Chapter Three
Homecoming Is a Thing?
Things did not get much better in the couple months that followed. School was the only place she saw any of her friends, as she no longer had time after school due to the Japanese class that Hana and her father forced her into, on top of her other homework. It pained her how many times she'd had to tell Sollux she was busy, or deny Tavros a round of Magic: The Gathering. And while she was able to understand more of what Damara said, a lot of it was still really foul things. Her dad was no closer to understanding how she felt, and she wasn't getting any closer to Hana, either. Damara dropped out of school entirely, which meant she was constantly at the house, and very often Aradia would come home to an already-angry older stepsister. Hana was pressuring her to find a job if she wasn't going to take school seriously, but Damara responded with a remarkably well-spoken "fuck you, mom." The whole situation made Aradia want her old life back. She wanted her mother more than ever, even if she'd been too young to really know her at all.
It wasn't right, the way she felt. She seemed to be slipping out of herself, old hobbies piquing no interest whatsoever. The backyard still had some of her old "archaeology sites", and she tried talking herself into digging into them some more, but the mood never really struck her. A cloud hung over her head and all she could think to do was making sure she got her schoolwork done. Her Japanese worksheets were spread across her bed, and as she reviewed them, her computer pinged with a notification from Pesterchum. She stood up and sat by the computer, reading the bright pink messages as they appeared.
cuttlefishCuller [CC] began pestering apocalypseArisen [AA]
CC: Hey Aradia!
CC: Just wanted to make shore everything was okay with you.
CC: You've seemed all out of sorts lately.
CC: And just kind of sad.
CC: I don't know, I wish there was something I could do to make you feel better.
CC: Shello?
CC: Okay, I'll let you be, then.
CC: But please remember you can talk to me, or any of us!
Feferi wasn't the only one who'd been trying to get in contact with Aradia outside of school, though she was probably the most vocal about it. Aradia had messages from Kanaya, Tavros, Nepeta, even Karkat, who never seemed like he gave a shit about anything based on the way he was so angry all the time. But she didn't answer any of them. She never answered, until Sollux messaged her.
twinArmageddons [TA] began pestering apocalypseArisen [AA]
TA: AA.
TA: hey.
TA: wanna do something later?
Aradia scanned the messages a few times over before allowing herself access to the keyboard.
TA: AA, you there?
AA: yeah hi sollux
AA: sorry
AA: my mind is just
AA: everywhere lately
TA: yeah, i, uh…
There was a long pause between messages before Aradia's computer pinged again.
TA: i'm kind of worried about you, aradia.
TA: you haven't seemed yourself lately.
AA: i know
AA: im sorry
TA: don't be sorry, just let yourself have fun.
TA: come out with me tonight.
AA: i guess i can do that. what did you have in mind sollux
TA: i dunno, maybe a movie?
TA: i'll see what's playing, and one of my dads will take us.
AA: alright sollux
AA: ill see you later then
Aradia fell backwards onto her bed. Her unhappiness was so obvious to everyone. She hadn't felt so lonely and dark since she first discovered her mother's death. Still, it was kind-hearted of Sollux to make sure she was feeling okay. The two kids had always been drawn towards each other, both having strange attractions to death and "the doomed", and hobbies that others might consider bizarre, and on multiple occasions the two had been jeered at, people assuming they were something of an item. While it wasn't an unwelcome thought, neither of them acted on their attraction towards the other, and remained close friends. Though they weren't a couple, Aradia still thought it would be nice to dress herself up a little bit, mostly in the hopes that it might make her feel better, but also secretly wanting Sollux to notice a little bit.
After having picked out a red dress and a grey cardigan to go over it, Aradia waited for Sollux downstairs, killing time on her phone. Before too long, the car horn beeped outside her house and Aradia raced out the door, a small smile on her face. Daniel came in as his daughter raced outside, calling out, "bye, Dad!" as she went. He placed a hand on her shoulder, turning her around immediately.
"Whoa, whoa, where're ya goin', sweetheart?" he asked.
"Um, Sollux and I were going to go see a movie," Aradia answered, gesturing to the car waiting in the street for her. Daniel sneered as Sollux gave a small wave from the back seat.
"You ain't goin' on a date or anything, are ya?"
Aradia blushed a bit. "No, Dad, it's not a date. Can I go now?"
"Yeah, I s'pose," Daniel grumbled and stalked into the house as Aradia climbed into the back seat of Sollux's dads' van.
"Hi Sollux," she said with a grin.
"Hey AA," he answered, his cheeks brightening a bit.
