Part 7

Late November, 2002

Max

"Get up! Why are you still in bed? Michael's going to be here soon!"

I moan as Isabel pulls the comforter off my bed and onto the floor. "Who let you in?" I grumble into my pillow, after I have pulled it over my face. "I thought I told Sean very specifically that you were not allowed in."

"By now he knows better than to mess with me," Isabel replies snootily. "Besides, he's not here."

"Then how the hell did you get in?" I demand, allowing one eye to peek out at my sister. "And give me back my blanket. I'm cold. I have the flu, you know."

"Max, please." She waves her fingers meaningfully, demonstrating that she used her powers to unlock the door. "And, by the way, I know very well you're not sick. We don't get sick," Isabel snaps. "What the heck is wrong with you?"

"I am too sick," I reply, grabbing the blanket back from her, and pulling it over my head. "Go away."

"Please tell me this isn't about, Liz Parker," Isabel says, sounding impatient. "Max, if this is about Liz Parker, I swear I am going to murder you."

"It's not about Liz," I mutter, although of course it is. It's definitely about the fact that I haven't spoken to her directly in more than two weeks. It's also about the fact that Kyle Valenti will be arriving on the same plane as Michael. He's coming to visit Liz for Thanksgiving, just like Michael's coming to see us.

No, Isabel. It's not about Liz Parker at all. Ask a stupid question, and you're going to get a stupid answer, sister most meddlesome. Because she has certainly made things worse over the past month. Trying to keep this from her, so that she won't go postal on Liz, has made the entire situation that much more stressful.

Did I ever say I would have missed my sister if she'd gone off to New York without me? I was wrong. Right about now, Isabel being on another planet would be just about perfect.

Actually, maybe I should be the one making a break for another planet. Then I wouldn't have to go to the airport and risk running into Liz and Kyle. The more I think about this plan, the more I like it. I wonder if NASA picks up hitchhikers? I mean, if they knew that I'd just be going home, maybe they'd make an exception about all that training and stuff?

Okay, I'm guessing that this is all going to strike you as a bit weird, considering where you last left Liz and me. That dorm party was the best damn night of my life, bar none, and I'm including the day I was adopted, which until that point had been the highlight. Even thinking about it now, with Isabel glaring at me, makes my heart start to beat more quickly in my chest.

Holding Liz in my arms that night...It was exactly everything I had always dreamed it would be, but better. Her hair was softer than I ever imagined it would be when it brushed against my neck. Her skin was silkier than I ever expected, when my hands touched it at her waist, because her shirt didn't quite completely cover everything. Her scent was more intoxicating than it ever had been when I had sat two feet from her all through high school.

It was the most perfect moment ever. And, for while, it seemed like it was going to be only the first in many such perfect moments.

Yes, I know I sound like a girl. But this is Liz we're talking about here. And you should expect this from me by now. Remember what Michael said? I must have had female DNA in my pod. I think he's right. I'm just too damn mushy for words. Not only that, I also read far too much into everything that night, which is why I am presently pretending I'm sick.

The last thing I want to do is go to the airport and run into Liz with Kyle. Because, oh joy. Thanksgiving my ass. It's more like Hellsgiving. And, yes, I know that makes no sense, but humor me. I'm depressed.

So how is it that Kyle's coming for Thanksgiving? Beat's me! Hence the depression. All I know is that Alex told me two days ago he is, and I haven't talked to Liz in three weeks, so I can't even ask her what the hell is going on.

We did both agree to take things slowly. This is true. A month ago, after that night, I knew that Liz had been through a very traumatic experience, what with being shot and all, (not to mention the discovering I was an alien and all) and the last thing I wanted was for any feelings she might be having for me to be a result of that. I had heard of that weird thing where people fall in love with people who save them, and the mere thought that this might be what had prompted Liz's change of heart made me dread seeing her the next day. Because what if she realized that this was what was going on, and she told me she wanted to still just be friends?

When I woke up the next morning, I was completely convinced that this was what was going to happen.

But, later that day, she seemingly hadn't yet realized that this was supposed to be her reaction. I talked to her on the phone, and everything was great. We met on the roof of the dorm, and talked for hours, and it turned into the second best night of my life. Or maybe the first. Who knows? I can't pick between them. I still regret not kissing her right then. There were so many perfect opportunities, but I didn't take them, still slightly unsure that she wanted me to, and now I might never get the chance. Would things be different now if I'd just kissed her?

