Author: Jenan/Jenn/Clear, take your pick
Rating/Couple: TEEN, M/L
Disclaimer: I own nothing, except a massive fear of commitment, a lot of apathy, and a really cute pair of Sketchers... please don't take them!
AN: I wrote this forever ago, but just decided to post it this morning. I wrote it after MITC when Liz lied to Max, and I started thinking about when she could tell him the truth. And it occurred to me that I always had an easier time telling the truth when I could just write it... so here we go! I also wrote it right after I started going to chat rooms for the first times, and there really are chat rooms like the one I use here... I hope this comes out okay, formatting wise... and thanks in advance for reading! Let me know what you think?
AN: Well, I figured it was time to repost this over here. I started posting Dial Up over a year ago, and wow, if anyone had told me I'd still be writing/posting it now, I never would have believed you. I want to thank all of you who have read it for such incredible feedback and support. You've truly made my day with kind (and some not so kind or subtle) words.
Sadly, due to school, I don't really have time to repost all the previous parts, but I will give you a link to them. So for parts 1 - 32 of Dial-Up: Connection, please go to:
http://www.roswellfanatics.net/archive/ ... 75484.html
New parts will be posted here.
Thanks, again,
Jenn
{Anything in italics is thoughts}
<center>~*~Part 33~*~</center>
Of course, sometimes to reach the inevitability of success, challenges had to be overcome. And for Alex and Liz, their biggest challenge was, of course, Tess. She was still in the parking lot when Liz pulled in, and she waited right by her car to see Liz and Alex/Dr. Schaffner get out of hers.
Liz nearly groaned when she saw her and tried not to think of all the things she’d like to do if she only could… “I can handle talking to her, right, Alex?” She tried not to look over at the blond girl who was trying to steal her life, her destiny. Liz shook her head, knowing she would give up the title or crown or whatever, if that was all Tess wanted. But she wanted the one person who gave Liz’s life meaning and purpose. And Liz would not give him up.
“Yes, you can, Liz. You’re stronger than her, remember that.” He whispered as Tess walked closer to them.
She stopped in front of them. “Liz?” She said in her friendliest voice. “Who do you have with you today?”
Liz put on her fake smile. She knew it didn’t matter that she looked something like the Joker without make-up. Tess knew what Liz thought of her. The fake smile and conversation was just to go along with the game they played of being friends. “Hi, Tess. This is Dr. Schaffner. He’s from Covington University—“
Tess heard the word university and allowed all her dreams of getting Liz Parker out of the way to come to the surface. “Are they encouraging you to go to college early? I’ve heard that’s being done a lot more lately. I, of course, think it’s a wonderful idea for you! I mean, you need to take as many advantages as you can if you’re going to be a molecular biologist before you’re 30, right?” She smiled as they started walking towards the building. If only this dream came true, her future with Max Evans would be as easy as…mindwarping a human. She smiled internally at that little pun.
Liz saw through Tess’ questions easily. She was seeing a life with Max, no doubt, just running through her head. “Well, I don’t know about graduating early,” Liz said, “I mean, I’d miss out on all the fun stuff in high school, you know. Prom, skip days—“ killing you, she thought.
“Oh, I guess I do need to start planning for prom, shouldn’t I? I mean, I’ll need to choose a dress so Max can find a matching tux.” She smiled. “It’ll just be like---“ she looked at Alex, knowing that even thought his would be a wonderful time to remind Liz of the destiny she and Max shared, she needed to edit her words—“old times.”
“Right,” Liz said and started walking quicker. She was not going to let this---girl hurt her. She was stronger. She was stronger. She was stronger.
“Elizabeth, I don’t believe you’ve introduced me to your friend. Perhaps—“ Alex decided to play with Tess’ emotions for a while.
Liz looked at Alex, wondering what he was going to do. “I’m sorry. Dr. Ryan Schaffner, this is Tess Harding. She’s a junior here, too.”
He nodded. “Harding?” He acted like he might have heard the voice before. “That name is not pulling any strings with me. I thought I’d memorized the names of all the honors students here.” He looked down at her. He dismissed her just as quickly. “Oh, well, Elizabeth, perhaps we should continue—“
“What are you here for, Dr. Schaffner?” Tess looked him over. He wasn’t actually that bad to look at. She just didn’t like the way he barely paid any attention to her. Couldn’t he recognize who she was?
“Oh, I’m on a recruitment trip.” He put his arm around Liz’s waist, like he was guiding her.
