I'm met with Bradley's confused face as he slinks around to our side of the picnic table. "Who's this?"

"I'm Roxanne," she says, sticking her hand out from Bradley to shake.

He stares down at it for a few seconds before firmly grasping it. "Bradley. Bradley Uppercrust the Third."

"She's going to help with the lesson today," I add, stretching my leg a little as the pain simmers.

She turns to me in a sort of bouncy fashion. "I must admit I was surprised when you reached out... especially over something this... uhm, unserious."

"Maybe I also wanted to catch up with you," I say, defensive but joking.

"Coffee later?" She smiles, eagerly awaiting my answer.

"Of course," I say with my own grin, "I can't leave one of my old friends hanging."

Bradley clears his throat, and our attention jumps back to him.

Oh, right. He's still here. And we have to do the stupid lesson.

"Miss Munroe, take it away." I gesture as if I'm guiding her into a spotlight.

"Thank you, Mr. Goof." She nods in dismissal and gingerly walks a few feet away.

Then the lesson begins.

"Oh wow, I sure wish I had been well enough to go to the chemistry lecture today." Roxanne places a hand on her forehead dramatically. "Now, I don't have notes and will probably fail the exam!"

The corner of Bradley's mouth is downturned in bafflement. "Goodness..."

Sure, Roxanne wasn't an actress, but she did seem to have fun playing her part in this situation.

She stares at Bradley from the corner of her eye as she continues. "Ugh, I need those notes. Why, God, why?!"

I glance at him expectantly. "Didn't you take notes in the chemistry lecture?"

"Yeah, so?"

"She needs the notes," I say, hoping he'll take initiative without me pushing it.

The cogs in his mind seem to turn for a moment before it clicks. "Oh, wait, yeah. I could lend her my notes."

I pat him on the back, to which he jolts in surprise. "Nice job, Uppercrust."

"I'll go get them now," he says with a sense of urgency.

I flick my hand in redundancy. "You don't really need to because this was just an exercise- and he's gone."

His bolting figure emanates his means to grab those notes if it's the last thing he does. I didn't expect the lesson to work this well or even work at all. Roxanne giggles and takes a seat beside me with an exhale. 

"He's cute," she says with a tone that suggests she means it in a motherly way.

I almost find myself nodding but think better of it. "Definitely an interesting guy, I'll tell you that."

She opens her mouth to speak then shuts it, considering her words. 

"Why did you contact me out of the blue? We haven't talked since... well, since we graduated."

I rub the back of my head, chagrined. "To be honest, I missed you. I missed having you around."

"Aw, Maxie." She nudges my shoulder lovingly, a sad smile across her face.

"After you got together with Tammy, we barely saw each other. Then, I was focused on the College X Games... and you know how I am with sports. Oh, and speaking of Tammy, how's she doing? Did you guys get that house you've always wanted?"

Roxanne lights up at the sound of her girlfriend's name. "She's doing great, thanks. Our agent didn't have a legitimate broker, I guess, and she bailed on us. Eh, we didn't have all the money for the house anyway."

"I'm sure you'll get that house. I hope so."

"I hope so, too, Max."

As if that's his cue to enter, I see Bradley running up with his green chemistry folder at a hurried pace. He has a proud smirk plastered across his visage, and his posture is that of a pompous Victorian lord. Bradley gracefully floats up the stairs of the pavilion and bestows his notes amongst Roxanne.

"The notes," he says with a slight air of politeness.

Roxanne gently grabs them with a small smile. "Thank you, Bradley."

He nods stiffly then turns to me, shoving an object at me. 

It's an... ice pack? 

I fumble to grasp it, shocked at his sudden kindness. Before I can speak, he shoots me a warning glare which obviously means that if I say anything, he'll throttle me.

"The infirmary was on the way," he says quietly, sticking his nose in the air in a haughty attitude.

Funny, considering the infirmary is on the opposite side of the campus than the dorms.

~*~*~

The week goes by maybe even slower than Monday had gone. Or perhaps it felt like that with the difficulty of maintaining Bradley's focus or even just being in his cavalier presence. Nothing seemed to get on my nerves or make me regret my life choices like his juvenile attitude and condescending words. Classic Bradley, though, right?

