An Ordinary Life Chapter 1: Crash Fest, a roswell fanfic

AN ORDINARY LIFE

"Once in a while, right in the middle of an ordinary life love gives us a fairy tale."

CHAPTER 1: CRASHFESTIVAL

Max sat by the ancient computer that he shared with his little sister, and looked at the blank email on the screen and the torn piece of paper that had one line scrawled on it. An email address. More importantly, Liz Parker's email address.

Liz Parker. He had been in love with that girl for forever. And he had her email address. Actually, he had known her email address for a while. But this was the first time she had given it to him.

She hadn't signed his yearbook in any special way. He knew that girls liked to write long, drawn out farewells, even though they would most likely see each other before a week passed. Liz had gone for short and sweet. But she had signed it, seemed happy to. And it wasn't messy or smudged; she took her time, wanting to get the message right. Underneath her name she wrote her email address and "write me!"

She wouldn't have written it if she didn't mean it, right? Liz wasn't like that. She said what she meant. He wouldn't look like an idiot if he emailed her. Would he? He had been staring at that address for months. Now, it was the middle of August, and school started in two weeks. How had he let the summer pass without writing her? He was such a coward, he couldn't even write an email to a girl he had known for years.

Some might call him friends with Liz, but it was more complicated than that. Liz was charming and easygoing. She was friends with the whole school. And Max, well, he wasn't friends with anybody. Just Alex, and his sister, Isabel. Ever since Mr. Max s, Max and Isabel's father, died Max had kept to himself. If he gave anyone more than a passing glance it was reason to sit up and take notice. Everyone thought so but Liz. The one person he wished knew was oblivious.

Max looked at the screen again. Hey, Liz, he wrote, What's up? How was your summer? Mine was lame, work and all He deleted that.

"I take it back!" He said out loud. "I don't want her to know. I suck at this. I am bad with girls. I am a loner-"

"Hey, big brother." Isabel interrupted "My turn."

Distraction. Good. He needed distraction. He couldn't think about the email that would never get written.

Isabel quickly checked her email and downloaded a cartoon that a friend sent her. She hit the familiar button and was logged on to Instant Messaging. Hey there, Sun Babe, appeared in the message window. It was from BrownEyedGirl17, known in the real world as Liz Parker. Hi, Brown eyed girl. Isabel smiled. She knew it would just kill her brother to know that she was talking to the girl that he had been obsessing over all summer. Max wished he was secretive and unreadable, but the truth was Isabel could read Max like a book. Alex could too. But Alex was better at keeping the information to himself.

How are you doing, Liz?

Good. Doing the back to school shopping! Fun? No

laughs I'm excited.

Well, Isabel, you're actually good at school!

Come on, school has to have some perks!

My mind is a total blank

laughs Nothing new, Liz!

You're mean! How's that brother of yours?

Trying to get up the guts to email you.

Isabel, you teaser. No he isn't.

So, somehow Max managed to keep his longtime obsession for Liz a secret to her? How tortured.

Liz sat at her computer and talked happily to Isabel. Even though Liz was a senior and Isabel a mere junior, Liz found her interesting. Max was cool too. She knew there were rumors that Max liked her but Liz didn't buy it. Isabel loved joking about it, how someday they would be sisters and how Liz would have gorgeous babies- after all; they would have some Isabel in them.

Liz was dreading school a little bit. It was always hard to go back to rules and homework and teachers that treated you like children. But the summer doldrums were setting in. Her parents were overworking her at the café/bookstore that they owned with the DeLuca family. One good thing about her parents, they put school first, she could get out of any chore as long as she did some school activity. Plus, she could see people. Who am I kidding? Liz thought to herself, I see everyone anyway. The plus to living in an insanely small town, everyone is always at the same places.

Still there was a certain appeal of going someplace everyday that had over a thousand people about her age. And Maria DeLuca, her best friend, would be there. Isabel too. And if Isabel came, she would probably bring along Max .

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Liz pulled at her short-shorts and adjusted her halter-top. August in New Mexico was no joke and you couldn't exactly wear modest clothing, but Liz always felt a little bare in the skimpy clothing that the weather demanded. Especially when, Maria was going on about how guys would drool over her in that outfit, she knew Maria meant well, but it felt a little weird to think of herself as what Maria loving described as a sex object.

"What time is Michael meeting us?" Liz asked, smiling at her friend. Michael was Maria's longtime boyfriend and they were never apart for very long.

"8:30 that way you and I can bond for an hour before we meet up with him." Liz had to hand it to her best friend, she always made time girl bonding.

