AMY´S CREEK - S01E14 - TRUE FRIENDSHIP
Disclaimer: I don´t own Dawson´s Creek or the characters from it.
1. Int. Amy´s Room. Evening.
Amy and Marco are watching "The Shawshank Redemption" and are at the point, where Andy breaks out from the jail and screams in the rain. Amy watches Marco smile, as he´s watching it.
Amy (voice over):
We must have seen this movie together ten times and this part always makes him smile. It then becomes bigger, when Andy and Red reunite on the beach in Mexico at the end.
Marco has to wipe a tear from his eyes and Amy smiles at him.
Amy:
I won´t tell anyone, that you cried again.
Marco:
It just gets me every time. What can I say? It´s one heck of a movie!
Amy (voice over):
It is one heck of a movie, but I know why he loves it as much, as he does. Andy represents his hope, that his brother can do the same one day and live happily ever after in the sun somewhere. They really came down on Nando hard and gave him three years for driving and crashing a car, while under the influence of Cocaine, to throw on top of the two years, he had from a previous suspended sentence and the three months he had left on his parole. To say that Marco and his family were crushed at the news in an understatement. Nando has always been nice to me, he´s charming that way, but I feel sorry for them for being saddled with him. To be honest, I don´t think he´ll ever improve, no matter how much jail time, they give him.
They see Andy come into the bank and take out the money, he´d been scamming for himself all along.
Marco:
Now it´s off to Cihuantanejo!
Amy:
Down to build a boat, meet up with Red and have a bromance happily ever after!
Marco:
That´s true friendship for you. I mean, I would want to go to jail for decades for a crime, I didn´t commit, but who wouldn´t love to have a friend like that?
Amy:
You have us.
They make eye contact and Marco smiles at her.
Marco:
I don´t know what I´d do without you. Thanks for being a friend, Amy.
Amy (voice over):
Joey went through the same thing with her dad and if anything, the things she told me made me realize how important your friends are in this situation. We´re not giving up on him!
She smiles back at him.
OPENING CREDITS
2. Int. Car. Day.
Amy is riding with Doug, who´s driving.
Doug:
What are you up to today?
Amy:
We´re taking Esmeralda on a little nature trip. It´ll be good for her, to get out of the house.
Doug:
Thank god, she´s too young to understand what´s going on. You´re doing a nice thing for them.
Amy:
I just wish, I could do more. Both for him and Paige.
Doug:
They´re lucky to have a friend in you.
Amy:
I feel guilty, you know? My life is so easy and close to perfect, while theirs is hard and full of problems. It doesn´t seem fair.
Doug:
The world is never fair, Kiddo. No matter how much we wish, it was. All the rest of us can do, is to try to make things easier for them, which ever way we can.
Amy:
I guess so.
Doug:
With how much you care about other people, you wouldn´t make a bad cop. Maybe you should consider it.
Amy:
We´ll call that a back up plan for now!
Amy (voice over):
Me in law enforcement? I don´t see it happening right now, but who knows? Right now, my main job is to make a little girl happy. That, I can handle!
They pull up to the curb.
Doug:
End of the line. I won´t be home until late.
Amy:
Try to have a good day!
Doug:
You too.
She gets out of the car.
3. Ext. Forest. Day.
Amy, Paige and Marco have taken Esmeralda out on a trip to the forest, but everything is so exciting to her, that it´s hard to keep a track of her. She runs off to check something out and a slightly tired Marco looks a little annoyed with her, but clearly can´t actually get mad at her.
Paige:
I can do it this time.
Marco:
No, she´s my sister, plus I´m the one, who invited you here. Stay put.
He runs after Esmeralda, to the amusement of the two girls.
Amy:
I´ve always wanted a little sister, but I never considered how much work they are!
Paige:
You´d love her so much, that it would be a labor of love!
Amy:
Probably. Wouldn´t you love to have a little rug rat running around your house?
Paige:
The way my mom has been acting lately? I couldn´t do that to any kid.
Amy looks at her with worry.
Amy:
You can tell me, if you want. I won´t tell Doug, unless you want me to.
Paige shakes her head.
Paige:
I´d rather not. It´s too depressing to talk about and this was meant to take our minds off our problems.
They see Marco come back with Esmeralda, who´s found a small rock, she thinks is pretty.
Esmeralda:
Look what I found!
Paige:
It´s pretty. Are you going to make it into a piece for a necklace?
