Chapter One

~*~Part One: One Year Later~*~

“Can you believe it, Lizzie babe? We’re done. Outta there. Finished. No more getting up at the crack of dawn to go to homeroom.”

Liz smiled, rolling her eyes at her best friend’s overly enthusiastic assessment of the situation. She shrugged off her gown, laying it across her bed, next to the cap she’d already discarded; eyes looking on them with a mixture of fondness and regret.

High school was over.

“Yep. It’s over,” she nodded, biting her lower lip. A part of her was glad for this moment, and everything it stood for. Despite all of the obstacles that had been placed in their way, they had done it. They had graduated – and she had even managed to still come out on top as valedictorian.

So why wasn’t she happy? Why didn’t she feel. . .free? Sure, part of her was happy, but the rest of her was. . .anything but. As if graduation was the last straw on the back of her sanity, and now she was slowly crumbling under the pressure.

“Chica? Liz? Anyone in there?”

Liz blinked, focusing back on the blonde standing in front of her. She gave Maria another flash of a smile. “Sorry, just overwhelmed, I guess.”

“It’s okay. I’m just going to go downstairs and keep Michael company while you change, alright?”

“’Kay.” Another smile, this time tighter, as she watched her best friend leave the room, practically skipping out to where her boyfriend waited.

No, more than her boyfriend, Liz told herself. Michael and Maria were everything that she had ever wanted from a relationship.

Well, without the fighting, she told herself with a sad, wry smirk. They loved each other unconditionally, even if they did have a blow up about once a month that resulted in something getting broken. That God for Michael’s powers, or else his entire apartment would be in nothing more than shambles. He put up with Maria’s temper, and she put up with the fact that he pretty much didn’t have but a single romantic bone in his body – and it was broken. Together they were. . .complete.

Just like she had once been, with Max.

The smile on her face faltered, images of the dark haired boy she’d given her heart to racing through her mind in the speed of an instant. An entire year had gone by since he left. A year during which she’d worried for him, feeling that he was still alive, but unable to determine anything else. Was he happy? Had his enemies gotten hold of him only to hold him forever in some sort of intergalactic jail?

Would he ever come back to her?

That last thought hadn’t come for a while, admittedly. She’d stopped even wanting him to come back for her almost nine months after he left. Nine long months of tearing herself apart over something she couldn’t change. Max hadn’t loved her that much, in the end. And she deserved someone that –could- treat her like she deserved.

Someone better than Max Evans.

Even Maria had admitted, albeit reluctantly at first, that Max hadn’t been all he was cracked up to be. In retrospect, he was far too timid for a relationship to have ever really worked. Too afraid of what ‘being different’ would mean to her and her future.

He’d left before he ever had the chance to know so many things. That was her only regret. He didn’t know, for instance, that the girl he’d blessed with his child was a cold-blooded killer. Tess. The name was venom in her mouth, even now.

And he didn’t know about her powers. That they’d kept right on developing as time went on

She looked down at the lacy white shirt she’d worn under her gown, swiping her hand over it. The color changed from white to a pale blue, and she felt herself smile despite the tone of her thoughts. It was so amazing that the power to do these things came from within her, triggered through one moment of healing from Max, years before. She couldn’t do anything spectacular, but the little things were just as much ‘fun’ for her. Changing her clothing to be anything she wanted. Like now, as her skirt transformed into a pair of jeans.

She slipped out of her dress shoes, tugging on a pair of sneakers, and headed downstairs to the Crashdown. Her parents were waiting, along with Maria and Michael, Maria’s mom, Kyle, the sherrif . . .and some others from her graduating class.

It was a party, of course. A graduation party. Her parents’ idea, not hers. Somewhere in the back of her mind graduation wasn’t something to be celebrating. And the idea of going down there, mingling with all of those people that –were- happy in their little lives made her feel. . .

It made her feel. . .restless.

She stopped in the middle of the hallway, leaning heavily on the wall for support as the realization of what she’d just thought sped through her. She was restless, that was it. The need to get away – that was what she’d been feeling these past weeks, steadily building to where she was at now, so restless that she could scarcely see past the smothering memories around her.

“I’ve got to get away,” she whispered to herself, eyes scanning the hall frantically a second later, hoping that no one had heard her. Her parents would never agree to let her just. . .run away. If this was going to be done, it had to be covertly. She’d let them know after she’d left. Write. . or call. . .or something, just to let them know she was okay.

She needed to get out of this town!

