(January 3 2001.)
"Hey there sleepyhead," Isabel said as Max dragged his feet into the kitchen, his hair uncombed, wearing a dressing gown over the t-shirt and sweat pants he had slept in. "Up late last night?"
"Hmm?" Diane Evans said, popping her head back around the corner from the area that served her as pantry and workroom. "I thought you stayed in and read last night, Max." She stirred her cup of coffee and inhaled the vapors with obvious satisfaction.
"Yeah, I did. Just couldn't stop midway through the Imperial war," Max assured his mother. Once she had turned away, he mouthed 'shut up!' at his sister... who had known about his secret rendezvous with Liz last night, and had assured him that she wouldn't blab to the parents.
"Oats?" She pushed the glass bowl of microwaved oatmeal across the table to where Max had taken his seat, and he accepted it with slightly poor grace, dolloping out a fairly generous helping, (still pretty warm at least,) and adding a splash and a half of cold milk. When Isabel passed the tabasco sauce across to him before he even asked, he was prepared to consider it a peace offering. Max added some white table sugar to make his porridge complete, (unlike Isabel, who liked honey... and at least twice as much milk.)
"Are you guys looking forward to your new-semester classes?" Mom asked once she came back and claimed her two slices of multigrain from the toaster.
"I dunno, not that much is changing for me," Max explained. "Art instead of geography, afternoon study hall. Not exactly earth-shattering stuff." At least not much in my school schedule is changing, he qualified to himself. The parts of his life that he couldn't tell his mother were changing in some very exciting, and frightening ways.
Yeah, I can just picture that conversation, Max decided. Mom, we're aliens. While we were in Mexico, we broke into the home of a retired FBI Special agent. We got held hostage and accidentally got the guy shot. Right now, a big hunk of his memories are sitting in my brain and Isabel isn't quite sure how she's supposed to get them out... but we need to have that information to figure out some way of getting back to our home world before a challenge that would decide the fate of the planet runs out...
"Max?" Mom was actually waving a hand in front of his face -- never a good sign.
"Sorry, I guess I kind of zoned out there a little."
"I suppose," she said, calmly collected. "What were you thinking of?"
For an instant, Max panicked inside. Don't drive yourself crazy, a little voice inside himself ordered. She isn't suspicious... not of what's really going on. Best case, she was curious. Worst case, she wants to make sure you really were lost in though and not spaced out on drugs or something like that. At least that worry was seriously misplaced - considering Max's reaction to a little sip of whiskey, neither he nor any of the other hybrids could afford to experiment with recreational narcotics or the like. The results could be deadly.
Um, he DID have to say something to his mother, though. "Ehh, yeah, I was thinking about..." he couldn't exactly say art or study hall, and would have blamed it on Liz except that he was still a little uncomfortable bringing her up around his mother. "Mexico," he finished lamely.
"I'm glad that the two of you enjoyed your trip so much," Mom replied. "You know, your father ran into Jim Valenti last night, and asked him what it was like chaperoning eight teenagers for a week. But the sheriff didn't seem to want to talk about it."
"Well, we were kind of a handful for him," Isabel blurted out, then immediately tried to cover. "You know, running around all over the place, full of youthful energy." She took a breath and tried to compose herself. "Don't worry, mom, he was TOTALLY strict with us."
"Oh-kay," Mom said, shaking her head slightly and returning her attention to toast.
"You know that... that thing, Max?" Isabel blurted out. "That, that we were going to do, with Michael? I think I've studied the textbook enough that we can try it tonight." Ahhh... the memory transfer procedure. Max opened his mouth to reply.
"Oh, I don't think tonight will work dear," Mom replied. Both of her children turned to stare. "Well, you both promised your father that you'd be there for the firm party."
"Ohh," Isabel groaned. "Why the heck do they have to throw an office party like three days after new year's? It's like the stupidest thing ever!"
"Come on," Max said to her. "A 'new beginnings' party. Personally, I think it's a minorly cool idea."
"There's only ever a few kids our age at these parties for the company," Isabel continued, a probing tone in her voice. "And we never have anything in common with them." She glanced sidelong at Mom. "It sure would be easier if there would be people that we know there..."
Max had to give his sister some credit for subtlety this time... last time there'd been an office party that they'd had to go to she'd demanded to be able to invite friends much more forcefully. Max hoped the soft sell would work himself, too.
"Well, I'm afraid I can't promise anything in that respect," Mom replied. "Philip?" Max turned around to see his father standing at the kitchen door, pouring a coffee.
"What?" Max knew that his dad had probably been in earshot for long enough to hear Isabel's pitch... he was probably asking for a further opinion from Mom in the guise of a recap.
"Your daughter was hinting that she'd like to invite a few friends to the party," she said with a small, approving smile.
"Hmm." Dad nodded at Max. "What about you, would you like to ask anyone to come?"
"Umm... uh, yeah, that'd be cool," Max said.
