"How in gods name did you get the Bradley Uppercrust the III to come here?" P.J. asked me in utter shock by my story. I don't blame him considering Bradley and I are famous rivals and it's been widely known that we despise each other. I replied to P.J's question with " I accidentally tripped and fell on him. He crashed and hit the ground scrapping his elbow and I felt bad so I brought him back and patched him up. Then we hung out, chatted for a little which was surprisingly nice and then he left for class. I was supposed to buy him a coffee as an apology but I guess I'll save that offer for another day." I said with a shrug. Bobby was just as confused as P.J as he hit his blunt in the corner, inhaling the smoke and blowing out the excess "uhhhhh cool, can we order pizza now or nah?" Bobby asked not really caring for the conversation anymore which I was thankful for because I can't handle this interrogation anymore. P.J snatched the blunt for Bobby and took a hit too as I called up the nearest pizza place "Hey, can I get a large pepperoni pizza-" "With extra cheese man!" Bobby interrupted as I sighed "With extra cheese for-" "don't forget the mozzarella sticks man~" Bobby giggled as I rolled my eyes " with mozzarella sticks for Max Goof? And add in a liter of Mountain Dew please" I asked. "Okay man is that all?" The pizza dude asked and I replied "yup" "okie dokie, your order should be ready and delivered in 20 minutes. Can I get the address?" They asked as I told them the address and the dorm number "alright, thank you for ordering!" They said as the phone call ended. I looked at the boys "20 minutes, now let me get a hit" I asked at Bobby passed the blunt over. I took a hit and coughed a little at the slight burning sensation in my throat but I still liked it.

20 minutes passed and we got a freshly baked pie with mozzarella sticks. I took the pizza and gave the delivery guy a tip, I placed the pizza down on the desk and opened the box taking the first slice. Bobby and P.J. ate like animals. Can't blame them, we all had the munchies pretty bad. I'm not gonna hype myself and say I ate like some sort of high class motherfucker. It's pizza, you're supposed to inhale that shit. I ate around three slices though, I left the rest for P.J and Bobby considering I had to wash my hands and finish the book report up. It was due tomorrow and we were presenting to the class. I already finished the and only needed to explain the conclusion of the story and why it ended that way.  P.J and Bobby were playing video games since they were all caught up with their projects and assignments anyway. For being dumb asses, they were actually really responsible and smart students. I liked that about them, they're fun idiots but smart asses at the same time, they just don't show it. Especially Bobby, he acts so stupid but he's in some of the hardest classes since he's going into software engineering.

I managed to finish up my project after popping in my earbuds and drowning out all noises with my headphones. By the time I finished I realized it was way past time to knock out. It was 1 am after all. I stretched and yawned taking off my shirt and chucking it in the hamper, then came off the pants as I crawled into my bunk, under the covers and slept soundly. Although I had a dream where I was back at the X-games. But it was in the perspective of an outsider point of view. When Brad had seen me pass by and pulled out the remote. His desperate face full of determination in anger as he spouted "No one finishes this race but me" then after as he skate past the fire and smoke that Tank and I were engulfed in practically. The way he looked, full of smug pride. But it was like I got more information on who was watching.  A older man who had similar features to Brad. It looked like what I assumed was his father who was watching the X-games with an amused face until Brad had lost. Then his father's expression changed from amusement to pure rage. He wasn't screaming or anything but his eyes. It was like there was fire.

