Maria grabbed the television remote, quickly flipping
channels until she found the movie they had decided to watch. Surely 'Revenge of the Prom Queen' would
suffice to lighten the heavy atmosphere that had predominated the room ever
since her return. Tuning into the
movie, she tossed the remote onto the bed she and Liz would be sharing for the
night, sinking down onto the worn carpet next to it to stare blankly at the
movie's opening scene.
Tess was determined to ignore the obvious daggers Isabel was
staring at Maria, instead choosing to lounge across the bed and watch a bunch
of girls in bloody prom dresses dismember various members of the student body
at West Lake High School. Talk about
your angry young women…
Liz watched Maria, curious about her friend's obvious
distress. She couldn't recall a time
that Maria had been so closed off. She
hadn't even commented on the horribly clichéd script the movie seemed to be
based around. She wondered what had
happened while Maria and Max were at the festival together.
"Hey," Liz said, finally deciding on a course of action, "I'm
gonna go and get some ice. Anybody want
anything from the vending machines?"
Liz ducked out of the room, ice bucket in hand, and walked
to the room next to theirs. She knocked
lightly on the door so that the girls in her room wouldn't discover her
alternate destination.
"Liz, hi, what brings you over?" Alex opened the door to let her in, smiling broadly.
Entering the room, she scanned the beds and chairs looking
for Max but he was absent from the group that was sitting, totally engrossed,
in a televised hockey game. "Umm, Maria
just got in a little while ago. I was
wondering if Max came back too."
"Yeah, he did but then he went back out for snacks," Alex
explained. "You want to wait here for
him to get back?" He looked over at the
game with dispassionate eyes. "Or we
could always send him next door when he gets in."
"Oh, no, that's okay. I just wanted to ask him a question, it's nothing important. I have to go get some ice." She quickly turned around and left the room.
Snatching up their own ice bucket, Alex joined her on the
walkway outside. "Better yet, why don't
I come with you. Ice would be a good
idea. Is something wrong, Liz?"
"I don't know. It's
just me being weird, I guess, but did Max seem… strange when he got back?"
Alex thought for a moment. "He just seemed like Max," he admitted, "maybe a little more Max-ish
than usual but nothing too weird. Why
do you ask?"
"It's just that when Maria came back she seemed completely
distant, I'm talking about really distant. She didn't actually say anything about today
or anything and I was just wondering if maybe something happened while we were
all separated. Something that we should
know about." Liz smiled up at Alex,
suddenly feeling foolish. "I'm probably
just tired. I'm sure nothing
happened. They would have told us if it
had."
"It's been a long day, and I'm sure Isabel was somewhat less
than pleasant when Maria got in. But
you know how Hurricane DeLuca can get, Liz. Any little thing can set her off sometimes and Isabel's been rearing for
a fight with her ever since this morning." He laid a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "It'll all blow over by morning, you'll see."
"You're right," she agreed, lifting the door of the ice
machine. At least she hoped he was
right. Something just seemed slightly
off about Maria, she was even refusing to meet her gaze. She was definitely too tired, she decided,
if she was worried about Max and Maria having had a good time at the festival…
much too tired.
~~~
"This is what you do at slumber parties?" Tess asked,
amusement evident in her tone. She
watched as Isabel carefully painted her toenails with blue polish.
"Basically."
"There are always games to play too," Liz added. "Like… 'truth or dare', or 'spin the bottle',
or 'light as a feather, stiff as a board'. Spin the bottle is generally relegated to boy/girl parties though and
the whole lifting people into the air with two fingers isn't so interesting
with people who can blow things up just by pointing at them."
"And 'truth or dare' can be pretty risky when you're in a
hotel room, miles and miles away from good ol' parental supervision." Maria stood up, stretching her over-tired
muscles. She had planted herself on the
floor and had refused to move for the duration of the movie, something she now
regretted.
"So why don't we play 'truth' instead?" Isabel asked, not
looking up from Tess' toenails.
Maria froze; there was something in Isabel's voice that set
off a dozen little warning flags in her head. Somehow she didn't think she'd like this game very much.
