f a n f i c t i o n n a v i g a t i o n
when the rain begins to fall
don't dream it's over
dare to dream
never underestimate fate
christmas treats
awards
recommendations
Part 10
Don’t you just hate rain? I do.
It’s funny, when I still lived in Roswell I loved it when it rained. It was a nice change to the dry, dusty heat we normally had. I loved hearing the drops pattering against my window, loved the way it smelled once it stopped. Everything seemed so fresh and clean afterwards.
But here it’s always wet and cold and…well, rainy. It sucks. I haven’t seen the sun in days, no weeks actually. And there are holes in the roof, so we have pots and pans and buckets standing around all over the house to catch the rain water. Not that it would really make a difference. The whole house is damp and smells like mold, and every time it rains it gets even worse.
Right now I’m in the living room, starring at the three pots and pans on the brink of overflowing, trying to decide which one to switch with the empty bowl I’m holding. No matter what I do, by the time I’ve emptied the one I take, the other two will have overflown, hence it’s a lose-lose situation.
Hmm, where does a soaked carpet bother me the most? I opt for the one right in front of my favorite couch, since I’m most likely to step into that puddle and quickly exchange it with the bowl. I take the pot and head for the front door while liberally spilling water on the floor on my way out. Once it’s emptied and I’m back in the living room, the other two are of course overflowing, and so I don’t even bother hurrying up with emptying them.
When I’m done and back in the living room Max is suddenly there. Jesus, how the hell did she get in here? Did she sneak past me? Damn transgenics.
“Hey M,” I say, smiling pleasantly while she narrows her eyes at me. She hates being called ‘M’ instead of Max, and I just love riling her. No wonder Sean got a kick out of doing the same with Maria. Besides, I don’t really like her name, and so I prefer not to say it out loud. No idea why, just a weird quirk of mine.
“You’re not a transgenic,” she suddenly says out of nowhere. Well, give the girl a prize. How’d she figure that one out?
I guess that’s what the sneaking-into-the-house-thing was about. Some sort of test that I obviously didn’t pass.
“Wow, it’s really amazing how that superior brain of yours works. Nothing escapes you, huh?” I’m still smiling pleasantly while she narrows her eyes at me. Max is just too easy.
She – get this – hisses at me. “Your feline DNA coming through?” I ask in a tone one might use to talk to a mentally retarded child. And I’m still smiling. Pretty sure that she’s on the verge of scratching out my eyes, I turn my back to her and pretend to be busy cleaning up the desk that’s standing there.
Once I think it’s safe again I turn back to her. “You really hate that, don’t you?” I ask. “Me knowing what you are while you know nothing about me.”
“Why don’t we change that?” she suggests sweetly. Her temper is back under control, but just barely.
I pretend to think about it. “Nah, sorry, no can do.” Then I go back to cleaning. Wow, it’s amazing how easy it is to act like a complete bitch.
Should that worry me?
Nah.
Then Max speaks again, and I can hear from the strain in her voice just how hard it is for her to hold back from strangling me.
“I guess you think you’re awfully clever the way you have Joshua wrapped around your little finger. But you’re not fooling me. I know you have some hidden agenda, and I’ll find out what it is if it’s the last thing I do.”
Okay, that did it. Now I’m mad too.
“Oh please,” I hiss turning around. Yes, I can hiss too. “What kind of hidden agenda could that be? I’ve know that you’re all transgenics for weeks. So what? I don’t care. I obviously didn’t rat you out yet, so why should I do it in the future? The last thing I want is to be wrapped up in something like that again. Stay out of my business, and I’ll stay out of yours. It’s that easy.”
Then Joshua comes into the room, and I think he’s scowling. I’m still having one hell of a time reading his facial expressions. They all look the same to me. “Max and Liz fighting?” he asks.
“No,” we both say, still staring each other down.
“Joshua don’t like fights. Stop.” His tone almost makes me wince. Joshua is so sensitive when it comes to that sort of thing.
