Party of Five (1994–2000): Season 3, Episode 14 - Life's Too Short - full transcript

Julia, Justin and the rest of Grant High School is shocked when Julia's long-time friend, Libby, suddenly commits suicide and Julia tries to find out why Libby would want to end her life when it looked so promising. Meanwhile, Charlie attends his 10-year high school reunion where he becomes reacquainted with two old school basketball teammates and his old girlfriend, which leads Charlie to think that the best time of his life, which was in high school, and is behind him for good. Also, Sarah becomes increasingly cold and resentful towards Bailey who tries to hard to please her, which leads Sarah finally deciding to let Bailey go his own way.

[car horn honks]

I know. I know, I'm late.

-You're late.
-I know.

The recording studio's
on Grant.

Right? We could shoot
straight up Columbus,

and we'd have you
there before you can say,

or sing...

♪ Earl's House Of Big
And Tall ♪

How's the rest of it go again?

♪ The finest fat wear
In the Stonestown Mall ♪

What's that? Oh, that.



That's not your birthday present
just in case you're worried,

'cause I'm working on something,
and let me say, I think you're
gonna be mighty pleased.

Uh-huh. So, what is that for?

I saw it sticking out of
a dumpster over on Stockton.

I figure we can use it to
kind of screen off my bedroom.

So when we hang out
at my place,
we can have some privacy.

You're kidding?
I mean,
you've got to be kidding.

You don't actually plan
to keep on living there, do you?

That's not your place, Bailey.
That's Callie's place.

Oh. Well--

You said it was
over between you two.

It is over.

Why would you want
to keep living with her?

I mean, after what happened,
after what you did to me?



Look, Sarah,
I just didn't think--

Obviously.
That's exactly what got you
into trouble before, isn't it?

Look, you've got
to move out of there, Bailey.

I thought that was understood.

[sighs] Happy?

I hope there's no traffic
on Columbus.

[theme song playing]

♪ Everybody wants to live ♪

♪ Like they wanna live ♪

♪ And everybody wants to love ♪

♪ Like they wanna love ♪

♪ Everybody wants to be ♪

♪ Closer to free ♪

♪ Closer to free ♪

Oh, no.
No way that's Charlie.

Well, it's either, uh, Charlie
or, uh, Flea from
the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

[laughs] That hair. Good lord.

[both giggle]

What's the matter?

What is that doing here?

Well, I just figure, you know,
you'd want to get into the mood
for tomorrow night. And--

And I wanted to see
what your friends look like,

especially the ones
that are coming.

You know,
this Aaron guy's kind of cute.

Mmm.

So you were a big basketball
star in high school. Who knew?

Right. Big star.
Look where that got me.

And T.J.,
he's pretty cute too.

I swear, I don't even know why
I said yes to this thing.

Why did you?

Six months ago,
when the guys called

and said that we should go,
it sounded like a decent idea.

But, now, I just--

I wouldn't mind
bagging the whole thing.

I think it'll be fun for you
to see all your
old friends again.

Check in, touch base,
remember old times.

Right. And, hey, you know,
I'll get to brag to everybody

about the--
About the wife and the kids
and, of course, my--

My fabulous career.

-Claudia.
-Hmm?

Smack him for me, would you?

We wake up at 6:00.
We drive there.

We're walking to the ski lift,

and Robin trips,
tears some ligaments.

We have to spend the rest of
the day in the emergency room.

Oh, lousy way
to spend the end the year.

Well, it wasn't that bad.
We cuddled a lot, and, uh--

I guess I have a thing
for klutzes, huh?

[laughs]

Libby, hi.

Hi, guys.

Listen, I'm sorry I didn't get
a chance to call you--

Libby, congratulations
on Harvard.

Your mom told my mom.

Mazel tov.

Thanks.

Uh, congratulations
about what on Harvard?

-I got in.
-You--

Early action over Christmas,
they tell you.

What? That's--
That's fantastic.

What did you do
when you found out?

I don't know. Nothing much.

Went out to dinner
with my parents.

