Ā Ā Ā Max avoided eye contact, never being good at holding it in the first place, and
Ā Ā Ā especially now. Max caught the tone of her words. Even after all these years,
Ā Ā Ā Victoria was still the same. She wasnāt sure what else she expected, and it
Ā Ā Ā wasnāt necessarily a bad thing, but she also didnāt want to be overwhelmed
Ā Ā Ā by the past. When sheād first seen Victoria it felt like sheād seen a ghostā
Ā Ā Ā her past come back to haunt her. It would still take some getting used to.
Ā Ā Ā She almost spoke up again until Victoria commented on her attire. Yep.
Ā Ā Ā Definitely the same olā queen bee from Blackwell. Once again, she wasnāt
Ā Ā Ā sure what else sheād expected. This wasnāt the first time that Vic had
Ā Ā Ā made a jab at her clothes, and it wouldnāt be the last.
Ā Ā Ā The mention of the hoodie made Maxās gaze shift to stare down at it.
Ā Ā Ā For a while, sheād almost forgotten that she had it, until one day while
Ā Ā Ā sifting through some of her old stuff, she found it. It was something
Ā Ā Ā sheād always meant to return to Victoria, but she never had the
Ā Ā Ā chanceā¦ Well, until now. It was too big for her anyway; practically
Ā Ā Ā drooping off of her small frame. Idly, she tugs lightly at one of the
Ā Ā Ā strings. Itās pretty worn looking by now, so Victoria probably
Ā Ā Ā wouldnāt want it back, butā¦
Ā Ā Ā āYeahā¦ Iā Um, you can have it back if you wantāāāĀ But sheās cut
Ā Ā Ā off at theĀ āmotherā comment. It wasnāt that Vanessa didnāt feed her, it
Ā Ā Ā was just that Max didnāt eat. At least not like she should. She could go
Ā Ā Ā weeks without much of an appetite. In all truthfulness, she basically
Ā Ā Ā only survived off of coffee these days, and that was beyond unhealthy.
Ā Ā Ā Vanessa tried, and so did Ryan, but it wasnāt their faults. It was Maxās.
Ā Ā Ā āItās notā¦my momās fault,ā she mutters, bringing up a hand to rub the
Ā Ā Ā back of her neck.Ā āI justā¦donāt eat very much. I donāt have the appetite.ā
Ā Ā Ā That was embarrassing to admit, but it was the truth. The ugly truth.
Ā Ā Ā Shifting slightly, and hardly moving from one corner of the room since
Ā Ā Ā arriving, Max fidgets with her hands, taking in Vicās final words. It would
Ā Ā Ā be nice, but she also feared that it would be awkwardā as if it had any
Ā Ā Ā chance of not being awkward.Ā āNoā itās fine. Iāllā¦ā I can stay here.ā She
Ā Ā Ā wouldnāt want her to waste the gas anyway.
