The Outsider (14 page)

“Everyone knows what they're supposed to do, right?” Max asked. In less than an hour, if everything went the way they planned, Valenti would be off their case forever.

“I rehearsed in the shower,” Maria told him.

“We've been over it a thousand times already, Dad,” Isabel answered. “Can we please just go back into the dance? They're about to announce the homecoming queen, and I want to be there to act all surprised and happy”

“We know our stuff,” Alex agreed. “Let's go. We wouldn't want Isabel to miss the big moment, right, Michael?”

“Right. That would be horrible,” Michael said.

Max caught the scent of jasmine as Liz moved past him. He followed her across the parking lot and into the gym. He tried not to stare at her, but she looked so gorgeous in that dress. All long legs, and smooth shoulders, and shiny dark hair. The green material of the dress was making him crazy. At first glance it looked really sheer, almost see-through. But it wasn't really see-through because there was some kind of lining under it.

Being around Liz was like torture. It was so much worse now that he'd kissed her. It was bad enough when he used to look at her and
imagine
what it would be like to feel her in his arms. But now that he knew, it was driving him crazy. He wished he knew what she thought about those moments in the parking lot. He felt as if every sensation were tattooed on his brain. But she could have forgotten all about it. Maybe all she remembered was that it had been a good way to get rid of Kyle.

“I have to say, I'm so impressed by the decorations,” Alex said. “It was a bold move to use yellow and brown crepe paper and big autumn leaves for the homecoming dance.”

Michael snorted.

“Does anyone see Stacey Scheinin?” Isabel asked. She craned her neck, trying to see over the people in front of them.

“She's right over there, crammed between two football players,” Maria answered.

Isabel moved next to her. “Oh yeah. Now I see her. Good. I want a view of her face when they make the announcement that
I'm
this year's homecoming queen.”

“Okay, the moment you've all been waiting for,” Ms. Shaffer called from the stage at the front of the gym. The microphone whined, and she winced. “This year's homecoming queen and king are . . . Liz Ortecho and Max Evans.”

Isabel stopped in midsqueal “What?” she cried.

“Go on up there,” Maria exclaimed. She gave Max a push.

“Let's go,” Liz sounded as surprised as Max felt. She took his hand and led the way up to the stage. Ms. Shaffer was reading the names of their court, but Max couldn't focus. How had this happened? He could understand why Liz won. Liz was the most beautiful girl in school, plus she was totally popular, definitely one of the elite — it only made sense that she got a ton of votes. But who would have voted for
him?

He climbed up the steps and headed over to Ms. Shatter. Everyone in the gym was clapping and whistling. He could hear Michael and Alex hooting louder than anyone. They had to be loving this. It's not like any guy really wanted to be homecoming king.

Ms. Shaffer handed Liz a bouquet of roses and placed a dime-store rhinestone tiara on her head. Max leaned down so she could put the crown on him. Liz kissed his cheek, and he could tell she was trying not to giggle by the way her lips were vibrating.

Some love song started to play, and a spotlight hit Liz and Max, blinding him. “We're supposed to dance,” Liz whispered.

Max jumped off the stage and held his hands up to Liz. She let him swing her down to his side. He felt kind of awkward. He would have loved to slow dance with Liz by themselves or even in the middle of a big crowd. But everyone had cleared a circle in the center of the gym floor so they could start off the dance alone.

Liz reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck, and her body brushed against his. Max felt as if his blood had turned carbonated, popping and fizzing in his veins. He placed his hands on her waist. He didn't try to pull her closer. We're friends, he told himself.

“I felt sort of frozen up there,” he said. He thought it would help him do the friend thing if he talked. “You know, like a polar hear at the zoo. All those people watching me.”

Liz chuckled. “Why?”

“Because I've always been the quiet guy,” Max answered. “If a total unknown can become homecoming king, it has to he a joke, right?”

