Songs from my Bewilderment

Chapter Four

Flashback - September - Freshman Year of College

"Wanna be my partner?!" a girl says as she's holding a ping pong ball in her hand and taps on Max's shoulder. She's got light brown hair and hazel eyes, she's dressed up as Ace Ventura, but in the most feminine way, with short shorts and only a bathing suit under her unbuttoned Hawaiian shirt.

Max thinks to himself, who is this girl. He looks into her eyes, her beady eyes are glistening, and her olive skin is sparkling like glitter. Whoa, he continues to think. This girl is beautiful.

"Sure!" he says loudly. An upbeat dance song is playing in the background for the 3rd time during this costume party. Everyone has been buzzing and a group of people are smoking weed and singing along.

"I'm Maddy," she says, as she shakes his hand.

"Max," he says. He's wearing an 80's basketball uniform as his costume, Michael Jordan's to be specific.

They share a fun game of beer pong together with two other dudes who live at the frat house. Max was invited to this costume party by his roommate, Cole, who was pledging for the fraternity. Maddy and Max were laughing at the fact that they beat the two bros. After giving each other a high-five, Max looks into Maddy's eyes and finds himself wanting to kiss her. Maddy somewhat hesitates and points to the living room where a crowd of people are dancing.

In this moment, everyone is drunk and dancing with red cups in their hands. The room is musty, dark and there are glowing lights in the background. Max and Maddy start to share a moment as they start dancing together. At this point, they have had a few too many drinks, and sloppily dance. Max holds the back of Maddy's head while he sways from side to side. They both start singing to sing along with the crowd.

The next morning, Maddy finds herself under one sheet, confused as to where she was. She sees the guy she met last night in the bed next to her, half-naked. She looks out the room, and there's a bright skyline of San Francisco ahead. Max wakes up and is in shock as well. They both realize that they had hooked up last night.

"Hey," Max smiles and looks at her.

"Hey, I'll see ya around?" Maddy says as she puts on her clothes, realizing that the only clothes she had happened to be her Ace Ventura costume.

"Do you want a ride home?" Max asks. "It'll be less humiliating to walk across campus in that costume if I drive you."

"I mean, I do. But, I actually don't live in Berkeley," she says.

"Well, I'll drop you off wherever. We can get a coffee on the way?"

"Only if you're down to drive across the bridge into the city?" she asks.

"Oh yeah, totally. Perfect. I've got a friend out there. Just an excuse to meet up with them," he says. Leaving out the fact that his friend is actually a female.

After grabbing coffees, they head into the city. As they drive through the Bay Bridge, Maddy thinks to herself how cute Max is. He's got an exotic look and a very athletic body. She's unsure of what his ethnicity was, and is eager to know more about him. But, then, she realizes that this is a one night stand and would be unrealistic for them to start dating. She starts to look confused.

"What kind of music do you like to listen to?" Max says

"Anything, really...." Maddy asks.

He immediately turns the radio, and they continue their drive. Max drops her off at her dorm and knows that he probably won't see her ever again. He admits to himself that they had a lot of fun together, but after realizing that she went to USF, he couldn't start dating her. Besides, he knew that he had to focus on basketball, studying and really appreciating his freshman year, amongst other things.