"Oh my god, Lizzie are you okay? Does it hurt? Can I get you something." Maria was hysterical.

"Um how about some cedar oil Maria."

Maria took the cedar oil out of her purse and handed it to Liz.

"Actually, I meant for you," Liz amended.

Maria rolled her eyes, but sniffed some anyway. "So what happened with you and the tall, dark, and handsome Max Evans?" Maria asked grinning.

"Nothing Maria," Liz said exasperatedly, though she was smiling. "He took me to the hospital, and then he took me home. Stop acting like we had sex."

"Geez, sorry. And the next time I spend a romantic night with my life-long crush, I'm not telling you about it." She pretended to sound angry, huffed, and stomped away.

Liz called after her, "There was nothing romantic about it." She got a few stares from people passing by, so she turned back around to her locker. As she was getting out her Biology book, she felt a chill go down her spine, and the hair on the back of her next prickle. Soon a shadow loomed over her and her locker. She whirled around to she Tristan, Eric, and Jacob standing in her way. She shrank as close as she could get to her locker. "What do you want?" she asked, terror filling her voice. "Well the guys and I just wanted to know how your doing?" Tristan answered snidely. "We heard that you cracked a couple of ribs there."

Max and Michael were coming down the hallway, and Michael was upset about what happened last night. "You can't get involved Max. Especially if the sheriff is involved."

Max was getting tired of the same speech for ten years. "Michael, put yourself in my position. Would you leave her alone with three of the biggest meanest guys in school? Just because you don't wanna draw attention to yourself." Max looked up to see Tristan, Jacob, and Eric, surrounding Liz at her locker. "Michael, come with me." He didn't even look behind him to see if Michael was following.

Alex walked down the West Roswell High hallways in search of his two best friends. "Hey Maria, have you seen Liz?" he asked.

"Yeah, she's over by her locker. Did you hear what happened?"

Alex was dumbfounded. "Um, no. What happened?"

"I'll let Liz tell you," Maria said. She ran off before Alex could question her any further. Alex went in the direction of Liz's locker at a fast pace. When he got to her hallway, he say those jerks that always bother her, surrounding her at her locker. He marched towards them, not noticing Max and Michael coming at them from the other side of the hallway.

"Why won't you just leave me alone?" Liz moaned. She never did anything to them, yet they seemed to just pick on her and her alone.

"Because it's much more fun to watch you squirm Parker," Jacob sneered. Liz attempted to squeezed out the side, but Tristan put his hand on a locker, blocking her path. Liz pulled in a shuddering breath and blinked back the tears that threatened to overflow.

Suddenly, Tristan's hand was ripped away from the locker, and Alex stepped in next to Liz. "Back off now," he growled. "Whatcha gonna do about it Whitman?" Eric laughed. "Youe'r weaker than Liz."

Alex looked over to Liz. She was trembling hard. He had a feeling that something bad happened before today.

Just then Jacob and Eric were ripped from the group by Max and Michael.

Max pinned Jacob to a locker and growled, "What did I say I would do if you ever went near her again?"

Jacob was momentarily scared, but then he remembered that this was the same Max Evans that named the mouse in their Biology class. "Hey man, we're just having some fun. You can play if you want to."

"Get the fuck out of here before I embarrass you by kicking your ass in front of the entire school. And remember, if I see you within ten feet of her, I won't be as forgiving. Last night was just a sample of what would happen when I get mad."

Michael had Eric pinned to the wall. "Hey man, did you do this to his nose?" he asked Max.

"Yup," Max said smugly.

"What are you so smug for, I could do worse," Michael said.

"Oh yeah? Prove it." Max all but threw Jacob down the hallway. He didn't even turn around to see him run away, he could smell his fear miles away. Instead, he focused all of his attention on Michael and Eric. "Go ahead, we'll see if you can do more damage than I did in one punch."

"Okay," Michael shrugged. He balled his fist and pulled back, preparing to punch Eric. He stopped himself when he fist was about an inch away from his face. "Nah... maybe another time," he said as he shoved Eric into the afternoon rush of students.

Tristan continued his stare-down with Alex.

"This is your last chance to back off unharmed Tristan," Alex warned.

"I'd like to try to see you get in even one punch Whitman."

"First off, I didn't say that I was going to touch you," Alex said motioning to Max and Michael standing on either side of Tristan. "and second, I'll get in a helluva lot more than one punch."

Tristan glanced to either side of him and his expression faltered. He'd have to wait until she was alone. He smiled a sinister smile and stalked off. Liz exhaled the breath that she had been holding the entire time.

"Liz, are you okay?" Alex asked.

Liz fought to gain her composure. "Yeah I'm okay," she whispered.

He looked up to where Michael and Max were now uncomfortably standing. "Hey thanks a lot you guys. Even though I am a world reknown muscle man, I have a hangnail and I probably couldn't take all three of them," he said, causing them all, even Michael to start laughing.

Liz laughed for awhile, and then stopped because it hurt her ribs. Alex saw Liz wince and then he remembered to ask Liz about what Maria said.

"Hey Liz, Maria said something happened but she said that she would let you tell me."

Liz's face dropped and she gripped her books tighter. "Alex, thanks for being here right now, but I'm late, so I'll tell you at lunch okay?" she asked. He went in to hug her, but a hand on his chest stopped him. "I'll tell you at lunch," she promised when she saw the questioning and hurt look in his eyes. He nodded and went in the direction of his class. Halfway down the hallway he turned around. "Hey Guerin?" Michael turned around at the mention of his name. "You're in my art class too right?" Alex asked. Michael nodded. "Ya coming?" Michael eyed Max and Liz suspiciously before nodding again and starting down that hallway after Alex.

Liz stopped Michael with a hand on his arm. He looked at her questioningly. "Thank you Michael." He was surprised to say the least, but he kept his face expressionless and nodded before going after Alex.

Max was also surprised. He knew he shouldn't be. Liz is so kind and she'd never forget anybody. When Alex and Michael were out of view, he approached her. Liz watched helplessly as Max approached, never taking his eyes off of hers.

He unconsciously tucked a lock of her behind her ear. "You okay?" he asked simply. She nodded. "Ready to go to class, or is the perfect Liz Parker going to skip?" he asked teasingly. "And miss the dissection video in Ms. Harding's class? I don't think so Mr. Evans. Just where are your priorities?" she teased back.

They walked down the hallway together. At the door of the Biology lab, Max stopped Liz. "Um, Liz, I know that we don't know each other that much but-"

"I trust you," she blurted out, interrupting him.

Max was estatic. That was just one step closer to his goal. "Thank you," he said earnestly. "So I really need you to do me a favor." She looked into his eyes and realized at that moment that she would do anything for Max Evans. She nodded and he continued. "Will you not go anywhere that I'm not? I know it's a lot to ask, and if you need to go somewhere, I'll just go with you, but these guys could be anywhere, and apparently, they'll do anything..."

Liz cut him off from his rambling by putting a finger on his lips. Then she put a finger on her chin to show that she was thinking. "Ooh, my own personal bodyguard. Why not, and especially one as cute as you," she said as she pinched the tip of his nose. She quickly dropped her hand when she realized what she just did.

Max was blushing to the tips of his ears. He cleared his throat and said, "Just promise me that you won't go anywhere without me," he pleaded.

She looked deep into his eyes and took his hand. "You really don't have to do this Max, but, yes I promise."