Okay so I know I said I wouldn't write but this one just came out of me. I dunno. I don't think it's any good but whatever.

Disclaimer: I own nada. Song credit goes to The Higher and Carried Underwood.

The books still sat, neatly placed one next to another in her bookshelf, collecting a thin layer of dust. The strange mix of titles added color and flavor to the aging room.

The collage of pictures of happy friends and family was still plastered on the wall, I was surprised that not one picture had fallen down; though the adhesive was fading a few corners were sticking up.

Her bed was still unmade, like she had just rolled out of bed, groaning and cursing the world like usual. Sometimes she swore that there was an imprint of her face where she fell off that bed every morning. The purple sheets were now a dull lilac and the pillows were no longer white.

The desk was still messy, signs of her jumbled and swirling thought process. The textbooks lay open to random pages and the papers were scattered all around the table with pencils and pens and erasers and led boxes flung hastily around.

The closet was still open and the laundry was still there, overflowing with her clothes that she threw half-hazardously inside. The dresser was dusty and her trophies were in the same condition that she left them in, dusty and worn.

The drawings that she drew now showed what she felt. Before they were just dark and creepy but now we all could see the conflict and struggles that lay underneath. The words that she tried to get out so often but was turned away in mockery.

Everything about her room was the same, from the unmade to the faint smell of oranges and clementine that always seemed to be there.

The only thing that was gone was the note. The one word etched into a post it that was left on the desk.

Goodbye.

That one word that brought her parents world crumbling down and sent shockwaves rippling through the school.

At first they thought it was a suicide. After all, what would they think after such a note? But it was ruled out short after. There were no signs of a suicidal teenager, a frustrated and emotionally conflicted teenager, sure but not suicidal. And Maximum Batchelder was far from suicidal.

For months after her disappearance I would bang my head against a wall, trying to think of what went wrong. Why couldn't I see? Why didn't I see that she wasn't happy? Why was I so oblivious? I blamed myself for her disappearance. I kicked myself over and over again. But no one cared after they ruled out suicide. After they realized she ran away, they all scoffed at her. Laughed at her.

It's funny how fast society can change their views on people. If she had wrapped a rope around her neck then she would have been a beautiful angel but she ran away, she was a coward. I didn't understand how they could change their perspective on the situation so easily. How people were so vulnerable to change. I didn't understand how vicious and cruel people could be. The problems were still the same. The emotions were still the same. But her reaction was different. I thought she had done the right thing by running away, as hard as it may have been for her. She didn't try to end her life, at least she gave herself a chance at having a good life. But that didn't matter to them. She was cowardly in their eyes but she was strong in the eyes of those who loved her.

She escaped.

She knew her life could be better and there wasn't a need to end her life. So she ran.

We all cried. Even after the suicide was out. We were still affected. We being her parents, Anne and Jeb and me, her boyfriend.

But then that all stopped when the letter came. It was from her. She had found out the truth that her parents had tried to bury under their fake love and care.

She wasn't theirs. She was Jeb's alright, but her mother was still out there. He had taken her from her mother when she was little to spite her mom and raised her away from her mom.

Anne and Jeb stopped pretending to care then.

I was the only one left.

She didn't have many friends here. She had one or two but they eventually got over it. I was the only one who remembered Maximum Batchelder in all her glory.

I remembered everything about her, her laugh, her eyes, and her voice. She loved to sing, she would sing to me all the time and her eyes would light up so bright you would mistake them for stars. I remembered her biting sarcasm and how she would scrunch her eyes when she was thinking. I had every move of hers memorized. I was completely smitten with her.

It broke my heart when she left.

I still wasn't completely fixed but I had moved on. It still hurt when people talked about her but I found a new love, her name was JJ.

But that didn't stop the sting. I still did love her after all, she was my first love.

It was a few months ago- four years after Max left- that I heard her.

JJ and I were going to a late-night movie. It was a nice night; there was a crescent moon that shone brightly in the partly-cloudy sky with bright stars standing adjacent to it. The sky looked like something out of a satellite picture; everything was so crisp and clear. The highway was busy even at eleven at night, cars rushed by ours as we drove under the ever-frequent streetlights. JJ was talking about how the streetlights and busy highway looked like something out of a movie and I couldn't help but agree. As cheesy as it sounds, it was beautiful in its own urban way. JJ sighed happily and switched the radio on.

