A New Destiny, Celestial Stalker

By: Lioness

E-mail: Hecubus@servant.co.uk

Rating: PG-13

Legal Stuff: Roswell belongs to Jason Katmis Productions and the WB. All new characters/ideas belong to me.

Category(s): Max/Liz, Max/Other, Tess/Kyle, and a little Michael/Maria (Look at me be CC for once!)

Genre(s): General/Romance

Spoilers: Anything before "Heart of Mine," since this story takes place before it. So Alex lives and I still have my Rebounder delusions.

Summary: It's always been a question of Liz or Tess. But that changes when another woman enters Max's life...and she won't take no for an answer.
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A blue mustang sped up 285 north. The girl in the front seat, she couldn't have been any older than eighteen, put out her cigarette in the ash tray. She promptly went for another, but stopped. She looked in the review mirror at the blue flashing lights.

"Damnit." She mumbled, looking around for another car, but her's was the only other one on the deserted road. She pulled over. She began to get things like licenses and proof of ownership out. After a few minutes she rolled her window down for the cop.

"License, miss?"

She handed him her license. "How fast was I going..." She glanced at the shiny silver nameplate pinned to his shirt, "Sheriff Valenti?"

He looked up at her, over his clip board, with his eyes only. "Seventy-eight. The speed limit's fifty-five."

She winced. She hadn't even realized she was going so fast. "Really, Sheriff, there was no on else on this road, except you, and you just came out of no where. I haven't seen a soul in probably...sixty miles?"

I agree, Miss..." he glanced at her license, "Holmes, but the law's the law."

"I understand that you are the withholder of the law, but don't tell me you haven't ever gotten caught up in driving a sporty car on a road with no other cars. Windows down, the sun shining, the desert air in your hair...." She tried to make it sound more exciting than it actually was. She just hadn't been paying attention.

He rolled his eyes at her. "You would make a great con artist, Miss Holmes. I'm letting you off with a warning."

She flashed him a grin. "Thank you, Sheriff. And you won't regret it. I promise."

"I'm regretting it already." He said, handing her license back to her. "Drive safely."

"You too!" She called, as he walked away. She grinned. She put her car into drive and drove back onto the road, watching her speed as the Sheriff was behind her. There wasn't much anywhere for him, or her, to go on the two-lane highway.

Until they got to Roswell.

***

"Listen, Maxwell, you need to stop this."

Max Evans flopped back onto his bed. "I know."

"It's great that you're getting to know Tess better, we all feel bad for the way we first treated her, but you know I don't believe in that destiny crap. So stop using that as a rouse for an answer." Michael Guerin stated clearly from his seat on Max's backwards desk chair.

Max gave his friend a look, raising his right eyebrow. "Do you know anyone who says 'rouse' in real life?"

"Shut up. I was just saying that destiny has got to stop being an excuse for you choice. Both of them want in your pants. I say go for it."

"But for which one?"

"You say you love Liz, don't you?"

"I do but-"

"Then Liz is the one."

"But Tess-"

"Maxwell, have you seen Tess lately?" Michael interrupted again.

"She came over yesterday with Isabel."

"Okay, rephrasing that. Have you seen her around Kyle?"

Max shrugged. "I don't know."

"I work at the Crashdown. I see every person who walks in there. She likes the guy in more than a house-mate kind of way."

Max sat up. "How do you say that?"

"You know when you and Liz were going through that 'just friends' thing back when she first found out about us, but you guys already had your soulmate love crap?"

"I wouldn't exactly call it 'soulmate love crap,' but yeah. I remember."

"That's how those two act."

"You're kidding me."

"Maxwell, you're blind to what you don't want to see." Michael said, concealing a sigh.

Max shook his head, ignoring Michael's comment. He thought for a few moments. "Let's go to the Crashdown."

"Have you made a choice?"

"If I hadn't, would we be going to the Crashdown?"

