Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The bus ride home was solemn. Everyone’s parents were waiting at their stops, not Max’s though. He wasn’t surprised, but the bus stop wasn’t far from home so he walked the rest of the way there. He began to ruffle through his bag looking for his keys, opened the door and immediately missed the smell of fresh air. The vile stink of cigarettes flooded his nostrils as he said

“I’m home”.

Nobody responded, what a surprise. He went straight to his room, he couldn’t care less about greeting his mom. He walked past the doorway of the living room and saw his mom sleeping on the couch, quietly, he rushed upstairs and turned the knob before closing the door to his room. His sheets were changed, that’s new. He set his bag down and started unpacking his clothes and throwing them in his drawers. He was way too tired to fold them anyway. His room wasn’t too big but from the small amount of things he had, it sure made the room look empty. He reached into the pocket of his jacket and grabbed his phone.

Well, David’s phone, Holy shit, HE STILL HAD DAVID’S PHONE?. “No fucking way” Max scoffed out of disbelief, not only because the dumbass forgot his phone, but also because he knew there was no way he could give it back if he wanted to or not. He was able to figure out the password because it was David’s birthday. (He found that out when he was rummaging through drawers out of boredom in the counselor’s cabin, before he got caught and told off by Gwen of course.) He opened the messages and saw one from an unknown number, What the hell? It read,

“Hey Max! Before you freak out, this is David! I got a new phone, and I don’t mind you keeping the old one. That’s why I didn’t ask for it back, if you’d like you can save my number in case you need anything. Here’s Gwen’s number just in case: ***-***-****. Hope you have a good day back home!”

Max rolled his eyes and his lips curled into a small smile against his will. What a dork He thought. Wait, how does the phone still have service anyway? Is David still paying for it? Whatever, it wasn’t like he was going to text him anyway, Max put a thumbs up on the message and turned off the phone to find the charger. He plugged it in and continued to unpack.

About an hour later of doom scrolling on whatever social media he downloaded out of boredom, he realized he was hungry. Really hungry, “Well, let’s pray there’s at least SOMETHING I can eat.” He mumbled under his breath as he hopped off his bed, just realizing how much darker it got outside when he glanced outside his window.

“Damn.”

He said under his breath.

“Dad’s probably home by now, that’s great.”

He thought with his mouth stretching into a thin line of disappointment. He crept downstairs and sneaked into the kitchen. Quietly, he opened the fridge and found a pack of bacon that was probably expired, some lettuce, shredded mozzarella, takeout that was most likely a day or two old and he would get his ass handed to him if he ate it, milk, orange juice, a water jug that most likely wasn’t water, and some eggs.

That works. His parents used to cook for him and his mom taught him some things he could cook whenever he was hungry. But after they stopped caring and only barely supplied the necessities, he resorted to cooking videos. Unless it was a good day and his mom felt like actually being one. Then he’d get a good meal, or at least a decent one, he doesn’t really blame his mom since it was all his dad’s fault anyway. Speaking of which he still hadn’t heard his boots yet so maybe he was in the clear-

“What are you doing? You better not be thinking of eating my take out you little shit.”

His dad appeared behind him out of nowhere. Max flinched but hardened his gaze when he turned his head to look at him.

“No, I’m just trying to find something to eat. Nice to see you too, dad.”

His dad rolled his eyes and shoved Max away from the fridge to get his take out and turned around to heat it up in the microwave. Asshole. Max thought when he turned back to the fridge. Guess I’ll make mom and me some eggs.. he grabbed some and took a pan out of the cabinet, turned on the fire on the stove top and sprayed some PAM in the pan. A few minutes later he was done. He walked over to the living room, mom was still asleep.

“Mom?..”

He lightly nudged her.

“Hmm? Oh, hey Max. How was the ride back home?”

She held his face, she was drunk, or hungover to say the least.

“It was ok, long though. I made you some eggs.”

She got up with glossy eyes, her breath was rotten with alcohol. Max didn’t cringe, though it had been a while since he was around that scent. She got up and stumbled a bit, he put his hands out but quickly shoved them in his pockets, he couldn’t act like he cared, she would sober up soon anyway.

Later that night, after he showered, changed and brushed his teeth, he was lying awake in his bed because they started arguing again. They couldn’t have waited until a few days after I got back? He wished he was back at camp. The only yelling he ever heard was usually just from the chaos of ten kids being counseled by two unqualified adults. But at least he felt safe there and didn’t have to listen to his mom cry in her room afterwards.

He wishes his parents slept in the same bed together like other parents. His family wasn’t like others. His parents didn’t care, not about him, not about each other. The yelling stopped, he’s pretty sure someone got slapped or they just gave up because his mom started crying. I fucking hate it here. He scowled and rolled on his side to face the wall. Blinking away tears that didn’t belong because his parents weren’t worth any.

The next morning he woke up around 10:00 AM. He reached for his phone but it wasn’t there. Did someone barge in and find it? Fuck, he should’ve hid it. Nonono, mom’s gonna sell it for booze, SHIT. He looked down and there it was on the floor. He sighed with relief. He listened for footsteps as he turned it on, he’s pretty sure dad’s out with his shitty friends and mom’s probably still asleep. He sees a notification. It was from David, ugh of course it was.

“Good morning! You’re probably still asleep but I just wanna say thanks for responding to the last text, I honestly thought you’d leave me on read. It’s fine if you do, just know that I’m here if you need anything. Have a good day :)”

Max scowled.

“What a loser”

He turned off the phone and took the charger out of the outlet, hiding them under an old pillow under his bed so it wouldn’t be easy to find. He got up and went downstairs. It was peaceful and quiet. He liked the silence he got in the morning before his mom woke up and his dad was gone. While making some breakfast for himself he remembered school would open back up soon. That’s great. He walked into the living room with his plate and turned on the TV. Though he hated being home, it's not like school was any better, oh well.

Chapter Text

It’s September second. It’s the first day of school and he’s already got a rough start. He woke up to his mom yelling at him to “Get downstairs right now, or else he’s getting his ass beat if he’s late to school because she isn’t driving him.” He grabbed “his” phone, and hid the charger, it was already routine anyway. Got dressed at the speed of light and skipped steps on the way downstairs because he was NOT walking to school on the first day.

“Fucking finally. Now eat your breakfast.”

At the very least she made breakfast for him most of the time, well, when she wasn’t hungover. While eating his breakfast all he could think about was how he hoped he wouldn’t see those jerks from last year. I mean, he was going into middle school, sixth grade. Surely those assholes wouldn’t end up in the same school as him. Max shook his head, as if to try and shake those thoughts out of his head.

He finished his breakfast, got his backpack ready, and left without a word. Waiting at the bus stop he almost fell asleep standing up. ‘I woke up around 7:30 AM at camp, but 6:00 AM for an educational prison?’ Give me a break. It was raining, but only drizzling, the humidity didn’t help though. The bus arrived and he sat in an empty seat so he could sit by the window. He liked looking outside the bus window, and he was actually going to pay attention to what was outside so he didn’t fall asleep. By the time they got there it was 6:50 AM and school started at 7:10 AM. He figured he’d try finding his classes before school started so off he went.

With a map of the school from the main office, crowded hallways and a dream, Max found his classes for the day. Walking back to his first class he could’ve sworn he saw a familiar face, and it wasn’t a nice one. His stomach churned at the thought but he ignored it. Once he found his class he walked in and it was surprisingly bright. The boards had LED lights around them that changed colors, colorful circles surrounding a bulletin board full of flyers and random announcements even though it was the start of the year, and a stout woman sitting at her desk. She was wearing a light green dress with light pink flowers and flower petals printed on it, her hair was down and curled nicely, she was wearing these dark green glasses, and to his misfortune he was the first one in class. Her head shot up as Max stood there awkwardly trying to decide where he should sit so she paid the least attention to him.

“Good morning sweetie! You must be..”

She squinted at her computer looking for something.

“Max! You’re the first one here so make yourself comfortable, sit wherever you’d like!”

