"The bottom two scores are Sohinki in fifth place with 105 points, and Joven in dead last with 86 points," Anthony announced to the camera. He laughed along with the rest of the crew at the impending punishment. A make over. This week they had decided to play Barbie Dreamhouse Party. The game was originally made for six year olds and was based off of a show. the game was centered around a house where you were locked in. Each room had a different mini game to play, and each game matched the room. For example, in the closet, the mini game was to choose a stylish outfit. Also, before the mini games could be played each player, up to four players, would have to search the room for their specific item. The game seemed simple enough, but some of the controls made the mini games extremely hard to play. Joven and Sohinki also had the hardest time finding the items hidden in the rooms. Over all the game was hilarious and they all knew the fans would adore them playing it.
"Now for the makeovers!" Ian shouted as he and Lasercorn placed two chairs towards the front of the room. Joven and Sohinki sat in them while Anthony explained how the make overs were going to work. Each person had two people giving them a make over, one would be responcible for the hair, the other for make-up, and both would be responsible for choosing an outfit. Ian and Mari were Joven's stylists while Anthony and Lasercorn were Sohinki's stylists. The group calmed a bit, knowing that they would be speeding the process up during editing. Although both Joven and Sohinki had short hair, the rest of the crew somehow found a way to create a girly hairstyle. Ian had givven Joven two small pigtails with hairties that had little purple balls on the ends. Sohinki had simply been given a headband with jewels and rainbow hair extensions. Next was the make-up. Anthony burst out laughing as he began to put on Sohinki's make-up. He had chosen some powder that was way to dark for Sohinki's skin tone, making him look like he had burnt his face. Sohinki groaned and shook his head. Mari grabbed some make-up from the table to the side of the room. She looked down at what she had in her hands then looked at Ian. She smiled and whispered something into Ian's ear. Ian nodded excitedly.
"Okay, time for the outfit!" he announced, his voice loud once again. Mari and Ian handed Joven a small pink tank top and short yellow jean shorts.
"Wait, what about the make-up?" Lasercorn asked. Mari and Ian shared a mischeivious smile.
"We're getting to that," they chimed.
Anthony laughed as he watched Ian search the game bang room for something. He finally found what he was looking for and held it up for the camera to see. He held a brown paper bag in his hands. He slowly riped to top off as the room filled with laughter. After he had ripped the top off, so that when Joven was wearing it, you could still see his hairstyle, he handed the bag to Mari. Mari smiled as she drew on a face and added ridiculous make up to it,using bright red lip stick, bright blue eye shadow, and hot pink blush. She also cut two eye holes and traced them with green and purple eye liner.
"Here you go Jovey!" she said laughing, throwing the bag his direction. "There was nothing we could do that ugly face of yours,"
"This makes it much better!" Ian added. Joven practically flinched at the laughter as he looked at the bag in his hands. Usually he would just shrug off the jokes they made at him, but he had had enough of people hurting him lately. The hurt began to grow as he recalled everything that had happened in the past few days, each worse than the last. Joven felt broken and empty, and soon the hurt grew to anger.
"Fuck that. I'm not doing this," he said as he threw the clothes and bag to the ground. He stood out of his chair and headed towards the door. Anthony stopped him, grabbing his arm.
"Come on Joven, don't be a pussy," he said gesturing towards the camera, letting Joven know that they had not stopped recording and that he needed to finish the game bang. The last thing Joven wanted to do was let his friends continue the 'makeover', but he couldn't just walk out and risk getting fired. Even if Joven was the center of constant ridicule and hate, he truly did love his job and his friends. He sighed and picked up the clothes he had thrown, he headed out again, leaving the bag on the floor. Ian glanced at it.
"Oops, Joven forgot his face," Ian cooed to the camera, he picked it up off the ground went after Joven.
Joven stormed into the restroom, he wanted to slam the door behind him, but knew if he did the crew would soon come running. Joven sighed and tried to calm himself, but the events of the past few days wouldn't leave his mind. Joven shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. He walked over to the sink and splashed water into his face, but nothing he did quieted the storm in his mind. He began to shake slighlty as his emotions took over his body. He had an overwhelming desire to hit something. Joven turned away from the mirror, clanching his fists. He slowly walked over to one of the stalls, his hands curling into fists. He slammed his right hadn into the blue wall of the stall. The wall shook violently and a flash of pain shot through Joven's hand. The pain felt good, and Joven smashed his hand against the stall wall again. He continued to hit the wall over and over, relishing in the way the pain made everything else just melt away. Eventually, Joven calmed and sank to the floor, his body covered with sweat, his hands bloody and raw. Joven jumped at the sound of the bathroom door closing. He glanced up and saw Ian standing in the doorway, the brown paper bag falling from his grip.
"Joven?" Ian asked, taking a step closer. Joven turned his head away, running a hand through his hair. He hadn't wanted anyone to find him this way. He didn't say anything, just crawled to the back wall and leaned against it.
"Are... Are you okay?" Ian asked. His blue eyes were filled with concern as he walked closer to where Joven now sat against the wall. The anger Joven had felt ealier had gone, and he was left with emptyness. He flung his arms up, gesturing around himself.
