HIGHSCHOOL MISSIONS
Chapter 10
THE HOUSE
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Alec pushed Max against a wall and pressed himself against her body. She was so surprised she didn't have a chance to react.
"Alec! What the..."
"There's a camera!" Alec whispered in her ear.
Max looked around the room and she noticed the camera "Shit, do you think they can hear us too?"
"We must assume they can. Now giggle and push me away." Alec whispered against her ear again.
Max did as he told her, she pushed him away in a playful manner and giggled, straightening her clothes and hair before taking a hold of his hand and running up the stairs to explore the second floor.
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What Logan saw made him drop the glass of milk he was holding. Alec was pressing Max against a wall, he had his arms wrapped around her and instead of pushing him away Max was holding him closer and whispering something in his ear!
Logan staid frozen as he saw Max push Alec away weakly. He could tell she was laughing by the way her lips moved. Then she took Alec's hand and ran up a flight of stairs, going out of the camera's range.
Even though Logan checked the other five cameras he couldn't find the transgenics anywhere. He spent the rest of the night looking through more files and wondering what they were doing alone in a big old house.
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Alec, still holding Max's hand, guided her through the small hall while he checked out every room for bugs. He finally found one that seemed clear and ducked into it.
"So, what do you think our dare is here?" Max asked him.
"I'm not sure, maybe they just want to know how we react to different situations." Alec sat down on the bed and took off his shoes.
The room they were in was painted in peach, the drapes and bedspread were the same color as the walls. The four post bed was made of wood.
"You know, if they are monitoring us then maybe it's not a very good idea for us to stay in the same bedroom." Max looked around suspiciously.
"Max, wee live together! I really don't think they'll mind." Alec took off his shirt.
"Alec what the hell are you doing?" Max frowned.
"Getting ready for bed" Alec stated.
"How can you even think about sleeping? They are watching us! This is some kind of test!"
"Well there's nothing we can do about it and to be honest I'm really tired and I know you are too. That music is really screwing with our bodies" Alec said referring to the classical music that was constantly being played at school.
"Well we still can't sleep in the same room. If they suspect anything between us they'll split us up, you know that!"
"Max, there are no bugs in here! How would they know? Besides, I think it'd be far worse if you woke up screaming in the middle of the night and I had to run all the way over to the other room to comfort you."
"I'm not planning on sleeping" Max yawned.
Alec smiled "I don't think you'll be able to help it."
Max yawned again and sat down on the bed to remove her shoes. Alec pulled off the covers and was just about to undo his pants when they heard a moan coming from somewhere on the first floor.
Max and Alec shared a look before getting up from the bed and walking downstairs slowly, fists raised and ready for combat.
They moved gracefully through the house, checking every room without even exchanging a word. Once they had gone through the first and second floor they went back to the clean room and tried to relax.
"You know, the kids probably have some kind of sound system in the house designed to scare us. They DID mention this place was 'haunted'" Max reminded Alec.
"Yeah, you're probably right." Alec took his pants off and dove under the covers while Max did the same. She laid besides him, facing away from him wearing her T-shirt and undies.
She had just closed her eyes when they heard a scream. This time the noise came from the attic.
"You know, this is ridiculous. I'm not even gonna get up." Alec buried his head on the pillow and tried to drown away the scream.
"Don't you think it'll look a little suspicious if we just ignore the noises?" Max sat up.
"Maybe it's what they want Max, maybe they want us to be smart enough to realize they are just trying to scare us." Alec yawned again and rubbed his eyes in a childlike way that made Max smile.
"I'm gonna take a look around the hall, just in case" She stood up and walked slowly to the door.
"Hey Max"
"Yeah?"
"Put some clothes on."
Max looked down at herself and sighed, she grabbed her pants and slipped them on quickly before leaving the room.
The hall was empty as she knew it'd be. She was about to go back to Alec when she felt the sudden urge to check downstairs too. She walked down the stairs without making any noise and looked around. Finding nothing she rolled her eyes and turned back to the stairs. And she froze.
She didn't know weather to run upstairs or just call for Alec. She decided on the first one and, being way more careful, she glided through the floor until she found herself in the bedroom.
"Alec!" She whispered urgently
"Wuf?" He responded, his voice muffled by the pillow.
"There's someone in the house with us."
Alec raised his head to look at her "Are you sure?"
"Would I be telling you if I wasn't?" Max snapped.
Alec raised an eyebrow and waited for her to explain.
"I found this on the stairs. We didn't miss it the first two times we went up and down, we couldn't have."
Max handed Alec an old looking, folded piece of paper.
"Did you see this going down or up?" Alec sat up.
"Up, meaning someone was really close to me and I never even noticed."
Alec, clearly more alert and somewhat preoccupied shook his head "That's impossible Max, you would have sensed it! You're not that careless!"
"I know that Alec but still I didn't hear, feel or see anyone."
Alec looked down at the note "Did you read it?"
Max shook her head
Alec unfolded the piece of paper slowly, as if expecting it to blow up or something.
"What does it say?" Max asked
Alec cleared his throat "Your challenge for tonight is to find the three portraits of the first owner of this house. His portraits are the only ones with a black background. Once you find them take them downstairs. Be ready to leave the house at 7:00 AM."
Max groaned "This is going to take a while."
"Maybe not, I saw one of them hanging over the fireplace downstairs."
"Oh yeah! Well that leaves two. We better start looking."
Alec got dressed while Max searched the rest of the second floor. She didn't find anything in any of the bedrooms.
"I think we should go up to the attic." Alec suggested.
The two transgenics found the staircase that lead to the attic. They had to go through a small, rusty door to get to it but once they got upstairs the first thing they saw was the second painting.
"Am I imagining things or is this whole thing just a little too easy?"
Alec shrugged "Let's just find the other one and get this over with."
They looked around the attic some more, not really expecting to find anything.
Max tried to move a trunk so that she could look behind it but couldn't. She knelt down and frowned. "Alec."
"Yeah?"
"Did you notice anything strange about the furniture here?"
Alec frowned "Like what?"
"It's nailed to the floor. All of it."
Alec tried to move a chair close to him and raised an eyebrow "That's strange. What do you think it means?"
Max shrugged "Beat's me. Oh hey look! Another staircase!"
"Great! I'm getting sick of all this dust."
