“Can I come in? We really need to talk,” she asked nervously. She wanted Alex back, but she wasn’t sure if he felt the same way.

“Sure.” They walked into his living room. A tried to calm himself down. *This is it, Whitman. Don’t screw it up.* Isabel sat down. Her ice princess facade was quickly melting, and she needed a pep talk herself. *Don’t stumble, tell him the truth, don’t mess up.*

“So,” Alex replied, not knowing how to start.

“Okay, I’m just going to blurt out what’s on my mind right now, so don’t interrupt me until I’m done,” she said all at once. She mentally kicked herself. *What a way to start, Isabel.* She took a deep breath and said, “I want to be with you, I hated the summer because I was worried that you moved on while I was in California, I need you in my life, and Tess can take the whole destiny thing and shove it up her . . .”

“Wait, wait, wait. I think I get the idea,” Alex smiled. “You’re just as nervous as I am about this, right?”

She nodded.

“I missed you, and you missed me, right?”

She nodded.

“I want to be with you, and you want to be with me, right?”

She nodded.

“Is, I love you.” He got up and kissed her.

She smiled into his lips, and they relaxed into the couch. Then she broke away. “This isn’t right, Alex,” she said. Alex frowned, hurt.

“No, not like that. Thank you for understanding how I feel. You need to know that I love you, too.”

Alex grinned, and Isabel jumped up and kissed him.

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

Maria and Michael were sitting on their break at the Crashdown. They both were very uncomfortable—they wanted to tell each other their feelings, but they didn’t know where to start. They looked at each other for a minute. Michael broke the silence. “Aw, screw destiny.”

He leaped up and kissed Maria. She was surprised, but then she realized what he was doing. He let his stonewall crumble, and opened up his heart. He let all the pain that he felt from being away from her during the summer out through their connection. He let out all the admiration and gratitude he felt for her when she helped the aliens numerous times. Above everything else, Michael’s love for Maria came out in waves, completely overwhelming everything else. When it was all over, Maria slowly opened her eyes and looked into his.

“I love you,” she said the words simply and honestly, speaking with all the volumes that he used in the connection.

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

Liz looked at her reflection in the mirror. She felt bad for the fight this morning, so she wanted to please David. She wore a V-neck red shirt, with small roses along the neckline, since his favorite color was red, and a simple black skirt. She fixed her hair so that it fell down in perfect waves. David loved combing his fingers through her hair, so he would love this. She finished off the outfit with a silver chain. She looked great. Her clock read 8:15. She had fifteen minutes to kill. She went out on her balcony and picked up her journal. Before she could even open to a blank page, Alex came rushing through the window.

“Liz, come with me, we have to go somewhere,” he said urgently. He had been at his house with Isabel, and he almost forgot about the meeting.

“But I have a date with David. I can’t—” she began, but Alex cut her off.

“Lizzie, we have to go. You’ve trusted me since the fifth grade, please, just come,” he pleaded.

“Alright, but this better be good. I have to call David, though,” she stated, a little disappointed that she couldn’t be with David tonight. She saw the look of relief on Alex’s face. “What’s wrong?”

“Can’t explain now. Just hurry up and call David,” he pulled her back into her room.

Liz called David, and told him she had an emergency, and that she had to cancel. He was very displeased, but he let her go.

“So, what’s so important?” she asked as Alex drove. “We’ll tell you when we get there.”

“We? Get where?” she asked, very confused. Alex rushed her out of her house the minute she hung up. She didn’t even get to change.

“We’re here,” he said, and got out of the car.

“Michael’s? Why are we here?” she got out of the car and hurried to catch up to Alex.

“David is an evil alien,” Michael said once Liz and Alex finished the group of eight.

“Right before he kissed you this morning, looked at the four of us, who were in the jeep, and gave us an evil look. He sent a message with the look, and it said ‘You’re all going to die, after you see her go, first.’” Isabel clarified.

“What?!? Just because Max doesn’t seem to like David, doesn’t mean he’s an alien!” Liz cried.

“Liz, we all couldn’t have hallucinated it,” Tess said.

“I don’t believe you. David has been really sweet to me since I met him, and he helped me get over Max. He would never hurt me,” Liz stated firmly.

“Lizzie, hon, Alex and I are worried about you. This is really serious. We wouldn’t lie about this. David always had an evil type of look in his eye. I don’t trust him,” Maria tried.

“David is evil and must be terminated,” Nasedo insisted as he walked into the room in the form of Pierce.

“Who the hell is he?” Kyle asked, bewildered.

“He is Nasedo, a shapeshifter that is our protector. I’ve lived with him before I found Max, Michael, and Isabel,” Tess filled Kyle in.

“Liz, we care about you, and we don’t want to see you get hurt. Please believe us,” Max pleaded. If Liz didn’t believe them, then there was no way to protect her.

“David loves me. He would never hurt me,” she repeated. This was really scaring her.

Liz’s words stung Max. “NO. He has you under some type of spell. He will hurt you. He doesn’t love you, Liz. I LOVE YOU!” Max shouted. The room got silent. Max’s words sunk deep into Liz’s heart, and the spell was broken.

“Damn. I knew the spell wouldn’t last long with Max around,” David’s voice came from the doorway. Liz froze, and Max stepped protectively between David and Liz.

“Get the hell away from us,” he said in a low voice. He looked ready to kill.

“Liz, you wore my favorite color,” David said, looking her up and down. “Although you got the shade wrong—it’s not bright red, sweetie, it’s blood red. Oh, well. You still look hot.” That did it. Max lunged at David. David shot out his hand and sent a blast that hit Max square in the chest. Max fell over, gasping for breath.

“MAX!” Liz shrieked. She ran over to him and tried to help him up.

“No, Lizzie, get away from him,” David grabbed Liz’s arm and twisted it behind her back.

“Let go of her!” Max shouted, recovering from the blow. As he stepped towards them, David pulled out a knife and held it to Liz’s throat. Max stopped dead in his tracks.

“Don’t hurt her,” he said, more furious than he’s ever been in his entire life. Liz looked up at David, and saw his eyes clearly for the first time ever. *That was never love, that was always pure evil.* Liz was terrified. She knew what they said was true. David wanted to kill them all. The other six people froze a long time ago, but they looked like they were ready for war.

David shouted out into the hall, “Come on in, boys.” About thirteen alien soldiers walked in. “These boys know how to use their powers well, and they also know about your powers, so unless you want them to break one of your bones, I’d say you didn’t fight them.”