"Hey, what're you looking at?"
"Shh, shh." Liz Parker waved dismissively at her friend, as though she could disperse the very soundwaves from the air around them before they could travel past the door. This, of course, intrigued the blonde girl, who shoved Liz out of the way, to look out the small window in the locker room at the scene unfolding just a few feet beyond the thin swinging door.
Alex and Isabel stood in the otherwise-empty restaurant, deep in what appeared to be an intense conversation. It struck Liz, as she stood there, that she really ought to feel a lot more guilty about this whole spying thing, but she reasoned that away with the fact that this was Alex—they'd known each other for what felt like forever. He would do the same thing for her, despite any protesting he might do the contrary. At the very least, he wouldn't be able to stop Maria. That…counted for something, right?
A sudden movement attracted her attention and jerked her out of her thoughts. Isabel was walking toward the door. Alex stood, forlornly looking at the girl's back as the night beyond the garish glow of the Crashdown's neon sign swallowed her up. Both Liz and Maria knew what to do—exchanging a meaningful glance, the pushed the door open and moved alongside Alex. "Want a shake?" Maria asked, slipping her arm around his shoulders. "Crashsite, your favorite!"
"What was that all about?" Liz asked, leading him to one of the stools along the counter. Alex shrugged, not saying a word to them. To his credit, he made a valiant attempt (for Maria's sake, at least) to look like he was trying to drink the thick milkshake, but really he looked like he just wanted to knock it across the counter, that he was just humoring them.
"So?" Maria prodded, resting her chin on her hands as she leaned on the counter. The girl had tact. Right. Liz slipped her arm around Alex's waist in a sort of hug and rested her head on his shoulder. To her surprise, she felt him turn and nuzzle the top of her head. Still, he wasn't speaking—not yet, at least. He took a small swig of the shake and spent a ridiculous amount of time wiping his face, as though afraid that there was whipped cream hiding somewhere. Obviously he was just trying to stall, hoping that Maria would let the subject drop. She was like a bulldog sometimes—when she got ahold of something that was important to her, she would never let it drop.
"It's okay, Alex," Liz murmured. "Isabel's a bitch anyway." She said this quietly, as unaccusingly as she could. Still, he shrugged halfheartedly.
"No…she's just…Isabel," he said, sounding somewhat helpless. And when it came to the Czechoslovakians, who wasn't? Liz hated the fact that they—Max, Michael, Isabel—could do these kinds of things to otherwise perfectly normal, strong people. As though he'd read her mind, Alex spoke up, though quietly, turning slightly toward her. "It's just like you and Max, right?"
Fair enough. Maybe it was an alien thing: fear of relationships. Liz snorted. How strange it was, that for once, Maria was the only one of the three of them without "relationship" issues. Maybe their entire life since learning The Secret was some kind of mistake on the behalf of the cosmos, and now things were trying to right themselves as easily as possible. Easy. Right.
"You should come with us to the pool tomorrow," Liz said, out of the blue. Maria's eyes lit up, as though the idea hadn't yet occurred to her. "Come on—it'll be like old times. Me, you, Maria, and the colonies of bacteria swimming around in the water. You love it, don't you?" Alex snorted, but the two girls grinned. Both of them were remembering sixth-grade Alex, nothing but skinny arms and skinny legs, standing wobblily on the slippery tile edge of the pool, clutching onto his rented inner tube to keep it from sliding down his bony waist. He'd hated the pool ever since his very first visit, but usually the two of them could convince him to go. Alex made a face, and Maria made a face right back at him. Hers was more potent. They called it the patented DeLuca Puppydog Please Alex Please face. They used to work on Alex, no matter what the situation. She'd stopped using it just before high school started, but here it was again. Alex seemed somewhat moved, but not entirely convinced. Liz stepped in.
"Please, Alex?" she pleaded, looking up at him. "You'd do it if you really liked me," she teased, with a grin.
A strange expression flickered across Alex's face, and Liz caught it, but let it go. Probably, it had something to do with Isabel, she decided. He squared his shoulders and held Liz's gaze. "Alright, fine," he declared, sounding more like he was agreeing to a lethal injection that a hot summer's day at a pool. Maria squealed with delight and all but dragged him over the counter as she flung her arms around him. "This is going to be so much fun!" she exclaimed. "Just like when we were little!" She pressed a kiss to Alex's cheek, and Liz followed suit.
She heard a sharp intake of breath, and Alex abruptly pushed both of them away as he rose from the seat. "Tomorrow, okay, guys? Just…tomorrow." He gave Liz a strangely doleful look as he, too, disappeared into the darkness, as though following Isabel.