The
Plan
Series: No
Author’s email: DocPaul2002@yahoo.ca
Rating: Mindless G
Spoilers: none, this is an AU. The characters are
Disclaimers: The concepts and names are the same, but
the characters belong to me. I give them life, more life than
Warnings: Why warn? I’m a Michael and Maria
writer, if that ain’t your cup of tea, enter at your own peril.
Summary: Some friendships weather tough times and
good ones. It is the art of communication that is important.
Author’s note: For
Mike….just because he is Mike, and it’s his birthday. Uh huh. Special thanks
to Gabriela for helping us out on getting this beta’d…finally!
The
Plan
“We
still on for after school?”
Michael
shut his locker. “Now is good for me.”
Max
shook his head. “Test. Next hour. Can’t ditch.”
Michael
snorted. “Yeah like you would.” His eyes spied a certain blonde moving fast
towards them, cutting a wake through a crowd of people. The determination on her
face wasn’t hard to miss. “Isabel. Don’t do it. Be strong.”
Max
looked over at his sister. Oh crap. She had that look. He looked helplessly at
Michael.
“Don’t,”
was all that Michael would say.
“Oh
good! I was looking for the two of you.”
Michael
slammed his locker. “Forget it. I’ve got plans.” Michael went to leave,
but he wasn’t fast enough.
“Michael,
I need your help too.” Isabel smiled an engaging smile that lacked any warmth
as her eyes narrowed.
“Nope.”
“Max,”
said Isabel threatening.
Max
sighed. “Michael…”
Michael
shook his head. Whipped. Who ever heard of a brother being whipped. Before he
could voice his disdain, Isabel was already off on her latest tirade, and
project.
“I
volunteered both of you for my committee. Now it shouldn’t take too long as
long as you follow my instructions completely! I wrote them all out, in detail,
provided visual aids, and full instructions in case you have any questions.”
Isabel looked at her two brothers. “Good. I expect it done by six.” She
rushed off to cause teenage impotence in as many members of the
Max
stared at the paper that mysteriously showed up in his hand. How did it get
there? He looked at Michael, the horror slowly moving across his face.
Michael
shook his head. He spied the list. Shopping? She wanted them to go shopping? For
the drama production club? No frickin’ way!
“You’re
on your own, Maxwell.”
“Michael,”
said Max with a lot of whine in his voice. No way in hell was he going to do
this all alone.
“No
way. I’ve got plans!”
“With
me!” Max read the list. “It’s not so bad. She provided detail
instructions, and….”
“There
is nothing as bad, as something not so bad. Forget it.”
Max
was desperate. “We can do it quick, and be off. I swear!”
Michael
sighed and rolled his eyes. This was frickin’ Maria’s fault! Now that he was
such a nice guy. Before, he would’ve walked. Great.
“Swear!”
Max
crossed his heart.
Michael
grimaced. “I am so sick of being Isabel’s butt boy! No, wait…that would be
you! I just get caught in the damn vortex! We need to seriously help her find a
boyfriend that she can boss around. Where the heck is Alex?”
Max
shrugged. “They are on an off, again. She feels asking him for help gives him
the wrong impression.”
“Uh
huh. Sure it does.” Michael said. He was going to take a damn nap in the
eraser room. “What pisses me off the most? We do all the work, like her
indentured slaves, and she takes all the bows. I pity the man that marries
her.”
“I
pray for him. Then we’re off the hook.”
“Fat
chance. The more slaves the better.” Michael took himself off. There had to be
some place better than damn school.
~~~
“Oh,
Isabel alert.”
Liz
looked over. “What’s wrong?”
“She
got herself assigned the chairman of the drama committee. I saw her conscript
half the football team this morning for set up and break down.”
“Oh?”
Liz said, shrugging, then suddenly her eyes widened. “Oh! No?”
“Yes!”
They both quickly turned to flee.
“Maria!
Liz!” Isabel called after them, waving frantically.
The
two girls holding on to each other slowly approached Isabel. This couldn’t be
good. She had her planner out in front of her. They held onto each other for
dear life, slightly pushing the one in front of the other.
“If
we ran…” Suggested Liz.
“She’d
hunt us down like prey.” Maria said dramatically as Liz gulped.
