[u]Part 7[/u]
Kate and Will had returned to the Crashdown immediately after Will's announcement that they were going to tell Rowena the truth about who she was. Kate had tried the entire way to convince her brother that it was a terrible idea, that they still didn't know what Ro's connection was to Zan, that approaching her too quickly might screw everything up even more, but Will was determined.
"I know it's the right way to go," he told her firmly. "It's best to just get it all out in the open. She [I]felt[/I] something. I know she did and if we don't talk to her, she's going to get scared. We have to make her see that we're not a threat to her."
"But Will! She's [I]friends[/I] with Zan! And we fully intend to be a threat to [I]him[/I]!" Kate snapped back, despite knowing that she was arguing in vain. Will was the leader, had [I]always[/I] been the leader. His decisions were final. They always had been, they always would be. It didn't mean she wasn't going to make sure that she was going to have the chance to say [I]I told you so[/I] later. "And what about Jack? Where [I]is[/I] he anyway?"
"Undercover," Will replied. "He's pretending to be a student at West Roswell too. And if you see him, you're not to talk to him. You've already screwed up enough Katie, letting Zan see you like that. We need to keep all our tricks up our sleeves for as long as possible. As of right now, we don't know Jack. At all."
"Will! Jack can't handle this on his own. He's going to crack for sure!"
Will looked at her, his eyes narrowed. "When are you going to realize that Jack isn't quite the same person he was in our last lives? He's more than capable."
Kate glared at him. "You're wrong Will. He's completely innocent. He's going to go right up to one of them and introduce himself, I'm telling you. He [I]still[/I] doesn't quite believe they're our enemies, just like last time! We have to keep him on a short leash."
"I said to leave him alone Kate and that's final," Will told her, pushing his way into the Crashdown. He approached the man behind the counter, who had longish salt and pepper hair and a kind face. Kate blinked when Will introduced himself. "Hi, are you Mr. Parker?" Rowena lived in the [I]restaurant?[/I] Because apparently the man was her father.
The man finished wiping his hands dry on a towel and grinned. "I am. And who might you be? We're not hiring right now if that's why you're here."
Will grinned charmingly, making Kate stare at him in amazement. She was amazed. She hadn't been aware that her brother was capable of smiling. "No thanks. I actually just wanted to know if Liz was still at home." He indicated Kate. "My sister and I are new in town and I met Liz this morning. I wanted to introduce her to Kate." He paused. "My name is Will Spencer by the way."
"Hi Will," Mr. Parker replied. "Kate. Nice to meet you. I haven't seen Lizzie this morning but I was in Albuquerque picking up some supplies." He frowned slightly. "I'm assuming she's at school where she's supposed to be. Should I be thinking differently?" He asked suspiciously.
Kate rolled her eyes. Trust Will to get Liz into trouble. He was such a moron when it came to dealing with humans. He had never had to answer to anyone, except for their guardians when it came to their protection, but it certainly not been a parental relationship. He had always known he was a king and had always been treated that way. Their protectors had always been subservient because they had never had any reason to be anything else. They all remembered what had happened to them in their past lives when they hadn't been careful. They had never given their protectors any cause for concern.
"Er, no." Will sounded slightly embarrassed. "Liz just told me that she sometimes comes home for lunch. I thought she might be here."
Mr. Parker was still frowning. "Hmmm. Well, I haven't seen her but I'll tell her you dropped by." He paused. "Maybe I'll just call upstairs to see if she's there. She has been looking a little out of sorts lately. Maybe she decided to come home early after all."
As Liz's father moved away to the phone, Kate elbowed her brother. "Smooth."
"Shut up."
Kate smirked at him. "What next oh great leader?"
"We go back to the school of course," Will replied impatiently. "She probably did go back there."
"And right to Zan to tell him that you connected with her I'll bet," Kate told him, her heart starting to beat more quickly. "We are so dead Will."
Will didn't seem concerned. "Kate, why hasn't Zan come after us yet?" He asked pleasantly. "How are you so positive that he recognized you? Shouldn't he be here if he did? He's not an idiot, as much as I would like to say that he is."
Kate shrugged. "He's probably gathering his forces."
"What forces? Nicholas told us he had the other three and a couple of humans with them. Do those sound like [I]forces[/I] to you?"
