"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.
"What?" Liz exclaimed, stepping into the room. "Why didn't you tell someone?"
"He doesn't always come home," Adam said as he closed the door behind her. "I didn't think-" Adam paused, taking in the upheaval in Liz's aura. "I guess it was stupid of me."
Liz shook her head and sighed. "No, it wasn't," she said. "Not if it's normal for him to stay out. Max is the one who should have been on this. He couldn't even remember if Isabel had been home in the morning before school."
Large splotches of anger appeared in her aura along with dark streaks of sadness.
Adam was pretty sure he knew the source of the sadness. It had just hit Liz again how un-Max-like Max had become. She still loved him. Even though he could see that most of the time Liz hated to be in the same room with Max, she still loved him with every molecule in her body. He wondered if she realized that.
And you just have to suck it up, he told himself, using another Michael expression. It was insane to think the mole boy could ever have a girl like Liz, anyway.
"What do you think Michael and Isabel-" Adam was interrupted by a loud knock on the door that made Liz jump slightly. Adam opened it to find Kyle Valenti standing on the staircase that led up from the museum parking lot. Kyle strode in without waiting to be asked.
"I need to know where DuPris is," Kyle announced, hands on hips. He was out of breath, and his face appeared red from exertion. "Once I know where he is, I can handle him, but I don't know how to track him."
"Kyle, go home," Liz said firmly. "And don't even think about going after DuPris. He is more dangerous than-"
"He killed my father," Kyle shouted, his hands fisted by his sides. "I can't just do nothing. Don't you get that? Now tell me where he is."
"We don't know," Liz answered. Adam was glad she was there to do the talking. Kyle was more than a little bit intimidating.
"You don't know," Kyle repeated, crossing his arms over his chest. "Well, look out the window, and maybe you'll see something that will help you remember."
Liz rushed to the window, and Adam followed right behind her. Down in the parking lot were a cluster of people, two of them with video cameras.
"Reporters," Liz said.
"That's right, brainiac," Kyle answered, sounding smug. "If you don't tell me where DuPris is, then I'm going to go back down there and tell them all about your friends." He jerked his thumb at Adam. "Starting with that one. I'm sure they'll have a lot of questions for him."
If Michael was here, he'd know what to do. He'd find a way to make Kyle back down. But all Adam could think about was that as soon as the reporters knew where he was, he'd end up back underground somewhere-and the thought paralyzed him.
"You know what? Adam was just saying how he wished he could get on TV," Liz told Kyle.
She reached out and took Adam's hand, but he barely felt it. Usually it would be all he could feel if Liz touched him, but at the moment he was numb.
"Come on, Adam," Liz continued. "Let's go make you a star. I bet we can even get you some endorsement gigs. Maybe one for a fancy toaster or something."
She gave his hand a reassuring squeeze that brought him slightly back to earth.
"Sure. Let's go," Adam managed to say. The reporters terrified him, but he trusted Liz.
"You're bluffing," Kyle said.
Liz didn't reply. She just headed for the door. Adam didn't try to pull away. He let her lead him outside and down the staircase and even got his lips to approximate a smile as the cameras swung toward him.
"The guy's one of the ones I told you about," Kyle yelled from behind them. "He's an alien. And there are three more that I know about. Their names are-"
"You're all from Albuquerque, right?" Liz interrupted.
She knows what she's doing, Adam told himself. Don't freak. Do not freak in front of the reporters. It will only make them suspicious. But all he really wanted to do was run as fast as his human legs would carry him.
"That's right," one of the reporters answered.
"I knew you weren't from Roswell. Everyone in Roswell knows-" She hesitated, shooting a look at Kyle.
"Knows what?" the same reporter asked.
"She's going to give you some load of bull," Kyle warned.
Liz leaned closer to the reporter she'd started the exchange with. "That's Kyle Valenti. Valenti. Ring a bell? He's the son of the man who used to be sheriff."