Well, it's a kind of a strange story. Those two are Liz and Maria. They are longtime best friends and have run with each other and Alex, he's the tall lanky guy, for years. Max and Isabel, those two, are brother and sister. They kind of adopted Michael...the one with the weird hairdo, about fourth grade. Neither group had much to do with the other until.....well, a couple of months ago we had a bank robbery. A couple of sex offenders needed money to fund their getting out of the country and tried to knock over a bank. They weren't real good at it but Liz and Max got locked up in the vault as hostages. No, that's really not right. Liz was going to be a hostage...Max just kind of maneuvered himself into being locked up too, to protect Liz."
'He'd take a risk for a.....human being??' thought Tess. 'How stupid is that! This is the guy that I have to have sex with.....get pregnant by,....so Kivar will let us return to Antar?' "So what happened then....did the guys give up when they were surrounded, or did someone cut them a deal and let them go?"
"The answer to that would be 'e', none of the above. They decided they were going to attack Liz, Max..... well Max had been injured but he recovered enough to....well, he kind of beat them to death, actually."
"He beat them to death?" asked Tess. 'Right, I bet he powerblasted them. How could he do something so incredibly stupid? He could have been hurt badly going in there, then he does something that could give away the fact that he's part alien. Hell, I'll bet the girl knows at least. What kind of an idiot risks everything for a lousy human?'
"Yeah, he beat them to death. And good riddance, too. Of course, that convinced half the people in school and Liz's parents that Max was a raving maniac killer for awhile, and THAT caused some problems. But he's not like that really...he's....well Max is cool. But maybe that's why Maria and Michael and Alex and Isabel got together as well, kind of a mutual support thing for Liz and Max that just kind of developed into friendships."
"You mean Isabel and that tall hu....Alex kid are also....like going together?"
"Yeah well, THAT surprised a lot of people, especially Pamela Troy. Isabel kind of unloaded on her the other day......God, I wish I'd been there to see it," chuckled Kyle.
'Both of them were involved with....humans? How....EWWW was that?' "And the other guy?"
"Oh, Guerin? He's a foster kid.....just kind of wandered in out of the desert back in grade school. His foster father is an abnoxious bastard.....a drunk. He hangs out with the Evans's...a little strange, but OK."
'An obnoxious foster father? Well, at least I can identify with him,' she thought. Then as she noticed Maria tousle his hair, and give him a quick kiss on the cheek thought, 'Another human-lover? Well, maybe not.'
"So how do you know all this stuff about the bank robbery, Kyle? Is it like common knowledge all over town?"
"No, the newspaper kept Max and Liz's names out of it because they were minors, but a lot of it was still known...it's a pretty small town."
'Well that's some help, anyway,' thought Tess. 'it was bad enough that Max had actually done that stuff, potentially given himself away to the girl....hopefully the other two didn't know also. That way Nasedo would only have the one to eliminate.' It wasn't like humans were really all that important she decided, but some of them,...like this one here with her, were pleasant enough company....as long as you didn't let them get too close. 'He has a nice ass, too' she decided. Not that she would ever really think of a human....that way. At least, not much. She'd never really learned to hate them the way Nasedo did. They were just.....different. As long as they posed no threat, she could even enjoy their company she decided. It was certainly better company than HIS.
"You sure seem to be well informed about the goings on around here, Kyle."
"Well, I know Liz fairly well....we are still friends....we used to date a little."
'But he still seems to like Max.....even though he took the girl away from him??? How strange is that?' she thought.
"And of course, I pick up a lot from hanging around with my dad.....he's the Sheriff," said Kyle.
'I'm hanging with the son of the local police chief??????How incredibly stupid is that???? Nasedo will kill me!' "Uh....gee Kyle.....Nice talking to you....that is....I've really got to go powder my nose right now.....uh..Bye!"
"Nice talking to you too,...uh Tess, wasn't it? Maybe later..."
Dominoes falling..... (M/L) Mature 9/26/06 complete
Moderators: Anniepoo98, Rowedog, ISLANDGIRL5, Itzstacie, truelovepooh, FSU/MSW-94, Forum Moderators
‘Keep your friends close and your enemies closer?’ Tess still didn’t really understand what the words of some 6th century Chinese general had to do with conceiving an heir to Antar so Kivar would let them go back home, but she knew better than to argue with Nasedo.
She remembered arguing with him once when she started puberty….when she’d wondered what was happening to her body….when he’d explained to her her….role in his plans. She’d been in fifth grade then and instead of reading to her from one of those books…explaining it was natural…he’d just kind of told her graphically what was happening and what she would have to do once they located him.
She hadn’t really meant to cross him…it was just that she was young and naïve and …it had sounded kind of icky at the time. She’d said no, that she couldn’t do that. So he’d forced her…to prove to her that she could....or at least that was what he'd told her. She guessed it was fortunate that he was an artificial lifeform….and not built with that capacity personally. But holding her down with his powers while he used the plastic thing he had bought at that porn store…..she still shuddered when she remembered it…the pain…the humiliation…the fear. Yeah, she knew it would….fit. And she knew that she would do it when the circumstance presented itself…whatever it was like for real it had to be better than what it had felt like five years ago.
But if Nasedo said she should hang with the Sheriff’s kid so she could find out information from him, so she could fit in better until she could make her move on Max….well, she would. She sure wouldn’t cross Nasedo ever again. She shuddered as she remembered the pain of that night….and the look on his face. Nothing could be worse than that time…not even the discomfort of carrying a child…or even giving birth to it. She’d do it…if that was her ticket to get away from Nasedo. She’d do anything for that.
As he sat down in first period English class Kyle Valenti was prepared to be bored. He didn’t like Pride and Prejudice all that much.
But as the small blonde girl turned to him and smiled, he was taken by surprise. He hadn’t thought she was the least bit interested the other day.
As he heard her say, “Well…is there any chance you could show me around this afternoon….kind of give me an orientation to Roswell,” he smiled also. 'This might be a pretty good day after all'.
She remembered arguing with him once when she started puberty….when she’d wondered what was happening to her body….when he’d explained to her her….role in his plans. She’d been in fifth grade then and instead of reading to her from one of those books…explaining it was natural…he’d just kind of told her graphically what was happening and what she would have to do once they located him.
She hadn’t really meant to cross him…it was just that she was young and naïve and …it had sounded kind of icky at the time. She’d said no, that she couldn’t do that. So he’d forced her…to prove to her that she could....or at least that was what he'd told her. She guessed it was fortunate that he was an artificial lifeform….and not built with that capacity personally. But holding her down with his powers while he used the plastic thing he had bought at that porn store…..she still shuddered when she remembered it…the pain…the humiliation…the fear. Yeah, she knew it would….fit. And she knew that she would do it when the circumstance presented itself…whatever it was like for real it had to be better than what it had felt like five years ago.
But if Nasedo said she should hang with the Sheriff’s kid so she could find out information from him, so she could fit in better until she could make her move on Max….well, she would. She sure wouldn’t cross Nasedo ever again. She shuddered as she remembered the pain of that night….and the look on his face. Nothing could be worse than that time…not even the discomfort of carrying a child…or even giving birth to it. She’d do it…if that was her ticket to get away from Nasedo. She’d do anything for that.
As he sat down in first period English class Kyle Valenti was prepared to be bored. He didn’t like Pride and Prejudice all that much.
But as the small blonde girl turned to him and smiled, he was taken by surprise. He hadn’t thought she was the least bit interested the other day.
As he heard her say, “Well…is there any chance you could show me around this afternoon….kind of give me an orientation to Roswell,” he smiled also. 'This might be a pretty good day after all'.
Liz looked across the lunchroom and saw Kyle slowly leading the small blonde girl towards their table. She had been happy to hear that Kyle and Max had sort of buried the hatchet back when her parents were so freaked out by that Lucy-woman.....back when the rumors had been flying throughout the school. She had liked Kyle...no, certainly not as a soulmate like Max, but he would always be a friend and she had felt that she'd left him wanting more out of the relationship than she had felt they could have....especially after she and Max were a couple. She was glad, actually, glad he was moving on.
The young blonde was cute and they actually looked quite nice together. She was new to the school...not too many friends yet. Liz wondered if they'd get serious. She hoped so, sort of. She had almost dumped Kyle for Max, and she felt badly about that. She's have preferred to be more gentle....but so much had happened in the vault....well sometimes destiny just can't be denied.
"Hi guys, this is Tess. She's new here....from California, and I'm showing her around. Tess, that would be Max, Liz, Isabel, Alex, Maria, and Michael."
As the raven-haired girl stepped forward and shook her hand, Tess heard her say, "Hi Tess. I'm Liz Parker. I'm pleased to meet you. Welcome to Roswell."
"It's good to meet you too, Liz," Tess said, staring past the girl toward Max. 'This looks like it's going to be pretty easy,' she thought. 'He actually doesn't look all that bad and,' her eyes turning toward Liz, 'the earth girl shouldn't be much competition.'
As she let Kyle lead her away to make other introductions she looked back at the six of them. Rath and Vilandra she would need to be careful about. And of course she'd have to work on Zan. The three weak puny humans ought to be no real problem. She didn't much care for humans, Nasedo was right about that...just inferior beings. As she looked at Kyle Valenti smile as he introduced her to more of his friends she did have an afterthought though. 'Some of them, at least, were kind of cute though.....like puppies.'
The young blonde was cute and they actually looked quite nice together. She was new to the school...not too many friends yet. Liz wondered if they'd get serious. She hoped so, sort of. She had almost dumped Kyle for Max, and she felt badly about that. She's have preferred to be more gentle....but so much had happened in the vault....well sometimes destiny just can't be denied.
"Hi guys, this is Tess. She's new here....from California, and I'm showing her around. Tess, that would be Max, Liz, Isabel, Alex, Maria, and Michael."
As the raven-haired girl stepped forward and shook her hand, Tess heard her say, "Hi Tess. I'm Liz Parker. I'm pleased to meet you. Welcome to Roswell."
"It's good to meet you too, Liz," Tess said, staring past the girl toward Max. 'This looks like it's going to be pretty easy,' she thought. 'He actually doesn't look all that bad and,' her eyes turning toward Liz, 'the earth girl shouldn't be much competition.'
As she let Kyle lead her away to make other introductions she looked back at the six of them. Rath and Vilandra she would need to be careful about. And of course she'd have to work on Zan. The three weak puny humans ought to be no real problem. She didn't much care for humans, Nasedo was right about that...just inferior beings. As she looked at Kyle Valenti smile as he introduced her to more of his friends she did have an afterthought though. 'Some of them, at least, were kind of cute though.....like puppies.'
Tuesday Morning 10:30 AM County Medical Examiner’s Office.
Doc Barson looked up as Jim Valenti came through the door.
"I came as soon as I could, Doc. What's the problem."
"Well, I'm not altogether sure there is a problem, Jim, but there's something I need for you to see. We picked up a body up on the Indian Reservation...an older fellow with known medical problems had disappeared. They didn't worry about it at first...the guy was an old shaman who would sometimes wander off for a few days to commune with the spirits or something. But after a couple of days his nephew went looking for him...found him in an old cave he used to go to ....dead. There really wasn't any particular evidence of foul play....no apparent injury. The old guy had diabetes, high blood pressure, cholesterol problems. He was kind of a set up for a heart attack but when I first started looking at him I thought clinically he looked like rhabdomyolysis."
"Rhabdomyo.....what?"
"Rhabdomyolysis Jim. It's kind of like heat stroke....when the muscles of the body just get so hot they cook....start to break down. It can happen with hard work in hot humid climates, certain drugs can do it. Even if it's treated quickly it can leave kidney damage but if it isn't treated...well, you can die pretty quickly."
"Well the climate around here doesn't get very humid ever, Doc. Was he on any of those drugs?"
"Well as we got more history, it turns out it does get humid around here sometimes....he did one of those sweathouse ceremonies...you know, where all the guys steam themselves like a sauna. Then he walked up into the hills...that had to add to his body heat load too, from the exercise. And he was on two medicines, one for his diabetes that's known to cause lactic acidosis....Metformin. And one of the statin drugs which also seems to be a serious risk for this happening. The old fellow really shouldn't have been doing any sweathouse ceremonies on either of those drugs. His doctor had told him that but....well, I guess the ceremony was more important to him than the risk. Anyway, this all still looked like a perfectly reasonable natural cause death...or at worst, a reaction to the medication and the sweathouse and subsequent exercise."
"I take it that there is an 'until' to this, or you wouldn't have called me."
"Well, I still think it's probably just a medication reaction or heart attack, Jim, but I wanted you to see something before I did the autopsy."
