Liz watched the clock nervously. In almost no time at all, the bell
rang, signaling the end of the school day. Students poured out of the
classrooms and Liz waited in the hall for everyone to get there.
Isabel and Michael walked out of their last class that they shared.
Liz had told everyone to meet outside of the History classroom, so
they headed there. "Hey Liz." Michael said.
Max and Maria walked up to her. "Hey." She said. Max took Liz's
hand.
"Do you have any idea what this meeting is about?" Alex asked.
"Well, they wanted us all to be there, so I'm guessing it's something
E.T. related." Kyle said in a low voice.
Liz smiled at Max. "Now we just have to wait for Tess and Kyle." Liz
said.
Alex and Kyle walked over to them. "We're here." Alex said. Kyle
looked around for Tess.
Tess walked out of her last classroom and managed to push her way
through the students who seemed to be going in the opposite direction
that she was. She finally saw the group and hurried over. "Hey guys."
She said, naturally standing next to Kyle.
Liz looked around the group. "Any idea where we could have this
meeting?" She asked.
"We could always have it at my place." Michael suggested.
"Yeah. We all know where you live so we can all meet there, right?" Liz
answered.
"Sure." Maria, Max and Kyle said.
"What is this all about?" Alex asked.
"You'll find out. Summaries aren't any good for this." Michael
answered, walking outside. He waited for everyone to follow him, which
they did. About 20 minutes later, everyone was at Michael's apartment.
Maria sat down on Michael's couch. Kyle and Alex stood against
Michael's counter. Max stood against the wall with Liz.
Liz sat waiting patiently until everyone was comfortable. Michael sat
next to Maria, Tess stood with Max and Liz and Isabel stood next to
Alex.
Liz cleared her throat looking at Max briefly before starting. "Ok.
All but two of you know this whole story, so if I forget something you
can correct me. Do you two want the short version and you can ask
questions about anything or the really, really long version and
questions anyway?" Liz asked.
"Which one is less confusing?" Alex asked.
"Neither." Liz admitted. "Though the shorter one would make a tiny bit
more sense because it doesn't have all the explanations which you are
going to ask questions about anyway."
"Give us the long version, then." Kyle said.
"Fine. I'll leave out details that don't really matter then. Mom and
Dad told me that I was adopted. Gave me this box that had a whole
bunch of stuff in it. I looked through it and found this rock. It
levitated out of my hand and shortly I found that I was talking to two
people: my parents. They said that a lot of things had happened and
that Tess had the answers." Liz paused.
"They also said that Tess was my sister. Later, we both sort of
touched the rock and all these images projected. Things like Max and I
getting married, my death, Tess and Max getting married, a whole bunch
of other things too. It was really exhausting and we talked to each
other. A whole bunch of other stuff obviously happened, but it's up to
the respective people to tell it." She finished up.
Kyle and Alex stood back taking this all in. "Y...........You're an
alien?" Alex breathed out. "Whoa."
"Yeah I know. It felt kind of weird at the time, still does but only
when I think about it too much. Anyone else want to add anything?" Liz
asked, glancing at the other aliens in the room.
"We decided that since Liz was married to him first, that Max should
really decide who he wanted to be with." Tess offered.
Max looked at Isabel. Was she going to mention anything about
Vilandra and Khivar?
Isabel looked down, she was ashamed of the fact that she....Vilandra..
Murdered Liz....Adelle...She kept her mouth shut. Max understood her
not wanting to say anything.
Michael shrugged his shoulders. "I don't have anything." He said. He
got that Isabel didn't want to say anything and he respected it.
"So I got everything?" Liz asked.
"So, wait, does that mean you have, like powers or something?" Kyle
asked.
"If it's the ability to read minds, please let us know so we know not
to...uh...think....certain things around you." Alex said, blushing
slightly at the thought of Liz hearing any and all the thoughts Alex
had about Isabel.
Liz couldn't help but grin at Alex. "No, nothing that fun, though it is
cool. I can move things by thinking about them." She explained.
"Cool." Kyle said. Alex seemed relived. Max and Maria saw this and
tried not to laugh
Isabel looked at Alex, puzzled, wondering what was the big deal.
"So, what now?" Tess asked, looking around at the now silent room.
Maria, Isabel, Max, Alex and Kyle shrugged.
Liz looked around. "Umm, Isabel, can I talk to you?" She asked.
