Through the Darkness to... (M/L/TEEN) PART 17 3/10/08 [WIP]

[Crusty Nut]

Banner created by Duccia

Title: Through the Darkness to the Light

Category: M/L AU w/Aliens ...awesome

Rated: TEEN

Disclaimer: Nothing is mine except the stuff that is (which excludes the stuff that isn't i.e. Max Evans, Liz Parker etc).

Summary: Liz Parker and Max Evans have known each other since childhood, but Liz never noticed anything...extraterrestrial about him until today. What happens when Liz Parker starts to investigate Max Evans?

Author and her note: Crusty Nut, but you guys can call me Christina. All I have to say is that it's about time (after about seven years of obsession) that I take it to the author's arena. I will now understand the plight of the author. Oh the pressure! That and, be kind, rewind.

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Part One

The bells chimed as she walked through the doors to the patio dining area. Liz Parker was doing best what she did best, and that was serve the greatest greasy, alien themed food her little town had to offer, and that just happened to be at her parents' Crashdown Café. Her white tennis shoes practically tap danced to her next customer in waiting.

“Hi, welcome to the Crashdown, my name is Liz and I’ll be your waitress. Can I start you off with something to drink?” she asked as she glanced up from her order pad.

She was in a good mood for no particular reason today. Perhaps it was because she woke up ten minutes before her alarm unceremoniously woke her up. Or perhaps it was because when she stepped outside of the café that morning on her way to school, the air hit her face in just the right way at just the right temperature. Whatever the reason, she was happy to take this order and she wasn’t about to ask why.

“I’ll have an…alien blast?” the customer half ordered and half asked. “Wow, I guess you guys have to get pretty creative.”

“Yeah. Well, you know, if you can’t beat them…” she trailed off and shrugged uselessly as she chuckled. “I’ll just go get your drink and I’ll be back to take your order.”

She’d never seen him around before. He seemed no older than twenty-five and was the desert from head to toe; sandy colored hair and a tan that spoke of lengthy periods of time spent in the sun. There was no question he was gorgeous, but what this brown-eyed desert fox was doing in Roswell, New Mexico of all places was a true mystery. But being the charming waitress she was, she intended to find out just what his story was.

Honestly, Roswell wasn’t the worst place to live. In fact, Liz loved Roswell, but she was pretty sure it was an acquired taste and the only reason people came to visit was the ’47 Crash. But no matter how hokey that was, at least it brought in good tips. This guy, however, was definitely not there for anything having to do with big-eyed E.T’s. Liz wished she could find one of those big-eyed E.T’s and have it on display at her parent’s café. That’d really wrack in the big bucks. Crashdown Café as a chain, I can just see it now. She laughed a little too loudly at the thought and received a few strange looks from other patrons, although none were her own so she wasn’t too worried.

She filled the glass with water and was making her way through the cafe and back outside. Barely through the door, her eye caught a little girl spinning in circles uncomfortably far from the sidewalk or any family. Liz rushed the water to the man’s table as she immediately left in the direction of the girl. If she had seen the car coming a second sooner she would have been sprinting, but as it was, there was no way she was going to get there in time; it was either the girl, or both of them.

The only sound to be heard was a collective gasp from the café patrons who had followed Liz with their eyes, the inhuman yelp from Liz, and the callous screeching of tires.

Her hands were over her mouth, but only for a second as she ran in front of the car searching for the tiny body. Because of the impact and the small size of the girl, her body had been thrown at least seven feet from the car. Rushing forward and falling to her knees, the only visible injuries she could see were minor. Yes, there was blood, but it didn’t look like more than a bad fall, so why wasn’t she moving? And then Liz was moved. Someone gently nudged her away but to her it was a shove, a slap, a punch in the stomach. She fell back hopelessly and just stared at the face that she could tell was losing life by the second. Where were these girls’ parents? Didn’t they care? Didn’t they see the color draining from her? She was six, maybe seven years old with curly blonde ringlet ponytails, like some perfect porcelain doll. The overalls she wore, circa 1992, reminded Liz of her own childhood and, painfully, how this sweet, spinning angel might not have one of her own.

“Liz, we need an ambulance. Go!” She faintly recognized the voice but was only focused on making sure the girl was okay, but she realized that an ambulance was the only way to make sure of that. She snapped out of her daze and took in what was happening; Max Evans, who worked at the UFO Center, was telling her to go make herself useful. “LIZ! Go! Call 911, I’ll watch her until they get here, but go!”

“Oh my God! I’m so sorry!” she exclaimed and immediately jumped up from her spot on the asphalt. As she ran across the street and onto the sidewalk someone, or rather, their arm stopped her. She shoved the arm out of her way violently. She HAD to get help, and fast.

“Liz, LIZ! It’s okay, I’ve already called the ambulance, and they should be here any second.” It was Mr. Desert himself, but the mystery was less than a priority and she made a beeline back to the girl. As she rounded the corner of the car again however, she saw something she could not explain. For a split second, she saw Max Evans, biology lab partner, UFO Center employee, cherry coke drinker holding his hand, or something above this little girl, and it was glowing. For the umpteenth time that day, she gasped. The glowing stopped and Max whipped his head up instantly. She swore at that moment he looked worried, but she tucked that thought away as she heard the ambulance sirens. When she turned back, Max was gone, and before she could begin to think about that, the paramedics took over the scene.

Liz found out that the girl’s name was Anna Garnet; she was wearing an I.D. bracelet. Miraculously, she was not only alive, but Liz was informed she would be just fine in a few days thanks to the quick response. This was much more than a miracle to Liz because when she was kneeling next to the little girl, she was barely breathing and completely unconscious. And although Liz had previously noted that there had been some blood and bad scratches, they were now minimal at best. This little girl, this Anna, looked nothing like she should having been hit by a car.

And where was Max Evans?[/b]

[Crusty Nut]

Title: Through the Darkness to the Light

Category: M/L AU w/Aliens ...awesome

Disclaimer: Nothing is mine except the stuff that is (which excludes the stuff that isn't i.e. Max Evans, Liz Parker etc).

Summary: Liz Parker and Max Evans have known each other since childhood, but Liz never noticed anything...extraterrestrial about him until today. What happens when Liz Parker starts to investigate Max Evans?

Author and her note: I'm quite motivated today...but do not, I repeat, do NOT expect two updates per day. You can want it though

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Part Two

Maria Deluca, Liz’s best friend and coworker, had watched the entire scene unfold from inside. The windows of the Cafe separated her from the reality of the situation, but with a distraught Liz currently slumped at one of the booths, she felt it incumbent upon herself to do something. And since she obviously couldn’t fix the little girl herself, she absolved to let Liz, no, force Liz to take the rest of the night off; it seemed she had been more effected by the accident than anyone and definitely needed some downtime.

“Liz. Earth to Liiiiiiz,” she snapped her fingers in front of her best friend’s face. She couldn’t be sure, but she thought she heard some kind of harrumph sound come from Liz’s mouth. “Hey, listen, I am ordering you to take the rest of the night off…” Liz was about to protest as she finally realized what she must have looked like and guilt started to settle in, but Maria broke her off.

“And before you say anything, don’t even worry about it. How many times have you covered me for far less noble reasons? I get it, trust me, a little girl almost died today and you saved her. Can you believe that? Who knew I had a heroine for a best friend? Now. Get your little booty out of that booth and upstairs to relaaaaaax. Go take a nice, hot shower and just veg-out in front of the tube, you know, or do homework or whatever it is that relaxes you, but whatever it is --- shoo!” she said as she literally shooed her upstairs with her order pad flailing about. If Maria was one thing, it was considerate. If she were two things, it would be considerate and crazy.


While being shooed into her own parents’ apartment about the café she couldn’t help but smile at Maria. A lot of people prematurely judged Maria, but if it hadn’t been for their friendship, Liz wasn’t sure how she would have survived all these years. Her best friend was labeled as wacky, loud, and obnoxious and she was definitely all of these things, but what most people didn’t see was the side of Maria that Liz saw today, the caring and compassionate Maria that would put anyone she loved before herself. Although their outward personalities were far from identical, their giving natures were always playing give and take and give again with each other.

Liz met Maria formally in third grade, but they didn’t become bosom buddies until sixth grade when they discovered they both had crushes on Kyle Valenti. Each of them thought the other one was prettier and had a better chance with Kyle. Of course, the thought was hysterical now seeing that they were all seventeen years old and Jim Valenti and Amy Deluca were quite the Roswellian item, causing a lot of gossip amongst the townsfolk. This coupling offered Kyle and Maria a sibling-like relationship which, although neither of them would admit, they were grateful for because they had missed out on that as children. But from sixth grade and on, Liz and Maria were attached at the hip. They had been best friends for officially four years, but it had always seemed longer to both of them. That was why, in situations like Liz found herself in today, she couldn’t have been more thankful for Maria and her pushy demeanor.

“Thanks Maria” Liz said simply and gave her friend a quick hug and passed through the teal colored door labeled “Employees Only.” Before the door swung back, Liz practically ripped her alien antennae headband off and threw it on the break couch. She looked around the break room she had been in and out of since she was Anna’s age and let out a long breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding in. At least now she could stare off into space without the nagging feeling of ignored customers in the bag of her mind.

She trudged up the stairs to her apartment. Each step was harder than the last and the door seemed to be getting farther away, but she finally made it to the door and inside her home. Home she thought. Anna Garnet almost left her home for good, wherever that was. She couldn’t seem to get that little girl’s pale face out of her mind. The image of Anna tangled up on the asphalt was burned into her mind, and as Liz made her way to her bedroom she cursed that girl’s parents. Where had they been? At that moment she realized that even when the paramedics took Anna away, her parents still hadn’t shown up. Panic struck Liz. Oh God, what if she wakes up in the hospital and there’s no one there?!?

