Through The Silvered Glass – Chapter Nine
"Hiding In Plain Sight"
Disclaimer: Not Mine, not mine, not mine.
A/N: Thank you to my reviewers. I had meant to make my chapter a little longer, but I ran out of muse. I hope I at least touched on some of the cliff hangers from the last chapter.
Maria's POV
Maria pulled the jetta into one of the last remaining parking spots. She was running late, once again, but she, Liz and Claudia had all been up late talking. Once again, she had considered staying, but had instead had Claudia drop her off on her way to her hotel. Normally she was here at a pretty decent time because she gave Liz a ride, but Liz was coming in early all week, still prepping for that science competition. And that extra ten minutes she gained from Liz not needing to be picked up had turned into twenty, and the next thing she knew, here she was at school, with not even one cup of coffee to her name. Again.
She walked towards her locker, giving everyone her best under-caffeinated glare of death. Unfortunately, it didn't seem to be working.
She cheered up when she reached her locker and saw Alex leaning against it with not one, but two cups of coffee.
She loved Alex.
"Mostly milk with a ton of sugar!" He smiled and handed hers to her.
"You are the person I love the most. Coffee is my religion." She replied. "So, are you picking Claudia up to take her to the Reservation today?" She asked as she rummaged one handed through her locker. She knew that stupid notebook was in here somewhere….
"Yeah, I'm picking her up at four, and then we'll probably be back at the crashdown by seven or eight." He replied, reached over her head to neatly pluck her notebook from the top shelf of her locker and hand it to her.
"Thanks." she said as the warning bell rang. "See you later, then." He headed down the hall, and she hurried into homeroom, sliding into an empty seat just as the bell rang. Mrs. Calhoun was fairly low key, and had long since decided that dealing with Maria Deluca decaffeinated wasn't worth the trouble, so Maria knew she wouldn't get in trouble for the coffee, but she still held it down low, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible.
Of course, that all pretty much went to hell when she realized that Michael Guerin was sitting in the seat on the other side of her and she dropped the cup. Michael was leaning back against his seat, eyes closed, and she would have sworn he was asleep.
That is, had he not shot out his hand to catch her cup of coffee right before it hit the floor.
"What are you doing here?" Maria asked in a startled under tone.
"Sleeping. Shut up." He replied, putting her cup back on her desk. He hadn't even opened his eyes!
Michael had home room with her? Had she known that? She turned to look at Liz, who just shrugged helplessly.
She thought about it for a moment.
She was really sure she'd never seen him in homeroom before. Of course, she wasn't sure she had ever seen him before ten a.m. before.
So, technically, he could be in home room with her. Or he could have just picked this homeroom and walked in. She doubted whichever teacher he'd been assigned to would notice when he once again failed to come.
And why was he here? First he's an alien, and now he's an alien in homeroom with her? She took a big gulp of her coffee, glad Alex had had the foresight to let it cool before giving it to her.
She spent homeroom alternating between gulping her coffee at an obscene rate, and pretending she wasn't watching Michael Guerin sleep next to her. Was something of a Czechoslovakian nature going on and no one had told her? And if Ms. Tupolski was really a big bad alien hunter, than why was Michael here? Why pick today of all days to come to class?
Max must have told him not to come, she decided. And, of course, being Michael, he did the exact opposite. That must be it.
The bell rang and she watched as Michael shot out of his seat. He was gone before she and Liz had even finished gathering up their stuff. Again, it was rather impressive because Maria would have sworn he was asleep a moment ago.
She and Liz walked to gym.
"So, why do you think Michael was in class today?" She asked Liz. Liz, however, wasn't paying attention to her, instead she was fiddling with something in her pocket.
"Watcha got, chica?" Maria asked.
"A note from Max" Liz said, a grin breaking across her face.
"You are so bad, Liz! Didn't you agree to have a movie night with Kyle tonight? You are asking for it."
Liz just giggled. Maria couldn't believe Liz was acting like this.
"Alright, so what does Romeo say?" Maria asked, rolling her eyes.
"I don't know, I haven't opened it yet." Liz giggled again.
Maria sighed. Could Liz get anymore melodramatic? Wasn't that Maria's job?
They walked into the girls locker room. Maria watched Liz open the note, scanning it briefly, as her eyes widened. She quickly shut the note, and then re-opened it, as if expecting it to say something different the second time around. Maria couldn't take it anymore.