Isabel looked at her. "Uh.......Sure........I guess."
"We'll be outside if anyone needs us." Liz said, walking out the door.
Isabel followed and they walked outside. "You know you've got to talk
to someone." Liz said, sitting down on a conveniently placed bench.
Isabel looked away. "I....Liz, I just wish I could not
think about this.....but..." Her voice trailed off.
"Everyone's worried about you and I thought you might want to talk
about it. It does help, you know." Liz said.
"I guess." Isabel said. "I'm just...so....ashamed....I hurt you
Liz...I know it was Vilandra....But Liz, I am Vilandra. I
killed you. I caused pain to those who cared about me." Tears came
to Isabel's eyes.
"Isabel, it's all in the past. No one blames you for anything,
certainly not me." Liz answered.
"How can you not blame me?" Isabel said. "I killed you....I killed
your baby....I killed the love of my brother's life." She sobbed.
Alex looked out of Michael's window. He wanted to go talk to Isabel,
but, he decided not to.......Not now, not later. Maybe whatever
little cycle or situation they were in was for the best.
Liz shook her head. "You aren't the same person. You could never hurt
anyone like that here. We're all here and everything is the way it
should be." She said. Now if she could just figure out a way to get
Alex to talk to her...
Isabel looked down. "I know you're right Liz." She wiped at her
cheeks. "But.....I keep thinking back to her....What if whatever made
Vilandra betray everyone gets to me and I end up betraying all of
you?"
"Being the person you are, you'd probably tell us if something was up.
You wouldn't just go ahead willingly."
Isabel smiled slightly at Liz's total Faith in her. "Thanks." She
said.
"Not a problem. Anything else you might need to talk about?" Liz
asked.
"Like what?" Isabel asked.
"Well, you might want to talk about Alex. He seemed a little weird
earlier." Liz suggested.
"Alex?" Isabel said. "Alex and I are over.....I mean....We ended
things....And......so I really can't say anything about his attitude
or whatever, it's not my place." Isabel said, thinking about Alex,
ever since the break up, she had regretted it so much. She missed
him. But it was obvious he had moved on .
"You forgetting that we all ended everything? I'm not exactly sure
but, besides the whole leaving thing, the reason he might be upset is
because everyone's gotten back together and you haven't even said
anything to him. Maybe he thinks the same thing about you."
"I......I don't think so....I mean, he hasn't said anything to me
about anything." Isabel answered.
"Hello. This is Alex we're talking about. Do you still want to be with
him?" Liz asked.
"I... Well... I..." Isabel stammered.
"Well?" Liz questioned.
"Yes." Isabel said softly. "I think about him every single day....
and I kick myself for actually ending things."
"See? That wasn't so hard. My suggestion: When or if you try to talk
to him, make him listen. Works better than way. Tell him how you feel
right off from the start." Liz suggested, not believing that she was
actually giving relationship advice. She'd ventured into Maria's
territory.
"But, what if he doesn't feel the same and I just let my heart out
just to get rejected?" Isabel said.
"Do you think it would be worth the chance?"
"I guess." Isabel said.
"Unfortunately 'I guess' isn't a good answer. You don't have any clue
what he's gonna say. Is it worth the risk or no to find out?" Liz
asked.
"I don't know. It is if he does feel the same........But I'm not some
glutton for punishment, so if he doesn't........I don't think I could
stand to see his face when he rejects me." Isabel argued.
Liz was getting a bit frustrated. She couldn't understand how neither
of them managed to see it. What it takes to make two people happy. "If
you want my opinion, which I'm going to give it to you anyway, Alex
still likes you. He might be a bit upset at the way you both left
things but I think if you tell him how you feel, everything will turn
out fine." Liz said as a last attempt.
"You really think so?" Isabel asked.
"Wouldn't have said it if I didn't think so." Liz said smiling.
Isabel smiled softly.
"You want to go in now?" Liz asked, standing up.
"OK." Isabel said.
Liz led the way back to the apartment. The door was open so they just
walked in. "Miss us?" She asked happily.
"Absolutely." Max smiled at her. Isabel rolled her eyes at her
brother's little romantic gestures.
Liz smiled and walked over to him. "What are we all going to do until
tonight?" She asked. "We just going to hang out here or something?"
"Wouldn't bother me." Michael answered.