In her room, Liz haphazardly tore off her waitress uniform and threw on a t-shirt and jeans. She grabbed the keys to Pippin, her silver ’91 Toyota Camry, and flew back out of her room, out of her apartment, down the stairs and out the back door. She just had to get to that hospital before Anna woke up alone in a strange place; Liz knew how disorienting and scary that could be as a child. When she was eight years old, she fell off of her bike, down a fairly steep hill and had to go to the hospital for stitches on her elbows and right knee. But when Liz woke up, no one was there and the white walls that surrounded her seemed to taunt her and make her want to cry more than she already was. It was mere minutes before her mother returned to her side, but that short time alone in the hospital was one of the scariest things Liz could remember as a child.

It must have been a day of miracles because Liz made it in one piece to Roswell Memorial after breaking dozens of traffic laws. Something inside would not let her rest until she could see, once again, that Anna was taken care of.

God she hated hospitals. If you were in a hospital, it meant you were there because someone you knew was hurt, and after that, she didn’t understand why the construction crews of hospitals decided it would be funny to make it like a maze to find said hurt person. It was some sick joke and Liz was not laughing. That good mood she had earlier performed a Houdini on her. She made so many lefts and rights that she was sure she must have been walking in circles the whole time until the nurse’s station finally found her.

“Hi, I’m looking for Anna Garnet, I’m not sure where she’d be. They said she’d be fine so she shouldn’t be in ICU or anything.” She asked waiting for the nurse to confirm that, yes, Anna was okay.

“She’s in room A407, and she’s just fine, but her parents are with her right now.” And that was all Liz needed to hear before she was off again. A397, A399, A400, A403, A405. Liz stopped her feet from continuing when she heard two voices coming from what had to have been Anna’s room, A407. She stood outside the door unseen and spying on the scene playing out in the hospital room.

The woman looked to be in her mid-thirties with long, sleek, blonde hair. She was wearing a navy blue cocktail dress and just enough makeup to give her that natural glow look. Her slender figure was hunched over the hospital bed as she pet her daughter lovingly, with tears dragging down her mascara and staining her otherwise perfect complexion. The man, her husband, was a little older and in a tux. His square jaw was bare and a thick mustache that was prematurely graying was housed above his upper lip. The hair on his head was thick and richly dark brown with curls that seemed to curl around one another. He stood behind the woman with his hand rubbing circles on her back, staring concernedly as his daughter.

It didn’t take Liz long to realize that these were not the parents she had anticipated. Because Anna had been alone throughout the entire ordeal, she had simply assumed she had irresponsible and neglectful parents. The pair in the room with Anna at that moment seemed anything but that.

“Oh Jonathan, how could we let this happen? How could we have been so selfish?!” Anna’s mother asked with anguish in her voice.

“Cheryl, it’s not our fault. We never go out and this party was an important business endeavor. That babysitter, however, is fired the moment I hear her story.” The woman’s eyes nearly popped out of her skull.

“Ugh! That babysitter! I can’t believe I put my baby in the life of some stranger who is clearly a child herself! She’ll never get work in this town again, I don’t care if she is the daughter of Matthew Troy! Any babysitter whose charge ends up in the hospital should not be allowed to watch any child, let alone be paid for it.” She was getting worked up and Mr. Garnet continued rubbing her back soothingly, but it was apparently ineffective.

“Honey, I’m going to go get us some coffee, why don’t you go get some fresh air and cool off a bit. Right now, all we can do is make sure Anna is safe and sound, and the doctors say that she is both. So let’s just worry about Anna now, and I’ll deal with the rest later.” He suggested sweetly. She surrendered and began to make her way to the door.

Liz practically jumped to the other side of the narrow hallway. Although she and Anna had been through a lot today, the reality of the situation was that Liz was a stranger and a child herself too, and she was sure Anna’s mom wouldn’t be comfortable with someone else in the room. So she stood on the other side of the hall as if she was there for someone else and waited for them both to go their separate ways. When Mr. and Mrs. Garnet were out of sight, Liz tiptoed in.

The room was small, but considerably accommodating for one person, and even moreso for one very small person. She rounded the bed slowly, taking in the picture Anna in a hospital bed created. Liz assumed that this hospital room was significantly less intimidating than the last one she’d been in. Seeing her up close again, Liz noticed that Anna’s skin had gained the pinkness back and she didn’t have any tubes or wires connected to her. This fact alone lifted a huge weight from Liz’s heart. She had been told numerous times by even more numerous people that Anna would be fine, but seeing it for herself was a completely different sense of relief.

There were still a few decent sized scratches here and there, but everything was bandaged up. As far as Liz could tell, everything actually was okay. She almost felt silly having rushed over there so spontaneously. Finally, though, she saw for herself what everyone had said and just as it began to sink in, Anna stirred from her sleep. With a big yawn, Anna opened her eyes and they landed on Liz.

“Hi.” She said.

“Hi. I was pretty worried about you for a while,” she said as she introduced herself. “I was with you after the car hit you.”

“I was alright,” Anna said with a grin, practically brushing off Liz’s worry, “my guardian angel healed me.”

“Healed you, huh? They must really like you up there,” Liz said returning the smile as she played along.

“My angel likes you too, I saw it in his head.” She said matter of factly.

“Oh really? What’s his name?”

“I don’t know, but he knows you, Liz Parker.”

She stood straight up, still staring at Anna. Liz was no longer wearing her uniform, how could Anna have known her name? As her eyes bore holes through the little girl, her mind was racing to find an answer. Maybe she remembered my name tag from earlier..no that’s impossible, she was unconscious. It was impossible for Anna to know that her name was Liz and inconceivable that she knew her last name was Parker.

“How did you..” and just as she opened her mouth to ask Anna how she knew what she knew, something caught Liz’s attention. Slowly pulling her eyes away from Anna’s, she gaped at what she saw. There, underneath Anna’s hospital gown, was what could only be described as a glowing handprint. She looked back up and Anna nodded to an unspoken question. Liz moved quickly and gently moved the gown over one of Anna’s shoulders. There was a silverfish tinted, glowing handprint imprinted below Anna’s right shoulder; the exact same place Max’s hand had been.

With only tears and confusion on her face Liz stepped back. Liz Parker, the science geek who loved science for its exactness couldn’t fathom one spec of exactness that night. And just like that, the handprint disappeared. She looked back up at Anna one last time and nearly ran out of the hospital only saying a lame, “I have to go” to her.

[Crusty Nut]

Title: Through the Darkness to the Light

Category: M/L AU w/Aliens ...awesome

Disclaimer: Nothing is mine except the stuff that is (which excludes the stuff that isn't i.e. Max Evans, Liz Parker etc).

Summary: Liz Parker and Max Evans have known each other since childhood, but Liz never noticed anything...extraterrestrial about him until today. What happens when Liz Parker starts to investigate Max Evans?

Author and her note: Crusty Nut, but you guys can call me Christina. This is part three…enjoy! Oh and thank you guys for the feedback..what an ego stroke it is to hear that they like me, they really like me!
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Part Three

Liz Parker ran all the way to her car without stopping for a breath. She had absolutely no idea how that little girl knew her name and why, for the life of her, she couldn’t stop the thought that Max Evans was the guardian angel Anna had been talking about. Her thoughts kept taking her back to that afternoon when she saw Max’s glowing hand hovering above Anna’s body, but her mind did everything it could to second guess what she saw. Unfortunately, there was no denying what she had seen or Max’s reaction to her interruption of whatever had been happening. All she knew was that it was mind-blowing that someone Anna’s size had been impacted so harshly and survived with only a few scratches…and a silver handprint, a fact which Liz could not overlook.

She turned the key in the ignition and her car came to life. This time, the drive was much more law abiding, but she was hardly aware of anything going on around her. Like some pavlovian dog, she hit the brakes when her mind interpreted red, but she was not conscious of any of it. She pulled into her parking spot in front of the Crashdown in a zombie-like state and, instead of going through the front door, decided to go up the ladder and to her balcony to avoid a confrontation with anyone; she wasn’t sure she could function outside of her head just yet.

As she hopped over the wall of her balcony she kept replaying the day’s events like some sort of bad sci-fi movie that she didn’t get. For all intents and purposes, Anna Garnet should either be dead or a lot closer to it than she was, and the only puzzle piece she had left was Max and his glowing hand, but that didn’t fit either. There was definitely something going on with Max Evans though. And that look he had when I turned around the corner of the car…like he’d been caught. As she kicked off her shoes and collapsed on her bed, she resolved to question Max the next day at school and get some answers. The second her eyelids shut, she passed out from exhaustion.

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Liz got to school early the next day hoping to catch Max before class, but as she waited in her seat one minute before class officially started, she realized she wasn’t going to have any such luck. And right as the bell rang, a ragged looking Max Evans nearly dragged his feet to his seat. She did have the good fortune of having Max as her lab partner. While that made the whole situation easier, it also made it much more difficult. How was she supposed to spend an entire period with Max when all she wanted to do was shake some answers out of him? She did sympathize with him though, he looked a lot more tired and disheveled than usual.

Max Evans was definitely an attractive guy, and when Liz listened to that little bug buzzing around her ear, she knew she’d always had a little bit of a crush on him. It’s not like she had any power over it, he was kind of everything she liked about the opposite sex; smart, modest, kind, compassionate, and funny, something she felt privileged to know about him. Of course, while personality was what really attracted her to Max, it didn’t hurt that he had these incredibly penetrating hazel eyes, or a body that made every girl on campus gush and every boy cringe with jealousy. Max’s apparent oblivion to this fact only made him that much more attractive.

As he made his way to the seat beside Liz’s, he looked at her and smiled his usual greeting, but Liz wasn’t buying it. He was wearing the same clothes as the day before and it was obvious that he hadn’t slept a wink. His hair looked like he had been tugging at it all night and the bags under his eyes were a dead giveaway. No way was Max Evans having a good day, and Liz had the sneaking suspicion it had something to do with the day before. Nonetheless, she knew there was a time and place for interrogating him, and in the middle of a biology lab on cells was not the time or place.

They listened to Ms.Hardy explain how to execute the lab and Liz tried to occupy her mind with her love for science, but when Max raised his hand five minutes into class to use the restroom, an alarm went off in her head. Something in the back of her head told her to look at the cheek cells from the pencil he’d had in his mouth. She didn’t know what she’d expected to learn from her little experiment, but it certainly wasn’t what she saw. Max’s cells were not normal. They were so abnormal, in fact, that from what Liz could tell, they would be classified as not human.

