521 (M+M & CC/UC, AU, Adult) [Complete]

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April
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Part 21

Post by April »

Hey, guys! I'm feeling so sick today that I think instead of responding to each person individually, I'm just going to give a big THANK YOU to:

nibbles
Christina
Leila
Krista
catdog-runs-fast
Alien_Friend (what should I call you? Nov? Nove? Novy?) ;)
and BLONDIE

for the feedback.

Also, to those people who showed up at my author's chat yesterday . . . an extra thank you, as I worried I might just be sitting in that chatroom talking to myself. :lol: I had a really fun time talking to you guys.

And now I'll get to the updating before I, like, pass out or something.


Oh, but before I forget, I included more music in this part. "Highschool Lover" by Air is one of my favorites, so try listening to it when you see 8) (And you'll see that right at the beginning of this part. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwbTGL1iXms&fmt=18 Okay, now it's update time.








Part 21







8)

Liz lay in bed with Max that evening, still recovering from her multiple orgasms and still trying to make sense of the Tess situation. Max seemed genuinely upset over the discord that had developed between him and his girlfriend over Thanksgiving, and Liz couldn’t understand why he was feeling that way.

“I don’t see what the problem is,” she admitted, walking her middle and index fingers over his naked chest. “So you think Tess wants to break up with you. Let her.”

“Let her break up with me?” Max grunted, clearly finding that unacceptable. “I don’t think so.”

“So this is a pride thing?” she concluded. “Fine, then you break up with her. Save face.”

“No, I can’t do that.”

“Why not?”

He gave her a serious look and replied, “Because I don’t want to.”

She lay her hand down flat on his chest and tensed. “Why not? If you two break up, we can make up.”

“How can we make up?” he asked. “We’re not fighting about anything.”

“We could start fighting about this,” she warned him. “Max. Think about it. If you’re not with her, then we won’t have to sneak around. We won’t have to keep our relationship a secret anymore.”

“But don’t you love that?” He grinned. “Don’t you love sneaking around, keeping this a secret, lying, getting away with this right under their noses?”

She hated to admit that she sort of did.

“If I break up with Tess, our little encounters will lose some of their erotic appeal,” Max went on to say. “Affairs are sexy.”

“Stressful,” she corrected. “Sinful. But also sexy.” She couldn’t help but smile.

“Besides,” he added, “I kind of like having both of you at my disposal.”

“Disposal?” she huffed. Of course he had to go and say something like that, something to remind her what a jackass he was and always would be. Suddenly furious, she turned over onto her other side so that her back was facing towards him. She would have gotten right up out of bed had her legs not still been shaking from the orgasms.

“Something I said?” he asked.

“Yeah, you know what, Max? You’re an ass. You’re a bad guy. All you care about is power and control and manipulating people. You’re so greedy; I don’t think you have one honorable bone in your body. But, hey, on the bright side, at least you’ve got a great career ahead of you. Your father would be proud.”

Instead of distancing him with her words, she seemed to only have drawn him in more as he moved physically closer to her, spooning up behind her and draping one arm over her stomach. “Don’t be mad,” he murmured in her ear. “Be aroused. We’re naked and we’re beautiful, and we’re here together. And no one needs to know. And I like that.”

She closed her eyes and resisted the urge to moan when she felt his renewed erection pressing into the small of her back. She didn’t want to want him, but she did. She wanted him just as much as he wanted her. And as much as she wanted to have him all to herself . . .

She turned over, looped her arms around his neck, and kissed him deeply.

This would do for now.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Michael sat in front of his computer that night, looking for pictures of Maria in her Facebook albums. The end of the semester was drawing near for his painting class, and he still had no paintings to turn in. He really wanted to try painting Maria again since the drawing had gone so well, and he figured the fastest way of going about it was to find photos of her and paint replicas of the photos. He just had to find the right images . . .

He felt slightly weird looking through pictures of her, and he felt even weirder since she was in the bedroom making the mattress squeak with that Billy guy. They had come home around midnight, and they had been going at it for an hour now. They didn’t even bother to be quiet. It was . . . really something.

“Oh, yeah,” Billy groaned loudly. “Yeah, yeah, yeah!

More squeaking bedsprings, followed by the distinct sound of Maria moaning.

Oh, yes.”

Michael shook his head. It was hard not to picture what was going on when he was getting such an earful. And he really didn’t want to picture it.

“Fuck it,” Billy went on to say. “Fuck it, girl.”

Michael made a face and glanced toward the closed bedroom door. Maybe I should just get outta here, he pondered. Kyle was probably still awake. He could go over there and hang out. But if Kyle was hanging out with Tess, he didn’t want to interrupt that. Tess-time was of tremendous value to a guy like Kyle. I’ll just stay here, he decided. It’s my apartment, and they’ll be done soon. Hopefully. He went back to looking at pictures. None of them were quite right for his artwork.

“Oh, you’re a sex goddess,” Billy told her.

Michael raised his eyebrows, impressed by the colorful description. Creative, he thought. Whenever he and Isabel had . . . done that . . . well, he’d tried his best not to say anything for fear of saying something really embarrassing.

A pleasurable Maria scream rang out, followed by a few more “yeah” chants from Billy, unbearable mattress squeaking, and even the sound of the headboard hitting the wall. Finally, silence reigned, and a few minutes later, the door to the bedroom opened and Maria was pretty much pushing Billy out.

“That was great,” she said as she handed him his clothes. He was only wearing his boxers, and Maria was only wrapped in a sheet. Michael glued his eyes on the computer screen. He had gotten sort of used to Maria’s behavior, but this was just awkward. Just . . . awkward.

“You kickin’ me out, babe?” Billy asked her.

“For tonight,” she told him. “I’ll see you tomorrow night, though, right? Same time, same place?”

“Sounds sexy,” he remarked. “I’ll be here. Hey, Mike, you don’t mind, right?”

When he realized Billy was addressing him, Michael looked up from the screen and said, “It’s not Mike; it’s Michael. And no, I guess I don’t mind.”

“He’s cool,” Maria assured her new man. “Not in the traditional sense, but he is.”

“Alright, thanks,” Billy said. “Great place you got here, man. Hot roommate.”

Michael cast a glance at Maria just in time to see her rise up on her tiptoes to meet Billy’s lips in a kiss. It wasn’t just a sweet little peck, though. It was a full on French kiss, tongues going everywhere, probably some slobber . . . not very romantic. But then again, they had met in a club and hooked up the same night. It wasn’t exactly the thing great romances were made of, and Maria didn’t seem to mind. She never did. She wasn’t like him; she wasn’t looking for that kind of thing.

Michael looked back at the computer again. Why couldn’t he find the right pictures?

“Alright, I’ll see you,” Billy said to Maria. “Tomorrow night.”

“Tomorrow night,” she agreed. “Later.”

Billy threw on his t-shirt and walked out the door.

“God, he’s so hot,” Maria said more to herself than to Michael.

“You gonna start dating that guy?” Michael asked her, not sure why she would really want to. He wasn’t the best judge of male attractiveness by any means, but . . . what did she see in him that she couldn’t see in magazines?

“I don’t know,” she replied. “Maybe. I don’t know enough about him yet. All I know is that Billy knows his way around the female body and wears extra large condoms. Well, the first time he wore a condom. The second time he just went without.”

“Oh, thanks for sharing.”

“Sorry,” she said, making her way towards him, still clutching the sheet to her chest. “I tend to do that sometimes, get way too detailed with my sex life, especially when the sex is just so good and—oh my god, are you looking through my Facebook albums?”

“Yeah,” he admitted.

“Are you stalking me?”

He laughed and joked, “You caught me.”

She sat down on the desk and leaned forward to peer around at the screen. “What are you doing?”

He sighed, reluctant to admit it. “It’s not creepy; I promise,” he vowed. “I need to do my paintings for the end of the semester, and I wanted to . . . get some pictures of you to make into paintings. I told you it’s not creepy.”

“No, I’m flattered,” she said. “But what about that drawing you did of me while I was asleep? Aren’t you gonna use that?”

“No, I kinda wanna let that stay a drawing,” he said. Honestly, he was afraid that he would ruin it. It was perfect as it was.

“It is a good drawing,” she acknowledged. “Hmm. Well, you finding anything?”

“Uh, well . . . actually all these pictures kind of look the same,” he said. “You have a drink in your hand and a guy by your side and you look like you’re having a good time.”

“Little redundant,” she admitted. “You should look through my modeling album.”

“Modeling?” he echoed, confused. “You modeled?”

“Yeah, my senior year of high school. My mom didn’t approve, though, so it ended just about as quick as it began. But those are the best pictures I’ve ever taken. Here.” She leaned forward and took control of the mouse on his laptop. She did a little clicking and brought up a new album, one which was indeed full of photos taken by a professional photographer. “There you go,” she said.

“Wow, these look great.”

“Thanks.” She stood up again and headed down the hallway. “Have fun stalking me. I’m gonna go to sleep.”

“Alright,” he said. “I’m gonna do some painting, and then I’ll probably sleep on the couch.”

She turned around and laughed. “What you don’t wanna sleep under these sheets?”

“Not right now, no.”

She smiled. “I’ll wash them tomorrow.”

“No, you won’t.” He knew for a fact he’d end up washing them for her.

“Goodnight, Michael.”

“‘Night.”

He spent the next twenty minutes looking through a wide array of photos, trying to decide which ones to use. (He needed three. He wanted her to actually pose for his fourth painting, right in front of him the way Isabel used to.) It was hard to choose which photos to use. Maria looked beautiful in each and every one of them. They’d been taken a few years ago, so she looked a little younger, but not much. These were perfect. These were the pictures he needed.

It took him awhile, but he finally decided on three photos. Each would be challenging in some respect. The first was a head and shoulders shot. Maria was facing the side but turning her head to the right to look at the camera. The picture was very light in color tone. Almost everything about it was a very pale pink or cream nearing white except for the circles of black eyeliner around her eyes. Maria didn’t wear her make-up like that, but it looked good on her in the picture. It was a glamour shot. It would be difficult to paint, though, because of the pale coloring. But if he could paint it right and really emphasize her eyes . . . she had great eyes.

The second picture was a more natural one. Still head and shoulders, though a bit farther away than the last. Maria was smiling, laughing a little, tilting her head slightly to the side and playing with her hair, holding a couple strands out in front of her. That picture did more in the way of showcasing how she looked in day-to-day life, gorgeous and happy and full of life. It was a black and white picture, though, and he had never painted a black and white picture before. But he was determined to paint this.

The third photo was the one that jumped out to him immediately. In it, Maria was wearing a loose fitting white dress and sitting on a beige ledge, her hair curled loosely and falling over her shoulders. Her knees were up by her chest, and her toes were curled over the edge of the ledge. Her elbows were resting on her knees, and her hands were curled in loose fists and pressed against her forehead. Her face was only halfway visible as she glanced up at the camera from behind her hands. Her gaze made her look innocent and vulnerable. Michael had never seen Maria look like that before. Innocent, maybe, when she was sleeping, but never vulnerable, never insecure. But that was how she looked in the picture, and that was how he was going to paint her, no matter how difficult it was. He wanted his artwork to show off different sides of her, because there were a lot of different sides to show, whether she realized that or not.

He printed off all the pictures, each on a full sheet of paper, and got to work. He had three blank canvases set up in the living room, and all his art supplies (the ones Maria had given to him as a birthday present) were scattered about, ready to be used for the first time.

He stayed up until 5:00 in the morning, painting, working; and when he was exhausted and finished for the night, he fell asleep knowing that these paintings were the best artwork he had created since he had painted Isabel. Maybe they were even better than that.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Maria slept in the next morning until nearly noon. When she strode out into the living room, yawning and stretching her limbs, she was surprised to find Michael still asleep. He was lying flat on his back on the couch, still dressed in his clothes from the night before, a paintbrush covered in dark grey paint hanging from his hand. He was going to be so pissed when he woke up and saw all the little paint droplets on his white carpet. They’d come out, though. It was only grey.

“Let’s see what you painted, Mr. Big Artist,” she said quietly, making her way over to take a look at his work. She stepped behind his canvases, and she could have sworn her heart stopped for a moment when she saw his paintings. That was really her?

He had finished all three of them. She recognized the pictures he had used right away; they were three of her favorites. Everything looked so accurate, so real. And so beautiful. She had a very high opinion of her appearance, but to see someone else’s depiction of it . . .

“Wow,” she whispered, smiling at the variety he had captured in his paintings. Whether she was painted as carefree and happy, glamorous and gorgeous, or a little scared and insecure, she looked way better than the Mona Lisa. Maria had never understood what the big deal was about the Mona Lisa, or that Leonardo Da Vinci guy for that matter.

She treaded back over to Michael and sat down on the coffee table, smiling at him as he slept. “Oh, Michael,” she said, reaching out to push his hair off his forehead. “Isabel was an idiot to leave you.” But Isabel wasn’t there anymore, and that was probably a good thing. If those paintings were any indication, Michael wasn’t as devastated as he used to be.

She was just glad to be able to help.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Time to get sentimental, Max thought as he mentally prepared himself to get back in his girlfriend’s good graces. He knocked on the door and waited for her to open it. She would peer through the peephole, mentally debate whether or not to pretend she wasn’t home, and after a moment’s deliberation, give in and pull open the door.

He smiled when she did just that. “Hi, honey.” Nice one, he thought, self-congratulating himself for already sounding warm and fuzzy.

She flapped her arm against her side impatiently. “What’re you doing here?”

“I came to see you,” he replied. “Obviously. I missed you yesterday.” False. He hadn’t missed her one bit. Liz had been a great distraction nonetheless, though. Some of the things that girl did when she was on all fours . . .

“I did just fine without you,” she said. “I hung out with Kyle and Maria, had a really good time.”

“Kyle?” he echoed, immediately pissed that his girlfriend had spent time with another man. “That spaz kid?” Kyle couldn’t technically be classified as a man, though.

“He’s not a spaz,” Tess said. “Alright, he’s a little bit of a spaz, but he’s nice to me. Something you’re not.”

He sighed, suddenly a bit worried about where she was going with this. She wasn’t starting something up with that Kyle kid, was she? No, she wouldn’t. She was too hot for him; he was too lame for her.

“Can I come in?” he asked her calmly.

She groaned and stepped away from the door. “If you must.”

“Thanks.” He shut the door behind him and pulled up his mental script. He had rehearsed this so much, learned it verbatim. No stage fright. “Look, Tess . . . I know I was an ass on Thanksgiving. I put my dad and my dad’s business above the promise I made to you, and that was very wrong of me. I know your dad means a lot to you, and I should have made visiting him a priority. To be honest . . .” He laughed a little. To be honest. He cleared his throat and started in again, willing himself to keep it together. “To be honest, he intimidates me. I know he doesn’t like me.”

“Isn’t that hard to believe?” Tess muttered sarcastically. “How is it possible to not like Max Evans? Oh, I know. I know the answer.”

He bit his bottom lip and made a few minor changes to the script before continuing. “Look, Tess . . . I know I’m not the easiest person to get along with. There are times when I get way too greedy and way too proud, and Thanksgiving was one of those times. But it’s something I’d like to work on, if you’ll help me.”

She scrunched up her forehead. “Help you?”

“Don’t give up on me,” he said, reaching out to hold her hands in his. “I’m trying. I’m trying to be the boyfriend you want me to me. And I’ll get there eventually. I promise.” Load of bullshit.

“Is this a promise you intend to keep?” she inquired skeptically.

“Definitely,” he answered without hesitation. “Tess, bottom line . . . I’m sorry.” It killed him to say those words, but it also entertained the hell out of him to see that flicker of hope in her eyes, the one that signaled she was starting to believe him. “I didn’t mean to make a mess out of things, and I don’t wanna lose you. I love you.” And that was partially true. There were certain things he loved about Tess, namely, her gullibility and bedroom submission.

She sighed heavily, still seeming reluctant. “Do you really, Max? Because we’ve been dating for two years now, and sometimes it still doesn’t seem like you do--”

He silenced her with a kiss. Nothing too hard or forceful. Just a gentle, soft, yet insistent kiss.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” she murmured.

He laughed on the inside. He didn’t even have to lie to her sometimes. She created the delusion all on her own. “Don’t you love me?” he asked her.

“Sometimes,” she replied.

“Like right now?” He grinned, and when she smiled back, he knew he had her. Hook, line, and sinker. So easy.

He kissed her again, brushing his tongue against her lower lip, turning up the heat a bit more this time. He wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her body up into his as he kissed his way down to her neck to suck and lick at the skin there. He felt the need to mark her tonight, just in case that Kyle kid got any crazy ideas.

“Max,” she said, pushing him back slightly. “Can we . . . slow down?”

Slow sex. Great. He hated that.

“Can we just . . . can you make love to me?”

So she needed more reassurance. I can make lies to you, he thought, hoping that she would be up for a real throw-down after this. Liz was always eager to get pinned against the wall or his kitchen table or . . . both.

“Sure,” he forced himself to say. He went back to the gentle, soft kiss and eventually hoisted her up into his arms to carry her into the bedroom. He would make love to her, even though he didn’t love her. He didn’t love anyone. Except himself.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Maria knew who was at the door before she even opened it, hence the reason why she opened it wearing only a bra and jeans. “Hey,” she said, grinning seductively.

“You look so good,” Billy growled, swooping her up in his arms. He attacked her with kisses, and she kicked the door shut with her foot as the stumbled through the apartment.

“We’re alone,” she told him, “so we can be as loud as we want.” Truth be told, last night, she’d been holding it in some just so Michael didn’t go deaf by choice.

“This morning I j-ed off and thought of you,” Billy revealed, shoving his hands down the back of her jeans to cup her naked ass.

“Oh, you’re so romantic.” That line wasn’t exactly a line out of Romeo and Juliet, but it would do.

“Shit, baby,” he groaned as her fingers worked to undo his jeans. “I’m hard already.”

“Yeah,” she agreed, smiling playfully. “Don’t let this go to your head or anything, but last night was pretty much world-class fucking. Think I can score a repeat performance?”

“More than one.” He grinned and pressed his straining cock against her abdomen.

“Uh,” she moaned, struggling to get him out of the confines of his jeans. “What do you think? Shower or bed?”

“Whatever.”

She yanked his boxers down, causing him to wince as the fabric grazed his erection. “Bed,” she decided, “so I can be on top again.”

“Fuck yeah.” He started walking forward, urging her back towards the bedroom, but suddenly he stopped and turned to the side. “Hey, what’re those?”

“What?” She followed his gaze. “The paintings?” Why was he thinking about those at a time like this?

“Yeah.” He pulled up his pants and made his way over to look at them. She rolled her eyes in annoyance. After all that work she had gone through to get that cock out . . .

“Whoa,” Billy remarked as he looked over Michael’s artwork. “Wow. Hot stuff.”

“That’s a given,” she said, joining him behind the canvases.

“Who, uh . . . who painted these?” Billy asked.

“Michael,” she answered.

“He’s an artist?”

She nodded.

“Well, I’m a musician. Guess you got a thing for creative types.”

“Except I don’t have a thing for Michael,” she informed him. “If I did, I’d be trying to yank his cock out of his pants.” She tugged down on his jeans, frustrated as hell. “God, Billy, are these things childproof?”

He chuckled. “Tight-fit. So, uh, these are good. They’re, uh . . . they’re really good.”

“Aren’t they?” she agreed, rather impatient. She would be the first one to brag up Michael’s artwork if she weren’t desperate to get laid again. “I’m also really good, you know. In bed.”

He smiled at her. “You and Michael ever had a thing?”

“Again with the ambiguous noun.” She frowned. “I don’t know. Depends what you mean by 'thing.' Michael and I are friends. Always have been, always will be. You and I, on the other hand, are sweaty, interlocking bodies, and I like that.” She sneaked her hands up under his t-shirt, urging it upward.

“Well, he cares a lot about you,” Billy said, gesturing towards the paintings. “You know? It’s kinda obvious when you look at these paintings.”

“Yeah,” she said. “Now, remind me why you’re standing here talking about my roommate when you’ve got a half-naked me wanting to fuck your brains out?”

Billy growled low in his throat and shoved his jeans down forcefully. “Good point.” He lifted his shirt up over his head and dropped it on the floor. “You’re hotter in person anyway.”

She jumped up into his arms and crashed her mouth onto his as he carried her into the bedroom. Poor Michael was either going to have to crash with Kyle or spend night number two on the couch, because she and Billy were going to squeak bedsprings all night long.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Michael felt the fear settle in his stomach once Monday evening set in. Why had he agreed to this? He wasn’t a dancer. He’d never be a dancer. This advanced salsa lesson was going to be his own personal hell. But at least it would make Maria happy.

“Alright, here he is, the James Dean of our generation,” Kyle announced proudly as he came out of his bathroom with his hair slicked back, dawning a fake leather coat. “No?”

Michael shook his head.

Kyle took off the jacket and messed up his hair a bit. “Well, whatever. It doesn’t really matter. I have a feeling tonight’s gonna be awesome. You hear me? Awesome.

“I’m dreading it,” Michael disagreed. “Do you realize we’re gonna have to dance?”

“Exactly. It’s dancing,” Kyle said. “It’s sex with clothes on. And who’s my sex—excuse me, dance—partner again? Oh, oh, wait for it . . . Tess Harding. So technically, by the end of the night, I’ll have lost my virginity to the girl of my dreams.” Kyle smiled proudly, seemingly pleased with his delusion.

“No, technically, by the end of the night, you’ll still be a virgin,” Michael informed him, happy to burst his bubble.

“So says you, but no so says me.” Kyle smirked.

“What?”

“Look, and I got some moves, too,” Kyle continued brags. “A little bit of this.” He snaked his body to the left. “A little bit of that.” He snaked back to the right before picking up the pace. “This. That. This, that, this, that, this, that.”

“Okay, stop,” Michael cut in as his friend’s motions became increasingly frantic and embarrassing. “You’re creepin’ me out.”

“Come on, man, I’m feelin’ the beat!” Kyle exclaimed before bursting into song with his dance moves. “You can get with this, and you can get with that! You can with this, and you can get with that!

Michael shook his head and walked out the door. If Kyle busted out those moves at the salsa lesson, he was going to become the laughing stock of . . . well, of everyone.

He pushed open the door to his own apartment, and Kyle scurried inside after him. “Whoa,” he said. “It smells like sex in here.”

“Yeah, I know. Why do you think I’ve been hanging out with you all day?”

“What, did Maria finally resort to prostitution?” Kyle asked. “Is it a money thing, or is she just doin’ it for fun?”

“She met this guy named Billy,” Michael told him. “I don’t know if they’re gettin’ serious or what.”

“Huh,” Kyle said. “So Maria may have a boyfriend. You alright with that?”

Alright with that? Michael thought, confused. “Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?”

“I was just wondering.”

“Well, I’m fine with it.”

Kyle chuckled. “Right. So says you, but no so says me.”

“Alright, first of all, that’s not grammatically correct. Second, a catchphrase? That’s about the most annoying thing I can think of.”

“Oh, so says you, but no so says . . . Billy.”

Michael made a face. “No so says Billy? That’s even worse.”

Kyle pointed down the hallway.

Michael cast a glance to the side and noticed that Billy was indeed strolling out of the bedroom towards them. And he was fully clothed this time. Well, that was something new and different for him.

“Hey, Mike,” he greeted.

“It’s not Mike; it’s Michael,” he corrected for the umpteenth time. “And hey.”

“And you I don’t know,” Billy said to Kyle.

“Hey, I’m Kyle. I’m Michael’s friend, neighbor. Heard a lot about you.”

Michael gave him a look. What had he heard? He hadn’t told him anything.

“Like, uh . . . I heard you like to have sex,” Kyle added on.

Billy chuckled. “Yeah, I’m sure you can relate.”

“Oh-ho, well . . .” Kyle smiled nervously. “Yes, yes, I can.”

“Is Maria gonna be ready to leave?” Michael asked Billy. “We’ve got this thing in an hour.”

“Oh, yeah, she’ll be ready,” Billy said. “She’s just waitin’ for her legs to start workin’ again. I wrecked that chick.”

Michael glared at him. Wrecked that chick? What kind of way was that to talk about a girl you were getting close to?

“Hey, so, uh, I saw your paintings the other day,” Billy changed the subject. “Of Maria. They were good. They were really good, man.”

Michael swallowed his growing hostility towards Billy and muttered, “Thanks.”

“I’m an artist myself,” Billy proclaimed. “Music, though. Maybe I should write a song about her.”

“About Maria?” Michael . . . didn’t like that idea very much.

“Yeah.” Billy grinned. “Gotta keep up with you, you know?” He chuckled and slugged him in the shoulder. It was probably just a friendly hit, but Michael felt like hitting him back. Something about this guy . . . he just didn’t care for him one bit.

Maria came out of the bedroom wearing a white t-shirt and panties. “Oh, Billy, you met Kyle,” she noticed. “Sorry about that.”

“No, he’s cool,” Billy said. “Well, listen, guys, I’d better be goin’. But Kyle, it was nice to meet you. And Mike, you take care of my girl tonight, alright?”

Michael just kept glaring at him. Since when was Maria his girl?

“Alright,” Billy replied for him, turning to Maria. “And I’ll see you tomorrow night.”

“Uh . . . yeah, I should study for my macroeconomics test, but after that . . .”

“Sounds good,” he said, giving her a spank on the butt. “See ya.”

“Later, babe,” Maria called.

“Bye,” Kyle put in.

Michael didn’t say anything.

“So that’s Billy,” Kyle said once he was gone. “Well, he seems . . . like he really enjoys having sex with you, Maria.”

“Duh, who wouldn’t?” She placed her hand on Michael’s shoulder and asked, “Hey, you okay? You seem sorta grumpy.”

“Oh, that’s ‘cause . . . salsa tonight. I’m not really looking forward to it.”

“Well, you get to dance with me,” she reminded him. “That alone should excite you to no end.”

He looked down at her and smiled. It did please him to know that he would be the one dancing with Maria tonight while Billy was off alone just . . . being alone.

“Hey, so, who’s all joining us tonight?” Kyle asked.

“Uh, Liz can’t make it. Marty can. His new boyfriend Francis can’t. And as far as I know Tess still can.”

“Oh, she can,” Kyle said happily. “She texted me earlier. Yeah, she texted me and not either of the two of you. She said she’s gonna meet us at the Union.”

“Well, Marty’s gonna meet us here,” she said, “and since we have to leave in forty-five minutes, I should probably take a shower and get ready.”

“Probably,” Michael agreed.

“I won’t make us late; I promise,” she vowed as she pranced into the bathroom and shut the door.

“Shouldn’t she be exhausted?” Kyle wondered aloud. “I mean, if Billy really did ‘wreck that chick,’ as he so eloquently put it . . .”

“Can we not talk about Billy?” Michael snapped.

“Yeah,” Kyle said. “Sorry, I was just . . . I was making an observation; Billy was a part of that observation. Ooh, someone’s touchy.”

Michael rolled his eyes, wishing he were in a better mood. “Hey, Maria!” he called into the bathroom. “Kyle’s living under the false assumption that salsa dancing equals sex. You wanna set him straight?”

Maria literally cackled. “So what, Kyle, you think you’re gonna lose your virginity tonight?”

Kyle shot Michael an annoyed look and said. “Metaphorically!”

Maria laughed again. “Oh my god, that’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard!”

“Gee, thanks,” Kyle bit back. “Hey, guess what, Maria? Michael’s sick and tired of you and Billy making this place your own personal fuck-pad!”

Michael shot his friend an angry look.

“Yeah,” Kyle said, smiling excitedly. “I said it.”

Maria opened the door to the bathroom and poked her head out. “Michael, is that true?” she asked.

“What? No,” he said. “No . . . well . . . a little.”

She wrapped a towel around herself and walked back out into the living room. “I didn’t know,” she said. “Well, I mean, I kinda suspected, but . . .” She frowned. “I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s fine,” he told her. “I just . . . I was kinda hopin’ you’d wash the sheets. That’s all. I was kinda wishin’ I could sleep in my own bed again, sometime this week. That’s all.

“Plus it kinda smells in here,” Kyle added.

“Plus it kinda smells in here,” he reiterated. “Yeah.”

“I’m so sorry,” Maria apologized again. “I always get like this when I get a new boyfriend.”

“Boyfriend?” Michael echoed in question. Maria hadn’t dated a guy since she had moved in with him.

“Well, yeah, I guess,” she said. “I mean, we’ve hung out four nights in a row, and I haven’t gotten sick of him yet, so . . .”

“Oh,” Michael said. “Well . . . that’s great.”

“You know what, though? Billy’s getting his own place. A house. We were talking, and he said I can go over there sometimes.”

“You were talking?” Kyle said. “You and Billy talk?”

“Yes, Kyle.”

“When, in between blow-jobs?”

“Not that it’s any of your business,” she said, “but yes.”

“Well, yours is obviously a deeply intimate relationship.”

Maria ignored him and placed her hands on Michael’s chest. “Less Billy and Maria action in 521, starting right now. I promise.”

“Thanks,” he said. It wouldn’t have been so bad if she weren’t dating the guy, or if she were dating some other guy.

“No problem,” she said. “Now I’d better get in the shower if we’re gonna get there on time.” She skipped back down the hallway and into the bathroom, shutting the door.

“Hmm, maybe you should join her,” Kyle mused. “For a shower. Since you two shower together.”

“One time,” Michael reminded him. “And—how many times do I have to tell you?—it wasn’t like that.”

“Uh-huh,” Kyle said. “So says you, but--”

“Ah, god, stop.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Michael, Maria, Kyle, and Marty walked into the Student Union ballroom and stopped. There were a few dozen people there, all very young and in shape and, as far as Michael was concerned, intimidating. They girls were all parading around in skimpy outfits, not unlike the gold sequined ensemble Maria was wearing, and high heels; and the guys . . . Michael had to look away. Sickening. They were all wearing black pants that hugged the crotch and matching black v-neck shirts. Marty was probably in heaven.

“Crrrap,” Kyle remarked slowly.

“Oh, I think this looks fun,” Maria said. “Don’t you guys think this looks fun?”

“I think it looks fabulous!” Marty exclaimed, skipping forward. Maria laughed and followed behind her brother, grabbing Michael’s hand to pull him along with her. “Come on.”

Michael groaned and allowed Maria to pull him forward into the dancing fray. A few people gave him and Kyle weird looks. Obviously they couldn’t pass for dancers, whereas Marty and Maria could.

“Everybody should be stretching,” a woman standing up on the stage called out. Michael figured she was the instructor.

“Oh, I’m so flexible,” Maria chirped as she clapped her hands excitedly. “Okay, Michael, how do I look?”

“Good,” he told her.

“Is my outfit the cutest one here?”

He looked her up and down. The skirt was short, the top was a midriff/bra sort of thing, and the high heels really did something for her legs. It was a great outfit on her, and when he took a look at what everyone else was wearing, he told her the truth. “It’s the cutest one here.”

“Mission accomplished!” she exclaimed. “Okay, time to stretch.” She stood with her legs apart and leaned over to the left, bending down to reach her toes and press her forehead against her knee. “Is my ass showing?” she asked.

“Uh . . .” He casually glanced down. “Yeah.”

“Good.”

He laughed a little and glanced to his right at Marty and Kyle. Marty was in a full-on splits position, stretching like a professional dancer. Kyle was staring at him in horror. That had to hurt. Kyle grimaced and gently eased himself down into a sitting position, doing the V sit-and-reach stretch.

I can’t believe I let Maria talk me into this, Michael thought. And it was the week before finals week, too. He was supposed to be studying, not dancing. He was so much better at studying.

“Excuse me, sir,” the instructor said, coming up beside him, “but we’re asking everyone to stretch out before we begin. You can go ahead and use the stretching techniques you learned in your beginner and intermediate classes.” She smiled.

“Okay.” He extended his right arm across his chest and bent his left elbow to hook his left arm over his right forearm, doing the easiest stretch known to mankind.

The instructor smiled cordially, though she was obviously grappling with the knowledge that at least one person in the room wasn’t truly an advanced salsa student. “Very good,” she said, briskly walking away. “Alright, everyone, finish up stretching. We’ll be starting soon.”

Marty stood up from his splits position and asked, “Hey, isn’t Tess supposed to be here?”

“Yeah, she was gonna meet us here,” Kyle said. “She’s gonna be my dance partner. I’m gonna dance with her.”

“And lose your virginity?” Maria grunted, causing Michael to laugh a little.

“Well, she’d better get here soon,” Marty said. “I wonder where she is.”

“Maybe she got lost,” Maria speculated.

Kyle made a face. “On the way to the Student Union?”

Maria shrugged. “She’s not a good night driver.”

Just then, Kyle’s cell phone rang out shrilly. Michael made a face at the ring tone. Was that Britney Spears’s Womanizer?

“Oh, I love this song!” Marty practically screamed. He rushed to Maria, and the two of them started to dance, unembarrassed.

“Hello?” Kyle answered his phone. “Hey, Tess. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Oh.” There was a long pause. “Well, are you sure you can’t make it? It looks really fun, and we haven’t started yet.”

Sorry, man, Michael thought. As over-the-top and lame as Kyle was, his elation at the thought of being Tess’s dance partner tonight was real, and judging by Kyle’s portion of the phone conversation, that wasn’t going to be happening anymore. Maria and Marty seemed to realize that, too, because they stopped dancing and began to eavesdrop.

“Well, that’s too bad,” Kyle went on to say. “No, uh, I’ll . . . I’ll tell you all about it. Yeah. Yeah, you, too. Tell, uh . . . tell Max we said hi.”

Michael winced. That had to hurt. Hell, he didn’t even like hearing about Billy, and he didn’t think about Maria that way. At all.

Kyle closed his phone and stuffed it back in his pocket, looking thoroughly disappointed.

“Oh, Kylie, we’re sorry,” Marty said sympathetically. “It must hurt to have your heart broken. I wouldn’t know. I’m the one who breaks hearts.”

“I wouldn’t know, either,” Maria added.

“Because you have no heart?” Kyle guessed.

“Oh, very amusing,” she played along. “He must not be too devastated. He’s still able to make jabs at me.”

“No, I should’ve seen this coming,” Kyle muttered, still looking discouraged. “I’m not a lucky person. Stuff doesn’t go my way. Unlike it does for some people. Michael.

Maria laughed. “Wait, you think Michael’s lucky? You’re not talking about, like, getting lucky, are you? ‘Cause that never happens.”

He shot her a look.

“What? It’s true.”

“Fine, maybe it’s true,” he acknowledged. “I don’t bring somebody back to the apartment four nights in a row to nearly break the bed and forget to wash the sheets.”

She put her hands on her hips and shook her head at him. “It always comes back to the sheets, doesn’t it? Fine, I’ll wash them tonight. Promise.”

“What’re you gonna sleep on?” he asked.

“The mattress.”

“Well, what’re you gonna sleep under?”

“I-we’ll sleep under a tablecloth.” She smiled.

“Sounds cozy,” he remarked. It was fine by him, though. He hadn’t slept in his own bed since . . . Wednesday night? He and the couch had become well-acquainted.

“Body heat,” Kyle muttered.

“What?”

“Oh, Kylie’s right,” Marty chirped. “You know, up in Alaska during, like, blizzards and all that jazz, people get naked and snuggle together to stay warm.”

Michael stared at him in confusion. What was the point of that?

Marty shrugged. “I’m just saying . . .”

Before any of them could say any more, the instructor climbed back up on the stage and demanded attention. “Alright, everyone, let’s get started!” She didn’t have a microphone, but she had a loud voice. And Michael hated the fact that he was going to be hearing it for two more hours. “Everyone find your partner.”

“Partner!” Maria exclaimed, jumping in front of Michael. “Now remember, I could be dancing with Marty, who’s undoubtedly a way better dancer than you. But I chose you.”

“Why?” he asked her.

“‘Cause I like you,” she replied. “Plus, it’s the only way of making sure you don’t flee in the middle of this.”

“Flee?” he echoed. “I wouldn’t flee.” Although that was a lie. He would if it got too bad. And then she would have to drag him back. And he would probably let her.

When he looked over at Marty and Kyle, the awkwardness was immediately apparent. Marty was smiling coyly, and Kyle’s disappointment was gradually turning into fear as the realization that he and Marty would be dance partners dawned on him. Michael couldn’t help but laugh a little. Kyle was definitely right about his luck. He didn’t have any.

The dancing itself was . . . horrible. Michael supposed he might have actually enjoyed it had he been able to do it, but he had no place in an advanced salsa class. A beginner class . . . well, he probably could have faked his way through that, even though he had two left feet. (Or twelve.) But the pace of this class was just too fast. The instructor demonstrated all the moves, one right after another, not bothering to stop and explain the “basic” moves, because everyone was supposed to already know the basic moves. Michael decided it was best to just stand there, move his feet a little bit, and hold Maria’s hands like a good dance partner would.

Maria caught on immediately, of course. There were a lot of things she had a natural talent for. She had rhythm and coordination and all the things advanced salsa required. Somehow, she was able to catch onto the steps immediately, keep up with everyone else, and even add her own little sexy flare to the movements.

“I’m getting it, Michael!” she exclaimed.

“Me, too,” he lied.

She spun around in his arms and giggled. “Woo-hoo-hoo!”

Kyle was in the same boat Michael was, only he was in that boat with a homosexual man. Marty was taking on the lady’s part of the dance, naturally, and he was owning it like no one else in the room. The guy really did look like a professional, like he had been doing salsa for years. He moved his hips better than most of the other girls, and he even shimmied when the ladies were asked to, even though he didn’t have any boobs to shimmy. The instructor looked fascinated by him. Kyle, on the other hand, looked horrified, especially when it was time for the real close hip action. Groin to groin, thigh to thigh . . . moves that required a particular amount of pelvic action were the moves that Michael thought were going to send Kyle running for the hills. But his friend continued to stick it out, much to his surprise.

The bottom line was that Maria and Marty were naturals. Of course. It was hard to decide whether Michael or Kyle was the worst.

“Sir, you’re not doing the moves I showed you,” the instructor said to Michael midway through the lesson, obviously frustrated with his lack of effort. “Step back with the right foot, forward with the left, and forward again with the right. Then reverse the movement. It’s a basic salsa step.”

He groaned and mimicked her footwork, putting in the least amount of passion and enthusiasm possible.

“You have to move your lower body,” the instructor said, grabbing onto his hips, trying to guide him.

“I can’t move my lower body. I don’t have a lower body,” he protested.

“Hey, just leave him alone,” Maria cut in, gently shoving the instructor away. “Come on, Michael. Just dance with me.”

“Follow her lead,” the instructor said. “She’s doing well.”

She beamed at him. “You hear that? Follow my lead.” She turned around, her back to him, and reached back to grab his hands. “Arms here,” she said, placing his hands on her waist. “Now just don’t be so self-conscious.” She began dancing again, slowing down her moves and sticking just to the basic steps so that he could follow along. “There you go,” she said. “You’re gettin’ it.”

He was pretty sure he wasn’t, but at least she was trying to make him feel better.

“Whoa, Michael,” she said a minute later. “I think you’re bigger than Billy.”

“What?” He glanced down at the bulge in his jeans and felt mortified. “Oh, god!” He quickly jumped away from her. He’d had no idea that he’d moved in so close in the first place, let alone that he’d . . . “Oh, god, I’m sorry.”

“Relax,” she said, tugging on his shirt to bring him back out onto the dance floor. “I’d be more concerned about you if you didn’t get a hard-on dancing with me.” She smiled and began moving again, facing him this time, keeping a bit more distance in between their . . . lower anatomy.

“This is embarrassing,” he said. He really didn’t feel right dancing with an . . . erection. He didn’t feel right dancing at all, actually.

“No,” she said. “That’s embarrassing.” She pointed at Marty and Kyle. Marty was dancing circles around Kyle, and Kyle was breaking out his stupid ‘this’ and ‘that’ moves, snaking from the left to the right and back again. He probably didn’t realize he was humiliating himself, but . . . it was probably a good thing Tess wasn’t there to see him dance.

Once the lesson was over (at last), Michael and Maria both eagerly jumped on the opportunity to tease Kyle.

“So, Kyle, how does it feel to no longer be a virgin?” Maria asked.

“What?” He acted as though he didn’t know what she were talking about.

“The dancing,” Michael elaborated. “You and Marty. You know.”

“Wait, wait, wait, no, that doesn’t count,” Kyle was quick to say.

Maria gave him a puzzled look. “Why not?”

“What are you three amigos talking about?” Marty asked.

“Nothing,” Kyle answered quickly.

“No, no, no. Kyle, you said that salsa dancing was just like having sex,” Maria said. “Well, you salsa danced for two hours straight. With my brother. So you know what that means.”

“You’re no longer a virgin,” Michael proclaimed, barely holding in his laughter. “Congrats.”

“Oh, I love deflowering cute boys!” Marty exclaimed.

“No, I was not deflowered,” Kyle insisted, following the three of them out of the ballroom, pleading his case. “You guys, I was—no! I was joking about the sex/dancing stuff. I was joking!”

“He wasn’t joking,” Michael informed Maria.

“I know,” she said. “That’s why it’s so fun to pick on him.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Maria squealed and jumped into bed with Michael that night. “Bed buddy!” She giggled.

And what a bed it was. Maria had finally followed through with her promise to wash the sheets, and now they were indeed lying on an uncovered mattress, using the tablecloth they had planned to use for their Thanksgiving dinner as a blanket. “Yeah, now that Billy’s not here, you get me,” Michael said. “Second best.”

“No, not second best. Just less naked.”

“Yeah.” Michael thought about not saying anything, but the words came crashing out before he could stop them. “So you’re really dating that loser now?”

“Whoa, sudden hostility,” she remarked. “What’s up with that?”

“Nothin’. It’s just . . .” He wasn’t even sure how to explain it. “Billy doesn’t seem like the world’s greatest guy.”

“That’s because he’s not the world’s greatest guy,” she came right out and admitted. “But then again, who is?”

“The Pope.”

“Oh, alright, I’ll just go out and score me some Pope action,” she joked, laughing.

He smiled, unable to laugh about something he was truly serious about. “I just think you could do better. That’s all.”

“Well, maybe I don’t wanna do better. Maybe I just wanna do Billy.”

“Obviously. That’s why we’re lying under a tablecloth.” It was going to be a chilly night in their apartment.

She turned over on her side and looked him right in the eye. “Look, Billy’s just a guy who I have a thing for, who in turn has a thing for me. And together we can just . . . have a thing. It doesn’t have to be this whole complicated, dramatic issue.”

He considered the notion. He and Maria were different people. Dating was a more casual concept for her, whereas he really took it to heart. “I guess you’re right,” he resigned.

“I just don’t get it. Why don’t you like him? I mean, has he done anything or said anything to provoke you?”

“I’m not provoked,” he denied. “It’s just . . . he calls me Mike. My name’s not Mike.”

“Well, then, you should hear some of the things he calls me.”

“I do. And it’s pretty obvious he only values you for your body.” But there was a lot more to Maria than that. She was a beautiful person inside and out.

“Michael . . .”

“I don’t know, I just get a bad vibe from him,” he cut in, “kinda like you get from Max.”

“Oh, no, Max is a way bigger loser than Billy. Trust me,” she said emphatically.

“Well, how do you know that? Do you even know Billy?”

“Yes.”

He looked at her expectantly, doubting that claim.

“He’s a senior,” she said. “A music major. His last name’s Darden . . . I think. And he likes it when I’m on top.” She smirked.

“Okay, you just proved my point.”

“Uh, well, no offense, but you dated Isabel for two years, and apparently you didn’t know her all that well.”

That struck a nerve . . . because it was true. He had never imagined that Isabel could cheat on him and leave him for some guy who had more money. But she surprised him.

“Sorry,” she apologized.

“No, you’re right. I got hurt bad when she left. And I just—I don’t want you to get hurt like that. Not by a guy. Not by anyone, especially not by Billy.”

“Michael.” She moved in closer and looked at him with reassurance in her eyes. “No guy can hurt me. I don’t let them get close enough.”

“Well, maybe you should,” he suggested.

She made a face. “Mixed message much?”

“I’m just saying, if you ever find a nice guy, someone who really cares about you and wants to make you happy . . . in arenas other than the bedroom . . . you might wanna let him get close. ‘Cause you deserve that.”

She smiled. “That’s so sweet. But you know, Billy could end up being one of those guys.”

“I don’t think so.”

“No, you know what? I’m gonna take your advice, Michael. You can’t judge a book by its cover, so I’m gonna find out what’s written on Billy’s pages.” She squealed. “Isn’t that a good metaphor?”

He started to feel a bit nervous. “Uh, Maria, what’re you saying?”

“I’m gonna get to know Billy better, see if he’s one of these ‘good guys’ you speak of. And I’m gonna let him get to know me.” She smiled. “Thanks for the advice.”

“What, advice?” he spat. “No, that wasn’t . . . that’s not . . . that’s not what I meant.”

She rolled over onto her other side and pulled the tablecloth away from him. “Goodnight, Michael.”

He stared at her back, then up at the ceiling. She was going to get to know Billy better? That wasn’t . . . this sucked.

“Goodnight, Maria.”








TBC . . .

-April (Next update Sunday!)
Last edited by April on Thu Apr 23, 2009 8:52 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Part 22

Post by April »

Karin: Girls can be really infuriating. Even though I find Liz interesting as a character and I'm enjoying writing her, I would just HATE her if I knew her in real life, because she's such a manipulative bitch.

Alison: Thanks, girl, realistic characters are what I strive for. ;)

tequathisy: I think you'll continue to "heart" Kyle. :D He's a very heart-able character.

Ginger: Max ending up cold and alone is a definite possibility.

nibbles: So Michael and Kyle are the only ones you don't want to slap? :lol: Well, they're the most sympathetic characters in the fic, so that works.

killjoy: Dude, don't give up on Maria. Trust me, there are a lot of good things about her. And yeah, she's still freeloading off Michael, but that won't last much longer. The changes that she needs to make to her life are a lot more drastic than the changes Michael had to made, so it may take her a little longer. But I really hope you get to the point where you're rooting for M+M. I think you will. Let me know when/if you do. ;)

spacegirl23: :lol: I figured you left that first feedback right after I posted the update. Michael really is the "most awesome guy in all of New Mexico" isn't he? He's just so great on so many levels, but when Maria sets her mind to something, she does it. So if she's determined to start up a relationship with Billy . . . there could be trouble ahead. :?

Alien_Friend: You're so right that Billy picked up on the fact that Michael was competition right away. He's pretty dumb, but he's not dumb enough to overlook that fact.

BLONDIE: Yep, Michael is getting jealous of Billy! And he's not even really aware of it. ;)

Christina:
I agree with you about Maria, even though I am rooting for M/M. I was liking her when it looked like she was trying to help Michael out, and when she was sort of changing and realizing that she was more than just a hot body. But the whole part with Billy and bringing him back to Michael's apartment where they use his bed while he sleeps on the couch does infuriate me to no end.
You know, I had a feeling Maria was going to upset some people in the last part. She's actually trying to make a positive change in her life by trying to start a real relationship with Billy. The problem is that she's picked the complete wrong guy, and his bad qualities kind of rub off on her, just like Michael's good qualities rub off on her. So that whole thing with her and Billy in the bedroom and Michael having to sleep on the couch was pretty inconsiderate. But like you said, she was making some changes and she was realizing that she has more to offer than her body. I think you'll see in this part, though, that that's still a big issue for her. In fact, Maria's hidden insecurities about her own self-worth are a huge driving force for her journey in this fic.

Leila:
here is an assumption, Tess is afraid of being alone like her dad. she needs someone who gives her love and security(only the devil knows why Max)
I think Tess is most definitely afraid of being alone. Who isn't? Tess has a number of things going against her. She never had a mother growing up, so she's lacking a role model in that department; her very best friend in the entire world doesn't live with her anymore, so she already feels like she's lost someone important to her; Max, as horrible as he is, is very cunning and smart and knows exactly how to lie to her to get her to believe him . . . it's just a bad situation all-around.

And oh my god, you're right about Kyle being sort of like Passion-Alex here! :lol: I didn't even think of that. Although, Passion-Alex was kind of a stud in his own way. Kyle's way geekier. He's just . . . oh, god, I love him, though! lol

Krista: Yeah, in Passion I had Maria fall hardcore for Michael first . . . and then make, like, a thousand mistakes on the road to finally being with him. This story definitely takes a different path. I think Michael's feelings come about in a very natural and (if I do say so myself) adorable way. :D


Thanks for the feedback, everyone! It's as appreciated as ever. You're all so great.








Part 22







With finals week coming up, the tutoring center was especially busy. That posed a problem, because Liz was busy, too. In between her own classes and sneaking around with Max (mostly sneaking around with Max), it was hard to wake up in the morning and get to work, and even harder to remember that she had to work at all.

“Hey, guys. Sorry I’m late,” she apologized to the group of biology 101 students waiting for her at the tutoring center. They were all on time, waiting for her, and she felt a little bad for the delay. “Let’s, uh . . . let’s just get started,” she said, throwing her backpack down. “Um . . .” She picked up one kid’s book and tried to remember what she was supposed to be helping them with. She was all scatterbrained.

