AURA: Trials and Tribulations: Chapter Seven
Alex's fingers flew across the keyboard. His eyes flickered back and forth across the screen. They knew it wasn't her blood. It wasn't her blood. Another female. Not an alien. They were screwed, and Alex knew it. He had been able to access the files, read them, see what they knew, but he didn't know how to erase anything. He had been working on some sort of virus. Short out their server, cause them to loose all the information pertaining to Maria and Liz. Before it was too late.
He lifted his head for a second, glancing around the diner. He had settled himself into a far corner booth, his back to a wall, so no one could sneak up on him. Maria wasn't there. He'd thought she was working tonight, but he was never sure anymore.
The bell over the door went off and he glanced up and saw Isabel Evans, clad in her cheerleading uniform walk in the door, with a small gaggle of her cheerleading friends. He wasn't sure why he liked her. She was beautiful, of course. She emanated perfection. She was cool, calm. And he knew, that inside, she was this amazingly caring person.
Maria would have smacked the crap out of him if she knew that his favorite thing to do was to dream walk Isabel. Slip into her dreams, watch her. He always ached to touch her, but even in her dreams he feared her rejection. Besides, they weren't supposed to get involved. They were alone, and that was how it was supposed to be. Just him and Maria now, against the world.
"Hey, Evans." Some jock waved at her, and she smiled at him.
"Hey, good game." She said to the jock, abandoning her friends to walk over to his table.
"You looked good out there." He told her.
"Thanks, you too."
Alex rolled his eyes and ducked back behind his laptop. It was sickening, the mating rituals of humans. The flirting.
Tess giggled quietly and dragged Kyle behind her. "You are going to get me arrested." He whispered and then heard her giggle again.
"No, I won't besides, my dad is the Sheriff."
"In that case you're going to get me shot!" He pulled her to a stop and pinned her to the wall they were sneaking along. She smiled up at him.
"I wouldn't dream of it." They both stared at each other for a long moment before Kyle closed the distance between them and kissed her. Tess instantly wrapped her arms around his shoulders and clung to him, while his arms wound around her waist.
They broke apart, gasping for breath. Tess smiled up a him, and Kyle couldn't help but grin back. "Come on, let's go." She said and grabbed his hand again and started dragging him along with her.
"Why are we doing this?"
"Because, it's fun." She insisted.
"Breaking into the library after hours is not my idea of fun."
Tess laughed quietly as they reached the inner door. "Through here." She told him and fished the two barrettes from her pocket and shoved them into the lock. After a few seconds they heard the lock tumble open and she pushed open the door.
They walked into a room, and Kyle's mouth fell open a little. "Wow."
"It's not open to the public, yet. This is the stuff that is going into the new UFO Museum they are building." Tess smiled and walked down one of the rows of stuff. Everything was stacked up, and close together. Pictures. Supposed samples of materials from alien spaceships.
"How did you know about this?" Kyle asked his brow furrowing as he looked at a plastic case, inside was a replica of the crash.
"My dad... and my grandpa, they were both into this stuff..." Tess flipped through a stack of framed pictures. "My grandpa actually almost went to jail... shot some man. Lost his job over it all. Grandma had died a few years before that, he wasn't doing very good without her. He got really obsessed." Tess got quiet, staring at a picture of a sighting out in the desert.
Kyle looked at her. He hated lying to her. This beautiful girl, with a really screwed up family, and he was lying to her. He walked over and slid his hand over her hip, and around to rest on her stomach and pulled her against his chest.
It was getting late. Alex finally lifted his head again, the diner was practically empty. He shut his computer and threw some money on the table. He stuck his laptop in his bag and headed out of the diner. He heard a sound and frowned.
"Stop it." The voice sounded not far away.
"You like it."
"Paulie, get off me." The voice was more forceful. A quiet shriek. Isabel. That was Isabel's voice. He stepped around the corner, they were down the alley, just a little ways, he was pushing her up against the brick wall, and she was trying to push him back.