She once again began obsessing over Max’s part played in the events of the day before. Max had a glowing hand over Anna’s body, he looked guilty when I saw. He seemingly disappeared after the ambulance came. Anna had a silver handprint where Max’s hand had been and she somehow thinks she has a guardian angel who saved her and knows me. And now, Max’s cells aren’t human. Max returned to his seat and apologized as he suggested that they skip that portion of the lab since they wouldn’t have time to completely finish the lab because he’d taken so long in the bathroom. Without knowing what to say or do, Liz dumbly nodded. Max was obviously hiding something and she needed to know what or she might drive herself crazy.

They finished the rest of their lab in silence save for the necessary talking like, “did you get that?” When the bell rang for the end of first period, Max practically flew out the door without bothering to put his books in his backpack. Not wanting to miss the opportunity, Liz followed suit. When she stepped outside of the room, she had already lost him. She looked both ways and saw him down the hall to her right just as he was turning a corner in a rush. She sprinted after him determined not to let him go that easily. All of first period Liz was biting her tongue knowing it wasn’t the time, but Max must have seen every questioning look she gave him and the uncharacteristic staring she did, so he bolted hoping to be free of her interrogation for as long as possible, but there was no way Liz was going to be ignored.

Like a game of Frogger, Liz had to move through the crowd strategically in order to keep up with Max. She rounded the corner she had last seen him turn and glanced down the hall frantically searching him out. Breathing heavily, she inwardly cursed. She’d lost him. She had two other classes with him later in the day, but she felt as if there was a time bomb about to go off in her head if she didn’t talk to him, and soon.

Just then she saw a dark head slip into a dark classroom. She wasn’t positive it had been Max, but why would anyone go into a dark classroom unless they were avoiding or meeting someone? It had to have been him she thought to herself as she made a beeline for Mr. Porter’s English classroom to begin their impromptu meeting. She had been so focused on getting to him before he could get away that she hadn’t realized how nervous she was about it. Taking a deep breath and bracing herself for the inevitable, she turned the door knob and pushed the door open just enough for her to slide through and close it again.

She spotted him immediately sitting at a desk facing the white board nonchalantly eating some kind of sandwich. For someone who was so resolute to get away from her, he sure didn’t seem to be affected by her presence. In fact, he was so unmoved by her that he didn’t even turn around to look at her. She walked to the front of the class without looking at him and put her backpack on Mr. Porter’s desk. No matter how much she wanted answers, she dreaded turning around because she had no idea what she’d find, but she knew she had to.

Still breathing heavily, from a combination of her running and anxiety, she turned around to face Max Evans and to get some clarity. Looking at him eating his lunch so innocently, she wondered what was going on inside his head. Was he just as nervous and she was? He certainly wasn’t giving quite that impression, but then why else was he running? Well, it was high time to get the show on the road.

“Max, I wanted to talk to you about what happened yesterday,” she started hesitantly.

With a mouthful of sandwich, he nodded and signaled that she continue.

“Umm, well, this is kind of hard to get out,” she continued nervously rubbing her palms together and looking everywhere but at him.

“Listen Liz, I’m really sorry I pushed you away, but you were in some kind of trance. It’s like you were seeing something that wasn’t there. Anyway, I figured that I knew CPR and was a little more coherent at the moment so I’d get you to call the ambulance,” he stated matter of factly.

“That’s not really what I wanted to talk about,” Liz stared with a confused expression on her face.

“Oh. Well, then what is it?” He asked.

“After you sent me to call the ambulance, I came right back because someone told me they had already called. But when I got there, you had your hand over Anna’s chest…yeah, this is the hard part. You had your hand there and it was,” she couldn’t help but laugh a little at how insane it all sounded. “Your hand was glowing,” she spit out.

Max nearly choked on the last of his sandwich.

“My hand was glowing?” he asked incredulously. “Liz, how could my hand have been glowing? I knew you were seeing things that day, but I didn’t know to what extent…”

“Excuse me?!” Liz exclaimed, obviously offended. “Are you suggesting that I hallucinated this? Don’t you think I know how crazy this sounds? I’ve been freaked out for the past twenty-four hours and questioning my own sanity, but I know what I saw. This was no glint from the sun and it was certainly not some hallucination.”

“Listen to yourself. A glowing hand? Liz, my hand was over her chest because I was performing CPR. You probably saw the glint of my watch.” He seemed genuine, but Liz had more than one piece to the puzzle. If all she saw was the glint of his watch, then what would explain the silver handprint on Anna’s chest at the hospital? Or why he was so desperate to get away from her after class?

It was plain to see that she wasn’t going to be getting those answers she had hoped he would provide willingly. She knew she wasn’t crazy, and somehow, someway, she was going to find out what Max Evans was hiding. Until then, however, she would play dumb.

“Your watch,” she deadpanned. “Oh my God. I’m so embarrassed. I can’t believe what a fool I just made out of myself. You were performing CPR. I’m so stupid. I’m sorry, Max.”

“It’s okay, Liz. Yesterday was a stressful day for everyone, it just really took its toll on you. It’s natural that you’d want to make sense of any loose ends. Anyway, I really have to go meet Isabel and Micheal,” he said as he got out of his desk and made his way to the trash can to throw away his trash from his lunch. He took one last look and gave a sympathetic smile to Liz as he left.

“I’m going to find out what you're hiding, Max,” she spoke only to herself.

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On the other side of the door was an elated Max Evans. He felt guilty that he had to lie to the one person he felt he could be honest with, but he had made a pact with Isabel and Micheal, and truth be told, he could never be sure that Liz would take his other worldly news well. It was an extremely close call when Liz had seen him heal Anna the day before. He couldn’t heal her as much as he would have liked because of the interruption, but he supposed the scratches and bruises made it more believable.

He’d known Liz since elementary school, and he knew she was going to want to talk to him about what happened, he had just hoped she had written off what she had seen. Instead, he had to put that thought in her head. He was just glad she believed him; now they could go on living life normally as it none of it had ever happened.

[Crusty Nut]

Part Four

September 17
Journal Entry #1

My name is Liz Parker, and yesterday a little girl almost died. After that, things got really weird…

After Max left Liz alone in Mr. Porter’s classroom, she plopped down in the seat Max had previously resided in. It was still warm from his body heat. She stared at the whiteboard, though not really looking at it. Her thoughts were running rampant in her head and she could hardly find one to choose to focus on. As she became more aware of her surroundings, she saw a quote on the board: “’Trust your instinct to the end, though you can render no reason.’ --Ralph Waldo Emerson.”

She had followed her instinct, hadn’t she? She had seen Max’s hand glowing and she knew it wasn’t what he was leading her to believe. It would be too easy to write it off as a reflection of the sun off of his watch while he was performing CPR. It was a quick cover, and she commended him on his valiant effort to fool her, but she knew better. Something had been off about that entire day and she found herself on a mission and she knew what her next step was. After school she would go see Anna again, and hope she was still there.

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The rest of the day was a blur for Liz as she was only thinking of going to the hospital. When the bell for the end of sixth period rang, she threw her books in her bag and was almost all the way through the door when she felt a yank on her backpack, pulling her back. Liz turned around, completely shocked and found an annoyed looking Maria looking at her disapprovingly.

“Liz, babe, what’s got your panties in a bunch? I haven’t seen you all day. You ditched me at lunch for God knows what and now you’re sprinting out of here like you’ve got ants in your pants,” Maria questioned concernedly all in one breath.

“I’m sorry, Maria, I just have a lot on my mind,” she answered.

Maria gave her a knowing look. “Is this about what happened yesterday? Because it was all over the news last night and this morning, and the little girl is fine. You don’t have anything to worry about.”

“I know, I just…it’s more than that. But I can’t really talk about it right now,” she said almost hopelessly. Hopelessly because she knew now that she said she couldn’t talk about it, there was no way Maria was going to let her go without an explanation.

“Can’t talk about it? Who am I? Some stranger you just met off the street?” Maria questioned dramatically, as was her style.

With a long sigh, Liz said, “alright, I’ll tell you, but you have to promise me that you are not going to flip out.” Of course, having to ask that Maria not flip out most assuredly meant that she was actually going to flip out, but Liz was going crazy being alone in all of this. It would be nice to have an ally.

“Flip out? Hey, it’s me.”

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Liz and Maria were on their way to A407 when Liz stopped dead in her tracks and grabbed Maria to the waiting area.

“What? What?” Maria asked.

“Anna’s parents are right there talking to the doc…” and she suddenly zipped her mouth shut as Anna's parents and the doctor strolled passed. She caught a tiny part of their conversation and gathered that they were on there way to the nurse’s station to sign some papers and then take Anna home. This meant she didn’t have much time at all. “Maria, we need a plan in case they come back. I don’t really know how long this will take.”

“A plan in case they come back? Liz, this is crazy. Her parents didn’t do anything wrong. You can just say you were there that day, right?” Maria tried to convince her.

After Liz told Maria, there was no denying she flipped out. She didn’t run out of the classroom screaming or anything, but she certainly lost a few marbles as she spouted out theory after theory, the least of which involved psychic powers of the healing persuasion. Liz had told her that she was going to the hospital and Maria insisted she tag along and see everything for herself.

“Yeah, I can be honest. Sorry, I just feel like for the past twenty-four hours I’ve been caught in some twilight zone and have to cover my ass like some spy covering her tracks. It’s ridiculous, really. Anyway, we have to hurry, I’d like to avoid talking to them if I can,” she said as she motioned Maria to follow her in stealth mode.

Anna noticed them right away and greeted Liz warmly with a big wave and smile; she even looked at Maria as if she knew her. How that was possible, Liz didn’t even begin to question. She already had enough unanswered questions to last her a lifetime and then some.

Maria stayed at the end of Anna’s hospital bed as Liz, once again, went around to the right side of the bed. As Liz didn’t know what to say this time around, Anna was the first to speak.

“You left really fast last night,” she said without accusation.

