Chapter 2
I froze. She started to stir. Oh. Damn. Her eyes opened, and she shot up. It took her a minute to figure out where she was. Then she looked toward me. Her eyes caught mine and held them. She stared at me for a moment, puzzled.
"What are you doing here?"
I looked at her with pure hatred. "Wouldn't you like to know." My voice had venom that even someone as cold as Isabel would have been shocked at.
Tess got the message. "Look, I just wanted to help-"
"You wanted to help?? And how did you plan on doing that? By marching in and ruining our lives? Yeah, you're sure helped a ton, Tess. I'm a wreck because you have the one man I'll ever love and you take him for granted! I did everything to push you two together, I put myself and Max through hell just so you could follow your god damned destiny! I sacrificed happiness for the world! And no one cares about me! 'Liz broke Max's heart, stay away from her.' Never once has anyone thought about what I've been through!! Damn you, Tess!" My voice had grown quiet by this point and I slowly became aware of the moisture on my cheeks. "Damn you." I whispered, more to myself than the rather frightened looking woman in front of me. As the realization of what I had admitted, I felt my knees turn to jello and suddenly I was on the ground. Closing my eyes, I tried to block all thoughts from my mind.
"I never thought…" Tess began. "I always wondered why you hated me so much. I guess now I have my answer. I know you're mad at me, and from what you said, you have all the right to be, but please listen to me when I say that I am truly sorry."
As she finished her speech, I gradually found the strength to sit up. I don't for the life of me know why, but I believed her. She sounded so sincere, like she really meant it. "I believe you. I'm sorry that we had to start on such bad terms. Maybe, we could, you know, be friends?"
Tess seemed confused for a moment, then a smile broke out on her face. "Sure. Why not?" And for the first time in weeks, I smiled a real smile. "But I do have one question. You don't have to answer, but why did you set it up to make it look like you slept with Kyle? You were bringing me and Max together, but why?"
This stunned me. How did she know I set it up? "How did you know?"
"Oh come on. You would never hurt Max unless there was a good reason. You love him too much. You said something about for the world, what was that about?"
"I." And that was the breaking point. I had to tell someone. Sure Maria knew, but of course she would know. I had to tell someone else. "Max from the future came to visit me." The look on her face was priceless. And I though Maria freaked.
"Who? I don't understand…" Man was she confused.
"Neither did I. But Max from 14 years in the future came to me with a task: I had to make Max fall out of love with me. I did countless things, but nothing was working. That thing with Kyle was a last attempt. God. I could feel his heart breaking, and I understood the pain because my own heart was being ripped out by the look on his face." I paused for a second from the look on Tess' face. "I bet you're wondering why I had to make him fall out of love with me. Well, future Max said that we got married and you felt excluded, so you left. Then the Skins attacked. Max, Isabel, and Michael weren't strong enough to fight them without you. Isabel and Michael both died and so did many other innocent people. All because of my love for Max." The look on Tess' face brought a fresh set of tears to my eyes. I knew what she was going to say.
"No, it was my fault. I'm the one who left."
"Tess. You can't think that. You wouldn't have left if we hadn't made you feel so left out. If anyone's to blame, it's me. But let's not dwell on the past, er, future, er, non future." She smiled.
"Don't hurt me, but I still have one question. What happened to future Max?"
"He disappeared. Max feel out of love with me, so the timeline ended and the Max ceased to exist." There was no emotion in my voice.
Just then, I saw Tess' eyes go wide and her jaw drop. Her hand flew to her mouth. "Oh God…" I turned to see what made her react like that. My own reaction was similar. Panic swelled up in me and I could hear my pulse throbbing in my ears. It was Max.
"Liz," His voice was quiet and full of disbelief. "How could you ever think I didn't love you anymore?"
I couldn't move. I could feel my lungs constricting and suddenly I found it difficult to breathe. I started gasping for breath, but nothing was happening. I couldn't breathe.
"Liz!" It was Max. His voice was so far away. I couldn't support myself on my knees anymore. I fell backwards, only to be caught by my savior. He laid my down all while asking me what was wrong. My vision was blurring and I was having trouble making out his words. I stopped trying to get the needed oxygen into my lungs, realizing it wasn't working. Max's hands were running along my face and I thought I felt a tear land on my cheek. Things went black. "This is it," I thought, "I'm dead." Suddenly the connection between Max and myself came roaring to life. The connection was on a level I'd never even thought possible. It was like I was Max. I knew what he was feeling, but it was more intense than ever before. Just as suddenly as it started, the connection broke leaving me breathless. I opened my eyes and inhaled deeply.
