What We Seem to have Forgotten (ArJoe Fan-Fiction) (Completed)

Going Back

Joe didn't approached Ariel again, which was fine with her. He was weird and kind of loner anyways, she thought. He wasn't like her at all and she didn't like him back, so it was okay that she rejected him. But, it did make her realize how many times she had to see him. It was already awkward having never talked to him ever since they were kids and suddenly he asks her out? So weird, she thought.This guy had no idea what he's getting himself into with her. 

He was easy to read. Afterwards, he didn't speak to her, but he couldn't pretend not to notice her and she realized that fairly quickly. She'd noticed when he would occasionally steal a glance at her while they went to school. It was pretty obvious since she would purposely stare back at him and ride her skateboard without looking at where she was going. It paid to have memorized her route, but it backfired on Joe. She noticed where he ate at lunch was perfectly parallel to where she ate lunch. She noticed that even when they didn't have a single class together and that the school was so big that it was easy to get lost, there would be awkward moments where they passed by each other. She noticed he had strange friends. 

By the time they went back home, the game of Cat and Mouse resumed. She would stare at her little prey every chance she got and waited for his squeaky response. He would never talk, but it was fun to watch him squirm. Prom was coming up fast and she was waiting for him to break his composure but he never did. Perhaps she was being a bit harsh on the naive, little boy, she thought. But he didn't have a chance with her! She did not want to be in a relationship at all. The idea of her being in any kind of romantic relationship made her queasy. No, she wasn't pessimistic about love, just a bit immature. Not a lot of people knew just how childish she was and she wanted to keep it that way. 

A few days passed by and prom was just around the corner, and so was Joe. It was after school and while slowly riding her board down the road, Ariel realized Joe was lagging behind. Perhaps it was a few meters or even a whole block, he had been distancing himself more and more from her. She turned around and waited for him to turn the corner and saw him huffing and puffing on his bike. 

"Hey," she called out. "Why so slow today?" 

Joe pointed at himself with a shocked expression. 

"Yeah  

, I'm talking you!" She answered. "Why are you lagging?" 

"No reason," he shyly replied. "Just tired I guess." 

Ariel gave a disgusted look and sighed. To his surprise, she came over on her skateboard and rode by his side. "C'mon," she said lowly. "We'll walk." 

It was an awkward couple of blocks with neither one willing to bring up a conversation. Joe was too scared to anger her, and she didn't want to talk anyways. With no one talking, walking seemed like beating around a dead bush. 

Joe was the first to break the tension. "Why are you walking with me?" 

Ariel didn't look at him. "Don't know. Bored I guess." 

"Oh..." he only responded. "But ...anyways, thanks Ariel. It was nice of you to wait for me. You know you didn't have to. It's not like we're friends." 

"No, we're not," she spat. 

"Then why did you?" he asked, hoping she would give an answer. She didn't. 

"Your name is Joe, right?" she asked, purposely dodging his question. 

He nodded his head in response. "Yeah, we've known each other ever since middle school." 

"Joe..." Ariel looked at the ground and scrapped her board. "How come you've never talked to me before?" 

Joe gripped on his bike handles and gave an awkward sigh. "I was scared I'd say something stupid."