Because, it was after that night that Liz got weird on me.

It all started innocently enough. What happened was that Isabel and I had to go back to Roswell. Our grandfather died suddenly, and we heard about it on the Sunday after the party. We had to head to New Mexico immediately, because the funeral was on Tuesday. I didn't get a chance to talk to Liz directly, but I did leave a message for her with Alex and, when I got home, I found a very nice email from Liz waiting for me. I still have it saved in my inbox, but I have it memorized anyway.

need to talk. Call me. Or if there's no time, it's okay. I'll see you when you get back.

To:

From:

Subject: None

Max,

I was so sorry to hear about your grandfather. I know how hard it is. I still think about my Grandma Claudia every day, even though she's been gone for three years. It's those memories that are important now. I wish I'd had a chance to see you before you left, but I'll be here if you

Love Liz.

I did try calling Liz. I was pretty upset about my grandpa, and I knew that hearing her voice would cheer me up. It wasn't like I could talk about these things with Michael, because whenever Iz or I talk about our extended family he just gets all quiet. I know it's because he's jealous, although he would never admit it, and I try not to say too much about anything to do with our adopted relations to him. Not to mention, I had other things to talk to Michael about, which I'll get into later. I couldn't talk to Isabel either, or my parents, because they were just as upset as I was.

So, anyway, I was glad Liz wanted to be there for me. Plus I just wanted to talk to her. So I called. But she wasn't home. It was Charlotte who answered.

"Oh, hey, Max. I heard about your grandpa. I'm so sorry."

"Thanks," I said. "Can you tell Liz I called?"

"Sure," Charlotte replied. "She probably won't be home for a while though. She and Alex went to a movie."

"Oh, okay," I replied. "Just tell her to call whenever. I'll be up late."

"Of course." There was a pause. "Listen, Max, Tess has been by here looking for you. Liz told her you'd gone home, but she seemed pretty upset. You might want to get in touch with her."

"Really? Okay. Thanks."

Charlotte and I hung up, I dealt with all the stuff around my grandpa's funeral, and, after a week, Isabel and I came back to Manhattan. I never did get a chance to talk to Tess.

I never ended up talking to Liz either, but I'll get back to that in a minute.

You might find it weird that I even mentioned what Charlotte told me about Tess at all. But when I explain the next stuff, you won't. Not only did I never call Tess from Roswell, I haven't actually really spoken to her since I got back. In fact, I've been pretty much avoiding her as much as Liz has been avoiding me.

Something weird happened between us at that dorm party. I can't explain it, but it's true. I was pretty out of it when I ran into her there, what with being worried about Liz and all. I think she could tell, and she asked, but I couldn't exactly talk to her what was going on because of the whole shooting factor. I think she was hurt. Because, ironically, the whole time Liz was trying to hook me up with Tess? Tess was my confidante about how to convince Liz to date me herself (besides Maria, of course). And we'd grown pretty close over the last few weeks. So it was kind of hard to not just tell her everything.

I've never mentioned any of this stuff before, because I was kind of preoccupied with the whole Liz getting shot and finding out I'm an alien thing. But, while Liz and I were becoming friends, so were Tess and I. And, the more I think about it all after the fact, the more I think that Liz might have been right about Tess all along. That it wasn't Alex she was interested in, but me. Now, don't think I'm suddenly all full of myself or something. It was just that our conversation at the party was so peculiar.

She came up to me and immediately asked me where Liz was (she knew that Liz and I had gone for dinner).

"Up in her room," I told her. "She wasn't feeling well."

"Why not?" Tess demanded. "What happened?"

She sounded so suspicious, it made me stare at her for a moment. "She just ate some bad fish or something," I replied vaguely.

"That girl isn't Sean's girlfriend," Tess said abruptly.

"She isn't?" I didn't particularly care about Sean at the moment. After all, I knew that Liz had pretty much closed that door.

"No. He's been looking for Liz all night," Tess added. "He seems really upset."

"Tess, why are you telling me this?" I looked at her strangely. She knew, after all, that the last thing I would want to talk about was Sean and Liz.

"I just don't want you to get hurt," she replied. "I mean, what if she gets back together with him or something?"