“You’re recruiting Liz?” Tess tried to keep the joy out of her voice.
“Yes, of course. Have you seen her grades? Her letters of recommendation? She’s destined for something special, don’t you think? I mean, some people are just meant to have boring lives, but I think that Liz is destined for something that no one has ever imagined before.”
Liz smiled a little. Trust Alex to throw barbs in such an eloquent way. She doubted Tess would have caught that.
“Well—“
Alex checked his watch. “Elizabeth, we’d better get to the principal’s office. He’s waiting for us.”
“Wait! Who else are you recruiting?” Tess asked.
“I’m sorry, Miss. I can’t reveal that.” He allowed Liz to lead him through the familiar halls towards the principal’s office. He whispered to Liz, “I never thought I’d miss this place.”
“You’ll be back soon, Alex,” she whispered. “And things will be so much better.”
He smiled. “I know.”
They stopped right outside the principal’s office door. Liz casually looked across the hall to where Isabel was standing at her locker and then reached out and touched Alex on the arm. Isabel would start the mindwarp now. They waited another second and then walked into the office.
Mrs. Wilkinson, the secretary, looked up in surprise. “Why, Liz, what are you doing here?”
She smiled, hoping this was working. “We have an appointment, Mrs. Wilkinson. This is—“
“Dr. Schaffner from Covington University!” Mrs. Wilkinson jumped up. “Of course!” Liz and Alex smiled at each other. They’d never seen the secretary move so quickly! “We’ve been waiting for your arrival. I’ll just get Principal Fuller.”
“Thank you.” Alex leaned back against the counter a bit, as he always wanted to when he was a student there. Of course, as a mere student, he didn’t dare. Mrs. Wilkinson was known to be a bit of a nazi against slouching on her ‘spotless’ counters.
Mrs. Wilkinson was only gone a few moments before she came back. “He’ll see you in his office now.”
Liz and Alex walked into the principal’s office. He was standing beside his desk in a full 3-piece suit. Liz was nearly impressed. She’d never seen Mr. Fuller in a full suit, usually his jacket and tie were off, outside of graduations. But he couldn’t have known when he dressed this morning that he would be meeting someone from a prestigious university. Did he just have this kind of clothing hanging in his closet, waiting for days like this? She wondered for a second if she would find out if she touched him…
“Dr. Schaffner, I’m Steven Fuller. We spoke on the phone.”
“Of course. Thank you for welcoming me to your campus.”
“Of course! You’re bringing about some very exciting opportunities for our brightest students,” he smiled at Liz, “like Miss Parker.”
Liz smiled. “Thank you, Mr. Fuller.”
“Now you mentioned you’d like to invite Miss Parker—“
“Yes. I’ve already spoken to her parents, and they have agreed.”
“Wonderful.” He wrote a few things down on his yellow legal notebook. “Do you have any ideas on who else you’d like to invite?”
Alex nodded. “I do, but perhaps it would be wiser to send Elizabeth to class.”
“I agree,” Mr. Fuller looked at Liz. “Just ask Mrs. Wilkinson for a pass, Liz.”
“Of course.” Liz stood up, smiled at Alex, and walked out.
Isabel was still waiting in the hall. “How’d it go?”
“Alex is doing incredibly, Is! He needs to think about a career as an actor!” She smiled. “Tess saw us on our way in.”
“What’d she say?”
“Well, she’s interested in who is being recruited.”
Isabel smiled. “I bet.”
“Can you tell if she’s tried anything?” Liz worried.
“She doesn’t know what’s going on, Liz. I don’t feel any other mindwarps or anything alien going on right now.”
“How much longer are you going to hold the mindwarp? They believe that that is Dr. Schaffner from Covington. Mr. Fuller is signing up students to go with him now.”
“I know. Just a few more minutes, just in case.” She smiled a little. “I think I’m allowed to be paranoid right now, don’t you think?”
“Sure,” she smiled. “Well, I’m going to calculus. This is the only one Max and I are alone in today. I want to have the opportunity to make a few googly eyes at him before we have to deal with Tess.”
Isabel smiled. “Don’t embarrass yourselves! Or my good family name, please!”
Liz laughed. “I wouldn’t think of it.”
Isabel turned back to facing the office. She wondered how it was going.
<center>***</center>
Alex had never felt so powerful in the principal’s office before. Mr. Fuller was going out of his way to make Alex so…welcome. Usually a visit to this office meant problems and there was definitely no offer of coffee or water.
“We are just so honored that Covington is interested in some of our students.”
