Liz looked a little bit more relaxed today. That was a good sign.

Maria called out a greeting.

"Hi, guys."

They halted for a moment.

"Hi, Maria," Liz sighed. "Wešre on our way to make the hand-off."

Isabel quickly handed a note to Maria and shook her head to indicate the need for secrecy.

"Beginning to feel like a baton, are we," Isabel asked Liz brightly.

"Not beginning to," Liz shook her head as they walked off. "I'm way past the baton stage. At this point, I feel more like a package than a person."

"Which would make me a mail carrier," Isabel tilted her head slightly. "A less than flattering image, that's for sure. Bye, Maria."

As they walked off, Maria opened the note. It was a list of names and numbers from Alex.

This was what she had been waiting for.

She wouldn't wait until after school; she would love skipping a class for this.

Finally, "Operation Bury Tess" was now under way.

******

Michael glanced in the Principal's office as he walked by, strictly out of habit. But what he saw stopped him cold.

Max Evans coming out of the Principal's office?

He couldn't stop the sideways grin that passed over his face.

Now this could be really fun.

Lots of pigs-flying and hell-freezing-over jokes. He lived for that.

But his smile disappeared quickly when Valenti came out of the office next, chatting with the secretary.

Michael swore to himself.

Max met his gaze and indicated the hallway on the left as he exited the outer office door.

Michael fell in step beside him.

"Tell me that had nothing to do with Tess."

Max's face was grim.

"It had everything to do with Tess. She not only disappeared, but falsified all of her school records."

Michael grabbed Max's arm and pulled him to a halt.

"Cut to the chase, Max."

Max sighed.

"It's not that bad. At least, I donšt think it is. There was just no one living at the address she listed. All the family names and numbers were bogus. Even her old school records were wrong. They have no way of knowing if she's okay or if they should be worried."

Michael frowned. Max seemed to be worried enough about her for everybody.

"What did Valenti want?"

Max started walking again.

"He just knew that we had been seeing each other. He wanted to know if anything strange happened this weekend between us. So I lied. Again."

Michael thumped him on the back.

"Good. Look, don't sweat the small stuff, Maxwell. Lies are our friends."

Michael sauntered away.

As long as Tess didn't spill the beans about what she knew, she could disappear forever and it wouldn't bother him a bit.

He frowned as he thought of her.

Max was so trusting, he could easily be taken in by people.

But Tess had never seemed exactly open and honest to Michael. In fact, he knew she was hiding something, something besides the usual alien stuff. Something that would have made Max feel differently about her.

Her false records weren't a surprise to Michael at all.

******

Maria handed her list to Alex quickly as she came in the door.

Alex glanced at it, then over at Liz, who was quietly waiting for class to begin.

Every name on the list was crossed off.

He sighed and looked back at Maria, just taking her seat beside Max.

She shrugged as she noticed Alex watching.

He raised a hand and nodded.

He still had one more name to check on, one that hadn't returned his call last night.

It had to be the one.

******

Tess was the farthest thing from Max's mind as he watched Liz and Alex working on a lab together.

Or rather, Liz was sitting there, listening to Alex do it. Occasionally she would call out instructions, or hold the flask for him. But it was too dangerous for her to work the Bunsen burner or pour the elements.

So she just sat on her stool, back straight, a slight frown on her face.

It had to be frustrating to just sit there.

But she still looked beautiful.

Max smiled slowly, his eyes taking in her profile.

Especially in that sweater. The red color was perfect for her and it was just low cut enough to drive him crazy. It had always been one of his favorites.

And her hair was loose, flowing over her shoulders...he was dying to touch it.

Max shoved the thought out of his head.

Liz wanted nothing to do with him right now.

Max sighed.

"So," came a clipped voice beside him. "Any sign of the E.T. Wonderbra girl?"

He half-turned to glance at Maria.

She had certainly been keeping up her end of the bargain to make his life a living hell, as best friends of your ex-girlfriend are wont to do from time to time.

"No," he said, tightly. "I donšt know where she is. No one does."

She kept her eyes on the flask she was pouring, but he could see she was angry.

What had Ms. Hardy been thinking, putting he and Maria together as lab partners?

Just when Max turned back to his workbook, she turned to him and whispered fiercely.

"Look, I still don't know whose fault all of this was, but it really doesn't matter. You need to give Liz some time. She is...reeling right now, trying to deal with the fact that she may be, like, blind for life because some psycho pet rock from outer space wanted her dead. The last thing she needs is you messing with her head right now. Just respect what she's been through enough to stay away. Do you think you can handle that?"

Max saw her fighting tears as she turned away.

He glanced down, realizing she had seen him watching Liz.

"Yeah. But, Maria-"

Maria reluctantly looked over at him.

"I do love Liz. And I would give anything to go back and stop it from happening," Max stared straight ahead. "All of it...You will probably forgive me long before I will forgive myself."

Maria stared at him for a minute.