Esmeralda:
Can we?
Marco:
We´ll do it, when we get home, okay?
Esmeralda looks pleased. Paige and Marco look happy for her.
Amy (voice over):
Here I have this cushy life, with little to no problems to speak of. They´re both going through their own version of hell, yet still they can look happy on Esmeralda´s behalf for such a small thing. I have to do what I can to help them, or at least try to.
Esmeralda proudly shows her the rock and she can´t help smiling back at her.
4. Int. Kitchen. Evening.
Amy is helping Jack and Joey make dinner.
Amy (voice over):
I´m lucky to have a couple of experts at my disposal.
Joey:
I heard about Nando. How is Marco doing?
Amy:
How do you think, he´s doing? He´s worried sick about him and angry at him at the same time.
Joey:
It has a sadly familiar ring to it.
Jack:
Are you rallying around him, like you know, you should?
Amy:
We try to and it´s not just him. I´m pretty sure, that things are bad at home for Paige.
Jack:
Now we´re more into my field of expertise.
Joey:
Like I didn´t have my share of parental issues?
Jack:
No offense, but your mom had passed away and your dad was off in jail. You didn´t have to deal with a mom, who was out of her mind and a cold dad, who wouldn´t accept reality. If anyone knows the pain, she´s going through, it´s me.
Amy:
Any suggestions on how I can help them?
Jack:
For me, the best thing you could do, was take my mind off it. You´re confronted with it all the time, so a small break from it could work wonders.
Joey:
For me, the best thing was to deal with it. In the right way, of course.
Amy:
I thought, I was asking the experts. Those are very conflicting ideas!
Joey:
Everyone´s different, Amy. It would be nice, if there was a formula on how to do these things, but life just isn´t that easy.
Amy:
Maybe you could combine the two some way.
Amy starts to get an idea.
5. Int. Ash´s Room. Evening.
Amy is with Vicki and Ash.
Amy (voice over):
If there´s one thing my two girls have always been great at, it´s coming up with ideas.
Vicki:
We could make another movie!
Ash:
That´s your answer to everything!
Amy:
It´s not a bad idea. Getting in down on the page could have a therapeutic effect on them.
Vicki:
It´s a way to get them talking about it, at least.
Ash:
Would you want to, if you were them? I say, we let them talk about it, if they want to.
Amy:
It´s not the most pleasant thing to have to do, but I have to do something to help them.
Ash:
Just promise me, that you won´t try to push it, if they don´t want to.
Amy:
No more than slight nudging, I promise.
She makes the "cross my heart" sign and Ash looks reassured by it.
6. Ext. Street. Evening.
Amy comes walking up to Paige´s house.
Amy (voice over):
It´s both lucky and unlucky for me, that they all live on the same street. A little extra time to work up my nerve, wouldn´t have hurt.
She rings the doorbell and looks nervous. Paige comes rushing and opens the door.
Paige:
Hi, Amy. What brings you around?
Amy:
I have this idea, I´d like to talk to you about. It can wait, of you don´t have the time.
Paige:
No, come in.
Amy comes in and Paige closes the door behind her.
7. Int. Paige´s House. Evening.
Amy hangs her coat on the coat rack.
Amy:
Is your mom okay with it?
Paige:
I don´t have a clue where she is. Probably at a bar somewhere, but who´s to say, if she´s coming home tonight or not?
Amy:
You talk about it so matter of fact. If it were me, I would be worried sick about her.
Paige:
She lost that right a long time ago. I´d rather if she stays away, anyway. What´s this idea, you have?
Amy:
That we follow up the success of our last movie with another one.
Paige looks pleased.
Paige:
You don´t even have to ask. I´ll be your leading lady again.
Amy:
Great!
Paige:
What´s it about?
Amy:
It hasn´t been written yet. You could say, that the idea is still in it´s infancy, seeing as in I had it around ten minutes ago.
Paige laughs.
Paige:
Fresh off the presses, huh? Can you tell me, what you have so far?
Amy:
It´s a love story about a tragic couple.
Paige:
I love those! Tell me about them.
Amy:
They´re both people our age, who have been forced by circumstances to grow up too soon. Both of them are fighting to keep their families together, despite suffering one setback after another. They then find the joy of love in each other.
Paige:
It sounds a bit depressing, but it could be good, I suppose.
