Part 4
The next morning, Kyle and Tess seemed impossible to find. The others tried to find them, but they had no classes together that morning, so when lunch time came, they hadn't yet run into them. They sat together to eat.
"None of you has seen them?" asked Maria. They shook their heads.
"Maybe they'll come by to eat," said Isabel.
"Hello, people," came a voice from behind her. All looked up to find Kyle and Tess walking up to them. He had his arm around her shoulders, and both looked happier than they'd seen them in a very long time.
"Finally," said Liz, "We've been looking for you guys all morning."
"Yeah, after 'The Great Escape At West Roswell High', we've been kind of... anxious to see," said Alex, followed by a burst of laughter from the group.
"You hungry?" Kyle asked Tess.
"Starved," she answered.
"How about I go get us something to eat?"
"Alright," she said. She told him what she wanted. He kissed her and left. She blushed slightly and looked down with a grin as she sat with the others.
"Well, well, well," said Maria with a wide smile, "This is... different... Looks like our plan worked." She held out her hands and Liz and Isabel slapped them.
"So come on," said Isabel with her own smile, "Tell us."
"Nope," she said, her face unchanged.
"Please! We KNOW something happened, you can't exactly hide that from us..."
"Well... I don't want to go into details... those are ours only. But there IS a date this weekend." She stopped.
"Why do I have a feeling there's more to this?" asked Michael.
"Nasedo called," Tess said, "He'll be back on Saturday afternoon. The date is Saturday night. So we're gonna have to move into the final... phase... of our little operation. I've explained to Kyle already."
"What?" asked Max.
"On Saturday, all of us will wait for Nasedo's arrival. And then... we tell him."
"You mean, tell him about..." started Isabel.
"Exactly," said Tess, knowing they'd understood. "We have to stand our ground, don't show fear... We can't let him force us to be with a person if our hearts are with another, we can't allow it, not after the past few days..." They nodded in agreement and started to eat, soon, joined by Kyle with his and Tess' lunch.
*
Saturday, Harding home
Tess had been up and dressed since dawn. She ran around the house, making sure it looked neat and spotless. At about one, they began to arrive. First came Kyle, then Maria, Liz, Alex, Max, Isabel, and finally Michael.
They sat in silence for some time, already 'paired up' by couple. After a few minutes, Tess spoke up. "Anyone thirsty?" As if they'd just woken up, they all spoke at once. Once she'd managed to separate their 'orders', she headed for the kitchen.
She opened a cupboard and took out eight small glasses. She walked to the refrigerator, opened the door, and picked up two bottles. When she closed the door, she was startled to find someone at the entrance of the kitchen.
"Kyle... you scared me..." she said, standing in place.
"You don't have to worry, Tess," he said slowly, "Everything will be fine, you'll see."
"How can you be so sure?" she asked, speaking louder than she'd intended, "You don't know Nasedo... He's not a regular person. He's not even a person... I keep telling myself everything will work out, but... What if it doesn't?" She took the few steps to Kyle and took his hand. "I couldn't bear to lose this... lose you." He smiled.
"You won't... I promise," he said, squeezing her hand. She smiled as well.
*
In the living room
The others had loosened up and were now in conversation. Alex and Isabel remained in their places and talked, while the others had switched so that Liz and Maria, and Max and Michael could talk.
"How long have you known this guy exactly?" asked Alex.
"As long as you have, remember?" said Isabel.
"Right..."
"Relax, okay? It'll be fine." She could see why he was so nervous. Deep down, so was she. The last few days had been very eventful, to say the least, for both of them. They'd been back together for a week and they were still in the process of 'resettling' into the relationship.
They hadn't been apart for that long, but it had taken its toll already. They saw it in the others, too... Max and Liz, Michael and Maria... It was easy to see but no one ever said it aloud. Max and Liz had been hit the hardest. And just to think that if Tess had been able to speak up earlier, they wouldn't have gone through it at all...
And Michael and Maria had to deal with all that happened with the 'baby scare' and Pierce's death... But they could see Michael was trying to fix what he'd done. And Maria couldn't have been happier.
*
"So how's it going with you and Liz?" Michael asked Max.
"Why do you wanna know?"
"I don't really... Maria just wants to hear your side of it or something, I don't know..."
"Well... it's going great, I guess... We're not quite the way we used to be but... we're certainly moving in that direction."
