Right Kind of Wrong (AU,M/L,ADULT) Pt 20 - 01/15/04 [WIP]

This is the place where fics that have not been updated in the past three months will be moved until the author asks a mod to move them back to an active board.

Moderators: Anniepoo98, ISLANDGIRL5, truelovepooh, Forum Moderators

carenicoleIQ
Enthusiastic Roswellian
Posts: 36
Joined: Tue Oct 09, 2001 4:58 pm
Location: Nebraska

Right Kind of Wrong (AU,M/L,ADULT) Pt 20 - 01/15/04 [WIP]

Post by carenicoleIQ »

Title: Right Kind of Wrong
Rating: ADULT
Subject: M/L AU(no aliens)
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, I'm just borrowing them.
Summary: Liz is a college student struggling with her Physics class and Max is her professor. Read on to learn more



Chapter 1

“Liz…babe, you’ve got to lighten up!” Maria Deluca told her friend as they were sitting in the cafeteria eating lunch after Physics class.

“Maria, I can’t lighten up. I swear Dr. Evans has it out for me. What other explanation could there be? I work harder in that class than any other class I’ve ever taken and you know what I got on that test? A ‘C’, Maria I got a ‘C’. I can’t have a ‘C’ in this class. It will ruin my GPA,” Liz exclaimed.

“Liz calm yourself. Listen…. I don’t know what the deal is, but if you stress out about it, it’s only going to make you sick.”

Liz groaned in frustration and stared down at the food in from of her. When she looked up again another groan escaped her lips.

Professor Max Evans had just entered the cafeteria with another Professor of Liz’s.

“Look, it’s the Physics monster himself,” Maria commented with a laugh.

Liz rolled her eyes. “Dr. Evans is like impossibly hard. I don’t understand I studying all the time and you never study, so how are you even passing?”

Maria wagged her eyebrows suggestively. “Sometimes you can get an A in a different way.”

“Maria!”

“I’m kidding, I’m kidding. I really don’t know the answer to your question," she paused, but maybe you should try hitting on him. He’s hot, Liz, it could be fun.”

Liz rolled her eyes at her friend. She could just imagine it, She’d walk into his office and sit down on his lap, wearing nothing but a trench coat and…

She shook her head… NO. That was silly. Ashe wanted to earn her A and besides, Dr. Evans was the kind of man who’d probably laugh when propositioned.

Still shaking her head she went back to worrying over what to do.

***********************************

Max looked around as he walked into the cafeteria; he was meeting some of his other colleagues from the science department for lunch. He spotted her right away…Liz Parker. He’d just seen her 15 minutes earlier in his class. She looked defeated still, just like she had since he’d passed back their latest test. After going through the line, he sat down with the others that had arrived. He was sitting there listening to them talk about their latest ideas for experiments and about sports and… he couldn’t stop thinking about the look on Liz Parker’s face when he handed out her test.

“Max… What’s wrong? You seem distracted,” Bob Wagnall asked him. Bob taught the upper level Biology classes.

“I uhm…well have you ever had Liz Parker for a class?” he asked.

“Liz Parker? Yeah. Several actually. She’s a smart girl. Very Bright. Top Grades. She always came in and asked questions. She’s got a lot of potential.

Several other teachers joined in with praise for Liz Parker that only made Max more confused.

“Why do you ask, Max?” Bob asked him.

“I thought that would be the case, I’ve heard you talk about how smart she is before and so I expected as much when I got her in class this semester. But she’s not doing very well.”

“Define not very well,” Bob told him.

Max sighed. “She’ll probably end up with a C in the class if her work doesn’t improve.”

Bob winced. “That doesn’t sound like Liz at all.”

“I’m not sure if I should talk to her about it or not. Some students are perfectly happy with C’s. For others it’s the end of the world. Unless she comes to me for help, I can’t really do a whole lot.”

Bob shook his head. “Maybe you should approach her. She might be embarrassed about it. She can be kind of shy. Besides, you’re sort of an intimidating guy.”

“What do you mean?” Max asked.

“Well…Max, you’re young right and single…. some of the girls don’t know how to act around you because they thing you’re cute,” Bob teased.

Max felt himself blushing. He never really thought of himself in that capacity.

At 28 years old, he’d been in school most of his life. He’d received his doctorate in Astrophysics two years ago and he hadn’t been able to exit academia. So here he was teaching and he’d really did like it.

Of course he’d been so engrossed in building his career that he’d ignored other aspects of life… like dating and…
He refocused his thoughts. He was trying to find a way to help Liz Parker do well his class, nothing else.

As they continued to sit there and eat, others offered Max some advice. He concluded that he would wait until she talked to him. Out of the corner of his eye he caught a glimpse of her sad face as she left the cafeteria and wondered if there was something more he could do.

***************************************

Liz dutifully copied down everything Dr. Evans wrote down on the chalkboard as well as his verbally emphasized points.

She felt Maria poking her and ignored her, instead concentrating on what was being said.

“So…. Liz, can you tell me what’s going to happen next?” Dr. Evans suddenly asked.

Liz was so started that she couldn’t speak for a moment.

“Well?” Dr. Evans, not to mention the rest of the class was staring at her.

Liz swallowed hard and quietly gave what she hoped was the correct answer. Dr. Evans appeared to be studying her for a second before he shook his head.

“No…can anyone else tell me what the next step will be?”

Liz felt her face flush and she wasn’t sure if it was from embarrassment or anger. She was embarrassed for not knowing the correct answer and she was angry with Dr. Evans for putting her on the spot like that.

In the end it only increased her determination to do better in the class.

After class that day, Max watched Liz Parker leave. She looked determined and frustrated at the same time. He was hoping that by calling on her in class like that, she might bring herself to come ask for help. He knew it was mean but he thought it might work.

******************************************

“Liz…. Babe, he’s totally picking on you,” Maria told her friend.

They’d just finished classes for the week and it was the third class session in a row that Dr. Evans had continually called on Liz. Today she had stopped even trying to conjure up and answer and just told him she didn’t know.

“I mean seriously…. he’s got to realize that you don’t understand the stuff and it’s like he’s trying to bait you or something...” Maria went on.

Liz wasn’t sure what to do. She’d been studying harder for this class than she had to for any of her other classes combined. She was getting sick of trying and failing to understand any of it.

“So what are you going to do? You can’t put up with this for the rest of the semester!” Maria told her.

“I’m going to go talk to him. That’s what I’m going to do,” Liz said suddenly her voice sounding determined. “I’m going to explain how hard I’m trying and I’m going to ask for…. help.”

She was going to ask for help. She wasn’t used to doing things like that. She’d never had to ask for help before. She’d always just understood everything.

“When? What are you going to say?” Maria asked.

Liz almost laughed at her eager friend. Maria seemed to clearly empathize with Liz and was ready to fight for Liz if necessary.

“I’ll go today. Our syllabus says that he’s got office hours this afternoon. I’ll just go in and ask him what I need to do to help me understand.” Liz explained.

“You know…maybe you should subtly suggest an agreement….” Maria started.

“NO. Stop right there. There will be agreements of any sort. I know what you’re thinking. Dr. Evans doesn’t seem like that kind of guy that could be persuaded to do…anything like that. I’m certainly not that type of girl so just forget it.”

“Okay, fine…. now I have to tell you all about the new career counselor they just hired. Oh my god…”

************************************

Max was typing up the next test when there was a knock on his door. With a sigh he saved the document and clicked out of the screen.

“Come in,” he said.

He shouldn’t have been surprised when Liz Parker entered the office. But he was.

“Hi…uhm, is this a good time? I need to talk with you.” She said shyly.

“Sure. It’s fine. Have a seat,” he told her gesturing to the chair next to his desk.
Liz sat down, pacing her book bag at her feet. Tucking her hair behind her ears she turned to look at Dr. Evans. As she did so their eyes met and her breath sort of caught in her throat.

His eyes…she’d never seen eyes like that before.

She blinked quickly trying to refocus her attention.

“Uhm, I wanted to talk with you about my grades. I…uh... I realize that I’m not doing very well and that you probably think that I’m not trying but I am… trying that is. I spend a lot of time studying for this class it just doesn’t seem to help. I’m just not understanding things and I can’t…afford to do poorly in this class. This is my second to last semester and I can’t let my GPA drop and…”

“Liz…slow down. It’s okay. I understand that you’re struggling. I know that you ‘re working hard too, which is why I don’t understand why you aren’t doing better in this class.” Max told her.

For the next twenty minutes they talked about some ways to help her study.

“If you want, we can schedule some tutoring sessions for during the week. I can give you things to work on and help you with whatever you don’t quite understand.” Max said.

“That’d be great,” Liz replied with a smile of relief.

At the sight of that smile, Max felt his stomach rumble a little bit. Liz was a very pretty girl, he noticed.

Swallowing hard he forged on. “Mondays, Wednesdays and Friday afternoons work best. Maybe after you start to get the hang of things we can cut back a little. Does that sound okay?”

Liz nodded and got up to leave. “Thanks again. I really appreciate this.”

“It’s my job,” he replied with a half smile. Max forced himself to turn back to his computer instead of watching her walk out.

***********************************

“So he agreed to tutor you?” Alex Whitman asked. He, Liz and Maria were all eating dinner together in the cafeteria.

Liz nodded “ 3 times a week. If that doesn’t improve my grade, I’m not sure what will.”

Liz shook her head adamantly at the sight of Maria’s suggestively raised eyebrows. “Don’t even start, Maria.”
“Hey!” Maria protested. “I didn’t say anything.”

“No, but you were thinking it and for the last time, throwing myself at my professor for an A, is not an option. End of discussion.” Liz got up then to go get some more water.

Maria turned to Alex. “The lady don’t protest too much,” she told him cheekily.

Alex laughed. “Parker always did strike me as being sort of a vixen.”


**************************************


Chapter 2

Liz stared intently at the book in front of her. It was the fourth night in a row that she’d stayed in to study. She’d finished the homework for most of her classes over an hour earlier. Now she was studying for Physics. For some reason she’d been unable to do anything more than look at the book and her brain was going numb just thinking about the homework assignment.

Truthfully she’d spent two hours that afternoon with Dr. Evan s having him re-explain the chapter. She’d tried really hard and while it had been slightly helpful, she’d ended up with a headache and she had a strong suspicion that he had a headache as well. He seemed very frustrated with her. For good reason it was probably her sixth tutoring session and she’d shown very little improvement.

His parting words earlier that day had been to read through the chapter and make note cards. Liz groaned. She was busting he ass for that class and she couldn’t even remember the reason why. It certainly wasn’t because she enjoyed doing it.

Feeling tired and overwhelmed Liz closed the book with a loud thud and then threw herself on her bed. She needed to just veg out for a while to numb her brain with pointless TV plots. That was certainly better than memorizing force equations

*************************************

Max walked in the door of his house and threw his briefcase on the couch. Of course it didn’t land like it should have. It was like all of his demonstrations in class, always doing the opposite of what it was intended to. In this case, the latch that closed the briefcase came undone spilling all of the papers that he needed to grade.

He didn’t even bother to pick them up. He’d get to them later. First he wanted to change into something more comfortable. And food…he wanted to eat. Before he went to change he flipped on the TV and was greeted by the sounds of the Simpson’s.

He left the TV on as he made dinner and while he graded papers. He wasn’t really watching it he was just avoiding the empty sound of the house. He didn’t like the complete quiet. It just reminded him of how alone he was.

It was nine o’clock when he took a break from graded to get a snack. Donuts they were his weakness. Also the reason he got up at six am to lift weights. After grabbing a cake donut with sprinkles and a class of milk, Max sat himself back down. He grabbed another paper off the stack and his mouth quirked in a half smile. It was Maria Deluca’s the girl had a terrible habit of doodling almost obscene pictures all over everything.

He wondered if she even realized that she was doing it. Ignoring the pictures he focused on grading her work. After reading through it he marked the number of correct answers at the top. He was feeling humorous and wrote Nice Drawings off to the side by a particularly interesting doodle. With a chuckle and a mouth full of donut he graded the next paper. Seeing the name made him swallow hard. Liz Parker, here was the real test. Were the last few weeks of extra time spent worth it? He’d see.

He looked over the paper, scanning her work. At first glance he didn’t see anything wrong. He needed to be fair though and he looked again this time he caught a unit error. He marked the mistake and then look at the paper one more time marked -1/2 at the top. He caught himself before writing Good Job next to it. While he was pleased to see such significant progress on Liz’s homework, he’d wait on giving out any praise. Usually he rewarded the Great ‘and’ Good jobs' for the perfect scores.

Still missing ½ a pint was pretty good. Maybe she’d have a look other than disappointment on her face after getting this paper back.



***************************

“What?” Liz exclaimed, looking at her paper in disbelief.

Maria, who was sitting next to Liz, looked over at her friend. She smiled when she saw Liz’s paper.

“Hey! It looks like all that work you’ve been doing had paid off,” Maria commented.

Liz shook her head. “I can’t believe this! I got half a point off for a unit error. What is that?” She couldn’t believe how one petty little thing could matter so much.

*****************************

Max was surprised to see Liz’s frown as she left after the lecture later. Maria Deluca was standing next to her, talking a mile a minute. Liz didn’t even appear to be paying attention.

He was going to open his mouth and ask her if she was still coming in for help but she brushed past him without so much as a glance.

He shook it off and went to go eat lunch in his office before his afternoon class.

At two o’clock after Magnetism and Electricity class ended, Max went back and was surprised to find Liz already at his office waiting for him. She usually didn’t come until three in the afternoon.

“Hello, Liz. You’re early today,” he said as he unlocked the office door.

Liz didn’t reply, she just walked in behind him and took her regular seat. She began to pull out her notes and her book while Max put away the things from his class. He wondered briefly if something was wrong, but decided it wasn’t his business to ask, he was just her Physics teacher.

“Where do you want to start today?” he asked as he sat down in his desk chair.

“I don’t care,” came the reply.

From the tone of her voice Max was certain that they should hold off on that days session. But he didn’t say anything. Instead he flipped through the textbook too the chapter they were currently working through.

“Ok…He finally said. “Work through problems 7 and 11 on page 137 and tell me what you get.

Liz nodded and went to work. He watched her for a second before getting back to his own work.

Twenty minutes later he heard a frustrated sign. When he looked up he was surprised to see that Liz was near tears.

“Need some help?” He asked softly.
She looked up in surprise and nodded.

“I can’t figure out how to set up this problem,” she said softly. He could hear the disappointment in her voice and felt sorry for her because he knew she was trying hard.

“Bring it here and let me see what you’ve done so far,” he told her.

*******************************

Alex was in the science building getting help for his computer programming class. He’d just taken a detour in the men’s room and was walking by his professor’s office when he heard voices. Very quietly he walked past the office where they voices were coming from.

“Oh ………that makes so much more sense. I didn’t know why I didn’t see that before,” the familiar female voice said.

“Truthfully, it wasn’t always to me either. It just takes practice,” a deeper male voice replied.

Alex snuck a casual glance into the office as he walked past and almost tripped over himself.

Liz was in there, sitting less than six inches away from her physics professor. They were working on something.

“Geez" Alex thought, "They sure seem comfortable together. Maybe a little too comfortable.” He was going to have to tell Maria all about it.

**********************************

That night Liz had a hard time getting to sleep. When she finally did get to sleep she had a very strange dream.

She was sitting in from of a classroom…in the dream it was the physics lab. The chalkboard was full of intimidating equations that she couldn’t even begin to understand. She’d been in the room alone just staring at the equations when the door to the classroom opened and in walked… Dr. Evans.

He came and stood right in front of her, forcing Liz to look up at him from the desk. Their eyes locked and they continued to look at each other for another moment before Liz made herself look away.

“Today’s assignment, Liz, is to solve the problems on the chalkboard, for everyone problem you get right…you get a reward. For every wrong answer I take a piece of clothing off.”

Liz wasn’t sure how to respond to that. The rational part of her was saying, “this is wrong, he is my professor. While her body was saying…Oh yeah because Dr Max Evans was hot.” The idea of naked Max Evans…

Well Liz wasn’t sure which part of her was right.

So she started answering questions.

With each wrong answer…a little more of Dr. Evans was revealed to her.

He started with each shoes…then his socks… his tie…. his belt… his shirt….

At that point Liz was so flustered that she was stumbling over her own words…

“Uh……….so the force is 80N?” she answered.

Max smiled and shook his head. Off went his pants.

“Last chance Liz. Tell me… What’s the square root of 81?

“That’s easy………nine.” She said, relieved that his boxers were still in place.

In her relief though she hadn’t realized just how close he was to her. His bare arm reached out and pulled her up from the desk. Their eyes met again and Liz’s breathe caught.

“Very Good, Liz. Time for your reward,” he said as he slowly brought his mouth down to meet hers.

Liz could feel his breathe against her mouth and she leaned up to meet him halfway and as their lips were about to touch…

BEEP BEEP BEEP

“Augh,” Liz groaned. She didn’t even want to open her eyes. She just wanted to think about the dream and….


The dream. Oh God!!!

Liz sat upright in bed, suddenly wide-awake.

She’d just had a dream about her physics professor. How was she ever going to face him?

*************************************

“Maria, stop laughing!” Liz hissed. “It isn’t funny!” She insisted.

“Oh … but it is!” Maria managed to say between spurts of laughter. “That’s the funniest dream I’ve heard in a long time,” she told her friend.

Liz shook her head causing her hair to fly about her face hiding the dark blush that now stained her cheeks. “No, it isn’t funny. It’s embarrassing. How could I have even dreamt of this? I mean really, where does my brain come up with this stuff?”

“I don’t know, but when you figure it out let me know… I’d like to have a dream about naked…dur emphuh….”her voice was muffled as Liz’s hand clamped over her mouth.

“Maria. ……Stop right there! This is between you and me and once this conversation is over we’re never going to speak of this again.” Her hand was still over Maria’s mouth and she made Marie nod her agreement before she removed it.

“Okay... so did I tell you about my visit to the counselor’s office yesterday? Oh my gosh… I’m telling you, the guy is about every girl’s dream. No wait! You seem to dream about a different kind of main in authority…”

Liz just rolled her eyes and listened to her friend babble on about ho she was going to seduce the new counselor before the year was through. She was still talking about him fifteen minutes later when they were waiting for their physics lab to start.

Liz was actually glad for the distraction because she felt funning seeing Dr. Evans after her dream she had about him. So she was intently listening to how the counselor, Michael as Maria called him had told her to stop and see him anytime. She was about to point out that it was his job to say that, when Dr. Evans walked into the room.

Liz tried to look busy and not at all interested in what he was doing at the front of the room. Especially, when he turned around and started writing on the chalkboard. Liz felt herself flush as thoughts of her dream cam rushing back to her.

When Dr. Evans finished writing on the board he turned around….”Can anyone tell me what this means?” He’d written an equation on the board. Liz quickly looked down at her notebook, a blatant avoidance tactic. Of course Max saw this and so he immediately called on her.

“Liz, care to take a guess?” He asked her with a smile.

Maria nudged her and wagged her eyebrows suggestively. “ You better not get this wrong. You’re dream might repeat itself.”

Liz’s cheeks flamed further and she stammered out an answer.

Dr. Evans nodded. “ That’s correct.” He gave Liz an encouraging smile and she wondered if her face would ever be able to go back to its natural color again.

“Ooh, Lizzy, maybe you’ll get rewarded after all.” Maria whispered.

