by Melinda Metz
Then he spotted a sign in the pawn shop window that said Live Alien Inside, and that captured his attention. What was this? Max had made it very clear that Adam could never tell anyone that he was from another planet. He'd said that's the reason Valenti had kept Adam in the compound.
Adam cautiously stepped into the store, scanning the narrow aisles. He saw a woman behind the counter. Was she the alien? Was he even allowed to ask that?
"Can I help you with something?" she called.
Adam slowly approached her. "Uh, I saw that sign in the window."
She grinned. "And you wanted to see the alien. Be right back." She turned around and ducked through the curtain behind her. A moment later she reappeared, carrying a spider monkey. At least it looked exactly like the spider monkeys he'd seen in the big book of animals he'd had in the compound. "His name is Scooter," she said.
"That's an alien?" Adam asked.
"No, it's just a joke. You know, to get people into the place. Everyone knows aliens look like this." She patted a green plastic head next to the cash register.
The thing looked evil, skeletal with huge almond-shaped eyes. "I have a friend who was abducted," the woman continued, "and I have to put this thing away every time she comes in. She says the guys who took her looked exactly like this." She reached below the counter and pulled out a rifle. "All I have to say is, if they try to come after me, they're going to get quite a welcome."
Adam backed up a few steps, then he turned around and made for the door. He took huge gulps of the fresh air as he hurried down the street. Reality had just taken a very strange turn.
Was that how most humans saw aliens? As horrible things that were going to come and get them? Things they had to shoot on sight? Was it true? Were there aliens like that?
The questions bubbled in his brain. He checked his watch. He looked up and noticed that place, that eating place where Liz worked. Liz should be at work.
He picked up his pace as he continued down the street, going faster and faster until he was running. He'd feel better when he saw Liz. She could explain how humans really felt about aliens.
But that wasn't the only reason he wanted to see her. There was something about Liz. He wasn't sure what to call it. When he was around her, he felt one hundred percent real.
***
"Have you seen Adam?" Max demanded.
"He wasn't in the shed?" Liz cried. She dropped the sponge she'd been using to wipe down the cafe's counter.
"Would I be asking if you'd-" Max stopped himself. "No, I just came from there. Was he in the shed before school? When's the last time you saw him?"
"I brought some breakfast to him this morning. And I told him you would be there as soon as you could," Liz answered.
What was he thinking, leaving Adam alone? It was only his second day out of the compound. Third, if you counted the first night. Two, three, it didn't matter. Adam was like a little kid. Max wouldn't have left a little kid by himself.
"Max, whatever you're thinking, stop it," Liz demanded, her voice harsh. "You can't take responsibility for everything. It's insane."
Sometimes he hated the way she always seemed to know what he was thinking.
Maria rushed up. "What's wrong? I could tell there was something wrong all the way across the room. One of you start talking."
"Adam wasn't in the shed," Liz said. "Maria, a guy at table four is waving his coffee cup."
"Pretend you don't see him," Maria answered. "He's had way too much caffeine already. So what are we going to do about Adam?"
"How has he been acting?" Max asked Liz. "Do you think he could have decided to take off?"
"No, I don't think so. He's been excited and curious-like a little kid. Yesterday morning, he picked some gardenias and asked me what they were. I explained that they were flowers-living things-and that we would have to put them in water before they died. He felt terrible. It was so cute," Liz said, smiling.
"So, do you think he left the shed to go out and explore?" Maria asked.
"Yeah, maybe. There was one weird thing that happened. He asked if he could touch my face, because he had never touched a girl-"
"So you let him?" Max asked impatiently.
"Yeah, I let him. It didn't seem creepy, just innocent," Liz said. "Afterward I told him-firmly-that he couldn't just go around touching people. And he reacted kind of strangely, like I had scolded him. Do you think maybe it hurt his feelings or something?"
"I don't think so," Maria said.
"I don't know," Liz said. "He's not really used to-"
"Well, you can ask him yourself because he just walked in," Maria interrupted. "The bad news is that he's with Elsevan DuPris."
"Oh, great. Just perfect," Max muttered. "Now DuPris will have a great story for his ridiculous alien paper. 'I Had Dinner with an Alien.'"
"That's actually kind of tame. The Astral Projector would probably give it a title like, 'An Alien Ate My Brains for Dinner,'" Maria said. Then she winced. "Sorry. Just nervous."
"I'm going to go over there and see if I can tell if Adam has said anything we need to worry about," Liz told them.
"What excuse are you going to use? For going up to them, I mean?" Maria asked.
"Uh, I thought I'd disguise myself as a waitress," Liz answered.
"Sorry. Just really nervous," Maria said.
Max watched Liz cross the restaurant. He couldn't help noticing that Adam's eyes were locked on her. He wasn't even blinking.
"It's a crush," Maria told him. "You know, like the one you had on that girl Raina freshman year."
Max watched Liz turn the charm on DuPris, getting him to talk. And he watched Adam watching Liz. That is so not important right now, he told himself. You can talk to Adam about Liz later. But his eyes kept going to Adam, and he felt relieved when Liz headed back toward him.