It's really
not such a big thing.

Stop it. It's--
It's huge. Right?

Right. Right.
That's huge.
That's giant.

This-- This is us.

Did you hear
how smug she was about that?

How can you say
she was smug?

I don't think she was
even planning on telling us.

Exactly.

The best favor I ever did her
was to break up with her.

Probably gave her loads
of time to study.

Probably never even left
the house in the past two years.

Justin, that is just off
the charts mean and not true.

Man, not only
did she get into, like,

the hardest place in the world,
but she already knows about it.

That's--
She's so lucky.

We'll know soon.

End of January, beginning
of February is what they said.

If we don't get
into Stanford early,

we'll get in the regular time
or we'll get in somewhere else.

-We'll be fine.
-Yeah, right.

We will.
And Libby can go to Harvard
and she can live her life

and she can be happy
and whatever.

[school bell rings]

Jimmy's flying in
from Atlanta.

Mindy Geisler will be there.
She organized the whole thing.

I wonder what she's up to.

That is not a good name
for an adult woman. Mindy.

She, uh-- She came
into the restaurant once.

She works in Oakland,
a massage therapist.

Translation: prostitute.

That's very nice.

[jeers]

So who else do you think's
gonna be there?

Translation:

-Is Lori coming?
-I didn't say that.

No? Well,
maybe if she does show up,

she'll wear
that cheerleader sweater,

and maybe you can try
to pressure her
into sleeping with you.

And she can get all mad
and never talk to you again.

-Now, that would be nostalgic.
-T.J., shut up.

You shut up.

Man, you guys
are exactly the same.

Man, I've missed you.
I've always said

you're like the brother
I never had.

You're like the brother
I do have. He's three.

Oh. He shoots, he scores.

Oops. Sorry, Mr. NCAA.

You're the one
who shoots and scores.

Yeah, that'd be me.

Yeah.

Anyway, this whole Lori thing,
that's ancient history, right?

I mean, you've been with what?
Six hundred women since then?

Actually, it's, um, 700.

Wait. What was that--

I wrote something
in your yearbook. What was it?

I remember. It was something
like, "Charlie's the
least likely to marry,

and the most likely
to have kids."

See, I was right, kind of.

Yep, you were right.

God, this college application
stuff is mind-numbing.

What's this?

-What's what?
-This.

This hair.

This long red hair.
This long red hair in your bed?

Sarah,

her hair's all over
the entire apartment.

She's always brushing it
and braiding it and stuff.
It's everywhere.

Look,

Sarah, is there some stuff
you want to talk about?

'Cause it seems like you want
to pick a fight or something.

Nope. Why would I want
to do that? Oh, God, I can barely keep
my eyes open.

You know,
I should probably hit the road

before I fall asleep
behind the wheel.

Oh, three times
around Lake Merced.

My endurance is okay,
but my form sucks.

Oh, Sarah.

I, um, should probably
take a shower.

So, uh...

You don't think
her form sucks, do you?

I thought you were going home?

I thought you were tired.

I just got my second wind.

[Aaron] Shh! You guys.

[Charlie] I can't believe
we're doing this.

[T.J] What are they gonna do?
Suspend us? [Aaron]
How about arrest us?

Whoa.

[Aaron] God, we're old.

[laughs]

This place.

Hey, over here.

Heads up.

Yo!

Okay.
Six seconds left on the clock.

Salinger has had the game
of his life with 23 points,

but Grant is still down by two.

Oh, here we go.

Come on, this is it.

The clock's ticking.

Tech's defense is anticipating
Grant to go to Hughes

in the low post to tie the game
and go into overtime.

Jansen dribbles right.
Hughes rubs off a perfect pick

set up by Salinger.
He's open underneath the basket.

Hey! Over here.

Wait. What's going on?
Jansen's not passing the ball.

He fakes left. He fakes right.

Jansen's either very brave
or very stupid.

T.J., do something. Two seconds!

-Coach Smithers is screaming.
-Over here.

The crowd leaps to its feet.
Jansen fades back.

