Julianne Hunter was a clever woman. She obviously knew how hard what she'd said would be to swallow, especially considering their age. But... it was necessary. She knew that well.
As for the room, the shock of the statement shook them all so badly that they had a hard time coming up with what to say.
And Max, he simply remained silent.
His eyes turned to his mother's, albeit for a moment, before turning back to the ground.
And then...
Max: It's fine, guys.
Yet again, it just made them feel worse for him
Max: Really. It's fine.
He put his hands behind his head and reclined a bit in his chair.
Max: It's... fine.
His eyes narrorwed as he said that. Something in his chest welled up as he finished speaking.
As for the others, Luke and Ken were at a loss for words. What could they say? Just... what could they say?
And Rose...
... she started sobbing, much to everyone's shock.
Max: Rose?
All of them, including Julianne turned to her as she started to clean up her tears with her hands.
Rose: I'm really sorry. I'm really really sorry. (sob) I just....
Max: Rose....
And with that, she slowly buried her face in the palms.
Rose: I just...
And with a dying girly squeal, she started an all out cry.
The room itself remained silent but this one girl crying.
Tiffany: (thinking: Rose...)
Ken: (thinking: Oh Rose...)
Luke's eyes simmered as he watched her weep.
However, that was nothing compared to the feeling the Hunters felt seeing that.
What Rose felt was an incredible amount of empathy for two people she considered friends.
She could only imagine how much pain they must have felt.
Their planet was gone. So, in essence, they had no home. More than that, everybody they'd known in their home was gone.
So these two... one could only imagine what was going on in their hearts.
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They didn't leave their planet, they were trapped on Earth.
And what both Hunters felt was an incredibly odd feeling.
An odd feeling of gratefulness. An odd feeling of joy.
That someone could sympathise with their plight like that.
That someone they'd only met that week cared that much.
How could they not feel the way they did?
As Rose sobbed, a small, but grateful smile appeared on the faces of both Hunters.
Not just a happy smile, but also, a gentle one.
And then, Max gently lay his hand on to Rose's back.
Max: Hey, Rose....
The weeping girl turned her head to Max, only to see what to her was the last thing she'd expected to see.
Max.... smiling? Why?
She immediately froze.
Rose: M... Max....
And she could not deny the fact that Max's gentle smile somewhat calmed her.
Julianne: (thinking: Oh... Maxie....)
Tiffany: (thinking: Is he....?)
Ken and Luke remained silent, enjoying the beauty of the moment.
As for Max, he continued his path of unpredictability....
He gave her a gentle pat on the back and continued....
Max: ... don't worry about it. It's no big deal.
It wasn't that he'd said it, but rather... how he'd said it.
He didn't say it like he was holding something back, or like he was simply trying to be strong...
In fact, he said it so nonchalantly that everyone watching him was immediately stunned.
Rose: H... huh?
For a whole moment, Rose stopped crying. How on Earth had Max calmed down so quickly?
Julianne Hunter's eyes widened. Even she, his own mother, was shocked.
Max: Really. Dont worry about it.
He then lay his hands behind his head again and stretched back against his chair, leaving all of his friends shocked by his mother.
Tiffany: (sighs) (thinking: Ugh.... Maximillian Hunter... Should've figured...)
Ken: (thinking: Always full of surprises, aren't you, Max...)
Luke: (thinking: Well.... at least he seems fine.)
Julianne: (thinking: Well... that's my Maxie.... I guess....)
Max's eyes turned to his friends who were now looking at him with questionable stares.
Max: What?
Ken: Well...
Max: Hmmm?
Tiffany: You....! (sighs) Forget about it.
She decided not to speak out. One reason for that being the fact that the teenager had lost his planet.
However, Max did not read between the lines.
Max: Hmm?
Ken: It's just....
And a teary Rose interjected.
Rose: You... you aren't bothered by the fact that your planet was destroyed?
The question made Max pause for a moment. His eyes simmered again.
Max: Well... to be completely honest with you...
His eyes turned momentarily to his mother's. She simply nodded at him, as if in approval of what he was about to say.
Max: ... it does really bother me.
And at that moment, a small bit of pain welled up in his eyes.
Rose: Max...
Max: Sometimes, I think about it, y'know......
At that point, Tiffany, Ken, Luke, and Rose all shared glances. Max was... actually opening up.
Of course, Ken had already seen this side of Max, but for the other three, it was like seeing a firece wolf cuddle a pup.
Max: My family.... my friends...
He paused for another moment.
Max: Everything I'd ever known, and everything I'd ever learned from that place...
Rose: Max....
Tears were welling up in her eyes again.
Max: Well.... it's all gone now.
He turned his eyes to the ground.
Tiffany: Max....
Even Tiffany couldn't help but voice her concern.
She wouldn't say that the two of them were friends, let alone particularly good friends. But even then, she felt horrible having heard all of that. Most especially from someone like Max.
All the teens beacme quiet again, with Julianne Hunter keeping her mouth closed shut.
She would never interrupt a moment like this for her son.
Real friends. On top of that, real friends with real feelings of love towards her son.
All that was being expressed right in front of her. In fact, while she herself was enjoying the moment, what she was really doing was trying to keep herself from having some kind of reaction.
Even something as small as a wince. She wouldn't let that happen.
And Max continued....
Max: But it's no big deal. Really....
And then he lifted his head up.
Max: And I'm glad you guys care and all, but really...
And he said this with a smile on his face.
Max: .... it's no big deal.