“Liz,” her fellow tutor, Lynn, said quietly, approaching her. “Before you get started, Joan wants to see you in her office.”

“Joan,” Liz echoed. “Boss Joan?” That didn’t sound good. “Think I’m getting promoted?”

Lynn smiled sympathetically.

Great, Liz thought. This is just what I need. An on-the-job lecture. “Can you get them started while I’m . . .”

Lynn nodded. “Sure. Good luck.”

“Hmm.” Liz sulked down the hallway to Joan’s office. She had a bad feeling about this. Her heart was pounding in trepidation when she knocked on the door.

“Come in,” Joan said.

She pushed open the door and smiled, trying her best to disguise her apprehension. “Hey, Joan.”

“Liz. How are you?”

“Good. And you?”

Joan pursed her lips together and pushed her rolling chair back from her desk. She stood up and made her way around to the front of the desk to stand in front of Liz and speak to her. That alone meant something. Joan was an extremely obese woman who, at times, seemed as though she were glued to her desk chair. If she was bothering to get up, something big was going down.

“Oh, Liz, I wish I had better news. I really do,” Joan started. “We’ve been monitoring your work with our students, and of course we’ve been monitoring their academic performances. Most of their grades haven’t improved since they’ve joined the tutoring program. In fact, some of their grades have gone down. And in addition, I’ve received several complaints from the students themselves. Some of them say you don’t show up on time, or sometimes you don’t show up at all. And they say that when you do show up, you seem distracted.”

“I’m not,” she denied. “I mean, I am, but . . . look, I’ve just had a really hectic semester, but it’s gonna calm down now. I can do better. I promise.”

“Oh, Liz, I believe you. And I wish I could give you a second chance.”

Liz winced. Wish. That meant it was too late.

“You were one of our most exceptional tutors when we first recruited you,” Joan went on to say. “But lately . . .” She trailed off and sighed. “We’re a government funded program, Liz. You know that. You know that the statistics matter. If we can’t show that these students’ grades are improving, then our funding will be decreased. Or it might be cut off all together. And then there’s no more tutoring program here on campus.”

“But do you really think firing me’s gonna solve all the problems?”

“You’re the only tutor whose students seem to be having problems,” Joan came right out and said. “I’m sorry, Liz, but if you’re not longer assisting us in our efforts . . .” She trailed off and sighed again. “I’m gonna have to let you go. I’m sorry, I wish there was another way.”

It was a big build-up and a lengthy explanation for something that Liz had sensed coming the moment Lynn told her Joan wanted to see her. It wasn’t a big surprise, but that didn’t make it any easier to bear. She was fired. She had lost her job, and it couldn’t be attributed to external circumstances or situation factors. No, it was her own fault.

“Can I at least work through the end of the semester?” she asked.

“Of course,” Joan replied.

Liz nodded solemnly and sulked out of the office, similar to how she had sulked in. She returned to the main room where her biology 101 students were already engaged in what Lynn was telling them. Liz approached their table, and Lynn looked up at her. “Hey, how did it go?” she asked.

Liz didn’t want to talk about it, especially not in front of her students, the same students who had probably complained about her to Joan. It wasn’t their fault. She had given them something to complain about.

“Do you think you can hold down the fort?” she asked Lynn. “I need to go outside and get some air.”

“Sure,” Lynn said, apparently sensing what had happened in Joan’s office. “Take your time.”

Liz nodded, figuring that the students would be better off with Lynn anyway. Lynn was a good tutor. Unlike some people.

She walked outside and sat down on the steps leading into the tutoring center. She let out a heavy, defeated sigh and placed her elbows on her knees. This was different. This was new. She had never actually been fired from a job before.

This was horrible.

It wasn’t as though she wanted to be a collegiate tutor for all time. The work was frustrating, the pay wasn’t great, and the students were often ungrateful bastards. It was more an ego thing. She had never failed at anything before. And now she had failed at this, all because of . . .

“I was hoping I’d find you here.”

She didn’t look at Max. There was no reason to. As much as she wanted to blame him, she couldn’t even do that. He wasn’t forcing her to have an affair. He was tempting her, but in the end, the decision was hers.

“Well, you won’t much longer,” she mumbled.

“Are you crying?” he asked, slowly walking up the stairs.

She was. She hadn’t even realized it. “Look, Max, I’m already having a really bad day. Could you just . . . leave me alone?” She couldn’t deal with him right now. The only time she actually enjoyed his company was when they were having sex.

He didn’t seem very concerned. He sat down beside her and didn’t even bother to ask what it was that was making her cry. “Here’s an idea that’ll make you feel better,” he said enthusiastically. “You, me, backseat of my brand new car.” He grinned suggestively. “What do you say?”

She glared at him. He didn’t understand. He didn’t understand that the whole reason why she had lost her job was because she was too distracted by him, too addicted to doing the wrong thing with him. It felt good, but it wasn’t. Not really. It wasn’t his fault, but he was the reason for her failure. He didn’t understand that because he didn’t want to, because he didn’t even care enough to ask.

“No,” she said, shaking her head decisively. She pushed herself back up onto her feet and headed back inside the tutoring center to do her job as long as she still had it, leaving Max sitting outside on the steps with a dumbfounded look on his face.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Maria called Billy when she woke up and told him to meet her at the outdoor sandwich shop near the university for lunch. She sat there waiting for him, and he showed up ten minutes late. But he showed up. So that was a good sign.

“Hey, baby,” he greeted, bending down to kiss her cheek.

“Hey,” she returned. “Thanks for meeting me.”

“Yeah.” He sat down across from her at the table. “I thought we weren’t gonna meet ‘til later tonight, though.” He grinned.

“Well, I was just doing some thinking last night, and I thought to myself, ‘Hey, Billy and I are dating now. We should probably, you know, go out on a date.’”

He chuckled. “Not a bad idea.”

“Exactly. So . . .” She clasped her hands together and leaned forward, resting her elbows on the table, looking interested. “Tell me about yourself.”

His expression registered confusion, and he actually leaned backward a little, almost as a sign of how taken aback he was. “Uh, what?”

“I wanna get to know you better,” she explained. “It’s this new thing I’m trying.”

He laughed a little. Why? she wondered. Is that so funny?

“Alright,” he said. “Can I order first?”

“Oh, sure.”

He motioned a waitress over to their table and said, “I’ll take a BLT, not too much T, and, uh . . . you guys got any hard liquor here?”

“Sorry, we don’t serve alcohol.”

“Oh, so no beer, either?”

“No. We do have root beer, though.”

“Well . . . alright, I’ll take that, I guess,” he resigned.

“And I’ll just have the same,” Maria piped up, not really caring about what she had to eat, “with a lemonade instead, though.”

“Alright, coming right up,” the waitress said, scurrying off with order pad in hand.

“Okay,” Maria said, “now that you’ve ordered your food, I order you to spill, spill, spill your secrets.”

“I, uh . . . I don’t think I have any.”

“Well, just give me something,” she said. “I hardly know anything about you.” Michael seemed to think that knowing someone on something more than a physical level had its advantages, too. She was willing to give it a shot with Billy. The sex was that good.

“Well, I’m a senior, music major,” he said. “You already know that.”

“What do you play?”

“Guitar,” he replied. “Yeah, I’m writin’ a song for you.”

“Sweet,” she said. “So where’d you grow up?”

“Texas. Just all over Texas.”

“Well, that explains the accent.”

“What accent?”

“The southern drawl. People in New Mexico don’t have that.”

“I don’t have a drawl,” he denied. “You’re the one with the accent.

She rolled her eyes. “Whatever.” Even New Yorkers were deluded enough to think they didn’t have an accent. “So why did you come to New Mexico? Why not go somewhere like California or New York, you know, somewhere with a real happening music scene?”

He shrugged. “I like Hispanic girls.”

She wrinkled her forehead. “Then why are you dating me? Despite what the last name may indicate, my parents are both WASPs.”

“Maybe I just like you,” he said.

She smiled. “Good answer.”

“So what about you?” he asked, switching it up. “Inquiring minds wanna know.”

“What about me?” she echoed. “Oh, so much. Um . . . I grew up in Roswell. Never saw a single alien. So disappointing. My parents divorced when I was little, but I still come from, like, a really conservative family. Like really.

“Hmm. Wouldn’t have pictured that.”

“I know, right? I’ve perfected the art of lying to my mother. She even sends me monthly checks for being such a ‘good’ girl.” She laughed.

“Nice.”

“Yeah. And, uh . . . let’s see, what else? I was Luau Queen in high school. Too slutty to be Prom Queen. Not slutty enough to be Homecoming Queen.”

“Hey, I love a good Luau.”

“I used to live with my best friend Tess. Well, former best friend, actually. She was Prom Queen. We grew up together, dormed together freshman year, lived together at The Links up until . . . early October, I think. Yeah.”

“Why’d you two fall out?” Billy inquired.

“Her boyfriend’s an ass, kinda drove a wedge between us. So I said ‘to hell with it,’ moved out, moved in with Michael.”

“Huh.” Billy nodded. “Unlikeable boyfriends must be a theme here.”

She frowned, unsure what you meant by that. “What?”

“Well, it’s just . . . I don’t think Mike likes me very much.”

“Oh. Yeah. It might help if you stop calling him Mike,” she suggested.

“Oh.”

“Yeah. But no, he doesn’t dislike you. He just doesn’t know you, not unlike me. He just . . .” She actually still wasn’t quite sure what Michael had against Billy. He was a very complex guy sometimes. “He has trust issues,” she said, not really sure if that was the reason or not. “Ever since his girlfriend left him for some rich guy . . .”

“Who was his girlfriend?”

“Isabel Evans.”

“Evans,” Billy echoed, “as in the Evans hotels I see all over the southwest?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Does she really need any more money?”

Maria shrugged. “I don’t know. People with money are so greedy, you know? Anyway, she’s a bitch. She cheated on Michael and dumped him right as he was about to propose to her. Can you believe that?”

“Wow,” he said. “That sucks.”

“Yeah,” she agreed, suddenly remember that Michael had told her all that information in confidence. She hadn’t meant to open her big mouth. “Oh, god, I probably shouldn’t have told you that,” she said. “Don’t tell anyone, okay? Michael doesn’t want anyone to know the full story. He told me after, like, an incredible amount of begging. He just tells everyone else they broke up and leaves it at that.”

“Relax, I won’t say anything,” Billy assured her.

“Thanks.”

Billy nodded. “Well, enough about Mike. Tell me more about you. You’re very interesting.”

“Am I?” She smiled, pleased that he was actually getting into this. “You’re right, I am.”

“You’re a senior, too, right?”

“Junior,” she corrected. “Well, junior year. I’ve only got enough credits to have a sophomore standing, though. But I’ll be a full-fledged junior if I pass all my classes this semester.”

“And what’s your major again? Advertising or something?”

“Journalism.”

“Huh, wouldn’t have pegged you for that.”

“Well, on paper it’s journalism,” she explained. “Up here . . .” She tapped the side of her head with her index finger. “It’s still General Studies. I don’t really know what to do with my life. Any ideas?”

Billy shrugged. “Exotic dancer?”

She laughed. “No, seriously.”

He gave her a look, a look that looked . . . serious.

“Oh.” She’d have to ask Michael. He would help her figure it all out. He always did.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

After lunch, Billy took Maria to his place, his new house. It was two stories, but pretty much in shambles, which explained why he was able to afford it. The front door was hanging on one hinge, and the back door . . . well, there was no back door, just a wide open doorframe. The walls were an ugly mustard yellow . . . in some spots, at least, where the paint wasn’t chipped away. There was a gigantic hole in the staircase leading up to the second floor, the bathroom smelled like dead cat, and Maria was fairly certain she saw a mouse scamper across the hallway.

“So,” she said, “this is the place.”

“This is the place,” Billy echoed proudly. “It’s not perfect, but it’s mine. Kinda like you.” He grinned.

“Oh, I’m not yours,” she assured him.

“Ah, you know what I mean.”

She didn’t, but she refused to dwell on it. “So, I . . . love the furniture.” That was another thing. Billy didn’t have any furniture in his new house. He had two cardboard boxes sitting in the living room, unpacked.

“Yeah, right?” Billy chuckled. “I got this buddy in Houston, just moved in with his mistress.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah, so he said he’d sell me some furniture. Now I just gotta get some money to buy it.”

She nodded slowly. Billy was the complete opposite of Michael. Michael had everything planned out, everything stable and ready to go. He would never live in a place like this.

“It’s a work in progress,” Billy acknowledged, “but it’s better now that you’re here.”

She smiled and blushed a little. She could always brighten a room.

“Besides,” Billy went on, “I got a bed and a toilet. That’s all I need.”

“Hmm, a bed and a toilet. You know, if you were trying to set a romantic mood, toilet really ruined it.”

“Ah, romance ain’t my thing,” he said. “Down and dirty fuckin’? Hey, that’s more like it.”

She was . . . well aware of that. “So, where’d you live before this?” She was still on her get-to-know-Billy mission. She wasn’t about to give up on that yet.

“Just around, you know,” Billy replied flippantly. “Friends, girlfriends . . . stuff like that.”

“How many girlfriends?” she asked.

“How many girlfriends at once, or how many girlfriends total?”

“Hey, I told you I’m not into the whole cheating thing.”

“Maybe I wasn’t cheating. Maybe I was embracing my inner Mormon. Or some other kind of bullshit.” Billy laughed.

“I meant how many girlfriends total,” she clarified, “as in how many total girlfriends have you had in your life?”

“Hell, I don’t know,” Billy replied. “You know how many boyfriends you’ve had?”

She shrugged. “I lost count back in high school. It’s a lot, though. It happens when you’re as sexy as I am.”

“Tell me about it.” He closed the space between them and placed his hands on her waist, pulling her in close to him.

“I’m sexier than you,” she informed him.

“Only ‘cause you’re a girl.” He plastered his lips to hers, kissing her hungrily. She kissed him back, not sure if this meant their conversation was over or not.

“Mmm, spend the night here,” Billy whispered huskily against her lips. “We can . . . talk and stuff.”

Right, she thought. She supposed she could say this was a mission accomplished, though. She and Billy had talked through lunch and during his self-guided tour through his humble—very humble—abode. She had gotten to know him better, and she had let him get to know her. Was there something wrong with a little (or rather big) sex reward?

“Okay,” she decided. “Just let me call Michael.”

Billy chuckled. “What, is he your chaperone or something? Does he monitor all your activities?”

“Not even,” she replied emphatically, beginning to sense that Michael’s hostility towards Billy also existed in reverse order. “I just don’t want him to worry about me.” She slipped out of Billy’s embrace and stepped out into the hallway to give Michael a call on her cell phone.

“Hello?” Michael answered.

“Hey, it’s me,” she said. “So I think I’m gonna stay with Billy tonight. I just wanted to let you know so you wouldn’t worry.”

“Oh,” he said. “Alright, well, have fun.”

“You, too,” she said, though she wasn’t sure what kind of fun he could have by himself. His options were pretty much limited to two things: painting or masturbation. “I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”

“Sure,” he said. “See you.”

“Bye.” She closed her phone and stuffed it back in her pocket. Hopefully Michael didn’t get too bored without her. She spent a lot of her nights with him, but she had a boyfriend now. That kind of changed things up a bit.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Tess pushed open the door to Michael’s apartment and found him standing in the kitchen, shoveling a pan of burnt macaroni and cheese into the trash can. That was Maria’s favorite meal. He must have tried to make it for her. Apparently it hadn’t worked out.

“Hey, stranger,” she greeted, closing the door behind her.

“Hey,” he returned. “Haven’t heard from you for awhile. How you doing?”

“Good,” she replied. “Well, I mean, Max and I kinda went through a rough patch on Thanksgiving, but we worked it out.”

“Uh-huh.” He pushed the trash can back underneath the sink and shut the door. “And the other night, while the rest of us were suffering through advanced salsa, were you two . . . working it out?”

She blushed and decided to avoid answering the question altogether. The redness in her cheeks was answer enough. “Nice euphemism. So, I was wondering, do you know where Kyle is?”

He placed the pan down in one side of the sink and gave her a puzzled look. “You’re seriously looking for Kyle?”

“Yeah, I wanted to apologize for bailing on the dancing thing, because I heard through the grapevine that he had to partner with Marty.” She couldn’t stifle her giggles.

“Yeah, it was hilarious.”

“I’ll bet. Anyway, do you know where he is? I stopped by his place, but he’s not there.”

“Uh, I think he’s got a night class,” Michael told her.

“Oh, well, that explains it. I’ll just call him. Do you think he’ll mind?”

“You calling him? Oh, no, he won’t mind that at all.”

“Okay,” she said, nodding slowly. Michael was acting sort of strange. “Well, since I’m here, is Maria around? There’s a sale at Macy’s. I figured we could go together since we made a holiday of it last year.”

“Yeah.” Michael turned around, gripping the edge of the sink with his hands. “Actually, she’s, uh . . . out. With her boyfriend.”

Tess felt her eyes bulge. “What? Maria has a new boyfriend? Who?”

“Billy Bob Thorton,” Michael grumbled.

“That Billy guy she met at the club? Ew!”

“That’s what I keep saying.”

“You don’t like him, huh?”

Michael turned around once again and shrugged, crossing his arms over his chest. “Not really. He barely even knows Maria. All they do is have sex. And he’s a musician. What the hell kind of job is he gonna get as a musician?”

Tess smiled. Michael’s hostility was coming off him in waves, but it was sort of funny. “This coming from the artist.”

“I just don’t trust him with her.”

“Then he’s probably not trustworthy,” Tess acknowledged, “but it doesn’t really matter if you trust him, does it? Maria’s an adult. She can date whoever she wants to; and she wants to date Billy. Are you okay with that?”

He sputtered for a moment, seemingly flustered and taken aback. “Am I—am I okay with that? Why-why would I not be okay with that? And so what if I wasn’t? You said it yourself: she can do what she wants. It’s not like she needs my permission. It’s not like I’m her father or something.”

“Although, judging by this overwhelming protectiveness, you’d make a great one,” she told him. “Oh, wait a minute. Maybe it’s not protectiveness. Maybe it’s jealousy. You’re jealous!”

“Jeal-jealous?” he spat as though that were so hard to believe. He grunted and scoffed, “Please. Why would I be jealous? I have nothing to be jealous of. I’m not her boyfriend. I’ve never been her boyfriend. Tess, are you high or something?”

“No . . .”

“You know, I don’t wanna be Maria’s boyfriend, and I definitely don’t wanna be Billy, the stupid, guitar-playing, mumbling . . . idiot. Yeah, I said it: idiot.”

“Michael.”

“No, I’m not jealous,” he cut in vehemently. “That’s . . . that’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard, is what it is. It’s crazy.”

Tess smiled. He was so adorably clueless. She decided it best to simply play along. “You’re right. How stupid of me to even suggest something so absurd. You’re not jealous. How could you possibly be jealous of Billy and Maria? I mean, why would it eat you up inside to know that they’re probably having sex right now and you’re stuck here scraping burnt macaroni noodles off a frying pan? It just doesn’t make sense.”

“Exactly,” Michael said readily. He shook his head as if to shake the entire idea away, and Tess had to fight to hold her laughter in. One of these days, she and Michael were going to have a long, hard talk about his feelings for Maria, but until then, he could deny it all he wanted to. He wasn’t hiding anything.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Wow, I’ve got the whole bed to myself, Michael thought as he strode into his bedroom that night. Wow.

He lay down on his warm, freshly washed sheets and pulled the covers up under his arms. The knowledge that he could roll around all he wanted to, stretch out, and not have to worry about crushing Maria or whacking her with his arm or waking up was . . . clearly exhilarating. He hadn’t slept alone in his bed for a long time. But now he could. Because she wasn’t there. She was at Billy’s, probably sleeping with him in his bed. Or not sleeping.

Michael glanced at the clock radio on his bedside table and noted the time. 11:00. Nice, he thought. He didn’t have to wake up until 8:00, so he could get nine hours of solid, uninterrupted sleep. And nine hours was the recommendation for people in his age group. So he was going to get the recommended amount of sleep for the first time in a long time. And he wasn’t going to lie there shivering this time, because he had the all the blankets, and she wasn’t there to yank them away from him. And she wasn’t there to turn on background music like she sometimes did to fall asleep. This was perfect. It was a perfect night.

He rolled over on his side and settled in, taking deep, even breaths to help himself fall asleep. But he had problems for some reason. Insomnia or something. He lay there for a half an hour, huddled beneath his blankets on his side of the bed.

At midnight, he sprawled out on his back, purposefully extending his arms and legs to the sides to take up all possible space on the bed. The right side was usually Maria’s side. Although sometimes the left side was her side. Regardless, she usually managed to take up about seventy-five percent of the mattress at all times, leaving him with twenty-five percent. Tonight he had the whole thing, the whole enchilada, the whole one-hundred percent. And it didn’t feel right.

At 1:36 in the morning, Michael retreated back to his side of the bed, still unable to fall asleep. Sometimes he glanced back over his shoulder if he thought he felt a dip in the mattress, because he thought she might decide to come home for some reason. But why would she? She was with her boyfriend. She was probably having a great time.

By 2:00, he was furious. His perfect nine hours of sleep had been diminished to six, that was if he could ever get unconsciousness to settle in. What was the big deal? He used to sleep alone all the time. He liked sleeping alone. He had all the blankets and the mattress space and he didn’t have to listen to music or be careful of how he rolled around. This was what he had yearned for ever since Maria had moved in, to have the apartment all to himself again. Wasn’t it?

He sat up at 2:15 and groaned tiredly, running one hand through his tousled hair. He grabbed all the blankets and tossed them aside, onto the floor. He didn’t need them. He’d gotten used to sleeping without.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

After her classes let out the next day, Maria walked downtown to get something to eat . . . and possibly to do a little shopping. She was skipping down the sidewalk, humming to herself, when she saw Liz standing in front of David’s Bridal store. She was just standing there, staring at the long, flowing white wedding dress displayed in the front window. It was strapless, form-fitting on the top, paired with simple yet elegant white high heels and a short pearl necklace. Liz sighed, looking sullen, and Maria approached her.

“Gettin’ hitched?” she asked her friend.

“Hardly,” Liz spoke quietly, so quietly that Maria almost couldn’t hear her over the noise of the traffic driving past them on the street. Liz didn’t even look at her. Something was wrong.

“You look upset. Are you okay?” Maria asked gently.

“Yeah,” Liz said unconvincingly. She shook her head and looked down at her feet. “Actually, no, not really. I got fired from my job at the tutoring center yesterday.”

“What? Why?”

Liz kicked at the ground, mumbling, “‘Cause I wasn’t very good at it. Just ask Tess. I totally let her down. And if only she knew why.”

Maria wrinkled her forehead in confusion. “What do you mean, ‘if only?’” That sounded cryptic.

“Oh, nothing,” Liz said. “It’s just . . . you know.”

“Oh, right, your girlfriend,” Maria realized. “How’s that going?”

Liz frowned and shook her head again. “Not so good.”

“Not so good? Well . . .” Maria shrugged. “It’s probably just a little weird. First-time sexual experimentations always are.”

“It’s not even that,” Liz said, her eyes returning to the display window of David’s Bridal. “It’s just that when I’m with Max . . . ine. Maxine. That’s her name. I just call her Max.”

“Bad connation,” Maria said, making a face of disgust. “Go on.”

“I don’t like who I am when I’m with . . . her,” Liz said. “But when I’m not with her, I wanna be. But should I be? I mean, aren’t I jeopardizing my entire future to be with this one person? Yesterday I lost my job. What if tomorrow I lose myself?”

Maria wasn’t even sure how to begin to answer that, so she just stayed silent.

“I just don’t know if it’s worth the risk anymore,” Liz went on. “I’m getting in deep, starting to feel things even though I don’t want to, and Max—Maxine . . . I don’t even think she’s capable of feeling anything at all. She’s not a good person, and that’s starting to bother me.”

“Well, you’re a good person,” Maria reminded her friend.

“Not always. I’ve done things, Maria.” Liz shuddered and wrapped her arms around herself. “And look at this wedding dress,” she said, motioning towards the window with her head. “I don’t know if I want the cute, fairytale romance or not, but what if I wanna wear that dress someday? I can’t do that with . . . the person I’m with right now.”

“Oh, I’m sure Massachusetts will let you get married no matter what,” Maria assured her. Hell, Marty already had a minister prepared to wed him and his soul mate, once he found his soul mate.

“It’s not about that,” Liz said. “Like I said, I don’t even know if I see marriage and kids and white picket fences in my future. But I shouldn’t rule out the option. I shouldn’t limit my choices. No matter how good it feels to just . . .” She let her sentence fade.

Maria nodded slowly, still unsure how to respond. Liz was obviously going through something, but it was an introspective something, something that didn’t allow for a lot of external assistance.

“I gotta go,” Liz said abruptly. “I’ll see you later.”

“Oh, okay. Bye,” Maria called as her friend walked down the sidewalk, looking incredibly small and sad and confused. And who wouldn’t be with all those complicated, ambiguous thoughts racing across the mind? Maria shook her head and decided she wouldn’t try to figure it out, not unless Liz wanted her to.

“Way over my head,” she said as she turned and walked off in the opposite direction as her friend.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

After her afternoon shopping spree, Maria walked back onto campus to visit Michael at work. It took her awhile to find the art museum. She had never actually been there before. But once she did find it, it was easy to find him. No one else was in there. She sat down at the front desk with him and placed a Burger King sack down in front of him. She thought it would be a nice thing to do to bring him lunch, but he said he didn’t feel well. He said he was tired and his stomach hurt.

“So, there’s no furniture in the entire house?”

Maria laughed. “No. Well, there’s a bed and a toilet. And a sink to go along with the toilet. And a shower to go along with the sink. Although that shower looked kinda sketchy, so I just waited until I got home to take one.”

“Well, I bet the place is real cozy.”

“It’ll look better once the furniture’s in,” Maria assured him. “Billy said he should have most of it by tomorrow night. Then he’s gotta fix the back door, too.”

“What’s wrong with the back door?” Michael asked.

“There isn’t one. But Billy promised there’s gonna be. He wants me to feel comfy and safe when I’m over there.”

“Oh, you’re goin’ back?” Michael asked.

“Well, yeah. He is my boyfriend. It’s kind of nice that he has a house. Lots of rooms to fuck in.” She grinned, imagining the possibilities. Last night, they had stuck to the bedroom, but they could get so much more adventurous in days to come.

“I hope he enjoys paying the mortgage on that house,” Michael mumbled. “Does he even have a job?”

“Yes,” she answered quickly without really thinking about it. Did he? He played the guitar. Did that mean he was in a band or a solo artist? Did he play gigs or just play for fun? She wasn’t sure. “No,” she amended. “I don’t know. We’re still getting to know each other. We haven’t covered that topic yet.”

“Employment? It’s one of the basics.”

“We were talking about other stuff,” she said. “But if he doesn’t have a job, does it really matter? I don’t have a job.”

“You don’t have a mortgage to pay.”

Maria rolled her eyes. “Michael. If you’re gonna be Monsieur Bad Moody . . .”

“No, I’m not in a bad mood,” he denied quickly. “I just don’t feel well. I tried to make macaroni and cheese last night . . . burnt it. So I ate an apple instead. It must’ve had a worm in it or something, ‘cause I feel sick.”

“Ew, a worm?” she echoed in disgust. “Sickening. And you ate it anyway?”

“I didn’t know it had a worm in it. I still don’t know if it had a worm in it. I’m speculating. All I know is I feel like hell and I wish I didn’t have to work this afternoon.”

“Does it help having me here?” she asked him.

“A little bit.”

“Do you have to puke?”

“Probably.”

She glanced around. “No one’s here. Go puke.”

“I got a tour group coming in in ten minutes. I gotta be ready for them.”

She shrugged. “So? Puke fast.”

He sighed and gave in. “Alright. I’ll be back.” He got up from the desk and headed back towards the employees’ bathroom.

I suppose he won’t mind if I eat his burger then, Maria thought, taking the Whopper sandwich she had purchased him out of the Burger King sack. She unwrapped it, peeled off the pickles, and took a hardy bite. Yummy.

“Excuse me?”

She froze mid-chew and glanced up at a middle-aged woman, a middle-aged man who must have been her husband, a teenage girl who had to be either a junior or senior in high school, and a boy with acne who looked to be about thirteen. All of them were dressed fairly nicely and seemed to be there for a reason.

Tour group, she realized. They were early.

She swallowed down the bite of burger she had in her mouth and said, “Can I help you?”

“We had a tour scheduled for 3:00,” the woman said. “The Markezie family. Are you our tour guide?”

Maria froze momentarily. “Am I—am I your tour guide?” She laughed, but her laughter ended abruptly when she heard Michael retching in the bathroom. He was probably going to be in there a bit longer, and even when he came out, he wasn’t going to feel like leading this family on a tour of the museum. “Yes. Yes, I am,” she lied smoothly. She stood up and neared them, extending her hand in greeting. “Welcome to the . . .” She tried to remember the name of the museum but couldn’t. “The art museum. I’m Maria. I’ll be your tour guide.”

“Hi, Maria,” the woman said, shaking her hand. “You weren’t the one I talked to on the phone, were you?”

“No. I was called in at last minute. That’s why I’m not dressed in typical museum attire. Very unprofessional, I know. I hope you don’t mind.”

“Oh, we don’t mind,” the husband said casually. “Hope you don’t mind us showin’ up early.”

“Mom always lectures us about speeding, and then she shows off her lead foot,” the girl grumbled.

“It’s my shoes,” the mother protested. “They weigh a lot.”

Maria laughed a little, pushing any nerves she did have aside. It was a museum tour, sure, but beyond that, it was interacting with people; and she was good at that. “Alright, first things first: introductions. Tell me your names.”

“I’m Linda,” the woman said. “This is my husband Larry, our daughter Lisa and our son Logan.”

“Linda, Larry, Lisa, Logan. I like the L theme. Nice to meet all of you,” Maria said. “Now . . . why don’t we just go ahead and start right in? How’s that sound?” She had no idea if she was supposed to have them sign in or fill something out before they proceeded on the tour, but . . . she didn’t really care.

“Sounds great,” Linda said.

“Okay.” Maria lead the Markezie family towards the first painting she spied. She had no idea if this was going to work or not, but she figured it was the least she could do to help Michael in his current state of need. “Alright, exhibit numero uno,” she began. “Oh, it’s a student exhibit. The museum’s very good about showcasing student artwork since it’s located right here on campus. They must feel obligated or something. Anyway, this one is by . . .” She read the information palate next to the painting aloud. “Cameron Delgado. Oh my god! I have not seen that kid since, like, freshman year. He had the hugest crush on me. But he also had genital warts.”

The Markezie family didn’t say anything, just stared at her with semi-sickened looks on their faces.

“Uh, and that’s important because . . . it relates to his artwork,” she lied quickly. “Take a look at this painting. It looks like just a normal cityscape, right? Just some buildings against a brilliant night sky. But if you know something about the artist, something about his background, you can see the painting from an entirely different perspective. See, to me, these buildings look a little less like buildings and a little more like phallic symbols. And all those little windows on the buildings? Uh-uh. Not windows. Warts. Cam’s clearly using his real-life circumstances for his vision. He’s turning a situation of tragedy into artistry. It’s inspiring.”

The family surveyed the painting some more, and finally the daughter, Lisa, piped up in agreement. “It is, really.”

“It is,” Linda and Larry agreed readily.

“What’re genital warts?” Logan asked innocently.

“Moving on,” Maria said quickly as she led the family along the wall of the entry room of the museum. “We’ll bypass the boring stuff. Oh, what do we have we here? The Mona Lisa. You can’t have an art museum tour without involving the Mona Lisa. It’s pretty much the most famous painting ever. Do we all agree?”

The Markezie family nodded.

“When Leonardo da Vinci began painting it in—oh, when was it? 1503. Yes—you can bet he never imagined it would be so huge. In fact, by modern art standards, it’s pretty simple. No bright colors, no oblong shapes. It just is what it is. And I’ll tell you what it is: expensive. Now of course this isn’t the real Mona Lisa. It’s just a replica. Or, it’d better be a replica, otherwise you’re gonna flip on the news tomorrow morning and hear about a 5’4’’ blonde girl sneaking into the art museum wearing a black ski mask and gloves.” She winked. “You know what I mean.”

The family laughed.

“Now, I have my opinions about this painting, and I wanna hear yours,” Maria continued. “If you ask me, the Mona Lisa . . . not that hot. And I know a thing or two about being hot. What do you guys think?”

Lisa and Linda both shrugged, and Larry tilted his head to the side and looked over the painting, licking his lips.

“Wait, let’s ask the walking hormone,” Maria interjected, motioning towards the adolescent boy. “Logan, what do you think of Mona Lisa here? You wanna date her?”

Logan blushed and shook his head. “No.”

“You sure? She’s famous.”

Logan kept shaking his head. “No.”

“Okay, so the consensus is, not drop dead gorgeous, right?” Maria confirmed. “But we have to remember that we’re viewing this work of art through a very modern lens, and that if we were art patrons during, like, the way long ago centuries, we’d likely find this woman to be incredibly beautiful; because standards of beauty were a lot different back in Mona Lisa’s time. This woman was actually named Lisa del Giocondo, I believe. She was married to this rich guy, and the painting was I think commissioned for their home after she gave birth to her second son. So she’s a real person. I just don’t think she’s that pretty.” Maria gave herself a mental pat on the back for sounding as professional and knowledgeable as she was. Best of all, the Markezies seemed to really be enjoying themselves. “Shall we move on?” she asked.

“We shall,” Linda said, following Maria to the next painting on display.

Water Lilies,” Maria remarked. “Another classic, this time by Claude Monet. What a man, huh? His last name is not only a noun, but it’s also used as a verb and an adjective. That’s a sign of success. Now, this painting was painted in . . . well, I don’t really remember when, but it was around the time Impressionism was huge in artwork. Anyway, I tend to like Monet’s stuff. I don’t know about you guys, but I do. And you wanna know why? Because it’s relatable. I look at this painting, and I see a lot of myself in it. From far away it’s just so pretty, right? But up close, there’s a lot goin’ on there.”

The Markezie family nodded in agreement.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Michael felt much better when he walked out of the bathroom. “Maria, I’m not gonna go into detail,” he said as he returned to the front desk, “but that was . . .” He trailed off when he noticed the front desk was empty and half his Whopper was eaten. “Hell.” He heard sounds, very distinct Maria-talking sounds, and when he looked up, he saw her standing next to one of Monet’s paintings, talking to a group of four people about it. A group that looked very much like a family. Like the Markezie family. Like the family he was supposed to guide on a tour of the museum. “Oh, crap,” he muttered, starting towards them. He stopped, though, when he noticed what Maria was doing with them. She wasn’t just talking to them. She was talking with them. She was involving them in the tour, really interacting with them. And they were all smiling and interacting with her in return.

He stood back and watched her with them. He couldn’t hear what she was saying, but he didn’t need to hear to know that she was probably giving the least factual tour in the history of the museum. But it didn’t seem to matter. The Markezie family were clearly enjoying themselves, and Maria actually looked like she knew what she was doing.

“Michael.”

He almost jumped out of skin when he heard his boss come up behind him. Mr. Buckley was the manager of the museum and a part-owner. He was a nice guy, but he had a bad habit of firing employees who weren’t doing their jobs.

“Oh, Mr. Buckley, I’m sorry. I wasn’t feeling well. I was in the bathroom. I’ll get right on this.”

“Hold on a minute,” Mr. Buckley said, grabbing Michael’s arm to hold him back. “Who is that blonde girl guiding your tour group?”

“Oh, that’s . . . that’s Maria. She’s my friend,” he admitted, embarrassed by the entire situation.

Mr. Buckley waited a moment, a moment in which Michael was sure he was going to fire his ass, and then he said something unexpected. “She’s extraordinary.”

Michael glanced back at Maria again. She said something that made everyone in the Markezie family laugh. The dad almost keeled over with chuckles. And Michael realized his boss was right.

“Yeah,” he agreed, smiling. “She is.”








TBC . . .

-April
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LOVE IS MICHAEL AND MARIA.
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April
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Part 23

Post by April »

Leila:
there is only one good thing about M/L here...to the outside world Max is a girl.
:lol:

Nove: (I figured I should start using your actual name. Took me long enough to learn it!)
I'm worried about Michael. I wonder if his sickness is really just physical or if it's something to do with emotional distresses he so obviously is denying.
Oh, don't worry about Michael. The only reason I had him feeling sick in the last part was because I needed to get him out of the museum somehow so Maria could act as the tour guide.

spacegirl23:
I adore Michael. Is there anyone more adorable than him right now in 521-verse?
Probably not. He's just an amazing guy. He's not perfect, but he's pretty damn close. (And see the above answer for why Michael was puking. No plot there. He was just tired and didn't feel well. Or maybe it was Swine Flu! :lol: I probably shouldn't joke about that.)

killjoy: I think you folks down south have an accent! :lol: But then, I think I don't have an accent. I think Midwestern-speak is, like, the most boring, bland thing in the world, and people from the coasts tell me I have an accent! Oh, we all have accents.

elodie: First off, a new reader! Yay! Second:
you certainly haven't taken the easy way out. most fics are filled with fairly likable characters, but here you are, spinning this tale about a spoiled rotten princess who drives pretty much everyone she meets up a wall, who's more than kind of a skank, yet you've also managed to make her so human and interesting.
:lol: I've kind of become known for writing these kinds of characters. My last fic Passion was FULL of them. I like to write characters with lots of flaws because, let's face it, we all have flaws in real life. And the more the fic goes on, the more I think you'll like Maria. But Michael and Kyle are really the only two characters who I think mostly everyone will love to the very end.

BLONDIE: I could never date a guy like Billy, either. Yuck. But sadly, they exist everywhere.

Christina:
I wonder if Maria would freak out if she knew how Michael felt about her. I'm sure she has underlying romantic feelings for him, too, so if she were faced with the option of being with him she probably wouldn't know how to handle it seeing as how all her past relationships have been mostly just for sex.
Maria cares about Michael a lot, but if she knew his feelings were venturing into romance territory, she'd probably be a little freaked out, because romance is something she just doesn't do. Michael's not even completely aware of his own feelings yet, though. They're hitting him very gradually. (By the way, I love Paramore, so I liked your joke. ;) )

nibbles:
Loved Maria stepping in as tour guide. And revealing a surprising knowledge of art.
She's so much smarter than she thinks she is!

Krista: You're so right that Liz isn't a pitiful character. I'm the one who's written her this way, and even I don't feel sorry for her. Like you said, she knows exactly what she's doing. It's just kind of like watching a train wreck happen. Liz is a train wreck.

Alison:
Loved it April. I'm wondering if Maria took an art class or something, or maybe she pulled an Alison and spent time being a loser late at night by looking up random things on Wiki? Or maybe she just has a real interest? Who knows...
:lol: No, she didn't pull an Alison. She took an art class.

tequathisy:
I really hope that Max doesn't weasle his way back into her good books.
Well, Max doesn't give up easily. :?



Thanks for all the feedback, you guys!


I've got a new song for you, a really beautiful one this time. "Don't Bring Me Down" by Sia http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zjI1CoOzxI&fmt=18 when you see :| (I hope that video works. I'm on a computer without sound right now, so I can't really tell. :lol: )

Enjoy this part!









Part 23








Maria was a flurry of squeals and excitement as she bounced into the apartment early that evening. “Oh my god, I can’t believe I got a job!” she exclaimed. “I got a job, Michael!”

“You did.” He smiled and shut the door.

“Now I’ll live with you and work with you. I get to annoy you, like, twenty-four hours a day!” She giggled and clapped her hands together rapidly.

“You don’t annoy me,” he told her. She had when she’d first moved in, but he’d gotten used to her wild enthusiasm over the past two and a half months, and now he sort of liked it.

“Oh, but now I will, because we work together!” She did a little dance, moving around in a circle. “Yea! Oh, I can’t believe I got a job, not based on sexual favors, but on my own merit!” She squealed again. “Oh, stuff like this happens to . . . I don’t know, Tess or Liz or something. Liz actually just got fired. But I won’t get fired. Know why? ‘Cause I’m gonna kick ass at this job.”

“You kicked ass today,” he pointed out. “I thought so. My boss thought so.”

Our boss. Tell me what Mr. Buckworthy said again.”

“Mr. Buckley,” he corrected. “He said you were very charismatic and--”

Entertaining,” she cut in emphatically. “Two things I always strive to be. Now granted, the tour I gave was not the most fact-packed tour of all time. If that family had come in looking for a whole lot of intellectual stimulation, they wouldn’t have gotten it. But you know what? They came in to have fun, and that’s exactly what they had.”

“And that’s exactly why Mr. Buckley hired you.”

“Yes!”

“Although . . .” He went over to his desk and pulled a large, thick handbook out of the bottom drawer. It was the same handbook Mr. Buckley had given him two years ago when he had first been hired at the museum. “You do have to memorize all this information.”

“What is that?” She took the book from him, flipped it open, and closed it again. “Sickening. But I’ll do it. You know why? ‘Cause I’m gonna be the best employee there. Better than you.”

“Oh, you wish.”

“Michael, lest you forget, I’m very charismatic and entertaining.”

“I know.”

“And, I don’t know if you heard, but I did spout off some factual information today. Years and dates and stuff like that.”

“How’d you do that?”

“I don’t know. I took an art history class freshman year. I guess something stuck.” She shrugged. “You know, I’m a lot smarter than I think I am.”

“I’ve been tryin’ to tell you that.” He smiled, loving seeing her all excited like this. And he loved it even more when she complimented herself for something more than her physical appearance or her bedroom skills.

“This is just still blowing my mind,” she said. “I got a job, a real job. Oh, and do you remember our bet?”

“What bet?”

“Well, it wasn’t really a bet. It was more like an agreement. We agreed that when I get a job and start paying my share of the rent, I no longer have to use coasters around here.”

“Oh,” he groaned, tilting his head back in defeat. “I shouldn’t have agreed to that.”

“Ha, ha!” she laughed. “Okay, this is a big day in my life. We should celebrate.”

“Oh, yeah?” The last time she’d said that, they had wound up at the gay Cowboy Club singing Sonny and Cher’s most famous duet ever. He put the handbook back down in his desk drawer and asked, “Should I get my voice in tune?” When he shut the drawer and turned back around, Maria had her cell phone pressed up against her ear.

Unbelievable, he thought. Is she calling Billy? He prayed that she was calling Tess or Marty, but when he heard her say, “Hey, baby,” he knew his first instinct had been right.

“So you’ll never believe what I did today,” she said. “No, I got a job. No, not that kind of job. A real job. No, seriously, a real job.” She rolled her eyes. “I’m gonna work at the art museum, okay? With Michael. No, it’s not exactly sexy employment, but at least I’m gonna make some money.”

She’s gonna celebrate with Billy? he thought disappointedly. Well, gee, I wonder what that entails. They had just washed the sheets the other night.

“Anyway, I’m stoked, so I thought we could celebrate,” she said. “Michael and I want you to come join us for dinner tonight.”

“Dinner?” he echoed. “What-what’re we gonna--we can’t cook. We can’t have dinner.” He didn’t want that loser sitting in his house, eating his food, calling him Mike . . .

“Oh, come on. You can write a song any old day. You can only celebrate me getting a job right now. Please,” she pleaded with Billy.

Let him stay home, Michael thought. If he doesn’t wanna come, he doesn’t have to.

“Okay, great,” she chirped.

Dammit.

“Alright, so we’ll see you soon. Bye.” She flipped her phone closed and smiled. “Well, he’s on his way.” She pressed her phone into the palm of his hand and said, “Call Pizza Hut. We need food to eat.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Michael ordered the main three kinds of pizza: cheese, hamburger, and pepperoni. Billy casually mentioned that he was a fan of anchovies on his pizza, and Michael thoughtWho the hell likes anchovies? I’ve never actually seen anyone eat anchovies on their pizza before. And I bet Billy Bob doesn’t. Not really. He’s probably just tryin’ to impress us. Ooh, anchovies. Wow. Not impressed. Try again, loser.

They sat in the living room with the pizza boxes lying open on the coffee table. Maria and Billy were sitting together on the couch, of course, and that left Michael sitting in one of the chairs. He pretended to be all interested in eating his pizza while, in reality, he was listening very closely to what Billy was saying so that he could make a jab at him at any time possible.

“So I said to my buddy,” Billy said, chewing with his mouth full, “‘You can’t put that lamp next to that picture. They don’t look right. My girl won’t like it.’”

Maria returned from the kitchen with two more beers for herself and Billy and smiled a she sat down beside him. “You were thinking about me?”

“I always think about you.”

“That’s sweet.”

Michael practically threw up the slice of cheese pizza he was chomping down on. Sweet? Didn’t Maria know a sweet guy when she saw one? Billy was not sweet.

“So, your house has actual furniture in it now?” Michael bit out.

“Yeah, she looks good.”

Michael made a face. “Your house is a she?” Who did that? What kind of guy assigned gender to his house? And the female gender, no less. “How very serial killer of you.”

“Michael!” Maria laughed and gave him a look of astonishment.

“It was a joke,” he said. And it was. Kind of.

“You don’t seem like the jokin’ type, Mikey,” Billy said.

Oh, so he’s calling me Mikey now? Michael rolled his eyes. “I’m pretty funny if you get to know me. Right, Maria?”

Maria nodded. “It’s true. When he gets nervous about something . . . so funny.”

“I’ll bet,” Billy said. “So, Mike, you should stop by my house sometime. I’d love to show her to you.”

“I’ll pass on that,” Michael decided quickly. “So Bill . . . you don’t mind if I call you Bill, do you?”

“Uh . . . well, most people call me Billy.”

“Yeah, whatever.” If Billy could shorten his name, he could shorten Billy’s name, annoy the hell out of him, too. “So Bill, Maria and I were talking about you today . . . when she came and brought me lunch.” Didn’t hurt to add that in there. She sure as hell hadn’t brought Billy lunch. “And we couldn’t remember if you have a job or not. And since Maria’s got a job now, I guess I’m even more curious as to what it is you do for a living.”

Maria gave him a puzzled look. She obviously sensed that he was acting a little strangely, but he wasn’t about to let up. He wanted Billy to feel like he was walking on hot coals whenever he stepped foot in his apartment. Their apartment. Because he and Maria lived together.

“Uh, well, music, you know,” Billy replied vaguely.

“Yeah, but what does that mean?” Michael prodded as he reached for the last slice of cheese pizza. “Come on, we’re interested. We wanna know. Do you have a record deal, or are you trying to get a record deal or what?”

“Michael, what’re you doing?” Maria asked.

He shrugged. “Just asking questions. So Bill?”

Billy chuckled lightly. “Well . . . no record deal yet. Right now I’m mainly just playin’ gigs. You know, I make myself available to all the local businesses, and they let me know if they ever want me for live music.”

“Where have you played?” Michael asked.

“Oh, everywhere, man. Everywhere. Just last week, I played at the coffee house. The week before that, I played at a club.”

“The Cowboy Club?” Michael asked. Billy would probably fit right in with all those frisky boys.

“Uh, no, this techno club. I forget the name of it,” Billy answered. “Let’s see, where else? The donut shop. A weddin’.”

“A what?”

“A weddin’,” Billy repeated.

“Oh, a wedding,” Michael said. “I-I didn’t understand, see, ‘cause most people attach a letter G to the end of words like that.”

“This is good pizza,” Maria interjected, reaching for another slice of pepperoni.

“Very good,” Billy agreed. “Anyway, did I answer your question, Mike? I wanna make sure I did so you don’t have to ask it again.”

Michael nodded. “Yeah, I think so. You ever played out on the sidewalk, like just have your guitar case lying open, have people walk by and throw in quarters and dimes and stuff?”

“Sometimes,” Billy admitted, “but usually they throw in hundreds.” He grinned.

“Yeah, right,” Michael scoffed.

“I ain’t lyin’, man. I’ve had quite a few Ben Franklins grace the inside of my guitar case over the years. It’s rich people. They know good music when they hear it. And I’m happy to take their money. ‘Cause it’s just like Puff Daddy said—P. Diddy, Puffy, Diddy, whatever the hell he’s called now—it’s ‘all about the Benjamins.’”

“Oh, Puff Daddy. There’s a great musician,” Michael mumbled sarcastically. “So how many ‘gigs’ do you think you do per week?”

“Uh, it depends,” Billy answered. “Usually about two or three.”

“And how much do you get paid for each of ‘em?”

“Michael!” Maria hissed. “God, why are you, like, interrogating him?”

“I just—I feel very inspired by your new job to learn more about your boyfriend’s job. That’s all,” Michael said.

“It’s fine,” Billy insisted. “Pay varies, you know? Sometimes it’s just fifty, sometimes two-hundred.”

Michael nodded, considering that, and started to do the math in his head. “Alright, so let’s just split the diff, call it about . . . one hundred and, say, twenty five. And let’s say you do three gigs per week. We’ll round up there; I’m feeling generous. So basically what that means is you’re only earning three-hundred and seventy-five dollars per week.”

