Better Than That (AU, M/L, Adult) 11/5/09 [WIP]

[Hunter]

Banner By Me.

Title: Better Than That

Disclaimer: I do not own anything Roswell and no infringement is intended. This story is entirely fictional and bears no resemblence to any real places, people living or dead.

Author: Monica

Summary: Liz Parker has always been an insecure loner who stands out in the crowd, however that all changes when the Evans' move to town and Liz finds her life completely changed. But will her insecurity fade away or cause those closest to her to drift away from her?

Rating: Adult

Pairing: M/L & CC

*****

Chapter One


High School was a battlefield for some people. Liz Parker was one of those people. The sunny yellow blur known as the lockers as students pass by them were just a tunnel of fire. The ring of the bell was like a foghorn before a battle began and the struggle to sit in peace in the canteen was like trying to keep balance on a sinking ship.

For Liz Parker, high school was no womb. It was a nightmare.

She usually sat alone in the canteen as she had no friends.

Freshman year, Pam Troy had been her best friend; until she stole from Liz and had gotten the whole class against Liz. A few months after that, she had made friends with Molly Mayfair and Freda Haply. It turned out Liz had gotten into the wrong gang because they ended up in juvenile. Liz had made a lucky escape. That so called friendship did leave her with some scars though. A year after that she spent most of her time in the library, reading books and imagining her life out at the tender age of sixteen. Then friends came and went, they didn't stick around for long and Liz mostly broke up with them because they weren't loyal friends at all.

Liz had sacrificed a lot to become the good girl that her parents wanted her to become. The girl that didn't do drugs or drink or even engage in illegal stuff like some of the girls did. Two months ago, she was bullied because she denied a trip of 'fun' to Amsterdam. Pam Troy had always been mean to her since.

Even Freda Haply became one of them once she returned from her suspension.

Liz therefore was an outsider, someone who wasn't a part of their gang.

The only friend Liz seemed to have was the old woman who served her lunch. She was nice. Her name was Pauline Donald’s and she was fifty eight. The old woman was so kind to her. She knew Liz's favorite lunch which was vegetable soup with a bun. Pauline had always known that about her. She didn't really care about other student's. Liz was a special girl.

Only Pauline saw that.

The whole table was empty while the other tables in the canteen was packed with laughing students, engrossed in their own business just like any other day.

"Kyle!" A slutty girl giggled as he pulled her onto his lap. "Stop trying to kiss me!" She nuzzled his neck with her nose as he peppered her face with kisses.

It was the same girl who constantly threw herself at Kye. Her spiky dark brown hair and her blue eyes may have made her a pretty thing but she wasn't the type of girl to make a commitment. Liz had often seen her shamelessly flirting with other guys before. Kyle could do so much better than her but he chose to be with slutty girls like her. Liz just didn't understand Kyle's choice of girls.

Liz cringed as Kyle received a full on kiss from the girl, involving heavy tongue. The idiots known as his friends laughed around the table and cheered so loud that Liz couldn't even hear her own spoon hitting the tray.

"Good one Valenti!" Alex Whitman whistled.

Now Kyle Valenti, the son of the sheriff was one of the most popular boy in school. He was sporty, cool and popular. Everyone knew him. His best friend was Pam Troy and his other best friend who was a guy was called Alex Whitman. Liz had barely seen him around but learned of Alex's existence through Kyle.

It was funny to Liz because Liz would have never went for a guy like Kyle. He was not attractive to her and wasn't sexually appealing. Until the day he was seated next to her in English, then she began to feel for him. It was a silly crush but nevertheless a strong crush. He would always ask for her pen and pat her back. That was the first contact she had from a boy who wasn't trying to hit her. It was special to her.

Kyle and her would have a small conversation in English whenever they could. She felt accepted whenever they spoke to each other. It made her feel happy and thus her crush on him developed.

Then in soccer, she had managed to score and he gave a brief hug to her and called her his lucky star. She felt all mushy after that and had thought about him often. She knew she was smitten with him then.

Kyle on the other hand had been unaware of Liz's crush on him.

Liz had admired him from afar and found herself with a group of people she assumed was her friends. Tess was one of them and Tess had found out about Liz's crush for Kyle. Someone else had to, a friend Liz thought she could trust but then the whole school knew. It was humiliating because Liz had sent flirty texts to Kyle which were supposed to be anonymous. She wanted to know his flirting style before she got to know him.

An ex girlfriend of Kyle's had given Liz the number of her own decision.

Liz had no idea that it would lead to a disaster. Kyle took it the wrong way and no longer wanted anything to do with her. He kept away from her and in English, he swapped seats with someone else.

It broke Liz's heart and now he was openly flirting with slutty girls in front of her.

It stung her.

"Oh Kyle!"

Liz gave a quick peek before lifting the spoonful of mushroom soup and felt disgusted, seeing Kyle lock lips with her.

He always chose to ignore her. Liz sadly watched as he held some girl in his lap and laugh with his group of mates. She didn't exist and if she ever came in front of his eyes, he just pretended she was thin air.

The days were the same, Liz would go through this silent inevitable hell and return home only to recover for the next day which was exactly the same.

Today, Liz had never been much happier to return home and spend some quality time with herself. She expected to find only her parents home but was surprised to walk into a roomful of strangers. Her mouth dropped and her eyes widened at the new people sitting in the lounge of her home.

Nancy Parker sat by the dining table with crossed legs and a killer polite smile. "Welcome home Liz." She flashed her white teeth at her confused daughter."Meet our guests, The Evans. They just moved here last night."

Whenever there were new people, Liz's parents rarely gave a toss unless there was money involved. "Um...hi."

Liz's eyes darted towards the voluptuous girl with the high blonde pony tail who shot her a genuine smile. "Hey."

"Everyone, this is my daughter Liz." Jeff said.

"Hello Liz." Dianne Evans followed her daughter's kind smile.

The spiky haired guy sat with his legs far apart next to the blonde girl, he looked so laid back with his arms outstretched and nodded his head at Liz. "How's it goin’?"

"This is Micheal." Isabel but her arm over his shoulders. "Our brother and I'm Isabel."

"Nice to meet you Micheal and Isabel." Liz returned the politeness, feeling a little embarrassed that she had walked in wearing her outfit which she had worn in school. Her face was without makeup and she must have looked sweaty.

She still was carrying her book bag which made her feel awkward.

"I'm Dianne Evans and this is my husband Phillip Evans." The middle aged woman gave Liz another warm smile that eased any nervousness away from Liz.

"Nice to meet you to, Mr and Mrs Evans." Liz gave them a nod and quickly excused herself with the reason of her getting changed.

She was so relieved to be in her room and stripped her clothes off after dumping her book bag on her bed. She decided to only change into a long gypsy skirt and top after refreshing herself in the bathroom.

Liz darted to the bathroom door and pulled the door open, at the same time someone else had reached for the door handle on the other side and pulled.

Liz found herself falling forward, straight into the arms of the intruder.

His solid chest was met against Liz Parker as his strong hands held her in balance. Liz was so shocked that a gush of air escaped her lips, leaving her breathless.

Her first thought was who had been in her bathroom?

Then her eyes dared to meet his only to feel her heart soar and a funny feeling fluttering in the pit of her stomach while she held tightly onto his sleeves for dear life.

The silent moment followed on by a sultry deep voice from the possessor of the warm amber eyes.

“Are you alright?”

[Hunter]

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Chapter Two



Isabel smirked at her brother when he stopped next to her grabbed his chair. "Thanks Isabel." He muttered as he helped himself into his own chair.

Isabel grabbed the fork and knife before joining her twin brother at the table. "Oh dear brother, I just had to put you in someone else’s bathroom." She grinned.

Usually they would play pranks on each other. Last time it was Micheal who laced Isabel's fries with tabasco. Isabel had a bad reaction to the sauce and ended up puking her stomach out for days because of that. Later she had found out it was Max's idea and she had run out of ideas to get back at him. Sending him to someone else's bathroom, she hoped it would match up.

From the look of her brother's face, she assumed it worked.

But Max was more nervous at having an awkward moment with the owner of the bedroom he had trespassed. He worried if he embarrassed her.

"Where is Liz?" Nancy laughed a little as she brought lasagne to the table.

"I've called her but she's not coming down." An irritated Jeff scratched the back of his head.

"Maybe she's just shy." Micheal shrugged, hoping that they would serve the food fast. He hadn't eaten since morning and was hungry like a wild shark.

"I'll have to bring her down. She's very shy in front of guests you see." Nancy gave them another one of her rehearsed polite smiles after settling the dish down on the table.

Max swallowed.

"It's okay." Dianne spoke. "She seems like a very good girl."

Jeff sat with them and Nancy went upstairs to check on her reluctant daughter whom she found lying face down on the bed. "Liz, what are you doing? Why aren't you coming down?" Nancy asked, the smile now turning into a creased frown.

"Because mom..I don't know them." Came Liz's muffled reply as her face was shoved into the pillow. "Plus, someone sent one of them into my room and..." She paused and lifted her face off the pillow. "He saw me with my underwear on."

Nancy gasped. "No one sent him to your room. I told him to go to the general bathroom."

Liz managed to sit up and crossed her legs. "Well he was in my bathroom."

"I'm sure he'll just forget about it." Nancy shrugged and shut the door. She crept towards her daughter and bent down. In a lowered voice so only her daughter could hear her, Nancy tried to persuade Liz to go downstairs and act like a good girl. "If you do this, they will like us and become friends with us. We need friends in this town Liz. You know your father is in debt and the Evans..well Mr Evans is a lawyer who can help us maybe for free if we show him our good side. You need to present yourself as a good daughter Liz Parker."

Liz rolled her eyes in disbelief. "What the hell do you want me to do?"

"First don't talk to me like that young woman and second, you should mingle with their kids. Get to know them. They look like kids who actually plan their future rather then waiting for it to come around. Not everyone dreams of being a rock star only to end up living off their parents for the rest of their lives." Nancy hissed.

"Mom..." Liz bit her lip, upset that her mother still couldn't accept her hobby.

"Song writing and poem making isn't going to get you anywhere. Mingling with people are. Those who make it to the top are academic and ambitious. All you do is sit around all day, listening to rubbish and moping all the time. When the hell are you going to get a life Liz?"

Both Nancy and Jeff did not approve of Liz's writing in her spare time. She wasn't the brightest kid but she wasn't stupid either. It annoyed Nancy that her daughter didn't spend time researching and making herself better at schoolwork; instead Liz had written stupid little stories and love songs that Nancy had thought was pathetic. She had found a notebook with soppy love poems in Liz's writing. Nancy was told by her friends that Liz was in danger of becoming an anti social recluse.

That was every mother’s nightmare which was more scarier then one's daughter coming home knocked up by a much older married man.

"Fine mom." Relented Liz.

As she was the only child they had, Liz tried to make them proud of her. She wished she had a sibling so they would endure half the burden she had to but she was sick and tired of wishing. She wished for a soul mate, she never got one. Kyle was too wrapped up in slutty girls which left her with an unrequited love.

Nancy urged Liz to hurry up and Liz insisted that she should dress up and apply a bit of makeup to make a good impression. Nancy was pleased that Liz actually fixed her hair into a neat pony tail before going downstairs.

"Ah there she is." Phillip Evans noticed Jeff's daughter walk in the room.

Max held onto the fork but didn't put the food into his mouth, instead he turned his head and eyes at Liz Parker who met his eyes at the same time.

"Told you so." Micheal stuck his tongue out at Isabel who kicked him under the table.

"Hi everyone." Liz said, slowly taking her eyes off Max and looking around for a place to sit.

"Go on then, sit Liz." Jeff told his daughter, not bothering to notice that there was no where to sit.

"I'm almost done, you can take my seat." Dianne said and hurried up for Liz's sake.

"No, I'll do it." Micheal said as he finished everything in his plate.

"Damn Micheal, that was fast." Isabel teased.

"I was hungry." Micheal burped only to be scolded by Dianne.

"No burping at the table Micheal!"

Max swallowed the forkful of lasagne and smiled as his eyes went from Liz to Micheal. Micheal grabbed his plate and offered Liz his seat as soon as he got up. Liz sat down and Nancy placed a clean plate in front of her with a new set of fork, knife and a spoon. "Enjoy dear."

Her mother never called her dear.

It was just another thing to impress those guests, Liz surmised. But nevertheless faked a smile for her mother's sake and wore a mask of enjoyment. The mask she had been obliged to put on when guests were around.

"Micheal doesn't have to wash his plate. Liz can do it. In fact, Liz will wash everyone's plates." Jeff said as he chewed.

"No, no, no don't be silly." Phillip shook his head. "No kid is gunna wash my plate."

"She's seventeen. Barely a kid." Jeff chuckled.

"Don't worry about it." Dianne said, smiling at Liz. "We'll wash our own plates. It's enough that you invited us to dinner. We hardly know anyone in this town."

Micheal quickly emerged from the kitchen and helped himself to the TV. He jumped back on the couch and began watching Street Fighter.