"I guess if that happens, I'll have to accept it," I told her, although I didn't really want to even think about that possibility. I didn't actually think it was one anymore, but the thought of Sean and Liz still gave me the creeps.

"Max, I just don't want you to get hurt," she repeated. She reached up and put her hands on my shoulders, so that I had no choice but to look right into her blue, blue eyes. "Promise me you won't let her hurt you."

Now, see, this is when things got really weird. Because, for one instant, Tess was all I could see. Liz flew out of my head completely, and the only thing on my mind was "Wow. Why have I never noticed how beautiful Tess is?" And, then, even more strangely, my next thought was, "I really, really want to go somewhere with her, right now. I need to be alone with her."

Yeah. So. Please don't think I'm a total ass. I know it sounds horrible. And I know this is going to sound completely ridiculous, but I really feel like she put some kind of trance on me or something. Because, that second part...I have no idea where it came from. I am absolutely convinced I did not think it myself.

The last thing I wanted was to be alone with Tess at that moment. All I cared about was Liz. But it still crossed my mind.

Now, you may be thinking, "Well, I guess old Max is just a guy after all. Says he's in love with a girl, but when another pretty girl shows him an ounce of interest, he's all over it." That, sure, I didn't think it with my brain, but that it was other parts of my body doing the thinking for me.

But, here's the weirdest part of all. When Isabel suddenly appeared and told me that Liz wanted to talk to me, I literally felt like was I was waking up. Like, for just a minute, I'd actually fallen asleep standing up on the dance floor in the middle of a huge party.

Yeah, so, you can see why I might not have been so eager to call Tess. Something is up with her. And I'm not the only one who thinks so. I told Michael about it when I was at home. The thing with Michael is that he's not good at talking about the emotional stuff, but he's great at dissecting the suspicious stuff. In fact, he's suspicious enough that he insisted that he was coming up for Thanksgiving to, as he so eloquently put it, "check this chick out, Maxwell." Since Iz and I weren't going home again, because we had used our Thanksgiving flight money for Grandpa's funeral, he can even do it without everyone thinking it's weird.

So, why didn't I tell Isabel any of this? Because she already doesn't like Tess. I'm not sure why, but she hasn't really liked her since the first moment she met her. I feel bad about it, because it seemed like Tess might be interested in being friends with Iz at first, but my sister was having none of it. Anytime Iz hangs out at the dorm with me and Alex, she insists that Tess is not invited. The fact that she says this in front of Alex indicates to me that she really doesn't like Tess. She hates to let Alex see her acting like a bitch.

Anyway, so I told Michael about it. Because, I may be jumping the gun here, but the whole experience was so odd, I've almost convinced myself by now that there was something alien about it. I know it's crazy. I mean, what are the odds that my R.A. is an alien too? But, then, what the hell are the odds that I'm an alien? You see my point.

Actually, I don't know what about. If Michael agrees that there's something off, it's not like I can confront her. What would I say? "Are you an alien too?" I mean, of course not.

I guess what I want is for Michael to tell me I'm crazy. Because I really like Tess. I want to stay friends with her. But, for some reason, I don't want her to be one of us. I don't know why. I just don't. I mean, I guess it should be a good thing if we find someone else like us. But the mere thought of it is enough to freak me out on a level I don't want to examine closely. I'm pretty accepting of what I am, but I also know that uncovering more people like me is going to open a whole can of worms I'm just so not ready for.

So, in the meantime, I've been avoiding Tess, which is a jerky thing to do. But, she hasn't really been seeking me out either, so maybe it's not just me. We have all been busy, first with mid-terms, and then the flu I am presently pretending to be stricken with went through the dorm like wildfire. I heard from Alex that Tess was a victim, which wouldn't seem to support my alien theory, but presently I don't care. At least, maybe, she's still not entirely sure I'm avoiding her. I mean, I did send her some DVD's to pass the time while she was holed up in her room.

But, whatever. My suspicions about Tess will be dealt with all in good time. It's not Tess I'm avoiding at the moment. It's Liz. And I don't even know why. I guess, eventually, even stalkers of the magnitude I can claim to be grow tired of being rejected.

Not that Liz has officially rejected me. But the fact that I haven't actually laid eyes on her in the past two weeks, in spite of the fact that we are biology partners for God's sake, would seem to indicate that she certainly doesn't want to see me either.

