Author's Note: Sorry for the delay. Standard disclaimers apply. Read & Review, please.
Seeker
Chapter Four
It was now graduation day. According to Liz, recently dubbed the "Crystal Ball," much to Liz's annoyance, Max, Michael, Liz, and Isabel would all die soon.
Isabel looked at her husband in the mirror as she got ready for the ceremony. His tie was crooked, which was very unusual for him. He had also come home late, and Jesse was nothing but punctual. She dismissed him as she swiped her lashes with mascara. With an objective view, she determined that she looked great. She turned and walked out of the bathroom.
The soft smile that lit her eyes took Jesse aback for a moment. Then she focused on him, and the smile disappeared. He sighed.
"You should get ready," was all she said. She walked out their bedroom door. "I'll wait in the car." She pulled the door shut.
She was almost out the front door before she remembered her purse. Letting the front door close, she traced her path back to the bedroom. Just outside the door, she heard Jesse's voice. Hmm. He must be on his cell phone. She put her hand on the doorknob and paused in the act of turning the brassy knob.
"I told you, I'm still married to Isabel. I can't start a relationship with you until the divorce is finalized." His voice was cajoling and smooth.
Isabel's breath caught in her throat. She was frozen. The thought: What divorce? was followed by: It's over. It's finally over. His voice, words no longer heard, was coming toward the door. She hastily backed away and eased out of the house. She slipped into the passenger seat of the car and shut the door just as the house door opened to reveal Jesse hanging up his cell phone.
He jogged to the car and opened the driver's door. "You left your purse on the bed, Isabel." He tossed the purse onto her lap. He smiled at her. "I thought you might need it. Isn't your camera in there?"
She looked at him. He looked happier than he'd been recently. She smiled back. "Yeah. I wouldn't want to miss getting photos of everyone. Especially Michael. It's hard to get him to sit for me. Now he has no choice!" She laughed, and he joined her. The oppressive weight that had dragged at them both during the course of their marriage was lifted, and both felt the loss keenly.
The ride to the school went quickly. They found seats with her parents in the gymnasium. Greetings and hugs made, they sat and chatted about the soon-to-be-graduates. When the lights went dim, they quieted and turned their attention to the podium.
The principal said the perfunctory before-ceremony speech, welcoming all the families and congratulating the senior class. Students were called individually to come and accept their diplomas. A couple of the jocks were… exuberant, almost to the point of indecency, though they received a laugh from most of the audience. As the last students filed back to their seats, the principal rose to the podium again. He congratulated the senior class once again, to the applause of the students.
"So now it's my pleasure to announce… Hugo-award winner… international best-selling author… Bryce McCain." Those words, so casually given, stopped Isabel's heart. Bryce McCain. Bryce McCain. Bryce McCain.
She turned to Jesse, the fear in her eyes evident. "I have to go."
"Hmm?" Jesse turned to her. "What was that, Isabel?"
"Jesse, that's him! I have to go," she whispered urgently.
Understanding dawned in his eyes. As well as a strange relief. Of course. By leaving, I'm freeing him to be with someone else. Thinking quickly, she twisted off her wedding and engagement rings. She pressed them into his hands. His eyes widened with comprehension and sadness. "Goodbye," she whispered. He nodded slightly.
She quickly explained to her parents, and left the gymnasium, preparing herself for leaving Roswell.
She was joined by Kyle, Maria, and Liz. Liz looked back at Max at the podium before she rushed down the hall with the rest of us. Just outside the doors, we saw Michael.
"Where's Max?" Urgency filled his voice.
"Michael! Michael, it's tonight!" Liz cried.
He looked at her. "I know. I saw government vans heading this way. Now, where's Max?" At that moment, no one doubted that Michael truly was second-in-command.
"Inside. He's giving a speech," Kyle said.
Michael nodded once and got back on his bike. "Go to the cliffs. We'll meet you there." His taillights were bright red pinpricks as he crashed through the doors and sped down the hallways of Roswell High.
Since then, so much had passed. Waiting for Max and Michael had been torturous, but they had gotten on the road in a van Jesse had brought to them. Jesse had also given Isabel back her wedding and engagement rings. A memory, he had whispered in her ear.
Max and Liz got married while they were on the road. Michael and Maria decided to wait until they were able to go back to Roswell for a visit to get married. And Isabel…
She continued to have strange dreams of the man to whom she was connected. Months of shared feelings with that stranger led her to greater control over her ability to dreamwalk while awake. She practiced with Kyle, who had become her confidant since they had left Roswell.
A couple months after Max and Liz's wedding day, everyone piled into a road-side diner for breakfast. Mumbled, sleepy chatter was intermixed with the sounds of eating. Isabel felt they had all become much closer than friends. They were family, now. A very tired and slightly grouchy family, but a close-knit family, nonetheless.
"You know, I was thinking." Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked carefully at the person who had spoken. "Oh, don't look at me like that! I'm allowed to have thoughts!" Maria's miffed outburst caused a round of laughs, which turned a few heads in the diner. Their waitress, an aging woman who had been working at the diner since it's opening, smiled at the carefree sounds from her largest table.
"Alright Maria. I'm sorry," Liz apologized, squeezing her best-friend's hand in affection. "What were you thinking?"
"What if I don't want to tell you anymore?" Maria pouted. Liz just looked at her. "Okay, okay! I'll tell you. But no laughing, got it?" She looked at everyone. "Got it?" A round of nods pacified her. She sighed. "I was thinking we should split up." Seeing the looks she was now receiving from her tablemates, she hurried on, "Not permanently. Just… If a group of people of a certain number, around a certain age, all settle in one area…" She shrugged. "Well, you get my point."
Max shifted his scrambled eggs further from his toast. "I get your point, Maria." He looked at her sharply. "And I'm sure you have a more thought-out plan than "let's split up." So tell us what exactly you think we should do." The approval in his voice was apparent, earning him a happy squeal from the now bubbly Maria.
She smiled beatifically. "You're right! I was thinking we would split up in pairs: Max and Liz; Izzy and Kyle; and Michael and me. We'll let off a pair at a time, a few hours from each other, different cities. It'd give us all a chance to settle down. I hate to be a downer, but I'm really getting sick of being on the road all the time."
Her argument struck everyone. The table's occupants looked at each other.
Max being Max, cleared his throat. "Alright. We'll vote." He looked at Liz. "What do you say, Liz?"
Liz squeezed his hand under the table. "I vote yes, in support of Maria's plan. Maria?"
"Of course, I vote yes! Michael?"
Michael looked at Maria. He shrugged. "Sure. Izzy, you're up," he said, turning back to his breakfast.
Isabel rolled her eyes at Michael. Splitting up? But we're family… The familiar sensations of her open connection pulsed at her. I could find you. "Yes. I vote yes." She turned to Kyle.
He also shrugged. "Sounds good to me. You, Max?"
Eyes on his wife, "Absolutely." Liz blushed at his look.
"Great! I've got some locations already picked out. We'll discuss it more… but let's finish eating. I'm so hungry!" With renewed vigor, Maria plowed into her food.
And that was how Isabel and Kyle ended up signing the lease for an apartment in Kansas City, Missouri. Michael and Maria were eight hours away in Chicago, Illinois, and Max and Liz were four hours away in St. Louis, Missouri.