She had a cheery smile that made Max feel sick. She reminded him an awful lot of David, it didn’t help that she was a redhead too. Apparently her name was Mrs. Pine, I bet David would love that last name. Speaking of which, Max didn’t even know David’s last name, wait why did that even matter? Whatever. He threw himself into his seat and put his head down immediately. ‘I’m so tired, why did they have to scream all night the day before school?’ Max wondered half asleep. He slept for the rest of class until Mrs. Pine woke him up.

“Max, sweetie, the bell rings in five minutes.”

He lifted up his head to see a redheaded woman looking at him with kind eyes, and frog blinked until he remembered where he was a few seconds later.

“Oh shit, I MEAN- shoot, sorry Miss.”

She chuckled and gave him a kind look.

“It’s quite alright, it’s the first day so I understand you’re tired, but when we start doing English work I hope you can stay awake.”

She smiled again and walked back to her desk. ‘Wow, she was surprisingly nice about that. At least I feel less exhausted now that I got to sleep a little more.’ Max got up, grabbed his bag, and went to his next class, then lunch, then another class, and finally it was the second to last block. ‘These hallways are way too long. Why couldn’t they have split this school into separate floors?,’ Max thought as he made his way to class.

Walking through the hallway staring at his map he groaned when he got to the class. Everything was so loud, everyone had met up with their friends and Max was just trying to get this stupid day over with. In the classroom there stood a tall, platinum blonde man wearing a black blazer over a white turtleneck, with black pants. ‘I swear to god if that’s Daniel I’m booking it.’ Max already knew he could wear contacts so it didn’t matter if his eyes weren’t blue, plus he didn’t even know his last name so if it is him, he’s fucked.

“Good morning. You can find your assigned seat on the board.” The blonde said in what seemed to be a pathetic attempt of an enthusiastic voice.

Max rolled his eyes and found his seat, he slept enough in his other classes so unluckily for him, he had enough energy to stay awake in this one. A few minutes passed and the bell had rung,

“Alright everyone! My name is Mr. Smith. And I’ll be your math teacher this year. I hope we can all-“

All of a sudden some kid bursts through the door. It swings open and hits the wall hard. There stood a brown-eyed, big, brunette kid with a pissed face and furrowed brows. He looked around the room, not caring enough to apologize for the racket, his eyes then locked on Max, who was staring back wide eyed. He burst into laughter and began walking over to him. ‘Good fucking god you have got to be kidding me. Wait, why is he coming over here?!’ Max thought to himself as he shrunk in his seat, death staring at the devious looking brunette.

“Hey Maxxy. It’s been a while huh?”

He sat in the seat next to Max and smirked. Max shivered with disgust at the nickname and stared daggers back at him.

“I don’t think that’s your seat dumbass.”

Max spat back. He turned to Mr. Smith. Eyeing him for help.

“Well-, um, you could have said it nicer, but yes that is in fact not your seat. Also you’re late and your entrance was unnecessarily loud. Next time I won’t be as lenient.”

Mr. Smith eyed the brunette cautiously, waiting for him to answer with his name.

“Sorry sir, it won’t happen again. My name is Bradley. I was just so excited to see my friend Maxxy here!”

He put his arm around Max’s shoulder and gave him a tight squeeze. Max shoved him off and side eyed him. ‘Can I can catch a fucking break.’ Max sighed. How didn’t he notice Bradley was on the seating chart? Max’s eyes followed as Bradley got up and sat in his actual seat, which thankfully was on the other side of the room. Tension lingered in the classroom and Max felt like he was suffocating until Mr. Smith finally started to talk again.

The rest of class was basic Math and even some Algebra problems that Max solved with ease. He was actually really intelligent but due to having the title, “problem child” and just not caring anymore, Max’s grades sucked. He always kept them high enough to pass in elementary but now that it was middle school, he knew he needed to actually put in some effort. Though the tension had died down, Max felt Bradley’s eyes on him like he was a predator about to catch his prey. ‘I can’t stop shaking this is bullshit, it’s not like I’m scared of him, I can just feel his fucking eyes on me. I’m gonna rock his shit if he tries anything.’ When the bell finally rang after what felt like years, Max got his stuff and almost bolted out the door. I’m so fucked if he catches up to me.

“Fuck, where is this class again?” He frustratedly whispered as he kept walking, looking back and forth between the map and with his class numbers and the names of his teachers. ‘Greenwood, Jesus what is with these stupid foresty-ass last names?’ His skin crawled, it’s been two minutes and he still can’t find the class. He refuses to turn around though, if Bradley IS following him he’ll have to go into a random class and pretend it’s his. Max mumbled curse words under his breath until he bumped into someone.

“Watch where you’re going man-”

He looked up and saw a teacher, but it wasn’t just anyone. It was a familiar face, freckled and red. Auburn hair, green eyes, a green flannel over a plain white shirt, and grey jeans. It was fucking David.

“Oh, I’m so sorry- Wait, Max? Oh my goodness it IS you! I had no idea you’d be here!”

You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.

Chapter Text

Max continued walking like he never saw him. He heard his voice, yeah, but he must have been hallucinating.

“Max, wait up!”

David called out from behind. FUCK. Oh my God this is so embarrassing. ‘There’s no way he’s actually walking up to me right now, someone fucking shoot me. Wait, this is an American school, I wouldn’t be surprised if someone did.’ When a hand landed on his shoulder Max snapped out of his thoughts and turned around to grimace at the out of breath redhead who was now smiling at him.

“You’ve gotten a lot faster, have you always walked this fast? Could that even be considered walking? You were flying!”

David laughed at his own joke and slowed down. Max had just realized the lanyard around his neck.

“Hold on, you’re a teacher here?!”

Max almost yelled. The hallways were less packed so it didn’t matter if he was a little loud. Plus, he had just found his classroom anyway. Apparently at the end of everyday there would be this thirty minute block called “Advisory”. Max hoped it could be a chill block where they let him go on his phone and do what he pleased.

“Oh yeah! I was going to text you about it but knew you wouldn’t care so I decided not to. Also, you should get to class, you’ll be late!”

David waved goodbye and walked into the classroom in front of them. Max rolled his eyes and looked at his schedule sheet and back at the plaque on the wall to see what number classroom he was at. It was the same number on his sheet.. ‘Well fuck.’ Following David, Max made his way into the classroom. Seeing as there were no assigned seats he sat in a random corner and huffed. ‘I guess I’ll just chill on my phone and pray he stops looking at me confused. Check attendance idiot.’

Max took in his surroundings. There were some plants by the window, it was foggy outside so there wasn’t much to look at out there, it was pretty colorful and had LEDS like his first class did, inspirational quotes that made Max feel sick and he giggled to himself as he read them. Each one more stupid than the one before it. He then turned around and sat normally, facing the white board. He watched as David opened up his laptop and almost spilled his coffee, then checked if anyone saw that, realized Max did and his face went bright red as he awkwardly chuckled. Max laughed and went on his phone. ‘Maybe this won’t be too bad, I’ll get to make fun of him at least.’

When the bell finally rang it was 2:30 PM. Max got his stuff and left, ignoring David’s wave. It was for everyone anyway. He also chose to believe that he didn’t see David’s smile fade when he ignored said wave, because the last time he ignored the way he affected people turned out great. ‘Shit, I actually kind of feel bad.’ Max had gotten used to speed-walking to avoid Bradley and his minions in elementary school, so he was already sitting on his bus waiting for it to start taking him and the other kids home. Max considered texting David when he became a teacher, and has he been teaching for a while? He decided he’ll just ask him tomorrow in Advisory.

Thankfully he had no homework on the first day, he assumed he would from how hard people made middle school seem. ‘Let’s hope mom is asleep, or in a good mood and cooking dinner.’ Max thought to himself as he walked up to the front door, Max unlocked it and the smell of cigarettes and.. Grilled chicken? Yes! He cautiously walked into the kitchen. His mom turned around and gave him a half-smile. She spoke up first,

“Sorry you had to see me like that yesterday”.

‘Wouldn’t be the first time.' he side-eyed her unamused.

“I forgot you were coming back that day. I would’ve gone to pick you up.”

