Saving Max

Chapter 31

In the next week, things go on in an unusually normal pace. I trudge through the long hours of school with Katie and Adam by my side, heading off to work for a coupe of hours before making my home to see my parents for a little while. Each night they try to persuade me to stay, but I always end up going back to Caden. They aren't necessarily mad at me for it, because they know that I need to be there for Max, but they just hate the fact that I'm never around anymore. My dad said one day that it was almost like I had left for college already, and a pang of guilt shot through me as soon as he said it.

It's not that I don't miss my parents, I do, I just have other responsibilities now. When Max came in to my life I couldn't help but be drawn to him- drawn to help him. And now, five months after I first met the scared little boy, I feel attached in a way that I can't explain. I can't make myself leave him when I know he's in danger with David lurking around, and my parents seem to understand that to a certain extent and have let me be.

They don't know about David, of course, but they understand my attachment to Max and realize that they can't keep me from being there for him. All I needed to tell them was that Max was going through a really difficult time right now, and that was that. They still drop subtle hints about wanting me to stop by more, but they don't force me to stay, which is something I'm truly grateful for. And I think they know that even if they wanted to, they couldn't stop me anyway. I'm eighteen, so I'm legally able to leave the house and go out on my own now. Even so, it still sort of sucks that I'm not around them as much as I used to be. I'm really trying to work on coming over more often, but it's really hard to work out a good schedule for myself right now, especially when every minute of my day now revolves around Max.

Caden, Max, and I did have dinner with my parents one night though, Wednesday I think. We all came over after my shift at the hospital for a late dinner, and it was a really nice night spent together with all of them. My Dad loved having Max in the house, constantly messing around with him while Caden and I tried to help mom cook as much as we could. The conversation at the table was polite as we all talked about just normal stuff, but there was a certain tension in the room around all of us. Well, all except for Max. My parents seemed a little down, probably thinking about how we don't do this often anymore- they don't even get to do something as simple as having dinner with their daughter anymore, and I think it's made them a little sad. The reason Caden and I were a little uptight was because my mom would not stop talking about Stanford. I was a little guilty letting her get so excited about it when I had already decided to decline. In fact, I sent out a letter to them the day before telling them that I had decided not to attended school with them next year.

I didn't say anything, though, letting her stay happy for just a little while longer. I didn't have the heart to tell her anything yet, seeing the proud smile on her face as she spoke. It hurts to think about the disappointments she'll most likely have when she hears the news. I don't like to think about what her reaction will be, so I try my best to avoid thinking about it as much as humanly possible.

As for Caden and I, things have been more than a little rough. I'm still hesitant around him, his confession still running through my head whenever I look at him. Our conversations have been strained, and I've actually started to avoid talking to him completely unless absolutely necessary. I spend my time occupying myself with school work, either doing my own or helping Max with his.

And even though it feels like forever since I talked to his teacher at back to school night, I make sure that I watch his reading and writing whenever I can. It was hard to spot at first, but now I've trained my eyes to see his mistakes. At first I thought it was just normal, making errors on spelling is something kids do regularly until they get older, but then it all started to come together. His b's were d's almost always, and he would even mistake c's for s's. I looked it up online, and one expert said that this was common for most dyslexics. And as the week went on, I just knew that Max was dyslexic.