Chapter 2: A Choice to Make…
"Yoo-hoo," a female voice called. A hand was waving in front of his face, disorienting his vision…wait…what? Max blinked and pulled his head back. The woman giggled and he turned to see a blonde sitting next to him at the table he had taken up residence at in the library.
"Courtney," Max greeted and got a bright smile in return. She had dark blue eyes and shoulder length blonde hair.
"You finally came back to reality," Courtney greeted and there was a muffled snicker from the other side of the table and Max turned to see a tall lanky dark haired boy with bright blue eyes.
"I'm more interested in where he went," the boy said and Courtney grinned while Max rolled his eyes.
"Nice to see you too Alex," Max greeted. Alex just gave a mock salute, one that had Courtney giggling and Max grinned in amusement before he turned back to his notes. Alex looked at the notes as well and arched an eyebrow.
"The Seer of the Nile?" questioned Alex. Courtney frowned as she also looked over at the notes before eyeing Max.
"Isn't that one of the Mythical history that had been told in History class today? I remember Serena telling me that the substitute teacher was telling her class about it," Courtney told him and Max nodded.
"Serena and I share the same class. I don't know why but this story just really interests me – I think it's because I'm confused about my path that a chance for someone to be able to tell me what my true path holds gives some belief in me," Max explained and got nods of understanding.
"You do realise that it's just a Myth, right?" Alex asked, questionably and Max laughed as he nodded.
"Yeah, I know," Max assured him. Alex chuckled while Courtney shook her head, amused before she stood up, smoothing down her long demin skirt as she went and straightened her blue shirt.
"We came to get you because it's lunch time," Courtney explained. "Are you coming or are you going to stay here?" Alex also stood up and moved to stand next to his girlfriend. Max shook his head.
"Nah – I have no classes after lunch. I'm just gonna stay here then head home for lunch. I gotta see my boss anyway," Max told them and got nods.
"Great – we'll see you when we'll see you," Alex led Courtney out of the library as they both waved to Max. Max gave a short wave back and turned back to his notes, frowning as he underlined something and pulled another book toward him.
He knew that the story is just a myth but he couldn't help but feel that there could be something to it. He had checked on the computer and found the story of the couple that Miss Topolsky had told them in class. It was true that the young man had found love but while he had been gone, she had died in a shooting that happened in her father's restaurant. The young man had actually had made plans to go out with the woman at the time but because he had gone away, she ended up working and died. The young man had been so deep in grief, he had allowed his family to do what they had wanted and he found himself married to the other woman but ended up dying two months after his true love's death.
Max had been shocked at this, that one part of the tale had been true and it had made him wonder if the rest of the tale was true but there was no way for him to ask as the man who had been through it had died. Max sat back in his seat before rubbing a hand over his eyes and looked at his watch. He needed to get out of here, Lunch would be nearly finished and he had no doubt that Tess would be searching for him, he knew that Alex and Courtney wouldn't tell her where he was but she did have a habit of finding him when he didn't want her to.
Max gathered his stuff and placed it into his bags before grabbing the books and headed over to the check out counter. The elderly lady with her grey hair pulled back in a bun and warm brown eyes peering at Max over her glasses smiled.
"Do you want to take them out dear?" she asked and Max nodded. She took the books, scanned them before taking Max's card and scanned it so they knew who took the books. "Remember to bring them back on your last day." Max nodded again with a smile as he took the books and left the library and hurried down the hallway, turning a corner just as Tess enter the library, intending to hunt down her husband to be – one way or another.
Max found himself outside of his workplace. He climbed out of the jeep and slung his backpack over his shoulder before making his way into the UFO Centre. He nodded to the other guys that were working at the moment as he made his way into the backroom in order to put his stuff away and get his uniform on.
Once he was finished, he went on through the room and walked down the corridor. He was about to head into the main room when he saw the computer and another idea came to his mind. He made his way into the computer room, booted it up and logged on before searching the database for all information on the Seer of the Nile, hoping that the computer would have some information.
He was so busy reading all the information that he missed hearing his boss calling his name as he looked for him till he was standing in the doorway.
"Evans?" a male voice asked and Max turned in his seat to see his boss standing in the doorway. He had dark brown crew cut hair with brown eyes.
"Hey Milton, were you looking for me?" Max asked and Milton nodded as he made his way over to the young man before spying what Max was doing and an eyebrow arched.
