"Don't worry about it," Ray said. "And just for the record, as far as I know, you, me, Michael, and Isabel are the only aliens on earth."
"So what's this Hollow Earth Society deal?" Max asked. He wanted to check the time again, but he wouldn't let himself. If he kept thinking about Liz and Jerry, he really would need a lobotomy.
"Just one of the wackier human theories," Ray explained. "You want to hear about it-or you want to tell me what's got you in such a fever?"
"Nothing really to talk about," Max said. What was he supposed to say? That he was losing his mind because Liz-the girl he told he wanted to be just friends-was going out with someone else tonight?
"If you change your mind, you know where to find me." Ray glanced at his watch. "Blow the whistle-it's quitting time," he said. "You go ahead and take off. I'll close up."
"Thanks," Max said. He bolted out to his Jeep and swung into the driver's seat. Now what? he wondered. Go home and spend the night imagining Liz in Jerry's arms? He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. I'll go to a movie, he decided. That will keep my mind off what Liz is doing with Jerry.
He pulled out onto the street and headed toward the mall. When he made a left onto Cordova, he could see UFOnics' bright orange neon sign, with its spaceship crashing over and over. Max planned to just drive on by, he really did, but it was like the Jeep had a mind of its own.
Now what's the plan, you big idiot? Max asked himself as he maneuvered the Jeep into one of the last parking spots. He couldn't just go inside and stare at Liz.
Unless…
With a soft whispering sound his hair began to grow. Max stopped it when it got to his shoulders. Black, he decided. He tilted down the rearview mirror and watched as his blond hair turned a molted orange, then darkened to a muddy brown, and finally became a deep shiny black.
Not too shabby, Max thought. He couldn't do the changes as fast and smooth as Ray yet, but still, not too shabby. He turned his attention to his face, and his skin began to bubble. It didn't hurt or anything, but it looked repulsive. Max squeezed his eyes shut. When he opened them, his cheekbones were higher, his nose was smaller, and his skin was several shades darker.
What everyone at the Aliens Among Us conference downtown wouldn't give to see this, Max thought as he climbed out of the Jeep and headed inside. He promised himself he'd just take a quick look. He pushed his way through the crowd and found a spot at one of the little tables circling the dance floor. He hated the chairs in this place. They were designed to look like gigantic moon rocks and they always wobbled.
Craig Cachopo stalked up and asked Max what he wanted to drink. As much as he hated the chairs Max loved seeing some of the school elite dressed in the world's dweebiest, bad-sci-fi-meets-bad-disco-glitter uniforms. The expression on Craig's face made it absolutely clear that no comments on his shiny purple spandex space suit would be tolerated.
Max ordered a Lime Warp. He was actually starting to like them now that Ray had forced a few down his throat. When Craig stomped off in his orange half boots, Max saw what he came there to see but didn't really want to see-Liz and Jerry on the dance floor. At least it was a fast song, so he didn't have to see them actually touching.
She is so utterly beautiful, Max thought. Liz smiled at Jerry, and Max felt his heart constrict. He wished he could get a clearer look at her aura to see if she was enjoying herself as much as she seemed to be. But UFOnics' flashing colored lights made everyone's aura difficult to read.
Max drank three Lime Warps and ate an order of extreme pile-on-everything nachos, watching Liz every moment. With the face of some other guy he could stare at her as much as he wanted.
Liz and Jerry sat down at a nearby table, and Max kept his eyes locked on her. He realized he hadn't really looked at her in days. Lately when he talked to her, he kept his eyes focused slightly to the side of her face. That's how bad things had gotten between them, how awkward and uncomfortable. He had totally screwed up with that kiss at the mall. That heart-pounding kiss.
Liz glanced up-right at him. Her deep brown eyes locked on his as if she were staring straight into his soul.
Oh no, Max thought frantically. She'll kill me for following her here!
He looked away, pretending he hadn't seen her. She can't know it's me, he told himself. I'm completely disguised. She can't know.
When he allowed himself to look at her again, Liz was leaning close to Jerry, whispering something in his ear.
A slow song started up, and Max felt every muscle in his body tense. Were they going to dance? Liz stood up. Jerry reached out, like he was going to take her hand.
Max bolted. He shoved his way through the crowd and out into the cool night air. He'd seen enough. He didn't need to see Jerry put his arms around Liz, slide his fingers through her hair.
I could go back in there and stop it, Max thought suddenly. He could bump into Jerry, make a quick connection, and stimulate the acid production in Jerry's stomach or something. Not enough to really hurt him. Just enough to make sure he spent the rest of the night dancing with the toilet instead of Liz.
He immediately felt disgusted with himself. To even think about using his power to do harm was totally sick. He jammed his hands in his pockets and started toward the Jeep.
"Max," a voice called behind him.
He turned around and saw Liz. He had no trouble reading her aura this time. She was furious.
"I knew it was you," she said. "Did you forget that today at lunch you told us Ray taught you to change your appearance?"
Actually, he had forgotten. Should he deny it was him? Say he had no idea what she was talking about? There was no way she could be one hundred percent sure.
"You want a little tip?" Liz demanded. "Next time change your clothes, too. Did you think I wouldn't recognize your jacket? Oh, and change the eyes. I would know your eyes anywhere-" Her voice broke.
Then Liz took a step closer to him. So close, the edges of her aura started to blend with his. All he wanted to do was pull her up against him and feel her mouth under his.
"You know what, Max?" she asked, her voice harsh. "You could have been the one dancing with me in there. You made the choice to push me away. Now live with it." She whirled around and strode back into the club without looking back.
Why didn't Michael kiss me? Maria asked herself for about the one hundred and fifth time since she'd helped him baby-sit. She added another dollop of her special home-blended bath oil to the water-she liked to be surrounded in a cloud of scent-then settled back against her sponge pillow and closed her eyes. And kept thinking about Michael, of course.
He'd at least thought about kissing her. She knew that for sure. She'd seen the way his eyes flicked down to her lips. He had definitely been thinking about moving in.
Maria sighed, sending little ripples through the water. Okay, he thought about kissing her. That was good. It meant he didn't totally see her as a buddy or whatever.
So what was the problem? Maybe it was an alien-human thing. Maria would never forget how Nikolas used to look at her, when he looked at her at all. It was so clear he'd thought she was a lower life-form. Much lower.
No, that couldn't be it. Michael wouldn't come crawling through her window every couple of nights if he thought of her as half an evolutionary step above mold.
So what was the deal? What was holding him back? I should get Liz to help me figure him out, Maria thought. Except Liz was going through a romantic trauma right now. Maria knew it was pulverizing Liz's heart to go out with another guy because that meant starting to accept the fact that she and Max were never going to be together.