by Melinda Metz
Isabel ignored him. She shoved her long blond hair away from her face. She looked from the ball to the spaceship gangplank, then back to the ball.
"She adjusts her stance," Alex loud-whispered. "She brings back her club. Beautiful form. She-"
"She spins around and brings her club down on the head of her companion. Blood sprays across the artificial grass of the Black Hole Putt-Putt Golf Course," Isabel interrupted.
Alex decided to shut up. The whole reason he asked Isabel to go miniature golfing was to shake her out of her bad mood-not to make it worse.
Yeah, you're a hell of a guy, Alex told himself. The kind of a guy who would do anything to help out a friend. The fact that said friend is blond, blue-eyed, and curvy-just your basic gorgeous-has nothing to do with it.
Isabel waited for the spaceships creaking gangplank to lower, then swung back her club and missed the ball completely. She tried again and the ball shot across the faded purple carpet-and hit the closed gangplank. "Why are we doing this again?" she asked.
"Because it's fun," Alex answered. "I'll help you this time." He moved up behind Isabel and placed his hands over hers on the golf club. He breathed in the sort of orangy-spicy scent of her hair. Was it his imagination, or did Isabel just take a tiny step back, bringing her body flush up against his?
"So is this the fun part?" Isabel asked. Her voice sounded sort of husky.
"I can definitely say that all parts of me are having fun," Alex answered.
"You know what would make it even more fun for me?" Isabel asked.
"What?" Alex felt his hands start to sweat. He hoped Isabel couldn't feel it. Sliming her wouldn't exactly make a great impression.
"It would be more fun if I could hit the damn ball into the damn spaceship," Isabel answered sweetly.
Oh yeah. Golf, Alex thought.
"Okay, don't wait for the gangplank to get all the way back to the ground, or it will be on its way up when the ball gets to it. When the gangplank starts down, that's when you swing." Alex forced himself to watch the gangplank. Then he guided Isabel's swing, and the ball shot straight into the spaceship. Isabel gave a little squeal.
"I suddenly remembered I'm in the presence of a cheerleader," Alex said.
Isabel blushed. "I sounded like Stacey Scheinin."
"That's okay. Miniature golf can be a very exciting sport," Alex answered. He hit his ball into the spaceship, then led the way to the other side. His ball sat next to Isabel's, inches away from the hole.
"You want help?" Alex asked.
"I think I can take it from here," Isabel told him.
So did that mean she didn't like having his arms around her? Or did she just think it was stupid of him to offer to help her make a total cake shot? Or what?
Alex played the rest of the hole on autopilot. His mind kept racing like a gerbil on an exercise wheel. Isabel was so hard to read. Yeah, she was flirty with him. But he had no idea what she was thinking. Like, was she just having sort of a momentary kind of good time? Or did she think something was building between them?
Man, I have spent way too much time around Liz and Maria, he decided. They were great. He was enjoying the whole girls-as-best-friends thing. But he didn't want to start thinking like one of them. If he didn't watch out, in another minute he was going to ask Isabel what she thought of their relationship and maybe offer her some mint-flavored coffee.
"So we're done, right? We're through having fun?" Isabel said.
"We still have the bonus hole." Alex led the way. "If you can hit your ball in the alien's mouth, you win a free game."
Isabel frowned as she studied the mammoth green alien. "I thought humans had a thing about aliens being little green men."
"If it was little, the hole would be lower, which means it would be easier to hit a ball in, which means the owners might actually have to cough up a free game," Alex explained. "I still can't believe you've never been miniature golfing."
"It's not exactly a happening spot," Isabel said.
Which means she must have wanted to spend time with me! Alex thought. Since she obviously has no interest in being here for any other reason.
The gerbil started running again. Did that mean Isabel thought of this as a date? Well, not a date. No one living in this decade went out on dates. But did she think of it as a thing? A guy-girl event thing? A guy-girl event thing that could include some kind of kissing thing somewhere toward the end of whatever it was?