"OK...." said Jim Valenti. He followed Doc Barson into the morgue holding area and they stopped at a stainless steel wall with metal drawers. Doc Barson reached down and opened the one that was labeled 'Riverdog' and the long tray containing the body rolled out.
He said,"When we stripped the body to start the autopsy, this is what we found..., " as he pulled back the sheet.
Jim Valenti looked down on the dead naked body of an elderly Native American. The man's face was slightly contorted, as if he'd died in pain, but he seemed otherwise unremarkable to him.
"OK," said the Sheriff, "What am I missing here?"
Doc Barson's mouth dropped when he looked down at the body. "I don't understand this, Jim. Two hours ago there was a silver handprint, right in the middle of his chest. Honest....this isn't some wild goose chase...it was there."
"Doc, did you get any picture of it or anything?"
"I didn't think to, Jim. I was going to do that at the autopsy....I didn't expect it to.....evaporate." The medical examiner picked up a hand lamp and illuminated the body more closely, but nothing appeared. On a hunch he pushed the button on the Wood's Lamp that turned on the ultraviolet light. A hand print blazed forth brightly for several seconds....then faded completely. "Did you see that Jim? Maybe it's the ultraviolet that lets you see it...but also fades it away. I don't know what that means...never seen anything like that, have you?"
"I'm not sure.." said Jim Valenti, remembering the pictures in his father's files, now locked in his filing cabinet. "I'd like you to complete the autopsy....tell me what you find. I'll be doing a little research of my own. And Doc.....Let's keep this between the two of us for awhile, OK?"
Doc Barson looked up as Jim Valenti came through the door.
"I came as soon as I could, Doc. What's the problem."
"Well, I'm not altogether sure there is a problem, Jim, but there's something I need for you to see. We picked up a body up on the Indian Reservation...an older fellow with known medical problems had disappeared. They didn't worry about it at first...the guy was an old shaman who would sometimes wander off for a few days to commune with the spirits or something. But after a couple of days his nephew went looking for him...found him in an old cave he used to go to ....dead. There really wasn't any particular evidence of foul play....no apparent injury. The old guy had diabetes, high blood pressure, cholesterol problems. He was kind of a set up for a heart attack but when I first started looking at him I thought clinically he looked like rhabdomyolysis."
"Rhabdomyo.....what?"
"Rhabdomyolysis Jim. It's kind of like heat stroke....when the muscles of the body just get so hot they cook....start to break down. It can happen with hard work in hot humid climates, certain drugs can do it. Even if it's treated quickly it can leave kidney damage but if it isn't treated...well, you can die pretty quickly."
"Well the climate around here doesn't get very humid ever, Doc. Was he on any of those drugs?"
"Well as we got more history, it turns out it does get humid around here sometimes....he did one of those sweathouse ceremonies...you know, where all the guys steam themselves like a sauna. Then he walked up into the hills...that had to add to his body heat load too, from the exercise. And he was on two medicines, one for his diabetes that's known to cause lactic acidosis....Metformin. And one of the statin drugs which also seems to be a serious risk for this happening. The old fellow really shouldn't have been doing any sweathouse ceremonies on either of those drugs. His doctor had told him that but....well, I guess the ceremony was more important to him than the risk. Anyway, this all still looked like a perfectly reasonable natural cause death...or at worst, a reaction to the medication and the sweathouse and subsequent exercise."
"I take it that there is an 'until' to this, or you wouldn't have called me."
"Well, I still think it's probably just a medication reaction or heart attack, Jim, but I wanted you to see something before I did the autopsy."
"OK...." said Jim Valenti. He followed Doc Barson into the morgue holding area and they stopped at a stainless steel wall with metal drawers. Doc Barson reached down and opened the one that was labeled 'Riverdog' and the long tray containing the body rolled out.
He said,"When we stripped the body to start the autopsy, this is what we found..., " as he pulled back the sheet.
Jim Valenti looked down on the dead naked body of an elderly Native American. The man's face was slightly contorted, as if he'd died in pain, but he seemed otherwise unremarkable to him.
"OK," said the Sheriff, "What am I missing here?"
Doc Barson's mouth dropped when he looked down at the body. "I don't understand this, Jim. Two hours ago there was a silver handprint, right in the middle of his chest. Honest....this isn't some wild goose chase...it was there."
"Doc, did you get any picture of it or anything?"
"I didn't think to, Jim. I was going to do that at the autopsy....I didn't expect it to.....evaporate." The medical examiner picked up a hand lamp and illuminated the body more closely, but nothing appeared. On a hunch he pushed the button on the Wood's Lamp that turned on the ultraviolet light. A hand print blazed forth brightly for several seconds....then faded completely. "Did you see that Jim? Maybe it's the ultraviolet that lets you see it...but also fades it away. I don't know what that means...never seen anything like that, have you?"
"I'm not sure.." said Jim Valenti, remembering the pictures in his father's files, now locked in his filing cabinet. "I'd like you to complete the autopsy....tell me what you find. I'll be doing a little research of my own. And Doc.....Let's keep this between the two of us for awhile, OK?"
Tuesday evening 6PM at the Parker dining room, above the Crashdown.
As everyone sat down to eat, Jeff Parker said, "I need to talk to you about Thanksgiving, Lizzie..:
Just that quick, Liz Parker knew she was in trouble. The Crashdown only closed three days a year; Christmas, Easter, and Thanksgiving. Her parents loved Thanksgiving, it was a big deal at their house. Apparently both her Mom and Dad each had an ancestor on the Mayflower. Liz's plan for the next generation involved incorporating the DNA of a more recent ship arrival, 1947 to be exact. And that in part was why she hadn't been planning on being at the family Thanksgiving dinner this year. She just hadn't gotten up the courage to tell them. She'd hoped she could 'break it to them easily,' but really hadn't figured out a way to do that. She'd have to just tell them.....
Tuesday Evening 6PM, the Evans residence dinner table
Diane Evans looked down at her two children, a smile on her face, and started to talk. "I have something interesting planned for Thanksgiving..."
Just that quick, Max Evans knew he was in trouble. His mom loved Thanksgiving, and even for Izzie it was second only to Christmas. He knew his mother loved to have her kids around her at holidays, and Izzie and his dad really liked for the family to just sort of hang together on this special day. He'd always had some reservations about the whole appeal to Divinity sort of thing, ...although after Liz saved his soul in the vault, he had started to reconsider those. But nonetheless, he had kind of planned on giving his thanks somewhere else this year. He'd wanted to tell his mom privately, ...to break the news...but hadn't been able to bring himself to do it. Now he wouldn't have any choice but to tell her here in front of the whole family. 'Way to go, Max,' he thought glumly.
Back in the Parker household, the sudden look of panic on Lizzie's face had not gone unnoticed by Jeff Parker. Something was wrong....even before he'd had a chance to tell her that he'd asked Max to Thanksgiving dinner, and he'd accepted....something was definitely wrong. As Lizzie interrupted him he wondered just how bad it would be.
Things weren't much better back in the Evans house. Before she'd even finished the sentence Diane Evans had seen it...the look of guilt on Max's face. She hoped he wasn't going to ruin everything somehow. She knew he'd never really bonded in with the family stuff as much as Izzie had, but he knew that Thanksgiving had always been special to her. And this time was even more important.
After that 'my Mr. Evans and your Mr. Evans comment, she felt she had to invite Liz to Thanksgiving dinner to get to know her better. The girl apparently had designs on her only son. She'd said yes.
Dianne also had invited that nice Alex boy that Izzie was seeing. He was the first honest to God human being he thought she'd ever dated, rather than just the usual run of "pretty people" she'd date once and then drop. She wanted to encourage that, without being too obvious.
And of course, little Michael....although he wasn't that little any more. She'd asked him what plans he and his foster father had for Thanksgiving. Michael had said, "the usual." As Diane understood it, that meant that Hank Guerin had already drunken up his November foster-care check, so he'd be getting a payday loan just before Thanksgiving to be repaid from the December check. With the proceeds of that, he'd buy himself a couple of bottles of Wild Turkey liquor and a Turkey TV dinner for Michael. Happy Thanksgiving, Guerin household. Diane had of course invited him too.
Now, as she looked at her son, she knew before he even spoke that he was somehow going to mess this up.
It took a lot of cell phone minutes to sort out the Thanksgiving plans, but it had finally wound up this way.
First of all, nobody was mad at Max. They understood that Jeff and Nancy had issues with him, and they didn't blame him for trying to let them get to know him better.
Nobody was really mad at Liz, either. Jeff and Nancy realized that their threat to get an injunction against Max had kind of soured relations with the Evans' and they probably needed to do a little bridge building. Besides, a family Thanksgiving dinner seemed a pretty benign environment for her to be with Max at.....they still didn't completely trust the boy, even though Liz seemed happier than she'd ever been. The fears that Lucy had put in them didn't go away fast.
So the way it wound up was....well Max and Liz were told to fix it, and the fix they came up with was to have both families have Thanksgiving in the birthday room of the closed Crashdown.
Since Alex's folks had planned on him being at the Evans', they were going out. So he got invited too. Since that left Michael as the odd man out, Liz thought he should bring a date...of course,he called up Maria. There was just the least bit of trouble there, because Amy had already invited Jim Valenti and Kyle over for Thanksgiving dinner. Their plans for Thanksgiving before that hadn't been much better than Michael's. They were each going to get a turkey TV dinner, although they were going to spring for the 'mansize' version at least. So they got invited along...as well as Amy DeLuca. Of course, now Kyle was the odd man out. To tell the truth, Liz still felt a little guilty about the precipitous way she'd dumped him for Max. So she phoned him personally and suggested he come and bring a date...maybe that cute new blonde girl she'd seen him with.
So the division of labor worked out that Liz, Maria, Max, and Michael were going to cook and serve the main course. Amy would provide the pies, of course. Everyone else would just bring an appetitie.
Oh, and Isabel would do the decorations,...that at Michael's insistence.
Isabel's cooking skills had improved immeasurably recently...she could now boil water without scorching it...usually.
But Michael had a long memory.
In the sixth grade he'd had breakfast with Max and Isabel one Saturday when their parents weren't home, and Isabel had cooked. He'd confused her with a difficult menu item...a three minute egg. She'd put the water on to boil and started the timer...after 2 and a half minutes the water was at a nice rolling boil, so she'd tossed the egg in...then pulled it out 30 seconds later. It was a little....runny. She'd tossed it out and tried again.
No longer trusting the boiling water, she'd used her powers to heat the egg ....for three minutes. If she'd put a hole in it to let the steam out, it might have been OK...but she hadn't. When he'd cracked it, it went off like a fragmentation grenade from the steam inside, spreading hot egg throughout the kitchen.
Max had healed Michael's burns quickly enough...but he was still a little gun-shy.
As everyone sat down to eat, Jeff Parker said, "I need to talk to you about Thanksgiving, Lizzie..:
Just that quick, Liz Parker knew she was in trouble. The Crashdown only closed three days a year; Christmas, Easter, and Thanksgiving. Her parents loved Thanksgiving, it was a big deal at their house. Apparently both her Mom and Dad each had an ancestor on the Mayflower. Liz's plan for the next generation involved incorporating the DNA of a more recent ship arrival, 1947 to be exact. And that in part was why she hadn't been planning on being at the family Thanksgiving dinner this year. She just hadn't gotten up the courage to tell them. She'd hoped she could 'break it to them easily,' but really hadn't figured out a way to do that. She'd have to just tell them.....
Tuesday Evening 6PM, the Evans residence dinner table
Diane Evans looked down at her two children, a smile on her face, and started to talk. "I have something interesting planned for Thanksgiving..."
Just that quick, Max Evans knew he was in trouble. His mom loved Thanksgiving, and even for Izzie it was second only to Christmas. He knew his mother loved to have her kids around her at holidays, and Izzie and his dad really liked for the family to just sort of hang together on this special day. He'd always had some reservations about the whole appeal to Divinity sort of thing, ...although after Liz saved his soul in the vault, he had started to reconsider those. But nonetheless, he had kind of planned on giving his thanks somewhere else this year. He'd wanted to tell his mom privately, ...to break the news...but hadn't been able to bring himself to do it. Now he wouldn't have any choice but to tell her here in front of the whole family. 'Way to go, Max,' he thought glumly.
Back in the Parker household, the sudden look of panic on Lizzie's face had not gone unnoticed by Jeff Parker. Something was wrong....even before he'd had a chance to tell her that he'd asked Max to Thanksgiving dinner, and he'd accepted....something was definitely wrong. As Lizzie interrupted him he wondered just how bad it would be.
