"I need to get my...English notebook," she said slowly.

"Yeah," he nodded his head, "yeah we have a big assignment due." It wasn't what Liz wanted to talk about, it wasn't what Max had wanted to talk about, but for some reason they both found themselves talking about schoolwork.

"Thanks for the notes," Liz actually had the makings of a smile on her face and Max just shrugged. At least she was talking to him. She wasn't cowering in a corner. He took a step towards her though and she backed up. The same pained expression returned to his face and he stopped in his tracks.

"I'm not gonna hurt you," Max's voice wavered and Liz just bit her lip, "I realize that you must be..." Max searched for the right word. He really had no idea what it was like to be Liz at this moment. What it was like to have been told something that shattered your entire belief system.

"Hurt," Liz whispered and Max realized that her feeling went much further than basic fear. He didn't say anything and just stared at her from across the gym. "So an alien, huh?" she said it, as if the notion were commonplace. Max actually smiled slightly. "What makes you believe you're an alien, Max?" Max could tell that she still was having trouble grappling with the issue. "I mean I don't..."

"You don't believe in aliens...you mentioned that," he said softly. "Just believe me," he stated simply. "Believe that I don't want to hurt anyone..." he paused, "I'm just like you, I'm just like everyone else." She still seemed to be in a state of shock and Max opened up his mouth to say something when her father entered the gym. He looked over at Max, a bit confused, but noted the basketball on the floor.

"Extra practice time?" he queried and Max just nodded his head.

"Yeah," he was quick to say.

"Good game last week," Mr. Parker nodded his in acknowledgement of Max's twenty point game the other night. Max seemed a bit taken aback and before he could thank Liz's father he turned to his daughter. "Lizzie you all set? You get what you need, 'cos uh - poor Maria's running the Cafe right now," Mr. Parker said it with only a small amount of faith in his daughter's friend. Liz just nodded her head, though the English notebook was absent from her hand and began to back towards the exit. Her eyes were focused on Max, filled with confusion and still a bit of fright.

"Liz, your English book," he called, not expecting her to stop, but deep down just hoping she would. Hoping she would be able to look him in the eyes again.

Liz sat on her bed writing in her journal that night. Her ridiculous fear of Max still consumed her. But it wasn't really Max anymore. It was the simple knowledge of his existence. The possible existence of others. There were four words scribbled onto her page and she seemed unable to write anymore. Max is an alien. It read and that was all. She wanted to write how much she wanted to trust Max, how much she wanted to believe him. How she wanted to believe that he didn't want to hurt her, that all the time she'd known him hadn't really been a lie. But those four words were all she could write. She couldn't seem to get past them. She closed the journal with a deep sigh and walked over to hide it someplace extra secret. Her journal now contained things none others did. Things that no one else could ever know of. As she bent down to place the journal in the bottom drawer of her dresser she felt the hair on her arms go on edge. She felt something, sensed something that made her heart skip a beat. She dismissed the feeling and walked towards her bed. And there was Max.

He wasn't in her room - but her eyes rested on him as he had finished hoisting himself over the ledge and stood on her balcony with his hands at his sides. She blinked her eyes and rubbed them, in an attempt to assure herself that it was just her mind playing tricks on her like it had been last night. But Max walked over to her window and Liz found herself opening it for him. It was as if she was in a trance. Max crawled through the window and found himself standing mere inches away from Liz. She backed up quickly and Max sensed that there was still a fear about her.

"Don't be scared," he whispered, a distressed look on his face. Liz closed her eyes slowly and bit her lip.

"I can't help it," she replied softly. "Honestly Max, I mean - how am I supposed to react to all of this...to - to you," she stuttered. Max wanted to wrap his arms around her then, to tell her he wasn't a monster, that all he wanted was for her to trust him again. But he took one step towards her and she began to back up again. She caught herself moving away and stopped in her tracks.

"You don't have to be afraid," he said with the same distressed look, only now the corners of his mouth began to raise slightly and he raised his eyebrows. "I'd never let anything hurt you."

Liz just looked up at him - up into his eyes - knowing she was caught between two different worlds. The one where she remained afraid and frightened of Max, distrustful of him, where she remained in denial over the existence of aliens. She looked up into Max's brown pools, completely honest and trusting of her. Then there was Max. Her world with Max. Trusting Max, believing him. He stepped closer towards her and she didn't back away. He raised his hands towards her face and she flinched. Max hesitated and before he could move his hand to her hair they both heard footsteps outside in the hall, followed by a knock on the door. She looked worriedly towards Max, then back towards the door.