I first became aware of Liz's possible change of heart right after Iz and I returned. I called her the second I got back, and spoke to Charlotte again. (An aside...Why does this girl never seem to go out? She's always in her room to accept Liz's messages. It's very handy, but also kind of weird.) She told me Liz was at the library, so I went there to find her, too excited to see her to wait.

There were a couple of reasons for my eagerness. The first, of course, as always, was that I quite simply adore her. The second was that Maria had spent the entire last night I was home pumping me up about how much Liz liked me. In fact, apparently Liz had even gone so far as to admit as much to her best friend.

Yes, it is true. I swear it. Liz had finally, and without any hesitation, told Maria that she liked me. As more than a friend. I must admit that while having the conversation with Maria at the Crashdown, I felt about twelve, but it was thrilling nonetheless.

I was there to meet Michael after his shift, when Maria came whirling out of the back to say hi. I was momentarily struck dumb when she plunked herself beside me on the stool at the counter, having forgotten how animated Maria is in person. I was used to talking to her on the phone by now, but seeing her face to face still made me a little shy.

Of course, Hurricane Deluca (I didn't call her that first, by the way. Alex refers to her as such all the time, and it is such an apt description, I have adopted it) doesn't have time for shyness. Mine in particular.

"So, she likes you," Liz's best friend told me without preamble. "I'm glad you didn't listen to me. Because whatever it was you did, she's gaga."

"I know she likes me," I replied non-committally. I did know who she was talking about, but I didn't quite know how to respond to her pronouncement, and it looked like she was waiting for something. Plus I wasn't really sure I was ready to talk about what was happening with Liz and me. It was so new, and I had left so abruptly, and while we had spent the two best nights of my life together, and even though she had sent me that email, I was still a little wary.

But Maria was having none of it. "No, you dope. She doesn't just like you, she like likes you."

You see what I mean about the twelve year old thing.

"She like likes me?" I demanded incredulously, because I couldn't quite believe that Maria had said that.

Maria ignored me though, and continued as though I hadn't interrupted. "I talked to her last night. She told me all about what a great time she had at the party, and about how she couldn't help but look at you differently after it, and about how you spent like twelve hours up on the roof talking, and about how she can't believe she ever thought she shouldn't date you."

I blinked, all of her words so beyond my wildest dreams, I think I was wondering if I was actually dreaming.

But, when Maria reached out to hug me, I knew I wasn't. "This is like the best news ever, I hope you know."

I couldn't keep the goofy grin off my face any longer, even as I held onto Maria so we didn't both go tumbling off the stool in her exuberance. "It is?"

"Well, obviously. You and Liz, me and Michael, Alex and Isabel. We can double...Wait, I guess it's triple date...whenever you guys are home."

I pulled back and stared at her. It was only then that I noticed Michael glowering at us on the other side of the pass-through. It was weird, and it took me a minute to realize it was because Maria still had her arms around my neck. I quickly disentangled myself from her embrace. "So, what, you're admitting it now?" I asked, a little taken aback.

"Admitting what?" Maria demanded.

"That's there something going on with you and Michael."

"Well, he'd never say so, but I do," she replied. She was practically glowing. "He's a bit spacy, that one, but I know the score." She turned her head and waved merrily at Michael, who scowled at her and disappeared. "Ah, love," she sighed, then grinned. "Ain't it grand?"

Indeed it was. And, because it was so grand, and because I now had Maria's report confirming that I was not just imagining things having changed with Liz, needless to say, I was pretty stoked to see her as soon as I got back.

So, I went to the library. Anyway, once I got there, I was standing down in the main desk area, trying to figure out where to start looking. I knew Liz usually studied in the carrels on the third floor, but Charlotte had mentioned that she was there doing some research, so she might not be up there. I was about to head for the elevators, but some instinct made me tilt my head up towards the third floor first. It was completely glass-encased, and I guess I thought I might catch a brief glimpse of Liz at one of the study desks.

It was a good move - or at least I thought so at the time. I saw her almost immediately. Liz was sitting at a table up there, hunched forward across it. I frowned slightly. She looked a little strange. Almost like she didn't want to be noticed. It didn't take me long to realize that she wasn't alone either, and the reason that she was leaning like that was that she was speaking urgently to the person sitting across from her.

