Chapter 4

Liz had been waiting for Max, Isabel and Michael to show up for almost a half-hour. Max had called her around 9:15 that night to tell her they all had to meet. The three aliens would meet her on the roof of the café, a regular gathering place for the pod squad and their companions. Liz glanced at her watch. "Twenty-eight minutes." She said aloud, adding another minute to her pacing tally. She heard footsteps in the alley below. Isabel was the first to climb onto the roof, followed by Max and finally Michael.

"This is inconceivable." Isabel muttered as Max took a step toward Liz. Isabel and Michael stayed near the edge of the roof, staring at Liz.

"You don't believe us." Liz stated her impression of their body language.

"The whole thing is a little thick." Michael brooded.

"But we're not saying it definitely didn't happen." Isabel replied to Michael's declaration. "If what you're saying is true, we need to get to this Tess and make her change everything back." She said with a bit of caution. "I just don't want to lose Alex." She added quietly. Since their Junior Prom, Isabel and Alex had been trying to get back into a relationship, at least as she remembered it they were.

"Did ya ever think that maybe this Tess brought Alex back and made us all forget her for a good reason? Rather than trying to betray her planet?" Michael snapped at Liz. "Maybe somebody else made us forget because it would be in our best interest. Maybe if we get it changed back it will mean the end of the world. Did you even stop to think that maybe this is how it's supposed to be?"

Max took a step forward. "Maybe, but maybe not. Maybe Liz is right. Maybe Tess is planning on betraying our planet and me. We don't know which it could be. All I know for sure is that someone who died is suddenly alive again and things aren't right."

"It's like we're living in the Matrix…" Isabel quipped, bringing a smile to Michael's face.

"I can't go on seeing everyone so happy when I know it isn't the truth." Liz explained her side. "What if for a while everything is great, and one day we all wake up and it's back to normal? What if you wake up and you realize that Alex is really gone?" Liz asked directly to Isabel, knowing that losing Alex would be one of Isabel's worst fears.

"She's right, you know." Max said looking between his sister and his best friend. "We can't just let everything go on as if these things never happened."

"Then I'm telling Maria." Michael said sternly. "We can't just go change the space-time continuum, or whatever, and make her think everything is just fine. What if we change everything back and she remembers Alex being alive again and everything? I can't lie to her like that." Liz was relieved to see that Michael had enough concern for Maria to want her to be included. Lately Maria had been pretty reliable in the pod squad's cause. Maybe it would be okay for her to know after all.

The ride to the DeLuca house was awkwardly quiet. The four got out of the car and walked silently to the front door. Liz knocked. Maria's footsteps echoed through the hallway as she came to the door.

"Marrrriiiiaaaaaaa!" Amy DeLuca's voice boomed from a room deeper inside the house. "GET THE DOOR!"

"Mom, I *got* it!" Maria yelled as she opened the door. Her face went blank as she saw the solemn faces before her. "What, is this an intervention or something?" She said, in a sarcastic tone, to lighten the mood. When no one answered, she replaced her levity with seriousness. "Is something wrong? What happened?"

"Maria, we need to talk." Michael was surprisingly the first to speak. Maria slid the screen door open to let her friends in. "Actually, maybe you should come outside, it's kind of a...thing." Maria nodded and let herself out, leading everyone to the back patio.

"So what kind of 'thing' is it?" She asked, sitting on top of the picnic table. "Is it an 'alien' thing? A 'crazy teenager' thing? What?" Maria asked, pressing for information.

"It's Tess." Max said, standing up and taking his role as leader. Maria shook her head. "You don't remember her, we know. That's why we're here." Max paused as everyone sat down around Maria. "Tess was...is...and alien. She was here for about a year up until a few weeks ago. She created a blank space, a void, in our minds so we wouldn't remember what she'd done. She then filled it with other memories so she could complete her end of a promise Nacedo had made with Kivar."

Maria was staring at the ground. "So you're saying that you and I, Liz, Michael, Isabel and Alex...nobody remembers this girl." She paused. "So how do you know she ever existed?"

"It's nearly impossible to explain all this, Maria. We're not even positive that this is what really happened..." Max paused. "Liz remembered. For some reason she seems to be the only one who was immune to her power." Max interjected. "That's only part of the reason we're here though Maria..." Max glanced around at his friends. Their eyes had all fallen to the ground, knowing that the news about Alex was next. "It's Alex."