Things weren't much better back in the Evans house. Before she'd even finished the sentence Diane Evans had seen it...the look of guilt on Max's face. She hoped he wasn't going to ruin everything somehow. She knew he'd never really bonded in with the family stuff as much as Izzie had, but he knew that Thanksgiving had always been special to her. And this time was even more important.
After that 'my Mr. Evans and your Mr. Evans comment, she felt she had to invite Liz to Thanksgiving dinner to get to know her better. The girl apparently had designs on her only son. She'd said yes.
Dianne also had invited that nice Alex boy that Izzie was seeing. He was the first honest to God human being he thought she'd ever dated, rather than just the usual run of "pretty people" she'd date once and then drop. She wanted to encourage that, without being too obvious.
And of course, little Michael....although he wasn't that little any more. She'd asked him what plans he and his foster father had for Thanksgiving. Michael had said, "the usual." As Diane understood it, that meant that Hank Guerin had already drunken up his November foster-care check, so he'd be getting a payday loan just before Thanksgiving to be repaid from the December check. With the proceeds of that, he'd buy himself a couple of bottles of Wild Turkey liquor and a Turkey TV dinner for Michael. Happy Thanksgiving, Guerin household. Diane had of course invited him too.
Now, as she looked at her son, she knew before he even spoke that he was somehow going to mess this up.
It took a lot of cell phone minutes to sort out the Thanksgiving plans, but it had finally wound up this way.
First of all, nobody was mad at Max. They understood that Jeff and Nancy had issues with him, and they didn't blame him for trying to let them get to know him better.
Nobody was really mad at Liz, either. Jeff and Nancy realized that their threat to get an injunction against Max had kind of soured relations with the Evans' and they probably needed to do a little bridge building. Besides, a family Thanksgiving dinner seemed a pretty benign environment for her to be with Max at.....they still didn't completely trust the boy, even though Liz seemed happier than she'd ever been. The fears that Lucy had put in them didn't go away fast.
So the way it wound up was....well Max and Liz were told to fix it, and the fix they came up with was to have both families have Thanksgiving in the birthday room of the closed Crashdown.
Since Alex's folks had planned on him being at the Evans', they were going out. So he got invited too. Since that left Michael as the odd man out, Liz thought he should bring a date...of course,he called up Maria. There was just the least bit of trouble there, because Amy had already invited Jim Valenti and Kyle over for Thanksgiving dinner. Their plans for Thanksgiving before that hadn't been much better than Michael's. They were each going to get a turkey TV dinner, although they were going to spring for the 'mansize' version at least. So they got invited along...as well as Amy DeLuca. Of course, now Kyle was the odd man out. To tell the truth, Liz still felt a little guilty about the precipitous way she'd dumped him for Max. So she phoned him personally and suggested he come and bring a date...maybe that cute new blonde girl she'd seen him with.
So the division of labor worked out that Liz, Maria, Max, and Michael were going to cook and serve the main course. Amy would provide the pies, of course. Everyone else would just bring an appetitie.
Oh, and Isabel would do the decorations,...that at Michael's insistence.
Isabel's cooking skills had improved immeasurably recently...she could now boil water without scorching it...usually.
But Michael had a long memory.
In the sixth grade he'd had breakfast with Max and Isabel one Saturday when their parents weren't home, and Isabel had cooked. He'd confused her with a difficult menu item...a three minute egg. She'd put the water on to boil and started the timer...after 2 and a half minutes the water was at a nice rolling boil, so she'd tossed the egg in...then pulled it out 30 seconds later. It was a little....runny. She'd tossed it out and tried again.
No longer trusting the boiling water, she'd used her powers to heat the egg ....for three minutes. If she'd put a hole in it to let the steam out, it might have been OK...but she hadn't. When he'd cracked it, it went off like a fragmentation grenade from the steam inside, spreading hot egg throughout the kitchen.
Max had healed Michael's burns quickly enough...but he was still a little gun-shy.
Last edited by greywolf on Fri Nov 03, 2006 11:49 pm, edited 2 times in total.
"Alright people...settle down....a little quiet if you please," asked the Vice Principal on the cafeteria PA system. "This is as much as we know right now," he said, reading from a hastily scribbled note. "About twenty minutes ago the Sheriff's department got an anonymous call that a bomb had been placed in the 'B' building, so all classes from that building have been sent here while the Sheriff's department does an inspection of the other building. We will be taking roll, to make sure everyone is accounted for. This is probably just a hoax....but we aren't taking any chances. This is not....I repeat...NOT a time to roam around and socialize. We need to keep track of everyone...we need order here...and we could sure use a little QUIET." As he screamed the last, the room quieted down noticeably, the few continuing conversations being hushed...between people on adjacent benches. "Please stay IN your seats," the Vice Principal continued. "If you need to go to the restroom go quietly and return quietly, only to the lunchroom lavatories. You may not leave the cafeteria unless your parents come sign for you. Is that clear?" The students knew that the Vice Principal was 'the hammer', the discipline enforcer for the school. They knew the last question had been rhetorical too, and they weren't stupid enough to want to provoke the VPs wrath by pretending they didn't understand. The talking didn't die out completely, but it was scaled back considerably as most students just pulled books out of bookbags and started doing homework.
Liz looked over to where Max was sitting, wishing she could be with him....or Maria....or Alex..or any of the others in their group, for that matter. But they'd been in different classes and as their teachers had ushered them in to the cafeteria, they hadn't been allowed to leave their own group. Maria and Michael were undoubtedly still in their classes in 'A' building, Isabel was no doubt at the cheerleader meeting in the gym, and Alex had wound up over at the other end of the cafeteria. Max was closer, only half the room away. At least he was close enough that she could feel him through the connection. She wouldn't connect with him of course, not here in public where people would wonder why she was acting like a daydreaming zombie, but she could at least let the edges of the connection ripple over her, feeling his presence in her mind, if not her thoughts. Warmed by the knowledge he was there, even if 75 feet away, she started her homework.
If anyone would have looked, they would have seen a quick predatory look on the blonde-haired girl as she saw Max Evans staring at his book in the crowded cafeteria. But the look only lasted for a second. She'd been taught well how to conceal her feelings, several painful lessons in fact when she'd been younger....when she'd let her resentment show toward him as he'd instructed her...taught her. Negative reinforcement wasn't the current politically correct way to instruct people, but it had been effective enough that she had learned...and learned well, if only to get him to stop the pain. And she knew she was good too, far better than the other three who had such easy lives living with humans.....humans who demanded nothing of them....humans who didn't even know the powers they might have....if only they'd develop them. But that didn't really surprise her for humans were not really worthy of notice. They were little more than animals, she'd have to agree with Nasedo about that. And Tess wasn't going to let animals get in the way of what she needed to do....needed to do to get off this miserable rock...and become a queen again on a civilized planet.
As Max became lost in his pre-Calculus book Tess smiled. This was too easy. All it had taken was one anonymous phone call, her voice carefully disguised. She couldn't shapeshift like Nasedo, but she could alter her vocal cords with molecular manipulation...at least for long enough to make a bomb threat. Yeah, this was going to be easy....just a first step..just to inflame his passion a little bit, to start him down the right road, to make him start to think of his own kind...rather than that cow down at the end of the room. Not that she particularly cared if he really liked her or not. This wasn't about anything as stupid as earthly romance. If she could have just gotten some of his DNA and somehow cloned a son with him without going through all the sweaty mess of mating...but she couldn't, not in this primitve shithole of a planet...that was sure. She just wanted to get the ....process... over with, complete the deal Nasedo had made with Kivar, and go back to home. She'd never seen home of course, but Nasedo had told her about it...told her all about it. It would be heaven being there, being the queen of the place. 'Hell, even California was better than Roswell New Mexico.'
She remembered the first lesson he'd taught her about mindwarping....no not the one when he'd beaten her when she'd tried it on him....the original one. She couldn't mindwarp Nasedo...he was immune to it. But he couldn't mindwarp anyone either....apparently didn't have the equipment mentally to either send or receive, although he could tell if you tried to mindwarp him. But the very first time he'd instructed her...he said it was like dreamwalking...only you create your own dream orb, and push it into the dream orb of others. It was easy if they were sleeping but if they were awake...it was a lot harder. But she'd practiced, practiced on almost all of the students in her Junior High School class in California. First at night in their dreams, then in their daydreams, finally she'd been able to project it in to their consciousness. And she'd learned from the animals too. Some researcher claimed that teenage boys thought about sex every seven seconds. That was probably about right. And she'd learned how to manipulate those thoughts, even from fifty feet away, by stimulating the parts of their brain that were involved with them. She'd had fun with one boy...a self-styled big man on campus, who'd repeatedly hit on her. She'd attended a student council meeting and watched him, the student body president, playing the big shot. She'd projected the dream orb into his mind of the vision of him actually......doing it....with her, achieving the ultimate in self control when she'd actually been able to maintain the mindwarp despite the revolting thoughts he had, stimulating the desire centers of his brain with phantom pheromones and stimulating his autonomic nervous system to where he'd had a wet dream....right at the podium. She'd thought she'd catch hell from Nasedo for doing that when he found out but....he'd seemed as amused by it as she was. 'Even assholes have a sense of humor sometimes,' she thought to herself.....before the fear went through her....fear of what he'd do if he ever knew she thought of him that way.
Well, the mission today wasn't to go THAT far, just to get Max Evans to start thinking about his part in her destiny.....to get him to forget that dowdy animal at the end of the room and to start thinking about ...well, doing what she needed him to do with her...so she could get off this lousy planet once and for all....
Max knew he was bored....it doesn't get much more boring than graphing quadratic equations...but it seemed almost like he was in a trance. He was still in the cafeteria...still surrounded by a couple hundred people.....but he became aware of his body.....aware of a growing need... He'd felt this way before....when he and Liz had been close...well, when they had been petting. But they'd tried to cool it off...knowing her parents were still freaked about the two of them...and that had worked. But he'd never felt this way so intensely....the need....the passion...the...lust. In his daydream....he knew it was a daydreaam....but it was SO REAL....the blonde headed girl....the friend of Kyle's...what was her name? Tess? She appeared to be walking toward him, the other students and teachers oblivious to her....
Liz knew she was getting tired of memorizing the finer details of enzymes used in the Kreb's cycle....it was deadly boring....and she was actually pleased when she felt the change in Max's presence. He was, she was sure, thinking of her. She had been thinking of him ....that way....more and more.
She was being more than fair, she thought, to her parents and their ridiculous fears about Max. And the damnable thing was...they were afraid of Max the human being. They didn't even KNOW that Max was...well, not of this Earth, ...and if they couldn't handle a simple romance between the two of them, thinking Max was just a human guy.....they were going to freak if they ever learned the truth about them.
But he was her soulmate...she was determined. She felt his passion flare brighter on the edge of the connection. She looked down at her books. 'Liz,' she asked herself. 'Do you really give a rat's ass about alpha ketoglutarate dehydrogenase complex? And if you do...in heaven's name, WHY?' Slamming her book closed, she joined him in the connection.
Tess had really never felt that much emotion in the mindwarp orb, but she continued to push into his mind, to stoke the centers of his passion higher, as she projected herself walking toward him. She felt the intensity grow as she approached him and his image appeared shaken, breathing heavily, his breaths coming in quick pants. She'd never been this successful with anyone she thought as she approached him, willing his face to meet hers, willing him to share the fantasy she would create for him...to seduce him. As he started to raise his head Tess heard a quavering voice in the orb. "M-max....!"
In her mind she'd fantasized this a hundred times.....but not in a school cafeteria. As he reached to take her hand, Liz wished that they were alone, wished that they were in her own bedroom, alone in the darkness....and suddenly the cafeteria seemed to ripple and go away, and there they were, sitting on her bed with the full moon beaming in the window leading to the roof, Max's eyes on fire with desire, her body responding to his needs...the needs she could feel through the connection. His mouth fastened itself on hers, his fingers clawing at the buttons on her blouse.....hers rushing to....help his. She thought briefly that she wasn't sure they were ready for this step....that they should talk first....that they needed...well...protection. But then a small voice in her head said to her, 'It's only a daydream, Liz. What the hell.....' As his lips found her nipple, she pushed him away briefly, then struggled to pull his shirt over his head....and pushed him back onto her own bed, straddling his body...her hands going eagerly to his belt..."
