It was 7:30 at night and Max was on his way to Tess' house
He wore dark blue, baggy, jeans…they weren't thug looking…baggy to a point, his shirt was a tight black shirt, short sleeved and not v-neck, he wore his blue Tims. He held his leather jacket over his shoulder… The fall air was chilly at night and he wanted to be able to keep her warm if she was cold…with or without his jacket. His other hand holding a bouquet of flowers…carnations and wild flowers
He smiled as her house came into his view…he stepped on the porch stairs and approached the door. He rang the doorbell. He moved his jacket on his other arm…right where his arm bends
The door opened after a few moments
A man stood there…practically glaring at him
"Hello Mr. Harding." He said and extended his free hand to him
The man looked coldly at his hand and then –with a lot of hesitation- accepted
He stepped away from the entrance, "Come in."
Max smiled and then entered
"Tess should be down in a moment." He said and walked to his living room
Max followed, looking around; "You have a beautiful home, sir."
"Thank you." Mr. Harding paused, "Please, make yourself comfortable." He gestured to the seat in front of him,
"Tess takes quite a while to get ready for anything. Everything has to be perfect with her. If one strand of hair is out of place she'll lock herself in her room until she likes the way it looks."
Max laughed, "That sounds a lot like my sister."
Mr. Harding nodded, "And what was your name again?"
"Uhm, Maxwell Evans sir." He paused, "But Max is okay too Mr. Harding."
"Do you plan on working?"
"Yes, of course."
"How are you grades Max?"
"They're as high as grades can get."
"Tess' grades have never been below and A+ I want her to stay away from those who never work hard."
"I'm a very hard worker sir."
"I'm a very serious person Max, Tess can be the same way…she takes things serious and never anything lightly…how are you?"
"I'm not wild sir. When I'm told to do something, I can give you my word, I'll do it."
Mr. Harding nodded, "Why Tess?"
Max shook his head slightly; "I don't understand what you mean sir."
"Why do you want to date Tess? I'm sure you can have any gurl you wish, why do you want Tess?"
"I feel a connection with her sir. I feel like I've known her my whole life. I guess I want to know her more than I feel like I already do."
Mr. Harding looked to the stairs, "Ah, here she is." He stood and walked closer to her
Max looked up quickly and stood and walked to her
"Hey, dad…Max." Tess smiled and continued down the stairs
"You look beautiful."
Tess blushed slightly, "Thank you…you look good yourself."
Tess was wearing tight –not really tight- faded blue jeans –that's a style ppl- that were like bell bottoms…she wore white air sneakers and a baby blue shirt that had sleeves that came to her elbow that said Foxy in silver glitter in the center of her shirt. Her hair was blow dried –straightened- and of course she didn't even look like she had make-up on
"Oh these are for you." He handed her the flowers
"Oh, thank you Max, they're beautiful." She gladly accepted them and sniffed in the wonderful scent, "Lemme go put these in water." She then left the room
Max and Mr. Harding resumed their seats
"Nice move Max." He said
"What do you mean?"
"She loves wild flowers…not to mention the carnations…"
"Oh? I had no idea."
"How many girlfriends would you say you had?"
"Uhm, actually, I've never dated."
"What do you really expect from her?"
"I'm just want her to have a good time."
"What do you want?"
"To have a good time also?"
"You're grades are high you say, how is your behavior?"
"Like I said before, if I'm told to do something, I'll do it."
"Are you responsible?"
"Very."
"Reliable?"
"Extremely."
"If I ever see her crying over you Max, I give you my word, you will regret it."
Tess returned, "Dad," she said warningly, "I hope you're not badgering Max."
"I can
assure you, I am not, I am simply asking him very easy questions."
He answered as-a-matter-of-factly
Tess smiled, "Did he pass your
'test'?"
"So far so good."
Tess nodded and Max stood
"It's been very nice meeting you and talking with you Mr. Harding." Max shook his hand
"Likewise Maxwell."
Tess took Max's hand, "Let's go."
Max smiled and then the two walked to the door, closely followed by Mr. Harding
"Have fun. And hope to see you again Max." he called
They smiled to him and then left the house and then headed to Galaxy 7
-
"Sorry if he asked too many questions Max." Tess said as the two entered the club
"It's okay. He just wants to know who his daughter is going out with." Max said with a smile
Tess smiled and the two sat down
"Anything to drink?" the waitress asked as she approached them
"Cherry Coke with lime please." Tess said
"The same." Max said
The waitress nodded and walked away
"Can I ask you a question?" Max asked
"You mean besides that one?" Tess laughed out
"Okay, I guess more than one…"
"Sure, of course you can."
"Uhm, your dad, is he…"
"As far as I know, he's human. He adopted me as soon as I entered child services. It was actually quite strange…but hey! Whatever ryte?"
"He was strange to you?"
"Well, yeah, sort of, cuz he was there and wanted me as soon as I was brought in…I don't know. He just really wanted to bring me into his home. I found out that he lost his wife that was pregnant with a baby gurl, so I always thought that was why."
"Hmmm…that does make sense."
"Are you suspicious of my father?" she asked a little offended
"No, it's just that your safety is now my responsibility and I wanna make sure you're safe."
"So the person that I spent eleven years with is suddenly an evil person?"
"Just to take precautions…you can never be too sure who you can trust."
"So you think he's out to get us!"
"No, that's not what I said, I just want you to be safe and be careful."
"But you think he's evil."
"No, not at all." He paused, "Does he know?"
"No."