"Micheal is so obsessed with anything that's Jean Claude Van Damme." Isabel rolled her eyes.

"Shut up, it's Van damme. He's a wicked actor." Micheal hollered over his shoulder.

Max looked at Liz who sat across him. He didn't know what to say. She tried to avoid looking at him too and felt his gaze from the corner of her eyes.

Isabel followed her brother's gaze and grinned again. "Liz, I'm so sorry that my brother used your bathroom." She said out aloud, hoping that everyone would hear her. "He's just a little dumb with directions."

"Izzy." Max muttered lowly under his breath, the tone warned her to keep silent about this topic.

Liz however, felt the warm blush return in her cheeks. "Oh. It's alright." She couldn't even look at anyone's face.

Jeff was too busy talking with Dianne and Phillip so Isabel decided to continue. "He's sorry about that. He just got lost."

Max sighed deeply. Isabel had the habit of being annoying sometimes that he was tempted to slap her but he couldn't because he was a guy. He never hit girls.

"Actually Isabel told me it was okay." Max told the truth. "I didn't even know a girl had that room. It's not like I went snooping into her lingerie draw." Max told Liz as glared at his sister.

Isabel chocked on her spaghetti which caught everyone's attention. Liz was alarmed and curious about the lingerie story with Isabel. Max had implied there was a story and Liz wanted to know about it.

Isabel received a pat by her mother. "Are you alright sweetie?"

"Yeah." Isabel coughed. "Should be." She wheezed.

"Have some water." Max took it upon himself to pour his sister some water.

Isabel gladly took the water and gulped it all down. "Thanks."

Liz then noticed that Max was wearing her father's shirt. "Um...excuse me?" She raised her voice a little so Max would turn his head at her. "Did you borrow that shirt?"

"Oh it's mine." Jeff cut in. "I lent it him because the coke fell on his shirt."

"Jeff you're such a kind man to be lending your shirt to Max and offering to wash his shirt too."

"Hey, we're gunna see each other a lot so we might as well be friends." Jeff laughed. "It's no problem really." He assured Phillip.

"Room for dessert anyone?" Nancy emerged from the kitchen with a tray of chocolate sundae's in her hands.

Liz sighed, it was just another day for her parents.

******

Exhausted, Liz sat on the porch and cooled down. Her parents had forced her to see to it that she helped the Evans unpack. Jeff had brought himself with her to make sure she did. Liz had spent two hours helping them to unload much to Dianne's protests. She had Phillip join in too and together they tried to stop her but Jeff had pushed her.

Isabel, Micheal and Max were also busy unpacking so Liz was left with the grownups.

Now Jeff was enjoying a cup of tea with Dianne and Jeff while Liz had gulped down her glass of lemonade. Turning her head to the side, Liz noticed a basket ball stand and a spare ball left on the driveway.

She always enjoyed basketball.

It was one of her favorite sports apart from swimming.

"Hmm." She stood up and treaded across the driveway to retrieve that ball.

Dribbling the ball a few times, Liz grabbed the ball and tossed it into the hoop. With success, she scored so it encouraged her to carry on shooting more hoops. With the added freedom of no one watching, she felt more comfortable. Usually, she hated playing sports in front of people. She loved to play alone and alone it was.

"Wow, that's pretty amazing." She froze at the sound of the deep voice once the ball hit the ground.

She could hear the ball bouncing lowly on the ground and slowly turned around in inches. She saw him sitting where she had sat with a cola bottle in his hand as he took a few swigs. It made her heart flutter. He was obviously enjoying watching her.

"Umm.." Liz lowered her eyes so her long lashes touched her skin and she tucked a few stands of her hair behind her ear. "Thanks." She smiled a little.

Max smiled back. "You know, you should come over and play with us. Me, Micheal and Isabel would love to have someone else on our team."

"Really?" Liz opened her eyes wide at his generous offer.

No one had asked her to play with them before.

In school, she was one of the last ones to be picked in a team.

"Really." Max nodded. "You're a great player and we really need a fourth. Isabel get's lonely because no girl can play basketball...her friends were all tacky and you know.." Max chuckled.

"Yeah.." Liz nodded. "You get a lot of girls like that around here." Liz played with her hands, twisting and turning them out of sheer nervousness.

Max looked terrified and laughed. "Oh man, not those girls. Please. I can't stand them."

Liz smiled again. "Don't worry, they'll leave you alone if I'm around." She bit her lip, guessing if Max were to be seen with her it would kill his sex appeal.

"That's good then because I'd rather hang out with a down to earth girl then some fako." Max winked at her before taking another swig of his drink.

"So...um...are you like..." Liz bit her lip again, she wasn't good at starting conversations; especially with new people. "Dating anyone?"

Max shook his head. "Haven't found the right girl yet. Are you with someone?"

Liz shook her head too. "Nah, I'm just single."

Max was beginning to find Liz adorable, he noticed how shy she was and had hoped to make her relax a little. "Maybe we should date." He teased. "We'd make a great couple."

Liz blushed. "You're just being nice."

"I'm serious." He shot her a big smile.

"Hmm..." Liz lowered her eyes to the floor again, grinning.

There was a pregnant pause of silence between them before Max spoke again. "You know about today, when I and you bumped into each other....umm about that I'm sorry. I didn't know it was your bedroom. Isabel does this to me you see, she likes humiliating me so I'm sorry."

"Don't worry." Liz looked up at him again. "I'm okay with that. It's no big deal."

"Sit." Max patted on the space next to him.

Liz took a deep breath and walked over towards Max before sitting next to him. "Liz-"

"Max-"

They both chuckled when they called each other's names at once. "You first." Max said.

"No you." Liz insisted.

"Ladies first." He gave her another one of his cute smiles.

"Okay...fine...Max....since you're new here and so is Micheal and Isabel, I would love to show you around town. That is if only you guys are okay with that." Liz said and finally stopped playing with her hands and the edge of her shirt.

"I would love that." Max replied. "So would Micheal and Isabel." He added. "You and your parents, you have all been so kind to us."

"It's nice to have a great family move in this town. It's like diamond in the rough. I don't mean to be horrible about this town; it's just that you don't have real people such as you and your family." Liz told him as she rubbed her legs. "I don't remember the last time I met a great family. I guess I never actually did." She shrugged.

"Wow.." Max was taken aback. "Our family seems that great?" He always had little fights with Micheal and Isabel plus their family was traditional. Max didn't really understand how his family looked from an onlooker. But Liz's words were making him feel good, he trusted her perception of him and his family and had a positive feeling about Liz.

"I would love to be around a family like that." Liz said softy. "Since I don't have a sibling of my own plus my parents are always too busy." Liz looked terribly sad and Max's heart sank.

Max scooted closer to Liz and put an arm around her. "Don't worry Liz, because from today you're a part of my family."

[Hunter]

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Chapter Three



Smoothening her soft hair which was neatly done up in a bun, Liz Parker smiled proudly in the five foot mirror as she was finally content with how she looked.

Pressing her lips together, Liz made sure the gloss was evenly spread out on her small lips only to be interrupted by her impulsive father.

"Liz hurry." Her father urged her with impatience as he strolled back and forth through the big swinging door. "We have customers."

"Yeah." Liz relaxed a second after the sudden reflex caused by her father's raised voice.

Leaving the mirror behind, Liz pushed the swinging door open and made her way into the cafe room. Waitresses were busy taking orders and bringing platefuls of food for the hungry customers who kept making one order after the next. It was like an ocean that overwhelmed Liz. She had often struggled with keeping up orders although she was a little forgetful.

And in the past, she hadn't been so lucky with customers before.

Taking a deep breath, Liz grabbed an order pad and a pen that Maria kindly left out for her on the counter. "You're up." Maria tapped her on the shoulder, directing her eyes on the table where Kyle Valenti and his friends sat.

Liz's knees buckled and a whoosh of air left her lips when she saw Kyle.

He used to come here before a lot until the secret that she had a crush on him was let out. Now, seeing him here after quite a while made Liz smile a little. "He's here." Liz held the order pad against her chest.

Maria Deluca had also noticed Kyle's arrival in the Crashdown after such a long time. Like Liz, she had been an unpopular girl at high school. She had a big mouth but was always quiet in school because she had no friends. Maria and Liz had found each other through the same group of "friends" they hung out with. However both girls were not the best of friends. The fact that Maria had been working in the Crashdown for some time had also caused her to know a little more about Liz then anyone else. They were two colleagues who got on with each other. She knew that Liz really had romantic feelings for Kyle. She could see it in her eyes.

"You should go." Maria encouraged.

"Thanks Maria." Liz nodded and then took the direction to the table where Kyle sat with his friends.

With each baby step, Liz became more and more nervous. "Um hey...can I take your order?" Her tone was different this time.

She cringed at how mousy she appeared, her voice was a little strangled. No wonder he shot her a dirty look which lasted for a second. Kyle Valenti had stopped laughing with his friends and glared at Liz Parker.

"Oh, I'll have!" Alex Whitman pulled out a menu and grinned. "An IM stalker!"

Alex's words resulted in roaring laughter from Kyle's beastly soccer friends. A few of their slutty girlfriends were with them and laughed in a high pitched tone. Even Kyle himself was raking with laughs as his arm was draped around Tess' shoulders.

"Kyle.." Tess shook him, realising the hurt in Liz's eyes.

"Oh that was a classic Whitman!" Eric sniggered, laughing harder by banging his fists on the table.

Liz grabbed her pen with sheer force, pressing it hard against the order pad leaving a heavy dent. Her knuckles turned white while they laughed at her.

"Sorry that's not on the menu." Liz's voice came out angry, hurt through the gritted teeth. "You can see yourselves out."

Liz spun around with swimming tears in her eyes and with a swift glide, she retracted her baby steps and made her way out of the diner room. Kyle and his friends remained laughing and Maria who stood behind the counter and watched, shook her in pity and anger.

Maria stormed over to Kyle and his friends. "Listen, we may not be a library but you guys are making a lot of noise." Maria had to force herself to speak to them like this.

They were the popular guys and she was a nobody just as Liz was.

Kyle pointed his nose up at Maria. "Listen, we're just here to have fun ok?"

"Fun doesn't include insulting the daughter of this cafe's owner." Maria stood smug with her hands on her hips.

By now Alex and the others had stopped their hysterical laughter. Tess shot Maria a look of guilt. "I'm so sorry, they just had a lot of beer before coming here."

Maria nodded with tight lips. "Right, another reason to get you all barred from this cafe."

Kyle removed his arm from Tess' shoulders and stood up to face Maria. "Are you telling me that you will report us?"

"I have two reasons so far." Maria replied coolly, with an attitude that made her feel more brave. She enjoyed the adrenaline rush when she was at a stand off with Kyle Valenti and his band of jerks.

"You can't do that." Kyle rolled his eyes. "My dad is the sheriff, he owns this town." Kyle never meant to come off as conceited but he felt threatened by Maria who was not a popular girl. He did not bow to anyone who was below his rank. He had to make Maria clear on that subject that only he was much better then her in status.

"Right, the third reason why you should be banned from this cafe. A mean stuck up prick who uses his father's reputation to intimidate others." Maria shot back.

Kyle gasped. "No...you just didn't say-"

"Is anything wrong?" Jeff asked, having been approached by a customer who had reported Kyle and his friends.

"No. Nothing." Alex chimed in, hoping that they would evade the ban.

Maria spun around. "Sir, these people are making a lot of noise plus one of them." She shot a look at Kyle. "Had insulted your daughter and threatened me on the grounds that his father is the sheriff."

Jeff looked at them with narrowed eyes.

Seconds later, Maria had stuck her finger up while Kyle and his group walked off after receiving a months ban from the cafe. "Stick it where the sun doesn't shine!" She hollered, the feeling of emerging victorious giving her a much needed smile.

*****

She found Liz sitting on her bed with her knees to her chest and her face in her hands, crying. "Liz?.." Maria closed the door behind her with her foot as she balanced a plate of freshly made cookies and a glass of chocolate milkshake in her hands.

Liz sniffed and wiped any remaining tears away, Maria noticed how red Liz's eyes had become. "Your dad banned them for a month."

She treaded towards Liz and offered her the cookies and the milkshake. "Here you go."

"Thank you." Liz took the food and drink from Maria. She really needed comfort food right now.

Maria carefully sat on the foot of Liz's bed. She knew she wasn't allowed upstairs but she had to see if Liz was alright. Kyle had really done it this time and hurt Liz's feelings to the point that Maria was even unsure if the damage could be irreversible.

"He's a jerk Liz. I thought he was nice but clearly he's not." Maria said softly.

Liz took a sip of the ice cool milkshake and a bite of a warm chewy cookie. The flavours made a strange but addictive taste which eased Liz's sorrow.

For Maria, the silence was quickly becoming awkward and she felt uncomfortable.

"If you don't want to talk about it then it's fine. I should go." Maria slowly rose up and grabbed her purse.

"No, please stay." Liz said, begging Maria with her big puffy eyes.