Ever since the night of the homecoming dance, when he'd spent that one, long, amazing slow song holding her, he had wanted to kiss her.
Get serious, he told himself. He'd seen Isabel in the hall on the day he transferred to Olsen High. September nineteenth of last year. And that's exactly how long he'd been wanting to kiss her.
He glanced over at Isabel and found her staring at him. "Are you doing some kind of visualization to psych yourself up for the challenge of this bonus thing?" she asked.
Isabel must think he was such a doofus, staring into space like that. "Uh, yeah," he mumbled. "All the great miniature golfers do it." Alex dropped his ball on the mat and took his shot without even aiming. He missed.
Isabel carefully positioned her ball. "I think I've finally gotten this game figured out. Won't my parents be proud." She swung. The ball flew toward the laser gun in the alien's right hand-then veered left and slammed into the alien's mouth.
The alien's red eyes started to flash. "Take me to your leader," it croaked out in an electronic voice. "Taake me to yoour leeader. Taaake meee tooo yooour leee-" The alien's voice groaned to a stop.
The kid who handed out the golf clubs ran up to her. "You get a free game. That was awesome. I've never seen anyone make that shot. Never!" He thrust a free game coupon into her hand.
When the kid walked away, Alex gave Isabel a high five. "Impressive," he said. Isabel didn't answer. She didn't take her eyes off the huge alien. She was probably stunned that she actually made the shot. If Liz was here, she'd probably say the ball defied the laws of physics, he thought.
Which is pretty much what she said when the mascot flipped into the trash. Alex felt his grin disappear.
"I felt it," Isabel mumbled, still staring at the alien. She turned to Alex, and her face looked a little pale. "I felt someone use power."
"Are you sure?" Alex asked.
"Positive." Isabel shot another glance at the alien. "Come on, let's go turn in our stuff," she said. They dropped off their clubs and headed out to the parking lot.
Alex couldn't figure this out. Obviously neither Max nor Michael was following Isabel around helping her win free games of miniature golf. And they all insisted there couldn't possibly be another alien. So what was going on?
Whatever it was, it seemed centered around Isabel. The mascot got flipped-right in the middle of taunting Isabel. And it was Isabel who made the amazing golf shot.
They stopped in front of Alex's beat-up VW Rabbit. "Uh, Isabel." He hesitated. He didn't want to say what he was about to say. He'd just spent a couple of hours working to get Isabel out of her bad mood, and he was about to shove her right back in.
She narrowed her eyes. "Spit it out."
"Are your powers totally under your control?" he asked in a rush. "I mean, have you ever used them sort of unconsciously?"
"What-you think I had such a massive desire to make a miniature golf shot that I unconsciously used my power?" Isabel demanded. "Thanks a lot, Alex. You're just like the others. You automatically think everything is my fault."
"It wouldn't be your fault if you uncon-" Alex began, trying to do some damage control.
"No way," Isabel interrupted. She pushed Alex up against the car. She was standing so close that he could feel the heat radiating off her body. The spicy scent of her was making him dizzy.
Isabel moved even nearer, closing the tiny distance separating them. "I never do anything I don't plan to do," she said firmly. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him, a long deep kiss that forced all quest
ions out of his head.
*** 3 ***
Isabel stuck the free miniature golf coupon in the frame of her dresser mirror. She made sure it was evenly lined up with the picture of her and Alex at the homecoming dance, then she flopped down on her bed.
That had actually been fun. Miniature golf had a high potential for dorkitude, but Alex managed to make it cool. Except for that part at the end. That weird moment when she felt the little buzz of power being used.
Could Alex be right? Could she have used her power to direct the golf ball without realizing it? The idea really creeped her out.
It doesn't make any sense, she told herself. They were talking about miniature golf here. There was no way anything related to miniature golf could qualify as an unconscious desire. Yeah, making that hole in one had been fun. But it's not like she really cared.
