A/N: yep sezza, I've definitely noticed how much you like candy, but I'm
very sorry its not in this chapter either! I do promise, though, that you
do not have to wait very long for the candy to come! Thanks to everyone
who's reviewed - its always nice to see that increase in numbers on my
stats list!
"Wow! Oh my God, it looks so much better now!" Maria said excitedly.
"See, I told you that you could do it," Michael said as they both admired her painting. The bell rang motioning for them to get to their next class.
"Well, this should definitely impress my teacher," Maria said and then put the canvas back into the cupboard. "I better get going - don't want to be late for Mr. Katims. Thanks again, Michael," she said and kissed him on the cheek.
"No problem. You can always ask me if you need any help," he said, grinning.
"I definitely will," she nodded and skipped out of the art room.
***
Alex slammed his locker shut and was incredibly surprised to see the blonde girl next to him. "Isabel?"
"Hello, Alex."
"You know when we broke up I distinctly remember you saying let's not really hang around anymore. If that's not what this is then what is this called?"
"We're just gonna talk a little bit," she informed him.
"I see. Talk about what, exactly?"
"The new girl."
"Maria?"
"Yes, Maria. How well do you know her Alex?"
"Well, she just joined. It's hard to find out the most intimate details of someone's life when you've known them less than a week. You don't get all the really 'juicy' stuff until at least the third week - pretty much like when you and I were dating. And why the interest in Maria? Have you considered her as a potential tag along to run after you?"
"Oh God, no. She just seemed suspicious."
"And what did you suspect her of?" Alex asked, amused. Or maybe he asked it because it had been ages since Isabel had willingly started a conversation with him. Definitely one or the other.
"Nothing," Isabel said, but the look on her face told Alex differently.
"Why now, Isabel? We aren't jealous, are we?"
"Jealous? Why would I be jealous of her?" Isabel demanded stopping in her tracks.
"Well, I don't know. But you and Michael just broke up and now there's all these 'sparks' with Maria and Michael."
"Michael is dating her?" Isabel asked. "Good for him. It's about time he got over that crush he had on me. It was getting annoying."
Alex was bewildered. "But if you're not jealous of her and Michael then what are jealous of her for?"
"Alex," Isabel said exasperatedly, "why are you so fixated on me being jealous on Maria? I never said any such thing."
"Isabel, it's been a while since we went out, but I can still read you like I could then. You were jealous of something she'd done - or something like that." The look on Isabel's face told him he was right, making Alex smile.
"Alright clever boy, you got me. But I won't tell you everything. You'll be at the crash down tonight, right?" Isabel added, her tone changing.
"Probably," Alex replied.
"Well," Isabel smiled, "maybe I'll see you there." And then she walked away.
***
That night at the crash down...
"Where's Liz?" Maria asked Kyle as she entered the crash down and sat across from him in his booth.
"She's in the back room behind the kitchen, but you should probably not talk to her right now," he said and took a sip of his shake.
"Why?"
"She and Max had an argument and he left. Liz isn't in the best of moods."
"Oh," Maria said quietly.
They chatted about other things for a while until Michael came into the crash down. "Michael," Maria waved. "Over here!"
He smiled and came up to them. "Hi." Maria made room for him on her side so he sat next to her. Once he had sat down, she surprised both Kyle and him by kissing him on the cheek.
"That was for helping me with my painting. I got an B plus!" she beamed.
"Hey, don't thank me," Michael said and Kyle noticed he blushed very slightly. "It was all you."
"But I couldn't have done it if you hadn't shown me what to do."
As the conversation continued Kyle decided to sit back and let them do 99% of the talking. It was amusing watching them flirt with each other without realising it.
*
Alex sat in his booth playing with the straw in his empty glass. He'd been there over an hour and Isabel still hadn't shown up. He wasn't even sure why he'd shown up after everything that had happened with them before but he was here now and he wasn't going to leave. Or was he? Checking his watch for the zillionth time in under half an hour he saw that it wasn't around the normal time he hung around here - he usually came earlier, or later, about an hour before closing time closing time. He told himself to leave the Crash down and was about to do so when a hand touched his shoulder. He looked up and saw Isabel. "Hi Alex," she smiled.
