"Hey, Rose! Got yourself a new boyfriend? Who would ever want you?" I would... Max turned to see four football players, all of whom were of obviously superior strength, and wasn't scared in the least. As a matter of fact, Max faced them, head on. He squeezed Rose's hand to reassure her that everything would be ok. He then shifted his grip on his ukulele, he had more of them at home. However, before he could knock any of them over the head, the stupid quarterback had to cut them off.

After a brief conversation, of which he heard nothing, they all turned tail and ran. Max, as soon as they were out of sight, relaxed his grip on Rose's hand and breathed a sigh of relief. He hadn't realized how anxious he'd been. He apologized to Rose about his crushing grip, then he tugged her arm, "Hey," he said, "Let's get the fuck outta here."

Two seconds later he was smiling again, looking at her, and then he was off again, in the direction of his home. The only warning that Rose got of his hasty advance was a loud uttering of, "Onward!", before he half dragged her along with him on the road home.

A little ways down the road he turned to her, "Hey, you ok? You kinda froze on me there..."

Rose breathed a sigh of relief as Niko came forward and sent his pack of wolves away. But as she looked at him, looking for any sign of the Niko she had once known, all she saw was a smug look mixed with the disgust she knew was from seeing her. Then he too ran off, and Rose came alive again to look at Max, who was holding his ukelele in a threatening manner. She almost smiled...almost. But then she thought of her mother, lying dead in her grave, and she knew she had no right to be happy when her mother was gone. So the almost smile was wiped from her face, and her eyes were perpetually prickling with tears again.

Suddenly, she was dragged along by Max and she jogged to be able to avoid tripping in the mud and making a bigger fool out of herself. When they had been running for awhile, they slowed and Max turned to her. "Hey, you ok? You kinda froze on me there..." She nodded, looking down. Taking a deep breath, she brought her voice out again. It seemed it was easiest to talk to Max for some reason. "Yeah...yeah, I'm fine. I guess it just...yeah. I'm fine." She nodded, not trusting herself to speak her feelings. Last time, her supposed friends had ditched her and now they laughed at her and tormented her. If people, especially Max, knew how sad she was all of the time, wouldn't he do the same thing?

Finally, Emma made her way to the detention room. There was one other student in there and it wasn't one that the misfit was particularly fond of. Parker was the everything that Emma hated in the human race. She came in just in time to hear her say "What if she pierces me?" She rolled her eyes and plopped down in one of the seats.

"Oh honey, you couldn't pay me enough. It's sweet that you think I'd waste a needle on you, though." She pushed a piece of her long lavender hair behind her ear before pulling out a magazine filled to the brim with tattoo'd people and their stories. "Besides, if I was going to do that I'd just get my gun and tattoo 'Bitch' right across that pretty forehead of yours. Forgive my language, Mr. Nigel." She would probably get another detention for that, but she was already here for the rest of the year so it didn't really concern her.

Emma was no ones favorite student, at least not to her knowledge. She wasn't exactly a cheerleader with excellent grades and dreams of being a sorority girl. Her life would stay the way it was forever. She'd tattoo people, collect tattoos, give people piercings, and maybe open a shop of her own one day. It was no different than what she was already doing and teachers didn't really admire that. They'd constantly tell her that she was 'so smart and could do whatever she wanted,' but none of them realized that she was already doing what she wanted. She didn't want to be a doctor or scientist. Those things had never appealed to her in the slightest. Not even when her family was alive. If that made people view her as a slacker or a loser, she was okay with that because she knew it wasn't true. Hell, she had a career before most of these people even knew for sure what they wanted to do in their lives.

She thumbed through the magazine, waiting for the hour to be up so she could go to work, then go home and sleep. All of her days were like this, unless she happened to hang out with one of the girls from school, but that was rare. Occasionally, she felt like a misfit among the other misfits, even though she knew she shouldn't. She had a hard time keeping people close and tended to push them away.

"Yeah...yeah, I'm fine. I guess it just...yeah. I'm fine." She nodded, then she shut her mouth like a steel trap again. Max looked at her, he obviously didn't believe her, and he wasn't going to give up that easily.

"Come on," He said, taking her arm like the absolute gentleman that he is, "Walk with me, talk with me. Tell me what's up. I'm a great listener you know." He saw the confused look on her face and said, "Well, the thing with my sister, the only reason I didn't press the issue with her is because, well... You see, she has never flinched away from me like that before, that's how I knew she really needed some space. Any other time I would've bugged the fuck out of her 'til she told me, but she really looked like she needed space... So yeah."

They walked a little further, then he smiled at her, then he let the smile fade, "Look, I know you probably don't wanna talk about whatever's bothering you, but I just want you to know that I'm here to talk to you, and that you're welcome to come over to my place whenever, despite what Mickey might say." He smiled again, grinning from ear to ear, "Come on, let's get goin' Mickey usually falls asleep as soon as she gets home, but we can hang out 'til she wakes up if you want, I'll make some food for us, it'll be fun, we'll hang out, watch some t.v. or something, play some video games, whatever you want. Whatcha think?"

