"Maria," she stepped up and tapped her gently,"you don't have to rub so violently. Look, clean! See!" She held up the finger she had rubbed on the countertop.

"Maria?"

"What lips my lips have kissed, and where, and why, I have forgotten, and arms have lain Under my head till morning; but the rain Is full of ghosts tonight-"

"Okay, too creepy," Liz took the rag out of Maria's hands and sat with at a counter. Liz and Maria had closed the Crashdown after Midnight before, so the emptiness wasn't an unusual thing. She lived upstairs, the Crashdown was home...but there was something scary about the whole situation. Maria was growling. But her best friend was not a growler, Maria was a "throw them against the wall with verbal assault" sort of girl. But lately, Maria was getting quiet.

Between the Marionettes of the Four Corners Convention and the usual dinner crowd there wasn't exactly time small talk, but Liz missed the light banter that made closing fly by.

She put her arms around the blonde, laying Maria's head against her breast. She could feel the tears swell and gather on her uniform and it hurt. Liz felt old, she tightened her embrace and place a kiss on Maria's brow. No one so small should hold so many tears.

Liz had done her fair amount of crying lately. Max Evans. She could hardly say his name outloud anymore. Just thinking it was like the tide lapping at the sea. So many twinges and layers. She loved him so much and she'd been so sure he loved her -he'd saved her life. But strangers saved other strangers lives everyday...

Liz began to sob softly. Her breath keeping rhythm with Maria's as they rocked back and forth in the booth. Maria looked up at her best friend. Liz's dark had come out of her ponytail and fell across her face. Just so. The tears ran down the brown softness and dropped soundlessly.

"And in my heart there stirs a quiet pain For unremembered-"

"I remember that. The Millay from English early this year." Liz remembered Alex's melodramatic reading in the cafeteria. God, how she missed laughing. "I only know that summer sang in me A little while, that in me sings no more."

"Do you think she knew about Czechoslovakians?"

Maria quirked her eyebrow, the first expression Liz in two days. "Only you, Liz." Maria unexpectedly began to shiver, her giggles shaking the booth."

"Hey, I got you to stop growling, right?"

"I love you, Liz." She hugged her best friend. "I am so happy I have you." She brightened. "Hey, do you remember in the in the sixth grade -that sleepover. We were dreaming of our perfect men. Do you remember that we wanted foreign, exotic hotties?"

Both girls shared an abrupt spark of hysterical laughter and sighed.

*** Alex took a breath and walked up to the girls at the lockers. So weird, he'd known Maria and Liz forever. Now he had to prep himself to greet them. The past few months had been so weird. There that word was again.

"Parker, DeLuca," he nodded his head. Their eyes were red. A few months awkwardness wasn't enough to suppress his instincts. Putting one arm around each, he hugged them close. His instincts told him they weren't crying because of allergies. He steered them towards the quad outside and sat them down beneath a tree. He knelt down in front of them, voice soft, "Please. I know we've had a time lately, but please. I'm still Alex and you're still my girls. Tell me what's wrong."

Liz looked up at him. Her face was shadowed, her mouth dragged at a tired angle. Maria was much the same. There were ashes in their eyes.

And then he knew. He brushed Maria's cheek, "No, you don't need to say anything."

*** From an upstairs classroom, a young girl was brushing her golden hair behind her ear and holding the blinds open at the same time. Not many people would ever call Isabel Evans a young girl, but despite the classic beauty and strength, she was only sixteen. Young. For a human.

Maybe her people had different lifespans. Maybe she was going to die in a year. Maybe she'd live to see a thousand. Isabel had no idea.

So maybe it was best it wasn't the years that mattered. Maybe it was the quality of life, the light of it all. She closed the blinds and her eyes, laid against the plaster wall.

Too many grown up thoughts.

"I have a thing for Alex Whitman." There. That wasn't grown up at all.

"Isabel!" God, it was them again. After so much intelligent company with Liz, Maria and...oh, lord, Alex...she didn't know how much longer she could stand this. "Isabel, did you see what Cindy is wearing today? Designer rip-off. And what kind of name is Cindy anyhow? Can you say eighties?" Fingers ending in pink acrylic grabbed Isabel's purse and tugged towards the cafeteria, "Ohmigod, this is so cute!" ***

Michael shut his eyes and let his hand graze his jacket pocket. The little lump there was comforting. It reminded him of Maria. God, DeLuca. He opened his eyes and focused on the canvas before him. He brought his hand up and with swift strokes he brushed in her chin. God, her pert little chin. Even her chin could send him happy vibes. DeLuca was a vibrator and he knew that if he ever stopped concentrating he would just fall and fall.

Michael Guerin was swept off his feet.

He landed face down in a pile of stained smocks. Rubbing his jaw he found himself against the door of the art studio.

"What the hell?"

Alex Whitman was holding him a good five inches off the ground and close to tearing his favorite shirt.

*** Having escaped the Pit of Vapidity that was Courtenay, Sienna, and Delora, Isabel jumped into the front back of the jeep. Michael was already in front and she could see Michael at the other end of the lot. "Hurry it up, Guerin! Lunch is only an hour," she yelled. "Salsa is so hip, grey is, like, the new black," She grumbled under her breath. She needed angry music. Reaching into the glove compartment for her Tori Amos cd, Isabel looked at Max. He was quiet, but usually he said hi. "Hey, big brother, what's with the -oh no, did Kyle's friends come after you again cos if they did!" She stopped her tirade to look at his cheek.

At the handprint on his cheek. Michael jumped in front while Isabel healed it.

Tersely, Max said, "Let's go."

When they'd cleared the school parking lot, Isabel said again,"Max. Who slapped you? Liz? I don't think Liz would even yell at you. Maria! She's all- oh, she's gonna pay! Nobody slaps my family around!"

"Alex."

"What?" Isabel looked at Michael, confused.