Original subtitles

[ Joe Cocker's "With a Little Help From My Friends" plays ]

♪ Baby ♪

♪ High with a little help from my friends ♪

♪ Said I'm gonna make it with my friends ♪

♪ Try with a little help from my friends ♪

♪ Oh, oh, I'm gonna keep on tryin' ♪

♪ Get by with a little help from my friends ♪

♪ I'm gonna keep on tryin', now, babe ♪

♪ Ooh, ooh, ooh ♪

They say you can live a lifetime and never find love.

So I guess I was lucky, because true love crossed my path

The first time I met the girl next door...

Winnie Cooper.

Kevin, wait.

What's wrong?

Isn't it kind of hot in here?

Feels fine to me.

Winnie and I had been together longer than any couple I knew.

Still, history only goes so far.

Kevin?

Kind of like Winnie.

What's the problem?

It's just that if we don't stop now,

I'm afraid I'm not gonna be able to later.

Well, that's okay, isn't it?

I mean, we love each other.

Of course we do.

And we've been going together for, what, six years now?

Six and a half.

Unfortunately, the mathematics of the situation

Were open to interpretation.

To me, they led forward, to that great unknown.

But to Winnie, they led... Do you remember

When we used to ride our bikes up here when we were kids?

Back.

We did?

Yeah. Before they built it all up.

Now they have all the lights down there,

But it used to be all dark.

Oh. Yeah.

See, the great thing about us

Was that we had this past together.

And we went down the hill. We didn't even pedal.

We would just glide.

The bad thing about us was that we had this past together.

You know, Winnie, you just changed the subject.

From what?

[ Sighs ] never mind.

[ Sighs ]

Not that I minded being part of Winnie's past.

It's just, when it came to who I was,

She seemed to regard me as a known quantity...

[ whistle blows ]

Come on!

Rather than the dangerous character I'd become.

11th grade...

Where yesterday's boys battle to become tomorrow's men.

It's a game played

For nothing less than image, status, and manhood...

Not to mention reputation.

I think I'm gonna give Carol Masuchi

Another chance this weekend.

Oh, you mean she finally returned your calls?

Hey!She called me.

- Ooh. - Ooh.

Face it.

Every day was a trial by a jury of your peers.

Chuck, how'd your date go with Marilyn last night?

Well, you know.

It was fun.

Fun?

Yeah.

Well...

We did stuff.

Well, what kind of stuff?

[ Chuckles ] you know.

Stuff.

And those who left themselves exposed

Bore the full wrath of the adolescent mob.

He didn't!

Did, too.

Nah, you didn't.

It could be brutal.

Hey, come on. Lay off him.

But never so brutal as when the mob turned on you.

You're right, Arnold.

Maybe we should be talking about you and the Coopster.

What?

I mean, you guys have been together for a long time.

Uh, you want to give us some pointers?

Well...

At times like this,

The only thing to do was hope for a last-minute reprieve.

[ school bell rings ]

Oh, wow. Look at the time. Got to run.

Uh, yeah. Sorry, guys. I got to go.

Yeah, yeah.

Still, if proving yourself in the locker room was tough...

Norma, which one of these ties should I take with me?

Oh, don't worry, honey. I'll pack for you.

The home front was no picnic, either.

You know, you're gonna be all right, won't you, honey?

Mom, please.

Well, with Wayne gone till Saturday...

Mom. You're only gonna be gone one night.

My parents were taking a trip out of town,

Which, for me, meant one thing.

There are meals in the freezer for you, honey.

And they're all labeled.

Mom, please, give me a little credit.

I can take care of myself. I'm 16 years old!

Congratulations.

Thanks.

Just don't forget to take out the trash.

All in all, a resounding vote of confidence.

Come on.

I mean, who did these people think I was?

[ school bell rings ]

So I had an empty house to myself.

What were my parents worried about?

Suddenly I understood their concern.

Winnie, hi.

Oh, hi.

Uh, listen...

I was wondering if you wanted to study for the SATs tonight.

Tonight?

Uh, yeah.

You know, I-I figured

It's about time we started getting ready...

For the test.

Okay. Where do you want to meet?

Uh, well, I don't know.

Uh, anywhere.

How about my house?

Okay.

Bingo.

As long as it's all right with your parents.

Sure.

Definitely.

Just one little detail.

I mean, it would be if they weren't out of town.

But, you know, it's not gonna be like the neighbors

Won't be around or anything.

But who was I kidding?

No way she was gonna fall for this pathetic ruse.

That's fine.

Really?

Sure.

We're just gonna study, right?

