4-:- Ten years later -:-
Max once again turned up the volume on her ipod. It didn't help much, but she didn't exactly have tons of options.
I bet she stole it, a girl like that, I wouldn't be surprised. Always listening to it, in her own little world. . .
This made Max angry. She hadn't stole her ipod, she'd worked hard to get the money for it, collecting bottles for recycle, doing odd jobs for months until she'd scraped up enough money for a secondhand one. They hadn't believed she could do it, thought she would use the money for beer or something.
Max jumped a foot when a plump hand grabbed her shoulder from behind, wheeling around. She was face to face with an overweight woman in a floral dress and a forced smile.
"My, I'm sorry. Didn't mean to startle you!" she said, her voice sickly sweet. Ruffian. God knows where she's been before here. Probably does drugs. . .
"Do you need something?" Max asked, her voice dripping with acid. She hated her newest foster parent with a passion, and wasn't afraid to show it.
"Dinner's ready dearest. Wash your hands and get the others."
Filthy. You'd think she hadn't bathed a day in her life.
As she walked to the bathroom, Max turned up her music once again, so it was deafening. Still, they were still a murmur in the back of her mind. They always were.
-:-
"Max, can you pass the corn?" asked Maria, the ten year old Hispanic girl who shared a room with Max.
"Sure, whatever," she mumbled, lifting the bowl over to the other side of the table.
Probably the most she's ever done with her life. Has to be, to end up here. . .
Max squeezed her eyes shut at malicious sneering, rubbing her temples. Joshua, the other kid that lived in the foster home, laughed at that.
"What's wrong, ya stressed?" her drawled, still laughing. Max did her best to ignore him and push back the whispers. But they fought back, crippling her defenses. Finally, it was too much. She yelled, lunging out of her chair. Food and dishes went flying. She stumbled away from the table, trying to escape the array bursting throughout her brain. Her legs felt as if they were made from a cross of jelly and lead. The voices were getting more clamorous, literally about to shattered her skull in their mad rampage. There were thousands now, blending together, yet each one separate and distinct. She crumpled to the ground, holding her hands tightly to her ears.
"Leave me alone!" she screamed, oblivious to the world around her. Black spots dotted her vision, growing bigger, joining with one another. But just before she sank completely into the darkness, one voice one apart from the others for a moment, perfectly clear to Max.
I always knew she would go off one day.