"You've never talked to him about wanting to meet your parents?"
"Never cared. If I was left in the desert it made me know that I wasn't wanted so I never bothered."
"True. I've never thought of it that way. I'm glad he found you then. How many times have you moved?"
"I've been everywhere. I've been across the world and back ten times." She laughed out
"Is English all you can speak?"
"No. I know a lot of languages. Spanish…Italian…French…you name it, I know it."
"That's kewl."
Tess nodded, "I guess."
"Why is it that you went around the world?"
"My
father's job takes us everywhere. He works as a military
consultant."
Max's eyes opened wide
"Don't worry," she said, "I said military…not FBI." She smiled
He smiled too, "You can never be too sure."
"I guess not."
"Is it me, or is this music too loud?"
Tess laughed, "I dunno wat your definition of loud is…"
"This! Is loud."
Tess laughed a little more, "Then I guess it's loud."
"Wanna dance?"
"I was wondering when you'd ask."
The two stood and walked to the crowed dance floor
Tess watched Max's movement with amusement, "Max," she laughed, "You don't know how to dance to reggae do you?"
Max stopped, "Not really." He paused, "Can you teach me?" he smiled
"Well, uhm, there's nothing to it. Just make your mind become the music I guess. Just make your body move to the beat…uhm…here…" she placed his hands on her hips and her hands on his shoulders, their bodies came close…
"Now what?'
"I really can't say follow my lead cuz guys and gurls dance different but I guess there isn't much of a difference…" she paused, "I have a better idea." She leaned into him and they kissed, the two parted, "That was so much easier.
That should have worked."
"Who cares. It felt good."
Tess laughed, "Of course it did."
"But seriously, teach me."
"I did."
"Tess," he said warningly
"Max," she smiled, "I did." She paused, "Just dance."
She started her 'moves' and he did as well
The music started pumping louder and louder…it's sound piercing their ears and not really caring…well the speakers WERE right there…
-
Max and Tess sat back at their tables as the waitress set their drinks down
"You look tired." Tess commented as she sipped her drink
"Me? Tired? Nah." He sighed and took a long slug of his drink
Tess laughed, "Whatever."
"You wanna go again?"
"Uhm, I'll let you recuperate first." She smiled
After a little while longer he stood, "I'm done resting. I wanna put my new dance skills to the ultimate test."
"Alright." She stood and they walked back to the dance floor and once again resumed their spots right in front of the speakers and danced close…
Midnight
Max and Tess were walking to her house
"I had a great time. Thank you so much Max." she said as their fingers intertwined their hands together
"I had a great time too. I hope to do this again." He said
"Oh, yeah, definitely."
They approached her house and stepped on her porch
Tess looked at the empty drive way, "My dad's out. Probably went to the military base or something." She shrugged
"You're gunna be alone?"
"Yeah."
He nodded
She opened the door with her key and swung the door opened, "I won't be if you stay with me."
Max smiled, "Your dad won't mind?"
"What he doesn't know won't hurt him."
He laughed, "Okay then."
The two stepped in and settled in her living room
She turned the TV on, "Friday night and movie on."
Max smiled, "What are we gunna watch?"
"What do you wanna watch?"
"Whatever you want."
"I haven't seen Ten Thing I Hate About You."
"Hey!"
She laughed, "It's just a title hun." She kissed his cheek
"Just put it on b4 I decide to shut it completely." He smiled slyly
"Ooh, and wat would we do if it were off?" she asked innocently
"Hmm…how about a preview?"
She tilted her head, "Whatever floats your boat."
He raised an eyebrow; "You want me to rock Ur boat?"
Her mouth opened wide as did her eyes, she then smirked and raised an eyebrow, "Be my guest…" she wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned on top of him
"Mmmm…"
He kissed her neck and she rubbed on him slightly…the two kissed…
$$$$$
Outside
Two figures were walking around in the shadows
"There's one thing that I'm having trouble understanding." One said…
They stepped into slightly dimmed light and it turned out to be Tess and Liz
"What is it?" Liz asked
"Well, my past self's dad, it's Nacedo, but he's human." Tess said
"Are you sure?"
"Well, no, but it kinda turns out that way. And How come Tess doesn't know about him? She says he's human."
"No, she said as far as she knows." Liz corrected her
"Same thing."
"I don't understand why we're still here."
"Yeah, I thought we would be gone by now."
"Something's not right."
"Or we really have to do something else."
"Like what?"
"I don't know, but we have to figure it out soon." Tess paused, "We can go to Isabel's and talk to her."
"We have to keep the ppl who know about us, limited."
"Yeah I know, but I'm really tired…and kinda hungry… we can't go anywhere without someone realizing who we are."
"We'll go later." Liz compromised, "I want to make sure Max is there."
"Okay fine, have it Ur way."
Later
2
A M
Liz and Tess made their way to the Evanses after knowing full well Max was there. Tess heaved…and her knees gave way, she then fell.
"Tess!" Liz turned to see her on the floor and she knelt down quickly beside her, "Oh god!" she tapped Tess' face lightly to wake her up
Tess' eyes were closed and her breathing was rapid
Liz looked up to see the house across the street, well in her view, "It isn't far. And I think his parents aren't home…" she mumbled to herself. She lifted Tess up and dragged her across the street, "Damn, I'm so glad she isn't heavy…" she mumbled with mild sarcasm
Once they arrived on the porch she knocked on the door
After a moment the door was answered by Isabel
"Liz Parker? I would've thought u had a bed time or something." She rolled her eyes