“Michael!” Maria shrieked. “Let’s talk about something else.”

“So you earn about 1,500 dollars per month, and about 18,000 dollars per year. Plus the tips in the guitar case, I guess. All about the Benjamins.”

Billy shrugged. “It gets me by.”

“Yeah, it would. Too bad you gotta start paying on that house, though, now. You probably should’ve just rented.”

“Michael, this is ridiculous,” Maria mumbled.

“And you’ve probably got student loans to pay off, too. Right?”

Billy nodded. “A few. Some of us aren’t lucky enough to be here on scholarship.”

“Oh, luck has nothing to do with it. I worked hard to get my scholarships and I work hard to keep ‘em.” Michael informed him.

“Your parents probably help you out with the rent on this place, though,” Billy supposed, reaching for a slice of hamburger pizza.

Michael shook his head and seized the last slice of hamburger before Billy could. “Nope. To tell you the truth, I probably wouldn’t be able to afford this apartment if my job didn’t pay so much. Hey, Maria, that’s something you can look forward to when you work at the museum: a hefty paycheck. Maybe you could help Billy out with his mortgage.”

Maria slammed her slice of pepperoni back down into the box and glared at Michael, looking absolutely fed up. “Hey, Mike, can I talk to you?” She got up, yanked him out of his chair, and dragged him into the bedroom, slamming the door angrily.

“My, how the tables have turned,” he remarked. “Usually you drag Billy in here.”

“What the hell’s your problem, Michael?” she demanded. “I invite Billy over for a nice, peaceful meal, and--”

“What meal? It’s pizza. It’s solidified grease in a box.”

“Well, whatever, okay? That’s not the point. The point is that you’ve been acting like a total ass-hat ever since Billy got here, and that’s not you.”

“I was just asking some questions.”

“Yeah, personal, intrusive questions. And you were totally insulting him. You know you were.”

He couldn’t deny that. He could spin around what he’d said a dozen times, and then he could spin it around a dozen more; but the fact of the matter was that he had insulted Billy, and he had enjoyed it. “Fine, maybe I was,” he admitted. “But it was fun.”

“Okay, Michael, I get that you don’t like Billy. I get it. And I get that you want everyone to know you don’t like him. But I like him. And to be honest, I still don’t understand why you don’t like him.”

He didn’t really get it, either. The more he tried to explain it, the more he couldn’t.

“I mean, is it, like, testosterone or something?”

He considered it. Testosterone? Maybe . . . “Or something,” he muttered. “I guess. I don’t know.”

“Well, I’ll tell you what I know, roommate: This is supposed to be my happy day.”

“Technically, that would be your wedding day.”

“Oh, are you gonna be an ass-hat on that day, too?”

He pictured her getting married to Billy, and the picture infuriated him. “If you get married to that loser, probably. Oh, but don’t forget, he does gigs, so he can sing at your weddin’.”

“Michael, I got a job, and I’m excited. I called Billy over to celebrate. Please don’t ruin it just because you don’t like him.”

He sighed, upset with himself for evoking that pleading look on her face. He wanted her to be happy. He wanted her to be happy about her new job and not pissed at him. “You’re right,” he said. “I was being and idiot. It’s just so easy around Billy.”

She rolled her eyes. “Can you just walk back out there and apologize to him?”

He stuffed his hands in his pockets, hating the idea; yet he nodded his head slowly, resigning to it.

“Good,” she said. “Nice and sincere.” She walked back out into the living room and sat down next to her boyfriend again. “Billy,” she said, looping her arm around his neck. “Michael has something he wants to say to you.”

Oh, no way, he thought. She’s gonna put me on the spot? He hated this. “Sorry . . .” He scratched his eyebrow, fighting to find the words. But he couldn’t. For whatever reason, he couldn’t swallow his pride and deliver the ‘nice and sincere’ apology Maria wanted him to. Because he didn’t feel very nice around Billy, and any apology he gave him sure as hell wouldn’t be sincere since he didn’t even feel like apologizing in the first place. “Sorry I can’t stick around, but I gotta jet. My friend Kyle needs help studying for his finals, and I promised I’d help him . . . study.” He sighed, noting the look on Maria’s face, a combination of anger and disappointment. “Sorry,” he said again, this time to Maria.

“Hey, you gotta do what you gotta do,” Billy said. “Maria, we can head out, if you want.”

“No, we’ll just stay here,” Maria said decidedly. “Michael can crash with Kyle, and we’ll have sex on every piece of furniture in this apartment while he’s gone.” She smirked.

Really shot myself in the foot, Michael thought, but he agreed to it nonetheless. He wasn’t crazy enough to argue with Maria when she was already enraged. That would be suicide.

“Okay,” he said. “You guys . . . have fun.”

“Oh, we will,” Maria assured him. “Come on, Billy.” She took her boyfriends hand and dragged him down the hallway to the bedroom, just as she had dragged Michael. Michael grabbed one more slice of pizza and trudged out the front door before the moaning and groaning started up.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Yep, yep, so these are the paintings I’m turning in Monday,” Kyle announced proudly as Michael surveyed all the canvases set up in Kyle’s living room. “What do you think?”

Michael nodded. “They’re good. They’re all of Tess.”

“Well, naturally,” Kyle said, “or, as far as any outsiders are concerned . . . early Britney Spears.”

Michael nodded again. “Ah, yes.”

“I know they’re not great,” Kyle said. “It would’ve helped if I’d actually had her right in front of me, or at least a picture.”

“I could’ve given you a picture,” Michael said. “Or you could’ve just gotten some off her Facebook.”

“Well, I tried that, but all the pictures I found were of her and Max. No thanks. Now some Tess and Kyle, on the other hand? Yeah, I could roll with that.”

Michael chuckled and flopped down on the couch. “Well, keep dreamin’. It might actually happen someday. You’ve surprised me with how much progress you’ve made with her.”

“Really?” Kyle seemed delighted to hear that. “It is going rather nicely, isn’t it? I mean, Tess and I . . . we’re . . . we’re friends, aren’t we?”

“I think so.”

“That’s huge. And the next logical step is . . .”

“Well, don’t get ahead of yourself.”

“Right.” Kyle sat down in the chair, keeping himself in check. “So, are you ready to turn in your paintings on Monday?” he asked, changing the subject.

“Almost. I just gotta do one more.”

“Of Maria?”

“Yep.” He sighed, remembering the little Billy disagreement that had happened only twenty minutes ago. “I was hoping I’d get her to actually pose for me, but now she’s kinda pissed at me, so . . .” He trailed off. He didn’t want to get into it.

“Huh,” Kyle said. “A Guerin-DeLuca fight. That’s a rare thing.”

“It wasn’t a fight; it was a disagreement,” Michael corrected. “Anyway, she probably won’t pose for me now.”

“Hmm,” Kyle said, folding his hands together as he mulled it over. After a moment of contemplation, his eyes lit up as though he had actually come up with an idea. “Michael. Now I’m just spit-balling here. I think you could still convince Maria to pose for you.”

“How?”

“Well, my friend, by suggesting to paint a little thing we artists like to call the nude.

“The nude?” Michael echoed. “You want me to paint a picture of Maria naked?” Maria had wanted him to try painting that awhile ago, but . . . no, he couldn’t do that.

“Trust me, I’d rather do it myself, but I think this is the solution for you. Maria’s infamously perverted. Any chance to take her clothes off is a chance she’s gonna jump on.”

“Yeah, but . . . I don’t want her to take her clothes off. That’d be too weird.”

Kyle saw right through him. “Of course you want her to take her clothes off. Don’t lie.”

“She’s my friend.”

“In this case, she’s your subject. And if she really is pissed at you, this is probably the only way you’re gonna get her to pose, so . . .” He trailed off and shrugged.

“So, you’re saying I can bribe her . . . by asking her to take her clothes off?” He made a face of confusion. It was a very backwards bribe.

“It’ll work. I promise,” Kyle said confidently. “And by bribing her, you’ll manage to make yourself happy. Or at least your friend from down south.”

“Friend from—that’s funny.”

“He’ll be very happy.”

Michael laughed a little. It wasn’t a horrible idea. Actually, considering the fact that Billy was supposedly writing a song about Maria, a nude painting was the perfect counterattack.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

:|

Liz took the afternoon and evening to prepare herself. Then she went over to Max’s. She would say what she needed to say, and then . . . and then it would be said. And Max could react however he wanted to; but she had made her decision about their relationship, their dark and damaging and utterly wrong relationship.

He smiled when he opened the door and motioned for her to come inside. He took her hand in his and tried to lead her towards the bedroom.

“Miss me last night?” he asked.

“Not really,” she answered. “Kind of.” She rolled her eyes, hating the fact that she was still contradicting herself when he was involved. She pulled her hand away from his and took a few steps back, positioning herself safely in the center of his living room. She wasn’t going anywhere near that bedroom. “Look, Max, we need to talk,” she said.

“I’d rather not.”

“But we need to,” she insisted. “Or at least I need to talk to you. And you can just listen.” She took a deep breath and started in. “I like you, Max. I do. For whatever reason, when I’m with you, I feel things, things I don’t feel with anyone else. And some of those things are good . . . you know, the physical things. But the other things, the emotions, the guilt . . . I don’t enjoy that so much. And I look into your eyes, and you’re so clearly not feeling anything at all; and that scares me. I’m scared of who I’m becoming with you. I’m scared of who I might be. You’re not a good person, and I’m not either. And I don’t even really wanna be. But I don’t wanna be a monster, and that’s what I feel like when I’m with you, like we’re both monsters. And monsters are the bad guys, Max. They’re the villains. People make monster movies about them. They don’t get a happy ending.”

He shrugged, seeming unfazed by most of what she was saying. “You get a happy ending every time I’m inside you.”

“It’s not good enough for me,” she said. “Being one of two girlfriends, but the one nobody knows about. Being the body you like to fuck when you want it rough . . .” She shook her head, wishing she had never allowed herself to fall for Max in the first place, and then to fall for him again. She had tried to stay away from him. She should have stuck to her guns. “We don’t work,” she finished. “We don’t belong together.”

He took a few steps toward her, not backing off. “I don’t care about that.”

She stepped backward, keeping her distance. “I do.” She looked him right in the eye, and for a split-second, she thought she saw a glimpse of hurt there, something that indicated that he might be bothered by the thought of losing her. But it was gone just as quickly as she’d thought she’d glimpsed it, replaced by his constant self-righteousness and over-confidence.

Jackass.

“Goodbye, Max,” she said, putting her head down as she headed towards the door.

“You’re breaking up with me?” he asked, sounding incredulous.

She rested her head on the doorknob and whispered, “How can I break up with you? We’re not even together.” She lifted her head to look him right in the eye and reminded him of one very poignant fact: “We’re just having an affair.”

He just stared at her as though he were unwilling to show any kind of emotion in that moment. She broke the eye contact first, lowering her head once again as she pushed open the door and slipped out. She didn’t know why, but as she headed down the hallway, she started to cry.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Tess had just gotten into her favorite fuzzy pajamas and was flossing her teeth when she heard an insistent knocking on the door. “Max?” She frowned. What was he doing knocking at almost midnight? She was tired. Hopefully he didn’t want to do anything or go anywhere.

When she opened the door, she barely had time to register her boyfriend’s presence when he crashed his lips onto hers and engulfed her in his arms. He slammed the door shut with his foot and tumbled towards the bedroom, carrying her with him. He seemed really rushed, and his hands were holding onto her waist too tightly.

“Max,” she gasped as he yanked on her pajama shirt, ripping it where it was supposed to be unbuttoned. “Max, wait.” She wasn’t even in the mood for sex, let alone rough sex.

He didn’t wait, though. He practically through her down on the bed, plummeting on top her. His heavier body pinned hers to the mattress, and he ground his erection against her, grinning. “You like that?” he seethed.

She didn’t. Not really. She cringed and tried to keep her legs closed. “Max, do we have to--”

He silenced her with another crushing kiss. She tried to kiss him back, but she could barely even breathe. He was so in her personal space that he was practically smothering her.

When she heard him slide his zipper down, she tore her lips away and reached down to grab his hand and stop him. “Max,” she said. “Wait, what’s going on? Are you okay?” Sometimes he got like this, but he had been pretty sweet and romantic with her lately, ever since their Thanksgiving fight.

“I’m fine,” he said. “I just wanna fuck.”

“But--”

“Hey,” he said. “I love you.”

She stared up into his eyes, and she couldn’t read what she was seeing there. But . . . he sounded sincere.

“I love you, too,” she told him. She just wasn’t sure if this Max and the Max she loved were the same.

“Well, that being said . . .” He smiled at her, kissed her again, more tenderly this time, and then all of a sudden he returned to his frantic, frenetic pace. He flipped her over onto her stomach in one swift motion, and she cried out a little. He must not have heard her, though, because he yanked her pajama pants down to her ankles and propped her up on all fours.

It didn’t last long, couldn’t have been more than five or ten minutes. Max sometimes spanked her or pulled on her hair and said things like, “Take it, bitch.” And she took it. She was his girlfriend, after all. Who else was he going to have sex with?

After he came (and she didn’t), he pulled out of her and collapsed on his back on the empty side of the bed. “That was great,” he said, sounding out of breath.

She rolled over onto her back and waited for him to fall asleep. It didn’t take long. He was worn out.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Kyle groggily crawled out of bed in the middle of the night when he heard a knocking on his door. He accidentally stepped on Michael, who was asleep on a comforter on the floor, and yawned as he padded out into the living room.

“Maria, if you’re looking for more condoms, you’re gonna have to hit up someone else, ‘cause I’m gonna need mine someday,” he grumbled as he pulled open the door. His preferred blonde girl was standing on the other side, though, looking much more awake than he was. “Tess.” He remembered that he was wearing his smiley face boxers and a white t-shirt that he had accidentally turned pink when doing his first load of laundry on his own, and he immediately felt self-conscious. “Oh my god.” But then he remembered that Tess liked pink and that, like any girl, she probably enjoyed smiley faces, and he felt better. “Hey.”

“Hey, Kyle. I hope you don’t mind me stopping by.”

He glanced at the clock on his microwave. “At 2:30 in the morning? No, I don’t mind.”

“I’m sorry,” she apologized.

“No, I seriously don’t mind,” he told her. “Here, come in.”

“Thanks.” She stepped inside and removed her shoes and coat. “So what’s going on?”

“Uh, what’s going on?” he echoed, confused. “Sleeping. Michael and I are sleeping. Not together. Oh god, no. Not in the same bed. In the same room. He’s on the floor, though. I stepped on him.”

Tess smiled. “You guys are so cute.”

Cute? Well, he’d take that. It was the story of his life, though, and Michael’s life for that matter. They were cute while guys like Max and Billy were supposedly sexy. It made no sense.

“So,” he said, “do you mind if I ask what you’re doing here?”

She leaned back against the couch and lowered her head, speaking quietly. “Max came over tonight, and we . . .” She trailed off, and no words were necessary. “Or actually he . . . to me.” She sighed, shuddering a little.

“Tess, are you alright?” he asked, concerned. “He didn’t hurt you, did he?”

“Oh, god no, nothing like that. But he didn’t make me feel very good, either. I don’t know. I think I’m about to get my period. That’s probably why I’m a little emotional right now. But I just thought I’d come here, because I always feel good when I’m with you.”

His heart skipped a beat. “Really?” That felt so good, to know that he made her feel good.

“Yeah,” she said. “So I was thinking we could watch a movie or play a few games of Whack-a-Mole, or . . . I don’t know. Maybe I should just go. It’s late.”

“No, you can stay.”

“Max is literally asleep in my bed. If he wakes up and I’m not there, he’s gonna be worried.”

Kyle sincerely doubted Max would ever be worried about Tess. He was too self-involved. “Tess, you should stay,” he said. “I couldn’t fall asleep anyway.” That was a white lie. He’d been out like a light, but he was wide awake now. “Besides, I don’t have a class until 11:00 tomorrow, and it’s optional, so sleep really isn’t a must-have right now.”

She looked pleased to hear that. “Good. I was hoping you’d say that.”

He smiled at her. A night alone with Tess. So many possibilities, some more realistic than others.

“So,” he said, “you mentioned a movie, maybe some Whack-a-Mole. I could make you something to eat.”

“Oh my god, Kyle.”

“What?” He saw that she had just spied the paintings set up in the corner of his living room and was making her way over to them, and he panicked. Stupid, he thought. So stupid. I should’ve covered those up. “Uh . . .” Now Tess was going to think he was stalking her or something. No . . .

“Kyle, did you paint these?” she asked.

“Possibly.”

“They’re amazing.”

Relief flooded through him, and he immediately took credit for the work he had done. “Yes, yes I did.”

“Wow,” she remarked. “Michael isn’t the only uber-talented artist in the Fairview complex, is he?”

Kyle laughed nervously. At least she wasn’t thinking he was a stalker.

“Who is this?” she asked.

“Who . . . who is that?” He was a bit confused. She didn’t know that was her? Maybe they weren’t so great after all. Or maybe she just didn’t think anybody could see her that way. But he painted her the way he saw her, and when he saw her, she was beautiful and passionate and intelligent, but lonely.

“Is that Christina Aguilera?”

Let her think that. “Yes,” he said. “Yes, that is early Christina Aguilera. Kinda back during her ‘Genie in a Bottle’ days. We all remember that one, don’t we? That was a lot of fun.”

“I used to love that song,” she said. “I kinda still do. Well, Kyle, I can tell this is her in each of these. You did a really good job.”

“Oh, that’s good.”

“Wow,” she said again. “And you know, most guys wouldn’t paint a pop princess. But I appreciate your interest in one of the modern day divas.”

Do you appreciate my interest in you? he wondered as he gazed at her gazing at his paintings. ‘Cause that’s what you’re seeing.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Michael waited outside the College of Business Administration building while Maria was in her macroeconomics class. When she walked out with a flood of other students, she was talking to Liz. The two girls waved goodbye, and then Maria looked over and stopped when she saw him. She didn’t look unhappy to see him, though she didn’t run up and hug him, either. She was probably still mad at him.

“Hey,” he said.

“Hey,” she echoed, readjusting her backpack on her shoulders. “You’re outta class?”

He nodded.

She smiled a little and walked past him, signaling for him to follow her. “Stalk me.”

He laughed lightly and followed along behind her for a moment, trying to remember what it was he had planned on saying. Once he had it back in his mind, he strode up beside her and asked, “Can we talk? I mean, I think we should probably talk, right?”

“I guess.”

He sighed. Great. She was going to make this difficult on him. “Look, Maria, about last night . . .”

“God, Michael, it’s not one of those talks,” she cut in. “Don’t be so nervous. Come on.” She took his hand and led him off the sidewalk and onto the grassy knoll outside the library. “Sit down. Sit down on the grass.”

He sat down beside her. “Ow, something bit me.” He shifted around a bit and said, “Alright, two things I wanna say to you: I’m sorry, and can you do you me a favor?”

She tilted her head to the side. “I don’t know, can I?” She smiled. “Let’s go back to the ‘I’m sorry’ part. Expand on that.”

“I’m sorry . . .” He trailed off, realizing he wasn’t any good at this. He’d never actually gotten into trouble before. “I’m sorry for being a jerk to Billy, and I’m sorry I didn’t apologize to him when I promised I would.” It was much easier apologizing to Maria, though. Much easier.

“Good job,” she said. “What prompted you to do this?”

“No prompt. I just figured, I live with you and now I work with you, too, so if we’re not getting along, my life’s gonna be a living hell.”

She laughed. “Oh, don’t worry. I could never not get along with you.” She took off her backpack and set it down beside her. “Look, Michael, I’m sorry, too. I thought about it, and I realized Billy was kind of being combative to you, too. So I punished him by refusing oral sex last night.”

“Oh.” Michael nodded. “I’m sure he learned his lesson.”

“I’m sure he did,” Maria agreed. “So don’t worry. We’re good.”

“Thank God.” He’d been really worried that Maria might have been mad at him for awhile. “I’ll try to be nicer to Billy from now on, alright?” It was going to kill him, but he’d do it. He didn’t want Maria to feel like she was caught in between her boyfriend and her friend. And roommate. And fellow employee.

“Thank you,” she said. “Now, what’s this favor you need?”

“Oh, it’s . . . I think you’ll like it,” he said. “I need to turn in four paintings on Monday for my painting class, you know?”

“Yeah.”

“And I’ve only got three done. So mathematically . . .”

“Michael.” She smiled. “Just say it. You want me to pose for you.”

So the girl could read his mind. She had many talents. “Yeah,” he said. “Would you?”

“Hell yes,” she replied emphatically. “I’ve been wanting to pose for you for a long time now, remember? It’ll be fun.”

“Yeah,” he agreed. “So you’ll do it, just like that?”

“Of course. I have to study for my own finals and stuff, but I’m sure I can take some time out to be the Jack to your Rose.” She giggled. “Like my Titanic reference?”

“Uh-huh. Yeah. Technically Jack wasn’t a painter, though. But whatever, that . . . doesn’t matter. That, uh . . . that brings up another thing I wanted to mention. See, Kyle just had this idea . . .” He kept trailing off. Was it really necessary now? Maria had already agreed to pose for him. He didn’t have to bribe her by offering to paint a nude. “You know what? It’s kind of irrelevant now. Just forget about it.”

“What?” she asked. “Michael, what? You look nervous.”

“I always look nervous.”

“What is it?” she prodded.

“It’s nothing,” he replied, trying to sound flippant. “You know Kyle. He always comes up with stupid ideas.”

“What was the idea?”

He sighed, feeling himself giving in to telling her. “We kinda thought you might be more mad at me than you were, so . . . Kyle suggested that I offer to paint you . . . you know . . . without any clothes on.”

“In the nude?!” she exclaimed.

“Shh.” There were people walking around out there. Anyone could hear them.

“Sorry. In the nude?” she said more quietly. “Michael! I always wanted to pose for a naked picture!”

“I know. That’s why I was gonna offer. It was gonna be major incentive. But it doesn’t matter now. You already agreed, so . . .”

“No, I’m agreeing to the naked painting,” she clarified. “I want my naked painting, Michael.”

Dammit, he thought. I shouldn’t have said anything. “But don’t you think it’d be a little weird?”

“No. You’ve seen me naked before.”

“Yeah, but . . . I’ve never painted you naked before. I’ve never painted anyone naked.”

“Well, there’s a first time for everything,” she reasoned. “Come on, you got me all excited now. You have to do it.”

He sighed, figuring she was right. “Okay, I’ll do it.”

“Fabulous!” She threw her arms around him, hugging him. He hugged her back, worried that his ‘friend from down south’ was going to get as excited as she was.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Michael set up the couch for Maria the evening, made it look nice for the painting. He positioned the pillows just right and got to work preparing all his utensils for use. Eventually, though, he started to get a bit impatient. He was nervous about this, and he wanted to just get started already.

“Maria, are you ever gonna be ready?” he asked as he ran his favorite drawing pencil against a blade to sharpen it.

“Just a minute,” she called back from the bathroom. “I have to look perfect for my naked painting!

“What if I said you always look perfect?”

“Then I’d say, my god, Michael, you’re such a smooth talker!” she exclaimed.

“That was smooth,” he agreed, setting his drawing pencil down. A moment later, Maria finally came out of the bathroom wearing only a small black raincoat that looked strangely familiar. Her hair was loosely curled, and she was smiling. “Hey,” she said, leaning against the living room wall.

“Hey,” he returned. “Is that the raincoat you wore when you were a stripper on my birthday?”

She laughed. “Maybe. So . . .” She twirled the tied belt of the raincoat around in a circle and asked, “You ready?”

Ready as I’ll ever be, he thought. He just kept reminding himself that it wasn’t that big of a deal. He had seen Maria naked before, and she didn’t mind, and this was all about art. He just had to keep it professional.

“Oh, this won’t be awkward at all,” she remarked semi-sarcastically. “Maybe a little mood lighting will help.” She reached for the light switch and slid it downward, dimming the bright light of the living room into more of a candlelit glow.

“Not too dark. I gotta see what I’m doing,” he reminded her.

She made it just a bit lighter and sashayed over to his CD player. “Maybe some mood music?” She turned on a slow, melodic beat, one of the CDs he loved to listen to when painting.

“You know, if we were dating, this would be a much different mood,” he pointed out. He wasn’t even sure why he’d said that.

“Much different,” she agreed, stepping in front of the couch. “Well, I guess I should just . . .” She untied the raincoat and let it fall to the floor. Michael naturally averted his eyes. He was a gentleman. Of course, he was going to have to look at her eventually, though. He felt himself growing red with embarrassment even though he wasn’t the nude one. “Go ahead and just lie down on the . . .” When he did lift his eyes up again, Maria was already settling in on the couch. “Yeah, do that.”

She lay down on her back, turning over slightly so that she was lying halfway on her side, facing him a bit more. “Should I just do the Titanic pose?” she asked. “Or should I try something else?” She lifted her left arm up to rest on the pillows supporting her head, then lowered it again.

“Just do whatever you want,” he said, still grappling the fact that he was actually doing this.

“I’m not sure . . .” She grabbed onto the back of the couch with her left hand, then decided to try putting her left hand down in front of her. “I don’t know what looks right.”

“It all looks good,” he said. “I mean . . . it all looks good for the painting.” Not for me. He glanced down to check up on his southern friend. Good, he was still . . . resting.

Maria lifted her left arm up above her head again, then lowered it back down to rest on her hip. Finally, she rolled her eyes and just went with the ‘Titanic pose’: left arm above the head, bent, right arm bent upward next to the side of her face, both hands open, her palms facing out. She lowered her head, relaxed the muscles in her legs, and announced, “I’m ready.”

“You sure?” he asked. “Are you comfy? You’re gonna be there awhile.”

“I’m comfy,” she assured him.

“Okay.” He reached down for his drawing pencil, but before he picked it up, he asked, “Are you cold?” She had to be cold since she wasn’t wearing anything.

“Nope.”

“Okay.” He reached down for the drawing pencil once again, but once again he stopped before picking it up. “Do you have to pee?”

“Michael!”

“Okay, sorry.” No more procrastinating, he thought as he took the drawing pencil into his hands. Time to do this. “I’m gonna draw it out first, then work with the paints,” he informed her.

“Just do your thing,” she told him, looking completely calm and relaxed, the opposite of him.

“Right.” He really didn’t want to screw this up, and he was really worried he would. He took a deep breath, pressed the tip of his pencil against the canvas, took a look at Maria, and started to draw.

First he created the general outline of her form, her heart-shaped face, narrow waist, long legs, the curve of her breasts. He sketched lightly, drawing in the outline of the couch supporting her even more lightly. He didn’t bother with the more specific features yet, like her vibrant green eyes and full lips or the tiny birthmark next to her belly button. He would fill those in later once he was painting.

The only sound in the room was the soft scraping sound of his pencil against the canvas. Michael wasn’t even sure if he was breathing. He couldn’t hear it if he was.

“Hey, Michael?”

He barely even heard her when she said his name. He was just so focused on what he was doing. “Hmm?”

“When you paint my, you know, melons . . .”

He chuckled. Melons?

“Can you make me a C-cup instead of a B?”

He grinned. “I’m just gonna paint what I see.”

“Come on, this is my chance to have invasive surgery without actually having invasive surgery. Everyone will see the painting and think I had a boob job.”

He laughed. “Just shut up.”

“Did you just tell me to shut up?”

“You’re talkin’ too much,” he told her. “I can’t paint your face if it’s constantly moving.”

“Sorry.” She pressed her lips together and fell silent again.

Once he had finished up with the drawing part of the process, he had gotten used to the fact that she was lying there naked. He treated this painting no differently than he would any other painting. He was an artist, and she was his subject, and it didn’t really matter whether there was clothing involved or not. He wasn’t going to get unprofessional in any way.

Once he began painting, he hit his stride. Seeing the colors appear, seeing Maria appear . . . he felt an overwhelming sense of confidence, one he wasn’t used to feeling. For once, he wasn’t worried about messing up; he just wanted to see how good it would turn out to be.

Whenever he glanced at her, he made sure to meet her eyes. He was well aware of the fact that, even though he always told Maria not to objectify herself, painting a naked portrait of her was rather objectifying. So whenever he looked in her eyes, he tried to silently remind her and himself that he wasn’t just painting a body; he was painting a person. And a beautiful person at that.

He used his fingers to blend the colors so everything looked just right. His hands and clothes were covered in paint by the time he was done, and Maria’s eyes had fallen shut. He couldn’t blame her. It had taken him over two hours. She was asleep, but she was still holding her pose. He smiled warmly and almost didn’t feel like waking her up. But she would want to see the painting, and he wanted to show it to her.

He kneeled down in front of her. “Maria.” She didn’t stir, so he said it again. “Maria.” She still didn’t move. He covered her up with her raincoat and nudged her shoulder gently. “Maria, wake up.”

“What?” She groaned, finally letting go of her pose, lowering her arms and rolling over onto her back. She opened her eyes and mumbled, “No, did I fall asleep?”

“A little,” he told her. “It’s okay, though. You kept your pose.”

“I did?”

“Yeah.”

She smiled. “Yea on me. Did you finish?”

“Mmm-hmm. You wanna see it?”

“Yeah.” She stood up, put on the raincoat again and joined him behind the canvas to see the finished product. “Oh!” she exclaimed, her eyes and mouth going wide. “Michael! That’s so amazing!”

He smiled proudly. “Thanks.” It was pretty good. Better than pretty good. Heck, it was the single greatest thing he had ever painted. There were still a few finishing touches he could put on it later once all the paint had dried, but all in all . . .

“Oh my god,” she kept raving. “Michael, this is . . . I’m, like, speechless right now. Do you know how rare that is?”

“Pretty rare.”

“Wow,” she said. “That’s really me?”

He nodded.

She giggled. “I look so pretty.”

“You are pretty,” he told her.

“You’re pretty, too,” she returned, confusing him momentarily. “A pretty damn good artist, that is. My god, Michael . . . you have to do this.”

“What, paint naked girls?”

“No, just paint or create artwork somehow in some way. This is what you’re destined to do. You’re so good at it.”

“Wow, thank you,” he said. When Maria gave a compliment, she gave a really good one. “You know, you’re really good at being naked.”

“Hmm, I’ve been told that.” She beamed at him and hugged his side. “You’re my favorite artist, you know that?”

“Yeah,” he said, “well, I think you’re my favorite subject.” And that was saying something. Because the only other person he’d painted was Isabel.








TBC . . .

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LOVE IS MICHAEL AND MARIA.
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April
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Part 24

Post by April »

Krista:
But then, when I see money, I always think of it in California terms, which means my mind says "That is so not possible" when I see how much Billy makes and the fact that he bought a house even if it does sound pretty craptastic.
Oh, those good old California terms! There was a girl in my English class this semester who bought a house, and she claimed to make only $15,000 a year. :shock: So I figured it's possible. It's probably just not very fun.
I wonder, will Isabel and Alex have more of a role in this fic or are mentions of them all that they'll ever be?
Um . . . I can't tell you that. ;) No, it's possible. They might. They might not. Regardless, Isabel especially is mentioned a lot. She's not even there, but it's like she is there.

Oh, and I'd totally add you on Facebook except I don't have one. I know, I know, a college student without Facebook. It's, like, unnatural or something, but I figure I spend WAY too much time on the computer as it is, so I have to resist the temptation to get one.

nibbles: Yeah, every single girl in this fic right now is drawn to a loser of a boyfriend. And Michael and Kyle are both great guys, and they're standing right there. :roll: It's a little frustrating.

Leila: You think I should have Max clone himself? :lol: He'd probably like that.

Nove:
The painting scene was so delicately done. I love the significance and specialness of it.
Thank you! I'm glad you liked that scene, as I really struggled when it came to writing it. I myself know nothing about painting, can't paint or draw or do anything artistic to save my life. So I'm really glad there was a specialness to that scene.
And I think I may have seen what I swear wasn't possible but hint of something else about Max underneath the tone
Oh, yeah. Max is most definitely a human being, even though he acts like a monster. So when Liz ended it with him in the last part, he realized what it felt like to be hurt. He's still an ass, though. ;)

Christina:
I wonder how she got such little self-esteem. Has she always been self-conscious, or has her self image gotten worse since dating Max?
Probably both. Some girls are just like Tess, you know. But obviously dating Max can do EXTREME harm to a girl's self-esteem. He thinks of girls as objects to be used. Ugh. I'd better stop before I go on a feminist rant.

Ginger: Oh, Max and his father do love their hotels, don't they?

spacegirl23:
I was kinda surprised at how jackassy Michael was being, not that I like Billy. It's just that Michael is so nice and mature and considerate and I didn't know he could be that of a mean person. But I like it.
Well, Michael keeps everything bottled up inside, so when it starts to come out, it can definitely be surprising. He's so jealous! Have fun being out of the country, wherever you're going. You'll probably only miss one update.

BLONDIE:
I LOVED the Michael/Maria scene! He got all flustered painting Maria naked
Yeah, he was a little nervous about it, wasn't he? But he kept it professional. He's such a good guy.

tequathisy:
I only wish that Liz had a little backbone and told Tess what Max was doing behind her back.
Oh, that'd be nice, wouldn't it? But Liz isn't really nice enough to do that. Besides . . . she doesn't really like Tess. I think you'll see that in this part.

Alison: :lol: I haven't watched Skins, but I've heard that it's a great show. Maybe I should start watching. ;)

killjoy:
Now on too Kyle/Tess...I think Kyle made a mistake.I think had he told Tess the paintings were of her she would have been touched.He shouldn't have lied about it.
Yeah, she probably would have been touched. Maybe a little freaked out, but still touched. He's just trying to take things slow. He doesn't want to mess anything up.
Sorry Kyle but you've learned the hard cold lesson that nice guys finish last is true.
Not necessarily! ;)


Thanks for the great feedback, everyone!

Author's Note: I've made it through my semester. Yes! Now that means that I've got about two weeks before my summer classes start up, and I'll be spending the majority of those two weeks at home. Without Internet. :( So bear with me on updates. I don't have exact dates set for when the next one will be. Check back periodically. I know I'll update again on Tuseday. I'll probably be able to update some other day next week. Like I said, bear with me. This will be the wackiest, most unscheduled time for updates of this fic. After my summer classes start, it should get back to normal. :D








Part 24







Max wasn’t usually a lazy guy. In fact, he was the opposite. He was ambitious and advantageous, and he rarely ever just wasted his time. But that was exactly what he did all morning while Tess was away. He lay in her bed thinking, not about her, but about Liz. Why the hell had she ended things with him? It wasn’t right.

When Tess walked in the door, he got up off the bed and strode out into the living room.

“Hey, honey,” she greeted when she noticed him.

“Where were you?” he asked.

“In class.”

“On a Saturday?” That seemed more than a little strange.

“Well, in a study session,” she clarified. “For biology. Not that it’ll matter. I’m not gonna pass.”

“Where were you last night?” he asked bluntly. “I woke up at 4:00 in the morning. You weren’t here.”

Tess slowly took off her coat and hung it up in the closet. “I was at Maria’s,” she replied. “She has a new boyfriend. She wanted to tell me about him.”

It sounded plausible enough, except for one thing. “At 4:00 in the morning?”

Tess sighed frustratedly. “You know, Max, she’s my best friend. It’s really not that strange.”

“You mean she used to be your best friend,” Max corrected. The last thing he wanted was for Tess and Maria to get all buddy-buddy again, for Maria to try to turn Tess against him. She was the only girlfriend he had left now.

“Well, whatever, okay?” Tess dismissed. “Can we just drop it?”

He realized he was upsetting her. He just couldn’t pretend to be sweet and happy and mushy in that moment. Because of Liz.

That bitch.

“Are you okay, Max?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?” he asked in return.

“I don’t know. Last night you just got really . . . out of control.”

He grinned, remembering the way he had slammed into her with no remorse. “That’s a good thing.” Tess had never had the same appreciation for rough sex that Liz had.

“You treated me like a thing,” she explained.

“I said I love you,” he reminded her.

“And then you treated me like a thing.”

All girls are things, he thought bitterly. Even Liz was just a thing, just a thing he liked to play with. Just like Tess. She wasn’t anything more than that.

“I’m sorry,” he forced himself to say. “I was upset about something last night, and I took it out on you, on your body.” And it had made him feel better for a little while.

She came towards him and hooked her fingers into his belt loops. “Next time you’re upset about something, just talk to me about it,” she suggested. “Okay?”

He nodded in agreement, though he would never do that.

She slipped her arms around his waist and moved in closer, asking, “So what were you upset about?”

He shook his head and looked away. “I don’t wanna talk about it.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Michael woke up early to put the finishing touches on his last painting of Maria. He had just finished when Kyle dropped by to take a look at it.

“Wow, Michael, that is . . . really something,” Kyle remarked, grinning like an idiot.

“You like it?”

“Oh, I’d say so.” Kyle laughed giddily. “It’s like Playboy, only artistic.”

“Well, as long as it’s artistic. I was happy with the way it turned out.”

“And when you say happy, you mean . . .” Kyle pointed towards Michael’s ‘friend from down south.’ “Happy?”

“No, see, unlike you, I’m able to act professional even when there’s a naked girl involved,” Michael informed him.

“Huh, that’s true.”

The front door swung open again—once again, nobody bothered to knock—and Marty came prancing in. “Hey, bitches!” he chirped. “How’s it hangin’? I got a call from my little sis this morning. She said I just had to come by and see something. Where is she, anyway?”

“In the shower,” Michael replied.

“Hmm, naked again,” Kyle remarked. “She must’ve been born that way. Although, I guess we were all born that way. But I’m bettin’ she looks a hell of a lot hotter now than she did coming out of the womb.”

“What’re you two hens clucking about?” Marty asked, making his way towards them. He laid eyes on the painting and exclaimed, “Oh! Michael! Did you paint that, Big Guy?”

“Yeah. Yeah, yeah.”

“That’s amazing!” he raved. “Now, granted, it’s a little uncomfortable for me to see my sister naked . . . or to see any girl naked, for that matter. But you’ve got a lot of talent in that sexy little body there.”

“Thanks.” That was one of Marty’s highest compliments, a compliment of both ability and appearance.

“Just one question,” Marty added. “Can you paint me in the nude, too?”

Kyle laughed and joined in the teasing. “Oh, yeah, me, too. Me, too, me, too.”

“I don’t think so.” That sounded like a nightmare.

“Or you could paint one picture of the both of us naked together doing our salsa dancing!” Marty suggested emphatically.

Kyle immediately looked alarmed. “Okay, that’s where I draw the line.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Billy drove over to the Fairview apartment complex, hoping that Michael would be in class or at work or somewhere when he got there. But usually, Michael was with Maria. Those two just loved spending time together. Billy hated it.

When he knocked on the door, he heard voices inside, so he knew that Maria wasn’t alone. Michael was the one who opened the door, and he looked just as pissed to see Billy as Billy was to see him. Billy forced himself to act friendly, though. “Hey, man,” he said, keeping it brief. “Is Maria around?”

“She’s in the shower,” Michael replied.

Billy smirked, only because he knew he could join Maria in that shower and Michael couldn’t. “Can I come in?” he asked.

Michael stood in his way like a statue for a moment, then wordlessly stepped aside, glaring at him.

Billy stepped into the apartment and noticed that weird Kyle kid and some other guy in the living room. “Hey, Kyle,” he greeted.

“Oh, hey, Billy,” Kyle returned. “How’s it goin’?”

“Decent.”

Billy,” the other guy piped up. “You’re Maria’s new beau!” He skipped forward and eagerly shook his hand. “So nice to finally meet you. I’m Marty, Maria’s brother.”

“Uh-huh.” What the hell’s up with this guy? Billy wondered. He talked like a girl and . . . oh. It wasn’t very hard to figure out.

“More of a sister, really,” Kyle put in.

“Hey,” Marty said, “I can’t help it if I have an interest in celebrity gossip and fashionable clothing.”

“I have an interest in clothing, too,” Billy said. “Taking it off hot chicks.”

“Well, that’s where we go our separate ways,” Marty said. “Now fellas, I hate to leave the room all hetero, but I’m meeting Francis for coffee. And then sex after the coffee. Toodles.” He waved goodbye and pranced out of the apartment, upholding so many gay stereotypes that Billy had to laugh a little.

“Colorful guy,” he remarked.

“Yeah, I gotta head out, too,” Kyle announced. “Finals, you know?”

Billy shrugged. “I don’t really study.”

“Well, that’s one strategy. I’ll see you guys later.”

“Later.” Billy waited until Kyle had left before he asked Michael, “Is he lookin’ for a girlfriend? ‘Cause I know a girl who might like him.”

“He’s already got someone in mind,” Michael said.

That’s good, Billy thought, ‘cause I was lyin’ to make small-talk. Truthfully, he didn’t know what kind of girl would fall for a geek like Kyle. Probably some ugly, fat girl who didn’t have any other options.

“Maria should be out in about ten minutes,” Michael said. “She takes long showers.”

“I know.” Billy smirked once again, because usually he took those long showers with her, and usually it wasn’t about getting clean so much as it was about getting dirty. “Hey, is that a new painting you got there?” he asked, spying a new canvas.

“Yep.”

“Can I see it?”

“Go ahead.”

Billy walked around and took a look at the painting. “Ah. Hey. Well, what do you know? That’s my girlfriend . . . wearin’ nothin’ but a smile.” He forced himself to wear a smile as well in order to keep from punching the artist. “Well, say, that’s real good, Mike. That’s real good.”

“Thanks, Bill,” Michael returned. “I know it is. She posed for me last night.”

“Uh-huh.” Billy felt the grating pangs of envy. No, not envy, really. Possessiveness. Michael and Maria were very close. It was obvious. But the one upper-hand he had was that he was close to Maria sexually, and sex trumped everything else. Maria’s naked body was, in all honesty, his territory. And if Michael was getting to see that naked body and paint that naked body . . . well, then, he was trespassing.

Something had to be done about that.

“So before you started paintin’ Maria, did you paint that Isabel chick?” Billy asked.

Michael’s expression at the mention of his ex-girlfriend’s name was priceless. “What?” He froze, looking stunned that Billy even knew about her.

“Yeah, Maria told me you used to date Isabel Evans, said you two had a real bad break-up,” Billy went on, pleased that he had stored this knowledge away to be used as a weapon at a time like this. “I’m sorry to hear it.” And truthfully, he was sorry to hear it, because if that Isabel girl were still in the picture, then Maria probably wouldn’t have even been a blip on Michael’s radar.

“What did Maria tell you?” Michael asked, obviously on-edge.

“Everything,” Billy answered. “That you were in love with her, about to pop the question when she broke up with you. Cheated on you with someone richer, huh? That’s gotta suck.” He forced himself to look sympathetic, while inside, he was howling with laughter.

“She told you all that?” Michael sounded surprised.

“Yeah, she tells me everything.” Billy didn’t feel the need to say anymore. The damage had already been done. “Now, if you don’t mind, I’m gonna go help my girl dry off.” He chuckled as he walked past Michael. “Ah, who am I kidding? I’m gonna make her stay wet.” He grinned, loving that the smug look on Michael’s face had finally been replaced by a look of disappointment and distress. He slipped into the hallway and into the bathroom, wishing he could witness the inevitable confrontation between his girlfriend and her precious Michael Guerin.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Maria procrastinated on her studying and went with Billy to his house that day. He was very excited, because he said he had written a song for her and wanted her to hear it. She was expecting something a little John Mayer-ish, maybe with a hint of Citizen Cope or Ray Lamontagne. But instead, she got . . . something else.

Mariaaaaaaa!” Billy sang as he strummed out some simple chords on his guitar. “I like the way you fuck me! Mariaaaaaaa! I like it when I fuck you!”

She tried to smile, but it was more of a cringe, and nodded along with the beat. If it could be called a beat. She just wanted it to be over.

Mariaaaaaaa! Fuckin’. Mariaaaaaaa! Fuckin’.” He strummed out one final chord, then smiled at her proudly.

“Wow, Billy,” she said, “that’s . . .” She didn’t want to hurt his feelings and tell him it was horrible, so she lied instead. “Gonna win a Grammy, for sure!”

“You think so?”

“Yeah, it’s so . . . original.” And it was. It truly was.

“Thanks,” he said. “You wanna hear it again?”

“Oh, uh--”

Mariaaaaaaa!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Liz found herself out on a date that night at a bar with a guy named Eric. She had met him in the bookstore in the long line of students waiting to sell back their textbooks for cash. He was blonde, tan, built like a surfer. So it was no surprise when they sat down in a booth with their beers and he began talking about surfing.

“So I was like, ‘Dude, no, surfing’s way better than snowboarding.’ And he was like, ‘Dude no, snowboarding’s way better than surfing.’ And then I was like, ‘Dude, no, even skate boarding’s better than snowboarding.’ And then he was like--”

“Dude, I get it,” Liz cut in, bored out of her mind by the conversation. Although it couldn’t even technically be called a conversation since he was the one doing all the talking. She looked around, hoping she would find someone more interesting, but instead, all she saw was Tess and Max walking in the front door.

No way, she thought. What were the chances? Out of all the bars and clubs and restaurants in Santa Fe, they chose to come to the bar she was at? Unbelievable. “Do you wanna make-out or something?” she asked Eric.

“I don’t know,” Eric answered. “I think I might be gay.”

Liz felt her spirits sink even lower. If he was questioning his sexuality, then that was because there was something to question. Dammit.

“Dude,” Eric said. “That felt gnarly to say out loud.”

Liz pressed her hand against her forehead, hating this night. Hating this week. Hating this whole period of her life. She just wanted to forget about Max Evans. But then again, that was the last thing she wanted to do.

“Hey, Liz.”

She glanced up and saw Tess standing beside the table, peering down at her, smiling, looking as perky and cheery and blonde as ever. Liz’s only response was to take a drink.

“I just wanted to say I’m sorry about what happened with your job at the tutor center,” Tess went on.

“Yeah, I’m sure you’re real sorry,” Liz grumbled, well aware that some of her hostility was because of the drinking. But most of it just came naturally. “You were probably one of the people who complained about me to my boss in the first place.”

“I wasn’t,” Tess said, bristling, “although I could have. You weren’t much of a tutor to me. I think we had one session. No offense.”

No offense. Liz grunted. Sure. “Bitch,” she muttered angrily.

“Okay,” Tess said, “I was feeling sorry for you. Now, not so much.”

“Well, I feel sorry for you,” Liz declared, standing up so that she was eye-level with the other girl. “I pity you, Tess. You know why?” She pointed at Max over Tess’s shoulder. He was watching the both of them like a hawk. Like an arrogant, self-absorbed, jackass of a hawk. “That’s why.”

Tess glanced back at Max and frowned. She didn’t have a witty comeback, and that wasn’t surprising.

“And as for the tutoring,” she went on, not holding back, “what kind of idiot needs help with biology 101 anyway? If you can’t pass that on your own, then maybe you just shouldn’t pass.” She smirked and grabbed her date’s hand, pulling him up out of his seat. “Come on, Eric.” She dragged him past Tess, figuring she could fuck a gay guy for a night, now that she no longer had Max.

“Dude . . .”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Billy drove Maria back to her and Michael’s apartment in his 1995 Honda Accord. It was kind of a junker car, but she wasn’t really expecting anything else.

“Alright, just let me go get some clothes. Then we can go back to your place,” she said when he stopped the car in front of the apartment complex.

“Sounds great.” He leaned over and kissed her, and then she hopped out of the car and headed inside.

When she stepped inside the apartment, she found Michael sitting in one of the chairs, just sitting there and looking bored.

“Oh my god, Billy wrote me this ‘love’ song and sang it for me, like, repeatedly today,” she told him. “It was seriously the worst song I’ve ever heard.” She laughed a little, figuring he would enjoy hearing about Billy’s inadequacies. He made it perfectly clear time and time again that he didn’t like the guy, after all. But Michael didn’t say anything. He didn’t move. He didn’t even crack a smile. She recognized immediately that something was up. “Hey, are you okay?” she asked. When he didn’t answer. She made her way over to him, kneeling down in front of him. “What’s wrong?”

He looked her right in the eye and, after a moment, spoke in all seriousness. “Maria, you’re one of my best friends.”

She smiled. “You’re one of my best friends, too.” That didn’t explain why he looked so horrible, though. “What’s going on?”

“I’m kinda pissed.”

That much was obvious. She gave him an urging look, prompting him to say more.

“Billy and I had a little talk while you were in the shower this morning,” he explained. “He recounted the entire story of my break-up with Isabel. As if I hadn’t already lived it.”

Maria tensed. She had almost forgotten that she’d told Billy all that information, information that she’d promised to keep secret. “I told him not to say anything,” she muttered, wondering why he had.

“Must’ve just slipped out,” Michael concluded.

“Which is exactly how it happened when I told him. It just slipped out. Michael, I’m sorry,” she apologized. “I didn’t mean to say anything.” She hoped he wasn’t too mad at her.

“Then why did you?”

She was taken aback a bit. He did seem sort of mad. “Because I . . . I just told you. I didn’t mean to.”

