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Bradley sat in the back of the Bean Scene with his hand on his chin and his elbow on the table. It was packed more than usual and opened later. They always held a variety of events including the drag show that would start soon. The drag scene at State University was becoming more lively and popular, but he only ever goes for Tank. He wanted to make up for what happened at the X-Games, and he knew this wasn't enough, but he wanted to show Tank that he'll be there for him.
Bradley sighed and took a sip of his hot chocolate. The rest of Gamma Mu Mu sat around him and were chatting with each other. He was lucky that they weren't too upset with him, but he guessed it was because he wasn't the only one who came up with the idea of cheating; and he didn't almost get them killed. Bradley stared at the steaming brown liquid, frowning.
He missed being a member of Gamma Mu Mu, but he had made them lose their prestige with his stunt. Now no one cares about them unless it was to bring up the ex member. Luckily his dad was able to bail him out and swindle the school to keep him here. However that came with the rumors that he couldn't do anything for himself and that the university was a sell out. Additionally, he couldn't live at the frat house anymore and got stuck with a dorm room.
His thoughts kept spiraling only to be snapped out of by a familiar voice. Bradley scanned the tables and found the source, two of the three people who haunted his dreams. His hand tightened around his hot chocolate as he saw Bobby and PJ with Mochaccino at a table close to the stage. What are they doing here? Bradley thought. He looked around the room to find the last of their trio, but he was nowhere in sight. Where's Max?
Before he could dwell on it more, a woman came onto the stage and stood in front of the mic. Bradley recognized her as the owner of the Bean Scene.
"Good evening everyone! I'm glad you could all join us for our third annual mother-daughter drag show!" she announced. Applause and whistling erupted from the crowd. "For anyone new in the crowd, this stage is just for queens to show off their looks. You may take pictures and videos, but no flash photography! For our line-up, we have…" Bradley tuned her out. He had no idea Tank had a drag daughter! Why didn't he tell him? He took another sip, hiding his disappointment that Tank hadn't mentioned it.
Bradley continued to reflect on his actions that led to this as the owner finished reading off about ten drag mother names. She had said that she would have the mothers introduce their daughters, and she finished her speech as the audience applauded some more. She walked off the stage and sat in a seat with the crowd. Everyone was buzzing with anticipation and Bradley finished off his hot chocolate.
After a minute or so, the Bean Scene's door opened and he heard clattering and an unmistakable "he-yuck!" and "sorry!" He crushed his cup as he watched Goofy and Ms. Marpole join the table of X-Game winners. Just the sight of them brought his blood pressure up and he quickly hid his face to not cause a scene. He needed to calm down. He was trying to regulate his emotions better in hopes that it would help his friendship. And most importantly, he needed to compose himself to remain unnoticed by the rest of the coffee shop.
Finally the lights dimmed completely and Bradley let out a sigh of relief. The stage was illuminated and the first mother came out. He tuned out most of the performances, but gave applause to their looks.
After about seven of the mother-daughter pairs, Tank finally strutted out. She wore a big, bright orange, layered wig that reached down to the middle of her upper arm. There was a bright pink headband separating her forehead from her wig and her hair was tucked behind her ears to show off her big peace sign earrings. The dress reached her knees and was covered in orange and pink flowers with a bulky, leather belt around her waist. The sleeves were flared and her heels were simple brown wedges.
She wore bright pink lipstick and orange flower-shaped glasses. Horizontal, thick wavy lines came from her eyes and went to her big, drawn-on eyebrows. The lines were different shades of oranges and pinks and she had silver eyeliner to separate her big lashes from the retro eyeshadow.
"Heya sweethearts!" Tank said in his deep voice as the light hit him. The crowd applauded but Bradley clapped the loudest. He even took a few photos so Tank could see it in the light. "For those who don't know, I'm the loveable Miss. Frail." She flexed her outrageous muscles and the sleeves fell to her elbows as if on command. The audience hooped and hollered. "And for those who do, love seeing you baby." She winked at the audience and people whistled.
"Now I must speak on how proud I am of my daughter. This is her first and, most likely, only time doing this, and she's absolutely killing it! And, must I say, stunning!" Miss. Frail gave a bright pink smile and the crowd clapped. "I'm going to miss her so much," she wiped away a hidden tear. "So please, give it up for my darling Maxine!"
Bradley's mouth dropped as a silver disco queen (that he immediately recognized) slid out riding a silver-taped skateboard. Her wedged boots were metallic silver and her jumpsuit was flared at the bottom. The jumpsuit was made of silver sequins and had fluffy sleeve cuffs that stuck to her wrists. She wore glittery white gloves and the jumpsuit was low-cut, showing off the center of her chest. She had a big black afro with silver tinsel curled within it. Her earrings were little disco balls that sparkled everytime she moved.