"What does it say?" Maria asked.
Shutting the note again quickly, Liz looked up at her with wide eyes. "Nothing."
Maria simply raised one eyebrow. If that was how Liz wanted to play it.
"Ok." Maria said calmly. She turned to go to her locker, and started changing into her p.e. uniform. She could see Liz out of the corner of her eye, she was chewing her lip, a torn expression on her face.
Maria grinned inwardly. Maybe she had learned something from all of Alex's chess lessons.
To give Liz credit, they were half-way through gym before she caved. Unfortunately, they were running around the track (which was the default activity for girls in gym when the teacher was bored) when Liz jogged up beside her and leaned over to whisper in Maria's ear, "Max wants me to meet him in the second floor eraser room sixth period."
"What!" Maria stopped so suddenly the two girls jogging behind her nearly ran into her. Liz, on the other suddenly sped up.
Maria was seriously considering committing Liz. Liz was not acting normal. Liz barely ever kissed Kyle, who she was dating, but she was going to meet Max Evans in the eraser room when A. Max was not her boyfriend, and B. Max was another species, life form, whatever.
Chill out chica, she told herself mentally. Liz was circling back around to her. There is no way Liz would do something like that. She wasn't going to do it.
"You're not going do it, right?" Maria said. Liz stayed silent. "LIZ?"
Maria reached out and grabbed her arm. "Do you know what the 2nd floor eraser room means?" She said in an undertone.
Liz continued to jog beside her. "Of course I know what it means..." She looked over at Maria. "What does it mean?"
Maria rolled her eyes. "It's where Greg Coleman gave Marlene Garcia that hickey the size of a softball. It's where Richie Roher and Amanda Lourdes… consummated everything...".
Liz looked at her for a moment, blushing. Then, getting herself under control, she said "Maria, you know what? You're just making this into something it's not!"
Maria was getting worried now. What if kissing an alie- czechoslavakian did something to you?
"Liz, the guy touches you, and you saw into his soul! I mean, is this safe? What if he gets overexcited and like…rearranges your molecules or something? That could happen, couldn't it? You could get hurt! I mean, this is a really, really bad idea, Liz!"
But Liz continued to shrug it off for the rest of class. No matter what argument Maria used, Liz remained determined to see what Max wanted. Maria was just afraid she knew what Max wanted.
As they changed, Maria tried one last desperate argument. "Liz, The Eraser Room does two things: cleans erasers and takes our innocence. Do you know what I mean by "takes our innocence," Liz? The Eraser Room has taken some of the best of us!"
But it was no use. Liz had that stubborn set to her shoulders. Further argument would be pointless.
Walking into the hall together, Maria realized something else.
"Hey, when's the last time you had to use your inhaler? I haven't seen you pull it out in days." Maria said.
Liz seemed surprised for a moment. She said "You know, you're right, I haven't used it in days." She mulled it over.
Maria thought for a moment. "Have they changed your meds recently?"
Liz thought for another moment. "Nope. Weird, huh?"
"When's the last time you used it?" Maria pushed. For as long as she could remember, she'd never seen Liz go more than one or two days without pulling her inhaler out. Whereas Alex's asthma was mostly brought on by extreme physical activity, Liz's triggered fairly easy.
Eyes going wide, Liz whispered " The day of the shooting, like, two hours before."
Maria thought about it. "So, when Max took care of the other issue, do you think he got your asthma too?"
"Well, I'm still taking my daily medicine, I guess it could just finally be working better, or maybe I've finally outgrown it. Alex hardly ever has attacks anymore; he doesn't even take daily meds. He just has a rescue inhaler for in-case stuff." Liz replied.
"You should ask Max about it , Liz, stuff like that is definitely something you guys should be thinking about…..considering…" They are spending quality time together in the eraser room, Maria finished silently.
They parted ways, both heading to their respective math classes.
After geometry, Maria was looking for Liz amid the bustle of students, she wanted to take another stab at convincing Liz what a bad idea the eraser room was before they had lunch with Alex.
She was about to give up when a hand grabbed her arm and pulled her inside the room behind her. She stared at him in total shock. She still wasn't used to seeing Michael here at school this early, and she really wasn't expecting him to pull her into the…
She smacked him on the shoulder. "No way! No! Creep!"
He stared at her, frowning.
