Liz stopped in her tracks. Was someone calling her? She scanned the crowd outside Roswell Community College. It wasn't much help since she was so short. She didn't see anyone she recognized. Not that she'd expected to. There were probably hundreds of Liz's out there at that very moment. "LIZ!" There it was again. This time she looked in the general direction the sound had came from. There was Alex sprinting across the courtyard. She waved to him.

In no time Alex was standing in front of Liz. "Hey!" He said, breathless.

"Hey yourself." She said grinning. "I've never had a guy chase after me like that before."

"Well now you have." He said pulling her into a hug. "How are you feeling today?"

"Pretty good." She said. "I haven't been as tired lately as I was at first. I'm sleeping now."

"Good. You've got to stay strong." Alex said.

"I know but without Max." Her voice trailed off.

"You have me." He said smiling.

Liz knew he meant it. Alex was the only thing keeping her from going insane. The couple of weeks that Max, Maria, Isabel, Tess and Michael were going to be gone had already turned into six months. They'd missed graduation. Their names were read and their diplomas were sent to their parents, but it just wasn't the same. They had started college, but without the rest of the group. She smiled up at Alex. "Thank you." She said. "If I didn't have you." Her voice trailed off again.

Alex put his arm around her shoulder. "That's what I'm here for." He said with a smile. "Where you headed?" He asked.

"For food." Liz said. "I'm starving. I've been eating so much lately."

"That's natural." Alex said, smiling. "It's even healthy." He looked towards the cafeteria and then back to Liz. "I need to talk to you about a dream I had last night. Wanna go off campus and eat?"

"Sure." She slowly followed Alex to his car. Lately it seemed to take all her energy to walk. She never thought they'd reach his car. "Was it a bad dream?" She asked, getting in. She struggled to hook the seatbelt.

"No, it wasn't bad. It was about graduation." He pulled onto 285 South and headed out of town towards the cave. "You and I were in it and I remembered everything about that night."

Liz noticed the sadness in his eyes. She remembered him crying when Isabel' s name was announced and how when the tassels were turned, they turned to each other instead. "I'm sorry." Liz said.

"For what?" Alex asked.

"For not being there for you. God, Alex you need someone to talk to, but I' m just.just too emotional." Liz felt bad. She hadn't thought about Alex's feelings.

"You have been, Liz." He began. "When you cried, I cried with you. Being able to be there for you has helped me." He looked away. "There was something strange in my dream."

"Like what?" She asked.

He stopped the car on the side of the road and helped Liz out. He took her hand as they made their way to the cave entrance. "After I kissed your forehead in the dream I looked up into the bleachers. I could have sworn I made eye contact with Isabel. Maria was sitting right next to her."

"Maybe its what you wish would have happened." Liz said, steadying herself against Alex's arm.

"That's what I thought.at first." They had reached the entrance to the cave and Alex lowered himself down. He helped Liz through, careful not to hurt her.

She glanced around the room. It was obvious Alex had been sleeping in the cave. He really did miss Isabel. He opened a cooler and handed her a bottled water. He also pulled out a package of hot dogs, Liz's favorite, and tossed them to her.

He never skipped a beat in his story. "Then I got to thinking.what if Isabel is trying to contact us? You know, by dream walking? So I grabbed your hand and we raced up the bleachers but when we got there no one was there."

"Imagination?" Liz asked.

Alex shook his head. "It was too real." He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a little folded white note. "I didn't find Isabel or Maria, but I found this."

He handed the note to Liz. "It was in my hand this morning when I woke up."

Liz took the note and read it out loud.

Alex and Liz,
We're in trouble. Stuck here against our will. Desperately trying to return. Don't worry we're safe. We'll see you soon. Love Always, Iz and Maria (and the rest of us northerners)

"Oh my God." Liz said. "They're in trouble." Liz looked down at the paper. "They were in your dream last night." She said. "This is Maria's handwriting."

"Why didn't they say anything?" He asked.

"Maybe they're not allowed to alter dreams." Liz guessed. "That would make sense."

"Alex what are we going to do? They're trapped. I need them here now, especially Max." Liz started to cry.

Alex scooted over next to her and pulled her head onto his lap. He had to find a way to help them. He didn't know where to begin, but he knew he didn't have time to waste. Liz needed Max and the sooner the better. He pushed a strand of stray hair behind Liz's ear and kissed her cheek. "I'm going to find a way to get them back here if its' the last thing I do."

Liz looked up at Alex. "You're the best." She said, tears still falling from her eyes.