Spring formal is like prom for non seniors.
The day was Wednesday. Joey walked from Bessie's car into the school. The ground was soft underneath her feet. Mud puddles were everywhere. The sky was colorless. It seemed as though all the color vanished during the winter and all was left was the white slate board that the color was usually splashed on. Joey opened the door and stepped inside of Capeside high. All of the lockers were granite gray and the floor tiles were multi- colored ones with specks of red, yellow and orange. The walls were painted the color of a goldfish. The whole school looked like a bad impression of the 70's.
Joey walked to her locker and got her things. She walked over to Carmen's locker and a guy was talking to Carmen. It wasn't Sam.
"Hey Carmen." Joey said. Carmen said Hi and the guy turned around.
"Hey bonito. How's life been without me?" The guy said.
Joey smiled wide and gave the guy a big hug. "Rico! I didn't think I would ever see you again."
Rico was a few inches taller then Joey. He is Spanish. He had a shaven head but could still see little hairs of black. He wore baggy clothes but not so baggy that they were falling off of him.
Joey and Rico shared a long hug and in that time Pacey walked up. Carmen tapped Joey on the shoulder and pointed to Pacey. Joey let go.
"Hey Pace. I was waiting for you but you never came. This is Rico." Joey said to Pacey. Pacey smiled and extended his hand to Rico. Rico looked at it with disgust.
"So you're Pacey Witter. Tiron! You fool, how could leave a girl like Joey? You are lucky I was there to help her from your stupidity. How dare you hurt her and still hold your head up high. You should be praising god that she lets you walk in her shadow." Rico looked disgustingly at Pacey once more.
Joey stood between the two. "Rico that was mean."
"I'm sorry Bonito but he needed to hear what I had to say." Rico kissed Joey's hand.
"You're right Rico. I don't deserve to even be in the shadow of beautiful Josephine. I was a fool to let her go and hurt her like I did. I'm sorry for hurting you too Rico." Pacey stood there for a few seconds then looked at his pretend watch. "Wow, time flies when you're getting yelled at. Bye Joey, Carmen. Nice to meet you Rico." Pacey smiled and walked away.
"que te den por culo!" Rico said to Pacey and Carmen hit him.
"What was that about Rico? I invite you to my new school and you treat my friends like that Mudo culo!" Carmen yelled at Rico.
"I'm sorry azucar but that guy had it coming to him." Rico said in his defence.
"ouy Rico what are you going to say to Sam when you meet him? Huh Rico? Are you going to act like this again?" Carmen was in Rico's face.
Rico put his hands on her shoulders. "No Carmen, I will behave because this guy makes you happy and he respects and loves you. I will like him too, or i will try too."
"Fine Rico. I'll see you tonight." Carmen hugged Rico and so did Joey. Joey and Carmen walked away.
"Hey Carm, when are you gonna see him tonight?" Joey asked.
"O shit Joey! I didn't tell you. Rico is coming tonight to the movies. I'm so sorry Jo." Carmen was at her first class.
"No biggie Carm. I have to go and talk to Pacey. I feel really bad. Bye. See you later." Joey said then walked off to her first period class.
A few periods passed and Joey forgot to tell Pacey about the new plans for later that day. It was lunch and Rico sat next to Joey. He gave Pacey dirty looks the whole period.
"so how long do you get to stay here Rico?" Joey asked.
"only till Saturday Bonito." Rico squeezed Joey's hand and Pacey was getting Jealous.
"What! You can't Deny me tickets to the spring formal!" Dawson said from the ticket booth to the spring formal in the corner. Rico said he'd be back and walked over to the booth.
"Excuse me Dawsoun but is this person refusing to sell you tickets?" Rico asked Dawson.
"Yeah he is. He says I can't go with Charlie." Dawson said pissed off.
