by Melinda Metz
An image of Valenti lying on the ground at Isabel's feet, begging for mercy, flashed into Isabel's mind. She smiled.
"Max believes in being careful," Isabel answered.
"Careful. Is that what you call it? What a waste." Nikolas reached for a strand of Isabel's blond hair and slowly twirled it around his finger. "You're lucky I showed up, Isabel," he murmured. "Someone needs to teach you what your powers are for."
***
Alex glanced across the quad. Isabel and that new guy Nikolas were still over by the pecan tree, talking. Talking and standing very close together.
"Can I have some of your pork rinds?" Max asked.
"Yeah. Sure. Whatever." Alex shoved the bag at him without looking away from Isabel. Max, Liz, Michael, and Maria probably thought he was pathetic. And they were right. He knew he should stop staring at Isabel like some kind of stalker. But he couldn't. It was physically impossible.
It was the hair. He knew it. Red hair could look amazing on girls. But there was no guy equivalent. Just a bunch of clowns with, like, orange hair.
If Alex didn't have red hair, Isabel wouldn't be over there with Nikolas. She'd be sitting right here, next to him. Yeah, you keep telling yourself that, Alex thought.
Alex shot another quick look at Isabel and Nikolas. They were heading over. Oh, great. Now he was going to be tortured up close while he was trying to eat lunch.
"Hey, guys." Isabel squeezed into the circle between Michael and Maria. She grabbed Nikolas's hand and pulled him down next to her. Alex noticed she wasn't too quick about letting go of his hand, either.
Isabel did a quick introduction. She basically talked directly to Alex's ear when she got to him. It's worse than I thought, Alex realized. She can't even stand to look me in the eye.
It's not like he and Isabel were going out or anything. But he'd gotten the impression that she thought something was happening between them. He definitely felt something when they were together, something special.
Alex caught Liz and Maria exchanging one of those significant looks girls give each other. It was pretty clear that they thought it was uncool of Isabel to show up with another guy when Alex was right there. But they were his friends before Michael, Max, and Isabel ever joined their group. Of course they would side with him.
"We've got something to tell you," Isabel said. She sounded all breathy and excited. Not at all the way she usually did.
I feel like one of the guests on some dumb talk show, Alex thought. I know there's no way I'm going to like what I'm about to hear.
"Nikolas is one of us," Isabel announced, glancing back and forth between Max and Michael. "His parents were on the spaceship, too. He broke out of his incubation pod before we did and got adopted. His family moved away before he started school. That's why we didn't know."
Alex felt as if he'd been punched in the gut. Oh, man. Nikolas didn't just have brown hair. He was an alien, too. There was no way Alex could compete.
For a moment everyone just stared at Nikolas.
"Wow, you must have been so lonely," Maria finally said. "At least Max, Isabel, and Michael had each other."
"I don't buy it," Michael said before Nikolas could respond. He turned to Isabel. "I can't believe you just brought this guy over without talking to us first. He could be anyone. He could work for Valenti. What were you thinking, Isabel?"
Alex's first impulse was to defend Isabel. But he wasn't sure she would want that from him right now.
"I didn't believe him right away, either," Isabel answered. "But I went into Nikolas's dream. He has the same memories we do-of the home planet. And he knew exactly where our cave was."
Max shook his head. "I don't care-I can't feel his emotions like I feel yours and Michael's. I think he's lying."
Nikolas snorted. "You guys are pathetic. You've been so busy not using your powers that you don't even know what powers you have! Don't you know how to block your emotions? You don't feel me because I don't want you to feel me."
"That's a pretty convenient excuse," Michael muttered.
"If you don't believe me, I could just use my powers to set that tree on fire," Nikolas told Michael.
"Didn't Isabel warn you not to use your powers?" Max asked, his voice low and urgent.
"See, he's definitely lying. We can't use our power to set fires," Michael said at the same time.
Nikolas rolled his eyes.
"Nikolas's power is a lot more developed than ours," Isabel explained. "He's going to give me some lessons."