She didn't get a chance to answer though. Mr. Parker was coming back. "Nope. No answer. She must be at school. Sorry. She usually eats with Alex and Maria if that helps." He glanced at the clock on the wall and shrugged, "But lunch should be about over by now."
"Thank you anyway," Will said politely. "Well, it was nice to meet you sir."
"You too. Welcome to Roswell."
Neither said another word until they were back on the street. "So, back to the school?" Kate asked, still annoyed that Will didn't believe her that Zan had recognized her. She [I]knew[/I] he had! He had stared right at her and his eyes had told her so.
"I guess so," Will sighed. "We're going to have to be careful though." Kate could hear the note of worry in Will's voice. She glanced at him.
"You're worried Ro [I]did[/I] go to Zan."
Will grimaced. "No."
"Will, it's a possibility. They're friends. You connected with her and she obviously knows who Zan and the others are. Of [I]course[/I] she went to him." Kate closed her eyes. "This is a complete disaster!"
"It's not," Will insisted. "It only makes it more obvious that we have to tell Liz who she is right away, so that she'll stop hanging around Zan. He's dangerous to her. We both know that."
There was a long pause as Kate thought about the strangeness of the fact that Rowena didn't seem to know anything about who [I]she[/I] was, but certainly knew who Zan was. "Why did he tell her the truth I wonder?" She finally asked her brother as they hurried back in the direction of West Roswell High. "If she's human in almost every way, how did they find each other?"
"I don't know," Will told her, sounding determined. "But we're going to find out."
********************************************************************
"Liz Parker and Alex Whitman are in the Eraser Room!"
Max whipped his head around as he hurried back through the front doors of the school. He and Izzy had taken the Jeep and had been to the Crashdown and over half of Roswell looking for Liz and the mysterious Will. Tess had pulled Kyle out of class to fill him in, although Max had been tempted to tell her not to. The last person Max wanted to talk to was Kyle Valenti but he had known he was being stupid. Kyle would care if Liz was in danger. That was all that mattered at the moment. And so, Tess and Kyle had taken the [I]other[/I] half of town.
In some ways it had been a relief to get rid of Tess for a while. Max couldn't stand the way she was constantly breathing down his neck lately. It was driving him insane and if pulling Kyle into this meant a little peace from Tess, he realized that he was more than willing. Michael and Maria had stayed at the school in case Liz came back and to locate Alex.
That had all been two hours ago though. Max was practically frantic now. He had known the instant that Liz had not come back to Bio that something was wrong. In fact, he had known it for the past ten days - ever since he had seen her in bed with Kyle. Yet, he had allowed his jealousy and his hurt to rule him and he hadn't made her tell him the truth. And now something had happened to her. He just [I]knew[/I] it. Particularly when Mr. Parker had told them at the Crashdown that they were the second set of siblings to come in asking for Liz in the past half an hour. Max and Isabel had stared at each other. He had seen Isabel's eyes widen in horror. When he had casually asked for the names of the two kids looking for Liz, he had been forced to clutch the counter, his knees suddenly weak with fear.
[I]Will and Kate[/I]. So now they had names for the girl Max had plowed into in the hallway and for the new guy. And they were connected, just as they had suspected. This was [I] all[/I] bad. The only good thing about it was that Liz was clearly [I]not[/I] with Will any longer. But she was still missing.
What if they had done something to her already? What if they were just covering their tracks by asking Mr. Parker about her so that when Liz didn't come home today, Will could safely say he had no idea where she was?
Of course, based on the whisper Max was [I]sure[/I] he had just heard, had likely been [I]meant[/I] to overhear, Liz and Alex were going to be found in the last place any of them would have ever thought to look for them. And it seemed that they weren't in any danger at all. But why wouldn't Max's heart stop pounding, in some way knowing that they were?
"Max?" Isabel whispered, sounding horrified. "Did you just hear that?" It took Max a minute to even process why his sister was upset. All he knew was the he was [I]glad[/I] that they now had a definite location for both of their friends.
But taking one look at Isabel's face, he realized that Alex and Liz in the Eraser Room was indeed a bit odd. Not that he thought anything would be going on between them, but they had to have known that people were going to talk about it. And Isabel seemed to be taking it to heart if her face was any indication.
