XLVIII

"Wow," Max exclaims, genuine admiration in her light blue eyes as she surveys the interior of her home. "Didn't know you lived in a mansion."

Before Eleven can answer, Henry, who has apparently heard them enter the house, walks to the hall to greet them: "Back already, Jane?" Eleven has chosen not to reveal to Henry that her friend actually knows the name by which he often calls her. "And you must be Max."

"Hi, yes, I am." Max smiles sheepishly at him, then waves lightly. "And you are…?"

Henry places both hands, one on top of the other, in front of him.

"Oh, Jane didn't mention me?" Eleven makes a face, but Henry's smile doesn't waver. "I'm Henry Creel, Jane's cousin and legal guardian."

"Ah, nice to meet you, Mr. Creel…"

"'Henry' is fine," he assures her with a careless wave of his hand. "Now, I will keep on cooking dinner. I'll be expecting both of you at six o'clock, is that alright, girls?"

Max responds with an enthusiastic 'of course!' while Eleven simply nods.

They waste no more time: they go straight up to her room.

"Well, I have to say I thought I knew you pretty well, but you keep surprising me," Max comments, sitting on the bed next to Eleven.

She frowns at hearing this. "Surprising you…?"

Max looks at her with a stunned expression and a deliberately smug smile. "Uh, yeah? It turns out that you live in a mansion, with your cousin, who is also your legal guardian and who, by the way, is incredibly hot? Obviously, yeah, El, you amaze me."

Eleven looks down at her hands, resting upon her crossed legs. She doesn't quite get the reason, but the comment about how hot Henry is makes her uncomfortable. "It's a long story. And the truth is that I invited you… because I want to talk to you about something."

Instantly, her friend's expression sobers. "You saying this isn't just a regular sleepover?"

Although she tries to make light of it, Eleven knows that it's quite easy for her friend to get overwhelmed by unplanned social situations.

It is one of the reasons why they understand each other so well.

"I obviously wanted to see you, too," Eleven assures her, now looking into her eyes. "And have fun together. But… there's something that worries me. And I didn't want… Didn't want to let it pass…"

Her statement of sincere concern seems to soothe her friend, as Max settles a little better on the bed and smiles at her. "Alright then. What is it?"

Eleven takes a deep breath, getting up the courage to start talking. Then she blurts it out: "I saw you the other day."

"Uh, yeah, we see each other every day," Max murmurs with a raised eyebrow. "What's special about that?"

Eleven purses her lips. She tries again: "I saw you… with Billy."

She can feel Max shutting down: her expression is harsh now, no trace of her former smile, and Eleven hates it. It is exactly what she wanted to avoid, yet she supposes that she has no other choice but to continue: "And I'm worried… about how he treats you…"

"El, I appreciate your concern, I really do, but that's not your problem." The girl's voice is so much sharper than usual.

"Max…"

"No." She instantly stops her, shaking her head. "Billy, he's… he's always been a dick, yes, and now he's angry all the time, and since he can't… take it out on my mom, well, then he…" The seriousness in her eyes compels Eleven to keep completely silent while her friend continues, "Ugh, I don't even know why I'm telling you this, especially since… there's no way to fix it. And…" Max swallows. "And you don't know what it's like to live… where we live.

"Living our life."

Eleven resists the urge she has to say 'but what if there was a way to fix it?' and limits herself to just nodding.

"Now, how about we stop talking about dense stuff and watch a movie?" Max does her best to make her suggestion sound enthusiastic.

Eleven—who knows she's far from eloquent enough to say what she really means without offending her friend—decides that her best bet is to offer her a smile and accept that they won't be going anywhere near the subject again for the rest of the day.