Premise: Conventional Couples, Michael/Maria and Alex/Isabel centric, a few mentions of the ‘default’ same-species couples (A/M, K/L, M/I, M/T), Alternate Universe (but still involving the alien thing).Talent, looks, money, fame and a good heart—extraordinary people seem to have it all. Take a look into the lives of one pop supergoddess and her sweet cutie-pie of a guitarist as they come back home. Maria and Alex never did get the love they deserved from Michael and Isabel, and they left Roswell together. Now they are back, with a top-selling record album to their name. Everyone else has also achieved an extraordinary level of success, and live in The Desert Palace, a luxury apartment complex in Roswell. When Maria and Alex move in the building, the fun starts…

Author’s Notes: The prologue deals with the circumstances in highschool, that which would lead to the later set-ups… It would help in understanding things in the story although it isn’t necessary to read it—it’s a short fanfic in itself. (But I wish you would read it.) But really, all you need to know is that the due to Kyle and Tess’ insistence, they had a rule that the aliens and the humans can’t get involved. Therefore, our favorite couples didn’t get together in highschool—the aliens kept pushing our beloved humans away.

Disclaimer: Roswell is not mine. Neither is the song “Extraordinary” by Liz Phair—for the purposes of this fiction let us pretend that it’s a song of the fictional band, The Whits.

Extraordinary

“Congratulations to us!” Maria squealed into the microphone. Everyone else in the restaurant echoed her enthusiastic greeting.

“Yeah!” Alex roared into his own microphone. He pulled a cord and a banner unfurled behind the makeshift stage, the words ‘Congratulations to the Graduates of West Roswell High’ emblazoned over it in their school colors.

The crowd erupted into another cheer. Alex cleared his throat and said, “To get all of you in proper celebration mode, here is the luuuurvely Maria DeLuca-Valenti with one of our own songs—‘Extraordinary’.”

The graduates of West Roswell clapped and hooted. Since they played at a KROZ event in their sophomore year, The Whits had gained an immense popularity among the locals.

Liz stood on the counter and shrieked: “Go Maria! Go Alex!”

“That’s my sister!” Kyle Valenti yelled. Beside him, Tess Harding was clapping excitedly.

At the moment every eye was trained on Maria. It was hard not to look, not when she had on her ‘vamped-up-blushing-pink-schoolgirl-look’. She wore a black, short-sleeved mock turtleneck that fit her like a second skin, a fuchsia plaid miniskirt, opaque black tights and the chunky pink suede boots. A pink beret was set in a jaunty angle over her long curly cornsilk pigtails.

What was even more riveting was the way silver eyeshadow played up her luminous green eyes and how her heart-shaped lips were strawberry-glossed to perfection. Her hands adjusted the microphone and the stage lights played with her gleaming alabaster skin. She had often been compared to a pixie and right now, it was quite easy to see why.

She flashed the crowd with a dazzling smile. Then she opened her glossy lips and began…

You think that I go home at night
Take off my clothes, turn out the lights

But I burn letters that I write
To you, to make you love me…

Yeah, I drive naked through the park
And run the stop sign in the dark

Stand in the street, yell out my heart
To make, to make you love me!

I am extraordinary, if you'd ever get to know me
I am extraordinary, I am just your ordinary
Average every day sane psycho
Supergoddess
Average every day sane psycho

You may not believe in me
But I believe in you
So I still take the trash out
Does that make me too normal for you?

So dig a little deeper, cause
You still don't get it yet
See me lickin' my lips, need a primitive fix
And I'll make, I'll make you love me!

I am extraordinary, if you'd ever get to know me
I am extraordinary, I am just your ordinary
Average every day sane psycho
Supergoddess
Average every day sane psycho
Supergoddess

See me jump through hoops for you
You stand there watching me performing
What exactly do you do?
Have you ever thought it's you that's boring?
Who the hell are you?

I am extraordinary, if you'd ever get to know me
I am extraordinary, I am just your ordinary
Average every day sane psycho
Supergoddess
Average every day sane psycho

Average every day sane psycho
Supergoddess
Average every day sane psycho

Average every day sane psycho
Supergoddess
Average every day sane psycho
Average every day sane psycho

Maria’s eyes fluttered open. She hadn’t even noticed that she had closed them until that moment; the stage lights almost blinded her after the darkness.

