Chapter 3
"You sure didn't pack much, Liz," Maria stated as she helped unload only a few small boxes from the trunk of Liz's car. "We will get done with it all before the guys even get here."
"Well, maybe we could do something fun instead. You know I have been stuck in that car all day. I need to get out and around. Have any special places that you like to go to?" Liz asked as she got the last bag out of her trunk and slammed it closed.
"Oh sure girl! We definitely need to do something. Maybe we can even find you a man! When the guys get here, we'll ask them if they have any ideas. I doubt they will be much help, but who knows. They may just surprise me."
Liz frowned when Maria talked about getting a man. She recalled her last romantic relationship with a man and how hurt they both had gotten. She didn't think she was ready for all that pain again.
A loud knock at the front door interrupted her thoughts. She heard male voices and knew Max and Michael had arrived. She checked her outfit that she had changed into and then put some lip-gloss on.
As she walked into the living room, Maria was already asking the guys what they wanted to do. When Liz walked in though, both Michael and Max turned their heads to look at her. Hair was now down and it shined even in the dully-lighted room. She had changed from her t-shirt and khakis to a black sleeveless top and black pants with a silver belt around her small waist. She still wore the same black sandals as before. Liz turned pink as she noticed the guys look at her and ignore the chattering Maria. She smiled politely at them and said hello, and then headed towards the table where Maria was standing.
"Well, Liz, the guys have no good ideas about where to go. Big surprise there!" Maria shot a look over at Michael who just rolled his eyes.
"Well, how about at least some dinner? Is there anyone else in town that has good food besides the Crashdown?" Liz asked, looking straight at Maria. She felt Max's eyes on her and didn't want it to become weird.
"Oh yeah! How about that new place, um, I think it's called Shasta's. Does that sound okay?" Maria asked, glancing around to see everyone nodding their heads. "Well, good then, let's go."
The restaurant was busy and they had to wait a while, but once they sat and ate, they all decided the food was worth the wait. Towards the end of the meal, Max's cell phone rang, so he answered it.
"Hello." He said, after chewing his last piece of food. After only a few seconds, his entire body went stiff. His eyes grew big and his face went pale. He shot a harsh glance at Michael and then quickly got up.
"Michael, we need to go. Now." Max said, still holding the phone. "Sorry, girls." Liz noticed how strained he was and was immediately curious as to what was taking place. Michael got out of his chair quickly and threw some money on the table. "Here. That's for the food. I'll talk to you later Maria."
With that he and Max left hurriedly out of the building. Liz turned to look at her friend and saw that her face was almost as white as Max's. She began to panic. If Maria was worried, then something must be wrong.
"Maria. What is going on? Why did they just run out of here like that? Should we go after them?" Liz was now getting her purse ready to go and was counting the money on the table to see if it was enough.
"Um, I think we should just go home. If…." Maria stopped suddenly and looked down. Now Liz knew there was something she wasn't telling her.
"Tell me! What is going on?!"
"Well, uh, I think it might have been one of their friends," Maria said, not looking at Liz and stuttering quite a bit, "Um, sometimes she gets into these moods and, uh, Max and Michael have to, uh, help her out. I'm sure she will be fine though. Yeah, uh, she'll be fine." Maria finally looked up and gave Liz a small smile, to hopefully let her know she was okay.
"Well, I hope so." Liz said, still unsure if she believed her friend. "Let's go home." Liz decided to let the subject drop. She was tired and ready to go get in a bed.
As she tried to get comfortable on the hard mattress, Liz kept thinking about what had happened at the restaurant. They all had acted so strangely. She decided that she would try to find out more about what had happened. As she turned back onto her stomach, she didn't notice the dark figure outside of her window.