The Man on the Moon (The Man Duology)

Chapter 15

As soon as I retrieved my arm from Max's shoulder, they burst into another flood of tears. Letting them get all of their emotions out, I studied their appearance. They had short, brown hair, with bangs to match, that swooped across their forehead. Before collapsing into more tears, Max lifted their head in order to deeply inhale. While they did this, I saw their face in more detail. Their eyes were blue, as I just discovered, but I did not notice how beautiful they were. Different shades of blue and green swirled together within their eyes, creating a mesmerizing, mysterious sea. North of Max's wonderful eyes were some equally as gorgeous thick eyebrows. They wore a shimmering, golden brown eye-shadow, which was brilliantly blended into their crease. Although most of their eye make-up had faded from their sobs, Max still looked flawless. They had tiny, cute freckles peeking through what was left of their foundation, which I preferred seeing rather than a false sense of a perfect complexion. Max's eyeliner, which was originally winged (or so they proclaimed) was continuing to run down their face, destroying every bit of make-up in its wake. My eyes followed the path of the running liquid eyeliner, revealing different blemishes that nobody would have noticed if their foundation was still intact. Max's jawline was on another level. It was if a carpenter had carved it by hand, making it extra special to look at.
Soon enough, I was admiring the way they dressed. Since I'd never seen anyone dress like this before, I was obsessed with looking at their clothes, and the way they maneuverered in them. Max was wearing a white short-sleeved shirt underneath a dusty brown, buttoned up waist coat. Keeping their legs warm were a pair of leather trousers, paired with some biker boots, in which hugged their feet. Wrapped around their left wrist were bands beyond galore. Some of them were unidentifiable since the titles had rubbed off, but you could tell that Max went to a lot of concerts. Around their right wrist was a single, silver charm bracelet, with several dangling charms -- a heart charm, lined with ruby red crystals on the rim, an old fashioned camera, with no other colour except for silver, a simple clock face, and, last but not least, a silver joint gender symbol. Every time they moved, it would jingle, causing me to giggle. Biting my lip, I wondered how to make Max stop crying. Honestly, I felt so much sympathy for them. I'd been in their shoes; I'd walked around in them. It's freaking painful.

"I'm sorry," Max sniffled, wiping their eyes with their fingers. "All these water works for nothing."

"It isn't nothing," I was almost crying myself. "What were those girls doing to you?"

Max went quiet, as they stared to Harvey and Deion. After a few seconds of staring, they completely avoided my question. "Your friends are staring at me."

"Indeed they are," I bit my lip, trying to think of a solution. "You know what? Let's go on a walk. You can show me around."

Wiggling their eyebrows, Max didn't budge. "Who even goes on walks anymore?"

Jumping up, I offered Max my open palm. "Do you want them to keep staring at you?"

Max led me from the town centre and through a park, which had many designated nature walks. The trees were positioned perfectly, lining the path we followed with fallen acorns. Every time I took a step, the floor would crunch underneath my feet. It reminded me of when you try to walk in snow, and you fail miserably.

"Listen, if you don't want to open up to me, you don't have to," I began, trying to make myself sound as friendly and easy-going as possible. "I know I'm just a stranger."

"Just a stranger? Wow... We were getting along so well." Max laughed, thick with sarcasm.

Chuckling along, I let my arms swing freely through the summer breeze. "Seriously though, you don't have to open up to me if you don't want to."

"You seem nice," They added, also letting their arms swing. "So I'll open up to you. But, don't take this lying down. I don't open up to people this easily."