Maria
feigned courage. And a little loopy. “Hi, Iz!”
Liz
followed suit, doing her Smurf on smack imitation. “Iz!”
“Where
have you two been? I searched everywhere.”
“We,
um….” Liz shook her head. School. Class. Work. Oh heck, what to say.
“We
had plans.”
Isabel’s
eyebrow went up at that. “Plans? Oh,” she smiled coyly. “Plans. Like the
plans that Michael has? The ones that made him try to refuse to help?”
Liz
was still stuttering. “Well, it’s like this….we, um….that is….”
Maria
shushed Liz. Her eyebrow arching. “Plans? Michael and plans? What plans?”
Isabel’s
eyes sparkled with interest. “I gather, after school. He seemed hot to get out
of here. Of course, he offered to volunteer to help Max, so I am sure those
plans are dead.”
“Uh
huh.” Maria turned on her heels. Plans. Michael. Never a good thing. “I’ll
catch you later.” She rushed off to find her boyfriend before he blew up
something, or worse went off somewhere without her.
“Um…Maria?”
Liz looked around confused at the invisible Maria. She turned to ask Isabel what
happened, but the look on Isabel’s face made her breath freeze in her chest in
fear.
“So,
Liz, I penciled you in to do all the refreshments. I’ll be needing a full
proposal of menu, and possible budget by this afternoon.” Liz looked around
helplessly. Maria left her! She couldn’t believe this. Impossible. This was
Michael Guerin’s fault. Maria would’ve never left her alone before.
“Spaceboy.”
Michael
stopped in his tracks. Oh, this day just kept getting better and better. Oh,
yeah, it could’ve been ‘spaceboy’ in that sultry tone, and that was
good. Very good. Or ‘spaceboy’ in that inquisitive tone, which could
be good or bad, depending on what the inquisition was. But, ‘spaceboy’
in this flat unemotional tone. Bad. Very bad.
Michael
grunted.
She
stopped next to him, her hands on her hips. “Plans?” Michael frowned. “You
have plans?”
“What
are yah yammering about now?”
“Isabel
said you refused to help because you had plans. So…..plans?”
Michael
smirked. “When Isabel is on the prowl, plans, any plans are better than
whatever she has cooking.”
“So
a ruse?”
“No.
I had plans.” Michael almost bit out his tongue. Well he really needed to
learn to lie to her. Better. Ever. Heck, he’d settle for at least once.
“Again…plans?”
Maria looked at him. “I take it these plans don’t include me?”
“They
do not.”
“Alone?”
“Nope.
I’ve got plans with someone else.”
“Someone
else?” Maria breathed deeply. “Someone else, male or female.”
Michael
rolled his eyes. “Gimme a break. Max, okay?”
“Max?”
“Max.”
Michael shrugged. “Or at least I did until he got nabbed by Isabel and dragged
me along for the boredom.”
“I
see.” Maria rocked on her toes. “So what is your assignment?”
“Shopping.”
Maria
laughed, finding the two boys off shopping for Isabel highly amusing.
Michael’s eyes narrowed. “Find that hilarious, huh?”
“Immeasurably.”
“What’s
your assignment?”
Maria
shrugged. “I don’t have one. Unlike some people, I got free.”
Michael
pursed his lips thoughtfully. “Imagine that. Free. Isabel-free.” That was
his girl. Now that was how to avoid obligation. Michael rubbed his nose. Taking
Maria’s arm, he led her towards the eraser room. “So since my plans with Max
have fallen through, perhaps you would like to….make plans with me?”
“Plans?”
Maria said suspiciously.
“Plans.”
“What
kind of plans?”
“Plans.
Maria
opened her mouth and closed it. “Whatever we want?”
“That’s
the plan.”
~~~
“Traitor!”
“Oh,
Liz!” Maria actually looked ashamed. “I’m so sorry! I got carried away
trying to imagine who Michael would have plans with or even what his plans are.
You know Michael!”
“You
should see what I got stuck with! It’s not pretty. Not pretty at all.” Liz
sighed. “Luckily I have most of it done, but still…..”
“I’m
sorry, babe. Want me to help?”
Liz
seemed to think about it, but of the two of them, Maria was the least organized.
It would be more fun with Maria, but more time consuming.
“No.
