Disclaimer: This can only be posted at the Weekly Fanfiction Center. I don't
own Dawson's Creek. This is a series, but I won't have a new part up every
week, I'm way too busy 4 that.
I Met Him On-Line by Ashley
Joey looked up to the sky and saw dark clouds circling overhead. Great. That
was just great. It would probably be raining soon, so Joey would probably be
stuck at Dawson's house all night. Normally, she wouldn't have minded, but
today, she still had lots of homework to do.
Joey climbed up the ladder, and stepped into Dawson's room. He wasn't there.
She went downstairs to find him, but all the lights were off, and no one
answered her calls. She sighed and went back to his room to leave. That's
when she noticed the note on his bed.
Joey,
Hey, sorry, I have to cancel movie night. You can stay here awhile and watch
the videos I set out if you want. My parents decided to take a 3 day trip to
Virginia Beach in a spur of the moment decision. I think it was stupid. I
mean, we have our own beach here. I tried to call you, but you're phone is
out of order. Anyway, if you're bored, you can visit Pacey, or whatever. His
family is on vacation, too.
Dawson
Great, her best friend had just deserted her. Reading over the note again,
she sighed. There was no way in hell she was going to visit Pacey. Ugh. What a
monster. Looking around Dawson's room, she eyed his computer. Well, might as
well surf the net. I haven't checked my mail in awhile, Joey thought. She sat
down and signed on. Dawson had let her have her own screen name, and she had
decided on FireGirl54. It was stupid, really, but all her other choices had
already been taken.
Joey looked at her mailbox, and saw that she had mail. As she was reading
through all of it, there was one that held her interest. It was from
CoolBoy36.
FireGirl-
Hey. I read your profile, you seem cool. I know you're probably going to
disregard this message, and delete it like all the other junk mail we all hate
to get, but I'm actually really nice if you give me a chance. I must sound
really whacked, right? Well, I'm not. But, just so you can see who I am, I'm
going to write at least 1 paragraph about myself, and stuff. So maybe we can
be friends.
You know how sometimes when you write an e-mail, it's seems you're talking to
yourself? It's a weird feeling, which I'm experiencing right now. But, on
with the show. I'm a 16 year old guy, I live in a boring, small fishing town,
I'm a sophomore in high school, I have four siblings, and I really want to
move out of my dull town as soon as I can.
Anyway, thanks for letting me talk on and on,
Josh
The guy seemed harmless enough. She added him to her buddylist. It turned out
he was online right then. She sent him an instant message, saying-
FireGirl54: Hey, I want to talk, but I really hate AOL Instant Messenger. Do
you have ICQ?
It turned out he did, and Josh sent her a message.
Josh: Your name wasn't in your AOL profile. Let me guess…Is it Katie?
Katie: Uh, yeah. How did you know?
Josh: Well, your ICQ profile says so.
Katie: Oh yeah. I'm so stupid.
Of course, Joey's name wasn't Katie, but she was sick of people always
thinking she was a guy. So, she made one up. She wondered if Josh was this
guy's real name or not.
Josh: I doubt your stupid. We all forget sometimes. =)
Katie: So, what social group are you in at your school?
Josh: Do I have to answer? For some reason, I've decided to be bizarrely
truthful today. Anyway, what kind of a person would ask that question? Can you
say wet-brain?
Joey sighed. Somehow, this always happened. She didn't know if it was her
fault, or if it was just harder to get to know a person on-line. She hadn't
meant to upset him. But the way he reacted probably meant he wasn't a popular
jock, which made Joey pretty happy. She hated almost all jocks…especially
Warren and Grant.
Katie: I'm sorry if I offended you. It was an innocent question, really. And
no, you don't have to answer. I'm glad that you're being truthful, though. And
the kind of person who would ask that question would be me, and if you don't
like that, we can just forget chatting.
Josh: You're right, and I'm sorry. It just seems to be exactly the kind of
thing the popular, annoying, big-mouthed girls would say at my school. They
really get on my nerves. Let's just forget we ever mentioned this, OK? And I
guess I'll answer your question.
Katie: All right. Go ahead.
Josh: I'm a big screw up. The school joke. But someone had to take the job,
and since my grades are already laugh worthy I fit the bill. Now you probably
think I'm a big loser, and you wouldn't dare talk to someone like me, right?
