Roswell Fanatics

Title: I’m a Little Bit Rock N’ Roll

Disclaimer: I don’t own any of the characters or the idea of Roswell itself.

Pairings: Max/Liz, Other Conventional Couples

Category: Alternate Universe Without Aliens

Rating: Mature (Might be adult later on.)

Summary: Liz and Michael are used to the finer things in life and have done things that the Roswell gang can only dream about. They also have dealt with bigger problems that aren’t even issues to the small town group. The Roswellians love the new additions to the clique, but problems will arise when the words collide.

Prologue

Not one tear slid down her bruised, scraped up face as her dad’s dead body was lowered into the ground. Her brother’s hands tightened around her fingers and she felt her friends hand grip her shoulder almost painfully. There were dozens of flash bulbs going off, a video camera set up in front of her as she fought desperately for the control she relied so desperately upon. She wasn’t going to loose it.

Part One: Mother Dearest

“Liz, you need to eat, you’ve been losing too much weight,” an elegant looking mother told her daughter as she picked at salad. “Your face looks tired and dull.”

“Sorry for being tired,” Elizabeth Parker said.

On the outside her mother looked beautiful. Her diamond earrings shone under the chandelier in the formal dining room, her hair was perfectly coifed and her personal trainer-made body was wrapped in only the finest apparel. On the inside… Well Liz wouldn’t know. To her, her mother was like the Barbie Dolls she wasn’t allowed to play with when she was young, cold hard plastic with no beating heart.

“You need to stay hydrated. It livens up the skin.”

“I’ll hook up an IV of Evian stat,” she replied sarcastically.

“Well… Michael, honey, you shouldn’t wear so much black, it makes you look depressed.”

“Just a t-shirt Mom,” he returned.

It was quiet enough to hear the wind ruffle the leaves in the large oak tree outside. The sprinkler system in the house next to them turned on and a car revved their engine on their street. Michael and Liz kept their eyes down cast the entire time, concentrating on everything else but their mother who looked so perfect but was so amiss. The soft sounds of Josh Groban coming from the speakers around the living room and dining room did little to nothing to calm their nerves.

“Well that may be, but you should really try wearing some different colors. Blue would really make all the difference in the world. You wouldn’t look so sullen.”

Liz thought for a second that maybe she heard the soft strumming of a banjo play and crickets calling out to each other across the room. Her brother couldn’t help but feel like they were in a stand off like in the old Western movies. A tumbleweed blew past the salad dressing and the infamous Parker siblings were pitted against the evil Nancy Parker, the crooked Sheriff in town.

“I like black, and I think that Liz looks great as always,” her brother defended himself and his little sister half heartedly.

“Wow, you guys must be excited! First day at a new school tomorrow! You get to meet new people, and get to start all over…” Nancy Parker’s voice trailed off when she realized that neither one of her kids were listening to her. “Look, I know you guys hated moving here but you could make the most out of a bad situation, now can’t you?” she said changing her tactics.

“This is a little more than a bad situation,” Michael muttered under his breath.

“Well you’re here now, so deal with it,” their mom said angrily. Her fork hit the china loudly interrupting the calm exterior of dinner.

Liz sighed and pushed her half eaten meal away from her. She hated rack of lamb anyway.

“Liz,” Michael warned knowing that his little sister had had enough. She brushed him off with a side long glance and stared at her Mom with a calm face before speaking. It was something Michael always admired about his little sister. She could be screaming on the inside but to everyone else she looked like everything was okay. Indifference was the only way to survive in their family.

“Mom… I love you… Really, I do,” she started without a tremor in her voice. Most girls couldn’t talk to their mothers the way she could. But most kids don’t try to raise their parents as better people.

“I love you too,” Nancy replied, her voice devoid of emotion.

“Not the point really… I’m glad that you have Aunt Ellen and Uncle Charles here to help you through Dad’s death. I’m even happy that you can start nursing again at the hospital and hell, the two of us have even agreed to volunteer there.”

“I know you did and that’s very nice of both of you,” Nancy said smiling brittle-y. “And thank you, I’m glad I can start working here too.”

“I wasn’t done Mom. I need you to realize that it wasn’t just your husband that died, it was our dad too… and you just ripped us away from everything we knew and loved. And it isn’t like we had the easiest year to begin with. So don’t give us a lecture because we can’t jump on the bandwagon, okay?”

Michael cleared his throat several moments later. He grabbed one of the oversized ceramic jugs out on the table and poured himself some more juice.

“I know it was your father who died. And I know that you—”

“I hate to say it like this but you don’t know. You don’t know anything about my relationship with my father. You don’t know anything about me or about Michael. You don’t know because you never wanted to,” she said simply, “Your narcissistic grieving period is warranted, but it sucks for your children. Don’t make us feel bad because we can’t paste on smiley faces—”

“—Liz—” Michael tried to interrupt. He sighed and resolved to just watch the show when she sent him a scathing look. One that clearly read, “Shut up and let me talk!”

“— just to pacify you and assure you that we’re okay, when we’re going through all the pain that you are too. It’s not fair, and it’s not going to happen,” Liz concluded, her voice quickening the angrier she got. She tucked a jet black strand of hair behind her ear and stared at her mother who was busy looking at everything but her eyes.

“I’m sorry for being a bad mother I guess,” she bit out.

“That’s not what she was saying and you know it,” Michael shot out. “Your guilt trips aren’t going to work on this one.”

“Just… do us all a huge favor and give Michael and I some breathing room, okay? Besides, it’s not like you cared in California, why would you care here?” she asked flippantly.

“What the hell does that mean? I’m your mother, of course I cared,” Nancy said, here eyes widening.

“Please, you cared about page 6 and all of your other snotty friends. You wanted us to be the Kennedy’s of the corporate world and since you realized your kids didn’t fit, you brushed us aside,” letting of some steam Michael said, “and you could pretend otherwise because Dad was there. But not that he’s gone you just have to deal with the fact that you don’t have Stepford children. That must suck for you.”

Page 6 was the society pages that always had pictures of them and their friends on it. They kept up appearances even when everything was falling apart behind closed doors no matter what. It was what their mom lived for and Liz and Michael would suffer through for their dad’s sake… But now, things were different.

“That’s not true I-”

“I can’t remember a time you asked me if school went okay or how my competitions went or even how I was doing, Michael either,” Liz said standing up and tossing her white linen napkin on the table.

