Author: bluejanuar
(banner by the lovely Candysteffi)
Disclaimer: The characters and plot lines that appear in the series and books of Roswell are not mine. They belong to Melinda Metz, UPN, etc.
Pairing: mainly M&M, with the other CC pairings as "supporting acts"
Rating: Adult (just to be safe )
Summary: After a traumatic experience seventeen year old Maria Deluca moves to Roswell with her mother to start a new life. She quickly finds her way into a tight-knit circle of friends and there's instant attraction between her and biker boy Michael. But he hides something and she is haunted by her own demons. As his secrets are revealed, Maria has to fight hard to keep their group from falling apart.
Author's Note: This is my very first fanfic and I'm so excited about it! I'm actually posting this on another board, but decided that I'd post this here as well, just because I can,
. I hope that you guys enjoy my story.As you can probably imagine, feedback is greatly appreciated. Updates as often as I can manage.
Thanks to my wonderful beta ArchAngel1973. You're the best!
Chapter One – The first day
“MARIA!”
The loud voice of her mother reached her ears while she was lying on the bed in her new room, staring at the ceiling. Old bed, new room, new house, new town. Damn. ”WHAT?” We should just get an intercom.
Not that the house was that big. Actually it was rather small, only just large enough for two people to live in. And that’s all there was, her mom Amy and herself, seventeen-year-old Maria Deluca from Albuquerque. Well, from Roswell now. Alien capital of the world. Brilliant.
“DINNER’S READY!”
Maria sighed and got up to make her way into the kitchen. They had just moved here the last weekend, in the middle of the school year. Maria’s mother was convinced that living in a small town was just what her daughter needed after the stress of the previous months. And she had picked Roswell. Of all the towns to choose from mom had to decide on a tourist trap in the middle of nowhere.
The last few weeks had passed in somewhat of a blur. After Maria had been released from the hospital her mother had calmly informed her of her decision to leave the big city and start a new life somewhere else. She had already started her frenzied preparations, selling their old house and the hippy new age shop that had supplied their income since Maria was a little girl. They rented the new house and got Maria registered at West Roswell High and, of course, said goodbye to all of their friends…
And here they were now, in Roswell, New Mexico, to start a new life and, hopefully, to mend.
*****
Maria woke up early and rolled over to stare accusingly at the still suspiciously dark sky that was visible through a crack in the curtains. Great, it can’t be any later than six o’clock. A look at her watch confirmed that assumption. 5:45. Just Perfect. It had taken her a long time to fall asleep last night and she hadn’t slept well because she was a little apprehensive about her first day in the new school. Maria hated being the new girl. She had liked her old school and had been pretty popular with the other students. She had had friends and been happy. At least until that fateful day last October… And now she had to face a whole school full of strangers who knew nothing about her. But 3000 students weren’t that many, she tried to reassure herself, her old high school had had at least twice as many. This day was surely going to be a cakewalk. Yeah, keep telling yourself that, Deluca. She got up resignedly and started to get ready for school.
After showering and deciding on what to wear, which had taken her longer than expected, Maria was actually just in time to grab some breakfast before she had to leave.
On her way to the kitchen she passed the large mirror in the hall. She paused in front of it and contemplated her appearance with critical regard. She still was a little on the thin side, and her skin hadn’t yet gotten back to its usual rosy tone. But her long blonde hair had lost the dull gleam and was falling in shiny loose strands over her shoulders. It was the end of February, so she had chosen a light blue tight fitting sweater and simple jeans with white sneakers. The outfit wasn’t too fancy, but accentuated her slender figure while the color made her pale skin look a little healthier. She wore only a light make up, which set off her most prominent features, the very full lips and clear green eyes in a slim face which was now looking back at her with stony determination. I can do this.
She turned away and went into the kitchen to make coffee. While she was sipping her first cup of java her mother walked in, fully dressed and in a ridiculously good mood. “Good morning, honey. Ready for the big day?”