Look how fast she jumps in to defend him, Alex thought. And look how obvious it is that she plans on spending a lot more time with him.
"I don't want you taking any lessons from him," Max told Isabel. "I don't want either of you using your power at all."
"You know what? I don't really care what you want," Nikolas shot back.
"Uh, this isn't the part where you challenge each other to some kind of battle to the death, is it?" Alex asked. "'Cause if it is, I want to get out of the way. This is a new shirt, and my mom will freak if I come home with any blood or brain matter on it."
Nikolas and Max both ignored him. Which was probably a good thing. He didn't think he really wanted to find himself in the middle of something with those two. Alex could hold his own in a fight. Growing up with three older brothers had made sure of that. But none of his brothers had alien power.
"If you use your power, you put us all in danger," Michael said. Alex noticed the muscles in Michael's neck knotting up. He was not too thrilled with Nikolas. And Alex couldn't help feeling a little happy about that.
"Didn't Isabel tell you about Sheriff Valenti?" Max asked. "The guy's mission in life is to track down aliens."
"And he works for an organization called Project Clean Slate," Michael added. "So it's not likely that he's looking for us just to say hi."
Nikolas stared back and forth between Michael and Max. "Wait. Am I getting this? I knew Isabel was afraid. But you two are also scared of a human? That's like being afraid of a fly. If this Valenti guy gets too close, I'll just squash him."
"Nikolas is right," Isabel insisted. "Why are we so scared of Valenti? We have the power. He doesn't."
"I can't believe I'm hearing this." Liz spoke up for the first time. Her dark eyes glittered with anger. "Valenti isn't a fly. He's dangerous to all of us." She turned to Nikolas. "You don't know him. We do. We know what he's capable of. You have to listen to what he did to me. He-"
"I don't listen to insects."
Liz's head snapped back as if she had been slapped. Maria's face grew pale.
Nikolas stood up and strode across the quad.
What a complete and total jerk, Alex thought. At least Isabel got to find out the truth about him right away.
But Isabel jumped to her feet and followed Nikolas without even glancing at any of them.
"I can't believe she did that!" Michael burst out. "I cannot believe she just plopped down and said, 'Oh, hi, this is Nikolas. He's an alien, too.'"
"She should have come to us first. Alone," Max agreed. "It's like it doesn't even occur to her that this is something that involves all six of us. That guy Nikolas could put us all in danger. What is she thinking?"
It's pretty obvious what she's thinking, Alex answered silently. She's thinking she wants the brown-haired boy. And I'm guessing that's much more than okay with him.
***
"Hey, Nikolas, wait up," Isabel called.
Stacey walked out of the bathroom in time to see Isabel trotting after Nikolas. Her lips turned up in a smug little smile. "Don't think you've won our bet," she said softly. "I saw you in the quad, and it looked like you were holding his hand, not the other way around." She wagged her finger in Isabel's face. "That doesn't count."
"Oh, shut up, Stacey," Isabel muttered. She continued after Nikolas, but she slowed down a little. It was too humiliating to be seen literally chasing a guy. That was not her style.
Nikolas stopped at his locker. Isabel forced herself
to walk over to the drinking fountain and take a few sips. Then when she figured she wouldn't look pathetically eager, she wandered over and leaned against the locker next to Nikolas's.
"Max worries. He can't help himself. I think it's a big-brother thing," she said. "Michael's totally protective, too."
"Us worrying about some sheriff is like a general with a nuclear warhead worrying about a kid with a BB gun," Nikolas said.
When Isabel was a little girl, she used to have nightmares where Sheriff Valenti was a big wolf chasing her. He kept getting closer and closer, his long, sharp teeth dripping saliva. Even when she got older, she couldn't shake the feeling that someday he was going to capture her, lock her away somewhere, and do all kinds of hideous tests on her-ending up with her on some dissecting table.
"I really want you to teach me how to build up my power," Isabel said. "I want to be able to do what you said-squash Valenti like a fly if I have to."
