Journey to the Past Parts 1-9

By Actrez

Title: Journey to the Past

Author: Actrez

Spoilers: none

Disclaimer: I don’t own Roswell, the cast, or anything else of that nature, I know it’s sad, but I’ll survive.

Rating: PG-13 I guess

Category: Everyone!
Summary: Max, Michael, and Isabelle aren’t aliens. Don’t worry some people are , can’t tell ya who though. : )

Feedback: Yes please!

~ Heart don’t fail me now

Courage don’t desert me

Don’t turn back now that we’re here

People always say life is full of choices

No one ever mentions fear

Or how a road can seem so long

How the world can seem so vast

Courage see me through

Heart I’m trusting you

On this journey to the past ~Journey to the Past from Anastasia

Part 1

            Isabelle Evans stood in the office of West Roswell High, it was her first day and someone was supposed to lead her around. ‘I hate first days’ she thought to herself. Her family had only move a couple times but every time she had to figure out who the ‘cool’ girls were. Those were the girls she would hang with because they never looked more than skin deep. She hated hanging out with them, most of them were really conceded. But that’s how it had to be, no one could know about her, not even her brother Max knew.

            Liz and Maria walked into the office together, Liz was supposed to lead a new girl around today. Maria and Liz had all the same classes, so it was pretty much like both of them leading the girl around.

            Isabelle looked up as two girls walked in, a blonde and a brunet. They looked like they were probably the most popular girls in school, or at least two of them, they held themselves with the same confidence Isabelle would use when she put on her ‘ice-princess’ exterior. Looking at the two girls she suddenly remembered a night a long time ago, the last time she had been in Roswell, New Mexico.

            Liz looked over at her best friend after she saw the girl she’d be showing around and she knew Maria was remembering the same thing she was. It had been about ten years ago, the night they had been found. Liz and Maria had always known there was a third one of them, they remembered someone else being in the desert that night with them, but they had never found that person. ‘We don’t know for sure’ Liz said to Maria telepathically trying to stop her from doing anything stupid. Maria just nodded.

            “Hi, you must be Isabelle. I’m Liz Parker and this is my friend Maria DeLuca”  Liz said shaking the girls hand.

            “Hi” Isabelle said greeting them, she had a weird feeling around the two of them, ‘why am I suddenly remembering that night in the desert. Could they be….No don’t get your hopes up’ she scolded herself. She was brought out of her thoughts when Maria said something about getting to first period class.

            Maria and Liz led Isabelle to their usual table. “We don’t usually sit with the rest of the girls at lunch, they can get annoying real easily” Maria explained as the three sat down.

            Isabelle nodded, “Yea, I know what you mean.”

            “Have some like that in your old school?” Liz asked.

            “Yea, I think there’s ones like that in every school” she joked and the two girls smiled and nodded in agreement.

            “Oh well look if it isn’t little Miss Perfect Parker” Pam Troy said walking by the table, she had always been jealous because Liz was more popular than she was, “Looks like you’ve made a new friend.”

            “Every school has a resident bitch, Pam Troy’s ours” Liz said motioning to the girl as she walked by.

            “She jealous of Liz cuz Liz is more popular than she is so she always finds some reason to make fun of her, I think her newest reason is because Liz waitresses at her parents restaurant” Maria explained to Isabelle.

            “She’s really one to talk too, isn’t her dad’s business about to go bankrupt?” Liz asked Maria who nodded in reply.

            The girls took out their lunches, ‘Well at least I won’t have to try and find girls who don’t look more than skin deep’ Isabelle thought as she took out her sandwich and a bottle of Tabasco sauce. Just as she was about to but the sweet and spicy goodness onto her sandwich she looked up to she Maria pulling  out a bottle of it and Liz pouring some onto her sandwich from a bottle of her own. “Oh my god, I do that, too” she whispered causing both girls to look up in surprise and stop what they were doing.

TBC….

I know I said Isabelle wasn’t an alien but SURPRISE she is so anyways should I continue or not? Let me know! : ) If you do want me to continue could you guys help me with a title, I have no idea what to call it.

Part 2

            “Oh my god I do that, too” Liz heard Isabelle whisper and she shot her head up at the same time as Maria. She stared at the girl for a second and saw the Tabasco sauce in her hand, ‘maybe she is one of us…’ Liz thought to herself but quickly pushed that thought away, they couldn’t just come out and ask her ‘Are you and alien?’ that’d be a little too weird.

            “Do what?” Maria asked trying to figure out if Isabelle was really one of them.

            “Put Tabasco sauce on my food” Isabelle said still in shock, than before she could stop herself she asked, “Sweet and spicy?” ‘Nice going Iz what next? Why don’t you just come right out and ask them, hey are you guys aliens?’

            “Yea” Liz said answering her question.

            “Yea, sweet and spicy?” Isabelle asked, she wasn’t really sure why she asked that, ‘what else would she be saying yea to?’ she asked herself.

            “No, I meant yea to what you were thinking” Liz told her. Isabelle froze and looked at the girl ‘I must be hearing things, if she is an alien how come she can read my thoughts I can’t read people’s thoughts, of course I’ve never been around any like me maybe it’s just because we’re both ‘different’’ she thought to herself.

