Chapter Two
(Max):
"Okay, um, thank you all for coming," Alex said quietly. We were all gathered around a picnic table near the barbecue joint out near the highway... the same one that Michael, Isabel and I had been occupying when I told them that I'd let Liz in on our secret, I suddenly realized. The very table. We came back to this place every so often. Of course, the table was a lot more crowded today. "I, um, assume that we're all familiar with the objective."
"'...Make an ass out of you and me,'" Kyle quoted succinctly. "I dunno about anyone else, but I for one have no clue what I'm doing here. As usual."
Tess jumped in to remedy that. She was sitting next to Kyle, having made no attempt to get remotely near me when we were taking our places - more like the opposite. Not typical for her, but probably predictable considering what I told her yesterday evening. "It's about the Book. Remember... remember the time I took you to the library?"
"Umm... yeah, actually," Kyle said, blushing a little, undoubtedly remembering that day. I had the uncomfortable feeling that I might be flushing a little myself - Liz and I had gone to spy on Tess and that Kyle for that trip; Liz had argued that the only reason that Tess would have chosen to go anywhere with Kyle was to get our attention, to send a signal to me. She had done that: I could still remember Tess there in the library, standing on top of a chair in the last stack, Kyle steadying her from the ground, as unseen to him she reached into a hidden handprint and brought out the Book.
"We can't read it, but we think it holds some of the answers we need," Tess explained. "There are these big crypto-super-computers in Las Cruces that can supposedly translate unknown languages - if he can get them, Alex may be able to use them to translate the book."
"I might be able," Alex corrected Tess with a smile. "But first, I would need to get access and learn how to work with the Quantum machines. They're under the sole access of a highly exclusive research project at UNM Las Cruces."
"So..." Kyle thought about that, and turned back to Tess. "You can't just mind warp him in?"
Tess shook her head. "To create a truly realistic framework to convey the illusion that Alex belonged there without any basis of reality would require a lot more precision control than I can lay claim to. For one thing, I can't think of any way to do it without creating false memories - and though I've experimented with doing just that by mind warp, I haven't gotten to the point where the results are terribly convincing yet." She smiled feebly.
"Max's notion was to find something that would be of value to the project," Alex put in. "I think that's our best shot, it's the way research groups like that tend to work, though most may not admit. If a lowly high school student from Roswell, New Mexico is part of a package deal that's advantageous to the project, he'll quickly become part of the project." He smiled slyly. "If he wants to be, at least. I've managed to drag up three things that we might conceivably be able to deliver... all of them are relative long shots, but no-one said this was going to be easy, huh??" He took out a letter-size printout and passed it to Tess, who happened to be the next around the circle to his right.
"A recognition equation for language forms," she read off doubtfully, and looked at Alex.
"Yeah," Alex agreed. "Given a string of characters - any kind of characters - encoded as numbers, a simple scheme to measure how much it does or doesn't look like a language. Like something that was all the same character repeated over and over again wouldn't qualify, or something that was too equal in its distributions." He shrugged.
Tess passed the sheet off to Kyle, who scanned it himself, and then picked up where Tess had left off. "Two, build a longer quantum chain. Alex?" He waited for the explanation.
Alex nodded. "The computers use quantum chains to solve tens of thousands of equations at once. But processing time is still at a premium, and for each additional quantum added to the chain, it roughly doubles its multiprocessing power."
Kyle passed the sheet along to Michael, but he didn't move on to the third point. "And how are we supposed to discover anything like that??"
Alex groaned. "I don't know! This is a brainstorming list... and I had to work pretty hard to come up with this much." He looked around to make sure that no one else was within whisper distance. "I mean, god, you guys are the aliens! With molecular manipulating powers, I might add. Why's it so hard to believe that you just might be able to come up with a longer quantum chain??"
Max reached out and took the sheet from Michael. "And this is just a preliminary list, right, Alex?" Alex nodded, a little warily. Whoops, I'd put him on the spot there, hadn't I? "I mean, other things may pop up, right??" No big response. I looked down and read the third item out loud. "Generalized algorithm for simplifying a symbolic logic stream."
"That's the key to the whole process," Alex said slowly. "They use a hypothetical translation of the language to build an insanely complicated stream of symbolic language from the sample text. If they can simplify that stream, they can use it to generate a meaning, but there's no straightforward way of simplifying symbolic l..."