"Awesome. I love CrashFest." It was the last big thing of the season. School started in two days and everyone was trying to pack in as much fun as they possibly could in 48 hours. The Crash Festivals were legendary, every teen in the county would be there and everyone always had a great time. There would be rides, games and lots of junk food. Senior year started soon and the two friends were looking forward to their last high school carnival. Liz grinned and pulled at her shorts again.

Maria laughed at her obvious discomfort, "Its just clothing, Liz. And it's just showing off some leg. You wear less at the beach."

"At the beach everyone wears less and I go by unnoticed, here I know people will look at me."

"Sweetie, of course they're going to look. That's why you're wearing this." Maria was wearing a short sundress made out of some silky material and some sandals that added about 2 inches to Maria's modest height of 5'3". Maria rolled her eyes. Liz was so oblivious to her own beauty. "Look, if anyone chokes on their own droll we can leave."

Liz gave herself one last look in the mirror before turning around and walking out of her bedroom. "Promises, promises." Maria laughed at turned off the light before following Liz downstairs.

Max Max s pounded on the bathroom door angrily, "Isabel, get out of the bathroom!"

"I'm almost done!" She called

"If you're not out of there in 2 minutes, I'm going to—"

Isabel opened the door and glared at her brother, "You're going to what?"

"Are you done, yet?" Alex Whitman called from the living room

"Yes, I'm done. Are you happy?"

"Finally," Alex said, coming up to them. "You took long enough."

"Yea," Isabel said, "But it takes a while to look this good." She twirled around, showing off her outfit. She was wearing jean cutoffs and one of Max's old dress shirts that she had cut up. The white shirt showed off her flat stomach and toned arms and the white set off her dark tan.

Max rolled his eyes, "You look exactly the same."

Isabel punched him. Alex laughed and said, "No, you look great." She smiled at him.

"Come on, Max!" She cried, grabbing his arm and pulling him outside, "We're going to be late!"

Max let her go ahead and turned to look at Alex, "Could you really tell that she spent an hour in the bathroom?"

"No, but she didn't hit me." They laughed and made their way outside to the Max s's aging jeep to go to the carnival.

"I love Crash Fest!" Liz said, eating cotton candy and holding a balloon that said "I believe" with a green alien.

"I know," Maria complained, "You've already told me, like, a million times!"

"Well, it's still true." Liz said, smiling.

"Let's go on that ride!" Maria cried, pointing to a tilt-a-whirl.

"I'll stay here." Liz said quickly.

"Come on, Liz! Don't be a wuss."

"Hey, I love rides, OK? But I've already eaten 2 hot dogs, a candy apple, half a bag of chips and cotton candy. If I ride that it will not be pretty."

"We've been here less than an hour. How could you possibly have eaten that much food?"

Liz shrugged, "Don't ask me. This is why I only go to a few carnivals a year."

"Fine," Maria said, "Let's compromise. How about we play some games and we can go on some rides later. I don't know if there's any more food for you to eat."

Liz laughed, "Sounds good." Then she stopped and stared at a snack booth, "Oh, look, nachos!"

"Spoke too soon!"

"Fine, I'll get them later. For now, games!" They walked arm-and-arm to the south end of the fairgrounds that had the game booths. It was bustling with activity, people were playing, watching and cheering loudly so the girls had to scream at eachother to be heard.

"How about the ring toss?" Maria cried. "Check out the great prizes!"

"Ok, we can try it!" Liz agreed.

After they handed over their money in exchange for hula-hoops to throw around the large boxes, Liz got a sinking feeling. She loved games, but she was very, very bad at them.

Max, Alex and Isabel had just gotten another round of tickets to go on more rides when Max saw Liz. She looked great, she was wearing shorts that showed off her beautiful legs and he halter top…She was with Maria and they looked like they were heading for the games.

"Hey, guys," Max said, trying to sound nonchalant, how about we try a few games first before we go on some more rides?"

Alex and Isabel both saw Max's eyes following Liz and exchanged a smile. Alex shrugged and Isabel nodded, "Fine, Max." Isabel said, "I guess we could play some games." Max was too focused on Liz to notice that Isabel suddenly burst into giggles.

"How about the water game next?" Maria asked, gesturing to the booth. "Get a squirt gun, hit the alien's nose, pop the balloon, much easier than that damn hula hoop game."

Liz shrugged, "Whatever you want."

"Good, let's sit down." They both sat down in booths, Liz in front of number 5 and Maria in front of 14. The crowd was a little thin, the families were just leaving and the teens were just showing up. It had been packed at 7 o'clock and Liz knew by 9 it would be wall-to-wall people, she enjoyed the sparse crowd while she could. Since they were the only two at the game the vendor started shouting for more people, explaining to the girls you needed three people to play.