Isabel looked at Alex. She walked to him. "Uh......Alex, can I talk
to you for a second?" She asked.
rang, signaling the end of the school day. Students poured out of the
classrooms and Liz waited in the hall for everyone to get there.
Isabel and Michael walked out of their last class that they shared.
Liz had told everyone to meet outside of the History classroom, so
they headed there. "Hey Liz." Michael said.
Max and Maria walked up to her. "Hey." She said. Max took Liz's
hand.
"Do you have any idea what this meeting is about?" Alex asked.
"Well, they wanted us all to be there, so I'm guessing it's something
E.T. related." Kyle said in a low voice.
Liz smiled at Max. "Now we just have to wait for Tess and Kyle." Liz
said.
Alex and Kyle walked over to them. "We're here." Alex said. Kyle
looked around for Tess.
Tess walked out of her last classroom and managed to push her way
through the students who seemed to be going in the opposite direction
that she was. She finally saw the group and hurried over. "Hey guys."
She said, naturally standing next to Kyle.
Liz looked around the group. "Any idea where we could have this
meeting?" She asked.
"We could always have it at my place." Michael suggested.
"Yeah. We all know where you live so we can all meet there, right?" Liz
answered.
"Sure." Maria, Max and Kyle said.
"What is this all about?" Alex asked.
"You'll find out. Summaries aren't any good for this." Michael
answered, walking outside. He waited for everyone to follow him, which
they did. About 20 minutes later, everyone was at Michael's apartment.
Maria sat down on Michael's couch. Kyle and Alex stood against
Michael's counter. Max stood against the wall with Liz.
Liz sat waiting patiently until everyone was comfortable. Michael sat
next to Maria, Tess stood with Max and Liz and Isabel stood next to
Alex.
Liz cleared her throat looking at Max briefly before starting. "Ok.
All but two of you know this whole story, so if I forget something you
can correct me. Do you two want the short version and you can ask
questions about anything or the really, really long version and
questions anyway?" Liz asked.
"Which one is less confusing?" Alex asked.
"Neither." Liz admitted. "Though the shorter one would make a tiny bit
more sense because it doesn't have all the explanations which you are
going to ask questions about anyway."
"Give us the long version, then." Kyle said.
"Fine. I'll leave out details that don't really matter then. Mom and
Dad told me that I was adopted. Gave me this box that had a whole
bunch of stuff in it. I looked through it and found this rock. It
levitated out of my hand and shortly I found that I was talking to two
people: my parents. They said that a lot of things had happened and
that Tess had the answers." Liz paused.
"They also said that Tess was my sister. Later, we both sort of
touched the rock and all these images projected. Things like Max and I
getting married, my death, Tess and Max getting married, a whole bunch
of other things too. It was really exhausting and we talked to each
other. A whole bunch of other stuff obviously happened, but it's up to
the respective people to tell it." She finished up.
Kyle and Alex stood back taking this all in. "Y...........You're an
alien?" Alex breathed out. "Whoa."
"Yeah I know. It felt kind of weird at the time, still does but only
when I think about it too much. Anyone else want to add anything?" Liz
asked, glancing at the other aliens in the room.
"We decided that since Liz was married to him first, that Max should
really decide who he wanted to be with." Tess offered.
Max looked at Isabel. Was she going to mention anything about
Vilandra and Khivar?
Isabel looked down, she was ashamed of the fact that she....Vilandra..
Murdered Liz....Adelle...She kept her mouth shut. Max understood her
not wanting to say anything.
Michael shrugged his shoulders. "I don't have anything." He said. He
got that Isabel didn't want to say anything and he respected it.
"So I got everything?" Liz asked.
"So, wait, does that mean you have, like powers or something?" Kyle
asked.
"If it's the ability to read minds, please let us know so we know not
to...uh...think....certain things around you." Alex said, blushing
slightly at the thought of Liz hearing any and all the thoughts Alex
had about Isabel.
Liz couldn't help but grin at Alex. "No, nothing that fun, though it is
cool. I can move things by thinking about them." She explained.
"Cool." Kyle said. Alex seemed relived. Max and Maria saw this and
tried not to laugh
Isabel looked at Alex, puzzled, wondering what was the big deal.
"So, what now?" Tess asked, looking around at the now silent room.
Maria, Isabel, Max, Alex and Kyle shrugged.
Liz looked around. "Umm, Isabel, can I talk to you?" She asked.
Isabel looked at her. "Uh.......Sure........I guess."