"I've got an idea," Tess piped up. "Why don't we get the guys over here and then play 'truth'?"
"Now you're talking," Maria quipped. The more people there were, the less of a
threat Isabel would be. At least that's
what her overactive imagination wanted her to believe. Besides, she had an overwhelming need to see
Michael.
Maria didn't know what Isabel's problem was. They had been getting along great until
she'd walked downstairs into the cafe that morning. Isabel had nearly snapped her head off. Maybe she wasn't the only one who was suffering from the ill
effects of sleep deprivation.
~~~
With the hockey game over, the other half of their group was
more than willing to join in on their chosen mode of entertainment. After Isabel glanced into their short-term
lair, she decided the game would stay in the girls' room. How they could totally destroy a room in
such a short span of time was beyond her realm of understanding.
"We're playing 'truth', not 'truth or dare' now, guys. The same rules apply; you just don't get the
option of choosing to be dared. It was
pointed out that dares would not be such a good idea so far from Roswell and
everyone's respective parental units." Liz sat down after she explained what few rules they had agreed upon.
The eight of them made a disjointed, wobbly circle on the
floor between the beds, and someone produced a coin so they could flip to see
who would begin.
"Liz." Alex said, grinning mischievously. "What exactly goes on during all those
chemistry study sessions you have with Max?"
She blushed at the insinuation, sputtering, "Studying! That's why they call them study sessions." She turned to look shyly at Max, seeing a
similar flush stain his cheeks. "I
promise, we really do study… mostly."
"Yeah right. Okay,
Miss Future Valedictorian, you're up."
"Alright, umm… Tess."
Tess grinned. "Yes?"
"What's it like to be a not-quite-official member of the
Valenti family?" Liz asked, glad to be removed from the spotlight. Besides, she often wondered how Tess was
getting along with her new permanently temporary family.
"Strange," Tess replied. "There's a definite vacuum of estrogen in that house. But, all in all, I like it. It's nice to finally belong somewhere."
"That's sweet," Maria cooed, reaching for the bottle of nail
polish Isabel had left on the bedside table when she'd finished Tess' pedicure.
"Sweet, huh? Okay,
Maria, why don't you tell us what you and Max were up to all day that you
forgot to meet us for lunch?"
Maria's head jerked up and she dropped the bottle of blue
lacquer, sending it rolling beneath the bed. Her face turned beet red under the careful scrutiny of her friends. "Why would you think anything was going
on? We just lost track of time when we
were on the rides - end of story."
"Then why did you get back so late?" Isabel asked.
"Okay, first of all, that's two questions, secondly, it's
not your turn to ask…" Maria began, reaching out a hand to feel blindly beneath
the bed for the prodigal bottle of polish.
"Come on now, guys, what's the big deal?" Liz had been intrigued by Maria's blush but
pushed it aside in order to save her friend from being on the receiving end of
the third degree. "Let's not
harass Maria here."
"It's okay, Liz. If
you really must know…" she drawled, "We were sitting out in the desert making
out under the fireworks."
Max's eyes shot toward Maria, incredulous at what she had
just admitted.
"Oh yeah, I believe that!" Liz leaned back against the bed, smiling at the miscreant pair of
friends.
"Sure you were, Maria," Kyle laughed.
The rest of their friends joined in on the laughter. That Maria, she was always good for a laugh,
making wild accusations and insane conversation...
She raised her eyebrows at Max, and shrugged. If they didn't want to believe her, that was
their choice. She silently breathed a
sigh of relief though, she had figured they wouldn't take her seriously, but
there was always the chance that someone might. Poor Max looked like he was about to go into cardiac arrest. They both missed the flicker of nameless
emotion that passed across Isabel's eyes.
"My turn. Hey,
attention, everyone! It's my turn to
ask a question." She announced grandly,
waiting until the noise had died down before turning her attention to her love
interest. "So, Michael, tell us, what
is it that you like about me?"