"Hmm..." Dad weighed the idea. "Are we talking about bringing dates?"
"Um..." Isabel flicked a glance at Max. "Dates, and one or two other people?"
Now Dad shot a pensive look at Mom. "Agreed. But... well, you know I love him like a son, not to mention my favorite client, but I'd rather none of the 'other people' were Michael Guerin. He... I'm not sure if he'd give the right impression."
Max thought about that, looked over at Isabel, and she nodded. "Yeah, alright."
Isabel finished her oatmeal. "Wait a second." She turned to look at Dad. "The way you phrased that... were you trying to say that if I wanted to bring Michael as my date, he'd no longer be 'unacceptable'?"
Dad blinked in surprise. "Hadn't even thought about the possibility, actually... but I like to think I'm not the type of father to tell my children who they are and are not allowed to date."
"Oh, whoops," Isabel muttered, realizing that she'd jumped to a conclusion. "Never mind - hypothetical question. VERY hypothetical."
Dad nodded very slightly and said, absently, to Max, "Are you going to find out when the next debate team practice is today?"
Max sighed silently... his father was so proud of him for that fool team. "Yeah, I'll check in." He was trying not to put on any pressure, Max knew, but he didn't want to disappoint his dad over the whole thing.
"What's the dress code for the party, anyway?" Isabel asked.
"Umm... I'm not sure," Dad replied. "Semi-formal, I think."
"No, cocktail attire," Mom chimed in.
"What's the difference?" Dad mumbled to himself, and didn't get any reply.
"So..." Max said before starting on the last few bites of his porridge. "What did the two of you do while we were down in Mexico?"
"Oh, nothing much," Mom replied. "Took a two-day trip down to Carlsbad. Oh, and Amy DeLuca invited us to a new year's eve party, which was nice of her, wasn't it? Hi, Alex!"
"Alex?" Dad repeated, spotting the lanky young man standing at the back door. "What are you doing here?"
"I thought I'd walk over, spare anyone the trouble of picking me up," Alex said.
"I suspect Isabel has something to ask you, Alex," Dad commented. She shot him an angry glare. "But I guess she'll bring that up in her own good time."
"Uh, okay," Alex agreed uncertainly. "Are we ready to motor?"
"Uh... yep," Max insisted, swallowing the last bit of breakfast quickly. At Alex's skeptical look, he looked down and realized that he wasn't dressed in school clothes yet. "Gonna need a few minutes," he blurted out, taking off for his bedroom at a run.
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"So, do you have any idea what 'cocktail attire' is?" Max asked as they turned off towards the school, after picking Liz Parker up outside the Crashdown.
"Umm... I'm not sure," Liz admitted. "Pretty fancy."
"Dark suits for guys, short elegant dresses for girls," Isabel explained.
"Hmmm..." Liz considered that for a while. "Guess I could wear that outfit I got for the New Year's party in Mexico... the one I ended up not wearing for the New Year's party not in Mexico."
Max smiled at the thought... he had really liked that white clingy pantsuit that she had ended up wearing for the festivities... she had gone clothes shopping with Isabel on New Year's eve, when they had been stuck in a small town not far from Tucson in Arizona. But he never had any objections to seeing a new side of Liz Parker. "I was thinking about who else to invite... asking Maria seems like not a good idea, if Michael isn't exactly welcome." He frowned slightly. "But I was thinking it might be nice to invite Tess... if you don't have a problem with that."
Liz smiled. "I think it might be a really nice idea to include her. The two of us kinda bonded over the holidays, as you might have noticed."
"Yeah, I think it occured to all of us," Alex told her. Liz smiled slightly but didn't say anything.
So Alex changed the subject completely. "Um... did you guys do anything with, you know -- the air sled yesterday?"
"Not really," Max told him. "Just locked the thing up tight in the pod chamber where no-one else can get at it for now. There'll be time."
"It might be a good idea for you guys to learn how to use it well BEFORE the next crisis hits us," Liz put in. "Of course, that same argument does work for an awful lot... practicing and developing better ways of using your powers... translating more of the book."
"Oh, that reminds me," Alex put in. "Michael and I did a little work yesterday... cross-referencing some stuff between the washer, the book, and Nasedo's memory journal."
"Really?" Isabel put in. "What did you find out?"
"Something that might be important... Nasedo referred to it as an electromagnetic singularity. Looks like a little gem stone, a little smaller than a ping-pong ball, but made entirely out of metal -- a silver alloy or something."
"Hmmm," Max reflected. "What about it?"
"It's a huge source of power that you guys can use," Alex related. "Possibly enough to get you home in one of several different ways. Nasedo believed that it was taken by the millitary after the crash."
"Which means that, hopefully, there's something about it in the information from the Doctor, locked up in your brain, Max," Liz said, tapping his temple affectionately.
"Any idea when you'll be able to try transferring all of that back out?" Alex asked Isabel.