[crowd cheering]

[buzzer buzzes]

-Yes!
-Yes!

Do you believe in miracles?

[cheering]

Grant wins
the city championship.

Yes. Yeah!

My heart.

Feels just like it did
that night.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Wow.

I'd almost forgotten.

So how did you keep
from cracking up in his face?

Bit the inside of my cheek till
it was practically bleeding.

Oh.

Is that better?

Yeah?

Justin, hey.

Could I, uh, talk to you?

Um, sure.

Uh, this is Sam, by the way.

Sam, Justin.
Justin, Sam.

[Sam] Hey.

Could we, uh--

I'll just be a sec.

What's going on?

You didn't hear? Hear what?

Robin told me.

Uh, Gail called her.

Libby's dead.

[scoffs]

That's-- That's ridiculous.
She's not dead.

No. She is, Julia.

She killed herself.

[school bell rings]

I didn't sleep
at all last night.

I said all those horrible
things about her.

I mean, about Harvard and--

That didn't mean anything.

[Miss Baird] You guys,

we are going
to skip moving forward

on Franny and Zooey for now.

I think maybe let's--

Let's just talk. Okay?

About Libby
and what happened
and how you feel.

It's a terrible loss
for all of us.

She left me a message

over Christmas break.

I didn't call her back.

She left one for me too.

Did you call her back?

No.

[Miss Baird]
Let's just go around
and remember her.

It's so weird.

You know, it's--
It's horrible.
I feel like I want to cry.

I don't know how somebody
can do that.

You know, I think that's it.

You know, you can't understand
unless you're there in that--

That place where that person
is which must be--

God, so scary.

Listen, I should get home. Okay? I have a paper
that I have to finish.

Oh. Well, couldn't we spend
a little more time together.

-Sarah--
-Please.

I just--
Look, don't go home.

Stay here a little while.

Callie's not at home if that's
what you're worried about.

What?

God, what's that
supposed to mean?

Never mind.

Wow.

I can't--

You think that I'm saying
I need you because I want
to keep you away from Callie?

You think that I'm faking this?

Well, after last night--

Someone we know
just killed herself.

And I'm asking
to talk about it. And--

And who else am I gonna talk
about it with but you?

God, Bailey.

Okay.

[clears throat]

Okay. We'll talk about it.

No. I-- It's okay.

Go. Write your paper. I'm fine.

I'll see you tonight
for my birthday.

It's okay. It's okay.
I'll stay.

I'll stay.

And, uh, this is me, Ellen,
Cody, and Wiggles.

Wiggles is the dog, I hope.

[laughs]

It's a beautiful family, Steven.

Pretty ironic given that
I'm the one who went
to prom with my sister.

You know what? Um,
I'll catch up
with you a little later.

Oh, sure.

Where'd you get
that fancy last name?

Uh, it came free
with my wedding ring.

[giggles]

Lori, look at you.

No more flip thing.

Oh, I can't believe my mother
actually let me out
of the house like that.

Cut it out.

You were beautiful.

You still are.

Hey, you guys going in?

I hear there's pate
in the shape of possums.

[groans]

You know what?
Um, save us some seats.

Okay.

You know, I--

I thought about calling you
a couple of times,

but I figured
that you pretty much hated me.

No.

Well, I guess all you needed
was ten years, huh?

[both laugh]

It was dumb,

the way I--
I pressured you.
I shouldn't have done that.

It was just--

Winning that game and all,

I was just--
I was so--

God.

I could close my eyes
and we'd be back there,

that parking lot
outside the gym.

Here we are again.

Us and parking lots. [laughs]

Don't worry.

You're not gonna start yelling
"I love you.

Why won't you go
to bed with me?"

Nah, not this time.

I did, though. Love you.

You're the first girl
that I said that to
that it actually meant anything.

Thank you for telling me that.

It's true.

Well, we should probably go in.

I'm starting to feel
like we're cutting class
or something.

That's nothing.

Last night the guys
and I broke into the gym.

It looked small.

It's funny.

It always felt like everything
was life and death
in high school.