No one moved; Michael himself didn't even appear to be
breathing. Maria only felt slightly
guilty for putting him on the spot. She
had needed something completely outrageous to take everyone's attention away
from the fact that she and Max had disappeared for the whole day, plus she was
curious to hear what his answer would be.
"This is a stupid game."
"Only because you don't want to answer the question,
Spaceboy. So tell me, what do you like
about me? There's bound to be something..."
"It's certainly not your annoying questions," he
replied, drawing more laughter from their friends. "I don't know, your hair I guess, and your eyes."
"Okay, so you're merely going on the physical
here?" Maria asked, becoming increasingly curious.
"Like you said, that's two questions, you only get one at a time. Alex?" Michael dismissed Maria quickly, turning his thoughts to how to phrase
his question. "How did you ever
put up with Liz and Maria for so long?"
"Michael!" Maria cried, indignant. She was echoed by Liz, who turned a warning
gaze on Alex, waiting for his response.
"At first it was because they were the only kids in
class who would talk to me. But once I
got to know them, it was because I cared about them. By then, I could ignore the strange quirks of their
personalities." He grinned at the
girls, hoping he'd steered clear of destruction with his answer.
The game carried on long into the night. They learned favorite colors, least favorite
teachers, and more personal information about various relationships and home
lives than any of them would have expected. Max and Maria's strange absence earlier that day miraculously wasn't
mentioned again, not even when Isabel found herself in the seat of
questioner. Long past midnight, Tess'
eyelids started to droop and Kyle suggested they call it a night.
Bustling the boys back into their room and securing the door
against intruders, Isabel dimmed the lights and sequestered herself in the
bathroom. Tess was more exhausted than
anyone had expected and had fallen asleep on top of the bedspread. Maria and Liz helped her slip out of her
jeans at least and crawl under the covers until only the very top of her head
was visible.
Changing into their nightclothes, Liz and Maria looked
longingly at the bathroom door. They'd
have to wait until morning for a shower, that much was painfully clear.
Crawling beneath the covers of their own bed, Liz turned to
face Maria. "Did you two have fun
today?" she whispered, trying not to disturb their slumbering roommate.
"Yeah, we did. I don't think there was a ride we didn't get on, even though there were
a few we should have passed up. I never knew those stupid inflatable aliens
could be good for anything but I do believe they saved me a few
bruises." Maria smiled. "Michael didn't drive you insane did
he?"
"No, we just talked... a lot. I don't think I've ever just talked to him before, it was kinda
strange at first. I didn't know he
could string more than a few sentences together."
"Funny, Parker. Michael and I do have conversations upon occasion."
"Yeah, all that free time you two get between kissing
and fighting. I can see how you'd talk
a lot."
"Well, tomorrow I think we should at least make an
attempt to keep our own boyfriends, this swinger's lifestyle isn't quite my
style," Maria suggested. She
wasn't in a hurry to be alone with Max again. She knew he'd want to discuss what had happened and she didn't know what
she would tell him. "Besides, I
don't have the baggage space for my alien family to proliferate any more. Max can win you a family of Martians of your
very own tomorrow."
Liz grinned at the suggestion. She had all the aliens she wanted in her life already.
Isabel stepped out of the bathroom after Maria and Liz had
followed Tess to slumber-land. She
watched the steady rise and fall of Maria's chest in the dim light that seeped
in around the drawn draperies. She had
known Maria for too long to become suddenly distrustful of her, but the feeling
was there all the same. She just wished
she knew the cause of it all. Shaking
her head slightly to clear her thoughts, she retrieved the comforter that Tess
had knocked to the floor and lay down next to her friend, determined to get
some rest. Maybe if she could sleep she
would be able to figure out what it was about Maria's statement earlier that
night that was bothering her.
Isabel drifted into a restless sleep just as Maria's dream
reclaimed her sleeping mind.
~~~
"Okay, so what shall we do first today?" Alex
asked.
They stood at the entrance to the festival, looking around
at the various booths.
"How about not loose anyone?" Isabel muttered,
casting a glance at her brother and Maria. She smiled when Alex took a step closer to her and rested a hand on his
arm.
"What's it gonna be first? Food or fun."
