"So do you want to tell me about it?" Maria asked.

"Tell you about what?"

"Why your in such a bad mood, I'm assuming it has to do with Kyle."

Isabel sighs, Maria and her have been friends since 5th grade. They tell each other everything, she sighs again and then plunges in.

"Kyle makes me do things I don't want to when it comes to sex." Isabel blurts out in a low whisper.

Maria looks at her, "What kind of things?"

Isabel takes a sip of her coffee trying to compose herself. "He likes to do all these things that I'm not comfortable doing, he likes to videotape us, he's handcuffed me to the bed, and he likes to put it there!"

Maria looks confused for a second then she looks surprised, "You mean there, there?"

Isabel nods her head.

"Well have you told him you don't like it?"

"Of course I have, I've told him that it hurts, but he just does it anyway."

"Look Isabel, I know that you and Kyle have been toghether for a while, but that's no excuse for him to just do whatever he wants to you."

"I know."

Maria looks at her, "And what about the rest of the time? I mean when he's not trying to get you to do all that other stuff, things are good then right?"

"What do you mean?"

"Look Isabel I know you love Kyle and I don't want to say anything that's going to upse.."

Isabel cuts her off, "Maria your my best friend, you can say whatever you want, I won't get mad."

"Okay, Kyle has always struck me as the selfish type, he's rude at times and the only time he does something is when there is something in it for him. So that's what I'm asking about Isabel, is the rest of the sex good between you guys?"

Isabel blushes and looks at the table, "Oh you mean is it good like, romance books good, sweep the girl off her feet and carry her to the bed till she screams with pleasure good?"

Maria smiles, "Yeah, so is it."

Isabel shakes her head, "I've never experienced that, at first I thought okay well it takes awhile. But I've been waiting and waiting but nothing."

"Nothing!?! What about when he you know?" Maria asks.

"When he whats?"

"You know when he goes down on you?"

Isabel looks at her like she's crazy, "Kyle says that guys don't do that because it's gross and girls don't like it."

Maria returns the crazy look, "What kind of horseshit is that? If it's done right most girls love it, and it's not gross!" Maria is starting to get pissed for Isabel, "Do you suck his dick?" Maria says loudly.

People in the shop look at her and Isabel shushes her blushing wildly.

"Sorry. But do you?"

"Well yeah, he loves for me to do that."

Maria shakes her head, "Of course he loves it, but he's denying you pleasure Isabel. If your not getting anything out of it then you shouldn't even be doing it. The next time you guys are going to have sex you tell him that he either brings you to orgasmn or it's over." Maria nods her head after saying this.

Just then Isabel's cell phone rings and she answers it.

"Hello?...Wait slow down I can't hear you Tamia............She did what!!?.........Uh huh....I can't believe it....this is crazy....well are they okay?......Okay well meet you there." She hangs up the phone and looks at Maria.

"What's going on?"

Isabel looks at her, "Maria, I don't know how to tell you this."

"What is it just tell me!"

"Umm Mark was giving Lisa a ride home and well she was giving him a blow-job and he crashed the car and her teeth sunk into him and he had to go to the hospital and she got a concussion from the steering wheel." Isabel says in one breath trying to get it all out.

Maria sits there in shock, her boyfriend almost got his dick bit off by some skank. Tears well up in her eyes.

Isabel goes over and hugs her, "I'm sorry."

Maria nods, "It's not your fault, you weren't the one that did it."

"I'm going to go to the hospital, do you want to go?"

Maria shakes her head, "No but I'll drop you off."

They leave and Maria drops Isabel off at the hospital and then takes off.

She drives to the park she turns her radio up louder, she has her single of Collective Soul's Run playing, it's her favorite song. She gets out of the car and sits on the hood of her car, she lays back and looks up at the sky.

"What are you doing here Princess?" Michael says.

Instantly, Maria's body tensed. It was Michael Guerin! She wanted to scream. He had hurt her feelings that afternoon when he infered that her breasts were indecent. She knew she had been a little harsh but she couldn't help it. She didn't want to let on that he rocked her world no matter how much she fought it.

She turned her head and threw him an annoyed glance. His chest was bare, shirt tucked into his pants, and he was holding his shoes in his hands as he walked on the grass. He looked so good that she couldn't make her voice as hard as she wanted when she spoke. "If I count to ten will you go away?"

"Oooh, someone's a little bitter about this afternoon," Michael teased, walking in closer. "I bet you get the last word in every argument, huh?"

She narrowed her eyes and said, "What do you want Michael?"

An odd expression crossed his face. "How do you know my name?" he asked.

She shrugged in answer and looked back up at the sky. "I just do," she answered, softly, to tired and unhappy to try to muster up any bitchiness. Curiously she glanced at him and said, "Do you know mine?"

