Warning: this chapter involves lots of "Other Joey" moments. Personally, I like her better this way.
"OK, Jo, so apparently the party is at the golf course," Pacey stated in the car on the way home from school.
"The golf course? That's strange," she responded.
"Now, this is a judgment-free night, remember? Besides the golf course is pretty perfect – limited clean-up, and at least its walking distance from your house."
"True. OK, so you go eat at home for once, and then come by at 7?" she asked.
"Joey, it's not even dark at 7:00pm. I know you want to spend time with me, but I'm pretty sure the party won't be starting til more like 9:00pm," he teased.
"Don't flatter yourself, Pace. Fine, 8:30 then," Joey suggested.
Pacey smiled at her as they pulled into her driveway. "I'll come over at 8:00 and you may be ready to leave at 8:30," he said.
"Whatever floats your boat, smart ass," Joey retorted. "See you soon," she added as she shut the car door.
Joey had just exited the bathtub after her second shower of the day, which was an extremely rare occurrence. She wiped the steam from the bathroom mirror and began to blow dry her hair. As she prepared for the night, Joey reflected on her complicated reaction to finding Pacey with his tongue down Jen's throat. She had already admitted to herself that at least some part of her wanted to be engaged in sexual activities with Pacey, but she could easily dismiss that as a hormonal glitch. Even more confusing was the fact that she felt hurt, sad, and disappointed. Joey finished drying her hair and looked in the mirror. She reached for the lipstick that Bessie had given her last year. As she leaned into the mirror to apply the color, Joey paused. She could count on one hand the number of times she had worn lipstick. Other than that horrible Miss Windjammer Pageant, they had all been for a date. So why had she felt compelled to wear it tonight? This was not a date, just a night out with a friend. Joey swallowed hard and swore under her breath. She was nervous. She was nervous and considering wearing lipstick. "Dammit," she swore again as she shoved the lipstick back into the drawer.
"You look great, Jo," Bessie remarked as Joey entered the hallway.
"I just dried my hair. That's all. No big deal," Joey defended quickly.
"Sorry, didn't mean to accuse you of looking nice," Bessie said with a roll of her eyes. "Bodie made dinner," she offered to her sister.
Joey heard a knock on the front door. She looked at the clock to see that it was 8:00pm. Bessie, looking confused, walked across the living room to open the door. "Pacey, since when do you knock?" Bessie asked.
"Well, Bodie is here. It seemed like the respectful thing to do," Pacey responded simply.
Bodie chuckled from behind Bessie and offered his hand to Pacey. "You're welcome in our home, anytime, Pacey," Bodie said as the men shook hands.
"Thanks, Bodie. I appreciate that," Pacey stated.
"Oh, so now he wants to be all formal," Bessie chimed in. "After he's already eaten us out of house and home."
"Lies, all lies, I assure you," Pacey told Bodie. Bodie smiled at him and wrapped Bessie his arms around Bessie. "Something does smell delicious," Pacey said with a shiteating grin. Bessie laughed with Bodie as she motioned Pacey to the kitchen.
Joey, having overheard the conversation from the bathroom, reviewed herself in the mirror. Trying to counteract the growing butterflies in her stomach, she took a deep breath and then opened the vanity drawer. She had decided that lipstick was too much for this non-date, but a little lip-gloss couldn't hurt. "Pacey, I thought the plan was for you to eat dinner at home?" she questioned upon seeing him seated with a plate of food in front of him.
"I did," he responded between bites, "but the cuisine provided by Mary Witter is indeed severely inferior to the culinary masterpiece Bodie has prepared for you here."
"You're ridiculous," Joey remarked. "Whenever you're done stuffing your face, I'm ready to go."
Pacey put one last bite of food into his mouth and then placed his plate in the sink. "Thanks for dinner, Bodie."
"My pleasure, Pacey. Thanks for keeping an eye on my family while I'm gone," Bodie responded.
"Oh my goodness, I'm supposed to be the emotional one around here," Bessie interjected. "Now, you two go. Have a great time, and be safe," she said rushing them out the door.
"When did that happen?" Joey heard Bodie ask as she closed the front door.
"'I know kung fu?' Seriously, what kind of stupid password is that?" Joey asked. "And what's the point of a password anyway? Half of the school is here."
"Because people like Matt Caulfield find it necessary to somehow exclude the other half," Pacey replied.