Maria slowly sat back down again. "Ok."

"I need someone to talk to." Liz admitted. "It might as well be you, because we're like very similar people." Liz held the plate towards Maria. "Help yourself."

Maria smiled and picked up a cookie from the plate.

******

"Stick it where the sun doesn't shine!" Kyle punched the wall. "I can't believe she said that to me."

Jim Valenti who had heard his son's side of the story nodded with interest. "And then Jeff has you banned?"

"Yes dad." Kyle snorted. "That man banned me because I was with a group of my friends."

Jim raised an eyebrow. "I'll see what I can do." He picked up the phone and dialled a number.

Kyle grinned and left the room.

*******

Isabel Evans brushed her hair back as she tried on yet another leather jacket. "Isabel, quit wasting time!" Micheal hissed, digging his hands deep into his pockets to warm them up.

The air conditioner in the shop was starting to annoy him. Within seconds his hands went from normal body temperature to complete Alaska cold.

"Look, I need a new jacket for school okay Micheal? And it has to make me look sexy." Isabel disregarded Michael’s words and continued to search for the jacket until she found the one.

"And I woke up early for this shit." Micheal mumbled, wishing Max was Isabel's shopping pal instead of him.

Isabel on the other hand, was excited to discover the hidden wonders of Roswell. As soon as it was Sunday morning, she jumped out of bed like a little girl on a Christmas morning, curious to see what gifts were in Roswell. She had found a fashion store called Hillingdon which was rumoured to be the best store out of Roswell that had designer labels and many bargains. Isabel could not pass that up and had searched one item after the other. Taking and putting clothes back on the rack.

Now she ran her fingers over the smooth Thomas Wylde Drifter Rivet Leather Jacket. "I'm taking this home." Isabel grinned.

"Finally!" Micheal took out his cash and dragged Isabel to the counter.

As soon as they walked out of the store, Isabel's eyes went straight to the shop which stood across the road from Hillingdon’s. "OH MA GAWD!" Isabel thrust the bag in Michael’s hand when she saw her most favourite store. "It's Victoria’s secret!! OH MY GOD!"

In no time, Isabel ran across the street and past the busy cars which made it difficult for Micheal to follow on. "Jesus Christ Isabel!" Micheal cursed as soon as he walked into the lingerie shop.

Isabel stood among the lace with wide eyes and Michael’s eyes darted across to the cute blonde who was at the counter with a girl. It wasn't some girl, it was Liz.

"Hey!" Micheal made his way to the front of the line and greeted Liz.

"Micheal Hi!" Liz grabbed her bags and smiled at Micheal.

Maria finished paying for her things and turned around, she met the eyes of Micheal and took one moment to stare at him. He was gorgeous, she thought.

"What are you doing in a shop like this?" Liz asked Micheal.

Micheal shrugged and pointed at Isabel. "Blame Izzy for this. She's just dragged me over the whole town."

"Are you new here?" Maria suddenly asked.

"Yeah, just moved here on Thursday night. I'm Micheal by the way."

"Wow, so how come you know Liz?"

"We met after school on Friday." Liz answered. "They were at mine for dinner and we were just helping them settle in." Liz told Maria.

"Oh my Liz!" Isabel squealed and gave Liz a tight hug. "So glad to see you again." Isabel released her and gave her a light slap on the arm. "So when are you coming to play basketball with us? Max said you agreed."
Isabel smiled.

"This is my sister Isabel." Micheal told Maria.

Maria nodded and watched the bonding between Isabel and Liz and frowned. The girl looked like a model, she would be praised in high school. Maria just hoped that Liz's friendship with this girl wouldn't be outlived.

"Whose this?" Isabel looked at Maria.

"This is my friend, Maria." Liz pulled Maria forward.

"Hello Isabel."

"Hi." Isabel said quickly and then turned to Liz. "Listen, you better come tonight. I don't wanna lose."
"You can bring Maria along too." Micheal said.

"Yeah." Isabel nodded. "Just please come by at five or shall we pick you up straight from yours?"

"Erm, you can pick me up. I've always wanted to ride a jeep." Liz smiled.

"Okay, we'll see you at five." Isabel hugged Liz again. "See ya."

"Later Liz, see ya Maria." Micheal winked.

Liz and Maria walked out of the store. Liz had a happy smile on her face while Maria wore a dreamy smile. "Oh he was so cute! Liz!" Maria grabbed Liz. "You have to let me come with you! You have to."

"Okay, okay." Liz grinned. "We'll go to the Evans tonight, together alright?"

Maria nodded. "Oh I love you!" She pulled Liz for a tight hug.

[Hunter]

NotYourChick
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Thanks for the fb everyone!

Chapter Four

"Where are you going." Jeff asked warily, stretching his sore limbs from underneath the huge newspaper.

"To the Evans." Liz replied, bending down to tie up her sneakers.

Jeff settled the paper down on his lap and rubbed his eyes. "It's school tomorrow morning, are you sure you wanna go out tonight?"

"Dad, you said yourself that I should help people more often. That's what I'm doing." Liz lied, wriggling her toes in her Nike sneakers as she sat up straight.

Both Jeff and Liz heard the doorbell ring a few times and Liz who had grabbed her stuff, limped out of the lounge. "I'll be back at nine dad!" She hollered over her shoulder.

****

"I'm sorry, Maria couldn't come tonight." Liz shot Micheal an apologetic smile.

"Right." Micheal shrugged, it was no big loss. Maria was just a cute girl and was nothing special. He was sure he'd see her in school tomorrow.

"Whose Maria?" Max asked as he turned away from the fridge and passed a bottle of vanilla coke to Liz.

"She's Liz's friend." Isabel answered, pulling her smooth blonde hair up into a high ponytail.

"Oh."

"Micheal are you already trying to jump girls?" Max grinned, popping the cap of his bottle and taking a swig.

Micheal dug his hands into his pockets. "No, she was just a nice looking chick that's all."

"Yeah but it hasn't been that long since Courtney." Isabel grabbed her own bottle of soda.

Liz pulled out a chair and sat down. "Whose Courtney?"

"Just some girl Micheal used to date." Max shrugged, the truth was that the story was too long and neither of them were willing to narrate it in detail. It was Michael’s wish to leave that behind.

"Can we just talk about something else?" Micheal suddenly asked, scratching the back of his head.

"Sorry." Isabel muttered. "I just figured, Courtney's just a small issue."

"No she's not a small issue." Micheal spoke in a raised tone, making sure Isabel got the message to back off on the Courtney situation.

Liz suddenly began to feel ill at ease and Max felt the bubbling tension. "Okaaay, let's talk about Liz now."

Isabel removed her gaze from Micheal and smiled at Liz. "Yeah Liz.." Isabel pulled a seat and sat next to Liz.

****

Monday mornings were such a bore, most of the students were always half asleep and couldn't really concentrate on the schoolwork. Liz was usually one of those people. She had forgotten her Spanish homework and found herself booked for two lunchtime detentions with the unjust Mrs Maine for Thursday and Friday.

"Great." Liz had the urge to screw up the detention slip into a ball and toss it into the trash.

But being the coward she was, she slipped it into a plastic wallet in her ring binder folder to preserve it. Two periods had gone by and Liz was still half asleep.

"Hey."

Seeing Max suddenly appear in front of her was a complete surprise. Liz suddenly felt herself more awake then she was before. "Hey."

Max's smile was warm, for Liz it resembled fresh sweet coffee on a winter's morning. She didn't realise it took one smile to wake up. Maybe because she hadn't been lucky before. No one smiled at her.

"So, I was hoping to see you sometime today." Max revealed as he automatically was walking by Liz's side.

"Yeah, I really was hoping to see you too in the morning but it was just so rushed." Liz hugged her folder tighter to her chest. "How did you find it so far." She looked at Max.

"It was alright. I had French with Mr Lent and then Trig."

"What about Isabel and Micheal?"

"Well, I haven't really seen them either since morning. Micheal and Isabel are in the same class for German but for trig, they have different teachers."

"Right."

"But they'll..." Max took out his cell phone and looked at it. "Will meet us in the canteen at break and at lunchtime." He gave Liz another of his warm smiles.

"Okay, let's go then." Liz returned the smile and walked to the canteen with Max.

*****

"Oh god.." Alex moaned as he thrusted hard into her tight body. "Yess...oh yess." He grabbed her hips and rammed into her one final time before both of them groan at the point of culmination. "Oh baby." He hissed as she removed herself from him.

Tess picked up her panties and skirt before pulling them up. "Right, that's one round. Meet at my place at five and we'll have another session." She gasped and fixed her messy hair.

Alex took the used condom off with a tissue before pulling up his jeans and zipping them up again. "Wow, I have to say you are a good lay. Ever since I broke up with that bitch Leann, I never had such a good lay like you."

"That's because I'm dating your best friend." Tess groaned, feeling utterly disgusted with herself.

"Not my fault Kyle is a little reluctant in that field." Alex laughed. "I jumped in the sack with Leann as soon as we dated. Of course, everything is based on sex that's why she got so boring." Alex did up his button. "Say, won't your boyfriend be around your place tonight?" He asked curiously.

He loved Kyle but he loved sex more. A man needed sex like a girl needed makeup. For Alex, having sex with Tess who was his best friend's girl was a thrill and a turn on. Nothing could turn him on more then doing someone else’s girl in secret. Alex seemed to call it his newfound fetish. Tomorrow, he would try Kimberly Mayfair as she was currently dating some guy in the year above.

"Stop being such a jerk will you?" Tess spat. "You just had sex with your best friend’s girlfriend. Don't you feel ashamed?" Tess asked him incredulously.

"No I don't." Alex shrugged. "He'll get over it. Don't you feel ashamed?"

"Yes." Tess screeched. "But I also need it. I need to be loved too." She said softly.

"Honey.." Alex shook his head with an amused smile. "Don't ever mix up love with sex."

Tess gave Alex a smack. "You know what I mean."

*****

"She's so fucking ugly." Eric told Kyle. "I mean look at her, what a mouse. I would have to put a bag over her head if I ever had to screw that." He gagged.

Kyle and his friend burst out laughing. "Jeez." One of them took out a camera phone and began to zoom in on Liz's butt. "Look how small her butt is. There is no way your cock would fit in that." They laughed.

Kyle shook his head. "I'm never going to do her anyway." Thoughts of his girlfriend made him smile. He didn't love Tess yet but he was proud to be her boyfriend. She was pretty and sexy. That was enough for him to be proud of her.

"Even the zoom can't make her butt bigger." Eric laughed. "She's such a stick. I think she's anorexic."

"DUH!" Jack slapped Eric, "If she was anorexic would she be getting food to eat from the canteen?"

"Maybe she's bulimic." Another one of them shrugged.

"I couldn't care less." Kyle rolled his eyes. "She's not even hot so you're wasting your phone memory storage."
Tess climbed into the seat next to Kyle who slapped a kiss on her lips. "Guy's film this." Kyle told his friends in the middle of kissing Tess.

They all turned their phones towards Kyle and Tess who began to kiss hungrily, Kyle rubbed Tess' thigh and sat her on his lap. Alex joined them and cheered. "Yeah score that Kyle!"

Tess opened her eyes and shot Alex a glance while Kyle feasted away on her rosy lips.

No one would find out their secret.

******

"Find any hot guys?" Liz teased Isabel as she joined the Evans on the table.

Isabel chewed on the slice of pepperoni pizza in her hand and shook her head no. "Nope, they just seem boring to me."

"Well that's cuz they are." Micheal took a look around. "Only me and Max are the hot guys here. Every other sucker is as good as a toilet."

Liz giggled as she bit into her own slice of pizza, finding Michael’s sense of humor funny. "He's such a funny guy." Liz told Max and Isabel.

Micheal scanned the canteen room with his eyes and spotted a blonde getting it on with some guy from across the room. "Look at this bastard, he's practically eating her face." Micheal pointed at Kyle Valenti.

Liz's eyes went straight to Kyle and she winced. Her heart felt like it was being cut to pieces. Tess was supposed to be her friend. Tess was the one who said she'd always end up with Kyle and now Tess was the one enjoying him in front of everyone.

Pure hatred and pain flashed through Liz's eyes which didn’t go unnoticed by Isabel.

"That's one disgusting image." She heard Micheal say.

And she kept those tears to herself.

She would cry later.

**

Liz was relieved when she had finished her final lesson for today so she could go home. Kyle had always managed to make her feel like shit. She knew having a crush on his was signing her up for a bad flu. But he was so addictive. She always thought about him and it made her pine for him even more. What he was doing? What he wanted to do..what he-

"Liz, we need to talk." Tess suddenly appeared beside Liz at the lockers.

Liz gave Tess a quick sharp glare and slammed her locker shut before making a move to get away.

Unfortunately, Tess grabbed Liz's arm and stopped her from getting away. "It's about Kyle."

Liz jerked her arm off Tess and shook violently. "Listen..." Liz gritted her teeth and forced herself to look at Tess. "You can have him, I don't give a shit about him or you."

