Invent 3 characters as follows:

Character A –I want to be in charge
Character B –Look at me! –wants attention
Character C –I want everyone to like me.

Joanne always wanted attention, that much was clear to Marty.

Chris always wanted people to like him, that much was clear to Joanne.

Marty always wanted to be in charge, that much was clear to Chris.

‘Can you just be quiet for one minute?’ Marty complained, slamming his pen onto the table harshly. Chris shuffled uncomfortably in his chair as Joanne narrowed her eyes at Marty.

‘What was that?’ She fired back, not one to stand down.

‘Come on, guys. How about you each pick what you want to work on and I write what’s left?’ Chris proposed, wanting to finish the assignment and go home.

‘I would, but I’ve been told to be quiet,’ Joanne hissed between her teeth.

‘We don’t care about your plans for the weekend, Joanne.’ Marty breathed her name out like a dragon would flames. ‘We care about finishing the assignment.’

‘Finish it, then.’ Joanne crossed her arms and leant back in her chair, glaring at Marty. Chris looked between them for a minute.

‘Marty…what section did you want to work on?’ He asked meekly, wondering if he could ask his lecturer for a different group as this one was obviously doomed. He never would, though, as Chris didn’t want to rock the boat and make Joanne or Marty think he didn’t like them.

‘You’re going to write the introduction and conclusion. Joanne’s going to write the section on group dynamics and I’m going to write the section on effective group tactics.’ Marty pointed his finger to the worksheet and didn’t leave room for questions. Chris relaxed and let out a breath, happy someone had sorted out the workload.

‘Hold on,’ Joanne butted in, sitting forward in anger. ‘I wanted to do the section on group tactics.’