Circumstances

Chapter Five

Monday morning came way to fast for Liz. She really hadn’t thought much about the kisses her and Michael had shared. Her big plan for the day was to avoid absolutely everyone. If she saw Maria, Kyle, or anyone, she’d duck into a classroom or the ladies room. She hadn’t quite dealt with the fact that she’d made out with Michael. She hadn’t let herself dwell on the fact over the weekend, so she’d stayed in her room the whole time. She’d been off on Sunday and had taken special care not to run into anyone. She was standing in the doorway of the cafeteria when Michael came up behind her.

“ Hey Liz, ducked into any classrooms lately?” Liz spun around and came face to face with him.

“ What are you talking about?” Michael grinned at her.

“ Nice try, Parker. I saw you before second period. I had wanted to talk to you, so I followed you. You must have sneaked out through the other door.” Liz turned away as her face grew extremely red.

“ So what if I did? I’m just a little weirded out right now.” Michael nodded at her, because he felt the same way. He liked her a whole lot, but he’d been dating her best friend and she’d been dating his. Max and Maria would probably never talk to either one of them again if they found out about it. He realized that he’d left her statement unanswered.

“ Oh, is it because we made out for over an hour? Or is it because you used to date my best friend and I used to date yours?” Liz sighed, getting frustrated that he was saying all of that.

“ Maybe a little bit of both. I mean, I thought you hated me, and here you’ve been so nice to me. Then to top it all off, we made out Saturday. I need to have my head examined!” Michael was about to respond to her when Alex walked up behind her.

“ Hey guys, what’s going on? Liz, I haven’t seen you all day!” Liz squealed with joy and wrapped her arms around his neck.

“ Alex, I’ve missed you so much!” Alex laughed, but he returned the hug.

“ Liz, I’ve only been gone for two days. Imagine how you’re going to feel when I leave for Sweden next month.” Liz pouted at his statement, but she was so happy. She was so happy in fact, she got through the rest of the day in a breeze. She made Alex promise to hang out with just her this evening, and if Maria asked, he had plans. He’d agreed readily to that idea, so it was making Liz wish that school was over. She soon changed her mind, because it was after school that she had her first confrontation. She was outside the school talking to Alex and Maria, when Tess walked up.

“ Alex, I really need to talk to you. Can you come by Kyle’s tonight?” Alex didn’t even pretend to be nice to her, which surprised even Liz.

“ No Tess, I can’t. I have plans with Liz tonight, and forever. I’m sorry, but I won’t be able to talk to you ever again.” Tess looked extremely surprised by his outburst.

“ Excuse me? What is your problem, I only needed help with my Math homework. Did Liz spread some likes about me or something?” Instead of Alex responding to her, Maria spoke up.

“ Back off, Tess. Liz didn’t say anything about you, I did.” Tess glared at Maria, but then fixed her angry stare on Liz.

“ It’s a shame that you need your friends to fight your battles for, Liz.” Liz stepped in front of Alex and Maria, and Stared Tess down.

“ I don’t need nor did I ask them to stand up for me. I guess you don’t know what it’s like to have real friends. They care about me, but if you really wanna have a go Tess, we’ll have a go.” Before Tess could retort, Max walked up them.

“ Hey, what the hell is going on over here? Hey Alex.” Alex didn’t even acknowledge Max, but Liz turned towards him.

“ You need to get your girlfriend out of my face, and make her stop trying to start stuff with me. If she keeps it up, I may have to ram her ugly face into the tree!” With that statement, all three of them walked away. Max was completely surprised by Liz’s outburst. He was even more surprised that Alex was already angry with him.

“ Let’s go, Tess. Leave Liz alone, I mean it.” Tess followed Max, but silently fumed at his order, and vowed to get them back.

*(*(*(* 0o0o0o00oo0o0o *(*(*(*

Liz was over at Alex’s house, up in his room. She was sitting on his bed with him. This wasn’t anything out of the ordinary, since they’d been friends since they were kids. She was friends with Maria too, but she felt more comfortable around Alex. He was the one person she could divulge all of her secrets to, without any worries whatsoever.

“ Alex, I’ve missed you so much. I know you weren’t gone long, but I didn’t get a chance to catch up with you when I came back from my trip. So much has happened to me in the last two days, and I really wanted to talk to you about it.” Alex smiled at Liz.

“ Well, I’m flattered that you want to talk to me about it, and not Maria. I’ve missed you too, Parker. So, what’s this big news that you’re dying to tell me and can’t tell Maria?” Liz winced at they way he worded his statement. It just made her feel even worse then she already did.

“ Okay, so Michael was helping me avoid Max and everyone, but he came to the Crashdown. Maria and Michael tried to detour him, but it didn’t work. He told me that he just wanted to be my friend, and the he was destined for Tess. Isabel, Maria, and Kyle have all yelled at them, and now you have. Michael had been extremely nice to me in all of this, which brings me to my dilemma. We were over at his apartment watching some T.v. and talking about our relationships. I swear, out of nowhere, he kissed me! Alex, we made out for over an hour.”

At first Alex didn’t say anything, but he eventually busted out laughing. He tried to compose himself, but he’d look at her, and start laughing all over again. Eventually, even Liz started to laugh with him. Alex finally stopped laughing and looked over at her.

“ Lis, this is not a good thing. Maria was just telling me today that she wanted to get back with Michael.” Liz slammed her face into his bed.

