“Michael,” Max jumped up, somewhat guiltily. Michael heard a startled female squeak. He looked up and saw Liz sitting on Max’s bed, frantically trying to comb her hair back into some semblance of order.

Michael blushed slightly, realizing he had intruded on a romantic moment. “Sorry, I didn’t figure you would have company.” He said, starting back out the window.

“Michael, it’s alright, you don’t have to go,” Liz jumped up to try and pull him back in the window.

He just shook his head and kept going.

*Max has no will power* he thought to himself. He was angry, but it was more than that. He was jealous. Jealous that Max got Liz, but he couldn’t have Maria.

He went to the cave, his solace. But it wasn’t comforting. He kept repeating in his mind, *I cannot have Maria, I cannot have Maria, I cannot have Maria* If he said it enough, and didn’t question it, maybe he might begin to believe it. He rubbed his head, trying to make the words sink in.

“Why can’t I have Maria?” He was startled by his own voice, asking the question aloud.

His mind answered, *You can’t get involved.*

He sat silent for a moment, then “Why not?”

*You must be able to leave at a moments notice.*

“Why?”

*So you can go home.*

He stared at the cave wall. Maria’s story sinking in completely now. If he went ‘home’, if they ever found a way, he wouldn’t fit in, he wouldn’t be like everyone else. He would always be the alien who grew up human. They would probably even want to run tests on him, just as he was sure the government here would if they found out about him.

*It would be no different than Roswell.* Except it would be different…because Maria wouldn’t be there.

He heard Maria’s voice, “Everything he knew, everything he was, was an ape. His genetics may have been human, but he was still an ape… You may have some special alien power, but your still human… Max, Iz, Liz, and Alex…me, we all love you, we want you here.”

The realization suddenly hit him. “I’m human.” No matter what happened, he would always be more human than alien.

“Am I o.k. with that?” He asked himself.

*As long as you have Maria* his mind answered back.