Chapter 4

Liz

Here I am, walking up the pathway to Tommy's house to the party. I fight the urge to roll my eyes at the sight and wonder for the thousandth time what would be the best way to make Tammy suffer a slow and painful death for making me come to this party.

She has given me clothes to get dressed into and that barely covers anything, I'm wearing a tight red halter-top and that showed off my back, short black skirt and thigh high, high heeled boots. She had curled my hair into, what she calls, the 'delicious tumble out of your bed look' and finished off with dark make up.

Tammy is ahead of me wearing her black leather trousers, her black boots and blue wrap around top that showed enough of her cleavage and mid-drift yet was classed enough to be called tasteful. Hey, I did see the way Jake was practically drooling when she stepped into the living room.

I know I'm purposely moving away from the conversation Max and I had in his room, seriously, how does the guy get to turn it around on to me? When he told me that I could talk to him, I, badly, wanted to tell him but a part of me is terrified of what his reaction would be.

How on earth do you tell you the guy you love that the people, who suppose to love and protect you, are constantly battering you every night? Oh my parents are smart, they make sure my bruises are on my body rather than make it too obvious, like my arms and legs – considering that I am a cheerleader. Tammy and I have a large supply of foundation, which is created to cover up any flaws and they cover up my bruises and cuts very well, especially the ones on my back and front.

Tammy was furious when she found out, she saw the bruise that was on my back and she guessed it straight away what was going on. She wanted to kill my parents and get me away from them but I made her promise not to tell. Beside, even after everything my parents put me through, I still love them beside I deserve the beatings.

Anyway, back to the topic, I see Tammy is looking at me with concern and I smile, letting her know that I am okay; she doesn't believe me but accepts it because she knows that I'm stubborn.

"Ready for some fun?" I heard a male voice ask and I turn to see Max looking at me. I smile.

"Let's go." I reply and he offers his arm, which I take and he leads into the house.

The minute we step in, Tess is in front of us, smiling brightly as she hugged each one of us, she was looking great in her white leather trousers and her blue top, let me tell you something, for some reason, us girls always find ourselves wearing leather every time we party. Michael and Kyle show up a minute later, obviously drunk, much to the amusement of us but to the annoyance of Tess.

"Hey!" Tess greeted as she hugged Max. "What took you so long?" she asked before turning to hug me.

"Isabel." Max stated bluntly and Tess nodded.

"Well, glad you could make it." Tess stated before smiling at me. We are both best friends, we became friends mid-way through fifth grade, she had moved to Roswell then and we were paired up as partners in Chemistry and we just clicked after finding out we had loads in common.

"I love this song!" We all hear Tammy stated as she hurried over and pulled me onto the dance floor, leaving Tess laughing at Tammy's excitement as Save Ferris 'Turn it up!' blared through the speakers.

Max

I shake my head at the sight of the two girls dancing up a storm on the living room floor and in noticed that a lot of the gang had stopped what they were doing to watch Tammy and Liz move to the beat.

I hear Jake practically growling when he noticed a majority of the boys were eyeing up the girls.

"When are you going to ask her out?" Tess demanded to me, I looked down at her, startled. When did she arrive at my side? Her question hit me, causing me to look at her, confused, causing her to scoff and roll her eyes. "Liz you idiot." She huffed out and I freeze, wondering how the hell she knew and she noticed this. "Oh, don't look so shocked, I think the whole school knows with the exception of Liz, of course." She explained and I gulp.

"How?" I asked, hoarsely and she smirked.

"You are really transparent when it comes to your feelings for Liz." Tess stated before shrugging and walking off, leaving me shaking my head at her. It never fails to scare me that she knows me so well, just like Liz and Tammy.

"What's wrong with you?" I hear Alex asked me and I turned him.

"Do you ever find it freaky how girls know you so well?" I asked him and he smiled.

"Everyday, let me guess, Tess, Liz and Tammy knows you so well?" he asked and I smiled at him and nodding. "Same here, Maria and Liz knows me so well, I find it cool you know, this way they know what I'm feeling without me having to explain it." Alex told me and I sighed.

"I still think it's freaky." I told him and he laughed.

