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CHAPTER 11: BIRTHDAY PARTY
"Here you go, Liz." Isabel said, thrusting an envelope into Liz's hands. Before Liz could open it Isabel explained, "It's a party invitation."
"You're throwing a party?"
"Well, me and Alex."
"You and Alex? Oh, la la." Liz teased.
"Shut up, it isn't like that." Isabel protested, but Liz could see her friend was pleased by her new status as Alex's girlfriend.
"Uh-huh."
"It's for Max, we're throwing him a surprise birthday party." Isabel said, excitedly.
"It's Max's birthday already?"
"What kind of girlfriend are you? You don't even know Max's birthday?" Isabel teased.
"I know it's November 12th. I just can't believe it's here so soon, it feels like Halloween was just yesterday."
"Well, the 12th falls on a Wednesday, so we're having it the 8th."
"Cool."
"We're going to need your help."
"Really? Neat! I've never been part of a surprise party before!" Liz squealed excitedly.
"Well, I doubt it will be much of a surprise. We throw Max a surprise party every year."
"Thanks for spoiling my fun."
Isabel rolled her eyes, "Sorry. If you could ask him out for Saturday or something that would be really great."
"Not a problem." Liz assured her.
"Great, thanks."
"One question, though."
"What?"
"What am I going to get him for his birthday?"
"OK, are you sure he's not going to come home?" Liz asked for the 8th time.
"Yes, I'm sure!" Isabel said, exasperated. "He's working for another hour, but it'll even be a little later than that, because he's always late."
Liz giggled nervously, "I feel like I'm in Mission: Impossible or something." She started singing the theme song, "Dum dum dum da dum da da, dum da dum, dum da dum, da da!"
"Shut up!" Isabel begged.
Liz had come over to the Evan's house to check out Max's room and look for gift ideas. She had never been to their house before and was a little surprised by how small it was and how shabby and sparse the furniture was. She didn't comment on it, though, she was pretty sure that was part of the reason she had never been invited over.
"OK, this is Max's room." Isabel said, swinging open the door.
"Dum da da, dum da da dum da!" Liz sang.
"Liz!" Isabel cried, exasperated.
"Sorry." Liz said, looking not at all sorry. "Where's you mom anyway? Is she gonna be mad I'm sneeking around her son's bedroom?"
"Mom's at ameeting." Isabel said, "Try not to move anything. Max knows exactly where everything is and he'll know if something is moved." She grinned privately, "That used to drive me nuts when I was younger, if I even moved something the tiniest bit he'd know."
Liz looked around the room. The walls were bright white with navy blue trim. He had a nice double bed and she sheets and comforter matched the blue along the walls. His old bedside table was bare except for a pad and pen and a crumpled up note from Alex. On a small table at the corner of his room there were two photographs. One was of him at about 5 with a woman and man who Liz recognized as his parents. The woman was holding a toddler in her arms and Liz figured it was Isabel. The other frame held a picture of her. When she saw it she turned to Isabel in shock.
"Remember last year when I asked for one of your school pictures and then the next day I said I lost it and asked for another? I gave one to Max, he begged me to get one for him."
The corners of Liz's mouth lifted up in a smile. She made her way to his closet. She opened the door and looked at the neat stacks of clothes. She hadn't seen much diversity in his wardrobe, but she was amazed by how few clothes he had. Two pairs of jeans, just over half a dozen shirts, one dress shirt, one nice pair of pants and one sweater. All of it was neatly hung or folded.
"Max's really anal." Isabel said, coming to stand next to Liz and misunderstanding her surprise. "I have no idea how he keeps everything to neat."
Liz made a non-commital sound and opened the drawer of the dresser that was next to his closet. There were rows of nicely folded socks and underwear. Liz felt herself blushing, it was just her and Isabel, but she felt a little weird looking at her boyfriend's underwear drawer. She slammed it shut.
Isabel grinned, "I prefer boxers, too."
Liz laughed, then stopped suddenly, "Oh, my God! Isabel, I have the best idea for a gift! But I'm going to need your help"
~*~