“I told you a secret; I asked you to keep it a secret. You didn’t.”

Maria wasn’t even sure what to say. “I’m sorry,” she repeated. “I don’t know what else to say. I didn’t mean to tell him and I’m sorry I did. Can you forgive me?”

Michael rose up from the chair and walked past her. “I don’t know.”

She froze momentarily, stunned. He didn’t know? “What?” She slowly turned around to look at him. “Michael.”

“I trusted you, and you betrayed my trust.”

She huffed incredulously, standing up again. “Okay, first of all, I didn’t betray anything. Second, I think you’re really over-reacting.” What was this? What was going on with him?

“I don’t think so,” he muttered.

“Yes, you are,” she insisted. “Okay, look, I’m just gonna be honest: I don’t know what the big deal is. I mean, why does it matter if people know there was an almost-engagement and infidelity involved in the break-up? She’s already gone. It’s not like anyone’s gonna care.”

“Why does it matter?” he resounded. “Why does it matter? Because it matters to me, Maria. I don’t expect you to understand since you’ve never been in love . . .”

“Oh, here we go,” she cut in. “Maria doesn’t have feelings. Maria doesn’t have emotions. She couldn’t possibly understand.”

“I didn’t say that,” he snapped. “But I know you’ve never been in love. Because you keep picking these losers. But I was in love with Isabel. And when she sat there and broke up with me while I had the ring in my hand . . . not only was that the most humiliating experience of my life, but it was the most heartbreaking. So it matters to me. And then for you to just let it slip-out to someone like Billy . . . Billy? I hate that guy!”

“Oh, and that’s what this is all about, isn’t it?” she came to conclude. “It’s not that I told someone; it’s that I told Billy, and you have this personal vendetta against him.”

“Vendetta?”

“Yes! You have never liked him!”

“Because he’s a bad guy!”

“Oh, and you’re, what, some saint?” she spat. “You’re standing here yelling at one of your best friends, remember? Let’s be real here, one of your only friends. And I didn’t do anything wrong! I made a mistake. I apologized for it.”

“Well, maybe I shouldn’t forgive you,” he contemplated.

What?” She was utterly shell-shocked as to where this was all coming from. Why were she and Michael fighting? They never fought. Never seriously.

“You always do this,” he said, “do something I ask you not to do, and I just say, ‘that’s okay, Maria.’ But it’s probably not okay. It’s probably one of the reasons why you’re so irresponsible.”

“Irresponsible?” she echoed. “Hello, I just got a job!”

“Exactly. You just got a job. You’ve been living with me for over two months, and you just got a job. You lost your old job I don’t even know how long ago, and you just got a new job. Face it, Maria: I carry you.”

“Oh, don’t you dare,” she ground out. “Don’t you dare act like I’m this huge burden on you! Look at these paintings, Michael. You think these would’ve happened two months ago?” She glared at him, burning with fury. “I helped you.” She grunted and shook her head. “You know, you’re so disillusioned. You think you’re this great guy with your apartment and your job and your . . . just greatness. But apparently you’re not as perfect as you think you are, because if you were, Isabel never would have left.”

That did it. That shut him up, made him look at her with a look of hurt in his eyes that she had brought on with that low-blow. Part of her felt bad and yearned to apologize. The other part was too proud and too scared of what had just happened. She and Michael didn’t fight. They didn’t.

Until now, I guess, she thought, feeling sick to her stomach. She shoved past him and stormed out the door. She raced down the stairs, her platform heels slamming against the steps. When she got back outside and threw herself into the car with Billy, he asked her what had happened.

“Just drive,” she told him. For the first time ever, she needed to be away from apartment 521.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Michael spent the vast majority of his evening sitting alone in his apartment, rehashing the entire argument with Maria, cursing himself for being such an idiot. He thought about calling her several times, but each time he talked himself out of it. He beat himself up about the jack-ass things he’d said until he decided to seek professional help. He went to see the one person who knew Maria better than anyone else.

Tess was dressed in pajamas and yawning when she opened the door to her pink pad. “Michael, hey,” she greeted sleepily.

“Hey,” he returned, sorry to be bothering her after midnight. “Is Max here?”

“Um, no . . .”

“Good. I need to talk to you.” He slipped inside, wishing that he could be more polite about it, but this was an emergency.

They sat together on the couch, and he told her exactly what had happened: all about his break-up with Isabel, how he’d told Maria, how she’d told Billy and how Billy had in turn let it slip to him. And he told her about the fight, hating that there had even been a fight. He knew he had over-reacted, and he regretted it big time.

“Wow,” Tess said once he was done. She had just sat there and listened while he had let everything out. “So that’s why you and Isabel broke up. No offense, but I always knew that whole ‘it was mutual’ line was a load of crap.” She smiled sympathetically. “I’m sorry, Michael.”

“It’s okay,” he said. Isabel wasn’t the primary concern anymore. “I mean, it’s not okay, but . . . now you know.”

“You didn’t have to tell me.”

He shrugged. “I figured I might as well have since Maria’s tellin’ everybody.”

“Michael, she told one person, and she didn’t mean to,” Tess reminded him.

“And he just happens to be the one person I can’t stand.”

“So . . . you think you were right to get mad at her,” Tess concluded.

“No, that’s the thing: I didn’t even wanna get mad at her. I wish I didn’t. The words just poured out.”

“Hmm.” She nodded contemplatively. “Kind of like they did when Maria told Billy about your break-up. Interesting.”

“I’ve just been really on edge lately,” he told her, “and I’m not sure why.”

“Because of Billy,” Tess explained simply.

“You think?”

“It’s obvious.” She sighed heavily. “So, you really called her irresponsible, huh?”

“Yeah.”

“Damn. I mean, it’s true, but it’s kind of a harsh thing to say, and not like you to say it.”

“I know,” he admitted. “And the irony is, she just got a job, too.”

“Really?” Tess sounded surprised. “Where?”

“At the museum where I work.”

“Aw,” Tess cooed.

“Yeah. So I probably shouldn’t have called her irresponsible. I didn’t even mean the stuff I said. I feel bad about it.”

“I’m sure Maria does, too,” Tess said. “It sounds like things just escalated out of control. You both said some things you didn’t mean. I think the best thing you guys can do is just to calm down tonight and apologize tomorrow.”

It sounded simple enough. Almost too simple. “You think it’s that easy?”

“I know it is,” Tess said. “In fact, if you ask me, the issue here isn’t the fight itself, but the reason why the fight happened in the first place.”

Now he was getting confused. He was a smart guy, but he didn’t have a clue when it came to young adult drama. “Which would be . . .?”

“You tell me.”

He shrugged over-exaggeratedly, not yet seeing what she was getting at. “I told her a secret and she told Billy.” That had to be right.

“Exactly. She told Billy.”

And suddenly he saw where she was going. “Oh, no, not this again. Maria had the same theory.”

“Well, maybe she was right. Think about it: Would you have reacted so strongly if she’d told me your secret?” Tess inquired. “Or Kyle or Marty?”

Well, when she put it like that . . . “Probably not.”

“See?”

Michael made a face and shook his head. “No, Tess, I . . . I told you, it’s not like that. I’m not jealous of Billy. I don’t have those kinds of feelings for Maria.”

“Okay. Just say I believe you. Just say I do. Maybe it’s not about having those feelings,” Tess supposed. “Maybe it’s just that you care about her. A lot.”

He couldn’t dispute that. “I do.”

“And you two have gotten really close since you started living together. Like super close. I mean, correct me if I’m wrong, but you haven’t allowed a girl to get so close to you since . . .” She trailed off.

“Isabel,” he filled in. “No, you’re right.”

“And maybe you and Maria are even closer since you’re not romantically involved,” Tess went on. “The point is, she means a lot to you, and to see her getting involved with a guy you don’t necessarily like or trust . . . that’s gotta be really hard on you, and stressful.”

That actually . . . made sense. He hated to admit it, but it made sense. “So, you’re saying I’m losing it because I care about her so much?” He grunted. “Never knew I was so psychotic.”

“It’s not psychotic; it’s sweet,” Tess assured him. “And it’s understandable. You’re just worried that you’re gonna lose the most important girl in your life. Again.”

And that made sense, too. And it was true. He was worried. He thought back to the night Maria had spent over at Billy’s, how he had lain in that bed all alone, unable to fall asleep because it didn’t feel right.

He felt like he’d really screwed things up.

“I mean,” Tess said, “it’s either that or male-PMS.”

Michael wrinkled his forehead, confused. “What?”

“Yeah, that’s a real thing,” she said. “I’m not making that up. Studies have shown that men go through a hormonal state similar to a woman’s PMS every month. So . . .” She shrugged. “That’s one possible explanation.”

He laughed a little. Male-PMS or fear of losing Maria. He wasn’t sure which explanation he preferred.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Maria wanted to get into making out with Billy that night. He had taken her out to dinner, and they had rented a couple of movies, and now it was sex time. But as he clamored on top of her, pushing her shirt upward on her stomach, her mind was only on one things.

She placed her hands on his chest, pushing him over onto his back, and sat up in the bed. “I can’t believe he called me irresponsible,” she whined. “I mean, I can because I am, but . . . does anyone remember that I got a job?”

“I remember,” Billy said. “Let’s celebrate again.” He moved in, attempting to kiss the side of her neck, but she pushed him back again.

“Billy, can’t you see that this is seriously bothering me?” She tugged her shirt back down curled her legs upward. “Ever since I moved in with Michael, he’s been, like, my best friend, or at least my best guy friend.” She sighed in distress. “I just hate fighting with him, and this is the first real fight we’ve had.”

“What do you want me to say?”

Did she really have to write out his dialogue for him? “Something to make me feel better,” she suggested.

Billy pushed himself up into a sitting position and said, “Look, I’m sorry I opened my big mouth. I didn’t mean to cause trouble.”

“No, it’s not your fault,” she assured him. “I never should’ve opened my big mouth to you.”

He grinned. “I like it when you open your big mouth.”

“Billy.” She shot him an annoyed look. Perverted jokes had their time and place. Not now.

“Sorry,” he mumbled. “Talk on.”

“I just—I never meant to ‘betray his trust’ or whatever. I told you on accident. But he got mad at me, and then I got mad at him, and now I feel really bad for getting mad at him, because I said some things I shouldn’t have said, and now—oh my god!”

“What?”

“I inferred that he’s a bad guy, but he’s not a bad guy!” she cried. “He’s a great guy. He’s, like, the greatest guy I know.”

“Is he now?” Billy asked.

“Yeah.” Now she felt even more horrible. “Oh, god, what did I do?”

“Just apologize to him,” Billy suggested.

“I will. Definitely.” Hopefully that would be enough.

“And then you should probably make a decision.”

That caught her attention. “What?” What was he talking about? Make a decision? Her relationship with Michael wasn’t on life support . . . yet.

“Look, baby . . . I like Mike,” Billy proclaimed unconvincingly. “I do. But I like you a hell of a lot more. I think we’re good together.”

“Well, Michael doesn’t think so,” she muttered.

“Doesn’t matter,” Billy said quickly. “Listen, Maria, I don’t want him tryin’ to poison our relationship. It means too much to me.”

She smiled a little, though she was wary about where he was headed with this. “Billy, that’s sweet. But I’m not choosing between you and Michael.” Michael wasn’t her boyfriend, but he was still so important to her, and she wanted him to be in her life for a long, long time.

“I’m not asking you to choose,” Billy clarified. “I’m asking you to move in with me.”

Had she been standing, she probably would have fallen over. The idea was just so sudden. “What?”

“Yeah, come on. It’ll be fun,” Billy urged. “You and me, our house . . .”

“Which still doesn’t have a backdoor,” she reminded him.

“Well, it will by tomorrow,” Billy promised. “I think.”

She rolled her eyes at his immaturity. She was immature herself, hence the reason why she had Michael. “Billy, I appreciate the offer, but this is a huge decision.”

“So make it. Move in with me.”

She shook her head. “It’s not that simple.”

“Why not?”

“Because . . .” She wasn’t quite sure he would understand, even if she explained it to him. “Michael may have said some things he didn’t mean to today, but he was right about one thing: I am irresponsible; and he takes care of me.” And she was so grateful for that.

“I’ll take care of you,” Billy assured her. “Come on. We’ve been dating for awhile now.”

“A week,” she corrected. She still barely knew him. “Alright, look, I think I know what this is about, but . . . you don’t have to feel threatened by Michael. He’s just a friend.”

“Right, and I’m your boyfriend. And I’d never feel threatened by him,” Billy claimed. “So move in with me. Come on, you know you want to.”

She wasn’t so sure she did. But who was to say that Michael would let her stay with him any longer? He was mad at her.

“Come on,” Billy kept urging. “What, did you think you were gonna live with Mike forever?”

No. She hadn’t thought that. She hadn’t really thought about the future at all. And now she had to. And she didn’t like it.








TBC . . .

-April

(I know that's a horrible place for me to end it! Remember, next update will PROBABLY be Tuesday.)
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LOVE IS MICHAEL AND MARIA.
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April
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Part 25

Post by April »

Hey, guys! Thanks for bearing with me with the updates. I'll soon be back on the normal update schedule. Even though I'm without Internet for the majority of this week, I'm getting a lot of writing done. ;)

Leila:
PS: I'd love to see Marty and Kyle posingnaked together
Okay, weird, but visualize it if it makes you happy. :lol: You're such a gutter-head!

tequathisy: Billy is meant to be hated, so if I'm killing you with him . . . that's my goal! :twisted:

Krista:
I've been meaning to ask, why is it that you don't have internet at your house? I didn't think that happened anymore. Internet is the basis of life!
:lol: Well, it's not something that's unique to Nebraska or anything. It's just a way for me and my family to save a little bit of money each month. Besides, the only computer I had Internet on at my house was infected with, like, 1000 viruses and probably doesn't even work anymore, so . . . yeah, it's just not worth it to have it. I have to say, I get a lot more accomplished when I'm not distracted by the Internet! :D

Alison:
And Maria can't seriously be considering breaking up with moving out on Michael, could she? Tell me she's not that dumb...
Well . . .

killjoy: Man, all the girls in this fic are getting on your nerves, aren't they? :lol: Don't give up on them. Well, at least don't give up on Maria and Tess. (Thanks for the bump! :lol: )

Nove:
Liz, Liz. Two steps forward ten steps back.
:lol: I always do that with my fics! It's probably what makes them so damn frustrating.

BLONDIE:
That was a pretty bad fight for Michael and Maria...I know they'll make up though.
Michael and Maria don't really have a whole lot of serious fights in this fic. They banter back and forth sometimes, but when they get in a fight like that, it will result in some sort of consequence.

spacegirl23: Hong Kong! Neat! I wish I could go there. I would, if I didn't have this damn irrational fear of flying overseas.
Sheesh. Billy's such an ass. I wanna strangle him. Can I, even fictionally?
Well, let's see, maybe if I write you into the next part . . . nope. Sorry! He really is an ass, though. I wanna strangle him, too.

Christina:
And as for Michael. Hehe. (I giggle because I have a fanfic crush on him. Yes, I said fanfic crush. I looove his character in this. In fact, it's the first ever fanfic crush I've had on Michael, so be pleased with yourself on that one.)
Ooh, nice. I have fanfic crushes, too. Your crush on him may intensify with this part, because he's going to go on an adorable rant that's pretty damn epic, if I do say so myself. ;)


Thanks for the feedback! I should be updating again on THURSDAY, because I have to venture down into the land of the Internet for work. :lol: After that, you might have to bear with me again.

Ooh, I come bearing more music, though! The lyrics in this part are to "Porcelain" by Better Than Ezra. I absolutely ADORE this song. It's actually kind of a soft, beautiful song about a psycho, but . . . hey, whatever floats your boat. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ry3szwNa8eM&fmt=18 (Again, I'm on a computer without sound, so I don't really know if this link works right or not. But whatever.)

Enjoy this part, guys. For real.









Part 25








“So my supervisor said that once my internship’s done this summer, she might think about hiring me full time.”

“Hmm.” Max was barely listening to what Tess was saying as they walked along campus hand-in-hand the next day. This stupid walk had been her idea. She said he needed to clear his head. As though she had thoughts in her head. He sort of wished she would just study for her finals and leave him alone unless he wanted to have sex.

“Yeah, it’s good news,” she went on. “I’d be busy. Very busy. But I’d be busy designing, so . . . I’d like that.”

“Good.”

“Yeah.” She squeezed his hand as they turned to head towards the Student Union and commented, “You’re so quiet. Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I’m fine,” he lied quickly. “I’m just a little stressed about some business stuff.” There. There was a good lie, something to keep her from pestering him. “You wouldn’t understand.”

“Well, maybe I would.”

“What’s going on over there?” he asked, motioning to a large crowd outside the Union. There was a stage set up by the fountain, and students were gathered in front of it. Some were sitting on the steps leading into the Union, too.

“I don’t know,” Tess said. “Maybe . . . oh, look, there’s Kyle. Let’s go say hi.”

Max frowned as she pulled him along towards the epicenter of the commotion. Why did she care about saying hi to that lame Kyle kid?

Kyle was sitting on the steps of the Union by himself. When he looked up and saw Tess coming towards him, his eyes lit up. “Oh, hey, Tess. Max.”

Max didn’t say anything.

“Hey, Kyle,” Tess greeted her friend cheerily. “What’s going on here?”

“Oh, it’s the student government re-election,” he explained. “Yeah, apparently the student body president got caught drunk driving, and the vice president had a meth lab in his basement.”

“Ooh, scandalous,” Tess remarked.

“Hence the re-election. New candidates, new platform speeches, new false promises never to be fulfilled.”

“Well, at least you’re optimistic.” She sat down, pulling Max down with her, and asked, “Mind if we join you?”

“I’m sure he doesn’t,” Max grumbled.

“No, that’s fine,” Kyle said. “Michael’s on his way, I think.”

“Neat,” Tess chirped.

“Are you sure you wanna sit here and listen to a bunch of boring speeches?” Max asked impatiently.

“Sure, why not?” she replied. “It’s not like we’re doing anything better.”

“We could be.”

“No, let’s be involved,” she decided. “If I’m gonna vote, I wanna be informed.”

He rolled his eyes. Maybe Kyle’s lameness was rubbing off on Tess. Who knew how much time they were spending together? All Max knew was that Liz would have never done something so lame.

“So, Max,” Kyle addressed him. “How are your hotels?”

“They’re my father’s hotels,” Max corrected. “They’ll be better once I own them.”

Tess laughed lightly. “He’s very ambitious,” she said. “Oh, look, are they handing out information pamphlets? I think they are. I’m gonna go get one. You guys save my spot.” She got up and headed into the crowd, leaving Kyle and Max sitting alone. Max noticed Kyle’s eyes lingering on Tess’s backside, so he decided to call him out on it.

“She’s got a great ass, huh?”

Kyle immediately looked away, “Oh, I . . . haven’t really noticed.”

Max smirked. Liar. “Sure you haven’t.” Luckily this nerd didn’t stand a chance. Nobody did. Tess was completely and stupidly head over heels in love with him. She had been for years now. “So,” he said, “how’d you and Tess become such close pals?”

“Just through mutual friends, you know,” Kyle replied.

“Right. Michael and Maria?”

“Yeah.”

Max grunted. “Michael’s a chump. Maria’s a slut. And a bitch.”

“No, I wouldn’t say that,” Kyle said. “Well, Maria is a bitch, mostly to me. It’s cool, though.”

“Whatever,” Max muttered, wondering what was taking Tess so long. She was probably getting harassed by some drunk frat boy. “So you used to date Liz Parker, right?”

“Yeah, you know Liz?”

“Kind of.” He grinned. There wasn’t a doubt in mind that he knew Liz’s body better than anyone else.

“Well, yeah, we dated, mostly in high school.”

Mismatch of the century, Max thought. Liz was far too much for a geek like Kyle to handle.

“Then we got here,” Kyle went on, “and . . . I don’t know; I think she found someone else.”

Max nodded, remembering how he and Liz had found each other at a party last year, their eyes locking from across the room, the rich sophomore and the beautiful new freshman. And the great sex. “She probably did.” He looked away from Kyle and smiled smugly.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Michael was all set to go meet Kyle at the re-election event when the door opened and Maria walked in. “Hey,” he said, surprised to see her so early. Usually she didn’t even wake up before noon.

“Hey,” she said, gently shutting the door.

He set his backpack down and waited for her to say something, because he himself wasn’t sure what to say.

She looked as though she were contemplating saying something for a moment. She had that look of concentration on her face, a slightly wrinkled forehead due to the frown upon her lips. She opened her mouth, but no sound came out, and finally she just gave up and made her way towards him. She opened up her arms and encircled him around his stomach, hugging him tightly. Initially, he was surprised, didn’t know what to think, but then he hugged her back, rubbing his hands up and down her back as she rested her right cheek on his chest.

“Maria,” he said, his fingers playing with the ends of her hair. “It’s okay.”

She leaned back to look him in the eye but kept her arms wrapped around him. “No, it’s not okay. I was such a jerk-person yesterday.”

“Me, too,” he admitted. “I was a big . . . jerk-person.”

“I said all this stuff,” she went on. “I didn’t mean any of it.”

“You were right about some things.” He wasn’t about to tell her she was right that Billy was the main reason for his anger. He’d let her either figure that out for herself or think it was male-PMS.

“But I was mean,” she said.

“Well, I was mean and overreacting,” he pointed out. “And I didn’t mean the stuff I said, either.”

“I knew you didn’t. I’m so sorry,” she apologized.

“I’m sorry, too.”

“I’m sorrier.”

He chuckled, knowing that she would one-up him to the end. “Don’t worry about it. It’s over.”

“No, I’m worried, Michael.”

He frowned and tightened his arms around her. “Why?”

“Because you told me this deeply personal life event, and I just blabbed it to Billy without a second thought. I can be so stupid sometimes.”

“You’re not stupid.”

“But I do stupid things, and I say stupid things, and it’s just . . . stupid.”

He laughed. She was so cute.

“What?” She finally quit hugging him and continued staring at him in all seriousness. “This isn’t funny!”

“Kind of is.”

“Michael, this is serious,” she insisted. “I insinuated that you’re not a good guy, and that is, like, so far from the truth. You’re, like, the best guy, because you’re sweet and you’re smart and you’re so good to me. Michael . . .”

“You’re good to me, too.” She made him laugh more than anyone else. She had to know that.

She shook her head, denying it. “No, I’m not.”

Michael frowned again, not understanding the self-deprecation. “Why are you beating yourself up about this?”

Again, she looked as though she were trying to say something, but once again, she decided to give him a hug instead.

“What . . .” And once again he hugged her back, not sure what was wrong. But something was.

“Okay, Michael, there’s something I need to tell you,” she announced suddenly, letting go of him as quickly as she had enveloped him.

He didn’t like the sound of that, but he tried to keep a small smile on his face.

She let out a sigh, lowered her head, and then raised it again to look him in the eye. And then she said exactly what he’d been dreading hearing: “I’m moving out.”

His smile immediately fell.

“I’m moving in with Billy.”

Part of him had known it was coming, but that didn’t make it any easier to hear. “Oh,” was all he could say in response. He couldn’t even think of any other words.

“It’s a big decision, I know,” Maria acknowledged. “And I want you to know that this has nothing to do with the fight we had. I’m so totally over that.”

He nodded, not sure if he believed that but accepting it as truth anyway. Maria wouldn’t lie to him. “Can I ask you why you’re moving out then?”

She shrugged. “I just think it’s the right thing to do. It has nothing to do with you, okay? It’s nothing you did, nothing you said. You’re an awesome roommate. You’ve been so great to me.”

The it’s-not-you-it’s-me speech, he recognized. He’d heard it all before from Isabel. This was different, but this still sucked. “Are you sure about this?” he asked her.

“I think so. Billy and I talked about it last night. He brought up some really good points.”

“I’m sure he did.” Michael didn’t like the thought of Billy implanting crazy thoughts in Maria’s head.

“I know you don’t like him,” Maria went on to say, “but he’s my boyfriend.”

“Of one week,” Michael reminded her. He didn’t want to sound hostile, but he couldn’t not react to the situation. “Don’t feel pressured to move in with him, Maria. You can stay with me as long as you want.” And he meant that. She didn’t have to leave.

“I know,” she said, “and I don’t feel pressured.”

“Then why--”

“Last night you called me irresponsible.”

Dammit, he thought. If he’d known that one word was going to do so much damage, he would have chosen a different adjective or avoided saying anything at all. “I-I didn’t mean that.”

“Whether you meant it or not, it’s true,” she admitted. “I am irresponsible. I know this.”

Michael sighed dejectedly, still not understanding it. “So you’re gonna move in with Billy because you’re irresponsible?” He flapped his hands against his sides. “I don’t get it.”

“Michael.” She reached down and took his hands in hers. Her eyes looked a little shiny, tear-clouded. “Living with you has taught me a lot of things. You’ve taken care of both of us for the past few months, and you shouldn’t have to do that anymore. It’s time for me to grow up a little and stop being so dependent on others and start taking care of myself. Time to be responsible.” She smiled.

“Maria . . .”

“You live your life like an adult,” she stated. “I live mine like I’m still in high school. So I’m moving out, and I’m moving in with Billy.” She bit her bottom lip, looking more worked up than she probably cared to be. “I think it’s for the best.”

He wanted to tell her it wasn’t for the best, because he really doubted it was. But he didn’t want to get into another argument with her. He didn’t have any authority over her. She could do whatever she wanted to. It was her life. He needed to support her decisions.

“Are you sure?” he asked her again.

“Yeah,” she said, and she sounded pretty sure. “I mean, I kinda just invited myself to live here in the first place. You never wanted me here.”

“I want you here now.” He could hear the emotion in his own voice, the way it wavered when he spoke.

“I know,” she practically whispered. “But you told me that this was just temporary. We both know we can’t live together forever.”

Well, that was . . . true, he supposed. But he hadn’t thought that far ahead.

“But look on the bright side,” she added. “Now you get to have that big bed all to yourself again.” She laughed a little.

He thought back to the night of insomnia he’d experienced just a few nights ago. Having a big bed all to yourself was great in theory, but he’d gotten used to having her in it. It felt empty without her. He didn’t want to have it all to himself again.

“Hey, are you okay?” she asked. “Are you mad at me?”

“No, of course not,” he assured her quickly. “I’m not mad.” He didn’t want her to think he was mad. He was sad more than anything. He wasn’t mad at all. Maria was making a decision, and he didn’t want her to feel uneasy or guilty about it. “It’s a little sudden,” he said, “but . . . okay. It’s not like you need my permission, but it’s . . . okay.”

“Really?” She looked so relieved to hear that. “Thanks for understanding. I didn’t wanna hurt your feelings.”

“No.” His feelings weren’t hurt. Not really. Maybe just a little. “Just promise me you’ll be safe,” he said, “and if you need any help with anything at all, you just let me know.”

“I will.”

“Promise?”

“Promise. And Michael, it’s not like I’m moving across country or something,” she reminded him. “I’ll be fifteen minutes away. We’ll still see each other all the time.”

“Yeah.” But it wouldn’t be the same. He knew that. Back when Maria had lived with Tess, he’d seen her about half as much as he did now. When she moved in with Billy, he knew he’d see her even less than that.

“All the time,” she emphasized.

He nodded. “But if for some reason it doesn’t work out with you and Billy, you always have a home here.” He wanted to make sure she knew that.

“Aw.” She squeezed his hands tighter as a few tears spilled over onto her cheeks. “You’re gonna make me cry.”

“You’re already crying,” he pointed out.

“Dammit.” She wiped her tears away, careful not to smear her make-up.

He gazed down at her, at the spunky, feisty blonde girl he’d had the privilege of calling his roommate for two and a half months, and he felt a lump of emotion rising in his throat. “I’m gonna miss you, Maria,” he told her.

“Oh, I’m gonna miss you, too,” she said. “I’m gonna miss stealing all the covers from you, and cooking up a calamity with you, and having a food fight with you, and posing naked for you.”

He managed to laugh and joke a little. “Yeah, I’ll definitely miss that last one.”

She laughed, too, her eyes still brimming with tears. “Come here.” She hugged him for the third time since she had walked in the door, and when she was no longer in a position to see his face, he no longer tried to smile or act happy for her. He frowned visibly because he couldn’t force a smile; and he held onto her tightly because he didn’t want to let her go.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Can you believe she’s moving in with that—that loser? I mean, what is she thinking? Or is she even thinking at all?” Michael was well aware that he was going on an out of control rant that afternoon, and he almost felt bad for Kyle having to sit there and listen to it. But he couldn’t stop himself.

“I don’t know, dude,” Kyle replied.

“It’s just ridiculous, you know? It’s completely ridiculous.” Michael threw his hands up in the air, exasperated, then let out a heavy, frustrated sigh, and plopped down on Kyle’s living room couch. He took a moment to cool off, then announced, “I feel better.”

“Really?”

“No!” Here it was again, the rage. “Maria’s moving in with Billy Bob, and I just know it’s a bad idea.”

“Have you tried telling her that?” Kyle asked, for once sounding like the logical one.

“No. And I’m not gonna. We just weathered one fight. I don’t wanna start another.”

Kyle shrugged contemplatively. “Fair enough. When’s she moving out?”

“Oh, that’s another thing: I asked her, and do you know what she said? Before Christmas.” Michael nodded, hating that idea. “Before Christmas?

“That’s really soon,” Kyle agreed.

“Too soon, don’t you think?”

“I don’t know,” Kyle responded. “It doesn’t really surprise me. Maria’s an impulsive girl.”

“But she’s on this whole responsibility kick,” Michael informed him. “Wouldn’t it be responsible for her to take her time moving out, move out after the holidays? After finals week. Oh, there’s a good point: finals week. Starting tomorrow, we all get to bask in the hell of multiple choice questions and true/false questions and essay questions. Oh, you can’t have a good final without essay questions!”

“I think you’re losing it,” Kyle remarked casually.

“No, Maria is. If she really thinks she’s gonna pack up her stuff and study for finals and take her finals and move out all in the span of one week . . . are those bagels?” He spied a sack of what looked to be whole wheat bagels on Kyle’s kitchen countertop, and he wanted them.

“Uh, yeah . . .”

He sprang from the couch and seized one of the bagels from the sack. He didn’t even bother splitting it, but bit into it like a crazed, hungry man.

“And so we begin the emotional eating portion of the rant,” Kyle commented.

“This is serious, Valenti,” Michael insisted, waving his bagel at his friend. “I’m worried about her. I think she’s making a hasty decision, and she’s gonna regret it.”

“Maybe you should tell her that.”

“No, I’m not gonna.”

“Well, if you refuse to tell her anything, then that limits your options,” Kyle said, stating the obvious. “I don’t know, man. Maybe you should just . . . back off. Maybe she and Billy have a real connection together.”

“No, they don’t!” Michael roared, pointing an angry finger at his friend, furious that he would even suggest something so absurd.

“Their groins seem to connect a lot,” Kyle muttered.

“But beyond that . . .” Michael kept pointing at him. “Trust me, they don’t.”

“Okay.” Kyle held his hands up in self-defense. “I was just saying . . .”

“And Billy’s a dumb-ass.”

Kyle laughed. “Oh, man.”

“What? This isn’t funny!” Michael yelled. “No, I can see it now. Maria moves in with Billy. Once the thrill of the sex wears off, it’s back to real life. She’s working hard at the museum—which, ha ha, Billy Bob, you may play with her, but I still get to work with her. Meanwhile, Billy’s just hangin’ around, playing his ‘gigs.’ His ‘gigs’ in the donut shop and on the sidewalk. They go broke, sell the house, move out. Naturally, Maria wants to move back in with me, but that jackass convinces her not to. ‘Cause he says—and you know, he says it with that stupid southern drawl—he says, ‘Don’t worry, darlin’. I got a new song in the works. It’s called I Like Boobies. It’s gonna be a big hit. Number one, babe, number one.’ But of course it’s not a big hit, ‘cause Billy wrote it, and he’s Billy. So then they end up livin’ in a back alley behind Taco Barn, eating leftover tacos, out of the trash, I might add. And Maria has to sleep in a box, and there’s a hole in the roof of the box, and when it rains, it goes through the hole in the box and makes her sick. So she goes to some crappy, under-qualified physician in the bad part of town, gets mugged on the way there, because Billy sure as hell isn’t there to protect her the way I would be—he’s asleep in the box. And when she gets to the doctor, she finds out she’s pregnant, because Billy came home one night from one of his ‘gigs’ and was too drunk to wear a condom. So he abandons her, naturally, for the slut who lives in the box next door, and suddenly she’s a single parent. A welfare mother. And five years later, she ends up on Jerry Springer on one of the ‘Baby Daddy’ shows trying to contact Billy. But he’s off playing one of his ‘gigs.’ And she gets hit with a chair over the head, because that’s what they do on Jerry Springer. They hit people with chairs. On the head.”

Kyle stared at him in astonishment. “Wow,” he finally said. “You’ve really put a lot of thought into this.”

“Well, that was off the top of my head.” He took another huge bite of the bagel in his hand and remarked, “This is a good bagel.”

“Glad you think so. Listen, buddy . . .” Kyle chuckled lightly. “I think it’s time you get real.”

Michael made a face. “Get real? Get real with what?”

“Yourself. ‘Cause you’re gonna go insane if you don’t. And as fun as that is for me to watch . . .”

“I’m concerned,” Michael said, tossing the bagel into the trash. “I’m concerned about a friend. Is that so bad?”

“I think it’s more than that,” Kyle said. “Now just calm down and let’s talk about it. God, there is something very wrong in the world when I’m the calm one in this friendship.”

“Do you think I’m jealous?” Michael sat back down on the couch, ready to deny that until the cows came home. And then he’d deny it to the cows. “‘Cause I’m not jealous.”

“Oh, well, clearly.”

“I’m not,” Michael insisted vehemently. “I already had this conversation with Tess. We figured it out. It’s male-PMS.”

Kyle laughed. “What?”

“I’m gonna go.” Michael stood up, eager to get out of there before the conversation went to a place he wasn’t comfortable with.

“Hey, sit back down,” Kyle said as Michael reached for the doorknob. Michael reluctantly returned to the couch, wishing he would have just stuck to his guns and left. Now Kyle was going to make him talk about something he really didn’t want to talk about, something that wasn’t even a possibility.

“It’s time you face the facts of life,” Kyle said.

“What, like the birds and the bees?”

“Yes. And maybe it’s time you consider the possibility that Maria’s birds and your bees might--”

“No, no, don’t even finish that sentence,” Michael cut in immediately. “My bees . . .” He made a face, abandoning the lame metaphor. “Maria’s my friend. She’s one of my best friends.”

“Yeah, but she’s also a girl,” Kyle reminded him. “Alright, let me ask you something: Do you think Maria’s hot?”

Michael grunted. Did he think Maria was hot? That was like asking if hell was hot. It was just common knowledge. Everyone knew the answer. “Well . . . yeah,” he admitted.

“And are you attracted to her?”

No, no way, was Michael’s immediately thought process. “Attraction’s such a broad term . . .”

Kyle gave him an impatient look.

He considered the idea. There had been a ten percent increase in masturbation since Maria had moved in. “Well, who wouldn’t be?” he asked in return, a way to avoid answering.

“A simple yes or no will suffice.”

He sighed and gave in. “Alright, yeah, I guess.”

“And you enjoy spending time with her, even if you’re doing something horrible, like salsa dancing?”

“Well, maybe not salsa dancing . . .” Michael trailed off once again as he contemplated it. “No, I even liked that.”

“And when you’re not around her, do you wish you were?”

He thought back to that night he had slept (or rather not slept) alone in that empty bed, and he couldn’t lie. “Yeah, I do.”

“So . . . figure it out.”

He didn’t want to. “No, but you don’t get it. It’s really not like that, man.”

“Oh, just kill me now,” Kyle groaned.

“It’s not,” Michael insisted, though he felt his resistance to the idea fading. “Look, she moved in with me in October, and she just made things . . . better. I thought I wanted her to leave, but the longer she stayed, the better I felt. ‘Cause I was pretty unhappy when Isabel left. Very unhappy. But Maria made me forget about how bad I felt, ‘cause she was always smiling or doing something wild and trying to get me to do it with her. And usually I did, ‘cause . . . I don’t know, ‘cause she gets so excited about stuff. She gets this really big, really goofy smile on her face, and I can’t say no to her. I mean, she got me to dress up as a pirate on Halloween. She got me to sing karaoke. I never sing karaoke. She got me to practically blow up my kitchen on Thanksgiving and have a food fight afterwards, and I loved it. She got me to salsa dance, and . . . you know, laugh again. She threw me that birthday party. She made me paint again. You know, really paint. And she stole my covers. She drove me crazy.” He stared off into space and let all those words resonate with him. And suddenly it dawned on him, that fact that he’d been trying to deny for awhile now, the one he couldn’t any longer. “I guess I like her.”

Kyle looked relieved to hear it. “You think?”

He laughed a little, surprised by his own stupidity. He and Maria had been doing the roommate thing for two and a half months, and it was just hitting him now, like an epiphany. He liked Maria. And not just the way a friend liked another friend. He liked her liked her. He wanted to be more than friends with her. His favorite thing in the world was to see her smile. There could be no other explanation.

“Wow.” Still, he could barely believe it. But it was true. And it felt good, feeling the way he did. He’d almost forgotten how good it felt.

He suddenly remembered that Kyle was sitting right there with him, that he’d heard everything he’d said. “Don’t tell her,” he said quickly. He’d just figured it all out himself. He definitely wasn’t ready for Maria to know.

Kyle used his thumb and his index finger to make a zipper motion across his lips. He wouldn’t say a word.

Good, Michael thought as he let the knowledge seep in deeper. Good. I like Maria DeLuca.

Wow.


~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Maria was starting to feel nomadic, shuffling back and forth between Michael’s apartment and Billy’s house. She brought a box of some of her clothes over to Billy’s early that evening. He was sitting on the couch strumming his guitar. She hoped he wouldn’t start playing the song he’d written for her.

“Hey,” she said. “I’m bringing my first box over.”

“So I guess you told Michael?”

She set the box down on the floor. “Yep.”

“How’d he react?”

“Well, he was a little surprised, but he wishes us the best,” she said, smiling at him.

“What a martyr.”

She sat down on his lap and kissed him. “We’re really doing this, aren’t we?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m glad,” she told him. She really hated the thought of moving out of the apartment she had come to love, but this was the adult thing to do.

“Me, too,” he said, strumming away on his guitar some more.

“So,” she said, looping her arms around his neck. “I was thinking that, since Christmas is coming up, we might do something special.”

“Special? Like what, put up a manger scene?”

“If I was more religious, I’d suggest that. But no, I was thinking we could put up some lights and maybe a tree, and we could cook a Christmas dinner.”

He grunted. “I can’t cook.”

“Well, neither can I, but that’s the fun.” If their Christmas dinner turned out anything like her and Michael’s Thanksgiving dinner, it would be a disaster, but it would also be one of the best Christmases ever.

Billy lifted her up and set her down on the couch. “I don’t think so,” he said, rising to his feet.

She frowned, upset by his quick dismissal of an idea she was extremely excited about. “Why not?”

He set his guitar down in his case and replied, “‘Cause it sounds stupid.”

“It’s not stupid,” she persisted. “Look, I make it a point to avoid all my family’s gatherings, and that includes Christmas. We can have Christmas here, invite your family. I could meet them. It’d be really--”

“Fun. Yeah, you said that. But every year I go home for Christmas, drink some cheap beer with my dad. And that’s what I’m gonna do this year. I’m not gonna help you cook some stupid meal.”

Disappointment engulfed her. He was her boyfriend, and he was the first boyfriend she was actually trying to be serious with. If he wasn’t going to spend Christmas with her, then she would spend it with someone else.

The wheels of her mind started turning as she thought about Michael. Billy sure seemed to set him off. There was no reason to think it didn’t work the other way around. “You’re not gonna help?” she asked once more.

“No.”

And then she went in for the kill. “Michael would.”

That was all it took for Billy to change his mind. “Alright, get me a grocery list.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Since Maria was gone by the time he got done talking to Kyle, Michael forwent dinner and stood in his living room staring at the naked painting of Maria. He had been so professional when he painted that. He hadn’t allowed himself to think any of the things that he was thinking now. But as he looked over the artwork he had created . . .

Damn.

Why had he never noticed Maria’s long, lean legs? Or that flat stomach or those lips that were made for kissing? He shook his head at that last poetic thought. Lips that were made for kissing. Except that he had never kissed them, and he quite possibly never would.

Perhaps he had noticed all those things about her before. He just hadn’t given them any thought until now. It had taken him awhile, but finally, he had talked his feelings out, and he understood them. And as good as they felt, he was terrified by them, because the only other girl he’d cared about so deeply was Isabel, and she’d left. And now Maria was leaving, too.

Freakin’ Billy.

His cell phone rang, and when he picked it up and glanced at the caller ID, he immediately got excited. “Hey, Maria!” he exclaimed, his voice coming out unusually high-pitched. “I mean . . .” He cleared his throat and spoke in a lower, more masculine tone. “Hey, Maria.”

She laughed. “Hey. What’s up?”

“Nothin’ much.”

“What’re you doing?”

He turned and glanced at the painting again. “Nothing much.”

“Yeah, me, neither,” she said. “I brought a box of stuff over to Billy’s.”

“Oh.” He gripped his phone tightly and tried not to let her hear how much he hated that. “Does the house have a backdoor on it yet?”

“Not yet.”

“Hmm. Well, you know, you probably shouldn’t bring too much stuff over there yet. Someone could steal from you guys really easily.”

“Yeah,” she agreed, “although I read somewhere that burglaries are more likely to happen in apartments than houses.”

“Oh,” he said, pissed that his whole argument had just gotten shot to hell. “Well, that’s very . . . interesting.”

“Anyway, I think I’m just gonna stay here tonight,” she told him. “Is that okay?”

He lowered his cell phone to his side and grimaced to keep from screaming. Then he raised the phone up to his ear again and came up with a lie right on the spot. “Yeah. Yeah, but, you know, Kyle and I were thinkin’ about goin’ out tonight.”

She laughed. “You and Kyle?”

“Yeah. Not in a gay way. Is that so weird?”

“Um, yeah.” She laughed again. “Usually you don’t go out unless I force you to go out.”

“Well, you’ve rubbed off on me.”

“I guess.” She sounded so surprised. “Are you sure going out’s such a good idea? Don’t you have a history final tomorrow morning?”

He surveyed all his study materials scattered on the coffee table. “I already finished studying,” he lied.

“Oh, that’s right. You don’t procrastinate like me.”

“Yeah, so we were thinking you and Billy might wanna join us.” He hated the thought of spending another evening with Billy, but since he and Maria were sort of a package deal these days, he could tough it out.

“Um . . . yeah, sure,” she decided relatively quickly. “I’ll just run it by Billy, but I’m sure he’ll be in. So we’ll just swing by the apartment around, say, 8:00?”

He glanced at the clock. An hour from now. He could wait that long. “Great.”

“Alright, I’ll see you, roomie.” She giggled, then said, “Aw, can’t call you that much longer.”

Crap. “Right.” The thought of Billy being her roomie . . . it was wrong. Billy and Maria? It had no ring to it whatsoever.

“Okay, see you at 8:00.”

“Bye.” He flipped his phone closed and tossed it down on the couch. Then he rushed out the door tried to open the door to Kyle’s apartment. It was locked, so he knocked urgently.

“Ladies, ladies,” he heard Kyle saying as he shuffled towards the door. “There’s only so many girl scout cookies a man can eat before he gets sick of them.” When he opened the door and saw Michael, he said, “Hey, man, what’s up?”

“We’re going out,” Michael told him, leaving no room for debate.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Michael, Maria, Kyle, and unfortunately Billy drove around for an hour that evening before finally settling on an old downtown bar called The Cardinal. Every popular club and/or bar was packed with college students taking advantage of their last night of freedom and bliss before finals week kicked in. The Cardinal was the only bar where people weren’t crammed in like sardines. The only reason Michael could figure it was given the name The Cardinal was because the booths and tabletops were red, as well as the bar counter and the barstools. The walls and the floor must have been red once, too, but now they were more of a grainy wood color. The place was a dive, but by 10:00, the other two customers had emptied out, and they had the place to themselves.

“So Billy,” Kyle began when there was a lull in conversation, “got any gigs comin’ up?”

“Just an all-nighter with my woman.” Billy grinned and slipped his arm around Maria’s shoulders, purposefully shooting Michael a look. The competition was obvious now; and hell, Michael was happy Billy saw him as a competitor. It meant he was threatened. But of course Maria wasn’t some prize to be won, and he didn’t want to think of her like that.

Your woman?” Maria echoed. “I don’t think so. You can be my man.”

Michael almost threw up.

“We’ll see,” Billy said. “What about you, Kyle?”

“What about me? And my women?” Kyle asked as though he had any.

“Your gigs,” Billy clarified. “Maria tells me you’re an artist just like Mike here. You must have some art show comin’ up or somethin’.”

“Oh, well, we’ll see,” Kyle said. “There is the art museum on campus. They always show students’ work. You know the one?”

Billy chuckled and took a drink of his beer. “Yeah, I ain’t on campus a lot. I’m not into goin’ to class.”

“I work there now,” Maria informed him.

“At the museum? Well, then I’ll have to stop by.”

“Don’t,” Michael snapped, unable to restrain himself. He saw the look Maria was giving him, and he really didn’t want her to be mad at him, so he recovered. “I mean, don’t come right now. The place is a mess. We got this new shipment of sculptures the other day. We’re still trying to get ‘em all set up.”

Billy nodded. “I see.”

“Anyhoo,” Kyle jumped in again. “I was hoping the museum might showcase some of my work someday, but once they see the stuff Michael painted for his final collection in our painting class . . . wow, my stuff’s gonna look like it was finger-painted. I mean, did you see the paintings of this girl he did?” Kyle asked Billy, pointing at Maria. “Incredible with extra cred. Especially that last one sans clothing. I’ll tell you, it takes some real passion to be able to paint something like that.”

Michael laughed nervously as Billy glared at him. Kyle was probably just trying to help him out, but he was probably doing more harm than good. “Well, Kyle, the stuff you’re turning in is really good, too. Kyle did this whole collection of, uh . . . early Britney Spears.”

“Christina Aguilera,” Kyle corrected. “It’s Christina Aguilera now.”

“Oh, yeah, Tess does kind of look like Christina Aguilera when her hair’s curled,” Maria remarked.

“Tess?” Billy echoed. “Ain’t that your friend?”

“Yep.”

Billy shot a look at Kyle. “You like her, huh? She’s hot.”

Michael couldn’t be sure, but he thought he heard Kyle growl. He couldn’t blame him. Maria and Tess both had bad taste in men, and Billy already had Maria. Or at least he thought he did.

“Kyle works at an auto garage,” Michael blurted randomly to alleviate some of the tension.

“Really?” Billy said. “Interesting.”

“No, not really. But the pay’s alright,” Kyle said. “Actually, Billy, are you good with cars?”

“Yeah,” Billy replied. “Why?”

Oh, you’d better not help him get a job, Michael thought. Billy’s unemployment was a huge strike against him and a huge advantage for Michael.

“Well, my car’s been making this weird sound,” Kyle said. “I thought maybe you could take a look at it.”

Billy frowned on confusion. “You’re a mechanic.”

“Well, mostly I just walk around the shop and do my best to keep morale up,” Kyle said. “I actually don’t know what I’m doing. Hey, since my car’s right outside, how about we go take a look at it?” He grinned excitedly. “Yeah?”

“Right now?” Billy didn’t look all that eager.

“Yeah, come on.” Kyle slid out of the booth, but not before mumbling to Michael, “Dance with her.”

I can’t believe I’m taking advice from Kyle, Michael thought. That meant he was really desperate.

Billy reluctantly followed Kyle outside into the parking lot, and that left Michael alone with Maria, just the way he liked it. He was going to have to thank Kyle for this later.

“I didn’t know Billy was so mechanical,” Maria said.

“Still getting to know him,” Michael reminded her. He didn’t want her to forget that she knew next to nothing about Billy while she knew a hell of a lot about him.

“I guess,” she said, taking a drink.

He looked over at the jukebox. The music was already playing. All he had to do was ask her to dance. Or maybe he didn’t even have to ask. Maybe she would find it sexier if he just stood up and walked over there and waited for her to join him. Or maybe she didn’t find him sexy at all.

“So,” he said, “um . . .”

“You wanna dance?” she asked before he could.

Relief coursed through him, relief at the thought of not having to be the one to propose the activity. “Yeah,” he said, standing up.

She stood up and led him out onto the floor. “You want to dance? I really have rubbed off on you.”

“Well . . . we put all that money in the jukebox,” he lied quickly. He really only wanted to dance with her.

They had just made it over to the jukebox when the up-tempo alternative rock song that had been playing came to an end.

“Aw, and that one had a good beat,” Maria lamented as a slow, acoustic song came on. Her eyes lit up as she immediately recognized it. “Oh, I love this song. Are you up for a slow dance?”

