max pope didn't have the worst childhood in the world, but it wasn't the greatest, either. distraught over the death of his wife and scared for the wellbeing of his only child, elijah pope all but shut down emotionally and did the only thing he could think of to keep his daughter safe: private boarding school. max, still extremely emotionally compromised herself in the wake of her mother's murder, saw this as abandonment. she grew resentful and sad. losing everything and everyone she loved was one of the biggest lessons in her life; though she often keeps people at arms length, it taught her to hold the people she loves close to her heart, to cherish them and never abandon them. they are her family, however ramshackle and dysfunctional they may be.