A horn honked outside, and Tess looked out the window. She was suprised to see Max's jeep there with Max, Liz, and Michael in it. She'd assumed that Michael would pick her up and Max and Liz, if they came, would get there through Max. But now she realized it was a dumb thought--even if Max hated her, he was still Michael's best friend and if there was room in the jeep, why not take them, too?
She got her shoes on, went outside, and got into the back of the jeep with Michael. "You know how to get there, right?" she asked Max.
"Yeah," he answered without looking at her, and Tess' face almost burned in shame. That was how far she'd sunk--her soulmate didn't even want to see her if unnecessary.
In a few minutes, they were there. Max parked towards the end of the block, and they walked into the house.
The first things Tess noticed were the colors. It almost looked the like disco, with all the outrageous decorations that didn't match at all.
The second thing she noticed was that as soon as he walked in the door, Michael started dancing with Taylor, who was standing near the door. She didn't know why it bothered her so much--she didn't really 'like' Michael and she knew Taylor was interested in Max. Actually, she'd heard Taylor and Michael used to be good friends. But still.
Still what? a nasty voice in her head challenged. Still you're hot for Michael and don't want anyone dancing with him?
Tess groaned. It must have been her imagination. No WAY she was going insane and having voices. There was just no way.
To shut up her brain, she took a bottle of beer from a table and took a sip.
She nearly spit it out. Ugh. That was disgusting.
And beer wasn't supposed to be that strong, was it? So why, all of a sudden, did she feel tipsy? She wasn't drunk, that much she knew, but she was too high for the amount of alcohol she'd had.
Suddenly, the bottle was ripped from her hand. "DON'T drink that stuff," Max warned, glaring. "We don't have as high tolerance from alcohol as everyone else. Do you want to blurt out everything in front of the whole party?"
Tess scowled. "I didn't know, okay? Give me a break." She walked over to where a bunch of kids where hanging out. Lucinda Baker, obviously drunk off her ass, was dancing around a pole like a stripper, and the guys were cheering.
It made her want to puke. Some people had no dignity.
The thought disturbed her, and she instantly denied it. She had plenty of dignity--she might have been desparate, but she'd never sunk that low.
She moved away, and almost bumped into Michael and Taylor, who'd stopped dancing and were now talking. "Hey," Michael greeted her. "How's it going?"
"Got totally chewed out from Max for having some beer," she replied, not caring whether Taylor became curious or not. "Apparently, my resistance isn't as strong as some other people's."
His eyebrows raised. "And he never told me. I'm going to kill that guy one day..."
Taylor obviously feeling left out, started to talk. "You know Amanda spent the whole day setting this stuff up? That's why she wasn't in school today. It's not very conservative, but it works, don't you think?" She didn't let them tell her what they thought, because *obviously* they agreed with her. "You guys want food?"
They walked into the kitchen with her. On the table was every type of snack anyone could ever want. Tess took a barbeque corn chip and ate it. Not bad. Barbeque sauce wasn't quite Tabasco, but it worked.
"Hey, what's that?" Michael asked, pointing to a fog coming out from the closet. It was light blue and very smoky, and Tess didn't realize what it was until it started surrounding Michael.
"Shit!" she exclaimed. She grabbed one of Michael's arms and pulled him, but he was stuck in the cloud. "Taylor, help!"
Taylor looked even more frightened than Tess felt, but she took Michael's other arm and tried to pull him out. Which was extremely brave on her part, because she had no idea whatsoever of the real situation. At least Michael probably knew it had something to do with the Dark Angels.
They almost got him out, but at the last second, the fog gave an extra pull, Michael disappeared into it, and it evaporated.
"Oh, wow," Taylor muttered. She turned to Tess. "What was that?"
"I have no idea," Tess lied. She turned and ran, looking for Max. Finally, she saw him and Liz slow dancing near the stairs. She rushed over to them and shook them out of their trance.
"Max, they have him," she panted.
He gave her a weird look, but didn't stop dancing. Apparently, he didn't realize the importance of the situation. "Who has who?"
<> her mind instantly corrected, but she ignored it. Now was not the time for a grammar lesson. "The Dark Angels," Tess told him, "you know, the bad aliens? They have Michael."
Max pushed Liz away, and something evil inside Tess' mind loved the momentary look of pained rejection that crossed over Liz's face. "They what? How?"
