13. I Quit

Joe walked into his third period math class. He saw Josie sitting at her desk, reading. He sighed and walked over to her. Friday, he had talked to her about Sydney and Joleena's fight in English class. She seemed nice and helpful about it, now Joe wanted to talk to her again about what happened at rehearsal.

"Hey." He smiled at her.

She looked up at him. "Oh, hey."

Joe frowned. She seemed distant. "Something up?"

Josie shook her head no, "Just tired I guess."

"Oh, well I wanted to talk to you about what happened at rehearsal on Friday, between Joleena and Sydney. You see, I-"

"I can't."

Joe paused, "What do you mean?"

Josie looked at him with sad eyes, "I'm sorry, Joe, I just can't."

"Why? Did I do something?"

"No. Look, I wish I could help and all, but..." She went silent, "I just... can't, okay?"

"Just please tell me why."

Josie stared him directly in the eye, "I just..." She sighed, "I don't want to get caught up in the drama," she trailed off so Joe could barely hear her.

Joe was stunned, shocked, and confused. "Okay. Well, I'll see you around then?"

Josie offered him a weak smile, "Maybe." She went back to her book and Joe went back to his desk. She sighed.

I CAN'T BE YOUR FRIEND ANYMORE

Josie; This might come as quite a shock
But I've given it a lot of thought
This thing that's come between us can't be ignored
I've taken all I can
And this is where it's gotta end
'Cause I can't be your friend anymore
And I can't be accused
Of not being there for you
How many times have you shown up at my door?
I hope you understand
That this wasn't in my plans
But I can't be your friend anymore
And it's killing me to know you
Without having a chance to hold you
And all I wanna do is show you how I really feel inside
You can run to me, you can laugh at me or you can walk right out that door
But I can't be your friend anymore
So baby now it's up to you
Do I win or do I lose
Will my heart fly or lie broken on the floor
Well take me as I am
'Cause I wanna be your man
But I can't be your friend anymore
And it's killing me to know you
Without having a chance to hold you
Yeah all I wanna do is show you how I really feel inside
You can run to me, you can laugh at me or you can walk right out that door
But I can't be your friend anymore
We can't just be friends anymore

Josie turned her attention to the teacher, who had just begun class.

The trio was sitting in the cafeteria at lunch, quieter than usual.

"How do you guys plan on solving your girl issues?" Fred spoke, breaking the silence.

Joe and Sam shrugged, "Don't know."

"Same." Joe and Sam looked at him, "What?"

"No offense Fred, but what you did was just stupid." Joe said.

"Really, what did you expect to accomplish by doing that?"

Fred sighed, "I don't know, it seemed like the right thing to do at the time. But now..."

"This is ridiculous. How are we going to get those girls to stop fighting?" Sam asked, looking around the table for help.

"They're not going to stop until one of them wins." Joe explained.

"Wins what?"

"Us."

"So, what? We're supposed to just pick one of them, and just say 'Sorry, you lose' to the others? That's kind of harsh, don't you think?"

Joe looked at him, "You got any better ideas?"

Sam sighed, "No."

"We should just avoid them, think about which one we want, let them know, then just move on with our lives."

"I guess, but it still seems kind of cruel to me."

"Oh please, they're girls. They'll move on, and have some other boy to chase after within a week." Fred said. "It's how they work."

Joe and Sam thought about it. "True."

"So, it's settled then? We just pick one?" Sam looked at Joe for an answer.

"Yup, simple as that."

"What about me? I can't do that. I have to figure out a way to apologize to those girls and get them to not hate me anymore." Fred looked at Joe and Sam.

They looked at each other, then back at Fred, "Sorry, but you're on your own." They got up and left, leaving Fred there all alone.