"Come on," Max held out his arm and Rose hesitantly put her hand on it, letting him guide her along the path. She'd never been in this situation before. A situation where it was free to tell someone what she was thinking. Even when she was queen bee it was a shaky royalty, and she had to be very careful where she put her step. "Walk with me, talk with me. Tell me what's up. I'm a great listener you know." She looked at him, confused. He hadn't wanted to listen to his sister... "Well, the thing with my sister, the only reason I didn't press the issue with her is because, well... You see, she has never flinched away from me like that before, that's how I knew she really needed some space. Any other time I would've bugged the fuck out of her 'til she told me, but she really looked like she needed space... So yeah."

They kept walking, and Rose bit her lip. She wanted to tell Max everything. She wanted to tell him that she was sad all the time, and how she couldn't eat because her foster-siblings always got to it before she did, and how terrified she was of speaking, and of her past. And especially, especially how much she missed her mom and all of the happiness that came with her being alive. But she just couldn't get the words to come out. She looked at him out of the corner of her eye and saw him smile at her for a second, before developing a serious expression. "Look, I know you probably don't wanna talk about whatever's bothering you," It wasn't that she didn't want to talk about it, it was that she just didn't know how... "But I just want you to know that I'm here to talk to you, and that you're welcome to come over to my place whenever, despite what Mickey might say." There it was, that almost smile. And then the memory, and it was gone. She didn't think she'd ever smile again. "Come on, let's get goin' Mickey usually falls asleep as soon as she gets home, but we can hang out 'til she wakes up if you want, I'll make some food for us, it'll be fun, we'll hang out, watch some t.v. or something, play some video games, whatever you want. Whatcha think?" She thought about it, and realized she hadn't hung out with anybody since she'd dropped to the bottom of the pyramid. Looking at him, she nodded. There were too many emotional thoughts on her mind for her to bring her voice up again without breaking down in sobs right there. She continued walking with Max, wondering if this could be her start to a new beginning and a new smile.

---

---

Mickey was so absorbed in her thoughts that she wasn't paying attention to where her feet were taking her. Home, of course, but the route was by pure muscle memory. So needless to say, when Helen Wu spoke up and said hello to her, Mic jumped damn near out of her own skin and took three hasty backward steps away from the voice, her red eyes wide open and frantic-looking. Then she realized who had spoken, and she relaxed, masking her face to it's usual "give-no-fucks-about-anything" stoicness she kept up around others, even the misfits for the most part.

She ran a pale hand through her platinum-silver hair and sighed. Wu had seen through it, that was obvious, for she voiced a question of how ya doin?. Anyone who knew Wu as well as Michaline did knew she was very careful to approach others when speeking, she tried to keep her distance from most, just as Michaline did herself.

She thought about bolting for a second, but then reconsidered. What was the point anymore? Jack, Rose, and Max all knew. There wasn't much point in hiding it any longer. "I...got some bad news today. A bit unexpected, not the sort of thing you want to get out, but no matter what, it's gonna get out anyway." She scuffed her shoe on the pavement beneath her foot, adverting her eyes from Wu's face, wondering if she continued or not. Wu was one of the few people who knew what Michaline had gone through at home. She would be able to put two and two together. At least Mic thought she would. She took another deep breath, crossed her arm over her chest while looking down at her feet, and said, "I found out I'm pregnant."

Emma Laurence had finally decided too make her appearance in detention. She muttered some bitter words to Parker and took her seat. "How rude" She snapped in Emma's direction then quickly added "At least I have a real future, all you've got is a stupid poking...gun...thing". Mr. Nigel was unimpressed with their behavior. But he was an art teacher and stereo typically he was creative and full of ideas. His face light up watching the girls exchange mean looks. "Both of you, that is enough! I've had it! Every other week I have you two in here and it is extremely unpleasant. You think I like sitting here listening to this?" typical teacher saying they have better things to do... "I'm assigning you both a project." He took out a slip of paper writing down the instructions. "After detention Parker will go with Emma to what ever after school thing she has. Then tomorrow after school Emma will go with Parker." He scribbled down words as Parker gaped at the project. "And every night you will write or draw something that happened that afternoon describing the other person..." He handed the paper to Parker. "Mr. Nigel No!!!! I have cheer after this, I have to go it is mandatory! Mr. Nigel what if she attacks me!" Parker whined and stomped her foot. Her face turned a cheery red.

The bell rung. "Go with Emma, Parker. Go. It's only a few hours."

Max couldn't help but smile at Rose as they walked arm in arm down the road toward his home. He never thought in a million years that he'd ever be so lucky as to spend any amount of time with her. Of course, the circumstances were less than ideal for her, he knew. She was the newest social pariah at Jackson High, and with that position came some modicum of, well, pain, both emotional and physical, especially if the change is as sudden and as drastic as hers was. The odds that someone who goes through that would remain completely sane are not very good. Considering all she'd been through over the past couple of weeks, Max thought she was doing really well.

