Justin's POV
I walk over to our lunch table and see Joey sitting down there. At least he's sitting here today, he hasn't been sitting with us recently. I put my backpack down and eat my food. Joey is actually pissing me off a lot lately. He just goes around and does whatever he wants without thinking of the consequences or if it's inconvenient to other people.
Then I look over to Tiffany and expect her to look back and smile. But she's not. She looks at Joey with this sad expression. Like when you're a kid and you see a toy you really want but your parents won't buy it for you. That's how it looked. She doesn't smile as often as before. It's a terrible feeling. Wanting to help someone, but not being able to do anything. Then a bright idea comes to mind and I stand up.
"Let's go to the gym and play basketball," I say.
"Right now?" Rick asks.
"Yeah," I say.
We walk to the gym and Steven grabs a ball to play with. I walk to the side and put my stuff down. Joey walks over to me as I'm getting ready to play. Then I text Tiffany before he comes.
Me: Can you call me?
Tiffany: sure
Joey stands next to me, then my phone rings and I look at it. Tiffany. Instead of answering, a better idea comes to mind. I hang up and look at Joey. If this goes as planned, everything will turn out better.
"Why is she calling you?" He asks.
"I don't know, probably to talk about her problems or something," I say, "She's so damn annoying, you know?"
"What?" He asks.
"Yeah, she's so clingy and obsessed with me. It's just funny how she thinks I like her," I say, trying to act as chill as possible.
"Then why are you going out with her?" He asks.
"I don't know," I say, "Cause I'm bored."
"Are you serious?" Joey asks.
The other guys walk toward us.
"What's your problem?" I ask.
"I didn't know you were such a damn jerk!" Joey says.
"Whoa Joey calm down," Chris says.
"This has nothing to do with you," I say as I get closer to him.
"This does have to do with me," he says.
He pushes me roughly and continues to do so until Steven and Rick hold him back.
"Why do you care so much? She's just a girl!" I say.
"Cause she's not just a girl! And if you hurt her, I swear whether you're a friend or not, I will kill you!" He says.
His rage consumes him and the other guys look extremely confused right now. I guess it's time to end the act.
"Then you should've said so earlier," I say.