Katie: Y wouldn't I talk to you? I have a…well…I guess he's a friend, but I
grew up with a guy who sounds just like you, and I still talk to him. In
fact, you guys seem like twins separated at birth. It's so weird. I would even
of thought you were him, but you haven't tried to hit on me yet.
Josh: Well, I was just about to. LOL. I'd really like to meet this friend of
yours.
And Joey continued speaking to him for the next three days. It was Friday, and
Dawson was supposed to come home that night. Joey couldn't wait to tell him
about Josh. Joey hardly knew him, but she liked him a lot. She signed on-line.
Josh: Hey. You never told me. Where do you live, anyway? I'd like to meet you
one day.
Joey considered this or a moment. Should she tell him the truth? She had only
met him three days ago... He could be a stalker or something. But he seemed
harmless. Besides, he couldn't track her- he didn't even have her real name!
Katie: I live in this small town, and you've probably never heard of. I sure
wish I never did. It's by Providence.
Josh: You're kidding. I live near there, too! In a small town. Capeside.
Katie: I live there!
Joey typed that last sentence without thinking. Regret flooded through her.
Now this guy would want to meet her. And what if she knew him? She probably
wouldn't. She was pretty much invisible to most of the people at school,
unless she was the gossip topic. If she told the guy she was in private
school, hopefully he wouldn't ask too many questions, and maybe he wouldn't
recognize her…if she agreed to meet him.
Josh: That's great. Maybe we know each other.
Dear Lord, I hope not.
Josh: You want to meet somewhere…like, tonight?
Katie: Umm…I don't really know if that's such a good idea, Josh.
Josh: We could meet somewhere with a lot of people…like the coffee place on
Lynn Street. It's always packed when the weather's like this. We can meet in
the very back booth. No one's ever there. What do you say?
Katie: I guess so. My night's not exactly action-packed. See you there in
twenty minutes?
Josh: Yeah. I'll see you.
Oh great. How did she let him convince her to go? He just seemed kinda fun to
be around. She went to Dawson's garage and found his bike, she adjusted the
seat, and headed to the coffee place.
When she got there, she was surprised to see Jen sitting at the counter. Jen
was sipping an expresso, and she had circles under her eyes. It looked like
she had been crying.
"Jen what's wrong?" Joey asked, worriedly.
"Oh, hey Joey," Jen said, quickly wiping her tear stained face. It's nothing,
really. It's just that time of the month again. I get like this, so get used
to it."
Joey didn't believe her. "Come on, Jen, what's wrong?" Jen changed the
subject.
"Oh, look, Pacey's here. Isn't this great?" she said quickly. Pacey? What
was Pacey doing here? Pacey walked toward her and Jen.
"Hey guys, what's up?" he asked, glancing toward the back of the room.
"I'm not sure…yet. Jen, you can trust us. Despite my past of rude behavior
towards you, you're still my friend, Jen," Joey said reassuringly.
"Yeah, Joey's right. We're here for you, Jen." Pacey said.
"Thanks guys, but I really don't want to talk about it right now. But thanks
for your worries. But please, go away." Sighing, both Joey and Pacey left her
alone.
"So what brings you here, Pacey?"
"I'm meeting someone, a girl."
"Oh, and has she seen your face yet? I'm surprised the girls in here aren't
running out the door screaming."
"What can I say? They adore me." Pacey said smugly. Joey rolled her eyes.
"Right. What's her name? Do I know her?"
"No, she goes to private school. Her name's Katie. And don't call me Pacey
around her. She thinks my name is Josh." Joey's face paled.
"Oh my god." Joey sat down in a chair faintly. "How…how did you meet her?"
"What's wrong, Joey? I met her on-line…why?"
"CoolBoy36?" Joey asked. Now it was Pacey's turn to have a pale face.
"You don't mean…I've been flirting with you for the past 3 days? Oh my god."
He, too, took a seat. Joey was mortified. She had actually liked him. Really
liked him, like, a lot.
"I should have put this together sooner…we are so stupid. I actually thought
I liked you." Joey sighed.
"Well, we can't go back in time now. Let's make the best of it. Want some
coffee?"
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