My Summer
After the revelations of the Crashdown Cafe, Liz, Maria and Alex went their seperate ways, each thinking deeply about the day's events. The summer vacation was only five days old, and already the Czechoslovakians were off to find out...where the rest of the Czechoslovakians were.
It had taken so much effort and energy to get Max, Michael and Isobel to open up to them, after Liz's shooting last year. And still there were things that weren't being shared. How could their friendship stay the same if whatever the aliens were looking for could somehow get them back to their home planet?
These were the thoughts of Alex Manes as he lay on his unmade bed that evening. It was early, far too early to go to bed, but he felt strangely depressed after the day's events. At first he had thought that Isobel had been busy, too busy to call him. But now it seemed as though she had gone off on another one of her alien jaunts with Max and Michael, leaving him behind.
Never mind the fact that one of the couple Alex-and Isobel was not of this earth, there was also the fact that they hadn't been getting on well recently. Isobel thought that he was even more embarrassing than he had been previously, and Alex secretly believed that Isobel had escaped from the planet FashionWorld.
Although he hated to think so, considering what Liz thought about the alien field trip, he was beginning to think that it was for the best. He and Isobel had needed some time apart, and maybe after she'd ahd her space, they could begin to work things out.
He refused to believe that Isobel's note had been a false reassurance, and that maybe things weren't as okay as he wanted them to be. He flat down refused to believe it.
Alex wasn't going to let Isobel go. Alien discoveries and insane parental units apart, he loved her.
Isn't that all that matters?
Maria Deluca was extremely confused about the note she'd received from Michael, her on-off lust object.
They'd broken up a while back, he was unable to cope with the relationship. Yet he had still written that note to her, to reassure her that he was going to be okay. What was that supposed to mean?
She sat in the middle of her room, cross legged, and smelling one of her favourite oils, tangerine. Aromatherapy was the only thing that she could rely on these days. Liz was in a permanent state of insanity after Max had healed her almost a year ago, even when she and Max had been a couple she had never been the Liz Parker that Maria had known and loved since kindergarten. Alex was too busy sucking face with Isobel to even complain about his military father any more. Her mother had always had a slightly dubious state of mind, and now that she seemed to be embarking on a flirtation with Sheriff Valenti Maria's suspicions were proved, her mother was a nut case.
Maria wasn't even sure what she wanted from Michael any more. Whether she wanted to try and stay friends with him, stay completely out of his way during the summer, or do her best to get things the way she had previously wanted.
Her with him.
Together, forever.
Liz was distracted from her diary by a familiar rattling outside her home. It was the rattling of Max's car, an old Jeep that had seen its better days about twenty years ago.
'I thought they weren't supposed to be back for another week? Unless they left on Friday and we didn't get the notes until today,' she mused. Never for one moment thinking that Max had stopped the car, and was coming to see her, she sat back down and picked up her pen, ready to continue her writings.
She was hurt and angry that Max hadn't written to her, had left it to Isobel to do for him. What was it about her that kept on pushing him away? Whenever they seemed to be nearing a semblance of a normal relationship, something distracted him, and they were as distant as they had been before. She wrote down her innermost feelings, taking care to mention her new purchase in the diary.
The Truth Teller had been placed on her windowsill, in pride of place so that it was one of the first things she saw when she woke up in the morning. Liz was fascinated by the colour combinations, it looked as though it was powered by fibre-optics changing colour, although Liz knew that it was impossible.
"Hey," Liz almost jumped out of her skin at the sound of that voice. The voice that haunted her in her dreams, and tortured her during the day.
"Hi," she said softly, turning around to face Max. "What are you doing back here?" she asked, trying to stop her excitement under control. "In the letters it said you wouldn't be back for a week."
Max grimaced, and sat down gingerly next to her on her inflatable sofa. "We were, but there was a change of plan."
"What were you doing anyway? What were you really looking for?" Liz asked Max. "And I want to know that truth. I'm your...friend,and I deserve to know," she said, trying to choose her words carefully.
Max looked at her silently for a moment, and then spoke. "Isobel had a dream, and in it she found an object that allowed her to see the past. She saw two people who she swears were our parents. We took a drive out to the desert to see if we could find it. Michael and Isobel wanted to go home, so we drove back, but..."
"You can tell me Max, go on," Liz urged, wanting to know what it was that had happened. He sighed and continued.
"We came to a place called Sand Wood, and I, I don't know I had a hunch about this tiny little antiques place. God knows why I thought it would be there, but I persuaded the others to go in with me. The guy in there said he's sold something like it to a lady about thirty years ago."
"Max, do you by any chance know what this thing was called?" Liz asked quickly. For if she wasn't mistaken, it sounded very much as though Max, Isobel and Michael had spent their day looking for the one thing she had bought that day,
"A truth teller. What..." Max lost the ability to speak as Liz reached behind her, and took the Truth Teller off the window sill, and handed it carefully to him. He carefully felt the smooth as glass surface, and admired the swirling colours, before asking, "Liz, how in the world did you get this? Do you have any idea of what it can do?"
Liz sat back down beside him, and explained about meeting Sylvia in the new shop in the mall, and what she had told them about the Teller.
Max grabbed her hand suddenly, bringing her to her feet with unexpected force. "We have to get back to my house. Bring your cell phone and we'll call Maria, Michael and Alex on the way. It's no use in excluding you guys now, not after you've found this. If this can work for us..." he turned and met Liz's eyes with a long missed intensity, "I could find out where our home is."