Absolutely.

Great. Then I'll see you tonight.

And with that, the date was made.

The trap was set.

And so I prepared a proper study environment.

A veritable temple of academia.

[ doorbell rings ]

And when I was finished...

Come on in. It's open.

Hi.

Hi.

Heh heh.

It was a call to romance no mere woman could resist.

It's kind of dark in here.

Let's study in the kitchen.

Then again...

Okay. What's the opposite of parsimonious?

"A"... fastidious, "b"... considerate,

"c"... generous, or "d"... none of the above?

Kevin?

Want some pretzels or something?

Kevin, you know you're never gonna know all this

When it's time to take the test.

Winnie, what's to know?

I mean, it's a stupid test.

All you have to do is show up on time

And bring some sharpened number-two pencils.

Kevin, it's a little more difficult than that.

Right.

You have to fill in those little circles.

Okay, so much for the small talk.

It was time to get... Dangerous.

Winnie...

Let's do something else.

Like what?

Well, like...

Go in the living room.

For starters.

Kevin...

You really didn't invite me over here to study, did you?

No.

It's just that we have this whole house to ourselves,

And I thought that...

Oh.

Look, Winnie, we've been together a long time, and...

And the guys are starting to talk.

Kevin, it isn't a secret.

Girls talk, too, you know.

All the time.

Well, like...

What do you say when you... Talk?

Well, I say that we've been together a long time

And we care about each other

And that things between us are great.

Oh.

Why? What do you say?

I, uh...

Say the same.

Yeah.

More or less.

I like that.

I'd like more.

And so after all my attempts

At intrigue and danger and seduction...

That's even better.

Winnie and I ended up like we always did...

Reminiscing.

Do you remember the first time we saw this movie?

I guess.

I was sick with the flu,

And you came over to keep me company.

Yeah.

Still, in a way, it wasn't all bad.

We must have watched five movies that week.

Seven.

You visited me every day.

Fact was, it felt pretty good, sitting there, holding her,

Away from school and the guys and the locker room.

[ yawns ]

I should really call my parents. They don't know where I am.

No, let's watch a little more.

You can call them later.

After all, there was no need to hurry.

We had plenty of time.

Take me home.

All right, but I'm afraid

That's as far as I'm gonna carry you.

From now on, you can take care of yourself.

[ beep ]

We didn't see the end of the movie.

[ telephone rings ]

We didn't even hear the phone,

Because that night, Winnie and I did something

We'd never done together before.

We fell asleep.

[ rooster crows, telephone rings ]

Good morning.

This is "today" in Bucharest,

Romania's capital and its largest city...

Coming. Coming.

[ Ringing continues ]

Hello?

Oh. Hi, mom.

Yeah, yeah, of course I'm up. I've been up for hours.

Uh, yeah, yeah, I'm fine.

I'm just getting ready for school.

Okay. I'll see you tonight.

Bye.

Of modern apartment houses, satellite cities...

And that's when it hit me.

Oh, my god.

Somehow Winnie and I had slept through the whole night.

Oh, my god.

I had to be calm, the voice of reason.

I had to wake her gently, so she wouldn't...

Winnie! Wake up!

It's 7:00!

We slept in!

Panic.

♪ Wake up, little Susie, wake up ♪

Fear is a great motivator.

Terror is even better.

Kevin, slow down!

But I couldn't.

All I could imagine was what awaited us...

Angry parents, outraged neighbors,

Maybe even the national guard.

[ siren wailing in distance ]

Or maybe nothing at all.

There's no one here.

Who would be here at 7:00 in the morning?

Well...

You know, the mailman, the paper boy...

Kevin, relax.

Well, should I come in with you?

No, that's okay. It'd probably just make things worse.

I'll take care of this.

See you at school.

And at that moment, looking into those eyes,

I knew things would be okay.

I mean, hey,

What was the absolute worst that could happen?

You told them?!

Of course I told them.

You mean you told them the truth?

I told them what happened.

That we fell asleep on your couch.

Of course, I should have been relieved, but...

I can't believe you told them that!

Why?

Well...

Geez, we were red-blooded teenagers.

Hadn't they considered the possibilities?

What did they say?

Not much.

They trust us.

What's that supposed to mean?

Kevin, they knew nothing happened.

Oh.

And the funny thing was,

Just when I was supposed to feel off the hook,

I felt insulted.

The truth was,

They were really relieved to hear I was with you.

[ Scoffs lightly ] great.

So I guess everything turned out okay.

Yeah.

I'll see you at lunch?

Yeah.

Yeah.