What had started out as just a chance to spend one-on-one time with Maria was suddenly a chance to have his body close to hers. Kyle always said he was unnaturally lucky. Maybe that was true.

“Yeah,” he replied, suddenly overcome by nervousness. He stepped towards her clumsily, willing to do almost anything as long as she did it with him.

“Hey, you’ve got a lot of nerve
to show your face ‘round here
Hey, you’ve got a lot of nerve
to dredge up all my fears.”


She looped her arms around his shoulders, and he placed his in the curve of her waist, not sure if that was the right place for them or not. He’d never actually slow-danced with a girl before, besides Isabel a few times. But that didn’t seem to count right now.

He moved awkwardly from side to side, wishing he had more rhythm, and accidentally stepped on her feet a few times. “Sorry,” he apologized.

“That’s okay.” She didn’t seem to mind; she just smiled at him.

“Well, I wish I could shake some sense into you
And walk out the door . . .
But your skin is like porcelain.”


She moved closer towards him, and he brought his arms around to press against her back, not instinctively because he didn’t have any sort of instinct when it came to dancing, but because it felt nice. She was wearing a thin, sparkling halter top, one that was backless except for all these strings that crisscrossed and kept it together. Her skin was so soft beneath his hands.

“Yeah, your skin is like porcelain.”

He tentatively traced his hands lower to rest in the small of her back. She smiled softly and looked down at their feet, shuffling slowly together. “I think salsa dancing paid off,” she joked quietly.

“For you.” He hoped she couldn’t hear his heart beating so fast. He felt like it was going to beat right out of his chest. And he was shaking. He was so nervous. She couldn’t seem to tell.

“Just the other day I felt
I had you by a string
Just the other day I felt
We could be everything.”


“I’m really gonna miss you, Michael,” she whispered as one of her hands trailed down his shoulder to rest on his chest, right over his thudding heart. She stared straight ahead at his chest as he gazed down at her.

“I know,” he said, lifting one hand to stroke her hair. She was just so pretty. He was so glad he wasn’t taking this for granted. He was so glad he knew how he felt, even if she didn’t.

“But now when I see you you’re somebody else
With somebody’s eyes . . .
And your skin is like porcelain.”


He surprised himself when he took the hand that was resting on his chest into his hand and held it, extending both their arms to the side so that their hands were facing each other, palm to palm. His drummed his fingers lightly against her palm for a moment before stretching them upward, lifting her fingers upward in turn.

“Yeah, your skin is like porcelain.”

He slowly entwined his fingers with hers, holding her hand as they danced. She kept one hand on his shoulder and he kept one hand on her back. She leaned in, resting her cheek against his chest as they swayed to the music. Her warmth radiated into him; and in that moment, in that bar, dancing with that girl, he felt like the luckiest man alive.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Billy stood before the open hood of Kyle’s car, not at all interested in being out in the parking lot with that geek while Michael was inside making time with Maria. “I don’t see anything wrong with it,” he said when, in reality, he hadn’t even bothered to check.

“I don’t know what I’m saying
I don’t know if you’re there.”


“Are you sure?” Kyle asked, “because it’s been making this putt-putt sound.”

Billy closed the hood. “There’s nothing wrong with your car.” He turned and headed back towards the bar.

“In the words you are feigning
Do you even care?”


“Well, maybe it’s more of peep-peep sound,” Kyle said as he followed him. “Hey, Billy? Peep-peep?”

“I’m not really that good with cars,” Billy admitted. “I’m better with women.” Just as he said that he strode back into The Cardinal and was greeted with a sight he hadn’t wanted to see: Michael and Maria were slow-dancing near the juke-box, very close together, very intimately and romantically whether Maria realized it or not.

One of his hands was resting in the small of her back, and her head was on his chest. He said something that made her smile, and then something that made her laugh. She tilted her head up to look at him, and she didn’t even notice anyone else in the room.

“Well, I wish I could kill you, savor the sight
Get into my car, drive into the night
Then lie as I scream to the heaven above
That I was the last one you ever loved.”


Billy clenched his hands into a fist and marched forward. He unclenched his fists and put on a calm exterior when he stepped up beside the couple and asked Michael, “Mind if I cut in?”

Michael looked at Maria regretfully, and it seemed to Billy that Maria was a little sad to stop dancing with Michael, too.

“Sure,” Michael said, releasing Maria from his embrace. He smiled at Billy, but it wasn’t a friendly smile. Billy wasted no time, taking Maria into his arms, holding her closely and territorially, glaring at Michael out of the corner of his eye as he danced with his girlfriend.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Porcelain . . .”

Michael rejoined Kyle at the entrance of the bar, his arms aching for Maria to be back in them again. He cast a glance at Maria and Billy, and the sight ate away at him. He wanted to be the type of guy who didn’t have to let another guy cut in.

“Yeah, your skin is like porcelain.”

“Why’d you give up like that?” Kyle asked.

“I feel like I have to act like I don’t hate his guts,” Michael explained. “I don’t want Maria to get mad at me.” He frowned when he saw Billy grin at him and move his hands lower to cup Maria’s backside.

“Yeah, your skin is like porcelain.”

“Oh, god,” Kyle groaned, rubbing his forehead. “We’re not only failing; we’re failing miserably.”

Michael knew they were. Billy was practically burrowing his face in Maria’s neck now. That was the kind of thing only a boyfriend could do.

“Yeah, your skin is like porcelain
Yeah . . .”


“We’re just not the right guys for this job,” Kyle concluded. “We don’t know anything about women. It’s time we call in the big guns.”

Michael looked away from Maria and Billy as the song ended and they began to kiss. His friend seemed to have a plan. “And who would that be?” he asked, hoping and praying it was a plan that would work.








TBC . . .

-April
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LOVE IS MICHAEL AND MARIA.
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April
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Part 26

Post by April »

Sara: Oh, have no fear, the "big gun" is most definitely not Max. Kyle and Michael are way too awesome to go to Max for help. ;)

nibbles:
I like Maria, she's fun and adorable and she's really trying to improve but she's dumb. It's not so much that she's not crazy in love with Michael yet (although is she crazy) it's that she is allowing the Billy creep to touch her.
Yeah, you know, she's a really stubborn, determined person. She's sort of fearless, so once she sets her mind to doing something, she does it, regardless of the consequences. Unfortunately, when it comes to this idea of moving in with Billy, she's overlooking the fact that none of the consequences are good.

And whoa, you read that part a second time, huh? :lol: I've been known to do that with parts of Crush. ;)

killjoy:
Maria keeps getting dumber and dumber as she tries to improve herself.
She's kind of trying too hard.

Leila: I love your gutter-mind 'cause I've got one of my own. ;)

Nove:
I get Maria's need to be responsible. I respect that. I'm proud of it in fact but she loses me where being responsible means moving in with her 'boyfriend' (I don't even think he can be called that. lol) she's known for a week, who she more than likely might have to support. So confused. I guess let the frustrations begin.
That's, like, exactly how Michael feels right now, too. He respects her decision and is proud of her for making it, but he doesn't understand it at all! :D

Alison:
Ha ha, I like boobies... I think Charlie Sheen sang that on two and a half men as a kid's song.
Really? I didn't know that. :lol:

Christina:
Haha, loved the timing with the lyrics to Porcelain. All the sweet, romantic words placed while Michael and Maria were dancing, and the creepy psycho-stalker lyrics placed when Billy watched them dance. Does this mean that when Maria ends things with Billy he's gonna go all crazy?
No, no, no. Billy's main role in the fic is to be Michael's antagonist, just like Max is Kyle's antagonist, but he's never gonna go all creepy/crazy.

spacegirl23:
I'm guessing Marty's the big gun? Well, it's either him or Tess.
It's one of the two. ;)

tequathisy:
How she can leave him to move into Billy's dive is incredible. Her attempt at responsibility, though admirable, is so misplaced.
Exactly. Couldn't have said it better myself.

BLONDIE:
It's about time Michael realized his feelings for Maria! I was like, "YAY!"
It only took him 409 pages. ;) Which, compared to some of my other fics, isn't that long. :lol:

Ginger: The "big gun" is someone who knows Maria very well . . . and someone who Kyle likes. I think that narrows it down considerably. ;)

Buddha-boy:
After reading Passion I know I have to be very patient with those two, but it's the first step to a real relationship. My little Candy-heart is very pleased
Aw, thanks! You know, one of my missions with this fic is to please a lot of Candy hearts, since I put so many Candy hearts through the ringer with Passion.
Patient I have to be with Tess and Kyle too it seems. I like Tess in this story, but sometimes she behaves like a dumb blonde and I'm literally shaking my head about her. Why does she let Max treat her like a doormat? I don't think she loves him that much. She is an attractive woman with an easy going personality. She could have dozens of guys - so why Max?
Tess's relationship with Max is really . . . sad. And destructive. I personally feel a lot of sympathy towards her, because she's the person Max has chosen to manipulate and use above everyone else. He can't use Liz the way he uses Tess. It's just not possible. And the problem is that she sees herself the way Max sees her. That's why, in these paintings that Kyle has done of her, she can't even tell it's her. Max has worked such a number on her. She's able to help other people out with their love lives (Michael and Maria), but she can't seem to figure out her own. She can't even see what a great guy she has in her life in the form of Kyle. :( So sad.
As an absolute Kyle-Fan it's hard for me to read him as such a different character. Don't get me wrong, I like him, but it's new and it takes getting used to. It seems he becomes more doorkier with every new part of the story. So when the f... will he get his act together and TELL Tess what he feels for her? It's so frustrating
Kyle is the absolutely dorkiest character I've ever written. He's the complete polar opposite of Max in this fic. He's very reluctant to tell Tess how he feels about her, though, and I actually think that's smart. Tess needs someone in her life right now who values her for more than her body, who doesn't treat her like a thing. And that's Kyle.
Last but not least I have to admit I started to even like Max a bit. He still is an ass for treating Tess and Liz so horrible but every good story needs a bad guy.
Oh, yes, and Max is most definitely a bad guy. I needed someone who stood out in stark contrast to Michael and Kyle, and Max is that person. He's not a likable guy, but I think he's interesting.



Thank you all for the wonderful feedback!


First things first . . . Tess is going to call Maria a "bitcah" in this part, which is a total homage to Buffy the Vampire Slayer. (My fics are usually full of Buffy homages.) Anyway, "bitcah" means "bitch." You have to know the show to understand. It's just one of those classic Buffy dialogue moments. If you want it explained, let me know; otherwise, just roll with it. ;)


Today's update is a few pages longer than normal because . . . well, honestly, because I'm feeling guilty. I'm probably not going to be updating again until Sunday the 17th. Probably. You never know. If I get a chance, I may update before then. So check back periodically if you feel like it. Once the 17th rolls around, though, updates will be more normal again.


Good. Got that out of the way. Now hopefully you guys enjoy this update. I think it's gonna make some people happy.









Part 26








“Oh my gosh, that picture is all crooked.” Tess straightened out a picture of a rose on the wall above her TV and declared, “Better.”

Michael squinted, trying to figure out what was different about it. He had never even noticed that it was crooked in the first place. But then again, girls noticed a host of things guys didn’t.

“So,” Tess said, planting herself on the couch, “what did you boys wanna talk to me about? Ooh, I feel like such a therapist lately.” She giggled excitedly.

“Well, Michael’s the one in need of therapy,” Kyle explained. “Go ahead, Michael.”

“Right.” Michael cleared his throat, slightly uncomfortable with the idea of telling Tess everything. She was one of his closest friends, but she liked to talk a lot, and there was always a chance that she might let something slip out. But he had no other options. “Well, Tess,” he said, “recently . . . very recently, I discovered something about myself.” He shook his head, thinking it sounded as though he were coming out of the closet. “This isn’t as gay as it sounds,” he promised. “Actually, it isn’t gay at all, because I . . . see, I may have . . . I may possess . . . it’s possible that . . . well, it’s come to my attention . . . in some way shape or form . . . over the course of the past few months . . .”

“Oh, just spit it out,” Kyle groaned impatiently.

“Would you give me a minute?”

“No. He likes Maria,” his friend blurted.

Tess’s eyes lit up. “What? Michael!”

“I was getting to that.”

“You like Maria?” Tess squealed excitedly.

“Yeah, are you surprised?”

“No, I totally knew. I just didn’t know that you knew. And I didn’t know you were gonna tell me once you knew.”

“He just found out,” Kyle informed her. “It was a process, let me tell you.”

“This is so cute!” Tess exclaimed.

“It’s embarrassing,” Michael mumbled.

“Why?”

“I don’t know. It just is.”

“And it’s complicated, too, which is why we came to you,” Kyle added. “See, Maria decided she’s moving in with Billy.”

“What?” Tess spat. “Ew.”

“It’s funny how everyone has the same reaction,” Michael remarked. If only Maria had that reaction.

“She’s moving in with that sleaze-bag?” Tess couldn’t seem to comprehend the idea. “Is she, like, crazy?”

“Apparently. It’s one of the things Guerin here likes best about her,” Kyle teased.

“You know, you guys can make this as comedic as you want, but this is serious,” Michael said. “I don’t want Maria to move out, and I really don’t want her moving in with Billy. I don’t know what to do.”

“I’d suggest telling her that, but it’s probably too straight-forward,” Tess thought out loud. “Hmm . . .”

“I knew it wasn’t a good idea to tell her,” Michael grumbled at Kyle.

“Then what should he do, wise one?” Kyle asked Tess. “The boy is clueless.”

“Hey, clueless boy got a romantic slow dance last night,” Michael reminded him, “which is more action than you’ve gotten in your entire life, so . . .”

“Shut up!” Kyle roared, immediately defensive.

“You slow-danced with Maria?” Tess smiled, looking as though she were about to melt. “So cute!

“Well, until he let Billy cut in,” Kyle made sure to add.

“Oh.” Tess shook her head. “Not good. But it’s a tricky situation. He can’t be too possessive, because then he’ll look, you know, too possessive. But on the other hand, he has to let her know that he cares about her. If only Billy wasn’t in the mix.” She sighed frustratedly. “Well, do you want my advice?”

“Yes,” both Michael and Kyle answered in unison.

“Don’t rush things,” Tess advised. “Act normal; be her friend. She’ll come around if you take things slow.”

“How much slower can he take it?” Kyle grunted. “He’s already at a snail’s pace.”

“Then he can switch to, like, a baby snail’s pace.” Tess shrugged.

Kyle laughed and teased, “Baby snail.”

“There’s just one small problem with that plan,” Michael said. “She’s moving out, remember?”

“Yeah, but she’ll come around in time,” Tess promised. “I know Maria. She may be a little slow, but she’s not an idiot.”

“Well, she’s moving in with Billy, so you may wanna re-think that assessment,” Kyle suggested.

“True. But she’ll come to her senses soon enough,” Tess assured. “I mean, why wouldn’t she? Michael’s a nice guy; Billy’s a loser guy. It’s a simple decision. If you’re a young girl looking for romance, you go for the nice guy.”

Michael and Kyle both gave Tess a look of disbelief. Did she even hear what she was saying? If she did, why didn’t she take her own advice.

“What?” she asked.

Kyle looked as though he were about to cry. “Well, Tess, that’s a great theory, but in all actuality . . .”

“Wait a minute,” Tess cut in, rising to her feet again. “The picture’s crooked again.” She crossed her living room to straighten it out.

Kyle leaned over and whispered sorrowfully, “Hello, nice guy waiting in the wings.”

“It sucks to be us,” Michael said.

“I know!”

“Fixed it,” Tess announced, sitting back down on the couch. “Maybe . . .” She narrowed her eyes at the painting, still uncertain.

“Look, Tess, I don’t think you’re understanding the urgency of our situation,” Michael said, getting her back on track. “Maria’s moving out soon. As in very. As in by the end of the week.”

“What?” Tess spat. “Well, why didn’t you just say so? Here you are beating around the bush when we have a major deadline to meet! I mean, if I’d known about this time crunch . . .” She trailed off in exasperation, took a deep breath, and announced, “I’m over it. Alright, scrap that whole ‘take it slow’ strategy. We need to act fast.”

Michael tensed. “I don’t know if I can.” He had only just figured his feelings out yesterday. He wasn’t sure if he was ready to act on them or even how to act on them.

“No, no, no, you are not doing anything,” Tess ground out warningly. “You’re gonna stand back and be the supportive friend, because we can’t risk her getting mad at you. Meanwhile, sneakiness will ensue.”

“It will? Who’s gonna be sneaky?” Michael glanced at Kyle out the corner of his eye and begged, “Please don’t say him.”

“No, me,” Tess said. “I’ll be the sneaky one.”

Michael breathed a sigh of relief. That could work.

“Wow,” Kyle said. “That is so hot.”

Michael ignored him and asked Tess, “What’re you gonna do?” He wanted to have a general idea since his future love life was on the line.

“Just trust me, I’ve got it covered.” She smirked confidently and got up to mess with the crooked picture again.

“I told you we were bringin’ out the big guns,” Kyle leaned over and said to Michael quietly. “And what big guns they are!” He cupped his hands up by his chest to indicate Tess’s sizable breasts. “Yeah!”

Michael rolled his eyes and laughed. While he didn’t have any thoughts on the ‘big guns’ themselves, he had to admit that he felt a lot better now that Tess was involved. She was a girl. She knew what she was doing.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Tess followed Maria to Billy’s house around noon that day. She drove behind her, careful never to get too close, and waited outside in her car while Maria went inside, carrying a box marked more clothes. Maria didn’t stay long, only about twenty minutes. Tess ducked down behind her steering wheel as her friend came back out without the box, hopped into her car, and drove off. Then she set her plan in motion.

She drove forward, parking in front of the house, and stepped out of the car, adjusting the fishnet stockings she was wearing. It took her a minute to get her footing in her knee-high black leather boots. The heels were three inches high and narrow. She pulled her red leather mini-skirt downward so that it didn’t show too much and pulled her black tube top downward as well so that her cleavage was massive. It was a dominatrix costume, one Max had purchased for her during his kinky phase sophomore year. She could barely walk in the outfit; it was so uncomfortable. But Billy would like it. He would like it a little too much.

She put on a pair of black sunglasses in an attempt to disguise herself, grabbed her whip out of the car, and psyched herself up to act slutty. Acting slutty for Billy would be gross, but it would be worth it.

The front door was unlocked, so she turned the knob, pushed the door open, and stood in the doorway seductively. Billy was looking at some of the clothes in Maria’s box, but when he saw her, his attention was immediately diverted.

“Hello, handsome,” she greeted, forcing herself to play the part. Billy might have been handsome had he not been so disgusting.

“Well, hello,” he returned, slowly rising to his feet. “Who are you?”

“A present,” she answered carefully. “Your friends hired me. For you. Satisfaction guaranteed.”

Billy grinned. “Christmas present?”

“More like a housewarming gift.” She stepped inside and looked around. “Your house doesn’t have a backdoor,” she remarked. “Lucky for you, I do.” She snapped her whip against the floor, causing him to jump back slightly, startled. “So,” she said, “here I am, bought and paid for. I’m yours until midnight. Limber. Eager. Up for anything.”

The glint of sexual intrigue in his eyes was almost enough to make her vomit. He looked her up and down and remarked, “You’re not bad.”

Not bad? She grunted in disdain. “Understatement. Now how do you want it, gorgeous? Me on top or on all fours?” She winced slightly, remembering the way Max had treated her like a thing in that position a few nights ago.

“I’m tempted,” Billy admitted, slowly making his way towards her, “but you, my dear, look very familiar.” He reached up and took off her sunglasses before she could stop him. She looked away, furious that he had found her out. The dumb-ass wasn’t as dumb as he looked.

“Hey, you’re Maria’s friend. I remember you from the club that one night,” he said. “Tess.”

“I’m still your housewarming gift,” she told him, not ready to give up yet. “If you want me to be.”

He stared at her questioningly and asked, “Did Maria put you up to this? Is this some kind of test or somethin’?”

“Maria doesn’t know anything about this,” she told him, dragging her whip along the side of his leg. “And I think we should keep it that way.”

He didn’t make any effort to back away. “I thought you two were friends.”

“Yeah. We were,” she said. “Until Maria’s hatred for my boyfriend drove us apart.”

“Got a guy, huh?”

“Almost as hot as you are.” Again, she vomited on the inside. Max didn’t have the greatest personality in the world, but he had a body and a face to die for, and those were two things Billy didn’t have.

He chuckled. “What’re you really doin’ here?”

She sighed, hating that he was seeing through her. “You want the truth?” She placed the whip in between his legs, slowly inching it upward. “Maria almost drove me and my boyfriend apart. I figure the best way to get back at her is to sleep with hers.” She was so glad she wasn’t really this kind of person. If Billy knew her at all, he would know that she would never do that to a friend.

“Interesting.”

“Mmm-hmm. So? What do you say?” She raised the whip even farther to rub against his cock. His body jerked in response, and he grinned mischievously.

“You’re definitely sexy,” he said, “but . . .” He took the whip from her hands and tossed it out the front door. “I don’t think so.”

She frowned, pretending to be disappointed. “Why not?”

He shook his head and stepped back from her. “I can’t.”

“Because of Maria? Because you’re so devoted and committed to her that you could never cheat on her?” If that was really the case, then she and Michael and Kyle were going to have to wage an all-out war.

“No,” Billy said. “Because you female types always talk. Whether your friends or not, you always run those pesky mouths. If I slept with you, you’d tell her, and I can’t have that. She rides my cock too good.” He grinned smugly.

Gross, Tess thought. Such a gross guy. But her mission was suddenly a mission accomplished. Billy had said all she needed to hear. He was right about girls: they talked. And she was going to tell Maria everything he’d just said.

“Okay,” she said. “I understand.” She put her sunglasses back on, smiled at him as though she could actually tolerate him, and strode back outside (as much as she could stride in her leather ensemble). She picked up the whip and walked back out to her car, smirking.

Satisfaction guaranteed, she thought happily. She was more than satisfied with the way her plan had just gone.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“So let me get this straight: You followed me to Billy’s, dressed up like a prostitute . . .”

“Like a stripper,” Tess corrected adamantly.

“Like a stripper. And you tried to seduce him?” Try as she might, Maria just couldn’t make sense of it. “What, is Max going through a bout of erectile dysfunction?”

Tess rolled her eyes. “I was never gonna sleep with him. I was trying to prove a point. He’s a scumbag, Maria.”

Maria grunted and walked into the bedroom. “Take a look at your boyfriend lately?” Tess had no idea how awful Max really was.

Tess followed her into the bedroom and said, “Don’t try to turn the tables, missy. This isn’t about me and Max.”

“Look, Tess, I’m making a mature decision. I’m acting like a grown-up. Can’t you just be happy or, I don’t know, relieved or something?” Maria pulled open the closet doors and bent down to sort through her shoes. She was going to need a separate box for those. Possibly two. Or three.

“No, because my experiment yielded some pertinent results,” Tess explained, kneeling down beside her.

“Pertinent?”

“Yes. Would you look at me?”

Maria sighed and looked at Tess instead of her shoes, though her shoes were being far less annoying. “Did he sleep with you?” she asked, already knowing the answer. Tess would never have let it go that far.

“No.”

“Did he, at any point, seem like he wanted to sleep with you?”

Yes, until he realized who I was,” Tess replied. “And even then, I think he wanted to. He just didn’t because he said—and this is a direct quote—‘you female types always talk.’ He said he couldn’t sleep with me because I’d tell you, and he didn’t want that to happen because . . . well, basically, he likes the way you fuck him. What a charmer, huh?”

“Well . . .” Maria really did wish his reasoning was better than that. “He didn’t sleep with you. That’s all that matters.”

“Uh, no actually, all that matters is that he chose not to sleep with me for the wrong reasons,” Tess explained emphatically. “It had nothing to do with you and everything to do with not getting caught. How’s that make you feel?”

She didn’t want to admit that it made her feel a little hurt, so instead she said, “Like I need to pack up my shoes.”

“Maria!” Tess sat down on the carpet, looking completely exasperated. “Don’t you get it? He’s not the one for you.”

“That’s because I’m not looking for the one. I’m looking for the one right now,” Maria told her. “And that’s Billy, so . . .” She trailed off, leaving it at that.

“Well, why are you not looking for the one?” Tess asked brazenly. “I mean, what’s the point of dating or having sex or doing anything remotely romantic if you’re not looking for the one? You’re settling, Maria.”

“I’m not,” she claimed.

“Yes, you are. Billy is an utter loser.”

Maria narrowed her eyes suspiciously. Michael always liked to refer to Billy as a loser, too. “Did Michael put you up to this?” she asked outright.

“What? No.”

“He did, didn’t he?”

“No, Michael had no idea I was gonna enact this little plan,” Tess insisted. “This was all me. He had nothing to do with it.”

“It’s like you guys both keep trying to sabotage my relationship, and I’m actually trying to make it work.”

“We’re just trying to look out for you,” Tess explained. “And if we’re both telling you the same thing . . . maybe you should listen. I’ve known you for twenty-one years, and Michael cares about you a lot. We both do. And obviously Billy doesn’t.”

The girl made a good argument. Maria hated the fact that her own argument wasn’t as solid. “Do you know what I think?” she said. “I think maybe you should spend a little less time dissecting my relationship and a little more time dissecting your own. Oh, wait, you failed biology. Maybe you shouldn’t dissect anything.”

Tess’s face registered hurt, and Maria immediately wished she hadn’t said something so mean. “Tess, I’m sorry,” she apologized quickly.

“No, you know what? I was trying to help you,” Tess said, pushing herself back up onto her feet. “But go ahead and move in with Billy. It’s your mistake to make.”

Maria sat there with her shoes as Tess stormed out of the room and out of the apartment. She felt really bad, and not just about Tess, but about moving in with Billy, too. For the first time since she had decided on it, she was debating whether or not it was in her best interest.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Tess accompanied Kyle and Michael to Richards Hall where they had their Advanced Painting II class. The boys needed to turn in their final collections, and then they were done with the class. Tess got to see the portraits Michael had done of Maria for the first time. When she saw them, it was so obvious how he felt about her, and she wondered why he hadn’t realized it sooner. No one could paint a person like that unless there was some deeper, internal desire involved.

“Poor guy,” she said as she watched Michael trying to fend off a group of eager male classmates from ogling the naked painting. There were dozens of paintings set up all around the room, but his was drawing the most attention.

“He looked pretty sad when you told him your plan didn’t work,” Kyle said.

“I thought for sure it was gonna work. But Maria’s just so stubborn, so determined to not see what’s right in front of her eyes.”

“Yep,” Kyle said, nodding slowly. “Some girls are like that.”

“And poor Michael,” she went on, watching as he stood in front of the naked painting with his arms outstretched, trying to block the ever-burgeoning crowd’s view of it. “He’s such a nice guy, and he would make a great boyfriend. But he’s stuck in the friends zone, and Maria’s seeing someone else.”

“Yeah,” Kyle said. “That must suck.”

“It’s so cute, though. I mean, if Michael and Maria ever did get together, they’d be so adorable.” She smiled just thinking about it. “‘Cause they’re so different, you know, but that’s why they work together. I mean, just think about it: Michael got dumped. He got dumped big-time, and he thought he’d never fall for a girl again. But then he fell for Maria, and she just brought this light into his life without even realizing it. You know what I mean?”

Kyle nodded again. “I know.”

“It’s like she’s a princess and he’s her Prince Charming.”

“Hmm.” Kyle smiled. “Is that what Max is to you, your Prince Charming?”

She sighed, wishing he were. “Not quite. I don’t think I have a Prince Charming.”

Kyle nudged her shoulder gently with his shoulder and said, “I think you do.”

He does? She smiled. That’s so sweet.

“Hey, Guerin,” Kyle said, making his way through the crowd to assist his friend. “Let me help you out with that.” He grabbed a sheet that was covering someone else’s painting and draped it over the naked painting instead, eliciting a groan from everyone who had been dying to see it.

Tess looked over Kyle’s paintings. They were set up in front of her, and they were just as amazing as Michael’s or any other student’s as far as she could tell. Clearly he really loved Christina Aguilera.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Maria was waiting for Michael when he came home that evening. He said, “Hey,” when he walked in the door, and she came right out and asked, “Did you know about Tess’s plan to seduce Billy?”

He froze, looking as though he had just been hit with one grenade of a question. “Or . . . how was your history final?” he suggested.

“Sorry. How was your history final?” she asked.

He shrugged. “Ah, it was alright.”

“So did you know?”

He took his coat off, laying it on the arm of the couch, and answered, “I didn’t know. I knew she had a plan, but I didn’t know the details.”

“You knew she had a plan?” she echoed, trying to put the pieces together. “Why? Were you two, like, conspiring against me?”

“No. I told her you were moving in with Billy, and she didn’t think it was such a great idea. So she decided to take matters into her own hands. Or breasts, I guess, with the plan she had.”

She frowned. He was trying to joke, but she wasn’t in a joking mood.

“What’s wrong?” he asked. “She told me he didn’t sleep with her, so . . . I guess he passed the test.”

“Yeah, but . . .” She was still disappointed that his only reason for not sleeping with Tess had been to avoid getting caught. “Never mind,” she said. “I’m just super stressed about this whole . . . thing. I’m kinda nervous.”

“You, nervous?” He smiled warmly. “Since when?”

“Since . . . I don’t know. Come here.” She took his hand in hers and led him to the couch. “Sit down. Sit down with me.”

They sat on the couch, and she curled up against him, resting her head on his chest. “It seems real now and it didn’t before,” she mumbled.

“Having second thoughts?”

“No, not really. Just like butterflies in my stomach, you know? There’s gonna be bills to pay and groceries to buy. You do all that stuff now. I don’t know if I can do it. And I realize I sound totally spoiled, but that’s ‘cause I am.”

He chuckled. “You’ll be fine.”

“I hope so.” She drummed her fingers atop his chest and tilted her head back to peer up at him. “Were you nervous when you moved into this apartment?”

“Yeah,” he replied without hesitation. “I went from a dorm room to here. It was a bit of change. But I got used to it. I adjusted.”

“But you’re good at that. You’re good at adjusting and learning new things.”

“And you aren’t? Come on, Maria, you learned an entire advanced salsa routine in two hours. You can learn to pay rent and stuff.”

“I know,” she said. “Were you ever worried you weren’t gonna be able to make it on your own?”

“I was,” he admitted, “those first couple months on my own. I was trying to work and go to school and study and spend time with Isabel and run errands. It was really hectic. I was goin’ on about three hours of sleep per night.”

“Ooh.” She cringed. “I need more than that.”

“Yeah. And my parents offered to help me out with money, but I didn’t wanna have to do that. And Isabel said her dad could loan me some cash, but I definitely didn’t wanna do that.”

“Definitely not.”

“So I buckled down, got used to it. And now it’s a lot less stressful. It’s all about time management.”

“Time management,” she contemplated. “I don’t think I’m any good at that.”

“You’ll get good at it,” he promised. “And you’re not gonna be alone like I was. You’ll have Billy. He’ll help you out. Right?”

She wasn’t so sure. Billy said he played gigs all around town, yet he hadn’t played one since she’d known him. If they were going to rely on solely her job to pay the bills . . . that scared her.

“I’ll always be here for you,” he reminded her, stroking her hair. “And if you’re having second thoughts, then maybe you shouldn’t move.”

“No, I’m moving,” she decided. “It’s the responsible, adult thing to do.”

“Or maybe the responsible, adult thing to do would be to stay here,” he suggested. “I’m just saying . . .”

She groaned. “Michael, you’re making me more nervous.”

“Sorry,” he apologized. “I don’t mean to. Look, Maria, I know you, and I know you’re gonna be able to do this. Because there’s nothing you can’t do.”

How sweet, she thought. But how untrue. There were plenty of things she couldn’t do, and she was worried this was one of them.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Michael, Kyle, and Tess sat in the Student Union having coffee the next day, each of them relatively silent, still contemplating what to do about the Maria situation. The ideas didn’t seem to be flowing until Tess exclaimed, “Oh! We could stick with my plan, but like version 2.0, in which we actually hire a real call girl. And Billy will sleep with her because he doesn’t know her and he’s not worried about getting caught, but we could be sneaky and, like, put one of those tiny, hidden FBI cameras in his house to catch him in the act; and then we could show the tape to Maria, and she’d get mad, and she wouldn’t move in with him.” Tess smiled proudly.

“Elaborate,” Kyle remarked, “but possibly genius.”

“Yeah, except those tiny FBI cameras cost thousands of dollars,” Michael pointed out.

“Oh.” Tess pouted. “Poo. Well, then, one of us could just stand outside the window and videotape the whole thing. Or, we don’t even need visual evidence. We could just plant a cassette tape in the house and record all the sex sounds. A cassette, I know, is a little old-fashioned, but modern technology confuses me.”

Michael just stared at her, dumbfounded. Where was she coming up with these crazy ideas?

“Or we could just think of something simpler,” she mumbled. “God, this is so frustrating. Michael, I want you to know, I’m only sitting here strategizing for you. This has nothing to do with Maria. Yesterday, she was acting like a total bitcah.”

“Thanks,” he told her. He was happy to have all the help he could get, even if they weren’t being particularly helpful at the moment.

The three of them fell silent again until Kyle piped up with an idea. “Oh, I know! We could get some ropes up and tie her up to a chair and physically prevent her from moving out. Plus, ropes . . . kinky.” He grinned like an idiot.

“Yeah, you know, I’m to the point where I think I should just kiss her,” Michael announced.

“Yeah!” Kyle exclaimed. “Go for it, dude!”

“Uh, no, don’t go for it,” Tess advised.

“Why not? I’m a pretty good kisser,” he informed her. “That might be hard to believe, but . . .”

“No, it’s not hard to believe. It’s just not something you wanna do,” Tess said.

“No, that’s exactly what I wanna do,” he told her. All last night, he had been subtly looking at Maria’s lips, contemplating it.

“Well, maybe it’s what you wanna do, but it’s not what you should do,” Tess clarified. “If you kiss Maria now, she’s gonna get confused and possibly freaked out, and then she’s gonna move in with Billy for sure. That’s not what we want, remember? If you stop acting like the supportive friend now, you’re gonna do more harm than good. So stay supportive. Stay friendly. No kissing yet. Keep those lips to yourself, mister, you hear me?”

He sighed, resigning to it. Tess was probably right. Maria would get freaked out. She had probably never even thought of him in that way before.

“Then we’re out of options,” Kyle said, stating the obvious. “What do we do?”

“I’m starting to think we don’t do anything,” Tess said. “If we just sit back and let Maria move in with Billy, she’s gonna get there, live with him for two weeks, tops, and realize that’s not the lifestyle for her. And when she dumps Billy and moves out, who’s gonna be waiting in his comfy, cozy apartment? Good old standby, Mr. Reliable.”

“Good old standby? Mr. Reliable?” he echoed in horror. “Those are some sexy nicknames.”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean it like that,” she assured him. “What I mean is, you’ll always be there for her, and sooner or later she’s gonna realize that. And she’s gonna move back in with you, and then you can feel free to kiss her. We won’t even have to lift a finger.” Tess smiled.

“So this is the passive plan,” Kyle remarked. “We just sit back and let her make a mistake until she comes to her senses.”

“The passive plan,” Tess agreed. “Yep.”

“Yep,” Kyle said, nodding.

It sounded like the best option, but Michael hated the thought of her moving out at all. “Yep,” he put in, wishing there were another way.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Maria took a large load of boxes over to Billy’s that afternoon. She had no final that day, so she had some free time to pack up most her belongings, box them up, and take them over to her new residence. Billy didn’t have a final until that evening, so he was able to help her.

“I just feel kind of bad,” Maria said as she lifted the first of two shoe boxes out of the backseat of her car. “You know?”

“No. Can you take this?” Billy set the second shoe box down atop the first one she was carrying.

“Uh, sure,” she said, confused as to why he was doing all the heavy lifting while he was texting on his cell phone. “Anyway, Michael and I have become, like, best friends, you know. And it’s not like he has a whole lot of other friends. It’s not like I have a whole lot of other friends. Not close ones.” She set both boxes down next to the couch and walked outside again. Billy hadn’t even followed her inside, so she’d just been talking to herself. “Who’re you texting?” she asked him.

“No one,” he replied, slipping his phone into his pocket. “Babe, I’m confused. I thought Michael didn’t want you livin’ with him in the first place.”

“Well, he didn’t at first. But then he got used to me, and I got used to living there, and I started liking living there. And now I think he wants me to stay.”

Billy suddenly looked alert and alarmed. “You’re not havin’ second thoughts, are you?”

She sighed. Michael had asked her the same thing. “No,” she said. “I don’t think so.”

“Good,” he said, “‘cause we’re gonna live together and have so much sex.” He grinned and took another box out of the car, carrying it inside.

She made a face. God, she loved sex, too, but didn’t he ever think about anything else? “I know,” she said, hauling her shampoo box inside behind him. “But Michael’s trying to act like the supportive friend, you know, giving me all these motivational speeches—‘Oh, you can do it, Maria.’ But I can tell he doesn’t want me to go.”

“Too bad for him,” Billy grumbled, setting down the box he was carrying.

“A little help with this?” she asked. The shampoo box was the heaviest of all.

Billy took the box from her and set it down carefully, groaning. “Damn, how much stuff you got, girl?”

“Michael carried all this stuff in himself when I moved in, up to the fifth floor of an apartment complex.” She wanted him to cowboy up.

“Well, Michael’s just wonderful, ain’t he?” Billy grumbled.

“He is wonderful,” she said. “And I’m worried about him. He, like, sank into a pit of despair when Isabel left. He was majorly depressed for awhile there. But he seems so much happier lately. I don’t want him to get depressed when I leave.”

Billy grunted. “That’s a little selfish, don’t you think?”

She frowned. “How-how is that selfish?” She didn’t understand.

“To think that you could ever mean as much to him as the love of his life,” Billy elaborated.

She kept frowning. “No, I don’t think that,” she denied.

“Don’t you?”

“No,” she insisted. “I know that I can’t compare to Isabel in his eyes. And it’s a totally different situation. But she left him, and now I’m gonna leave him, and granted, I’m not even leaving town, but I still feel bad about it. And clearly you don’t understand that, but he cares about me. And I care about him, too, and . . .” She stopped before she got too worked up. “You know what?” she said, turning to head back outside. “I’m gonna go get more boxes.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Michael rode up the elevator to the fifth floor and spoke on the phone with his mother. “Yeah, finals went fine, Mom,” he said. “Actually I was calling about Christmas.”

“Oh, are you coming home?” his mother asked eagerly.

The elevator doors opened, and he stepped out into the hallway. “Yeah, I think so,” he said, heading towards his apartment.

“Oh, that’s great!” she exclaimed. “I’ll let the family know. Aunt Charlene’s having Christmas dinner this year. Everyone’s gonna be so happy to see you! Grandma feels like she hasn’t seen you in years. I keep trying to tell her she saw you last month, and then I try to remind her that she can’t see much of anything with her eyesight, but . . . well, you know how Grandma is.”

“Yeah.” He inserted his key into the lock on his door and pushed it open, heading inside. The apartment felt different somehow. “I thought Maria and I might try another dinner for Christmas, but now I don’t think that’s gonna happen, so . . .” He trailed off as he stepped foot in the bathroom and realized why the apartment felt different. All of Maria’s things were gone. Usually she had girly items like make-up and hair supplies and perfume scattered all about the sink. Now the sink was empty.

Had she really left already?

“Michael? Are you still there?” his mother asked.

“Yeah,” he said, realizing that he’d been spacing off. “Yeah, I’m here.”

“I asked if everything was okay with you and Maria.”

He turned off the bathroom light and traipsed into his bedroom. It also had that empty feeling. “We’re fine,” he told his mom. “She’s just moving out and moving in with her boyfriend.”

“Oh, sweetie, I’m sorry to hear that. I know you really liked living with her.”

“Uh-huh.” He pulled open the closet doors and was shocked to find all his clothes dangling on hangers once again. Usually her clothes took up all the space and he had to store his underneath the bed in boxes.

She’d really left.

“Unbelievable,” he muttered.

“What, honey?”

He shut the closet doors and said, “Hey, Mom, I think my battery’s goin’ dead. Can I talk to you tomorrow?”

“Sure,” she said. “I love you, Michael.”

“I love you, too.” He flipped his phone closed and sat down on his bed, stunned. How could Maria leave without even saying goodbye, without waiting for him to get home? Why would she want to?

He heard the front door open, followed by the one voice he longed to hear. “Michael?”

He got to his feet and walked out into the living room. “Maria.”

“Hey, roommate,” she greeted with a smile.

“Apparently not any longer,” he said, motioning around. “It looks like you’re all moved out.”

“Yeah,” she said. “I packed up everything today and brought it over to Billy’s.”

And she hadn’t even asked him to help. She was definitely trying to be less dependent on him. “So that’s it, huh?”

“Maybe not,” she said, shuffling towards him. “Billy has a math final until 9:00 tonight. I thought maybe I could spend one more night here. I mean, if you’ll still have me.”

Relief surged through him. One more night. It was better than nothing. “Of course.”

“Great,” she chirped. “Now, we can order pizza or watch a movie or something, but I do have one more final left tomorrow. An astronomy final. So if you’d care to help me study . . .”

“You take astronomy?” He hadn’t been aware of that.

“Well, am I enrolled in the class? Yes. Have I ever gone to class? Only twice. So I really need to study.”

“Oh, I see. Well, I’m really good at studying, so . . .”

“I know, that’s why I conveniently left my astronomy book here.” She brushed past him, pulled open the top desk drawer, and took out an astronomy book that looked as though it had never been opened. “Crafty, huh?”

“Yeah, very crafty.”

She shut the drawer with her hip and sat down on the floor. “Right here,” she announced. “I’m studying right here.”

“Okay.” He sat down with her and motioned for the book. “Can I take a look at that?”

“Mmm-hmm,” she said. “But before you do, can I tell you something mushy?”

He made a face. “Something . . . mushy?”

“Yeah.” She smiled at him, one of those radiant smiles that just brightened a whole room. “You’re the best roommate I’ve ever had.”

“Wow, really? I beat out Tess? What an honor,” he said.

She giggled. “Well, you’re not obsessed with pink and/or dating Max Evans, so . . . that kinda bumps you up to the number one spot.”

“Well, thank you,” he said. “Can I tell you something?”

“Sure.”

He leaned inward. “You’re the best roommate I’ve ever had, too.”

“Really? Who was my competition?”

“Well, remember freshman year, when I lived in the dorm with that kid named Kumar?”

“Oh, Kumar!” she exclaimed. “How could I forget about Kumar?”

“Yeah, random housing assignment . . . didn’t really work out.”

“No, Michael and Kumar just doesn’t sound very good.”

“Yeah,” he agreed. “Michael and Maria sounds much better.”

Much better.” She laughed adorably, then handed him her astronomy book. “Okay. Take to me to the stars.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Liz was on her way to take her physics final when she saw Max walking out of the bookstore. He saw her, and she made the mistake of making eye contact with him. She quickly looked away and tried to hustle along.

“Liz!” he called, running after her. He jumped in front of her, effectively stopping her forward progress. “Don’t act like you don’t see me,” he said.

She rolled her eyes and refused to say anything.

“Don’t act like you don’t hear me.”

She wished she could have stayed silent, ignored him, and maybe he would have gone away. But that strategy would never work. Not with Max. He was too persistent. “I see you, Max. I hear you loud and clear. And I wish I didn’t.”

“Moody,” he remarked. “Sexy.”

“I have to go take a final,” she informed him, hoping he would take that as a hint to leave her alone.

“I just sold my books back,” he announced proudly, fanning out a stack of cash in his hand. “One-hundred and fifty big ones. As though I need any more money.”

“Arrogance takes on human form with you, Max.”

“Well, then, you like to fuck arrogance in its human form.” He grinned. “Come on, Liz. Tell me why you did it.”

She pretended to not know what he was talking about. “Did what?”

“Don’t play dumb. Why’d you break up with me?”

“I didn’t--”

“You didn’t break up with me because we weren’t dating. I get it,” he cut in. “Why’d you end it? You loved it. You came so many times.”

“It’s all about sex for you, isn’t it, Max?”

“Of course.” He took a step back and surveyed her questioningly. “Wait a minute, are you saying it was more than sex to you?”

“No.”

“Liz, are you in love with me?” He looked disturbingly excited by that thought.

“In your dreams,” she bit out. She would never love somebody like him. She was dark, but not that dark.

She had been so absorbed in Max that she hadn’t even noticed Tess come up to them. “Hey,” she said. “What’re you two doing?”

Having word sex, Liz thought. That was basically what it was. All their conversations were charged with sexual tension. “Um, I was giving Max an apology to give to you,” she lied easily. “I feel really bad about snapping at you the other night in the bar. You were just trying to be nice.”

“Thanks,” Tess said. “It’s okay. Sometimes people say things they don’t mean when they’re stressed or angry or drunk or all of the above.”

“Right,” Liz said, hating the other girl’s condescending tone. She probably wasn’t even being condescending. Liz just didn’t like her.

“So apology accepted,” Tess said, “and I’m sorry, too. I should just mind my own business.”

“Yeah,” Liz agreed, looking at Max. “You probably should.” If Tess took her mind off other people’s lives and started thinking about her own, she might have realized her boyfriend was a cheating himbo.

“Well, anyway, Max and I are going for coffee. You can join us if you want,” Tess invited.

“Yes, Liz. Please join us,” Max said cordially but with a taunting look in his eyes.

“I can’t,” Liz said, grateful to have a legitimate excuse not to be a part of such an uncomfortable threesome. “I have a physics final in about ten minutes. I have to be going.”

“Oh, okay.” Tess didn’t seem all that disappointed. “We’ll see you around then.”

“Bye, Liz,” Max said, purposefully grinning like an idiot.

“Bye, Max.” Liz skittered off, furious at Max. He was ruining her life. Now she had to try to think about physics, and the only thing she could think about was . . .

Liz, are you in love with me?

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Yeah, Dad, I’ll be home for Christmas,” Kyle told his father over the cell phone. “Our little family gatherings are the only chance I get to feel like the coolest guy in the room.”

“Yeah,” his father agreed, “I know what you mean.”

Kyle would have said more, but he saw Liz heading towards him at a mile a minute. “Hey, Dad, can I let you go?”

“Sure thing, son. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Bye.” Kyle stuffed his phone into his pocket and intercepted Liz as she was about to walk past him. “Liz.”

“Oh, hey, Kyle,” she said, barely even smiling when she noticed him.

Whoa, what happened to her? Kyle wondered. He had known Liz for a long time. Back in high school, she had been the class sweetheart, the girl with the ever-present smile. Nowadays he barely saw her, but whenever he did, that smile was missing.

“How’ve you been?” he asked, really wanting to know.

“Fine,” she replied simply.

“Fine?” Fine was better than bad but worse than good. Fine was, more or less, okay. “Well, what’ve you been up to?”

“Um, getting fired, mostly,” she answered.

“What?”

“Yeah. Now, if you don’t mind, I have to go take a physics final, so . . .”

“Oh, yeah, sure. But hey . . .” He didn’t want her to walk away without assuring her that he was there for her. Liz wasn’t his girlfriend anymore (blessing in disguise since they had next to nothing in common), but she was still his friend. “If you ever need someone to talk to, or maybe just someone to listen to, I’m here for you.”

The hint of a smile played at the corners of her mouth, but she never actually looked happy. “Thanks, Kyle,” she said, sounding grateful, but distracted.

“Yeah, you know, I hardly ever see you anymore. I kinda wonder what’s goin’ on in your life and . . .” He trailed off as he absentmindedly glanced over at the Student Union and saw a sight that shocked the hell out of him. “What the . . .?” Sitting together at the fountain outside the Union, feet in the water, holding hands, looking extremely affectionate were Billy and a bombshell brunette Kyle didn’t recognize. Billy leaned over and whispered something in the girl’s ear, she laughed, and then he leaned over and kissed her.

“That’s not Maria,” he remarked. “And that is awesome for Michael!” He took out his cell phone and quickly snapped a picture of Billy and his non-Maria girl. “Screw the passive plan,” he decided. If Billy was cheating on Maria, that was an unexpected twist Team Michael needed to take advantage of.

“Awesome,” he said, putting his phone away. “Liz, did you see . . .” He looked around, but Liz was gone. “Liz? Liz?” He hadn’t meant to ignore her, but he had just seen Michael’s saving grace with his own two eyes.

He had to go find his friend.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Michael got a text message from Maria that day letting him know that she had been called in for her first day of work. He decided to drop by and pay her a visit. There were no visitors in the museum when he got there, so he was able to sit down and talk to her for a moment.

“So you’re getting quizzed, huh?”

“Yeah, on all this art stuff I haven’t yet studied.” She held up the employee manual Michael had given her.

“Well, you were studying astronomy,” he pointed out.

“I didn’t even know I was gonna get called in today. I feel totally unprepared.”

“It happens.”

“Luckily, though, Mr. Buckworthy seems to think I’m so charming and cute that he doesn’t even notice I’m giving the wrong answers.” She grinned.

