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."
"I'm not going back there," Cameron said. Her voice was shaking, too.
"If you don't want to go back, you know what to do. Get me the names of the other aliens," he said. "But know this-I'm not willing to wait forever."
Cameron looked indignant, almost mad. "But he didn't even admit he was an alien until I said-"
"You're free to go," Valenti told her.
Free, yeah.
Cameron turned and walked out the door. She shut it quietly behind her. She'd shown Valenti way too much emotion already. Her hands were still trembling.
The guard led the way back to the lab. They got there way too fast. Cameron pulled in a deep breath as they headed inside. Michael gave her that killer grin of his the second he saw her, and a wave of hot nausea rushed through her.
It's not like I lied to him about everything, she thought. I did run away. Valenti did find me. And my parents do see me as a freak, even if it's not for the reason Michael thinks.
His friends, whoever they are, they have powers, like Michael, she reminded herself, trying to stop the sick feeling from building. Even if I give Valenti their names, it's not like he's just going to be able to go round them up. And if he does, if he does, at least they'll have each other.
I'm the only one looking out for me.
Look! Down in the dirt! It's a worm! It's a bug! No, it's Alex Manes… Understanding Guy!
Yep, that was him. Who else would have agreed to stake out the compound with Isabel only days after she'd shown him the door? Other guys would be cursing her name, poking out the eyes in every picture of her, telling their friends that she was evil spawn. But not our hero. Understanding Guy just sucked it up and said sure, if Isabel wanted him to spend ten or so hours crouched down behind some scratchy bushes in a little arroyo, he could do that. With a smile.
Alex took a swig out of his sports bottle. No matter how much water he drank, he felt like he was sweating out more.
"Uh, Alex, there's something I wanted to talk to you about," Isabel said. "You know the other day, when I said I didn't think we should see each other anymore?"
He nodded, although he didn't remember it quite that way. First, Isabel hadn't said anything, she'd shrieked. And what she'd shrieked had been, well, not quite so polite.
"Anyway, I just wanted you to know that it really didn't have anything to do with you," Isabel continued. "You were right about me being totally stressed about Michael and everything. And now there's Adam to deal with. It just seems like there's too much going on for me to be with anybody right now. Even someone as great as you."
This was definitely a job for Amazing Understanding Guy. Alex put on his best all-is-for-given smile. He opened his mouth to say something that would make her feel totally okay for slamming him-but no words came out.
"I mean, if it was a different time in my life," Isabel said.
She kept talking, but Alex couldn't listen anymore.
He just did not need this. Sure, Isabel was beautiful. And when she touched him, instant meltdown. But she was totally selfish, spoiled, conceited, thoughtless-He stopped himself. He'd need his computer to do a really complete list.
"You know what, Isabel? You don't have to worry about it. The whole thing is fine with me," Alex told her. "In fact, it's great. You saved me the trouble of coming up with a nice way to break up with you."
"So, we're just going to break in?" Maria asked. Her feet felt like they'd taken root in the sidewalk across the street from Sheriff Valerius house. She wasn't sure she'd ever be able to move from this spot.
"We probably won't have to do the breaking part," Liz answered. "I bet there's a door or a window open in back. At least there always is at my house."
"If we wait for Kyle, he'd probably just let us in," Maria said. "Having you in his house has to be one of his major fantasies."
"You don't think he'd find it kind of suspicious if I just came over to his house after telling him to stay away from me, like, four thousand times?" Liz asked. "Besides, he knows I'm with Max."
Maria smiled at her. "I don't think Kyle exactly thinks with his brain when you're around."
"Oh, gross." Liz scrunched up her face in disgust. "You have just given me a picture I really did not need to see," she complained. Then she pulled in a deep breath. "Are you ready?"
"I guess. Except for this problem I'm having with my feet. They won't actually move," Maria answered.
"We're doing this for Michael," Liz reminded her.
"Oh, that was low," Maria said as they started across the street.
"But effective," Liz shot back. "Let's just act like we've been invited and head straight through the back gate."
"Do you think Isabel will end up with Michael now that she and Alex are broken up?" Maria burst out as they crossed the Valentis' front lawn.
The question just popped out of her mouth. Maria had been wanting to ask Liz that for days. But she kept telling herself that was not what she should be thinking about. All she should be worried about was getting Michael free. Spending even a few seconds thinking about who he was going to go out with when he got home was just disgusting.
But she couldn't help it. Of course she wanted Michael home safe. Of course that was the most important thing. Of course she wanted that even if he ended up with Isabel.
Of course she would have to curl up in a little ball and die if he did.
Liz led the way through the gate and tried the side door. Locked. "You didn't answer my question," Maria said as they moved around the house to the glass door leading to the dining room.
"I didn't answer because I don't know," Liz replied as she gave the door a tug. It was locked, too. "I guess it could happen, but maybe it's better just to wait and see and not think about it too much beforehand. At least you told Michael how you felt about him, so however it goes down, you won't have to keep wondering if it would have turned out differently if he knew how you really felt."
Yeah, so when he chooses Isabel, I'll be positive that he knew I loved him and that he didn't care, Maria thought. That will make it way, way better.
Liz reached another sliding glass door, this one leading to the living room. She tried it, and it slid open soundlessly. "We're in," she told Maria.
Maria listened hard, but she didn't hear any footsteps. They'd been pretty sure the house was empty, and it seemed like they were right. "Let's move before my feet go on strike again," she said. She stepped into the living room, Liz right alongside her.
"If Valenti has an office here, it's probably down that hall," Liz said.
Maria nodded and took a right. The place is like a hotel, she thought as she glimpsed a bedroom through an open door. Totally impersonal. It was worse than a hotel, really. Hotels usually had some kind of bad painting on the wall. The walls here were bare.
The next door was closed. Maria opened it. Jackpot-desk, computer, filing cabinet.
"Files or computer?" Liz asked.
"Files," Maria answered. She hurried over to the low three-door cabinet and sat down in front of it. She pulled open the top drawer, and the whole thing almost toppled over on her. She used one hand to hold the cabinet in place and one hand to pull out the first file. It was all Kyle stuff. Report cards, a suspension notice, some vaccination records. Nothing useful.