Paper Towns Page #3

for 20 minutes.

Some dream

you must have been having.

Getting you a date

to prom is so hard

that the hypothetical

idea itself...

is used to cut diamonds.

That's a good one.

Q.

What are you doing?

What?

Nothing.

That was so weird.

I know it was you!

Relax, relax.

Yo, don't tell me to relax!

I know it was you at Becca's!

I'm gonna kick your ass!

Are you sure

you wanna do that?

I mean...

Even if I enlarge it...

Put that away.

Wow.

I'm sorry. This is the part

where I get confused.

You did not hook up

with Margo Roth Spiegelman?

No, we did not hook up.

What?

I'm so confused.

What is wrong with you?

Me? What's wrong

with you, bro?

Margo Roth Spiegelman,

2:
00 a.m., she's single...

she's dancing, it's dark.

And you don't make the move.

I don't understand that.

It's not even

like that. It's like...

I don't know.

We were connecting.

We were on a mission.

It was different.

So now what?

I don't know.

I'll let you know

when I see her.

You need aglets.

You need aglets to exist.

I get that you need them.

- But to exist?

But Margo never

made it to school that day.

Or the next day.

Or the day after that.

Guy heard her singing

karaoke in the mall.

Next thing you know,

she's signed to his label.

She's in New York right now,

recording an album.

I know for a fact

she's in Iceland,

saving the whales.

No, it wasn't Iceland.

It was Greenland.

Where did you hear that?

Like everyone else,

I started to wonder...

"Where the hell was she?"

What was she doing?

Who was she with?

Why wasn't it me?

I know this is

a difficult situation for you.

Hey, Mr. and Mrs. Spiegelman.

Hello, Quentin.

This is Detective Warren.

Sounds like Margo's

run away again.

For the fifth time.

Deb.

What?

Hank, I am tired of this.

She's 18.

Let her do what she wants.

What do you know about it?

Hmm? Me?

Yeah.

When was the last time

you saw Margo?

Uh...

It was Wednesday, I think.

Yeah, Wednesday night.

She came to my window

and we talked

for a second

and then she left.

You guys don't think...

something happened to her,

or anything, right?

We know

exactly what's happened.

She's bored.

She wants attention.

She'll come back

when she runs out of money...

or when people

stop talking about her.

So you don't wanna

file a missing persons report?

She's not missing. She's gone.

There's a difference.

Yeah.

Not your top candidates

for parents of the year.

But they weren't wrong

about one thing.

If she was gone...

she wouldn't be found

until she wanted to be.

Yeah, whatever, bro.

She left town.

There's plenty other honey

bunnies in the sea.

What, like Fattina?

Uh... Ha-ha!

- Not "Fattina".

- It's "Bettina".

Doesn't even sound

like a real name. Yeah.

What was

her last name?

I don't know.

Just say her last name.

Three, two, one.

It was a one hit, and a quit.

It was a "hit it and quit it"?

Yeah. I hit that honey bunny.

I've told you guys this

so many times.

I don't wanna

go over this again.

Tell us.

I wanna hear it again.

Cousin's house.

Right, Bettina was

your cousin. I forgot.

No! Bettina was

not my cousin!

You slept with your cousin.

Not my cousin.

It's so hard when

you wanna sleep

with someone

that's not in your family.

No!

"Man, I slept with

someone in my family." No, no, no.

I just feel if we're gonna

validate the story,

could we get a couple details?

All right,

I'll give it to you straight.

So, I'm in Saskatchewan.

My cousin Danny's like,

"Yo, Ben,

I'm throwing a party."

I'm like, "Yo, what's up?

Let's do it."

So, he throws a party. Bettina

comes over, looks at me.

She's like,

"What?" We go upstairs...

So, she's

making strange noises?

No, she's making a call.

Like a bird

makes to another bird.

So you walked in,

and Bettina went...

Mating time, bro.

Mating time.

Just say something true.

What do you mean,

"Say something true"?

Just say anything true.

I'm saying all this is true.

I so don't believe you.

It's true!

What, you don't believe me?

No, no.

That's fine. Go poop.

Shut up! Shut up.

We're not even

talking about me.

We're talking about

you and Angela.

Little honey bunny.

Don't call her "honey bunny".

You gonna tap that ass,

son? Don't call me "son".

When you gonna get up in

it? Don't say "tap that ass".

Do a little dance for her. Stop.

Show her what you're

working with. Come on.

If you must know, we're...

We're waiting till prom.

Why?

Because we want it

to be special.

Radar, that's

so beautiful. I think...

I think I wanna be with you.

Stop.

Hey, guys.

Stop.

Hey, guys.

What?

There's something

in Margo's window.

Has that thing

always been there?

I don't know.

The shade's never drawn.

"Woody Guthrie,

folk singer.

"Born 1912. Died 1967."

Come and sit by my side,

if you love me

It's looking

right at you, Q.

Do not hasten

to bid me adieu

I know.

Hey, Ruthie.

Hey, Quentin.

Your parents

aren't home, are they?

No, they went to the mall.

Would it be cool if we went up

to Margo's room for a sec?

Why?

Just wanted to check

on something.

Margo doesn't like

people in her room.

Okay, but we're her friends.

No, you're not.

And, if you were...

you'd know she doesn't like

people in her room.

She has every album ever

made, except Woody Guthrie.

Up.

Sorry.

Mind if I...

Don't even think about it.

What are you guys

even looking for anyway?

We don't really know.

Clues.

We're detectives.

Hey, look.

Holy sh*t-stickers.

What do we got?

"Walt Whitman's

Niece," circled.

What do you think it means?

Oh! Wait.

What?

I think she's

sending you a message.

What message?

"Come find me."

Last night or the night

before that

I won't say which night

A seaman friend of mine

I'll not say

which seaman

Walked up

to a big old building

I won't say

which building

And would not have

walked up the stairs

Not to say

which stairs

If there had not

have been two girls

It's a call to arms.

It's a way of her saying...

"Take a risk, a**hole.

Stop playing it so safe."

Maybe that's what she's been

trying to tell me the whole time...

like with the

paper towns thing.

She's like...

"I'm making a move, Q.

"I'm going after it.

Come with me."

So, if you crack the code

and find out where she is...

Can I talk to you?

Hi, Lacey.

You were with her

that night, right?

The night with the Saran Wrap?

Yeah.

Was she mad at me?

Nah, she was...

disappointed.

In what? What did I do?

That you knew about

Becca and Jase.

No, see, that...

That's the thing.

I had no idea. If I knew,

I would've said something.

Okay, Margo

seemed to think that...

She's wrong.

Yeah, I believe you.

It's just,

Chuck knew this whole time,

which is awesome.

So, now we're broken up...

and I don't have

a date to prom

the week before prom...

and my best friend is off

doing God knows what...

thinking that

I betrayed her,

which is something

I would never do.

I'm sorry

to tell all of that to you.

No, it's okay.

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