Rose: Tiff?
The blond girl paused, having heard her name clear as day through the fog of her thoughts, as most people do even when in a daze.
Tiffany: Oh... sorry....
And just like that, she was shaken out of her mental miasma.
Luke: You ok?
Tiffany: Y... yeah....
A perturbed Rose, however, was still a bit perturbed.
She walked towards Tiffany and...
Rose: What are you looking at?
... turned in the direction she was facing, as did all the others, having heard what she'd said.
On the wall, there lay on it only one truly interesting thing.
The Hunter family family photo.
It, like with Tiffany before, took all of their attention away.
The overall thought being, "So... that's what Max's father looked like...."
Rose: Is that....?
Ken: Correct, Max's father. Max's...
And with that, they quickly remembered what Julianne had said, that being....
And all their heads turned to a then troubled looking Max.
Rose: (thinking: Oh no... Max...)
Rose held her hands to her mouth and almost squealed.
Luke and Ken remained silent.
It was obvious to all of them. Losing a parent was not easy.
As for Tiffany, ....
Tiffany: Max, ... I....
She couldn't help but feel guilty for bringing this to everyone's attention, even though she had never intended on it.
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Tiffany: I'm.... I'm sorry....
But the damage was already done.
Max's previously jolly personality came to something of a calm halt and then, he seemed troubled.
The rest of the teens remained silent.
Yet again, what could they say?
For a moment, the only sounds that could be heard were those of the game screen playing.
After all that had happened that night, one would have thought the rest of the night would take a lighter tone, but no.
Things just got more interesting.
And then, the silence was cut by a statement from Max.
Max: (sighs) Yeah... that is.... my dad.
He turned to the photo with sorrowful eyes.
Rose: Max.....
She was about to lay her hand out to him, but then decided against it.
Tiffany was writhing in guilt. What could she say? If she only hadn't been looking at it, if only she'd been just a bit more watchful, if only she didn't stare...
Max: He died sometime after we made it to Earth, so....
And he then somewhat depressedly hang his head down.
Rose flinched, as Luke, Ken and Tiffany exchanged worried glances.
Max: ... yeah....
All four of the other teens became silent again. The weight of his words crushing them.
Max: ...I'd... rather not talk about it.
Rose: (wincing) Ok!
She herself was already close to tears.
Ken: Sure....
Luke: Yeah, I get it.
Tiffany: (lowly) Ok...
The air of the room had completely changed once again.
After all, how would you talk to someone about their dead parents?
Tiffany's toes wrestled in her shoes and Rose struggled to think of what to say.
Ken and Luke simply had nothing to say.
Needless to say, it was a particularly heavy moment.
Tiffany: I'm...
Max: Don't worry about it.
He then nonchalantly stretched his arms and turned back to the T.V screen.
Max: C'mon. I've still got to tell you about Warring Dimensia 2.
It was almost heartbreaking to all of them, to see him simply shrug it off.
Even more so for an already guilt ridden Tiffany.
Rose: B... but... Max....
He turned to her.
Max: Hmmm?
His face was plain. No emotion, be it sadness or happiness.
Rose: I... but... how...
Max: Don't worry about it, Rose.
And then for a short moment, his eyes became more bothered...
Max: Don't worry about it.
To Max, the only thing more aggravating than talking about his dad at that moment, was watching people pity him for it.
Tiffany, Luke and Ken shared glances with one another.
They all had nothing to say, even to each other.
Ken: Alright then...
The mood of the night had completely changed.
As to whether or not they could even get back to gaming, none of them knew.
Even Max who'd suggested it was starting to have second thoughts.
But, as a wise man once said, a hero always arrives at the last second, just in time to save the day.
And this was the case here as well.
Footsteps were heard coming from upstairs.
All the teens turned their heads towards the sound.
They all knew who it was.
Julianne Hunter.
And, because the house wasn't so massive, she could hear, not exactly words, but at the very least, sounds.
She'd noticed that the sitting room had become silent, even while in her bedroom.
Her heart skipped a beat, imagining that they'd left.
And so, having seen all the teens their, upset looking faces and all, she she was slightly pleased.
However, the question was, why were they upset?