            “We’re not exactly from around here either” Maria said confirming Isabelle’s suspicions.  She had heard what Isabelle had been thinking also.

            “How did you….” Isabelle started than decided to rephrase the question, “Is reading minds just a thing we can do to each other or can we read anyone’s mind?”

            “It’s just a Czechoslovakian thing” Maria confirmed.

            “That’s what Maria always calls us when we’re in public that way if someone is listening in, no one will get suspicious” Liz said when she saw Isabelle’s confused face.

            “Oh,” Isabelle said, still taking everything in.

            Max watched his sister from across the quad, well he wasn’t actually watching her, he was watching the girl she was sitting with, the one with brown hair. He had noticed her in some of the classes that he had been in that morning when Alex was leading him around, ‘Who is that’ he wondered.

            “Liz Parker is the one with brown hair, Maria DeLuca is the one with short blonde hair, I don’t who the other girl is” Alex said when he saw where Max was staring.

            “That’s my sister Isabelle” Max told him still looking at Liz.

            “Liz must be leading you sister around” Michael said now looking over at the table with the three girls at it, they looked like they were in deep conversation about something, ‘Probably talking about who’s wearing what’ he thought to himself.

            “Why do you say that?” Max asked.

            “Liz and Maria are the most popular girls in school, they usually sit by themselves, if someone tries to sit with them they can be pretty nasty about it, it’s like they’ve got some big secret that no one can know” Alex explained.

            “Yea, that they’re bitches, but it’s a little late, everyone knows” Michael said.

            Max looked at Michael in surprise, Liz couldn’t be that bad, she looked so sweet.

            “Michael has been the victim of Maria and Liz a couple times, like the time he tried to sit with them. He’s got a thing for Maria” Alex said the last part in a stage whisper.

            “No I don’t” Michael denied.

            “Riiiight” Alex said sarcastically, “Not that there’s a guy in this school that doesn’t have a thing for one of them, or both of them, but they tend to stay pretty platonic” Alex said filling Max in on the tow girls it looked like his sister would be hanging out with the rest of her high school years.

            “So what’s Isabelle like?” Alex asked casually.

            Max smiled, he had gotten this every time he  went to a new school, guys wanting to know all about his sister. He shrugged “She’s a lot like you described Liz and Maria I guess” he said, before he could continue the bell rang signaling that it was time for class.

            “Well let’s go it’s time for the exciting world of history” Michael said.

            “Michael’s in the class with me, so are Maria and Liz” Alex said as they walked toward the class room.

            “Not that they always show up” Michael said as they walked in and took a seat.

            ‘So know one knows, not even your parents?” Maria asked Isabelle making sure they were safe.

            “No, I’ve never told anyone. That’s why I’ve always tended to hang out with girls like you guys hang out with. You know the ones that don’t go more than skin deep” Isabelle explained, “How about you guys, have you told anyone?”

            Liz shook her head, “No,” she said but before she could finish the bell rang and all three girls grabbed their books.

            “Yea, history” Maria said sarcastically.

            “Oh cheer up, Michael will be there” Liz said nudging her friend, Maria had liked Michael for a while but she always denied it.

            “So” Maria said blushing slightly.

            Liz laughed at her friend.

            “Who’s Michael?” Isabelle asked as they walked into the class room.

            “You see that guy over there with spiky hair, that’s Michael and the guy sitting next to him is Alex, and they guy on the other side of Alex is….I don’t know who that is” Liz said confused staring at the guy, he had dark brown hair, and brown eyes, he was pretty well built too, ‘he’s pretty cute’ she thought to herself.

            “That’s my brother Max” Isabelle explained, pulling Liz from her thoughts.

            “He’s not…” Maria said trailing off.

            “No, he was six when my parents adopted me, they didn’t adopt him though,” Isabelle explained, after she had found out that she was an alien she had asked her parents a bunch of questions about Max, she had been hoping that he was like her so that she wouldn’t be alone but her parents had assured her that he hadn’t been adopted so she had known then that he wasn’t like her.

            “Liz stop drooling,” Maria whispered as the three girls found some seats in the back and walked over and sat down as the teacher walked in and started class.

            Liz stared at Max as the teacher droned on about something or other. Suddenly he turned around and looked at her, before she could avert her eyes he smiled at her, ‘He has a nice smile’ she thought to herself and smiled back.

‘No Liz, don’t start, no attachments remember?’ Maria said to her reading her thoughts about Max.

‘I know’ said back.

‘But he is cute’ Maria said smiling slightly.

‘Guys, yuck, that is my brother you’re talking about’ Isabelle said hearing their thoughts on her brother. It hadn’t taken her long to figure out how to read what they were thinking and communicate with them telepathically, they had practiced it during lunch a little. She smiled and turned back to listening to the teacher, sneaking a few looks at Alex.

TBC….

Part 3

            Isabelle walked with Maria and Liz down the hall. They had last period off so they were going to show her around the rest of the school.

            “There’s Marcy and everyone” Maria said and they headed toward the group of girls.

            “Guys, this is our friend Isabelle, she’s new her” Liz said when they reached the girls introducing Liz to each of the girls.

            “Where’d you move from?” Sarah asked.

            “LA” Isabelle replied.