"You like it, Evans, you know you want it." Alex narrowed his eyes and dropped his bag and grabbed Paulie's shoulder and yanked him off Isabel. She stared at him in shock, and Paulie looked angry.
"Whitman?" Paulie laughed. "Go back to your computer, geek."
"How about you leave the lady alone." Alex growled, and Paulie laughed again.
"How about, I don't." Paulie swung his fist, and caught the edge of Alex's jaw, sending him onto his ass. Paulie laughed again and started to advance on Isabel once more, but he never reached her. He felt himself being shoved, face first into the wall. He turned around and felt Alex's fist slam into his nose. Blood was gushing instantly from Paulie broken nose.
"Ahhole." Paulie yelled, his voice muffled by the blood.
"Don't touch her again." Alex growled, leaning in close to Paulie's face. Alex looked at Isabel, who was still just staring at him. "You okay?" She was shaking. "Come on, I'll give you a ride home."
Isabel let Alex lead her to his car and climbed in the passenger seat. She had her arms wrapped around herself. "Are you okay?" He asked her as he started the car and started driving. She didn't answer him, just pulled her knees up to her chest, curling up into a ball in the seat, her face buried in her knees.
Alex kept glancing at her out of the corner of his eye as he drove. Her shoulders were shaking, but he couldn't hear any sounds coming from her. He pulled over to the side of the road about a block from her house, and she still didn't move. "Is-" He reached out and touched her shoulder. She raised her head and looked at him and he saw the tears cascading down her face.
"I can't go home like this." She whispered.
Alex reached into the glove box and found a pack of tissue that Maria had stuck in there at some point and time and he opened it and looked at Isabel. "Here." He said softly, handing her a few tissues. She sniffled and blew her nose and wiped her eyes. "Did he hurt you? I mean, physically?"
She shook her head. "No." She sat up a little and flipped down the visor to look at her reflection in the mirror. Her makeup was smudged. "I think you broke his nose... that's some right hook you've got." Isabel glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, before taking another tissue and did her best to wipe away the smeared mascara under her eyes. "Thanks for the ride home." She told him and then quickly got out of the car and jogged the short distance to her house.
Alex kept his eyes focused on her until she made it in the door of her house. Then he sighed and headed home.
Maria was sitting at the kitchen table with Max as he tried to explain something about photosynthesis. But she wasn't hearing a word he said. All she heard was 'blah blah blah.' Her mind kept drifting off. Thinking about other things. Valenti. Michael. Her mom. Alex. Liz.
"Are you paying any attention to me?" Max asked suddenly, and Maria jerked slightly looking at him.
"What?" He laughed.
"You haven't heard a word I said, have I?" Maria shook her head a little, feeling ashamed that he was taking the time to help her, and she wasn't paying any attention.
"I'm sorry."
"What's wrong?" He asked her.
"Nothing..." Maria shook her head, and then heard the front door. They both looked towards the door and saw Isabel poke her head in the door.
"You okay Iz?" Max asked frowning.
"I'm fine." She said coldly, shooting Maria a dirty look.
"I should go." Maria quickly closed her book and started to gather her stuff.
"Don't leave because of me." Isabel said and then disappeared from the doorway.
"I should go see what is going on." Max frowned and looked at Maria. "You work tomorrow?" She nodded.
"Thanks, Max. For your help. I really do appreciate it."
"No problem, Maria. I am more than happy to help. Let me know when you want to get together again, okay?"
Max walked Maria to the door and watched her walk out to her car before he walked down the hallway to Isabel's room. "What's up Iz?" He asked knocking on the door.
"Nothing." She snapped at him. Max tried the door but it was locked.
"Isabel, open the door."
"Go away Max." She yelled at him. Max frowned at the door. Something was wrong and he was getting pissed off that his sister was ignoring him completely.
"Isabel Amanda Evans." He growled. A moment later the door flew open and she was standing there, changed out of her Cheerleading Uniform and into her favorite pajamas, with tears shining in her eyes. "What happened?"
"I don't want to talk about it." She told him, and then threw herself into his arms as she cried.