"Princess," he grinned, intentionally trying to piss her off.

For some reason, that stung. She sighed and sat up, turning to face him. "My name is not princess! Not that you care, but it's Maria!"

His grin dissolved into a smirk. "So what are you doing here, Maria?" He put emphasis on her name.

"None of your business," she snapped.

"Fine," he said laughing. He winked and said, "See ya later, Maria."

She didn't want him to leave yet. "Ugh! Why are men such jerks?" she asked as he turned.

"Are you referring to me or to men in general?"

"Both," she spat as she laid back on the hood of her car. Keeping the venom in her voice she glanced at the empty space on the hood and said, "Join me?"

"Oh, no. Wouldn't want to bring down the wrath of Maria again, no thanks!"

"Just sit!" she cried in exasperation.

After a moments hesitation, he did and they both went back to looking at the stars. A few minutes passed before he spoke. "Back to your question; I'm not a jerk. Usually, I'm a pretty nice guy but when someone is a total bitch to me, they shouldn't expect me to be nice. Now, as for men in general, I don't know."

"I'm not a bitch!" She yelled, stung by what he said.

His eyes flashed. "Not a bitch, huh? You came up to me and yelled at me for something as little as sitting on your fucking car. You could have been nice about it but instead, you instantly threw it in my face that I was trailer trash. If that's not bitchiness, I don't know what is." He didn't yell it. He spoke quietly and matter of factly.

"I'm sorry," she said quietly, swallowing her pride. "I didn't mean to be so rude to you this afternoon."

"But you did," he argued, sitting up on his elbow and turning to look at her. "You wouldn't have said those things if you didn't mean them."

She blinked slowly and shook her head. "Look, you don't understand."

"Explain it to me then," he sighed. "Explain why it was so necessary to yell at me, a perfect stranger, about something so minor."

Maria didn't know what to say. She couldn't openly admit that she had to be mean to him because of her friends; that would only show what a superficial person she was and she really didn't want him to see her that way. "Forget about it," she said. Changing the subject she asked, "So, what are you doing out here?"

He rolled his eyes, showing he wasn't fooled and then said, "I was running."

"Running? You're not in track," she said, sitting up to face him.

"Who said you have to be in track to run?" he asked, exasperated. "I run for me, not for awards."

"Oh."

He nodded to her watch. "What time is it?" he asked.

"Why? Do you need to be somewhere?" she asked, holding her wrist behind her back.

He nodded. "Yes, I have to go pick Liz up from work."

She avoided his eyes trying not to be obvious. "Liz? The brunette? Is she your girlfriend?"

"Yes, yes, and yes. So, once again I ask you what time it is?"

"What time do you have to pick her up?

"Seven."

She snuck a glance at her watch and said, "You're too late."

"What?" he practically screamed. "I cant be. We haven't been talking for an hour. What time is it?"

"I don't want to tell you," she teased.

He rolled his eyes and sighed, leaning forward in search of her wrist. The minute their skin made contact, something passed between them, a current of electricity that burned in her very soul, and they both gasped in shock. Their eyes met briefly and then Michael cleared his throat and said, "I've gotta go, Maria. I'll see you later."

She nodded, unable to speak as he walked away.

Slowly, she slid off her car and walked to the side so she could get in. She turned on the engine and put it in reverse but then she changed her mind and put it back in park. She reached for her purse and pulled out her cell-phone, dialing a number.

"Hello?" Isabel's voice answered.

"Hey it's Maria."

"Oh, hey girl!"

"So, with what happened to Lisa, we have a space on the squad, right?"

"Yeah," Isabel answered slowly. "Why?"

Liz was quiet on the way to school the next morning. Michael had his dad's old beat up truck and the three sat up front together.

Michael and Alex exchanged looks over Liz's head, wondering why Liz was so quiet. Both of them were afraid to ask because Liz looked a little pale and they didn't want to even think about Liz being sick again. She was in remission! And she was going to stay that way.

Liz knew the guys were watching her but were afraid to ask if she was okay. The thing was, she didn't know herself. She had been having some pain again lately, and wasn't sure if it was her lukemia acting up or not. She didn't want to jump to conclusions, and the clinic took forever to take tests and Liz didn't want to believe she was out of remission. The doctors had told her she could come out of remission at any time, or maybe never come out of it. And Liz had gotten her hopes up since she had been in remission for over a year now.

She figured she just had the flu bug that was going around the school and she was worrying for nothing. She would not worry her friends unnecessarily. She was just tired this morning because she had tossed and turned half the night thinking about Max Evans again, and then she had started to feel the flu like symptoms for the rest of the night.

