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Part 16b
“I cannot find Max anywhere” Tess whined to Isabel at the quad.
“His jeep is also not here, so he probably went to have his lunch somewhere else.” Isabel said nonchalantly more concerned about finding Liz than Max.
“We lost them. Both of them are missing.” Alex said joining them.
“I bet he had something to do with it” Maria said angrily looking at Michael who was sitting under a tree far away from the other students.
“Who else is missing?” Tess asked curiously.
“Liz” Isabel said impatiently opening her lunch wondering how she could make sure that she and Liz become partners at English.
“What? You mean Max went with Liz?” Tess shrieked.
Maria rolled her eyes at that. “No. We just meant we couldn’t find both of them.”
********
“So you often come out here to have lunch?” Liz asked Max after a long silence, as he parked at a diner.
“Sometimes, when we get tired of the school cafeteria.” Max said as he got out of the jeep.
“I will join you in a minute” Liz said to Max and went towards the diner.
Max went and sat down on a table outside the diner as it was not very sunny and opened his homemade lunch. A while later Liz joined him with a burger and a cherry coke.
“So why are you avoiding your friends?”
Max’s jaw opened in surprise and after a couple of seconds, he asked her, “How do you know I am avoiding them?”
Liz chuckled, “You said yourself that you don’t come here often and you already have your homemade lunch with you. So you weren’t expecting to come here. Plus the way you were glaring at the back where Maria was sitting and the way you ran out of the class pretty much confirmed that you are avoiding your friends.”
Max looked at her wondering whether this meant she had been observing him in the class as he had observed her.
“Not that I was watching or anything…I…” Liz stuttered blushing and Max smiled at her.
“Its nothing. Just a difference of opinion between us.” Max said then continued with his eyes twinkling, “Now why were you running Miss. Parker?”
“Actually its your sister and girlfriend.” Liz said seriously though there was a hint of a smile on her face. She leaned closer to him and asked him smiling, “Tell me Mr. Evans do they always bug poor unsuspecting girls like me?”
Max who had drowned in her eyes completely missed what she was telling him.
“Max? Cat got your tongue?” Liz teased him.
“Huh?” Max said flustered.
Though she knew he hadn’t been listening to her and was thinking of something else, she thought he looked really adorable at that moment with his hair ruffled by the ride in the jeep, his half-eaten sandwich in his hand and a totally bewildered look in his face. Liz couldn’t resist leaning a bit more close to him and she softly brushed his hair away from his forehead. Max closed his eyes and leaned into her hand and sighed deeply.
The sudden blaring of a horn jerked Liz away from him. Max opened his eyes only to find a panicked Liz. Liz looked mortified by her action. She didn’t know what had happened, how she could have lost control like this. She did not take rides from random guys; she was usually more clear-headed than that. What did she know about Max Evans other than that he is really gorgeous, goes to Roswell High, and has a nice mother, a sister, a girlfriend and close friends? For all she knew he could be a serial killer. Okay, that’s going a bit far, Liz decided but she hadn’t even had a whole conversation with him other than taking his order. How could she trust him so blindly and feel as if she had known him her entire lifetime instead of the past 10 minutes? This is not normal, her head screamed at her while her heart seemed to accept it calmly saying that it is inevitable. He has a girlfriend, her head screamed while her heart said that he liked her, not Maria. You cannot get close to anyone, her head argued…
“Liz?” Max’s voice drew her away from the constant battle between her head and her heart.
“So,” Liz began cheerfully forcing a smile on her face, “you never answered my question.”
At Max’s puzzled look, she continued, “Is your girlfriend always like that? I mean, no offense but she seems kinda weird.”
“My girlfriend?” Max asked even more confused.
Max didn’t understand what is happening here. He had never felt so comfortable or open with a girl before. “I mean God, I was flirting with her” Max thought shocked and surprised. Since when did Max Evans-the-loner take random girls, much less the girl he had been dreaming about since he first met her, for lunch dates in his jeep and flirt with them. “Oh My God! Is this like a date?” Max thought suddenly choking on his food.
