Max avoided eye contact, never being good at holding it in the first place, and
especially now. Max caught the tone of her words. Even after all these years,
Victoria was still the same. She wasn’t sure what else she expected, and it
wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, but she also didn’t want to be overwhelmed
by the past. When she’d first seen Victoria it felt like she’d seen a ghost–
her past come back to haunt her. It would still take some getting used to.
She almost spoke up again until Victoria commented on her attire. Yep.
Definitely the same ol’ queen bee from Blackwell. Once again, she wasn’t
sure what else she’d expected. This wasn’t the first time that Vic had
made a jab at her clothes, and it wouldn’t be the last.
The mention of the hoodie made Max’s gaze shift to stare down at it.
For a while, she’d almost forgotten that she had it, until one day while
sifting through some of her old stuff, she found it. It was something
she’d always meant to return to Victoria, but she never had the
chance… Well, until now. It was too big for her anyway; practically
drooping off of her small frame. Idly, she tugs lightly at one of the
strings. It’s pretty worn looking by now, so Victoria probably
wouldn’t want it back, but…
❝Yeah… I– Um, you can have it back if you want—–❞ But she’s cut
off at the ‘mother’ comment. It wasn’t that Vanessa didn’t feed her, it
was just that Max didn’t eat. At least not like she should. She could go
weeks without much of an appetite. In all truthfulness, she basically
only survived off of coffee these days, and that was beyond unhealthy.
Vanessa tried, and so did Ryan, but it wasn’t their faults. It was Max’s.
❝It’s not…my mom’s fault,❞ she mutters, bringing up a hand to rub the
back of her neck. ❝I just…don’t eat very much. I don’t have the appetite.❞
That was embarrassing to admit, but it was the truth. The ugly truth.
Shifting slightly, and hardly moving from one corner of the room since
arriving, Max fidgets with her hands, taking in Vic’s final words. It would
be nice, but she also feared that it would be awkward– as if it had any
chance of not being awkward. ❝No– it’s fine. I’ll…– I can stay here.❞ She
wouldn’t want her to waste the gas anyway.