Liz groaned and went back to focusing on what Dr. Evans was saying.

The lab time went quickly or as quickly as it could. Liz had been paired up with Kyle Valenti, who was not only a huge flirt but also dumb as a post. He was absolutely no help. That was why she and Kyle were the only one’s left in the lab, excluding Dr. Evans of course. When Kyle had to leave early for football practice, Liz was left completely alone with…the man of her dreams.

She fought back a giggle at the thought. Her dream man…. Really, she was losing it.

“Liz?” A voice started her from her thoughts so much so that she jumped, her hand coming into contact with the soda Dr. Evans had in his hand causing it to spill all over his shirt.

“Oh God! I’m so sorry…” Liz said. Instinctively she jumped up and got some paper towels. She came back to the very stunned Dr. Evans and started to blot the soda on his shirt. She began fumbling as she touched his chest and so she shoved the paper towels into his hand. Now she was nervous and she always started talking when she was nervous and this had definitely made her nervous.

“I’m sorry Dr. Evans I didn’t mean to do it.” She told him sincerely, her wide eyes riveted to the hand that were cleaning up the mess.

“Liz it’s okay,” he started but Liz was still talking and gesturing nervously.
“And now your shirt is wet and ruined…” thoughts of how you could see his chest in the wet, white material of the shirt registered. “And it such a nice chest… I uh I mean shirt…and I’ll pay for you to have it cleaned and…. oh my god! I have to go!”

Max watched dumbfounded as Liz grabbed her books and started to take off.

“Wait Liz…” he called after her “you still have to ………clean up…”
But she was already gone.

With a sigh he looked at the lab equipment that was still out and set about putting it away.

********************************************************
Last edited by carenicoleIQ on Tue Apr 13, 2004 4:02 pm, edited 2 times in total.
"The heart has its reasons it which reason knows nothing" -Blaise Pascal
carenicoleIQ
Enthusiastic Roswellian
Posts: 36
Joined: Tue Oct 09, 2001 4:58 pm
Location: Nebraska

chpts 3-4

Post by carenicoleIQ »

Chapter 3

The cafeteria was packed with students. It was lunchtime after all so it was to be expected. But neither Max nor Michael had counted on having this much trouble finding a place to sit. They were finally able to spot a small table towards the back. They quickly grabbed it and settled in to their meals.

“So, Michael…how are things going? It seems like we haven’t talked in ages? How’s the new job?

Michael and Max had known each other since they were little. They’d been next-door neighbors and best friends for most of their lives until Max had gone off to college. Michael had stayed behind to work for a couple of years. But he’d gone to school eventually and now had a PhD in Psychology. Max had been the one to suggest that Michael apply to be one of the counselors at the University. Now they were getting the change to get caught up with each other’s lives.

“Great. The job’s good. I’m getting settled into the new place. I’ve been thinking about buying a big screen TV to take up some space so the place doesn’t look so huge, ya know.”

Max nodded.

“What about you? The last time I talked to you…you loved your job and everything was good.”

“Not much has changed," Max admitted, “except…. Things have definitely been pretty boring. But …those are the breaks. I picked a career… and that’s what I’ve got.

They chatted some more, Michael understanding how Max felt. They’d put a lot of themselves in to their careers and now they had them but there was definitely something missing.

Midway through the meal Michael glanced up and groaned out loud.

“Hide me,” he said to Max

“Why?” Max smirked.

“Because my stalker is here, and she’s wandering this way.”

Max looked up and saw Maria Deluca with Liz following closely behind her. Max had to laugh at the determined look on Maria’s face as she came toward them.

“Michael,” she said approaching the table. “Imagine seeing you here. Can my friend and I join you? We can’t find any open seats anywhere.” She said even as she was sitting down in one of the table’s two empty seats.

Liz sat down in the other empty seat. She smiled up at Michael saying hello and then she saw Max.

“Oh…hi Dr. Evans,” she said sounding surprised to see him sitting there.

“Liz,” Max said with a nod of acknowledgement.

“Dr. E…hey,” Maria said. “I almost didn’t recognize you with that shirt on.”

Liz, who had been taking a drink of water, choked as Maria said this, as visions of her dream reared through her head.

“Are you okay?” Max asked in concern as she continued to cough.

Liz nodded and cleared her throat. “It…uh got caught in my wind pipe, she said giving him a partial smile.

“Anyway,” Maria said, interrupting what could only be interpreted as a starring contest. “As I was saying, I really like your new shirt Dr. E. It makes you look like a college student; you surprised me.”

Max raised his eyebrows. “Well,” he teased, “If you would have been in class today, you might have been spared the shock.”

Maria had the grace to look slightly guilty but quickly brushed it aside.

“It’s Friday…what can I say? The weekend wanted to start early and I didn’t feel like arguing.”

Michael laughed at this. Maria was something else. His laughter caught Maria’s attention and she focused her charm on him.

Max watched with amusement as Michael and Maria bantered back and forth. If he didn’t know any better, he’d almost think Michael was enjoying this and maybe even flirting with Maria a little. Movement caught his attention and Max glanced over at Liz who was silently eating as she read a magazine.

“What are you looking at?” he asked her

Liz looked up and smiled. “It’s this month’s Scientific American. It just showed up in my mailbox today.” She told him.

“Really? Maybe that means that mine will come today. Anything interesting in there?”

“Sure, if you like reading about pathogenic viruses.”

“Happens to be my favorite subject,” he told her with a mock seriousness.

Liz laughed. “Is that so…. well then you probably won’t even take a second glance at the article on the new satellite NASA’s sending out.”

“Is that in there?” He asked, suddenly quite interested.

Liz nodded and smiled again, flipping to the page to show him the picture from the article.

For the rest of lunch they talked about the new satellite, with Max explaining different aspects of the project so she could understand the article better. She in turn explained the article on viruses. Neither of them was aware of the knowing grin on Maria’s face or the concerned glances that Michael kept sending in their direction.

It was almost 1pm and the foursome all had to get back to classes or work.

“Liz, are you coming in today? Max asked just before they split up.

“Yeah. Probably at 2pm. I need some clarification on the ideas from today’s class, “she replied.

“Ok. See you at two then.”

******************

Once again, Max found Liz waiting for him outside his office at two o’clock. It was a fairly familiar sign at this point almost eight weeks into the semester. So Max wasn’t sure why it almost always surprised him to see her standing there. At least he thought it was surprise. He didn’t know what else to think. Nothing else had ever made his stomach flip flop that same way.

Shaking his head he told her hello and as was the routine they started to work.

It turned to be a fairly busy day. Students kept stopping by left and right it seemed, always interrupting as Max was trying to explain something.

During one of the lull’s, while Liz was trying to work on a problem, she decided to take a little break.

“So…how do you know Michael?” she asked. Max looked up from his laptop.

“Uh…we sort of grew up together.” Max replied.

“Oh, really? Have you always been friends then?”

“Yes.”

“Hmmm. So how old is Michael?”

”He’s 28, like me. Why do you ask?”

Liz’s eyes met his and he almost smiled at her sheepish look. “Maria sort of… conned me into digging for information,” she admitted.

Max really did laugh that time. Liz was surprised by how young he suddenly looked as his whole face lit up with laughter.
When his amusement died down he finally spoke. “Tell you what… I’ll tell you about Michael if you can convince Maria to start coming to class and stop doodling obscene pictures on her homework.”

“Deal. So what’s the scoop?” Liz moved her chair forward, thoughts of studying put aside for the time being. She was up to Max’s desk, her elbows on the surface with her chin propped in her right hand.

“We were both born in Roswell, New Mexico and lived there our whole lives until college.”

“Really? My grandmother lives in Roswell. It’s where my Dad was born and raised,” Liz told him, surprised by the connection.

“Wow! What’s your grandmother’s name? Maybe I know her. It’s a small town after all.”

“Claudia Parker. I go and spend the summer there every year, school holidays too.”

“That’s incredible! I used to mow her lawn in the summers when I was in high school. She lived two blocks away from my parent’s old house on Murray Lane. She was always so nice and brought me lemonade and…”

“You were the boy that mowed her lawn?” Liz asked in surprise.

Max nodded. “Yeah. That means you were probably there if you stayed with her.”

Liz laughed. “I’m not surprised you didn’t notice me. I was a little bit of a tomboy and I’d always take off with grandma’s dog and get myself into trouble.”

Max laughed. “What a small world.” He said with a shake of his head. “So how is your grandmother? It’s been a while since I’ve been back to Roswell. My parents moved to Albuquerque to be closer to me and my sister. So it’s been a good four years. I went back for the fourth of July to visit Michael.

Liz thought…four years ago she’d been staying with her grandmother. She would have just turned seventeen. She groaned out loud at the thought. “That was the year I got crowned ‘Miss Fourth of July’. Talk about embarrassing,” she said with a laugh.

“That was you?” Max asked, somewhat startled. He remembered that summer pretty well; the fourth of July in particular. He and Michael had had their fair share of drinks by mid afternoon. They’d gone to the beauty pageant to see the local talent. Max’s sister Isabel was judging the contest that year as a former winner.

Liz felt her face heat up knowing that he had seen her as a seventeen year old girl. “I … it was for a scholarship. I couldn’t pass it up,” she tried to explain.
Max barely heard though. He just remembered that even in his somewhat inebriated state he’d thought the young woman getting crowned up on that state was beautiful in a naïve sort of way. She’d had an innocence about her that he hadn’t seen for a long time. He wasn’t sure what to think now, knowing that girl was Liz.

He shook himself slighting to focus when he realized Liz was still talking. With a chuckle his eyes met hers again. “You know, I always thought you looked a little familiar.”

“Oh really? Is that why you give me such a hard time in class?” Liz’s question was meant to be teasing but Max could hear the underlying hurt.

“Liz… I … do I really give you a hard time?”

Liz nodded slowly “Dr. Evans, you know that I don’t understand this stuff very well. It’s embarrassing when you call on me in class…I…”

“Liz, I’m sorry. That wasn’t my intention. Really, I just thought…well, so many of your teachers speak so highly of you and I couldn’t understand why you weren’t doing well, so I called on you thinking it would make you work harder. …”


“I’m working as hard as I can,” she interjected.

“I know.”

“I want to do well….”

“I know, Liz, I’ve noticed. It’s hard not to notice.”

Their gazes met again when Liz looked up and Max could see tears forming in her big brown eyes.

“What if this doesn’t help? What if none of my hard work pays off?” She asked emotion evident in her voice.

Max fought the urge to reach out and grab her hand to give her some kind of assurance but he caught himself, knowing that was a boundary that he couldn’t cross with her.

“Liz…I promise you, the effort you’ve put into this isn’t going to be wasted. You’ve already brought your grade up to a solid B since that last test. If you keep up the way you have been I have no doubts that you could finish with an A.”

“Really?” she asked her eyes lighting up with hope.

“Really.”

“Thank you, “Liz said, giving him a brilliant smile. He felt his stomach flip-flop again and he wondered what had surprised him this time. He knew what it was though. The surprise was the realization of just how beautiful Liz Parker was. It wasn’t just on the outside either. She’d been so focused and hardworking that he couldn’t help the admiration and appreciation of her that was beginning to surface. For a brief moment his mind worried over whether it was more that admiration he was feeling.

******************

Liz had never noticed his eyes before. Not really…. until today. Actually… that wasn’t true. She’d noticed his eyes in her dream. But today was the first day she’d gotten a good look. They were so expressive and open that she couldn’t help but be drawn into them. Her breath had almost caught in her throat at the way those amber orbs had looked so understanding a concerned and reassuring for her. She realized that she’d never held a teacher in such high esteem before and her desire to do well increased ten-fold.


Chapter 4

For the next two weeks Liz continued to come to Max’s office for help. For the most part they stayed focused on Physics but every once in awhile their conversation would stray to things they had in common. They’d discovered that they both had an almost unnatural fascination with the show CSI. Max had almost every episode on tape because he had to watch it on the weekends due to the night class he taught. They also talked about Roswell some. Liz filled him in on what had been happening in his absence from the town.

Liz found that she could listen to Dr. Evans talk for hours. Especially when he talked about Astronomy. He was so passionate about it and it came through when he spoke.

It was the tenth week of the semester by then and Max was continually pleased with Liz’s improvement in class. He’d also been careful not to pick on her as much during lectures anymore. It was that Friday during class that Max asked Liz to stay behind. He needed to ask her a favor.

“Could you stay after a moment?” he asked as the rest of the students began to leave.

Liz nodded and told Maria she’d meet her in the cafeteria.

“Did you need something?” Liz asked, standing at the front as Dr. Evans erased the chalkboard. She watched as he put the eraser down and then wiped his hands on the back of his jeans. For a moment her thoughts strayed but they quickly refocused when she realized that Dr. Evans was talking to her.

“Yes, actually. I’m supposed to be in charge of this volunteer program for the Science Department. Tonight we’re going to host a series of demonstrations at a third grade lock in for the public school. We’re supposed to be there to set up everything by 5pm. We get done at nine o’clock tonight. One of the girls that originally signed up had to cancel and so I was wondering if you could maybe fill in for her?” he asked hopefully.

“Uhm…” Liz wasn’t sure what to say. She already had plans for the night, but she didn’t want to disappoint him and he’d been so helpful to her…above and beyond helpful.

Max saw her hesitation and decided maybe a bribe or some other incentive would persuade her to agree.

“I’ll make it worth your while,” he said. “You can have some extra credit and I’ll even buy you dinner tonight.” The last part had slipped out before he could stop himself. He gauged Liz’s reacted closely to see if he’d offended her with that. It hadn’t been his intention.

He was relieved to see that she seemed unfazed and maybe even a little bit excited. But the prospect of her excitement wasn’t something he should be thinking about. Not at all.

“I’ll do it. Just tell me where I need to be and when. And you don’t have to do anything extra for me. I’m sure this will be fun,” she told him with a smile.

He gratefully returned the smile. “Thanks so much. You’re a lifesaver!”

“You’re canceling our plans to what?” Maria asked loudly as Liz caught up with her at lunch. Today was Alex’s day to join them and so he was watching the exchange with interest.

“Dr. Evans asked me to help with this volunteer thing. He was desperate and I couldn’t turn him down. It’s for a bunch of little kids.”

Alex snickered at that and Liz kicked him under the table, giving him a glare at the same time. “Get your adolescent mind out of the gutter!”

“But Liz…. we made these plans a long time ago,” Maria whined.

“Maria…you made these plans a long time ago. I didn’t really want to go to the concert anyway. Use this as an excuse to ask Michael out or something,” Liz told her friend.

Maria perked up immediately at that idea, but she was being very serious when she turned to Liz a moment later. “You better be careful tonight,” she said.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean…I’ve seen the way Dr. Evans looks at you and I know that you like him. All you do is talk about how wonderful he is and how you have so much in common and…”

“What do you mean ‘the way he looks at me’?” Liz interrupted.

“He just looks at you Lizzy…I mean he really looks at you. He likes you… a lot. And I don’t mean in a teacher-student way. I mean in a man-woman way. You’re totally his eye candy.”

“I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about,” Liz said.

“Liz…sometime in class, he’ll look at you and he’ll get flustered and lose his train of thought. And during lab, he’s always back by your table, helping you. His eyes just naturally gravitate toward you. And there was this one day last week when I went in to get help. You were sitting in one of the chairs working quietly and he was trying to help me, but his eyes kept glancing your way and the minute you sighed he was asking if you needed help.”

“Maria, you’re just being silly,” Liz insisted.

Maria shrugged. “Just be careful. I don’t want you to end up hurt.”

Liz missed her study session that afternoon. She’d thought about everything that Maria said and she just couldn’t bring herself to spend all of that time alone with Dr. Evans. Especially if what Maria said had any merit.

Max was surprised when he saw that Liz wasn’t waiting for him at his office like she usually was. He figured that she was probably just running late. So he went on with his work for the afternoon. By three thirty pm there was still no sign of Liz and Max had to admit to himself that he was worried about her. He hoped that something hadn’t happened to her.

At the thought of that he had to block out the images of bad things in his head. He tried to ignore the sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. It was probably just something he ate. And Liz…well she had probably just gotten busy and forgot to come.

The afternoon went surprisingly slow. Max was so used to working with Liz that he wasn’t sure what to do with himself. He had his grading almost finished already. That meant that he was going to have a pretty eventless weekend.

At five o’clock, Max locked up the office and went to go pick up the school van he was borrowing for the evening. When he came back there was a group of eight college students waiting for him, all holding their demonstration supplies for the evening. But he barely noticed them. The first person he was aware of was Liz as she stood tentatively off to the side. He could tell she was uncomfortable.

He quickly parked the van and got everything loaded. The others piled inside, leaving the front seat open. Liz was the last person so she took the front passenger seat.

She hadn’t said much yet. Max wondered if maybe she wasn’t feeling well. He decided he’d better ask and make sure she was okay. Not sure what to say he started up the van again. “Uhm…thanks again for coming, Liz. I really appreciate it.”

Liz gave a slight nod. “Sure, no problem.”

Max glanced at her quickly before focusing on driving. She didn’t look sick. Her skin was the same perfect olive tone that it always was. She looked a little troubled, though. He decided that he’d let her talk if she wanted to and wouldn’t push a conversation. Maybe she’d eventually want to talk about what was bothering her.

By six o’clock all of the demonstrations were set up and running in the school’s gymnasium. Liz was helping Max with the electricity demonstration. By six thirty…they still hadn’t had a single group show any interest in visiting them.

“We must not be very interesting,” Max commented as he watched the little kids gathering eagerly around other booths.

“Maybe we should give them a reason to come over here,” Liz suggested.

Max looked over at her and fought back a frown. She was sitting as far away from him as possible and she refused to meet his gaze. She’d barely spoken since they’d gotten there. Something was obviously wrong. Now he was wondering if it was something he had said or done.

Deciding to try and ignore the tension between them, Max got an idea to help out their demonstration. “I want to try something. Care to be a guinea pig?” he asked Liz. After a moment of hesitation Liz agreed, much to Max’s relief.

“Okay…come stand over here,” he said, pointing to a spot next to the equipment. He moved around, looking for something and then produced two glass blocks.

“Okay, I want you to come and stand on these two blocks,” he told her after positioning the blocks on the ground.

As Liz went to step up on the blocks, her foot slipped, causing her to lose her balance. Letting out a small yelp, she tried to prepare herself for the impact of hitting the ground and closed her eyes. But instead of the hard floor of the gymnasium, her fall was cushioned by a pair of strong arms.

For a second, Liz kept her eyes closed; shocked by the emotions she was feeling. When she finally opened them she was somewhat unprepared for the sight that greeted her and found herself starring into warm amber eyes.

“Are you okay?” Max asked her, concern evident in his voice.

“I…” Liz couldn’t find any words, she was too caught up in looking at him. It was like she was really seeing him for the first time. That’s when she realized that Maria had been right. At least the part about Liz liking Dr. Evans had been right. She was attracted to him. Very attracted to him.

Max finally got Liz to stand on her own two feet but he was unsure how to interpret her silence. He thought he’d caught her before she could hit anything, so he didn’t think that she was hurt.

As soon as Liz’s realization set in, she remembered where she was and what she was supposed to be doing. She couldn’t let on that she’d developed feelings for him. He couldn’t know that she was attracted to him. It would jeopardize too many things.

“I’m alright,” she finally told him once she’d regained her composure. “Just a little startled.”