“Max, you alright?” Liz asked worried.
Max nodded and tried to calm himself down. Okay Evans, be cool. You are just talking with the girl of your dreams, no big deal. Yeah Right. Max mentally snorted. Now what was she saying? Focus Evans, focus. Yeah, something about his girlfriend and... girlfriend? Max sat up suddenly. What the hell is she talking about? He only wanted to have one person as his girlfriend and she was sitting right opposite him, so what was she talking about?
“My girlfriend?” He once again asked.
“Yeah, you know Maria” Liz mumbled looking anywhere but at him.
Max suddenly smiled; was she jealous of him and Maria? Well much as it boosted his ego and confirmed that she also had feelings for him, he couldn’t have her thinking that someone else is his girlfriend. It was time to clear the air.
“Can I tell you a secret?” Max whispered to her.
Liz looked up at him speculatively wondering about the abrupt change in the subject. She shrugged and Max leaned closer to her and said, “Maria is not my girlfriend.”
He then leaned back to see the stunned look on Liz’s face and he chuckled.
“What?”
“It was just a ploy to get my mother off my back. Maria enacted it when she saw my mother in the Crashdown, the day you came. She is my best friend.” Max explained.
“Oh. So why don’t you date?” Liz asked him curiously, “I mean are you…?”
“No!” Max interrupted his eyes wide, before she could complete the sentence, and then said a bit embarrassed that he even had to say this, “I…I like girls. I was just waiting for the right one.”
“Was?” Liz teased him her playful mood restored. “Does this mean you have finally found the right girl?”
“Maybe I have” Max said smiling shyly at her.
Suddenly uncomfortable, Liz changed the subject, “How does Tess fit into this”?
Max grimaced hearing the name and Liz laughed, “Let me guess? She wants to get into your pants?”
“No…its not…” Max stuttered embarrassed and his ears turned red.
Liz laughed even more if possible. She suddenly felt happy and carefree, something she hadn’t felt in a long while. “Face it Max. That girl wants you.”
“A bad mental image,” Max grumbled but felt glad that he was able to make her laugh. “So what about you?”
“Me?” Liz asked taking a sip of her cherry coke.
“Yeah,” Max took a deep breath and blurted out, “The guy you hugged in the morning, is he your boyfriend?” There he had finally asked it, the question he had been wanting to ask since he saw her and Michael in the morning.
But he never expected her reaction to his question. Liz immediately started choking on her drink and began coughing loudly. She spit out some of the drink on the table and tears started coming down her cheeks due to her continuous choking. Max instantly went to her side and thumped her back trying to calm her down.
“You ok?” He asked when she had finally stopped her coughing.
“I am really sorry.” Liz said horrified at the mess she had made on the table. She had spit out the drink on his remaining lunch and during her coughing she had unknowingly spilt her cherry coke also on the table. But she hadn’t been able to control her shock when he had asked if Michael was her boyfriend. Everyone in her old town was so used to seeing Michael and Liz together right from their childhood, that nobody had really asked them that question. They knew that Michael and Liz behaved more like brother and sister and so Max’s question had completely taken her by surprise.
“I am sorry about your lunch” Liz apologized once again looking at his lunch.
“Nah. It’s okay. Let me tell you another secret.” Max said his eyes twinkling, “My mum isn’t that great of a cook so it’s not a loss at all.”
“So you okay now?” Max asked her concerned.
“Yeah. I am fine.” Liz said getting up from the table. “We should get going.”
“Yeah” Max said looking at his watch.
They picked up the remnants of their lunch and after throwing those into the trash got into the jeep.
After a few minutes, Liz said looking at the passing scenery, “He is my best friend.”
“Who?” Max asked looking at her confused.
“Michael. The guy you saw me hugging today morning. I haven’t seen him for nearly a year, so imagine my surprise when I suddenly saw him standing in front of me.”
“So how long have you known him?” Max asked curiously though the questions he really wanted to ask was does she know that he is an alien form another planet? Second-in-command to a King? Does she know where his parents were, how his childhood was? How did she know Michael was at the door before he entered the classroom?
