Chapter
Twenty-Three: Confessions
Max's eyes went wide. His heart felt like it had stopped and tears
sprang to his eyes. "Gone?" he
whispered. Isabel, Tess, and Michael
were stricken. "No!" Maria cried, "not
gone-gone, just … gone. She's in
California." Max let out a deep breath
of relief. "Thank god. What's she doing in California?" "School," Kyle answered, "both she and Alex. They're freshman at UCLA." "Wow," Isabel said, smiling. She was disappointed that Alex wasn't there
though, she wanted her reunion. "Maria
and I visit all the time," Kyle continued, "you know, do the sight-seeing,
beach thing." "Oh my God," Maria chimed
in, "Liz and Alex have this awesome beach house apartment. You know the kind on 90210? It's just like that. It's so perfect." "So, they live together?" Max asked warily. Maria laughed. "Nice face, Max. But it's
not like that. Never was, never will
be. Besides, it's not Alex you should
have been worrying about … ow!" Kyle
kicked her under the table. "Don't
start, Maria," he muttered. Max looked
back and forth between the two. "Don't
start? What's this about? Is Liz – is she seeing someone?" He tried to block the thought from his mind.
"No …" Maria said slowly, "not at
the moment. Not really. But – come on,
Kyle, they're gonna find out anyway." He sighed, pulling Tess closer to him, so that she was practically in
his lap. She raised a confused
eyebrow. "Alright," he acquiesced,
"here's the story. After you guys left,
Liz and I started hanging out a lot more. We 'bonded,' I guess you could say, because we knew that our significant
others were playing happily-married-couple out there in outer space
somewhere." Max set his jaw, knowing
where this was going. "So," Kyle
continued, "after we graduated, I kissed her. We kind of dated that summer before she left, but not really. I mean, it wasn't the same as before. We were more like friends who held hands,
who occasionally shared a hug or a kiss. But before she and Alex left for L.A., we mutually agreed to go back to
being just friends. That's it. And, it's worked out better that way. Besides, we were pretty miserable together
anyway. We were poor substitutes for
you guys." He leaned over and kissed
Tess on the forehead.
Max wasn't sure what to say. Part of him was glad that Liz had someone
there for her, but he hated the thought of Kyle getting to be the one to touch
her and kiss her. That old jealousy was
back with a vengeance. Isabel gave her
brother's shoulder a brief squeeze, before turning to Maria. "Does Alex … is he seeing
anybody?" All of the aliens looked up
in interest. They wanted to know all
they had missed during their two-year absence. Maria sat up straighter, but still remained as close as she could to
Michael. "You guys have to understand,"
she started, "we thought we'd never see any of you again. We thought we had to go on with our
lives. It wasn't easy. We loved you and missed you and we grieved
for so long …" "It's okay," Michael
assured her, lightly kissing her temple. She nodded. "Okay, I, myself,
went on a few dates, but it was never anything serious. You already know about Liz and Kyle, but
Alex …" Maria stopped, staring into
Isabel's sad bright eyes.
"About a year after we got the note
and 'buried' you, Alex met a girl named Samantha. She was the complete opposite of you, Isabel – small, thick
auburn hair, a tiny mole on her cheek. They dated for quite a while, past graduation, until they separated for
school actually." Isabel wiped at a
tear that threatened to escape from her eye. Maria gave her a sympathetic look. "Do you want me to go on?" she asked softly. Isabel nodded vigorously. "Yes," she demanded, "please." Maria nodded and took a breath. "Sam was accepted to NYU, and she wanted Alex to go with her. They were going to live together, find jobs
in the city, the whole bit. But Alex,
he wasn't ready to make such a commitment. I mean, Isabel, he still kept your picture in his wallet." She smiled at that. "Long story short," Maria finished, "they
broke up and he decided to go to California with Liz. He dates occasionally, but nothing serious." Isabel attempted a tiny smile. "Thank you."
"So, you're all single?" Tess asked
for clarification. "Well, not now,"
Kyle teased, "now that you're all back." She smirked. Max noticed Maria
throw him a guilty look. "Maria?" he
asked, "you're not telling me something. What is it?" She sighed and
looked at Kyle, who nodded. "Alright
fine. Their downstairs neighbour is a
really cute guy named Tom. He's been
after Liz since they moved in and roped her into going out with him a couple of
times. He's relentless. Well, just yesterday, I talked to Liz on the
phone. And I think she's starting to
cave." Max's eyes widened, his heart
pumping furiously in his chest. "I
think," Michael spoke up, "it's time we all took a trip out to sunny California."