“That’s not true!” Nancy repeated like a petulant child.

“I can give you a long list of examples when all I wanted was a kind word from you but what’s the point? I can sympathize with you enough to realize that with Dad’s death you want to regain your lost maternal instinct, try to be June Cleaver and all that… But if you’re serious about becoming a real mom then it’s going to take time too.”

“I’m sorry that you feel that way. But I have always cared about you two… Even if you haven’t been able to see it,” Nancy said taking another bite of food, never loosing composure.

“You cared what we were wearing, what we were telling our friends about the company,” Michael retorted, “you cared about the businesses and our family’s reputation. You never game a damn about either of us.”

“And even if you feel like you did, we feel like you didn’t,” the tiny brunette said with a defeated sigh.

Michael cleared his throat after a couple moments of silence. Liz was still standing, shaking and clenching and unclenching her fists tightly. She was about to freak out and he had to get her the hell out of there.

“Well… I’m going to go unpack the rest of my room, Mom, thanks for dinner, it was great,” he said sarcastically standing up.

“I’m done eating too. See you in the morning Mom,” Liz said walking toward the stairs quickly, Michael hot on her black high heels.

“I’m going to go over to Ellen’s after I get everything cleaned up, do you guys want to come with me? You haven’t seen your cousin Alex in a long time!” she called after them cheerily.

“Fuckin’ unbelievable. Like that entire thing didn’t really happen,” Liz whispered incredulously.

“We already called him and told him we’d see him tomorrow for breakfast before school. Have fun at Aunt Ellen’s,” Michael said hurrying Liz up the plush carpeted stairs.

“You okay?” he asked gently as soon as they got upstairs into the hallway.

“No,” she said, her voice choked with tears.

He didn’t try to rub her arm because he knew his hand would be slapped away. He didn’t try to hug her because she’d probably push him down the stairs. He didn’t say that everything would be okay because she’d cuss him out. So he was just there. Because no matter how bad it was, if the chips were down and it looked hopeless, Michael would always be there for Liz.

“You have your room set up yet?” he asked.

“Yeah, I was doing that while you slept through lunch,” she teased even though she still sounded like she was about ready to cry. “Just some cloths and things to unpack.”

“Let’s hang out in yours then. I barely got my CDs unpacked,” he said opening her door. They were closer than most brothers and sisters. They hadn’t had a real fight in years and they were tied together by whatever pain the other had.

The death of their father had been hard on both of them, especially because it left them defenseless against their mother. Liz and their dad had been driving back from San Diego after one of her surf competitions at night when a drunk driver had hit them. Liz had suffered some major injuries, but after a couple weeks in the hospital and over three hundred stitches she was okay. She hadn’t even talked to Michael about that night but when the paramedics came Liz was holding onto her dead father. It took her a week to speak, Michael had never been so scared in his life.

“You want to watch a movie?” Michael asked as they entered her spacious bedroom.

It would have been the master bedroom if their home wasn’t remodeled before they moved in. There was a door cut into the wall at the other side of Liz’s bathroom to give Michael access and the balcony that once stretched the length of Michael’s room was remodeled to give Liz benefit too. The wall was knocked down between two bedrooms to make a small apartment sized bedroom for their mother down stairs. It was one of the biggest homes in Roswell to begin with, but their Mom had to be the best.

“Yeah, let’s see if we can get an accurate body count on Braveheart,” Liz said popping in the DVD and going to her desk while the previews played. She produced a frosted white bong and then carefully packed a bowl of chronic.

“If there were any doubts that you were my sister,” Michael laughed as she broke up the sticky plant.

“I cannot deal with our mother unless I’m blowed,” she told him simply. A grin spread across his face as his little sister took a big hit and handed it to him. She could out smoke pretty much every guy he knew. And that was saying something.

Living in Santa Monica, summering in Honolulu and having Manhatten brown stone definitely exposed them to a lot of things.Their mother didn't care what time they got home and their dad was always too busy with the company to notice. It seemed like every socialite with a chip on their shoulder did it, so soon enough Michael and Liz started partying too. As far as chips go, they had the biggest.

They were drinking at bonfires before they got into high school and doing hard-core drugs by their sophomore year in clubs in New York City. Compared to most of their friends they were pretty tame, but they knew compared to the small town purity in Roswell they were going to be big news. Everyone loved a scandal.

“Man I missed this when I was in training,” she laughed letting out her smoke in tiny little Os. “For high school sports, we can probably do alright as long as we only smoke three or four times a week,” she said getting ready to take another hit. “As long as we get 24 hours notice before a drug test, we’ll be fine.”

“And as for the other stuff, we really got to keep that down to weekend use till we get situated. And we should keep this under wraps,” Michael added thinking about the drugs in his room and somewhere hidden in hers. “We don’t know what kind of friends we’re going to make here, and we don’t want to freak them out.”

“That’s true,” Liz said seriously, her eyelids heavy already. She took another hit and let out the smoke slowly watching it rise into the air.

“Feeling better?” Michael asked when the white cloud had finally dissipitated.

“Sure am,” she said coughing a couple times. She took out her water bottle and took a long swig before she handed it over to Michael.

“Hey, open the window, if Mom smells this she’s going to go nuclear,” Michael told her. Liz went to her large bay window and let out all the smoke and took a big breath of clean air. She sat down on the bench her window made and looked outside.

“I can’t believe we live here,” she sighed. “No ocean, no friends, no shopping malls…”

“No bonfires, no Jacob and Smitty, no Shack,” Michael continued. “Maybe we’ll get lucky and get abducted by aliens or something.”

Michael pressed play on the remote and Liz went into the bathroom to change into her pajamas. He heard the soft sound of her laughing behind the door and knew that she must be stoned. She came into the room looking chagrin in a wife beater and pink spandex pants.

“You alright?” he asked laughing a little too hard at her. He grabbed his Zippo and lit the bowl again.

“Yeah, why?” she asked taking the last hit of the bowl. He ashed it out in her trashcan and handed it back to her. She put it back in her hiding spot and then grabbed two pipes out of her drawer and packed each bowl. She handed him his gently and then took out a thick leather bound journal.

Every so often one of them would take a hit or exchange a couple words with one another. Most of the evening was spend with her scribbling away in her journal and him enthralled in the movie. Comfortable silence. Even when the entire world was changing and going crazy they always had each other.

That was enough.

It had to be.

Part 2: The Little Things

Details matter.