Amy:
I want to base the two main characters on you and Marco. Loosely of course and your characters won´t be the exact same as you, but I want their base, to be the real life love story between you two. Dawson told me once, that all the best stories are based in reality and I can´t think of a better one than yours.
Paige has to take a moment to think about it.
Paige:
What do you want to know?
Amy smiles.
8. Int. Paige´s Room. Evening.
Amy and Paige are talking, while John Mayer plays on her stereo.
Amy (voice over):
That was step one. Now for all the things, I´m not sure I want to know.
Amy:
I think the movie should start with your first kiss.
Paige:
I like that.
Amy:
Tell me about it.
Paige smiles to herself.
Paige:
We had been flirting for a while. I had the world´s biggest crush on him, but I didn´t think anything would happen, since he was with you at the time. Then I met him down at the marina. I´d just had a huge blow up with my mom and had run away screaming at her. that I was never coming back. I was walking around aimlessly down there to pass the time, until I had the nerve to go back home again. I was walking past the Ice House, when I saw him coming out from there.
Amy:
Where did you go?
Paige:
Down to the beach. At first I slowly tried to hold his hand and I was over the moon, when he took it. We stood by the water, talking about how great it would be to cross the ocean and start anew somewhere in Europe. One thing led to another, we made eye contact and finally had our second kiss.
Amy:
How did it make you feel?
Paige:
Ecstatic!
They smile at each other.
Amy:
That´s nice. Even though I was the one being cheated on. Did it make you forget about your other problems?
Paige:
For a short while. I guess, that´s what Marco does for me, more than anything else. My mom needs alcohol to help her forget, but I just need my Marco. His kisses are the best drug in the world to me.
Amy:
What did you do after?
Paige:
I went home to my mom, after we said goodbye. We had yet another talk, that we both pretended worked things out for good. When you´ve heard it so many times, those words stop having meaning.
Amy:
We don´t have to talk about her, if you don´t want to. I know, it´s a sore subject.
Paige:
It´s okay. She´s a part of me, for better or worse.
Amy:
I have to ask, because a lot of people talk about it ...
Paige:
You want to know, if she hits me, don´t you?
Amy nods.
Paige:
I know, that she doesn´t mean to and she always apologizes afterwards. She wouldn´t do it if she were sober, but it´s the alcohol, that changes her for the worse.
Amy:
I´m so sorry. Does it happen often?
Paige starts to cry and nods.
Amy:
Is it every day?
Paige shakes her head.
Paige:
It´s never more than a few times in a week.
Amy:
That´s still too many.
Paige:
Some weeks, she´s doing better and doesn´t go drinking more than once or twice. She can be nice, when she´s herself. Other weeks, she doesn´t come home, probably because she´s found a new boyfriend, who she´s become obsessed with. Some times, she lets me know, some times she doesn´t.
Amy:
Doug can help you, If I tell him.
Paige:
He thinks, that he can, but he can´t change who she is. She´ll lie all she has to, so she can continue drinking. That´s the way alcoholics are. I´ve tried to put my foot down, but we both know, that I have nowhere else to go. It´s either this or some group home somewhere and as bad as this is, it´s still better than one of those.
Amy:
What about your dad?
Paige:
There´s no place for me in his new life. You wanted the truth? Well, that´s it. I´m stuck here in my sucky little life, with a mom who only cares about herself. I don´t know what I´d do, if it hadn´t been for Marco and you guys.
Amy:
There´s always a couch for you at our house, if you need it. You don´t have to go through this alone, Paige.
Paige:
I do. I know, you mean well, but there´s no way you can understand, what it´d like to walk a mile in my shoes. All I want from you, is to be my friend and not tell anyone, what I just told you.
Amy:
That goes without saying. Things will get better at some point. You have to keep believing it.
Paige nods and wipes her eyes.
9. Ext. Playground. Evening.
Amy and Marco are watching Esmeralda joyously ride down the slide. They´re the only ones there.
Marco:
Ten more minutes, then it´s home and to bed for you, young lady.
Esmeralda:
Okay, Marco.
She runs over to the swings and starts swinging.
Amy:
Those were the days, weren´t they? When all it took was a swing set, to make you smile.
Marco:
She´ll sleep tight tonight!
Amy:
How are you sleeping these days?
Marco:
Not a whole lot. If I get five hours, then it´s a good night.
Amy:
You can´t continue like this forever.
Marco:
Someone has to.
Amy:
Marco, your parents ...
