Students streamed out of the side doors of the school and into the courtyard, joining their fellows on the lawn and at tables for lunch. Maria sat at one such table waiting for Liz, moodily picking at her lunch. She contemplated the people around her and envied them a little for their normal lives. They flowed around her, innocent in their ignorance of the truth. Maria suddenly felt older; like the world was resting on her shoulders.
Sighing hugely, Maria opened her container of yogurt and stirred it despondently. When had everything gone so wrong? Knowing the aliens' secret wasn't so awful at first. It was exciting...new and amazing in its possibilities. And it had brought her and Michael together...
Stop, she thought to herself quickly, just don't think about it. You're over and through...there's nothing there to think about any more. He said so himself.
Once begun, however, Maria couldn't stop herself from remembering how things had been at first. How happy and crazy she'd been to be with Michael. How together everything had seemed. Until everything changed...until Tess came. Yes, that was when things had gone wrong. She'd come, and everyone had started remembering things. Like Michael had remembered he was supposed to be with Isabel. And while he and Isabel hadn't gotten together as a result, Michael had called his relationship with Maria to an end, and refused to even talk about any more.
Jerk, she thought, I'm better off without him anyway... And while she knew that this was probably true, it didn't stop her from missing him anyway. Deep down, she knew she still cared for him. Deeper down still, she was pretty sure he still cared about her, too. But he'd been keeping everyone at an emotional distance from him for so long, it was easy for him to fall back into it, and not let her in. Even so, and even though she'd never admit it to anyone, Maria knew she still loved him. Even if he still had crazy hair.
Maria grinned a little to herself, and tried to stifle it as she looked up at the sound of footsteps approaching her. The smile she'd had for Liz quickly died, however, when she saw that it was Tess who sat at the table next to her instead. Maria didn't waste any time on small talk. "What do you want?"
Tess sat back in the chair and folded her arms in a physical reaction to ward off Maria's acid tone. Deciding that the best defense was a good offense, she matched Maria's demeanor and shot back "I want to talk to you about the truth."
Maria was caught off guard for a moment, but recovered quickly. "You wanna talk the truth? Okay, why don't we start with how you knew Liz got hit last night? Max and I were the only ones who knew."
Tess replied bitterly. "Yeah, you and Max are the only ones who know about a lot of things, aren't you? At Maria's slightly confused look, Tess relented a bit. "I was there...last night, at the Crashdown. I saw Max heal Liz. I heard them talking about the future." She stopped and looked up from the table to meet Maria's eyes to gauge her reaction. The human was surprised, but didn't look angry, so that was good. She went on, more sedately. "I want to know what happened. I need to know what's going to happen if I leave."
Maria spoke just as quietly, conscious of the students teeming around them. "I really think that's something you should talk to Liz and Max about."
"Normally, I'd agree with you. But I don't really think either one of them wants to talk to me right now." Tess said.
Maria arched an eyebrow. "But you thought for some reason that I would want to talk to you?"
Tess blew out her breath in exasperation. "Look, I know I'm not your favorite person in the world. But this isn't about you and me, and how much you don't like me. People might be in danger. I need to know what's going on."
Maria had to acknowledge the truth in what Tess was saying. And while she really and truly felt for Liz and Max's predicament, she also thought that Tess deserved to know what could happen because of her decisions. Aware that Liz was supposed to be joining her soon, Maria told Tess the gist of what Liz had learned from Future Max as quickly as she could. By her lack of surprise, Maria estimated that Tess had been telling the truth when she said she'd been present at the Crashdown the night before. Her expression registered no surprise, only confirmation of what she already seemed to know. Her eyes flashed a bit, however, when Maria got to the part where Liz and Max got married in that other future. Were married and were happy. Inseparable. When it was over, Tess reflected silently, and Maria actually felt a bit of sympathy for her. It must not be easy to learn that the guy you're destined to be with is in love with someone else...that he could be married to her for twelve years and still be deliriously in love with her, she thought. Tentatively, she spoke. "Are....are you okay?"
