I think I managed to get everything. I put the corrections in red – same as usual. It's mainly in the history lesson bit. Some things weren't quite right, but then again, it is fiction and you can change what you like. Though I would recommend staying true to the show for this because it doesn't really make much difference to the plot. (

Part 8: Wake-Up Call

"Thanks for helping, Jack," Jen said, pulling a pack of Doritos off the shelf.

"Like I had a choice!" Jack joked; he really didn't care, he just enjoyed putting up a fight.

The two friends had gone straight to the store after rehearsals had finished to pick up supplies for the party later that night.

"Jen? Don't you think that you should get something other than chips?"

"What?" Jen answered, seemingly surprised at the question.

"Well so far we've got Doritos, Pringles, Cheetos..."

"Point taken. Could you go and grab me a couple of frozen pizzas?"

Jack was just turning into the frozen food aisle when he saw Mr. Ames putting a Hawaiian pizza in a shopping cart. Jack pulled a pizza from of the shelf in the freezer when the drama teacher turned to see who was standing behind him.

"McPhee, hi. You spending an evening with the TV too?"

"Hi, no, party," Jack said gesturing with the second pizza he was taking out of the freezer.

"Oh, okay then," Mr. Ames started to look embarrassed after his unflattering revelation. He tried to lighten the atmosphere of his own creation with humour. "Well, after that spout of monosyllables I'm just glad I'm not your English teacher!" He[he] said, grinning pathetically.

"Well, at a push I have been known to manage words of four syllables or more!" Jack said, adding a pepperoni pizza to the pile, smiling back awkwardly at his teacher. Jack felt sorry for him; he was trying to cover up his obvious embarrassment. He was failing miserably.

"Good one! Well be seeing ya!"

"Sure see ya tomorrow." Jack said, adding yet another two pizzas to the already impressive stack and shutting the freezer door. As Jack rounded the end of the aisle he exhaled and shook his head gently before going back to Jen.

"Six pizzas? Isn't that overkill?"

"Well are you sure that... seven different kinds of chips will be enough?"

"Six pizzas it is then!"

"And Chips! Ooh, and Twizzlers!" Jack said, tossing a pack into the shopping cart.

"And the McPhee sweet tooth rears its ugly head!" Jen rolled her eyes.

"Hey!"

"Okay, fine, pearly white head!"

"Thank you."

Jack and Jen turned up just in time to see Grams leaving.

"Hello, Jack, how are you today?"

"I've had worse days."

"So I remember! How is your head now?"

"Better thanks. There's gonna be a scar but it's not painful. Besides the stitches'll be coming out soon."

"That's good to hear." Grams turned to her granddaughter, "I should be back by about eleven, Jennifer, try not to destroy anything."

"I don't think it's going to be that kind of party," Jack put in.

Jack could have kicked himself, Jen did it for him; Grams wasn't supposed to know about the party. Given Jen's track record in that area it had probably been the best idea.

"I wouldn't worry, Jack," Grams said, seeing the look of defeat in his face. "I had already guessed. When Jennifer said she was going to hold a study group for you all I saw right through it."

"I guess, I can see the flaw in that argument!"

Jen flashed Jack an annoyed look, "Well I didn't hear you come up with any ideas of what to say."

"Not that I wouldn't have been able to work it out by myself anyway when I saw the two of you coming in with bags full of sodas and food."

Grams smiled as she looked down at her wristwatch to check on how much time she had. "Well I've got to be going if I don't want to be late."

"Bye," the two teenagers called together as Grams made her way out the house.

"Damn, busted," Jen murmured as soon as the door closed behind her grandmother.

"See, I would have focussed on the fact that she caught you out and still trusts you enough to let it go ahead anyway."

"I guess...," Jen said, cocking her head slightly as she considered the other point of view.

Jack smirked at his friend and then lead the way into the kitchen.

Joshua was last to arrive, living slightly further away than the others it was to be expected.

"Hi," Jen said as she opened the door to him. "Come on in."

"Hi, thanks," Josh replied, kicking his shoes off in the hall. "I'm sorry, for being a bit late, I hope I didn't hold you up."

"No don't worry. It means I can introduce you to everyone else at the same time."

"Cool."

An hour later and Joshua was getting on with everyone as if he'd known them for as long as Jen had. They were sitting in the lounge eating Jen's lifetime supply of chips, the third pizza was in the oven, Delerium was playing in the background and Joshua was getting caught up with all the happenings from the six friends' lives.

"Okay so let me get this right, Dawson and Joey are like life long friends who finally got together, but only after Dawson had already been with Jen, and they are now in some kind of flunk but are still friends. Pacey and Andie got together but broke up only for him and Jen to get together on Witch Island after drinking a love potion."

