Passion (M&M & CC/UC, AU, Adult, ) (Complete)

[April]

nibbles: lol, torture every other day? Sorry about that. I'm glad you keep reading, though.
Alien_Friend: Oh, I love So You Think You Can Dance?, too! Actually, I reference it later on in this fic! lol
Mercedes: Michael and Maria's friendship is most DEFINITELY becoming "charged with sexual energy," as you put it. More to come.
Sara: lol, it's not that Max's hand are ewwww, just not right for Maria. And I know what you mean about Alex. Poor guy!
spacegirl23: Maria would definitely get a lot of confidence back working at the MDA, wouldn't she? Stay tuned to see how that all plays out.
crazysnape: Hey, I'm so glad to see you're still reading! Thanks!
Elle: Oh, trust me, there's more sexual tension to come! And yes, you can borrow Michael for a massage.
tequathisy: Passion Max did beat Passion Michael for the "who would you rather date" poll! Edged him out by two votes, I think. Maybe Max should date one of the readers instead of Maria, huh? lol
Brie: You felt the room getting hotter, huh? Mission accomplished! Thanks for reading!
Christina: Maria does have good guy friends. Makes me wish I had friends like that!
cassie: Maria is definitely going to come up with a kick-ass dance routine. I promise.
Tine: Yep, even the massage wasn't enough to trigger a Max/Michael fight. There's going to be one, though. Maybe even more than one. You'll see.
ForeignLoveMonkey: Interesting prediction. I guess you'll have to keep reading and see if you're right!
pookie76: So you like ForeignLoveMonkey's prediction, huh?


Thanks for reading and feedbacking, everyone! I think you'll like this part. It's fun.










Part 61










“Kyle Valenti, reporting for duty.”

Maria laughed. “It’s Alex’s movie, Kyle, not the military.”

“Ooh, honey!” Isabel chirped, skipping towards him. “I’m so glad you’re here. Alex, I told you he’d be our leading man.”

“Yeah,” Alex muttered, keeping his eyes on his video camera instead of the couple. “Yeah, that’s great.”

Maria felt her heart go out to him. She knew what it was like to want somebody who probably didn’t want you back.

“Man, you are such an overachiever,” Michael commented as he walked around, surveying the set Alex had constructed for filming.

“Well, at least I won’t be put in a situation where I have to pull a movie out of my ass the night before it’s due,” Alex retorted dryly.

“Oh, burn, baby,” Maria teased.

He glared at her while saying, “Hey, Alex, got any nude scenes in this movie? I’m sure Maria would be willing to participate.”

“Oh, I’m sure you’d be willing to join her,” Alex muttered.

“What’d you say?”

But Alex didn’t answer. He had made the mistake of looking up and seeing Isabel and Kyle with their arms around each other, kissing.

Look away, Alex, Maria thought. The best thing to do is look away. It was what she always did with Michael and Liz.

Michael came up beside her and randomly asked, “You wanna go get something to eat?”

“Uh, yeah, sure,” she said, turning and heading for the car.

Michael was following her, but Alex came up to him and stopped him. “Wait a minute, you can’t go,” he whispered loudly, loud enough for Maria to overhear. “You’re gonna leave me here with the two of them? I’ll feel like a third wheel.”

“Well, that’s what you get for casting both of them,” Michael reasoned.

“I didn’t want Kyle to be in the movie. I just wanted Isabel. Kyle was her idea.”

“And you should have known that was coming. See how it’s still your fault?”

“But . . . what am I supposed to do? How do you stand there and watch the girl you love shoving her tongue down another guy’s throat?”

“I really wouldn’t know,” Michael answered flippantly.

“Yeah, you would.”

“What the hell are you talkin’ about, man?”

Maria cleared her throat and neared the two guys, joining in the not-so-hushed conversation. “Uh, Alex,” she said. “I couldn’t help but overhear. Actually, you might wanna tone it down or Isabel and Kyle are gonna overhear, too.”

Alex cast a glance back over his shoulder at the couple, but they were still in their own world, making out. “What do I do?” he asked both Michael and Maria, his voice full of desperation.

“It’s simple,” Michael said. “You offer yourself up for a three-way.”

“What?”

“Yeah, they’re into that. Plus, I’m sure Isabel would be up for a little DP action.”

Alex immediately dismissed the idea. “No. Okay, here’s what you need to do. You need to take Kyle out back behind this building and bludgeon him so he can’t be in the movie.”

“Sorry, can’t do that,” Michael said. “He’s been my friend longer than you have.”

Alex whimpered helplessly and gave Maria a pleading look. “Maria!” he whined. “Help me.”

“Okay, Alex, you wanna know how to go about this? You gotta be smart. So, obviously, the world’s dumbest human being isn’t gonna be any help,” she said, pushing Michael aside.

He chuckled. “Bitch.”

“It’s easy,” Maria told Alex. “You wanna separate Isabel and Kyle, all you have to do is cast Tess in this little movie of yours. Because statistics show, if Isabel, Tess, and Kyle are in the same room, he’s gonna pay more attention to Tess.”

Alex’s face lit up. “Maria,” he said. “You are smart. Michael . . . you’re not.”

Maria looked up at Michael and smiled. “So true.”

Michael shook his head and said, “Come on, genius. I’m hungry.” He put his arm around her shoulders and led her back to the car.

“Good luck, Alex,” Maria called back.

“Thanks,” he said, sounding nervous. “I’m gonna need it.”

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

Michael watched in amazement as Maria came back to the table with a corndog, fries, onion rings, and a hamburger. She sat down and immediately delved into the fries, looking hungry.

“Are you really gonna eat all that?” he asked.

“Yes!”

He laughed. That was his girl, unafraid to stuff her face if she wanted to. She wasn’t like some girls who would eat a single pea and be full. No, she was cool.

When he watched her wrap her gorgeous mouth around the end of her corndog he felt strangely . . . aroused and had to shift around a little and tug on his jeans to loosen them.

“What?” she asked, noticing his movements.

“Nothing.”

“No, what?”

He smiled a little and confessed, “Just, seeing you with a corndog in your mouth . . . made me imagine what you look like with a cock in your mouth.”

She raised her eyebrows, but she didn’t get outraged the way he’d thought she would.

“And then I got hard ‘cause I imaged my cock in your mouth.” He had no problem admitting it. The girl was sexier than hell. Always had been. Besides, blowjobs . . . Garden of Eden.

Still, she didn’t get outraged. Instead, she just joked with him. “Are you equating the size of your so-called manhood with the size of this corndog?” she asked, waving it around in front of his face. “‘Cause it’s kind of puny.”

“Come on, baby, you’ve seen the goods. Twice that size.” He smirked.

She shook her head and said, “No, it’s actually kind of hard, though.”

“What? Me? We already established that.”

“No, I mean . . . giving a blow-job. I have a really small mouth.”

“No, you don’t.”

“Yes, I do. Just ‘cause I have big lips doesn’t mean I have a big mouth.”

He opened his mouth to say something, but she didn’t let him get a word in.

“Don’t even say it. Just because I talk a lot, that doesn’t mean anything, either. I have a small mouth.”

“Hmm,” he said, envisioning the picture in his mind. “And I have a big cock. Small mouth, big cock . . . could be interesting.”

“I swear to God, if you’re propositioning me . . .”

“I don’t need to. I got a girlfriend,” he reminded her.

“Right. And I have a boyfriend,” she reminded him in turn.

“I know.”

“Right, so . . .” She rolled her eyes, picked up her corndog and took another bite, an over-exaggerate bite this time, and he shifted around again.

Damn, girl . . .

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

Ever since they had more or less told Maria to go away, the dance team hadn’t been practicing as much. Liz noticed it, and honestly, it concerned her. Maria had made them practice three or four times a week. Now, without her, they were only practicing twice a week for fifteen minutes at a time. Liz didn’t know much about dance team yet, but she did know that they didn’t look as good and precise as they did when Maria had been teaching them. She was a little dictatorial, but she knew what she was doing.

The team had only gone through the dance once that day and had just hit their ending poses when Pam threw her arms down and said, “Alright, so we’re done for the day.”

The other girls immediately started talking and giggling and headed over to the bleachers to collect their things and get out of there. Liz didn’t quite feel comfortable speaking up, but she knew she needed to. “Um, guys?” she said. “You know, we only did it once. I really think we could use a little more practice.”

The girls looked at each other, and Pam spoke up and asked, “What are you saying, Liz? You wanna waste some more of your Saturday here?”

“Well, I don’t think it’s a waste,” Liz said. “I mean, we want our next performance to be good, don’t we? Of course we do. And we definitely wanna be better than we were last time.”

“Well, we will be,” Pam assured her. “We kick ass on this dance.”

“That’s the thing. I’m not so sure we do,” Liz said hesitantly. “I mean, I just think we could do better, is all. I guess.”

Pam stalked toward her, looking angry. “So, what? Maria leaves and you fill her shoes?”

“No, that’s not what I’m doing.”

“Because, nobody likes a bitch, Liz. And Maria’s a bitch. All work, no play. That kind of thing.”

If she hadn’t been so worried about what they would all think, Liz might have defended Maria. They weren’t on the best of terms by any means, but still . . . “No, I’m not trying to be like Maria,” she assured them. “I’m just . . .” She surveyed them all and noted how unhappy they looked, how the thought of doing any more dancing really didn’t seem to please them. She didn’t want them to get mad at her. She didn’t want them to get mad. So she gave in.

“You know what? You guys are right. Let’s just call it a day. Practice next week before the game.”

“Good,” Pam said. “All play.” She turned and headed back towards the bleachers and the other girls. They all looked a lot happier now. But Liz didn’t feel happy about the choice she’d just made. She knew she worried too much about what other people thought, but it was like an addiction. Once you started worrying, it was really hard to stop.

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

Time to get contemporary, Maria thought as she pulled her hair up into a ponytail on top of her head. She had a few ideas in mind for what she wanted to do for her showcase dance. She just had to choreograph it. She didn’t imagine it would take long. Choreography was her favorite thing in the world and something that had always come naturally.

She went out into the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water out of the refrigerator before she got started. She took a swig of the ice cold water, knowing it would taste a lot better after she’d worked up a sweat.

She heard the front door open—did anyone knock anymore?—and turned around just in time to see Liz step inside. Great.

“Michael’s not here.”

“That’s alright. I came to see you.”

Maria rolled her eyes, already not liking this. “Great, that means you’re either gonna make nice or start drama, both of which sound excruciating and time-consuming to me.”

“I need your help.”

Maria laughed out of anger. “Oh, that’s rich.”

“I’m serious, Maria. I need your help.”

“Well, don’t waste your breath. You’re not gonna get it.”

“It’s the dance team.”

As much as she wanted to be decisively uninterested, that caught Maria’s attention.

“They won’t listen to me,” Liz whined helplessly. “I’m trying to be the captain, but I’m no good at it.”

“Well, then I guess that’s my fault,” Maria acknowledged. “I made you captain because I didn’t think you’d turn into a dramatic bitch, but, hey, you proved me wrong.”

“Come on, Maria, that’s really harsh.”

“Is it, Liz? ‘Cause in case you’ve missed it, you haven’t been too nice to me lately.”

“You’re not being nice to me, either,” Liz pointed out.

“Because, you know what, I’m just not a nice person. Deal with it.”

Liz rolled her eyes impatiently. “Come on, Maria. It’s the dance team. I know how much it means to you.”

“You’re right, it does mean a lot to me, but I’ve so got bigger fish to fry.”

“Like what?”

“Like a potential career at a real-life dance production company. That’s what. I don’t have time to spend on a bunch of girls who don’t like me and aren’t willing to work hard at my choreography. No, so . . .”

“Please, Maria? You’re such a good dancer.”

“Oh, flattery. That’ll get you somewhere,” she mumbled sarcastically.

“All you have to do, really, is show up and bark out orders. That way . . .” She trailed off.

“What?” Maria urged. “That way everyone will still love you and think of me as the biggest bitch ever? That’s a little self-serving, don’t you think?”

“Oh, save it, Maria!” Liz finally snapped. “I’m sick of you acting like we’re so different. We are not different.”

“No, the difference is that I’ve changed for the better. You’ve changed for the worst.” Maria grabbed her water bottle and headed off towards her bedroom, leaving her ex-friend with that idea to ponder. It was the truth.

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

Michael pressed opened the door to Maria’s bedroom and peeked inside. Wow, he thought. She wasn’t dancing yet, but she was stretching, bending over to the left, literally touching her head to her knee while keeping her legs straight. Her flexibility was impressive. And so was her ass.

Wow. It was the only word that came to mind.

“Is your name Tom?” she asked, turning her head to look up at him while continuing the stretch.

He had to jerk himself out of his thoughts. “Huh?”

She smiled. “You’re peeping.”

I am, he realized. Shit.

She stood up straight, much to his disappointment, and continued to tease him. “Peeping Tom. Peeping Michael.

“Well, your ass is so huge. How could I not peep?” he shot back.

“Oh, if I wasn’t so focused on this showcase dance, I’d kill you right now.”

He grinned and went to sit down on her bed. “I’m sure I’d enjoy it.”

She rolled her eyes and said, “Okay, you have to leave. I can’t choreograph while you’re here.”

“I could be, you know, your captive audience,” he reasoned.

“No, I seriously can’t choreograph unless I’m alone.”

“You can be alone when I’m here.”

“Really can’t.”

He grinned. “I’m too hot.”

“You’re too obnoxious, is what you are. I literally don’t have room to dance because your big, fat ego is suffocating me right now.”

He lay back on her bed, on the bed that was previously his bed, and said, “I’m bored.”

“So you automatically come bother me?”

“Yeah.”

She sighed impatiently and said, “Fine, but if I accidentally kick you in the face, I’m not liable.”

He chuckled, placing his hands behind his head to get a better look at her. “Oh, I bet you’d do that on purpose.”

“Why?”

“Because, regardless of how much you enjoy looking at my manly, attractive face, you wanna be considered the best-looking person at this school. So you’d pull a Tonya Harding with your foot.”

“Okay, you do realize your masculinity just plummeted by mentioning Tonya Harding.”

“It’s current events, baby,” he reasoned, “that are . . . not so current.”

She rolled her eyes again and said, “See, I told you I can’t choreograph with you here. I can’t even stretch.”

“Oh, I could stretch you.” He grinned and stretched out to touch the inside of her thigh with his foot.

“Stop it,” she said, taking a step back.

“Make me.”

“You’re an ass.”

Again, he grinned. “Speaking of . . . maybe you could turn around and bend over again.”

“Maybe you could be a little more of a perv. Come on, Michael. I seriously need to get choreographing.”

He sat up, then had an idea. “Alright, teach me some moves,” he said, springing to his feet.

“What?”

“Let’s dance. I’m ready.”

“Michael, I am not--”

“Come on, it might help you,” he reasoned, “give you some choreography ideas.”

“Uh, no, it won’t,” she assured him. “I’m going for way advanced here. It’s gonna be a mixture of hip-hop and contemporary. Way beyond your capabilities. Trust me.”

“Come on, DeLuca. I told you, I’m bored out of my mind.”

“So go, I don’t know, start a script for your movie or something.”

“No, I’d rather hang out with you.”

“And dance?”

“I’m bored.”

She put her hands on her hips and looked up at him, her eyes blazing. “You’re not gonna let up on this, are you?”

“No.”

She sighed, resigned, and raked one hand through her hair. “What the hell? Why not? Alright, pay attention, ‘cause I’m only going over this once, ladies.”

“Wait, ladies?” he echoed, looking around to see if there were, in fact, ladies in the room. But there was just him.

“Sorry,” she said. “Dance team habit. Alright, jackass, listen up. Is that better?”

“That’s better.”

“Okay, so, on the first four counts, you’re gonna shimmy.”

“I am?”

“Yeah.”

He laughed. “Okay, but you gotta demonstrate.”

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

“I just don’t understand why Alex would want Tess to be in the movie,” Isabel ranted while Kyle started to boil some pasta for her and Tess to have for dinner. “No offense, Tess. It’s just . . . you’re not into acting.”

“Maybe he meant that he wants me to be the wardrobe consultant,” she said.

“No, he said actress,” Kyle jumped in. “I remember.” He’d been surprised when Whitman had suggested it, too, but not at all disappointed. Having Tess around would surely make the movie more interesting.

“It makes sense,” Tess said, “given what his movie’s about.”

Isabel gave her a look of astonishment. “So, wait, you’re gonna take the part?”

Tess shrugged. “Yeah, why not? I get to hang with the two of you, plus I get to help out a friend, plus I get paid.”

“It’s not that good of money,” Kyle informed her. “Dude’s offering, like, three bucks an hour. Literally.”

“Well, I think that’s very generous of him,” Isabel said. “He’s paying out of his own pocket.”

Is something upsetting her? Kyle wondered, trying to discern the answer. “Yeah, it’s nice of him,” he said, “I was just telling Tess . . .” He trailed off when he heard some noises coming from down the hallway. Loud, disruptive sounds. Not the usual sex noises that echoed throughout the house, but . . . definitely Michael and Maria noises. And those were always entertaining.

“What?” Isabel said.

“Wait.” He held up a hand to hush her and listened.

“Michael, you have to gyrate!” he heard Maria exclaim.

“I can’t gyrate!”

“Yes, you can. Come on, move your hips.”

Tess and Isabel both gave him confused looks. “What’re they doing?” Tess asked.

“I’m not sure.” Kyle turned down the heat on the pasta and cautiously stepped out from behind the counter, inching his way toward Maria’s bedroom.

“Maria, I can’t do this. It’s too fast,” he heard Michael say.

“No such thing. Come on, spin around. No, the other way.”

“Maria!”

Now, even Kyle was beginning to wonder if they hadn’t just succumbed to the temptation that had been eating away at them for years. Judging by the dialogue, they were having one very awkward sexual encounter. But awkward sex wasn’t a typical Michael and Maria thing. They were self-proclaimed pros.

“Up and down, Michael. Come on, up and down.”

“I can’t go down that far.”

“Michael, you suck.”

Isabel and Tess giggled.

Slowly, Kyle opened the door to Maria’s bedroom and peered inside, prepared to shield his eyes if he saw more of Michael than he ever wanted to see. But contrary to what the dialogue had indicated, they weren’t having sex. Still, they were doing something equally as disturbing.

They were dancing. Or at least Maria was. Michael looked as though he were struggling to keep up, flailing, really.

“Come on, Michael, shimmy.”

Kyle actually burst out loud laughing when he saw Michael attempt to shake boobs he didn’t even have. Isabel and Tess laughed, too, causing the duo to stop and Michael to dive behind the bed, even though it was too late. They’d already seen him.

“Oh my god,” Tess said, laughing. “That might be the scariest thing I’ve seen in my life.”

“Yeah,” Isabel agreed. “Apparently his bedroom skills don’t extend to the world of dance.”

“Hey, my bedroom skills make up for my dance skills,” Michael reminded them as he poked his head above the bed.

“Then those must be some mighty fine bedroom skills, ‘cause that dancing . . .” Tess couldn’t even finish as she started laughing again.

“What the hell were you doin’ this for anyway?” Kyle wanted to know.

“He was bored,” Maria answered for him.

Or he just wanted to spend time with you, Kyle thought, seeing right through his friend’s flimsy reason. He doubted Michael understood his own motives, but a lot of other people did. “Right,” he said, giving Michael a knowing look. “That’s his excuse.”

“Excuse? What?” Michael spat.

“Let’s go, ladies,” Kyle said, urging his girlfriends out of the room. “Let’s leave these two hip-hoppers to their eight counts.”

“What excuse?” Michael kept on asking as Kyle shut the door. “Valenti!”










TBC . . .

-April

[April]

pookie76: Well, I'm glad you look forward to my updates. I most definitely look forward to your feedback!
Tine:

I can't believe how Michael can say things like that and think it's normal...

I know, right? Normally, Michael and Maria argue with each other, tease each other, flirt with each other, but unrestrained sexual innuendo is new for them. And good point, that Kyle/Tess/Isabel/Alex can see what M+M have, and M+M can see what Kyle and Tess have. Sometimes you have to be on the outside to see what's happening on the inside, I guess.
Alien_Friend:

Perhaps it says a lot that he doesn't mind looking like totally idiot in front of Maria.

Definitely! Michael and Maria are totally comfortable around each other. There's no real embarrassment in their relationship.
Christina:

I'm loving this slow build-up, it's so going to be explosive when they finally give in.

Count on it. I've worked very hard on the "explosive" parts. I like everything you pointed out about Liz. It's true that she is being very selfish, only going to Maria when she needs help with something, though. That will be addressed later on.
spacegirl23: lol, you're right, Michael is a total perv! It's what makes him Michael!
crazysnape: Yes, it's going to take more than a few words to get Liz to rethink her actions. Liz's journey, like so many of the other characters' journies, has a lot to do with time. Everything takes time.
Mag:

I wonder what will open Isabel's eyes about Kyle and Tess.

Well, they're starting to open just a little bit already. Maybe if she knew Alex had feelings for her, she would open her eyes up wide.
cassie: lol, yes, Michael is most definitely dense. And that's probably an understatement.
Sara:

I think Liz could be a good friend once she pulls her head out of her ass!!

Possibly. Her head's pretty far up there, though. It's going to take awhile to pull it out.
Krista: I'm glad I've given you hope!
Mercedes:

Michael must not be completely satisfied with Liz.

That's right, he's probably not. They're having sex (and he's becoming extremely horny like you pointed out), but that's all they're having. They're not having passion.
nibbles:

It's funny how in some ways Michael can be so honest about what he's thinking and at other times so utterly clueless.

I know! He's so blunt, but for some reason, he just doesn't get it. He's not going to exhibit real maturity until he can acknowledge that he actually has real feelings. But of course, Michael will never be the world's most mature man by any means.


Thank you for reading and leaving feedback! Much appreciated!

Okay, this part contains a lot of references to my other favorite TV shows, Lost and One Tree Hill. Heck yeah.










Part 62










Max took in a deep breath and stared at himself in the mirror. He looked nervous. He didn’t want to look that nervous in front of Maria. He let out the breath and started in on what he wanted to say.

“Maria . . . I don’t think you know how much you mean to me. All these years, we’ve been friends, and now we’re more than that. But you’ve always been the most important thing in my life. Always. There hasn’t been a day gone by that I haven’t wanted you, needed you . . . loved you. I love you, Maria. I really do. Happy anniversary.” He smiled, satisfied with that delivery. It didn’t sound too rehearsed. Maybe it was a little cheesy, but he was a cheesy kind of guy. He couldn’t be blunt and full of it like Michael and Kyle. He had to be the nice guy.

“Now or never,” he told himself, heading out into the living room to get Maria. He opened the door and found her sitting on the couch, watching TV. With Michael. Of course. Always with Michael.

She’s not dating Michael. She’s dating you, he reminded himself. There’s a reason for that.

“One Tree Hill is a great show,” she was saying.

“It’s an adolescent soap-opera, Maria,” Michael countered.

“Oh, and what’s Lost, huh? What’s that about?”

“I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?”

“Nobody knows. That’s part of the appeal.”

“See, I don’t get it. Why watch a show if it’s that confusing? TV’s supposed to rot your brain, not stimulate it.”

“Well, that must be why my brain’s bigger than yours.”

“Oh, funny.”

Max cleared his throat, making his presence known.

Maria looked up and said. “Max. Hey. When did you get home?”

“Five hours ago.”

“Oh. Right.”

He cleared his throat again, suddenly feeling very nervous, and said, “Actually, I was wondering if I could talk to you for a second.”

“Sure,” she said. She got up off the couch, then reached back and seized the remote control before Michael could grab it.

“Oh, come on, baby, I’ll just get up and turn the channel,” he said.

“Shut up.”

Yeah, shut up, Max thought, ashamed at himself for feeling hostility towards one of his best friends. But he couldn’t help it. He hated how Michael called her ‘baby’ and flirted with her all the time.

Max followed Maria into his bedroom and shut the door, suddenly drawing a blank on what he was going to say. What was the first sentence again? He had it all memorized to make sure it was perfect, but it wasn’t going to be perfect if he couldn’t remember the memorization.

“What’s up?” Maria asked him.

“Nothing, nothing.”

She gave him a confused look. “So you wanted to talk to me about . . . nothing?”

“Yes,” he blurted dumbly. “I mean no. Sorry.” He laughed at himself a little, trying to regain his composure, and said the only thing he could think of to say. “Happy anniversary, Maria.”

“Anniversary?” she echoed.

“Yeah. It’s been two months today.”

“It has?” she said. “I mean, it has. Gosh, time flies.”

“It does,” he agreed. “Actually, I got you something.”

Her eyes lit up. “A gift? Me likey.”

He chuckled and reached into his back pocket, pulling out a small box. He saw her eyes go wide and could practically hear her heart pounding as she undoubtedly made an assumption about what was inside.

He opened the box to reveal a small diamond ring. “Maria . . .”

“Max,” she said quickly. “What’re you doing? You already got me a promise ring.”

“I know, but I thought I’d get you another,” he told her. “I saw it in the store, and I thought it’d look so beautiful on your finger.”

She let out a deep breath and just said, “Oh. Another one?”

“Yeah. I noticed you haven’t been wearing the other one I got you, so maybe you don’t like it . . .”

“No, I do; I just . . . I don’t wanna take any chances that it’ll get lost or smashed or ruined.”

“Well, now you’ve got a spare.” He smiled and asked, “Do you like it?”

“Of course, Max. It’s beautiful. Just like the last one.”

He kept smiling. “Just like you.”

“Max--”

“I mean it, Maria. I . . .” He paused for a moment as the words he had memorized came back to him. “I don’t think you know how much you mean to me sometimes. All these years, we’ve been friends, and now we’re more than that. But you’ve always been the most important thing in my life. Always. There hasn’t been a day gone by that I haven’t wanted you, needed you . . . loved you. I love you, Maria. I really do. Happy anniversary.”

“Huh . . .”

He took the ring out of the box, then picked her left hand up and slid the ring onto her ring finger. “You don’t have to wear it all the time,” he said, “unless you want to.”

“Max . . .” She stared at the ring, and he noticed that her fingers were shaking.

“Are you okay?” he asked her.

“Yeah. I’m just . . . two promise rings in two months. Wow. I really don’t know what to say.”

He smiled and wrapped his arms around her, enveloping her in a warm hug. He pressed his chin against the top of her head and whispered, “You’re the one for me, Maria. I promise.”

She didn’t say anything in response, but he didn’t hold that against her. She would when she could. Someday.

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

Man, this show is kinda good, Michael thought, ashamed of himself as he leaned forward, engrossed in One Tree Hill. Maria was right. Imagine that.

When she came out of Max’s bedroom, he immediately shot upward and turned the channel to the next station. ESPN. Very manly.

“I was just watching football . . .” he said, but he trailed off when he was almost blinded by the rock on her hand. Her left hand. Her left ring finger? “What the . . .” He went over to her and picked up her hand to get a closer look. “You’re shittin’ me,” he said in disbelief.

“It’s a promise ring,” she said, jerking her hand away. “Anniversary present.”

“Promise ring?” he echoed. His first thought was, How pansy. His second thought was a bit more unsettling. “Didn’t he already get you one of those?”

“Yeah.”

“So, two promise rings . . . Maria, you do know that’s one step down from an engagement ring, don’t you?”

“Max is just super romantic. That’s all,” she reasoned. “Of course, you wouldn’t know anything about that.”

“What? Was I supposed to get Liz a present?”

“Duh, Michael. You’re supposed to get her a present every month for the first twelve months. After that first year, you can go annual.”

“Do girls write these rules down, or are they just inherent or something?”

“Well, that depends. Did you get Liz a present?”