"I dunno." Isabel groaned. "Maybe tomorrow night."
"Anything wrong?" Max asked, looking back at her. "I mean, you seemed psyched about giving it a try. I admit, having to push the proceedings back a day because of Dad's party isn't ideal, but I'm not sure if I see where the groan comes in."
Isabel shook her head at him. "I dunno, okay? Just something about it puts me in a bad mood now, and I don't know why. Can we drop the subject?"
"We'd better," Liz agreed, pointing out the school buildings just ahead.
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"Oohhhhhhhh..." Maria pulled away for a second, got herself arranged so that she could lean against the wall instead of the old shelves in the eraser room, and guided Michael's lips back to hers. Mmmmmmmm, yeaaahh, that was it.
"Aaaaaaahh," Michael replied in the middle of the french kiss. A little while leter Maria realized that Michael was undoing the top few buttons of her shirt. She didn't object to begin with, not while he was kissing her neck like that, but when she realized that he must be down to the last two or three buttons, she mumbled "No, c'mon Michael."
"Why..." he paused to kiss, nuzzle, and lick her ear. "Why not?"
"I..." She backed away again, checking her shirt, (yep, down to the bottom two buttons,) and started to do it up again. "You know I want to," she told him throatily. "But remember where we are. There's a history of couples getting discovered here in the eraser room." Since it was common knowledge that there wasn't a lock on the door that could be turned from the inside, sealing the entrace was considered too dangerous... especially since if a crowd gathered outside, they'd have to come out one way or another. "How would you react if I wanted to... to open up your pants and take your dick out, knowing that someone could walk in and see?"
"Hey, you wanna play that way, I got no problems with it, babe," Michael shot back, raising his eyebrows suggestively.
"Well -- that's because you're a freak, and there's such a thing as a double standard," Maria shot back. "You probably don't think it'd be so bad for that story to get around." She signed. "C'mon, I didn't really mean to spoil the mood, but we'd probably better get put back together and show up for class."
Michael shrugged, as easy-going as he ever was, and started looking for a reflective surface to check his hair with.
"Oh, in the 'other news' category, my mom's been bugging me to go out to dinner with my father ever since we got back from Mexico," Maria reported as she tried to make sure that her clothes were straight and orderly. "She thinks I've been ducking him."
"Aren't you entitled?" Michael asked. "I mean, jeez, the guy abandoned both of you. Why does she want you to have anything to do with the guy?"
"She still kinda loves him and likes that he's making an effort with me," Maria said. "Plus, I have to admit, I haven't been avoiding him because I resent him or hate him or anything. It's just been that everything's been so crazy lately, you know?" She took a deep breath. "Would you maybe come with me, Michael?"
"Dinner with your dad?" Michael was quiet a moment. "There's one painful experience I thought I wouldn't ever have to face." Maria rolled her eyes. "Kidding, kidding... kinda. If you want me to come -- of course I'll be there."
"Thank you, spaceboy." She leaned up on the tips of her toes to kiss him on the cheek, and then they snuck quietly out of the room.
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"Yeah, yeah, that sounds like... I'd like to come," Tess agreed. "If -- if that's really okay with everyone, that is," She looked at Liz pointedly.
"We'd love to have you," Liz assured her. As it happened, Michael and Maria hadn't shown up to join the others for lunch, which made it possible to bring up the party without much awkwardness. Alex and Isabel, Max and Liz, Tess, and Kyle were all gathered at their usual spot, a lunch table way off in the field behind West Roswell High, next to the baseball diamond.
"Do you have something to wear for it?" Isabel asked.
"Nah, but I've been meaning to splurge on something pretty," Tess laughed. She turned to Max and Liz. "Thank you... for inviting me. It really means a lot."
"Here's hoping we can all forget about the... unpleasantness, and become friends," Liz decided.
"Plus, the more of us that I can invite, the less mind-numbingly boring it should be," Max joked. Kyle looked up at that. "Ummm..." Max mumbled awkwardly.
"Hey, it's alright," Kyle laughed. "I think Courtney and I are doing something this evening anyway... much as I'd like to help you out." He grinned that trademark Kyle Valenti grin.
"You know, I really like Courtney," Isabel put in. "I'm not quite sure why, but I do." She smiled herself. "I'm glad you've found someone like her, Kyle."
"Thanks," Kyle said softly. "It was kinda weird her coming to Arizona looking for me, but cool, right?"
"You sound like you're trying to convince yourself, Kyle," Alex teased him.
"Maybe just a little. Probably just comes from watching 'fatal attraction' too many times, and such."
"But Kyle, the difference is," Liz pointed out, "you're not married."
"That's not the point. Horror stories about the psycho girlfriend don't have to be about a secret mistress. But I get the point. Courtney isn't a psycho, she was just a little impulsive around the holidays." He grinned a wide grin again. "I can live with that."
"Ohh... we've got a new music night coming up, right Alex?" Liz blurted out, and Alex nodded. "This friday, so you had all better come out and help pack the house."