Max sighed as he held his sobbing sister. She never was like this. She was the Ice Princess, and she prided herself on never crying in front of anyone. And if she was sobbing like this, whatever it was, had to have been big. "Tell me, baby sister." He whispered as he rubbed her back. "What happened?" But she shook her head.
Tess smiled shyly at Kyle, as they laid on their backs in the park. It was dark, and it was cold, but she was calm. After they left the library they had walked to the park, and laid down to stare up at the stars. He had told her about traveling. About the different places he had been. She had told him about life in Roswell, having the Sheriff for a dad. Right now she was curled up against his side, using his arm as a pillow.
He looked down at her and smiled, then brought a hand up to stroke her cheek. "I should get you home." He said and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear.
"I don't want to go home."
"What do you want to do? Break into another building? Vandalism?" He joked.
Tess smiled and shook her head. "Actually, I'm pretty content right where we are." He tightened his arm around her and dropped his mouth to hers and kissed her tenderly.
"Miss Harding." Tess jerked her head up and looked wide eyed at the police officer standing a few feet away. "I'd get home if I were you. Your father is on a rampage."
"Thanks, Hanson." Tess bit her lip and scrambled to her feet with Kyle.
"Need a ride?"
"No, my car is over at the library." She grabbed onto Kyle's hand and dragged him with her away from the park and back towards the library. Tess drove Kyle to his house and turned off the engine as they sat there. "Thanks for ..." She turned her head and looked at him, and was silenced by his lips descending on hers. They broke apart a moment later and she smiled at him.
"I'll see you at school." Kyle said and kissed her lightly before getting out. He walked away from the car and went inside. He felt this twinge. He really liked her and he was lying. All of it was lies.
"What were you doing with her?" Kyle looked over and saw the man who had raised him. Taken him in. Taught him everything.
"We went out."
"She isn't your objective."
"Objective?" Kyle scoffed. "I'm not distracted from what I'm supposed to be doing. I know I'm supposed to get close to Maria, and Alex. I'm working on it."
"Apparently not very hard. The FBI is after them. They know about them. Do you want them to be taken?"
"Of course not." Kyle snapped.
"Well, while you're off fornicating with the Sheriff's Daughter, the Sheriff is getting closer to Maria."
"I know what I'm doing!" Kyle exploded. "I won't let him get to them. She is the Sheriff's daughter. Don't you realize, it makes it easier for me to find out just what he knows?"
Nesado narrowed his eyes. "You had better watch yourself."
The next day at lunch, Maria was sitting in the library, staring blankly at the papers in front of her. She was trying to take care of her make up work, trying to get her grades back up. Max was supposed to meet her later. They both had a free period after lunch. But she was trying to get as much done before that. So far, she wasn't having any luck. Her mind kept drifting, to Michael, to Alex. The FBI. Her mom.
"Hey." Max's voice cut through her thoughts and she looked up quickly.
"Oh, hey."
"You okay?"
"Yeah, fine, why?"
"I said your name about five times." She looked down and then back up at him blushing.
"Sorry." She sighed. "Just... lots of stuff in my head."
"Want to talk about it?"
"Not really."
"Okay." Max smiled. "Okay, so..." He opened his bag and pulled out a few books. "Are you ready?"
"Do I have a choice?" She gave him a small smile back and he shook his head.
"None." Maria laughed. And for the first time in his life, Max noticed someone, other than Liz Parker.
"Okay, okay. Since I have no choice, I guess I am ready." She leaned forward to look at the book he pulled at and Max couldn't help but notice how green her eyes were. The way her hair fell in her face. She tucked some behind her ear. "What are we studying today?" She asked, glancing up at him. She smiled a little and Max felt his face flush, and his pulse quicken.
He swallowed hard, trying to find his voice. "Biology... mating." He coughed. "Slugs. Mrs. Turner wants you to get slugs to mate, for extra credit, to get you caught back up."
"Sounds exciting... the mating rituals of slugs." She shook her head and rolled her eyes. "You're going to walk me through it, right?" She asked and he nodded.