"Can I be excused?" Michael muttered, waving a hand sarcastically. "My brain is full." Kyle and Tess didn't seem to be paying much attention either, and Isabel's look of rapt attention was probably the mandatory girlfriend variety.
**Why the heck SHOULD he be helping us out,** I wondered to myself. Alex is going to all of this trouble for the four of us, and they can't even be bothered to listen, never mind help out.
Alex nodded slightly, and Michael got up and left the table. Kyle followed suit. Tess looked around and pulled a paperback book out of her bag, opening it halfway into the saga of Geomancer.
After a few long seconds Alex and Isabel got up too. I hurried to catch up with them.
"Alex, man... I'm sorry. I think they want to help, but things were just getting a little too jargon-y. Why don't you take the weekend off, recharge your batteries?"
Alex exchanged a shy glance with Isabel. "That was pretty much the plan anyway. I've got big plans with Isabel - a surprise this afternoon, and the concert tomorrow. But thanks, man." He smiled at me. "I do understand. It's just... frustrating, ya know?"
"I do." Pause. "Well, I think I'm gonna go back to campus. See ya later?"
My sister's arm was snaking around Alex's waist. "Yeah. I think we're going to hang here for a while," he said. Isabel waved goodbye with her other hand.
I looked back towards the table. Michael and Kyle were tossing an old football around, and Tess was totally wrapped up in her book. I thought about going up to her and asking her if she wanted a ride, but what Isabel had said earlier about Tess being deeply hurt by my rejection rang in my ears. Probably better to give her some time come to terms with things before trying to mend the fences, so to speak.
So I got into the Jeep all by myself and drove off. There were two more of 'our' cars here, and five people yet. I had come over by myself. Everything would work out fine.
But somehow the drive seemed a little lonely.
The lunch break wasn't nearly over yet, so the hallways of West Roswell High were pretty empty. Not deserted... every so often you'd see someone searching through their locker, a student or teacher quickly making their way from point A to point B, (wherever those points might be,) someone sitting on the floor with a small puddle of homework spread about them, or the odd couple stealing a little quiet time.
And then, across the corridor from my locker, about fifteen feet towards the bio lab, her attention apparently riveted on a Shakespeare text, was none other than Elizabeth Parker.
Neither of us said anything or even made a gesture of greeting at first. But I could feel her watching me as I opened the locker and started looking for my geography binder. "Liz."
"Do you have any idea how hard it is to wait nonchalantly in this particular stretch of corridor for half an hour?"
I smiled and turned around. The book was closed now, held at her side, and she was walking towards me. "Surprised it was worth the trouble."
Liz smiled warmly and didn't reply to that directly. "So, what did you rush off for in such a hurry?"
"How did you know about that?"
"I could see your taillights on my way out of English, as it were," Liz's smile seemed a little more bittersweet now. "Headed in the direction of the west parking lot. It didn't seem worth trying to stop you."
"Oh." I looked into Liz's face, she didn't seem to be angry, just maybe a little disappointed in not being able to spend more of her lunch hour with me. Or was I reading too much into this out of hope? "Big meeting at Chico's taco stand. The computer project... um, did anyone tell you about that?"
"Yeah," she nodded, looking straight into my eyes, and it was like I could see that old spark, just a little. "Alex filled me in last night. I begged off helping - not really great with computers."
"I don't think any of us are, except for Alex," I admitted. "We can still use all the help we can get."
"I'll think about it," she said, so softly it was almost a whisper. She was close enough that if I reached out I could touch her now, but I didn't. "I didn't wait for you here to talk about the latest Czechoslovakian caper, you know." Now she was whispering indeed, but I could hear her without any difficulty.
I closed me locker door. "No, I didn't think you had," I whispered in agreement. "Why *did* you wait??"
"Because you waited for me," Liz replied softly, and then shook her head slightly at the cheese factor. "What you said last night... I understand what you mean. But... but I'm not ready for anything but a new beginning, and a slow start. Until I know in my heart that it's right, that you really were meant for me. Or maybe more to the point, me for you."
"I can live with a slow start," I murmured, hoping deep down that I really could. "How about we have lunch tomorrow? Is that slow enough?"