“You're not a polar bear.” Liz smiled. “You're too good-looking — like you should be on
Baywatch
or something,” she answered.

“Everyone still thinks I'm strange.” Max knew it was true, but he didn't really care.

“They think you're quiet.” Liz started playing with the hair at the back of his neck.

Wait, Max thought. What was that? Does a girl who wants to be friends play with your hair like that?

“I was thinking that we should kiss. People are going to be expecting it — since we're king and queen and everything,” Liz said. She sounded like she was half teasing, but half not.

Max couldn't believe this was happening. Liz Ortecho wanted him to kiss her. “If you really think we should,” he said, grateful he could speak at all.

He lowered his head and brushed his mouth against hers. Liz's lips parted, welcoming him, deepening their kiss. Max kept his eyes wide open. If he shut them, it would feel too much like a dream.

“Maybe I need to get contacts,” Stacey told Isabel. “Because I didn't see you up there.”

“You weren't up there, either.” Tish jumped to Isabel's defense.

Isabel felt like she'd slipped into an alternate universe. Her
brother
had just gotten elected homecoming king, and Isabel was standing on the sidelines. Hello — what was wrong with this picture?

“They're playing our song.”

Isabel glanced over her shoulder and saw Alex standing behind her. Uh-uh, she thought. Just go away, little man. I am not in the mood.

“They're playing our song,” she repeated, mocking him. “Are you auditioning for a part on the new
Love Boat?”

“Ouch,” Alex answered. “Don't tell me you don't remember dancing with me right here in this gym to this song.”

Why is he asking if I remember something that only happened in his dream? Is he a moron? Or has he been talking to Michael? she thought, suddenly.

She noticed Stacey and Tish listening to their conversation without even bothering pretend they weren't. “Fine.I'll dance with you.”

“Your humble love slave thanks you,” Alex answered. He pulled her firmly against him.

“Yeah I heard that?” Isabel asked. She had thought Alex was out of the gym that time she had made fun of him.

“Yeah, I heard,” Alex said. “I also heard how you like to go into people's dreams and play little games with them.”

“I'm going to kill Michael.”

“Don't you want to know why your plan didn't work first?” Alex asked.

Isabel narrowed her eyes at him. “What plan?”

Alex traced the line of her dress's low back with his finger. She felt a little shiver rush through her, but she refused to be distracted. “What plan?” she repeated.

“Project Homecoming Queen,” Alex answered. His fingers moved higher, sliding under her hair and rubbing the back of her neck.

Isabel felt as if she were losing the ability to think. But she forced herself to focus. “You were supposed to vote for me. Every guy in school was supposed to vote for me.”

Alex leaned down and whispered in her ear, “I'm sure they would have — if Michael and I hadn't come up with a counterattack. He went back into all the guys' dreams and showed them another side of Isabel Evans.”

Isabel pushed back from Alex and glared up at him. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“Let's just say most guys find a homecoming queen picking her nose sort of a turnoff.”

Isabel was speechless.

Alex continued to grin at her.

He hadn't. He
had
Isabel thought about storming off in a huff. But she was discovering that Alex had pretty amazing hands — and she kind of wanted to see what he'd do with them next.

Isabel shot Michael an evil glance. Then she rested her head on Alex's shoulder and closed her eyes. Michael laughed. It was good for Izzy to get put in her place once in a while.

And that night hanging out with Alex had been pretty fun. They had eaten their way through every flavor of chips — Michael had dipped his in chocolate sauce — while they came up with really gross images of Isabel to put into the guys' dreams.

They had done their strategy session in the cave, not at their homes, because it turned out that Alex's dad was pretty much a jerk, too.

“Max and Liz look amazing together,” Maria said. “He has that whole blond-Viking thing going, and she has that dark, dark hair and eyes.” She sighed. “Isn't it romantic?”

