Disclaimer: You know the drill…the characters aren't mine Roswell and all characters belong to Jason Katims, 20th Century Fox etc. I'm just borrowing them.

Rating: PG-13 – possibly to R

Chapter Forty-Six 867-5309

Ava wrinkled her nose as she smoothed down the rather conservative shirt that Liz had loaned her. She tucked it into the jeans that Kyle's father had bought her, and grimaced as she thought about how plain she looked. With a sigh, she slid of the counter in the bathroom she was hiding in, and looked around. It was pretty standard, as far as equipment went, but it had one point in its favor. The girl's room at West Roswell High was about a hundred times cleaner than any of the public bathrooms back in New York City

The bell rang, signaling the end of the period, and Ava waited, counting to ten. Taking a deep breath, she opened the door, and stepped out into the crowded hallway.

"Tess! Hey, Tess, wait up!" she heard a voice behind her call out. She turned and waved a hand, but kept pressing on. After several minutes of prowling the unfamiliar hallways, she found what she was looking for.

"Isabelle!" she called, doing her best to eliminate all traces of her New York accent from her voice. "Isabelle, can I talk to you for a second?"

"What do you want, Tess?" Isabelle asked, unable to keep the coldness out of her voice. "Look, I really don't have a lot of time, so why don't you go hang all over Max, or something?" As she spoke, Isabelle allowed her eyes to wander over the students in the hallway, looking for something to distract her from the girl standing in front of her. Her eyes widened in shock, as she saw Max turn the corner and start waking down the hall, his arm around Tess, and a look of barely concealed disgust on his face.

"Wha?" began Isabelle. "Ava?" she finished, incredulously.

"Yeah, I got a message from Alex for you," said the other girl.

"Alex?" asked Isabelle. "Is he alright? I've been so worried about him."

"Relax, he's fine. He called to give," Ava stopped speaking as Isabelle grabbed her by the arm and began to drag her down the hallway. She shoved her into a janitor's closet and whispered, "Wait for me here. And whatever you do, don't come out. Max and Tess are on their way down the hall. I'll be back in a few minutes." She closed the door behind her without waiting for an answer and used her powers to lock the door. She ran down to her classroom. Just before she walked in the door, she used her powers to remove the make up from her face. When it was gone, she walked into the classroom and went directly to the teacher's desk.

"Ms. Johnson?" she asked.

"Yes, Isabelle, what is it?" asked the teacher, not really looking up from the papers she was grading.

"I'm not feeling very well, and I was wondering if I could have a pass to the nurse's office."

Ms. Johnson looked up, prepared to turn down the request, when she saw Isabelle's face."

"Of course Isabelle," she said. "You are looking a bit pale. I hope it's nothing serious."

"Oh, I don't think so, Ms. Johnson," said Isabelle, taking the pass the teacher offered. "I'm sure it's just too many late nights studying, coupled with a bit of a cold. Thanks for the pass."

Isabelle quickly exited the classroom and made her way down to the janitor's closet. Using her powers, she released the lock and opened the door.

"Come on," she whispered to Ava. "We can't talk here. We can't risk anybody seeing you and Tess in the same place."

"I know," said Ava. "But I figured you'd want to get any messages from Alex ASAP."

"You're right," said Isabelle. "Come on, the bell's about to ring. We can go sit in the library. Nobody will bother us there."

Isabelle and Ava climbed the staircase that led to the library. Ava hung back and allowed Isabelle to lead the way through the book filled room to the back, where the quiet study area was located. Isabelle pulled a chair out and was about to sit down, when she felt Ava nudge her from behind.

"Look," whispered Ava, pointing across the room. Isabelle looked up, and saw Liz sitting at a table, while Kyle hovered nervously above her.

"Tell me one thing," she whispered to Ava. "Is Alex okay? I mean, everything really is okay, right? You weren't just saying that, were you?"

"I promise you, Alex is fine, and just as weird as ever," said Ava. "Why?"

"We'd better go see what's up with them, don't you think?" said Isabelle, nodding in the direction of Kyle and Liz. A smile lit up Ava's face when she saw Kyle, and the two girls crossed the room and sat down.