Appreciative was one way to describe the clapping and hooting that greeted her ears. Wild would be the appropriate word. Maria smiled goofily and turned to Alex; he had an equally cheesy grin on his face. Impulsively, she bounced towards him and practically tackled him.

“Told you, you would be perfect.” Alex whispered into her ear.

“Well, so were you!” Maria unwrapped her arms from around Alex and they started on their next song.

Eight songs later two of which are encores due to insistent public demand, a flushed, breathless but giddily happy Maria stepped off the stage helped by Alex. A DJ had taken over and the crowd was now dancing to tune of “I’ll Never Let You Go.”

“They loved us, didn’t they?” Maria tilted her head to one side, looking up at Alex for confirmation.

“Of course they did!” Alex exclaimed, putting his arm around her and holding her close to him as they walked through the crowd, making their way to the restaurant’s counter. “They. Loved. You.” He emphasized each word with a finger rubbing her pert little nose.

Maria giggled. “Well, I know for a fact that many girls are already seeing the lovable Whitman dork of mine in a whole new light—I’m pretty sure their numbers just increased.”

“That was your best performance, ever—for now!” Liz gushed. She was now standing behind the counter and had an orange soda for Alex and an iced tea for Maria. “I know I’m always saying that, but can I help it if you guys just keep getting better and better?”

“Thanks Lizzy!” Maria gave Liz a bear hug, which she returned just as fiercely.

“Hey—me too!” Alex whined. The two girls laughed and grabbed him into the hug too.

“Geez, you two are sweaty!” Liz pushed them away.

“Speak for yourself, like all that dancing didn’t have the same effect as standing under stage lights!” Maria swatted Liz’s arm. She boosted herself and sat on the counter itself, fanning herself with her beret. “I’m beat.”

“Hmm… orange soda… sure hits the spot…” Alex chugged his tall glass of fizzy goodness. “Hey—“ He stopped Maria from gulping down her own ice-cold beverage. “Shouldn’t you give your throat a break?”

“Alex, right now, all the break my throat wants is an iced tea break.” Maria took a long swig of her iced tea, then started to speak again. “So Lizzy,” she asked, as if it were the first time she asked the question. “What are the plans after this night?”

“Well…” Liz pushed herself unto one of the tall stools by the counter; tugging at a lock of her long dark hair thoughtfully as if she really were giving the question some thought—as if the three of them haven’t had this conversation countless of times since several months ago. “I’ll spend a few weeks here in Roswell, just… take some time to go around and … get all sentimental I guess. And then I’ll go to Albuquerque, take that plane to Massachusetts and get myself settled in Harvard, you know, just making the room cozy, getting to know my roommate before classes start. I’m taking Molecular Biology.”

“Your lifelong dream, and it’s finally here.” Maria smiled at her bestfriend. “You have more intelligence in your big toe than anyone else in this one-horse town, Lizzy, you deserve it.”

“What about you?” Liz chuckled at Maria. “And you?” She then turned to Alex. “Each of you have more talent in your little toe than anyone else in Roswell!” She sobered. “You’ll make it big, I’m sure of it. And you’ll be too busy to pay any attention to boring old scientists…”

“Liz,” Alex shook his head. “I should be the one worrying. You’ll be too caught up in making the biggest biological breakthrough. Maria will be swept off by some talent agent and turned into a pop princess. I’ll probably be a programmer, struggling in between projects—“

“Alex!” Maria punched his shoulder, looking indignant. “For one, I will never let myself turn into some bubblegum bimbo. Two—you should get it into your thick head that the two of us will make it big together, unless we starve or you quit, which ever comes first—since I’m never leaving you behind unless you give it up. Three—Bill Gates would kill to have somebody like you, if you decide to make a living of computers, you’ll probably become a freaking billionaire.”

The lanky teen gave his pixie friend a lopsided smile. “I know Maria, it’s just that guitarists are a dime a dozen but a voice like yours is one in a million and—“

“And there is only one Alexander Charles Whitman.” Maria said solemnly, her luminous green eyes burning his ocean-blue eyes.

