Liz and Maria had both been working while the rest of them were at Tess’s. Alex had stopped by on his way home from Isabel’s, and basically brought them up to date. Neither of them had even seen him since he had come to town, so it was like it was coming from nowhere. Liz had thought about calling Max to ask him about it, but she figured if he hadn’t called her, he probably didn’t want to deal with her. Jeez, now I’ve become a bother, she thought. This is just getting better and better.

The next afternoon, Liz got home from school, and put on that ‘lovely’ alien-themed costume and went back to work. Maria was already there. The café was just starting to fill up with the late afternoon teen hangout-type crowd, when Javier walked in and sat down.

LIZ: Hey, that looks like the guy that Alex told us about.

MARIA: I don’t know. He’s shorter than I thought.

LIZ: Maria, what the heck does that mean?

MARIA: I don’t know…just shorter.

LIZ: Well, what should we do?

MARIA: He’s probably hungry…Maybe we should, no wait for it, get him a menu.

LIZ: Maria…

MARIA: I know, but what are we going to do, walk over there and say, Hi…you don’t know me, but are you an alien from a far-off world that is out to kill the Czechoslovakians?

LIZ: I suppose you’re right. Well, fortunately for you, he’s in my section.

MARIA: Amen to that.

Liz walked over to his table.

LIZ: So, my name is Liz, and I’ll be your waitress today.

JAVIER: Thanks, Liz.

LIZ: Would you like a drink or something?

JAVIER: Uhh…yeah, how about a…Spacey Smoothie.

LIZ: OK.

Liz scampered off and went back behind the counter.

MARIA: So?

LIZ: So nothing. He just wanted a Smoothie.

MARIA: Nothing peculiar.

LIZ: Uhh…no.

Max walked into the café and sat down with Javier. He had a bit of a break from the center, and Max needed to see Liz, so he decided to show up. Seeing Javier there though, he thought he may a chance to speak with him one on one for a few minutes. Maybe he could get somewhere.

JAVIER: Hey Max. What’s up?

MAX: Nothing…just had a break. How about you?

JAVIER: About to get in myself…working the night shift.

MAX: Yeah, I know.

JAVIER: So…what’s good here?

MAX: Well, if you like fried, unhealthy food, this is the place.

JAVIER: I kind of figured that.

MAX: So, I heard that you moved in to a house down in that new development in town.

JAVIER: Yeah, right next to your friend Tess there.

MAX: Yeah. So what do you think of Roswell?

JAVIER: It’s alright. Not much of a club scene…smaller than Manhattan, but its OK.

MAX: So have you had much time to join that dig that you are on?

JAVIER: Starts next week actually. I’ve just been settling in. Moving takes a lot out of you.

MAX: Yeah, I suppose so.

Liz came back with Javier’s drink.

JAVIER: Thanks.

MAX: Hey.

LIZ: Hey. Do you want anything?

MAX: Yeah, just a coke, please.

LIZ: OK.

Liz walked back. There was some serious tension in the air. It was getting to be per usual.

JAVIER: So what’s the deal with you and her?

MAX: What, Liz…

JAVIER: Yeah, the way you look at each other, definitely something’s going on.

MAX: It’s a long story.

JAVIER: I’ll bet. So, is it ancient history?

MAX: Not really.

JAVIER: I’m sorry, man. Young love can be rough. But then again, it doesn’ t get any easier as you get older either.

Liz came back with Max’s drink. She didn’t even say anything to either of them.

MAX: Yeah. (a beat) So…Tess told be that you borrowed that light from the center. Do you know anything about it? Milton thinks it’s a mystery.

JAVIER: No…I just borrowed it to take a closer look at it, that’s all. I don’t know any more than you do.

So he is full of it, Max thought. He wasn’t a very good liar, but then again, perhaps I’m reading too much into this.

MAX: Milton thinks that it’s definitely some sort of alien artifact.

JAVIER: That Milton, always looking for conspiracies behind every corner. It’s probably just a weird strobe light. Made in the USA, I’ll bet.

MAX: Yeah. (a beat) Well, I have to get back to work. I’ll see you at 5.

JAVIER: OK.

SCENE 2

Max got off of work at 10. He headed across the street. He had to talk to Liz. Maybe they couldn’t get back together, but they had to meet somewhere in the middle. He just couldn’t go on like this, with Liz wanting to stay away from him. He needed her in his life. He found Liz, with Maria, closing up.

MAX: Hey.

LIZ: Hi.

MARIA: Hey Max…

Liz shot her a look. Maria got it instantly.

MARIA: I think I need to clean out the cooler…

MAX: So…we need to talk.

LIZ: Yeah.

MAX: We can’t go on like this. We have to be able to at least talk. We have to.

LIZ: I’m sorry. I just needed some distance, you know. After all that’s happened, I just needed some time to think.

MAX: I know we can’t be together. I just have to accept that. But that doesn’t mean everything that I’m feeling is going to go away.

LIZ: I know. I feel the same way.

MAX: So…friends?

LIZ: Yeah…of course. But…

MAX: But what?

LIZ: What happened last night? Alex stopped by and told me about it. Why didn’t you call me?

MAX: I’m sorry, Liz. Everything happened so fast. Tess called in a panic.

With the mention of Tess, Liz involuntarily froze up, just for a second, but just long enough for Max to notice.

MAX: Nothing is going on, I swear.

LIZ: I know. It’s just a reflex.

MAX: Well…that was Javier I was talking to today, you know, when I was here.

LIZ: Yeah, I figured that out. So, did you find anything out?

MAX: No. I mean, I know he’s lying, but I don’t really know anything else. Michael thinks that the light is some sort of communication beacon. And if he has one…

LIZ: He may be the person that Nasedo warned us about.

MAX: Yeah.

LIZ: So what are you going to do?

MAX: I don’t know. I mean, we really don’t know that. The light could mean nothing at all. But, I have this feeling…they have to be connected somehow. I felt it when Milton first showed it to me.

LIZ: You have to trust your feelings, Max.

After a long pause, Liz realized her poor choice of words, but she swallowed hard and kept talking.

LIZ: I mean, you, all of you, just have this sense of things that is usually dead on.

MAX: I know, but it could be Much Ado About Nothing.

LIZ: Please, I don’t want to deal with Shakespeare right now. I just took that final today.

MAX: Yeah, well, I better get going. My parents have been complaining that I’ve been a stranger lately. They’ll call 911 for me if I don’t get home. But, Tess is going to keep an eye on him. And I promise that I’ll let you know if anything happens.

LIZ: Thank you.