All night, Liz found herself going through the motions at work, delivering food, taking orders, cleaning tables…but her mind was somewhere else entirely.
She wasn't quite so broken up over the flash anymore. Max had eased her fears with his oath that they would work through the flashes together, and not let their past actions come between them today…but there was something else that Liz couldn't get out of her head.
Who was Tess?
Whoever this Tess was, she had obviously created a great deal of tension between Max and Liz in the past…in the flash her heart had just wrenched, and anger had flared up within her just at the mention of the name. But whoever Tess was she obviously wasn't around anymore. Max didn't know her…Liz didn't know her, and nobody ever talked about her.
As she moved towards the kitchen window to pick up an order, she glanced at Michael, pondering asking him…but he hadn't been overly giving about answering their questions thus far.
Research was definitely on the agenda once her shift ended.
~~~~~~~~~~~
"Isabel, are you busy?" Max asked softly as he peeked his head into his sister's bedroom. She glanced up from her books, nodding for Max to come in, as she folded the book shut, placing it beside her.
"No…I'm not too busy." Isabel sighed. "I could use a break from psychology anyway…I can't believe how much reading I have to do for these college classes."
"Mom says you're spending so much time studying…more than usual." Max commented. "She said that it's out of character for you…I wish I could remember for myself."
"Yeah…" Isabel replied softly. "I took a lot of units this year…I needed something to keep myself busy…to keep my mind off of…stuff."
Max nodded, knowing that this was one of those moments where he shouldn't press her. He changed the subject quickly, returning to the point of his visit.
"Isabel…I just wanted to talk to you about something. I…I've started having memory flashes." He explained quickly, for some reason knowing that fact would help her accept Liz more.
"Really?" Isabel's entire face brightened as she openly grinned at her brother. "I'm so happy for you. What are you remembering?"
"Wait." Max stopped her quickly. "There's more. The flashes have been really great. It's helping me get a sense of who I am again…and it's really been, well, mind blowing for me. But the other thing is that there's something in particular that's been initiating them."
"What is it?" Isabel asked curiously.
"Well…actually it's someone." Max corrected. "Liz Parker."
Max sucked in his breath as he watched the smile on Isabel's face fade away before his very eye. He couldn't read the new expression…whether it was anger, pain, disappointment…he wasn't sure what she was feeling. So he just stood silently waiting for her reaction.
"Max…I don't think it's a good idea…for you to get involved with her."
"Isabel…I thought you'd be happy that I'm getting my memory back. Did you ever stop to think that maybe Liz is the only person who can help me with that?"
"Did you ever think that maybe she would be better off without you?" Isabel shot back quickly, rubbing her brow in frustration.
"What do you mean?" Max asked, searching Isabel's face for some kind of straight answers about all of this.
"Do you have any idea how much you've hurt her? How much you may continue to hurt her through the flashes you're getting?"
"Some of the flashes haven't been easy." Max admitted. "But we can work through them together."
"What if Liz sees something she doesn't want to see?" Isabel pressed further. "Did you ever think about that?"
Max stared at her curiously. "I really don't know what you mean."
"Or how about the danger." Isabel continued, ignoring his reply. "Didn't you even stop to think that maybe just being with her is putting her in danger?"
"You said yourself that we're stuck here…that we're not going anywhere. That maybe if we hide out and act normal that no one will come after us again." Max argued.
"We are stuck here." Isabel agreed. "But our enemies are still out there…and we already know that they'd do anything to hurt us…even kill."
"What are you talking about?" Max demanded, realizing that they were broaching yet another subject that he was supposed to know and didn't. "Who died?"
"No one." Isabel denied quickly.
"I think you're lying. Who was it?" Max implored, his mind racking quickly through the few names he had filed away, only coming across one that he couldn't place a face to. "Was it Tess?"
Isabel's head shot up so quickly, the blood draining from her face at the name, making Max's curiosity intensify.
"Where did you hear about her?" Isabel inspected Max's face closely. They had wanted so much to erase Tess from their memories after discovering she was the culprit behind Alex's death…apparently Max was the only one who had succeeded…for a while.
"Her name was in a memory flash I had with Liz today." Max explained softly. "Was it her?"
"No." Isabel replied shortly. "It wasn't. But trust me on this Max…you don't want to know about Tess. You don't want Liz to know about Tess. It's better off that she's gone and forgotten."
~~~~~~~~~~~
Liz didn't know why she didn't do this before now. She spent the last few weeks of the summer frantically searching for clues, but never once did she think to hunt out her high school yearbooks.
After digging through various boxes, Liz finally found her yearbooks stuffed among books on the top shelf of her closet. Pulling them down, she wiped one hand across the front, clearing the light sheen of dust, as she stared at the cover.
West Roswell High School 2000-2001.
She traced the letters with the lightest touch of her finger, wondering if the answers she would be looking for would be hiding within. It was always said that a yearbook was a private place…people's signatures were not read by others…it was a personal memory, not one to be shared to the whole world.
But her life had been so secretive, constantly hiding the truth about Max from the world. Would she have ever written anything down?
Quickly, Liz crossed the room, climbing up on her bed and sitting cross-legged, the yearbook on her lap, as she took a deep breath and opened it, flipping quickly to the Junior Class's pictures.
All she had was a name…a first name, the last name a mystery.
Tess.
Liz didn't know what good it would do for her to see the face of the mystery girl she had tried to set Max up with…but she felt an overwhelming urge to look into the eyes of the face that went with the name…the name that in the flash had made her stomach curdle.
Her eyes flew down the page, searching the list of names quickly to no avail. She flipped the page, and smiled at Maria's grinning face, before being distracted by another face just beside her.
Evans, Max.
Liz's eyes glowed at the sight of the year-old picture of the boy who had managed to change her life in a matter of days…before studying his gaze more closely. There was something about the picture…something that she had never noticed during all the time she had spent with him the past few days.
His eyes were sad. Knowing Max, he was probably trying to hide it in the picture…but it stood out as plain as day to Liz. He was suffering horribly in the picture…like he had lost the only thing in the world that mattered to him.
And when her memory reached back and searched the little that she knew about their past together…Liz realized that she had seen it there too…in only two of the flashes. The two painful ones.
Something had destroyed Max…and Liz had a feeling it was directly linked to her.
Liz swallowed, and tried to shake the painful ache out of her mind, as she turned to the opposite page…and she froze as the name stood out from the top row.
Tess Harding.
The picture made Liz want to throw up.
Tess Harding was a platinum blonde, curly-haired girl who was wearing entirely too much makeup. Liz could practically feel the pettiness, just by staring a long moment at that horrible face.
Why in the world would she want to set Max up with Tess Harding?
Liz could tell just by the picture that she wasn't Max's type. Max had a brain…he liked intelligence…he was dating a science nerd for heaven's sake. So what could possibly make Liz think that she would succeed in setting him up with a girl like Tess Harding?