“Maria—“ Alex seized her by the waist and slid her off the counter, all in one motion. Maria squealed as Alex placed her upon his shoulder and swung her around.

“There will never ever be anyone like you, Maria Rose DeLuca-Valenti,” his voice clearly betraying just how touched he was.

“Ahem, ahem!” Liz stage coughed, wanting to feel the love too. She exuberantly threw her arms around Alex’s neck as the boy adjusted his grip on Maria so his other arm could engulf Liz in a hug.

“And there is nobody like Elizabeth Parker either.” Alex felt a shiver down his spine and looked up from Liz to see two aliens glaring at him. “Uh-oh… I think I am about to get slugged by jealousy death rays courtesy of Max Evans and Michael Guerin.”

“Really?” Liz’s dark doe eyes widened hopefully, as she tried pretending not to look at aforementioned aliens while smoothing her already shampoo-commercial straight hair. “You think Max is jealous?”

“If he were any greener, he’d have to be the Grinch.” Alex quipped. He stepped back a safe distance from Liz.

“Well, it is the Czechoslovakian Prince Charming we are talking about.” Maria rolled her eyes though her friends couldn’t see it from her position, still slumped over Alex’s shoulder. “It’s only a matter of time before Max admits his feelings for you, but I’d hardly be as lucky with Quasimodo for there are no feelings to speak of.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure, Maria. Michael doesn’t look so much like the ‘stonewall’, staring at you and Alex right now.” Liz was looking at the aliens openly now, sparing an observant glance at Michael before engaging herself into a soulmate staring session with Max. “And anyway, it’s not like anything can happen between me and Max, I mean this past three years, we never even became friends because of that anti-intergalactic-interaction pact.”

Maria rolled her eyes again. “I am so sick of that stupid pact.”

“Umm… Maria, Michael is still looking at me with murderous intent.” Alex gulped nervously.

“It doesn’t mean anything Alex, nothing more than a territorial she-was-supposed-to-be-into-me-even-if-I-don’t-really-care-about-her thing.” Maria slid down Alex’s front from his shoulder and he groaned.

“I’m still a hormonal teenaged guy, y’know, you could be a little more careful with the sliding thing.” Alex grumbled.

“Too much information,” Maria winced, but looked apologetic nonetheless. She threw a glance at Michael who was glaring at her. “Oh that looks jealous alright, I can really tell he’s into me,” she muttered sarcastically and finished off her iced tea in two big gulps. She slammed the glass down on the counter and took Alex’s hand in her own. “C’mon Alex, we’re dancing.”

“You just want to see if he’ll actually get jealous.”

“Might be worth a try,” Maria shrugged, then motioned at Liz and Max. “Besides, do you really want to stick around for a Parker and Evans staring contest? It could take a while.”

“We’re dancing.” Alex led Maria to the dancing area, quickly becoming agreeable. Maria didn’t say anything more; she already lost herself to the music.

There will always be something romantic in the way Alex Whitman would look at Maria DeLuca-Valenti. It would never take away anything from their friendship; that was just the way his friendship with this girl will always be—with just a touch of romance.

And right now, with her springy curls free of their elastic bands and bouncing around her shoulders, and her green eyes sparkling with laughter as she danced, she painted a very romantic picture indeed. Maria was tapping one pink-booted foot to the same rhythm she was swaying her hips to. One hand slid down her body then she raised it and beckoned with dainty fingers at Alex. “What are you standing there for, you dork? Dance with me!”

Alex needed no further invitation. Bopping his head to the beat, he jigged towards Maria. “Your wish is my command, darling.” He took her hand and twirled her. “Swing out, sister!” He cast her across the floor, still holding her hand tightly, ignoring the yelps and dirty looks people threw his way when they collided into Maria.

“Oops, sorry!” Maria said, but she didn’t look sorry. A laugh bubbled from her pretty crimson lips.

Encouraged by her obvious pleasure, Alex twirled her back into his arms and dipped her.

“Eep—Alex!” Maria cried, sounding delighted despite herself. “Don’t you dare drop me!”

“Maria, I wouldn’t ever let you down.” His brows furrowed in mock hurt. He gently pulled her up. “See?”