I’ve got it done. Almost.” Liz sniffed. “So what were Michael’s
plans?”
“Max.
He and Max had plans.”
Liz
looked up at that frowning. “Really? Max didn’t mention any plans to me.”
“Michael
didn’t either. You’d think they were hiding something.” Maria clicked her
front teeth with a nail. “No matter! Those plans are toast. Michael and I made
new plans.”
“New
plans?” Liz frowned. “What kind of plans?”
“Plan
plans. You know….plans.” Maria said suggestively.
“Plans?”
Liz repeated confused until she looked in Maria’s eyes. “Plans! Those kind
of plans!”
“Hmmm.
Those kind.” Maria looked at her watch. “Problem is he has to help Max
first, so our plans are on hold until he finishes.”
“Then
wouldn’t him and Max go do their plans after they finish whatever he has to
help Max with?”
“You
would think, but the boy made plans with me, and I am holding him to them.”
Maria seemed thoughtful. “You know, since you’re almost done, if we were say
to help the boys with their Isabel forced volunteer duty, we could free them up
to say…..have plans with us sooner.”
“That’s
a thought. What do they have to do?”
“Shopping!”
“No!”
Liz said horrified and laughing at the same time. “This we must see!”
“Agreed!
So you go talk to Max, and I’ll talk to Michael, and we’ll all meet after
school to do the shopping, after which, we can go off on our own, to do our own
plans.”
Liz
pushed all her books into a stack. “Capital! I’ll go find Max.”
Maria
smiled as Liz hurried off. She saw Michael over at the corner of the building.
Giving him a discrete nod, he acknowledged it and went off to beat Liz to Max.
“Maxwell!”
Max
stopped in the process of putting books in his locker. Two more classes, and
they were out of there. Michael was in the school hall. That was unusual. He
usually found a way to disappear by this time of day.
“Mr.
Guerin!” Michael moaned as his history teacher stopped him in the hall. “I
hope your presence means I’ll be seeing you in next period?”
Michael
pointed at his locker. “Just on my way to get my book.”
“Good.
I’ve got a special treat for you today.” Michael’s smile bled from his
face. Damn. That meant pop quiz.
“Max…”
“Got
caught, huh?”
“Never
mind that. Look, Maria caught me in a week moment, I sort of made plans with her
this evening.”
“But…”
“Yeah,
I know. Look we might be able to salvage this. I’ve got a plan. Walk me to my
failing history grade, and I’ll tell you.”
“What
about your book?”
“What
book?”
“History?”
Michael
shrugged. “I lost that book three months ago. So anyway, here’s my
plan…”
~~~
“Max?”
Liz found him in the quad sitting at table. “Hey!”
“Liz.”
Max allowed him a long moment to just look at her. Smiling like a dolt, it took
Liz to burst his mooning bubble.
“So
I was told by Maria that Isabel captured you and Michael into shopping for the
drama committee.”
“She
did.” Max said sighing. He pulled out his list and handed it to Liz. She
quickly perused it.
“Wow,
this is detailed!”
“You’ve
no idea.” Max sat back and smiled charmingly. “You don’t think you could
do something about it? Maybe reorganize it so we can hit the mall, walk straight
in one door, out the other?”
“Fast?”
“Very
fast. I had plans with Michael after school today, but then this came up, and
now Michael made plans with Maria.”
Liz
turned slightly red, hiding her face, she nodded. “I know. Maria told me.”
She concentrated on the list. “Let me keep this, and I’ll rearrange it by
stores. That way we can move quickly.”
“We?
You’re going to help me? You’ll do it?”
“Sure.”
Liz smiled leaning on her books. “So now that your plans with Michael have
fallen through, what are you doing later this evening?”
“I
don’t know. Studying?”
Liz
moved even closer, her foot going up Max’s leg. “Want a study partner?”
Max
gulped. “Sure.”
“So
we have plans?”
“Absolutely!”
“Good!
I love having plans with you.”
~~~
“So
where are they,” asked Maria as she and Liz paced in front of the mall.
“Max
said he would meet us here with Michael.” Liz bit her lip and looked at her
watch. “They’re only ten minutes late.”
Maria
sighed. “Let me see the damn list!”
“What?”
Liz handed it over. “What? Maria, Max will be here.”