“No. She gets me and my dick. That’s present enough.”

“Oh my god, just when I think you can’t get any more disgusting . . .”

“Oh, come on, I wouldn’t be me if I wasn’t disgusting.”

“And rude,” she added.

“Sexy.”

“Cocky.”

“Charming.”

“Arrogant.”

“Funny.”

“Obnoxious.”

He grinned. “See how I’m the perfect man?”

She rolled her eyes and plopped back down on the couch. “Whatever. I don’t care how ‘perfect’ you think you are. We’re watching One Tree Hill.”

“Awesome,” he exclaimed, sitting back down beside her.

She gave him a look, and quickly tried to recover.

“I mean . . . stupid show.”

She laughed.

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

Tongues, tongues. So much tongue, Isabel thought, trying to quell the pang of envy that resonated throughout her as she watched Kyle and Tess all over each other. They had this remarkable ability to basically have sex without even taking their clothes off.

Soon, the envy got to be a little too much, and she had to look away. She walked over to where Alex was. Someone had come by during the night and vandalized his set, tossing things about, breaking things. Naturally, he was pissed, but he didn’t show it.

“We’re never even gonna get this movie started,” she said.

“Yeah, stupid vandals,” he muttered.

“No, I mean . . .” She gestured back behind her to the making-out machines. “Kyle and Tess. They’re like Pringles. Once they start, they just can’t stop.”

“Yeah,” Alex said, forgetting about his vandalized set for the moment as he focused on talking to her. “They’re really goin’ for it.”

“They always do,” Isabel mumbled.

“Does that ever bother you?” Alex asked softly.

Yes, she thought. All the time. “No,” she said. “I mean, not really. The three of us . . . we’re good. We don’t have any problems.”

“Oh, so, someday, when he wants to get married, the three of you are just gonna . . . what, become Mormon?”

She made a face.

“Sorry,” he apologized quickly. “I didn’t mean . . .”

“No, it’s okay. We just . . . haven’t really thought that far ahead.”

“Yeah,” Alex said, nodding. “Well . . . never too early to start.”

“I guess not,” she agreed. “I . . . to be quite honest, Alex, I do kind of feel like a third wheel sometimes. A lot of the time. But then again, I guess that’s natural. When you have three people . . . three wheels . . . somebody’s gotta be the third one.”

Alex nodded. “Makes sense.”

“Yeah.” Still, she didn’t understand why it had to be her all the time. Couldn’t Tess be the third wheel once in awhile?

She couldn’t dwell on it anymore. She didn’t want to. “Oh, hey, I know this seems kinda random,” she said, quickly changing the topic, “but I was wondering if you wanted to tag along on spring break with us.”

“Oh, you mean with you and Kyle and Tess?”

“And Michael and Maria, and Max and Liz,” she added. “It’s coming up, you know, and it’s your senior year. You gotta have some fun.”

“Yeah,” he agreed, “and you guys are fun. I’m just not sure if I’m exactly part of the gang.”

“Are you kidding? You’re Michael’s friend. You’re my friend. You’re totally part of the gang,” she assured him. “More than Liz is.”

“You think so?”

“Yeah. I mean, really, the only reason why we’re all friends with her is ‘cause of who she’s dating.”

“Hmm. Well, where are you guys going?”

She smiled. “Actually, I don’t know. See, last year, us girls all decided to surprise the guys. We were gonna take ‘em to Disney World.”

“Disney World?” Alex asked skeptically.

“Yes, it’s fun! There’s all these theme parks and water parks and . . . anyway, the point is, we kind of . . . forgot to book the flights. So our break bombed. Kyle and Tess and I spent most of it in a dorm room. My brother probably spent it studying, and Michael and Maria probably argued the whole time.”

Alex chuckled.

“So this year, the guys are trying to surprise us girls. We have no idea where we’re going, but they say it’s gonna be awesome.”

“Hmm. Well, what if I can’t get a plane ticket?”

“Well, you could try.” She smiled. “For me.”

He smiled back at her. “I could. For you.”

“So you’ll go?”

“Yeah, if I can.”

“Oh, that’s great, Alex,” she said, hugging him. “I’m sure I’ll have a lot more fun if you’re there.” In the midst of hugging him and, for some reason, not letting go, she heard Tess tear her lips away from Kyle’s and say, “Hey, guys. Are we ever gonna shoot this movie?”

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

Michael was all excited to watch a new episode of Lost that night, but Liz asked him so many questions through the first fifteen minutes of it that he could barely register what was happening.

“Is he one of ‘the others’?”

“Yeah, he’s their leader.”

“So, is she one of ‘the others’?”

“No, she was on the plane.”

“Oh. Is she one of ‘the others’? She looks like an ‘other.’”

“No, that’s the French woman. She kinda does her own thing.”

“Her own thing?”

“Yeah, it’s complicated.”

Liz groaned. “Oh. This show. I’m so confused. Does it start making more sense after awhile?”

He shook his head. “No.”

“No?”

“No.”

“Oh . . .”

He heard the door to Maria’s bedroom open, and a moment later, she came into the living room, sweating. Obviously, she’d been dancing. “Oh, Michael, this show,” she grumbled.

“Oh, Maria, your voice,” he mimicked. He pressed the volume up button on the remote, wondering how he was even going to pick up a single phrase of dialogue if Maria was around.

“I just don’t understand why you like it,” she said, coming to stand by the couch.

“It’s good.”

“I like it,” Liz piped up. “Granted, I don’t understand it, but Michael convinced me to watch a few episodes online. Now I’m hooked. And confused. Is he an ‘other’?”

“Well, technically, but I don’t think he wants to be,” Michael answered.

“What?”

“It’s . . .”

“Let me guess, complicated?”

“Yeah.”

“Figures.” For a moment, both she and Maria were silent, and Michael was able to listen to what the characters were saying. But a few seconds later, Liz started hitting his arm excitedly and pointing to the screen. “Oh! Oh! I like him! I like that guy.”

“Who, Jack?”

“Yeah, him. He’s my favorite.”

Michael made a face. “Why?”

“What, you don’t like him?”

“No, he’s boring. Call me crazy, but I like Kate.” He smirked. “‘Cause she has boobs.”

“Is that Kate?” Maria asked, pointing to the screen.

“Yeah.”

“Ugh, she’s not even pretty.”

“Hey, you try being stranded on a crazy island for 65 days, see how pretty you look.”

“Hello, they’re not actually stranded on an island. They still have their make-up departments, their make-up artists. And FYI,” she added, “I would look very pretty.”

He smiled a little, knowing she was right. “Yeah, you probably would,” he agreed. “And so would you,” he said, hugging Liz to his side. He knew how much she hated it when he left her out of something, especially something involving Maria.

“Hmm, I don’t know . . .” Liz said skeptically.

“No, you would.”

“Ooh,” Maria said suddenly, sounding intrigued. “Speaking of pretty . . . hottie mc-yum-yum. Who is that?”

“That’s Sawyer,” Michael answered. “He’s cool.”

“He’s gorgeous,” Maria exclaimed, slowly sitting down besides Michael. “He looks like a cowboy. Is he a cowboy?”

“He’s a con-man,” Michael informed her.

“Even better.” Her eyes lit up as she watched him. “I’m gonna start watching this show now just for that hunk of man-meat.”

“Ew, I don’t like him,” Liz said. “They’re always trying to make it seem like he’s so much better than Jack.”

“Well, ‘cause he is,” Michael said. “Everybody knows that.”

She hit his arm playfully and said, “Matter of opinion.”

“Well, you’ve got the wrong opinion.”

“Shut up!”

“Yeah, shut up, Michael,” Maria agreed. “Sawyer’s talking.”

He rolled his eyes. Those two girls had collectively managed to talk through three-fourths of the episode, and now he was supposed to shut up? Amazing.

When the Sawyer character took his shirt off, Maria gasped and said, “Oh, I love him!”

“Slut,” Michael teased. “You know, it’s kind of ironic.”

“What?”

“Well, on the show, Sawyer’s pretty much the badass rebel, you know, and Jack’s the good guy. On the show, you like the badass. In real life, you’re dating the good guy. And you . . .” He turned to address Liz. “On the show, you like the good guy, but in real life, you’re dating the badass.”

She smiled.

“Oh, please,” Maria said disgustedly. “You are not a badass.”

“Well, I’m not a good-ass, either.” He made a face when the words came out and said, “Wait. That sounded really weird.”

“I’m gonna go to the bathroom,” Liz said, standing up when the show went to commercial.

“Badasses are, like, cowboys and gangsters,” Maria kept on as Liz headed down the hallway. “You’re not either one of those things.”

“Gangstas,” he corrected. “No er.”

“Well, you’re not a ‘gangsta’ and you’re not a cowboy, so you’re not a badass. Give me that.” She reached for the remote and seized it from him.

“Hey, what the--”

“It’s a commercial. Time to flip to SoapNet,” she said, turning the channel to some network that was showing a very cheesy and poorly-acted show.

“What the fuck? SoapNet? Screw that,” he decided, grabbing the remote back from her and flipping back to the channel Lost was on.

“It’s a commercial, Michael.”

“I don’t care. If Liz comes back and sees me watching SoapNet . . .”

“You don’t actually have to watch. Just sit there and look pissed. Shouldn’t be too hard.” She seized the remote control from him again.

“Give me that,” he said, trying to yank it out of her hands.

“No!” She flipped it back to SoapNet.

Alright, it’s war, he thought, deciding to break out the secret weapon: his hands. What else? “You little bitch,” he teased as he reached over and started to tickle her.

“Michael, don’t,” she said, actually managing to look serious for a moment.

“What’re you gonna do about it?” he taunted, tickling her ribs harder.

“Stop.”

“Make me.”

She tried shoving his hands away, but he was too much for her.

“Come on, Maria, make me.” He moved in closer to her.

“Michael, I’m serious,” she insisted, though she had started to giggle. “Michael!”

This had little to do with getting the remote back anymore and everything to do with having his hands on her. It was a crazily good feeling.

“Michael!”

He inched his hands up under her shirt to tickle her sides. She burst out laughing, then, and fell backward on the couch, squirming and kicking. He moved on top of her, bringing one hand down to tickle the inside of her thigh as well. That little maneuver caused her to start whacking him on the shoulder with the remote control, but to no avail.

“Michael!” His name blended with all the other sounds that escaped her, giggling, screaming, breathing. All beautiful sounds. Beautiful girl.

When he gradually stopped tickling her, he noted the way his body was enveloping hers as he lay atop her, his hands pressed against her skin. Her eyes sparkled as they gazed up into his, and he felt . . . something. He wasn’t sure how to describe it. He remembered learning about something back in psychology during his freshman year, things called peak experiences, moments when everything felt right and wonderful with the world. As corny as it sounded, he felt as though he were having a peak experience just being there with Maria, touching her, looking into her eyes. For a moment, he forgot where he was, forgot about everything else, and there was just the two of them.

And that freaked him out.

He heard the toilet flush in the bathroom and knew Liz would be coming out soon, so he moved off of Maria and sat up again. Maria pulled down her shirt and did the same. Neither one of them said anything as Liz came back into the living room and squeezed in between them. Maria turned it back to the channel Lost was on, and they continued watching, but it was a lot quieter now. Maria didn’t even swoon when Sawyer came back on the screen.

Peak experience? Michael thought, disgusted with himself for thinking such a cheesy thought. Yeah, right.










TBC . . .

-April

[April]

nibbles: Don’t you hate it when you lose all your feedback? “Michael = dense, Liz =annoying, Poor Isabel” pretty much sums it up, though, I suppose!
Sara: Oh, I know what you mean about Max. He has good intentions, but he’s definitely trying to hard right now. If he and Maria were really in love, he wouldn’t have to try so hard.
Tine: Yep, the whole gang is going on spring break together. Hopefully it’s a lot of fun for you guys to read!
Brie: Well, you know Michael is going to realize his feelings for Maria sooner or later. Is it going to be sooner . . . or later? Stay tuned!
Christina: Liz has probably come to realize that getting all dramatic is a turn-off to Michael, so she’s trying to calm it down a little bit. And Max . . . I think you could definitely say that he’s trying to stake his claim.
pookie76: You’re starting to like Michael? Score!
Alien_Friend: You’re a OTH fan, too? We definitely have the same tastes in TV shows! Kindred spirits, perhaps? lol
starcrazed: Hey, I’m glad to know you’re still reading! About Max . . . he’s definitely the smartest in the group in the traditional sense (book-smart), but you’re right that it’s taking him a long time to put the pieces together. He’s desperate to hold onto Maria. Denial is becoming a way of life for him.
Mag:

Michael is starting to wake up but knowing him, connecting the dots will take him ages.

lol, he wouldn’t be Michael if it didn’t take him ages! As for Max . . . he most definitely isn’t seeing Maria for who she really is. He is in love with the fantasy version of her that doesn’t truly exist. That probably has a lot to do with the fact that she’s the only girl who has ever paid any attention to him.
Krista: I can see where Isabel might be bugging you a little bit right now, but her situation is definitely a lot different than Liz’s. She and Kyle do genuinely have feelings for each other, and like you pointed out, she’s not as desperate as Liz.
tequathisy:

I wish Kyle and Alex would stop dropping hints and just spell it put for the dunce.

That’s exactly what Michael needs! Maria had Liz to spell it out for her. Michael is getting tons of hints, but he’s just so stubborn and so unwilling to understand! As for Kyle . . . he really does care about Isabel, but his affections for her pale in comparison to his affections for Tess.
Mercedes:

This is a vulnerable, slightly afraid side of Michael, isn't it? Maybe he thinks he isn't good enough for Maria, or maybe he is just scared of their relationship changing.

It’s more of the latter. Michael knows he isn’t the best guy in the world, but he doesn’t dwell on that. What’s stopping him from admitting his feelings right now is, like you said, his concern about his and Maria’s relationship changing. As much as his body might want that, he isn’t ready to handle it yet.
Elle: I think you hit the nail on the head! Max definitely has felt sort of forced into the role of the nice guy, Michael is definitely making an effort with Liz, and Kyle is definitely neglecting Isabel, though he doesn’t necessarily intend to. Kyle sort of thinks of himself as “the man,” and he is. He’s so used to having two girlfriends and no drama that he’s oblivious to the drama brewing.



Thanks for the feedback, you guys!

So, I had a new poll question, but . . . I don't know what's going on with the polling thing right now! It was freaking out, being really weird, not working. Damn technology . . .









Part 63









Michael was having a hard time listening to Alex in Videography the next day. His friend was talking about something, but he wasn’t really sure what. He was too busy editing some clips on his computer to listen. But Alex did catch his attention when he said, “Man, your girlfriend is a genius.”

“What?”

“Well, I mean . . . okay, technically not your girlfriend, but a girl who is a friend.”

“Maria?” Michael guessed.

“Yeah, she’s . . . brilliant. Casting Tess in my movie was, like, the best move ever.”

“Yeah, Maria’s secretly smart,” he agreed.

“She is. Tess and Kyle are always together, frees Isabel up to spend time with the man.”

“And that’s great, but how are you gonna get the movie done if your actors are too busy fucking to, you know, act?”

“Oh, well, when are you gonna start your movie, huh?” Alex retorted.

“Eventually, man.”

“Oh, I wish I could be a procrastinator.”

“No, you’re better off gettin’ it done. Trust me.”

Alex chuckled and then went on to say, “So, uh, did you hear that Isabel invited me to tag along on spring break with you guys?”

“Yeah, she told me. I was gonna invite you myself, but I wasn’t sure if you’d wanna go . . . you know, where we’re going.”

“Are you kidding? When Max told me, I was stoked. I mean, I’ve always wanted to go to--”

“Shh!” Michael immediately said to cut him off. He looked around the room suspiciously and said, “You never know who could be listening.”

“Man, you guys are really trying to keep this a secret from the girls, aren’t you?”

“Yeah, and you damn well better do the same,” Michael said threateningly.

“Oh, I will. I’m just not quite sure why I have to.”

Michael leaned back in his seat and went into explanation mode. “Whitman, it’s a simple fact of life. When girls get surprised, they get horny.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, there’s been studies.”

“Huh,” Alex said as he mulled it over. “You know, you should write a book. The Facts of Life According to Michael Guerin.”

“It’d be a best-seller,” Michael said confidently. He leaned forward again and was planning on getting back to editing that footage when he looked up and saw Liz walking into the room. She came over to him, smiling, and said, “Hey, honey.”

“Hey.” He wasn’t sure about being called ‘honey,’ but he’d let her get away with it.

She bent down and kissed him quickly, then set a sack down in his lap. “I brought you lunch.”

“Hey, thanks. You didn’t have to do that.”

She shrugged. “My anthropology class got out early. I figured I had time to do something nice for you since . . .” She leaned in again and whispered in his ear, “. . . you always do nice things for me.”

He grinned. “Where’d you learn how to talk dirty?”

“Oh, it can get dirtier,” she assured him.

He raised his eyebrows. This was . . . intriguing.

She laughed then and said, “I blame the girls in my dorm.”

“Come here,” he said, reaching up to take her arm and pull her down to sit on his lap.

“Mmm,” she murmured, resting her head against his. “What’re you working on? Is that your movie?”

“Uh, no, not really,” he answered. “I’m just kinda messing around with some clips.”

“Can I see?” she asked, reaching out towards the computer.

“Uh, it’s not . . .”

She clicked the play button with the mouse, and the footage started to roll.

“. . . done yet,” he finished, really dreading what her reaction would be to all of the clips he had been working on. But hell, he couldn’t help it if his video camera naturally found itself focusing on Maria.

He cringed and braced himself for the onslaught as Liz watched thirteen seconds of Maria. Maria asleep on the couch, Maria sitting at the table studying, Maria yelling at him, Maria just smiling. Shit, he thought, remembering that there was a naked Maria clip up next. He quickly reached out and stopped the video playback before it got that far. “Like I said, it’s not done,” he reiterated. “I gotta get some footage of you.” Good save, Guerin.

“Hmm.” She was noticeably more downtrodden than she had been when she’d walked in.

“I gotta get a lot of footage of you,” he emphasized, “‘cause you’re my girlfriend.” Hopefully that helped.

Liz smiled a little, and he got the feeling it did.

“Maybe you can, uh, come over tonight and we can . . . do that.”

She lifted her head to look at him then, and she didn’t look too upset. Either that, or she was pretending not to be too upset. Either way, it didn’t seem that he would have to suffer the onslaught after all, and that was a good thing.

“Maybe I can,” she agreed. “I will. Tonight. I’ll come over.”

“Cool, cool. So I get lunch and dessert.”

She blushed, and he knew that, with just a little more on his part, she’d forget all about the Maria footage.

“I better go,” she said. “My debate class starts in five minutes.”

“Oh, okay, well . . . thanks for the lunch.”

“No problem.” She got up and started to walk away.

“Wait a minute,” he said, holding onto her hand, pulling her back to him. “Aren’t you forgetting something?”

She smiled and leaned down to kiss him again. He could tell by that kiss that she was good again, too blissful to think anything of those clips. He felt so macho by sidestepping an argument.

“I’ll see you tonight,” she murmured against his lips before turning and heading on her way. He breathed a sigh of relief once she was gone. That had been a little nerve-wracking for a minute there.

“You lucky son of a bitch,” Alex muttered enviously. “You just narrowly escaped another girlfriend-fight.”

“No, I’m not lucky,” Michael corrected. “I’m talented.”

“Oh, whatever, man.”

“Talented.”

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

Psychology had to be one of the few subjects Maria didn’t mind studying. It was usually semi-interesting, and it was sort of cool to relate it to real life. Still, she would have rather been chatting with friends on Facebook or working on her showcase dance, but . . . psychology wasn’t too bad.

She sat at the kitchen table that evening with all her study materials laid out before her. She felt as though she were starting to get a hang of the whole studying thing. It was about time. Second semester, senior year of college. Oh well. Better late than never, in her mind.

When she flipped the page, she saw a section that seemed . . . very strange to say the least. She read through it a little bit and realized just how strange it was after only the first paragraph. “Ew,” she said. “Ew. Ew! Ew!”

Michael, who had been resting on the couch, sat up and gave her a confused look. “What the hell’s your problem?”

“This!” she replied emphatically, pointing down at her book. “This is sick!”

“What is that?”

“Freaking psychology! Freud. Have you heard of him?”

“Who hasn’t?”

“Well, have you heard of his psychosexual stages of development?”

Michael seemed to perk up upon hearing that word. “What?”

“Yeah.”

“Sounds cool to me.”

“No, it’s sick. Listen to this. This Freud guy says that during the first year of your life you go through . . . the oral stage.”

Michael made a face. “First year of your life?”

“Yeah. And then, when you’re, like, one to three years old, you go through the anal stage.”

He sat there in silence for a moment, contemplating that, and finally concurred with her. “Ew.”

“I know, right?”

“Yeah. I wasn’t even having sex until I was at least twelve years old. And these kids are three?”

“Yeah, it’s disgusting.”

Just then, Max walked out of his bedroom and, having caught the tail end of the conversation, asked, “What’s disgusting?”

“Do you know anything about psychology, Max?” she asked him.

“Yeah, a little bit.”

“Freud’s oral and anal stages of development that take place, like, before a person’s even developed?”

“Oh,” Max said. “Um . . . actually, I-I don’t think it’s that kind of . . . oral and anal. I think he was just referring to a child’s exploration of the world and, well, potty-training.”

“Oh,” Maria said, seeing how that might make sense. “Well, that’s still sick, though. Potty-training? Ugh.”

“I tried to tell her that same thing. She wouldn’t listen to me,” Michael said.

“Oh, shut up! You were a gutter-head just like me!”

“I tried to tell you . . .”

She rolled her eyes in annoyance. That guy . . .

Max cleared his throat and said, “Well, I’m just doing a little bio right now, but if you want, I could probably help you study for psychology. You’ve got an exam coming up, right?”

“Yeah, it’s tomorrow,” she said. “I’m gonna try not cheating off the nearest nerd this time, see how it goes.”

“Good for you,” Max said.

“But you should just work on your own stuff. I’m fine,” she told him.

“You sure?”

“Yeah. If I start misinterpreting Freudian theory again, I’ll come get you.”

He smiled. “Okay.” He bent down and pressed a kiss to her forehead, then headed back into his bedroom. Once he was gone, Maria picked up her pen and threw it at Michael.

“Hey!” he yelped when it hit him in the head. “What’d you do that for?”

“You’re annoying!” she shouted before she brought her voice down to loser level and mimicked, “‘Oh, I tried to tell her, tried to tell her . . .’” She shook her head, mumbling a few choice words under her breath as she turned the page and returned to reading. She had only read two more lines when she freaked out again. “Oh! Okay! Really, this is . . . outrage! I swear!”

“What now?” Michael asked, getting up and walking towards her.

“Well, basically what I’m gathering is that Freud thinks all little boys wanna fuck their moms.”

Michael made a face and sat down beside her.

“Yeah. And he’s obviously an ass, because he says that little girls have—get this—penis envy.”

Michael immediately laughed.

“No, it’s not funny! He makes girls seem like sluts. He says they want a penis, so they identify with their mother to get a penis via sex.”

“Wow, this guys knows his stuff,” Michael decided, grinning smugly.

“No, this is ridiculous! I would never want one of those. Ew, I’d hate it if I had a . . . penis.”

“Yeah, I’d hate it if you had one, too,” he agreed.

“Just the whole having to stand up when you go pee thing . . . ugh, that would really grate my cheese.”

Michael chuckled and said, “I don’t know, Maria.” He reached down and jiggled his package in his jeans. “Best thing in the world right here.”

“Sick.”

“I can work wonders with this thing.”

She groaned and said, “That’s it. I’ve had enough of Freud.” She slammed her book shut and tossed Michael a couple of pages of notes she had compiled. “Quiz me,” she told him.

“What? Why can’t Max quiz you? He offered.”

“Yeah, but he’s busy studying. You’re busy being lazy. Come on, Michael.”

He sighed and flipped to the first page of notes. “God-dammit,” he swore, squinting as he tried to make sense of her scribbles. “Uh . . . okay. What is operant conditioning? Who the hell cares?”

“Uh, I don’t know. Skip that one.”

“Okay. What is classical conditioning?”

“Can’t remember. Skip that one, too.”

He set the notes down and gave her an impatient look. “Do you know any of this shit?”

“Just go to the sex stuff. I know that.”

“Oh, of course you do,” he said, flipping through the notes. He found the ‘sex stuff’ and said, “Oh, hey, here we go. What’re the four phases of the sexual response cycle?”

“Ooh, okay. Excitement, plateau, orgasm, and resolution,” she answered quickly.

“Yep,” he said nodding. “Orgasm.”

She rolled her eyes. “Keep going.”

He flipped the page over to look on the back and asked, “What’s the most common sexual disorder among women?”

“Lack of interest in sex,” she answered. “I wouldn’t know anything about that.”

He chuckled and asked, “Alright, what about men?”

“Uh, cumming too soon. I guess that would be your area of expertise, huh?”

“Oh, no, I got stamina, baby,” he assured her.

“Hmm.”

He kept reading through the notes, and she could tell by the looks on his face that he was finding it interesting. “No fuckin’ fair,” he said. “I didn’t learn about any of this stuff when I took psychology.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, I had this douche-bag professor. All he talked about was the brain and stuff.”

“Oh my god, why learn about the brain when you can learn about, like, genitals or something?”

“Exactly.”

“Some people . . .”

“Mmm-hmm.” He set the notes down and inquired, “So what other sex stuff does that book talk about?”

“Oh, it’s kind of detail-y, actually,” she said. “It talks about voyeurism, you know. Exhibitionism. S&M.”

“Nice.”

She gave him a look, feeling her stomach churn at the thought of him being that sexually explorative. “You don’t really do S&M, do you?”

“No, I don’t. Do you?”

“No. I’d rather feel good than feel pain.”

“Good philosophy,” he said. “What else does it talk about? Gangbangs or anything?”

“Gross!” she said, smacking his shoulder with her hand. “What do gangbangs have to do with psychology?”

“Absolutely nothing.”

“Well, no, it doesn’t talk about those.”

He leaned back, crossing his arms over his chest and surveyed her. “You ever been gangbanged, DeLuca?”

She lowered her head and admitted, “Yeah.”

“Really? When?”

“Freshman year. Of college, not high school. That first party we all went to. There were these five guys . . .”

“Five?!” he cut in in astonishment.

“Well, how do you think I got so popular?”

He grunted in disbelief. “Holy shit, Maria. You only have three . . .” He paused, looking for the right word. “Entrances?”

“Plus two hands. Do the math, assuming you can.”

“Oh, I get it.” He chuckled. “Wow.”

“I was drunk, okay? I guess that’s one good thing about trying to be sober these days. I don’t do things I regret in the morning.”

“You regretted it?”

“Oh, yeah. It hurt and it was nasty. I felt like a porn star.”

“Hmm.”

She sighed and decided to turn the tables. “What about you, Michael? Have you ever been gangbanged before?”

“Wow,” he said. “You really just brought it into puke-territory with that one.”

“I’m just asking . . .”

“Yeah, well, I’m a guy, Maria. I don’t get banged; I do the banging.”

“Well, I don’t know,” she said. “I was talking to this girl in my debate class today, who’s, like, an anthropology major or something, and she said that in some cultures, male homosexuality’s, like, a rite of passage.”

“Yeah, well, thank God I’m not part of those cultures,” he said. “And even if I was, I’d say hell no. I don’t do that Brokeback Mountain shit.”

She laughed and said, “I just had to ask. To piss you off.”

“Yeah, you’re good at that.”

She laughed again and said, “Oh, this is fun. I can’t do this with anyone else.”

“What, talk about sex?”