            “You lived in LA! You’re so lucky, I would kill to live there! Why’d you move here?” Gracie asked.

            “My parents job. They’re both lawyers and they want to start their own business, they know some people here that can help them so we moved here” Isabelle replied.

            “Liz, cute guy checking you out, six o’clock” Marcy said to Liz.

            “My six o’clock or yours?” Liz questioned.

            “Yours, look”

            Liz turned around to look behind her. Over by some lockers she saw Michael Geurin, Alex Whitman, and Max. Max looked over at her and she caught his eye and smiled he smiled back at her. Liz slowly turned around and heard Marcy sigh.

            “Who is that? He is so hot” she said staring at him.

            “That’s my brother Max” Isabelle said, “Stop drooling” she said disgusted. She knew Liz liked Max, and she didn’t mind that but Marcy was already getting on her nerves and she didn’t want her going after her brother.

            “That’s your brother?” Kelly asked, “He is so hot, you’re so lucky to have such a hot brother” she said sighing.

            “You guys, it’s her brother, she doesn’t think about him like that” Maria said looking at the girls like they were stupid.

            “Right, we know, I was just saying….” Kelly said.

            “Yea, whatever, let’s go guys” Maria said to Liz and Isabelle and the three walked toward the parking lot, it was the end of the day and Liz and Maria had to work Isabelle was coming with them.

            Once they were out in the parking lot Isabelle turned to the two. “I should probably tell Max that I’m not going home” Isabelle said.

            “Ok, we can wait till he comes out” Liz said trying not to seem obvious that she was excited that she would get to see him again.

            “Why don’t we just go over to the jeep and wait” Isabelle said leading the way to the jeep.

            Max walked out into the parking lot with Alex and Michael, they were coming over to his house. He had seen Isabelle go out to the parking lot, well actually he had seen Liz go out to the parking lot with Isabelle. He figured Isabelle was probably waiting at the jeep. As they got closer to the jeep he saw Isabelle waiting there for him with Liz and Maria.

            “Hey Iz,” he said when he reached the car, “This is Michael and Alex” he said.

            “Hey” she said smiling at Alex but talking to both of them, “This is Liz and Maria” she said to Max. She noticed how Max smiled at Liz and had to stop herself from laughing out loud, she saw Maria was in the same situation. “Liz and Maria have to go t work at the Crashdown Café, you know the restaurant we saw on the way to school this morning. I’m going with them, tell mom that I’ll be home in a few hours” she said as she turned to go with Liz and Maria.

 Max nodded and watched Liz walk away then climbed into the jeep with Michael and Alex and drove off.

You know he was the type that never left me alone
Until I really needed to reach him on the telephone
He was nowhere to be found, he was out with the boys
Driving all around the city in his pretty new toy
 
Never gonna get it together, uh huh, uh huh
Never gonna get any better, uh huh, uh huh
Should I stay or should I go, cause I really need to know
Or do I stick around and cry, cause now it's time to say goodbye
(please baby please, please baby)
 
I ain't got nobody, that I can depend on
Just me, myself and I
I ain't got nobody, that I can depend on

            Isabelle, Maria, and Liz sang along with the radio as they drove to the café. When they got to the café all three got out of the car and Liz and Maria went in the back to change. Isabelle found a booth and sat down. She looked up from looking at a menu when she felt someone sit down across from her.

            “You must be new here” the guy across from her said, “What’s your name?”

            Isabelle held back her laughter, the guy looked like a cowboy wanna be. “Isabelle” she said in an ‘I’m not interested tone’ but the guy didn’t catch on.

            “I’m Kyle Valenti. So Isabelle, do you have a phone number, or do you want mine?” he asked trying to pick her up.

            Isabelle couldn’t hold it in anymore and she burst out laughing. Gasping for breath she lied, “I have a boyfriend.”

            Kyle’s face turned red and he quickly left.

            “What’s so funny?” Liz asked as she and Maria walked over. Isabelle told them what had just happened still gasping for breath.

            “You’re not serious” Maria said gasping for breath between laughing. Isabelle nodded, all three sat there for five minutes laughing.

            “My sides hurt” Liz said after she had calmed down.

            “Come on chica we have work to do” Maria said pulling Liz out of the booth.

            Liz moaned, “I don’t want to work” she complained.

            “Hey, it’s your parents café, and your the one who made me get a job here you’re going to work” Maria said in her best mother-like tone.

            “Yes, mom” Liz said sarcastically.

            “Do you guys want some help?” Isabelle asked the two.

            “You don’t have to help out” Liz said.

            “No that’s ok, I need to get a job anyways, so if you need anymore waitresses I’d be glad to help” Isabelle said.

            “Ok, there’s an extra uniform in the back” Liz said pointing toward the back door. Isabelle got up to go change, as she got up Max, Michael, and Alex walked in. Before she went into the back she turned and looked at Alex and smiled at him when she found him watching her.

TBC…..

Part 4

            Liz, Maria, and Isabelle walked into History class on Friday, “Do you guys want to sleep over tonight?” Isabelle asked the two.

            “Sure”

            “Yea”

            They both said at the same time. Liz looked around the room her eyes instantly finding Max. She couldn’t help the twinge of hurt when she saw that he was flirting with Pam Troy, rumor was they were going out, ‘Not that I care’ she lied to herself.

