by Melinda Metz
Max leaped to his feet and hunched himself at Kyle in one fluid motion. Kyle fell to the ground with a satisfying thud. Max straddled him and slammed his fist into Kyle’s nose. He heard it crack and felt warm blood spurt across his fingers.
“Max, no!” Liz screamed.
But he wasn’t stopping now. Kyle was going to pay for every word he’d said to Liz. Max drew back his fist and brought it down on Kyle’s mouth. Then he felt hands on the back of his shirt, yanking him away.
Alex hauled him off Kyle. He grabbed Max by the shoulders and pinned him to the ground.
Max jerked his head to the side and saw Kyle wiping the blood off his face with his sleeve. “This isn’t over,” Kyle said. Then he turned and started to walk away.
“You’re right,” Max shouted. “It’s not over.” He tried to shove Alex away He was going after Kyle. He was going to pound the guy into the ground.
Alex jabbed his knee into Max’s chest. “You’re staying here. If you go after him, you’re going to end up in the principal’s office and both your parents are going to get called in. Do you really want to be sitting in a room with Sheriff Valenti right now? Don’t you think he’d be a little curious what this fight was about?”
Max still wanted to go after Kyle, but Alex was making sense.
“Can I let you up now? Have you regrown a brain?” Alex asked. He stared down at Max, waiting for an answer.
“Yeah, okay,” Max muttered. Alex let him sit up. Max rubbed his arm and studied Alex’s face. “Man, how did you do that? I didn’t even see you coming — then I was on the ground.”
“Three older brothers,” Alex answered. “Big ones.”
“About what you said? You were right,” Max told him. “Thanks.”
“We have to stand together against the Kyles of the world,” Alex answered.
I need some cedar, Maria thought. She opened her purse and rooted around until she felt one of the tiny vials. She pulled it out. Eucalyptus. She tossed it back inside. Eucalyptus was for invigoration, and Maria already felt ready to jump out of her skin.
Where was Max? The last bell had rung more than half an hour ago, and he still hadn’t come out. She could see his Jeep from here, so she knew she hadn’t missed him.
Maria peered into her purse, searching for the vial of cedar. Ah, there it was. She jerked it out and twisted off the tiny top. She brought the vial to her nose and closed her eyes. Think of a forest filled with ancient cedar trees, she told herself. See yourself in the forest and feel at peace.
It wasn’t working. Maybe Liz was right about aromatherapy. Or maybe some problems were just way too big for the smell of cedar and an imaginary forest. Maria opened her eyes — and saw Max climbing into his Jeep.
“Max, wait,” she called. She trotted over. “Um can I talk to you?” She climbed into the Jeep next to him before he could answer. She didn’t want him to say no.
“What’s up?” Max did a little drum solo on the steering wheel. It was totally obvious he wanted to get out of there, out of there and away from her.
“Are guys, like, born with the ability to play those drum riffs?” she asked. “Because whenever I try it, it just sounds like an elephant stampede or something. And air guitar? Forget about it.”
Max glanced over at her, his lips curving in a crooked smile. “I’m living proof that it’s not genetic.”
“I forgot. Duh. For one second I forgot,” Maria said. “And you know why? It’s because you’re not this creature out of a bad movie.”
“That’s a relief,” Max answered.
“I’m sorry. I’m making it worse,” Maria cried. “What I came out here to say was that I’ve been afraid of you ever since I found out . . . you know. I just kept thinking that you must see me as a gnat or a pea pod or something.”
“Wait. A pea pod?” Max stared at her.
“Something — other,” Maria explained. “Something that wouldn’t seem like a life-form in the same, what do you call it, genus or species. You know how people eat animals and plants? They can do that because they see them as something — other. If they didn’t — ”
“Wait. You were afraid I was going to eat you?” Max cracked up.
Maria stared at him — his shoulders were shaking, his mouth was stretched open, his face was turning red.
