"You want help?" Alex asked.
"I think I can take it from here," Isabel told him.
So did that mean she didn't like having his arms around her? Or did she just think it was stupid of him to offer to help her make a total cake shot? Or what?
Alex played the rest of the hole on autopilot. His mind kept racing like a gerbil on an exercise wheel. Isabel was so hard to read. Yeah, she was flirty with him. But he had no idea what she was thinking. Like, was she just having sort of a momentary kind of good time? Or did she think something was building between them?
Man, I have spent way too much time around Liz and Maria, he decided. They were great. He was enjoying the whole girls-as-best-friends thing. But he didn't want to start thinking like one of them. If he didn't watch out, in another minute he was going to ask Isabel what she thought of their relationship and maybe offer her some mint-flavored coffee.
"So we're done, right? We're through having fun?" Isabel said.
"We still have the bonus hole." Alex led the way. "If you can hit your ball in the alien's mouth, you win a free game."
Isabel frowned as she studied the mammoth green alien. "I thought humans had a thing about aliens being little green men."
"If it was little, the hole would be lower, which means it would be easier to hit a ball in, which means the owners might actually have to cough up a free game," Alex explained. "I still can't believe you've never been miniature golfing."
"It's not exactly a happening spot," Isabel said.
Which means she must have wanted to spend time with me! Alex thought. Since she obviously has no interest in being here for any other reason.
The gerbil started running again. Did that mean Isabel thought of this as a date? Well, not a date. No one living in this decade went out on dates. But did she think of it as a thing? A guy-girl event thing? A guy-girl event thing that could include some kind of kissing thing somewhere toward the end of whatever it was?
Ever since the night of the homecoming dance, when he'd spent that one, long, amazing slow song holding her, he had wanted to kiss her.
Get serious, he told himself. He'd seen Isabel in the hall on the day he transferred to Olsen High. September nineteenth of last year. And that's exactly how long he'd been wanting to kiss her.
He glanced over at Isabel and found her staring at him. "Are you doing some kind of visualization to psych yourself up for the challenge of this bonus thing?" she asked.
Isabel must think he was such a doofus, staring into space like that. "Uh, yeah," he mumbled. "All the great miniature golfers do it." Alex dropped his ball on the mat and took his shot without even aiming. He missed.
Isabel carefully positioned her ball. "I think I've finally gotten this game figured out. Won't my parents be proud." She swung. The ball flew toward the laser gun in the alien's right hand-then veered left and slammed into the alien's mouth.
The alien's red eyes started to flash. "Take me to your leader," it croaked out in an electronic voice. "Taake me to yoour leeader. Taaake meee tooo yooour leee-" The alien's voice groaned to a stop.
The kid who handed out the golf clubs ran up to her. "You get a free game. That was awesome. I've never seen anyone make that shot. Never!" He thrust a free game coupon into her hand.
When the kid walked away, Alex gave Isabel a high five. "Impressive," he said. Isabel didn't answer. She didn't take her eyes off the huge alien. She was probably stunned that she actually made the shot. If Liz was here, she'd probably say the ball defied the laws of physics, he thought.
Which is pretty much what she said when the mascot flipped into the trash. Alex felt his grin disappear.
"I felt it," Isabel mumbled, still staring at the alien. She turned to Alex, and her face looked a little pale. "I felt someone use power."
"Are you sure?" Alex asked.
"Positive." Isabel shot another glance at the alien. "Come on, let's go turn in our stuff," she said. They dropped off their clubs and headed out to the parking lot.
Alex couldn't figure this out. Obviously neither Max nor Michael was following Isabel around helping her win free games of miniature golf. And they all insisted there couldn't possibly be another alien. So what was going on?
Whatever it was, it seemed centered around Isabel. The mascot got flipped-right in the middle of taunting Isabel. And it was Isabel who made the amazing golf shot.
They stopped in front of Alex's beat-up VW Rabbit. "Uh, Isabel." He hesitated. He didn't want to say what he was about to say. He'd just spent a couple of hours working to get Isabel out of her bad mood, and he was about to shove her right back in.
She narrowed her eyes. "Spit it out."
"Are your powers totally under your control?" he asked in a rush. "I mean, have you ever used them sort of unconsciously?"
"What-you think I had such a massive desire to make a miniature golf shot that I unconsciously used my power?" Isabel demanded. "Thanks a lot, Alex. You're just like the others. You automatically think everything is my fault."
"It wouldn't be your fault if you uncon-" Alex began, trying to do some damage control.
"No way," Isabel interrupted. She pushed Alex up against the car. She was standing so close that he could feel the heat radiating off her body. The spicy scent of her was making him dizzy.
Isabel moved even nearer, closing the tiny distance separating them. "I never do anything I don't plan to do," she said firmly. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him, a long deep kiss that forced all questions out of his head.
Isabel stuck the free miniature golf coupon in the frame of her dresser mirror. She made sure it was evenly lined up with the picture of her and Alex at the homecoming dance, then she flopped down on her bed.
That had actually been fun. Miniature golf had a high potential for dorkitude, but Alex managed to make it cool. Except for that part at the end. That weird moment when she felt the little buzz of power being used.
Could Alex be right? Could she have used her power to direct the golf ball without realizing it? The idea really creeped her out.
It doesn't make any sense, she told herself. They were talking about miniature golf here. There was no way anything related to miniature golf could qualify as an unconscious desire. Yeah, making that hole in one had been fun. But it's not like she really cared.
It would be a different deal if Brad Pitt had suddenly materialized in front of her. Or if Stacey Scheinin had ballooned up to, like, four hundred pounds. Then she would really have to consider Alex's unconscious desires theory.
There had to be some other explanation. But she had absolutely no idea what. And trying to figure it out was starting to make her head hurt.
Isabel stretched out on her bed and shut her eyes. Maybe she would just take a peek into a few dreams. She could use a little distraction.
At least she could still dream walk. It was the only use of power that was safe-humans never knew about it. Even Max, Mr. Responsibility, dream walked once in a while.
Isabel wondered if there would ever be a time when she could stop being careful. If there would ever be a time when she could use the other kinds of power. She missed it. It felt like part of her had been injected with novocaine and was totally numb. Almost dead.
Maybe Max and Michael didn't care about losing that part of themselves. But Isabel did. Living without using her power was like having a big, beautiful, brightly colored pair of wings-but never being able to fly.
There's no point in thinking about it, she told herself. You use your power to do anything but dream walk, and you could end up dead. Period.