Liz grabbed her dinner before trudging upstairs to face her brother. She couldn’t believe Kyle ratted her out. She never thought he would, of course she had never put it to the test, she had always done what she was supposed. Well until she got shot and started living another life or was it a third one? She just wished that Kyle and the Sheriff knew, it would make things easier. If Max hadn’t broke up with her, maybe things would have gotten to the point that she’d tell him. She wanted to tell him but she couldn’t. As she reached her room she was momentarily surprised when she walked into an empty room but saw her bathroom door open just a crack. “It’s just me, you can come out.”
Zack came out just as Liz sat down at her desk and started eating, “Okay, let it out. Yell at me.”
Zack gave her a look that said he was in the mood for smart aleck comments before saying, “What were you thinking? If Jim hadn’t been there to protect you then you would have left a trail for Lydecker.”
“I know.”
“You know? Then why didn’t you run.” He asked.
“I was going to but Max and I went in…..” Liz trailed off realizing her slip.
“Max?” Zack asked knowing who she meant. “As in the guy Ky said you called your arrangement off for?”
“Um, yeah. He and I were dancing at the party. When I heard the sirens I wanted to make sure my friends didn’t get busted and got caught.”
“You see this is why I say we don’t get attached. Your involvement with him caused you to be sloppy.”
“Well you don’t have to worry about that anymore.” Liz said sadly.
Zack saw the pain in his baby sister’s eyes, “And why is that?”
“Because he broke it off with me okay. I don’t want to talk about it.”
Hoping Liz might be bitter enough to spill, Zack asked, “Liz, what is going on with you? You’ve been pushing away Ky and
the people you trust, you’re all secretive.”
“Nothing okay? Can’t I just have a life of my own?”
“When it could possibly endanger you and your family, no you can’t.”
His words made her snap, “We escaped so we could have a life. A life we were in charge of. I have friends and people I care about. Now I’ll keep lying and hiding but I will have a personnel life.” She said before storming out and going back to work.
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Liz walked around the café putting the chairs up on the table when she heard someone tap on the window. Looking up she saw Max. “What's up?”
“Nothing. How's it going?”
“Fine. Are you all right?” She could tell he was upset over something.
“Yeah. Yeah. I just...I want you to know that it's ok. I mean...you don't have to feel uncomfortable if you and Kyle get back together.”
“What?” She asked as she crossed her arms over her chest.
“I saw you two together at the Crashdown.”
There it was again, someone telling her how to live her life. “Ok, um...Max, first of all, that couldn't be further from what's happening, and secondly...if it was happening, I wouldn't need your permission, Max.”
“I'm getting out of here. Now you sound like Isabel.” He said frustrated.
“Why do I sound like Isabel, Max?”
“She's got this thing all of a sudden that I'm controlling.”
“Oh, so it's HER thing.” Liz stated.
“What?”
“Max, just take a psych class, because you ARE controlling.” Liz stated. Psychology was something Manticore had taught them. It was a way for them to read and understand the enemy. Liz thought it was one reason why she could always read people, know who to trust.
“Hey, I am who I am. I've got a lot going on, and I'm trying to make things work.” Max said practically yelling.
“Max, you know what your problem is? You put everything on yourself...on your own shoulders. Maybe you should have some faith in the people around you.” She said before Max turned and left. It was funny she never noticed before but in some aspects Max was very much like Zack. He always had to be the one in charge. It was an infuriating aspect of their character.
She finished the chairs and headed upstairs, her dad had told her that Zack had left but she knew he’d probably be back later. So she wasn’t too surprised to find him on her balcony after she changed out of her uniform. “Zack, I don’t want to argue anymore okay?”
“I’m not here to argue, just remember you’re not the only one involved in all of this.” . When Zack left earlier he had gone by Max’s house trying to continue his investigation. Max wasn’t there but his sister was. And he had seen her do something’s that he couldn’t explain. Zack didn’t want his sister to put herself in danger, which he had a feeling she was, he only hoped that since she wasn’t seeing Max anymore that she’d stop whatever she was doing.
Liz nodded, “Yeah, I know. So are you going to stay here tonight or what?” Liz said smiling. Zack nodded and the subject of earlier was dropped. Instead Liz told Zack about Kyle's accident in basketball and other things staying away from the secret she was keeping from him.
He left the next day and left Liz with the distinct feeling she had barely slid by him interrogating her.
Part 18
Into The Woods
A week later everyone went on the Father camping trip.
