“I don’t see them.” I frowned.

“Maybe they got lost.” Madison said, reassuringly.

Or maybe they forgot. After all, it’d been a while. Maybe they weren’t as excited as they sounded on the phone.

“Lizzie!” I heard my dad’s voice before I saw him.

I turned toward his voice, and saw him and my mom running toward me. Before I could say anything, I was being squeezed by both of them.

“We’re so sorry we’re late, sweetie. Your dad thought it was gate C.” She laughed.

“Hey! B and C sound alike. It was an honest mistake.” His smile was huge.

“Mom, dad. This is Madison Fox. Madison, this is my mom and dad.” I was giddy.

This wasn’t as bad as I thought it’d be. I think I could get through this.

“Hello Mr. and Mrs. Parker.” She held out her hand to shake theirs.

“Oh honey, don’t call us that. Call us Nancy and Jeff.” My mom gave Madison a big hug, that even surprised me.

My dad hugged her too, and then picked up our back packs.

“You guys know where the luggage claim is?” I looked around the airport, but saw no sign.

“Yeah, we have to go down the escalator. Let’s hurry! Maria and Alex are waiting at the Crashdown.” My mom gave me a kiss on the cheek, then started toward the escalator.

At least they were at the Crashdown. It made me think that they still wanted to work this out. And to remain friends. I hope it did work out, I didn’t know what I would do if I lost all of their love.

“Here we go.” I took Madison’s hand in mine.

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“Maria, you’ve wiped that table three times already. And you’re not even working today.”

I looked up from my position in front of the booth to see Alex staring at me.

“Sorry. I’m just kind of nervous.” I smiled.

“You and me both, kid. Didn’t Mrs. Parker say that she was bringing a friend?” He took a seat at the booth.

“Madison.” How did I know that? Liz had mistakenly called me that on a number of occasions.

“Oh. Is she um, good looking?” He said, looking down at his hands.

I burst out laughing. I could always count on Alex to cheer me up. Bless his heart.

“Have we given up on Isabel?” I teased.

“Yes, we have. We are now looking for possible love conquests for Alex. Preferably human.” He shot back, but his eyes kept drifting toward the door.

I followed his gaze. In just a short while Liz would be walking through that door and we would find out if she still wanted to continue with our friendship.

“Does Isabel and Michael know she’s coming today?” He asked, but I knew he was really asking if Max knew.

“Isabel and Michael know.” I emphasized on their names.

From the look on his face, I knew that he understood what I meant. I patted him on the back.

“Have you finished that history report?” I tried to lighten the mood.

“No, I haven’t even started yet. I’m such a procrastinator. I haven’t even started the research...” He stopped abruptly.