Even though it's a Friday, the sense of dread never leaves me, except this time it's not directed at a certain brown-haired hellhound. There's no way to escape my birthday dinner, of course, so I don't stop myself from thinking of the worst-case scenarios.

My father could easily invite our whole family, and that would mean I'd have to endure long, pointless talks with my distant aunts and uncles.

He could also invite no one, and I would have to play whatever boring board game from the 70's that he found in the attic from the last owners of my childhood home.

Desperate for some sort of circumvention from the sheer thought of terrible happenings, I decide to turn to my friends in a panic.

"Any of you free to come to my birthday dinner tonight?" I ask aloud to them as I enter the Bean Scene. 

PJ peeks out from behind Stacy, who sits delicately on his wide lap. "Sorry, man. I already told you I'm meeting Stacy's parents tonight. Also, aren't we doing a celebration tomorrow?"

I groan dreadfully and shift my focus to Bobby. "You up for it, dude?"

"I've got a date," he says, dragging out his words unnecessarily.

"You guys and your stupid love lives..." I mutter to myself, scratching the back of my head.

Stacy pipes up, her voice even and unbothered. "Why don't you invite that Bradley boy? You two seem to be... friendly lately."

"Bradley?" I ask, my face contorting into a look of disgust. "No way."

At this point, Bobby apparently chooses to say the most abominable thing. "Wait, they're friends? I thought they were like... fuck buddies or something.

How is he so cluelessness, dude?

I choke on air, and PJ bursts out into laughter. Stacy covers her mouth, most likely hiding her amusement. Shooting Bobby the angriest glare I could muster, I try to come up with the best possible way to dissolve the situation.

"Anyway, I guess I'll be spending my birthday dealing with whatever shenanigans my dad pulls."

They go back to ignoring me, consumed in the details of their events this evening. Huffing in displeasure, I trudge out of the coffee shop in hopes of a tornado or maybe the purge. 

And no, spending my birthday with my dad isn't the end of the world. I love him more than words can explain, but his extravagance tends to blow up in his face, and I'd rather not spend the rest of dinner assuring him that he hadn't ruined the night.

"Oof!"

I bump into someone rather roughly, causing them to tumble to the concrete ground. Without even seeing who it is, I cover my eyes in embarrassment and immediately start rapid-firing apologies.

"It's okay," the person says, and I open my eyes to see Roxanne dusting herself off.

"Are you hurt?" I inquire worriedly.

She shakes her head with a tight smile. "No, I promise I'm okay... hey, since we're already outside of the Bean Scene, should go and grab that coffee?"

I bite my lip in thought. "Actually, I don't want to see my friends right now, especially if I'm bringing you in there. How about we go to the other coffee place on the other side of campus?"

"Okay," Roxanne says slowly, as if she doesn't get my logic.

We walk across the courtyard, catching up on the year we'd missed together. Apparently, Principal Mazur had retired from his station as the high school principal and decided to open up an impromptu burger place with Pete, PJ's father. Powerline did end up coming to Spoonerville on their Missouri tour, and I would deeply disappoint my past self if he'd known I missed that. Other than that, Spoonerville is the same old smalltown it's always been.

As we arrive at the coffee shop, Brewtiful Day, which surprisingly has zero customers. I open the door for Roxanne, and she thanks me quietly as she takes in the shop around us. A black-haired man wearing red headphones and a sweatshirt that says "Be Positive" leans against the counter boredly. He fiddles with his Walkman, flipping the tape to listen to another track.

"Sir?" Roxanne says loudly, rapping against the counter.

He jumps a little, his headphones falling off. "Oh- sorry!"

"It's alright," I say with a warm smile before glancing around the shop. "Why's it so empty?"

"Not many people are on this side of campus anymore, so they go to the Bean Scene." He studies his nails, almost seemingly wanting to look cooler. "You're the first customers I've had all day."

We order our cups of coffee and sit down, waiting for the singular worker to prepare them. It feels odd for a place like this to be so quiet, even outside the door where the only motion is dead leaves and paper bags floating in the greedy wind. A few girls walk by the door, not even sparing the little shop any attention.

As Roxanne and I chat about the past, the door to the cafe swings open to reveal none other than Bradley.