Not that Alex left her cold or anything. Not hardly. She remembered the homecoming dance, when he'd run his fingers over the bare skin right above her dress's low back. Whoa.

Isabel dug some change out of her bag. She figured Alex deserved a little present for being such a good guy. And what could be a better present than pictures of her?

Isabel slid the change into the slot and pushed the start b.u.t.ton. I'm going to be thinking of Alex in every one of these pictures, she promised herself. No one but Alex.

-=(12)=-.

Maria heard a knock at her window. She knew it could only be Michael-everyone else used the front door. She jumped up from her desk and opened the window for him.

"I can't come in. I have to go to work. But I wanted to give you this," Michael told her. He handed her a pen.

Maria raised her eyebrows. "Thanks, I guess," she said. "It's never exactly been a dream of mine to have a pen where a centerfold loses her bathing suit." She tilted the pen back and forth, watching the little bikini slide off and on.

Michael laughed. "Really? It's always been a dream of mine," he said. Then his face turned serious. "It's Valenti's," he told her. "I snagged it out of his office."

Maria could practically feel ice cubes forming in her blood. "You promised that you wouldn't go alone. Michael, what if he caught you? What if-"

"Nothing happened," he said.

"But it could have," she shot back. She didn't care if Michael didn't want to hear this. He was going to. "If you didn't think I could handle it, which I totally could have, you should have brought Max or Alex."

"It seemed easier to do it myself," he answered. "You can yell at me more later if you really have to."

Maria shook her head. She really shouldn't be surprised that he decided to do a solo mission. That was a cla.s.sic Michael move.

"Let me try it one time before you go. It will only take a second," she said.

"Okay, but wait. I want to get some water," Michael said. He hauled himself through the window.

"I have one of those sports bottles right there." She pointed to her dresser. Then she tightened her grip on the pen.

"Where's Valenti?" she asked.

The colored dots tornadoed around her. Then they clumped, and she found herself standing in a seriously messy kitchen with Valenti and his son, Kyle. She knew they couldn't see her, but it still freaked her out to be" so close to Valenti.

"What's the problem, Kyle?" Valenti asked. "Are the dishes too heavy for you to move to the dishwasher? Or is it just that you get confused with all the shiny b.u.t.tons you have to choose from?"

The dots swirled again, and Maria was back in her own room. She only had a moment before the paralysis took over her body. Since that night in the bathtub, she had stopped blacking out after using her power. Now she was aware of everything that happened, but she just couldn't move. She'd liked the blackouts better.

Maria watched Michael s.n.a.t.c.h the sports bottle off her dresser. She watched him aim it at her face. She couldn't even blink as the water hit her face. At least the water broke her out of the spell.

She wiped off the water with her sleeve. "I didn't see anything good," she told Michael. "Just Valenti chewing out Kyle." She never got to look at anyone for long, but this time she'd seen more than she wanted to in those few seconds. Kyle was a complete jerk, but Maria couldn't help feeling sort of sorry for him. Valenti's comment to his son had been so nasty.

"I wouldn't have minded seeing that," Michael said. He climbed back out the window. "I've got to go. We're having a sale on alien boxing puppets tomorrow. I have to change all the prices."

"I'll keep trying," Maria promised him.

"No! I mean, I don't want you to do it by yourself," Michael said, frowning. "Wait until I can be with you. The way you get paralyzed freaks me out."

Maria smiled. Whether he thought of her as a little sister or not, Michael definitely cared about her. "I'm fine," she told him. "Stop stressing or I'll have to make you take some of my vitamins."

"Okay, okay. And Maria, thanks." Michael leaned through the window, grabbed her by the waist, and pulled her a few steps closer. Then he kissed her.

Before she could even think about kissing back, he was gone. She stared after him as he trotted across her back lawn and climbed over the gate leading to the street.

Maria ran her fingers over her lips. That wasn't exactly the first kiss from Michael she'd been dreaming about. But it was a start. A grin broke across her face. It was a definite start.

Maria sat back down at her desk. She wanted to use the pen to see Valenti again right away. Maybe he had finished with Kyle and left the house. She needed to track every move he made.

Do some homework first, she told herself. Checking on Valenti every few minutes was insane. She needed to give him a little time to do something between tries.

Maria forced herself to get through her geometry problems and half the reading for social studies. Then she couldn't wait any longer. She wanted to have something to report to Michael.

Maybe he'd kiss her again if she got him some good info. A real kiss this time. One that lasted for more than half a second.

She picked up Valenti's pen. "Where is he?" she said aloud. The dots swirled, then clumped, and Maria found herself sitting in the back of the sheriff's cruiser. He was speeding down the highway, the desert stretching out on either side of him. Maria glanced around, searching for a road sign. She didn't see one.