Liz drug Maria along with her as she followed her dad while they looked for a campsite. That’s when she heard the Sheriff’s voice. “Jeff! Over here. Come on. We'll make a party of it.”
Liz knew what the Sheriff was doing and tried to stop her dad, “I don't think that's such a good idea.”
“Look, there's Alex. Come on, it'll be fun. I can get to know some of your new friends.” Her dad stated. All Liz could think about was how much she didn’t want to camp there. Practically sandwiched between Max and her brother, talk about a rock and a hard place but her father didn’t know any better. The night was going to be interesting.
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With her enhanced hearing she easily heard Max and Isabel sneaking out and heading for the woods. She headed after them making her way through the woods easily until she saw Isabel and Max stop. They had stood there arguing until Maria had joined them. The four of them headed for the sight of the sighting when Maria started complaining, “Ok. We've been, like, hiking for over an hour.”
“We're getting close.” Max stated.
“It is officially freezing out here.” Maria exclaimed.
“Maria, it's not that cold.” Liz said glad that her body temperature was higher than the average, keeping her warm.
“Really? Really, 'cause I’m now wearing an ice bra! Whatever, it's uncomfortable!” Maria snapped but Liz ignored her when she heard a sound she hadn’t heard in a long time. A sound she heard in her nightmares.
“Search dogs. Come on, we're close. Come on!” They started jogging through the woods but they were getting closer. Liz’s memories of that night kept flashing through her mind. She half expected to look over and see Ky and the rest of her siblings running through the snow.
“Can't outrun them. They're too fast.” Max said.
“What are we gonna do?” Isabel asked.
“I don't know.” Max said looking around.
Liz got an idea, knowing it would work. She couldn’t believe what she was about to do. She had always run from the dogs, now she was going to let them catch her. “You guys just keep going.”
“What?” Max asked confused.
“Maria and I'll stay here and just let them catch us.”
“Liz, no.”
Liz saw the concern in his eyes and it made her feel better. “No, Max, it's all right. We'll just say that we got lost in the woods. This is too important. Keep going.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah. The important thing is you just find what you're looking for.”
“I will.”
Liz looked behind her and saw that they were getting very close. “All right. Go. Isabel, go. Go!”
Once they were gone Liz and Maria started yelling, “We're here! We're over here! Help! Come find us! Help us! We're over here! We're here! We're right here.”
“My mom's gonna love this, really.” Maria grumbled as the deputies came over to them.
Thankfully her dad and the deputies didn't question them getting lost in the woods and the Sheriff had been too busy looking for Max to come to her. So her plan had worked and she didn't get in any trouble. Now if she could just keep it up.
Part 19
Kyle watched Max moon over his sister on her blind date. He had been out with his friends earlier and had gotten drunk. It had taken a lot considering they had high metabolisms, but he had done it. Then he had run into Max and it was time to have some fun and rile Max. “Love is in the air...can you smell it?”
“You can walk to the club from here. I'll give you your keys in the morning.” Max said as he started to leave but Kyle stopped him. Oh, wait...wait...wait...wait. You can't...you can't leave now. You can't leave now. It's just about to get interesting.” Just then Liz and her ‘date’ kissed. Kyle looked over at the miserable face of Max. “Hey! Hey! I've gotta help you out here. Try this.” He handed him the flask.
“I don't drink.” Max answered.
“Just...just take a sip.” Kyle pressed.
“I said I don't drink.” Max said again.
“Just one sip. One sip. What's it gonna do? Kill you? No. No, it's gonna calm you down, man. It's gonna, just, you know...take the sting away. Just...try it. Just trust me, nothin' bad's gonna happen.” If he got Max to drink maybe he’d loosen up and talk. Then Kyle might be able to figure out what Liz was hiding. Max took the flask and took a drink. Kyle noticed the glazed over look in his eyes and asked, “Do you feel dizzy?”
“My tongue...feels very...heavy.” Max slurred.
“You really don't drink, do you?”
“Never...”
“You, my friend, are drunk. How much did you chug?” He wasn’t sure how much it would take a normal guy who never drank to get tipsy. His friends had been drinking for years and had a high tolerance.
“This much...” Max said pinching his fingers together.
“What a wussie!”
“Did you just call me a wussie?” Max asked.
“I believe I did.” Kyle said stepping up.
“Do you see that mailbox?” Max pointed out. “I'll beat you to it. On your mark...”
“Mm!” Kyle grunted. There was no way that Max would be able to out run him, not with his transgenic speed. Of course Kyle had never ran while he was drunk.