You failed an exam,
or your best friend
found a new best friend,

you broke up with someone,

it was the end of the world. But you look back at it now,

20/20 hindsight,

it was so easy.

No kidding.

What do you think?

If God came down right now
and stood in front
of that minivan

and said that you could go back,

senior year, 17,

no responsibilities?

Be pretty tempting.

Happy birthday.

It's a fake ID.

It's a good picture, huh?

So now, I can go out drinking
with you? Is that the idea?

Well, it's so we
can hang out together

and have fun together.

Right.

Thanks.

Thanks. But I-- I can't go out
partying with you tonight.

The idea of celebrating--

No. No. I understand.
Maybe tomorrow.

So is there--
Is there a card
with this or anything?

Oh, yeah. Yeah.

What?

Nothing.

If you have a problem,
just say it.

"Happy birthday.
I love you, Bailey."

That's it?

That's all you wanted to say?

It's a birthday card.

Sarah, I wrote "happy birthday."

Right. Right.
And you wrote
the word love too.

And that's--
Oh, that's so romantic
and very heartfelt. God.

You know,
how long did that take you?

What is your problem?

I don't know.

You know, maybe--
Maybe it's that I--

I write these--
These really long funny things

to you on your birthday,

these really romantic things,
and I don't know,

are you trying
to tell me something?

[sighs]

I wrote "I love you."

Sarah, what do you think
I'm trying to tell you?

Just so you know
it is not that easy
to get a good fake ID,

and that is a really good one.

It took me a whole week.

I spent two hours trying to find
exactly the right card for you.

I went three different places.

Is that enough time for you?
Is that not enough?

Well?

Yeah, it's enough time.

Good.

[Justin]
Thanks for doing this.

I, uh, kept trying to proof it,
but my brain is--

I can't focus.

It's okay. No problem.
I was gonna finish up mine
tonight too.

I still haven't done that essay
for Northwestern.

Yesterday in the hall,

do you think that
she knew she was gonna do it?

I don't know. Uh...

You know what? I really have
to finish my applications.
I can't sit here all night.

I can't stop picturing her.

Taking these pills and, uh,

going off to the garage.

And I keep imagining us,

finding out.

I mean,
I don't know how. Somehow.

And getting there in time
and stopping the engine.

And pulling her out of the car.

Yeah. I thought about that too.
By how were we supposed to know?

I mean, it's not like
she said something to me -or to you that would--
-Why would she?

I dumped her, and you stopped
being her friend.

She stopped being my friend.

Well, she didn't have
another boyfriend
after me, right?

I don't know.

Maybe that's why she
was so unhappy or--

Uh-uh.

No. It-- It--
It's not our fault.

That's just--

No.

No.

Okay. Fine. Then why?

She's 17.

There's her whole life,
everything right
in front of her.

Why, Julia?
I mean, explain it to me.

I can't.

And it was great, actually.
I'm glad I went.

You were right.

-As is so often the case.
-[chuckles]

Um, Aaron and I stayed up
talking pretty late last night,

and he asked me if I wanted
to come work with him.

Corporate insurance.
He's got his own company.

-For real?
-Yeah.

I'm thinking about it.

Oh.

Little dry, maybe?

I don't know.

No, not necessarily.

Okay. Look, it's not
so much the job. It's--

Being around these people again.

You know, feeling--

I don't even know
how to describe it.

And I know that you
can't go home again
and all that,

but maybe I can get some
of that back.

You know?

And those were the best years
of my life, high school.

Boy, it's a good thing you
and I met now and not then

because I was miserable
those entire four years.

Not me. I--

I liked who I was then.

Mrs. Dwyer, hi.

Jul--

That was her sweet 16.

She wanted to invite you,
but it was right
after you and Justin--

Yeah, I know.

It's okay.

She looks pretty.

[doorbell rings]

It's probably more flowers.
I don't--

I don't understand
why everyone sends flowers.

Is there, uh--

Is there anything that I can--

What am I gonna do? I--
I don't know how I'm gonna--

[crying]
I don't know how I'm gonna--

And then I think,
"Is this how she felt?"

