They walked in to the Crashdown together. If Tess cared what Maria thought of her, that would have been a mistake. As soon as they walked in, Maria's face turned angry.

Michael didn't seem to notice. He walked into the back room, leaving Tess alone with Liz and Maria. <> she thought. But at the same time, it was sort of cute that he didn't notice the death looks that Liz and Maria were giving her.

Tess saw Liz give Maria a pleading look. Maria said something in return, and walked up to Tess' booth.

She pulled out a pad and a pen. "Anything I can get you, Space Slut?"

"Yeah, a Blood of Alien smoothie," Tess replied coolly. If Maria wanted to play this game, that was fine with her. "And I wondered why your tip pocket looked so empty."

Maria ignored her and walked over to the counter where Michael's head was sticking out. She ran her fingers through Michael's hair as she gave him the order, then glanced at Tess, as if to say, <>

Whatever. She didn't need Maria's boyfriend. Tess took the free time to examine her nails. One of them had broken this morning, not to mention that her pale orange purple polish was coming off. She'd have to do them tonight. Too bad she didn't have any friends for a girls' night.

Not that she couldn't make friends. So far, Tish Okabe and Taylor Richardson both seemed like feasible options. She decided that when she got home, she'd call them and invite them. If they asked why she had no parents, she'd just tell them that her dad was out for the night.

"Blood of Alien smoothie," Maria interuppted her thoughts. "Too bad it's not YOUR blood, not that anyone would want it if it had you."

Was that supposed to be insulting? Whatever. She ignored it, and Maria left.

Tess finished her smoothie and left $2.94, no tip. The smoothie cost $2.95, but she knew it would piss Liz (and maybe even Maria) off, and neither of them would do anything about it to her over one cent.

She walked out of the Crashdown. Then realized that she had no ride home, living on the other side of town. <> Nasedo had been planning to buy a car, but he'd never gotten around to it before leaving to play Pierce. He'd left all his money to her, though. Maybe she should get one. Unless she wanted to rely on Michael for rides the rest of her life.

Looking around, she saw Taylor Richardson walking up. What luck. A savior.

"Tess!" Taylor called out when she reached her. "Hey!"

"Hey," Tess replied, "What are you doing?"

"Well. My afternoon is pretty busy. First I'm going THERE," she pointed to the UFO museum, "to check out Max Evans, and-"

"Wait," Tess interrupted. What was wrong with damn planet? "You like Max?"

"Yes, omigod, he is SUCH a hottie," Taylor replied in her rushed voice. "Plus he's really smart and really nice. And today I found out he worked here, so decided to pay a little visit. You know him pretty well, right? I've seen you with him."

"Yeah. Don't bother, though," Tess advised. "He is head over heels hopelessly dovoted to Liz Parker." She must have grimaced while saying the name, because Taylor made a face.

"Ugh, I don't like her, do you?" She must have decided on her own accord that Tess didn't like her either, because she continued without letting Tess reply. "I don't know what Max sees in her."

"No kidding, but it's really hopeless," Tess warned. "When I first moved here, I wanted him, but-"

"Oh, you like Max?" Taylor asked. "Then never mind. I can't go for a friend's crush."

Not that she wasn't touched by Taylor's considering her as a friend and deciding not to go for Max even though she'd probably liked Max since before Tess came to Roswell, but the reference to Tess liking him hurt. "No. Not anymore," she lied through her teeth. Actually, it wasn't technically a lie--she didn't like Max. But she did love him. In theory. And as of now, she'd rather anyone break of the Dreamcouple, even if it weren't her, just so she wouldn't have to deal with Liz gloating every time they passed in the hall and by their lockers.

"You sure?" Taylor's voice startled her from her thoughts.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. I'm over him. Go for it, girl." She grinned.

"Okay, but then you're coming with me," Taylor practically ordered her. "He knows you better--he barely even knows my name. You can...introduce us, or whatever."

"Fine," Tess agreed, "but just so you're warned, he doesn't like me that much." Which was somewhat of an understatement, but Taylor didn't need to know their whole history and she wasn't planning on telling her. Hopefully, Max would remember his manners and not act rudely in front of company.

"I don't care," Taylor insisted. "Let's go." She took her arm and led her across the street. When they got to the door, she turned to Tess. "How do I look?"

