Enemies to Lovers

Pilot: X Games Fiasco

It had been four months since the X Games incident and what had happened was still the buzz on campus. How Bradley had betrayed his right-hand man and now ex-boyfriend, Tank, and left him to die, how the Gammas had been cheating all these years to win, and all the people who almost died due to Bradley's greed for success. For weeks after the incident, Bradley wasn't at school. Nobody knew where he was, though they had a few guesses of their own. Many of them were that he was in the hospital due to the severity of his injuries after being thrown into the blimp by Tank, and others were that he ran back home to daddy.

While Bradley was gone, Max and his friend had risen to the top of the food chain, almost beating out the popularity that Bradley and the Gammas had. There were still some people who believed that Bradley wasn't this evil person, though most saw him for what he was; a horrible person who wanted nothing more than to win and be on top. When Bradley came back to school a month later, he kept his head down and focused on his work, despite people constantly looking down on him. He actively avoided everyone if he was able to. His father had to pay for that blimp that was destroyed and Bradley had to pay him back for it. Once he did, he was swiftly cut off and disowned by his parents. His father couldn't bear to have a son like Bradley tarnish the Uppercrust name, so he cut him off before he could do any more damage. Bradley acted as if nothing happened and continued to be his cocky self around others. Behind the scenes, he wasn't that confident. Rather, he was a shell of his former self. Only people who were close to him knee the depths of what he was going through.

Max, on the other hand, was struggling to accept the popularity. He loved the attention and everything that came with it, but at times, it was a lot to handle. How did Bradley do this on a daily basis? It definitely beats being bullied and looked down on like he used to be in high school. Him and the boys went to parties almost every night, having hangovers for class the next day. Max had often saw Bradley but figured it was in everyone's best interests to stay away. After all, the last thing he wanted was to cause a scene and make everyone hate Bradley even more. He wasn't a monster, after all. That was Bradley. At least, in everyone else's eyes. Max couldn't care less about his enemy other than being happy he wasn't dead.

Any time Bradley had seen Max, it reminded him of his failure to succeed and the humiliation he was currently facing. What could Bradley do to fix this? All he could think of doing was trying to become a better person. But how can you do that when all you've done is cheat and lie? Bradley had thought it was best to move out of the Gammas and get a dorm of his own. Unfortunately for him, his dorm wasn't too far from Max's. Not only did he have to see him in almost every class, but he could hear their laughter coming from down the hall. It was unbearable. Some nights, it was hard for him to even sleep. His depression had gotten worse in this time, and he mostly drowned his sorrows with alcohol. He didn't even really practice skateboarding anymore. He just studied and partied a lot. When he went to parties, he would wait until after people were mostly drunk to make an appearance, knowing that nobody would care if he was there since they were too far gone to give a shit about some loser like him.

It was a sunny Friday afternoon when Bradley decided to head to the library after class to find himself some new reading material. He found that now that he wasn't training for the X Games constantly, he had some spare time on his hands to read more. He had read multiple books in the span of the four months that he chose to isolate himself from society. After all, it's what he thought he deserved as punishment for almost killing his ex-boyfriend, his rival, and his rival's dad. Not to mention all the other people who were severely injured from his constant cheating. He had already read a good majority of classic literature and was looking to find something new. Something... different.

He walked into the library and was immediately greeted by the librarian, Ms. Marpole. "Good afternoon, Bradley." She said in a sing-songy voice. How could she be so happy when her boyfriend was almost killed? "Hello, Ms. Marpole." He says a bit awkwardly as Ms. Marpole beckons him towards her. He walked over to the front desk where she stood and looked at her. "How are you doing? I haven't seen you in the last few weeks." She says with a small smile. Bradley feels his body tense up. Why was she asking him about how he was doing? He assumed it was her making small talk. "Oh. I'm doing fine, thank you. I'm trying to find some new classic literature. Would you happen to have any recommendations?" The moment he asked that, her eyes lit up with joy. "As a matter of fact, I do! I have quite a few books that I think you would enjoy reading. We just got them in today and I haven't read all of them yet. Please let me know how they are." She says and Bradley chuckles at this. Ms. Marpole was definitely the right person for the job of a college librarian. Her excitement and joy were contagious, even. Bradley follows closely behind Ms. Marpole as she walks up to a small cart full of books that she had yet to put away, almost as if she was saving them for herself once the library closed.

She pulls a book from the shelf called, "The Giver" by Lois Lowry. "This is a favorite of mine. It's one I could read multiple times over. It's a book about a seemingly perfect community that had no war, no suffering, no pain, among other things. Everything changes when an older gentleman shows the protagonist of the book the truth about the community. Now, the protagonist has the choice whether to accept the status quo and the knowledge he has learned or break free and risk everything in the process." She says as she explains what the book is about without giving too many details. Bradley felt himself relax a bit until he realized that the book sounded similar to his life in a couple of aspects. He gave the woman a small smile and thanked her, heading to the desk to check them out. Little did he know that he was about to come face to face with an old friend of his after leaving the library.