Tess looked startled by the question, and hesitated before answering. "It's a little odd," she admitted. "knowing that people could die because of me. Because of a decision I make. And..." Tess cast about, trying to find a way to explain what she felt. "It's really weird...all of this. It's like, I had this whole thing built up in my head. The way things were going to be. The way they had been...in that other life. Then all the sudden everything's different, you know? All of the sudden everything I'd counted on as being true and right...is not necessarily so set in stone. I mean, Max and I are destined for one another. But somehow...he and Liz..." She trailed off as she realized the enormity and truth of what she was saying. "Somehow what they have is real."
Seeing Tess's inability to verbalize her thoughts, Maria said "I think I understand. This...all of this, is hard for everyone."
Tess agreed. "Yeah. It's just...all my life I've accepted that I was destined to be with Max. Finding out suddenly that he wasn't prepared to accept that was a little disconcerting. And...it makes me a little angry. I just...wish things were simple again. I wish Liz had never come into the picture...or I'd gotten here first, or something."
Maria stiffened. While being able to understand Tess's feelings, she was still Liz's friend. And she had to defend her. "None of this is Liz's fault," she said. "She fell in love. Max fell in love. That's nobody's fault."
Tess realized she'd overstepped the lines of the fragile truce between them. Even though she knew the best thing to do was retreat, there was something inside her that really was angry with Liz for disrupting the future that Tess had thought was so certain. Her anger took her where she probably shouldn't go, and her tone was slightly frosty when she replied. "Oh no...nobody's fault that they've changed the way everything was supposed to be. This...this crush is nothing compared to what Max and I had. What we are still destined to have. They've altered the whole plan."
Maria shot back. "See, that's where your problem is. You've got this whole bogus idea built up in your head about what destiny and love are supposed to be. Well I've got news for you...love isn't brains. It isn't about going where you're told, and feeling something for one person in particular because you're supposed to. Love is about meeting someone one day who totally changes your life. Love is giving that person up if it means saving them. Love is putting your life on the line to save the one you care about. Liz has done all that. So don't you sit there and talk to me about how selfish she is."
The two girls stared at each other for a moment in silence, before approaching footsteps broke into the status quo and made them look up. Liz stood there uncertainly, wondering why Maria was talking to Tess. Before she could say anything, though, Tess stood up with a note of finality. "Yeah, well...thanks." she said awkwardly, and walked away.
Liz waited until Tess was out of sight before placing her tray down on the table. Choosing a different chair from the one the blonde had occupied, she sat down next to her friend and looked at Maria with mixed feelings. Maria jumped to explain. "She came to me. She needed to know, Liz. She needed to know what would happen because of her."
Liz sighed. "I understand. I just...I just wish this all didn't have to be so hard." She glanced off at the students streaming around them, and seemed to be picking up on Maria's earlier thoughts. "We had another flash," she said. At Maria's startled look, Liz elaborated. "When we were leaving the science room earlier…we flashed. Except…everything we saw…it wasn't anything that had happened yet."
"So what are you saying," Maria asked. "That you saw the future?"
Liz shrugged. "I don't know…but whatever it was…it didn't look good." She looked at her friend; registered her concerned expression. "Be careful, Maria. I don't know what's going on…but just be careful, okay?" She watched until Maria nodded, bemused, and then bent to her tray.
As Liz started to pick at her lunch, Maria watched her covertly. Great, they were seeing the future now. What was up with these two, anyway? In any case, Tess had been right about one thing. Whatever it was between Max and Liz, it was real. They were truly in love. Being separated was obviously hell on them. All the more awful for them, Maria thought, because it can never be, now. Going back to her own lunch, and thinking about her own situation, Maria summed it all up in her mind.
This sucks.
~*~*~*~*~
"This sucks!"
Tess paced back and forth within the limited confines of the room she had appropriated from Kyle all those months ago, and struggled to keep her annoyance under control. Kyle sat on the bed silently and watched her…amazed by the sheer energy she was exuding. After school, he'd come home to find her throwing things around in her room, and pacing frantically. It seemed rather rude to just turn around and leave, so he'd taken up residence on the end of the bed, and tried to be as quiet as possible to keep from drawing any negative attention from her. She'd been ranting about everything she'd learned in the past twenty four hours, and now she rounded on Kyle. "Well? Don't you have anything to say?"
