Chapter Two: Taking that Chance

Maria DeLuca could feel him watching her. Michael. He'd never admit it, but would only deny it like he did with anything that was too real for his reality. Just the knowledge of his presence here, somehow, at pre-college, just completely occupied her thoughts.

All of a sudden, the life that she didn't want, one totally encompassed with all things Michael Guerin, had followed her to her escape at NYU. That kiss … Maria could feel her lips tingling as the yearning to be apart of Michael's life again remained.

But, for the life of her, Maria could not be that girl. She wouldn't compete against that other girl, Hailey, or the possible future ones just like her. Those girls were just so not like her… instead of taking what she wanted without thinking about others, Maria just let it go. She went with the flow.

If she could just stay focused, this pre-college could be the perfect escape. Now, she was living with her mom's mom and the whole Roswell scene was over. The only thing that lingered was Michael. No more lingering, Maria had new roommates to meet.

Aaron was over, at least in Anna's mind. Once he finally got over his fear of her brother, Felix, she lost interest. Maybe it wasn't a loss of interest, but maybe Anna just realized that it wasn't what she thought. A little infatuation. Not really anything to get worked up about.

But, then again, this was coming from a girl who had been in love with him since middle school, five pathetic years of drooling over Aaron with nothing to show for it. Right now, Anna was just getting fed up with his actOne minute Aaron was into her, the next he was too cool for her.

It was so high school and this was so … not. Anna smiled to herself as she neared her new dorm room. What made her think of Aaron anyway? It was funny how the mind often drifted to unimportant territory all too often.

Anna made her way to the room, putting on her confident façade. She smiled. Everyone back at home always talked about her boundless confidence and this new situation was no reason to start falling apart.

As she neared her room door, Anna noticed a black girl lingering around the door. She nearly rolled her eyes, preparing herself for the drama to come. She knew how 'her people' could be.

Her dad, being a black Dominican, taught her the difference between being a socially acceptable black person and a stereotypical loud and ghetto one and this girl standing at her room door looked to be the latter.

"Excuse me." Anna muttered with an air of sophistication that this girl could only hope to have. She gave her a small, arrogant smile before opening the door that Chelsea had been struggling with, and she did it with ease.

"I couldn't open it." Chelsea stated, turning to face her new roommate. Anna nearly stumbled back in shock. This girl was gorgeous, drop-dead and stunning.

Tossing her hair over her shoulder insecurely, Anna reached out her hand. "I'm Anna."

" Chelsea." The duo shook hands before walking into their new apartment-style dorms with Anna brushing ahead of Chelsea, just a little, to make sure that she got to see the place first.

"This is great," Chelsea said to no one in particular, thrilled to have something new and positive in her life.

"It'll do." Anna opened the door to their bedroom. Chelsea breathed a sigh of relief. No bunk beds, no lofted anything. Heights freaked her out and sleeping 10 feet off the ground would not be fun. "Anna plopped down on the bed farthest away from the door. "Too bad it's just twin-sized."

Chelsea nodded, less than thrilled to be directly in front of the door, but too closed off and afraid to say anything. She really wanted to have a good roommate experience, at all costs. Maybe she and Anna would be really good associates or even friends … who knew?

"The bathroom is really nice. It's over--"

"I know." Anna said even though she actually hadn't seen it yet so she really didn't know. She stood up and checked out the bathroom.

"I wonder who our other roommate is." Chelsea said out loud, trying to mimic the charisma that was so widely praised by … everyone.

Anna shrugged. "All I know is that I'm ready for this to get started. We have this 'hall meeting' tonight." She smiled. "That's when I'll know that this is all real." She finished as Chelsea simply nodded.

Chelsea watched Anna unpack her few bags, alone and suddenly wished that she hadn't told her parents not to come.

"I'm unpacking alone too."

"Oh. I'm not alone. My loser brother is downstairs looking for parking. I told him parking in the city is a joke, but the jackass insisted on getting a rental instead of taking a cab like everyone else. You took a cab, didn't you?"

Chelsea just nodded. So much for trying to talk about things they had in common. Thus far, there were none and worst of all, Chelsea would have to take on the exhausting task of unpacking alone. She silently cursed herself for not ever grasping the concept of packing light.

A least 60 of her things from back at home had made it to NYU and by the looks of things, it was going to be a very long day in a very crowded room.

"What's with having a schedule? No one actually follows these things." Ashley rationalized to Kyla who was growing more and more impatient with the cab driver.

"We need to get there on time." She argued back.

"Too late for that." Ashley smiled. "I agreed to attend this place, not to follow the rules here."