"And eat a lot of greasy food," Alex chimed in.
"Got no problem with that," Kyle answered, and everyone laughed.
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"Hmmm." Liz frowned as she looked at herself in the long dressing mirror. She looked alright... it was a gorgeous dress, red silk, with the waving hem stopping short of her knees, short sleeves, and fairly deep scoops on the front and back, (nothing too daring, of course.) She was wearing her hair down, loose and straight, because that was how Max said he liked it best, except that she'd run a single braid straight back down the middle for a little variety.
A few tasteful rings, the little diamond earrings that Grandma Claudia had sent her for her sweet sixteen, a simple gold bracelet, and... of course! She quickly took out the pendant that Max had given her for christmas and fastened the chain about her neck. The little glint of the faceted garnet was exactly the same shade as her dress.
That was pretty much it... she shouldn't need a wrap or shawl. Liz slipped her bare feet into the red leather three-inch heels and checked her reflection in the mirror one last time. Hair and makeup looked fine... for a fleeting instant she wondered why Max loved her so much. She wasn't the prettiest girl in town... by any objective standard, for instance, she judged that Tess was considerably more beautiful.
But that wasn't really the point, was it? She didn't love Max because he was handsome... though he definitely qualified as a five-alarm hottie. On the other hand, Liz wasn't exactly objective herself when it came to him. "In his eyes, I was beautiful," she repeated out loud, cherishing the tender memory. And then she headed down the stairs and out the kitchen entrance of the Crashdown.
It wasn't too long before the familiar shape of the Jeep pulled up, and Max hopped out of it quickly... and stared. "God, Liz... you look amazing," he said, and kissed her hello gently on the lips. "Love the dress."
"Why thank you, sah," Liz drawled in a pretty horrible southern accent, and stepped away so that she could twirl around and let him take in the view from every angle. "You're looking pretty damn dashing yourself!"
Max smiled. He was wearing a charcoal gray suit jacket and matching pants, with a shite dress shirt and a soft green tie. "Just trying to keep up. It isn't as hard for us guys to figure out what to wear."
Liz grinned back at that. "Okay, what's the plan?"
"We're picking up Tess and then heading over to the party... I hope that's okay. Alex is driving Isabel." Liz nodded, that was about what she was figuring, except...
"No offense," she said as she started to carefully climb into Max's car, "but it's getting a little annoying that you're constantly double-checking with me as long as it's a question of spending time with Tess Harding! I'm trying to be her friend now, and if I start having problems with that, rest assured I will be letting you know."
Max did a bit of a double-take, and then smiled as he pulled the Jeep out. "'Trying to be her friend'?" He repeated. "I think I'm happy to hear that -- but when did it start? Did I miss something?"
Liz laughed softly. "Well, we agreed on new year's eve. But I guess it started..." she sighed. "In the forest in Mexico. She saved my life, and I saved hers. After that -- well, I guess it didn't make sense to either of us to keep holding on to old resentments at that point."
"Really?" Max considered a bit. "Neither of you really said anything about what happened in those woods... not until now."
"I hinted at some of it to Isabel," Liz mentioned. "What Tess did for me, not I for her. I guess..." she paused, and shrugged. "I wasn't sure what to say about it, really -- but I'm glad that I've told you."
"I'm glad too," Max agreed. "You know that I wouldn't have wanted to lose either of you down in Mexico... and a final end to all of the melodrama is always appreciated, of course." Liz had to laugh at that.
In just another minute more they were pulling up in front of Valenti's house to pick up Tess. She was waiting out on the sidewalk, dressed up in pink, her blonde hair falling free and somehow looking even curlier than usual, and...
"Umm, Tess?" Max said uncertainly once he was done parking. "Dress is a little short."
"What?" Tess looked down to check her hemline, which was about five, maybe five and a half inches short of the knee. "Isabel said elegant short dresses!"
"That's short in comparison to full-length evening gowns," Max replied.
The look on Tess' face of disappointment and frustration was so much that Liz couldn't bear it. "Come on," she said, "it isn't that bad. If some of the stuffy types at the party think that it's too short well... who cares about them! Right Max?" It was a very pretty dress, going all the way up to her neck, with those little decorative things at her shoulders instead of real sleeves, kind of a crepe fabric or whatever it was called.
Tess looked from Liz to Max. "Yeah, uh... I guess so," Max mumbled uncertainly.
Tess climbed into the back seat, having less trouble than Liz had for all of the shorter hem, because her shoes had less heel. (Which meant that Liz should have a height advantage over Tess tonight... not that such things really mattered to her of course.) She reached forwards and brushed Liz's arm momentarily with her fingers. "Thanks, Liz." Liz turned around and smiled back at her.
"By the way, guys," Max said as they got underway again. "... or girls, whatever: Thanks for coming with me. This party really isn't going to be as much fun as you might imagine, but it means a lot to me that you're coming with."