"Wait!" Max frowned "I thought we were in the attic."
"We are. There are only three floors in this house without counting the basement if there even is one. I counted the windows."
"Then why is this staircase going up?"
Alec ran to Max's side "This just keeps getting better and better. Come on, let's find out."
The steps were wide and numerous, the staircase had solid walls on either side and no light. Once their night vision kicked in the two X-5s noticed that the walls were made out of concrete and they seemed to be really thick.
They emerged to a dusty room and found a portrait with a black background right in front of them.
"Oh hey, we found the third one!" Max smiled.
"No, we found the second one."
Max frowned "What do you mean?"
"Look around, we're back in the attic."
"That's impossible! We were walking up! How could we possibly end up in the same place?" But as Max scanned the room she realized that Alec was right, they were back in the attic.
"What the fuck?" She whispered
Alec ran a hand through his hair "I'm as confused as a baby in a topless bar, Max"
Max shook her head "We'll figure this out later. For now let's just take the painting and go."
"No argument here!" Alec grabbed the ugly portrait by the frame and followed Max down the stairs.
Once they reached the second floor they looked into every room again. They started in the master bedroom. As far as Alec could tell the room was bugged.
He looked under the huge bed while Max checked behind the paintings in the room.
"This is useless Alec! We've checked here already!" Max leaned her head against the wooden wall and yelped.
Alec bumped his head against the bed at the sudden noise. "Shit!"
He sat up and frowned, Max was not in the room anymore.
"MJ?" He called out slowly, then again a little bit more desperately "MJ?!"
"Alec?" Her muffled voice came from behind the wall she had just leaned against.
"Max! Where the hell are you?" He whispered urgently.
"Over here, behind the wall with the painting of the old lady."
"And how the hell did you get there?" Alec didn't know weather to laugh or worry.
"No clue but can we PLEASE concentrate on getting me out?"
Alec ran his fingertips along the wood looking for any cracks or imperfections. "Are you in a room or just pressed against the wall?"
Max looked around and frowned "It's an office or something like that... oh hey! Here's the other painting! Or at least I think it is, it's pitch black in here and I can't see the background of the damn thing."
Alec knew even her night vision wouldn't help her with that. "Well, can you remember what you were doing when... this.... happened?"
"I was leaning against the wall, beside the painting."
Alec pressed his hand against the spot that Max indicated and the wall swung open. Surprised, Alec let go of the wall and it slammed back into place instantly.
"Alec!" Max yelped again.
"Sorry, I think I have to keep pressing for this to work."
He did that and the wall moved slowly until it was completely pushed into the "office"
Max took the painting and both transgenics ran out of the small room. It closed perfectly behind them.
Without exchanging a word they walked downstairs and placed the two portraits next to the other one. They walked back to the clean room and closed the door behind them.
"Ok, now what the fuck was that?" Max plopped down on the bed.
"My guess is a secret office."
Max threw a shoe at Alec, which he ducked easily.
"Smartass." Max grumbled under her breath.
"That's Smart-ALEC for you missy."
Max thought about throwing the other shoe at him but knew it would do no good.
"There's something wrong here, something doesn't fit."
"Gee, you think Max?" Alec removed his pants and shirt and crawled back into bed.
"How can you even think about sleeping after everything that just happened? Someone could be in here with us at this very moment!" Max scolded him.
"No way, I'd hear their breathing Max."
"Well I didn't hear anything downstairs and yet someone sneaked around me and placed the note at the stairs!"
"Well yeah but you weren't looking or expecting anyone to be there."
Max opened her mouth to reply and closed it again, he had a point.
"Look, if you want to stay up and over think this be my guest. Just wake me up when it's time to leave ok?"
Alec rolled over to his side of the bed and closed his eyes.
Max sighed and tried to replay everything that had happened that night.
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At quarter to seven max prodded Alec awake. he groaned and complained but sat up and got dressed anyway.
"Did you sleep at all Max?" He asked while tying his sneakers.
"No." Max answered simply and Alec groaned "If you bitch all day about your lack of sleep I swear I'm gonna run you over with my hot ride."
Max stuck out her tongue at him and walked out of the room while he yelled "Oh real mature Max!" and followed her close behind.
"Shut up, they are opening the door!" Max grabbed Alec's arm and practically flew down the stairs.
"Anxious to get out of here?" Alec raised an eyebrow.
"What can I say? I want a hot bath."
When they reached the front door they found the whole elite standing there, waiting for them.
"I see you've found the paintings. All three of them." Dakareth spoke.
Max shrugged "What? Like it was hard?"
"Only one of us had ever been able to do that," Iker nodded in Dak's direction "well... and now you I guess."
Dakareth smiled and spoke again "Welcome, to the elite."
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"Logan!" Max yelled as soon as she walked through the door.
"Up here!" He yelled back and the two transgenics thundered up the stairs to the kitchen.
"Logan! We've got so much to tell you man!" Alec plopped down on a stool and started wolfing down the plate of oatmeal that Logan offered him.
"What happened?"
Max told him everything. The noises, the stairs, the secret room...
Logan was sitting in front of his computer in a flash, looking for answers to the X5s' questions.
"Bingo!" He said after about half an our of research.
"What?" Max and Alec moved from the breakfast bar to the couch and listened while Logan spoke.
"The house was built in 1979 by a man named Alfred Young, he was a very wealthy man, had his own business, something to do with the internet. He was 40 when he married a young girl from Chicago and brought her here. They had three sons, all healthy. The wife died of cancer in 1987, Young never remarried, one of the sons became a doctor, the other one... something with the military and the third a lawyer. The middle son, the military one, dissapeared around the year 2005. Young died of a heart attack... 1996. The house was sold in... 1996, right after the old man died."
The room became silent as the transgenics waited for Logan to give them some more information. When it became evident that they weren't going to get anything else Alec sighed.
"Well, that was about as useless as the pope's testicles."
Max snapped her head around to look at him and he just shrugged.
"Well that's all I have for now." Logan rubbed his temples "I'll keep looking and let you know. Don't you two have something to do today?"
"Yeah, take a bath." Max stretched and walked downstairs but Alec staid put.
Logan stared pointedly at him until he sighed again and got up "I guess I could use a nap or something." Alec followed Max, leaving Logan to work by himself.
