I was talking to him like I would talk to my best friend Maria- who was sitting on my right. She grabbed my arm to restrain me from doing anything stupid. I was glad she was there, because if she hadn't been, that b---h would have been pounded to the ground in under a minute.

I haven't always hated Tess; I just started to hate her when she started to steal my boyfriend. She also loved to rub it in, which pissed me off even more. I saw Max give her a pleading look, but Tess would have none of it. I decided that I was tired of being nice, so I turned to Maria and loudly exclaimed, "Guys are *so* pathetic. You think they're happy just being themselves around you and then they go off and do something stupid."

Maria looked shocked for a moment, then laughed. It was nervous laugh, because Tess was shooting daggers at me and Max was looking down at the ground, but I didn't care. I just smiled sweetly at Tess and stood up. "I'll meet you at the Crashdown after school, okay?" I was addressing Maria, but Tess spoke before she could answer me.

"That is such a good idea! Why don't we all meet at the Crashdown after school and watch you two slave away while Max and I cuddle?" The sickly sweet tone in her voice made me furious, but I just kept my cool.

"You know Tess, us humans, we actually have to work so we can have money. We don't have to use mind control to get what we want." Maria spoke up and surprised me with her snide statement, but I was proud of her for standing up against Tess, whose green eyes flashed dangerously. Maria put on a sugary sweet smile and said," Come on Liz. Let's get out of here. I've had enough of these losers." I had to hold in my laughter so I wouldn't ruin the perfect parting line, but as soon as we were out of sight, I burst out laughing.

"Good one," I said and slapped hands with her. She just smiled for a second; then her joyous mood turned serious.

"Liz, we need to be careful around them. You never know what Tess could do." I felt a pang of compassion for my best friend, who was so worried about my safety. I hugged her and said, "Don't worry about me. I'll be fine. But will you?" Maria's on-again, off-again boyfriend Michael had told her they were off-again for good because he was going to date Max's sister, Isabel. Maria nodded sadly.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. I looked at her, trying to bring her out of her reverie.

"Why don't I believe you?" Maria gave me a tiny smile, indicating that I was getting through. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Michael and Isabel walking towards us. They had been trying to be friendly ever since Michael had broken it off with Maria.

I was sure they were coming over to talk, but I knew Maria couldn't handle it, and I didn't feel like being nice, so I took Maria's arm and steered her towards the bathroom. She looked at me in surprise but didn't say anything. I think she knew what was up but she didn't feel like checking it out herself.

We walked in and I leaned against the corner, thoroughly exhausted. I had been battling the flu, and it wasn't helping with all the relationship stress that was going on. I knew that Max was worried about me, but I didn't care. He has no right to be worried about me anymore. We're not together; we're barely even friends. I knew it was a selfish and irrational thought, but I didn't care. Maria looked at me quizzically.

"What are you thinking?" I reluctantly turned my head to face her. I shrugged; I didn't really want to tell her. "Nothing." She punched me lightly in the arm. "Liar." I smiled at her antics, but nothing could bring me out of my mood. We sat in silently for a few minutes until my cell phone rang, making us both jump. I looked at Maria and we both laughed as I punched the talk button. "Hello?" The voice on the other end of the line surprised me.

"Liz, its Tess." My voice portrayed my emotions: surprise and disdain.

"Hi." I could hear Tess' ragged breathing on the other end of the line. "What do you want?"