"Ye---" Liz looked at me apologetically. "Yes, it would be slow enough, but I can't make it tomorrow. I have plans with Maria - a 'girl's day off' kind of thing. I'm sorry."
"Don't be," I assured her.
"Sunday?"
"Uh... sure, sure. I wouldn't miss it. Umm..." What's a good place for a non-threatening Sunday lunch? Isabel had mentioned something... "The Olde towne restaurant? One-thirty??"
"I will meet you there," Liz agreed, a big grin on her face.
"You sure? I mean, I can pick you up, if you want..."
"No," Liz replied, a little too quickly and definitively. "I mean, I can get there fine," she assured me a few seconds later, much warmly.
"I can't wait," I said, smiling. "So, umm... can I see you at the Crashdown tonight? Not for a thing," I quickly disclaimed. "Just in the mood for a Galaxy Melt and hanging out with an old friend."
Liz smiled. "I'll be on shift. And you know you're welcome any time."
I smiled back, and looked for a new topic. "Hamlet?" I waved at the book, still clasped between the fingers of Liz's left hand. "Are you covering that in your AP English class?"
Liz shook her head. "No, as geeky as it sounds, I'm reading this on my own."
I nodded. "Cool. How'd you like it?"
"It's interesting. Title character kinda reminds me of someone, but I can't put my finger on who..."
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(Isabel):
The doorbell rang, and I hurried up and through the front hall, excited. Alex's mouth dropped open when he saw me.
"W-w-wow," he managed after a moment. "You... you look --- incredibly hot!!"
"Well, thank you." I had taken the opportunity to dress up a little - it wasn't every day that my boyfriend takes me out to a rock concert - well, Beth Orton is more on the folk rock side I know, but still.
I was wearing my tight black leather pants, a red spandex halter-top, and red four-inch heels. I had put on a thin gold bracelet, corkscrew earrings with little rubies at the ends, and a choker with a blue topaz hanging from it. My hair was down, just slightly curled, and I was pleased that Alex appreciated the effort.
"You look pretty sexy yourself." Alex did, too. He was wearing tight black jeans, (not *too* tight,) a wife-beater top, and his hair was spiked up a little more than usual, with gel. "How are we doing on time??"
He looked at his watch. "We'll be alright to grab some food before the show starts, if you want."
"Hmmm." I thought about that. "Yeah, I could eat. You wanna go by the Crash??"
Alex considered that himself. "Yeah, okay." He smiled and extended his arm to me as I stepped over the threshold.
We talked about trivial things on the way over to the cafe - school assignments, old times. (A year and a bit ago, which is about as old as old times get for the two of us.)
"WHOA!!" The shout rang out as we walked through the front door - well, as I walked through. I verified the source of the exclamation... Kyle Valenti - and waved teasingly at him as Alex and I walked up to our favorite booth, which was fortunately empty.
Maria came up to take our order. "Hello, strangers, welcome to Roswell," she chirped, suppressing giggles. "Y'all in town for the big concert??"
"Yeah, yeah, very funny DeLuca. I get it," Alex replied.
"How... how do you know my..." Maria pretended to fan herself in shock. "Alex?? Isabel?? Why, I didn't recognize you two, trashed up like that."
"Don't pay any attention to her, Alex," Liz called over. "I think you guys look great, and I *know* that Kyle agrees with me."
"Who looks great??" came Michael's voice from the kitchen.
"Okay, enough of all this," I said, cutting though the hubbub. "We're in a bit of a hurry. Umm... I'll have a galaxy burger, a cherry coke, and... Alex, do you wanna share an order of Saturn rings??"
"Sure," he agreed. "Galaxy burger for me too, no pickles, extra tomato, and a lemon soda."
"That'll be comin' right up, darlings," Maria mugged, and sauntered away. I grinned at Alex, and soon we were playing the word association game while waiting for our food.
It came pretty quickly, and we ate in silence for a little bit. About a minute or two after the burgers had come, I heard steps coming up to the table and a throat cleared. "Good evening," a deep, suave voice sounded. "My name is Michael and I'm your chef this evening. I just wanted to come by and ask if everything was perfectly satisfactory."
I groaned. "Take a good look at the outfits, Michael, and then go away." I posed a little, stretching out on the seat.