"It's called a Sonta Fesh on our planet, but Nasedo translated it into Latin for me," Tess explained. She was fluent in Latin, Spanish, French, Hebrew, Arabic, Italian, Russian, and many other languages. "It's a Nebula Inductio, which translates roughly into English as Erasing Fog."
Max had no reaction except for a look of stupidity that she would have thought only possible on Michael. The stupid boy! Did she have to spell it out to him in public?
"ERASING fog. They-" she lowered her voice "send a light blue fog and it has to target someone of our species. They created it for the war. And even though we have human DNA in us, we're partially Czechsolovokian, so it recognized us. I don't know why the fog went for Michael and not me, but it's got him."
"Did anyone see?" Liz asked.
"Taylor Richardson," Tess replied. "But she doesn't know I know anything about it."
"Well, that's good," Liz said.
It was sort of hypocritical for a human who wanted to be considered one of them didn't want other humans to know about the secret [especially since this particular human had told more than one person about it], but she ignored it. Now was not the time to care about some petty little rivalry with Liz. Tess lowered her voice even further. "Nasedo has some sort of tracking device that he gave me. Based on exactly where the fog was, it can figure out exactly where the Dark Angels are by pointing us in the right direction. And it's in my pocket."
She knew Max understood somewhat, but not totally. "So...you can go back and find out how to find him?"
"Yeah, I can. I have to hurry, though. But." He had to know. They couldn't go into this unprepared. "They're not going to kill him. They're keeping him as bait for the rest of us. It's a trap."
"It doesn't matter," Max insisted. "We have to get him back. I can't believe you even suggested that--after all he's done for you? This is how you treat the guy who welcomed you?"
Tess was taken aback. Suggested what? All she'd done was warn Max about what would happen. She'd never said they shouldn't go.
<> she told herself. She was forever the victim of misunderstanding, and she shouldn't have expected it to change just because she and Max were on the same side now. Not that they hadn't been before--he just hadn't realized it until now.
"Fine, hold on." She went back into the kitchen. Luckily, Taylor had left. She picked the small device out of her pocket. It looked sort of like a stopwatch. She pressed a button, and a few moments later, a green arrow appeared and pointed in a certain direction.
She put the machine back in her pocket and walked over to Max and Liz. "Okay, let's go. We have to get Isabel." Looking at Liz, she added, "and Maria and Alex, if they want to come."
Liz smiled faintly, but it quickly disappeared, and her face clouded over with fear as she started to slightly shake. They got in the Jeep, and Max sped twenty miles over the speed limit to his house. They got there, and he ran in.
Tess looked at Liz warily, wondering if she was going to be obnoxious. Instead, she looked back at Tess with a look of trepidation in her eyes and started to get out of the jeep.
"Wait! I'm not going to hurt you. Where are you going?" Tess asked, competely baffled.
Liz's eyes started to fill with tears. "I can't do this, Tess. I'm sorry--I can't. I know that at times I pretend to be tough, but I can't risk my life for this. I thought, when I first got involved with this, that I would be strong enough to handle everything. But I guess I'm not. So I'm quitting now before I crack. Goodbye, Tess. I promise that I won't tell anyone, ever, about your secret. Tell Max--" her voice cracked "tell him I'll miss him." She leaned in and whispered. "Don't tell him that I'm not sure whether I still love him or not."
"Wait, you're walking out and leaving ME to deal with them?" Tess demanded. With a little pussy that girl was.
She was actually crying now. "I'm sorry, Tess. Goodbye." With that, she turned and ran away.
As soon as the anger had appeared, it faded. Wow. She actually felt bad for Liz because of her weakness. She realized now that Liz wasn't bad; she wasn't out to make Tess' life a personal hell. She just wasn't as strong as she wanted to be. "Bye, Liz," she whispered at Liz's receeding figure.
Max and Isabel walked outside about a minute later. Isabel's face was as white as a sheet as they got into the car.
"We left a note saying we went on a trip with your dad," Isabel told Tess. "And we gave him your cell phone nu-"
"Where's Liz?" Max interrupted accusingly. He turned angrily on Tess. "What did you do to her?"
"Nothing!" she insisted. "She-she left. She doesn't think she's strong enough to do this--she said tell you she'll miss you."
Max reached for her and let out a sound so reminicent of an angry tiger that Tess recoiled in fright. "Liz would NOT do that. What did you DO to her? Where IS she, bitch?"