“I know,” she hugged him tightly and swayed their bodies to the music. “I know, Alex.” Closing her eyes, she enjoyed the warm comfort of her bestfriend’s embrace. When she opened them again, she immediately regretted it.

“What’s the matter?” Alex felt Maria stiffen in his arms. He was about to turn to see what bothered her, but she stopped him by cupping his cheek in one of her small hands.

“It’s nothing, I just want to go out for air.”

“Liar.” Alex steered them on the spot so he could face the direction Maria was looking at earlier. “I know something’s up—oh.”

Michael Guerin and Isabel Evans were dancing.

Didn’t she say she didn’t want to dance? “I guess she made an exception,” Alex mumbled.

“What?”

“Nothing. Actually, air sounds good to me.” Alex shifted, just barely loosening his arms around Maria and led her out away from the jumble of bodies, to the doors of the Crashdown and out into the cool night.

For some time, neither of them spoke. The only sound to be heard was Maria clicking her heels against the street pavement as she rocked on the sidewalk she sat on. The lull lasted for anywhere from a minute to an hour, it was hard to tell.

Finally, Alex talked. “I asked her to be my date for today, I mean, since it’s the last day we’ll probably see each other. Still, she rejected me. I then asked for just one dance. She said she didn’t want to dance. I guess she meant to say; she didn’t want to dance with me.”

“Jealous?”

A snort. “Crazy jealous.”

“Me too.” Another pause. “Not that it’s supposed to make you feel any better… I just want you to know that I understand—“

“Maria…”

“I mean, what’s with these Czechs? Never heard of intergalactic diplomacies? If it weren’t for us being so damned nice to them, they wouldn’t even be here to enjoy this party—“

“Maria…”

“They’d be with the friggin FBI, turned into some wacko science experiment. The least they could do is repay us with a little kindness, like they could refrain from breaking our hearts. They have some species discrimination, and that’s not nice at all since they’re here on our home planet, don’t they go being all snobby on me—“

“Maria!”

“Huh! You were saying?”

Alex managed an amused chuckle. Just having Maria around can shine a few sunrays on his clouds of gloom. “You were blabbing.”

“And you interrupted me just to point that out?” Maria harrumphed. “Thank you, Einstein.”

He shook his head and plopped on the sidewalk beside Maria. “I just want to say… I may be that stupid geek who goes around mooning for Isabel Evans…” She suppressed her guffaw at that. “… But I will never understand why Michael Guerin would choose her over you. You… and Lizzy… you’ll always be the number one girls in the world.”

Maria choked on her sobs, finally letting go of the tears that had been threatening to take over her since seeing Michael with Isabel. “T-t-thanks. Thanks, Alex.”

“Ssh… Don’t cry,” Alex gathered her petite frame in his arms and rubbed comforting circles on her back. The corners of his mouth tugged up as he remembered what she used to say. “And I quote: ‘No guy is worth my tears, and the one who is wasn’t hatched from a pod.’”

That earned a hearty laugh and playful punch from Maria. He started tickling her and she retaliated. Soon, it escalated into an all-out tickle war and had them almost lying down on the sidewalk in hysterics when they heard it.

The insistent blaring of a car alarm.

The two of them scrambled unto their feet and stared at the direction the alarm was coming from, a car just a few meters down from the UFO Center across the street.

“Ohmigod, ohmigod…” Maria patted her tiny skirt for her vial of cedar oil but it was nowhere to be found.

“I’ll check it out.” Alex started freeing his arm from her white-knuckled grasp but she clung unto him even tighter.

“No, let’s get the other people inside!”

“They’ll be drunk and of no help. The carnapper may get away in the meantime.” He made to detach himself from her again.

“No! I’m coming with you.”

“Maria…” The green lightning lancing across her eyes stopped him. “Alright. But stay behind me.” He shoved her behind him and felt her tiny fists twisting themselves unto the back of his shirt.

Together they tiptoed down the street.

“Ohmigod, that bastard is trying to steal Kyle’s car.” She was close to ripping apart Alex’s shirt as she fumed.

They reached the said car finally. Alex raised his fingers and counted off. One, two, three—

“KYAAAAA!” Alex and Maria screamed and got into a pose to kick ass, hoping to catch the carnapper by surprise.

