| The rest of the summer passed in a blur for Alli. Or more like a haze � drug induced no less. Maria was gone � when Alli looked in the mirror now she no longer saw a stranger but her new self staring back. After the cocaine incident she had given up using her powers. Alli was born on July 5th; she didn't walk out of a pod 10 years ago and had no alien powers at her disposal. One day in late August, Alli was sitting outside smoking when Kansas joined her. "Can I?" she asked, gesturing toward the cigarette pack resting on the concrete step. "Mm-hmm," Alli mumbled, handing Kansas her lighter. "So," she said, sitting down and lighting her cigarette, "were you even going to say goodbye� Maria?" Alli choked on her cigarette, "What?" she sputtered. "Maria Deluca, that's your name, right?" Alli looked down at the item Kansas was holding in her hand. "Where's you get that?" she asked, her voice betraying anxiousness that Kansas had never heard before. All of the courage Kansas had worked up to come out here suddenly evaporated and she was left stammering, "I... I'm sorry, I was just� last week� a shirt� looking for�" Alli snatched the airline ticket from Kansas's grasp. "Mind your own business," she muttered. Kansas stared at the girl sitting beside her. Her once glorious blonde locks now streaked with black at Kat's hands. She pondered her next move, knowing it could either drive Alli/Maria away forever or force her to open up. She held out her hand as if to shake, "Cindy Joe McKay." Alli turned her head to look at the sudden stranger sitting beside her. 'Cindy' smiled, "What? You didn't think my name was really Kansas did you?" Alli laughed at the odd turn of events that had just happened. Kansas spoke again, "So, what's say we introduce Cindy to Maria?" Alli smiled, "I'd like that." ~~~~~ "C'mon, get your stuff," Maria urged Cindy. Cindy, as she now allowed only Maria to call her, was lying on her car seat, wasting away the day watching their stuff while the others were out. It was the day after their secret identities had been revealed and Maria had just returned from some unknown outing. Cindy's story included running away from home after she failed most of her grade 10 courses. At first she had only wanted to escape the inevitable trouble she would get in from her parents, but then she had gotten all the way to L.A. and quickly ran out of money. Kat and Shiff had picked her up one night and let her stay with them. Cal came along a few months later and the four of them had made a life for themselves for the past year. She was too ashamed to call her parents to ask for money and it was just easier to stay here. Maria had felt sorry for her but Cindy assured her that it was no big deal. The truth was evident in her eyes though - she was a lonely scared 16-year-old who had lost her way on the streets of L.A. Maria saw in Kansas what Alli no doubt would have become, and to be truthful it scared her a little. Roswell might hold a mother who didn't want her around all that much but it also held friends who loved her. She was actually looking forward to going back tomorrow. Now tomorrow was here, departure day, and she had just gone out to run a last minute errand. She was grabbing Cindy's clothes out of the trunk as the other girl looked at her with confusion. "Why?" she asked, watching Maria grab her suitcase and start piling things into it she sat up. "What are you doing?" "Packing your stuff, c'mon we don't have much time." "Al� Maria," Cindy said, still finding it hard to adjust to the name change. "My stuff?" she questioned suddenly realizing what items Maria was packing. Maria turned from what she was doing for a minute, coming to sit beside Cindy on the seat. Reaching into her own bag she produced two identical paper folders, similar to the airline ticket she had held yesterday. "One way to Kansas City, via Roswell," she said, looking expectantly at Cindy. "One way�" Cindy repeated, reaching out in a daze to touch the ticket. Maria handed her the ticket, "If you want it�" Cindy's eyes clouded with tears and she grabbed Maria in a fierce hug, "That's the nicest thing anyone's ever done for me." "No, what you did for me was so much more," Maria responded. "But�" "Yes, you can accept it," Maria said, silencing her objections. "And via Roswell might take longer but I wouldn't mind some company." Cindy brushed away her tears, standing up to help Maria pack. The girls finished quickly, they didn't have much between them, and Cindy wrote a quick note to the others. She told them simply that she was going home and thanked them for everything they had done for her. Maria, now embracing her alienness again, made some more money and left it in the envelope for Kat. She kept this hidden from Kansas, not willing to explain that much about Maria Deluca, and the girls left the warehouse; leaving L.A., Kansas, and Alli behind. TBC |
| Part 15 |
 |