            “Yes you do” Maria and Isabelle said aloud at the same time hearing Liz’s thoughts.

            “You know those were meant to be my personal thoughts, you know heard only by me” Liz joked, “That’s why I like the fact that we can control what we hear.”

            “But I saw you pinning and just couldn’t help myself” Isabelle said nudging her friend gently.

            “You guys, someone could hear us” Maria hissed.

            “Calm down Maria,” Liz said, ‘It’s not like they’ll automatically think ‘Oh no there aliens!’ I don’t even think anyone’s listening to us’ Liz told her telepathically.

            The three took their seats in the back of the room waiting for class to start.

            Maria looked over at Michael and saw him flirting with Catherine, one of Pam’s friends. “ I knew I hated her for a reason” she muttered to herself.

            Isabelle looked over at Alex and saw him flirting with Maggie. As she turned back to the front of the classroom she groaned softly when she saw Kyle Valenti headed towards the three of them smiling.

            “What are you girls doing tonight?” he asked.

            “Stuff” Maria answered trying to ignore him.

            “You gonna come to our basketball practice?”

            ‘Hot, sweaty guys, I say we go’ Isabelle told her friends telepathically.

Maria laughed softly and Liz held back her laughter and told Kyle, “Maybe we’ll come” he smiled and walked away.

Max turned his attention away from Pam for a moment and sneaked a peek at Liz.

“Max” Pam whined, “are you listening to me?”

“Yea, I’m listening” he said.

“Good, so I was thinking maybe we could go on a triple date tonight, you know, you, me, Michael, Catherine, Alex, and Maggie” she said.

“I have practice tonight” he said only half paying attention, ‘I wonder what Kyle’s talking to them about’ he thought.

“I know that silly, I meant after practice, like later tonight, what do you say?” she asked smiling flirtatiously at him.

“Sure” he said absently.

“Goody” she said in her annoying high-pitched voice.

“Hey man you gonna be at practice tonight?” Kyle asked Max as he walked by.

“Yea, I’ll be there” Max said. He and Isabelle had just started school at West Roswell that Monday, he had joined the basketball team, he had played at his old school and he figured it would be a good way to meet people. Pam was the head cheerleader and that’s how they had met. He had gotten to know Michael and Alex pretty well and the three were pretty good friends, he had hooked them up with two other cheerleaders, Catherine and Maggie. Max was really surprised Isabelle had made such good friends, she usually didn’t have close friends. What surprised him even more was that she had gotten a job as a waitress, the last thing he saw Isabelle doing was being a waitress. ‘Thank God it’s Friday’ he thought as the teacher came in and started class.

Max almost dropped the ball at practice when he saw Liz walking toward the bleachers. She was wearing a pair of white tennis shoes, cut-off’s, and a tank top, she had had on a pair of sunglasses and her hair was pulled up into a high ponytail. He shook his head bringing himself back into the practice game. ‘God she looks hot’ he thought and shook his head again, ‘Concentrate’ he scolded himself, ‘Yea right like I’m really going to be able to concentrate with her here’ he thought to himself.

Michael had to do a double take when he saw Maria walking towards the bleachers with Isabelle and Liz. She was wearing a pair of sandals, cut-off’s, a halter top and she had on a pair of sunglasses. “Holy shit” he muttered to himself as he watched her and her two friends strut over to the bleachers. Not that he really blamed them for dressing like that it was extremely hot for September.

‘Wow’ was the only coherent thought going through Alex’s head as he watched Isabelle Evans walk, more like strut towards the bleachers with Liz and Maria. Isabelle was wearing a pair of platforms, cut-off’s, a tube top, a pair of sunglasses, and her hair was up in a high ponytail. He quickly shook his head bringing himself back to reality.

Isabelle, Maria, and Liz sat down a few seats below Alex and Michael to watch the basketball practice.

“Well if it isn’t the princess of West Roswell High, everyone, Miss Maria DeLuca” Michael said in a fake announcer voice.

Maria turned around and glared at him, “Go to hell” she hissed.

“You first” he said smirking back at her.

“My God, are you two flirting?” Isabelle moaned not turning around but saying it loud enough for Michael to hear.

“It’s not my fault he’s an ass hole” Maria said turning back around.

Michael watched as Liz said something to Maria and nudged her.

“Can’t you just leave her alone?” Alex asked. Every time Michael ran into Maria they’d get into one of their arguments.

Michael just grunted in response and Alex rolled his eyes at his friends obvious infatuation with Maria.

“Yes Maria, no matter who you kill murder is still against the law” Alex heard Liz say to her friend in a slightly annoyed tone.

“I swear Liz, I hate him” she said loudly.

“Ditto” Michael said back. Maria just turned around and glared.

Isabelle turned around so that she could see both Maria and Michael over her sunglasses, “ Do you two need to have a time out?” she asked only half joking. Maria muttered something under her breath and turned around. Michael just looked away ignoring Isabelle’s comment.

“You just have to learn to ignore them” Alex said to Isabelle, “With a little practice it gets pretty easy.”