"Hi Isabelle," said Kyle. He slipped his arm around Ava and kissed her on the cheek. "Not that I'm NOT happy to see you," he said. "But aren't you taking a huge risk coming here dressed like Tess? How did you know anyhow? Did Michael call you?"

"Wait a second," interrupted Isabelle. "I'm confused. What was Michael supposed to tell us, and how did you know that it was Ava, anyhow. I thought she was Tess, until I saw Tess in the hallway with Max."

"It's easy," said Kyle, smugly. "Look at her ears. She has too many earrings in her ears. Tess only has one hole in each ear. Ava forgot to take out some earrings. Besides, "he continued, his voice softening, "Look at her eyes, they are so much softer, more innocent. Tess has that hard, I'm going to kill you in your sleep look. Oh and Michael is out looking for Rath, he's somewhere in the school," he added as an afterthought.

"What!" Ava and Isabelle exclaimed in unison.

"Yeah," said Liz, who up till now had remained silent. "I thought it was Michael who grabbed me in the hall. He challenged me to a game of tonsil hockey, so I just blew him off and went to class. All of a sudden, there was Michael again, coming from the opposite direction. I told him what happened, and he figured it out that it was Rath right away. I can't believe I didn't think of it myself, what a spazz. Anyway, he grabbed Kyle for babysitting duty, and went to try and figure out what's going on."

"Have you told Max yet?" asked Isabelle

"No, I didn't get a chance," said Liz. "Kyle dragged me up here, right away.

"Um, Liz, not to state the obvious," said Isabelle gently. "But you and Max do have that whole alien baby induced telepathy thing going on, remember?"

"Oh, God," said Liz, burying her head in her hands. "I am so stupid today. What is wrong with me?"

"N'ah, you're not stupid, Liz," said Ava, rubbing Liz's back gently. "Bumpin into Rath like that just freaked you out, not to mention everything else that's been goin on. Why don't you try it now."

Liz closed her eyes, and concentrated intently. Several seconds later, she opened her eyes and glared at her friends.

"This would probably work a lot better if you all weren't staring at me," she snapped. She waited until the all moved several feet away, and tried again. After several minutes, she opened her eyes, a look of dejection on her face.

"It's no good," she said. "It didn't work."

"Well, maybe the baby has to be awake or something," said Kyle, leaning towards her stomach. "Hey, Junior! Wake up in there. Mommy has to make a phone call."

"God, you are such a loser, Kyle," laughed Liz, pushing him away.

"Don't worry about it," said Isabelle. "I'll find him." She paused and looked at her watch. "Class is just about over. Where are you guys going to be?"

"I have got Spanish," said Kyle, the look on his face clearly conveying his opinion of that subject.

"And I've got history," added Liz.

"Do you think it would be okay if I hung out in here?" asked Ava, her eyes scanning the rows of books hungrily.

"Perfect," said Isabelle. "And Ava, if one of us doesn't get back here before 2:45, meet me in the student parking lot, over by the cafeteria. Liz, what was Michael wearing today?"

"I don't remember," said Liz. "Typical fashions by Michael, I would guess, but Rath was wearing a West Roswell High sweatshirt."

"Thanks," said Isabelle as the bell rang. "Now I know who to avoid."

"Isabelle wait," said Ava. "That message from Alex…he called and said he picked up one of those cell phones where buy the minutes month by month, and he wanted to give you the number."

"Thanks Ava. What is it?" asked Isabelle, her eyes alight with joy.

"Well, it was kind of weird, he said when you called, to say it was Jenny, and the number was 867-5309. Does that make any sense to you at all?"

"Yes," groaned Isabelle, thinking of the old 80's song. "Alex being Alex, it makes perfect sense. Thanks again, Ava. Are you ready Liz?"
She and Liz walked to the door and waited while Kyle said goodbye to Ava. After he joined them, the three left the library. Kyle walked Liz to class, while Isabelle went in search of her brother. She walked into the student lounge and looked around, and froze. Walking out the door, she saw Maria walking arm in arm, with Michael, a Michael that was wearing a West Roswell High sweatshirt.