Mr. Kiss (AU,M/L,TEEN) Pt 7 - 04/25/04 {WIP}

[m14]

I couldn't resist. It's just a fun story to occupy my time because my other two : The Lost Day and Finding Friends, Finding Love and Finding Yourself have been a little serious for me lately.

Mr. Kiss
Author: Michaela (or short: michie/Kella)
Rating: TEEN
Couples: AU M/L Mi/M A/I
Disclaimer: The idea is mine. The characters belong to the cast and crew of Roswell. I would never dream of hurting them (except maybe Tess... just a little. Nothing she can’t handle)
Summary: How far will Liz go to get a date with the man of her dreams?


Many thanks to qt4167013 for this AMAZING banner! Thank you!

<center>Liz POV</center>

He was right there. Right in our Crashdown café and the only thing I could think about was how I looked. What if he caught sight of me in my waitress uniform and decided that I was about the lamest girl on the planet? I don’t think I’d be able to handle that.

Somehow I pulled myself together and went over to get his order. There’s just something about the way that he says my name that makes me want to thank my parents for naming me Liz so I could hear it come out of his mouth. Of course the only reason that he knows I’m Liz is because I’m his lab partner in Biology. Good partners we make too. He does the notes as I try and do the experiment and not blow up the classroom because I find myself staring at him from time to time. Oh, I can just imagine it!

“Miss Parker, why did you set the Biology room on fire?”

“Oh, well, Max was wearing that black shirt of his, you know, the one that shows off his abs?”

Then everyone would really think I’m crazy. If they don’t already. I mean, I do stare at him an awful lot. Maria says it’s because my eyes are trying to take in all they can so they’ll have some Max stored for those moments when I’m not around him. Then again, she is dating Michael Guerin, something can’t be right in her head.

Michael is like the weirdest guy I have ever known. Not that I know a ton of guys either. But here he is, on his motorcycle, nonetheless, one day and I asked him where he got it from, trying to start a conversation (like a normal person) and he said “God, where else?” Then he laughed really loud before pulling away.

Tell me that there’s nothing strange about that.

No, Maria just tells me “that’s Michael,” and shrugs it off.

I have to bring Max his burger now. Maria just crushed my hopes by pointing out that he could know my name because it’s on my name tag. Stupid girl. That’s the last time I give her a Friday night off just so she can go fool around with Michael at his place.

“You should just ask him out already. What’s the worst that can happen?” Maria asks me. I know: he could say no.

“He could think she’s crazy, dump her as a lab partner and then deface her name in all the men’s bathrooms,” Alex suggested.

And here I was thinking that my one helpful friend was enough. Lucky me, now I have two. Somehow they convinced me though, and there I was, this sixteen-year old girl that works at her father’s diner part-time and dreams of becoming a scientist, about to ask out Max Evans, the dream guy of the Universe.

I dropped the bill down on his tabletop and managed to give him one of my best half-smiles.

“Did you like the burger?” Oh my.. I cannot believe that I just asked that. Maybe there is no hope left for me after all.

“The best one so far,” he humored me. I gave a small giggle but stopped when I heard how awkward I sounded.

“Look, Max, would you like to go to the movies on Friday? There’s this cool new movie with Amy Smart that I’ve been dying to see.” There it was. I just blurted it out, without thinking or anything. The ball was in his court, as they say.

Too bad I don’t know how to play tennis.

TBC
-The next part will be longer.

[m14]

Author's note: Wow, Thank you! Alex Balex, marteloise, anonymousarfan, Lorastar, roswells_hope_lily, katrina, JasonBehrsChick, Kylie the control freak, PuReDrEaMeR05, i shall believe, cherie, Max4Liz4ever, WarGirl, roswellluver, Pegleg, care bears


Btw.. this story has no aliens. Sorry that I didn't mention that sooner.


<center> Max POV</center>

Today was a pretty great day until I reached the Crashdown Café. Of course Liz was there. her parents owned the restaurant. She worked there. Maria and Michael worked there. Basically it was the only place to go as a teen in Roswell.

I go there about everyday. Mainly that has more to do with me being in love with Liz Parker than the food. I would eat there three times a day if I could. My mom insists on a family dinner. I’m not really a morning person, so I head there after school for a late lunch. That’s around when Liz’s shift begins.

Liz Parker is what my dream girl would be. She is beautiful, yet doesn’t have to really work at it. She’s intelligent but won’t run everyone’s nose in it. We all know that she’s going to go to Harvard or Yale. I see her as a scientist by her middle twenties. She has lips that make me want to just grab her and kiss her like tomorrow will never come.

I never could, though. She has no idea that I exist. Well, she didn’t. Until today. It was the weirdest thing, I thought I was dreaming.

There I was, just sitting at my usual booth at the café when she came up to give me my bill. I think it’s a good thing that I work at the UFO museum because I spend so much money at that place that my mom would have my head if she knew. It’s almost my entire paycheck.

However, I do pay for Isabel too. She would never dream of working for her cash. It’s just another thing that she takes for granted. I don’t mind though; I wouldn’t want to sit there by myself all of the time. She might catch on.