The pair froze and both managed a strangled gasp at the sight before them.

Kyle and Tess looked like deer caught in headlights. Tess’ curly golden hair was thoroughly mussed and on her slender neck were the beginnings of a very incriminating mark. One of Kyle’s hands was fumbling with his keys and the car lock while the other was under Tess’ halter-top. Both had swollen lips and lost their varsity jackets on the pavement. With a bit of imagination, one could deduce that in the heat of their make-out session, they pressed unto the car a bit too heavily and set off the alarm.

Surprise.

“What the fuck is going on here!” Maria shrieked.

Tess’ hand flew over her mouth and she started smoothing down her rumpled clothes and hair. Kyle was stuttering with explanations, “Maria—er, we just—y’know, got carried away—the drink—and, and—“

Maria was livid and glowered at her stepbrother. Alex merely sighed and said simply, “I knew it.”

Maria’s head quickly swiveled towards her friend. “What?”

“I knew it. I suspected the two of them had something going on since a few months back. I just needed to see them… in action.” The normally good-natured tone of Alex’s voice was replaced with one full of scorn.

Tess was cradling her face in her hands. She lifted it and the others saw that it was streaked with tears. “S-sorry…” Her voice cracked with emotion. Even Kyle was roughly running his hands through his hair, his sky-blue eyes cloudy. All the months of hiding their relationship from the other people involved in the entire alien business had taken its toll.

“Is that it? Sorry?” Maria stamped her foot angrily, her long cornsilk curls bouncing, as if for emphasis. She moved several paces over the sidewalk, each step punctuated with a hard thud of chunky boot-heel against pavement.

Tess and Kyle nodded their heads, despite the question being rhetorical.

“No! No!” Maria shouted at them, flailing her arms wildly. “Say something else! Say—we don’t mean to be such hypocrites telling you guys that aliens should stay away from humans only to go behind your backs and fuck each other! Say it! Don’t say sorry! Not just sorry! NOT JUST SORRY!” Nobody even dared tell her not to say the A-word out loud.

“Maria.” Alex gripped her tightly by the shoulders and rooted her to her position.

Her vision of Alex blurred with hot angry tears. “And you! Yell at them! Tell them what fucking assholes they are! Don’t just stand there doing nothing!”

“We’re telling the others about this,” Alex continued calmly. With surprising strength, he pulled Maria with him, walking purposefully towards the Crashdown. He stopped in his tracks and faced the distraught couple still standing by Kyle’s car. “The two of you, stay there… Just in case someone else wants to… let loose their emotions.”

Alex pushed open a door leading into the Crashdown. Still dragging Maria, he made his way where Liz was at the edge of the dance floor, just swaying to the song.

“Kyle and Tess were making out by his car.” Alex said to her without preamble.

“What?” Liz frowned in confusion. It turned into a frown of concern when she saw Maria behind Alex; angry tears still coursing down her porcelain cheeks, muttering unintelligibly. Alex shook his head.

“They’re together Liz. Involved. Seeing each other. In a relationship. They’ve been at it for months, going behind our backs.”

“Kyle and Tess?” Liz blinked in disbelief. “But they said—“

“Forget what they said, they certainly did.” Alex snapped. His normally endless patience had run out.

“That’s… odd…” Liz clutched her head, as if she had a headache.

“I know.” Alex yanked at Maria’s hand. “Well, I think there are other people we should inform…”

Maria finally managed a coherent, non-angry sentence. “Talk to Max, Liz. Talk to Max.” She stumbled after Alex and called to Liz one last time, “Lizzy—talk to Max!”

The name Max jolted Liz to her senses. She glided across the dance floor with only one thought in mind—find Max Evans.

Liz shook her body to the rhythm of the song. Her long dark hair fell over her face and rippled like a waterfall of night with every toss of her head. Completely oblivious that the one she sought was looking right at her.

From the look on Max’s face, one could tell he would have given up the Antarian crown then and there if it meant he could be the one to brush the silky strands of Liz Parker’s hair off her face.

Liz caught sight of Max. She stopped dancing and stared back at him. They were caught in a trance-like state, lost in the other’s gaze. Liz’s feet were moving of their own accord, walking her to Max.

