Sunflower

A kick and a flip. A kick and let it roll. Max stood on his skateboard, skating down the street with his earpods plugged into his iPod, playing his messy playlist that was a mix of alternative and latest hip-hop music he liked.

A group of girls he passed by giggled amongst themselves when he tilted his head up at them. He chuckled to himself and went on his way towards the Bean Scene. He knew that’s where his friends would be, it became a normal hangout place mainly because of P.J’s girlfriend Mocha.

He soon saw the familiar descending stairs, which made him get off his board and kick it up to carry it as he went down and into the café. Someone was already performing some deep poetry.

He walked up to the counter and greeted the barista, who was already familiar with him just as he was with her. How could they not be familiar with each other? His sophomore year of college already started just a week ago. And during his freshman year, he and his friends were here every other day. And oh, who wouldn’t be familiar with the one who dethroned the all-time cheating champions– The Gammas?

“Hey, I’ll have the usual.” He took off his earpods and shoved them into his oversized pants pocket. She nodded at this, writing it on the small notepad.

“How come I didn’t see you the whole summer, Max? Did ya go home for the summer or somethin’?” She asked, ripping the paper and sticking it to the waiting list.

“Nah. But trust me, you've seen me.” Max chuckled, a gloved hand rubbing the back of his neck and the other held the skateboard by his side. The girl looked at him quizzically before laughing it off and shaking her head. “Whatever you say.”

“Yo Max, over here!” P.J called out to him, they were near the corner. 2 leather couches facing each other with a coffee table in the middle. P.J was sitting next to Mocha, his hand on her shoulder.

On the other side sat Bobby, basically sprawled on the couch. He yawned at the couple before he acknowledged Max’s presence at the counter when P.J called out to him. He waved at him before scooting over to make more space for his friend who was now walking over to them.

“Man, about time you came. The corny romantic poetry show in front of me was getting totes insufferable.” The buzzed boy slouched in his seat as Max lightly laughed at him.

“Come on, guys. He knows he’s got no game, at least don’t rub it off on him.” Max jokingly stated, leaning his skateboard against the couch’s armrest before taking a seat next to Bobby.

“The distance between us this summer is what was insufferable. It’s like we were Romeo and Juliet, weren’t we?” Mocha asked P.J, a finger tracing his chest. P.J nodded, clearing his throat before he spoke.

“Truly, we were. Forced apart by our family’s word– we were star-crossed lovers.” He spoke in a dramatic yet trying to be poetic way. It couldn’t be seen because of his sunglasses, but Bobby squinted his eyes at them in some sort of confusion.

“Okay, first of all.. I’ve got more game than you three combined. All genders, baby.” He defended himself.

“Yeah, back in high school, maybe. But didn’t you get ghosted after you buzzed your hair?” Max raised a brow and P.J laughed at the memory.

Bobby flipped Max off before going back on track. “Fuck youuu– And second of all, didn’t she want to go back home to her family? And you introduced her to your dad!” He complained, making some hand movements as he spoke to the couple. The group went back and forth on the topic, mostly to just trip Bobby out. Max didn’t help his case as much, since he would switch teams from time to time just to mess with him.

“I’m way too baked for this.” Bobby groaned into his gloved hands in defeat, sliding down in his seat as Mocha lightly chuckled at him. “That took a while.” She hummed before P.J spoke up.

“Uh-oh.. Max, I wouldn’t recommend you to turn around.” He inhaled through his teeth to which Max tilted his head in confusion.

“Why not?” He asked, and his 3 friends were already all looking in the same direction. Bobby was even on his knees on the couch as he looked at the entrance, in front of the stairs.

“Well, I’ll be damned. Am I hallucinating or is that–” “Bradley.” Max cut him off, clicking his tongue in annoyance as he looked at the familiar frat boy. He was talking to some people, but didn’t seem to be with The Gammas.

Bobby slouched back down on the couch and Max looked in front of him again instead, not wanting to look at the still-cocky boy and especially not wanting to risk talking to him.

“Didn’t they say he was enrolling in a different college?” P.J asked, his free hand scratching his head.

“Heh, his daddy probably said no. I mean, if my son was a cheater, I’d let him face the consequences.” Bobby shrugged, taking the already-bitten garlic bread in his place and taking a bite out of it.

“That is, if his dad didn’t encourage cheating. If he got in trouble, it was probably only because he got caught.” Max shrugged, and Bobby snapped his fingers.