"I think so. Go ask that girl Isabel. She'll tell you." Max barely had to say it though. His sister was already on her way. Within seconds she was in conversation with the two sophomores who had been speaking far too loudly. He decided to ignore the way the blonder of the two stared at him, a slightly assessing look on her face as her friend whispered frantically to Isabel, apparently slightly in awe that the popular junior was deigning to speak to her.
She was probably trying to see if he was jealous. Max rolled his eyes. He knew he was obvious that he was in no way over Liz, but could people not just leave him in peace? Sometimes he really hated school. Most of the time he [I]wished[/I] his problems were a simple as those of all his peers - who was dating who, who had made the cheerleading squad and who hadn't. He didn't even know that girl's name! Why did she care if he was upset or not?
No, he wasn't upset. Because he wasn't a typical high school boy pining for an ex-girlfriend. Instead, he was an alien king dealing with complete and utter heartbreak because his soul mate had slept with someone else. Oh yeah. And also dealing with the fact that he was somehow supposed to save a planet in another galaxy from a bunch of enemies, most of whom he had no idea how to find - or how to avoid.
Nope. Not upset at all.
And the stupidest part of it all was that he [I]was[/I] jealous. Not because he thought that there was anything going on between Alex and Liz, but because they had obviously had something of a serious enough nature to discuss in private that they had felt compelled to use the Eraser Room. The entire student body respected the Eraser Room. They wouldn't be bothered there. Which meant that Liz was confiding in Alex. It meant that there really [I]was[/I] something wrong and she had turned to someone else and he hated it.
He was almost tempted to go straight there, pull open the door and demand that Liz finally tell him the truth about what was going on with her. Because he really couldn't take much more of this. The more he had reflected on her behavior that morning, the more he was [I]sure[/I] that there was more to the Kyle thing than she was letting on. She wouldn't feel as bad about it as she did if there weren't. Because hadn't she brutalized him to his face right [I]before[/I] the Kyle thing, telling him that she didn't want to die for him? She hadn't felt bad [I]then[/I].
Which, he was beginning to realize, meant it was a lie. She hadn't felt bad because she had known that he wouldn't believe her. And he [I]hadn't[/I]. But now that she thought he [I]did[/I] believe her, she felt bad. Because she was upset that he believed it, that she had hurt him.
How could he have been so stupid?
Max stood in the middle of the virtually empty hallway with his mouth hanging open in disbelief. Isabel was wrapping up her conversation as the final bell for sixth period had just rung and the two sophomores were hurrying off to class, but Max saw none of this. He could feel a smile beginning to break across his face.
She [I]did[/I] still care about him. There was no other explanation for it. Something else was going on. He just [I]knew[/I] it.
"Well?" He raised an eyebrow at Isabel as she rejoined him.
"Max, they've been in there for three periods!" Isabel exclaimed, her tone slightly hysterical. "What are they [I]doing[/I] in there?"
"We're going to find out," Max replied grimly. "Let's go."
Isabel called after him. "Max, I don't know if this is such a good idea. Has Liz gone crazy or something? First Kyle and now Alex?"
He looked over his shoulder impatiently. "Iz, let's [I]go[/I]. You [I]know[/I] it's nothing like that!"
"Right. Alex wouldn't do that." Isabel nodded firmly. "You're right. I know [I]him[/I]." Which, of course, implied that she [I]didn't[/I] know Liz, that she wouldn't put it past Liz to be shacked up in the Eraser Room with Alex. Max sighed. This was another reason he hadn't wanted Michael or Isabel to know about the Kyle thing. Even after everything Liz had done for them, they were always ready to believe the worst of her, so protective of [I]him[/I], they couldn't help themselves. It was extremely frustrating, particularly because Max knew how really wonderful she was.
But Max knew Liz and he knew that what Isabel was imagining couldn't be true. Alex was like her brother. It would be like Isabel and Michael.Or.Okay, now that was just too gross to even contemplate. He was [I]not[/I] going there. But he knew that how he and Michael felt about Izzy was how Liz felt about Alex.
She was confiding in him. Somehow Max just knew it. Which meant she had something to confide. He was almost gleeful as he climbed the stairs to the second floor, Isabel on his heels.
Liz was stubborn, Max knew, but when he confronted her with all of his evidence, she was going to have to admit the truth - that she was keeping something from him. It was only a matter of time now until things could go back to normal, back to the way they were supposed to be, back to the way he had known deep in his heart they were meant to be from the first moment he had laid eyes on Liz that day in the playground.