Max let out an uninterested “uh huh” and made his way over to the coffee maker. He opened the lid, took out the old filter and threw it out, put in a new one and grabbed the coffee powder. He felt his mother’s eyes on him, silent but watching and waiting for an opportunity to start a conversation. Once he turned on the coffee maker and she was still watching, he turned around and stared back,

“What?” He spat at her.

“Since when did you know how to make coffee?”

She turned away for a second to mix the rice that she had just started making so it wouldn’t burn.

“I’ve known for like a year now, I watched you and dad use it enough that I was able to figure it out on my own.”

‘Why does she even care? Whatever.’

He looked down at the floor and walked past her and reached into the cabinet to look for a snack. There wasn’t much but ritz crackers sufficed; even though they were stale he took them anyway.

“I remembered you liked those so I made sure to buy them..”

She smiled a sad smile at him and turned back to the rice in the pot.

‘Why the hell is she trying to talk to me so much today. Lemme guess she’s going to drop some bomb like “We’re getting evicted” or something.’ Max hoped that wasn’t true but he wouldn’t be surprised if it was. But if his mom was actually trying to bond with him, or even do something good for him, she could start with going to therapy and getting him some too.

A few minutes later, the coffee was done brewing. Max got up and made himself a cup, sat back down and opened up the pack of ritz crackers. His mother, still watching him, well, glancing at him was pissing him off.

“Can I help you?”

Max said annoyed. He held up a cracker to her and she took it.

“So.. how was camp?”

She stirred the pot awkwardly, avoiding eye contact.

“What? Since when did YOU care?”

She flinched and turned around to look at him.

“Well sorry I want to ask what’s going on in your life since you never tell me anything.”

She stared daggers at him, waiting for his response. ‘YOU NEVER FUCKING LISTEN! THAT’S WHY, BITCH.’ Max stared back, not breaking eye contact until she finally did.

“You never asked before, and you stopped listening a while ago, so I stopped wasting my breath.”

Max turned back to coffee and took an obnoxiously loud sip. It was quiet for a few beats until she spoke up.

“I just wanted to know.”

Her voice was quiet when she spoke. ‘If she’s trying to guilt trip me I’ll lose it.’ She turned off the heat and put the lid over the rice. Walking over to the sink and beginning to take out the vegetables in the bag and rinsing them under the sink.

“I don’t know you anymore Max, I haven’t for a while, and I’m sorry. I’m sorry you saw me get so bad. I want to be better but this just isn’t working. You know how me and your father are, if I could take you away from him I would, but I need some place to live and at least a stable job to afford it while also paying for me and you.”

She had started cutting the vegetables as she spoke, though they were noticeably slow chops. Max stared hard at the coffee in his mug.

“Get to the point.”

‘Here comes the bomb.’ He braced himself and expected the worst, and that was unfortunately what he got.

Chapter Text

“Me and your father are getting a divorce… And he’s taking custody of you”.

Her voice broke as she spoke the last word.

“What.”

Max whispered, his world shattering in an instant.

“What kind of fucked up prank is this?!”

He shot up and pushed himself out of the chair so hard it fell over. His mom started to cry with her back still turned to him, she couldn’t face him.

“Stop fucking around! Turn around and look at me mom!.”

Max couldn’t even cry; he was just angry, angry at his mom, his dad, and the world. She slowly turned around and stared at him with the most pain-filled face Max had ever seen her make.

“Mom, please don’t do this.. Please I can’t live with him, he fucking hates me!”

Max’s voice cracked as he begged his mother. Max continued,

“I already knew you and dad didn’t care about me but now you’re just fucking giving up?!”

He was seething, his blood was boiling, he didn’t care about the consequences of what he said. Finally looking up and making eye contact with her, he realized he had never seen his mother look at him with so much misery in her eyes.

“I’m not giving up, I would never give up on you! CPS came after your father’s last lash out and said that they were either going to take you away or send father to jail. I’m so sorry, I wish I married someone else, I would’ve been a better mother if I had.”

She choked on sobs once she finished her sentence.

“But you didn’t now look where you are. I’m surprised this didn’t happen sooner. Thanks for nothing.”

He felt tears welling up in his eyes and knew he needed to leave. He ignored his mothers cries for him to come back so they could talk about it more. He slammed his door and broke down silently crying.

After what felt like hours of rocking back and forth, pacing his room, repeating the words under his breath

“And he’s taking custody of you”

“And he’s taking custody of you”

“And he’s taking custody of you”,

Before he knew it, it was 4:12 PM. He silently grabbed some clothes out of his drawer and slipped out of his room to take a shower. Once he was done he just went back to his room. He plopped down on the bed and took out his phone to see no notifications, ‘what was I expecting. I don’t have any friends.’ scrolling up he clicked on instashot, he wasn’t following many people because nothing caught his eye as much as he’d thought things would. ‘Wait, I wonder if he has an account. Maybe laughing at his cringy ass posts will make me feel better.’

Max opened the search bar and typed in “David Greenwood” and low and behold there he was. ‘He used the same profile picture as he did on tinder? ‘This is so sad.’ Max chuckled to himself as he scrolled. Most of the posts were just nature ones, there weren’t bad ones either, a lot of them were really pretty. As he scrolled he started to feel better bit by bit, that was until he saw a photo of everyone from camp. It was this year’s first day of camp, and Max looked miserable. But at least Max knew he wasn’t when he was there. He was just pretending to be because he’d rue the day David ever found that out. He smiled and put down the phone, “I’ll skip dinner today and just go to sleep, I’m too tired to talk to anyone anymore.” Max rolled over on his side and silently cried until he fell asleep.

Max woke up to his mom shaking him. Opening his eyes he saw how dark it was outside and was sure it had to be three in the morning

“What’s going on?”

Max mumbled groggily, blinking and waiting for his eyes to adjust to the darkness.

“It’s time to wake up, it’s 6:00 AM” His mom whispered, pulling his arm gently to make him sit up.

“I JUST closed my eyes, this isn’t fair.”

“This is going to be the rest of your life, get used to it.”

His mother giggled at his annoyed remark before answering him. She stood up and started walking out of the room and down the steps. Max rubbed his eyes and got up, he stopped, listening to make sure she was gone and there were no footsteps coming towards his room. He quickly reached under his bed and took out his phone. He turned around and walked out of his room down the stairs to the bathroom to brush his teeth. He was already in his clothes for the next day, all he had to do was change his pants. He walked out of the bathroom to the smell of a cigarette coming from the living and toast coming from the kitchen. He ignored his dad and walked straight to the dining table. Suddenly a shiver went down his spine, ‘Something’s not right, why the hell is dad so quiet.’
“How come you didn’t say good morning to me? I’m your fucking father show me some respect smartass.”

Max felt a strong thwap to the back of his head. He lifted his hand to hold it and looked back at his father’s expectant eyes.

“Morning.”

Max glared back and went back to eating his toast even though he had lost his appetite from the anxiety he’s feeling. All of a sudden his chair got pulled back and his arm yanked, to make him stand up. Max kept staring at the ground, bracing himself.

“Look at me you little shit, if I’m going to take custody of a useless piece of shit like you, you better show me some respect. Don’t ever fucking look at me like that again you got it?”

Max stared back with a blank face,

“OK.”

His father let go of Max’s arm but the grip he had was so strong Max almost fell back into his seat. Max sat down and glared at his toast. Shakily, he grabbed his coffee to drink out of it. ‘I fucking hate this jackass so much.’

“Max, it’s time to go.” His mom said in what could’ve almost been a whisper.

Max immediately shoved the chair back, grabbed his backpack and walked out of the door, booking it for the bus stop. When the bus finally arrived he slumped down into his seat and all he could think was ‘I wish I was someone else.’

Chapter Text

Max got off the bus, disheartened by the fact that his extra thirty minutes of sleep were over. Again to his misfortune, he had no idea where any of his class were. A-days were English, Spanish, Lunch, Art, Math, and finally Advisory. For B-days though, it was History, Choir, Lunch, Physical Education, Science, and Advisory. ‘History, where the hell is History?’ Max wondered as he speed walked through the halls. Checking each number on the plaques near every door. He knew it was in the B wing but he didn’t know the B wing was so big.