“Well, yeah, I mean, not really. Max is, like, super romantic, you know; which is nice, but I doubt he even knows what a gangbang is. And Kyle . . . well, he’s usually too busy having it to talk about it.”

Michael chuckled and said, “Well, we make for good sex conversationalists. We’re both horny, not afraid to admit it.”

“Very true,” she said, leaning backwards in the same manner he was. “Okay, let me ask you something.”

“Shoot.”

“Why is it that guys like lesbians so much? It baffles me.”

He smiled a huge smile as if he were picturing lesbians in his mind at that very moment. “Oh . . . I don’t know.”

“That’s not a good answer.” She swung her legs up into his lap and said, “Here. Rub my feet.”

He made a face but, of course, started to do just that. “I don’t really know what it is,” he confessed.

“Just like an inborn perverto trait?” she guessed.

“Nah, I think it’s just . . . two hot girls who are all over each other . . . obviously, that’s awesome.”

She shook her head and said. “I don’t get it.”

“Well, that’s ‘cause you’re not a guy, Maria. You’re a girl. Who has penis envy.”

“Oh, shut up!” she snapped, shoving his chest with her right foot. “Or you’re gonna get a kick to the groin that’s gonna leave you with nothing to envy.”

“Okay, shutting up now.”

“And keep rubbing my feet. Come on. I thought you had good hands.”

“I do have good hands.”

She smiled. Yeah, he really did. But she wasn’t going to tell him that. It would just go to his head and he’d tease her about it for the rest of her life. ‘Hey, Maria, how bad do you want my kick-ass hands right now?’ or something like that. She could just picture it.

“Alright, I got a question,” he announced. “Why is it that girls like to cuddle so much after sex? ‘Cause me, personally, all I need is five minutes to get it hard again and I’m good to knock out round two. But Liz . . . sometimes she likes to cuddle for an hour. Or two hours. Or the rest of the night.”

Dissatisfaction, Maria thought. Good. “I don’t know,” she said. “I mean, not all girls like that. I do sometimes, but other times . . . five minutes and I’m ready to go again, too.”

“Yeah. See? Horny, no denying it.” He grinned.

“No denying it,” she agreed. She felt as though her whole body was on fire as she sat there talking with him, on fire in a good way. The sexual tension was just so outrageous, the passion so developed. She saw where her foot was in his lap and couldn’t resist moving it to brush directly against the slight bulge there. He immediately jerked forward, his hips jarring just slightly. He closed his eyes and locked his jaw, saying nothing for a few seconds.

“Sorry,” she said. “My foot slipped.”

“Oh, yeah, I bet it did.”

She smiled, not sure why she had been so daring just then but happy that she had been. For the first time in eight years, she had actually felt—albeit through jeans—how substantial Michael’s endowment was.

Impressive.

Fearing that her hands and feet and all her parts were going to develop minds of their own if she didn’t get herself under control, she picked up her notes again and tossed them back at him. “Come on. We got majorly side-tracked. You’re supposed to be quizzing me.”

“Okay.” He picked up the papers, looking a little dazed, and just stared at them for a moment. Maria watched curiously until he lifted and lowered her feet back down off his lap and stood up. “Just give me a minute,” he said, rushing off into the bathroom.

Maria smiled excitedly as he left. He hadn’t come right out and said what he was going to be doing in there all by himself, but the growing bulge in his pants made it obvious.

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

Michael slammed into the bathroom and shut the door. “Holy fuck,” he cursed, frantically undoing his pants. “Her fuckin’ foot? Geez louise.” He shoved his jeans and his boxers down far enough to take his cock in his hands and start pumping himself hard. He worked fast and furiously, wanting to get off fast. Maria’s little foot maneuver had really had an effect on him.

He closed his eyes and leaned back against the door as he handled himself, knowing this wouldn’t take long. All he had to do was think about how hot Maria was, the look she got in her eyes when she got a little mischievous or dirty. And her foot. Who knew a girl’s foot could be so arousing?

“Jesus Christ.”

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door that startled him, followed by her voice. “Michael?”

He froze with his hand around the base of his cock.

“Are you okay?”

His voice came out high-pitched and squeaky when he answered back, “I’m fine!” He grumbled and lowered his voice, “I’m fine.”

“Okay. Well, let me know if there's anything I can do for you.”

Just hearing those words made him get even more hard. “Oh, that bitch,” he said to himself as he started handling himself again. If she got any sexier, she was going to be the end of him.









TBC . . .

-April

[April]

I'm so late with today's update, it's not even funny. For some reason, I thought I had updated yesterday instead of the day before. These days are just blending together lately!


Tine: lol, yes Michael is a very bad boy, isn't he?
Alien_Friend: Well, Michael isn't based off anyone I know. (Maria sort of is, though.) As for where I get the ideas for the conversations . . . I honestly don't know! I just get a gutter-head thought in my mind and go with it! lol
Sara: Ha ha, but you don't want them to have accidental sex, do you? You want them to have on purpose sex!
crazysnape: Yep, I promised that Michael would suffer some, too. But he'll suffer way more than he is now, I promise.
Mag: Michael is way too attracted to Maria nowadays to regress, but don't expect him to have some huge epiphany about his feelings, either.
nibbles: Oh, I totally agree about Liz. She's getting smarter. She's realizing that being a drama queen is going to be a turn-off to Michael. And yes, Maria realizes that Michael is attracted to her.
pookie76: It won't go back to square one. Of course, it will take awhile to get to square, like, one-hundred, too.
Brie: Maria's foot move was a good one, wasn't it?

Thanks for the feedback!

Okay, the warning smiley ( ) is making a brief appearance again. Read fast through that little part if you must.









Part 64









Maria lay with Max post-coital that evening, thinking about a lot of things. It was the first time they’d had sex since her pregnancy scare, and it hadn’t been the most erotic of encounters. So she was thinking about things like her upcoming showcase dance. Her upcoming psychology exam. Michael. Mostly Michael. But not Max. Even though he was lying right next to her, even though her mind was very busy . . . it wasn’t busy thinking about him.

I’m sorry, Max, she thought.

“Hmm.” He sounded content as he ran his hands over her hair. “I think this is my favorite part. Lying here with you afterwards, feeling that stillness, that calm . . . I’ve never felt this good before.”

“Never?” she teased.

He chuckled lightly and amended is prior statement. “Okay, so this is almost my favorite part.”

“That’s more like it.” Was it wrong to joke around with him a little bit, put a smile on his face when, if he knew how she felt, he wouldn’t be smiling at all?

“Yeah.” He sighed and went on. “But really, Maria, I do feel like I could lie here like this for hours, just holding you, watching you sleep, listening to you breathe. I could do that.”

As romantic as that was, she found herself thinking back to someone who was . . . less romantic.

“Why is it that girls like to cuddle so much after sex? . . . five minutes to get it hard again and I’m good to knock out round two.”

“. . . five minutes and I’m good to go again, too.”

She laughed.

“What?” Max asked. “What’s so funny?”

“Nothing,” she said. “I was just thinking about something.” She tilted her head forward further so that he couldn’t see the smile gracing her lips. Was it wrong for her to be feeling happy, not about using Max, but about the rest of her life right now? Did she deserve to be smiling?

She wasn’t sure.

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

Michael was surprised by how forceful Liz was being that night. She literally pushed him into his bedroom, slammed the door, and attacked him with a barrage of kisses. Michael had deflowered lots of virgins in his time, but he’d never stuck around long enough to see one of them get in touch with her wild side. Liz was definitely getting in touch, and that was good news for him. He liked a little wild in a girl. A lot of wild, actually. Not over-the-top wild, but . . . like Maria wild. Liz wasn’t Maria by any means, but . . .

Why was he thinking about Maria?

“Mmm,” Liz moaned, pulling back just slightly. “Too much?”

“No such thing.” He didn’t want her to back off at all. It’d been a long time since he’d had a strictly hardcore fuck. He needed one.

Grinning mischievously, she reached over onto his dresser and picked up his video camera. She looked around for the power button for a moment, turned it on, and focused it on him.

He chuckled. “I thought I was supposed to be filming you tonight.”

“Wait your turn.”

Oh god, is she gonna be a dominatrix tonight? he wondered. I hope so.

Her grin grew in size as she trailed her hand down his chest to fiddle with his jeans. She lowered the camera along with it and filmed everything as she unfastened his jeans and pushed them down far enough to take a hold of his cock. She immediately began pumping him, and he smiled. He had taught her well, because she definitely knew what she was doing now. No more talking, no more instructions. She just knew, and so did he, and that made for some decent sex.

He watched her face as she watched his cock, noting the look of concentration on her features. And a bit of frustration, too. “What’s going on, Michael?” she asked.

“Huh?” He glanced down at his member and noticed that it was still not hard. His first thought was a panicked one. Oh, no, not again! He knew his cock, though, and knew it wouldn’t be an issue for long. It usually wasn’t. Just that one time . . . “Oh, no, you just gotta wait for it,” he assured. “It always takes me a little longer when I’ve cum once already.”

She smiled momentarily, then jerked away from him, stopped what she was doing with her hand, and stared him right in the eye. “Already?” she demanded. “When did you . . . already?”

“Uh . . .” He flashed back to sitting at the table with Maria, her working wonders with only her foot. He couldn’t tell Liz that. The memory alone, though, was enough to make his cock twitch and start to harden. “Oh, look, there I go,” he said cheerfully. “On the rise.” He laughed.

She didn’t even crack a smile. She was still suspicious.

He relented to telling her the partial truth. “Alright, I jacked off, okay?” he said. “I was thinking about you the whole time.” But actually, that wasn’t the truth. He hadn’t been thinking about Liz. He’d been thinking about . . . someone else.

Shit.

The only thing that mattered, though, was that Liz seemed to buy it. “Oh,” she said, smiling a little. “That’s kinda hot.” She set his camera down on his bed and sank down onto her knees.

Oh yeah, Michael thought, happy to have escaped yet another potential girlfriend fight. That’s the stuff.

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

After her psychology test the next day, Maria met up with Tess for some energizing coffee at Starbucks. “So,” she said as they sat down at a table outside. “How’s life as an actress?”

“What? Oh, you mean Alex’s movie?”

“Yeah.”

Tess laughed. “Well, it’s great, although I haven’t done any acting yet.”

“Is Kyle distracting you?”

“I can’t help it. He has a glorious tongue.”

Maria made a face. Although she’d once had a crush on Kyle, she thought of him more as a brother now, and hearing about his glorious tongue was not all that pleasant.

“He does,” Tess insisted. “Plus, Alex and Isabel are always talking. It’s not like they’re being productive, either.”

“I see.”

“And, no offense to Alex or anything, but I think he’s gonna be a really bad director. He can’t even keep three measly actors on task.”

“Well, I think he’s a little distracted, too,” Maria said, thinking of his infatuation with Isabel. If the two of them were spending a lot of time talking, that meant their relationship was semi-progressing. Good for them.

“He’s never gonna get it done on time,” Tess said matter-of-factly. “What about Michael? Has he even started his movie?”

“No. Big slacker,” Maria replied.

“Totally,” Tess agreed. She gave Maria a knowing smile for a moment and asked her, “So how are things going with him?”

Maria sighed. “There are no things.”

“Sure there are. There’s vibes and lust and sexual energy.”

Maria smiled, liking the sound of that. “Well . . . yeah.”

“So?”

“So what? Nothing’s changed.”

Tess sighed heavily and said, “You know, I always thought you guys hooking up would be a lot easier than it’s proving to be.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, I just always pictured you guys breaking open a bottle of tequila one night, falling into bed together, doing it, liking it, and doing it again the next night without the tequila.” She smiled. “And then every night after that.”

“You pictured it?”

“Shamefully.” Tess giggled.

Maria smiled, liking that thought, too. “Well, it sounds nice,” she said. “And simple. Real life can never be that simple, though, can it?”

“No, that’d be too boring,” Tess said. “It is a lot messier now, I guess. You’ve got Max to think about. And Liz.”

“And Michael,” Maria added.

Tess wrinkled her forehead in confusion. “What?”

“Well, I have to think about him, too, because . . .” Maria trailed off, relieved that she had a friend she could admit this to. “I have feelings for him. Strong, disgusting feelings. But I just don’t know if he has feelings for me.”

“Maria--”

“No, I mean . . . I know he’s attracted to me, ‘cause . . . everyone’s attracted to me. And I know he cares about me, ‘cause that’s obvious, too. But I just don’t know if he . . . wants me the way I want him. And I hate being the crushed-out schoolgirl who can’t get enough of him.”

“Well, Maria, I know that little lingering doubt is super annoying, but I think it’s important,” Tess said. “Yesterday, in my Interpersonal Attraction class . . .”

“Wait, Interpersonal Attraction?” Maria cut in. “That’s seriously a class?”

“I needed a Humanities credit,” Tess said. “But anyway, like I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted . . .”

“Sorry.”

“My professor was talking about what it takes to really fall for somebody, and I was actually listening for a change; and he said that . . . you have to worry. You have to be wondering if the feelings are mutual. You know . . . does he like me? Does he like me the way I like him? ‘Cause if you’re not asking yourself that, you might as well just be friends.”

Maria thought about it. It made sense.

“So it’s not a fun feeling,” Tess said, “but . . . it’s part of what lets you know you’re in love.”

“Yeah,” Maria said. A second later, though, her brain really comprehended what Tess had just said. “Wait, love? Who said anything about love? What happened to vibes and lust and sexual energy?”

“Oh, that’s still there,” Tess said. “It’s part of being in love.” Smirking she took a sip of her coffee.

“Oh,” Maria groaned, holding her hand to her stomach as the anxiety and repulsion began to churn. Was she in love with Michael? She wasn’t sure, and she didn’t want to think about it too much, because her stomach was starting to do back-flips just considering the possibility. “I think I’m gonna be sick,” she said, wishing Tess had kept that last part to herself.

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

That afternoon, Maria reluctantly went to the soccer game with Michael. He had to go since Liz and the dance team were performing. She was mainly going because she didn’t hate the thought of spending time with him. But she did hate the thought of the dance team performing without her.

“So how was your psych test?” Michael finally asked as the clock was winding down to halftime.

“Fine. ‘Bout time you asked,” she muttered.

“Did you get all the Freud stuff right?”

“Probably.”

He smirked. “Any questions about gangbangs?”

“Any questions about getting hard ‘cause of a foot?” she retorted.

He chuckled and said, “Oh, I was hard already,” but it was obvious he was lying.

“Really? Why?”

“‘Cause . . . it’s my natural state.”

“Oh god, gag me just a little bit more,” she groaned.

“Just wait ‘til Christmas, when I give you my dick in a box as a present.” He grinned. “You’re gonna love it.”

She rolled her eyes and glanced over at the play clock. There were only a few seconds left before halftime. She needed to make a hasty retreat. “I’m gonna go get some popcorn,” she announced. “You want some?”

“What, you’re not gonna watch the dance team?”

She sighed and resigned to it. It was inevitable. If the dance team was performing, she would be watching whether she wanted to or not. “No, I’ll watch,” she said. “But I might not cheer ‘em on this time.”

The play clock wound down to zero, and the crowd cheered as both soccer teams trotted off the field. Santa Fe was losing terribly once again, but the fans didn’t seem discouraged.

“And that sound brings us to our halftime entertainment,” the announcer said. “Please put your hands together for the award-winning Sun Rays dance team!”

Everyone cheered as the dance team rallied out onto the field.

“They’re not award winning. I am,” Maria grumbled. Not one of those girls had been on any of the three championship teams she’d captained.

“Sorry, I’m under boyfriend obligations to cheer for them,” Michael said. “Go, Liz! Kick some ass!”

Maria wrapped her fingers around the bar in front of her, clutching it tightly. If they froze up on a dance that was so simple . . . she would freak out. And she couldn’t help them this time. They were completely on their own. If it was a disaster, there was nothing she could do to save them.

“Brace yourself,” she said as she watched them hit their starting poses. Simple poses. Right knee popped, arms in the air in a high-V. It was so . . . blah.

“What, is it that bad?” Michael asked, still clapping his hands for Liz.

“No. It’s good. But . . . it’s just good. It’s not great. That’s not a team that’s gonna win a championship,” she explained. “But whatever.”

Michael leaned over and said, “If it’s any consolation, the dance team was a lot hotter when you were on it.”

Although the compliment made her heart flutter in response, she tried to play it cool. “Well, that’s a given,” she said.

“Yeah, I guess it is.”

She sighed and looked back out towards the field, wondering why the girls weren’t dancing already. As if in response to her silent inquiring, the announcer came over the speaker again and said, “We’re having technical difficulties with the music.”

“Oh god, are you kidding me?” Maria groaned. In four years of college dance team, that had never happened to her. She was prepared.

Liz, Pam, and the rest of the girls lowered their arms and turned around to look at each other in confusion and worry.

“No, don’t talk to each other! Hold your poses!” Maria practically pulled her hair out. Any good dancer knew to stand there still as a statue until the music started up.

The music blared on a few seconds later, and the girls scrambled to hit their beginning positions and get into the swing of it. The first ten seconds or so were ugly, very ugly. But, surprisingly, it was Liz who got everybody back on track and in sync again. She had gotten better. A lot better. She finally looked like the captain instead of the straggling member.

But still, the dance was nothing special. No amazing leaps, no difficult turns. Nothing remotely sexy or fun. Just a lot of basic, simple moves that, although they were performed well, were just too . . . boring. By the end of the dance, Maria was pretty sure she’d memorized three-fourths of it. It relied heavily on repetition.

When the girls hit their ending poses, the crowd clapped, of course, but they didn’t seem quite as enthusiastic as they always had been after the dances Maria had choreographed. She smiled at that thought. They liked her dances better. Good. Her dances were better.

“Good job, Liz!” Michael called out to her.

Maria found herself unwillingly clapping as well as they ran off the field. “Good job, girls,” she even said.

“You can’t help yourself, can you?” Michael said.

She couldn’t. She really couldn’t. Even though she didn’t particularly like the new dance team, it still meant a lot to her. It always would. Even if she went on to become a major dancer at the Modern Dance Association, the Sun Rays dance team would always be one of her proudest accomplishments. Probably one of her only accomplishments, actually.

“I like your dances better,” Michael told her before Liz came running up the steps and into his arms.

Maria smiled. That meant so much more than he knew.

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

Instead of going out that night, Michael rented a movie and suggested everyone stay in. It was an action movie, though, of course. The Transporter, or something. Or The Transporter 2. Something that consisted of more special effects than it did of a plot. Isabel and Tess were so bored within the first five minutes that they dragged Kyle downstairs (and of course he didn’t object). Maria, cuddled up on the couch next to Max, found herself falling asleep midway through. It was that uninteresting. She would have nodded off for the rest of the night had Liz not started to talk to Michael.

“So where are we going for spring break?”

Obviously she’s bored with the movie, too, Maria thought. Does Michael even realize that he’s the only one who likes this movie? Or better question, does he care?

“I can’t tell you,” Michael answered Liz.

“Why not?”

“‘Cause it’s a surprise.”

“I’ll be surprised,” Liz promised.

Maria opened her eyes and glanced over at the two of them. They sat in the chair, Liz in Michael’s lap. One of his hands was down the back of her pants as though that were its natural location. Maria rolled her eyes. Pig.

“I can’t tell you,” Michael repeated.

“Please?”

He shook his head.

“Please?”

“No.”

“Please?”

“Oh, for the love of God,” Maria groaned when the whining became too much. “He’s not gonna tell you.”

Liz ignored her and leaned in closer to Michael, whispering in his ear just loud enough for Maria to hear. “If you tell me, I’ll reward you.”

Michael smiled. “I’m sure you will. But not even that’s gonna get me to cave. This whole secrecy thing was my idea.”

Liz sighed, resigned, and said, “Fine. I’ll wait. But you better be taking me somewhere good. This is my first spring break ever.”

“It’ll be good. I promise,” Michael vowed.

Silence descended upon all four of them for a few moments until Maria though of something and spoke up again. “Actually, she has a point, Guerin,” she said. “You should tell us soon so we know what to pack.”

“You’ll find out the day of,” he informed her.

“The day of?” she echoed.

“Yeah, as in the day we get on the plane. That’s when you find out where we’re goin’.”

“Plane,” Liz echoed. “So we’re flying somewhere?”

“Unfortunately,” Michael grumbled.

She made a face. “That . . . doesn’t really narrow it down.”

“Wait a minute, wait a minute.” Maria grabbed the remote and paused the movie, barely able to hear herself think over the gunfire sounds. “You guys aren’t telling us until the day of the flight? Are you crazy?”

“What’s so crazy about that?”

“Only everything!” She sat up on her knees and started ranting. “Do you know how long it takes a girl to pack up supplies for an entire week? It takes a damn long time; that’s how long it takes. So you can’t honestly expect us to wait until ‘the day of’ to pack. I mean, that’s just . . . unrealistic! I need to know at least the night before. Where are we going? What kind of clothes do I need to bring? Winter clothes? Summer clothes? Should I dress for dry air or humidity?”

“Wait, you have humidity clothes?”

“Duh! And don’t even get me started on the shoes. And what about my hair? And should I bring a coat? Or a bikini?”

“Girls should bring bikinis everywhere,” Michael said, smirking.

“I’m serious, Michael,” she insisted. “You guys are telling us the night before. At least!”

He just shook his head and said, “Nope.”

She glared at him, already coming up with ways to make him talk. Maybe if she threatened to remove a testicle while he was sleeping . . . that would definitely work.

“Hey, Maxwell,” Michael said. “Not one word, alright, man? You hear me? Don’t cave.”

“Max,” Maria said, turning around to face him. “Come on, Max. I know you wanna tell me.” She ran her hands up and down his chest, trying to entice him.

“Well . . .” The look on his face was one of pure deliberation. “She has a point,” he said to Michael. “Think logically.”

“I don’t do that,” was Michael’s response.

“If we wait to tell ‘em, they’ll have to pack that morning. It’ll probably take them a long time, and if it takes too long, we might miss our flight.”

“Yes,” Maria said, loving the fact that her boyfriend was so smart. “And we wouldn’t want that, would we?”

Max shook his head.

“See?” she said, looking over at Michael again. “Max agrees with me.”

“That’s ‘cause he’s Max.”

“No, that’s ‘cause he’s smart,” Maria corrected. “Smart people always agree with me.”

“Then I must be very, very dumb,” Michael concluded.

“Your words. Not mine.” She smirked.

Michael glared at her and shook his head.

Just then, Isabel, Kyle, and Tess came up from the basement. “Oh my god,” Isabel said. “You guys aren’t done with this movie yet?”

“It’s only halfway through,” Michael informed her.

“Huh,” she said. “Time flies when you’re having fun, I guess.” She smiled at Kyle. He was too busy groping Tess’s silicon boobs to smile back.

“I had to pause the movie, which is very stupid by the way . . .” Maria said, looking pointedly at Michael.

“It’s classic action,” he fought back.

“I had to pause it to knock some sense into a certain loser,” she finished. “Did you know these guys aren’t planning on telling us where we’re going for spring break until the actual first day of spring break?”

“No,” Isabel said. “Packing!”

“I know!”

“That’s insane,” Tess said, pushing Kyle away as he tried to smother his face in her cleavage. “Kyle, stop.”

“Good God, you girls are high-maintenance,” Michael grumbled.

“We are not,” Maria said.

“Medium-maintenance, maybe,” Isabel acknowledged. “But not high.”

“Seriously,” Tess agreed. “High-maintenance is, like, not being able to live without lip gloss. I could live without lip gloss. I just wouldn’t be very happy.”

“Oh, I know, I’d sink into a depression,” Isabel agreed. “But I’m not high-maintenance.”

“Me, neither,” Maria agreed.

“Oh, man,” Michael groaned. “And you girls never stop talking.”

“Oh, and why’s that a problem?” Maria barked. “You got something really profound to say?”

“No, not profound,” he said. “But I do have something to say, and you guys are all gonna take a vested interest in it.”

“What?” Liz asked eagerly.

“Here we go,” Maria muttered, bracing herself to hear him say something about his penis. That was, after all, the subject of three-fourths of his conversations.

“I’m throwin’ a party,” Michael announced out of the blue. “Sort of a . . . celebration of Liz and the dance team doing so well today.”

Liz smiled. “Really?”

“Oh my god.” Maria made a face. “Are you serious? My teams won the state championship three years in a row and I never got a party.”

“That’s ‘cause you’re not my girlfriend.”

“Yeah, thank God for that,” she mumbled, although she didn’t really mean it.

“A party,” Kyle pondered, finally focusing on something other than Tess’s breasts. “Sounds fun. Am I keg man?”

“You know it,” Michael said with a nod.

“Great. I’ll get on it.”

“And Max, I was thinking you might wanna DJ,” Michael said.

“Uh, sure,” Max said. “Just give me the music you want me to play.”

“No Metallica,” Maria said warningly.

Michael ignored her and kept talking to Max. “I’ll give you some good stuff. You know, Metallica, and . . .”

Maria rolled her eyes. He would never stop annoying her, no matter what other feelings she developed for him.

“It’s pretty much gonna be the biggest bash of the year,” he finished up, “so we gotta make sure everyone’s here.”

“I’m sure that won’t be a problem,” Isabel said. “A Michael Guerin party? There’s probably gonna be people paying to get in.”

“Stroke the ego,” Michael said. “That’s right.”

“Hold up a minute,” Maria cut in. “I’m having flashbacks to the last party we threw here. Remember my birthday and how we all ended up in jail?”

“Well, that won’t happen this time,” Michael reasoned confidently. “I’ll pay the neighbors not to call the cops on us.”

“Oh my god.”

“I know. I’m brilliant. You don’t have to say anything.”

“Uh, trust me, that’s not was I was gonna say.”

“I think you’re brilliant,” Liz piped up, ever the doting girlfriend.

“And that’s why I like you, Liz.”

“This party sounds fun,” she said. “And that’s so sweet how it’s all for me.”

Maria laughed a little at that. “Uh, no, that’s just his excuse. Really, it’s just an opportunity for him to get drunk and act like a bigger dumb-ass than he already is.”

“From the mouth of a bitch,” he muttered.

“Well,” Tess jumped in, “whatever the reason, it sounds like a good idea to me. Your guys’ parties are always way better than frat parties.”

“Stroke,” Michael said again in reference to his ever-inflating ego.

“Yeah, it sounds fun,” Isabel agreed.

“Well, it’s about to sound even funner,” he told her. He made a face then and looked to Max for clarification. “Funner?”

“Uh, more fun,” Max corrected.

“Right. It’s about to get even more fun, ‘cause this . . . is gonna be a costume party.”

For a moment, everyone was silent. Then Maria slowly echoed, “A costume party?”

“Yeah. A little dress-up never hurt anyone. I figure we could all add a little spice to our lives.”

“But it’s not Halloween,” Maria pointed out. “It’s not even close to Halloween.”

“So? Does it have to be Halloween to have a costume party?”

“Traditionally, yeah.”

“Well, I’m not traditional.”

You most definitely are not, she thought, smiling a little. A costume party definitely had some very . . . arousing possibilities.

“Hmm,” Tess said, thinking about it. “That definitely sounds funner. More fun.”

“Yeah. I love dressing up,” Isabel agreed, shaking her shoulders a little.

“See? So it’s a good idea,” Michael concluded. “Costume party, middle of March . . . everyone dresses up, girls looks slutty . . . the whole thing turns into a gigantic orgy.”

Everyone smiled at that except Maria, because she didn’t like the thought of an orgy unless Michael was with her.

“Wait a minute,” Liz said to Michael suddenly. “What exactly is an orgy? I forgot.”

Maria raised her eyebrows upon hearing the question as Kyle tried to stifle his laughter. Liz had already been to one of their orgies and apparently she didn’t realize it. She was still clueless. Crazy.