“Exactly! Papa ain’t raised no kid to get caught like that.” He tried to talk while his mouth was full of garlic bread. Max just looked at his stoned friend before shaking his head at him while he smiled.

“Seems like I forgot to tell you his transfer didn’t push through– my bad. I found out the other day, some girl dating a Gamma told me about it.” Mocha drank from her cup of coffee.

“Wait so, he’s back with them after all that stuff with nearly killing Tank?” Max asked, he and Tank had gotten on pretty good terms with each other after the X-Games, and he was actually a chill and nice guy, especially with Bradley not around.

“No, not exactly. At least, not yet.” She responded, placing the coffee back down on the small plate. “I sure hope it stays that way.” P.J commented.

“Max!” The barista called out and the said boy felt his heart drop. Shit. He completely forgot about his order. “Oooh, yeah, good luck with that one.” Bobby, from his lazy position, tilted his head down and looked up at one of his best friends through the top of his shades.

Max groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose before standing up with both hands in his pockets.

“Why, it really is you! For a second there, I thought that maybe someone new with that godforsaken name is in town.” The brunette was leaning against the counter, looking like he just finished ordering.

“Brad. Didn’t expect to see you back here. What, did daddy not let you transfer?” He tried holding back, but he couldn’t help but mock him with a baby-like voice. And he knows how much Bradley hated Max using that nickname. Bradley forced an all-too-familiar fake and exaggerated grin, laughing lightly as he shook his head.

“No, no. It was my decision– I called it off. I realized that there’s no way I’m letting you guys get rid of me that quickly.” He gritted his teeth and balled his fist at the next part. “Especially after your old man knocked out my tooth and fractured my jaw. And not to mention the fact that you got Tank to side with you and humiliate me in front of an audience.” Bradley took a step closer to Max, yet the shorter boy stayed in place.

“Ah, good times. I still remember how you couldn’t talk until graduation because of the jaw. It’s a shame it’s all healed now.” Max looked at him up and down with a smug look, and blue eyes were piercing right through his black ones.

“I recommend that you do the same thing, honestly. No one wants to hear you go on and on with your tacky comebacks.” Bradley sarcastically chuckled, more people were now looking at the two of them.

Max looked around, noticing the amount of eyes on them. He sighed and looked back at Bradley. “Listen, it’s been fun catching up with you, but I’m just trying to get my drink, okay?” He went to grab his drink on the tray between them, but Bradley went to grab the drink as well.

“Here, I’ll get it for ya.” Bradley beat him to it. Max looked at him confusedly before a familiar buzzing noise in his ears appeared and the fur on the back of his neck stood up.

Before Max realized it, everything was in slow motion. Bradley was about to splash the cup of coffee onto him. He, of course, immediately dodged it and time went back to normal. The brunette had completely missed and a few surprised gasps fell around the room.

“What the hell, Bradley?!” The barista yelled. Bradley looked at Max in surprise, and around the room in a bit of embarrassment. He was certain that his actions were fast, but somehow Max’s reflexes were beyond humane, even.

“Get out, this is the hundredth time you’ve caused a mess– that I have to clean up after– here.” She stood her ground this time, asking Bradley to leave. She looked over at Mocha, and the girl looked proud and nodded at her.

At this point, Bradley was red with both rage and embarrassment. He didn’t know who to lash out on first, Max or the barista. Or maybe even everyone. Besides, almost everyone was glaring at him by now.

He looked over at Max, the same manic glint still in his blue eyes after all this time. “This isn’t over, Goof. It never was.” He grits his teeth as he harshly pokes Max’s chest and then proceeds to crush the empty cup in his other hand before throwing it onto the floor.

“Just go.” Max inhaled, balling his fist and squinting his eyes at Bradley.

And just like a jester putting on a mask, Bradley put on another fake act just as fast as he removed the one from earlier. “Fine, fine. You people have it your way.” He raised his hands in defeat and backed off, heading towards the stairs.

He showed no remorse about the mess whatsoever, not even a simple apology to the café. Max didn’t expect an apology from him, but that was a new low, even for Bradley.

“And oh, your coffee tastes like shit. Seriously, these Shakespeare wannabes need to get a life!” Bradley announced just as he took the first step onto the stairs. 

Max rolled his eyes at the petty behavior that was being displayed by the psychopath, who was now finally leaving. 

