Part 10a

"Good morning!" Liz called brightly as she walked into the lab room, placing her bag on the lab table in front. "How's it going?" She asked, pleased to receive at least a few mumbled responses.

Max watched her from the middle of the room, amazed at her energy and enthusiasm. It was Friday, and the first day that the class had a lab period rather than a lecture.

The whole week had been pretty much the same for Liz and Max. They had classes in the morning, and then spent the afternoons having a crazy, fun time exploring the city, Liz showing Max all there was to know about San Francisco. Over the past few days, Max had explored Haight and Ashbury, Golden Gate Park, Chinatown, Union Square, and Ocean Beach.

The pace of the week had been quick, with little time for relaxation, as they had constantly kept themselves busy. Max was shocked that it wasn't wearing on Liz in the slightest. He was used to this kind of non-stop energy...there was no time for breaks when you were at war. But Liz, on the other hand, normally led a quiet life, filled with very little excitement. Liz may complain on occasion, but Max envied her the peace of her past ten years.

"All right, this is the part I love!" Liz exclaimed as the class began to focus on her. "Biology lab is just the reason I became a teacher...to be able to do the projects hands on. Discovering the answers on your own. Having control over all your results. It's all really exciting to me!" Liz smiled in embarrassment. "Can you guys tell that I was a science dork in high school?"

The class chuckled at Liz's crack, while Max on the other hand, found himself having to bite his tongue to keep from shouting out that she was anything but a dork. She was beautiful, amazing, energetic, full of life. Her passion for science was one of the things that made her all the more enticing for him...just something else that helped him along on the long path of loving Liz.

"So..." Liz continued. "Fridays are pretty much going to consist of less of you listening to me ramble on up here, and more hands on assignments, most of which will be directly related to the week's lectures. Before we start today's activity though, we're going to talk about seating."

A few students in the back groaned.

"I know, I know." Liz protested. "It's incredibly juvenile, so high school, to have assigned seats, but in a lab course I feel that it really helps out. By having a permanent lab partner for the full semester, it teaches you both to rely on each other and lean on each other. Your partner should be someone that you feel you can interact with on a regular basis without problems, and someone that you can rely on to be there for you, work with you, and help you out when you're having trouble, so choose wisely." Liz gestured at the class with a flip of her hand to go ahead. "Pick your partners, but whoever you work with today, you're stuck with for the rest of the semester."

Each lab table had four seats, two sets of partners. Max sighed, watching Liz turn back to the board to write the instructions for the day's assignment. Three complete strangers that he would be stuck with for the whole semester, when there was only one person in the class that he really wanted for his partner...the one person that he couldn't have.

Max's eyes searched the room, and he noticed another of people milling around nearby. One was a plain, friendly looking man, who looked fairly serious and responsible. Max met his eyes and nodded to the empty seat beside him, and in a moment of silent agreement, the guy settled down beside him.

Mentally, Max groaned in annoyance as another student settled down across from them, flashing a flirtatious smile his way. She was obviously a few years younger than Max, with immaculate blonde hair, and curves that she was obviously trying to use to get his attention.

"Is this seat taken?" She asked Max, all the while keeping a seductive smile directed his way.

"No!" The guy sitting with Max quickly responded, a slight flush pinking his cheeks, as he stared at the blonde. "Not taken at all! In fact, it’s all yours!"

"Thanks!" She replied, gracing him with a perky grin, before turning her smile back onto Max. "I’m Leslie." She introduced herself to them.

"Adam!" The guy beside Max piped up quickly. "Adam West!"

"Hi Adam." Leslie greeted. "And you?" She asked focusing right back on Max.

"Max Evans." He replied softly.

"Well, it’s very nice to meet you Max Evans."

Another girl, this one mousy and dark, quietly joined them taking the last empty seat at the table, right as Liz called the class back to attention, explaining the day’s lab to them.

Part 10b

A small cluster of students gathered around Liz at the front lab table as class ended, bustling with a wide variety of questions and concerns.

Max sighed, looking at the clock. He had class in a few minutes, so there was no time to hand around and wait for her…plus one of the students hanging around was that flirtatious girl from his lab group, and he didn’t want to give her any excuses to pursue him any further.

Quickly, Max scribbled a note on a piece of paper, folded it in half, and got up to head to the front of the room.

"Ms. Parker?" He butted in, slipping the note to her. "Here’s that homework I missed in your microbiology class." He lied as he slipped the paper across the table to her.

"Oh!" She smiled. "Thanks Max. I’ll see you later."