“Okay…well…” Max wasn’t sure what to say.

“Why don’t we try it again? Only this time I promise to stay upright,” Liz suggested with a smile.

Max smiled back. This was the Liz he knew. The bright, creative, enthusiastic woman in front of him…not the confused, silent girl that had been sitting next to him earlier. “Maybe I better help you up this time,” he said, taking her hand to steady her as she stepped on to the blocks again.

The second he took her hand; Liz knew that she was in deep trouble. She could feel herself responding to just that innocent touch. How was she supposed to act normal when the slightest touch was enough to make her whole body tingle?

Max knew he shouldn’t but he held onto her hand a second longer than he needed to. Her hand just felt so small and perfect that it was hard to let go. When he finally managed to relinquish his hold on her, he glanced up at her face. She was biting her lip nervously, the same way she did when she took his physics tests. It was such a cut habit and … Max shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. He knew that he shouldn’t be thinking the way he was. It was wrong…and nothing could ever come of it.

“So, now what?” Liz asked, bringing Max back to reality.

“Now… you put your hand on this ball…” he instructed bringing the electricity ball closer to her. “I’m going to start the motor in the base and the coil is going to turn and electricity is going to be generated in the ball. And because you’re touching it the electricity is going to go through you and it’s going to come out the top,” he explained.

“What do you mean?” Liz asked, unsure as to what was going to happen and a little bit nervous.

“Let’s just try it. I promise that it won’t hurt,” he told her with a reassuring smile.

He waited patiently for her permission to keep going.

Her eyes searched his and she knew that he wouldn’t lie to her…she knew that and about a thousand other things as she looked into his eyes. He was a good man…honest, caring, funny, hardworking and…. the list just went on.
“Okay. I trust you,” she said. The words were soft and the sound of them Max’s hand falter a little bit.

She trusted him. Three words that meant so much. He could never betray that trust, especially not by giving in to what he knew he was starting to feel for her.

Looking away from her he started the motor in the generator and then waited. “Do you feel it?” he asked, looking up and meeting her anxious gaze. Her big brown eyes grew wide.

“Yes…” she said…startled by his question. At first Liz had been thinking of something else and her response had been instinctive. She could feel the connection to him…the chemistry between them… the electricity. It was literally electricity though. And it was running through her. Not between them but between her and the metal ball. Liz started laughing then…because she felt silly and the electricity gave her a funny, butterfly like feeling inside.

Max smiled at Liz’s laughter, watching as her entire face lit up.

“My hair’s standing up, isn’t it?” she asked.

“No actually. It isn’t. Which means that this isn’t working. You’re hair is probably to…uhm…soft and it’s so long that…” his words trailed off as he fought the urge to reach out and run his fingers through the silky brown tresses. Instead he cleared his throat. “Go ahead and take your hand off the ball now,” he instructed. She did and he shut down the machine, quickly grounding it.

Instinctively he reached out his hand to help her down. The jolt of electricity that came when they touched shocked them both, causing them each to suck in a breath before they immediately burst out laughing.

The night went quickly after that. Max managed to attract a small group of kids and once they saw the way their hair could stand on end they swamped the booth. Liz watched with amusement as Max wowed the kids with the demonstration. She helped run the machine while he explained what was going on.

It was after nine o’clock when they finally finished everything and the kids were directed to another activity. Max drove the student’s back to the science building. Liz offered to stay and help him put things away and he almost accepted it when he decided against it. He knew that he’d enjoy the company too much and he couldn’t guarantee that the situation wouldn’t prove too tempting to resist. Especially considering the way things sparked between them.
"The heart has its reasons it which reason knows nothing" -Blaise Pascal
carenicoleIQ
Enthusiastic Roswellian
Posts: 36
Joined: Tue Oct 09, 2001 4:58 pm
Location: Nebraska

5

Post by carenicoleIQ »

Chapter 5

Max’s weekend was going very slowly. It was late Saturday night and he had absolutely nothing to do. He’d tried to call Michael up but had only gotten his friend’s answering machine. Max also tried to get a hold of his sister but remembered at the last minute that she’d gone out of town on business. He hadn’t wanted to talk to her husband Jesse and so he abandoned that idea. Now he was at a loss. There hadn’t even been a new episode of CSI for him to tape and watch.

He came to the conclusion that he needed a hobby. Either that or a woman. He supposed it was probably the same thing.

Did he even know any women? He’d long since thrown out his black book. He hadn’t been on a date since Grad. School. It wasn’t from lack of interest on his part, though. It was just very hard to give a woman attention if you had to put all your energy into your work. Especially with what he’d chosen to do. He’d spent a whole year of his life locked away in a telescope trying to gather data. Then he’d spent another six months analyzing the data. The result of his self-imposed isolation had been a well-received dissertation and an immediate job offer in Albuquerque where he was close to his family. And he’d been completely content for the last three years…until now that is. Suddenly his life seemed like it was missing something: something that could distract him from the solitude of his situation.

Shutting off the TV, Max decided to go to sleep. Maybe he’d have a good dream or something.

Sunday morning dawned and Max was up by 9 am. He made himself some coffee and eggs and sat around reading the Sunday paper and advertisements. It was nearly eleven am when he finally finished. Still feeling the same restlessness he’d felt the day before, he decided the best outlet for this nervous tension would be exercise. So he spent an hour lifting weights. After the weights he made himself a sandwich and called his mother. He was due to check in with her and see how things were going. That conversation lasted a good hour as his mother had to fill him in on everything he’d missed out on for the last two weeks. If lifting weights hadn’t tired him out, the conversation with his mother had, even if that was more of a mental exhaustion.

It was 3 o’clock when Michael finally called.

“Hey, sorry about not getting back to you sooner,” Michael said to his friend. “I drove back to Carlsbad yesterday to pick up the rest of my things. I stayed over at my sister’s house.”

“How’s Laurie doing?” Max asked.

“She’s good. Baby number three is due in two months. I don’t know how she handles working and raising her two boys, let alone this new baby.” Michael said. He sounded slightly awed and yet like it was an experience he really didn’t want any part of.

Max again felt something knawing at him. Laurie was two years younger than he was and she had two, almost three kids. It bothered him and made him feel like he had a lot of catching up to do. Shaking off the thoughts, he focused on his conversation with Michael. “Listen…do you want to go play basketball at the gym? I need something to keep me occupied the rest of the afternoon.”

“Sure,” Michael replied. “I’ll meet you there in 20 minutes.”

45 minutes later they were engaged in a fast paced game of one on one. Both guys were sweating hard already.

Max took the ball out and drove down the court for his shot, Michael let him past and stood there watching Max make his lay up.

“Damn, Maxwell, what the hell has got you wound so tight?” Michael asked using his t-shirt to wipe the sweat off his forehead.

“What are you talking about?” Max asked tossing the ball to Michael for his turn.

“I’m talking about how you’re some kind of machine. This is just supposed to be a pick up game and you’re seriously whomping my ass. So what gives?”

“I’m better at this game than you,” Max shrugged and stood there breathing hard, waiting for Michael to take his turn.

Michael stared at him hard before taking his shot. The ball bounced off the rim and Max took the rebound. A moment later as Max was about to shoot, it occurred to Michael what might be bothering his friend.

“You need to get laid!” he exclaimed just as Max released the ball. The result was a complete air ball.

“What?” Max asked, turning back to Michael.

“Don’t ‘What?’ me you heard me and you know I’m right. Don’t even try to deny it.”

Max sighed in resignation. “As right as you probably are…I don’t exactly have a lot of options right now.”

“Are you even interested in anybody right now?” Michael asked.

An image of Liz Parker flashed into Max’s head. He quickly tried to get rid of it, instead focusing on where the basketball had rolled.

“You are, aren’t you?” Michael asked. He had a sneaking suspicion who it was.

“Michael…it’s too complicated.”

“How so?”

“It just is.”

As his friend, Michael knew not to push for the information. As a counselor he’d wait until Max came to him for advice.

Another 45 minutes later, they’d finished their game leaving both men drenched in sweat and smelling badly.

“Good game Maxwell…good game!” Michael said.

“Yeah. Now it’s off to the showers. I can’t ruin my car by getting in and smelling like this.” Michael agreed and they both headed off to the men’s locker room.

*******************

Liz had decided that the weight room over in the PE building would be able to provide a decent distraction for the afternoon. She’d spent most of the morning studying Physics and was sure that being so sedentary was unhealthy. She’d brought a book to read and her headphones and had done the treadmill for twenty minutes. Then she’d done ten minutes on the stair master and fifteen on the stationary bike. Now, she was exhausted and sweaty, but she felt pretty good. She left the weight room with intentions of showering in the girl’s locker room ASAP.

Her plans were thwarted though when she was coming out of the weight room and ran smack into a hard sweaty chest. Startled, she jumped back. An arm reached out to steady her. Looking up to apologize she gasped out loud as he eyes met the gaze of Dr. Evans.

“Oh…gosh. Hi! Dr. Evans…uhm sorry about that”… she stuttered out.

“No Liz…my fault. I should have been paying more attention,” he told her.

They stood there awkwardly, unsure how to react now.

Liz was looking everywhere but Max, feeling self-conscious about her current state. She must look terrible.

The longer they stood there, though, the more time Liz had to notice the fact that Dr. Evans was shirtless and sweaty…very sweaty.

Max was also noticing the sheen of perspiration on Liz’s skin, not to mention the tight spandex pants she was wearing.

Michael watched the scene unfold with fascination. It was obvious they were attracted to each other…and thus had a hard time being around each other without it being awkward or giving those feelings of attraction away.

Deciding to spare them both any more embarrassment, he reminded Max about the shower they were both going to take.

“Yeah…me too,” was Liz’s reply

Both Max and Liz’s faces blushed bright red as the thought of each other naked…in a shower came to mind. At that they both bolted in opposite directions.

***********

After his weekend of working out, Max was tired Sunday night and fell asleep easily. Which was probably the reason he slept right through his alarm on Monday morning. He didn’t even remember hearing the alarm go off and woke up a whole hour later than normal. Not only did he wake up late, but also with an extremely uncomfortable problem. It was a painful problem and he couldn’t do anything about it because he didn’t have time.

Even the cold shower that he forced himself to take was not enough to dampen his arousal. “Jesus,” he said to himself. “What kind of dream did I have last night?” He wished he could remember because he hadn’t woken up with a hard on like that since his late teens.
After his quick, very cold shower, he was moderately more comfortable but not much…then all thoughts of that flew out the window as he realized that he wasn’t even going to have time for his morning cup of coffee. “Dammit,” he mumbled under his breath as he tried to dress quickly. It seemed like the faster he tried to move, the clumsier he got. And glancing at the clock only made him think of how late he was.

He only ended up being five minutes late for his first class. He was surprised to see that the students had stayed even that long. They tended to leave if he wasn’t standing at the front of the room when class started.

It was nearly time for Physics 111 when he realized that he’d left his lunch at home. It was too close to eleven o’clock for him to go get it. So when he walked into class, he wasn’t very happy, knowing that he was going to waste half his lunch break driving across town to his house. He decided that if he went through the lecture material fast enough, he could maybe let class out early.

But the class had homework questions.

“Look,” he said, “I have office hours. Use them. Right now we’ve got notes to go over. So unless you’d rather skip today’s lecture entirely and not know certain information for your test next week…. we should get started.”

At the tone of Dr. Evans voice, Maria raised her eyebrows. “Geez, I wonder what crawled up his ass?” She leaned over to Liz. “Did you distract him that badly Friday night, Liz?”

Liz ignored her friend and started taking notes. It was obvious that Dr. Evans was in a bad mood and she definitely didn’t want to incur his wrath. Which is why she never should have turned around when Kyle Valenti whispered her name.

“What Kyle?” Liz whispered back, her voice displaying her annoyance.

“I was just wondering what you were doing tonight…”

Liz didn’t even let Kyle finish. “No…so stop asking!”

When she looked back up at the chalkboard, Dr. Evans was starring at her. “Is there something you’d like to share with the rest of us, Miss Parker?” he asked in a tightly controlled voice.

Liz shook her head no.

“Then I suggest you pay more attention. Maybe if you did, some of this might actually make sense.”

Liz felt her face burn red with embarrassment.
For the rest of the class she took diligent notes but refused to look at Dr. Evans. She was very upset with him for being so mean to her. Why was he always picking on her?

Max let class out fifteen minutes early and rushed back to his house to get his lunch. Then he went back to his office and ate. He had a half-hour before his E & M class started.

Unfortunately for Max, his office was located right next door to the ladies restroom. This meant that he could often hear what was going on in the bathroom. Today was not an exception and he was really wishing that he had earplugs. It sounded like someone was dying in there and Max almost completely lost his appetite. “Could this day get any worse?” he asked himself out loud.

Ten minutes later… it did.
"The heart has its reasons it which reason knows nothing" -Blaise Pascal
carenicoleIQ
Enthusiastic Roswellian
Posts: 36
Joined: Tue Oct 09, 2001 4:58 pm
Location: Nebraska

6

Post by carenicoleIQ »

Chapter 6

“Oh god…it smells in here,” Maria exclaimed loudly. “Yuck!”

“Whatever, Maria. Just hurry. I’ve got to get to my microbiology class,” Liz told her.

As Maria walked over to one of the stalls she shot Liz an annoyed look. “Would you just relax? You’ve been crabby ever since Physics,” Maria said.

Liz let out a frustrated sigh and stared at herself in the mirror. “I’m sorry. I guess I’m just upset,” she responded.

“Is this because he scolded you in class?”

Liz nodded to herself and then remembered that Maria couldn’t see her. “I felt so stupid, Maria. And it wasn’t even my fault. Kyle just refuses to leave me alone. Plus…Dr. Evans made it sound like he thinks I don’t pay attention in class ever. Do you think he thinks that I’m goofing off? Because I’m definitely not,” Liz insisted.

“Lizzie…what I think is that you need to take a break,” Maria informed her friend after emerging from the stall. “I have the perfect solution. Why don’t you take the night off from studying and come out to dinner with me. I’ll invite Alex and we’ll make a big deal out of it…you know get dressed up…everything.”

Liz felt herself perking up at the idea. “You know what, Maria? That sounds like the perfect idea. Studying for the physics nazi’s class can take the back burner for a night. What time should I be ready?”

“Yes! I knew you weren’t just a big science geek!” Maria exclaimed. “Be ready at six pm. And you never know Liz…this could be your lucky night.”

******

The voices from the bathroom had faded several minutes ago leaving Max sitting at his desk, staring at his computer screen.

He’d been an ass to Liz.

A complete and total jerk.

He’d been frustrated the entire morning and then he’d let his jealousy flair because Liz was talking to Kyle. He’d gotten angry. That was still no excuse for treating her like that; she didn’t know that she was the source of his frustration. It wasn’t her fault that he was attracted to her. He knew that he needed to apologize to her.

He waited for most of the afternoon, hoping that Liz would give him the opportunity when she came for her study session. But she didn’t come and he couldn’t really blame her for avoiding him.

Pulling out his class roster, Max found Liz’s name on the sheet. Written next to it was her email address. It took him nearly an hour to compose the message.

Dear Liz,

I want to apologize for my behavior earlier today in class. It was uncalled for and I hope that you can forgive me. You’re a very intelligent young woman and it wasn’t my intention to make you feel otherwise with my hasty words. I took my personal frustration from a bad day out on you and I am, once again, very sorry. Please forgive me.

Sincerely,
Max Evans


*******

Liz stared at her computer screen. She’d just gotten an email from Dr. Evan’s. An email where he’d apologized and complimented her. Here heart was still pounding from the effect of seeing it in her inbox.

Should she reply? Should she go over to his office? It was still fairly early. He might be there.

Her decision was made for her when Maria called, interrupting her thoughts of Dr. Evans.

“What are you going to wear tonight?” Maria asked her.

“I’m not sure yet. Why?”

“Because, Alex called his uncle and we now have reservations at Geppetos!” Maria exclaimed excitedly into the phone.

“You’re kidding? That’s great! I love that place. What time?” Liz asked, her own excitement from the email bubbling forth to this news.

“Six thirty. So we’ll swing by your dorm at six. Get your butt moving girl and get ready!” With that Maria hung up.

The first thing Liz did after she hung up the phone was reread her email. Then she spent the next hour getting ready. She was just putting the finishing touches on her hair when there was a knock at the door.

Finishing quickly, she answered the door.
“Hey Alex,” she said.

Alex was silent and instead stood there with his mouth hanging open.

“Alex?”

Alex shook his head and smiled. “Sorry…you just look…wow… I have no words. The term ‘Beautiful’ hardly does you justice.”

Liz blushed, but smiled anyway at the sincerity of Alex’s compliment. “Thank you Alex, should we go?”

“Yeah. Maria’s out in the car. We’ll never hear the end of it if we keep her waiting.”

**********************************


Max’s day hadn’t gotten any better as it continued. He felt guilty all afternoon for the way he’d lashed out at Liz. Even sending her an apology hadn’t helped him feel any better. He just wanted to go home and numb his brain with TV for a few hours.

His plan to forget his bad day would have worked if there hadn’t been a message on his answering machine. He was supposed to meet his sister at Geppetos at 7:30 for their monthly dinner. He was looking forward to it about as much as he looked forward to dentist appointments. But he would go and he would listen to Isabel talk about her job and Jesse and then he would listen to her talk about her life’s plan and how she was glad they were waiting to have kids and… the evening would last forever. Thank God he didn’t have class until ten on Tuesdays.

So it was a very reluctant Max that got himself dressed in one of his nicer suits and went to meet his sister.

*******************************

“So then, Michael said that I couldn’t keep making appointments to see him when nothing was really wrong. And he said that if my goal was to ask him out, it wouldn’t work because it was unethical to date a patient. So I promised to stop coming in for counseling. Instead I’m just going to show up at his apartment.”

“Did he tell you to do that?” Liz asked. They were sitting in Geppetos, waiting for their food to come. While they did that, Maria and Alex were both taking turns telling Liz amusing stories about their lives as of late.

“No. But he didn’t say that I couldn’t.”

Alex laughed as Liz just shook her head and smiled. She was having a good time. It felt nice to be able to just relax with her friends and forget everything for a while, except she hadn’t been able to forget everything. She’d had to keep herself from getting caught up in her thoughts; thoughts of the email that she now had memorized and of Dr. Evans and running into him at the gym.

She knew it was wrong to feel the way she did but she couldn’t help it. When she was with him, everything seemed right. And she could talk to him… it was so easy to talk to him that she could probably tell him anything.

Now she found herself wondering if he could ever see her the way she saw him. Could she ever be more then just a student? There were moments when she thought she felt something between them, something that they both fought because they didn’t understand.

Liz wanted to tell him…to just lay it on the line and find out if what Maria said was true. Because if it was she’d know he felt the same. That maybe when he looked at her, with those intense amber eyes of his, he was seeing her soul the same way she always glimpsed his. And she wanted the smiled he shared with her to be only for her the way her smiles…were just for him.

“Liz…earth to Liz,” Maria’s voice broke through Liz’s reverie.


Liz could feel herself getting warm and thought she’d better excuse herself. “I’m going to go to the ladies room. I’ll be back in a minute. If the food comes you can start without me,” she instructed.
“Not a problem,” came Alex’s quick reply.