“So a guy is sort of like a walking accessory? You just choose one that looks good with your hair? Is that it?” Michael teased. “Because if it is, you should be dancing with me. I have that dark, dark hair, and you're almost blond enough to be a Viking. I can definitely picture you in one of those helmets with the horns.”

He pulled her out onto the floor. She smelled good. Sweetlike vanilla.

“Are you sure I'm not too innocent for you”

Michael stared down at her. “What are you talking about?”

“That day at Michael and Isabel's. You said I was too innocent to know all the ways Valenti could make someone talk,” Maria reminded him.

“You make it sound like I called you something horrible.” Michael didn't get it.

“Innocent is like cute,” Maria insisted. “A word you use for kittens.”

“Well, I hate to tell you this, Michael said,” “but I think you're cute, too.”

Michael pulled her closer and rested his cheek on the top of her head. He heard her give a little sigh as she snuggled up against him. Just like a little kitten, he thought. A nice, soft, warm kitten. But he didn't bother telling her that.

He glanced at the clock. About twenty minutes to go before we start the plan. He felt his stomach tense.

“Are you okay?” Maria mumbled.

“Yeah.” He let himself relax in the sparkling blue of her aura. Yeah, he was okay. Because no matter what happened, he wouldn't have to face it alone.

The connection Max had formed among the six of them in the cave hadn't completely broken, even though it had been two days. He could still feel the others around him. It was like he finally had a family And he would do whatever it took to protect them — all of them.

Maria scanned the gym wildly. Where was Kyle Valenti? She had to find Kyle,
now.

She spotted him near the stage and ran toward him, pushing people out of her way. “Kyle, call your dad! Someone stabbed Alex in the neck. He's out in the parking lot. Hurry!”

Kyle didn't say a word. He turned around and bolted for the pay phone against the back wall.

Half the people in the gym were trying to shove their way over to the big double doors leading to the parking lot.

“This way.” Liz appeared at Maria's side. She grabbed her hand and dragged her out the side door. They ran down the hall, their footsteps echoing in the empty building. They burst out the main entrance and tore over to the parking lot.

“Let us through,” Maria begged. She and Liz squeezed their way past the rows of people crowding around Alex. He sat on the ground, a dazed expression on his face.

“I thought you said he was stabbed,” Liz cried.

“He was ” Maria insisted. But there was no wound on Alex's throat. And the blood on his skin was already starting to dry.

“I want all of you back in the gym,” a loud voice ordered. Maria didn't have to look to know that it was Sheriff Valenti. “Now,” he barked.

“I guess we'd better go back,” Liz said. “Are you going to be okay?” she asked Alex.

“Yeah. Go on.”

Valenti pushed his way through the retreating crowd. “Do you want to tell me what's going on?” he asked Alex. “I got a report that you were stabbed, but that's obviously not what happened.”

Alex pushed himself to his feet and leaned against the closest car. His legs felt a little rubbery. “I came outside because the gym was really hot. Some guy came up from behind me and told me to give him my wallet. I told him to forget it.”

Valenti made a circling gesture with his hand. He obviously wanted Alex to get to the point a little faster.

“The next thing I knew, I was on the ground,” Alex said quickly “He tackled me, I guess. And then I saw the knife. The guy stabbed me in my throat. That's all I remember. Maybe I blacked out or something.”

“Do you want to try to explain why you aren't dead?” Valenti asked. “There are a lot of veins and arteries in the throat, and you're not even bleeding?”

“I don't know. I guess the guy just nicked me. Maybe I passed out from fear. Pretty humiliating,” Alex answered.

Valenti shone the flashlight in Alex's face, studying him for a long moment. Then he moved the beam down onto Alex's throat.

“You want to tell me the rest of the story?” Valenti asked.

He saw the mark, Alex thought. He saw the silver handprint.

“I told you I don't remember,” Alex answered. He wished he could see Valenti's eyes. Who wore sunglasses at night?

“Will you remember better if I bring you back to my office? We can go back there and have a nice long talk,” Valenti said.