"It's not that," Michael insisted, though I saw his eyes roaming across my figure a little. "I just wanted to come and wish you a great time at the concert. Nobody deserves it more than you two." He rubbed my shoulder with brotherly affection and gave Alex a high five.
"Thanks, man," Alex told him.
Soon the meal was over, we paid up at the counter, where Liz offered us her congratulations as well, and then quickly drove over to the county hall. There was a long line of ticket-holders waiting to get in, of course, and I started to get bored as we stood in the queue. Chatted a bit about what-might-have-beens, nothing important.
Soon after that we reached the gate, Alex surrendered the tickets to get torn in half and accepted the stubs back, and we started inside to figure out where our seats were.
"So, did you really mean it??" I asked as we looked up an aisle to see if the seat numbers fit a pattern we could use. "That you wanted me to come up to Las Cruces this summer?? Assuming that you get in, that is." This was something that he'd suggested yesterday, on a horse-riding date.
"Well, of course, what, am I really going to turn down the company of my beautiful girlfriend while I'm in exile??"
I grinned a little. "Well, it might be a little intense, and a little bit of a commitment. Spending all that time, out of town together. Of course, if we're boyfriend and *girlfriend*," and I couldn't entirely choke down a giggle here, "then I guess that shouldn't be as much of an issue, should it? It's just... well, we've never talked about that, have we??"
"What, going steady?" Alex blinked. "Umm... well, I guess I kinda thought it was a little early. We've only been together for a few weeks, after all. But... I'm up for it if you are, I mean - are you kidding?? Like I've really had the jam-packed social schedule, apart from you."
"There was Leanna, in Sweden," I reminded him. "Ohh, I think we're here."
"What??" I pointed at the row that would contain our seats. Pretty good location, too.
"So, um, yeah. Leanna. I mean, that was fun, but it was totally a summer love type thing, except in the wintertime. I mean, really, dating a girl who lives more than five thousand miles away?? New meaning to the term 'long distance relationship.'"
"Ahh," I muttered as I sat down, feeling a little disappointed. Is that the only reason Alex chose me? Geographic proximity??
"Plus," he whispered in my ear. "You've spoiled me for dating human beings, Isabel Evans." I'm sure I blushed.
The warm-up act came on about then - some Texas folk band, they seemed pretty good. We grooved along, and then there was a break before the headliner was ready.
"So, what do you want to do after the show," I whispered to Alex.
"Umm... don't have any ideas. You??"
"Yeah, I've got a notion," I giggled. "But I'll tell you later. Ooh, something's happening."
An announcer had walked on the stage. "Ladies and gentlemen. all the way from Norwich, England... BETH ORTON!!"
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(Alex):
When I woke up, the twilight was just starting to glow at the edges of Isabel's window.
So, after the concert, we went back to her place and made out, and she convinced me to stay the night, since her parents would be out of town until this afternoon. In fact, Max hadn't been home all night, either - he'd left her a note, something he needed to check out, 'probably nothing to worry about.' (I wasn't sure if that phrase should be enough to make me feel nervous.) He'd also mentioned that Kyle was with him.
We didn't do anything much hotter than necking - after all of that, I expected that it would be difficult to... to relax and get any sleep, if you know what I mean. But something weird happened... as I lay there with her, this strangely peaceful sensation seemed to roll over me like a wave. It might have been all in my imagination, it might have been something weird and alien.
Anyway, it was a very pleasant if slightly numb sensation, and I started to get really sleepy very quickly. This may sound really corny, but when I was really dozy it felt like it was Isabel's love that was washing around me and surrounding me. I was hardly aware of my body any more, and I hardly missed it.
Now, as the morning threatened to break outside... well, not threatened, but it was as if morning was starting to talk tough and brag a bit... anyway, most of the magic had worn off, though I still thought I felt a trace of harmony and one-ness with the universe. On the other hand, there was restlessness deep in the back of my mind somewhere, and I carefully slipped my body out of my girl's embrace and headed out to the upstairs den that Isabel and Max shared. (Must be nice to have a successful lawyer for a father... the Evans house is really pretty fancy, though it doesn't look like much from the outside.)
