"Hi! Yeah, I'll just take three cappuccinos please."
There he was, the boy that Bradley couldn't stand. He hadn't noticed his sulking figure in the corner yet, Bradley noted, thankful.
"Ooh, check it out, Maximillian."
"What's up, Bobby?"
"Mr. Moo Moo's decided to grace us with his presence!"
"Ha! Mr. Moo Moo! Nice one!" Laughed P.J.
Never mind. Bradley groaned, before sinking further into his chair, as he watched the three come closer. "For the record, it was you people who decided to curse me with YOUR presence!"
Bobby lazily splayed himself out in the chair across the table. "Aww, what wrong, Brad?"
P.J. snickered, standing next to Bobby. "Yeah, Brad. What's the matter? Still upset that we smoked you Gammas??"
The mentions of the nickname that only his father used sent a chill down Bradley's spine. He tried to keep his face neutral, but it didn't seem to work, as he looked up to find Max Goof with a conflicted expression on his ugly mug.
"Uh, hey, fellas," he started, hesitantly, "why don't we leave him be? Don't want our drinks to get cold do we?
"Yeah? I mean-I guess not?" said P.J., confused as to why Max cut off their vengeful taunting so early on.
Max took note of his reaction. "Hey, why don't we go find Stacey? We can celebrate our win with her today!" He added, as a further distraction.
"Ooh, yes! Perfect idea, Max!" exclaimed P.J. Distraction successful.
As the three walked away from Bradley's table, Max shot a final, almost sympathetic, glance in his direction. It confused Bradley to no end. Why would Goof all of the sudden care about his feelings? He never had before! If he HAD cared then Bradley wouldn't even BE in this predicament.
Still, he couldn't help but feel thankful that Max had decided to spare him. The last thing he needed right now was to be ridiculed, especially when his dad would be-*ring ring*
Ah, yep. There it is.
~~~~~~~Max's POV~~~~~~~
"What was it you needed me to get exactly?" asked Max, confused.
"Oh, just some ink from the art building, it's on the way to the dorms," responded Stacey, cuddled into P.J.'s side, "if it's not too much trouble."
"Oh no, no. No trouble at all. Just never been in there before. I've been wanting to check it out though!"
Max waved goodbye to the group, before leaving the restaurant to go back to the dorms and study for a test he had the next day. At least, that was the plan after he picked up the ink for Stacey. He was interested in seeing what the art building looked like, as he had never really explored that area of the campus.
Skateboarding down the sidewalk, weaving between fellow students, he finally made it to his destination. "Oh wow," he said in awe.
Now that he finally had a chance to get a good look at the art building, he could see just how beautiful it really was, especially compared to the rest of the uptight, neat and tidy campus. The building looked almost as if it was made of gold, with intricate accents and patterns on every side. He entered the building, looking around excitedly. Student made sculptures surrounded him, and paintings covered the walls.
"Now this...this is sick," he finally decided before remembering the task at hand. "Oh shoot, right! Ink!"
He roamed the halls, searching for anything that might resemble a printing room. 'Geez, they really prioritized looks over navigation, huh?' Max joked in his head. He continued walking, before doing a double take at one room in particular.
It was filled with charcoal drawings, as well as inked pieces. All were signed with the initials "B.U." Each of them depicted a nature scene, becoming more and more apocalyptic the further down the line Max looked. From a rose garden to a barren wasteland. They were hung near a balcony area, which gave way to an amazing view of the campus. Max started out through the windows, before being startled by a strange sound. Footsteps, he realized.
"Gah! Oh! Sorry!" he turned around, surprised by what he saw. A masked and hooded figure stood in the doorway of the room, eyes wide. "I'm not sure if I'm allowed in here or not. I didn't even think to ask. That's my mistake.....These drawings look really good! Did you make them?"
The figure stayed quiet, staring at him looking almost...panicked?
He looked down at the strangers hands, which were holding a familiar material. "Oh, hey. Is that ink? That's actually why I-uh-came up here, heh," he awkwardly laughed.
No response.
"Excuse me?" Max asked, a bit concerned now, "are you okay?" He stepped towards them.
All of the sudden, the mystery person turned and ran. Max, after processing his surprise, broke into a stride after them. "Hey! Wait! What's happening?! Did I do something wrong!?"
Max finally managed to catch up to the hooded figure, and, in a last ditch effort to sort out the confusion, he grabbed the hood, pulling in down. The face he saw before him he never would've anticipated.
"...Bradley?!"
YOU ARE READING
Not The Life I Wanted
Romance"No son of mine is gonna go to school for this girly bull! I've worked so hard for you to have the perfect life. You aren't about to throw it away!" As Bradley's eyes began to water, he glared at the floor of his bedroom. "This is how it's supposed...