Liz made her way to the restrooms over by the entrance of the restaurant. She was just passing the hosts location when she was startled by a large male figure stepping in front of her. She tried to side step the figure but wasn’t quite fast enough. Her shoulder took the brunt of the impact and as she recovered she was able to look up.

“We’ve got to stop running into each other like this?” the man said with amusement.

“Dr. Evans?”

“Liz, I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean to barrel into you like that. I’m honestly not out to get you,” he assured her with a partial smile. His words conveyed an underlining meaning that he hoped she caught.

“It’s okay, it happens.” They stood awkwardly for a moment, a sense of déjà vu washing over them. Max cursed himself yet again for behaving like such an idiot in class that day, thinking that maybe things wouldn’t be this tense.

Liz watched as Max’s face turned serious.

“Liz…about today in class. I’m very sorry,” he told her sincerely.

“It’s okay…I-I got your email and I understand. Everyone’s allowed to have a bad day once in awhile.”

Max felt even guiltier at her words. “Yes, but that isn’t an excuse for my behavior. You don’t deserve to be treated that way.”

The sincerity and concern conveyed in his voice and expression made Liz’s heart thump wildly in her chest. This was one of those moments when she thought it entirely possible that Dr. Evans felt the same way she did. She wasn’t sure what she should say, but unconsciously she took a step toward him.

Max on the other hand couldn’t move. He didn’t want to. She was so close that he could smell her. She smelled just like strawberries. As she looked up at him, his hand reached out, tucking a stray piece of hair back behind her ear.

Her big does eyes widened questioningly. God…he wanted so badly to kiss her. “You had a hair thing,” his voice said softly even as his face moved closer to hers.

Liz opened her mouth to speak, but no words came. Instead she wanted to feel his lips on hers. They were so close…his breath was tickling her nose and his face came even closer…

“Max?” a loud female voice said, startling them both. They each took a step back, putting distance between them.

Liz was still slightly dazed by what had almost happened. But she managed to look in the direction of the voice that interrupted them and she immediately stiffened.

The woman was tall…statuesque…beautiful. She looked like a model. And she was talking to Max. “Our table is ready,” she said arching her perfectly shaped eyebrow.

“Isabel…this is Liz Parker. She’s a student of mine,” Max said. He was surprised that he was able to get out that much of a complete sentence. Holy Shit! He’d almost kissed Liz…He would have too if Isabel hadn’t interfered.

He shook himself. This was crazy. Liz was his student. It was wrong…unethical….

“Nice to meet you Liz,” Isabel said, eying the young woman with interest. She’d obviously interrupted something between her brother and this Liz person. “So…you’re a student of Max’s? You look so young.”

Hearing Isabel say that was like a slap in the face for Max. He knew exactly what she was doing, making sure Liz felt insecure. It was working too because he could feel Liz pulling away.

“Actually, this is my last year of college. I’ve already been accepted to Grad School for the fall of next year,” Liz told her, trying not to let Isabel get to her.

Max couldn’t hide his surprise at Liz’s statement. “Really? You’ve already been accepted? Where at?”

Liz was about to respond when Isabel spoke first. “Max, we should really sit down.” Turning to Liz she gave her a fake smile. “Nice to meet you Lisa.” Then she whisked Max away, leaving Liz standing there. Max looked back in time to see the tears forming in Liz’s eyes before she turned and went into the restroom.

Once Liz was inside she almost stumbled toward the sink, leaning heavily against the vanity. She was such an idiot to even entertain the idea of a more complex relationship with Max Evans. He was her teacher…nothing more. And she had to keep reminding herself of that no matter how interested he seemed to be in her life or how close they had been to kissing. Liz was so confused. Had they really almost kissed? Or was that just wishful thinking on the part of her overactive imagination? And was he really here on a date…with that woman? She didn’t exactly seem like the type that Dr. Evans would be interested in, but she was beautiful.

Liz looked up at herself in the mirror and the image starring back at her, one that she’d be quite pleased with earlier, now seemed to be a train wreck in comparison. Even without all the complications, she could never compete with the likes of that woman.
Her self pity began to wane shortly, though and she decided that maybe Dr. Evans wasn’t the man she’d thought he was if he liked woman like the one he was with. Looking at herself again, she was happy with what she saw. She was unique and someday, she’d find a man who loved everything about her. But even as she walked out of the restroom and back to her table she was still trying to convince herself that that man wasn’t Max Evans.

******
Max was shocked by his sister’s behavior. “You could have been a little more polite,” he told her after the waiter had taken their drink order.

Isabel was looking at her menu and ignoring him.

“I guess I was under the impression that our mother had taught you to behave like a lady…” Max knew that comment would get Isabel’s attention and wasn’t disappointed when her menu quickly snapped shut.

“What happened back there has absolutely nothing to do with my behavior and everything to do with yours. That girl is barely out of her teens and you should know better than to lead her on like that,” Isabel told him almost angrily.

“What are you talking about?”

“Let’s start with what I walked up on. Did she have something on her face? Let me guess…you offered to lick it off, right?” she said sarcastically.

Max wasn’t sure if the flush he was feeling was from anger or from embarrassment.

“You have to be careful, Max. You have lots of female students just like Liz. They get a crush and then dream up this fairytale romance with the handsome and intelligent professor as the hero.”

Max was so stunned by the idea that Liz could possibly feel anything for him that he couldn’t respond to what his sister was saying. All he could think about was how beautiful Liz has looked and how her face had lit up when she’d seen him. He remembered how she’d been so eager to respond to him and he knew that these feelings that he had developed were not one sided.

“Liz isn’t like that,” he finally responded. “She’s a very smart woman. She’s got a lot going for her with a lot of promising opportunities for her future. She wouldn’t get caught up in something because of a fantasy,” he said in her defense.

Isabel eyed her brother critically. Then it dawned on her why he was acting the way he was. “You’ve fallen for her, haven’t you?”

Max looked away, unable to answer.

“Are you sleeping with her?”

“No! It’s not like that. I know there can’t be anything between us. I know that and would never put her in that position. I…” Max looked up at his sister and she could see the frustration in his eyes. He was confused and almost tormented by the entire thing. “I don’t know what to do…or how it even happened. She came to me for help for class. We meet three times a week in my office to go over things. After we’d been meeting for a while we started talking and she’s so smart and funny and interesting…and the more we talk, the more I looked forward to seeing her. Just being near her causes a ….a…. riot inside of me.” Max let out a loud sigh.

Isabel looked on with sympathetic eyes. “Max…if you want my honest opinion, I’ll give it to you.”

Max nodded hesitantly. He was afraid of what she would say and didn’t necessarily want her advice.

“You have to let it go and move on. There are too many reasons against whatever it is you’re feeling. First, you can’t jeopardize your job. Not even just your job, but your career. You’ve worked too hard for that to risk it all on some girl. She’s young, Max. She’s not going to want what you want. You could get hurt. So the first step…. you have to spend less time with her. Tell her to get another tutor because you don’t have time anymore. And don’t pay special attention to her…ignore any attention she give to you.”

Max conceded that rationally Isabel was right. But his heart was telling him not to listen to her. He was still contemplating what his course of action would be when the waiter brought their food out to them. As he looked up to say thank you, he caught sight of the burgundy of Liz’s dress. He couldn’t stop himself from looking. What he saw made his decision for him.

Liz was walking out on the arm of some guy and she was laughing as she looked at him adoringly.

He knew then that Isabel was right… he had to try and move on.
"The heart has its reasons it which reason knows nothing" -Blaise Pascal
carenicoleIQ
Enthusiastic Roswellian
Posts: 36
Joined: Tue Oct 09, 2001 4:58 pm
Location: Nebraska

7

Post by carenicoleIQ »

Chapter 7

Tuesdays were Liz’s one free day during the week. She usually spent the time on homework for her biology class. In the afternoons she graded papers for the BIO 112 class. She liked having that day to help break up the routine of the week.

On this particular day, she found her mind wandering mostly in the direction of Dr. Evans. She couldn’t help it. Some way or another he’d completely consumed her. He seemed to be in every thought she had. When she woke up in the mornings, she always got dressed with him in mind, trying to wear something that would make him notice her and think that she was attractive. And she spent more time studying for his class than she did for classes that were going to directly impact her future career. He’d turned her life upside down without even trying.

It was almost noon when Maria called Liz to meet her for lunch. She agreed, knowing that meant meeting Maria at the science building where she might be lucky enough to get a glimpse of her favorite professor.

******

After the Tuesday morning lab let out, Max grabbed his things and quickly made his way across campus to Michael’s office. When he got there, the door was open and Michael was sitting there working at his computer. Max walked right in and shut the door behind him.

“Michael…I need your help.”

Michael looked up from his work. “Is this about Liz Parker?”

Max was a little stunned that Michael already knew, but he nodded anyway.

“Have a seat. I’ve been waiting for you to bring this up for a long time.”

“God…am I that obvious?” Max asked, suddenly very nervous. Had he done something to give away his attraction to Liz?

“No. It’s just that I know you Max. I’ve been your best friend since the third grade. It was just obvious to me that something was going on,” Michael tried to explain. What he didn’t mention was that he and Maria had been having some pretty interesting discussions surrounding the nature of Max and Liz’s relationship. Or as it was now…their overwhelming attraction to one another. “Start at the beginning and just tell me everything. Then we can discuss things.”

“It was really innocent at first. She just needed help understanding the class material. But the more we talked…the more we just seemed to click. I’ve never been able to talk to someone as easily as I talk to her,” Max paused and Michael motioned for him to continue. “I started to notice things about her, little things. Like how attractive she is and smart and funny and…my mind is all cluttered now because all I can think about is that I’ve never met anyone like her before.”

“So what’s the problem?”

Max gave Michael a look of disbelief. “Come on Michael, you know what the problem is. She’s my student. So it doesn’t matter how much I want her…I can never act on it.”

“Why not?”

“Damn…you ask a lot of questions don’t you?” Max said, thinking that maybe he picked the wrong person to talk to.

“It’s my job Max. Now…keep talking.”

An hour later Max had told Michael everything, right up to the point where he’d tossed and turned all night, his head arguing with his heart over what to do.

“This is a tough situation Maxwell, and I sympathize. But I can’t really tell you what the right decision is going to be. You know what the rational thing is, but that doesn’t always make it the right choice.”

“So how do I make that choice? Do I forfeit my career on the off chance that she might feel the same and want a relationship?

“Think about it this way, Max. Right now the only think stopping you from pursuing this is the fact that Liz is one of your students. Am I correct?”

It took a moment but Max finally shook his head yes.

“How many weeks are left in the semester?” Michael asked him. He was trying to guide Max’s thinking... to make him try and be logical without ignoring what he really wanted.

“Four.”

“Okay, so four weeks from now, if Liz is no longer your student, there would be nothing unethical about taking her out. The school can’t do anything if she’s not in one of your classes.”

“So you’re saying that as long as she’s not one of my students…I won’t jeopardize my job or Liz’s future?”

“Right.”

Max should have been elated. This was good news. But for some reason he was still torn. Isabel’s words about Liz being young and her only having a crush seemed to haunt him. And he could still see Liz with that other guy from the restaurant…laughing, happy and carefree. Was he just setting himself up for heartbreak by even entertaining that things could work?

“Max, look, I know that this decision isn’t an easy one. I’ve given you my advice as a counselor. Now I’m going to give you my advice as a friend. You’ve got good instincts. You always have. Go with your gut.”

Twenty minutes later Max was wishing he hadn’t suggested lunch in the cafeteria to Michael. Liz had been there with Maria. She’d barely said hello to him and had left quickly claiming she had work to get to. Maria had stayed though. Now Max was sitting there, picking at his food while his best friend sat there flirting with one of his students. He fleetingly wondered what was going on between Michael and Maria.

“So last night, Alex, Liz and I went to Gepetto’s to have some fun. It was originally just going to be me and Liz but we decided we needed some male company at the last minute,” Maria said after Michael asked what she’d been doing the night before. Max knew that even if Michael didn’t want to admit it, Maria was staring to grow on him. It would only be a matter of time before something more than flirting started up.

“Who’s Alex?” Michael asked.

Max’s attention, which had already perked up at the mention of Liz, was now fully on Maria as he waited for her answer.

“Oh, Liz and I have known Alex since freshman year. He’s our best guy friend. We like to think of him as just one of the girls, though,” she explained.

Max felt relief sweep over him. Liz wasn’t dating that guy. That meant that maybe…she could be interested. His relief was short lived though because of the question Maria directed at him.

“Liz said she saw you at Geppeto’s last night, Dr. E. You were with some chick. Was that your girlfriend?”

Max almost choked, or at least he would have if he’d been actually eating.

“No!” he exclaimed quickly. “That was my sister Isabel. We get together for dinner once a month. Her husband Jesse usually comes with us but he had to work last night,” Max explained. He was wondering now if Liz had thought Isabel was his date. It could explain her distance. That is…if she was interested like he was desperately hoping she was.

Michael hid his smile and decided to help his friend out a little. “Even if Isabel wasn’t his sister, Max would never date someone like her. He prefers brunettes for one thing and he really appreciates a smart girl who’s also nice. All qualities that Isabel doesn’t necessarily possess.”

Max wanted to kill Michael for being so obvious.

Maria just smiled. “I’ll have to keep an eye out for you Dr. E. There’s got to be girl like that somewhere on campus.” She gave Max a wink.

Flustered, Max made his excuses and left. He had a feeling that everyone would know about his crush on Liz Parker by dinnertime. He felt like he was stuck in junior high all over again.

As Maria watched Max’s retreating form, she grinned, a plan forming in her mind. A plan that involved helping push Max and Liz together and…maybe getting herself a little action.

“So, Michael…I was thinking that we need to do something about this Max and Liz thing,” Maria said.

Michael nodded. “ I agree. Why don’t you come over for dinner tonight and we can discuss it more thoroughly.” Michael could guess what Maria was up to and he didn’t have problem playing along.

*****

Liz skipped work that afternoon and drove the many miles it took to get to Roswell from Las Cruses. She needed a distraction…she needed to be away from everything. She’d been talking to herself the whole drive, trying to convince herself that her crush on her professor would be fleeting. Then she remembered seeing him in the cafeteria. Just the sight of him made her stomach flutter nervously and her palms sweat. Was that a normal reaction for simple crush? Probably…except it felt like so much more.

The only think Liz could think of to help ease her mind was a visit with Grandma Claudia. That always made everything better.

The front door of Claudia Parker’s ranch style home swung open, revealing a somewhat matronly woman with silver hair. She looked to be in her early sixties, a decade younger than she really was.

“Liz?”

“Hi Grandma,” Liz said, giving her a partial smile.

“Honey bear, what are you doing here?” she asked as she stepped forward, enveloping her granddaughter in a big hug.

“I…I just wanted to come see you and I had some free time so…” Liz’s voice trailed off.

“Well, Let me have a look at you,” Claudia instructed as she took a step back. She let out a sigh. “You get more beautiful every time I see you.”

Liz smiled and blushed despite herself. “You’re my grandma…you have to say that.”

“No I don’t…it’s the absolute truth. Now get your little butt inside. We have some catching up to do.”

They sat cuddled together of grandma Claudia’s couch as Liz told her about her classes. She left out Physics for some reason, not wanting to even go into it. Probably because she didn’t want to think about anything related to Dr. Evans.

“So…tell me what’s really bothering you because it sounds like everything is going well with school. That means that this mood of yours has something to do with a boy.”

This conjured up an image of Max. He was hardly a boy though.

“I…. it’s so complicated, Grandma.”

“It usually is sweetheart. Sometimes, though, the more complicated it is, the more worthwhile it becomes. Tell me all about this young man that’s caused such chaos in your life now.”

“His name is Max…he’s my Physics professor,” Liz finally admitted.

This took Claudia completely by surprise. She definitely hadn’t been expected to hear that. “You’re having a relationship with him?”

“No…he’s just my professor. I was doing poorly in the class and he agreed to give me extra help. He’s been helping me work for weeks. We found out we have a lot in common. He’s so easy to talk to that sometimes we don’t get any work done. We just talk. He’s so smart and funny and good looking that I suppose it was inevitable that I develop feelings toward him.”

“Well…what else can you tell me about him?” Claudia was hoping that Liz wouldn’t say he was married or something else that could be worse.

“He ...uhm… actually grew up here in Roswell, Grandma. I told him about you and he said he used to mow the lawn for you.”

“He’s that Max? Max Evans?”

As Liz nodded and gave her a confused smile, Claudia knew that everything would work out just fine. Her granddaughter was a good judge of character. Falling for Max Evans proved that.

“Max Evans is a good boy, Liz. I remember him well. I heard he was teaching in Las Cruces. I guess I hadn’t thought he might be one of your teachers.”

Liz sighed. “He’s wonderful, grandma. I can hardly believe that he’s not married.” Liz’s face fell at that. “Of course, that could be changing. He was on a date last night with a very beautiful blonde woman. She wasn’t very nice though and I can’t imagine him marrying someone like her.”

“What did she look like?”

“She was tall, blonde, and beautiful. She looked like a model.”

“That sounds an awful lot like his sister Isabel. She could be sweet when she wanted something, but only then. She was a spoiled child if I ever met one. I hear she married a lawyer. She works as a modeling agent and travels a lot.” Claudia went on to tell Liz more about Max’s family.

“His parents are great. In fact, his father used to golf with your dad when you were little. They’re about the same age if I remember right. You came later than your parents had expected. Max and Isabel were already in school then. But then your parents moved and I don’t know if they kept in touch. The Evans’ are wonderful people though.”

It wasn’t helping her, Liz realized as he grandmother told her more about Max and his family. It only made things worse.

After Claudia had talked for a while she eventually drifted off to other topics. “We’re looking for someone to organize this year’s Christmas program. So far, none of the high school girl’s has time. Do you remember the year you did it Liz? That was one of the best years. You worked so well with the kids and they all adored you.”

“It was fun,” Liz commented.

“I have an idea…you could volunteer to do this year’s pageant. It would be wonderful!” Claudia suggested excitedly.

“Oh…. grandma…I don’t know…”

“It might help you take your mind off of a certain physics professor. That is…if you’re looking for a distraction.”

Liz thought for a moment. “Okay…I’ll do it.” She liked the idea of being distracted.

“Great! I’ll have Mrs. Grant call you at school to arrange everything.”

They spent the rest of their time together making an elaborate dinner that neither of them could finish. They were packing up the leftovers for Liz to take to Alex when Claudia turned to Liz. “I think that if you really want to get Max’s attention you need to keep working as hard as you have been. And take as many classes with him as you can. It certainly won’t hurt anything and it sounds like Max might just need a little nudging. So you just have to be sure to remind him constantly how wonderful you are.”

Liz thought about her grandmother’s advice along with everything else they’d discussed. By the time she got back to her dorm she’d come to several conclusions all of which revolved around Max Evans.

It was a little after nine pm when Maria cam over, spilling news from the entire afternoon, including the information about Max having dinner with his sister.

“And…Lizzie…get this, Michael said that Max likes brunettes…and smart girls. That’s totally you chica! He wants you! I told you it was true!”

“Maria, calm down! Just because he likes brunettes doesn’t mean that he automatically likes me. There are about a thousand smart brunettes on campus. He could like them.”

“But Liz…”Maria started to protest.

“No, buts, Maria. I’m not going to actively pursue this right now. That’s the end of the story. Now can we talk about something else?”