Max persisted, searching for classroom 120. But as the numbers went up from 112, 114, and 116, he noticed a tall redhead at the end of the hallway. ‘Can I catch a FUCKING BREAK.’ Max sighed and decided to try and book it to his class and just ignore David, but to his misfortune, David recognized the blue blur of Max’s hoodie zooming past him.

“Good morning Max!”

Max stopped, slowly turned his head towards David and just glared. After a few seconds of David still smiling at him, Max rolled his eyes and entered his class. He heard the teacher David was talking to ask “What the hell was that about? What a rude kid.” and tuned out David’s voice as he chose his seat.

He looked up and saw a tan man with ebony curls, glasses, an eyebrow piercing on his left brow, wearing a black blazer over a Navy blue button up and black jeans with a black belt. On his cluttered desk with fake plants, pens on the outside of the cup Max assumed they were supposed to be in, he found a plate with the teacher’s name on it: “Mr. Rodriguez”. ‘I didn’t even know teachers were allowed to get piercings, maybe a nose piercing in one of their nostrils but I didn’t think there’d be one with an eyebrow piercing! I’m surprised the principal didn’t ask him to take it out because it’s a “bad influence on the kids”. Max thought to himself, still staring at the poor man who was now staring back in confusion.

“Hello?” Mr. Rodriguez spoke.

Max snapped out of it, embarrassed that he zoned out on the teacher like that.

“Oh shit! Sorry, I zoned out. That was creepy.. my bad.”

‘Fuck, that was so embarrassing, oh my god.’ Max stared hard down at his desk trying not to laugh at himself. Then he heard the teacher chuckle and brush it off with an “It’s fine”.

The rest of the class was boring if Max was being honest. It was just the syllabus, introductions around the class, Max could’ve sworn he’d heard someone say their real name was Cash. There were also some stupid ice breakers but Max didn’t share unless he absolutely had too. He hated icebreakers because there was nothing for him to share. He didn’t know what he enjoyed. Causing mayhem and being a little asshole to those around him was fun but it always ended with him hurting people he cares about..

His parents never bought him any board games, he barely has any dolls or action figures to play with because his mom sold most of them for booze, and he usually gets tired of those braindead games that he downloaded simply to pass the time and help tune out his parents’ yells. ‘Do I even have hobbies? Do I actually like anything?’ Max sat there, deep in thought, but it was getting overwhelming. Did he even know who he was without all of the hurt? Max’s eyes bored into his desk until Mr. Rodriguez called out his name.

“Max, buddy, the bell rang a whole minute ago, are you OK?”

Max’s head shot up and looked around at the empty classroom starting to fill up with the students from the block after him. He quickly started packing up and got up to walk about the door. He let out a monotone “mmhmm” in response to his teacher’s question and went off on his quest to find his next class.

‘Choir was so fucking humbling. Not for me though, I’ve at least got a decent voice, those other kids had me crying Jesus Christ. After that class I think I’m headed to hell for sure.’ Max thought snickering to himself as he walked to the gym. It was the easiest “classroom” to find since it was down a long hallway for some apparent reason. He was feeling a lot better since the first class, no idea what that was about. All of a sudden Max felt a hand on his shoulder. He flinched and turned his head around.

“What the fuck?” He said under his breath as he turned

“Hey Maxxy”

Bradley said with a menacing grin. Max grimaced, shoving Bradley’s hand off his shoulder like he was contagious. The disease? Being Satan reincarnated.

“What? Second chances exist, you know.”

Max whipped his head around at that and stared daggers.

“Suck a dick asshole”.

Max stormed off to the gymnasium and didn’t look back. ‘What a fucking bitch.. Wait. Why was he walking the same way as me?..’ Max thought to himself, listening to Bradley’s obnoxious stomping behind him. You’d think it was on purpose but that’s literally just how he walks, at least it’s easy to know when he’s nearby.

Entering the gymnasium, it was pretty average as Max expected since the school was decently funded. There was a rack of basketballs next to a closet that Max assumed had more gym equipment. The painting of the basketball court was blue and black. ‘This place smells fucking shit, I wanna go home. Wait- no I don’t.’ Max laughed even though the reality of it all was fucked up. At the end of the day, laughing about it is better than crying in the wrong place.

The class was thankfully boring. All the teacher did was read out the syllabus, Bradley actually left Max alone, but made faces at him and blew kisses like the immature kid he is. Max accidentally laughed at one and failed at trying to turn it into a glare. But Bradley didn’t care surprisingly, he just continued with the faces. But there was a small genuine smile after that.

‘He doesn’t actually believe he’s getting a “second chance”. I’ll break his fucking nose if he tries to pull that shit on me again. He made elementary school a living hell that asshole. Fuck, I really need friends.’ Max thought to himself as he walked to Advisory. Science class was boring, again lots of syllabus things and they gave him a form for him to go home and get his parents to sign for him to participate in labs. No one there really interested him, and he almost fell asleep again. Now he has to see David again, every day, for the whole school year, and then again, in the summer. ‘I can’t believe I have to deal with David for THREE whole years of my life. I wouldn’t wish that on anyone, holy shit. Well, maybe my dad, but he’s the equivalent of fucking Satan so he doesn’t count.’ Deep in thought he bumped into someone.

“Hey! Watch where you’re going man!”

A sharp pain stung in Max’s left arm. He ignored the person and kept walking, now holding his arm from the pain. He looked down and noticed the bruise from his father’s grasp and quickly grabbed his sleeve, pulling it down to try and hide the bruise.

Arriving at the classroom, he took a deep breath, mentally preparing himself in case David tried to talk to him. Walking over to his corner and slumping down in his seat.

Chapter Text

After a few minutes the class was still quite empty, Max thought everyone had chosen to skip, even though it was just the second day of school.

“Alright everyone, if you’re new here my name is Mister Greenwood! I will be your advisory teacher, and I also teach a half year STEM elective called Forestry. You may be wondering why it’s a STEM elective. Does anyone have a question as to why?”

David introduced himself, looking around hopefully at the faces of uninterested and tired students, ready to go home, who will likely only be in his elective class for the credit in the future. Then a student spoke up

“Dude nobody gives a shit about Forestry, but sure I’ll bite.”

There were gasps at the student’s response since nobody had heard a kid curse at a teacher like that before. Shocked by the vulgar language, David quickly turned around to see who had said that. Max stared at David waiting for an answer.

“Ah, it’s just you. Well Max, I’m happy to tell you as long as you don’t curse like that in this class anymore. This isn’t cam-”

Max interrupted him quickly.

“Alright, alright I’m “sorry” now tell us.. Please.”

Max had a grimace on his face after saying please, that wasn’t like him but he’d rather kill himself than let potential friends know he’s connected to a teacher, much less fucking David.

“Thank you”. David smiled.

“Forestry is about sustainability, taking care of trees and making sure forests are thriving, as well as having what they need to do so. But there’s also science behind it. Plants are alive! Trees are alive, so of course there’s biology, there won’t be too many things on the cells of the tree but I will introduce the basics of a tree’s biology for you guys to get a better idea about it. There’s also chemistry, so giving you guys a short unit on that will help you understand it more once you reach high school. I am here to set you guys up for success, not failure. I want you guys to be proud of yourselves and your hard work in the future.”

Max was disgusted but found the passion in David’s voice admirable to say the least. ‘How the hell does he care so much about anything, this guy.. I want to vomit, this is so funny. But I didn’t know he knew so much shit about science and stuff, how come he never talked to Neil about it? He probably did and I just tuned it out the moment Neil mentioned something like “the powerhouse of the cell” or some bullshit like that.’

He smirked at his own joke and muffled a chuckle. He saw David glance at him and he straightened up, pretending to be listening intently. David smiled, but there seemed to be some attitude behind that one. ‘Holy shit was that a sarcastic smile? Damn I rubbed off on him, this class is gonna be fucking great.’

The next of the 15 minutes were fine. David talked more about what Advisory is all about once some kid reminded him that this block wasn’t forestry. He explained that this block was to teach a few things about the world so the kids would know what was going on around them, but of course David would give them some free days if they truly had nothing to do. He also said they could use their phones, and every Friday they would most likely have a free block unless the administration told the Advisory teachers to present something specific.

