Part 7
Loud music met Amy as she unlocked the front door and entered what was normally a home where music was played at respectable decibels. The music was not only loud; it was angst-ridden and angry, which clearly gave away her daughter's mood. She made her way along the hall, wincing at the noise, and wondering when loud music had become something she wasn't that excited about. She knew a knock wouldn't be heard so she opened the door to Maria's bedroom and leaned against the doorway.
She didn't notice her mother, too busy piling various objects into a box that sat on the bed. Her face was streaked from the few tears she had allowed to fall when she had gotten home, angry that she was so easily dismissed from her friends' lives. She threw another picture of her and Liz into the box and was reaching for a stuffed animal holding a small picture frame when silence suddenly fell over the room.
Amy controlled the urge to demand an explanation when she saw her daughter's face, knowing the questions wouldn't be welcome. She knew their relationship wasn't a traditional mother/daughter relationship but it worked for them. Having a baby so young and out of wedlock had been frowned upon but she had struggled to make their lives as normal as possible, and Maria had grown up a lot faster than she should have because of it.
"Have you had lunch yet?"
Maria used the hem of her tee shirt to wipe the evidence of her tears away before turning to face her mother. She didn't fool herself into thinking that her mother wouldn't notice that she had been crying, but she knew there would be no questions. Their relationship was anything but traditional and while it had been difficult at times, she wouldn't want it any other way. Her mother was a free spirit, a naturalist, and a hippie, and they had a very different way of going about things than others did, but she thought that it had only made their relationship stronger.
"No, I was just doing some cleaning." She glanced at her alarm clock. "I didn't know it was after three already." She shrugged. "I kinda left work a little early."
Amy glanced at the box and nodded as she came to a quick decision. She had to do something; she just couldn't stand back and watch her daughter suffer any longer. "I've been thinking about expanding the business but it'll require me to be out of town several afternoons during the week."
"You're not going into business with that aromatherapy salesman, are you?"
"What? No! I wanted to ask you if you could do some of the deliveries and pick up on the Rez a couple of days during the week. I know it'd mean cutting back on your hours at the Crashdown, but if you'd be willing to do it you'd be doin' me a really big favor. C'mon, I'll make lunch while we talk about it."
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Liz raised her head from her textbook when Max sat down across from her at the picnic table under the old oak tree at the edge of the quad. "Hi," she greeted.
Max frowned and leaned forward on his forearms, his dark gaze tracing over her features. "Are you still having trouble sleeping?"
"Yeah." She rubbed her eyes tiredly. "I can't understand why I'm suddenly having nightmares about a stupid movie; I've never had that problem. Maybe it's because of what was in the movie," she admitted sheepishly.
"What're you talking about?"
"Alex and I went to see that new alien movie last weekend since it was just the two of us. I'm sure the nightmare has nothing to do with our situation, Max."
"You went to see an alien movie?"
Liz was startled by Max's question. She hadn't considered how he would feel about her off-handed comment; she had never thought twice about how he would feel about his girlfriend going to see a movie about aliens. The fact was, she didn't know what his opinion of alien movies was. Aliens were almost always portrayed at the bad guys, invaders intent upon the destruction of humanity. She knew he was nothing like that; Max was sweet and gentle and she suddenly felt guilty for going to see the movie. "Yes, I'm sorry."
Max shook off her apologetic look as a thought occurred to him. "Liz, I noticed that Alex kept nodding off in History class this morning; has he been having trouble sleeping as well?"
"Yes, he has," Alex answered for himself as he sat down beside Liz. "Got any ideas on how to cure that?"
He looked up when Isabel joined them. "Yeah, actually, I do." He stood and grabbed her arm before she had a chance to sit down, holding her in place while they stared each other down. "You've been doing it, haven't you?" he growled, his voice low.
Isabel tossed her long blond hair over her shoulder, straightening to her full height and staring down at him with an icy gaze. "I don't know what you're talking about." She looked down at his hand. "Now let go of me."
"You've been going into their dreams, haven't you?"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Alex interrupted, sitting up straighter. "You've been doin' this?" He stood up and stalked around the table, pushing Max out of the way to confront Isabel face-to-face. "What the hell have we done to deserve bein' tormented night after night? We've done nothin' to make you think you can't trust us."
Isabel forced herself to maintain her position, refusing to back down in the face of his anger. "You want to tell Maria what's going on."
"So? Wantin' to do somethin' and actually doin' it are two completely different things. What makes you think we're gonna share your secret?"
"The fact that you know speaks for itself."
