Maxley Enemy's to Lovers

chapter I

As Max waved goodbye to his father, he could feel tears well up in his eyes a bit, he couldn't help it. He has always been a bit on the emotional side. He wiped away his tears and went back to his friends to demolish the pizza that they bought.
"So, Bobby, how's it going with that Rylie girl?" Max asked, trying to spark conversation, but Bobby was already knuckles deep in the pizza and the words he spewed after where hardly legible. But he could tell that it was good illegible babbling. Max took a look at PJ who was eating his pizza as cleanly as he could, trying not to get anything on his "nice" shirt. This made Max think a little harder about his..faltering love life. After he and Roxxane ended on some not great terms, he has been a little nervous to get back out and look for some ladies. He was even getting jealous of his friends. Everyone was going to see their girlfriends and have a fulfilling life as an adult, Max felt he was falling behind.

Max eventually stood up and excused himself "alright guys, wanna hit up the coffee shop and see what's going on?" He asked, Bobby shook his head
"Sorry Max, big plans tonight." He said, not elaborating before finishing the last slice of pizza. PJ agreed to tag along, and grabbed his "murse". They headed on their walk, on the way, max attempted to open up about his life.
"Man, I feel like I'm falling behind in this college thing" Max stated "I'm good at the school and the sport parts but..I'm a little scared about the whole girlfriend and best days of my life part." He sighed
PJ nodded and listened, he was always a great listener. He gave a sympathetic smile.
"Don't worry Max, happiness shall walk into your life when it so becomes right" PJ said with his hand to his chest, Max rolled his eyes as he opened the door to the Cafe. Oh no. Not him.
"Maaaaax!! If it isn't the big game winner!" Bradley announced as he threw his arm around max and gave him an uncomfortably hard squeeze on the shoulder. Max wiggled out and pushed Bradley away.
"Bradley stop." Max said and hugged himself.
"What? I'm just trying to be friendly" Bradley said with gritted teeth "we'll be in school together for a few more years, I don't want it to be awkward" he said with that pompous, dishonest, stupid, ugly, horrible voice! Max's face started to heat up with anger as Bradley forced Max's arm into the air as he demanded cheers from the crowd. As much as Max adored the cheers, he hated Bradley more. He hated him so much. That awful cheater that- that..he has nothing. He yanked his hand back and walked to the counter, getting his drink. He sat down with PJ, who sat fixated on the band that was currently on. Max scoped out some ladies, but as pretty as they where, none of them truly peeked his interest, they seemed so 2d, so boring. How did his friends get such interesting people? PJs girlfriend was just as weird and eccentric as he was, Bobby's was just as much of a stoner as he was. Why couldn't Max find someone who loved skateboarding as much as he did. As he sipped his coffee his eyes wandered to Bradley. He stared at him, with hate of course. When Bradley noticed the staring, he turned around and winked at Max.
"That asshat." He said as his grip tightened on his cup. This snapped PJ out of his trance
"Max, chill." He said in an unusually upset tone "it's not really that deep. You beat him. You won. Leave it behind you and make a new friend or something" he muttered. This made Max feel quite bad, he didn't realize how much this stupid hatred was effecting him as a person. He sighed
"You're right PJ..its just-" PJ cut him off.
"Don't hesitate, it's obvious you have some bad blood that needs to be worked through. Go do it, no better time than the present" aaaand there is that philosophical dork he loved so much.
Max finished his coffee and stood up. He walked over to Bradley, he turned to PJ, who gave him a thumbs up before locking back in on the band.
"Hey..uh..Bradley, sorry about earlier I was just..upset about my dad leaving, yeah." Max said, staring at the ground. "Truce? No more fighting? Friends?" He forced a smile, sticking out his hand for a shake. The handshake Bradley gave was rather hard, but not as tough as the previous shoulder grab. Progress.
"Alright, freshman, friends." He said and smiled. Max stood there and nodded
"Sooo..uhm..want to..join me and PJ?" He asked.
After the games, Bradley became very lonely. The Gammas got tired of the frequent abuse that Bradley dished out. He knew he had to make some changes to save his image. Befriending the new winner might be the way to do it.
"I'd love too. But this isn't the scene." He said and grabbed Max's hand "let's ditch this place and go somewhere fun."
Max looked at PJ who was still just as zoned out as before.