“Go!” Max yelled.
“It's "get..." You said--you skipped "get set!” You bastard! Max, where are you? Evans? Evans! Evans?” Kyle yelled as he took off after him. Kyle ran slowly before coming to a stop, and looked around for Max. His vision was slightly out of focus and he didn’t see Max anywhere. “Evans! I know you're somewhere. You weren't that far ahead of me. Here Maxie, Maxie, Maxie!”
“I wanna thank you, Kyle, for giving me a new outlook on things.” He heard Max say from above him. He looked up to see Max sitting above him. “How the hell did you get up there?”
“I used the ladder.”
Kyle looked around “There is no ladder.”
“Well, yeah, now.”
“Whatever.” Kyle said shrugging. “ Get down before you break your neck and everybody blames me for getting you trashed. Maybe getting you drunk wasn't such a good idea.” Liz was going to kill him for getting Max like this. Yup, she was going to pull out her knife and filet him. He was going to be one dead X5.
“No, no, you were right.” Max said. Kyle looked at him, “I was?”
“Yeah. All the stuff you said...about me, about Liz. I've been keeping all this stuff inside...not confronting the horrible, ugly truth of it all. I've been hiding for years, Kyle. Years. But it's time the real Max comes out.”
Kyle didn’t exactly feel comfortable with how close Max was to him. “He wouldn't be gay, by any chance, would he?”
Max laughed. “You're funny, kyle. You're funny. No matter how much of a jackass you're being...you always know how to turn a phrase.”
“You think I'm a jackass?”
“Yeah, see? See? Secret-keeper Max would never say that to your face. But the real Max...he'll tell you everything he thinks. No inhibitions. You should try it.”
Now he was he was getting somewhere, the good stuff. “Ok, so let's be brutally honest with each other here, shall we? You and Liz are in love.”
“No flies on you, Kyle.”
“Ok, so then why aren't you together?” He had seen how hurt his sister had been after Max had broken up.
“The problem is that I'm a serious, dark-haired mystery man from an exotic place.” Max answered.
“But that's exactly what she wants.” Although they were young Liz and their sisters had talked about what they wanted their loves to be, and Liz had repeated it again for the radio station.
“Women.”
“Yeah. Go figure. We're a couple of big, fat losers, Evans.” Kyle said feeling sorry for himself. He had lost his sister, the person he had always counted on. Max voice pulled him from his thoughts, “Well that’s a little harsh, don't you think?”
“Not harsh, but true. I mean, the point is we've let ourselves sink. I mean, look at us. We're beaten.” Kyle explained.
“Not unless we give up.”
“Well, in case you haven't noticed, we're here in the gutter while she's off smooching with dogboy.” Kyle stated.
“We're gonna win her back.”
“We are?” Kyle asked.
“We're gonna show her how we feel about her and she's gonna forget all about Mr. Shallow and come back to us.” Max slurred
“ Shellow.” Kyle corrected.
“Come on.” Max said walking off.
“Well, how do we split her up, exactly? Every other week? Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, alternate Saturdays?” Kyle joked as they headed to the Crashdown.
Part 20
Kyle looked at the heart on his sister’s wall, wondering how Max had put it there. “It's a symbol of my love. This is where I blew It with her...so this is where I'm gonna make things right. Done.”
“Nice.”
“Thanks.”
“Girls always like that meaningful stuff.” He stated. Kyle was never one for romance. Before he and Liz started their ruse, Kyle had dated several girls and Liz had always tried to coach him on that stuff but it had stuck. “I suck at that. So tell me the truth, does it really get you farther?”
“What do you mean?” Max asked confused.
“You know...farther. All right, listen, I'll tell you if you tell me. How far did you and Liz get?” 'I swear if he says they did more than kiss I'll pull out my gun and shoot off the protruding parts of his body.'
“We saw into each other's souls. How about you?” Max answered.
“Second base.” Kyle lied.
“Well, we can't win them all. Come on, let's go.”
“Wait, wait, wait. We can't leave now.” Kyle said.
“Why not?”
“Well, look where we are. Liz's bedroom. It's Mecca.” Kyle knew it was wrong but he wanted to see if he could find anything interesting about what his sister might be hiding. Like her journal. The two of them looked around and Kyle went straight to her dresser. “Top drawer. Always lingerie. Dare I?”
Kyle could see Max was busy doing something on Liz’s desk. “The secrets of femininity, so close. Who knows what I may discover?” He said just as the door busted open and Liz walked in the room with Doug behind her. Her eyes first fell on him. “Kyle, what are you do...Max.”