Although she probably already has. This has got to be my sister’s idea of a cruel joke. Liz Parker would never just ask me out, even out of the blue. It doesn’t make any sense. Paranormal-twilight Zone things have been less bizarre. If I had won the lottery I think I would be less happy than I am now.

Only I can’t go out with her.

It’s like the most ironic news, the most depressing in my mind but I have to tell her no. I’m Max Evans, the biggest jerk on the face of this planet. And you should have seen her. She looked like I punched her in the face and told her she had cancer. It nearly broke my heart. I told her that I was working that night.

Then she kind of stared at her feet and mumbled something incoherently before running off into the back room. Maria, Liz’s best friend, and Alex, their guy friend, whom I envy more than Kyle, her summer fling, gave me dirty looks and then followed her.

The door was left swinging open.

The same as my heart.

I just put the money on the table and left, trying to seem normal as Kyle strode past me, calling out, “Hey Max the stud. Break any hearts lately?”

Yeah, I thought, the only one that matters.

And I still don’t know why I lied.

<center> Liz POV</center>

“Oh my god, Liz!” Maria called up the back stairs. I let her know that it was okay to come up, although school had let out only an hour earlier.

“What are you doing here?” I asked, as she came in my room. “We’re off today.” Thank God, I thought, I don’t think I can stand being around all of those happy people when I’m so depressed. I would have screamed.

“You will not believe what I just heard,” she said. She was breathing really hard almost as if she had ran the whole way over. She threw her backpack on my floor and then sat on the edge of my bed. I motioned for her to follow me onto the balcony and we sat, in the springtime heat, next to each other.

“Let me just say this,” she began, dramatically. “I had no idea yesterday when I told you to go for it.”

“What are you talking about Maria?” I stared at her, waiting for her to just tell me what was going on.

“Max is going out with Tess,” she told me. “Tess Harding. Friday night.” Suddenly my whole body was numb and I couldn’t say a word. Max...and Tess?

“Who the hell is Tess?” I asked. I tried to picture some short, pudgy girl but my brain just couldn’t place her.

“You know, that girl, with the blonde curly hair? She took gym with us all last year and never once played a sport,” she reminded me. Then I saw her, Tess Harding, a medium height beautiful blonde with an ample chest. Then I saw me, not stunningly gorgeous, but not hideously ugly either.

“How’d you find out?” I asked her. Already my mind was spinning in a hundred different directions and I couldn’t seem to think straight.

“It’s all around school,” she told me. “Tess told the squad and they passed it to their boyfriends and Kyle’s on the team with Jake, who dates Tiffany?” I nodded, encouraging her to continue.

“And Kyle has Geometry with Michael, who wasn’t there yesterday, but heard the news today. He knows about your monster crush, like half of Roswell, and he told me. I came as fast as I could, but you know my mom. She made me make a delivery first.” She looked over at me, probably expecting some sort of meltdown. I was calm, as calm as could be seen in this situation.

“Oh, Liz. I’m sorry,” she said, placing her arms around me. I let her hug me, I had cried yesterday when he told me...

“Maria,” I heard my voice muffle into her hair, “he told me he had to work on Friday.”

“Yeah,” she said. She pulled away and stared at me, brushing my hair away from my eyes. “So, he lied.”

“No,” I replied, my mind already working. “He’s embarrassed.”

“Embarrassed? Because he’s going out with Tess Harding? Yeah, Liz, he is a guy. No guy has ever been ashamed of going on a date with the hottest girl at our school. They all brag about it.”

“Then why didn’t he tell me the truth?” I asked her. She frowned and shrugged softly.

“Maybe he didn’t want to hurt your feelings?” she suggested. “After all, we all know what she’s famous for...”

I couldn’t resist, “what’s she famous for Maria?”

TBC

[m14]

Thank you:
Pegleg -what needs fixing? Isn't this what you wanted?
katrina - of course! lol
Kristin80
WarGirl
roswellluver -LOL! He's not an idiot.... but I can see why you'd think that.
cherie -"Well, I guess you can, but we ain't gonna like it." SO TRUE! lol
marteloise - shhh... you're not supposed to guess it! (don't tell, ok?)
.:Lana:. -hey girl, how you've been? Pm me some time, alright?
Lorastar -skanzilla? Funny! heheheh, she's not that bad!
Milla -"So, is Max dating Tess or is it just one time deal?" That kind of depends on Tess. You'll find out. It's all part of my master plan!
care bears



<center>Max POV</center>

“Stop it Michael,” I shouted. He immediately stopped making fun of my predicament and sat there, scowling. “Why are you going out with her anyways? I thought you’d be the only red-blooded American male to not want a date with the uber-slut.”

“Me too,” I muttered, skillfully avoiding looking him in the face. Or so I thought.

“What aren’t you telling me Maxwell?” he asked. Now it was my turn to scowl, I just couldn’t seem to keep anything from him, ever. Now would be a good time to start. There was no way that I could face this down. I told him the only other thing that I could.