She turned towards him and smiled, “You’re Alex right, my brother’s friend” she didn’t want him to know that she knew his name and not just because he was her brother’s friends.

“Yea, and you’re Isabelle” he said ‘Very smooth Whitman, I think she knows her own name.’

“So how long have you had to put up with these two?” she asked smiling.

“Since third grade, like I said all it takes is a little practice and you can almost completely block them out.”

She smiled, “I’ll have to work on that” she said and turned back around facing toward the basketball practice.

TBC….

Part 5

“We found this last year when we were looking around the crash site” Maria said as she pulled out a piece of metal from her bag. Isabelle, Liz, and Maria were sitting on the Evans’ couch talking while “10 Things I Hate About You” played on the TV in front of them.

            “What is it?” Isabelle asked in wonder as she held the scrap piece of shiny metal in her hands. She turned it around in her hands and found inscriptions on the back. “What’s this?” Isabelle asked.

            “We don’t know, all we know is that they look familiar” Liz explained.

            “I recognize them, I just can’t seem to remember what they mean, maybe it’s like our language or something” Isabelle said turning the metal around again and noticing how it shined in the light, she also notice it didn’t seem to be scratched or anything.

            Maria handed her a pocket knife, “Try scratching it” she said.

            Isabelle took the knife out and scratched the front of it, “Nothing happened” she said tracing with her finger the line that should be on the metal.

            Liz handed her a lighter, “Try burning it,” she said as she handed Isabelle the lighter, “it’s my dad’s” she explained when Isabelle gave her a weird look.

            Isabelle had met Mr. Parker when he had told her about what she would need to do at the Crashdown, he seemed nice enough, Mrs. Parker was pretty nice also. Mrs. DeLuca and Mrs. Parker were good friends. Isabelle had met both Maria’s parents too. Mrs. DeLuca was nice but Maria’s dad was very strict, he was a preacher and he wasn’t all that nice to Maria. Isabelle lit the lighter and held it up to the metal. She saw the fire hit the metal but then it was like a protective shield went up around the metal and the fire had a hole through it where the metal was. “Oh my god” Isabelle said more to herself than the others.

            “That was pretty much our reaction too” Maria said.

             Isabelle took the lighter away from the metal and noticed there wasn’t even black marks, she handed the lighter back to Liz.

            “We tried a blow torch and the same thing happened, and we tried cutting it with a chain saw and nothing happened” Liz explained as she put the lighter back in her bag.

            “So if this metal can’t be damaged and it is from the ship, how come it’s just a little piece and the whole ship isn’t together?” Isabelle questioned.

            “That’s the same thing we were wondering” Maria said.

Max, Michael, and Alex walked into the Evans’ house after their triple date. They heard the TV on in the living room and walked toward it. “Hey Iz” Max said as they walked into the living room. He tried not to think of the fact that Liz was setting their in a pair of  boxers and a tank top.

“Hey Max” she said quickly hiding something under a cushion, Max noticed the slight nervousness in her voice, “I didn’t hear you come it” she said smiling nervously at him, ‘Oh god, I hope he didn’t see anything’ she thought.

Max noticed it smelled like smoke in the living room, “Where’s mom and dad?” he asked casually.

“Oh they, um, they…” Isabelle said trying to calm her nerves.

“They said they were going to Alberqurqe and that they wouldn’t be back till late” Liz said calmly.

“What ‘cha doing?” Michael asked noticing the smell of smoke in the room.

“Nothing!” all three answered quickly.

“Aren’t you watching the movie” Alex asked he noticed how nervous they all looked.

“Oh, yea, yea, we’re watching the movie” Maria said nervously.

“Don’t you have something to do Max?” Isabelle asked trying to get her brother to leave.

“Yea, we’ll be upstairs Iz” he said as the three guys went upstairs.

“There’s something weird going on with those three” Michael said when they got to Max’s room. Max and Alex just looked at Michael, “I’m serious, did you see how nervous they were?”

“What do thinks up with them?” Alex asked.

“I don’t know, but I’m gonna find out” Michael said heading out of the room to go downstairs.

“Michael, we can’t just spy on them” Max said following Michael.

“I didn’t say you had to, but I’m going to” he said heading down the stairs quietly. Max and Alex followed reluctantly.

“Have you gone back since you found this?” they heard Isabelle ask holding up what looked like a piece of metal.

“Yea, but we haven’t found anything since that” Liz answered pointing to the piece of metal.

“We could go back tomorrow and you could help us look, maybe you’ll remember something that we don’t” Maria said to Isabelle as Isabelle handed her the piece of metal and Maria put it in her bag.

“Remember something about what?” Alex whispered to the guys.

“How the hell am I supposed to know? Now sh!” Michael whispered back.

“How did you guys know where to look, did you just look at a tourist map?” Isabelle questioned.

“No, Maria came to me one night and said we had to go somewhere, I don’t think it’s where they said it was” Liz said referring to the crash.

“Why is it that girls always use so many pronouns?” Alex asked.

“SH!” Max and Michael said at the same time quieting Alex.

“How’d you know where to look?” Isabelle asked Maria.

“I don’t know, I just knew” she said.

“So when do you want to go?” Isabelle asked.

“We usually go at night so no one will see us” Maria said.