"We'll be outside if anyone needs us." Liz said, walking out the door.
Isabel followed and they walked outside. "You know you've got to talk
to someone." Liz said, sitting down on a conveniently placed bench.
Isabel looked away. "I....Liz, I just wish I could not
think about this.....but..." Her voice trailed off.
"Everyone's worried about you and I thought you might want to talk
about it. It does help, you know." Liz said.
"I guess." Isabel said. "I'm just...so....ashamed....I hurt you
Liz...I know it was Vilandra....But Liz, I am Vilandra. I
killed you. I caused pain to those who cared about me." Tears came
to Isabel's eyes.
"Isabel, it's all in the past. No one blames you for anything,
certainly not me." Liz answered.
"How can you not blame me?" Isabel said. "I killed you....I killed
your baby....I killed the love of my brother's life." She sobbed.
Alex looked out of Michael's window. He wanted to go talk to Isabel,
but, he decided not to.......Not now, not later. Maybe whatever
little cycle or situation they were in was for the best.
Liz shook her head. "You aren't the same person. You could never hurt
anyone like that here. We're all here and everything is the way it
should be." She said. Now if she could just figure out a way to get
Alex to talk to her...
Isabel looked down. "I know you're right Liz." She wiped at her
cheeks. "But.....I keep thinking back to her....What if whatever made
Vilandra betray everyone gets to me and I end up betraying all of
you?"
"Being the person you are, you'd probably tell us if something was up.
You wouldn't just go ahead willingly."
Isabel smiled slightly at Liz's total Faith in her. "Thanks." She
said.
"Not a problem. Anything else you might need to talk about?" Liz
asked.
"Like what?" Isabel asked.
"Well, you might want to talk about Alex. He seemed a little weird
earlier." Liz suggested.
"Alex?" Isabel said. "Alex and I are over.....I mean....We ended
things....And......so I really can't say anything about his attitude
or whatever, it's not my place." Isabel said, thinking about Alex,
ever since the break up, she had regretted it so much. She missed
him. But it was obvious he had moved on .
"You forgetting that we all ended everything? I'm not exactly sure
but, besides the whole leaving thing, the reason he might be upset is
because everyone's gotten back together and you haven't even said
anything to him. Maybe he thinks the same thing about you."
"I......I don't think so....I mean, he hasn't said anything to me
about anything." Isabel answered.
"Hello. This is Alex we're talking about. Do you still want to be with
him?" Liz asked.
"I... Well... I..." Isabel stammered.
"Well?" Liz questioned.
"Yes." Isabel said softly. "I think about him every single day....
and I kick myself for actually ending things."
"See? That wasn't so hard. My suggestion: When or if you try to talk
to him, make him listen. Works better than way. Tell him how you feel
right off from the start." Liz suggested, not believing that she was
actually giving relationship advice. She'd ventured into Maria's
territory.
"But, what if he doesn't feel the same and I just let my heart out
just to get rejected?" Isabel said.
"Do you think it would be worth the chance?"
"I guess." Isabel said.
"Unfortunately 'I guess' isn't a good answer. You don't have any clue
what he's gonna say. Is it worth the risk or no to find out?" Liz
asked.
"I don't know. It is if he does feel the same........But I'm not some
glutton for punishment, so if he doesn't........I don't think I could
stand to see his face when he rejects me." Isabel argued.
Liz was getting a bit frustrated. She couldn't understand how neither
of them managed to see it. What it takes to make two people happy. "If
you want my opinion, which I'm going to give it to you anyway, Alex
still likes you. He might be a bit upset at the way you both left
things but I think if you tell him how you feel, everything will turn
out fine." Liz said as a last attempt.
"You really think so?" Isabel asked.
"Wouldn't have said it if I didn't think so." Liz said smiling.
Isabel smiled softly.
"You want to go in now?" Liz asked, standing up.
"OK." Isabel said.
Liz led the way back to the apartment. The door was open so they just
walked in. "Miss us?" She asked happily.
"Absolutely." Max smiled at her. Isabel rolled her eyes at her
brother's little romantic gestures.
Liz smiled and walked over to him. "What are we all going to do until
tonight?" She asked. "We just going to hang out here or something?"
"Wouldn't bother me." Michael answered.
Isabel looked at Alex. She walked to him. "Uh......Alex, can I talk
to you for a second?" She asked.