Fate had brought them together. He wasn't going to let whatever it was upsetting Liz keep them apart. Not anymore. They were connected on a level deeper than they would ever be with anyone else. If she had broken and was telling Alex, he could get her to tell [I]him[/I]. He just knew it.
He was practically jogging now, unable to slow down, desperate to make Liz tell him the truth. He rounded the corner to the corridor where the Eraser Room was located and stopped so abruptly, Isabel crashed into his back.
Apparently he and Isabel were not the only ones to hear the Liz and Alex were in the Eraser Room. Because standing at the far end of the hallway were the new guy and girl, who had both come to an sudden halt as well, at the sight of he and Isabel.
Will and Kate. The two new students - the ones they had all convinced themselves were aliens. But as Max stared at them, he couldn't help but reflect that they looked just as human as everyone else in West Roswell High. They didn't [I]look[/I] like Skins. They weren't itching or dropping pieces of themselves all over the place for one thing. And if they [I]were[/I] Skins, their sheaths had to be just about ready to fall off. Max had seen Courtney at Michael's the night before. None of those aliens were long for this world.
Had they all just become paranoid? Were they losing it and couldn't even accept that two new students might be just that - two new students?
"Max?" Isabel whispered urgently. "That's them, isn't it?" Max remembered that his sister hadn't seen either of the newcomers yet.
Will and Kate were still staring at them too and the [I]way[/I] they were staring at them.Max remembered the flash of recognition he had seen in Kate's eyes when he had slammed into her in the hallway earlier that morning. He had not been wrong. These two kids [I]knew[/I] him. He could see it on both of their faces. Which could [I]not[/I] be a good thing. Even now he was beginning to feel something in the air, something charging up, as though merely being in their presence was setting something into motion.
This was very, very bad.
"It's them," Max muttered back. "Do they seem at all familiar? Can you [I]feel[/I] it Iz?"
"I feel it." Isabel shivered. "Who are they? It's different then with the Skins Max. It's just.weird. It feels like.."
"I know Iz. It feels like when we first saw Michael.and Tess."
Isabel nodded fearfully. "Are they here for Liz?"
"I think so." Max clenched his fists at his side.
"Why? If they're like Michael and Tess." Isabel trailed off, no longer sounding afraid but, instead, confused.
"I don't know. But if they're trying to get at me through her, they've got another thing coming. They're going to take her over my dead body."
[I]With pleasure Zan.[/I]
Max felt his eyes widen as the voice suddenly penetrated his thoughts, out of absolutely nowhere. It was a male voice, one he had never heard before, but he knew [I]instantly[/I] that it was the other guy at the end of the hallway speaking to him, despite the fact that Will's mouth had not opened.
Okay then. No doubts now. Aliens. Check.
And suddenly what that voice had said hit home.
Yup, this was very, very bad.
"MAX!" Isabel's scream made him react instantly. He brought his arm up and the green plasma shield Tess had helped him hone over the summer appeared out of nowhere, protecting he and his sister as a bolt of green lightening seemed to shoot right out of Will's upraised hand. It bounced innocently off the shield though. He and Isabel were completely protected.
But the assault went on and on. Max couldn't drop his arm, felt his energy being drained. He was still aware enough though to watch in horror as the Eraser Room door slammed open, the sudden chaos in the hallway obviously bringing Alex and Liz out to see what was going on.
Why couldn't they have stayed where they were safe? Didn't they know better by now? Max thought desperately, wondering how he was going to protect them and still keep Isabel safe too. He didn't know if he could keep the shield much longer, let alone use it to protect Liz and Alex too.
"MAX!" He heard Liz scream his name. Alex's head was whipping back and forth between the two sets of aliens, horror written on his face. Max felt a stab of relief as he saw Alex grab Liz, ready to pull her back into the Eraser Room. Good old Alex.
But it was too late. While Max and Isabel had been cowering behind his shield, Kate had made her move. She had been ready for Max's two friends when they had come out and, now, she grabbed them both by the wrist and seemed to be holding them with some kind of super-human strength. Liz and Alex were both fighting her, but it seemed to do no good.
Will was moving towards them now, still casually flinging lightening towards Max and Isabel so that they couldn't move. Max could only watch helplessly as Will placed his hand on his Kate's shoulder.
And an instant later Liz, Alex, Will and Kate all disappeared into thin air.
