❥ . ⋆ Chapter Three

     "Well, it says right here that shots were fired but no one was injured," Noah leaned against the locker next to Ariana's, reading the Roswell news on his phone.

     "Then where's Cam? I mean, why is she avoiding me?  Okay, first of all, Cam is never late, right? She walks into homeroom today and goes and sits next to Pam Troy.  She, like, hates Pam Troy, and you know, goes about admitting it openly and - Noah, are you listening to me?" Ariana rambled as she went through her locker.

     "Uh, yeah.  Yeah, Ariana.  I'm listening to you.  But this is just you being you, all right?  Cam is fine.  Nothing happened.  It's all right here in black and white," he held up his phone screen to reveal a picture of the Crashdown Cafe with a black and white filter over it.

     "Hey, guys, don't forget your costume for this weekend's Crash Festival.  Five hundred big bones for the best costume.  Now, let's get down with our little higgly-giggly and alien selves," a voice spoke on the P.A, and it was easily deciphered as Brisa Carson's voice.

     "I can't believe this, Tim," Emma, Tim and Tom were two hallways down from Noah and Emma, but it still might as well be a whole universe away.  "You know, I finally feel like I have a quasi-normal existence and you blow it all with one random act of lunacy.  How did you let my misguided brother do this?"

     "Hey," Tom put his hands up in mock surrender as they followed Timothee out the school doors.  "Don't turn this around on me.  I'm not the one who thinks he's a superhero."

     "Look, I said I was sorry," Timothee turned to face his sister and best friend as he pulled the car keys out of his pocket.

     "You're sorry?" Emma squinted, the sun in her eyes.  "You break a sacred pact and that's all you have to say?  It's against the rules, Tim, the rules we made."

     "You use your powers all the time," he threw his books into the backseat.

     Emma sighed.  "Recreationally.  The important thing is to contain this.  We just have to figure out what to say to Miss Scientist."  Everyone knew Cam was super smart, and Emma was no exception.  Her worst fear was Cam figuring it out.  "Oh, my God," Emma said, noticing the look on Timothee's face.  He had looked to the right, focusing his eyes on the school instead of Emma, something he did when he lied.  "You told her."

     "I didn't have a choice," those words were enough to send Emma into shock, but she didn't.  "It's gonna be okay."

     "Don't you realize that everything has changed?" Emma asked her brother.  "By you admitting it?"

     "No, it hasn't," Timothee fought.

     "Tim, she's right," Tom chimed in.  "We're screwed." he paused for a moment, all three thinking about what to do next.  "It's time to leave Roswell."

     "Tom, we can't just leave," Emma crossed her arms.

     "Yeah, we can," he fought.  "We've always known this day would come.  We said when it did, we'd be prepared."

     "Tom, where are we gonna go?  You know, Roswell's home," Emma said.

     Tom sighed.  "Roswell's not home.  It's not even our solar system."

     "Well, this is the closest thing we have to home right now," Timothee backed up Emma.

     "For you two, maybe.  It was you the Evanses found on the side of the road, not me.  They're like real parents.  My foster dad?  He just keeps me around for the monthly check."

     Timothee and Emma fell silent.  The two knew Tom didn't have a good relationship with his foster dad.  "This is gonna be okay," Timothee finally concluded.  "We should just lay low, go to school and act normal."

     "Act normal?  That's your big plan, Tim?  Don't you realize it's only a matter of time before they find us and turn us over to some government agency where they're gonna test us and prod us and, oh, yeah, exterminate us?"  Tom said as he hopped into the car, shaking his head.  "I can't believe this."

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     "Hey," Ariana approached Cam in the bathroom.  "I called, like, 37 times."

     "I know, I'm sorry," Cam said without looking up, scrubbing her hands in the sink with the soft and foamy soap.

     "Cam, what happened yesterday?"  Ariana leaned against the paper towel dispenser, arms crossed.

     Cam sighed.  "What do you mean, Ariana?  You were there.  You saw everything."

     "Did I?  'Cause, um, the stain on your uniform didn't look like ketchup.  It looked a lot like blood to me," she stepped closer and looked around the bathroom, making sure they were alone.  "What did Tim do to you?"

     Cam took a step back.  "Nothing, Ariana," she said before quickly shaking her hands off and walking out the bathroom, leaving Ariana alone in the poorly lit room.

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     "Emma, can you please not do that?" Timothee asked as he drove the car, annoyed with how Emma was playing music in his jeep with just the flick of her wrist.  The music came to an abrupt stop. 

     "Yeah, like listening to a CD is the problem," Emma said.  Timothee stayed quiet for a moment.

     "I couldn't just let her die."

     A police siren started, influencing Tom to look over his shoulder.   "Is he pulling us over?" he asked even though they were the only car on the road.  "Tim, go.  Let's get out of here."

     Timothee shook his head.  "We can't start acting guilty," he said as he slowly started pulling over.  The siren came to a stop as the police car parked behind them.  "He always pulls kids over," he said as he turned the keys and stopped the engine.  "He does it all the time.  It's nothing."

     "Yeah," Emma nervously nodded.  "Nothing."

     The sheriff took his time getting out of the car and walking over to Timothee's side of the car.  "Can I see your license and registration, please?"

     "Of course, Officer," Timothee nodded and pulled out his license from his wallet and his registration from the glove compartment.

     "Thank you, Mr Evans," the sheriff said after a minute of inspecting his license, eventually handing it back.  "We had a little trouble at the Crashdown Café yesterday.  You kids be careful out there."

     "Yes, sir," Timothee said, the three of them nodding in understanding.

     "Watch your speed, and arrive alive," the sheriff said before walking away.

     "We will," Timothee said.  He turned to his sister and to his best friend, noticing the look on Tom's face.  "Tom, everything is gonna be okay."

     "No, it won't.  Our cover is blown, and I'm not gonna hang around and wait for them to catch us," Tom said.

     "No one is caught yet," Timothee said as he turned the car back on again.  "I mean, we don't even know if there is a "them."

     "What happened to our parents?" Tom asked.  "What happened to everybody else on the ship?  They didn't disappear.  They were killed, and you know that."

     "Cam won't tell anyone," Timothee insisted.  "She's different."

     "Really? So how'd she react when you told her?" Emma asked, proceeding to mock Cam.  "'Great!  You're an alien!  That's fantastic!  Excellent'?   Maybe one of those?" she said as Timothee stayed quiet.  "Nah, I didn't think so."

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