"Liz please hear me out-"

"Why? We're not even friends." Liz laughed. "You mean nothing to me and I couldn't care if you married Kyle. I may have a crush on him yeah so what? I'm just a nobody. No one actually cares if I like him or not." Liz replied in a violent shaky voice.

"But you, the one person who was egging me on to go further with him and you actually buttered the stupid story up that Kyle would open his eyes and fall in love with me. And guess what actually happened? He opened his mouth and you fell in it." Liz tore Tess' advancing hand off her.

Tess' big blue eyes shone with guilt and remorse. "He asked me out so I-"

"So you said yes." Liz finished and shot Tess a fake smile. "Congrats. But if you were gunna get with him anyway why the hell did you keep butting in and giving me false hope? You didn't have to Tess but oh wait....that's right....you're a bitch. That's what you do." Liz hissed. "Well you can take your fake shit and shove it all up your ass. I'm outta here."

Liz shoved a shocked Tess back and ran out of the big yellow doors and into the sunlight.

******

Liz and Max sat in the jeep in silence. "I'm sorry about last night Liz, the whole little Courtney thing-"
"Don't worry about it." Liz cut him off, staring out of the windshield with a strange numb feeling. "I have more crap to deal with." She confessed.

Max was one of the last people she'd pour her heart out to. He was just a new guy and one of her first true friends. The last thing she wanted to do was scare him off.

He hadn't known how unpopular she was at high school. The only piece of gossip he had discovered was that Shelly Brooks had been masturbating with her dog's chew toys and that Tina Keagan had been knocked up twice. So far, the subject of Liz wasn't yet disclosed. But she knew it would happen soon.

Maybe tomorrow someone or maybe one of Kyle's friends would tell Max, Micheal and Isabel about Liz's failed crush on Kyle. It was an epic disaster waiting to happen and Liz didn't want the shit to hit the fan.

So being alone in some abandoned highway with Max made her feel a little less frightened.

"Are you alright?" Max placed a hand on Liz's small one. "You seem really upset. I thought it was my-"

"Max, you could never hurt me. You're so kind to me." Liz told Max. "It's me, there's always something wrong with me." She finally released those tears and let Max see her cry.

Max gently cupped her face and wiped the tears away with his thumbs. "You can always tell me Liz. I'll be here for you."

Liz nodded. "First you have to promise not to tell anyone else."

[Hunter]

Thanks for the fb everyone

behr_able
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Eve
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Jan


Chapter Five


"Uh..Uh..UH-ACHOOO!" Maria sneezed vigorously into the basin. "Oh god." She wiped her runny nose with the soaked tissue. "Fuckin hell." Turning on the faucet, she washed the basin clean and cursed again.

This time her cold was getting really bad. "Urghh Shit." She threw the worn out tissue in the toilet and flushed before taking out a fresh tissue from the pouch of her apron. "God damn it."

An angry customer began to knock frantically on the toilet door, screaming to break the door down if Maria stayed in there any longer.

"Fine I'm getting out.." She raised her voice and then lowered it. "Little bitch, wait till I overdose your fucking food with Tabasco, then we'll see who needs the toilet the longest. Piece of shit."

Turning the faucet off, Maria wiped her face and strolled to the door. As soon as she opened it, Leann shoved past her and pushed her out. "Bitch, you'd think you shat out the Nile here or something." She spat before slamming the door shut.

Ignoring Leann, Maria tossed the tissue into the trash and pulled out another one before sneezing in to it.

"Oh dear lord, shouldn't you be at home recovering?" Jeff asked as he noticed Maria sneezing so hard into the tissue.

"I can't, I gotta do this job." Maria spoke weakly, almost spluttering.

Jeff frowned at her. "Don't worry, I'll get someone else to cover for you. You just go home and rest." The thought of his customers getting infected scared him and it would damage his business.

He had to send Maria home.

She could not work in this state.

"No sir, I'm fine-"

With impatience, Jeff cut her off. "Go home Maria. Don't come back till you've fully recovered." Jeff drowned out her weak voice.

Maria wiped her nose and nodded. "Okay sir." In a way, she was relieved that Jeff was excusing her.

Once she gathered her stuff from the locker and bade farewell to Jose the cook and a couple of waitresses, she jumped into her mother's car and drove home to find her mother and her father in an awkward position.

"Mom! what are you doing!" Maria clasped her hands over her eyes, trying to shield her poor eyes from the image of her naked mother being in a doggy style with her father.

With the father that had walked out on them many times before. Maria never knew why her mother always took that man back. It wasn't like he was going to stick around or anything.

"Honey...I'm just finishing up with your father." Amy groaned as her ex continued to pump into her.

"Oh yeaaahhh...urgh..." He slammed back into her and found his release.

Maria was mortified and let out a shrill scream before darting out of the lounge, she threw her hands over her ears, hoping that they weren't getting permanently damaged.

She ran up the stairs and locked herself in the room until her mother demanded that she open the door two hours later. Maria was met with a cold reception from her mother. "Where is the money?" She sneered.

"What money?" Maria pretended to be dumb.

She needed that money, if her mother took it then she was going to be doomed. Screwed more like.

"I need that money Maria." Amy said in a stern voice. She knew her daughter had tendency to lie and that really did grate her cheese.

"Mom, I don't-" Maria yelped as her mother grabbed a fistful of her short blonde hair and pinned her against the wall.

"Listen you big fat mistake, I want my money now or I'll kick you out of this house. You can go to social services, I don't give a damn. I really want that money bitch." Amy growled.

Maria began to sob. "Please mom...just let me go...let me go." She whispered, frightened of her mother's anger.

Amy slowly released Maria and smirked. "If you were smart, you'd get me that money."

Amy gave Maria a slap before leaving the room and cussed as she left. Maria ran into the bathroon, grabbed a pair of scissors to cut her hair shorter.

Clumps of her blonde hair fell into the basin one by one until Maria was satisfied with the bob haircut.

Dropping the scissors into the basin, Maria grabbed both sides of her head, curling her fingers into her hair and laughed.

******

"I am so not doing this." Isabel blushed, hiding behind the big door.

She peered out of the glass to see Max and Micheal sitting at the counter and having their usual conversation. "Look at this ape costume." Isabel gestured to the aqua blue alien costume. "They use this shit in circuses I swear down." She added.

"Come on." Liz urged. "You look cute. You'd turn heads Isabel."

Isabel shook her head in denial. "Liz, I don't think this body was made to be a waitress." She chuckled. "I can't go out there and-"

"Please?" Liz begged Isabel with her big shiny eyes. "Do it for me please?"

Isabel sighed, Liz's puppy dog look was tugging at her heartstrings. How could she turn that face down?

"Okay I'll do it." Isabel agreed and hugged Liz. "But if a guy puts his hand where it doesn't belong, I'ma shove his hand up his ass got that?"

Liz gave Isabel a small smile. "Got it."

The two girls walked into the cafe room and Micheal almost spat out his cherry cola when he saw Isabel dressed in a tiny uniform. "Lord have mercy!" He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

Max's eyes were wide and he began to grin. "No way!"

"Yes way." Isabel replied in a deep tone. "I'm helping Liz out so you better not laugh." She grabbed a spare newspaper on the counter, rolled it up and smacked Micheal on the arm with it.

By now Micheal was shaking in laughter. "Where's my camera?" He dug his hand into his pocket and took out his phone. "I gotta take a pic. This is priceless."

"Haha." Isabel rolled her eyes, dropping the paper on the counter.

The bell jingled as the door opened and Liz noticed Tess walk in. She turned her head towards the Evans and tried to focus on their conversation.

Tess found Liz and went directly to her, they needed to talk about the Kyle situation and Tess could not rest in peace until she had a little heart to heart with Liz.

"Liz." Tess wedged herself between Liz and Max. "We need to talk." She gave Liz a hopeful smile.
Liz and Max exchanged glances before Liz looked at Tess again.

"Lady, move." Micheal said, leaning sideward’s to capture another picture of Isabel.

"Oh I'm sorry." Tess glanced back at Micheal and then looked at Max. "Oh..." She turned around and extended her hand. "You guys must be new. I heard that there were like three of you."

Max shook her hand with unease and Micheal chose not to shake hands, Instead he gave her a simple nod and resumed taking sneaky pics of Isabel who was starting to get annoyed with Michael’s behaviour. "Stop it Micheal." She warned.

"Well I hope you enjoy Roswell. It was nice meeting you." Tess shot them all a smile before pressing her arm against Liz's. "Liz can we please talk?"

Liz took a step back and removed herself away from Tess, she walked to the back room hoping that Tess would get the message and eventually leave. "Liz-" Tess was determined to follow Liz into the backroom but Isabel grabbed her.

"Nu-uh, only employees allowed in the back." Isabel told Tess.

Tess stared at the door and gulped.

She would talk to Liz later.

******

"Jeff." Jim took off his hat while he walked in.

Jeff put the phone down on the receiver and was surprised to see the sheriff in his little office. "Yes Jim, may I help you?"

Jim looked at his hat and then looked at Jeff. "Actually, I've came to request something from you." He swallowed.

Jeff raised his eyebrow. "Yes?" He folded his arms.

"It's about my son Kyle." Jim said before closing the door.

******

Alex threw himself on the bed after a quick romp with Kimberly Mayfair. "I think I'm done now." He sighed, rubbing the sweat off his chest and wiping his hand on the sheets.

Kimberley smiled and snuggled up next to Alex, in hope that he would caress her and have some sort of pillow talk with her. "That was amaaazing." She purred, rubbing her bare legs on his legs.

"OW!"

Instead, she was pushed away so hard that she toppled off the double bed and fell on the floor with a thud. "Ewww bitch, you know I don't like that shit." He tore off the condom and chucked it at her face.

The mess splattered across her horrified face and she scream. "Oh you..." She wiped the stuff off her face and scrubbed it on the floor. "Disgusting pig!" She scrambled onto her feet and grabbed her clothes. "You will pay for this you piece of shit! I'm gunna get you by the cock you pathetic jerk."

Alex blocked out her screams by putting his fingers in his ears. "BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH!" He sang, staring at the ceiling.

Kimberly put on her panties and bra before slipping into the skimpy dress and her heels. "You shit, just wait till everyone finds out that you like chucking your used condoms in people's faces." She swore angrily before storming out of his room.

"That's right bitch! get the fuck out of my room and don't come back!" He hollered loudly, removing his fingers from his ears.

His entire family was at Switzerland for another week.

He had all that time to himself and he intended on using it wisely.

He grinned as he pushed his head back into his pillow and thought about his next victim.

The new girl, Isabel Evans.

He knew he would enjoy her.

*****

When it was almost closing time, Micheal, Max and Isabel had remained behind with Liz to help her to finish clearing things away. Liz started to stack the chairs upside down on the table and Max began to help her. "That was her wasn't it?" He asked Liz quietly.

Isabel and Micheal were busy wiping the tables and engrossed in a conversation of their own.

Liz gave Max a nod. "The lying backstabbing so called friend of mine who is now dating the crush." She admitted, she wasn't proud that she was still a little hung up over Kyle.

"You still like him?" Max sounded a little surprised.

"I've liked him for quite a while now, it's hard to just fall out of a crush I guess. I mean he's constantly in my face. He's in some of my classes and I just can't get him outta my head Max." Liz explained, trying to give Max the bigger picture.

"Maybe you just need to focus on other things. If he's so mean to you, then maybe you should forget about him." Max shrugged.

Liz nodded again. "You're right Max, it's just me. I don't have the guts to let go. I mean what if I never find someone? I would not want to be alone." She admitted, looking down at her shoes with a bashful blush on her face.

"You won't ever be alone." Max assured. "There's plenty of guys out there who would love to be with you. Rest assured." He winked.

Liz grinned and looked up at Max. "You think so?"

"Heck I'd be first in line." He teased, making Liz blush some more.

Liz shook her head. "That's why I already love you, you're so good for my self esteem."

"So do you wanna give it a go?" He settled the chair on the table.

"Give what a go?"

"Mission Forgetting Kyle Valenti. You know like the film Forgetting Sarah Marshall." He wiggled his eyebrows.

"Oh my god." Liz gave Max a playful shove. "You are serious aren't you?"

"As serious as I can be." He grinned.

Liz chuckled and grinned. "Oh gosh."

"So what do you say Miss Parker? Are you up for the challenge?" He held out a hand for her.

Liz smiled and took his hand. "Yes. I'm all up for Forgetting Kyle Valenti."

[Hunter]

Thanks for the fb everyone!

Carolyn
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Cassie

Chapter Six


Glancing at the pot of tomato basil pasta, Max grabbed the pepper grinder and added some pepper into it while his parents walked through the door, laughing with each other as they were consumed in their conversation.

"Oh that was so funny, we should do that again honey." Phillip laughed, holding his wife's hand as they entered the kitchen.

"Yeah, we should." Dianne turned around and kissed her husband on the cheek. "Say...what is that nice smell?" She spun around and saw her son cooking. "Max?"