Maybe to the normal world it’s okay if a strand of hair is out of place or if a nail is chipped. But to Liz’s world, the details were what you relied upon. It’s what was pointed out first. The grand picture, that was easy to ignore. But the little things, they mattered.

And that was exactly what was so stressful about her morning.

It started out like normal, a three mile run in the morning with her German Shepherd guard dog Atticus. She checked her myspace and her e-mail, read the LA and New York Times and then swooned over the French copy of Vogue. She woke up Michael because he’d never been a fan of the alarm clock and made coffee for the both of them. They watched The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy before they both forced themselves to get around.

Identical to the mornings in California. Except it was warmer so she didn’t have to wear her sweat shirt, she had to wear ankle weights to get the same work out as running on the beach, her dog Atticus had to mark his territory everywhere, she didn’t buy the papers on the stand in front of her favorite coffee shop and usually their dad watched cartoons and drank his morning coffee with her.

And now she found herself sitting in front of her mirror… thinking about the details.

The details… they really mattered.

Maybe not to her. Maybe not to her late father. Especially not to Michael. But to Nancy Parker… they really mattered.

Liz used gold and brown eye shadows to create a sultry look and added black eye liner and a few individual lashes to the corners of her eyes to make them look bigger. Always having a flare for the dramatic and a love of all things Mac she used a teal colored liner to make her eyes pop by carefully lining her eyes in points at the edge of her eye. The Cleopatra eye liner could work if you worked it right. No matter how mainstream her Mom tried to make her she still leaked out rebellion.

She stared at her face and contemplated the tiny white gold hoops on the right side of her bottom lip. When she and Michael had gone to New York the last time she’d come back pierced. Her Mom hated them more than anything until her picture had landed into a magazine calling her the “Trendsetter of Today.” After that her Mom let her decide what to wear with less argument.

“Who the fuck cares?” she wondered aloud deciding to leave them in. “I don’t care what people think ‘bout me here.”

She spritzed her hair with hair spray, it was still in her huge rollers so that her hair would fall in big curls when she finally took them out. After that she put on some blusher and added a few coats of nude lip gloss.

Now for cloths, she went into her huge walk in closet to pick out her outfit. She had nearly everything that Volcom and Roxy came out with but she had really high end retail stuff from her Mom, designer stuff she found herself and a lot of cloths she found in out of the way boutiques. As she dug into the racks she had of cloths she got out a few outfit ideas.

It was her first day and she wanted to make sure she looked good but she didn’t want to look like she was trying to hard either. Even Liz Parker got to be a little shy every once in awhile. She ended up wearing a pair of skinny jeans, stacked platform heels, a white sun dress and a red cardigan.

“You almost ready?” Michael asked walking into her bedroom.

“Yeah, just one second,” she said grabbing some setting spray. She grabbed her blow dryer made sure that it was dry before she started unclipping it. She grabbed a red head band and slipped it in the middle and fluffed the rest of it up. The bigger her hair was, the better in her opinion.

“Mom said she wanted you to wear a skirt today,” Michael reminded.

“She also got a surfer when she wanted a ballerina,” she told him wiping a nonexhistant piece of lint off his shirt.

“You nervous?” her brother asked with a lopsided smile.

“Yeah, a little bit, but I guess it’s okay, I mean, we survived in Santa Monica Academy, we can make it here,” she said. “At least these kids don’t all dive BMWs and Porches.”

“Yeah… I know we said we were going to keep our habits to the weekend… But we didn’t really get the chance to because of the move so I think that we deserve a little ski trip. If you’re down of course,” he added.

“Oh thank God,” Liz grinned closing her bedroom door and locking it. She unlocked her bottom desk drawer and took out a black box with a small combination lock on the front.

“Just for courage,” Michael grinned as she took out a glass vial and razor. She
quickly chopped up the cocaine and put it into four thick lines on her desk top and handed him one of the tiny metal straws that sat in the box.

“For fun, not for courage” she said rolling her eyes. They each did their lines and breathed in deeply for a second.

“Oh shit, that stuff is strong,” Liz grinned at the mirror. Her pupils were absolutely huge, but she kind of liked the way it made her look.

“When do we have to leave for the Crashdown?” he asked, his voice a little strained already.

“Not for another fifteen or twenty, why?”

Michael just gave a little half laugh and then cut them up two lines a piece more, even fatter than the ones before.

“I’m gonna be way too yakked out if we do that,” Liz said.

“Duh, get your pipe, we’ll smoke that’ll take the edge off,” he said.

Liz sighed and spun around to her drawer again and grabbed a large tupper wear full of purple haze. She carefully broke down the weed and packed a couple bowls, one for her and one for him just like the night before.

“You uh… You want to make a day of it or am I taking it too far?”

“Naw, not at all,” Michael said giving her his key chain. It was hard to stop after that first line. She unscrewed the top to a silver tube and funneled some crushed up powder into it carefully. They could give themselves bumps all night off the file at the end. When they saw Cruel Intentions Liz and Michael went on a search for their own little hide-in-plain-sight drug holders. She grabbed her own keys and did the same as Michael blew out a white cloud of smoke from the weed.

Liz then took the rest in the vial and divided it into two little baggies. She put hers in a change purse along with a razor and Michael put his in his wallet. They’d want to do lines at some point in the day again and it wasn’t like they could take a coke trip home.

“Do you think it’s bad that only took like ten minutes to do completely?” she asked and took another deep breath.

“Or it just means that you have quick hands,” Michael soothed. “We’re not strung out, we’re just recreational. Don’t worry.”

Liz was especially cautious. She’d seen many of their friends lives ruined because of cocaine and she didn’t want to get strung out on any drug to begin with. Michael was always more willing, more adventurous with his drugs, and if he jumped, she jumped.

She was still handling everything in stride. But it still made her nervous sometimes.

“Right… right,” she said as she placed everything back into the black box and locked it up again. She grabbed her pink Zippo lighter and smoked her bowl as she gathered up her school bag and purse.

“You ready?”

“Yeah, let’s get goin,’” he said. Liz slid on a pair of huge sunglasses and checked her reflection one more time as she released her smoke.

“First day of school, going there fuckin’ coked out and blowed,” Liz said rolling her eyes. “Mom’d be oh so proud if she knew.”

“Mom probably has her own stash so don’t worry about it,” Michael grunted.

Liz giggled and tapped the ash out from both pipes into her garbage can. “You gonna want to smoke later on today?” she asked before she put the pipes away.

