Summary: Happy Valentines Day…’nuff’ said ( mostly fluff)
Disclaimer: I have absolutely nothing to do with the Show Roswell or any of it’s constituents. I have borrowed the names of the characters simply because I like them.
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Chapter: 1February 14, 2004
Sixteen year old Max Evans was standing there with his friend Michael Guerin when he saw the two young girls walk in through the double green doors of the roller skating rink…the lights had just been turned down and the revolving mirrored ball with it’s colored spots shining on it was making the oak floor look alive with colors of the rainbow. He couldn’t believe his eyes. Her face was framed in this beautiful sheath of brown curls and she had the biggest brown eyes and the most beautiful smile he had ever seen.
“Look at her Michael…” Max said in awe of the vision before him.
Michael took a look and shrugged his shoulders…’eh’ just another girl.
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Fourteen year old Liz Parker had just moved to Roswell, New Mexico from California and had been ‘ordered’ to accompany her seventeen year old cousin Tess to the skating rink by her Aunt Jo. Liz was staying with Aunt Jo and her family while her parents made the trip to Roswell in a u-haul. Feeling the family needed a change her parents had purchased the ‘Crashdown Café’. Nancy’s sister Jo insisted that Roswell, N.M. was just the place…small and easy going. Liz wasn’t too happy about the ‘request’ her Aunt Jo had made because she had just transferred to a new school and although she was a straight A student she had some significant changes in her curriculum and was trying to adjust. It was Tuesday night and she had done her homework but wanted to go over everything to make sure she was prepared for the next day. Tess on the other hand had only one interest and that was to get to the roller skating rink as fast as she could because Kyle was going to be waiting for her. Tess’ mother had forbidden her to date Kyle because she felt he was a little on the wild side but that wasn’t going to deter Tess one bit. The wild in Kyle was what made him interesting.
As the girls waited in line to get their rental skates they were still dressed in their warm long coats and scarves. The weather could be quite chilly in the desert evenings…much like California. Liz had worn her short skating skirt and sweater under her coat along with her knee high boots. She was, after all, only going from the house to the rink and back.
She preferred ice skating to roller skating because ice skates were much lighter and easier to handle as far as she was concerned but she was only here for Tess anyway so it didn’t matter. They finally got to the head of the line and retrieved the right sized skates and Liz noticed how filthy they looked…did they ever polish these things she wondered? And she scrunched her face up into a disbelieving scowl.
Max couldn’t take his eyes off of her…he sort of chuckled at her expression when he saw the look on her face at the sight of the skates the attendant put into her hands. She had given Tess a look that Tess chose to ignore and then Tess led them to a bench along the sidelines of the rink to change from their shoes into the skates. Max was mesmerized and Michael was disgusted with him. Max never acted this way over girls what was wrong with him now?
When the two young girls removed their coats and lay them on the bench Max was still watching and then Liz stood up.
Oh.My.God. Max couldn’t believe the sight before him. She was tiny…very well put together and very ‘tiny’. She was probably one of the most shapely tiny girls he had ever seen in his life and that chocolate hair came down to the middle of her back. She was so short but had the longest, shapeliest legs he had ever seen and she was beautiful, breath taking in fact. Max just stood there with his mouth agape and Michael finally jabbed him in the ribs and said “Come on Max, what’s wrong with you?”
Max finally came to and looked at Michael through a haze…”Nothing’s wrong Mike, honest, absolutely nothing.” And Max smiled at his friend as he pushed off into the middle of the skaters going around and around to the sounds of the organ in the background.
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“Tess, look at these filthy boots on these skates…we could catch something.” Liz had her nose all wrinkled and was making horrible faces at the dirty skates. Tess just looked at her and said…”Oh for God’s sake Liz, just put the damn things on and enjoy yourself will you?”
Liz couldn’t believe her cousin’s attitude. She knew one thing for sure, she would certainly be glad when her parents got here…she didn’t want to be here at all and then she saw him. ‘Good Lord, who is that boy looking at?’
She thought to herself, and then “that boy” skated over and asked Liz if she would like to skate with him. Liz’s eyes got bigger than they already were and she looked at Tess…Tess smiled at Max, recognizing him from school, and said…”sure she would.” And then Tess gave Liz a shove into Max’s arms. Max wasn’t prepared for the sudden thrust against his chest but he caught Liz effortlessly, she weighed less than the weights he used when working out in the gym, and he gently guided her onto the skating rink floor.
Liz’s mind was running a mile a minute…’oh my’ she thought…’I don’t skate with boys…my dad is going to kill me…my mom is going to yell at me’ and then Max took her hand and gently led her onto the floating oak skating floor and put his right arm around her waist softly and rested around her waist and held her left hand in his left hand very firmly and smiled at her. Liz was terrified at what her parents would do to her if they found out she had skated with a boy and Tess had no idea that her cousin was suffering from so much inner turmoil.
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“What’s your name?” He asked her.“Liz” she said “Everyone calls me Liz.” Liz never changed her expression, she just concentrated on what her feet were doing. Max could feel the tension in her body as she answered him…and he knew he needed to help her relax.
“Hello Liz, I’m Max…how do you know Tess?” Max smiled warmly at Liz as he spoke; he was full of confidence and he wanted to find out all about her.
“She’s my cousin…her mother asked me to come skating with her this evening. I didn’t want to come because I have school tomorrow and I’m not really sure about all of the new surroundings yet.” Liz bit her bottom lip, her nervousness was really showing and Max could see right away that this wasn’t going to be easy.