"Now those Jell-O shots, those were surprisingly good," Joey observed. Pacey laughed at the memory of Joey slurping down the red concoction. "Apparently we paid $5 for one of these fancy red Solo cups," she began. Pacey cleared his throat loudly. "OK, you paid $5. Thank you, Pacey," she recited like a schoolgirl saying good morning to her teacher.
"No problem, Jo. Let's just get our money worth, shall we?" he asked eyeing the beer keg in front of them.
"How do you even know how to work one of these things?" Joey asked.
Pacey handed her a perfectly poured cup of beer. "Growing up, every Witter family event included one of these. As the youngest and most hated child, I was in charge of making sure our beloved Sheriff Witter never went dry. So I learned to pour a pretty good beer because ones with too much head on them were unacceptable," he shared. "You know how to from the Ice House, right?"
"Yeah, but your Dad would have found all of my beers unacceptable," she suggested. "Did you know I actually put ice in the first pitcher of beer I sold?" Joey asked as she took a long drink from the cup in her hand. Pacey laughed loudly. "Yep. You're not technically supposed to serve alcohol until you're 18, so I was never trained on how to do it. I assumed people like their beer cold," she shrugged. "All right, Witter, we've got our beverages now let's make this a party," she said scurrying carelessly toward the putting green where several drinking games had commenced. A big smile spread across Pacey's face motivated by confusion and awe of the girl in front of him. Pacey considered himself generally well-versed in female behavior, but Joey was an enigma.
"It appears that you are not as good at this game as you thought," Pacey suggested as Joey took yet another drink from the beer pong table.
"Just part of my master plan, Pace," she responded. Finishing the contents of the cup, she licked her lips indulgently, and with a loud pop of her mouth she set the cup to the side. Pacey observed her closely as she picked up the ping pong ball. She took her "winning stance," which consisted of legs shoulder-width apart, a slight bend in her knees, and her bottom lip caught beneath her teeth in concentration. Her stance proved to be entirely ineffective in improving her chances of winning, but it made him smile every time.
"Hey guys, what are you doing here?" a male voice asked approaching the table. Pacey removed his eyes from Joey to find Dawson standing next to her. Interrupted by Dawson's question, Joey tossed the ball even more poorly than usual.
"I claim interference!" she yelled loudly. "Give me the ball, Pace. I get a redo."
"No way, Potter," Pacey said preparing to launch his next attack on the measly number of cups remaining in front of her. "Drink up, babe," he ordered after the ball fell easily into one of her cups. Joey wrinkled her face in protest, but picked up the cup easily emptying its contents.
"Joey, can I talk to you?" Dawson asked seriously.
"You're talking to me right now, Dawson," Joey claimed. Dawson sighed loudly in frustration. "Fine," she admitted. "Pacey, I concede defeat. Go see about getting us on a flip cup team. I'm quite sure I'll kick ass at that one," she suggested.
"If you say so, Potter," Pacey said with a smile that quickly faded as he watched Joey walk away with Dawson.
"Joey this isn't you," Dawson began as soon as they started walking together.
"Dawson, I don't want to do this with you. Bessie suggested I 'blow off some steam,' so that's what I'm doing," she replied.
"'Blow off steam?' Why would you have to blow off steam?" he asked.
"For any number of reasons that you don't seem to know anymore, Dawson. I'm having fun, OK? Just leave it alone."
"Joey talk to me. I know you think I really messed things up this year when I said we needed to be apart, but I hate seeing you like this. Getting drunk is not the answer," he stated.
Joey glared at him. "Loosen up, Dawson, and while you're at it get over yourself," she shot back at him. Then she took a drink from her cup and turned to find Pacey, leaving Dawson behind to watch her go.
Joey was right; she was better at flip cup. Unfortunately, being good at flip cup meant she ended up drinking more beer faster. After their last game, Pacey had turned to give high fives to the other members on their team, and momentarily lost sight of Joey.
"There you are," he said when he finally found her leaning against a tree. "You don't want to do that, Jo," he suggested motioning to the beer bong she appeared to be in line to use.
"And why not?" she challenged.
"Because Sober Joey would never forgive me for letting you share a drinking apparatus with the likes of these people," he concluded motioning to their peers.
Joey considered his statement. Then leaning in close to him she said, "You're probably right. I mean these people could have herpes or something."
Pacey laughed at the faces of the people around them – Drunk Joey was apparently incapable of whispering. "What do you say we take a walk?" he asked. The pair began to walk away from the group.
"You know, Pacey, I think I'm gonna sit here for a minute," Joey said resting against another tree. "Just for a minute. Kicking your ass all night gets quite tiring," she said offering an excuse.
