~Gray~
Giving Max time to adjust definitely made an open spot for us to try being friends. It worked. We talk a lot. Ever since his presence entered my home, my conscience always seemed to be attracted to him in some way whether friendly or beyond that. What I have tried to wrap my brain around is the giant important reminder that he is an orphan. I do not seem him as that. We really have gotten comfortable around each other. He has been working on a song about his family and the house fire. The bits and pieces my ears have caught agree it is going to be a great song. Normally, I am not this open with someone I met just a little over a month ago. Mom loves Max. Dad does too but my mom has spent a lot more of her free time talking with him.

What I have noticed is that he is dealing with this sudden change a lot better than I would have expected. Without my parents in my life, I cannot even think how difficult this has been for Max. It has to be a rollercoaster he simply cannot get off of. My best girl friend Vic, her full name is Victoria, invited me to her end-of-the-summer party a few days ago. I plan on going like I do every year. I asked her yesterday if I could invite Max and she said it was no problem. I have not yet asked him. Last time I saw him he was in our room working on his song. He is so passionate about writing this song and it is honestly really inspirational.

He cares a great deal about his two birth givers. I wish I could have been able to meet faces with them. From what Max and I have conversed about, it seems as though they were amazing parents. I poke my head into our bedroom after knocking twice.

"Wanna come to a party with me tonight?"

Max sets his guitar pick down and finds the way to meet my eyes.

"Yeah. Where is it?"

"My friend Vic's house, she said you can come with."

"Okay, sure sound cool."

I smile and walk the rest of the way into the room. I begin picking my outfit out. I will not say I am that guy who is constantly worrying and wondering if he looks good or not. That scene is not a part of my personality movie. Max strums out a few chords before writing some of them down on his music sheet.

"When did you learn to write music?"

"My Aunt Lacey was a music teacher up until I was 12. She taught at the school I went to so I'd stay after most days and she'd teach me how to write and play music."

"Cool, have you talked to her lately?" Max shakes his head as in indication to say no.

"You're really talented."

"Thanks, Gray."

I have grown to love that smile. It is not a fake broken smile some would plaster on to say that they're okay, when deep down they are really not. Whether I feel like I am starting to feel attracted to him as more than a friend or not, I always want to be able to talk to him and have him around. Max placed his guitar on the stand he has for it. I watch him go over to his rack of clothes and browse for clothing. I turn back around once I have gotten my image of him. Why do I feel such feelings for some particular person?

These do not seem like the type of feelings I would normally have for anyone. Most of the time I try to focus on myself. I have done my best to get through school and stay out of that high school drama everyone is supposed to deal with I guess. Maybe you are not supposed to, but everyone does at some point.

But see what I did was remove myself from any negativity to strike my self-esteem at any given moment. Max seems like an overall pretty confident person. From what I have listened to, he has dealt with bullies several times around in his academic part of life. School was never his favorite, nor is it anyone's really. He showed me a few scars he had from awhile back. They looked like when they were first put into action that the result was indeed painful. I told him if he ever dealt with another bully again, he could of course come and tell me. I would defend him for sure. He is not a bad guy. He is actually very sweet.

Just as eight o'clock sharp presented itself in time, Max and I head out to Vic's party. When I told Vic a little bit about him, she said she would love to hear him sing. So as I was able to gather the information that she was interested in hearing his music, I asked Max if he would not mind bringing his guitar and playing a song or two at the party. He was a little hesitant about the question and scene he played in his mind of how it might go at first but I was able to calm him down by saying that the crowd at the party is not judgmental. Vic does not like haters. We never did growing up.

We are able to get to Vic's house within ten minutes. She does not live that far from my house at all. The distance is not large. She hugs me when I knock on the door. Vic turns and smiles at Max.

"Hi Max, I'm Vic."

"Hey, it's nice to meet you."

"Likewise, c'mon in guys."

Vic leads us into the kitchen so we can consume drinks and food into our bodies. The party population was not big yet, I know it will grow. Many of my favorite snacks are spread across one of the kitchen counters. Vic pours herself some kind of pink lemonade drink and mixes a little bit of vodka in it.

"So Max, what's it like living with this guy? Can't be that easy."

Vic and I tease and mess around with each other all the time. Our laughter together is what holds the very comfortable friendship. We are best friends and that is what we have always been. I push her shoulder lightly and grin.

"Not bad at all." Max smiles at me. I grin back at him.

Vic notices this and I can tell by her smirk that she wants to make a comment about it. The three of us carry on a conversation while others let themselves in through the front door. Vic excuses herself to go play music and talk with her friend who she is having be the DJ. My best guy friend of six years walks up to me and gives me a quick hug.

"Max this is Logan, Logan this is Max." I introduce the two.

"Hey man, Gray tells me you sing."

"Yeah, it's a big hobby of mine."

"I'd love to hear some of your songs sometime. I gotta go see where Bella is. I'll catch up with you guys."

Logan walks off to go find his long-time girlfriend Bella Winder. She became a part of our friend group back when her and Logan became official in the tenth grade. Max starts making himself a drink.

"See? Aren't they nice?"

"Yeah they're really cool."

I swing my arm around Max's shoulders.

"I told you it would be okay." He nods his head and tips his cup back into his mouth slightly.

He seems to like it because he takes another swig before setting it down on the counter. Back when he lived with his parents, he told me that he was not too much of a party person.

I could somehow gather that information on my own. From the stories of bullying, it kind of occurred to me Max may not like being in the hectic scene of a party with other faces he had already viewed at school. He is his own person with his own way of doing things.