“ Alex, this isn’t fair! I don’t even thing I liked it!” Alex grinned at her.

“ Yep, you have a dilemma alright. Now, you promised me food, so let’s go.” Liz smiled at him, and they left for The Crashdown.

Alex and Liz entered the restaurant, and there wasn’t anyone there except for Michael, Maria, and James. Maria and James were locked in each others arms in a passionate kiss. Alex turned away, groaning as if he was going to be sick. Liz looked back to see Michael’s reaction. He looked angry at first, but halfway grinned at her when he saw her. Liz quickly turned away and faced Alex, who was also grinning at her.

“ I go away for a weekend, and I certainly miss a lot. Maria sucks face with jock boy over there, and you’re sucking face with Maria’s alien.” Liz turned an incredible shade of bright red at this statement. She was prevented from having to say anything, because Isabel opened the door and headed straight for them. Liz knew that she wanted to talk to Alex, so she got up and went into the kitchen for some food.

Liz quickly scanned the room, and saw that Michael had his back to her. She was very confused where he was concerned. He’d always treated her hot and cold, and she didn’t know if the kiss had merely been fluke or not. The fact that she was even curious, confused her even more. Did she want Michael Guerin to like her that way? Maria would be sure to never speak to her again if she acted on this, though she didn’t know why. She was out there making out with James right in front of Michael. She shook her head and realized that she was standing in the kitchen doorway staring at Michael. She certainly didn’t remember walking all the way over to the door. Michael’s voice shook her out of her thoughts.

“ Are you going to just stand there, or are you going to come in here and talk to me?” Liz looked at him and felt her face grow warm again. It seemed it was all she was doing, was blushing like a fool.

“ Sorry, I was kinda out of it there. What do you want to talk about?” Liz had unconsciously moved closer to him, and he grinned fully at her now.

“ You know what I want to talk about, Liz.” Her mouth fell open. These aliens were certainly blunt.

“ Michael, we cannot talk about that here! Maria is right outside, what would happen if she came back here and overheard us?” Michael scowled at her.

“ The four people out there don’t care what we’re doing at the moment. We’re closed, so follow me.”
Michael took Liz’s hand, and guided her into the pantry. He closed the door behind them, and backed her up against the wall. Liz started to protest, but Michael dipped his head and captured her mouth. Liz sighed and wrapped her arms around his neck. It was strange, but she wanted him desperately. Michael was trying to deepen the kiss, and after a few moments, Liz opened her mouth to him, allowing him to slip his tongue in. Liz loved Michael’s kisses, and immediately returned it. Michael’s hand was on her hips, their bodies touching.

Michael couldn’t think about anything. Liz was currently running her fingers lightly through his hair. He could only think that he wanted more. He broke off the kiss, which surprised lis. He smiled and started kissing her neck ever so lightly, causing her to tremble. He moved his hand up to cover her breast. Liz jumped at the contact, but was soon leaning into his hand, even though it was through her clothes. Michael grinned with a cockiness only he could see at the time. They could have stayed that way forever, if they hadn’t heard Isabel’s voice.

“ Liz? Liz, are you back here?” Liz jumped away from Michael and tried to straighten her hair. She grabbed some tabasco sauce from the top shelf, and opened the pantry door.

“ I’m here, Isabel. I was just proving to Michael that we weren’t out of tabasco sauce.” Isabel nodded, accepting the answer.

“ Alex sent me back here to get you. He said that the two of you have been hanging out. I didn’t mean for you to leave, I just wanted to talk to him.” Liz smiled at Isabel, and turned back to Michael.

“ You can go on home if you want. I’m gonna fix me and Alex something to eat, so I’ll clean the grills.” Michael huffed at her.

“That’s okay, I’ve already cleaned everything. I’ll have Isabel here and myself heat something for you guys. What do you want?” Liz thought for some reason to decline, but couldn’t find a sensible one. She told Michael what they wanted, and they set to it. Liz walked back out into the dining area, and found Alex by himself. Maria and James had already gone. When he saw her, he grinned.

“ Well hey there, Liz. It happened again, didn’t it?” Liz sat down and nodded gravely at him.

“ Alex, I don’t know how it happened! He was wanting to talk about it, and I told him no, because Maria was right there. The next thing I know, he’s taking me into the pantry!” Alex threw his head back and howled with laughter.

“ The pantry? That’s freaking hilarious! How you got out of it with Isabel, is beyond me.” Liz colored very prettily.

“ SSH! Will you please keep your voice down!” Alex held up his hands in surrender. After a few seconds, Michael and Isabel returned with their food, so they couldn’t talk about it. Michael ended up sitting beside Liz, and Alex kept grinning like a fool, which caused Michael to put his food down and look at Liz.

“ You told him, didn’t you?” Liz’s mouth dropped open, and she couldn’t say anything. She didn’t have to, because Alex was happy to answer.

“ Yes she did, and I say good for you!” Michael grinned for a moment, then glared at Liz.

“ You were giving me such a hard time about it, and you tell Alex?” Isabel interrupted then, not liking being in the dark.

“ Tell what? You might as well tell me, cause I’ll just dream walk you.” Michael didn’t even hesitate.

“ Liz and I have made out twice now. We were in the pantry going at it, that’s why she looked so flustered. There Liz, now we’re even.” Liz and Isabel gawked and stated in unison.

“ Oh my God.”