It would be a different deal if Brad Pitt had suddenly materialized in front of her. Or if Stacey Scheinin had ballooned up to, like, four hundred pounds. Then she would really have to consider Alex's unconscious desires theory.
There had to be some other explanation. But she had absolutely no idea what. And trying to figure it out was starting to make her head hurt.
Isabel stretched out on her bed and shut her eyes. Maybe she would just take a peek into a few dreams. She could use a little distraction.
At least she could still dream walk. It was the only use of power that was safe-humans never knew about it. Even Max, Mr. Responsibility, dream walked once in a while.
Isabel wondered if there would ever be a time when she could stop being careful. If there would ever be a time when she could use the other kinds of power. She missed it. It felt like part of her had been injected with novocaine and was totally numb. Almost dead.
Maybe Max and Michael didn't care about losing that part of themselves. But Isabel did. Living without using her power was like having a big, beautiful, brightly colored pair of wings-but never being able to fly.
There's no point in thinking about it, she told herself. You use your power to do anything but dream walk, and you could end up dead. Period.
Isabel adjusted her pillow under her head. She focused on taking deep, even breaths, preparing to dream walk. In moments she slipped into the state between sleep and wakefulness, and the dream orbs became visible.
She sat up and let her eyes wander over the glistening orbs spinning around her. They always reminded her of giant soap bubbles, filled with iridescent colors.
Each orb belonged to someone who was asleep and dreaming. Over the years Isabel had managed to match up most of the people she knew with their dream orbs. She identified them partly by colors but mainly by sound. Each orb gave off one pure note of music, and none of these notes were exactly alike.
Isabel closed her eyes to focus her attention on the sounds of the orbs without being distracted by their shimmering beauty. Yes, there was a new sound. So low and deep, it was almost inaudible.
She began to hum, calling the dream orb to her. The sound grew closer. Isabel opened her eyes and stretched out her arms. She hummed louder, coaxing the orb closer. She smiled as it spun into her hands.
It will probably be some middle-aged guy who just moved to town, Isabel thought. He'll be having some gross dream about him and a supermodel. Sometimes when you peeked into people's dreams, you saw some really icky stuff. Stuff that made you want to run into the bathroom and wash your hands.
Isabel took a deep breath and peered into the orb. All she could see was her own face reflected back at her. Weird. The surface of the other orbs was translucent, making it easy to see the dream inside. But the surface of this new orb looked like metal, like bronze, but thinner than a sheet of paper and soft.
It definitely wasn't enough to keep Isabel out. She drew her hands apart, humming low in her throat. The dream orb expanded until it was too large to hold in her arms. She released it and it continued to grow. When it was large enough, Isabel stepped inside. The orb re-formed behind her.
Whoa. This was much better than some sweaty guy's dream. This was awesome. Truly.
Isabel stood on a deserted beach. The sun had almost set, and the darkening sky was splashed with deep reds and oranges. The air smelled ozone charged, the way it usually did after a storm. But it didn't look as if it had rained recently.
This is someone's dream, Isabel reminded herself. Don't look for logic.
It didn't feel like a dream, though. For one thing, it was way too static. There were a few tiny birds chasing the waves when they went out and running away from them when they came back in, but that was it. If this was a regular dream, something would be happening.
And where was the dreamer? Okay, in some dreams the dreamer didn't quite look like himself, but whoever was having this dream should be here in some form. Could the dreamer be dreaming he was one of those little birds? That would be sort of a nice dream.
Isabel decided as long as she was going to be hanging out here, she might as well enjoy herself. And she wasn't really dressed for the beach. An instant later Isabel had on a bright orange bikini with a gauzy wraparound skirt. Her feet were bare, and she had a big tropical fruit drink in one hand. She decided to give herself a nice golden tan, too. She loved how easy it was to manipulate reality in a dream.
Isabel wandered along the shore, her feet sinking deep into the sand with each step. The sand felt so soft, as soft as dusting powder. She had never seen such small grains.