“Now, Liz, before you jump to any conclusion, I think you ought to know that we are really...really drunk.” Kyle said trying to cover his tracks. Thankfully there were witnesses in the room but she’d make him pay later.
“Who are these guys?” Doug asked.
“We're the ex-es. The rejects. Actually, if you must know, we're here to win her back.”
“Kyle, what did you do to him?” Liz asked. She didn’t know what was going on but her brother was obviously drunk just as he said. Now it looked like he had gotten Max drunk as well.
“Now don't you go and tell her anything I've been talking about tonight. It's private.” Max said to Kyle.
“Oh, your secret's safe with me, pal.” Kyle said back and saw the flash of fear go through his sister’s eyes.
“Um, look, um, Kyle, anything that Max has told you or anything that you've seen him do tonight, is a lie. Cuz Max, um...he has this problem. He...when he's drunk he sort of has a tendency to make things up. Right, Max?” Liz lied quickly.
“But this is the first time I've ever been drunk.”
Liz sighed in frustration; this was not how she envisioned her evening, babysitting two drunken unique males. Liz looked at Doug, “Would you two just excuse us, please for one second?”
“No, this is supposed to be...” Doug said protesting but Kyle stepped in his way. “This is none of your business, Shallow. And you're looking at 160 pounds of varsity greco-roman wrestler who's gonna keep it that way.”
“Yeah.” Doug challenged.
The thought of this guy trying to take him on was hilarious. “Ha ha ha ha. No.” He said as he saw his sister pull Max out on her roof and the radio station people came back into the room.
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Liz was trying to do damage control. “Ok, Max, look, we've just got to get you somewhere safe until you sober up.”
“I don't think that's gonna happen.”
“Why not?” Liz asked confused.
“All I had was one little sip...and it's not wearing off.” Max said.
“Oh.” Liz said as she saw the heart Max had drawn for her. “You like it?”
Liz watched Max make the symbol glow. She could still hear her brother in the other room. “I said sit down, dogboy.”
“Liz, what's going on out there?” Doug asked.
“I can't hold him back much longer.” Kyle hollered out just as he saw his sister and Max heading down her ladder.
Liz ran with Max down the street. “Max! Max, please. We have to stop. Please, we have to stop.”
“Let's just keep running, you and me, away from here, away from everything. I see everything so clearly now. We'll go someplace where no one knows us. As long as we're together, nothing else matters.”
As much as she wanted to do just that, she knew it wasn’t an option. Liz said, “You're drunk. Nothing that you're saying is true.”
“It's all true, Liz. It's how I really feel. It's all just magic when I think about you.” He said as he put his hand on a lamppost and caused the light to shine in a pattern.
Liz looked around scared that they would be exposed. “Max, turn it off. Anyone can see.”
“And when I'm not with you...I go crazy.” Max continued touching a car as he said it and the car alarm goes off. The high pitch sound hurt her ears, and then Max changed it to a more pleasant tune. “Max.”
“When you're here...” Max started to say but again Liz interrupted, “Oh, Max. Please.”
“You're my dream girl, Liz.”
Liz’s heart melted at his words, she wanted to be with him more that anything. “And what if I believe you tonight?”
“Then we live happily ever after.” Max said with a smile.
“And then what about tomorrow...when you go back to realizing who you really are, and all of your fantasies go away.” Liz had dreamed and fantasized many times about not being who she was.
“I'll still have you.” Max said looking at her. Right then all of the reasons how their lives were different than other people’s flashed through her mind and she said, “This can never be normal, Max.”
Max touched the tops of some parking meters, and they turned into sparklers, “What's so great about normal?”
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Later that night, Liz walked around town thinking about her night. It had started out decent then went to great during the time she spent with Max until it ended up in disaster when Max sobered up. All the sweet romantic things he had said, he couldn’t remember any of it. It depressed, so much that she didn’t even feel like going to yell at Kyle. She headed back to her balcony and saw that Max had removed the heart. She changed quickly before flopping down on her bed and going to sleep.
Part 21
Sexual Healing
"It's February 20th. I'm Liz Parker, and lately I've been having these feelings, like I'm changing inside, and part of me doesn't want to change. Part of me always wants to be my mom's little girl. But the thing is, these feelings are strong...dangerous, undeniable. It's like I have no choice. It's like...chemical." Liz writes in her journal. The last couple of days she had been feeling strange, something she couldn’t describe. She finished writing in her journal and was about to head downstairs to start her shift when she heard someone on her ladder. She looked up and saw Kyle’s head pop over the top. “Hey.”
