"Look, just let me—boys! Wait, Max—what are you doing here?” Willis discerned them right away. “Jason! There you are! Look, tell them you’d rather live with us; you don’t need to be forced to live here.”

It took a second for Jason to recognize the man, and when he did, his turquoise eyes darkened with disappointment and inconvenience. Furthermore, his jaw clenched tightly to the point where his mouth was in a straight line.

“No.” It was a stern, quiet, yet audible refusal. “I’m not going with you.”

“There you have your answer; now you must leave.” The head demanded.

Willis was in confusion but ultimately sighed. “I don’t get it…Okay, but listen, we may not be family, but you can ask for anything if you ever find yourself in a pickle. You don’t have to go through this alone.”

“Right. Thanks, Max’s father, but that won’t be necessary.” Jason forced the words out with a partial smile, closing his eyes upward in the process.

“Maybe sometimes you can stay over the weekends? You guys go to the same school anyway, right?” Willis suggested.

"Okay, that’s enough, dad, please!” Max pushed him towards the door from behind.

“Okay, okay.” Willis surrendered and left, giving the head one last apologetic wave.

“I’m really sorry about that, Jason. I promise I didn’t send him.” The blond immediately ran to Jason, sounding as sincere as he could.

Jason studied him coldly. He was telling the truth. The teen sighed. This was such a hassle to deal with. He was agitated yet couldn’t bring himself to yell or take revenge on the blond. “Just keep things to yourself next time.”

“I will. I’m sorry again. But…Dad was right; if you ever wanna come over or need anything, let me know…I’m here for you.” The blond quietly added the last part.

“Mh. You should head back, or you’re going to be late.” The lavender-haired told her, and all the while he turned away as well.

“Yeah, I’ll see you at school then.” Max nodded, not fully satisfied, but it didn’t seem like Jason was mad at him, per se.

Jason signed up for student council. He didn’t know why, but he knew he needed to. A power complex, much? Who knows.

“Jason~!” Max's all-too-familiar voice sang his name as usual. He had gotten awfully used to the other teen following him around. “Oh? Are you signing up for a club?” The blond questioned him when he saw Jason finish signing his name on one of the posters on the wall.

“No. Student council.”

“Wow…you're so smart.” Max marveled.

“And you?”

“Hm…I don't know if there's a particular club that interests me. I do enjoy playing soccer with the soccer team after school. Maybe the culinary club would be nice? There's nothing better than learning and distributing a nice, warm, simple dessert that brings a smile on the other person's face. And it feels good too when you eat it.”

“Hn. I don’t know how much I agree.” When was the last time he had an ‘delicious’ warm home-cooked meal?

“What?? You don’t mean that. Okay, don’t worry, I’ll cook for you one time. It’ll change your mind completely—trust me.”

“Okay that’s great and all, but I meant what are you upto right now?” Jason scoffed, dismissing the idea. He didn’t hold high hopes for anything unless he was the one carrying out the action.

“Ugh, that. I’m just headed towards social studies class." The blond’s shoulders slumped.

“Stop wasting time, then.”

“Oh no, you're already starting to sound like a student president. What class do you have right now?”

“Math.”

"Ughh, that's even worse!” Max scratched his hair.

“Is there any class you like?”

“Arts and crafts.” The blond's spirit lit up and he answered without hesitation.

“Figured.” Jason stifled a smile. The other teen was so chaste sometimes. He was probably the only thing that brought on a genuine urge to smile.

“Hey Maxie, where did you get your hair done in the forest? Hahaha,” one of the girls innocently in their class teased at the mosaic bleached hair.

"Oh, come on, it’s not that bad for a first try.” Max reasoned without malice. The girls laughed, failing to realize Jason's dark presence. The lavender-haired absolutely disapproved and glowered at the girls especially the one who made the meaningless remark.

He had held himself back from saying anything to Max, and truthfully, the blond was right; the hair didn't look so bad. So how dare they say anything when he didn't? It made him fist his hands and his skin prickle.