***

It was amazing how hot it got in only March. Especially in a café that had no air conditioning. Jeff Parker had promised to get it fixed, but three days had gone by and every cook and waitress, even his own daughter, glared at him when he walked by them. He avoided his own business like a plague.

"You know, The Crashdown makes a heck of a lot of money." Liz Parker said while cleaning the shake machine. "We make that money so when things like the air conditioning break down, we can fix them."

Maria DeLuca wiped sweat from her forehead with a damp towel. "This is unbearable. Really, you're dad is pissing me off. If he puts it off another day, I'm quitting. My mom is hiring at her place. Come on, Lizzie, we can both go work there."

Liz laughed as she put the lid back onto shake machine. "We're selling a lot of shakes due to the heat."

"Yeah, but think of all the electricity we're wasting by running twelve fans for twenty-four hours a day." Maria pointed out. She glanced over at the door. "Check it out."

They both looked as a dark haired stranger walked through the door. She went straight for the counter. She glanced at the waitresses meaningfully.

"I'll take it." Maria volunteered. She walked over to the stranger. "Hi, welcome to the Crashdown, yada yada yada, what do ya want?"

The girl smiled. "Just a Coke. I'm parched."

Maria wrote that down on her pad. As she got the Coke she looked at Liz. "Who says 'parched' in real life?" She whispered loudly.

Liz laughed and turned back to counter she was intently wiping down. Ever since the heat wave, and then their air conditioning breaking down, they weren't extremely busy.

Maria practically tossed the Coke down onto the counter. "So, whatcha doing in this neck of the woods?"

The girl drank probably half of the cola in one gulp. "What do you mean?"

"I've lived in Roswell all my life. I've never seen you before. What, exactly, are you doing here?" Maria asked, trying not to sound paranoid, just nosy.

The girl smiled. She looked at the waitress's name tag (it was rather similar to the one the Sheriff wore, only with a Saturn-type planet on the right side.), "Well, Maria, I'm sort of on a one person road trip."

Maria nodded and waited for more.

"That's about it." The girl said.

"Do you have a name?" Maria asked.

"Selena Rosina Holmes." She said quickly, using a Spanish accent on the first two words, and then a clear accent free voice on the third. She raised her eyebrows at the waitress.

"That's...some name. All I caught from that was...nothing."

"Selena" She said, extending her hand.

She shook her hand. "Maria DeLuca."

"Pleasure. Now, why are you so nosy?"

"Usually don't get Mexican strangers in here everyday."

"This *is* New *Mexico* isn't it?" Selena asked. Before Maria could say anything, she went on. "And I'm only half Mexican. I'm also Canadian."

"God, are you even an American citizen?" Maria blurted out.

Selena laughed. "Yes. Born in Michigan. Now, tell me your heritage."

Maria excused herself just as Max and Michael entered the next to empty café.

"Hasn't the damn AC been fixed?" Michael asked as he sat down on one of the stools. He looked at Liz. "When's your dad going to do that?"

Liz looked at him, shooting daggers. "If it's all that important to you, fix it yourself."

"Score one for the girl in the alien headgear." Maria said, giving her friend a high five.

Michael sent a scowl in his girlfriend's direction. She didn't notice. "So, you going to get us something to drink?"

She looked at him. "Yeah right. Get it yourself. You work here for a reason."

He scowled again, but go up and got himself a cherry Coke, getting one for Max as well. He grabbed a bottle of Tabasco sauce and plopped back down on his stool.

"Thanks." Max said gratefully, taking the glass. He dressed the cola and drank. He glanced over at Liz. "We need to talk. In private."

Liz and Maria exchanged a look. "All right." Liz said, walking into the back room. She leaned up against the counter. "What's up, Max?"

"I've been a fool." Max said, looking at the floor. He wasn't usually so shy around her. "I can't believe that it's taken me so long..." He looked up at her. "I only want you."

Liz's face remained expressionless. "Well."

He swallowed hard. "Well?" His voice was laden with curiosity.