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Alec couldn't even think about sleeping so instead he waltzed into the bathroom while Max was taking her hot bath.
"Alec! What the hell..."
"Oh give it a rest Max, I know you don't care much for privacy anymore." Alec plopped down on the closed toilet and rested his bare feet on the edge of the tub.
"Was there something you wanted?" Max raised an eyebrow.
"Just the pleasure of your company Max."
"I'd believe that if we didn't happen to spend almost every second of every day together."
Alec thought about sticking his tongue out at her but decided against it thinking that being around teenagers so much was really getting to him.
"Oh hey, I have something for you!" Alec remembered. He rushed out of the room only to run back in moments later holding a Six Flags bag.
"What is it?" Max sat up a little.
Alec smiled and reached inside the bag. He produced a short, black, silk robe with a little Marvin on the bottom.
"Wow Alec, it's beautiful!" Max reached for it but Alec held it away
"Don't touch it Max, you'll get it all soapy."
Max looked down at her hands covered in bubbles and smiled. "That was very thoughtful of you. Thank you."
Alec shrugged "I just thought you'd like it. I have a one just like it only longer."
Max's smile broadened "Get out so that I can dry myself!" She instructed
"Are you sure you don't want to spend some more time in the tub? I mean the robe will still be here in an hour Max, I'm not taking it back you know." Alec teased.
"I'm sure, now get out!"
Alec laughed and walked out the door closing it behind him but not before saying "I don't know why you even bother with modesty anymore woman." first.
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Later that night the transgenics were sitting on their couch watching TV and eating popcorn in their bathrobes. They had staid in and no one had called, plus Max was really tired.
"I told you to get some sleep last night Max" Alec had the bowl of popcorn on his lap, his arm was hanging off the back of the couch comfortably.
"Shh, I'm trying to watch a movie here!" Max whispered.
"Max, even I've seen this movie a thousand times."
"So? Ace Ventura is still fun."
Alec laughed "Yeah yeah, whatever."
They continued to watch the movie for a while. Alec felt Max's head resting on his shoulder and he looked down. Her eyes were closed and she seemed sound asleep.
"Max, go to bed." He whispered.
"No, I'm awake." She mumbled.
Alec smiled and kissed her hair before turning back to the movie.
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"I don't know why I even bother but don't you guys know the meaning of the word ALARM CLOCK?!" Logan yelled from the top of the stairs. "You're going to be late! Again!"
Alec, his face still buried in his pillow, grunted something that sounded like an 'I know' and went back to snoring lightly. Max didn't even bother with an answer.
"You haven't heard the funky music for 2 days, you shouldn't be this tired."
When he didn't get an answer from either transgenic Logan sighed "Well I can't wait for you two, there are waffles in the freezer. Please try to make it to school today."
He got a reply from Max that kinda sounded like a 'Sure dad' so he shook his head and left the X5s alone.
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"Late, for the... what is it now... fifth time in a row?" The principal rubbed the tips of his fingers together as he leaned back on his chair.
"I'm sorry sir, car trouble." Alec replied.
"You know, there's a reason why we don't encourage new students to get cars."
Max and Alec waited for the reason but it never came, apparently the principal didn't care to explain his reasons to the students.
'It's starting to feel just like Manticore here.' Alec thought.
"Well I'm warning you now you two, either you get a new alarm clock or you get a new school all right? I will not tolerate any more of this! And for god's sake, get some extracurricular activities! Don't you care at all about your future?"
The transgenics didn't know weather to nod or shake their heads so they just stood still.
The principal sighed and handed them each a piece of paper. "Tryouts for football and cheerleading are today, I expect to see you there."
"Yes sir." Max and Alec replied. Force of habit.
"Good. Now go to class and stay out of trouble."
Alec held the door open for Max and there walked out of there calmly, like the nice little students they were expected to be.
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Alec sat through math class barely being able to keep his eyes open. He had gotten way too little sleep and too much stress over the past few days and he was exhausted. Professor James Watson had called on him a few times and he didn't look happy.
"Mr. Cage let me ask you something, do you believe you know everything?" Mr. Watson asked after Alec had answered his fourth question with an 'uh?'
Alec tried to keep his eyes from rolling as he answered "No Mr. Watson"
"Well then Mr. Cage, would you mind paying attention here? I can assure you that pretty face of yours won't get you through EVERY problem in life."
Alec had swallow his reply and wondered to himself why he hadn't just kept his first fake last name.
Everything would have been fine if the teacher had just left it at that but Mr. Watson kept pushing. "You haven't heard a single word I've said since you got here have you? I'm sure you can't even think about how to start this problem on the board can you? You're just another..."
Alec stood up then, he walked to the front of the room grabbed the piece of chalk from the teacher's hand and scribbled the number 38759.274982741 on the board before returning to his seat.
The teacher looked a little startled. He grabbed his calculator and started punching in the numbers. After he was done he looked up and his eyes met Alec's.
The hot transgenic shrugged.
"Right... so anyway..."
The teacher went back to his babbling and Iker turned around to face Alec.
"Hey man, how the hell did you..."
"I'm good with mental math."
"Oh..." Iker turned back to the teacher, still looking a little confused.
Alec took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He was tired and could feel a headache coming which was altering his capabilities to make decisions.
"Hey Iker, do you have any more of those pills?"
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Max had been drinking coffee like a madwoman all morning and only then it started to kick in. She walked to her Lit class with Professor Friedrish Meisher carrying her backpack in one hand and a latte in the other one.
Suddenly she saw someone run past her really fast, almost throwing her off her feet.
"Dak? Hey! What's the big rush?"
"I have to catch the principal before he goes, I need to ask for permission to have the car wash!"
"Car wash?" Max asked but Dakareth was already turning the corner.
The young X5 shrugged and took a sip of her latte.
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Alec was just about to turn a corner when a blur in a skirt crashed into him. Alec just stood there but the little figure in uniform bounced right off his chest.
"Oh man, are you ok?" Alec knelt down as the girl brushed the stream of black hair from her face.
"Dak?"
"Alec? My god your chest is solid!"
Alec smiled "I work out. Now tell me, where the hell are you running to?"
Dakareth glanced at her watch and shrugged "I was planning on catching the principal before he left for his meeting downtown but I guess I can forget about that now."
