| Maria walked to her locker, stopping when she saw him standing next to it. Alex. Great, she was sure he was going to give it to her worse than Liz had. She needed her books so she had no choice but to walk toward him. She reached for her locker, swirling the combination, desperately avoiding his gaze. Alex cleared his throat just as she swung her locker open and glanced at him. He was waving a tiny plastic white flag that looked like it had come from a Lego set. Maria burst out laughing at the pleading look on his face. Alex smiled back at her; he always knew how to make her laugh. "Look," he said, his voice taking on a serious tone. "I know you and Liz had a� thing last night, but I'm not taking sides, okay?" Maria nodded at him. It hurt her to know that her two best friends were worried about her but she just needed to work through this a bit. No one would understand what she had been through and she didn't relish the idea of trying to explain it all to them. Alex nodded at her and moved away from her locker. Maria turned her head to get her books as his place was filled with another presence. "Hey gorgeous," the voice said. Maria froze at the sound of the voice. She turned her head slowly, whispering through clenched teeth, "What do you want?" The boy standing next to her smiled; a semi-toothless grin born of the excellent personal hygiene regiment he employed. "I think you know exactly what I want sweetheart," he reached out to place his grimy hand on her arm She slapped it away. "Not that," she hissed. "You'll get your money. Give me a couple of days." The boy looked at her with a vengeance burning in his eyes. "Tonight," he muttered. "But if you don't have it I'm coming to collect either way." He pushed himself away from the lockers. She grimaced at the putrid smell he left behind. Getting mixed up with him had to be the single most stupid thing she had done in her entire life. She knew exactly what he meant by collecting either way � she could pay him or� She shook her head firmly as she grabbed her books from her locker. She would just have to pay him then � avoid the "or" at all costs. ~~~~~ That afternoon Maria stopped to buy her nightly supply of cigarettes, increasing it a little in case the impulse to waste some hit her again. Just as she paid her supplier she turned to see her "impulse" walk by and hurried to catch up with him. They settled into an easy pace, Maria choosing to stuff the cigarettes into her pocket rather than light up in front of him, even though she was dying for a fix right about then. It was Friday afternoon so Michael hesitated when they reached her street corner. It had only been two days since she entered his pathetic little life but surprisingly he found himself unable to get her out of his mind and did not look forward to a weekend without seeing her. Maria was thinking similar thoughts and cut him off before he could say anything, "So, do you eat?" He looked at her quizzically. "Uh, yeah," he answered sarcastically. "Great, I'll see you at seven then," she said, starting to back away from him. Michael had a confused look on his face and took a small step toward her, "What? Where?" She smiled at him as she turned around, "Figure it out Mikey!" Michael ground his hands into fists at his sides. God, she was tormenting. How was he supposed to figure out what that meant? And why did she insist on calling him Mikey? He walked away towards his apartment, shaking his head at the enigma that was Maria Deluca. TBC |
| Part 5 |
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