Melodies in the Sports Field

[jimmydalad]

"I'm glad the restaurant is doing good. I don't want my favorite pizza place to go down under, you know what I mean?" Maxim said joyfully to Louisa as he began to wonder what he would to if Louisa's pizza place wasn't there. A world without Bloom's Pizza... Maxim couldn't imagine it. It had always been there ever since Maxim was a little boy and if it were to suddenly disappear, Maxim would be distraught to say the very least. It was one of his favorite hangouts and Louisa knew he was one of their best customers.

"Oh yeah, your mom is doing her years of service, isn't she?" Maxim asked her rhetorically, causing him to think back to the time when his father went of on his years of service. Though those times were sad, mostly because he didn't know if his father would even make it back alive, it was that time where his mother introduced him to the world of music. At the time, music became an escape for him and one that he continued to pursue to today. He wondered how different his life would've been if he didn't watch that musical. It was an odd thought.

"My home? Oh nothing too special happening over there." Maxim said matter-of-factly as he looked up towards the sky. It was then that he remembered something. "Oh wait. My mom's been discussing with dad about those years of service she still has to do. Mum's saying she wants to start them next year, but my dad is a bit worried about her doing so. If she does go, I just hope she stays alive." Maxim commented as he thought about the time when she announced that she was going to do her years of service. That caused a whole bunch of craziness in the household and not something he would like to recall in detail.

"Apart from that though, both my mum and dad are fine." He added at the end, not wanting her to unnecessarily worry about his family life. It was true that the whole issue was causing a little drama, but Maxim knew that his father will adjust eventually. It just took a little time. This issue was another reason that Maxim found it hard to tell his parents that he was gay. He didn't want to fan the flames of drama any more than was necessary and he was afraid of how they would react. He didn't want to be rejected for his preference for dudes over chicks and the thought that it might happen scared him.

[Laurels]

"Well, if we do go under, I'm sure Domino's will be their to sate your pizza need. But they don't even put pesto on their pizza, so I guess you'll get a really sub-par pesto alfredo pizza from them."

Louisa giggled. She was somewhat afraid that her dad's business might go under at times, but she figured they could survive. The restaurant has survived since her grandfather opened it all those years ago, and it would probably still be around when Louisa took the reins of it.

Maxim then began to discuss his family, with emphasis on his mother considering taking her next military service. Louisa was worried about that. Mrs. Senders had always been nice to her, and she was terrified to seeing her friend's mom go overseas.

"I don't think you should be too worried about your mom going on military service. Maybe she can postpone it until after you graduate high school. Maybe she'll be sent somewhere like Iceland or Sweden. I mean, my mom is in Oslo doing what equates to a police officer here. Your mom might do the same."

Louisa stared at her feet.

"I only hope my mandatory service is the same. I'd rather spend my years doing boring clerical work in Northern Europe than on the front lines in Africa."

[jimmydalad]

"I hope she does something like that. I don't want her to die anytime soon, you know what I mean?" Maxim joked lightly, hoping to defuse the issue about his mom. He really did love her cause she was one cool chick. Sometimes, it was hard for him to imagine her as his mother instead of a really awesome friend, like Louisa. Come to think of it, his mom really liked Louisa and was constantly asking him to get in a relationship with her. He rejected every time she asked.

"You do bring up a good point my dear friend. But let's not think about that now. We have no reason to anyway." Maxim replied carelessly as he slouched onto the bleachers behind him, fidgeting a bit as he tried to get himself comfortable. He remembered his statement before about making the most of his life. It made him wonder about coming out. Would he ever regret not coming out now? Then again, it wasn't as if he needed to confess anytime soon. He still had a long life ahead of him.

"We should just enjoy life as it comes, we're only in high school anyways. We've still got senior year to survive after all and with the grades I'm getting, I think I'll be o.k. Well, except in Maths and History, but who cares about those subjects?" Maxim quipped as he thought about his grades. He was a very average student while Louisa was a straight A student. Maxim never really was focused in lessons, preferring to daydream or do something less boring. School was a drag, everyone knew that.

"Do our grades really matter though? I don't really think I'm going to use Maths in any foreseeable future, so why the hell should I bother to study for it? It's not like I'm going to be a mathematician or anything." Maxim raged a little as he thought about the subjects he despised with a bitter passion. Maths and History had something in common. They were both so boring and so pointless in his opinion. Why should he care about what happened in the 1800's? It's not like he could go back in time and change the past, no matter how awesome that sounded.

