A/N- Sorry for lack of Joe in the last chapter. Here he is :)

After Fred took Sam away to try and socialize with the popular kids, Joe did some mingling of his own. At least, he was pretending to mingle, but he was really looking for Joleena. Tonight was definitely the night he was going to talk to her. He would just play it cool and strike up an easy conversation and Joleena would see what a cool and friendly guy he was. And with every person he talked to Joe could practice and be ready to talk to Joleena when he found her. But there was just one problem…

"I'm sorry, what was your name again?" The girl he had been talking to for the past fifteen minutes asked.

"Joe." He said, trying to hide his annoyance. "My name is Joe, Rebecca. We have the same math class remember?"

"Oh yeah." Rebecca glanced down at her phone. "You must be that quiet kid that sits in the back."

"Actually I sit in front of you and I talk all the time."

"Uh-huh, right." Rebecca said absently.

Joe huffed in annoyance and moved away from her. Usually he had no problem making friends, but he had absolutely nothing in common with these people. He made his way to the punch bowl which had a floating ice hand in it and filled his cup.

He took a sip and shuddered. "Man this is tart. How much limeade did Kevin put in this?"

Still, it was pretty tasty so he kept drinking and leaned against the wall to watch the party. There was no sign of Joleena anywhere so he took out his cell phone and started texting.

Hey Fina, how's your night going? He texted.

Alright I guess. She texted back. I'm doing the dishes. How's the party?

Kinda boring. I wish you were.

Joe wasn't just trying to be nice, he really did like hanging out with Fina. Once you got past her crippling shyness and the fact she was so quiet she could blend into a wall, she was actually a pretty cool person to hang out with. He had invited her to the party, but she wouldn't even consider it.

Right, we both know if I was there everyone would be calling me Raggedy Ann or Dorothy. Fina texted. Haha, thanks but no thanks.

Joe chuckled. Aww, but I think you'd look cute dressed as either one. You already have the pigtails for it.

So your jock friend Fred tells me. _

"Joleena, don't listen to that nerd. He totally doesn't know what he's talking about."

At the mention of Joleena's name, Joe's head snapped up and he forgot all about texting Fina. Joleena, dressed beautifully like an Egyptian goddess, was standing by the punch bowl with some other girls. She sighed and toyed with her headdress.

"Ugh, it's just that it took me forever to get my hair this straight." Joleena complained. "And it's starting to give me a headache."

"Um, I think you look beautiful Joleena." Joe smiled, going over to her. "But then again you always look beautiful."

Joleena turned towards him and looked him up and down. "Um thanks. Who are you exactly?"

"Joe." Joe felt his heart pounding in his chest. "You, um, saved my life in French class last week."

"Oh right. I remember." Joleena gave him a small smile then went back to talking to her friends. "So anyways…"

Joe's smile fell. Just like that she had forgotten he was there. He took another drink of his punch and tried again.

"I really like your costume." He said loudly, trying to cut through her conversation. "You're the goddess Isis right?"

Joleena looked surprised and completely turned her back on her friends. They shot Joe a glare but he didn't care, Joleena was actually smiling at him!

"That's right!" She grinned. "A lot of people thought I was Cleopatra. How'd you figure it out?"

"I recognized the symbol and the feathers." Joe's head felt light with happiness and he took another sip of punch. "I used to read a lot of books about ancient Egyptian myths. Your costume looks a lot like the illustrations of Isis. She always wore a lot of gold and feathers."

"Oui, I remember those books. The art was always my favorite part."

Joe beamed at her. "Really? Mine too."

Actually it was the stories about magic that were really his favorite part. As a matter of fact when he was ten he used to be obsessed with magic, buying any book or movie he could about it. But he used to be made fun of it so much that he gave it up when he was twelve. But there was no way he would tell Joleena any of that.

"Come on Joleena," One of the girls dressed as a playboy bunny nudged her arm. "Let's go find the guys."