“Hey.”
“I know things between us have been weird but I wanted to come by and tell you I got your message about Zack coming to check in.” It was then that he noticed a change in the air. “Liz, is something going on with you?”
“Ky….”
“No I don’t mean what you’re doing, I mean with you. You smell different.”
“Thanks. That makes me feel good. But yeah, I have been feeling different lately.” Liz admitted.
“Like what?”
She felt a little uncomfortable talking to her brother about this but he was the only one who was like her. “Something primal.”
It was that statement that it finally clicked as to what was going on. “Liz, I think you’re going into heat.”
“What?”
“Remember Zack warned us about this. I think you’re going into your first heat.”
“But it isn’t the same as what he said. He said I’d go hormonal for forty-eight hours. I’ve been feeling like this for awhile.” Although even as she said she knew she was kidding herself. What she said was true and it was getting stronger. She had noticed how she had reacted to anyone male well except her brother.
“Maybe since it’s your first one it takes longer.”
“Great.” Liz said sarcastically.
“You need to tell your mom so she can watch you until Zack gets here. I don’t think you want me to.” It hurt him that his sister was keeping something from him and he knew that if he were to stay and watch her they would have another fight.
“I’m fine. I don’t need someone to watch me.” She snapped. “Now I have to go work.”
Kyle watched her go and decided she wouldn’t listen to him. He knew that Liz and Max had broken up so he didn’t have to worry about her being around him. Of course that didn’t mean she wouldn’t go after him, or any other male. If she wouldn’t do it then he would tell her parents for her. To protect her and keep her safe.
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“Liz, nice strawberries.” Liz broke out of her daydream at the sound of Maria’s voice. She hadn’t even realized she had been daydreaming. And now her body had reacted to it and she was all heated up. She breathed deeply trying to control it as she reached down to pick up the fallen berries.
“Are you ok?” Maria asked.
“Yeah, I'm...I'm fine.” Liz said. 'Just about to go nuts. Maybe I should have listened to Kyle.'
“You have a visitor.” She said before eating the strawberry. “Mmm. Sweet.”
Liz looked up and saw Max. 'Oh no, he's the last person I need to see in this condition' The thought was no more in her head then he came over and said, “Hey.“
“Hey. “
“I hope this isn't my fault.” He said gesturing to the strawberries.
“Why would this be your fault?” She asked trying to ignore how his masculine scent got her blood pumping, and how his body looked in his leather jacket. His scent was so strong she could almost taste him. She was so busy ogling him that she barely heard him say, “If I startled you.”
She smiled at him coyly. “No. You know, I always knock over strawberries this time of day. Always. I'm just gonna go get more berries from...” She motioned towards the back.
“Well, wait. Here's another one.” Liz took the strawberry and headed for the kitchen. She had to stay away from him or she would rip his clothes off. But instead of leaving her alone he followed her. “What are you doin' here, Max?”
“Well, I have orders from my planet to take over the Earth.”
“Besides that.” She said rolling her eyes.
“I want to make sure we can still be friends.”
'Right now I want to be more than friends, way more' she thought but said, “ Yeah. I mean, we are.”
“Good.” He said.
“Why wouldn't we be?” She asked.
“We really haven't been able to talk since...that night.”
“Max, people do a lot of dumb things when they're drunk.” She had seen her brother drunk enough to know that. “Anyway, I understand.”
“And we're friends?” He asked with a big smile.
“Yeah. We're friends.”
“Just friends?’ The way he was smiling at her made her think that maybe he was reacting to her pheromones.
She couldn’t help but smile at him seductively. He was flirting and she wanted him. It was like playing with fire, only he didn’t know it. Flirting back she walked by him purposely brushing his hard body. “Yeah. We're just friends.”
She turned around and went past him again when she felt him grab her. He pulled her against him and his lips crashed to hers. She kissed him back hungrily not wanting to fight the urges she was feeling anymore. Somehow through the sexual haze she managed to move his hand away when it crept up her thigh where her harness for her knife was. She was in such pleasure that it startled her when she started to see flashes. They were of stars, planets, etc. She was sure that it wasn’t part of the heat but from Max. She gasped at the feelings that came from the images, which got Max’s attention and they broke apart. 'What was going on?' Liz thought. She was sure that this wasn’t part of her heat, so what was it? It was hard enough going through this heat without something alien interfering.
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