"Of course." And in the back of his mind, he wondered if they could experiment with any other mating rituals while they were at it.
Michael trudged down the hall toward the library. Annoyed. Why had he come to school? Oh yeah, because the Pascal's insisted on it. And made him feel responsible for being a good role model for Dylan. And it really pissed him off. So to make up for the time and work he'd missed, he was having to do massive extra credit work. Thus, the library and he were going to become very good friends.
He walked in and looked around. He didn't think he'd ever actually stepped foot in the library. He frowned. Well, there was only one way to find what he was looking for. He started walking down the isles, glancing at the little signs, when he heard a laugh. And it wasn't just any laugh.
Maria DeLuca's happy, bubbly laugh. He hadn't heard her laugh since Liz died. He followed the sound and saw her sitting at a table with Max. His best friend. They were smiling at each other, and apparently, Maria found him hilarious. She was smiling. She actually looked happy. And Max looked pretty damn happy too. Michael couldn't hold back the quiet growl in his throat. But neither of them even noticed. Was he... jealous? He turned and stormed out of the library, screw extra credit.
Alex adjusted his bag as he walked down the hallway. He was looking for Maria. They needed to talk. He'd found some more information last night while he'd been hacking into government files. But instead he saw Isabel, and completely forgot everything but her. She was wearing jeans, and a sweatshirt, her hair was pulled back in a ponytail. She looked like she had last night in his car. Vulnerable. She was getting odd looks for fellow students. But she didn't even seem to notice them.
"Hey." The word came out before he could stop it. She just looked at him, like she was surprised he dared address her in public.
"Hey." She answered back.
"You...okay?" Slowly she nodded.
"Isabel." One of her friends appeared, and gave Alex a weird look. "Where were you at lunch? You missed our practice! You're the captain of the team! What is wrong with you?"
"I'm sick, so go away Ashley."
"You must be seriously ill, its the only way you would be caught dead without makeup." She sniggered before continuing down the hallway. Isabel looked back at Alex who was simply looking at her.
"Stop it." She told him.
"What?"
"Looking at me like that." Alex quickly looked away, but glanced back at her. "Can you give me a ride home?" She asked him, and he nodded.
"Of course."
"I've gotta go grab a few more things out of my locker, meet you at your car in a few minutes?" He nodded again, and gave her a small smile. She watched him walk away and then went down the other hallway towards her locker. Isabel just stood there and stared at it, slowly doing the combination, trying to remember each digit. Once it was open she grabbed the book she needed and glanced down the hallway as she shut it, and spotted Paulie with some of his friends.
Paulie looked pissed. Isabel felt panicked. She quickly turned and rushed down the empty hallway away from them. Once she was outside she took a deep breath. There were people everywhere. At least Paulie wouldn't try anything. She found Alex standing by his car and wordlessly climbed in.
A moment later Alex got in the car and started down the street, away from the school, towards her house. "What do you even care what Paulie does to me?" Alex looked at her confused.
"What do you mean?"
"Last night... why did you come down the alley, why did you stop him? You could have been just like anyone else and just walked by, he could have kicked your ass."
"Who hit who?" Alex reminded her. "I don't think everyone would just walk by and let you... any woman, get attacked." She didn't say another word for the rest of the drive. Alex pulled the car to a stop and she mumbled a thanks as she got out, and ran up to the door.
Maria flew from table to table, taking orders, delivering food, smiling like a maniac. When inside she was screaming and crying and throwing food at people. The restaurant was packed, and Josey had called in sick, so she was alone. Screwed. "Alex!" She exclaimed when she saw her friend walk in the door. "My best friend in the whole wide world."
"She called in sick again didn't she?" He asked and Maria nodded. "Okay, let me put my bag in the back." He told her and headed into the back room.
The night flew by. Before they knew it, it was closing time and Maria fell into a booth exhausted. "I am just sleeping here." She told him tiredly.
"Let me throw out the trash, and I'll walk you to your car." He told her and grabbed the bag and headed out the back door.
