He turns around to face me, an unreadable expression on his face. "Maria." He states my name rather than saying it. I remember how different it sounded that night so many weeks ago when he whispered it like it was precious. I gulp hard, wanting so badly to walk away, but I force myself to continue. "I need to talk to you."

He takes a deep breath, as if talking to me hurts him. My eyes plead with him to just believe me and not give me a hard time for once. Because if he's going to be cold this is going to be impossible. "Okay. What's up?"

Looking around the crowded hall, I shake my head. "Not here. It's personal."

He shrugs and tosses his head to the side, indicating that I should follow him. I do, and he leads us to the Eraser Room. Oh great choice, I think to myself, but follow him into the small, dark room.

Once inside, neither of us speaks. Michael clears his throat, waiting for me to say something, but I just hug my books closer to my chest, not knowing how to start this conversation.

Finally, he starts. "So, um, I think I know what this is about."

My eyes widen in horror. How can he know? I haven't said anything to anyone. "You do?"

"Yeah. I guess I owe you an explanation why I was so weird the other day after the wrestling match. I mean I did just do something nice, and then you tried to kiss me and I well, I started talking about Mud, and you must have been really annoyed by that." He stops as I start to laugh softly. "What?"

"I've never heard you say so much at once."

"Oh. Well, I just, need to explain..."

I interrupt before he can start talking about mud again. "Michael, it's not that."

He looks confused. "It's not?"

"No." Looking into his questioning eyes, I sigh, knowing that I have to say it. Now or never. "Michael... I'm late."

His eyebrows knit together. "Well, yeah, I know the bell already rang, but I thought you wanted to talk."

I shake my head. "No, Michael, I'm LATE." I emphasize the last word, so he can't possibly miss what I'm talking about.

Realization dawns. His eyes fly up off the floor, and look directly at me. "Say that again."

"Michael, I think I might be pregnant." I exhale loudly, almost relieved at being able to say it out loud for the first time.

He is silent, obviously in shock. My defenses kick in and I begin to babble.

"I know it was only that one time, but we didn't use any protection. And it was almost a month ago, and I did the math, and believe me I wish the numbers added up differently, I just... I don't know..."

"How late are you?"

"10 days." I answer in the same tone he's speaking in. He's being a lot more rational that I figured.

"Did you take a test yet?"

"Yeah, actually I did. One of those home ones from the drug store."

"What did it say?"I laugh a little. "It came out green."

"What does green mean?"

"Well, I'm not sure since it was supposed to be pink or clear. I guess it either means the test didn't work, or it turns green if your baby is half alien." He winces at my ill-timed humor. I feel bad for a second, knowing he has to be panicking big time, but it's my defense mechanism.

His facade cracks. "Oh god, Maria! What are we going to do?" I smile through the oncoming tears at his use of the word we. My heart races a little at the knowledge that's he's not going to abandon me.

"I don't know. It's not like I can go to a doctor, because what if they can tell... I just don't know what to do." I take in a ragged breath, harsh from the emotion. "Michael, I'm so scared."

He reaches out and envelops me in his strong arms, letting me cry on his shoulder as he strokes my hair and whispers reassuring words. "It'll be okay, Maria. I promise."

We stay like that for a few minutes, just holding on to each other, desperate for reassurance. Suddenly he pulls me away from him slightly. "I think I have an idea."

~~~~~

After school, I go to Isabel's like I promised him I would. I ring the bell, and she answers. "Hi Maria. Come on up to my room. Michael's already here."

Nodding and unable to speak I follow her up the stairs into her room, where she closes and locks the door behind us. Michael is seated on the edge of the bed. I move to stand next to him.

Isabel looks at the two of us questioningly. "What's so urgent?"

I look at Michael, realizing he hadn't told her yet. I take a deep breath about to speak, but he grabs my hand. I look at him, and I know he is going to do the talking. "Isabel. We need your help with something. But first you have to swear you won't say anything to Max."

"Michael, what did you do?"

"Isabel, I'll tell you everything, I promise. Just first swear you won't tell Max what I am going to say."

She throws up her hands in defeat. "Fine I swear. What's going on?"

Pausing, he prepares himself for the backlash that's going to come at him when he speaks. "We need you to use your powers to scan Maria. To see if you find anything weird with her."

"What? What are you talking about?"

"Isabel, Maria and I, we... were together." Isabel's mouth has dropped open, but before she can speak, I finish Michael's sentence. "And I think I might be pregnant."

Incoherent anger begins to flow from her mouth. "Michael, how could you? When did this happen? You two should have known better!" She stops mid-rant as she sees the guilt written all over our faces. She doesn't have to yell. We know we were wrong.

Knowing she has no choice, she tells me to lie down on the bed. Michael gets up and kneels on one side of me, Isabel on the other. Michael takes my hand again, and Isabel holds her hands out, palm down about 2 inches above my abdomen. She closes her eyes, and is very still for a moment, before her forehead furrows and her eyes clench like she's in pain. She stays that way for about 30 seconds, then opens them to look at us. "I don't feel anything different. I don't think you are. It must be stress or something."

Relief washes over Michael and myself, both of us exhaling the breath we'd been unconsciously holding. Michael stiffens and stands, knowing he's going to have to deal with the wrath of Isabel. I grab the backpack I had dropped when I entered the room and turn to the girl I had formerly termed "Queen Amidala". I smile weakly."Thanks, Isabel. You can't know how sorry I am"

She waves me off. "No, Maria, I think I do know." I hug her quickly, and by the feeling she puts into the embrace, I'm sure she knows everything. She must have seen it all, felt what we felt. Knows how scared and sorry I am. I turn and look at Michael, who's now as closed up as he was open a moment ago. My emotions choking me, I'm unable to form words, so I give him a quick wave and head out the door. Reaching my car, I can finally breathe normally. I can rest easy. I'm not having Michael's baby. I should be happy, I tell myself. Oh yeah?, I respond. Then why do you feel like you just lost everything?