Maxine's lips were painted black and had silver gems glued to the surrounding lipstick. The winged eyeliner stretched to a little before her hair and just above it was a mess of glitter eyeshadow and silver gems that lined it. Her eyelashes were big and covered up some of the silver glitter fest going on around her eyes, but it didn't take away from the effect.
The X-Game winner table hollered and cat-called ferociously while Bradley sat there stunned. He couldn't believe that, the sight before him, was Max! His heart rate sped up, the blood rushing to his head and his cheeks flushed, unable to process anything that Maxine and Miss. Frail were saying. She was gorgeous and he couldn't stop staring.
However, he snapped out of it when Maxine bent down and blew a kiss to the audience. His ears turned red and he clutched the table. The entire crowd was cheering but they were drowned out by the heartbeat in his ears. The mother-daughter pair sauntered off stage after their farewells. Maxine clutched her skateboard under her arm and the pair were talking and smiling at each other. Then they were gone and the next mother came on stage.
Bradley stood up and rushed to the bathroom to catch his breath. He leaned over the sink and splashed some cold water on his face. He looked up in the mirror and saw his sorry state. The ex-Gamma member gritted his teeth at the sight of his flushed cheeks and damp face. His ears were red and he couldn't get Maxine out of his head, only worsening the redness.
"God damn it," Bradley huffed. "What's wrong with you?" He continued to stare pointedly, as if the mirror did something wrong. He forced himself to stop breathing so heavily. However, the image of Maxine blowing a kiss into the crowd jumpstarted his heart again.
"Fuck," he sighed as he held his head in his hands and continued to lean over the sink. "This cannot be happening." He whispered to himself between shallow breaths. He kept his head down low and splashed more water on his face. Bradley took one more shaky breath and avoided looking up at the mirror.
After a minute or so, he finally stood straight and walked out, thanking the stars he wore jeans. He grabbed water from the coffee bar as the last queen and daughter walked offstage. He stood there for a moment before deciding that he should go home. Quickly he walked out of the Bean Scene and grabbed his skateboard. However, before he could leave, he heard familiar voices on the side of the building. He peeked around the corner and saw Maxine with her group. Goofy was holding her tightly and lifting her off the ground. They all were singing her praise and Bradley couldn't take his eyes off of her smile.
The gems on her black lips curled around her grin and her sequins reflected the moonlight. It was wonderful lighting for the jumpsuit and makeup. Like she was at a disco and a slow-dance was playing. Bradley gulped at the thought, and quickly turned away, hiding himself. What is wrong with you? he thought before turning back to the alley. Goofy and Sylvia had left in the other direction. Bobby handed a joint to Maxine and Bradley watched as she brought it to her black lips. They curled around the paper and then blew smoke once she removed it.
"Alright, I've gotta head back inside. There's a curtain call thing," Maxine handed the joint back to Bobby. She went back inside while the winners and Mochaccino (he never bothered learning her actual name) continued to hangout.
Bradley turned away from the alley, the main attraction had left, but why didn't he feel like leaving? Why did he feel the need to go back inside and see her again?
"God you are so stupid," he mumbled to himself before going back inside and standing in the doorway. He waited for the curtain call and told himself he was only taking another picture of Tank as well as the rest of the queens.
Eventually, they all came out and said their byes. Some of the queens went to the crowd (Tank) while some went back behind stage (Maxine). He had taken the photo he wanted and left the Bean Scene. He hopped on his board and quickly skated back to his dorm.
Finally, Bradley made it back to his dorm and he threw himself onto his bed. His head constantly rushed with thoughts of how much of a pervert he was and how that couldn't have actually been Max. He groaned and slammed his hands against his forehead. How could he ever see Max the same?
"Fuck," he whispered. Before he could get too far in beating himself up, his phone vibrated beside him. He picked it up and realized it was Tank.
"Hey Baby, I'm glad you came. The guys told me that you saw it," the text read. Bradley smiled to himself, momentarily distracted.
"It was awesome! You outdid yourself! I'll send you the pics I got," he replied. Then he added all of the photos he had. Immediately he was reminded of how he was acting about Maxine. He sighed before closing his phone and ignoring the final text from Tank. Then he decided to go take a cold shower to hopefully drown out everything that happened.
He put the shower on the coldest setting and he inhaled at the sensory attack. But it was a great distraction. He clasped his hands on the back of his neck, keeping his head down and frowning.
Once he was satisfied, he headed out and laid back in his bed. He had turned off his lights and was left to stare at his ceiling. He was frowning as thoughts continuously raced through his head. There were too many to latch on for too long. Some were calling him out, some were about his relationship with Max, and the rest were filled with Maxine. He turned on his sleeping playlist while reading Tank's last message.
"Thank you Sweetcheeks. I'll see ya." Bradley turned off his phone and let himself focus on the music, finally falling asleep.