Chapter Text
After the X-games, Bradley was sent to the hospital. Having suffered fatal injuries on top of a black eye and a broken tooth, it was a miracle he survived. The whole incident felt unreal, yet Max was ecstatic over the win he just pulled. Although, he couldn’t shake off the eerie feeling he got after watching the older boy be sent to the emergency room.
Once they found PJ, who was surprisingly safe after being launched into the air, Team 99 decided to go out for celebratory pizza. As they cheer and eat to their heart's content, Max still can’t shake off that weird feeling. He soon figures it’s just the adrenaline wearing off and pushes that feeling to the side.
“Tonight fellas,” Bobby starts as he holds his root beer float in the air. “We feast like kings!”
Max and PJ join Bobby clinking their floats together in the air. As they continue to celebrate, others in the diner join. Their small interaction is now turning into a social event.
Later that night, PJ pulls Max up onto his shoulder. “Ladies and Gentlemen, may we acknowledge the one who made this win possible,” He voices, catching everyone's attention.
“Maximilian Goof my man!” Bobby joins in. “The Freshman who won the X-games!!” He starts making air horn noises pointing his fingers in the air. Max laughs, grateful to have friends like PJ and Bobby.
The party starts to get a little more wild as it moves to a house party. Max opts out of drinking, knowing he’ll regret it. As he dances and mingles with others, he gets tired of the interactions all together. He decides to call it a night making sure to let his friends know before he leaves.
Max takes the long way back to the dorms. He enjoys the wind against his face as he’s on his board. Now that the skater is alone with his thoughts, he replays the final moments of the X-games. Seeing Bradley get crippled in that way was not a sight he wished to see. Sure, he did some bad things, but in all honesty, the entire frat was responsible for the cheating.
He can’t change what happened now, but he feels like seeing Bradley now in hopes to settle what occurred between them. Max doesn’t like to hold grudges after all. With this in mind, he decides to go to the emergency room, stopping by the pharmacy to buy a get well soon card. ‘It’s the thought that counts, right?’ he thinks.
When he arrives, he notices the many people who are there. Some of them look like reporters, probably here after hearing what happened. Others are here because they themselves either need assistance or someone they know does.
His eyes land on a specific person. She’s a tall woman who almost looks like Bradley. Her hair is about shoulder length, and she wears small square glasses. Curious, he walks over to her. It seems to be that she is doing paperwork. He figures it’s because Bradley is hospitalized. Once he is near her, he starts to notice the similarity even more. In fact, he starts to believe that the two could be twins.
“Uhm, excuse me,” Max begins rubbing the back of his neck. He didn’t prepare for a conversation, but he’s came this far anyways.
Before looking up she speaks. “I’m sorry, I’m not giving any statements, I already informed everyone to leave.” The way she carries herself is intimidating in itself. Max shakes off the feeling however.
“Oh, I’m not a paparazzi,” the skater fumbles. The woman looks at him, then at his appearance. He continues, “Uh.. I’m actually here to see Bradley, is he allowed visitors?”
There’s a long silence between the two that the boy doesn’t like. When he’s about to say something else, she responds. “You’re the kid that won that competition.” When he nods, she lets out a tired sigh taking off her glasses. “My brother is still in critical condition. I can relay any message once he wakes up, however, I don’t know when that will be.”
“Well, can you just give him this card then, I don’t want to bother you anymore,” Max says, holding the card up. The sister looks at the card, then at him before grabbing it. “Thank you”
She sets the card on the counter and puts her glasses back on. “Of course, what is your name?” she questions.
“Oh it’s Max. Max Goof”
“I’ll let him know it’s from you then, Max.”
As she’s about to turn back to the paperwork, he asks one more thing. “Can I uh, get your name too, please”
She hands him her business card. “Briar, Briar Uppercrust. Now if you excuse me, I have things to settle.” Briar pays no mind to Max anymore as she resumes the paperwork on the counter. Max whispering a small thank you decides to finally leave. The sister glances up at the boy again before looking around the room.
The paparazzi are finally being kicked out as Max tries to make his way out. Once he does, he looks up at the night sky. It sure has been a long day. He hops on his board, skating his way back to campus.
Unfortunately for him, his board hits something hard, prompting him to stumble off his board. The pierced boy curses before making his way back to his board. The source of what he almost fell face first onto the ground is a hardcover book. Max picks up the book not noticing anything out of the ordinary with it.
As he skates towards his dorm again, he opens the book, looking for the name of the owner. To his dismay, the book doesn’t have a name. He was going to close it, but his eyes caught onto the words of the first page.
‘Dear… Journal,
I don't think mother loves me. She won't even look at me. Whenever I tell her about my day, she just dismisses me, like one of her servants. I’m not quite sure what I’ve done, but it must have been bad.
I really miss mother. I would draw her pictures and she'd take them. Now she doesn't even glance at them. Maybe she thinks I'm too old for that.
She never smiles at me either.. I've seen mother smile before. She smiles whenever she's with my sisters, or when brother does something great. I want mother to smile at me too, so I'll just work harder to make her proud. I just know I can. If I do something that deserves praise, maybe mother will love me again. I don't want to be a huge burden on her. That is why I cannot fail. I fear if I fail, mother will convince father to kick me out. I don't know where else I could go if that happens…
I also worry mother thinks I have a disease. I know it’s stupid but I swear I'm perfectly healthy. If I can't make her proud of me, maybe I do have something wrong with me. I just wish to know so I can get better. I don't want mother to hate me’
The date on the entry read ‘09/16/1985.’
Max realizes this journal holds 15 years of someone's thoughts, yet the owner is a mystery…