Many of the characters within this story, and the universe they inhabit, are the intellectual property of Jason Katims Productions.

Roswell: Re-Imagined

Written by Horatio Jaxx

Chapter 37: Tess

It was a hot Saturday afternoon in the middle of the month of July, and Isabel Evans was enjoying her summer break between her junior and senior year of high school. For her, this time away from school felt like a reprieve from the annoyance of Max and Michael's lives. It was a rare event for her to see Liz or Maria over the summer. Her association with Michael was reduced to three or four occasions a week. Max was the only one of the four who was a daily fixture in her life and even he was a lot less visible than he had been during the school year.

This was Max's second summer break from school with the jeep. As he did during the first summer break, he and Michael spent much of the week searching the surrounding wilderness for a rock outcrop that matched the one in their dreams. Isabel's time with her brother was limited, for the most part, to the mornings and evenings. This was no inconvenience for her. She had no great interest in the search for the whispering rock. She was contented to wait for that dream to give her a reason to do something more than just wait for it to clarify itself. Max and Michael set off on their adventures in the wilderness with her blessings. She could think of better uses for her time, and her friends were quick to encourage her to do just that.

"Look, Bealls is having a summer sale," Allison Frazier announced as the car she was in slowly maneuvered through the Roswell Mall parking lot.

Sara Lange was driving the car. Isabel was seated in the front passenger seat and Allison was seated in the rear behind her. All three of them took notice of the large sign outside the store that advertised the sale event.

"Okay," Sara responded as she turned the car into a parking space. "We have to go in there first."

"Yeah," Isabel agreed with a smirk. "I think we can do some damage in there."

All three girls laughed at that. A minute later they were out of the car and hurrying towards the entrance to the mall. It was a busy Saturday for the shopping center. The concourse of the mall was crammed with patrons coming and going. The three of them happily negotiated their way through the throng of people as they examined the store window displays that they passed. The central hallway of the mall resounded from the noise of scores of people walking and talking while the music emanating from dozens of speakers blared in the background.

"Oh, look at that," Allison announced with a shocked inflection and a point. "Who'd wear that?"

Allison's point was at a mannequin in a display window wearing a frilly floral-patterned dress.

"That's hideous," Sara concurred with a look of astonishment.

Isabel gave a brief laughed to these comments before adding, "I suppose somebody will."

The three of them continued down the hall softly giggling and chatting as they went. They shortly entered the Bealls clothing store. Their amused expressions transformed into intrigued glances as they followed their looks back and forth about the showroom floor. They spent near to thirty minutes searching through the large selection of clothing items and gathering up three or four that they liked before taking them all to the dressing rooms. They then began trying on and showcasing their selections to each other.

Isabel felt as if she was in her element here. She enjoyed shopping for new and attractive clothes. The whole event was an amusement for her as well as a popular pastime. She thought her friends were silly and too self-absorb, but the enjoyment of the activity drowned out her displeasure with their company. There was no need to pretend while shopping. She always felt the event had an appeal that extended across all personality types.

Isabel was halfway into the process of trying on a third outfit when her mind suddenly brushed against the aura of a brain as powerful as hers. She suddenly stopped to take notice of that person's presence in the mall. Her first thought was that it had to be Max or Michael, but that did not fit because they went hiking through the wilderness. She quickly became suspicious of the mind she was sensing, and then pushed out a thought to dispel her concern.

Who is this?

Isabel pushed out this mental question half expecting and half hoping that Max or Michael would answer it.

I'm Tess. Who are you, was the mental transmission in response to her query?

The shock that Isabel was experiencing was imperceptible in her aura or projection.

I'm Isabel; she formulated in her thoughts and reverberated in her aura. Where are you?

Isabel waited several seconds for the response to her question. She was at first confused by that, but she quickly recalled from her own experiences that this probably meant that someone nearby was probably distracting Tess away from this mental conversation.

I'm here, in Bealls, Tess responded several seconds later, … by the shoes.