Max knew this wasn't real...it couldn't be. He was shy....always had been, less with her than anyone else, that was true....and he'd certainly felt passion for her but he kept it restrained...under control. This was nothing like that. His mouth owned hers as his hands ripped the buttons open on her blouse, and pulled down her bra as his kisses descended along her jaw, down her neck...to her breast....... He didn't know what was happening to him but as he saw the look in her eyes....the fire that was there.....he could tell she wanted him. And he certainly knew.....he wanted her.
Tess opened her eyes in sudden disbelief. The girl had appeared out of nowhere next to him..they'd joined in a liplock while groping each other in a totally disgusting fashion....then the two of them had rippled and disappeared. Tess looked down at her desk in disgust. It had been years since she'd had trouble with a simple mindwarp. She looked up angrily, wondering if he might have detected her and froze.......
'Oh this is NOT happening,' thought Tess. Max's eyes were closed, still face down toward the book. But his face was flush, his breath was coming in quick gulps...his muscles were tightening and relaxing...rhythmically....in concert with his breathing. Feeling a sinking sensation in her stomach Tess turned to the girl. 'Damn. How did that happen?' Tess's eyes grew wide as she saw the girl, her face flushed almost crimson, her eyes closed, her hips moving forward and back...in the same disgusting rhythm that Max had. 'The little bitch....,' Tess thought, as she saw Liz's head go back, apparently biting her own upper lip. 'Somehow she hijacked my mindwarp orb. How the hell did she do that?' She looked back at Max, who appeared to be attracting the attention of several people sitting next to him who were starting to chuckle, then again at the girl....'Omigawd....I can almost hear her squeaking like a chipmunk from here. If that isn't the most disgusting thing I've ever seen...'
'Yes.., Yes....YES!," said Max Evans, and as a half dozen people around him started to laugh the Vice Principal came back on the PA system. "Mr. Evans, do you have something you'd like to share with us?"
As the connection broke, Liz opened her eyes.....certain they were permanently crossed. But they weren't. The Krebs cycle lay on the pages of the book in front of her, but it was the last thing on her mind. 'Wow! I thought the fantasy about Max coming in to the girls shower room was hot but.......WOW!' She felt drained...her clothes were sticking to her...matted with sweat. She felt like she was sitting in a puddle of sweat...but as she felt the warmth within her she knew....well, it was all hers, but it wasn't all sweat. She looked over at him to see him looking back in her direction. As the passion started again she forced herself to look away.
She wanted that ....she hadn't really realized until this very minute just how very much she DID want that. But not here, not now.
All they needed was a call from the principal telling them that their daughter had sexually assaulted Max Evans in the cafeteria in full view of 200 people and her parents would permanently go off the deep end. Maybe their daughter already had.
'But what a way to go....', she thought.....feeling the weakness in her knees even just sitting there.
Liz looked over to where Max was sitting, wishing she could be with him....or Maria....or Alex..or any of the others in their group, for that matter. But they'd been in different classes and as their teachers had ushered them in to the cafeteria, they hadn't been allowed to leave their own group. Maria and Michael were undoubtedly still in their classes in 'A' building, Isabel was no doubt at the cheerleader meeting in the gym, and Alex had wound up over at the other end of the cafeteria. Max was closer, only half the room away. At least he was close enough that she could feel him through the connection. She wouldn't connect with him of course, not here in public where people would wonder why she was acting like a daydreaming zombie, but she could at least let the edges of the connection ripple over her, feeling his presence in her mind, if not her thoughts. Warmed by the knowledge he was there, even if 75 feet away, she started her homework.
If anyone would have looked, they would have seen a quick predatory look on the blonde-haired girl as she saw Max Evans staring at his book in the crowded cafeteria. But the look only lasted for a second. She'd been taught well how to conceal her feelings, several painful lessons in fact when she'd been younger....when she'd let her resentment show toward him as he'd instructed her...taught her. Negative reinforcement wasn't the current politically correct way to instruct people, but it had been effective enough that she had learned...and learned well, if only to get him to stop the pain. And she knew she was good too, far better than the other three who had such easy lives living with humans.....humans who demanded nothing of them....humans who didn't even know the powers they might have....if only they'd develop them. But that didn't really surprise her for humans were not really worthy of notice. They were little more than animals, she'd have to agree with Nasedo about that. And Tess wasn't going to let animals get in the way of what she needed to do....needed to do to get off this miserable rock...and become a queen again on a civilized planet.
As Max became lost in his pre-Calculus book Tess smiled. This was too easy. All it had taken was one anonymous phone call, her voice carefully disguised. She couldn't shapeshift like Nasedo, but she could alter her vocal cords with molecular manipulation...at least for long enough to make a bomb threat. Yeah, this was going to be easy....just a first step..just to inflame his passion a little bit, to start him down the right road, to make him start to think of his own kind...rather than that cow down at the end of the room. Not that she particularly cared if he really liked her or not. This wasn't about anything as stupid as earthly romance. If she could have just gotten some of his DNA and somehow cloned a son with him without going through all the sweaty mess of mating...but she couldn't, not in this primitve shithole of a planet...that was sure. She just wanted to get the ....process... over with, complete the deal Nasedo had made with Kivar, and go back to home. She'd never seen home of course, but Nasedo had told her about it...told her all about it. It would be heaven being there, being the queen of the place. 'Hell, even California was better than Roswell New Mexico.'
She remembered the first lesson he'd taught her about mindwarping....no not the one when he'd beaten her when she'd tried it on him....the original one. She couldn't mindwarp Nasedo...he was immune to it. But he couldn't mindwarp anyone either....apparently didn't have the equipment mentally to either send or receive, although he could tell if you tried to mindwarp him. But the very first time he'd instructed her...he said it was like dreamwalking...only you create your own dream orb, and push it into the dream orb of others. It was easy if they were sleeping but if they were awake...it was a lot harder. But she'd practiced, practiced on almost all of the students in her Junior High School class in California. First at night in their dreams, then in their daydreams, finally she'd been able to project it in to their consciousness. And she'd learned from the animals too. Some researcher claimed that teenage boys thought about sex every seven seconds. That was probably about right. And she'd learned how to manipulate those thoughts, even from fifty feet away, by stimulating the parts of their brain that were involved with them. She'd had fun with one boy...a self-styled big man on campus, who'd repeatedly hit on her. She'd attended a student council meeting and watched him, the student body president, playing the big shot. She'd projected the dream orb into his mind of the vision of him actually......doing it....with her, achieving the ultimate in self control when she'd actually been able to maintain the mindwarp despite the revolting thoughts he had, stimulating the desire centers of his brain with phantom pheromones and stimulating his autonomic nervous system to where he'd had a wet dream....right at the podium. She'd thought she'd catch hell from Nasedo for doing that when he found out but....he'd seemed as amused by it as she was. 'Even assholes have a sense of humor sometimes,' she thought to herself.....before the fear went through her....fear of what he'd do if he ever knew she thought of him that way.
Well, the mission today wasn't to go THAT far, just to get Max Evans to start thinking about his part in her destiny.....to get him to forget that dowdy animal at the end of the room and to start thinking about ...well, doing what she needed him to do with her...so she could get off this lousy planet once and for all....
Max knew he was bored....it doesn't get much more boring than graphing quadratic equations...but it seemed almost like he was in a trance. He was still in the cafeteria...still surrounded by a couple hundred people.....but he became aware of his body.....aware of a growing need... He'd felt this way before....when he and Liz had been close...well, when they had been petting. But they'd tried to cool it off...knowing her parents were still freaked about the two of them...and that had worked. But he'd never felt this way so intensely....the need....the passion...the...lust. In his daydream....he knew it was a daydreaam....but it was SO REAL....the blonde headed girl....the friend of Kyle's...what was her name? Tess? She appeared to be walking toward him, the other students and teachers oblivious to her....
Liz knew she was getting tired of memorizing the finer details of enzymes used in the Kreb's cycle....it was deadly boring....and she was actually pleased when she felt the change in Max's presence. He was, she was sure, thinking of her. She had been thinking of him ....that way....more and more.
She was being more than fair, she thought, to her parents and their ridiculous fears about Max. And the damnable thing was...they were afraid of Max the human being. They didn't even KNOW that Max was...well, not of this Earth, ...and if they couldn't handle a simple romance between the two of them, thinking Max was just a human guy.....they were going to freak if they ever learned the truth about them.
But he was her soulmate...she was determined. She felt his passion flare brighter on the edge of the connection. She looked down at her books. 'Liz,' she asked herself. 'Do you really give a rat's ass about alpha ketoglutarate dehydrogenase complex? And if you do...in heaven's name, WHY?' Slamming her book closed, she joined him in the connection.
Tess had really never felt that much emotion in the mindwarp orb, but she continued to push into his mind, to stoke the centers of his passion higher, as she projected herself walking toward him. She felt the intensity grow as she approached him and his image appeared shaken, breathing heavily, his breaths coming in quick pants. She'd never been this successful with anyone she thought as she approached him, willing his face to meet hers, willing him to share the fantasy she would create for him...to seduce him. As he started to raise his head Tess heard a quavering voice in the orb. "M-max....!"
In her mind she'd fantasized this a hundred times.....but not in a school cafeteria. As he reached to take her hand, Liz wished that they were alone, wished that they were in her own bedroom, alone in the darkness....and suddenly the cafeteria seemed to ripple and go away, and there they were, sitting on her bed with the full moon beaming in the window leading to the roof, Max's eyes on fire with desire, her body responding to his needs...the needs she could feel through the connection. His mouth fastened itself on hers, his fingers clawing at the buttons on her blouse.....hers rushing to....help his. She thought briefly that she wasn't sure they were ready for this step....that they should talk first....that they needed...well...protection. But then a small voice in her head said to her, 'It's only a daydream, Liz. What the hell.....' As his lips found her nipple, she pushed him away briefly, then struggled to pull his shirt over his head....and pushed him back onto her own bed, straddling his body...her hands going eagerly to his belt..."
Max knew this wasn't real...it couldn't be. He was shy....always had been, less with her than anyone else, that was true....and he'd certainly felt passion for her but he kept it restrained...under control. This was nothing like that. His mouth owned hers as his hands ripped the buttons open on her blouse, and pulled down her bra as his kisses descended along her jaw, down her neck...to her breast....... He didn't know what was happening to him but as he saw the look in her eyes....the fire that was there.....he could tell she wanted him. And he certainly knew.....he wanted her.
Tess opened her eyes in sudden disbelief. The girl had appeared out of nowhere next to him..they'd joined in a liplock while groping each other in a totally disgusting fashion....then the two of them had rippled and disappeared. Tess looked down at her desk in disgust. It had been years since she'd had trouble with a simple mindwarp. She looked up angrily, wondering if he might have detected her and froze.......
'Oh this is NOT happening,' thought Tess. Max's eyes were closed, still face down toward the book. But his face was flush, his breath was coming in quick gulps...his muscles were tightening and relaxing...rhythmically....in concert with his breathing. Feeling a sinking sensation in her stomach Tess turned to the girl. 'Damn. How did that happen?' Tess's eyes grew wide as she saw the girl, her face flushed almost crimson, her eyes closed, her hips moving forward and back...in the same disgusting rhythm that Max had. 'The little bitch....,' Tess thought, as she saw Liz's head go back, apparently biting her own upper lip. 'Somehow she hijacked my mindwarp orb. How the hell did she do that?' She looked back at Max, who appeared to be attracting the attention of several people sitting next to him who were starting to chuckle, then again at the girl....'Omigawd....I can almost hear her squeaking like a chipmunk from here. If that isn't the most disgusting thing I've ever seen...'
'Yes.., Yes....YES!," said Max Evans, and as a half dozen people around him started to laugh the Vice Principal came back on the PA system. "Mr. Evans, do you have something you'd like to share with us?"
As the connection broke, Liz opened her eyes.....certain they were permanently crossed. But they weren't. The Krebs cycle lay on the pages of the book in front of her, but it was the last thing on her mind. 'Wow! I thought the fantasy about Max coming in to the girls shower room was hot but.......WOW!' She felt drained...her clothes were sticking to her...matted with sweat. She felt like she was sitting in a puddle of sweat...but as she felt the warmth within her she knew....well, it was all hers, but it wasn't all sweat. She looked over at him to see him looking back in her direction. As the passion started again she forced herself to look away.
She wanted that ....she hadn't really realized until this very minute just how very much she DID want that. But not here, not now.
All they needed was a call from the principal telling them that their daughter had sexually assaulted Max Evans in the cafeteria in full view of 200 people and her parents would permanently go off the deep end. Maybe their daughter already had.
'But what a way to go....', she thought.....feeling the weakness in her knees even just sitting there.