To be continued...
After the revelations of the Crashdown Cafe, Liz, Maria and Alex went their seperate ways, each thinking deeply about the day's events. The summer vacation was only five days old, and already the Czechoslovakians were off to find out...where the rest of the Czechoslovakians were.
It had taken so much effort and energy to get Max, Michael and Isobel to open up to them, after Liz's shooting last year. And still there were things that weren't being shared. How could their friendship stay the same if whatever the aliens were looking for could somehow get them back to their home planet?
These were the thoughts of Alex Manes as he lay on his unmade bed that evening. It was early, far too early to go to bed, but he felt strangely depressed after the day's events. At first he had thought that Isobel had been busy, too busy to call him. But now it seemed as though she had gone off on another one of her alien jaunts with Max and Michael, leaving him behind.
Never mind the fact that one of the couple Alex-and Isobel was not of this earth, there was also the fact that they hadn't been getting on well recently. Isobel thought that he was even more embarrassing than he had been previously, and Alex secretly believed that Isobel had escaped from the planet FashionWorld.
Although he hated to think so, considering what Liz thought about the alien field trip, he was beginning to think that it was for the best. He and Isobel had needed some time apart, and maybe after she'd ahd her space, they could begin to work things out.
He refused to believe that Isobel's note had been a false reassurance, and that maybe things weren't as okay as he wanted them to be. He flat down refused to believe it.
Alex wasn't going to let Isobel go. Alien discoveries and insane parental units apart, he loved her.
Isn't that all that matters?
Maria Deluca was extremely confused about the note she'd received from Michael, her on-off lust object.
They'd broken up a while back, he was unable to cope with the relationship. Yet he had still written that note to her, to reassure her that he was going to be okay. What was that supposed to mean?
She sat in the middle of her room, cross legged, and smelling one of her favourite oils, tangerine. Aromatherapy was the only thing that she could rely on these days. Liz was in a permanent state of insanity after Max had healed her almost a year ago, even when she and Max had been a couple she had never been the Liz Parker that Maria had known and loved since kindergarten. Alex was too busy sucking face with Isobel to even complain about his military father any more. Her mother had always had a slightly dubious state of mind, and now that she seemed to be embarking on a flirtation with Sheriff Valenti Maria's suspicions were proved, her mother was a nut case.
Maria wasn't even sure what she wanted from Michael any more. Whether she wanted to try and stay friends with him, stay completely out of his way during the summer, or do her best to get things the way she had previously wanted.
Her with him.
Together, forever.
Liz was distracted from her diary by a familiar rattling outside her home. It was the rattling of Max's car, an old Jeep that had seen its better days about twenty years ago.
'I thought they weren't supposed to be back for another week? Unless they left on Friday and we didn't get the notes until today,' she mused. Never for one moment thinking that Max had stopped the car, and was coming to see her, she sat back down and picked up her pen, ready to continue her writings.
She was hurt and angry that Max hadn't written to her, had left it to Isobel to do for him. What was it about her that kept on pushing him away? Whenever they seemed to be nearing a semblance of a normal relationship, something distracted him, and they were as distant as they had been before. She wrote down her innermost feelings, taking care to mention her new purchase in the diary.
The Truth Teller had been placed on her windowsill, in pride of place so that it was one of the first things she saw when she woke up in the morning. Liz was fascinated by the colour combinations, it looked as though it was powered by fibre-optics changing colour, although Liz knew that it was impossible.
"Hey," Liz almost jumped out of her skin at the sound of that voice. The voice that haunted her in her dreams, and tortured her during the day.
"Hi," she said softly, turning around to face Max. "What are you doing back here?" she asked, trying to stop her excitement under control. "In the letters it said you wouldn't be back for a week."
Max grimaced, and sat down gingerly next to her on her inflatable sofa. "We were, but there was a change of plan."
"What were you doing anyway? What were you really looking for?" Liz asked Max. "And I want to know that truth. I'm your...friend,and I deserve to know," she said, trying to choose her words carefully.
Max looked at her silently for a moment, and then spoke. "Isobel had a dream, and in it she found an object that allowed her to see the past. She saw two people who she swears were our parents. We took a drive out to the desert to see if we could find it. Michael and Isobel wanted to go home, so we drove back, but..."
"You can tell me Max, go on," Liz urged, wanting to know what it was that had happened. He sighed and continued.
"We came to a place called Sand Wood, and I, I don't know I had a hunch about this tiny little antiques place. God knows why I thought it would be there, but I persuaded the others to go in with me. The guy in there said he's sold something like it to a lady about thirty years ago."
"Max, do you by any chance know what this thing was called?" Liz asked quickly. For if she wasn't mistaken, it sounded very much as though Max, Isobel and Michael had spent their day looking for the one thing she had bought that day,
"A truth teller. What..." Max lost the ability to speak as Liz reached behind her, and took the Truth Teller off the window sill, and handed it carefully to him. He carefully felt the smooth as glass surface, and admired the swirling colours, before asking, "Liz, how in the world did you get this? Do you have any idea of what it can do?"
Liz sat back down beside him, and explained about meeting Sylvia in the new shop in the mall, and what she had told them about the Teller.
Max grabbed her hand suddenly, bringing her to her feet with unexpected force. "We have to get back to my house. Bring your cell phone and we'll call Maria, Michael and Alex on the way. It's no use in excluding you guys now, not after you've found this. If this can work for us..." he turned and met Liz's eyes with a long missed intensity, "I could find out where our home is."
To be continued...