"What about Rick Surmacz and Maggie McMahon?" Maria asked. "Maggie makes him wear the same colors as her practically every day, and they've been together since the seventh grade."
"Yeah, but everyone knows Maggie gave Rick a lobotomy," Alex shot back. "He has all the signs. Right, Liz?"
"Huh? Oh yeah," she mumbled. She had kind of stopped paying attention once she was sure Alex was on a safe topic.
"Is something-" Alex began. Then his expression turned grim. "Kyle Valenti at four o'clock."
Oh, great, Liz thought. This is exactly what I need right now.
Kyle plopped down next to her on the grass-without waiting for an invitation. "So, Liz, when are we going out again?" he asked.
He's like a deranged Energizer Bunny, Liz thought. How many times am I going to have to tell him no before his batteries run out?
"That would be never. I told you that, Kyle," Liz said firmly. She reached across Maria and grabbed one of Alex's pork rinds. She didn't want one-she thought they were pretty disgusting, actually-but she hoped maybe if she ignored Kyle, he'd just go away.
"Am I missing something? Are you, like, the hottest girl in school? What makes you think you're so special?" Kyle demanded.
Maria nudged Liz. She's probably madder than I am, Liz thought.
"Kyle, get a clue, get some therapy, get a life," Liz said. "Just get over it."
Maria nudged Liz again. "Your shirt," she whispered.
Liz glanced down and saw that her baby tee had ridden up-revealing one of the silver handprints on her stomach. When I reached for the pork rind, she thought.
Did Kyle notice? Probably not, she decided. The prints had begun to fade, and Kyle was pretty distracted by the sound of his own voice. Liz slid the shirt-back down, trying to make the movement look casual.
"You should get rid of your attitude," Kyle was saying. "You-"
"That's it, Valenti," Alex interrupted. "Get lost."
Kyle pushed himself to his feet and stared down at Alex. "What-are you going to make me?" Kyle demanded.
Alex stood up and faced off with him. Alex was shorter than Kyle, and he probably weighed twenty-five pounds less. But he didn't back down. He took a step closer.
Wonderful, Liz thought, rolling her eyes. Now I have to be nice to Kyle so that he doesn't kill Alex.
"Look, Kyle," she said in her sweetest voice. "I didn't mean to-"
"Forget it, okay? Don't even bother." Kyle moved away from Alex and glanced around the quad. He jerked his chin toward Isabel Evans. "Who cares about you? If she didn't want to go out with me, then I'd have to be upset." He stalked off.
Alex sat back down. "What a total and complete jerk."
"Yeah, Liz is much, much prettier than Isabel," Maria added.
Liz cracked up. "I don't think that's what he meant," she told Maria.
Maria turned to Alex. "Oh, come on. Liz is way more gorgeous than Isabel, right?"
"Different types," Alex muttered.
"Yeah. Liz treats guys like human beings. Isabel treats guys like dirt," Maria answered. "I don't know why any guy would want to go out with her."
Alex looked over at Isabel. "Yeah. Blond hair, blue eyes, curvy body. Who would want to get close to that?"
Maria whacked him on the shoulder. "I will never understand guys. Just because you like how she looks, you don't care that she has the personality of a taxidermist."
"I had a dream about her the other night, and it had nothing to do with dead animals," Alex protested.
"It's hard to believe she and Max are brother and sister," Liz said. "I mean, yeah, they have the same hair and eyes."
"But not the same curvy body," Alex joked. Liz ignored him. "But Max's personality is totally different. Max is nice to everyone."
Maria grabbed Liz by the arm. "I just realized. Isabel is Max's sister. Does that mean she's also a-"
Liz slapped her hand over Maria's mouth. She couldn't believe Maria had almost blurted out Max's secret. She was going to have to sit her down and remind her how serious it would be for Max if the truth about him got out.
"A what?" Alex asked.
"Oh no," Liz said. "Don't try to weasel out of it. You have to tell us your dream. You brought it up-that means you have to tell."
Maria pulled Liz's hand off her mouth. She gave Liz a little nod to show she understood. "Yeah. I'll analyze it for you. I've read every dream book there is."
"There's not much to analyze," Alex said.
Another save by Liz Ortecho, Liz thought. She glanced over at Isabel Evans. She looked so, well, normal. But Maria had a good point. Could Isabel be an alien, too? She must be-she was Max's sister. Liz knew they were both adopted, and they looked practically like twins. Liz stared around the quad. Were Max and Isabel the only two aliens at school? Or were there aliens everywhere, and she just hadn't known about it?
"Come on," Maria said. "Details, Alex."
"Okay, but try not to laugh." Alex looked embarrassed. "I was at the homecoming dance with Isabel-and we were the homecoming king and queen. We had on the crowns and everything."
"Oh, stop. I'm going to hurl." Maria made loud barfing sounds.
"What do you think? Is it a sign? Should I try and get up the guts to, like, talk to her or something?" Alex asked.
"No!" Liz blurted.
Alex looked hurt.
But Liz couldn't worry about his feelings. She'd suddenly remembered something about Isabel. The other day, at Max's house, Isabel had stared at Liz with pure hatred.
She's afraid I'm going to betray Max, Liz realized. And if people discovered Max was an alien, they'd know Isabel was one, too. Liz's stomach began to tingle. Isabel must be terrified. No wonder she hated Liz. Would she come after me? Liz wondered. Try to hurt my friends?
Liz didn't know. But she did know one thing-she didn't want Alex anywhere near Isabel.
"It's just that, like Maria said, she treats guys like dirt," Liz told Alex. "You deserve better."
"I guess you're right," Alex said. But Liz noticed he was staring at Isabel when he said it.
"I have this craving for a doughnut. Want to go to the doughnut place?" Max asked. He ate the last bite of his burger and shoved the tray across the cafeteria table.
"But that would mean… cutting school." Michael opened his gray eyes wide and stared at Max with mock horror.
Max sniffed the air. "Can you smell them? Can you smell the crullers sliding out of the oven?" He pulled a couple of packets of hot sauce out of his jacket pocket and waved them in front of his friend's face. He knew crullers with hot sauce were Michael's favorite.
"I have a history test, and I would not think of jeopardizing my education for a cruller," Michael said primly.
"Have you ever had one when they're still hot, because I think today is cruller baking day," Max said.
"Do you think I'm that easy?" Michael demanded. "Besides, it's not like you can hide from the girl for the rest of your life."
"Yeah, you're right." Max didn't bother to pretend that he didn't know who Michael was talking about.
The bell rang. "I kind of like giving you advice for a change," Michael said as they headed out.
"Don't get too used to it," Max answered. He started up the stairs to his advanced placement bio class. Would Liz even be there? He'd thought about bailing-why wouldn't she?
Max couldn't decide if he hoped she'd be there or not. He wanted to see her and make sure she was okay. But he couldn't take it if she looked at him the way she did on Saturday, all scared and weirded out and… and repulsed. Man, he would never forget the expression on her face.
He hesitated outside the door. Don't be a wuss, he told himself, and stepped inside. Liz was there. He should have known she wouldn't cut. She wasn't really the kind of person who backed away from things.
He knew she noticed him come in-her shoulders tensed a little, and the sickly yellow steaks that still marred her amber aura grew a little darker. But she didn't look up. She kept her eyes focused on the lab table as she set up their microscope.