Liz felt horrible. She was so caught up in her own feelings of confusion that she had to get out of that room as fast as possible, and it didn’t even occur to her how that might effect Anna.

“I’m sorry, Anna. I was going through something and I was just really confused. Can you forgive me?”

Anna nodded. It was time to put the plan into motion.

“Anna, I have to ask you something. It’s about your guardian angel.” With no reaction from Anna, she assumed that was the go ahead to continue. “If I could show you a picture of him, would you recognize him?” Anna nodded again.

Liz looked at Maria and reached out her hand. Maria took her bag off of her shoulder and dug through it to find what she was looking for and smiled in satisfaction as she handed it to Liz. With a nervousness she couldn’t calculate, Liz turned the pages to the one she was looking for; the E’s. She pointed at the picture of the boy in the yearbook as she asked Anna, “is this your guardian angel?”

Anna sat up in her bed to get a closer look. Sure that it was him, she grinned at Liz and said, “yes. That is the Angel who healed me with his own hands.”

Liz was almost certain that this was the response she was going to get, but she was unable to prepare for the rush of emotions coming over her. She gave a pained look to Maria as she sat down. Maria walked over to where Liz had just been standing.

“Hi Anna, I’m Maria, Liz’s best friend.” Anna just smiled at her. “This boy right here,” she said pointing at Max’s yearbook picture, “is a regular person just like you and me. He’s not an angel.”

“Yes, he is. I would be dead if he didn’t save me,” she said so succinctly it shocked Maria to her core.

“You were hit by a car, sweetie, but that doesn’t mean you were going to die.”

“I know, but I was almost dead when Liz came to me. Max, my angel, came and made her go away so he could save me without revealing his identity.”

From the chair, Liz watched the scene play out. She had to know one thing. “Anna, what about what you said to me last night? You knew my name and said that your Angel knew me. How did you know that?”

“Oh, that’s easy. I saw his whole world when he healed me. You were a part of it”

“I’m a part of it,” she repeated dumbly. She stood in awe and silence until Maria spoke up.

“Anna, we’re really happy you’re better, but we’d better go. Have a nice life…or something.” Maria said as she nudged Liz to signal it was time for them to leave.

As Maria ushered Liz out of the room Anna called out, “tell Max I said thank you and that he should come out from behind the tree!”

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September 17
Journal Entry #1

My name is Liz Parker, and yesterday a little girl almost died. After that, things got really weird. I found out that Max Evans, my lab partner and childhood acquaintance, is apparently a guardian angel. When Anna Garnet was hit by that car, Max did something to her that miraculously healed her and left behind a silver handprint that inexplicably disappeared. My scientific mind couldn’t grasp any of this because there is no hard science behind anything paranormal to that degree. And the next day, when I talked to Max, it was clear he was hiding something and desperately did not want me, or anyone else, to find out about it. Of course, I couldn’t accept that and I decided it was my mission to uncover this secret. What I discovered is neither a hard science nor anything I expected.

“Trust your instinct to the end, though you can render no reason.” --Ralph Waldo Emerson.

My initial instinct was to dig until I found what I was looking for, but I discovered something entirely different…

[Crusty Nut]

I just want to thank everyone for the awesome feedback and I hope everyone keeps reading!

dreamer19: Tsk tsk tsk. Don't you know this isn't the show? Ha. I wish it was because I'd be making money. Anyway, I figured I'd mix it up a bit and make Maria's reaction a little different since they don't really know he's an alien. Different story, different reactions. Yes? Yes. Okay, thanks for reading. And keep commenting, I love it.

Part Five

If nothing else, Liz‘s new investigative prowess gave her an excuse to watch Max Evans all day long with no guilt involved. No guilt, that is, as long as no one other than Maria caught her in gazing mode. It had officially been a week since Liz’s talks with Max and Anna respectively, but the time did not ease her fervor. In fact, the more she watched Max, the more she wanted to know everything about him.

It was easy to say that her somewhat dormant crush was now of a deep and thriving nature. Liz had come to the conclusion that, no matter what Max’s secret was, the facts were clear; Max Evans risked said secret getting out to save a little girl he didn’t know. Whatever his secret was, whatever he was, it had to be something good and pure. In Liz’s eyes, he was that very angel Anna spoke of. Whether he was the kind of angel with wings and a harp…well, that was left up in the air, no pun intended. And that’s where Liz found herself today, sitting at her usual bench on her lunch hour, waiting for Maria. Oh yeah, and Max gazing.

Luckily, she didn’t have to change her usual seating arrangements to accommodate her newfound hobby because Max and his friend and sister always sat at a table that was not quite twenty feet away. At this particular moment, Max’s sister, Isabel, was telling what must have been an outrageous story and was gesticulating wildly. Max’s usually taciturn nature was taking the backseat and he had a full blown grin on his face as he listened intently.

Isabel Evans was known as the Ice Queen at West Roswell. A lot of people even referred to her as a bitch, but Liz had taken a few classes with her, and although she was distant and perhaps icy in that sense, she was far from a bitch. Liz had always tried to see the good in people and since Isabel had never done anything but be the envy of every sophomore at their school, Liz took the bitch card out of the deck.

Even Liz was jealous of Isabel. To make it short, Isabel was everything Liz wasn’t. She was blonde, tall, curvaceous, voluptuous, and could pull off any look she wanted to that day. One day she had shown up to school and on her way through the door to the front hall, her stockings got caught on a loose nail. The very next day, all of her little minions showed up with ripped stockings. It was absurd, but at least they had goals in life, that had to count for something. Liz knew she would never stoop to their level, but still, wanting to look like Isabel wasn’t so ridiculous. Every guy in school lusted after her and ignored everyone else practically. Not that Liz wanted to be lusted after by everyone…maybe just one. Although with how flat-chested and plain she was, there was no way that one guy would see her as much more than that.

Maria watched as an unsuspecting Liz Parker gazed longingly at one Evans and enviously at the other.

“Oh my God, look at her! You know, it never made sense how good she looked everyday, but now I bet Mr. Magic Fingers does her hair and make-up before school.”

Liz tore her gaze away, and focused on her friend. “If that’s the case, maybe I should suggest to Max that he drop out of high school and go straight to beauty school” she said almost holding a straight face before the image of an effeminate Max Evans applying blush to her cheeks entered her brain. She couldn’t help but break out in hysterics.

“Yeah, and maybe he’ll give us free makeovers,” Maria choked out as she joined in on the absurdity.

“Are you saying I need a makeover?!” Liz feigned offense complete with a pout.

“Of course not! And with those cheeks! Preciosita tan linda!” She said as she pinched Liz’s cheeks. This was followed by another bout of laughter from both girls.

As Liz’s laughter faded in and out, her eyes slowly gravitated back to Max. As she stared at his strong jaw line and bulging biceps, she thought No. There is no way Max Evans was made to do hair and make up. The image slowly creeping back into her head brought her to a giggle. Just as it left her mouth, his eyes met hers and she instinctively turned away as fast as she could. She scrunched her face in embarrassment as she looked at Maria. Her hair covered her face, so she knew Max couldn’t see her face, but she knew she was blushing wildly and looking guiltier than sin.

Maria raised an eyebrow at her friend knowingly. Liz hadn’t told her anything new about her feelings for Max, but she knew her best friend, she went for the strong and silent type. And if you threw in selfless, it would only stroke the sweet tooth even more.


Earlier that week…

After visiting Anna for a second time, Liz had enough information to pinpoint Max as the silver handprint guy. Whatever that silver handprint was, it meant that the life of a young and innocent girl had been saved. No matter what, Liz knew with all her heart that when she had run up to Anna right after she’d been hit, she had been on the verge of death, and that no ambulance was going to save her. But then Max pushed her away and healed her somehow. She still didn’t understand how he did what he did, but all she needed to know was that he did it and now Anna Garnet had another chance at life; something most people never get, and Anna already seemed to understand what that meant.

At the time Liz had wanted answers, and right away, but the more she dug, the more vulnerable Max had seemed to her. It was clear that he had some big secret, but Liz had learned that people kept secrets for reasons. Whatever he didn’t want to tell Liz, he didn’t because he was scared to let it out. And as she sat in her living room on the couch with Maria, she suddenly realized, in that spoonful of ice cream, that Max was still the same guy he was before. She had never presumed to think that she knew everything about Max. In fact, she couldn’t think of a more enigmatic guy at school. But Max had always been the nicest guy. If he had some healing psychic power, the fact that he used them to heal Anna only proved further what a great guy he was.

“So he’s probably telepathic right? He’s like Neo. Oh my God, I bet he can like, bend spoons and stuff,” Maria said as she stuffed the spoon of ice cream in her mouth and stared amazedly at the spoon as if at any given moment it would bend.

Liz dipped her spoon back into the carton of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream they had begun ravaging five minutes earlier.

“Telekinetic,” Liz uttered.

Maria moved her gaze from the spoon to Liz. “What?”

“Telepathic would mean he could read minds.”

“Dios mio. I bet he can! Wow, totally not having dirty thoughts around Max Evans ever again.”

Liz looked at her pointedly, as if demanding to know why Maria would be having those thoughts around Max to begin with.

“Relax chicky. Maxy Waxy is all yours,” she said as she choo chooed a spoonful of ice cream Liz’s way. Liz batted the spoon away as she stood up and put her hands on her hips.

“He’s all mine? Maria, what are you talking about?”

“Lizzie, who are you kidding? This is me we’re talking about, I know all,” she said. A moment of silence passed. “Besides, if you wax poetic about what a goooood person Max is one more time, I might hurl.” Both girls giggled, and then Liz plopped back down on the couched as she resigned to her fate.

“Really though, I just feel so bad for pushing him so much. I stop to think for five seconds and suddenly I have this big epiphany. If I had a secret like that I would hate to be pressured to tell someone I hardly know.”

“Elizabeth Parker, you and Max Evans have been lab partners for two years, and known each other almost your entire lives. You don’t know each other’s deepest darkest secrets, obviously” she emphasized, “but you know him more than hardly.”

“I guess so,” Liz surrendered, not without a hint of a smile either.