Last edited by greywolf on Thu Nov 09, 2006 8:33 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Max was still flushed with embarrassment, but his reputation as a quiet honor student had kind of helped. Saying he been so excited because he had successfully graphed a quadratic equation brought rolled eyes from most of the kids, but the Vice Principal might have bought it. He wondered if he had gone to sleep….he’d certainly never had a daydream that vivid…or intense. Or a night dream either, he realized.
When he’d stolen a look back at Liz it appeared she had been looking at him, but so what? When he’d been screaming out in passion at the top of his lungs the whole damn cafeteria had been looking at him. He knew he and Liz were soulmates, but was not completely sure she’d appreciate him fantasizing about her QUITE that vividly. At least, not until the connection formed.
*Max…..We have to talk*
*Uh…OK, Liz*
*Did you just daydream about me?*
*Uh….maybe*
*What do you mean…maybe? Did you or didn’t you?*
*I…uh…I might have.*
*Well I think I was in it.*
*You SAW my daydream!!*
*Uh…no…I uh…that was me in it with you. We need to talk.*
*Liz, I really don’t think so…, I think you must have daydreamed on your own.*
*Maybe…..but I liked the striped boxers…..I’m sorry I ripped them…*
*We need to talk*
During the next 15 minutes the entire bandwidth of the connection was used up in communication. It really wasn’t talking…..it went far beyond that. To communicate the depth and breadth of it would really require a connection with the reader, which of course isn’t possible. Just reading it would be like trying to see HDTV color on an old black and white television, or trying to listen to high-fidelity music via two orange juice cans connected by a waxed string. It just isn’t the same. But a ROUGH approximation of content if not depth and breadth of the feeling is given below:
He/She asked if that was really you? He/She admitted shyly that it was.
He/She asked if what they had done had gone too far…made the other uncomfortable? He/She said, “Good Lord no, that was…..awesome.”
He/She wondered if really doing it ….in the flesh….would be anything like that really?
He/She blushed intensely at the visions in their joint mind triggered by the phrase…in the flesh….then started to hyperventilate as He/She realized that with actual physical contact both the sensations and the bandwidth of the connection would be even…..greater.
At about this point, both Max and Liz were about to be made aware by those sitting next to them that their hyperventilation was distracting other people trying to do their homework, but before this embarrassment occurred, the bell rang, and the Vice Principal announced that school was over, that they would be escorted off campus and to the student parking lot…..away from the ‘B’ building, by the teachers. He thanked Mr. Evans for entertaining everyone with his marvelous graphing skills. Everybody laughed….it was the first joke the man had ever told.
As they got up from their seats, both rising a little unsteadily, Liz and Max had the same idea. *We need to talk……See you at the Jeep*
During this very same fifteen minutes there was an extremely vexed young blonde sitting in the room.
‘Damn crap-ass…’ she thought. She couldn’t believe that she couldn’t get through to him with another mindwarp…….her either. It was like the damn connection was busy or something. She’d never had problems like that before….but what if it wasn’t them? What if it was …her? He’d kill her…..that’s what. Nasedo would kill her.
Feeling a sudden need for reassurance that she wasn’t losing her powers, Tess looked frantically around the room. ‘Him..,’ she thought. ‘He’ll do….’
When he’d stolen a look back at Liz it appeared she had been looking at him, but so what? When he’d been screaming out in passion at the top of his lungs the whole damn cafeteria had been looking at him. He knew he and Liz were soulmates, but was not completely sure she’d appreciate him fantasizing about her QUITE that vividly. At least, not until the connection formed.
*Max…..We have to talk*
*Uh…OK, Liz*
*Did you just daydream about me?*
*Uh….maybe*
*What do you mean…maybe? Did you or didn’t you?*
*I…uh…I might have.*
*Well I think I was in it.*
*You SAW my daydream!!*
*Uh…no…I uh…that was me in it with you. We need to talk.*
*Liz, I really don’t think so…, I think you must have daydreamed on your own.*
*Maybe…..but I liked the striped boxers…..I’m sorry I ripped them…*
*We need to talk*
During the next 15 minutes the entire bandwidth of the connection was used up in communication. It really wasn’t talking…..it went far beyond that. To communicate the depth and breadth of it would really require a connection with the reader, which of course isn’t possible. Just reading it would be like trying to see HDTV color on an old black and white television, or trying to listen to high-fidelity music via two orange juice cans connected by a waxed string. It just isn’t the same. But a ROUGH approximation of content if not depth and breadth of the feeling is given below:
He/She asked if that was really you? He/She admitted shyly that it was.
He/She asked if what they had done had gone too far…made the other uncomfortable? He/She said, “Good Lord no, that was…..awesome.”
He/She wondered if really doing it ….in the flesh….would be anything like that really?
He/She blushed intensely at the visions in their joint mind triggered by the phrase…in the flesh….then started to hyperventilate as He/She realized that with actual physical contact both the sensations and the bandwidth of the connection would be even…..greater.
At about this point, both Max and Liz were about to be made aware by those sitting next to them that their hyperventilation was distracting other people trying to do their homework, but before this embarrassment occurred, the bell rang, and the Vice Principal announced that school was over, that they would be escorted off campus and to the student parking lot…..away from the ‘B’ building, by the teachers. He thanked Mr. Evans for entertaining everyone with his marvelous graphing skills. Everybody laughed….it was the first joke the man had ever told.
As they got up from their seats, both rising a little unsteadily, Liz and Max had the same idea. *We need to talk……See you at the Jeep*
During this very same fifteen minutes there was an extremely vexed young blonde sitting in the room.
‘Damn crap-ass…’ she thought. She couldn’t believe that she couldn’t get through to him with another mindwarp…….her either. It was like the damn connection was busy or something. She’d never had problems like that before….but what if it wasn’t them? What if it was …her? He’d kill her…..that’s what. Nasedo would kill her.
Feeling a sudden need for reassurance that she wasn’t losing her powers, Tess looked frantically around the room. ‘Him..,’ she thought. ‘He’ll do….’
Last edited by greywolf on Fri Nov 10, 2006 6:34 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Kyle Valenti really wasn’t surprised when the young blonde girl strode into his daydream twelve minutes before the end of school. When they’d been brought in to the cafeteria, some 40 minutes earlier, he had gotten his plane geometry homework out and set it before him on the desk. It was deadly boring. The fact of the matter was that he didn’t care if two equilateral triangles sharing the same base and enclosed angle were equal, or merely congruent, and he damn sure didn’t see the need for any kind of formal proof about it. So he had almost immediately started to daydream, and continued to do so except for the small interruption when Max Evans had briefly made a fool of himself.
First had been Angelina Jolie. She had lasted about seven or eight minutes and been….interesting……at least for an older woman. Then it had been Britney Spears. That hadn’t worked too well, the girl babbled incessantly. He had finally decided that he ought to daydream about some local talent…..not really ever expecting to see Angelina or Britney in person…..certainly not in Roswell.
He’d briefly considered Liz……he’d really liked Liz, but she had told him in no uncertain terms that she was off the market and….hell, Max really hadn’t been a bad guy, once he’d sat down and talked to him on the principal’s bench. It just kind of seemed…wrong…to fantasize about Liz, Max being kind of a friend and Kyle knowing that Liz really wasn’t interested in him….that way.
He’d briefly considered fantasizing about Pamela Troy….but only briefly. ‘Hell, even a total horndog has to have SOME standards,’ he told himself. But as she strode into his daydream, Kyle really wasn’t surprised to see Tess Harding. The babe was hot…no question about it, and had yet to dump him….even if the only reason for that is that he’d never gotten to know her in the first place. But as he saw her strut her stuff towards him, he could feel the feeling growing with every step toward him that she took.
‘Okay….,’ thought Tess, ‘…back to the basics. Hold the mindwarp orb and force it down over his consciousness……manipulate the pheromone receptors in his mind, stimulate his autonomic nervous system, block the serotonin reuptake just a little…..’
She was pleased with her success. He appeared to be visibly attracted to her. That was a good start. ‘But what part does ritual play in this,’ she thought. ‘When they did it it looked like more than just chemistry….she actually pressed her mouth to his…probably put her tongue in there…to…initiate …his actions.’ She shuddered at the thought initially, but then said to herself, 'It's only a daydream, Tess. What the hell.....'
As he felt her mouth against his, felt her deepen the kiss, Kyle felt the passion…the lust….the excitement…..everything about her started to just overcome him. The way she felt/smell/tasted. The way she seemed to melt into his chest….. He cupped her head with his right hand forcing her mouth even closer, while his left hand went to her sweater…..
‘I thought humans only had four limbs,’ thought Tess suddenly. ‘This one’s an octopus…’ She’d never really understood male humans affection for those particular organs….I mean, they made you top heavy…not to mention unbalancing your weight distribution toward the front. They required special apparel, just to keep the damn things up…and were a real damn nuisance. You rolled over wrong in bed….hell, you pinched yourself. What good were they? She’d asked Nasedo once…nourishment for the baby, he’d said. What kind of crap was that? Granted, the planet was a third-rate shithole, but even Earth had heard of Similac. She’d already decided that when she was queen, they could damn well get someone else to wetnurse the brat, she sure wasn’t going to. But even the quasi-adult males like this Kyle-thing seemed fascinated by them.
She opened her mouth in the mindwarp orb to tell him that what he was doing hurt....that she didn’t want some royal brat sucking there and she damn sure didn’t want him doing it….but it really didn’t hurt all that much she decided. And he really did seem to be enjoying it. ‘Damn,’ she thought suddenly. ‘I’ve lost track of his damn hands….Where have they gone now…and how come he has so damn many of them…’
Somewhere in the back of his mind some small voice of conscience was telling Kyle that he was doing too much, too quickly,….that he was taking advantage of this poor young girl in an ungentlemanly way.....that he really needed to take his time with her, to romance her, to give her time to become comfortable with what they had already done, before they went further. He could hear the voice distinctly, and as his hands found their way under her skirt, he was hoping it’d shut the hell up.
As he bent her back across the table and pressed himself down on her Tess started to speak to him….then to yell at him….finally to beg of him….
“Kyle!”
“Don’t..”
“Don’t…”
“Don’t….
And as the bell rang Kyle Valenti suddenly came to his senses. He’d virtually attacked the girl in his daydream……hadn’t been willing to take no for an answer. He felt shame, remorse….even if it was only a daydream he didn’t treat women like that. Not even Pamela Troy. He actually kind of liked that little blonde….he couldn’t believe that he’d thought about pushing her so far so fast. Thank God it’d only been a dream…that was bad enough. ‘Shit, I’ll have to tell the priest at confession too. This sucks…’
As the bell rang four students adjacent to Tess Harding were watching her have some sort of a seizure. Her face had turned red….her back had arched, she was breathing in deep quick breaths, and she was talking to herself…saying;
“Don’t..”
“Don’t…”
“Don’t…STOP!.
But just like that it was over. She pushed the hair back that had fallen over her eyes……looking pretty wide eyed and amazed. She looked at them strangely then and they were suddenly distracted by a dragon flying by the cafeteria window. They shook their heads and then all four thought simultaneously…..’I must have daydreamed the whole thing
In the meantime Tess Harding was shaking her own head saying, 'Damn. He stopped...and I was so close....'…’
Across the room Kyle looked at the golden-haired girl as she collected her books and put them in her pack. He felt a little guilty, even if it had been just a dream. He walked over to her, noticing how flushed she appeared. He understood. It was too damn hot in this cafeteria…..he was kind of red in the face too. They ought to fix that…..
“Tess?”
“Yes Kyle?”
“My dad and I are going to a Thanksgiving party at the Crashdown and…I’d like to ask you to go along….kind of like a…..date…..if you and your dad don’t have something else planned, that is. I wouldn't want to ruin your family's Thanksgiving.”
Tess looked at him. She knew damn well that Nasedo didn’t have anything planned for Thanksgiving, he loathed the holiday. ‘Why would I want to give thanks to some celestial being for leaving me on this shitty planet for 55 years?’ he’d ask rhetorically. ‘Some celestial beings DID leave me on this shitty planet for 55 years, and I’m willing to make a pact with the devil…and Kivar IS the devil, to get off of it,’ he’d scream. ‘And if there WAS some almighty God up there,’ he’d scream, ‘…what makes all of these idiots think that He’d want to be honored by people ripping the head off some oversize bird that’s too fat to even fly, pulling it’s innards out, shoving a mess of bread chunks up it’s ass, and roasting it? And then EATING it?’