“Yeah, you better, just in case this gets too intense,” he said.

Liz grabbed a couple dime bags and handed one to her brother before slipping her own into her purse thinking about her Mom’s reaction if she found out.

Oh well, there was always tomorrow to make her proud.

Part 3: New Faces

“They’re great,” Alex said enthusiastically. “Liz, she’s like the nicest person in the world, and Michael… Well, he’s a great guy once you get to know him,” he said thinking about his less than friendly cousin. “They’re both real cool. Man, I can’t believe they moved here. They love California, Roswell’s gonna be the biggest culture shock ever.”

“Aren’t they supposed to be here now?” Maria asked looking at the clock. Mid sentence they heard the bass of a loud stereo system coming down the street blasting Nirvana’s Teen Spirit.

“Guess that’s them.”

“Damn,” Kyle whistled. A black Hummer Truck pulled up and two people, both looking glamorous jumped out.

“You didn’t tell us that your cousins were stinking rich,” Isabel said, her eyes wide. “Oh my God, your Liz’s outfit alone looks like it cost a thousand dollars,” she said.

“Well, you didn’t ask, and you’re probably right. My aunt doesn’t like Liz wearing anything less than designer,” Alex smirked at his long term girlfriend. “She’s not snobby, don’t worry,” he told his friends knowing what they must be thinking.

“Well at least I know we can talk about cloths,” the blond diva said her eyes still riveted to Liz’s True Religion jeans.

“She really does look California,” Maria said. “Good fashion sense though.”

“She’s freakin’ hot,” Kyle stated mouth practically hanging open. “Damn, is that what all the girls look like in California? ‘Cause I am so down for the move.”

Alex scoffed standing up as they walked into the café. Liz slipped off her thick black Dior sun glasses and slipped them into a sun glass case while Michael took of his aviator glasses by Armani and shoved them into his pocket. There eyes searched the regular diners only to see that they were being stared at by everyone. Blatently.

“Oh Lord, here it goes,” she whispered hearing someone whisper, ‘look at her lip.’ “We need to smoke on the way to school again, I have a release third period, I’ll go back home and pick up a dub… or two,” she told him quietly.

“Good idea,” Michael agreed. “Oh my God, we LIVE here Lizzy…”

She couldn’t be judged and coked out, she needed something to take this edge off. She felt like she was in a fish bowl and everyone was tapping at the glass. And they hadn’t been there for more than a minute.

“There they are,” Michael said jutting his chin towards the large booth full of teenagers.

“ALEX!” Liz squealed putting down her bags and running into Alex’s open arms. He spun her around once and she giggled. “OH MY GOD! You look AMAZING! Where’d my scrawny little cousin go?” she asked pinching his cheeks.

“He’s covered by all my huge, manly muscles,” Alex joked swatting her hand away. “You look great too! What are we wearing today? Armani? Prada?”

“Christian Dior and Versace thank you,” Liz said in a fake snotty voice. “You really do look good though Alex!”

“Thanks, now quit it before I get a big ego. What up man? Good trip here?” he asked Michael as they shook hands.

“Long trip here,” he answered with a half grin.

“I bet. Liz, you really are as gorgeous as ever,” he said twirling her around. “Me and Michael are going to have to beat boys off of you left and right.”

Liz merely scoffed while a light blush covered her cheeks. “Just not used to all the attention I guess.”

“Guys, this is Liz and Michael. Michael, Liz this is Kyle, Max, Isabel, Maria and Tess,” Alex introduced as they three of them slid into the booth.

“Good to meet you,” Liz said smiling at them widely revealing a tiny clear ball where her tongue ring was. “Alex has told me a lot about you guys through e-mails and stuff. And ya know, ya’ll are on his top 8 on myspace so I did my snooping before I got here.” Liz winked and then bent down to grab the bags off the floor.

“Hope it’s all good,” Kyle said flirtaciously.

“Of course,” Liz said with a small eye roll already reading the people around her. She’d already pieced together what roles they played from what she found out from Alex and was trying to read personality through what they were wearing.

“What do you guys want for breakfast?” an older waitress said in an annoyed voice behind them.

“Agnes, always a pleasure,” Alex sighed. “You might want to go back to the entire, ‘Hi, welcome to the Crashdown Café, my name is Agnes, I’ll be your waitress today…’ thing my parents told you about a long time ago.”

“Like I said, what do you want for breakfast?” she asked. She knew the Whitmans weren’t going to fire her. She’d been there for at least a decade.

“Toast--wheat, eggs over easy, and a big glass of orange juice,” Liz said. “And Michael will take the same with coffee and white bread instead,” she added with a polite smile.

“I told you to stop ordering for me,” Michael told her.

“Sorry, go ahead,” Liz said rolling her eyes.

“Well, it’s what I was going to order but I’m not in third grade Liz, I can order my own freakin’ food,” he said grouchily.

“I guess I’m just scared that you’re going to scare the waiters with your sunny disposition,” Liz smiled, her voice laced with sarcasm.

“Better scared than the diabetic coma you put them in,” he shot back.

“What does that mean?”

“’Hi, I’m Liz, I’m just so perky and so happy that everyone in the world adores me!’ Makes me sick,” he teased her yanking on a curl lightly.

“Hey you can insult me all you want, just don’t touch the hair,” she joked. Michael put his hands on either side of her head, hands woven in smooth curls and shook her head effectively tangling it all up.

The Roswell gang was ready for a blow up. The guys would be dead before removing their hands if they tried that with Isabel, Tess or Maria. Max almost felt sorry for the guy.

“Michael!” she laughed smacking him in the shoulder. “I know it’s hard for you to understand and all, but girls do more than brush their teeth and change their underwear to get ready,” she sighed as she ran her curls through her fingers fixing them in record time. Just as she got them to look perfect again he put his hand in her hair and shook them again making them look worse then the first time.

“This is all pay back for when I put peroxide in your shampoo when I was ten huh?” she asked shaking her head at him with a small smile.

Max and Kyle had their mouths agape. No girl they knew would EVER have reacted like that. It was as refreshing as it was surprising.

“I just think that you look freakin’ retarded with curly hair,” Michael told her, shrugging his shoulders casually.

“I love it,” Tess volunteered, not believing the new comers audacity. Even if they were related.

“Thank you,” Liz grinned at her. “You too by the way,” she added.