"Food!"
Alex covered his ears with his hands in mock pain at the
unanimous chorus. "Well, when you
decide to make a decision, at least you're in agreement," he
chuckled. "Food it is then."
They walked through the crowds toward the funnel cake and
food-on-a-stick stands, opting for carnival fare. Throughout the day they managed to stay relatively close
together. They sat and watched a puppet
show and a troupe of jugglers, sat through magic performances and sideshows,
they even followed Alex and Isabel back into the tiny dark building that was
optimistically labeled a planetarium.
~~~
The crowds had thinned considerably and they were halfway
back to the parking lot that afternoon, groaning about the long ride home they
were facing, when the heavy clouds that had been threatening rain all day
opened up and sent a torrent of icy water down on all those who were unlucky
enough to be caught out in it.
In the melee of confusion, Maria lost sight of the rest of
her friends and ducked into the funhouse to escape the deluge. Wringing water from her shirt and hair, she
shivered in the cool quiet interior, surrounded on all sides by huge grinning
clown heads and distorted mirrors. An
instant later Max appeared at her side.
"We've got to stop meeting like this, alien-boy. People will start to talk," she teased,
smiling up at him as she continued to try to get rid of the excess water that
clung to her skin and clothes.
Max smiled in reply, brushing his hands along his arms and
sending a shower of droplets onto the floor. "I never thought you cared much what other people said."
Maria shrugged, having to agree with his comment. "I don't. It's a hazard of being Amy DeLuca's daughter. If I'd cared what everyone said, I'd have
gone insane by time I was in the second grade. I might even have even been the world's youngest clock tower
sniper."
Max laughed at the thought. The only images he could pull up from his memories of Maria as a child
seemed to hinge around mischievously sparkling eyes, rosy cheeks, and golden
curls. She had looked more like a
cherub than a demon.
He looked around the interior of the building, eyeing the
massive clown heads and shining mirrored surfaces with no trace of
familiarity. "Did we come in here
yesterday?"
"Nope. I'm not
exceptionally fond of clowns, they used to scare me when I was a kid," she
admitted, grimacing up at the nearest grotesque face that leered down at her.
"Maria DeLuca, the girl who faces down inquisitive
sheriffs and intensely withdrawn aliens, admitting she's afraid of
something? Who would have thought the
day would've ever come..."
"I said I used to
be scared of them." She drew back
her shoulders and walked further from the decapitated clowns. "All right, I still don't exactly like
them overly much," she allowed. "So what is it that scares you, Max. I mean, you've discovered something about me that only Liz and
Alex knew until now. Come on, fess
up. It's your turn."
Max smiled sadly. "I thought we had stopped playing 'truth' last night."
"Ha! You were
obviously mistaken, mister. Unless you
feel like sitting around staring at each other until this storm passes, I suggest
you get with the game and answer my question."
He knelt down, feeling the floor with a tentative hand
before he resigned himself to sitting on it. He watched as Maria followed suit and slid down the wall across from
him, her face half hidden in the dense mottled shadows of the building.
"Being found out."
Maria nodded. "I can see how that would be worrisome. I mean, look at what the FBI did when they caught you. White rooms and torture and living science
experimentation isn't exactly on my list of the top ten ways I want to spend my
summer vacation either."
"No, I mean, yes. Having anyone else find out that we're not from this world is a constant
worry, you know it is, but that's not what I meant."
"What then?"
"If Liz or Michael, or any of the others found out
about what happened yesterday..."
"Oh." Maria twisted the ends of her hair absently, knotting the soggy strands
with her nervous fingers. "Yeah, I
guess we should talk about that, huh?"
Max nodded, watching the shadows that danced across Maria's
face and trying to judge her emotions through them.
"I love Michael," she began, "and I love Liz
too. I would never want to hurt either
one of them. I don't even understand
what's going on in my own head anymore. The dreams have been really..."
"We just won't let it happen again," Max said,
cutting off anything else she might have said.
