Liz arrived early to class, hoping to sit near the front so she could avoid have to look at Max and Tess during class, but no such luck. Tess was already in the classroom and she was sitting in the front. Tess looked up as Liz walked in and stared at Liz. Liz couldn't read Tess' expression, but the look Tess gave her made Liz's heart skip a beat. Something inside of Liz was warning something was up with Tess. What could it be? Was Max in danger?

But Liz knew it was none of her business, she had made her decision and no matter how much it hurt she was going to stay away from Max. She could not stand in the way of his destiny. Liz saw Maria motioning to her from the back so she decided to take the spot next to Maria.

"Where's Alex?" Liz asked as she put her books on the table and sat down.

"He mentioned something about meeting someone and for me to cover for him, then he took off. He's been acting weird all morning," Maria said while turning her notebook to a new page to take notes on. "Which reminds me. What was with the cryptic message you left on my cell phone last night? What the hell were you talking about? Something about Max's mother? I could barely understand the message."

Liz looked at Maria unsure what to say. Maria had called her last night and left a message that she was going to see Michael and talk things out. Liz understood Maria's desire to talk things out. Maria was not the type to back down from anybody, and the way Michael walked away from Maria in the UFO Museum was not something Maria would stand for. But Maria didn't know the who truth, and Liz wanted to tell her what happened before she saw Michael.

"Did you talk to him?"

"We talked and kissed and then he pushed me away once again. But he loves me Liz and he wants to be with me. I can feel it. I'm not giving up," Maria said determinedly.

"Maria," Liz started slowly, "there's something you don't know. I was going to tell you and Alex yesterday at the Crashdown, but then Kyle showed up."

Maria looked at Liz with a concerned look. She knew that something happened which drove Max and Liz apart. Alex had told her that Liz was extremely upset when he picked her up in the desert. What could it have been? And what does it have to do with Michael?

The bell rang and Maria looked up to see the biology teacher walk in. Maria smiled at Liz and whispered, "Saved by the bell, huh?"

Liz tried to return Maria's smile, but was unsuccessful because at that moment Max walked into the classroom. She felt his presence instantly and couldn't stop herself from looking up.

As Max walked into the room, the first thing he saw was Liz. He knew from the moment he stepped into the room exactly where she was sitting and he couldn't stop himself from looking at her. Liz looked up and there was a moment of eye contact. Max saw so much looking into her eyes. She was tired and felt alone. He wanted to take her into his arms and let her know it was going to be alright.

"Mr. Evans, are you joining us?" the biology teacher said interrupting Max's thoughts.

Max looked away from Liz and noticed the whole class was staring at him. How long had he been standing in the door staring at Liz? Time always seemed to stand still when he was looking at Liz. Max adjusted his backpack and walked toward his seat next to Tess. Max nodded at Tess as he sat down and pulled out his notebook.

The next hour was one the longest of Max's life. He could feel Liz trying unsuccessfully to avoid looking at him and Max also noticed Tess was acting a little strange. She kept tapping her pen and every once in awhile looked back at Liz. Max tried to focus on the lecture, but it was impossible. When the bell rang, Max wasn't sure what the biology teacher has discussed today.

Max gathered his things quickly hoping he could avoid talking to Tess and looking at Liz, but in his rush he just managed to drop his backpack and spill everything in it. "Figures!" Max said quietly as he stooped down to collect his things. As he reached to grab a pen which had rolled down the aisle, Liz reached for the pen first and their hands collided. Max looked up and tried to say something, but nothing came out. He hadn't talked to Liz in almost two days, but he had rehearsed what he would say several times. But now all he could do now was look into her eyes.

Liz picked up the pen and handed it to Max. She didn't know why she reached for it. She was gathering her things slowly in the back of room, hoping by the time she was done Max and Tess would be long gone, but no such luck. She noticed Max's pen had rolled down the aisle toward her so when she got up from her lab table, bent down, and reached for it. As Max looked into her eyes, she could tell he was feeling the same way. There is so much that she wanted to say to him, but the words weren't coming. Finally, Max whispered "thank you" and he stood up to put his things back into his back pack.

"Hi Liz."

Liz looked up to see Tess standing behind Max and giving Liz one of those "he's mine" looks. Liz stood up and tried to regain her composure.