Maria let it go for now…she’d let Liz have her way. But she and Michael and spent most of the night devising a plan. Operation Liz and Max would be underway soon enough.
"The heart has its reasons it which reason knows nothing" -Blaise Pascal
carenicoleIQ
Enthusiastic Roswellian
Posts: 36
Joined: Tue Oct 09, 2001 4:58 pm
Location: Nebraska

Post by carenicoleIQ »

Chapter 8

After lunch with Michael and Maria, Max made the decision to take Isabel’s advice. He was going to tell Liz she had to find another tutor. He didn’t want to do it because it meant spending less time with her and that wasn’t what his heart was telling him to do. But he’d come to the logical conclusion that the tutoring might seem suspicious and therefore had to stop.

Now he was sitting at his office desk, watching the clock, waiting for Liz to show up. Ever so slowly the numbers changed to two pm. Almost immediately there was a knock on the door.

“Come in,” Max said, trying to control the tone of his voice.

Liz appeared in the doorway.

Max found that he’d lost control of his vocal chords, not to mention other parts of his anatomy, at the sight of Liz. She stood there leaning against the frame of the door. Her long hair flowed over her shoulders like a chocolate waterfall.

“You wanted to see me?” her soft voice said.

Max found himself mesmerized by the movement of her moist, pink lips.. His attention was drawn away from her mouth as she stepped forward, more fully into the office. She was wearing a tight black skirt that barely grazed mid-thigh. Its waist sat low on her hips and he was able to glimpse a good portion of her body through the transparent material of the white button down shirt she was wearing.

“H-have a seat…Liz,” he stammered out as he tried to calm himself. If his pulse didn’t slow down soon and his heart didn’t stop racing, he just might have a heart attack.

It got worse when Liz complied with his request. It wasn’t the way Max had anticipated. She came and sat right on the edge of his desk with her legs dangling over the side, touching his thigh as he sat there.

“Uh…” he was again, speechless.

“What did you want to talk about Dr. Evans?” Liz asked. He must have been imagining the sexy tone her voice had taken on, there couldn’t be another explanation.

“Liz, I can’t tutor you anymore. I don’t have time,” he blurted out. He couldn’t even get out the speech he’d had prepared because for some reason…he couldn’t remember any of it.

He watched as Liz moved closer to him, scooting over so that she was sitting directly in front of him on the desk.

“Why not Dr. Evans? Don’t you like me anymore?” she asked innocently, even as she let her legs drops, straddling his chair.

“No…it’s not…I don”t….we can’t…”

Liz interrupted his bumbling words. “I still like you Dr. Evans. A lot,” she whispered as she leaned toward him.

“I do…I do like you Liz, but…”

Liz put a finger to his lips. “There are no ‘buts’ Max. I like you, you like me. We should do something about it…not ignore it. I’m tired of ignoring the way I feel about you. I’d rather act on it…repeatedly,” she told him, giving him a sexy smile. Her lips were so close that he could feel her sweet breath on his face.

Max swallowed hard but didn’t protest.

Liz sat back a little. She looked at Max appraisingly for a moment as if studying him. Then, before he even knew what was happening, her hands were at the collar of her shirt and tearing the front of the shirt open, baring herself to him completely. He should have realized she’d be totally naked underneath that shirt. Liz let the shirt hang open, enjoying Max’s response. His eyes were riveted to her…so much so that he didn’t register when she grabbed his hand until he felt the smooth skin of her thigh beneath his palms as she slid his hand up and underneath her skirt.

Max stopped breathing momentarily.

She let go of the hand resting on her thigh and brought her own hand to his chin, forcing him to look up at her. “Max…don’t think…just feel…”

With those words Max felt the last string of his control snap. He moved the hand on her thigh up, firmly grasping her hip while his other hand took hold of her waist. Standing up abruptly, his chair fell over. Max moved forward using his hands to move Liz back further on the desk, all the while his eyes never left her face. He was entranced by the satisfaction evident in her expression and the darkness of her eyes. He lowered her down flat onto the desk before positioning himself on top of her. They fit together perfectly. He’d know that they would. Slowly he brought his lips closer to hers, wanting to taste their soft fullness . He could feel her quick, shallow breaths on his face and his own breath hitched in his throat at the anticipation that overwhelmed him. Just a few more centimeters until heaven…


BEEP. BEEP. BEEP

Max shot up in bed, breathing hard. Oh god….he thought to himself. He’d never had a dream that vivid and real before. It was almost too much. He was sweating and…painfully aroused. Just like the previous Monday. Only this time it was the middle of the night and he wasn’t about to be late to class. He had plenty of time to take care of his situation. He cursed himself as he lay there trying to get control of himself. He hadn’t had to do this is a long time. It was almost embarrassing. Max held off as long as he could trying to think of unarousing things….but it all came back to Liz. It became her fingers he imagined touching him…bringing him to completion as he cried out her name into his pillow.

*****

Max could barely look at Liz in class on Wednesday. He kept thinking about his dream the night before. He felt guilty, almost like he’d marred her perfection and purity by using her image…thoughts of her to find release after the intensity of his dream.

It didn’t help that she was wearing the shirt from the dream. It was a shirt that she’d worn before and was particularly flattering on her. He tried not to think about it but he couldn’t help wondering if she was really naked beneath it. She looked beautiful today…her olive skin seemed to glow and her dark silky hair looked so soft and…He forced himself to move past those thoughts. He was thankful that she wasn’t wearing a skirt. If she had been he was positive that he’d have attacked her in front of the entire class.

Reigning in all of his control he asked Liz to be sure she stopped to see him that afternoon. He explained briefly that he needed to talk with her about tutoring. As he watched her leave the classroom it was only a small part of him that hoped his fantasy would play out. Of course if he really believed that he wouldn’t have spent his lunch hour at home trying to make himself look more presentable.

Liz was probably on time for their meeting. Max couldn’t be sure because he was late getting back from his Electricity and Magnetism class. He felt like he was always making her wait. When he saw her, he fought back the nervous fluttering in his stomach and let her into the office. It felt normal…just like every other time he’d tutored her.

“Have a seat,” he told her, careful not to look in her direction even though the temptation to do so was great.

“What did you want to talk about?” Liz asked as she sat down directly in front of his desk. It was the same chair she always sat it.

Max’s gaze was glued to the desk in front of him his mind conjuring up the image of Liz from his dream the night before. He felt his body stir in response and quickly tried to shut down those thoughts. “Liz…I…I’m sorry to do this to you, but I’m not going to be able to help you with your physics questions anymore. Something has come up and it’s going to be requiring the majority of my attention. I can still answer questions in class but otherwise I’ll give you the name of a tutor to help you out. I’m really sorry. I feel bad about…”

Liz held up her hand stopping his speech. “I understand. I’m sure it can’t be helped. I’ll just have to work through on my own. Thank you though, for everything. Your help has meant a lot to me.”

Before Max could even respond Liz got up and walked out of the office. He wasn’t sure how to feel about the encounter. He’d almost relented at the end when she was telling him thank you. He felt like a world class jerk because he knew that it was selfish of him to stop helping her. In the end though…he was protecting her. He had no doubts that if things were allowed to continue as they were…lines would have been irrevocably crossed before the end of the semester.

******

Liz was upset. Dr. Evans had just completely ruined her plans. How was she supposed to spend as much time with him as possible if he wouldn’t even tutor her anymore? Not to mention the fact that she really did need the help. She also knew for a fact that the other tutor for the class was a moron. He was always high on something and she was pretty sure that any help from him would reverse the effect of the efforts she’d already made. So…she’d have to go it alone.

On the bright side, she did have more time to plan the Roswell kids Christmas pageant. Even though Liz was excited by this she still had to figure out what she was going to do about Dr. Evans. She knew that she wanted to be with him. She knew that she was experiencing something more than a crush. She just needed to be able to convince him that he didn’t need to fight what he seemed to feel for her. The only way she could think to do this involved marching herself directly to the register’s office. She had to change her schedule for next semester.

******
It was dead weak…the weak before finals. The campus was crowded with excited students ready to be finished for the year. It was mixed group of those diligently studying for finals and those trying to relieve the stress of the week by having fun.

Liz had run herself ragged the past three weeks. Everyday she drove to Roswell, working on some part or another of the pageant. It was always late when she got back at nights and she usually had homework to do, mostly physics.

Max had noticed the subtle changes in Liz. Her work for class had continued to improve and he had no doubt that she’d do well on the final. But she looked tired. She spent half the class yawning and he could see the dark circles under her eyes. Had she lost weight too? Maybe she was sick…He couldn’t help but worry and blame himself for part of that. He also saw Maria’s worried glances and knew that something was going on.

It was Wednesday when he accidentally overheard another one of Liz and Maria’s bathroom conversations.

******
“Liz…is it really worth it? You’ve barely slept for the last three weeks and you look like a walking zombie. Everyone keeps asking me if you’re okay and I can’t even answer them because I don’t know.”

“Maria, I told you that I’m fine. And to answer your first question, of course it’s worth it.” Liz told her concerned friend. She could understand that she wasn’t quite herself but Liz knew that she would have plenty of time during break to catch up on things like sleep. She’d worry about herself then. She had too many other things to focus on just then.

“You think so now but you’re up studying until at three am every night. I can see you still struggling. Why don’t you try that tutor?” Maria asked. She knew that Liz was trying to do this on her own but she couldn’t understand why she would put so much pressure on herself.

Liz rolled her eyes at Maria. “Because the last time I asked for that particular tutor’s help, he asked for a blow job. Not to mention the fact that every time I see him, he’s high as a kite and thinks the theories of relativity make the most sense on an acid trip.”

“Tell me again why you’re not getting help from Dr. E then?”

“He said he was too busy,” was Liz’s response. It was the truth…that had been all he’d told her.

“Well…he wasn’t too busy to help Pam Troy yesterday,” Maria informed her. Inwardly she gave herself a high five. She and Michael had been talking a lot about the Max/Liz situation and the first phase of the plan involved making Liz jealous enough to act out a little and maybe go after what she wanted.

Liz looked a little angry and Maria could almost see the green eyed monster rearing its head. “Is that so?” came Liz’s response. She wasn’t sure what else to say, but she knew that she definitely didn’t appreciate being lied to by Dr. Evans.

*******
Max groaned out loud. He was an ass. Liz had been struggling and it was all his fault because he couldn’t keep his damn hormones in check around her. She had every right to be angry at him, especially because he had given Pam Troy homework help. Help that he could have been giving to Liz. Although there was hardly a comparison there, Pam Troy was a bit of a lost cause whereas Liz was smart, funny, interesting and…All that aside, Max knew that he was going to have to make this up to Liz. He didn’t want her to think badly of him and jeopardize any chance that he may or may not have with her.

He wasn’t sure where to start. He knew that if he really wanted to fix things, he needed to give her an honest explanation for his actions. But he couldn’t do that yet…she was still his student. She would be until she turned in the final that next Monday morning.

That didn’t mean that he couldn’t help her though. Maybe he could redeem himself slightly by offering to help her study for the final.

He contemplated calling her but didn’t want her to get the wrong idea. So he settled on sending her an email.

Liz,

I wanted to let you know that my schedule has cleared and if you’d like to come in at the regular time, I’d be more than happy to help you study for the final and answer any questions that you might have.

Dr. Evans


He sent it off, hoping she would accept his offer. He knew that he was probably being selfish again because a big part of his suggestion had to do with the fact that he’d missed seeing her and talking to her and just being in her presence.

Trying to refocus he went back to writing up the review notes for each of his classes. When he checked his email later, he was surprised to see her name in the inbox. He hesitated slightly, hoping that she would agree to come in.

Dr. Evans,

I can’t come at the regular time. The only time I have available is Thursday night at eight pm. I have plenty of questions. Will that time work?

Liz Parker


He quickly sent her a response, knowing he shouldn’t be so anxious to see her. He didn’t have the freedom to feel that way yet.

Liz,

Eight o’clock is fine. I’ll be in my office grading papers until late anyway. Just be sure to come before eleven o’clock.

Max


Max didn’t really have any other papers to grade, but he didn’t want her to think that he had ulterior motives to meeting with her. After he sent the last email, though, he realized that he’d already crossed the line of professionalism by signing it Max instead of Dr. Evans. He wondered how she would interpret that or if she’d even notice. He also wondered what it would be like to hear her call him by his first name. Dr. Evans was so impersonal…and that wasn’t exactly what he wanted his relationship with Liz to be.

*****
Thursdays were usually lab days for Liz, but because it was the end of the semester, lab sessions were already finished. So Liz actually had a free day. It was the first time in a long while that was even possible. Liz was blissfully free the whole day.

She knew that she should be studying but she was too preoccupied with thoughts of later that night. She was only going to study but in the back of her mind she was thinking of how maybe she’d be able to talk with him again like they had been before and maybe…She knew that she was getting her hopes up and being silly.

The only way to keep herself from thinking was to distract herself. That meant calling Maria. “I need to go shopping and you need to come with me.”

“Oh…really?” Maria asked with a laugh. “What are we going to be shopping for?”

“I need a new dress. Something that I can wear to the Science Department Christmas Banquet and something that I can wear for the Christmas Pageant. Do I have to beg?”

“Nope. I’m with you. I need a new dress for the Banquet too. Which reminds me that I have something to tell you later.”

By five o’clock that after noon, Liz and Maria had shopped until they could shop no more. They’d ended up collapsed at a table near the food court. Packages filled the empty chairs, a testament to their successful mission.

“So, what did you have to tell me?” Liz asked as they both sipped on classes of lemonade.

“Well…I know that I said I would go with you to the banquet but I was talking with Michael the other day and he asked if I’d go with him so…” It wasn’t a total lie. Maria had talked with Michael the other day. She’d practically had to brow beat him into agreeing with her scheme, but he’d eventually gone along with it. The way she saw it, Max was Michael’s best friend and would therefore be talking to Michael. Liz was Maria’s best friend. If Michael and Maria went to the banquet together, then Max and Liz would be forced to spend time together because of their friendships. It was really too perfect.
"The heart has its reasons it which reason knows nothing" -Blaise Pascal
carenicoleIQ
Enthusiastic Roswellian
Posts: 36
Joined: Tue Oct 09, 2001 4:58 pm
Location: Nebraska

Post by carenicoleIQ »

“That’s really great Maria. I’m excited for you,” Liz told her sincerely. “Maybe you two could let me tag along. I don’t want to be stuck alone for the evening.”


Maria decided to change the subject a little so that Liz wouldn't start to catch on to her little scheme. “So that dress you got today is completely incredible. I can’t believe that you got something that great on sale...”


The conversation went on and the two talked...Liz was thinking about Max the whole time, wondering if he would notice her dress....if he would think she was beautiful.


When she got back from shopping, Liz found another e-mail message from Max saying he’d be in his office until eleven o’clock that night. She’d been surprised by the first e-mail he’d sent her and she’d debated over whether or not she should accept. She felt nervous just thinking about seeing him alone again, but she had to set her feelings aside. This was about studying for the final on Monday, not about trying to make him feel something for her. She just had to go and ask questions and leave. She couldn’t linger and talk or anything of the sort.


It was a very nervous Liz that left her dorm room at seven thirty that night to make her way over to the science building. On a whim she went out of her way to Krispy Kreme and bought a dozen donuts. When she got to the science building though, she couldn’t make herself go inside. She sat in the car until almost 8:15pm giving herself a pep talk trying to work up the courage to go. Finally, grabbing her back pack and the box of donuts she made her way inside before she lost all of her nerve.


With determination she walked to his office. The door was closed and the light was on. Liz knocked several times but there was no answer. Where had he gone? He had to be in the building somewhere, she’d seen his car outside so she knew he hadn’t left.


Liz was trying to decide if she should stay and wait or go look for him when she heard voices and laughter in the stairwell. She looked in that direction, recognizing Max’s voice along with the female laughter. Then Dr. Evans appeared and he was walking with...Pam Troy. She felt jealously building. She was tempted to turn and leave before they saw her. She didn’t want to be here anymore. It was a bad idea to have come.


Liz started to walk quickly in the other direction hoping to duck into the bathroom before Dr. Evans caught sight of her. Max looked up just as Liz disappeared into the bathroom.


He’d recognize her anywhere. He’d instinctively known she’d be waiting for him when he got to the top of the stairs. He was only vaguely aware of the way Pam was saying something to him. He was too focused on getting to his office. He was surprised though when she took off toward the restroom. Shrugging it off he went and opened his office. Pam Troy was still standing there. He’d almost forgotten about her at the sight of Liz. “Well, Pam....I have a student coming in for help on the test so...”


“Okay. Well thanks for your help Dr. Evans. I was sure my car wouldn’t start and that I’d have to walk. I’m sorry that I was parked so far away from the building.”


She started to say something else but Max interrupted her. “It was no problem, I’ll see you in class,” he said, effectively dismissing her.


******


Liz stared into the bathroom mirror, giving herself yet another pep talk. She had to get over this. She couldn’t be jealous every time he even talked to another one of his female students. It was silly. She had absolutely no reason to feel that way. He wasn’t hers...he couldn’t be hers. Dr. Evans was her professor and absolutely nothing else.


The door to the bathroom opened. Liz quickly turned on the water, pretending to wash her hands. She looked up into the mirror and saw Pam Troy’s smirking face starring back at her.


“Well, well, well...If it isn’t perfect Liz Parker...here for a study session.”


Liz ignored Pam and finished washing her hands.


“What do you think your doing Liz? Dr. Evans isn’t going to magically fall for you just because you need lots of help. Hard work doesn’t always pay off.”


“At least I do honest work, Pam,” Liz retorted.


“You’re just jealous little Lizzie because my way means that I’ve seen more of Dr. Evans that you ever will and in ways your prudish little mind could never imagine.”


Liz shook her head and fought the urge to laugh in Pam’s face. “What exactly are you implying, Pam?”


“You’re supposed to be smart, you figure it out, Liz,” Pam snapped.


“Pam...don’t kid yourself. Dr. Evans would never go for trash like you.”


This verbal sparring match was beginning to anger Liz. What Pam was implying infuriated her.


“Oh Really? I know you saw us together in the hall just now. I saw you run in here. You saw the smile on his face...he’s satisfied and just maybe...I won’t have to study for my ‘A’.”


Liz clenched the side of her hand. She really wanted to hit Pam. “Max Evans would never, ever stoop to that. He’s a wonderful man with integrity and intelligence and kindness and a list of about a hundred other qualities that demand respect. The fact that you would even suggest this means that you’ve never really talked to Dr. Evans. I don’t believe a word of what you say. Now if you’ll excuse me I have a study session to get to.” Liz grabbed her things and left quickly.


******


Max heard the whole thing. He wasn’t sure what to process first. Pam’s implied statement that she had seduced him for a good grade or the way Liz had passionately defended his character. He knew now that Liz had feelings for him. He couldn’t deny the emotion that he’d heard in her voice.


He didn’t have time to think about it because in the next moment Liz was there in the doorway of his office. As soon as he saw her he stood up, his heart pounding as he fought the urge to kiss her and tell her he felt the same way for her.


“Hi Dr. Evans,” Liz said stepping into the office. She walked up to his desk and held out a box to him.


He looked down, taking the box from her hands. “What’s this?” he asked his gaze meeting hers.


Liz smiled shyly. “Oh...well uhm...you told me you liked Krispy Kreme donuts and so...I...they’re for you. It’s my way of saying thank you for all the help you gave me this semester.”