"What the hell are you hitting me for? Are you mental?" He scowled
"What the hell are you doing dragging me in here Michael Guerin!" She hissed angrily. If he thought for one freaking second that she was gonna…
"Come over here." He said rudely.
She watched incredulously as he shoved some boxes leaning against the wall over. He then leaned forward to look through a vent near the top. What was he doing?
"Well, get over here!" He hissed. "Is that her?"
"Who?" Maria whispered, getting more confused by the second.
"That Tupolski chic! Is that her?" He was watching someone sitting in the room on the other side of the vent, she realized. She relaxed a little. Michael probably didn't even come to school enough to know that the eraser room wasn't exactly used to clean erasers…
She walked over to the wall, looking around. In her bare feet, she was probably six inches shorter than Michael. Even in the low-heeled sandals she was wearing, she felt like he towered over her.
Spying something that might work, she started to lean down to drag the small stack of two by fours over to the vent. There were three or four of them, the janitor probably kept a few up here in order to not have to carry them up a flight of stairs every time he needed one.
She stopped, suddenly realizing that her skirt was a little shorter than she had considered it earlier this morning. She glanced back at Michael. He was still staring through the vent.
Don't be stupid, Deluca, she scolded herself. You're not exactly his type, hell, you're not even his species.
She started to move the boards over. She wasn't big enough to just lift the stack, so she was stuck trying to drag them as quietly as possible.
"Ssshhh! What are you doing…?" Michael's voice trailed off as he looked over at her.
Maria straightened up quickly, blushing. Could this get more embarrassing?
"I can't see! I'm only five foot four, ok?" She hissed defensively.
Michael rolled his eyes, muttered something under his breath about short, annoying blonds as he pushed past her to make short work of pulling the boards over to the vent.
Maria stepped out of her heels, and carefully stepped onto the pile of boards. Not the steadiest foot stool, she thought to herself, but as long as she kept her hand on the wall for support….
She leaned forward to look through the grate. It took her a moment to focus her eyes to be able see past the metal. She watched the blond woman moving around, setting up the desk. Moving around some boxes.
"That's her!" Maria confirmed. They watched for a moment longer as Ms. Tupolski took some framed diplomas out of the box. She then said to herself, "Hammer". She walked out of the room.
Maria and Michael both exhaled simultaneously. She turned to face him, and only then realized how close they were both standing to each other. She was still standing on the boards, so she was literally eye to eye with him. They both rocked back in surprise, which in Maria's case, had her bumping into the wall behind her, nearly losing her balance in the process. Michael's hands reached out to steady her. She was ninety-eight percent sure he had meant to catch hold of her arms, but somehow he ended up catching hold of her waist.
"You are the clumsiest human I know!" He growled as he let go of her waist. "Just stay still!"
She looked at him, irritated. "What are we doing here, Michael?" She asked.
"I needed to know if that was her!" He said, annoyed. Maria looked at him.
"Well…" She started, "The fact that she was teaching your geometry class last hour probably should have been a small giveaway!" She pointed out.
He looked at her like she had suddenly started speaking French. "Are you crazy? I didn't go to class last period." He said.
"Then, where were you! You were in home room?" She said. Why did he come to school only to not go to class?
"Max came by this morning. He said she was only subbing a few classes a day. She has third, sixth, and seventh period free, and she is using this classroom as her office". Michael said.
Maria's eyes widened in understanding.
"You guys are spying on her, oh thank god." She sagged against the wall in relief. That was why Max wanted Liz to meet him sixth period!
Michael again gave her what she was beginning to call his "crazy little blond" look.
"Yeah, I got third period, Max took sixth, and Izzy's taking seventh." Michael replied
Maria blew out a breath. "Ok, well, that was her". She confirmed. "But what are you going to do? You can't skip geometry forever!"
Michael shrugged, looking as if the prospect didn't really faze him at all.
"Max saw her talking to the sheriff before school this morning. Liz was right, she's not who she appears to be." He said.
Maria shivered. She knew she had to get over her apprehension concerning the sheriff, but she just wasn't there yet.
She was distracted from her thoughts of the sheriff by a feather light touch on her arm. Surprised, she looked at Michael inquiringly. Had she gone off into Maria la-la land again?
But Michael wasn't even looking at her, he was in fact facing the other way now. OK…
She decided to take advantage of the moment to ask something she had been curious about. "So uh, you really have no idea where you're from, like what planet, or who your people are besides Max and Isabel?"