"The Seer of the Nile, now, there's something I hadn't heard in a long time," Milton exclaimed.
"You know about it?" Max asked and Milton nodded, surprising the young man as Milton seemed to be more obsessed about aliens rather than mythical history.
"Don't look so surprise Evans, I did have other interests when I was younger," Milton, playfully, scolded him and Max shot him an embarrassed grin. Milton waved off Max's apologies. "She was a beauty – a lot of people were obsessed about her, even my own grandfather was."
"Beauty?" asked Max and Milton nodded as he perched himself on the table.
"Oh yeah – it was rumoured that she was beautiful – not beautiful as in the false sense but beautiful in nature's way – she just had this inner beauty that took more than just a look to be able to see it. In order to know her – you had to take the chance to look past her outer appearance to see the true beauty from within – that was actually part of the riddle that you needed to solve in one of the challenges – it was part of her personalities. Because she didn't value wealth or possession, she didn't value vanity," Milton explained before shaking his head. "Many men have gone before her in hope she would tell them their future but they would always fail a test at one point or another."
"Wow," Max whispered as he turned back to the computer. Milton just stared at his employee for a long moment before he got off the table.
"You know Evans," Milton spoke up and Max looked at him. "Maybe you need a break." Max tilted his head, curious. "Look, ever since I hired you, you haven't missed a day – not to mention all those people coming in and out of your lives – you deserve a break – take a year off or something, just go." Max stared at Milton with a look of disbelief.
"Are you serious – you are letting me go off for a year?" Max asked and Milton grinned.
"Max – you've been working for me the last two years – if anyone needs a break, it's you," Milton assured him, "and since I haven't seen you buying anything, I'm assuming that all the money I do give you is just sitting in your bank waiting to be spent." He grinned at Max's flushed look and nodded. "So, yes, go and take a break – go to Egypt – if you really think this seer is real, then go and find her or find some evidence of her. I hardly think this place is going to crumble to nothing without Max." Max grinned.
"Thank Milton," Max said but Milton just waved it off.
"Just get your butt into gear and put those intestines back into the alien – I swear to god, I don't know how those kids get in that display," Milton ordered him, walking away. Max just grinned once more as he turned around and booked his ticket to Egypt before printing off his receipt, folded it and tucked it into the back of his jeans before he logged off the computer and hurried off to do his job, feeling more secured in his destiny than he had ever felt before.
"Max? Honey?" a female voice asked as the front door opened. Diane Evans, a tall blonde woman with bright blue eyes came out from the kitchen, wiping her hand on her apron before she smiled brightly when she saw her son.
"Hey mom," Max greeted with a kiss on her cheeks before placing his bag on the ground and hung his jacket up. "What's wrong?" Diane shook her head.
"Nothing's wrong sweetie – I'm just seeing if it's you that's home. Isabel phone and said she is staying over at Tess tonight as they are going to a party and you father is coming home late," Diane explained and Max nodded.
"Okay – I'm gonna put my stuff away. I have something I want to talk to you about," Max said and Diane nodded.
"Okay – just come into the kitchen, I'm making some cookies and cakes," Diane told her son with a kiss to his cheek and walked back into the kitchen while Max watched his mom leave with a fond smile. He headed into his room and placed the bag on the ground next to his desk before pulling out all the information that he had collected, gathered and sorted onto the desk before pulling out his plane tickets that he had ordered and collected before coming home and placed them into the drawer to prevent anyone else from seeing them.
Max made his way out of his room and headed into the kitchen where he saw his mother put the finishing touches on one of her large cakes that had been decorated with icing and chocolate decorations. There were even strawberries on the cake. There were also some bun cakes with icing and decorations and chocolate chip cookies. Diane looked up when she felt her son standing in the doorway and smiled.
"Hey, have a seat. I have made some hot chocolate – do you want any?" she asked and Max nodded as he sat down at the counter, watching as his mother hummed as she finished the cake and moved it over to the fridge where it could set and moved over to the cupboard to pull out two mugs and filled them up with hot chocolate that she had melted, added milk to make it more liquidly and handed one mug over to her son.
"So, what did you want to talk about honey?" Diane placed the cup of hot chocolate with Tabasco sauce and marshmallows in front of Max. Max smiled down at the treat before he looked up at Diane once more.