“So what’s the plan? Other than us putting our spoons down because I feel like I’ve just gained twenty pounds” she said as she put the carton on the coffee table and exaggeratedly rubbed her belly. At Liz’s questioning look she continued. “I mean with Max. Are we going to investigate and get to the bottom of all of this?”

Liz wasn’t sure what she wanted to do. On one hand, she wanted nothing more than what Maria said. She did want to get to the bottom of it all, but on the other hand, she understood that Max wanted to keep his secret a secret.

“I think for now, we’ll just observe. That seems reasonable right? We’re not interfering with the natural order of things, but we’re not giving up. If he slips up, we’ll be there.”

“Got it. Don’t interfere with the natural order of things. But I’m just saying that you watching Max is already interfering because he’s the one that usually stares at you,” Maria said smugly. She couldn’t help but get that jab in when she could.

Liz pretended to ignore Maria’s comment, but now that her just-add-water crush had gotten the drop of water it needed, she couldn’t help but hope her misguided friend was telling the truth.


Looking at Maria, with her hair still hiding her from Max, Liz already knew that her best friend saw straight through her. It was true that she would be observing Max for the purpose of maybe catching him healing something, or maybe using another power he might have, but she left out the pertinent detail that she enjoyed observing him way too much. But then again, who wouldn’t? The guy was a Greek God. That was another mystery. How could someone their age be that built and drop dead sexy?

Oh God, am I blushing even more?

Maria sat, tapping her foot, as if waiting for her to spill her guts. Instead, Liz just shrugged her shoulders and bit her lip as she lowered her gaze ashamedly and took a sip of her soda. Maria’s stare was making her nervous. She tried to avoid eye contact and just wait out the stare, but she could practically feel it eating through her skull. She couldn’t stand it and she turned to look back at Maria, quickly finding out that that was a mistake. Maria had this power of getting information out of Liz.

I should just sick Maria on Max and he’d be talking in a minute she thought to herself.

“Fine! You win. Maybe I like him some” Liz yielded.

Maria didn’t say anything in response. She slightly nodded with self-satisfied smile on her face. If Liz didn’t love the girl so much, she would have slapped it right off. They finished their lunches in silence, leaning on each other, until the bell rang for fifth period.

As Liz made her way to geometry class, which she had with Max, she saw him a bit further up the hall. She wondered how she could get closer to him…maybe close enough to share secrets.

[Crusty Nut]

Author's Note: Thanks for being patient with me!

Part Six

It was seven o’clock in the morning and Liz had officially been hitting snooze for fifteen minutes. What she wouldn’t give to just have five more minutes of that dream. She wasn’t sure who the dark haired mystery man in her dream was (that part was a little fuzzy), but she had no problem sticking a certain face to a boy who had been invading her thoughts for weeks now; it had only been a matter of time until he seeped into her dreams. Having a crush on Max Evans was like a cancer, but Liz was pretty sure having cancer wasn’t nearly as enjoyable.

Seven-ten in the morning rolled around and Liz forced herself to sit up. If she was going to get to school on time, she would have to get her butt in gear. Throwing the covers off, she shivered at the abrupt change in temperature. In seconds, she ran to the adjoining bathroom, stripped off her pajamas on the way, and was assailed by hot water that took the job of her blankets.

Ten minutes later she stood in a towel in front of her mirror. She squinted at her reflection wishing she could be just a little more attractive. Off-handedly she wished she could look more like Isabel Evans. Although, I don’t think that would help in the Max department. Maybe if I looked like Tess Harding. In reality, however, she hated the guts of the girl. If there was anyone she wouldn’t want to be, it would be Tess Harding. But there was no denying her physical beauty. She might be even prettier if she weren’t such a cold hearted bitch.

Tess Harding was the embodiment of evil at West Roswell High. Maybe she hadn’t ever done anything to Liz directly, but she always had a way of putting down Alex, one of Liz’s best friends. It was no secret that Alex was head over heels in love with Isabel Evans. Who wouldn’t be? But Alex would sometimes forget he was staring at her and Tess would make it her business to make sure Alex knew he had absolutely no chance with Isabel. Liz didn’t understand it. She knew herself that Isabel wasn’t really interested in Alex, but if Alex wasn’t going to make a move, then what was the harm in admiring? She just hated seeing Alex down on himself.

There was no way that Tess’ curly blonde hair, or slim and curvacious figure could hide the evil within. Sure, it was high school, but it was people like Tess that made that cliché come to life. And it didn’t hurt that Tess had always been obviously attracted to Max. From what Liz could tell, the feelings were not mutual, but Tess was Isabel’s best friend, and Liz was getting increasingly jealous each day she saw Tess throwing herself at Max; a guy could only have so much will power.

Looking at her profile in the mirror, she cursed her genes for her stick figure. She pushed what little lumps for breasts she had and dropped them with a sigh. With a sense of determination, she pushed the negative thoughts back and decided that she would try her hardest to wow Max today. She wasn’t sure how to accomplish that, but dammit, she’d try.

In her closet hung a variety of types of clothing and she couldn’t decide what would wow Max. He was a pretty conservative guy, so she didn’t think the slutty avenue was the way to go, plus her slutty clothing avenue was very very small. Max was a sweater and jeans kind of guy. She plopped down onto her bed and thought about it before laughing at herself. Here she was obsessing about a guy she hardly knew. How could she decide what Max would be attracted to by what he wore? She shook her head and decided that she’d just dress as herself because she had to be honest with herself.

She threw on a pair of grey jeans, a white t-shirt, and her emerald green leather jacket and was on her way out the door, but as an after thought decided to put some eyeliner and lip gloss on. It wasn’t much, but it did give her an extra boost of confidence that put a tiny skip in her step. She was excited for the new day because it was another chance to get to know Max a little more.

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She made her way to her locker with her iPod still playing Oasis’ “Wonderwall,” she saw Micheal Guerin. He was staring straight at her in a very unnerving manner. She diverted her gaze in an attempt to pretend she hadn’t noticed. When she looked back he was gone. If Micheal could be described in one word, it would be intimidating. The guy hardly spoke, but when he did, it was a sarcastic remark probably directed toward anyone of authority. Half the time Liz didn’t understand how someone like Max could be friends with someone like Micheal. Max was so respectful and considerate, and Micheal just…wasn’t.

She reached her locker and turned the lock left, right and left again to open it. Just as Daft Punk’s “Digital Love” began, she felt a tap on her shoulder. Praying that it wasn’t Micheal, she turned around to see Maria’s smiling face. Maria pulled Liz’s headphones off and greeted her with a wink and a “helloooOOoo, chica! Someone looks gorgeous today, and for a change, it’s not just me.” Liz couldn’t help but laugh at her friend’s lame attempt at hiding her conceit, but Liz knew Maria was just as insecure on the inside as she was, she just put on a better front.

“So, who are you trying to impress,” she asked with a wicked glint in her eyes.

Liz rolled her eyes in response and put her geometry book in her locker in exchange for her biology book. “All I did was put eyeliner on, I’m not trying to impress anyone.”

“Oh please, you already admitted to me you had a crush on the guy. And Liz, you have to take my word for it that he feels the same way. He practically drools every time he sees you.”

“Maria, I think I would have noticed little puddles of drool sometime in the time he and I have known each other,” she said sarcastically and began the trek to biology with Maria following close behind.

“Hey, I said practically,” she defended with her left hand in the air.

“Well anyway, I just felt like trying to look nice, that’s all. I didn’t do this for him.”

“Speaking of him…” Maria uttered as she pointed to Liz’s would-be dark haired mystery dream man.

Now it was her time to drool. Max certainly didn’t look any different that day than any other, but he looked staggeringly striking no matter what he wore; even if it was just a navy blue polo shirt and khakis. Her breath caught in her throat as he flipped his head to get his bangs out of his eyes. She almost thought he caught her staring again, but he turned from his locker to the direction of their shared class. Maria’s voice pulled her out of her trance.

“Oh boy, this is worse than I thought. You don’t just like him a little, you want to marry him, don’t you?” she asked in a teasing tone.

Avoiding answering her question, Liz kept walking to class where she would spend the first of many hours with Max that day. At that moment, she realized that she had never really appreciated the amount of classes they had together before. Unfortunately, Liz’s silence was an answer enough for Maria.

As Liz turned left around the corner, she almost slammed into the terrible trio that consisted of Isabel, Micheal, and Max; she stopped dead in her tracks. Micheal was giving her that menacing look again, and Isabel looked at her with a blank expression. Apparently her presence at even three feet away stopped the conversation. At the onset of the closed mouths, Max turned around to see what made the rest of his group silent so suddenly. When his eyes collided with hers, she had to swallow a lump that formed in her throat. His gaze was an intense thing to behold, but for the life of her, she couldn’t look away, especially after he gave her a small smile. She returned the smile and gave a little wave before she found her feet again and started walking to the door behind the trio.

Very aware of his eyes on her, she tried to subtly sway her hips without looking ridiculous. Maria had taught her how to sashay her hips at one of their sleepovers, but she had never applied her lesson to real life. She turned around to look at him once more before stepping into the classroom, and sure enough, he was still staring… unfortunately, so were Isabel and Micheal. Her smile fell at their disapproving looks, and she rushed into the classroom to escape.

As she sat down, she unzipped her backpack and reached in to take her biology book out. It was then she heard someone behind her clear their throat. With the way her day had begun, she didn’t have to think hard to guess who it was. She turned around, and sure enough it was none other than Tess Harding in a baby blue v-neck fitted t-shirt and a pair of white shorts, and man were they short. Liz coughed; it was all she could do to not roll her eyes at the expression on Tess’ face. Although she couldn’t figure out what Tess wanted, she figured she wouldn’t have to wait long. If this was about Alex…

“Hi, Liz. Look, this is kind of awkward for me to say, but I really think I have to.” Tess was making Liz nervous, this wasn’t how a conversation about Alex usually went. Usually it went something like, “Liz, can you keep your nerdy friend’s eyes off of Isabel? She’s too good for him and would never stoop to that level. Thanks.”

“Okay, go ahead.” Liz was really intrigued at this point and was letting her curiosity get the better of her, even if her instincts told her it was a trap.