“So how are you liking Roswell so far?” Isabel asked smoothing out the awkward moment. Though it was obvious that the siblings were used to such banter, the others weren’t. It was going to take a lot to get used to.

“We haven’t really gotten to see a lot of it. Pretty much just our house,” Liz laughed. “Just a lot of unpacking and everything. But uh, it seems like it’s gonna be okay livin’ here. Just… different.”

“Where are you guys from?” Max asked taking not of the small tattoo on Liz’s inner wrist.

“Santa Monica,” Michael answered as Liz’s phone started ringing. She grabbed her huge leather bag and searched for it for a minute. Isabel and Tess were practically drooling.

“If it’s Mom don’t answer,” Michael warned.

“So she can text me all day? No thanks,” Liz muttered.

“Hi Mom… No… I’m here with him now… No, I didn’t wear a dress… Cause I didn’t feel like it… Yes Mom I took the time to do my hair…” she said and slid out the booth quickly. She walked outside quickly, not wanting the others to hear the conversation.

“Your mom seriously cares whether or not Liz did her hair?” Isabel asked with a laugh.

“My mom cares about everything,” Michael grunted.

“So you ready for school?” Alex asked.

“Yeah, I guess. That’s more Liz’s thing than mine, but it shouldn’t be too painful,” Michael said easily. “Just another high school, right?”

“It’s just a lot smaller than the one you’re probably used to. Everyone knows everyone else’s business,” Maria said. “I’m sure everyone knows what you guys look like and you just got here. Picture messaging and all.”

“Thank God I took the time to brush my teeth this morning,” Michael said sarcastically. “Tell Mom you’re being impolite and your foods getting cold,” he all but yelled as Liz made her way back to the booth. He wanted his mom to hear, maybe she’d throw Liz a bone-for once.

“Okay bye—Yes Mom I will… No! … Because I like soccer! … I got to go bye--- NO I really gotta go, bye Mom,” Liz said walking back up to them. “No we took the suv … ‘Cause we both have practice after school and out stuff wouldn’t fit in my car… Mom, we’re not going to have this conversation over the phone. I’ll be home tonight around five if you want to talk then, bye, love you,” she said snapping her phone closed. She was gritting her teeth and a tiny vein in her forehead was throbbing.

“Mom’s just… a little high strung since the move,” she said weakly as plates of food were set in front of them.

“What she want?” Michael asked.

“Just wanted to know what we were wearing, how I did my hair, that sort of thing since she was still asleep when we left. She was twenty nine kinds of mad when she found out I didn’t take out my lip rings,” Liz said rolling her eyes. “I’m sorry, thank you so much,” she told the waitress who was walking away.

“So you guys play any sports?” Michael asked trying to make conversation. He was never really a people person, but the yayo in his system was making him feel more social.

“Max and I play football, wrestle and run track and field,” Kyle answered. “Our girls here are more the pretty, sit by the sidelines type than the athletic type.”

“We go to the gym,” Tess protested. “Do you guys play any sports?”

“I mostly just ride motocross but I’ll be playing ball this year, so I guess I’m your new teammate,” Michael answered with an almost grin towards his cousin’s friends.

“He used to play lacrosse at our high school. He was the shit. Varsity freshman year. So ya’ll better be careful or Mike’s gonna bang on all ya’ll,” Liz bragged.

“So I guess football will have to do since we don’t have a lacrosse team huh? We have a good team here though,” Maria said. “Even better now that Max finally joined the team.”

“Unstoppable West Roswell High Comets. Woot woot,” Kyle said in typical jock fashion.

“So Liz? How about you? Athletic type or no?” Tess asked.

“I’m playing soccer. Other than that it’s all about 24 Hour Fitness,” she laughed.

“And surf,” Michael chimed in.

“I used to, I used to surf,” Liz corrected with a frown and a shrug.

“She’s actually really good. Sponcered, on a team, and everything,” he said with more than a touch of pride in both his eyes and his voice.

“I was really good,” Liz corrected. “I’m retired now,” she added biting into a piece of toast with egg dripping on it. “And Michael’s not exactly bad at riding either. He’s been invited to next years X Games, so yeah, he’ll keep training here,” she said taking the attention off of her.

“Wow,” Maria said some-what in awe. Alex never told them any of this, it threw the small-town group off.

“What team did you surf for? I like to keep up on the woman’s teams,” Kyle added with a wink.

“I was on the Roxy US team.”

“Still on the Roxy team,” Michael muttered. He didn’t want his sister giving up on the one thing that she loved more than life. Surfing wasn’t just something she did, it was who she was. And you don’t just forget that.

“Michael,” Liz warned queietly.

“What? Aren’t you still going to the open competition in a month? Or did I book a flight and hotel for no reason?”

“Because I’m contractually obligated, not because I want to,” she said in an angry whisper so quiet that only her brother heard her.

“I can’t believe you’re on the Roxy Surf Team! That’s where I know you from!” Kyle said. “You look different on the web site. I just didn’t remember a Liz Parker on the roster for Roxy’s team.”

“When I surf I go by Elle,” she said dismissively. “It’s not a big deal, really. So have ya’ll lived here your whole lives?”

“We actually live one street over from you guys on Murrey Lane,” Max told them. “Oh Izzy’s my sister… You want to come over later tonight? We’re all just gonna eat pizza, sit in the hot tub, hang out and watch some movies. Kind of a Monday night ritual. You both are more than welcome to come.”

“Oh that’s cool, yeah, we’ll probably go. Thanks for the invite,” she said taking another bite of food. “I’m sorry, I think I’m too nervous for today to eat,” she lied pushing away her plate. Truth was she was just too coked out to even think about food.

“Don’t be nervous, you’re gonna… Well you’re not going to fit in, but that’s a good thing,” Isabel laughed.

Part 4: Same Ol’ Shit, New Toilet


Liz sat down next to Max at lunch and thumped her head on the bench with a bang. Max laughed at her antics. She was beautiful, that much was obvious, but she seemed way too… edgy for him.

“This school is not that big, how do I keep on getting lost? I sat through a class half way through before I realized that I was I was in French class,” she groaned.

“And that’s a problem because?” Max asked with a laugh.

“I’m in Latin,” she muttered with an eye roll. “I was in the math wing when I needed to be in the English, the science when I needed to be in the gym…”

“Really? Didn’t they give you a map?” Max asked biting into a piece of pizza.