"Max already told Liz all of this." Michael's voice was missing its usual bite. He was staring with some preoccupation at her arm. Maria followed his line of sight. She couldn't tell what he was looking at. Her arm looked the way it normally did. Pale, thin, with just a few freckles. Nothing unusual about it. Michael's, on the other hand, was much tanner, muscles clearly defined under his black tee shirt...
"So, are you and Liz cousins, or something?" Michael asked suddenly.
Maria was taken aback for a moment. "Ok, random subject change. Umm…no. Why would you think so?" She asked.
"That lady in the diner last night, you were both calling her Grandma." He said. He was still looking at her arm, and as she watched he suddenly reached out and touched her arm with just one finger, as if he thought she might burn him.
"Ok, got an arm fetish or something?" She asked.
He looked up at her with a funny look on his face. "Uhh…no. Sorry. Just checking. So, if you're not related, who's Grandmother is she?
Just checking? Maria sighed. Then she turned her mind back to his question. The subject was so complicated sometimes she couldn't keep up with it.
"Long version or short?" She asked.
"Short." Michael said, and she rolled her eyes. Had she really even needed to ask?
"Claudia Ortecho is Liz's biological, maternal grandmother." Maria said.
"As opposed to Liz's mechanical maternal grandmother?" Michael said sarcastically.
She shrugged "You asked."
He scowled. "Then why do you call her Grandma?" He asked.
"Rachel Ortecho was best friends with my Mom growing up. So she's always been a grandmother to me, also." Maria was getting a little uncomfortable with the conversation. She couldn't really say anything else without getting into Liz's business in a big way. Liz's last name hadn't been Ortecho since kindergarten. People like Alex and Kyle, who had gone to school their whole lives with them, already somewhat knew the story, but she realized Michael, Max and Isabel probably didn't know about Liz's birth mother.
Time to change the subject, quick, she decided.
"So, is this what you've always looked like?" Oh god, had she just said that out loud? Did she want to know if he had once been small, green and slimy?
"Well, I used to be shorter." He said, confused. Maria blushed again. How did he mean that?
Narrowing his eyes at her in realization, he said, "Of course, there was also the third eye!" He turned away.
"Sorry! I'm sorry, ok? It's just… I mean, don't you think it's strange that you guys just happened to crash on the one planet whose dominant species look just like you? And... I'm sorry..."
Michael didn't seem to be listening to her though. In fact, Michael was leaving.
"Michael, stop, ok. I said I'm sorry. It's just weird, ok? I mean, you guys blend in perfectly. You look just like everyone else, except for the hair…anyway. What I meant was, you look like an average sixteen year old guy."
"And aliens are supposed to be three feet tall, green and slimy!" He finished for her.
"I didn't mean to hurt your feelings, Michael." Maria said, contritely. She really hadn't.
"I don't have feelings." He stated harshly.
"Then why are you mad at me?" She cried.
Suddenly, Maria heard a noise behind her. She whirled around to look through the grate behind her. She could feel the heat of Michael's body as he came up behind her. He placed his hands on the wall to either side of her in order to lean forward to see around her.
There was maybe an inch of space between them, she thought. Maybe. And why was she so conscious of that fact all of the sudden?
Ms. Tupolski walked in holding a hammer, a strange man coming in behind her.
"OK, I looked though all of them and this is where I wanted to start." She said, shuffling through some files on her desk before selecting one and handing it to the man.
"Michael Guerin. Have you interviewed him yet?" The unknown man asked. He was turned in a way that neither Michael nor Maria could see his face. Something about the man's voice made her shiver, though. It reminded her of the sheriff's voice.
Ms. Tupolski sighed. "He hasn't set foot in school since I've been here. But if Muhammad doesn't come to the mountain..." Maria and Michael both tensed. Maria had leaned even closer to the grate.
"Do you want me to go talk to him?" The man asked. She could hear Michael hiss, as if in pain. If possible, he seemed to tense up even more. Without thinking about it, she had placed her hand on his arm in a silent attempt at comfort.
"No," Ms. Tupolski replied. "I'll do it. Just check and make sure the address is correct."
Maria's other hand had reached up to cover her mouth. She could feel her eyes widening.
"You got it." The man turned to go, followed by Ms. Tupolski.
Maria and Michael both straightened. Maria turned, letting go of Michael's arm so she could face him. His face was tight and impassive again, but she could see his fear in his eyes.