"Actually we were never technically together," Jen put in.

"Yeah we kissed and then agreed to offer solace in the future."

"Fine, that wasn't quite the part of the story I was having the problem with. But Jen used to be the regular party hardy gal with the drink, the drugs and the sex..."

"But who is now completely over it having grown as a person." Pacey again.

Josh smirked before continuing, "And Andie had 'troubles' and started talking to her dead brother."

"Yeah."

"And Jack dated Joey but is now gay."

"Well, technically I was gay before then, my dating Joey was just an attempt to cling to the last thread of supposed normality."

"I guess that's understandable seeing as your family lives seem to be the very definition of dysfunctional!"

"I guess that's fair, you see more realistic storylines to bad soap operas than our lives," Joey said.

"Okay, did I forget anything?"

"Nope that about sums it up," Jen said

"Good, I will probably forget most of that so I apologise in advance."

"Don't worry about it, I have a hard enough time remembering myself sometimes."

Just then Silence started playing on the stereo. Jen took the lull in conversation to her advantage and stood up. "More pizza anyone?" Not a single no.

"Would you like some help?" Joshua offered, already following her to the kitchen.

"No that's alright, you sit back down, mingle."

"Nah, its okay. I want to help. I have this big problem with being waited on hand and foot when people invite me to their houses."

"Well, if you put it like that, slice," Jen handed Joshua a pizza wheel.

Joshua gently took the utensil out of her hand by the blade and then took hold of the handle, and after, sliced the large pizza into eight slices, arranged it on a plate and then followed Jen, who was carrying a bottle of soda, back into the room.

"You're well house-trained, Joshua!" Pacey said, as he watched the boy sit back down on his cushion and cross his legs in front of him.

"Well, I try," he replied, smiling.

All seven of them reached for a slice of pizza at once leaving just one on the plate and the conversation continued, through mouthfuls of Hawaiian pizza. When all seven of them started eyeing up the final slice Joey had a suggestion: "Okay, watching Notting Hill the other night must have gotten to me but why don't we say that the saddest one here gets the last slice?"

"Fine, but you get to go first."

"Any reason for that, Dawson?"

"Well for one it's your idea. Also, we all know that you are going to lose!"

"I wouldn't be to sure about that... let me see, dad in prison, dead mom, I have to help my older sister run a business just so we can support ourselves which also means that most weeks I have no privacy because my house is overrun by strangers. Also the money form this business that is just breaking even not only has to ensure our survival it also has to support me through college, if I even manage to get in!"

"Like any college would ever refuse you, Jo! Okay, my parents are currently separated after my mom's affair and my dad getting with my film teacher who switches between quashing my hopes of a career in film and supporting them. Also, I'm flunking math and it's only the second week of term!"

"That was a pathetic attempt!" Pacey said. "I constantly fail to even come close to measuring up in my father's eyes, especially since he and my brother and sisters have set a target that I can't even come close to meeting and I'm lucky to even make a grade in any of my classes!"

"C'mon my very public history of sex, drugs and booze beats that any day!" Jen said.

"Still not good enough," Andie said. "Okay then, my turn. My mother's fun history of psychological minefields which I got to join her in. And my dead older brother who was the object of my insanity."

"It's only fitting that I should follow after that," Jack spoke up, "Again with the dead brother. My sister is a nut case-" he smiled coyly at Andie "- my father would rather keep as far as possible away from me rather than acknowledge my existence and treats my sexuality like some attempt of a personal insult I cooked up specially for him. Not to mention that I am currently being terrorised by some unseen foe who would like nothing better than to squash me under his shoe like a roach."

"Way to kill the mood, Jack!" Pacey said after the few uncomfortable moments of silence that followed.

"I'm not even sure that I should try to follow that!" Joshua said, everyone smiled awkwardly. "Just take the pizza!"

"I know you may be new to the group, Joshua, but don't think you can wriggle out of this!" Pacey said. "It's your turn to humiliate yourself now, we want psychological scars and stat!"

"Stat?" Jen guessed. " That's it boy, no more ER reruns for you!"

"So not the point Jen!"

"Fine then, but there's not much to tell. Average family life, two-point- six kids and all that, that is until my dad left when I was ten and my mom is still in denial - traded her in for a newer model. That is my life, I'm a living statistic."

"That would make the pizza mine then?" Jack said reaching for the slice.

"Yes, well done Jack, you bummed everyone out the most, congratulations." Jen rolled her eyes.

"Yay, pizza!" Jack said through a mouthful of cheese topping, making everyone smirk. But Joshua seemed a little distracted for the rest of the evening, it wasn't obvious but Jack felt certain that Joshua had failed to mention something in his attempt to win the pizza that was eating at him for the rest of the night.

To Be Continued...