“You're not going to believe me, all right? What's the point of telling you?” Alex cried.

Valenti didn't answer. He just stared at Alex from behind his shades.

Alex sighed. “Okay, this is what happened. The guy stabbed me in the throat, and then he ran off because he heard someone pulling into the parking lot. This
other
guy came over to me, and he put his hand over the hole in my neck, and it . . . it just closed up. So are you going to take me to the mental ward now?”

“What did this
other
guy look like?” Valenti asked.

“I don't know. I mean, I was bleeding to death. That kind of had my complete attention.” Alex could tell Valenti didn't like that answer, but he didn't push it.

“What about the car — what was he driving?” Valenti demanded. Alex looked at the ground, thinking. “It was an old green pickup. I saw it when he pulled back out of the lot. He turned left, heading out of town, I guess. But shouldn't you be asking me about the guy who tried to kill me?”

“Later.” Valenti turned and strode toward his cruiser. He climbed in and closed the door with a quiet click, then pulled the car out of the parking lot and turned left. Heading after the green truck. What did I just do? Alex thought.

Max heard the high scream of a siren behind them. He glanced over at Michael. “Valenti,” they said together.

“Let's see what this baby can do,” Michael said.

Max tried to increase his concentration. He could see the molecules that made up the old track spinning around them. He shoved them forward — without letting them break apart — moving the truck forward with has mind.

“You are helping me push, right?” Max asked.

“No, I'm just here for the ride,” Michael shot back. “Of course I'm helping you push.”

Max checked the rearview mirror. He could see the lights of Valenti's cruiser in the distance. “Well, push harder. He's gaining on us.” If they didn't make it to the Lake Lee overlook before Valenti caught up to them, it was all over.

Max knew fear made it harder to move the car. He took a couple of deep breaths, the smell of the lake's salt and minerals filling his nose. He focused completely on the molecules, slamming them forward.

The track picked up speed. Max darted a quick glance at the rearview mirror. Still okay, he thought. The truck bounced and rattled as they sped down the road to the overlook.

“Okay, let's do it,” Michael yelled.

Max threw open his door. He heard Michael's door click open at the same time. The ground rushing past made him dizzy. “Don't look down,” he called to Michael — and then he jumped.

Pain shot through his elbow as he landed. He ignored it. He had to concentrate on keeping the truck moving. It was harder to control the molecules from a distance, but he gave one last hard shove with his mind. The truck crashed through the fence and made the eight-story drop into Lake Lee, landing with a huge splash.

Michael ran over and pulled Max to his feet. Valenti would reach the overlook any second — and they had to be out of sight.

“How lucky are we to live so close to a bottomless lake?” Michael asked as they took off.

Max didn't answer. He wanted all his breath for running. He raced back toward town until his lungs felt like they were on fire, then he slowed to a jog.

“Tired already?” Michael asked. But Max could hear him panting.

“Thought I'd give you a chance to rest,” Max answered. They kept their pace at a fast jog all the way back to the school parking lot.

Before they headed into the gym, Max ran his fingers through his hair and brushed the dirt off his pants and shirt. His jacket would hide his sweatsoaked shirt. He wiped his forehead with his sleeve.

“Aw, do you want to look nice for Liz?” Michael asked.

Max slapped the dirt off Michael's back. “We want everyone to think we've been here the whole time, remember?” He led the way back to the gym. In two seconds Liz, Isabel, Maria, and Alex were gathered around them.

“So did it work?” Liz asked.

“Right now Valenti should be standing at the edge of the cliff, crying about the alien that got away,” Michael answered.

“Good going,” Alex said.

Max could see relief and happiness swirling in all their auras. The connection between the six of them was so strong that the edges of their auras blended, forming one brilliantly colored ring around all of them.

“We did it,” Max said. “It took all of us, but we did it.”