"H-Hey."
She slipped into the booth and sat opposite him, her wide smile showing what seemed like all 32 glistening white teeth. As Courtney came to take the order she was tempted to count, but refrained.
"I've got an order for table 4 - and where's my food for table 6?" Courtney asked.
"Here you go," Jarod said and passed her some plates.
She took them, passed them to the waitress who'd just joined and asked, "Where's Liz?"
"She's not come out since she went back with that guy," Jarod told her. Courtney drummed her fingers on the table for a few seconds and then walked into the back room and found Liz sitting on the couch. "Are you okay?" she asked.
After a few moments pause Liz nodded her head. "Yeah. I'll be fine."
"Do you want to talk about what happened?" Courtney asked.
Liz shook her head, "Nope." She stood up and the two girls exited the room into the front.
Courtney went back to the kitchen and Liz, noticing Maria, Kyle and Michael at a booth near the entrance to the Crashdown. She walked over to them, noticing Alex sitting at a booth with none other than Isabel. She was chatting away excitedly while he listened attentively. Liz was surprised but decided not to disturb them. When she reached the booth her friends were at Liz said, "Hi."
"Hey Liz," Maria said, brightening up considerably.
"Hey," Kyle said, while Michael seemed to have not even acknowledged her presence. In fact he wasn't paying attention to any of them - he was looking at something in front of him, not that close by. Liz wanted to turn and see what he was looking at but she had a funny feeling she already knew.
"Did you guys order?" she asked.
"Yeah," Maria nodded.
"Well.I'll just go back to the counter and wait." Liz started.
"I'll come with you," Maria said, and before Liz could reply she had stood up. Maria moved past Michael who didn't seem to even notice that. Before they left Maria said bye to the guys. Kyle said bye, back. Michael just said, "Uh.yeah," n a way that told them all he had no idea what was going on or what she had just said.
"Kyle, do you mind if I sit with Liz at the counter and eat my ice cream there?"
"Of course, not," he said, understanding. "I'll tell that new waitress to take your one there when she comes."
"Thanks," she said to him and then after Maria had picked her bag up off the floor, the girls walked to the counter.
"Okay, Michael, what the hell is wrong with you?" Kyle demanded once the girls had left.
"H-huh?" Michael asked, snapping out o his trance.
"Michael when you first came in all you and Maria did was flirt -"
"What!? We were just talking -" Michael interrupted.
"But half an hour ago," Kyle continued, "for some reason you haven't paid any attention to either of us. And, not that I really minded that much, but Maria seemed to notice."
"S-she did?" Michael said.
"Now you notice that?" Kyle said. "I don't know what's been up with you, but I'm about to find out." Kyle turned around for an instant before turning back, visibly shocked. "I can't believe you!"
"Don't say it," Michael told Kyle.
"You were staring at Isabel! My God Michael I can't believe you did that to Maria," Kyle said.
"What's that supposed to mean!?" Michael asked.
"Michael, do you like Maria or Isabel?" Kyle asked lowering his voice so he could be sure no one heard.
"W-w..." Michael started.
"You're not sure are you?" Kyle asked. Michael had to shake his head in reply.
* A few hours later, a park in Roswell .
"Max? What are you doing here?" Alex asked him.
"I don't know. I've no idea what to do."
"I heard 'bout you and Liz.um, what happened?"
"Just I was saying stuff about Jerry and she got mad - and I don't see why. She's been acting so weird lately - ever since I told her about Tess. I didn't know that they didn't like each other - they didn't seem pretty bad before. And then Kyle was saying that Liz likes someone who isn't Jerry and I asked her about that and she said that I should have noticed by now. Do you know?" Max asked Alex, finally.
Liz and Alex were close but so were Max and Alex. He had to nod.
"But you can't tell me who, can you?"
Alex shook his head.
"Yeah, okay," Max sighed. "See you tomorrow, then."
