Title: Spin
Category: M/L AU
Author: incognito
E-mail: jcincognito@yahoo.com
Rating: R (violence/language)
Stuff you should know: Liz's POV. Tess and Courtney are human. There was no shooting, lots of things are different and will be explained later.
Summary: Something happened in Roswell a long time ago and now it's all screwy and everyone's in a bad mood. I'm really screwing with their lives on this one kids. I'm committing the biggest crime in the dreamer dictionary: At first, Max and Liz don't like each other too much and Max thinks he’s in love with Tess. *Incognito smiles nervously* don't kill me?

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Part 1

Spin.

Lots of things spin. Wheels spin on a car. Lives spin out of control.

Right now, what happens to be spinning is a bottle.

A group of my peers sit on the floor in front of me, in a circle. Some of them are smoking cigarettes, some of them are smoking weed. All of them are looking at the bottle in anticipation.

I'm not.

I already know what's going to happen. Michael spun the bottle so there is not doubt it's going to land on Maria. They'll kiss. Isabel will go next, it will land on Alex. They'll kiss and so on and so forth.

They control the bottle with their alien powers. I know this. Maria and Alex don't believe me. They don't believe me because it doesn't really matter to them. They could care less, as long as they get to kiss the people they're not willing to admit they're in love with.

Let me make one thing perfectly clear: Every single kid in this town has at some point been accused of being an alien. So it doesn't really surprise Alex and Maria that I should accuse Max, Michael and Isabel.

It's Isabel's turn now. It landed on Alex.

What a surprise.

Max is acting weird tonight. I don't even know why he's playing. Tess isn't here.

He never plays when Tess isn't here.

The bottle spins. It's brown, and empty, and clanking annoyingly on the linoleum floor. The group holds their breath. Who is Max going to kiss tonight? They want to know.

And to tell you the truth, I'm not sure if I could care less, or if I need to know to survive.

Obsession is weird like that.

One thing is for sure; It's not going to be me. I'm not playing. I never play. Maybe it's going to be Courtney.

The group lets out their breath as the bottle comes to a halt between Alex and Michael.

Strange. Why would Max want to kiss Alex or Michael?

They look down at the bottle, then their eyes follow the invisible line where the bottle is pointing, between them, on the couch behind them.

Guess who is sitting on the couch behind them?

I am.

"I'm not playing." I defend myself as everyone looks at me suggestively.

Then Max looks at me. He looks straight at me. The way that makes your insides quiver and shudder and die.

Max only makes eye contact with people when it's convenient for him. He's never looked me in the eye before. I think I'm getting sick, I think I'm panicking. He's not supposed to like me. This is not how things are supposed to go.

Need I make myself more clear? I look at him right back. "I'm not playing." I say it a little more forcefully this time. I mean it in the most literal way possible.

He shakes his head slightly, "Neither am I."

There are a few things that fly through my mind.

1.) What the hell is Max talking about?

2.) I'm too old for this.

3.) How the hell did I get here?

umm......

I think I'm going to need to start a little earlier.

But where? The obvious choice would be the infamous 'beginning'.

I don't even know where that is. Maybe it's the day I was partnered up in Bio with Max. Maybe it's the day Max ran over Tess with his car. Maybe it's the day a spaceship crash-landed on earth. Maybe it's the day I was born, the day he was born, the day the universe was created.

How about I just pick a spot and go with it?

How about the day my mind started spinning out of control.

We need to stop and rewind. Watch the reels of the movie spin backwards....

Stop.

Rewind.

Play....

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In a couple weeks a bottle will be pointing at me. Only, I don't know that yet.

I'm working right now. So are Tess, Courtney, and Maria. It's dark outside. Friday night so only the regulars are here.

The regulars are the people that have nothing better to do on a Friday night than keep the working class from going home. Specifically, the regulars are the old woman who sits in the corner (whom we so graciously refer to as 'the woman who sits in the corner'), and Max and his posse (which consists of Michael and Isabel).

Of course, Max is here because he knows that Tess is working.