"That was...beautiful, Max."

He could sense a 'but' coming on. He looked at her meaningfully. He wanted to speak, but he just couldn't. His mouth had suddenly gone dry. He tried to swallow again, but there wasn't anything *to* swallow.

"And you know, how I would love to be with you." She went on, "But both you and I know that can't be."

Suddenly he knew what to say. "Why not? Why can't we be together?"

"You have a responsibility to your...whatever. Max, we have to stop kidding ourselves."

"I've never kidded myself about you, Liz. I love you, and I'm not going to let anything, or anyone, come between us."

"It's too late for that. Tess already has." She said, sounding like a child who didn't get to play with the toy she wanted to.

He stepped closer to her, touching her shoulders. "She confused me. But I'm thinking straight now. It's all about you." He kissed her gently.

"Okay." Liz suddenly agreed after they parted. They walked back into the main room of the café hand-in-hand.

"Oh my god." Maria said as they returned. "You guys got back together!"

They grinned at each other.

"Hey, where did that girl go?" Liz asked, looking at the empty glass and the five dollar bill next to it.

"Doesn't matter." Maria said, picking up the money. "She left a three seventy-five tip. And all she got was a Coke."

***

Tess Harding lay on her stomach, rummaging under the bed. She was murmuring such phrases like, "I know it's here somewhere" or "Where are you?"

Kyle Valenti walked in he looked at her with raised eyebrows. "I got all of my porno magazines out from under there, you know."

"Shit!" She cried out, as she hit her head on the bottom of the bed. She slid out from under the bed, her shirt riding up a bit on the carpet. She sat upright on the floor. "If I was looking for porno, I'd take a visit inside your mind."

He began to laugh, but suddenly he stopped. "You can do that?"

It was her turn to laugh. "What do you want?"

He sat on the bed. "Nothing. I was bored." He pulled a small dust bunny from her hair. "What are you doing?"

"I'm looking for my science report. I worked long and hard for that thing. I'm not about to get an F just because I misplaced it."

"Did you try, maybe, your desk?" Kyle suggested placidly.

She got this expression her face. At first as if she were going to say 'of course I looked there,' but then it changed, to be perhaps she *should* have thought that, but clearly, she the thought never crossed her mind.

She stood up and searched through the drawer of her desk, retrieving a crumpled piece of paper. She stuffed inside a folder. "So, what are you *really* doing here, Kyle?"

"I told I was-"

"Save it for the näive people. Tell me what you're doing here."

"Aren't I allowed to hang out with my favourite Martian?" He asked, trying to make a joke.

She laughed. "I prefer 'alien,' you know."

He nodded with a half smile. "Yeah, I know."

***

Selena walked away from the café, the wind whipping at her long black hair. She got into her car, and as she put it into reverse, her cell phone rang. Wait until I'm on the road, she thought, shifting into drive.

Her fingers grazed over the talk button. "Hello?"

"Little sis?"

Selena rolled her eyes. "You love that two minute difference, don't you?"

The woman on the phone made a noise like she was laughing, but it wasn't real laughter. "Where are you at?"

"Mexico." She said, not *really* lying.

"Well, come back."

"You say that every time you call. Haven't you gotten it through your thick skull that I'm not coming back? Nothing you say, nothing Mama says, can make me come back to that...hellhole."

"I know we should never have gotten you car."

"Sticking a brick on my head, are you? Listen, sister, you can't do that. Not to me. Maybe Mama has you stuck there for the rest of your life, but-"

"Shut up, Selene. Come back."

"If we're going to have the same conversation every time, stop calling me."

"Fine. I just like knowing my little sister is alive." She hung up the phone.

Selena hit the end button on her own phone. Screw her, she thought as she pulled into the motel parking lot. She was in love, and she wasn't leaving Roswell, New Mexico. Not for a long time.

She picked up her pack of cigarettes. As she went into the main office she lit one. A few minutes later, as she walked to her room, she wondered where her matches where.