"We have nothing to worry about," Liz reported when she got back to Max and Maria. "DuPris is off on one of his southern-fried tangents. Telling one of his amusing stories about drinking mint julep with grandpap. No alien talk at all."
"We still have to get Adam out of here," Max said. "What if Valenti happens to drive by or something?"
Liz pulled her order pad out of her pocket. "All I need is an order of spaghetti with extra sauce."
"Okay, I know I'm the queen of the dim today, but why?" Maria asked.
"Oh, come on. You know how clumsy I am," Liz answered.
Maria smiled. "Ah, the old spaghetti-in-the-lap trick. An extreme but effective tactic. You haven't used it in a while."
"You've done this before?" Max asked.
"Only when some way too friendly guy tries to slip a tip in my pocket-from the inside," Liz told him. She grabbed a water pitcher and started back toward Adam and DuPris.
From the inside. That meant-
"Here, smell this." Maria thrust one of her aromatherapy vials into his hand. "It's great for getting rid of feelings of jealousy."
Max rolled the vial between his fingers as he watched Adam watching Liz. "I'm not sure it's going to be enough."
***
"Maybe we should use the rest of the drive time to go over some basic, not rules, but, you know, normal behavior stuff," Liz suggested.
Isabel shot another look at Adam. He didn't seem to be offended. She wondered if he even got what Liz meant. He wasn't stupid or anything, but he'd just had so little experience.
"Yeah, Adam," Max said. "Remember what I told you about using your powers? You can't connect to people except us, okay? People don't like it if you know things about them they haven't actually told you."
"I have one," Maria jumped in. "No matter what, you must always leave the toilet seat up after you pee. If you don't, people will get suspicious."
"Don't mess with his head like that," Isabel told her.
"I'm not. I'm trying to help him figure out what typical guy behavior is," Maria protested.
"What else?" Adam asked. "I need to know this stuff."
Isabel smiled. A
dam was starting to talk a little more. He must be starting to feel more secure around them.
"Okay, Maria's right," Isabel said. "Most guys leave the seat up. But if you want to be the kind of guy who is able to, say, attract a girl, then you should resist your natural guy instincts and put the seat down."
"What else?" Alex asked, without looking at her. "I'm curious to know what else a guy needs to do to attract a girl."
Aw, someone needs a Band-Aid for his poor trampled feelings, Isabel thought. Then she immediately felt bad. She'd been kind of relieved that yesterday's fight had exploded into a breakup, but it's not like she was happy that she'd hurt him.
"Come on, Isabel. I really want to know," Alex said.
Isabel promised herself she'd say something to Alex later, some kind of it's-not-you-it's-me thing to try and take away some of the bad feeling between them. But she wasn't going to do it in front of everyone.
"All right," she answered. "If you want to be a typical guy, fart whenever you want and then make some stupid joke about it, like, 'I'lll have to stop feeding the dog so much cheese.' But if you want to be the other kind of guy, one who actually can get a girl, leave the room when you have to do that kind of thing."
Was that a satisfying answer? Isabel wondered.
"We're here," Max said. He pulled the Jeep to a stop. "Adam, Alex and I will tell you all the guy behavior stuff later, when there are no girls around."
Isabel climbed out and grabbed the tan tarp from under the backseat. She helped Max cover the Jeep so that it wouldn't attract any attention.
"There's something I want to ask," Adam said as they all started hiking over to the cave entrance.
"Yeah, anything," Max said.
"What's going to happen to Michael?"
"We're going to get him out," Isabel promised. "We've just been waiting for the right time."
"I want to help," Adam said.
"We need you to," Alex answered. "The thing that would help the most right now is for you to tell us everything you can about the compound. The more we know about the layout, the better plan we'll be able to come up with."
"Will it make you feel bad to talk about it?" Maria asked, before Isabel could ask the same question.
"No, it's okay." Adam adjusted his sunglasses. "Michael's cell is in one big room that has a bunch of other cells, too."
Isabel assumed that Michael had been kept in a cell or a cage or something. But hearing Adam say it sucked all the air out of her lungs.
"Are any of the other cells occupied?" Alex asked.
"Only one. There's this girl, Cameron," Adam answered.
"A girl?" Maria asked. "Who is she? Why is she there?"
"I don't know. She got there right after Michael. Da-Sheriff Valenti brought her in. The doctor made her do stuff with us."
"What kind of stuff?" Isabel demanded.
"Like breaking things without touching them," Adam answered. "Or saying what number card the doctor was holding."
"Do you think she could have been one of us? From a different planet, I mean?" Max asked.
"I don't know," Adam answered, his voice strained. "I don't know anything."
"That's not your fault," Alex said.
"This crack in the ground leads to the cave," Max explained to Adam. "You can just swing yourself down. There's a big rock pretty much right below the opening that you can feel with your toes."
Adam scrambled down with ease. Isabel followed him. It felt so strange to be in the cave without Michael. It had always been more his place than anyone's. He'd spent a lot of nights out here when he couldn't deal with one of his assorted foster homes.
"What else can you tell us about the compound?" Max asked Adam after they were all settled. "How many guards are there?"