“Um . . .” Michael didn’t seem to know how to answer. So instead he said, “You’ll find out.”

Liz smiled. This party idea seemed to please her.









TBC . . .

-April

[April]

Alien_Friend: Liz is most definitely still learning, still trying to fit in with the popular crowd. It isn’t a natural fit for her, though.
Mercedes: Yeah, I think you’re right about Maria and Tess being better friends than Maria and Liz ever were. For sure.
Krista: Dirty dishwater is better than none? Well . . . yeah, that phrase does kind of describe Maria and Max’s relationship. I’d never heard that one before until now, lol.
Sara: lol, no, they can’t take Tess up on her fantasy of tequila and sex. Once they get down and dirty (and I promise that will happen eventually), there won’t be any tequila involved.
Mag: Spring break is going to provide a lot more on the Tess/Kyle/Isabel/Alex front.
Christina: I think you’re going to enjoy this party they have! It’s very wild and crazy!
Brie: lol, glad you liked the foot part. Now hopefully the party won’t disappoint!
nibbles: You’ll find out soon where the guys are taking the girls. I picked the particular spring break destination because it’s one of my favorite places to vacation! And it is pretty wild.
spacegirl23: Glad to have you back! Nudist beach? Hmm, not so much, but good guess!
Tine: Oh, you must have posted your feedback right as I was posting the new part! You know, as I was writing that last part, I was thinking about how long it takes me to pack for just a weekend, and yeah, it definitely takes awhile.


Thank you for reading and leaving feedback, you guys! I appreciate it.








Part 65








Over the next few days, word about Michael’s non-Halloween costume party spread like wildfire. Maria decided to rush order a costume from online, and Isabel followed suit. Tess, being the fashion designer that she was, was able to make her own costume. Eventually, people figured out that they could pay less to get one from her, and Boutique de la Tess was booming.

Saturday afternoon, Maria went out to pick up some more fabric for the hundred and one million costumes Tess still had left to make. (Okay, that was stretching it a bit, but she had a lot of design tasks ahead of her.) When Maria went to drop off the fabric in her dorm room, she ended up sitting down at a sewing machine with a sketch of a sexy nurse’s costume in front of her and Tess instructions to “do it.” But she didn’t know how.

“Alright, thanks,” Tess said to her last customer as she headed towards the door. “I’ve got a lot on my plate right now, so if for some reason I don’t get it done on time tonight, I’ll pay you back double your money. But don’t worry. I’ll get it done.”

“Okay. Thanks, Tess,” the girl said as she left the room and headed down the hallway.

Tess got up after that, wrote CLOSED on the whiteboard on the front of her door, and shut the door loudly. “Oh my god,” she said. “Isn’t this exhilarating?”

“Exhausting is more like it,” Maria said as she attempted to position the fabric beneath the sewing machine needle. Am I doing this right? she wondered.

“You know, I’m gonna have to majorly thank Michael,” Tess said, sitting back down at her other sewing machine. “His costume party is the best thing that’s ever happened to Boutique de la Tess. I’ve made so much money these past couple days, it’s not even funny.”

“Yeah,” Maria said, sort of tuning her out. “Hey, Tess, maybe you should get Isabel to help you with this. I’m not really much of a . . . seamstress or whatever you call it.”

“Oh, relax, it’s intuitive,” Tess assured her as she went to work on an I Dream of Genie costume.

“Yeah, intuitive for you.” Maria pressed the machine downward and shrieked when she heard a loud, popping sound.

“What?” Tess said, leaning over to inspect it. “What did you do?”

“I don’t know.” She lifted the machine, ripping the fabric in the process. “Oopsie,” she said innocently.

“Okay, you’re right. Maybe you should just . . . not,” Tess agreed. She gently removed the torn fabric and set it aside. She went back to work on the genie costume, sewing it together so fast that Maria could barely believe it. “So,” she said. “What do you think about slutty schoolgirl?”

Maria made a face. “What?”

Tess smiled, never taking her eyes off of her work. “That’s what I’m gonna be. Granted, unoriginal, but it’s always a man-killer.”

“Always,” Maria agreed.

“I mean, I probably should’ve been Pamela Anderson. That would’ve been a lot easier,” Tess acknowledged, looking down at her boob job. “But . . . I don’t know. Sometimes I get tired of them. They’re kinda heavy.”

Maria resisted the urge to say ‘I told you so’ and instead asked, “So what’s it look like?”

“Oh, the schoolgirl thing?” Tess stopped sewing long enough to look up and describe the costume to Maria. “Well, a plaid skirt, of course. Oh-so short. My ass is practically falling out.”

Maria laughed.

“And a pink shirt tied up as a midriff, a la Britney Spears in her ‘. . . Baby One More Time’ music video.”

“Classic.”

“White stockings that go up to my knees and pink high heels.”

“Cute. What about your hair?”

Tess smiled. “Springy pigtails. What else?” She giggled. “Ooh, I’m gonna look so fierce. Kyle’s gonna die.”

“I bet,” Maria agreed. “Slutty schoolgirl is a go. What’s Isabel wearing?”

“I’m not sure,” Tess said. “Last I heard, she was debating between being a sexy cop or a sexy nun. I think she’s gonna go with cop, ‘cause she said the nun thing would make her feel like she’s going to hell.”

Maria laughed. “Yeah, plus, cop . . . handcuffs. It’s kinky.”

“Some people are going as really weird things,” Tess said as she returned to her sewing machine. “Like this one girl came in and asked me to design a lobster costume. A lobster. Why would you wanna go as that?”

“Seriously.”

“And another girl came in and said she wanted to go as a cactus.”

Maria made a face. “Okay, so far so kooky. What’d you say to her?”

Tess shrugged. “I told her I’d do my best. I still haven’t started working on that one yet.”

“The party’s in six hours,” Maria pointed out.

“And I’ll have it done,” Tess vowed. “I get all determined when it comes to fashion. I have a passion for fashion.” She smiled and chirped, "Rhyme!"

“Well, uh . . . I don’t suppose Liz has put in an order, has she?” Maria asked hesitantly.

“No, she hasn’t,” Tess replied, “but if she had, I’d wait until last minute to make it. She’s kinda bitchy these days.”

“Good, I’m not the only one who’s noticed it.”

“You have any idea what she’s going as?”

“I don’t know,” Maria answered. “Michael said he wanted her to dress up as a French maid, so that’s probably what she’ll go as.” She sighed. “As much as I hate to admit it, she’ll probably look really pretty.”

“Probably,” Tess agreed. “Well, what are you going as?”

Maria groaned. “Oh, I really struggled.”

“What, you couldn’t think of anything?”

“No. I mean, I’ve had a lot of slutty Halloweens in my life.”

“But this isn’t Halloween,” Tess pointed out.

“But it might as well be. I mean, I’ve been Cat Woman, Genie, sexy military chick, sexy referee . . .”

“Cowgirl?” Tess offered.

“Yep.”

“Baywatch babe?”

“Yep.”

“Playboy bunny?”

“Of course.”

“Sexy . . . elf?”

Maria made a face.

“Okay, that was stretching it a bit,” Tess acknowledged. “God, Maria, you really have been everything.”

“I know. Which is why I’ve decided on . . . 60s chick?” She cringed, waiting for Tess’s reaction.

“60s chick,” Tess contemplated. “Cute. I like it.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, but . . . what exactly does one wear as 60s chick?” Tess asked skeptically.

“Well, a short, bright, psychedelic dress, of course. Maybe some funky wedge sandals. A big old headband. Big hoop earrings.” She groaned. “Oh, 60s chick can’t compare to French maid.”

Tess stopped sewing again and turned to look at her again. “And that’s what this is about, isn’t it? You wanna look hotter than Liz?”

“Well . . . yeah.” She didn’t like admitting it, but there it was.

“Shouldn’t be a problem,” Tess said. “Liz is pretty, Maria, but her attitude's not so pretty right now. Plus, you’re, like, the girl of this campus. You always will be.”

“Well, I really don’t care about the campus anymore. I just care about Michael.” She sighed. “60s chick isn’t gonna cut it, is it?”

“Well . . . I don’t know,” Tess admitted. “I think Michael’s always gonna notice you more than he notices Liz. But you want him to really notice you, don’t you?”

Maria nodded.

Tess bit her bottom lip and was silent as she thought about it for a moment. Maria sat on the edge of her seat, hoping she’d have an idea for her. Finally, she did.

“Okay,” she said. “I have an idea, but . . . it’s very slutty.”

“Not a problem.”

Tess smiled. “It’s definitely gonna catch Michael’s attention. Actually, it’s gonna catch everyone’s attention.”

That was all Maria needed to hear. “Well, whatever it is sounds good,” she said. “Go on. Dress me up.”

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

Alex spied Isabel standing out in front of her dorm’s dining hall that day talking to a few friends. Oh god, she’s so pretty, he thought as he made his way over to her.

“What’s Michael dressing up as?” he heard one of the girls ask.

“I don’t know,” Isabel replied. “You’d have to ask Maria. If anyone would know, it’d be her. I guess you’ll find out in a few hours, though.”

Alex tapped her on the shoulder and she spun around.

“Alex,” she said, smiling that radiant smile she was privileged to call her own. “Hey.”

“Hey, Isabel,” he returned.

“I’ll see you guys tonight,” Isabel said to her friends.

They waved and walked off.

“So,” Isabel said to Alex, “all ready for the party tonight?”

“Not quite,” he admitted. “What about you? Got your costume?”

“Got it in the mail yesterday,” she said. “Sexy cop. What do you think?”

“I think . . .” He nodded. “Sexy.”

“I know, right? And I figured, if the cops do come and bust us, I could try to blend in with them, maybe convince them not to arrest all of us.”

“That’s . . . handy.”

She laughed and said. “Well, what about you? What’s your costume?”

“Hmm, see, that’s the part where I’m not quite ready.”

“What do you mean?”

He shrugged. “I don’t have a costume yet.”

“What?” She glanced down at her watch. “Alex. The clock is really ticking here.”

“I know, I know. But there’s that costume shop down on 15th street. They’re open until 6:00. You know, I wouldn’t think a costume shop would make a whole lot of business except around Halloween. Of course, I suppose there’s always the roleplay sex freaks. They could contribute some revenue.”

“Alex,” Isabel said, “don’t sidetrack yourself.”

“Oh, right. Well, uh, I was thinking you might give me an idea, you know? What should I dress up as?”

“Hmm, I don’t know.”

“Well, let me put it this way,” he rephrased. “What would you like to see me dress up as?” Too obvious? he wondered. Oh, well.

She smiled and laughed a little. “Oh, I don’t know,” she said. “Like a clown or something.”

“A clown?” he echoed, surprised that, out of all the things she could have picked, she picked that.

“Yeah, a clown.”

He nodded his head in agreement. If that was what she wanted, that was what she would get. “Okay. A clown. Sounds good.”

She laughed again. “Okay.”

“Alright, well, I’ll see you tonight then,” he said. “I better go now. I’m clown bound.”

“See you, Alex.”

He waved, turned, and headed towards the parking lot, mulling it over. A clown. Hmm . . .

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

“Better get in costume, man,” Michael suggested as he handed Max some of the CDs he wanted him to play during his night as a DJ.

“Yeah, you, too,” Max said, looking through the CDs. “Metallica. Maria’s gonna be pissed, man.”

“Yeah, that’s why you’re gonna play it.” He chuckled as Liz poked her head out of his bedroom and said, “Michael?”

“What? Hey, come on out,” he said. “Let me see it.”

Hesitantly, she opened the door and strode down the hallway in her costume. French maid. He licked his lips, liking it. “Yeah,” he said. “That’s what I’m talkin’ about. I told you this was a good idea, Liz.”

“I don’t know,” she said. “I don’t really feel like a maid. I mean, a real maid would never wear this. Her butt would be showing all the time.”

“Yeah, that’s kinda the point.”

She rolled her eyes and asked, “So I look good?”

“Of course you look good. You got your feather duster?”

She nodded and held it up for him to see.

“Good,” he said. “We’re using that tonight.” He went to open the front door when he heard a car pull up in the driveway. He smiled when he saw Tess get out of the passenger’s side. “Slutty schoolgirl,” he noted. “I like it, Tess.”

She curtsied. “Thank you.”

Kyle got out of the driver’s seat, not in costume yet.

“You got the kegs?”

“Yep. A couple of 'em.”

“Nice, nice.”

“And a shitload of vodka and tequila and stuff, too. Spent my whole fuckin’ paycheck.”

“I’ll pay you back,” Michael promised. “Hey, we gotta keep an eye on Maria, though. You know what I mean? I mean, if she wants to drink, she can drink, but I don’t want her getting alcohol poisoning again, you know?”

“We’ll take care of her,” Kyle promised.

“Aw,” Tess said as she slinked past him into the house. “So concerned.”

He ignored that comment and asked the big-busted blonde, “Hey, where is Maria anyway? I thought she was with you.”

“She was,” Tess said. “She’s still back at my dorm room, though.”

“Why?”

“Because. She’s still getting in costume.” Tess smiled a mischievous smile and walked away from him, obviously knowing more than she was saying.

Michael smiled, curious. He had no idea what kind of crazy costume that crazy bitch was going to wear, but he couldn’t wait to find out.

“Help me with the kegs, man!” Kyle called to him.

“Alright, I’m comin’.”

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

Max decided to blast the Metallica before Maria got there. He was ultimately responsible for the music, after all, since he was the DJ. He didn’t want her to be mad at him, so he figured it best to play it while she wasn’t around to hear it.

The party was just starting to get into gear around 8:30. It was so crowded that people were pressed up against each other, but most just used that as an excuse to bump and grind. Even to Metallica. They danced to music that was generally classified as non-danceable.

Some of the costumes were a little . . . well, they made Max cringed. He enjoyed looking at a pretty girl in skimpy clothing as much as the next guy, but his tastes ran a little more conservative than that. He would have liked to have seen one girl walk in with a sheet over her head and holes cut out for the eyes and say, “Hi. I’m a ghost.” Classic. Traditional. Conservative. Of course, he knew Maria wouldn’t be that girl. Every year, she seemed to wear less and less clothing, and while it had always been good news for him in the past, it was bad news for him now. They were dating now. Guys were going to be ogling his girlfriend like crazy, and there was nothing he could do about it because, in the end, it was her body. She could show it off if she wanted to, even if it was in excess.

Just focus on being the DJ, he told himself as he replaced Metallica with some rap music, something that was a little easier to dance to. Everyone cheered, and the dancing got even more outrageous. Max got a laugh out of watching a girl in a cactus costume trying to shake her hips. It wasn’t working. And there was a guy dressed as Jesus who just looked . . . well, ironic as he did the pelvic thrust. Since when did Jesus thrust?

The drinks, of course, were flowing. Max watched people flock to the keg, chug down, and then flock back again for more. He wondered how many people he was going to have to carry out of there and drive home that night. It was a real wild time, that was for sure. Unfortunately, he wasn’t crazy about wild. For whatever reason, Maria, Michael, and Kyle loved being outrageous and out of control. He would have almost rather curled up in bed with his biology book on one side and Maria on the other. That was his idea of a good night.

“Max.”

He turned when he heard his sister’s voice and tried not to notice her costume, because that was just wrong.

“Nice costume,” Isabel said. “Magician?”

“Yeah.” He readjusted the large top hat on his head. “Can’t you tell?”

Tess bounced up next to her, practically tossing her breasts out of her shirt, and asked, “Where’s your magic wand?” She giggled and said. “Oops, sorry. That sounded dirty.”

He held up the magic wand prop he had constructed out of old toilet paper rolls.

“Oh,” Isabel said. “Inventive.”

“I like the cape,” Tess said, pulling at the purple and black cape tied around his neck. “Can I wear it? I’m really cold.”

“That’s ‘cause you hardly wore any clothing, Tess,” Isabel pointed out.

Tess laughed a little. “Then Maria’s really gonna be cold.”

“Why?” Max asked. “What’s Maria dressed as?”

“Oh, you’ll see,” Tess replied with a smirk.

“She’s mysterious, yet drunk,” Isabel said. “Keep asking. The answer might slip out.”

“Uh-uh,” Tess said, shaking her head vigorously. “I’m keeping my mouth shut.” She pretended to zip her lips closed but then immediately spoke again. “Hey, Iz, I really like your costume, by the way. The handcuffs . . .”

“I know,” Isabel said. “Kyle is so getting dominated tonight.”

Max cringed. “Ooh. You do know that you’re my sister, right?”

“Only on the days that I claim you. Come on, Tess.” The two girls skipped off, and Max sighed. He couldn’t wait for Maria to get there and to see what she was wearing.

Or rather not wearing.

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

Michael glanced at the clock radio next to his bed. It was getting later. The party had been in full swing for about thirty-five minutes. It was time for him to make an appearance and really get things going.

He checked himself out in the mirror one more time. Man, this really isn’t fair, he thought. God gave me all the good looks. The poor other suckers out there didn’t stand a chance. Plus, he was dressed as a cowboy. The torn up jeans, the big old belt, the boots, the hat . . . not to mention, a white long-sleeved shirt hanging open to show off his chest. He knew that the moment he walked out there, all the girls were going to salivate. It didn’t matter. He was a taken man now, Liz’s boyfriend. But he still enjoyed all the attention he received.

I wonder what Maria’s gonna think, he pondered as he left his bedroom and traipsed out into the hallway. As he had predicted, all the girls immediately turned to stare at him. Some were bold enough to come up to him and start to flirt. He felt tempted, so he had to push them away. Had a girlfriend. Had to . . . not cheat.

He stopped in his tracks when he looked ahead and saw a blonde girl in a NASCAR jumpsuit costume. Maria? he thought. It wasn’t what he had expected her to dress up as, but he figured she could look hot in anything. He went up to her said, “NASCAR, huh?”

She spun around and smiled. Only . . . it wasn’t her. Or it wasn’t the her he had hoped it was.

“Courtney,” he said, feeling ashamed of himself. How could he mistake her for Maria? Courtney was really hot, yeah, but . . . Maria was way hotter. And NASCAR wasn’t her thing.

“Hi, Michael,” Courtney greeted, smiling. “Great party.”

“I know. Sorry, I thought you were someone else.” He started to walk away, but she grabbed his arm and stopped him.

“Who?” she asked. “Maria?” When he didn’t say anything, she made a face. “That girl . . . I swear, one of these days, I’m just gonna get in a cage with her and wrestle it out.”

The visual popped into his mind, accompanied by some nudity and mud. It was appealing. “I could arrange that,” he said.

“Or, you could just forget about her,” she suggested not at all coyly, “and fuck me.”

He couldn’t be sure, so he had to ask. “Didn’t we already do that?”

“Yeah,” she replied, “Christmas break.”

He definitely remembered but decided to pretend not to.

She grunted in disbelief. “What, you don’t remember? That was, like, the best sex ever.”

It’d been alright, but nowhere near as good as he told people it was. “Not to me,” he said, smirking, noting her outrage as he turned and walked away. He definitely remembered bedding Courtney Banks. Loose and too much whining. Nothing special. If his memory was correct, she’d cum thrice and he’d barely gotten off once.

If Maria ever finds out I mistook Courtney for her, she’ll throw a bitch fit, he thought, deciding to file this little encounter away in the back of his mind.

He spotted Liz talking to a group of girls and was trying to make his way over to her when a drunk girl literally fell into his arms, moaning, “Do me.”

“Oh, I would, if . . .” he began to assure her. He trailed off, though, when he looked at her face. He recognized her. “Hey,” he said. “Rachel.”

“Rachelle,” she corrected, apparently not recognizing him in her drunken stupor. Honestly, he was surprised he had recognized her and could partially recall her name. It had to be the red hair. He hadn’t done many redheads over the years.

“Do me,” she begged again.

“I already have, Rachel,” he told her, pushing her back up into a standing position.

“Rachelle.”

He walked away from her and had barely taken a step when Liz was in front of him.

“Hey,” she said. “What was that all about?”

“Oh, nothing. Just lots of girls wantin’ me to fuck ‘em,” he replied nonchalantly.

“What?”

“Yeah. Don’t worry. There’s only one girl I’m fuckin’ tonight,” he assured her.

“Who?”

He laughed and her naivety sometimes and leaned in closer to her. “You,” he said, kissing her to assure her even more. “Hey, how do you like my costume?” he pulled back to ask then.

“I like it a lot,” she said. “You cowboy up well.”

“Don’t I know it. Just a minute here.” He signaled to Max to cut the music for a moment, and Max nodded and did so. People groaned and started to complain when the music stopped, of course, but he quickly spoke up to silence them.

“Hey. Hey, guys, I just wanted to say somethin’ real quick,” he announced. “Most likely, two-thirds of you are already halfway to happyland, so you won’t understand a word I’m sayin’; but for the remaining third of you, I just wanted to remind you who this party’s for.” He smiled and put his arm around Liz. “My oh-so-hot girlfriend Liz Parker and her oh-so-hot dance team.” And it was partially for his own enjoyment, too, but he didn’t need to advertise that.

“Yeah!” a bunch of the guys cheered. “Dance team!”

“Yeah, we love that dance team, don’t we fellas?” Michael said. “Gotta love a girl who can do the splits.”

“I can’t do the splits,” Liz whispered to him.

“Oh. Well . . .” Maria can, he thought. “That’s . . . irrelevant. Anyway, I also just wanted to lay down the law a little bit, tell everybody the rules, get that shit outta the way.”

A few people groaned. Others gave each other confused looks. Rules?

“The only rule is . . .” he said as he picked up a can of beer. “There are no rules. Let’s party, people!”

“Yeah!” Everyone shouted and raised their beers high in the air for a sort of toast to the party before chugging down. Max cranked the music again, and people resumed dancing.

“Yeah!” he exclaimed, taking his first, but definitely not last, sip of beer for the night. “This is gonna be an awesome night, Liz,” he promised.

“Yeah,” she said. “Don’t let me drink too much, okay?”

“Oh, don’t worry, I won’t,” he said as he surveyed the room, looking for Maria. Man, he thought. Where is that girl?

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

“Uh, god,” Tess grumbled as she tried to tie her shirt in a knot below her breasts for the umpteenth time that night. Every time she got it, it came untied again. Sometimes her implants were really obnoxious.

“Oh, I swear to God,” she said. “If this thing comes untied one more time, I’m just gonna take it off. Is that alright with you, Kyle?” She knotted the top firmly and turned to look at him. “Kyle?”

It was no wonder he couldn’t answer. His mouth was being invaded by Isabel’s tongue.

Hmm, Tess thought, forcing the momentary pang of jealousy to subside. This must be what Isabel feels like when Kyle and I forget to include her.

“Mmm,” Isabel moaned, rubbing herself again him. “How did you come up with this costume? Captain Jack Sparrow? That is so hot.” She grinned and tugged on his bottom lip with her teeth. “Every girl loves Johnny Depp.”

Kyle turned to look at Tess as Isabel licked her way over to his earlobe and down his neck. “What about you, Tess?” he asked. “You love Johnny Depp?”

“I love Johnny Depp,” she said, although she wasn’t really talking about him.

Kyle seemed to get it because he smiled and mouthed back, “I love you, too.”

Tess smiled, too, and turned away, deciding to give Isabel her time with Kyle. She was his girlfriend, too. She had her needs.

The front door opened, and Tess expected to see Maria walk in. The party had been happening for an hour now. Why wasn’t she there yet? Being fashionably late was one thing, but nobody, not even Maria was this fashionably late for a Michael Guerin party.

Tess took out her cell phone and texted Maria a message quickly. She’d done a lot of texting in her day, so she was an expert at where the letters were. where r u? she typed, then pressed SEND. If Maria didn’t text back soon, she was going to assume she’d chickened out. And that would be very uncharacteristic.









TBC . . .

-April

[April]

Tine: Oh, don’t worry, nothing happened to Maria. She’s just being fashionably late.
Alien_Friend: Well, Maria and Alex are both going to show up in this part, in costume, so you’ll see how Michael and Isabel react to them.
pookie76:

I wouldn't be surprised if she arrives as "Eve".

All I can do is lol at that.
Christina: Ooh, you caught on to all sorts of little subtle things in the last part, didn’t you? I would definitely say that Max took a tentative step towards acknowledging who Maria really is in the last part, and you’re right about how he and Liz have similar more conservative tastes. And you’re also right that they’re blinded by their lust for M+M. As for whether or not that little line Liz had about not drinking too much was foreshadowing . . . well, stay tuned.
nibbles: Tess has just noticed that Liz has been acting like a bitch to Maria. And don’t worry, Maria’s okay. She’s just showing up a little late.
Sara: Did you really just call me a stinker? lol, well, you’ll find out what Maria’s costume is in this part.
Brie: Yes, I think you’ll enjoy Michael’s reaction to Maria’s costume.
spacegirl23:

Stripper? Sports Illustrated's swimsuit cover girl? Cheerleader?

Good guess, but nope! I think it’s safe to say that Maria’s costume is going to be one of a kind. You’ll see what I mean.
Mercedes:

Michael and Maria bring out the worst in Max and Liz. Max and Liz might bring out the best in each other.

Yes! Max and Liz actually do both have a lot of good qualities. You just aren’t seeing so much of those qualities right now because they are involved in these very unhealthy relationships with people who are not a match for them.
Krista: Cliffhangers suck for readers, but they rock for writers. [insert evil laugh here]
starcrazed: Hey, I’m glad to know you’re still reading! You’ll see how people respond to Alex and Maria’s costumes in this part.
tequathisy:

I hope Maria's alright and that she's about to make a great entrance to the party and knock Liz's cliche out of the water.

Oh, yeah, Maria’s going to make an entrance, and I think it’s safe to say that her costume is most definitely NOT cliché. As for why Tess thinks Liz has been bitchy, she just notices that Liz has dumped Maria as a friend, and that doesn’t sit well with her. Tess is an extremely loyal person.
Antarian Chick: I'm glad to see you're still reading! Don't worry about Maria. She didn't get attacked or anything.



Alright, so you're going to find out what Maria's costume is. I know I hyped this part to a couple of you in private messages, said it was going to be really funny. Hopefully you'll lol.

The next update will be late Sunday, by the way. We've got tornados on the way where I live, and I've decided to head for home (no Internet, you know how that goes) in case it gets bad.

Enjoy reading this wacky, crazy part! It was probably one of my favorites to write!








Part 66









Because Kyle and Tess had driven the car home earlier that day, Maria had to drive Tess’s little VW Bug to the party that night. She’d gotten ready in Tess’s dorm room, too, in order to keep her costume a complete secret. She wanted Michael to be really surprised.

“Tess, your car sucks,” she grumbled as she squeezed it into the driveway next to a red truck that had not yet been vandalized or thrown up on. The car had sputtered the whole way there. Tess never drove it, so it sat outside her dorm hall in the parking lot for months at a time without starting.

Maria happily shut it off and took out the key. Her phone beeped, so she took it out, flipped it open and read a text message from Tess. where r u? She tossed the phone onto the passenger’s seat and didn’t even bother texting back since she was already there.

She leaned back against the seat and sighed. Once she walked inside, there was no turning back. Tess’s costume idea had been a little . . . radical. If she was going to go through with it, she had to do it with vigor.

“Here we go,” she said to herself, untying the long coat that she had used to hide her real costume. She tossed that coat into the backseat . Then she opened the car door and climbed out. It wasn’t very cold outside—March in New Mexico was very tolerable—but the wind bit at her skin regardless, making her shiver. She shut the door and strode towards the house, trying to project confidence. Yes, confidence was the only way she was going to be able to pull this crazy idea off.

Now or never, she thought, pulling open the front door.

