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Elizabeth Parker was eighteen years old and she had just graduated from high school a few months. She was working at the CrashDown Cafe still but it was where she had always worked. It was where she had met Ava when she had been looking for a job four years ago, after all, and it was where Ava, Maria, and her would hang out after work since they had nothing better to do.
“Ava?”
The girls were outside of the Crash Down, sitting at one of the tables. The three of them had the day off, which rarely happened, and they decided on spending the day together. Liz and Maria had known each other since they were five years old and both Liz and Maria met Ava when she started working at the Crash Down.
Liz and Ava were a lot closer than Maria and Liz were because of how alike they were. Liz even had started adding Tabasco sauce to her foods as of lately but she always made sure that outsiders weren’t looking or even Max, Tess, Michael, Isabel, and Maria. She didn’t need them asking her questions about what she ate for that matter.
“Yes Maria?” Ava asked, grabbing the bottle of Tabasco sauce, and pouring some into her milkshake that was in front of her.
Maria flashed her a small smile, as she looked at her, and she took a sip of her Coke. “So, you know how Max is always hanging out with Tess, Michael, and his sister, Isabel?”
Ava rolled her eyes at the mention of Tess because she honestly didn’t like the girl, especially to how rude she was to Liz. “Yeah, what about it?”
“Um, I saw a guy that looked like Max, and –“
“Zan’s here?!” Ava freaked out, knocking her milkshake down, and she sighed. “Oh God…”
Quickly, one of the waiters came out to clean the mess, and left to get Ava another milkshake.
“Did I say something wrong and… Wait, you know him? How is that even possible?” Maria asked Ava, as she turned to look over at Liz, giving her a look. “Did you know about this?”
“No! Why would I know about there being another Max look-alike around here, Maria? You know I would have told the two of you,” Liz said softly, taking a sip of her milkshake, and she looked over at Ava. “So, how do you know him?”
“On my planet, Antar, we were married, actually. When we came here to Earth, we were immediately drawn to each other, but I haven’t seen him in two years.”
Liz was amazed by the news because she had never asked her about it. “Does he know about McKenna?”
“Kenzie? No. I thought he had died,” Ava mumbled, as she ran a hand through her hair, and she bit down on her bottom lip. “What am I going to do?”
“Well, he deserves to know, and you know that we’ll be here for you no matter what,” Maria said, as she then watched the waitress set Ava’s milkshake down in front of her.
“I really don’t know how I got so lucky on meeting you guys but I am so grateful,” Ava said softly, as she grabbed the bottle of Tabasco sauce, pouring it into her milkshake. “So, I’ve been thinking of changing my hair color instead of the blonde with the pink and black.”
“Oh really, is that so?” Liz asked, her eyes settling on her friend, and she popped a fry into her mouth.
“Yeah, I was either thinking black or brown with red highlights or a hot burgundy with white streaks. You know I just can’t go by one color,” Ava said with a laugh, as she looked at them, and she smiled. “Do you guys want to help me choose the right color?”
“Sure, I have nothing better to do with my day, anyways,” Maria said.
“You know I am definitely in.”
. . . . .
Max sighed. Tess was annoying the hell out of him. What part of he wasn’t interested in her did she not get, anyways? All he could even think about was Elizabeth Parker and there was just something about her that he just didn’t get. Maybe it was because she was best friends with Ava, who was Tess’s duplicate, and the complete opposite of her.
“Maxwell, are you all right? You look like you’re about to hit something or possibly someone,” Michael replied to him, as he plopped down on the couch, snatching the remote from Max.
“It’s Tess. She just won’t get off my back about us being a couple when that is the farthest thing from my mind, man. I mean, she tried to mind to mind warp me!”
Michael shook his head and he looked over at Max. “I don’t know, man. Want me to talk to her?”
Max gave a sheepish smile and he simply shook his head. “No man. She’s going to have to face it that we’re never going to be together. Anyways, I’m starving. Do you want to catch a bite?”
Michael smirked. “Sure. Let me guess… you want to go to the Crash Down, don’t you?”
Max rolled his eyes, as he lifted himself from the couch, and he glared at him. “Oh please… like you don’t want to see Maria. I don’t know why you won’t ask her out.”