Alec frowned "Why?"
"Because he's very punctual... and I twisted my ankle." Dak pointed at her foot.
"Oh damn. The school nurse should take a look at that."
"What? No! I'm fine. I have some bandages at my place."
Alec smiled "What are you going to do? Jump on one foot from here to your dorm room?"
"Well... that WAS the plan."
Alec shook his head and picked her up in his arms.
Dak yelped "Alec, put me down right now!"
"Aww come on, it's the least I can do."
"I'm too heavy!"
Alec glanced down at the petite, slim girl and laughed "Yeah right. Now stop complaining and tell me where your dorm is."
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"I want you to read over this questions and think of the answers. Don't look them up, just think about them ok?" Logan was handing out some papers. When he reached Max he handed her the sheet upside down and she frowned. There was a note scribbled at the bottom of the page and it read "Got something to tell you, meet me in the hall after class."
Max nodded and erased the note.
Once class was over she waited for Logan outside his room.
"So, what's up?" She asked him.
"Do you know where Alec is?"
Max glanced at her watch "Lab I guess. Why? What's wrong?"
"I did some more checking on that house and found something interesting."
Max frowned "What?"
"Blueprints. Remember how you said you went up some stairs and ended up on the same place?"
"Yeah."
"Well that's because the attic is slanted and the steps are wide and not too tall."
Max shrugged "So the guy who made the house was a freak."
Logan leaned against the wall and whispered "There might be more than that to this. That office you fell into? There's something weird about it."
"The way I figure it the guy wanted to hide from someone, probably the wife."
Logan shook his head "The office door has to be opened by two people and it only opens from the outside."
Max shook her head "I opened it by myself."
"Yes, and you fell in. You need to keep contact with the door and push it in at the same time in order to get in. For someone to do that without falling on their butts like you did it would take two, someone to press on it and someone to hold it open while the other person walks in."
"I don't really understand I mean... Alec did it by himself."
"Alec had to blur in order to keep the door from slamming shut on his face."
Max crossed her arms "What are you saying?"
"I'm saying this house is hiding something. I need you guys to go back in there and find out what."
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Max had been looking for Alec all over the school and so far nothing. "He sure knows how to disappear when I need him." she whispered to herself.
"Who?"
Max jumped and turned around to find Dave, Dade and Iker behind her.
"Alec... I... wanted to ask him if... we're going home to change before the tryouts!" She answered quickly.
"Oh, well I heard he's with Dak." Iker shrugged.
"Ok... and where the hell is Dak?"
"In her room."
"You mean her classroom?"
"No, I mean her dorm room."
"Oh..." Max frowned. She shifted her weight from one foot to the other "Well... when they come back will you please tell Alec that I'm looking for him?"
"Sure." Dave smiled at her.
"Thanks." She said before walking away. She could feel a big headache coming and needed to find someplace quiet to rest for a little while.
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"Sasha?" Logan knocked on the lab door.
"Oh hey Mr. Cale! Come on in!" Sasha was standing next to a microscope with a sour look on her face.
"What's up? Is everything ok?"
"Yeah, it's just the cure didn't work."
"Oh." Logan tried not to look too disappointed "That's ok, it was a really hard assignment."
"Oh no, I'm not giving up yet! I know exactly how to fix it! Only it might take a couple of days."
Logan smiled "Take your time, just as long as it works." He was thinking about that video, the one of the house. For some reason he had decided not to tell Max and Alec about what he had seen. It was not that he wanted to hold the information from them, he just didn't feel like telling them yet. He wanted to have the cure first so that he would at least have a fighting chance, just in case anything had happened.
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Max ran into Alec during a break, he was sitting at the shadow of a huge tree next to the coffee house.
"So, you and Dak uh? Were you planning on telling me about this you stud?" Max kidded and slapped his shoulder playfully.
"Give it a rest Max, nothing happened and you know it."
"Oh is that what I know?" Max was in no mood to be playful but for some strange reason she felt like she had to be.
Alec closed his eyes and rested the back of his head against the trunk of the three "Just stop Max ok? Stop."
"Geez, what's wrong with you? Did the aliens forget to remove your anal probe?"
That managed to get a chuckle out of Alec "No, I just have a headache the size of Texas."
Max sighed "You too uh?"
Alec opened his eyes and looked at her "Damn Max, it can't be normal for both of us to have identical headaches."
"Well I wouldn't say identical," Max dropped her backpack and sat down next to him "mine is at least the size of Brazil."
Alec smiled and tugged on her hand until her head was resting on his lap, then he ran a hand though her hair and she closed her eyes.
"What could probably be causing this headaches?" He wondered out loud.
"Maybe it's the creepy music, we know it could happen." Max mumbled, Alec's gentle hand soothing her pain and worries.
Alec looked around and smiled "You know, that boy has been staring at you ever since you got here."
Max opened her eyes and saw Tom sitting by himself on a booth in the coffee house, looking at her.
"Oh him? He's name is Todd... or Tom... something with a T. We have a class together."
"Well Max, he seems really interested in you."
She rolled around to look at Alec and laughed "He's a geek!"
"So? You're dating their king!"
Max's eyes opened wide and Alec cringed "I can't believe I said that out loud. Hit me, I deserve it for calling your star crossed lover a geek."
Max laughed and instead of hitting him she gave him a quick, soft peck on the lips.
"I need to go, I'm meeting Steph in the cafeteria. I'll see you later!" She stood up and walked away, leaving Alec there smiling and looking stunned. "Oh, and he's NOT a geek." She tossed the remark over her shoulder.
Neither one of them noticed Tom, who was still watching from inside the coffee house.
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The next chapter will come along sooner, the sexual tension and love triangle are about to get a little more intense (and the plot will thicken ;))
If anyone is interested in reading a smut fic I wrote a little while ago It's called Euphoria, I can't post it at FF.net because... well because it's smut! And it's a foursome (as in four people together having sex at the same time) It's Max/Alec/Sam/Ben and you can find it either at nunswithpens or gumbootmafia.
Thanks to everyone who helped me with this chapter, I really am having a bad English day ;) And special thanks to my boy (even if he's not going to read this for a couple of weeks ;))
Chapter 10
THE HOUSE
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Alec pushed Max against a wall and pressed himself against her body. She was so surprised she didn't have a chance to react.