“Hmm.” He nodded slowly. “Although he might notice you calling him by the wrong name. It’s Mr. Buckley.”

“Dammit,” she swore. “Why do I—it’s ‘cause I had this little stuffed animal beaver when I was a kid. I called him Mr. Buckworthy ‘cause of the buck teeth. Mr. Buckley kinda looks like him.”

Michael had often thought the same thing. “Yeah, well, you’d better not tell him that.”

She pressed her hand to her head and groaned, “Uh, this day is dragging on. Astronomy final, then work . . . I just wanna sleep.”

“Well, you’ve only got a half an hour left,” he reminded her, as he glanced up at the clock. Closing time was always a wonderful time. “Hang in there. And then you can go home and sleep.” He remembered that she wouldn’t be coming back to his home, and he quickly added, “To your new home, I guess.”

“Yeah.” She frowned. “It’s sad.”

“You still nervous?” he asked.

“Kind of,” she confessed, “but I’m kinda proud of myself for trying something new.”

“Yeah, I’m proud of you, too. I’m gonna miss you, but I’m proud of you.” Even if Maria was making a mistake, he respected the courage it took to make it.

“Thanks.”

Michael heard Mr. Buckley rummaging around in the back room for something, so he said, “Well, I’d better be heading out before that guy finds some work for me to do. I just wanted to stop by and see how your first day of work was going.”

“Going well,” she assured him. “I’ll tell Mr. Buckworthy—Mr. Buckley—you said hi.”

“Okay.” He slowly started towards the door, feeling a little weird about leaving. Who knew when he would see her next? He was used to seeing her every night, every morning, in between. “I’ll see ya.” It physically hurt as he turned his back and started to walk out.

“Oh, Michael?” she called after him.

He eagerly spun back around. “Yeah?”

“Can you do something for me?”

“Anything.”

“I left a shoe at your place,” she informed him.

“Shoes?”

“No, just one shoe, singular. I was wondering if you could bring it to Billy’s? I’m really low on gas.”

Interesting how she just refers to her new home as Billy’s, he thought but didn’t say. Shoe. Think about the shoe. “Sure,” he agreed. “Where is it?”

“In the bottom right—no, left-hand drawer of your desk. It’s a gold stiletto sandal. You can’t miss it.”

He made a face of confusion. “Why is your shoe in my desk drawer?”

“Don’t ask me. My shoes have a mind of their own sometimes.”

He chuckled. “Alright, well, what’s Billy’s address? Your address, technically.”

“Here.” She scribbled the address down on a hot pink Post-It note and handed it to him. “Thanks, this helps me out.”

“No problem.” He would have rather done something else for her, like lug all of her stuff out of Billy’s house and back into his apartment, but that would have to wait until she came to her senses like Tess promised she would. “Well . . .” Once again, he awkwardly started to leave the museum, dreading spending the night alone. “Maybe I’ll call you tonight,” he told her.

She looked relieved to hear that. “That’d be great.”

“Okay, then I’ll talk to you later.” There was no doubt in his mind that he was going to be racking up a heft cell phone bill while Maria was away.

When he finally did make it out of the museum, he had barely taken three steps towards his car when Kyle came rushing up the cement steps towards him. “Oh, good, I thought I might find you here,” Kyle panted. He bent over, pressing his hands to his knees, trying to catch his breath. “Did you not hear your phone?”

“It’s charging in my car,” Michael told him. “What’s up? Are you doing an impersonation of Rocky Balboa or something?”

Kyle stood up straight, still panting. “Dude, there’s been a-a breakthrough of epic proportions.”

“A breakthrough,” he echoed, confused. “In what?”

“What do you think?”

“What’re you talking about?”

“Come on, I’ll show you.”

Kyle led the way towards whatever it was he wanted to show Michael. He alternated between a slow jog and a fast walk. Michael followed along, not asking questions even though he wanted to. Finally, they arrived at the Student Union, near the fountains. Michael looked around, seeing nothing out of the ordinary. Students hanging around, walking to class . . . just the usual.

“What am I supposed to be seeing?” he asked.

“Dammit, they’re gone,” Kyle muttered angrily.

“Who?” Michael wished his friend would stop trying to be dramatic and just spit it out, whatever it was he was so worked up about.

“Never fear. I snapped a picture,” Kyle said, taking out his cell phone. He flipped it open, pressed a few buttons, then handed it to Michael. “Take a look at that.”

Michael studied the picture Kyle had taken, of a couple sitting by the fountain, kissing. The guy looked like Billy. He didn’t just look like him; he was him. Still, Michael asked anyway, “Is that--”

“Billy? Yeah,” Kyle cut in. “And unless she dyed her hair brown and grew six inches overnight, that’s not Maria.”

“He’s cheating on her,” Michael said, stating the obvious. “I’m not even surprised.” Billy had always seemed like the type to stoop that low.

Kyle’s face lit up. “Isn’t that awesome?”

“How is that awesome? Maria might be really hurt by this.”

“Yeah, but it’s awesome for you,” Kyle clarified. “You always said he was a loser. Now you have proof. You have photographic evidence. Come on, man, let’s go show her. Is she at work?” Without waiting for an answer, Kyle tried to take off in the direction of the museum again.

“Wait,” Michael said, placing a hand on his chest to stop him.

“Dude, it’s time to stop being the supportive friend now.”

Michael wasn’t so sure. The chances that Maria would be devastated by this news were slim to none. Still, he didn’t want to be the one to deliver it to her, not after she’d just told him how proud of herself she was for trying something new. “I don’t want her to find out from me,” he said, pocketing Kyle’s cell phone. “I want her to find out from him.”

“What’re you gonna do?” Kyle asked.

“I’m gonna go pay Billy Bob a visit, try to seem intimidating.”

“Okay, that . . . sounds like a lot more work, but okay.”

Michael turned around and headed back to the museum at a brisk pace so he could get in his car and drive over to Billy’s house.

“Should I call Tess, get her input?” Kyle asked, following him.

Michael shook his head. “No, I think I’ve got this covered.”

“If you say so. Can I--”

“You’re not coming along, Kyle.”

“I figured,” he muttered. “Hey, it all makes sense now, doesn’t it?”

“What do you mean?” Nothing about cheating on Maria made sense. Why would any guy, no matter how much of a jackass he was, cheat on someone as beautiful and thrilling as Maria DeLuca? He couldn’t fathom it. Actually, he couldn’t fathom cheating at all.

“Well, Tess tried to seduce Billy, remember? If Tess Harding expresses a desire to have sex with you, you just do it, no questions asked,” Kyle said. “Unless you’re all sexed out because you’ve got a girlfriend and a mistress on the side.” Kyle chuckled. “Man, Maria’s gonna be pissed.”

So am I, Michael thought. Billy wasn’t going to be able to weasel his way out of this one.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Michael drove to Billy’s house and saw his junker car parked out front. Good, he thought. That meant he was probably there. Michael got out of his car and walked up to the front door. He tried to open it, but it was locked, so he walked around the house into the back yard, which was weed-infested and looked as though it hadn’t been mown in a year. There was still no back door on the house, though, so Michael went right inside.

He took a look around and was thoroughly unimpressed. It was a large house, but it wasn’t a nice house. Even though Billy said it was all furnished, there was still barely any furniture. Maria’s boxes were piled high in the living room, unpacked. He had a feeling she hadn’t unpacked because she didn’t really want to be there.

He heard a thumping sound come from upstairs, followed by a soft moaning. Definitely a female voice.

Michael made his way up the stairs slowly, careful not to make a sound. He didn’t want Billy to know he was coming. He sidestepped a hole in one of the stairs just as the girl upstairs moaned, “Oh, Billy.”

Bastard, Michael thought. He had no respect for cheaters. He’d had no respect for Billy from the start.

One of the steps creaked loudly when he stepped on it. He froze and grimaced, waiting to get caught.

“What was that?” he heard the girl ask.

“Nothin’,” Billy said to her. “Get on top me.”

Michael waited a moment, then continued up the stairs when he heard the moaning start up again. He crept down the hallway, following the sounds, and pushed open the door to a bedroom. Unsurprisingly, Billy was in bed with a brunette girl on top of him. She was bouncing up and down, and Billy was so focused on her that he didn’t seem to notice they had a visitor.

Michael crossed his arms over his chest and cleared his throat to alert them to his presence.

The girl turned her head to look at him and shrieked, “Oh my god!” She got off of Billy and cowered beneath the sheets.

“Crap,” Billy muttered, digging his head back into his pillow.

“Billy, who is that?” the girl asked. “Is that the guy for the threesome?”

Michael raised an eyebrow. Billy was planning a threesome with that girl, and a guy-girl-guy one at that?

“Well, you must just love this,” Billy grumbled, tossing the sheet aside as he stood up to find his jeans.

Michael looked away. “Seeing you without your clothes on? Not so much.”

Billy tugged on his jeans. “No, this.” He motioned towards the girl in the bed. “Catchin’ me in the act, cheatin’ on Maria.”

“Actually, I wasn’t the one to catch you.” Michael took Kyle’s cell phone out of his pocket. “Kyle was. You know, Billy, I always knew you were an idiot, but even I didn’t think you were dumb enough to make-out with girlfriend #2 right outside the Union.” He showed Billy the picture Kyle had snapped.

“Are there pictures of me going on the Internet?” the girl asked. “Am I naked in them?”

“Shut up, Val,” Billy growled.

“Don’t tell her to shut up,” Michael snapped. He turned to the girl, Val, and asked her, “Did you know he has a girlfriend named Maria?”

Val grunted. “Of course.”

“Oh.” Then she wasn’t worth his sympathy. “Never mind.”

“You really think this is gonna split me and Maria up?” Billy sounded over-confidently. “She don’t care if I got a girl on the side. Hell, she’ll probably join us.”

“Maria’s getting her life together,” Michael pointed out. “You’re not a part of that. When you tell her you cheated on her, she’s gonna realize she deserves better than you.”

“When I tell her?” Billy echoed. “Now why would I do that? Why don’t I just let you be the bearer of bad news?”

Michael shrugged. “I could tell Maria you slept with a dozen girls, and then she’d be really pissed. You know, I wouldn’t be surprised if she started an STD rumor about you, maybe put up some flyers. She’s a go-getter like that. Gee, then no girl would wanna sleep with you.”

“I would!” Val chirped dizzily.

Michael and Billy both ignored her. “Well, congratulations,” Billy muttered. “You beat the bad guy. I come off lookin’ like the villain, and you get to be the big hero. And isn’t that why you came here? Not to confront me, not even to defend Maria’s honor, but to make yourself feel better about your pathetic excuse for a life?”

“Take a look around. I’m not the one living in a house with no back door on it,” Michael pointed out.

“You know, it must just annoy the hell outta you to know that I got two beautiful, willing girls wrapped around my finger. Or my cock, as the case may be. And you can’t even hold onto one girl.” He chuckled cruelly. “You know, if Isabel was here, I’d have her on her back.”

Michael felt his jaw tighten in response to that claim. “You might remember that Isabel cheated on me,” he said, willing himself to remain as calm as possible, “so the fact that you would have the audacity to cheat on someone I care about . . .”

“Oh, and you do,” Billy interrupted. “You really care about Maria. So fuckin’ obvious; I don’t know how she doesn’t see it. But I saw it before you did. And you know what else I see, my friend? I see that you don’t stand a chance. You got next to nothin’ in common with her. You can’t keep her entertained. That bitch needs some bastard in her man.”

“Don’t you dare call her that,” Michael ground out, clenching his hand into a fist.

“Who’s a bitch?” Val asked, climbing to her feet, wrapped in the bed sheet.

“She’ll keep you around for a little while, maybe give you a pity fuck here and there,” Billy went on, “but she’ll come back to me soon enough, beggin’ me to satisfy her.” He laughed. “God, Mike, it must just kill you to know I can get inside her and you can’t, to hear me wreckin’ her in your bed. It must just eat you up inside to know that I can have her down on her knees, just like that.” He snapped his fingers to demonstrate. “And you know why? ‘Cause she’s just a girl, Mike. A pretty whore.”

Michael snapped. He swung his fist, colliding it with Billy’s face. Billy toppled backward onto the floor, blood spilling from his nose as Val gasped.

“She’s not a whore,” Michael growled furiously. “And my name’s not Mike.”

A few seconds later, while Billy was still on the floor and Val was still standing around clothed in the sheet from the bed, footsteps sounded on the stairs.

“Hey, Billy, what’s going on?” Michael heard Maria ask. “I heard noises . . .” She walked into the bedroom, surveyed the situation quickly, and seemed to make sense of it at once. She didn’t even break stride as she moved towards Val and punched her in the face. Val crashed on the floor next to Billy, sporting an identical bloody nose.

Michael looked at Maria, and she looked up at him, seeming almost more relieved than angry. “Let’s go home,” she said, and he couldn’t think of a better idea.








TBC . . .

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Part 27

Post by April »

No, you're not seeing things. I'm really back. I feel like such a poop-head for not updating for so long, but better late than never, right? I had an amazingly relaxing break, but it's time to post the new part! I missed you guys!

Thank you tremendously for the feedback:

Christina
Nove
Leila (My god, you are a crazy stalker! :lol: )
Alison
Ginger
Sara
nibbles
spacegirl23
tequathisy
BLONDIE
killjoy
Krista (you "lubs" me? :lol: )

Thank you everyone for waiting so patiently for the new update. Updates will be much more normal for awhile now. Everyone enjoy this part!









Part 27








Michael couldn’t keep the goofy/happy grin off his face as Maria scampered through the apartment unpacking all her things, putting them back where they belonged. She brought such liveliness and energy to his home. To their home. He couldn’t imagine what it would feel like to have to live there alone again after living with her, and he was so glad he wasn’t going to have to find out.

While Maria was in the bedroom hanging up all her clothes, Kyle knocked on the door. Michael didn’t let him in, because he wanted it to just be him and Maria for the night, but he stood in the doorway, quickly telling him about his confrontation with Billy.

“So she’s really moving back in, huh?” Kyle looked almost as happy about that with Michael, which was strange considering he and Maria were always insulting each other like siblings would. “Dude, this is kick-ass!”

“Yeah, I’m pretty excited about it,” Michael said.

Sexcited,” Kyle said. “You should be sexcited, alright? You’re gonna get laid soon.”

“No, I don’t care about that right now.” He was just thrilled to have his roommate back.

“It’s gonna happen,” Kyle said. “You’re on the path, and I am so happy to be living vicariously through you right now.”

Michael smiled.

“I’m all done!” Maria announced from the bedroom.

“Get outta here,” Michael said, practically shutting the door on Kyle.

“Already gone.”

Michael closed the door as Maria skipped out of the bedroom. “All done,” she proclaimed again. “Everything’s back exactly where it was. It’s like I never left.”

“Awesome,” he said, taking a seat on the couch. “Although, technically, you never did leave. ‘Cause you never got all the way moved out. ‘Cause of that shoe.”

Her eyes lit up. “Oh, that’s right! The shoe!” She bent down, pulled open his bottom left-hand desk drawer, and took out the gold stiletto sandal he had promised to bring to Billy’s. “I was always here in some way, shape, or form. We never stopped being roommates.”

“Never stopped.” He felt unbelievably happy, kind of all warm and fuzzy and . . . giddy. He was giddy. He’d never been giddy before.

She jumped onto the couch, sitting across from him, holding the shoe in her lap. “Okay, so I think I’ve figured out everything about the situation, except I don’t know if the girl he was sleeping with knew about me or not. Because right now, she’s the other woman. But if she thought she was his girlfriend, then she’d see me as the other woman. Although if we assume that he was leading us both on, which he most likely was, then technically we were both the other woman and both the girlfriend. How screwy is that?”

“She knew about you,” Michael informed her, taking a drink from his already half empty beer bottle. Normally he wasn’t a big drinker, but since he was giddy, he figured he might as well indulge a little.

“She did?” Maria smirked. “Then I feel good about punching her.”

“Yeah.”

“And you should feel good about punching Billy,” she put in. “I know you’ve been wanting to do that for a long time.”

“Well . . . this is true.”

She giggled. “We’re just especially violent tonight, aren’t we? We are punchers . . . and they are our punching bags!” She held out her fist, and he bumped his fist against her fist.

“Ow,” he said, grasping his knuckles then.

“Does your hand still hurt?”

“Yeah, I’ve never actually punched anyone before,” he admitted.

She looked stunned. “Are you serious?”

“Yeah, you know me. What, have you punched someone before?”

“Of course,” she replied as if everyone have. “I’ve punched lots of people. Girls, boys, teachers, friends, family members.”

“Family members?”

“My least favorite aunt. I claimed to be sleepwalking; she forgave the whole incident.” She lifted his punching hand in her hands, looked it over for a moment, and concluded, “I don’t think you broke anything.”

“Good to know.”

“I can’t believe that was your first punch, though. It was a good one. You knocked that dumb-ass on his dumb ass.”

He tipped his beer bottle towards her. “Catchy.”

“You should punch people more often,” she suggested. “Seems like you’re good at it.”

“No, I don’t think I’ll make a career out of it.”

“You sure? Cage-fighter. Very sexy.”

He grinned at her. “There’s nothing sexier than an artist, Maria. You know that.”

“Hmm, artists are pretty sexy,” she acknowledged. “Not Kyle.”

He chuckled, glad that she didn’t lump him in the same non-sexy grouping as his friend.

She picked up her shoe and walked it along the back of the couch, looking thoughtful for a moment before she said, “You wanna know something?”

He set his beer down on the coffee table, sensing that she was going to say something more serious now. “Sure.”

She waited a moment, then said, “I’m glad Billy cheated on me.”

He frowned, remembering how he had felt when Isabel had told him about her affair. Sure, Maria and Billy were nowhere near as serious as he and Isabel had been. They’d only been dating for about two weeks, and their relationship had been almost purely based on sex. But still, how could cheating of any kind be a good thing?

“I mean, I’m not glad,” she said. “I feel kinda stupid for not suspecting it, and I was really hoping Billy wasn’t as big of a loser as I was starting to think he was. But towards the end, I was, like, searching for an excuse not to move in with him.”

“Yeah, I kinda sensed that.”

“It’s not like our relationship had any substance. I wasn’t moving in with him because I felt super connected to him or anything. I just wanted to try to be responsible, or whatever, be a grown-up.” She rolled her eyes. “No way. I need to do that gradually.

“You got a job. That’s a start.”

“Yeah, so I’ll start helping you out around here with rent and stuff.”

He smiled to keep from saying anything. If he opened his mouth then, he probably would have told her she didn’t even have to pay rent to live with him. Just having here there was enough. He was so into her.

“I’m sorry about all this Billy stuff,” she apologized. “I was trying so hard to make it work, and I didn’t even really want it to work. I should’ve just listened to you.”

“Well, you did. Eventually.”

“Yeah.” She smiled and yawned.

“You tired?” he asked.

“Yeah, all this packing and unpacking and . . . oh, it’s driving me crazy.”

“Well, you’re home now.”

“Yeah, I am.” She tossed her shoe at him and said, “I’m gonna go to bed.”

“Me, too.” He hoped that wasn’t too obvious. It was only 10:30, and he really hadn’t done anything that day to make him tired. “I gotta rest my punching hand, you know.”

“Me, too.”

He got up off the couch and held out his hand to help her up.

“Wait, bend down,” she said.

“What?”

“Like, bend your knees.” She stood up on the couch. “I’m gonna jump on.”

“You’re gonna jump on me?” He liked the sound of that.

“You have to carry me, like piggy-back style. I’m too tired to walk.”

“Oh, okay.” He bent his knees.

“Ready?” she asked.

“Yeah.”

“Okay, one . . . two . . .” She pounced onto him so hard that he almost fell over. “Whoa, I got it,” he said, hooking his hands under her knees as she wrapped her arms around his neck. “Wait, don’t strangle me.”

“Sorry.” She yawned again. “Come on, giddy-up.”

He laughed as he carried her into the bedroom but groaned as he set her down on the bed. “Oh, I think I threw my back out when I threw that punch.”

“Oh, we need to work on your form.”

“Yeah. You gonna teach me?”

“Mmm-hmm.”

He gazed down at her and smiled. She already had her eyes closed. She would be asleep within minutes.

“Maria.”

“Hmm?”

He kept smiling, kept feeling giddy. He’d woken up that morning thinking he’d be falling asleep alone. But it was funny how things worked out sometimes.

“Goodnight,” he told her.

“Goodnight, Michael,” she mumbled, barely able to move her lips now. “I like living here.”

He lay down beside her, gently curling his arms around her so that she could rest against him. “I like living here with you,” he told her, though she didn’t hear him since she’d fallen fast asleep.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

On their first official day of Christmas break, Tess dragged Max to the mall with her. She wasn’t usually such a last minute shopper, but in between studying for finals and helping Michael with his Maria situation, she hadn’t found much time to purchase her Christmas gifts. She had quite a few people to buy for: her dad, of course, Max, Kyle, Michael, and possibly Max’s parents. She had been planning on buying something for Maria, but Maria was on the naughty list now. No present for her.

“Who are you shopping for again?” Max asked as they walked through Vanity, a clothing store.

“Maybe I’m shopping for you,” she said as she browsed through a rack of stylish sweaters.

“In a women’s clothing store?”

“Okay, maybe I’m shopping for me, for a gift that you can buy for me,” she admitted. “Be thankful. I’m making it easy on you. I’ll pick it out. All you have to do is swipe your credit card.”

“We’ve been in this store for twenty minutes. Why can’t I just get you this?” Max asked, holding up an unattractive orange, long-sleeved shirt from one of the clearance racks. It was completely plain and boring.

“Max, all that money in your bank account and you can only spend five dollars of it on me?”

“It’s not five dollars.” He checked the price tag. “It’s six.”

She rolled her eyes. “Orange is not my color.”

He hung the shirt back up and muttered, “What is? Pink?”

“Everything but orange is my color,” she informed him. “But not brown. I can’t really pull off brown.”

“You can pull off nude.” He grinned.

“God, that makes me swoon,” she mumbled sarcastically. Didn’t guys understand that always relating everything back to sex wasn’t a compliment?

“Hey.”

She startled when Maria popped up beside her, almost out of nowhere. “Maria. Hey.”

“I saw you in here; I thought maybe we could talk,” Maria said, swinging her purse back and forth.

“Are you gonna insult my intelligence again?” Tess asked her. “Because that’s basically what you did last time we ‘talked.’”

Maria sighed heavily. “I know.”

“Maria,” Max piped up, sauntering towards them. “I think you’re in the wrong store. You’re looking for Slut Hut. It’s down on the first floor next to the Calendar Shack. You can’t miss it. It’ll call out to you.”

“Very funny, Max. Any moment I’m sure to laugh.” Maria returned her attention to Tess and asked, “Can we ditch him?”

Tess knew Max didn’t want to stay in that store any longer, so she figured he wouldn’t mind leaving her and Maria alone. “I can meet you in the food court,” she told him.

“Don’t bother. I’m going home,” he announced as he headed out of the store. “I didn’t care to go shopping anyway.”

Maria watched him go with a look of disdain. “Gee, he’s sure got the holiday spirit.”

Tess rolled her eyes, not in the mood to deal with another one of Maria’s Max-bashing sessions. “Maria . . .”

“Okay, look . . . I’m sorry,” Maria started in. “First of all, I’m sorry about that little jab I made the other day about you failing biology. That was mean of me.”

“Especially considering you had to cheat off Michael to pass college algebra.”

“You cheated off him, too,” Maria reminded her.

“But to a lesser extent, and that’s not the point,” Tess said quickly. “Oh, but speaking of cheating . . . Billy sure is a gem of a boyfriend, isn’t he?”

“Yeah, don’t even get me started on your ‘gem’ of a boyfriend,” Maria said. “But yeah, he cheated on me, had another girl on the side. Did Michael tell you?”

“Michael told Kyle. Kyle told me. It’s this whole chain reaction,” Tess explained. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” Maria assured her. “Billy and I were never really serious, and I was kinda forcing myself to move in with him. But it’s better this way. I’m happy to live with Michael as long as he’ll have me.”

“I’m sure he doesn’t mind,” Tess said, smiling a little as she thought about how happy Michael must have been when Maria unpacked all her things.

“And I’m sorry,” Maria went on, “for not recognizing that you were just trying to help with your little ‘seduce Billy’ plan. You were just trying to make me come to my senses sooner rather than later, and you were right about him. And I knew you were right. I was just too stubborn to admit it.”

Tess nodded, glad that she was admitting it now. Better late than never.

“Thank you,” Maria said, sounding one-hundred percent serious. “I know we’ve had our differences lately, and maybe we’re not as close as we once were; but it means a lot that you still care what happens to me, because I still care what happens to you.”

Tess smiled. She really missed her friendship with Maria, as annoying and exhausting as it could be. They had known each other their entire lives, been best friends as long as either of them could remember. That wasn’t the kind of thing that just went away over a couple of months. Or ever.

“It looks like I lost my shopping partner,” Tess remarked, not that Max had been much of a shopping partner at all. “You wanna go hit up Slut Hut?”

Maria didn’t even hesitate. “Definitely. I love their clothes.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Michael was vacuuming the front entrance of the museum, counting down the hours until the museum closed down for Christmas as his vacation officially began, when his boss came out of the storage room and called, “Hey, Michael! Can you come here?”

“Sure.”

Michael turned off the vacuum and left it there while he joined Mr. Buckley in the storage room. “What’s up?” he asked.

“One of your professors dropped by this morning before you got here, dropped off some paintings I think you might recognize.” He stepped aside, and Michael was able to see his paintings sitting in that storage room, all four of them of Maria.

“Yeah, I definitely recognize those,” he said, fixating on the naked one for a minute.

“Me, too,” Mr. Buckley said, “or at least I recognize the subject.” He grinned.

“Yeah, she . . .” Michael felt himself growing red with embarrassment. He couldn’t even hide his feelings for Maria anymore. “I like her, okay?”

“Oh, I know that. What I’m wondering is how she doesn’t. Has she seen these paintings?”

“Yeah. Yeah, yeah.”

“Really? And she still doesn’t know?”

“Yeah, she doesn’t think of me that way.” He smiled and added confidently, “Yet.”

“There you go.” Mr. Buckley grinned and chuckled. “Well, Michael, you should be extremely proud. This is extraordinary work. You professor said it was the best collection to come out of the class all semester. He feels like you’ve reclaimed your identity as an artist; he practically begged me to showcase these paintings in January’s student exhibit.”

Wow, Michael thought, growing even more excited. That’s big news. “Are you going to?”

“I can’t,” Mr. Buckley said. “Not in January and not in February. I’ve already got students lined up for those months. But if you could paint some more of these, get this collection up to about an even dozen, we could look at March or April.”

Michael felt his goofy/happy smile appearing on his face again. Was karma finally kicking it? He’d done some good deeds over the years. Now everything seemed like it was working out for him.

“Is this something you’d be interested in?” Mr. Buckley asked.

“Uh, my own exhibit at the museum? I’d say so.”

“Good. Because I’d have pestered you about it if you’d said no. Now just don’t back out on us this time.”

“I won’t,” Michael promised. He sort of regretted that he had ditched his last exhibit deal at the museum, but it had been right after Isabel had left. He hadn’t been ready for it. Now he was. So maybe he didn’t regret it after all.

“You’d better make sure it’s okay with Maria, though,” Mr. Buckley suggested. “Especially . . .” He tapped the naked painting with his fingers. “This one.”

“Yeah, she’ll be okay with it,” he assured his boss. Knowing Maria, she would probably love the attention. “Thank you, sir. This is a really great opportunity for me.”

“No, thank you for painting these pieces,” Mr. Buckley said. “I can’t start giving you any special treatment, though, so . . . you’d better get out there and finish that vacuuming.”

“Right.” Michael smiled, still thrilled, and turned to head back out to the front entrance area.

“Hey, Michael, one more thing,” Mr. Buckley called after him.

“Yeah?” He spun around.

“I remember seeing some of the artwork you were doing around this time last year, paintings, much like these, of another beautiful blonde girl. And we offered you an exhibit opportunity for those.”

Michael nodded, remembering. “Isabel.”

“Right, the Isabel paintings. They were wonderful,” Mr. Buckley praised him. “So wonderful that I didn’t think you could ever top them. But then I see these and . . . Michael, for what it’s worth . . . I think these are better.”

Michael smiled. He thought the exact same thing.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Liz sat in the small, cottage-like office, waiting for Dr. Lawson to finish up with her prior patient. She kept folding and unfolding her hands just to have something to do. When that stopped blocking out the nerves and she felt her stomach begin to tighten again, she stood up and began to walk around the room, looking at all the signs of certification on the wall. Like any good therapist, Dr. Lawson had proof of her credentials within full view of all of her patients. A graduate degree in psychology, Liz noticed. Not bad.

When Dr. Lawson came into the office, she was all smiles. “Hello, Liz. I’m Dr. Lawson. Sorry to keep you waiting.”

“It’s fine,” Liz assured her, shaking her hand in greeting. The woman looked nice enough. Middle-aged, motherly, friendly. “It’s nice to meet you, Dr. Lawson. Thanks for seeing me.”

“Go ahead and sit down.”

Liz sat down on the couch, feeling uneasy. If she was asked to lie down, then she was really going to feel like a head-case.

Dr. Lawson sat down in a chair and took out a tape recorder. “I’ll be recording our sessions, however many we end up having,” she explained. “Now don’t worry. Everything you say is completely confidential.”

Liz nodded, understanding. “That’s good, because, uh, my mom actually comes to see you now and then. She thinks I don’t know about you, but clearly I do.”

“Well, I won’t repeat anything you say,” the doctor assured her.

Liz nodded again and watched as Dr. Lawson turned on the tape recorder. “Um, how do I start?” she questioned, not sure where to begin.

“However you want to,” Dr. Lawson replied ambiguously.

“Okay. Um . . . well, I kind of feel like I’ve seen just about everyone else,” Liz said. “A priest. A gay surfer named Eric. Now you.”

“And what are you seeing me about?”

Liz sighed shakily, hating that she couldn’t just handle her life by herself. “I’m seeing you about . . . the way I’ve been seeing a man named Max Evans. I-I don’t wanna tell you everything. No offense. You seem really nice and all; it’s just that I’m . . . ashamed.”

“Ashamed of what, Liz?”

She sighed again. “He’s not a good guy,” she said. “He cares about sex and he cares about money, and that’s pretty much it. But even though I knew that all along, I let him in. I let him convince me to have an affair with him. Because he’s just that kind of guy, and . . . well, nobody knows it, but I’m that kind of girl. It’s really confusing, because it’s like I don’t wanna be with him, but at the same time I do. And I’m worried ‘cause . . .” She lowered her head and lowered her voice along with it. “I think I might’ve started to feel something for him.” She slowly glanced up at Dr. Lawson, hoping to see some kind of reaction. “You know, something.” But the doctor just kept sitting there, listening. “I don’t know why I . . . but I don’t want to. I wanna be the girl who falls for bad boys only to have this great, nice guy come along someday and sweep me off my feet, and surprise me.” She smiled wistfully, but her smile fell as she remembered the reality. “But Max is never gonna be that guy, and the worst part is . . . I think I’ve already been swept.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“It’s the most wonderful time of the year,” Maria said as she and Michael strode into Wal-Mart. (Maria claimed she wasn’t a regular shopper at Wal-Mart but had to shop there sometimes when she didn’t have enough money to shop anywhere else.) “I don’t understand how anybody can be sad or mad or stressed about anything with Christmas right around the corner. I mean, you’re not sad or mad or stressed, are you?”

“Not anymore.”

She turned around, looked up at him, and smiled. “What’s up with you? You’re especially good-moody today.”

Michael shrugged. “Maybe I’m just happy to have my roommate back.”

“Smooth talker,” Maria remarked. “But I never left, remember? The shoe.”

“That’s right.” Michael caught sight of a tree set up near the entrance, the kind that was decorated with children’s wish lists. Kids from lower-income families wrote what they wanted for Christmas on snowflakes and hung them on the store Christmas tree, and then customers came in, picked a snowflake, and bought the gifts anonymously. There were quite a few snowflakes left.

“I think I should get Tess the new Britney Spears album, don’t you think?” Maria contemplated as she sauntered over towards the shopping carts. “Then I can listen to it, too. Hey, maybe that’s what you should get Kyle.” She laughed a little, then walked back over towards him when she noticed he was looking over one of the snowflakes. “What’s that?”

“This little girl wants a Hannah Montana backpack and a Jonas Brothers lunch box,” he told her.

“Ugh, teen idols sure have changed since my day. Who are we kidding? It still is my day. But I hate that Hannah Montana girl. And the Jo-Bros? Let’s not and say we did.”

“That’s all she wants, though,” Michael said, feeling bad for her, “and her family can’t even afford it. And this five year-old boy wants toy cars and socks. Socks. What kind of five year old kid asks Santa for socks?”

“The kind that doesn’t have any,” Maria replied.

“Yeah, it’s sad.”

“Are you gonna buy for him?” she asked.

“Mmm-hmm.” He took the snowflake off the tree. He was going to get that kid three pairs of socks, and warm ones at that. “My parents do this every year,” he explained, “pick a kid off a store tree and get the gifts they want. So I started doing it, too.”

She stared at him in astonishment. “You are, like, the nicest guy ever.”

He nodded. “I’ve often thought so.”

“I’m nowhere near charitable enough to do that,” she said as they made their way over towards the carts. “Plus, I don’t have any money.”

“Well, just so you know, you don’t have to get me anything,” he told her.

“Yes, I do,” she insisted. “You’re my friend and I live with you and it’s Christmas. So there. I’m gonna get you something very good.”

His mind couldn’t help but wander to perverted place as he wondered what very good present she was going to give him. “You are?”

“Yeah.” She pulled out one cart from all the rest, then turned back around and peered up at him with her lively green eyes. “Anything you want, I’ll give it to you. Anything at all. So Michael, tell me: What is the one thing you want more than anything in this world?”

You, he thought as he gazed down at her. He imagined what it would feel like to kiss her, to have her kiss him, to have his hands on her, to really be with her.

Her expression became increasingly expectant, and he realized he’d been spacing off. “Oh, uh . . .” He cast a glance to the side and blurted out the first item he saw. “A football?”

“A football,” she echoed. “Seriously?”

“Yeah, I-I never got one as a kid,” he stuttered in response. Stupid. So stupid.

“Okay,” she said, seemingly confused but not asking questions. “One football coming up.” She grabbed hold of the cart and steered it towards the music section first. She probably didn’t want him to see her buying his present.

He sighed heavily, feeling as though he’d narrowly dodged a bullet. As much as he wanted Maria, he didn’t want to clue her in to that fact just yet. But when she looked at him the way she just had and asked him what he wanted more than anything in the world . . . it was really hard not to tell her the truth.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Kyle wasn’t sure what to get Tess for Christmas. He knew it had to be something meaningful but not too meaningful, thoughtful but not too thoughtful. He wasn’t going to buy anything until he talked to Maria about it, but for some reason, he found himself in the jewelry store doing something that, knowing his luck, he would never actually get to do: looking at engagement rings.

He picked up a two-karat diamond and smiled as the scene played out in his mind. Somewhere sweet and romantic, like the park or out by the fountain at the Student Union, he would get down on one knee and watch her face light up with joy and surprise. And he would tell her he loved her from the moment he saw her, everything about her. He would promise to always treat her right because he was such a good guy, and she was such an amazing, beautiful, smart, funny girl. And he loved her. And in his fantasy world, she would love him, too, and when he asked her to make him the happiest man on earth and marry him, she would say yes without skipping a beat.

Kyle sighed and set the ring back down. It wasn’t impossible. He had made huge strides with Tess over the past few months. They had a very real, solid friendship now, one that he didn’t see going away anytime soon. Unfortunately, most girls found it hard to picture him as anything more than a friend. He and Michael were in the same boat.

Kyle was about to walk out of the store when he spied Max standing over by another counter, also looking over diamond rings. They were the more expensive rings, ones that Kyle could never afford. And Max was looking at them.

Crap.

“Max, hey,” he said, making his way over to the richer guy, the one girls for some reason had no trouble seeing as more than a friend. “Did you hear Lucy Berman got elected student body president? I didn’t vote for her.”

Max didn’t even look at him. “Because she’s a girl? That was my reasoning, too.”

“No, actually, I heard she had a drug problem. So we can probably look forward to re-election #2 in the near future.” His attempt at small-talk elicited no response, so he decided to be more direct. “You know, I can’t help but notice you’re looking at rings.”

Finally, Max cast a sideways glance at him. “So were you.”

“Yeah, well, I was just . . . I wasn’t really gonna get one,” he said. “Are you gonna . . . propose to Tess?” His entire body went tense as he waited for the answer.

“Not yet.”

Kyle felt momentarily relief, followed by a wave of panic. “And-and when you say not yet, do you mean not today? Or not this month? Or not this year, which technically ends when the month ends, in which case not this month and not this year would mean the same thing, if they mean not yet, that is, since that was your original response to my . . . original question.” He sighed shakily, nervously. “Or maybe it’s not ever? Does it mean not ever?” He really hoped it meant not ever.

“I’m looking for a Christmas gift for my mom,” Max explained. “She likes jewelry. None of these rings are expensive enough.” He walked away from the counter, but before he left the store, he said, “Oh, and Kyle? Forget about my girlfriend. She’s out of your league.”

If it was possible, Kyle’s body became even tenser. Max knew? How could Max know? How could everyone know?

“Fuck,” he cursed. Why did he have to be so damn obvious?

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Michael and Maria went to a Christmas tree lot that night after they had done an enormous amount of shopping. Michael seemed to think that finding a tree would only take a few minutes, but Maria knew better than that.

“What about this one?” he asked, pointing to a tree that wasn’t even as tall as he was.

“Too short,” she said, continuing to walk ahead and look over the specimens on display. “Too skinny. Too brown.” Finally, she laid eyes on a gigantic tree that really called to her. It was as though the light from the heavens shown down upon it and the Hallelujah chorus kicked in. “Too . . . perfect for words.”

“That one?” Michael asked as he followed her over towards the tree. “It’s too big.”

She stopped in front of the tree and declared, “There’s no such thing as too big. Case in point . . .” She glanced down at his groin area, grinning.

“Well, as much as I appreciate that remark about my endowment, we can’t buy this tree,” he said. “It won’t fit in the door.”

“Oh, I’ll make it fit.” She had a lot of experience when it came to squeezing big things into tight spaces.

“Let’s just keep looking,” he suggested.

“Oh, fine,” she resigned, figuring it probably was just too big. She continued walking through the tree lot with him and decided to approach the topic she’d been putting off all day now. “So, we haven’t really talked about Christmas plans yet. Are you going home?”

“Well, I told my mom I would,” he said, “but that was when I thought you and Billy . . .”

“Yeah, don’t remind me.” Already, Billy Darden and that backdoor-less house of his seemed like a distant nightmare. “I don’t suppose I could go home with you.”

“You could,” he said. “Or maybe we could have Christmas at our place.”

“Oh, I was hoping you’d say that!” she squealed, jumping up and down excitedly. “Okay, I totally won’t invite my mom.”

“Awesome.”

“We could put up lights and stockings and a tree, of course. Oh, and we could attempt a dinner again. Although I’m not sure if we should attempt a dinner again.”

“Well, Hy-Vee has this holiday catering service . . .”

She dismissed that idea immediately. “Oh, no, we are not having a grocery store prepare our Christmas dinner. What we need is someone to help us.”

“Hy-Vee.”

“Not Hy-Vee.”

He looked confused. “Well, who do we know who knows how to cook a Christmas dinner who’d be willing to cook one for us?”

She smiled, having the perfect person in mind. “A friend.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Tess leaned back against the back of her couch, letting the idea sink in. “Christmas dinner.”

“Mmm-hmm.”

“Like the kind you eat?”

Maria made a face of confusion. “What other kind is there?”

“Well, I don’t know, you’re kind of perverted. I thought you might be expanding on ‘dinner’ as in, like, an orgy.”

Maria rolled her eyes. “No, I’m talking about a scrumptious ham, some sweet potatoes, maybe a casserole. Oh, and a chocolate pie. And spiked eggnog, of course.”

“Of course,” Tess agreed. “Well, I’m not a great cook; I’m a good cook, though.”

“Which is precisely why I asked you. And it’s not like you have to just cook it for me and Michael. You can spend Christmas with us.”

“Well . . . it kinda sounds fun,” Tess admitted. “But I promised my dad . . .”

“Every kid has to start his or her own Christmas traditions eventually,” Maria pointed out.

“Hmm.” Tess supposed that was true. Lots of college kids had their own Christmases together. On TV, they always looked like a lot of fun. “Well, Max and I were talking about how we were gonna spend Christmas,” she said. “It’s hard when you have two different families in two different places who have, like, nothing in common. I could feel an argument coming on.” She really didn’t want to argue with Max, especially not around the holidays.

“So just eliminate the stress of it all and spend Christmas with two of your best friends in the entire world,” Maria suggested.

“I don’t wanna be a third wheel.”

“You won’t be. Michael will be because of that pesky y-chromosome.”

Tess laughed. “Okay, yeah. That sounds fun. I’m sure my dad will understand. He’ll probably be proud of me.”

“Yeah, for sure,” Maria agreed.

“Okay. I’ll let Max know.”

Maria immediately froze. “Uh, so he can stay away?”

“So he can join us if he wants to.”

“He won’t want to.”

“I’ll withhold sex from him if he abandons me on the birthday of Jesus Christ.” Tess smirked. “Trust me, he’ll want to.”

“Oh, the good old sex withholding. Works every time,” Maria said. “But Tess . . .”

“Maria, it’s Christmas and I wanna spend it with my boyfriend. I’ll make sure he plays nice if you will.”

Maria groaned and eventually gave in. “Oh, fine.”

“Great,” Tess chirped. “You, me, Max, and Michael.”

“521.”

“‘Tis the season.”

“It’s a college kids’ Christmas,” Maria said, smiling. “I’ve always wanted to have one.”

“Me, too,” Tess agreed. “Let’s just hope it goes off without a hitch.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“So I asked him about it and he said ‘not yet.’ Not yet, man. That means eventually.”

“Not necessarily.” Michael stepped back and surveyed the tree. He had placed it in the corner of his living room where his easels usually stood. “Does this look good here?”

“Yeah. Dude, she can’t get married to him,” Kyle continued. “They’re all wrong together.”

“I agree.” Michael tried to fluff out the branches on the right side of the tree. The left side was a lot bushier. Proportionally, it didn’t look right. He supposed he could always turn the tree some more and have the right side become the back side. But the front side as of right now was perfect.

“Christmas. New Year’s. Valentine’s Day,” Kyle mused. “Three very romantic holidays, aka: proposal opportunities, coming up. Michael, I’m really worried.”

“I can tell.”

“And you know what the worst part is? He knows I like her. Do you think he’s gonna tell her?”

“No, he’ll just hold it over your head for awhile,” Michael replied. “And then he’ll tell her.”

“Oh, great.”

“Do these things still work?” Michael plugged his string of multi-colored lights into an outlet on the wall and shook his head when he saw that none of them were lighting up. “Dammit. One of them goes and they all go.”

“Are you listening to me?”

“Yes.”

“I was a full-on strategist when Maria was moving out. Now Tess might be getting married and all you can do is think about your Christmas tree?” Kyle’s voice came out in a high-pitched, frantic squeak.

“Uh, these aren’t for the tree. They’re for the outside balcony, okay?” Michael informed him. He rose to his feet and got serious. “Look, I don’t think you have to worry. I’ve known Max and Tess for a couple of years now. I don’t think either of them is ready to tie the knot just yet.”

“There we go again with the ‘yet,’” Kyle mumbled, sitting on the right arm of the couch.

Michael was so happy when Maria walked in the door. “Oh, thank God. Maria, would you tell him?”

“Tell him what?” she asked as she threw her coat down on the couch.

“That Max and Tess aren’t gonna get married.”

“They’re not gonna get married, Kyle,” Maria said confidently. “I won’t let them. Plus, I hate that I know Max, but I do know him. He’s so not ready to settle down.”

Yet,” Kyle grunted.

“Kyle, I have an idea,” Maria announced. “Why don’t you spend Christmas with us?”

“Uh, no, I can’t. I’m goin’ home,” Kyle told her.

“Tess is gonna be here.”

“December 25th, right?” Kyle smiled and changed his tune. “I can’t wait.”

“Maybe we could have a sleepover on Christmas Eve,” Maria pondered. “That’d be fun.”

“So Tess agreed to cook our dinner?” Michael concluded.

“Yep. She’s already got her pie started.”

“Cool,” Kyle said. “So you and you and me and Tess celebrating Christmas together. The Core Four. I like it.”

“Well . . . Max is probably gonna be here, too,” Maria added.

“Story of my life.” Kyle sounded defeated.

“What about your parents?” Maria asked Michael.

“No, I talked to them. They promised my aunt they’d be at the family Christmas,” he replied. “They were a little sad, but they think it’s a good idea for us to have our own Christmas. And they’re really glad you didn’t move out.”

Maria smiled. “So am I. Alright, good, our Christmas plans are all falling into place. I’m so excited.”

“I’m just glad I get to keep an eye on Max and Tess,” Kyle said. “If I see anything remotely resembling a ring in his hand, he’s a goner.”

“Now there’s a happy thought,” Maria said wistfully. “But Max is like a cockroach. He’ll outlive us all. And then he’ll probably outlive the cockroaches.” She shook her head. “But Kyle, seriously, I don’t think you have to worry. Not yet anyway.”

Kyle’s eyes bulged, and Michael shook his head, mouthing ‘not ever.’

“Not for a long time, if ever,” she added.

“Okay, okay,” Kyle said. “Sounds good. Kinda funny, huh, man?” He nudged Michael’s shoulder. “Just the other day we had a group workin’ on your love life; now we’ve got a group working on mine.” He chuckled.

“You have a love life?” Maria asked. “Wait, Michael has a love life?”

“Kyle, why don’t you go back to your apartment and take a nap,” Michael suggested, pushing his friend towards the door.

“What, take a nap?”

Michael shoved Kyle out the door and shut the door in his face. “He’s weird,” he said, laughing nervously. “Let’s decorate the tree.”








TBC . . .

-April
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LOVE IS MICHAEL AND MARIA.
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April
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Part 28

Post by April »

Hit-and-run update today. Thanks so much for the feedback:

Leila
Alison
nibbles
Nove
BLONDIE
spacegirl23
killjoy
Krista (oh, by the way, there's a total joke about Californians in here. :lol: Just roll with it!)
Ginger
tequathisy
Sara

Enjoy this part. Merry Christmas! (in May)
:lol:








Part 28







“Come on, it’ll be fun,” Tess insisted as she decorated her chocolate pie. It was sort of like chocolate cheesecake, only with an Oreo cookie crust and whipped cream on top.

“Fun?” Max echoed doubtfully. “Being crammed in an apartment with my sister’s leftovers and the spawn of Satan? I don’t think so.”

“I think Kyle’s gonna be there.”

And suddenly, Max’s interest was piqued. “What?”

“Yeah, Maria texted me yesterday, said Kyle was gonna join us,” Tess explained. “And apparently now she’s planning a sleepover.”

“Oh, how cozy,” Max bit out. It wasn’t as though Kyle were a legitimate threat to him. He was just an added annoyance.

“Maybe you could hang out with him, you know?” Tess suggested.

“With Kyle? He’s pathetic.”

“He’s a really nice guy.”

“Nice guys finish last.”

“Not always.”

What the hell does she mean by that? Max wondered, staring at her critically as she continued working on her pie. Kyle really wasn’t a threat, and Max wanted to make sure he stayed non-threatening. “Fine, Christmas with your friends. Sounds great,” he lied. “I’ll just tell my parents I can’t make their Christmas party at the Hilton.”

“Which Hilton?” Tess inquired.

“The one in Vegas. They booked the entire casino for the party.”

“How’d they manage that?”

How did she think? “It helps to have lots and lots of money. Plus, my father plays golf with Mr. Hilton.”

Tess finally glanced up from her pie. “Like Paris Hilton’s dad?”

“Yep.”

She waited a moment, then said “That’s hot,” obviously impersonating Paris Hilton. “Kidding.”

Max took out his cell phone and dialed his dad’s personal number.

“I’m glad you’re choosing me over them this time, Max,” Tess practically whispered.

He nodded as he waited for his father to pick up. It wasn’t a choice so much as a lack of other alternatives.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Maria thought she had the perfect football for Michael until she took it out of the box it was in and noticed it had a pink, sparkly heart on the back of it. She stormed back to Wal-Mart to complain. She complained so much, in fact, that they brought the store manager out to talk to her.

“Just tell me, what kind of store sells a football with a pink heart on it?” she demanded.

“Toy companies and athletic companies are trying to make their products more unisex,” the manager said, her voice flat and emotionless. “Now, I already told you, I can’t let you return the item without a receipt.”

“Well, I didn’t hold onto the receipt because I thought I was buying a football without a pink heart on it.”

The manager didn’t say anything this time, just shrugged her shoulders helplessly.

