“Oh, Liz, baby, you look oh-so-gorgeous in that dress! Red is an absolute for you!” Maria cried as a dazzling Liz displayed her latest try-on. Liz simply shrugged her shoulders at Maria, causing a frown to appear on Maria’s face. Maria put her hands on her hips and gave Liz a weary look.

“Ok, Liz, spill. What’s on your mind? You’ve been like this all day, what’s on your mind? Is it still what happened last Friday?” Maria gave Liz a searching gaze, finding Liz’s exhausted eyes staring back.

“It scares me, you know? Like this protective, dream bubble we’ve lived in for the past two years has popped. Or that I’m on the brink of insanity, having visions of him coming.” Liz shook her head despairingly. Maria recognized the flickers of disheartenment in her friend because she too had been feeling it since the previous week.

“Ok, girly friend, I say you put back on your street clothes and we make a trip to the greasy yet wonderful food court for a nice, vigorous chat. We’re meeting our space lovers there, anyways.” Without giving Liz a chance to disagree, Maria pushed Liz into her dressing room. Maria leaned up against the door of the room.

“I don’t think you’re insane, Liz,” Maria stated. “And despite how some certain Czechs are denying it, we’re all scared too. It’s like you said, reality is hitting us in the face. But this time we’re ready, and we knew it was going to come.” Maria wrinkled her nose. “It was just sort of creepy the way we found out.”

Liz came out of her dressing room, wearing her casual jeans and a light blue wool sweater. “Yeah, well, passing out on Michael and Adam’s kitchen wasn’t exactly a great experience for me either. You should really tell those boys to sweep their floor every once in awhile.” Maria smiled at Liz’s attempt at humor. Hey, she was trying, wasn’t she?

“Yeah, I know. But I can barely get them up and away from the couch to grab their own food, never mind actually MAKING the food. Those boys would be hopeless without me!” Maria swung her hand in a dramatic gesture. Liz just nodded her head in agreement.

“Getting back to the topic at hand, what do we do while we wait for you-know-who? It’s not like we can just sit around and wait for him to attack us.”

“Liz, we’ve been cautious for the past two years. Nothing changes, we just keep pretending we’re normal teenagers. In reality we’re all alien teens with horrid past lives and just as dim futures, who need to be extra careful of what we do. But like I said, we’ve always been that, so no changes.” Maria wrapped a comforting arm around Liz’s shoulder as they walked out of the store and towards the food court. “But you know, that alien lover of yours might want to lower the anal guard just a smidgen. I swear, I thought he was going to squeeze you to death after you woke up. Now, of course, I was just as worried, but dear lord! That boy was going to pop if you hadn’t woken up any sooner.” Then again, Adam had been no better, Maria thought to herself.

“I know,” said Liz, a faint sparkle appearing in her eye. “Max is a major reason why I know I can face all of this. Oh, Maria, he keeps telling me that no matter what he’ll protect me. He’s always there, picking me up in the morning or driving me home after school. He’ll sit at Crashdown during my shift just to make sure everything goes all right.” Liz sighed blissfully.

“Some would call that stalking. On the other hand, Romeo is acting no different than usual.” Liz smacked Maria’s arm. “Ow!”

“He is not a stalker, he just loves me. And Maria, I just can’t describe how he makes me feel. It’s like, when we’re together, all of this Czech business doesn’t even bother us. Cause as long as we’re together, things will be okay. Forever will be imminent.”

“Girlfriend, get your head out of the clouds. We need to get back on topic. So, last Friday, you passed out in front of the fridge. What exactly did you see in your vision anyways? You never really said. All we heard was Max saying space beast was almost here. Then that whole long conversation about what to do, and how to be safe, and blah, blah, blah,” recalled Maria. After Liz and Max’s brief freak out, the whole Pod Squad discussed about safety, and danger of the newest revelation. Maria could barely recollect the memory, because as she figured it, all they talked about was what they had talked about two years ago. This new information changed nothing. At least not yet.

“Maria, promise me you’re not going to pull a Michael and be all reckless. We all have to be safe.”

“Liz, don’t ignore my question.”

“Maria, don’t ignore my promise.”

“Fine.”

“Fine. Glad we have that settled.”

“Uh huh. Anyways, vision?”

