strangetrip | [EP] Pies (OTA)

Her mother had always made pie making look so easy. Amy DeLuca's pie were the best in Roswell and a selling point in Liz's parents' cafe. Maria decided to try and make some of her mother's famous Keylime pie to stave off the homesickness she was starting to feel. So far her attempts were poor.

"Third time's the charm, right?" She said as she slide a pie slice over to Brad. He had volunteered to help her taste-test and hadn't died from her two previous attempts. "I promise I put less salt in this one."

Brad nodded and dug in. He chewed thoughtfully. He then smiled.

"This isn't half bad," He said. "It tastes like Keylime this time for sure."

Maria took a bite of her own and pumped her arm.

"Yes!" She said. "Not quite as good as my mom's, but it's edible."

"I'll take this one to go," He said, lifting the plate with a nod.

Maria nodded back and watched as Brad walked over to the table he had previously been occupying. There was a series of psychology books strewn about. They all seemed focused on depression or other behavioral illnesses.

Maria took another bite of hers and looked over her hand-written recipe as she tried to decide what to change to make it more like mom's.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Since Lara's return, Kitty had been a little...not negligent, but less all-in about lessons, letting the kids come to her instead of going to them. But she was starting to feel pretty restless again--happy, but restless--and teaching always seemed to help.

More important than that, though, she hadn't built any kind of relationship with Maria, which was pretty shitty, since she was Liz's teacher and occasional confidante and she'd known about Maria before Maria even arrived.

Today seemed like a good day to fix that, so when Kitty saw her in the bakery, she went straight over. "Hi Maria. Did you bake the pie?"

"Hi Kitty," She greet. "I sure did. Trying to remember my mom's recipes, but can't get it exactly right. I'm getting close, though. My mom's pies were the best in Roswell."

She could have been exaggerated, but they sold the best out of the few places that baked pies.

"Well, then I better have a piece and see how you did," she teased as she reached for a plate with a slice of pie already on it and a fork.

"It's too bad Pike's gone. She probably could have--" Then Kitty snapped her fingers. "Hold up. Regina. She doesn't cook much else, but she makes great apple pies and turnovers. Maybe she can help with the recipe."

"Sure," She replied. "I know Mary offered to help too. I mean, I grew up basically in Liz's parents' diner so I know some stuff. It's just about getting the pies to taste like my mom's. Everyone loved her coconut cream one too."

Maria leaned on the counter as she thought about home for a moment. She thought about Michael in the kitchen smelling like disgusting grease and she actually missed it.

"Nothing really to do here, but get better at stuff, right?" She said.

"Just make sure you ask Regina for the apples." Kitty leaned in as if she were sharing a secret. "She's really possessive of her trees. No joke."

Better she seem weird for telling Maria that than Maria end up on the rough side of Regina's temper. She'd seen her throw Dyson clear across a room just for looking at Snow funny.

She rocked back onto her heels and shrugged, drawing the pie plate toward her. "Anything else you're especially interested in learning?"

"My mom's specialties are cream pies, so I probably won't really need to ask for apples," She replied, but filed away the advice for later.

Maria shrugged.

"Not really," She answered. "I'm writing songs, singing them, hanging out with my best friend... pretty much all I want out of life after graduating high school. That I don't have to earn money or pass my SATs are a big plus."

"Huh. You came from after you graduated?" She didn't think Liz had mentioned that before.

"Does that mean you know what happened with Max?" And if so, had she told Liz?

"You mean about him being a total jerk and sleeping with Tess and getting her pregnant?" She replied, sounding annoyed at Max. "Yeah. Somehow she already knew that, but I guess me confirming it made it real. Max is an idiot, though. Especially since Tess..."

Maria's irritation deflated a little and she took a breath.

"I had to tell Liz that Alex was dead too." She said with a sigh. "Just before I got here we found out Tess killed him. They're all about to go off into space or whatever and Tess will get away with it all. She's a total bitch - sorry."

She shook her head.

"I didn't come after graduation." She answered the first question. "But I already know what I want to do when I get out."

Alex was the other boy in the foursome, she remembered, and that Tess was the one who'd looked like Lillith's first human face. Tess killing Alex definitely wouldn't have helped Liz's Tess-related issues, but she had Peter now. As far as Kitty knew, she hardly ever thought about Max anymore.

She nodded at Maria. "It's cool. You can say she's a bitch. She definitely is." And after a few heartbeats, she quirked a bit of a grin. "I'm not the kind of teacher who harps on language, unless you're writing an English paper. Speaking of..."

Maria made a face.

"Please don't tell me you're going to say I need to start studying and do school work while I'm here," She pleaded, showing her age.

"I can't make you do it, but let's say that I strongly encourage it." Kitty held up a hand to forestall protests. "You don't need to study math and sciences if you don't want to. I'd suggest you let me teach you the mathematics of music, and see if Curnen or Coby will teach you about song structure and song-writing. I'd also encourage you to study poetry and literature to develop a stronger understanding of theme and symbolism."

"Curnen's already helping me. So is Coby once in a while," She replied. "And Miguel. He's cute. He might be young, but he's smart."

She leaned against the counter casually.

"I mean, I'm not saying no forever, but I'm finally somewhere where I'm not running from aliens or FBI or dealing with weird alien crap and I want to relax." She explained. "Besides, I already had an offer to go to New York back home from the songs I've written. I might not be Alanis perfect right now, but I know what I want to sing about."

For Maria, music was one of the clear aspects of her life. She had a hard time making decisions on everything else, but music came naturally.

"I know I'm a kid and 'I've got lots to learn'," Maria said with finger air quotes. "But what's wrong with my perspective right now? My beliefs at my age are just as valid how I want to express them now then if I graduate in a year, you know? But for your information, I happen to read those kinds of things for fun. I just don't see the need to sit down and write an essay on it."

"Defensive much, Maria?"

Kitty adopted the same aggressive kid posture she was getting off Maria. "I was a teenager once too. It wasn't even that long ago. Let me tell you the fastest way to land on your as instead of your feet--assuming adults think you're a brainless twit just because they want to help you learn."

[EP] Pies (OTA)

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