*8*

Have you ever said your name over and over and listened to how ridiculous it sounds.

Liz Liz Liz Liz Liz

An arbitrary combination of letters to define who you are.

Liz Liz Liz Liz Liz LIZZZZZZZZ

My mom pokes her head into my room, "Honey, aren't you going to be late for the social?"

Hahaha, the social.

She frowns at me, "Is that what your wearing?"

I look down at my chosen clothing, I'm wearing what I usually wear, jeans and a sweater.

"Mom, I'm not going to a tea party."

"You just haven't been out in a while, I thought you might want to dress up."

Sometimes I wonder if my mother grew up in 20th century America.

"I'm going to a high school party mom, you know, the kind with drugs and alcohol and lots of vomit?"

She points her finger at me, "If it's that kind of party I want you to come right home."

"Of course."

"What time are you picking up the Evans boy?"

Oh mother mother mother. I stand up, "Right now."

"Okay!" My mother waves at me as I leave, "Have fun! Stay out of trouble! Don't get home too late!"

Don't get me wrong, I love my mom. But she thinks that the problems of the world can be solved with a nice dress and a little makeup. Yea, like Max Evans would notice if I dressed up.

Who cares, I don't want to be noticed.

-----------

"Do you want a cookie?"

Max's mom is always offering me food.

I smile, "No thanks."

"We've got some lasagna in the fridge."

So is his dad.

"It's okay, I'm fine."

"We've got water, and orange juice," says his mother.

The way they're treating me, you can tell Max doesn't get visitors too often.

"I'm really okay...but thank you."

"How about some milk? You like milk, don't you?" asks his dad.

"Umm.." I shoot Max a helpless look as he walks into the room.

Max shakes his head and smiles at his parents, "You guys, Liz has a mother and father of her own, and despite what you might think, they do feed her."

His mom brushes off his comment and kisses her son on the cheek, "You guys have fun, no drinking."

"And no drugs." Says his dad.

"And no sex." Says his mom.

Max's eyes widen, "We're leaving now."

"No glove, no love, son." Adds his dad.

"Yea," Max says as we retreat out the door, "That's great dad, I'll remember that."

He chuckles to himself as we walk to my car, "They think we're dating."

Apparently they think we're doing more than dating.

I smile weakly, "That's funny."

"Yea."

Yay. It's party time.

It's a Roswell party, so one of three things are guaranteed to happen:

1) A fight will break out, the party will be broken up by the cops.

2) Someone will overdose, the party will be broken up by the cops.

3) And this is the most common one, someone will cheat on his or her significant other, an anonymous tip from a neighbor will cause the party to be broken up by the cops.

Understood?

I'm gonna place my money on #3.

We can hear the music pounding as we drive onto the street. They're already being too loud so this party might not last as long as anyone expects.

It's only 9 and the lawn is already cluttered with beer cans. They probably had a warning from the cops and made everyone get inside the house.

How do I know so much about Roswell parties? I think it's just the kind of instinctive information you're born with.

Either that or I've just lived here for way too long.

As soon as we walk through the house, some girl is hugging me. "LIZZZ!"

I have no idea who she is.

She shoves a bottle of beer in my hands, I see Maria and Isabel through the crowd. "I think Tesssss is looking for you guys." The girl manages to push out her words in a slur.

Max looks really nervous. "She is?"

The girl leads us to the kitchen where Tess is pouring beer into a funnel that is directly attached to Tommy's mouth. When she sees us, she hands the funnel to someone else and clutches to Max's arm.

And I wonder. What is this?

What, exactly, is going on?

"You guys came!" she says.

Max swallows.

I hand him the beer, "Knock yourself out, I'll be somewhere else."

I make my way to the living room where Maria and Isabel are sitting on the couch.

Isabel is wearing one of Maria's shirts.

"Hey guys." I say, "Is Alex here?"

Maria smiles at me, "He's in back with Michael."

"Great...I'll umm...be back in a second."

In back, Alex and Michael are playing with someone's dog.

Alex must be slightly drunk because he keeps making the little dog roll over and shake. He is very amused by it. "LIZ," he says enthusiastically when he sees me, "Doesn't this party blow?"

You gotta love Alex.

He puts his arm around my shoulders, "Liz, this here is Michael, and this," he points to the dog, "This is Bob Johnson."

"The dog's name is Bob Johnson?"

Alex nods.

Max comes out in back, still holding a full bottle of beer. Michael narrows his eyes when he sees it. "You drinkin'?"

"Maybe," says Max.

"HELLOOO," We turn our attention towards Tess, who's head appears in the window, "Come in here, were playing a game."