"Hey, Whitman." Alex glanced towards the voice and saw Paulie standing about ten feet away. "You broke my fuckin nose. All over that little whore? Did you get laid for coming to her rescue?" Four of Paulie's friends appeared, they all looked like they wanted a fight. Alex knew he was screwed.
"Shit." He breathed, and just hoped Maria wouldn't wonder what was taking him so long. Paulie threw the first punch, knocking him on his back. Then two of Paulie's friends came in and pulled him back to his feet, and they all took turns, slamming their fists wherever they could.
"Next time, mind your own business. Geek." They left him laying on the ground, bleeding. Alex groaned. He could feel the blood dripping from his nose, his mouth. His whole body hurt.
"Alex?" Maria's voice came from the doorway a second later. "Oh god! Alex!" She ran to him and touched his face.
"Don't heal it." He groaned out.
"What?! What happened!"
"Help me inside." Alex said and Maria helped him to his feet and guided him inside. Once there he fell onto the couch and Maria went and grabbed some ice.
"Tell me what happened."
"Paulie."
"What? Why?"
"Because, he was trying to attack Isabel last night... I stopped him. He was pissed." Maria frowned, and touched his face. "Damn, don't." He winced.
"You could have kicked their asses."
"Not without giving myself away." He sighed.
"Come on, I'll walk you to your car." She said, and Alex gave her a dirty look.
"You're not funny."
"I know." But she smiled a little anyways. "You can heal it."
"No, I can't. They know what they did to me."
"At least some of it. It was so dark, they aren't going to know each and every cut and bruise." Maria frowned at him. "I hate to see you like this." She touched his face, and healed one of the smaller cuts.
"Thanks." He kissed her forehead. "Get home safe."
"You too." She said and then jogged the short distance to her car. They both waited a moment, and then drove out of the parking lot at the same time.
Michael slipped out his bedroom window silently. Dylan was snoring loudly, so he knew it was safe. He was at Maria's window within minutes. He tapped lightly on her window and she looked startled for a second, before opening it and letting him in. "What are you doing here?"
"Why is there blood on your uniform?" He asked, suddenly concerned.
"Alex got beat up, by Paulie and Company. Apparently Alex hit Paulie last night, for touching Isabel. What are you doing here?"
Michael stared at her, this was all news to him. "What are you doing with Max?"
"What?" Maria shook her head. "He's tutoring me. I suck at most of my classes, he's helping me so I can actually hopefully graduate some day."
"Looked like you were doing more that studying in the library today."
"You're spying on me?!" Maria hissed. Her mother was just down the hall. The last thing she needed was her mom finding Michael in her room and getting the sex talk.
"I was getting a book for one of my classes." It sounded like a really lame excuse for him, and Maria didn't believe him, he could tell by the look in her eyes, that were more vibrant than he'd ever seen them. And he knew she was livid.
"First you don't believe me when I tell you the truth! Then you tell Tess my biggest, life threatening secret! And now you're spying on me! What I do is NONE of your business Michael Guerin!" She had her finger on his chest, jabbing him to accentuate each word.
"It is when my friends are involved!" He roared back, his voice in a whisper, but the anger was there.
"What do you care what I do with Max?! I'm not hurting him! We're friends!" She threw her hands in the air, and Michael grabbed onto her wrist.
"Friends?!" He pulled her back when she started to walk away. "Looked like you were a whole lot more than that from where I stood!"
"What do you care?!" She wrenched her hand from his grasp and shoved his chest. "Get away from me, get out of my house. At least Max listens when I tell him I don't want to talk about it. He believes me when I tell him I'm not on drugs!"
"I believed you!"
"Not you didn't! And you tried to get me to tell Valenti! The man who wants to turn me over to the FBI!"
"I thought he could help! I wanted to help!"
"I don't need his help, and I don't need yours! I don't need you to protect me! I can take care of myself!" She shoved at him again, but this time he caught both of her hands in his and pulled her against his chest. Neither knew what happened. One second they were arguing, barely containing their voices, the next their mouths were crushed together. Maria struggled for a split second before melting into his arms, instead of trying to pull out of his grasp, she was trying to get closer.