Sins 29

Max took a giant bite of her sandwich." Dang girl hungry enough" said Tyler. "Oh yeah speak for yourself" said Max. She was eyeing the boy's sandwiches. Each and everyone of them was a pile of toppings

They continued to eat in silence. Max watched them as they ate. They seemed to mesh together as a team. Max couldn't help but feel a little bit left out. Not only was she the only girl in the group but she was also the group novice.

She wished her mother had stayed nearer to Ipswich, so at least she could have met them before all this. Maybe integrated herself more into the group. Caleb saw her watching them and wondered what she was thinking about.

He watched her as she ate. She was a strange girl that was for sure but it was a pleasant sort of strangeness. He could see their father in her to. In the way she moved when she talked as well as the dark hair. Her eyes weren't like his dads in color but they held the same inner fire. He really needed to get to know her better.

There were so few things he knew about her. Her not growing up around him robbed him of that chance. He wished she had been around when they were still children. He made up his mind that he would take the time to get to know her better.

He happened to glance to the side of her and saw Reid sitting very close to her. Now that was something he couldn't understand. Yeah Reid was part of the group but other than that what did she see in him?

"Are we really that fascinating?" said Reid. Caleb had been staring at Max for about twenty minutes almost. "No just she is" said Caleb. Reid flipped him off. Max laughed at him. "Really so I'm fascinating am I?" said Max. "Yes" said Caleb. "Have to agree with you there bro" said Pogue "your just fascinated by her ass" said Tyler "and such a cute ass it is" said Pogue "Pogue!" said Max "yeah Pogue that's my sister your hitting on" said Caleb

"Besides aren't you already dating someone?" said Max. "Yeah, her names Kate and she still isn't speaking to me," said Pogue. He sounded miserable. "What'd you do now?" said Caleb Pogue sighed and through his hands up in the air "I don't know" said Pogue "ok so what did she say before she quit talking to you?" said Max. "You mean other than, your acting like an idiot?" said Pogue "well yeah, and were you acting like an idiot?" said Max "no!" said Pogue

Reid and Tyler nodded yes. Max suppressed the urge to laugh. Pogue was really upset about this and it would be impolite at best. "Ok so what did you argue about?' said Max "well, I just asked her not to wear something" said Pogue "ok what did you ask her not to wear and why?" said Max "well it was this halter top and because it shows a little too much" said Pogue "ok did you say it like that?" said Max "no I just told her I didn't like it when she showed that much of herself." Said Pogue

Max grimaced "ooh no wonder she's mad, you just told her that you think she's ugly" said Max "no I didn't" said Pogue "Pogue brother dear, girl to guy translation asking a girl to cover up is the same as saying your fat, cover it" said Max. Pogue looked dismayed "so what your saying is that Pogue told her to cover up and she took it as he didn't like the way she looked?" said Tyler.

"What are you doing taking notes or something?" said Pogue "only if it helps" said Tyler Max laughed at the two teens. "So how do I fix it?" said Pogue "well that's easy you buy her a similar top, but with more coverage and you apologize profusely" said Max "oh!" said Pogue "and don't do it again, without explaining yourself" said Max "oh ok, thanks sis, guess I have to do some shopping" said Pogue.

"Ok wait so what does a woman really mean when she says she just wants to be friends" said Tyler "that you have no chance of getting anywhere" said Reid. Tyler glared at Reid "yeah he's right" said Max "see, told you so" said Reid. Tyler frowned at his friend "so how do you answer the do I look fat in this question?" said Tyler.

The boys all looked at her. "Well that's actually a trick question, it usually means that she needs to be reassured so just tell her she looks good in anything" said Max. "Or better yet out of it" said Pogue

Max laughed at him, "Yeah that works too" said Max

"Really?" said Reid. Caleb looked sideways at him, Reid answered the glare with his signature smirk. "What?" said Reid "you know what" said Caleb. Reid looked confused and tried to look innocent. The other boys were eyeing Max and Caleb with an occasional glance at Reid.

Pogue finished eating his sandwich and said "well I guess if we're through for the day, I should go do some shopping" he looked at Tyler and Reid as if he were trying to convey something without actually saying it."Yeah I've got a paper I've got to finish, and so do you Reid," said Tyler. Reid looked at him like he had gone daft. "No I don't " said Reid. Tyler kicked him under the table. "Ouch" he hissed under his breath and grabbed his ankle. Glaring at Tyler as he did so. Tyler gave him a meaningful look and looked at Caleb and Max.

It took a few minutes for Reid to catch on but he did "oh yeah that other paper you said you'd help me with" said Reid. "Yeah that one" said Tyler "you're actually going to do your homework?" said Caleb. "Hey I do my homework," said Reid. Tyler snorted "yeah right" under his breath. He put the plate he was using in the sink and headed for the door.

"Hey I do," said Reid. He followed the younger boy out the door.

That left Max alone with Caleb. She watched him and he watched her. Neither of them sure what to say to each other. They heard the vehicles start up outside and Max realized they had left her here."Ok why do I feel set up?" said Max. Caleb chuckled at her. "Guess they thought we should talk," said Caleb "yeah we should" agreed Max.

"Max I'm sorry if I've been avoiding you" said Caleb "its ok, it's a lot to process," said Max. "Actually not nearly enough" said Caleb "excuse?" said Max "what I know about you, it isn't enough" said Caleb "ditto" said Max "ditto?" said Caleb "it means the same as in I know the same amount of info on you that you do on me" said Max "oh" said Caleb

He ate the last of his sandwich before continuing.

"So what do you know?" said Caleb "well I know you grew up here and that your family helped found the town" said Max "our family" corrected Caleb. Max smiled at him, was he finally ready to acknowledge her?

"Our family founded the town, I know about the family secret and the side effects and that your moms name is Evelyne," said Max. Caleb sat there and looked at her "your turn" said Max. "Well lets see, you grew up in California your moms a stripper and you can really play pool," said Caleb

Max smiled at him "former stripper actually and thanks I worked hard at that" said Max. "I still don't know her name though and why you were in California," said Caleb. "Its Tanya and I think we were in California cause my mom was actually afraid of your dad," said Max "our dad" said Caleb.

"Right our dad, still getting used to having one" said Max. "So you never had a dad?" said Caleb "well not really my mom wasn't really the stable relationship type" said Max "oh, I see" said Caleb "that explains a lot" said Caleb.