David pulled Liz into the first lab station by the door, which was right next to Max’s, intentionally putting him between Liz and Max, resulting in yet another dirty look from Max. Just as they looked like they were ready to face off, the teacher walked in.

“Okay, class, sit down. I’m Ms. Bass, and I’ll be your chemistry teacher for the rest of the year. I hated being partnered up by my chem teacher when I was in school, too, but it has to be done.” The class groaned, and she continued. “Yeah, I know, it sucks, but it’s school policy. If my pairing up is really bad, then you guys can change partners after this week, but don’t tell the principal!” Ms. Bass said in a not-so-serious tone. “I. Evans with Whitman . . . DeLuca with Valenti . . . M. Evans with Parker . . . and Regieg, sorry, the number’s odd and you’re new, so you’re alone.”

Max grinned at this. He turned and faced David, giving him a triumphant, “Ha Ha, I won” smirk, as Liz got up and went to sit by Max, successfully not looking at anything besides the oh-so-interesting floor. Everyone saw the victorious, smug smile, including Maria, who busted out laughing, which got the rest of the room going. Liz and Ms. Bass were just left out in the dark.

The class was entertained the rest of the hour by the dirty looks given by David and the retorting, dominant ones by Max. Liz somehow stayed oblivious to the whole thing.

*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*

“You know Max, you owe me one,” Isabel said as she walked to the jeep with her sibling.

“Why?” Max questioned, still content from the seventh hour partner arrangement.

“Did you really think that you were lucky enough to get Liz as a partner?” Isabel asked. “She was originally with Unell.”

“You didn’t,” Max said, doubtful.

Isabel smiled as they reached the jeep. “You did!” Max said incredulously.

“You did what?” Michael asked, who was already sitting in the jeep with Tess. “Max, you seem a little bit happier than this morning.”

Max blushed, which made Michael and Tess more curious. Isabel answered, “Kyle, Alex, David, Maria, Liz, Max, and I all have chemistry seventh hour. I changed the seating around so I got to be with Alex, Kyle is with Maria,, Max is with Liz, and David is all alone.”

Michael laughed. “Ha! You are awesome, Is!”

“You should have been there . . .” Isabel was in gossip mode. She could not keep this to herself. She filled Michael and Tess in on the event, not leaving out a single detail. Isabel was completely proud of how she helped out Max. She even got to help herself out by partnering up with Alex, but she left that out of the gossip. Michael was loving the fact that calm, reasonable Max was childishly fighting for his Liz, and Tess just sat there, thoroughly annoyed and jealous of Liz.

Max sat there, trying to stop grinning like an idiot, but failing horribly. “Ok, ok, we’re going home now. You and Michael can continue gossiping there, when I’m not in the immediate vicinity.”

Michael just ignored him. “Man, I gotta get better classes!” He mentally kicked himself for missing this. He really wanted to see the “Ha ha, I won” looks (as Isabel poetically put it) Max gave David.

“Then you should stop skipping them so much,” Tess said, really peeved about all the attention Liz was getting. *Max is supposed to be infatuated with me, not Liz!*

“Oh, Tess, get a boyfriend. Stop pining over Max, he’s probably going to get Liz back by the end of the week,” Isabel responded. Max turned bright red, which is a reaction that doesn’t usually come from such a serious person. “Oh, speaking of which, drop me off at Alex’s, Max. I need to talk to him.”

“And drop me off at the Crashdown,” Michael stated. “I need to talk to Maria and get to work.”

Max laughed. “Sure. Hey, Tess, you got anyone to go talk to?”

“Funny, Max. Real funny,” Tess retorted. “What about our destinies? We still have a problem with evil alien David. The chemistry partners arrangement in seventh hour doesn’t change that.”

“Chill out, Tess. We’re all going to meet at Michael’s at 8 to discuss it. You can whine about destiny then,” Isabel seemed to be irked by everything Tess said these days.

“Who we’re with won’t affect how we combat our enemies. It’s how we fight, and that’s what we’ll discuss later,” Max reasoned, glad the spotlight was off him, Liz, and David.

“Is and I are like brother and sister, and it’s not going to change because a hologram told us otherwise. I want Maria, Isabel wants Alex, and Max wants Liz. I think there’s someone out there for you, but if you don’t get past the thought of Max being your mate, then you’ll never find him. Just get over it,” Michael debated. He really did feel like Tess was his sister, but if she didn’t get beyond this Max obsession, he’ll probably get pissed off at her, like Isabel.