"What game?" Alex asks.

"Spin the bottle." she says.

Shoot me. Now.

"Come on Max," Tess says, flirting like there's no tomorrow, "Don't you wanna play?"

"Ummm."

"Pleeease." she says.

Max takes a nervous sip of his beer and nods, "O-Okay."

She turns her charm onto Alex and Michael, "Maria and Isabel are playing."

No way.

Alex's eyes light up, he grabs my arm, "Come on Liz."

"Alex," I pull him around to face me, "Listen to yourself, this is crazy talk, we don't do this."

He frowns, "Liz, Isabel is playing, come on, play with us."

I find it hard to hide my utter disbelief, "Alex, what the hell are you gonna do if the bottle lands on me??? Hello? Can you say weird?"

Alex's face stiffens, "Your right, maybe you shouldn't play."

"What if it lands on Maria!?"

He's not listening to me anymore, he's pulling me into the living room.

I sit on the couch and watch Tess direct the group into a circle.

So here I am.

My peers sitting in a circle on the floor in front of me.

I wonder if I'm losing my only friends.

Alex goes first, it lands on some girl I don't know.

I can feel myself fading into the background.

Michael goes next, he's concentrating on the bottle way too hard. Alien powers. It lands on Maria, she looks happy.

I might as well not even be here.

Courtney goes next. It lands on Max. Courtney attacks him with her mouth. It looks really gross. Max looks uncomfortable.

I should just go.

It's Max's turn. This should be good.

Oh look at that, it landed on Tess.

The look on their faces? Priceless, fucking priceless.

I don't want to see this.

I'm leaving.

This isn't about me.

As I walk through the room I hear whooping and cooing noises behind me. Must have been a damn good kiss.

Good for them, I say.

Way to fuck up Kyle's life while they're at it.

One week ago, Tess wouldn't give Max a second thought. Now what in the world would make her change her mind so quickly? Perhaps she wants something from him?

Lets dwell on that for a while.

Personally, I think she's lost it. She's gone, far gone.

I guess I would be too.

I go into one of the back rooms. The rest of the house is pretty much empty because the crowd has congregated in the living room.

I enter a back room with a couch and some workout equipment. The white light bulb has been replaced with a blue one, it's very calm. Eddie Williams is sitting on the couch staring into outer space.

Eddie Williams is a major player in the meth scene. But right now, I think he's on downers.

I've never talked to Eddie in my life.

I sit down on the couch and Eddie lazily glances over at my feet, then points to a bug on the wall. "You see that bug?" He asks.

"Yea."

"Is it looking at me?"

I lean forward and pretend to examine the bug, "Yea, it is."

He is basically handing me the chance to screw with his mind on a platter. How can I resist.

He nods, "That's what I thought."

"I think it's trying to tell you something." I say.

"I wonder where everybody is." He says.

"They forgot about us."

He nods again.

I lean my head back on the couch, the spinning is starting to hurt.

So me and Eddie, we sit there. What fun. About an hour goes by before he speaks again.

"You are so beautiful." he says.

"That's funny," I say, "You haven't even looked at me."

He shakes his head, "I can tell."

"Neat."

"Wanna come over to my house?"

"Not really."

"Okay."

Nice try, Eddie.

"Liz?" I hear Max's voice outside the door.

I say it again: Yay me.

"In here."

"Liz," he says as he walks through the door and sits down on the floor in front of me, "I have to tell you something."

His eyes are cloudy, "Are you drunk?"

He nods solemnly, like a little boy, "Yes."

"Great."

He starts to look at his hand like it's the coolest thing he's ever seen. He waves it in front of his eyes. Then he places his palm over my face. "You have a really small head." He says.

Umm...

"See Max, I have this personal bubble, and you are now invading it."

He chuckles and retreats his hand, "Your funny, I have a secret to tell you."

"What," I say unenthusiastically.

He leans forward secretively, "I'm an alien."

"Dude, So am I," Says Eddie.

"Why are you telling me this?" I ask Max.

"Because," he says, "Your more insane than I am."

"I wouldn't bet the ranch on that."

"Shhh." He says, putting a finger to his lips, "Don't tell anybody."

"Yea okay."

He looks around the room in a daze, "There was something else I wanted to tell you....I don't need a ride home."

"Why not?"

He smiles, "I'm going with Tess."

.....

"Liz?"

.....

"Lizzz?"

"Huh?"

"Don't tell Kyle okay?"

"What?"

"Okay, I'll see you later."

He leaves. And for possibly the first time in my life, I am left without a witty comment to end the night.

Part 9