Kyle shifted uncomfortably, on the spot. "I've been trying not to say anything, actually." He looked up at her stormy green eyes and squirmed some more. "You know…that whole 'not wanting to get my brains fried' thing."
She stared at him unblinkingly until he finally piped up. "Well, at least now I know what my part in all this was for."
Tess broke her steely gaze, back on the rant-wagon again as she resumed pacing. "It's just…my people have this whole plan as to what's supposed to be happening down here, and they're totally ignoring it! They're messing everything up!"
Kyle mustered up a little courage. "But…you don't even know what the plan is"
Tess looked at him with a dangerous gleam in her eyes. "What's your point?"?"
"I'm just saying," Kyle said, trying to remain calm, "you guys don't even know why you're here…who sent you or anything…but you seem really set on following every directive you do have from them."
Tess sighed, flopping down onto the bed behind him on her back. Kyle turned slightly to face her, and she glanced at him before looking up at the ceiling. "You have to understand," she said. "This is all I've ever had to go on…all I've ever known about myself. And here, where I'm supposed to be, is Liz. Right in the middle of everything."
Kyle fiddled with the bedspread as he absorbed that for a moment, and then spoke again. "Okay…well, while I have no real reason to be all happy about Liz and Max either, it does seem as if they're trying to do the right thing, here. I mean…they're not together.
"Yeah," Tess said grudgingly…calming down a little. "I know that. It's just…my whole life I've had two things that I knew I could count on. Everything else was a mystery…confusing and scary. But there were two things that I always knew I would be able to fall back on. Nasedo was one, and my destiny with Max was the other. When Nasedo died…it was awful. It was like having my foundation ripped out from underneath me. But at least I still had my destiny, you know? Nobody could take that away from me."
She turned on her side so that she was facing Kyle…propping her head up with an elbow rested on the bed. "Except…someone has. Liz has. I know she didn't mean to…and I know she's trying to do the right thing right now. But it's kind of a small consolation for having the only thing I had left taken away from me."
"But that's not all you have left," Kyle said, earnest now. "What about the others? Michael and Isabel? You belong with them just as much. And it's not just all about them. There's us, too. Me and Dad, and school."
Tess looked at him critically. "What are you saying?"
"I just wonder if you know that there are other choices for you, too. I mean, yeah, okay…you've got a destiny. That's really special and everything, but it was given to you by people you don't know, for reasons you don't know, and you're still expected to just follow up on it. My question is, why're you going along with it? I mean, I understand your attatchment to the whole idea, it's a bedtime story you've been told since the day you were hatched." Tess shot him a warning glance, and he hastily rephrased. "Er…since you came out of the pod. But doesn't it bother you that you were basically programmed? That you're being made to feel this way?"
Tess looked back at him evenly…no hint of what she was thinking on her face, and said softly, "I wasn't programmed the first time."
Kyle countered, just as softly. "You don't remember the first time." He paused a moment as Tess contemplated that, and then went on. "You're basically running around down here doing what you've been told to do. But what about what you really want?"
As Tess gazed back at him and didn't answer, Kyle realized the truth of his own words. "You don't even know, do you?"
The silence after his question was all the answer he needed, as he saw the truth in her eyes. They both heard the front door open, then, and knew that Jim Valenti was home. Tess looked toward the door and sighed. "I guess we'd better get out there and start helping out with dinner, or something. I'd better make nice so I can get around to explaining about Ava."
Kyle stood. "What about Ava?"
"Well," Tess said, as she joined him, "she'll have to come here eventually. She can't stay at Liz's forever. Her parents will only be gone through the end of the weekend."
Kyle grinned a little. "So uh…she looks just like you, right? Like, exactly?"
Tess turned and caught the stupid grin on his face and smirked. "Stop that!" she said jokingly.
"Stop what?"
"What you're thinking. It so is not going to happen. You couldn't even handle me, much less the both of us."
Kyle paled. "Oh Buddha, you can read my mind?!"
Laughing, Tess smacked at him playfully. "No. But that doesn't mean I don't know what you're thinking!"
As Tess left the room chuckling, Kyle let out a huge breath of relief.