I woke up from this strange dream confused and slightly deranged. I sighed rubbing the back of my head as I turned to see what time it was. I realized quickly I was running late. I didn't even have enough time to brush my teeth! I quickly changed into something decent, put on my shoes, grabbed my project, bag and skateboard, then I dashed out while fixing my hair on the way to my literature class. I knew I shouldn't have slept so late! When I arrived I was saved by the bell thankfully! I sat down in my seat to which I heard a cough next to. I cocked a brow and looked over shocked to see Brad had switched spots and sat next to me. " morning? you look like a mess" He teased with a snicker. I rolled my eyes and sighed " I woke up five minutes ago..." I said still so tired. Brad's face scrunched in slight disgust " I don't mean to be that guy but... did you even brush your teeth?" He whispered as I flinched and clasped my hand over mouth blushing in embarrassment. "Is it that bad?!" I whisper shouted as Brad laughed softly nodding. He pulled out a granola bar from his bag and a pack of gum. " I'm assuming you didn't eat anything either so here." He passed both things over. I sighed in relief, unclasping my mouth " can't believe I'm saying this but you're god sent." I chuckled as Bradley gagged a little " say that after you eat-" he said. This gave me the idea to annoy him and so a leaned in and huffed a waft of nasty breath straight into his face. Hear me out, I'm just a guy! But Brad's face was priceless. He had a look of fear as he gagged and went teary eyed. I 100% invoked trauma to him and I was proud. I snickered and ate the granola bar and right after I popped in a piece of gum. Our professor then begun to speak "good morning class, I hope you all remember that today we will be presenting our presentations accordingly one by one. So please be respectful to one another as we present, be quiet and no interrupting." He said as he pulled out his attendance sheet. "First up-.." and random names were called. Half the class went today and it continued on the next day. I was part of the group of students who went the first day. I'll admit my story was a little disturbing considering it was a horror story but I ended up getting a standard grade as a result. So there wasn't much to complain about. When I went back to my seat Bradley had nodded "impressive presentation" he complimented. I snickered "thanks, it totally beats your presentation  I bet" I had to tease as Bradley rolled his eyes "we'll see about that." He replied as a matter of fact. When class ended though I finally got to uphold my end of the deal, Bradley and I ended up hanging out at the cafe and I bought him a coffee. It was actually really nice and Bradley ended up teaching me how to play chess. Needless to say I'm not a fan of the board game. I'd rather play Uno instead.

When the next day arrived a few more students presented, including Brad. I snickered hearing his name be called up "good luck" I whispered as he smiled. Usually Brad would say " I don't need it" or whatever snarky shit but the smile was a nice change of pace. He walked down the stairs and was in front of the class. I watched him present as he begun. " My name is Bradley Uppercrust and for my book report I chose the semi-Autobiographical book 'No longer human' by Osamu Dazai. To begin with some context, this book is a top seller in Japan considering the author is an extremely famous writer in the classical literature genre. But these were his journal's told in the story of a fake character he created to represent himself. The name of the main character is Yozo. His story starts off from when he was young, he came from a rich family and he was put into a good school, yet he never felt like he truly belonged. In fact he felt almost inhuman compared to his classmates. Because of this, he had developed a fear of them finding out he was some sort of outsider, so he used comedy and expressed himself to be a sort of clown to throw the other students off his track. That was until one day during P.E he had pulled a fake stunt of falling and a young boy called him out, accusing him by saying he did that stunt on purpose. Therefore Yozo kept the student close, becoming his quote on quote friend.  I believe he did this to manipulate the other, make him think differently about Yozo in case he had uncovered his secret." He begun and as Bradley went on and on about this book it was as if there was unintentional poetry in his wording. Yet the whole vibe of the class had went from tired and annoyed to saddened yet focused. The book Bradley chose, the way he spoke about it specifically. It was like he was relating to it. It was a rather depressing book, it mentioned triggering subjects such as sexual assault, drug abuse, alcoholism, family issues, mental disorders, a falsehood of reality and most importantly. Suicide. He explains how the beginning sentence "My life has been one of much shame" and the ending sentence "This year I am twenty-seven. My hair has become much grayer. Most mistake me for over forty." Had corresponded and tied the book together nicely. But what really struck me was when Bradley said "now there are many conspiracy theories on this book, but one I believe was that this book was actually a suicide note. After all 4 months after publishing, the author had taken his own life." He explained which sent shivers down all of our spines.

Bradley had ended up getting the best grade in the class undeniably. His book report had genuinely moved the whole class room,  of course some would say it was because of the book itself but I had to disagree. I think it was because of Bradley's connection to the book, his personal endeavors were expressed without even him admitting it. That's what made it so powerful. He returned to his seat silently and I could tell his demeanor had changed. It seemed like a silent cry for help and I'm actually ashamed in myself that I didn't say anything to him.

In fact if I had just even said "good job" or anything, I probably would've made a difference.

When class had ended and we all packed up, I opened my mouth to say something, but I was cut off by the teacher who spoke first. "Bradley, come here. I'd like to see you to discuss something." I looked at the professor and then Bradley who had gathered his items and walked towards the front of the classroom to speak to the teacher.

I watched in silence until he reached the front. Then I got up and left. I just had to think for a while.

What was the teacher even going to say to him? I feel like I already know, it's gonna be something stupid like "hey buddy, how are you feeling?" After that presentation. Little did I know I was actually so wrong.