“What do you mean by new surroundings? Did you just move here? Are you going to W. Roswell High?”
“Yes, I flew in last week and started to W. Roswell yesterday. My parents bought the Crashdown and will be here sometime this week. They are bringing all of our belongings in a u-haul and it doesn’t look like they’re in much of a hurry to get here.” Max could feel Liz start to relax a little bit and asked…
“What grade are you in Liz”
“I’m a freshman. I was attending a private school in California and this is the first public school I have ever attended. Aunt Jo told my parents that it was time I learned what the real world was like, whatever that means.”
Max was really surprised that Liz was only a freshman…she didn’t look real young but he was a junior so that meant he was a little older than she was…this scared him a little because he really wanted to get to know her better…
“Do you date at all Liz?”
“Oh my no…I’m not allowed to date until I’m sixteen…that’s what my mother tells me, my dad said thirty but we both laughed at him when he said that.” Max chuckled at her when she said that as well…then he asked…
“When will you be sixteen Liz?” Liz looked at Max and smiled and said, “Two years Max.” And she started to relax a little.
Max thought about that for a while and soon the music was over for the first couples skate and Max told Liz thanks and deposited her back at Tess’ side. Liz smiled and said thank you back and Max skated off to meet Michael.
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“Well, who is she Max?” Michael asked his best friend.“Her name is Liz, she started to W. Roswell yesterday, she’s a freshman, her parents just bought the Crashdown, Tess is her cousin and she can’t date until she’s 16 and she’s 14 right now.”
“Well hell Max, what’s her bra size?” Michael grinned…Max punched his best friend in the arm and said…
“Careful Michael, she’s a nice one.” And Michael eyed his long time friend with a strange expression on his face…
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“Well, what did you think of our star football player Liz?” Tess asked with a smirk…“Who?”
“Max, Liz, the guy you were skating with. He doesn’t bother with girls as a rule…What did you think of him?”
“What’s to think Tess…we skated, he asked questions I answered his questions the skate is over. It’s a done deal.”
“You are hopeless Liz…just plain hopeless.” And Tess skated off leaving Liz standing alone next to the benches. Liz just sat down and watched the people go around and around when soon she noticed that she had lost complete track of Tess…she was nowhere to be seen. Oh well, maybe she should call Aunt Jo to come and get her, but then Aunt Jo would want to know where Tess was and Liz had no clue…she’d just have to wait.
It wasn’t long before another boy skated over to where Liz was sitting patiently and wanted to know if she would like to skate with him and Liz said “No thank you.” So the young man decided to just sit down next to Liz and find out a little more about her. She was new to the skating rink but she came with Tess and everyone knew what Tess was like so Tommy figured this one had to be the same type, right? He draped his arm around Liz’s shoulder and Liz tried to move away but there was nowhere to go. She started biting her lower lip very nervously…and…about that time Max saw what was happening over on the benches and knew this could mean trouble for Liz. Although it wasn’t any of his business he knew that Liz was too young to handle Tommy so he headed on over.
“Hi Liz…how about another go around?” Max smiled and held out his hand…Liz’s look of relief shown all over her face and she reached out and took Max’s hand gratefully. “See ya around Tommy.” Max said as he gave Tommy a ‘hands off’ look. Tommy couldn’t believe Evans just did that…he never paid attention to any girl…none.
“Thank you Max…I know I shouldn’t be afraid to be here alone but I am. I have no idea where Tess went and I just don’t like that boys’ attitude.” Max smiled as he guided Liz around the rink…
“That’s very wise of you Liz…Tommy isn’t the nicest of guys and I don’t want you to think we’re all like that. How are you going to get home?” Max asked.
“Oh, Aunt Jo will be coming for us around 10:30. I hope she doesn’t forget.”
Max was very familiar with Aunt Jo, she was always trying to keep track of Tess…with not much luck either…
“Don’t worry Liz, she’ll be here and I won’t leave you until Tess shows up again. That will probably be around 10:15”
“What do you mean, 10:15?”
Max smiled…”She’s with Kyle. I saw them leave right after we first skated.”
“Oh my, Aunt Jo is going to have a fit if she finds out. I’ll sure be glad when my parents get here and I don’t have to go with her anymore.” Liz was so thankful to Max for spending time with her.
“Tess told me you play football, what position do you play?” Liz asked.
“Quarterback, do you like football?”
“I do, but I don’t know enough about it to really understand all of it, I went to an all girl school in California and the closest we ever to came to sports was kneeling and standing at Mass.”
Max laughed out loud at her reply …”Catholic calisthenics.” He managed to squeeze out through his laughter…
“Yeah, you know about that do you?” Liz grinned back at him…
“Pretty much.” And the next hour and a half went by very quickly for both of our teenagers. They really enjoyed each others company and when Tess showed up right at 10:15, like Max had predicted, Liz thanked Max for staying with her.
“It was my pleasure Liz and I’ll probably see you at school and the Crash…that’s what all the kids call the Crashdown.” Liz smiled and said “See ya.” and glared at her cousin, who looked a mess. They never spoke another word to each other the entire evening nor the next day. Liz wanted to tell her aunt but knew it would only cause problems and not make a bit of difference so she just kept her mouth shut. She did refuse to accompany her cousin on any future outings though…not even to the grocery store.
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Liz and Max saw each other every day at school and Max made sure that none of the jocks bothered her and Liz enjoyed being a part of the ‘real world’ as Aunt Jo liked to call it. She and Tess had very little to do with each other and Tess and Kyle made a lot of use of the eraser room during study hall and lunch breaks.*~*~*