Now here's the weirdest part of all. The person was Tess. There were no ifs, ands, or buts, about it. I'd know that curly blonde hair anywhere, even if I couldn't see her face, which I could.

I frowned slightly, and only reflected briefly on the fact that it was kind of strange that the two of them were up there together. I wasn't particularly thrilled about seeing Tess immediately, being as I had already decided to avoid her until Michael came, but I also wasn't going to let her presence stop me from seeing Liz. I was about to turn away to head to the elevators again, when Liz abruptly turned her head and was staring right down at me.

I know she saw me. I am absolutely positive of it. I even lifted my hand and waved, and she started to lift hers back, before she seemed to think better of it. Because she dropped it as quickly as she had raised it.

Which was why it was so peculiar that when I finally got up there, they were both gone. Completely.

It was so odd that I spent the next half hour searching the library for them, thinking at first that they must have come looking for me, and that we kept missing each other. I mean, that's happened to me before, particularly when I'm supposed to pick Iz up at the mall. She's never where she's supposed to be, and then when I go look for her, we end up going in circles missing each other by ten seconds every time we go back to where we're supposed to meet. By the time I finally hook up with her, it has somehow become my fault that I left the meeting place at all, not Isabel's for always being half an hour late.

But I digress. After half an hour, I gave up and went back to Liz's room. But Charlotte said that Liz never came back. So, I gathered up my nerve and went and knocked on Tess's door. But she wasn't there either. Finally, I went back to my own room, sure that at least Liz would come and find me there, but I never heard from her at all that night.

Or the next day, when I called. Or the day after that. And she wasn't in Bio on Tuesday or Thursday. By the Friday, five days after I got back from Roswell, it was pretty obvious that she didn't want to see me. When I saw her down the street outside our dorm on Saturday, called out to her, and she ignored me (I absolutely know she heard me - I saw her flinch when she heard my voice), I knew without a doubt.

At first, I didn't quite no what to do. Needless to say, I was upset, but mostly I was worried. I just didn't get it. Something had to be wrong with Liz. I mean, she was never in her room, she wasn't in class, Charlotte had lost complete track of her. Alex was no help, because she seemed to be avoiding him too, although Alex couldn't be sure since he and Isabel had been so wrapped up in each other since we'd gotten back and he spent more than half his time up at Columbia anyway.

It was because I called Alex at Izzy's on Sunday, a week after our return, that Isabel finally got wind of what was going on. I had been trying to keep her out of it, because I knew my sister, and I knew what her reaction would be. Not pretty. I also knew that Liz and Isabel had shared a serious conversation on the night that Liz was shot, but I had never known the gist of it. All I knew was that my sister had seemed to be okay with Liz's knowledge about our secret, and that it had also prompted her to tell Alex the truth the same night that Liz and I spent up on the roof of the dorm. Alex had been a little surprised, but hadn't really cared one way or the other. He liked Isabel, and that was enough for him. That was just Alex.

Because I'm sure you want more information about Alex's reaction to this whole thing, all I can tell you is that whatever went down between him and Iz is between them. She's never told me. As for my own alien status, I did eventually have my own conversation with him about it and it went something like this:

"So," Alex said, while doing a push-up (we were at the gym at the time), "Weird about the alien stuff."

"Yeah," I replied. I paused in the middle of a sit-up, waiting for him to elaborate, and feeling a little nervous. We were completely alone in the gym, because it was pretty late at night, but I still looked around to make sure no one was listening.

"It wasn't a shock," he said, not looking at me. "No one as beautiful as Isabel can be human. And I'm not just talking about on the outside."

Since this was my sister, and I really didn't want to comment about that, I didn't say anything. Besides, the fact that he knew that about her made me extremely happy, and it was just too cheesy to say so.

"I won't tell anyone," Alex added. "But thanks for letting her tell me. And thanks for what you did for Liz." This was the only point at which our eyes made any contact. I could see sincere gratitude written all over his face.

"You're welcome," I said. As though I'd had any say in it. I mean, it's not like there had been any choice. It was Liz. "And thanks."

There was another long silence. I went back to my sit-ups and Alex continued his push-ups.

Eventually he said, "Just so you know, if you ever go back to your home planet, I'm coming."

I stared at him. I swear to God, he wasn't kidding. "Okay?" I replied.

"Cool."