"Ah, hi Tess," Liz said turning to see if Maria had abandoned her. But Maria was standing just a couple of feet away ready to rescue Liz. Liz turned to Maria and said, "You ready?"

"Yeah, let's get going," Maria said as she took Liz's arm ready to lead her out of the room. Maria didn't look at or say anything to Max or Tess as she left the room. It was time to have a little talk to Liz and find out exactly what was going on.

Max watched as Liz and Maria walked out of the room, put his backpack on shoulder and was about to follow them when Tess grabbed his arm.

Max turned toward Tess and waited for her to say something, but just looked at him. "What is it Tess?" Max said finally.

"I was just wondering if you wanted to go grab some lunch. You have lunch this period, right?"

"Yeah, Michael, Isabel, and I were planning on going to a local Mexican place, it's about a 5 minute drive," Max explained not really wanting to invite Tess, but he saw no way to avoid it. "Do you want to come along?"

Tess could tell Max really didn't want her along, but she needed to get closer to Max, Michael, and Isabel, now more than ever, and the only way to do that would be for her to spend more time with them. So Tess smiled at Max and said, "Yes I'd love to. The thought of cafeteria food is making me cringe and I think today is mystery meat day."

Max and Tess walked out of the lab together and headed out the school toward Max's jeep where Michael and Isabel were waiting.

"What took you so long?" Michael complained.

Max looked at Michael and asked, "Why are you in such a foul mood?"

"Don't bother asking, Max, because he is not talking," Isabel said as she climbed into the back seat of the jeep. "Can we get going, though, I'm starving!!"

Tess climbed into the back with Isabel and asked, "Where were you 4th period?"

Isabel looked at Tess and lied, "I had a paper to finish which is due 7th period."

Max climbed into the driver's seat and looked back at Isabel. He knew she was lying and he was wondering why she was lying.

"Come on, let's get going already," Michael said as he climbed into the passenger's seat.

As Max was driving in the parking lot, he noticed that Alex, Maria, and Liz were sitting together on the lawn eating their lunch. He caught Liz's eye for a minute then sped up as he headed out of the parking lot.

Liz watched Max drive away and then was brought back to reality by a grape that was thrown at her nose. She looked over at Alex, who was trying quite unsuccessfully to be nonchalant. She laughed at Alex and then picked up the grape and threw it back at him. Liz was so glad to have Alex in her life. She almost lost him when Max was injured in a car wreck a few months ago. She had asked a lot of Alex back then and he helped her when she needed it the most. She now wished she had trusted him sooner with the truth.

"So, Liz, isn't it about time you told us about what happened the other day with Max that made you so upset," Maria said trying to get Alex and Liz on track. She needed to know what happened and she didn't want anyone to interrupt before Liz had the chance to share.

Liz looked at Maria and was about to fill her in when Alex said, "I already know."

Liz looked at Alex questioningly.

"Isabel and I spent the last two periods talking, she filled me in. She was pretty upset and she needed someone to talk to."

Liz smiled at Alex relieved he knew the truth. It would make things easier. Alex and Isabel had a nice relationship. It was a lot more laid back than hers and Max's. They were friends first and they grew to care about each other. More accurately Isabel was a friend with Alex first, while Alex was crazy about Isabel. But he was crazy about her before he knew she was an alien. He always figured she was out of reach for him. Then he found out her secret and she was more approachable. Isabel warmed up to Alex over time and grew to care about him and rely on him. In contrast, Liz fell hard for Max almost immediately and Max has been crazy about Liz for longer than that.

Maria looked from Alex to Liz impatiently waiting for someone to fill her in. She hated being out of the loop, "Alright, so Alex knows, so isn't it about time someone told Maria?"

Liz smiled at Alex and they both turned to Maria. "Maria don't freak out, okay?" Liz said hesitantly.

Maria looked at Liz with a 'I can't believe you're torturing me this much' look and said, "I'm not going to freak out. When have I ever freaked out?" Maria said quickly then hesitated. "Okay, maybe I freaked out that one time, but that was an unusual occurrence for me. So are you going to tell me or am I going to have to beat it out of you?"

Liz looked to Alex and started, "Max, Isabel, Michael, and Tess learned why they are here.on earth that is."