“OK then I guess we’ll go tomorrow night?” Isabelle asked and the two girls nodded in response.

The guys quietly made their war back to Max’s room. “Well that was pointless” Max said as they walked into his room.

“Says who, at least we know when they’re leaving” Michael said.

“What do you…” Max asked trailing off when he realized what Michael had in mind.

“Michael, you can’t be serious, we can’t just follow them everywhere” Alex said.

“Who said we were gonna follow them? We talked about going out into the desert tomorrow night yesterday, remember?” Michael said.

Alex and Max both sat down shaking their heads at Michael but not saying anything else, Alex had known Michael long enough to know that if Michael wanted to do something there was no talking him out of it, and it hadn’t taken Max long to learn that.

TBC…

Part 6

“Once we close up we can go” Liz said as her, Maria, and Isabelle cleaned up around the Crashdown. They were working the last shift and there weren’t many people left in the café.

“Ok, should I tell everyone to leave?” Maria asked referring to the old couple and Max, Michael, and Alex.

“Might as well, the sooner we’re done, the sooner we can leave” Isabelle said getting ready to mop the floor.

“Michael, this is insane” Alex said as him and Max tried to convince him not to follow Isabelle, Liz, and Maria. They’d been trying since that morning, but it hadn’t worked.

“I told you guys you don’t have to come” Michael said in an annoyed tone. He was tired of this conversation, they must have had the same conversation a million times since that morning.

“Why is it so important for you to find out…” Max said trailing off as Maria walked up to them.

“We’re closing, you guys need to go, you can pay at the cash register” Maria said giving Michael a quick glare and turning to leave.

“Why  ya closing so early?” Michael asked.

“What?” she asked in annoyed tone, turning around to face him.

“The sign says you close at 11 it only 9:30, I’ve got an hour and a half left that I can sit here if I want to” he said smirking in that smart ass way he had.

“Don’t be a smart ass Michael” Maria said, “We can close whenever we want to, now get going so we can clean up” she said turning around to leave again.

“No, I think I want to sit here till 11, not like I have anything better to do” Michael said smirking at her again when she turned around to glare at him.

“Fine! Sit here till 11 I don’t care, but you’ll be sitting here in the dark…oh and when you leave don’t forget to lock the door!” she yelled loudly causing Liz and Isabelle to come over and see what was going on.

“Maria, what’s wrong?” Liz asked when her and Isabelle reached their furious friend.

“HE is what’s wrong!” she said pointing to Michael., “He won’t leave!”

“Guys come on, we need to close up, can you please leave so we can clean the place?” Isabelle asked trying the nice approach.

“Well we could leave, but the sign says I can stay here till 11 that’s an hour and a half away” Michael said.

“Michael, come on, let’s just go” an annoyed Alex said.

“Michael, you can come any other night and stay till 11, but we’re closing early tonight” Liz said.

“What’s so special about tonight?” Michael asked.

“Michael, let’s go” Max said, Michael opened his mouth to say something, “Yes I know the sign says 11, but you heard Liz they’re closing early, now come on” Max said pushing his friend out of the booth and towards the door.

“Maxwell” Michael protested but was pushed out the door before he could continue.

“God I hate him!” Maria screamed once all three had left and the café was empty. Isabelle and Liz just looked at each other and smiled. “What?! I do!” Maria said seeing their look.

“Come on let’s clean this place up” Isabelle said as she started to mop the floors.

Max, Michael, and Alex sat outside in Max’s jeep watching the three girls. “Why would they want to leave early tonight?” Michael asked. Max and Alex just looked at each other and shook their heads.

“I tell you why” Michael said when he didn’t get an answer, although he wasn’t really excepting one, “because they have some where they need to go, somewhere that can’t wait till 11, and we’re going to find out where that somewhere is.”

“Maybe they had plans to do something tonight” Max said.

“You know that’s not true Maxwell” Michael said, Max smiled Michael was the only person he had ever met that called him Maxwell. “You heard them last night, you saw that piece of metal or whatever it was, you know as well as I do that there’s something weird about those three.”

“Michael…” Alex tried but was but off by Michael, when Maria, Liz, and Isabelle came out of the café.

“Sh! We can’t let them see us” Michael said starting the jeep as the three got into Maria’s car.

“You know the best way for someone not to see, is not to follow them” Alex said but Michael ignored the comment.

TBC….

Part 7

Michael followed Maria’s car, careful not get to close.

“This is a bad idea” Max said.

“You mentioned that already” Michael said, annoyed.

“Where do you think they’re going?” Alex asked.

“How the hell am I supposed to know?” Michael asked.

Maria drove down the dark rode her and Liz had traveled down many times. “Is it just me or did Michael seem a little suspicious?” Maria asked as they drove.

“It’s just you” Liz said reaching to turn on the radio.

“No I’m serious, why did he care about where we were going so much?”

“Because he likes you?” Isabelle said, it was more of a statement then a question.

“Michael Gurien, Mr. Rebel-without-a-cause, I don’t think so” Maria said. “Seriously though guys, didn’t he seem just a little suspicious to you guys?” she asked worried about someone finding out about them.

“No not really” Liz said as they pulled off the highway towards the open desert.

“What the hell…” Michael said as he followed Maria’s car as it pulled off into the open desert.