"MAX!!!" Isabel yelled, grabbing his arm. "Get a fucking HOLD on yourself!" Tess had never seen Isabel so furious. "Just because you don't believe her doesn't mean you can hit her!" She looked at Tess, eyes not warming to her, either. "Is it true?"
Tess nodded. She reached into her purse and took out her cell phone, then held it out to Isabel. "Call her." She would have given it to Max, but she was afraid he would go crazy and break it when he heard the truth.
"Thank you." Isabel dialed a number. "Liz? It's Isabel...Yeah, Tess said..." She listened for a long time, and then nodded to Max.
"Give me that!" he raged. She grabbed the phone. "Liz?...what do you mean?!?" He listened for a while. "Damn you, Liz Parker!" He pressed the off button and tossed the phone back to Tess. "Bitch."
She wasn't sure whether he was referring to her or Liz, but she knew not to push it. Obviously, Max was heartbroken. He knew now how she'd felt when she came.
They arrived at Maria's house, and Isabel ran inside. Tess was scared of being alone with an angry Max, but Isabel, probably sensing that, took a very short time to get Maria out and into the jeep.
Maria was practically hyperventilating when she sat down next to Tess. "I have to call home and leave a message," she told them, taking a cell phone out of a small bag. "What should I tell my mom?"
"Tell her you're on a trip with Tess' dad," Isabel suggested. "That's what we said. Better if all our stories match. Who's going in to get Alex when we get to his house--Maria?"
Maria shrgged. "Sure, his parents know me the best out of the rest of you. That would work. I'll go for Liz, also. No offense, Max, but I don't think her parents will want you alone with her overnight after that desert stunt you two pulled last year."
Max didn't say anything, so Isabel spoke for him. "We're not picking Liz up."
"What?" Maria leaned forward. "What are you talking about--of course we are; is she sick or anything?"
"She quit," Tess answered. "Got up and left. Supposedly, she's not strong enough to deal with this stuff." But anyone could have told her that months ago.
"I didn't ask you, bitch," Maria retorted. "Max, Isabel?"
"She's telling the truth, Maria," Isabel replied.
"Liz did NOT 'get up and leave,'" Maria declared, maddening. "I don't know what mind game Tess thinks she's playing with you-"
Tess lost it. "Shut the fuck UP already!!!" she yelled. Max stopped short and everyone looked at her, shocked. It was the first time she'd asserted herself, but it shouldn't have been. "Let's get a couple of things straight, okay? I did NOT come to Roswell to ruin all of your lives, first. I came with Nasedo to help you find your destinies and save your families. Second, I don't manipulate people unless absolutely necessary. I DIDN'T give Max the hallucinations, and I didn't give Michael and Isabel their dreams. I had them myself--that's why Nasedo knew it was so crucial to bring me to you. They were programmed into us. Third, I am just as much, percentage-wise, human as Max, Isabel, and Michael. Meaning, I have feelings, too. Fourth, Liz DID, in fact, 'get up and leave,' and it's not my fault. And I think we should accept both those facts. Fifth and last--Maria? I am NOT fucking Michael. So get over yourself." They all looked sufficiantly shell-shocked, so she gave them a small smile. "Now. I hope that we can all be friends."
Nobody said anything for a long time. Max finally started up the car again and headed towards Alex's house. When they got there, Maria got out of the car and walked up to the door.
Isabel turned around and smiled sort of sheepishly. "Sorry, Tess. I know we were judgemental of you. Only Michael accepted you. Who ever would have thought Michael to be the most righteous of us?" Tess smiled to herself. "But I'm sorry."
Tess looked at Isabel's aura. It had only waves of sincerity and regret in it. "Okay," she sighed. "It's all right. Friends?"
"Sisters."
Tess always hated mushy scenes like this on TV and in books, but somehow, she didn't mind them in real life. In small doses. And this dose was small enough, because just then, Maria and Alex walked out of the house.
"So we're going to chase the bad guys," Alex babbled as he got in after Maria. "Well, that's great. Hope we have our heads at the end."
"You can leave if you want to desert us," Max muttered bitterly.
"Max, man, I'm sorry about Liz," Alex said.
"Yeah, well." Max turned on the radio, and suprisingly, the song from Taylor's tape was playing.