[ whistle blows, indistinct shouting ]

They say for every action,

There's an equal and opposite reaction.

- [ grunts ] - When you're 16

And your manly pride has been shriveled,

There's only one thing to do.

Kevin!

Playing a little bit rough out there, huh, Arnold?

Hey, if you can't handle it,

Why don't you go play badminton with the girls?

Okay, maybe I was a little out of control.

I had my reasons.

You okay?

- Yeah. Why? - I don't know.

Just looked like you were gonna take a life out there.

I don't know. I'm just feeling frustrated.

Uh-oh.

But, uh...

I mean, I'm just having a bad day.

But it was too late.

I'd broken the first rule of the locker room.

What's the matter, Arnold?

Trouble in paradise?

Yeah, is, uh, Winnie shutting you out?

Well, uh...

No, no.

It's just, we...

She and I, uh, just...

You know.

Come on, Kev.

Tell us something interesting.

We're waiting, Arnold.

Whoops.

Or is there just really nothing to tell?

Now, everything in me told me to keep my mouth shut.

But somehow, the way those guys were looking at me...

It just slipped out.

Hey, for your information,

Winnie was over at my house last night.

Whoa.

All night.

And?

[ Scoffs ]

Hey, use your imagination.

Which, of course, they did...

What little they had.

Is this true?

[ Scoffs ] yeah, of course it's true.

And with that, I became a god.

But just don't tell anyone, okay?

Our lips are sealed.

[ Zip! Click! ]

And the most amazing part is...

I actually believed them.

[ school bell rings ]

By lunchtime, I'd pretty much forgotten

About the whole thing.

I'll get some napkins.

I'll meet you at the table.

Everything felt right...

With me, with Winnie.

Hey, Arnold.

Until my fan club arrived.

You want to tell us about you and Cooper?

What?

What are you talking about?

Come on, Arnold.

Fill us in on the details.

[ Sighs ] get lost, Steuben.

- Ooh. - Ooh.

Suddenly I was getting this queasy feeling,

And it wasn't the goulash.

Hey, Steuben.

I thought I told you not to tell anyone.

Well, hey.

If you're gonna walk the walk, you got to talk the talk.

- Get out of my way. - [ Screaming ]

[ laughter, applause ]

But I was too late.

Mrs. Cooper?

Hi, this is Kevin.

Is Winnie there?

By that night, nothing had changed.

Yeah.

I understand.

Sorry.

Face it... i needed help.

Kevin!

I thought I told you to throw out the trash.

Oh.

- Sorry. - Ehh...

Still, I guess help is where you find it.

Dad?

Yeah?

I have to talk to you

About something that happened here last night.

What is it?

Winnie came over last night, and...

And so I recounted the whole sorry tale,

Hoping for some advice and maybe a little sympathy.

After all, Dad had been 16 once.

He'd been in locker rooms.

He knew what the guys were like.

[ sighs ]

Women, huh?

I mean, what am I supposed to do?

But if I was looking for someone to back me up...

Get in your car, go over, and apologize right away.

I came up short.

You think she'll listen?

I wouldn't.

I didn't go right away.

Maybe I was too proud.

Maybe I was too afraid.

I kept telling myself over and over that what I'd done

Wasn't really so bad. [ doorbell rings ]

But I guess I knew better.

Hi.

I knew what I had to do... apologize.

Winnie, listen.

I've given this a lot of thought, and...

What I did was wrong.

It's just that...

The guys were really getting on me,

And, you know, I know it's no excuse.

But...

I guess I...

Kind of let them get the wrong idea about us.

Okay, I definitely let them get the wrong idea about us.

But you got to understand something, Winnie.

You know, when guys get together,

Sometimes things get a little out of control.

I mean, not necessarily in this case,

But...

Sometimes...

You know what I mean.

[ Sighs ]

Anyway, I'll take care of it.

I promise.

How?

What?

How can you fix something like this?

Look, can we talk about this inside?

Sure.

Great.

Because my parents aren't home.

So if you want me, you got me.

Come on, Kevin.

This is what you were in such a hurry about, wasn't it?

Now's your chance.

Winnie.

Winnie.

Can't we just go back to the way things used to be

And forget about all this?

And after all the times I wanted to hear her say "yes"...

No. We can't.

They say hindsight's 20/20, and I guess it's true.

Because as I stood outside Winnie's house that night,

I suddenly saw it all so clearly.

I'd sold both of us short

By taking something most people never have,

And throwing it away for something less.

I'd been in such a rush

To impress people who didn't really matter,

I'd torn apart the only ones who did...

Us.