"You got the stuff?" Isabel asked, when she heard Liz come up. It was Friday afternoon and she was leaning against her locker wearing dark sunglasses and trying to fight back a smile.
"Right here." Liz said, patting a plain brown bag. "Want to take a look?" She added, playing along.
"Nah, it's OK. I trust you."
"Just put it"
"I know what to do. We've been over the plan." Isabel protested.
"All right, you're right."
"Do you want to leave a card or a note or something?" Isabel asked.
"Oh, I didn't think of that! I got him a birthday card, but I didn't think to give something to you."
"Want me to just write something?" Isabel offered.
"No, he'll recognize you're handwriting." Liz opened her bookbag and dug around until she found an index card and a pen. She wrote: Happy Birthday, Max! I hope it's a great one! Love, Liz. She handed it to Isabel.
Isabel scanned it quickly, "That's it?"
"What do you want me to write?"
"I don't know. Never mind, it's fine."
"No," Liz said, grumbling, "Give it back." She quickly jotted down five more words and handed it back to Isabel who burst out laughing.
~*~

"Hey, Max!" Liz said, Saturday night. "Let me grab my purse and then we'll get going."
"Ok." Max agreed.
She hurried into the kitchen where she quickly dialed 7 familiar digits and said "We're on our way." Then she grabbed her purse off the table and hurried out. "All ready." She told Max.
"Great. You look nice." Max said, giving her a quick kiss.
"Thanks." Liz said, taking his hand. They didn't talk until they reached the jeep. "Oh! Max, I forgot, do you think we could stop by Alex's really quick?"
"How come?"
"We were going over some notes together and he took my notebook by accident. I really need it."
"How about we get it after the movie?'
"No, we'll be too tired then."
"Too tired? What other activities did you have in mind?" Max teased.
Liz looked at him innocently. "Other activities? I had no other activities in mind." She giggled and winked at him. "Come on, if we don't get it now I'll be thinking about it all night." Liz paused, "That'll cut into the other activities."
Max groaned, "Fine, we'll go."
~*~

Liz rang the doorbell for the second time and waited patiently for someone to answer the door. "He told me he would be home."
"Why don't we just go? The lights are all out, I don't think anyone is here, we can come back after the movie and get it."
"No, let's just go inside. I'll bet it's on the table or something. If it's not, we'll go and come back in a few hours."
"All right." Max said.
"Come on, it'll just take a minute." She opened the door and turned on the lights. When she did everyone jumped out and yelled Surprise!
"Holy crap!" Max cried, he turned to Liz "This was a setup."
"You catch on fast, birthday boy." Liz teased giving him a hug. "Happy birthday."
Isabel came running up to Max "Happy Birthday, Bro! Are you surprised?"
"Yea, really surprised. It's not even my birthday."
"Your damn birthday just had to fall on a Wednesday making everything all difficult." Isabel teased. "Anyway, happy birthday."
"Happy birthday, man." Alex said, giving Max a hug that managed to look manly.
"Thanks."
"So," Liz said in her announcer voice, "You've just turned 18, what are you going to do now?"
Max grinned, "Open presents!"
"All right," Isabel said, "Into the dining room for gifts!"
Liz noticed it was a small party. Maria and Michael were there, along with a few other teens Liz noticed from school, though she didn't know them well. With Max and herself there were probably just under 10 people there. But Max looked pleased, and that was all that really mattered. She was a little surprised that Mrs. Evan wasn't there, but figured she understood it was for teens and would do something with Max at another time.
Right now Max was admiring the pile of gifts on the large dining room table. He looked like a little kid, carefully examining them, even shaking a few. Isabel came up to him and shoved a box in his hands. "Mine first!"
"Ok." Max said, and tore into it, and found a pair of khaki pants and a nice button down green shirt.
"I figured you could use some nice clothes. Hope they fit."
"Thanks, Isabel. They're great." He gave her a half hug and a kiss on the forehead.
"Me next!" Alex said, giving Max an envelope.
Max opened it, happily, "Hockey tickets? This is awesome, Alex! Thanks!"
"No problem. They're for next week, we can go to the game together."
"These are really wonderful." Max said.
"You can open mine" A boy said. Liz knew she had seen his face around school but didn't know him.
"Ok, Mark." Max said, taking the gift. "Oh, I've been meaning to read these sci-fi books, thanks Mark!"
"You're welcome."
Maria handed him an envelope. "This one's from me and Michael. Dinner for two at that French place in Tampa. You and Liz can have a date on me."
"That's such a great gift, thanks, Maria." Max said.
Liz leaned over and whispered, "I'm sorry, my gift isn't ready yet, I'll give it to you tomorrow."
Max nodded, "Ok."
After opening a few more gifts Isabel brought out the cake and everyone sang "Happy Birthday." Liz admired Max in the soft glow of candle light "Make a wish." She urged him.
Max looked around. He was dating Liz, which was his usual wish on birthday candles, falling stars and the like. He was surrounded by friends who cared for him and even though life was tough he was so happy at that moment he looked at Liz, smiled and said, "What else is there to wish for?"
~*~


