By the time Joey and Lance made it back to the condo, Chris and Justin were already there. Justin was holding his wallet and wearing an unpleasant scowl, whereas Chris was holding out his gloved hand with a deeply smug grin.

“The bet’s fair and square, J,” Chris was saying as he rubbed his fingertips together. “You agreed to it, so pay up.”

“How was I supposed to know you’d sink that last shot?” Justin grumbled as he fished out several bills. “Had I known in advance, I wouldn’t have placed my bet so high.” He slapped the bills into Chris’s waiting palm with a little more force than necessary.

As Chris pocketed his winnings, he said, “Hey, quit pouting. I might use my spoils to treat you to something special.”

“Hey, guys,” Lance said right then.

Both heads turned at once in his direction.

“Hey, Lance, Joey,” said Justin, quickly slipping his wallet into his back pocket.

“We were wondering where you’d disappeared to,” Chris said. He held up his key and dangled it between two fingers. “Good thing I had my spare key with me.”

“Sorry about that,” said Lance. “We went out for a bit ourselves and lost track of time.” Glancing at his watch, he added, “And speaking of time, looks like we got here just in time for dinner.”

Chris took an eager whiff. “Mmm—whatever’s cooking, Lance, it smells awesome!”

Justin nodded and added, “I’m hungry, too.”

Lance smiled back. “Well, that’s good! Because this is a new recipe I found online, and it’s supposed to be so good you can almost get arrested just for eating it.”

Noting Joey’s unusual silence, Chris and Justin shifted their attention to him, and their smiles disappeared at the sight. Slowly, Justin lifted the brim of his cabbie cap while Chris took off his sunglasses.

Joey never looked at his mates, never said a word, never made a sound of any kind. His shoulders sagged, his hands lingered in his pockets, and his head hung to his chest as if his neck were broken; as if those weren’t telltale signs, his face was a thorough study in grief.

“Joey?” said Justin bewilderedly.

“Joey, are you all right?” Chris asked. “What’s wrong?”

Joey walked past them as if they were invisible. It was all he could do to put one foot in front of the other. They watched him leave the room, and though they called after him several times, he just slogged into his bedroom and shut the door. After that, both guys looked to Lance once more and Justin asked, “What’s his problem?”

Lance merely shrugged, his face showing he was every bit as baffled as they were, if not more.

For the rest of the day, Joey lay on his bed, staring listlessly at the wall. He refused to join the guys for dinner and he gave no acknowledgment when they spoke to him through his door. No one attempted to open that door, notwithstanding Joey hadn’t bothered to lock it. Even after JC came back, Joey stayed put. He did move on occasion, but only to adjust his position on the bed.

He just couldn’t stop thinking about Sheri, couldn’t stop hearing her tragic report, couldn’t stop hurting so much it felt like a bunch of razor-like teeth chewing his insides at a mile a minute.

He didn’t know why the girl’s misfortunes should affect him this way—especially considering how briefly he had known her in the first place—but they did. Maybe it was because, right now, she identified with him so much better than his own band. Maybe it was because she was still so young, so sweet, so…effervescent.

She had been through so much already, and fate, for whatever reason, had decided to deal her yet another devastating blow.

It’s not fair, Joey thought bitterly, and some little voice retorted, But whoever said life was meant to be fair?

It certainly wasn’t fair when he had developed cancer himself and lost his good looks, his good health, and his megastar status.

Maybe life was never meant to be fair for anybody.

Around nine o’ clock that night, the door opened and JC strode into the room, followed by the others. Chris, who came after JC, flipped on the ceiling light. 

Joey managed to sit up and face his mates properly this time. Before he could get a word in edgewise, however, JC said forthrightly, “Okay, Joey. Spill it.”

“Huh?”

“We know something’s up with you,” Chris said, leaning against the wall by Joey’s headboard with his arms folded. “I mean, really up.”

“You’re like a kid whose puppy just got ran over,” Justin added as he joined Chris’s side.

“And don’t even think about telling us you’re fine and that it’s nothing,” said JC when Joey opened his mouth, “because that baloney’s not going to work. Not this time.”

“Come on, man,” said Lance, in a quieter and mellower tone, as he joined Joey on the soft spread. “Talk to us. We could always talk to each other.”

Joey heaved a tremendous sigh, but he knew his mates’ persistence. Besides, like Sheri, he saw no point in hiding it, sidestepping it, or sprinkling any sugar. So he straightened himself a bit more and answered, “If you really must know, it’s about Sheri.”

“Sheri?” everyone but Lance repeated in tones of utmost disbelief.

“That girl from the hospital?” asked Justin, knitting his brows.

“With the one leg?” Chris added with some trepidation.

Joey nodded gravely. “None other.” 