Oh no, Joe was going to lose her if he didn't keep up the flow of conversation. "You know Joleena, I used to read a lot about Isis. In one of my favorite books she was like, the patron goddess of time travel. Even though that really doesn't make a lot of sense when you think about it."

Joe was starting to ramble but he couldn't stop. "I mean, the ancient Egyptians believed in magic and the afterlife but none of the books I read said anything about time travel. It was still a good book though. I guessed if they believed in magic they could believe in time travel too."

"Uh…I guess so…" Joleena looked utterly confused and Joe felt his face heat up in embarrassment. Her friends laughed and they walked away.

"Great, just great." Joe grumbled, pouring himself more punch. "I finally get the chance to talk to the girl of my dreams and start rambling about stupid stuff. Way to go Joe."

He drunk the cup of whole cup of punch in under a minute and poured himself another cup. "It's okay. It's cool. I'll just wait for a bit, get her alone, and try again. Easy."

Joe's phone vibrated and when he glanced down he saw it was Fina again.

So what are you dressed as? She asked.

Joe blinked the screen into focus so he could text her back. Character named Doctor Wayt. U wouldn't no who that is tho.

Isn't he from that time travel sci-fi show? I used to watch it all the time :)

"Really?" Joe found himself smiling. "I thought I was the only one who watched it."

He glanced up to see if Joleena was still around and saw that she was still talking to her friends. Her eyes flickered over to him for a brief second. Joe smiled hopefully and started to wave, but then then Joleena turned away and she and her friends started laughing. Joe sighed and went back to texting Fina. Time. He would just buy some time then he could try again.

While Sam went to go sulk in the corner, Fred went to go look for Joleena. If there was anyone who could make someone cool, it would be her. Not that Fred cared whether or not Sam was considered cool, but it would probably prevent poor Sam from getting bullied all the time.

And… maybe I wouldn't mind talking to Joleena for other reasons. Fred thought to himself with a small smile.

He found her coming out of the bathroom with a couple of girls, all with a fresh coats of make up on. Joleena smiled when she saw him and came over.

"Hey babe, enjoying the party?" She asked.

"It's alright I guess. I just haven't really seen you all night though." Fred grinned and wrapped an arm around her waist, drawing her closer. "Maybe we should change that."

"Fred," Joleena giggled with a small blush. She took a quick look around and lowered her voice. "What are you doing? This a little much don't you think?"

"Relax Jay, I'm just messing with you." Fred reluctantly let her go but continued to smile at her. "Hey do you think you can do me a favor? I know Sam can be a little… socially awkward, but he really is one of my best friends. Do you think you can work your magic and smooth things over with him so the others will be cool with him too?"

Joleena shrugged. "Um… I could try but I think you're over estimating my popularity a little. Sam seems like a nice guy but you know how vicious are friends can be."

"Aww come on babe. You're like, way hotter and cooler than even some of the senior girls. There's gotta be something you can do."

"Okay, okay." Joleena giggled. "If you're going to flatter me so much then I guess I have no choice do I?"

"Thanks babe, you're the best."

Before Fred realized what he was doing, he leaned down and captured her lips in a kiss. They both froze at the lip contact, completely caught off guard by their first real kiss despite pretending to go out for months now.

Fred broke the kiss first and took a step back. "S-sorry. I guess I shouldn't have-"

"N-no it's fine." Joleena gave him a small smile. "Tell you what, how about I sit with you and your friends at lunch next week? That's got to do something right?"

"Sure, sounds great! Actually, my other friend Joe is here. Maybe you could meet him too?"

Joleena opened her mouth to answer but someone called her from the other side of the room. She gave them a quick wave and turned back to Fred. "The senior girls are calling me over, but maybe later."

"Alright, I'll go find him then." Fred's eyes darted to her lips but he didn't kiss her again. "Later babe."

"Later Fred." Joleena gave him a wink then walked away.

How are you still doing dishes? It's been over an hour. Joe texted. How many people live in your house?

