You and me | Pacey Witter

forty-two

AURORA SPOTTED the brunette, she badly needed to talk too in the hallway. "Jo, hey," she exclaimed as she joined her side. "Uh, I just wanted to apologize for snapping at you the other night after the party. I- I don't really have an excuse, or reasoning for doing it, but I've just been under a lot of stress lately, and I guess I just had to let my anger out somehow, but I shouldn't have let it out on you. So, I'm sorry, Jo, I really am."

Joey shrugged, "I've been thinking about what you said, and you were right, so, uh, thank you for helping me understand that" she stated. "And, you know, I can't really get mad at you for snapping at someone out of anger, because I do the same thing, so I understand," she said, a small smile appearing on her face.

Aurora sadly smiled at the girl and nodded. "So, uh, what did you paint for your mural?"

"That, my friend, is a surprise," Joey stated with a teasing tone.

Aurora chuckled at her tone and before she said anything else, Dawson walked up to them with a smile plastered on his face. "Hey, Dawson," she smiled. "Um, I'll leave you two to talk," she stated, "Bye, Jo. Bye, Dawson."

- - - - - - - - - - 

JOSHUA WALKED through the front door after his trip to the bank. He placed his keys on the hook by the door and walked into the living room, where he noticed Lucas, who sat on the couch, staring at the tv screen. "Hey, Luke," he greeted as he sat down beside him. "How was school?"

"Boring, terrible, depressing, you know, the usual," Lucas replied with a shrug. "Oh," he exclaimed, "and before you ask, Aurora and Jen went to hang out at the coffee shop after school."

"Good to know," Joshua responded with a nod. "Hey, when's that mural thing? Figured we should go support Joey."

"Tonight," Lucas informed.

Joshua eyes widened, "what?" he questioned. "Oh, God. I got to go change into my nice shirt," he exclaimed and rushed to the staircase. "Be right back, Luke." Lucas just laughed and shook his head as he watched him sprint up the stairs.

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

THE BENSON family along with the rest of the crowd stood in the school hallway. After the others who painted a mural were done presenting, it was Joey's turn. "And now, the last of our Cape side's high murals. I'd like to ask Joey Potter to step up and grace us with a few words about her creation," Principal Green announced.

Joey took the stage and looked out toward the crowd. "Well, uh, Principal Green said the mural should focus on what unifies us as a school, and if you think about, nothing really unifies us. Even our mascot is divisive- the minuteman? Right there, you've alienated half the student population. So, the only thing that I could think of that unites us all- that we all have in common- is that we all start off in kindergarten thinking that we can be anything that we wanna be, and by the time we get here, we've somehow lost that feeling. We've all started to believe whatever our parents or our friends have told us, about what we can achieve and who we can be in life, and we've forgotten about that possibility we had when we were younger. And that's what I think we all have in common, and that's what the symbol on my painting means- possibility. I painted it because I thought we could all use a daily reminder that if you believe in yourself, even when the odds seem stacked against you, anything's possible. So, I hope you like it."