Kate and Will had returned to the Crashdown immediately after Will's announcement that they were going to tell Rowena the truth about who she was. Kate had tried the entire way to convince her brother that it was a terrible idea, that they still didn't know what Ro's connection was to Zan, that approaching her too quickly might screw everything up even more, but Will was determined.
"I know it's the right way to go," he told her firmly. "It's best to just get it all out in the open. She [I]felt[/I] something. I know she did and if we don't talk to her, she's going to get scared. We have to make her see that we're not a threat to her."
"But Will! She's [I]friends[/I] with Zan! And we fully intend to be a threat to [I]him[/I]!" Kate snapped back, despite knowing that she was arguing in vain. Will was the leader, had [I]always[/I] been the leader. His decisions were final. They always had been, they always would be. It didn't mean she wasn't going to make sure that she was going to have the chance to say [I]I told you so[/I] later. "And what about Jack? Where [I]is[/I] he anyway?"
"Undercover," Will replied. "He's pretending to be a student at West Roswell too. And if you see him, you're not to talk to him. You've already screwed up enough Katie, letting Zan see you like that. We need to keep all our tricks up our sleeves for as long as possible. As of right now, we don't know Jack. At all."
"Will! Jack can't handle this on his own. He's going to crack for sure!"
Will looked at her, his eyes narrowed. "When are you going to realize that Jack isn't quite the same person he was in our last lives? He's more than capable."
Kate glared at him. "You're wrong Will. He's completely innocent. He's going to go right up to one of them and introduce himself, I'm telling you. He [I]still[/I] doesn't quite believe they're our enemies, just like last time! We have to keep him on a short leash."
"I said to leave him alone Kate and that's final," Will told her, pushing his way into the Crashdown. He approached the man behind the counter, who had longish salt and pepper hair and a kind face. Kate blinked when Will introduced himself. "Hi, are you Mr. Parker?" Rowena lived in the [I]restaurant?[/I] Because apparently the man was her father.
The man finished wiping his hands dry on a towel and grinned. "I am. And who might you be? We're not hiring right now if that's why you're here."
Will grinned charmingly, making Kate stare at him in amazement. She was amazed. She hadn't been aware that her brother was capable of smiling. "No thanks. I actually just wanted to know if Liz was still at home." He indicated Kate. "My sister and I are new in town and I met Liz this morning. I wanted to introduce her to Kate." He paused. "My name is Will Spencer by the way."
"Hi Will," Mr. Parker replied. "Kate. Nice to meet you. I haven't seen Lizzie this morning but I was in Albuquerque picking up some supplies." He frowned slightly. "I'm assuming she's at school where she's supposed to be. Should I be thinking differently?" He asked suspiciously.
Kate rolled her eyes. Trust Will to get Liz into trouble. He was such a moron when it came to dealing with humans. He had never had to answer to anyone, except for their guardians when it came to their protection, but it certainly not been a parental relationship. He had always known he was a king and had always been treated that way. Their protectors had always been subservient because they had never had any reason to be anything else. They all remembered what had happened to them in their past lives when they hadn't been careful. They had never given their protectors any cause for concern.
"Er, no." Will sounded slightly embarrassed. "Liz just told me that she sometimes comes home for lunch. I thought she might be here."
Mr. Parker was still frowning. "Hmmm. Well, I haven't seen her but I'll tell her you dropped by." He paused. "Maybe I'll just call upstairs to see if she's there. She has been looking a little out of sorts lately. Maybe she decided to come home early after all."
As Liz's father moved away to the phone, Kate elbowed her brother. "Smooth."
"Shut up."
Kate smirked at him. "What next oh great leader?"
"We go back to the school of course," Will replied impatiently. "She probably did go back there."
"And right to Zan to tell him that you connected with her I'll bet," Kate told him, her heart starting to beat more quickly. "We are so dead Will."
Will didn't seem concerned. "Kate, why hasn't Zan come after us yet?" He asked pleasantly. "How are you so positive that he recognized you? Shouldn't he be here if he did? He's not an idiot, as much as I would like to say that he is."
Kate shrugged. "He's probably gathering his forces."
"What forces? Nicholas told us he had the other three and a couple of humans with them. Do those sound like [I]forces[/I] to you?"
