by Kevin Ryan
that less than forty-eight hours before he had left the
only life he had ever known. His worries were replaced
by the work his hands did, his mind both concentrating
on the task and drifting. Kyle wasn't sure if that was a
true Zen state, but it was good enough for him.
Maria was glad to get out of Bell's, even though the morning
had not been too bad. She and Liz had quickly settled into
their old patterns, and the time had passed quickly. On the
other hand, they still had lunch and dinner to get through.
In the past, she had sometimes pulled twelve-hour shifts
at the Crashdown, but they were tough. She knew she
* * *
would be dragging her feet for the last couple of hours.
Sleeping in the van hadn't helped. She doubted she had
gotten more than four hours of actual sleep, and she had
woken up sore and aching.
Well, tonight might be better if the guy from the garage
let them use the room with the shower. Sleeping on a floor
would be better than sleeping sitting up in the van.
Passing through Main Street, Maria was struck by how
empty the town looked. Then she caught sight of another
missing-person flyer. This one was new—or at least it was
one that she hadn't seen before.
The woman in this photo looked older than the other
two, maybe in her early thirties. She was outdoors some-
where and she was smiling broadly. Maria looked at the
picture for a moment before she realized that she was
walking the streets alone. Hadn't Bell warned them not to
go outside unless they were together? Maria felt a chill run
down her back and started walking quickly toward the
garage, which was still more than two blocks away.
More than two deserted blocks, Maria realized. Then
there were a couple of hundred yards of open field. Sud-
denly Maria was overcome with the strong feeling that she
was being watched. It was a crawling sensation on the
back of her neck. She tried to dismiss it as her mind play-
ing tricks on her. Maybe she was spooked by the missing-
person posters, or the emptiness of the streets, but she
couldn't shake the feeling that someone was watching her.
Of course, she caught glimpses of people looking at her
through windows, but those glances seemed mainly curious,
benign. Still, she had the growing feeling that someone else
was watching her, someone who meant her harm.
* * *
Maria picked up her pace.
By the time she reached the edge of the sidewalk, she
was nearly trotting. When she reached the open field, she
forgot about her pride and ran, barely keeping her grip on
the plastic bags that held the takeout food.
The few seconds it took her to reach the garage seemed
to stretch to minutes, but finally she was there. She slowed
to a walk when she was a few yards away from the garage.
Almost immediately, she began to relax. By the time she
reached the garage office, she already felt silly for worry-
ing. Nevertheless, she decided to have Michael walk her
back to the diner.
Just as she was reaching for the door to the office,
someone popped out from behind a pickup.
Maria jumped.
Then she saw it was a man, a large man. She almost
screamed, and then she realized he looked familiar.
"Hey," he said, and she started again at the sound of his
voice.
Then she realized who it was: Gomer, the guy who had
towed their van. With an unpleasant grin on his face, he
said, "You want to be careful, watch out for them aliens."
Maria's stomach leaped. Did he know? How could he?
"What?" she gasped.
"The aliens, the ones that take the women. Least, that's
what they say. You shouldn't be out alone," he said.
Maria felt her stomach start to work its way back down
from her chest. "I'll be careful," she said, pushing her way
into the office. Inside, she saw a blond girl behind a desk.
The girl looked up and gave her a tight smile. She also
looked Maria over carefully.
* * *
"Hi," Maria said. "I'm looking for Kyle."
Then the girl gave her a smile that Maria instantly didn't
trust. "Oh, he's in the garage. Are you his girlfriend?"
Maria was taken aback for a moment by the directness of
the question. "Um, I'm a friend of his. I brought his lunch,"
she said, holding up one of the bags. "Can I get in through
there?" She pointed to the door in the rear of the office.
"You sure can," the girl said, through the same tight smile.
Maria headed for the door. "Okay then, bye," Maria said.
"Bye-bye," the girl trilled, and though Maria couldn't
see her anymore, she was sure the girl was wearing the
same smile as she said it.
She came out into the large garage, scanning it for Kyle.
Seeing the owner, Maria walked right over to him and
pulled a food container out of the bag she carried.
"Hi," she said, holding out the Styrofoam box. "Meat
loaf with gravy, no mushrooms. Bell said it was your usual."
He looked at her, confused for a moment.
"It's our way of saying thanks for the shower and oat-
meal this morning," Maria said, handing him the food.
Then recognition bloomed on Dan's face, and then he
did something Maria didn't expect: He smiled. "Thank
you," he said.