“Don’t get to close” Max said.

Maria, Liz and Isabelle got out of the car and started walking around.

“This is where we found the one piece” Maria said.

“So what do you do, just look around or what?” Isabelle asked.

“Well we started checking out the caves around her, seeing if we saw anything” Liz said.

“OK lets do that” Isabelle said heading for a cave.

“Let’s go” Michael said quietly moving to follow the girls.

“Michael…” Max started but Michael silenced him quickly.

“SH! Do you want them to hear us?” he asked.

At that exact moment Maria stopped, “Wait, I thought I heard something” she said and the others stopped.

“Maria, you’re just being paranoid” Liz said. “Nobody’s….”she started but was cut off by Maria’s hand over her mouth.

“SH!” she said.

“I don’t hear anything” Isabelle said.

Maria listened for a few more minutes, “OK lets go” she said and all three headed for a cave just up ahead. When they entered the cave Maria turned on a flashlight she had brought with her. All three started looking around for something that might give them a clue as to who they were.

Michael, Max, and Alex followed the girls into the cave quietly. As they followed them deeper into the cave Michael accidentally kicked a rock. He froze praying to whoever would listen that they hadn’t heard it.

All three girls spun around when they heard the sound behind them. Maria searched the darkness behind them with her flashlight. The beam of light rested on Michael Guiern’s face, she could see Alex and Max behind him, who both looked guilty.

“What the hell are you guys doing here?” Maria questioned.

“We could ask you the same question” Michael said.

“Where you following us?!” Isabelle asked. All three guys remained silent, “Max?” she questioned her brother, he just looked away guiltily. “I can’t believe this” she said in shock.

Isabelle walked out of the cave, very pissed, Liz and Maria followed. Michael, Alex, and Max followed the girls.

“Dare we ask what you three are doing out here in the middle of no where, in the middle of the night?” Michael yelled.

“That’s no of your business!” Maria screamed at him.

“Are you gonna answer the question?” Michael asked.

“Michael” Max warned but he ignored it.

“What I want to know is why you guys followed us out here, and now you’re the ones asking questions” Liz said.

“We didn’t follow you” Michael lied.

“What you just happened to be in the same place as us at the same time?!” Isabelle said.

“Yea” Michael said defensively, “So what were you doing out here?”

“That’s really no of your business Michael” Liz said.

“Humor me” he said crossing his arms over his chest.

“Michael, come on let’s go” Alex said but Michael ignored him.

“We were…..stargazing!” Liz told him saying the first thing she could think of.

“You go stargazing in caves, that’s an interesting concept” Michael said.

“We were in the cave because….” Isabelle said trying to thing of a good lie.

“Because I lost my keys, and we were looking for them” Maria lied.

“Now do you want to tell us why you guys followed us here?” Isabelle asked.

“I already told you we didn’t follow you” Michael lied again.

“Whatever, come on guys lets go” Maria said and all three turned and headed toward the car.

“I knew they were hiding something” Michael said once they were out of ear shot.

“Michael would you just give it up?” Max asked. Michael just looked over at Max with a determined look on his face and Max knew that Michael wasn’t going to give up until he figured out what was going on.

“You know if they catch us again, they’ll probably kill us” Alex told Max and Michael and they both nodded in agreement.

“We’ll just have to be more careful,” Michael said as they headed back towards the jeep.

“It would probably be a lot safer if you just admitted you like Maria then we wouldn’t have to go on this wild goose chase” Alex said to Michael as they climbed into the jeep, but Michael just ignored him and started the jeep.

TBC….

Part 8

Max winced as he heard the front door slam closed. He had gotten home before Isabelle, he had hoped she wouldn’t be coming home tonight. “Shit” he muttered.

“MAX!” he heard Isabelle scream.

“I’m so dead” he said to himself as he headed down the stairs to the living room where Isabelle stood with her arms crossed tapping her foot impatiently on the floor. Their parents weren’t getting home till late tonight so Max knew there’d be a lot of yelling.

“Look, Iz, before you say anything, I just want to say that….” Max started trying to stop her from killing him but he was silenced when she put her hand up signaling him to shut-up.

“Sit down, and shut-up” she said, “Don’t say anything until I’m done, got it?”

“Yea” he said quietly.

“I said don’t talk till I’m done!” she said. Max nodded. “First of all Max, I excepted better of you. I’ve always trusted you and today you betrayed my trust.”  Max looked down guiltily. “Second of all Max, I’ve never been so embarrassed in my life! I told Liz and Maria that you could be trusted. When Maria was wondering about Michael being all weird back at the café and asking if he would do anything ‘Michael like’ and try and play spy. I told her not to worry because you were with him and you had sense enough to trust your own sister and her friends. Not only did you betray my trust you betrayed Liz and Maria’s trust. Why did you do it Max? You used to trust me enough to let me go out and hang out with my friends without a spy around, what changed?” she asked. Max could see the hurt in her eyes.

“Nothing’s changed I still trust you. Michael was just curious as to why you guys were closing early” Max lied.

“Don’t lie to me Max!” Isabelle yelled. Her hurt disappeared and was replaced by anger. “I can’t believe you did this! Did I ever give you any reason not to trust me? No! I didn’t think so!” she yelled.