“I wish you would stop saying it like that. It’s just a new school, not my first day as president of the United States!” Maria gloomily looked at the lively woman with the happy smile. They had the same slender build and sparkling green eyes and were both of average height. The brown, shoulder length hair that was framing her mother’s beautiful face was bouncing enthusiastically as she was flinging herself down on one of the barstools by the kitchen counter.
“Oh, you don’t have to be afraid, Maria, I’m sure they will love you and you’ll make new friends in no time at all,” Amy said, now taking a sip of her own cup of coffee.
“I’m not afraid.” She wasn’t.
“I know you’re not. Wanna grab breakfast in that cute little bakery around the corner? After that I can drop you off at school.”
“Sure.” There was nothing like arriving in an ancient red VW Jetta to make a good first impression. I need my own set of wheels.
*****
Maria waved goodbye after her mother’s Jetta that slowly made its way off the school parking lot, cringing internally when she witnessed her mom harassing the other drivers while honking the horn like a maniac. Amy was anxious to get going, because she had a job interview with a local shop owner today. Maria felt a sinking feeling in her stomach when she watched her mother barely avoid a collision with a truck twice the size of the Jetta. God help the poor citizens of Roswell who had the ill luck of getting in the way of Amy Deluca.
Maria rolled her eyes in annoyance. Well, that was certainly not the way to avoid drawing unnecessary attention. Other students arriving at the same time were throwing curious glances her way. She turned to look at the large yellow brick building. It looked nothing out of the ordinary. Definitely no flying saucers in sight. Well, maybe they keep them in the basement, she thought with a wry smile. She entered the school along with the stream of students and made her way to the office.
After knocking at the door she entered the cozy little room where a pleasant looking elderly woman was sitting behind a counter. The secretary looked up and smiled at her expectantly.
“Hi, I’m Maria Deluca.”
“Good morning,” the secretary smiled. “You’re the transfer student from Albuquerque?” After seeing her nod she handed Maria two sheets of paper. “This right here is your schedule and this is a map of the school. Your locker is number 815. The combination is 2342. ” She paused, and after seeing the girl’s confused face, continued, “I’ll write it down for you. I’m sure the first day at a new school can be a bit scary, but you’ll find your way around here very soon, I promise. If you are lost, just ask someone.” And with a twinkle in the eye she added, “If you find yourself being abducted, just offer the aliens a candy bar. They like chocolate.” With that, the secretary handed Maria a Snickers and dismissed her.
When out in the hall, Maria dumped the map into the next trash can. No way am I going to run around with a map in front of my face all day. I’ll find my way without it. After all, this school was a good deal smaller than the one in Albuquerque. She took out the second slip of paper and studied her schedule.
Her first class was English with Mrs. Dracula. You’ve got to be kidding me. First Aliens, now Vampires, too? What sick twist of fate had made a woman by that name into an English teacher? Slowly she began to suspect that the people in this town weren’t quite right in the heads. Maybe Mom didn’t pick the wrong place for us after all. She chuckled and entered the classroom.
The teacher was a small woman with a huge set of glasses and a pitifully absent sense of fashion who couldn’t look anything less like a bloodsucking monster if she tried, Maria noted. After welcoming her and indicating a vacant seat in the last row she threw her new student a suspiciously sympathetic look, which made Maria wonder how much the school staff knew about the situation at her old school. Maybe they had the records transferred here from Albuquerque.
Maria took the seat in the back and looked around the slowly filling classroom, taking in the number of strange faces around her. Suddenly a voice piped up beside her.
“Hi, you’re the new girl, right? I’m Tess,” a girl in the seat on her right said. She had blonde curls that fell to her shoulders and regarded her with piercing blue eyes. She seemed nice. “That’s my boyfriend Kyle.” She pointed at a handsome boy with short brown hair and a friendly smile who was waving from the seat beside her.
“Hi, my name is Maria. I’m from Albuquerque.” She smiled.
“Oh, the big city! I would love to live there! This town is so boring at times. I mean, sure, there are the aliens.” Her voice lowered to a conspiratorial whisper.