"I want to leave for the year," Max told her. Diane looked at him, sharply before she sat down on the other side of the counter, curious to where he was going to take this. "I don't want to go straight to college. I want to go out there and see the world, I want to see everything there is to see and I don't want to spend the rest of my life wondering what it would have been like I had taken the courage to do so." Diane nodded, she had always known her son was cautious, her baby boy looking at every pro and con before making a choice and it warmed her heart to know that he was taking the chance to take a risk.
"Okay and how would you plan this?" Diane asked; she knew that he wouldn't come to her and tell her this unless he had thought out a plan.
"I would go to Egypt first, I heard something about it in class and you know me, I've always been fascinated with the history," Max shot her a wry grin and she smiled in return.
"Oh yes – anything unless it has something to do with war and politic, you are completely bored to death," Diane informed her son, who just grinned innocently at her. Diane just chuckled and shook her head. "When would you plan on going?"
"At the beginning of the second week, I would need the time to pack up and arrange the leave at my work although Milton has already given me his blessing to leave – in fact; he's the one who suggested it!" Max told her and Diane smiled.
"You know Milton had always had a soft spot for you since you helped him during one of his busiest moment at the UFO centre," reminded Diane. "Beside, you haven't missed a day since working there, he probably feels like he over-worked you." Max nodded.
"Yeah, I know. And I would have to sort out my plans to how long I would want to be in Egypt for and where I would want to go afterward and such so I can plan it all out to be able to be back for next summer so I would have time to relax before going off to college," Max finished. Diane nodded with a knowing smile.
"And you have already booked the tickets," she told him. Max shot her a shocked look but Diane just smiled as she reached out and cupped her son's cheek. "You are my son Max, while not biological, you are my son in every other way and I know you. You would never talk to me with stuff like this unless you have already made up your mind." Max looked down at the table with a sheepish grin. "So, when do you plan on telling everyone else?" Max groaned.
"I'm going to tell Dad when he gets back but I'm dreading telling Isabel and Michael, they'll probably blow a fuse," Max muttered. Diane frowned at the mention of her daughter and boyfriend but quickly schooled her expression; she knew that Isabel had been a bit…enthusiastic about her brother dating her best friend but Isabel needed to understand that Max wasn't always going to be there for her.
"They can't tell you what to do," Diane spoke up and Max looked at his mother, curious. "Yes, they will be angry but Max, you are your own person. You have to make your own choices without fear that you will be hurting someone. It is not right for you to hold back on what you really want to do because it's not what someone else want you to do. That is no way to live your life – you will always be miserable and that's not the type of life I want for you," Diane told him. Max nodded thoughtfully as he listened to his mother. "If you want to leave – then you leave and you come back when you are ready. You will always have a home here and I will always be your mother, no matter what."
Max smiled at his mom.
"I love you mom," Max told her. Diane was taken aback by her son's confession before a watery smile crossed her face.
"I love you too sweetheart," Diane told him and watched as Max got up from his seat, rounded the counter and hugged her.
"And I will always come back, no matter where I go mom because without you, there is no home," Max whispered. Diane closed her eyes as few tears escaped and she hugged her son back, just happy that he was taking control for once. The backdoor opened and they separated to see Philip, Max's father and Diane's husband standing in the doorway with a sheepish but curious expression on his face.
"Sorry, did I interrupt?" Philip asked only for a bewildered look to cross his face over his son and wife laughing together, wondering what on earth he had missed.
Max found himself in his jeep an hour later, he had explained his plans to his father and Philip had given him his blessings to do so. Philip had always been proud of Max and had never felt more proud of Max that he was beginning to take control of his own future but he had also shared his concerns on how everyone else would take it and had advised Max to tell them as soon as possible to get it over and done with and to make it very clear that he was not going to back down and change his plans for anyone.
Max had decided to make his way over to Tess' house, Isabel had demanded his attention over there and Max had decided that it would make the perfect moment to tell them of his plans and to let them know what they could do with their future. He wasn't interested in being a King or a husband and it was time that they learnt that.
Once he reached the house, he climbed out of the jeep, strode up the walkway and walked in the house without ringing the doorbell, a fair exchange considering the amount they all had walked through into his room without permission more than once demanding his attention more than once.
Everyone looked up when they saw Max enter the living room but didn't bother to stand up and greet him; they just continued to stay where they were sitting. There was even a balding man with brown eyes sitting on one of the chairs and he was looking at Max with a smug superior expression.