Nope, it was fair to say that Thanksgiving was NOT a big deal at the Harding household. And since she knew that Max would be there too….well, that might give her an opportunity to observe the interaction of Max and Liz from a closer aspect. This human mating business…..it wasn’t as intuitive as Nasedo had led her to believe. It might be prudent to observe…..even practice a few times with Kyle here, before she really had to do it for real with Max. It was a …proficiency issue…..she decided. She wouldn’t want to not be knowledgeable about all the lore and ….and ritual…involved in mating when the right time came. She looked at Kyle, wondering how much he already knew, already thinking it might be nice if they could maybe….discover more together. Trying not to blush, Tess said, “Gee Kyle, I’d….love to be your date to the Thanksgiving party.”
First had been Angelina Jolie. She had lasted about seven or eight minutes and been….interesting……at least for an older woman. Then it had been Britney Spears. That hadn’t worked too well, the girl babbled incessantly. He had finally decided that he ought to daydream about some local talent…..not really ever expecting to see Angelina or Britney in person…..certainly not in Roswell.
He’d briefly considered Liz……he’d really liked Liz, but she had told him in no uncertain terms that she was off the market and….hell, Max really hadn’t been a bad guy, once he’d sat down and talked to him on the principal’s bench. It just kind of seemed…wrong…to fantasize about Liz, Max being kind of a friend and Kyle knowing that Liz really wasn’t interested in him….that way.
He’d briefly considered fantasizing about Pamela Troy….but only briefly. ‘Hell, even a total horndog has to have SOME standards,’ he told himself. But as she strode into his daydream, Kyle really wasn’t surprised to see Tess Harding. The babe was hot…no question about it, and had yet to dump him….even if the only reason for that is that he’d never gotten to know her in the first place. But as he saw her strut her stuff towards him, he could feel the feeling growing with every step toward him that she took.
‘Okay….,’ thought Tess, ‘…back to the basics. Hold the mindwarp orb and force it down over his consciousness……manipulate the pheromone receptors in his mind, stimulate his autonomic nervous system, block the serotonin reuptake just a little…..’
She was pleased with her success. He appeared to be visibly attracted to her. That was a good start. ‘But what part does ritual play in this,’ she thought. ‘When they did it it looked like more than just chemistry….she actually pressed her mouth to his…probably put her tongue in there…to…initiate …his actions.’ She shuddered at the thought initially, but then said to herself, 'It's only a daydream, Tess. What the hell.....'
As he felt her mouth against his, felt her deepen the kiss, Kyle felt the passion…the lust….the excitement…..everything about her started to just overcome him. The way she felt/smell/tasted. The way she seemed to melt into his chest….. He cupped her head with his right hand forcing her mouth even closer, while his left hand went to her sweater…..
‘I thought humans only had four limbs,’ thought Tess suddenly. ‘This one’s an octopus…’ She’d never really understood male humans affection for those particular organs….I mean, they made you top heavy…not to mention unbalancing your weight distribution toward the front. They required special apparel, just to keep the damn things up…and were a real damn nuisance. You rolled over wrong in bed….hell, you pinched yourself. What good were they? She’d asked Nasedo once…nourishment for the baby, he’d said. What kind of crap was that? Granted, the planet was a third-rate shithole, but even Earth had heard of Similac. She’d already decided that when she was queen, they could damn well get someone else to wetnurse the brat, she sure wasn’t going to. But even the quasi-adult males like this Kyle-thing seemed fascinated by them.
She opened her mouth in the mindwarp orb to tell him that what he was doing hurt....that she didn’t want some royal brat sucking there and she damn sure didn’t want him doing it….but it really didn’t hurt all that much she decided. And he really did seem to be enjoying it. ‘Damn,’ she thought suddenly. ‘I’ve lost track of his damn hands….Where have they gone now…and how come he has so damn many of them…’
Somewhere in the back of his mind some small voice of conscience was telling Kyle that he was doing too much, too quickly,….that he was taking advantage of this poor young girl in an ungentlemanly way.....that he really needed to take his time with her, to romance her, to give her time to become comfortable with what they had already done, before they went further. He could hear the voice distinctly, and as his hands found their way under her skirt, he was hoping it’d shut the hell up.
As he bent her back across the table and pressed himself down on her Tess started to speak to him….then to yell at him….finally to beg of him….
“Kyle!”
“Don’t..”
“Don’t…”
“Don’t….
And as the bell rang Kyle Valenti suddenly came to his senses. He’d virtually attacked the girl in his daydream……hadn’t been willing to take no for an answer. He felt shame, remorse….even if it was only a daydream he didn’t treat women like that. Not even Pamela Troy. He actually kind of liked that little blonde….he couldn’t believe that he’d thought about pushing her so far so fast. Thank God it’d only been a dream…that was bad enough. ‘Shit, I’ll have to tell the priest at confession too. This sucks…’
As the bell rang four students adjacent to Tess Harding were watching her have some sort of a seizure. Her face had turned red….her back had arched, she was breathing in deep quick breaths, and she was talking to herself…saying;
“Don’t..”
“Don’t…”
“Don’t…STOP!.
But just like that it was over. She pushed the hair back that had fallen over her eyes……looking pretty wide eyed and amazed. She looked at them strangely then and they were suddenly distracted by a dragon flying by the cafeteria window. They shook their heads and then all four thought simultaneously…..’I must have daydreamed the whole thing
In the meantime Tess Harding was shaking her own head saying, 'Damn. He stopped...and I was so close....'…’
Across the room Kyle looked at the golden-haired girl as she collected her books and put them in her pack. He felt a little guilty, even if it had been just a dream. He walked over to her, noticing how flushed she appeared. He understood. It was too damn hot in this cafeteria…..he was kind of red in the face too. They ought to fix that…..
“Tess?”
“Yes Kyle?”
“My dad and I are going to a Thanksgiving party at the Crashdown and…I’d like to ask you to go along….kind of like a…..date…..if you and your dad don’t have something else planned, that is. I wouldn't want to ruin your family's Thanksgiving.”
Tess looked at him. She knew damn well that Nasedo didn’t have anything planned for Thanksgiving, he loathed the holiday. ‘Why would I want to give thanks to some celestial being for leaving me on this shitty planet for 55 years?’ he’d ask rhetorically. ‘Some celestial beings DID leave me on this shitty planet for 55 years, and I’m willing to make a pact with the devil…and Kivar IS the devil, to get off of it,’ he’d scream. ‘And if there WAS some almighty God up there,’ he’d scream, ‘…what makes all of these idiots think that He’d want to be honored by people ripping the head off some oversize bird that’s too fat to even fly, pulling it’s innards out, shoving a mess of bread chunks up it’s ass, and roasting it? And then EATING it?’
Nope, it was fair to say that Thanksgiving was NOT a big deal at the Harding household. And since she knew that Max would be there too….well, that might give her an opportunity to observe the interaction of Max and Liz from a closer aspect. This human mating business…..it wasn’t as intuitive as Nasedo had led her to believe. It might be prudent to observe…..even practice a few times with Kyle here, before she really had to do it for real with Max. It was a …proficiency issue…..she decided. She wouldn’t want to not be knowledgeable about all the lore and ….and ritual…involved in mating when the right time came. She looked at Kyle, wondering how much he already knew, already thinking it might be nice if they could maybe….discover more together. Trying not to blush, Tess said, “Gee Kyle, I’d….love to be your date to the Thanksgiving party.”
He had seen the Jeep drive up to the front of the Crashdown and the young couple get out. He was still so unsure about Max….she was his only child….he couldn’t help but worry. He was trying to put out of his mind the things Lucy Frederickson had told them….the nightmares those things had caused him to have. It really wasn’t that he trusted Max, Jeff Parker knew, it was the fear that they would lose Lizzy…, lose her to him….that had made them invite him to Thanksgiving. But he was doing his best….doing his level best to give the boy the benefit of the doubt….until he saw his daughter’s face as she sat next to the boy.
She looked….shell-shocked. Like she’d just been through an experience…an ordeal….that had just overwhelmed her. Jeff felt his stomach knot up as he walked over toward them….determined to confront the boy.
But as he approached the two he was able to see Max Evans face…and that startled Jeff Parker. It looked much like Lizzy’s. something had happened to both kids….and they were having trouble coping with it. He saw that they were holding hands, neither looking really in control of their emotions….both sort of seeking comfort in the nearness of the other. He had to know what had happened.
“Lizzy………? What is it?”
“What is what, Dad?”
And then like that the thought occurred to Jeff Parker. He’d heard it on the radio….the evacuation of ‘B’ Building. Lizzy’s sixth period class was in ‘B’ building. He thought maybe Max’s was too. ‘Poor kids, they look like they were scared to death,’ he thought. ‘Funny though…they didn’t look this scared when they’d gone through….well whatever they’d gone through….in the vault. Why should it scare them so much now…..particularly when it was a fake bomb scare, and hadn’t really lasted all that long.’
“Oh my gosh….the bomb threat. That was your building, wasn’t it?”
“Yeah. Dad. I was in Spanish. Max was in Social Science. We both were there.”
But by that time Jeff Parker thought he’d already figured it out. They’d both been in the threatened building…but not together. Lizzy didn’t look shell-shocked because she was in the building….but because Max was there. And Max…the guy who had put himself between Liz and flying bullets…intentionally…..Max hadn’t been worried about himself. Maybe Lucy was right…maybe Max really did consider Liz his….property, but whatever the truth to what happened in the vault, Jeff figured that it was the threat to Lizzy that had put the fear into Max Evans, not any threat to Max himself.
He still didn’t really trust the kid but when Lizzy had been in danger it had clearly bothered him…scared him a lot it appeared…. 'While I didn’t even make the connection between the ‘B’building and Lizzy’s Spanish class until it was all over,’ thought Jeff guiltily.
Jeff would have liked to rationalize that he hadn’t remembered because he wasn’t stalking his daughter…..but seeing Lizzy’s hand grabbing Max’s so desperately…….well, she sure didn’t look like she thought she was being stalked.
And sometimes when you have swirling mixtures of paternal love and guilt and gratitude and fear…..sometimes when you engage your heart and not your mind….sometimes words just come out of your mouth that you just wouldn’t have believed you would ever say. And this afternoon, in the gathering darkness of the high desert, that happened, as Jeff Parker said, “The two of you both look wrung out. Why don’t you both go up to Lizzy’s room and I’ll make a couple cups of hot chocolate and bring them up to you.”
As Liz and Max looked at each other neither needed the connection to know what the other one was thinking. Liz’s room was ‘the scene of the crime,’ …so to speak. She actually had reservations enough about going up there herself alone, what with the images she knew it would cause her to relive….but to go there with Max? Now? When the sweat on their bodies from the daydream was not even dry?
They had wanted to talk quietly about what had happened…that was the reason they’d taken the deserted back booth at the Crashdown…unable to talk in the freezing cold of the topless jeep. But to talk in her room….given what had just happened there….or at least…virtually there?
But the same look told them they really had no choice. Her parents were unaware that Max had EVER been in Liz’s room, and giving Max permission to be with her there….after all the trauma the Lucy-woman had caused,…well it was the first major step Jeff had made toward accepting Max. They both knew they were scared of this, but they also knew they had to do it.
“Ok Daddy,” said Liz, sliding out of the booth. “If you have the time…bring three cups. It’d be nice to just talk to you a little.” Grabbing Max by the hand she pulled him toward the back…toward the entrance to the living quarters, stopping briefly at the stockroom for some Tabasco sauce.
It was 12 minutes later that Jeff Parker was at the door to Liz’s room, a tray with three cups of hot chocolate in his hands. He balanced the tray on his left hand alone and knocked on the door with his right. There was no answer, but the door pushed open several inches..with no one visible inside the room. He pushed it open…concerned that neither teenager appeared to be there, his eyes darting around the room frantically. No one was there but the muffled sound of quiet talking brought his eyes to the open window that was letting in the cold of the desert night….and casting the full moon's light through the window onto Lizzy’s bed.
Lizzy had converted the rooftop to a private deck over the years, and she and Maria would often sunbathe during the summer on the old lawn furniture she had gotten at the Thrift Shop. But Lizzy wasn’t sunbathing now laying back on the chaise lounge covered with the comforter from her bed, nor was Max sitting in the old lawn chair next to her, wearing his jacket and holding her hand.
And Jeff Parker wasn’t trying to eavesdrop….at least, not consciously eavesdrop, and he really hadn’t been sure what Lizzy had just said to Max Evans, but he caught the boy’s answer distinctly and it really wasn’t what any teenage girl’s father would ever want to hear.
“Of course I’d love to have sex with you, Liz. You already know that.”
She looked….shell-shocked. Like she’d just been through an experience…an ordeal….that had just overwhelmed her. Jeff felt his stomach knot up as he walked over toward them….determined to confront the boy.
