Kevin Ryan: Nightscape

Alex nodded as if he understood.

Nightktscape

"I never forgot this night," she said.

"Me either," he replied. "Come on."

Alex led her to the side of the gym. On the way she noticed that everyone else had disappeared. Now it was just the two of them, alone in the gym. He stopped in front of the punch bowl and poured two cups, giving her one. "It's funny the things you miss," he said as he raised his glass.

Isabel touched hers to his. "To old friends," she said.

"To the future," he replied pointedly. Alex took a long sip, finishing the punch in one gulp.

"Isabel, you know you have to move on," he said. But as he spoke he was looking at her intently, "I mean really move on," he said. He paused for a moment and said, "It's getting late."

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"It means I have to move on too," he explained, "but I can't if you keep me here."

"I have tried. I don't know how to," she said. She was lying and afraid that he could see the lie on her face. Keeping him to herself was selfish, but she couldn't let go. She couldn't give him up yet.

"Okay," he said gently, "just try, okay?"

Isabel nodded, and then he leaned down and kissed her softly, and sweetly. "It's getting late," he said.

Then Alex disappeared. The room went dark, and Isabel was alone.

Then there were voices. They were talking, calling her to them.

"How about the deli?" someone said.

Isabel opened her eyes. She was in the van. They were parked on the street in a town somewhere.

"Deli food sounds good to me," she said quickly.

"Relax, I'll be just a minute," Michael said. Then he leveled a serious look at Max, who nodded. Something was going on… that much, Liz could see. And she was instantly alert. They had covered hundreds of miles in the last three days. They were in Washington State, and Roswell was far behind them now. When they had left town on the night of their high school graduation, they had assumed they had left many of their problems behind.

A small town on the southern border of Colorado named Stonewall had shown them that that wasn't true. Still, as they increased their distance from Roswell and Stonewall, Liz felt herself relaxing. The mood in the car had lightened, and the spirits in the car had been high… remarkably high, considering that they had just escaped assassination by the Special Unit on graduation night and an encounter with a new and malevolent alien race in Stonewall. They had done some real good in Stonewall. They had also taken on a powerful group of aliens and won.

They had won.

Four women were now back with their families, and the aliens would not likely return. Now what? Liz wondered, considering the look that had just passed between Max and Michael. "Max?" Liz said.

He simply raised his hand and shook his head, keeping his eye on the rearview mirror. Liz scanned the town around them but didn't see anything unusual. They were in a medium-sized town, where they had eaten lunch at a local deli and then picked up some supplies at the auto parts store.

It had all felt normal. In fact, it had all felt good.

In the days since their experience in Stonewall, Liz and the others had felt indestructible. Even at the time, Liz had known that the feeling was false… and dangerous. Alex had been one of them and he had died. Kyle had almost died again in Stonewall. Liz had been taken by the aliens, almost forever. And then Max and Michael had nearly been spirited away by their ship.

Liz knew they had not been indestructible then. They had been very, very lucky.

She watched Max's face for clues to what was going on. The others said he was a closed book, but rarely to Liz. She understood Max more deeply than even Isabel did, she knew. But now, he was unreadable, even to her.

When she heard the sound of the side door of the van opening, she nearly jumped out of her seat. She spun around to see Michael's face peering into the van. Like Max, his face was neutral.

"Well, are you going to just stand there, Spaceboy?" Maria called from the rear.

Then Michael smiled. Liz turned to Max and saw that he was doing the same.

"Nope," Michael said. But before he stepped inside, he pushed something toward Maria. "Here," he said, handing her a large gift.

For a few seconds, Maria was too surprised to speak any actual words. Finally, she took the guitar and said, "Oh my God, Michael."

Though Liz didn't know much about guitars, she thought that it looked like a good one. It was acoustic and had a rounded back, like one she had seen Maria admire many times at the music store near home.

Michael was smiling. No, he is beaming, Liz thought.

"I got you some picks, a tuning thingy, and a carrying bag," Michael said, holding out a bag. Then he stepped inside the van and sat next to Maria.

As soon as he sat, Maria gave him a firm kiss on the cheek. "I can't believe you did this," she said. Then she struck out quickly, smacking him in the chest. "I can't believe you did this," she repeated.

"What?" he said.

"First of all, we're short on room in here. And second, we can't afford this," she said, holding out the guitar.

It was true, Liz knew. They had made some money in Stonewall, but it was disappearing fast even though the six of them had always shared a single motel room at night and they had made sure they didn't spend too much on food.

"First of all," Michael said, his voice tight, "we can stow it in the back. And second of all, Maxwell and I came up with a new source of funds."

That surprised Liz. And she knew she wasn't alone. She shot Max a look. He responded with a smile.

"What new source?" Maria asked.

"Max?" Isabel said from the back.

"We should have thought of it sooner," Max said.

A sudden realization hit Liz. She turned to Max and said, "You made and sold some diamonds."

He nodded.

"When?" she asked.

"When we stopped yesterday. We picked up some coal and then sold the diamonds I made," Max said.

"That's dangerous. Selling loose diamonds is bound to arouse suspicion," Liz said.

"That's why we sold them at the pawn shop and not the jewelry store," Michael said. "The owner was happy to get them for a good price and didn't ask any questions."

"Do you still have yours?" Max whispered to Liz.

Liz's hand went reflexively to her pocket, where she kept the diamond he had made for her that night a few weeks ago on her roof. The night she had decided that any future she had would always include him. The night he had asked her to marry him. She smiled and nodded her response. "You should still be careful," she said.

"Always," Max said.

"I guess this takes care of our money problems for a while," Maria said.

"We spent most of what we made already. We didn't want to get greedy the first time," Michael said.

There wasn't much room there, Liz knew. It was already tight with the few supplies they had bought, including some tools and auto parts Kyle had chosen.

"We figured the guitar was worth it since it counts as entertainment for all of us," Michael said.

"Well, thank you," Maria said. "This was very… sweet."

Max started the van and they pulled away.

"Any other surprises?" Liz asked.

To her surprise, something flashed across Max's face. "What is it?" she asked.

"Ah… another entertainment expense. Kyle can explain it," he said.

"I picked up a new stereo. I thought I would install it tonight when we stop," Kyle said.

So that is what Kyle bought at the auto store, Liz thought.

"Not that we don't all enjoy listening to AM radio on a three-inch speaker, but we thought it was time to broaden our horizons," Michael said.

Liz shook her head. The guys had managed to surprise them. And she had thought secrets would be impossible given the close quarters they were living in now. Well, she and Maria had arranged a surprise of their own, but the boys wouldn't find out about that until later.