It was then that I heard it. Smooth, crisp and filled with emotions. I jerked my arm and we were sent spiraling across the highway. JJ screamed as our tires left skid marks on the smooth-paved road and we barely missed hitting two cars and a eighteen-wheeler. But her screams and the honks of the angry drivers were muffled by her voice. All I heard was her.

She was everywhere, filling up every corner of the car and taking over. If it her voice was a plant, then it would have been wrapping its breathing vines around me and slowly pulling me to its heart. It was like a thick fog that was clouding my vision and barreling down my throat. It was like she was back with me, right next to me. It was like it was everything that happened never happened. Everything that we had been through flashed through my mind.

I was brought back to reality by JJ's hand covering mine and taking control of the wheel. My eyes widened and I swore underneath my breath. I jerked the car back to the lane, narrowly missing a light post and pulled over on the other side. I jammed my foot onto the brake and we screeched to a stop on the grassy field next to the lane.

JJ and I were breathing heavily for a few minutes before she turned to yell at me. But my attention had returned to the song playing.

And she said, you're not gonna take away my dream
'Cause I'm runnin' away and soon you'll see
That things will be fine if I try
And she said, you're just wastin' your breath on me
'Cause I made up my mind and soon you'll see
That things will be fine if I try
And they called her a runaway

JJ was yelling at me but all I was focused on the radio announcer's voice.

"And there you have it folks, Maximum Ride's new single The (Runaway) Artist." He said joyfully.

"Are you even listening to me!?" JJ asked, annoyed, her voice still seeming like it was coming from a far-away land.

"Wow Jim, that one was a whooper. This girl cannot stop can she? It's just one big emotional roller-coaster with this girl." Another voice contributed.

The first voice – Jim- laughed, "Yes Bob, it is. But it fits her don't you think? No one knows where she came from or what her real name is. All we know is that she just popped out of nowhere with that great single of hers, Far From Home and that was it for her. Her fate was set in stone." He said.

The other voice- Bob- continued, "I couldn't agree with you more Jim. And have you heard, she's finally confirmed her relationship with the lead singer of Rustic Wings, Fang Walker."

Jim gasped, "Oh my god, would you look at that. Just last month they were cursing each other out on air and now look at that. I never would have guessed." He exclaimed.

"I know right but going back to what you were saying about her past, she also said that she doesn't want to go into another relationship without tying up the loose ends of her old one. The other new single she released is apparently for her ex." Bob added.

"Did she say that name of this ex?" Jim asked eagerly.

"Yeah, Sam."

"Sam, Sam. Hello? Are you alright?" JJ asked, finally picking up that I was in some sort of trance.

My mouth was hanging open, "Max." I managed to choke out as I pointed to the radio..

JJ's eyes widened, "Like the Max who left? You think they're talking about your Max?" She asked. I only nodded. Her mouth dropped and her eyes turned to the radio.

I nodded, "I would know her voice anywhere, JJ." I told her.

"Well here it is folks, Maximum Ride's new single, What Can I Say." And the music began to play.

"Sam, are you sure it's her?" She asked.

I turned to her, "JJ, she just popped out of nowhere, the song that just ended is one that she wrote few years back and her ex is named Sam. My name is Sam!" I exclaimed, whipping out my iPhone and typing in 'Maximum Ride' in the search engine. The page loaded and thousands of pictures of my Max filled my screen.

"It's her JJ." I breathed and stared at my screen. JJ leaned over my shoulder and looked at the screen.

"Oh my god, it is her." She said quietly, remembering the pictures I showed her of Max.

"And you should know, please believe me
I've picked up the phone a thousand times
And tried to dial your number
But it's been so long, it's never easy
It's like trying to spin the world the other way
What can I say?"

We sat there and listened in silence as her voice filled every crevice of my car. All the noise of the bustling highway seemed to fade to a quite hum. The near-death experience began to seem like a dream, slowly disappearing into the back of my mind. I forgot I was here with JJ or that I was supposed to be taking her to movie. I forgot everything. It was just me and the sound of Max's voice playing in my car. The tears began to brim in my eyes as I smiled bitterly. She was doing alright. She thought of me. She was finding her place.

JJ slipped her hand into mine and rested her head on my shoulder, "She's doing alright, Sam." She murmured to me.

She was alright.

She had found her place in this world.

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