Tricks and Treats

- Chapter Nine -

Pacey was dressed in the black suit his mother had laid out for him earlier in the day. It was new and rather stiff and he hated every second he was in the damn thing. He looked down at the cordless phone he had been using to call Joey but was continually unsuccessful. He gave up on trying to get a hold of her hours ago. Plus, there was only so long he could hide out in the bathroom before Gretchen would demand he leave. He threw the phone carelessly on the bed and waited for the disaster that was the Mayor's annual Christmas party, to come and destroy his life…

There was a knock on the door and Pacey sighed, fearing his dark and gloomy destiny had just arrived. He opened the door to reveal his older sister Gretchen in a long midnight blue dress with her hair pulled up. She appeared just as enthused about going to this party as Pacey was.

"And how may I help you today, Gretch?" he asked sarcastically. "Come to make sure this night is pure hell as opposed to just the fiery torture I am likely to endure tonight?"

Gretchen smirked, "You have it all wrong little brother… I've come to make sure your night is at least minimally enjoyable…"

"Oh how sweet of you, Gretchen," Pacey replied with a scowl, "But unless you're here to tell me Pop has magically turned into one of those fathers from sitcom heaven, I'll just have to stay down here and enjoy torturing myself with red-hot needles… Now if you'll excuse me, I have some needlework to attend to…"

"Hold it right there Pace," she said as she put her foot in the door before it could close. "First of all, I can't tell you how disturbing that last statement was and second of all, I have the answer to one of your biggest problems."

She held up a bottle for him to see and explained, "This little concoction here is what we humans refer to as 'hair gel'. Caesar died years ago little brother and I think your hair should die with him. So, your big sis is here to correct your nasty crime against the laws of fashion…"

Pacey raised an eyebrow, "So, my hair is the reason my life is such a living hell…"

"Exactly," Gretchen answered with a smile, squeezing out some gel to stick in his hair.

"You'll have to excuse me now, if I say you've completely lost it… Hair gel is not going to solve my problems. I can assure you…"

"Oh, but that is where you're wrong, Pace… After tonight, you're going to need something to attract that girlfriend of yours and trust me, the Caesar hairdo is not going to cut it…"

Pacey looked at his sister suspiciously, "What girlfriend? I don't have a girlfriend…"

"Cut the crap Pacey," she said sternly as she began to lift his wavy hair, "Even Dad can see your head-over-heels in love with Joey. It' not hard to guess when you ogle her every time she's within 10 feet of you… Besides, why do you think Dad set up this date with the Mayor's niece?"

"To make sure there is no doubt that I'm the idiot in this family?"

Gretchen glared at him, "No Pace… It's because everyone has been talking about you and Joey. I overheard Mrs. Chestyre yesterday talking about the scandal of the Sheriff's son dating the convict's daughter…"

Pacey laughed, "Are you trying to tell me that Joey and I have made the town gossip? And not because we're dating, but because of who our parents are?"

Gretchen nodded, "I think Dad is trying to prove the gossip wrong by setting you up with Phoebe."

"Well this is ridiculous!" he shouted, shoving Gretchen's hands away from his hair. "Joey and I don't even talk to each other in public! Nobody should know!"

"No you don't," Gretchen agreed as Pacey walked out the door, "But she looks at you…"

Pacey stopped immediately with those words. He turned around slowly and saw the smile on Gretchen's face. "She does?"

Gretchen nodded, "She does."

Pacey's face lightened up considerably with this information. It was like the storm clouds disappeared and he was in his temporary heaven.

"She loves you Pace and you can see it in the way she watches over you. I can see it in the way you watch over her. The problem is everybody else in town can see it too. And with Dawson telling everybody what happened at Halloween…"

"But Dawson doesn't know what happened at Halloween, Gretchen," Pacey clarified. "I mean he knows it could have happened, but-"

"-He doesn't know it actually did…" Gretchen finished for him.

"Right…"

"Well it's not hard to figure out, Pace… So I say you need to come up with a plan if you want to keep this relationship with Joey."

Pacey looked at her suspiciously, "And what exactly are you proposing…"

"All in good time, little brother…" she answered with a smirk. "But for right now, we have a hair crisis to solve…"

XOXOXOXOXOXO

Joey had her hair pulled back in a ponytail and her black pants uniform on as she served the guests arriving to the Mayor's annual Christmas party late Saturday night. She had on a dusting of make-up, thanks to Bessie's insistence, and was holding a tray with hors d'oeuvres.

A dark haired boy with beautiful green eyes kept ogling her from afar. He appeared to be one of the elite from out of town who only came to these parties for the free liquor. And she wasn't wrong.

"Well aren't you the most beautiful girl of the evening…" he said with a sly grin, taking one of the miniature sandwiches from her tray.

Joey merely smiled and walked on. She rolled her eyes when she was sure he wasn't looking.

"Hey wait," he said, putting his hand on her arm, "Why don't you stick around here for awhile? You know… let me get to know you better…"

He let his green eyes wonder up and down her figure very blatantly, leaving no doubt just how he wanted to "get to know her."

Joey sighed, "Oh I'm sure that you're just dying to get to the bottom of my intellectual being, but I do have guests to serve, Mister-"

"-Valentine," he answered with a mischievous grin, "Drue Valentine."

Joey smiled wryly, "Well Mr. Valentine, it's been lovely."

She rolled her eyes and turned to walk away. She could still feel his eyes on her from behind and quickly turned around.

"Keep your eyes above the waist Valentine… That is if you ever plan on procreating one day."

