Max's Faith & Fury [COMPLETE]

Chapter 18

Rick looked her in the eye "Sometimes all you can do is try to be the person your loved ones need you to be, and be who Heavenly Father needs you to be..."

Max woke, interrupting her dream. By now, she could feel the difference between regular dreams and dreams of the future. Even before they repeat themselves, like that one. She was having a conversation with Rick, seeing beyond the surface of that complicated psycho. She wasn't tired enough to go back to sleep, so she clung to the details of the dream as she wrote it down. When she was done, she put the notebook away in the drawer and looked around.

Asahel had taken her back to his parent's house last night after their sparring. Even now, as she remembered him telling her not to feel stupid for breaking down and opening up for him, a part of her did feel stupid. She never let anyone see her in such a vulnerable state. Not even her father. Whenever she was going through something challenging, whether it be school, or with bullies or her lack of self-confidence, she'd always swallow her cries and dry her tears before anyone could notice.

This felt different though. On the jet he commented about finding her, and she was still trying to figure out what he meant by that. She knew who she was, or at least before she did. She knelt on the floor feeling a new kind of emptiness.

Almost immediately Rick's mention of Heavenly Father came to mind, reminding her of stories on social media of people finding truth and purpose in Jesus Christ. That reminded her of Mia's comment of the Father and Son being two separate beings. For once in her life, Max wondered how people could develop such a faith in things unseen. Especially when the world around her cut out religion and God as much as possible.

Max rubbed her temples. It was all too much to comprehend this early in the morning. She didn't know what time it was, but she could see the sun peeking through the blinds on the window. She still didn't have her phone because she left it on the charger in her room. Did she really think Asahel would take her back home? She didn't really care that he didn't. At least here there was sure to be good food.

She stood so she could see the clock on the nightstand. It was nearly six in the morning. Elliot should have come in and ruined her morning by now. Maybe he was running behind or ditched her completely. Max grumbled at the thought and started getting ready for a brutal workout.

The house was silent, and she quietly made her way to the hallway. The light was on, so maybe Elliot had already gone down without her. Then, as she turned the corner, he was coming up the stairs, sweating and twitching from his workout.

"What the heck?" She blurted, making him take a step back.

"What are you doing here?" He rolled his eyes at her.

"You didn't wake me up."

"Asahel told me not to." He walked past her. "He said you had a rough night last night."

Max swallowed, "Did he say anything else?" She hoped not. She didn't need Elliot, of all people, to know she cried.

"No."

Ok, but he could be lying. Why would he though? She watched him walk away without looking back. He didn't care and neither should she. A strange excitement bubbled in her veins when she realized she could do whatever kind of workout she wanted. There were so many kinds of machines downstairs, and without Elliot there, she would be able to focus on what she wanted.

That morning she worked abs, glutes and back. Her body ached from the sparring the night before, telling her she'd exerted herself more than she realized. So, she didn't push herself to the heaviest weight, but she did enough in forty-five minutes to make her body sweat, and muscles ache and burn with satisfaction.