There was too much tension in the room, that anyone walking past would do all they could, to avoid it.

' He's so nervous.' Julie thought, watching Max avoid eye contact and tap his fingers on his lap.

Despite how bad she felt, she refused to go easy on him because this had to do with her sibling.

Everyone who knew her, knew how protective she became when something concerned Kate.

There was no doubt she would feel hurt if she found out that Max, had wrong intentions with Kate.

She wanted to hear him out and not assume the worst.

' There must be a reason for all this.' She tried to convince herself.

' He wouldn't try and hurt ----' She quickly pushed that thought at the back of her mind.

She didn't want to believe that Max was the reason behind how on edge Kate, had been recently. Not to mention a little distant.

There was something about Max, that felt safe and she held on to that feeling.

" Max, I need to know what is going on here." She pressed, reminding him that she had every intention to know the truth.

" Right," he cleared his throat and straightened up. " I know you must be thinking the worsr of me right now, with all this not helping my case." He gestured to the box, which rested between them.

Julie had placed everything back in the box before putting the box on the bed. Now it was situated between them like some shield.

" I can assure you that this is not what it looks like."

" You're far from convincing me that you are not a stalker, Max." She commented.

" I know." He sighed.

" What is all this? Why do you --- do you have evil intentions towards Kate?"

" No!" He blurted out, his eyes gone wide. " I would never hurt her."

He looked offended by her question.

" Then explain to me what this box full of Kate's pictures and things, would be in your possession. I, for one am certain that Kate would be upset if she saw all this!" Julie felt upset again, the image of Kate scared or upset, didn't ease her worries.

" This was all for safe keeping." He said.

" What do you mean?" Her frown deepened.

" I needed something that belonged to her in my possession. I know it makes me sound crazy but I just needed something....." He trailed off as if all this was too hard to say.

" Okay, now you've proven to me that you're definetly a stalker." She got to her feet and headed for the door.

She no longer had patience for this. She'd had enough.

" I'm not a stalker."

" Sure you aren't," she responded sarcastically, not stopping.

" I was reminding myself of Amileen!" Those words surely made her stop, right at the last minute.

" What did you just say?" She jerked around to face him.

" Amileen. There's so much of Amileen in Kate which I couldn't ignore." He admitted.

' I didn't hear wrong. He said her name.' Julie thought as her eyes widened slightly.

Amileen was a name not forgotten but kept hidden or more like buried with the past. It was a painful one for not only Kate but her family too.

It felt like Max had found a hidden closer and opened it, revealing an ancient secret.

She felt uneasy more than earlier. " How do you know about Amileen? What do you know about little Amy?" She stumbled over her words, not knowing which answer to her questions she needed to hear first.

Max rubbed the back of his neck, one of the habits he did when ever he was either nervous or he felt cornered.

" I didn't hear about her but I know about her. "

" Max, what are you saying to me now?"

" Julie, I have seen her."

" Max -----"

" Please sit down so I can explain." He said softly.

Julie nodded after a minute of hesitation. Max watched her close the distance before she say down on his bed again.

Not wanting to over crowd her, Max pulled a chair close and now they sat face to face.

" When I was young, I didn't have many friends, I didn't like crowds much. What I liked more were the family trips my family used to take. There's a family cabin, that my grandfather built, it is near this very pretty forest.

Anyway, I used to wander around in hopes of experiencing a ' new adventure' as silly as that sounds." He said with imaginary air quotes.

" That's how I met her, Amileen, well Kate." He said with a fond smile.

Julie shot him a look which made him clear his throat, the smile no longer present on his face.

" One day as I was playing in the forest, further than I should have, I accidentally caught sight of her. I remember that day, she was wearing a yellow dress, black dress and a black hairband. I couldn't help but want to talk to her. " That fond look returned on his face again as he spoke. " She seemed to be in her own world. I remember when I approached her and our eyes met, she didn't run or tease me but simply smiled."

Julie noticed how Max seemed to be lost in thought, as if she was reliving the memory.

" From that day, we basically became friends. She always wanted to know what I was doing and about my day. She asked alot of questions, but I didn't mind to give her answers because she was always attentive and excited to receive stories.

We played so much till Kate, but there were times we only talked, telling each other stories. We were close, inseparable even. I remember how happy she looked whenever she saw me, it felt amazing to be liked so much.

It was the first time I felt true friendship."

" What happened later for you to ----"

" Separate?" He completed her question.

She nodded.

She had been listening without interrupting. She couldn't deny how intrigued she'd been and found herself imagining a young Kate and Max playing together.

What intrigued her the most was hearing the story from his point of view, rather from her cousin's. Kate had told her the story of her mysterious childhood friend so many times, and she never missed to smile.