Liz knew she was staring at Max, but she couldn't help it. She needed to keep reassuring herself that he was really okay. If Valenti had caught him out there in the desert, Liz might never have seen Max again. A world without Max. That was not a place she'd want to live.

Max leaned close to her. “Do you feel like getting some air?” he asked in her ear.

“You read my mind,” Liz answered. She couldn't wait to be alone with Max. “We'll be back in a little while,” she told the others.

“Take your time,” Maria answered. Michael laughed.

I guess everyone noticed the way we were sort of all over each other on the dance floor, Liz thought as they headed outside. But so what? She didn't care who knew how she felt about Max. She didn't know exactly when it had happened — whether it was when they had sat together at the bird sanctuary and he told her about his childhood; or when he had let her connect to him, allowing her to access his uncensored thoughts; or when she had seen the deep green of his aura in the cave and felt the deep, pure goodness of him; or maybe it was watching him cure the little mouse that had done it — but somehow, somewhere she had fallen in love with him.

Max led the way over to one of the benches in the quad, and they sat down next to each other. Liz expected him to kiss her again or at least hold her hand. But he kept staring down at the ground, his expression serious.

“Is something wrong?” she asked. “Are you worried that Valenti won't believe the alien he's looking for is dead?”

“No, Michael came up with a good plan. I think it worked. Valenti's never going to be able to recover the truck, so he'll never find out no one was inside,” Max answered, but he still wouldn't look at her.

Liz reached out and ran her fingers down his cheek. “I just need to touch you. I need to make sure that you're really back. I was so worried about you.”

She took a deep breath. She had to tell him how she felt about him. “We've been friends for so long that I think I just sort of took you for granted. I knew you were smart. I knew you were a great guy, that you were always thinking about other people. Remember how you used to pick Maria to be on your softball team every single time?”

Max nodded, but something felt off, Liz thought. He seemed distracted, distant. Of course he's distracted. He just risked his life to keep Valenti away from all of us.

Liz decided to keep going. It would be a lot harder to start this conversation all over again later. “Anyway, I knew all these things about you, but I never thought about how I'd feel if you weren't around. I'd feel bad. Well, of course I would feel bad. Why is this so hard?” Liz stopped and closed her eyes a moment. “Let me just get to the point. I love you, Max.”

Enough talking, she thought. She leaned toward him. It felt like forever since their last kiss. She needed to feel his arms around her.

Max stood up and shoved his hands in his pockets. “Michael's plan worked,” he said, repeating himself. “But I'm always going to be in danger. There's always going to be someone out there hunting for me — Valenti or somebody else.”

Liz shivered in the cold night air. She wrapped her arms around herself. She knew Max loved her, too. She'd seen it in his thoughts, felt it in the way he touched her. What was wrong? Why was he acting so strangely?

“If you get too close to me, you're going to be in danger, too,” Max said in a rush. “I think . . . I think we should stay friends. Just friends.”

Liz jumped up. “Max, we found a way to deal with Valenti. We did that together — all of us. If some thing else happens, if, someone else gets close to finding out the truth, we'll deal with that, too,” she told him, her voice tense and urgent. “I love you. I want to be with you. Nothing else matters.”

Max's arms were around her before she could say another word. He buried his face in her hair. “We can't — he half said, half moaned. Then his lips found her mouth. They kissed, a long, passionate, heart-searing kiss.

He loves me! Liz thought giddily. He loves me, too.

Suddenly Max broke away. “No. It's more important to me to keep you safe.” He stared into her eyes, his expression serious. “I'm not going to change my mind about this, Liz. It's too important.” He released his urgent grip on her shoulders.

Liz stared back at him, his intense blue eyes, his rumpled hair, the line of his jaw. She could tell that nothing she said was going to change his mind right now.

Max turned and stumbled away from her.

Liz felt stunned. But she wasn't going to give up — not now that she'd finally realized how she felt about him. She and Max were meant to be together here, now — and she was going to find a way to prove it to him, no matter what.