"He started to ask me something about...I don't know about being involved or something, I didn't really - "

"Like his lack of involvement?" Maria was quick to comment and Liz suddenly found herself rushing to Max's defense.

"He is too involved...I mean he might not seem - "

"Let's see: does he have a friend other than his sibling." Maria said it more as a statement than a question..

"Michael," Liz was quick to say.

"Who's not an ex-convict." her friend added.

"He has me..." Liz said softly and Maria glanced over at her friend.

"Mmmm, you're admitting there's a friendship there?"

"A friendship? Yes," Liz nodded her head, "I mean...yeah, Max is my friend,'' she stated as if she were assuring herself more than anybody else.

"He's your friend?" Maria doublechecked.

"Max is my friend," she loudly announced to herself and in the process the entire diner. There weren't too many people in on Saturday morning luckily, but as Maria picked up her pot of coffee and looked up she saw the entire Evans family standing in the doorway. Maria gulped loudly and nodded her head, quickly making a bee-line for the kitchen. Liz was about to scurry after her friend but Mr. Evans spoke loudly.

"Do we just seat ourselves?" he questioned loudly and his voice echoed throughout the room.

"Yeah dad, just - sit where you want.." Max dismissed his father before Liz could answer, almost a bit embarassed as he ducked into the closest booth he could find. It wasn't his normal booth and he found the Crashdown didn't have the same appeal it always had without seeing Liz.

"I don't see why you made us come here," Isabel grumbled irratably, getting up at eight AM not being one of the highlights of her weekend.

"Well you kids always hang out here, and we never go out to breakfast anymore -" Mrs. Evans began.

"And we thought it'd be a good time to talk about what exactly happened last night during dinner." Mr. Evans stated and everyone looked down the table to Max.

"Max?" his mother questioned but Max didn't respond.

"Max what was that?" his father interrogated, referring to his dramatic exit last night. Max's eyes were shifting every which way but at his parents and just before either said another thing Maria stepped up to the table to take their drink orders. It was no doubt weird for her to be serving her two classmates in such a formal manner but she had seen the uncomfortable look on Max's face as she and Liz had debated who was going to serve them from their vantage point behind the counter. Knowing that her timid friend wasn't going to go up, Maria grabbed her order pad and came to Max's rescue. He looked at her gratefully as she explained to his parents what exactly was inside a Neptune Omelette and Isabel just looked at him.

The two still had hardly spoken at all since their argument last night and their parents were more than curious to find out why the two, who were normally best of friends, were in such a face-off. Mr. Evans was reading the back of the menu, which described in detail the rumored 1947 Crash and the series of events that had trademarked the town of Roswell ever since. "You kids never got into that stuff, huh?" he commented as he finished reading it and looked on all the walls at the signs about UFOlogist meetings and conventions, interviews and conferences with those who had achieved rumored direct contact. "That whole alien thing..." Isabelle and Max just looked at each other quietly, a nervousness about the two of them sensing that each and every thing they did would make themselves too obvious.

"Well Izzy at least went to that Crash Festival last month, Max - do you just not find it interesting at all?" his mother asked genuinely curious, although Max heard it as a direct interrogation.

"I don't know...the novelty kind of wears off after a while..it gets old," Max attempted an excuse.

"That's all you think of it - a novelty?" His father raised his eyebrows, "You don't think there's even the slightest possibility of life on other planets?" Max shifted his eyes around nervously again and he looked towards Isabel.

"Well there's always the possibilty...but, come on, little green men with antennaes?" Isabel said honestly, answering for her brother and Max picked up his head, seemingly in agreement with her statement.

"Yeah," was all he said. Mr. Evans just shrugged as he put down the menu.

"Well Max, you did have your space-camp phase.." he laughed and Isabelle suddenly joined in, smiling for the first time in two days.