When Max walked into the kitchen, he saw Isabel sitting at the table pouring Tabasco sauce into her bowl of Fruit Loops. “Healthy breakfast you’ve got there, sis,” Max said lightly walking over to the table.

Isabel jumped slightly at the sound of Max’s voice and looked up. “You scared me,” she exclaimed. “I thought you might be Mom. I hate it when she sees me eating weird things like this. It’s hard to explain.”

Max nodded in agreement and sat down. He reached for the box of cereal and asked, “Did you save me any?”

“A little,” Isabel said and handed her brother the Tabasco sauce.

Max took the sauce smiling at Isabel and shook it to make sure there was still some in there. He sat it down then got up and went over to the cupboard to get a bowl. When he returned, he found Isabel looking at him closely. “What is it?” he asked.

“You look like hell,” Isabel said matter of factly.

“Thanks for the compliment Iz,” Max said sarcastically. He then reached for the cereal and began pouring himself a bowl. He didn’t want to talk to Isabel. She knew something was bothering him, but she had no idea what it was. She must have noticed him and Tess spending more time together, but she hadn’t said anything to him about it.

Max could felt Isabel watching him as he poured milk into his cereal and added Tabasco sauce, but he didn’t look at her. He wasn’t ready to talk about it yet. He doubted that he would ever be ready.

“I talked to Tess yesterday,” Isabel said finally.

Max started to eat pretending like it didn’t matter that she talked to Tess. Actually, it really didn’t. Tess didn’t know what happened either. All she knew was that Max was really upset last Friday night. She didn’t know the reason he was so upset. Max suspected that Tess knew that it had something to do with Liz. Since she lived at Kyle's, she might actually know the truth by now, but she hadn't said anything to him yet. “What did Tess have to say?” Max asked finally, continuing to eat.

“She told me about the memory recovery techniques she’s been teaching you.” Isabel hesitated then continued, “Asked me if I wanted to try them out.”

Max looked to Isabel and asked, “Are you?” He was hoping to divert the conversation so she wouldn’t ask why he wanted to recover his memories.

Isabel shook her head. “I’m not sure. The memories from my previous life have nothing to do with who I am now.”

Max nodded and continued to eat. He could feel Isabel’s eyes on him. He knew what she wanted to ask. He also knew he didn’t want to answer that question.

“Why are you doing it Max?” Isabel asked finally.

“Good morning kids,” Diane Evans said as she came into the kitchen.

“Morning Mom,” Max said quickly, relieved he got out of that one, temporarily at least. “Did you want some cereal?”

Mrs. Evans looked over to the table and shook her head. “Not that stuff, its pure sugar. I asked your Dad to quit buying, but he's a softy and he knows how you two love it.” She turned to the counter and started making coffee. “It’s getting kind of late. Shouldn’t you two get off to school?”

Isabel looked at her watch and said, “Just waiting for slow poke here to finish his cereal.”

Max sighed. It looks like he got a slight reprieve, but he wasn’t going to be able to avoid the conversation for long. Max quickly finished his cereal, got up from the table and then put the empty bowl in the sink. He gave his Mom a quick peck on the cheek. “See you later, Mom,” Max said. He then turned to Isabel and said, “I’ll go grab my backpack and meet you outside.”

Max went to his room and got his backpack. As he was leaving his room, he looked in the mirror. He did look like hell. He looked like he hadn’t gotten a good night’s sleep in 5 days, which was the truth. He hadn’t slept more than 2 hours a night since he saw Liz in bed with Kyle. At first he couldn’t sleep because he was having dreams about Liz. After he started using the memory recovery techniques, it was because he was having nightmares about his previous life. The nightmares about his previous life were preferable to the dreams he was having about Liz. In his dreams, Liz was with Kyle. She was smiling and happy. She and Kyle were laughing at him for thinking that she would ever want to be with an alien. She’d tell him that Kyle could give her a normal life, without the danger that followed Max everywhere. It didn’t seem like his Liz in the dream, but he didn’t think his Liz would have ever slept with Kyle. It just wasn’t like her.

When Max walked out the front door, he saw Isabel waiting impatiently by the jeep. He walked past her and jumped in, not waiting for her to get in before he started the engine. He immediately turned on the radio, hoping to avoid any conversation. Isabel wasn’t going to fall for it though. She immediately turned off the radio and looked to her brother. “You’re not getting out of this Max? You’ve been acting strange for almost a week now. And now I learn from Tess that you are trying to recover your memories. What’s going on?”

Max put the jeep in reverse and pulled out of the driveway. He reached for the radio again, but Isabel stopped him. “Tell me Max.”

Max glanced to his sister and sighed. She wasn’t going to let it go. He had to tell her something, but what? He couldn’t tell her about Liz and Kyle. He didn’t think he could actually say it out loud. Max had successfully avoided Liz all week. He even skipped trig on Monday and Tuesday to avoid her and it was very unlike him to skip a class. He wouldn't be able to skip trig today though. Today he had a test and if he missed a test, his parents would really start to worry. Max had also avoided Maria and Alex this week. They knew how much he loved Liz and he didn’t think he could handle their sympathy if they knew about Liz and Kyle.