A few murmurs rang around the room before Max faced the barista again. “Sorry about that. Where’s the mop around here? I can clean up his mess for ya.” The barista looked at Max with an understanding look.

“No, it’s fine. You don’t have to do that, we should be the ones apologizing for the inconvenience. Including.. your drink.” She tiredly chuckled. The boy did the same and shook his head.

“Nah, he’s the one who should be apologizing. I mean, how childish could he get?” He leaned against the counter, sighing.

The barista looked at Max a bit tense this time. “That’s true, but I advise you to be careful, Max. This is still Bradley we’re talking about, and after everything that happened last year, there’s no way he’s going to let up on you.”

Max let out a confident scoff. “I’ll bounce back. Again.”

With that, the barista giggled and told him that he could have Bradley’s drink instead once it was done.

“Yeesh, I totally sobered up just by watching all of that happen.” Bobby cringed when Max sat back down next to him.

“He still hasn’t changed, it’s kinda sad.” P.J shrugged.

“Expecting change from that man-child is like waiting for a polar bear to live in a desert. Never going to happen.” Mocha crossed her legs together.

“You’re right my love. Oh and, are you alright Max? He tried to throw that piping hot coffee on you!” P.J exclaimed.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I dodged it, not a single drop on me.” Max shrugged, almost cockily showing off his clean and unharmed self..

“Of course. We expect nothing less from Web–hmmp!” Bobby was cut off by Max immediately covering the buzzed boy’s mouth. 

“Dude, shut up!” He whisper-yelled, looking around to see if anyone heard what Bobby said (or rather, almost said). And thankfully, no one seemed to have heard. Everyone was too busy listening to the stage performer.

P.J let out a sigh of relief upon seeing that no one heard. “Man, we really need to duct tape his mouth shut! He always finds a way to bring that up. He’s the reason why Mocha found out! Literally, after I tried so hard to keep my mouth shut.” 

Mocha lightly chuckled. “It’s not like I wouldn’t have found out.” She looked at the duo, with Max finally removing his hand from Bobby’s mouth.

“Ew, your finger went in my mouth.” Bobby stuck out his tongue as he finally managed to speak again.

“Don’t act like worse things haven’t been in there.” Max shuddered at the thought. Bobby let out a dramatic, offended gasp. “How cheap of you to pull that card, Maximilio!” The said boy only rolled his eyes at the nickname, weakly chuckling.

A – View – Inside – Max’s – Brain

I haven’t introduced myself properly yet. Hi, I’m Max. I’m the one and only Webhound. I was bitten by a radioactive spider at my University when one of my best friends, Bobby, convinced us to break into the Science Lab and take some materials and equipment in order for us to ‘make our own weed’. It sounds insane, I know. But we were already under the influence of both weed and alcohol, so we went for it.

–

“Are you guys sure this is a good idea?” P.J nervously asked, fidgeting on his pizza-stained dress shirt.

Bobby was the first to enter the lab, he was also the one who picked the lock using a hairpin they borrowed from Mocha.

“Relax Peej, even the security guard was wasted from the party earlier. Didn’t you see the guy? He was passed out like a baby downstairs.” Max reassuringly patted his friend’s back before he followed behind Bobby, entering the lab.

“Yeah, man. Think of all the weed we’re gonna make. Hey, maybe we could even sell some!” Bobby picked up a vial, examining it.

Max looked around the room, the only light came from the window where the moon shone brightly. “What exactly do we need?” He asked his friend.

“Well, we need to heat up, mix, process, and dry these babies up.” Bobby took up the bag of leaves in his pocket, showing it off to P.J and Max. “And probably throw in a few chemicals in there too, I dunno.” He added.

Max laughed. “What do you mean you don’t know? You’ve done this before, right?” He raised a brow, hopping up to take a seat on top of the metallic table.

The small, eight-legged insect looked at the tall figure next to it through its container, a simple glass jar.

“Uh, sure. I mean, how hard can it be, right?” Bobby flashed them a grin and nodded to try to encourage them. P.J groaned and Max face-palmed.

“Aye, what’s with the attitude? We can figure it out. Didn’t you get an A in Chemistry, Max? And P.J, you won that Science Fair back in high school. Liven up, y’all!” He placed down some beakers and shot his friends some finger guns.

P.J and Max only looked at Bobby, unamused. “Yep, this is stupid. I’m out.” Max decided and hopped off the counter. But when he did, he accidentally hit a glass jar, causing it to fall over next to him. 

