| �Are you sure you don�t want me to go there?� Maria asked for the hundredth time. �It�s your birthday, Max. I don�t want you to spend it alone.� �I�m sure, Maria,� Max replied. �I�m contagious.� He sneezed. �I don�t want you to catch whatever virus I have. I�ll just be lying around looking awful anyway.� �Oh poor honey! And on your special day too! Don�t worry. I�ll make it up to you when you�re better. We�ll have a picnic at the park. Oh what�s that?� Max flinched when the sound system blared to life. �That�s just Isabel. She really turns the music on loud.� �Oh I�ll tell her not to do that too loud next time for you. She owes me,� Maria joked. �Thanks Maria. Well okay I better go now. I�m not feeling too well.� Max really felt he was going to puke. Nausea assailed him from combined guilt and nervousness. �Okay Max. Lie down. I hope you feel better soon.� �Bye.� Max hung up the phone. When he turned around, he saw his sister watching him with disapproval and fury mottling her face. �Shut up, Isabel!� He covered his ears with his hands and stalked off towards the lawn, where the guests were starting to arrive. �I wasn�t saying anything, Max!� Isabel yelled after him. �That was probably your conscience driving you nuts.� Some of the people already in the party looked at Isabel curiously. She haughtily arched her brows at them. Dianne glared at her daughter and returned to entertaining guests. She was going to have a talk with that daughter of hers tonight. She pasted a welcoming smile on her face when she saw Liz Parker arrive. ~~ Michael Guerin, Tess Harding and Maria Deluca were sitting at the counter at the Crashdown, watching the second hand of the clock tick by. The diner was pretty much dead. Only a few tourists and local people dropped by and ordered, so they were only killing time until closing. Tess started the conversation. �Did you see what Liz was wearing?� �Didn�t really pay attention to it,� Michael replied. He and Maria were still on friendly terms, although Maria made it clear that she had seriously been hurt by his actions. To Michael that was what mattered. It meant so much to him that Maria didn�t hate him after that. He could make this friendship they had grow he supposed. Someone once said that love was sweeter the second time around. Now he wouldn�t say that that someone was special. It wasn�t Maria after all. Maria smiled at Michael�s attempt of assuring her that he wasn�t paying attention to Liz�s appearance. �I did notice that she was glaring at you, Tess,� she added. �Oh you bet! Kyle and I could have been arrested for our performance this afternoon in the field.� The door jangled open and all three heads turned to see Kyle step into the diner. �Speaking of the devil�� �Galaxy Sub, two slices of Men in Blackberry pies, Saturn Rings for three, Cherry Cola and make it fast.� He sat down beside Maria at the counter. Michael stood up to make the order but Tess stopped him. �I�ll make it. I�ve always wanted to try being on the grill.� �You ever cooked before?� �Nope. But I�m sure Kyle won�t complain if I don�t get them perfect.� With that, Tess vanished into the kitchen. �She digs me,� Kyle announced. �Really?� �Why are you surprised, Maria? I thought you were her girlfriend. You�re supposed to know more than me.� �I thought she was just helping out with Liz, Kyle.� Michael shook his head. He knew his friend� what the hell� Valenti wasn�t his friend! He knew that Valenti would get himself hurt with this thing. He just jumped into conclusions when Tess started being so sweet and nice to him. Michael knew better because he�s been with Maria for a while, and was exposed to Isabel too. They were just like that�extra attentive and sweet even though they just thought of you as a friend. He was plain lucky with Maria. Now Kyle fell into the trap. �Oh. I knew that.� Kyle looked towards the window to the kitchen. She could see Tess nibbling on her lower lip as she concentrated on flipping the patty. Maria smiled at Kyle. He had to know where he stood with Tess right now, so he can push more and maybe she would fall hard and fast. �I�ll help you with Tess while she�s helping about Liz.� �When you say she�s helping out with Liz you don�t mean she�s trying to get me and Liz to hook up, do you?� �No, no! She�s trying to teach Liz a lesson for all of us. That lesson being she can�t mess with this group and that you�re one big fish to catch and it�s her loss.� �Oh I like that.� He shuddered. �I wasn�t really prepared if she wanted me to be with Liz.� �Okay.� Maria stood up. �I�m punching out. I�ll drop off some hot soup over at Max�s. There�s no reason for Mr. Parker to be paying three of us when there�s no one eating. And I should go see if Max is really okay. Nothing says love more than chicken broth.� She felt bad about having to say it in front of Michael, but she really felt like she had to. But Michael being the intelligent guy he was could probably see through her attempt to convince herself. Michael nodded. He wasn�t going to say anything. This pulling an Evans bit had been pretty beneficial in giving him a larger perspective. Much as he hated Evans, he had to admit a guy would get into less trouble when he�s making decisions the way Evans did�this thinking before acting thing. �Right. Take care.� When Maria left, Kyle clucked his tongue at Michael. �What, Valenti?� �Thought you were trying to get her back. Why are you acting like you don�t give a s-hit that she�s going off to see Evans?!� �My way is better. Trust me.