"With ya' there, girlfriend, a hundred and twenty
percent. One alien boyfriend is more
than enough for this chick to handle, Teflon or not. Don't want an alien affair on top of it. I think that would push me completely over
the edge."
They were quiet for a long time, listening to the loud
rattling of the rain on the roof of the portable building in contemplative
silence, neither one of them wishing to further explore their earlier
betrayal. It wasn't until Maria started
to murmur softly that Max realized she had fallen asleep.
He watched her through the shadows, trying to make out what
she was saying but the rain was too loud and her voice too soft to be clearly
audible. Finally, curiosity got the
better of him and he moved across the room to sit down beside her.
~~~
She was in the desert, once again near the granolith
chamber, and again she wasn't alone. But something had changed. She
couldn't quite put her finger on the difference, she only knew that she had
been there before and that the course of events was altering from what they had
been.
The stars danced and spun over the desert and she watched
them in amazement, wondering what would have to happen to make them act in such
an unnatural manner. For all the
scientific impossibility of their astral dance, they were beautiful and she
found that she couldn't tear her eyes away from them.
"Maria?"
The voice was as gentle as the desert breeze that caressed
her cheek but even it failed to wrench her gaze from the heavens. She didn't even care that she was unsure of
who it was that was calling to her. She
wanted nothing more than to sit and watch the bright lights above her.
"Maria, it's time."
"Time?" she whispered the word to the stars. There was a niggling feeling at the back of
her mind, a question that she could not put to words, something important. It was time. She knew the voice was right, knew she was supposed to understand
the ramifications of those two words, but it was lost. Their meaning had been stripped away with
the last of her strength.
It was at that moment that she realized she couldn't move,
couldn't even turn her head or wiggle her toes. He mouth and tongue would only allow her to choke out a startled
whisper as she watched the dancing stars become larger until they were no
longer pinpoints of light but had morphed into ships that hung and buoyed in
the atmosphere unlike anything she'd ever seen before.
"It's time." The person had closed the distance that had been between them, his
breath rustling against her hair. "Don't worry, it will be over soon."
She barely felt the needle as it slid into her arm.
~~~
She came awake with a surge of movement, gasping for breath
and pushing herself to her knees. Startled by her sudden spurt of motion, Max reached out to lightly grasp
her arm, only to have her shriek and leap away from him in the dark room.
"Maria? It's
me, it's Max. Are you okay?" He inched closer to her. "You were dreaming." He paused before reaching out to touch her
again, wanting to soothe the ragged breathing and palpable fear that emanated
from her. It wasn't from any since of
romantic attachment, his need to help her, he cared about her without the kiss
complicating their friendship, he just wanted to help.
"Just a dream," she muttered. "Yeah, I'm fine. I'd be great if these dreams would go
away."
"What dreams?" Max recalled a half-spoken comment about dreams from their earlier
conversation and he wondered why he hadn't asked her to explain then.
"Just ordinary dreams, Max."
"Ordinary dreams don't scare you this much, Maria. What happened in your dream?"
Maria reached into her pocket and lifted out the little vial
of Cyprus oil, unscrewing the lid and lifting it to her nose to inhale its
calming scent. She wasn't sure she
wanted to elaborate on her dreams to Max, that would mean that she'd have to
tell about the ones that had preceded their kiss. There was a lot of territory she had no interest in pursuing, her
mind's insane nocturnal ramblings being one of them.
"Maria?" Max pressed, he wasn't about to let the
topic drop without a fight; a fight he was determined to win.
Maria opened her mouth to speak, unsure what words were
going to come out, when they heard Liz's unmistakable voice ring out in the
cavernous room. "Max? Maria? Hey you guys, you want to head out?"
Maria looked up, noticing for the first time that the rain
had lessened to a reasonable summer shower. Relieved beyond belief to be saved from an explanation of her crazed
dreams, she bounded to her feet and joined her friends in the gentle rain.
Walking back to their cars, Max brushed his hand against
Maria's arm, gaining her attention. "Don't think you're going to get out of telling me that
easily."
She tensed at Max's words, wishing she could take back any
mention she had made of the dreams.
tbc... (after finals are over and done with)