"Shit," Kyle muttered as he tripped over a rock on his way back to the party. He obviously wasn't paying attention to where he was walking. He turned around and saw that Liz and Maria weren't too far behind. They'd decided it would be better if they didn't walk back to the party together. 'Damn, when those two get an idea in their head the world better watch out,' Kyle thought as he approached his jock friends. Tess and Jeremy were standing a few feet away talking. Kyle could tell that Jeremy was trying to make the moves on Tess. Kyle hoped Liz and Maria's plan to get Jeremy away from Tess worked, because Kyle wasn't in the mood to fight over Tess with Jeremy. In fact Kyle wasn't in the mood for any of this. Why the hell did he agree to this?

Kyle joined his friends who were still commenting on Tess and Jeremy. 'God, don't these guys have anything more interesting to talk about?' Actually, two weeks ago Kyle would have been doing the same thing, but his world has gotten a lot bigger and scarier recently. Ever since he learned that Max Evans was alien. Kyle forced himself to go out tonight so he could avoid thinking about everything for awhile. It was definitely a mistake to ask Maria and Liz to join him. He was hoping they would want a distraction as well, but it looked like they were on a different kind of mission.

While Kyle went over to his friends, Maria went over to Jeremy's ex-girlfriend to try to instigate a little confrontation between her and Jeremy, and Liz went over to Tess and Jeremy to start a little trouble for Tess.

As Liz approached, she could tell Tess was having fun teasing Jeremy. She was standing very close to him, allowing her breasts to brush up against him every once in awhile. 'She must be wearing one of those miracle bras,' Liz thought as she cleared her throat to get Tess and Jeremy's attention.

Tess turned to Liz and gave her a hateful look. Liz felt her insides retreat. Something about Tess really bothered her. Liz took a deep breath to get her courage back and then asked Tess, "Where's Max tonight? I thought you two were supposed to be inseparable now that you both know the truth about you're destinies."

Tess stared at Liz unsure what to say. Jeremy, who was in general clueless, tried to put his arm around Tess to indicate that she was now with him, but Tess shook it off.

Jeremy turned to Tess and asked, "What's up?"

"Sorry, Jeremy, there is just something I need to discuss with Liz. Would you excuse me for a moment?" Tess said sweetly to Jeremy. She then grabbed Liz's arm and pulled her away from Jeremy and everyone else.

"What the hell was that?" Tess asked Liz sharply as soon they were out of range of everyone.

Liz pulled her arm out of Tess's grasp and said, "It was just a simple question." Liz then pretended to stumble backwards as if she was having a hard time keeping her balance.

Tess looked at her questioningly and asked, "Are you drunk or something?" Tess stepped closer to Liz and got a strong whiff of alcohol.

"You are drunk!" Tess said, disgusted that anyone would do that. She never touched the stuff. Liz didn't seem like the type, but I guess losing Max pushed her over the edge. Tess glanced back toward the party asking, "Where is Maria? She should take you out of here before you say something else stupid."

Liz smiled secretly pleased that her ruse was working. Maria had poured some hard alcohol on Liz's shirt and made her drink a little as well so it would be on her breath. Her and Maria had worked out the details back at Kyle's car including signals to give if the ruse was failing. Liz reached for Tess's arm and turned Tess back toward her and said, "I don't need Maria. There is something I need to say to you and I'm going to say it right here and right now." Liz made her voice get louder with each word, so that she could draw the attention of jocks standing not too far away, and especially Kyle.

Tess glared at Liz and looked down at Liz's hand which was still on her arm and said icily, "We have nothing to say to each other and I suggest you remove your hand before I remove it for you."

Kyle approached right on cue. "Are you two okay? We don't want any fights here."

Tess removed Liz's hand then turned to Kyle smiling sweetly. "Hey, Kyle. Liz is a little drunk. Maybe you should take her home before she does something stupid. I should probably get back to my date."