"Is Kyle around?" she asked. The question was just out
of her lips when Kyle appeared next to her.
"Hey," Kyle said.
"Lunchtime," Maria said.
"Why don't you take a break," Dan said, the ghost of
the smile still on his lips.
Kyle came with her around back. They guys weren't in
the van, so they tried the room in the back. Before they
* * *
entered, they heard laughter from inside. Opening the
door, they found Michael, Max, and Isabel sitting on the
floor huddled around an ancient board game.
"You're going down," Michael said to Max.
Maria leaned down and saw which game it was: Chutes
and Ladders.
Perfect, she thought.
At the three aliens looked up, Maria frowned and said,
"I'm glad that while we mere mortals are busting our
butts, you guys are making yourselves useful."
Max and Michael started to get up.
"Maria . . . ," Max started.
She shook her head. "It's okay. Somebody should be
having fun today. Lunch is served," she said, handing out
the food.
"Can you stay and eat with us?" Michael asked. "You
can get into the game if you want," he added.
"I have time to eat," Maria said, sitting on the side of the
bed. She had brought something for herself, anyway.
"Where's Liz?" Max asked.
"She's back at the diner, brooding. I think she's been
spending too much time with you," she said.
Concern immediately ran over Max's features.
"She's fine," Maria said quickly. "You guys should come
by for dinner at the end of the rush, six thirty or so."
Then Maria took out her own food. She was glad to sit,
and even gladder to not have to go back outside alone to
face the aliens or whatever it was that had the whole town
(and now her) spooked.
On the other hand, as Michael dug into his burger, she
realized she had an alien of her own to protect her.
* * *
come on, Space Boy, you're walking me back," Maria
said.
Michael fought an urge to snap back at her for giving
him an order. "Okay," he said, standing up.
Maria shot him a look of surprise, and that made the
effort of holding his tongue worth it.
"Ready to go?" he said, grinning at her.
He enjoyed the slightly confused look on her face as
she got up off the floor. "Sure," she said.
He nodded to Max and the others, and then he and
Maria were out the door and headed for town.
He noticed that she seemed nervous as they walked
along the open field that separated the edge of Main Street
from the garage. She looked over her shoulder at least five
times as they crossed the short distance.
"You know, this is the first time we've been alone since
we left," he said.
"What?" she said, clearly distracted.
"I said, this is the first time—"
* * *
"Michael, there's something strange going on in this
town," she said, as if he hadn't spoken.
"Right here, in fact," Michael said, not even trying to
keep the annoyance out of his voice.
"Michael, I'm serious. Haven't you seen those missing-
person posters in town? It's creepy."
"Well, we're not going to be staying long," Michael
said.
"I ran into Gomer, and he said something about aliens,
like the girls were abducted by—"
"Here we go," he said, shaking his head.
"I know it sounds stupid," she said.
"That's because it is stupid," he said, raising his voice.
He was angry now—more at himself than at Maria. He
hadn't wanted to fight with her. As they drove in the van
and the miles sped by, Michael had found the earliest stir-
rings of peace on the road. He had hoped that things
would be different for him and Maria. As they drover far-
ther away from Roswell and the pressure they had always
been under, he had felt sure that things would be different.
He would make them different.
But why did she have to drive him so crazy?
"So you're saying I'm stupid?" she said.
By sheer force of will, he kept himself from saying any
more.
"Then what—," she started, her own face scrunched
and angry.
"Stop," he said, raising one hand. "Look, I'm sorry."
That seemed to stop her cold. Michael saw that they
were getting close to the diner. He didn't want to spend
the few seconds they had fighting.
* * *
"What?" she said.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to suggest that you're stupid.
I'm just saying that the only aliens you're going to find in
this town are the ones you brought with you. We need to
be careful, but we left all that stuff behind in Roswell. That
was the point of this class trip," Michael said.
Maria looked at him, thankfully silent for a moment.
"We've all seen the signs," he continued. "There is
something strange going on here, but it has nothing to do
with us and nothing to do with aliens. My guess is that a
bunch of girls got wise and escaped this hole-in-the-wall
without leaving a forwarding address."
Maria started to speak, but he raised his hand and she
was silent.
"But if some psycho is kidnapping girls, I'll watch out
for you. Just don't go outside alone, or—better yet—
unless I'm there."
He paused for a moment and said, "Okay?
"Okay," she said, nodding.
They were approaching the diner door when he
stopped her with a hand. "Don't worry," Michael said.