***

"You know, there was something fishy about that girl." Maria said, as she locked the front doors. She glanced back at Liz. "Don't you think?"

"Hm? Oh, what girl?"

Maria rolled her eyes. "I know you're all love sick, but that girl creeped me out. She was really distant."

"So what? A lot of people are distant. Not *everyone* wants you digging into their personal life. There is such a thing as private people." Liz said. "You know, Max is like that."

"My god, Liz. Everything is Max with you today. I understand you just got back together, but sheesh."

She smiled. "Maria, you're funny."

"Thank you. You're crazy."

They both grinned.

"So, about the girl..."

"Maria, it's over. If we ever see her again, I'll be surprised. She's probably just a tourist. You know how we get those."

"It's March. How many tourists do we get in March?"

"Plenty. Ones who wants to start out early. You know, before the rush. I read about these tourists in Europe, and there were so many people there in the summer that you could barely walk on the streets. Let alone get a hotel reservation." Liz said, as she picked up the dishes from one of the tables.

"Look outside. Does that look like Europe to you?" Maria said, pointing to the door with a dishrag.

"No."

"Because it's Roswell, New Mexico and there is a crazy woman out there."

Liz laughed. "She went from fishy to crazy?"

"She's insane. I know it."

"Uh oh. In a few minutes she's going to be an alien." Liz teased.

But Maria's jaw dropped. "Oh my god, you're right! She's probably a Skin. Probably one of the slutty ones too."

Liz shook her head at her friend. The rest of the night wasn't going to go by easy.

***

Max and Michael walked down the sidewalk, the darkness falling, chilling the air a few degrees. Enough to make a difference. The dusty breezes were much appreciated.

Coming toward them, lit by the street lights were two forms. After a few moments, they could tell that it was Tess and Kyle. The moment he saw them, Max felt his body stiffen. He wasn't exactly comfortable around either one.

"Hey, Michael." Tess greeted brightly. In a lower, not as kind tone, she said, "Max."

"Hey, Evans. Guerin." Kyle said as a quick greeting.

"Kyle, Tess." Michael greeted them, just as they had him.

Max didn't say anything. He stood silently looking at them. He just stared.

The four of them stood, not saying anything. The tension was cuttable. A loud motorcycle sped by, squealing its tires as it went through a stop sign. It broke their silence.

"I guess we'll be on our way." Kyle said, starting to go around Max.

"Guess so." Michael said. They passed each other by. He looked at Max. "Did you see it, Maxwell?"

Max nodded. "I saw it." He picked up his pace.

***

Selena toyed with her pencil. She had a knack for drawing. She lay on her motel bed, wishing she wasn't alone. She sketched that face onto her notepad. She'd sketched many life it before, but this was the first time she really knew what his face looked like.

I wonder what his name is, she mused, sketching lines for his cheeks. She was having problems with his eyes. He had such *deep* eyes, they were hard to draw. She sketched a moon behind her eyeless creation. He had black smudges there for she had erased them many times.

Finally, after probably twenty minutes she was happy with her portrait. He was standing there, with the moon in the background. She erased the moon. She put a small planet with a single ring around it.

Now it was perfect.

She touched the planet. Then her fingers slowly moved to his face. She looked into the eyes she'd taken so much time to draw. They were perfect. She could read them, even in her drawing. They were calling her.

And she was listening.

She racked her memory to check once again if they had said his name. No, they hadn't. Not in her presence, anyway. It was frustrating. She had a perfect image of him on paper. Now, she had this blank for his name.

Maybe it was Kevin. She shook her head. He didn't look like a Kevin. Perhaps a James. That could be it. But it would always be James, never Jim. Michael. No, not Michael. She liked the M, though.

She rolled over on her bed, looking down at her drawing. It was almost perfect. The next time she drew his face, hers was going to be next to it. When that sketch becomes her reality, her life with be full.

Now if only Serena could see that.

