Zack looked at the boy again. "I'm really sorry you had to go through that."

  Max brushed it off though. "That doesn't matter now."

  Zack scoffed. "It does, if it's making you act like this? It does matter."

  Max lowered his head as he spoke again with slurred speech. "It's not that bad."

  "Max!" Zack raised his voice. The drunk boy turned his face to him. His cheeks were getting beet red and his eyes were bloodshot from the consumption. Zack continued, calmly this time. "It IS."

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  Max lowered his head back down. "Why do you care about me?"

  "No child deserves what you went through." Zack explained.

  Max didn't say another word. Zack sighed, he changed the subject. "Why do you torment us? Mostly Matthew?"

  Max shrugged. "He's easy..."

  Zack rolled his eyes. "But me.....you're SCARED of me!"

  Max looked up to see the ocean. "What can I say? You're like his bodyguard."

  Zack took a second to think, then turned back to Max. "You feel like you're worthless."

  Max chuckled. "I AM worthless. So what?"

  "If your father thinks that you're worthless, that's just one person in the world that believes it."

  Max hesitated to speak for a while. He then looked at Zack. "How do you know I'm not worthless?"

  Zack shrugged. "I don't. That's for you to decide though.

  Max became speechless again. Zack got up and left him alone.