L-J-L 76 - Some of your questions will be answered in this chapter. But I'm afraid there might be new questions as well…
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Roswelllostcause- There
is something going on. There's a lot of things going on… Thank you for the feedback!
saori_1902 - Those are two questions…that I can't answer right now
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Eve (begonia9508) - Eve, you clever cookie. You're really onto something there; I'm not gonna say what, but… Thank you for the feedback!
AlysLuv - What's the connection between Max and Nancy? Is there any? Hopefully it'll be revealed soon enough..
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dreamon - You didn't have to wait too long
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From EIGHT:
Still, something deep inside of me made me sharply say, “If you lay one hand on him…”
The corners of Mr. Evans’ mouth twitched and my fists balled at the side of my body, wanting to punch him for almost smiling in this situation.
“He’s my son,” Mr. Evans said coldly. “He’ll get the treatment he deserves.”
I wasn’t sure what that meant, but I flickered a nervous look in Max’s direction, wanting him to soothe my nerves. But Max wasn’t looking at me. He was staring at his father, his body tense.
“See you, Max,” I said quietly.
“Yeah,” Max answered, still not looking at me.
With an ice cold heart I got into my car and drove off, refraining from looking in the rearview window as I left Max to his family.
*****
I carefully pushed the door open, watching the light from the living room stream into the dark bedroom.
I just needed to see that she was breathing.
I quietly walked up to the bed, to the still form of my mother, and fell to my knees next to the bed. I grew still, watching her closely. It was not until I saw her chest move and felt the breath cross her lips that I relaxed. The relief weakened my body and I suddenly felt drained as the events of the past few hours caught up with me.
This had been the evening from hell.
I tenderly brushed at her hair and whispered, “I love you, Mom.”
She didn’t stir, deep in the grip of sleep. I sat by her side for another five minutes, before getting to my feet and leaving her alone.
____________________________________
NINE
Max was not at school the next day.
I was not surprised, but instantly worried.
Maria was surprised when I directed my steps towards Isabel as soon as we entered the school corridors that morning.
I grabbed Isabel by the elbow and she turned a wary and tired face towards me. With nausea written across her face she stated, “Liz.”
“How is he?” I asked hurriedly.
“Better,” Isabel replied, avoiding my eyes.
My grip on her elbow tightened. “Tell me the truth.”
Her eyes were annoyed when she looked at me. “I am.”
I searched her eyes, trying to discern if she was. There was something really wrong about the Evans family. I had found that out just the night before. Could I even trust Isabel?
“What did your dad do after I left?”
Isabel’s eyes flickered away again and I knew her answer would be a lie. “They discussed what happened. He tended to Max’s wounds, and then mom and dad put him to bed.”
I swallowed back my anger. Bullshit. The anger was so intense that I felt my eyes blur with tears.
I stepped closer to Isabel, got right in her face. She startled at my sudden proximity, her face paling at the expression on my face.
“What kind of man is your father?” I spit out venomously.
I saw the anger ignite in Isabel’s eyes and she spit back, “He’s a remarkable man, father, and doctor. He saves lives every day. Don’t you dare-“
“No,” I interrupted and shoved a finger against her chest. “What I saw yesterday wasn’t a ‘remarkable’ man. He wanted to
hurt Max.”
Isabel slapped my hand away and towered up in front of me. Isabel was almost a head taller than me and had some more pounds on me, but my anger was making me brave.
She got close to my face and I could feel droplets of spit brush my face as she pushed the words out through clenched teeth, “This is none of your business. Back. Off.”
In a way, I knew that she was right. Max Evans was not my business. He was not my friend, he was not my boyfriend. A week ago I had hated his guts, even been a bit afraid of him. For several years I’ve had him pegged as a vampire. So no, one couldn’t say that Max Evans’ well-being was my business.
But still I couldn’t let it go. I couldn’t forget his eyes, his broken expression, or the blood on his clothes, the venom in the man who was supposed to have fathered him, the lack of familial warmth I had witnessed. I couldn’t forget the feeling that by delivering him to his house yesterday, I had inherently thrown him to the wolves.
I felt like it was my fault.
“He better be back tomorrow,”I threatened with a growl and took a step back.
Isabel didn’t say anything in reply. Her eyes were black and hostile as she spun on her heels and briskly walked down the corridor. At her departure, I noticed the crowd we had attracted and the anger started to simmer down.
Maria gripped my upper arm and leaned close to my ear. “What the hell was that, Lizzie?”
“I’ll tell you later,” I answered, fighting to still my breathing.
“I’m counting on it,” Maria said and took my hand.
I looked down at the hold and felt the warmth from the connection spread up my arm. Maria hadn’t held my hand since we were kids. I smiled at her gratefully, something that she responded to with a simple silent smile of her own before pulling me along to the lockers.
*****
“Hi, Liz.”
I turned and was struck by cornflower blue eyes.