"Alec! What the..."
"There's a camera!" Alec whispered in her ear.
Max looked around the room and she noticed the camera "Shit, do you think they can hear us too?"
"We must assume they can. Now giggle and push me away." Alec whispered against her ear again.
Max did as he told her, she pushed him away in a playful manner and giggled, straightening her clothes and hair before taking a hold of his hand and running up the stairs to explore the second floor.
*************
What Logan saw made him drop the glass of milk he was holding. Alec was pressing Max against a wall, he had his arms wrapped around her and instead of pushing him away Max was holding him closer and whispering something in his ear!
Logan staid frozen as he saw Max push Alec away weakly. He could tell she was laughing by the way her lips moved. Then she took Alec's hand and ran up a flight of stairs, going out of the camera's range.
Even though Logan checked the other five cameras he couldn't find the transgenics anywhere. He spent the rest of the night looking through more files and wondering what they were doing alone in a big old house.
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Alec, still holding Max's hand, guided her through the small hall while he checked out every room for bugs. He finally found one that seemed clear and ducked into it.
"So, what do you think our dare is here?" Max asked him.
"I'm not sure, maybe they just want to know how we react to different situations." Alec sat down on the bed and took off his shoes.
The room they were in was painted in peach, the drapes and bedspread were the same color as the walls. The four post bed was made of wood.
"You know, if they are monitoring us then maybe it's not a very good idea for us to stay in the same bedroom." Max looked around suspiciously.
"Max, wee live together! I really don't think they'll mind." Alec took off his shirt.
"Alec what the hell are you doing?" Max frowned.
"Getting ready for bed" Alec stated.
"How can you even think about sleeping? They are watching us! This is some kind of test!"
"Well there's nothing we can do about it and to be honest I'm really tired and I know you are too. That music is really screwing with our bodies" Alec said referring to the classical music that was constantly being played at school.
"Well we still can't sleep in the same room. If they suspect anything between us they'll split us up, you know that!"
"Max, there are no bugs in here! How would they know? Besides, I think it'd be far worse if you woke up screaming in the middle of the night and I had to run all the way over to the other room to comfort you."
"I'm not planning on sleeping" Max yawned.
Alec smiled "I don't think you'll be able to help it."
Max yawned again and sat down on the bed to remove her shoes. Alec pulled off the covers and was just about to undo his pants when they heard a moan coming from somewhere on the first floor.
Max and Alec shared a look before getting up from the bed and walking downstairs slowly, fists raised and ready for combat.
They moved gracefully through the house, checking every room without even exchanging a word. Once they had gone through the first and second floor they went back to the clean room and tried to relax.
"You know, the kids probably have some kind of sound system in the house designed to scare us. They DID mention this place was 'haunted'" Max reminded Alec.
"Yeah, you're probably right." Alec took his pants off and dove under the covers while Max did the same. She laid besides him, facing away from him wearing her T-shirt and undies.
She had just closed her eyes when they heard a scream. This time the noise came from the attic.
"You know, this is ridiculous. I'm not even gonna get up." Alec buried his head on the pillow and tried to drown away the scream.
"Don't you think it'll look a little suspicious if we just ignore the noises?" Max sat up.
"Maybe it's what they want Max, maybe they want us to be smart enough to realize they are just trying to scare us." Alec yawned again and rubbed his eyes in a childlike way that made Max smile.
"I'm gonna take a look around the hall, just in case" She stood up and walked slowly to the door.
"Hey Max"
"Yeah?"
"Put some clothes on."
Max looked down at herself and sighed, she grabbed her pants and slipped them on quickly before leaving the room.
The hall was empty as she knew it'd be. She was about to go back to Alec when she felt the sudden urge to check downstairs too. She walked down the stairs without making any noise and looked around. Finding nothing she rolled her eyes and turned back to the stairs. And she froze.
She didn't know weather to run upstairs or just call for Alec. She decided on the first one and, being way more careful, she glided through the floor until she found herself in the bedroom.
"Alec!" She whispered urgently
"Wuf?" He responded, his voice muffled by the pillow.
"There's someone in the house with us."
Alec raised his head to look at her "Are you sure?"
"Would I be telling you if I wasn't?" Max snapped.
Alec raised an eyebrow and waited for her to explain.
"I found this on the stairs. We didn't miss it the first two times we went up and down, we couldn't have."
Max handed Alec an old looking, folded piece of paper.
"Did you see this going down or up?" Alec sat up.
"Up, meaning someone was really close to me and I never even noticed."
Alec, clearly more alert and somewhat preoccupied shook his head "That's impossible Max, you would have sensed it! You're not that careless!"
"I know that Alec but still I didn't hear, feel or see anyone."
Alec looked down at the note "Did you read it?"
Max shook her head
Alec unfolded the piece of paper slowly, as if expecting it to blow up or something.
"What does it say?" Max asked
Alec cleared his throat "Your challenge for tonight is to find the three portraits of the first owner of this house. His portraits are the only ones with a black background. Once you find them take them downstairs. Be ready to leave the house at 7:00 AM."
Max groaned "This is going to take a while."
"Maybe not, I saw one of them hanging over the fireplace downstairs."
"Oh yeah! Well that leaves two. We better start looking."
Alec got dressed while Max searched the rest of the second floor. She didn't find anything in any of the bedrooms.
"I think we should go up to the attic." Alec suggested.
The two transgenics found the staircase that lead to the attic. They had to go through a small, rusty door to get to it but once they got upstairs the first thing they saw was the second painting.
"Am I imagining things or is this whole thing just a little too easy?"
Alec shrugged "Let's just find the other one and get this over with."
They looked around the attic some more, not really expecting to find anything.
Max tried to move a trunk so that she could look behind it but couldn't. She knelt down and frowned. "Alec."
"Yeah?"
"Did you notice anything strange about the furniture here?"
Alec frowned "Like what?"
"It's nailed to the floor. All of it."
Alec tried to move a chair close to him and raised an eyebrow "That's strange. What do you think it means?"
Max shrugged "Beat's me. Oh hey look! Another staircase!"
"Great! I'm getting sick of all this dust."
"Wait!" Max frowned "I thought we were in the attic."