The girl finally picked up on the strong, menacing aura coming her way and flinched internally. ‘What is his problem?’ She almost felt threatened as Jason’s cold steel, unblinking turquoise eyes sent murderous daggers. Before Jason could say anything, she and the group hurried along anyway.

“A bunch of invalids.” Jason mumbled.

“Hm? Don't mind them; we're used to joking around. Uh, Jason, are you okay?” Max had to ask when the other teen continued to look in the girl's direction instead of at him.

Turquoise eyes finally landed on him, and they were empty and unreadable. “Yeah. Fine. I need to go.” He told her and began walking in the opposite direction.

“Yeah…same.  See you later!” Max chirped, waving but didn't hear a response or reaction in return. “Or not…” ‘What was up with him just now? Maybe he thought they were being serious? Did he get angry for my sake?’ The feeling was very flattering. The blond was blinded by his own fluttering feelings that he dismissed the other’s abnormal attitude towards the prior situation.

Jason could recognize Max’s bleached hair from miles away. That was no surprise. However, him smiling and laughing towards another man in the hallway across from him was. The other person didn’t seem to be anyone from their class; he was tall, a bit built, and had his hair spiked up. Something about the atmosphere the two created in Jason’s eyes didn’t sit right with him. The lavender-haired  raised a brow as he walked towards them. He couldn’t take his eyes off the blond.

‘Did he always smile like that?’ Jason pondered. He hadn’t paid too much attention because he had seen him like that for years now. However, right now, there was this warm, radiant glow around him, completely chaste and pure. Jason imagined Max smiling like that towards him, and that image was much more soothing to his nerves. When the lavender-haired turned the corner, Max was standing by himself.

“Who was that?” Jason immediately imposed.

“Hn? Ohl hey Jason.”

“The guy you were talking to?”

“Oh, just now? That was an upperclassman from my club.”

“What’s his name?”

“Hey, what’s with all these questions?” Max whined. “Does it matter?”

Jason stared him down pensively. “Why are you hiding it?”

“I’m not hiding it…”

“Whatever, it’s very insignificant anyhow. I have to head back to the student council.” With that, Jason abruptly turned around and headed back. Max was only left confused and blinking after him.

“Let’s walk home.” Jason sought out Max for a change.

The blond did a double take, but his eyes lit up ever so subtly. “R-really?”

 “Yeah. Meet me at the gates.” Jason began walking.

The blond loved the idea, considering they hadn’t walked together in a long while now and it was impossible to meet up in the mornings. He was so looking forward to it that he didn’t even notice when he bumped into Jason’s back. “Oops.”

“Watch where you’re going.”

“Why did you stop, though?”

“…No reason.” Jason thought he caught a glimpse of a certain upperclassman, but he must have imagined it. “What’s gotten you so deep in thought?”

“Huh, oh nothing.” Max couldn’t admit that his heart was literally fluttering at the thought of them spending more time and walking home together. “Oh! Jason, how did your test results go?”

“For which class?”

“Math.”

“Decent. Why?”

“Uh…well I kinda failed it…math isn’t my subject…” Max cowered.  

“Are you serious?” The lavender-haired genuinely asked. “It was only on one chapter though…”

“You don’t have to rub it in now…” The blond deadpanned.

“Are you asking me for help?” Jason blurted.

“Um…would it be out of the realm of possibilities if I did…” Max pleaded with big eyes. Jason actually didn’t mind. Despite hating small favors for people for free, especially when he had enough to focus on.

“Sure.” The word was out of the taller teen’s mouth before he could even stop it. It took Max a moment to process the response since Jason had no change in expression or anything.

“Really?! Wow, thanks! You’re such a lifesaver. We can do my house this weekend.” Max smiled wildly. “You’re so smart, Jason.”  Jason secretly admired the praise.

“Max?” A third voice interjected them from behind. The blond instantly turned his head to find his spiky-haired friend.

“Hey,” The blond greeted. “What are you doing here?”

Jason didn’t even notice when a frown appeared on his face.

“Was about to check on the plants on the roof. You wanna come?” The upperclassman replied.