At 6:30 the next morning Max's alarm went off and heavy rock music came pounding out of his clock radio. Max liked rock, and it was the only thing that could wake him up at 6:30 in the morning, but he wasn't in the mood to hear it first thing today.
He groaned and rolled out of bed. He went to the bathroom and turned the shower on. The pipes were old and the shower always took a few minutes to heat up. He went back into his room and grabbed a pair of jeans and an old t-shirt. He went over to his dresser and opened it. Instead of his usual briefs there were about 8 pairs of boxer shorts. And not regular boxer shorts, no interesting boxer shorts. One had vegetables, another had hearts and kisses, a third had guitars all over them. Max rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn't still dreaming.
"It's way too early for this." He grumbled. He was about to pull Isabel out of bed and demand an explination when he saw a note tucked in one of the boxers. Happy Birthday, Max! I hope it's a great one! Love, Liz. Then he saw a hastily scrawled sentence at the bottom of the index card that made him laugh One of my braver moments

At 8:30 Max walked in to Waterside books. He had been dying to go and it had been torture waiting for two hours. He went to the front desk and saw Mrs. Parker on duty.
"Good morning, Mrs. Parker," Max said, politely.
"Good morning, Max." She said, "What can I do for you."
"I was hoping to see Liz. Is she down here yet?"
"She's upstairs having breakfast."
"Oh." Max said, sadly, "Do you know when she'll be down?"
"Why don't you go on up and see her." Mrs. Parker suggested.
"That would be great!" Max said excitedly, "Thank you!"
"Bye, Max."
He wasn't sure, but he thought he heard her chuckle softly as he left. He hurried up to the apartment and knocked on the door.
"Dad!" Liz cried, annoyed, "I told you we don't have to lock the door. There is a sign that says employess only, no one is going to come up. Besides, I'm tired!"
Max didn't bother to correct her by calling through the door. When she opened it she looked shocked. "Oh! I didn't expect to see you here!" She was momentarily embarrassed by her appearance, she hadn't bothered to brush her hair or her teeth and she was clad only in a jersey, though it hung down to her knees. But Max didn't seem to notice and after a moment her eyes brightened in understanding. "You found my gift!"
"Yea."
"
What did you think?"
"Very original." Max said, dryly.
Liz laughed, "I thought it was funny. Which ones are you wearing now?"
"Liz, are you asking to see my underwear?' Max teased.
"Come on, come on, let me see!"
Max grinned and unzipped his pants so Liz could see part of his boxers. Even though it was innocent Liz felt her heart speed up and a faint blush rise in her cheeks. She was looking at her boyfriend's underwear! "American flags, nice. I liked those."
"Yea, I like them, too. But it does feel a little strange to wearing our country's flag on my ass."
Liz laughed, "You'll get over it." Max laughed, too and zipped up his pants. "I was just having breakfast." Liz said. "You want to join me?"
"Sure." Max said. They sat next to eachother at the table and Max poured himself a glass of juice from the pitcher on the table and grabbed a jelly donut out of the box.
"I was wondering, Max, what you're going to do for your actual birthday."
Max thought about it. "I don't know. I used to have a big dinner with the family, but we haven't done that for a few years. Maybe Isabel and I will go out or something. Why?"
"Well, if you didn't have anything planned, maybe you would like to do something with me." Liz said.
"Really?"
"Sure! I'm not a great cook, but I could make dinner and even a cake! It'll be great! What do you say?"
"Sounds great!"
"Really?'
"Yea!"
"Awesome. Come over at7:30 on Wednesday, it'll be great."
"It's a date." Max said, smiling and taking another bite of donut.
~*~


