Max laughed at my request and sighed right after, he nodded and agreed " Nachos do sound good right now. Come on, let's go grab some" he said. I smiled excitedly, embarrassingly enough. I slowly stood up from the bed, despite the aching feeling in my body, I just wanted to eat. I didn't care.... It's not like I wanted to go on this stupid diet anyway. I followed Max out of his dorm as we walked to the nearest place to get nachos. As the cold and crisp wind hit me, it was a light breeze that felt like a gentle mist. Especially since I was still slightly overheated. I sighed in relief at the nice breeze before looking at Max who had spoken " so.... What do you like on your nachos?" He asked. I chuckled softly at the random question but thought about it "just melted cheese and jalapeños really" I shrugged as Max nodded "standard, I like them loaded, Cheese, Jalapeños, Beef, Salsa and lettuce on top" He nodded as I chuckled " jeez, you don't throw up after?" I asked as he shook his head no "No? I eat that shit uuuuup" he laughed softly. I snickered at his reply as we stopped at a street vendor. I've never been to a street vendor before so this was new experience. Max went over and ordered for the both of us and paid for my meal which confused me. Once getting our food, we walked by the fountain I almost passed out by earlier that day and sat down on the edge. "Why did you pay for me?" I asked curiously as Max shrugged " I used your money I stole from your pockets" he said, instantly this terrified me and enraged me " you stole MY CASH?!" I shouted as he snorted and bursted into laughter. "I'm just kidding! Jesus! So defensive" He laughed. This made me release a sigh in relief as we opened our styrofoam boxes. It was like the nachos were pure light to me. My mouth practically watered at the sight as I picked up a chip and ate it. The satisfaction of the crunch between my teeth and the flavor was amazing. Max ate like a slob but I was too focused on my own meal to care.

I perked up when Max asked me " why do you chew like that?" He asked cocking a brow with melted cheese dribbling off his chin. I swallowed the chip I had previously chewed on and looked at him confused " like what?" I asked "like you don't enjoy your food. You chew so much and so quietly, it's weird" He snickered as my eyebrow twitched " why do you eat like an animal?" I asked as he shrugged " because this food is bomb as hell and I don't think it deserves to be eaten so slowly." He chuckled " So why do you eat like that?" He asked me again. "It's etiquette" I replied simply as I took another bite "dude... you're in college at the age of 20 years old, eating nachos from a street vendor by a fountain, 9 pm at night. You don't need etiquette 24/7" He chuckled. I went a bit quiet and shrugged " well I prefer it.." I replied softly as I ate more. I flinched as a chip filled with so many toppings was shoved into my face " try mine" Max offered " it looks like a lot..." I said hesitantly " oh stop being a push over and try it!" He laughed as I gave in. I was curious to know what it tasted like, so I leaned in and took a bite from Max's chip that he held out from me. I chewed the chip and looked up at him as he looked disturbed and disgusted. "What?" I asked covering my mouth which was full. " don't ever eat out of my hand like that again-" he said as I laughed realizing what happened. That was until the overwhelming amount of flavors hit me. I flinched and looked disturbed back, Max looked rather shocked at my reaction " Oh come on! It ain't that bad!" He defended himself as I ended up swallowing the chip " it's not bad... it's just overwhelming.." I said honestly as he shook his head rolling his eyes and ate more.

After three minutes of munching on these delicious nachos he asked me " what did the professor ask you when you? The day you presented your project?" He asked. I paused and debated if I should lie or not. I decided to tell him just a little of what happened so I replied " the professor just asked if I was okay, he thought I was going through something or whatever" I said as Max chuckled " well....  I don't exactly blame him. Your project analysis was amazing but it was concerning. It's like I could tell you were relating to the book on a personal level and all" He said as I chuckled " I mean yeah I did at some points of the book, here and there it felt very close to home" I said as Max cocked a brow "how so?" He asked me. I thought about what to say. I didn't want my business to be out and about everywhere but I guess I could tell Max, I might find a little comfort with him. I took a breath in and out as I begun" Well in the book, the main character had these thoughts where he thought he was different from the rest, almost inhuman, he didn't feel like he belonged, nothing made him happy besides alcohol and occasional drugs. He wanted to be an artist but his father denied him the privilege to becoming one. He didn't have many people he could call friends either, in fact he was isolated and portrayed himself as some sort of clown character since he didn't know his true self.... I feel like that sometimes, I feel like majority of the time I'm never actually happy, never satisfied, I have this sort of righteous personality to everyone but it's not who I really am, physically and personality wise everything his fake about me. I study even though I don't have any interest in what I'm learning about, everything I do is for my father and therefore I don't feel human. I feel like a robot." I said softly. Max stayed quiet letting me be able to continue as I did " In the book though, Yozo also attempts suicide a few times, it isn't until after the book is published to which he succeeds. I've attempted as well before but of course it didn't work. I tried to overdose on any medications I could possibly get my hands on. I had blacked out and when I woke up I was in the ER getting my stomach pumped, I then attempted again by drowning in the bath tub but my body rejected this attempt. I'd like to think I'm better now but my mind has these occasional slips of self loathing and it's been getting worse these days" I admitted.  Max looked at the ground thinking of what to say " so... the whole thing about you passing out during your run?" He asked as I chuckled " no, I'm just on a diet so when I spend a week with father during thanksgiving break he won't bug me and make me feel shame again" I answered. Max's eyes softened as he leaned in wrapping his arms around me. He held me in a tight, yet firm hug which shocked me for a second. But I didn't reject it. I hugged him back and rested my head on his shoulder. He then said " You're life shouldn't be ruled by your fathers decisions. It's your life and frankly I think you're perfect just the way you are." He comforted. " you're just saying that.." I said in response to which he sighed and quickly let go of the hug and shrugged his shoulders " yeah I know" he snickered.

I knew what Max was doing, he's been doing it a lot recently. Whenever I've been feeling down or I say something negative he responds in a joking tone with something neutral. It makes me chuckle and roll my eyes " you're really annoying Goof" I said in response as he shrugged. "But you're smiling, so that's all that matters" he said. Those words made me blush slightly. Thankfully it was dark so he couldn't see it. Either way he continued to speak " but in all seriousness. Your father sounds like an ass hole, I'm really sorry you had to grow up with a man  like that" he apologized as I shook my head "It's not your fault so don't apologize" I chuckled.

Max and I ate the rest of our Nachos which were absolutely delicious. We had managed to go our separate ways after the brief hang out. It was nice though, I was really happy and refreshed afterwards. When arriving back to the frat, I walked upstairs and laid in bed tired.... that's when I realized that I was still wearing Max's t-shirt. I smiled a little thinking about Max. He makes me surprisingly happy.... The way he laughs is so contagious and it's cute. Not to mention his hair is so messy and fluffy, it's really adorable.... I gasped and sat up realizing..... I clasped my hands over my face utterly ashamed as I slumped back into the bed again. Do I have a crush on Max?! NO GOD NOOOOO!

I thought about it for an hour as I paced back and forth in my bedroom. " do I?" I whispered to myself as I stopped and looked out the window. I thought about what it would be like to kiss him... that's when I broke out of my thoughts at how repulsive that sounded until I realized I was unconsciously smiling. I groaned pissed off and hit my head against the pillow a few times. I stood up and took a deep breath in and out.

"Maybe a bath would help clear my mind.." I thought to myself. I gathered my stuff to take a bath and realized on the corner of my desk there was an unfamiliar note. I cocked a brow and reached over to open it as my heart dropped.

'strike 1, don't miss another therapy session again' -Bradley Uppercrust ii