A clever grin spread across Drue's face as he looked to Joey's chest, "Will do, Miss Potter? Right?"

"It's Miss 'get your eyes off my chest' Valentine…" she corrected before turning around again.

"Oh so you're a feisty one… I like feisty…"

Joey could still feel his eyes on her, but another person caught her attention. "Jen?" she said in surprise, watching the blonde be escorted into the ballroom by her father.

Jen smiled and walked over to Joey. She was wearing a long black dress with her hair down in spiraling curls. "I didn't know you were going to be here tonight!"

Joey smiled awkwardly and looked down at her uniform. She suddenly felt inadequate again. "Yeah… The Ice House is catering this shindig and yours truly was assigned to be the evening's serving wench."

"Well I would much rather be serving this event than attending it," Jen replied with a scowl. "It's so boring. But Grams convinced my father to take me this year and so here I am, dress and all…"

"Why didn't you just come with Dawson?" Joey asked suspiciously.

Jen smirked, "I would have, that is if Dawson and I were still together."

"What?" Joey asked in shock. "He broke up with you?"

Jen smiled, "Correction. I broke up with him… His fascination with you and Pacey was starting to drive me crazy."

"I'm sorry about that."

"It's not your fault, Joey."

"I know, I just wish that he would stop acting this way. Like Pacey is trying to take advantage of me or something… I mean, it's not like I didn't let anything happen that I didn't want to happen…"

She paused, realizing she just admitted to having sex with Pacey.

"That is if something were to actually, happen, per se," she tried to correct herself, but it was too late. Jen had already caught on.

"I understand Joey. You don't have to explain anything to me. But I am curious… How long are you two going to try and keep your relationship a secret?"

Joey looked at her funny, "Excuse me?"

"Oh come on Joey! I'm not going to tell anyone…"

Joey looked down and blushed, "I don't know Jen. I've never felt this way about anyone before. You know? I mean I can actually trust him."

"Trust is good…" Jen said with a smile. "But kissing is important too…"

"JEN!"

Jen laughed, "Oh come on Joey… You can't tell me his lips hasn't influenced your sudden desire for one Pacey J. Witter."

Joey shook her head, her face a bright red, "I'm not answering that."

"Oh lord, I never get any of the good details," Jen teased. "Okay fine. I'll play along… So you trust him, huh?"

Joey smiled and looked up, "Yeah and I know this sounds silly but I've never really trusted someone like this before. Not even Dawson."

"Well, I'm happy for you Joey," Jen replied, "But if you ever decide to divulge in the more 'intimate' parts of your relationship with Pacey, you know where to find me…"

Joey smiled, "I will, Jen."

"Speaking of your kissing partner, look who just walked in the door," Jen said pointing to the entrance.

Joey turned around and saw the most handsome man she had ever laid eyes on. He looked charming in his black suit and red tie. And did he gel his hair? She wasn't expecting him tonight and was suddenly happy to be working.

Without thinking, she started walking towards him. He was like a magnet, drawing her in, and just before she reached him, she saw her… A blonde wearing a matching red dress to Pacey's suit and a very curvy figure. Joey felt her heart stop beating when the blonde took Pacey's arm and he led her inside. She watched the blonde whisper something into Pacey's ear and he smiled.

"Now that looks like a girl who knows how to have some fun," Joey heard Drue Valentine say close to her ear.

Joey felt Drue put his arm around her, but didn't shrug it off. She couldn't think. She couldn't breathe. How could he do this to her? After everything he had said and promised. He didn't even tell her he was coming tonight.

"Miss! Miss!" an older woman with white hair called out. "I would like some of your pâté please!"

Joey took a deep breath and tried to regain her composure. "I'll have that right out ma'am."

The older woman smiled, "Thank you dear."

Joey muttered several expletives under her breath as she turned to go towards the kitchen. She slammed open the double doors in the kitchen and made a loud ruckus with the tray as she put it down on the counter. She found the crackers and dips in the ice box and organized them on the tray.

All she could think about was how beautiful the blonde was in Pacey's arms. How she was the polar opposite of everything Joey was. Her curly blonde hair, her long legs, and big boobs. Not to mention those hips! What she would give to actually have a curve in her hips instead of feeling like twig…

And the way Pacey smiled as she whispered something funny in his ear. No doubt the little player was going to have his way with her tonight. Joey was foolish to think Pacey Witter was a one-woman man. After all, they were keeping their relationship a secret. So it's not like he would have a bad name after all this. She was just happy she hadn't slept with him again.

But as she thought about that night, her anger quickly subsided and the pain started to take over. She remembered the way he held her. The way he touched her. No man had ever made her feel so loved before.

She refused to let those thoughts make her cry. She'd see him in hell before she'd let her sworn adversary see her cry over him!

She wiped away the stray tear that managed to escape her eyes and grabbed her tray. With her head held high she hastily walked through the double doors, only to run into a fluff of blonde hair.

The tray with pâté and crackers went flying and landed all over the blonde with big curls.

She quickly kneeled down to pick up the tray saying, "OH! I'm so sor-"

"Joey?" Pacey said in shock, running over to his date who was covered in dip. "What? What happened?"

Joey smiled her biggest smile and said, "I'm so sorry Miss. I hope that doesn't stain your dress."

The blonde glared at Joey, trying to clean the front of her red dress, but it was no use. The dress was ruined. The blonde started to cry and ran away to the bathroom humiliated, making Joey look like she ran into her intentionally.

Pacey shook his head at her in disbelief and quickly ran to follow the blonde.

Joey felt the lump develop in her throat and turned around to go back into the kitchen.

XOXOXOXOXOXO