[Laurels]

Maxim told Louisa about his fear of his mother's death, but showed he was up for changing the topic. Louisa didn't blame him. It was terrible enough when her dad had to go for his service when she was younger, and the thought of her parents not coming back terrified her even more. Louisa worried that the same would be felt by her family if she got drafted.

Maxim changed the subject to academics, which caused Louisa to focus back. Maxim didn't sound very happy about Math or History. He then questioned why they would even have to study the subjects if it didn't matter.

"Well, see, the education system is built in a way that tries to make all individuals well rounded. They test us in the fields that they feel are most relevant in educating a person and helping them find a real job. The issue is that it is very generalized and doesn't curve to personal choice. You can't choose to take the classes that are relevant to your interests, but instead take the ones that our system chooses to be most important to study, even if we don't like it."

"See, I'm not that into Math or Science, but I do well in them because it can have long term results. Doing well in these classes should help me get into a good college, help me get into good programs, and increase my chances of finding a good job later."

"Like I said earlier, nothing is completely equal, but school is at least a point in life where the competition is so abstract that it doesn't matter what you do. We're basically competing with everyone in our class and every similar class in the country. That pool is so large that it is hard to accurately gauge your competition."

"All in all, the best thing you can do is at least try to get above 'C' average. That usually can get you into a public university. Oh, and I'm rambling again. I swear, we need to carry emergency corks to shove in our mouths if we keep doing that. Heh."

Louisa then stretched her arms.

"Say, this rambling is making me kind of thirsty. Want to go get a drink somewhere?"

[jimmydalad]

"God Louisa, just because you're a smartass doesn't mean you get to flaunt your intelligence all over me. It makes me look like an even bigger idiot." Maxim said in a joking manner, laughing as Louisa totally just floored his arguments with apparent ease. It was clear to everyone in school that Louisa was the brains out of the two of them, not that he minded at all. He realized he wasn't the smartest person in the whole world, and he was glad that he had Louisa to help him with lessons. If she didn't exist, whose homework would he copy?

"I dunno, I like it when we ramble. I get to learn about you and you get to learn about me. Everyone wins in the end." Maxim stated gleefully, honest shining in his voice as he explained his reasoning to Louisa. They were friends, so they should have conversations like these. Ones where they could ramble for hours on things that may not matter in the long run. It was key to a healthy relationship and Maxim knew this. He had been on the receiving end of many a ramble and when people ramble, it's normally about something that they have an interest in.

"A drink sounds amazing right now. My butt is starting to hurt from all this sitting down anyways." He said amusingly as he jumped out of his seat. Bleachers were not comfortable places to sit in for long periods of time. He rubbed his butt a little as it was slightly throbbing from all the sitting that they did. He motioned for Louisa to get up as well as he started to slowly walk away from the bleachers and to the exit of the school. After walking for a bit, he stopped and turned to Louisa.

"Does Starbucks sound good to you? I'll race you there!" Maxim shouted as he began to run in the other direction, laughing as he felt the wind crash into him. It was times like these that he enjoyed the most. The time where nothing matters except having fun and being together. Maxim had an amazing friendship with Louisa and was something he would never give away. He valued his friendship with her so much and it was for that reason that if the hypothetical situation were to occur and they were forced into the Program, he wanted to be there with her till the bitter end. However, now was not the time for that. Now was the time for some nice Vanilla Frappuccino with his best friend in the world.

((Maxim Senders continued in It's An Inky Dinky Doo Da Morning))

[Laurels]

Louisa smirked as Maxim voiced his issues with how smart she sounded. He also discussed his enjoyment of their ramblings and how it taught them a lot about each other.

He was up for a drink at Starbucks. She was glad. An iced chai latte sounded really good right now. To her surprise, Maxim wanted to race to the establishment. Louisa became flustered.

"Wait! I have to get my bike first!" she shouted as she followed after Maxim.

She began to laugh as she chased after him.

Ah, Max is such a good friend. I definitely got to keep him around.

Louisa tried to pick up the pace. She needed to be with her friend.

((Louisa Bloom continued in Mother Bird))