*

The next morning Selena walked around Roswell. She didn't know where he lived. If she only had his name, she could track him down. It just wasn't fair. She had to do things the old fashion way.

She had to break into the Roswell federal building.

Lucky me, they're open, she thought as she reached the building. She opened the door and walked into the sweet air conditioning. She smiled at the receptionist. "Hi, I'm searching for someone, I haven't seen them in a long time, but I have reason to believe they're in Roswell."

"Well, if that's the case, miss, you should go to the Roswell Lost and Found." The receptionist said with an over-sweet voice.

"But, I heard that you have a picture search. I have a drawing of what I think he may look like. Uh," Selena fumbled with the portrait and handed it to the lady, "may I use it? It's important."

The woman looked over the drawing. "This is very good, but you don't a picture search for this."

"I don't?"

"No, this is Max Evans."

Selena's face lit up. "Max Evans." She said for the first time. She stopped suddenly. "How do you know that?"

"Oh, he's lived here all his life, as I have. I know his parents. Diane and Philip. Nice folks. His sister is the real asset to the community, though. Actually, last year he had some trouble with the law."

"Trouble with the law?"

"Yeah, the Sheriff thought he was a, get this, an alien." The woman laughed a good one. "He's a nice boy. How do you know him?"

"I met him on a vacation. In Florida." Selena lied, guessing that everyone took a vacation to Florida at some point. She didn't know how well she knew his family.

The woman nodded and handed the drawing back. "He lives over on Seventh Street. Fourth house on the right. All the houses look the same on that street. Big and white, with some brown Aztec trim."

"Aztec is always good." Selena mumbled while she walked out the door. She wondered what sort of records they had down at the police station about him. She looked down at her picture. "Max Evans. You are beautiful, Max Evans."

***

"So, Mister Evans, what can I get you?" Liz teased.

He grinned. "If a cherry Coke could be on the menu..."

"I think we still have those."

"Will you just order?" Michael called from over the back counter.

Liz turned around and stuck her tongue out at him, and Max laughed.

The door opened and Selena walked in. She stuffed her drawing into her back pocket. She sat down on the stool next to Max's. She smiled nonchalantly at him. "Hi."

He gave a polite smile in return. "Hi."

Selena wasn't stupid enough to think that he was smiling at her for any other reason that to be polite, but she couldn't help but feel a tingle run down her spine. "Listen, you from around here?"

He laughed. "Yeah."

Her eyes narrowed at his lie. "You know how to get to Fairborn?"

"Yeah, it's about thirty miles south of here." He replied.

"South? I must have passed right through it. I came from the South. Shit if I know anything." She looked at his face, and for a moment she was drawn into his eyes, just as she had been the night before to her portrait. She looked away when he began to shift uncomfortably. She didn't want him to be uncomfortable. "My name is Selena."

"Max."

She inhaled the thick air. It was wonderful to hear him say his own name. She could only wait for him to recite hers. She could only imagine his voice, low and steady. Purring gently into her ear...She shot back to reality, feeling her body temperature rise at her own fantasy. She flushed, but no one noticed. No one really noticed she was there.

But when Liz set Max's cherry Coke on the counter, she noticed her. "Can I help you?"

"Coke please."

Liz nodded narrowly at her. She got the cola and set it in front of her. "Anything else?"

"No thank you...Not right now."

Liz looked to Max. "Would you like anything else?"

He smiled at her. "As long as I'm here with you, I'm perfectly content."

Liz said something, but Selena didn't hear it. She suddenly understood why Max hadn't given her a second glance. She had always considered herself to be at least mildly attractive. She was thin and had long dark hair and dark eyes. She even looked a little like the woman he was giving his affection to, except that she was a bit taller - by at least three inches, if not more.

Selena narrowed her eyes at Liz. She was in her way. She was a problem. Problems have to be eliminated.

Just then her cell phone rang. She pulled it out of her purse, "Hello?"

"Selene, you have to come home."