"Then you won't last very long." Kyla took a moment to absorb the new vibe that had taken over. New York City. The entire scene here was different from L.A. and it seemed to be the good kind.

"We paid those people to move me in on 'move in day'. The only thing I have left to do is show up."

"Well you better hope the Resident Assistants there are as lax about the situation as you."

Nervous. Anxiety. Restlessness. Those were all things Lana was feeling. She had been so ready to start this new adventure in her life that she'd gotten permission to move in early. By the time her roommate got here she would already be settled in.

Lana rested on her bed, closing her eyes carelessly. Now this was life. She didn't have to worry about some lunatic with meteor-induced super-powers attacking her or being stalked by Lex Luthor.

As far as he was concerned, she was dead. Now, Lana was free to live exactly how she wanted, maybe not under the name she was born to, but nonetheless by her own rules.

Besides, being Janet "Lana" Lian wasn't so bad and this new hazel-red hair that she had was hot. Clark would die to see her now. Lana sighed to herself. Clark. She wondered what he was doing now, how is mom was, and … everyone.

Lana knew that him going to her funeral probably destroyed him. She just hoped that he would move on quickly or even better, realize that she was still alive. No body meant that she was dead. He'd come looking for her, knock on her door, scoop her up--"

"Hey!" An enthusiastic blonde burst into the room with enough energy to fill a football stadium. "I'm Terri." She rushed over to Lana who had her hand reached out for a shaking, but Terri hugged her instead. "Hand shakes are so impersonal." She explained.

"Nice to meet you," Lana smiled, her attention turning to two men who had just entered her room.

"Oh yeah that's my dad and my friend Spinner. I had to bribe him to travel all the way to New York just to help me move in. Where are your friends?" Terri wondered as Lana tried to figure out how to answer the question.

"Well, actually--"

"No Spin. Not there." Terri rushed over to her rugged friend who stood back, his hands folded across his chest, and watched Terri arrange her shoes the way she wanted them.

"I'll just bring in the stuff and you organize it." He offered as she smiled at him brightly.

"And he's just your friend?" Lana wondered as soon as the two of them were left alone.

"Well … sort of. If you're getting any ideas about you and him, don't."

Chelsea had actually gotten a lot of work done, at least a lot more than she thought she would in an hour. Anna's brother had yet to arrive and Chelsea was starting to think that Anna had fabricated the entire story. She seemed like the type.

So far, the two hadn't learned much about each other. Anna tried not to be too overwhelmed by Chelsea's outer beauty and Chelsea tried to stay out of Anna's way which was nearly impossible with all of Chelsea's things scattered about the room.

The whole situation was just super awkward. Chelsea was trying to figure out if she liked Anna or not. First impression—not so good, Anna just … something didn't seem right about her. All Chelsea could hope was that Anna would be too preoccupied doing … something to spend much time in their room. Chelsea loved her privacy.

"Can you open the door? Hey!" A male voice yelled behind the front doors to the apartment.

"And that would be my loser brother." Anna rolled her eyes, slowly nearing the door, in absolutely no rush, as the pounding grew louder and more forceful. "Hey les--"

"Don't you ever say that to me," She snapped, opening the door quickly. Meanwhile, Chelsea remained in the room, stepping into the closet and trying to organize things there.

She was starting to feel that feeling of wanting to clam up, hide, and not say anything. At this time, Chelsea wanted nothing more than to be invisible or to not have to deal with more people coming into this room and watching her do her thing, all the while trying to figure her out.

"Where is she?" Chelsea heard who she guessed was the brother nagging his sister.

"She's in the room dufus. It's not that difficult to find, but just in case you feel a little directionally challenged, as you obvious did when finding a parking space today, you can all me." Anna muttered, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Funny." He answered as the two entered the bedroom.

" Chelsea, this is my idiot brother Felix. Felix, meet Chelsea."

"Hi." She called out from inside the closet, waving her hand and continuing to work.

"Am I allowed in here too or is this space exclusively for you?" Felix stepped into the closet as well.

"Yuck. No flirting with the roommate. Come on Chelsea. He brought us something to eat." Anna announced, snatching up the bag her brother dropped onto the nearly piece of furniture. She searched its contents. Fattening, fattening, and more fattening.

Oh well. Anna shrugged. She would just skip a meal or two tomorrow to compensate. Tomorrow would be so busy that she'd be likely to forget to eat anyway.

"Hi." Chelsea greeted Felix, finally looking him in the eye. Something was familiar about this guy. She searched his face for a reminder while he continued to look at her as well. Maybe, she did know him … of course she did. Chelsea just couldn't remember …

"Chelsea … Lewis?"

"Yeah."

"Is your best friend from the big island that forgettable?"

