Hi. My name is Max.

Well, technically it's Maxine, but that doesn't really seem to fit me, you know? Like if you are super girly and you have a sporty name. It's same with me, except I hate traditional girl stuff and have a girly sounding name.

Yeah. So call me Max. K? K.

I'm a little odd, compared to a lot of the people I live with and go to school with. Almost every girl owns something with Justin Bieber or One Direction on it, and almost every guy has something with Lil Wayne. Don't get me wrong, I'm not hating on it. They liked it. Thats ok. What wasn't ok was how they treated me because I didn't like it.

To put it bluntly, I'm an outcast. I have really bright red streaks in my mid-back length dirty blonde hair, and I had a single black ring through my bottom lip. I rarely ever wear makeup except black eyeliner. I wear a lot of black and gray, combat boots, and too big hoodies whose sleeves fell down to my knuckles. I listen to Black Veil Brides, Three Days Grace, and Linkin Park. As you can see, I'm not exactly 'normal'.

And I was despised for it.

But enough about that. Let's move on to family. I live with my mother and my sister. My mom is hispanic, with curly brown hair and eyes to match, that I inherited. She has tan skin, and is the kindest but most protective woman you will ever meet. I love her to death. My sisters name is Ella. She isn't quite a weird as me. She has a single blonde streak running through her hair, which matched my mom's, but thats it. Aside from that, she resembled my mom in every way, including personality.

I know what you're wondering. 'Where's your dad, Max?' Well, he and my mom are divorced. Had been for 4 years, since I was thirteen. He was a very, very devout Christian, and when I started listening to my rock music and wanted to dye my hair, he went beserk. Now, like I said before, I am not in any way bashing Christians. Most of them are very lovely. But Jeb... he wasn't like them. He was one of those fanatics that uses their faith to try and force their tyrannical control on others. When I started wearing darker colors, he grounded me and burned all my clothes. When that didn't work, he started verbally abusing me, constantly telling me I was going to 'burn in hell' and that I 'wasn't acceptable in society'. It hurt, but I'm a stubborn person, so I didn't give in to him.

One afternoon, my mom took Ella and I out for some shopping. I had found t-shirts for my favorite bands and an amazing black hoodie. Of course, when we got home, Jeb obviously wanted to know what we had bought. I reluctantly showed him, and he snapped. Started screaming horrible things at me. He even threw a lamp at my head. Luckily, I managed to duck, but my mom had had enough. That very evening she was on the phone with her lawyer, filing for a divorce.

He moved to a town about an hour away, and he got joint custody of me and Ella. But it's arranged weird. He gets me on Christmas Break, Ella Spring Break. He gets me the first month of summer, and Ella the second, so that we're never together. My time with him is always very tense, and all of the people that live near him A. Don't have kids my age and B. share his views about me. So basically, it's torture.

I'm seventeen now. I leave for his house tomorrow morning, for an entire month.

I am not looking forward to it.

"Max, honey, it's time to go!" I groaned and switched off my Ipod, unplugging it from the speakers and shoving the speakers into my backpack.

"Max!"

"Give me a sec!" I yelled back. I quickly zipped up my backpack, then plugged my headphones into my Ipod. I stuck one in my ear, hit shuffle, then scooped up my backpack and grabbed my small rolling suitcase. I thumped down the stairs to where my mother was waiting next to the open front door. She was glancing at her watch and tapping her foot. She glanced up, saw me, and opened her mouth. Before she could say anything, I was tackled into a hug by my sister.

"I'm gonna miss you!" she exclaimed, squeezing me.

"I'm gonna miss you too." I replied with a laugh, ruffling her hair.

"Don't let Jeb's craziness get to you too much." she whispered as we pulled away. I gave her a smile, just as my mom spoke up again.

"Ok, ok." I said, walking out the door. "Bye Ella!"

"Bye Max!"

My mom threw my backpack and suitcase in the backseat, then hurried me into the passenger and quickly pulled out of the driveway.

"Why are you in such a hurry anyway?" I grumbled. Usually she wasn't so impatient.

"Your dad moved again. He's a little farther away, and I have to be back by 5. I have a date." I just rolled my eyes and put in my other earbud. As I hummed along to In the End by BVB, I wondered if the people in Jebs new neighborhood would be any more accepting.

Yeah, right.