This ruined puzzle is beige
With the pieces all face down
So the placing going slowly
The pictures of anything
other than it's meant to be.
Maria shut the door silently behind her. She took a deep breath before turning to
look at Michael. She knew this was
going to be the hardest thing she would ever have to do. This would be harder than finding out about
their "Destiny", harder than—
"So are you going to talk to me, or just stand there with
that dumb look on your face?" Michael said, interrupting her thoughts.
The crushed look that took over her beautiful I features softened
his mood. He got up and took her
hand. He knew she had taken Alex's
death a week before really hard. They
all had.
With a deep breath, she finally began:
"I'm leaving."
He just stared at her, his mouth gaping open.
"See, the thing is, since Alex...died, I've kinda been
re-evaluating my life. We had always
talked about going to LA with the band after graduation. Well, I'm not getting any younger, and I
know now that life can be taken away at any second. So, I'm going to LA alone, because my life and dreams can't stop
because Alex isn't here to share it. I
know he would have wanted this. And I
also know that this is what I need to do."
Michael didn't think he could process this, but finally
chocked out a question:
"Alone?"
She smiled through her tears, because she knew what he was
really asking.
"I wish you could come too Spaceboy. But we just spent the last week convincing
Isabel not to leave. You know as well
as I do that the four of you cannot be separated."
His face flushed with anger.
"That's not what I was asking. I wouldn't want to leave anyways. I just figured you wouldn't be able to cut it by yourself. Maybe the rest of the band should go with."
Maria took a shocked step back. She looked angrier and more wounded than Michael had ever seen
her before.
"That is such bull Michael Guerin. Like you haven't been itching to get out of Roswell your entire
life. If you don't care whether I live
or die, fine; but don't feed that shit."
She took a deep breath.
"Whatever. I don't have to take
this anymore. I'm gone." She spun around and stormed out the door,
not even bothering to close it behind her.
She didn't even look back. Michael thought miserably as he crumpled to the couch. We didn't say goodbye.
But the hours they creep,
the patterns repeat.
Don't be concerned,
you know I'll be fine on my
own.
I never said "don't go".
Michael couldn't believe he had been so stupid. He just let her walk away from him. Hell, he had basically told her to get
lost. She was going to hate him
forever. And probably never talk to him
again. If she left, it was going to be
all his fault. And there was nothing he
could do about it. Or was there?
She won't even talk to me now, I'm sure of it. Plus, I'll just say something stupid and
make her even madder. Why can't there
be a way I could tell her without making an ass of myself?
He stood up and began pacing around the apartment. He tried rehearsing what he would say to
her, if she would even listen.
But I know as soon as I see her, I'll freeze up and
blurt something out. No rehearsing can
prepare me for the way she makes me feel.
That's when he saw the pad of paper on his kitchen counter.
Duh. Write her a
letter stupid.
I've written a note.
It's pressed between pages
that you've marked to find your
way back.
It says:
"Does he ever get the girl?"
As Michael approached Maria's window, he realized he was
terrified.
What if she's already gone? What if she rips it up without ever reading it? What if she reads it and still decides to
go?
But his inner voice quieted down a bit when he saw her in
bed.
She looks like an angel.
He opened her window quietly and climbed inside. He stopped at the foot of her bed and took
in every feature of her peaceful, sleeping face. Focus man.
He looked around her room trying to decide where she would
see his letter. It didn't look like she
had packed anything yet.
Maybe she changed her mind.
Somehow he doubted that thought. Maria was the most stubborn person he knew, besides himself, of
course.
He spotted her favorite Aromatherapy book on her
dresser. If she was still going,
there's no way she could leave that. He
opened the letter and read it once more before slipping it between the book's
pages.
Maria-
I know this is
what you want to do, but I do wish you would stay. I love you, even though it is hard for me to show it. I was wrong to say I wouldn't want to go
with you. If I could, I would follow
you anywhere. But, knowing I can't
leave the others, I can only ask you to please stay. If not, I will wait for you forever.
-Michael
As he set the book back down, Maria moved in her bed. Michael stood absolutely still until he was
sure she was definitely asleep. He
walked to her bed, leaned over, and kissed her forehead.
"I love you Maria."
He stood there not wanting to leave. And, as much as he hated to admit it, he
wanted to memorize every inch of her in case she really did leave.
But what if the pages stay pressed
the chapters unfinished,
the story too dull to unfold?
Does he ever get the girl?
Maria awoke with a start.
She was dreaming of the fight she and Michael had earlier. She looked at the clock on her
nightstand. It was already 5:30 in the
morning. If she wanted to leave before
her mom was up, she would have to be gone by 7.