"Wow," was all I could manage. Max was looking pale and in that second, I knew I had been found out. Sure two other people knew, but now he knew that he had come to visit me from the future and that he had caused all the heartache. The look in his eyes is enough to demolish what is left of my already shattered heart. Wordlessly he took my hand and led me to the Jeep. Tess was forgotten. All I knew was in his eyes. Turning the key in the ignition, he kept his eyes on me. Finally he broke the powerful connection that was constant whenever we looked into each other's eyes. As we headed back towards town, I reached over out of impulse and turned the radio on. As the soft beginning strands of Jewel's "Standing Still" floated through the speakers, I began to hum softly. I couldn't help but sing, the lyrics fit so perfectly with how I felt.
Cutting through the darkest night are my two headlights
Try to keep it clear, but I'm losing it here
To the twilight
There's a dead end to my left
There's a burning bush to my right
You aren't in sight
You aren't in sight
He looked at me questioningly, but didn't say anything. For that I am thankful.
Do you want me
Like I want you
Or am I standing still
Beneath a darkened sky
Or am I standing still
With the scenery flying by
Or am I standing still
Out of the corner of my eye
Was that you passing me by
Mothers on the stoop
Boys in souped-up coupes
On this hot summer night
Between fight and flight
Is the blind man's sight
And a choice that's right
I roll the window down
Feel like I'm gonna drown in this strange town
Feel broken down
Feel broken down
Do you want me
Like I want you
Or am I standing still
Beneath a darkened sky
Or am I standing still
With the scenery flying by
Or am I standing still
Out of the corner of my eye
Was that you passing me by
Sweet sorrow - He said call tomorrow
Sweet sorrow - He said call tomorrow
Do you want me
Like I want you
Or am I standing still
Beneath a darkened sky
Or am I standing still
With the scenery flying by
Or am I standing still
Out of the corner of my eye
Was that you passing me by
By the time the song was finished, I was crying freely. Max noticed and pulled over. He wrapped his heavenly arms around me. He whispered meaningless words of comfort and stoked my hair. I soon realized he was crying too.
I froze. She started to stir. Oh. Damn. Her eyes opened, and she shot up. It took her a minute to figure out where she was. Then she looked toward me. Her eyes caught mine and held them. She stared at me for a moment, puzzled.
"What are you doing here?"
I looked at her with pure hatred. "Wouldn't you like to know." My voice had venom that even someone as cold as Isabel would have been shocked at.
Tess got the message. "Look, I just wanted to help-"
"You wanted to help?? And how did you plan on doing that? By marching in and ruining our lives? Yeah, you're sure helped a ton, Tess. I'm a wreck because you have the one man I'll ever love and you take him for granted! I did everything to push you two together, I put myself and Max through hell just so you could follow your god damned destiny! I sacrificed happiness for the world! And no one cares about me! 'Liz broke Max's heart, stay away from her.' Never once has anyone thought about what I've been through!! Damn you, Tess!" My voice had grown quiet by this point and I slowly became aware of the moisture on my cheeks. "Damn you." I whispered, more to myself than the rather frightened looking woman in front of me. As the realization of what I had admitted, I felt my knees turn to jello and suddenly I was on the ground. Closing my eyes, I tried to block all thoughts from my mind.
"I never thought…" Tess began. "I always wondered why you hated me so much. I guess now I have my answer. I know you're mad at me, and from what you said, you have all the right to be, but please listen to me when I say that I am truly sorry."
As she finished her speech, I gradually found the strength to sit up. I don't for the life of me know why, but I believed her. She sounded so sincere, like she really meant it. "I believe you. I'm sorry that we had to start on such bad terms. Maybe, we could, you know, be friends?"
Tess seemed confused for a moment, then a smile broke out on her face. "Sure. Why not?" And for the first time in weeks, I smiled a real smile. "But I do have one question. You don't have to answer, but why did you set it up to make it look like you slept with Kyle? You were bringing me and Max together, but why?"
This stunned me. How did she know I set it up? "How did you know?"
"Oh come on. You would never hurt Max unless there was a good reason. You love him too much. You said something about for the world, what was that about?"
"I." And that was the breaking point. I had to tell someone. Sure Maria knew, but of course she would know. I had to tell someone else. "Max from the future came to visit me." The look on her face was priceless. And I though Maria freaked.
