Author: X_tremeroswellian
Email: [email protected]
Disclaimer: Not mine. The song, "Whatever You Say" is by Martina McBride.
Rating: R for language, violence, and sexual content
Spoilers: Up through "The (UFO) Convention" and possibly the first five books of Roswell High by Melinda Metz.
In the Presence of Evil (Part Four)
They didn't go on their triple date that weekend. None of them were in the mood. They'd stayed at Liz's, watched television, ate more ice cream, but didn't mention any of the Czechoslovokians. There was nothing left to be said.
Maria couldn't stop thinking of Michael as she drove to school Monday morning. She turned her radio up, singing along loudly to try and drown out her thoughts.
"You think I'm always making
Something out of nothing
You're saying everything's okay..."
"You wouldn't understand. You don't understand anything about us!"
"You've always got an answer
Before I ask the question
Whatever you say..."
"You're avoiding me."
"I'm not avoiding you."
"Oh, the classic signs, Michael. Not looking me in the eye, lying about motives."
"You know what? Fine. If it's going to shut you up, I am avoiding you. Watch me continue that thought, all right?"
"Now we can change the subject
Pretend I never brought it up
Same old stoy anyway
Later we can work it out
Right now you're talked out
Yeah, whatever you say..."
"There he is."
"Him?"
"What, you think I'm wrong?"
"No, he's just so avoidable."
"If we didnt' need your car..."
"I know you can hear me
But I'm not sure you're listening
I hear what you're saying
But still there's something missing..."
Maria parked her car and walked into the school, her memories still flashing in her mind.
"You've been ignoring me the whole night. Look, I'm not some Pollyanna, okay? I don't think what we have is true love. I don't know what we have. I just...I don't understand why you have to avoid me. It hurts that's all."
"Whether I go
Or whether I stay
Right now depends on
Whatever you say..."
"I just don't really do this."
"Don't do what?"
"Get intense like this."
"You say yes you need me
And no you wouldn't leave me
And that should be enough to make me stay
And even though I want to
I don't hear 'I love you'
In whatever you say..."
"Sorry, I can't get this involved. I'm alone and that' s the way it's gotta be."
"Oh, I know you can hear me
But I'm not sure you're listening
I hear what you're saying
But still there's something missing..."
"Maybe we should've never started this."
"Oh, whether I go
Or whether I stay
Right now depends on
Whatever you say..."
"I have something to say to you. If anything like that happens to me again, like when I got sick, don't help me. I can't get indebted to anyone, and I can't get entangled. I got to be a stonewall. And when I'm around you sometimes, I don't feel like a stonewall anymore."
"Well, what do you feel like?"
"I don't know, like confused."
"Like human?"
"Yeah, and I don't want to feel that way."
"Oh, whether I go..."
Maria walked into her first hour history class, and stiffened as her gaze locked on Michael for a brief second. Then she sucked in breath and took her seat next to him.
"Or whether I stay..."
She could feel his eyes on her, watching her. Did he have any idea that she had spent the past three nights crying because of him? Did he even care?
"Right now depends on whatever you say
Whatever you say
Whatever you say..."
He watched her from his car as she walked into school with the other human, the boy. His eyes darkened as he wondered why Max had bothered to save the girl. She was the same as every other human, a lying, disgusting, cheating tramp. He hated her. He hated all three of them. All humans, really, but especially these three. The three that had the power to destroy him, all of them. They wouldn't get a chance to destroy him. He'd destroy them first.
Isabel swallowed hard as she walked towards the study hall room that morning. It was the only class she had with Alex Whitman, and she was getting nervous. She knew she owed him an apology, and she hated apologizing. But she would do it, and everything would be okay again. She sucked in a deep breath and stepped into the room.
He was sitting in his normal spot, two rows away from hers. She bit her lip when he didn't look up as he usually did. She sat down in her seat and pulled out a vial of fingernail polish. She was too preoccupied to pay attention to what she was doing and accidently spilled some of the blue polish on her desk when she snuck a glance at Alex.
She glanced around and realized no one was watching and she quickly cleaned up the spill with her powers. Then she capped the bottle and tucked it back into her purse, looking over at Alex again. He was writing something in a notebook, and didn't pay any attention to her staring.