"Alright, all I needed to know."
"Okay... what about you and Maria?" Max asked. Michael was silent for a few seconds. He didn't really like talking about his relationship... Eventually, the words came out.
"I think she's trusting me again..." Max could hear the joy and relief in his voice. To the casual observer, there would have been nothing. But he'd known Michael long enough to understand him.
"That's good," he said simply. Max really hoped that things would start to look up for Michael. He'd been through so much... through too much... He deserved the happiness he had now. Max would make sure that not even Nasedo could take it away from him.
*
"What if he blows us up?"
"Maria, he's not gonna blow us up," said Liz.
"How do you know that?"
"Calm down, okay?" Maria was having so many panic attacks lately, it was starting to drive them nuts.
"I mean, it's not impossible. He comes home to find his alien 'charges' refusing their destinies and the people who stand in the way of it are right there? Come on!"
"You know, you're right. He probably WILL blow us up. He'll blow us up and then eat us with Tabasco Sauce... He's NOT going to hurt us, okay? If he even tries, you know Max and the others won't let him. Stop overreacting." Maria was silent for a few seconds.
"Right... you're totally right," she said shakily.
"Of course I am," said Liz with a smile. Maria did as well.
"Okay, but Liz?"
"Yeah?"
"I'm still keeping my doubts. And if you're wrong, I'll kick your butt." The two girls laughed, but stopped abruptly when they heard the sound of what had to be the front door opening and closing. They shuffled to their feet, returning to their girlfriend or boyfriend.
They didn't even take their eyes away from the entrance Nasedo would come through. They heard footsteps from behind and they knew Kyle and Tess had joined them. None made a sound, all that was heard was their breaths. Time felt annoyingly slow... They just wanted to get this over with already...
"Tess?" came his voice from outside the room. There was no specific tone to it, just like it always did. They could hear his footsteps in the hall.
When Nasedo finally walked into the living room, he stood before eight extremely stern faces. He looked around the room, puzzled.
"What's going on here?" Tess stepped forward and spoke.
"Nasedo, sit down, please? We all have something very important to tell you."
End of part two of the No Destiny Series
The next morning, Kyle and Tess seemed impossible to find. The others tried to find them, but they had no classes together that morning, so when lunch time came, they hadn't yet run into them. They sat together to eat.
"None of you has seen them?" asked Maria. They shook their heads.
"Maybe they'll come by to eat," said Isabel.
"Hello, people," came a voice from behind her. All looked up to find Kyle and Tess walking up to them. He had his arm around her shoulders, and both looked happier than they'd seen them in a very long time.
"Finally," said Liz, "We've been looking for you guys all morning."
"Yeah, after 'The Great Escape At West Roswell High', we've been kind of... anxious to see," said Alex, followed by a burst of laughter from the group.
"You hungry?" Kyle asked Tess.
"Starved," she answered.
"How about I go get us something to eat?"
"Alright," she said. She told him what she wanted. He kissed her and left. She blushed slightly and looked down with a grin as she sat with the others.
"Well, well, well," said Maria with a wide smile, "This is... different... Looks like our plan worked." She held out her hands and Liz and Isabel slapped them.
"So come on," said Isabel with her own smile, "Tell us."
"Nope," she said, her face unchanged.
"Please! We KNOW something happened, you can't exactly hide that from us..."
"Well... I don't want to go into details... those are ours only. But there IS a date this weekend." She stopped.
"Why do I have a feeling there's more to this?" asked Michael.
"Nasedo called," Tess said, "He'll be back on Saturday afternoon. The date is Saturday night. So we're gonna have to move into the final... phase... of our little operation. I've explained to Kyle already."
"What?" asked Max.
"On Saturday, all of us will wait for Nasedo's arrival. And then... we tell him."
"You mean, tell him about..." started Isabel.
"Exactly," said Tess, knowing they'd understood. "We have to stand our ground, don't show fear... We can't let him force us to be with a person if our hearts are with another, we can't allow it, not after the past few days..." They nodded in agreement and started to eat, soon, joined by Kyle with his and Tess' lunch.
*
Saturday, Harding home
Tess had been up and dressed since dawn. She ran around the house, making sure it looked neat and spotless. At about one, they began to arrive. First came Kyle, then Maria, Liz, Alex, Max, Isabel, and finally Michael.
