He was not at all happy to hear the front door open with a bang. He'd been counting on a lot more alone time with Liz. He leaned back and saw Isabel coming down the hall.
'Hey, Izzy, come here a minute,' he called. 'I want to try something, and I need your help.' He turned to Liz. 'This way you can be here to see how the molecule thing happens. When Iz helps me re-form, you can tell me how it looked.'
Isabel started through the living room without a word. Max reached out and snagged her by the wrist as she passed him. 'Come on, it won't take long. I need you to make a connection with me, and-'
Isabel turned to him with piercing eyes and gave him a hard shove. He flew through the air and slammed into the wall next to the fireplace.
Liz rushed over and helped Max to his feet. 'Are you okay? What happened?' she asked.
'I'm all right,' he answered. He turned to his sister. 'Why the hell did you do that?' He and Isabel had had a lot of fights. But they had always had reasons, and Isabel had never been able to physically overwhelm him. Even when she used power.
Isabel didn't answer. She just stared at him, eyes round and blank.
Max strode over to her. 'Start talking, Isabel,' he ordered.
Isabel gave a breathy squeaking sound. And then she collapsed.
'Help me get her to the sofa,' Max called. Liz was at his side in an instant. Gently they carried Isabel around to the sofa and lowered her down.
'Is she unconscious?' Liz asked.
Max knelt next to the sofa and reached for his sister's hand. Before he could touch her, she struggled into a sitting position.
'Maybe you should lie back down,' Liz said.
Isabel shook her head. 'No, it's okay. I'm okay.' She shoved her hair out of her face, then slowly raised her eyes to Max's. 'I'm sorry. I can't believe I did that to you. It's just that when you touched me… ' A shudder swept through Isabel's body.
Liz sat down next to her and wrapped her arm around Isabel's shoulders. Isabel flinched away, but Liz held on tight. 'Did something happen at the museum?'
The museum! Max felt like such an idiot. He should have known the second Isabel opened the front door that something was wrong. She wasn't due home until morning. They'd given their parents this whole cover story about how she was spending the night with Maria.
'Was it Adam?' he asked. His rib cage suddenly felt too small, as if the bones were crushing his heart and lungs. 'Did something happen with Adam?'
Isabel nodded. 'I went in his room to check on him. He grabbed my arm and made a connection.' She stopped and cleared her throat. 'It was like my brain was ripping apart.' Her aura darkened, a rim of black forming around the outside.
'You're safe now. You're home,' Max told her. He knew he should have stayed at the museum. What was he thinking, coming back here for a little make-out session? He stood up. 'I'm taking care of this. Adam isn't going to get the chance to hurt anyone else.'
'Michael said he was going to put sleeping pills in his food to make sure he stays out. He wants us all to meet tomorrow to figure out what to do now,' Isabel said. 'But Max, it's not Adam. I've connected with Adam before, and it wasn't him. There's something… something.…'
Her eyes drifted shut, her breathing becoming slow and even.
'I can't believe it,' Max whispered. 'She fell asleep.'
'How about that girl over by the fountain?' Maria asked.
Alex leaned over the polished metal railing of the mall's upper deck and checked out the girl. Wavy hair that fell almost to her waist, nice waist, nice everything else. 'Yeah, she's pretty, I guess,' he said.
He realized that somewhere along the line his way of looking at girls had changed. Now they ail fell into two categories-Isabel and not Isabel. That's basically all he saw when he looked at the girl by the fountain. A not Isabel.
'So go talk to her,' Maria urged. 'Go give her one of your goofy lines. What was that one you told me, something about you have to arrest her for stealing the stars from the sky and putting them in her eyes? She'll love it.'
Isabel had loved it. Well, it had made her laugh at least.
'Go on. You can do it. A-lex! A-lex! A-lex!' she chanted.
So she's a not Isabel, he thought. That's what you want. Someone who might treat you slightly better than a human-shaped doormat.
But there was one problem with the not Isabel. She was… not Isabel.
Alex shook his head. 'I can tell from here that it just wouldn't work,' he said. 'See that sweeping gesture she's making with her hand? It's obvious that her greatest ambition in life is to be a game show hostess. Which is cool. I mean, who wouldn't want to be a game show hostess, right?'
'Right,' Maria answered. 'And who wouldn't enjoy talking to a wanna-be game show hostess, if that is what she is? So go.'
'The thing is that while most guys would love to talk to a soon-to-be game show hostess, I have this phobia. I don't really like to discuss it, but hey, we're friends, so here's the deal-when I'm in the presence of someone with even the slightest look of a game show hostess about her, I panic. I start trying to buy vowels. I start demanding valuable prizes. And I put everything in the form of a question. It's not pretty.'
'Does the word desensitization mean anything to you?' Maria asked. 'It means gradually exposing yourself to the thing you're afraid of. It's how people get over phobias. Go cure yourself.' She tried to push Alex toward the escalator, but he grabbed the railing with both hands and held on tight.
Maria gave a huge sigh. 'Fine, forget the elegant hand gesture girl. Amber Whalen's coming out of the card store. Just go say hi.'
'Don't know her,' Alex answered. But he already knew everything about her. Not Isabel.
'I'll introduce you.' She grabbed him by the arm. He tightened his grip on the railing. 'You have nothing to be scared of,' she insisted. 'I don't think she even watches TV She wants to be a vet.'
'A vet!' Alex exclaimed. 'I have an even bigger phobia about vets. I can't go near her. Barking would be involved. There would be much humiliation for all three of us.'
Maria dropped his arm. 'I give up.'
'Good.' Alex shot her a grin. 'Now we can find someone for you.' He pushed himself away from the railing and scanned the upper deck. He wanted to find someone good for Maria. He spotted Josh Martinez wandering in their direction. Excellent choice. 'How about Josh?' he asked.
'I like Josh,' Maria answered. 'Josh is great.'
At least this night wasn't going to be a total bust, Alex thought. One of them was going to go home happy. Or at least happier. 'So, you want me to stay with you? Or should I take off now so you can talk to him by yourself?'
'Um, you know what, I think Josh is too nice. Because he'd be a rebound guy for me. And everyone knows it never works with the rebound guy.'
'Everyone knows this?' Alex repeated. 'I've never-'
'Girls. Girls know this,' Maria explained. 'So, anyway, it wouldn't be fair to start something with Josh when it would just crash and burn in approximately eight-point-three days or four dates, whichever came first.'
Alex didn't bother picking out someone else for her. He had a feeling no matter who he suggested, all Maria would see was a big not Michael.
'Food court?' he suggested.
'Food court,' she agreed.