Julie remembered how the now grown up Kate compared Max to a character named 'Shade.' He was a character from one of the theatre plays, in which her mother had taken part in. Shade was known as very protective and a savior for Ezra( her mom's character). Kate's mother was well known and loved in the theatre world, she was able to capture the audience with both her beauty and charisma.

A deadly Paradise, was a local play that grew into a sensation because of the tragic love theme and the characters. Kate's mother brought the character of Ezra so well, she basically lived in that character. A rightful match, many claimed.

Like the tragic story Ezra, the passing of Kate's mother was a tragic one too. It was a big loss for the theatre world.

Julie always felt sad about how Kate lost out on a good childhood, and that there was less good than bad. Her encounter with the little boy, became part of the little good she experienced in her young life.

" Sometimes reality can crash into a person's bubble like a rocket." Julie frowned when she heard Max make this comment.

" What do you mean?"

" No matter how much I begged for my family to stay longer or for us to returm every weekend, it didn't happen. Knowing that it would be a while till I saw her again, I made sure to plan a memorable day for her. I made extra lunch, saved alot of the treats I got and brought more toys too." He soon frowned. " Everything about that day felt strange."

" What do you mean?"

" She was very late that day that I worried she wouldn't show up. When she did, she showed up in the same clothes as the last time I saw her. She wasn't as talkative or cheerful like I knew her to be. She even had a deep scar which trailed from the back of her neck down to her back."

" Did you ask?" Her heart pained as she asked.

" She said it was an accident. She got cut by a piece of metal from her father's garage. She further told me that she missed me too much, that she had no time to look for new clothes. Hearing how eager she was to see me, I became happy. "

" And you forgot."

" Huh?" His eyes snapped to her.

" You forgot about your suspicions." Julie said.

" I was a kid." Max said defensively.

" I-I know and I didn't mean anything bad by it." Julie immediately explained, understanding that Max might not be fully aware of Kate's story.

And he was simply a kid.

" I tried to make her smile as much as I could, knowing that it was our last playdate. When it was time to bid goodbye, it's like she knew because she hugged me for the longest time.

I remember making a promise to see her again, in my hearts of hearts I intended to keep my promise.

Unfortunately, once I left, my own life turned upside down.

This time he leaned forward and held his head in his hands.

' It looks like he's never gotten over this.' Julie thought.

" When did she give you the poem?" Julie asked, not forgetting about the poem.

He sighed and sat up again. " On the last day, before we parted ways."

' That's so sad.' Julie thought sadly.

" She said it belonged to her mom, who was now in Heaven. She told me about how her mom played different characters on stage." He let out a shaky breath as he continued. " I've thought over and over about that day and the poem. I now understand that it was her way of telling me to not forget about her."

" You never did." Julie said.

" I never did." Max agreed. " I made my own promise that day, to keep it safe until we met again. She only nodded and gave me a sad smile. "

This time when he looked at Julie again, there were tears in his eyes.

They looked at each other for some time without a word. Many thoughts ran through Julie's head as she looked at him, there was a sense of truth in his words.

She wasn't expecting to be touched as deeply as she was now, but his story got to her.

" I'm sorry if I've made you upset," he spoke again, looking away.

' You don't have to hide how you feel.' This is what she wanted to tell him, but didn't.

She let out a sigh, taking a moment to digest all the information she'd received.

" It's beautiful, the story I mean." She said sincerely.

" Those parts of my childhood are dear to me." He confessed, now looking at her.

She nodded in understanding.

" I do want to mention this," she gestured to the box. " I don't want to assume the worst, so I need honesty. Why do all this?"

He released a heavy sigh, knowing he had no other choice but to tell her everything. " Kate." He started.

" Hmm?" She encouraged.

" I believe - no- I know that she is Amileen. She's little Amy." He finally let it out.

There was deep belief in his words, it was hard to miss from his face.

He was certain about what he'd said and no one could tell him otherwise.

" You sound so sure." Julie pointed out.

" That's because I am." He responded. " When I moved here, all I wanted was a new beginning but that changed when I saw her. I was at her workplace and there was just something about her which was captivating.

Her smile and the warmth in her eyes." He shook his head slightly. " It triggered something in me. It was something familiar as if I've experienced it before. I remember how she wouldn't get out of my head, bumping into her one too many times didn't help either.

And when I started having these dreams ----"

" What dreams?"

" They were dreams of Little Amy. I began recording everything I dream and reread the poem religiously. I thought I would get mad with many questions, that stared me in the face. So not to drive myself anymore crazy, I did my own little investigation, trying to find any comparison to both Kate and Amileen."

" So this is ----" he nodded. " My own type of digging."

Julie looked at him for some time until Max shifted uncomfortably on the chair.

It felt like he was under a microscope or something.

" I know this is all crazy and ---"

" Does she know who you really are?"

" Huh?" Max let out in surprise.

" Does Kate know who you really are?" She repeated the question.

' Wait, does this mean she finally believes me?'