It was 10 AM on Saturday morning in California. Liz was packing, just shoving random articles of clothing into her suitcase because she really wanted to see James. She didn't even know how long she would stay, that hadn't even been planned. Liz's mother was standing in the doorway, leaning against the doorframe with a soft smile on her face. The scene reminded her of her in her younger days, but it was because of a bad event, not a good event.

Liz's mother wasn't that old, she was 25, which was considerably younger than most of the other kids in her class's parents.

"You're gonna leave me, aren't you? Tired of your mom already?" she asked playfully. Liz turned around, not expecting her mother to be watching her.

"N-No," she stammered. She was aware of the fact that her mother hadn't been paying attention last night when she asked if she could go to Colorado.

"I'm just kidding. But you'll leave me someday, I know that." She shrugged, walking up to Liz and surfing through the contents of her suitcase. "You might need self-defense, you know. You're pretty young, Liz."

Liz nodded, swallowing. She wasn't used to her mother being so kind. Usually, her mother ignored her. But maybe her leaving was a different situation.

"But I can't bring a knife to the airport with me, Mom," she explained. "Strict security."

Her mother nodded thoughtfully. "Be safe, Liz." she whispered. Liz thought she could almost see tears in her mother's eyes, but she turned on her heel and left.

She sighed. Her life was so confusing sometimes.

She walked over to her dresser and opened a drawer. Buried underneath some of her clothes was an old picture she found in her mother's room. She pulled the picture out.

It was faded and worn at the corners, as if it had been going around for a long time, but it really hadn't, only eleven years.

It was a picture of a girl who had a clear similarity to her mother and probably WAS her mother. But standing next to the girl was a boy that just happened to be the one and only, Beck Oliver. She only knew because of the distinct similarities, and she had also shown it to James, who had confirmed the probability of it.

She tucked it carefully into her suitcase, ready to question about it if possible.

And Liz didn't know this, but she was doing practically the same thing Jade West had done eleven years earlier.

Except for the fact that Liz was visiting a friend and Jade was running from her problems, they were the same.

2:30 PM in Colorado

Liz finally spotted James after she got out of her plane and was now trying to get through the crowd to him.

"Liz!" James shouted as they hugged. Even though they hadn't met each other in real life until now, they were close friends.

"Hey, James." Liz smiled. She lowered her voice to a whisper so his mom, Cat Oliver, wouldn't hear. "Remember that picture I showed you?"

"Of your mom and my dad? Yeah."

"I'm gonna ask your dad about it."

James's eyes practically fell out of their sockets. "Liz!" he hissed. "You can't! First of all, my dad will probably be busy. Second of all, my dad has Cat! I don't think your mom matters very much to him if they ever knew each other!"

Liz sighed. "You're probably right. But I'm still gonna ask."

James rolled his eyes. "Fine. It's your call."