"Semi-Short Stories" [ Story Collection ]

The Trial [] 9/12 []

"We of the jury find the defendant guilty of child neglect."

It had been two days since the trial concluded. Daciana was taken back into custody, Charles had moved in with two of his friends, the search to find a good therapist for Josie had begun, Chad was acting as if nothing had happened, and Max had been contemplating getting into contact with their dad. Cosmin, that is. Their biological father.

Their finger hovered over the 'add friend' button for a solid minute before making contact with the warm screen. The request was accepted a few minutes later. Another couple of minutes pass - no message. Max decided to initiate the conversation.

M; [ hello ]

C; [ hello! ]

M; [ so ur my dad ]

C; [ I believe so, yes. ]

M; [ and ur gonna get custody of me ]

C; [ if I can. ]

Max views the message and leaves it unanswered for about five minutes. They're very conflicted.

M; [ im not moving back to romania ]

Cosmin can be seen typing, stopping, and typing again.

C; [ well I guess I'll be moving to America. ]

This...confuses them.

M; [ ??? just like that? u dont even know me, y tf would u move here so quickly ]

C; [ exactly that reason. I don't know you, but I want to change that. to develop a relationship. and if that can't be done in romania, then it can be done here. ]

M; [ ok i guess, if thats what u want ]

C; [ it is what I want. I'll have to go back to Romania to pack. would you like to come with me to meet your grandparents? they're very sweet. you can bring someone with you, if you decide to go, because I know it's probably an uncomfortable idea to leave the country with someone you don't really know. ]

Another message that they dismiss for a little while. They try to focus on something else. They scroll through Instagram, play a round of a game, scroll through Facebook, and then finally decide to answer.

M; [ i need to think about that ]

C; [ I understand, no worries. ]

Max stares at this message. They were going to leave it, to not answer at all, but they decide that they wanted to at least try. Maybe this guy was a genuinely nice person - maybe they'd end up getting along.

Maybe Max would end up with a positive, legitimate parental figure.

They begin typing.

M; [ thank u for understanding ]

A brief pause.

M; [ can u tell me about urself? ]

That sparked a conversation that lasted until Max fell asleep.