Bathroom (Max x Bradley) - Maxley

CHAPTER 15

Look at the referee, waiting for the results. He just shrugged and went to their camera room to look at the video. We waited outside, trying to catch our breath. "Wow, nice outfit, freshman," laughed Bradley, pointing at my whole front being covered in glitter. "Jackass," was the only thing I could come up with. But on the inside, I was happy, because it didn't seem that he was mad at me. I hope he understood from the context, that I didn't want to kiss the girl.

We stood there awkwardly, waiting for the referee to come back. Some moments later, he did. He came running back with a tablet, showing us the video in slow motion. Our wheels were at the same height. I was leading some centimeters away from the finish line. So I won ! There is no way he could have been faster than me in those few centimeters. But as the video continued, Bradley did get into the lead and therefore was the first one to cross the line. No. No, no, no. I worked so hard and-

"Bradley Uppercrust the third and his team won this year's X-Games!" announced the referee and the public started cheering. He gave the trophy to Bradley, congratulating him. I just stood there, in utter shock, not knowing what to do now. Bobby and PJ joined me, patting me on the back, telling me I did a great job and that if he wouldn't have cheated, we would have won one hundred percent. That may be true, but our wager-

"Well, freshman, I didn't forget about our bet. You know, I could really use a towel and some water right now, towel boy," he said with a smirk, disappearing into the crowd. There was nothing stopping me from walking away from him, but my ego an unhealthy wonder for him. I got him a towel and a bottle of water.

I waited for him to catch up with his fans, inviting them all to his house for the after-party. When he was done, I came over to him and gave him the items he wished work. The look on his face was quite amusing. He was shocked, yet somehow amused. "Wow, freshman, I didn't think you would really get me these. I thought you would pussy out. You have my respect. It seems I underestimated you. But because I am such a nice person, I will give you an ultimatum: Either you would be my towel boy and would do as I tell you to, or you can chicken out. I'll give you time until the party-" "I will be your towel boy. I do not chicken out. Never," I said without even having to think about it. In the end, I gave him a little wink. He just blushed, and looked away, speechless.

"W-well... come to my house after your shower. I need your help to prepare the party. And you should take some things with you. You will, from now on, live with me to make my life easier." "Wait, I'm supposed to be your towel boy, not a maid." That was not a part of the deal. I wouldn't mind sharing the house with him, but damn... Making a move already. "Well, rules have changed. Do you want to, perhaps.... Chicken out, Mr. I-don't-chicken-out-never?" I just growled at him and gave him a nod, signaling I would be there.

I got back to my friends, not in a good mood. "What are you talking about with Bradley?" "Do you remember how we made that wager about the towel boy? Well, he just changed from towel boys to a full-ass maid." Bobby and PJ were just looking at me with their mouths wide open. "Please, tell me you cancel it, please..." "No, you know I can break a promise. If my dad taught me anything, it would be that one should never take his word back, no matter what."

Still in shock, we got to our room, and one by one showered. While the others were showering, I packed some stuff, hoping I wouldn't have to stay there for a long time. I thought about leaving Bradley's shirts here, but I really liked sleeping in them. So, after a short thinking pause, I packed them as well.

I really didn't want to leave my friends, but if I didn't want to chicken out, I had to go. We said our goodbyes, I invited them to the party and left. The journey over to Bradley's house was very long. Normally, it was about a ten-minute walk, but this particular walk felt like hours. Where would I sleep? How should I act? Does it mean something when he just changed the plan like that?

All these questions were consuming my mind, making me trip and almost fall over. But I caught myself, realizing I was already in front of Bradley's house. I picked up my guts, and went to the stairs, and stood in front of the door, hand ready to knock, but not finding the bravery to do it.

I stood there like that for some time, before my hand made the motion of knocking without me giving it the permission to. Fuck! I am not mentally prepared yet!

Bradley opened the door, and when he noticed it was me, only made the signal to follow him, which I did. He led me to a small room under the stairs. "This is where you will be sleeping. Leave your stuff here and come to the kitchen to help me prepare the food," he said and walked away. I looked around the room, feeling like Harry fucking Potter. The room was small. There was a bed, next to it a big dresser and that was it, with a little window next to the dresser. Wow. At least Potter had magic powers of some kind. Where's my letter to Hogwarts? I put my stuff away, signed, and went to the kitchen to help Bradley.

I got to the kitchen and noticing a large amount of alcohol on the countertop. And no cheap alcohol stuff either. Only the best there is. Pff, rich kid.

"So, how can I help you?" "Well, I just noticed that I didn't buy any dippings for the chips. Go to the store and get some," he said, handing me a fifty-dollar bill. Rich kid. "Can you just make your own?" I said, going over to the fridge and opening it. To my surprise, it was fully stocked. I was amazed. He had all of the fancy ingredients I always dreamt of having as a kid. "Dude, you could feed a whole village with this. And you want to buy something and give out more money? No. I will teach you how to save money by actually using the food you have." I gave him the money back, grabbing his hand and pulling him towards the fridge.

"You see this? This is an avocado, and you can make really good guacamole with it. Or this, this is a cucumber. You can make tzatziki with it. Or tomatoes. You can do almost anything with tomatoes! So, what kind of dipping are you looking for?"

Bradley looked at me with big eyes, slightly brushing. "What?" I asked. He just shook his head and cleared her throat. "Well... I have lots of chips, so something for that. And I thought about ordering some pizza-" "No, no pizza." "OK, well no pizza, but what else? I don't know..." "Well, we will start with the dips, and maybe do something small later. Like those fancy one-bites on toothpicks."

I got the ingredients on three different toppings out and started by washing the vegetables. Bradley was just uselessly looking at me from the corner of the kitchen. I laughed. "Come here. I will show you how to do it, so next time you can do it alone." He nodded, but went out of the kitchen, leaving me wondering where he was going. Some moments later, he returned back with a notebook and a pen. I was confused. "What do you need that for? Are you going to cut them up and make a salad out of it or what?" "Haha, very funny Freshman. No, I will not remember all the things you will show me today, so I thought a notebook would be the best place to keep the recipes written down." What a nerd.

He put his book next to where I was standing and waited for me to start the cooking lesson. I showed him how to properly cut some vegetables and the right balance between yoghurt and vegetables. After that, we put them in the blender and added some salt and spices in, to make it taste good. I let Bradley taste check it, so that he would like it. I learned that he likes spicy stuff because one of the dippings were meant to be spicy, but his spice tolerance was amazing. So, we decided to divide it into two halves, one with less spice and the other one with more.

He made me taste his creation. I almost started to cry, that's how spicy it was. Throughout the whole cooking session, I flirted with him, and he made fun of me. And that it was just perfect.

The time was getting short, so Bradley started putting everything into place while I quickly fetched up some one-bites with fancy sticks Bradley found in a pantry. The one-bites were just a bunch of fruit combinations stuck on a stick together.

As I was done with the last one, the first people started to come. I put the food on the food table, and stepped back to admire my work. Our work. I went back to the kitchen to clean up.

I heard the front door open again, indicating more people had come. I looked over into the living room and saw Tank, I wanted to look away, but then I noticed who he was talking to. Bradley. Not many people were there, only Bradley's minions if I had to be exact.

Tank was not gentle with Bradley. He was grabbing his wrist, telling him something, that made Bradley turn pale.

I was about to step in, as he let Bradley go and left with the other minions the house, leaving Bradley alone in the living room.

What was that about?