“Liz asked me out yesterday,” I shrugged. It seemed nonchalant, I knew it. Inside I was trembling with... despair? I didn’t know. There was some guilt, and some happiness. Liz Parker had asked me out, it was all I could do to hold myself from shouting to the world and dancing like my legs were on fire.

“Liz Parker?” His tone made it sound like I had just told him the most ridiculous story ever. “The Liz Parker. Like Maria’s-best-friend-the-only-girl-you’ve-ever-loved,”-he caught my dirty looked and hissed- “that Liz Parker?” I nodded insanely, a grin creeping it’s way onto my face.

“You jerk, two girls in one week, so when’s the big day? Can I still be your best man?” he joked. Immediately I frowned.

“There isn’t a big day, I turned her down.” I don’t know what i was thinking by telling him that. now he’s going to want to know why.

“Anyway, let’s go,” I exclaimed, walking out the door. There we went off to the first big party of the year. I’m Max Evans, not exactly a party animal. I’m a school guy. A reserved guy. I’m not a stupid guy; I know Liz goes to these things. She’s best friends with Maria and Alex. They’re party people enough for her.

I’m starting to sound obsessive. The whole ride over, with the radio turned to full blast as a measure of efficiently avoiding that topic with Michael, I thought about Liz.

Then I thought about Tess. How manipulative she is. How she always gets what she wants. I wondered if anyone had ever tried to bring her down before. I highly doubted it.

I wish I could be the first.

I would do that for Liz. I’d do anything for her. This all sounds so crazy. I hardly know her at times. I don’t know her favorite color, her phone number, what she wanted to be when she was five. Then there are those times when I feel more connected with her than even Isabel. It’s the strangest feeling.

I can look into her eyes and see a future there. a future with me.

If she felt the same way, well, then I’d have to tell her how I feel. I’d have to tell her everything. Tess’ whole evil scheme.

This just occurred to me: Tess Harding is the only person in Roswell that knows the entire truth about Friday night.

Considering that it’s Wednesday, and she wouldn’t ever give herself up, or me, as scary as that is, there’s just a good chance that I’ll be kissing Tess two nights from now.

I only have one question for myself. Maria seems to know it too.

“Who the hell are you, and what have you done with Max Evans?”



<center>Liz POV</center>

As usual, here I am, seated near my window in the confines of my room on another school night. My fault this time; I told Maria to go without me. Wednesday night isn’t a party night anyways. Besides, I was rejected. It feels weird. Not that I haven’t been rejected before, I haven’t asked enough guys out to handle rejection well enough, but this was different.

Max Evans was the only boy that I ever wanted this dating experience with. He’s the hottest guy at our school. His body can only be compared to that of a god’s and he’s smart too. I hate brain-dead boys. I need a challenge. Too bad it’s a greater challenge than I expected.

It’s raining again. It has been doing that a lot lately, it rains mainly in the spring for a few days and then we’ll return to the dry heat, as expected.

I like to watch the rain fall onto the street, the balcony, the trash cans so that it makes that thumping sound. Rain is an underplayed musical. It’s a melody of love and heartache. It carries emotion.

Not everyone enjoys it like me. They think of the wetness, rather than the miracle of water falling from clouds. I think Max would understand the passion behind it.

Max would just appear out of nowhere and kiss me underneath the stars and the downpour, like something out of a movie. How romantic.

“Liz!” someone calls out. I opened my window and climbed out onto my balcony, not caring that the drops are soaking through my cotton tank top.

“Maria?” I ask. “Where are you?”

“Down here,” she replies, her voice floating up from her spot at the bottom of my fire escape. This isn’t exactly my idea of romance.

“What are you doing down there?’ I hiss, struggling to keep my parents from the conversation, in case Maria’s had another fight with Michael or something.

“Someone needed to see you!” she yells. I feel my heart thump in my chest as a mal voice whispers my name from behind me. I swallow loudly, turn slowly, and stare, without blinking, until I feel like my eyeballs are going to pop out.

“If this is a dream then I don’t want to wake up,” I mutter. Max, complete with his dark, soulful eyes, his heart-stopping abs, his biceps-clenching shirt, his jeans, his pursed lips, smiles at me. It’s a small smile, yet strong enough to make my knees weak.

“Me either,” he answers. Finally I have to blink. He’s still there. It’s just like my fantasy, only better. In the rain he does look like a god. A sex god has nothing on Max Evans.

“What are you doing here?” I mumble, realizing what I had said out loud minutes before.

“I don’t know exactly,” he tells me. My eyebrows raise a little, my hands give a small shake and I suddenly feel myself drifting off. It’s the best night of my life. Max Evans is one foot away from me, on my balcony, looking sexier than ever.

“You’re gorgeous in the rain,” he whispers, his breath tingling against my cheeks, as he moves closer. Before I have time to squeal with delight, or apply lip gloss, or propose marriage, Max take my chin in his hand and leans forward. His lips part as he tilts his head slowly and I just stand, shell-shocked, as he kisses me like only Max could.






TBC?