“Well, it appears that West Roswell High is a fine school, interested in increasing its student’s potential and future.” He had to wonder where all this B.S. was coming from. When had he learned to speak so smoothly? Maybe the deep voice brought it out in him.
“We certainly are.” Mr. Fuller sat down behind his desk. “You mentioned you had already chosen several students?”
“Yes. I—we, the recruitment committee at Covington, are interested in several students, all in the junior class.” He pulled a leather notebook case from his briefcase.
The principal picked up a pen, ready to add names to his notes.
“First, of course, was Elizabeth Parker. I cannot wait to introduce her to my colleagues and our labs. I’m confident that she will love it.”
“Well, Miss Parker certainly is devoted to her studies,” Mr. Fuller said. “Who are the other students?”
Alex made the act out of scanning his papers. “Second is Maxwell Evans. His paperwork hints at a real interest in history and politics.”
Mr. Fuller nodded. “Mr. Evans is a fine student. The only thing you should probably know is that Max and Liz have recently suffered a nasty, public break-up.”
Alex raised his eyebrows. “Really? Do you think that will stop him from wanting to participate? I mean, if he simply knew that Elizabeth was already committed, would he reject the idea of attending the recruitment week?”
“Perhaps.”
“Maybe I should talk to Mr. and Mrs. Evans about this. Surely they want what is best for their children.”
“Of course, they do. Why Diane Evans—children? Did you say children?”
“Yes. Isabel Evans is my final choice.”
“Isabel?”
“Yes. Her grades are magnificent. Not as high as her brother’s or Miss Parker’s, but wonderful, nonetheless. It seems like the only reason they might not be as high is simply her involvement in so many extracurricular activities.”
“Yes, Isabel’s definitely a real go-getter.” Mr. fuller picked up a file off his desk. “I’m actually very excited that you brought her up. I would have, had you not. Her grades are good, yes, but she also has the opportunity to graduate at the end of this year, a full year early.”
Alex tried not to look or sound surprised. “Really?” Isabel was leaving him? She would graduate early? What about all the time they were supposed to have together? What about all the things they were supposed to do as seniors? What if she went to college and found some big guy—who looked like Dr. Schaffner—and decided she wanted him more than a skinny high school boy? His mind filled with so many what-ifs…
“Yes. Her guidance counselor and I talked to her about it several weeks ago. She still hasn’t decided whether or not she will graduate early, but we certainly are hopeful. It will give her quite an advantage.”
Alex nodded and resumed his role. “This might be just the opportunity she needs. Perhaps seeing how a college environment differs from high school will encourage her to make her decision quickly. And hopefully, Covington will welcome her in the fall.”
Mr. Fuller smiled. “We’ll certainly hope so.”
“Wold there be any way to bring the Evans into the school today so we can discuss their children? I’m sure they’d be interested in this. I mean, I’ve not met a parent yet who isn’t interested in possibilities for scholarships and top notch education.”
“I’m certain the Evans would like this idea. They are both very active in their children’s lives.” He picked up Isabel’s file again. “I’ll just call them.”
Alex nodded. The plan was going perfectly.
<center>***</center>
Isabel looked at Max from across the lunch table. “Did you see Dad’s car in the front parking lot during 3rd period?”
“It looks like everything is going our way,” Max smiled, wishing Liz could be sitting next to him rather than trying to avoid the near occasion of Tess.
“Finally,” Michael said, taking a bite of his taco. He looked around the quad wondering where Maria was. She’d said she’d have lunch with him today.
“Don’t you get a little paranoid about this? I mean, it’s just been so long since I truly felt—“ Isabel found she didn’t have the words to explain the feelings she’d been having all day.
“Yeah, it can inspire paranoia, Is, but I just know things are going to be okay.”
Max and Isabel were both speechless to hear those words coming from Michael’s mouth. When had he become an optimist?
“I know it sounds odd coming from me, but, for the first time in my life, I just know—nothing will hurt us this time. We’re too strong for anyone to hurt us.”
Maria slid into the long bench beside Michael. He immediately wrapped his arm around her. “So what’s going on, guys?”
Max and Isabel looked between each other, instantly knowing the true source of Michael’s optimism and smiled. “Nothing, Maria. How’ve you been?”
“Ah, you know, classes do not always mean fun.” She grinned and took a french fry of Michael’s lunch tray. “Has this been Tabasco-ized?” She looked at it intently before putting it in her mouth and smiling.
“Where’s Liz?” Max asked quietly.