"No way!!" Chelsea screamed looking at Felix with a new sense of awe.

"You can hug me you know." He complained, taking the initiative to embrace her himself.

"This world is definitely way too small." Chelsea joked as he hooked his arm around her neck, just like he used to do when he was about to put her in a choke hold.

"Don't even think about it." Chelsea warned, smiling at him genuinely happy and ready to hear how the latter half of his life had been.

"Would you two stop flirting and help me eat this?" She tossed her brother a bagel. "Like you couldn't have gotten me a salad. I know Einstein sells them."

"Lucky you. You get to live with my baby sis."

"I'm here!" Ashley Davies announced after finally making it to the fourth floor. The elevator had broken down, just her luck.

"Ashley." Kyla whispered as the entire group of students sitting on the hallway floor turned their attention to the duo.

"Ah. The Davies sisters." One of the girls sneered. Her shirt read 'RESIDENT ASSISTANT.'

"Now you've angered one of them."

"You know it." Ashley grinned, glad that she'd decided to get a little drunk before arriving. Drunk really wasn't the word. She was a little buzzed, tipsy. Ha. Tipsy was it.

"We're sorry for interrupting the meeting … where you do want her?" Kyla stepped in.

"Who said we want her? 'How do you want it?'" Someone mumbled, suggestively as Kyla looked down at the floor for a second. She had once said those words. It was the sex tape thing. Kyla never even authorized it nor did she know about it until it was released to the entire world.

The best lawyers themselves couldn't stop the rapid spread and popularity of the video, even though they had it removed and banned from the internet, movie rental places, everywhere. It was too late. And that jerk got away with it.

"Ashley needs to be with her suitemates. Let's see … you're in… 431A right next to Chelsea Lewis and Anna Taggaro." A curly-haired RA stepped in. "Stand up girls."

"Ashley, I'll see you later. Call me when you're through," Kyla said before her sister sat down to join the others. Now, the whole NY vibe was starting to feel more like Los Angeles, totally about image. Kyla started to wonder if she would ever live that down.

"Maria." She could feel something whispering to her. Maria tossed and turned the other way. Her third night here and she still couldn't sleep. It had nothing to do with her snoring suitemate, but rather her super-anal roommate who typed up these rules and posted them on the wall before Maria had even gotten to the dorms. Who does that?

"Maria." She heard it again, this time in her dream. Maria could feel the change. The air was somehow less cold and thick. "DeLuca." Her eyes opened upon hearing Michael's voice.

"Whoa. What are you doing here?" She asked. "Or is this just some illusion?"

"No. It's me. I … couldn't stay away." He looked down embarrassed.

"It's been three days."

"That's the longest I've gone without seeing you. Even when we weren't together. You were always … around." He explained.

"As flattered as I am with this Mikey G., there's only one thing I want to do right now. Sleep." Maria yawned as Michael continued looking at her as intensely as ever. The passion grew from just a look to a tangible, physical manifestation—a tender kiss.

"Michael, I know what you're asking. We can't. My roommate has all these rules and I respect us more than that. Even if we were quiet--"

"Don't you shut up?" He wondered as Maria pouted and folded her arms jokingly. "Maybe I just want to … be with you. Hold you."

"Does Max know about this?"

"No, but … Isabel does. She was the one calling you." He answered.

"You know how to make this hard." Maria answered back, pulling open her sheets and beckoning him to lay down beside her. "I know there's literally no room here, which will make it easy for you not to hog all the covers."

He kissed her again in response, leaving Maria as weak and desperate for him as he had been for her. As he moved in beside her, Maria felt his body wrap around hers, comforting and protecting her from all the harm out there in the world.

His body cupped her as if it were meant to be that way, always. Maria closed her eyes and tried not to shed a tear. Couldn't Michael feel her sadness? Couldn't he see how torn she was? Him being here tonight wouldn't change that. They couldn't work. Not like this, not with her always wondering and wondering if he was alive or dead.

Did they catch him? Would they use her to find him? Or just as worse, did girls like Hailey finally catch him during a moment of weakness and share with him something that was supposed to be sacred? Something only for those truly in love?

"I'll be gone before anyone knows I'm here. I promise." Michael whispered reassuringly, brushing Maria's hair away from her neck as he whispered into her ear. Maria's body shivered. This would definitely be the most difficult thing she'd have to do. Be strong, and stay strong. One day, really soon, she'd have to be separated from Michael Guerin for real.

(A/N: The real world had too much of a hold on me, but I've finally started to write again. Obviously, I won't be done with all of my works before 2007 ends, but I have plans to finish most/all of them. Let me know what you think by reviewing. –NL)