[m14]

**Thank you!**
roswellluver
cherie
VenusStar- I'm sorry! I don't even know if this part comes close to what you want.. but I don't wanna go all angsty on you! -Besides, who can resist Max? (not me!)
WarGirl
Pegleg
marteloise
Milla
Kristin80
DeStInYvsFaTe
Lorastar
Crashdown2006
kittens- hehehehe dead gerbils? not really... but I wish.
snoopie13- lol, I know

And just what everyone was wishing, it wasn't a daydream....

Liz POV

“What are you trying to do?” I asked, breaking off from the kiss. My mind was spinning and my lips felt numb from the contact. “You’re going out with Tess Friday.”

He stared, hurt almost that I had mentioned the date, and stopped mid-kiss. Max didn’t seem like the type of guy that would string girls along, but that was exactly what he was doing to me.

“I’m not,” he told me, eyes burning holes into my skull. “I’m going to break it off.” I bit down on my lower lips, anxious to just accept everything that he was telling me and go back to those amazing lips.

“Okay, but why tell me that you’re working, when you’re going out with Tess, and then deny if by telling me that you’re breaking it off?” I sank down onto one of my chairs then immediately jumped up again. I had forgotten about the rain; my jeans were completely soaked through.

“Don’t laugh,” I ordered him, climbing through my window to grab a towel. After wrapping it around my waist I invited him in, extending another towel for him. He accepted it awkwardly. I could tell that he was trying to inspect my room without being obvious. There was something sweet about that.

“What’s with all of the lies, Max?” I asked. “What’s going on?” He sat on my couch in the corner. From my position at the edge of my bed I could see him perfectly. He looked uncomfortable.

“I can handle Tess,” I told him, trying to ease him. He looked up, relaxing slightly. “If you want to have a relationship, you have to be honest with me Max.” He seemed to smile at the mention of a relationship.

“Tess has some...some pictures,” he muttered, “of you.” His hands rubbed the towel against his hair harshly. I smirked at his hairdo when he moved the towel away.

“Me? Doing what?” I asked, already furious. Was this why Max agreed to go out with her? To save me?

“In the locker room,” -another pause- “the um, shower.”

“What?!” My hand flew to my mouth as I gaped at him. “Have you, um, has she shown you these pictures?” He blushed and shook his head no.

“How? Why?” I got up, began pacing in front of my bed. “What is she planning on doing with these pictures?” He stood again, now facing me.

“Calm down Liz, I’ve got it covered,” he assured me. I just watched him, wondering why he hadn’t told me what she had planned on doing with the pictures. How had she taken the pictures? All of this seemed so unreal. I was in a soap opera, I had to be. Max Evans kissing me was strange enough.

“I didn’t mean to hurt you,” he added. Suddenly my head shot up and I met his eyes. He had an expression begging for forgiveness but all of the hurt that i had felt earlier was still lingering about. I had been humiliated.

“But you did, Max,” I replied. His head nodded slightly, his mouth in a frown. I watched as he placed the towel on my couch, then turned for the window. I followed Max out onto the balcony and when he turned at the fire escape i found myself regretting everything I had said before.

“You should lock that back door,” he told me. I reached my hand up, letting my fingers touch his jaw line, tracing each curve. “Liz, I’m sorry. I was a complete jerk for being so secretive.”

“Shh,” I started, “forget it.” He leaned down, tilting his head and I let myself become captured in another kiss. This one felt better than the first and I wondered why it had taken so long for me to make my move. It ended sweet, with both of us moving away gently.

“Why did you change your mind?” I asked. He gazed at me, his eyes soulful and focused, why had I never noticed that before? Then he slipped back into his mysterious Max shell.

“Maria opened up my eyes.” I leaned onto the railing, watching him climb down, and tried to forget about Tess, and Max’s excuses. When I went to bed, minutes later, I thought about the way he had looked at me, how it made me feel so alive.

The feeling carried through to the morning and I found myself in a surprisingly good mood.

“What did you say to Max last night?” I asked Maria when she arrived at my locker before first period.

“Oh my gosh, I so knew you two were going to hook up!” she screeched. I covered my ears and checked to make sure no one was staring. “I just knew that he had a thing for you so...tell me about it. What happened, what did he tell you?” She glanced in my mirror, pouting her lips skillfully at her reflection. Typical Maria, I smirked as she adjusted her halter top and neon pink skirt. All together it was hot. Separately I would have called her crazy. Now I just laughed at my best friend, and how different we are.

“He told me that Tess manipulated him into going out with her,” I said, grabbing my History book. I loved having History class in the morning because Mr. Frish made the class exciting; it was a good way to keep us all awake.

“So, he’s still going out with her?” Maria asked, pulling my arm away from my locker door and pointing out Max walking down the hallway with his gaze directed at Tess.

“No,” I answered, concentrating hard on Max. I suppose I was willing him to turn around with my mind. Telekinesis I don’t have. Then he turned around, his eyes scanning the hallway until he locked mine. I sent him a hurt face, somewhat like the one I had when he lied to me about his previous Friday night plans.

He said something to her, causing her to frown before he jogged over to where we were standing.

“Hey,” he said, glancing at Maria quickly before she got the hint and waved good-bye.