“She taking her lunch in the eraser room,” Maria smiled. “I’d suggest you go on there, Max. You don’t want lunch to get----cold.”
Max smiled and stood up. “Thanks, guys.” He turned around and found Tess standing directly behind him, waiting, it seemed. He tried to sound natural. “Tess, hi.”
“Hi, Max. Where are you going?” She set her tray down.
Max felt his chances of a good lunch being destroyed. “I needed a drink.” He said quietly.
“Well, I’ll save your seat till you get back.” She sat down next to where he was sitting.
‘Love?’
‘Why aren’t you here yet?” Her impatient voice filled his mind and he immediately felt at ease, just feeling her through their connection.
‘We’ve got a glitch in the system.’
His voice told her everything. ‘Named Tess.’
‘Yes.’
‘You know, the first thing I do when she’s finally out of our lives forever—‘
Max smiled, knowing where her mind was going with that thought. ‘Not if I can do it first.’
‘I love you, Zan.’
‘I love you, too, Asha.’
Max walked back to the table carrying a can of cherry coke and forced himself to sit down next to Tess. He saw the immediate sympathy in Isabel’s eyes that was quickly hidden when she dropped her eyes toward her lunch tray.
“So Max, how has your day been?” Tess looked at him, wondering if he knew Liz was going to Covington for a week. How could she present that in a way that made it look like she was betraying him by leaving?
“Pretty good. Yours?”
Before she could answer, Maria and Michael escalated a whispered conversation they were having to a full voice interaction. They spoke in impossible to understand monosyllables, until Maria turned to Tess.
“Tess, we—I need a favor.”
Tess was shocked by that one. She certainly hadn’t been expecting Maria to ever say that to her. “What?” Why was Maria asking her for favorites? What was going on?
“It’s just that Liz is going away for a week—“
As if on cue, Max’s face fell. “A week? Where is she going? Who with?” He instinctively knew this was going to be how they got Tess to be too busy to try to find the rest of them.
“Don’t worry about it, Max. Liz is a big girl. She can take care of herself,” Michael forced himself to sound jaded. He silently pondered if he’d always sounded like such an asshole when he had nothing to care for.
“Anyway, with her gone for a week, the Crashdown is going to be in serious trouble. She has lots of shifts that no one knows about. So we’re going to need extra help or the Parkers are never going to let her go anywhere again. I mean, when they realistically see how much they overuse their daughter, they’ll realize how much they need her.” Maria knew her babbling would annoy Tess to no end. “Anyway, since you were so kind and willing to donate your time the other day, becoming this total lifesaver, by the way, I was wondering if you’d be willing to help me out again and take Liz’s shifts next week?” Maria finished her long-winded babble.
“You want me to waitress again?” Tess said disdainfully.
“You were so good that day. I mean, you dealt with the hardest customers and just handled it like a pro. It would mean so much to me.” Inside her head, Maria kept chanting, This is for the good of my friends over and over. She could handle a week of seeing Tess daily if it meant that soon her friends would be able to get rid of her for good. She was doing this so Alex could come home looking like himself and so Max and Liz could be all adorable together…and she was doing this so SpaceBoy could find his family—whoever that may be.
Tess didn’t look convinced.
Max decided to help her out. “Wow, Maria, that was really big of you to ask Tess. I know you guys aren’t completely close, but by asking her, it shows a lot about the way you respect people. And how willing you are to ask for help.” He smiled. That sounded like the right psychobabble he’d heard the last time he’d seen Dr. Phil on Oprah.
Tess looked at Maria and Max. She knew she was stuck. There was no way she could say no without looking like a complete bitch, and it wouldn’t do for Max to have that image of her in his head. “Sure, Maria. I’ll help out.”
“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” Maria did her best happy squeal, even though she was dreading a week of working with her.
“What are friends for?” Tess said slowly. She couldn’t believe it. Another week spent waitressing. If Khivar could see her now…
The lunch bell rang and everyone headed to class. Maria walked with Tess telling her the basic shifts she would have and promising to have a uniform for her. Max hung back around Michael and Isabel for a moment.
“Is, this afternoon, you need to get in touch with Valenti. Let him know some of what’s going on, not everything, but just why Tess needs to work this week. He’ll make sure she doesn’t skip any shifts.”
Michael broke out in a smile only Maria had ever seen. “Guys, this is going to work. I know it will.”
And when a person who was once as negative as Michael Guerin suddenly finds faith in optimism, it’s hard to disagree with him.
<center>***</center>