Liz was coming out of her first class when she saw two of the cheerleaders coming toward her. They were smiling. She knew the tall blond was Max Evan's sister who was also the head cheerleader, and the other one was Maria someone. Isabel's best friend. They didn't bother with any of the unpopular crowd, so she assumed they were just going to walk past her, but was surprised when they stopped in front of her instead.

"Hey. Liz Parker, right?" Isabel smiled.

Liz frowned suspiciously. Isabel was also Kyle's girlfriend, and she might have heard about Kyle's actions the other day, and be trying to get back at Liz as she was sure Kyle would blame her.

Liz didn't know what to say. She wasn't up to a fight. She was not into the catty fighting she had seen and heard these girls do. She was sometimes amazed that these beautiful, cultured girls who wore beautiful clothes, had their hair done professionally, and had their makeup just right and even their nails done professionally, could sound so crude and harsh just like a lot of the wrong side of the track girls. Liz knew she was no glamor girl and never could be, for she didn't know the first thing about makeup or hair styles or special shampoos or clothes with real labels on them, but she usually acted in control of herself in public. She didn't swear or yell or fight with anyone. She was usually a shy, quiet mouse when it came to school. The only time she opened up and talked, laughed and shouted for the fun of it was with Michael and Alex. She would rather climb trees and play sports than put on makeup and have her hair done, but she still didn't fight or swear like some of the "classy" girls did.

"Yes." Liz finally said figuring that would be as safe an answer as possible.

"I'm Isabel Evans, and this is Maria DeLuca. We want to know if you would be interested in becoming a cheerleader?"

Liz was shocked and it showed. Was this a trick, or a joke. Were they going to harass her for what Kyle had done to her the other day? Her a cheerleader!!?? They had to be joking.

"Um. No thanks." Liz tried to be polite and started to walk around them.

"She doesn't believe us, Is. She thinks we're kidding. Hey wait. We saw you on the field the other day and you have the right moves and flips and flexibility we need on the team." Maria said, standing in front of Liz again so she couldn't pass.

Liz looked into her eyes and saw Maria was serious. Then she looked at Isabel and the girl met her eyes honestly as well.

"You're serious?" Liz asked anyways.

"Very." Isabel said meeting Liz's eyes quietly.

"Me? But, I don't know anything about cheerleading or the moves or dances and routines that you do." Liz replied still surprised and uncertain.

"Can you meet us out on the field at lunch time and we can see what you can do and show you what we need?" Isabel asked shifting her backpack and getting ready to get to her next class.

Liz thought about it and shrugged. If nothing else, it gave here something to do at lunch time. Michael was working on an art project and Alex had computer lab today, so she would be alone. "Sure." she said and then the two flashed her bright smiles.

"Great! See you at lunch." Maria said and let Liz pass.

Max was already in biology when Liz came in. He tried not to stare at her as she came around to sit next to him, but he couldn't help it. He had no control when it came to looking at Liz Parker.

He knew the popular girls behind them loved to tease and pick on Liz, so he tried not to bring any extra attention to her, but he couldn't stop staring. Ever since they had connected the other day, when he had heard her cry for help, and then when they had touched, he hadn't been able to get her out of his mind.

"Hey." Max said when Liz caught him looking at her.

Liz had felt his eyes on her when she had come in, and then when she couldn't NOT look at him anymore, she met his eyes and he had smiled that special, sexy smile and greeted her.

Liz couldn't help but smile back and tuck a strand of her hair behind her ear shyly. "Hey." she answered.

Max didn't care what his friends or the crowd he hung around with thought, he wanted to go out with Liz Parker. He had always wanted to ask her out, but had known that if he did, she would get more harassment from the popular crowd for trying to cross over to the other side of the tracks, and he hadn't wanted to make things difficult for her. But now, he was tired of just dreaming about her or looking for a glimps of her in the halls or anywhere else. He tried to remember if she had a boyfriend. He knew she was close to the two guys she was always with, Alex and Michael something, but he wasn't sure if they were all friends, or if one of them was 'more' to her.

Max figured the only way he would find out was to ask. They both had lunch after this class, and he would ask her then. He could sense that Liz felt the same connection he had, so he hoped she wouldn't be completely surprised if he asked her out.

There was a dance coming up next weekend, and Liz Parker was the only one he wanted to go with. If she said no, he probably wouldn't go. Even if it ment his friends giving him grief. Especially Kyle. Kyle had been giving him crap about Liz and trailer trash attraction for the last few days. He had all their crowd laughing too, thinking Max just wanted an easy lay as Kyle called Liz.

Max wouldn't blame Liz if she turned him down about the dance. Maybe he shouldn't even take her to the dance. Maybe he should just ask her out and the two of them just do something together. Away from the crowd. Maybe dinner and a movie. Something simple. Just so Max could get to know Liz better and spend some time with her.