“I was afraid that you’d left,” he said.

“Hm. I thought you were too preoccupied with Monica to notice.”

Max shrugged at this. “She really isn’t so bad,” he said.

“Max, you say that about everyone. Is there someone that you aren’t friends with?” My friend smiled again, and pretended to think.

“Well, I went to the gas station the other day, and the lady in the car that was three cars behind me in line didn’t look too familiar,” he said. I laughed and shook my head, but then looked nervously back towards the kitchen.

“Lovely. Can we please go now?”

Max sighed. He obviously didn’t want to go yet, and I sort of understood. He loved people, and being social. How I’d become his best friend, I’d no idea.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, noticing that I was uncomfortable about something, even when he was obviously trying to think of some way to convince me to stay.

“Nothing,” I said in a voice that told him not to ask anymore. “Let’s go.”

Max sighed and walked out with me.