The pupils of Max’s golden-green eyes dilated as he realized what was happening. Liz Parker was approaching him. He gulped.

Closer. Closer. Closer…

She could reach out and touch him now.

He fled.

And left a bewildered Liz Parker to her heartbreak.

Max ran through the crowd, not caring if he was now shoving people roughly out of the way. He nearly cheered with relief when he saw the sanctuary that was Isabel and Michael, standing near the DJ.

“Isabel! Michael!”

His sister regarded him with trepidation. “Max, what’s wrong? You look flushed.”

“You’d want to be careful Maxwell, you might upset your balance.” Michael said.

Max was just about to open his mouth to say he was alright when he saw, from the corner of his eye, Maria DeLuca-Valenti and Alex Whitman approaching. Thinking they were there to kick his ass for blowing off Liz, he yelped and took off.

“What’s with Max?” Maria murmured, genuinely puzzled.

“Beats me.” Alex shrugged, seeming a lot more unperturbed than he actually is. Talking to Isabel Evans never was easy. But maybe now that the anti-human-alien-interaction rule is null and void… “Hey.”

Isabel raised an eyebrow at him. She couldn’t even be bothered to say a ‘hey’ back.

“Can we talk?”

The Ice Queen nodded.

“Somewhere private…”

Isabel sighed, as if a private conversation with him was such a chore. Nonetheless, she stepped away from Michael and Maria, leading the way to behind all the speakers. The beat of the song thumped through Alex’s body, causing his head to ache. He would have preferred to talk to Isabel in more comfortable circumstances but the situation was better than her not talking to him at all.

It’s not everyday that a goddess like Isabel Evans lowered herself to talk to plain old Alex Whitman. It was difficult for him not to stare at her; her hair like honey falling gracefully from above her perfectly structured head with her lovely brown eyes and shapely lips, her tall and hourglass-shaped body—

“What is it Alex?”

“Well…” Alex stammered. After seeing Kyle and Tess breaking the rule, an entire speech formed itself within Alex’s mind. He just couldn’t remember it anymore.

He cleared his throat. “Remember how Maria, Liz, Kyle and myself found out about you guys being—“ Isabel tensed. “—‘Phone home’ sort of people?”

Isabel nodded, without meeting his eyes. She was too busy twirling her fingers in her perfectly styled ponytail, as if the trivial task of searching for non-existent split ends in those honey-blond strands proved more important than a proper conversation with him.

“Well… understandably, there were some bonds forged there…”

Isabel’s head snapped up from her mussing her hair and she gave him a doubtful look.

“I mean; we became close, in a way.”

She bit her lip, looking annoyed but nodded and went back to examining her flawless mane.

“And you Czechs—especially Tess—and Kyle found it inappropriate, an unnecessary threat to both our groups…”

Isabel frowned and nodded again.

“Because it just complicated things and seemed to get in the way of you Czechs’ purpose—“

Isabel huffed and crossed her arms over her noticeably ample bosom—not that Alex was gawking. “Will you be getting to the point anytime soon?”

“Uh… right…” Alex swallowed. “We had a rule—that your kind can’t get involved with my kind. Kyle and Tess made that rule. But they’ve broken it.” He studied Isabel, waiting for a response but she just looked at him blankly.

Alex pressed on. “Maria and I just found out tonight. We saw them making out by Kyle’s car. They’ve been together for several months now.” He paused, waiting for a reaction again.

After several seconds of her staring unblinkingly at him, Isabel nodded. “Okay.”

“Okay? Just okay?” For a few brief moments there, Alex deluded himself that Isabel would be admitting to affection for him as well, explaining that she stifled them because of her alien heritage.

“Yes.” Isabel straightened herself, raising her chin haughtily, her honey-brown eyes holding not a touch of warmth as she met his ocean-blue ones. “That’s all I have to say about it.”

The one thing Alex hoped never to see again is Isabel proving just how insignificant he is to her. A wave of disappointment crashed over those ocean-blues. “Right. Enjoy the party.” She still doesn’t care.

He turned away too quickly to see her hands dropping uselessly to her sides, a stricken expression on her face as she regretted how she once again denied her own feelings. If he had looked at her again, he would have seen Isabel silently pleading for him to meet her eyes again.