Max grabbed Isabel's hand and pulled her in the direction of the water game that Liz was sitting it. He tried in vain to look indifferent as he suggested they try it. Alex and Isabel agreed after a little coaxing, but Isabel couldn't help saying in a flat voice, "Oh, look, Liz's there. What a surprise to see Liz at the same game we just happened to want to play. Will wonders never cease." She smiled triumphantly when Max appeared uncomfortable.

"Hey, Girls!" Isabel called, sitting in the number 6 booth, next to Liz.

"Hi there!" Liz said, giving Isabel a little hug, "It's so great we ran into you!"

"Yea," Maria agreed, moving to booth 7. "The more the merrier!" Alex sat in booth 10 and Max sat in booth 4, next to Liz.

"Hey, Max." Liz said, turning to face him. "Is 4 your lucky number? I always sit at my lucky number."

"Um…" Max said, unsure of what to say. How come whenever he was around Liz everything flew out of his brain and he turned into a bumbling idiot.

Alex elbowed him, "Nice," he whispered. Max grimaced in response.

"Ok, guys!" Maria announced, grabbing her squirt gun, "I have to go meet Michael in 2 minutes. So I am going to win this game."

"You wish!" Isabel cried back, "This is war, honey."

"Them's fighting words!" Maria retorted, "Now it's on." Liz laughed as the couple who sat down in booths 12 and 13 shot horrified glances and Maria and Isabel.

Liz turned her attention to Max and Alex, trying not to let the group get divided by sex. "Hey, Liz." Alex said, "That's a really nice shirt."

"Oh, thanks, Alex." Liz said, blushing. Max felt a pang of jealousy. He knew it was ridiculous and dumb but he felt it. Why didn't Max have the guts to comment on Liz's outfit? He had been blown away by how good she looked, he was never able to voice what he was thinking, and that frustrated the hell out of him.

Maria leaned over and whispered something to Liz that made her crack up. "Keep your eye on the goal." The vendor warned as he turned on the water guns and rang the bell, signaling the game had started. Max wondered if he was the only one heard that as a double meaning.

Liz was still a little flustered by Alex's compliment. No, not Alex's compliment, that was sweet of him. She was disturbed by Maria who, upon hearing what Alex said, leaned over and said "I told you there would be drooling." In her head Liz was wild and sexy and outrageous. That's how it had always been, even during her worst moments. But it freaked her out that now that's how she was being seen by the world. She smiled to herself, and Maria was no help. She was so distracted she didn't notice that at the end of the game her balloon was filled only halfway, or that Max won and proudly picked out a small stuffed bear, and she was too lost in thought to hear Maria loudly yell "damn you!" to Max.

Isabel smiled as she watched Maria harass Ma . She loved the way the group worked together. Maria was a little over the top and Max was too reserved, they actually complimented each other nicely, not that they noticed. They were too busy pissing the other one off. Maria had to take off and meet Michael, promising to meet them in a half an hour. Isabel was surprised how much she felt her friend's absence. They had all known eachother for years, that's what happens when you grow up in a small town. They all had links to eachother. Like how Max and Maria were science partners in 6^th grade, or how Alex tutored Liz after school in math for a few weeks in 10^th grade, they knew eachother, but Isabel had the feeling this was only the tip of the iceberg. There was more here, and she would make sure the potential was realized.

Half an hour later the park was packed with teens. Everyone over 13 knew that nights at Crash Fest were packed with teens. Most families had left and it was impossible to go more than 5 feet without running into someone you knew. It was fun in a weird sort of way. It was a little reminiscent of school and no one liked that, but this was entirely too much fun to be worried about back-to-school flashbacks.

Isabel had collected three prizes. She had somehow managed to get the hula hoop around the box and had won a giant alien, she had challenged Max to a water gun rematch and won a teddy bear similar to Max 's only hers was blue and Alex knocked down 4 of the 5 bottles and had given Isabel his small stuffed spaceship. Maria had a ton of junk prizes, she had spent a small fortune on balloon darts and rather than trade her prizes up Maria had gone for quantity she had scored a tiny stuffed ballerina, a whistle, and a pennant flag with "New Mexico" written on it. Michael also won Tweety Bird basketball for her by making 2 out of 3 shots in a basketball game. Liz had won nothing.

Michael and Alex were empty handed, they had given their prizes to the girls, but Max still had his small teddy bear clutched tightly in his hand. Every now and then his eyes would dart nervously from the bear to Liz and back to the bear, but no one seemed to notice.

"Oh, nachos." Liz said, pointing to a sign. "I really, really wanted to get nachos. I'm going to get some."

Isabel wrinkled her nose "I hate carnival food, I never know what I'm really eating."

Alex grinned, "I'm with Isabel."