Rico got ontop of a table and started to clap his hands. "excuse me, excuse me everyone! Thanks. This boy, this teenage boy no older than us, is refusing to sell my buddy here tickets to the spring formal because he wants to take his boyfriend. Is that fair people? There is no commandment that reads: thou shall not take a same sex date to a dance. I don't remember reading in the constitution a rule against gays and letting them date in public. I do recall a certain line in the pledge of allegance though, with liberty and justice for all. This man is not giving justice to my friend who wants to attend a school funcution like any of you with the person he loves. Now I ask you again, is that fair?(everyone says no) What should this person do? (everyone chants Sell- the- tick-et.) what are you gonna do Tipo? You gonna sell the ticket or go against the rights he has as an american?"
Rico got off the table. The guy at the desk looked scared. He pulled off two tickets and handed them to Dawson. Dawson held them up and everyone started to cheer for Rico. Rico bowed a few times then went to sit down.
"wow Rico that was great." Joey said.
"Thank you Bonito." Rico said sitting down.
"I can't wait to see what you do at the movies tonight." Carmen said.
Pacey looked at Carmen then at Rico to Joey. "Wait, he's going tonight? Joey did you know?"
Joey looked at Pacey. "Uh Pace can I talk to you in the hall?"
Joey took Pacey's hand and walked into the hallway. When they were out there Pacey jerked his hand away from Joey.
"So he's coming tonight? Why didn't you tell me Jo?" Pacey said trying to keep his cool.
"I forgot Pacey. I just found out this morning." Joey said all nicely.
"I don't like him Joey. He has a really big grudge against me. What did you tell him back in Chicago?" Pacey asked.
Joey looked down and slowly looked up. "I was really upset that we broke up and really pissed at you so I may have projected you as a horrible guy who lies a lot."
"Okay so that's the reason for all of the nasty comments and stares but what about that name he calls you? Bonito or something?" Pacey asked who had cooled down some.
"Yeah it's Bonito. It means lovely in Spanish he called me that ever since I first met him. He calls Carmen sugar though." Joey was sifting her feet knowing what was going to happen.
"Why does he keep holding your hand and stuff though?" Pacey asked.
"Well, he was really sympathetic and we practically only held hands." Joey looked at Pacey who was staring at her.
"You...you said practically. That means you did other stuff with him. What else did you do with Rico?" Pacey was getting tense again.
"It doesn't matter. It was in the past." Joey tried to dodge the question.
"How far did you go with him Joey?" Pacey was stepping closer to her.
"I didn't have sex with him if that's what you're thinking Pacey." Joey stepped away.
Pacey was getting mad. "I didn't say you had sex with him. I just want to know how fucking far you went with him!" Pacey was yelling now.
"Why does it matter? I'm with you not him!" Joey was yelling now too.
"I just want to know. Why won't you answer my question! Did you kiss him, did you make out with him, did you get as far as touching?" Pacey was really mad now.
Joey walked away and turned around. "No! We didn't touch each other."
"Well what did you do then?" Pacey walked up to her.
"We kissed okay! Are you happy now? All we did was kiss once. Right after I told him it would be better if we were just friends." Joey rolled her eyes.
"I guess you weren't that upset if you can kiss another guy within two weeks."
Joey growled and walked away. "You are ridiculous Pacey! I tell you all we did was kiss once and you snap in my face because I kissed him. I can't take it anymore. I'm leaving." When Joey opened the door to the lunch room she looked back at Pacey. "I'm sorry that he has to go and ruin our night to make out because the dance is on Friday but I don't think we would have made out anyway." Joey walked in the lunch room only to be forced out by the bell.
The rest of the school day was bad for both Joey and Pacey. Later at six everyone was at the theatre except for Pacey.
"well, I think that's everyone so let's go in." Carmen said to the group.
"Wait for me!" Pacey called running down the street.
Joey was happy to see him but he didn't even say hello to her.
"Wait for me Pacey!" called a girl running down the street after him. It was Andie.