� Tess gathered the food Kyle ordered in a tray. Michael jerked his head towards Tess. �And if I were you I�d be thinking of how to get to my own girl than anyone else�s.� Tess walked towards Kyle and placed the food in front of him. Kyle met Michael�s eyes and he shrugged. �Wrap this up for me, will you?� �What!� she screeched. �After all my trouble�� �Just do what I said, Tess.� Tess opened her eyes wide and opened her mouth to speak. Michael braced himself for the screech, but no sound came out. Tess couldn�t understand why Kyle was being so hard, or so commanding. Oooh actually she kinda liked it! No guy�s ever been like that with her. They all just fawned on her and she was tired of it. Kyle Valenti�s method was getting to her. She wrapped up Kyle�s order quickly. �And get another Cherry Coke for yourself,� Kyle called out. �We can share the food. You�re coming with me.� Tess came out later with her coat and two bags of Kyle�s food. Kyle took the bags, placed it on the counter and helped Tess with her coat. Then he took one of the bags and rested his arm over her shoulders. Tess picked up the other bag. �I already punched out,� she informed Michael. �Sure thing. I�ll close up later.� Michael watched with a smirk as the two left the diner. ~~ With the Chinese take out cup of soup in her hand, Maria made her way down the street where the Evans lived. She was looking forward to babying Max tonight. After all, it was his birthday and he was spending it in bed. Poor Max. When he saw the Evans� house, she was surprised. There were lights and loud music coming from there. She went closer. Maybe that�s not Max�s house. Must be the neighbor. Maria walked briskly over and stopped stock still at the gates. This was Max�s house. She had been Isabel�s visitor too many times for her to make a mistake. She rang the bell and the guard opened it. �Hey, Maria,� the guard greeted. �I was wondering why you were so late.� �Hey Benny!� Maria had made friends with the security guard at the Evans household. Mr. Evans was too high profile of a lawyer to be slack in security. �What�s going on here?� �Hey Maria.� Maria saw Liz Parker behind Benny, smirking at her. �It�s Max�s big birthday party! All the family friends are here. And it�s invite only. Did you forget your invitation, Maria?� Maria�s fingers tightened around the cup of soup. �Oh.� She could see over Liz�s shoulder how many people were there. Not a lot from school, that was obvious. These kids obviously looked rich and prominent. There were a few kids from Roswell High, but only those at the top of the class or the ones who were children of the Evans� friends. She burned under Liz�s superior look. �No, Liz. I think you know very well I didn�t get invited.� She pushed the cup into Liz�s hands. �Give this to Max, will you? Tell him I hope he feels better soon.� She refused to meet Benny�s eyes. She was sure he would feel sorry for her. Rain started to fall. For a second she was concerned about the lawn party for Max. Hopefully they had cover. She ran back to the Crashdown, getting soaked on the way. Before she knew it, she was crying. Her sobs were loud and full. She had never cried so loud before. Mostly she was afraid that her mother would hear and yell at her to stop. But this time she couldn�t stop herself. She stood at the door of the Crashdown, dripping wet. Michael was wiping the tables with a wet rag. He turned and saw her standing there. Immediately, he dropped his work and went to her. He didn�t pull her to him, but he made it known that he was there. She threw her arms around him and only then did he wrap her in his embrace. She sobbed into the crook of his neck. Michael led her to the counter. Without speaking, he placed a glass of coffee in front of her and then sat down beside her. �What is so wrong with me, Michael? Why don�t people love me? What is it about me that�s so shameful?� she sobbed. �My father left me because he didn�t want me. You couldn�t bear for people to know that you loved me. And Max is so ashamed of me that he wants me to change, and even if I�m doing my freaking best to be suitable he still has to lie to me to keep me out of sight of everyone he gives a d-amn about!� Michael didn�t know what happened at the Evans� place. He was going to kill Evans though. But that was tomorrow. Now he wasn�t important. Even his own relationship with Maria wasn�t the issue here. This was about Maria now. �There�s nothing wrong with you,� he told her firmly. �You are perfect just the way you are. It�s us that don�t deserve you. Your dad was immature. He couldn�t handle the pressure. And it�s not surprising that I�m a f-uck up. Everyone knows that. And I don�t know what Evans did to you, but if he doesn�t think you�re fine the way you are, and if he�s not screaming at the top of his lungs right now how lucky he is to have you, then that GPA of his isn�t worth s-hit because he�s still too stupid.� He could see that Maria was looking too deeply inside herself that moment to hear what else he had to say. He left her and went to the break room. A few moments later he was out with a towel. �Stand up, Maria. We don�t want you to get sick.� She did as he asked. He rubbed the towel on her head to dry her hair, and proceeded drying her face of both the tears and the rain. And then he wrapped the towel around her body. �I�m sorry,� she whispered. �Nothing to be sorry for.� He dropped a kiss on her forehead. The door of the diner crashed opened. Both of them turned to see a dripping Max Evans catching his breath. �I heard about what happened,� he gasped. TBC |
| Part 9 |
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