"Just cooking dinner mom." Max shrugged, putting the pepper grinder back. "You're just in time." He smiled at his parents.

"That's my boy." Phillip announced proudly before helping his wife take her coat off.

Dianne grabbed a chair and sat down at the table while Isabel served. "My two lovely good children." She rubbed her hands. "Preparing dinner." She shot each of her children a proud smile. "What more can a mother ask for?"

Phillip took off his own coat and joined his wife at the table. "We just figured it's time to you know eat together as a family." Replied Isabel as she laid down the plates and went to pour her parents a glass of water each.

"Thank you sweetie." Phillip said as his daughter handed him a glass of water.

When Max was sure he had finished seasoning the pasta, he put the heat off and took the pot off the cooker to place it on a pot stand.

"Max, I'll dish up since you did most of the cooking." Isabel said, placing down the fork and knives on the table.

"Fine by me." Max smiled, happy to take a seat at the table with his family.

"Where's Micheal?" Phillip suddenly asked, noticing that he was missing.

"Dad, he's gone out to buy milk and bread." Isabel responded as she began to scoop out the pasta to put it on the plates.

"It's like seven thirty. Doesn't he know the stores are closed by then?" Frowned Phillip. He hated having his children out late, he worried too much about them. Especially with what happened before with one of his children.

"Michael’s gone to Frasers, that is always open." Max assured his father.

"What the hell is Frasers?" Phillip shot another question.

"It's a small supermarket shop on Durst Lane." Max shrugged. "Just ten minutes away."

"He'll be fine." Dianne looked at her husband. "Trust me. This is a good neighbourhood."

Phillip eased the tightened grip on his fork an knife. "Yeah...it's a good neighbourhood. Nothing bad can happen."

*****

Placing the plastic bag in the back, Micheal opened his bottle of Snapple and took a couple of huge gulps. "Ahhh nice."

Screwing the cap back on, he tossed it into the jeep and didn't care if it fell on the floor. Right now it was eight and he just wanted to go home. Just as he was about to get into the jeep, he was approached by a girl.

"Hey...do you wanna talk?" She asked him, glancing around to make sure no one else was around.

Micheal turned around and frowned when he tried to identify her. She was petite, long dark hair and had black lipstick on. She had a huge pair of black sunglasses on her face. She looked like a hardcore goth. He knew that she wasn't the kind of people he would want to be seen with. With her long red velvet coat with gold buttons that matched with her huge monstrous black goth wedge boots, she looked a bit on the weird side.

"Um, I'm fine thanks." He muttered.

She looked surprised to see him and ignoring the desperate cry in her mind, she chose to excuse herself. "Okay, I'll just go. Pretend you never saw me."

Micheal frowned once more as he tried to identify her face but she quickly ran away and he shook his head before getting into the jeep.

"Weirdo."

******

Max finished printing out his essay and placed it in a plastic wallet for tomorrow’s class. Isabel knocked on the door during then and waited till her brother finished tidying his stuff away.

"What's wrong Isabel?" Max yawned as he sat on his bed.

"Ah nothing..just wanted to see how you were doing." Isabel smiled as she sat down on her brother's bed. "How are you finding this neighbourhood?"

Max shrugged. "To be honest, I'm getting used to it. I haven't exactly settled in yet. There's quite some time for that. I'm trying though, I'm trying a lot."

Both siblings knew how hard living in Arizona was, it wasn't exactly homely like Roswell. They had lived in an apartment in a busy city which caused them to go their own ways. But life in the suburbs was definitely different and they were all trying to adjust.

"I know." Isabel nodded, understanding how her brother felt. "But we already managed to get past the first day and school wasn't that bad." She said.

Max gave a single nod. "Yeah, it was kinda good."

"And then there's Liz." grinned Isabel. "She's a very nice girl Max. Not like the others."

"Yeah she's nice." Max nodded. "I like her."

"Yeah me too." Isabel patted her brother on the shoulder. "You know-"

"I know what you're going to say." Max said, his tone now changed. "I don't know if I'm ready to talk about it."

"This almost tore you apart Max, don't you even wanna say anything?"

Max shook his head. "The reason I came here in the first place was to forget about it Isabel. I know I did a lot of damage in the past...I just don't want to remember it."

"But-" Isabel protested.

"And it didn't tear me apart. I know what mom was going through, but I chose to get in her way." Max sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose with his thumb and index finger. He closed his eyes. "I just ruined everything."

"Max..you did what any other son would do." In her eyes, Max wasn't to blame. The burden wasn't supposed to be carried by him but she had no clue what to say or do to make him feel better.

"Isabel...I booked my own mother into rehab. No son would do that." Mused Max.

Granted that their family was never a conventional one, the disasters that took place would take a long time to be erased. "Your relationship with mom has improved after that." Isabel shook her head. "You saved her Max, you saved all of us."

"But a part of her will always resent me...for taking away her freedom." Max sniggered.

"No." Isabel snapped. "She always loved you and she always will. She just needed a wakeup call and you were the only brave person to do that Max."

Max let go of his nose and his eyes flickered towards Isabel. "I am trying so hard Isabel to make her happy."
"You are. She was so impressed with the dinner and so was dad."

"Dad...I ripped him to bits." Max flinched as he remembered the nights where his father cried in his sleep because of their mother's absence.

"Max...none of it is your fault." Isabel exhaled, tired of Max blaming himself.

Getting tired of talking about his guilt, Max noticed the same emotion in his sister's eyes and decided to call it a night. "Well, I'm going to sleep now Isabel. I'm sorry for being such a drama-king." He laughed.

Isabel laughed a little with her brother and removed her leg off his bed. "Well I'll be off too then, gottta catch an early night." Isabel bent over to hug her brother.

"Don't stress anymore Max, just look ahead to the future. A special someone is looking back at you." She winked as she let go.

Max inhaled and gave his sister a little smile. "Yeah, I'd like to think someone is there." He nodded, a hint of dry humor lying in his tone.

"Maybe it's Liz." She spoke under her tone while shooting him a cheeky grin quickly after as she strutted out of his room.

Unbeknownst to her, Max heard those three words.

*****

Tess slapped Alex as soon as he finished with her. "You always love the doggy style don't you?" She fastened her jeans up again and Alex had copied her.

"Babe, it's all about hitting in the back."

"Whatever." Tess rolled her eyes.

"Next time you can be on top." Alex teased Tess as he threw the used condom in the trash which stood next to the foot of the table leg.

Much to Tess' dismay they ended up in the eraser room again. Tess wished she brought some toys with her this time because she was risking her reputation by having sex with Alex in the eraser room.

"If you're worrying about Kyle, don't bother. He's skipped school again." Alex told Tess. "I know you love him."

"I don't." Tess fisted her blonde locks. "I don't love anyone but myself." She cried. "If I did, I wouldn't be having sex with you would I?"

"Point taken." Alex's lips spread into a calm smile.

"Hopefully this will be the last time." Tess made a reach for the door. "Bye Alex."

Once she was gone, Alex waited a few minutes and then walked out. Happy to see Isabel Evans at the lockers, he licked his teeth and made his way over to her.

"Is it Christmas already? Because if not, Santa brought my present early." He slurred in Isabel's ear.

He admired her rear end. He really did. Nice big round pompous ass that he would love to knead during banging her. Nice.

Isabel did not once look at Alex Whitman. Once those ears of her took in his cheesy chat up line, she chose to ignore him and carry on with putting her books away and slammed her locker before turning her back to Alex. Alex was met with Isabel's ignorance which compelled him to continue in his pursuit of her. He would not back down.

He ran after her long strides and stole a pack of coloured flyers from one of the school nerds. "Hey!" A napoleon dynamite lookalike yelled after Alex.

"Listen, there's this trip...I would really love to take you." Alex shoved the handful of flyers in Isabel's face.

Isabel moved past Alex as if he was just another person and continued to ignore him. Alex watched in wonder as her ass moved up and down while she walked away.

He would not stop, he decided that he needed to bang that piece of ass.

******

"Alright Liz?" Micheal winked as he walked past her and stopped just within a few feet of her while she remained by the lockers.

"Hey Micheal." Liz shut her locker and turned around with a slight smile. "How’s it going?"

They began to walk with each other as they engaged in a conversation. "I'm fine and you?"

"Peachy."

"Good, because Max said we can all meet up tonight." Micheal informed Liz.

"Where?" Liz's interest was definitely peeked.

"To the movies, it's either Dorian Grey or some stupid chick flick like 500 days of summer."

Isabel and Max suddenly emerged from nowhere and having hearing Michael’s words, Isabel opened her mouth to remark. "It's not a stupid chick flick Micheal. It actually has positive reviews."

"Besides, we're watching 500 days of summer." Max spoke.

"Nah, come on." Micheal rolled his eyes.

"Last time we all watched Final Destination 3D, before that we watched A haunting in Connecticut and Transformers 2." Isabel's forehead ceased. "God knows that was so boring because I fell asleep halfway through.."

"You were too scared Isabel." Micheal scoffed. "Admit it."

"It actually looks good." Liz piped up, causing everyone to look at her. "I mean, 500 days of summer..it looks worth watching."

"We'll take a vote." Isabel said. "We know Liz is with me already and Max?" She turned her eyes at her brother with an expectant look.

Max who had his hands dug in his pockets shrugged and agreed with Isabel. Micheal almost chocked out laughing. "Max, these girls have you by the balls!"

"They do not." He denied.

"Damn, Liz and Isabel have your balls! They're juggling them right now!" Micheal laughed.

"At least I have balls." Max retorted with a grin.

“What? I don’t have balls?” Micheal pretended to sound scared. “Oh god...where’s my balls at?” He jumped about, “I can’t feel em! I must have a vagina! Wait my balls are rolling away!” He pointed down at the floor.

Liz and Max laughed as Micheal flapped his arms and continued to act like lunatic. Isabel, however remained still with tight lips, refusing to laugh.

“Catch em somebody! Oh dear me! I’m Michaela! Izzy? Lizzy? Did you steal me balls again?” He sung in a high pitched tone.

"Oh please, stop with the balls!" Isabel shushed him. "Enough."

"Fine, we'll watch that girly film. But I get to hold the popcorn box this time." Micheal said, returning to his normal tone. "Last time I left it with Isabel and as soon as the movie started, I put my hand in and it was all gone." Micheal told Liz.

"That's because you took the lot." Max chuckled.

"Okay when are we watching the movie?" Asked Liz, excited with the thought of spending more time with the Evans.

"Tomorrow evening at five, how does that sound?"

"Great."

*******

As soon as lunch was over, Liz and Max hurried to their bio class. "I'm telling you we're gunna be so dead!"

Liz giggled a little as Max and she ran down the hall together, their sneakers squeking against the floor.

Liz grabbed the door handle and opened it to walk in followed by Max. Mr Seligman was busy writing something on the blackboard that he almost didn't notice Max and Liz sneak into his class.

Alex who sat alone at his table noticed the Parker girl walking in late with some boy and decided to shout out. "Mr Seligman, Liz Parker is late! and she's got a boy with her!"

Liz cursed inwardly as she stopped in her tracks and Max stopped beside her, both of them felt like deers caught in the headlights as they slowly forced themselves to turn around and face Mr Seligman, who didn't look too happy.

"Wow, we have some latecomers. Miss Parker, I'm surprised and..." He looked at Max with a frown. "Who would you be?"

Liz Parker stepped in and introduced Max to Mr Seligman. "Sir, this is our new student. Max Evans. He's enrolled into your bio class." Liz coughed.

"Ah.." Mr Seligman pulled out the brand new register and instantly found Max Evans' name with the other names of his students. "Max Evans...welcome.." He said. "Take a seat...wait-" He stopped Liz and Max from getting to a table. "You need a lab Partner."

Liz and Max looked at each other.

"Liz Parker can be your lab partner." Mr Seligman smiled and decided not to give them a late attendance.

Alex gawked at Liz who gave him a dirty look before leading Max to her table to sit down. As Mr Seligman started the lesson, Max scribbled on a note and slid it towards Liz.

When she read his words, she smiled and grabbed her own pen. The smile that slowly began to form on her face, he was such an amazing person. After she finished writing, she passed the note back to Max.

It was Max's turn to smile as he read Liz's words.

*****

Parking the car just outside the crashdown, Kyle smirked when he turned off his engine and got out of his car to walk into the crashdown. His father did his dirty work for him and Kyle could step freely in this town. No one could tell him what to do. Today he would march in that cafe and order a blue moon burger, extra large diet Pepsi and fries for free.

Then he would make that stupid Jeff Parker apologise to him again and again which would then humiliate that Liz whom he was disgusted by.

He pushed the doors open and embraced the smell of the food wafting about. "Ahh come to daddy." He sighed, his stomach rumbled and he couldn't wait to feast on the treats they had.

Yeah man.

"Hold it!" Jeff Parker's raised tone halted Kyle in his steps.

Wheeling himself from behind the counter, Jeff stepped out in to the front and marched himself towards Kyle. "Get out."