“Well they did, but I think it’s a Xerox of a Xerox of a Xerox… and the original copy was hard to read to begin with,” she quipped moving her hair over her shoulder. “And it’s not like the people here are helpful.”

“Getting hit on a lot today?” he asked with an easy smile.

“Well, some of them. But a lot of guys keep staring, and then try to say something, but change their mind. I asked this one kid if he knew which direction the three hundred classes were in and he just stared at me stupid for a full minute. And the girls are just plain mean to me, well the girls I’ve come across,” she said with an eye roll.

“You intimidate them.”

“Because I’m so big and scary,” she laughed. In truth Liz was five feet two inches tall and weighed just over a hundred pounds- on a good day. Since her dad died she’d dropped down to around 95.

“They can pull little small town girls that they’ve grown up with for years, not big city girls,” he said looking her over. “And no girl in this high school looks like you… Ergo you intimidate them.”

“Do I scare you?” she asked raising a perfectly arched eyebrow. Towards the middle there was no hair growing there when she had hit some coral when she was ten.

“No, but that’s because I know that I’m cooler than anyone, anywhere, even Southern California,” Max joked.

“I don’t know about all that, you might not be able to tell right this second, but I have cool coming out my ass,” Liz told him with a grin. “But I’ll give you that in country town you are the coolest hay seed around. I’ve heard at least a dozen girls saying that they loved that shirt on you. Apparently, it brings out the gold flecks in your eyes. It’s a hit with the ladies, make sure it’s in the front of your closet.”

“The girls here don’t have enough on their minds,” Max said dryly.

“Hi Max,” a blond said walking by as if on cue. “Who’s your new little friend?”

“Max’s little friend can talk too. And I had you in first period where you said that I looked like a slut that was trying too hard and continued to pick apart my entire outfit for the rest of the class along with making false assumptions about my personality. I’m not a slut, I don’t think that money can buy me popularity or a man, I don’t think I’ve ever been a bitch for no reason and even though I loved the movie I’m not a Mean Girls wannabe. Lindsey and Rachel McAdams can handle that all their own. And yeah, this is the real Cartier Love bracelet,” she said smiling sweetly. “And your name would be?” she asked holding out her hand.

“Pam Troy…” she said uncomfortably, not knowing how to recover from that exactly. She stared at Liz’s dainty hand where she expected to see manicured nails but was surprised to see slightly ratty cuticles and no nail polish.

“Well Pam, it’s really nice to meet you. And I just wanted to tell you that it was great, you and your friends making me feel so welcome my first day in a new school. I really appreciate it,” she said, managing to sound genuine.

She could hear Max choke on a laugh but she didn’t let her little act drop at all. She was confident to begin with, but being high on coke gave her super-human self assurity.

“I’m uh… I uh…”

“Wow? Wasted all your words today on little old me? That’s too bad.”

“My friends are sitting over there,” she said shifting her eyes to another table.

“Well then, you better run along. This little encounter should keep you guys going for awhile. I mean you did manage to talk about me the entire period and all I did was sit down and take notes.”

Pam looked like a deer caught in the headlights. She opened her mouth and closed it without any sound coming out. Liz let her squirm for a second before she gave in, feeling a little bad. Stress on the little.

“Well I guess I’ll see you in class tomorrow,” she added brightly. “I’m looking forward to the audio commentary.”

“Uh, yeah, see you,” Pam said scurrying away.

“I’m sorry, I couldn’t help myself,” Liz told Max. “She’s not your friend, is she?”

“NO. She’s been trying to get me to ask her out for a long time. And that was quite possibly the greatest thing I’ve ever seen at this school. I totally agree, you have cool coming out your ass,” Max said and Liz broke out into laughter.

“What’s funny?” Maria asked sitting down with the rest of the group.

“Liz just put Pam in her place,” Max said.

“I knew I liked this girl,” Tess winked. “So what happened?”

“It’s not important,” Liz said surprising Max once again. Had it been any other girl they would have been bragging about how they made the high and mighty Pam Troy squirm like a freshman girl walking into the boys locker room for hours.

“How have your guys first days gone?” Isabel asked changing the subject to something more interesting.

“Pretty good, just tiring,” Liz said and Michael grunted his agreement.

“You’re not a caveman, use words,” Liz laughed.

“What the hell is wrong with girls here?” he suddenly exploded. “At my locker, in my class— One of them actually followed me in the bathroom. She kept on asking me the most stupid questions-”

“You’re new, you’re exciting, and you’re good looking,” Tess explained. “Girls here like new, exciting, good looking things.”

“They don’t have to be such dumbasses about it though,” he grumbled.

“And on that note, do you guys know where room 518 is?” Liz asked sending her brother the, “don’t-say-everything-you-want-to” look.

“Yeah, you have it next?” Max asked surprised.

“Yeah, why?”

“You’re in my bio class then,” he said. “We’ll walk there together.”

“Thank God, I can’t get lost again or I’m gonna freak,” she laughed.

“So uh, Michael, what class do you have next?” Maria asked. The guy was an ass hole, but he was cute. And so she was still going to make a little effort. Besides she liked his sister.

“Art.”

“Oh, that should be fun,” Isabel said.

“God Michael, won’t you shut up for a second?” Liz asked suddenly rolling her eyes dramatically. “Jeeze, I swear, you can’t get a word in with him, such a chatter box,” she continued sarcastically.

“I’ll leave that to you Sister.”

“Shut up,” Liz said waving him off. “I’m just going to use the bathroom really quick,” she said standing up.

“I’ll go with,” Maria grinned standing up. “Just so you don’t get lost on the way.”

“My hero!” she grinned.

“So, the low dirty low down on Pam Troy is that she’s slept with nearly every football player worth sleeping with, she lives on your street so she has money and she’s the bitchiest slut ever. She’s been trying to get in little Maxy’s pants for years, but he actually has some taste. And just so you know, Pam’s gotten suspended from school quite a few times for fighting, so just watch your back.”

“Well, thanks for that classified information,” Liz laughed. She wasn’t worried about Pam Troy at all. She could more than handle herself in a scuffle and the key to high school popularity is just not giving a shit. And that was something Liz was very good at.

“So you’re day’s going good? See any guys you’re interested in?”

“Not really, just concentrating in class a lot I guess,” Liz said walking into a stall. She grabbed an alcohol prep pad and cleaned off the tank of the toilet and then started cutting lines on the back of it.

“Hey Maria, can you turn on the water? I’m a little bladder shy,” Liz called before she went to snort the lines. It was quiet, yes, but she didn’t want Maria to hear anything questionable either.

