Trevor got a deer-in-the-headlights, Dawson-ish look on his face. "Uh, I talked to Michael, and if we shatter the consciousness, he's going back home with me," he blurted out.

Isabel felt like she'd been stabbed in the heart, but Trevor didn't give her a second to recover from that little bombshell before he hit her with another.

"I want you to go with us," he added. Then he stumbled forward, sat down on the bed, and kissed her. All his clumsiness disappeared as soon as his lips touched hers.

This has to be his first kiss in his human form. And he's already so good at it, she thought fuzzily. Then she stopped thinking, all her attention needed just to feel. Feel his tongue brushing against hers, feel his hand curving around her neck, feel the heat of him as he pulled her closer.

"Wow," she mumbled when he finally released her. And Isabel wasn't a girl who said wow. Her heart was pounding as if she'd just run a mile.

"Do you think you would want to come back with me?" Trevor asked throatily. "Is it a possibility at all?"

Isabel smoothed her hair away from her face, trying to give her brain a few seconds to get fully functional again.

"I… I think I need to wait and see what happens with Max," she answered. "He might not be in great shape when we break him free."

Trevor stood up and met her gaze, his eyes serious. "Iz, I want you to be prepared. I don't think-I really don't think you should be assuming that Max is going to make it."

Another stabbing pain, this one in her heart and her gut. "I'm really tired," she said shortly, standing. "I'll talk to you in the morning. Remember, we have to be at school early to get the device."

She wanted him out of there, and she approached the door, forcing him to walk out ahead of her. As long as he stood in her room, his words would continue to hang over her head, waiting to fall, waiting to crush her.

"Isabel, I-"

"Just go, Trevor," she said. Then, seeing the hurt look on his face, she forced a tight smile. "Please. I'm really tired."

She didn't let a single tear fall until the door was closed behind him.

"I cut school and started working on the timer," Trevor told the group.

Michael leaned across his kitchen table and studied the silver disk in Trevor's hand. "When will you have it ready to go?" he asked.

"It won't take much longer," Trevor answered, turning the disk over and over in his hand. "Isabel's going to help me wrap it up and hook up a remote so we can guide the device at least partway through the wormhole. We should be finished late tonight."

"So tomorrow morning we do this thing," Michael said, glancing from Isabel to Trevor to Liz to Alex, but keeping his eyes away from Maria. He'd started having a hard time looking at her. It had gotten to the point where it actually hurt to see her face.

"Is there anything we should be doing?" Alex asked, leaning his elbows on the table.

Trevor shook his head. "Getting the timer and the remote hooked up is a two-person job. And that's all there is to do."

"That and get through tonight," Liz said. She twisted her hair into a knot on top of her head, then immediately let it fall free. "The waiting is driving me crazy."

Get through tonight, Michael thought. How was he going to do that? This could be his last night on earth. He shouldn't waste it watching TV. Without a conscious decision, Michael's eyes went to Maria. She was pale… and beautiful. He felt something wrench inside his body and looked away fast.

"I'm-I've got some stuff to do. Stay here as long as you want." He made his escape, slamming out the door and pounding down the staircase leading to the parking lot. As soon as his feet hit asphalt, he started to run. He kept running until he got to the doughnut shop.

Yeah. This is definitely a last-night-on-earth kind of event, he thought as he stepped inside and pulled in his first breath of the sugary air. He couldn't take off without having a few more of his crullers.

Michael ordered himself an even dozen, then sat down at his usual table and pulled a handful of hot sauce packets out of his jacket pocket. He got one of the crullers set up just the way he liked it and took a big bite.

It tasted like dust. He added more hot sauce and took another bite. More dust.

Michael finished off the cruller, then ate two more, pretending they actually tasted good to him, then he shoved away his tray. Now what? A last trip to the mall? A last slice of Flying Pepperoni pizza? A last trip to Adam's grave to tell him that he was leaving?

He picked up one of the uneaten crullers and twisted it with both hands until it broke into sticky chunks. There was no question about where he wanted to go. Right now he wanted to be holed up in Maria's girlie-girl room, doing… anything. Watching some bad horror movie. Anything. As long as she was there doing it with him.

But that's not going to happen, he ordered himself. It's not fair to her. And be honest, buddy, it would probably kill you.

ELEVEN

Isabel nervously twirled a golf club between her fingers, scanning the parking lot of the Black Hole Putt-Putt Golf Course. She smiled when she spotted Alex's VW Rabbit turning in, then rushed over to the car as he pulled into a parking spot. Isabel didn't make a habit of rushing toward guys-even if she felt like it. But there was no reason to play those kinds of games with Alex.

"I got you a golf club already," she announced before Alex even had a chance to swing both feet to the ground.

"Thanks," Alex said. He took one of the clubs and shook his head, laughing.

"What?" Isabel asked, grinning because his laugh was always contagious.

"I was just thinking about the last time we came here," he answered. "My brain was doing this gerbil-on-an-exercise-wheel thing. I kept trying to figure out if you thought we were on a date, or, you know, some kind of significant outing. And I was obsessed with debating whether or not you could actually want me to touch you."

"I bet you almost had a heart attack when I kissed you," Isabel said, nudging him with her club. "Remember? It was right over-"

Alex grabbed her hand and pulled her halfway across the parking lot. "It was right here," he told her. He pointed toward a small, spray-painted X. "I put that there," he admitted.

Coming from someone else, this gesture might have seemed odd, but coming from Alex, Isabel didn't even blink. "I can't believe how much has happened since then. How much has changed." Isabel knelt down and gently touched the X.

"As Liz's dad would say, what a long, strange trip it's been," Alex answered. "So when are you going to get around to telling me whatever it is you want to tell me? Because I'm just not going for your story about having an irresistible desire to play minigolf."

"Trevor didn't need me after all," Isabel said, standing, but finding herself unable to meet his eyes. "It turned out that the two-person job was more of a one-person job. I just wanted to get out of the house and-" Isabel stopped herself, blushing. "All right, I do need to talk to you," she confessed.

"Father Manes is ready to listen," he said, lowering his voice. He led the way to the first hole.

Isabel carefully positioned her ball on the little rubber mat, stalling, then straightened up and gave the ball a whack without even trying to aim at one of the moon craters.

"Here's the deal. After we shatter the consciousness-" She didn't allow herself even a mental if. "After we shatter it, Michael is going to go back to the home planet with Trevor to help rebuild the society. Of course, Michael hasn't bothered to tell me or anyone else. I heard all this from Trevor. It's just like when Michael would change foster homes. He'd hardly even say a word about it."