The moment one person laid eyes on her and gasped, another person laid eyes on her and gasped. And suddenly, everyone was staring at her and gasping and looking shocked (and in some cases, impressed) as she stood in the doorway with one hand on her hip and the other hand on the doorframe. Tess smiled and clapped her hands giddily. Max dropped a stack of CDs just as his mouth dropped open. But Michael, the only person whose reaction to her costume she really cared to see, just stared. That was a good thing.

She smiled and spoke directly to him when she said, “I’m a nudist.”

He just kept staring, his eyes gradually drifting lower and lower . . .

“Nice,” she heard some guy say. People started talking amongst themselves again, dancing, drinking, and the party continued on. Maria walked into the house and shut the door, needing to get out of the outdoors. In addition to being a bit chilly out there, she was also risking charges of public exposure if one of the neighbors saw her.

“Great costume, Maria,” some guy came up to her and said.

“Thanks,” she said. She couldn’t deny feeling a little self-conscious, though. She had confidence and her body and all, but she had never ever been completely naked in a room full of this many people before.

First time for everything, she thought, peering around a grinding couple to see Michael again. Liz was saying something to him now, but she noticed the way he kept glancing over at her every couple of seconds. She smiled inwardly and thought, Good. She had one up on the French maid.

She glanced at Max next. He had bent down to pick up all the CDs that had scattered on the floor. She could tell by the look on his face, though, that he wasn’t sure what to think.

Sorry, Max, she thought. I know you’re hoping this ‘costume’ is for you, but it’s not.

“Hey, girly,” Tess said as she squeezed through the crowd. “Am I a genius or what?”

“You might be a genius,” Maria said. “We’ll see.”

Tess grinned. “I told you it’d get his attention. Michael can't resist a naked you.”

“Yeah, well . . .” Maria laughed a little. “This is the most slutty and non-subtle I have ever been in my entire life, so . . .”

“It’ll be worth it,” her friend assured her.

“Tess!”

She turned when she heard Kyle call her name. Jack Sparrow, Maria noted, not surprised that Kyle had dressed up a la Pirates of the Caribbean. It was one of his favorite movies.

“Coming, Captain!” Tess called back. She turned to Maria again and added, “Hopefully coming for real soon.”

Maria shook her head and watched her friend skip back towards her boyfriend. Tess had to be the most perverted person she knew. Nudist. Who else would come up with that? It actually felt sort of . . . freeing.

Although she would have loved to just stand there and admire how smolderingly hot Michael looked dressed up as a cowboy, Maria forced herself to play a little hard to get. She eased past dancing couples and steered clear of the keg. She hadn’t touched a drop of alcohol since her alcohol poisoning incident, and she didn’t intend to start back up that particular night. The last thing she needed to do was get hammered. If she did that, she’d probably say or do something to Michael that was even less subtle than the nudist thing.

She went over to the food table they had set up and pretended to be all interested in eating cheese cubes, waiting for Michael to approach her. Unfortunately, though, Max got to her first.

“Maria.”

“Hey, Max,” she said. “Why is no one eating all this food I bought?”

“Oh, uh . . . I think they’re too busy drinking.”

She shrugged and popped a pretzel into her mouth. “More for me then.”

“Yeah. Um . . . hey, Maria?”

“Yeah?” She looked right up into his eyes, hoping this little stunt wasn’t going to upset him too much. Max was a really conservative guy, and what she was doing definitely wasn’t conservative.

“Uh . . . I kinda thought when you talked about dressing up for this party that you were actually gonna . . . wear something.”

“Well, I was gonna come as 60s chick.”

“60s chick. I like that.”

She made a face and shook her head. “I didn’t. So Tess came up with an alternative idea.”

“Yeah,” he said, looking over her for a minute. “It is alternative.”

“Max,” she said. “You know every Halloween I wear less and less.”

“But it’s not Halloween,” he quickly reminded her. “It’s just a costume party.”

“But it’s the same concept. Come on, Max, what was I supposed to do? Walk in with a sheet over my head and say, ‘Hi, I’m a ghost’?”

He shrugged and said. “I would’ve liked that.”

“But you like this, too.”

“Well . . . of course I do, Maria,” he said. “You’re . . . you know you’re beautiful.”

She smiled.

“But . . .”

“Max . . .” She really hadn’t given much thought to a Max lecture. She had just assumed that she would make her naked entrance and Michael would get an immediate hard-on. That part of the plan had probably come true. "Should I have talked to you about this first?"

He sighed and took off his magician’s hat, running one hand through his hair. “No. Okay,” he said. “I’m sorry. I can’t tell you what to do. You’re your own person. You can wear . . . or not wear . . . what you wanna wear. Or not wear.”

“Thanks, Max.” She rose up on her tiptoes and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “And don’t worry,” she said. “Everybody knows I’m taken.” But what she wanted was to be taken by a different man. And literally. And that was the problem.

Max tried to smile back at her, still looking less than enthused about her ‘costume.’ Before he could do or say anything else, though, the CD he had playing started to skip, and people immediately started to grumble and complain.

“Oh, shoot,” he said, rushing back over to the DJ booth Kyle had set up for him. He was by far the worst DJ on the planet, but at least he was trying. He immediately switched to another CD, and a new song started up, making people happy again.

Maria looked around the room then, searching for Michael. But she couldn’t find him. Where are you, cowboy? she wondered, hoping he hadn’t taken Liz into his bedroom already. She wanted to entice him some more.

“What the hell is this?’

She turned when she heard his voice and found him standing right beside her. He looked so gorgeous, she could barely formulate words. All she wanted to do was run her hands across that exposed chest of his and get lost in his eyes.

“Michael,” she said, surprised at how calm and collected she sounded. “I already told you. I’m a nudist.”

He stared out at all the other people instead of looking at her as he made the obvious statement. “You’re not wearing anything.”

“Nothing but a smile.” She grinned appropriately and said, “That would be the definition of a nudist.”

“Yeah, but . . .” He turned to look at her, and his mouth fell open slowly, making her happy. He stared mostly at her breasts that time, not allowing his eyes to travel anywhere else.

“Nothing you haven’t seen before,” she reminded him. “I mean, how many times have you accidentally walked in on me in the shower, or accidentally opened the door to my room while I’m changing?”

“It’s not about me. It’s about the rest of these guys,” he said.

Oh, no, Michael, she thought to herself. It’s all about you. Little did he know . . .

“Do you realize that every single one of ‘em is looking at you right now, fantasizing about you, wanting to sleep with you?”

“Again,” she added. “Well, I mean, I’m pretty sure I’ve fucked most of these bozos at least once.”

“Well, what about Max? I bet he’s pissed.”

Maria glanced back over her shoulder at Max. He was watching her out of the corner of his eye, trying to look as though he were really focused on DJ-ing.

“Michael,” she said, “Get this through your thick, male-chauvinistic mind: Max doesn’t boss me around. I realize that Liz probably follows every single order you give her, thus making her French maid costume very appropriate, but Max doesn’t tell me what to do. Or what not to wear.” She smiled mischievously.

He just stared at her, looking a combination of pissed off and aroused. It seemed like he was forcing himself to look into her eyes to avoid looking at the rest of her.

When the eye contact became too much for her to handle, she glanced down at the impressive bulge in his jeans instead and remarked, “I didn’t know a guy could get so hard.”

He glanced down, too, and immediately turned away from her, readjusting his jeans. “It’s a . . . natural male reaction,” he said. “If Courtney Banks had gone the nudist route, I’d have the exact same hard-on.”

Just at the mention of that slutbag’s name, Maria got angry. “Oh, you did not just say that.”

He laughed, seeming pleased with himself.

That ass . . .

“Michael!”

They both turned and looked out into the crowd of people at the sound of Liz’s voice. She was standing in the midst of all of them, feather duster in hand. She looked expectant. “Come dance with me!” she called.

Michael looked reluctant as hell, and Maria liked that he made no enormous effort to move.

“Go,” she urged, patting him on the butt. “Put that erection to good use.”

He met her eyes briefly one last time before turning and walking out to meet Liz in the middle of the living room. Maria stood back and watched. She couldn’t be the girl dancing with him, but hopefully she was the girl he was thinking about.

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

Alright, you’re dancing with Liz, Michael thought. Liz is hot. Your oh-so-hot girlfriend. That’s who she is.

Dammit, why had Maria shown up naked? She’d messed him up for the whole night.

Liz took his hands and placed them on her hips as she swayed them from side to side. She put one arm on his shoulder and, with the trailed the other arm down between them, using the feather duster she was holding to brush against his erection. He was fairly certain he couldn’t get any harder than he already was.

But, as if to test that theory, he looked up and found himself staring straight at Maria, and he felt his cock twitch in response to the sight of her. She was still standing by that food table, not a stitch on. And she looked so good. Her legs, her breasts . . . before this, he’d only caught brief glimpses of her nude body before. This was a long-awaited treat. Stare-time.

Her eyes bore deep into his. The little smirk on her lips threatened to drive him crazy. Her hair . . . admittedly, it wasn’t the first thing he looked at, but even it was enticing. So blonde and shiny. Bouncy, too. She’d curled it as if to drive him even that much more insane.

Suddenly, as he was thinking about her bouncy hair, he imagined what she would look like bouncing up and down atop his rock-hard cock. It was a thought that was both disturbing and arousing. Arousing because . . . well, obviously. But disturbing because he tried not to think things like that. He tried.

Grabbing Liz’s hips a bit roughly, he turned them around so that he was facing away from Maria. That was better. Well, not really better all around, but better for dancing with Liz. His girlfriend.

“You’re a good dancer, Liz,” he told her.

“So are you.”

Yeah, right, he thought, suddenly picturing the way Maria looked when she danced. If she started dancing nude, he’d shoot his load in an instant. There was only so much a man could take.

Being a bit rough again, he spun Liz around and pulled her against him. He lifted up the back of her maid costume and rubbed himself against her suggestively. She was wearing panties, but it didn’t matter. He had an image in his mind, an image of the backside of a certain naked blonde girl, and every time he grinded himself against his girlfriend, that image popped back into his mind.

That’s it, he thought, moving around so that he could look over to his left and meet Maria’s eyes again. She could definitely fuck with him, but he could fuck with her, too. It didn’t hurt to show her what she was missing out on.

“Oh,” Liz moaned as he ground himself against her especially noticeably.

Michael grinned at Maria, noticing that she’d lost a bit of that cocky smirk. She looked . . . jealous.

Good.

He mouthed ‘bitch’ to her and kept on dancing with Liz. Maria didn’t look too devastated, though. Probably because she knew that he was thinking about her. And he was staring at her. He was dancing with Liz, yeah, but in his mind . . . he was dancing with Maria.

He pressed his hips forward again.

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

“Oh, I’m gonna get so smashed tonight,” Tess said as she stumbled towards Maria, a beer in her hand. Kyle was right behind her, of course, and Isabel right behind him. “Actually, I-I think I’m already smashed.”

“This is definitely a rager,” Isabel agreed. She grabbed a couple of pretzels off the food table, but after a few seconds of standing beside Maria, she moved to stand on the other side of Tess, claiming, “I feel way too overdressed when I stand beside you, Maria.”

Maria laughed.

Tess downed the rest of her beer and tossed the empty can on the floor. “Sorry,” she said. “I don’t mean to litter on your carpet. I’m just . . .”

“Smashed, I heard,” Maria said. “That’s okay. By the end of tonight, there’s probably gonna be a lot of unmentionable things on this floor.”

“And guess who gets to clean it up,” Kyle muttered.

“You?” Tess guessed.

“No, Max.”

“Oh.” She laughed and began to twirl around drunkenly. “Woo, Max!” she exclaimed. “Mr. Janitor. You know what? I thought my fake boobs might make me less of a lightweight, but no. I’m still tipsy.”

“Smashed and tipsy,” Isabel commented. “She’s definitely on the path of ruin.”

“Jussssst for tonight,” Tess slurred. “Tipsy-ipsy. But not you, Maria. No ruin-y path for you. Your boys don’t want you to drink.”

“Which is why I’m not drinking,” Maria reminded her drunken friend.

“See?” Tess said to the others. “Deep down, Maria’s actually a good girl.”

“Right,” Kyle said, smiling. “A good girl who comes to the party as a nudist.”

Tess laughed and said, “Actually, that was my idea. Yeah. I’m very naughty.”

Kyle’s face lit up and he reached across Isabel to grab Tess’s arm. “Okay, sweetie,” he said. “Just hearin’ you say that word . . . let’s go downstairs.”

“No, I can’t,” Tess said, pretending to put up resistance. “I’m a good Catholic girl.” She gestured emphatically to her schoolgirl costume.

“Yeah, well, Captain Jack’s about to teach you a lesson. Come on, naughty girl.”

Tess giggled and followed Kyle to their downstairs domain. Maria didn’t say anything, but she noticed the look on Isabel’s face, the signs of envy. It was obvious.

“You okay?” she asked carefully.

“Yeah,” Isabel said. “I’m just gonna go . . . get smashed and tipsy.”

Maria nodded and watched Isabel hightail it towards the keg. It usually took a lot to get her drunk, but if she was motivated, which she clearly was, she could be smashed and tipsy like Tess within the hour for sure.

Time to mingle, Maria thought. She’d been standing by that food table for at least fifteen minutes now. Michael and Liz had stopped dancing, and she didn’t know where he was now. She wouldn’t doubt if they were doing exactly what Tess and Kyle (and half the other partygoers) were doing, but she hoped that if they were doing that, he was thinking about her. He had to have been thinking about her when he was dancing with Liz. Michael never danced like that unless something, or rather someone had him especially aroused. And that someone was her. She smiled at the thought. Nudist was a good idea.

She popped a few more cheese cubes in her mouth and made her way into the throng of dancers. The dancing was so outrageous that, for the most part, she couldn’t decipher which couples were fucking and which couples were just grinding.

Rager.

She spotted a couple of people from her psychology class and was on her way over to talk to them when she heard familiar voices not far behind her.

“Oh my god. Look.”

“I know. I can’t believe I used to wanna be like her.”

Pam and Liz, she realized, listening closer to what they had to say.

“I mean, if she’s gonna wear nothing, she should at least be in shape.”

She made a face. I’m more in shape than you’ll ever be, Spam.

“Yeah. She looks really slutty,” Liz agreed.

That’s it, Maria thought, turning around and laughing. Liz and Pam both backed up slightly, apparently not expecting her to have heard what they were saying. “Oh, and you two just look so classy,” she countered sarcastically. The slutiness of the French maid was legendary, and Pam’s Playboy bunny costume left little to the imagination as well. “I may be a little slutty,” she acknowledged, “but at least I’m not afraid to admit it.” She turned to walk away, but she didn’t feel as though she were quite done, so she walked back over to them and decided to give them a little piece of advice. “Oh, and if you’re gonna talk about a girl behind her back, at least have the decency to do it quietly.” She glared at Pam and glanced at Liz for just a moment, trying to remember when they had been friends. It hadn’t been that long ago. Not really. But it felt like a very long time ago.

Liz hung her head and said, “Maria . . .”

But Maria didn’t let her say anything. She shook her head and walked away. These days, she was over the gossip. People were going to say and think about her whatever they wanted to. She only cared what one person thought about her.

Where the hell was he, anyway?

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

It didn’t take Alex long to find Isabel. He walked inside, all dressed up in his costume, and she was the first thing he saw. Well, actually, Maria was the first thing he saw. She wasn’t wearing anything and was difficult to miss. Although he was mildly surprised, he wrote it off as Maria being . . . well, Maria. The second thing he saw, though, was Isabel. She was at the keg filling up a glass of beer, but Kyle wasn’t anywhere around her. Awesome, Alex thought, making his way towards her. Please arrest me, Officer Evans. She looked damn sexy in her cop costume.

“Isabel,” he said.

She spun around to face him and smiled. “Oh, no, you didn’t,” she said.

“I did.” He squeezed his big red clown nose and shrugged. “You said clown.”

“Yeah, I know, but I was kidding, Alex. A clown is, like, the least sexy costume ever.”

He felt like a giant balloon that had just been deflated. He felt all the air going out of him. “Oh.” He took a look down at the oversized, floppy clown shoes on his feet. And the polka dot jumpsuit. And the striped vest. Not to mention the bright red wig and face paint. He looked like Ronald McDonald, only . . . worse. “Oops.”

“Yeah, I’m actually kind of scared of clowns.”

Shit, he thought. This just keeps getting worse. “Sorry.”

“No, that’s okay,” she said. “I’m not scared of you. Plus, I think it’s sweet that you followed through with it. I love a man of his word.” She smiled at him, and that almost sent him into a state of cardiac arrest. He’d screwed up, but the night was still salvageable.

She set her beer glass down on the counter and took his hand. “Come dance with me, Bozo,” she said, pulling him out towards the dance floor.

“Bozo?” he echoed, trying to wrap his mind around the fact that she wanted to dance with him.

“Well, would you rather be Chucky?”

He laughed. “No, Bozo’s fine.”

She smiled again and began to sway her hips to the beat of the music. He tried, but he wasn’t a very good dancer. He doubted he was as good of a dancer as Kyle was.

But Kyle wasn’t around. That thought made him very happy.

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

“Sorry that was such a quickie, babe.”

“No, that’s okay.” Tess fumbled with her top, wondering now if she couldn’t get it tied because she was so hammered or because of her boobs. Either was possible.

“I’m gonna go find Isabel,” Kyle said. “We kinda left her . . .”

“Happens all the time,” Tess mumbled, still focused on her shirt. She was just about fed up. “There,” she said when she was convinced she had it tied tight enough for the rest of the night. A second later, though, it popped open again. Annoyed and frustrated, she shrugged the top off and threw it down on the floor. Everyone was partially nude at that stage of the party anyway.

“Takin’ Maria’s lead, huh?”

She looked up and found Michael coming towards her. Cowboy was making a mountain in his pants.

“Michael, it’s one of your parties. Everyone's gonna be naked eventually,” she said. “I’m surprised I’ve stayed dressed this long.”

“Me, too,” he said. “You know . . . I wonder how Maria came about the nudist idea. I mean, it’s not exactly the first thought that pops into my mind when I think about costumes.”

Tess just smiled and said, “She’s wacky like that.”

“Yeah, yeah,” he agreed. “I was under the impression she’d come as nurse.”

“And why were you under the . . .” She trailed off, her drunk mind unable to reformulate the word he’d just said. “I’m too drunk for that word. Why did you think . . . nurse?”

“Well, it’s the one iconic slutty thing she’s never dressed up as. Plus, I got her this costume a couple Christmases ago. I don’t think she’s ever worn it.”

“Maybe not for you,” she said, jabbing a finger into his chest. “Maybe for Max.”

“Yeah, I just . . . no, I don’t picture them as that kind of couple,” he said.

“Oh, I bet they’re kinky,” she teased. “Like me and Kyle.” She spotted her boyfriend across the room, waved excitedly, and held her breasts up for him to see. He smiled and nodded his head in approval.

“You know, I’m not stupid.”

“Huh?” she said, wondering why Michael was still there.

“This whole little stunt has Tess Harding written all over it.”

“Stunt?” she echoed, wishing he would go away before she let word slip to him that Maria had a thing for him. She couldn’t be held responsible for anything she said or any secrets she divulged while she was intoxicated.

“Yeah. She asks you for costume advice, you say, ‘Oh, hey, nudist.’ Just to try to get me worked up, right?”

“Yeah,” she confessed, glancing down at the party in his pants momentarily. “But, clearly it’s not working.”

He glanced downward, too, and tried to play it cool. “I was just dancing with Liz, so . . .”

“Oh, yeah.”

“She’s a good dancer.”

“Mmm-hmm.”

“It’s nothin’, alright? I just . . .” He pointed a finger at her and said, “I know it was your idea.” As he turned to walk away, Tess felt the need to clarify something.

“So you don’t like it?” she asked, confused.

He turned around, backing away. “I didn’t say that.”

She smiled. He liked it. He liked Maria as a nudist. Of course.

She located Maria across the room talking to Kyle, and when Maria gave her a questioning look, Tess gave her a two thumbs up. And then, because she was a lightweight who’d had drank too much, she got wobbly and fell down.

“Ow.”

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

Liz wasn’t sure whether to classify the evening as a good one or a bad one. On the one hand, she’d done some amazingly sexy dancing with Michael. But on the other hand, she knew he probably wished he were dancing with someone else.

Dammit, Maria, she thought as she watched her former friend effortlessly entice every guy in the room. Why do you have to do this? It’s not fair. Michael’s my boyfriend. Mine.

She went over to Max’s DJ table, wondering if he was feeling as upset as she was. He should be. Maria was being just as unfair to him as she was being to everyone else.

“Hey, Liz,” he said as he poured some disc cleaner on a scratched CD. “How’s it goin’?”

“Fine,” she said. “Has Maria said anything about your costume?”

He glanced up and shook his head. “No.”

“Well, have you said anything about hers?”

He sighed and looked down at the scratched disc again. “Yeah.”

“‘Cause, I mean, it’s not even really a costume. Aren’t you kinda mad at her?”

“No.”

She sighed. These one-word answers were not making for a very lively conversation. She had to delve deeper. “Really? You’re not? ‘Cause she’s walking around here naked. That’s her costume. And she’s flirting with everybody. All for the sake of a stupid party.”

“A stupid party your boyfriend threw for you, Liz,” Max reminded her.

“Yeah, I know, but . . . I mean, don’t you wish she would have consulted you first before . . . taking it all off?”

“Well, technically, she never had it on. And Liz, she doesn’t need my permission.”

“But it would’ve been nice for her to consider you, you know,” she went on, “maybe to think about you for once.”

“She thinks about me.” He blew on the disc to dry it off, then held it up and examined it. “I think I fixed it,” he announced.

“Max,” she said, steering him back to what really mattered. “How can you not be mad at her?”

“I’m just not.”

“She’s your girlfriend, but she’s spent the entire night so far spending time with basically everyone but you.”

“That’s ‘cause I’m DJ-ing.”

“That’s not the point, Max.”

“Well, what is the point, Liz? That you’re trying to get me and my girlfriend to fight? I’d rather not, you know.”

“No, Max, I just . . . I think you deserve better, that’s all. You’re a really nice guy.”

“I love her, Liz. You can’t help who you love.”

That quieted her. Because it was true. Because she could relate. “Trust me,” she said, turning to look out on all the partygoers again, “I know.” She spotted Michael downing a beer with Kyle and a couple of other friends. Then she watched as Maria walked by and gave Michael a look. A seductive look. And Michael didn’t exactly look away. In fact, he actually turned around and stared at her backside as she walked away. He wasn’t subtle about it. At all.

“You may not be mad at Maria,” Liz said, feeling her jealousy bubbling up, “but I’m mad at Michael.” She wasn’t sure what to do to make herself feel better, so she decided to do what everyone else was doing. She grabbed a bottle of beer off the table and left Max to go drown her frustrations.










TBC . . .

-April

[April]

I know that you guys had to wait a little longer for this part, so I won't ramble too much this time. I just want to say thanks for the great feedback to:

nibbles
Mercedes
Alien_Friend (have fun on your trip!)
Sara
Krista
pookie76
spacegirl23
Brie
Christina
Elle
tequathisy
mariadac (new reader! score!)
Tine



Enjoy the new part! Sorry for the lateness!









Part 67








Maria felt proud of herself. She hadn’t touched a drop of alcohol that night, despite various offers and appeals from guys who wanted her to get drunk and sleep with them. It was probably for the best anyway. Alcohol would only make her do something stupid, like almost die again or induce her to make some kind of confession of undying love to Michael. And both of those things would just be embarrassing.

I can’t believe you still have your clothes on, cowboy, Maria thought as Michael sauntered towards her. I wish you didn’t.

“I throw a good party, don’t I?” he said smugly.

“Satisfactory.”

“Oh . . .”

She smiled and nudged his arm. “You sure you don’t wanna direct a porn movie?”

He gave her a confused look.

“Well, hear me out,” she said. “Practically everyone’s a nudist now. You’ve got a girl over in that corner giving multiple blowjobs, a girl over there getting gangbanged.” She winced. “And two lesbians in the bathroom having strap-on sex.”

“Lesbians?” he echoed, looking around. “Where?”

She rolled her eyes, deciding to forgive his hormonal maleness for the moment. “You get the point? What does this party look like?”

He looked around once more and nodded. “A porn movie.”

“Exactly.”

He chuckled a little and said, “Well, who knows. Anything’s possible. I might direct a porno someday.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.” He waited a moment, then smiled at her. “As long as you’re the star, dirty girl.”

Don’t blush, she told herself, though she couldn’t very well help it. “Well, that depends,” she said, trying to play it cool.

“On what?”

She smiled back at him flirtatiously. “Who’s the guy I’m porning it up with?”

He definitely wasn’t blushing—that just wasn’t a thing Michael to do—but he definitely didn’t look quite as calm as he usually did, either. “Well, that remains to be seen,” he said.

Oh, good God, she thought as she stared at him, I’m gonna spontaneously combust.

But suddenly, a shrill voice rang out, disrupting the passion that was threatening to explode. “Miiiichael!”

They both turned and saw Liz standing in the middle of the living room, looking both impatient and drunk. Maria noted the empty bottle in her former friend’s hand and wondered who was the bigger lightweight, Liz or Tess. It was probably a tie. Unlike Tess, though, Liz still had her costume on. She was now one of few.

“Come dance with me!” Liz whined.

Michael stuffed his hands in his pockets, looking reluctant.

“You should probably tell her you don’t like to dance,” Maria suggested.

But Michael just sighed and headed over to where Liz was. Maria had to hold in laughter as Liz flopped around. She wasn’t sure how many drinks the girl had had, but it was clearly enough to make her . . . unstable. Michael was practically having to hold her up the whole time.

I bet now you really wish you were dancing with me, Maria thought, turning around so Michael couldn’t see the huge smile on her face.

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

“Oh, Alex, I feel so bad for you,” Isabel said as she helped Alex carry a slobbery, drunken guy who looked way too young to be in college out of the house. “Hauling home a car full of drunks is no fun.”

“Oh, that’s okay,” Alex said. “Somebody has to be the designated driver.”

“That’s so nice of you,” she said. She stopped in the doorway, but she wasn’t ready to let him go just yet. “Hey, um, thanks for keeping me from getting drunk tonight. I was well on my way before you got here. I hate hangovers.”

Alex chuckled. “Doesn’t everybody?”

“I guess so,” she said. “And, uh . . . thanks for dancing with me and hanging out with me tonight, too. I had a really good time.”

“Me, too.”

Isabel wasn’t sure why she was so sorry to see him leave. She would have loved for him to stay and hang out for awhile longer. “And I don’t think I’m afraid of clowns anymore,” she added.

“Oh, well, good. You know, that was my whole mission coming over here dressed like this. Cure your clown fear.”

“Well, you did,” she said, “and . . . I know I said clowns aren’t sexy, but for what it’s worth . . . you look pretty good.”

Alex almost fell when she said that, and he did happen to drop the drunk guy he was holding up. “Oh, sorry, buddy,” he said, helping him back up again.

“Sorry,” Isabel apologized to him as she helped him get drunk guy back on his feet. “I didn’t know you were so unused to hearing compliments.”

“Oh, no, I’m used to them,” he said. “I’m just not used to the kind that come from beautiful girls.”

Isabel smiled at that compliment and wondered to herself, Oh my god, is he making me blush?

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

“Liz!” It’s not a big house, Michael reasoned. There’s only so many places she can be. “Liz!” He’d checked every nook and cranny of the house he could think of, but he couldn’t find his girlfriend. Although, he did find the lesbians Maria had mentioned in the bathroom. He had to grant himself five minutes of leisure time to watch them lick each other off, and then he gently shoed them out of the house and went back to looking for his girlfriend. “Liz!”