She didn't get a chance to answer though. Mr. Parker was coming back. "Nope. No answer. She must be at school. Sorry. She usually eats with Alex and Maria if that helps." He glanced at the clock on the wall and shrugged, "But lunch should be about over by now."
"Thank you anyway," Will said politely. "Well, it was nice to meet you sir."
"You too. Welcome to Roswell."
Neither said another word until they were back on the street. "So, back to the school?" Kate asked, still annoyed that Will didn't believe her that Zan had recognized her. She [I]knew[/I] he had! He had stared right at her and his eyes had told her so.
"I guess so," Will sighed. "We're going to have to be careful though." Kate could hear the note of worry in Will's voice. She glanced at him.
"You're worried Ro [I]did[/I] go to Zan."
Will grimaced. "No."
"Will, it's a possibility. They're friends. You connected with her and she obviously knows who Zan and the others are. Of [I]course[/I] she went to him." Kate closed her eyes. "This is a complete disaster!"
"It's not," Will insisted. "It only makes it more obvious that we have to tell Liz who she is right away, so that she'll stop hanging around Zan. He's dangerous to her. We both know that."
There was a long pause as Kate thought about the strangeness of the fact that Rowena didn't seem to know anything about who [I]she[/I] was, but certainly knew who Zan was. "Why did he tell her the truth I wonder?" She finally asked her brother as they hurried back in the direction of West Roswell High. "If she's human in almost every way, how did they find each other?"
"I don't know," Will told her, sounding determined. "But we're going to find out."
********************************************************************
"Liz Parker and Alex Whitman are in the Eraser Room!"
Max whipped his head around as he hurried back through the front doors of the school. He and Izzy had taken the Jeep and had been to the Crashdown and over half of Roswell looking for Liz and the mysterious Will. Tess had pulled Kyle out of class to fill him in, although Max had been tempted to tell her not to. The last person Max wanted to talk to was Kyle Valenti but he had known he was being stupid. Kyle would care if Liz was in danger. That was all that mattered at the moment. And so, Tess and Kyle had taken the [I]other[/I] half of town.
In some ways it had been a relief to get rid of Tess for a while. Max couldn't stand the way she was constantly breathing down his neck lately. It was driving him insane and if pulling Kyle into this meant a little peace from Tess, he realized that he was more than willing. Michael and Maria had stayed at the school in case Liz came back and to locate Alex.
That had all been two hours ago though. Max was practically frantic now. He had known the instant that Liz had not come back to Bio that something was wrong. In fact, he had known it for the past ten days - ever since he had seen her in bed with Kyle. Yet, he had allowed his jealousy and his hurt to rule him and he hadn't made her tell him the truth. And now something had happened to her. He just [I]knew[/I] it. Particularly when Mr. Parker had told them at the Crashdown that they were the second set of siblings to come in asking for Liz in the past half an hour. Max and Isabel had stared at each other. He had seen Isabel's eyes widen in horror. When he had casually asked for the names of the two kids looking for Liz, he had been forced to clutch the counter, his knees suddenly weak with fear.
[I]Will and Kate[/I]. So now they had names for the girl Max had plowed into in the hallway and for the new guy. And they were connected, just as they had suspected. This was [I] all[/I] bad. The only good thing about it was that Liz was clearly [I]not[/I] with Will any longer. But she was still missing.
What if they had done something to her already? What if they were just covering their tracks by asking Mr. Parker about her so that when Liz didn't come home today, Will could safely say he had no idea where she was?
Of course, based on the whisper Max was [I]sure[/I] he had just heard, had likely been [I]meant[/I] to overhear, Liz and Alex were going to be found in the last place any of them would have ever thought to look for them. And it seemed that they weren't in any danger at all. But why wouldn't Max's heart stop pounding, in some way knowing that they were?
"Max?" Isabel whispered, sounding horrified. "Did you just hear that?" It took Max a minute to even process why his sister was upset. All he knew was the he was [I]glad[/I] that they now had a definite location for both of their friends.
But taking one look at Isabel's face, he realized that Alex and Liz in the Eraser Room was indeed a bit odd. Not that he thought anything would be going on between them, but they had to have known that people were going to talk about it. And Isabel seemed to be taking it to heart if her face was any indication.
