Josh’s POV
“Josh, get over here! Hurry!”
Josh sighed, setting down the sponge and the half-scrubbed plate. He wiped his wet hands on the side of his dark jeans—his mom would never notice, and honestly, he didn’t feel like hunting down the dishcloth. He padded toward the living room, already preparing himself for whatever his mom needed. Maybe she wanted him to grab the remote again, or maybe she’d spotted a spider. Honestly, it could be anything. He’d lost count of how many times he’d been summoned just to retrieve the remote from the TV stand, even when his dad was right there on the couch beside her. Sometimes, being a kid meant being free labor.
“What happened?” he called out before he even turned the corner. He wasn’t in the mood for another pointless errand.
“Look!” His mom gestured urgently at the TV as soon as he entered the room.
Josh turned and saw what had caught her attention. On the screen, the local news was running a community spotlight segment. It took him a second to realize why this was so urgent—until he spotted Lucas’s face.
“Well damn,” Josh muttered.
“Your boy’s on TV,” his dad confirmed, leaning forward in his chair.
Together, they watched as the news anchor talked about Lucas’s perfect SAT score. The reporter explained that this was the first time a student from their school had ever achieved a 1600—and, even crazier, it had happened twice in the same year, with Leonard also hitting the mark. The camera kept focusing on Lucas, even though Leonard was standing right beside him. Lucas looked calm, maybe a little awkward, and gave such boring answers that the reporter quickly turned to Leonard, who blushed and stumbled over his words.
“Wait, 1600?” Josh’s dad asked, scratching his head. “Wasn’t the max 2400 last time I checked?”
“They must have changed it,” his mom said.
“1600 is the max now,” Josh told them absently, already pulling out his phone. He snapped a picture of the TV screen, capturing Lucas’s face and the headline, then sent it to the street basketball group chat—the legendary one with Stash as admin, where all the older guys hung out. The whole school already knew about the news, but these guys might not have heard yet.
Josh: [image]
Josh: yo check out this loser
The replies came in fast.
JJ: what a nerd
Stack: They actually put that pic on TV?
JJ: I feel sorry for the poor innocent kids seeing that.
Kevin: lowkey thought it was another school shooter at first
Stack: lol its that messy ass hair.
Stack: a man treats his hair like that you can just tell he has no regard for human life.
Smoke: Lucas congrats, man.
Josh grinned as he scrolled through the group chat, biting his lip to keep from laughing out loud. He knew if he let himself go, his mom would call him out from the living room, and he’d have to explain what was so funny—which would only make it harder to keep a straight face. He definitely didn’t add fuel to the fire—well, not too much, anyway—but he couldn’t resist tossing in a couple of his own playful jabs. The chat was alive with banter, each message more ridiculous than the last, and Josh felt a strange sense of happiness or sadism whatever you want to call it.
Eventually, Lucas jumped into the conversation, and the teasing only intensified. The guys took turns poking fun, each one trying to top the last, but it was all in good spirits. Eventually, the guys offered their genuine congratulations, their words layered with the same humor but now carrying real respect and pride.
For Josh and his friends, cracking jokes and roasting each other was just how they communicated. It was never meant to be taken seriously, and everyone in the group understood that. In fact, it was a way for bros to show affection without getting too sentimental. The roast fests were a bonding experience. Josh loved these moments, especially when he wasn’t the one in the hot seat—though he’d never admit it out loud.
Anyways It was only local news, sure, but it was still media coverage—something none of them had ever gotten before. At this rate, this year really would go down as the year of Lucas.
As the segment ended, Josh leaned back on the couch, thinking. He hadn’t really noticed the changes in Lucas at first. After summer vacation, Lucas just seemed more focused, more driven. Josh had figured the guy was just working hard, and that was that. But then Lucas started doing better in class, made a game that went viral and hit over eighteen million downloads(last I checked) and then tried out for the basketball team, and now this—a perfect SAT score. On top of all that he is a great singer as well. Piece by piece, Josh realized that this version of Lucas was different from the old one. This Lucas was motivated, ambitious, and actually taking care of business. Something must have happened with him that motivated him. If it was something he could share he would have already told me but I did not pry too much into that.
And once he realized that Lucas has changed for better, Josh decided he wouldn’t be left in the dust either. It was time to get his shit together.
Josh was a pretty smart guy. Not a genius, and not a 4.0 GPA student, but school had always come easy to him. He could pick things up quickly, memorize what he needed for tests, and standardized tests were practically his bread and butter. Maybe that’s why he’d coasted through most of high school, assuming his good grades and volunteer hours would be enough. Technically, he was in the top ten percent of his class, but hanging out with Leonard, Lucas, and Alex made him feel like he was always playing catch-up. Unconsciously, they’d pushed him to study more, to not get left behind.
He and the guys had racked up a decent number of service hours together, but it was clear he could do better. With his friends raising the bar, Josh wasn’t about to back down.
The first—and easiest—change had been to study a bit more. Not to the point of studying during lunch, but he’d started sacrificing thirty minutes of personal time each day to review his notes. He’d even started meeting up with Lucas before chemistry tests to really nail down the material. Honestly, he probably would have put in extra study time for AP Chem anyway—that class was brutal.
The next step had been to actually apply himself to his passions. He’d signed up for a video editing course in freshman year but never finished it, figuring he was already pretty good at it. Now, though, “pretty good” wasn’t good enough. Lucas had given him a chance to be part of his YouTube project, and Josh wasn’t about to let him down. He was determined to give it his all, to be excellent. Even if the project didn’t go viral, he’d still learn a ton from the process.
Looking back, he realized he must have been going through some angsty teenage phase when he dropped the course. Probably something dumb, like thinking computer nerds didn’t get any attention. He’d been a dumbass back then.
Now, with a lot more common sense, he’d gone to his guidance counselor a couple of weeks ago for advice. The counselor told him to keep up the good work with his grades, look into scholarships for smart, African American students in his economic bracket, and start building solid applications for his target schools. Personally, Josh was also considering retaking the SAT next month and maybe even the ACT in December. The different format might work better for him.
Lucas decided he’s going to record the songs tomorrow, and he asked me to come along—not just to hang out, but to observe the whole process and keep him company. Honestly, I’m excited for it. I want to see how everything works behind the scenes, learn as much as I can about the business, and figure out where I might be able to help out in the future. It’s a great chance to pick up new skills and be part of something bigger, an
d I’m looking forward to hearing him sing. That was always