“Good morning, Max,” Diane Evans said when Max walked in. “So, how long will your father be gone, Tess?” She asked as she got the milk out of the refrigerator.

“A couple of days at least. I am so sorry to be an inconvenience to you,” Tess said.

“Oh, are you kidding? You can stay here as long as you want,” Diane said as she poured the milk into a glass.

“Thank you, Mrs. Evans,” she said with a sweet smile. She sure did know how to pour on the charm.

“Feeling better?” Isabel asked Max as soon as he sat down. He nodded and forced a grin. Lie. One hundred percent pure lie.

“Good. ‘Cause we’ve got stuff to do,” Michael said quietly so Diane couldn’t hear.

“I tried calling home last night, but there was no answer,” Tess said, just as hushed. “But that doesn’t necessarily mean that he isn’t around.”

“So we’ll try stopping by there, then” Max said.

“And if he isn’t there?” Isabel asked.

“Then we wait,” Michael said, leaning back in his chair.

“We have very limited options right now,” Max said in agreement.

The Crashdown was busy as usual, and Liz was trying to be as cheery as possible through her sulky mood. However, she wasn’t trying hard enough, and it showed in her tips.

“Remember,” Maria said as she picked up a drink order, “service with a smile.”

Maria was trying to be her usual self, but Liz had been her best friend too long to fall for the act.

“I know, I know,” Liz said. She grabbed a wet cloth and wiped down the counter top. Liz had barely slept the previous night. She figured she must have finally cried herself to sleep because she woke up on top of her covers in the fetal position without so much as a quilt over her. When she drowsily got ready for work one thought kept running through her mind: “They’re never coming here again are they?” Liz asked out loud.

Maria knew immediately who she was referring to. “Maybe if this was where the spaceship was to take them home,” she said.

Max, Michael, and Isabel never coming to the Crashdown again was such an odd concept. They would come almost every day. It had become a part of the routine. She knew that there would be a lot of things from then on that she would have to adapt to.

“Do you think Max would leave without saying goodbye?” Liz asked. The idea had suddenly come into her head. Her heart sank into her stomach.

“No. Michael would…but not Max.”

“What makes you so sure?”

“I don’t know,” Maria said honestly. “I just am.” A frown suddenly planted itself on Maria’s face and she took in a deep breath.

“We’ll get through this together, Maria,” Liz said, placing her hand on her arm. Maria nodded and smiled.

Liz was trying to forget about Max, but she wanted to see him so badly, even if it was just a glimpse. She actually yearned for the first day of school. She’d be able to see that he was still in Roswell, that he was alive and healthy.

“Ya know, I wouldn’t care if I never saw Michael again,” Maria said as she grabbed straws for her tray of drinks and walked towards her table. There was a sudden jingle as the doors to the restaraunt opened. Liz looked over her shoulder to see who it was. She smiled as Alex came over to the counter and sat on one of the stools.

“Hey. How you holdin’ up?” He asked.

“The truth? Sucky,” Liz said.

Alex smiled. “Yeah. Only in my case, the person who I’m totally and completely in love with just dusted herself off and walked away after we broke up.”

“Don’t say that Alex,” Liz said sympathetically.

“I know that she cares for me, ya know? I just think that maybe it’s a different kind of caring than I would like.”

“So did she break it off?”

“No, I did. I just kind of felt like I was in her way.”

“God, do I know that feeling.”

“Alex! “ Maria said as she joined Liz behind the counter, “so nice to see a friendly face.”

“So what do you say we do something tonight? The three of us. Just like old times,” Alex suggested.

Liz nodded. “You know what? Sounds good,” she said.

“I’m in,” Maria said.

“Hey, what about Michael?” Alex asked, peering into the kitchen.

“No, he’s probably busy tonight,” Maria joked.

“No, I mean doesn’t he work here?”

“Worked here. He quit last night. Called my Dad and told him,” Liz said, making a move to tidy up the things behind the counter.

“Really,” Alex said.

“Does that really surprise you?” Maria said with contempt in her voice.

“That’s too bad. He made a mean eclipse burger,” Alex said.

“Liz! Order up,” Jose shouted from the kitchen. Liz went to pick up her order and deliver it to the customer.

“Things will get easier, you know,” Alex said to Maria.

“Who said things were hard?” Maria said. Maria wanted to believe that this wasn’t hard for her. She wanted to not want to see Michael again, she wanted to hate him, she wanted him to not mean anything to her. But no matter how hard she tried to move on, she couldn’t. She was in love with Michael, and she hated herself for that. She knew Michael was bound to break her heart sooner or later, but that didn’t make it hurt any less.

“Please, DeLuca. I know a lot of things about you and one of those things is that you’re not made of stone.”

“I guess my best way of handling my problems is to pretend they don’t exsist,” Maria said honestly as she grabbed a towel and began to vigorously wipe over the area that Liz had just cleaned.

“And has that worked so far?” Alex asked, noticing Maria’s nervous behavior.

“No, not very well. Hey, can I get you something?” Maria asked as she stopped scrubbing. She needed to stop talking about Michael.

“Ummm, yeah. I’ll have an orange soda.”

Maria poured Alex an orange soda and placed it in front of him.

“Thanks,” Alex said.

“Excuse me, miss?” A customer called to Maria from a booth against the wall.

“Duty calls,” Maria said as she left Alex to tend to her customers. Liz came rushing up to the counter almost immediately after Maria left.

“Woman at table four doesn’t want regular. She wants diet,” Liz said, annoyed. Alex rarely ever saw Liz get irritated. She usually took things with a grain of salt and a smile. He was going to have to make an attempt at some serious damage control, here. Alex watched as Liz poured the coke from the machine, nearly causing an over flow. The jingle of the doors sounded and the person who entered caught Liz’s attention. Alex turned to see who just walked in and saw Kyle Valenti. Kyle made eye contact with Liz and took a booth in the far corner.

“I’m gonna go talk to him,” Liz said. She walked over to his booth, placing the coke down on the person’s table on her way over.

“Hey Kyle,” she said, taking a seat across from him.

“Hey.”

“How are you?” She asked.

“Well, I kind of feel like Alice falling down the rabbit hole,” Kyle said.

Liz smiled “Shocked, confused, skeptical?”

“Understatement. So, that’s the big secret, huh?”

“Yeah.”

Kyle nodded. “I feel kind of foolish for all the stuff I pulled,” he said, his tone more serious.

“Don’t Kyle—"

“I owe Max my life,” Kyle said, his eyes intense.

“Max doesn’t think you owe him anything,” Liz said. There was a short pause before Kyle leaned back, relaxing a little.

“So,” he began, back to a joking tone, “That Tess chick’s an alien, too?”

“Yeah.”

“Anyone else I should know about? The mayor of Roswell, the principal maybe—"

“Not that I know of,” Liz said, smiling.

“Just checkin’. But, uh, I really should go. Just wanted to say hi, I guess” Kyle said, getting up from his seat.

“Oh. Okay, Kyle,” Liz said, standing as well.