“Well,” she began as she pulled Liz by the hand to the back of the classroom, “see, it’s just that Max and I are kind of in a secret relationship, and I see the way you look at him and I know you like him.” Liz’s jaw couldn’t have dropped further. “And that’s okay, I mean, he’s a great guy, but you’re really pretty and I’m a really jealous person, so if you could just like…stay away. Gosh, that sounds bad, doesn’t it? You understand though, right?”

Liz could hardly believe her ears, but she supposed that it made sense. This new piece of news made things clear. Tess may have always thrown herself at Max, but to her knowledge, she had never thrown herself at anyone else. And Max was just a shy guy, so he probably wasn’t big on public displays off affection, especially if they were in a secret relationship.

“Wow, umm, Tess, you have absolutely nothing to worry about. I mean, Max is a great guy, but I’m not into him like that. We’re just friends.”

“Right. Well, that’s good. And if you wouldn’t mind keeping this between us girls…” she half asked and half demanded. Liz nodded in agreement, but she already knew she’d spill her guts to Maria to see what she had to say. The bell rang just then and the girls took their cues to go sit down. Max walked in as the girls walked away and looked at the girls. The expression on his face was a mixture of confusion and annoyance. Liz’s face was an combination of guilt and dejection. She didn’t see how she could get close to Max with such a huge obstacle in the way. Of course, Tess was anything but huge.

[Crusty Nut]

ENJOY!

Part Seven

Liz had waited five minutes before the bell signaled lunch’s end to tell Maria what had transpired between she and Tess. She really did want Maria’s input, but she didn’t really want to talk about it at school, and she wanted Maria to mull over the conversation like she had been. So there they were at the Crashdown, in their teal uniforms and silver antennae hashing it all out by the drink station.

“I can’t believe you fell for that, Lizzie!” Maria exclaimed. She knew Liz was naïve and often gullible, but this took the cake. How could she actually believe anything that came out of that little gerbil’s mouth? “How could you believe anything that comes out of that gerbil’s mouth? You know she bleeds black. Look at how she treats Alex, and all of the sudden she’s as sweet as sugar to you? No. Uh-uh. That little…UGH! Well, she’s up to something, and I have an inkling it’s no good. Besides, she’s obviously just threatened.”

“Threatened, Maria? Sounded more like she wanted me to stop gawking at him to me, and she’s right.” She sighed in frustration as she poured drinks for table four where a group of teens their age sat. “It just sucks. I finally admitted to myself I had a crush on him and now all of the sudden he’s taken.”

“Liz, are you kidding me? There’s no way Max is the least bit interested in that blonde bimbo. And he definitely doesn’t look at her the way he looks at you…” Maria egged her on.

“Then why would Tess pull me aside like that? How can you lie about dating someone secretly?”

“Well, she did say she wanted to keep it between you two, right? If you’re not going to talk to anyone about it, how could it be refuted? All you have to do is ask Max. It’s not like you owe her your loyalty.” Maria shrugged nonchalantly. Over the years, with the way Tess had treated Alex, no one owed Tess anything, and she certainly didn’t deserve Liz’s trust, especially when she was so obviously abusing it.

“I can’t ask him. I’ll just do what I said and stay away.” She knew that was going to be difficult being in so many classes with him, not to mention being his lab partner. All she wanted to do was to bang her head on the counter in front of her, but she figured the nuns sitting on the other side wouldn’t quite appreciate the gesture of exasperation.

After she and Tess had had their little talk earlier that day, Liz had spent the rest of the day replaying the conversation in her head. She and Max really were just friends, but just because she harbored some romantic feelings for the guy didn’t mean she couldn’t put other people first; Tess first. The more she thought about it, the more she had a sneaking suspicion that Maria was right, something didn’t quite fit. But her insecurities were playing a mean trick on her and she had no choice but to believe that Max and Tess were together after all. She would put Max first, not Tess. She would stay away for Max. Besides, she might have confused curiosity for attraction. Maybe she wasn’t attracted to Max himself, and she was actually just attracted to the mystery he was. Well, that seemed like a good thing to tell herself at that point.

And that’s exactly what she repeated in her head, like a mantra, as she delivered table four their drinks, and for the rest of her shift.

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She didn’t wear eyeliner the next day, only chapstick, and she avoided eye contact with Max as much as possible. It was easier said than done to stay away from your own lab partner, but she was unwavering on the subject. From then on, it was just work. Not that it had ever been much more, but still, it wasn’t ever as tense between them as it was then, and she was sure Max noticed. For the first half of the class she all but ignored everything he said that was unrelated to science. Her conscience was weighing down with all the guilt, but she had repeated that damned mantra so much, that it actually stuck; she was doing this for Max. It was then that his voice wrenched her from her thoughts.

“Liz, are you alright?” she cringed at the concern she found in his voice. Without looking up, she nodded and said she was fine.

“Liz, I can tell something is wrong,” he paused, giving her a chance to answer. When she didn’t, he dipped his head down trying to get her to look at him. “Is there a reason you haven’t looked at me all period? It’s kind of hard to do a lab when you can’t really communicate with your own partner.” There it was. More guilt. She looked up and instantly regretted it. The concern she’d heard in his voice was mirrored expressively in his eyes. She put the pen she had been writing profusely with down and turned to face him completely.

“Look Max, I know,” she said meaningfully and gave a side glance to Tess. “You know? And Tess kind of asked me to stay away.” His face remained blank, so she continued. “It’s okay though, I mean, your secret is safe with me. I even think I’ve always known deep down. You can trust me.” With a hint of a smile, she turned away and dug back into the mitosis, meiosis lab she’d been working on.

His eyes were still on her; she could feel them, but she wouldn’t look back up. This confirmed what Tess had told her. Max was obviously shocked that she knew about their relationship and couldn’t respond properly because of his surprise. He turned back to his lab too, but she could tell he was no longer thinking about the division of cells. Out of the corner of her eye she could see his right hand tight in a fist with a helpless pencil in his grasp. Silently she hoped none of this would get back to Tess.

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She was on her way to her locker when she saw four people with solemn expressions on their faces walking her way. Quickly, she hopped into the nearest classroom. Ironically, it was Mr. Porter’s English class; the same room she had initially confronted Max in. The closed blinds gave the room an ominous feeling. She walked to the desk and sat her bag lunch on it as she dropped her bag next to her. Glad to have avoided an awkward encounter with the foursome, she began reaching into her bag to stuff her face.

Just then, the doorknob in the back of the classroom started to turn. Instinctively, she jumped off of the seat and hid behind the desk as familiar voices filled the room.

“Okay, Maxwell, what’s this all about?” an exasperated Micheal demanded. She couldn’t see him, but she could imagine the scornful look on his face.

“Liz knows.” Max stated succinctly.

What? Why are they congregating so ceremoniously about me knowing that he and Tess are dating? Who knew they cared so much...

“What?!” an enraged Isabel shouted. “How does she know anything? I thought you got her off our scent!”

“I thought so too, but apparently it didn’t work. She said as much in first period today,” he replied.

What are they talking about? Get me off their scent?

Then Tess interrupted. “Wait, wait. What did she say exactly? It might not be what you think.”

“Well, now that you mention it, you were named specifically as the one who told her. Care to explain, Tess?” there was a tone of distaste. Almost as if just saying her name left a bad taste in his mouth. She had never heard Max sound so disgusted.

“Okay, well, this is going to sound bad, but it was for your own good.”

“Tess…” he warned.

“Well, I kind of told her that we were secretly dating” she spit out hurriedly.

“WHAT?!” The other three yelled. Max continued, “Tess, there had better be a damned good reason why you would think that telling Liz that you and I are dating is a good idea”

“Ask Isabel,” she replied tersely. All eyes were on Isabel in a flash and she avoided eye contact as she spoke.

“I dream walked her. I know, I know, you said you didn’t want me to, but I had to know. Liz saw you heal her! I had to know how much she actually saw.”

“I’m ignoring the fact that I am furious with both of you right now, but what happened? What was she dreaming about?” Max certainly commanded a lot of authority with these three, Liz noticed.

“Max, she knows too much. She doesn’t know everything, but she knows too much.”

“How much is too much?” He sounded worried.

“Well, I’ll leave out the sordid details, but basically she thinks you’re an angel, or a psychic or something. But she has no idea that we’re all in the same boat. Tess and I were just trying to protect the group.”

Oh my God. She was in my dreams? How is this possible? And she just made it sound like he’s not a psychic, and none of them are. Then how can they get in my dreams?

“Oh yeah, tell me again why the secret relationship lie was a necessity.”

Tess spoke up. “If Isabel made one thing clear to me about Liz’s dreams, it was that she wanted answers about the whole ordeal, and she intends to get them. I just used her little crush as a way to shut her out.”

“What?” Max asked flabbergasted.

“Oh Maxwell, you’re so naïve. How long have I been telling you she checks you out all the time?” Micheal guffawed at Max’s confusion.

“Let’s face it, slut wants your nuts.” Tess said simply.

Liz’s stomach dropped. This was information overload and she had no idea how to handle anything she’d just heard, and was still hearing. Then Tess had to go and open her big mouth and tell a secret that Liz had expected to stay a secret. How was she going to be able to look Max in the eyes after this?

“Tess, shut up. You don’t even know her.” Max Evans, ever the chivalrous male coming to her rescue.

“You’re right, and I’m not sad about that fact. But Max, don’t forget that you don’t know her either. You’d like to think you do, but until you drop the A-bomb on her, which you never will, you’ll never really know her.” Tess mimicked a conversation between Max and Liz, “hey Liz, guess what? I’m an alien” “Wow, Max, that’s great, I’m human. Let’s get it on!”

Liz heard the door slam shut and the remaining three voices continued conversing.

“Why does she have to be like that?” Max sadly asked Micheal and Isabel, not really looking for an actual answer. Good thing too, because he didn’t get one.

“She’s right though, Max. You can’t get close to Liz, it’s too dangerous. Little Miss Scientist will want her answers, but you can’t give them to her.” Isabel reminded. She knew her brother had had a crush on the Parker girl since third grade, and she felt bad that he couldn’t express those emotions, but it was for the good of the group, and that eased her guilt.

