Chapter Sixteen – Stargazing

Alex Whitman sat at an empty table in the warm Roswell sunshine and unpacked his lunch. He hated eating alone, but given the way Maria and Liz had been acting lately, alone was definitely the safer alternative. The less he heard about cramps masquerading as Czechoslovakians, the better for his piece of mind.

He opened his soda and scanned the crowded eating area looking for someone to talk to when he spied Isabel Evans holding her tray and scanning the crowd. His heart began to pound rapidly, and he felt his face begin to burn as Isabel began to walk in his direction. Not that this reaction was anything new to him. He fell in love with Isabel in third grade, the first time he saw her get off the school bus, and the feeling had never subsided. Not that she knew who he was. Isabel Evans didn't deign to speak to lesser mortals such as him. He was so far out of her league that it wasn't even funny.

"Hi, do you mind if I sit here," a voice said, breaking through his thoughts.

Alex looked up and saw Isabel standing next to him, ready to put her tray down on the table. Alex swallowed the mouthful of soda he had just drunk, and immediately began to choke.

"Su-sure," he sputtered, his voice cracking. "S-sit down."

"I'm Isabel Evans," Isabel said in a cheery voice.

"I-I know," said Alex, struggling to regain his composure. "Everybody knows who you are."

"I don't think so," said Isabel, smiling at Alex's comment. "You're Alex Whitman, right?"

"You know who I am?" Alex asked, his voice breaking again.

"Alex, we've been in school together since the third grade. Of course I know you," Isabel answered.

"Yeah, but you normally don't talk to me," said Alex. "Did you lose a bet or something?" He swiveled around in his seat looking to see if he could spy some of Isabel's giggling friends, or someone with a camera to record the moment. "Can I have a copy of the picture someone is surely taking as proof so I can forever remember this moment?"

Isabel threw her head back and laughed, and her long hair cascaded down her back like a golden waterfall, shinning in the sun. Alex felt his breath catch as he observed her heartbreaking beauty.

"Alex you are too funny," said Isabel. "Can't I just hang out with you?"

"In my dreams yes, in reality, no," said Alex. "Not without causing irreparable damage to your social standing. So why don't you just tell me what you want, or whatever, and that way you can get back to your little friends."

"Alex, I don't want anything from you," said Isabel, and something in her tone half convinced him that she was telling the truth.

"Isabel, come on someone like you doesn't come sit with someone like me for no reason. It just doesn't happen."

"Fine, you want to know the truth, I'll tell you the truth," said Isabel. "Last night, I had a dream about you.

"Right," said a still skeptical Alex. Him dreaming about Isabel that made sense; Isabel dreaming about him, now that was the stuff of fantasies.

"No, seriously, I did," said Isabel. I was wearing a red dress, and you were in the most handsome tux, Alex, and we were dancing. It was magical. At first, I didn't see your face, but finally it came into focus. Alex, we were so happy and it was so beautiful."

"Okay," said Alex. "We danced, again, I'm not seeing why this would make you want to come an sit with me. It was just a dream, right?"

"But then it changed," said Isabel, her voice catching slightly. "I, I was at a funeral, and I put a flower on a coffin. Oh, God, Alex, it was you're coffin. You died. It was terrible."

"What?" asked Alex, the color draining from his face. "What did you just say?"

"You died Alex. In my dream, you were dead," said Isabel, her eyes shimmering with unshed tears. "It was horrible."

"Yeah, horrible," muttered Alex, his thoughts racing. "Seems to be a lot of that going around lately."

"A lot of what?" asked Isabel, confused by Alex's apparent change in conversation.

"Me dying," he said. "Liz said the same thing to me the other night at the CrashDown. She took one look at me, dropped a tray of glasses and told me I was dead. I'm starting to not feel the love from everybody, let me tell you."

"Liz Parker?" asked Isabel.

"Yes, Liz Parker. Do I hang out with any other Liz's?"

"We need to talk to her, Alex. "Something isn't right, and I think it involves Liz," said Isabel. "Do you know where she is?"

"Usually, she's right where you're sitting," said Alex in a dry voice. "But her and Maria have been avoiding me lately - something about Czechoslovakians or something."

"Czechoslovakians?" asked Isabel. "Who's Czechoslovakian?"

"Apparently cramps are," said Alex, standing up. "Come on, if they're not out here, then chances are they're holed up inside one of the empty science rooms.

"They?" asked Isabel. "Do we have to talk to Maria, too?"

"Where Liz goes, so goes Maria," said Alex. "Why?"

"I- I don't know," said Isabel. "I just have this weird feeling, like she's going to try and get me to wait tables or something."

Alex laughed out loud at the visual of Isabel in a CrashDown uniform with little alien deely boppers on her head.

"Don't worry, Isabel, I don't think that's ever going to happen," he said. He waited until she stood up, and the two began walking toward the school together.

"Do you know what you want to do for college?" Isabel asked, trying to make conversation. She didn't feel uncomfortable with Alex. It was exactly the opposite. Talking with him, she felt like she was coming home, or something. She felt safe and protected, and that wasn't a feeling she was used to feeling.

"Yeah, I'm thinking MIT," said Alex. "And Liz wants to go to Harvard, so we'll still be able to hang out and stuff."

"You and Liz are pretty close, aren't you."

"She's my best friend," said Alex, simply. "Well one of them anyway."

"So, MIT?" asked Isabel. "You're not looking at anywhere local, are you, like Las Cruses or something?"

"Thank you, no," said Alex, suppressing a shudder. "I don't ever want to see Las Cruses again."

"You've been there?" Isabel asked, amazed at the alarmed feelings she had.

"No, I haven't," said a puzzled Alex. "I know I haven't, but I feel like I have."

"We need to fine Liz," said Isabel, slipping her hand in his. "We need to find her right away."