"We are. There are only three floors in this house without counting the basement if there even is one. I counted the windows."
"Then why is this staircase going up?"
Alec ran to Max's side "This just keeps getting better and better. Come on, let's find out."
The steps were wide and numerous, the staircase had solid walls on either side and no light. Once their night vision kicked in the two X-5s noticed that the walls were made out of concrete and they seemed to be really thick.
They emerged to a dusty room and found a portrait with a black background right in front of them.
"Oh hey, we found the third one!" Max smiled.
"No, we found the second one."
Max frowned "What do you mean?"
"Look around, we're back in the attic."
"That's impossible! We were walking up! How could we possibly end up in the same place?" But as Max scanned the room she realized that Alec was right, they were back in the attic.
"What the fuck?" She whispered
Alec ran a hand through his hair "I'm as confused as a baby in a topless bar, Max"
Max shook her head "We'll figure this out later. For now let's just take the painting and go."
"No argument here!" Alec grabbed the ugly portrait by the frame and followed Max down the stairs.
Once they reached the second floor they looked into every room again. They started in the master bedroom. As far as Alec could tell the room was bugged.
He looked under the huge bed while Max checked behind the paintings in the room.
"This is useless Alec! We've checked here already!" Max leaned her head against the wooden wall and yelped.
Alec bumped his head against the bed at the sudden noise. "Shit!"
He sat up and frowned, Max was not in the room anymore.
"MJ?" He called out slowly, then again a little bit more desperately "MJ?!"
"Alec?" Her muffled voice came from behind the wall she had just leaned against.
"Max! Where the hell are you?" He whispered urgently.
"Over here, behind the wall with the painting of the old lady."
"And how the hell did you get there?" Alec didn't know weather to laugh or worry.
"No clue but can we PLEASE concentrate on getting me out?"
Alec ran his fingertips along the wood looking for any cracks or imperfections. "Are you in a room or just pressed against the wall?"
Max looked around and frowned "It's an office or something like that... oh hey! Here's the other painting! Or at least I think it is, it's pitch black in here and I can't see the background of the damn thing."
Alec knew even her night vision wouldn't help her with that. "Well, can you remember what you were doing when... this.... happened?"
"I was leaning against the wall, beside the painting."
Alec pressed his hand against the spot that Max indicated and the wall swung open. Surprised, Alec let go of the wall and it slammed back into place instantly.
"Alec!" Max yelped again.
"Sorry, I think I have to keep pressing for this to work."
He did that and the wall moved slowly until it was completely pushed into the "office"
Max took the painting and both transgenics ran out of the small room. It closed perfectly behind them.
Without exchanging a word they walked downstairs and placed the two portraits next to the other one. They walked back to the clean room and closed the door behind them.
"Ok, now what the fuck was that?" Max plopped down on the bed.
"My guess is a secret office."
Max threw a shoe at Alec, which he ducked easily.
"Smartass." Max grumbled under her breath.
"That's Smart-ALEC for you missy."
Max thought about throwing the other shoe at him but knew it would do no good.
"There's something wrong here, something doesn't fit."
"Gee, you think Max?" Alec removed his pants and shirt and crawled back into bed.
"How can you even think about sleeping after everything that just happened? Someone could be in here with us at this very moment!" Max scolded him.
"No way, I'd hear their breathing Max."
"Well I didn't hear anything downstairs and yet someone sneaked around me and placed the note at the stairs!"
"Well yeah but you weren't looking or expecting anyone to be there."
Max opened her mouth to reply and closed it again, he had a point.
"Look, if you want to stay up and over think this be my guest. Just wake me up when it's time to leave ok?"
Alec rolled over to his side of the bed and closed his eyes.
Max sighed and tried to replay everything that had happened that night.
____________________________________
At quarter to seven max prodded Alec awake. he groaned and complained but sat up and got dressed anyway.
"Did you sleep at all Max?" He asked while tying his sneakers.
"No." Max answered simply and Alec groaned "If you bitch all day about your lack of sleep I swear I'm gonna run you over with my hot ride."
Max stuck out her tongue at him and walked out of the room while he yelled "Oh real mature Max!" and followed her close behind.
"Shut up, they are opening the door!" Max grabbed Alec's arm and practically flew down the stairs.
"Anxious to get out of here?" Alec raised an eyebrow.
"What can I say? I want a hot bath."
When they reached the front door they found the whole elite standing there, waiting for them.
"I see you've found the paintings. All three of them." Dakareth spoke.
Max shrugged "What? Like it was hard?"
"Only one of us had ever been able to do that," Iker nodded in Dak's direction "well... and now you I guess."
Dakareth smiled and spoke again "Welcome, to the elite."
___________________________________
"Logan!" Max yelled as soon as she walked through the door.
"Up here!" He yelled back and the two transgenics thundered up the stairs to the kitchen.
"Logan! We've got so much to tell you man!" Alec plopped down on a stool and started wolfing down the plate of oatmeal that Logan offered him.
"What happened?"
Max told him everything. The noises, the stairs, the secret room...
Logan was sitting in front of his computer in a flash, looking for answers to the X5s' questions.
"Bingo!" He said after about half an our of research.
"What?" Max and Alec moved from the breakfast bar to the couch and listened while Logan spoke.
"The house was built in 1979 by a man named Alfred Young, he was a very wealthy man, had his own business, something to do with the internet. He was 40 when he married a young girl from Chicago and brought her here. They had three sons, all healthy. The wife died of cancer in 1987, Young never remarried, one of the sons became a doctor, the other one... something with the military and the third a lawyer. The middle son, the military one, dissapeared around the year 2005. Young died of a heart attack... 1996. The house was sold in... 1996, right after the old man died."
The room became silent as the transgenics waited for Logan to give them some more information. When it became evident that they weren't going to get anything else Alec sighed.
"Well, that was about as useless as the pope's testicles."
Max snapped her head around to look at him and he just shrugged.
"Well that's all I have for now." Logan rubbed his temples "I'll keep looking and let you know. Don't you two have something to do today?"
"Yeah, take a bath." Max stretched and walked downstairs but Alec staid put.
Logan stared pointedly at him until he sighed again and got up "I guess I could use a nap or something." Alec followed Max, leaving Logan to work by himself.