At 7:15 Max knocked on the door to the Parker's apartment. "Liz?' After a moment he knocked again a little louder. "Liz? Are you in there?" When no one answered he opened the door and walked inside. Liz was probably so busy cooking she hadn't heard him.
Surprisingly, there was nothing on the stove and there was no scent of food in the air. What was going on? "Liz?" He looked around the kitchen and living room, finding them empty he made his way to her room. He rapped lightly on the door. "Liz?" He heard a soft sound and went inside.
He found her asleep, curled up on her bed. She was wearing the same shirt she wore to school, but had changed from jeans into boxers and the blankets were tangled up in her legs. He knelt down next to her and brushed his hand through her hair. "Liz." She moaned softly. Max knew he should wake her up, but couldn't resist staring at her a little longer. She looked so peaceful when she slept, so soft. She was always in motion when she was awake, always talking or laughing or moving, and she was so strong. He was surprised how small she looked when she was asleep.

He traced the line of her lips and she made a soft noise. He ran his fingers across her high cheekbones and perfect eyebrows. Her eyes were still closed contentedly and he admired the way her lashes rested against her tan skin. He ran his fingers across her high cheekbones and perfect eyebrows. Her eyes were still closed and he admired the way her lashes rested against her tan skin. Max ran his fingers through her hair, clutching some between his fingers "Liz."
"Hmm?" She sat up slowly, she saw Max and looked confused. "Max? What are youdoing here?" Then she remembered, "Oh, no! What time is it?" She looked at her clock, "7:30? Oh, no! Max I'm so sorry! I was so tired I wanted to take a little nap before I got started on dinner, I didn't think I'd sleep for 4 hours! And I even kicked my parents out and everything!"
"Shh, shh, it's ok." Max assured her. "It's Ok."
"I had all these plans! And I went shopping and bought all this food!"
"It's OK." Max said again. He sat down on the bed next to her.
"I ruined your birthday,"
"No way, it's a great birthday." He was a little disappointed, he had been looking forward to having a romantic dinner with Liz. But he loved any time they spent together, and a birthday with her on any terms was good.
"Your 18th, too."
He lay down and pulled her down, too, resting her against his chest. "You weren't there on my 8th birthday. My mom and dad rented a bounce house for my birthday and I was jumping on it and sprained my ankle. I spent most of my birthday at the hospital."
Liz laughed, "Is that true?"
"Yea, it is." They lay together and he told her all his birthday horror stories, how his mother spelled "birthday" wrong on one of his cakes and they had sent pictures to everyone because it was such a beautiful cake, how they discovered he was allergic to horses after they rented a pony for rides, stories that had been hard at the time, but now were funny and were simply added to his list of misadventures. He wondered who he would tell this story to. Would he tell his grandkids about the time their grandmother slept through his 18th birthday?
With that happy thought he drifted to sleep.

"Max?" Liz awoke at 9:30 and was surprised to find a sleeping Max sharing half of her bed.
"Yea?' He asked groggily.
"What happened?"
"We feel asleep, I guess." He said, looking at his watch by the moonlight that shone through Liz's window. Max was surprised at himself at falling asleep, but he never slept very much and with a comfortable bed and Liz in his arms the temptation had proven to great.
Liz laughed uncomfortably, "I feel like one of those commercials where the girl wakes up the next morning and goes what did I do last night?" She paused, "But I guess I do know, I missed your birthday."
"No, you didn't" Max smiled, "You were right here for it."
"But I was unconscious." She protested. She smiled, "It was nice waking up next to you, though."
"Yea, that was the best part. It was a great birthday, Liz."
"Really?"
"Yea. My best ever"
"Happy 18th birthday Max."
"Yea, I'm 18. Wow." He smiled at Liz, "Ever make out with a legal guy before?"
"Max!" She said, laughing.
"What? It's my birthday!"