I think the first time I finally realized I 'liked' Liz was when I saw her and Max go into the Eraser room together. She looked at me for a quick second and I saw shame fill her eyes. Then the door closed. I got angry 'How could Max do this to me…he knows I like her' then it hit me, what…I like her. No, not Liz Parker, not Max's Liz, nobody knows that. Not even I knew that. How could I expect Max to know that? Especially since Max was the one who has been in love with her since 3rd grade.

I don't know how I got these feelings for her, but I did. Maybe it was all the time she spent at my apartment helping me with school work. She refused to let me give up on myself. She refused to let me think I couldn't do it. Or maybe it was all the time we spent closing the Crashdown just us two and we just talked. We talked about everything, about, her and Max or me and Maria. What life would be like once we graduated. She shared with me her hopes and her dreams. I shared with her my fears. Fears I never even told Maria about. Some I didn't even know I had. And while I was talking to her, I felt all my walls just come down. I felt I could really trust her. Trust her in ways I couldn't even trust Maria. It was weird that I could trust her so easily. And what was even weirder was that I wasn't scared that the walls were coming down. I was actually relived.
After I realized I liked her, I also began to notice my grades going up. Instead of D's on test I was getting B's. Then I finally got my report card and it showed that I had 4 B's and 2 A's, I was so excited I had to show Liz. She was the first person I told. Liz was so happy for me; she gave me a huge hug and said she was taking me out for a nice, expensive dinner. I said sure, a free meal is a free meal. She said she was going to pick me up at 7. I went home and realized how nervous I was. I actually worked on how I looked. I don't mean to brag but I looked good. But when I opened the door and saw Liz standing there, the way I looked didn't even hold a candle to her. She was so pretty I'm surprised I didn't just grab her and kiss her. I knew I was never going to forget the way she looked right then. And when she smiled I practically melted. I had never melted before when a girl smiled. It took me by surprise. "Michael…you ready?" Liz asked extending her hand to wrap through my arm. Feeling her soft skin under my hand, I didn't know how I was going to make it through the night without kissing her.
We got to the restaurant. It was a nice, expensive place. Thank god I had worn a suit. It was the only suit I had. Maria bought it for me when we were in Las Vegas. 'MARIA!' I thought, "Oh man, this isn't right, it's like it's cheating on my girl-friend, and my best friend." Then I thought. "No it's fine; we are just two friends going out for a celebration dinner." Yet it still didn't feel right.
The whole night I was so confused. What were these feelings I was having for Liz? Why didn't I feel that way about Maria? I didn't know what to do. But despite everything we had a great time. We laughed and talked about everything and anything. I had never seen her smile so much. And to think I put that smile there. I was so confused though. Especially after Liz dropped me off. She was so funny, she insisted on walking me to the door. When we got there I asked if she wanted to come in, she said she would love too, but she had to go home and do homework. She actually sounded bummed too. So we said our good nights right there on the porch. She leaned in to give me a kiss on the cheek but I wanted the real thing. So I turned my head and kissed her on the lips. She didn't stop me either. I think she wanted it. Because she wrapped her arms around my neck and I wrapped her in my arms. It felt so good, her soft lips against mine, her soft hands entangled in my hair. But as soon as it had started it was over. She pulled back. She pulled her hand down and touched my swollen lips. "Michael…I…I have to go." Then she turned to walk away. But she stopped and smiled. "Thank you Michael, for a night I will never forget." Then she walked away. She was kinda woozy though because she couldn't walk strait. I bet I could see the huge smile on her face. It's a good thing she didn't turn around again otherwise she would've seen my smile. I watched her to make sure she got to her car nice and safely then I went in.