“You mean you actually saw that girl again today, face to face?” JC demanded, his own face rivaling a fresh pomegranate.

“Yes, I did.” Knowing what JC was thinking, Joey added tersely, “And before you open that can of worms, I’ll have you know I came across her first.”

“It’s true,” Lance piped up. “I was there. Joey and I went for a walk while the rest of you were out, and we sort of stumbled into Sheri’s neighborhood.”

JC didn’t appear convinced, at least entirely. Still, his voice sounded slightly more moderate when he inquired, “So, what about her, then?”

“She’s terminal, guys.”

“What?” Now all four men were unanimous.

“What are you saying, Joey?” Lance exclaimed, drawing back somewhat. 

“For real?” gasped Chris, his whole body ramrod-straight.

“Are you serious?” cried Justin.

“How do you know that?” JC queried.

Joey waited until everyone had quieted down, at least to an extent, before he elaborated. “She told me her cancer’s gained the upper hand. She only has a short time to live now, and this time there’s nothing anyone can do about it. Nothing.”

“Oh, no,” Lance said, almost inaudibly. He put his hand to his forehead.

“I don’t believe it,” said Chris in a similar tone.

“Are you serious, man?” Justin asked again.

“Do I look unserious to you?”

For a long, intense moment, everyone was rendered speechless. Even in the full light, their faces rivaled the white of chalk and their eyes looked ready to pop from their skulls, which came as a bit of a surprise to Joey. After all, with the major exception of Lance, it wasn’t as though any of them had gone out of his way to befriend the girl.

At length, Chris blurted, “So, that’s it, then? She’s just going to die?”

Had Joey not been wallowing neck-deep in depression, had he not heard that awful word from Sheri’s own lips, he would have slapped Chris’s mouth then and there. Instead, he replied dismally, “From what she tells me, she’ll be lucky to see the end of summer.”

Now a fine film of moisture glinted in Lance’s green eyes. “Oh, Joey, I’m so sorry!” He reached out for Joey and clasped him tightly in his arms; Joey never resisted him.

Justin dropped his gaze to the floor and bit down hard on his lower lip.

Chris closed his eyes and put one hand over them; he shook his head several times before slowly dragging that hand down the rest of his face, flattening his nose and pulling on his thick goatee.

Even JC, for once in his life, appeared at an utter loss.

When Lance let Joey go and Joey’s posture was more vertical, JC shifted his weight awkwardly from foot to foot, mumbling, “Well…erm…gee…that’s too bad, Joe.”

“That’s very bad,” Justin said with a forlorn shake of his head.

Joey glared at them both. “Is that all you have to say?”

All eyes regarded him curiously. “What do you want us to say?” Chris asked.

Joey shook his head in disgust and averted his face from everyone, placing both hands over his top. “Never mind, guys. Just forget it. Forget it.”

He felt a light hand on his shoulder, heard JC’s voice inform him, “Look, Joey, we know you’re upset—”

“Upset?” Joey rounded on him, face burning, eyes glittering. “What gives you the idea that I’m only upset?”

JC almost jumped out of his skin (as did the others), but he pressed on, “I mean, you can’t let a bit of bad news ruin your life—”

“Bad news?” Joey more or less spat the words in JC’s face. “Is that what you call it?”

“That’s not what I—”

“Getting fired from your job is bad news, JC. Getting an overdue bill is bad news. Getting told that you have cancer is bad news. This girl, who has been dealt so much crap already, is told to her face that she won’t make it to the end of this year. As far as I’m concerned, she got more than just ‘bad news.’”

After this outburst, it took JC a few seconds to recover himself. When he spoke again, he held up both hands and said, “All right, okay, I get it! But seriously, man, it’s not like you can really do anything about it, can you? You even said so yourself. You’ve still got your problems to handle and your life to live.”

“Thanks a lot,” said Joey with icy sarcasm. “Just what I needed to hear at a time like this.”

Chris began to reach for Joey’s shoulder, too, telling him softly, “Hey, come on, Joe, don’t take it that way—”

Joey shrugged the older man off. “How do you expect me to take it, Chris?” To the rest of the group, he demanded, “How am I supposed to feel right now, guys? Huh? You tell me.”

An uncanny hush followed. Everyone stayed where they were, like wax figures. Chris opened his mouth once, but then closed it without saying anything. Then JC started to speak, but changed his mind, too.

Again Joey turned aside, murmuring, “Just leave me alone. I don’t want to see anybody right now.”

In another minute, Lance got up from the bed and whispered, “Let’s go, guys.”

Joey didn’t see it, but all four of his mates regarded him one last time, their faces a clutter of inexplicable emotions, before they trailed one another out the door. This time Lance flipped the switch, though Joey already felt lost in the dark before the light went out.