Maria looked from Liz to Alex and then back. There was an actual 'reason' for them to be here. Maria always just assumed that it was a crash and they were stranded here, but they were actually 'sent' here. Maria sat back, not sure if she wanted to hear anymore. If this is what drove Max and Liz apart, this could not be good.

Alex reached for Maria's hand and said, "It's really hard to believe, but it seems that Max, Isabel, Michael, and Tess were genetically engineered as humans by an alien race who then sent here to earth to fulfill a mission."

Maria looked around to make sure that no one was close by then looked at Alex and asked, "So they are human?"

"Technically, yes, but they are more evolved. They are able to use most of their brain power and that is why they have those powers."

Maria looked at Liz and asked, "If they are human, why can't you and Max be together?"

"It's more than that Maria. They are here on a mission," Liz answered looking to Alex for some help.

"What mission? To save earth from evil Czechoslovakians that have also invaded or maybe just take over the planet themselves," Maria said jokingly.

Liz and Alex exchange looks. Maria notices and asks, "So which is it?"

"The first," Liz answered quietly.

"You've got to be kidding me," Maria exclaimed getting up off on the ground because she felt this sudden need to run. She wouldn't run. Michael was too important to her.

Liz stood up and put her hand on Maria's arm and said, "It's a little more complicated than that, but basically, yes. They were sent here, because their home planet has been enslaved by these evil. Czechoslovakians. They are supposed to somehow defeat the evil Czechoslovakians and save their home planet so they can go back."

Maria looked at Liz and Alex like they were both insane. "This is like a bad science fiction movie!" Maria exclaimed, pulling away from Liz.

"There's something more you should know, Maria. It seems that Max, Isabel, Michael, and Tess have lived before. Their essence was cloned and mixed with human genetic material," Liz explained slowly not wanting to leave anything out. "In their previous lives, Max was the leader of his people and Tess was his bride. Michael was Max's second in command and Isabel, who was Max's sister, was betrothed to him."

Maria couldn't believe what she was hearing Isabel was 'betrothed' to Michael. That certainly explains those dreams Michael was having, but it still didn't make any sense to Maria. "No, Liz, this just doesn't make sense. Number one, how can they go back to their 'home' planet if they are human now? What do the Czechoslovakians on their home planet look like? Are they human-like with similar needs? Number two, who are these evil Czechoslovakians and why are they here on earth? Are they here to take over the planet? And if so, why haven't they done something yet? The crash happened over 50 years ago, so these evil Czechoslovakians must have been here for awhile, right? And if they have the power to travel here from distant planets they can certainly take over our planet. We can't even leave our own solar system. Number three, what the hell is an essence. Is it a soul? Memories? What?" Maria paused to take a breath and then looked at Liz and Alex and said, "It just doesn't make any sense."

Alex stood up and looked at Liz. "You know she's right. It doesn't make much sense. I didn't think about this earlier, because I just wanted to be supportive for Isabel's sake but what said Maria is true. There has to be something else going on here."

Liz looked from Alex to Maria and wondered if they had a point. She had taken what was said at face value and so had Max, Michael, and Isabel. But what if there were more to it? Liz had seen Tess plant visions into at least two people's head at one time, could she have planted visions into four people's heads? Or maybe there was something else going on that she hadn't even thought of.

Liz sat back down. She needed to think. She wanted to go running to Max to see if he had thought of these things, but that might not be a good idea right now. If what was said by Max's mother was true, then Liz needed to stay away from him for her sake as well as Max's.

Maria and Alex sat down and looked at Liz waiting for her to say something. Liz looked at them and said, "We can't talk to Max, Isabel, and Michael about this yet. We need to handle this carefully."

"What do you mean?" asked Alex.

"If what was said by Max and Isabel's mother in the cave was true then we can't interfere. So we need to find some information about this on our own," Liz explained. "Alex, you'll still be seeing Isabel, right?" Alex nodded so Liz continued, "You can get information out of her about what is happening and maybe even hint to her that what is happening doesn't seem right."

"I don't know about that, Liz. I'll feel like I'm spying."

"It's not like that Alex. We just want to watch out for to make sure they don't get taken advantage of by someone else."

Maria looked at Liz, knowing what she was thinking, "You think Tess might have done something, don't you?"

Liz looked back at Maria and said, "I'm not sure, but if she is up to something, I'm not going to let her get away with it."