The sky grew completely dark, and the moon came out. Isabel sat down and stared up at it. That's when she realized that there wasn't one moon in the sky-there were two. Both perfectly full and glowing with a silver light.
A breeze kicked up, blowing Isabel's hair across her face. A moment later her hair was up in an elegant twist. She wished she had this much power when she was awake! She'd never have to suffer through another bad hair day.
Clouds drifted across the moons. Acid green clouds.
Isabel felt her heart give a little flutter in her chest. She had seen clouds like those before. She and Max and Michael had all come out of their pods with memories of their home planet. Max figured they were some kind of species memories, memories all the people on their planet were born with. Those acid green clouds-that's where she had seen them before. In one of her species memories.
Why were those clouds in this dream? It would make sense if it were Max or Michael doing the dreaming. But they definitely weren't. Isabel knew exactly what their dream orbs looked like.
It's just a coincidence, she told herself. Acid green clouds could turn up in anyone's dreams. It's not like humans couldn't imagine weird-colored clouds.
Isabel shoved herself to her feet and headed down the beach. She came to a stand of trees. They were short, shorter than she was, with peeling, papery bark. She had never seen anything like them, but she wasn't a biology head like Max. These trees could be some ordinary earth variety for all she knew.
She reached out and pulled off a strip of the flaky bark. Red sap, as glossy as nail polish, began to leak from the tree. The scent hit her nose-sharp and tangy. And familiar. But familiar only from one of her species memories.
Whose dream was this? Why couldn't she see them? Was the dreamer hiding from her? Watching her? That had never happened before. But she had never encountered an orb with a metallic surface before, either. She had never had a dream match up with her species memories.
"Where are you?" Isabel cried. "Who are you?"
This was getting too creepy. She wanted to get out of here. Next time she would bring Max and Michael into the dream orb with her and they could explore together.
Isabel stumbled away from the tree. Two strong hands caught her by the waist, steadying her. Then she was pulled up against a broad, bare chest. All hard muscle under smooth skin. She knew she should jerk away. But it just felt too good.
"Looking for me, Isabel?" a low male voice asked. The feel of warm breath against her ear sent shivers through her.
"Who are you?" Isabel
demanded. She started to turn around-and the dream broke. She was back on her bed, back in her regular clothes.
She sat up, feeling groggy and disoriented. She dipped her fingers in the glass of water that she had placed on her nightstand earlier and splashed some water on her face. It helped a little. But she still felt half asleep.
That's it! Isabel drew a sigh of relief. She must have fallen asleep before she entered the plane where the dream orbs were visible. That explained everything-the strange metallic orb, the acid green clouds, the way it felt like there was no dreamer in the dream.
Isabel was the dreamer. Yeah, that explained everything.
Well, everything except those two strange bursts of unexplained power. Those weren't part of her dream.
***
Max tilted back his head, enjoying the feeling of the sun shining down on his face. In another month or so it would be too cold to eat lunch in the quad. But today the weather was perfect. He liked the way he, Liz, Alex, Michael, Maria, and Isabel had gotten in the habit of eating together. Of course, he would like anything that gave him the chance to spend a little more time with Liz. But that wasn't the only reason. Being surrounded by people who knew the truth about him-and cared about him, anyway-was still an amazing feeling.
"Well, hush my mouth. Look who's come calling," Alex said in an overdone southern accent.
Max glanced over his shoulder and saw Elsevan DuPris heading across the quad, dressed in his usual rumpled white suit, white Panama hat, and white shoes.
"Well, hello there, children," DuPris drawled as he strolled up to them. His southern accent sounded almost as fake as Alex's. "I'd like to ask you a few questions, if you would be so kind. I'm working on a story for my little paper."
DuPris's little paper was the Astral Projector. It was Roswell's answer to the National Enquirer. Except Roswell being Roswell, all the stories were about aliens. Max had never read an issue. The headlines were bad enough. "Alien Baby Melts Mother with a Single Kiss" kinds of deals.