“What are you doing?” I asked as we started walking down the social studies wing. “I thought you were going to break it off with her.” He took my books out of my hands and gave me a tiny smile, apologetic even.

“I am. gosh, I swear to you, I will. I have a plan though,” he lowered his voice as we approached my classroom door. “As soon as I have the pictures destroyed I’ll blow her off.”

“Publicly?” I asked. He smirked, handing me my books back as I entered the door. “And full of humiliation,” he added.



TBC
-Kella

[m14]

{Thank you}
roswellluver
Pegleg
cherie
Milla- lol, fanatic after my own heart!
Crashdown2006
JasonBehrsChick- I could tell ya... or you could just read this part.

Many thanks to qt4167013 for this AMAZING banner! Thank you!

Max POV

Each day has been moving quicker, building up speed. Yesterday, at school with Tess, when I had to continue the facade, I thought about how I would pull my plan off. It would take more James Bond delicacy than I possessed and more Charlie’s Angels skill than I knew. But the motivation was there and I felt confident with that much.

Liz could be my girlfriend.

It hit me like a ton of bricks last night when I went to the Crashdown for dinner. I sat in my usual booth, somewhat doubting that Liz would come over, but rather sent over Maria instead. It would be just what I deserved. There was no reason for her to even like me, let alone be in love with me like Maria had told me at the party.

I think of Liz differently since that other night. There’s a possibility there that we could become a couple. That’s exciting. Do you know how long I’ve wanted this? I wanted to ask Tess. Then maybe she’d back off.

Liz came over, little pad and pen in hand, her antennas shaking back and forth from the top of her head and her waitress uniform clinging to her curves more than usual. She made my heart stop and my hormones start racing. First one to the finish line boys, I told them as she slid across the booth.

“Hey,” she said, her smile contagious. “The usual?” I grinned, nodding my head, probably like a maniac.

“I was thinking, well, maybe...” she trailed off. Her eyes glancing around the restaurant to anywhere but my eyes.

“Since I’m not going out with Tess,” I continued for her. Her eyes met mine and I felt my heart twinge a little. “Would you still be up for that date that you offered?” A smile swept across her beautiful face and I forced myself to not kiss her, which was the only thing that I’ve wanted to do since the night before.

‘Yeah, she blushed, her eyes twinkling.

“Oh, Lizzie!” We heard Maria call out from next to the pop machine. Liz groaned and muttered an apology before racing off to her waitress duties.

Even though she had been the one to ask me out before, I was still relieved when she said yes. And somehow that happiness stayed with me as I ate my moon-rocket burger, and headed home for the night.

Now all I have is bundled nerves.

When I returned home Michael was waiting there. Michael with news and a lock-pick kit. The entire hour at the Crashdown faded from my mind and I found myself in detective mode.

“Tess is at the football game,” he greeted me. I closed the door and let him dump his kit onto my bedspread. There were gloves, keys, a wire, and even two small flashlights that once demonstrated seemed to hold the capacity of a street-lamp. “Her parents went to a charity event and won’t be back for,” -he checked his glow in the dark watch- “another hour and a half.”

“And last, but not least,” he told me, “some sweet revenge.” He pulled a digital camera out of his back pocket.

“Michael, where did you get all of this stuff?” I asked in envy. He shrugged a little, making me frown at the thought of my best friend shoplifting. He wouldn’t, would he? I knew Maria’s birthday was coming up and he had been going on and on about how he hadn’t bought her anything. Michael just didn’t know how to be romantic without making it a huge affair. I was afraid he would do something stupid.

“Hank and Rachel are getting a divorce,” he muttered, head low and his words directed at the floor, “it’s like they’re fighting for me with gifts. It’s pretty cool.” He threw his stuff in the kit box and started shuffling through my drawers.

“Sorry,” I said. I knew he wouldn’t want to talk about it anymore, and he didn’t we threw on black sweaters and caps. I knew we would look ridiculous but I opted for my leather jacket also; there was no way to know how cold it could get during a Roswell night. Sometimes it was just crisp, sometimes I just wished we owned a fireplace. “Let’s go.”

In the jeep we cruised down the streets to her house. It was the largest on Perry street, the richest section of town, and the lavish front lawn made us feel as if we weren’t in Roswell anymore. Inside it was hardly decorated, making the house seem abandoned in the front foyer.

“Which way to her room?” Michael said, pulling his key out of the door and closing it behind him. We crept up the stairs and slowly traveled down the upstairs hallway.

“Where’d you get that key from?” I asked when we were opening up the large oak doors to her wing. There was a large open room, almost a lounge area, that opened up to a bathroom, which was the size of my bedroom, and then her room, an expansive suite that made both of our jaws drop. Her bed was half of the room and widely filled with pillows. There were two large bulletin boards over her walls, that were painted pink, and pictures and concert tickets among other memorabilia were tacked onto them. I stared around the sea of pink, locating her small dressing table, her wide-screen TV, her walk-in closet that was full of clothes.

“When did she get this rich?” I asked Michael. His jaw was dropped so low that I thought it would fall off. He shrugged and then shook himself out of shock.