How often am I gonna hear about that today? It’s not even noon yet.
“You know, of course nobody really believes they exist,” Tess continued. “But I know they do.” Her voice dropped so low it was hardly audible anymore, but still loud enough for her boyfriend to hear who pretended very hard not to listen in on their conversation. “Kyle’s one of them!” She winked at the other girl to play along.
Kyle leaned in a little more to catch her response and tried to be inconspicuous about it. He failed miserably.
“He is? How can you be sure?” Maria tried to keep an earnest expression on her face. She was beginning to really like Tess, even if she was a bit insane.
“Oh, once I saw him eat, there really was no doubt,” the small blonde girl answered with a grin.
At Kyle’s indignant “Hey!” they broke out in a fit of giggles.
*****
The English lesson was as boring as expected. Maria had already had to read Macbeth in her old high school so she only pretended to listen and instead watched the other students around her. They didn’t seem to be so different from her classmates in Albuquerque. Maybe the clothing style of some was a bit too country for her taste, but she had never been one of those shallow girls who judged others by their appearance.
Sometime during class Maria noticed a couple of boys in the front, who were repeatedly turning around to look at her, whispering to each other, snickering, then looking again. She leaned in to Tess and quietly asked, “Who are they?”
“Just some brainless football jocks.” She rolled her eyes. “They are in Kyle’s team. Just ignore them.”
And Maria tried. Their behavior was starting to really get on her nerves when the bell rang, indicating the end of the class. Thank god. One minute more of this and I’d have been forced to walk over there and provide something else to occupy them. Maybe kicking their balls up in their throat would do the job.
When Tess, Kyle and Maria passed them on their way out of class, the tallest one of the boys, obviously the leader, spoke up. “Hey Valenti, one little blonde not enough for you anymore? How about we share?” He laughed and suggestively raised his eyebrows at the girls.
Kyle was about to make an angry retort, but Tess only snorted, “Dream on, Steve!” and pulled her boyfriend out of class behind her.
Once out of the room, she shoved him in the direction of his next class. He was still irritably muttering under his breath and she briefly gazed after him with a soft expression on her face. Then she turned back to Maria and asked, “Want me to walk you to your next class?”
Maria quickly agreed and the two girls headed down the hall.
*****
The rest of the morning passed pretty uneventfully. The teachers seemed nice enough and thankfully none of them made her stand in front of the class and introduce herself. Maria was beginning to relax a little and actually began to look forward to meeting Tess and her friends for lunch when she entered her last class of the morning, which was History.
She once again let her gaze wander around the room in a quick assessment of the class. Her gaze was drawn to three students who were sitting by the window. Two of them looked like they could be siblings, a boy and a girl, both with shiny auburn hair and large soulful hazel eyes. The boy also had an exceptionally noticeable pair of ears and the way they looked at each other made it clear that they were in no way related. God, hopefully not. Everything else would just be … wrong.
But what had kept her attention was the boy sitting behind them. He was leaning forward a little to talk to his friends and as she was looking on all three of them started to laugh softly. He seemed to sense he was being watched, because at this moment he looked up and met her gaze with the most unusual light brown eyes Maria had ever seen. He’s beautiful! He had the classic features of a fashion model with a wide mouth and strong chin and a nose that was very straight and just a tad bit too long, which made his face even more interesting. All of this was framed by an unruly mane of sandy brown wavy hair that was long enough to brush the collar of his shirt. The tight fitting black T-shirt he wore emphasized his broad shoulders and though he was sitting Maria suspected that he must be tall. Like a Greek god.
The Greek god in question had meanwhile begun to frown in her direction. Oh my god, I’m staring at him! He must think I’m an idiot! Get a grip, Deluca! She abruptly turned away and made her way to the teacher’s desk.
Mr. Locke warmly welcomed her, then laid a finger against his lips and contemplated, “Hmm, where should I place you?” His gaze swept over the now filled class in search of any empty seats. There was one next to the Greek god.
