"What about a movie?" Chandler asked detachedly, thumbing through a black spiral notebook. He was sitting with Monica, Rachel and Ross in a corner of the school's commons area. The four were lounging there underneath a large oak tree during their lunch period, discussing possibilities for plans that coming weekend. Chandler sat on a small brick ledge that fenced in a raised garden with Monica at his side. Ross was leaning against the wall and Rachel was laying casually sprawled out at his side with her head in his lap.
"No way, we do that like every weekend. No more movies, or clubs, or hanging out at our house"," Ross contested.
"Yeah!" Monica spoke up. "You guys are at our house like every day! It's you and Rachel's turn to think of something to do," Monica teased, shoving Chandler playfully in the shoulder. This surprised him, as they had not spoken much since that hectic night at the club. Still, something close to iridescent sparkled in her eyes when she smiled at him. He grinned back, feeling immediately like a loser, but not really regretting it.
"I've got an idea." Rachel spoke up from her place on the ground. "There's a reservoir like 10 miles past my house that I didn't used to know was there. We could go check that out."
"What are we going to do at a big cement hole filled with water?" Chandler asked skeptically. Rachel shrugged, bending her neck backwards to catch her boyfriend's best friend's eye and simultaneously shielding her eyes from the glare of the beating sun.
"I don't know. It beats seeing another bad movie, though."
"I think it sounds like a good idea," Ross offered, bending down at the waist to kiss the tip of Rachel's nose. She smiled thankfully at him.
Meanwhile, Ross' attention was captured by a familiar gait that was making it's wait across the courtyard. The boy was wearing a royal blue Nick's shirt and jet black sunglasses to match his hard. Appropriate, Ross thought. The second generation Italian spotted the group of four and smiled weakly, changing his direction and making his way over to the group. Ross made no efforts to conceal an exaggerated sigh.
"Ross and Rachel, right?" he asked, sliding this thumbs underneath their respective shoulder straps after removing his sunglasses. Rachel smiled warmly and nodded. Ross remained stoic.
"Joey, this is Chandler and Monica. Guys, this is Joey. He just moved here from Queens." Rachel introduced everyone, but Monica and Chandler still darned looks of confusion. They smiled politely but secretly wondered just who this Joey was and how Rachel knew him.
"So, what're you guys doing?" he asked, trying desperately to make conversation and to not allow the conversation to thin out to an awkward pause.
"Uh, we were just talking about what we were going to do this weekend," Chandler informed, leaning forward to rest his arms on his thighs and clasp his hands together. "We're thinking about the reservoir. Do you know anything about it?"
"I think I pass it sometimes on the back way to my grandma's."
"Well, hey, why don't you join us?" Rachel asked emphatically. Ross spun his head around and shot her a confused and slightly worried look.
"What!?" he spat, unable to control his disappointment and disapproval. Rachel eyed him, wordlessly begging him to be polite.
"Yeah, it'll be fun! We're going to go out there tonight. You can just meet us there, if you want." Joey nodded and smiled.
"You know what, I think I'll take you up on that." He quickly scribbled down his number on a slip of paper and handed it to Rachel, "I've got to get going now, but call me if anything changes." With that, he smiled once more and threw up a hand haphazardly to signal his departure. As he was walking away, Ross took the paper from Rachel's hand and looked at it.