The part.i.tion between her and Valenti dissolved into dots.

That rock, Maria thought. Remember that weird rock. A moment later she was back in her room. When the paralysis pa.s.sed, she tore a clean piece of paper out of her notebook and jotted down a description of the rock she'd seen from Valenti's car. It looked sort of like a chicken. It wasn't much to go on, but it was something.

Of course, she didn't know that Valenti was even going anywhere important. He could just be joyriding through the desert, for all she knew. She decided she would wait awhile and check on him again.

Maria finished the social studies reading. She knew she should start on her Julius Caesar paper. It was due in a week. But she couldn't sit still any longer. She was way too hyped.

She put her favorite CD in the player and cranked it. She bopped around the room, having her own private dance party. "I'm going to find Michael's ship," she cried.

For once her mom was home. So was Kevin. But Maria knew they couldn't hear her over the blaring music. She jumped on her bed and bounced. "He's going to kiss me again. He's going to fall so in love with me."

Maria giggled. She knew she was being a total dork, but she didn't care. She kept dancing and shouting until the first song on the CD started up again. She clicked it off. She'd waited long enough. It was time to check on Valenti again.

She grabbed the pen from her desk. "Where's Sheriff Valenti?" she said. The floor under her feet dissolved and the colored dots raced around her, blowing her hair in her face. Then they clumped, and she found herself in a cement tunnel. Valenti was striding down it, his boot heels echoing in the narrow s.p.a.ce.

The dots started to swirl again. "No!" Maria exclaimed. She didn't want to leave yet. This was important She could feel it. "Where's Valenti?" she cried.

The dots continued to swirl, but when they clumped, she wasn't back in her room. She was in a brightly lit corridor with the sheriff. As she watched, Valenti pulled out his wallet and showed his ID to the guard posted at the far end. The guard was dressed all in gray-just like the guard near the ship. She was so close.

Valenti, and the guard, and the corridor began to dissolve into dots. Maria let the dots re-form into her room. When the paralysis pa.s.sed, she decided to take a break. She needed to rest for a minute, just for a minute. She could feel pressure building behind her eyes. She was about to get a monster headache.

But it didn't matter. Not when she was about to get some great info for Michael. Maria pulled the sheet of paper with the description of the strange rock toward her. She'd make a couple of quick notes on the tunnel and the corridor, then she'd go back.

A bright red dot fell onto the page. Then another. Am I going back to Valenti without even trying? Maria thought. But if I am, then why are the dots appearing so slowly?

Because those red dots on the page are blood, she realized suddenly. Her nose was bleeding.

Maria tilted back her head to stop the flow. This was so weird. She hadn't had a nosebleed since she was about three years old. She'd walked behind someone on the swings at the playground and gotten whacked.

She didn't have time for this right now. She had to get back to Valenti. Maria reached over to her dresser and grabbed a couple of tissues out of the box. She stuffed little pieces into her nostrils. That should stop the bleeding. If it didn't, she'd deal with it later.

She wrapped her fingers around the pen again. She pressed her free hand against her chest. She could feel the ring under her fingers. "Where is Valenti?" she asked.

Alex grabbed another dusty cardboard box and slammed it down on the top of the stack. He figured he'd sweep one half of the attic, then shove all the boxes over to the clean side and sweep the rest.

Are you ready to break down and get the ROTC thing rolling, bonehead? he asked himself. Because that's what it would take for his dad to stop coming up with work orders like this.

Alex grabbed the broom and started to sweep. He wondered what tomorrow's little job would be. He'd already cleaned the garage, the bas.e.m.e.nt, and the attic. He'd done a ton of yard work, too. Maybe the Major would have him clean all the bathroom floors with a toothbrush. Alex knew there was no way he'd run out of ideas.

Being the last kid left at home sucks, Alex thought. Before his brothers had joined the military-making old dad very proud-they'd managed to do enough stupid stuff to get a.s.signed their fair share of the grunt work.

Maybe I'll take a break and call Isabel, he thought. I should make sure she's okay. He yanked open the window and took a deep breath of the fresh air.

Oh, you're such a good friend, a little voice in his head mocked him. You want to talk to Isabel because you're so, so concerned about her. It has nothing to do with the fact that you start getting the shakes if you go too long without seeing her, just go into Isabel withdrawal.

There were footsteps on the stairs. Alex picked up the dustpan. It was probably his dad, coming to make sure he wasn't slacking off. He bent down and started to sweep his dust pile in the pan.

"Hi," a soft voice said behind him.

He glanced over his shoulder-and saw Isabel climbing into the attic with a bouquet of flowers in one hand. His heart gave its usual slam against his ribs.

"Keep doing what you were doing," Isabel said. "I'll just stand here and enjoy the view until you're done."