But as he approached the two he was able to see Max Evans face…and that startled Jeff Parker. It looked much like Lizzy’s. something had happened to both kids….and they were having trouble coping with it. He saw that they were holding hands, neither looking really in control of their emotions….both sort of seeking comfort in the nearness of the other. He had to know what had happened.
“Lizzy………? What is it?”
“What is what, Dad?”
And then like that the thought occurred to Jeff Parker. He’d heard it on the radio….the evacuation of ‘B’ Building. Lizzy’s sixth period class was in ‘B’ building. He thought maybe Max’s was too. ‘Poor kids, they look like they were scared to death,’ he thought. ‘Funny though…they didn’t look this scared when they’d gone through….well whatever they’d gone through….in the vault. Why should it scare them so much now…..particularly when it was a fake bomb scare, and hadn’t really lasted all that long.’
“Oh my gosh….the bomb threat. That was your building, wasn’t it?”
“Yeah. Dad. I was in Spanish. Max was in Social Science. We both were there.”
But by that time Jeff Parker thought he’d already figured it out. They’d both been in the threatened building…but not together. Lizzy didn’t look shell-shocked because she was in the building….but because Max was there. And Max…the guy who had put himself between Liz and flying bullets…intentionally…..Max hadn’t been worried about himself. Maybe Lucy was right…maybe Max really did consider Liz his….property, but whatever the truth to what happened in the vault, Jeff figured that it was the threat to Lizzy that had put the fear into Max Evans, not any threat to Max himself.
He still didn’t really trust the kid but when Lizzy had been in danger it had clearly bothered him…scared him a lot it appeared…. 'While I didn’t even make the connection between the ‘B’building and Lizzy’s Spanish class until it was all over,’ thought Jeff guiltily.
Jeff would have liked to rationalize that he hadn’t remembered because he wasn’t stalking his daughter…..but seeing Lizzy’s hand grabbing Max’s so desperately…….well, she sure didn’t look like she thought she was being stalked.
And sometimes when you have swirling mixtures of paternal love and guilt and gratitude and fear…..sometimes when you engage your heart and not your mind….sometimes words just come out of your mouth that you just wouldn’t have believed you would ever say. And this afternoon, in the gathering darkness of the high desert, that happened, as Jeff Parker said, “The two of you both look wrung out. Why don’t you both go up to Lizzy’s room and I’ll make a couple cups of hot chocolate and bring them up to you.”
As Liz and Max looked at each other neither needed the connection to know what the other one was thinking. Liz’s room was ‘the scene of the crime,’ …so to speak. She actually had reservations enough about going up there herself alone, what with the images she knew it would cause her to relive….but to go there with Max? Now? When the sweat on their bodies from the daydream was not even dry?
They had wanted to talk quietly about what had happened…that was the reason they’d taken the deserted back booth at the Crashdown…unable to talk in the freezing cold of the topless jeep. But to talk in her room….given what had just happened there….or at least…virtually there?
But the same look told them they really had no choice. Her parents were unaware that Max had EVER been in Liz’s room, and giving Max permission to be with her there….after all the trauma the Lucy-woman had caused,…well it was the first major step Jeff had made toward accepting Max. They both knew they were scared of this, but they also knew they had to do it.
“Ok Daddy,” said Liz, sliding out of the booth. “If you have the time…bring three cups. It’d be nice to just talk to you a little.” Grabbing Max by the hand she pulled him toward the back…toward the entrance to the living quarters, stopping briefly at the stockroom for some Tabasco sauce.
It was 12 minutes later that Jeff Parker was at the door to Liz’s room, a tray with three cups of hot chocolate in his hands. He balanced the tray on his left hand alone and knocked on the door with his right. There was no answer, but the door pushed open several inches..with no one visible inside the room. He pushed it open…concerned that neither teenager appeared to be there, his eyes darting around the room frantically. No one was there but the muffled sound of quiet talking brought his eyes to the open window that was letting in the cold of the desert night….and casting the full moon's light through the window onto Lizzy’s bed.
Lizzy had converted the rooftop to a private deck over the years, and she and Maria would often sunbathe during the summer on the old lawn furniture she had gotten at the Thrift Shop. But Lizzy wasn’t sunbathing now laying back on the chaise lounge covered with the comforter from her bed, nor was Max sitting in the old lawn chair next to her, wearing his jacket and holding her hand.
And Jeff Parker wasn’t trying to eavesdrop….at least, not consciously eavesdrop, and he really hadn’t been sure what Lizzy had just said to Max Evans, but he caught the boy’s answer distinctly and it really wasn’t what any teenage girl’s father would ever want to hear.
“Of course I’d love to have sex with you, Liz. You already know that.”
Last edited by greywolf on Sat Nov 11, 2006 6:25 pm, edited 1 time in total.
10:30 PM in the conference room of the law offices of Phillip Evans
Jeff Parker wasn’t exactly sure what he was going to say to the Evans’. Heck, he’d only told Nancy the briefest of stories as to why they needed to have this meeting. He could tell Philip Evans had doubted his motives when he’d called him…begging for this meeting..and he didn’t really blame him either. It was clear from the kids conversation that what he had put the Evans’ through….what he had put Max Evans through, had been totally unfair.
There was a lot he didn’t know about Max….things about Max that still kind of scared him. But he’d clearly been an idiot to give any credence to the ramblings of Lucy Frederickson.
He’d listened to the two talk as long as he thought he could without them becoming suspicious about his absence, then gone back to the hallway…hidden the third cup of hot chocolate, and then knocked on the door with increasing vehemence until the kids had finally opened it. He’d made a plausible but untrue excuse for not joining them, not really trusting himself to talk to them as he digested the words he’d heard them speak to each other.
He’d be digesting those words for a long time, he anticipated….maybe for decades.
They’d been cordial enough, asked him if he couldn’t make time to visit…but he’d begged off, getting the third cup of chocolate after they’d closed the door, and carrying it with him downstairs. Max had left about twenty minutes later.
Jeff had gone immediately to the phone and called Philip Evans. He could hear the suspicion in Philip Evans’ voice when he’d agreed to the meeting……but he finally had agreed. Jeff had wanted the meeting away from the Crashdown….from Lizzy, and wanted neither of the kids to know about it. Philip had suggested his office conference room for the meeting, and an apprehensive Phillip and Diane had been there to open the door when he and Nancy had arrived.
What Philip Evans said was, “OK Jeff…..you wanted a meeting…” What he was thinking was, ‘OK Jeff…What are you up to this time?’ And Diane had been married to him for over twenty years, and she knew that as she put her hand on his forearm, trying to calm him down. Philip didn’t get the response he expected.
“Well Philip…Diane….first of all Nancy and I need to apologize to you for all the problems we put your family through…all the things we said and thought about Max….” Philip and Diane looked at each other briefly, then back to the Parkers as Jeff continued the tension in his voice obvious…"‘…but then we’ve got to talk about our kids….both of them.”
Jeff told them the story…told them his theory. “Liz and Max came in the Crashdown today after school. They really looked shocked....scared by what they had gone through. I think they were really scared today by that bomb threat….I think it scared them into talking about things they might not otherwise have talked about…and I overheard some of it….and it affects us all.”
“So you now know what happened in the vault?” asked Diane.
“No I don’t…not at all. But I know what didn’t happen. Max didn’t force Liz to do anything in there…,” he said. Then gulped once and continued, “Nor do I really think he would have…had …to force her to do anything. They were talking today…deciding when it would be best for them to start having sex..”
“They were talking about WHAT?,”said Philip Evans, his eyes and Diane’s going wide. “We have to do something. We can’t allow the teenage hormones of our children to cause them to make some terrible mistake.” Philip looked at Jeff, who sat down and looked at his wife, obviously seeking some moral support. She grabbed his hand, and clung to it as he said, “That’s just it Philip….Diane….they really didn’t sound like teenagers. It was frightening how open and honest and caring they were with each other. I’m not sure that we can ever convince them that this is a bad idea. I’m not even sure it is a bad idea…….just way too soon. And I’m not at all sure any of us have the ability to change things once they finally make up their minds.” Tears were coming down Nancy Parker’s eyes, but she nodded her head slowly.
After weeks of conflict with Jeff and Nancy Parker, a month of both families dealing with a situation that was frightening to both sets of parents, that really was the last thing they had expected to hear from Jeff and Nancy Parker.
“I kept thinking of her as my little princess,” said Jeff Parker. “Someone who needed her Daddy to protect her…to keep her from harm….to tell her what was right and wrong…what was safe and dangerous. But what I heard at the window when they were talking to each other….it wasn’t a little girl. It was a woman…and she was talking to…the man she loves.”
“I don’t know what happened to her….to them….in the vault,” said Nancy Parker. But Jeff is right…at least when it comes to Lizzy. She grew up in there. Whatever happened…she really changed. She’s not really a little girl anymore. It took me awhile to realize that, …that her love for us really hasn’t changed,…but she loves Max too…she really does. I tried to convince myself it was just a puppy love, but I really don’t think it is. I…I talked to Max a few weeks ago. He was still upset that he’d….that he’d killed those guys. He never really wanted that to happen…but it was clear talking to him….that he’d done that….would have done even more…to protect Liz.”
Suspicion, fear and anger were quickly becoming compassion for the Parkers in the mind of Philip Evans…..and Dianne Evans too, evidently.
“Can you tell us….Jeff, …what you heard?” asked Diane Evans.
“Apparently something happened today that affected them…maybe the bomb threat. They were kind of awestruck when they came to the Crashdown. They looked ..I don’t know…scared…amazed…shell-shocked. I was afraid when I saw Liz…I’m ashamed to say it…I thought Max had done something to her…until I saw him. He looked the same way…and neither looked like they’d get through the day if they didn’t have the other to lean on. I sent them up to Lizzy’s room to calm down…made them some hot chocolate. When I brought it up they were out on the roof..out on Lizzy’s deck talking. At first I didn’t mean to eavesdrop but when I heard them talking…I was paralyzed at that window listening to them…not really believing what they were saying at first….then not believing how comfortable they were saying it.”
“So whatever happened to them…it made them think about the possibility of having sex?” asked Philip.
Jeff shook his head. “From the way they talked…well, neither one doubted for a second that they would be having sex. They plan on being a couple…well…forever. And both talked openly about sex being a part of that. Whatever happened today apparently scared them into talking about just when they …well….they wanted to start. That’s how I found out that…whatever happened in the vault…it hadn’t involved sex. Both talked about…well looking forward to it. It was obvious they hadn’t done it….yet. It was…..bizarre. It was like they were already married….the way they talked about it…it was more than inevitable….it was….well, they talked like it was perfectly normal.”
“So why haven’t they…if that’s the way they feel about it? What has stopped them?,” asked Philip.
Jeff held Nancy’s hand tightly in his as he said, “Us…..the four of us in this room.”
“I don’t understand,” said Diane Evans.
“I’m not sure I understand either. Max talked about how much Nancy and I were afraid of him……said something about we needed time….that we were scared enough just of the two of them being together without….well, he said something about ‘the secret,’ …I’m not really sure I understand that, actually. Do you know what he was talking about.?”
It was Diane then that appeared to gasp. The other three looked at her. “Diane…?” said Philip Evans.
“I talked to her about it once…two weeks ago. She was so…..so certain…of her relationship with Max. She told me that she’d do anything for Max….I don’t think I believed her really….but I think anything….well, I think anything meant…anything. She told me she wasn’t going to tell me what to do with MY Mr. Evans and she wasn’t going to let anyone tell her what she could do with HER Mr. Evans. It sounded like a joke almost, but the calmness in her voice…the way she looked at me…it looked like she was so confident….not in-your-face-confident, but just quietly confident…like she knew…like she was just….”
“Making allowances for the discomfort of the parents….,” finished Jeff Parker.
“Something like that….I think,” confirmed Diane. “But there’s more. When we adopted Max and Isabel…well, it never really felt right. Well, that’s not true…it has in the last few weeks with Isabel. Seeing her with Alex….well, she seems as happy as any girl could be. But Max…for years Max never really…engaged…in the world. It was like he was hiding something…something that kept him from ever really truly belonging. Even after he was in High School…he never really seemed to belong…until after he came out of the vault. I must have asked him about that a dozen times growing up….and I really got the impression he was hiding something from me, some secret. Well I asked Liz and ….she pretty much admitted…that she knew.”