Maria sighed heavily, grabbed the football, and marched off with it. She would have just bought a different one, but she barely had any money left since she had just purchased a gifts for Michael and Tess and her brother and his boyfriend. And even Kyle.

She stopped at the Christmas tree near the front entrance/exit doors and noticed that the snowflake of the girl who wanted the Hannah Montana backpack and the Jonas Brothers lunchbox was still there. She lifted the snowflake in her hands.

“Hey, Maria.”

She let go of the snowflake, leaving it on the tree. “Oh, hey, Liz. Merry Christmas.”

“Yeah, you, too,” Liz said. “Are you gonna buy for one of those kids?”

“No, it’s probably too late.”

Liz shrugged and pointed out, “Tree’s still up.”

Yeah, Maria thought, I guess it is. “Hey, I really like your . . . sweater,” she lied. What on earth was Liz wearing? It was a red and green checker-patterned sweater made of wool. “It’s very . . .” Once again, she found herself at a loss for words and blurted out the first thing she could think of. “Festive.”

“I haven’t really been looking my best lately,” Liz admitted. “No reason to. To be honest, I haven’t left my dorm room in days.”

Maria frowned, wondering why that was. “Aren’t you supposed to be out of the dorms by now?”

“Yeah, but I don’t wanna go home yet,” Liz said. “Whenever I do, my mom grills me about the man in my life.”

“Right, and you don’t have a man right now. Got a lady.”

“Well . . . had.”

“What?” This explained why Liz was so melancholy. “You broke up with . . . what was her name? Maxine?”

“Yeah. We were never really together.”

Maria frowned, confused again.

“It’s complicated,” Liz said. “I’m trying to make sense of it myself. I’m even seeking professional help.”

Maria raised a questioning eyebrow.

“Don’t ask.”

She wouldn’t. “Well, you know, if you don’t wanna go home, you can always stay here,” she offered. “Michael and I are having Christmas at our place. You could join us.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t wanna be a third wheel.”

“Why does everyone—you won’t be a third wheel, Liz.”

“But I barely know Michael.”

“There’s gonna be other people there.”

“Really? Who?”

“Like Kyle and—oh, Marty, just agreed to come, and he’s bringing his boyfriend Francis. It’ll be a whole group of people.”

“Well, it-it sounds really fun,” Liz said. “Yeah, I’ll be there.”

“Great,” Maria chirped. “I’ll call you later with the details.”

“Alright, later,” Liz agreed.

Maria smiled and headed past her friend with her football in hand.

“Hey, Maria?” Liz called.

She spun around.

“Why does that football have a pink heart on it?”

Maria sighed in distress. “I’ve been asking the same thing.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

It took Michael an hour to get his string of multicolored Christmas lights working again (an hour in which he knew he could have just as easily gone to the store and bought a new string), and it took him another hour to string them on the balcony exactly the way Maria wanted him to. She stood outside, peering upward and directing him.

“Alright, I think I’m done,” he announced triumphantly. “How do they look?”

“Oh, Michael!” she exclaimed. “If you could just see what they look like from down here.”

“Do they look good?”

She beamed. “Perfect!”

Later that evening, Maria made hot cocoa, and the two of them stood outside on their perfect balcony of multi-colored Christmas lights, looking out on the town.

“See, this is why I like New Mexico,” Maria said, taking a sip of her drink.

“Cocoa?” he questioned.

She rolled her eyes. “No, I’m talking about the fact that it’s winter, but it’s not even cold outside. Can you imagine living in, like, I don’t know, New York or North Dakota or something?”

“No.”

“Or Alaska? Frigid.”

“We’re spoiled,” he proclaimed. Arizona kids were the same way. Anything below fifty degrees was unacceptable. California kids were the worst, though. They were scared of rain.

“I think we’re gonna have a great Christmas,” Maria said, leaning back against the balcony railing. “We finally got everything decorated. We got a great tree. I’ve got all my presents wrapped. How about you?”

“Oh, yeah. I wrapped mine before you did.”

“Over-achiever,” she teased. “Let’s see, what else? Oh, Tess promises the meal is gonna kick ass, and I believe her. Plus, a Christmas Eve sleepover? How fun.”

“Either that or a recipe for disaster.” He chuckled. “Remind me who’s all coming again.”

“Kyle and Tess, of course, and Max, unfortunately. And now Liz. And Marty and Francis.”

“And Francis is the new boyfriend?”

“Apparently they’re pretty serious.” Maria smiled. “I’m happy for him. They can’t make the sleepover, though, ‘cause they’re spending Christmas Eve with Francis’s family.”

“I see. And your mom’s not planning on making any surprise appearances?”

“I already told her to stay far, far away,” she assured him. “Of course, I told her in a much nicer way to make her think I actually like her.” She took another sip of cocoa. “No parents this year. Just us crazy, irresponsible college kids.”

“Speak for yourself. I’m not irresponsible.”

She laughed. “Well, apparently I’m not as irresponsible as I thought I was. Guess who passed all her finals.”

He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and hugged her against his side. “Good job.”

“Thank you.” She sounded proud. “Seriously, thank you. My main motivation for studying this semester was to keep up with you. Mr. Smarty Pants!”

“Mrs. Smarty Pants.”

“Oh, we are so lame.”

“Yeah,” he agreed, “let’s go inside.”

“Okay.”

He took her hand and led her inside, turned down the lights, and sat down on the couch with her, their Christmas tree emanating a warm, candlelight glow. Maria had decided she wanted an all gold tree: gold garland, gold beads, gold bows and ornaments and lights. And of course a gold star on top. Michael had to admit that it looked like a professionally decorated tree. She really got into Christmas.

She snuggled up close to him, resting her head on his shoulder, still drinking her hot cocoa. And as he sat there with her, occasionally sipping on his cocoa as well, he felt like they were a couple, even though he knew they weren’t. He felt like her boyfriend, and he wanted that feeling to be real.

“See that present under the tree?” she asked, pointing towards an unmistakable gift beneath the branches of the evergreen.

“You mean that football-shaped one?”

“Yeah, I wonder what it is.”

“I wonder,” he played along. A football . . . it was a stupid thing to ask for, but the fact that she had actually gotten him one was adorable.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Max couldn’t believe he was going to be spending Christmas with some of the lamest people on the planet. He would have much rather been at the Hilton. Much rather.

Tess knocked on the door to Michael and Maria’s apartment on Christmas Eve, seeming much more enthused than he was. They had all the food with them, about half of which was already prepared, and presents, too. Max hadn’t gotten a gift for anyone but Tess. He hated this.

“This is gonna be so fun,” Tess chirped. “Are you excited?”

“Thrilled,” he muttered sarcastically as Maria opened the door.

“Hey, guys the food’s here!” she called back inside.

“And Tess and Max came with.” Tess smiled and stepped inside. “Hey, girl. Merry Christmas.”

“You, too.”

Max handed the dish of mashed potatoes and the dish of sweet potatoes to Maria. “Here.”

She grunted as she struggled to hold onto the heavy items. “Fucker.”

“Bitch.” He ignored her and took off his coat, noting as he did so that Kyle was already there. Tess set the food items she was carrying down on the counter, set her sack of presents down by her feet, and threw her arms around him, hugging him. “Merry Christmas, Kyle!” she exclaimed.

“Merry Christmas, Tess.”

Max glared at him and waited until Tess had gone to join Michael and Maria by the oven before approaching Kyle and mumbling, “I bet that hug really turned you on. Too bad that’s all you’re gonna get.” He grinned.

“Okay, you two need to get out of the kitchen pronto,” Tess said, referring to Michael and Maria. “And Max, seeing as how you were raised with a five-star chef on staff at all times, you should probably stay away, too.”

“Fine by me,” he grumbled. He didn’t want to help cook. That was women’s work.

“So I guess it’s up to you and me, Kyle,” Tess finished. “You know how to cook?”

Kyle smiled, first at Tess and then pointedly at Max. “Of course.”

“Then you’re the man I need.”

Kyle made his way over to her with a goofy grin on his face, and she giggled as she handed him an oven mitt. Max growled low in his throat, looking away. “So it’s just the five of us, is it?” he asked. “What a party.”

Right after he said that, there was another knock on the door. “More like six of us,” Maria said as she went to answer it. When she pulled open the door, Max’s heart almost stopped. “Hey, Liz!” Maria exclaimed.

Liz? He hadn’t known that she was coming.

“Hey,” Liz returned, her eyes immediately landing on him.

“Hey, Liz,” Kyle greeted his ex. “How’s it going?”

She tore her eyes away from Max and replied unconvincingly, “Good.”

“You remember Michael, right?” Maria said.

“Yeah, of course. Hi, Michael.”

Michael gave a small wave. “Hey.”

“And I can’t remember if you know Max. For your sake, I hope you don’t,” Maria said.

Liz laughed nervously, a laugh that made it apparent to Max that she hadn’t known he and Tess were going to be there, either. He was sure she wouldn’t have come had she known he would be there. “No, I know him,” she said. “Hi, Max. It’s good to see you again.”

“It’s good to see you, too,” he returned, and it was. It really was.

Suddenly this Christmas had gotten a lot more interesting.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Michael felt a tension in his apartment. He wasn’t sure why it was there or who was responsible for it, but he narrowed it down by process of elimination and decided it was because of Max. Nobody really wanted him there except for Tess.

Tess and Kyle were hard at work in the kitchen, a job which Kyle was undoubtedly loving. Tess said she wanted to have the entire meal prepared by tomorrow so that all they had to do after opening presents was heat up the food. Maria was arranging presents underneath the tree while Max, Michael, and Liz sat in the living room. Liz was being really quiet. When she got up and went to the bathroom, Michael barely noticed she was gone. He supposed he didn’t know her very well. Maybe she was just a shy person by nature.

When Liz came out of the bathroom, she looked reluctant to sit back down in the living room again. What, do I smell or something? Michael wondered. He did a quick and subtle armpit check. No, that’s not it. He cast a glance at Max and figured Liz just didn’t like him. Who did?

“Hey, Liz, you good with an oven?” Tess asked.

“Sure,” Liz replied.

“Wanna come help us out?”

“Sure.”

As Liz joined Kyle and Tess in their cooking endeavors, Maria took a plate of fudge out of the refrigerator and brought it over to Michael. “Look what Tess made,” she said, holding a piece of fudge up to his mouth.

He took a bite and nodded. “Mmm. That’s good.”

“Here.” She handed him the entire plate.

“Thanks.” He finished off his first piece of fudge and couldn’t resist watching Maria as she tried to join the group in the kitchen.

“I can help,” she insisted.

“Get her out of here!” Tess shouted, laughing. “Maria!”

“I can hand you spoons and stuff,” Maria volunteered. “That can be my job.”

Michael smiled. She was so cute.

“What would Isabel say?” Max asked out of nowhere.

Michael turned to look at him. “What?”

“I just wonder,” Max said, “if she was here and she saw what I’m seeing, would she give you her blessing, try to win you back, maybe just yell at you?” He chuckled. “My money’s on the yelling. She never really liked Maria, so I’m guessing she wouldn’t take too kindly to you liking her.”

Michael quickly glanced back at Maria to make sure she hadn’t heard anything. She was still pleading to help out in the kitchen. “She’s my friend,” he told Max. And that was true. That was really all she was. Of course he wanted her to be more than that, but there was no reason for Max to know that.

But apparently he already did. “And when you go to bed at night with your hand beneath the sheets, dreaming,” he went on, “is she your naughty nurse? Horny cheerleader? Pornstar?”

Michael shifted uncomfortably. He could say what he wanted to about Max, but the guy was observant, smart as hell. “I wonder what Kyle would say if he knew you were threatened by him,” he retorted. He could be observant, too.

Michael got up out of the chair and went into the kitchen, leaving Max sitting alone in the living room. “Anything I can do?” he asked Tess.

“No!” she shrieked. “Get out of here!”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Liz wasn’t sure she would make it until Christmas Day. It wasn’t that she didn’t enjoy spending Christmas Eve with Maria and Kyle and Michael. They were fine. She was having fun with them. And even Tess wasn’t so bad when she was cooking and not being girlfriendly with Max. But whenever Liz had to watch them kiss or watch Tess wrap her fingers around Max’s arm or see Max glance at her mischievously out of the corner of his eye, she had to fight the urge to bolt from the apartment. She really wished she would have known he would be there. Maria had neglected to tell her, and she had neglected to ask.

Somehow, she lasted until nighttime. They all sat in the living room, dark except for the gold Christmas tree, talking and drinking champagne. Michael and Maria and Kyle were on the couch. Max was sitting in one chair with Tess in his lap, and Liz was sitting in the other chair by herself, staying silent for the most part.

“Wait, wait, wait, so you’re saying you believed in Santa Claus until you were thirteen?” Tess said incredulously. “And the reindeer and the elves and the whole enchilada?”

Kyle laughed. “I stretched it out. I’m aware of this.”

“Oh, I believed for a long time, too,” Maria piped up. “When I was six, I went to the mall and sat on this Santa’s lap, and I told him I wanted a new Barbie and a new Ken doll for Christmas; because my old ones lost their legs, and they couldn’t have sex if they were leg-less.”

“Your Barbies had sex?” Michael asked.

“Everyone’s Barbies had sex,” Maria informed him. “Anyway, I went to the same mall a year later, and it was the same Santa. And he remembered me, and he remembered what I wanted.”

“Creepy,” Tess commented.

“I thought it was neat,” Maria said. “I was convinced he was the real Santa, and I believed in him ‘til I was eleven. Although, looking back, he was probably just a child predator.”

“Well, it was fun while it lasted,” Kyle said, taking an absolutely tiny sip of his champagne. Liz smiled. Poor Kyle was so not a drinker.

“I should’ve believed longer,” Tess said.

“We should play I Never,” Max suggested suddenly.

“Random,” Maria remarked.

“I’m bored,” he explained.

“So you suggest I Never, such a holiday game.”

“Wait, what’s I Never?” Kyle asked.

Max chuckled. “Kid, do you even have a social life?”

Max,” Tess said warningly.

“It’s simple,” Max said. “When it’s your turn, you say ‘I never . . .’ and then you fill in the sentence with something you’ve never done. Anyone who’s done it has to drink. Usually you play with beer, but champagne should do.”

“So there isn’t really a winner?” Kyle asked.

“Just a loser, Kyle, and that would be you.”

“God, Max,” Tess groaned. “It’s not a win/lose game, Kyle. It’s just fun. Or at least it’s supposed to be.” She gave Max a pointed look.

“Alright, let’s play,” Kyle said. “You start, Max.”

Max grinned. “I’ve never . . . carried less than a hundred dollars in my wallet.”

Everyone else rolled their eyes and took a drink. They were all carrying around less than a hundred dollars now. “So full of himself,” Maria muttered.

“Your turn,” Max said to Tess.

“Okay, I’ve never . . . had so much to drink that I’ve passed out.”

Liz frowned, not sure if she’d ever passed out or not. She shrugged and took a drink anyway. Maria was the only other one to drink on that one. “My turn?” Maria asked. “Okay. I’ve never orgasmed in the missionary position before.”

“Oh, that sucks,” Tess said, taking a drink.

“Mmm-hmm,” Maria agreed.

Liz caught Max’s eye as they both took a drink, along with Michael and . . . Kyle? Liz shot him a confused look. Since when was Kyle no longer a virgin? He was probably just lying so Tess didn’t know.

“Michael?” Maria said.

“Let’s see, I never . . .”

“Stood a chance with my sister?” Max filled in.

“Drop dead, Max,” Maria snapped viciously.

“Guys, just stop,” Tess intervened.

“I never treated a girl like an object,” Michael said, looking right at Max as he said it. Max just smiled at him and took a big drink, almost as if he was proud of himself.

“Maybe we should stop playing,” Tess suggested quietly.

“No, let’s finish out the round,” Max said. “Kyle?”

Maria laughed. “Oh, I can think of something Kyle’s never done.”

So he is still a virgin, Liz concluded. I knew it.

“That’s right, Maria,” Kyle said. “I have never . . . done a keg-stand.”

“That’s not hard to believe,” Max muttered as he and everyone but Michael took a drink on that one. “Liz?” He smiled at her. “What have you never done?”

She looked down at the half-empty glass in her hands in an effort to not look at him. “I’ve never been in love,” she mumbled, not sure if that was a lie or not. When she looked up at Max again, he was glaring at her. Michael and Kyle each took a drink, and Tess did a moment later. She looked at Max expectantly, and he smiled at her and downed the rest of his drink. But Liz knew he was the one lying now. He didn’t love Tess. He didn’t love anybody.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Sleeping arrangements for the night were split across gender lines. The three girls all decided to share the bed, and Max decided to take the couch. That left Michael and Kyle sleeping on the floor in sleeping bags. Michael was pretty tired. He felt like he could fall asleep at any time. Unfortunately for him, Kyle kept moving around, making lots of noise, preventing him from falling asleep.

“Hey, would you explain to me why he gets to sleep on the couch and we’re flooring it?” Kyle whispered angrily.

“‘Cause he’s an ass,” Michael replied simply.

“Yeah, really.” Kyle lay down on his back for only a few seconds before he rolled over onto his side and started talking quietly again. “Okay, do you think I’m crazy?”

“Yes.”

“Me, too,” Kyle said. “I’m taking on a guy who’s probably the richest and most powerful twenty-one year-old in all of Santa Fe. In all of New Mexico, maybe. Man, what am I thinking?”

“What do you mean you’re ‘taking him on?’” Michael asked.

“You know, battling it out for Tess’s affections, kinda like you did with Billy. Only this is different, because Tess and Max have been dating for two years, and there might be marriage on the horizon, and . . . I’m a geek. I know that.”

Michael frowned. Kyle was a geek, but that wasn’t a bad thing. It was why they were friends, why he and Tess were friends. He was a good guy, but he wasn’t very confident about it.

“I stutter over all my sentences. I employ an unusual amount of hyperbole when I speak,” Kyle went on. “I’m not the type of guy girls fall for.”

“Well, neither am I,” Michael reminded him.

“But, you know, you may not be the stereotypical kind of cool, but at least you’re not a spaz like I am. You’re taller and you have better hair. And you dated Isabel Evans. Now I know she may be ugly on the inside, but on the outside . . . wow, supermodel.”

“I’d rather have had her be a supermodel on the inside,” Michael informed him. “So what you’re saying is you don’t think you stand a chance with Tess.”

“I don’t know. What do you think?”

“I think you’re her friend,” he reminded him, “and Max isn’t. So I wouldn’t give up if I were you.”

“Oh, I’m not gonna,” Kyle assured him. “You’re right, I am her friend. That’s a good point.”

“Yep.”

Suddenly Max spoke up and said, “I can hear everything you’re saying.”

Kyle froze for a moment, then rolled over onto his back said, “Goodnight, guys.”

“Goodnight,” Michael said, and Max didn’t say anything.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Maria found herself in an unusual situation that night: sandwiched between two girls in a bed and having to share the blankets. The boys were probably fast asleep. She didn’t even feel tired.

Apparently she wasn’t the only one awake, because after half an hour of lying there in silence, Tess asked, “Ladies, can you get to sleep?”

“No, I never can on Christmas Eve,” Maria answered. “I’m too busy thinking about the presents I’m gonna get tomorrow.”

“What’d Michael get you?” Tess asked her.

“I don’t know. Probably something really nice.”

“He’s a nice guy.”

“Mmm-hmm.” Maria realized Liz wasn’t saying anything, and she hoped they weren’t waking her up with their chattering. “Hey, Liz, are you asleep?” she asked.

“No,” Liz answered quietly.

“Oh, good.” Maria rolled over onto her back and said, “You guys do realize there’s been a lot of sex had in this bed, don’t you?”

Tess literally shot up into a sitting position. “Between you and Michael?”

Maria laughed. “No, between me and, like, Billy and . . . crap, what were those other guys’ names? Do you ever have that happen, Liz, where you can remember the guy’s face and his dick size, yet you can’t remember his name?”

“All the time.”

“Please tell me you’ve washed the sheets,” Tess said, making a face of disgust.

“Yeah.” Maria giggled. “One night, Michael and I had to sleep under a tablecloth ‘cause I was in the midst of washing them.”

Tess smiled down at her. “So you two really just sleep in this bed together every night?”

“Almost every night, yep,” Maria replied. “He lets me have the covers.”

“How cute.”

Maria sat up and said, “Doesn’t Max let you stay over at his place?”

Tess grunted. “I don’t want to. It’s so, like, stuffy and arrogant there.”

“Hmm, like Max.”

“Well . . .”

Liz sat up as well and said, “You know, I think maybe if we all just tried really hard to stay quiet and not move around, we might get to sleep.”

“Screw sleep,” Maria said. “We should have girl-time. Talk-time. Let’s talk about sex.”

“One-track mind,” Tess said. “We should, though. We can’t talk about that when the boys are around.”

“I don’t know, I’m kinda tired,” Liz said.

“Oh, come on,” Maria urged. “You dated a girl, Liz. You have to give us the details.” She remembered how distressed Liz had seemed over the course of the past week, though, looking at the display windows of bridal stores wistfully and wearing that horrible Christmas sweater into Wal-Mart . . . “I mean . . . sorry,” Maria apologized. “Am I being too pushy? You don’t have to tell us anything.”

“I’d rather not,” Liz said. “It’s just that, you know, with the way it ended . . .”

“You don’t have to tell us anything you don’t want to,” Tess said. “Hey, has anyone here actually had any good sex lately?”

“What, you haven’t?” Maria asked.

“Max has just been, like, really rough lately,” Tess said. “It’s not uncommon, but I kinda wish he would just, like, slow down and be tender or something. Is that too much to ask?”

“Guys are like animals,” Maria agreed. “Billy was the same way. Wham, bam, thank you ma’am. Luckily I was in the mood for it, so I actually enjoyed it.”

“That’s the thing. It’s like, you have to be in the mood for it, otherwise you just feel like they’re using you, like you’re just a way for them to get off,” Tess said.

“Exactly,” Maria agreed. “Sometimes the guys I’m with probably feel like that.”

“I’m sure they don’t mind,” Tess said. “What about you, Liz? Had any objectifying sexual encounters lately?”

“Well . . . I hooked up with a gay guy named Eric.”

“Gay?” Maria echoed.

“Yeah, so needless to say, he had a thing for anal sex.”

Maria winced. “Ow.”

“Well, I was drunk and pissed, so it actually felt pretty good,” Liz said. “But he’s still gay.”

“Why’d you hook up with a gay guy?” Tess asked.

“Drunk and pissed, remember?”

“Oh.” Realization swept across Tess’s face. “Was that the night you were in the bar and you . . .” She trailed off.

“I was mean to you. You can say it,” Liz filled in.

“Was this gay guy hook-up pre-Maxine break-up or post?” Maria asked.

“Post.”

“Your girlfriend’s name was Maxine?” Tess laughed a little. “That’s so weird.”

“I don’t really wanna talk about it,” Liz reminded them.

“Right,” Maria said. “So, it seems like Tess is having bad sex, I’m having great but meaningless sex, and Liz is having—grr!—angry sex.”

Liz nodded. “Sounds about right.”

“It’s not always bad with Max,” Tess said. “He’s just going through a phase right now. It’ll get better.”

“I doubt it,” Maria said. “Do you guys realize that Max is the only guy out there actually getting any? Poor Michael and Kyle. You’d think their hands would be, like, raw from all the . . . you know.”

Tess giggled. “I wonder what Kyle’s like in bed. What’s he like, Liz? ‘Cause I just can’t picture it.”

“Oh, um . . .” Liz smiled. “He’s, uh . . .”

“Tess, isn’t it obvious?” Maria cut in. “Kyle’s never--”

“Pressured me for sex,” Liz cut in quickly. “When we were dating, he never . . . did that. So I don’t know, because I never . . . did that with him. But he’s probably very . . . enthusiastic?”

“Probably,” Tess agreed. “What about Michael?” She grinned at Maria. “Do you wonder what he’s like?”

“Do I wonder?” Maria echoed.

“Yeah.”

“No. Why would I?”

“Because you sleep in the same bed,” Tess pointed out. “You’ve been known to shower together on occasion.”

“We did that one time,” Maria reminded her, “and it was after a food fight. And no, I do not wonder . . . well, maybe . . .” She had to reconsider.

Tess cackled. “Ha, I knew it!”

“Well, he’s really packing heat, if you know what I mean,” Maria said. “Like, he’s got a lot . . . to work with . . . down there. But he’s only had sex with Isabel, so he’s probably not super experienced.”

“But he’s passionate,” Tess pointed out. “He’s an artist.”

“So is Kyle.”

“Yeah, but . . . Michael’s more calm and cool and collected, you know? Don’t you think?”

“Why are you asking me?”

“I’m just saying, if you ever wonder what he’s like in bed, maybe you should just find out,” Tess suggested.

Maria hit her arm playfully. “Very funny, Tess! And not gonna happen.”

“You know, you were wondering about Kyle,” Liz piped up, speaking to Tess. “Maybe you should go throw down with him and tell us just how enthusiastic he is.”

Tess laughed. “Right. And next time you’re in the mood for rough anal sex, I’ve got a hetero for you: my boyfriend! ‘Cause that’s his forte lately.” She laughed again.

Maria was laughing, too, when she noticed that Liz wasn’t. Her mood seemed to have suddenly turned downcast. “Hey, you alright?” she asked. Liz had seemed a little somber all day.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Liz replied quickly. “I just . . . I get these weird food cravings in the middle of the night.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, and it’s really wreaking havoc with my diet, but is there something in the refrigerator I might be able to snack on?”

“Yeah, sure, go help yourself,” Maria told her.

“Alright.” Liz climbed out of bed and headed for the door. “I’ll be back.”

Once Liz had left the room, Tess went back to her teasing. “I bet Michael gives as much as he gets.”

Maria hit her friend in the arm again. “Tess!” She didn’t want to think about her best male friend that way.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Max was imagining a threesome between the girls in the bedroom when one of them walked out into the kitchen. And it was the one he wanted to see the most.

He sat up on the couch and watched as Liz opened the refrigerator, bent down to look inside, and then closed the door without taking anything out. She pressed her hands against the counter near the sink and hung her head, looking distressed.

He quietly stood up from the couch and approached her. “Do you miss me?”

“Oh, god, Max.” She flinched, startled.

“Relax,” he said, keeping his voice in a low, quiet tone. “No one can hurt you here.”

She glared at him. “Except you.”

He grinned. “But you enjoy that.”

Her only response was to roll her eyes and look away.

He moved closer towards her and came right out and asked, “Why won’t you sleep with me again?”

“Because I don’t want to,” she mumbled.

“Oh, you want to; you’re just scared to.”

She looked reluctant to admit it, but she did. “Fine, maybe I am. I’m scared of you, scared of me, of what I’m doing, what I’m feeling.”

“What are you feeling?” He really wanted to know.

“It’s not love,” she said far too quickly.

He smirked. “Isn’t it?” The fact that he had two beautiful girls who were head over heels in love with him made his chest swell with pride. Girls like Tess were so naïve, and girls like Liz were so unable to resist.

“You never answered my first question,” he reminded her. “Do you miss me?”

Liz looked him right in the eye, pleadingly as if she didn’t want to answer. “Sometimes,” she choked out sadly.

That was all he needed to hear. He moved towards her, invading her personal space, and reached down to sneak his hand between her legs.

“Don’t,” she whispered, her desire for him evident by the fact that she didn’t physically push him away.

He removed his hand, held her hips in place, and bent his knees, pressing his own hips forward so that he could grind his erection against her mound.

“Max . . .” When she said his name, it came out sounding like a moan. “Michael and Kyle are right there.

“They’re asleep,” he pointed out. “Just be quiet.”

“But Tess and Maria--”

He silenced her protests with a kiss.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Kyle could count on one hand the number of times he had ever slept in a sleeping bag. He just wasn’t cut out for it. He couldn’t get comfortable, and whenever he did manage to fall asleep, he just woke right back up a few minutes later. It was no way to spend a night.

He shifted around slightly and had to open his eyes just to remember where he was. Michael’s place, right, he realized. It was so dark that he could barely see anything. He closed his eyes again, willing himself to go back to sleep.

“Mmm . . .”

What the hell was that? He slowly opened his eyes again, praying that Tess and Max weren’t going at it on the couch. Eventually, as his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he saw two forms in the kitchen. He heard the moaning again, saw what looked like some close proximity between the two of them, and when he squinted to get a closer look at who he was seeing, he couldn’t believe it was true.

Liz and Max?

He was enveloping her, pushing her back against the counter, kissing her. And she wasn’t exactly saying no. Kyle lay still, not moving, not saying anything, not sure what he could possibly say.

“No,” he heard Liz whisper. “I’m not doing this again.” She slipped out of Max’s embrace and scurried back down the hallway to the bedroom. Max stood in the kitchen alone, looking disappointed. A few seconds later, he walked into the bathroom and shut the door.

Kyle sat upright, stunned. His mouth was hanging open, and he couldn’t get it to close again. Again? Liz wasn’t doing that again? She’d done it before? When? Why? He didn’t understand. Liz was a good person; Max wasn’t. And then there was Tess . . .

He glanced down at Michael, hoping his friend had been awake and had seen everything that had just happened. But Michael was lying on his side, facing the front door instead of the kitchen, and he was fast asleep.

Kyle lay back down, still unable to comprehend what he had just witnessed. He wasn’t sure whether to ask Liz about it or to confront Max, or maybe just to tell Tess and let her rip into the both of them. Only one thing was for certain: There was no way he would go back to sleep now.








TBC . . .

-April
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LOVE IS MICHAEL AND MARIA.
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April
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Part 29

Post by April »

Ugh, I was trying to put up a new poll, and for some reason, it got screwed up. Me pissed.

nibbles:
I love that Kyle has ammunition now. But I'm just worried that he'll blow it.
Well, it's possible.

Leila: Max(ine) the shemale? Hmm, it does work.

Sara: Yep, Max and Liz finally screwed up in this part. It's a big break for everyone's who's not them.

Alison:
Michael and Maria = too cute. I'm wondering how long it will take to Maria to open her eyes. What are we up to...? Part 28... so that would make it another (basing this on April's past posting behavior in Passion)... at least 50 parts before Maria starts to feel the same way about Michael... another 25 parts for her to kiss him... and at least another 20 after that before they have sex. So we're up to about... part 123 before we get what we've been waiting for? How am I doing April?
:lol: Nice mathematics. But it's not going to take as long as it did in Passion. Plus, another thing to take into consideration: when I did updates for Passion, I made each chapter about 14 pages long. Every chapter of this fic is about 18 pages long. It makes a difference.

spacegirl23: The way I see it, Kyle knowing about Max and Liz's affair can only be a good thing. Even if he uses the info wrongly or doesn't use it at all, the fact that someone knows is huge.

killjoy: Well . . . Kyle's going to try to use this info on his own. :?

Nat: Hey, girl! I'm so glad you're reading. I always love your feedback. :D
He likes her but he's not in love with her yet right?
Right. Michael is kind of in the process of falling in love with Maria. He likes her A LOT right now.
Uh, I don't hate Max. I don't like him either but he's definitely an interesting character. I keep reading him as a one-dimensional villain but then there are signs that there's more to him than that.
I feel the same about Max. I hate him, but I find him really interesting to write. And I think you're right to notice the signs that he's not just a one-dimensional villain. He's a REALLY bad guy, but I plan to do a lot with him throughout the course of this fic.
In General: Will Isabel make an appearance? How about Alex? This could get even more interesting I'm also loving that this is a heavy Candy/Lamp-trimmer fic. Especially since these couples seem to mirror each other so well. They are my fab 4.
I'm hoping this gets even more interesting! I have lots of stuff planned, and lots of stuff that I think is going to be pretty shocking and dramatic. And some really cute and funny stuff, too. And I'm glad you're enjoying the Lamptrimmer stuff. Originally, when I started envisioning this fic, I thought Kyle and Tess were going to have very small roles, but I fell in love with them and had to write more for them.

Nove:
It's saddens me though to see her with her two steps forward and 10 back.
Isn't that how I do things in all my fics? :lol:

Ginger: Thanks for reading!

BLONDIE:
I can't believe Kyle caught Max and Liz!!!! What's he gunna do?! What's he gunna do?!
Oh, you'll see. ;)

Krista:
I love the way your characters talk to each other. Do you talk to your friends like this in real life or are you just making it all up as you go along?
:lol: I don't know! What do you mean? I guess sometimes I talk to my friends like this. I don't know! :D

Christina: I hope your computer starts working better. They're no fun when they suck!
I'm sure that at the very least he'll tell Michael, right?
Well . . .
I can't believe that Max was stupid enough to make a play on Liz while others were in listening distance, especially after telling Kyle he could hear his conversation with Michael.
Yep, Max is a really smart guy, but he did a pretty stupid thing in that last part. He let his hormones get the best of him. And of course Liz couldn't resist.


Thanks so much for the feedback! This is a pretty major part, so I majorly recommend listening to "Carol of the Bells" by Mongoheadelvis when you see 8) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bq6ibk9hA1Q This is probably one of my favorite instances of being able to use music in a fic. I uploaded it onto Youtube just for you guys.







Part 29







Christmas morning was always Maria’s favorite morning. When she had been a little girl, she had woken up wondering if Santa had gotten her everything on her wish list. Now there was no Santa, but there were friends. And Max, who didn’t fall into that category and never would. Regardless of his presence, she was eager to delve into the presents underneath the tree.

Marty and Francis arrived early, around 9:00. Maria was already awake—she and Tess had never gone to sleep, and judging by the bags under Kyle’s eyes, he hadn’t gotten a whole lot of shut-eye, either. In fact, the only person who actually appeared to have slept well, or at all, for that matter, was Michael.

“Alright, a football. Yes,” Michael said as he opened up his present from Maria. “I never would’ve guessed.”

“Do you like it?” she asked.

“Yeah, of course.” He looked at the pink heart on the item quizzically but didn’t mention it. “Of course. Thank you, Maria. This is awesome. I love it.”

Kyle grunted. “What do you mean you love it? You hate football. I happen to know that for a fact.”

Michael’s only response was to throw the football at him.

“Ow!” Kyle yelped, holding his hand over his shoulder where the football had hit him. “Message received!”

Michael ended up giving Kyle some of his old painting supplies. He explained that they still worked well and that he wasn’t being cheap with a gift; he just really wanted Kyle’s artwork to be the best that it could be. In a rare moment of seriousness, Kyle thanked his friend, and in a more typical moment of comedy, he handed Michael a gift which turned out to be a cookbook. He made a few jabs about people who couldn’t cook a Thanksgiving dinner, and Maria picked up the football and threw it at him. That was, after all, an insult directed at her, too. To add insult to injury, she told Kyle to open up his present from her. He grew immediately red with embarrassment when he opened a box full of condoms. As if he would ever put those to good use.

“Oh, Maria, open mine next,” Tess chirped, handing Maria a small bag. “Here.”

“It’s not pink, is it?”

Tess didn’t say anything.

Maria opened the bag, reached inside beneath the pink tissue paper, and grabbed hold of a CD. When she pulled it out, she saw that it was a CD Tess had made for her, a collection of songs from back in the day. “Oh my god, a high school mixtape?” She laughed. “That is so awesome!

“I know, right? Remember all those songs we used to listen to?”

“Oh my god, yes. And all the dance routines we memorized.”

“Oh, like the NSYNC ones!”

Maria’s face lit up, and on instinct, both she and Tess stood up and broke out into the chorus of the boy band’s first big hit, “I Want You Back.” They still remembered the dance moves they had spent hours learning.

“Oh my god!” Maria shrieked hysterically as she and her friend tumbled back down onto the floor. “I can’t wait to listen to this!”

Tess went on to give Michael a book called Women 101. He told her it looked very informative, but Maria couldn’t understand why he needed it. He didn’t have a woman in his life at the moment. Or maybe that was exactly why he needed it.

Marty likewise seemed to be giving gifts that would benefit people. He gave Kyle a thirty-five dollar gift card to a fancy men’s clothing store so that he could pick out an outfit that would “impress a lady.” Maria sneaked a glance at Tess. She still seemed to have no idea that she was the lady Kyle was trying to impress.

“Alright, you two have to open up these next ones together,” Marty said excitedly, handing a box to Maria and a smaller box to Michael. “Go ahead.”

Michael looked worried while Maria tore off the paper excitedly. She had asked Marty to get her lingerie. Even though he was by no means an expert on what looked good on a woman, the boy had a heavenly fashion sense. He couldn’t go wrong. So when she lifted the lid of her box to reveal a sexy Santa costume, she gasped in joy. “Ah! Oh my god, Marty, I have always wanted one of these.”

“I’m sure your men will appreciate it,” he said.

“Yeah!” She took the costume out of the box, eager to put it on. It was a red-sequined bra with white fur on the cups and a matching red-sequined skirt (short enough to be underwear) that was lined with fur on the bottom. And of course there was a Santa hat to top it all off. She would have slipped into the bedroom and changed into it right then and there if Max wasn’t around. “Thank you, Marty!”

Kyle leaned over and asked Marty, “You bought that for your sister?

“I bought that for her roommate,” Marty muttered.

“Huh?” Maria asked, unsure if she’d heard him correctly.

“Nothing,” Marty said. “Michael, why don’t you show everyone what I got you.”

Michael looked down at the gift in his hands, opening the lid of the box only enough for him to see what was inside. “I don’t want to,” he said, both looking and sounding horrified.

“Oh, come on,” Marty urged. “Show everyone.”

Slowly, Michael reached into the box and lifted out a lingerie item of his own: a male-thong. Like Maria’s costume, it was red, velvet, though, and lined with white fur around the top.

Maria immediately burst out laughing. “Oh . . . my god.”

“Kinky,” Tess remarked.

Marty shrugged. “Don’t mind me. I’m brilliant.”

“I’m not wearing this,” Michael informed everyone.

“Yes, you are,” Maria said, seizing the thong from him. She rubbed it up against his face and asked, “You like your thong? You like your Santa thong?”

“Hey, get the out of my face.” He took it back from her and threw it at Kyle.

“Hey, quit throwin’ stuff at me!” Kyle yelped, tossing the thong at Marty.

“No, this belongs to Big Boy.” Marty gently set the thong back down in Michael’s lap. “He’ll learn to appreciate it someday.”

Michael’s gift to Marty was a much tamer one: the fifth season of One Tree Hill on DVD. Marty almost fainted when he unwrapped it. Maria immediately invited herself over to have a teen drama marathon with him and Francis. Marty told her they could all look at Playgirl magazines in between episodes. After all, Maria had gotten him a year-long Playgirl subscription for the holidays, along with the first three issues that had come in the mail.

“Kyle, I’ve got a present for you,” Tess announced, reaching under the tree to grab hold of the biggest box.

“You do?” Kyle seemed intrigued. Max seemed . . . less than thrilled.

“Yeah.” She set the large box down atop his lap, and when he opened it, he was ecstatic. “Whack-a-Mole, the Deluxe Edition?” His eyes shimmered as though he were about to cry. “Tess . . .”

“Well, I know you love that game, and even though I’ll probably kick your ass, I figured we could have a tournament sometime.”

Kyle smiled. “I don’t know what to say. This is the nicest thing anyone’s ever given me.”

Maria leaned over and murmured to Michael, “Obviously he’s never had sex.”

“Mmm-hmm,” Michael agreed.

It seemed only fitting that Tess would open her present from Kyle next. When she first pulled The Sims 2 out of the sack, she seemed a bit perplexed, but after Kyle explained that he’d gotten it for her because he knew she enjoyed interior design and thought she might enjoy designing houses for her Sims, she thought it was the most unique and thoughtful present ever. She threw her arms around him and hugged him. Max cleared his throat and suggested that they hurry up. He was hungry.

Liz sat back, quiet and subdued most of the time. The presents she got weren’t quite as meaningful. She wasn’t best friends with anyone there. But she seemed happy with the Christmas blanket she got from Kyle and the new sweater she got from Maria. Tess even gave her a small stuffed teddy bear holding a candy cane. Liz in turn gave lotion and candles to both Maria and Tess and cologne to Kyle, since he was an old friend, and also to Michael since he was technically the host of their festivities.

“Here, Max, why don’t you open mine?” Tess said, handing Max his first (and only) present under the tree. Maria couldn’t help but derive some immense satisfaction from the fact that apparently Max was on the naughty list.

Max opened his gift unenthusiastically. “What’s this?” he asked.

“It’s a scrapbook,” Tess explained. “I’ve been working on it for the past few months. See, I put in some pictures of us and some little things that have special meaning. Do you like it?”

Maria could tell by the look on Max’s face that he couldn’t care less. He didn’t care about any of it, about Christmas, about the gifts, about anyone in that room. He wanted to be at the Hilton in Las Vegas with his parents, bragging about how rich he was and thinking up ways to make himself richer and, if possible, even more of a jackass.

“Yeah, it’s nice,” he said, setting the book aside without even looking at it. “Thanks.”

Tess looked absolutely devastated. And how could she not be? She said she had worked on that book for months. It was important to her, and obviously meaningless to him. If it didn’t cost money, it wasn’t worth anything to Max. Maria at once felt the need to try to take her friend’s hurt away.

“Hey, I got you something, you know,” she said, handing Tess a box. “Open it.”

Tess nodded mutely and pulled off the wrapping paper. Underneath a layer of tissue paper was a pink rhinestone picture frame, and the picture inside was of the two of them when they were six years old and enrolled in their first ballet class together. They were wearing these pink tutus and white tights, and they both had curly blonde hair and big, happy smiles on their faces. It had been a long time since Maria had seen Tess smile like that.

“Oh, Maria.” Tess immediately looked as though she felt better. “I remember this. What did we dance to? Wasn’t it . . .”

“The Good Ship Lollipop, or something like that,” Maria filled in. “Yeah. That was probably the lamest dance I’ve ever done.”

Tess laughed. “You backed out after one class. I stayed in the entire summer.”

Maria shrugged. “Your mistake.”

Tess laughed again. “Thank you, Maria. This is so great. It really brings back the memories.”

Maria nodded. She and Tess had been best friends for so long. It didn’t hurt to remind her of that. And it especially didn’t hurt to remind her of that when her boyfriend was being such an inconsiderate prick.

By 11:00 a.m., there weren’t many presents left. Maria opened up a Wetsy Betsy doll from Kyle. It was an old doll that peed and apparently didn’t do anything else. He joked around with her that it was practice parenting for when one of her hook-ups with a guy inevitably went wrong. “Billy Jr.!” he joked. “Billy Jr.!” Michael shot him a warning look, though, and he gulped fearfully. “Or not.” Marty and Francis assured each other that they would give their presents to each other later, which was obviously code for sex in the name of Jesus Christ. Soon, the only present left under the tree seemed to be a present from Max to Tess.

If he doesn’t give her something nice . . . Maria thought hostilely as Tess pulled open the lid of a large box only to reveal a medium-sized box, only to reveal a small box, only to reveal . . .

“Thirty-five dollars?”

Maria’s mouth dropped open when her friend said that. Thirty-five dollars?! That was as much as Marty had given Kyle on his gift card.

“So you can buy yourself what you want,” Max explained simply, still as uninterested in Christmas morning as he had been when they’d begun opening presents.

“Thirty-five dollars,” Tess said again.

“Yep.”

“Unbelievable,” Maria muttered loud enough so that only Michael could hear. Thirty-five dollars was pocket change to Max. It was meaningless. And obviously so was Tess. Maria had known that for a long time. She could only hope Tess was starting to see it for herself.

Tess cleared her throat, probably to keep from crying, and put the money back in the box. “Well, that was fun,” she said. “I should probably warm up all the food for the dinner.” She started to get up, but Michael stopped her.

“Wait a minute, not so fast,” he said. “There’s one present left.”

One? Maria thought, confused. Neither she nor Tess had opened up anything from Michael, and it wasn’t as though he would leave one of them out. Or give either of them thirty-five dollars. No, unlike Max, Michael was a great guy.

He reached into the tree, back behind the branches, and pulled out an envelope. “You two have to open this together,” he said, pointing to Maria and Tess.

“What’re you up to?” Maria asked him.

“You’ll see.”

“Do you think it’s a request for a threesome?” Maria asked, moving closer to Tess so that they could open the envelope together.

Tess shrugged. “Who knows?”

Michael chuckled. “It’s not . . . just . . .”

Maria tore open the envelope, and Tess took out the paper inside. She unfolded it and said, “What is this?”

“What--” Maria caught a glimpse of one name, and it was all she needed to see. “Britney Spears.”

“Oh my god, where?” Tess asked, looking around.

“No, here,” Maria said, pointing to the name on the piece of paper. “Oh my god, Michael, you got us tickets to the Britney Spears concert?”

“Well, I know you both like her . . . for whatever reason, so . . .” He shrugged.

“Oh my god!” Tess exclaimed. “Seriously?”

He nodded. “Seriously.”

“Ah!” she cried. “Maria!”

“Tess! Michael!” She stared at her friend in astonishment. “These must’ve cost a fortune.”

“You guys are my friends. You’re worth it. Besides,” he said, pointedly look at Max, “money’s not important.”

“Oh my god!” Tess shrieked again. “We’re going to see Britney Spears!”

“Oh my god, I’m so jealous,” Kyle mumbled in a rush.

“We’re going to see Britney Spears!” Tess exclaimed again.

“When?” Maria asked, trying to take the confirmation paper from her friend’s fluttering hands so that she could find out.

“I think it’s in March or April sometime,” Michael told them. “They’re fifth row seats, pretty close to the middle. They’re not bad.”

“Ah!” Tess shot to her feet and started dancing around.

“Oh my god, let’s do the ‘Oops, I Did It Again Dance,’” Maria suggested. “You remember it?”

“Of course. Is it on the mixtape?”

“Of course.”

“Crank it, girl!”

“Wait,” Maria said, scurrying off into the bedroom with her lingerie in hand. “I have to put on my sexy Santa outfit!” She giggled uncontrollably, stopping to give Michael a kiss on the cheek and say, “Thanks, roomie,” before she ran into the bedroom to get dressed. Or rather undressed. Even though they had hit a few speed bumps thanks to Max, this was turning out to be a pretty great Christmas day after all.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Before anyone could get the food warmed up and get the table set up for the meal, the girls had to spend a large amount of time getting ready, Marty and Francis had to sneak off to make-out, and the rest of the boys had to lounge around and pretend not to be hungry when in fact they were starving. Michael went into his bedroom and called his parents to wish them a merry Christmas, Max called his father to ask how the party at the Hilton was going, and Kyle sat on the couch, staring at the deluxe edition of Whack-a-Mole in awe. He smiled, even more awed by the girl who had given it to him. Tess was so cool.

Liz came out of the bathroom looking only halfway made up. “Oh, Maria and Tess are, like, totally hogging the bathroom,” she said. “I can’t even catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror.”

“You look fine,” Kyle told her, barely able to look at her without flashing back to what he had seen the night before. Her and Max . . . he had tried to convince himself that he had just imagined it, that it had been some horrible nightmare he would forget eventually. But he knew it was real. “Can I talk to you for a minute?” he asked her, forcing himself to meet her eyes.

“Sure.” She sat down beside him and asked, “Is everything okay?”

“Well, I was kind of hoping you could tell me.”

Liz wrinkled her forehead in confusion. “What do you mean?”

Unbelievable, he thought. She’s really pretending to not know? Or maybe she truly didn’t know what he was talking about. Maybe he had to just tell her what he had seen. But maybe he was just jumping to the wrong conclusions. He didn’t want to say anything he would regret, something to push her even farther away.

“Kyle?”

“Oh, um . . .” He figured the best way to go about it was to employ some subtle clarity. “I know we’ve grown apart since high school,” he acknowledged, “and I’m not looking to get back together or anything like that. I just . . . I feel like I don’t know you anymore, and I want you to know I’m still your friend. So you can talk to me.”

“Okay.”

He waited for her to say something, and when she didn’t, he added, “About anything.”

“Okay . . .” She seemed to think that he was the one acting unusual.

“Okay,” he affirmed. “So if anything was going on with you, going on in your life, anything at all . . . you’d tell me, right?”

She hesitated a moment, a noticeable moment, before assuring him, “Yeah, of course.” She glanced down the hallway as Maria skipped out of the bathroom and into the bedroom. “Oh, I see an open bathroom space,” she said, rising from the couch. She gave him a friendly smile and hurried to join Tess in the bathroom. Tess, of all people . . .

Kyle sighed, feeling like a failure for not getting her to open up. “Yeah,” he said sadly, “you wouldn’t tell me.” He wished he never would have opened his eyes last night. But he had opened them, and what he had seen . . . he had to do something.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Maria gently shut the door to the bedroom while Michael finished up his phone call with his parents.

“Yeah, we’re gonna eat pretty soon,” he said. “Yeah, it’s all going really well. It’s a lot of fun.”

Maria bounded towards him, pounced onto the bed, and leaned over to exclaim into the phone, “Hi, Mrs. Guerin!” She could tell he was talking to his mother just by the tone he was using.

“Maria says hi,” Michael told his mom. A moment later, he told Maria, “My mom says hi. My dad—my grandma—my whole family says hi, apparently.”