“Don’t you think I know that, Isabel? I remind myself everyday.”

Liz heard multiple feet shuffling and the door close again and she let out a breath of relief. She had to write down everything she’d just heard or she might forget something. She opened her bookbag and rummaged through it to find her notebook which would have to substitute for her journal at the moment. As she stood up and placed her notebook on Mr. Porter’s desk, she gasped as she realized she wasn’t alone. Max Evans stood on the other side of the teacher’s desk. He had obviously heard her open her bookbag and came to inspect.

“Liz?”

[Crusty Nut]

Dedicated to Dreamerlaure! It's short, but it's SOMEthing.

Part Eight

“Liz?”

All the blood drained from her face and her eyes widened in surprise. Her heart was thumping like a drum being pounded in some ceremonial offering to the Gods and her mouth fell open. Her nails dug into the notebook in her hand and she prayed he couldn’t feel the earthshattering pounding of her heart that threatened to knock her off her feet. Say something, Liz she thought to herself.

“I didn’t hear anything.” Damn it. She cursed inwardly. Obviously she had heard their entire conversation, and she knew Max knew that, otherwise why would she have been hiding and why was she shaking? And why did Max have a petrified look haunting his handsome features? Handsome alien features, that is.

“I was just going to eat my lunch here and study, but you know, I just remembered I promised Maria I’d sit with her today, so I’d better…” she said as she made a motion to the door. Collecting her belongings and leaving her lunch behind, she tried her hardest to make a run for it without being obvious. She pulled the door open, and just as light entered through the crack, it was just as quickly shut back out; Max was not going to let her leave, that much was clear.

“Liz, what were you doing hiding under the desk?”

“I dropped my pencil?” she answered lamely. She could have sworn she’d heard a tremble in his voice. A thick silence filled the air as both Max and Liz searched each other’s faces for answers to questions they were both afraid to ask. The silence was apparently too much to take because Max suddenly moved around the classroom locking the doors, making sure the windows were closed and shutting the blinds again. He reclaimed his place in front of her and stood there. She was becoming increasingly nervous now with all the exits shut tight. Although Liz knew Max to be a shy guy, she had never seen him look so unsure of himself, especially with the way he seemed to command his group of people, she was surprised to find him so docile in her presence. He stood in front of her shifting his weight from foot to foot and running his hands through his hair. She knew he was strategically forming what to say, and as she hardly wanted to analyze the conversation between the foursome, she decided to wait there dumbly and hope that he would answer her questions before she could even begin to formulate them in her head. For instance, “are you an alien?” Not only could she not bring herself to say the words aloud, more importantly she was afraid. It was a fear that had been squeezing her heart and increasing the beats since Tess had mimicked the fake conversation between Max and Liz. She had finally admitted her attraction to Max, and now she was afraid of the answer she would get if she asked her question. So she remained quiet and unmoving, hoping he would take her demeanor as calm instead of terrified.

Max was quite the opposite. He couldn’t stop moving. He was pacing, scratching his chin, running his hands through his hair, looking up, looking down, he was obviously distressed and it was no wonder. Whether or not he was an alien or a psychopath, one of his secrets was out. Liz almost sympathized, almost. Max and his group had practically followed her in the room when all she wanted to do was stay away from them. All she wanted was a peaceful lunch without drama, and this is what she got. She saw resolve forming in his face as he slowed down his actions. Finally, he came to a stop in front of her, a mere six inches away, so close she could feel his breath on her. Well, this isn’t quite how I imagined this moment she thought sarcastically. Her breathing became erratic as something much different than fear began to increase her heart rate. Max just stood there, staring into her eyes. She felt so exposed, but did nothing to stop it. She had no certainty as to where this was headed, but she had fantasized too long about this to stop it herself. Then his hands were on her face caressing her cheeks and then cupping her head.

Without warning, the doorknob to the room jiggled gently, and then firmly. Max’s hands flew back as if they had been burned and he practically jumped three feet back. They both looked at each other anxiously. Who was at the door? Was it a teacher? Would they be in trouble? Liz ran to grab her stuff which she’d put back on Mr. Porter’s desk. As she walked to the door, she gave Max and pointed look as if saying, “I’m out of here” and opened the door, only to reveal a confused and always agitated Micheal Guerin. There was no way that two against one was a good idea and that was her last thought as she nearly knocked Micheal down on her way out, leaving behind two very uneasy aliens.

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Liz didn’t even bother going to the rest of her classes. She knew Max would be everywhere, so she decided to avoid him physically at least. As she began the moderately long walk home, she began sorting things out in her head, but in the end, she was unwilling to accept the only two logical conclusions; they were all crazy, or they were all aliens (the latter of which would probably mean she was crazy as well). Out of thin air, just as is Maria-fashion, Maria appeared behind Liz practically wheezing and almost fainting. Liz’s only regret was that she didn’t have a water bottle to hose her down. Instead, she looked on with one eyebrow raised, her arms crossed, and left foot tapping in disappointment.

“Elizabeth Claudia Parker, I know you don’t think that foot tapping thing is going to work this time. I saw you shove Micheal to the floor.” As Liz’s jaw dropped, she continued, “alright, alright. But I wish he had fallen. It certainly would have made my day.” Maria’s suspicions were heightened at the silence that followed. Liz didn’t laugh at her comment. Liz always laughed. “Liz, what’s wrooAHH!” she squeeled as Liz yanked her into a nearby bush and proceeded to shush her. The bewilderment cloud rained heavily over Maria and it showed as her eyebrows furrowed. Before she could squeal again or yell at Liz until her face turned blue, Liz slapped a hand over Maria’s mouth and pointed at a Jeep going by containing Max Evans, Micheal Guerin, Isabel Evans, and Tess Harding. She looked straight at Maria as she said, in a perturbed yet definitive manner, “they’re aliens!”

[Crusty Nut]

Part Nine

Liz turned the faucet to the cold water on in the bathroom and splashed her face several times, but no matter how cold the water or how many times it shocked her skin, there was no going back to the reality she’d lived in only hours before. She heard Maria through the door talking to herself, asking how this was possible and then telling herself it wasn’t. It was all the same things Liz had told herself. She opened the door to find a distraught Maria sitting on the end of Liz’s bed with her head in her hands. Liz dreaded the questions Maria was going to drill her with, but knew if the circumstances were reversed, she would have been more demanding than Maria had been thus far.

After Liz had pulled her into the bush to hide from the green-gilled aliens, Maria sneezed out a “what?!” so loudly that Liz was sure the foursome had heard her friend over the motor of the jeep and the distance already between them. They hadn’t stopped though, but Liz’s heart nearly did. She already regretted the conditions surrounding the situation, how she’d spit it out like that to her friend, and the lack of concrete evidence, but she knew deep down in her stomach what the truth was. Aliens did exist. Liz told Maria she’d tell her everything when they were alone in her house. There they were, alone and in Liz’s house and the pressure of Maria’s silent questions were beginning to suffocate her.

This wasn’t the reaction Liz had expected, although to be fair, she hadn’t really thought about telling Maria yet because what she knew in her stomach, she didn’t know in her head yet. If she had thought about it however, she predicted hysterics and dramatics enough to satisfy any playgoer. That’s why the silence irked her; Maria was being way too calm about this. And then she spoke.

“Liz, are you okay?” A question Liz was not expecting at all. On a closer inspection, Maria didn’t look frightened or confused, she just looked concerned and that meant one thing.

“Maria, I’m not crazy.” With no response, she continued. “I know that’s what a crazy person would say, but just trust me. It has been so hard for me to keep this to myself, you don’t even understand.”

“Liz, there’s no such thing as aliens. I mean, come on, we both know it’s just a corporate marketing scheme. Even your parents have gotten in on it.”

“Look, I know this is hard to believe, it took me weeks to put it all together and then days to convince myself of what I know that I know.”

“And what do you know?”

Maria listened intently as Liz regaled her with the story of Anna Garnet and how she should have died, how she saw Max’s hand glowing and the silver handprint on Anna, how Anna knew Liz’s full name and Max’s cheek cells weren’t human, and reminded her how at the hospital she pointed to Max in the yearbook as the angel that healed her. Maria just kept nodding. But when Liz told her about the interrupted lunch and the conversation Liz had overheard, she didn’t know what to think. Liz was the most levelheaded person she knew. It seemed more likely for Maria to be telling Liz this story, and to have it the other way around was disconcerting, but as she watched Liz, she knew she was telling her the truth and that she believed every word she was saying.

“You don’t believe me, do you?” she asked.

“I’ll believe that you believe, but until I see it for myself…I don’t believe in aliens.”

“Neither did I.”

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The four aliens arrived at the pod chamber and a myriad of emotions were present; helplessness, surrender, anger, elation, fear. Michael waved his hand over the cave entrance and a silver handprint appeared. He put his hand on it and the rock rolled to the side and let the four in. Just as the last of them entered, Micheal exploded.

“How could you let this happen, Maxwell?!”

“Let this happen? Hey you were there as much as I was, how was I supposed to know she was under the desk? Besides none of this would have happened if Tess hadn’t played mind games with her” Max accused righteously.

“No, Max. None of this would have happened if you hadn’t been so careless and healed that girl.” Tess spat back and Isabel intervened.

“Everyone just shut up! Arguing and pointing fingers won’t get us anywhere. We just have to calm down and figure this out.” Everyone’s breathing began to get back to normal and Isabel took that as her cue to start doing damage control. “Okay. So how much exactly did Liz hear?”

Max shrugged his shoulders and dropped his chin to his chest. “I’m not sure, but I’d say it’s a safe to assume that she heard every word.”

“You didn’t talk to her? Micheal said you guys were alone.”

“She said she didn’t hear anything, but she was just scared. Not much was said after that. Listen, I know we said we’d never let anyone in but…”

“But what, Maxwell? You said so yourself, she was scared. A couple of hours ago she wanted in your pants. What do you think made her have a sudden change of heart?” Micheal paused to let it sink in. “Do you really think your little girlfriend will just come around and want to hold your hand once she finds out you’re all green and slimy?”