I'm not caught up
In some little girl's fantasy
I'm don't believe
In some 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
I've never lived
In a castle by the sea
No prince and slave
Or terrible dragons just for me
I've never been rescued from a tower by my hair
Or in all of the kingdom been the one the most fair
But I'm gonna be a princess in eternity
'Cause a handsome prince is coming for me
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
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
He's coming back
He's coming back
He's coming back
He's coming back
He's coming back
He's coming back
Back for me.
She got her shoes on, went outside, and got into the back of the jeep with Michael. "You know how to get there, right?" she asked Max.
"Yeah," he answered without looking at her, and Tess' face almost burned in shame. That was how far she'd sunk--her soulmate didn't even want to see her if unnecessary.
In a few minutes, they were there. Max parked towards the end of the block, and they walked into the house.
The first things Tess noticed were the colors. It almost looked the like disco, with all the outrageous decorations that didn't match at all.
The second thing she noticed was that as soon as he walked in the door, Michael started dancing with Taylor, who was standing near the door. She didn't know why it bothered her so much--she didn't really 'like' Michael and she knew Taylor was interested in Max. Actually, she'd heard Taylor and Michael used to be good friends. But still.
Still what? a nasty voice in her head challenged. Still you're hot for Michael and don't want anyone dancing with him?
Tess groaned. It must have been her imagination. No WAY she was going insane and having voices. There was just no way.
To shut up her brain, she took a bottle of beer from a table and took a sip.
She nearly spit it out. Ugh. That was disgusting.
And beer wasn't supposed to be that strong, was it? So why, all of a sudden, did she feel tipsy? She wasn't drunk, that much she knew, but she was too high for the amount of alcohol she'd had.
Suddenly, the bottle was ripped from her hand. "DON'T drink that stuff," Max warned, glaring. "We don't have as high tolerance from alcohol as everyone else. Do you want to blurt out everything in front of the whole party?"
Tess scowled. "I didn't know, okay? Give me a break." She walked over to where a bunch of kids where hanging out. Lucinda Baker, obviously drunk off her ass, was dancing around a pole like a stripper, and the guys were cheering.
It made her want to puke. Some people had no dignity.
The thought disturbed her, and she instantly denied it. She had plenty of dignity--she might have been desparate, but she'd never sunk that low.
She moved away, and almost bumped into Michael and Taylor, who'd stopped dancing and were now talking. "Hey," Michael greeted her. "How's it going?"
"Got totally chewed out from Max for having some beer," she replied, not caring whether Taylor became curious or not. "Apparently, my resistance isn't as strong as some other people's."
His eyebrows raised. "And he never told me. I'm going to kill that guy one day..."
Taylor obviously feeling left out, started to talk. "You know Amanda spent the whole day setting this stuff up? That's why she wasn't in school today. It's not very conservative, but it works, don't you think?" She didn't let them tell her what they thought, because *obviously* they agreed with her. "You guys want food?"
They walked into the kitchen with her. On the table was every type of snack anyone could ever want. Tess took a barbeque corn chip and ate it. Not bad. Barbeque sauce wasn't quite Tabasco, but it worked.
"Hey, what's that?" Michael asked, pointing to a fog coming out from the closet. It was light blue and very smoky, and Tess didn't realize what it was until it started surrounding Michael.
"Shit!" she exclaimed. She grabbed one of Michael's arms and pulled him, but he was stuck in the cloud. "Taylor, help!"
Taylor looked even more frightened than Tess felt, but she took Michael's other arm and tried to pull him out. Which was extremely brave on her part, because she had no idea whatsoever of the real situation. At least Michael probably knew it had something to do with the Dark Angels.
They almost got him out, but at the last second, the fog gave an extra pull, Michael disappeared into it, and it evaporated.
"Oh, wow," Taylor muttered. She turned to Tess. "What was that?"
"I have no idea," Tess lied. She turned and ran, looking for Max. Finally, she saw him and Liz slow dancing near the stairs. She rushed over to them and shook them out of their trance.
"Max, they have him," she panted.
He gave her a weird look, but didn't stop dancing. Apparently, he didn't realize the importance of the situation. "Who has who?"
<
Max pushed Liz away, and something evil inside Tess' mind loved the momentary look of pained rejection that crossed over Liz's face. "They what? How?"
"It's called a Sonta Fesh on our planet, but Nasedo translated it into Latin for me," Tess explained. She was fluent in Latin, Spanish, French, Hebrew, Arabic, Italian, Russian, and many other languages. "It's a Nebula Inductio, which translates roughly into English as Erasing Fog."
