Luckily I'm a jotter and I tend to jot down a lot of my ideas in rough form so all wasn't lost.
Here is Chapter 10 for your enjoyment--- as always thank you for the feedback and the bumps!!! I love you guys!!
CHAPTER 10
Maria entered the kitchen from the locker room and paused for a moment when she saw Michael in the kitchen getting prepared for the day.
"I heard what happened last night." Said Michael not making eye contact with her and busying himself with chopping lettuce.
"Yeah, how did you hear about that?" Asked Maria making her way to the fridge to get out the salad dressings.
"Small town," Michael sighed then put down the knife and whirled to face Maria, "Are you okay? I was worried."
"Yeah, I'm okay," Said Maria looking him in the face, "Thanks." She said softly.
Michael nodded and then went back to his work. Maria turned back to the salad dressings and an awkward silence descended upon the room. Why couldn't she just talk to him? Why couldn't she just out with it and tell him what was on her mind. She chanced a sideways glance at him and he was back to work, trying to act nonchalant. She moved to pick up the dressings to take out front and then immediately set them back down again.
"Michael?" Just then Liz walked into the kitchen with a slightly dazed look on her face. She glanced over at them and quickly crossed the kitchen and entered the dining room.
Maria looked back at Michael who had his eyes fixed on her. Maria quickly gathered her courage, if she knew anything now it was that life was too short to have regrets.
"Look, I really want to talk to you. I've been wrong about a lot of things. Do you think that maybe we could get together tonight, maybe watch a movie and talk a little? I'll buy us a pizza." Maria stood there nervously wringing her hands, this was the moment. He could crush her right now, God knows she deserved it.
Maria was surprised to see Michael smile, "Yeah, I'd like that."
Maria gave him an unsure smile of her own, "Okay, I'll come by around 8, okay?"
"Yeah, okay." Answered Michael and then turned back to his work. Maria gave an awkward smile and then continued into the dining room with the dressings.
When Liz walked through the kitchen she saw Maria and Michael talking and had to stifle a smile.
"Oh my God! Is Maria okay? Where is she anyway?" Asked Tess as she slid into a booth. "She's in the kitchen getting dressings and stuff," Liz didn't say anything about Maria and Michael, she wasn't even sure if anything was going to happen between them or not. "And yes, she's okay, it was close, but she made it out without a scratch." Said Liz, already placing their Cherry Cokes in front of them.
"I tried calling her house this morning after I read about the accident in the paper but no one answered," Said Isabel as she twirled her straw in her coke.
"Yeah, she stayed over here with me," Liz paused, trying to decide if she should tell them the whole story, "She quit that...group... of hers last night and her mom didn't take it well. Maria is really having a tough time with it, but I think she will be okay."
"Thank God she quit, it so wasn't like Maria." Replied Isabel as she took a small sip of her drink.
"Yeah, it was like the Twilight Zone or something, Maria and mean just don't go together, shes supposed to be the perky, funny one." Added Tess.
"Yeah, I agree." Said Liz sighing and sitting next to them.
"God, we hardly got any sleep last night, I'm exhausted."
"Well take a load off, it’s not like its busy in here or anything."
"Yeah I know, Okay, so some good news? Please have some good news for me; I'm sick of doom, gloom and almost fatal accidents."
"Sure thing, Tess has a big date with Kyle tonight."
Liz shot a glance at her and tried to conceal a smile.
"What's so funny?" Asked Tess returning Liz's glance.
"I remember Kyle's dates, good luck." Answered Liz who was no longer attempting to conceal her smile.
Tess frowned and crossed her arms over her chest, "Oh, it will be a good date, or Buddha boy doesn't know what he was coming." She balled her hand into a fist and shook it in the air with a faux angry look on her face.
Liz and Isabel openly laughed. "Okay, so what are you two going to do?"
"I'm not sure. But I said no action flicks or sports, and he in return said no chick flicks, so I'm not sure what we are going to do, but I know it’s going to be great." Said Tess with a smile on her face.
"Aw, so cute." Said Isabel.
"Oh yeah, well what are you and Alex up to tonight?"
"Well he just bought a new telescope and I got him a new astronomy book and we are going to..."
"Go stargazing!" Said Liz and Tess in unison, clasping their hands and staring at the ceiling with a far off look in their faces.
"Very funny," Said Isabel tossing her straw wrapper at Tess. The girls stopped and they all burst into giggles.
"Okay, what do you guys want to eat?" Asked Liz as she stood up, after jotting it down on a piece of paper she dropped it by the order window and then made her way into the back to have a little conversation with Kyle. Just as she was about to enter Maria came bursting out with a big grin on her face.
"Michael and I are getting together tonight," Before Liz could reply Isabel and Tess were already rushing Maria. They started to pepper her with questions and Isabel was checking her arms for any cuts or scrapes she would be happy to take care of for her.
Liz couldn't help but smile, even though they were a tad over excited she could tell it meant a lot to Maria to have her friends showing so much concern for her. She decided to leave them and continued on to the back to make her mental phone call.