I'd have to ask Isabel whether she felt anything like I had while we were falling asleep... though I might want to be vague first so that I could abort instead of looking like a total idiot if she had no clue what I was talking about. Hmmm... making some kind of nice breakfast would be a cool idea too, but not yet really. I sat down at a desk and began to doodle around with the linguo-semantic algorithms that I'd learned out about while researching the Quantum project. I'd been working on them so hard all week, but after the briefing yesterday at lunch had kinda self-destructed, I'd done my best to put them out of my mind and concentrate on relaxing - and on Isabel. Now I guess they were bubbling back into my mind.
I'm not sure how long it took. I don't even remember anything much other than the vague sensation that something incredible was falling into place. I do remember staring there and looking at the sheets of paper, four of them, my handwriting covering them in the dim lamplight. "Oh, my god. I don't believe it."
"What is it, Alex??" By some cosmic coincidence, Max was standing at the door to the den, or maybe he had been waiting there for a while, watching silently until I had spoken. Isabel was just behind him. I wondered briefly if Max had jumped to the wrong conclusion about what I was doing there so late at night, or really, early in the morning, but right now that was almost totally beside the point.
"Um, err..." Without being able to put a proper word together, so much as a sentence, I got up and passed the papers to Max. He scanned them, but the confusion was immediately visible in his eyes.
"What the heck is this??"
"It's..." my voice broke, as if it could hardly stand to say the words. "It's what's going to get me into the Quantum project. It's an algorithm that I'm almost certain they're desperately searching for."
"Where... where did you get it??" Isabel asked softly.
"He came up with it himself," Max guessed, with more than a touch of pride. "All this time you were looking for what was almost beneath your nose, Whitman. The answer was you."
"I could have told him that," Iz whispered, crossing into the room and wrapping an arm around me.
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(Isabel):
"Hmm... anyone up for miniature sausages??" Max asked whimsically.
"No, thank you," I declared immediately. "We've got bacon in the nuke, that's quite enough fatty protein."
"Well, I won't say no to a few," Alex put in. "That is, if they're not too much of a pain to fry up."
Max thought about that. "I can throw in a handful between pancake batches."
"Sounds good to me," Alex agreed, fussing over the skillet with a spatula.
"Speaking of which, those are starting to smell really good," I mentioned quietly.
"They'll be ready in a few minutes," Alex agreed, lifting up one flapjack by a rounded corner to take a peek at its underside. "Until then, hold your horses, sweetie."
"I don't do the 'waiting thing,'" I teased, throwing a seductive pout in his direction. "Ooh... I'm gonna cut up that honeydew that mom bought on Friday... that's fair game by now."
"Sounds good to me," Max agreed. "What about you, Alex? Are you a melon man??"
Alex dropped his spatula, his eyes wide. Max's face creased in confusion as Alex bent down to retrieve the utensil, and then a short burst of laughter escaped.
"What??" I asked, staring at both of them in turn. My Alex was pretty embarrassed, and not just from not being quite sure what to do with the spatula. Max had gone all Cheshire cat on us.
I got out a fresh flipper and gestured to the sink, where Alex quickly tossed the old one. "What's so funny..." Right then I figured it out. "Oh."
"I dunno," Max teased. "Not sure I approve of my only sister dating a guy whose brain is clearly in the gutter."
"Heh," I breathed in an obviously fake mimicry of a chuckle. "*YOU* don't get a vote, mine only brother." It was a cheap gag, and more than likely Max had, on some level, set Alex up for it on purpose. But I knew he loved Alex almost as much as I did, if not in the same *way*, of course.
Soon enough, breakfast proper was underway, and once we'd started eating, the quiet briefings began as well. Alex told us a bit about the computer al-go-rhythm that he'd worked out that was going to get him in the door at Las Cruces, (though there was little enough about it that either Max or I were really capable of grasping about it at the time.) Max asked him what the next step was.
"I've got the number and email address of someone in Las Cruces," Alex mentioned as he got up to check on the next batch of pancakes. "Did research online, then asked my Dad if he knew anybody there who knew someone in the computer department. Someone who I don't think will be mortally offended if I drop a bomb like this on him on Sunday. I'll give him enough to make it clear that I've got the full answer, but hopefully not enough that anyone there can fill in the blanks themselves easily. See what the reaction is."
Max nodded. "Sounds like a good plan to me."
Alex smiled, and brought the big skillet over to the table. "Pancake, sweetie? You didn't take any from the first batch."