"You're welcome, Max," Tess said softly.
"Yeah," Liz agreed. "I'm not sure that I'm under any illusions about fun. But... you know that I always enjoy being around you, right? No matter what the occasion."
Max nodded, and Liz noticed Tess' expression in the rear view mirror. She was still embarrassed, and maybe just a tiny bit resentful, to hear Liz refer to how much she loved Max like that. Their fledgling friendship wasn't strong enough yet to entirely smooth over all of those hurt feelings.
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"Young Mister Evans!" a voice rang out. Max turned and made sure that his party face smile was as perfect as possible. The speaker was a man with thinning gray/white hair and glasses, about sixty years old. He looked a little familiar to Max. "It's been, what... two years? You've gotten so tall!"
Max nodded agreeably. "Nice to see you too, mister... uhhh..." He'd been hoping that the pressure of necessity would provide the right name at the last instant. So much for hope.
"Doctor Williamson," the older man said with an even smile. "So, you'd be, what, in your junior year of secondary school now?" Max nodded. "Are you doing well in your studies?"
"Pretty well," Max answered. "I've always been pretty good at keeping up in school."
"And in not too long, you'll have graduated and will have the first of your big decisions to make," the doctor continued. "Any idea where you see yourself in two years?"
For a long moment, Max was incredibly tempted to blurt out an honest answer. 'Well, hopefully I'll have returned in some sort of spaceship to my true home planet hundreds of light years away and vanquished the enemies of my family, and then I'll have to learn how to be a good king, which I expect will take many years.' "Ummm... hopefully I'll get into a good state school," he spun off instead, "maybe UNM. I've been thinking about pre-med studies actually... or possibly pre-law."
"Ahh. And who is this lovely young lady who has just stepped up to stand beside you?" Max smelled the perfume that had just come back into the vicinity, and smiled to himself.
"Doctor Williamson, this is Liz Parker, my girlfriend." He looked at Liz and beamed as they shook hands - he couldn't help it. "Liz, Doctor Williamson."
"Hello there," Liz said. "How do you know Max?"
"Old friend of their parents," he explained. "And a client of the firm, although Philip doesn't work with me directly. I'm not his specialty."
"Oh?" Liz raised an eyebrow. "What kind of 'specialty' are you, then?"
Williamson smiled. "Medical law, of course. Some malpractice, not that I've been sued for it more than once or twice -- and always cleared, let me hasten to add. But in this day and age, it's very important to have legal advice on such things."
"Oh," Liz said, a little blankly.
"I'm boring you already, I see," Williamson said quickly, catching the signs instantly.
"No, you're not," Liz insisted. "Well, maybe a little." She laughed softly. "So... you're a medical doctor? What kind?"
"Ummm... my specialties involve viral reduction therapy and genetic disorders, and I simply refuse to speak of them any more at this point," he shot back, a twinkle in his eyes. "For fear the dullness would make you pass out. What of yourself? I'm sure that such a bright and engaging young woman as yourself can find something interesting to tell me about."
"Ummmm..." Liz mumbled, freezing in panic. Max hesitated only a moment before stepping in to rescue her.
"I'm really sorry, doctor -- I think my dad's looking for us. We'll come back and find you when we can, okay?" He smiled and led Liz away.
"How many times are you going to use your dad as an excuse this evening?" Liz whispered into my ear.
"As few times and as many as I need to," he muttered back.
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"Hey," Alex told Isabel, handing her a small plastic plate full of vegetable tidbits. "You sure you want to stay here, not go back and mingle a little more?" They were hanging back next to a wall in an unobtrusive part of the room.
"You've seen how it goes by now, Alex," Isabel whispered, sighing. "Everyone asks what I've been doing for the past year or so. I cannot tell any of these people what I've been doing for the past year or so!"
"Well... not the stuff that we can't tell them, I admit," Alex argued softly. "But that isn't all that there's been to your life recently."
"It's been far too much," Isabel groaned.
"Iz is right," Tess piped up softly from nearby. "Mingling only leads to badness."
And so they sat and watched the party going on for several minutes. Tess had come up and found them not long after she'd arrived, and Alex had had no objections with that. She couldn't exactly wander the party without anyone else she knew... (at least, Alex wouldn't have liked to do the same himself,) and being around Liz and Max as a couple still apparently made her feel awkward.
"Hey, Evans!" A tall, sinewy guy with a shaggy haircut and wearing a peach suit was coming up to them. He seemed a little older than Alex, maybe a freshman in college, and he was staring Isabel up and down. "Ya made it! Gotta say, sweet thing, you get sexier every time I see you! I mean..." He was standing only a few feet away from her, and with elaborate care pantomimed touching one finger against her arm and jerking it away suddenly. "SCORCHING!"
"Get lost, Brunon," Isabel snapped, rolling her eyes.
