Joey went into Mr. Wallfish's English class with Caitlin and the other Grade Nines, where the class was engaged in a deep discussion about Catcher in the Rye.
"I think that Holden Caulfield was representative of the psychodrama of the mentally ill teenager who is caught between the psyche of the id and the superego of the dramatic sector of the hippocampus, which is seen when he asks the taxi driver if the ducks come to the park during the winter." Caitlin explained.
"…..What?" Mr. Wallfish asked with disbelief and a slight amusement.
"Fucking Claude, that's the last time I ask him for help with my homework..." Caitilin muttered to herself as she buried her head in her copy of the book.
"How about you, Joey?" asked Mr. Wallfish.
Mr. Wallfish looked over to Joey as he was busy doodling pictures of himself on stage with two stick figures (assumingly Joey and Snake), as well as underwear scattered across the stage. A very detailed picture of Caitlin was in the audience saying, "Oh Joey, you make me so hot!" as she was attempting to remove her clothes. It was very clear from his drawing that he had no idea what the female anatomy even looked like.
"…Joey!"
Joey quickly closed his notebook.
"Yes, Mr. Wallfish!"
"Can you please explain to the class what you believe the character of Holden Caulfield represented in The Catcher in the Rye."
"Umm..."
He hadn't actually read the book, apart from the first three pages.
"Well, you see…"
Everyone in the class was looking at him. Arthur Kobalewscy was smirking at him. "You'll never regain Caitlin's affections now!" Arthur thought that he thought to himself.
"What was that, Arthur?" Mr. Wallfish said.
"Uh, nothing, Mr. Wallfish." Arthur said, blushing, people snickering all around him.
"Arthur, see me after class. Joey, your answer, please."
Arthur put his head on his desk. Caitlin gave him a dirty look and Yick facepalmed.
Fortunately, this had given Joey a perfect distraction to think about his answer to Wallfish's question.
"Well, he was a teenage boy. He was going through issues that some teenage boys go through. He just got kicked out of school and he was feeling…uh…stressed about what his parents would think! Yeah! And he also liked ducks."
Joey was anxious. He had to steal the quote that Caitlin provided for the final part of his question and he wasn't sure what Wallfish was going to think.
"Very good, Joey! I see that you truly understand the basic characteristics that make Holden Caulfield who he is!" Wallfish exclaimed.
Joey smirked at Caitlin. Caitlin looked at him with the intense rage that only someone who was outperformed by a complete bullshitter would feel.
After some more discussion, the bell rang and Mr. Wallfish reminded the class that their three page thesis paper on The Catcher In The Rye was due that Friday.