"Max, come and dance!" I hear Tammy asked, I turned and shook my head wildly, I don't dance and she knows it, she rolled her eyes as she nudged Liz toward me.

A slow dance came on and I sighed as I held out my hand, she smiled as she took it and we moved toward the floor once more. We both looked up and saw that Maria had taken the stage, she was wearing her black leather trousers and a pink top; she smiled at us when she saw us before nodding to the band.

#I can feel it coming in the air tonight, oh Lord, oh Lord

I've been waiting for this moment all my life, oh Lord, oh Lord

Can you feel it coming in the air tonight, oh Lord, oh Lord# Liz rested her head on my chest as she wrapped her arms around my waist, I smiled as I wrapped my arms around her waist, holding her close as I rested my chin on her head.

#Well if you told me you were drowning, I would not lend a hand

I've seen your face before my friend, but I don't know if you know who I am

And I was there and I saw what you did, I saw it with my own two eyes

So you can wipe off that grin, I know where you've been

It's all been a pack of lies

And I can feel it coming in the air tonight, oh Lord, oh Lord

I've been waiting for this moment all my life, oh Lord, oh Lord

I can feel it in the air tonight, oh Lord, oh Lord

And I've been waiting for this moment all my life, oh Lord, oh Lord

Well I remember, I remember, don't worry, how could I ever forget

It's the first time and the last time we ever met

But I know the reason why you keep your silence up; no you don't fool me

Because the hurt doesn't show, but the pain still grows

Some stranger to you and me

I can feel it coming in the air tonight, oh Lord, oh Lord

I've been waiting for this moment for all my life, oh Lord

I can feel it coming in the air tonight, oh Lord, oh Lord

I've been waiting for this moment all my life, oh Lord, oh Lord

I can feel it coming in the air tonight, oh Lord, oh Lord

And I've been waiting for this moment all my life, oh Lord, oh Lord

I can feel it coming in the air; I can feel it coming in the air

I've been waiting for this moment all my life, my life

I can feel it coming in the air; I can feel it coming in the air I've been waiting for this moment all my life

I've been waiting for this moment all my life, m-my life# she finished, we all smiled up at her and Liz pulled away from me, I smiled down at her.

"Do you want to get something to drink?" I asked her and she nodded and I led her over to the kitchen. We both walked over to the fridge and Liz looked in.

"Make sure Tammy hadn't spiked those." She told me and I laughed as I grabbed two unopened bottles and handed one to her. "Thanks."

"Sure, Enjoying the party?" I asked and she shrugged.

"It's okay, wish that the girls could have a rest every now and then when it comes to parties." She told me and I laughed.

"Gotta agree with you there." I told her.

"Hello party people, are you enjoying your time here?" Tommy asked as he came up, Tommy Watson was one of the players on the team and loved throwing parties.

"Hey Tommy, yeah it's great." I told him.

"Yeah, and thanks for inviting Alex to play the band tonight." Liz told him and he shrugged.

"No problem, oh and here's an advice, stay away from the guys who have gotten drunk, they have been pawing the girls since." He told us and we nodded as he moved on.

Liz

Everyone seemed to be having a good time, looks like Maria and Tess are laying into Kyle and Michael for getting drunk again, I rolled my eyes and shake my head at the two boys, I love them like brothers but they can really drive you up the wall when they want to.

Max is back in the kitchen talking to Sean Deluca, Maria's cousin, he also plays on the basketball team with the boys and was going over some plays with Max to see what he thought.

Tammy and Jake were dancing, I smiled as I watched them, Tammy really loves Jake and I could see that it was vice versa. It's funny, two years ago, Tammy and Jake hated the guts of the others as they continued to annoy the other off, I asked Tammy about it once and she told me that he just rubbed her up the wrong way, that he was way to arrogant and pig headed, that all changed when they kissed for the first time, Jake had finally let go of the image he created for himself and let his true self come out for everyone to see.

"Hey Lizzie, what you up to?" I hear a male voice asked and I turned around to see Alex standing there.

"Hey Alex, nothing much, just relaxing. You?" I asked.

"Wondering if I should talk to Isabel." He mumbled under his breath and I looked at him with a smirk.