“Can’t find her, huh?” Maria said as she sauntered past him and down the hallway. “I find that amusing.”

“I don’t suppose you’d care to help me look for her?”

“I don’t suppose I would.” She smirked and shut the door to her bedroom.

He sighed. That came as no surprise. The two women in his life were not exactly on the best of terms anymore. They hadn’t been for awhile.

“Hey, Max,” he said, approaching his friend as he was clearing off his DJ table. “You seen Liz?”

“Uh, last I saw, she was dancing with you,” Max replied as he carried a precarious stack of CDs towards his bedroom. “Flopping, actually.”

“I think I lost her,” Michael admitted dumbfoundedly.

“Well, she’s gotta be around here somewhere.” Max tripped over an empty beer bottle lying on the floor just as he said that, and all the CDs in his hands went flying everywhere. “Dammit,” he swore.

Michael raised an eyebrow. It was the first time in his life he had ever heard Saint Maxwell use a curse word. Albeit, about the tamest one there was, but still . . .

Maxwell must not have had the best night, he concluded. “Hey, I’d give you a hand, but . . .”

“No, go find Liz,” Max said. “I’ll help you look once I get these CDs put away.”

“Thanks, man.” Michael gave him a pat on the back and turned to go ask Kyle if he knew where Liz was. He found a discarded red bra on the floor, picked it up, aimed it at Kyle, and flung it at him sling-shot style. Kyle didn’t even budge.

“Like a rock,” Michael said, going to stand beside him. “Whatcha lookin’ at?” He followed Kyle’s gaze and saw what his friend was seeing: Isabel and Alex out on the porch, looking very smiley and friendly despite the drunk kid who looked to be about two seconds from tossing his cookies all over the place. Interesting.

“Huh,” Michael said, deciding not to make a big deal out of it. He wasn’t sure how to feel about the developing Isabel and Alex relationship anyway. On the one hand, he was happy for Alex, his friend. On the other hand, he felt bad for Kyle, his other friend. He didn’t particularly enjoy confrontation, despite what a lot of people thought, so he didn’t care to get invested in any brewing drama. “You seen Liz?” he asked.

“No,” Kyle replied. “What do you think Whitman’s tryin’ to pull?”

“I think he just has a crush on Isabel.”

Kyle gave him a look. “Everybody has a crush on Isabel.”

“Not me.”

“No. That’s ‘cause you’re too busy crushing on . . . someone else.”

Michael wrinkled his forehead in confusion. “What?”

“Tess doesn’t smile at other guys like that,” Kyle went on. “Isabel . . . I mean, she usually doesn’t. I don’t think. I don’t know; I guess I don’t . . . notice her as much.”

“Well, that’s probably the problem,” Michael reasoned. “I’m no expert at having two girlfriends . . .”

Kyle laughed.

“But if I were you, I’d take a Tess break and give Isabel a little one-on-one time. You know, use her handcuffs.”

Kyle made a face the and said, “Oh, I can’t take relationship advice from you. That’s just wrong.”

“What-what do you mean?”

“Dude, you lost your girlfriend.”

“Well, help me find her then.”

“Nah. I gotta go get arrested.” Kyle put on a big smile and strode towards Isabel. “Oh, officer Evans . . .”

Michael rolled his eyes and headed down the hallway. He’d keep looking for Liz in a minute. He just needed to . . . take a little break first.

He opened the door to Maria’s bedroom to find her standing in front of her dresser combing her hair. She wasn’t a nudist anymore, though. She was wearing pink shorts and a black, long-sleeved shirt. She still looked incredibly sexy, but all the androgen in him wanted to go up to her and rip those clothes right off. “You got dressed,” he commented.

She looked at him in the mirror and teased, “Disappointed?”

He laughed and decided not to answer out loud. Yeah, he was, but she probably already knew that.

“So,” she said as she set her brush down and turned around to face him, “I love a good orgy as much as the next person. So how come I wasn’t partaking tonight?”

“Ah, same reason I wasn’t,” he said. “You’ve got a boyfriend now.”

She smiled. “Right. And you have a boyfriend, too. I knew you’d come out one of these days, Michael.”

Teed myself up for that one, he thought. “I meant that I have a girlfriend.”

“A lost girlfriend.”

“Yeah, I’m hopin’ she’ll be like a sock.”

Maria gave him a confused look.

“You know how when you do laundry? There’s always one missing sock. But it always turns up on its own eventually,” he explained.

“Hmm, I wouldn’t know. I don’t do laundry.”

“I don’t, either.”

“Kyle does laundry.”

“Kyle does everything.”

“Kyle does Tess.”

He chuckled. That was true. “Yep."

"Oh, by the way," she added, "if I were you, I wouldn't tell Liz you compared her to a sock. Ever."

"Right." He didn't plan on it. "So, uh . . .”

She stepped in close to him, her hands on her hips, mischief in her eyes. It was then that he remembered how hard he was. He’d been that way practically the entire night. He really needed to do something about it. It was bordering on excruciating pain at that point. Very excruciating.

She smiled and said, “Giddy up, cowboy.”

“What?”

She giggled. “I don’t know. I just had to say it.”

Well, he thought, then there’s something I have to say, too. “So, uh . . . I don’t suppose you’re gonna save a horse, ride a cowboy tonight?” He grinned and wriggled his eyebrows suggestively.

Much to his surprise, she didn’t act disgusted. Instead, she waited a moment, then said, “Maybe.”

Maybe, he thought as she brushed past him and headed for the door. Maybe? “Seriously?” he asked, spinning around to face her.

“No,” she said, stopping in her doorway. “I’m gonna ride a magician.”

Magician. Magic Man. Max. Max’s costume, he realized. Damn.

“Go find your girlfriend,” she said before turning and heading down the hallway.

“Right,” Michael said. Liz. His girlfriend.

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

Max walked outside just as the last cars were speeding away. Thank God, he thought. It was 4:00 in the morning; he could barely keep his eyes open. He felt partied out. And all he’d done was DJ.

He took a bag of trash out to the end of the driveway and dumped it into the trash bin. The house was going to need a lot of cleaning, more than he felt willing to do that night. He hoped Kyle would help him out, because he knew Michael and Maria. They both had an aversion to cleaning and studying and . . . well, working in general. Although Maria had been hitting the books lately. He had to give her credit for that.

As he was heading back inside, he heard groaning in the distance. It didn’t sound like pleasurable groaning, either. It sounded like someone was generally unhappy or distressed. “Hey,” he said. “Somebody there? You need help?”

Another groan.

He walked around to the side of the house, thinking that the person sounded familiar, and when he saw who was making the sounds, he knew why. Liz sat slumped against a tree, her French maid costume hiked up, a vodka bottle in her hand. “Uh . . .” she groaned. “Max?”

“Liz.” He knelt down beside her, pulling her costume down so that he didn’t see anything he shouldn’t. “Are you okay?”

“Uh-huh,” she said. “Drank . . . too much.”

He had to turn away as she spoke. The smell of alcohol on her breath was just too potent. “How’d you get out here?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” she said. “I just . . . wandered.”

“Wandered?”

“Yeah. Michael wasn’t paying attention to me, so I just let my feet take me out here into . . . oblivion.”

“Oblivion?” he echoed. A drunk girl using that word was actually sort of . . . impressive. “Oh, Liz,” he sighed, picking her up in his arms. “You actually are a smart girl.” Unfortunately, she wasn't acting like one.

She dropped the bottle on the ground and slumped against him, limp and sweaty. “I shouldn’t drink,” she said.

“No,” he agreed as he carried her towards the house. It was different with, say, Tess. When Tess drank, it was funny. When Liz drank, it was sort of sad. He didn’t like it. He didn’t like it at all.

“That tree was comfy,” she muttered, curling up into him. “You’re comfy, Max.”

He carefully opened the front door without dropping her and carried her through the messy living room, down the messy hallway, and into Michael’s messy bedroom. Michael wasn’t in there, but Max went ahead and laid her down on the bed anyway. He sat down beside her, thinking about how awful she looked. Her hair was stuck to her forehead, so he pushed it aside and tucked it behind her ear. The poor girl, he thought. It happened all the time. People gave in to peer pressure.

“Thanks for taking care of me, Maxwell,” she said, closing her eyes. “That’s what Michael calls you. Maxwell.”

He smiled. She would probably be asleep in a few seconds.

She made a sound of distress and mumbled, “I love Michael.”

Max stood up and started for the door.

“I love Michael,” Liz repeated.

He was about to step out of the room and close the door when she said something that made him stop and turn around.

“But Maria loves him, too.”

It was a concern that had plagued him for as long as he’d known Maria, that she loved Michael. It was a thought that crossed his mind daily, a fear that he had expressed out loud to Liz on more than one occasion. But hearing Liz say it so simply and so sadly . . . it resonated.

She’s drunk, he reminded himself. She might not know what she’s saying. “Goodnight, Liz,” he whispered, slowly closing the door. He leaned back against it then, sighing. He knew the smart thing to do would be to come right out and ask Maria whether or not she had feelings for Michael. He was a smart guy. He did smart things.

But he couldn’t do that.

Just then, she came around the corner and strolled down the hallway, looking amazingly desirable in her little pink shorts. I fall more and more in love with her each day, he thought. It’s not fair . . .

“Hocus pocus,” she said, trailing one hand down his chest. “Abracadabra.” She placed her hand on his hip and said, “I can’t think of any more magic words.”

He remembered that he was still wearing his costume and, feeling stupid, reached up and removed the big top hat.

“You okay?” she asked.

“Yeah,” he lied. “I found Liz.”

“Oh. Good. That’s . . . good.”

“Yeah.” As hard as he tried, he couldn’t get the words out of his head . . . ‘Maria loves him, too.’

She leaned against him and peered up into his eyes. “Wanna go make some magic?” she asked.

As much as he always wanted to, he wasn’t sure he could at that moment. He knew he couldn’t. Not with the thoughts, the worries, the doubts . . . “Actually, I’m kinda tired,” he said. “Do you think we could just go to sleep?”

“Sure,” she said. She took his hand, and they walked toward his bedroom together. But Max wasn’t sure if they really were together. Really. Because if what Liz said was true . . .

He couldn’t wait to go to sleep.









TBC . . .

-April

[April]

nibbles:

I really like Max, he's such a great guy and he doesn't deserve to be used the way he is

I'm glad you like him. Some of the (later) parts I've written for Max have become my favorite parts of this story. And you're right about Liz. Her feelings for Michael are much deeper now; he's been a decent boyfriend to her.
spacegirl23:

I love how she's messing with Michael's head/s.

Nice pun! Maria's definitely trying to mess with Michael a little bit. He's been driving her crazy for awhile now; it's only fair that she returns the favor.
mariadac: Well, I haven't actually got the ending written yet. It's a VERY long story, probably one of the longest out there. There are a lot of funny moments coming up (what with the spring break vacation and all), and then there's a lot of very intense stuff, too. And when I say intense, I mean intense. Like single scenes that take me days to write because they're so important. Hopefully you'll stick around.
Alien_Friend: Took time out of the vacation to read my fic, huh? How nice of you! It sounds like you need to get to bed earlier, though. Going to sleep in the a.m. hours isn't good for anyone! (But I'm one to talk, I sit here on the computer every night until 3:00 a.m.! )
tequathisy: Yep, they're all making progress! Slowly but surely!
Mercedes:

It's a scary thought, but it might be up to Michael to sort this whole relationship rectangle out. The other three are all too used to their unhappy relationships.

That's an interesting point. I won't say anything except that Michael, the guy who isn't crazy about drama, is going to find himself in the middle of a whole lot of drama eventually.
behrlyliz: A new feedbacker? Yea! *does the happy dance one does upon receiving new feedbackers* I appreciate you reading this story! As for whether it ends all CC or not . . . well, I'm stingy when it comes to giving out information, so I can't tell you! Keep reading and you'll see how everything develops.
starcrazed: Max's "denial bubble"? Oh, I love that! That pretty much sums up how Max is living his life right now, doesn't it?



Thank you for readding, you guys, and for feedbacking! I appreciate that so much, especially with a story this long.








Part 68







Oh god, how am I gonna stay awake? Maria wondered to herself as she let out a big yawn. She was a person who required a lot of sleep, but she never ended up getting enough of it. It didn’t help that debate class was especially boring that day. A few of her classmates were debating ethanol. Ethanol. Maria didn’t even know what that was, nor did she care.

She wouldn’t have even gone to class that day had Max not persuaded her to. He said that a lot of teachers would probably take attendance and give pop quizzes since it was the day before spring break. So far, none of her teachers had done either one of those things. Maybe Max had tyrant professors.

“Thank you for your perspectives on the ethanol debate,” Professor Laughlin said, his voice enough to wake Maria up right before she drifted off to sleep. “Very well done.”

The two students smiled at each other and returned to their seats.

“Okay, our next topic . . .” Professor Laughlin turned and wrote a word on the board, underlining it, even. “Censorship. Anyone like to take a stab at it?”

Maria rolled her eyes. Impromptu debates were disgusting. She didn’t know what kind of sane person would volunteer to do one.

When no one offered, the professor took out his class roster and randomly chose students like he always ended up doing. “Maria DeLuca.”

Fucking fabulous, she thought. Somehow, she was always randomly picked. She suspected it was because Professor Laughlin was trying to get back at her for coercing him to cheat on his wife. She’d needed a grade boost, though, at the beginning of the semester. Desperate times called for desperate measures. Although she had to admit, since she had sort of reformed over the months, she didn’t mind not sleeping with her professors anymore.

“Maria, are you with us?” the professor asked.

“More or less,” she replied, stretching.

“Choose your stance,” he instructed.

She stood up and smiled. “Well, since I just went to a non-Halloween costume party dressed down as a nudist, I think I’ll give a big N-O to censorship.”

A few people laughed as she headed up to the front of the room.

“Alright, Maria will take the con.” Professor Laughlin shook his head disapprovingly in response to her short anecdote and muttered under his breath, “College students.”

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

God, Maria looked good last night, Michael thought as he played a game on his laptop in class the next day. And this morning. And . . . all the time.

“Great use of Videography class,” Alex commented. “Solitaire. Oh, move that four of hearts, man.”

“Thanks,” Michael said, clicking on the card and moving it under a black five of clubs. “Ah, I figure I don’t have anything better to do. I haven’t started on my movie yet.” And he didn’t intend to. He’d do it at last minute. It’d be good.

“That’s really dumb,” Alex said, “but really typical. Hey, guess what? I got a couple of scenes filmed.”

“Yea,” Michael replied, not really caring.

“Now I just gotta get a lot of extras. Any chance you’d wanna--”

“No.”

“Okay. Didn’t think so.”

Michael sighed and exited out of Solitaire when the computer said there were no more moves for him to make. He leaned back in his seat, thinking about how hot Maria had looked climbing out of the shower that morning. Seeing her walk out of the bathroom wearing only a towel, the sheen of water on her chest and shoulders . . . it had made him instantly aroused. He got aroused just thinking about it now.

“Can I talk to you about something?” he asked Alex quietly.

“About my movie?”

“No.”

Alex stopped the editing he was doing on his computer, turned to look at Michael, and asked with a tone of unbelievable seriousness, “Are you pregnant?”

Michael rolled his eyes, for once not in the mood for jokes. “Seriously, dude.”

“You have cancer, don’t you? No!” Alex wailed.

“Downplay the drama, Whitman,” Michael snapped. “I don’t have cancer.”

“AIDS?” Alex guessed.

“No.”

“Brittle bone disease?”

“No. Alex . . .”

Alex laughed and said, “Alright, I’ll stop. What’s bothering you, man?”

Michael sighed and rubbed his forehead, not exactly comfortable talking about stuff like this. But he had to talk to somebody, and since Maria and Max were out of the question, that left Alex and Kyle. But Kyle was preoccupied with his own relationships.

“Alright, I’m . . . I’m attracted to Maria,” he finally blurted out, figuring that that much was already obvious and, therefore, a good place to start. “Right? Everyone’s attracted to Maria. That’s no big deal. I mean, you’re attracted to Maria, aren’t you?”

“Well, yeah, I guess,” Alex said. “I mean, not like I am to Isabel, but . . . yeah, she’s hot.”

“Right. And I’ve always thought she’s hot. That’s nothing new. I mean, the first thought that crossed my mind when I met her was, ‘damn, I wanna do that girl.’ But I never have. And I never will. ‘Cause . . . I don’t want to. Well, I mean, I do, but . . . everyone wants to. That’s not, like, something that’s unique to me or anything.”

Alex chuckled.

“What? You think that’s funny?”

“Yeah, actually, I do” Alex replied. “I never thought I’d be around to see the day you turned into a blubbering idiot, but lo and behold, here you are.”

Michael made a face. “What? I’m just—I’m just talking, man. I could go back to playin’ Solitaire if you want.”

“No, no, no,” Alex said quickly. “Keep talking. I’m listening.”

Michael sighed again, struggling even more with what he had to say next. “Okay, lately . . . the physical attraction . . . it’s kinda getting . . . more.”

“More?” Alex echoed. “More what?”

“Just more, man. I don’t know how to explain it. It’s just . . .” He licked his lips, thinking about all the times in recent history she’d turned him on seamlessly. “Like last night. The whole nudist thing. My jeans are forever gonna be stretched out in the crotch ‘cause of that.”

Alex smirked. “That was funny.”

“And she kept givin’ me these looks and sayin’ all this sexy stuff,” he went on. “It’s like she was trying to drive me crazy.”

“And it obviously worked.”

“Well, yeah,” he reluctantly admitted, “I mean . . .” He trailed off again, frustrated with himself for stopping and stuttering so much. “She did this thing with her foot one night . . . got me off just like that.” He snapped his fingers to demonstrate just how fast her foot had worked its magic.

“TMI.”

“TMI? Who says that?”

“Who gets off ‘cause of a foot?” Alex shot back. “I’m just saying . . .”

Michael let that insult stand and said, “You know what else? I miss watchin’ her dance. Liz looks damn fine out there and all, but I miss watching Maria.”

Alex laughed. “That’s funny, because I seem to recall a long and drawn-out story Maria told me. During the last state championships and her last dance team performance ever, you got busy with a girl under the bleachers instead of watching her dance.”

Michael smiled, remembering that feisty fuck. “Well, those were extenuated circumstances. That girl was hot.”

“Hotter than Maria?”

“No, but . . . I can’t fuck Maria.”

“Why not?” Alex asked.

It was a question he hadn’t ever asked himself. Not really. But now that Alex was asking it to him . . . he realized he didn’t really have an answer. “I don’t know. It’d just be weird. Good, but weird.”

Alex chuckled. “Dude . . .”

“No, don’t say anything.”

“I can’t help it,” Alex said. “It’s so obvious, man.”

“What’s obvious?”

Alex sighed and turned his chair completely to the side so that he could face Michael and talk to him therapist style. “Okay,” he said. “Let me put this in a way you can understand: If you had one good fuck left in you, and you could use it on anyone . . . who would you use it on? And I’m talking anyone. Someone you know, someone you don’t know. It could even be someone famous. Shakira? You wanna screw Shakira? You can do that. Wanna bone Beyonce? Be my guest. So . . .?”

Michael wasn’t sure if he was understanding the question correctly. Sometimes what Alex said got lost in translation. “So . . .”

“So, it’s your one last bedroom romp. Who do you romp with?”

He didn’t even have to think about it. It wasn’t even a question in his mind. Still, he pretended to think about it so as not to make it so obvious. “Maria,” he admitted.

“Right. That’s smart. Maria’s hot,” Alex said. “Now my next question: Say you’ve got one day left to live.”

“Oh, that’s nice. That’s bleak.”

Alex ignored him. “One day left to live, and you can spend it with one person. Doing whatever you want. Talking. Having sex. Eating. Sleeping. I don’t know. I don’t care. But it’s your last day, and you can spend it with any one person in the world. So who’s that person for you?”

Again, it was an easy question. He had a lot of options. Liz. Kyle, Max. That Rachelle girl. That sex-under-the-bleachers girl. His mom or dad, if hell froze over. But it was such an easy question that there really was no question. “Well, Maria,” he confessed.

Alex smiled. “Exactly.”

Exactly? Michael thought. Alex had claimed he was putting it in a way he could understand. Yet, for some strange reason, it wasn’t making sense to him. “Wait, I don’t get it.” All he'd gotten out of those questions was that Maria was his hot best friend, and he'd already known that.

“Oh god.” Alex sighed heavily and turned to face his computer again. “Never mind, man. Just go back to Solitaire.”

Since he wasn’t sure how to feel about the questions he’d just answered, Michael nodded, thinking Solitaire was a good, safe idea.

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

Max breathed a sigh of relief when he got home from class that afternoon. His English teacher had decided it would be fun to give everyone a pop quiz. Figured. The one night when he hadn’t studied at all, and he paid the price. He wasn’t happy about it. Bad grades weren’t his thing. He’d have to study extra hard tonight to make up for it.

He slung his backpack onto the couch and rubbed his forehead, feeling tired. He and Maria had crawled into bed around 4:30, but he hadn’t gotten to sleep until 6:30. And then he’d had to wake up at 7:30 to go tutor somebody. One hour of sleep wasn’t enough for anybody.

I need to shower, he thought, heading into the bathroom. He’d been so sluggish that morning that he hadn’t had time to jump in.

He walked into the bathroom, shut the door, and peeled off his shirt and undid his pants. He had just pushed his boxers down around his feet and set out a towel for himself when the door swung open and Liz walked inside.

“Oh!” she exclaimed, immediately turning away.

“Liz!” He immediately grabbed the towel and wrapped it around his waist, concealing his naked self from her view.

“Sorry,” she apologized, holding her hand against the side of her face. “I didn’t know you were in here.”

“I should’ve locked the door,” he said. He’d figured that he was the only one home, but he kept forgetting that there were three girls—Tess, Liz, and his sister Isabel—who hung around there like it was their home, too.

“I’m so sorry,” she apologized again. “Don’t tell Michael.”

“Don’t tell Maria.”

She nodded. “Good plan.”

He glanced around nervously, not really sure what he was looking for. All he knew was that he felt extremely awkward wearing only a towel with Michael’s girlfriend in a two foot radius.

“How you doing?” he asked in an attempt to relieve the awkward silence.

“Good,” she answered quickly. “I just woke up.”

“Right.”

“I was gonna brush my teeth.”

“I was gonna shower. I-I mean, I didn’t just wake up, but I was gonna . . . you can brush your teeth,” he offered.

“Really?”

“Yeah. I’ll just . . .” He grabbed his clothes and squeezed past her out into the hallway.

“Okay,” she said. “Thanks.”

He nodded and went into Maria’s bedroom. He put his jeans back on and put his shirt on inside out. Normally, he would have fixed it, put it on the right way, but he had more important things to do. Such as continuing to talk to Liz.

Setting his towel down on the bed, he headed back out into the hallway and went to stand in the bathroom doorway, watching as Liz sluggishly ran her toothbrush under water. “Sorry,” she apologized. “I’m kinda slow-moving today.”

“Well, you were really drunk last night.”

“I think I kind of still am,” she admitted. “Is that bad?”

He shrugged. “I really wouldn’t know. But I don’t think it can be good.”

She sighed, pulling down the lever on the sink to stop the water. “My parents would be so proud,” she muttered.

There she is, Max thought. The real Liz Parker. The one who cares about what her parents would think. The one who doesn’t like alcohol all that much.

“Um, thank you for helping me, though,” she said. “You rescued me from the tree.”

He shrugged it off as though it were nothing. “I just thought you’d be more comfortable sleeping in a bed than sleeping outside.”

“I just feel so embarrassed,” she admitted.

He didn’t bother to ask her why, then, she had decided to drink in the first place. It was pretty obvious that, once again, she was dealing with boyfriend drama and a lot of insecurities. But there was something he had to ask her about. “Liz . . . about what you said . . .”

“Oh, I don’t remember much of anything past 11:00,” she told him. “I don’t remember what I said. Probably something stupid. Not profound.”

“You . . . you don’t remember?” He wasn’t sure why that came as a surprise to him. Maybe he’d just thought that she would remember saying something that had hit him so hard, so direct. But he hadn’t been hammered like her. “I’d just laid you down on the bed, and you were saying something about how much you love Michael,” he reminded her, trying to prompt some recall.

She smiled a little and stared down at her toothbrush. “I do love him.”

But Maria loves him, too, Max thought. Drunk sincerity, Liz. That’s probably true. Perhaps that was only a realization that had dawned on her in her drunken state. Maybe it was something she refused to accept or even think about when she was sober. He didn’t want to put a damper on what was probably already going to be a rough day for her, so he decided to change the subject. “Well, hey, take as long as you need in here,” he said.

“Thanks,” she said. “Sorry for, um . . . you know . . . seeing you in your nudist state.”

“Our little secret,” he promised. “Later, Liz.”

Finally, she stuck her toothbrush in her mouth. “Later.”

He sighed and headed towards the bedroom. He wondered if it was wrong for him to wish Liz would get drunk again, but part of him kind of wanted to hear more of what she had to say. And part of him really didn’t.

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

Tess glanced at the clock, unable to believe that the minute hand had moved so little. “I can’t wait ‘til Kyle gets home,” she said. Nights when he had to work were torture.

Isabel didn’t even glance at the clock. “I can’t wait ‘til we film the next scene of Alex’s movie,” she said.

Tess gave her best friend a confused look. “Seriously?”

“Yeah.”

I don’t get it, Tess decided. Alex’s movie was technically work. Why would Isabel be stoked for that?

“Oh my god!” Maria shrieked as she walked out into the living room. “Everything in this house is . . . sticky.” She shook her hands in the air, looking disgusted.

“I would imagine,” Isabel said. “I mean, it was the site of Orgy ’08.”

“Sickening,” Maria said. “What’re you guys doing here?”

“Waiting for Kyle to get home,” Tess replied. “Or at least I am. Isabel's more excited for Alex's movie.”

“Hmm,” Maria said, heading towards the refrigerator. “I don’t suppose you guys have managed to find out where we’re going for spring break, have you?”

“Kyle won’t say a word,” Isabel told her. “We’ve tried our best. Pulled out our best tricks. Nothing.”

“Nothing?”

“Nope.”

Maria sighed, took a bottle of water out of the refrigerator, and shut the door. “Well, this sucks. Wherever the hell it is we’re going, we’re leaving tomorrow. And the guys have decided to put us on this little need-to-know basis. Well, I need to know. I need to pack. Like el tonighto.”

“El tonighto?” Isabel echoed.

“Well, we’ve tried to talk it out of Kyle. Screw it out of him,” Tess assured her. “One time he came really close to telling us, but then he just, you know, came.”

“Yeah.” Isabel nodded. “And you know how guys’ brains are post-orgasm.”

“Yeah, non-functional,” Maria said.

Just then, as if on cue, Michael sauntered out of his bedroom and came out into the living room, humming a tune to himself. Tess watched as he grabbed his camera off the kitchen table, glanced at Maria out of the corner of his eye, didn’t say anything for once, and then just headed back down the hallway.

“Speaking of a non-functional brain,” Maria muttered.

Oh, Maria, he’s so in love with you, Tess thought, smiling. That little look he’d just given her said it all.

“I don’t know, Maria,” Isabel said. “Michael’s the most secretive of them all. I think you’ll have better luck trying to get Max to tell you.”

“No, he’s studying. It’s a Zen-like state. Very hard to rouse him,” Maria said, her eyes focused on Michael’s closed bedroom door.

“He’s studying? On the night before spring break? Oh, my brother . . .” Isabel groaned.

“I think Isabel’s right, though,” Tess said. “You’ll have better luck with the Zen-master.”