“Alright,” he told me, “let’s start looking.” He had a silly half-smile on his face as he started to search her organized desk. I tried to cut off the obvious places and dropped to the floor, to look under her bed. There were several shoe boxes which I dragged out and pulled the tops off of.

“Oh my god...” I breathed out slowly. Michael came over and I heard him hiss as he stood over my position on the ground.

“Where the hell...,” Michael started. We both were speechless.

There in each box was about ten wads of bills. I pulled out one and Michael pulled out another. Flipping through it quickly I saw that they were all twenties and fifties.

“Where the hell did she get all of this?” Michael asked, finally able to speak. I shook my head, shrugging, and started placing the tops back on.

“Come on, let’s find the pictures and get out of here,” I told him. He nodded, still holding onto one of the wads.

“Michael...” I warned. He groaned and put it back in the box before sliding them back under the bed.

“What if she’s a drug dealer?” he asked. I laughed, the idea so absurd to me. “Maybe she got it from her pimp,” he suggested.

“Maybe she’s an undercover Mafia agent,” I added, moving away from the bed. He grinned, realizing that we might never know where Tess received those shoe boxes of money.

“We could take some,” he said, looking at me. “She would never know.”

“That’s not right. It’s bad enough that we broke in,” I replied. He laughed, fishing in his pocket for the key.

“No we didn’t, I copied her spare when she was at lunch.” I chuckled at him and the idea of Tess being played like that. We went silent as we tore the room apart looking for those dreaded pictures. I knew that my relationship with Liz was in jeopardy if I didn’t find them.

He continued looking through the desk and I went to the closet. It must have been about ten feet long and fifteen feet wide! There was a shelf along the back with binders and notebooks on it. I opened a spiral notebook and found Tess’ handwriting covering each page. It was some sort of journal. There were twelve more lined up next to that one. I went quickly to a binder, knowing that we couldn’t have that much time left.

“Found them!” Michael yelled out from the room as I opened the first album to see photos of Tess’ early years. Hurriedly I closed it and raced out of the spacious closet.

“Whoa, when you told me about the pictures I had no idea it was this bad,” he said, handing me a paper. I realized then that I hadn’t either.


TBC

Am I doing alright with this story? Honesty please.

[m14]

|| THANK YOU ||
roswellluver, Pegleg, Milla, cherie, CoLliNLoVeR, WarGirl

AN: I apologize for taking so long with this part. My mom's in the hospital, I have a cold, my sister is sick, and I have to watch my one-year old nephew every night from Tuesday-Sunday. Today's my first real day off. So ENJOY!


Liz POV

“Let’s call him Mr. Fantastic,” Maria suggested from her spot at our table. We were in the cafeteria eating our dull lunches. She had a ham sandwich and some yogurt. Alex had school pizza and claimed that it tasted better than his usual home lunch, and I paused from my own sandwich and chips to laugh off Maria’s title suggestion.

“I thought that was what we called the sample guy at the mall’s food court.” Alex smirked at my reply and glanced through the throng of people at the door.

“Isabel?” I asked. He nodded, somewhat embarrassed.

“Fine then,” Maria muttered, hurt. “What about...Mr. Kiss?” A grin struggled to form on my face. I loved it, but give Maria that kind of satisfaction and you’ll never live it down.

“Oh, you love it!” she exclaimed. I could feel the blush heating up my face and simultaneously Maria and Alex laughed at me. “I can just tell hun,” she chuckled.

“Shut up!” Mr. Kiss, I thought, wasn’t that bad at all. Maybe we should call him Mr. Fantastic Kiss.

“Mr. Kiss it is,” Alex teased.

“Hey, look! It’s Isabel, and who’s that guy she’s with?” I asked, pointing to the far left of the cafeteria. Alex’s head immediately shot around to look and I could see his eyes frantically scanning for her.

“Psyche!” Maria shouted out for me. Alex turned back to face us and began fanning his face delicately with his right hand, mimicking a Beauty contest winner.

“That hurts,” he said, in his best female voice, pouting.

“Aaw,” Maria laughed. I watched them tease each other and joke around. My mind was elsewhere. I wondered where Max was. I hadn’t seen him yet today. Him or Michael, I thought.
I still couldn’t believe that we had a date tonight. It was like I finally knew how Cinderella felt when she danced with her Prince Charming. Amazing.

“Hey,” someone behind me said. Alex’s eyes lit up and he was staring straight at us, a shocked expression covering his face. It was Isabel. Alex would never give any other girl his “Isabel look”, as Maria calls it.

He’s been in love with her almost as long as I’ve been lusting after Max, silently, of course. Alex is a guy who will chase after the girl of his dreams until he finds someone else, or she gets a restraining order against him. Whichever comes first.

“Hi Isabel,” I said, motioning for her to take a seat. She was a bit intimidating with her flawless style and makeup. Her cool stare has scared away way too many freshmen to count, but she’s Max’s sister, therefore she has to like me.