"Let me guess, you have been thinking about what Tammy said about you being hopeless in love with Isabel and you want to see if it's true?" I asked and he blushed as he nodded and I smiled. "That's great Alex, I think you will be good for Isabel." I told him.

"Really?" he asked and I nodded. "I know that the whole 'Ice Queen' is an act and I really want to see what she is like on the inside, you know, see if I can't get her real self to come out." Alex explained and I felt my heart melt. See, Alex is one of those perfect gentlemen who are completely rare in the world.

"I agree with you, I don't know why Isabel acts like this but I feel the same, I feel that she is hiding from the world and I feel that you are the right person to bring her out." I told him and he nodded, gearing himself up and I laughed as I pushed him. "Go on, stop stalling." I told him and he nodded as he moved over to Isabel.

"Well, well, well what do we have here? A little girl all by herself." I felt a hot breath on my neck and I spun around and pushed the guy away.

It was James Mastodon, he is one of those guys who acted like he owned the whole school and could have any girl he wanted with a snap of his fingers, good thing I ain't one of those girls.

"Get lost James." I snapped and he let his fingers trail up and down my arm, provoking me into yanking it away from him. "And don't touch me."

"Oh Lizzie, don't be like that, you know you want me." He breathed out as he stepped closer to me and I scoffed and I looked in his dark eyes.

"Like I want to swim in shark infested water with a slit wrist." I hissed out, dangerously and his eyes harden, he grabbed my arm and I flinched, I had a bad feeling.

"You are gonna come with me little girl and we gonna fix that little attitude of yours as well."

"Bite me!" I snapped, fighting against his grip but I could feel it tighten on my arm, causing bruises.

"Oh, I'll be doing a lot more than biting, you can count on that." He told me and he started to drag me, I kicked his shin and he jerked me over to him, causing me let out a low moan of pain as his nails started to dig into my skin.

"Get your damn hands off her!" I hear a male voice snapped and we both turned to see Max staring at James with a murderous glare in his eyes. Now I really have a bad feeling.

Tammy

"Having fun?" I heard Jake asked and I turned to face him with a smile.

"Yeah, it's nice to see everyone having a laugh." I told him and he smiled.

"Nice to see that Evan isn't on my back cause I'm talking to you." He told me, cheekily, and I laughed as I wrapped my arms around his neck as another slow song came on, he wrapped his arms around my waist and rested his head on my forehead. "I love you." He whispered and I smiled up at him.

"I love you too." I replied; we were about to lean in for a kiss when there was clatter.

"Get your damn hands off her!" I hear someone shout, everyone stopped and turned, we saw James had Liz's arm in a tight grip and Max staring at James in a dangerous way.

"Fuck." Jake uttered under his breath and we both hurried over with Tess, Maria and Alex, ready for back up.

"What are you gonna do about it Evans? She's been mouthing me off so I need to teach her a little lesson." James remarked and I shook my head.

"Totally bad move." I muttered.

Max lost it and grabbed the front of James' shirt before bringing his fist into James's face, James' head was forced backward as he loosened his grip on Liz's arm, causing her to run into Alex's open arms, which immediately closed around her.

"You bastard!" James muttered when his head was brought back up. Max wasn't listening as he plunge his fist into James' stomach, and James bent over before Max threw another punch into James's face, sending him to the ground.

"That's what I'm gonna do." Max breathed out, harshly, before turning to Liz. "Liz?" he asked, Liz came out of Alex's arm and Max's hands were running over her arms, checking that she wasn't hurt anywhere else.

"Damn girl, you have one major bruise there." I muttered when I saw the large handprint and I turned her arm over, gently, and winced when I saw the nail marks. "You are not bleeding you are lucky there." I told her and she nodded.

"Come on sweetie, we need to put some ice on that bruise." Tess stated as she led Liz into the kitchen with Maria following, Maria stopped before kicking James on the thigh before moving on.

"What do we do with him?" Alex asked and I shrugged.

"Better call an ambulance and get them to pick him up, we just say that he picked with the wrong girl, they don't ask any questions if you tell them that." I told him and Tommy nodded as he picked up the phone. "Hey slugger, your hand sore?" I asked my brother and he let out a small laugh.