*So what do you have planned for tonight, lover boy?* Asked Liz.
*Geez Liz, you scared the shit out of me, a little warning before you mentally sneak up on somebody!*
*Sorry, sorry, but for real, what do you have planned?*
*Nothing with you.*
*Ouch. But what are you doing with Tess, you know, your girlfriend?*
*Oh yeah. Pete knows this guy whose cousin is having this party at the college, should be awesome, college party’s rock!*
*Yeah, since when does being single rock?* Asked Liz.
*What are you talking about, Tess is coming with me.*
*Oh, and her idea of a great night out is going to some lame party to watch you get trashed? She won't know anyone and won't have anyone to talk to. Don't lie Kyle, after five or six beers your conversation skills go down the drain.*
*Well if you put it that way...*
*Listen up, here's what you’re going to do...* Liz outlined her plan for him quickly before ending the conversation.
*A little sappy, but thanks Liz, I guess your idea is better!*
*Yeah, yeah, I know. You love me, you think I'm great and awesome. Now go, you need to get to started.* Liz smiled as she returned to the front with the girls order. Hopefully Kyle wouldn't screw up her idea so Tess could have at least one great date with the guy she loves.
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There was a slight wrap on Max's bedroom door and Diane poked her head in, "We're headed out, call if you need anything. I left you a snack in the kitchen if you get hungry"
"Thanks, have fun, don't do anything crazy to get yourselves arrested," jested Max from his position on the bed.
"Oh yeah, you know how your mother and I live to break the law." Retorted his dad as he paused by Max's door to say good bye before they left.
"I know, and I'm far too comfortable to get up and go down to the Sheriff's office to post bail," Max called after them as they walked out of his line of sight. A moment later he heard the front door close followed by the sound of his dad's car backing out of the driveway.
His parents had gone out to together to spend some time with each other. His dad had been called away on an impromptu business trip earlier in the week and had returned earlier that evening. Max thought he had seemed distracted, which wasn't uncommon due to his career. That was probably why he had asked his mom out for the evening, to temporarily relieve him from whatever case was currently weighing on his mind.
Since Alex and his telescope had whisked Iz away for the night the end result was that Max had the house to himself.
Not that he had anything even remotely exciting planned, he wasn't even sure if he planned on moving at all.
Max was perfectly comfortable stretched across his bed. His long legs were crossed at his ankles causing his socked feet too slightly over lap. He had one arm folded behind his head and the other rested on the TV remote sitting on his chest. His back was comfortably supported by a pile of soft pillows, the cases had just been changed earlier that day so they still had the clean, fresh feel to them and still carried the sweet scent of fabric softener. Max turned his head to the side and took a nice deep breath, and then settled back into them and closed his eyes with a smile on his face.
Of course, he had borrowed the pillows from Isabel's bed.
It was her little ritual to take great care in washing her linens every Saturday. Max had walked in on her using her powers to iron out all the wrinkles before she carefully arranged them on her bed. Of course he had to call her out on it which resulted in him being forcefully kicked out her room, with the help of her powers.
Max didn't usually make a habit of disturbing her things, but this time he couldn't resist, he just had to throw a little chaos into her life. He was her brother after all, causing her annoyance was a part of the job description.
Also she forgot that he owed her one, last week she had come into his room and wrecked havoc to his DVD shelf.
He knitted his brow at the memory and glanced over at the shelf. She knew he had spent three hours putting them order of their theatrical release, in two separate categories, those he had seen and those he hadn't.
Luckily he had made a list so putting them back in order wasn't too difficult. Max picked up the remote and clicked the TV over to the DVD mode. He had put in Remember the Titans before making himself comfortable.
He reached into his nightstand and pulled out a box of microwavable popcorn he kept hidden from Isabel. He contemplated getting up to make it, but quickly decided that was too much effort and used his powers to heat it up. He clicked play on the remote and popped a fluffy kernel in his mouth as the movie started up.
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Maria knocked at Michael's door, she was a little uncertain, things between them had deteriorated rather quickly after she had joined the hate group. She had done a lot of soul searching and one of the things she regretted most was hurting Michael.
Michael opened the door and gave her a smile, "hey," Maria could tell he was a little nervous which put her at ease.
"I brought peace offerings," Said Maria, holding up the pepperoni pizza and Braveheart. I even put Tabasco and sugar on your side of it."
Michael took the pizza box from her and didn't waste any time digging in. Maria just shook her head and smiled a little, same old Michael. She went into his kitchen and retrieved two plates, paper towels and a couple of sodas from the fridge before joining him in the living room.
"Okay, so before we put in the movie, I have something I have to say." Said Maria as she handed Michael a soda and sat down next to him.
"Alright," Michael set his slice of pizza down on the plate and turned to give Maria his full attention.
