Max found out the hard way that Jason was no longer living at his old place. He waited the next morning, but no one ever answered the door. Furthermore, he noticed Jason was absent for the next few days as well. Gone without a single word.

‘I thought we were close…’  The teen was mildly offended, but then again, they weren’t that close at the same time. Sure, they walked to school every morning recently, but they still hardly conversed, and during lunch they had their own friend groups. Well, in all honesty, now that he thought about it, he never really saw Jason during lunch...

It wasn’t until the next week started that he noticed a unique stroke of lavender-gray hair when he was walking into the school. The teen’s head shot up instantaneously, and he called out to the lavender-haired from the gates. “Jason! Jason!” He paced towards him.

Jason turned around and didn’t recognize the other teen running towards him at all. Max was puzzled at his confusion at first until he mentally facepalmed himself. ‘Of course Jason wouldn’t recognize him right away. It had been a brief while.’ The timing wasn’t the issue. It was more so with appearances.

Max walked over, short-sleeved uniform shirt, backpack strapped on both shoulders, a bright smile as always, but this time accompanied by bright bleached blond hair practically glowing in the sun rays. Dying his hair had been on his mind for a while now, and now that they’ve started high school, he couldn’t think of a better time. His hair was still wavy and short, but it was peeking from behind his ears and neck.

When Jason finally registered his voice and features, he stared with awe, caught off guard. “Max?”

“Haha hi…feels like it’s been a while, huh…? What do you think?” The now-blond timidly played with a lock, curling it over his finger. “It might be messy ‘cause I did it myself.”

Jason always had a comeback or something smart to say, but for once he was mildly starstruck. If anything, the new hair suited his hazel-green eyes the most. It accentuated him very much, like a diamond that was finally polished. Who would’ve thought changing one aspect could change the whole vibe and energy so much? Albeit messy indeed, the brown roots were visible, and a couple unbleached strands were in between, but somehow they meshed just fine.

“It suits you…” Jason spoke up at last, guiding the other’s finger off that lock of hair as an excuse to feel the wavy strands himself.

“Haha, thanks…oh! By the way! Where were you this entire time?! Is everything okay?”

“I moved.”

“Well, no wonder. That explains why, no matter how long I waited, no one answered the door at your place. Where did you move to? Alone or with your mom?”

“You’re asking too many questions.” Jason closed his eyes and slowly turned away. The bell would ring soon, and they couldn’t stand in the front yard all day.

“What? Jason, please tell me.” There was urgency in Max’s voice as he reached out for the other’s arm, but at the same time, there was delicate concern and plead.

“I’m living somewhere else. A house full of unwanted kids, nothing special.”

“A foster care? Orphanage?”

“Mh, something like that.” Jason undermines.

“But why…”

“Where else? Anywhere’s better than that house.” The teens entered the building and walked down the hall to sign in.

Max was quiet as he swiped his ID card. “Well…what if…” He hesitated. “What if you lived with us…?”

The lavender-haired teen turned his whole head to face him; he didn’t look pleased at all, and his eyes were dead cold as they stared him down. The response was very unwarranted and froze the blond in his steps. He could’ve sworn he said something so wrong, but he knew he didn't; in fact, quite the opposite.

“Are you kidding? Of course not.” Jason spat before turning back to normal. “Who are you? Makes no sense for me to impose like that.”   

That stung. Max knew what the other meant, saying they were mostly strangers and he wouldn’t feel comfortable living on someone’s income like that, but it still hurt him to hear that. Was he the only one that was drawn to the other?

“Yeah…” He quietly followed the other to the classrooms, clenching one of his straps.

 “Hey son! What’s cookin’ today?” Max’s dad, Willis, marched into the small, two-bedroom house. He came home from his construction work and tossed his helmet on the couch before dropping on to it himself.

“Welcome home, dad! Nothing special, just stir-frying some bell peppers and cabbage with baked chicken.” Max answered from the kitchen, which was joint with the living room space. “How was work?”

“Same old. How’s school?”

“Same old too, I suppose…Jason liked the hair, by the way.” The blond added for fun, for conversation sake.

“Oh yea? That’s cool. Who was that again?”

“Daaddd! Come on, I talk about him all the time. The purple-haired, you remember?” Max whined.

“Oh! Right right! The purple fella, the one you’re always hangin’ out with from a long time ago.”

“Yes. I mean, we don’t hang out that much. I always tried talking to him as a kid, but he never really budged. We just recently started walking to school together. But… It seems that’s no longer happening considering he moved now.” Max explained as he poured the steaming vegetables onto a large plate. It was just the two of them, so most of the time they just picked from the same plate.

“Oh? What do you mean? Family moved? Well, that’s not a terrible thing considering how bad these streets are.”  His dad shrugged.

“But that’s the thing. He didn’t move with his family. He’s living in an orphanage or something. His mom recently went into a coma, so he has nowhere else to be.”

“What the? What’s the point of that? He could just live with us; I’m sure you two could share a room.” Willis made his way to the small kitchen table and pulled out a chair.

“Exactly! That’s what I said! But…he doesn’t agree…”

“Nah! Nonsense! Where is he at?”

“Uh…isn’t there only one home care like that in this area?” Max wondered, taking a bite out of his fork. 

The next morning, Willis was still at home, when normally he would leave hours before Max woke up. “Uh, hey dad, what’s up? You’re not going to work?”

“Oh, hey morning. I just had to stop by somewhere first. You up for school?”

“Yeah, but there’s still plenty of time. Stop by where?”

“Ah~ don’t worry so much about it.”

 Okay, now he was worried about it. Max stared at him back but stifled the urge to say anything. He’ll let it slide…for now.

That is, until his dad left the house, and he instantly followed behind. He’ll accept the recuperations later, but something in his gut strongly told him to follow. To say he was stunned when he pulled up to where his dad was parked would be a massive understatement. He was literally in front of the orphanage!

‘Ugh…’ Max facepalmed as he hid behind one of the parked cars. ‘No, he didn’t.’  He dreaded as he watched his airhead of a father march in. ‘What is he gonna do…? Jason is going to kill him for this!’ The lavender-haired already felt intimidating when he was smiling; Max wouldn’t want to imagine what it would feel like to be in his vicinity when he was angry. He may be thinking too much, but at times it was hard to tell what the other was thinking. Despite his words and expressions, it always felt like Jason was calculating something entirely different in his mind, especially when his eyes were closed.

A moment after Willis entered the building, the blond glanced left and right to make sure the coast was clear before sneaking in with a bunch of kids through the main doors.

“Jason! Let me see him! There’s no point in him living here!” Max recognized Willis’s voice coming from inside the main office.

“Excuse me, sir, what is your relationship to him? Are you a parent?” The head of the house attempted to calm him down. She was stern in her approach, not standing from her desk at all.

“Uh, no—”

“A relative?”

“No—”

“Then we cannot allow the child to leave with you.”

“But we’re neighbors; my boy has known him since he was this high! He can just stay with us!” Willis tried to convince her.

“Sir, I cannot allow that, and I will need you to leave.”

“Can’t you just call him over once?”

'Geez, dad, please stop; you’re embarrassing everyone.’ Max eavesdropped from outside.

“What is going on?” An even-pitched, hostile yet familiar voice startled him. Max looked up to find Jason a couple feet away.

“Jason!” the blond hissed and automatically straightened himself. “Uh…you’re here—I mean, morning.”

“One of the elders told me what the commotion was about—who is here? Why are you here?” The lavender-haired interrogated.

“Sir, I will call security if you don’t leave—” The main office door they were standing outside opened, and Willis was being guided out by the head lady.