Chapter 74: We aren’t going to call it by it’s name
Maxwell felt like his heart was going to beat out of his chest. Is this how Andrew had felt when he had been on his way to meet his parents? God, he hoped not. This felt awful.
He was pretending like everything was fine, since he could tell that Andrew was freaking out and he didn’t want to add to his plate of troubles. That didn’t mean that Maxwell was doing okay.
His hands were shaking, but thankfully Andrew hadn’t noticed. He was begging and praying that Andrew’s suggestion of getting the same type of flowers that he had gotten for Maxwell’s Mother was a good suggestion. He had only met this Mrs. Proctor once with his Father before, and she had been a strict woman who had barely smiled.
When they had spoken on the phone, Maxwell had been in a compromised state since he had been worried about Andrew, but now that he thought back on it...She had been quite nice? Was she going to change her personality because it was Andrew? Or had she been changing her personality because everyone else wasn’t Andrew?
Oh god, Maxwell could feel himself sweating. He’d never sweated before going to a meeting before besides his first one. He needed a cigarette.
Maxwell noticed when Andrew’s driving became slightly erratic, but said nothing as they approached the giant building. It had to be a shock to him. Andrew had no idea when his Father had brought up the topic at dinner. It had been fun to tease him, since Andrew had behaved as if he was just a normal person. Maybe he had been, but his Mother, and Mrs. Proctor had been putting in the work to make sure he was anything but that.
It was clear to Maxwell, now that he knew the truth, that Andrew’s Mother had worked desperately to create a shield for her child. She must have known that Andrew was going to awaken at some point.
Maxwell turned his head, biting his lip.
He’d had a discussion with Dr. Smith about it recently, actually. About how Maxwell had been pretty sure that Andrew was going to awaken around this time without the assault on him. Dr. Smith had been interested in Maxwell’s words, but at the same time, didn’t want to pursue it further.