She cursed under her breath as she looked around at all of
the stuff she needed to pack. She knew
she couldn't take a lot, so she thought about what she would take on a
vacation.
An extremely long one.
She pushed all thoughts and feelings of regret to the back
of her mind and began packing furiously.
She had everything shoved into the Jetta and was about to drive away
when she realized she had almost left her Aromatherapy book on her
dresser. It wasn't really necessary,
considering she had it memorized, but it was creature comfort she wouldn't be
able to live without. She ran back
inside, grabbed the book, and threw it onto the front seat next to her, never
noticing the paper sticking out of it.
This basement's a coffin,
I'm buried alive.
I'll die in here just to be
safe.
I'll die in here just to be
safe.
"Michael Guerin, you open this door right now, or I am
calling the police and they will open it for me!"
Michael's eyes shot open and he groaned as he rolled over
and out of bed. Why was someone
pounding on his door on a Sunday morning?
Maria The
thought flashed through his mind, and he practically ran to the door.
If only it had been Maria.
"Hey Amy. What can I
do for you?"
"First of all, you can call me Ms. Deluca, young man. Second, you can get yourself dressed." He looked down and saw that all he had on
was a pair of sweatpants. "Then you can
tell me where the hell my daughter is."
"You mean she didn't have work today?" he said, trying to
act clueless.
"She never works the morning shift on Sundays, because we
always have breakfast together. When I
got up, she wasn't in her bed. I'm
pretty sure some of her stuff is gone too."
Ms. Deluca looked like she was about to have a nervous breakdown.
"Well, I haven't seen her...she didn't leave you a
note?" He hoped that he wouldn't have
to tell everyone.
"No, I don't think so...but I was in such a panic, I might
have missed it."
"Tell you what. I'll
get dressed, and then we can go back to your house to look for some sort of
clue. If we don't find anything, we can
begin looking around town for her. The
most important thing is that we don't jump to conclusions. She's probably just upset about Alex and
wanting some time to herself."
Please God, if you exist, let us find her.
"Thank you Michael.
I'm sorry I assumed she would be here.
But I can see why she likes you so much."
He wished that were true.
But he felt like he was going to pass out knowing the truth and not
telling Ms. Deluca. He'd rather just
stay at his apartment and curl up and die.
Because he knew this excursion outside of his safety zone would only
confirm his worst fears. He took a deep
breath.
"Ok, let's go find Maria."
'Cause you're gone
I get nothing
and you're off with barely a
sigh.
I never said "Goodbye".
As soon as Michael and Ms. Deluca walked into the house, he
knew Maria was gone. It was like an
electricity in the air had been sucked out, leaving only dull and empty air.
They walked into the kitchen, and both saw the note at the
same time.
"How did I miss it?"
Amy whispered as she put her hands to her head. "Why didn't I see it coming?"
Michael thought he was going to explode, maybe in anger, but
more likely in tears. This was all his
fault. And he could never tell anyone
how much it hurt.
"We should read it," he said, hoping it wasn't too obvious
how upset he was.
Mom-
I'm sorry I had
to do this, but that's the way the cookie crumbles. Sorry about the lame attempt at humor, but I'm trying not to
cry. I can't tell you where I'm going,
but I'll be fine. Please don't track me
down. I'll send you money to make for
the Jetta. I love you. Tell everyone I love them too, and I will miss
Roswell with all my heart.
-Maria
And that's when Amy Deluca collapsed.
I've written a note
It's pressed between pages
that you've marked to find your
way back.
It says:
"Does he ever get the girl?"
Maria lay down on her garage sale mattress. She had been here a week and thankfully had
a job and an apartment. Granted, they
weren't the best possible, but she was going agent scouting tomorrow. She figured if she got some TV work, she
could be choosier about where she sang.
As she drifted off to sleep, she wondered how everyone in
Roswell was holding up. Were they
worried?
Just pick up the phone.
It would be great to hear Mom's voice...or Michael's.
She missed Michael so much.
She cried every time she thought about how harsh he had been to
her. Not that she was totally without
blame, but he hadn't even tried to stop her form going.
I never want to speak to him again.
But the hours they creep,
the patterns repeat.
Don't be concerned,
you know I'll be fine on my
own.
I never said "Don't go."
Michael couldn't believe Maria still hadn't made any attempt
to contact home.
She hasn't even called her mother; why would she call
me?
It had been a month since Maria left. And every day seemed worse to Michael.
Didn't my letter mean anything to her? Maybe making me wait is her revenge on
me. She has to talk to me someday. She has to.
"Does he ever get the girl?"