Max had no reaction except for a look of stupidity that she would have thought only possible on Michael. The stupid boy! Did she have to spell it out to him in public?
"ERASING fog. They-" she lowered her voice "send a light blue fog and it has to target someone of our species. They created it for the war. And even though we have human DNA in us, we're partially Czechsolovokian, so it recognized us. I don't know why the fog went for Michael and not me, but it's got him."
"Did anyone see?" Liz asked.
"Taylor Richardson," Tess replied. "But she doesn't know I know anything about it."
"Well, that's good," Liz said.
It was sort of hypocritical for a human who wanted to be considered one of them didn't want other humans to know about the secret [especially since this particular human had told more than one person about it], but she ignored it. Now was not the time to care about some petty little rivalry with Liz. Tess lowered her voice even further. "Nasedo has some sort of tracking device that he gave me. Based on exactly where the fog was, it can figure out exactly where the Dark Angels are by pointing us in the right direction. And it's in my pocket."
She knew Max understood somewhat, but not totally. "So...you can go back and find out how to find him?"
"Yeah, I can. I have to hurry, though. But." He had to know. They couldn't go into this unprepared. "They're not going to kill him. They're keeping him as bait for the rest of us. It's a trap."
"It doesn't matter," Max insisted. "We have to get him back. I can't believe you even suggested that--after all he's done for you? This is how you treat the guy who welcomed you?"
Tess was taken aback. Suggested what? All she'd done was warn Max about what would happen. She'd never said they shouldn't go.
<
"Fine, hold on." She went back into the kitchen. Luckily, Taylor had left. She picked the small device out of her pocket. It looked sort of like a stopwatch. She pressed a button, and a few moments later, a green arrow appeared and pointed in a certain direction.
She put the machine back in her pocket and walked over to Max and Liz. "Okay, let's go. We have to get Isabel." Looking at Liz, she added, "and Maria and Alex, if they want to come."
Liz smiled faintly, but it quickly disappeared, and her face clouded over with fear as she started to slightly shake. They got in the Jeep, and Max sped twenty miles over the speed limit to his house. They got there, and he ran in.
Tess looked at Liz warily, wondering if she was going to be obnoxious. Instead, she looked back at Tess with a look of trepidation in her eyes and started to get out of the jeep.
"Wait! I'm not going to hurt you. Where are you going?" Tess asked, competely baffled.
Liz's eyes started to fill with tears. "I can't do this, Tess. I'm sorry--I can't. I know that at times I pretend to be tough, but I can't risk my life for this. I thought, when I first got involved with this, that I would be strong enough to handle everything. But I guess I'm not. So I'm quitting now before I crack. Goodbye, Tess. I promise that I won't tell anyone, ever, about your secret. Tell Max--" her voice cracked "tell him I'll miss him." She leaned in and whispered. "Don't tell him that I'm not sure whether I still love him or not."
"Wait, you're walking out and leaving ME to deal with them?" Tess demanded. With a little pussy that girl was.
She was actually crying now. "I'm sorry, Tess. Goodbye." With that, she turned and ran away.
As soon as the anger had appeared, it faded. Wow. She actually felt bad for Liz because of her weakness. She realized now that Liz wasn't bad; she wasn't out to make Tess' life a personal hell. She just wasn't as strong as she wanted to be. "Bye, Liz," she whispered at Liz's receeding figure.
Max and Isabel walked outside about a minute later. Isabel's face was as white as a sheet as they got into the car.
"We left a note saying we went on a trip with your dad," Isabel told Tess. "And we gave him your cell phone nu-"
"Where's Liz?" Max interrupted accusingly. He turned angrily on Tess. "What did you do to her?"
"Nothing!" she insisted. "She-she left. She doesn't think she's strong enough to do this--she said tell you she'll miss you."
Max reached for her and let out a sound so reminicent of an angry tiger that Tess recoiled in fright. "Liz would NOT do that. What did you DO to her? Where IS she, bitch?"
"MAX!!!" Isabel yelled, grabbing his arm. "Get a fucking HOLD on yourself!" Tess had never seen Isabel so furious. "Just because you don't believe her doesn't mean you can hit her!" She looked at Tess, eyes not warming to her, either. "Is it true?"