"Now, is that any way to talk to such a dear old friend?" He leered at Isabel again, and Alex's level of annoyance went up another two notches. Not that he didn't understand the sentiment... Isabel was indeed looking ravishing tonight, in a blue sating halter dress without any sleeves, her hair bound up in a classy twist. But the guy seemed to be a world-class creep, and for him to fixate on Isabel left Alex very nervous, as well as the inevitable jealous ticked-off feeling.
"Fine," Isabel sighed. "Hi, Bruno. It's so... 'unexpected' to see you again. Are you going to college here in town?"
"Naw, I keep forgetting to send my applications in on time," he said. "But Dad got me a job in the mail room, and I've got my own pad. Wanna come over some time and get the grand tour?" He leaned in, putting his right hand on Isabel's left hip and bringing his face close to hers, their mouths only inches away.
Rage filled Isabel's face, but she kept her voice low and even. "Please take your hand off me and back out of my space."
"Why? You feel so good, baby." He moved the hand around slightly, rubbing her, and Isabel shuddered. "Smell good, too."
"The lady asked you to step aside," Alex said, taking the larger guy by the shoulder and shoving him back. He didn't move Brunon much, but enough to force the older guy's hand away from Isabel.
He refocused, noticing Alex for the first time, and laughed softly. "You looking to make a point out of it, string bean?"
"If that means what I think it does, then yes," Alex replied quietly.
He laughed again. "What, you trying to impress the lady?"
"I don't need to impress her... I think I've already done that."
Brunon blinked, shock evidence on his face. "What... are you the boyfriend?"
"That's what she calls me," Alex shot back flatly.
"Well, well, well..." He shook his head and seemed to have to think a bit before coming up with the next reply. "I don't think you're worthy of a woman like Evans."
"What, and YOU are?"
"I like to think so." He barked aggressively. "So how about we get back to your little challenge? Loser gets to leave with her."
"No, come on," Isabel said, finding her voice for the first time in this entire odd exchange. "Nobody's fighting."
"I'm not backing down," Alex told her calmly. "I can't speak for you, of course, but after all the insulting things he's said about you and to you, over the past three minutes, I am going to smash his face in unless he apologizes to you."
"Alex!"
"Those are pretty bold words," Brunon put in. "You realize, I assume, that if you jump on me and start beating the tar out of my face, it won't exactly leave a good impression when her mom and dad find out. Little wimps like you care about that sort of thing, don't ya?"
"I think her father would understand when I tell him why," Alex said. "With his help, Mrs Evans will calm down in due time."
"And that's assuming that things don't go the other way," Brunon continued. "What makes you think it isn't your face that's going to get turned into mush?"
"Simple." Alex grinned his best maniac grin. "I fight dirty. REALLY dirty."
Brunon considered that for a moment, and then groaned. "Fine, whatever, ya little geek. If she's got bad enough taste to pick a guy like you, then who needs her? I'm sorry I tried," he said to Isabel, and then turned back to Alex. "That's the only apology she's gonna get."
Alex snarled for a second, and then shook his head, pointing to the party. "Get outta here." And in a few seconds, he was gone.
"I... I can't believe you did that!" Isabel exclaimed once he was gone.
"Neither can I," added Tess, who had watched the entire scene without saying a word. "That was pretty good!"
Isabel looked from one to the other of them for a second, then sighed loudly and kissed Alex on the cheek. "Thank you for wanting to be my knight in shining armor," she told him. "Even a psycho lunatic knight in shining armor."
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"Hi, guys." Max turned around and blinked in surprise.
"Wha... what the heck are you doing here, Kyle?" Max stared at Kyle for a second, who was standing there in a black suit with a teasing grin on his face, and then clued in to the identity of the blonde girl in the black dress standing next to him. "Courtney?"
"Funny thing, Evans," Kyle told him. "I went to meet Court this afternoon, told her how you guys had been talking about this party, and she said that this was where she had to go tonight, and she'd been wanting me to come with."
"Really," Tess said, smiling at them. "How did you get invited, Courtney?"
"Oh, uh--" Courtney smiled. "Mister Bannerton has been helping me out with the, um... the legal ramifications of my brother's unexplained disappearance."
"Ahh, interesting," Tess said, getting a pensive look on her face.
"C'mon, Courtney," Liz told her, a bit of a mischievous expression in her eyes that only Max knew how to read. "There's someone I have to introduce you to."
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"Hello, hello, may I have your attention please?" someone was asking. It was several hours later now, and Isabel was heartily tired of the restrained festivities. She was looking forward to going home fairly soon. But first, by tradition, came the toast.
"It's been a good year since I last stood here and tried to remember what I was supposed to say," the man making the speech, Dylan Ryan or something like that, said, and everybody laughed politely. "A good year for the firm, hopefully a good year for the people we know and the community that we're a part of. I see a lot more faces out there than I'm used to."
"But this is not a day for looking back, especially. A new year is stretching out before us -- 2001. We've given it a few days to get its bearings," quiet laughter again. "This is a night for moving forward, for making new plans..."
