And then she was in the science lab, a titration experiment in front of her.
"Do you dream about school a lot?" Adam asked from behind her.
She turned and smiled at him. "At least it's not the one where I'm taking a test naked," she answered. A faint blush colored Adam's cheeks. Liz didn't even want to know where his thoughts had just taken him. "So what are we going to do? Are we going to be goldfish again? That was fun."
"Whatever you want," Adam told her. "You tell me, and I'll make it happen."
"Anything?" Liz twisted her hair into a knot on the top of her head. "That's too hard. Too many choices."
"Well… what's your favorite color?" Adam asked.
"Emerald green," Liz answered immediately. Then she realized that was her favorite because it was the rich, vibrant color of Max's aura. "No, pink," she said.
And the entire lab went pink. All shades. Fuchsia. Raspberry. Cherry. Strawberry. Bubble gum. Rose petal. Cotton candy. Only Liz and Adam retained their original coloring.
Liz spun in a circle. "It's like we're inside a… I don't know. A bottle of pinkness."
Adam laughed. "Very scientific," he teased. "Now, what's your favorite flavor?"
"Peppermint," Liz answered. Adam picked up a pencil from the lab table and held it up to her lips.
"Bite," he instructed.
Liz took a tiny nibble, and the sharp, sweet taste of peppermint flooded her mouth. She picked up the closest beaker and, grinning at Adam, took a sip of the baby pink liquid inside. "Yum."
"Okay, I know the lab is one of your favorite places. But choose someplace else, someplace you've always wanted to go," Adam told her, his leaf green eyes appearing even more striking amid all the pink.
"A big city. Someplace as not-Roswell as you can get." Liz took another sip of the liquid peppermint, thinking about it. "New York City," she decided. "Top of the Empire State Building." And poof!
They were there. Liz stared at the pink skyscrapers, so tall, they almost touched the pink clouds. "That one over there-that's the Chrysler Building," she told Adam.
"Hey, do you think I grew up underground or something?" Adam joked. "I read all about New York on the web."
"It needs people," Liz said, leaning over the railing and staring down at the street below.
"Up here with us?" Adam sounded surprised and a little disappointed.
"No, down there. Little ant people rushing around doing important New York City things." Almost as soon as the words were out of her mouth, the street was filled with pink people striding purposefully along with pink briefcases and portfolios. "All this pink is making me dizzy," Liz admitted.
And the whole world turned blue. Navy. Sky. Powder. Blueberry. Turquoise. Cobalt.
"Better?" Adam asked. He didn't let Liz answer before he zapped everything yellow.
"Aaah! Too bright!" Liz cried.
Instantly everything went velvety black. Then a double fistful of stars appeared in the sky and a brilliant full moon. Each of the buildings took on a gentle glow.
"This is so beautiful," Liz whispered. "It's perfect."
"Not quite," Adam said.
Liz glanced at him. That's all it took for her to know he wanted to kiss her.
And she wanted to kiss him, too. She did. This setting was so romantic-it all but shouted for a kiss.
Liz looked into his face and realized it wasn't just the setting. It was Adam, too. Sweet Adam with his eager eyes, eyes that looked at Liz as if she was something rare and special.
But as romantic as the setting was, as sweet as Adam was, the time wasn't right.
"It's absolutely perfect just the way it is," she insisted, turning her gaze back toward the city stretched out in front of them. "Thank you, Adam."
NINE
"I thought I'd be the last one here," Max said as he sat down at the usual cafeteria table. "Some of the beings wanted-" He stopped abruptly when he saw Liz's expression fall and her eyes go hard. "Where's Alex?" he asked abruptly.
"Alex is actually here-in the cafeteria here-just not here here," Maria told him. She gave him a sympathetic smile, but at the same time she seemed to be watching him for a sign or something. A sign that he wasn't him or whatever.
Max glanced around the cafeteria. He almost missed Alex entirely because he was surrounded by girls, most of them in heavy flirt mode.
"I guess we can all see why he decided not to join us," Max said, dropping his backpack down on the empty chair next to him.
Maria snorted. "We can certainly all see what a big idiot he's being. I mean, where's the gratitude? Did those girls bring him back from another planet? I don't think so."
"Actually, neither did we," Max reminded her.
"But we tried!" Maria shot back. She opened a tiny porcelain box and pulled out two of her hand-blended vitamins. "And he-"
"He's just having some fun," Liz cut in. "What's wrong with that?"
"What's wrong is that we have a situation going," Maria answered. She swallowed the vitamins dry. "And he should be a part of dealing with it."
"How is Isabel doing?" Liz asked Max, her dark brown eyes serious.
Max's heart skipped just from hearing Liz address him, but he pushed the feeling aside. "I'm the last person who would know," Max told her.
Man, he'd screwed up with Izzy. Forcing her to experience the consciousness had made things between them so much worse. And all he was trying to do was keep her alive.
He pulled his lunch out of his backpack. A group of beings were clamoring for the AstroNut bar. They'd become addicted to the candy. Almost anytime Max ate anything, that group would start demanding an AstroNut.
Max dug through his lunch bag and found the candy and a couple of packets of spicy brown mustard. He quickly applied the mustard to the chocolate before the addicts could start a riot. "Do you think Isabel talked Michael into going to the taco stand or something?" he asked, glancing at Maria and Liz. "Both of them would probably rather not look at my face while they're eating."
He couldn't stop the bitterness from seeping into his voice. Isabel and Michael were acting like he was the enemy now. Even Liz was-
The beings were smelling the AstroNut through Max. And they wanted it. Now. He obediently took a bite and was lost to the tastes exploding through his mouth and the beings' reaction to them.
After he swallowed and managed to turn down the volume on the consciousness a little, he realized that Liz and Maria were staring at him.
"What?" he asked.
"We were just saying that neither of us has seen Michael or Isabel all day," Liz told him impatiently. "What about you? Have you seen either of them?"
"No, I haven't," he said. It wasn't that strange for Michael to skip school. But Isabel always showed up. The queen had to let the subjects adore her, as she'd always say.
Where are they? he wondered, his bones suddenly feeling like sticks of ice. He glanced at the clock over the back doors. There was still time to check some of the usual spots before the end of the period. Max started to gather his things and stand up. Something could really be wrong. He had to-
Suddenly the volume on the consciousness went up, the beings demanding more AstroNut. Max fell back into his chair and took another bite.
When Adam opened the door and saw Liz standing there, his heart shot up to the base of his throat, beating frantically.
"Have you seen Isabel or Michael today?" Liz asked. "Neither of them showed up at school."
He studied her face quickly, trying not to look like he was studying it. Had Liz only come over here to find out about Michael and Isabel? Or had she wanted to see him? Because if she only wanted to know about Michael and Isabel, she could have just called. So maybe she did-
"Adam?"
"Haven't seen them," he answered, refocusing on the subject at hand. "Michael didn't come home last night, either." He stepped back so Liz could come inside.