With ten minutes left Max got more anxious, while he wanted to leave school, he didn’t want to go home either. After this morning and all the tension from the other day, Max knew his mom would be passed out, drunk on the couch. He didn’t want to deal with that, and his dad will still be pissy towards him until the next day, so if Max even looks at him wrong, he’ll get the beating of his life.

He was getting nervous, thinking of everything that could go wrong. He could slam his door by accident, or just close it louder than he should, he could side-eye his father and get his arm yanked again; or even worse, Something happens and his father lashes out on him, but his mother tries to step in between them and his father goes after her instead. ‘No, I can’t let that happen he better never fucking touch her again.” His leg was shaking like crazy, but thanks to the chatter in the room, nobody noticed the sound of the whole table shaking. Except for David.

“Hey Bud, you good?”

Max snapped out of thinking about the “what ifs” and came back to reality. He finally realized how quickly he was breathing, the loudness around him overwhelmed him making him zone out and only be able to hear the bad thoughts.

“Yeah,” Max said, exasperated. “What do you want?”

Max put his hands on the table to try and ground himself, checking the clock while he was at it. It was 2:19 PM. ‘Can this block go any fucking slower. Great, now he’s going to try and comfort me to feel better about himself. Ugh please.’

“Max?”

“What, David, What.”

Max demanded. Glaring at him, trying to beg him to go away with just that look.

“It’s Mister Greenwood now Max. Are you ok, you were hyperventilating for a good minute there.”

David reached out and put his hand on Max’s shoulder, specifically his left. Max flinched from the pain, grabbing David’s hand and putting it on the desk.

“Oh my gosh, I’m sorry, I should’ve asked first. Are you alright? Is your arm hurt?”

David said, startled and concerned. He always had that look on his face. Could he ever mind his damn business?

“Well it’s too fucking late for that huh.”

Whispers flooded the room, Max spoke too loud, he scoffed, glancing desperately at the clock. 2:22 PM. ‘Fuck’.

“I’m sorry, you’re right. But I can’t help but notice something’s been bothering you. You’re always on edge, I know that much. But today something is clearly bugging you, I’m here for you, so are other teachers. If you need to talk, you know how to reach me Max.”

David gave a sad smile, and that same look he’d given Max when he promised not to tell the others Max hugged him. Max felt a knot grow in the back of his throat.

“Thanks for doing your job David. Why do you keep trying to connect with me? You should give up.”

The bell rang. Max shot up, grabbing his bag and booking it to the door. He didn’t bother to push in his chair.

“Have a good day Max”

David said in what could’ve been a whisper.

“Have a good rest of your day everyone!”

Just like that his cheery voice was back. Max heard it from the hallway since he was just outside the room walking to the buses. ‘I don’t know how the hell he does that. It’s unbearable.’ Max thought to himself as he sped down the hallway. Choking back tears all the way to his bus. Once he got there he slumped down and let a tear fall, quickly wiping it, then going on his phone to distract himself. ‘Today fucking sucked.’ Was the only thing Max thought to himself the whole way home.

The bus ride home was quiet. Max was grateful there weren’t too many kids on his bus and that none of them were friends, meaning that nobody talked to each other. He got off at his stop and walked up to his front door. First he listened to make sure there wasn’t any noise, then he carefully inserted the key, twisted the knob, and opened the door as quietly as he could.

And to the surprise of nobody, he found his mother passed out drunk on the couch. Beer bottles on the carpet, and a half empty bottle in her unconscious hand. He crept past the living room, ‘Just one foot in front of the other’ Max thought.

“Max?”

A drowsy voice called out. Max spun around to look at the couch. His mom was still asleep. ‘What the fuck? That scared the shit out of me. Is she sleep-talking?’

“No.. no what did you do to him?”

Her eyes were still closed, but Max’s interest was piqued. What was she talking about? Was she dreaming?

“No! My baby, I have to.. To stop the bleeding, oh my goodness..”

A chill went down Max’s spine. ‘She’s definitely having a nightmare. And it’s about me.’ He stayed there, just in case his mom started screaming so he could wake her up, so she wouldn’t be a nuisance, he didn’t care otherwise.

“I’ll.. I’ll kill you!”

Max flinched at the scream, he quietly walked over and slowly put his hand on her arm.

“GET AWAY FROM ME!”

His mother shot up and grabbed Max’s arm as quickly as she let go of it. Realizing it was Max and not whoever was in the nightmare.

“Oh my goodness, Max, sweetie. You scared the hell out of me. The stench of alcohol coming from his mother’s mouth flooded Max’s nostrils, he flared them in response to it.

“I scared you?! I almost had a heart attack mom. You were having a nightmare or something and you started screaming. I literally just got home!”

Max snapped back, out of breath since he was holding it that entire time. His mother grabbed him and held him. Softly scratching his scalp.

“Thank god you’re OK. I thought.. It was just a nightmare Irene. Just a nightmare.”

Max was stiff at first but melted into the hug, he hadn’t gotten one since camp. He slowly wrapped his arms around her and huffed. They stayed like that for a while, his mom being the first to let go and hold her head.

“My head is fucking pounding.. Oh god.”

Max moved out of the way as quickly as he could, knowing what would happen next. His mother stood up and ran fro the bathroom, the next thing he heard was retching and vomit plopping into the toilet. ‘Eugh.” Max scrunched his face, he went into the kitchen, walking normally because his mother was awake now. He filled up a glass of water, setting it aside for her.

Then he went over to the coffee machine and started brewing a new batch, it seemed as if it hadn’t been touched since he left for school this morning. He sat down and thought about what to do. He couldn’t take out his phone since his mom didn’t know he had one, and she didn’t need to know anyway. He had no homework since it was only the second day of school, and to make matters worse he was now left alone with his thoughts. Great.

He got up once the coffee was done and made himself a cup, while stirring the sugar he heard his mom leave the bathroom. She turned the corner and they made eye contact, he looked at the cup of water, and she did too. He tilted his head towards it, making it known that it was for her, she smiled weakly and took it. Taking a sip to make sure the coffee was just right, he turned around and set it down on the dining table, heading over to the cabinet and grabbing himself some ritz crackers.

He sat down and ate quietly, thinking about what happened throughout the day. Thinking, chewing, thinking, chewing.. And then realizing how badly he fucked up with David. ‘I’ve already been that way before with him but now he can actually get me suspended, what the hell was I thinking?! He wouldn’t do that right? No.. He wouldn’t.. Whatever, it’s not like I care. He’s too pussy to punish me, I think..’ Max stared into oblivion overthinking and dismissing any and every negative outcome that could be a result of his outburst.

He stood up, trying to distract himself, he willingly washed his own dishes just to focus on something else. He had to go upstairs and go on his phone to forget about it. Though that doesn’t help the fact that he had to see David the next day, it was still a good distraction.

A few hours later Max realized how late it was, his stomach was growling but he ignored it, he sneaked out of his room with some clothes and took a shower; brushing his teeth right after so he could go straight to sleep.

Climbing into bed Max could only think about one thing, the gentle touch of his mother. He couldn’t begin to imagine how long it had been since he’d last felt it. Not that his mother isn’t affectionate, but moments like those were rare to come by.

With his head on his pillow, he slowly and gently put a hand in his hair and let it rest on his scalp. He focused on the feeling of each curl touching his fingers, he pretended he was 7 again, laying on his mom’s lap, downstairs on the couch. They were watching a movie, not that he remembered what it was called. She was playing with his hair, carefully twisting curl after curl around her finger. ‘I miss you mom. Please come back’ Max thought to himself as he fell asleep.

Chapter Text

Max woke up to the sound of his mom yelling his name. Slowly opening his eyes and staring at the ceiling with tired eyes. He sighed and sat up, staring blankly at the floor. Hopping off his bed he grabbed his phone from under it and put it under his arm. He walked over to his drawer and pulled out a hoodie, putting it on and hiding the phone in his pocket.

He walked down the stairs, flying down the steps, ready to go to school and get out of this hellhole. He entered the dining room and sat down in his usual chair, wary of the monster sitting to the far left of the table. His mother placed his breakfast down in front of him and ruffled his hair. He dug in, ignoring the jealous glare from his father as if he wasn’t a grown man who could provide for his damn self.