"Hey guys. Chris couldn't do anything so when Pacey invited me I said yes. I hope its okay." Andie looked around the group.
Everyone said hello to Andie and started to go in. When everyone was in and Pacey started to go in Joey held him back.
"What the hell are you doing Pacey?" Joey asked.
"what are you talking about?" Pacey had a smirk but tried to hide it.
"Why did you bring Andie here tonight?"
"Well, I didn't want to feel like the 5th wheel so I invited Andie to even it out."
"come on Pacey. You wouldn't be the 5th wheel."
Pacey looked straight at Joey. "Yes I would Jo and you know it. You would be too busy with Rico and I would be left out."
Joey looked at him and looked away. "I'm sorry if I made you feel that way but why Andie? Why did it have to be her? Why wasn't it Dawson or someone else?"
"I don't know, she was there, I was mad, it just popped in my head."
Joey just stared at Pacey, laughed a little, and walked into the movie theatre.
After the movie everyone decided to go get a soda. Joey tried to pay attention to Rico but she was finding herself distracted by Pacey and Andie.
"Pacey, there's this concert on Friday and if I decide not to go to the dance I was hoping you would go with me." Andie said.
Pacey looked at Joey and she was looking back. Rico had his hand really close to Joey's hand. Pacey looked back at Andie and said, "I'd love to Andie. It's not like I have other plans."
Joey got mad at what Pacey said so she decided to even the score. "Rico, when you asked me earlier if I would go to the dance with you and I told you I had something else to do, I want to take that back. I have nothing to do and I'd love to go to the dance with you on Friday."
After everyone was done Pacey and Joey wanted to walk home. Joey walked out after Pacey and headed in the opposite direction from him. Pacey noticed.
"Uh hello Joey, you live this way."
Joey stopped and turned to face him. "I don't really want to talk, walk by, or even see you right now so I'm going to take the long way home. Goodbye Pacey." On that note Joey turned on her heel and kept walking away from Pacey. Not once did she look back.
The day was Wednesday. Joey walked from Bessie's car into the school. The ground was soft underneath her feet. Mud puddles were everywhere. The sky was colorless. It seemed as though all the color vanished during the winter and all was left was the white slate board that the color was usually splashed on. Joey opened the door and stepped inside of Capeside high. All of the lockers were granite gray and the floor tiles were multi- colored ones with specks of red, yellow and orange. The walls were painted the color of a goldfish. The whole school looked like a bad impression of the 70's.
Joey walked to her locker and got her things. She walked over to Carmen's locker and a guy was talking to Carmen. It wasn't Sam.
"Hey Carmen." Joey said. Carmen said Hi and the guy turned around.
"Hey bonito. How's life been without me?" The guy said.
Joey smiled wide and gave the guy a big hug. "Rico! I didn't think I would ever see you again."
Rico was a few inches taller then Joey. He is Spanish. He had a shaven head but could still see little hairs of black. He wore baggy clothes but not so baggy that they were falling off of him.
Joey and Rico shared a long hug and in that time Pacey walked up. Carmen tapped Joey on the shoulder and pointed to Pacey. Joey let go.
"Hey Pace. I was waiting for you but you never came. This is Rico." Joey said to Pacey. Pacey smiled and extended his hand to Rico. Rico looked at it with disgust.
"So you're Pacey Witter. Tiron! You fool, how could leave a girl like Joey? You are lucky I was there to help her from your stupidity. How dare you hurt her and still hold your head up high. You should be praising god that she lets you walk in her shadow." Rico looked disgustingly at Pacey once more.
Joey stood between the two. "Rico that was mean."
"I'm sorry Bonito but he needed to hear what I had to say." Rico kissed Joey's hand.
"You're right Rico. I don't deserve to even be in the shadow of beautiful Josephine. I was a fool to let her go and hurt her like I did. I'm sorry for hurting you too Rico." Pacey stood there for a few seconds then looked at his pretend watch. "Wow, time flies when you're getting yelled at. Bye Joey, Carmen. Nice to meet you Rico." Pacey smiled and walked away.
