Kristie said goodbye to the person on the other end of the phone line and hung up. It was the second week of February and she was calling to invite her cousin, Pacey, to come down to Louisiana to experience Mardi Gras. Pacey was thrilled at the chance to get away from his family. He asked if he could bring some friends and it was agreed that he would bring Dawson, Joey, and Jen.
Kristie was excited at the prospect of meeting some new people since she lived in a small town. She had seen pictures of Dawson and Joey that Pacey had sent to them and was very taken with Dawson. She had never seen Jen, but Pacey assured her that they would get along.
Pacey had told her that Dawson was just her type, which meant that
he was probably very romantic and he rejected reality. This was
fine with Kristie because she was ready for a good romantic adventure,
and there was not time like Mardi Gras for adventure.
Pacey was grinning broadly as he walked up the stairs to Dawson's room. He let himself in to find Dawson hard at work on some prop for his next movie.
"Hey D-Man," Pacey practically danced around the room.
Dawson looked at Pacey curiously, "Hey Pace, what's up with your good mood?"
"We are going to have the best time," Pacey started, "and we even get to miss school to do it."
Dawson's face showed pure confusion, "What in the hell are you talking about man?"
"We are going to Louisiana for Mardi Gras! Isn't that great???"
Pacey watched as the confusion on Dawson's face lifted and shock set in. "Are you serious?"
Pacey looked at Dawson wearily, "Of course I am. My cousin, Kristie called this morning and her mom said that it was cool if I came and brought my 3 best friends in the whole world. You have to go man, Kristie is REALLY looking forward to meeting you," Pacey whined.
"Pace, what did you tell her? You know that my relations with the female species are kinda strained right now," Dawson paced around the room frantically.
He bombarded Pacey with about a million questions about the trip.
Dawson called the girls and asked them to come over. After the
girls agreed to go, which was not hard considering that both of
them were ready to get out of Capeside, and all of the parents and
guardians approved their little adventure, Pacey left to go home
and book the plane tickets. They were leaving in a little over
a week and Pacey couldn't wait.
One Week Later:
Kristie waited anxiously as the passengers got off the plane.
"Where is he," Kristie thought. They should be coming off the plane soon. Finally she spotted Pacey and waved to him. He made his way through the crowded terminal at New Orleans International Airport and hugged her.
Kristie hugged him back, "Hey Pace, I haven't seen you in SO long."
He smiled and looked at the others. "Well, I see introductions are in order. Kristie this is Dawson, Joey, and Jen. Guys, this is Kristie."
"Hi," everyone said in unison.
They all laughed and that seemed to break the tension. Kristie tugged on Pacey's sleeve, "Come on guys, let's go get your luggage and get the hell out of here. It's time to party!"
Joey smiled, "Sounds like a plan to me," then she turned to Dawson, "I think I am gonna like her even if she IS related to Pacey."
Dawson laughed and said, "Yeah, I know what you mean." He watched as Pacey and Kristie talked animatedly, reliving events from their childhood before Pacey moved to Capeside. She seemed to be a very happy person and was very lively. She walked beside Dawson on the way out to her car.
"So, you're the infamous Dawson Leery? I have heard a lot about you from Pace. He speaks very highly of you. Pacey tells me all the time that you remind him of me. He said something about us rejecting reality for a more romantic scenario or something to that effect," Kristie said finally looking up to see Dawson's face.
She laughed as soon as she realized that she had been talking so much that he hadn't had a chance to say anything. "Sorry," she said as she put her head down so that he couldn't see the deep shade of crimson that it was turning.
Dawson looked her and smiled, "That's OK…..it was kinda nice to have someone around that likes to talk that much. Usually Pacey, Jo and I just kinda sit around and ponder the meaning of life and over analyze everything."
"Well, here we are. Let's get your bags in the car so that we can hit the road."
The group put their bags in the trunk and hopped in Kristie's Mercury Sable. The ride to Springfield, Louisiana was filled with talking and laughter. The group got to know Kristie pretty well and were more than a little happy once they finally got to her house.
