What was this? Max had made it very clear that Adam could never tell anyone that he was from another planet. He'd said that's the reason Valenti had kept Adam in the compound.
Adam cautiously stepped into the store, scanning the narrow aisles. He saw a woman behind the counter. Was she the alien? Was he even allowed to ask that?
'Can I help you with something?' she called.
Adam slowly approached her. 'Uh, I saw that sign in the window.'
She grinned. 'And you wanted to see the alien. Be right back.' She turned around and ducked through the curtain behind her. A moment later she reappeared, carrying a spider monkey. At least it looked exactly like the spider monkeys he'd seen in the big book of animals he'd had in the compound. 'His name is Scooter,' she said.
'That's an alien?' Adam asked.
'No, it's just a joke. You know, to get people into the place. Everyone knows aliens look like this.' She patted a green plastic head next to the cash register.
The thing looked evil, skeletal with huge almond-shaped eyes. 'I have a friend who was abducted,' the woman continued, 'and I have to put this thing away every time she comes in. She says the guys who took her looked exactly like this.' She reached below the counter and pulled out a rifle. 'All I have to say is, if they try to come after me, they're going to get quite a welcome.'
Adam backed up a few steps, then he turned around and made for the door. He took huge gulps of the fresh air as he hurried down the street. Reality had just taken a very strange turn.
Was that how most humans saw aliens? As horrible things that were going to come and get them? Things they had to shoot on sight? Was it true? Were there aliens like that?
The questions bubbled in his brain. He checked his watch. He looked up and noticed that place, that eating place where Liz worked. Liz should be at work.
He picked up his pace as he continued down the street, going faster and faster until he was running. He'd feel better when he saw Liz. She could explain how humans really felt about aliens.
But that wasn't the only reason he wanted to see her. There was something about Liz. He wasn't sure what to call it. When he was around her, he felt one hundred percent real.
'Have you seen Adam?' Max demanded.
'He wasn't in the shed?' Liz cried. She dropped the sponge she'd been using to wipe down the cafe's counter.
'Would I be asking if you'd-' Max stopped himself. 'No, I just came from there. Was he in the shed before school? When's the last time you saw him?'
'I brought some breakfast to him this morning. And I told him you would be there as soon as you could,' Liz answered.
What was he thinking, leaving Adam alone? It was only his second day out of the compound. Third, if you counted the first night. Two, three, it didn't matter. Adam was like a little kid. Max wouldn't have left a little kid by himself.
'Max, whatever you're thinking, stop it,' Liz demanded, her voice harsh. 'You can't take responsibility for everything. It's insane.'
Sometimes he hated the way she always seemed to know what he was thinking.
Maria rushed up. 'What's wrong? I could tell there was something wrong all the way across the room. One of you start talking.'
'Adam wasn't in the shed,' Liz said. 'Maria, a guy at table four is waving his coffee cup.'
'Pretend you don't see him,' Maria answered. 'He's had way too much caffeine already. So what are we going to do about Adam?'
'How has he been acting?' Max asked Liz. 'Do you think he could have decided to take off?'
'No, I don't think so. He's been excited and curious-like a little kid. Yesterday morning, he picked some gardenias and asked me what they were. I explained that they were flowers-living things-and that we would have to put them in water before they died. He felt terrible. It was so cute,' Liz said, smiling.
'So, do you think he left the shed to go out and explore?' Maria asked.
'Yeah, maybe. There was one weird thing that happened. He asked if he could touch my face, because he had never touched a girl-'
'So you let him?' Max asked impatiently.
'Yeah, I let him. It didn't seem creepy, just innocent,' Liz said. 'Afterward I told him-firmly-that he couldn't just go around touching people. And he reacted kind of strangely, like I had scolded him. Do you think maybe it hurt his feelings or something?'
'I don't think so,' Maria said.
'I don't know,' Liz said. 'He's not really used to-'
'Well, you can ask him yourself because he just walked in,' Maria interrupted. 'The bad news is that he's with Elsevan DuPris.'
'Oh, great. Just perfect,' Max muttered. 'Now DuPris will have a great story for his ridiculous alien paper. 'I Had Dinner with an Alien.''
'That's actually kind of tame. The Astral Projector would probably give it a title like, 'An Alien Ate My Brains for Dinner,'' Maria said. Then she winced. 'Sorry. Just nervous.'
'I'm going to go over there and see if I can tell if Adam has said anything we need to worry about,' Liz told them.
'What excuse are you going to use? For going up to them, I mean?' Maria asked.
'Uh, I thought I'd disguise myself as a waitress,' Liz answered.
'Sorry. Just really nervous,' Maria said.
Max watched Liz cross the restaurant. He couldn't help noticing that Adam's eyes were locked on her. He wasn't even blinking.
'It's a crush,' Maria told him. 'You know, like the one you had on that girl Raina freshman year.'
Max watched Liz turn the charm on DuPris, getting him to talk. And he watched Adam watching Liz. That is so not important right now, he told himself. You can talk to Adam about Liz later. But his eyes kept going to Adam, and he felt relieved when Liz headed back toward him.
'We have nothing to worry about,' Liz reported when she got back to Max and Maria. 'DuPris is off on one of his southern-fried tangents. Telling one of his amusing stories about drinking mint julep with grandpap. No alien talk at all.'
'We still have to get Adam out of here,' Max said. 'What if Valenti happens to drive by or something?'
Liz pulled her order pad out of her pocket. 'All I need is an order of spaghetti with extra sauce.'
'Okay, I know I'm the queen of the dim today, but why?' Maria asked.
'Oh, come on. You know how clumsy I am,' Liz answered.
Maria smiled. 'Ah, the old spaghetti-in-the-lap trick. An extreme but effective tactic. You haven't used it in a while.'
'You've done this before?' Max asked.
'Only when some way too friendly guy tries to slip a tip in my pocket-from the inside,' Liz told him. She grabbed a water pitcher and started back toward Adam and DuPris.
From the inside. That meant-
'Here, smell this.' Maria thrust one of her aromatherapy vials into his hand. 'It's great for getting rid of feelings of jealousy.'
Max rolled the vial between his fingers as he watched Adam watching Liz. 'I'm not sure it's going to be enough.'
'Maybe we should use the rest of the drive time to go over some basic, not rules, but, you know, normal