Maria
quickly went down the list. “This is a monster! Only Isabel Evans would make
such a long and neurotically anal list. Look at the details!” Maria chewed on
her lip. “It probably took her longer to make the list then it would’ve
taken her to actually just come down and get the stuff herself.”
“Max
and Michael should be here any minute. Maybe we should split the list into two
parts, you and Michael take half, and Max and I will take the other.”
Maria
grabbed Liz’s face. “Liz, girlfriend! Take a clue pill! We’ve been had by
our boyfriends to do their damn list.”
“No.
Max wouldn’t…” Liz frowned and bit her lip. “He’s late. We have plans
afterwards….”
“Uh
huh. Look, Liz. Michael late or a no show. Not unusual. Max late or a no show.
Not going to happen! He’s late because he and Michael had plans. So guess what
they’re doing?”
“Plans?”
Said Liz weakly.
Maria
nodded. “C’mon. Let’s get through this list so we can go find those two.
I’ve got a few choice words for Michael Guerin, and then afterwards…I’ve
got plans for him!”
“Plans?”
Said Liz again weakly.
“Plans!
And believe me, you don’t want to be there. It’s not for the faint of
heart.”
~~~
“This
was so wrong!”
Michael
grabbed the brown bag from Max. “Stop your whining! We had plans first. So we
doing this or not?”
Max
seemed to think about it, but Michael pulled the box from the bag and showed it
to Max. Smiling, Max nodded. Sure! He’d waited all day for this.
The
two boys sat down and set up the TV as Michael took the latest, newest, most
sought after Xbox game out of its wrapper. They powered up as each had a
controller. The sounds from the TV were loud with an occasional sound effect
from Michael or Max.
“How
long,” Max asked taking another sip from his soda.
“I
give it two hours.” Michael took the bowl of chips and moved them closer to
him, holding out his hand for the
“Two
hours? It was going to take that long?” Damn. Max felt guilty again. It was
really Isabel’s fault, not Liz or Maria’s.
“Yep.
Why do you think we’re playing here? Maria will storm my place immediately
like a homing pigeon. This will give a few extra minutes of playtime.”
Max
nodded. Made sense. He snuck a look at his best friend. “So do you want her to
find us?”
Michael
smirked and demolished another of Max’s men. “Sure, we’ve got plans.”
Max
moved his body to the right, as did Michael to avoid a collision. “Oh!
Brutal!” Michael laughed at the destruction on the screen. His enthusiasm
increasing with the action and mayhem.
“Plans?”
Max asked.
“Yeah,”
Michael looked at him. “Plans.”
Suddenly
Max seemed to understand. “Oh! Plans!” He cleared his throat taking a quick
drink. “So you and Maria…you have, um, plans often?”
Michael
sighed as the game end. He took a drink and waited for it to reload. “Not as
often as I’d like, but as often as we can arrange it.” Michael looked at Max
curiously. “So you and Liz have plans?”
“Yeah.
Later this evening.” Max said, but he paused seeming to realize what they were
talking about. “Oh! But, um, not quite the same plans, that you and Maria
have. Or I mean, that we could, but….we don’t. I mean, we could, but
haven’t.” Max seemed embarrassed. “We’re going to study.”
Michael
raised an eyebrow. “Right.”
The
two men went back to their new game. The room was quiet except for the sounds
from the TV.
Max
looked at Michael again. “So, dumping all the work on Maria…you don’t
think that’ll change your…um, plans?”
Michael
smiled slightly. “At first. Ultimately? Nope. Maria will get pissed, rage a
little, but there’s nothing better than Maria in a passionate snit. Then the
plans really pick up, if you know what I mean.”
“Um,”
Max wasn’t all that sure, but heck, he wasn’t going to admit it. “Yeah,
sure. Big plans.”
“Real
big plans.” Amazing what a guy had to do to get some time to play a simple
video game.
~~~
Liz
and Maria stood in the doorway watching Michael and Max playing their new game.
Maria crossed her arms across her front. Looking at Liz she raised an eyebrow.
“So?
You got any plans tonight?”
Liz
pursed her lips and looked at her boyfriend. “Nope. Not a single plan.”
“Movie?”
Maria suggested.
“Love
to. So something chick-flickish?”
Maria
nodded. “That’s the plan.”