[/i]Please not there! I will totally flunk this class if I have to sit next to him all year![/i]
“I think you best sit here in the front row for now, so I can keep an eye on you in case you can’t keep up with the workload.”
Maria released the breath she hadn’t realized she was holding. Relieved she sat down in front of the brown haired couple and tried to catch a last glimpse of him. Instead she accidentally caught the eye of the girl behind her who gave her a kind smile. Of course I will also totally flunk this class if I have to concentrate on not turning around all year. She thought she could already feel his gaze boring into her from behind. Angrily she called herself to order and tried to listen to the teacher, who had now started his lecture on World War II.
After class she hurriedly left the room to avoid any more encounters of the third kind. I must indeed be loosing my mind if I start using alien phrases in my head. She stopped short just outside the room and looked down the hallway in both directions when she realized she had no idea where her locker was. Why can’t there be maps or directions on the walls for this? How am I supposed to find it and be in time to meet Tess for lunch? Maria was slowly getting annoyed. She generously ignored the fact that she had had a map and the secretary had kindly marked the location of her locker on it.
“Lost?”
Maria spun around and found herself eye to chest with the object of her earlier admiration. He was tall. She looked up to see him grinning cockily down on her, a challenging gleam in his eyes.
“No, thank you,” she answered flippantly. “I know exactly where I’m going.” With that she purposefully turned left and started down the hallway.
“That way is the gym.” He chuckled softly.
“I knew that!” Maria spun around, her cheeks blazing. But he was already sauntering down the hallway in the opposite direction, his back to her.
Oh boy…
*****
When Maria finally exited the building after a long and futile search for her locker, she felt momentarily overwhelmed by the sheer number of people around her, all hurrying to find a good place to sit for lunch. Somehow the thought of 3000 strangers hadn’t seemed quite so frightening this morning. How on earth am I supposed to find Tess here? She looked around and tried to get a glimpse of the tiny blonde girl, but all she could see were strangers, some ignoring her, some smiling at her and others openly gawking. What am I, the eighth world wonder? They stare at me like I’m the alien. An alien in Roswell, what a joke. When someone bumped into her shoulder she realized she was standing in the doorway, blocking the way of the other students who were streaming by her left and right on their way out into the sun.
Maria was just about to move out of the way when she suddenly felt a hand on her ass, giving it a hearty squeeze before disappearing again. She almost jumped out of her skin, frantically looking around and trying to identify the offender. While she was still scanning the crowd in what could only be described as outrage, a chipper voice spoke up behind her.
“Hey Maria, were you looking for me? How was class?” Tess. Finally.
“Great,” Maria mumbled distractedly, still searching the other students for signs that would give the culprit away. It annoyed her to no end that someone had the nerve to just paw her in public and without her consent no less. If he had at least talked to her first, then maybe … If he wasn’t too repulsive … No! Maria Deluca, are you out of your mind? You don’t just hand your ass out to some stranger! Well, maybe if said stranger had longish, light brown curls and the most gorgeous whisky eyes, soft, sensual lips and… No! Not even then.
“Great,” Tess said, giving her a curious sideways glance. “Well, let’s go then. My friends and I usually sit on the other side of the schoolyard.” And, after getting no response from her, she asked, “Is everything alright? You look … flushed.”
“No, I’m fine.” Maria glanced at her new friend of sorts, taking in her genuine smile and bouncy walk. There really only was one person she could tell about it at this time, she thought while she started to follow Tess in the direction of the picnic tables, listening to her gossiping about people Maria didn’t know. In a school full of obviously mentally challenged people it’s probably best to stick with the wacko you know rather than the wacko you don’t. At least Tess doesn’t look like she is going to turn around and maul me or worse. “Um, Tess?”
Tess immediately stopped the excessive summary of her morning classes and turned to look at Maria with clear blue eyes. “Yes?”
Maria was getting slightly uncomfortable under the scrutiny. What if it was normal for the people in this crazy alien town to just assgrab and be assgrabbed by anyone and everyone? Only one way to find out. “Someone just squeezed my ass.”
