A Wonderful Idea
That evening, Joey finished work at The Ice House a little early. She went into the bathroom to change her clothes. When she came out, Jeremy Fields had already arrived. He was talking to Bessie and Bodie.
Jeremy was holding some flowers. They were beautiful red roses. He smiled as he gave them to Joey.
"They're pretty," Joey said.
"Yes, they are pretty," Jeremy said. "They're like you. You look very pretty tonight."
A few minutes later, Joey and Jeremy were standing outside the movie theater, waiting to buy tickets. They were laughing and telling each other jokes. Joey was feeling happy and relaxed. When they entered the theater, Jeremy bought some chocolates and gave them to her.
"These are my favorite chocolates - the kind I like best," she said. "How did you know that?"
"Your sister told me," Jeremy replied. "I really liked Bessie. And I liked Bodie too. They're great people!"
Joey was pleased. "A movie, a gorgeous boy, and my favorite chocolates," she thought. "And he likes my family. What more could I want?"
When Dawson got home, he went to his bedroom. He put the video tape from his camera into his video machine. On his TV screen, he watched the scenes that he had shot of Sheila. Then he watched the tape again. While he was watching, his mother opened the door.
"I came to say goodnight," she said. Then she saw the pictures on the screen. "Who's that?" she asked.
Dawson told his mother about Sheila. Gale Leery worked for the local TV station. She was on television every day. She was a news presenter. Every evening, she sat in front of cameras in the TV studio and read the day's news to the viewers. She also spoke about the short films that the station's news reporters made. She introduced and explained all the short reports of the news program that were joined together. She was the news anchor person.
"Sheila is a pretty girl," Mrs Leery said, looking again at Dawson's film. "How old is she?"
"She's eighteen," Dawson said.
"And does she have a summer job with the Barclays until she goes to college?"
"Yes, that's right."
"That's great, Dawson!" Mrs Leery said. "This month, the TV station is going to show some film reports about teenagers and their summer jobs. I'd really like to have a short report about Sheila."
"That's a wonderful idea, Mom!" Dawson said. "I'll ask Sheila about it tomorrow. She'll say yes - I'm sure about that. But I have a better idea. I'm going to make a documentary film about Sheila on Sunday. Why don't you show my film on your program? My films are very cheap - my film about Sheila won't cost you any money!"
"I'll have to ask my boss at the TV station," Mrs Leery said. "If he's happy about it, I'm happy too."
Joey was enjoying her evening. The movie wasn't very good, but sitting next to Jeremy Fields was great!
Suddenly there was a loud noise and it was coming from Joey's bag. BEEP - BEEP - BEEP!
Joey had forgotten about Howard.
"Be quiet!" some people shouted at her. "We can't hear the movie!"
Joey put her hand into her bag. At last she found Clarissa's virtual pet and pushed one of its buttons. The beeping noise stopped. But Joey could hear another sound - Jeremy was laughing quietly. Joey started to laugh too.
"Let's go," Jeremy whispered. "Let's go before we make everybody angry." They got up from their seats and left the theater.
Jeremy walked with Joey to her home. At her door, they stopped. Then Jeremy gave her a long, sweet, gentle kiss.
"Goodnight, Joey," he said.
By Kevin Williamson