“Oh.” Liz closed her eyes, reliving the frightening experience. “It was like my body was seeing things I couldn’t control. Like they were being sent to me. I can’t really describe the images precisely, just the feelings and emotions flowing from the, uh, connection, I guess. It was weird, cause it was like I could feel these opposing emotions and I was suppose to feel a certain way.”

“Ok, girlfriend, completely confused. Explain.”

“All right, it was like I was suppose to be feeling scared and terrified, whereas someone else was feeling victorious and triumphant. The creepy part is that the someone else was feeling that way because of my fear. Does that make sense?”

“Sure, I guess, in a way,” Maria replied, nodding her head. She pointed to a round table situated near the entrance of the food court. Maria placed her handful of colourful and (very full) shopping bags on the table, plopping down in a seat as she so.

Liz followed Maria and sat down across from her. The greasy aroma of the food court tickled Liz’s nose. Even after all the years of living above the Crashdown and working there, the stench of fried, fatty food could still make her stomach do flips like an Olympic gymnast. She wrinkled her nose and turned her attention back to Maria, who was incessantly speaking.

“…so I tell Michael, ‘Don’t you dare think I’m doing your laundry, I am not your little space bitch!’ Then he has the audacity to start sucking on my neck! I mean, geez, I am not a piece of meat here!” Maria exclaimed, her hands flailing in conviction.

“Did you end up doing his laundry, then?”

“That doesn’t matter. It’s not the point!” Liz smirked. Maria was such a sucker for that alien.

“Oh, well then, what IS the point?”

“That Michael is a horrible boyfriend and a messy person in general. He thinks that if he just slips me the tongue or gives me a grope, I’ll do anything he asks.” Liz looked at Maria, amusement radiating off her eyes.

“So, Maria, you didn’t answer me. Did you do his laundry after he kissed you?”

“Right. So, the weather has been really nice lately, hasn’t it?” Liz laughed out loud at Maria’s obvious discomfort. “Oh, look. Romeo and space boy are here,” Maria sighed happily in relief as she watched Max and Michael stride up to their table. Liz turned to see Max’s wide, glowing smile staring at her. She felt her body flush underneath Max’s affectionate gaze, making her heart pulse at an unbelievable rate. She welcomed him with open arms, and was greeted with a short but tender kiss on the top of her head.

“Any luck on the dresses?” Max asked as he sat down beside Liz and then pulled her into his lap. Liz smiled, as his bold move was something that Liz was very much accustomed to over the past couple of years.

“Well, I’m trying to convince Lizzie here that the last dress, this BEAUTIFUL red, sleeveless gown is absolutely stunning on her! Red is so her colour. Don’t you think, Max?” Maria hinted, obviously trying to get him to agree with her. Although the man probably had no clue what she was talking about, if Liz was to listen to anyone it would be Max.

“Liz would look beautiful in anything,” Max commented adoringly, his eyes gazing into Liz’s chocolate ones, melting them into puddle of nothingness. Liz blushed at her obvious loss of composure, but Max just kissed her reddened cheek.

“Yeah, Liz could wear a garbage bag with the odour of trash included and Max would still cream himself,” Michael snickered. Maria hit his arm and effectively gained a loud “Ow!” from the boy.

“I don’t know, guys,” Liz started, “I’m just not excited about all this. Maybe I’m just not in the shopping mood.” Liz sighed and leaned against Max’s hard, buffed chest. He entwined his long, powerful fingers with Liz’s slim ones.

“Liz, hon, you sound tired. Maybe I should just drive you home,” Max offered. Liz just shook her head no.

“I want to get this dress thing over with today. C’mon, Maria, lets keep the shopping going.” Liz went to get up from Max’s lap, but he pulled her back down into the comfort of his body, refusing to let her leave.

“Nuh uh, gorgeous, I came here to spend at least a teeny weenie bit time with my beautiful and stunning girlfriend.” Max kissed her neck in affirmation. “I missed you,” Max whispered softly into Liz’s ear, letting his hand drift to the side of her cheek. He nuzzled his nose against the soft flesh of her neck, taking in her sweet scent.

“Oh god,” Michael moaned. “Please! Not only am I watching my sister make out, I watching her make out with my best friend.” Another smack from Maria.

“Not like you could actually show some affection for ME in public. And speaking of your stupidity, I’m still mad about your laundry! Not only did you treat like a piece of meat, you…” Maria began her rant as Michael rolled his eyes in annoyance.