This-- This must have been
how she felt.

Why didn't we know?

Nobody can figure it out.

I wish she'd left a note,
something.

Maybe I don't wish that.
I don't know anymore.

Oh...

There's some clothes,

some sweaters that we--
We got her for Christmas

that, uh, she'd never even--

See.

This would be pretty on you.

Okay.

Thanks.

She kept a journal,

you know.

I mean, she--
She did when we were--

I know a couple of years ago.

Maybe she still--

Do you know where she kept it?

In the--
In the box for her cowboy boots.

I can't. I can't. Please.

[Libby] "One a.m. now,

watching Love Story
on Channel two.

And there's Harvard.

I take it as a sign.

I'll take anything as a sign.

Please, please, please,
please let me get in.

What if I don't get in?

What will I say?

I can't even think
about not getting in.

I'd die. I would."

[dance music playing
on speakers]

Do you like this song?

It's okay.

I like this song.

-So you want something to drink?
-We're gonna stay here?

What?

Nothing. Nothing. We'll stay.

Sarah,
I thought you liked this place.

No. You like this place.

-Sarah--
-Forget it.

We'll stay.

I said, we'll stay.

I'll have a--
A sparkling water.

Okay. What?

Dance with me?

Oh-- Oh, I-- I can't.

Come on.

Yeah. Okay.

[dance song continues]

[Julia] "I got accepted today.

"Dear Libby Dwyer,
welcome to Harvard
class of 2001.

I feel like somebody dropped
a million-pound weight on me,

and I'm under it,
and I can't push it off,

and it's crushing me.

Why did I want this?

Who was I kidding?
What if I screw up?

I don't even understand
all the class descriptions.

How am I gonna pass
the courses?

Oh, God, if I flunk out,
that's worse
than not getting in.

I can't do this.

And I look at those pictures
in the catalog,

all those kids
who are smarter than me

and better than me
and more popular than me.

I'm never gonna be one of them."

That's it?

That's the last page?

Yeah.

That's all.

My God.

Libby.

I am not gonna
have another fight with you.

No. No way.

You do not decide
when this is over.

I was dancing
with some guy, Bailey. Big deal.

It's not like I went home
with him or anything.

Yeah, right. You were trying to
make me feel like crap, Sarah,

and you know what? It worked.

That's exactly how I felt.
So good for you.

God, you know, that is so--

You want to cheat on me? Huh?

Just for the hell of it?
Just to get even with me?

You want me to find you in
bed with some other guy?

Yeah, maybe I do.

[sighs]

-I really hate this.
-Yeah, well--

It's like nothing I do
is good enough.

Nothing I buy you, no--

No time I spend with you,
no place I take you. And I'm trying here to--
To be, like,

a really good boyfriend to you
and to make it up
to you somehow,

and I know that--
That is impossible,

but I'm still trying,

but it's never enough.

Right.

Well, it has to stop.

Right. 'Cause it's been--
It's been what?

Three weeks?
And that's a really long time.

God, I should be over it by now.

Three weeks and you really
have suffered enough.

-Sarah--
-But how long did you keep me

hanging on while you
were sleeping with her,

making me feel
like I was the one

who was doing
something wrong?

Was it six weeks?
Two months?

-Sarah--
-No. Tell me,

'cause I want to know how long
I have until we're even.

I don't--

What do you want?

I want to be in love
with someone else.

But I'm in love with you.

Hey, guys. Come on,
the pizza's ready.

Whoo!

Can't it wait?

T.J. has got H-O-R-S.

Uh-oh.

Char, so you know,
Aaron and I decided

we're not leaving tomorrow.
We're moving in.

By the way,
I'm gonna marry
your little sister here.

[giggles]

-Oh, yes.
-Teej, let me take one.

Sorry. Important match
going here.

Man, you ever gonna learn
how to pass the ball

or is that completely
a lost cause?

-Now, see. Look at that.
-[Claudia] Nice.