They sat in silence for some time, already 'paired up' by couple. After a few minutes, Tess spoke up. "Anyone thirsty?" As if they'd just woken up, they all spoke at once. Once she'd managed to separate their 'orders', she headed for the kitchen.
She opened a cupboard and took out eight small glasses. She walked to the refrigerator, opened the door, and picked up two bottles. When she closed the door, she was startled to find someone at the entrance of the kitchen.
"Kyle... you scared me..." she said, standing in place.
"You don't have to worry, Tess," he said slowly, "Everything will be fine, you'll see."
"How can you be so sure?" she asked, speaking louder than she'd intended, "You don't know Nasedo... He's not a regular person. He's not even a person... I keep telling myself everything will work out, but... What if it doesn't?" She took the few steps to Kyle and took his hand. "I couldn't bear to lose this... lose you." He smiled.
"You won't... I promise," he said, squeezing her hand. She smiled as well.
*
In the living room
The others had loosened up and were now in conversation. Alex and Isabel remained in their places and talked, while the others had switched so that Liz and Maria, and Max and Michael could talk.
"How long have you known this guy exactly?" asked Alex.
"As long as you have, remember?" said Isabel.
"Right..."
"Relax, okay? It'll be fine." She could see why he was so nervous. Deep down, so was she. The last few days had been very eventful, to say the least, for both of them. They'd been back together for a week and they were still in the process of 'resettling' into the relationship.
They hadn't been apart for that long, but it had taken its toll already. They saw it in the others, too... Max and Liz, Michael and Maria... It was easy to see but no one ever said it aloud. Max and Liz had been hit the hardest. And just to think that if Tess had been able to speak up earlier, they wouldn't have gone through it at all...
And Michael and Maria had to deal with all that happened with the 'baby scare' and Pierce's death... But they could see Michael was trying to fix what he'd done. And Maria couldn't have been happier.
*
"So how's it going with you and Liz?" Michael asked Max.
"Why do you wanna know?"
"I don't really... Maria just wants to hear your side of it or something, I don't know..."
"Well... it's going great, I guess... We're not quite the way we used to be but... we're certainly moving in that direction."
"Alright, all I needed to know."
"Okay... what about you and Maria?" Max asked. Michael was silent for a few seconds. He didn't really like talking about his relationship... Eventually, the words came out.
"I think she's trusting me again..." Max could hear the joy and relief in his voice. To the casual observer, there would have been nothing. But he'd known Michael long enough to understand him.
"That's good," he said simply. Max really hoped that things would start to look up for Michael. He'd been through so much... through too much... He deserved the happiness he had now. Max would make sure that not even Nasedo could take it away from him.
*
"What if he blows us up?"
"Maria, he's not gonna blow us up," said Liz.
"How do you know that?"
"Calm down, okay?" Maria was having so many panic attacks lately, it was starting to drive them nuts.
"I mean, it's not impossible. He comes home to find his alien 'charges' refusing their destinies and the people who stand in the way of it are right there? Come on!"
"You know, you're right. He probably WILL blow us up. He'll blow us up and then eat us with Tabasco Sauce... He's NOT going to hurt us, okay? If he even tries, you know Max and the others won't let him. Stop overreacting." Maria was silent for a few seconds.
"Right... you're totally right," she said shakily.
"Of course I am," said Liz with a smile. Maria did as well.
"Okay, but Liz?"
"Yeah?"
"I'm still keeping my doubts. And if you're wrong, I'll kick your butt." The two girls laughed, but stopped abruptly when they heard the sound of what had to be the front door opening and closing. They shuffled to their feet, returning to their girlfriend or boyfriend.
They didn't even take their eyes away from the entrance Nasedo would come through. They heard footsteps from behind and they knew Kyle and Tess had joined them. None made a sound, all that was heard was their breaths. Time felt annoyingly slow... They just wanted to get this over with already...
"Tess?" came his voice from outside the room. There was no specific tone to it, just like it always did. They could hear his footsteps in the hall.
When Nasedo finally walked into the living room, he stood before eight extremely stern faces. He looked around the room, puzzled.
"What's going on here?" Tess stepped forward and spoke.
"Nasedo, sit down, please? We all have something very important to tell you."
End of part two of the No Destiny Series