Disclaimer: Roswell, and its characters do not belong to me. Melinda Metz, Jason Katims and 20th Century Fox have that particular pleasure. If I was lucky enough to own them, you just know the show would still be on the air, and you be watching that instead of reading this.
Rating: PG-13 to R for inappropriate language and some violence.
Chapter Nine – Confrontations
"Hey, hey you, Max Evans!" Maria shouted over the voices in the hallway of West Roswell High. "Wait up. I want to talk to you."
Max looked over his shoulder, a feeling of dread welling up inside of him. This was one confrontation he didn't want to have and had gone out of his way to avoid. He stopped, knowing he had no other alternative, and waited for Maria to catch up to him.
"Hi, Maria, what's up?" Max said, trying to force himself to act casual.
"Don't you give me that what's up crap," said Maria. She reached out and grabbed Max's arm and dragged him into an empty classroom. "We're going to talk, and we're going to do it now."
"Okay," said Max, trying to humor the petite blond spitfire. "Talk. I'm listening."
"Nice try, girlfriend," said Maria, poking him in the chest. "But you're the one doing the talking, I'm the one listening."
"What did you just call me?" asked Max.
"Don't you dare try and change the subject, Max. You have some serious explaining to do," ranted Maria.
"Look, can you just sniff some cedar oil or something and calm down," suggested Max."
"In the first place, lavender is for relaxing, and in the second place, how do you even know I'm into aromatherapy?" asked Maria. "I suppose that freak friend of yours told you or something."
"I don't know how I knew," admitted Max. "Why did you call me girlfriend? Last time I checked, the anatomy wasn't quite right for that particular job description."
"I-I don't know," said Maria. "It just seemed right," she looked at Max, her confusion evident in her eyes.
"This isn't just some ploy to distract me, is it?" she asked.
"Come on, let's get out of here," said Max, grabbing her arm.
"Watch it!" snapped Maria. "I'm delicate, I bruise easily."
"Right," laughed Max. "Not to be insulting, Maria, but you're about as delicate as a pit bull. Now come on." He tugged gently on her arm and pulled her out into the hallway.
"Hey Maria, what's up?" a voice called from the hallway.
"Alex," Maria. "Uh, hi, how's it going?"
"I think the question is, where are you going?" asked Alex.
"We have an errand to run," said Max, brusquely.
"Max, wait," Maria said. She jerked her arm free of Max's grip and rushed back to Alex and hugged him tightly. "I love you," she said.
"Thanks," said a clearly puzzled Alex. "Hey, are you okay?"
"Yeah, she's fine," said Max. "She'll see you later." He propelled Maria ahead of him and out the school doors into the warm New Mexico sunlight.
"Where are we going?" Maria demanded as Max led her to his jeep.
"Some place where we can talk without being overheard," said Max. "Get in the car please, Maria."
"You know, there are some who would say that what your doing is kidnapping, no abducting me, but that seems more like your spiky haired friend's style."
"I'm not abducting you, Maria, relax," said Max. "It's just that there are some really weird things going on, and we need to talk about them. I guess I was kind of acting like Michael, wasn't I?"
"Yeah, please, curb your inner cave man tendencies when you're with me," said Maria. "You're the romantic one, remember? Why did I just say that?"
"I don't know, why did you just say that?" asked Max, his had paused over the ignition. "Do I strike you as the romantic type?"
"Well, let's just put it this way," said Maria. "Wait, never mind. Why am I having this conversation with you? I'm getting out of here."
She turned to open the car door to find Michael Guerin standing on the other side of it.
"Great, my day is now complete," said Maria with a moan. She turned to Max. "Why is the poster child for emotional constipation standing outside the door?" She looked to one side of Michael and saw Liz standing next to Michael. "With my best friend?" she added.
Max swiveled in his seat and peered past Maria to look out the canvas and plastic door of the Jeep. He opened the door and climbed out and stared at Michael over the top of the jeep.
"What are you doing here, Michael?" he asked.
"Following you, what does it look like, Maxwell?" Michael responded.
"Max," Liz said in her soft voice. "Alex told me he saw you and Maria leave school. I got worried, so I came after her, Michael came with me."
"You were with Liz?" Max asked, his voice tinged with jealousy.
"Jesus, chill, will you, Max," said Maria, who had, by now, climbed out of the jeep. "If Liz wants to talk to your stone faced friend, though I for the life of me couldn't see why, what's the big deal?"
"You're right," said Max, giving himself a mental shake. "Look, we all obviously need to talk, let's get out of here."
"Wait, my car," Maria said. "I can't leave it here."
"You have a car?" asked Michael in disbelief. "What is it, Mommy's Ford Escort?"
"It's a Jetta, actually," said Maria, trying to sound dignified. She pushed the door open, hitting Michael with a bit more force than necessary, enjoying the feeling of the door coming in contact with his shin.
"Get out of my way, stone face," she said.
"What is your problem?" Michael shouted. "Where do you get off telling me what to do?"
"Well, obviously, someone needs to, but cause you can't even dress yourself. Look at that shirt. I wouldn't wax my car with that shirt," Maria shot back.
"If that red piece of garbage over there is you're car, then I'd say you're right," said Michael. "If you tried waxing it, the pressure of the rubbing would probably make it fall into a million pieces."
"You know, that's just like you," said Maria walking off towards her Jetta. "You just have to belittle everything."
"What are you talking about?" asked Michael, following her through the parking lot.
"You know exactly what I'm talking about, Michael Guerin," said Maria, her voice growing softer as she moved across the parking lot.
Max turned to Liz, his expression hopeful, but guarded.
"So, you want to ride with me?" he asked.
"Um," said Liz, catching her lower lip between her teeth. "Sure, I guess. Where are we going, anyhow?"
"I thought we should go someplace private," said Max.
Images began to fill Liz's head as Max spoke. She saw herself in the eraser room with Max, sitting in Max's jeep in a run down trailer park, her and Max jumping of a bridge in the dark of night into a swirling river.
"Liz, Liz, are you all right?" Max shouted.
"What?" asked Liz, dazed by the images that filled her mind.
"I was talking and talking, but it's like you weren't even here," said Max.
"I don't think I was," said Liz.