He smiled and said, "I don't want to fight with you."
Then he did what he'd wanted to do since they left the
garage—actually, since they left Roswell. Michael leaned
down and kissed her.
Though surprised, Maria responded immediately.
A few seconds later, he felt her hands on his chest.
Then she was pushing him away—gently at first, then
with force.
"What?" he said.
"What are you doing?" she asked.
* * *
"Well, I thought it was self-explanatory," Michael said.
"I guess not."
"What are you thinking?" Maria said.
Michael raised his hands in frustration. "Well, I was
thinking that I wanted to kiss you, but I've reconsidered,"
he said, feeling his face go flush as the hairs on the back of
his neck began to stand up. With effort, he fought down
the rising anger.
"Look, Michael, I'm just not ready for this. Too much
has happened, and I just don't know what we are to each
other anymore. I'm going to need some time here," she
said, the challenge clear on her face and in her voice.
A voice inside his head screamed, I stayed on this planet
far you! 1 blew my one chance to go back to the place I came
from. For you! But Michael put his hands down and said, as
calmly as he could, "Okay."
She was silent for a moment, looking at him with a sur-
prised expression. When she spoke, her voice was calm.
"Look, I'm just not sure what I want right now."
"There's a surprise," he muttered under his breath.
"What?" she said.
"Nothing, but understand this: I know exactly what I
want, and I will wait if I have to," Michael said.
She looked at him with the same surprised expression.
Well, he was surprised at himself. But he did know what
he wanted, and he was determined to break the cycle of
stupid arguments that had kept them apart too many
times in the past.
"I'll wait," he said, then he pointed to the diner door.
"Maria, you'd better get back to work. We'll come by
before your shift is up. Don't go outside until then."
* * *
He took a moment to enjoy her stunned expression,
then turned and headed back for the garage.
Kyle found Dan in the office.
"I just have to check the seals and add the fluid, then
I'll be done with the transmission," he said. "What's next?"
"Points and plugs on the Impala. And check the brakes.
They've been grinding. They'll need pads, but see if you
can save the rotors. I have to stop in town. I'll be back in
about an hour," Dan said.
Kyle nodded, "I'll be fine."
"I'll keep an eye on him for you," Dawn said, flashing
Kyle a smile.
Kyle could barely keep the goofy grin from his face.
When did my luck start changing? he wondered.
He nodded to Dawn on his way out and said, "See you
later."
"You know it," she said.
As Kyle entered the garage, he was glad his back was to
Dawn, because he lost the battle with his
goofy grin,
which spread itself wide across his face.
A few seconds later, he was back under the car, doing a
quick inspection of the seals on the transmission. It took
some effort for him to concentrate on his work, but he
forced himself to do it.
"Hey, I want to talk to you," a voice said from above him.
It took Kyle a moment to place the voice. He was
immediately annoyed at the interruption, because it ended
the warm feeling that lingered from his encounter with
Dawn.
"I'll be up in a few minutes," Kyle said. He would actually
* * *
be less than that, but the last thing he wanted to do was to let
Gomer think he would rush on his say-so.
"We'll talk now. You don't have to get up," Gomer said.
"I just wanted you to know that Dawn is my girl."
Kyle shook his head. This was ridiculous. "Funny, she
didn't mention that," he replied.
"Well, I'm mentioning it," Gomer said.
His voice was tight, as if he was trying to intimidate
Kyle. Well, Kyle was not going to be intimidated by this
bad-tempered tow truck driver who worked at a shop in
the middle of nowhere.
Nevertheless, Kyle was very conscious of the fact that
while Gomer was standing on the shop floor, Kyle was flat
on his back with less than a foot of clearance between
himself and the car above him.
Kyle knew guys at the garage who didn't like to work
under cars, either out of claustrophobia or a vague fear about
the safety of the hydraulic lift that held the car off the
ground. Though he had never had that problem himself,
Kyle suddenly understood it. He considered sliding out from
under the car, but he didn't want to give his nervousness
away and give Gomer the satisfaction of thinking he had
shaken Kyle up. Keeping his voice casual, Kyle said, "I think
Dawn's big enough to decide what she wants for herself."
Kyle heard Gomer make a sound like a grunt. When he
spoke, he shouted, "You got a smart mouth. You want to
watch that. We don't much like smart guys around here."
"Then you must fit right in," Kyle shot back immedi-
ately.
Gomer didn't reply, but Kyle heard footsteps and a
click. Leaning his head up, he could see Gomer's legs were