Max smiled. “Thank you.” She’d remembered just like he remembered that she had a penchant for vanilla cake with chocolate frosting and that her favorite color was blue and her favorite song was...


“Should we start? I don’t want to keep you here too late.” Liz said, interrupting Max’s thoughts.


“Uhm...yeah...well its okay. You’re much better company than my empty apartment,” he told her with a partial smile. He couldn’t seem to drag his eyes away from her. He didn’t want to, but he forced himself to focus on the real reason she’d come to see him. “I made up a worksheet of problems. I’ll had them out to the class tomorrow but I thought you might want to try and work through them. I can help if you have any questions.”


“That’d be great.”


Liz worked in silence for awhile. Max tried to grade papers from the Quantum Mechanics class, but he couldn’t concentrate. She was sitting across the desk from him. He snuck a glance...she was biting her lip the way she always did, the way that always made him imagine kissing her. She licked her lips and he almost groaned out loud at the sight of her pink tongue moistening her lower lip.


“Dr. Evans?”


Max’s head snapped to attention at the sound of her voice.


“Yes?”


“Uhm...could you check this to see if I did it right?” She handed him her paper.


Looking it over, he smiled and handed it back to her. “Good work.”


Liz’s smile was dazzling and made Max’s stomach flutter.


“Do the next one,” he told her. She set to work. That was the pattern for the next hour. Liz would work on a problem...Max would sneak glances admiring her and trying to force himself to focus. She would finish and he would check her work. With each question she answered right, her smile got bigger and Max’s restraint weakened. He’d never felt like this before...never been this attracted to someone before.


Liz was working on the last problem from the worksheet when she got struck. Unsure what to do next she looked up to ask for help. Dr. Evans was looking intently at the paper in front of him. She took a moment, admiring him...the chiseled lines of his cheek bones, his strong jaw line. She marveled at the length of the dark eyelashes that currently hid the amber of his beautiful eyes. Liz bit her lip in amusement as her gaze encompassed the adorably large ears that he carried so well...to her he was perfection.


Max looked up when he felt Liz’s eyes on him. She gave him a shy smile. “I have a question.”


He nodded. She told him what she didn’t understand and he thought for a moment before beginning his explanation. He paused after a moment. “Does that make sense?”


“Sorry, No.” Liz shook her head in frustration.


“Here,” Max said, leaning forward and turning the paper so Liz could see it better. She leaned toward him instinctively to see what he was showing her. There faces were barely inches apart as they leaned over the paper. As Liz bent her head, her hair fell forward, brushing against Max’s arm. At the feel of the silky strands against his skin he lost his train of thought. He became increasingly aware of how close they were to each other, how if he turned his head...he could kiss her.


His heart was pounding because he was sure she wouldn’t reject him.


That’s why he pulled away.


“Liz...maybe you better go. I’ll go over this in class tomorrow. I...I have some work to finish yet and it’s getting late and...”


Liz backed away, hurt by the way he’d practically recoiled. Now he was making her leave and ...she couldn’t do anything but nod and do exactly what he said without saying another word.


Max watched her go, seeing the way she dejectedly walked away. Once she was gone, he gave into his frustration, banging his head repeatedly on the desk as punishment for his own lack of control. He knew that he wouldn’t be able to fight his feelings much longer. He couldn’t think about that now, though. He had to get his mind off of her. Glancing around his desk he grabbed at the unopened mail. The first was next semester’s rosters for his classes, sent from the registrar. He opened it, glancing at the names of the students in each class. He was skimming the list for second semester astronomy. His eyes stopped on the P’s and he starred in disbelief.


No...it couldn’t be.


But it was there...in black and white.


Liz Parker was enrolled in his Astronomy class. He grabbed the next list...second semester Physics. He knew that Liz needed to take it to fill graduation requirements but he’d been hoping that she was signed up for another section. It was confirmed yet again, though, as he looked at the list. She was signed up for that class too.


How was he going to survive another semester? He’d go crazy. He only had so much restraint and it was mostly gone as it was.
"The heart has its reasons it which reason knows nothing" -Blaise Pascal
carenicoleIQ
Enthusiastic Roswellian
Posts: 36
Joined: Tue Oct 09, 2001 4:58 pm
Location: Nebraska

Post by carenicoleIQ »

Chapter 9

It was Thursday night. Finals were over and students were fleeing campus as quickly as they could. They wanted to be sure to take advantage of their entire four week break. There were a faithful few that were sticking around. Most of the upper class science majors were sticking around for the department Christmas party. Liz included. She wasn’t leaving until Saturday. She was going to Roswell to stay with Grandma Claudia. Her parents had decided to take a Holiday cruise and wouldn’t be back until New Year’s Day.

Liz showed up at the banquet alone. Her plans to go with Maria had changed when Maria had decided to go with Michael. While Liz was disappointed she certainly understood. If she were Maria she’d definitely rather be going with a date. As it was she’d probably be playing third wheel to them the whole evening. She wasn’t exactly thrilled but she couldn’t pass up the opportunity to go. She’d bought a new dress and she was desperately hoping to see Dr. Evans again before break.

It was a little after six pm when she got to the banquet hall. There was an open bar for anyone who was twenty one and most everyone was taking advantage of the free drinks. Liz mingled, talking to other classmates and some of her other professors. It took her awhile but she finally spotted Maria and Michael and went to join them.

When Michael saw Liz making her way over to them, he winked at Maria. “Time to put our plan into action,” he said softly. Maria smiled.

As Liz got closer Michael gave her a wide smile and let out a whistle of appreciation. “Liz...you look good. How is it that you’re not being swarmed by all the single men here?”

Liz blushed. “I can see you’ve already made several trips to the bar this evening, huh Michael,” she joked.

“Really Michael...leave Liz alone. She’s not used to compliments like that. Besides she’s not being swarmed because they all know that she’s not interested in them. She only has eyes for...”

“Maria!” Liz exclaimed loudly. Good grief...they were both drunk already.

“That reminds me,” Michael said with a laugh. “Max..er...Dr. Evans hasn’t made it over here yet. He told me to come get him in case he lost track of time. I think that someone needs to go find him, don’t you Maria?”

Maria nodded. “That’s a very good idea, Michael.”

“Oh...but I’ve been drinking...and so has just about everyone else here,” Michael said. Then he looked at Liz. “You haven’t though....you could go get him.”

“No, I don’t think so. That’s not a very good idea,” Liz protested. She didn’t want to go find him...to risk any kind of rejection from him, even just a refusal to go to the party.

“Liz...come one. You just have to go remind him about the party and make sure he gets here. It’s not that hard,” Maria told her.

“He won’t listen to me. I’m probably one of his least favorite people. In fact the last time I talked to him he kicked me out of his office,” Liz tried to explain.

“It was probably nothing personal Liz. This isn’t a big deal. He probably just lost track of time.”

It took at least another five minutes of smooth talking before Michael and Maria had convinced Liz to go. They watched her walk outside. Michael turned to Maria and raised his eyebrows questioningly. “Do you think this will work?”

Maria shrugged. “ I honestly don’t know...but you’d think that one of these times forcing them to be alone together would lead to some sort of...spontaneous combustion. Trust me...all the sexual tension between those two is going to ignite.”

“Well...if you’re wrong...we’ll just have to keep having those...uh...dinners at my place to strategize,” Michael told her with a smirk.

“I completely agree,” Maria responded with a smile.

*****
Walking into the science building, most of the lights were turned off and the entire place was eerily quiet. She took the stairs slowly and when she reached the hallway where Dr. Evans’ office was, she paused a moment. Light spilled out from the open door and she almost chickened out. She tried to tell herself all of the reasons she was there. It wasn’t for herself. It was a favor to Michael.
*****

Max was sitting in his desk chair, starring off into space. He’d just finished the last of all his grading. For awhile the finals had occupied his thoughts but now he was free to think of other things. But all he’d been able to think of was Liz Parker.

What was he going to do? He had to get control of his emotions where she was concerned especially if she was going to be in two of his classes next semester. Shaking his head he tried to decide if he was going to go to the science department Christmas party. He wasn’t sure if it was good idea. Michael was Maria Deluca’s date. Maria, who happened to be Liz’s best friend. That meant that he would be seeing Liz. And a very big part of him wanted to before the break started.

He’d just made up his mind to skip the dinner when he felt her presence. He was almost afraid to look but he did and there she was. He couldn’t breathe...she looked incredible. Her dark hair was piled on top of her head, a jumble of curls. Her shoulders were bare and the deep burgundy color of the dress complimented her beautiful skin tone.

“Liz?”

“Hello,” she said softly.

“What are you doing here, Liz?”

“ I came for you,” she told him. As soon as she said those words, she felt her face color. “ I mean...Michael sent me to get you. He wanted to make sure you were still coming to the party. Everyone is there,” she explained.

Max nodded and forced himself to look away from her. “ I...I don’t think that I’m going to the party this year. I have finals to grade yet,” he lied. When he looked up he could see the disappointment in her expression and immediately felt guilty. Thinking fast he flipped through the stack of papers on his desk. “ I did finish grading the finals for your class. Do you want to see how you did?” he asked her.

Liz hesitated. Did she really want to know about her test? “I-I guess if you have it,” she told him. She watched as he rifled through the stack. He pulled one out, stood up and walked over to where she nervously stood, handing it to her. With a shaky hand, she took the test from him. She wasn’t sure if her shakiness was from nerves over the test or the fact that Dr. Evans was standing less than a foot away from her.

Max watched her face closely as she looked down at the graded test.

Liz stared down at the paper, tears forming in her eyes, blurring her vision. She’d worked so hard. She looked up at him in disbelief. “ I got an ‘A’?” She couldn’t quite believe what she was seeing in front of her.

At her questioning gaze and tear filled eyes, Max felt a little choked up himself. Somehow this petite, intelligent, beautiful girl had found a way into his head...his heart. He swallowed the lump in his throat, only able to nod in response. At his nod, Liz’s whole face lit up with happiness.

“I can’t believe this!” she exclaimed. Impulsively, from the excitement, Liz stepped forward, closing the small gap between her and Dr. Evans and throwing herself into his arms. “Thank you!” she said, hugging him tightly.

Everything Max had been feeling for the last few weeks hit him full force in that instant and he wrapped his arms around her, enjoying the way it felt to hold her. “You earned it,” he told her softly. He pulled back slightly to look into her face. Her eyes were shining and she was smiling brightly, causing him to smile.
It was then that four months worth of attraction and sexual tension caught up with them completely. Liz felt her heart rate speed up. Her mouth went dry and she had to lick her lips.

Max watched her tongue peak out to moisten her lips and his heart thudded violently in his chest. He couldn’t fight his feelings any longer. He didn’t want to.

Their faces inched together slowly. Staccato breaths caressed their lips before Max gently and urgently pressed his mouth to hers. The kiss was soft and brief. A tentative sampling of each other.

Max pulled away and their gazes met. He could see his own desire mirrored in the brown depths of Liz’s gaze. That one kiss had ignited a fire inside them both...slowly heating them both until their mouths were drawn together again. This time the kiss was deeper....more demanding.

Liz sighed against Max’s mouth. She hadn’t expected his to be like this...so all consuming, sparking her nerves, making her entire body tingle with sensations she’d never felt before.

The feel of Liz’s soft lips pressed urgently against his was better than Max had imagine possible. It felt so right, like he was always meant to kiss her. Instinctively his tongue swept out, caressing her full lower lip. The gesture was not lost on Liz and she opened her mouth to him. Their tongues sought each other eagerly, both dueling for supremacy before Max retreated allowing Liz to leisurely explore the crevices of his mouth.

Max’s hands wandered aimlessly until one rested gently, cupping her face and the other anchored her closer to him by pressing against her lower back. Neither wanted this moment to end. It was so perfect. It was the culmination of all the feelings they’d been fighting for so long.

A lack of oxygen finally forced the couple apart. Breathing hard, Max rested his forehead against Liz’s, closing his eyes as he tried to regain control of his body. He could hear Liz’s own labored breathing and opened his eyes to look at her. The sight of her kiss swollen lips and the blissful expression on her face were enough to cause the desire to kiss her to swell up again. Not to mention stirring other parts of his anatomy further.

“Liz...I...”

His words trailed off as Liz brought her hand up placing gentle fingers to his lips. “Don’t say anything,” she told him. “Just enjoy the moment.”

He smiled in response before kissing the finger that still rested against his lips. He wanted to do exactly what she said but he knew that the way things were already going...enjoying the moment would lead to enjoying other things. It was still too soon for that.

“Liz...I’ve waited...wanted to do that, to kiss you, for a long time now,” he admitted. As he said this he stepped back slightly, not wanting his body’s instinctive response to her warmth and presence to startle her. He was reluctant to relinquish his hold on her completely though and his hands slipped to cradle her waist.

“Me too...I mean...I wanted to kiss you but I knew that it couldn’t be. Aside from the obvious reason I didn’t think that you could ever feel the same way for me that I was...am.. feeling for you,” Liz confessed in response to his admission. As she spoke her voice betrayed the awe she was feeling from the moment.

“How could I not? I-I was afraid that you might not feel the same way and then I couldn’t even try to figure it out as long as you were my student. But I wanted you....I still do...so much.”

Liz’s cheeks glowed red at his words and she found that she desperately wanted to kiss him again...wanted to feel his lips pressed against hers.

Max saw Liz’s response to him and leaned in to comply with her silent request for a kiss. He reveled in the soft fullness, the pliable warmth of her lips again, knowing that he was quickly becoming addicted to the way she tasted so sweet and the way she responded so eagerly to him.

Long moments of deep kisses passed before the passionate haze that had encompassed Liz’s mind began to dissipate. She realized that she’d been gone from the party for too long and knew that her absence might be questionable. “I bet they’re wandering what happened to me,” she told Max absently even as his lips languidly grazed over hers. He pulled away slightly and gave her a smile. The kind of smile that turned Liz’s knees to jello.

“We should go then,” he told her.

“Together? I mean...” she looked up at him questioningly with surprise expressed in her eyes.

He knew what she was asking. Would it be okay to make their new relationship public? He knew the answer to that was no. At least initially. He wasn’t entirely sure he wanted to tell anyone just yet. It was sort of an unbelievable idea that any of this was even happening. Telling someone might make it less real...might taint it.

“We’ll just have to keep from being too obvious,” he finally told her, not sure if he would even be able to keep the happiness of this new development off his face. For the first time in months he felt almost relaxed and relieved. The tension had finally dissipated and he felt as if he could function again and all because they’d both taken the plunge and given in to their feelings....feelings that were the same.

Not wanting to spend a moment away from her, Max drove them over to the banquet hall. He held her in his, liking the way her small fingers entwined with his own. It was so natural and yet...extraordinary that he could barely keep from shaking at the feel of it. As they walked inside from the car , neither was willing to let go of this new contact. As they reached the banquet room Max ran his thumb gently over the smooth skin on the back of Liz’s hand. He looked down at her, giving her a reassuring smile before both reluctantly let go of their grasp on each other and stepped into the room.

Liz felt the loss of warmth and her hand was still tingling many moments later. By that time the part was in full swing. Max and Liz were spotted immediately by Michael and Maria.

Full of nerves, Liz was absolutely sure that her feelings for Max were written all over he face for everyone in the room to see. How could they not be? She felt like shouting it out to the whole world. But before she had the chance, Maria whisked her away, eager for details, knowing that something had to have happened because Liz hadn’t looked that happy for a very long time.

“So...” Maria prompted.

“So what?” Liz asked, trying to appear innocent.

“ So are you and Dr. E a thing now or what?”

“Maria...”

“Liz!”

“Well, I went to go get him...which I know was a set up now because you obviously haven’t been drinking like you pretended to be. That aside...he told me he wasn’t going to come. But he did say that he’d graded my test and so he showed it to me and then I was so excited that I hugged him and he hugged me back and then...I don’t really remember who kissed who first but...it was amazing. I can’t even find words to describe it.”

“ I knew it!” Maria exclaimed. “I’ve known all semester. Michael told me that Max has been fighting his attraction to you for months. It’s why he had to stop tutoring you.” Maria paused and looked over at where Max and Michael were standing there talking. “God, Max is practically devouring you with his eyes...he must think your on the menu tonight or something.”

Blushing, Liz glanced over in Max’s direction and saw that he was, in fact, looking at her. Her whole body suffused with heat at the open admiration displayed on his face. She smiled as she saw him flush from being caught . He gave her a shy smile and Liz felt her stomach flutter and her heart pound erratically.

Max was being interrogated much the same way by Michael. He didn’t really say much but the way he kept glancing at Liz and the smile that was now permanently displayed on his face were enough of an answer.

Moments later, everyone was seating themselves for dinner to be served. Max and Liz tried to be very casual about sitting next to each other. As soon as Max was aware that everyone was seated, he reached under the table, clasping Liz’s hand in his own. He ate dinner left handed just so he wouldn’t have to relinquish his hold on her.

Liz was glad for the contact and marveled at how natural it felt to be like that with him.

The meal finally ended and the department heads were getting up to give speeches. While everyone was looking to the podium Max leaned forward and whispered into Liz’s ear. “Meet me at the telescope later.”

She nodded and felt her heart start to race. Even his proximity made her feel things. Somehow though...she was able to make it though the rest of the night. It went by in a blur as she thought about everything that was happening. Would they talk about what would happen next between them? What kind of commitment would he want from her? Something fleeting or something permanent?

Claiming fatigue, Liz left as soon as the speeches were done. As she walked out she could feel his gaze on her and turned back giving Max a shy look. Whatever did happen...she was more than ready for it.

Max tried to keep himself from chasing after her. He managed to maintain his composure and after another fifteen minutes, made his excuses.

******
Liz was standing around the telescope waiting patiently for Dr. Evans to arrive. Dr. Evans....she almost laughed out loud at that. Could she safely call him by his first name now? It seemed so odd to even think of it but... Her thoughts drifted off as she took in the feel of the evening. The air was a little cool and the wind danced along her skin gently. It barely phased her though. She was too caught up in the moment...the way the sky was so beautiful, devoid of clouds. Combined with the new moon, the inky blackness of the nighttime was lit only by the stars. It was the perfect night for stargazing.

Another gush of wind whipped through the open air causing Liz to shiver as she stood there, looking up, admiring the vast canvass above her. Just as the goose bumps began to form on her flesh she felt warmth envelop her and a suit jacket was placed over her shoulders. She shivered again when she felt his hands rubbing her arms up and down through the material of the coat in an attempt to warm her. Liz turned around, needing to look at him to know he was real. Smiling up at him, she relaxed and let him pull her close. The sensation of his arms around her was new and scary and entirely appealing.

“Thank you for meeting me,” he said softly.

“Of course. I didn’t want this night to end yet,” came Liz’s own equally soft reply.

Pulling away, he immediately felt the loss and not just of the heat from her body. “I brought a blanket for us to sit on...I thought we should talk and it’s a beautiful night to be out here.”

“Let’s sit down then,” Liz said, wanting to feel him close to her again.

After spreading the blanket out, Max sat down pulling Liz next to him. Neither was quite sure how to arrange themselves, but eventually they ended up side by side, laying on their backs looking up into the display above.

“I love coming out here,” Max told here. “Sometimes it’s to use the telescope and get a closer look, but other times I don’t even need that. It’s just enough to come and stare at all the stars. It feels right, like I don’t have to worry about anything because looking at the big picture...the whole universe ...my problems are nothing, especially when something this beautiful exists.”

