010 & 011-Elmax

22

—Novemver 2nd—
—Max's POV—

"Wanna order pizza?" I ask Mar as I step into our bedroom. She's laying on her bed looking at the wall opposite of the door and looks over her shoulder at me.

"I'm not... hungry," she mumbles with a shrug. I let out a loud sigh and walk over to sit next to her.

"Mar you really need to eat," I say, concerned.

"I said I'm not hungry," Mar says a little more sternly. "So would you please leave?"

Steve was picking up twice the amount of shifts due to the fact that money's been getting real tight in our house, and because his dad's been breathing down his neck over moving out. So in turn, he hasn't been able to pick up Mar. Steve always gives the two of us an "allowance" so we can buy our own stuff but recently he's been offering my mom some too just so she can pay the bills. At first she wouldn't take it but I guess they had some really long adult talk about Mar that included the topic of money. He told her that the money was just so she could take care of us and not have to worry about our house. My mom joked that he sounded like they had been divorced and he put a little extra in the child support. But that's Steve really. He'll act like we get on his last nerve but he cares about us. He always has.

Mar turns her head to look away from me completely. I sigh again and head back out to the kitchen. I pass Neil passed out on the couch but don't look his way. I order a medium pizza from a local place and wait patiently for it to come. Quicker than I expected, there's a knock at the door. I hop off the counter as the person begins knocking louder.

"Jesus Christ, hold on!" I shout.

"WHO THE HELL IS AT THE DOOR?!" Neil shouts as I open it, sounding like he just woke up. I take a step back as I take in the sight of Mike crying, soaked from head to toe, on my porch.

"Holy shit," I say. "Come on, get inside." I usher him in. "Are you okay?"

Before Mike can respond Neil screams again, which I reply to with a "SHUT THE FUCK UP YOU OLD PIECE OF SHIT!"

"Take a seat in the kitchen, I'ma get you a towel," I tell him before walking off to the bathroom. I return quickly with two towels in my hand and I toss them to Mike. "Dude, what happened?"

"Who the hell are you?" Neil ask, stomping into the kitchen.

"This is my friend, now piss off!" I snap.

"I am tired of your disrespect," Neil warns.

"And I'm tired of you being alive but I'm not complaining."

Neil storms over, fist balled. The second I see him slightly raise his hand, as if he's going to swing, I force myself into his drunken mind. Most people had subconscious walls up around their brains, and that makes it slightly challenging to get into them. But because of Neil's constant drunk state, diving into his head was as easy as putting my hand into a bowl of water.

"I am not your punching bag now that Billy's gone, am I understood?" I say firmly.

"Understood," Neil whispers.

"Now go fucking drink until you pass out. And don't bother me for the rest of the night."

Neil walks away as I ground myself back into my head. I take some paper towel from by the sink and wet it before wiping away the blood coming from my nose. Afterwards, I turn back to Mike, now giving my full attention.