“I think maybe…I think Jim Valenti knows too,” said Jeff Parker. “He was warning me…right from the first, about crossing a line with Lizzy when we were trying to keep Max away. He warned me then…and reassured me after Lizzy started dating him…against our wishes, after she came in to the birthday room that time. He said the kids were tough…mature…and willing to make any sacrifice for each other. I don’t think I really believed him until I overheard them talking together. Now I'm pretty well convinced. Nancy and I need to accept your son...accept the fact that Lizzy loves him...or lose our daughter.”
“So what are we going to do about them thinking about having sex?” asked Philip Evans.
“I don’t know what we can do. It’s kind of a Catch-22 situation for Nancy and me. If we reject Max…try to keep them apart,…..Liz will leave us….go with Max. I think she’s already done that once, actually…and Max and Jim Valenti calmed her down and let her see that she should come back.
But I’m also afraid….well, it sounded like the only reason they weren’t doing…more….was they were giving us time to adjust to the new reality. I don’t want to encourage them……I still think they are too young,….but Lizzy has already made it clear to us once in this that her patience isn’t inexhaustible. I think if we convinced her that Max would NEVER be acceptable to us….well, I think she’d stop even trying to convince us…and she’d just leave.
Max sounds like he wants for you to get to love Liz…like he does…..but the truth is…I think if either one of them really changed their mind…really decided they couldn’t wait…well…I think both of them would do anything the other really wanted….anything at all...and likely do it...immediately.”
And with the next statement made by Jeff Parker, Phillip and Diane really believed that Jeff and Nancy had changed too, that their son had no more to fear from the parents of Liz Parker when he heard Jeff Parker make his next statement, with Nancy nodding her head in agreement.
“You know Diane…Philip,….I can’t doubt their feelings for one another any longer….I can’t even think it’s a bad thing. I wish this hadn’t happened...the terrible time in the vault….what ever scared them so badly today. I wish this could have waited a few years…wish they could have stayed just kids a few years longer….but ….I don’t think this is going away and….well Nancy and I have talked…and we don’t think we WANT it to go away really. Weeks ago I decided that either your son was a monster…or we owed him more than we could ever repay him. Well, Diane…Phil,…Max is no monster…and he is ….he is..Lizzy’s choice. I think they are probably right…I think the two of them being…..lovers…married….I think that’s going to happen. And when it does…..if it’s when they graduate from college…or sometime next week…..well, we think Lizzy has made a good choice……and we’ll welcome him into our family, whenever it occurs…. and as for this...'secret'... if it doesn't bother Liz....well, it won't bother us...whatever it is.”
Jeff Parker wasn’t exactly sure what he was going to say to the Evans’. Heck, he’d only told Nancy the briefest of stories as to why they needed to have this meeting. He could tell Philip Evans had doubted his motives when he’d called him…begging for this meeting..and he didn’t really blame him either. It was clear from the kids conversation that what he had put the Evans’ through….what he had put Max Evans through, had been totally unfair.
There was a lot he didn’t know about Max….things about Max that still kind of scared him. But he’d clearly been an idiot to give any credence to the ramblings of Lucy Frederickson.
He’d listened to the two talk as long as he thought he could without them becoming suspicious about his absence, then gone back to the hallway…hidden the third cup of hot chocolate, and then knocked on the door with increasing vehemence until the kids had finally opened it. He’d made a plausible but untrue excuse for not joining them, not really trusting himself to talk to them as he digested the words he’d heard them speak to each other.
He’d be digesting those words for a long time, he anticipated….maybe for decades.
They’d been cordial enough, asked him if he couldn’t make time to visit…but he’d begged off, getting the third cup of chocolate after they’d closed the door, and carrying it with him downstairs. Max had left about twenty minutes later.
Jeff had gone immediately to the phone and called Philip Evans. He could hear the suspicion in Philip Evans’ voice when he’d agreed to the meeting……but he finally had agreed. Jeff had wanted the meeting away from the Crashdown….from Lizzy, and wanted neither of the kids to know about it. Philip had suggested his office conference room for the meeting, and an apprehensive Phillip and Diane had been there to open the door when he and Nancy had arrived.
What Philip Evans said was, “OK Jeff…..you wanted a meeting…” What he was thinking was, ‘OK Jeff…What are you up to this time?’ And Diane had been married to him for over twenty years, and she knew that as she put her hand on his forearm, trying to calm him down. Philip didn’t get the response he expected.
“Well Philip…Diane….first of all Nancy and I need to apologize to you for all the problems we put your family through…all the things we said and thought about Max….” Philip and Diane looked at each other briefly, then back to the Parkers as Jeff continued the tension in his voice obvious…"‘…but then we’ve got to talk about our kids….both of them.”
Jeff told them the story…told them his theory. “Liz and Max came in the Crashdown today after school. They really looked shocked....scared by what they had gone through. I think they were really scared today by that bomb threat….I think it scared them into talking about things they might not otherwise have talked about…and I overheard some of it….and it affects us all.”
“So you now know what happened in the vault?” asked Diane.
“No I don’t…not at all. But I know what didn’t happen. Max didn’t force Liz to do anything in there…,” he said. Then gulped once and continued, “Nor do I really think he would have…had …to force her to do anything. They were talking today…deciding when it would be best for them to start having sex..”
“They were talking about WHAT?,”said Philip Evans, his eyes and Diane’s going wide. “We have to do something. We can’t allow the teenage hormones of our children to cause them to make some terrible mistake.” Philip looked at Jeff, who sat down and looked at his wife, obviously seeking some moral support. She grabbed his hand, and clung to it as he said, “That’s just it Philip….Diane….they really didn’t sound like teenagers. It was frightening how open and honest and caring they were with each other. I’m not sure that we can ever convince them that this is a bad idea. I’m not even sure it is a bad idea…….just way too soon. And I’m not at all sure any of us have the ability to change things once they finally make up their minds.” Tears were coming down Nancy Parker’s eyes, but she nodded her head slowly.
After weeks of conflict with Jeff and Nancy Parker, a month of both families dealing with a situation that was frightening to both sets of parents, that really was the last thing they had expected to hear from Jeff and Nancy Parker.
“I kept thinking of her as my little princess,” said Jeff Parker. “Someone who needed her Daddy to protect her…to keep her from harm….to tell her what was right and wrong…what was safe and dangerous. But what I heard at the window when they were talking to each other….it wasn’t a little girl. It was a woman…and she was talking to…the man she loves.”
“I don’t know what happened to her….to them….in the vault,” said Nancy Parker. But Jeff is right…at least when it comes to Lizzy. She grew up in there. Whatever happened…she really changed. She’s not really a little girl anymore. It took me awhile to realize that, …that her love for us really hasn’t changed,…but she loves Max too…she really does. I tried to convince myself it was just a puppy love, but I really don’t think it is. I…I talked to Max a few weeks ago. He was still upset that he’d….that he’d killed those guys. He never really wanted that to happen…but it was clear talking to him….that he’d done that….would have done even more…to protect Liz.”
Suspicion, fear and anger were quickly becoming compassion for the Parkers in the mind of Philip Evans…..and Dianne Evans too, evidently.
“Can you tell us….Jeff, …what you heard?” asked Diane Evans.
“Apparently something happened today that affected them…maybe the bomb threat. They were kind of awestruck when they came to the Crashdown. They looked ..I don’t know…scared…amazed…shell-shocked. I was afraid when I saw Liz…I’m ashamed to say it…I thought Max had done something to her…until I saw him. He looked the same way…and neither looked like they’d get through the day if they didn’t have the other to lean on. I sent them up to Lizzy’s room to calm down…made them some hot chocolate. When I brought it up they were out on the roof..out on Lizzy’s deck talking. At first I didn’t mean to eavesdrop but when I heard them talking…I was paralyzed at that window listening to them…not really believing what they were saying at first….then not believing how comfortable they were saying it.”
“So whatever happened to them…it made them think about the possibility of having sex?” asked Philip.
Jeff shook his head. “From the way they talked…well, neither one doubted for a second that they would be having sex. They plan on being a couple…well…forever. And both talked openly about sex being a part of that. Whatever happened today apparently scared them into talking about just when they …well….they wanted to start. That’s how I found out that…whatever happened in the vault…it hadn’t involved sex. Both talked about…well looking forward to it. It was obvious they hadn’t done it….yet. It was…..bizarre. It was like they were already married….the way they talked about it…it was more than inevitable….it was….well, they talked like it was perfectly normal.”
“So why haven’t they…if that’s the way they feel about it? What has stopped them?,” asked Philip.
Jeff held Nancy’s hand tightly in his as he said, “Us…..the four of us in this room.”
“I don’t understand,” said Diane Evans.
“I’m not sure I understand either. Max talked about how much Nancy and I were afraid of him……said something about we needed time….that we were scared enough just of the two of them being together without….well, he said something about ‘the secret,’ …I’m not really sure I understand that, actually. Do you know what he was talking about.?”
It was Diane then that appeared to gasp. The other three looked at her. “Diane…?” said Philip Evans.
“I talked to her about it once…two weeks ago. She was so…..so certain…of her relationship with Max. She told me that she’d do anything for Max….I don’t think I believed her really….but I think anything….well, I think anything meant…anything. She told me she wasn’t going to tell me what to do with MY Mr. Evans and she wasn’t going to let anyone tell her what she could do with HER Mr. Evans. It sounded like a joke almost, but the calmness in her voice…the way she looked at me…it looked like she was so confident….not in-your-face-confident, but just quietly confident…like she knew…like she was just….”
“Making allowances for the discomfort of the parents….,” finished Jeff Parker.
“Something like that….I think,” confirmed Diane. “But there’s more. When we adopted Max and Isabel…well, it never really felt right. Well, that’s not true…it has in the last few weeks with Isabel. Seeing her with Alex….well, she seems as happy as any girl could be. But Max…for years Max never really…engaged…in the world. It was like he was hiding something…something that kept him from ever really truly belonging. Even after he was in High School…he never really seemed to belong…until after he came out of the vault. I must have asked him about that a dozen times growing up….and I really got the impression he was hiding something from me, some secret. Well I asked Liz and ….she pretty much admitted…that she knew.”
“I think maybe…I think Jim Valenti knows too,” said Jeff Parker. “He was warning me…right from the first, about crossing a line with Lizzy when we were trying to keep Max away. He warned me then…and reassured me after Lizzy started dating him…against our wishes, after she came in to the birthday room that time. He said the kids were tough…mature…and willing to make any sacrifice for each other. I don’t think I really believed him until I overheard them talking together. Now I'm pretty well convinced. Nancy and I need to accept your son...accept the fact that Lizzy loves him...or lose our daughter.”
“So what are we going to do about them thinking about having sex?” asked Philip Evans.
“I don’t know what we can do. It’s kind of a Catch-22 situation for Nancy and me. If we reject Max…try to keep them apart,…..Liz will leave us….go with Max. I think she’s already done that once, actually…and Max and Jim Valenti calmed her down and let her see that she should come back.
But I’m also afraid….well, it sounded like the only reason they weren’t doing…more….was they were giving us time to adjust to the new reality. I don’t want to encourage them……I still think they are too young,….but Lizzy has already made it clear to us once in this that her patience isn’t inexhaustible. I think if we convinced her that Max would NEVER be acceptable to us….well, I think she’d stop even trying to convince us…and she’d just leave.
Max sounds like he wants for you to get to love Liz…like he does…..but the truth is…I think if either one of them really changed their mind…really decided they couldn’t wait…well…I think both of them would do anything the other really wanted….anything at all...and likely do it...immediately.”
And with the next statement made by Jeff Parker, Phillip and Diane really believed that Jeff and Nancy had changed too, that their son had no more to fear from the parents of Liz Parker when he heard Jeff Parker make his next statement, with Nancy nodding her head in agreement.
“You know Diane…Philip,….I can’t doubt their feelings for one another any longer….I can’t even think it’s a bad thing. I wish this hadn’t happened...the terrible time in the vault….what ever scared them so badly today. I wish this could have waited a few years…wish they could have stayed just kids a few years longer….but ….I don’t think this is going away and….well Nancy and I have talked…and we don’t think we WANT it to go away really. Weeks ago I decided that either your son was a monster…or we owed him more than we could ever repay him. Well, Diane…Phil,…Max is no monster…and he is ….he is..Lizzy’s choice. I think they are probably right…I think the two of them being…..lovers…married….I think that’s going to happen. And when it does…..if it’s when they graduate from college…or sometime next week…..well, we think Lizzy has made a good choice……and we’ll welcome him into our family, whenever it occurs…. and as for this...'secret'... if it doesn't bother Liz....well, it won't bother us...whatever it is.”
Last edited by greywolf on Sun Nov 12, 2006 11:08 am, edited 1 time in total.