Rewritten Version: @doodledump

Chapter 7.

           Max, Mark and Lauren all walked down the long sidewalk that led them all the way towards their school.

This part of them never changed, even when their mother was around. The three of them have always been there for each other.

"Hey um," Lauren finally said after a while of silence, "I was wondering if I could help you guys with um . . . this scientists thing."

"Wait.. Seriously? You too?" Mark groans.

"Yeah. I wanna know, too." Lauren snaps back.

"Bullsh-" Mark started, but was interrupted by a soft shout in the distance.

All three of them look up to see a familiar face that they all know:

Darlene.

She had her long, dark brown hair up in pigtails and two black bows at the sides. Her black long glasses made her brown eyes pop, just like Max's. She wore a dark blue long sleeve shirt with the sleeves curved up towards her forearms. Her wore a short plaid skirt and some knee high, black socks.

Mark stops and flashes a smile. "Hey Darlene!" He shouts.

"Hey guys!" Darlene smiles as she runs up and stops in front of the three of them. "I ran back from my house so I could walk with you guys. How was your week?"

"It was-" Max starts.

"Wonderful." Mark kindly replied. "You?"

"Good, thank you."

Max flashes Mark a frown while Lauren does the same. I swear, he's such a different person around Darlene. Max scowls to himself towards Mark.

As Darlene walks beside Mark and they have a "friendly" little chat, Max and Lauren silently scrape their feet against the sidewalk's concrete.

           Eventually, the four of them stare up at the school's two big front doors. The read the sign of their school's name: Hernando High.

"Should we go in?" Mark said slowly.

"No duh, idiot." Max groans before sluggishly lowering his head and holding his hand against the door, ready to push it open. "Come on, Lauren." He sighs. 

"K." Lauren sighs along with him, as they both slowly and hesitantly walk inside the school, having Darlene and Mark following behind closely.

---

           Throughout the day, the four of them passed through their boring and ordinary classes. But things have seemed very different for Max and Mark.

All of their teachers have been acting a bit different around them. The teachers in each of their classes have lowered their trust and have been keeping an extra eye out on the two.

It didn't really bother Mark, but Max had decided to keep an eye out.

           After the bell rang for his last period, Max stood up from his chair, grabbed his backpack and his binder for his class, and quickly rushed out from the classroom. He immediately spotted Lauren, to see that she was frowning.

Lauren had her bag sluggishly hanging off her right shoulder while her big geography book was just about to fall out of her hands.

Max quickly rushed over and held his hands out. "Goodness, Lauren, what's wrong?"

"History class." She groaned. "I hate my class. All the dumb teens in my class made me write a three page essay on RESPECT. And I still have to do it even though I didn't do anything. I was STUDYING." She ranted.

"Sorry." Max chuckled nervously, taking the geography book from Lauren's hands. "Let's quickly find Mark and Darlene and go home, okay?"

"Please..." Lauren sighs.

Max puts Lauren's book at his side as they both quickly walk through the halls to find Mark and Darlene. 

They passed by a few teenage groups as they talked about the homecoming dance that is occurring in the following week. Others, just talked about their boyfriend's or the people they like.

Which Max found no interest in.

After about five minutes of silence between the two of them, they finally found Darlene. She was talking to a new exchange Japanese student.

Max thought her name was... Maka? Or something weird like that.

She wore big round glasses that showed her bright blue eyes. She also wore the school's uniform - just like Darlene's.

"Darlene!" Max called out.

Darlene and - whatever her name is - both lifted their heads and looked at Max and Lauren. "Hey guys." Darlene greeted, giving a light smile.

Max and Lauren lightly jogged towards Darlene and her "new friend."

"Who's this?" Lauren asks politely.

"This is Madoka." Darlene steps aside, allowing Madoka to be seen. "Madoka, these are my friends."

"Hello." Madoka greets with a smile, with an English sounding accent.

"She just exchanged here from Japan, mainly because her grandfather couldn't give her a good enough education." Darlene smiles.

"Good to meet you." Mark gives a friendly smile. He took Madoka's hands in his and shook them gladly. "I hope we get to be friends."

"You too." Madoka nervously smiles.

"Hey, I'd like to get to know you better," Lauren states loudly. "But, I have a ton of homework and studying to do. Along with a three page essay on respect." She quickly explained.

"Bye Darlene." Max sighs and went to Lauren's side and pushed her towards the exit of the school.

Mark finally sees his siblings into view, but realizes that they were heading off. He kindly says his goodbyes to Darlene and Madoka as he quickly rushes to catch up to Max and Lauren.

---

          Max took Lauren into her room as she threw herself face down onto her bed. She groans loudly as Max placed her geography book on her desk. He pushed up his big glasses and sighed. "Besides the essay, what do you need help with?"

"Nothing. I'm an honors student and smarter than the average human, Max. And besides," she ranted while lifting her arm up. "I'm not even the slightest bit of human."

"I know..." Max frowns, sitting next to Lauren on the edge of her bed. "But you still have to do your work... Even a respect paper."

Lauren slightly picks up her head and looks at Max with a frown, as he stares back with a small smile.
Lauren huffs and rests her chin on her bed sheet. "Okay."

"Alright. Get your work done before dad gets home." Max laughs as he stood up and made his way out from Lauren's bedroom.