“I don’t like her. She’s a weird chick. Besides, we broke up once too many times,” Michael scoffed, running a hand through his hair, and he threw the keys of Max’s jeep to him. “C’mon, let’s get a move on, man. I am starving and I need to eat.”
. . . . .
It had been about a hour since Maria, Liz, and Ava had left the Crash Down. They went to Wal-Mart, which they spent the last few hours there trying to find the right colors for Ava’s hair. They also got themselves a few things necessities they would need.
“Oh, this is going to be so much fun, girls! Lizzie, I cannot wait to see those jeans on you!” Maria gushed, as they walked into the Crash Down, and she bumped into someone, groaning when she saw that it was Michael, rolling her eyes. “Oh great…”
Michael rolled his eyes when he saw Maria and he shook his head. “You need to watch where you’re going.”
Liz hadn’t been paying any attention and she bumped right into Max, causing her bags to fall to the ground, and that definitely made her realize what she did.
“Huh? Oh, whoops. Sorry Max,” Liz said with flushed cheeks, as she looked over at him, and she bit down on her lower lip, feeling nervous.
Anytime she was around Max Evans, she felt nervous to the core, and she ran a hand through her hair. As she bent down, both Max and Liz bumped their heads against each other, and she groaned, rubbing her head.
“You two better be careful. Liz, why don’t you get some ice on that and take Max with you. You know… maybe he could help us…”
“Wait, what? Help us with what?”
“The whole Zan situation. I mean, while you two are helping me color my hair, we can tell Michael and Max about what Maria saw… or rather who she saw.”
“Hey, didn’t Lonnie and Rath kill him? I mean, isn’t that what you told us before?” Michael asked with interest, as the five of them walked through the doors that led up the stairs after Max took Liz’s bags from her hands, and they walked up the stairs towards Liz’s bedroom.
“Yeah, that’s what I saw, so I don’t know,” Ava said softly, as she pushed Liz’s bedroom door open, and she dropped her things on Liz’s bed.
When Max took a look around her room, he noticed that it looked even bigger. Although, he had only been in here once when they had a biology project to do together, and he had to admit that it looked good. It was like she had her own apartment. He could see that a wall had been knocked down to give her more room. Jeff and Nancy Parker did love their daughter more than ever.
“Wow, your room looks bigger than it did three years ago,” Max concluded, running a hand through his hair, and he set her bags gently on the bed.
“Not to burst anyone’s bubble but Liz… do you have food?”
Max glared at Michael, who flashed him a grin, and he shook his head when he turned his eyes back to Liz’s. “Sorry about Michael… but yeah, we did come here to get a bite to eat. If you don’t, I can go ahead and get –“
“Here you go,” Jeff Parker said, as he held up a few bags from the café below, and he smiled. “I saw what happened and I thought you guys would like some food.”
“Thanks Dad,” Liz said, as she grabbed the bags of food, placing them on a nearby table after he walked away before he shut the door.
Maria rolled her eyes when she saw that Michael was sitting at the couch in Liz’s room, eating his food, doubling Tabasco sauce in his food. Where the hell had he gotten the bottle, anyways? As she watched him place it on the end table beside the couch, she turned to look at Liz, and she raised an eyebrow. Surely, it wasn’t hers, right? Maria laughed at that thought in her head and she turned back to Liz when she began to tell everyone of how she saw Zan the other day.
Was it even possible that Zan was alive, though?
. . . . .
A sigh left his lips, as he looked into the mirror, and he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. He was standing there in just a pair of boxers but he was almost completely healed. He wasn’t sure if it was because he was from another planet or what. The scars along his arms and his face were the only thing left from when Rath and Lonnie had tried to kill him.
Then, he thought about his sweet Ava, and he lowered his head, feeling so ashamed. He remembered when he had heard that extra heartbeat when Lonnie and Rath had gone out that night. He knew that she had been pregnant at that time and he had been planning a huge engagement but the two hadn’t gotten the chance.
As he looked at his hair, he laughed because it was definitely different. It was like a rugged look hair cut and it even came to the back of his neck. He had gotten the piercing below his bottom lip and above his right eye because he definitely wanted to make an impression when he saw his Ava again. He just hoped that when he saw Ava and his child that things would be okay. He wasn’t sure what to expect when he arrived in Roswell, New Mexico, but he was definitely nervous.