"You don't wanna trust us, fine, don't; but stay outta our heads." He shook his head and stared at her. "You're gonna have to learn to trust us eventually, Isabel, just like we have to be able to trust you. Pulling stunts like this is not only a serious infringement on our privacy, it's also in very bad taste; it's beneath you and you're better than that."
Isabel stared at him, stunned when he fell silent and went back to his seat. No one had ever dared to stand up to her like that and she wondered what made him think he had any right to do so. "I don't appreciate your – "
"I don't appreciate your invasion of our privacy," he snapped. Lack of sleep had made him incredibly cranky and he couldn't stop the irritation from coming out.
"She won't do it again," Max said.
"Don't promise things you can't deliver; it needs to come from her or it means nothing."
Isabel met Alex's gaze defiantly before stalking off without another word.
"Pissing her off is never a good idea," Max warned, watching his sister cross the quad.
"Creepin' into my dreams isn't a good idea either." He rested his head on his forearms and looked at Max. "You might've thought to warn us about that particular… gift."
"It never occurred to me that she would try to dreamwalk you guys." He sighed as he sat down across from Liz once more and reached out to take her hand. "I guess I should've known she would if for no other reason than because she's terrified that you're gonna tell Maria."
Liz squeezed his hand. "We're not gonna tell her, Max."
He smiled. "I know, but Isabel has trouble trusting anyone, and you guys knowing about us hasn't made it any easier on her." He shook his head at the look of disbelief on Alex's face. "I'm not making excuses for her, I'm just asking you to be a little understanding while she finds a way to deal with it."
"We've known about it for two months now, Max."
"It's the first time she's ever had to deal with something like this, Alex. I'm not saying she's dealing with it well, but… she is trying."
"If she were trying, she'd at least make an attempt to get to know us."
Max nodded, accepting that he had no defense for his sister's behavior. "I'm sorry."
"You can apologize for defending her behavior, Max," he shook his head, "but don't apologize for her behavior; that's her responsibility." He yawned. "Now, anything new goin' on?"
"I've got something," Liz offered, looking at each of them in turn. "I actually thought about it last night when I couldn't sleep; I think the last nightmare might've triggered it."
"What?"
"Kyle's grandfather was the sheriff of Roswell years ago, way before his dad was elected to the position." She squeezed Max's hand when she felt him tense up at the mention of her ex-boyfriend. "He used to talk about him after he'd come back from visiting him; he was sure that his dad wouldn't go see him because he was embarrassed."
Max made a rolling motion with his free hand, silently telling her to go on.
"Kyle's grandfather believed in aliens, he was always talking about them, and he felt like his dad didn't wanna be seen with him because of what it might do to his reputation."
"What're you saying?" Max asked.
"Kyle said after his grandfather was committed, his dad closed the house up and never went back there. Max, what if he wasn't crazy? What if he really did know something and the evidence is still there in the house?" Liz could barely contain her enthusiasm at the thought that she might be able to help Max discover something about his past if her theory about Kyle's grandfather was right. He had never come right out and said that he wanted to know, but she could read between the lines and she knew he had questions about where he came from and why he was on Earth.
Max remained silent for a minute, thinking about what Liz had said. What if she was onto something? "Did he tell you where the house is?"
"It's all the way on the other side of town, way out past the old soap factory. His grandfather was also obsessed with his privacy; that part of town was never developed. There was talk about it, but when the old soap factory was shut down those plans fell through."
"Kyle was sure his dad never goes out there?" Max asked.
"Yeah."
Alex groaned when the bell rang, signaling the end of their lunch period. "We should go out there and have a look around."
"We could go this weekend," Liz suggested. "They're going out of town Friday night and they won't be back until Sunday morning." She shrugged when Max frowned. "Kyle has an elimination competition Saturday; the statewide rifle competition is in February."
"Yeah, because the name Kyle Valenti and the word rifle should ever be used in the same sentence," Alex muttered as he stood and stretched. "I don't have any plans for Saturday so I'm in."
"I'll talk to Isabel and make sure she's onboard," Max said as he and Liz walked beside him, their joined hands swinging between them.
"The two of you need to stop tryin' to handle other people." Alex stepped in front of them, effectively blocking their path. "Stop tryin' to handle their emotions; Isabel and Maria will find a way to deal with the things that're goin' on, but not according to your schedules. They've got a lot goin' on and it doesn't make it any easier if they've got you two constantly breathin' down their necks."
"He gets really irritable when he's not sleeping," Liz explained when Alex turned and hurried inside to beat the final bell.
"So, we'll plan on Saturday?"
"Saturday it is," she agreed.
Liz hoped they would find something… information, a clue… she hoped she hadn't raised Max's hopes for nothing. She didn't want him to end up being disappointed if they didn't discover anything at Kyle's grandfather's house.