All of a sudden, a wave of dizziness hit Isabel. She screwed her eyes shut and tried to move towards the nearest empty chair without spilling the mix of apple juice and soda water in her glass. "...We're counting on all of you, to make 2001 the best year that it..."
And that was all she remembered.
----------
"Isabel!" Alex called out. He had noticed her stepping slowly away from him, and hadn't attached any particular importance to it. But there was no mistaking the sound of a person's body collapsing suddenly to the floor. And there she was, looking kind of crumpled, her plastic champagne glass lying sideways near her hand, the carbonated liquid spreading out over the floor.
He rushed over and tried to do three things at once... check her pulse, her breathing, and carefully examine her head for any sign of an injury sustained as she had crumpled to the floor. It didn't work well to try to do all that at the same time, but once he established a sensible order, all of the individual results were good.
But why had she fainted, or blacked out, or whatever had happened? Was it some kind of strange alien attack... or what?
She didn't get sick. For some reason, that phrase kept ringing through Alex's head. It was something she had said several times, in reference to how she knew that she was different, to what it was like being a hybrid. She had said it, with relief, when he'd told her about having the mumps when he was seven and had been afraid that he would die. Liz had told Alex that she had said it, or words to that effect, after the car crash that had brought Max into the hospital, while they were trying to find some way to keep his blood tests from blowing the secret of his alien origin. Just before Liz had called him in, to have his blood exchanged for Max's.
"What... what happened?" It was Max, crouching down beside Isabel's body next to him.
"I... I don't know," Alex blurted out. "She was all right, as far as I could tell, and then she just -- collapsed."
"Well, let's not leave her just lying here like this," Max said. "They've got a... a small room with a couch, can't remember exactly what it is, but..."
"I'll take her head," Alex said quickly.
"No, you take the middle," Kyle suggested, hurrying up himself. "I'll take the head, Max the legs. Sound good?"
As quickly and as smoothly as they could, they picked up Isabel's unconscious body and hurried her off. Liz, Tess, and Courtney were doing crowd control by now and making sure that the doors were open ahead of them. Two thirds of the way there, Isabel groaned, and Alex looked into her face, but her eyes didn't open and she didn't speak.
Until they had her set up on the couch, that was. "What... what happened?" she mumbled, eyes only half open. Max quickly turned off the overhead lights, leaving only one shaded lamp on across the room.
"We were kinda hoping that you could tell us," Alex said. kneeling next to the couch and taking her hand.
"I... I don't really remember much," Iz admitted. "That... that Ryan guy was starting a really boring speech, and all of a sudden -- it was like I was hit with a wave of vertigo. Everything was swimming in front of my eyes, I had to close them... I just had to. I was feeling dizzy, my sense of balance was acting up, so I headed towards where the chair was, hoping that I could find my way there and sit down without needing to look. But... but that's all I can tell you."
"You fainted, you collapsed on the floor," Alex said softly. "Do you remember that at all?"
"Nope." Isabel shook her head, and groaned. "Not to self - do not move head."
Alex looked around quickly. The door to the room was closed, and Courtney wasn't there. It was just Isabel, himself, Max, and Tess. (He wondered whether Liz was guarding the other side of the door or where she was.) He lowered his voice and leaned close to Isabel regardless. "Do you think it might have been some kind of alien attack?"
Isabel frowned in concentration, and grunted in mild pain again. "I... I'm not sure, Alex. It hurts to think, okay?"
"Okay. Is there anything I can do to help? Any of us?"
"Umm..." Isabel sighed. "Max, any chance you can, you know? Look me over?"
Max considered that. "Too risky to do it here, unless it's absolutely critical. We'll find some way for me to do a check when we get home. Especially if," he looked over at Alex, "somebody can distract the parental units?"
"Okay, I can wait 'til then." Isabel sighed. "Could someone get me some juice to drink, then? And something easy to get down with plenty of calories in it? I haven't had that much to eat today, maybe that's part of the problem." She pouted.
"Isabel!" Max scolded.
"I'm on it," Alex said, and hurried to the door. As he opened it, he was Liz on the other side - reaching out towards where the doorknob would have been while the door was in a closed position.
"The toast has been finished, and people are starting to leave," she reported. "Figure we start to clear out once the crowd has thinned?"
"Sounds good to me," Alex reported. "Tell your boyfriend." He gestured over his shoulder and hurried past her.
----------
"So, how is she?" Mister Evans asked as Max climbed down the stairs.
"She's going to be fine, I think," Max said. "She's asleep, and I don't think anybody should bother her." Diane Evans seemed to think it was odd that her son was telling her this, but nodded in agreement.
"Okay... we'll be going to bed too. Say goodnight to your friends, Max," she said pointedly, and the two parentals climbed up the stairs. Max, Alex, Liz, and Tess gathered on the couch, (and the armchair, which Alex brought over,) to discuss the situation.