Liz sighed. “When I was a little girl I used to spend hours in grandma Claudia’s back yard, just starring at the sky wondering what else could possibly be out there. It’s really incredible...the whole universe is just...beautiful.”

“It really is,” Max said in a hushed voice. Liz’s gaze turned away from the heavens and toward Max. He was looking directly at her and she felt herself blush, silently thankful for the darkness.

“I meant the sky with all the stars.”

“What I’m looking at is just as beautiful...if not more so,” he replied.

Liz looked away, biting her lower lip. “What do we do now...are we...do we pretend that nothing happened and you go back to being Dr. Evans and I’m just your student or...”

Her voice trailed off as Max shifted to his side and took her chin in his hand, tilting her face to look at him. “No. What happens next is that you start calling me Max and I take you out on dates and we get to know other so that we can see where this chemical attraction...this magnetic pull is going to take us.”

“Really?” Liz asked, the hopeful smile on her face growing steadily.

“Really.” Max paused for a second. “There is something I need you to do for me though.”

“What?”

“I ....do you think there’s anyway you could withdraw from my classes. I want to be with you but I don’t think it can work if your going to be in class with me next semester. “

“I’ll go take care of it tomorrow morning,” Liz told him without hesitation. It was an easy choice between taking class with him or being with him romantically. She’d take the more personal relationship in a heartbeat. “ I only signed up for those classes because I wanted to see you everyday and I was hoping that maybe somehow if we spent enough time together...”

“Now we can spend as much time together as you want. I’ll even give you private Astronomy lessons if you want.”

At that Liz raised her eyebrows. “That sounds tempting. We’ll probably have to do a lot of one on one work for that huh?”

Max smiled at her teasing. “We’ll just have to see.” There was a pause as they lay there, Max on his side starring down into Liz’s face. It felt so good to do that without worrying about whether it was wrong . “I don’t think I’ve ever been this attracted to someone before,” Max admitted as he gazed at her face. She was so beautiful to him...so amazing. Another moment of silence passed as Liz looked up into his face marveling over how handsome he was. She took her small hand and clasped his own larger hand, entwining her fingers with his. “Me either,” she told him.

They lay there on the blanket for awhile longer, neither felt the need to break the peaceful silence with awkward conversation and were content to just be together. It was almost midnight when Max looked at his watch. “It’s late,” he said softly.

Liz nodded. “ I should probably go.”

Max didn’t want to agree. He wanted to stay with her but he knew that they had to move their relationship ahead slowly. Things between them were too tenuous and new. He wanted to take his time learning everything about her, things that she dreamed of, things she’d never told anyone else. And he wanted to share those same things with her. He would cherish every nuance of this relationship...he would cherish her.

He brought their entwined hands up to his mouth, chastely kissing her fingers before moving to help Liz up from the blanket. “Let me take you home,” he told her.

Liz nodded not even caring that her car would be left at the science building all night. She didn’t want the night to be over yet and she’d do whatever it took to prolong it as much as possible

When they pulled up to the dorm several moments later Liz was unsure what to do next. She looked at Max unsure what to say, “Uhm...”

“Have breakfast with me tomorrow,” he said abruptly.

“Okay,” Liz said quickly, biting her lip shyly after realizing how eager she must sound.

Then Max was leaning over. His right hand moved to cup her cheek, his thumb stroking her cheek bone as his lips moved in and pressed against hers. It was a soft, slow kiss, full of promise for things to come. When Max pulled away his eyes searched here, looking for assurance that she really wanted everything that was happening.

“I’ll pick you up at eight,” he said.

Liz opened her mouth to say yes when she changed her mind and kissed him instead. Before it became too heated she pulled away, slightly breathless and gave Max a timid smiled and said a soft good night.

Max sat there in the car, watching her walk inside, in part to make sure she was safe and also because he didn’t want to leave. Reminding himself that he’d see her again in less than eight hours, he started the car and drove home and for the first time he had hope that maybe home wouldn’t be so lonely anymore.
"The heart has its reasons it which reason knows nothing" -Blaise Pascal
carenicoleIQ
Enthusiastic Roswellian
Posts: 36
Joined: Tue Oct 09, 2001 4:58 pm
Location: Nebraska

Post by carenicoleIQ »

Chapter 10

Breakfast had gone very well. Max took them to a little cafe that he’d gone to when he was an undergrad. They'd sat in the back corner booth completely oblivious to the rest of the world as they talked. Halfway through breakfast they’d ended up holding hands across the table. Once they’d finished eating both sets of hands had just naturally migrated together.

Initially their conversation was a little bumbling. Max had apologized for his behavior the last few weeks, knowing the Liz had suffered because he’d doubted his self-control. Liz had surprised him by thanking him.

“Why thank me? I made your life miserable.”


“No...you just made me work harder. I appreciate that,” she explained.

“You were already working so hard....I mean...I wasn’t the only one who saw how hard you were working. Other professors commented on it. I...uh...I’d already decided that no matter what I was going to give you an ‘A’ in the class. And before you get upset you know that you earned it. At the very least all your effort was worth that. But you didn’t need it because all your effort payed off. It’s one of the things I’d admire about you most. You didn’t give up.” As he spoke his earnest words his fingers gently trace her knuckles and the slight touch caused Liz to shiver slightly.

“Thank you...”

Max smiled and then tried to look serious. “See...we’re right back to where we started now,” he stated.

Liz shook her head. “No, we’re not. We’re moving forward. We can be together now and not even think about this last semester.”

“That sounds like a really good idea,” Max told her bring their entwined fingers up to his mouth and kissing her hand gently.

They kept talking. Liz told Max about staying with Grandma Claudia over break and about the Christmas pageant she’d been helping with. “The big day is Dec. 23rd.”

“What time?” Max asked.

“It’s in the afternoon. Why?”

“Because anything you’ve invested your time in is definitely worth seeing.” He was rewarded with a bright smile. “When do you have to leave for Roswell?” he asked then.
“Tomorrow, I guess. The dorms will be closing so I have to leave.”

“Will you go out with me tonight then?”

Liz bit her lip to hold in laughter at the expectant expression on Max’s face. “Like a date?” she asked with an amused smile.

Max grinned back somewhat sheepishly. “Yes...a date. One that includes dinner...a movie or anything you want.”

“I just want to spend time with you,” she told him honestly.

“Me too. But I guess that means that I’ll have to surprise you tonight,” he responded trying not to let on just how much her words had affected him.

“I like surprises....except you already told me we’re going to dinner and a movie,” Liz said with a grin.

“Ah, but I didn’t say where or which one did I?” he teased, inwardly marveling at how comfortable they were together already. Half an hour later the waitress came back and asked if they were going to stay for lunch. Glancing at his watch, Max’s eyes got wide. “It’s eleven thirty,” he told Liz.

Her response was to laugh and Max couldn’t help but join in. They’d completely lost track of time. Deciding that they’d better go, Liz had Max take her to the science building.

“Do you have things to do here?” he asked curiously as he pulled into the parking lot.

Liz’s cheeks warmed a little with embarrassment. “No...I uhm...my car’s still here from last night.”

Max gave her a questioning look.

“I wanted you to take me home last night so I left it there and didn’t say anything,” she admitted guiltily.

“I’m glad you didn’t,” he told her and as soon as he’d put the car into park he leaned over to kiss her, reveling in the way it felt to be free to do that. After a moment of that, Max pulled away. They both had things to take care of that afternoon. Liz was going to the registrar’s office and Max had to drop grades off. In an effort to exert some sort of self-control, Max said goodbye after giving her a fairly chaste peck on the lips.

*****
The passing of several hours found Max starring at the contents of his closet with a tortured look on his face. He been standing there for a good fifteen minutes and he still wasn’t any closer to knowing what he was going to wear to see Liz. He didn’t know why this was so hard....it was just dinner and a movie. But for some reason he wanted everything to be perfect. He was so desperate that he briefly contemplated calling his sister. That idea was immediately nixed because Isabel would insist on knowing why he needed her help and once she found out he’d never hear the end of how big of a mistake he was making.

So instead of Isabel he broke down and called Michael. Michael...his best friend...who dated a lot more frequently than Max ever had. Michael reluctantly agreed to come over, but when he showed up ten minutes later....he was not alone.

“Dr. E...Hey what’s up?” Maria Deluca asked, pushing past Max through the doorway and walking into the house. “Nice place!” she told him as she looked around with interest. “You’ve got good taste for a guy. Liz will love this.”

Max felt himself turn red at that comment. He turned to look at Michael questioningly.

Michael shrugged. “Sorry man. She showed up as I was leaving and after I explained where I was going it made sense when she insisted that she’d be more help than I would. So...I’m just gonna go watch the game and she’s gonna pick out what you wear on the big date tonight.”

“Where’s your bedroom?” Maria hollered out, already wandering off out of sight. Max decided he’d better just get over his embarrassment because Maria wasn’t going to leave until she’d accomplished her newly acquired task.

“So, tell me all about your plans tonight,” she insisted as Max showed her the way to his room. He felt awkward leading Maria in there....letting her look through his things.

“Why?”

“Because...how am I supposed to know what you should wear if I don’t know where you’re going?” she pointed out.

“Oh. Well in that case, there’s this really great Chinese Restaurant that I know of and I was thinking that we could go there. I made a reservation but the place is pretty casual. Then I thought we’d go to a movie. Liz was saying this morning that she’s been wanting to see...”

Max was swiftly interrupted by Maria. “What do you mean this morning? Did you two already spend the night together?”

“NO! We...we had breakfast together so that we could talk,” Max explained quickly.

“I was gonna say....you move quick.”

It took Maria all of five minutes to rifle through all of Max’s things and then another five minutes for her to decide that a basic v neck black sweater and a pair of jeans would do the trick. Max was tempted to tell Maria to find something else because he thought it might be too casual.

“Trust me Dr. E. I would never steer you wrong. And besides....Liz will be putty in your hands and she’ll definitely be more comfortable if you’re casual,” Maria told him, sensing his hesitation.

After the decision was finalized, Max kicked both Michael and Maria out of the house and went to get dressed. He still had half an hour before he needed to pick Liz up.

*****

Liz was near panic by the time the phone rang. What could she possibly wear for the evening when she wasn’t sure what they were doing? She’d just thrown aside yet another outfit when Maria’s voice filled her ear.

“Lizzie...wear the black strappy dress with the black heeled sandals. Oh...and take that red cardigan sweater you have along.”

“Maria?”

“Look...All I can say is that I have some inside information about your date tonight and if I remember your closet contents correctly...you’ll be the most comfortable and attractive in that black dress.”

“Maria, how do you know this?” Liz asked, confused.

“I have my ways. Now are you going to take my advice or not?”

“Okay, I’ll trust you. I’m running out of options and he’ll be here soon. I love you...thanks for the advice but I’ve got to finish getting ready.” Before Maria could say anything else Liz hung up and went back to her closet. At first she was unsure which black strappy dress Maria was referring to. She rifled through several dresses before coming across a dress she hadn’t even had the opportunity to wear yet. It looked promising and when she put it on, she knew that it was exactly what she’d been looking for. Grabbing her purse and the suggested sweater she glanced at the clock. It was almost six thirty.

As soon as Liz stepped outside she spotted Max’s car, but she couldn’t see him. A tap on her shoulder startled her and she turned around wide eyed, only to break out into a smile. Max stood before her looking so incredible that she almost forgot to breathe for a second.

“Hi,” he said softly. With a shy smile he brought his hand from behind his back producing a bouquet of half a dozen white roses.

“Max...thank you,” she said bringing the roses to her face, inhaling the fragrant scent. “White roses are my favorite.”

“I know. I remember you saying that once.”

The fact that he’d remembered something she’d probably only mentioned briefly, pleased Liz and impulsively she leaned up to kiss him. When the pulled apart, Max took her hand in his and started to lead her toward his car. “You look beautiful,” he told her and watched as a very becoming blush crept up, coloring her skin.

“So, where are we going?” Liz asked once they’d settled into the car.

“Do you like Chinese?” Max asked hopefully.

“Oh yes. Especially that one place downtown. I’ve only been there a couple of times but it’s definitely one of my favorites.”

“Good, because that’s actually where we’re going,” he told her. This news once again earned Max a kiss and Liz leaned across the seat, brushing her lips softly against Max’s cheek. The feel of her soft lips caressing his skin was so distracting that Max almost missed the turn he needed to take.

Dinner went well, the conversation flowed easily. After they’d eaten they took over one of the pool tables the restaurant had in the back and Liz wowed Max with her impressive pool shark skills. He on the other hand was terrible and Liz had to repeatedly help with his shots. Neither one of them seemed to mind. After laughing their way back from the game, they sat down to the last part of their meal. The fortune cookies.

Settling back in their seats both broke open their cookies.

“What does yours say?” Max asked.

“Uhm...it says ...This is the best night of your life,” she stated.

“Is that really what it says?” Max asked with a grin.

Liz smiled somewhat sheepishly. “No...but it’s a lot better than a ‘a broken clock is still right twice a day’.”

“You’re right, I like yours better.”

“Okay...your turn, what does it say?”

Reading his own slip of paper, Max smiled. “Mine says... ‘Ask a girl to dance?”

“Is that really what it says?” she asked with a laugh.

“Depends on her answer.”

“Yes...definitely yes,” came her immediate response.

“Then that’s what it says.” He stood up then and took her hand, leading her to the small dance floor. There were two other couples dancing but Max and Liz didn’t even notice....they were too caught up in each other.

Later at the movie theater, Liz found herself completely distracted by Max. It didn’t even matter that she’d been waiting to see the movie for a long time. All she could even focus on was the way Max was sitting so close to her and how their legs were touching and his arm was wrapped around her shoulders. It was amazing to feel so close to him. There was none of the usual awkwardness between them that most might encounter at the onset of a relationship. Maybe it was because of how they’d got to know each other first...or maybe they just needed to be close. Either way there was a comfortableness between them that Liz hadn’t felt with anyone before.

Later after several leisurely good night kisses Liz realized that if she’d already been in the process of falling for Max before....it was certainly official now. She was head over heels in love with Max Evans.

*****

Liz spent the next few days completely ensconced in preparations for the Christmas pageant. Grandma Claudia was sewing costumes and Liz was double checking everything...making sure the parents knew when to bring the kids to practice and when to bring them on the afternoon of the pageant.

The third night she was in Roswell, Liz called Max to invite him to the pageant and to have lunch with her and Grandma Claudia. He readily accepted the invitation and asked if there was any way he could see her sooner. The pageant was still a week away and Max didn’t want to wait that long to be with her again. Liz was just as eager to see him and told him that she was free the whole day Wednesday. They agreed for her to meet him at his house and they could decide what to do from there.

Wednesday turned out to be a great day for Christmas shopping . Liz helped Max pick out gifts for his mother and sister while Max gave her advice on something for her dad. The day had gone well and they were reluctant to part later on. After several long kisses and the promise to talk to each other the next day, Liz finally drove back to Roswell.

*******
The Sunday morning or the pageant came to early for Liz. Her excitement over seeing Max hadn’t let her sleep and so she was more than a little tired. But her eagerness to see Max won out over any need for sleep and so she was up and ready by ten o’clock that morning making sure that everything would be ready for dinner when Max got there. In fact, she was so intent on helping that it was almost noon when Grandma Claudia told Liz that she’d better go freshen up a bit.

Liz was on her way to her bathroom when the door bell rang. Forgetting her previous goal she went straight to the door, wanting to see Max.

Max was a little nervous as he found himself starring at Claudia Parker’s front door. The last time he’d been there had been years ago. The door swung open and his nervousness disappeared at the sight of Liz. She was standing in the open doorway, smiling brightly with a streak of flour on her cheek and several strands of hair sticking out oddly from her loose pony tail. He bit down on his lip to hold in his chuckle but it was too late. She saw him a gave him a strange look. “What?” she asked, confused by his reaction to her.

“Are you cooking?” he asked with an amused smile. She nodded and opened her mouth to say something but didn’t get the chance because Max swooped in to greet her the way he’d originally intended...with a breath stealing kiss. When he pulled away he felt as dazed as Liz looked. She stood there, eyes closed, her face a study in bliss and he watched as her tongue snuck out, tasting the lips that he’d just been kissing. He wanted to kiss her again and he would have if a voice coming from inside the house hadn’t interrupted them.

“Liz, sweetheart, is that Max at the door?” Claudia Parker’s voice called out just before the woman herself appeared behind Liz. “Good grief, Lizzie, let the man in the house,” she insisted. “And why don’t you go finish what you were going to do before the doorbell rang. I’ll take good care of Max, don’t worry.”

And so Claudia took hold of Max’s arm, leading him into the living room as Liz stood there, still dazed and not remembering what she was supposed to be doing. It took her a moment before it dawned on her and she darted up the stairs to the bathroom. as soon as she turned on the light she groaned out loud. No wonder Max had laughed, she look terrible.

Quickly, she washed her face and ran a comb through her hair. Her clothes were streaked with flour as well and she had to rush around her room to find something that was presentable. When she finally made it back downstairs she found Max helping to set the dining room table for lunch.

“I see she wasted no time and put you right to work,” Liz commented.

Max smiled. “It’s the least I can do.”

Liz walked closer to him as he set down the last plate. “You clean up well,” he teased. He was rewarded with a smack on his arm. “I actually thought that the flour was sexy,” he went on, making Liz blush.

This was all still so new to her...the way she felt about Max and being with him the way that she wanted to be. Sneaking a shy glance in his direction, she was immediately drawn closer to him. She needed to be as close to him as possible, she decided.

He was just leaning down to kiss her again when Claudia bustled into the dining room, carrying a pitcher of water. “Max, do you think you could fill the glasses while Liz and I bring out the food?”

Max agreed and the couple reluctantly separated to do their appointed tasks. When it was time to sit down for lunch they made sure they were sitting next to each other. And much like the night of banquet they held hands underneath the table with Max eating somewhat awkwardly with his left hand. It was hard to stay focused on the questions that Claudia was asking him. He was too aware of how Liz’s thigh was pressed against his and how every once in awhile she would run her foot against his.

“So...Max, how did you and Lizzie meet?” Claudia asked with a smile.

Liz almost choked on her water. “Grandma! I already explained how we met.”

“I know dear...I just want to hear Max’s version of the story,” she said looking at Max expectantly.

“Well...uhm...” he looked at Liz, unsure of how much she’d actually revealed about their relationship.

“I know you’re here teacher, Max. Don’t worry. That’s not what’s important. I guess I’m really just curious about what you’ve been up to. I haven’t see you for at least four years. The last time was on the fourth of July when Liz one that scholarship.”

“Grandma....” Liz said starting to get embarrassed.

Max squeezed her hand and cut in, telling Claudia all about his job and how much he enjoyed it.

“Liz said you were an excellent teacher. Although I’m surprised she was able to learn anything at all with the way she mooned over you the whole semester,” Claudia teased.

Max couldn’t help but laugh at loud at that. “Well, I have to admit that sometimes I had a hard time teaching. I liked Liz a lot, right away and the more I got to know her the more I struggled with my attraction.”

“Well, you’ve obviously worked things out. I’m very glad. I always did think you’d turn into a good man, Max. The fact that you picked my Lizzie, proves it.”

Liz blushed at her grandmother’s words. She’d forgotten how embarrassing these family things could be. She felt Max squeeze her hand again and she smiled up at him, adoration all over her face.