"Yeah, Max, see you tomorrow."
A/N 2: I know that not much happened in this chapter but loads will be going on next time - and I promise not to take that long with it!
"Wow! Oh my God, it looks so much better now!" Maria said excitedly.
"See, I told you that you could do it," Michael said as they both admired her painting. The bell rang motioning for them to get to their next class.
"Well, this should definitely impress my teacher," Maria said and then put the canvas back into the cupboard. "I better get going - don't want to be late for Mr. Katims. Thanks again, Michael," she said and kissed him on the cheek.
"No problem. You can always ask me if you need any help," he said, grinning.
"I definitely will," she nodded and skipped out of the art room.
***
Alex slammed his locker shut and was incredibly surprised to see the blonde girl next to him. "Isabel?"
"Hello, Alex."
"You know when we broke up I distinctly remember you saying let's not really hang around anymore. If that's not what this is then what is this called?"
"We're just gonna talk a little bit," she informed him.
"I see. Talk about what, exactly?"
"The new girl."
"Maria?"
"Yes, Maria. How well do you know her Alex?"
"Well, she just joined. It's hard to find out the most intimate details of someone's life when you've known them less than a week. You don't get all the really 'juicy' stuff until at least the third week - pretty much like when you and I were dating. And why the interest in Maria? Have you considered her as a potential tag along to run after you?"
"Oh God, no. She just seemed suspicious."
"And what did you suspect her of?" Alex asked, amused. Or maybe he asked it because it had been ages since Isabel had willingly started a conversation with him. Definitely one or the other.
"Nothing," Isabel said, but the look on her face told Alex differently.
"Why now, Isabel? We aren't jealous, are we?"
"Jealous? Why would I be jealous of her?" Isabel demanded stopping in her tracks.
"Well, I don't know. But you and Michael just broke up and now there's all these 'sparks' with Maria and Michael."
"Michael is dating her?" Isabel asked. "Good for him. It's about time he got over that crush he had on me. It was getting annoying."
Alex was bewildered. "But if you're not jealous of her and Michael then what are jealous of her for?"
"Alex," Isabel said exasperatedly, "why are you so fixated on me being jealous on Maria? I never said any such thing."
"Isabel, it's been a while since we went out, but I can still read you like I could then. You were jealous of something she'd done - or something like that." The look on Isabel's face told him he was right, making Alex smile.
"Alright clever boy, you got me. But I won't tell you everything. You'll be at the crash down tonight, right?" Isabel added, her tone changing.
"Probably," Alex replied.
"Well," Isabel smiled, "maybe I'll see you there." And then she walked away.
***
That night at the crash down...
"Where's Liz?" Maria asked Kyle as she entered the crash down and sat across from him in his booth.
"She's in the back room behind the kitchen, but you should probably not talk to her right now," he said and took a sip of his shake.
"Why?"
"She and Max had an argument and he left. Liz isn't in the best of moods."
"Oh," Maria said quietly.
They chatted about other things for a while until Michael came into the crash down. "Michael," Maria waved. "Over here!"
He smiled and came up to them. "Hi." Maria made room for him on her side so he sat next to her. Once he had sat down, she surprised both Kyle and him by kissing him on the cheek.
"That was for helping me with my painting. I got an B plus!" she beamed.
"Hey, don't thank me," Michael said and Kyle noticed he blushed very slightly. "It was all you."
"But I couldn't have done it if you hadn't shown me what to do."
As the conversation continued Kyle decided to sit back and let them do 99% of the talking. It was amusing watching them flirt with each other without realising it.
*
Alex sat in his booth playing with the straw in his empty glass. He'd been there over an hour and Isabel still hadn't shown up. He wasn't even sure why he'd shown up after everything that had happened with them before but he was here now and he wasn't going to leave. Or was he? Checking his watch for the zillionth time in under half an hour he saw that it wasn't around the normal time he hung around here - he usually came earlier, or later, about an hour before closing time closing time. He told himself to leave the Crash down and was about to do so when a hand touched his shoulder. He looked up and saw Isabel. "Hi Alex," she smiled.