“What?!” Tess seemed utterly astonished.
Okay, so it wasn’t the standard getting-to-know-the-new-girl procedure. Maria felt somehow relieved, even though she hadn’t really believed it was.
“When? Who?” Maria could see the corners of Tess’ mouth twitch under the effort to control the laughter. The mere thought was obviously hilarious.
“Just before you arrived. And I don’t know who. He didn’t introduce himself and I didn’t see him.” Maria was getting really irritated by the other girl who had now broken out in full out hysterics, unable to hold it in any longer. The students they were passing were giving them curious glances, undoubtedly wondering what was so amusing. “Could you keep it in? It’s not that funny!”
“I’m sorry,” Tess said a little breathlessly while still breaking out in giggles now and then. “It’s just, you probably haven’t even talked to more than a handful of people today and already you managed to engage in sexual actions with a mysterious stranger. I envy you!”
“Just forget about it.” Maria answered exasperatedly, but a small smile played around the corners of her mouth. They were nearing the picnic area and Tess was leading the way to a table already occupied by six people.
“Hey Guys, this is Maria,” Tess introduced her. “She just moved here from Albuquerque.” She turned around to face Maria and pointed at her friends. “This is the rest of our merry little group. You know Kyle already. These two are Isabel and Alex.” She indicated a statuesque blonde girl that looked like she just jumped off of the cover of Vogue magazine, sitting next to a tall and lanky guy with a slightly geekish appearance. Both were smiling at her.
“Hi, nice to meet you,” Maria said.
“And this,” Tess continued, “is Liz, Max and Michael.” She pointed out the other three.
Oh God, no. This can’t be happening. Watching her from their seats at the table was the trio from her History class. The dark haired couple, Max and Liz, was sitting very close together while the Greek god, alias Michael, held himself a little apart.
“Hi, we’re in history together, right?” Liz asked with a friendly smile.
“Yeah.” Maria really had no idea what else to say, this situation was so uncomfortable. So she just sat down beside Tess, on the seat opposite from Michael. She tried very hard not to look at him, hoping he wouldn’t bring up their earlier run-in in the hall.
“So, did you find your locker yet?” No such luck. He regarded her with an innocent expression and flashed a glimpse into her bag that was sitting at her feet, open and obviously still full of books.
She narrowed her eyes at him which made him smile even wider. What a jerk.
“Didn’t they give you a map at the office?” Alex asked. “They usually do that for the new students. The secretary could have at least told you where to find your locker.” He shook his head.
She sheepishly stared down at the table and mumbled something unintelligible.
“What did you say?”
Maria resigned herself to obvious loser status and repeated a little louder, “I said she did give me a map. I threw it away.”
Laughter broke out around the table and her cheeks heated up in embarrassment.
“What number is it?” Liz wanted to know while munching on her homemade sandwich.
She had to check the note in her bag before replying, “815.”
“Oh, I think that’s near mine. I’ll show you where it is after lunch.”
Maria smiled tentatively at the other girl. “Thanks.”
“Yeah, but beware of any ass grabbing guys this time,” Tess chuckled.
She was still embarrassed about that. “Tess!”
“What do you mean?” Naturally the others were curious.
Despite Maria’s attempts to stop her, Tess was all too willing to inform her friends of the earlier incident. “Maria just had an encounter with someone’s hand that was seeking intimate contact with her… behind.”
Michael’s brows pulled down in a frown. “What? You just let anyone feel you up in public?”
“Of course not!” She angrily retorted. “I was surrounded by people and when I turned around he was already gone.”
Now he looked downright furious. “And you’re okay with that?!”
“What do you want me to do? I –“
They were interrupted by a sleazy voice. “Hey, Maria, is it?” Steve and his two companions were standing next to the table. “You don’t seem to be having too much fun with your new friends.”
The others had been so fascinated by the argument between Michael and Maria that nobody had noticed the three approaching. Now they regarded the newcomers with varying degrees of revulsion.
