"You were way too obvious, man," Ethan told me. "You're not usually that unfriendly."

It was only a few minutes ago when we left the cafeteria. We went straight to the basketball court while we waited for the bell.

"I couldn't help it," I said, twirling the ball in my hands. I dribbled once, and then I made a shot. It went in the basket. Luke caught it. "I don't like the guy," I added, shrugging.

It wasn't like I didn't try, because I did. But Richardson was just too nice. We rudely ignored him when he greeted us, which was a test to see how far he would go with his nice-guy persona. Yet he just continued to smile at us like there was no tomorrow.

I was a guy. I know how far we can go on being nice and polite. And no one goes that far. That was why I didn't trust anything about him.

Another thing, the first comment that I heard from him about basketball was just insensitive.

"Pass me the ball," I told Luke. He complied.

I went half-court, balanced my position, and ran toward the ring while I dribbled the ball. On the right time, I jumped and made a slam dunk. It took me three seconds to do all of that.

I ruffled my hair in slight frustration.

Was he stupid? Didn't he realize that we were there? Who did that Richardson think he was? Just because he didn't like the game, it doesn't give him any right to say that it was senseless. I might be over-reacting about this. Still, I can't deny that I was pissed off.

"Well, I can't blame you," said Ethan, frowning. He chased the ball, and made a three point shot. He turned to me and said, "What do you say, let's beat him up?" I could tell that he was serious. He wasn't used to being degraded about doing what he loved.

Usually, Dwayne's comment could earn him a one way ticket to the toilet bowl. That was if the jocks who heard him were the usual dim-witted ones. The thing was, being irrational wasn't me. If truth be told, the only reason why Ethan wasn't sent to the Principal's office once a month was because he would always be with Luke and me. I wasn't saying we were good influences, okay? We just know when to draw the line.

I shook my head. "Nah, he's not worth the trouble," I said.

Luke turned his eyes on me. He flashed a tiny smile before shooting the ball to the basket. I went to get it.

Turning to Ethan and Luke, I shrugged and said, "Let's just see how it plays out."