A few minutes pass and Max dashes for the bus, wanting to avoid breathing the same air as his man child father any longer. Finding his spot and letting himself fall into it with a thump, he looked outside the window as the bus pulled off. Watching the houses and trees pass by in a blur, the place he lived in wasn't much but at least it was a decent sight.

Once the bus pulled up into the school parking lot, half asleep Max got off the bus and walked through the doors. Now that he knew where his classes were, if he wanted to, he could go straight to class or could try out the breakfast. He decided to head for the cafeteria instead of having to deal with the awkward silence of sitting in a room alone with the teacher.

The cafeteria was pretty crowded, filled with children sitting at long light green tables. He saw all kinds of kids, potential friends maybe.. There were some with colorful hair that reminded him of Nikki. He missed her and Neil if he was being honest, at least he had actual friends at camp. Here he has to deal with a bum ass bully who is for some reason trying to be friends with him again? ‘Ugh just thinking about it gives me a headache’ Max thought to himself as he merged into the breakfast line, cutting people and ignoring when they shoved him to get his attention.

The breakfast was Mini pancakes with healthy syrup and some sausage, Max grabbed white milk to go with it. He always gets chocolate milk for lunch, but thought today’s breakfast was too sweet so he’d just wash it down with something simple.

Breakfast ended and he headed for English, with thankfully no sight of David. Not only does he have to avoid an annoying ass bully but a whole teacher too, that he has to see EVERY DAY FOR THE REST OF THE SCHOOL YEAR. Speed walking down the hallway he walked into his ELA class. Met with a scent of some sort of mixture of Lavender and Lemongrass, his eyes watered and stung from how strong the scent was he shut his eyes tightly to blink away the tears. ‘Oh my- what the hell I can’t fucking see’ Max opened his eyes and it took a few seconds to focus them, looking around ti see if there was a source of the smell or if it was the teacher herself.

“Sweetie are you ok?” Mrs Pine asked him, her face clouded with concern.

Max stuttered.
“Uh- ye-yeah! It’s just, oh my GOD” He blinked away more stinging tears.

“Why is it so damn fragrant? I genuinely can't see- can you please open a window?”

Max asked desperately for the sting to go away.

“Oh!”

Mrs. Pine jumped up from her seat and opened the window next to her desk.

“I thought I was going insane. I bought this new diffuser for the classroom, it wasn’t too expensive and came with some nice calming scents so I decided for the second A day, I’d use it! I really only put two drops of Lavender and one drop of Lemongrass. I have no idea how it got so strong. I can’t feel my eyes from how dry they are right now, I’m sorry sweetie, let me turn that off.”

She rushed over to the source of the issue and unplugged. Waving away the smoke from the white, fake quartz diffuser. Max went over to his seat and sat down, pulling up his sleeves to wipe his face.

“I mean it’s OK it’s not your fault, you like, wanted to do something nice. It smells good but if someone has asthma an ambulance is going to be called.”

He heard Mrs Pine laugh to herself at his kind-of joke, as he pulled out his computer and logged into it. It was a school issued chromebook and it was slow but was fun to use to play games during class. He listened to her heels click as she went back to her desk, more students coming into the classroom and asking her “why the room smelled like that”. Making her explain the same story she just did to him over and over again.

The rest of English was fine, boring, mainly just learning prefixes and roots for the quiz they’ll have next week on them. The smell had dissipated by the end of class thankfully, and Max had never been so grateful for something.

The bell rang and he made his way to Spanish class, bumping into people, cursing them out under his breath, and then glaring at them afterward just to bump into someone else. Finally arriving at the class it was pretty plain. The walls were a sad beige, different hispanic flags hung all around the room, a bigger Guatemalan one hung where the teacher’s desk was, other than that there wasn’t much color or any life in general. Max looked at the board and sighed, annoyed that there was still a seating chart from the first day, probably to make sure children wouldn’t try and sit next to their friends. But thankfully none of the desks were together. They were in rows and all of them were separated from one another.

Rolling his eyes and turning to find his seat, he sat down in his seat and put his head down, using his phone under his desk. A few minutes passed and the bell rang. He put his phone in his pocket and looked up at a stout, plump, white woman. She had brown eyes and brown curly hair, and was wearing light brown pants with a black belt and a gold buckle, paired with a black turtleneck. Max’s disappointment couldn’t be greater as he watched her smile at the whole class. ‘There’s no way she knows spanish, I’m fucked, how the hell am I going to learn shit’.

“¡Hola niños! ¿Cómo están?”

The classroom responded with a monotone Bien and Max knew in his gut that this was going to be a dreadfully boring class.

The bell finally rang and he escaped the class scot free without any homework. He had lunch next and cut a bunch of people in line since he just wanted to eat and hide in the library like usual. Mainly to avoid Bradley, but also to avoid David now too. He knew it was a great place to stay and eat because the librarians didn’t care unless you were loud and making a mess, and partially because he’s never seen Bradley read a book.

The lunch bell rang and Max looked down at his sheet to make sure he knew where he was going. The next class was art, and he prayed this class would at least be funner than the one before it. ‘I’m pretty sure that last class Miss Emerson said we’d be doing painting today. That’s fun I guess.’ Max thought as he walked through the D wing in search of his class.

Finally finding D183, he entered the colorful classroom, filled with surprisingly decent art past students have made, fairy lights around the top of the board, fun and colorful magnets, desks with different numbers on them, even though the teacher allows you to sit where you’d like, and all in all so much color it’d make a beige baby happy again.

‘I bet Miss Emerson and David are friends, she’s definitely calmer than him, but her classroom is so cheerful he probably eats lunch in here with her.’ Max laughed at the thought of that and smirked as he continued to scroll on his phone, uncomfortably aware of the teacher approaching him.

“Whatcha laughing at Max?”

Miss Emerson asked with a smile so sweet it’d give you a sugar rush. She had brown hair with highlights, coral eyeshadow, lip gloss, and gold nose ring. She was definitely younger than his other teachers. She was wearing a colorful dress that really just looked like a bunch of splashes of paint. How original.

“Oh- ah-, nothing, just a.. Funny video..”

Max lied, avoiding eye contact and praying she’ll go away.

“You know, you Mr. Greenwood was pretty concerned yesterday.”

Max’s heart fell into the pit of his stomach. Only then he looked at her, his demeanor instantly changing, and he could tell she sensed it.

“Oh of course you guys are friends.”

Max spat.

“Why do you even care? Tell me what he told you, let’s see what he exaggerated.”

Max looked at her expectantly, a devious glint in his eye, he was ready to argue.

“I’m sorry sweetie, did I say something wrong? I just don’t want you to be considered a troubled child, you seem wonderful, plus it’s clear Mr. Greenwood has a kind view of you as a person. He told me about camp and how great it was to have you there. He didn’t tell me what happened yesterday, all he said was that he went to talk to you, and that you were distant like usual. But you flinched when put his hand on your shoulder, and he felt bad about it. He wanted me to tell you that because he had a doctor's appointment today and would be absent.”

Max felt relieved and worse all at the same time. ‘Of course he wanted to apologize, so.. He didn’t tell her about me being rude to him afterwards? Let me guess, he probably thinks he’s doing me a favor by making me look better. Screw you, trying to make me look like some misunderstood kid. Thank god he’s not here, that would’ve made this so much more awkward.’

Miss Emerson stared at him while he sat there in silence, processing the information that was just given to him.

“You good?” She asked with a small smile, but eyes filled with concern.

“Yeah it’s whatever, if you’re trying to get me to “open up” you can throw that idea in the trash by the way.”

Max smirked at her face disappointment, ‘best to push them away, I hate these stupid mandated reporters. Pretending that they care.’ Max thought to himself as he watched her nod and silently walk to the front of the classroom.

“Alright everyone settle down! I’ll go over what we need to do today. If you were paying attention last class, I said our first unit would be painting, today, I want you guys to paint anything. Whatever colors you want you can choose from, and you don’t have to draw anything or do anything specific, this will simply be something fun. Afterwards, we will learn a bit about color theory and do a short assignment on it. Capiche?”