As Tess turned to go back to Jeremy, Liz said laughing, "Looks like someone else is now keeping you're date occupied."

Tess saw that that was true. A tall red head she had never met was talking to Jeremy and it looked like a somewhat heated conversation. Tess sighed, disappointed she had lost Jeremy's attention. He wasn't very smart, but he was extremely cute and he sure knew how to make a girl feel attractive and wanted.

Tess turned back to Liz and again glared at her. If Liz hadn't interrupted her and Jeremy, she would be over there with him now.

Maria approached right on cue. She scowled at Tess and said, "Liz, there you are. We should get out of here. I do not want to explain to your Mom and Dad how I let you get drunk, so we should get you in bed before they get back from the late movie."

Maria walked over to Liz and took her arm to lead her toward the cars. As they walked away Liz kept on mumbling, "But I want to say something to Tess," just loud enough so Tess and Kyle can hear.

When they were far enough away, Kyle turned toward Tess and said, "I've never seen Liz drink. I guess she is upset about something, but I have no idea what."

Tess shrugged. She didn't care what was wrong with Liz. For all she cared Liz could drink herself to death. Tess glanced back toward Jeremy and saw that him and the red head were no longer talking heatedly, now they were making out. 'Great,' Tess thought, 'will I ever win.' She didn't really want to be with Jeremy, but he did provide a nice diversion for her.

Tess turned back to Kyle and looked at him closely. He was kind of cute. Maybe Kyle can provide some amusement for her. "I guess I'll be needing a ride home," Tess said motioning her head toward where Jeremy and the red head were standing.

Kyle looked in the direction Tess motioned and said lightly, "Yeah, it looks like Michelle has got her hooks in Jeremy again." Kyle was trying very hard to act natural, but he wasn't sure if he was succeeding or not. What was he thinking to let Liz and Maria talk him into this? Kyle looked at Tess and smiled. "I'll give you a ride home, but don't you want to hang out and have a little fun first?"

Tess looked around and saw the party was still going strong. She turned to Kyle and said, "Why not?"

"Did you want something to eat or drink? I heard a rumor someone set up a grill and is making kabobs. Do you want to hunt them down?"

Tess smiled at Kyle. He was sweet. It might be nice hanging out with him, but she wondered if he knew about her. Did Liz or Maria tell him? He knows Max is an alien, obviously, but what else does he know?

Tess must have unintentionally let her doubt show on her face, because Kyle reassured that he knew she was like Max, Isabel, and Michael but he was okay with that.

"So do you want anything or not?" Kyle said as he took hold of Tess's arm to lead her back to the party. Kyle thought he was doing a good job pretending to interested in Tess. It wasn't that hard, she was hot, but he was afraid he wouldn't be able to do it because of the whole alien thing.

"I'm not hungry, but I am kind of thirsty. I don't drink though so some punch or soda would be great."

"I'll go get you something then," Kyle said leading Tess toward his jock friends. When they got there he turned to his friends and said, "Okay guys, I expect you all to act like gentlemen in front of the lady, at least those of you who know how." He then turned to Tess and said, "I'll be right back."

Kyle walked over to where the beverages were kept. He looked around and saw some punch in cooler. He turned to a guy close by who was obviously stoned and asked, "Is there any alcohol in this?"

"Just grain alcohol, man. You should try it out. It's profound, man," the guy said barely able to maintain his balance.

"Can you taste the alcohol?"

"How would I know, man? I can't taste anything right now."

Kyle turned back to the punch and tried some. He barely noticed the alcohol, so he poured some in a cup, got himself a beer, and headed back toward Tess.

The guys were obviously trying to impress Tess, because when he got back two of them were on all fours doing push ups. Kyle handed the cup to Tess and asked, "Did you put them up to this?"

Tess took the cup and laughed, "You've got to be kidding me. I tried to prevent this."

"Do you want to sit down for awhile?" Kyle asked motioning toward a large rock which was away from the crowds. Kyle didn't want Tess near anyone when she had a drink of that punch. For Max the effect was immediate. One sip of cheap vodka and he was drunk.

