I'm inclined to think the XBox might be ready to go. But you say the other disks work. So that is indeed odd. Do you know how your friend acquired this game? If it was used, it may have been re-finished by the store. As in they buff out the back of the disk and polish back over it. And newer XBoxes don't read those disks very well

Or did he just loan you the XBox and you rented the game? In which case its very likely it was re-buffed. And I'd let the place you rented it from know and maybe they'll loan you a replacement disk