The class erupted with “OKs” and “Capash” and everyone got up to grab pencils, watercolor palettes, charcoal, and whatever else they needed. Max got up with them, walking over to the table filled with art supplies, picking up a white canvas, paintbrushes, a watercolor paint palette, and a pencil to sketch with. There was chatter all around the classroom, he tuned it all out, walking back to his seat alone. ‘Geez I really need friends.” Max thought to himself, looking around for people who might be cool, ‘Meh, if someone wants to be my friend they can come up to me.’

“Remember everyone, it can be anything!”

Miss Emerson called out from her desk watching as everyone started to paint. Max sat there, staring at the blank canvas and the canvas staring back at him. ‘What the hell am I supposed to make?’ He lifted up his pencil and started to draw something, only to erase it. ‘This is a lot harder than I thought it would be. Know what fine, I can’t shake the stupid fucking feeling anyway.’ Max flipped the canvas to make it landscape and grimaced as he put the pen to paper.

First he drew a sort of frame for a house and slowly began to draw the logs, then he grabbed the paint brush with the thinnest brush and dipped it in the light green, making thin streaks around the house to make it look like grass, slowly it came together. Once he finished the grass he moved back to the house, finally making it look like a cabin. He drew out the path that was supposed to lead to the cabin, and drew it all the way from the entrance of the place he was painting.

He made a fence and two tall logs holding up a wooden sign, and wrote on it “Camp Campbell” purposefully making the “bell” part faded. Going back to the cabin, right above it, there was a blank wooden sign for him to write in. He wrote “mess hall” using chalk, then he picked the pencil up and sketched out the camp campbell flag. The cabin with its flag on the right of the canvas. To the left of the canvas he drew the dock and the river, a glimpse of the playground to the right of it.

Finishing the last touches with a few minutes left of class. He looked at his creation, feeling somewhat proud of himself. ‘This looks great. Better than I thought it would turn out anyway.’

“Wow Max! This looks amazing! Is this the summer camp Mr. Greenwood was talking about?”

The pride he had immediately shattered by Miss Emerson calling out his painting. Almost instantly caving in on himself, he avoided eye contact.

“Um, thanks..”

“Max, this is great! Really!”

People started to look over and he started to get nervous.

“Yeah, I mean I worked on it practically all class. Thank you, though.”

Max instantly shut down whatever she was going to say next by grabbing the painting and his bag and walking up to the door. The second he got there the bell rang and he darted out. ‘That was so fucking embarrassing.’ He thought, keeping his head down as he walked.

The bell rang and he cautiously made his way to Math, walking into the hot classroom and sat down in his seat. Anxiously looking from his phone to the door, hoping Bradley was absent. ‘I can’t even pretend to be distracted, why am I so damn nervous that bastard doesn’t scare me anyway.’ Max rolled his eyes to himself, only to look back up.

Bradley strolled with a smug look on his face, eyes scanning the room for who Max assumed was him. They made eye contact and Max grimaced, shuddering in disdain as he turned away.

“Ah, Bradley, you’re NOT late this time”

Mr. Smith spoke passive aggressively, a glint of annoyance in his eye. Bradley turned his attention to the teacher, almost shocked Mr. Smith would say something like that.

“Come on, let’s go outside, we need to chat.”

Bradley’s face fell for a moment, but just a moment. Max snickered to himself about once they exited the room. ‘I bet he’s in trouble for being such an asshole on Tuesday’. The door opened a few minutes later, Max side-eyeing the door to see Bradley’s face. To Max’s terror, and relief, Bradley’s face was pale. As if Mr. Smith had cursed him out and made him regret having even been born.

Bradley quickly glared back, Max looked down at his phone uncomfortably realizing he had been staring for too long. ‘Wait a minute, he probably thinks I snitched on him or something. ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS. I can’t can have a moment’s peace oh my-”

“OK class, today we will be reviewing fractions, adding and subtracting, as well multiplication, and division.”

The class groaned in frustration and Mr. Smith chuckled to himself. Turning to his computer and turning on the projector to show today’s lesson. ‘I’m going to fucking kill myself’ Max thought as he put his head down on his desk.

The rest of class was easy but boring, it was simple for Max since he understood math. But the eyes burning into the side of his head was what made the class feel so much longer. He couldn’t help but feel anxious around that stupid kid. I mean, who wouldn’t be traumatized after being bullied for three years straight from 2nd to 5th grade just because the one person you thought you could trust got “cooler” friends, and ended up getting corrupted by those same friends, ending in them bullying you because you were “that one weirdo who always showed to school in the same hoodie everyday.” Plus the part that hurt the most wasn’t that you were getting bullied but instead because that “friend” knew everything.

The bell woke snapped Max out of the trance memory lane had put him under. He rubbed his eyes and grabbed his bag, speed walking out of the classroom and staring down at the ground, only feeling anger.

On the way to the advisory, his heart beat calmed down as he remembered David was absent. ‘At least I won’t have to deal with him today.' He got to the classroom and the second after the sub called his name for attendance and he answered, he went straight to sleep.

The bell rang, and he drowsily got up, walking to the door. But right before he left he suddenly remembered to do something. He waited a bit, waiting for most of the kids to get out of the classroom, he then went over to David’s desk and put the painting in the biggest drawer there was so it would fit. He speed-walked out of the building and then ran to his bus. Because he was pretty late he had to sit toward the back of the bus but he didn’t mind. He felt content and that was what mattered.

Chapter Text

Walking home from his bus stop he grabbed his keys from his bag, shoved them into the door knob and opened the door as quietly as he could. ‘Please don’t let dad be here.’ He thought, his eyes screwing shut when the door creaked. He walked inside and closed the door and turned the knob before closing it.

“Why are you acting like you’re sneaking in? You got something to hide?”

Fuck.

“Good afternoon father,”

Max said in a flat tone. ‘Why has he been coming home so early lately?’ He thought, trying to push down the pounding of his heartbeat. His father stared hard at him, not moving, just looking at him.

“Um, could you move so I can make some coffee.”

Max said, right hand gesturing toward the kitchen.

“What? You don’t know how to say please?”

Max shut eyes tight and opened them after taking a breath, not deep enough for his father to call out as “attitude”

“Please.”

Max looked up at him in annoyance as his father slowly moved out of his way and Max started to make his way towards the kitchen.

“Wait.”

Max turned his head to side, not turning his full body because he doesn’t want his piece of shit dad to actually believe he cared about anything the jackass had to say.

“Make a cup for me.. Please, or whatever. And after you're done drinking your coffee and doing whatever homework you have, go upstairs and make a bag full of your belongings. Not all of them, just a good amount, today we’ll be visiting the apartment. Well, not me, I’ve seen the place, it’s nice, your room isn’t that much smaller than the one you have right now.”

Max’s interest was piqued, but so was his anxiety.

“Wait, you already found an apartment to move into?”

His dad nodded.

“Yeah I did, it’s a nice one too, not NICE but it’s decent. We’ll put all of our stuff there tomorrow, that way, we can fully move out on saturday.”

‘What. I don’t want to spend the weekend alone with him. WHAT?! Mom never told me anything about moving so soon? Is that why she was so sad? Why she was crying so hard? I can’t fucking do this. This is my first good school day- my first decent day in a while, and he goes ahead an fucking ruins it.’ Max’s head was spinning, reeling even. He wanted to vomit, but made sure to keep a neutral face even though his father could barely see it, with his back facing his dad and all.

“What about mom?”

Max fully turned around with this question, wanting to see how his father would react to it. Trying to see if he’s hiding anything.

“What?”

“What about mom?”

Max gestured to his sleeping mother on the couch, who was completely oblivious to the conversation that was going on.

“I don’t know, she’s a grown woman she can figure it out. She’ll probably choose the easy way out and go to a recovery center for like a week so she can go around saying “I’m a new woman”. Just to be found drunk and passed out in some guy's basement.”

