Chapter Text
Max heard a loud noise coming from the kitchen, it sounded like little metal scraps hitting and scratching against a wall. He turned to the other side, covering his head with the pillow. He groaned as he heard the sound get louder and louder. He would sit up, his head hitting against the frame of the top bunk bed. His head was throbbing - not only from the noise, but now also from the sharp pain from smashing his head against a fucking plank.
“Ow..” He grimaced, rubbing his forehead as he stood up. Max put on slippers and headed to the kitchen. The slippers made a squeaky noise, which also irritated Max.
In the kitchen he saw Bobby, throwing spoons and plates and a pan on the ground, reaching for more dishes and silverware that were practically falling out of the sink “Finally woke up, Maxman!” He shouted, making Max cover his ears, he quickly remembered yesterday’s party.
“Oopsie, forgot you drank ssoooo much. How’s your head, man?” He tried to keep his voice down but he couldn’t for too long, he was always pretty loud. Max frowned at Bobby’s words. He groaned and pulled out a chair, quickly sitting on it and leaning back. He picked a spoon from the ground and put it on the table, spinning it with one finger.
“Bad. Do we have aby painkillers left, Bob?” He rubbed his eyes, still tired. Bobby walked up to a drawer, shaking his hips violently as he did. He leaned on the counter, opening the drawer and passing Max some aspirin - there were only two pills left.
“It’s your lucky day, bro, you can take them both!” He basically shouted the last three words, walking up to Max and leaning onto his shoulder. One of his hands gliding through the air from left to right.
“You see, Maxman, I’m built differently, I’m strong. A pro, if you may. I don’t get silly things like hangovers.” He joked, bursting out laughing leaning onto Max’s shoulder even harder, almost making him fall. Max couldn’t really be mad at Bobby, so he joined him, laughing goofily.
P.J. skipped out of his room - guess he was also feeling great. He quickly stopped and the warm smile left his face as he saw them both still in their clothes from yesterday. They were also unbelievably stinky - They reeked of sweat and booze.
“Guys, we have class in half an hour! Stop goofing around and get ready!” He complained, which they both found a bit annoying at first, but obviously they knew he meant well.
“Well, goofing around is kinda my thing. My name’s Max Goof, go figure” He chuckled, groaning as he stood up, but quickly did what P.J. advised. He headed into his room to grab fresh clothes. He took a black long-sleeve, an oversized red tee to put over it and baggy jeans, and obviously underwear and socks. He shut his door, doing it a bit too loudly, which resulted in him covering his ears, and the clothes falling down.
“Fuck.” He picked them up and entered the bathroom, turning on the shower, making sure the water is almost boiling hot. He couldn’t stand cold showers. He took off his clothes and entered the shower.
*
Bradley was already ready for his classes, sitting on the couch in fresh clothes. He already took a shower, waking up early just to do it - he had a long bathroom routine, hygiene and looking good was one of his top priorities after all. His skin was clear, soft and shiny, but not in the greasy way. His hair was silky and smooth, so light and feathery. The only thing ruining his face right now was a big black eye, the purple, sore skin surrounding his eye. He was holding an ice pack on it, but that didn’t change much.
He knew it was coming, The Gammas were going to kick him out after losing to a bunch of freshmen. At the mere thought of them, especially Max Goof, he felt his blood boil. He gripped the ice pack and threw it across the room, gripping his hair as it hit the wall.
The sounds of little ice cubes breaking were weirdly soothing to Bradley. He felt a quiet squeak upstairs which made him twitch. He wouldn’t want to admit it, but he was pretty fucking scared of Tank, especially after yesterday. Sure, he might’ve been kind of a jerk, but he just wanted to win, and cheating didn’t seem to be enough this time. Desperate times call for desperate measures.
He checked the time again - he would do so about every 4 minutes - his classes were starting in 20 minutes, the campus was a three minute skateboard ride, so he could stay home for a while, so he wouldn’t have to show himself to the public, but on the other hand he wasn’t too enthusiastic to be here when Tank wakes up.
Well, it’s better to just try and avoid everyone than get even more beat up. He let out a long sigh, walking to the front door. He picked up his skateboard and left the Gamma house, closing the door and skating away.
*
Max waited for Bobby to get ready, but he just changed, not really caring about showering right now. P.J. held the door open for them. Max grabbed his skateboard, and Bobby shoved his shoes into his backpack, grabbing his skates with the other hand, quickly putting them on.
They all left the dorm, skating on the smooth pavement, people cheering on them as they made their way to their classes. Since the X Games were yesterday, everyone was still impressed with them. They all exchanged smirks and grins as they made sure to make more tricks, anything they could think of really.
They entered the building, heading to the big classroom, picking the seats on the top, the ones Gammas used to sit it. They were feeling pretty cocky about basically anything now, no one could bother them, almost everyone admired them, the others were just jealous, and Bradley was a great example of that.
Envy would eat him from inside out. Max was basically all he thought of, not only that, but he also kept hearing others talk about him, and he was literally everywhere. No matter where he goes - Max is there. And if somehow he’s not, he can hear people gossiping about him, admiring him, praising him. He felt sick. The man he hated and envied so much was basically shoved in his face. Even at the Gamma house - everyone talked about Max, sadly, they praised him too. He saved Tank after all.
Max leaned back on the chair, Bobby following his move, trying to lean back more as a fun competition. As they both kept leaning more and more back, Bobby fell, his chair hitting the wooden floor. All three of them laughed, Bobby being the loudest, of course.
The professor entered the classroom, silencing the class and starting his lecture.
*
Finally, classes were over. Max grabbed his flip phone - he had an unread message from his Dad. He signaled to Bobby and P.J. to go back home without him. They skated away, giving each other concerned looks, but that quickly faded into laughing and smiling as they skated, hearing everyone cheer on them.
Max started reading the message, his awkward smile quickly turning into a grimace as he continued to read.
‘Hi Maxie! I need to tell you something, son. I have ran into some financial problems, so I can no longer pay your rent. I’m sorry, son. You will have to find a job, exciting isn’t it? You will finally become a hard working adult, goodluck, Maxiepoo! Don’t worry about anything, You will do great!’
Woah. woah, woah woah. This has gotta be a joke. The only job Max qualified for was handing out flyers and maybe if he was lucky working in retail. He was just 18, not even a full year into college, no company would hire him!
He ket out a long sigh. “Well, I guess flyers will do.” He mumbled to himself, closing his phone and sliding it into his back pocket.
Him, Bobby and P.J. shared their rent, but they had a pretty good dorm, it was quite big, had three bedrooms, a living room, a kitchen, and a bathroom, so whatever he could make on his own would not be enough.
Well shit.
He wouldn’t for the life of him force his friends out of that dorm. They had enough money to stay there - Bobby’s parents sent him quite a lot of money every month, and P.J.’s dad payed him not to talk to him and ‘finally give him some space’, so they would be surely able to afford the place. They would probably offer Max to stay there too, but he wouldn’t feel good about freeloading like that.
He put his skateboard on the ground, skating back to their dorm. A pretty awkward and stressful conversation awaited him.