“Well, not really, but sort of, yeah, I was sort of afraid you’d eat me.” Maria broke into giggles. She giggled until her stomach hurt and tears filled her eyes. When they both started to get a grip, Max snorted, and that set them both off again.
“Okay, we have to stop,” Maria gasped. She squeezed her lips shut with her fingers until she got control of herself. “Okay, okay, I’m okay. What I wanted to tell you — ”
Max gave a choked laugh. Maria pointed her finger at him. “No, we’re not doing that again. I just wanted to tell you that it became totally clear to me at lunch how much you care about Liz. I realized I was wrong about you, and I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay,” Max answered. “I was totally flipped out when I first found out . . . what I was. I felt like a monster, like I should stay away from everyone but Michael and Isabel.”
Maria felt a rush of tenderness and protectiveness. “You’re not a monster.” She reached out and brushed his hair away from his forehead, then she looked away. She felt embarrassed suddenly She and Max had never had a single conversation that wasn’t totally lightweight, and now they’d both sort of spilled their guts.
“We need to figure out what to do about Valenti,” she said briskly. “Kyle’s going to make him even more suspicious of you and Liz. And he won’t give up until he finds out the truth — about all of us.”
“I think I have an idea about what to do first,” Max said. “Let me give you a ride home, and I’ll tell you about it. Okay, pea pod?”
Maria smiled at him, an all-out, I’ll-be-your-bestfriend smile. “Okay.”
14
“Max, you are aware that we live in Roswell, not LA?” Isabel asked. “This is a little touchy-feely woo-woo, isn’t it?”
“Let’s just start,” Liz said.
Max glanced around at Isabel, Michael, Alex, Maria, and Liz. They stood in a circle in the center of the cave, all of them looking uncomfortable.
“I think we should all hold hands,” Max said.
“Oh, please,” Isabel muttered.
“Tell me again why we’re doing this?” Michael asked. He sounded like a five-year-old who needed a nap.
“We’re doing this because before we can come up with a plan to deal with Valenti, we have to know we can trust one another,” Max explained. “It’s like we’re going into battle — and we have to know who is covering our backs?”
Alex looped his arm around Michael’s shoulders. “I already have complete faith in this Power Ranger.” Michael shoved him away, but Max noticed that Michael couldn’t stop a grin from breaking across his face.
Max shook his head. Michael and Alex had discovered they shared the same sense of humor. Spending much time around them could get ugly. “If we hold hands, I think I might be able to form a connection between all of us — the way I do when I’m healing,” he explained.
Isabel sighed loudly. “He’s never going to shut up until we do it.” She grabbed Max’s fingers and squeezed them as tight as she could. His sister was not a happy camper. But she was a big reason Max wanted to try to make the group connection. Isabel needed a jump start to allow her to trust the humans.
Max reached for Alex’s hand. He was kind of glad Liz wasn’t on his other side. Touching her might make it hard to concentrate on the whole group. When he was around her, it was hard for him to focus on anything or anyone else.
He took a deep breath and began searching for a way in, a way to connect.
Liz could hardly believe they were all in one room — well, sort of a room, a cave room — together. When she first showed up, she almost wished she had a metal detector so she could check everyone for weapons. Although that wouldn’t rea
lly work for aliens because they basically carried their weapons around in their heads.
And now, now they were all holding hands, it was like the end of How the Grinch Stole Christmas! where all the little Whos down in Who-ville stood around and sang their song welcoming Christmas. The song that made the Grinch’s heart grow.
I hope this works on Isabel’s heart, she thought. But that wasn’t the right attitude to go into this thing with. Liz took a deep breath and tried to let go of all her thoughts, the way she did when she made the connection with Max. She imagined all the mean thoughts and prejudices and fears slipping away, becoming unimportant.
And then she heard the music.
Isabel recognized the notes echoing off the cave walls. They were the sounds of the dream orbs. She could pick out the tone of each of their orbs in the music.
The sound of each orb alone was beautiful But together . . . Isabel let the music fill her. There was no way anyone could listen to it and feel afraid or angry. The music took the place of all her negative emotions, filling her with a sense of peace, of rightness.