"Are either of you assholes intending on including me in the conversation or am I just third-wheeling all your lovey-dovey bullshit all night?"
Aradia jumped in her seat as Karkat screeched at the two of them from the seat behind Sollux, who only blushed even more.
"Karkat shut up. I told you Aradia and I had plans," Sollux hissed back at him. Aradia's smile shrank, but didn't disappear despite listening to the two boys bicker for the entire drive.
The movie wasn't anything special, and Karkat complained about every stupid thing he noticed, but Aradia ignored him. It was enough to be spending time with her friends. After the credits rolled, the three kids waited outside the theater for Sollux's dad to return, and drive them home. Sollux was quiet as Karkat continued rambling about how awful the movie was, his bespectacled eyes intently filled with nervousness as his face continued to paint itself red. Aradia glanced at him, curious as to why she could see small beads of sweat rolling down his forehead. He shot a look at Karkat, who rolled his eyes before walking a few yards away.
Sollux turned towards Aradia, giving her a small, nervous smile.
"Hey, AA…"
"Yeah, Sollux?"
Sollux grunted, clearing his throat a little bit. "Um… I- sorry about KK."
"That's alright. It was nice just to get out."
"Yeah, I was hoping you would say something like that," Sollux paused, rubbing the back of his neck. His throat choked up with hesitation as Aradia looked on, waiting for him to say something. "Uh, Aradia, there was a reason I asked you to come out with me, and, uh… I…" Aradia's heart was pounding. She'd never felt so nervously excited, and while she thought she knew what Sollux was going to ask, she still wanted to hear him say it. "Uh… you know there's a dance coming up like, next weekend? Homecoming or… something stupid like that…"
"No, I… didn't hear about it," Aradia mumbled. She'd been so drenched in her own discontent that school functions were the last thing she'd thought about.
"Oh, well, it's dumb, but everyone's going, so I thought…"
"Hey dipshit, spit it out!" Karkat yelled. Sollux lost any nerve he had and turned away from Aradia.
"KK, you're such an asshole! I… just… nevermind, AA, it was stupid." Sollux shoved his hands into his pockets and marched over to Karkat, speaking quietly to him. Aradia frowned, finding herself disappointed yet again.
The ride back home was quiet, Aradia leaning against the window. They pulled up to her house first and her hand lingered on the door handle, as she waited for Sollux to say something.
"Uh, bye, AA. See you at school," he murmured as she left the car.
"Yeah… see ya."
She walked upstairs and straight into her room, laying her head down on the desk. Why'd she have to go and get her hopes up that something might happen between… she felt so horrendously foolish. Why would anyone show interest in a girl who hadn't shown any interest in not only the boy, but in anything lately? Aradia just sat for a while, absorbing the quiet. Eventually she moved to her bed, listening to gentle music as she tried to escape into a book. Her dad came upstairs and knocked on the door, but she refused to answer. Her eyes closed, pushing back tears she denied were even forming. After a while, Aradia's phone went off. Her eyes drifted towards it as it lit up with Sollux's name, yet she didn't bother to answer. It wasn't until Aradia sat through (and hardly ate) dinner and shut herself back in her room that she checked the voicemail Sollux left for her.
"Hey… AA… log in to Minecraft. I'll be on the server for most of the night, but I built something for you. Uhm, call me later, I guess."
With a furrow of her eyebrows, Aradia slid into her computer desk chair and logged into Minecraft, but not before calling Sollux over Pesterchum. Voice calling was such a useful function for gaming, and yet none of her friends ever seemed to use it. Aradia managed to connect to her and Sollux's Minecraft world, aptly named Honey-Made Apocalisp after a coupe inside jokes, as Sollux answered her voice call.
"Hi Sollux," she murmured.
"Hey! For some reason I didn't think you would log on."
"Well, you asked me to, didn't you?"
"Yeah, I just thought, since you didn't answer your phone…hey, listen, I'm sorry about earlier. I just-"
"Don't worry about it, Sollux. Was there… something you wanted to show me?"
"Uh! Yeah! It's behind the house a little ways," Sollux lisped into his microphone. His on-screen avatar jumped and ran to the other side of their pixelated home, Aradia following. Written along the side of the hill in red, yellow, and blue wool was an abbreviated question: will u go 2 dance with me? Aradia gasped loudly, both hands quickly covering her mouth as her eyes widened with surprise.
"Sollux, I… I didn't think…"
"I figured, since everyone else is going, you and I might just… tag along. I'm not much of a dancer, but I'd like to take you. What d'ya say, AA?"
"Uhm, I… Sollux, I… I'd love to go," Aradia said, letting a small smile form.