"Yeah." He admitted and I smirked.

"Come on, I think there is a bag of frozen peas waiting for you." I told him and he laughed as he followed me into the kitchen, there was a flock of girls surrounding Liz, making sure that she was okay, they all looked up when they saw Max come in and hurried to surround him, telling him that he was so brave and strong, leaving me shaking my head and rolling my eyes and I moved over to the fridge.

"You are evil you know that?" Liz whispered to me and I turned to face her, confusion on my face.

"How do you mean?" I asked and she nudged her head in Max's direction, I looked and bit back a snicker at Max's horrified face, I knew that he hated being the centre of attention.

"He'll be fine, how about you?" I asked and she rolled her eyes.

"Tess and Maria made sure the nail marks were clean before giving me the ice bag to place on my arm." She told me, gesturing to the bag and I nodded.

"Whoever said this party was going to be boring?" I asked and she laughed.

Max

I finally got myself away from those girls, damn, who knew that some girls could be so clingy? I was so going to give Tammy a lecture for leaving me with them. I hurried over to the table and smiled at them.

"You okay?" I asked Liz, I was worried when I saw James manhandled her like that and I wanted to kill him.

"Yeah I'm fine Max, just a bruise, Tess and Maria made sure the nail mark didn't break the skin." She assured me and I nodded.

"Where's the bag of peas?" I asked my sister and she shot me a 'are you insane' look.

"I didn't say I was going to get it did I?" she demanded and I gave her the puppy dog eyes which she scowled at. "I hate you." She muttered as she walked over to the fridge and I smiled.

"Payback best served cold." I replied and the bag of peas met me in the face. "Hey!" I exclaimed as giggles enveloped the room.

"Serve your right." Tammy told me before exiting the room and I rolled my eyes.

"I just had to get a rebellious little sister didn't I? I couldn't get one of those little sisters that were obedient." I asked, rhetorical, and Liz laughed.

"As you a her big brother, you would be so lucky." She teased and I threw the wet towel at her, causing her to squeal with shock and laughers before throwing it back at me, which I put my arm over my face while laughing.

Tammy

I left the kitchen and headed into the main part of the living room, where I stopped short at the sight in front of me, I felt my mouth drop open and I rubbed my eyes, convinced I was hallucinating. No such luck.

"Am I really seeing what I'm seeing?" Jake demanded from behind me and I shrugged, still confused as Tess and Maria came to stand next to me.

"Oh lord, what is Alex doing?" Maria whispered to me, I shrugged, obviously confused as well.

"What's up girls?" Max asked, none of us replied and he looked over to see that Alex was flirting with Isabel and she was…flirting right back! "Is she flirting with Alex?" Max demanded.

"Yeah." Tess replied, nodding dumbly.

"What is in these drinks?" Jake demanded as he glared at his drink, accusingly, before looking at Alex and Isabel once more.

"Either that or there's something in the air." Maria muttered.

"Are you talking about the song, 'So Hot'?" Liz asked as she walked over to us, she noticed that we seemed stunned so she looked in the same direction and smiled when she saw Alex and Isabel were flirting. "Looks like Alex is working the Whitman charm alright." She murmured to herself and we all rounded on her.

"You knew about this!" Jake demanded and "Liz nodded, obviously confused.

"Yeah, what's the problem?" Liz asked.

"Alex is flirting with the ice queen!" Maria screeched and Max rounded on her.

"Hey! Watch what you say about my sister." He warned and I rolled my eyes as I turned to him.

"Max, Isabel is the ice queen, hell, she thought up the title herself." I informed him, leaving him gob smacked before turning to Liz, who was watching us with amusement shining in her eyes. "And you, missies, tell us what the hell Alex is doing and tell us now." I warned her and everyone surrounded Liz, making sure she had no chance to escape and she rolled her eyes.

"Well, ever since you accused Alex of being in love with Isabel, he decided to do something about it and he doesn't believe that she is an ice queen that everyone seems to believe, he believes that she is hiding her real self cause she scared." Liz explained with a shrug.

