“Well,” Michael said, catching his breath. “You can sure that I won’t be calling you virtuous anytime soon… after that.”

Maria grinned. She loved surprising Michael, even if they had simply kissed. And he didn’t seem bothered at all that she hadn’t had Liz-like visions that pointed them toward some orb. In fact, he didn’t seem to be thinking about that at all. He was panting, and looking at her lips. Almost as if he were… human.

No. Maria shook her head. Don’t go there. The dude is an alien. He’ll always be an alien. He’ll never let you forget it, either.

“I think we better get going, now. We just lost half of our lead.”

They had been traveling for a short time, with Michael concentrating on the road and Maria mixing some perfume, adding eucalyptus and roses (sweet and spicy being a symbol of her and Michael’s newfound relationship) to form an… interesting mix. Maria couldn’t decide if she liked it. She decided it was nice, strange together, but somehow, they fit. Just like her and Michael. She turned, about to ask him his opinion, when she realized they had pulled up to the reservation.

“Wow, that was quick. Oh, look, there’s your pal Eddie. I wonder what dangerous, peril-to-your-health thing he wants you to do to find River Dog today,” Maria couldn’t help but say.

“Yeah.” Michael seemed distracted as he stopped the car and rolled down the window to speak to Eddie. “Is River Dog around?”

“No, he’s out of town,” Eddie replied. “He figured you might show up, though. Here. These are directions to get to Capeside, Massachusetts. River Dog, he is visiting a friend there. I was told to give you these and to tell you to come.” Eddie handed Michael a long sheet of paper.

“And he even made hotel reservations. How kind of him.” Michael remarked.

Maria leaned over, and sure enough, there were directions for various stops and every twelve hours or so, a hotel name and confirmation number. “Wait a minute, is this some kind of game he set up?” Turning back to Michael, she asked “Did you plan this, Michael Guerin?”

“Who, me?”

“He did nothing of the sort. River Dog is not one to indulge an adolescent boy in childish games in order to impress a female. Go, hurry, before they others arrive.” Eddie commanded.

“Two questions, hun, and we’re out of your hair. First, are you going to tell the others where we are?” Maria asked. “No. Yes. Possibly. He… didn’t say. He left in rather a hurry, in fact. I suppose I’ll have to play it by ear… no, no I won’t tell. That would be wrong.” Eddie answered, sounding confused.

“OK, good. Number two. Who is this friend River Dog is visiting?” asked Michael. “A man named Bodie Henderson. A good man. Lives in a Bed and Breakfast with wife Bessie, son Alexander, and niece.” “Fine. Let’s go.” Michael rolled up the window and pulled out quickly.

“Woah, there, cowboy. I think we should, I don’t know, talk about this? Like, I am not spending a whole weekend in a car with you traveling to some far off land.” Though, as she thought about it, the idea didn’t seem so bad. “Besides, people’ll worry. They, they’ll think we were captured or something! And… I don’t have any clothes. And…” Maria trailed off.

“Maria, you’ll fall asleep on the road. Isabel will waltz right into your dream, and you can tell her that we took off for a romantic little trip around the world. That’ll take care of Is, Liz, and Max. As for your mother, well, I’d be willing to bet $10 she’s away for the weekend.” Michael said. “Am I right?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Of course he was right. Maria’s mother, Amy DeLuca, was away every weekend. It paid off, sometimes, to know every little thing about the girl you loved. Wait, what did he just think? The girl you were seeing. The girl you were interested in. The only girl he loved, he assured himself, was Isabel. And only in a sisterly way.

“Well… yeah. But, what about clothes?” Maria asked.

Jeez. She could be a little more enthusiastic. He was thrilled this road trip had fell right into his lap as a way to get a whole weekend alone with Maria. She, on the other hand, seemed to be finding any excuse to get out of it.

“We’ll stop by your house. Quickly.” “Well… ok… I suppose. Michael… last time, we weren’t… you know. We kind of hated each other, in fact. You slept on the floor…” Maria trailed off.

So that was what she was worried about. Typical girl, assuming a guy is always thinking about sex. He had been, of course, but she didn’t have to assume it. He decided to reassure her, having already resigned himself to Maria’s soft lips only. “Worried, are we? Well, don’t. I’ll be sleeping on the other bed. I guess River Dog knows how frigid you are… he got us rooms with twin beds.”

Instead of acting insulted and gearing up for a fight, as Michael had hoped she would, Maria simply nodded. “OK, then. We’ll go.” Damn. He’d tried to start a fight, hoping it would keep Maria awake for some time, but he’d failed. Now she already seemed to be nodding off. Much as he enjoyed looking at her, when he had to concentrate on the road, the presence of her next to him just wasn’t enough. Road trips with her, when she was sleeping the whole time, were boring. Furthermore… Isabel would be able to go into her dreams any time now. And Maria had been correct in her earlier statement, she was a terrible liar. Considering that Maria had been ranting and raving about how terrible he was ever since Max had saved Liz, Isabel might find it suspicious that they were suddenly going off together for a whole weekend.

No, scratch that. Isabel would find it suspicious. For sure. She’d probably get the truth out of Maria in about three minutes. Then Max would insist on following him. It all depended, really, on Liz. If Liz was in a romantic mood, she’d force Max to wait. If she was in a group-togetherness-find-the-alien’s-history mood, they’d certainly follow.

Plus there was Eddie. No one could be sure how much to trust Eddie. For all he knew, it was all a joke. A game. A trap. Eddie might tell Max and Liz the truth without any groveling. He might not tell, so whatever was waiting in Capeside could do… whatever it planned to do.