The 5 times Max's family life was fucked up (and the one time it wasn't)

Chapter 5

The fifth time his family life changed was on the last day of camp.

He knew. He abso-fucking-lutely knew his parents wouldn't show up to pick him up. He knew they would abandon him. Everyone did. The campers had picked up on Max's parents' negligence sometime during month two. Hell, even David and Gwen figured it out once they discovered that his mom and dad didn't even care enough to sign him up for an official camp activity before signing him up. Everyone knew. He knew.

What he didn't know was why the hell it stung so much that it was like he never got the memo when the sunset and the sandy driveway stayed empty. Or why it practically burned when David drove him home only to find a "sold" sign in its driveway. Or why he could have sworn he felt his eyes well up with tears while eavesdropped on Gwen and David as overheard them agreed to drop Max off at child protective services the next morning.

Or why he'd never felt so shitty before despite having been through so much worse.