"I think so. Go ask that girl Isabel. She'll tell you." Max barely had to say it though. His sister was already on her way. Within seconds she was in conversation with the two sophomores who had been speaking far too loudly. He decided to ignore the way the blonder of the two stared at him, a slightly assessing look on her face as her friend whispered frantically to Isabel, apparently slightly in awe that the popular junior was deigning to speak to her.
She was probably trying to see if he was jealous. Max rolled his eyes. He knew he was obvious that he was in no way over Liz, but could people not just leave him in peace? Sometimes he really hated school. Most of the time he [I]wished[/I] his problems were a simple as those of all his peers - who was dating who, who had made the cheerleading squad and who hadn't. He didn't even know that girl's name! Why did she care if he was upset or not?
No, he wasn't upset. Because he wasn't a typical high school boy pining for an ex-girlfriend. Instead, he was an alien king dealing with complete and utter heartbreak because his soul mate had slept with someone else. Oh yeah. And also dealing with the fact that he was somehow supposed to save a planet in another galaxy from a bunch of enemies, most of whom he had no idea how to find - or how to avoid.
Nope. Not upset at all.
And the stupidest part of it all was that he [I]was[/I] jealous. Not because he thought that there was anything going on between Alex and Liz, but because they had obviously had something of a serious enough nature to discuss in private that they had felt compelled to use the Eraser Room. The entire student body respected the Eraser Room. They wouldn't be bothered there. Which meant that Liz was confiding in Alex. It meant that there really [I]was[/I] something wrong and she had turned to someone else and he hated it.
He was almost tempted to go straight there, pull open the door and demand that Liz finally tell him the truth about what was going on with her. Because he really couldn't take much more of this. The more he had reflected on her behavior that morning, the more he was [I]sure[/I] that there was more to the Kyle thing than she was letting on. She wouldn't feel as bad about it as she did if there weren't. Because hadn't she brutalized him to his face right [I]before[/I] the Kyle thing, telling him that she didn't want to die for him? She hadn't felt bad [I]then[/I].
Which, he was beginning to realize, meant it was a lie. She hadn't felt bad because she had known that he wouldn't believe her. And he [I]hadn't[/I]. But now that she thought he [I]did[/I] believe her, she felt bad. Because she was upset that he believed it, that she had hurt him.
How could he have been so stupid?
Max stood in the middle of the virtually empty hallway with his mouth hanging open in disbelief. Isabel was wrapping up her conversation as the final bell for sixth period had just rung and the two sophomores were hurrying off to class, but Max saw none of this. He could feel a smile beginning to break across his face.
She [I]did[/I] still care about him. There was no other explanation for it. Something else was going on. He just [I]knew[/I] it.
"Well?" He raised an eyebrow at Isabel as she rejoined him.
"Max, they've been in there for three periods!" Isabel exclaimed, her tone slightly hysterical. "What are they [I]doing[/I] in there?"
"We're going to find out," Max replied grimly. "Let's go."
Isabel called after him. "Max, I don't know if this is such a good idea. Has Liz gone crazy or something? First Kyle and now Alex?"
He looked over his shoulder impatiently. "Iz, let's [I]go[/I]. You [I]know[/I] it's nothing like that!"
"Right. Alex wouldn't do that." Isabel nodded firmly. "You're right. I know [I]him[/I]." Which, of course, implied that she [I]didn't[/I] know Liz, that she wouldn't put it past Liz to be shacked up in the Eraser Room with Alex. Max sighed. This was another reason he hadn't wanted Michael or Isabel to know about the Kyle thing. Even after everything Liz had done for them, they were always ready to believe the worst of her, so protective of [I]him[/I], they couldn't help themselves. It was extremely frustrating, particularly because Max knew how really wonderful she was.
But Max knew Liz and he knew that what Isabel was imagining couldn't be true. Alex was like her brother. It would be like Isabel and Michael.Or.Okay, now that was just too gross to even contemplate. He was [I]not[/I] going there. But he knew that how he and Michael felt about Izzy was how Liz felt about Alex.
She was confiding in him. Somehow Max just knew it. Which meant she had something to confide. He was almost gleeful as he climbed the stairs to the second floor, Isabel on his heels.
Liz was stubborn, Max knew, but when he confronted her with all of his evidence, she was going to have to admit the truth - that she was keeping something from him. It was only a matter of time now until things could go back to normal, back to the way they were supposed to be, back to the way he had known deep in his heart they were meant to be from the first moment he had laid eyes on Liz that day in the playground.