"I want to apologize to you. I've gone through a really...I don't even know what to call it, but I guess a terrible chapter of my life. One where I was not proud of myself or what I represented. Instead of facing this, I tried to hide my true feelings and that made me come across as someone who I really, really don't want to be. I'm sorry Michael, I'm sorry if my actions have hurt you. That is the last thing I ever wanted to do. I allowed myself to be taken over by a force that is dark and unhealthy, occult even. I know that doesn't excuse my actions because I did act freely. But what I thought would be in the best interest of my family turned out to just be the best interest for my mom and completely destructive for me."
She stopped talking and searched his face for a clue to his reaction.
He was looking down and had a serious look on his face. "You did hurt me Maria. I was closer to you than to anyone and we all know I wasn't all that comfortable around humans as it was and then it came out that you were a part of a mutant hate group, I felt that those feelings translated to me. If you hated mutants, then why would you accept me, an alien? I guess I never understood your intolerance. It's hard to explain. When I met you it was like a completely different force overpowered me. All of a sudden I had you in my life. You were so open and I thought you didn't have any problems with me. I thought I had met someone who could love me, and in turn someone I could love. But it seemed that just as quickly as I had found you, I lost you again..."
Maria took his hands in hers, when she looked in his eyes she saw that they were wet, tears hadn't spilt and they probably wouldn't with Michael, but this was as close to tears as Maria knew she had ever seen him, she realized then that her own eyes were wet also.
"I didn't understand my intolerance either. I just blindly followed my mother, and lived by her example. In the process I lost everyone that I hold dear, and worse than that, I lost myself too. I thought my mom would be the one who would always love me, unconditionally, but now I've found that it’s my friends who love me unconditionally. I told my mom last night, you know, that I wanted to quit, that hate just wasn't right for me. God Michael," Maria felt the tears run over her eyes and Michael pulled her close to his side, "Anyways, that’s why I was so upset, that’s why I lost control of the car and wrecked. The police called her, my mom, because the car was ruined. I don't know what she said, but she didn't show up. God Michael she didn't even call me to see if I was okay."
Michael pulled her even closer, as if he were trying to shelter her from the pain she had endured. She cried for a few minutes, she didn't feel uncomfortable crying in front of Michael, she knew he would understand.
A few minutes later she regained her bearings, "I've worked things out with Liz, and we’re okay now, better than that actually. I'm just hoping that it isn't too late for us. I'm not saying she should just hop into a relationship or anything, but I think we should at least be..."
A passionate kiss from Michael stopped Maria's words in her mouth. Michael was always a man of few words and he held true to his image now. Maria knew from his kiss that she was forgiven, and for now that was a start.
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"So are we going to look at stars or what?" Asked Isabel between the kisses she and Alex were sharing.
"I don't know, I see stars," muttered Alex and then leaned in for another kiss. Isabel laughed and pushed him away a little.
"Come on, this is a clear beautiful night but it's supposed to get cloudy later, why don't we pick this," She leaned in and gave him another searing kiss on the lips, "up when the clouds roll in and enjoy the stars now."
She leaned in as if she was going to give him another kiss but instead she stretched her arm behind his back and felt for the telescope.
"Hm, you make a good argument, but the stars, they are always in the sky, they'll be here tomorrow." He leaned in again, and Isabel gave him a small kiss before pulling back, "Yeah, but the night is perfect, the sky is clear the moon isn't up yet..." She gave him a slight pouty face and looked over at the telescope.
"Okay, you win, stars it is." Alex gave her a small kiss on her pouty lips because he couldn't resist those lips. "Now get that pout of your face missy," he said as he reached over for the astronomy book Isabel had gotten him, he picked up a small flashlight and found the page he was looking for.
It was for the Venus Constellation. Alex knew it meant a lot to Isabel and he had actually figured out where to find it in the sky, hopefully with his new, and expensive, telescope they could get a good look at it. He looked over at her as she was setting up the telescope, he still couldn't believe that this was his girl.
At times he was convinced he had made her up in his mind and that she was nothing but a hallucination fabricated by his mind. But she wasn't, she was very real, and Alex certainly was grateful. She leaned down to take a look into the telescope and as she did her hair caught what little light was in the sky making it shine to an almost silver color.
"I can't get it focused quite right,” Said Isabel, pulling Alex from his reverie. He made his way over next to her and couldn't keep himself from running his hands through her hair down to the small of her back.
"Allow me," he said as he painfully pulled his hand off her back and took her place in front of the telescope. She had it on a small cluster of stars that he couldn't place so he took the opportunity to try and find the Venus constellation.
He pointed it in the general direction of where it should be and then scanned the sky until he found it. He made the necessary adjustments to bring it into focus and then pulled back.
"Take a look," he started to move away to give her room but instead she just leaned over him and as she did Alex caught the slight scent of her perfume. He had to bite his lip to keep himself from kissing her because he wanted her to see.
"It's amazing Alex, I've never seen it so clearly before."
She looked up at him for a moment with her eyes shining before taking a longer look into the telescope. After a long moment she slowly sat back into the crook of his arm, her eyes never leaving the cluster of stars. She didn't say anything and Alex could tell she was deep in thought. He didn't want to interrupt her.
Instead he just sat there and watched her as she watched the sky.