“No problem.” Liz quickly took her lines and sighed in contentment. She wasn’t an addict or a regular user, but her love of drugs was undeniable. She just got so bored with life that she had to shake things up a little bit. It just made nerve racked days bearable and plain days interesting.

“So then, she says, ‘I’m not a Mean Girls wannabe’ even though snubbing me in the cafeteria is totally like what happened in the movie. She’s such a bitch, this girl is going down,” Pam’s voice floated into the room. “And she didn’t have anything in front of her for lunch. Hello, can you say anorexic?”

Liz checked her compact mirror to make sure she didn’t leave anything on her nose and then walked out of the bathroom stall with a pleasant smile.

“Pam, right? Always a pleasure,” she smiled at her. “Didn’t expect to see you so soon though,” she added washing her hands carefully. She got out a small bottle of lotion and smoothed it on her fingers not even acknowledging her shocked face.

“I didn’t see you come in here,” she said looking embarrassed that she’d been
caught again.

“Obviously not,” Liz said walking up to the long mirror Pam and her friends were primping in. She fluffed up her hair carefully and then added another layer of lip gloss on her already shiny lips.

“Look, you think that you’re really slick, don’t you? But no matter how big of a bitch you can be, I can be a bigger one, remember that. This is my school, and Max is MY man, so I’d get out of my way if I was smart,” Pam said, her humiliation turning into anger.

“I have no doubt that you can be a bigger bitch than me,” Liz said turning to face the girl completely. “And as for this being your school, then go ahead, take it. These are obviously going to be the best years of your life, so enjoy them as much as you can. And go ahead take Max too, he seems like a great guy,” she continued. “And do you mind me giving YOU a little advice Pam?”

“Go ahead,” she said looking down at her, she obviously thought she won this little battle. You could practically hear her gloating.

“Get medicated immediately because you’re obviously delusional. Also, you need to fix your make up, one eye looks bigger than the other,” she added and walked out of the bathroom, leaving a stunned looking Pam with her mouth agape.

“I’m in love,” Maria sing-songed once they were out of ear shot. “You just made a new best friend here in West Roswell High.”

“I’m not big into talking shit on people, but damn, that girl… Never mind. And contrary to that little scene I’m not really a bitch, I’m just tired and I stand up for myself,” Liz said as they walked back to the table.

“And it was awesome to watch. I talk shit on Pam all the time, go ahead if you want to. It’s not like it’ll get around.”

“Naw, like I said, I’m not big on talking crap. It just sends out bad vibes into the universe for no reason. Karma adds up.”

“You know you want to talk about her. And the cosmo’s wouldn’t be mad at you for calling a duck a duck so you can call a bitch a bitch,” Maria laughed.

“Nice reasoning. But a duck’s not offended when it gets called a duck… and I probably will break if she gives me anymore crap, but I’m going to try to hold it in for a little bit. It’s the hippie surfer in me,” she said stopping Maria. “And I don’t want to create more drama so uh, do you think we can let that little run in between us?”

“Yeah, no problem. Damn, I’m gonna love you,” the bubbly blond said slinging an arm around her shoulder.

“Yeah, I can tell me and you are gonna get along just fine,” she agreed.

“I can’t wait till we’re at the point where I can borrow your cloths. What size shoes do you wear again?” Maria asked, half serious.

“Mi closet, es su closet. And I wear a size six,” Liz added.

Part 5: All Things Brunette and Beautiful

Michael, Max and Kyle stopped off after practice to watch the end of Liz’s. She was weaving in and out between bright orange cones keeping the ball a foot in front of her the entire time. At the end of the drill they’d shoot the ball into the goal where both goalies were standing. Liz turned around and smiled at her brother and new friends.

“Ow, oww! Lookin’ good guys,” she said breathless as she ran by them to get back into line.

Max couldn’t take his eyes off of her.

“Wow,” he said and only a moment later realized he was on the receiving end of two weird looks. “She’s good,” he grunted covering.

Liz only had on a thread bare sweat soaked wife beater, shin guards, tiny red shorts and her hair was up in a messy bun. All of her make up was taken off and a light sheen of sweat covered her forehead. She was gorgeous.

“Hey Max, Kyle, who’s your new friend?” a girl’s voice called.

“Uh, Michael Guerin. You’re new teammates brother,” Kyle said smirking at Max who hadn’t even heard the question. For once Max was looking at a girl how all the girls looked at him.

“Well nice to meet you, my name is Amy Grant,” the blond said.

“My name’s Olivia Green, hope you’ll like Roswell,” the Asian told him with a wide grin.

“Thanks, nice meeting you,” Michael said smiling cordially. They grinned back and looked over to the practice just as Michael’s mouth turned into a scowl again.

“She’s so going to make first string. She’s got really good control over the ball,” one of them whispered.

“Aaron’s been all over her this entire practice,” the other one said frowning. “Is it bad that I hate her for no reason?”

“What’s the deal with those girls? And who the hell’s Aaron?” Michael asked pointing his chin towards them.

“No deal,” Kyle said glancing over. “They’re seniors, hang out with us at parties and shit sometimes. Pretty nice, I guess but they’re not really… I don’t know they just don’t stand in a crowd. And Aaron, well, I’ll let you make up your own mind of him,” he laughed uncomfortably.

Michael grunted and listened in on some more of the conversation. “She seems really nice too. God… Looks, money and she’s good at soccer. Really good. God I hate perfect people.”

“I wonder if she’s ever even had a bad hair day,” Olivia sighed. “Some people are just born lucky.”

Michael scoffed. If they only knew what living rich was really like… Or all the shit that Liz had to deal with over the years. Especially recently.

“Alright girls, good practice,” Coach Lawson called signaling the end of practice. “Liz, you wear smalls?” he called across the field.

“Yeah that would be fine,” she answered breathlessly. “Thanks Coach, see ya tomorrow,” she added and ran towards the bench where her water bottle was.

God it was hot, she was used to playing on her old school’s field. It was on a cliff that overlooked the water so there was always a little breeze or mist coming in. In New Mexico it was just dead heat.

“Nice hustle,” Aaron Mathews said coming up next to her and handing her a towel. He was a sophomore at UNM and worked part time for the school. He played soccer at the university and was a West Roswell High graduate so the school let him coach part time. He was good, but too cocky for Liz’s taste.

