"Kyle…I have to be honest with you," Liz said.

Kyle shook his head. Great, the old honesty bit. Why do girls think we want that? He thought. I'd much rather she tells me she's terminally ill then that I'm not her type. "Honesty, huh?"

"See…lately I've-" Liz was saying when her mother came down the stairs.

"Liz, honey I need to talk to you-oh, hello Kyle," Ms. Parker said.

Kyle smiled. "Hello, Ms. Parker. How are you?"

"I'm lovely, thank you. It's so nice of you to ask."

"Um, mom, what did you want?" Liz asked.

"Oh…Phillip just asked me and you over to his house for supper tonight."

Kyle watched as Liz paled. "Phillip? As in Phillip, the guy you've been seeing, Phillip?"

Ms. Parker nodded. "Yes, he thought it would be a great idea, and I agree."

Liz looked around. "But…but I have plans-"

Her mother sighed. "Elizabeth…"

Kyle almost laughed at that. He'd never heard Liz called by her full name.

"You're coming. Besides, he has a daughter about your age," her mother reasoned.

Kyle saw how Liz finally gave in. "Good, now, we gotta be ready by 7:00, so why don't you go get ready."

Liz nodded. "Fine…I'll be up in a sec."

Ms. Parker nodded and headed back up the stairs. Liz turned back to Kyle. "I gotta go. But we can talk later."

Kyle just nodded and as he walked back out into the main room. Liz followed and went over to the counter and the others.

"Hey, where were you?" Maria asked

Liz rolled her eyes. "Listen," she took off her apron, "I just got leave to go and get ready."

Liz could feel Max's eyes on her, but she didn't look at him. "For what? If I gotta work, you gotta work!" Maria said.

"I have a family…type thing," Liz said slowly. "Mom just said to go get ready."

"And where are we going?" Alex asked.

Liz sighed. "I don't wanna go into it," she mumbled.

"That bad?" Isabel asked.

Liz intended to look up at Isabel, but her eyes landed on Max. "Yeah…sorry I can't hang tonight."

Max nodded. "Yeah, sorry," he said back.

Everyone was quiet for a moment. Finally, Maria said, "Ok, all of us, even Michael, hang tomorrow."

Liz nodded and glanced at Max. "Yeah…I could do some research tomorrow."

Max smiled, getting the inside joke. "Yeah…research could be fun."

"Is it just me, or did they say research?" Maria asked the others.

"It wasn't you," Isabel and Alex said.

***

Isabel and Max walked out of the main doors of the Crashdown and headed toward the jeep. "Did he saw what he wanted?" Max asked.

Isabel shook her head and climbed behind the wheel. "No…just that he wanted us to come home."

Max nodded and looked up toward the Parkers' house. Isabel saw and smiled. "She's probably in the shower by now," she teased.

"Don't make it worse," Max mumbled, clearly not happy about how the evening turned out.

Isabel sighed. "Everyone's rooting for you two," she admitted.

Max looked shocked for a minute. "So…everyone knows?"

Isabel smiled. "It's kinda easy when you two stare at each other constantly."

"I don't stare…I glance," Max said defensively.

"Sure," Isabel said in a sarcastic tone.

"Whatever. Why am I even talking with you about this, she has a boyfriend."

Isabel stopped at a red light and looked over at her brother. "Max…I've gotten to know Liz, and you know what? She reminds me of you."

"Meaning?"

"Liz takes care of everybody. She puts other people's feelings first. She's smart, and not snobby about it."

Max just sat there and Isabel sighed. "Plus…she has a copy of 'where the wild things are' under her bed," Isabel added.

Max came out of his trance and looked at her. "Are you serious?"

Isabel laughed and noticed the light turned green. She knew that would get his attention. Isabel could remember how Max would beg their mom to read it to him every night.

"Yeah, I saw it the other day," Isabel confirmed. Max smiled as they turned onto their street. "She's into you, and we all want it to happen."

"Not all of us," Max said softly.

At first, Isabel thought Max was talking about Liz, but realized he meant Michael. The mood in the car took a downward turn. "He's out of his mind."

"We need to talk about it-all of us," Max insisted.

Isabel pulled into their driveway and turned off the engine. "Not tonight," she said simply as she slid out of the car.

Max followed suit and they walked into the house. "We're home!" Isabel called out, walking into the living room.

"Do you smell that?" Max asked, looking toward the kitchen.

Isabel nodded and they walked into the kitchen to find their father in front of the stove, stirring a pot.

"Dad?" Isabel asked, coming up behind him. "Whatcha cooking?"

"Something special," he replied in a light tone.

Max nodded and leaned over, looking into the pot. "Smells good."

His father clamped the top back down on it. "Get back, you vultures," he joked. "It'll be ready to eat by 7:00."

"Why so late?" Isabel asked.

Phillip Evans cleared his throat and turned to start chopping some onions.

"Dad?" Max asked, noticing for the first time that the table was sit for more then three. "What's going on?"

"We're having company for dinner."

Isabel glanced at Max, then back at her father. "Who?"

Phillip finally turned to look at his children. "Um…I invited Nancy and her daughter over to have dinner with us," he said finally.

"Nancy?" Max asked.

"And her daughter," he repeated. "It's just so we can all get to know each other."

Isabel looked shocked. "Why do we all need to know each other?"

"Honey, if I'm gonna be dating-"

"Dating? Dating?!" Isabel exclaimed. "Oh my god…my dad's got a girlfriend."

Max looked over at his sister and knew exactly how she felt. "Dad maybe this is a little soon. You've only been…seeing her," Max decided using the 'd' word wasn't a good idea right now, "for about two weeks."

"Three, almost," Phillip said, as if it was a reflex. "And they'll be here by 7:00, so why don't you guys go get ready."

"Just like that?" Isabel asked. "We don't get a say in this?"

"Honey, it's just dinner."

"In our house, which you cooked! That's a fifth date thing! And stuff happens on fifth dates!"

Max couldn't believe what his sister was saying. "Isabel-."

"Max, don't you have anything to say about this?"

Max looked at his dad and then back at his sister. He was in the middle and his vote would rock the boat. "Maybe…we should just see how this night goes," he said calmly, although his mind was reeling at the thought of the night's events.

Isabel shook her head and stormed out of the room and down the hall. Max sighed and looked back at his dad.

"Thank you."