"Happy Birthday Max!" everyone screamed in unison as Max walked out into the backyard. The black shirt Kevin brought for him to wear at the party sure looked great on him.

Kevin spent about an hour on Max's untameable wavy shag to give it the party-perfect look. Though Max preferred his hair the way it was, what Kevin did look fabulous! After straightening his hair, he got it smoothened back with pomade that came with a low shine. He was always good at such styling stuff.

Max looked at a completely new person in the mirror, with neat hair and a fabulous black shirt tucked under the brown trousers.

He could see that that everyone had followed the dress code Kevin mentioned in the card. From family to classmates to neighbours, everyone was dressed in dashing black outfits. His glance fell on Julie and stopped there.

She was wearing a floor-length black dress, with some sort of lacework near the neck. The dress looked decent and stunning at the same time. The slight mascara and eyeshade didn't kill the natural beauty she was blessed with. But the best part was the smile she had on her face all along, that truly genuine smile.

And then there was Alex, his arms folded, and the regular cold look on his face.

Kevin walked up to Max and pulled him along towards the cake placed at the center of the brightly lit backyard. The cake had a large 16 written on a blue base with black and white. Stars made of cream were placed on swirled metallic wires. There was also a chocolate rugby ball at the bottom right corner and a black jersey clumsily falling off the left side.

Max blew the candles and cut out a piece to give the first bite to Kevin. That's where Kevin played a trick like he always did! He was standing right beside him but when Max stooped low to cut the cake, he quietly swapped his position with Julie. She didn't get what was happening until Max turned towards her with a piece of cake in his hand, frozen just a centimeter away from her lips. Even before they could realize, they both started blushing. The little romantically awkward moment they had was abruptly cut by the mumbling crowd, and Kevin's giggle.

'Now? Seriously?' Max thought, giving a glare to him.

Turning away felt weird, so he took a breath and gave the first bite to Julie with a sweet smile on his face. She looked a bit shocked but then got back to her composure, wiping the cream off her lips.

Everybody looked relieved because the drama ended and they all could go back to the food.

Kevin couldn't be with Max, as he was just busy running here and there taking care that everything was in order. That's what Max feared. In the party filled with people, he had started feeling lonely. His introverted self was slowly rising to power.

He sneaked out from his own party, towards the old park. It was now closed so people hardly visited, and thus it was the perfect place for him at the moment.

His glance suddenly fell on a figure sitting by the pond. On walking a little closer, he found out that it was Alex! He seemed to be playing with some dark, round thing, but then on hearing approaching footsteps, he suddenly got alarmed. The ball thing Max was straining his eyes upon, simply disappeared! Or maybe it just fell in the pond. But Max didn't hear any splash, did he?

"What are you doing here?" Max asked.

"That doesn't matter. It's you who should not be here at the moment," he said getting up. He had this look of disgust on his face, and Max very well understood why. He had unknowingly entered into his space, his moment of peace.

"Yeah, I just..." Max started stammering, but Alex didn't wait for him to finish.

"I'll be leaving now," he said as he walked past him, and then turned back as if remembering something. "Almost forgot to say, happy birthday," he said with a fading voice. Even before Max could thank him, he left.

Max didn't think about him much, he already had enough to deal with. What he didn't know was that nothing was ever going to be enough for him.

He sat on the bench looking at the glittering stars which covered the entire sky. The darkness made it seem even more beautiful. He could feel a little warmth in his chest because of the beauty he saw.

"I never knew you were so interested in stargazing?"

Max turned around to see Julie coming towards him. Under normal circumstances, he wouldn't have liked someone interfering with his lone time, but there was not a single hint of disapproval. Did he just start letting Julie enter his life the way he never thought he could?

"Yeah.... It's beautiful, isn't it?" he said, getting back on looking at the night sky.

"Nothing in comparison to the place I know," she smirked.

Max's eyes brightened up!

"Chill out, Max. It's not that I can take you there right now, so no need to get all hyped up!" she said as she sat beside him taking off her heels. "Gosh, I hate these. Why can't I simply wear my regular shoes?"

"Then why did you even wear the thing you aren't even comfortable with?"

"As if I wanted to! But I'm supposed to be granny's little princess before anything else. Just look at this dress! It makes me look so.."

"Pretty?" he asked but then suddenly realized that it wasn't just in his head, he actually said that!

Julie had that naughty smile on her face, "Well that was certainly not what I wanted to say, but I'll take that if you say so."

"No, I didn't mean that.." Max started covering up for what he said just now. He actually didn't have to, but that's Max, the person who carries an air of weirdness with him 24/7.

"Do you mean that I don't look good?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

"No! It's just awkward, I mean not you, I'm awkward... you're gorgeous.... wait, what?" he was no longer talking to her.

Julie tried controlling her laughter she couldn't. "You're so cute!" she said, still trying to hold her chuckle.

Max shook his head in embarrassment. 'Why do I always have to be like this?' he thought shaking his head in embarrassment.

"So, um, what are you doing here?" he said, trying to get things back to normal.

"I came after you silly! Who leaves his own party to sit alone at some creepy park with...." she said but then suddenly started screaming.

"Wh- What happened?" he asked, completely befuddled.

"Bug! bug! bug!" she screamed at the top of her lungs, and she didn't even stop. This was now getting annoying, soon someone nearby would have called the cops. Max closed her mouth with one hand and then looked down. A tiny caterpillar was slowly crawling up her left leg.

He stooped down, and got the little thing on a leaf and helped it get on a nearby tree.

"It won't return, right?" she gulped.

"Now this is what I didn't know. The toughest girl at Lakeside High is afraid of bugs?" he sniggered.

"What? No! Those are just so gross... and also, never try to shush me again like that," she said and smacked him.

They sat back on the bench. Julie noticed that he had a bittersweet smile on his face.

"What are you thinking?"

"About my mom and dad," he said.

"Oh, I am sorry, I-"

"This day would have been so special for them too, I mean, on this very day someone came into their life whom they could call their son, and shower upon him all the love they had. This day bears much more importance to them," he started but it seemed as if he was no more talking to Julie. The stars in the sky were shining brightly in his eyes.

Julie gently held his hand trying to comfort him. What he said made so much sense!

Suddenly a bright smile lit his countenance.

"Can we use that flower thing you have? It sucks not even remembering even a tiny detail about my parents."

Julie thought for a moment and then said, "I am sorry Max, but that echeveria takes you back to your memories. You cannot go to the moment you don't even remember."

Max's face turned down like a wet weekend.

"I exactly know how it feels Max. I wish I could do something to help..."

"Well, I can tell you about them." They were interrupted by the honeyed voice of some woman. On turning around, Max recognized the familiar face.

"You?" he said. A sudden dread or sense of coldness started taking over him.

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A/N: Sorry for taking so much time for this update. I've been quite busy lately, and I don't think this is going to get better any soon.

But anyway, hope you liked this chapter.

Who do you think is the person who arrived at the end? How does she know Max's parents?

Don't forget to vote (only if you liked it though! No pressure!)

See ya~