“Or I could try to get Alex to tell me,” Isabel offered.

“No, there’s no time,” Maria said. “I’ll get Michael to tell me.”

“How?” Isabel asked.

“I just will.” With a determined look on her face, Maria spun around and marched down the hallway to Michael’s bedroom.

“Is she gonna be a nudist again?” Isabel asked.

Tess shrugged. It was, after all, a proven effective strategy.

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

Maria slowly pushed open the door to Michael’s bedroom and peered inside. He was lying on his bed, watching something on his video camera. When she walked in, he immediately turned the camera off and set it aside. “What’s up?” he said.

“Nothin’,” she replied, setting her water bottle down atop his dresser. “I might do some dancing.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. And, uh, maybe pack up my stuff for spring break, you know?”

He smiled. “Leavin’ tomorrow.”

“Yeah.” She stepped further into the room, still trying to act non-threatening. “You know, it might help if I knew where I was going.”

“Oh. So that’s what you came in here for. I was hopin’ you wanted sex, but it’s just information.”

“Just information,” she echoed. “Come on, Michael. Could you just do what I want for once in your life and tell me? The whole secrecy thing, it’s getting old and getting on my nerves.”

He smiled that usual self-satisfied smile of his and said, “Alright. I’ll let you pump me for information.” He stretched out on the bed, placing his hands behind his head.

“Sick,” she said, although she wasn’t all that against it. It was an idea that was mutually rewarding. But not plausible. “Michael. Where are we going for spring break?”

“I’m not telling you.”

“Why not?”

“‘Cause I’m sworn to secrecy.”

“That’s stupid.”

“It was my idea.”

“That’s why it’s stupid. Michael . . .” She was about to lose it.

“Just pack your shit,” he said as though it were that simple.

“Uh, my wardrobe is not shit, Michael, as opposed to your wardrobe which both looks like shit and smells like shit.”

“Oh, you know what, Maria?”

“You’re pissing me off, Michael.”

“Yeah, I do it on purpose.”

She rolled her eyes and did what felt natural. She hopped up onto his bed and climbed on top of him, straddling him. “Look . . .”

“Whoa,” was his response.

“You know I’m gonna get my way eventually. Just make this easy on us and tell me where we’re going right now.”

He laughed a little, surveying her position on top of him, and asked her, “What’re you gonna do, fuck it out of me? ‘Cause if that’s your plan, I’ll gladly keep my mouth shut.”

She rolled her eyes and, having had enough of his resistance, resorted to childish tactics. She pulled his hair. His ridiculous hair.

“Ow!” he yelped, his face contorting in pain. “Ow, Maria, that hurts.”

“Talk time.”

“Ow! Dammit, Maria, don’t mess up my hair!”

Since he wasn’t saying anything worthwhile, she decided to step it up a notch. His boxers were showing, so she grabbed them and pulled them tight up the middle of his butt-crack, giving him a very effective wedgie. It was disgusting, but she wasn’t above being disgusting.

“Owwww!” he yelled, squirming in pain. “That fuckin’ hurts!”

Isabel and Tess came running toward the bedroom then and stopped in the doorway. “Oh my god,” Isabel said. “Is this kinky or torturous?”

Maria smiled at them. “Torturous.”

“Oh.” Isabel and Tess smiled, too.

“I’m not tellin’ you anything!” Michael vowed.

“Oh, Michael,” she sighed, “you’re such a jerk.” She pulled his hair harder and pulled the wedgie even tighter.

“Ah!” he screamed. “Maria, you’re such a bitch.”

“Where are we going, Michael?”

“You’re such a bitch.”

“Michael.”

“Ow.”

Kyle rushed in then, sounding out of breath. “I heard screaming. What’s going on in here?”

“Kyle!” Tess chirped, hugging him from behind. “You’re home!”

“Yeah,” he said, never taking his eyes off Michael and Maria. “Are they finally killing each other?”

“I’m killing him,” Maria corrected. “He won’t tell me where we’re going tomorrow.”

“Oh,” Kyle said, nodding. “Stay strong, man. You got it.”

At those remarks, Tess and Isabel gave each other looks. Then Isabel grabbed hold of his hair and pulled and Tess fulfilled the wedgie giving part.

“Ow!” Kyle yelled in the same way Michael had. “Shit, girls!”

“Maria,” Michael whimpered. “I-I can’t feel my head.”

“Too bad you won’t just tell me.”

He made a face of agony and vowed, “I’ll get you back for this.”

She laughed. “Yeah, right.”

“Ow! Ow!” Kyle yelped. “I just got off from work, girls. Take it easy.”

Maria sighed and let go of Michael’s hair and boxers, seeing that this was getting her nowhere. She got off of Michael and stood up.

“Oh, my ass,” he moaned, pressing his hand to his butt.

“Wimp,” Maria muttered. Hopefully he’d be more sympathetic the next time he did anal with a girl.

Tess and Isabel reluctantly let up on Kyle, looking disappointed.

Maria slowly made her way over to Michael’s desk, spying a few potentially useful items there. “Michael,” she said, picking up what she knew was his favorite CD of all time. “What’s this?” She held it up for him to see.

He squinted, and a look of alarm crossed his face when he saw what it was. “Maria, that’s Master of Puppets. It’s the best Metallica CD ever.”

“Oh. So I guess it’d really suck if I broke it in half or something.”

He stared at her, obviously worried. “You wouldn’t.”

“I would.”

He sat up slowly and said, “Just put it down.”

“Tell me where we’re going first.”

He thought about it for a moment then shook his head. “No, I’m not tellin’ you.”

She shrugged. “Okay.” She pretended to be about to bend and break his favorite CD, and that was enough to get him to comply.

“Ah, Las Vegas!” he squealed, reaching for the CD.

Hmm, Maria thought. Nice. “Did you hear that, girls?” she asked Tess and Isabel. “Las Vegas?”

“Yeah, I heard,” Tess said. “And that pisses me off!” She slugged Kyle in the arm with her little fist. “I’m not old enough to gamble!”

“Oh, that’s okay,” Kyle assured her. “We got the best fake IDs for you and Isabel and Liz. We’re prepared.”

“Oh.” Tess smiled. “Okay. Fun!”

“Sounds like a party,” Isabel decided.

“Yeah. Las Vegas.” Maria dropped the CD down in Michael’s lap, giving it some thought. “It’s not the typical beachy spring break locale, but it’s fast; it’s loud; it’s fun. Plus, any city that’s named Sin City can’t be too bad.” She glanced down at Michael, but he wasn’t even paying attention to her anymore. He was holding his Metallica CD close to his heart and stroking the label side, whispering, “It’s okay. Daddy’s got you.”

Maria rolled her eyes, heading for the door. “I need to pack, pronto,” she decided, heading towards her room.

“Yeah, me, too,” Tess decided. “Kyle, drive me and Isabel to our dorm, stat.” She smiled. "I've always wanted to say 'stat.' It's so ER."

“Nice job, Maria!” Isabel called.

Maria smiled, pleased with herself for getting Michael to crack. “No problem.”









TBC . . .

-April

(Spring break starts in the next part!)

[April]

nibbles: You like 'el tonighto', huh? I'll admit, that's my version of Spanish because I'm too incompetent enough to actually speak it. Add an o to the end of everything. It works. lol
Christina: Hey, there's nothing wrong with seeing a little bit of yourself in Tess! She's one of the most-liked characters in this story, it seems. I had a feeling you would like the last Max/Liz moment. More to come.
mariadac: I'm glad you're looking forward to Vegas. Now if only we were all actually going there . . .
killjoy: Tess is very bubbly, isn't she? I love writing her.
mrs_guerin:

i love your other fics as well so the fact that this is an April story meant i couldn't resist starting.

Aw, what a great compliment! My updates are pretty frequent, so you won't have to be in suspense too long.
spacegirl23:

Also, less suffering for Maria (emotionally) and more for Michael (emotionally AND physically).

I told you guys that Michael would start to "suffer" too! Although . . . well, I don't want to give too much away, but I'll say that the "suffering" in previous parts of this story might pale in comparison to the suffering in later parts.
Sara:

And finally Max may be coming to the realization Maria is NOT the one for him.

Yes, he's certainly coming to that realization (slowly but surely.) Now the question is, will he give in and let her go or just hold on tighter?
Krista:

I was going to say I think it sucks that Liz wasted her virginity on Michael just because she thought she loved him but... I realized that's how it goes a lot of the time.

Yeah, it's definitely unfortunate, but you're right; that's how it happens sometimes. I think you're right about Max and Liz needing to be in these loveless relatoinships right now. How else will they ever learn?
Mercedes:

For a cool guy, Michael can be a big dork sometimes!

He really can be, can't he? Unless a person were to really know him (like Maria does) they might not realize he can be such a dork.
starcrazed:

Maria finding out where they were going for spring break the best!!!

I'm glad that was funny. She sure has some effective methods, doesn't she?
tequathisy:

I wonder which two will end up in a drunken impromptu marriage.

LMAO! Well, no one's going to take it that far, but they are going to have a lot of wacky fun.


Thank you for reading and feedbacking, everyone! Just to let you know, the next update will be Monday afternoon (evening, depending on your time zone). Sorry about the sporadic-ness of these updates lately. My life is just a little crazy right now! But I made this part a little bit longer to make up for it. And it's a fun part. So enjoy!









Part 69









The one thing Maria hated about traveling was the airports. The actual flying itself wasn’t exactly enjoyable, either, but it still wasn’t horrible. Spending time doing nothing in the airport was. It was loud and crowded. There were all these annoying little kids running around, all these grumpy people pissing and moaning about how their flights were delayed. And the line at the security checkpoint . . . it stretched on forever, and Maria always managed to get frisked. This time it was a random security check. The whole waiting process frustrated her and made her want to eat out of boredom, but the Santa Fe airport didn’t even have any good food. Airports. She hated them. Absolutely.

“So Vegas was a good idea,” Isabel commented to the group as they sat outside their gate, waiting for their plane to board. “Whose idea was it?”

“Well, it was a combination thing,” Kyle replied. “I wanted to go someplace I could gamble.”

“And I wanted to go someplace that had good strippers,” Michael added. “It wasn’t too hard to figure out from there.”

“Oh, you two are so charming,” Maria muttered sarcastically. “What about this early morning flight, though? Whose idea was that? ‘Cause I could’ve taken, like, a noontime flight and been just as happy.”

Max smiled a little and said, “Well, this way we’ll get there sooner.”

“Why’d we have to show up at the airport two hours ahead of time, though?” she complained, even though it had obviously been her boyfriend’s idea. “I’m bored.”

“Well, you never know how long it’s gonna take at the airport.”

“I guess,” she conceded.

“If I had my way, we wouldn’t even be flyin’,” Michael mumbled under his breath. “We’d just drive on up there.”

“That’s ‘cause you’re a big wimp with a fear of flying,” she said.

“Shut up,” he snapped. “You’re afraid of the dark.”

“I am not!”

“Yeah, you are.”

“Michael,” Liz piped up, clearing her throat. “You flew to Nebraska not long ago, and you did fine.”

Maria laughed. “Yeah, right.”

“Yeah,” Kyle agreed. “I bet he was cryin’ like a schoolgirl.”

“You’re cryin’ like a schoolgirl, man,” Michael shot back. Not his best comeback.

“Hey, hey, hey,” Tess cut in. “What’s wrong with schoolgirls? Kindly remember that since Isabel, Maria, Liz, and I are all college students and all have vaginas, we are technically school girls.”

Michael ignored that and smiled at Kyle. “Vaginas.”

“I know,” Kyle said. “But it doesn’t sound as cool using that word.”

“Yeah, but still . . .”

“Pussy.”

The two idiot boys grinned and gave each other a high-five.

Maria rolled her eyes and shook her head. How she had put up with those two guys and their overt sexual interest for eight years amazed her.

Just then, the ticket agent’s voice came over the intercom system. “Good morning, everyone. Welcome to Flight 2430, Southwest Airlines, departing non-stop for Las Vegas, Nevada. At this time, we’d like to invite all our passengers with handicaps or disabilities to board the plane first. Handicaps or disabilities.”

“Oh, right here!” Michael exclaimed, grabbing Maria’s arm and raising it up in the air. “Right here!”

“What, I don’t have a--”

“Mental disability,” he said, smirking.

She jerked her arm away, fuming. “A mental—Oh my god, I’m gonna freak out on you this spring break!”

“Good.”

“Mental disability,” she muttered. “You’re not even funny.”

“Good one, man,” Kyle said, nudging Michael in the arm.

“Thanks.”

Maria rolled her eyes again, figuring they’d never change. And honestly, she didn’t want them to. “Whatever. When are we boarding?” she asked impatiently, snatching the plane tickets away from Michael. In her opinion, it was stupid to have him holding onto all of them anyway. He was practically the least responsible guy on the planet. They’d get lost with him. “Ooh!” she exclaimed, spying a first class ticket. “First class, huh? You guys didn’t skimp.”

“Actually,” Michael said, slowly taking two tickets out of Maria’s hands. “That’s for me and Liz.” He glanced at his girlfriend and said, “I did an extra photo shoot, got a little more money.”

“Aw,” Liz cooed. “How sweet.”

“Yeah, how sweet,” Maria mimicked sarcastically. “But what about the rest of us? Me! Huh?”

Michael didn’t say anything.

She went back to looking through the tickets. “Coach. Coach. Coach,” she said. “Oh, imagine that.”

“Coach isn’t so bad, Maria,” Kyle chimed in. “You’ve flown coach before.”

“Yeah, and when I did, I wished I was flying first class.”

Kyle shrugged. “It’s probably not that much different. Just . . . comfier. Cleaner. Oh, and they give you a newspaper, I think.”

“Wait a minute,” she said, spotting her ticket. “What is this?”

“Your ticket,” Michael said.

She glanced at her seat number, not impressed. “32F?” Interesting. “How many rows are there on the plane, Michael?”

He looked down at his feet and answered quietly, “Thirty-two.”

“Unbelievable!” she shrieked. “I hate sitting in the back row. The people in the back row get shafted. They can’t lean their seats back, ‘cause there’s a wall. It’s unfair.”

“Boo-hoo,” Michael muttered.

“Our seats aren’t that great, either, Maria,” Isabel said, leaning over to glance at her ticket. “15A, 15B. Those are on the wing, right?”

Kyle nodded. “Yep. So at least you can look out the window, Maria.”

“I don’t wanna look out the window. I wanna lean back and sleep,” she said.

“I’ll be back there with you, honey,” Max piped up.

“Yeah, I know, but . . .”

“Man,” Michael groaned. “Somebody woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.”

“I complain. You like it,” she said. “Shut up.”

He smiled.

The ticket agent’s voice came over the system again, this time saying, “At this time, we’d like to invite all first class passengers to board. That’s all passengers seated in rows one through eight. First class passengers only, please. First class passengers only.”

Michael laughed a little and stood up. “Alright, that’s us,” he said, taking Liz’s hand. “See you on the plane, guys.”

“See you on the plane, guys,” Maria echoed, making a face of disgust. She turned to Max and grumbled, “Row thirty-two is not gonna work.”

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

Maria pressed her back against her seat, trying desperately to get it to lean just a little. But it didn’t budge. It couldn’t. The freakin’ wall behind her totally prohibited leaning and relaxation of any kind. She was so uncomfortable, and the flight had only just taken off. Meanwhile, Michael and Liz were just cooling their heels in first class, probably looking forward to the rest of the flight.

“Wow,” Max said as he peered out the window. “I haven’t flown anywhere for awhile. I forgot how small everything looks.”

“Mmm-hmm.” She picked her feet up and tried to curl into a ball. Still not comfy.

“Hey, I think I can see our house.”

“That’s great.” She was uninterested and only cared about finding some way to get comfortable in seat 32F.

“Can’t get comfy, huh?” Max said as he watched her shifting all around.

“Not really. And it smells like bathroom back here.”

“Well, that’s probably because the bathrooms are back here.”

“Well, it stinks. In more ways than one.”

Max sighed and said, “I’m sorry. I should’ve gotten first class for us like Michael did for Liz. I don’t know why I didn’t. Not enough money, I guess.”

Suddenly she felt bad. Here she was going on and on complaining when she wasn’t even shelling out a dime for this trip. “No, it’s okay, Max,” she said. “Michael doesn’t have the money, either. He’s just stupid with it.”

“I didn’t know we were gonna get these seats. I should’ve tried to switch them.”

“Max, it’s okay,” she said again. “Just ignore me. You know, if I wasn’t being a bitch, I wouldn’t be Maria DeLuca.”

He smiled and reached over to hold her hand. “I wouldn’t have you any other way. But just so you know, you're not a bitch.”

What world is he living in? she wondered to herself. Of course I'm a bitch. I'm known for it. She just smiled, not understanding in that moment why he loved her. He was a good guy. She was kind of a bad girl. Often. Maybe he thinks opposites attract, she thought as he leaned in to kiss her. But we’re just so opposite.

“We’re gonna have a fun spring break,” he promised her.

“He’s right, Maria.”

She looked up and saw Michael standing in the aisle, looking smug. And gorgeous.

“So,” he said, “how is life back here in the slow part of the world?”

“Worse now that you’re here,” she muttered in reply.

“Relax, sweetheart. I just gotta piss.” He headed back a little farther to the bathroom.

“Huh, great,” she said. “Thanks for sharing.”

Max chuckled and asked, “Would you rather be sitting up in first class with him or back here in coach with me?” He stopped smiling then and said, “Don’t answer that.”

She didn’t intend to. Because he wouldn’t like it. But . . . it did give her an idea. “Hey,” she said. “Max. As much as I love seat 32F, Michael’s in the bathroom. There’s a seat in first class waiting for me. Gotta go. Bye!” She unbuckled her seatbelt and sprang out of her seat. She squeezed past a flight attendant serving drinks and happily skipped into the first class cabin. Actually, Kyle was right. It didn’t look that much different. But the chairs were big. Plush. Comfy.

She plopped down next to Liz, who was looking out the window. “That was fast,” Liz said, turning to see her. “Oh. You’re not Michael.”

“Thank God for that,” Maria muttered under her breath. She fastened the seatbelt and pressed the button on the right arm of the chair that allowed her to recline. “Ah,” she said. “Nice.”

“That’s not your seat,” Liz said, stating the obvious.

Maria just smiled. “It is now.”

Liz grunted and said. “Wow. So you’re willing to sit next to me even though we don’t really get along these days just so you can sit in first class?”

“Yep. Plus, I wanna piss your boyfriend off.”

Liz shook her head. “You guys make a conscious effort to argue with each other.”

“Uh-huh.”

Liz looked down at her feet and murmured, “That’s so weird.”

You’re so jealous, Maria thought, but she didn’t dare voice it. She figured everyone single one of them was jealous of someone else in their group. She was jealous of Liz. Liz was jealous of her. Michael was hopefully jealous of Max, and Max was probably jealous of Michael. Alex was jealous of Kyle; Kyle was quickly becoming jealous of Alex. Isabel and Tess were secretly jealous of each other. It was out of control.

“Man, baby, this altitude’s makin’ me . . .” Michael trailed off when he came up and saw Maria in his seat. “Queasy.”

Maria smiled up at him and said, “I’m queasy, too. But not because of the altitude.”

“Pregnant?”

“Oh, so funny. Any moment I’m sure to laugh. No, I’m queasy because the sight of you makes me nauseous.” Yeah, right!

Michael rolled his eyes and said, “Alright, DeLuca, outta my seat.”

“Uh, let me think about it. No.”

“Yes.”

“It’s my seat now. But don’t worry. 32F’s waiting for you.”

“Oh, great.”

She shrugged. “That’s what you get for . . . going to the bathroom.”

“I paid for this seat, Maria.”

“Well, consider it payback,” she said. “Remember four years ago, move-in day when you stole my bedroom?”

“You stole it back a month ago!”

“So not the point!”

“Alright, that’s it.” He grabbed her arm and tried to pull her up.

“Hey!” She yanked her arm away. “32F, buddy. 32F!”

“Is there a problem here?” a flight attendant asked politely as she approached them.

“Yeah,” Maria answered. “This complete stranger who I’ve never seen before in my entire life is trying to ruin my perfect flight by oh-so-rudely harassing me out of my first class seat!”

“What? It’s my seat,” Michael spat.

The flight attendant looked him over and said, “Come with me, sir.”

“No, that’s my seat! That’s my girlfriend! Liz, tell her.”

“Don’t bring this poor girl into it,” Maria kept on playing. “She’s just an innocent passenger.”

Michael gave her a warning look. “Maria . . .”

“What? How do you know my name? Are you stalking me? He’s stalking me!” she shrieked. “This complete stranger is stalking me!”

“What?”

“Sir, please return to your seat,” the flight attendant said to Michael again.

“I told you, this is my seat!”

“It is, actually,” Liz said quietly.

“I agree!” Maria exclaimed quickly. “It is actually very flattering to have a stalker in a completely morbid, creepy sort of way, but . . .”

A bell chimed then, and the flight attendant glanced up. “Okay, the captain has turned on the seatbelt sign, sir.”

“Oh, big deal,” Michael snapped. “Come on, DeLuca. Move your ass.”

“Oh, dear lord,” Maria wailed dramatically, holding the back of her head to her forehead in the typical damsel in distress style. “He’s talking about my ass. I feel threatened!”

“Sir, please return to your seat,” the flight attendant requested sternly.

“I’m . . . here!”

“Return to your seat this instant!”

“I’m already fucking here!”

“That’s it sir.” The flight attendant grabbed his arm and tried to pull him away with her, but he easily tugged his arm away. “Get your hands off me, bitch—well, actually, you’re pretty good looking. You can put your hands on me if you want. Except you can’t! ‘Cause my girlfriend’s here!”

Liz nodded and said, “That’d be me.”

“Oh, honey, you’re dating this stalker?” Maria kept on. “Get out now.”

Liz gave her an impatient look. “Okay, Maria--”

“Wait, you know my name, too? Duo stalkers!”

The other flight attendant finally came up, and Maria was happy to see that he was a man. Finally, she thought, somebody who can manhandle my dumb-ass best friend back to seat 32F.

“What’s going on here?” the male flight attendant asked worriedly. “Do we need to make an emergency landing? Is this a Code: Black?”

“No, he won’t go back to his seat,” the female flight attendant explained.

“And he’s disrupting the passengers,” a man in the seat behind Maria’s grumbled angrily. “If you don’t shut those two up, I’ll sue ‘em both. And the airline!”

“What the hell?” Michael roared. “I didn’t do anything!”

“Alright, buddy, game’s over,” the male flight attendant said, pushing him in the direction of coach.

“No!” Michael said. “I’m in first class!” Just then, a bit of turbulence hit. Michael grabbed onto the back of Maria’s chair and made a face. “Whoa. Shit.”

“Oh, no, he’s gonna puke,” Maria said, leaning forward so it hopefully wouldn’t hit her.

“No,” he said. “Just too many episodes of Lost.”

“Sir, this is no laughing matter,” the male flight attendant said. “If you don’t take your seat right now . . .”

Suddenly, the plane hit even worse turbulence. A bag flew out of one of the overhead compartments, and Maria watched as it fell directly on top of Michael’s face. “Ow! Fuck!” he swore loudly enough for the entire plane to hear. “My eye!”

“Get that compartment locked up!” the male flight attendant shouted.

“On it!” the female attendant shouted back.

“Hello, my eye!” Michael reminded everyone.

Maria laughed.

“Michael, are you okay?” Liz asked.

“He’s fine,” Maria assured her. “So long, stalker.”

Michael grumbled and reluctantly allowed himself to be led back into coach since there was little he could do to protest while holding one hand over his eye.

Maria smiled, pleased with herself, and leaned back, relaxing. Before the male flight attendant could walk away, she tapped him on the arm and asked, “Oh, could I get a newspaper?”

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

Max wasn’t sure whether to feel bad for Michael or not. On the one hand, his eye probably really hurt. On the other hand . . . Michael always deserved it.

“Oh, man, your girlfriend’s a bitch,” Michael said. He was sitting in seat 32F now, holding an icepack to his eye. “She’s so cool, though.”

“Yeah,” Max said, trying to figure out what his friend meant by that. “That she is.” He didn’t want to read too much into it. Michael talked a lot. It was possible he didn’t even know what he was saying.

“But she’s such a bitch,” he said again. He leaned out into the aisle, still holding the icepack to his eye, and said, “Oh, fuck me. She’s lookin’ back here. She’s lookin’ back here and she’s waving. That crazy, crazy bitch.” He sat up straight again and slowly removed the icepack from his eye. “Alright, tell me the truth,” he said, turning to face Max. “How bad is it?”

Max couldn’t keep his mouth from dropping open. The eye was very swollen and already turning dark. What was in that bag? he wondered. Bricks? “Uh . . . not that bad,” he lied to spare his friend’s feelings.

“Really?” Michael didn’t appear to believe him. He leaned around and tapped the shoulder of the girl sitting in front of him. “Hey . . .” he greeted in typical Guerin-flirtation style.

Max watched as the girl turned around and, when she saw Michael, made a face of disgust. “Ew,” she said before turning back around.

Michael sat back and nodded thoughtfully, obviously unaccustomed to hearing that word in response to his advances. “Not that bad, huh?”

Max didn’t know what to say, so he just smiled. Somehow, he still didn’t anticipate Michael having much of a problem making time with the girls of the world.

Including my girl, he thought bitterly. He had a feeling that Michael and Maria were going to spend the majority of their spring break together, arguing or flirting or . . . both. And there was nothing he could do about it.

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

Michael noticed a lot of people staring at him. Usually people—mostly girls—stared at him because they were into him. Now they were staring at him because he looked like a monster, a less intimidating Frankenstein, perhaps. He even frightened a little girl at the baggage claim. She ran to her mother screaming and pointing at him.

“Well, are you happy?” he asked Maria as they waited for her bag to come through. “You got to sit in first class . . . at the expense of my dignity. And my eye.”

“You have dignity?” she teased.

“Fine, just my eye then,” he conceded.

She shrugged oh-so-innocently and said, “Sacrifice.”

“Yeah,” he said, unable to resist the urge to smile. “You’re lucky you’re hot.”

“It’s too bad you’re not,” she retorted.

“Oh, just not right now. Once the swelling goes down, you’ll want me again. Who are we kidding? You want me right now.”

She just smiled and shook her head.

“Hey, whose bag are we waiting on?” Isabel asked, breaking him out of his Maria DeLuca-trance suddenly. He’d almost forgotten the rest of them were still there.

“Maria’s,” Michael replied.

“I swear to God, if the freakin’ airline lost my luggage, I’m blaming you,” she said, pointing a finger at him.

“What? I didn’t do anything.”

“Yeah, but I’ve decided to blame you for everything from now on,” she explained. “It’s this new life strategy.”

“New? You’ve been doing that for eight years.”

“Yes, because it’s fun. Stalker.”

“Oh, I can’t believe those stupid flight attendants believed you.”

“Well, I’m very persuasive and attractive. Two things which you are not.”

He chuckled and mumbled quietly, not loud enough for Liz to hear, “Well, I don’t know about the persuasive part . . .”

“Oh, hey,” Max piped up. “Isn’t that your bag, Maria?”

“It is!” she exclaimed happily. “Thank God.”

Michael reached out to grab it for her, but she got her hands on it and lifted it off the conveyor before he could. It looked heavy. He was . . . sort of impressed to see her lift it with one hand. She was tiny. But strong. And hot. Very hot. “Whoa,” he said.

“What, you didn’t know I was strong? Dance teamers pack heat, man.” She curled her arm up in a muscle-man pose, and he laughed.

“Alright, Bicker Twins,” Kyle said. “Let’s get this show on the road. Sin City awaits.”