Immediately, I felt myself falling. Quickly. A smile spread across my lips and warmth heated my cheeks.
“Hi, Sean,” I replied happily.
He leaned against the locker next to mine, putting his head against his arm and letting his eyes travel down my figure. The blush on my cheeks grew deeper.
“So… This Saturday,” he mused and caught a strand of my dark hair between his fingers. Rubbing it between his long fingers, he leaned closer to me. “You free?”
I started nodding, for some irrational reason thinking that I was.
“Hey there,” Maria said behind me and I practically jumped out of my skin. The startle interrupted the eye contact with Sean and I immediately felt a headache coming on.
“We haven’t met,” Sean acknowledge towards my friend and I redirected my eyes from my childhood friend to the blond, blue-eyed boy.
“Maria,” Maria offered while I admired the blueness of Sean Carter’s eyes.
“Sean was just asking me out on a date,” I shared cheerfully.
I was partially aware of Maria’s odd look on the side of my face, but I chose to ignore it.
“Oh,” Maria voiced, surprised. “When’s the happy day?”
“Saturday,” Sean filled in.
My head nodded along. “Yep.”
“No… Lizzie,” Maria said slowly.
“What?” I asked fleetingly, distracted by the shape of Sean’s lips.
“This weekend is the father-daughter camping trip.”
Damn.
I shrugged. “That’s okay.” I fired Sean a bright smile. “I needed an excuse to get out of that anyway.”
He chuckled and I melted. “I hear you.”
Maria frowned. “No, Liz. Your dad always looks forward to that weekend. You can’t cancel on him.”
Logic and reason were trying to creep into my brain. I sighed. “Fine.”
I turned to Sean and felt disappointment rock my world. I was desperately hoping for a positive answer when I asked, “Rain check?”
He brushed his fingers down my jawline and pleasure rushed through me. “Sure, beautiful.” Looking over his shoulder, he straightened before turning back to me. “See you later?”
“Later,” I replied and let out a dreamy sigh as he disappeared around the corner.
I turned to look at Maria, who was staring at me with her mouth hanging open.
I frowned. “What?”
“Who the hell was that?” Maria gasped.
“Sean Carter,” I replied indubitably.
“Not him,” Maria groaned. “
You.”
I felt my annoyance grow. “
What?”
“You were acting like some 14-year-old gum-popping girl in braids just having discovered the phenomenon known as boys!”
“Shut up,” I mumbled and closed the door to my locker.
“I’ve never seen you so taken by a boy,” Maria said in disbelief. “If I didn’t know better, I would’ve thought you were possessed.”
“Ha. Ha. Funny.”
“Now,” Maria clipped, quickly changing topics, “I want to hear the whole background to that thing with Isabel Evans this morning. And don’t you dare leave out any details.”
The glowing image of Sean’s face was instantly replaced by Max’s tortured one and my essence immediately filled out my body, making me feel grounded again.
Nodding towards the canteen, I grabbed her elbow and said, “I’ll tell you everything. Come on.”
*****
“Okay,” Maria whispered loudly. “I knew that they were different - weird almost - but never in a million years would I think that Max’s parents were so…cold.”
“It was horrible, Ria,” I grimaced. “I was afraid to leave him there.”
Maria dragged a piece of cucumber through some ketchup. Back and forth. Back and forth. “And he’s not in school today?”
“It worries me,” I sighed, looking towards Max, Michael and Isabel’s regular table. Only Michael was sitting there today.
“Judging by your description, Max would need at least one day to recuperate from that kind of assault,” Maria sensibly pointed out.
I tried to contain the nagging worry and nodded. “You’re right.”
“Maybe you should visit him. After school,” Maria suggested.
Her suggestion caused cold shivers to rush down my entire body. Mr. Evans’ cold face flashed in front of my inner eye. What would he do to me if he found me outside of their door, demanding to see his son?
“I’m not so sure,” I mumbled, watching the race of Maria’s cucumber through the ketchup.
“He’s really that scary?” Maria asked with wide eyes.
“Let’s just put it this way; I hope I never need surgery,” I shuddered.
“I can’t believe he’s actually a surgeon. That he has sworn to ‘Do no harm’ while treating his son like that.”
“Yeah,” I mumbled.
“And what is up with this Sean character?”
My eyes snapped up to her face and my voice sharpened as I demanded, “What do you mean?”
“Why is he suddenly so interested in you? Do we even know him? Like at all?”
“What difference does it make?” I asked defensively.
Maria narrowed her eyes at me. “Why are you getting so worked up about this?”
I shrugged, trying to cool my feelings. “I’m not. It just feels like you’re going to say something negative about him. You don’t even know him.”
She raised an eyebrow at me. “Neither do you.”
“That’s why we need to go on a date,” I pointed out.
“His family is loaded,” Maria pondered, abandoning the ketchup-soaked cucumber on her plate and licking her fingers clean of ketchup. “I think his dad is military. High up.”