The view? Alex dropped the dustpan and straightened up fast. He was basically an equal opportunity kind of guy. But that didn't mean he was cool with Isabel giving him compliments on his b.u.t.t.

"I can finish later," he mumbled. His face felt hot, and he prayed he wasn't blushing.

"The flowers are an apology present," Isabel explained. She thrust them into his hands. "I figured since it was my second apology in about a week, you deserved the deluxe version."

"Uh, thanks. If it's about calling me a charity case, don't worry about it. I know you were kidding." He set the flowers on the floor next to him.

"Actually, that's not what I'm apologizing for. Although I should apologize for that, too," Isabel said.

Oh no, Alex thought. She's going to say she's sorry about crying when I kissed her! This was awful. Couldn't they both just pretend that it never happened? Why did girls have to talk about stuff so much?

"What I wanted to say is that I've been totally using you to help me get through . . . what happened," Isabel told him. "I've taken up every second of your time just because I was afraid to be alone."

"That's not using me," Alex said. "We're friends."

"But the other thing . . . you know, me thinking about Nikolas when I was kissing you and crying and everything. I do owe you an apology for that," Isabel insisted.

It was bad enough that it happened. He really, really didn't want to do some postgame a.n.a.lysis of it all. "Forget about it," he muttered.

"I can't forget about it," she said. "I went to the mall after school. I wanted to look at the spot where Nikolas died, to prove to myself that I could take it." Isabel pulled in a long, shuddering breath. "It was horrible, but I did it."

"That took guts," Alex told her.

She shrugged. "Anyway, after that I went around to some of the other stores, places Nikolas and I had gone right before . . ."

Alex nodded. This had to be what h.e.l.l was like. Listening to Isabel tell him all her special memories about Nikolas. He knew he told her he'd be there for her. And he wanted to be. But couldn't she do this part with Liz or Maria?

"I started thinking about him. And you. And I realized if Nikolas was still alive, and you were both standing right in front of me, I'd choose you," she said in a rush.

Yeah, she thought that now that Nikolas was dead. When they had really been standing right in front of her, she'd walked away from Alex and never looked back.

"Isabel, I . . . thanks for telling me that," Alex said. "But I don't think . . . I think . . ." Can you say babbling? he asked himself. "I don't think it's a good idea for us to try to be more than friends."

"Okay. I definitely understand," Isabel answered. "I just want to give you one more thing, then I'll take off." She pulled a little strip of photos out of her purse and handed it to him.

The photos were obviously taken in the same booth as the last set. Alex recognized the faded blue background. At least Nikolas won't be in these, he thought.

Isabel leaned forward and touched the top photo. "In this one I was thinking about how you helped get Valenti away from Max-right after you found out the truth about us," she said.

She pointed to the next photo. "And in this one I was thinking about the sound of your voice when you told me all those stories. I was sitting right on the other side of the door, listening to every word."

She slid her Finger down to the next picture. "This is the one where I was thinking about the way you touched me at the homecoming dance. Remember?"

Alex suddenly found it hard to breathe. Yeah, he remembered. He definitely remembered.

"And the last one, in that one I was thinking about how much I want you to kiss me again," she said.

Maybe she really meant it, he thought. Maybe she really would choose me over Nikolas.

He leaned forward slowly, then he kissed her, his lips barely brushing hers.

Isabel kept her eyes open, looking at him the whole time. At him.

-=(13)=-.

Maria felt like someone was stabbing an ice pick into the back of her eyeb.a.l.l.s. She couldn't get her nose to stop bleeding. But she had to hold out a little longer. Valenti was in the warehouse with the ship. She had to see him when he left. If she did, she might be able to give Michael the exact location of the ship, the thing he wanted most.

"Where's Valenti?" she asked, gripping the pen in both hands. The dots spun around her, making her head feel like it was about to explode. When they clumped, she was back in the warehouse. Valenti hadn't moved since last time. A few seconds later the warehouse began to dissolve into the dots, and she didn't try to stop it from happening. She would check back in a few minutes. She needed to rest.

The dots clumped, forming her room. Maria took a deep breath and realized the blood had completely soaked the tissues in her nostrils. She reached for the box of tissues on her dresser-and the paralysis. .h.i.t. She couldn't stop herself from tumbling onto the floor.

Don't panic. All you have to do is wait it out, she told herself, fighting to stay calm. You're not going to get hurt lying on the floor of your own room, okay?

Maria could feel the blood dripping out of her nose and sliding down the side of her face. The sensation was driving her nuts. She wanted to reach up and wipe the blood away. But she couldn't even move her little finger.

It won't be much longer, she thought. Her eyes started to feel dry and itchy because she couldn't blink them.