"It's gonna be okay, Michael. We'll…we'll tell max and Liz, and Izzy, and we'll come up with a plan." She would have said just about anything to make the fear in his eyes go away.
It hurt her to see him, or anyone else, for that matter look so scared. And the way he was forcing it down hurt to watch, too. That, more than anything else, gave away how scared he must be all the time. Otherwise he wouldn't be so good at hiding it.
He looked down, scratching his eyebrow, a gesture Maria was coming to recognize.
"That plan come with a passport to Mexico? He laughed humorlessly. "I always knew this place was gonna do me in." His breathing was ragged, and she knew he was pretty much pushed to his limit. They watched each other with wary eyes. She didn't want to leave him like this, but she doubted he would accept any other comfort from her. She swallowed.
"We need to tell the others. You're not alone in this, Michael." She tried.
"Yeah, well, it's my house she's showing up at tonight, Blondie." He scowled at her.
Maria knew he was taking his fear out on her. But for Michael Guerin, he was still holding back.
"Right now, yeah. But it's only a matter of time, Michael. There are other folders in her office, and I have a couple of good bets on whose they are. She said she's starting with you Michael. Starting. We got to tell the others. Everyone needs to be warned."
He stared at her for a moment, and she thought he was gonna argue, but then he clenched his jaw and nodded once, tersely.
She breathed out a sigh of relief.
Then the door started to open.
Michael's POV
When Michael heard the door he reacted without hesitation. A strong part of him wanted to simply jump whoever was opening the door. He may not have been human, but he sure as hell had a strong fight or flight response.
But beside him, he could hear Maria gasp softly; she was still standing on the pile of boards. The door was still opening and they were out of time.
Swiftly he grasped her waist with both hands and lifted her down. Again, he noticed how little she seemed in comparison to him. He was stronger than an average sixteen year old human, he knew, as were Max and Isabel, but it still caught him off guard how petite Maria was compared to him. It would be so easy to hurt her…
He instinctively started to push her behind him, he couldn't fight with her in the way, but she was grasping his arms, shaking her head no…
She stepped in closer to him, and at the last second he realized her plan, his eyes widening. Quickly, he wrapped his arms around her, still doing his best to turn her behind him. It meant turning his back to the door, which went against his screaming instincts, but if this was gonna work...
Her head was tucked down, practically on his chest, and he leaned his head down so he was watching her. Her eyes were wide, and he could feel her rapid heartbeat, the way her breath moved her chest. She looked up at him, and her eyes were the greenest thing he had ever seen, he could smell her perfume…
"Ms. Deluca!" A woman's voice exclaimed.
They sprang apart, Maria nearly tripping on her shoes, which she had never gotten a chance to put back on. Ms. Tupolski stood before them. Michael unconsciously stepped in front of Maria. It was him she was looking for, well here he was. Maria didn't have anything to do with it. Behind him, Maria was stepping into her shoes, he could see her blushing.
"May I ask what was going on here?" Ms. Tupolski said with a tight smile.
"Cleaning Erasers." Michael said shortly.
"That's not what it looked like from here." The woman commented. She looked closer at Michael, and then she smiled. "You must be Michael Guerin." She said. "Why don't we go to my office, I've been wanting to speak to you."
Michael tensed, ready to make a break for it, but what about Maria?
The question answered itself when Maria pushed in front of him, coming to stand before Tupolski. Michael grabbed a hold of her hand, vainly trying to pull her back without being obvious about it, unwilling to let her get any closer to the woman.
The bell rang.
Students flooded the hall behind Ms. Tupolski.
"I'm so sorry, Ms. Tupolski, but I already kinda promised to run Michael home, to pick up his history book, if we don't go right now, though, we'll be late, and Michael really can't afford that, you know…"
She continued on with her babble as she pulled Michael past Ms. Tupolski, out of the eraser room, and down the hall. Surrounded as they were by students, Ms. Tupolski was forced to simply watch them walk away. Suddenly she called out, "I'll speak with you later, Mr. Guerin, and you can count on that!"
The two practically ran to the quad, and it wasn't until they got there that Michael realized they were still holding hands. He let go of her just as they reached Isabel.
Isabel gave him a pointed look as she said "I see Max isn't the only one getting some help with his project."
Michael saw Maria blush and he said, "Shut up, Izzy. Where's Max?"