“We weren’t fighting,” Max says never taking her eyes off me. “We were just discussing something.”
“Were too,” Joshua states. “Stop fighting. Liz saved Annie. Liz different, on our side. Don’t have to be afraid.”
“I’ll believe that when I see it,” Max says, and with one last glare she leaves.
I turn to Joshua and he’s still scowling. “Liz must stop making Max mad,” he tells me, sounding awfully fatherly for a moment.
“But it’s just too easy,” I say, almost whining.
He gives me a look. “Fine,” I huff out. “I’ll try to be nicer to her. Satisfied?”
Now he grins. “Yes. Happy.”
-------
The next day Joshua, Alec and I are gathered in the living room, each of us stretched out on one of the sofas.
It’s raining. No surprise there, huh? It’s been raining for hours, actually. Pouring. Go out there and you’re soaked to the bone in two seconds flat.
Which explains why Alec and I managed to be in the same house for more than five minutes without killing each other.
Simple. We have to.
Nowhere else to go. Not without catching your death in cold, that is. But then, do transgenics even get sick?
“So,” Alec says breaking the silence.
Oh, he just has to go and bring an end to the peace, doesn’t he? Cuz’ within the next two minutes he’s sure to say something so completely stupid and smart-assy and annoying that it will make me want to just strangle him.
“Left any broken hearts behind when you left…wherever it is you used to live?” he asks me, his trademark-smirk in place.
And I…I just want to slap it off.
Hmm, that’s a new record. Only took him five seconds to piss me off. In case you haven’t noticed, my love life isn’t exactly my favorite subject at the moment, especially the part about how that led to me leaving Roswell. But Alec of course has to go and bring it up.
I simply send him a glare. Smooth Alec, really. That’s the way to get information out of a girl.
“Ah come on Liz, don’t be such a prude,” he says teasingly.
Okay, he went too far with that one. Haven’t guys learned not to go there? I tense up and just glare at him again, trying hard to keep the electric surge I feel under my skin at bay. Don’t want to blast him after all. On second thought…
“Well Alec, I guess compared to you, who falls into bed with anyone who wears a skirt, everyone is a prude,” I say still glaring at him.
He has the grace to look insulted, and I just smirk. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he says.
Yeah, right. “I had a little talk with Max,” I say still smirking. “She seems to dislike you even more than me. Told me a bit about your dating habits, advised me to steer clear off you.”
“Since when do you take anything Max says at face value?” he asks, and if I didn’t know better I’d think he was upset.
“She sounded pretty convincing to me. Besides, why should she lie?” I ask getting up, my arms at my hips.
“Why should she know what she’s talking about in the first place?” he shoots back also getting up.
“You know Alec, guys who can’t keep it in their pants are one thing, but guys who can’t keep it in their pants and then deny it or have some stupid double moral about it really piss me off,” I snap. Too close to home? You bet.
We’re only an inch apart now, glaring at each other, as we keep on bickering. Joshua tries to stop us, but he gives up pretty quickly, holds his hands to his head and leaves the room howling. I ignore him, too mad at Alec to care that I upset Joshua.
We’re still at it, fighting as if our lives depended on it, when Alec’s lips are suddenly pressed against mine, knocking the wind right out of me.
I’m too shocked to react, too shocked to do anything but stand there and let him have his way with me.
And if I didn’t at least still have a thread of dignity in me, I might have actually admitted that I was enjoying it.
He pulls back just when I regain control over my body, a smart move on his part since I would have seen myself forced to inflict great bodily harm on him otherwise.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” I ask, practically spitting the words out.
He just smirks at me. “Shutting you up. It’s the only way I’ve found so far.”
I just stare at him, still having a hard time believing what just happened here.
“Bye sweetheart, see you later,” he says smiling at me. Then he kisses me again and leaves a very flabbergasted me behind.
Damn it. I’m in trouble here. Serious trouble.
Chapter: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43
back