Book One: Trials and Tribulations: Chapter Two
Amy peeked in her daughter's bedroom, checking on her, making sure she was okay. The blankets were on the floor again. She sighed and walked inside and pulled them back up and tucked Maria in. She wanted to be able to protect Maria from all the hurt. But how could she protect her from something like this?
Amy silently closed the door and headed back into the living room. How was she supposed to protect Maria from the pain of life? She knew she couldn't. But she wanted to. There was a knock on the door and Amy jumped, and quickly walked over to open it, hoping it hadn't disturbed Maria. "Hello?" Amy tilted her head to the side. The boy seemed familiar, but she couldn't place him.
"Uh..." Michael scratched his eyebrow. Amy DeLuca. He swallowed. She looked really tired. Fragile. "I...go to school with Maria, I just wanted to..." He shifted from one foot to the other. He hadn't been expecting anyone other than Maria. "Make sure she was okay."
Amy smiled warmly. "She's sleeping now. You know what happened, right?"
"Yeah, I was there." Michael reached up and scratched the back of his neck.
"She'll be okay. Once she realizes, that life still goes on." Amy told him, then she just stared at him for a moment. "I remember you now. You were at the orphanage when Maria was there, weren't you?" He nodded slowly. "The day I went to pick her up, you were giving me the dirtiest looks."
Michael blushed at the memory. He had been. "I was just worried about her. I'd had a few foster families already..." Namely Hank. "I just wanted her to be okay."
Amy nodded a little and smiled. "That's okay." She nodded. "I understand. It is good to know that someone cares about my daughter so much. Do me a favor? Tomorrow morning, before school, come by? Alex has been avoiding her, she needs to go to school."
"Sure." Michael nodded a little, then turned and headed back to school.
The next morning, Michael got up a little earlier than normal, but to the Pascal's surprise.
"Good morning, Michael." Mrs. Pascal smiled, while bouncing baby Sarah.
"Morning."
"You're up early."
"Yeah..." He scratched his eyebrow, he hated having to explain himself to people. "Walking a friend to school." He told her, then quickly darted out the door, avoiding anymore questions. He walked hurriedly to Maria's house and took a breath before knocking.
Amy answered, in her pajama's, but with a smile. "Thanks, Michael."
"No problem. Is she ready?"
Amy shook her head. "She isn't even out of bed yet."
"Oh..." Well then, what was he supposed to do?
"Her room is the second door on the right." Amy said, then walked away from the door, allowing him to come in.
Cautiously Michael walked inside. He wasn't expecting to have to wake her up too. He was nervous as he walked down the hallway, his hands were trembling slightly. She was going to beat the shit out of him for walking into her bedroom, and waking her up. He knocked lightly, and didn't get a response, so, ever so slowly he opened the door.
"Mom. Go away." She grumbled, and Michael couldn't help but grin.
She was sprawled out on her stomach, her pillow over her head, her blankets half off the bed, so they only covered part of one of her legs. Her pajamas were white, and pink, with little bunnies on them. Exactly what he would have imagined her wearing, if he had imagined her in her pajamas...
"Maria,"
"Oh god!" She yelped, somehow her pillow flew off the bed, the blankets were suddenly wrapped around her and she was staring at him in shock. "What the hell are you doing here?!"
"You're mom asked me to-"
"Mom!" Maria shrieked, and Michael winced.
"Just get ready for school, Maria." Michael said calmly, and she just stared at him.
"What are you doing here?" She asked again.
"I told you-"
"No. Why did you come over in the first place, apparently, that gave my mother the brilliant idea to have you come over and make sure I went to school."
"I came to check on you yesterday, when you didn't come to school... I was worried."
Maria was in awe. He was worried about her? "Get out."
"Maria, get ready for school."
"I'm not moving, until you close that door."
"I'll be back in five minutes, and I'm not knocking." He turned and shut the door, then smirked. That should get her moving.
Maria was suddenly frantic. He wouldn't really, would he? She got up quickly, and found some clean clothes, yanked them on, and in the process kicked her bloody uniform partway under her bed, she could worry about it later. She didn't bother to brush her hair, but did stop in the bathroom to wash her face, and brush her teeth.
She was pulling on her shoes when the door opened a crack. "You decent?"
"No." She said flatly, and Michael shoved the door open the rest of the way.
"Bad liar. Come on."
"No, just go away Michael." Maria sighed, looking at him. She wasn't ready to go to school.
Michael walked in and sat down on the edge of her bed beside her. "Either you come with me, or I'm staying here with you all day."
"Why are you doing this?" She asked softly.
"You remember the orphanage?" Michael asked and looked at her. Maria rolled her eyes. "Well, you remember, back then, we were friends."
"No we weren't." She scoffed queitly.
