Mrs. Evans eyed her tired son carefully. “Max? Were you out late last night?”

Max rubbed his eyes. “No,” he yawned.

“Then why are you still sleeping? It’s almost 12 o’clock!”

“Mom, have you ever heard of sleeping in on a Saturday morning?”

“Yes, I have. But honey, I think you’re crossing that line.” She smiled at him, and then said firmly, “Get up.”

Max knew the tone of his mother’s voice. When she said get up, she meant it. He pushed away the blankets and started to stand up. Mrs. Evans tousled his hair, kissed him on the forehead, and walked out of the room.

Max was still dizzy from being so close to Liz. Even though, technically, he hadn’t been near her since the last night at the movie theater. But he was getting lovesick all over again. He could barely stand up.

Max felt something strange on the floor as he stood up. Narrowing his eyes, he leaned over slight to peer at his bare feet. His eyes immediately widened in disbelief.

They were covered in grains of pure, white sand.

*****

Liz sighed as she lazily glanced at the clock. It was almost noon. She berated herself for having slept so late. She was already in a sour mood because of her dream.

Thinking of her dream stirred a whole new set of emotions within her. The dream had ended the way all her other dreams about Max did -- Max couldn’t say he wanted to go forward, and he disappeared into a haze. But last night had felt different -- much more different than before. It was like he had been there with her. Every one of her senses connected with his. She had felt so close to him.

And he had seemed so sincere when he whispered how he was there for her.

She tried hard to remember what happened after she had asked him what would happen in the future, but everything had blurred after Max didn’t answer her.

Liz felt like crying, but she knew it was useless. Max just wasn’t himself last night at the movies, she kept telling herself. Everything in her heart was telling her that he didn’t want to be with her, no matter how much she wanted it to be different.

Mr. Parker poked his head in her room as he lightly knocked on her door.

“Morning, Liz,” he called.

“Hi dad,” Liz said, with a tired smile on her face.

“It’s getting pretty late. You should get up.”

“I know…” Liz’s voice trailed off. She would rather be daydreaming about Max for the rest of the day.

“Your mother and I were wondering,” Mr. Parker began.

“Yeah?”

“Well, are you doing anything tonight? With Maria? Or Dave?”

Liz flinched at his name. “Umm, no. I don’t think so. Why?”

“Well, we just thought it would be nice to go out for a family dinner. Somewhere other than the Crashdown, of course,” he said laughing.

Liz smiled at his fatherly humor.

“Besides,” he continued. “We never get to see you anymore, what with all these new friends of yours.”

Liz felt guilty. She definitely hadn’t spent time with her parents in a long time. But still, she hated being suffocated by them. She was always independent. Still, she knew her parents were feeling shut out.

“Sure, dad.”

“Ok. Well, you better get up, if you ever want to leave.”

“Where are we going?”

“Oh, I don’t know. There aren’t many places to eat here in Roswell anyway. But you can decide, if you want.”

“Okay.”

“Okay. See you later, honey,” Mr. Parker smiled, and closed the door.

Liz thought to herself as she heard her father’s footsteps fade down the hallway.

Her mind wandered to what it usually did during the day. Stop thinking about Max, she ordered herself. Slowly kicking back her blankets and sheets, Liz sat up. Yawning, she placed each foot deliberately on the floor. She suddenly stopped.

Her toes had touched something smooth and wet. Looking down, Liz gasped.