Max’s blood boiled at his father’s chuckling. ‘How fucking dare you.’ Max thought. He wanted to scream at him, while Max’s mother wasn’t the best, she at least tried to be there for him, even if it ended in her being drunk and passed out most of the time. She tried to ask about his life, the “friends he made at school” that he hasn’t told her never existed because he doesn’t have the heart to. Max decided to speak up, realizing he's been quiet for too long, his father looking at him weirdly.

“You don’t know that, who knows? Maybe she’ll actually recover, find a good job and save up to buy a place for her to live so I can visit her from time to time.”

His dad started to laugh, obnoxiously loud.

“Gee Max, I didn’t know you had it in you, you’re actually kind of funny..”

Max just got even angrier, he tried to control his breathing but was just moments away from letting the water boil over. He bored his eyes into his father, staring hard, not breaking eye contact. He didn’t care if he got his ass beat, Max appreciated his mother, and she’s shown him how hard addiction is. But what else could he do but believe in her? She’s all he has, until Saturday that is.

“The fuck did I tell you about looking at me like that huh? You’re a stupid kid, you don’t know jackshit. I married that lazy whore over there, all she does is drink, cry, moan, and whine all day long. She’s so damn lazy, I’m surprised she didn’t abort you. The only reason she takes care of you is because she feels guilty for being such a fuck up, while I’m out working my ass off, she’s over there drinking and wasting my hard earned money. She’s doesn’t love you, grow up dumbass, and you better stop looking at me like that before I smack you fucking silly.”

His father spoke through gritted teeth, Max looked down at the floor and stared at it until it started to morph in front of him. Everything was moving like his eyes were playing tricks on him. He had to disassociate to make sure he didn’t say that would leave him bleeding. ‘I hate this motherfucker so much. One day, I’m gonna put his ass in jail and I’ll never see his face again. Thank god I look like my mom.’ He slowly looked back up at his dad, his face a blank slate.

“OK.”

Was all Max could muster up. He wanted to cry, and he didn’t even know why. He turned around and walked into the kitchen to make some coffee, the same routine, throw out the old filter, put in the new one, eyeball the amount of ground coffee he needs, which always depends on whether he lets the pot fill up to six or eight. Today he’s doing eight because the devil asked him for a fresh pot. He then closed the lid of the machine and turned it on.

Unnerved by the silence of his father, he decided to go upstairs and just ignore it so that he would be left alone. But a voice rang out behind him. Fuck making him a cup of coffee, he can make his own he’s a big boy anyway.

“When the hell did you learn how to make coffee?”

‘Why the hell does everyone ask me that?’ Max rolled his eyes in head.

“I watched you guys do it enough times that I learned.”

Max shrugged, climbing up steps quickly to avoid continuing the conversation. He quietly closed the door to his room and sighed like it was coming from his soul. He walked into the middle of the room and just started tweaking out, flailing his arms, holding his head and walking back and forth in complete silence so he wouldn’t get yelled at.

Then he grabbed his travel backpack, AKA the one he brought to camp and opened one of his drawers and grabbed some of his clothes, stuffing them in the bag. He put two of the 5 blue hoodies his mom bought for him. It's funny how she never asked if he wanted one in a different color, not even a zip-up either, just hoodies. He put in the last of the things he thought he might need and he got up to sit on his bed. Listening for footsteps, he slowly pulled out his phone. He hasn't checked his messages all day, ignoring the guilt eating away at him.

Much to his dismay he saw a message from David, iIt was sent at exactly 8:00 AM. He took a few seconds to mentally prepare himself and took a breath before opening it.

“Morning Max! I’ll be absent today, and no, it isn’t because of you. It’s because I have a meeting at the end of the day. I’m sorry about yesterday, but I don’t want that to make things awkward, I’ll see you tomorrow!”

Max stared at his screen in silence after reading that. He didn't know whether to be angry and chuck the damn phone or to laugh. ‘Oh fuck you’ Max chuckled but still glared at his screen, debating holding down on the message and putting a middle finger as a reaction, he settled on a thumbs down.

Within seconds he got a response, it was a crying emoji with a broken heart. Max laughed against his will, ‘I’m.. is he using the crying emoji the way it was made to be used or is he using it to be dramatic? I refuse to believe this guy uses it sarcastically.’.

He watched videos on a low volume to make sure that his dad wouldn’t realize, but listened for footsteps after each video to make sure his mom or dad weren’t upstairs lurking around. It was like this until 6:20 PM when his dad finally shouted for him to go downstairs and bring his stuff because they were heading out now.

Max grabbed the bag he put his clothes in, quickly double checking to make sure it has a decent amount of clothes in it. He put the bag on his left shoulder and hid his phone back in his pocket. Going down the steps he spotted his mother in the kitchen and made eye contact with her. There was a soft light shining into the room through the window that made her almost glow. He didn’t want to leave her, this isn’t fair. Why can’t he have one good thing in his life?

He tried to smile, it was soft but barely noticeable, she smiled back. He waved goodbye and left through the door. He hadn’t taken a shower yet because he decided he would once he got back from the new apartment, that way he wouldn’t have wouldn’t have any “outside germs” on clean clothes. His mom told him that, and he followed it because it made sense in its own way.

Walking over to the small red Kia his father owns, he opened the door to the backseat and sat down, putting his bag in his lap and turning to grab his seatbelt and buckled himself in. His father pulled out of the driveway and started driving.

The drive was about 20 minutes long and Max stared out the window the entire time. Disassociating isn’t hard if you’ve been doing it your whole life. Once the car stopped Max snapped out of it and looked around. ‘Shit I should’ve been paying attention, I won’t know how to get back in case I need to run for it or something. Whatever, I’ll pay attention on the ride back.’

Max grabbed his bag and opened the car door, jumping out. It was a decent apartment complex, it was red brick and there was a concrete staircase with black railings leading up to the entrance. He waited for his dad to go in front of him so he could follow suit. His father led him up the stairs until the third floor, ‘what a hike, tomorrow is gonna fucking suck going up and down all these stairs.’ Walking up to the room, Max looked at the number to memorize it, 311. His father took the key out of his pocket and opened the door.

The apartment wasn’t bad, when entering on your left there are hangers for jackets and shoe rack on the floor beneath it, the walls are painted a calm light grey (an extreme opposite of the tense atmosphere), the living room being the first thing you see, it had a white couch with a ovular green carpet with a pretty pattern, there was a decent TV atop a TV black TV stand holding a few miscellaneous items.

Looking over to his left the flooring was different, the living room flooring along with the rest of the apartment until the doors to the rooms had dark wooden flooring. But the kitchen had clean cut stone flooring, and brown wooden counters and cabinets. Under the sink was a plain black mat and the sink had one of those pull-out faucets which was pretty neat, his house doesn’t have that.

“You like it?” His father smirked.

“Yeah, it’s nice, thank you”

Max replied, saying the last part was the quietest.

“I would say I paid a pretty penny but all of the apartments here are pretty affordable, in great condition, and I made sure everything works and will only give out within over half a year or longer, so we’re set.”

Max started to really take in the apartment, he was sad that he wouldn’t be with his mother anymore, but hopefully this apartment will be quiet, and since his father usually gets home late, that means he could watch the TV, make himself whatever food he wanted, read, go on his phone, and he’ll be alone. If Nikki and Neil had phones Max could call them and talk about all sorts of things, ‘I wish I at least knew their house numbers so I could leave a message and see if they have a phone.’

“OK Max, your room is over there”

His father pointed to the right and Max looked over at the white door. He walked towards it and opened the door, walking inside the room. It was quite spacious and was mostly empty, besides a small desk with a space for a chair underneath the middle of it, with two drawers, a big one on the right side of the desk and a small, skinny one on the left.

“This is nice, I like it.”

Max spoke, barely meaning it. He liked the space but it didn't feel roomy. It feels cold, uncomfortable and unwelcoming, and he wants to go home.

“Good, now take out some of your things and start sorting them out. I’ll be unpacking in my room and bringing some stuff up, once you’re done go to the car and bring more things up.”

Max nodded and put his bag on the desk, taking out the lumps of clothes he packed and folded them neatly, stacking them on top of each other. He walked out to the car to go get some more things, going down the stairs, then back up the only thing keeping him going is the thought that he’ll sleep in his bed tonight, and maybe, his mom will tuck him in one last time.