He looked at her, actually a little hurt by her words. "I thought we were. I care about you Maria. I have thought of you as a friend even though we haven't talked in... nearly ten years. You're hurt. I know that. Look, I'm not good with the words." He sighed. "I care. And if you don't come willingly with me, I will throw you over my shoulder and drag you out of here."
"You wouldn't..." He raised an eyebrow at her, and she sighed. "Fine. Lets go."
Maria was standing in front of Liz's locker. She felt sick. Someone had put up a big picture of Liz's smiling face on the locker. And random students were walking by, putting down flowers. Crying. They didn't know her. They had no right to do that. She could feel the anger building inside of her. "These people, they don't know her. They don't have any right to be crying like this. They didn't know her middle name. They didn't know that her favorite movie was Dirty Dancing."
"Maria." Michael's voice came out soft, and near her ear. She spun around and looked up at him, fresh tears shinning in her eyes. He wrapped his arms around her. One curled around her waist, the other gently rubbing the back of her neck, trying to calm her down. "Shh." He whispered against the top of her head.
She wrapped her arms around his waist and clung to him, like a lifeline. He was there, flesh and blood, holding her. She needed that. She needed someone to touch her. To tell her things would be alright, even if, right now, she felt like they would never be okay again.
"Ms. DeLuca."
That voice made Maria's whole body tremble. She felt Michael's arms tighten around her, and slowly turned her head, and saw Jim Valenti standing there, mirrored sunglasses on, even though they were indoors.
"You're a hard girl to find."
"Not that hard, I've been at home."
"I'm referring to the fact that you ran away from the scene of a crime."
Maria felt Michael hug her tighter against him. "I'm sorry, but my best friend had just bled to death in my arms. All I could think about was telling our other best friend before he found out on the news or something. I wasn't exactly thinking." She snarled.
"I have some questions for you, I already talked to your mother, she said it was okay." Maria didn't move. "You should get to class Michael."
She looked up at him. A moment of panic written across her face. She didn't want to be alone with the Sheriff. He'd haunted her dreams since she was a kid. Everyone knew that his father was alien obsessed and had eventually lost his job because of it.
"I'll see you in bio." He touched the side of her face, and dropped a kiss against her forehead, before releasing her and walking down the hall.
Maria took a breath and looked at the Sheriff. "Alright, what do you have to ask me?"
"I'll need a description of the men, of your own actions, prior and after the shooting."
"Look, I don't remember the guys that well. They were... a little older, a little on the heavy set side, they were arguing about money. One pulled a gun. Everyone ducked. I heard the guys run out, and I went to look for Liz, and found her laying on the floor, bleeding to death. And there was nothing I could do about it. I put pressure on the wound like I was supposed to, like they always tell you to. But it wasn't enough, I couldn't do anything!" Tears were building up behind her eyes, and she was growing more and more angry by the second. "She died. My best friend died. The EMTs pulled me away from her, and I freaked out.
All that blood..." Maria shook her head. "I took off, I went and found my friend, Alex, and told him what happened, and he took me home, where we sat on the couch crying until my mother got home. And that is where I spent the better part of the last three days. At home. Crying. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm late for class."
Angrily Maria walked away. That asshole. How dare he question her like that. She stormed down the hallway away from him, turned the corner, and slid down the closest wall. Tears were pouring down her cheeks, and she doubled over herself. The halls were empty, everyone was in class. So she sat there and cried. Sobbed. Full body, convulsive sobs.
The bell rang suddenly, and Maria launched herself off the floor and lunged through the closest door. She pulled the door shut and sighed, quickly wiping the tears from her face. She glanced around and realized she'd successfully dove into the eraser room. The most notorious place at the school. Maria sunk down to the floor against the far wall and sighed softly, while wiping away her tears.
A moment later the door handle jiggled. She held her breath. Shit. She didn't lock it. Probably some couple sneaking in to make out between classes. Light filled the room for a second, then the door closed.
"Hey."
Michael. Maria let out the breath she had been holding. "Hey."
"You never showed up in class."
"Yeah." Maria hung her head and avoided his eyes as he came to sit next to her.
"What happened with Valenti?"
"Nothing... he asked me questions, and I got bitchy, yelled at him, and left." Michael looked at her and noticed the wetness on her cheeks and sighed inwardly.
"Come here." He murmured and carefully pulled her into his arms. She went willingly, her head against his shoulder, as his arms curled around her body. He remembered comforting Tess after her mom died. But it was completely different. Tess was his best friend, he loved her. She had been his best friend since his first day of Kindergarten.
But Maria... He stroked his fingers gently through her hair. It was different. "I know you don't believe me, but things will be okay." He whispered softly. Ever so slowly she began to relax. He continued to brush his fingers through her hair, down her back, and up again. Over and over. He heard the bell for class ring. Neither of them moved.