And that was that. Nothing has changed between us, we still just hang out, and Isabel and Alex still date, and that's it.

No, it wasn't Alex who was avoiding me. It was Liz. And, of course, the longer it went on, the more convinced I became - have become - that it's because she's scared of me. She's had time to think about what it means that I am what I am, and she's decided she doesn't want anything to do with me, and she just doesn't know how to tell me. And, see, I even get it. Because I'm doing exactly the same thing to Tess. She kind of scares me now too, and instead of dealing with it head on, I'm avoiding it.

Whether I'm an alien or not, I think Liz would be surprised by how similar we are. I mean, I've always known that we'd have tons in common, but this is a little bit ridiculous.

Anyway, Isabel did eventually find out, which is obvious by the fact that she's now glaring at me, sure that I'm hiding in my bed because of Liz Parker. We haven't discussed it yet, because I've added Isabel to my list of people to avoid over the past two weeks, but I can tell that my sister is furious. Which was the main reason I didn't want her to find out. Because I know my sister. She had trusted Liz, and she is going to take this as some kind of sign that she made a mistake in doing so.

Not to mention, she is going to realize that this whole thing is eating me up inside, and it is going to piss her off. Big time. When it comes to Michael and me, Isabel is like a mother bear. It's embarrassing actually, considering we're supposed to be the guys. One would think it should be the other way around. But it so isn't.

I don't think Isabel's done anything about it so far. I'm sure my sister would talk to me first, before confronting Liz. I am also sure that she is aware that Alex will not be impressed if she uses her alien powers on his best friend. Plus, although Isabel is likely mad, I think she still knows that Liz can be trusted. I think, at this point, she's just as confused as I am by Liz's weird behavior, so she's mostly ignoring it for the moment. Isabel can be trusted to go in gun's blazing, but when she's not entirely sure of a situation, and what's causing it, she, unlike Michael, will wait for more information, nursing her fury until the proper moment for revenge presents itself.

Of course, I'm more scared of Isabel when she's had time to think about what she's going to do about a situation. Which is why I need to keep pretending that everything's fine, even if it isn't fine between me and Liz. And giving into my depression this morning isn't helping matters. Which is why I finally manage to pull myself out of bed.

"I don't get why you can't just pick Michael up alone," I grumble as I stumble over to my dresser to grab my stuff for the shower.

"Max, he's spending all his money to come up here to visit us," Isabel snaps back. "The least we can both do is go pick him up. I mean, it's Michael. The fact that he's coming at all is huge. He obviously misses us."

Since Isabel is still out of the loop about why Michael is really coming - which is to investigate Tess - I don't disagree. "Fine, you're right. Give me ten minutes."

"You have five."

Ten minutes later we're in a cab on our way to Kennedy airport. Two minutes after that Isabel is grilling me again.

"Okay, so Alex told me Kyle's coming. What's going on, Max?"

I don't reply, just stare out the window, hoping that if I remain mute my sister will just leave me alone. Of course, this technique has never shut her up in the past, so I don't know why I think the fact that we're in New York and not Roswell will inspire a change.

"Max, I'm getting fed up here," Isabel tells me firmly. "If you don't tell me what's going on, I'm going to talk to Liz. We can't fool around about this."

I turn my head. "She's not going to say anything, Iz."

"That's not what I'm worried about," Isabel replies, her tone softening. "Max, you know it isn't."

"I know," I acknowledge. "Which is why you just have to leave it alone, Isabel. This is my problem. Besides, Liz has the right to change her mind. She didn't ask for me to have a thing for her. She didn't ask me to come here."

"I just can't believe she's doing this to you!" Isabel exclaims. "What's wrong with her? I mean, you're perfect! She knows your perfect. "

I look at my sister intently. That last bit seems a little weird. I still have no idea exactly what Isabel and Liz talked about on the night Liz was shot, but it seems unlikely that Liz told my sister that I was perfect. I mean, that doesn't even sound like Liz.

"Isabel..." I trail off meaningfully. Because I know exactly what's she done. She has totally invaded Liz's privacy by dreamwalking her. I just know it. Mainly because I know my sister.

Of course she has. There can be no other reason that she's kept quiet about all this for so long. She has done her own investigating it would seem and she now knows things I don't.

Isabel meets my eyes, not looking the least bit guilty. "Please, Max. Of course I did it. I had to know if she could be trusted."

