Hey everyone! Well, this is the first of the Alien Attraction Fluff pieces. It has no plot, nor no real relation to the plot of the Alien Attraction series. It's an interlude between #2 and #3. I hope it tides you over until the next one comes out. It's a response to a challenge. I had to include the following things: 

-an apple
-a box of condom (they don't have to use it!!)
-juice or milk
-spotlight
-table
-music
-mouse
-couch
-chocolate
-the song "I turn to you" by Christina Aguilera

Alien Attractions Interludes #1:
 The Mystery Behind Locked Drawers

"Izzy, sometimes your taste in music scares me," Michael said. He had been leaning against the doorframe leading from outside of the Evans' house into their kitchen. Now he straightened up and came inside.

Isabel snapped off the radio and the chorus of "I turn to you," abruptly stopped, Christina Aguilera's voice was silenced in the middle of a word. "Excuse me?" she asked archly.

"I mean," Michael continued, "Christina Aguilera. Really. Who is their right minds likes her?"

"Normally I would argue with you, but, for once, I happen to agree with you on the matter."

Michael was surprised. "Then why were you listening?"

Isabel shrugged. "It came on the radio. I was too lazy to turn it off. But what I really want to know, is how you recognized it?"

Michael looked uncomfortable. The truth was, Maria was crazy of Christina Aguilera, among many of the other divas, but he didn't think it would be wise to tell Isabel that. Instead he shrugged. "Don't know."

Isabel raised her eyebrows. She didn't believe him, but she didn't press the point.

Michael decided it was time for a distraction and headed towards the fridge. Opening it up, he starting to rummage through it for something edible. "Got anything to eat?"

Isabel rolled her eyes. "We've plenty of fruit," she said in a too-cheerful voice. "What an apple?" She picked up an apple and offered it to Michael.

Michael didn't accept the fruit from Isabel. He didn't even dignify her question with an answer. He glared briefly before turning back to the exploration of her refrigerator. A few seconds later he withdrew a carton of milk. He opened it and took a drink straight from the carton.

Isabel made a face and grabbed the carton away from him, causing a bit of the milk to spill.

"Hey," Michael protested. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

"There are such things as glass," Isabel said pointedly.

"So?" Michael was not impressed by this revelation.

Isabel gave up and sat down at the kitchen table. Michael joined her. "You doin' anything today?" he asked.

"Nothing in particular. I might meet up with my friends at the mall later on today."

"You up for a movie?" Michael asked.

Isabel shrugged. "Sure, why not."

"What do you want to see?" Michael asked.

"Don't care." Isabel shrugged again. "Just anything but a chick flick. Don't feel like watching anything depressing today."

Michael snorted. Like she was in any danger of him wanting to see a chick flick. "That won't be a problem."

Isabel smiled at him. "I didn't really expect it to be," she said. "One thing, though. I promised mom that I'd drop off her reading glasses. She has to work today and she forgot them."

"Sure," Michael said. "We can drop by on our way to the movie."

"Okay," Isabel agreed. "The newspaper's in the living room. You can look at the listings while I go find mom's glasses."

Michael went into the living room and flopped down on the couch. Putting his feet up on the table, he grabbed the newspaper and started to look over the movie listings. He had just turned to the right page when he heard a scream coming from Isabel's parents room. He rushed there.

"What happened?" he demanded.

"There's a mouse in there!" Isabel shouted, pointing to a drawer. "A friggin' mouse!"

Michael cautiously approached the drawer and opened it. He started laughing.

"What?" Isabel demanded, sounding angry.

Michael took out the "mouse" and threw it at her. She reflexively reached out and caught it.

"A mouse?" he asked, still laughing.

Isabel started to blush deep red. What she had mistaken for a mouse was in fact nothing but an old, furry stuffed animal. "Well, why in the world would my parents have something like that in their drawer?" she asked.

Michael didn't answer, he was too busy laughing. Scowling, Isabel turned around and resumed the search for the reading glasses.

Michael went back to the couch, but no sooner did he sit down than did he hear Isabel scream again.

He didn't run to the room this time. He did, however, managed to trip over a spotlight lying in the hall. Why he missed it before when he wasn't paying attention but tripped over it this time when he was taking his time, was a mystery to him. And he would never guess why there was a stray spotlight lying in the middle of the Evans' hall.

"What is it this time?" he asked crankily, sore from the fall. "Another mouse?"

Isabel glared at him. "No," she said expressively. "I've just seen what no person should ever see. I think I'm scarred for life."

"What?"

Isabel didn't answer, she just pointed to another open drawer. Michael took a peek inside. It was a box of condoms.

His confusion lasted not even a second before he caught onto the reason Isabel found it so disgusting to see a box of condoms. It wasn't as if she had never seen one before. It was the fact that she had found it in her parents' bedroom.

"Oh," Michael said, startled. "Well, I'll give you that one. That is creepy." He shut the drawer. "Didn't your mom tell you where her glasses were?"

"She said they were in the dresser drawer, at the top," Isabel said, distressed.

Well, there was only one drawer left. Michael opened it cautiously, not knowing what he might find. Luckily, there was nothing incriminating in this drawer. Just the reading glasses. He took them out and handed them to Isabel.

"There, now. Are you ready, then?" he asked.

"We are so stopping on our way," Isabel gripped. "I need some comfort food, badly."

"Comfort food?" Michael questioned.

"Chocolate," Isabel said, as if the answer was the most obvious thing in the world.

Then again, Michael reflected, to females, it probably was.

The End

  AA2: Complications