"Does it look like I'm okay?" He answered, his voice rising slightly. Joven watched as Ian gazed around the bathroom. The clothes he and Mari had chosen were thrown on the ground. One of the stalls walls was bent akwardly with many dents where Joven's fists had hit, leaving behind smears of blood on the pale blue paint. Sweat and blood splattered the floor around the stall. Ian took another step closer to Joven.
"Ian, just go away," Joven begged his voice a quiet whisper. Ian just shook his head as he closed the distance between them and sat beside Joven.
"What do you want from me?" Joven asked, anger flashing in his voice. Ian's stubbornness irritated him. He just wanted to be left alone. Ian didn't speak, he simply placed a hand on Joven's shoulder. Joven's first instinct was to pull away from the touch and insist that Ian leave him alone, but something about it felt good, comforting. Joven leaned into Ian's touch slightly. Ian slowly began to rub Joven's back in small circles. After a few moments, when Joven seemed calmer, Ian spoke.
"What happened?" He asked, his voice calm and soothing. Joven didn't know where to start. Everything had been so bad the last few days. First he found out that his girlfriend had been cheating on him. She had told him that he didn't satisfy her the way she needed and had left him, breaking his heart. After that, everthing else just started to fall apart. He couldn't sleep, making him late to work, the lack of slep affecting the videos he created. He would often have to record the same video at least three times before it was good enough to be passed onto Wes for editing. Also, the jokes were unbearable this week, it was like some universal force had decided to punish Joven for something. He could have dealt with one thing at a time, but with everything just piling on top of each other he couldnt seem to find a way out. Before he knew what was happening, he was spilling his guts to Ian, telling him everything. Ian nodded and looked into Joven's eyes, his blue eyes kind and caring, and filled with compassion. Joven felt tears slide down his cheeks and turned his head from Ian. He wasn't used to crying in front of anyone, let alone another man.
"Joven," Ian began. Joven shook his head.
"What does it matter, no one will care anyway," Joven answered, his eyes on the ground.
"Joven, look at me," Ian said, his voice more commanding than it had been a few seconds ago. Joven slowly lifted his head and looked back into Ian's ocean blue eyes. "People care about you. I know I do, and so does the rest of us, Anthony, Lasercorn, Mari, and Sohinki," Ian paused to let his words sink in. Joven idn't speak, he just turned his head away from Ian again. Ian stayed by his side, hoping that something he said would help Joven. After what felt like hours, Joven finally spoke.
"Sometimes I feel like I don't fit in here," he said, his voice was barely a whisper, but Ian still jumped at the sound. He hadn't expected Joven to say anything, especially not that.
"Of course you fit in here. Smosh games would never be the same if you weren't here," Ian began, speaking slowly. "I know we all crack jokes and mess around with you,but trust me, we don't mean anything that we say," Joven was silent once again, but after a few moments he lifted his head and gave Ian the smallest smile. Although it was small, and Ian could still see the sadness and dispair in Joven's brown eyes, he knew he was getting through.
"Thank you Ian," Joven said, his voice more stable. "But, you can't speak for everyone."
"I suppose I can't. But at least you have someone that cares. It's better than not having anyone," Ian said, smiling back. Joven nodded.
"That's true," he agreed. Ian got to his feet and offered a hand to Joven, who took it. Ian frowned when he saw Joven's hand.
"We need to clean this," he said leading Joven over to the sinks. He turned the water on, putting Joven's hands under the spay. Joven hissed in pain. "Sorry," Ian apologized, but he didn't allow Joven to remove his hands. After a moment Ian got some soap and gently scrubbed Joven's knuckles. Once Ian was satisfied that he had cleaned Joven's wound, he turned the water off and wrapped Joven's hands in paper towels.
"Uh, thanks," Joven said, blushing slightly in embarrasment. When he finished drying his hands he grabbed the clothes he had thrown earlier. "Better change and get back to the guys," Joven said with a sheepish smile as he stepped into an undamaged stall. While Joven changed, Ian grabbed some paper towels and cleaned the blood and sweat that splattered the floor. He began to scrub at the blood smears on the stall wall but decided it wouldn't matter, the stall was damaged too badly to erase all of the evidence of Joven's break down.
The door to the stall Joven was in cracked open, and slowly a hesitant Joven stepped out. Ian smiled when Joven walked back out, dressed in the short shorts and tank top. He couldn't help it. The tank top was too small and only covered half of his torso. The shorts were equally small, they barely concealed Joven. In fact Ian was sure that if Joven moved a certain way, his junk would fall out; either that, or the shorts would rip.
"You look ridiculous," Ian teased. Joven laughed.
"Yeah, I know," he said. He walked towards the door, ready to leave, but Ian grabbed his hand and pulled him back. There was one more thing he needed to say.
"I won't be saying anymore jokes, I promise." Ian hesitated slightly. "And Joven, the next time you feel this way... please call me," Ian continued to hold Joven's wrist, not letting him go until he responded. He needed to make sure Joven understood that he would be there for him.
"I will," Joven promised. Ian nodded and let go of Joven's hand. The two left the bathroom and headed back to the game bang room, the brown paper bag still on the floor of the bathroom.