"The All Nighter"

In English class the next morning, Mr. Peterson reminds his class of the major midterm exam that will be held the next day. He suggests that they all attend his study session after school. After the class ends, Joey confronts Dawson in the hallway, upset with the way he's been avoiding her. At lunch, Pacey and Andie discuss a purity test in her latest issue of Jane magazine, which leads to the issue of Pacey's sexual experience. Despite the contrary truth, Pacey tells Andie that his experience is more on the side of none. Afterwards, Andie convinces Pacey to attend Mr. Peterson's study session with her. During gym, Jen is approached by Chris Wolfe, one of Capeside High's wealthier students. After she turns down his advances, Dawson catches up with Jen and talks her into attending the review for the English midterm. After school, the class finds a note on the door from Mr. Peterson, which says that he is ill and has canceled the review. The exam, however, will still be held the next day. Chris uses this opportunity to invite Jen, Pacey, and Andie over to his house for a study session of their own. While Andie gets Joey to join them, Pacey invites Dawson. As they get into Chris' car, neither Dawson nor Joey are particularly pleased to see each other.

After Chris gives the gang the general layout of his house, he introduces them to his little sister, Dina. As soon as they get to the dining room, Andie attempts to take control of the session, virtually becoming their teacher for the night. After a few hours of studying, Chris spots the Jane magazine in Andie's bag and pulls it out. Against Andie's wishes, Chris calls for a study break to check out the purity test that Andie was reading earlier. It consists of 100 questions that are designed to measure one's sexual experience. Each person takes a turn reading a question, while everybody writes their answers on a sheet of paper. Joey reads the last question, which asks how many times you've ever fallen in love. She leaves the room, and Dawson follows her into the kitchen. They have another argument, and Joey leaves Dawson alone in the kitchen. Chris' sister, Dina, walks in and immediately tries to pry into Dawson's relationship with Joey. Later, Andie scores everybody's answer sheets, then realizes that Pacey didn't turn his in. Chris believes it has something to do with one particular question which, as Andie soon discovers, asks if you've ever had sex with anybody twice your age. The answer on Pacey's sheet is "yes", and Andie finds no argument from him to the contrary. Chris is impressed by the confirmation of the rumor concerning Pacey's alleged affair with Ms. Jacobs. Shocked at what she has just learned, Andie runs out of the house, and Pacey follows her out shortly.

With the study session currently off, Dawson talks to Chris by the hot tub about Jen. Dawson knows Chris intends to sleep with Jen that night, and Chris doesn't deny it. Chris points out one of the bedrooms in his house where the light is on. When the light is turned off, that will mean that Chris is in bed with Jen. Meanwhile, Pacey finds Andie sitting alone on a bench nearby. She can't understand why Pacey would sleep with his teacher. Pacey simply answers that he did it because of sex. He goes on to explain that sex is never innocent, and that Andie will have to accept what happened in the past if they intend to continue their relationship. Back inside, Jen tries to tell Joey that she's sorry about what happened with Dawson, but Joey would rather not talk about it. Joey then explains that she's simply tired of always talking about it. As Jen heads outside to join Chris in the hot tub, Dawson warns her that Chris plans to have sex with her that night. Jen is fully aware of this and heads out to the hot tub anyways. As Dawson watches her go, Dina appears with a few of the purity test answer sheets in her hand. Dina knows that Dawson wrote down "once" for the final question, and she asks him if he was referring to Joey or Jen. After he doesn't answer, Dina tells Dawson that she'll give him Joey's answer sheet if he's willing to kiss her in return. Dawson refuses, so Dina simply tells informs him that Joey wrote down "twice" for the final question.

Out back in the hot tub, Chris and Jen come to the understanding that all they want to do is have a little fun that night. While they kiss, Andie and Pacey finally come back inside the house. Dawson asks Pacey why he didn't just write "no" for that one question, to which Pacey replies with the fact that he didn't want to lie to Andie. Pacey then encourages Dawson to keep trying to patch things up with Joey. Dawson finds Joey on the porch outside, where she is trying to get some studying done. Joey wants to go back to just being friends, but Dawson knows that cannot happen after what they've been through. Joey goes inside, and Dina appears once again. Dawson is not in the mood right now, and he harshly rants right in Dina's face about the consequences of a single kiss. On the verge of tears, Dina runs into the house, right past Joey, who witnessed the entire scene. Dawson turns around to find Joey glaring at him before going inside to catch up with Dina. As if things couldn't get any worse, Dawson notices that the hot tub is now empty, and the light in the bedroom that Chris pointed out is no longer on. While Dawson picks up one of Joey's books and tries to resume his studying, Joey walks into Dina's bedroom and sits on the bed. Dina listens as Joey explains how growing up is not easy, but there are some rare, special moments that make the whole ordeal worthwhile.

Dawson wakes up the next morning, still on the porch with the book in his hands. He walks inside to find everybody else still asleep. It's 6:00 in the morning, which means the English midterm is merely four hours away. Andie wakes up and panics, since a huge test is coming up that they've barely studied for. While Pacey and Joey are woken up from their slumbers, Chris gets dressed upstairs while Jen comes to in the bed they both slept in. Chris is extremely nonchalant about what they've just done, and he doesn't bother to wait for Jen to get dressed before he heads downstairs. With Andie on the verge of a breakdown, Pacey decides to take control, turning their previously planned night of studying into a three-hour-and-forty-five-minute cram session. He leads the gang through the very basics of what they'll need to know for the test. After successfully reviewing the last bit of material, Pacey leads everybody into the swimming pool for an impromptu dip. As they step out to get ready for school, Andie tells Pacey how impressed she is with how he handled things. She confesses that her lack of sexual experience probably played a role in how she reacted to the previous night's revelation, but Pacey assures her that she'll learn about sex in due time. Before they head inside, Pacey and Andie make amends and kiss. Meanwhile, Dawson tells Joey how he's been constantly thinking about how much he'd like to turn back the clock and take back their first official kiss in his bedroom. Before Joey can react, Dawson explains that while they might be on better terms if that kiss never happened, he doesn't regret everything that happened as a result of that kiss. Joey then explains that the two times she's ever fallen in love were both with him. Dawson assures Joey that he'll give her the space she needs. He then leaves and finds Dina asleep on a couch. Dawson gives her a quick kiss on the forehead. As he leaves, Dina opens her eyes and lets loose with a huge smile.

Upon arriving at Capeside High, the gang finds another note on Mr. Peterson's door, informing them that his illness hasn't gotten any better, so the test will be postponed. Nobody can believe that they just crammed for nothing. Before they all split up and head to their next classes, Pacey leads everybody outside for one last group activity: a well-deserved nap on the football field.

Written by David Semel
Directed by Greg Berlanti
Originally Aired Wednesday, November 18, 1998 8pm/7pm C
The WB Television Network

Synopsis Written By Alan Hufana