"I'm so full," moaned Maria, "I can't believe you still want nachos."

"Ok," Liz said, "I'll grab some nachos and you all can play another game or go on a ride or something. Come back and get me in a few."

"You sure?" Maria asked, knowing that her friend hated to eat alone.

Liz shrugged, "I'm good, but I wouldn't say no if someone wanted to join me."

Max stared at her for a long moment, "I'm kinda hungry. I could go for a corn dog or something." And his stomach hurt a little at the brilliance of Liz's smile.

"All right," Isabel said, "let's move out." She, Alex, Maria and Michael went in one direction and Liz and Max went in another.

Liz sat down, staring hungrily at her plate of nachos with everything. She picked one up and took a big bite with a satisfying crunch. "Yummy."

Max took a drink of his coke and smiled. "Looks good."

"So totally is." And Liz took popped the rest of the chip in her mouth. "You want some?"

"No, thanks," Max replied, eyeing the cheese, chili, hot sauce and jalapenos that adorned the nachos. "It's a little too much for me."

Liz laughed, "I know I have strange taste. I can't help it, to me this is delicious." She pointed to Max 's corn dog, "That's just to plain for me." Max rolled his eyes. There was a moment of silence. Not uncomfortable silence, but silence. Liz squirmed in her seat. She wanted to be talking, or at least making some sort of noise.

"So…" She and Max said at the same time.

"You go first." Max offered.

"I didn't have anything to say. You go ahead."

"Ok." Max took a deep breath and said in a hurry, "I don't really have a use for a little green stuffed bear, and Isabel got plenty of prizes so I was wondering if maybe you wanted him."

"Really? Are you sure?"

Max shrugged, "I don't really have a use for it." He wanted to tell Liz everything he was thinking and feeling. But none of it would come out. He supposed he was lucky any explanation came out.

"If you're sure," Liz said, grinning happily, "I would love it! It's adorable." Max held it out to her and she took it gratefully and cradled it against her then held it out for inspection. "Does it look like a Jason to you?"

"Jason Bear?"

"That has a nice ring to it."

"I don't like it."

Liz laughed, "What about Max ?" And Max blushed. "Evan, Ok? Evan is a good name."

"Evan is good."

"All right. I have my nachos, I have my Evan Bear, I have good company, and I'm at the event of summer. How could life get any better?"

At that moment Max thought if he told Liz everything she would understand. His family, his thoughts, his feelings for her…If he said it now before the second passed, maybe she would understand. He opened his mouth, but no sound came out. He was finding the words, forcing air through his lungs to propel the words out of his mouth when came up behind Liz and put her hands over her eyes. "Guess who?" Maria demanded.

"It's either Maria or a psychopathic killer." Liz said.

"It's Maria."

"Damn." Liz replied and Isabel laughed, having overheard the exchange. Alex sat down beside Max and grabbed a few of Liz's nachos. Maria sat on the table and Michael stood beside her, holding her hand. Max felt a wave of depression. He had been so close!

Liz broke away from the conversation to go back to her nachos. She popped two in her mouth and smiled secretively at Max. He thought maybe she had understood without him saying anything at all.

"This is so unbelievably gross!" Maria wailed.

"You think it's gross. Trying being me." Liz snapped. The fireworks had started and Isabel, Maria and Max were using the bright bursts of light to pick candy and popcorn out of Liz's hair.

"Exactly what happened, Liz?" Isabel asked, "You go to the bathroom and you come back with hair that belongs on a gingerbread man or something."

"Gingerbread person." Liz corrected. "And don't add insult to injury."

"Whatever. What happened?"

"A bunch of bratty little girls were throwing candy and popcorn at eachother. But they were hitting everyone. So I tried to break it up and they turned on me. Four girls with melted candy and popcorn and one girl tried to jam cotton candy in my hair."

"Yea," Maria said, "That's in my section."

"So, eventually their parents came in to check on them or something and dragged them off me. At least they were yelling at those little horrors." Liz explained. "Thanks for helping me."

"No problem!" Michael called.

"Michael, you're not helping! You're sitting there watching them help me." Liz argued

"I'm helping in spirit." Michael replied.

"Anyway, thanks to the people who actually are helping me." Liz said apologetically. "I know this isn't the greatest job in the world."

"No worries." Isabel replied, "What are friends for?"

"Not for this." Maria countered, "But we're doing it anyway."

"Hey, it's the finale!" Alex cried out.

Maria and Isabel's hands fell away. They snuggled with the guys and watched the finale. Even Liz's attention was drawn to the dazzling display. But after a moment she realized Max was still diligently working on her hair.

And despite the way he had to pull at her hair to get candy loose and the self-conscious feelings, Max 's hands felt kinda nice.