Author: Lauren

Author's Email: PaceysLilMcPhee@aol.com

Author's Note: It's been awhile, huh? Well, I finally have another chapter. Actually, I wrote this awhile ago but I wasn't sure if I was happy with it. However, I don't feel I can improve it at this time so…I thought I'd just post it and you all can give me feedback. Thanks for all the feedback so far! Please keep it coming so I know whether or not to continue!

Chapter 5

          Maria came out the bathroom and seeing only Liz in the room, she wondered where Alex had gone.

          "Lizzie, where'd Alex take off to?" Maria questioned as she tossed her Crashdown uniform on the back of one of the chairs in Liz's room.

          "He's downstairs talking to Isabel," Liz answered as she looked up from her own clothes, which she was busy folding.

          "Ooh…really?" Maria said excitedly. "And why aren't you eavesdropping? Have I taught you nothing?"

          Liz smiled and shook her head. "Don't you think since they haven't seen each other for awhile and Isabel probably has a lot to tell him, that we should leave them alone?"

          "But don't you want to know what's going on?" Maria asked. The curiosity was even sparkling in her eyes.

          "Well, yes," Liz said hesitating a moment. Before Liz could say anything else Maria grabbed Liz's wrist and began pulling her out of the room. Maria walked quickly but quietly towards the stairs that would lead downstairs to the Crashdown while Liz tried to drag Maria back towards her room.

          "Maria," Liz hissed, "We should just leave them alone."

          "We are going to leave them alone," Maria whispered back, "We're just going to listen while they're alone downstairs."

          As they both reached the stairs, Maria heard footsteps walking towards them. She turned and began to bolt back towards Liz's room but Liz wasn't quite as fast and they ran into each other, collapsing on the floor. When they looked up, they saw Alex towering over them.

          "Hey Alex," Maria squeaked.

          "What are you doing?" he asked as he helped them up. "Not that it's not obvious or anything."

          "Sorry, we just wanted to hear what was going on," Maria answered after she was back on her feet.

          "No, she wanted to hear what was going on," Liz corrected. "I was just dragged along."

          Alex tried not to smile as he shook his head. "Come on, I'm tired and it's late," he said as he started to walk back to Liz's room with Liz and Maria close behind him.

          "So what did Miss Evans want to talk about?" Maria asked once they were back in the room.

          Alex shrugged. "Just wanted to let me know she missed me. I mean it is a little weird when your friend comes back after you've thought he's been dead for months."

          "That's it?" Maria pressed.

          "Yeah," Alex confirmed giving Maria a look. A confused look that said he didn't know what else she was expecting him to say.

          Maria looked at Liz. They seemed to share a look of their own and Alex watched them as they exchanged this stare.

          "What?" he said.

          "Nothing. Just wondering." Maria said. Alex had a slightly confused look on his face. Liz and Maria both noticed the look but they didn't want to tell him what they were thinking. They both wanted to know why Isabel hadn't said a thing about how things had been before. Because even if the Alex that had been residing in Roswell at the end of their junior year wasn't the real Alex, Isabel had really been Isabel and Isabel's feelings had been real towards Alex. They wondered if she was planning on saying anything to him. And they weren't sure if they should tell Alex about what had happened and even about the conversation they had had with him after prom. The day he had supposedly died.

          Deciding against telling him any of this, at least yet, Maria flopped onto Liz's bed as Liz headed for the light.

          "Let's get some shut eye," Maria announced. Alex nodded agreeing and climbed into the sleeping bag that Liz had lugged out of her closet for him. Liz flicked the light off and climbed into her bed next to Maria.

          " 'Night," she said. She got two mumbled responses from Maria and Alex. Within moments they were all fast asleep.

          The next morning, Maria had driven Alex and Liz over to Kyle's house. Now the three sat at the kitchen table waiting for the other three, Max, Isabel, and Michael, to arrive. Kyle slid some drinks over to them as he took a seat with them.

          "Hey, I wanted ginger ale," Maria said looking down at her drink. Kyle sighed and rolled his eyes annoyed. He grabbed Maria's drink and stomped back over to the refrigerator to exchange the drink. Maria just grinned and leaned over to whisper to Alex. "It's so much fun to make him mad like that."

          Suddenly the sound of a car door closing could be heard. Looking over to Kyle who was busy trying to find some ginger ale for Maria in his fridge and seeing that he was obviously occupied with the task, Liz stood up and walked towards the door.

          Max and Michael entered the house followed by Isabel who was not far behind. Liz waved as she entered the room.

          "Hey. We're all in the kitchen," Liz informed the three as she jerked her thumb towards the kitchen. Max and Michael passed her but Liz stopped Isabel.

          "Why didn't you tell Alex about this year?" Liz questioned. She tried not to make sound as blunt as it sounded in her head.

          Isabel's eyes glazed over and Liz could tell she was going into that Ice Princess mode. But she didn't regret bringing it up.

          "What's to tell?" Isabel said. And it was just the kind of response Liz was expecting at this moment.

          "Well, prom for one," Liz pointed out. Isabel seemed to shrug it off.

          "God Isabel, didn't you ever think afterwards that if you could just have another chance that you'd let him know how you feel?" Liz blurted out. She couldn't believe how frustrated she was over the situation. But she just didn't want Isabel to throw away this chance. After all, how many times do you hear people say that if they could just have a second chance…

          Liz looked to Isabel to see how she'd respond to the comment.

          "I don't see what there is to tell him. Besides, we're not supposed to get second chances. I'm going to treat this just as if this was the first time he came back from Sweden," Isabel responded. Liz didn't understand how Isabel could think like that after everything she and the others had been through with the supposed death of Alex. Other people around the world would give almost anything for a similar situation where they could have a second chance, for whatever reason, with a person that has long passed on.    

          "I think you're making a mistake," Liz told Isabel. Liz wasn't sure what she could say to make Isabel see that what she was doing was not a good choice so Liz decided to just make it as honest and quick to point as possible. "If I'd asked you before yesterday if you'd want a second chance to change how things were between you and Alex I'm sure your answer would have been different. I think you're making a mistake," Liz repeated.

          "Whatever," Isabel said. Liz narrowed her eyes but Isabel brushed past her and continued on the path to the kitchen. Isabel was sure she could see Liz shaking her head behind her. And although Isabel had been set to follow the plan she had told Liz she was now having second thoughts. She would never tell Liz that. Isabel didn't want her getting a big head or anything. But maybe she'd think about what Liz had said. Maybe.