"What about Trevor?" Maria asked. She reached down and righted Max's chair. "If we could contact him-"
"Yeah, Maria, let's go find the guy who tried to kill me," Max snapped, his eyes flashing. Liz had never seen him so angry. It was almost comforting to see that he was so emotionally involved in something on this planet.
"We're all just trying to come up with some way-any way-to help Isabel," Liz reminded him firmly.
"I know," Max answered. He sounded so exhausted, so hopeless, that Liz longed to rush over and wrap her arms around him. But that wasn't possible. Not anymore. And anyway, it might end up being the consciousness that felt most of the embrace, and Liz couldn't deal with that.
Max wandered over to the fridge, opened the freezer door, and stuck his head inside.
"What is he doing?" Adam whispered. Liz shrugged, her heart heavy. The consciousness probably wanted to feel winter.
"The only reason I suggested Trevor is that there's at least a chance he was telling the truth about surviving the akino without making the connection," Maria continued. Max didn't move or acknowledge her in the slightest. His head was still in the freezer. "If there's even a chance that he could tell us how-"
"Wait a second!" Liz exclaimed, suddenly seeing everything perfectly clearly. "That's where they'd go. To Trevor."
"Michael hates Trevor," Max said, his voice coming out distorted by the freezer.
"I know. But Michael won't let Isabel die. And he won't force her to join the consciousness," Liz answered in a rush. "Trevor is his only alternative."
Max banged his head on the top of the freezer as he turned to face her. "That just leaves us with one little problem-we have no idea how to find Trevor, either," he said. "Adam, do you know if they've been in contact?"
"I don't think so," Adam answered, looking at the floor.
Silence filled the kitchen.
"Where is Alex, anyway?" Maria suddenly demanded.
"Um, I think he's at the movies with some girl," Liz answered, piling her long hair on top of her head and then letting it coil down her back.
Maria stood up and grabbed her coat. "I'll be back," she told them, attempting an Arnold accent. She picked up the keys to Max's Jeep from the table and rushed out of the kitchen.
"Where is she going?" Max asked, sitting down again.
"Don't look at me," Liz replied quietly, acutely aware that she was now alone with Max and Adam.
"So what do we do now?" Adam asked, his gaze flicking from Max to Liz.
"There's nothing we can do," Liz said, hating to admit it. At that moment all she really wanted to do was run after Maria-get the heck out of here ASAP. "We just have to wait and hope Michael decides to contact us."
Adam took her hand and twined her fingers with his. Liz caught another flash of emotion from Max. She automatically started to pull her hand away. Max had enough to deal with right now.
But as she watched, his eyes went dull and lifeless, his mouth slackening. Liz tightened her fingers around Adam's and tried to think only about the feeling of his warm hand.
Maria pulled the Jeep up to the mall entrance closest to the movie theater, tires squealing.
"That's not a parking place," someone shouted. She didn't answer. She ran to the doors and burst into the mall, then raced down the walkway to the movie theater, through those doors, and straight past the usher.
"I didn't see a ticket," he called after her.
"I don't have one," Maria answered, heading toward the closest of the multiplex's screens. The usher snagged her by the elbow.
"You're not going anywhere without a ticket," he said.
Why couldn't it be someone from school? she thought. Why did it have to be some Guffman High guy who acted like having a flashlight was only one step down from a badge and a gun?
"Here's what's going to happen," Maria told him, going into full Arnold mode. "I'm checking each theater until I find my friend, then we are both leaving."
"You are not-" the movie cop began.
"If you don't let go of my arm, I'm going to start screaming about roaches in my popcorn and a rat tail in my Twizzlers and-"
The Guffman kid turned a red that perfectly matched his cheesy uniform vest. "Fine. Okay. You can go in," he said quickly, releasing her elbow. "But don't bother any of the other paying customers."
"Thanks, sweetie," Maria said over her shoulder. She plunged through the closest double doors and waited impatiently for her eyes to adjust. Then she scanned the rows for Alex. The theater was packed. It was going to take way too long.
Maria marched to the front of the theater and positioned herself in front of the screen, ignoring the popcorn, Hot Tamales, and Junior mints that immediately started flying at her. "Alex Manes, if you're in here, you have three seconds to get your butt into the lobby."
She didn't see anyone stand up, so she bolted back down the aisle, her feet making sucking sounds where someone had spilled a giant soda, and flew back into the lobby. The next auditorium was playing a Julia Roberts flick. Perfect date bait, she thought. This is where he'll be.
This time she didn't bother going to the front of the theater. She just swung open the doors and bellowed, "Alex Manes. I know you're in there. Get your skinny white butt out here-now!"
A tall figure in the back row stood up. "Maria?"
"That's right. I need to talk to you," she yelled.
"Is that your girlfriend or something?" a female voice asked over the shouts of "shut up" from the rest of the audience.
"No, I'm his mother," Maria called back. "And I'm taking him home."
Alex sidestepped out of the row of seats and reached Maria in four long strides. He propelled her back into the lobby and closed the door behind them.
"What is your problem?" he demanded.
"My problem is that just because you happen to have become a babe, you've totally forgotten who your friends really are," Maria snapped.
"And I should do what? Spend every second with the UFO-lovers club?" Alex demanded, crossing his arms over his chest.
"What you should do is stop thinking with whatever it is you've been thinking with and start thinking with your brain." Maria roughly brushed some popcorn crumbs off the front of his sweater. "We need you, Alex."
He pulled two Hot Tamales out of her hair, not bothering to be gentle. "I'm not helping you go after DuPris, if that's what this is about," Alex answered, his voice low. "There is nothing we can do against his power. We-"
"This isn't about DuPris. It's about Isabel," Maria told him.
Some of the color instantly left Alex's face, and Maria knew she had his attention.
"Tell me," he demanded. He pulled her over to one of the padded benches in front of the bathrooms, as far away from the usher as they could get.
"She entered her akino, which you'd know if you hadn't decided to become Roswell's own sex bunny," Maria said.
"It's the girls who are the bunnies," Alex corrected, rubbing the back of his neck. "Did Isabel make the connection to the consciousness?"
"No. She refused." Maria felt un-Arnold tears sting her eyes. "Isabel and Michael took off somewhere without the communication crystals. She's out there someplace dying, and we don't know how to find her."
"Oh, my God," Alex said, his face almost completely white. "I still don't know what you want me to do, but I'm there."
Maria gave him a fast hug. "I knew you would be." She checked over her shoulder to make sure the usher wasn't listening. He was twirling his flashlight like a cowboy and replacing it in an imaginary holster. Not a problem.
"When we were trying to get you back from you know where, your father found DuPris before we did," Maria explained. "He must have some kind of Clean Slate tracking device. You've got to get it from him."
Alex nodded. "It's not going to be easy. My dad has refused to answer even one question about his connection to Clean Slate. But I'll get it done."