"You always say that. I'm beginning to get really sick of you saying that all the friggin time. Listen, Serena, I'm not going to do anything that you say. You need to get that through your thick skull."

"Selene, mama is sick."

"So much sicker than yesterday when you called begging me to come back?" Selena spat into the phone.

"It wasn't as bad yesterday. We had to take her to the hospital."

"That's a bunch of bullshit."

"You have to believe me. I wouldn't lie to you about something like this? Selene, come home. Please? If not for me, for mama."

"Mama was one of the reasons I left in the first place. You know that. You can handle her so much better."

"And you're just like her. That's why you two don't get along."

"Please, Serena, leave me alone."

"I can't do that. You know it."

Selena noticed how much thicker her sister's accent was than her own. She had always been jealous of that. She wanted the Spanish accent, so when she spoke quickly no one could understand what she was saying. It was just a childhood wish. "If you're going to call, at least give me something new." She quickly hung up the phone and replaced it to her purse.

"Excuse me, I couldn't help but overhear, but did you say the name "Serena?"" Liz asked as politely as she could from behind the counter.

Selena tried to work up her accent the way her sister could. "Yes, why?"

"I just, I sort of knew someone who's name was Serena." Liz stammered.

"Oh really. Well, then you must have met me as well. My sister and I were hardly separated until I left three weeks ago." She raised her eyes at the girl who held the affection of her love.

Liz swallowed at her own lie. "What, exactly, is your last name? Maybe I met you as well."

"Holmes."

"Holmes...Serena Holmes, that was it. That was it." Liz squinted her eyes carefully at the girl in front of her. "I just can't recall you. What was your name?"

"Selena. They rhyme. It can't be that hard." She said shortly.

Liz knew that this was the girl from the day before and now that she was taking notice, Maria was right. She was fishy. Not crazy, insane, or alien. None of those just yet. She was still at the fishy level. "So, you been in Roswell long?"

"I'm really, just passing through. Gotta keep away from the officials." She patted the purse.

Her phone, she's talking about Serena, Liz thought, she can't be running from the police or anything like that. That would just be too much. She's fishy enough as it is.

"Not the law, my sister." Selena said, as if she could read her mind.

Liz nodded as if she hadn't been thinking just that. "Do you want anything else?"

"No," Selena pulled out a five and tossed it onto the counter. "I'd like change."

Liz took the money and handed her the three seventy-five, not really expecting a tip. She watched as the dark haired stranger left. There was something really fishy about her. She just needed to figure out what. She looked to Max. "Did you noticed anything...fishy about that girl?"

He shrugged. "She seemed pretty short with you, but that's about it. And what was the thing with Serena?"

Liz bit her index finger nail and didn't respond. "She seemed really nice with you."

Max flashed a smiled, "I'm that kind of guy."

She rolled her eyes. "Don't let it go to your head. If she seemed extra interested in you, you should be careful. You don't know what kind of people she could be working for."

"She couldn't have been any older than us. I seriously doubt she's working for someone."

"She could be, this was really Maria's idea, another alien."

"Yeah, we know every stranger who walks in this door is either an alien or an alien hunter." He smiled and took her hand. "Liz, there is nothing to worry about. I doubt she's either. And if she is, we'll deal with as we always have in the past."

"Don't you think we should check her out? See what she's up to?"

"No."

***

"Liz, why the hell are we doing this?" Michael asked with an eye roll.

"Because we don't know if she could be a threat. A danger to you all. Now unlock this door while no one is in there." Liz said, trying to sound as logical as possible. If she made any sound of danger, she knew Michael would jump at it. He was like that.

"How do you know she's not there?" Maria asked, clutching Michael's hand.

"She drives a blue mustang. It's pretty distinctive. Now unlock the door."

"Good enough for me." Michael said. He pressed his hand over the doorknob and it glowed red for an instant. He opened the door and walked inside. "What should we be looking for?"

