Disclaimer: I don't own anything Roswell, except for a few episodes that I've taped from TV. Please don't sue!

Summary: When Maria DeLuca and Michael Guerin find each other, will they hit it off? And will they be able to overcome the one thing that he can't change?

Includes: All Roswell characters are included in this story: Alex, Isabel, Max, Michael, Liz, and Maria. Maybe others too, but I'm not sure as of yet. It's mostly a M/M fiction, but it will contains others as well.

Authors Note: These next chapters are short so that's why I decided to give you two chapters in one update. I'm continuing to write as I go, just thinking things up day-by-day. Any feedback that you could give me would be greatly appreciated. I love hearing what all of you think of my writing, and I would love to hear about any suggestions that you have to make. I'm a big believer in constructive criticism. You can't better your writing if someone doesn't tell you what is wrong with it, right? Anyways, Keep Reading! And Enjoy!

Unbroken

Chapter 3

Maria sighed in frustration as the tardy bell rang and she stood still in the middle of the deserted hallway. Starting a new school was going to be harder than she thought. The school was small, but that didn't mean it was easy to navigate through it. In fact, she was completely confused. Her schedule indicated that she was supposed to be in room 132, but that room was hard to find when every room looked exactly the same.

Liz had promised that she would help direct her to her classes, but when Maria walked into school this morning, the place was packed. For such a small town, the class population wasn't so little. The entire high school was confined to a small lobby area because of bad weather, making the impossible even more unattainable. How was she supposed to find Liz when she could hardly get through the crowd of teenagers, let alone see over them to find a short, brown headed girl?

"Ugh!" Maria lurched forward when something hit her from behind. She looked up in time to see a boy continuing past her, his shaggy hair bouncing as he walked. "Wait a second! Excuse me?" Maria began after him, stopping abruptly when he turned to face her. Maria smiled, but his face remained emotionless. "Hi, my name is Maria. Maria DeLuca. I'm new here, and if you could be so kind as to show me to my pre-cal class then I would be so grateful." she looked down at her schedule. "It's, um, room 132. Do you know where that is?"

"It's over there." the boy pointed in the direction of a line of doors, separated by rows of lockers. He didn't wait for her to reply before turning back around to walk away. He knew that if he would have stayed then she would have continued to ramble. Girls were like that, and that was the last thing he wanted to deal with.

"Thanks!" she called after him and watched as he lifted his hand to her, his legs still carrying him away. Maria's smile fell. She hadn't expect everyone to greet her with open arms, but the fact that someone actually wasn't disappointed her. Weren't small towns supposed to be full of friendly people that were willing to help?

When she finally found the correct room, the bell rang and the doors swung open. Liz was the first one to exit that classroom and she lit up at the sight of her new friend. "Maria! I was looking for you this morning. Where were you?" the two girls began to walk down the hallway together.

"People were so crowded together that I couldn't see the floor two feet in front of me." Maria replied. "I really could have used your help. It took me all class period to find the room. I asked some boy, but he didn't seem like he actually wanted to help much. And he didn't." she smiled softly.

Liz nodded, giggling. "You must have just met Michael. He's a friend of Max and Isabel. You just have to get to know him to understand him. He's had a rough life and he doesn't like to be around people much. He used to hang with us, but we hardly ever see him anymore. Isabel is the only one he ever really talks to."

Maria listened as Liz continued to ramble. Michael must have been the same boy because to say he wasn't friendly would have been an understatement. He wasn't really anything. Sure, he directed her to her classroom, but that was all he did. She didn't understand what it was that made people so emotionless and numb to the world. What had to have happened to him that made him despise everyone around him? "Hey, Liz, can you tell me where my next class is?" Maria asked, handing over her schedule to her new friend, switching the subject of conversation momentarily.

"Yeah, you have English with me. I'll show you there." Liz paused, taking her friend by the arm as she began to pull her in the direction of their next class. "Will you meet me at the Crashdown later, Maria? I'll talk to Max and Isabel. Maybe the can convince Michael to go there and I can properly introduce you two. Who knows? Maybe he will open up to you."

Maria nodded and smiled. "Sure, sounds like fun." she followed Liz into the classroom, their teacher instantly hushing them.

Maria had only been in Roswell for two days and already it felt like home. In fact, Roswell felt more like home than New York ever did. She never did fit in well with people from New York, but here everyone was just like her. Although she never pictured herself as being a small town girl before, she was beginning to like the idea more and more. It was more peaceful here. She wasn't kept awake by the constant sounds of vehicles driving by or by policemen turning their sirens on as they passed her house. Peace was something that she missed while living in New York. Peace was the one thing that she loved most about Roswell.