"Well, here we are," Kristie opened the door for them, "home sweet home."
Kristie showed everyone where their rooms were and let them get settled in. Pacey and Dawson were the first to finish and had just sat down in the living room when Kristie came in. She sat down on the couch and started talking with Pacey. They decided that they didn't want to go back to New Orleans that night because they were all tired. They would leave early the next morning and go explore a bit. Dawson excused himself and left the room. While he was gone Jen and Joey came into the room and settled themselves in the two remaining chairs. Dawson came back in the room and sat next to Kristie on the couch. They talked about where they were going to do the next day. They decided to just walk around New Orleans and explore. They were not going to go down on Mardi Gras Day because the crowds were way too much. Kristie had decided that even though Pacey was protesting loudly.
"Sorry Pace, but I am NOT going to lose your hormonally charged rear end in that city. I'd never find you again," Kristie gave Pacey a look that said, 'give up because you are not gonna get your way.'
Pacey got up and said, "Fine. I'm going to bed. Is anyone else coming?"
"Yeah," Jen and Joey replied. Pacey looked over at Dawson sitting on the couch,
"D-Man, you coming?"
Dawson nodded, "I will be there in a little while."
Dawson and Kristie sat in silence for a few minutes until Kristie spoke. They started talking about the things that they liked to do and were quite surprised to find out that they had a lot more in common than either thought. They decided that they should go to bed when they realized that it was almost 2 in the morning.
The next day was filled with adventure and parades. Kristie took the gang to have beignets at Café Du Monde that morning and they went to Brennan's for lunch. Dawson, Joey, Pacey and Jen were enjoying the cajun food and lifestyle. The parades were magnificent and the people were wild. They walked around the French Quarter for a few hours and decided to head back. On the way back they decided to take a walk down Bourbon St. just so that they could say that they had been there. They ate at a wonderful seafood restaurant in Manchac called Middendorf's. After they finished supper they headed back to the house. They were all thoroughly exhausted by the time they got home so they didn't really talk………they went straight to bed. The next day was their last day there. They went shopping in Baton Rouge and met a few of Kristie's friends for lunch at a little place in downtown Baton Rouge called The Avoyelles Café. The day passed quickly and the group went home. They decided that they would rent movies. They went to the video store and Dawson said that he wanted to rent E.T.
"Oh no," Joey said, "I have to watch that movie every week. There is no way that I am going to watch it here too." Dawson started to argue, but Kristie stopped him.
"I have the movie at home. If you want to, we can go watch it in the other room while the others are watching whatever they want to rent."
Dawson smiled and said OK. They went back to the house.
Dawson and Kristie sat in silence as they watched the last scene of the movie. When the credits rolled, Dawson hit the rewind button.
"That movie is a classic," he said.
"Yeah, one of my best memories from my childhood is when my mom took me to see this and I sat in her lap throughout the entire movie. Those were the best times," Kristie said softly.
She felt her eyes start to tear up at the thought of the days before her mother and father divorced and pushed the thought of crying out of her head. She looked up at Dawson.
He smiled at her reassuringly. "You know what," Dawson began, "I think that I may have made a very good friend on this trip. Pacey is right about us being so much alike. It was kind of nice being able to talk to someone without a bunch of problems to cloud my judgement."
Kristie laughed, "Yeah, I know what you mean. Well, I better get to bed if I am gonna get up in the morning to take all of you the airport."
Dawson looked at her and his eyes held her gaze for what seemed like an eternity.
"Yeah," he said, "I should probably get to sleep too."
The next day Kristie took the group to the airport. She told Pacey goodbye and that he should come back more often. She hugged everyone except Dawson. She stopped before she hugged him. He smiled at her and hugged her tightly.
"You better write," he said.
"I will, and you and Pacey are going to have to come stay for a while this summer," Kristie said.
"You can count on it," Dawson said smiling.
Kristie waved at the group and watched them board the plane. She stood in the terminal and watched the plane lift-off. She couldn't wait until the summertime. She had the feeling that the summer was going to be much better than Mardi Gras.