"Well?" Alex asked.
"She... I didn't see anything wrong," Max said. "Although... I dunno, there was something kinda weird, like my talent was being blocked or... no, never mind. I was probably imagining it."
Liz didn't seem that ready to let it go. "Have you ever used your healing powers on... on another hybrid?"
"Yes, many times," Max admitted. "On the other hand, we've all changed lately." He sighed. "Anyways, there doesn't seem anything to do but wait and see how she feels in the morning."
"Okay," Alex agreed. "Why don't I ferry everybody else home, and you can stay put Max?"
He considered that for a moment. "Alright. Goodnight." He kissed Liz quickly and got up. Everyone else filed out, and Max waved goodbye and closed the front door.
They dropped Tess off first - she seemed unusually quiet, but wished Liz goodbye enthusiastically enough. Alex pulled out and started to head back towards the Crashdown.
"It's starting again, isn't it?" Liz asked in a dull voice.
"What?" Alex looked over at her for an instant. "Don't get your braid in a twist. She didn't eat enough and fainted at a party."
She shook her head. "No, that isn't all of it. I can't say how, but this is the beginning of another crisis."
Alex frowned. "So, what, you figure an alien mental assault?"
"Don't ask me, Alex, I already said I don't know how, I just..."
"It's okay, I believe you," Alex assured her. "Well, if you get any better notion, let me know."
"You'll be... well, you'll be second or third to know," she assured him.
----------
(Next morning, January 4th 2001)
"I'm fine," Isabel insisted over the cordless phone. "It was... I dunno, it was just low blood sugar or whatever. Can you let it go?"
"I'm glad you're feeling better," Alex said, deciding not to mention Liz's intuition. "And if it was low blood sugar, make sure to eat a good breakfast and I'll be taking you out to lunch today."
"Hehehehe," she drawled. "I had breakfast yesterday, actually, and I've already had it today. You sure you don't want us to pick you up?"
"Nah, I'm good," he insisted. "And I love you."
"I love you too, Alex Charles Whitman, even when you drive me crazy." The line clicked off, and Alex put the handset down and started picking out clothes.
School went smoothly enough, even though at second day of classes things were starting to get difficult already. Alex did indeed take Isabel out for lunch... to the hamburger joint down the street from the school, and watched as she chowed through a double jumbo cheeseburger and fries.
In the afternoon, news started spreading of a giant prank... it turned out that apparently a group of students who had graduated in December, (well, reached enough credits in December to graduate in the spring and who weren't continuing to take courses at the high school until then,) had managed to sneak into the pool room as the lunch hour started, shut down the water circulation pump, and dumped a large quantity of quick-set strawberry jello powder in.
By the time the sixth period gym class had changed and showered, the pool was mostly solid and entirely a vibrant red. Just about everyone ended up sneaking out of class at some point to take a look. The phys ed coaches ended up turning the drains on and spraying hot water from the shower in until the gelatin began to dissolve. (Signs were posted up by the end of seventh period that the pool would not be available until Friday morning.)
----------
"Hey," Isabel said, sitting down in the nearly empty gymnasium beside Liz Parker.
"Uhh... hi!" Liz replied, looking up in surprise from the various guys and girls milling around in organized confusion on the stage. "Were you looking for me? How'd you know I'd be here?"
"No and I didn't, not really," Isabel explained, "though I'm not too surprised to see you. I promised Max that I'd keep watch out for our dad and shoo him away if he drops in."
"Ahh." Liz agreed, and they were silent as Mister Miller, the junior english teacher, stepped up and went through his spiel about moderating the practice debate. "He really is fixated on this debate team stuff, isn't he? Your dad - I've heard Max talk about it."
"Yeah, kinda. He's just glad that Max is following in his footsteps in this. Tries not to let himself go too far." She looked around carefully, and then returned her attention to the proceedings.
"You're worried about me," Isabel said, after the opening argument was made while the opposition was conferring before beginning their first rebuttal. "About the collapse."
"Yeah, I'm worried," Liz agreed. "I'm glad that you seem to be better right now, but I'm sure that that was more than a one-time thing. I just wish I knew what it meant."
The opposition began at that point, and after that Max was up, not needing a consultation before he began an impassioned oratory on... on whatever was being debated. Liz hadn't quite caught it, and wasn't really that interested in following. She just enjoyed watching him talk.
Until he stumbled verbally, umming and erring until someone from his team had to give him a prompt. Even then, he lost the thread about thirty seconds later.
"I... I..." He turned towards the general vicinity of the moderator. "I'm sorry, I'm feeling very dizzy. I need to -- I need to sit down." He spun around once, and then carefully lowered himself to the floor of the stage, sitting with his legs straight out.
A horrible feeling settling over her, Liz hurried forward so that she could help Max down the steps from the stage and to a seat in the audience. Isabel was right behind her.
TO BE CONTINUED...