“Isabelle, I’m sorry. I was just trying to watch out for you, that’s what brothers are for” Max said trying to get her to calm down but just making her more mad.

“You think I need protection from Liz and Maria! Max you don’t even know them! There’s no excuse for what you did tonight Max! You don’t need to watch over me, even if that’s what brothers are for, because in case you’ve forgotten Max, you’re not my brother!” she screamed and quickly walked up the stairs towards her room.

 Isabelle slammed her door shut and laid down on her bed. She felt bad for what she’d said to Max about him not being her brother. He was her brother, maybe not in the actual sense, but in a way he was. She had grown up with him and he had always watched out for her, he’d always been there for her, no matter what. ‘Oh grow up Isabelle’ she scolded herself, ‘You think he would have been like that if he knew the real you, if he knew what you were. If he ever found out he’d probably never look at you again. It’s good that you reminded him of that, you always have to remember that. You’re alone here. You, Liz, and Maria are alone, you only have each other, that’s the way it has to be’ she told herself. She quickly wiped away a tear that had managed to fall and hastily wiped her eyes of all the unshed tears. ‘You don’t need Max, you probably have a brother waiting for you at home’ she tried to convince herself.

Max leaned forward putting his head in his hands. He knew Isabelle was really pissed. She never brought up the fact that she was adopted and he wasn’t, never. Not even when she was really mad, like the time he had put worms in her doll house when they were younger, sure she had been mad, but she hadn’t said anything about the fact that they weren’t really brother and sister. ‘Man I’ve really done it this time’ he thought. He scrubbed his face with his fingers and sighed, ‘I’m gonna have to find some way to make it up to her’ he thought, hoping she wouldn’t hate him forever. “You betrayed Liz and Maria’s trust” Isabelle’s words floated through his head. ‘Shit’ he thought, he didn’t know either of them very well, but he didn’t want them hating him too, especially Liz. ‘Now she really won’t ever talk to me’ he thought scrubbing his face again and trying to figure out what he was gonna do.

TBC….

Part 9

Maria’s tires squealed as she quickly turned onto her road. The music blasted from her stereo and she had all the windows open trying to calm herself down. Her knuckles were white from tightly gripping the steering wheel. She quickly tuned the car into her driveway, wincing as the tires screeched again ‘Dad won’t be happy about that’ she thought knowing her father was going to be yelling at her for being out so late. She turned the car off and grabbed a vial of cedar oil. She inhaled the relaxing scent trying  to calm her nerves. ‘I’m so gonna kill Michael Gurien’ she thought to herself. Just thinking about what had happened that night made her angry all over again. She inhaled the relaxing scent of cedar again letting it calm her and relax every muscle. When she had clamed down enough to face Tom she climbed out of the car and headed inside.

“Where have you been?!” her dad asked as soon as she stepped foot in the house. “You curfew is 10:00! Do you have any idea what time it is?!”

Maria let out a frustrated sigh. “I was out with some friends all right? Besides it’s not like it’s a school night. Why do I need to be home by ten anyway?” she asked, they’d had this conversation before, but she never actually got the answer to her question.

“Because I said so. You could have at least called if you were going to be out late” he said following Maria into the living room.

“Look, I didn’t think it would be that big of a deal OK? I was working, after we closed Liz, Isabelle, and I hung out for a while, it’s not a big deal” she said.

“What did you do?” her dad asked.

‘My god, he is so paranoid’ she thought, every time she got home late she got a whole investigation. “We did drugs and had orgies! Is that what you want to hear?!” she exclaimed.

Tom glared at her, “Show me your arms” he demanded.

Maria sighed and stuck out her arms, “You know by the way you act, you’d think you had a kid who did drugs” she said in an annoyed tone.

He glared at her again, he opened his mouth to say something but before he could Maria’s mother came down. “What’s going on down here?” she demanded walking into the living room, “What’s with all the yelling, you know some people in this house are trying to sleep.”

“Maria just got home! She was out late again and she won’t tell me what she was doing” Maria’s father said.

I wasn’t doing anything! I was just hanging out with some of my friends!” she exclaimed, trying not to think about what had actually happened.

“I don’t believe you!” her dad yelled.

“Tom, clam down” Maria’s mother said. Maria took a deep breath trying to calm her nerves. When that didn’t work she pulled out her vial of cedar oil again, inhaling the calming scent.

“What’s that, is that drugs?” her dad insisted.

“No it’s cedar oil, calm down” Maria said grabbing her bag and heading to her room.

“Where’re you going?” her father yelled after her.

“To my room, so I can sleep!” she yelled back as she walked up the stairs and to her room. ‘I can’t deal with this right now, maybe I’ll call Isabelle, she how she is’ Maria thought knowing how upset Isabelle must still be. She thought about calling Liz, but she knew Liz’s parents probably already unhooked the phones so that Liz wouldn’t get any calls. Maria entered her room and picked up her phone. She punched in the first few digits of Isabelle’s number but then put the phone back down, deciding to just go to bed. ‘I’m going to have to watch out for Michael Gurien from now on, make sure he doesn’t decide to go stalker again’ she thought as she laid down on her bed and closed her eyes.