She didn't care what Max said. Because Nikolas was right. With her power she could be the strong one. She would love to give Valenti a few nightmares about her. She would love to stop being careful.
She would also love having an excuse to spend some time around Nikolas. No, make that a lot of time.
Nikolas slammed his locker shut. "I think I can fit you in," he told her. His eyes traveled slowly up her body from the tips of her boots to her face and lingered on her lips.
"Um, cool," Isabel stammered. She tried not to stare at his mouth. But it looked so kissable. When was Nikolas going to kiss her? If he didn't make his move soon, she'd just have to do it herself.
"Well, we're all going to a movie tonight. You should come," she added. Isabel didn't usually ask guys out. In fact, she never asked guys out. She liked to make them work for it a little.
But Nikolas was new in town. He didn't know anyone. And besides, she felt like she was addicted to him. She couldn't stand the idea of going through the whole weekend without seeing him.
"Does we include your human friends?" Nikolas asked.
"Yeah. I know it's weird having humans know the truth about us. It really freaked me out at first," Isabel said quickly. "But the three of them totally came through for Max and Michael and me. They helped us get Valenti off our trail."
"They aren't even the same species as us. And they smell funny," Nikolas answered. "Sitting in some movie with a crowd of them doesn't sound like fun to me."
"Come on. You've never had one human friend?" Isabel asked.
"Nope, but I did have a dog once," Nikolas said. "Hanging out with humans is probably part of the reason your power is dull. You spend too much time with them, you start thinking like one of them, then you start believing you're one of them."
Isabel thought about trying to convince him he was wrong, then decided to skip it. Things were just starting up between them. She didn't want to risk blowing everything with a stupid fight.
Nikolas would get to know Alex, Maria, and Liz eventually. And when he did, he'd change his mind. He had to.
*** 6 ***
Max knew Liz was coming down the hall behind him. He wasn't sure exactly how he knew, but he definitely did. Maybe he picked up on some little things-like the sound of her footsteps or the smell of her shampoo-and processed them on a subliminal level.
He glanced over his shoulder. Yeah, there she was, striding down the hall like she had somewhere very important to be. Liz always walked like that no matter where she was heading.
"You want a ride home?" he called. Because he hadn't had enough of those totally awkward, numb-brained, tongue-tied moments with Liz.
"Actually, I'm going to the Crashdown," Liz answered as she caught up to him. "Papa still hasn't figured out how to do the work schedules on the computer, so I have to show him again."
Liz spent a ton of time at her family's alien-theme restaurant. Back when he had a total crush on her and she was only thinking of him as her lab partner, Max used to eat at the Crashdown Cafe constantly just to give himself a little more Liz time. He'd hang out, watching her, pretending he wasn't watching her. Now doing that would be too weird for both of them.
"So… Nikolas," Liz said as they headed out of the building and over to the parking lot.
"Yeah. Nikolas. I'm sorry he was such a jerk. What he said about humans? That was totally unacceptable," Max said. "And Isabel didn't even open her mouth to tell him how wrong he was. I couldn't believe that."
"Max, you shouldn't be apologizing for Nikolas," Liz answered. "Just because he's an alien, too, doesn't mean you're responsible for him."
Max shook his head. "I think we're all going to have to be responsible for him. If he uses his powers the wrong way, Sheriff Valenti will go after him… and that's dangerous for everyone," Max said. "Any ideas?"
"I know," Liz said. "I'll throw Nikolas a surprise welcome-to-Roswell party. He'll be so touched that he'll realize I'm not really an insect."
Max snorted. "That's better than my plan."
"Which is?"
"I don't have one," he admitted. And he needed one. He couldn't let this thing with Nikolas get out of control.
They climbed in the Jeep, and Max pulled out of the parking lot. "There has to be a way to convince him how dangerous Sheriff Valenti is," Liz said. "I know Nikolas thinks he could just use his power to kill Valenti, but he's forgetting that Valenti is part of an organization. If a Project Clean Slate agent ends up dead, I'm sure there would be some kind of investigation, and more agents would show up here."