"que te den por culo!" Rico said to Pacey and Carmen hit him.
"What was that about Rico? I invite you to my new school and you treat my friends like that Mudo culo!" Carmen yelled at Rico.
"I'm sorry azucar but that guy had it coming to him." Rico said in his defence.
"ouy Rico what are you going to say to Sam when you meet him? Huh Rico? Are you going to act like this again?" Carmen was in Rico's face.
Rico put his hands on her shoulders. "No Carmen, I will behave because this guy makes you happy and he respects and loves you. I will like him too, or i will try too."
"Fine Rico. I'll see you tonight." Carmen hugged Rico and so did Joey. Joey and Carmen walked away.
"Hey Carm, when are you gonna see him tonight?" Joey asked.
"O shit Joey! I didn't tell you. Rico is coming tonight to the movies. I'm so sorry Jo." Carmen was at her first class.
"No biggie Carm. I have to go and talk to Pacey. I feel really bad. Bye. See you later." Joey said then walked off to her first period class.
A few periods passed and Joey forgot to tell Pacey about the new plans for later that day. It was lunch and Rico sat next to Joey. He gave Pacey dirty looks the whole period.
"so how long do you get to stay here Rico?" Joey asked.
"only till Saturday Bonito." Rico squeezed Joey's hand and Pacey was getting Jealous.
"What! You can't Deny me tickets to the spring formal!" Dawson said from the ticket booth to the spring formal in the corner. Rico said he'd be back and walked over to the booth.
"Excuse me Dawsoun but is this person refusing to sell you tickets?" Rico asked Dawson.
"Yeah he is. He says I can't go with Charlie." Dawson said pissed off.
Rico got ontop of a table and started to clap his hands. "excuse me, excuse me everyone! Thanks. This boy, this teenage boy no older than us, is refusing to sell my buddy here tickets to the spring formal because he wants to take his boyfriend. Is that fair people? There is no commandment that reads: thou shall not take a same sex date to a dance. I don't remember reading in the constitution a rule against gays and letting them date in public. I do recall a certain line in the pledge of allegance though, with liberty and justice for all. This man is not giving justice to my friend who wants to attend a school funcution like any of you with the person he loves. Now I ask you again, is that fair?(everyone says no) What should this person do? (everyone chants Sell- the- tick-et.) what are you gonna do Tipo? You gonna sell the ticket or go against the rights he has as an american?"
Rico got off the table. The guy at the desk looked scared. He pulled off two tickets and handed them to Dawson. Dawson held them up and everyone started to cheer for Rico. Rico bowed a few times then went to sit down.
"wow Rico that was great." Joey said.
"Thank you Bonito." Rico said sitting down.
"I can't wait to see what you do at the movies tonight." Carmen said.
Pacey looked at Carmen then at Rico to Joey. "Wait, he's going tonight? Joey did you know?"
Joey looked at Pacey. "Uh Pace can I talk to you in the hall?"
Joey took Pacey's hand and walked into the hallway. When they were out there Pacey jerked his hand away from Joey.
"So he's coming tonight? Why didn't you tell me Jo?" Pacey said trying to keep his cool.
"I forgot Pacey. I just found out this morning." Joey said all nicely.
"I don't like him Joey. He has a really big grudge against me. What did you tell him back in Chicago?" Pacey asked.
Joey looked down and slowly looked up. "I was really upset that we broke up and really pissed at you so I may have projected you as a horrible guy who lies a lot."
"Okay so that's the reason for all of the nasty comments and stares but what about that name he calls you? Bonito or something?" Pacey asked who had cooled down some.
"Yeah it's Bonito. It means lovely in Spanish he called me that ever since I first met him. He calls Carmen sugar though." Joey was sifting her feet knowing what was going to happen.