"OK, Jo. Just stay here. I'll be right back." Joey nodded in agreement. Pacey set off on a mission to find some water for his intoxicated companion.
Having finally found one lone, unopened, bottle of water amongst the array of alcohol, Pacey started back toward where he left Joey. "Where are you two off to?" Dawson asked suspiciously. He stood in front of Pacey effectively halting progress toward his mission.
"Hey, Dawson. Having fun? We're just gonna take a breather. That Potter girl is competitive at all things! Here I thought it was isolated to Scrabble, but no. If I don't get her away from all these drinking games, she is definitely going to regret it in the morning," Pacey explained.
"Well, isn't that very heroic of you," Dawson responded mockingly.
"What's your deal, man? You seem angry. This is a party, have fun," Pacey suggested patting his friend on the shoulder.
"I just think it's awfully strange that you didn't tell me you were bringing Joey here, and then now that she's drunk you want to sneak off with her."
"I really don't appreciate what you're insinuating here, Dawson," Pacey said his own anger beginning to build.
"Not an insinuation," Dawson replied. "More of an observation."
"Wow, D, you must think really highly of your friends," Pacey began, his words ripe with sarcasm and disdain. "You should know better than to think that Joey would allow herself to be taken advantage of by anyone. And shit, man, how could you ever suggest that I was capable of putting anyone in that type of situation, let alone a vulnerable Joey Potter?" Not waiting for a response, Pacey walked away from the person who claimed to be his best friend.
"What's this for?" Joey asked as Pacey handed her the bottled water.
"To help with the whole 'everything is spinning' thing," he offered. "Ready for that walk?" Pacey asked helping her up. Feeling slightly unsteady, Joey wrapped her right arm around Pacey's left. They walked in silence for a few minutes leaving behind the noise of the party.
"The stars are beautiful tonight," Joey observed. Pacey stopped walking and looked up into the sky. When she looked down again her eyes caught his. "Will you dance with me, Pace?"
"Dance? But there's not music, Potter."
"So, this is my night out, remember? And I want to dance," she commanded.
"As you wish," he said wrapping her into a hug stance. They swayed easily together to the beat of the non-existent music.
"Hey Pace," Joey said lifting her head from his shoulder.
"Yeah, Jo?"
"Why did you make that sex pact with Jen and not me?" she asked.
"For a host of reasons actually," Pacey began.
"But I guess the only one that really matters is that I'm just not sexy. Guys don't think about me that way," she said cutting him off from his explanation.
Pacey stopped moving suddenly and released her arms as he stood back to look at her. "Joey, I need you to listen to me. I mean really hear me. Because I think you haven't been told this before, and that's simply a disservice to you. Hell, to life in general." His face turned serious and Joey's heart beat faster in anticipation of what he might say next. "Everything about you is sexual: from the way you chew on your lower lip, to how you brush the hair from your face and tuck it behind your ear. I know you think your legs are too long and your boobs too small, but God, Jo. You are gorgeous. When you finally realize the power you possess, no man will stand a chance against you," he told her sincerely.
In that moment, Joey yearned to kiss him. She wanted to kiss him so badly that her entire body ached. Joey realized that she didn't want to kiss him just because he had referred to her as "gorgeous" or because she was feeling tipsy and impulsive, but for a long list of reasons: he comforted her when she could no longer manage the grief of missing her mother; he believed in her ability to make her mother's B&B dream a reality; he understood that art was important to her; and everyday, without even being asked, he picked her up for school. Giving in to the growing reasons why they should be kissing, Joey closed her eyes and leaned in toward him.
"Joey, wait," Pacey said quickly after recognizing her intentions. "When you and I kiss for the first time …"
"Second," she corrected.
"Fine," Pacey chuckled thinking of their less-than-stellar first kiss years ago. "When you and I kiss again, it's not going to be when you're drunk. OK?" he stated.
Joey pursed her lips in a very real, alcohol-induced, pout. "Fine, but don't take too long, Witter. Nobody likes a wuss," she teased.
Pacey's face flushed and his heart felt as if it might beat right out of his chest. Joey Potter wanted him to kiss her! "You know, I deserve a medal for not attempting to ravish you right here on the golf course," he stated.
"Well I have no medal to offer you. I guess you will just have to settle for keeping your morals and integrity intact," Joey responded.
"Damn my morals," Pacey joked. "So, shall I take you home, Miss Potter?" he asked.
"No, I have a better idea," Joey explained excitedly. She grabbed his hand and rushed him across the golf course.