Forcing herself to take a deep, shuddering breath, the brunette pushed slowly off of the wall. There was no way she could leave right now, with all of them waiting for her to come down there. She had to make plans first, of course. Maria would be told. And Michael. Kyle, too. They wouldn’t try to stop her.

At least, she hoped they wouldn’t. It wasn’t as if there was much they could do to stop her if they wanted to, anyway. With her eighteenth birthday just a thing of memory, not even her parents could stop her if they found out.

She was going to get away.

It felt like a weight was lifted off of her shoulders the moment she made the decision. With one hand trailing along the wall, she smothered a grin, trying not to look too elated as she joined her friends and family.

Soon.

~*~*~

Her money was packed, some clothes. And she had the keys to the car her parents had given her a few weeks ago – an ‘early graduation present’. Everything was all set and accounted for.

Liz looked around her room, eyes straying to the loose brick that hid the cubbyhole where her journal was hidden. It would have to stay there for now. Being on the open road would present too many opportunities to lose something like that. And if it fell into the wrong hands it would be catastrophic, more so now that it was only her and Michael to protect. In numbers they had had strength, now just two, three if Kyle ever starting showing his own gifts, they weren’t up to taking on the FBI or any alien hunters. Their secret had to remain just that – secret.

For now and ever.

She turned away from the wall, slinging her duffel bag over her shoulder. There was enough money tucked in there, pilfered from her savings, to keep her comfortable for a least a month, maybe longer if she played her cards right and didn’t go overboard. Yet, even now, she had to wonder if a month would be long enough to wipe the taint of these memories from her mind. The good with the bad, if that’s what it took.

It was awkward to climb down the ladder from her balcony to the ground, duffel bag swinging heavily against her back; but she managed to do it without banging herself or her things up too badly. She glanced up at her window, picturing the note she’d written to her parents and what it said. They’d forgive her for this, just like they forgave her for everything she’d ever done wrong.

She just didn’t know if she wanted them to. It would make it so much easier to justify staying away if they were mad. Especially since Maria and Michael had been nothing but supportive. Even Kyle had given her the thumbs up, offering to come with her if she wanted. She stifled a laugh, moving quickly to where her car was parked across the street, Kyle’s disappointed face lingering in her mind. Maybe if she wasn’t trying to forget Roswell. . .maybe then he would have been a good travel buddy. But she was, therefore he wasn’t.

“You’s finally get sick of this town?”

The voice was so sudden that Liz dropped her duffel, a small squeak of fear escaping her lips as she turned towards –

“Ava?”

“Da one and only,” the blonde haired punk snorted, rolling her eyes.

“What are you doing here?” Liz frowned to cover the fact that she was trying to calm her racing heart. She hadn’t seen Ava since. . .well, since before Max and Isabel had left.

“Dunno,” Ava shrugged, leaning against Liz’s car. She tilted her head back, eyebrow piercing glinting in the moonlight. “Started gettin’ this feeling that I should come back. Now I sees why.”

“Huh? Oh – because of this?” Liz blushed, gesturing down at the dropped duffel. “I just –“

“You ain’t gots ta explain nothin’ to me,” Tess’ dupe smirked. “I’d wanna run from this cornball town, too.”

Liz laughed and bent to retrieve her duffel. “I’m not running from the town. . .just the memories I made in this town.”

Ava snorted. “Like I said – you ain’t –“

“Gots ta explain nothin’,” Liz mocked, enjoying the flash of amusement that appeared in the other girl’s eyes.

“Right,” the corner of the blonde’s mouth twitched up in a half-smile. “You were goin’ by yourself?”

“It would defeat the purpose of getting away from here if I took my friends from here with me, don’t you think?”

“Ya shouldn’t be goin’ by yourself. The world ain’t safe, ya know.”

“You do it,” Liz pointed out, raising her chin in defiance. “I can take care of myself.”

Ava shook her head. “I gots some tricks of my sleeve. You ain’t got that.”

Liz glanced over her shoulder, wary despite it being the dead of the night, before running her hand over her jacket, changing it from denim to leather with a wave of her hand. “Is that right?”

“Changes went deeper den just dat astral projection stuff, huh?” the hybrid nodded, eyes thoughtful. “Still, you shouldn’t go alone.”

It hit Liz then that maybe Ava wasn’t so much worried about her, as about herself.

“You offering to come with me?” the brunette felt the words slip by her lips before she could stop them, but didn’t regret them for a second when Ava’s eyes widened just a little, and she gave a little nod of her head.

“I’s ready when you is.”