"Who? I don't understand…" Man was she confused.
"Neither did I. But Max from 14 years in the future came to me with a task: I had to make Max fall out of love with me. I did countless things, but nothing was working. That thing with Kyle was a last attempt. God. I could feel his heart breaking, and I understood the pain because my own heart was being ripped out by the look on his face." I paused for a second from the look on Tess' face. "I bet you're wondering why I had to make him fall out of love with me. Well, future Max said that we got married and you felt excluded, so you left. Then the Skins attacked. Max, Isabel, and Michael weren't strong enough to fight them without you. Isabel and Michael both died and so did many other innocent people. All because of my love for Max." The look on Tess' face brought a fresh set of tears to my eyes. I knew what she was going to say.
"No, it was my fault. I'm the one who left."
"Tess. You can't think that. You wouldn't have left if we hadn't made you feel so left out. If anyone's to blame, it's me. But let's not dwell on the past, er, future, er, non future." She smiled.
"Don't hurt me, but I still have one question. What happened to future Max?"
"He disappeared. Max feel out of love with me, so the timeline ended and the Max ceased to exist." There was no emotion in my voice.
Just then, I saw Tess' eyes go wide and her jaw drop. Her hand flew to her mouth. "Oh God…" I turned to see what made her react like that. My own reaction was similar. Panic swelled up in me and I could hear my pulse throbbing in my ears. It was Max.
"Liz," His voice was quiet and full of disbelief. "How could you ever think I didn't love you anymore?"
I couldn't move. I could feel my lungs constricting and suddenly I found it difficult to breathe. I started gasping for breath, but nothing was happening. I couldn't breathe.
"Liz!" It was Max. His voice was so far away. I couldn't support myself on my knees anymore. I fell backwards, only to be caught by my savior. He laid my down all while asking me what was wrong. My vision was blurring and I was having trouble making out his words. I stopped trying to get the needed oxygen into my lungs, realizing it wasn't working. Max's hands were running along my face and I thought I felt a tear land on my cheek. Things went black. "This is it," I thought, "I'm dead." Suddenly the connection between Max and myself came roaring to life. The connection was on a level I'd never even thought possible. It was like I was Max. I knew what he was feeling, but it was more intense than ever before. Just as suddenly as it started, the connection broke leaving me breathless. I opened my eyes and inhaled deeply.
"Wow," was all I could manage. Max was looking pale and in that second, I knew I had been found out. Sure two other people knew, but now he knew that he had come to visit me from the future and that he had caused all the heartache. The look in his eyes is enough to demolish what is left of my already shattered heart. Wordlessly he took my hand and led me to the Jeep. Tess was forgotten. All I knew was in his eyes. Turning the key in the ignition, he kept his eyes on me. Finally he broke the powerful connection that was constant whenever we looked into each other's eyes. As we headed back towards town, I reached over out of impulse and turned the radio on. As the soft beginning strands of Jewel's "Standing Still" floated through the speakers, I began to hum softly. I couldn't help but sing, the lyrics fit so perfectly with how I felt.
Cutting through the darkest night are my two headlights
Try to keep it clear, but I'm losing it here
To the twilight
There's a dead end to my left
There's a burning bush to my right
You aren't in sight
You aren't in sight
He looked at me questioningly, but didn't say anything. For that I am thankful.
Do you want me
Like I want you
Or am I standing still
Beneath a darkened sky
Or am I standing still
With the scenery flying by
Or am I standing still
Out of the corner of my eye
Was that you passing me by
Mothers on the stoop
Boys in souped-up coupes
On this hot summer night
Between fight and flight
Is the blind man's sight
And a choice that's right
I roll the window down
Feel like I'm gonna drown in this strange town
Feel broken down
Feel broken down
Do you want me
Like I want you
Or am I standing still
Beneath a darkened sky
Or am I standing still
With the scenery flying by
Or am I standing still
Out of the corner of my eye
Was that you passing me by
Sweet sorrow - He said call tomorrow
Sweet sorrow - He said call tomorrow
Do you want me
Like I want you
Or am I standing still
Beneath a darkened sky
Or am I standing still
With the scenery flying by
Or am I standing still
Out of the corner of my eye
Was that you passing me by
By the time the song was finished, I was crying freely. Max noticed and pulled over. He wrapped his heavenly arms around me. He whispered meaningless words of comfort and stoked my hair. I soon realized he was crying too.