Fate had brought them together. He wasn't going to let whatever it was upsetting Liz keep them apart. Not anymore. They were connected on a level deeper than they would ever be with anyone else. If she had broken and was telling Alex, he could get her to tell [I]him[/I]. He just knew it.
He was practically jogging now, unable to slow down, desperate to make Liz tell him the truth. He rounded the corner to the corridor where the Eraser Room was located and stopped so abruptly, Isabel crashed into his back.
Apparently he and Isabel were not the only ones to hear the Liz and Alex were in the Eraser Room. Because standing at the far end of the hallway were the new guy and girl, who had both come to an sudden halt as well, at the sight of he and Isabel.
Will and Kate. The two new students - the ones they had all convinced themselves were aliens. But as Max stared at them, he couldn't help but reflect that they looked just as human as everyone else in West Roswell High. They didn't [I]look[/I] like Skins. They weren't itching or dropping pieces of themselves all over the place for one thing. And if they [I]were[/I] Skins, their sheaths had to be just about ready to fall off. Max had seen Courtney at Michael's the night before. None of those aliens were long for this world.
Had they all just become paranoid? Were they losing it and couldn't even accept that two new students might be just that - two new students?
"Max?" Isabel whispered urgently. "That's them, isn't it?" Max remembered that his sister hadn't seen either of the newcomers yet.
Will and Kate were still staring at them too and the [I]way[/I] they were staring at them.Max remembered the flash of recognition he had seen in Kate's eyes when he had slammed into her in the hallway earlier that morning. He had not been wrong. These two kids [I]knew[/I] him. He could see it on both of their faces. Which could [I]not[/I] be a good thing. Even now he was beginning to feel something in the air, something charging up, as though merely being in their presence was setting something into motion.
This was very, very bad.
"It's them," Max muttered back. "Do they seem at all familiar? Can you [I]feel[/I] it Iz?"
"I feel it." Isabel shivered. "Who are they? It's different then with the Skins Max. It's just.weird. It feels like.."
"I know Iz. It feels like when we first saw Michael.and Tess."
Isabel nodded fearfully. "Are they here for Liz?"
"I think so." Max clenched his fists at his side.
"Why? If they're like Michael and Tess." Isabel trailed off, no longer sounding afraid but, instead, confused.
"I don't know. But if they're trying to get at me through her, they've got another thing coming. They're going to take her over my dead body."
[I]With pleasure Zan.[/I]
Max felt his eyes widen as the voice suddenly penetrated his thoughts, out of absolutely nowhere. It was a male voice, one he had never heard before, but he knew [I]instantly[/I] that it was the other guy at the end of the hallway speaking to him, despite the fact that Will's mouth had not opened.
Okay then. No doubts now. Aliens. Check.
And suddenly what that voice had said hit home.
Yup, this was very, very bad.
"MAX!" Isabel's scream made him react instantly. He brought his arm up and the green plasma shield Tess had helped him hone over the summer appeared out of nowhere, protecting he and his sister as a bolt of green lightening seemed to shoot right out of Will's upraised hand. It bounced innocently off the shield though. He and Isabel were completely protected.
But the assault went on and on. Max couldn't drop his arm, felt his energy being drained. He was still aware enough though to watch in horror as the Eraser Room door slammed open, the sudden chaos in the hallway obviously bringing Alex and Liz out to see what was going on.
Why couldn't they have stayed where they were safe? Didn't they know better by now? Max thought desperately, wondering how he was going to protect them and still keep Isabel safe too. He didn't know if he could keep the shield much longer, let alone use it to protect Liz and Alex too.
"MAX!" He heard Liz scream his name. Alex's head was whipping back and forth between the two sets of aliens, horror written on his face. Max felt a stab of relief as he saw Alex grab Liz, ready to pull her back into the Eraser Room. Good old Alex.
But it was too late. While Max and Isabel had been cowering behind his shield, Kate had made her move. She had been ready for Max's two friends when they had come out and, now, she grabbed them both by the wrist and seemed to be holding them with some kind of super-human strength. Liz and Alex were both fighting her, but it seemed to do no good.
Will was moving towards them now, still casually flinging lightening towards Max and Isabel so that they couldn't move. Max could only watch helplessly as Will placed his hand on his Kate's shoulder.
And an instant later Liz, Alex, Will and Kate all disappeared into thin air.