Every since she hurt her hand she'd been acting funny, Kyle deducted. I mean, how hard would it have been to call him? He was her boyfriend! Stopping to keep his feelings in check, Kyle took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

As soon as school was over, Kyle was finding Liz and getting to the bottom of this. He wanted to know what exactly was going on with her and Max.

And he wasn't leaving till he got an answer.

***

"There's only one sit of bluffs I can think off," Maria offered.

"Off the old highway," Alex added.

"That's gotta be it," Michael replied, his voice giving away his eagerness to get going. "Let's go."

"Michael…we can't just run out there," Isabel said, her voice low.

"Why not?"

Isabel looked down and Alex replaced his arm around her shoulders, trying to comfort her.

Michael took a deep breath and walked over to Isabel, standing right in front of her. "Iz…I know you don't wanna admit it, but we're different. And I gotta find out why. Now…for some reason, you were able to find him, so lets go," he said softly.

"What if we find out something we don't like?" she countered. "What if we're horrible-…things!"

"What's your point? Michael already is," Maria joked. Isabel gave a small smile, but Michael just glared at her. "What? She smiled? It…was…a…joke…Michael," Maria stressed.

"I know that," he mumbled, giving her a once over before looking back at Isabel. There was something about her, he thought absent mindly. "Izzy…I won't let anything happen to you…I promise."

Isabel looked up at him and finally nodded. With out any more words, everyone piled into Maria's car and started out of town. "Where's the old highway?" Isabel asked finally, shifting so she was leaning against Alex.

"It's a ways outta town," Michael answered from the passenger seat.

Looking over at Maria, Michael smiled. She looked so cute sitting there all tense, he thought. Wow…gotta spend some time away from Isabel.

Shaking his head, Michael glanced around the car and noticed something sticking out of the corner of the glove department. Without hesitation, Michael reached over and clicked open the door. As soon as he did, out rolled a bunch of little vials.

"Careful with those," Maria exclaimed.

Catching them before they hit the floor, Michael glanced at 'em. "What the hell are they?" Each one was a different color.

"Aromatherapy vials," she explained. When Michael just looked at her, she added, "each one give off a different smell, and each smell does a different thing."

"They do things?" he asked.

"Here we go," Alex mumbled from the back, but Michael could tell he was smiling.

"Ok, the purple is lilac. That helps your relax, even get sleep. The green is mint, which helps awaken your sense. The blue smells like the ocean and the yellowish one is cedar."

"What's that one do?" Isabel asked.

"It calms you down, you know? Helps with your nerves."

Michael looked at it and noticed it only had a little bit in it. "So I take it you use this one a lot?"

"Oh yeah," Alex joked. "She's a walking bunch of nerves."

"I am not." Maria shifted in her seat and added, "I just like to be ready."

Michael shook his head and watched as the town limits passed by giving way to endless desert. The car grew silent after a while, so Michael flipped on the radio.

Of course, he thought, pop music. Going to switch the station, Maria stopped him. "Hey, I like this song," she countered, knocking his hand away.

"Maria, it's cheesy pop."

"Michael, my car," she said in a dramatic voice. "My radio."

Sighing in defeat, Michael sat back. After a few seconds he was surprised as Maria started to sing along softly. But what surprised him even more was her voice. It was beautiful.

"There was a time when I would go walking backwards 'round the world if you said you're mine. And I'd run blindfold down the kings road Monday morning, if you just for once arrive on time. But you turned into another…liar. And you can on like a new me-ssiah," Maria sung.

Michael watched her, mesmerized at how her lips moved. She seemed so sure, like she knew how good she was.

"So before you say what you de…sire, I'm telling you know, I quit! I quit! Cause loving you's a job I don't need; ain't gonna go to work no more," she said joyfully.

Michael smiled and she suddenly looked at him. "What?" Maria asked.

Clearing his throat, Michael just shook his head. "Nothing. You always gotta sing?" he asked in an annoyed voice.

"Now I do," she countered, turning the music up just to spit him. Hiding a smirk, Michael listened as she sung.

"I got my hands dirty while you rolled cigarettes, with one eye on the time. I tried my hardest, I've been conscientious, but I'm taking back that heart of mine… You can't roll me 'round you tongue no more…baby. It's time to clear that emotional…debris. And if I'm falling over board, please don't…save me!"

"Guys."

Isabel's tense voice reached up front and Michael turned down the radio. "What?"

"We just passed the jeep."

Hitting the breaks, Maria turned around. "Sorry," she offered.

Michael raked a hand through his hair and sighed. Here he was, flirting with some girl when there was more important stuff to do--not that he was actually flirting with Maria.

As Maria pulled the car to stop, Michael climbed out and looked around. "Where they at?"

Everyone shrugged. "Maybe they went for a walk," Alex suggested.

Michael climbed back in the car and looked at Maria. "I guess drive down the road some."