room is silent for what seems like forever. Iris wipes her face and turns to the clock to see that now she's really late. "Gotta go. Love ya , mom" she manages to say through the running and the tears. As she gets in her car, emotions come over her as she thought "Now I am late for work."
"Joan, honey, can you go to the store for me and get some things."
"Sure , Mom. What do ya need?"
"Bye"
"Where are you going?"
"My high school reunion...I already told you that..." Grace calls as she walks out the door ignoring everything her friend as to say after.
"Okay...eggs, check...milk, check...all that's left is meat..." Joan declares, standing in her Arcadia grocery store where she has so many good ripples. Rolling down memory land kind of took her out of this world, but she came back suddenly when she ran into something...or someone.
"You should be more careful, Joan" the voice said. She hasn't heard a voice like that for a while.
"Well long time no see." Joan say sarcastically until she turns to see the person she is talking to isn't whom she first thought. "Iris..."
"Hi Joan."
Joan, slowly regretting going to the grocery store for her mom, wanting to go crawl in a hole. It must have been the thought in both of their minds. They repair the damage done and flirt with the idea of just getting up and leaving but Joan couldn't let them leave like that so she spoke up before it was too late.
"Are you gonna go to the reunion tonight?" Joan jumps back in surprise that Iris got to this question before her.
"Yes, are you?"
"I'm not sure"
"You should go, see all your friends again."
"Yeah and remember all the 'great times' I had from high school."
Joan suddenly feels a load of guilt being thrown on her knowing she was the cause of most of the 'great times' she was referring to.
Iris saw the guilt in her eyes and spoke accordingly. "Just kidding, Joan... you and Adam and Grace were the best people to know in high school...even if I didn't realize it until now."
Joan slowly looks up and smiles. "Thanks."
Iris felt guilty now for being mean to Joan. "It was 10 years ago...why did I fell like I need to make her feel worse for me to feel better" she thought. "Now I have to go to the reunion" she says aloud to herself.
"Ok, Jane. I'm ready. Let's go to the reunion."
Joan comes down the stairs, looking fabulous in the way where she's not even trying.
"WOW" was all he could manage to say.
"Well you don't look too bad yourself." Joan says. "Let's go."
ARE YOU READY TO PARTY?
The sign is so lame but it's the thought that counts right? "It'll be fun, it'll be fun" he keeps repeating to himself. As he walks in he doesn't see anybody he knows. But of course he only really knew 2 people in high school...well I guess 3. "Adam" a voice calls. He turns to see a familiar face... ok so he knew 4.
"Mrs. G...Hi"
"How are you?"
"Pretty good..." looking around he loses his train of thought and walks away before excusing himself properly from Mrs. Girardi. She understood because she sees what caught in his eye from afar.
"This is so weird. I can't take it anymore...let's leave." Joan gets out of her chair, grabs her coat but stops.
"Jane..." Joan had an interesting feeling because even though she's head that name too many times too count she hadn't heard anyone say it like that for....well since high school.
"Adam." She goes to hug the best thing that ever happened to her in high school.
"Jane." She was just as beautiful as he always knew she would be. It seems like just yesterday she broke his best art, made me read my mother's note, and told me that she's been talking to God. She comes to hug him and he's back in high school with us almost going out, fighting, making up, then fighting again and then going out. What ever happened with us? He tries not to be too excited but it seems like hours that they are hugging but when she pulls away he realizes the good times are gone.
"So how do you know my Jane?" a mysterious stranger asks, putting his arm around Joan's neck. Jane? That's his nickname for her... not just guy. Who is this guy? The confusion on his face must have been apparent as Joan and this guy move closer to him.
"Adam, this is James, my husband." James stretches out his hand and Adam stares into it.
Husband?!? When was this and why wasn't Adam at the wedding? Coming back to the real world, Adam realizes James' hand is still out for a handshake so Adam returns the handshake. "Will you excuse me?" Adam really thought he was going to be sick so he tired to retreat to the bathroom before something happens.
"Rove watch where you're going."
"Grace...hi."
"Where are you going?"
"Oh you know..." as he points to the bathroom.
"Ohh...sorry don't want to stop ya from that...Where's Girardi?" Grace wonders.
