The Seeker

'Me,' Ray bragged. He sounded totally proud of himself.

Max cracked up. He knew Ray was an Elvis fan, but this was pretty out there.

'Doing my part to keep the King alive,' Ray said. 'Thank you very much,' he added in a decent Elvis mumble.

'You've got to show us how to do that,' Max said.

***

'Why didn't you say yes when Jerry asked you to go to UFOnics with him?' Maria demanded as soon as Liz stepped back behind the Crashdown Cafe's counter.

Liz snorted. 'I knew you heard the whole conversation. You only wiped down the booth next to Jerry's three times.'

'Four,' Maria admitted. 'But if I don't watch you every second, you'll slide back into daydreaming about Max, ignore all other guys, and end up a dried-up old woman with sixteen yapping Pomeranians.'

'If you don't stop, you're going to end up with this sponge down your throat,' 'Liz threatened. She held up the sponge and advanced on Maria.

Maria backed away. 'Did I mention that you'd be so pathetic that all the Poms would be named Max? Or Maxine? Or Maximilian? Or Maxi? Or-'

'Did I mention that I used this sponge to wipe off Mr. Orndorff's table?' Liz asked.

'The spitter?' Maria squealed. 'Okay, I'll stop, I'll stop. But I still want to know why you told Jerry you'd let him know tomorrow instead of saying yes.'

'It's the dancing thing,' Liz said. 'If he'd asked me to go somewhere besides UFOnics, I'd probably have said yes.'

'But you're a great dancer,' Maria protested.

'It's not the dancing part of the dancing,' Liz explained. 'It's the touching part of the dancing.'

'The touching thing is going to come up, dancing or not,' Maria said. 'Say he asked you to a movie. Major touching potential sitting in the dark. Even if he asked you bowling, at some point he'd take you home, and then the touching issue would be right there.'

'I guess.' Liz didn't sound convinced.

The opening bars of the Close Encounters theme filled the cafe. Maria glanced over to see Liz's dad come in, whistling a Grateful Dead song.

Maria swung up the hinged section of the counter for Mr. Ortecho. 'I won't dock you this time, but if you're late again, you won't be so lucky,' she teased.

'Oh, Ms. DeLuca, I'm sorry. Don't be mad,' Mr. Ortecho cried in a breathy voice. 'There was a sale on this suit that I've had my eye on for, like, months, and I had to get it on my way to work or it would have been gone. Here, just smell this. It will make you feel better.'

Maria giggled. 'I don't sound like that,' she protested.

'You sound exactly like that,' Liz said. She grabbed the coffeepot and headed over to a table where two very serious UFOlogists were studying a map of the crash site.

Maria yawned and rested her elbows on the counter. She was exhausted. Ever since school today she'd felt weird. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't stop thinking about that blackout in English class.

Maybe I should have told Isabel the truth, she thought. But it was Isabel's first day back at school, and she had enough to deal with. Someday soon I'll tell them all about my psychic abilities, Maria thought. As soon as I figure out how to control my powers, then I'll give everyone a big demonstration.

But she couldn't control them. Today in class, for instance. Maria had been sitting at her desk, waiting for Ms. Markham to show up. She started running her fingers across one of the names that someone had carved into her desk, wondering how long the name had been there and what the guy who carved it was doing now.

She hadn't been trying to see the guy. But the dots had started to swirl, and a few seconds later she'd been standing in a used-car lot watching a paunchy guy try to sell a Honda to a twenty- something woman in a business suit. The dots had swirled again, and the classroom had re-formed.

The next thing she remembered was Isabel shaking her, obviously one second away from a total meltdown. Maria knew using her power had caused her to lose another few minutes, but it didn't seem like a good time to explain that to Isabel. Especially after the way Isabel had snapped at her at lunchtime.

Maria knew psychic powers weren't the same as alien powers, but Isabel seemed ready to yell at anyone who even talked about using powers.

'Earth to Maria!' Liz's voice broke into her thoughts.

Maria narrowed her eyes at her best friend. 'So,' she said. 'UFOnics with Jerry?'

Liz chewed her lip. 'I don't know…'

Maria shook her head sadly. 'I have two words to say to you-'

'Pomeranian better not be one of them,' Liz warned.

'Just friends,' Maria said. She didn't mean to be harsh, but sometimes Liz really needed a push. 'You know I'm right,' she added. 'Max already made this decision for you.'

Liz sighed. 'Okay. Okay, okay, okay,' she said. 'I'll go tell Jerry.'

*** 7 ***

'We have the place to ourselves,' Isabel announced as she unlocked her front door. 'Max is at work, and so are my parents.' She led the way into the living room.

Alex wondered if girls had any idea what effect words could have on a guy. Words like 'we have the place to ourselves.' Six basic words, not one of them sexual or anything. But whoa. They sent a shock wave through Alex's body.

She just meant it as your basic informational statement, he told himself, like 'we have some soda in the fridge' or 'we get HBO.' It wasn't some kind of invitation.

He sat down on the couch. Isabel sat next to him-so close, he could feel the heat of her body.

Or wait, he thought. Was I wrong? Was it a total girl-speak invitation? A notch down from something like 'my bed has a very firm mattress'?

Because if it was an invitation, then he should accept. It was the polite thing to do.

Stop this. Right now, Alex ordered himself. Try to regrow a brain. Of course it's not an invitation, you moron. She saw the guy she loved get killed about two seconds ago.

Alex took a deep breath-and the scent of Isabel's spicy citrus perfume filled his nose. Oh, great. Would it look totally ridiculous if he got up and moved to that chair across from the couch? Because that would make things a lot easier.

Or maybe they could go upstairs. She could lock herself in her room, and he could sit outside the door and talk. He was really good at that.

'Do you want to watch TV?' Isabel asked.

No hidden meaning in those six words at least. 'Sure,' Alex said.

Isabel handed him the remote, a surprising move from her. Not that she was totally selfish. Not totally. But she did like things her own way-even little things like what TV show to watch-and she pretty much expected people to cooperate.

Alex flipped on the TV and started channel surfing. Isabel moved a little closer to him, making actual skin-to- skin contact between his arm and her arm. His brothers would laugh themselves sick if they could see their little brother getting all excited by touching some girl's arm.

But Isabel… she could turn him inside out with one look from those killer blue eyes. It had been that way since the first day he transferred to Olsen High. He saw her in the hall. She ignored him.

'Is this okay?' Alex asked, stopping on one of the endless talk shows.

'Sure,' she answered. 'Do you want something to drink?'