Kyle and Tess made their way to the rock and sat down. Kyle popped open his beer can and held it out so Tess could touch her cup up against it and said, "Cheers."

Kyle took a drink from his can and watched as Tess took a long drink from her cup. With Tess, like Max, the reaction was almost immediate. She started swerving around a little and dropped her cup. She looked at Kyle and asked, "Wh-what w-was in that?"

Kyle felt guilty. He had nothing against Tess. He couldn't believe he gave her that knowing what it would do to her. How did he let them talk him into this?

Tess reached out waving her arms about and said, "W-why can't you s-sit s-still?"

Kyle got up and took Tess by the arm. He helped her stand up and led her to where Liz and Maria would be waiting. There was no turning back now. Kyle just hoped Tess wouldn't remember anything about Liz and Maria asking her questions.

Liz and Maria had moved Kyle's car away from the others and were waiting inside the car for Kyle. When they saw Kyle approach, Liz turned off the radio and her and Maria jumped out of the car.

"I hope you didn't run down my battery," Kyle said angrily.

"You're battery is fine, Kyle," Maria replied acidly.

"Thanks for doing this Kyle. We owe you big time. We couldn't have done this without you," Liz said trying to put an end to the anger Kyle was obviously feeling toward her and Maria.

Kyle relaxed a little and Tess interjected, "W-what is she d-doing here? I hate her." Tess was looking at Liz and pulled away from the grip Kyle had on her arm.

Liz and Maria decided that it was best that Liz asked all the questions and that she acted sweet and calm no matter what Tess said. Liz stepped forward and said sweetly to Tess, "Why do you hate me?"

"You know w-why?" Tess yelled at Liz.

"No, I don't Tess, explain it to me."

"B-because my husband loves you, that's w-why." Tess was still yelling, so Kyle tried to get hold of her to calm her down, but she wouldn't let him.

"Your husband? Who's your husband?" Liz said motioning to Kyle to stay back.

"M-max is my h-husband or at least he was b-before we came to this h-horrible place. If only I h-had listened to h-him." Tess was starting to stagger, so she let Kyle help her when he tried this time.

Liz looked to Maria. She wasn't sure where to go with this. Liz thought that the message wasn't real, but according to what Tess said, the message was real. Maria mouthed the word, 'who'. So Liz asked, "If only you had listened to who, Tess?"

"N-nasedo told m-me th-that I didn't want to know w-what w-was in the b-box?"

"What box Tess?"

"The b-box f-from th-the c-cave," Tess gasped. She wasn't able to stand up anymore so she collapsed on the ground.

Maria looked at Kyle who was trying to help Tess and asked, "What the hell did you give her?"

Kyle looked at Maria and Liz defensively. "I gave her some punch with grain alcohol in it. I didn't think it would affect her so hard."

"It doesn't matter now. She will be fine. What we need to do is find that box and find out what is in it?" Liz said calmly.

"Are you sure she'll be okay?" Kyle asked looking at Tess with concern.

"Yes, it probably affected her more than Max, because she weighs less and it is grain alcohol that she drank. What we need to think about now is the box?"

"But where could it be? And what if it is dangerous?" Maria asked Liz uncertainly.

"It's probably at Tess' house," Liz said excitedly. "We can go there now."

"Liz, this is getting a little freaky. I say we get some help," Kyle as he stood up with Tess in his arms. Kyle carried Tess to his car and put her in the front seat. "I'm taking Tess home and make sure she is alright. Do you two want a ride?"

"We'll go with you and check out Tess' house," Liz said anxiously. She needed to find out what was in that box. She had to know what Tess was hiding. She just had to help Max.

"No you won't, Liz," Kyle said decidedly. "I will not help you out anymore tonight. Tomorrow we can go to my father with what we know and he can decide how we should proceed, but for now, we are all going home. Now get in."