The Outsider

She didn't believe him. Max had never even considered the possibility that she wouldn't believe him.

"There were incubation pods on board, and-" Max began, but Liz didn't let him finish.

"Or maybe I should just skip ahead to the really big problem with your story-there was no Roswell crash. Every scientific investigation has confirmed that."

Liz stood up and put on her jacket. "You know, I thought you trusted me. I thought you were going to tell me the truth." Her voice was cold, and ugly crimson splotches had appeared in her aura. Max had never seen her so angry.

He blew out a sigh of frustration. He'd been so focused on how Liz would react when he told her the truth that he hadn't stopped to think she might not believe him. Who would believe him? It was like saying he was the child of the Loch Ness monster or something.

He had to find a way to convince her. If Liz walked out of here feeling like he'd been jerking her around, Max didn't know what she'd do. She might even decide to tell Sheriff Valenti what had really happened at the cafe.

"What about Colonel William Blanchard?" Max blurted. It was the first thing that popped into his head. "He was the commander of the army airfield. The guy was in charge of an atomic bomb squad strike force, so he had to be pretty well respected. He made the a

"I really don't want to have a world's-greatest-unsolved-mysteries kind of conversation with you right now," Liz snapped. "You promised me you would tell me everything, and you're obviously not going to do it."

She turned toward the door.

"I would never lie to you, Liz," Max said desperately. "Let me prove it."

"Fine. You have two minutes. Prove it."

He jumped up and grabbed her hand. Liz jerked away, but Max held tight. "You said you wanted proof," he reminded her.

"Okay," she murmured warily.

Max began rubbing her bracelet, concentrating on the molecules of silver. He gave the molecules a little tap with his mind. He wanted them to move apart, but not too much. Just a little more, he thought. He gave the molecules another tap and felt the bracelet turn to liquid under his fingers.

Liz gave a tiny gasp as the bracelet began to drip off her wrist. The metal melted faster, sliding to the floor in a silver stream. It formed a circular puddle at Liz's feet.

"I was telling you the truth, Liz," Max whispered. "I swear."

Liz stared down at the silver pool, then raised her eyes to Max's face. "I… I have to go." She slowly backed toward the door-as if he were some vicious animal that might attack if she moved too quickly.

Max felt his throat close up. She's looking at me like she doesn't even know me, he thought.

"Liz, wait!" he begged.

She moved faster. "I-I can't," she said. "I just… can't."

Max was frantic. He had to find a way to fix things. He couldn't let her leave like this.

Quickly he reached down and plunged his hands into the silver puddle, molding it in his hands, pushing the molecules back together. When the bracelet was re-formed, he held it out to Liz.

Take it, he thought. Please just take it. All you have to do is move one step toward me.

Liz opened her mouth, then closed it. She turned and bolted out the door.

Max stared down at the bracelet in his hand. He slowly walked over to his dresser and pulled open the bottom drawer. He gently placed the bracelet all the way in the back and covered it with clothes.

He didn't want to see it again. He didn't want any reminder of the way Liz had looked at him when she finally understood what he really was.

Liz tried to put the key in the ignition, but her hand was shaking too hard. "Come on, come on, come on," she whispered. She didn't want to be there if Max decided to follow her.

She used her other hand to help guide the key into place and started the engine. The car gave a little jerk as she pulled out onto the street.

When she reached the corner, she turned left instead of right. She would go straight to Maria's. She couldn't deal with going home yet. Her parents would start fussing over her, and Liz was afraid she'd just blurt out everything to them.

Her mother would probably insist she go to a doctor or something. And Papa was a total law-abiding citizen-he didn't even jaywalk-so he would make her call Sheriff Valenti and tell him exactly what happened. Liz wasn't ready to do that.

She didn't know what she wanted to do. Thinking about Max made her brain freeze up, like a computer trying to download a file that was way too big.

Liz made another left. She'd driven to Maria's so many times, she could do it on autopilot. She picked up speed as she headed down the street.

Stop sign, she told herself as she approached the intersection. Stop sign! But the message didn't get from her brain to her foot fast enough, and she drove straight through. She heard a car horn give a long, angry honk behind her. "Sorry," Liz whispered. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Tears filled her eyes, blurring her view of the road in front of her. Drawing in a shuddering breath, she swerved over to the curb and stopped. Her heart pounded in her ears. It was beating so hard, she could feel it in her fingertips as she clenched the steering wheel with both hands. She slowly let out her breath.

Okay, just calm down, she thought. Maria's house was only a few more blocks away. Liz checked the rearview mirror; she checked the side mirror; she looked over her shoulder and checked her blind spot. Then she slowly started back down the street.

She concentrated on driving the same way she had the day she took her driver's test. She made sure she stayed exactly at the speed limit, not one mile slower or faster. She came to a full and complete stop at the next stop sign. She clicked on her turn signal early enough-but not too early-when she reached Maria's street, and she did a perfect parallel-parking job in front of Maria's house.

Made it, she thought. She climbed out of the car and hurried up the front walk. She rang the bell, waited one second, and rang it again.

"I could have used you two minutes earlier," Maria said when she opened the door. She led the way into the living room, still talking. "My mother just went out on a date looking like some rock star. I told her she should change, but of course she wouldn't listen to me. Maybe if you had-"

"I talked to Max," Liz interrupted.

"You look awful," Maria exclaimed. "I'm sorry. I didn't even notice-I was in total rant mode. What happened? What did he say?"

Liz sat down on the overstuffed couch. There was no good way to tell her, so Liz just blurted it out. "He said he was an alien."

Maria giggled.

"I'm serious."

Maria giggled louder. "Does… does he have ante

Liz waited. When Maria was in one of her laughing fits, she was pretty much unstoppable.

"Did he let you see his laser gun?" Maria laughed so hard, she snorted, which made her laugh even more. Her cheeks turned red, and tears stood out in her eyes.

Finally she noticed that Liz wasn't laughing, too. "Oops. I'm sorry." She gave one last giggle. Then she sat up straight and blotted her eyes with one of the couch's little throw pillows. "Tell me what really happened."

"I just did," Liz said. She rushed on before Maria could start laughing again. "Think about it. You said yourself that I was about to die, that blood was pouring out of me. Max healed me. He closed up the wound just by touching it. What human could do that?"

Maria stared at Liz in astonishment. At least she knows I'm being serious, Liz thought. "I know it sounds crazy. I thought Max was jerking me around when he told me that. I thought he was just handing me a totally lame story.