"How about really bad dog names?" Liz jumped in. "Names you would never want to have to yell at the top of your lungs if your dog gets lost." She sounded hypercheerful and phony, kind of like Stacey Scheinin.
Something is really wrong here, Max thought.
Liz glanced between Alex and Maria, and her toothpaste commercial smile faded. "I can't do this," she said. "I can't just sit here and-Max, Alex knows."
Max felt as if he'd been sucker punched. There was no way he'd be able to control Isabel and Michael now. No possible way.
Liz reached over and grabbed his hand, lacing her fingers with his. "I want you guys to look at Max," she told her friends. "Really look at him. He saved my life. He-"
"Hey, Max, congratulations. I didn't think you'd be able to keep Liz interested in you for a whole day."
Max tensed and felt Liz's grip tighten on his hand at the sound of Kyle Valenti's voice. Kyle circled the group and positioned himself behind Alex.
You can't get into it with him right now, Max thought. It wouldn't be smart.
"Don't get too used to spending time with her, though." He smirked down at Max.
Kyle seemed like an attention deficient type. Max figured if he didn't answer, Kyle would get bored and leave.
But Kyle kept staring him. He looked a little confused, as if he couldn't figure out why Max wasn't saying anything.
"Well, I guess you could still see Liz if you don't mind visiting her in prison," Kyle continued. "Accessories to murder don't go to juvie." He turned to Liz. "You know lying to my dad makes you an accessory, right?"
"Your problem is with me. Leave her out of it," Max ordered.
"As long as she keeps lying to my father she's in it," Kyle shot back. "I don't know what my dad thinks, but I figure the murderer she's protecting is you, Evans. It's not too cool hiding behind a girl."
"Kyle, you're pathetic," Maria burst out. "You came up with this ridiculous theory because you can't deal with the fact that Liz would rather hang with Max than you. Just grow up already."
A dark flush colored Kyle's face. "I bet your sister would be impressed, Liz," Kyle said. "I mean, she got arrested once, too, but it was only a little drug bust. You're going to be hitting the big time."
Max leaped to his feet and launched himself at Kyle in one fluid motion. Kyle fell to the ground with a satisfying thud. Max straddled him and slammed his fist into Kyle's nose. He heard it crack and felt warm blood spurt across his fingers.
"Max, no!" Liz screamed.
But he wasn't stopping now. Kyle was going to pay for every word he'd said to Liz. Max drew back his fist and brought it down on Kyle's mouth. Then he felt hands on the back of his shirt, yanking him away.
Alex hauled him off Kyle. He grabbed Max by the shoulders and pinned him to the ground.
Max jerked his head to the side and saw Kyle wiping the blood off his face with his sleeve. "This isn't over," Kyle said. Then he turned and started to walk away.
"You're right," Max shouted. "It's not over." He tried to shove Alex away. He was going after Kyle. He was going to pound the guy into the ground.
Alex jabbed his knee into Max's chest. "You're staying here. If you go after him, you're going to end up in the principal's office and both your parents are going to get called in. Do you really want to be sitting in a room with Sheriff Valenti right now? Don't you think he'd be a little curious what this fight was about?"
Max still wanted to go after Kyle, but Alex was making sense.
"Can I let you up now? Have you regrown a brain?" Alex asked. He stared down at Max, waiting for an answer.
"Yeah, okay," Max muttered. Alex let him sit up. Max rubbed his arm and studied Alex's face. "Man, how did you do that? I didn't even see you coming-then I was on the ground."
"Three older brothers," Alex answered. "Big ones."
"About what you said? You were right," Max told him. "Thanks."
"We have to stand together against the Kyles of the world," Alex answered.
I need some cedar, Maria thought. She opened her purse and rooted around until she felt one of the tiny vials. She pulled it out. Eucalyptus. She tossed it back inside. Eucalyptus was for invigoration, and Maria already felt ready to jump out of her skin.
Where was Max? The last bell had rung more than half an hour ago, and he still hadn't come out. She could see his Jeep from here, so she knew she hadn't missed him.
Maria peered into her purse, searching for the vial of cedar. Ah, there it was. She jerked it out and twisted off the tiny top. She brought the vial to her nose and closed her eyes. Think of a forest filled with ancient cedar trees, she told herself. See yourself in the forest and feel at peace.
It wasn't working. Maybe Liz was right about aromatherapy. Or maybe some problems were just way too big for the smell of cedar and an imaginary forest. Maria opened her eyes-and saw Max climbing into his Jeep.
"Max, wait," she called. She trotted over. "Um, can I talk to you?" She climbed into the Jeep next to him before he could answer. She didn't want him to say no.
"What's up?" Max did a little drum solo on the steering wheel. It was totally obvious he wanted to get out of there, out of there and away from her.
"Are guys, like, born with the ability to play those drum riffs?" she asked. "Because whenever I try it, it just sounds like an elephant stampede or something. And air guitar? Forget about it."
Max glanced over at her, his lips curving in a crooked smile. "I'm living proof that it's not genetic."
"I forgot. Duh. For one second I forgot," Maria said. "And you know why? It's because you're not this creature out of a bad movie."
"That's a relief," Max answered.
"I'm sorry. I'm making it worse," Maria cried. "What I came out here to say was that I've been afraid of you ever since I found out… you know. I just kept thinking that you must see me as a gnat or a pea pod or something."
"Wait. A pea pod?" Max stared at her.
"Something-other," Maria explained. "Something that wouldn't seem like a life-form in the same, what do you call it, genus or species. You know how people eat animals and plants? They can do that because they see them as something-other. If they didn't-"
"Wait. You were afraid I was going to eat you?" Max cracked up.
Maria stared at him-his shoulders were shaking, his mouth was stretched open, his face was turning red.
"Well, not really, but sort of, yeah, I was sort of afraid you'd eat me." Maria broke into giggles. She giggled until her stomach hurt and tears filled her eyes. When they both started to get a grip, Max snorted, and that set them both off again.
"Okay, we have to stop," Maria gasped. She squeezed her lips shut with her fingers until she got control of herself. "Okay, okay, I'm okay. What I wanted to tell you-"
Max gave a choked laugh. Maria pointed her finger at him. "No, we're not doing that again. I just wanted to tell you that it became totally clear to me at lunch how much you care about Liz. I realized I was wrong about you, and I'm sorry."
"It's okay," Max answered. "I was totally flipped out when I first found out… what I was. I felt like a monster, like I should stay away from everyone but Michael and Isabel."
Maria felt a rush of tenderness and protectiveness. "You're not a monster." She reached out and brushed his hair away from his forehead, then she looked away. She felt embarrassed suddenly. She and Max had never had a single conversation that wasn't totally lightweight, and now they'd both sort of spilled their guts.
"We need to figure out what to do about Valenti," she said briskly. "Kyle's going to make him even more suspicious of you and Liz. And he won't give up until he finds out the truth-about all of us."
"I think I have an idea about what to do first," Max said. "Let me give you a ride home, and I'll tell you about it. Okay, pea pod?"
Maria smiled at him, an all-out, I'll-be-your-best-friend smile. "Okay."