___________________________________________
Alec couldn't even think about sleeping so instead he waltzed into the bathroom while Max was taking her hot bath.
"Alec! What the hell..."
"Oh give it a rest Max, I know you don't care much for privacy anymore." Alec plopped down on the closed toilet and rested his bare feet on the edge of the tub.
"Was there something you wanted?" Max raised an eyebrow.
"Just the pleasure of your company Max."
"I'd believe that if we didn't happen to spend almost every second of every day together."
Alec thought about sticking his tongue out at her but decided against it thinking that being around teenagers so much was really getting to him.
"Oh hey, I have something for you!" Alec remembered. He rushed out of the room only to run back in moments later holding a Six Flags bag.
"What is it?" Max sat up a little.
Alec smiled and reached inside the bag. He produced a short, black, silk robe with a little Marvin on the bottom.
"Wow Alec, it's beautiful!" Max reached for it but Alec held it away
"Don't touch it Max, you'll get it all soapy."
Max looked down at her hands covered in bubbles and smiled. "That was very thoughtful of you. Thank you."
Alec shrugged "I just thought you'd like it. I have a one just like it only longer."
Max's smile broadened "Get out so that I can dry myself!" She instructed
"Are you sure you don't want to spend some more time in the tub? I mean the robe will still be here in an hour Max, I'm not taking it back you know." Alec teased.
"I'm sure, now get out!"
Alec laughed and walked out the door closing it behind him but not before saying "I don't know why you even bother with modesty anymore woman." first.
_________________________________________
Later that night the transgenics were sitting on their couch watching TV and eating popcorn in their bathrobes. They had staid in and no one had called, plus Max was really tired.
"I told you to get some sleep last night Max" Alec had the bowl of popcorn on his lap, his arm was hanging off the back of the couch comfortably.
"Shh, I'm trying to watch a movie here!" Max whispered.
"Max, even I've seen this movie a thousand times."
"So? Ace Ventura is still fun."
Alec laughed "Yeah yeah, whatever."
They continued to watch the movie for a while. Alec felt Max's head resting on his shoulder and he looked down. Her eyes were closed and she seemed sound asleep.
"Max, go to bed." He whispered.
"No, I'm awake." She mumbled.
Alec smiled and kissed her hair before turning back to the movie.
_____________________________
"I don't know why I even bother but don't you guys know the meaning of the word ALARM CLOCK?!" Logan yelled from the top of the stairs. "You're going to be late! Again!"
Alec, his face still buried in his pillow, grunted something that sounded like an 'I know' and went back to snoring lightly. Max didn't even bother with an answer.
"You haven't heard the funky music for 2 days, you shouldn't be this tired."
When he didn't get an answer from either transgenic Logan sighed "Well I can't wait for you two, there are waffles in the freezer. Please try to make it to school today."
He got a reply from Max that kinda sounded like a 'Sure dad' so he shook his head and left the X5s alone.
_________________________________________
"Late, for the... what is it now... fifth time in a row?" The principal rubbed the tips of his fingers together as he leaned back on his chair.
"I'm sorry sir, car trouble." Alec replied.
"You know, there's a reason why we don't encourage new students to get cars."
Max and Alec waited for the reason but it never came, apparently the principal didn't care to explain his reasons to the students.
'It's starting to feel just like Manticore here.' Alec thought.
"Well I'm warning you now you two, either you get a new alarm clock or you get a new school all right? I will not tolerate any more of this! And for god's sake, get some extracurricular activities! Don't you care at all about your future?"
The transgenics didn't know weather to nod or shake their heads so they just stood still.
The principal sighed and handed them each a piece of paper. "Tryouts for football and cheerleading are today, I expect to see you there."
"Yes sir." Max and Alec replied. Force of habit.
"Good. Now go to class and stay out of trouble."
Alec held the door open for Max and there walked out of there calmly, like the nice little students they were expected to be.
__________________________________________
Alec sat through math class barely being able to keep his eyes open. He had gotten way too little sleep and too much stress over the past few days and he was exhausted. Professor James Watson had called on him a few times and he didn't look happy.
"Mr. Cage let me ask you something, do you believe you know everything?" Mr. Watson asked after Alec had answered his fourth question with an 'uh?'
Alec tried to keep his eyes from rolling as he answered "No Mr. Watson"
"Well then Mr. Cage, would you mind paying attention here? I can assure you that pretty face of yours won't get you through EVERY problem in life."
Alec had swallow his reply and wondered to himself why he hadn't just kept his first fake last name.
Everything would have been fine if the teacher had just left it at that but Mr. Watson kept pushing. "You haven't heard a single word I've said since you got here have you? I'm sure you can't even think about how to start this problem on the board can you? You're just another..."
Alec stood up then, he walked to the front of the room grabbed the piece of chalk from the teacher's hand and scribbled the number 38759.274982741 on the board before returning to his seat.
The teacher looked a little startled. He grabbed his calculator and started punching in the numbers. After he was done he looked up and his eyes met Alec's.
The hot transgenic shrugged.
"Right... so anyway..."
The teacher went back to his babbling and Iker turned around to face Alec.
"Hey man, how the hell did you..."
"I'm good with mental math."
"Oh..." Iker turned back to the teacher, still looking a little confused.
Alec took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He was tired and could feel a headache coming which was altering his capabilities to make decisions.
"Hey Iker, do you have any more of those pills?"
_____________________________________
Max had been drinking coffee like a madwoman all morning and only then it started to kick in. She walked to her Lit class with Professor Friedrish Meisher carrying her backpack in one hand and a latte in the other one.
Suddenly she saw someone run past her really fast, almost throwing her off her feet.
"Dak? Hey! What's the big rush?"
"I have to catch the principal before he goes, I need to ask for permission to have the car wash!"
"Car wash?" Max asked but Dakareth was already turning the corner.
The young X5 shrugged and took a sip of her latte.
_____________________________________
Alec was just about to turn a corner when a blur in a skirt crashed into him. Alec just stood there but the little figure in uniform bounced right off his chest.
"Oh man, are you ok?" Alec knelt down as the girl brushed the stream of black hair from her face.
"Dak?"
"Alec? My god your chest is solid!"
Alec smiled "I work out. Now tell me, where the hell are you running to?"
Dakareth glanced at her watch and shrugged "I was planning on catching the principal before he left for his meeting downtown but I guess I can forget about that now."