"Anything that would make her a threat." Liz said, picking up a laptop computer. "Too bad Alex isn't here. Maria, close the door."

Maria shut the door quietly. She picked up a pad of paper on the night stand, but nothing had been written on it, so she moved on to the trash. She picked through some used tissues and an empty Ding Dong wrapped until she found a few crumpled sheets of drawing paper. "Uh, guys, I found something here."

"What is it?" Liz asked sitting down next to her friend on the bed. "Oh my god." It were partially drawn pictures of Max. Some of them were completed, but they didn't look exactly like him. Some of them had the moon or stars in the background. The ones that were lesser done had names written on the sides.

"What do you think this means?" Maria asked, holding up one that was almost done, except the eyes. They were just black smudges. A few doodles were sketched carelessly on the side, and a couple of names. Most of the incomplete pictures had names on them.

"Nothing in the bathroom." Michael said coming into the main room. He looked at the wastepaper basket in Maria's lap. "I even checked the trash. I can correctly guess that the reason she was so short with you, Liz, was PMS."

Maria held out the drawing. "What do you make of this?"

He took it, his mind suddenly was full. He dropped the paper. "Oh god." He steadied himself with a hand on the bed. "Wow."

"What happened?" Maria asked hysterically, grabbing his hand.

"I'm okay. I just got a flash from it."

"What was it?" Liz asked eagerly.

"She's not a threat to all of us." Michael said, sitting down. "Just to Maxwell. Her mind is a Max shrine. The first time she ever saw him was yesterday at the Crashdown. She's been thinking about him for years, though."

"Is she alien?" Liz and Maria asked in unison.

"I don't know. Check her computer."

"Okay..." Liz got up and picked the laptop up and set it on the table. She opened it up and turned it on. After a few minutes she was looking through the files. "Nothing interesting. Looks like she's a businesswoman.

"Liz, that girl couldn't have been any older than, what? Nineteen?" Maria said, looking over her shoulder. "Maybe she stole the computer from her father or something. Do you see any folders called like Selena's stuff?"

She guided the arrow over to a folder that was just labeled "Folder." She clicked on it. "Aha, a bunch of JPEG files."

"What does that mean?"

"Picture files. Who knows what else she's been doodling." Liz clicked on one that said 'sketchyboy.' The drawing didn't look much like Max, but it was obvious it was just a rough sketch. She clicked on another that was entitled 'clearer.' The picture looked an awful lot like him. Like if someone had just described him, in little detail, what you would come up with.

"Do you think she's been dreaming of him or something?" Maria suggested. "She *could* be an alien. We can't rule that out."

"No, we can't," Liz said, not really paying attention. She was busy going through the drawings. Most of them were plain sketches, each resembling Max, but not really looking like him. "My god, look at the date on this picture. Nineteen ninety-six. This picture is five years old."

"So, she's obsessed with Maxwell. She could be crazy." Michael said.

"Aha! She's moved up from fishy to crazy!" Maria said. It was funny how best friends thought alike.

"Okay, so she's crazy. I don't know what to do. We've never dealt with anyone who was obsessed with Max before." Liz said, still looking at the pictures. Then, as if something had just hit her, she looked up at Maria with an awed expression.

***

Tess sat on her bed, reading a magazine. She felt okay knowing her report was tucked safely in her folder. It was due Monday

"Tess."

She looked up to see Kyle standing there. His form pounded into her retinas. She inhaled sharply. She didn't know when it started. Maybe back when he made the first comment about his 'lamp' needing 'trimming.' Or maybe it was just the recreational time they'd been spending together. Lunch at the Crashdown. A game or two of Black Jack after school. A movie on a Sunday evening. Or even just helping each other with their homework at the library.

She had always considered the library to be an almost special place to them. They had gone there on a study date, their first official date, but that seemed like such a long time ago. Almost like life didn't exist until she moved in with the Valenti's.

She came back to reality. "Kyle."