"Huh?" It was a little hard to follow the question through the little pleasant shock from Alex calling me 'sweetie.' "Umm, yeah, two please, and could you grab the strawberry ice cream from the fridge-freezer and toss it over when you get back over that way??"
"Umm... sure..." He served out my two pancakes, put one on Max's plate and the last on his own, and headed back to replace the frying pan on the stove. "Ice cream?" He retrieved said pink confection and quietly couriered if over, instead of throwing it as I'd said, and then returned to pour some new batter into the pan for the next batch.
"Uh, yep." I took a fresh grapefruit spoon and scooped out two tiny little dabs of ice cream, putting one on each pancake and smashing them down a little so they started to melt quickly, the runny mixture going all over, with a little help. I cut a one-sixth wedge out of one pancake, well anointed with melted ice cream, and popped it into my mouth. "Mmm."
"Huh," Alex hemmed. "I thought all of you guys' dietary quirks involved spicy stuff."
"Not all of them," I corrected him. "In fact, I feel as if lately the appeal of Tabasco has been wearing off. Maybe it was just a growing-bodies thing. How 'bout you, Max???"
"Umm." Max thought about that for a second. "I hadn't really thought about it, but you could be right. Can't remember the last time I got a serious craving for a Tabasco-caramel fix."
Then Max started to tell us about what he and Kyle had really been up to all night. How he had found out about a sighting of mysterious blue crystals west of town; how he had recruited Kyle and the two of them had spent all night investigating.
"Gandarium??" I repeated, subtly horrified. Our prior encounters with the Gandarium had been one of the strangest things that had ever happened in Roswell, as far as I knew - and that was saying a lot. And what the Gandarium queen had done to Grant Sorenson... and how Alex and Kyle had nearly died in that cave. Not to mention the theoretical fact that they embodied a viral plague that would have devastated all humanity if they'd been able to finish infecting Laurie Dupree... that was a fact I'd repressed enough that I couldn't really grasp it at the moment.
"Maybe dead Gandarium," Max agreed slowly. "Kyle swears that they are. But I couldn't find anything to substantiate even that much. I cracked a few apart and looked at it through a microscope... tried to burn part of one, even ground a few into powder and tried a few basic chemical tests. As far as any of that indicated, they were just garden-variety blue quartz." He sighed. "Oh, and we tried to suffocate a bunch of them, just to be on the safe side. No reaction. So I decided it was safe to just leave the rest of them out there."
"I don't really see what else we could do anyway," Alex mentioned, "so just as well. With all of them out there... I don't want to think about what it would take to gather them all up."
"It wouldn't be that hard," I mentioned. "Not with..."
"That's what I'm talking about," Alex pointed out. "You guys doing your thing... in public, when just about anyone might see or take pictures. No thanks."
I thought about that, and quickly changed the subject. "So, dear brother mine... you've been up doing mad experiments on blue crystals all night?? And this is the big L day." I wasn't sure if I was saying L for love, Liz, or lunch, but the meaning was pretty clear in any case.
"Yeah," Max agreed. "I'm gonna be heading off to crash..." Suddenly, of course, just as he was in the middle of that sentence, something interrupted.
"Hello, Evans's??" Someone rapped on the back door, which Max must have left ajar when he came in, because it swung in about a foot or so.
"Uh, yeah??" I called out after a second.
The door opened further and in stepped Michael, with a little bit of Maria visible behind him. "Morning, Evans's... Whitman," Michael added, noticing Alex sitting at the table.
Suddenly, I realized how this must seem to them... the three of us having breakfast, quite early on a weekend morning -- and Alex was still wearing some of Max's old clothes. So it seemed like time for a pre-emptive strike. "None of your business," I warned him.
"Hey, wasn't asking... just brought Maria by to see if anyone was up for a little home-cooked breakfast... but it looks like you already beat me to it." He smiled.
"Help yourself," Max told Michael. "Hi, Maria." She had followed Michael in and swung the door most of the way back closed.
Michael was peering in the pancake batter bowl. "Not that much left," he observed out loud.
"Then feel free to mix up some more," I pointed out. "Maria, do you want some yoghurt??" I'd tried to convince Max and Alex to try it, since I'd gone to all the trouble of cutting up a banana and strawberries to stir into it, but they'd stood firm.
