A/N: Ha ha! Chapter three. This story is looking hopeful! Just a head's up, though, I may have less time to be updating my stuff…not that I really have been lately. My Mondays are taken up by Brain Game and violin lessons. My Tuesdays have once again become filled with BPA. My Wednesdays and Thursdays are being used by the bowling team. My Saturday mornings are devoted to my orchestra. My weekends are devoted to friends and video games. Also, my pre-calc teacher and chem honors teacher love assigning homework…and I don't understand half the stuff anyway, so I also need to stay after occasionally on Fridays for tutoring. Anyway, remember, criticism and reviews are always welcome!

Apparently, when the scary-happy nurse had rambled off the list of activities, she had forgotten one key thing. Every day at noon, she would be forced to meet with a therapist. Not only had Max grown a fervent hatred for therapists and doctors, but they would be group meetings. Meaning she'd be spilling her guts in front of four or five other kids.

As she entered the "relaxation" room, she saw seven chairs arranged in a circle. Six were already occupied, meaning she was the last to arrive.

A woman, probably in her late twenties or early thirties, was sitting near a chalkboard. Immediately, Max was thrown off by the look of the woman. She sat with her back straight, her legs crossed, and her hands folded neatly on top of a clipboard in her lap. Her honey-brown hair was pulled back into a tight bun, and no straggles hung loose, almost as if they were too afraid to. When Max's escort closed the door, the woman's deep, forest green eyes cut towards Max.

"You must be Maximum," she said in a tone that indicated she didn't need confirmation. She lifted her clipboard, pulled down the pen that was tucked behind her ear, and began to scribble who-knows-what. "I am Doctor Williams. Please, have a seat."

She stopped writing for a second to jab her pen in the direction of the only empty chair. Tentatively, Max walked forward and took it. She glanced at the other kids around her. Sitting to her left was a black girl, obviously a few years younger, with wild corkscrew curls and wide, gullible, mocha eyes. To Max's left was a boy around her age with shaggy, strawberry-blonde hair. His eyes were closed.

To the boy's other side were two young children, a boy and a girl, looking too alike to be anything but brother and sister. They both looked like little angels, with their ruffled, bleach blonde hair and bright blue eyes. It broke Max's heart to see two little kids, neither of whom could even have been ten years old, in a place like this.

The last person wasn't someone Max had been expecting to see.

Man in Black.

He met her shocked gaze with a cool, unreadable one of his own. His eyes were piercing hers, feeling as if they were burning holes through her skull. Max unconsciously let her jaw drop and found herself speechless. Thankfully, she didn't have to talk yet; Dr. Williams had that all under control.

"Alright. As I'm sure you can see, we have two new members with us today," she said, settling her clipboard back down into her lap and replacing the pen behind her ear. She looked around at the children. "Because the point of these meetings is to bring us together with our peers and make new friends, why don't we go around the circle? We'll each say our first name, our age, and one thing about ourselves." This speech sounded rehearsed, without any feeling whatsoever. "I'll go first. My name is Dr. Williams, I'm thirty, and I love to help people." Oh, yeah, that was for sure. "Angel, your turn."

The little blonde girl looked at Man in Black, then at Max. "My name is Angel, I'm six, and I love teddy bears," she said timidly. Max's heart felt like it was being crushed in a vice.

"I'm Gazzy," her brother piped up, a reckless grin poking dimples in his cheeks. "I'm eight, and I love to blow things up!"

O…kay…?

Dr. Williams must have had the same thought, with the look she gave Gazzy over the top of her glasses. Gazzy just shrugged and kept grinning.

"Icarus," the redhead next to Max muttered, his eyes still closed. The letters slurred, and his lips barely moved. Max wondered whether that was because of his mental issue, or if he was extremely tired. "Or Iggy. Whatever. Fourteen. Blind."

Max stared at Icarus for a moment, wide-eyed. He was blind? She felt horrible for him. What had happened? Why was he at The School? What - oh shit they were all watching her. It took Max a moment to remember that it was her turn in the round robin, and she had already waited a while to reply.

"My name's Max," she said, trying to smother her embarrassment. "I'm fourteen, and I…" What was something about her? Max thought, and said the first thing that jumped to mind. "…like chocolate chip cookies?"

The answer must have been acceptable, because the round robin kept going. "I'm Monique, but most people call me Nudge," the girl next to me said, her mouth moving at a mile a minute. I had to focus to keep up. "That's because I thrash in my sleep all the time, and I can't help it. I used to share a bed with my sister, and she's the one who started calling me Nudge. At first it was a joke, but then-" Dr. Williams glared at her. "Oh, right, back on track. I'm eleven years old. I'll be twelve in January, and I can't wait to turn twelve. I like reversing the numbers in my age, so it'll be like being twenty-one prematurely! Eleven is so boring, because either way it's eleven-"

Icarus groaned. "Back on track. I love to talk." As was obvious. "I like to play with my hair, even though most times it won't cooperate. I like to do my make-up, but they don't allow make-up here, so I don't really do that anymore. I like flipping through magazines and filling out the little quizzes in there, just to see what the answers are. My favorite movie is Steel-"

Dr. Williams cleared her throat. "Why don't we talk about all that later, Monique? Nicholas, it's your turn."

Man in Black, Nicholas, barely bothered to glance at her. "Nicholas," he said. "Fourteen." The rest of the group (save for Icarus) watched him expectantly, waiting for him to say something about himself. He remained silent.

Dr. Williams raised her eyebrows. "And tell us something about yourself," she urged.

"Already did. Two things. My name and age," Nicholas pointed out, gazing levelly back at her. Dr. Williams's eyebrows immediately fell, and her eyes fixed him in a light glare. Obviously, she didn't appreciate his sarcasm.

Nicholas raised his hands in surrender. "Fine, fine," he said. "Everybody calls me Fang, and this is my third time being admitted into Itex."

Third time? Max couldn't stop herself from staring at him. So, his mother was having issues with deciding whether she wanted him home or locked up in a loony bin. What could he be doing that would make her consider such an option? What was wrong with him?

As if he could read her thoughts, Fang was suddenly looking back at her. His eyes narrowed into a glare, as if to say, Nothing's wrong with me.

If only Max could have that firm of a belief in herself.