"Isabel, you had no right to do that!"

"Excuse me, but if my life - your life too, Max - is in danger, I can do whatever I want to! I can do it for a reason, you know. To protect us!"

It is in that instant that I notice the cabbie eyeing us in the rear-view mirror. It occurs to me that our conversation must be striking him as a little odd.

"You had no right to confront, Liz," I say very deliberately, glancing at the cabbie meaningfully. "I mean, just because she doesn't want to go out with me, obviously it's not a matter of life or death."

Isabel catches my drift immediately, and colours slightly. She is aware that she has majorly goofed and she covers masterfully, as is my sister's way. "The way you've been acting, it sure seems like it," she tells me. And I know she's right. I have certainly been guilty of moping the last couple of weeks. How I ever thought Isabel wouldn't notice, I have no clue.

"Anyway," Isabel continues. "I know what she told me. Whatever's going on with her, it has nothing to do with us - all of us, I mean. It's about you. She thinks she's doing this for your own good."

Well, that's news. "Why?" I demand.

"I can't explain it," Isabel elaborates. "I mean, it's not a hard science, confronting someone. I just got the impression that she thinks she's helping you somehow by staying away." She peers at me. "And if you'd told me about all of this earlier, if I hadn't had to figure it out on my own, then I could have told you this ages ago. I could have confronted Liz ages ago, and you could have dealt with this."

When my sister is right, she's right. Darn. Trust me not to know when I should trust Isabel. After all, I do know that she always has my best interests at heart.

"And another thing," Isabel continues. "Tess is involved in all this somehow."

My head whips around and I stare at my sister. "What?" Because I have not told Isabel one word about my suspicions about Tess. Where on Earth did this come from.

"I don't know how, Max, but she is," Isabel replies simply. "She was in there. In the confrontation."

Well, that adds another wrinkle to the problem. My mind drifts back to seeing Tess and Liz together in the library, and how they had both disappeared on me, like the last thing they wanted was for me to see them together. Now that I am looking at it beyond the fact that Liz is avoiding me, it is very obvious that they both were. In fact, are. Because while I've been avoiding Tess, it's not like she's been seeking me out either.

Why?

This also adds a whole other dimension to the fact that Kyle is coming for a visit. Is this Liz's way of getting me to back off? By making me think that she's getting back together with Kyle?

I wonder if Isabel knows anything about that. "What about Kyle?" I ask. "Did Liz say anything about him in the confrontation?" Wow. We're getting really good at code. Stupid code, but the cabbie is totally ignoring us now. It doesn't even sound fake anymore.

"Nope," Isabel shrugs. "I don't know what that's about, but if she thinks that you belong with Tess...because that's what everything seems to be implying...it makes sense that she'd invite him up here to turn you off. I mean, it's what I would do. I asked Alex. He doesn't know why Kyle's coming either."

"Yeah, he told me that," I say.

I can feel my mood improving exponentially. Maybe this all isn't as big a deal as I thought it was. Maybe there is a simple explanation for all of it. I don't know why Liz has suddenly decided that I need to be with Tess again, but as long as I an actually find a way to talk to her - clearly I'm going to have to corner her, which up to this point I've been avoiding doing, because it's not like I want to force myself on the girl - maybe we can get this all straightened out.

The key is actually getting a chance to talk to Liz. I have to figure out how she's been so successfully avoiding me. Also, why? Wouldn't it just make more sense for her to tell me buzz off? This way is just making me crazy. If she had told me that she changed her mind, that she wasn't interested, I would be devastated, but I certainly wouldn't pursue it.

Which also gives me hope. It means that she doesn't want me to back off entirely. Because, if she did, she'd just tell me. Wouldn't she? I mean, I don't know much about girls, but this does seem logical. I've seen Isabel do as much to countless guys. Liz has never been as direct as my sister, but back in September, when she still wasn't interested, she'd been pretty clear then that she just wanted to be friends. What was different this time?

The only thing that makes any sense is that she doesn't want to be just friends, but that she thinks that she should. Again, why? The only answer, again, is that it all comes back to Tess.

And, right there, in the cab, now that I've finally stopped moping, and actually started thinking, I make a decision. There is quite clearly something else going on with both Liz and Tess, and they're somehow in it together. I won't rest until I find out what the hell it is. And that is all there is to it.