“Shit–” The glass shattered onto the floor, the loud sound of glass breaking echoing throughout the room. Max couldn’t even see what the glass was containing.

The three went quiet. They slowly turned their heads towards the door, which was wide open. The lab was only on the second floor of the building, and right next to the staircase. They then heard the loud sound of a chair squeaking against the floor, and by God the three swore they felt their hearts drop.

“Close it!” “Close the damn door!” Max and Bobby mouthed towards P.J, who was the closest towards the door at the moment. P.J immediately but stealthily rushed towards the door, closing it gently and locking it. He pressed his ear up against the door, hearing nothing but silence.

That was until he heard the sound of footsteps coming up the stairs. 

“Hide!” He whisper-yelled before he ran towards a table, hiding under it. Bobby went out of his way and hid inside the singular locker in the room, while Max only hid under the metallic table that he was sitting on earlier.

He couldn’t hear anything other than his silent breathing, and he could see the shards of glass in front of him reflecting the moonlight.

After a few seconds passed by, the sound of the doorknob being twisted echoed in the room. Max held his breath, and he knew his friends were doing the same as well.

On the other side of the door, the sleepy and still somewhat drunk guard couldn’t open the door. After just 2 tries of the many keys in his hand, he gave up unlocking it. Instead, he took out his flashlight and peaked through the door’s rectangular window, the flashlight pressed up against it next to his head.

The tension in the room made it easy for Max not to notice the small spider that was crawling up his gloved hand.

The guard’s eyes examined the room and nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary. His eyes scanned the room one more time before sighing and turning off the flashlight. “I must’ve had too much to drink.” He murmured to himself as he made his way down the stairs.

None of the three dared to move for at least a minute. That was until Max felt a small yet stinging pain in the area just above his wrist. “Ah!” He quietly hissed in pain before flicking the insect off. In the short glimpse he caught of it, he was certain it was a spider.

He was the first to leave his hiding spot, he wasn’t taking any more risks tonight. P.J crawled out from under the table soon after and looked up at Max who was rubbing his arm. 

“You good, bro?” He asked and Max nodded in response. “Yeah, I just got bit by some spider. It’s no big deal, though.” He grabbed P.J’s hand instead and pulled him up.

They walked towards the locker, and Bobby was somehow struggling to get it open. “A little help?” His muffled voice came from inside the metallic box. 

“You sure we can’t just leave him here?” P.J jokingly asked Max as they stood in front of the locker.

Max chuckled. “I wish.” He pulled the locker door open with ease, and Bobby immediately stepped out. “Thanks.” He patted Max’s shoulder. “Now, let’s get back to Operation: Weed Making!” He rubbed his hands together mischievously.

“Nuh uh, screw that– I’m leaving. You comin’, Max?” “Right behind ya.” P.J and Max already called quits, making Bobby’s jaw drop.

“Oh come on, man! We’re literally right here, this close to pot heaven!” He showed the boys a pinching motion using his index finger and thumb. But the two already made up their minds, and were heading towards the window.

P.J opened it and looked down. “Think we can jump from here?” He asked Max, completely ignoring Bobby.

“Mmm, probably. There’s bushes down there, so we should be fine.” Max nodded. Bobby took a step closer to them, running a hand through his buzzed hair. “You guys can’t be giving up now! We came all this way, bro.”  

“All of that snapped me back to sobriety. It would’ve been way easier to just buy some weed, or find someone to trade for what you already got.” Max was already squatting on the open window, a hand gripping on the side of the window sill.

“Fuuuck. Hey, that looks fun though.” Bobby whined before his want for weed shifted to a want for adrenaline. He walked closer to the two, and Max was about to jump.

He jumped off, but his hand on the window sill didn’t leave at all. So, when he jumped, he ended up at the bottom left of the window, his face slamming right against the brick wall. “Ow! What the hell?”

P.J and Bobby immediately looked down at him, looking at each other before P.J spoke up.

“I uh, think you forgot to let go, Max.” P.J scratched his head confusedly. 

Max groaned and massaged his nose with his right hand and looked up at his friends. “You think? Dude, I’m not even trying to hold on right now! Why is it so sticky?” 

Bobby touched the side of the window sill that Max was holding, and it wasn’t sticky in the slightest. “You’re tweaking, man. This window’s dry as hell.”