“Ooh, I’m so popular.”

Michael chuckled and returned to his conversation with his mother. “Alright, well, I’m gonna let you go, Mom. I’ll talk to you later. Love you, too. Bye.” He closed his phone and surveyed Maria up and down. “Hey,” he said, “why aren’t you wearing your sexy elf costume yet?”

“Um, it’s sexy Santa, FYI,” she informed him. “And I can’t be sexy Santa right now ‘cause I’ve gotta be your secret Santa first.”

“Secret Santa?” he echoed questioningly. “Okay, meaning . . .?”

“Okay, it’s not, like, a true secret Santa thing. I just . . . I didn’t just get you the football,” she explained. “I got you something else, but no one knows about it. It’s a secret. You following?”

“Yeah.”

“Good. Here.” She handed him an envelope, loving the confused look on his face.

“What’s this?” he asked.

“Duh, open it and find out.”

He started in on the envelope. It didn’t exactly tear perfectly. She had put so much tape on it to ensure that her secret present stayed secret.

“Now, a short disclaimer,” she added. “This could possibly be the cheesiest, most unexciting gift ever. But I think I did something really good and selfless for once, and you were sort of my inspiration.”

Michael pulled a folded piece of paper out the envelope and unfolded it. He read what it had to say, and he looked surprised. “You bought that girl her Hannah Montana backpack?”

And the Jonas Brothers lunch box,” she made sure to put in. She had plucked that little girl’s snowflake off the tree in Wal-Mart right as they were about to take it down. In recognition for her charitableness, the store gave her a typed thank-you letter.

Michael smiled and looked her right in the eye, not saying anything.

“Don’t look at me like that,” she said, blushing.

“Like what?”

“Like you’re proud of me.”

“But I am,” he said. “And isn’t that how you want me to look at you right now?”

She blushed some more and admitted, “Kind of. I’m sorry; I warned you this was totally cheesy. I know it’s not much of a gift, but it’s meant to be, you know, heartfelt or something.”

“No, I think it’s great,” he told her.

Still, she felt the need to explain it. “It’s just that, before I moved in with you, I would’ve never done this. Like never. But being around . . . you’re such a good person, and you make me wanna be . . . better.” She wasn’t sure how else she could say it. “You make me better, Michael.”

He looked amazed to hear that. He folded up the paper and placed it back in the envelope again. “Maria?”

“Yeah?”

He grinned. “Can I be your secret Santa, too?”

She gasped in delight. “Yes! What did you get me?”

“It’s kinda . . . similar,” he said as he reached into his nightstand drawer and pulled out an envelope much like the one she had just given him. “It’s something no one knows about yet, something that wouldn’t have happened without you. You were sort of my inspiration.”

She smiled. Who would have known they would be such an inspirational pair of roommates? She tore through the envelope, careful not to tear what was inside, and pulled out what looked like . . . a contract? With the art museum they both worked at? She frowned, but as she began reading it and realized what it was, her face lit up. “No.”

“Yes.”

“Way! Michael!” She threw her arms around him and hugged him.

“My exhibit’s gonna be in April,” he told her, rubbing his hand up and down her spine.

She pulled away in order to yelp, “Oh my god, this is incredible!” She knew that Michael had once been given the opportunity to showcase his paintings at the museum but had backed out on that offer when Isabel had left. Now he was getting a second chance. “Michael, I’m so . . .”

“Proud of me?” he filled in.

“Yes, and happy for you. You so totally deserve this.”

“Well, you were a huge part of it,” he reminded her. “You were all of it, really.”

“You painted the paintings.”

“Of you.”

She smiled, absolutely touched. Never in her wildest dreams had she imagined that she would be able to bring something so good to somebody’s life, or that somebody would bring something so good to hers. “Michael . . .” She felt her eyes welling up with happy tears.

“Of course, now I’m gonna have to do some more paintings of you,” he said.

“I think I can arrange that.” She thoroughly enjoyed being an artist’s muse. “In fact, I think I can arrange for me to slip into something a little more comfortable, if you know what I mean. Sexy Santa Claus is coming to town.”

He chuckled. “Alright, I’m sure Marty will be happy to see you wearing it.”

“Oh, he won’t be the only happy one.” She grinned. The straight boys would be happy for different reasons. How could they not be? “But Michael, just one more thing,” she added. “Will you wear your Santa thong?”

He laughed heartily as though the idea were completely ridiculous and then shook his head adamantly in response. “No.

Too bad, she thought. It probably would have looked pretty good on him.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Tess asked for Liz’s help getting all the food warmed up and setting it out on the table. Liz didn’t want to help with the meal, nor did she particularly want to help Tess, especially not with Max sitting in the living room watching the two of them like a hawk. When Tess looked at her reflection in the oven window, though, and noticed a few hairs out of place, she fled to the bathroom and left Liz in the kitchen all alone.

Dammit, why do I have to do this? Liz wondered as she used her muscles to lift a heavy casserole dish out of the refrigerator and into the oven to warm up. She would have just put it in the microwave had the sweet potatoes not been in there already.

Marty and Francis came back inside from the make-out session outside and noticed that she was fending for herself in the domestic quarters.

“Oh, honey, let me help you,” Francis volunteered. “Marty says the only thing I cook better than a home-cooked meal is a home-cooked homo.” Both of the boyfriends laughed.

“That’s nice,” Liz said, just smiling and nodding politely. “Really doesn’t make any sense, but . . .” She trailed off when she noticed Max walking towards the door. He was making eye contact with her, the kind of eye contact that was direct and suggestive and said, Meet me somewhere private. She took in a sharp breath and forgot to let it out as she just stared at him and contemplated it against her better judgment. She watched as he placed his hand on the doorknob, turned it to the right slowly, and slipped out the door without either Marty or Francis noticing.

Max Evans, you’re gonna be the end of me, she thought as she quickly made up an excuse to leave the apartment. “Hey, do you two think you can manage here?” she asked Marty and Francis. “I . . . think I left a present in my car. I wanna go look for it.”

“Sure thing, sweetie,” Francis chirped. “We’ll make it hot.”

Marty giggled. “She was talking about the food.”

“I know.”

“Okay, great.” Liz headed for the door, not even bothering to stop in the bedroom and get her coat first. It wasn’t that cold outside; besides, if Max had his way, she wouldn’t be wearing anything for long.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Kyle walked out of the bedroom after congratulating Michael on his big exhibit news just in time to see Liz heading for the door. “Liz,” he called, causing her to whirl around. “Where you goin’?”

“Uh, nowhere,” she said quickly.

“Nowhere?” She seemed in quite a hurry to get nowhere.

“Out to my car,” she elaborated, and it was so clearly a lie. “I’ll be back in a minute.”

“Why are you going out there?” he asked. He had a feeling he knew why, but he wanted his feeling to be wrong.

“Present. Left one in there,” she said, smiling reassuringly as she slipped out the door.

Dammit, Liz. He shook his head, angry. Had he not seen her and Max getting hot and heavy with his own two eyes, he wouldn’t have even considered that Liz and he were involved. But now that he had seen it, it seemed so obvious. They were having an affair, and they weren’t even being all that discreet.

It was happening, and he was so disappointed in his friend.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

8)

Michael sat on the arm of the couch and watched in awe as Maria strode out of the bedroom in her sexy Santa costume. The bra, the short skirt, the hat . . . as if she didn’t look enticing enough, she had put on these knee-high white boots that made her legs look like miles of miles.

He literally began to salivate over her when she moved her hips seductively from side to side, doing a little dance move to impress him. He didn’t usually let his hormones get the best of him, but in this instance, this instance where she was just dressing up and having fun . . . he was salivating.

“Hey, Kyle, come here, you’re gonna wanna see this,” he said to his friend. When there was no response, he cast a glance at him. “Kyle?”

Kyle was standing outside on the balcony, peering down at something below.

Weird, Michael thought, returning his attention to Maria due to his inability not to. There was a half-naked girl in the room and Kyle was looking at something else?

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Liz allowed Max to take her hand and lead her towards his car. It wasn’t a good idea, and she knew it wasn’t a good idea. But she couldn’t stop.

He opened the door and eased her inside. She practically fell down on the seat, and in a moment, he was falling on top of her, slamming the door. Anyone can see through these windows, she thought, both panicked and utterly exhilarated by the notion that they could get caught. We’ll just have to steam them up.

She dug her head back into the seat and moaned as he ravaged her neck with forceful, sucking kisses. His hands were all over her, clawing at the clothes that kept her from him. The car was small, though. Expensive, but small. She carefully and strategically maneuvered herself so that she was sitting atop him, straddling him, having to lean forward to avoid hitting her head on the top of her car. Her hair fell forward, curtaining his face.

He slid his hands under her shirt and ridded her of the inconvenient garment. She reached down and tore his shirt where it should have been unbuttoned, rubbing her groin against his in a circular motion to excite him even more. He cupped her ass through her jeans, then let his animal instincts overcome his as he plunged his hands down the back of her jeans to knead her flesh. She grinned, tugging on his bottom lip with her teeth before sliding her hand down in between him to slide his zipper down.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Tess was just about to announce that dinner was finally almost completely ready and that everyone could go ahead and sit down at the table when Kyle came into the kitchen, looking a little worked up.

“Hey, you wanna tell everyone they can wash their hands and come out here?” she suggested.

“Tess, you have to come with me,” he blurted.

She shot him a confused look. “What do you mean?”

“Just . . . you have to.”

“Where? What’s going on?” Kyle was kind of a strange guy sometimes, but there was something extra peculiar about him in that moment, something she couldn’t quite figure out.

“Just trust me,” he said. “There’s something you need to see.”

Now she was growing a bit worried. He sounded serious, as though there were something seriously bad happening. She would have asked him to just tell her what was going on, but he seemed adamant. He wanted her to see something.

“Okay,” she said unsurely, dropping her oven mitt down on the counter. Their Christmas dinner had already been delayed extensively. It could wait for another five minutes.

She followed Kyle out the door.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Liz gasped as Max lowered her bra beneath her breasts. He didn’t quite remove it, just left it there so that he could sit up and roughly massage her flesh with his hands, mouth, and tongue. He alternated sucking on her breasts with swirling his tongue around her nipple. She tossed her head back and held onto him for dear life. Sometimes he could make her cum just by paying attention to a sensitive and otherwise neglected area.

She slid her hand down to his groin and released his straining cock from the confines of his jeans. She wasn’t even sure how he had managed to remove her jeans; the passion clouding her brain was making it hard to remember. But she pushed her thong to the side and slid herself down along his impressive length, closing her eyes and adjusting to the sensation of him inside of her.

She clung to his shoulders, crying out as he began to push his hips upward.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Maria stood in the kitchen in her sexy Santa outfit, not sure why Tess had given up her post. She took the casserole dish out of the oven and looked around the apartment. Michael was sitting in the living room, looking at the pink heart on his football, and Marty and Francis were sitting at the kitchen table, whispering and giggling together and obviously waiting to be fed.

“Where’d everyone go?” she asked not one of them in particular. A minute ago, apartment 521 had been bustling with activity. And suddenly it was so empty.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Tess made her way down the stairs with Kyle. He was moving right along, hurrying her up, but she felt as though she were going in slow motion. She couldn’t necessarily explain why, but she was filled with a general feeling of anxiety, trepidation, and dread. The closer they got to the first floor, the stronger those feelings got.

She wanted to ask him to stop and just tell her what was going on, but it was as though her voice were caught in her throat, and she couldn’t say anything. He didn’t say anything to her, just led her down each flight of stairs, looking angry, worried, disappointed.

Even though it would have been easier to turn back and run back up to the apartment to join everyone else for Christmas dinner, she followed him. She felt like she needed to.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Liz smiled euphorically as Max pressed fluttering kiss to her jaw and her neck. She wrapped her arms around his neck, plastering her body against his as he thrust up into her. This was who they were: They weren’t good people, and as much as she hated that fact . . . she loved it, too.

She shifted her weight, pushing him down onto his back so that she could take control and fuck him like a certain blonde girl never could.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Tess followed Kyle out of the apartment complex, her feelings of fear almost overpowering her as he led her towards Max’s car. Her feet wanted to dig into the ground and bring her forward progress to a halt, but she forced them to keep moving. Only when Kyle pulled open the door to the backseat of the gold Mercedes Benz did she stop dead in her tracks.

Max. Some girl . . . Liz? Backseat. Partially clothed. All over each other. Sex.

Her mind could only register fragments of information as she stood outside the car, peering inside at something that couldn’t be happening. But it was.

They must have noticed a sudden chill, or perhaps they’d heard Kyle open the door; because they both stopped, shot a panicked and powerfully guilty look at Tess. They were clearly stunned by the fact that they had been caught in the act, but not as stunned as Tess was to see it.

Max pushed Liz off of him onto the floor of the car, where she covered her half-naked body up with her jeans. He tried to slide out while zipping up his pants. “Tess--”

Feeling sick to her stomach, she held her hand up, silently begging him not to say anything, and stumbled away from the vehicle. She contemplated running down the sidewalk and going home, but she didn’t have her keys with her, and Max could catch up to her so easily, and she didn’t want that. She didn’t want to see that face ever again.

Both Max and Kyle called her name as she broke into a run, desperate to get back into that warm, safe apartment and away from . . . from them. From Liz and Max. Liz and Max?

The knowledge that he had cheated on her, that he had cheated on her with someone who had pretended to be her friend . . . that they had been sitting in the same apartment for hours, waiting to have Christmas and keep their big secret . . . it stabbed at her like knives as she flew up five flights of stairs in record timing. She didn’t even know how long it had been going on. She felt so stupid.

A wrecked sob jolted her body as she ran down the hallway of the fifth floor. She almost fell over and had to rely on the wall to catch her. She threw open the door to the apartment and raced inside.

“Hey,” Maria said, “where were--”

She didn’t hear the last part of that question, because she ran into the bedroom and slammed the door. She leaned back against it, sliding down onto the floor slowly, her eyes wide, her chest tight, her spirit decimated. It felt like a bad dream. But it was real.

Max . . .








TBC . . .

-April
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April
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Part 30

Post by April »

My goodness, you guys keep me hopping! Oh, you guys are so funny. :lol: It takes me awhile to update, you know. I have to go through and italicize everything, or else I get irritated.

You guys are crazy. :lol:

Yes, I'm getting this update out a little later than I wanted to. But I had this inexplicable urge to run out and by the first three seasons of Family Guy on DVD. So I had to do that. And then I got distracted looking at all the CDs. You guys know how I am when it comes to music. Anyway, better late than never! Thanks for stalking me.
;)

Alison: I had a feeling people were going to be relieved that Kyle acted fast with the Max/Liz info.

Nat:
He's disappointed in Liz but I don't doubt that he'd be there for her in the end.
Yep, Kyle is pretty much Liz's only friend, besides Maria. Though he is disappointed in her, he's trying his best not to judge her.

Leila:
you know it's possible to turn every statement into something dirty when you have the fantasy for it...I think this could be funny in a dirty way...a bit subtle as well
My exhibit’s gonna be in April
dirty fantasy....you love how my mind works
I knew somebody was going to comment on that, and somehow I had a feeling it would be you. :lol:

Sara:
Sad. Liz is going to lose out, which is too bad because I guarantee the friendships of Maria, Michael and Kyle (Tess wasn't really a friend) would have been a lot greater than being treated like a piece of shit by Max.
Yeah, life is not going to be easy on Liz now. Granted, she brought it on herself, but . . .

Nove:
But hopefully the dinner won't be ruined too badly. It can only get better now that Max isn't there, right?
Well, the dinner took a drastic turn for the worse when Max and Liz got caught.

killjoy:
I have too agree with Leila here.....Michael's exhbit is in April....that sounds so dirty
It's a month, you know! :lol:

nibbles:
As Liz was so afraid of being made to look bad, she's getting her just desserts now. I wonder how Max will react.
How will Max react? Max-like. Like an ass.
Liz is as much pond scum as Max and does not deserve to emerge unscathed. She deserves to face the consequences of her actions.
Liz is definitely responsible for her actions, so I have to agree with you that she deserves to face the consequences. And she will.

spacegirl23:
Gosh, Max is such a jackass on so many levels. I wonder why Tess puts up with him. I mean the gift-giving was just so freaking humiliating.
It was most definitely humiliating. Tess let Max control her for two years, but now that control is gone.

Ginger: If your heart is aching for Tess, that's good. She's a sympathetic character for the most part. And yeah, Max is most definitely pond-scum. Liz is more debatable. She would probably be a decent person if she wasn't so "enthralled" (as you put it) with Max. But the fact of the matter is that she is with Max. I think she's pretty complex.

Krista:
I have to say though, he probably could've been more... sensitive about it. He was totally doing the right thing by letting Tess know, but the way she found out? That's not how any girl wants to find out.
That's for sure. Kyle doesn't know women very well, so he definitely could've gone about it in a different manner. (Of course, if Tess hadn't seen it with her own two eyes, she might not have believed it.) You'll see Kyle kind of worrying about it in this part.

behrlyliz:
And although that was such an embarrassing, devastating and humiliating way to learn the truth about Max, it was necessary. I don't think being told he was cheating would have been as effective.
I think you're right about that. And I think everyone's hoping that Tess doesn't "shoot the messenger" in this situation!

BLONDIE: Well, Max is definitely going to try to sweet talk Tess into forgiving him. And you never know with Tess, it could work.

tequathisy:
I'd feel more sympathy for Liz if she felt bad about hurting Tess, but she doesn't. She has shown, many times she she doesn't care about Tess's feelings at all. The only person Liz cared about was herself.
That's a good point. Liz really just . . . can't stand Tess.
Maria's reaction should be interesting given her new stance on cheaters and cheating.
Oh, I think you guys are all going to find Maria's reaction very interesting.



Thanks for the feedback! This is another one of those really important parts. Emphasis on the really. It might leave you guys with a little confusion, but . . . oh, just read it. 8)








Part 30







The sun was already setting by the time Maria, Michael, Kyle, Marty, and Francis sat down at the dinner table. They had been waiting for Tess to come out of the bedroom, but she refused to even open the door. Kyle told them all about what had happened, about how he had seen Max and Liz together the other night, how he had seen them go out to the car and had decided to show Tess. He didn’t look happy, though. Maria had expected him to be happy. Tess and Max were pretty much kaput now; there was no hope for them. But Kyle looked extremely upset.

Max and Liz had since left, of course. Maria wasn’t sure whether they had left together or not. She could barely wrap her mind around it. Liz was a good friend, and Max . . . Max was just a horrible person. She wanted to talk to Liz eventually, ask her about what had happened. Maybe it would somehow be some big, confusing misunderstanding. She really hoped so. She didn’t want Liz to ruin her life by falling for Max. Obviously falling for him hadn’t worked out so well for Tess.

And that’s why Kyle looks so devastated, she realized. It was all about Tess. He was concerned about her, worried that, by revealing Max’s infidelity, he might have inadvertently hurt her, too. And Kyle hated seeing Tess hurt. So did Maria.

“Well,” she said as five of eight dinner guests sat around the table, “she’s obviously not coming out of that bedroom anytime soon. We should just start eating. Or maybe we should pray. Does anyone know how to pray?” She cast a glance at Kyle, unnerved by his silence. “Kyle?” He was usually so talkative, and as annoying as he could be, she liked that version of him better.

“I’m sorry,” he apologized, rising from his chair. “I can’t . . .” He trailed off and walked out the door, just like that.

And then there were four, Maria thought. Right as she thought that, Marty and Francis also stood up. “Wait, where are you guys going?” she asked.

“Girl, the food’s cold and everyone’s leaving,” Marty pointed out. “Besides, it’s kinda hard to celebrate when the infidelity bomb drops.”

“Sorry,” Francis apologized, “but thanks for inviting us.”

“Wait, so you’re just gonna leave?” She stared at them in astonishment. So what if the four of them were only fifty percent of the group? More food for them.

“You did a good job,” Marty said, walking around the table to give her a brotherly hug. “I’m glad you like your Santa outfit.” He smiled at her, took his boyfriend’s hand, and the two of them left the apartment.

Maria stared at the closed door in astonishment, then turned to look at Michael in the same way. How the hell had this happened? It had been going so well.

Since they couldn’t very well eat an entire Christmas dinner between just the two of them, Michael and Maria tried to coax Tess out of the bedroom. “Tess?” Maria said, knocking on the closed door with the back of her hand. “Are you gonna come out?” She was going to have to come out eventually. “Are you gonna let anybody come in?” She and Michael had to have somewhere to sleep.

“Tess, are you okay?” Michael asked.

Finally they got some sort of response, not the vocal kind, but the kind where the door creaked open ever so slightly and Tess refused to say anything.

Maria stepped a few feet away from the door and suggested quietly to Michael, “Maybe you should go talk to Kyle. I think Tess needs a little girl time.”

Michael nodded in agreement. “Good luck.”

Thanks, she thought as she watched him head out the door. I’m gonna need it. She took a deep breath and made her way into the bedroom, prepared to deal with whatever she would find in there: tears, rage, confusion . . . all those things combined.

Tess was sitting on the floor near the door, her legs pulled up to her chest, her arms hanging limply at her sides. Her cheeks were stained with tear tracks, and even though it was completely dark in the room, Maria could still see the fresh ones were shimmering in her eyes.

“Hey, best friend,” Maria said, figuring Tess could use a little reassurance that she still meant something to somebody.

Tess attempted to smile, but it ended up being more of a grimace. “Hey.”

Maria sat down beside her and spoke softly. “I’m really sorry about . . . you know.”

“Why? You’ve hated Max this whole time. You should be saying ‘I told you so.’”

There was no way she was going to say that. “I’m not sad that you and Max are ending,” she clarified. “I’m just sad you’re ending this way.”

“I don’t think I would’ve let it end any other way,” Tess mumbled, discouraged. “God, I’m so stupid.”

“No, you’re not,” Maria assured her. “You just . . . try to see the good in people, even when there’s not much there.” As far as she was concerned, there was absolutely no good in Max. She had been willing to give him the benefit of the doubt when she’d first met him for Tess’s sake, but he was just too horrible. And he always got worse.

“I just don’t understand,” Tess whimpered, looking so small and frail in that moment. “What did I do to deserve this?”

“Nothing. This isn’t your fault.”

“I must’ve done something.”

Max did something,” Maria reminded her emphatically. “With Liz. He’s to blame.”

“And her?”

Maria sighed. “I don’t know.” All Kyle had said was that he saw Max and Liz climbing into the backseat of his car and suspected something. “Maybe it was an accident.”

“What, she accidentally fell down on top of his cock?” Tess spat.

“It just doesn’t seem like Liz.”

“I thought you said she was nice.” Tess was starting to sound angry. “And smart. And dating a girl. But not so much, Maria.”

“Well . . .” Maria thought about it, and suddenly she felt very stupid as well. “Oh my god.”

“What?”

She shook her head. “Maxine.”

“What?” Tess asked again, sounding more and more confused by the minute.

“Look, Tess, I will talk to Liz,” she promised. “If you want me to.” She was starting to suspect that this wasn’t just a one-time hook-up, but rather a full-fledged affair. She was going to have a few choice words for Liz.

“Go ahead,” Tess urged. “I don’t even care anymore. I just . . . don’t care.” She sighed heavily and rested her head back against the wall, staring off into space. She only maintained that pose for a moment before starting in again. “You know, I don’t even know who I’m most mad at: her or him or myself.”

“Why would you--”

“Because I didn’t see this coming,” Tess cut in to explain. “And I should have. Max isn’t the greatest guy, or the greatest boyfriend; but I never thought he would cheat on me.”

“It sucks, I know,” Maria said, remembering how, even though she and Billy had never been serious, it had been awful to know that he was with another girl. And Tess had actually had to see Max and Liz together. It had to hurt like hell. “But Tess just tell me one thing: Did you love him?”

Tess stared at her, wide-eyed.

“Because you said you did, but I never believed you.”

Tess flapped her arms helplessly against her sides. “I don’t know. But I was with him for two years, Maria. Two years. And when you’re with someone for that long, you start to think about forever. You see the kids and the wedding and the long life together whether you want to or not. And you prepare for that. And now that’s not gonna happen. I’m unprepared.” Suddenly she broke down into tears, unable to hold them in any longer. “I’m so scared, Maria.”

“Shh,” Maria soothed, moving closer so that she could extend her arms and hug her friend. “Why are you scared?”

“Because,” Tess choked out, not letting go of her. “Everything I have is a lie. None of it’s real.”

“You have me,” Maria reminded her, pulling back to look her in the eye. “You have Michael and Kyle. And we’re really your friends. You have your dad, your job. You have you. Isn’t that enough?”

“I hope so,” Tess cried, wiping tears from her cheeks with the back of her hand.

“To be honest,” Maria said, “I’m less scared of you being without Max than I am of you being with him.”

Tess sighed shakily and leaned back against the door again as a slow but steady stream of tears trickled out of the corners of her eyes. “I know.”

Maria gazed at her friend sympathetically, barely able to take seeing her in so much pain. She scooted in closer to her, leaned back against the wall alongside her, and allowed Tess to lean over and rest her head on her shoulder. The poor girl didn’t know it now, but she was going to be alright. And eventually, when the pain died down and Max was truly out of her life, she was going to be better off. Maria was sure of it.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Kyle paced around his apartment like a crazy person on meth. He kept rambling, mumbling things to himself. He was starting to become so incoherent that Michael had to interject because he couldn’t understand a word he was saying. “Look, Kyle, don’t worry. You did the right thing,” he reassured him.

“Did I?” Kyle stopped pacing for a moment, only to start back up again. “Or did I do the selfish thing?” He mumbled something under his breath again, then regained his coherency. “I wanted her to know.”

“Yeah, so Max couldn’t keep cheating on her.”

“And so I could stand a chance with her.” Kyle plopped down on his couch only to shoot back up to his feet in an instant. “God, I should’ve just told her; I didn’t have to show her. But I . . . and on Christmas? What kind of friend am I?”

“The kind who looks out for the people he cares about,” Michael replied. “And when Tess looks back on this, she’s gonna realize that’s all you were doing.”

“Yeah, but selfishly . . .”

“Forget about selfishly for a minute and tell me how the hell you knew Max and Liz were doin’ the horizontal mambo in the first place.” He didn’t know Liz very well, but she didn’t seem like the type to do anything wrong.

“Horizontal mambo?” Kyle echoed.

“Just go with it. It’s one of Maria’s sayings.”

“Oh, well, I . . .” Kyle rubbed his forehead with his hand, clearly stressed. “I saw them last night, right out in your kitchen, makin’ out. And Liz told him she wasn’t doing that again. Again. Implying it’s happened before. Implying they’ve been having an affair. Implying I just opened up a huge can of worms when I opened up that car door.” He sighed. “I’m so disappointed in Liz, you know? We’re not very close anymore, but I’ve known her almost my whole life, and she’s better than this. And Max . . . oh, if I knew how to throw a punch, it’d be lights out for him. And Tess . . . I don’t want her to be mad at me. Do you think she’s mad at me?”

“No,” Michael answered honestly. “I know Tess, and right now, she’s mad at Max, mad at Liz, and mostly, she’s mad at herself. But she’s not mad at you. Because, no offense, but she probably isn’t even thinking about you right now.”

“I know, I know,” Kyle mumbled. He sat down on the coffee table and leaned forward to rest his hands on his knees. “Do you think she could ever see me as a boyfriend?” he asked. “I mean, after she’s done seeing red. Do you think I stand a chance?”

Michael shrugged. “I don’t know,” he replied honestly. “I don’t even know if I stand a chance with Maria.”

“God, we’re really pathetic, aren’t we?” Kyle muttered. “We’re good guys, though, right? Despite random acts of selfishness, we’re good guys.”

“Yeah.”

“And guys like Billy and Max . . . jerks. They’re jerks. And girls like Maria and Tess and even Liz, I guess, go for them all the time.”

“Yeah,” Michael acknowledged, “but guys like Billy and Max are idiots. They don’t know a good thing when they have it; so they cheat.”

“I’d never cheat on Tess,” Kyle said.

“Oh, I’d never cheat on Maria.”

The two of them sat there in Kyle’s living room, the good guys. The good guys without the girls.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

It took awhile—crying, venting frustrations, even a little bit of yelling—but Tess finally let Maria convince her to sit down for Christmas dinner. She didn’t really feel like eating; actually, she was fairly certain she wouldn’t be able to keep anything down. But Maria seemed to think it would be good for her to get out of that bedroom, and she was probably right.

The table was still all set for eight. There was a chair for Liz. And Max.

Tess swallowed hard and pointed out, “The food’s gotta be cold by now.”

“We’ll warm it up again,” Maria said. “We can’t waste it. There are starving children in Africa, you know.”

Tess laughed a little, even though that wasn’t funny. “Yeah, my life isn’t so bad in comparison.” She sat down at the table and thought about Max while Maria warmed all the food up. It all seemed so obvious now, the little hints. She remembered seeing Max flirt with Liz at a party months ago. And just a few days ago, when she had come upon Liz and Max talking outside, Liz had seemed flustered, offering up this lame excuse about an apology. Who knew what they had really been talking about. And all those times Max had cancelled plans with her because of ‘work’ with his father . . . there probably hadn’t been any work. And Max had been the one to recommend that she get Liz to tutor in her biology. Coincidence? Not likely. There was no way they hadn’t been having an affair.

Just as Maria was getting the sweet potatoes out of the microwave for the umpteenth time in the past twenty-four hours, the door to the apartment opened, and Michael and Kyle came inside. They both stopped and stared at Tess when they saw that she was out of the bedroom.

“Hey,” Michael said, as Kyle was apparently speechless.

“Hey,” she returned, trying to form her lips into a small, encouraging smile. She didn’t want them to worry about her. She especially tried to smile at Kyle. He was, after all, the one who had clued her in to Max and Liz’s deceptions. Without him, she would have still been living a lie.

“You okay?” Michael asked her, making his way towards her.

“I’ve been better,” she admitted.

“Come here.”

She stood up and allowed him to circle his arms around her, hugging her. She hugged him back, pressing her eyes shut to keep the tears from falling. She had done enough crying for one day. She didn’t want to cry anymore . . . or not until she got home, at least.

“He’s an idiot, okay?” Michael told her.

“Yeah, he is,” she agreed, letting out a heavy breath as Michael released her from the hug. Her eyes connected with Kyle’s then, and she made her way towards him, hugging him close, pressing her cheek against his shoulder. She just stood like that for a minute, waiting for him to unsurely wrap his arms around her and hold her there. Then she whispered, “Thank you,” just loud enough for him to hear. She would ask him how he knew about Max and Liz later. Right now, she was just so relieved that someone had been honest with her, that someone had cared enough about her to be trustworthy. Because her own boyfriend sure as hell hadn’t.

“Well, what’re we waiting for?” Maria piped up. “Let’s eat.”

“I’m hungry,” Michael added.

Tess smiled at Kyle gratefully and took her seat at the table again. Kyle sat beside her, and Michael and Maria sat across from them. There was going to be a lot more food to be eaten by a lot less people now, but that was okay. Leftovers were a good thing.

“Well, here we are,” Kyle said. “The Core Four.”

“We are not calling ourselves that,” Maria informed him.

“Why not? There’s four of us. We’re core.”

“And what’re we the core of?” she asked.

“Duh, everything,” he replied. “We’re the center of the universe. The world revolves around us. You of all people should know this, Maria.”

“I do know it,” she said. “I know that the world revolves around me. Isn’t that right, Michael?”

“That’s true,” Michael said with a shrug.

“Come on, Core Four,” Kyle pressed. “It’s catchy. We could market it, maybe make some t-shirts.”

Maria rolled her eyes. “You’re so weird.”

Tess smiled despite everything that was going on in her life and even managed to laugh lightly. She had the best friends in the whole world, and that made dealing with betrayal just a little bit easier.

The Core Four, she thought. I like it.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Liz was sitting in her dorm room that night with no lights on. She was on her bed, not moving, just staring blankly ahead and still trying to comprehend everything that had happened that day. Why had she let it happen? Why had she given in to Max yet again? And how had Kyle caught them? And did she feel bad about it, or just bad about getting caught?

The moment she heard the knock on her door, she knew who it was. She didn’t even know how Max knew where her dorm room was. He’d never been there before. He must have just had his ways.

He pushed open the door and stood in the doorway. “Aren’t the dorms supposed to be closed?”

She forced herself not to look at him. “Yeah.”

He strode into the room, leaving the door open so that some light from the hallway filtered in. “What’re you still doing here?”

“Where else am I supposed to go?” she asked in response. “I’m not going home with you, so don’t even ask. And I don’t wanna be with my family, and I can’t be with my friends; not that they were really my friends, but they could’ve been if I’d spent less time with you.”

“So this is my fault.” He sat down beside her on the bed, keeping a surprising amount of distance in between the two of them. “Well, whatever helps you sleep at night. I’ll take the blame. Although I don’t understand why you’re so worked up. I’m the one whose girlfriend caught him cheating, thanks to that little idiot Valenti . . .”

“You don’t get it, Max,” she told him, looking him right in the eye. “They didn’t just catch you; they caught me. And now everyone knows what kind of person I am.”

“So?” He shrugged. “Why do you care what people think?”

“I don’t,” she informed him. “I just think I’m a horrible person, and I never wanted people to know that.” She looked away from him again, feeling her skin start to heat up just because he was near. “You should go,” she whispered.

“I could stay,” he offered. “We never really got to finish what we were doing earlier.” He leaned towards her.

“Leave, Max,” she commanded forcefully. She didn’t want to do something she would regret . . . again.

“Alright.” Max was surprisingly agreeable as he stood up off the bed and sauntered towards the door, but he did mutter, “Women,” disgruntled under his breath as he walked out.

Liz took in a shaky breath and lay down on her side, curling up in the fetal position. She wanted to cry, but she figured Tess was probably crying enough for the both of them. So she forced the tears to stay inside.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Kyle woke up that morning lying underneath the coffee table. Sleeping on the floor . . . that was understandable. But underneath the coffee table? He wasn’t sure how he had gotten there, and he didn’t even bother to remember.

On the floor beside him was the deluxe edition of Whack-a-Mole. He was still gripping one of the mallets in his hand. He set the mallet aside and slinked out from under the table. Michael and Maria were asleep in one of the chairs. Michael had his football in one arm and Maria in the other. Maria was still wearing her sexy Santa lingerie costume.

He heard rustling in the bedroom and went in to find Tess packing up her gifts in a box. She was wearing a t-shirt of Maria’s and a pair of jeans. Her hair was up in a ponytail, and it didn’t look as though she had put any make-up on. Kyle thought she still looked gorgeous, but she didn’t look like herself.

“Tess,” he said.

“Hey.” She smiled at him but barely looked at him. He could see that her eyes were red and puffy. She’d probably started crying when she woke up. It was probably weird for her to wake up and remember that Max wasn’t her boyfriend anymore.

“Did you . . . sleep well?” he asked stupidly. What kind of question was that? Of course she hadn’t slept well.

“Not really,” she replied. “I’m actually kinda tired. I was wondering if you could take me home. I’d drive myself, but I came with . . . you know, with Max, so . . .” She trailed off, an unmistakable sadness present in her voice.

“Yeah, no problem. Just let me find my shoes . . .” His shoes were lying in the hallway, so he stepped into them. “Keys . . .” He grabbed his keys off the kitchen counter. “You want me to take that box?”

“I’ve got it,” she said, starting for the door.

“Alright.” He cast one more glance at Michael and Maria sleep on the chair and said, “Later, loverbirds,” as he followed Tess outside.

It only took about ten minutes to get to Tess’s apartment. Kyle wished it had taken longer. He liked being around her.

“Thanks for taking me home,” she said as they sidled down the hallway to her apartment. “You know, thanks for . . . everything.”

He nodded, so relieved that she wasn’t mad at him for blowing the lid on Max and Liz. “Do you wanna talk about it?” he asked, willing to listen.

“Right now, I kinda just wanna go to sleep and forget Max Evans even exists,” she said as she inserted her key into her lock and pushed open the door. She and Kyle both stopped still when they came face to face with the devil himself. Max was sitting on her couch, flipping through a magazine with Donald Trump pictured on the cover.

“What’re you doing here?” Tess ground out, her voice trembling as though she were afraid to see him so soon.

He smiled at her and set his magazine down. “Hey, sweetie.”

“Don’t,” she snapped. “Don’t even . . .” She glared at him with pure fury in her eyes. “Get out of here.”

“Tess,” he said, slowly rising to his feet, “we need to talk.”

“I have nothing to say to you.”

“Then let me explain myself.”

She huffed incredulously. “What is there to explain? You cheated on me. You probably had an affair.”

He shrugged and confessed, “I probably did.” Then he shot Kyle a look and asked, “How’d you find out about it anyway, loser?”

“Leave him out of his, Max,” Tess bit out.

Kyle knew he was already in it, so he set the box of Tess’s presents down on the floor and said to Max, “I saw you and Liz making out in the kitchen on Christmas Eve. I wanted to make sure I had the story straight before I passed it along to Tess. And when I saw you and Liz going out to your car . . .”

“Kyle, you don’t have to say anything to him,” Tess told him.

“Neither do you, Tess,” Max pointed out. “But you do. You say things to me. You think about me. You take your clothes off for me. You know why?” He grinned. “Because you love me.”

Tess shook her head. “I used to.”

Max laughed. “Yesterday.”

“But I don’t anymore.”

“Today.”

“It wasn’t real,” Tess said forcefully. “What we had . . . we didn’t have anything, because it wasn’t real.”

Max shrugged. “We had great sex.”

You had great sex,” she corrected. “I had the most degrading, unpleasant, obligatory experiences of my life.”

Max grunted. “Don’t lie.”

“Lying is your thing, Max, and apparently you suck at it. Because you got caught.”

“Took you long enough.”

Kyle stood back and watched the ex-couple uncomfortably. He didn’t understand how this was Max’s way of trying to win Tess back. Or maybe that wasn’t what he was doing. Maybe he was just being a jackass. That was one thing he was very good at.

“You know what?” Tess wasn’t backing down. “Liz may be into your arrogance and your rough sex, but I’m over it. So when she decides she wants something more, someone who actually loves her instead of just loving himself, don’t come running back to me. Because I don’t want you. I hate you.”

Kyle grinned. Nice job, Tess. It was so great to see her standing up for herself. He knew she’d probably never been this assertive and strong-willed around Max before.

“And a few days from now when your vibrator starts to bore you, give me a call,” Max said. “Unless you’re gonna call him.” He motioned towards Kyle.

“Get out of my house, Max. I never wanna see your face again.” Tess stormed past him into her bedroom, slamming the door.

“Hmm, feisty,” Max remarked. “If only she’d talked like that when we’d been dating.”

Kyle rolled his eyes and bent down to pick up the box of gifts again. “She said get out, Max.” He carried the box to the kitchen table, opened it, and then closed it again. They were her gifts. She could unpack them when Max was gone.

“You must think you’re a big man, huh?” Max said, making no effort to leave the apartment as he sauntered towards Kyle. “Her knight in shining armor. But think about this: You dated Liz. You’re in love with Tess. And I’ve had ‘em both. On their backs. On their knees. I’ve had ‘em begging for it and screaming my name. And you never will. It’s pretty obvious you’re a virgin, and I think you should get used to it; ‘cause I don’t see that changing anytime soon. Unless Tess gives you pity access.”

“You mean kinda like she gave you?” Kyle retorted. “You know, you’re not half as great as you think you are.”

“That’s right,” Max said. “I’m better. And you, Kyle Valenti, are pathetic. And what’s more than that . . . you just made the biggest, baddest person in Santa Fe mad at you. So you’d better watch your back.”

Kyle cowered a little despite his will not to. Everything about Max in that moment—his voice, his posture, what he was saying—was threatening.

“I’ve got money, and I’ve got connections,” Max went on. “All I have to do is say the word, and you disappear. I doubt anyone will miss you. I doubt Tess will miss you.” Ironically then, he smiled and gave him a pat on the back. “Have a good day, buddy.”

Kyle stood like a statue as Max walked out. He wasn’t sure what Max was alluding to, but it didn’t sound good. He’d always known it was a bad idea to compete on any level with a guy like Max, but now it seemed worse than he had imagined it could be.

He took a deep, calming breath, and joined Tess in her bedroom. “Hey, are you okay?” he asked her. He hoped she was, because he sure as hell wasn’t.

“Yeah,” she answered, sounding anything but. “I was trying to be really strong, but . . . it was hard.”

He nodded, understanding how it could be hard to be strong in the face of Max Evans. He felt like a wimp for not standing up for himself just now, for not threatening Max back, but what could he really say? Max didn’t see him as a threat; he saw him as an obstacle.

“You did good,” he assured her.

“Thanks,” she said. “What’d he say to you just now?”

Max’s words reverberated off the walls of his mind: “All I have to do is say the word, and you disappear.”

Kyle tried to smile at her so she wouldn’t worry. “Nothing,” he lied. She didn’t need to know.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Maria smiled through her sleepy daze as she felt a pair of large, warm hands caressing her thigh. “Mmm, that feels nice.” She started to wake up a bit, though, and jolted when she remembered who was lying next to her. “Michael, hands! Hands!”

“Oh god, I’m so sorry,” he apologized quickly, jerking his hands away. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay,” she assured him. “Actually felt kinda good.” She smiled and turned around in the chair to face him. “Morning, sleepyhead.”

“I could say the same to you. Where’re Kyle and Tess?”

“Who knows? Maybe they’re at his place. Or maybe he just took her home. Do you think she’s gonna be okay?”

Michael shrugged, keeping one arm wrapped around her back. “She seemed okay last night.”

She rolled her eyes. “You’re so obviously a guy. She was faking. Guys never known when girls are faking anything.”

“I think she’ll be okay,” Michael said confidently. “It’ll take some time, but eventually she’ll figure out she’s better off without Max.”

Way better,” Maria agreed emphatically, absentmindedly playing with the buttons on his shirt. “Do you ever feel like our lives are like a soap opera?”

He thought about it for a moment, then replied, “No. My life has nowhere near enough bed-hopping to be a soap opera.”

“Mine does. But soap operas are all, like, glamorized rape and pregnancies, and sex changes. You can’t forget the sex changes.” She couldn’t remember what soap opera she had watched over the summer late at night on SoapNet where a guy had undergone surgery to become a girl. “My life doesn’t have any of that stuff.”

“I’m glad.”

“But still, there’s lots of drama around here. And oddly enough, you and I are, like, the ones with the least drama right now.” She smiled at him. “We’re so cool.”

“Yeah, we are,” he agreed readily. He plucked at one of the straps on her Santa bra and asked, “Are you ever gonna wear anything else again?”

“What?” she asked, feeling totally and completely comfortable in her costume. “Would you rather see me in a sweatshirt and sweatpants?”

He smiled and shook his head. “Not so much.”

“Hmm.” She scooted downward so that she could rest her head on his chest. “Oh, I should probably talk to Liz today,” she groaned, not looking forward to it. “I gotta find out what she was thinking—or not thinking—when she did the nasty with Max. Emphasis on nasty. I know they were having an affair. I have to confront her about it.”

“Sounds fun,” Michael mumbled sarcastically.

“Yeah, not really.” She sighed, hating that Liz and Max had been getting away with their sexcapades right underneath her nose and she hadn’t even suspected a thing. “Everybody cheats these days, huh?” she realized. “No one’s ever faithful.”

“Well, it . . . it happens,” Michael said regretfully, “and it’s way too common; that’s for sure. But not everybody does it. I think if two people are together and they’re meant to be together, no one can get between them. Not permanently, at least.”

“Yeah,” she said. “But it’s just, at times like these, I’m glad I don’t have a boyfriend, you know?”

“Yeah,” he said, waiting a moment before adding, “I’m glad I don’t have a boyfriend, too.”

She tilted her head back to look up at him. “That’s stupid,” she told him. “That’s stupid humor, Michael. That’s so funny.”

“I know,” he said. “I’m a regular comedian.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Maria paid a visit to Liz’s dorm that afternoon. It wasn’t that hard to find Liz. Her car was one of three in the parking lot, and she was loading items into the backseat. Apparently Liz had a thing for backseats.

“Finally going home?” Maria asked as she approached her.

Liz didn’t even bother to look at her. “It’s better than staying here,” she mumbled as she shoved a duffle bag, probably full of clothes, onto the floor in the back.

“Are you sure?” Maria asked, stuffing her hands in the front pockets of her coat. “‘Cause you can’t fuck Max at home. Oh, wait, that is better.”

Liz finally climbed out of the backseat and shut the door. “Maria, I really don’t wanna have this conversation with you.”

“And trust me, it kills me to have to have this conversation with you,” Maria informed her, “because Max is . . . so horrible, Liz. And I never thought that you . . . with him . . .”

Liz shrugged. “Yeah, well, I’m full of surprises.”

“Not the good ones.”

Liz rolled her eyes and leaned back against her car. “Maria, please, spare me the lecture on the moral highroad, because you know nothing about it.”

She sounded so insulting and accusatory; Maria snapped. “God, what is wrong with you? I’m your friend. I’m just trying to figure out what the hell’s going on with you and help you.”

“What’s going on with me?” Liz echoed. “What’s going on with me is that I’ve fallen hard for a guy I never wanted to fall for. I met Max last year when he and Tess were ‘taking a break’ or whatever, and we got involved.”

“Last year?” Maria echoed, feeling her stomach tighten.

“Yeah. He quit seeing me when they got back together, and I tried to get over him, okay? But we just . . . I don’t know, we have this connection.”

“Yeah, groin to groin? It’s called sex.”

“It’s not just that kind of connection,” Liz insisted. “Sometimes when I’m with him, it’s like he stops being the arrogant, selfish bastard we all know he can be, and he starts being a real person, a real person with real feelings. For me.”

Oh god, she’s so far gone, Maria thought, shaking her head sadly. She was really hoping Liz and Max had been a purely sexual pairing. “He doesn’t love you, Liz.”

“I know,” Liz acknowledged, “but I might love him.”

Maria sighed heavily. This was really bad. When girls fell in love with Max, there was just nothing good about it.

“I don’t know why,” Liz admitted. “I can’t even explain it. But seriously, Maria, Maxine? How stupid can you be?”

I can’t believe this, Maria thought. Now she’s really insulting me. Who was this girl and where was her friend? “You might be in love with ‘Maxine.’ How stupid can you be?” she retorted sharply. “Liz, if that’s true . . . then I feel sorry for you. But what you did is still very wrong.”

“Oh, save it, Maria,” Liz snapped. “You’re one to talk. You’ve slept with taken men, married men, even.”

“That’s in the past. I’ve changed; and so have you. The difference is, my changes are good. I’m a better person now, and really, even though I can get a little wild and out of control, I’ve never been that bad. Because I’ve never intentionally set out to hurt somebody or manipulate somebody. And right now Tess is hurting badly because you and Max manipulated her.” She looked at Liz, looked into her eyes, and she saw something there that scared her, something that reminded her of Max. “And you don’t even care, do you?”

“How do you think I felt whenever I had to watch them kiss or talk or hold hands?”

“Honestly? I don’t even care how you felt,” Maria informed her, losing any sympathy she may have felt for her. “Tess Harding is my best friend. She’s always gonna be my best friend. So whenever I’m put in a situation where I have to either have to side with her or somebody else, she’s always going to win.” She couldn’t think of a way to put it any more simply. “That’s all there is to it.”

Liz shrugged. “I can’t be blamed for the way I feel.”

“But you can be blamed for the things you do,” Maria said. “You chose to sleep with Max even though knew he had a girlfriend. You knew you might get caught, and even that didn’t stop you. Why you settled for being the secret girlfriend in the first place, I’ll never know; but you have to get away from him, Liz. Max Evans is not capable of being a human being. He’s a monster; you know this.”

Liz sighed desperately. “He could be better . . .”

“He can’t,” Maria cut in, sure of that fact. “You don’t know, Liz . . . you don’t know how horrible he is. You look at him, and you see this guy who has potential. But do you know what I see when I look at him? No conscience, no remorse. No soul.”

“Way to over-dramatize.”

“It’s true,” Maria insisted. For a smart girl, Liz sure could be dumb sometimes. “If you stay with him, you’re setting yourself up for heartbreak. Just like Tess did.”

Liz grunted indignantly. “I’m nothing like Tess.”

“You will be,” she promised, feeling the lump rise up in her throat. “And then you’ll be sorry. Because some night down the road when you’re not home, Max is gonna get bored or greedy or both; and even though he’s dating you, that’s not gonna stop him from sleeping with your best friend, because that’s the kind of person he is.”

“What’re you talking about?” Liz asked. “What do you mean, sleep with my best--” She cut off abruptly as what looked to be realization dawned in her eyes. She stared at Maria open-mouthed, not saying anything.

Maria looked away from her as the shame crept in. She’d said all she could. If Liz didn’t know enough to stay away from Max now . . . that was her problem.

She sulked away as the memories of that night flooded back, and she could no longer push them away.









TBC . . .

-April
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LOVE IS MICHAEL AND MARIA.
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