“What do you know?” Maria looked at Steve in annoyance. Just a second ago she had been very much enjoying herself while fighting with Michael.
“I know enough. Tight little bottom you have there. I wouldn’t mind a piece of that sometime in the future.” He sneered.
Maria leapt up, the disgust audible in her voice. “That was you!”
Michael was out of his seat so fast nobody had time to react before he punched Steve hard in the chin. There was nothing the other boy could do to prevent himself from making contact with the ground. His friends just stood behind him, slack-jawed and immobile. Michael didn’t even spare them one glance when he stood over his opponent and threatened him in a low voice, “If you touch her against her will one more time, I’ll find you.”
Steve quickly scrambled away, his friends in tow, now and then throwing murderous glances back at them.
When Michael turned around to the table he was surprised by Maria standing directly behind him. His whole body stiffened as if he expected her to be angry at him for defending her and he carefully schooled his expression into a mask of indifference. She just stared into his eyes as if looking for something, but remained silent.
He didn’t even know her and yet he had immediately jumped to her defense. It’s exactly what Sean would have done. The thought of her cousin instantly caused a stab of pain in her stomach but she quickly suppressed it. There was time for that later, when she was alone. Maria slowly reached for Michael’s right hand, gently inspecting it for any damage. Then she stood up on her toes and softly kissed him on the cheek. “Thank you.” She turned and dug out her wallet from the depths of her book bag and with a quick “Be right back!” she was gone.
The others had been intrigued with watching the scene. “What just happened?” Alex asked confused.
Michael, who had been immovably staring in the direction Maria had just vanished, was shaken out of his stupor by that question. He slowly sat down at the table again. “I don’t know.”
“I think Michael just got his first kiss,” Max teased.
Everyone snickered. Everyone but Michael, that is.
*****
When Maria returned a short while later, she was holding a bottle of water in her hand. She sat back down and reached across the table to offer the cold bottle to Michael. “Here.”
He just stared at her uncomprehendingly.
“It’s for your hand.”
The others watched as he slowly took the water from her and placed it on his right hand. He remained silent, but a small smile tucked at the corners of his mouth.
The rest of the lunch break passed quickly. Maria listened to the chatter of the group, but only spoke when asked a direct question. Now and again her gaze flashed to the boy sitting across from her. He had gone equally quiet, lost in his own thoughts.
When the bell rang Maria followed Liz to her locker. She appreciated the other girl’s silence, who refrained from drilling her with questions even though Maria caught her a few times giving her curious glances out of the corner of her eye.
“Thank you, Liz” Maria said after they had reached their destination. Finally I can get rid of all these books.
“No problem. Hey, you wanna come to the CrashDown after school? It’s a café my parents own, I work there as a waitress. We usually hang out there after school.”
Maria was surprised, but elated by the invitation. “Sure. But I’d have to call my mom first.”
“That’s okay. You can ride with Max and me. Just meet us in the school parking lot after sixth period.” With that, she waved goodbye and left.
*****
Half an hour after the end of sixth period, Maria finally turned the corner to the hallway of her evasive locker. This is not a school, it’s a maze constructed to capture poor students and prevent them from ever finding the way out again, let alone reach their own lockers. Liz will probably be asking herself where I am. She stopped short when she saw who was leaning against the wall next to her locker, motorcycle helmet in hand.
“Michael.”
He looked up, an impatient expression on his face. “There you are. Liz asked me to give you a ride since she had to get to work.” He turned around and began to walk in the direction of the school exit. After a few yards he stopped and half-turned his face back to her. “You comin’?”
Maria, who had until this moment still been rooted to the spot, hurried to stash the rest of her books in her locker and followed him out of the school.
~TBC
and I had to go back and change them back by hand. So, if the first chapters seemed a bit strange while reading, I apologize. So, maybe one of you can help me: Is there a way to copy and paste from word that doesn't involve all the formatting to go kaboom? Or do I have to add the correct code every time? (Don't get me wrong, I'll do it if I have to, but it would still be nice if there was an easier way...)