"Glad you could make it," Tess scolded him. "I have been looking for you all day – where the hell have you been?"
"Making plans," Max told her and Isabel smirked almost smugly to herself.
"About your future? About following your destiny?" Isabel asked but Max just grinned, obviously very pleased with himself.
"Actually, I'm planning on leaving Roswell for the year," Max told them, stunning them.
"What?!" Tess stood up with rage burning in her blue eyes. Isabel and Michael were also looking furious while Nasedo just sat back in his chair, curious to where Max was going to take this – there was no way he was going to let the selfish boy king leave Roswell anyway so it didn't matter what Max did, he wouldn't be going anywhere.
"You heard," Max told Tess, unwilling to repeat himself. They could try all they wanted but he was going to leave, one way or another. He had his parents behind him and that was all he needed.
"And where would you be going?" Isabel asked, incensed. "We have things have to do. We have to train to be stronger so we can kill our enemies and go back to our planet!"
"We have been training for two years Isabel – I need a break," Max told them before holding up his hands. "And you can argue with me all you want but you are not going to win. I'm leaving and I have the three people's permission I need – my parents and my boss and all three of them said yes." Nasedo sat up straighter, he had been hoping to go to his parents under the guise of someone else and suggest that it would be better for Max to stay in Roswell but to find that the blasted boy had already gone through them had just put his plans into cinders.
"How could you Max?" Isabel all but screamed. "How could you do this to us?" Max just scoffed in disbelief over how Isabel was acting.
"Do what Isabel; get a life of my own? Finally realise that my life doesn't revolve around you and cleaning up your mess?" Max listed off, hearing the insulted gasps coming from his sister. She needed to learn that he wasn't going to be around forever, that one day, he would have a family of his own to take care of and she wouldn't be his top priority and it would be good for her to learn that now rather than years later.
"How dare you?!" snapped Isabel but Max just tuned her out as he turned to look at Nasedo, he was looking awfully confident of himself and Max knew that he thought he would be able to control Max but Max knew that he was going to get away, one way or another even if it mean ordering Nasedo to leave him alone.
"Maxwell, this is not the time to be leaving," Michael took over for Isabel, she had now turned her back on Max due to his rudely unjustified insults about her.
"When is the time to be leaving, Michael?" Max jumped in. "When we are supposed to be leaving for some planet that we have no proof that it even still exist other than what a more than 50 year old hologram tells us, a protector who couldn't even find us for the first ten years of our lives and a bunch of enemies – who you all have no problem to be conspiring with against me behind my back?" Max snorted in disgust, "And why do you all keep acting like you have a say in the matter when you don't. I'm leaving Roswell and none of you are going to stop me."
"Well, that is most unfortunate," Nasedo stood up from his chair and round it so he was standing at the back of it and looked at Max. "Because you can't leave, you are our King after all," he added in, almost in distaste and Max smirked.
"And you just love it," Max told him. "Because I'm your King, I can order you to leave me alone until I get back – that's why you are refusing to push the issue." Nasedo glared at the young man while Tess stalked closer to Max.
"You have your destiny to face up to Max Evans – you are my husband and my King, I am your wife and your Queen – you are meant to stand by me so we can show our united powers to our enemies and re-take the throne like we are meant to," Tess warned. Max rolled his eyes, obviously heard this over and over again that it was beginning to sound like a bad record to him. Max turned to face her with a hard glare.
"I'm only to tell you this once and you better listen carefully," Max warned. "I don't like you and I am not attracted to you whatsoever. I have no intention of following my destiny, sure, I will help to finish off Khivar and his little minions but I'm not going back to Antar so you can find someone else to take up the whole 'husband and King' slot but I'm not filling it, not in this lifetime and not in any lifetimes and I'm not even sure what I took last lifetime for me to agree to this ridiculous scheme but it's not going to happen, so get…over…it!"
The four of them just stared at Max like they had never seen him before and they were right, they had never seen this side to him before. He was stronger, he was acting like a King that knew his own mind and there was no changing it. Max just looked at them before he turned around and walked out of the house altogether, head held up high and with a confident spring to his step.
He was finally taking a hold of his own destiny to walk the path he had always know that he should walk but never had the courage to do so.
TBC
Okay – I know you must be getting a little bit annoyed that Liz hasn't arrived yet but you will see her soon! I promise you! (It is a Max/Liz story – kinda have to have one without the other).