Kyle scoffed and looked around him, pretending if Jeff was talking to someone else. "Um...sir...are you talking to me?" He blinked.

From the corner of his eyes he saw the Parker girl stop by the edge of the counter, watching in silence while her father continued to humiliate him.

"Yes I'm talking to you, you little dimwit." Jeff growled. "Get outta ma cafe!" Jeff pointed at the door. "Go and take your nastiness someplace else."

Smirking, Kyle stood proud and tall in front of Jeff. "What if I say no?" He challenged.

A few seconds later....

"WHAT!" Kyle screamed when a couple of bigger boys carried him out of the cafe. "What the hell is going on?" He demanded but groaned soon after when his ass hit the asphalt after he was tossed.

"Your father paid a little visit to me." Jeff said, standing at the door of his cafe. "He said I could ban you as much as I wanted."

Kyle's eyes bulged. No! His father would never do that to him!....or would he?

"So for that little intrusion, I give you a month and two weeks ban. You're not allowed to set foot in this place." Jeff pointed at Kyle.

The boys walked back in the cafe with Jeff leaving a confused Kyle sitting on the ground. Kyle clenched his hands into tight fists.

He and his father needed to have a talk.

[Hunter]

Thanks for the fb everyone

Carolyn
Natalie
behr_able
Eve
AlysLuv
Cassie
Jan
destiny


Chapter 7


"Micheal right?" Micheal tore his eyes away from the book he was reading to see a pair of bluish green eyes staring back at him.

"Yeah and you are?" Micheal frowned, trying to remember the face but to no avail. He saw so many faces in so little time that he couldn't match them up to names.

"I'm Alex Whitman." Alex took it upon himself to sit with Micheal on the bench. "I see..you're reading Ulysses. Great book."

For Alex, starting a conversation with guys were easy because most of them talked about sex. Judging by the book Micheal was reading, Alex figured he may be a tough nut to crack just like that Isabel Evans was.

"What are you doing here?" Micheal cut straight to the point, wondering what this guy wanted. Whatever it was, it probably was uninteresting and boring.

"Nothing, I thought you'd might like to know me." Alex gave him a wide smile.

"Well I don't." Micheal honestly replied, wishing that this dude would just leave him be so he could continue reading his book.

"Great, because I happen to be your classmate for drama and I would love to have you in my group...see we're doing this assignment-"

"No. I'm already in a group." Micheal cut in, not letting Alex finish.

"Ah.." Alex nervously scratched his back. If he couldn't impress atleast one of Isabel's brothers then his chances of banging her would be slim. He knew that the way to a girl's bed..a girl like Isabel that is, was to make friends with the people she cared about.

"Well, dude...I'm the most popular boy here. It'll do you good if you just join my group." Alex teeth gritted.

"Like I care." Micheal scoffed, turning a page in his book to read the next. He was really not paying attention to Alex because he chose not to, hopefully Alex would get the hint and just leave.

He actually considered knocking out one of his good pals to replace him with Micheal for Isabel's sake. That's how much he was angered right now that Micheal was throwing it back in his face. To hang out with Alex Whitman earned people a permanent status in the fame world. Too bad Micheal couldn't see that.

"Listen Micheal Evans, I'll be around...whenever you need me." Alex discarded his anger for the desire of fucking Isabel. He wanted that pussy. He would get it.

Even if he had to kiss Michael’s shoes for it. "Yeah whatever." Micheal frowned, concentrating on reading his book.

Alex watched him for a second, studying him. "Micheal...do you have a girlfriend?" He suddenly asked.

"No."

"Well I can hook you up. There's so many girls who talk about you already." Alex slowly said. "Hot girls who would die to be your girlfriend."

"No thanks, I think I can choose for myself." Micheal said, not taking his eyes off the book.

"There you are!" Alex jumped up when he heard a shrill voice come from behind him. Turning around, he winced when a hand slapped him across the face.

That took Michael’s eyes of the book.

Kimberly Mayfair stood with bloodshot eyes as she drew back her manicured nails from Alex's sore face. "That's what you get for throwing your used condom in my face you piece of shit." She spat on Alex's forehead while her girlfriends took pictures with their phones.

Alex glanced at Micheal shyly and looked back. "I never did anything with you. You're taken remember?" He tried to sound innocent as possible but it wasn't working. Micheal had that look on his face...like he was disgusted and amused.

Kimberly turned to Micheal. "Do not hang out with this pervert. He'll sleep with any girl whose pretty and has a tight pussy." She warned Micheal. "Keep your females away from this sick bastard."

Wiping the saliva off his forehead, Alex swallowed as he tried to peel his eyes away from an angry Kimberly. "You date raped me." He suddenly accused.

"You wormed yourself to my house under the pretence of a study date and then mixed something in my soda. The next thing I knew.." He turned to Micheal. "I was naked in bed with her while she violated me."

Micheal pulled a face and slid further away from Alex on the bench. "You really are disgusting." He choked, grabbing the side of the bench to get up. He knew this Alex was not to be trusted.

"Date raped you?!!" Kimberley laughed and than spat on Alex again. "I would rather have sex with his dad-" Kimberly pointed at Micheal. "Then date rape you."

Micheal, suddenly feeling discomfort excused himself while Kimberly continued to yell at Alex.

******

"Dad how fucking dare you tell him to ban me as much as he wanted!" Kyle roared and smashed another set of plates in the kitchen where he was having a breakdown in front of his father.

"I'M YOUR SON, YOU SHOULD PUT ME FIRST!" Kyle smashed a plate right against the refrigerator.

"Stop it!" Jim pushed his son back, hoping to save the rest of his plates.

Kyle slipped over the chair and fell in an awkward position. "Oh dad!" Kyle moaned, clicking his wrist back into place. "You dislocated my fucking wrist."

"I'm so sorry." Jim apologised. "But you don't have any right to act like some king in this town!" Jim yelled, pointing his finger at his son.

"You're the Sherriff." Kyle croaked as he struggled to get up.

"That's right, I'm the sheriff!" Jim roared back. "To serve and protect everyone, not to intimidate them and make their lives miserable." yelled Jim. "I serve people, I am a servant of the people you idiot."

"That's stupid." Kyle snorted. "Why are you wasting your time serving people, you should be putting them behind bars."

Unable to take his son's insolence anymore, Jim grabbed his son's collar and pushed him up against the wall.

"Listen here you ungrateful punk, you obviously don't have compassion for your fellow human beings, at least have a little bit of humanity in you. You can't take advantage of who I am and use that to enforce respect. You gotta earn it." Jim growled. "And to earn it, you better treat people right."

Kyle breathed heavily, afraid of his father's reaction. His father had always doted on him, spoiling him with his love and affection but now his saw shame in his father's eyes instead of love.

What had he done?
*****

When it was Wednesday, Everyone..everyone from nerds to jocks, from cheerleading sluts to tomboys planted themselves in the Evans' face. Max and Micheal found boobs shoved in their face constantly while Isabel found herself under the leery gazes of lustful teenage boys. She felt like a microscope slide being studied by a mad scientist. It was awful and violating.

"I'd like to stick it between those plump ass cheeks." She heard a stupid jock cheer behind her with his friends.

"I'd fuck her tits. So juicy..so-"

William staggered back and held his throbbing jaw with both hands. "What the fuck man?!" He cried as Micheal Evans glared at him, the guy who just punched him.

"Next time you want to talk about a girl like that, make sure she's a figment of your imagination." Micheal advised him. "Fucker." Micheal growled.

William frowned and was about to hit Micheal back but Max came from nowhere and punched him right in the face. Micheal took this chance to knee William in the balls causing him to fall on the ground in pain. "Hey man that isn't cool." Eric told Micheal.

Max kicked Eric in the crotch causing him to cry out in pain. "Fuck...Jesus...what the fuck man?"

"You leave Isabel alone." Max warned. "All of you."

The jocks muttered but back away, leaving Max, Micheal and Isabel watching them. "Thanks." Isabel said. "But they weren't gunna score anyway."

"I know." Max replied. "You're too smart for that to happen."

Isabel flinched when she saw Alex Whitman roaming in the halls from across them. "Now that's one scary motherfucker." She told Micheal and Max. "He's the worst one."

"We'll take care of it." Micheal said, looking directly at Alex Whitman.

Boy was that guy in for a nasty surprise.

*******

"Liz!" Kyle tossed the ball to one of his team mates and jogged towards the fence where Liz was walking on the other side.

Liz chose to ignore him and carried on walking in her own pace, it was a nice sunny day and she wasn't going to let Kyle ruin it for her. She had to ignore him. It was the only way she could get over him. If she pretended he wasn't there.

Kyle left the court and ran after her, he grabbed her arm and swung her around. "Liz, I need to speak with you."

Liz averted her eyes and tried not to give Kyle direct eye contact. "What Kyle?"

"I'm sorry I acted like a jerk before. I just thought you were weird." He shrugged.

Liz sighed. "Right..."

"I guess it's just my big ego that makes me think I'm better then people like you. I mean you're shy, sensible and never get into trouble. You're also smart. I think I was just being too hard on you. You may not have the looks but you have the brains Liz. I should respect that."

Liz laughed at Kyle's unbelievable words. "Kyle...did you want to talk or insult me in another way?"

"No...I just wanted to apologise."

"Well that's a crappy apology. You basically called me an ugly smart girl. How do you think I'm supposed to take that?"

"I called you smart?" Kyle shrugged. "I said something nice."

"You're stupid..you're just a dumb jock like the others." Liz gulped. "I don't even know why I'm wasting time even listening to you." Liz made a move to turn away but Kyle caught her wrist and stopped her.

"Liz I'm sorry okay..is there any chance you can get your daddy to lift the ban?" rushed Kyle.

Liz jerked her wrist out of Kyle's hand and pushed him away. "No." She hissed and turned away, walking faster then before just to get away from Kyle Valenti.

What a stupid jerk, she thought.

******

"Open your legs." Demanded Alex as soon as he walked in the eraser room.

"What?" Tess asked, sounding a little stupid. She hadn't slept all night and was half asleep. Today she wore the same skirt as yesterday and Alex was happy to push it out of the way while he yanked her panties down.

"Alex..I think we should talk first." Tess said warily while Alex rolled on the condom. "We can't have sex first. I am Kyle's- oh god!" Tess shrieked as Alex plunged into her body.

His hard thrusts were painful and she tried to push him away. "Alex stop! Alex-"

But he grabbed her hips and moved frantically, trying to find his release while he thought angrily about Isabel Evans. A minute later, he came and tore himself out of Tess, pushing her back violently as he could. She had tears in her eyes and looked like a mess.

"You hurt me."

"Fuck off slut." Alex discarded the condom and zipped himself up. "You're a stupid bitch who cheats. You're a slutty liar. You deserve to be fucked over." He hissed.

Tess pushed the damp blonde locks off her skin. "What's wrong with you?" she cried. "Why are you such a monster?"

"Didn't you come here to be fucked?" Alex was starting to lose his patience with Tess.

How dare she sit there, with skimpy clothes that was covered in sweat; how dare she look like a violated prey..she wasn't innocent. She chose to cheat on Kyle, she chose to have secret sex with him. It was partly her fault.

But Tess thought otherwise. Today Alex was rough..heck he did violate her today and she was furious about that. She didn't want to be anybody's bitch.

"Yes!" Tess snapped. "But I would have liked a bit of foreplay."

"Sorry, I don't do foreplay with sluts. I just bang em."

"This is the last time.." Tess hopped off the table. "I'll let you fuck me over bitch." She told Alex and pushed him before storming out of the eraser room.

Alex punched the wall, cursing at his bad luck.

Why were girls such a pain in the ass?

*********

"Did you just see that?" Maria ran up with Liz and was so happy that she finally caught up with Liz.

Liz was surprised to see Maria and smiled. "Oh Maria were have you been?" She asked her friend. "It's like you vanished or something."

"I was ill." Maria shrugged as she walked with Liz. "Anyway, oh my god..did I just see Tess Harding walk out the eraser room followed by Alex Whitman a couple of seconds later?"

Liz chuckled. "Maria..as if Tess would sleep with anyone other then Kyle Fucklenti." She almost chocked when she said Kyle's name. It was like chewing on a huge jaw breaker.

"No Liz, I swear to god...I saw them." Maria convinced Liz. "They just looked like they fucked each other."

Liz frowned and wondered if Tess would actually go that low to sleep with her boyfriend's bestfriend. "She can't do that, it's so sick."

"I know right? I told you that bitch was a slut. She's a man stealer. She stole Kyle from you and know she's riding his best friend in secret. Not to mention she slept with a numerous amount of boys before...who were boyfriends of other girls..." Maria trailed off, bitching about Tess.

*****

"Aren't you ashamed?" Nancy cried, staring at the big ugly fat D on her daughter's essay. "That is so degrading."

"Mom..I tried." Liz yelled, feeling a little hurt that her mother decided to snoop through her things. She hated lying to her parents but the truth was, she was no straight A student. She was a rubbish student.