Alex braved the dancing crowd again, catching a glimpse of Maria talking to Michael as he made his way to the Crashdown’s doors.

As soon as Alex and Isabel left, leaving Michael and Maria to themselves, the alien guy cast his sight around, looking at anything else except for the human girl beside him. Looking for an escape.

There was a very long and pregnant pause.

“Hey,” Maria finally managed to squeak, surprisingly audible over the sounds pounding out of the speakers around them. Ohmigod, I sound like a mouse.

“………”

Maria could swear her heartbeat matched the fast, unsteady beat of the song. “So, are you having a good—“

“What do you want?”

No beating around the bush. “Well… Y’see…” She cleared her throat. “Remember how Alex, Liz, Kyle and myself found out about you guys being—“ Michael tensed. “—‘Phone home’ sort of people?”

Michael grunted as a reply. She more of felt it than heard it over the song.

“Kyle and Tess invented this rule that the Czechs and the hum—er, locals shouldn’t… get involved.”

Another grunt.

“And… I remember that time, you, Max and Isabel thought it was a good idea…”

“Yes, and I still do.”

Maria cringed at the implied rejection, but forced herself not to be disheartened. “Well, Kyle and Tess broke that rule.”

“WHAT!” Michael’s hazel eyes flashed and darkened all at once—how interesting. The news truly affected him.

She allowed herself to smile at his reaction. There is hope yet. “They were by Kyle’s car, making out—Alex and I saw them.”

He stiffened and cursed under his breath.

“So I’m guessing the rule is out of effect—“

“No.”

“Excuse me?”

He deliberately turned to face her. “It was stupid of Tess. But I really couldn’t care less if she broke the rule. It still stands.”

“You mean…”

“Yes.” Michael said, his tone abrasive. “There is no way I’m letting myself get involved with any human girl.”

She shut her eyes tightly, willing the moisture away from them. Slowly, she opened them again, jade irises almost incandescent as they gazed up at him through a thick fringe of brown lashes. “Are you sure about that?”

He took a step closer to her and leaned so their noses nearly touched. “Yes.”

“Just so we’re clear here, that came from you.” Maria watched him, waiting for him to say something. When he didn’t, she pivoted on her heels and headed straight for the Crashdown’s doors.

She found Alex sitting on the sidewalk, his guitarcase on one side of him, a large suitcase in the other.

“I had my luggage in the breakroom,” Alex explained. “I took it while waiting for you to finish talking to Michael… You took so long I almost thought that you and he… had some sort of agreement. Frankly I thought you might not be coming—“

“I guess you had as much luck with Isabel as I did with Michael?” Maria reached in her pocket for her keys and jingled them as she walked to the Jetta which was parked just a few paces up the street.

“Yeah.”

Maria caught sight of all the clothes, shoes and accessories she left lying around the Crashdown’s breakroom when she was dressing up, now thrown all over the backseat.

“I took the liberty of picking up after you.” Alex smiled lopsidedly.

She gave him a similar smile in return. Her suitcases were already in the trunk. She had packed about two weeks ago and knew Alex had been ready for at least as long.

Tonight just proved to them that they both really didn’t have anything—and, anyone—to stay for in this one-horse town.

Lizzy understood. So would their parents, in time.

“Kyle would take this bad, y’know. You sure you don’t want to at least say ‘toodles’?”

“Kyle can just fuck off,” Maria said, and at the moment, meaning it too. “Some brother he is.”

She opened the doors of the Jetta.

“Wanna drive?”

“Sure… that’s what you want me to say.”

Maria laughed and tossed the keys to Alex. He got in the driver’s seat and she got in the passenger seat.

“First exit to the right and straight on ‘til Albuquerque.”

“And then NYC, one-way.”

They turned to each other and nodded. Then they both leaned over and their lips met in a chaste kiss—friendly with just a touch of romance.

“I’m glad you’re here, Alex.”

“There’s nowhere else I’d rather be, Maria.”

And the words were said with all honesty.

The Jetta started and zoomed off into the midnight. The two friends left old dreams behind and drove towards new ones. They didn’t see the group of six teenagers that gathered in front of the Crashdown just in time to see their car dwindle out of sight.

They didn’t look back.