"Bye." He softly replied, before turning and walking out, praying that he had been inconspicuous enough. He didn’t think that any of the exchange would have hinted that they were really madly in love with each other…but he couldn’t really tell for sure.

Sometimes there were just ways to tell, in the way two people looked at each other, or spoke to each other.

All Max knew was that he didn’t want to cause Liz any trouble….he knew that it would probably be better for him to switch teachers, or drop the class and retake it another semester, but at the same time he couldn’t imagine taking biology from any other teacher. Liz taught the subject with so much passion and love…it was one of the many things that he loved about her.

• - - - - - -

"Ms. Parker?"

Liz smiled at the blonde girl who was the last student remaining after everyone else left.

"Hi…" The girl continued. "I’m Leslie Murray."

"Hi Leslie." Liz greeted her with a friendly grin.

"Hi…I just wanted to tell you that I really, really love this class…and it’s not like I’m a science geek or anything…you’re just a really great teacher. I feel really lucky to be in your class."

"Thank you, Leslie." Liz responded genuinely. It was just the kind of compliment that moved any teacher.

"And I was wondering if maybe I could ask you for some advice…some personal advice."

Liz was honestly surprised. "Sure, of course! I’ll help however I can. What’s going on?"

"Well…there’s this guy…" Leslie explained, trailing off, while Liz grinned knowingly.

"A guy, huh? Is he cute?"

"Oh yeah!" Leslie responded instantly with a little giggle. "He’s got these eyes…they’re just incredible. And this body… God, he’s really hot!"

Now it was Liz’s turn to giggle, amused by this flash back to her past. She had known since she was sixteen that Max was the only one for her…but in college she used to constantly listen to her friends giggle about their potentials just like this.

"So, what’s the status exactly? Is he interested?" Liz asked curiously.

"I don’t know." Leslie replied uncertainly. "You see…I just met this guy…I don’t really know him at all, but I’m definitely interested in learning more about him. He’s got that whole tall, dark, mysterious thing going for him, and I always find that intriguing. Anyways, I was trying to get his attention by flirting and stuff, but it doesn’t seem to have any effect. I’m not sure what to try next."

"Okay…" Liz said thoughtfully, as she processed the details. Leslie leaned forward attentively, leaning on her elbows resting on the desk. "Here’s what I think. If he’s not responding to your flirting, it probably means that he’s looking for more than just another pretty face…he’s probably seen a lot of those, and is now looking for something deeper…maybe really getting to know someone."

"Maybe…" Leslie replied. "That makes sense. So what do you suggest I do?"

Liz smiled knowingly for a moment, thinking back to an earlier time in her life, when things were much, much different.

"Let me tell you a story." Liz suggested.

Leslie nodded for her to continue.

"Okay…back when I was in high school…which really doesn’t feel that long ago to me, regardless of what you think. Anyways, there was this guy. He was really, really hot…like you said the eyes and the body. Half the girls in school, myself included, had secret crushes on him, but the thing about this guy is that he was really, really shy. Most of the girls took his shyness as being dark and mysterious…it just made him more enticing to us all. But he was so shy that he never made the moves on anyone.

"It turned out though, that this guy was a romantic at heart. He always had his eyes on the same girl, ever since the first time he met her way back in the third grade…but he was so shy and insecure that he never took the chance and asked the girl out. Months went by, and he always watched her, and she never noticed…she was watching him too, but he didn’t notice either. One day though, they were caught together in an emergency situation, and the truth all came out…"

"So you guys got together?" Leslie asked with a knowing smile.

Liz blushed, knowing that her secret was out.

"Yeah, we fell madly in love. But the point I was trying to make is that he waited so long to ask me out because he was afraid I would turn him down, when in reality he had no idea that I was just as interested as he was. If he had taken the risk and asked me out earlier, the absolutely incredible bond that we formed would have come earlier, and it probably would have been just as amazing. All he had to do was give it a chance."

"So you think I should just take the chance and ask him out?" Leslie asked.

"Yeah…you have to take risks sometimes on your path to finding the perfect person for you."

"Thanks Ms. Parker." Leslie genuinely replied. "You’re really great for listening…and you’ve helped so much."

"No problem Leslie." Liz responded with a smile. "I’m always here. Don’t hesitate to come to me again. And let me know how it goes with him!"

"I will." Leslie agreed. "Hey Ms. Parker? What happened to your guy from high school?"

Liz couldn’t hide the dreamy smile that instantly crossed her eyes at the thought of Max.

"Oh, he’s still around." She replied mysteriously.

Leslie laughed. "Yeah, I’m sure. Bye Ms. Parker."

"Bye Leslie."