Parties can range from a million different levels. One through ten does not give the best explanation of how mellow or how crazy they can turn out to be. How far off could I actually be? It is not like I have been to only one of these gatherings. Tipping red solo cups back to empty alcohol into my system for long periods of time is not within any of my interests. I get a vibe that Max is uninterested in that type of hobby if you shall call it as well as me.

Flashing colors surround Vic's house interior. She had mentioned she purchased new lights for future parties and the present one. Vic is a likable person. She is a badass when someone is being disrespectful or flat out rude. I can have my brain run marathons back to the past. She was always the one out of our friend group to be defensive of any of us.

She grew up with her Uncle Devin who is an FBI agent; he would teach her lots of important information on self defense and more than what most teens her age know about any type of defense. Vic's parents are pretty cool and laid back about her throwing parties in their home.

She has been responsible and nobody ever wrecks anything. The parties I go to are nothing like the parties seen in high school movies where the house is torn to pieces left and right as well as up and down. Max taps me out of my inside thoughts with his voice.

"I love this song! Wanna go out in the living room?"

"Yeah."

Just as the living room crowds my sight, I notice Vic with Logan and Bella. Bella sees me and Max entering the giant group of people in the living room. She runs up and hugs me since we haven't talked or seen each other in awhile. Back in the tenth grade, she had a thing for me. No, I will not lie. I did really like her in the same way.

"Gray, where've you been?"

"Kitchen. Bella this is Max." Bella smiles warmly and genuinely at my roommate.

Considering him as only my roommate would be kind of rude; he is my friend as well.

"Nice to meet you, Bella." Max shakes Bella's hand.

"Same to you. You look good with Gray. You guys together?"

Bella's question seemed to not be any giant problem to Max because he did not get nervous or get his cheeks to blush bright red. He laughs gently.

"Nope, just friends." I nod my head.

"Cool, come hang with us." Bella motions us both over to Logan and Vic. Vic speaks close to my ear.

"I like Max, you should bring him around more often."

This is what I mean. My friends are the crowd I need to be around. Max seems like he could use a group of people like this too. He does not deserve the acts that were created upon him. It is wrong. It is incorrect. I never can understand certain people and their childish enjoyment for degrading another human being; it all depends on what the situation is.

Degrading can be brought to life in many different forms. My times of being a witness to bullying can go on. It happened mostly when I was much younger. Kids were really something else back when I attended elementary school. Most days were not hell, a good handful of the school years were not hell.

The party consists of me talking to Max at the moment. We are talking about music. He shares some of his favorite songs and I share some of mine. Vic keeps smirking at me; I am finally getting a chance to turn to her after a few minutes of talking with Max while he goes off to grab something to eat.

"Alright, what's with you and the smirk?"

"He's so into you. Are you blind, Fawser?"

"I guess. We're just friends."

Vic shakes her head and sighs.

"I think he really likes you. His face lights up when you talk to him. Have I ever been wrong about things like this?"

I journey back to the times Vic has said that someone feels a certain way. She is not psychic, but I sometimes get the feeling or idea that she possibly could be.

"Not really, no."

"Do you like him back?"

I have not exactly told her how I feel. I mean, sure, I like him. Nobody is going to pry anything out of me though. I will not be begged and bothered to admit how I feel. If I feel comfortable, then I will do it on my own time and tell who whatever I am feeling. I trust my best friend.

"Yeah."

"Then go make your move." Vic gives me a little push towards her kitchen.

I did not plan this. I am not even one-hundred percent sure that Max likes me in the same way I like him. Vic does have a good eye. I notice Max pacing the kitchen with his phone up to his right ear; I can only stand there watching him because I start to worry that he is upset.

"Tell them to go to hell! They're not getting what doesn't belong to them! I knew they'd go after us. This is all they ever wanted."

All who ever wanted? What did they want? I am not meaning to intervene or be nosy, he just seems very irritated. Max and his eyes reach sight of me standing there trying not to barge in on his phone call. I whisper a sorry to him.

"Just block their numbers. I'll talk to you later. Yep I love you too, bye."

After Max hangs up I motion him to come with me to the backyard. We get outside and the calming refreshing breeze greets us nicely.

"I didn't mean to intervene. What's going on?"

"You're fine. My fucking family is trying to get the money my parents left specifically for me and Molly. They always wanted it. They would always talk about it thinking I wasn't nearby."

I wrap my arm around his shoulder. Max does not mention or bring up his relatives whenever we have conversations. He kind of keeps it to himself or innocently fails to mention them. Max rests his head on my shoulder. The breaths releasing from his lungs and out his mouth are filled with tension. He has every right to feel and be upset. My mother knows about his family from what his parents had discussed. Our parents were all really good friends or a really long time. I know my parents are grieving and going through their days of life with the Revirro parents on their minds, but it cannot compare to what Max is dealing with. Those were his parents. Those were the people that raised and cared for him graciously.

"Now you know why I don't bring up my family much. They're selfish." Max tells me.

"Don't worry. They're not coming anywhere near here. They don't even know where we live."

"They'll figure it out I'm sure. God I fucking hate them."

I wish I could help him. I will of course do whatever I can. In the meantime, he seems really stressed out, he needs an escape from that. My gaze always falls deep into his eyes. My heart falls into a state of curiosity. My ears always open wide when he is speaking. My mind always gets caught focusing on what he is doing. It could be as simple as walking across the floor to grab something. Whatever he does when he is near me, I always pay attention.