-
Jim Valenti knocked on the door of the DeLuca residence. A moment later the door opened, and he pulled off his cowboy hat. "Ms. DeLuca."
"Sheriff." She yelped, then scowled a little. "Can I help you?"
"I just wanted to talk to you."
"About?"
"Maria."
"She's upset. Her best friend died. Just give her a break Sheriff."
"Have you noticed anything else going on with her lately?"
Amy's brow furrowed. "What do you mean? What are you implying? Do you know something?"
"No... no. Several weeks ago, though, I did find her out in the desert."
"What do you mean?"
"She was out, just wandering."
"Near where they found her, right?" Jim nodded. "She told me she goes out there sometimes. She's curious. Her birth parents just abandoned her. She was lucky to survive. You know that. If you hadn't have found her, and Alex and Liz... they would have all died. Part of her wants to know who her birth parents were. Why they would just leave her." Amy sighed and walked back into the house, to pick up the basket of laundry.
Jim followed her. "She is a good girl, Jim. Especially considering what she has been through."
"It isn't safe for her to go wandering out there."
"I know." Amy sighed and picked up Maria's blood soaked uniform. "Keep an eye on her for me, Jim? Please. I worry about her. And now that Liz... I'm just worried. I can't loose my daughter."
"Don't worry, Amy. I'll keep an eye on her."
"How are you Jim?" Amy asked, crumpling the uniform in her hands. "And Tess?"
"Tess is what keeps me going." He sighed, and noticed the uniform. "Is that Maria's?"
"It is... I found it under her bed. I don't think it'll wash off, so I was just going to throw it away."
"Well, I should be going." He said suddenly. "I can throw it away outside on my way out."
"Would you?" Amy asked, and extended the uniform towards him. "Thank you."
Jim took the uniform and tipped his hat before walking to the door. "It was good to see you again, Amy." He told her, and disappeared outside. He headed for his SUV, staring down at the blood drenched uniform. There was no way that all that blood was from Liz. From what he'd gotten from the witnesses, Maria had been sitting next to Liz as she pressed her hand against the wound.
He drove back to the station quickly and threw the uniform out across his desk, looking over it. He could see smudges, Maria's hand prints near the bottom, obviously where she had wiped her hands. But right where her stomach would have been, was soaked, caked. Covered in blood. He narrowed his eyes and flipped through the Rolodex on his desk. He found the number he'd been looking for and dialed it quickly.
"It's Jim Valenti... I may have something for you."
-
The bell signaling that class was over rang, and neither moved. Michael just kept stroking her back. Slowly Maria tilted her head back and looked up at him. She felt better. Calmer. Maybe things would be okay. Maybe Valenti wasn't suspicious. "Michael, I just want to..." She trailed off as his hand came up to cup the side of her face. She could feel his warm breath on her face, and her eyes slid shut. Maria could feel him getting closer. She could feel his lips, hovering just barely away from hers. Another second and they would be pressed against hers.
The moment drew out like an eternity. They were so close.
"Maria." Michael and Maria jumped apart and looked towards the now open door.
"Alex?" She asked confused.
"We're late for class. Come on." She looked at Michael and then nodded and stood up slowly and followed Alex out of the eraser room.
"Is there a reason you didn't return my ... forty-seven calls?" She asked as they walked down the hall.
"Yeah. I was trying to deal... and a few days before... before Liz was...." Alex couldn't bring himself to say it. He just couldn't. "She had been working at the Crashdown, it was empty, almost closing, she was screwing around with her... ya know?" He wiggled his fingers. Liz had been careless. She'd been careless repeatedly, but this time... He sighed quietly. "Valenti walked into the diner. She had a CD playing on the counter, and well, she didn't tell me all the details, just that Valenti saw her using them."
"Valenti knows?!" Maria hissed quietly. Her heart lunged into her throat. "Oh god... oh god, oh god... oh god!"
"Maria, calm down."
"Don't tell me to calm down Alex." She hissed angrily. "You knew this... and neither one of you told me?! How... how could you?! I am part of this! I [i]am[/i] this! And neither one of you thought it was something I needed to know!?" Her voice was quiet, but Alex could hear the venom in it.
"Maria-"
"Go to hell Alex." She ground out. Maria spun around angrily. She could practically feel the blood boiling in her veins. Valenti knew. He knew. And they didn't tell her. She took off down the hallway, and bolted around the corner. A second later she found herself on her back, staring up at the ceiling.
"Oh, are you okay?" A voice asked, and Maria looked up and saw Kyle Harding standing over her. "Sorry, I wasn't paying any attention to where I was going." He extended his hand towards her and she didn't move for a second before taking his hand.
"Thanks... and I'm sorry too. I wasn't really paying any attention either." She fixed her hair, and picked up her book bag again.