“Thanks,” Liz said toweling off the water from her face. “Freakin’ hot out there.”

“Tell me about it,” he said looking her up and down surreptitiously.

“Well aren’t you smooth,” she said with a laugh.

“Well what if I said that you handle balls really well,” he joked.

“Like you’d be the first person to say that to me,” Liz said flippantly, rolling her eyes. Aaron’s eyes widened comically.

“I’ve been playing soccer for awhile, coaches always tell me I have good control over the ball,” she said innocently. Liz gathered up the rest of her stuff quickly not glancing up at Aaron. She had enough for one day. Of him, of soccer, of school.

That and she was coming down from her coke high. She definitely needed to smoke a few bowls soon.

“But really, you do. I was watching you all practice.”

Max scoffed. This guy thought he was so smooth and because he was older than himself and the other high school girls fell all over him. He just hoped Liz was smarter than that.

“Well you’re the coach, you’re supposed to be,” Liz reminded him.

“Sorry about knocking you over,” a girl told her walking up to them. “I shoulda been watching where I was going.”

“Yeah you should of, they were drills Anna, what do you think you’re going to do in a real game?” Aaron scolded. Anna looked away clearly embarrassed.

“It wasn’t a big deal, no worries,” Liz told her brushing off the incident. “I’ve knocked quite a few girls over on accident too. Besides it’s the aggressive players that are the best,” Liz said warmly. “I’ll see ya tomorrow,” she added putting on the huge book bag, and purse. She grabbed her duffel bag that was about as big as her and hefted it across her shoulder.

“Back to us… You’re really good… Thinking about putting you in the starting line up for Saturday’s game. Feel up to it?” he asked picking up her duffel bag from her tiny frame and wrapping an arm around her shoulders as they walked towards the boys. Max growled deep in his throat involuntarily. He wanted Aaron’s arm off of her, now.

“Definitely. But if you’re putting me in the game in some lame attempt for me to go out with you, then you’re wasting your breath. I’m not into guilt dates,” she said and Kyle and Max started coughing to cover up their laughter. Michael just grinned. His little sister was known as a ball buster back at SMA and apparently the tradition was carrying over.

The only boyfriend that she ever had… Well it ended up badly. And even though that particular memory killed him he was glad he didn’t have to worry about his little sister in relationships anymore.

“You’ve got a boyfriend or something?” he asked.

“No, I just don’t think you’re half as cool as you seem to think you are,” Liz teased and he laughed.

“You’re not what I expected when I first saw you,” Aaron said as they stopped in front of them.

“And what did you expect?”

“Someone… not like you, I like surprises though. And you Liz Parker and the best surprise I’ve had in awhile.”

“Thanks I guess, and thanks for giving me a chance at a starting position. I do appreciate it, really.”

“You’re good. Better than most girls on the team,” he told her honestly.

“Well thank you,” Liz said blushing slightly. Max couldn’t help but smile at that. A sex kitten superstar athlete oozing of confidence blushing?

“See ya tomorrow.”

“Ice down your hip tonight, I don’t want you lagging tomorrow,” he told her, the coach in him shining through. “Max, Kyle how are you guys?”

“Good. We’re just waiting for Liz,” Kyle said.

“Well take care of her. She’s my new favorite player,” Aaron said handing her back her duffel bag.

“This is Michael, Liz’s sister.”

“Nice meeting you,” he said not really paying attention. “Really Liz, keep weight off that and make sure you ice it during the night. The swelling doesn’t look too good. And if it’s sore tomorrow then I’ll find you some crutches. But don’t baby it either, ya know, it’s just a line you’ve got to tow.”

“I will, it’s not my first injury,” Liz assured. “And I have my own crutches at home.”

“I don’t doubt it. Max, Kyle, see you around,” he added. “Can’t wait for my surprise tomorrow,” he called and kept walking towards the parking lot.

“God that guy is such a freakin’ tool,” Max muttered.

“He seems like a nice enough guy,” Liz defended half heartedly. “Just a little too sure of himself. How was your first practice?” she asked Michael.

“Good,” he told her. “I’ve got about a dozen new bruises though.”

“Initiation time. They’re just seeing how tough you are, but the guys will lighten up,” Kyle laughed. “You looked really good out there,” he told Liz.

“I always look good,” she teased.

“You fuck up your hip?” Michael asked pointing a chin towards his little sister. He grabbed all her bag from her, she wasn’t struggling too badly but if her hip was messed up she shouldn’t be carrying heavy loads either.

“Yeah, not too bad though,” she said. “Not news worthy.”

“Let me see,” he said knowingly. Liz’s not bad was not normal human not bad.

“Fine,” she sighed moving her shirt up. It was swollen and red and already turning black around the edges.

“Not too bad? How the hell did that happen in soccer? It’s not like you were playing rugby!” Max asked, his eyes wide.

“I’m sure its just initiation time, the girls are just seeing how tough I am,” Liz said easily dismissing the incident. In truth it had been a couple of Pam Troy’s friends. Liz had gone down hard on her hip when Anna had knocked into her but then while she was still on the ground the two of them had kicked her pretty hard. It seemed like no matter what was happening, someone was always knocking her down, and on her hip no less the entire practice.

“We better get going Mike. Mom’s going to have a coronary if we don’t get home soon.”

“You guys coming over tonight?” Max asked.

“Sure, what time?”

“Around seven, uh, Murrey Lane, my jeep will be parked out in front. Remember to bring your suits,” he said as they reached Michael’s truck.

Max opened up her door for her and Liz pulled herself into the huge truck on her bad hip. She let out a little squeak of pain as she fell down straight towards the pavement. Luckily Max caught her easily.

“My hero. Who said chivalry was dead?” she swooned and then let out a little laugh.

“You alright?” Michael asked his voice more tender then it had been all day.

“Guess I SHOULD be keeping my weight off of it. Thanks,” she said as Max helped her into her seat.

“Tomorrow we’re taking my car,” she told her brother.

“No we’re not,” he throwing his gear in the back.

“Yes we are.”

“No, we’re not. I hate your car, there’s no room for any of our gear anyways,” he said slamming Liz’s door shut.

“Then we’re taking a break of Nirvana and Metallica!” Liz yelled inside her car. She took out her I-Pod quickly and started playing Jack Johnson loudly.

“Freakin’ little sisters,” he muttered jumping into the drivers seat. “See ya guys later tonight,” he said and peeled away the bass thumping in their wake.