“No time, on a schedule,” she replied, dropping three papers onto our table. That’s when I noticed that she was carrying a whole stack of them. Since when did Isabel help out at school? “Just thought you might like to see these first.” With that she was gone.

“Um...Liz, did you know about this?” Maria asked. I turned to see her reading one of the sheets. The tone of her voice made me and Alex exchange worried glances before grabbing our own copies.

Max POV

“I got rid of them all,” Isabel told me, her grin infectious. My sister is probably one of the rare nice people that still takes pleasure in gossip, rumors, and revenge. “So, tell me again how this all happened.” Michael grinned at me and began the story. He started with how he managed to pull off the key theft. I began retracing our steps around the time that we found the pictures last night. That was the moment that I knew Tess was a truly evil person.

Thursday night:

I couldn’t believe my eyes. There in my hand was a flyer for the Crashdown Café with Liz in the middle. Liz, the sweetest, smartest, prettiest girl at West Roswell High, oblivious to the fact that her picture had been taken.

“There must be about a hundred here,” Michael muttered, grabbing the pile. I tore my eyes away from the flyer, crumpling it into a ball. “Maxwell, it’ll be fine. We’ll clean her out and it’ll be fine.” Michael has been my friend since we both joined Basketball summer camp when we were eleven. That means he knows more about me than anyone else, even Isabel. He’s seen me naked, helped me with sports, girls, my temper.... It’s kind of creepy, yet helpful, that he knows all of this.

But right now I can’t help wondering what it would be like tearing Tess’ room apart, one luxurious item after another.

“We shouldn’t be looking at these,” I muttered through clenched teeth. He set them inside his case and pulled out his camera. I knew what he was going to say before he even opened his mouth. Unfortunately, he didn’t get the opportunity to say it.

“Mom!” Tess called up the stairs.

“Oh, shit,” Michael whispered. He grabbed the case as quietly as he could and we raced around for a hiding spot. “Over there!” I pointed at the closet.

“Damn, damn, we’re going to get caught, and crucified,” Michael whispered from the corner of one side of the spacious closet. Meanwhile there was a soft mantra going on in my head. “She won’t find us,” I said out loud.

“Right,” he said, with a sudden change of heart. “But if she does, we’re going out firing.” I stared blankly at him as he dug around in his case. “Aha!” He held up two flashlights and I grinned.

“I’ll take the notebooks, you take the albums,” I ordered, grabbing a pile off the shelf. So silently we looked through the books, both of our minds frantic with the possibility of getting caught in Tess’ closet. The sound of running water broke through the calm and Michael laughed as Tess’ singing vibrated through the door.

“Wish I had a tape recorder,” he joked. “Let’s just wait until she goes to sleep and get the hell out of here,” he said, after seeing how frightened my face was. I had never been in a situation similar to this one and hoped never to be in again.

“So that was when you found this?” Isabel asked, holding up one of Michael’s copies. We nodded and she shrieked in excitement.

“This is the coolest thing you two have ever come up with without my help.” That’s my sister, I thought as I watched Michael roll his eyes.

“Time to get to work,” I said, ignoring my sister. She seemed oblivious thought, she was too wrapped up in the plan. “Go to the cafeteria, watch Liz for me?” I asked Isabel. She nodded and sprinted off. I couldn’t help wondering if my sister respected me more for this.

“It’s now or never Maxwell,” Michael reminded me.

“No pressure?” I joked. He smirked as we turned the corner. There it was, the final step of our plan. We had thought this over greatly last night and it was the best idea we had come up with.

‘The principal’s office,” Michael hissed in my ear. “Duh dun duh.”

“Stop it!” I wanted to smack him but there was no time, and we had more important things to do.

Principal Webber walked out just then and Michael rushed over. I was starting to get incredibly nervous. We hadn’t even gone over our plan once more, or synchronized our watches, I laughed at myself. I had to calm down, this was nothing serious, right?

I waited for Michael’s signal. Right now he was telling Mr. Webber about a fight over in the Science wing. Of course there wasn’t a fight. But Mr. Webber didn’t know that. I watched as they tore off towards the Science department. Michael flashed me a thumbs-up as I made my way past the many lockers and into the Principal’s office. His secretary, Mrs. Vanhorn, a plump, middle-aged woman, was on her lunch break. I locked the door behind me and pulled out a copy of Tess’ diary.


TBC

[m14]

It's been a while since the last part. If you're all still here and interested, I'm sorry! and Thank you:
Behrsgirl77
Pegleg
roswellluver
Milla- I think you've got the right idea. He only handed out a few pages though, and later-in Part 8-you'll see that Max didn't fully read the copy.. so he has no idea what he's in for.
JustThisOnce
cherie

Btw.. I deleted my other two stories, so that I could focus on this one. They'll be back in the summer-hopefully when I have more time-and there are only a few more parts to this one.. It might only go up to 10.


Liz POV


I saw this movie once where this guy vowed to do anything to protect the woman that he loved. Maria and me saw it together. At the same time we were completely sucked into this fantasy world where men really love women and will do anything to receive that love.