Max was so lost in his thoughts that he almost didn’t hear her answer.
“Since I was a little kid.” Liz answered vaguely then changed the subject.
“I think we are going to be late. So what do you have for your 5th hour?” she asked him looking through her schedule.
“AP Bio.” Max said, reluctantly driving a bit faster to make it to the school in time. He didn’t want his time with her to end.
“Me too.” Liz said excited. “Mr. Seligman’s your teacher?”
“Yeah.” Max said smiling at her. He couldn’t believe it. He had one more hour with her and he now had 3 classes with her. This was turning to be the best day of his life.
******
Tess looked at the clock and then once more at the door. ‘Where is Max?’ She thought frowning. He had been missing since lunch and now the 5th hour had also started and there was no sign of him. He was the reason she had taken AP Bio and she hoped that the teacher would pair them off, as lab partners, like the last term. Mr. Seligman had already started pairing off those present in the class and if he didn’t arrive in the next 5 minutes, she would be paired off with someone else. ‘What is keeping him?’
Alex also looked at the clock wondering where Max was. He was never late to the class. Maria had been worried about Max. According to Maria, Liz also had AP Bio this hour but there was no sign of her either. Alex suddenly wondered whether Max and Liz had gone together somewhere, then he dismissed those thoughts immediately. Liz didn’t trust anyone so easily and Max really wasn’t brave enough to approach her.
*****
Finally Max and Liz arrived at the school and Max parked the jeep. Both of them hurried to the class.
“Don’t worry” Max said looking at Liz, “Mr. Seligman’s cool. He won’t mind coming late on the first day.” He assured her. “Besides you are new.”
They both knocked the door and entered.
“Mr. Evans, Nice of you to join us” Mr. Seligman said dryly.
“Actually, it isn’t his fault.” Liz said and Mr. Seligman turned to look at her. “I am Liz Parker and am new here and was lost. Max here showed me the class.”
Mr. Seligman looked through his papers and then looked up at her, “Miss. Parker, Harvard bound straight A’s student?” He smiled at her, “Welcome to Roswell High.”
Max looked at Liz in surprise but there was an unreadable look in her face and a sense of sadness seemed to surround her now.
“Since I had already paired off the remaining students, you both can be lab partners for the school year. Please take the remaining station in the middle.”
“Ok” Liz mumbled and went to the lab station.
Max couldn’t control his smile at the thought that Liz Parker was going to be his lab partner for the rest of the year. He decided this was officially the most wonderful day of his entire life. They both started working together on that day’s lab and every few minutes when their hands brushed against each other they looked up and smiled shyly at each other, though Max could still sense her sadness and he did his best to make her forget it.
Alex was now sure that Max and Liz had definitely gone together somewhere for lunch. He was really curious to find out how Max-behind-the-tree-Evans had managed to ask her. If the permanent smile on Max’s face and the shy glances between them were any indication, then something had definitely happened between them. This was a job for the truth-extractor DeLuca, Alex decided and anxiously waited for the hour to be over.
Tess stared angrily at the way Max and Liz were behaving. “I am his destiny not that human,” Tess muttered to herself furiously. What angered her even more was that her mind powers were useless against Liz. Still she can use her physical powers against her if the need arose, Tess consoled herself. But she needed to know now what had happened today between Max and Liz so she closed her eyes and concentrated on Max. A minute later she opened her eyes in disgust. Max’s mind was full of Liz, Liz laughing, Liz blushing, Liz smiling, Tess gritted her teeth in anger. She couldn’t obtain anything useful from his mind other than Liz. Max was useless like this. It was time to take drastic measures to ensure Max followed his destiny. First of all Nasedo had to come from wherever the hell he was and second of all they had to find the pod chamber. Once they found the pod-chamber, she can start working on the translation, as she knew that the Granolith couldn’t be far away from the pod chamber.
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A.N: Hope it wasn't boring guys. Feedback will be much appreciated
i know 
will be back soon with the next part