"Jane?! Oh she's over there with her husband ."
"What ? Who's this guy?"
"His name is James and he calls Jane 'Jane'. That's my nickname for her...not his."
"I always though you two got back together and had dozens of babies by now..."
"Ha...yeah me too."
"Well go back to what you were doing...I'll talk to ya later."
"K."
Grace goes over to Joan's table, almost wanting to turn back. "Married? To someone not Adam? Why wasn't I at the wedding?" she thought. Putting the water under the bridge she walks over to her best high school friend.
"Grace..." Joan noticed her from afar, slowly hesitating but changing her mind again and approaching the table.
"Girardi...who's this?"
"Grace... this is my husband... James." James reaches his hand out again, same as he did for Adam, only Grace responds much faster than Adam does.
"Hi. Is it all right if I take her from you for a while?"
"Sure, take Jane away from me" James says halfheartedly.
Grace takes Joan by the hand and quickly shoos her away. "Where did this happen?"
"Oh about 5 years ago..."
"Good to know I was invited to the wedding" Grace says half a whisper but obviously not quite enough.
"You hate weddings and dresses."
"True, but for you I would have sacrificed."
"It's a little late now." Joan feels guilty again. This reunion was a bad idea she should have left when she had the chance.
"So why does he call you 'Jane'?"
"He took me to see Tarzan on Broadway when he proposed and he said ' you will always be my Jane' and the nickname stuck."
"Doesn't someone else call you Jane?"
"Yes Grace, I know, Adam but that was 10 years ago and I know he's your best friend but..."
"Nope that was 10 years ago."
"Really I always thought that you went back to being friends again."
"I guess things change."
"You can say that again."
The song currently played slowly fades as the DJ takes over from there. "HEY YA! HAVING A GOOD TIME?!? WELL IT SEEMS ALL GOOD THINGS MUST COME TO AN END.THIS IS THE LAST DANCE SO GRAB SOMEBODY SPECIAL AND SHARE THIS MOMENT TOGETHER."
"I gotta find Adam." Joan runs off leaving Grace smiling. James catches Joan. "Hey ya wanna dance?" Joan gave one of her many looks but this was a gotta-finish-business look so James gets out of the way and lets her go. Joan finally finds Adam. "Hey wanna dance?"
Adam jumped back into his 16-year-old him when he was around Joan; he'd get weak. He couldn't manage to get a word out of his mouth so he just let the words of the song fill his mind.
"Let's talk this over
it's not like we're dead
was it something I did
was it something you said?
Don't leave me hanging in a city so dead
Held up so high on such a breakable thread"
Adam still couldn't think of anything to say. Luckily Joan thought of something. "So how's life?"
"Good." A simply answer to a simple question but it started the conversation.
"Why James, Jane?"
"What do you mean?"
"I always thought that we would get back together and get married..."
"Adam, I thought about you everyday after high school, waiting for you to finish art school in Europe, find me, sweep me off my feet. And live happily ever after. But you never came. Then I met James and I couldn't wait for you anymore."
"He calls you 'Jane', Jane" That's supposed to be my nickname for you...not his."
"Adam...you will always be in my heart... you were my best friend but that was 10 years ago."
"What are you saying?"
"I guess I'm saying not everyone can have their happy ending...find yourself a good girl who will treat you right." Joan gives Adam one last hug before finding Iris to replace her spot in Adam's arms. Adam confused looks up to see Joan mouth the words "goodbye, Adam." And turns around to the table where Grace and James are in a deep conversation. "Goodbye, Jane." He mouths back to himself.
We float above the gym with Joan, James and Grace watching Iris and Adam dance. The music fills the room and it's all we can hear, as if that's all that important.
"You were everything ,everything that I wanted
we were meant to be supposed to be but we lost it
all of our memories so close to me just fade away
all this time you were pretending
so much for my happy ending
So much for my happy ending"
And that's all there is...there isn't anymore...lol...bittersweet wasn't it?!? But I like going and doing the opposite of everyone else... I've read all this fan fiction that was they live happily ever after...and I just thought what if that doesn't happen?!? The couple I think of is Shawn and Angela from "Boy meets World" how Angela moved w/ her dad...that was sad...anyway...I hope you liked it...I would love to hear what you think...