"Why? What's going on?" She said, finally picking up on their tension.
"I'm gonna grab Liz, where are we meeting?" Maria asked.
"Why would we have a meeting with you?" Isabel asked in her Ice Queen voice.
"The music room?" Maria said to Michael, ignoring Isabel.
"Five minutes." Michael bit off. He didn't like including Liz and Maria anymore than they were, but Maria was right. Ms. Tupolski would probably come after them both at some point, especially after their little show in the eraser room.
Maria hurried off, and he grabbed Izzy's arm. "Ms. Tupolski thinks Maria and I are at my house right now, I don't want her to see me and realize any different, get Max and meet us all in the music room, ok Iz?"
"Michael, what's going on!" Isabel exclaimed.
"Izzy!"
"Alright, Alright." She turned away.
He hurried to the music room, getting there only a moment before Maria and Liz.
Both girls were out of breath.
"Did she see you?" Michael asked.
"No." Maria said, still catching her breath.
"Are you sure!" He asked again.
"Yes, I'm sure, where are-"
At that moment Max and Isabel came in.
"What's going on? Liz, are you ok?" Max said, crossing to where the girls stood. Michael rolled his eyes. Max needed his priorities rearranged.
"Tell us what's going on!" Isabel demanded.
"Tupolski's coming to Michael's house tonight to try and find him!" Maria said quickly.
All eyes in the room turned to look at her. "How do you know that?" Max asked after a second. Maria blushed and Michael shifted uncomfortably.
"I…we…Uhh... Heard her say it." He answered after a second.
"Last period when you were watching her?" Max asked.
Isabel jumped in at that point "We?"
Again, all eyes in the room turned to Maria, who was still blushing.
"I have third period free." She finally said.
Liz was staring at her, mouth agape. Isabel was glaring at Maria also. Max was frowning at Michael.
"It wasn't like that!" Michael defended himself quickly.
"The point is…" Maria interjected, "That Ms. Tupolski was in her office, talking to some strange guy, and the jist of it is, Michael is currently her main objective. Since she hasn't managed to corner him…alone" she glanced briefly at Michael "here at school, she's going to his house, tonight, to try and corner him there."
"Max, what are we gonna do?" Liz asked.
"We aren't going to do anything" Isabel said.
"Maria's said what she thought she needed to say, which we could've heard from Michael, for the record" She turned to glare at Maria for a moment. "And now Michael, Max and I need to talk. So scurry away, little earthlings. Scat. Shoo."
Maria was glaring back at Isabel now, and Liz was biting her lip and looking at Max. Max was looking from Isabel to Liz and frowning.
"I think that may be wishful thinking on our part, Izzy. The sheriff has already made it clear that he suspects Maria and Liz of knowing something, and he was talking to Ms. Tupolski this morning."
Isabel opened her mouth to argue and Michael jumped in "So what's the plan, then, Maxwell? Time to hit the road yet?" He could see Maria watching him, but he refused to look at her.
"Hide in plain sight." Maria said, suddenly.
"What?" the other four asked in unison.
Maria looked at Michael. "Just like earlier. Surround yourself with people. She's undercover, so…"
Max was nodding. "At least until we know what's going on, that's probably the best bet. Michael, instead of going home tonight, stick with Isabel."
Liz interrupted, "Still need more people, Max, Isabel has to be on the watch list too, are your parents home tonight?"
Isabel frowned and shook her head, "Not until about ten or so, it's their date night."
Maria, Michael and Liz all turned to look at her and Max.
"What?" She said defensively. "Trust me, its way better than them being all mushy at home!"
"The Crashdown?" Maria suggested after a moment.
Max nodded. "Perfect, it's busy, public, and it's completely in character."
Michael agreed grudgingly. "But, it's not a long term solution."
"Let's just deal with the most immediate problems first, ok?" Maria said.
They discussed it a bit more, but no one could come with a better solution for the evening, anyway. They all decided Max, Liz and Isabel would watch Ms. Tupolski as originally planned, in hopes of gathering more information.
They all left to go to their fifth period classes when the bell rang.
Michael went through the rest of his classes mechanically, glad none of his teachers actually expected him to respond or pay attention.
After school, he met up with Isabel and Max.
"Anything?" He asked hopefully. He'd die before he admitted it, but he was scared of the outcome of today's spying incident. Suspecting someone was hunting you was one thing, having it confirmed was quite another.