Marco:
They have it hard enough, as it is. They´re in church praying for Nando, as we speak. Both of them are dumb enough to think, that it´s somehow gonna change him for the better. I´m smart enough to know, that you can´t change the spots on a leopard.
Amy:
Aren´t you mad at him?
Marco:
OF COURSE I AM! Sorry, I didn´t mean to yell.
Amy:
It´s okay, everything considered. I just wish, you´d talk to me about it.
Marco:
Isn´t that what we´re doing? He won´t be out for at least three years and that´s with good behavior. I don´t know, how we´re getting through it, except to take it day by day.
Marco looks up at the sky and shakes him head in frustration.
Marco:
He ruined everything again, just like he always does! Things get better, we start to get back on our feet and once again, Nando has to throw everything into disarray! The worst part is that I know, he´ll do it again and again and every time, my parents will keep taking him back, because they want to believe, that he can improve. Any fool can see, that smart thing is to cut him off and concentrate on Esmeralda. She can still go places in life.
Amy:
It´s not that easy, when it´s family. You still love him, don´t you?
Marco:
I wish, I didn´t, but to me, he´s still the brother, who always looked out for me, when we were kids. I just wish, he hadn´t ruined everything for me.
Amy:
You´re only 15. It´s not like your life is over yet.
Marco:
We both know, that I won´t be going anywhere. I don´t get good grades, I´m not a good athlete and we´re always broke. College is an impossible dream, when you´re in my situation. Do you think, Pacey would hire me after graduation?
Amy:
If I asked him nicely, he probably would. It´s just sad to me, that you´ve already given up like this. No one knows, what the future will bring.
Marco:
Unless we win the lottery or something, mine is pretty much set. I´ll graduate, marry Paige or some other girl, who´s an unfortunate as I am and we´ll do what we can to survive and raise a family.
Amy:
You´re not having second thoughts about her, are you?
Marco:
Don´t get me wrong. I love her and part of me hopes, it´ll be her and me forever. At the same time I want more for her, than to be stuck here for the rest of her life.
Amy:
You think, you know everything, don´t you?
Marco smiles sadly at her.
Marco:
I do, when it comes to this stuff.
Amy:
I can think of a way out for you. What if we make another movie? A really good one this time around.
Marco:
Is Paige in it?
Amy:
She´s both the lead and the inspiration for it. How would you like to be her male counterpart?
Marco:
As in, base the character on me?
Amy:
You´re an interesting subject for a character. What do you say?
Marco:
I guess, it´s okay. As long as I also get to play him, of course.
Amy:
It´s a deal. Do you want to help me write the script?
Marco:
I´m not much of a writer.
Amy:
Neither am I, but maybe the two of us and Paige could make up one good writer, if we put our heads together.
Marco:
Alright.
They hear Esmeralda giggling as she gets up higher and higher.
Marco:
Can Esmeralda be in it?
Amy:
I think that she would be disappointed, if she wasn´t.
Amy (voice over):
I guess, I have a project on my hands!
10. Int. Living Room. Evening.
Amy is talking to Jack.
Amy:
I just hope, I can do their stories justice.
Jack:
I believe, you can. You mom would have too.
Amy:
Do you really think so?
Jack:
Some of the most fun times she had here, was when she was making movies with Dawson and her other friends. She always wanted to make one, that impacted the lives of those who watched it. She would be proud of you, if you made one that did.
Amy:
Do you think, this one could?
Jack:
They´re dealing with issues, that too many kids their age are forced to deal with. If you speak for them, then they´re sure to listen.
Amy nods in understanding. Doug comes in the front door in his police uniform.
Doug:
What did I miss?
Amy:
A very interesting day.
Amy smiles to herself.
11. Ext. School. Morning.
Amy arrives for school and meets up with Marco and Paige outside. They´re holding hands and Paige looks in a good mood.
Marco:
So, miss Spielberg. Did you finish your masterpiece last night?
Amy:
If you mean thought about it, then it would be a yes. As for actually writing anything down, it would be a no.
Paige:
The more I think about it, the more excited I am!
Amy:
That´s nice! I was hoping, you would feel that way about it.
Marco:
I could be good to get the bottled up things out some way. Are we on for a writing session after school?
Amy:
I am, if you are!
Paige:
You can bet your butt, we are!
Amy:
All bets on my butt are off, thank you very much!
They start walking towards the school.
CLOSING CREDITS