“I thought he knew! We were sitting in the courtyard studying for our History exam, and it just came up.” She said, not even looking up.

“How did it come up?” I blurted out.

“Well, okay, so we were sitting there, not really talking when all of a sudden he said, ‘So how’s Liz doing?’ Just out of nowhere.”

She got quiet, waiting for me to say something. But my mind was still trying to process all this information. Max knew I was leaving. What would he do? Would he do anything at all? My mind flooded with thoughts.

“So I assumed he knew,” she continued. “I was like, ‘She’s still packing for the move.’ And he gave me this look and said, ‘Move? She’s moving?’ I tried to change the subject but he wouldn’t let me. He wanted to know when you were moving. So of course I told him.”

“What did he say after that? What did his face look like?” My mind was still racing.

“Well, when I first told him, he looked so unbelievably upset. Then he caught me looking at him, and made his expression neutral. Lizzie, he really does miss you. He just doesn’t want to show his emotions.”

“Did he say anything about coming to see me?” My voice held obvious hope.

Her look had pity in it. He hadn’t. He didn’t want to come and see me. Well, when I got to Ohio, I’d have to forget about all of this. About aliens, about Max, about Roswell.

“So how about we go downstairs and get some of my dad’s famous pancakes?” It was apparent that I was trying to change the subject.

“Sounds like a plan.”

--------------------------------------------------------------

“I’ve got a surprise for you.” Alex said from behind me.

I felt extremely bad for not telling Alex the real reason as to why I was moving. But something’s had to be kept secret. Something this major just couldn’t be spread around. If I knew anything though, it was that Maria would eventually tell someone about the whole Future Max fiasco. And then Max would somehow find out and I didn’t want to be around when he did. I couldn’t handle that. I made a promise to Future Max and I was set on keeping it.

“And what would that be?” I pasted a smile on my face.

He put his hand in his pocket and pulled out a small box.

“Here you go.” His eyes mirrored his excitement at giving me the gift.

I carefully opened the box. My eyes went wide when I saw what was in it. It was a gold bracelet with, “Liz, Maria, & Alex 2000” engraved on it. Tears blurred my view.

“Maria and I put our money together and got it.” He was looking at his feet.

I pulled him into a hug. I inhaled his smell. It was the same spicy cologne he always wore. This could be one of the last time I hugged him.

“Okay you two, no more of this mushy stuff.”