Me and Maria don't mind working Friday nights. We like it quiet. However, Tess and Courtney hate working Fridays, they have better things to do. They actually could leave if they wanted to, we don't need them, but they're trying to save up enough money to get an apartment together.

This is how it goes: Courtney is Maria's older sister. One year older, to be exact. Tess is Courtney's best friend. They should be in a grade above us, they should have graduated last year, but they failed. And now we're all seniors together.

What fun.

They failed because they don't want to leave Roswell.

For the life of me, I can't figure out why.

Me and Maria and Alex, we can't wait to get the hell out of this place. I'll explain later. Now, I must pretend to work.

Me, Tess, and Courtney lean our backs against the counter, watching the boring scene play out before us. Every once in a while I wipe the little droplets of sweat off my forehead and take a swig from my bottle of Cherry Coke. Courtney makes loud, bored groans every once in a while and Tess bobs her head side to side to a song playing in her mind.

Max, Michael, and Isabel mostly sit in silence. Every once in a while Michael attempts to leave and you can hear their silent arguments if you listen hard enough. Max doesn't want to leave until Tess's shift is over.

The guy amazes me. He's really good at this secret obsession thing. He does a great job making everyone think he's not really obsessed with Tess. You can tell though if you sit around and watch him every night like me and Courtney and Maria.

I sort of feel sorry for him. And I'm not even gonna try to understand what exactly he sees in her. Oh well, I don't really care a whole lot anyway.

I can hear Maria as she stacks tubs of ketchup in the back room.

Courtney chuckles to herself and we all direct our attention to her. On a boring night like this, your willing to hear anything that anybody has to laugh about. She nudges Tess on the arm, "Max Evans is staring at you again."

Tess and I groan. We were expecting something funny, or at least something new. She replies in the nonchalant way that she usually does, like nothing is important enough. "Remind me again why I should care?"

Maria walks into the front, having heard most of our conversation, "Who is staring at who?" She joins us in our positions against the counter. I have to admit, we look sort of intimidating when we sit like this, in a perfect line. This is how we drive out customers.

I hand my Coke to Maria, "I'll give you two guesses."

"Oh." She already knows. She throws back the Coke and downs the rest.

Courtney leans forward. You can tell when Courtney is thinking evil thoughts. You can practically see her eyebrows form into a sinister V shape. "I don't know," she says, "I'd fuck 'im." Courtney can be really crude like that.

I smile. I smile because I know exactly what Maria is going to say next.

Maria smiles back at me, " That's a surprise," she says.

Tess raises her eyebrows and glances at Courtney, "Well...why don't you then?"

Courtney opens her mouth to respond but is interrupted by Tess shoving the order pad in her hands, "Go take their order." She scuffles into the back and you can practically feel Max's eyes following her.

Courtney shakes her head and thrusts the order pad at me, "Parker, be a doll and take their order, will you?" She follows Tess.

Maria shakes her head at me sadly, "Do you think I could get a sister divorce?"

I shrug. "I'll be back." I get to go take their order now.

Yay. me.

My voice is monotonous as I go through the usual spiel without a pause. I want them to know exactly how much I don't want to be here. "Welcome to the Crashdown Cafe my name is Liz I will be your friendly waitress our soup of the day is clam chowder can I get you something to drink or are you ready to order."

Max doesn't even attempt to look at me, "This isn't your section." How rude is that?

Whatever. "Welcome to the Crashdown Cafe," I repeat, "my name is LIZ I will be your friendly..."

His face hardens even more, if that's possible. "Where is Tess...this is Tess's section." He says this like he's talking to the menu in front of him. Michael leans over and softly bangs his head repeatedly against the counter.

I'm angry now. I'm really angry now. "Tess is probably doing lines in the bathroom, now do you want something or not?"

He clenches his jaw. He still doesn't look at me of course. He looks at the ground. "No." He leaves. Michael and Isabel follow.

Courtney peers around the corner of the back room, "Well halla-fucking-luja, now we can go home." She says this too loud.

The lady that sits in the corner starts barking like a dog. Did I mention she's insane? Well she is.

Something is bugging me. Something about Max is bugging me, I need to go upstairs.

My mind is beginning to spin.


Part 2