"Wait," Maria called. "I could use some help."
Michael turned around. He felt this big, goofy grin spreading across his face. He tried to control it, but it was like his mouth muscles had a will of their own.
"Okay," he answered. "But I'm not wearing an apron."
Isabel grabbed a pair of black espadrilles out of her closet and hurled them into the trash. She never wore them. They had those lame laces that wrapped all the way up to her knees. Who wanted to walk around looking like you belonged in some drama club production of Julius Caesar?
She snatched up a pair of lavender flats she had to wear when she was a junior bridesmaid in her cousin's wedding. She threw them in the trash, too. Her cousin was getting divorced, so there was no reason for Isabel to get all sentimental about the shoes. Maybe her marriage would have lasted longer if she had better taste, Isabel thought. The shoes had lavender flowers on the toes. That said it all.
Someone knocked on her door. Before Isabel could order whoever it was to go away, Max stuck his head in. "We're starting the movie," he told her.
"I'm cleaning my closet," she answered.
"Come on. You know Mom and Dad like us to do stuff together on Sunday nights," Max said. "I rented a chick flick. I know you liked it."
"You don't care if I liked it or not," Isabel snapped. She grabbed a pair of flip-flops and tossed them into the pile behind her. "You just want me down there so you can watch me."
Max and the others weren't going to be happy until they turned her into a little Isabel puppet. But that was never going to happen. No one controlled her.
She glanced over at her brother. "Are you still here?" she asked.
He left without another word. Good. Everything he said to her made her more furious.
Isabel searched her closet. Not one pair left. She turned around and studied the pile of shoes behind her. How should she organize them. Color? Style? Heel height?
Her phone rang. She picked it up. "What?"
"Hello to you, too. It's Maria."
Great, Isabel thought. Maria wants her turn to tell me to stay away from Nikolas.
"Michael's at my house, and we want you to come over. We made a cake, and we need help decorating it," Maria said.
"Oh, gee, that sounds like so much fun. But I bought one of those new toilet paper dispensers, the ones that give off a fresh scent every time you use it, and I'm planning to install it tonight." Isabel slammed down the phone.
Decorate a cake. Yeah, right, she thought. Decorate it with the words Isabel, You're in Danger in big letters.
She wasn't stupid. She knew how to take care of herself. Why were they all treating her like a baby? They probably came up with a schedule for themselves. Max will baby-sit Isabel from nine to eleven, Michael from eleven to two…
The phone rang again. "Hello. You've reached Isabel Evans. If you want to leave a message telling me to stay away from Nikolas, press one. If you want to leave a message telling me I'm in danger, press two. If you want to leave a message telling me what a horrible person I am for what happened to Liz, press three. If-"
"Uh, Isabel. It's Alex. I don't want to do any of those things. I just wanted to say that I lied to you this morning. If you changed your mind, I would come running back."
Isabel felt tears sting her eyes. She blinked them away. Alex wanted the same thing as the rest of them. He was another one of the baby-sitters. She had to remember that.
"Beep," she said softly. Then she hung up. She switched on her answering machine. She couldn't take another call.
Shoes. That's what she needed to be thinking about. Maybe she should divide them into different seasons. But did that really make sense in Roswell? Some of the seasons weren't that different.
The phone rang again. That would be Liz, Isabel thought. Her last baby-sitter.
The beep went off. "Hi, Isabel, this is Liz."
Isabel shook her head, disgusted.
"I just had a question about… a math problem. I know you're a math whiz, so could you call me?" Liz said.
Liz was going to be valedictorian, and she couldn't think up a better story than that? She needed to take a remedial lying class or something. Yeah, Isabel was good in math. But she was a junior, and Liz was a senior. Besides that, Max, boy genius, lived in the same house. If Liz really wanted help, she would just ask him.
The next time that phone rings, I'm throwing it out the window, Isabel decided.
Max glanced over at his dad. His eyes had almost glazed over. His father needed a movie with a good explosion every few minutes to keep him awake.
He checked out his mom. She seemed pretty into the movie. Max knew Isabel would be loving it, too. She was the only reason he had broken down and rented the dumb movie.
And now he was stuck watching this movie about a girl who falls in love with a guy who's really an angel. It was pretty stupid. When Nicolas Cage told Meg Ryan he was a messenger from God, she was just kind of like, "Okay, fine."
Nobody real would react like that. When he'd told Liz that he was an alien, she had totally freaked out. Well, first she'd just thought he was messing with her. Then she had freaked out.
Max wondered if Liz would like this movie. He didn't think he'd mind it so much if he was watching it with Liz snuggled up next to him. Get serious, he told himself. You'd watch the Barney movie and love it if it meant getting close to Liz.
He grabbed a handful of popcorn. He decided to time himself, to see how long he could go without thinking about Liz. If he could start stretching out the amounts of time by a few seconds, maybe someday he would regain his sanity. He checked his watch. Okay, go, he told himself.
He tuned back in to the movie. Some guy was explaining to Nicolas Cage that he could be with Meg Ryan if he was willing to give up all his angel powers.
Would I do that for Liz? Max thought. Would I give up my power, which would probably mean giving up any chance of ever seeing my home planet? Would I-
Max checked his watch. Three seconds. He'd gone three seconds without thinking of Liz.
He sighed. Try going for four this time, he told himself.
Then he heard it-the sound of a motorcycle roaring up to the house. He jumped up and hurried to the front window.
Just in time to see Isabel run across the front lawn and climb up behind Nikolas.
Isabel fastened the diamond tennis bracelet around her wrist. "What do you think?" she asked Nikolas.
"It's fine. Are you done yet?" he answered.
It was obvious Nikolas didn't appreciate the joys of shopping, even when they had the entire mall to themselves. Isabel loved it. No matter how bad she was feeling, shopping always made her feel better. And strolling from shop to shop, taking anything she wanted, made her feel like the queen of the world.
Well, she wasn't exactly taking anything. More like borrowing. She planned to leave the stuff in the mall when she was done playing.
She studied the bracelet. "It's a little too quiet, I think. A little too upscale suburban mom's special anniversary present." Isabel pulled off the bracelet and tossed it on the counter. She wondered where they kept the really good stuff.
Aha. There was a safe underneath the register. "Nikolas, open, please."
Nikolas gave a little growl in his throat, but he used his power to pop open the safe. "You could do this yourself if you bothered to work at it," he told her.
Isabel reached into the safe and pulled out three velvet bags. She opened the first one. "This is more like it," she said. She slipped the pearl chain around her neck. The heart-shaped ruby pendant fell just above her breasts. It would look so perfect with a low-cut evening gown, like they wore at the Oscars. She was going to have to get her one of those.