"Great," Tess replied. Taylor was one of the prettiest girls in the school, almost as much as Isabel. She had thin, long, dark red hair and chocolate eyes. Her height was about average; sort of tall but taller because of her platform boots. She wore a red shirt under a dark denim jacket and black pleather pants that Tess would die for.

She didn't bother telling Taylor that it probably wouldn't matter how pretty she was when there was Liz. Tess was pretty--prettier than Liz, more importantly--but Max had barely given her time of day, and the only reason he had was because she was an alien, too.

They walked in together, and Tess spotted Max's leather jacket near the back of the museum. "Come on," she whispered, tugging a little at Taylor's jacket sleeve.

Taylor suddenly looked panicked, but she followed Tess anyway. They finally reached him, but as he was turned around, he didn't notice them.

"Hey, Max," Tess started, "what do you think happened to all the aliens on board the ship?"

"What the hell are-" He turned around and noticed Taylor. "Oh. Uh, we have exhibits about that all over the museum. What are you doing here?"

Tess ignored the question. It wasn't important. "No, what do YOU think? You know, like what's your personal opinion on the crash?"

"I don't believe in aliens," Max responded, "only don't tell anyone." He looked at Taylor for that. So, maybe there was hope after all.

"Don't listen to him," Tess told Taylor. "He is the most obsessed UFO nut in the world. Like, certified."

"Tess, what are you doing here?" Max repeated.

"Polite, aren't we?" She glared for a second. "I'm visiting. You know Taylor Richardson?"

"I've seen her," he replied. Then he turned to Taylor. "You're in my history class, right? Nice seeing you."

Taylor flushed slightly. "Yeah, you too." Pause. "So...how do you like working here?"

Tess rolled her eyes. "It can be pretty fun," Max answered. "Especially when the REALLY obsessed UFO nuts come to visit. Like, certified for REAL?" He made of point of looking over at Tess at that and she wondered whether or not it would be too distasteful to swoon, like in Bye Bye Birdie.

Taylor giggled. "Yeah, I can bet." Another pause. "Oh, you know what? I think Tess and I have to go. We have...an appointment. At the mall."

Tess didn't want to leave, but Taylor dragged her by the arm. "Nice to see you, Max!"

As soon as they got outside, Tess turned on her. "What was that for? You two were getting along well!"

Taylor rolled her eyes. "I was NERVOUS," she pointed out, as if any idiot should have realized. Which they should have, but so what? "I can't flirt when i'm nervous."

"So, what, you only flirt with guys you don't like?" Tess questioned. It seemed a LITTLE strange.

"What an attitude." Taylor called her on it, waving her hand in the air.

"Well, excusez-moi," Tess replied sarcastically.

"You're excused," Taylor dismissed it like she were the queen of the world addressing a subject. It was sort of cute, actually, because Tess WAS actually a queen of a different world. "Now come with me to the mall. Amanda Larsen is throwing a party Friday night and I need a new outfit. It's an Open House--you should come. Fifty bucks if you can get Max to come, too."

"In your dreams," Tess shot. "Unless you plan on stealing him LITERALLY under Liz's nose."

Taylor shrugged. "Why not?"

<> Tess thought, not voicing her opinion.

They reached Taylor's car, a silver VW Bug, and Taylor unlocked the doors.

"I guess I'm going shopping then, too," Tess commented as she got into the car.

Taylor didn't answer. Instead, she turned the radio switch on and put a tape in. An introduction to a song started to play. "Kim McCarty. Ever heard of her?"

Tess shook her head, and the words started to play.

I'm not caught up
In some little girl's fantasy
I'm don't believe
In a frivilous chlihood dream
I'm not waiting for the prince with a slipper in his hand
Or the one with the magical kiss
I'm not waiting for a frog to turn into a man
But I'll admit to believing this

Someday my prince will come
On a white horse he'll be riding
Someday my prince will come
To carry me away
Don't you know he's coming back
In all his glory
Claiming the victory
Someday my prince will come
He's coming back for me

It was perfect. Like Tess' dream of Max. He didn't have to impress her--she was already smitten with him. Only problem was, it didn't exactly work out that way. He HAD impressed her immensly (okay, except for throwing her on the hard desert floor that one night), but he wasn't planning on carrying her away on his white horse any time soon.

Tess forced her mind off of Max. He didn't love her. It was a done deal. And anyway, Taylor was going for him.

"Cute song, isn't it," Taylor interrupted her thoughts. "Come on, we're here."