But before she could finish her sentence, the back door slammed open and shut.
Concerned, Liz, Max, and Michael moved from the kitchen to the back room. There, they found Kyle still wearing his blue work overalls, breathing heavily and looking rather pale.
«Wow,' Michael said. «You look like crap.»
2
«There you are,' Isabel exclaimed with relief as she found her brother in the back room. «Come on, we're up next.» She plopped a baseball cap on his head and grabbed him by the arm.
«Isabel, wait,' he tried to say, but she ignored him.
«Whatever end-of-the-world situation we're in the middle of, it can wait.» She pulled him to the door. «We're doing this.»
It was now the time for Isabel to pay her respects to the one boy who had truly loved her, even though she had pushed him aside-not because she didn't want him, but because she didn't want him to be hurt. But he had been hurt-killed-and since she couldn't change the past, she was going to do her best to honor him in the present.
«Isabel-,' Kyle started to say as she pushed the still swinging door back open.
«Hey, Kyle,' she replied before he could say anything else. «Glad you made it in time for our skit.» Then she and Max were out of the kitchen.
«I'm not going to miss this one,' Michael said as he followed.
Alone with her ex-boyfriend, Liz asked the obvious: «What's wrong?»
«Nothing,' he replied unconvincingly.
«Are you sure?» she asked. «Michael was right. You don't look too well.»
«Lack of sleep,' he replied curtly. «We should get out there.» Kyle didn't give Liz a chance to respond and he headed out to the cafe part of the Crashdown and took a seat with his dad.
Isabel stepped into the glow of the small spotlight that was also borrowed from the school AV closet. She had gone to the school over the weekend with Max and Michael to pick everything up. Granted, it hadn't actually been a faculty sanctioned visit to the school, nor did they technically have permission to borrow the equipment, but it was for a good cause. Besides, with classes out for the summer, they didn't know how else to get inside, and they fully intended to return the equipment before anyone would even miss it.
Wearing a baseball cap of her own, she waited while her brother helped Ms. DeLuca clean the glitter, confetti, and pork rinds that she had spilled out during her performance art piece. It had been actually a poignant tribute, although Isabel still didn't understand how the pork rinds fit in.
Using the extra time, Isabel went over the routine in her head once again. She had convinced her brother to perform the comedy skit with her by explaining that Alex had loved old-time vaudeville comedians, especially
Abbott and Costello. He had even managed to drag Isabel to the annual Roswell Weekend Classic Comedy Movie Marathon at the Palace Theatre last year. He had always been trying to get her to see classic cinema, and she was glad now that at least once, she had given in to him. At first, she had questioned her own idea to do a comedy sketch at a memorial service, but Liz had supported her by agreeing that it totally fit in with the evening's theme. In tribute, she chose Abbott and Costello's famous «Who's on First?» routine to perform for the group.
Ms. Deluca had finally managed to get all the remnants of her performance off the floor, which allowed for Isabel to step up to the microphone. She took a deep breath before speaking her memorized introduction.
«Alex loved to laugh,' she said to the crowd of friends. «Even in times of crisis, he would come up with some totally out-of-place comment that would always break the tension. With that in mind, my brother and I would like to perform one of his favorite comedy routines, altered slightly to meet the abilities of the performers.»
Taking a moment to get accustomed to the audience, Isabel couldn't help but wish that there were a couple more familiar faces looking on. Naturally, she missed Alex and wanted him back more than anything, but she had also hoped that Jesse Ramirez could have been there as well.
She had only recently begun dating the handsome young lawyer from her dad's firm, but somehow she knew that they were destined to be together forever. Of course, forever was going to have to wait until such time that she could actually tell someone they were dating. Things were
just too complicated right now for her to explain that she was falling in love with someone while still mourning Alex's death. And things would be even more complicated when the time came that she would have to introduce Jesse into her crazy alien life. For now, she wanted to enjoy her time as a recent high school graduate and the life of a seemingly normal teen. As long as she and Jesse kept their secret, she would always have one very important part of her life that was blissfully normal.
«So… I recently bought a baseball team,' Max said, standing beside her on the makeshift stage.
Immediately pulled from her musings into the real world, Isabel caught the end of her brother's cue. «Oh really,' she said. «I love baseball players. So, tell me the names of the guys on your team.»
«Well,' Max said as he began the comedic part of the classic skit. «Who's on first-'
«That's what I want to know,' Isabel interrupted, pretending to be confused.
«And that's why I'm telling you,' Max said in a mock stern voice. «If you'll just listen to me.»
«Okay,' Isabel replied. «Who's on first?»
«Exactly.» Max gave a sharp nod of his head.
Isabel squinted her eyes in an effort to act confused. «What?»
«He's on second,' Max replied.
«Who's on second?» Isabel asked.
«No,' Max corrected her with a forced tone of annoyance. «Who's on first.» They received their first restrained chuckle from the audience. Somehow dancing came easier than laughing, but they were beginning to get into the routine.
«I don't know!» Isabel replied, pretending to get annoyed.
«He's on third base,' Max said to the first real laugh from the audience.
Isabel loved hearing the laughter because it made everything all right for at least a little while. More importantly, she finally got the joke herself. When Alex had dragged her to the classic movie marathon she had laughed at the funny parts, but she'd never really understood why laughing was so important. In her life, between being chased by the FBI and fighting off an attack from the Skins, there often seemed so little to laugh about. She finally understood the power of humor and why Alex always seemed to have a joke or a lighthearted comment ready just when she needed it most.
But as she looked out to the crowd, she realized that someone wasn't laughing. At first, she had noticed Kyle because he seemed to be nodding off during the show. Not only did Kyle look like he was struggling to stay awake during their skit, but he seemed intent on it, and not just for the sake of being polite. What's going on with Kyle? she asked herself. He has a look of… terror?
Isabel made a mental note to ask him about it later, because she needed to concentrate on the last bit of wordplay involved or else she was going to blow the joke entirely.
«So, let me get this straight,' she said, gearing up for the finale. «The ball is thrown to Who. But, whoever it is at first drops the ball and the runner heads to second. So, Who picks up the ball and throws it to What. What throws it to I Don't Know. I Don't Know throws it back to Tomorrow.
Triple play. Then, say another guy gets up and hits a long fly ball to Because. Why? I don't know He's on third and I don't give a darn!
«What?» Max asks, going in for the capper.
«I said I don't give a darn!» Isabel replied, acting exhausted by it all.
«Oh, that's our shortstop.»
Uproarious laughter filled the Crashdown, and Isabel found herself giggling right along with everyone. The evening was turning out to be just what they all needed. A night to remember Alex fondly, without alien worries interfering. They had come together to provide support for one another as they began to distance themselves from Alex's death. Although he would never be forgotten, this was the right time for his friends to start the healing and