"There are always two guards outside the cells. There are always guards in the lab, too. And guards escorted me, and Michael, and Cameron everywhere. We were never alone."
"Do you know how many exits there are?" Alex asked.
"I think maybe I could find the one I came out of, but that's all I know," Adam answered, starting to sound angry at himself again.
"We can stake out the area around the compound and see if we can find any other entrances," Isabel said.
"Maybe we should check out Valenti's house," Alex said. "Maybe he has something on his computer or some paperwork that would give us info about the guards' schedules and maybe even some more details about the architecture of the compound."
"Before we launch into a major planning session, I have to go outside for a minute," Max said.
"We just got here," Isabel protested.
"I bet he has to feed the dog some cheese," Alex joked. He stood up. "I'm going, too. I have to take advantage of the lack of toilet seats."
Maria rolled her eyes. "Guys," she muttered.
Talking about the compound was making Isabel tense. She stood up and wandered around the cave, trying to work out a little nervous energy. She stopped dead when she spotted Michael's jacket lying on top of his sleeping bag.
She knelt down and lifted the jacket up to her face, pulling in a deep breath. It still smelled like him. She slid the jacket on and wrapped her arms around herself. For just one moment she wanted to pretend that they were Michael's arms around her, making her feel safe the way nothing else could.
Isabel heard a scuffling sound behind her. She turned around and saw Maria.
"I-" Maria shifted her weight from foot to foot. "I heard about you and Alex, and I just wanted to say I'm sorry. You guys seemed like a good couple."
"Thanks," Isabel murmured. She didn't want to talk right now. She wanted to hold on to the fantasy that Michael was really there with her.
"Was it…" Maria hesitated. "Is it something you think you'll be able to fix?"
Isabel shook her head. She shoved her hands in the pockets of the jacket. Maria just kept standing there.
She's thinking about that dream of Michael's we both saw, Isabel finally realized. She's wondering if I broke up with Alex because I want to be with Michael.
Isabel wasn't really used to having girlfriends yet. But she was pretty sure that when you knew one of your girlfriends had a crush-a life-threatening crush like the one Maria had on Michael-you weren't supposed to go after the guy yourself.
Maria's friendship was important to her. More important than she could have imagined a few months ago. But Michael. Isabel had to at least find out what would happen if they kissed each other. She thought it might change her life forever. And if that change meant she couldn't be friends with Maria anymore, well…
*** 10 ***
"All right. I'm going to draw something on this pad," Dr. Doyle said. "Then both of you will try to draw the same thing." He started sketching, his Magic Marker squeaking as he worked.
"All right, but no more dirty pictures, Doc," Michael said.
Cameron closed her eyes and tried to look like she was picking up some ESP vibe. It was hard not to smile. It was kind of sick how much she was actually enjoying being locked away down here.
With Michael. That was the key phrase-underlined and italicized.
Cameron heard the lab door swing open, and her eyes popped open. A guard walked in, bringing the room's guard total to three. "Sheriff Valenti wants to see you," the new guard told Cameron.
"Oooh. Someone's in trouble," Michael singsonged, trying to conceal his concern.
"Watch out for the doctor," she mouthed before she left the room, escorted by the guard. In silence, she followed him down the corridor.
The guard stopped in front of Valenti's office and knocked once. "Enter," Valenti answered. The guard opened the door for Cameron, and she stepped inside. The guard shut the door behind her.
Cameron sat down in one of the chairs in front of the sheriff's desk without waiting for an invitation.
"The security camera showed you with a machine gun," Valenti said.
She kept silent for a few more seconds. "That's right," she finally replied. "You
want Michael to trust me. Do you think he would trust someone who didn't back him up during the escape attempt?"
"So the machine gun was just for realism," Valenti said. Cameron couldn't tell if he was buying her story or not.
"Michael knows I'm not stupid," Cameron answered. "It would look pretty suspicious if I left a weapon on the floor when we were supposed to be fighting our way out of this place."
"I see your point," Valenti agreed, "but I also see that you're getting pretty tight with our buddy Michael. I see the looks you flash him. You're having a little too much fun. It's all right to have fun, gypsy girl, but you better come up with some info soon. And I expect advance warning if Michael comes up with another escape plan. All you have to do is pretend you're sick, and one of the guards will bring you to me."
"Whatever," Cameron said. "So is that it?"
"Pretty much," Valenti answered. "Has there been any problems with the parapsychological abilities cover story?"
"No, all the little tricks have been working fine."
"And you remember that if he touches you, he will learn a great deal about you, possibly including the fact that you have been sent to spy on him," Valenti said.
"Yeah, I remember." Cameron stood up and turned toward the door.
"Don't leave yet. I thought you might be interested in this," Valenti said.
Cameron turned around. Valenti was holding out a sheet of paper. Reluctantly she moved toward him, took it out of his hand, and flipped it over. Her hand was shaking.
Don't lose it in front of him, she ordered herself, but her hand wouldn't stop shaking. The paper fluttered to the floor. She glanced down at it and saw her own face staring back. The words Have you seen this girl? were printed in huge letters underneath. "It's nice to know how much your parents care, isn't it?" Valenti asked her. "They've plastered these posters over most of the state."