"This.." Nancy held up the paper. "Should have made you tried harder!"

"I am trying. I'm trying a lot!" Liz found herself cornered by her mother.

Nancy's eyes were bloodshot and she shook violently. "I lied to my friends, I lied to everyone that you were getting A stars. I even told your father's lot that you were gunna be a doctor someday."

"Mom.." Liz sighed, hoping that her mother would just back off and let her be. "I don't like it that you're always trying to control me!"

Nancy shook her head in disbelief and screwed up the marked essay.

"I expected better of you Liz Parker. But you're just another pathetic student. I should really kick you out of my house. You're just stupid. You won't get us money." Nancy dropped the paper on the floor. "You're always gunna be a D grade citizen."

Liz bit her lip as her mother slowly backed away and left. Holding back the tears, Liz bent down and picked up her essay to smoothen it out. Staring at it, she knew what she had to do.

****

"You want my feedback?" Isabel Evans asked Liz who looked very upset.

Nodding, Liz sniffed and clasped her hands together. "I would have taken it to a teacher but..." She drifted off.

"Nuh..I'm glad you came to me. I'm actually a pretty good student." Smiled Isabel. "I can tutor you." She placed the essay on the table.

About an hour later, Liz started to feel a little more refreshed and laughed with Isabel as they shared jokes. Isabel had finished talking to Liz about her essay and suddenly Liz actually began to understand the question.

"Wow.. I get it now." Liz laughed. "It was right in front of my face and I was blind."

"Precisely." Isabel agreed, laughing a little. "You just gotta always refer back to the question Liz."

"Yeah." Nodded Liz. "I wonder why I couldn't see that before?" She frowned.

"Oh damn." Isabel checked her watch. "It's like nine thirty pm. You're late Liz. Is your parents gunna be mad?"
Liz swallowed. "Yep. Mom probably won't let me in." She shrugged. "Don't worry, you can stay here tonight." Isabel shrugged.

Having never experienced sleep over’s, Liz declined Isabel's offer. "Maybe some other time. I have to get home." Liz gathered her stuff.

"I did say Mom probably won't let me in but that doesn't mean I can't get in." winked Liz.

"Huh?"

"I always leave my window unlocked. I just get on the balcony and go through the windows." Liz told Isabel.
"Naughty girl..I wonder whose your secret admirer." teased Isabel. "Go Liz."

"Only in my dreams." Liz rolled her eyes, wishing that was the case. Liz got up from the chair and tucked the chair away. Isabel removed herself from the desk and gave Liz a hug.

"Aww it was nice having you around. You should come more often."

"I will." Liz hugged Isabel back.

"How are you gunna get home?" asked Isabel, withdrawing from Liz.

"I'm walking home." Liz replied.

"No, you're getting a lift from Max." Isabel shook her head.

"Isabel..it's okay really...I-"

"No, Max is going to give you a ride home." Isabel cut Liz off. "Look outside, look how dark and dangerous is it. I won't have you risking yourself like that." Isabel scolded Liz. "I wanna see you tomorrow in one piece."

Liz laughed. "Don't worry you will."

*******

Parking his jeep just outside the Crashdown, Max turned off the engine and looked at Liz. "You know, I'd kill for that cherry crumble." Max told Liz, his eyes shining as he spoke.

"Me too." Liz grabbed her bag. She stared up at the window and noticed that the light was still on. "My parents aren't asleep." She realised.

"Do you want me to go in with you?" Max offered, hoping he could save Liz from the parents.

"Nah, my dad will kill me if I'm to be seen with a guy at this particular time of the day or night.." Liz shrugged, she was supposed to step out of Max's jeep right now but she couldn't even move.

She felt content, sitting where she was and looking at Max's face. "Oh right." Max's voice was soft and husky.

Liz rubbed her nose and twitched, feeling a breeze hitting her in the face. "It's getting late and cold." Liz spoke. "Maybe you can come by for that cherry crumble sometime...you know when my parents are out all night..." She looked straight at Max.

"I'd love to." Max smiled.

Liz grinned and looked at her bag. "Right..I'd better go then..face the angry parents...and have a horrible night."

"Good luck." Max grinned.

"Thank you." Liz whispered with a smile as she began to move away.

But something stopped her from completely jumping off the jeep and feeling a little adrenaline rush, Liz turned her face to Max's and bent over to kiss him on the cheek. She felt scared and excited at the same time because she hadn't done to a guy before.

"Thanks for the ride Max." Her voice was soft. "I'll see you at school."

Max who was unable to say anything in time, could only nod while the place where her lips touched him felt warm and tingly.

When he finally could move, Liz was gone from the jeep and now stood at the doors of the Crashdown. She looked back and waved at him before pushing the door open and walking in.

Max waved back and smiled. "See you in school Liz."

[Hunter]

Thanks for the feedback everyone

Eve
Kris
Carolyn
behr_able
Jan

Chapter Eight

Liz froze when she saw Kyle and Tess walking down the street from across her, heading towards the direction she was coming from. They would definitely cross paths and with both of them holding hands and smiling at each other, Liz's eyes darted towards the other side of the road where she crossed over and took the short cut to school.

"Well...well..." She heard Eric's voice behind her. "If it isn't little Miss Fugly." He snorted with his group of friends.

Liz found a few of the jocks blocking her path and felt Eric push her from behind. She fell on top of the guys standing in front of her and they grabbed her wrists while she was pushed back onto her two feet.

"Parker, don't trip." Eric clicked his tongue.

Usually these guys pushed her around and left, they used to do it all the time when she was a kid. It always ended up with them getting away because she never told anyone about it before. But now, in a small park in broad daylight...Liz had the urge to fight back although she was a little scared of what might happen. Eric and his friends were so popular that no one would believe her if she told them the truth.

They were a bunch of bullies.

"What are you gunna do?" Liz whispered. "Please let me go."

Eric sniggered and his friends all joined in as they taunted Liz. "This is my domain bitch." Eric rolled his eyes. "What I say, goes." He clicked his fingers in front of Liz's face. "And I say, we play with you today."

They pushed Liz on the ground, laughing as she winced in pain while the sharp asphalt grazed her skin.

"That's what you get for getting us banned from the crashdown fugly." Eric said.

Liz swallowed and tried to pull herself up from the ground again only to get kicked in the shins by one of Eric's friends. "Stay down bitch."

"Stop it!" Liz's lips quivered.

"That's for eyeballing Tess' boyfriend." Eric kicked Liz. "You should have kept those eyes to yourself. Maybe one day you'll be able to see how worthless you are."

Liz doubled over in pain and tried to crawl away from them but they kept on making fun of her by laughing in her face. The worst part was when Eric grabbed her by the shoulders and told her that she was a slut wannabee.

"You have no tits, you have nothing to offer a guy bitch. You might as well waste yourself." He sneered, leering at her pretty face.

Liz held the tears back, she couldn't cry in front of these guys. She would not cry.

********

One Week Later...

Max Evans was worried when Liz didn't turn up to the classes they shared all week. From Thursday, she was missing from their first period biology and since then he had worried about her not coming to school. He also hadn't seen her in the Crashdown and he wondered what was up with her.

"Have you heard from Liz?" His sister Isabel asked while they sat in the Crashdown and ate their fries.

"No." Max shrugged.

"She hasn't returned any of my calls." Isabel frowned. "We were supposed to go watch a movie together but she never called back." Isabel then looked at Micheal. "What about you, have you heard from Liz?"

Micheal shrugged too and was just as worried as both Max and Isabel were. "Nope, last I saw her was in my art class which was on Wednesday. Since then, she's not been around much."

"Maybe Maria knows." Isabel told the guys and smiled when Maria attended their table.

"Hey Maria." Micheal shot her a wink.

Maria blushed and he found it cute. For Maria, the guy was hot. She hadn't had the guts to talk to him as much as Liz had but today she was feeling lucky. "Hey Mike, you want cherry cola on the house?" She teased.

Micheal raised his eyebrows in surprises to Maria's offer. "Oh yeah...I'd like that." He grinned.

"And one for you and one for you too. On the house." Maria scribbled down on the order pad. "Since you're like really good pals with Liz and everything..."

"Have you heard from Liz?" Max suddenly asked.

"Erm I spoke to her today." Maria confessed. The truth was, Maria had never been so pissed off. She knew that Eric and the guys always gave Liz a hard time and that bothered her a lot.

She also was in despair that Liz was right. No one would believe them unless they had strong evidence...and then there were the Evans...an idea suddenly hit Maria.

"Umm she's not doing so well.." She whispered to them and then ushered Micheal to move over so she could sit down.

All three of them leaned in, suddenly wanting to hear anything that Maria had to say. "Liz...um you see she has this situation...you know Eric Clapton and the guys...you know friends of Kyle Valenti?"

"Those dirty little bastards?" Micheal nodded. "I know em. In fact, they're gunna be dead meat once I hear what you have to say Maria."

"Well.." Maria swallowed. "Well last Thursday....they um..they followed Liz on the way to school and attacked her."
All of them were in shock and Max's eyes bulged as if he was so alarmed. "W-w-what?" Max spluttered, unable to hear what Maria was saying.

"They attacked her, abused her and made her cry." Maria told them. "Liz told me not to tell anyone but since you guys are so tight with her...you'd find out anyway." Maria babbled.

"Why hasn't she told anyone?" Micheal hissed, feeling upset that Liz had concealed so much pain from everyone.

"Because they won't believe her." Maria replied. "Eric, Kyle...all them degenerates....they are so respected around here and Liz is not miss popular. No one respects her much because they're all shallow...or most of them anyway."

"Why would they do that do Liz?" Isabel fired a question, angry that her friend had been bullied and she knew nothing about it. She would teach those guys later. Oh she couldn't wait.

"Because her dad banned Kyle and his friends from the Crashdown." Maria gave the strongest reason, feeling a little intimidated by the stares she received from all of them. They were interrogating her and it felt uncomfortable.

"Did they hit her?" Max whispered, as if he was afraid to hear the answer.

"Yes." Maria closed her eyes, feeling the anger radiating from Max. She could see his facial expression although her eyes were closed.

Max stood up and in long strides, he strolled to the back room. Maria opened her eyes and followed him while Isabel and Micheal exchanged glances before following them.

Not caring if he wasn't allowed through the back room, he called for Liz and when he saw Maria, he begged her to show him where Liz was. "Please, I need to talk to her."

"Max...this is employees only." Maria told him. "And I don't think Liz is ready to see anyone yet."

Isabel and Micheal emerged and stood next to them. "Max, maybe we should just wait till Liz is ready." Isabel said.

"I have to see her." Max said, hoping that he would be able to see Liz today. He missed her.

"I'm sorry Max but she's really tired right now." Maria said. "Maybe you can leave a message for her." Maria tried her best to block Max from going up the stairs, Liz would kill her if she found out that Maria had told them about what had happened.

Trying to get past Maria and onto the stairs much to Maria's protests followed by his sister's protests, Max was getting more desperate to see Liz.

"Max, maybe Maria is right. We should just wait. Liz'll come around." Micheal finally said something and took hold of Max's arm.

Max frowned and them eventually gave up. "I'll wait for her." He told Maria. "Please let her know that she has friends who care for her."

Maria smiled a little. "I will."

*******

Unable to sleep, Liz sat out in her balcony and wrote in her diary. There wasn't much to write apart from the fact that she ate lots of Hershey bars and drank lots of soda while watching My Wife and Kids, a daytime show that she hadn't been aware of until today. Daytime TV was good. It took your mind off the harsh reality and kept you busy with silly funny things.

"Pssst Liz!" She stopped writing in her diary when she heart a voice call her name. "Liz!"

Someone was calling her name, Liz closed her diary and placed it on the table next to the lawn chair she was sitting on. Uncrossing her legs, she stood up and walked to the edge of her balcony.

Max stood outside, looking up to see if Liz would respond. "Hey Liz."

Liz smiled, finding Max so cute just standing there waiting for her. "Hey Max. What are you doing out so late?"

"I wanted to see you." He answered. "Can I come up?"

"Yeah sure." Liz gave Max a quick nod before running back to tidy any mess up. It was the first time Max would see her little balcony and she didn't want him to have a negative first impression of it. By the time she finished clearing up, Max had reached the top of the ladder and climbed onto her balcony.


Looking at the lit scented candles which gave the balcony a warm ambience which he just wanted to bask in, he made a sound of admiration. "Hmmm nice. It's very cosy and beautiful."

"You think?" Liz turned around and smiled. "It's my little world. I just write my diary out here..." She looked down and blushed when she couldn't think of anything else to say.

God, I must sound like a dork, she thought.

"I love it. You should have told me about this place earlier." Max teased. "It would have saved me some time trying to find the perfect place."

"The perfect place for what?"

Max stepped forward so he was just on step closer to Liz. "The perfect place to watch a movie with you." He wiggled his eyebrows. "You see Isabel and I we have this projector and laptop with speakers and this.." He gestured to Liz's balcony. "This is a perfect place to watch movies."

