Typical Teenagers

Max placed his binder on his nightstand. It took him only a half hour to complete all his homework.

He opened his window to get some fresh air before going to sleep. He noticed two girls walking down the street. They looked vaguely familiar. It wasn't until they walked under a street light that he recognized their faces.

Max went downstairs and opened the front door. He called out to the two girls. "Riley! Ninen! What are you two doing out so late?"

"Well," Ninen said, "I missed my train."

"And I'm never going home again."

They surprised him with their light and casual tones.

"Are you going back to Ninen's house?"

"No, we were hoping we could crash in your living room," Riley said.

"And possibly explain the whole broken concept to you."

Max held the door open for them. "Sure, come on in." When they were all in the living room Max called out to his mother from the bottom of the stairs. "Hey, Mom! Some of my friends have come over! Can they stay over for the night?"

His mother called back, "OK, but just make sure you're in bed by 11:00, you have school in the morning!"

As Max entered the living room Riley asked him, "You still have a bed-time?"

"It's a self enforced curfew, I can got to bed any time I want. But I don't want to be falling asleep during class." Max wandered into the kitchen. "You guy's want something to drink? Coke? Iced tea?"

Riley- "I'll have a coke."
Ninen- "Me too."

Max came back with their drinks and an iced tea for himself. He handed them their drinks and sat down on the lounge chair, letting the girls have the couch. "So, what's troubling you two?"

Riley

I explained the whole grousome tale to Max, starting with my parents divorcing and then my attempted suicide, the anorexia and finally the events of the last 36 hours. The only thing I left out was what had gone on between Ninen and I those few years ago.

"That is..." Max drifted off, trying to find the right word to sum up my life.

"Complicated, a catastrophe, pointless?" I pulled out all sorts of different words to explain my situation.

"No," Max said. "It's just wrong."

I nodded and shrugged. "Well, I'm never going back there."

Max turned to Ninen. "And you?"

"I'm not sure if my mom and me are good, I just don't want to go back yet, I think I explained it all before."

"Care to do it again, with a little more detail please?"

Ninen spilled her guts, she told both of them everything from the point when she met Riley to them sitting there now. By the tiem she was finished she was fighting back tears, she couldn't say anything, because one word would surely make her lose control. It was as if all the repressed emotion from the last 12 years was building up to this moment.

She took a deep breath and tears leaked out the side of her eyes. Something that she tried to avoid at all costs.

Max sighed and thought for a moment, letting everything that was said sink in. He turned first to Riley. "It seems to me that you have never been on good terms with your family. I can understand that they may have done something to you that has caused you a great amount of distress. I can understand how you may feel justified with treating them the way you have been for the last few years. But, no matter what kind of mistake they made they don't deserve that kind of treatment, nobody does. I think they have been regretting these things for a long time, and your behavior is making them feel even worse. Now, I'm not saying anyone is to blame, but the first step to repairing lost ties is forgiveness. Do you really want to live the rest of your life resenting your own flesh and blood?"

Riley looked at her hands and stayed silent.

"Remember, God once said, 'to apologize is to be human, but forgiveness is divine.'" Max turned to Ninen next. "Now, Ninen. First I would like to apologize about my reaction to your scars. I had no right to be thinking like that."

"It's OK." she said.

Max continued, "I believe that your mother doesn't hate you. Sometimes when a child won't listen to their parents, the parents will resort to raising their voices to get through to the child. You see, she yells at you because she cares about you. I think she has good reason to hate your father. She keeps you away from him because she is afraid that he may hurt you. And about her issues with you collecting daggers... hypothetically speaking, how would YOU react if you saw one of your own children holding a knife? Wouldn't you be worried they may hurt somebody? Or worse, themselves?"

Max could see her holding back her tears. The memories of her past were obviously painful for her to bare. Max told her, "Ninen, you're not alone. It's OK to cry."

That was all she needed. She burst into tears.

Riley

I had never seen Ninen cry before, not even on that day when we fell apart. She never cried. She always said it was a sign of weakness, and Ninen was tough.

"I'm sorry Nin," I rubbed Ninen's back as her crying became irregular sobs. "I really am."

Max leaned back in his chair.

"So where are you two going to go?"

"I'm going to rent a flat or something. Leave school and get a job."

Max looked as if he couldn't believe I would leave school. I shruged. "Hey, we're not all genius's like you, and since I'm not going back, I have to support myself somehow."

Max nodded. "I guess. What about you Ninen?"

Ninen shrugged, "I don't know what I'm going to do. I know I don't want to go back to my mom, but I also don't want to go to my dads." She looked up for a moment, "there are some cheap loft houses I could get a part time job and rent one. No cable or phone but I can probably afford it."

**sorry thats all i've got sorry**

Riley

In the morning Ninen and I left with Max, but instead of going to school, we headed to a newsagent.

"I guess we'll need to get some sort of jobs," I sighed. "But I'm not good at anything."

Ninen nodded her head in agreement. "I suck at everything, but you're a whiz at mixing drinks! You should see if they have any places at the nightclub."

