Sand In My Shoes

Part Six

Par-tay

"So great party huh?" A guy said, walking up to Joey as she stood beside the keg, drinking from a paper cup, watching the party in full swing.

"Pardon me?" She asked him, shouting above the loud music.

"I said. Great party, huh?" he repeated louder, leaning into her.

"Not bad," she responded, staring ahead, hoping he would take the hint.

"I'm Martin we go to school together;" he explained, Joey looked at him, she didn't recognise him. "I sit behind you in study hall,"

"Oh you sit behind me? Yeah I still don't know you," she told him flatly.

"You're Joey, right?"

"The one and only," she told him emptily, rolling her eyes. Where was Pacey when she needed him? Surely it didn't take someone twenty minutes to go to the toilet.

"Would you like to dance?" he asked her

"Nah, I'm good," she said shaking her head.

"Come on,"

"If I dance with you will you leave me alone?" she asked him rolling her eyes.

"Of course, if you want me to, but you won't," he told her, dragging her by her hand onto the dance floor.

They started to dance and she wished the song would finish quickly, she had no idea who this guy was but he was boring and clearly thought he was good looking. The fast song changed into a slower number and she sighed in relief.

"Well that was great," she lied, walking off, but he grabbed her hand and pulled her back.

"That was only half a song," he complained. He pulled her closer towards him and swayed with her gently. She put her arms around his neck lifelessly and hung there, praying the song would end soon.

Pacey walked down the stairs and searched the room for Joey; he finally spotted her dancing with some guy and laughed. She was in the need of a rescue, he could tell.

"I'm cutting in," he told them, taking joeys hand and leading her away from him.

"Hey!" Martin complained. "I was dancing with her,"

"Yeah well now you're not," Pacey responded, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her closer.

"Who are you anyway?" he asked him.

"Pacey is my boyfriend," she told him.

"I'm not your boyfriend," she said obviously and she stamped on his foot, giving him a look of ice. "I'm more of a soul mate really,"

"Hey i'm sorry, I didn't know," Martin said defeated walking off.

"Ouch," Pacey said, looking directly in the eyes "what the hell was that for?" he asked. .

"Where the hell were you?" she asked him.

"Have you seen the line for the bathroom? It's huge," he complained. "Plus I wouldn't have been so long if people didn't insist as using the bathroom as a make out room when no bedrooms are free,"

"eww," Joey cringed, resting her head on his shoulder. "We still have an audience," she whispered.

"Want to go and take a walk for a while?" he asked.

"Yes please," Joey said taking his hand and leading him out of the party via the back door and onto the beach.

"So," Joey started, leaning on Pacey's shoulder to steady herself as she removed her shoes. "Where have you been for the past fortnight?" she asked. "I haven't seen you around,"

"Me and my dad took a fishing trip. A very long ten day fishing trip,"

"Did you enjoy it?" she asked,

"Well it would have been fun if he hadn't been doing the 'I want to be a good father' routine for ten full days," Pacey sighed, shaking his head. "I mean there is such a thing as just trying too damn hard y'know?"

"At least he's trying,"

"I guess. I appreciate it, I really do. It's just that he wants to know everything about everything and you can't tell your father everything about your life. I'm not used to him like this, it's really freaking me out," he told her and she laughed lightly. "What?"

"You are never happy are you? I mean he ignores you and you're unhappy with him and then he actually tried to be a good father to you and you're not happy with that either,"

"That's the problem right there," he told her, stopping and looking at her. "He ignored me for fifteen years and then changes overnight. You just can't do that Jo, you can't change completely overnight. If he had the capability to be a good father before then why didn't he?"

"Well have you asked him?"

"No," he sighed lightly and continued walking along the beach, weaving between teenagers making out.

"And why do you think that is?" she questioned him, catching up with him and linking her arm with his in an attempt to fight off the cold chill of the wind.

"Because there is no valid explanation for it. I mean, ok, so what if I accept it? What then? Do I just pretend he never hurt me?" he asked her seriously.

"I don't know," she replied. "I really don't know. I know he loves you though, I mean why else would he do it? If he didn't love you then it wouldn't matter that you were hurting?"

"I don't know. All I know is that he is driving me insane with it,"

"Come on," Joey said, grabbing Pacey hand and dragging him back towards the house. "I think you need a drink,"

"What happened to responsible Joey? What happened to anti-drink Joey Potter?" he questioned her.

"I don't know, she just feels like getting a little drunk tonight,"

Joey and Pacey walked towards her front door at the end of the night drunkenly.
"I think I may have had a little bit too much too drunk," Joey said as she hung onto Pacey. "Drunk?" she asked out loud, something about the word just didn't seem right. "Drunk? Drink? Drink? Is it drink or drunk?" she asked out loud and shook her head. "Who acres right, drunk/drink, it's all the same right?" The ground seemed like it was moving beneath her feet, which was when she realised that the ground wasn't moving, she was. Se was moving rapidly forward, towards the grass.

"Nah," Pacey told her, catching her and pulling her back towards him, helping her up the steps as well as he could.

"I think I had one too many jell-o shots," she mumbled.

"There's always room for jell-o," he laughed, helping her up the steps and towards the door. When they got their she dug deeply in her pocket for her key and placed it in the door, or at least she tried, she kept missing. "Let me try," Pacey said grabbing the key and putting it carefully into the lock and turning it.

"Wooo!" Joey exclaimed as they entered the house, Pacey quickly covered her mouth with his hand.

"Do you want to get us killed?" he asked her slurring his words. He may have been drunk but he knew what a dangerous woman Bessie was where Joey and alcohol was concerned.

"You're right," Joey whispered, turning to face him and putting her finger on his lips. "Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" They walked aimlessly in the dark house, finally meeting their match in the shape of the arm of the couch, which they instantly fell over. "Hello," Joey laughed as she fell on top of Pacey. "Did you enjoy your trip?" she questioned drunkenly.

"Well a beautiful woman is lying on top of me so I'm happy," he joked in the dark.

"I had a nice time, all the people were so nice, and all that jell-o was so tasty,"

"I know,"

"I had a good time with Tonto tonight," she joked, placing her fingers in his hair and playing with the ends. "The Lone Ranger just ruins stuff,"

"Yeah?"

"MM-hmm," Joey mumbled. "Can I tell you a secret Tonto?" she whispered in his ear.

"Sure, I probably won't remember it tomorrow anyway,"

"I always thought that Tonto was cutter than the lone ranger and I would not say no to robin right about now," she slurred.

"You're drunk though," he pointed out.

"Yeah, probably," she told him, pressing her lips to his and invading his mouth with her tongue. He didn't know what to do, the drink clouded his though process, and so he responded, pulling her lips closer to his, engaging in a heated kiss.

"Ahem!" Bessie said, switching the light on and staring at them in shock. "What's going on here?" she questioned loudly.

"We were just saying goodnight," Joey said drunkenly, climbing off Pacey and landing on the floor with a loud thud.

"Joey get to bed," she told her, helping her sister up. "And you go home before I call your father and let him know the state you're in," she ordered. Pacey stood up and walked towards the door, leaving for the night. He just hoped he could remember how to get home.