Now, you'd done
that in any of our games,

I wouldn't have had
to hog the ball all the time.

Oh, did--? Did I ever
thank you for that?

Charlie, did we ever
thank him for that?

Thank you for making all us
poor slobs look so good. Really.

Get out of here.

No, no. I'm--
I'm humbled in your presence.

I mean, you know,
when I turn on the games

on the weekend
and see you playing
in the NBA--

Oh, wait a minute.

You're not in the NBA.

You're selling tennis shoes.

That's right.

What are you yammering about?

Six seconds to go.
Grant down by two.
Ring any bells?

That was my shot.

The 10-years-ago game,
that's what you're talking
about here?

Coach said pass it to me.

I was clear.

That's bull.
You were showing off.

-You got lucky.
-What's the difference? We won.

You don't know if you would've
made the shot.

Yeah, I would have.

Maybe every recruiter would be
kissing my butt
instead of yours.

Maybe I wouldn't be stuck
in this lousy, boring job.

Wait. Hold on.
Lousy, boring job?

What? You saying that
I took something that was yours?

Yeah, yeah, exactly.

Oh.

Hey, guys, cut this out.
This is dumb.

What? What? T.J., what "Oh"?

Nothing. Just, uh,

I find it pretty amusing
coming from a guy who slept

with his
best friend's girlfriend
while they were dating.

Whoops.

Guess that slipped out.

Whoa. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

You--

You and Lori--

Look, Charlie, I'm so sorry.

God, don't, don't, don't.

Both of you.

Really, really, too bad we don't
see each other more often.

Thanks.

She's sweet.

Oh, right now she's obsessed
with her hair.

It's gotta be
a different style every day.

And she just started
picking out her own outfits,

which takes forever.

[chuckles]

What?

Nothing.

I know, she sounds
exactly like her mother.

-Don't say it.
-[laughs]

I wasn't.

So it must have been fun
these past few days,
you and the guys.

Three stooges
back together again.

It had its moments.

Um, there was--

There was this
one conversation, and, um--

This is so not a big deal
in the grand scheme of things,

but I was kind of curious. You slept with Aaron?

He told you?

Not exactly. Sort of.

God, I'm sorry.

I guess good gossip
has a really,
really long shelf life.

I was 17.
I was an idiot.

Who wasn't?

We were--

We were at some party,
and Paula--

Paula somebody and her boyfriend
spiked the punch and...

And after I kept thinking,
"What am I? Some slut?"

And then you wanted to--

And what was I supposed to do?

Pretend like it never happened?

Let you think
this was my first time?

Does this matter to you now?

I mean, really matter?

No.

Okay.

It's just-- [sighs]

With this whole
reunion thing and all,

I've been thinking
about that time a lot.

You know, kind of like--

What's that expression?

"We'll always have Paris,"
you know?

We'll always have senior year,

before we had to go off
and be grownups,
before people started leaving.

It was this perfect time.

Only now it turns out
that it wasn't.

I guess I'm gonna have to stop
wishing that I was 17 again.

Oh.

[organ music playing]

Hey.

Hey.

A lot of people.

-Teachers and--
-Yeah. Even Pasternak's here.

Only B she ever got.

She'd probably be pissed
he was here.

Yeah.

Hey, Julia.

-What?
-Do me a favor.

Don't ever die.

I'm sorry I'm late.

You're not that late.

God.

God, this is so--

Have you ever been
to a funeral before?

[Gail] If she could come back
and say one thing to us,
I know what it would be.

It would be, "Don't stop
your lives over this."

I mean, she'd want us
to remember her definitely,

but,

Libby was the type of person
who would want us,

to keep going on.

So let's.

For her.

Would anybody else like to...

Uh, hi.

Um...

I don't think
that Gail is right.

I'm-- I'm not sure that--

That Libby would say keep going.

I kind of think
that she might say stop.

Stop and make sure

that everything
that you're doing right now,

right now,

is really what makes you happy,
you know?

I'm, uh--

I'm just trying
to find something
to take from this,

'cause otherwise all it is
is that my friend is dead.

