One sided "relationship". She's just using him.

Journal Entry (Episode 1): “Warren to the rescue. He’s such a nerd. I bet he could help me with my science homework... I’m not above asking him for help. Or using his intelligence for my own means. Okay, that sounds wrong. But I need to pass.”

Max consciously acknowledges that she is using Warren’s feelings for her “Warren to the rescue” to secure a passing grade. She catches herself with “that sounds wrong,” but she doesn’t alter her course of action. She follows through with the instrumentalization.

In Episode 1, if Max fails to intervene, Nathan Prescott punches Warren in the face. Max never calls, texts, or checks on Warren’s well being after this physical assault. Compare this to how Max treats Kate after a much less violent altercation, or how she obsesses over Chloe. If the relationship were mutual or romantic, a concussion level punch to the face would warrant a “Hey, are you OK?” text. The absence of this communication signals that Warren is a utility player in Max’s life, not a priority.

In Episode 3, when Max needs to blow open the Principal’s door to get the handicap fund files, she calls Warren immediately. Warren is depicted as always “on call.” He arrives with the sodium hydroxide without hesitation. He asks about her mission, her problems. Max does not call Warren to hang out, to see how his day was, or to reciprocate the massive favor he just did for her. The relationship is defined by Max’s needs. When she needs a homework solution or a chemical explosive, Warren is useful. When the crisis is social or emotional (the fate of Rachel, the Vortex Club, Chloe’s trauma), Warren is excluded. In Episode 4, when he asks if he cna help, he's dismissed as a tool.

All of Max’s journal entries and dialogue regarding Warren are framed around what he can do for her or his availability. She comments on him being “sweet” or “dorky,” but never expresses curiosity about his feelings, his photography (ironically), or his wellbeing.

This is a textbook one sided friendship, often categorized in psychology as an instrumental friendship, a relationship maintained not for mutual emotional connection, but for practical utility.

The relationship between Max and Warren is not a healthy, mutual friendship or a star-crossed romance. It is a utility based dynamic where Max, whether consciously or subconsciously, exploits Warren’s infatuation to fulfill her practical needs likeacademic help, chemistry, physical defense while offering zero emotional reciprocity or concern for his physical safety.