I tried telling myself during that film, when this man was running from the mob and the FBI, that if a guy did anything like that for me then I would have to risk something for him. Only if I loved him.

Why would I give someone a false hope? I hate girls that lead men on. Like Tess. She always uses guys to get what she wants. By blackmailing Max what did she think would happen?

“I didn’t know about this,” I told Maria. Alex let out a low whistle.

“What’s Tess going to do when she finds out that we all know her secret?” Alex asked. Maria chuckled, “she’ll flip.”

“We better get her some of your oil,” Alex joked.

“This isn’t funny,” I told them. “What if she goes after Max or Isabel?”

“Puh-lease Liz,” Maria scoffed. “What’s she going to do, hit them with her purse?”

“Or worse,” Alex said, pointing towards the lunch line.

“What?” I asked, whipping my head around to see.

“She doesn’t even know yet.” I stared at Tess in the lunch line as she pulled a tray off the rack. I though about all the times people laughed at me without me knowing it. It would be really cruel to let Tess go through that. she had to have a heart in there somewhere. If I am the one to tell her than so be it. There was no way I would just let her go around without a clue. I walked past a group of Tess’s friends who were holding a few copies of her diary, and fuming. There was some stuff in there that could get them pretty angry at their leader.

I have my own journal and if someone wants to read it then I wouldn’t know what to do. I can’t imagine how she’s going to react. I’ve written some pretty personal information, and so has Tess. She wrote about her family, her friends, her feelings. There’s nothing more personal than all of your feelings open for the world to see.

“Tess,” I called out, as I reached her. She turned and saw me rushing up to her.

“What do you want Parker?” she asked, her icy blue eyes glaring. “Come to gloat?” I shook my head nervously. Why was I so damn nervous? Why did she have this power over me?

“No, not at all.” Her eyebrow raised and she tilted her whole body to the left. It made her look like she was in TeenVogue. Apparently she knew about this power too. I figured that couldn’t be used to my advantage.

“After all, why would you? You’re exactly his type: ‘Little Miss Innocent’. All I can say is: must be gay,” she said, in a way louder voice than she needed to. My eyes widened and I gaped at her. I had a feeling that at least half of the lunchroom was doing the same. And we all had one thought on our minds: How can she just say that and not feel anything?

“Cat got your tongue, Parker? Hope you enjoy it. That’s the closest thing you’ll ever come to a kiss.” I couldn’t help it. I dumped my milk carton on her head.

“Miss Parker!” A teacher yelled out from behind me. Tess shook her wet tendrils of hair, loosely sending spray bits of milk around her.

“You deserve whatever you get,” she hissed.

“Mrs. Mathews, it was her fault. She-“ I stopped mid-sentence as a piece of brownie flew past my nose and onto Mrs. Mathews’, my Math teacher’s, blouse. She shrieked in a high voice and ducked as, like I could imagine, more food followed in every direction.

“Food fight,” some freshman belatedly called out. Recognizing my escape, I hurried from the room, motioning for Maria and Alex to follow.

“Okay, let’s split up,” I told them, when we were in the hallway. “Maria, find Michael, Alex-Isabel.” They nodded in agreement and rushed off in opposite directions. Although it didn’t need to be said, I still said it. “Liz, you’ve got Max.” With a deep breath, and a silent wish to find him quickly, I raced off on my first real “being a rebel” mission.

I had reached the Science wing when there was a loud “ahem” of someone’s throat clearing. I jumped and spun around- but no one was there.

“Today I had sex for the first time,” the male voice continued. I recognized Max’s deep tone. He was on the school speakers. ‘What is he doing?’ I thought frantically. “And the only problem is, I didn’t enjoy it. Tommy put a lot of effort into it, but I wasn’t there. Not in spirit. Maybe it’s because of him,” Max went on. I sunk to my knees on the floor and just accepted defeat. “Maybe it’s men.”



Max POV

“I always thought that I was in love with men. I always thought I was straight. My parents are, my friends are, my role-models are, but what makes me different? Why do I notice these girls’ chests and butts? How can I make it stop?” I paused and caught my breath. This was the most detention-threatening thing I had ever done. All for love. It was so damn worth it, whatever happened to me. When I saw those flyers of Liz last night...well, they made me furious and I just couldn’t understand how one girl could actually be so cruel. Guaranteed, I haven’t read this entire journal entry, so I don’t know if it, or she, gets better. We had about twenty minutes to find one worthy enough of the P.A. system and then we raced out of there as she was in the bathroom.

I thought about Liz as I read on. I really want to start this relationship with her. She’s everything I’ve been looking for. What’s better is that she wants to be with me too.

"Stacy’s mom is such a weirdo. She drinks nonstop to build herself up in her mind. Stacy’s father left them when she was young. Unlike my own father.” I heard hustling around from outside the door. There must have been about five teachers out there, all looking for the key I brought in with me, or the Principal sent on that wild goose chase.

“I know that voice,” someone called out. I froze in the seat. “That’s Max Evans, he’s in my fifth period history class.” There didn’t seem to be enough time left for all of it, so I skipped the next two pages and began the one I hadn’t read before.


TBC -ASAP