Tess nodded. She reached into her purse and took out her cell phone, then held it out to Isabel. "Call her." She would have given it to Max, but she was afraid he would go crazy and break it when he heard the truth.
"Thank you." Isabel dialed a number. "Liz? It's Isabel...Yeah, Tess said..." She listened for a long time, and then nodded to Max.
"Give me that!" he raged. She grabbed the phone. "Liz?...what do you mean?!?" He listened for a while. "Damn you, Liz Parker!" He pressed the off button and tossed the phone back to Tess. "Bitch."
She wasn't sure whether he was referring to her or Liz, but she knew not to push it. Obviously, Max was heartbroken. He knew now how she'd felt when she came.
They arrived at Maria's house, and Isabel ran inside. Tess was scared of being alone with an angry Max, but Isabel, probably sensing that, took a very short time to get Maria out and into the jeep.
Maria was practically hyperventilating when she sat down next to Tess. "I have to call home and leave a message," she told them, taking a cell phone out of a small bag. "What should I tell my mom?"
"Tell her you're on a trip with Tess' dad," Isabel suggested. "That's what we said. Better if all our stories match. Who's going in to get Alex when we get to his house--Maria?"
Maria shrgged. "Sure, his parents know me the best out of the rest of you. That would work. I'll go for Liz, also. No offense, Max, but I don't think her parents will want you alone with her overnight after that desert stunt you two pulled last year."
Max didn't say anything, so Isabel spoke for him. "We're not picking Liz up."
"What?" Maria leaned forward. "What are you talking about--of course we are; is she sick or anything?"
"She quit," Tess answered. "Got up and left. Supposedly, she's not strong enough to deal with this stuff." But anyone could have told her that months ago.
"I didn't ask you, bitch," Maria retorted. "Max, Isabel?"
"She's telling the truth, Maria," Isabel replied.
"Liz did NOT 'get up and leave,'" Maria declared, maddening. "I don't know what mind game Tess thinks she's playing with you-"
Tess lost it. "Shut the fuck UP already!!!" she yelled. Max stopped short and everyone looked at her, shocked. It was the first time she'd asserted herself, but it shouldn't have been. "Let's get a couple of things straight, okay? I did NOT come to Roswell to ruin all of your lives, first. I came with Nasedo to help you find your destinies and save your families. Second, I don't manipulate people unless absolutely necessary. I DIDN'T give Max the hallucinations, and I didn't give Michael and Isabel their dreams. I had them myself--that's why Nasedo knew it was so crucial to bring me to you. They were programmed into us. Third, I am just as much, percentage-wise, human as Max, Isabel, and Michael. Meaning, I have feelings, too. Fourth, Liz DID, in fact, 'get up and leave,' and it's not my fault. And I think we should accept both those facts. Fifth and last--Maria? I am NOT fucking Michael. So get over yourself." They all looked sufficiantly shell-shocked, so she gave them a small smile. "Now. I hope that we can all be friends."
Nobody said anything for a long time. Max finally started up the car again and headed towards Alex's house. When they got there, Maria got out of the car and walked up to the door.
Isabel turned around and smiled sort of sheepishly. "Sorry, Tess. I know we were judgemental of you. Only Michael accepted you. Who ever would have thought Michael to be the most righteous of us?" Tess smiled to herself. "But I'm sorry."
Tess looked at Isabel's aura. It had only waves of sincerity and regret in it. "Okay," she sighed. "It's all right. Friends?"
"Sisters."
Tess always hated mushy scenes like this on TV and in books, but somehow, she didn't mind them in real life. In small doses. And this dose was small enough, because just then, Maria and Alex walked out of the house.
"So we're going to chase the bad guys," Alex babbled as he got in after Maria. "Well, that's great. Hope we have our heads at the end."
"You can leave if you want to desert us," Max muttered bitterly.
"Max, man, I'm sorry about Liz," Alex said.
"Yeah, well." Max turned on the radio, and suprisingly, the song from Taylor's tape was playing.
I'm not caught up
In some little girl's fantasy
I'm don't believe
In some 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
I've never lived
In a castle by the sea
No prince and slave
Or terrible dragons just for me
I've never been rescued from a tower by my hair
Or in all of the kingdom been the one the most fair
But I'm gonna be a princess in eternity
'Cause a handsome prince is coming for me
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
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
He's coming back
He's coming back
He's coming back
He's coming back
He's coming back
He's coming back
Back for me.