Suddenly, all that security in their voices went dead. "Uh, do you think you'd like to, uh, maybe, go to a movie or something tonight?" They'd gone to plenty of movies, but it was the way he asked this the effected her.

Usually she would answer with a cheering 'yes' and then run to the theater. But the nervousness in his voice made her wonder if there was something more to it. She paused for the suspense of it, "Yeah, sounds fun."

His face broke out in the grin that was irresistibly his. She couldn't help but smile in return. Just as they went to leave, there was a knocking at the door. They could see through it that it was Liz, Maria, and Michael.

"You know, they must be on the 'Kyle and Tess have no right to be happy because of mistakes they made a long time ago' committee." Kyle said, just before he opened the door. "Can I help you?" He didn't sound very helpful.

"We need to talk to Tess." Liz said quickly.

Kyle went to protest, but Tess laid a hand on his arm. "It's okay. If *Liz* is coming over here to talk to me, it has to be important."

He walked away, grumbling about how Liz ruins any chance he ever has to ever be happy again.

Tess threw a small smile in his direction. She looked at the party that had invited themselves inside. "So, what brings you all to...here?"

"We need to know what a completely Max-obessed person feels like." Maria said bluntly.

Tess squinted at her. "And you think I can help...how?"

"Hello! When you first got here every other word out of your mouth was Max. You can't tell us you weren't in the least obsessed with him. You talked about him so much even Liz was tired of hearing about him. Come on, Tess, help us."

She shrugged. "I don't know. All of that was so long ago. I'm a lot different now."

"But you can remember. Please?" Liz asked, her eyes widening.

"If you think puppy eyes can work on me, you have another think coming." Tess said with a smile, "You want to know what a Max-obessed person thinks like? Or are you talking like a Max stalker freak?"

"Stalker. I never thought of that." Liz said, looking at the floor, thinking.

"Are you saying I was stalking him?" Tess asked, sounding insulted.

"No, no. We found someone we think might just be that. "Liz said, then glancing back up to Tess. "We don't know what she might do."

"You don't know what anyone will do."

"Right, but she's a real freak. She has all these drawings of Max, dating back five years, and we know she had never laid eyes on him until yesterday."

"How did you figure that all up?"

"We broke into her motel room."

"Oh, that'll do it."

"Listen, Tess, I know we bothered you right now, but if we need your help with anything else on this subject, can we come to you? You seem to be an expert." Liz asked.

"I do one or two mind warps and suddenly I'm the expert on Max stalking?"

"Come on, you know what I mean."

"Yeah, if you need anything come on over. Unless you see Kyle and I walking out the door. Then you turn around and go back on your merry way." Tess said firmly.

"Okay" Liz turned to leave, but then she turned back around. "Oh, and Max doesn't know about any of this, and it needs to stay that way."

***

Selena unlocked the door to her motel room. She looked back at the setting sun. She loved it at dusk when the sky was an even mixture of blue and pink, but not exactly purple. Big clouds scattered the skies, yellow and pink lights illuminating behind them. It was perfect.

If only Max was with me to enjoy it, She thought dreamily, closing the door behind her. She tossed her keys on the table and noticed something was wrong. Her laptop hadn't been on the table when she left. She remembered clearly, putting it next to her bed. She shook it off. She must have put it there.

She sat down on her bed and pulled off her shoes. She opened the bag she'd gotten only minutes before at the store across the street. She pulled out a package of Ding Dong and opened them up. She took a bite. Then she pulled out a bottle of Tabasco sauce. She poured a few drops onto the chocolate cake. "Down the hatch." She took another bite.

After her snack, the only food she'd eaten all day, she went in for a quick shower. She began to remove her clothes. She pulled the portrait out from her pocket where it had rested the entire day. She looked at it and sighed. She would have to draw another one later, with better details of the face she'd gotten a real look at today.

She walked out of the bathroom maybe ten minutes later in a robe, and her hair up in a towel. She pulled out her sketch book and began to draw.

*
To Be Continued...