I shrugged indifferently. What did that have to do with anything? “So?”
“Just saying,” Maria said innocently.
And to think that Max had told me to stay away from Sean Carter. Maybe he was jealous… I laughed at the thought. That would be so funny; Max Evans jealous of Sean Carter? A fight between the riches.
“What’s so funny?” Maria asked curiously.
“Max told me to stay away from Sean.”
Maria stilled. “He did, did he?”
“Yeah,” I giggled. “He said he was” I changed my voice into a ‘scary’-voice for dramatic effect, “
dangerous.”
“Hmm,” Maria said, her face completely serious.
I let my hands fall flat on the table with a loud thump. “Come on,
what?”
“I don’t know,” Maria answered. “Maybe there’s a reason. Why would Max Evans warn you about a random dude?”
“I know,” I laughed at the absurdity. “It’s ridiculous. Here I’ve been accusing Max of being the dangerous one all these years and then
he starts warning me about dangerous people. Ironic.”
“Maybe you should be careful with Sean…” Maria said slowly, and there was something in her eyes, as if she was asking me for something.
I looked at her, baffled. “You’re serious.”
“Yeah.”
“You, Maria DeLuca - who have been telling me for
years that I should get a life which features dating. And when I finally find someone I would like to date, you think I should be ‘careful’.”
“Just think about it, Liz,” Maria said cautiously.
I was angry and I couldn’t really pinpoint why. But I knew
who I was angry at. Getting to my feet, I grabbed the tray and stepped away from the table.
“Where’re you going?” Maria asked, surprised.
“I’m full,” I replied and left her without another word.
*****
“Hey, Sean! Sean!” I desperately waved my hand in the air to get the boy’s attention.
Okay, maybe I was mostly doing this to spite Maria. Who was she anyway to tell me what to do? It was such a double standard. She had always been telling me to live more in the moment, to enjoy life, to kiss some random boys etc. etc. So why, when I finally found a potential person to do all of that with, was she displeased?
Sean turned at the sound of my voice, surprise marking his beautiful face. “Liz?”
“Hey,” I breathed with a tired smile, trying to prevent myself from panting. Panting was very unattractive.
He smiled, his eyes lighting up like Christmas lights. “What’s up?”
Being struck by a sudden shyness, I dropped my eyes and mumbled, “How about tonight?”
I could hear the frown in his voice as he repeated, “‘Tonight’?”
I looked up into those beautiful blue eyes and nodded, “Date. Tonight.”
He raised his eyebrows in amusement. “But it’s a school night.”
I shrugged. “So? Are you picking me up or what?”
He chuckled. “When you put it that way…” A smile lingered on his mouth as he added, “7 p.m.? Outside of the CrashDown?”
I smiled with my whole being. “It’s a date.”
*****
“My parents never really spent much time with me,” Sean admitted, dipping a french fry in his milkshake.
I scrunched my nose at the act and he laughed. “What?”
“Does that really taste good?” I asked.
There was a twinkle in his eye as he grabbed another deep fried potato strip and dipped it in his strawberry milkshake. The milky mixture dripped on the table surface as he transported the fry across the table separating us.
“Here; taste it,” he encouraged and I opened my mouth on demand, getting slight enjoyment out of seeing his pupils widen and darken as his eyes were transfixed on the piece of potato entering my mouth.
It was weird. Salty, sweet, oily and soggy. But not…too…bad.
“So?” he prompted, waiting for my verdict.
I chewed and shrugged, playing it down. “It was okay.”
“Come on,” he smiled. “You loved it.”
I giggled and picked up my half-eaten hamburger to take another bite, letting the silence speak for me. He shook his head, bemused, and took a sip from his milkshake.
“So what about
your parents? Overbearing? Overprotective? Nagging? Boring?”
I put the hamburger down and licked my fingers, noticing his eyes on me halfway through the motion. That familiar blush crept back on my cheeks and I grabbed the napkin to finish off the cleaning process.
“They’re actually really great. I guess they’ve always trusted me to be responsible, giving me freedom.” I shrugged. “I guessed it worked; I’ve always aimed to live up to their expectations, so naturally I became responsible.”
He leaned in, a grin on his lips, “How many rules have you broken tonight then, Ms. Parker?”
My stomach clenched and my breath stilled.
Ms. Parker. That’s what Max always called me. The thought of him made me hesitate, made me question why I was here - at Joe’s Diner on a Tuesday. I hadn’t even let my parents know where I was going, just letting them assume that I would be at Maria’s.
“Too many,” someone answered in my place and I froze.
My eyes were transfixed on Sean’s face and I was, for some reason, unable to direct them towards the person who had answered in my place. I watched Sean’s eyes narrow in irritation, his blue eyes turning stormy, but his eyes kept locked with mine.
“Let her go,” the voice said again, delivered in a growl, and there was no mistaking its owner this time.
Max Evans had entered the building.
TBC...