"Ooh, with fresh-sliced fruit!!" Maria grinned and dug in.
"Hey, anyone he..." it was another voice at the door, and it swung open quickly to reveal... Tess. There was a moment's silence as she took in the scene... Max, Alex, Maria and I gathered around the table, Michael grinning at us as he measured out pancake mix... and her face fell. "Never mind. I didn't mean to bother you guys." And she stepped back, halfway out the door in a single motion.
Another moment of stunned silence, and suddenly I realized that I was getting up and rushing after her. I'm not quite sure why, or why it was I... I hope I wasn't the only one who felt this way. Maybe Max and everyone else noticed me going first and decided to leave it to me.
By the time I got out the door, Tess was halfway to the street. "Wait!" I called out.
She kept going for a few seconds, then half turned around and paused. "Why??"
"Because no-one in there wanted you to go away," I blurted out. "I understand that you're feeling awkward about the whole thing, but... we're just hanging out, having a big sociable breakfast together. Now, you wanted to come talk to either Max or me, or you wouldn't have come here. What's scaring you off??"
"Well, Maria's never been my biggest fan," Tess admitted, turning the rest of the way around, "but I guess you're right. It was just... more people than I was expecting." She smiled. "And I wanted to talk to both you and Max... if that wouldn't be too much trouble."
"Uh, sure," I agreed, as Tess walked over to close the gap between us, and I turned around to walk with her back to the back door. "I mean... fine by me, but you'll have to ask Max. He was saying something about wanting to get some sleep."
"Oh, right, he was out with Kyle, checking out those crystal sightings," Tess agreed as we headed back into the kitchen.
"Yeah, how did... you spoke with Kyle??"
"Just a little, when he came in," she nodded. "Well, it's alright if Max can't join in. I guess it was really you I wanted to ask about this anyway..."
At this point, it was Tess' turn to be interrupted, because Alex called out "Think fast!!" and she had only about a second's reaction time to catch a large plate in her hands before it went sailing past her. As soon as the plate was secure, Michael flipped a big pancake up into the air in a perfect trajectory to land on it.
I won't go through the rest of the details of breakfast because, as fun as they were, they're not really relevant and I've kind of babbled on and on. Alex and Maria left about twenty minutes later to put in some face time with their families, and Michael settled down with our reference books to do some background research for his history assignment.
Max agreed to listen to what Tess had come to talk to us about, with the provision that he couldn't talk for long. She quickly told the two of us about the strange dream experience that she had had... full of emotional sensations and only very faint imagery. She didn't want to go into great detail, but put the first question to me quickly: did I think that Tess had accidentally been dream walking??
I thought about it for a bit, and told her no. I've had dream experiences myself that were like that, I think that everyone has. But when I dream walk someone, it's always as if I'm literally there, it feels very real. Even when I was dream-walking Max in the white room, the scene was distorted around me, because he was so drugged, but I was somewhere. And when I had whatever dream-flashes of Laurie, that had been kind of similar, and not like what Tess had been describing.
"So, do you think this was just an ordinary dream??" Max asked her. "Or maybe... some new alien power or effect, not really related to the dream walking??"
"I... I really don't know how to tell," Tess admitted. "Well, Max, you'd better go and get your rest, I think."
"Yeah." He smiled at both of us. "I hope you figure it out, Tess."
"Thanks. Good luck with Liz today."
Both of us stared at her. "What, you didn't think I'd heard about that??"
Max was speechless, so I spoke up. "Well... not really, but that wasn't the shocker. Did... did you mean that??"
"What, the good luck??" Tess asked, and I nodded. She paused for a minute, getting it. "You know what? I really do. It hasn't been the easiest thing for me to accept, but... you deserve to be happy, Max, and if getting back with Liz is what makes you happy, then I hope you get her back. And..." Tess' voice broke a bit, and I could see tears brimming in her eyes. "And I think she deserves you."
Max stood there for a second, obviously touched. "Thanks." He hugged Tess quickly, and then took off.
"Um, so..." Tess turned to me, obviously trying to look far more together than she really was, yet. "Got any plans for this morning that I can bum along with??"
I only had to think about that for a second. "Actually, yes. I was going to go to church. Do you want to come??"
Tess didn't say anything for a long time. "You know... yes, I think I'd like that."
TO BE CONTINUED...