I smiled. "You're right. I'm going now, call me if anything happens!"

I boraded a tram and got off in front of the nightclub. There was a sign at the front, Currently Hiring.

Max went to school that morning. He had done all he could to help Riley and Ninen last night. He didn't like the idea of them dropping out of school, or running away from their parents. Running away from something wouldn't make it go away, and they would have to confront their parents sooner or later. But, this was their decision, their choice. He had no more right to stop them than he did to stop an author from writing, or an artist from painting. When the time comes, they'll make the right choice.

He saw Kevin and the others in the cafeteria at school. Sat down to eat lunch with them. "Hey guys, how's everything?"

"Max," Kevin asked, "have you seen Riley or Ninen lately?"

Max stayed silent for a moment. "...No. Can't say I have. Why? Did something happen?" He couldn't tell the others about last night, he didn't have the right to.

"We haven't seen either of them this morning. It's not like them to miss school like this." Kevin told him.

Olivia added, "And when I called Riley's house this morning her parents told me she hadn't come home."

Max closed his eyes for a moment. "I'm sure they'll be fine." At least, he hoped they would. They had good friends at least, friends that cared about them.

Kevin

When Riley didn't turn up to school the next morning I really began to worry and soon located Olivia and Roxy.
"Where is she?" Roxy asked in a worried tone.
"I tried ringing her last night and she hung up on me and I tried her home phone a few minutes back. Her mum's really worried. She didn't come home last night," I explained, turning to go.

"Where are you going? Don't you have drama?" Olivia asked.
"I have to find her," I replied. "You know what almost happened last time..."
"But I thought she was over that. She's stronger than that these days," Olivia protested.

"But what about that thing with Siren's brother?" Roxy retorted.
"What about my brothger?" Siren asked, entering the lunch hall. We filled her in on the details and it was decided that we'd all split up and go and search for her.

Riley

I rang Ninen as soon as I got out of the bar.

"Guess what!" I screamed into the phone. "I got a job as a bar girl!"

"Wow, that is so cool!" Ninen exclaimed. "What do you have to do?"

"Oh, you know. Take orders, mix drinks and serve. I have to work everynight apart from weekends, six to eleven, and I have to wear black pants or a black skirt, and a black shirt."

"That is really great," Ninen paused and I heard shuffling of papers. "I'm just heading somewhere about a job. I really reckon it would suit me. I'll meet you at the pub at ten, or something, ok?"

"Yeah, sure."

Max went with Kevin to help find Riley and Ninen. He didn't mind skipping his next class to help him look, but he'd definitely have a fun time tonight when the school calls his parents and tells them about his absents.

Kevin couldn't stop worrying as they walked down the street. Max kept assuring him that everything would be find. It was then Kevin noticed how well Max was handling the situation.

"You don't seem to be worried that much, Max. Why's that?" he asked.

Max stayed silent for a moment. His pause was enough to hint Kevin that he was hiding something. "You need to learn to have more faith in your friends. Ninen and Riley are both strong, I'm sure they'll be OK."

Kevin stopped walking and faced him. "There's something you're not telling me."

(How well do you guys think the plot is developing? I think we've been doing a very good job so far.)

I think it's advancing very well =)

Kevin

"Just trust me. They'll be find okay," Max assured me but that didn't make me feel any better and I knew there was more to his tale but I decided to let it drop.
"Let's check the cafe down here. Riley loves this cafe. Then there's the park. Sometimes she hides there for a bit and Ninen likes the train station..." I murmured, trying to order my thoughts.

"Okay then let's check there," Max agreed.
"Yeah and the pub's quite a frequent meeting place. Then there's that ice cream parlour. She went there once..."
"She does this a lot?" Max interrupted. I turned to him and frowned as I wondered how much to tell him, then I shrugged.
"Sometimes she gets a little unstable... sometiumes she... Let's just say that our group has some bad history. Probably more than you're ready to take right now."
"Oh? I think I know what you mean," Max replied thoughtfully.

At that moment, we reached the Cafe.
"Have you seen Riley or Ninen?" I asked Sonya, one of the waitresses.
"Ninen was in earlier, asking about a job," She replied.
"A job? Are you sure? Okay. What about Riley though?" Some of my panic must have shown in my face because she smiled apologetically and shook her head.
"I'm sorry Kevin. Have you tried her mobile?"
"She must have switched it off after she hung up on me last night or it ran out of power. Look. Ring me if you see Riley?"
"Sure."

"Well at least we know Ninen is okay," Max remarked.
"But she's not with Riley, not that I really expected it after their last fight but I hoped... She's out there alone damn it," I sighed and turned to head for the pub which seemed the next logical place but then again it was early but if she was upset she might go for a drink right? No. That was more like Jake but it was somewhere to try.

ten oclock rolled around and Ninen went to the pub, fairly happy with the results she got from the cafe.

The boss said she was pretty and would make great tips and they needed a waitress. She got the job.

She saw Riley and went over.

"Guess what?"

"What?"

"I got a job at the cafe, and I can still go to school."