Max had been keeping busy by focusing on his destiny. The more memories he recovered, the more he would understand what he needed to do and the more he could avoid thinking about Liz. So Max worked with Tess. He was hoping that working with her would somehow help him remember the love he had for her in his past life, but so far he felt nothing for her. She said that she remembered loving him and she felt their time together was brief but beautiful, but all Max could remember was the pain and misery of his own death. When he worked in the Granolith, he was focus better but in the end all he got was a feeling that he was searching for something or someone, but he could never find it. Max tried to explain this to Tess, but she didn’t understand. Her memories are more pleasant and happy. His seemed to be filled with sorrow.

“Max,” Isabel said, interrupting his thoughts. “Are you going to tell me what’s happening or am I going to have to go to Liz?”

Max’s breath caught in his throat at the mention of Liz’s name. He should have known Isabel would think it had something to do with Liz. She knew how much her loved her. “Look, I thought it would be a good idea to remember our previous life. It will help us understand our struggle more.”

“There’s more to it, I know there is. Tell me, why now? Tess told you about the memory recovery techniques a couple of months ago. What has happened that makes you think it is necessary now?” Isabel asked looking at her brother intently. “Does it have something to do with Liz?”

Max glanced at Isabel. She knew him too well and sometimes it could be infuriating. “No,” Max started hesitantly, “Liz has made it perfectly clear that it is over between us. I’ve decided to focus on other things. Tess is helping me remember my past life. We have a destiny Isabel. I’m ready to face that now.”

“What you’ve given up on Liz?” Isabel asked in disbelief. “You’re not going to be with Tess now, are you?”

Max shook his head no. “I can’t be with Liz, Isabel. It’s just not going to happen." Max paused and looked over at Isabel. She was surprised at that statement, understandably since Max had professed his love of Liz to Isabel several times over the summer. He turned back to the road and said, "I don’t love Tess, Iz, but we have been thrown together because of who and what we are. I don’t know what will come for all of us in the future, but for now, Tess is becoming a friend, that’s it.”

Max could feel Isabel watching him closely, but he focused on the road. He hoped she quit pursuing the idea that his wanting to recover his memories had something to do with Liz. He just wasn’t ready to deal with telling her yet. The pain of seeing Liz with Kyle was still too raw.

“What happened, Max? You’ve been rejecting your destiny for months, now all of a sudden you’re embracing it? It doesn’t make sense.”

“Let it go Iz, please,” Max pleaded. Luckily they were getting close to the school. Max accelerated the jeep hoping to get out of this situation as soon as possible.

“I’m not gonna to let it go, Max. You obviously haven’t been sleeping. The past three nights I’ve heard you leave at 2 or 3 o’clock in the morning. Where have you been going?”

Max looked at Isabel. She was worried about him and wasn’t going to let it go. He looked back at the road. The school parking lot was up ahead. Maybe he could out of this after all. Max turned the jeep into the lot and then into a parking spot. When he stopped the jeep, he turned to Isabel and said, “I’ve been going to the Granolith. It helps with the memory recovery techniques somehow.”

“Well, that answers that question. Now explain to me why you have all of a sudden decided to embrace your destiny,” Isabel said waiting patiently for Max to answer.

Max turned from Isabel, took the keys out of the ignition and started to get out the jeep. Isabel reached out to stop him. “Don’t shut me out Max. Something has happened with you and Liz, let me help.”

Max stared at Isabel. His heart constricting at the thought of Liz and Kyle together. He couldn’t go on like this. He had to tell someone. Max settled back in his seat. He looked straight ahead and said slowly, “I went to Liz’s Friday night to take her out to the…the Gomez concert and when I got there, I saw her and Kyle in bed together.”

Max waited for Isabel’s response, but she was completely silent. Finally, he looked at her. “Don’t you have anything to say?” Max asked.

Isabel looked at Max in the eye and said, “That doesn’t sound like Liz.”

Max stared at his sister. To have someone else say it made it more real. He knew she was right. In the back of his mind, in his heart, he knew Liz wouldn’t betray him like that, but he saw it with his own eyes. “I guess I should talk to her,” Max said slowly.

“Talk to her, Max. This is eating you up inside. You’re obviously not sleeping. You can’t go on like this.”

Max nodded and then got out the jeep. Maybe he could talk to her after trig. He had to do something. No matter how much he tried, focusing on his destiny was not helping. He thought about Liz day and night. When he closed his eyes, he saw her in bed with Kyle. It didn’t make any sense that she would sleep with him.

Isabel followed Max up to the school entrance and asked hesitantly, “What have you remembered about your past life?”

Max paused and looked at his sister. It was strange to be talking about past lives. A year ago they thought they were just normal run of the mill aliens, now they knew they had lived and died before. They were brought back to life to save their home planet from enslavement. It was a bit overwhelming. “Not much really. I can’t get past my death.”

Isabel looked at Max surprised. “You remember your death?”

Max nodded. “Not details, just feelings and vague images. I keep on having these dreams about being hurt and I’m running, looking for something or someone but I can never find it, and then…I wake up. I can’t remember anything else.”

Isabel looked concerned. “What about Tess? What does she remember?”

“She just remembers pleasant things. She doesn’t have a lot of details either. There has to be a way we can remember more,” Max said frustrated.

Isabel nodded. “We’ll think of something Max.”

“Yeah, I guess so. I better get going.” Max turned and smiled at Isabel. “Thanks for listening. I guess I shouldn’t try to hide things from you, huh?.”

Isabel smiled and playfully punched Max. “That’s right little brother, no use hiding things from me.”