Oh, shit by SmartByChance
"What are you talking about?" Neil narrowed his eyes on his friend.
"Nothing..." Max sighed and let himself fall back for a second time. He wasn't entirely sure what to call Nikki yet, but he didn't care. He took one hand out from behind his head and covered his mouth a bit, her kiss still lingering on his lips for what felt like forever, until he fell asleep.
-
The next day,
Max walked into the cafeteria with a smile on his face, immediately noticing Nikki and Neil at their usual spot, just talking. David approached him almost as soon as he walked in, but even someone as annoying as him couldn't ruin Max's mood today. He felt like a fucking champ.
"Good morning, Max, how are you today?" David asked cheerfully, expecting Max to blow him off like he did every single day.
"Good morning, David!" Max chirped. "I'm doing well, and yourself?"
David froze. So did almost everybody in the cafeteria. After a moment of his mind processing was Max had just said, David's eyes turned to stars. "I'm great! Thanks for asking!"
Max smiled brightly upon hearing David's well state. He then excused himself from the conversation and quickly got in the breakfast line. Once he reached the quarter master, he held out his tray and smiled to the man. "Hey, quarter master, I want to apologize for all of the times I rebelled and tied you up and hung you from the ceiling."
The old man didn't reply, just kind of looked at Max strangely as he put breakfast on the boy's plate. Max spun around on his heels and quickly made his way over to Nikki and Neil, sitting in between the two. David skipped over to the three and beamed. "I don't know what happened to you, Max. But I'm loving this new personality!"
"What do you mean?" Max tilted his head to the side a bit, his smile never leaving. "I'm acting like I always do."
Neil snickered. "That's so far from the truth, and you know it. You asked how David was doing, and apologized to the quarter master."
"It's not my fault I find them less annoying today than I usually do." Max grinned.
"No, but I think it might be Nikki's." Neil hummed.
Nikki perked up upon hearing her name. "Mine? What did I do?"
"Oops," Gwen said as she walked behind Max, spilling a bit of juice onto his lap. In all honesty, she was just testing to see how far until he snapped back to his usual self. "So sorry, Max!" She gasped.
David immediately jumped up and grabbed some paper towels. He quickly came back with them, and Max took them from him and began to wipe up the mess on his lap. Max stood up after a minute. Everybody was staring at him, at this point. Max stepped out of the seat and smiled at Gwen. "That's okay, it was my fault for getting in your way."
Gwen's eye twitched upon hearing this. What was this kid up to?
"Did any splash on you?" Max asked, concerned. Gwen shook her head, and Max let out a sigh of relief. "Oh, good. I'll be right back, David. I have to go change, if that's alright."
"That's more than alright!" David smiled excitedly, and Max quickly walked out, heading for his tent.
Neil looked over at Nikki and took a bite of his pancakes, eyeing her suspiciously. Nikki caught his gaze and blinked. "What?" But he didn't answer. He just flickered his gaze back to his food as he swallowed the bite. "...what?" She asked again.