Wait, Isabel broadcasted as she hurried to redress herself.

A minute later Isabel hurried out of the dressing room and continued to pass Sara and Allison as she moved away from the area.

"Where are you going?" Sara asked with a look of curiosity.

"I'll be right back," Isabel reported as she continued to walk away.

Isabel stopped in the aisle just beyond and visually searched the far end of the store in the direction of the shoes display. Her eyes quickly came to rest on a very pretty blonde, wearing a pink spaghetti strap tank top, blue jeans and pink sneakers, who was staring back at her.

Is that you in the pink Tee? Isabel projected as she stared with a look of shock.

Yes, came back the telepathic reply. Are you blonde and wearing a light gray tunic and white pants?

Isabel nodded an affirmative to this question as she stared into the eyes of the teenage girl looking back at her from twenty yards away. They both took a few seconds to gaze at each other with astonished expression. And then Isabel pushed out a question to Tess.

Where did you come from?

Isabel's question was motivated by the thought that this person descended from otherworldly location. She was partially afraid to hear the answer for fear that it would mean the end of her life there in Roswell.

I've lived here all my life, Tess answered back. Where did you come from?

Isabel was both relieved and surprised to hear that. She took a moment to exhale her relief. She formulated her answer and then reverberated it within her aura.

I live here too. I'm a senior at Roswell High School.

Isabel noted a spike of astonishment in Tess's expression an instant after she reported that. A couple of seconds later she perceived her response.

I'm a senior at Goddard.

Isabel took a moment to absorb that reply. She, Max and Michael had considered the possibility that there could be others like them. But that thinking, over time, lost its weight with them, but that was because they had never before met anyone else who could do what they could do. None of them believed that it was a coincidence that the three of them were located in such a small area. Over time they began to believe that if there were more of them then they should be nearby as well. Isabel suddenly realized that nearby was a relative term.

Are there any more like you at Goddard? Isabel mentally broadcasted at the little blonde.

Before Tess could respond to this Andrea Lazzaro, a close friend of the little blonde, walked up with a questioning expression.

"What's wrong?" Andrea questioned Tess an instant after stopping by her side.

Andrea noted the direction that Tess was looking and followed her stare back to Isabel.

"Do you know her?" Andrea questioned ahead of Tess's reply to her first question.

Isabel noted that she had drawn the attention of the young brunette with the vacant mind standing next to Tess. Because she was not sure how to act in this situation, she began searching about her in the pretense to be looking at clothes. She then turned and went back to her dressing room.

"No," Tess answered to Andrea's second question. "I thought she was someone I knew. But she's not."

Andrea gave no importance to the reply and quickly changed the subject to what was really on her mind.

"Come on," Andrea encouraged as she presented a pair of shoes. "Take a look at these."

Tess smiled in response to the offer and then followed her friend back to the shoes display.

"Oh, I like these," she spoke as she went.

When Isabel enclosed herself back inside the dressing room, she was no longer interested in the clothes she had collected. She stood there waiting for the mind of the little blonde to respond to her query. Nearly two minutes later an answer came.

Yes, there are four of us, Tess telepathically reported. Are there others like you at your school?

Isabel reported back about Max and Michael after first responding to Sara's inquiry about her delay inside the dressing booth. For nearly an hour, Isabel and Tess exchanged information between managing the attentions of their respective friends. She learned that Tess knew of two others like her who attended Goddard High School. And she knew of a fourth that attended University High School. The difficulty that came with acquiring that information caused Isabel to become mildly annoyed with her friends. She did not care for their repeated interruptions of her secret conversation. To alleviate the problem once and for all, Isabel made a suggestion to Tess.

We have to meet, all of us.

Okay, Tess responded a second behind. Where? When?

It took Isabel several seconds to think of a location that was both private and likely known to them both.

The old soap factory, Isabel broadcasted back after nearly a minute of thought. Do you know where that is?

Yes, Tess answered seconds later. When?

Noon tomorrow

Okay.