"Really?" Liz looked around her balcony in wonder. How come she never thought of that before?

"Yeah." Max nodded.

"Wow. That's cool."

"Speaking of movies..why didn't you go with the movies with us?" His voice was softer...showing that he was concerned for her and it made her feel better.

"I was not feeling good." Liz sat down.

Max sat down on the lawn chair with her and took her hands into his. "Liz, you know I really care about you right?"

"Yes."

"So does Isabel and Micheal. You're our friend. You're the first friend we ever had in this town. And I know I always want to be your friend. Do you want to be mine?"

Liz nodded. "Of course. You're special to me. You and Micheal are the first pair of guy friends I've ever had."

"Then I need you to promise me something." Max told her. "When you're hurt...ill...angry or happy
even...you have to make it your duty to let us know because we get worried to death."

"I'm sorry, I really have been lazy." Liz chuckled.

"Yeah. You're a lazy Lizzie aren't you?" Max wiggled his eyebrows. "It's called a cell phone you know." He took his own phone out and showed it to Liz. "It works both ways, I call and you answer or you call and I answer. Simple."

Liz laughed. "Max you're so funny."

"And Liz you're so lazy."

"I'm sorry I haven't been in touch with you lately. I kind of suck at that stuff." Liz rubbed her eyes and yawned.
"You don't suck at that stuff." Max wrapped an arm around Liz. "You're just lazy."

"I know." Liz agreed. "I'm a lazy Lizzie." She rested her head on Max.

"You know...next time stuff like this happens. Come to one of us...especially me. I'll cook you something really good and you will forget all the bad stuff."

"I will?" Liz shifted so Max could lie down on the lawn chair with her.

"Yeah..I'm the best cook you'll ever meet Liz." Max smiled as Liz snuggled up to him as they lay together on the lawn chair.

"If you say so..I'll take your word for it." Liz wrapped an arm over Max's torso, feeling the warmth seeping from his clothes and onto hers. It was relaxing.

Max stroked his fingers through Liz's hair as they spoke out his cooking, what dishes they loved and exchanged likes and disliked about themselves to each other right till to the point when they fell asleep together on the balcony.

Tomorrow would be a brand new day.


*******
"Back to school so early Parker?" Eric laughed when he spotted her by the lockers.

Liz slammed her locker door shut and glared at Eric. "Yes punk, I'm back in school. I have grades to earn so I can make a living...unlike some bullies who'd probably end up in jail." She muttered, giving Eric a dirty look.
Eric swore at her and grabbed her wrist, not caring if anyone saw.

"Listen.." He pulled her towards him. "You're so lucky to be alive. You're so beneath us, you're so-OW!" Eric yelped as he felt someone clip his ear and pull him away from Liz.

A pair of greeny goldish eyes stared back at him. "What the hell man?!"

"Leave her alone." Max warned in a simple stoic voice.

"Evans! Ma man...you're sticking up for this runt?" Eric laughed, realising that Max Evans was in fact sticking up for Liz Parker.

"That runt is my girlfriend." He growled at Eric. "A term you wouldn't understand because you like to beat up girls." He violently shoved Eric back into the lockers. The noise startled people who passed through the halls and they stopped to watch, beginning to chant 'fight' as they formed a crowd around Max, Liz and Eric.

Liz rubbed her wrist and watched as Max dealt with Eric. She was feeling happy that Eric now had found someone who was much more stronger then he was, she was enjoying it.

"I didn't beat her up. She tripped." Eric lied, starting to worry if Max Evans was going to beat him up or worse...kick him in the crotch like last time.

Max watched him as if he really wanted to kill him. "You should be thankful that she hasn't told anyone so far." Max said. "But now...everyone knows." Max revealed to Eric in a deadly whisper. "Everyone knows what an animalistic bully you are."

Eric shivered at Max's words, truly feeling sorry that he ever met the guy.

"And if you ever try to harm my girlfriend or anyone I care about again...I'll be coming after you." Max warned Eric, shoving him back into the lockers as he released him.

Max took Liz’s hand and lead her far away from Eric.

[Hunter]

Thanks for the fb everyone

NotYourChick
Carolyn
Kris
confusedfool
Jan
Eve
POM

Chapter Nine

5 months later

"Ahh that feels good." Liz moaned, throwing her head back as she fell into the waves of pleasure.

Max Evans was an expert at this, here he was, touching her...rubbing her and damn she had never felt so good in her entire life; and this was just a simple foot rub or Max's special Swedish massage as they both like to call it.

"I should get paid for being this good." Max grinned, watching Liz squirm under the magic of his hands.

Max never gave foot massages to anyone which made Liz feel privileged; As for Max, he loved offering up his services to his best friend Liz. After five months of being together, they were the best of friends and were very tight. Max and Liz learned more about each other to the point that they were very comfortable in compromising positions. Like they would sleep in the same bed, snuggled upto each other.

Liz had never been happier in her entire life, she could do all these things with a guy and it was unbelievable. She had a guy best friend! Not only that, Max was everything she needed him to be. Words weren't enough to describe how she felt about him. He was just amazing.

"Hmmm you should." Liz closed her eyes, wallowing in the painful pleasures Max was bestowing upon her.
Who needed to go to the massage parlour when they had Max Evans at their service?

After the much needed massage, Max made a call to his mother to inform her of his whereabouts. "Mom, I'm at Liz's." He said, tensing as Liz moved closer to him on the bed.

Liz couldn't get enough of that cologne Max had on and began to take a closer inspection. Boy, he sure smelt good. Holding onto Max's shoulder for support, Liz nuzzled his jaw with the top of her button nose teasing him as he spoke to his mother.

Max swallowed, trying not to give into Liz who loved to distract him when he was on the phone.

Liz moved on to tickle his underarms and Max almost dropped the phone out of his hands. "Naughty girl." He clicked his tongue at Liz who giggled under his playful smile.

"Okay bye mom." Max quickly said as Liz continued to tickle him. With a swift move, he put his cell phone on Liz's dresser and turned back to deal with Liz.

"Come here you." He called, flipping them over as Liz giggled.

******

"Wow Alex, didn't know you were into music." Isabel scoffed as she entered one of the music rooms to give her new boyfriend a quite phone call.

"It's called a rehearsal." Alex returned in a sour tone, amazed by the fact that Isabel was actually talking to him.

"Yeah whatever." Isabel turned her back on him and pressed dial to call Jesse, the new guy she had been seeing at her Dad's work.

Alex frowned, listening intently to the sweet talks between Isabel and some dude called baby. He looked away, a little jealous that someone else beat him to Isabel. He had to ride the same sluts again for months while Isabel offered up her body to some lucky bastard. This wasn't fair.

"Listen Isabel, I'd appreciate it if you'd not come in here and disturb my state of mind." Alex ranted, tossing his drummers into the steel drum.

"Shut up Alex." Isabel sighed, clicking the phone off and leaving the room as fast as she could.

Alex chuckled. "Okay Isabel." He shrugged, he didn't know what to say to this girl. What would make her actually like him?

*****

"So when are you and Tess gunna do it?" Eric asked, hanging his tongue out like a dog in heat with the image of a naked Tess. He couldn't believe that Kyle had been with her for five whole months, usually Kyle's relationship were short lived lasting only a week or too but Eric was amazed that Tess had survived long enough to remain as Kyle's girlfriend.

"Hmmm when we're both ready, I really want our first time together to be special man. There's no rush. Tess is my most successful relationship, I wouldn't wanna mess that up dude." Kyle told Eric. "She's so understanding. Do you know she also loves the movie The Godfather? I mean isn't she such a cool chick?" Kyle sighed, praising his girlfriend.

She was the longest girlfriend he'd ever had and she was special. With her pretty blue eyes and golden locks, she was just the girl he was looking for. She was beautiful and it showed.

Eric nodded, hiding his amusement of his friend's compliments over Tess. To Eric, Tess was just some blonde slut who was only good for one thing. He knew with her curvy figure that she would be a nice fuck.

Oh he was getting a stiffy just thinking about shoving his cock in her tight depths that he almost came in his pants.

"What's wrong with you?" Alex walked out of the room and noticed the look on Eric's face.

"Nothing." Eric lied. "I'll catch you guys later." He quickly dismissed himself and went on to hunt a slut down to relieve himself with.

"He's a horny bastard." Alex quipped walking towards his best friend.

"Aren't we all?" Kyle laughed, completely missing the point that Eric had been secretly lusting after Tess.

"What were you guys talking about?" Alex frowned.

"My girl." Kyle battered his eyelids.

Alex sniggered, Tess was the reason why Eric had that look on his face. "Oh, Tess. How is she by the way?"

Since five months ago, she hadn't come back for more from him and it didn't really bother him because he was working out how to seduce Isabel Evans.

Yet he couldn't help but feel a little bad for his clueless best friend; after all he had sex with the girl Kyle believed to be the one for him.

In other words, Alex felt like a jerk. "Come on man." He patted his best friend. "I'll buy you a pizza."

"Word." Kyle nodded before leaving with his best friend.

******

"You can't keep doing this Maria." Amy threw the shampoo bottle in the mirror. "We need that money or we have no roof over our heads!"

"I'm trying mom." Maria slung the bag over her shoulder. "I'm skipping school because of this!" She hissed as she put on her wig and sunglasses.

"Good! School is only gunna cost ya!" Amy yelled, feeling a sore throat coming along. Great, she had a date with Maria's father and now she had a sore throat.

"Mom you're so selfish." Maria yelled back before storming out.

Fifteen minutes later, Maria reached the corner where she would carry out her business today and waited.
She hated her stupid job, it sucked big time.

The stench of urine and cigars were unappealing as the beggars began to grunt for money as they crawled on the dirty floor in their torn clothes. "Ahh.." Maria panted, staggering away from the bearded guy with the eye patch.

"Hey." Alex's voice startled her as they crashed against each other. Alex steadied Maria with his arms and carefully glanced around to make sure no one was looking.

Luckily Pizza Hut was near the place where a lot of business went down, on the recommendation of a friend, he went down here to purchase some pills. "You’re Casella? The drug dealer?" He asked, digging his hand into his pocket to get out three hundred dollars.

Maria nodded and was shocked that Alex Whitman was buying drugs, sure he was a bad playboy but a druggie too?

"Four hundred for cocaine and ecstasy....two for heroin."

"I'll have ecstasy," Alex blurted and thrusted the dollars into Maria's hand.

Maria in return, passed him a bag of ecstasy from her backpack. "Nice doing business with you." She spoke in a deep voice.

"Yeah." Alex sniffed the bag of ecstasy. "Ahhh the smell of freedom." He shoved the bag into his backpack and quickly left.

Stunned, Maria had a bad feeling about Alex and drugs put together.


***********


"Max?" Liz nudged him as he lay on the bench, with his eyes closed Liz had assumed he had fell asleep because he looked so peaceful while his head as on her lap. Stroking his hair, Liz was easily distracted by him and hadn't finished reading her novel for her homework.

"Hmm?" His eyes remained closed, enjoying the feel of just lying there with his head on Liz's lap.

"So you are awake." Liz began to toy with the bangs of his hair which she grew to love.

"Yess." Max answered, reaching out for Liz's hand that was stroking his hair. He wrapped his hand around hers and then opened his eyes. "Have you finished reading?"

Liz shook her head. "I think it's kinda boring." She put the book down, putting it aside for now as she had more better things to concentrate on.

"I know Liz, you don't have to say it." Max grinned. "I have that effect." He smirked while his eyes twinkled in mischief.

"What effect?" Liz pretended to be clueless, her cheeks were starting to blush and she bit her pink lip, playing coy with him.

"I distract you." Max looked up at her.

"You don't." Liz denied, shaking her hair in waves. "I am not distracted by you."

Max gave her that look which told her he already knew so she shrugged and finally accepted it. "Ok fine, yes you are very distracting and more interesting then the stupid novel anyway." Liz admitted, there was one time where she adored novels. She loved reading because it opened the door to another world away from this harsh reality. She needed to escape but now when she had amazing friends...and Max, she felt no need to escape anymore. It felt like she was actually living in a novel herself and was more interested in her life now.

Oddly life for Liz Parker felt......perfect.

Max was with her and Liz seemed to forget about anything else. "I'll take that as a compliment." Max kissed her hand.

"You're very naughty and a misleading guy Max Evans." Liz teased.

"I'll take that as a compliment too." He replied with a naughty grin. "And I've turned you from a good girl into a bad girl." He told her as she found him more interesting then doing her homework.

"Hmmm I wonder what Miss Ramsey has to say about that." Liz intertwined her fingers with Max's.

Max brought her hand to his lips and kissed again. "She'd say carrying on being distracted by Max." He laughed.

Liz laughed along with Max, "At this rate, I'm not gunna get anything done."

"Do you want to?" Max asked, looking up at Liz once again.

"No." Liz honestly replied.

Max lifted his head off Liz's lap and raised himself up to sit on the bench, "Come on Parker, we got work to do."