"Whoa, hey what is the emergency?"

"Alex, I've been thinking..." Isabel started.

"Oh, this can't be good" Alex was half alarmed at this completely uncharacteristic development. As alarmed as he could get considering that he was living one of his top three fantasies where Isabel's body was within inches of his and she looked up at him pleadingly while they were confined in dark, closed quarters. She was not wearing makeup today and her long blonde hair was falling loosely down her back. Without her usual armor of black leather and ice princess mask, she looked surprisingly vulnerable.

"No, Alex, you know how I said I wanted to take things slow..." In her eagerness to explain, she leaned closer so that her body was touching his now, her luminous brown eyes searching his, trying to communicate her urgency. He felt like he was losing his grasp on reality, but he could not quite shake his silly mood.

"The word glacial comes to mind."

Isabel tried again: "Maybe it's time to melt the ice."

"Whoa, wh... what?"

"I'm ready. For a relationship, and I want it to be with you... Not anyone else I know." She added to herself.

That struck Alex as particularly funny. Isabel seemed so self contained and in control, she seemed to keep the guys she went out with occasionally at a distance. When she'd come to his house the morning after Max and Liz had disappeared, she'd pretty much demanded that he kiss her. God knew his experience in that area was not much to talk about, but she'd seemed even more clueless. In any case, he'd never seen her be close to any guy except for Max and Michael. "Well...there's someone else?"

"No! no, absolutely not. Only you." She rushed to deny.

Alex started to take in the enormity of this unexpected declaration. "This is like...whoa, this is monumental. You know. I mean we...we've got to go about this the right way. You know, romance. Um, how, uh, how about tonight? " He suggested hopefully since Isabel seemed to be in a hurry to start dating.

"What about right now?"

That's when the world as he knew it stopped. In a parallel world, possibly having nothing to do with reality, Alex Whitman was pushed against the wall by the goddess of the sophomore class in her determination to get close to him. Isabel's soft chest was pressed against his and she touched her lips to his almost awkwardly at first. Alex's head was spinning. He closed his eyes, put his arms around her, and abandoned himself to his fate. After a few seconds, sensing his lack of resistance and willingness to let her take control, Isabel lightened the pressure on his lips and opened her mouth to deepen the kiss. She tentatively touched her tongue to the soft skin inside of his mouth. Startled by the unexpected softness there, she sighed gently against him "Oh, Alex..." and unconsciously pressed herself closer to him, before resuming her sweet exploration. Alex knew he was going to explode. He was acutely aware of his skin. It was tingling all over from Isabel's touch. It felt like all the blood in his body was ringing in his ears and he was about to pass out. He did not care though, he was too happy. Here he was with the girl of his dreams in his arms, kissing him passionately. And judging from her beautiful flushed face and trembling body, she was as affected as he was. Alex stopped trying to keep any coherent thoughts and sought her tongue with his, only wanting to share all the joy and love that was filling him.

Without warning, the janitor's closet door opened, and they jumped apart in surprise. The first thing Alex saw when his eyes finally adjusted to the light, was Maria's smirk, and Michael standing next to her, a pained look on his face. Isabel recovered quicker and stepped in front of him to explain.

"Alex and I are together now."

"Maria and I are going steady." Michael replied unnecessarily.

"Great."

"Great."

"Must be in the water." Maria looked at Alex and winked.

Maria could not wait until Biology class. Alex was her lab partner and she would be able to pump him for further information about his recent eraser room activities. Imagine catching Miss I'm-so above-this-all Isabel Evans, in a hormone-induced compromising situation with her best friend and geek extraordinaire, Alex. Isabel could at least have locked the closet with her powers. The situation demanded so much investigation. Maria could hardly sit in place waiting for Alex to join her. Finally he came in and walked towards his seat. The look on his face went from carefree dreaminess to cautious when he saw her.

"So Alex, what were you and the Ice Princess doing in the eraser room that you need to share with your friends?" She pounced as soon as he was seated. " I did not know she had it in her." She added thoughtfully. " Anyways, this calls for a full report. After band practice at the Crashdown?"

"I'd like to help you out Maria, but Isabel and I are going out tonight." Alex tried to keep a smile from escaping but he failed. He turned to Maria with a big grin on his face. She was looking at him with her jaw hanging open, clearly astounded by this news.

"But enough about me. What about you, miss I'm going steady with Michael? I'm surprised you still have time, not to mention the energy, to talk to the likes of me", he joked.