They walked for a while longer before he stopped abruptly in front of a rather impressive mid-sized, three bed, one and a half bathroom, suburban house. He caught her as she stumbled slightly, and smiled before spreading his arms wide with an exclamation of, "Viola!" He took her hand in his and led her inside. The interior was rather bland as Macon didn't care enough to decorate the house, although there was a large and impressive entertainment system in the living room with a very plush couch. The kitchen was well stocked however. Both the entertainment center and the kitchen stocking were thanks to Max, who's many side-jobs provided him ample funds to buy mostly whatever he liked. "Mickey! I'm home! ... Huh... Hey, uh, grab a seat anywhere you want, I'm gonna go check on Mickey real quick, see if she's awake."

He poked his head into her room, not really thinking she'd be in there, but when he checked his own room, only to find it empty, he got a little worried. However, he knew that Macon was in a full body cast somewhere, and he knew Michaline was a big girl. He knew that odds were she was safe. after assuring himself of this fact he went back out into the living room, "Well I suppose she must not be home yet, probly took the long way..." He shrugged, "Oh well. I'm fucking starving, what do you think? Hungry? I'm down to cook whatever you feel like while we wait, you know, provided I have the stuff it needs."

Rose and Max continued walking for a bit before Max stopped abruptly in front of a very nice house. She stumbled, not prepared for the sudden stop, and Max caught her with ease. She straightened and looked up at the house. She felt tears prick her eyes as she realized it was very similar to her old house. That was, all suburban houses were similar, but for some reason this one was more so. Max led her inside by the hand and Rose looked down as if it was a foreign object. That last person who had held her hand was Niko, and at this point Rose didn't even know if that was real. They walked in to the kitchen and Rose looked around. It really was a very nice house, and it looked like it had almost everything in it. Max started calling for his sister and he told her to grab a seat.

Rose looked around for a bit as Max went upstairs and looked for Michaline. She walked into the living room and was awed at the amount of equiptment there was in there. It looked like they were really well off. Taking a look at their games, she saw several of the ones she had had at her house. She ran her fingers over Just Dance and felt more tears prick her eyes and threaten to spill as she remembered the amount of times her and her mother used to play that. They would stay up for hours and just dance as long as they could before passing out. She turned and shook her head to clear the sadness as Max walked back in. "Well I suppose she must not be home yet, probly took the long way..." He shrugged, "Oh well. I'm fucking starving, what do you think? Hungry? I'm down to cook whatever you feel like while we wait, you know, provided I have the stuff it needs."

She shrugged, not really caring. She'd pretty much lost her taste for food since she hadn't had anything except lunch in the school cafeteria for the past few weeks since her foster-sisters always ate it before she could even get a spoonful. I don't even think they know I exist... She thought as she looked back at Max. Clearing her throat, she bit her lip timidly. She wasn't used to people asking her what she wanted, not in a long time anyway. "Um. It doesn't matter to me. Whatever you feel...whatever you want is fine."

---

---

Michaline chewed at her bottom lip, clearly uncomfortable with the idea of doing anything. She swallowed once, before shaking her head. "I...I don't know." While she did believe that Wu was sincere in her concern, Mic couldn't tear down the walls she'd buit around herself. Her eyes scanned the alleyway quickly, and she fidgeted, shifting from one foot to the other.

"I need to get out of here, Max is probably looking for me." And with that, she finally did bolt. The walk home was one she really didn't remember, not that it mattered. What met her inside the house was not something she expected.

She stood in the drive, staring up at the house. On the outside, it looked just like a normal house, like all the others on the street. There was even a tire swing in the front yard. But on the inside it was nothing but a house of horrors. Ten years of pain, and seven years of absolute torture. And now she had something to show for it. If anything, if they could get a DNA test on the kid and prove it was Macon's, then it would prove what he had done to her. She laughed to herself bitterly. "At least you'll be good for something." She placed a hand on her stomach. With a resolute frown, she walked into the house.

Rose and Max were standing in the living room. Michaline looked at them, frozen in the doorway, halfway through a step, one foot inside the house, one foot outside, her hand still on the doorknob. She blinked her eyes, looking back and forth between Max and Rose, not sure what to make of the situation. And all she could think of was the comment she'd made to her twin a couple of months ago.

"Fine, whatever, just promise me you'll use a rubber!"

She blinked a few seconds more, and then she couldn't help it. For the first time in months, Michaline Walker laughed. She didn't even know why. It took her almost a minuet to stop, and when she finally did, she wipped her eyes and looked at Rose. "I'm sorry, Rose, I don't mean to make you feel uncomfortable, I just couldn't help it. You being in this house was not something I expected. I'm sorry I laughed, really. I was just caught off guard." The smile she gave the former cheer-captain was one that didn't quite meet her eyes.

Within seconds her mood had changed completely. The walls that had come down when she laughed were back up in an instant. She smiled again, and then glanced at her brother. "I'll be in your room, okay?" She avoided his eyes, and she certianly didn't want the conversation she knew would come, not in front of Rose, at least. But she lingered a bit, as if expectimg Max to say something. Then she turned, and headed up the stairs.