Max was baffled. Come to think of it, he wasn’t even struggling. “Then what the fuck is thi– Watch out!” He exclaimed, grabbing something in the air.

“Huh? Max, what is up with you?” P.J asked before noticing what Max caught between his fingers.

Bobby leaned closer, squinting his eyes and lowering his glasses. “Is that a fucking fly? You did not just catch a fly like that.” He shook his head in disbelief.

Max brought his right hand in front of him, examining what exactly he caught. A fly. How did he catch a fly? Hell, how did he even notice it? 

“Woah. This is way too freaky, I’m heading back in. Pull me up,” he instructed them as he let go of the insect.

His friends listened, both of them having a hand on Max’s arm. They tried to pull him up, and the hanging boy tried to help by placing his feet on the wall. But the moment he did, his hand finally let go of the sill and he slipped from their grasp.

He gasped and shut his eyes, expecting to feel the sensation of falling. But there was nothing other than silence.

“No. Fucking. Way.” Max could hear P.J speak, and it seemed like there was no distance from earlier at all. He wasn’t falling. He was still there, but how?

He finally opened his eyes, and the first thing he saw were the stars and a part of the moon. He looked down on the “ground”, which was the same brick wall he was just up against. He looked behind him, and there he saw the green grass and bushes. It was surreal. He looked over to his friends, who had their jaws practically on the floor, even Bobby’s sunglasses were uneven.

“How are you doing that?!” P.J asked, feeling like he was going crazy.

“I-I don’t know!” Max replied. “Well, can you get down?!” P.J asked again. “I don’t know!” He answered again.

Bobby rubbed his eyes before he got on the window sill as well. “Dude, I wanna try!” He exclaimed and got to action. For some reason, what went through his little brain was there was something up with the wall itself. So, when he tried to mimic Max, he immediately fell down and onto the bushes.

“Yo, you okay, Bobby?!” Max asked as soon as he heard a thud and groan from the bushes below. He tried looking at Bobby over his shoulders, still in place since he wasn’t sure if he was gonna fall the moment he moved his feet.

“Ugh.. Yeah, I’m good! I couldn’t do it, though.” He pouted as he looked up at his friends. His sunglasses were somewhere in the bush.

Max nodded and gulped. “Can’t you try walking?” Asked P.J. Max glanced at him and looked ahead at the sky again, letting out a pumped-up exhale.

“I’ll try..” He muttered, just noticing that his heartbeat had been fast for the past minute. He managed to lift up his left foot, and he surprisingly didn’t feel out of balance at all. He took a successful step forward with it. He did the same thing with his other foot, and before he knew it, he was walking up, left, right, down, and up again on the wall.

“This is sick!” He laughed his signature laugh which he inherited from his father. It all felt like a fever dream, maybe the alcohol and weed from earlier was coming back and hitting again.

Bobby and P.J watched their friend in disbelief and awe. “Okay, we’re definitely not high, right? This is actually happening.” Bobby squinted his eyes up at them, trying to see without being blinded by the moon.

“You legit look so badass right now, you still don’t know how you’re doing that?!” P.J asked, now looking both excited and confused at his friend. “I really don’t, dude!”  Max replied with a smile, an unexplainable feeling brewing up in his chest.

Max then heard a buzzing yet deafening noise in his ears and the hair on the back of his neck was standing up. He instinctively looked over at P.J and the direction of the door of the lab. 

“P.J, jump!” He told him, in a voice not as loud as before. “What? Why?” “Just trust me on this, man. Jump, now!” He whisper-yelled and made himself fall forward, and now he was looking down at the ground, in a crawling position with his chest pressed up against the wall.

P.J did what he was told, trusting Max. And if he didn’t, the guard that was now back outside the lab’s door would have seen him. Max had sensed it, not specifically knowing what it was but he knew it was no good.

Bobby couldn’t even process what was happening, because the next thing he knew, he was being crushed by great weight on top of him.

“Augh.. really, man?” He groaned, trying to push P.J off him. “Ow.. Sorry, Max told me to!” The boy soon removed himself from on top of him and the bushes. But all was well, Bobby managed to find his sunglasses next to him because of that.

Max crawled down the wall until he got on the ground. He managed to stand up and went up to his friends. They were dusting themselves off, and when they were done, they dipped.

They climbed the campus fence and ran through the street talking about nothing other than the crazy things that happened earlier.

That was the night Max Goof’s life changed.