“Save the dramatics, Micheal. The point is we don‘t let anyone in. We never have and I don’t intend for that to change. You may think you know Liz, but you don’t. We all know that I can fix this and the problem will be over in five minutes.” Tess’ blonde curls seemed to bounce a little more than usual at her proposition.

“No! Absolutely not. I won’t have you going into Liz’s head like that.” Max exclaimed with a note of pleading in his voice because he knew, no matter whether he was the king on some distant planet, on Earth, with Micheal, Tess, and Isabel, it was a democracy. He surveyed the three people around him. Tess was obviously the voice or unreason and Micheal would likely follow just to save his ass. Isabel was the swing vote, so he turned his energy to persuading her. “Isabel, help me out here.”

“I don’t know, Max. I know you want to trust her, but we’ve never told anyone, not even mom and dad.” This was an argument the two of them had had since day one. Isabel had always desperately wanted their parents to know, but because of the pact, Max insisted it couldn’t be.

“But Liz already knows! Look, I know she was scared, but if we could just explain it to her…I feel something different about her, like she’s okay. And because it’s not just about that; mindwarping effects the human brain and I won’t stand by and let someone I care about be hurt.” The other three aliens could feel Max’s resolve, but that didn’t change the fact that they were in a seriously dangerous situation. They had never been on the verge of being discovered until that moment and the three of them knew what had to be done, but only one reveled in telling Max.

Tess walked up to Max and stroke his cheek with the back of her index finger as she said, “it’s already done, Max, you just don’t know it yet” and left. He looked desperately at the faces of Micheal and Isabel as they both bowed their heads in shame. Isabel at least muttered an almost silent, “I’m sorry,” as she followed both Micheal and Tess out of the pod chamber.

The emotions surging through Max escaped him in an instant of pure rage as he turned to Tess’ pod chamber and let loose the avalanching ball of energy. It crashed through Tess’ pod in an instant and annihilated ever last piece of podskin that was left. Ever since they’d found out their destinies, Tess had been trying to control him and his life. At first he’d let it slide because she seemed to know a lot more about the four of them then they did, but lately she had begun acting like she owned him. But what she was about to do to Liz was unforgivable and he vowed to find a way to make it right, at least for Liz.

[Crusty Nut]

Enjoy!

Part Ten

Max drove to the Crashdown the next day with the knowledge that Tess had done what she’d promised, and that meant that he had to go back to being invisible. Not that he had been completely visible even when Liz knew…whatever it was that she knew, but having been so close to telling her, the distance between them now seemed more palpably distant.

The bell above the door of the Crashdown jingled as Max made his way over to his regular booth. Liz hadn’t seen him yet, and although he knew she would smile at him and make simple conversation, it tore at him that just days ago their faces were so close together that their breaths coalesced into one. He regretted not having made that connection before Micheal’s knocks at the door interrupted them. If he had just let her see him, really see him, there would be no question about letting her in. Sure he would have had to have dealt with the other three’s antics, but he had to go through that anyway.

As Liz delivered an old couple’s early bird special, she nearly tripped on herself as she saw Max. She stared right at him, making direct eye contact, and there was a look on her face he couldn’t quite pinpoint. The older woman turned to look at him as understanding dawned on her face and she winked at him. Liz remembered her surroundings and spoke to the couple, probably apologizing for being distracted. Instead of walking over to Max, as he’d expected because after all, he was hungry and she was his waitress, she made a beeline for the break room in the back of the café. A slight panic overtook Max. Liz’s behavior was not what he’d expected and he let his hope envelope his thoughts; maybe Tess hadn’t mind warped Liz yet. Then doubt clouded his mind. Why wouldn’t Tess have done what she had so obviously wanted to do the day before? He imagined Tess had been positively joyful when Micheal and Isabel had agreed with her.

Moments later, Agnes emerged from behind the door and made her way over to Max’s booth and looked at him expectantly.

“I assume you’re here for something other than the plush seating.” She said after Max continued to stare at her dumbly. Flipping over her order pad, she showed him the empty piece of paper.

“Oh, um right. Can I have a cherry coke please?” His request was met with the white of Agnes’ eyes, as the brown rolled theatrically. She walked away muttering something about her time being wasted by a customer who could get what he wanted from a vending machine and how her tip wouldn’t even be enough for her to get herself a soda. Following Agnes over to the soda machine, he saw something rush away from the window in the door to the break room and he knew without a doubt it was Liz.

Normally, he would take out his cell phone and dial Micheal’s number, or Isabel’s, but they hadn’t been much help lately and he figured he’d tackle this problem all on his own. He did have to make one call, however. Fingers unwillingly dialed the number to the one person he desperately did not want to talk to.

“Hey Max.” said the ridiculously sugary sweet voice on the other end.

“Tess, I just need to know if you did what we talked about yesterday.”

“Listen, Max. I know you didn’t want me to have to do it, and I really appreciate..”

“Please, don’t appreciate anything. Just tell me if you did it.” He bit back at her. If she thought he approved of her treatment of Liz, she was way off. If he hadn’t needed to know the answer to his question, it would be a long time before he ever spoke to Tess.

“Of course I did. Hey, if it weren’t for me actually standing up and saying something, we could be in the hands of our enemies by now. How would you feel if Micheal or Isabel or I were stuck in some white room with a scalpel at our necks because you put your trust in the wrong people?”

“I’m beginning to think I have put my trust in the wrong people, Tess.” He replied and swiftly hit the end button on his phone.

So now it was confirmed by Tess herself that she had mind warped Liz. Then why was Liz avoiding him? Before any of this had happened, they weren’t quite friends, but she never had any reason to avoid him. In fact, because they had been paired in science the past two years, she was downwright gregarious. If it weren’t for the barrier Max kept between himself and anyone that wasn’t in his little green bubble of friends, he was sure he and Liz would have been great friends and of course, he had always hoped for a little more.

After Agnes brought him his soda, she pulled a cigarette out of her apron and lit it right in front of his table. At Max’s questioning look she rolled her eyes again and went outside to smoke and take one of her many breaks. He figured, out of every hour she was on the clock, only ten of those minutes were spent doing actual work.

Making sure Agnes wasn’t looking, he got up to go in the break room. Granted, the Max that Liz knew before anything happened would never have been so bold, but he figured he’d just ask Liz about the biology homework as an alibi. He slowly pushed the door open and stuck his head through first before making his way into the room. At first he assumed that Liz had gone home, which was a mere flight of stairs away, but then there she was, crumpled in the corner, her brown hair cascading over her shoulders, hiding her face. She looked up at him and the only word he could use to describe how she was looking at him was lost. In the end, his concern took over and he walked over to her and kneeled down. Liz shrunk and turned her head away from him. Offended, he stood back up and took a few steps back.

“Liz, are you okay?” he asked genuinely worried. She lifted her head, still not looking at him, and furrowed her eyebrows in uncertainty.

“I don’t know.” And with that she stood up and walked upstairs and the sound of the door shutting was the last thing he heard.

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She stared upward not really seeing the stars but looking at them anyway. The sound of her parent’s television wafted through her room and out to the balcony; faint, but distinctly there. Though she could see and hear, nothing registered but a thick fog of memory. She could think of nothing but the last few entries in her journal which she currently had face down on her lap. Rereading them didn’t make a difference anymore; on command, she could recall her handwriting and the deeply conspiratorial content she had been writing about for the last couple weeks.

It’s September 22nd and it has been almost a week since I saw Max’s hand glow above Anna Garnet and I cannot help the constant flow of questions bombarding me every minute. Is Max an angel? Is what Anna said true? I may believe in God, but that is only in a distant sense. Then again, is it so farfetched to believe that God really is omnipresent and can materialize as…some random teenage boy? This makes no sense! And I have no idea how to go about finding this out.

She flipped her journal to a few pages later, and just a week later. This is the entry that she had been obsessing about since early on that day.

Dear Journal,
Maria just left and I told her the most devastating news of both of our live’s: aliens exist. I know that if you were a person you would scoff at me like she did, like I did myself. But if you were real, you would know that I would never say something like that with such certainty and calm without knowing it to be an absolute fact. The most amazing thing is that all this time, since Anna’s accident, I have been hunting the truth about Max Evans, but after the conversation I overheard this afternoon, I know the truth extends far beyond one boy. Max and Isabel Evans, Tess Harding, and Micheal Guerin are all aliens, and only God knows how many more. Of course, with this newfound knowledge, it’s only natural that everything I have believed to be true in the past will now come into question. Does God exist, for instance.

It was now nine thirty in the evening and Liz had had plenty of time to process and fixate on her problem. After she had showered and gotten ready for work earlier that morning, she had walked over to her desk to write a short entry in her journal about her dark-haired lab partner who she wondered absentmindedly whether or not he would come in to eat today. She knew it was perhaps immature and downright girly to wonder that at all, and even worse to write it down, but she took comfort in the fact that at least she didn’t say it out loud like most gushing girls her age, Maria not being an exception.

She pulled the ribbon out halfway and used it to open her journal. Biting the end of her pen, she pulled her legs up to her chest as she let her mind wander a bit while thinking about her subject. Then she noticed it, her last entry wasn’t where she remembered it to be. Her journal didn’t have pages, but she noticed that her most recent entry ended at a spot she didn’t recall. She turned a page back to reread the entry, and immediately her mouth dropped open at what she read. Her eyebrows scrunched and now, at nine thirty they had not unscrunched.

After reading that entry, she went back another entry, and another until she could trace back two weeks worth of entries about the same subject she had gone to write about that morning, but under completely different pretenses. What blew her mind, aside from the obvious, was that these entries were written in her handwriting, in her syntax and diction; there was absolutely nothing in any of these entries that would suggest someone else wrote them. So one question remained: why couldn’t she remember any of the incidents drawn out, or writing the entries themselves? She found that she had only one viable option in this situation and only one person she could trust: Maria. She had already waited long enough to pick up the phone; it was time to find out if any of what was written in her journal was true, and the first thing to find out was whether she had actually had that conversation with Maria.