Alec frowned "Why?"
"Because he's very punctual... and I twisted my ankle." Dak pointed at her foot.
"Oh damn. The school nurse should take a look at that."
"What? No! I'm fine. I have some bandages at my place."
Alec smiled "What are you going to do? Jump on one foot from here to your dorm room?"
"Well... that WAS the plan."
Alec shook his head and picked her up in his arms.
Dak yelped "Alec, put me down right now!"
"Aww come on, it's the least I can do."
"I'm too heavy!"
Alec glanced down at the petite, slim girl and laughed "Yeah right. Now stop complaining and tell me where your dorm is."
______________________________________
"I want you to read over this questions and think of the answers. Don't look them up, just think about them ok?" Logan was handing out some papers. When he reached Max he handed her the sheet upside down and she frowned. There was a note scribbled at the bottom of the page and it read "Got something to tell you, meet me in the hall after class."
Max nodded and erased the note.
Once class was over she waited for Logan outside his room.
"So, what's up?" She asked him.
"Do you know where Alec is?"
Max glanced at her watch "Lab I guess. Why? What's wrong?"
"I did some more checking on that house and found something interesting."
Max frowned "What?"
"Blueprints. Remember how you said you went up some stairs and ended up on the same place?"
"Yeah."
"Well that's because the attic is slanted and the steps are wide and not too tall."
Max shrugged "So the guy who made the house was a freak."
Logan leaned against the wall and whispered "There might be more than that to this. That office you fell into? There's something weird about it."
"The way I figure it the guy wanted to hide from someone, probably the wife."
Logan shook his head "The office door has to be opened by two people and it only opens from the outside."
Max shook her head "I opened it by myself."
"Yes, and you fell in. You need to keep contact with the door and push it in at the same time in order to get in. For someone to do that without falling on their butts like you did it would take two, someone to press on it and someone to hold it open while the other person walks in."
"I don't really understand I mean... Alec did it by himself."
"Alec had to blur in order to keep the door from slamming shut on his face."
Max crossed her arms "What are you saying?"
"I'm saying this house is hiding something. I need you guys to go back in there and find out what."
____________________________________
Max had been looking for Alec all over the school and so far nothing. "He sure knows how to disappear when I need him." she whispered to herself.
"Who?"
Max jumped and turned around to find Dave, Dade and Iker behind her.
"Alec... I... wanted to ask him if... we're going home to change before the tryouts!" She answered quickly.
"Oh, well I heard he's with Dak." Iker shrugged.
"Ok... and where the hell is Dak?"
"In her room."
"You mean her classroom?"
"No, I mean her dorm room."
"Oh..." Max frowned. She shifted her weight from one foot to the other "Well... when they come back will you please tell Alec that I'm looking for him?"
"Sure." Dave smiled at her.
"Thanks." She said before walking away. She could feel a big headache coming and needed to find someplace quiet to rest for a little while.
________________________________
"Sasha?" Logan knocked on the lab door.
"Oh hey Mr. Cale! Come on in!" Sasha was standing next to a microscope with a sour look on her face.
"What's up? Is everything ok?"
"Yeah, it's just the cure didn't work."
"Oh." Logan tried not to look too disappointed "That's ok, it was a really hard assignment."
"Oh no, I'm not giving up yet! I know exactly how to fix it! Only it might take a couple of days."
Logan smiled "Take your time, just as long as it works." He was thinking about that video, the one of the house. For some reason he had decided not to tell Max and Alec about what he had seen. It was not that he wanted to hold the information from them, he just didn't feel like telling them yet. He wanted to have the cure first so that he would at least have a fighting chance, just in case anything had happened.
______________________________________
Max ran into Alec during a break, he was sitting at the shadow of a huge tree next to the coffee house.
"So, you and Dak uh? Were you planning on telling me about this you stud?" Max kidded and slapped his shoulder playfully.
"Give it a rest Max, nothing happened and you know it."
"Oh is that what I know?" Max was in no mood to be playful but for some strange reason she felt like she had to be.
Alec closed his eyes and rested the back of his head against the trunk of the three "Just stop Max ok? Stop."
"Geez, what's wrong with you? Did the aliens forget to remove your anal probe?"
That managed to get a chuckle out of Alec "No, I just have a headache the size of Texas."
Max sighed "You too uh?"
Alec opened his eyes and looked at her "Damn Max, it can't be normal for both of us to have identical headaches."
"Well I wouldn't say identical," Max dropped her backpack and sat down next to him "mine is at least the size of Brazil."
Alec smiled and tugged on her hand until her head was resting on his lap, then he ran a hand though her hair and she closed her eyes.
"What could probably be causing this headaches?" He wondered out loud.
"Maybe it's the creepy music, we know it could happen." Max mumbled, Alec's gentle hand soothing her pain and worries.
Alec looked around and smiled "You know, that boy has been staring at you ever since you got here."
Max opened her eyes and saw Tom sitting by himself on a booth in the coffee house, looking at her.
"Oh him? He's name is Todd... or Tom... something with a T. We have a class together."
"Well Max, he seems really interested in you."
She rolled around to look at Alec and laughed "He's a geek!"
"So? You're dating their king!"
Max's eyes opened wide and Alec cringed "I can't believe I said that out loud. Hit me, I deserve it for calling your star crossed lover a geek."
Max laughed and instead of hitting him she gave him a quick, soft peck on the lips.
"I need to go, I'm meeting Steph in the cafeteria. I'll see you later!" She stood up and walked away, leaving Alec there smiling and looking stunned. "Oh, and he's NOT a geek." She tossed the remark over her shoulder.
Neither one of them noticed Tom, who was still watching from inside the coffee house.
___________________________________________
The next chapter will come along sooner, the sexual tension and love triangle are about to get a little more intense (and the plot will thicken ;))
If anyone is interested in reading a smut fic I wrote a little while ago It's called Euphoria, I can't post it at FF.net because... well because it's smut! And it's a foursome (as in four people together having sex at the same time) It's Max/Alec/Sam/Ben and you can find it either at nunswithpens or gumbootmafia.
Thanks to everyone who helped me with this chapter, I really am having a bad English day ;) And special thanks to my boy (even if he's not going to read this for a couple of weeks ;))