Just me and my step parents…. I was just too busy to do the dishes earlier. Fina replied. Still having fun at the party?

Well, my head is spinning and I humiliated myself in front of my crush. Joe thought but instead he texted, Still kinda bored. Fred and Sam ditched me earlier and I don't really know anyone here.

Lol. That shouldn't be a problem for you though. You're really funny and nice and stuff. Who wouldn't want to be friends with you?

Joe smiled. Despite being embarrassed and the constant buzzing in his head, talking to Fina had made the night not completely horrible. Speaking of buzzing, Joe noticed that his punch glass was empty again and went to go fill it.

"There you are!" A blurry, irritated elf walked up to him. "I've been looking all over you!"

"Wha?" Joe blinked the elf into focus and realized it was Sam. "Oh hey, how've you been buddy?" The words came out half slurred but he barely noticed.

Sam's frown deepened. "What's wrong it with you? Have you been drinking?"

"Pfft no." Joe rolled his eyes. "I haven't even touched a beer. I've just been drinking punch all night."

"Let me see that." Sam took the punch from him and took a tentative sip. "Joe! This punch is spiked! It has alcohol in it!"

"What? No way!" Joe quickly took the cup back. "I mean, sure there's a lot of limeade in it, but there's no way there's alcohol in it."

"Oh really? How many fingers am I holding up?"

Sam held up his hand and Joe leaned forward, the digits going in and out of focus. He groaned and poured the punch back into the bowl.

"Told you." Sam sighed. "Now can we please find Fred, call your mom, and get out of here? This isn't the party for us."

"How would you know? You've never even been to a party." Joe mumbled looking around the room. "I don't know where Fred is. I lost sight of him while you two were mingling or whatever. How'd that go by the way?"

"Terrible."

"Oh."

The two of them stood against the wall together while everyone else danced and had fun. The blurriness was starting to abate but the buzzing in Joe's head was persistent. He actually thought he was hallucinating when he saw Joleena walking up them.

"Hey guys." She gave them a dazzling smile, mostly directed at Sam. "You're Sam right? Fred's friend?"

"I'm Joe!" Joe burst out before Sam could answer. "W-we met before remember?"

Sam gave him a weird look but Joleena giggled. "Um yeah, you're the funny one who talks a lot. I definitely remember you."

Joe felt his heartbeat pick up and he couldn't help but grin. She actually called him funny! Sure it was because he ended up babbling the last time he spoke to her, but at least she called him funny.

Joleena turned her attention back to Sam. "So anyways Sam, I wanted apologize for earlier. I'm sorry my friends were so mean to you, they can be pretty harsh sometimes."

"Trust me, I know." Sam mumbled irritably, but managed to smile at her. "But I guess it was nice of you to come over and say that."

"Hey, you found my friends." Fred came up to them with a large smile and draped an arm across Joleena's shoulders. "I'm glad you guys finally met. Now we can all hang out together."

"You guys know each other?" Joe smiled hopefully. If Fred knew Joleena then that meant she would start hanging out with them, which meant Joe could keep talking to her and-

"Yeah. Did I forget to tell you guys? Joleena's my girlfriend."

Girlfriend!? Joe could have sworn his heart stopped beating. Girlfriend? Joleena was Fred's girlfriend? This was worse than worse than just finding out that Joleena had a boyfriend. Because she was dating his best friend, Joe had absolutely no chance of asking her out even if they broke up.

"Um, I'm getting some food." Joe said quickly moving away from them.

He went to the other side of the room where the food table was just to get some distance between them. He actually considered drinking more punch, but instead he pulled out his phone to text Fina. It took him a while because he was starting to feel dizzy again.

Hey you still up? He texted.

Yeah, just working on some sketches. U?

I was just wondering something… Joe looked up and saw Fred with his arm still around Joleena's shoulders. Sam said something that made the three of them laugh and Joe turned away quickly. Fina, do you want to go out with me?