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 buttons 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 snatch 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 partition 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 passed, 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
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 space.
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 passed, 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 basement, 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 assigned 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.'