"Why does he keep holding your hand and stuff though?" Pacey asked.
"Well, he was really sympathetic and we practically only held hands." Joey looked at Pacey who was staring at her.
"You...you said practically. That means you did other stuff with him. What else did you do with Rico?" Pacey was getting tense again.
"It doesn't matter. It was in the past." Joey tried to dodge the question.
"How far did you go with him Joey?" Pacey was stepping closer to her.
"I didn't have sex with him if that's what you're thinking Pacey." Joey stepped away.
Pacey was getting mad. "I didn't say you had sex with him. I just want to know how fucking far you went with him!" Pacey was yelling now.
"Why does it matter? I'm with you not him!" Joey was yelling now too.
"I just want to know. Why won't you answer my question! Did you kiss him, did you make out with him, did you get as far as touching?" Pacey was really mad now.
Joey walked away and turned around. "No! We didn't touch each other."
"Well what did you do then?" Pacey walked up to her.
"We kissed okay! Are you happy now? All we did was kiss once. Right after I told him it would be better if we were just friends." Joey rolled her eyes.
"I guess you weren't that upset if you can kiss another guy within two weeks."
Joey growled and walked away. "You are ridiculous Pacey! I tell you all we did was kiss once and you snap in my face because I kissed him. I can't take it anymore. I'm leaving." When Joey opened the door to the lunch room she looked back at Pacey. "I'm sorry that he has to go and ruin our night to make out because the dance is on Friday but I don't think we would have made out anyway." Joey walked in the lunch room only to be forced out by the bell.
The rest of the school day was bad for both Joey and Pacey. Later at six everyone was at the theatre except for Pacey.
"well, I think that's everyone so let's go in." Carmen said to the group.
"Wait for me!" Pacey called running down the street.
Joey was happy to see him but he didn't even say hello to her.
"Wait for me Pacey!" called a girl running down the street after him. It was Andie.
"Hey guys. Chris couldn't do anything so when Pacey invited me I said yes. I hope its okay." Andie looked around the group.
Everyone said hello to Andie and started to go in. When everyone was in and Pacey started to go in Joey held him back.
"What the hell are you doing Pacey?" Joey asked.
"what are you talking about?" Pacey had a smirk but tried to hide it.
"Why did you bring Andie here tonight?"
"Well, I didn't want to feel like the 5th wheel so I invited Andie to even it out."
"come on Pacey. You wouldn't be the 5th wheel."
Pacey looked straight at Joey. "Yes I would Jo and you know it. You would be too busy with Rico and I would be left out."
Joey looked at him and looked away. "I'm sorry if I made you feel that way but why Andie? Why did it have to be her? Why wasn't it Dawson or someone else?"
"I don't know, she was there, I was mad, it just popped in my head."
Joey just stared at Pacey, laughed a little, and walked into the movie theatre.
After the movie everyone decided to go get a soda. Joey tried to pay attention to Rico but she was finding herself distracted by Pacey and Andie.
"Pacey, there's this concert on Friday and if I decide not to go to the dance I was hoping you would go with me." Andie said.
Pacey looked at Joey and she was looking back. Rico had his hand really close to Joey's hand. Pacey looked back at Andie and said, "I'd love to Andie. It's not like I have other plans."
Joey got mad at what Pacey said so she decided to even the score. "Rico, when you asked me earlier if I would go to the dance with you and I told you I had something else to do, I want to take that back. I have nothing to do and I'd love to go to the dance with you on Friday."
After everyone was done Pacey and Joey wanted to walk home. Joey walked out after Pacey and headed in the opposite direction from him. Pacey noticed.
"Uh hello Joey, you live this way."
Joey stopped and turned to face him. "I don't really want to talk, walk by, or even see you right now so I'm going to take the long way home. Goodbye Pacey." On that note Joey turned on her heel and kept walking away from Pacey. Not once did she look back.