"You know that, and I know that, but I don't get the feeling that Nikolas is someone who responds to a logical argument," Max answered.
"Maybe we could talk to Isabel, and she could talk to Nikolas," Liz suggested.
"Yeah, because we all know how logical and rational Isabel is," Max said. His sister hated being told what to do. She really believed rules didn't apply to her. Yeah, she'd been careful with her power lately. But that was only because she was still a little flipped out about what happened with Valenti. Now that Nikolas had convinced her that she shouldn't be afraid of the sheriff, Max wasn't sure what she would do. But he thought Isabel and Nikolas made a very dangerous combination.
"Nikolas obviously made it this far without anyone finding out the truth about him," Liz said. "So he can't be totally reckless."
"Unless he just squashed everyone who got close to figuring it out," Max answered.
"I think an alien killing spree would have made the news," Liz answered.
Max suddenly realized that he and Liz were actually having a conversation. He said something, she said something, he said something else. No awkward pauses.
He pulled his Jeep up in front of the cafe. Liz reached out and touched his arm, and he felt a jolt go through his body.
"Max, I know you," she said. "I know you're thinking that this whole Nikolas-and-Isabel situation is something you have to solve. That it's somehow your responsibility to make sure nothing bad happens. But you can't control everything. You'll make yourself crazy if you try."
"It's just that if they do go wild and start using their power, we could all end up in danger again," he said.
"And if that happens, we'll all figure out what to do about it. Together," Liz told him.
Max nodded. Suddenly he was back to not knowing what to say.
Liz gathered up her purse and backpack, then hesitated. "Uh, do you think you'll be able to go to the movies with all of us tonight?" she asked, not quite meeting his gaze.
Max didn't know if he'd be able to deal with a movie. What if he ended up sitting next to Liz? He didn't think he could survive two hours next to her in the dark without touching her.
Well, he wouldn't have to test himself tonight. "I can't make it. I'm starting my new job," Max said.
"Oh. Well. I hope it goes great." Liz jumped out of the Jeep. "Thanks for the ride."
Max pulled back out into the street and drove the two blocks to the UFO museum. Maybe once he'd worked there a little while, he would suggest doing som
e kind of deal with the Crashdown. Like if you brought in your museum ticket, you got a free dessert or something.
He shook his head as he pulled into the museum parking lot. He was doing it again. Without even trying, he took everything he saw or read or heard and found a way to connect it back to Liz. Like he was on the way to the museum, so he linked the museum to the Crashdown Cafe because they both had to do with aliens, and then it was easy to connect the Crashdown to Liz because she worked there and her parents owned the place. And that's how he came up with the idea of doing some kind of deal between the museum and the cafe.
Pathetic, he thought.
Max checked his watch. Time to go inside. He climbed out of the Jeep. His new boss, Ray Iburg, had seemed cool at his interview. And working in the museum had to be more fun than his last job-doing research for his dad. Maybe if his dad were a criminal lawyer, it might have been kind of interesting. But his dad did all this environmental law, and Max was sick of reading about oil spills.
He walked through the museum doors, and a white jumpsuit came flying at him. A white jumpsuit covered with rhinestones.
"Your uniform," Ray Iburg called.
"Thanks, Mr. Iburg," Max said. "I'm really looking forward to working here."
"Ray, you have to call me Ray," he answered. "Otherwise I'll feel like I'm a hundred years old."
Max wondered how old Ray was. His hair was kind of thinning on top, and it had some gray in it. But his skin looked like it could be in the "after" part of a pimple cream commercial. It was clear and smooth. Max didn't even see one wrinkle.
"I've decided that it's time for the museum to do a full and thorough exploration of the Elvis-alien connection," Ray said. "That's why I got the new uniforms. I thought we could draw on some sideburns, too. Or maybe I could make some out of carpet remnants…"