She had imagined how this night would go. She would be beautiful, as always, and Alex would be awkward but charming, captivated by her beauty, trying to act romantic. But when she had opened the door when he arrived, parents standing by with cameras and camcorders, it was she who had been shocked speechless. Somehow she had never pictured Alex in a suit and was surprised at what she saw. He looked older, more serious, more confident. Sexy even. In a word, *good*. She could hardly believe that this was the same guy as he escorted her to the rented sportscar and took her to the nicest restaurant in town. He was the perfect gentleman, and soon she forgot all about aliens and destiny and betrayal.

After the way dinner went, arriving at the dance had been a let down. Surrounded by her classmates and the way they were staring reminded her that she was still Isabel Evans, and she had an image to keep. She lined up with the other girls in front of the bathroom mirror, making sure that her hair and make-up were still perfectly in place, when a conversation caught her attention.

“Oh my God. I just saw Alex outside, and girl, he looks fine.”

“Alex? Alex *Whitman*? You’re kidding?”

Isabel smiled to herself, proud that the date she had been teased about by the other girls was making such an impression, but she suddenly felt it might not be good to leave Alex alone for too long. She walked out the bathroom door and came face to face with her guidance counselor, Mrs. Baca.

“Miss Evans! Don’t you look lovely!” She latched onto Isabel’s arm and pulled her to the side. “I know this really isn’t the time to “talk shop,” but I was hoping that I could get you to make an appointment to see me sometime soon. The year is almost half over and I wanted to go over some college choices with you. I found this one scholarship to a nursing program that I thought-”

“I am *not* going to nursing school.”

“But your profile says-”

“And I do not need a scholarship.”

“Hmm. Maybe I should have your parents in, too. You know, many people don’t think about the special circumstances of having two children going to school at the same time. Your brother’s always been such a good student, depending on where he goes it could get pretty expensive. I wonder if they’ve thought about that.” She seemed to have forgotten that she was actually still in a conversation. “Anyway, you must be anxious to get back to the dance. But, please, come see me sometime. You don’t want to let these things wait until the last minute.”

She gave a sugary sweet smile that Isabel disdainfully returned, then headed for her next target. Thankful that the encounter was over, Isabel pushed her way to Alex, who was sitting at the bottom of the bleachers, watching the show go on around him.

“Sorry that took so long. I ran into Mrs. Baca and her crusade to make sure all of us become functioning members of society. She’s worse than those fanatics at the airport.”

Alex looked at her in confusion. “But Mrs. Baca’s been working surveillance at the door the whole time I’ve been sitting here.”

It did look like Mrs. Baca, but anyone who knew her would realize that something was definitely wrong. Instead of her usual flighty ball of energy, she coolly surveyed the students as they surged through the door. She turned as if aware of Isabel’s gaze, and as she met Isabel’s eyes the corner of her lips turned up in a mocking grin. Behind Isabel, the real Mrs. Baca walked into the gym, talking animatedly with another hapless victim. When Isabel looked again, the woman by the door was gone.

“Alex, I think we should go.”

“Yeah, good idea.”

They started to make their way across the crowded gym floor, but halfway to the door, what appeared to be a large member of the football team moved purposefully in their way, the same icy grin on his face. Isabel felt a growing pressure in her head. It quickly changed into a pain so sharp she could barely think. Alex saw her face pale and pulled her back through the swaying bodies towards the exit on the opposite side. As they neared the door Isabel felt another stab of pain.

“No, he’s there.”

They could see him ahead, his face frozen in the same grin as he searched the crowd for them. Their exits blocked, Alex lead them through the hallway under the bleachers into the nearest room and closed the door gently behind them.

*********

Max sat in the parking lot, watching the students going in and out of the gym. Some huddled in groups, denim jackets and army coats pulled tight around their evening clothes as they talked and smoked cigarettes. Michael hadn’t been able to tell him much, only that Isabel was here, and Michael thought someone was after her. Someone after his sister. He had told Michael he’d meet him here, but he wasn’t going to wait much longer. He opened the door of the jeep, and was almost hit as the jetta swerved into the space next to him.

“What took you so long?”

“We made a stop.” Michael stated, matter-of-factly.

Max turned in surprise as the rear door opened and Tess stepped out. His expression hardened. “What is she doing here?”

Michael met Max’s accusing glare. “Survival at all costs, Maxwell. She has powers, we may need them.”

“I don’t trust her.”

“I do.”

They were wasting too much time. Maria put her hand on Max’s shoulder to get his attention. “Michael’s right. We’re talking about your lives. We have to use every advantage we have.”

Tess shut the door and walked over to face Max. “Max, I do have memories of what our life was before, but I swear, I don’t remember what you saw. But even if it is true, can’t you understand that I’ve changed? You’re not who you were then, I’m not either.”

Max was silent a minute. “If you do anything to screw this up...”

Tess looked at him defiantly. “If any of us screw up, then we’re all dead.”

**********

Isabel slumped into a seat and put her head in her hands.

“Oh my God, Alex. What are we going to do? There’s too many people out there, that thing could be anywhere, anyone.”

“There is something we can do.” She looked at him, knowing what he was going to say, wishing that he wouldn’t. “You need to do me what Max did to Liz.”

“But I don’t even know what he did.”

“Well, now’s the time to try.”

She shook her head. “I might hurt you.”

“I can tell you for sure that thing out there is going to hurt both of us if you don’t.”

Her tears fell on her gown, turning the fabric dark where they landed. “I can’t.”

He stood up and ran his fingers through his hair as he collected his thoughts, then turned to face her. “Tell me the truth, Isabel. It’s not that you can’t, it’s that you won’t. There’s this part of you that you always keep hidden, and I’m not just talking about being an alien. I thought we had finally gotten past it, that we were really starting to get to know each other. But the last couple weeks, you’ve started drifting away again. Now, even with our lives at stake, you’re still not willing to let me in.”

“I would like to figure out what went wrong, to get back to where we were before. But now I know that after everything we’ve been through, you still don’t trust me. Without that, what chance do we have?”

“Alex, I-” They both jumped as the doorknob turned. They ran to the back of the room and hid behind the desks as the door opened.

“Isabel? Are you in here?”

Isabel ran and threw her arms around her brother. “Max. I’m so glad you’re here. But something’s out there. We have to get out of here.”

“I know. Come on.”

**********