Beep. Beep. Beep. Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee…

What in God's name is that?

eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee…………

Groaning, I rolled over to automatically turn off the racket when I realized that it wasn't where it was supposed to be. As I opened my eyes, I was quite startled to realize I was in the midst of what I think was the result of a hurricane, tornado and typhoon all at once. Great so not only was my alarm not where it was supposed to be, neither was I.

Geez Deluca what did you do?

As I started to get up off the floor I found myself face to face with a pair of butterfly sandals. Suddenly I remembered the mess I created in my quest to wear these shoes on the first day of my junior year. It is so true that the thing you're looking for is usually right in front of you.

"Nelly Furtado's Promiscuous Girl ringtone starts playing in the background"

Oh crap! Looking at the horror that was my room I quickly became terrified. I asked myself the most important question a teenage girl at one time or another has to ask: Would I be able to locate my cell phone in this mess in time to answer it?

I quickly began to wade through a pile that included clothes, magazines, pictures among other objects in a frantic search while humming along to Nelly. Yes! Found you at last!

"Hey!"

"You're up? Already? I'm shocked, surprised, astounded…and a bit terrified Deluca. You okay?"

"Ha ha, very funny Alex. Me thinks you've been spending wayyyy to much time with Kyle. You're even starting to sound like him".

"You take that back!" said Alex, outraged.

"Hey! I'm insulted. I happen to believe I'm a great influence on those around me".

What the…?

"Oh yeah Kyle's on three-way. Since the Jetta's in the shop and Kyle's lonely I will be the designated driver of the both of you this morning. Kyle's here because I thought I needed help to get you up".

"Yea, he was all scared and said that you could out Bitch Isabelle in the morning", added Kyle.

"Kyle! What the hell?" yelled an outraged Alex.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry man. Uhhh…Maria when he said out Bitch he really meant…out…uh…pitch. Which you can, so it's definitely a good thing".

"Kyle, that's not helping. Out pitch?"

"Hey man, I'm trying to fix things", said a begrudged Kyle. "See this is what happens when you go out of your way for a friend. Look at the way they treat you".

"Please…don't speak. Just grunt like the rest of the football team".

"Hey are you insulting me or the football team. Or both?"

I could sense a fight brewing and thought it was way too early for one (no matter how amusing), so I decided to defuse the situation right away. "Guys…I'm still here and I can hear everything you're saying. Alex you're right, I can out Bitch the Ice Princess before my shower. I am so not a morning person. And Kyle, Alex wouldn't insult you, the football team…yea. You…never."

"Sorry", both boys mumbled.

"Now, since you know that I'm awake, how about we all get ready?"

"Bye"

"Bye"

I couldn't help but smile as I thought of my two best friends. After the whole "Destiny" thing, everybody was too busy avoiding each other. Liz was avoiding Max, who was avoiding Tess. Alex and Isabelle were avoiding each other. Michael was avoiding me and Kyle…well he was avoiding everyone.

As I hoped into the shower I thought back to the day I started to see Kyle as more than Liz's stalker or the Sheriff's son. I was sad and lonely since Liz abandoned me for Florida and Michael was being…well Michael. I decided to go for a walk and found myself at Roswell Park. I ended up moping in the park until 1am and found myself quite terrified. I was still deciding on whether or not to call either Alex or Max to either pick me up or keep me company on the walk home when I heard the most horrible sound known to man. It was like this strange mutant cross between fingernails on a chalkboard and that weird kid from Grudge. As the sound got closer I became more and more hysterical.

It's true when people say that in times of extreme emotions you usually can't do more than stay frozen in place. I willed my body to move as my mind raced through multiple scenarios that all ended up with my name on a tombstone. I seriously believed that if my heart pounded any faster it would burst through my chest.

Suddenly the sound was behind me and I did the only thing I could think of…I turned around and found myself staring into the eyes of one Kyle Valenti. The sound? It was of Kyle singing R.E.M's Losing My Religion.

I also noticed from his lack of balance and total ignorance of his racket that he had been drinking. Then it hit me. For all my problems, there were people around me that were having just as bad a time, especially Kyle. He had been thrust into the Alien Abyss when we were all in avoidance mode and it wasn't like there was anyone in particular to go to about his situation.

So I did what any good friend would do. I asked him to direct me to the liquor, called Alex and made a night of it. We got rather drunk that night but it started a whole new friendship between the three of us. We became the 3 Musketeers and spent all summer together.

By the end of the summer I had a whole knew understanding on Alex and Kyle. Alex is such a loyal friend. He also has a motherly side to him that he would never admit to. We really got a chance to mend our broken friendship and became stronger than ever.

I must admit that Kyle ended up surprising me. He's as loyal as Alex and has this amazing sense of humor that can lighten any situation. He also has this serious side and can be deep and insightful. I had always thought of him as this dumb jock, or Liz's All-American boyfriend. He was just in the background of everything we did. I'm glad that I took the time to get to know him.

As I applied some lip gloss, I thought about how weird school was going to be today. Alex, Kyle and I literally spent all summer together so I wasn't in the know anymore.

Was Tess still Queen Harpy?

Did Isabelle graduate from Ice Princess to Queen?

Was Michael still preparing for War of the Worlds?

Was Max…?

Another reason school would be interesting. I couldn't stop avoiding Max at school and that would be a problem.

Brace yourself dirty laundry alert. Well…something happened between me and Max over the summer. Something that I know should have never, ever have occurred. Something that will have catastrophic results if certain individuals were informed. Something only Kyle and Alex knew about and were sworn to protect the secrecy of. Afterwards I simply avoided him at all costs and so far it was working quite well.

Ding dingggggggggggggggggggggg

I quickly began to concoct new guerrilla efforts in my revised plan: Operation Avoid Alien King as I opened the door to… a smiling Max Evans.

Oh shit.

Today was certainly going to be interesting.

To be continued. Please review!