"H-Hey."
She slipped into the booth and sat opposite him, her wide smile showing what seemed like all 32 glistening white teeth. As Courtney came to take the order she was tempted to count, but refrained.
"I've got an order for table 4 - and where's my food for table 6?" Courtney asked.
"Here you go," Jarod said and passed her some plates.
She took them, passed them to the waitress who'd just joined and asked, "Where's Liz?"
"She's not come out since she went back with that guy," Jarod told her. Courtney drummed her fingers on the table for a few seconds and then walked into the back room and found Liz sitting on the couch. "Are you okay?" she asked.
After a few moments pause Liz nodded her head. "Yeah. I'll be fine."
"Do you want to talk about what happened?" Courtney asked.
Liz shook her head, "Nope." She stood up and the two girls exited the room into the front.
Courtney went back to the kitchen and Liz, noticing Maria, Kyle and Michael at a booth near the entrance to the Crashdown. She walked over to them, noticing Alex sitting at a booth with none other than Isabel. She was chatting away excitedly while he listened attentively. Liz was surprised but decided not to disturb them. When she reached the booth her friends were at Liz said, "Hi."
"Hey Liz," Maria said, brightening up considerably.
"Hey," Kyle said, while Michael seemed to have not even acknowledged her presence. In fact he wasn't paying attention to any of them - he was looking at something in front of him, not that close by. Liz wanted to turn and see what he was looking at but she had a funny feeling she already knew.
"Did you guys order?" she asked.
"Yeah," Maria nodded.
"Well.I'll just go back to the counter and wait." Liz started.
"I'll come with you," Maria said, and before Liz could reply she had stood up. Maria moved past Michael who didn't seem to even notice that. Before they left Maria said bye to the guys. Kyle said bye, back. Michael just said, "Uh.yeah," n a way that told them all he had no idea what was going on or what she had just said.
"Kyle, do you mind if I sit with Liz at the counter and eat my ice cream there?"
"Of course, not," he said, understanding. "I'll tell that new waitress to take your one there when she comes."
"Thanks," she said to him and then after Maria had picked her bag up off the floor, the girls walked to the counter.
"Okay, Michael, what the hell is wrong with you?" Kyle demanded once the girls had left.
"H-huh?" Michael asked, snapping out o his trance.
"Michael when you first came in all you and Maria did was flirt -"
"What!? We were just talking -" Michael interrupted.
"But half an hour ago," Kyle continued, "for some reason you haven't paid any attention to either of us. And, not that I really minded that much, but Maria seemed to notice."
"S-she did?" Michael said.
"Now you notice that?" Kyle said. "I don't know what's been up with you, but I'm about to find out." Kyle turned around for an instant before turning back, visibly shocked. "I can't believe you!"
"Don't say it," Michael told Kyle.
"You were staring at Isabel! My God Michael I can't believe you did that to Maria," Kyle said.
"What's that supposed to mean!?" Michael asked.
"Michael, do you like Maria or Isabel?" Kyle asked lowering his voice so he could be sure no one heard.
"W-w..." Michael started.
"You're not sure are you?" Kyle asked. Michael had to shake his head in reply.
* A few hours later, a park in Roswell .
"Max? What are you doing here?" Alex asked him.
"I don't know. I've no idea what to do."
"I heard 'bout you and Liz.um, what happened?"
"Just I was saying stuff about Jerry and she got mad - and I don't see why. She's been acting so weird lately - ever since I told her about Tess. I didn't know that they didn't like each other - they didn't seem pretty bad before. And then Kyle was saying that Liz likes someone who isn't Jerry and I asked her about that and she said that I should have noticed by now. Do you know?" Max asked Alex, finally.
Liz and Alex were close but so were Max and Alex. He had to nod.
"But you can't tell me who, can you?"
Alex shook his head.
"Yeah, okay," Max sighed. "See you tomorrow, then."
"Yeah, Max, see you tomorrow."
A/N 2: I know that not much happened in this chapter but loads will be going on next time - and I promise not to take that long with it!