Maxine Liu

**Maxine "Max" Liu** is Avery Grambs's best and only friend.

## Biography

### Early Life

Max and Avery have been friends for almost their entire lives. Max moved away the summer after eighth grade, and since then their relationship has mostly been in written form. Max's parents are big on "phone-free time" and thus confiscate her phone frequently. They are infamous for intermittently monitoring Max's messages, and thus Max refuses to write curse words in case her parents see them. As a result, she has developed a creative vocabulary to replace them. Examples include “mother-faxer” and “That faxing chiphead can go straight to elf and eat a back of ducks!”

### *The Inheritance Games*

After Libby Grambs lets her abusive boyfriend Drake move back in, Avery refuses to live with him and spends the night in her car. While in her car, she talks to Max about what's happened.

Avery repeatedly tries to contact Max, but is unsuccessful. Max is finally able to call Avery back after the assassination attempt on her in the Black Wood at Hawthorne House. Max urges Avery to leave the House, saying the money isn't worth dying for. Max then reveals her anger at Avery. She tells her that she’s calling from her brother’s phone because she’s been placed on total lockdown because of Avery. She is angry with Avery because she hasn’t asked about her own life since she became an heiress, and frankly rarely asked before. Max then tells Avery that she caught her boyfriend, Jaxon, trying to send himself screenshots of her and Avery’s texts. A reporter had offered to pay him for them. When Max broke up with him, he sent personal pictures he’d taken of Max to her parents. As Max isn’t even allowed to date, her parents went ballistic. Max tells her the worst part is that she can’t even be mad at Avery because someone tried to shoot her, and she does need Max. Max warns Avery to be careful, and then says she doesn’t know when she’s going to be able to talk to her again. Avery realizes that Max is completely correct, and makes a vow to herself to change her behavior to be more supportive of Max.

### *The Hawthorne Legacy*

Max turns 18 and comes to visit Avery at the Hawthorne House.

## Appearance

Max has black hair that she usually wears tied in two buns.

## Personality

Max is very witty and has a good sense of humor. She is also an extremely loyal friend, helping Avery whenever she can. She's sarcastic and not afraid to say what's on her mind, which means she's also pretty honest at times, although it's harder for her to open up about her home life. She avoids the topic of her parents while otherwise talking about Avery's love life. Max watches a lot of television and has an addiction to books. She is thus very knowledgeable about pop culture. She is rarely serious.

## Relationships

### Avery Grambs

Avery and Max are best friends. Avery consistently turns to Max for support because Max is her only friend. However, Max and Avery have a falling out after Avery becomes an heiress. Max tells Avery that her own life has been upended because of Avery's new life. Avery feels terrible and guilty upon learning this. Avery feels like she has always needed Max more than Max needed her because Max is her only friend while Avery is one of many friends for Max. Avery realizes that she has not been equally supportive of Max as Max has been for her. Avery vows to change this. After Avery is almost killed when a bomb is planted on her plane, Max and her mom, a doctor, arrive at Hawthorne House to help Avery recover. This allows Max and Avery's friendship to heal as well.

### Xander Hawthorne

Max and Xander immediately form a friendship upon meeting. Xander even builds drones for her, and informs others that they are very close now. Max and Xander have similar personalities, and they enjoy spending time together and creating a bit of good-natured chaos.

## Trivia

* Max is a night-owl.
* She lives two time zones behind Avery after Avery moves to Texas.