"Sure you're okay?"
"Yeah." Maria nodded. "Thanks." She said before disappearing down the hallway. Kyle continued to stand there, and watch her leave.
"Where are you going?" Maria glanced over her shoulder and saw Michael jogging to catch up to her.
"Home."
"Why?"
"Because I'm sick of being here!" She hissed. He caught up with her and was just walking beside her. She shot him a dirty look. "What do you want?"
"Nothing. Just keeping you company."
"Maybe I don't want any."
"Like I said before, you're a bad liar." Maria stopped walking and looked at Michael. She was tired, her emotions were tired. She wanted everything to be okay. She didn't want Liz to be dead. She didn't want to believe that they had kept something from her.
"Walk me home?" Her voice came out quiet. Michael nodded and took her book bag from her and slid his arm around her shoulders.
Gratefully Maria leaned into his side. There was a strength behind Michael that made her feel better. Calm. She remembered she felt the same way around him years ago at the orphanage. When he had stood up for her. When she had sat down as close to him as possible, touching from shoulder to foot, and laid her head on his shoulder. She felt calm.
They walked in silence to her house and she sighed as the reached the doorstep. "Walk you to school tomorrow?" Michael offered and Maria paused for a moment, then nodded.
"Sure, I'll see you in the morning." Maria said before walking inside.
"You're home early." Amy said as she walked back into the living room.
"People were pissing me off." Maria told her mom and then walked down the hall to her bedroom. She threw her bag on the floor and fell back onto her bed. She stared up at the ceiling for a long time before rolling over. She lifted up the blankets near the edge of her foot and looked for her uniform. Her plan was the burn it. That was the only thing she could do.
"Oh shit." She exclaimed and somehow flipped over, and fell off her bed. Maria dove under her bed and stared. It was gone. "Mom!" Maria screeched and jumped up and ran down the hallway.
"What Maria?" Amy asked a little confused. She was in the kitchen, baking pies. Jeff Parker had called early. The funeral was in a few days, and afterwards they would be having a get together, and he'd asked her to make some things to eat.
"Where is my uniform?" Maria burst into the kitchen.
"You left it on the floor, by your bed."
"No. The other one." Maria hissed. "The one I wore..."
"Oh, sweetie, there was no way the blood would come out, so I threw it out."
"Where is it."
"Probably out in the garbage out front." Maria took off through the house and ran out the front door. She threw open the garbage can, and stared into it. Her uniform wasn't there. It was gone. "Mom!" Maria ran back inside and into the kitchen. "It isn't there!"
"Sweetie..." Amy shook her head. "Why do you want it?"
"I just..." Maria sighed.
"Maria, Jim probably threw it out someplace else."
"Jim." Maria stared at her mother in shock. She watched the blush creep up her mom's neck and over her face.
"The Sheriff was here earlier, he's worried about you."
"I'm sure." Maria shook her head. "He has my uniform?"
"He said he would throw it away for me." Amy abandoned her bowl of pie crust. "Talk to me. Tell me what is wrong."
Maria shook her head. "I've...gotta go." Angrily she stormed out of the house. Valenti had her uniform. She was as good as dead. As good as sliced open on a table, while they poked and prodded her insides. And for once in her life, she couldn't go to Alex. The thought made her heart sink. She lost both of her best friends.
She wrapped her arms around herself as she quickly walked down the sidewalk. It was later than she realized, and the sun had already begun to set. The temperature had dropped considerably. Maria quickened her pace.
She found herself in front of Michael's house and chewed on her lip. At least, she thought it was his house. She knew he moved around a lot, bounced from home to home. She walked up and knocked lightly on the door.
The door opened, and a short woman, with frizzy red hair, holding a half asleep infant opened the door. "Hi, can I help you?"
"I was... looking for Michael... is he... do I even have the right house?" She suddenly felt embarrassed. She wasn't even sure if it was the right house.
"Sure." The woman smiled, and stepped back. "Michael." She called softly, and he appeared after a second.
"Maria... you okay?" Something was off. She just seemed, worse than before. He stepped out onto the front porch and closed the door. "What is it."
"Valenti has my uniform." She told him softly.
"Okay..."
"I have to get it back."
"Maria, what do you... what are you talking about?" Michael was confused. "What happened?"
"He has my uniform, and I have to get it back. You don't understand Michael..."
"Then make me understand."
"I can't." Her voice cracked. "Please, if you help me, I swear, I will tell you everything, just please."
"Okay." Michael nodded. "Okay, Maria, I'll help you." He told her and stepped forward. His hand gently caught her arm and he pulled her closer. "It'll be okay." Willingly she leaned into his chest, and let her eyes slip shut.
"Thank you." Relief was flowing through her veins. "Thank you