"It's official, the world is coming to an end." Maria exclaimed as she dug through her small bag and pulled out a small vial, causing the rest of us to groan as she pulled the lid off and started sniffing the cedar oil like a coke fiend.

"Oh get over it!" I told her, shaking my head. "Your mother dating Mr Valenti and Alex flirting with Isabel doesn't have to mean that whole world is coming to an end, it just mean things are…" I trailed off.

"Evolving?" Liz jumped in, helpfully and I nodded.

"What she said." I stated, not having a clue what she meant and she stifled her snickers before looking at her watch and rolling her eyes.

"Gotta go and sing, see you in a couple of mins." She told us before hurrying off, leaving us to stare at Alex and Isabel in a stunned shock once more.

Liz

Poor guys, don't think I have seen them all this speechless before and I had to squelched the urge to start giggling madly at the sight of them, I hurried over to Alex and motioned toward the stage, his eyes widen in remembrance and he said something to Isabel before hurrying over to my side and we both hurried up on the stage where everyone was surrounding, waiting for the next song.

I looked back at the band and nodded, Nicky – the drummer started up the beat as I moved my hips to the rhythm and everyone started moving to the beat.

#You're miles away and my heartbeats fast/And I miss you so bad it won't last

So I boot it up and I wait for the sign/It's telling me babe we're on line!

Connection's made and I surf it to you/I see your picture with eyes so brown

Did the aircon fail? Cos I'm hotter than hell/The rest is secrets I can tell.

Yes I like to touch you know I like to taste/But without you it's never quite the same

Boy, it ain't no used one thing for a girl to do

Download it! Download it/Gotta shoot that smile for me

If you download it! Download it/I'll be safe in the arms of love

Download it! Download it/Next best thing to reality

If you download it! Download it/I'll be safe in the arms of love

I close my eyes and your image appears/Yeah, the dream that I dream is right here

No I won't deny what my body needs/So I do what you do till I feel

The pleasure, pain and I whisper you name/I lose consciousness for a time

Come round, you're gone screen saver's on/When you ain't here

You blow my mind!

Yes I like to touch you know I like to taste

But without you it's never quite the same (never quite the same)

Boy, it ain't no used one thing for a girl to do

Download it! Download it/Gotta shoot that smile for me

If you download it! Download it/I'll be safe in the arms of love

Download it! Download it/Next best thing to reality

If you download it! Download it/I'll be safe in the arms of love

Miles away and my heart beat fast/And I miss you so bad it won't last

So I boot it up and I wait for the sign/It's telling me babe we're on line!

Yes I like to touch you know I like to taste

But without you it's never quite the same (Never quite the same)

Boy, it ain't no used one thing for a girl to do (girl to do, girl to do, girl to do)

Download it! Download it/Gotta shoot that smile for me

If you download it! Download it/I'll be safe in the arms of love

Download it! Download it/Next best thing to reality

If you download it! Download it/I'll be safe in the arms of love

Gotta shoot that smile for me

You've got to download it, download it, download it# I finished and everyone cheered, it was a good party right up to the end.

"It was a great party wasn't it?" Tess asked as we helped Michael inside the Evan's house. Max and Jake were helping Kyle. I smiled at her.

"Sure, if you count Michael and Kyle getting drunk, Max getting into a fist fight with James and Mr. Valenti giving us warnings." I told her and she smirked.

"Just an normal day for us." She stated and I laughed as we pitched Michael on one of the couch while Max and Jake pitched Kyle on the other couch.

"Think they will be okay?" Tammy asked and Max shrugged.

"They'll have a major headache tomorrow." Max informed and she nodded.

"Right girls, lets try and get some sleep." She told us and we nodded as we waved to the boys before moving to her room while the Max, Alex, and Jake headed to Max's room.

We found ourselves in our PJs as we got settled, ready for sleep, Isabel was sleeping in her own room while the rest of were in Tammy's room, Isabel liked it when she had the room to herself, something about lavender bed sheets being all hers.

"It was a great party." I admitted, answering Tess's questions and we all giggled before going to sleep.

TBC

The song is by Clea – Download It!

Word was originally 'blue' but changed it to brown to fit description.