Maria squealed and skipped ahead excitedly. Michael hung towards the back of the group with Liz. He put his arm around with her, squeezing her to his side, and she looked up at him and smiled. “If my parents ask,” she said, “we’re in North Dakota.”

“North Dakota,” he echoed, nodding. “Got it.”

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

Sin, sin, sin. It was the only word Maria could think of to describe all that she saw as she, Michael, Max, and Liz rode down the Vegas Strip in their taxi. Judging by the arms that were hanging out the windows of Isabel, Tess, Kyle, and Alex’s cab, they were just as excited.

The buildings were so huge. Maria had never seen so many extravagant hotels in her life. She was dying to know which one they were staying in. “Are we staying there?” she asked Michael as they passed by the MGM Grand hotel. “Are we staying there?”

He shook his head.

“We’re not staying in some cheap downtown hotel, are we?” She posed the question to both Michael and Max, but neither one of them said anything.

The traffic was insane, but Maria didn’t mind. It gave her more of a chance to look out the windows and see all of what there was to see. There were billboards everywhere with pictures of naked women—no naked men, of course. There were other billboards with pictures of people like Celine Dion. Sidewalks were crowded, as were all the outdoor restaurants. She heard people screaming as the rollercoaster of the New York, New York hotel zoomed by.

Wow, she thought. Spring break is gonna rock.

The cabs pulled to a stop, much to Maria’s surprise, out in front of one of the hotels on the Strip. Not a cheap downtown hotel, but . . .

“The Mirage!” she exclaimed as they all clamored out of their taxis. “This is a nice hotel!”

“Nice and expensive,” Kyle said.

Maria gasped in disbelief as she looked over the building. It wasn’t as big as some of the other hotels, but it was definitely nice. It was gold, sort of had a modern shape about it. She was no architectural expert, but it definitely appealed to her. There were lots of palm trees out front. There was even a . . . Wait a minute, she thought. Is that a volcano? She wasn’t sure, but it looked cool. Inside, she could see the immaculate lobby area. She could smell the food from one of the restaurants. She couldn’t quite hear the ka-chinging sound of slot machines yet and the whooping and hollering from the Blackjack table, but she was sure she would soon.

“How’d you decide on this one?” Tess asked.

“Well, we guys kinda wanted to stay at Treasure Island. Pirates, you know,” Kyle explained. “But we figured you girls would be more happy at someplace feminine like the Venetian.” He gestured across the street to hotel that looked exactly like Venice. Or at least exactly what Maria pictured Venice to look like.

“Oh my god,” she gasped. “So pretty.”

“Yeah. So pretty,” Michael said as he bent down and picked a small card off the ground, a card with a picture of a naked woman on the front.

“We figured the Mirage was a nice compromise,” Kyle finished explaining. “You girls like?”

“I like,” Tess chirped.

“Me, too,” Isabel agreed.

“It’s great,” Liz said to Michael.

“Yeah, it is,” Maria put in, “but—oh! Wait a minute! Isn’t this where they used to do the Siegfried and Roy show? And Roy got eaten by the tiger!” She thought about it and asked her friends, “It was Roy, right?”

No one said anything. Tess shrugged cluelessly.

“Roy didn’t get eaten by a tiger; he got attacked by a tiger,” Michael informed her as though there was some huge difference.

Maria gave him a panicked look. “I don’t wanna get attacked by a tiger. Michael . . .”

“I won’t let you get attacked by a tiger, Maria.”

Max cleared his throat and said, “They’re, uh, not kept here. It’s not like they’re roaming the halls or anything.”

“I know,” she said. “I was just joking.”

“Oh.”

Maria jumped a little in surprise when she heard the trunk slam and looked back to find their poor cab driver with all their luggage. “Bags unloaded,” he said, holding his hand out for payment. Michael immediately took a step back, so Max stepped forward and paid the driver. Kyle did the same for his cab’s driver.

“Alright, come on, slowpokes,” Tess said eagerly as she grabbed her bag. “I wanna see the hotel.”

“How are we paying for this anyway?” Isabel asked as all eight of them headed into the lobby.

“Remember how I worked two jobs last summer?” Kyle said.

“Yeah.”

“Well, I just not two nice tax returns.”

“Good job, Kyle,” Maria piped up. “This is very nice. I assume we’re getting more than one room then. I mean . . . it would just be unacceptable if we weren't.”

“Yeah,” Kyle said, exchanging a glance with Michael.

Michael nodded in agreement. “Yeah, more than one room.”










TBC . . .

-April

[April]

A Monday update as promised!

nibbles: Yep, sharing rooms is in store for the Passion people.
Sara: I think you're going to enjoy seeing the gang in Vegas. It's a lot of fun. And I don't know if you saw something I posted in response to your last feedback--Alex is there, just didn't speak in the last part.
Krista: Well, Maria's going to get the bed she wants. Luckily, there's more than one bed, so Michael won't be forced to floor it.
pookie76: Maria really is the "capital of planet crazy," isn't she? Good one.
mariadac: Yes, I actually have been to Las Vegas about four years ago. (I'm planning to go again now that I can finally legally gamble!) I take it you've been there, too, since you said you missed it!
spacegirl23:

More Michael suffering! Yey! Serves the clueless dork right. Love him though.

Well, then, you're just like Maria!
starcrazed:

I'm not surprised Maria took Michael's seat I am surprised Liz didn't throw more of a fit b/c of it though.

Yep, Liz just isn't outspoken enough to throw a bitch fit in the midst of an entire plane full of people.
tequathisy: "Metaphorical fireworks" are definitely in store!
Tine: Hey, it's great to know you're still reading. And I don't mind hearing that you love the story or that the characters are blind. I don't mind at all.
Mercedes:

Perverted humor is the best kind of humor.

I AGREE!
Christina: I like all your Alex scenarios. I'm not going to say much except that Alex's spring break is totally awesome and also totally horrible for him. You'll see what I mean.
Mag:

why is he so willing to turn a blind eye to the real Maria and would rather choose to live in this twilight zone with a non existent Maria?

That's a question Max is eventually going to have to ask himself. The problem is that he has this perfect dream-girl vision in mind, and since Maria is the only girl who really gives him the time of day, he finds himself imagining that she is his dreamgirl.
Brie: You wanted to elope in Las Vegas? That would be fun, but a planned out wedding with all your friends and family would be fun, too. Actually, any wedding would be fun if you have the right guy with you!
lilah: Oh, a new reader? That makes my day! I imagine that 4 kids definitely wouldn't leave much time to read, so I really apprecaite your interest in this oh-so-lengthy story! I'm glad you think the characters are funny. They're so fun for me to write, so it's nice to know that they are fun for people to read. As for Liz . . . yeah, she can get like nails on a chalkboard at times in this story, but she's on her own journey, just like the rest of the characters.



Thank you as always for the lovely feedback!

There aren't any lyrics in this part, but there's a certain point where I envision this song playing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mb5N5kot0iQ&fmt=18 I put in a little smiley to designate that part. Anyway, for some reason, I like the song. It just seems to have a real spring break feel to it. Check it out if you want!

Enjoy this part!










Part 70









“Two,” Maria said as the eight of them stood outside two adjacent doors in the seventh floor hallway. “Two rooms. Eight people.”

“Yeah, two beds in each room. Do the math,” Michael said. “Or, actually, don’t. We don’t want you to strain yourself.”

She ignored that remark and asked the rest of the group, “Well, how exactly does this work out? Who stays in which room?”

“Well, I think it’s simple,” Isabel piped up. “Kyle and Tess and I all wanna be together. We just need one more person. Alex is obviously that person.”

“Wait, obviously?” Kyle echoed.

“Yeah. That way Max and Maria can have a bed all to themselves in the other room, and so can Michael and Liz. It’s perfect.”

“Totally,” Tess agreed, smiling knowingly at Maria.

Great, Maria thought, knowing she should have seen this coming after the way they had divided themselves up for the taxi rides. I get to share a room with the guy I like, a girl I don’t like, and my boyfriend. Just great. “Okay, wait a minute,” she said, laughing lightly. “Maybe we should discuss other options . . .” She trailed off as Alex opened the door to the room on the left, and he, Isabel, Tess, and Kyle walked in. “Or not,” she finished as Michael pushed open the door to their room.

“I’m sure we can tolerate each other,” Liz said.

“Don’t be too sure about that,” Maria muttered. If she woke up in the middle of the night to hear Michael and Liz having sex, she was going to have issues.

“Wow,” Michael said as he stepped on into the room, the rest of them following him. “I owe Kyle big. This is nicer than our house.”

“Pakistan is nicer than our house,” Maria said, even though she loved where she lived. “This is really nice, though.” There were two queen-sized beds, two dressers, one table and two chairs, a fairly sizeable television, and a decently large bathroom. It smelled good, which was always a plus, and they appeared to have a great view down the rest of the Strip.

“Maybe it’s just a mirage,” Max said, laughing a little.

Maria, Michael, and Liz slowly turned to look at him. It was the first time Maria had ever heard Max make a conscious attempt at humor. Unfortunately for him, it wasn’t very successful.

“He joked,” Max said. “No?”

“Oh! Mirage!” Liz exclaimed suddenly. “‘Cause that’s where we’re staying. I get it. That’s funny, Max.”

He looked down at the floor and smiled half-heartedly. “Thanks.”

Maria set her suitcase down on one of the beds and sat down, bouncing a little, testing it for softness. She jumped over to the other bed then to test that one as well. Unfortunately, Michael apparently had the same idea since he jumped on at the same time. Their heads hit, and he immediately fell backward screaming, “Ah, my eye!”

“Ow,” she said, holding her hand to the side of her head. She did what she set out to do, though, and bounced on the bed a little, testing its comfort. It was definitely a first class bed. “Max and I are taking this bed,” she announced before adding for Michael’s benefit, “and don’t you dare try to steal it from me.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it.”

She rolled her eyes. He was probably already hatching out a plan to do just that.

Liz sat down on the other bed and said, “Wow. I still can’t believe we’re in Las Vegas.”

“Best spring break ever,” Michael predicted as he stretched out next to Maria on the bed. He seemed like he was making himself comfortable, so Maria said, “Did you not hear me? This bed is for me and Max.” She gave him a little shove, but it was enough to make him fall off the bed and onto the floor.

“Ah!”

She laughed. Michael would be lucky to make it out of Vegas in one piece. I’d rather be sharing a bed with you, jackass, she thought as she peered down at him and smiled.

There was a knock on the door adjoining the two rooms. Max opened it, and Kyle was on the other side. “Hey, convenient, huh?” he said. “You guys like the room?”

“Loves it,” Maria chirped.

“I love it, too,” Michael added on.

Kyle gave him a confused look. “Why are you on the floor, man?”

“‘Cause he’s an ass,” Maria answered for him. She got up off the bed and went to peer into the other room. “So, uh, I’m curious,” she said. “What’re you guys gonna do for sleeping arrangements? Is Alex gonna get a bed all to himself?”

“Yeah, probably,” he replied. “I mean, I’m sure Isabel and Tess will wanna sleep with me, so . . .”

Maria peered over his shoulder, noticing how Isabel and Alex looked pretty comfy on one bed. Together. “You sure about that?” she asked Kyle.

Kyle turned around to see for himself. “What?” he said, obviously surprised.

“Good luck with that,” Maria said, gently closing the door. She couldn’t handle other people’s drama. She had enough of her own. “So,” she said, turning to address Max and Michael. “When do we start gambling?”

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

“Oh my god, this is so flipping awesome!” Maria exclaimed when they arrived down at the Mirage’s main casino that afternoon. It looked like a gamblers paradise, and though she had never technically gambled before, she felt confident that she would be good at it. There were more slot machines than she could reasonably imagine—some looked like computer screens; others were the old-fashioned pull-the-lever kind. There were craps tables, roulette tables, blackjack tables, all crowded with people. It was so exciting. “Ka-ching!” she said, laughing.

“Wait a second,” Michael said. “Do you even have any money?”

She grunted. Way to kill my buzz, Guerin. “Of course I have money.” She stuck her hands in her jeans pockets, sadly feeling nothing but two small coins that were probably either dimes or pennies. Hopefully at least dimes.

“What, two cents?” he guessed.

She pulled the coins out of her pocket and saw that they were, in fact, pennies. “It is money!” she insisted, holding them up in front of his face. Of course, they would only get her ten seconds on the penny machine, but . . . “Dammit,” she cursed.

“Don’t worry,” Max said, reaching into his pocket. “I brought some money for you.”

She squealed in delight when he pulled out a hundred dollar bill. “Oh, Max, you’re the best!”

He smiled.

“Thank you!” She happily took the money for him, gave him a kiss on the cheek, and skipped off to exchange good old Ben Franklin for a couple of Andrew Jacksons. Then, she was hitting the slots.

“Uh, Maria!” she heard Max call. “Be . . . frugal.”

Frugal? She didn’t know what that meant, so she ignored it.

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

“Man, she will not be frugal,” Michael said. “Come on, let’s go keep an eye on her.” He took Liz’s hand, and the two of them and Max headed off after Maria.

“Slots,” Kyle mumbled. “Waste of time.”

“What’re you gonna do?” Tess asked him.

“Oh, blackjack, baby, blackjack.” He put his arm around her and led her into the other side of the casino where a blackjack table had just opened up.

“Oh, that’s the math game,” Isabel said, cringing. “Come on, Alex, I bet you’ll be good at it.”

“Uh, no, that’s okay. You go ahead,” Alex said. He really had no desire to venture inside the casino.

“Well, what’re you gonna do?” Isabel asked, staying with him.

Alex shrugged. “I just really don’t feel like gambling.”

“Why not?”

He sighed and stuffed his hands in his pockets, deciding that he had no reason not to tell her. “Well, despite the fact that I’ve always wanted to go to Vegas . . . my dad . . . back when I was younger, for a couple of years . . . he had a lot of problems with gambling. Kind of got addicted. He’s better now, but it was really rough there for awhile.”

“Oh, Alex, I’m sorry,” Isabel apologized, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. “I had no idea.”

“No, that’s okay.”

“That must’ve been really difficult. I can see why you don’t feel like gambling.”

“Yeah, I just . . .” He trailed off and shrugged.

“Well, do you mind if I ask, why’d you come to Vegas then?” she questioned. “I mean, you’re not gonna gamble, and I don’t think you’re the type of guy who’s into strippers.”

“Oh, don’t be too sure.” He chuckled and admitted, “No, I’m not.”

“So why Vegas?” she inquired again. “Not that I mind. It’s just . . . what’s in it for you?”

A million question raced through his head at the speed of light after she asked him that. Should I say it? Should I say what I wanna say? Is it too soon? Will she freak out? Will she even notice? Why Vegas? What’s in it for me?

“You.”

For a moment, she was silent, and he wasn’t sure if that was good or bad. Then she smiled a little and asked, “What?”

He couldn’t say it again. It was too terrifying. Not to mention, her boyfriend wasn’t very far away. “You . . . wanna go hit the arcade with me?” he asked.

She glanced over her shoulder at Kyle and Tess, who were already settling in at their blackjack table, then glanced back at him. “Yeah,” she said. “Arcade sounds fun.”

“Cool,” Alex said. “Let’s go win some stuffed animals.”

She laughed.

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

Banana, banana . . . Maria felt herself start to get excited as the first two reels of her slot machine flipped over. But then a cherry popped up on the third wheel, dashing her hopes. “Gosh,” she said. “A hundred bucks sure goes fast.” She felt around for the remaining money in her pocket. It wasn’t a lot. “I think I’m down to twenty-five dollars,” she admitted regretfully. “How long have I been gambling?”

Max glanced at his watched. “Twenty-five minutes.”

“Seriously?”

“Yeah.”

She let out a heavy sigh, turning away from him. It was his hard-earned tutoring money, after all, that she was squandering. “Well, why aren’t you guys gambling?” she asked the three of them. Michael, Liz, and Max had just been standing behind her watching her go for the last twenty-five minutes. She’d had no idea she was so entertaining.

“Just waiting for my moment,” Michael replied.

“Your moment?”

He smirked.

She shook her head and decided to ignore him. She turned back to her machine, inserted another quarter into the slot, and pulled the lever. Three mismatched images appeared shortly after, and she groaned in disappointment. “This sucks.”

“You know, I don’t think I’m gonna gamble,” Liz announced.

“Awesome,” Michael said. “Now I can play the money I was gonna give you.”

“You’re a jackass,” Maria informed him as if she hadn’t done that enough already.

“I’m not gonna gamble, either,” Max decided. He handed Maria a small wad of twenty dollar bills and said, “You can spend my money.”

She gasped in delight. “You’re a god!”

He smiled a little and advised, “You might wanna be, you know, frugal with that, though.”

“I honestly don’t know what that means,” she admitted as she inserted another quarter into the machine in front of her.

“It’s a nicer way of telling you to go to the penny machines,” Michael told her.

“No,” she responded defiantly. “Nobody wins anything on penny machines.”

“Fine, nickels then.”

“No,” she repeated. “I like this quarter machine.”

“But you’re not winning anything on it,” he pointed out.

“It’s gonna pay out eventually,” she said, “and when it does, I’ll be here.”

“Whatever. Hey . . .” When the guy sitting at the machine beside Maria got up and dejectedly walked away, Michael quickly sat down at the machine and said, “Alright, here we go.”

“Your moment?” Maria guessed.

“Hopefully.” He rubbed his hands together excitedly and dropped a quarter into the slot. He slowly pulled down the lever, and the reels started to turn. Maria, Max, and Liz all leaned in to watch.

The first reel stopped on a number seven.

“Yes,” Michael said.

The second reel stopped on a number seven.

“Yes.”

The third reel stopped on . . . a number seven?!

“Yes! Yeah!” Michael exclaimed, throwing his fists in the air. The machine began to chime and play music as it dispensed quarters. “Jackpot. Winner,” it said in an annoying, mechanical voice. “Jackpot. Winner.”

“Oh my god!” Liz exclaimed, throwing her arms around Michael. “You won!”

“That was incredible. How’d you do that?” Max said in awe.

“Well, I stuck a quarter in, and I pulled down the lever,” Michael replied in typical smart-ass fashion.

Maria grunted, envious. “What the hell?” she said. “That’s so unfair.”

“Yeah,” Michael said, “well, you know, I thought it was kind of unfair how my first class seat on the airplane got stolen, and how my eye got injured, and how you pushed me off the bed. Karma’s a bitch, baby, just like you.”

She grunted again and stuck another quarter in her slot machine. Nothing.

“Liz, all my money’s spillin’ out on the floor,” Michael said. “You think you can go get me one of those buckets?”

“Sure,” she said, skipping off excitedly to do that for him.

“Wow, I’m so stoked,” Michael said. “How much did I win?”

“Five-hundred dollars,” Max said.

“Sweet! Now I just gotta do it again.”

Maria laughed and said, “Oh, you will not do it again. This is the best it’s gonna get for you. I promise.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

He smirked and leaned over. “Alright, watch this.”

“What’re you doing? My machine!"

“Move over,” he said, leaning over even more. He dropped a quarter into the slot, pulled the lever and . . .

One banana. Two bananas. Three bananas?!

“Yeah!” he roared.

“Jackpot. Winner,” came the machine. “Jackpot. Winner.”

“Oh my god!” she shrieked in outrage. “I spent seventy-five bucks on this machine!”

“I spent twenty-five cents.” He chuckled giddily as the quarters began spewing out. “Another five-hundred dollars. Lucky me.”

“This isn’t natural,” she decided. “You’re an unnaturally lucky person sometimes.”

“It’s a gift.”

“You won again? Ah!” Liz exclaimed as she came running back over with a bucket in hand. “How exciting!”

Michael smiled proudly. “We’re gonna need bigger bucket.”

Liz squealed with delight.

“This is really cool,” Max said. “Keep going like this and you’ll leave here a rich man.”

“Yeah. And Maria, you’ll leave here a . . .”

“If the word ‘poor’ exits your mouth, you’ll lose your nuts,” she warned him.

“Oh.” He looked up at Liz. “Wouldn’t want that.”

“Wouldn’t want that,” she agreed.

Maria rolled her eyes and stood up, stepping over the quarters that were beginning to pile on the floor. “Whatever. I’m going over to Harrah’s. Maybe I’ll have better luck over there.”

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

The cars zoomed past, one right after another. Whenever the stoplight turned red and Maria thought she might have a chance to cross the street, it turned green again and crazy drivers continued to zigzag through the crazy traffic. They were utterly insane. Maria wasn’t the best driver in the world and knew she had no room to criticize, but people in Las Vegas drove bumper to bumper. They switched lanes with only inches to spare between cars. They never signaled. They ran red lights, which was obviously a death wish, and they never stopped honking their annoying horns. She put one foot on the street a couple of times and immediately brought it back up onto the relative safety of the sidewalk. She didn’t even want to try to make it across that street in one piece.

“Maria!”

She turned around and saw Michael, Max, and Liz coming towards her.

“Need help crossing the street?” Michael asked in a over-zealously parental-sounding tone.

“Be my guest,” she said, gesturing toward the traffic.

He took one look and decided, “Uh, no. No thanks.”

Maria sighed and stared wistfully at the Harrah’s hotel and casino. It was unlikely that she would have any better luck over there, but she’d been hoping.

“Hey there’s a crosswalk down there,” Max said, pointing down the strip. “No one’s crossing, but . . . I’m sure we can make it in one piece.”

“I’m not,” Maria admitted. “And you know what, since I have to do that showcase dance once we get back home, I think I’ll avoid traffic-related injury and stay on this side of the street.”

“Yeah, me, too,” Michael said. “Don’t want anything else to happen to my eye.”

Maria groaned. “Great, we get to hear about that this whole week.”

Michael smirked. “That and how much money I’m winning. And my dick, of course.”

Maria rolled her eyes.

Liz giggled. “Are we gonna go back inside so you can win some more?”

“I don’t know,” he said. “You know, there’s other stuff to do in Vegas besides gamble.”

Maria raised an eyebrow, curious. “What do you have in mind?”

“Well,” he said, smiling, “we did bring our swimsuits.”

Half-naked Michael and half-naked me in water? Maria thought, intrigued. I’m in.

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

After tracking down Tess, Isabel, Kyle, and Alex, the group went back up to their hotel rooms, changed into their swimwear, grabbed their towels and sunglasses, and headed down to the pool. It was a pretty big pool with a diving board and even a slide. There was music playing, adding to the carefree atmosphere, and a bar and restaurant literally only a few feet away. Best of all, though, in Michael’s opinion, there were tons of girls walking around in the tiniest and sexiest of bikinis. There wasn’t a single one of them he didn’t want. But . . . there were some he wanted more than others.

“Ah, bikinis and martinis,” Kyle said with a smile on his face as he leaned back in his chair. They’d spied three empty chairs beneath and umbrella and seized them before anyone else did. “This must be heaven.”

“Cheers to that!” Michael exclaimed, toasting his martini.

“Cheers.” Everyone who was drinking—that was everyone but Max and Maria—raised their glasses and tapped everyone else’s before drinking. Isabel, Alex, and Liz all took little sips. Tess, Kyle, and Michael each downed half of theirs.

“I’m gonna need another one of these soon,” Michael said, already glancing back toward the bar. There was only one bartender and therefore a rapidly forming line, so Michael figured he could wait until the rush died down.

“I gotta say,” Isabel said, “so far I love Las Vegas.”

“I know!” Tess exclaimed. “I made ten bucks on craps, which is . . . better than nothing.” She shrugged.

“I won sixty,” Kyle said proudly.

“Alex and I won a lot of stuffed animals,” Isabel said, smiling. “He’s a master at the horseracing game.”

“Nobody beats this girl at pinball, though,” Alex said, laughing with Isabel. “You blew me away.”

She laughed, too. “Remember when the ball got stuck?”

“And that kid came up and got it un-stuck.” Alex and Isabel both burst into a heap of laughter, although Michael wasn’t sure why. Inside jokes. He shrugged.

“Ball got stuck, huh?” Maria shot a glance at Michael. “Bet you can relate.”

He made a face, trying to figure that one out. “Now is that an insult or a compliment?”

“Whatever,” was all she said.

He shook his head and decided to take it as a compliment. Any reference to his balls was wonderful and necessary.

“So how’d you guys do?” Isabel asked Michael, Max, Maria, and Liz.

“Well, Max and Liz didn’t play,” Michael said. “I, uh . . . I won some stuff. A thousand bucks, you know.”

“What?!” Isabel, Tess, and Alex all shrieked in unison.

“Yeah.” He grinned, feeling proud of himself. “All I gotta do is get my eye back in shape and I’m livin’ the Vegas dream.”

“What’d you win on?” Kyle asked eagerly. “Blackjack?”

“No, slot machine.”

“What?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh god, I’m surprised he kept it quiet this long,” Maria groaned. “You guys carry on. I’ve already lived his little victory-fest.” She got up and ventured away from the group and toward the pool. Michael watched her go, sort of mesmerized. Maria didn’t have the biggest boobs or the biggest ass, but she had a great body. And the miniscule white bikini she was wearing really showed it off.

Don’t stare, he told himself, but he couldn’t help it.

“So, Guerin, were you playin’ a dollar machine or what?” Kyle asked, taking another sip of his martini.

“No, quarter machine,” he answered, forcing himself to take his eyes off Maria. “It was kinda funny, actually. My first spin, I won five-hundred. Second spin, I won another five-hundred.”

“And it was on Maria’s machine,” Liz added. “It was so funny.”

“Yeah, she didn’t win anything,” Michael said, glancing toward the pool again. He watched Maria sit down on the edge and put her feet in. The wind blew her hair off her back, showing him even more smooth skin. Or at least he imagined it’d be smooth. It was strange. Even after living with Maria for four years, he’d never really gotten to touch her that much.

“I wonder who’s gonna be unluckier on this trip,” Kyle speculated. “You or Maria, man.”

Michael shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“I mean, you got the eye thing. Maria’s got the no money thing.” Kyle shrugged.

“Hmm,” Tess said, leaning in to squeeze his arm. “But we know who’s gonna be the luckiest.”

“Yeah,” Kyle said, grinning. “Got my girls . . .”

As the group veered off to a new conversation about threesomes, Michael set his martini down and got up, heading towards Maria. He knelt down next to her by the edge of the pool and said, “You know, if you’re gonna go swimming, you might as well go swimming.”

“It’s not a heated pool,” she replied as she kicked her legs beneath the water. “I’m getting used to it.”

“Yeah,” he said, “but I think it’s time you get in!” He grabbed her around the waist and flung both of them into the water. She screamed as they went under. She was right. It wasn’t heated. In fact, it was downright cold. But having her in his arms made it feel downright toasty.

“You dumb-ass!” she shrieked when they surfaced. “I’m gonna kill you!”

“Come and get me, baby!” he taunted as he swam away from her.

Obviously fuming, she swam right after him. “Oh, you’re gonna get it!”

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

Liz looked out at the pool when she heard yelling. Michael and Maria were in the water now, splashing each other and dunking each other, laughing and touching each other. Too much. Way too much.

Liz shot a glance at Max just as he shot the same glance at her. Same worried expression. Same unspoken thoughts.

They both got up at the same time and headed towards the pool. They climbed in, and Liz did her best to get past the immediate coldness. “Michael!” she exclaimed, swimming toward him.

“Maria!” Max likewise called.

Isabel, Alex, Tess, and Kyle all jumped in a few moments later, making a gigantic splash. A huge water fight ensued, of course, during which most everyone else climbed out of the pool. Liz lost track of Michael a few times, when he swam under water or when the splashes in front of her face became too much. But whenever she saw him again, he was with one person, laughing it up and playing around with just one person.

Maria.










TBC . . .

-April