As Claudia sat there, watching them interact, she knew that the two before her were completely besotted. They were so obviously in love, she knew that they could make their relationship work. Perfect matches were rare, but she thought that this one just might fall under that category.
"The heart has its reasons it which reason knows nothing" -Blaise Pascal
carenicoleIQ
Enthusiastic Roswellian
Posts: 36
Joined: Tue Oct 09, 2001 4:58 pm
Location: Nebraska

Post by carenicoleIQ »

Chapter 11

As soon as the table had been cleared after lunch, Liz needed to get to the auditorium. It was almost 2pm and the kids would be arriving for the performance. That left Max to sit all alone with Claudia. They all drove together and after giving Max a quick kiss, Liz left him to her grandmother’s care, hoping that nothing too embarrassing would be said in her absence.

Max felt a little nervous as he sat there in the almost empty auditorium. He wasn’t sure what to say to Claudia. But she quickly put Max’s nerves to rest when she started to ask him questions about his parents. They talked on that subject for a long time and before either of them realized it, the auditorium was filled up.

“Max…is that you?” a familiar voice asked from behind him. Both Max and Claudia turned around. When he saw who it was, Max’s eyes got wide. There stood his mother…and his sister, both looking at him questioningly.

“Mom, Izzy, What are you doing here?” he asked as his nerves started to go crazy again.

“We could ask you the same thing?” came Isabel’s response.

His mother ignored Isabel and answered Max’s question. “ I come every year to see all the kids and then I spend the day catching up with old friends.” She looked at Claudia as she said this. “And Claudia…you were on my list of places to stop and visit this afternoon. I haven’t seen you in ages,” Diane exclaimed excitedly. The two women hugged and then all eyes were on Max waiting for his explanation.

“I’m actually here because…” he wasn’t able to finish the sentence because Liz chose that moment to come check on how he and her grandmother were getting along.

“Hey,” she said coming up to stand between Max and her grandmother. “I wanted to make sure you two had good seats. We’re going to start soon. All the kids are getting anxious,” she told them unable to hide her own excitement. Liz noticed the two women standing there with them and realized that something was going on. She recognized the younger one as the woman Max had dinner with that one night…she remembered Maria saying she was Max’s sister. Liz swallowed hard, suddenly nervous.

“Hi,” she managed to say shyly.

“Hello,” the older woman said kindly. Her smile looked oddly familiar and when she spoke next, Liz understood why. “I’m Diane Evans…Max’s mother.”

Diane smiled as she introduced herself, immediately aware of how close this girl was standing to her son. Like she wanted to touch him but was suddenly too shy.

“Liz Parker,” she said extending her hand to shake Diane’s in greeting. She glanced at Max then, unsure what to do. She wasn’t sure if Max had told anyone about their relationship, especially since it was so new. “It’s very nice to meet you,” Liz told his mother returning Diane’s warm smile. When Liz glanced at Isabel, her smile faded at the sight of the woman’s scowl of disapproval.

“Diane…surely you remember Liz, my granddaughter,” Claudia interjected as she sensed the tension. “She used to spend the summers with me and Bill.”

“Oh my goodness. Liz…I hardly recognized you. The last time I saw you, you were ten and you were riding around the neighborhood in those cowboy boots and your bathing suit. You were such a cute little girl and now…you’ve grown into a beautiful woman.”

Liz blushed at the last part, saying a soft thank you. It was then that she noticed Max laughing. “What’s so funny?” she asked him.

“ I remember that day. It was the funniest thing,” he commented between spurts of laughter. His amusement grew as Liz’s cheeks reddened even more.

“I’m going to go before you have any more time to share stories about me. I think that it’s time to start the program anyway,” she told them, quickly taking her leave.

Claudia turned to Diane, pride evident in her voice as she spoke. “Liz is directing the program this year.”

“Wonderful! Do you think that there’s room for us to sit here with you?” Diane asked. Unfortunately for Max, the couple sitting next to him graciously agreed to move down several seats. He was, however, grateful when it was his mother who sat down next to him rather than Isabel who was still glaring in his direction. This wasn’t exactly the way he’d planned on introducing Liz to his family.

“So, Max, do you want to explain why you’re here?” his mother whispered.

Max looked at his mother appraisingly; wondering if she’d already figured things out and was just waiting to be told the truth from him. “I’m here because Liz asked me to come,” he told her truthfully. His mother’s response was to squeeze his hand and nod. The show started then before anything else could be said and Diane decided that the conversation was best left for another time. Instead she watched Max from the corner of her eye during the pageant, unsure what she was looking for at first. Then…after the program ended, Liz came out on stage and Max’s entire countenance seemed to lift at the sight of her. It was very obvious that Max cared for Liz…. it was written all over his face as he watched her thanks the audience for coming and to give the kids another round of applause.

As people started to file out of their seats, Max turned to his mother. “ I know that you have questions for me, but please trust that I know what I’m doing and that I’ll explain things to you soon…when I understand them a little better myself.”

“I do trust you, Max,” she assured him. With that, she took Isabel, said goodbye to Claudia and left. Somehow she knew that they’d intruded earlier and that their continued presence would only make things more awkward. Especially with the way Isabel was behaving.

******

Max had only planned on staying until 9 o’clock that night, but Liz talked him into watching a movie with her before he left. That’s how he found himself sitting on the couch with Liz snuggled up next to him. He’d been amazed at how naturally they’d gravitated toward one another. Liz had immediately curled up next to him to watch the movie and his arm had automatically gone around her. Now her head was resting comfortably against his shoulder and his fingers absently sifted through her hair. He loved how every once in awhile she would laugh at something from the movie and her body would move against his.

Somewhere along the way, the exhaustion that Liz had been feeling finally caught up with her and the combination of it and the way she felt so relaxed and safe in Max’s arms caused her to drift off to sleep. Max felt how still she’d gotten and looked down to check on her, only to find her face relaxed and her eyes closed. Her lips were parted slightly and soft puffs of air escaped as she breathed steadily. He smiled to himself and decided to enjoy holding her, just for a little while.

Claudia came in later and found them wrapped together on the couch, both sleeping peacefully. She couldn’t help but smile at the beautiful sight they made. She desperately hoped that this connection between them led to something more lasting. She wouldn’t mind Max Evans as a grandson-in-law. She’d just have to wait and see.

Liz woke up early the next morning with a stiff neck and a case of disorientation. Then she registered the feel of the warm body that she was practically smothering. Her eyes snapped open and she couldn’t help the smile that came to her lips. She’d fallen asleep on Max last night and he’d stayed with her. The clock on the VCR showed that it was almost four in the morning. She wondered if she should wake him, but decided against it when she felt his arm tighten around her, pulling her closer to him. She didn’t want to leave the cocoon of warmth his body was providing. So, ignoring her stiff neck, she settled more fully against him and closed her eyes to go back to sleep.

*****

Christmas at the Evans’ household was always a happy affair. For a few hours they sat together and caught up on each other’s lives and then spent time reminiscing about when Max and Isabel were younger. But it seemed to Diane that there was something missing. She desperately wanted to hear the laughter and antics of grandchildren filling the house on the special holiday. For the past few years…she’d always casually bring the subject up, hoping against hope for some kind of good news. She was usually greeted by a look of distaste from Isabel who was always quick to inform that a baby wasn’t something they were planning on at the moment. So Diane figured that her only hope would be Max. Max who hadn’t had a serious relationship since she could remember.

But her hopes had soared tremendously after she’d seen her son at the Christmas pageant with Liz Parker. She could tell they were both equally smitten and she was very anxious to figure out what was going on with Max and the young woman.

They were all gathered around the dining room table enjoying their Christmas dinner. Each family member had been taking turns discussing things of importance in their lives. Isabel and her husband, Jesse, had both gone into a great amount of boring detail about their work.

Max had a hard time listening to his sister talk. She was so self-absorbed that she didn’t realize that not everyone’s life revolved around things other than her…or things other than work even. It made him wonder if he had been like that before. Meeting Liz had made him realize that there could be so much more to life than living for you job.

Isabel noticed her brother’s lack of attention and immediately put him on the spot. “ I think that I’m boring you Max. So why don’t you tell us all what you’ve been up to. It seems like I haven’t talked to you for a while. It seems you’ve been busy. What’s been keeping you so busy? Or should I say who?”

Max knew what she was hinting at. He had to make a choice now. Should he reveal his new relationship…or should he keep quiet about it? Glancing around the table, his gaze stopped on his mother’s face. She looked curious and excited and …hopeful. He knew then that he had to tell them. He wasn’t ashamed of his feelings for Liz and he wouldn’t be ashamed of their budding relationship.

“Actually…I was going to mention that I’ve met someone and so a lot of my time has been otherwise engaged,” he told them.

“Really?” Isabel asked, feigning surprise. “Do tell us all the details Max. Who is this mystery woman?”

Diane shot her daughter a look. She didn’t understand why Isabel was being so caustic about the situation.

“You know who it is, Isabel,” Max said coolly. “It’s Liz Parker.”

“Max that’s wonderful,” Diane said quickly. “Liz is a lovely young woman. How did you two meet?”

Isabel snorted and Max glared at her before speaking. “Uhm…actually, she was one of my students this last semester.”

The table was suddenly completely silent. Everyone looked to Max, disbelief in their eyes.

“Max…. isn’t that against University policy,” Phillip Evans asked his son.

“Liz and I didn’t start seeing each other until after the semester ended. She’s graduating in May and I won’t have her in any of my classes so there shouldn’t be anything wrong with it,” Max said quickly in his own defense.

“ I trust you, Max,” Diane said, repeating words she’d said earlier.

“Well, I think that it’s terrible,” Isabel blurted out. “You’re only setting yourself up for trouble Max. She’s too young for you and…”

“Isabel…my relationships, whoever they may be with, are none of your business,” Max told her quickly, not wanting to listen to any of her lectures.

“Let’s save the lectures for another time, okay? It’s Christmas and we should be celebrating,” Phillip interjected before Isabel could start anything.

Isabel kept her mouth shut but every time Max looked in her direction he was met with an icy glare. He couldn’t help but feel sorry for Jesse. He had to have his hands full with Isabel as a wife.

Later on, Max was helping his mother put the leftovers away when she stopped what she was doing and turned to him. “Max…do you really care about Liz?” she asked suddenly.

Although surprised, Max answered quickly. “Yes. She’s amazing. She’s smart and funny and beautiful and …exactly what I’ve been waiting for,” he explained softly.

Diane smiled at her son. “ Does she care about you as much?”

Max nodded. “ I can see it in her eyes when she looks at me. I know that she does.”

It was Diane’s turn to nod. “Just promise me you’ll take things slowly. If it’s meant to be, it will all come together. I know that Liz is a wonderful young woman, I just hope she knows how special you are.”

Max smiled and enveloped his mother in a hug. “Thanks mom…I appreciate you supporting me.”

“You’re my son…of course I’m going to support you, I love you. Now…just promise me that you won’t be all prickly like your sister and deny me the joy of having grandkids.”

Max laughed… “I’ll work on Liz and see what she says,” he teased.

Diane smacked his arm playfully and they got back to work cleaning up. Secretly though, Max was wondering just how far this relationship with Liz would go. Thoughts of a baby girl with Liz’s dark eyes and olive complexion haunted him the rest of the night. He had to remind himself though that it was entirely too soon to think of those things. Instead he focused on his plans for Liz and New Year’s Eve.

*****

The rest of winter break went by quickly. Despite not being able to see each other as much as they would have liked, Max and Liz made every effort to at least talk to each other daily. Both were eager for classes to begin again if only to give them an excuse to be closer together.

Maria and Liz both came back the day before classes to get settled into dorm life again. To celebrate their return they’d gotten a pint of Ben and Jerry’s finest to share while they caught up with each other.

“So…how was Christmas in New York?” Liz asked as she settled down cross-legged on the bed.

Maria rolled her eyes. “It was great…Kyle brought home his new wife and surprised the hell out of everyone. Jim went ballistic over and mom started crying.” Kyle was Maria’s stepbrother. They were the same age and their parents had met when Maria and Kyle both got into trouble pulling a prank in high school.

“Kyle’s married?” Liz asked in surprise. She’s spent spring break at the Valenti/Deluca household and had met Kyle there. He’d spent the entire break trying to get Liz to go out with him but she’d brutally rebuffed him.

Maria nodded. “Yeah, her name’s Tess and she’s like this complete ditz. But she’s got Kyle wrapped around her little finger. You would not believe the ring he got her. It must have cost a fortune…”

Maria talked a little more about her family before changing the subject to Liz’s family.

“My parents didn’t come back from their cruise until January 3rd. So grandma and I had a quiet Christmas,” Liz explained. “Then on the fourth we celebrated again and exchanged presents with mom and dad.”

“Okay…let’s get to the good stuff now. You and Dr. E. Did you get to see him over break?” Maria knew the answer from the sparkle in Liz’s eyes.

“Yes. He came for the Christmas pageant. We fell asleep on the couch together when we were watching a movie. Then he took me out to dinner on New Year’s Eve…” Liz told her with a happy smile.

“So what happened?” Maria insisted. She wanted all the juicy details.

Liz was reluctant to share anything though. The night had been too special and she wanted to keep it to herself.

She’d stayed overnight at a friend’s house in Albuquerque and Max had come to pick her up for dinner a little after seven o’clock. He’d told her to dress up and so she’d chosen a special dress that she hadn’t worn yet. It was a midnight blue color made of soft clingy material. The straps were small and the dress had left a large portion of her back bare for all to see. The hem of the skirt had brushed the tops of her ankles, swaying gently with any movement she made. Her hope had been that Max would be speechless at the sight of her.

He had been. In fact, he’d been so distracted by the way she looked, that they’d gotten a little lost before they’d reached the restaurant.

Dinner itself had been incredible and they’d danced for a while. Liz still got tingles thinking about those dances and the way he’d held her so close and how his hands had explored the bare skin on her back, making her whole body hum. After dinner he’d surprised her by having dessert ready out at the telescope. Of course, dessert had actually consisted of a box of Krispy Kreme donuts, but it was a good excuse for Max to get her out there. He’d wrapped them up in a blanket then and they’d stayed like that, out underneath the stars, just talking and enjoying each other’s company. At midnight, Max kissed her. She’s been waiting all night for that kiss and she wasn’t left wanting. In that one kiss he completely took her breath away, made her toes curl with excitement and stirred up parts of herself she hadn’t known existed. It had been incredible.

Only the sound the sound of Maria’s voice, saying her name repeatedly, was capable of bringing Liz back to the present.

“It was just really wonderful,” Liz told her with a sigh.

“So what happens next for you two? What about classes?” At that point the ice cream had almost completely vanished.

“ I switched to a different section of Physics now and I’m not taking the Astronomy class any more. Max says that he’ll tell me anything that I want to know about the stars. He even gave me an astronomy book for Christmas,” Liz said. Maria could see her friend drifting off into La-La-happy-Max land again.

“So…you and Dr. E are definitely an item now huh? You’re definitely pursuing this?”

Liz nodded. “I’m already in so deep…I don’t want to back off now. I want to see if we can have a future together. I know that the situation isn’t ideal but we’re going to work with it because we want to be together.”

Maria hoped that, for Liz’s sake, everything would work out for them.

*****

Liz rang the doorbell to Max’s house anxiously. It was Thursday night, the night of their scheduled ‘Astronomy’ lesson. Liz had lost count of how many times she’d been to Max’s house already. She liked his place…it felt good to be surrounded by things that distinctly reminded her of Max. And they both liked to spend as much time together as possible. That’s why they’d designated Thursday nights for each other. Usually they would go out to the telescope and lay underneath the stars…or they’d lie on his couch watching TV. Of course, Max always took her out on Friday of Saturday nights then, leaving Sundays for work. They would spend the afternoons; Max grading papers, Liz doing homework…it was a nice arrangement. Liz enjoyed every minute of it.

Max answered the door fairly quickly, greeting Liz with a kiss. “Hey…dinner’s almost ready,” he told her as she followed him inside the house. Liz threw her coat on the back of the lazy boy and went after Max to the kitchen.

“So...what are you making me tonight?” she asked coming up behind him where he stood at the stove. She wrapped her arms around his waist and pressed her cheek against his back, inhaling his scent.

“Ah…well, I know you like spaghetti so…”

Liz fought the urge to sigh out loud. She could hardly believe how sweet Max was. He remembered everything she liked. He cooked for her…rented her favorite movies…gave really good back massages. The list went on and on. Sometimes Liz could hardly believe that any of this was real.

Max pulled the sauce he’d been stirring off the burner and turned around in Liz’s arms. He needed to give her a proper hello. “I missed you this week,” he told her as he lowered his mouth down to hers. The kiss was slow and deep and when Max pulled away he was pleased to see the somewhat dazed expression on Liz’s face.

“I definitely missed you too,” she told him. Her tongue swept out of her mouth to wet her recently kissed lips and she looked up at him with a smile. He kissed her one more time before reluctantly going back to finish dinner.

“So, how did your test go today?” he asked as he went to pull two plates out of the cupboard.

“Oh…I think okay. Dr. Wagnall likes to be tricky so there were a couple of confusing parts.”

“What about Dr. Peterson? Did he pass back you last Physics test yet?” Max asked curiously. He was answered with a loud groan. “I’m going to take that as a not good, huh?”

“It wasn’t terrible. I ended up with a high B,” she explained as she got out two glasses and the silver wear.

“That’s pretty good though,” Max commented. They were setting the table then and when he looked up, he saw the face that Liz was making. “Obviously…that’s not the grade you were hoping for.”

Liz shrugged somewhat dejectedly. “I just thought that I’d done better, that’s all. I would have been okay, I just made a lot of really silly mistakes,” she said as she looked away. She really didn’t want to embarrass herself by explaining what she did.

“Like what?” Max couldn’t help but ask. He knew that he should just drop it, but after spending an entire semester working with Liz, he was curious about what had carried over.

“Unit errors…I missed two multiple choice and the rest of my mistakes were unit errors,” she finally admitted. Sensing her frustration, Max bit back a smile, not wanting to make her mad.

“And you thought that I was a tough teacher,” he teased.

Liz laughed. “ A part of me does wish that I was still in your class. Although, I’d probably be thinking about kissing you and wouldn’t learn anything at all. But I’d at least have an excuse to come and see you during the day.”

“I wish I could see you during the day too,” he said, grabbing her around the waist and pulling her close. Liz’s arms came up and around Max. “Maybe I could sneak into your office…” she teased him.

“Mmm…sounds like a plan,” he responded kissing her again. He loved kissing her…she had the perfect lips…soft, pliable…just the right fullness.

They managed to pull apart long enough to eat the wonderful dinner that Max had prepared for them. After they cleaned up they went out to the living room to watch TV. “Are we going out to the telescope tonight?” Liz asked with a yawn as she snuggled up to Max on the couch. He instinctively wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer to him.

“It’s supposed to be cloudy…besides, I’d rather stay here just like this,” he told her softly. Liz turned her face to look up into his and smiled before touching her lips to his. Max’s hands slipped up into the back of Liz’s shirt, gently caressing the warm skin.

“ I think that is a very good idea,” she told him before pushing him down further on the couch and pressing her lips against his. The way Liz saw things, making out with Max had the same out come as going to the telescope. Either way she saw stars, only one came with the added bonus of Max’s breath stealing kisses.
"The heart has its reasons it which reason knows nothing" -Blaise Pascal
Locked