The music wouldn’t sound this way if there was someone here who wanted to do harm, she realized. She heard the high sound of Maria’s dream orb playing follow the leader with the lower sound of Isabel’s orb. I guess this means I’m going to have to be friends with her or something, she thought. And across the circle, she caught Maria smiling at her.
Maria wished she could stand there forever, listening to the music. No, not listening to it. Feeling it. It washed through her in waves, sweeping away all the garbage. The thoughts about the test she had tomorrow, the anger at her parents over the divorce, and most of all her fear of Isabel.
She was as afraid as I was, Maria thought suddenly. The thought just appeared in her mind, and she knew it was true. An image flashed into her head of Isabel curled up in the corner of the cave, terrified that Valenti was coming after her. Maria felt a wave of sympathy. It was all an act. All Isabel’s threats were just to hide how scared she was. She was never going to hurt me.
Maria caught a hint of cedar in the air. No, not just cedar, cedar and ylang-ylang. And cinnamon. And almonds. And eucalyptus. And roses.
It’s like the music is making the perfume, she thought. Then she realized the truth. It’s all coming from us.
Michael swayed on his feet. The music and the smells were making him sort of dizzy. He needed to go outside. He needed to be alone for a minute. It was too intense in here.
Max’s plan had worked. Michael was convinced that no one here was dangerous. So couldn’t this thing end? He didn’t know about the rest of them, but he didn’t like standing here with his guts spilling out. That’s what it felt like. He stared over at Max, trying to signal him that it was time to break the connection.
As he watched, Max’s aura began to glow and shimmer. It was like a liquid emerald. It wasn’t clouded by any emotions. It was just a jolt of one hundred percent pure Max.
Michael felt his anxiety start to fade as he lost himself in the color. He caught a glimpse of something shining to his left. He turned and saw that Maria’s aura had started to glow, too, the blue of a mountain lake.
He gazed around the circle, taking in the deep purple of Isabel’s aura, the warm amber of Liz’s, Alex’s sunny orange, and his own brick red. We really look like a rainbow . . . he thought. And he laughed. He felt the others laughing with him.
It’s like a total multimedia event, Alex thought. He tried to come up with a word for the mix of colors, music, and scents, but nothing felt right. What he was feeling went beyond language.
Alex had never felt so connected to other people, so accepted. He didn’t have any friends who had known him since practically birth, friends the way Liz and Maria were friends. He’d switched schools so many times that he hardly had any friends at all. And his brothers were all older and so different. He always felt kind of like a freak around them.
Maybe this is what it’s like to have lived in one town your whole life.
He’d always wanted to have a home in a place where everyone knew him.
Max slowly loosened his grip on Alex’s and Isabel’s hands, allowing the connection to fade.
“Whoa,” Alex muttered. “All I can say is whoa.”
“Yeah,” Maria agreed. “Whoa.”
“I think I finally know how my dad feels at a Grateful Dead concert,” Liz told them.
“If we could make that in a pill form, we could become drug lords and make a billion,” Michael added.
“Thanks, Max,” Isabel said softly.
“So I guess now we know we can trust everyone here.” The connection left Max feeling calm and hyperalert at the same time. He felt ready to take on Valenti. “Anyone have any ideas about how to handle the sheriff?.”
“Actually,” Michael answered, “yeah.”
15
“Everyone knows what they’re supposed to do, right?” Max asked. In less than an hour, if everything went the way they planned, Valenti would be off their case forever.
“I rehearsed in the shower,” Maria told him.
“We’ve been over it a thousand times already, Dad,” Isabel answered. “Can we please just go back into the dance? They’re about to announce the homecoming queen, and I want to be there to act all surprised and happy”
“We know our stuff,” Alex agreed. “Let’s go. We wouldn’t want Isabel to miss the big moment, right, Michael?”
“Right. That would be horrible,” Michael said.