And that's--

The thing is,
is that you can't just

live for some goal
in the future and--

And have that be everything,
have that be it,

'cause that's what she did.

It's like she got on this--

Well, not really but--

This road and there were
all these signs saying

"This way, this way."

But what if you get there?

You get exactly what you wanted
like Libby did,

except that all the things
that were wrong
are still wrong?

Then what?

Libby, I'm--

I'm so sorry
that you were so unhappy.

And I'll miss you.

So was it awful?

Oh, God, such a stupid question.

Of course it was awful.
I mean, what funeral isn't?

It was pretty awful, yeah.

Was Sarah really upset?

She barely said two words
the whole afternoon.

Well, maybe this is her...

Way of dealing with it,
you know?

She's mad at me still.

And yesterday--

Yesterday, I finally got
to the point where I was like,

"Enough already.
I can't keep apologizing
to you."

Yeah, so you reached
your limit.

You know, it happens.

I mean, there's only
so many times
you can say I'm sorry, right?

No.

No. See, that's wrong.

I have to keep on saying it.

So I'm just gonna wait.

I'm gonna give her
the time she needs,

because I love her.

What is that, like,
a revelation or something?

I just...

Lost sight of it somehow.

Uh-oh.

Forgot to change this.

He shoots.

He scores. High five.

Hey, buddy,
you want to give me a hand?

Okay.

Nice job.

Nice wrist action.

I should think about putting you
to work here, huh?

I mean, that name
up there, Salinger's,

that's not just mine,
that's yours too.

Start you off easy,
and when you get a little older,
a little taller,

make our way over
to the register.

I mean, you don't have to
work here if you don't want to,

but if you do
that'd be pretty cool,

us running
this place together, huh?

What do you think? You in?

I'm in.

Yeah. I'm in too.

You want to get
something to eat?

A pizza or something?

Nah. I'm not very hungry.

Bailey, who's the
strongest person you know?

I don't know.

There's this guy in
the weight room, Mike Shatner.

He can bench press, like--

No, I meant character strong.

Oh. Oh.

Strongest person.

Um, I guess--

I guess Claudia.

Why?

Claudia? Really?

She's had all
this bad stuff happen to her

and she's still
such a great kid.

Never feels sorry for herself,

and always stands up
for herself.

If there's one thing she's not,
it's a pushover.

Pushover.

Right.

I'm kind of a pushover,
aren't I?

You?

No. No way.

No, I am.

You know, I--
I am, and the truth is...

I don't like myself
very much these days.

Sarah, stop.

No. It's-- It's good to say,

to admit, you know, that...

I don't like myself.

And--

And I really don't like myself
with you, Bailey.

Okay.

Well--

Well, that's because
it's not like you to be this--

This cold, angry person
all the time.

Right.

Right. You know, I--

I stay mad at you
and I'm this-- This bitch bent
on making you miserable,

which I hate.

But I forgive you
and I am a total wuss
with absolutely no self-respect.

You know, I can't win unless--

Unless what?

Unless I end this.

End what?

What are you talking about?

Wh-- Are you talking about us?

What do you--
You want to break up?

I was sitting at that
funeral thinking,

"You know, what is the point
of all this?"

The fighting, and--
And apologizing,

the breaking up and--

And getting back together.

You know,
we should just stop this.

You-- But--

Sarah, you, you don't
go through everything that
you and I have gone through

and then just--
Just give up.

Yeah, you do.

Sometimes you do.

[sighs]

Don't you want to be happier
than this, Bailey?

I mean, don't you want that?

Life's so short,

and it's too short not to try.

Huh.

How about that?

I did it.

Hi.

Uh,
how much to mail these?

Well, let's see what we got.

Hmm, Berkeley,

Northwestern,

University of Iowa.

Looks and brains.

Dollar twenty-five cents
each, please.

Okay. Thank you.

Don't worry about it.
I'll just toss these in here.

Um, you know what? Uh--

I'd rather-- I'll--
I'll just take them.

Sure.

Thanks.