Isabel suddenly got an idea, and she pulled out a notebook and a pen. She wrote something on a piece of paper, folded it up so that it was small and tapped the guy sitting next to her. "Hey," she whispered.
The guy looked over at her, and then his eyes roamed her body and a grin formed on his face. "Hey, yourself."
Isabel restrained herself from glaring at him. "Can you pass this to Alex?" she whispered, smiling sweetly.
"Sure, baby," he answered, taking the note from her and tapping Alex on the shoulder.
He turned, startled, as though he'd been a million miles from school. The guy handed him the note and Alex unfolded it. Isabel watched as he read it. Then he folded it back up carefully and raised his hand.
"Mr. Whitman?" the teacher asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Can I get a bathroom pass?" he asked.
The teacher held it out and Alex stood up, note clutched in his fist. He took the bathroom pass from the teacher and headed for the door. On his way out, he tossed the note in the garbage can so hard, it nearly bounced back out again. Isabel jumped at the anger in his action, and immediatly stood up, momentarily forgetting where she was.
"Ms. Evans?"
"I'm going to the nurse's office. I'm not feeling well," she lied, grabbing her things and hurrying out the door. She spotted him down the hallway and she hurried after him. "Alex, wait! Please!" she called.
He stopped but didn't turn around.
"Alex, I'm sorry," she said softly. "I didn't mean to hurt you."
He didn't answer.
"I didn't mean what I said before...About you suffocating me."
Alex remained silent.
"Please, Alex, say something!" she pleaded.
He turned to face her slowly. "Don't worry, Isabel. We're not going to turn you in."
Isabel frowned in confusion. "What?"
"Just because we're staying away doesn't mean we're going to turn you over to the FBI. So stop pretending like you actually care how I feel."
"Alex, I do care--" she began.
"No," he cut her off. "You're just making sure that you're asses are covered. Well, don't worry. We won't say anything."
"I'm trying to--"
"Just shut up, all right? Maria was right to tell me not to get involved with you people. She said you were all heartless, and she was right. You wanted us out of your lives, you got it. You can go back to your fake little friends, to the people who don't know you, to all the popular guys who want to get you into bed instead of being with someone who cares about you as a person, not as an object. But just remember, that in the end, you made that choice." Alex turned and walked away from her.
Isabel's eyes filled up with tears. Everything he had said was true. She had pushed him away, and she didn't deserve him now. She hadn't realized until then just how badly she had messed up. She ran down the hallway and into the bathroom, where she started sobbing. She'd lost him.
Max stared sullenly at the table at lunch. Michael sat across from him, lost in thought. "You were wrong," Max said, pulling him out of his thoughts.
"What?" Michael asked in confusion, blinking.
"I said you were wrong. Liz is definitely sticking to what she said."
"What do you mean?"
"She didn't come to biology this morning."
"Liz Parker skipped class?" Michael said, in a mocking voice.
"Stop it," Max said sharply. "I care about Liz. A lot. I never wanted to hurt her."
Michael didn't answer, he just sat back in his chair, squinting at the sun. "Maria's ignoring me."
"This is wonderful," Max muttered.
"They'll snap out of it. They'll come back," he tried to assure his friend.
"Don't count on it," a voice snapped.
Michael looked up at Isabel, who's eyes were red and puffy. "What happened to you?"
"Let's just say I hurt Alex a lot more than I thought. I tried to apologize and he accused me of trying to make sure they'd keep their mouths shut about who we are," she said angrily.
Michael swallowed hard. "What did he say?"
"What we already knew. That they wouldn't turn us in, but that they were definitely staying out of our lives from now on."
"Maybe it's for the best. At least they won't be in danger now," Max said softly, staring down at the table.
Isabel sighed, and dropped into a chair next to Max's. Her eyes were getting teary again. "Yeah, maybe you're right."
Michael looked at the two of them. "Looks like it's just the three of us again." His voice was flat.
"Yeah," Max and Isabel echoed. They sat in silence for a long time, each lost in their own thoughts.
He smiled in satisfaction as he cut the brake line of the red jetta in the school parking lot. That should take care of one of the problems, he thought.