"Let me tell PJ then..sure I don't see why not" Max walked over to pj and told him he and Bradley where gonna go somewhere else. PJ whistled, which made Max blush a bit.
"Not like that! Arg, screw you PJ" he said as a smile crept on his face, max gently punched PJ in the shoulder and waved as he and Bradley left the Cafe.
"So, where is this 'much cooler' place we will be visiting?" Max said. Bradley laughed.
"How can you handle your alchohol?" Bradley asked with a snicker. Max froze
"Bradley I'm only 20, I can't go to a bar" Max said sternly.
"Oh don't get your panties in a bunch Maxie, I'll buy it, and we'll just drink at the park. I see you already have your skateboard" Bradley said and looked at the carrier that Max had. "Meet you there?" Bradley added. Max gave a hesitant nod and walked to the skate park, anxiety bubbling in his stomach.
Max calmed his anxiety with skating a bit, by the time Bradley got back, he completely forgot about his plan.
"Finally, how long does it take you to walk to a liquor store?" Max said, Bradley rolled his eyes and handed max a beer in a can coozie
"Here you go" he said and opened his own. Bradley liked to throw a little alcohol into his skating here and there to spice it up a bit, makes it more fun..and more fratboyish. He absolutely slammed the beer. Max stared in astonishment and took a sip, he grimaced at the taste, but at least they where cold. He took a deep breath and attempted to down his, the foam made it nearly impossible to swallow. Max wiped his mouth and sighed.
"This doesn't do anything." Max said. He had smoked with his friends before, he knew how that worked.
Bradley just smiled and patted his back. Max finished the beer and started to take out his skateboard, as he stood back up he got all sorts of dizzy. But a good dizzy. He could live with this. Bradley opened another beer and drank it normally, setting it down and hopping on his own board.
"You might be the better skater normally, but this gives us an even playing field" he said. "Now we'll both look stupid" Bradley laughed. And for the first time, Max laughed along. This felt rather nice. Max and Bradley spent the entire afternoon skating until their legs couldn't handle it..or their stomaches. As the sun went down Bradley started handing out shots, and max took them. To many of them. Eventually they took their tole and max ran to the bushes to throw up. Bradley pointed and laughed, eventually falling over off of the curb he was standing on, making max laugh through the expulsion of his lunch. Max wiped his mouth and drank some water, sitting down on a park bench with Bradley.
"As much as I want to punch you for making me throw up, this was fun." Max said, Bradley nodded and stretched his arms out, putting an arm around max. "Well, let me know if you still think that tomorrow morning" Bradley said with a chuckle. Max laughed and stood up. "I suppose we should find our ways home" he said, Bradley nodded "certainly. Wanna crash at my dorm?" He asked, max declined the offer
"Sorry, gotta shower. But I'll call you tomorrow?" Bradley nodded and stood up. After a horrendous walk home, Max opened the door and dropped on the floor. Crawling to the bathroom without greeting his friends. Bobby laughed and got up, following max and helping him into the shower. Max rubbed Bobby's head
"Why did you shake your mullet-hawk..hawk mullet.. you're bald." He said and laughed at himself. Bobby rolled his eyes and told Max to call if he needed anymore help. Max could hear his friends laughing from the other room. He got himself washed and in some clean clothes, and proceeded to pass out on his bunk. He didn't wake up until nearly 2 the next day, he checked his phone. Missed call from dad..missed call from dad two, voice mail from dad..spam emails. And a message from Bradley. He winced at the light from his phone and turned down his brightness. He stared at the message. A simple hello. He sighed and responded with his own hello.
Bradley: finally, you're up.
Max: have you been waiting this entire time?
Bradley: no.
Max: yeah right. How are you feeling?
Bradley: like shit. You?
Max: same. Want to come over and watch TV?
Bradley: sure. I've got nothing better going on.
Max shot up and took a handful of ibuprofen, he started to clean, his roommates where already awake and out and about. Max got the place looking as decent as he could, he set up his TV and turned on some random show. He doubted he and Bradley would pay attention if they had as much fun today as they did yesterday. He got some snacks and waited for Bradley. At this point his headache was starting to dissipate and his stomach wasn't as uneasy. Bradley knocked on the door and waited..what was he doing? Why is he doing this? Why is he hanging out with the person who humiliated him? He turned around, ready to leave, but max opened the door with that stupid smile and lured him in with snacks and a lazy life.