Max caught the scent of jasmine as Liz moved past him. He followed her across the parking lot and into the gym. He tried not to stare at her, but she looked so gorgeous in that dress. All long legs, and smooth shoulders, and shiny dark hair. The green material of the dress was making him crazy. At first glance it looked really sheer, almost see-through. But it wasn’t really see-through because there was some kind of lining under it.
Being around Liz was like torture. It was so much worse now that he’d kissed her. It was bad enough when he used to look at her and imagine what it would be like to feel her in his arms. But now that he knew, it was driving him crazy. He wished he knew what she thought about those moments in the parking lot. He felt as if every sensation were tattooed on his brain. But she could have forgotten all about it. Maybe all she remembered was that it had been a good way to get rid of Kyle.
“I have to say, I’m so impressed by the decorations,” Alex said. “It was a bold move to use yellow and brown crepe paper and big autumn leaves for the homecoming dance.”
Michael snorted.
“Does anyone see Stacey Scheinin?” Isabel asked. She craned her neck, trying to see over the people in front of them.
“She’s right over there, crammed between two football players,” Maria answered.
Isabel moved next to her. “Oh yeah. Now I see her. Good. I want a view of her face when they make the announcement that I’m this year’s homecoming queen.”
“Okay, the moment you’ve all been waiting for,” Ms. Shaffer called from the stage at the front of the gym. The microphone whined, and she winced. “This year’s homecoming queen and king are . . . Liz Ortecho and Max Evans.”
Isabel stopped in midsqueal “What?” she cried.
“Go on up there,” Maria exclaimed. She gave Max a push.
“Let’s go,” Liz sounded as surprised as Max felt. She took his hand and led the way up to the stage. Ms. Shaffer was reading the names of their court, but Max couldn’t focus. How had this happened? He could understand why Liz won. Liz was the most beautiful girl in school, plus she was totally popular, definitely one of the elite — it only made sense that she got a ton of votes. But who would have voted for him?
He climbed up the steps and headed over to Ms. Shatter. Everyone in the gym was clapping and whistling. He could hear Michael and Alex hooting louder than anyone. They had to be loving this. It’s not like any guy really wanted to be homecoming king.
Ms. Shaffer handed Liz a bouquet of roses and p
laced a dime-store rhinestone tiara on her head. Max leaned down so she could put the crown on him. Liz kissed his cheek, and he could tell she was trying not to giggle by the way her lips were vibrating.
Some love song started to play, and a spotlight hit Liz and Max, blinding him. “We’re supposed to dance,” Liz whispered.
Max jumped off the stage and held his hands up to Liz. She let him swing her down to his side. He felt kind of awkward. He would have loved to slow dance with Liz by themselves or even in the middle of a big crowd. But everyone had cleared a circle in the center of the gym floor so they could start off the dance alone.
Liz reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck, and her body brushed against his. Max felt as if his blood had turned carbonated, popping and fizzing in his veins. He placed his hands on her waist. He didn’t try to pull her closer. We’re friends, he told himself.
“I felt sort of frozen up there,” he said. He thought it would help him do the friend thing if he talked. “You know, like a polar bear at the zoo. All those people watching me.”
Liz chuckled. “Why?”
“Because I’ve always been the quiet guy,” Max answered. “If a total unknown can become homecoming king, it has to be a joke, right?”
“You’re not a polar bear.” Liz smiled. “You’re too good-looking — like you should be on Baywatch or something,” she answered.
“Everyone still thinks I’m strange.” Max knew it was true, but he didn’t really care.
“They think you’re quiet.” Liz started playing with the hair at the back of his neck.
Wait, Max thought. What was that? Does a girl who wants to be friends play with your hair like that?
“I was thinking that we should kiss. People are going to be expecting it — since we’re king and queen and everything,” Liz said. She sounded like she was half teasing, but half not.
Max couldn’t believe this was happening. Liz Ortecho wanted him to kiss her. “If you really think we should,” he said, grateful he could speak at all.
