Isabel sighed. “Yes, Maria, I’m sure. In fact, I think it’s a really good idea.”

Maria looked uncertain. “I don’t know.”

Isabel groaned and buried her head in her hands. She had been trying to convince Maria for the past ten minutes to come with her, her brother Max, her friend Michael Guerin, and Maria’s best friends Liz Parker and Alex Whitman to the Evans' cabin by the lake in southern Colorado. The six teens had a four-day weekend coming up, and Isabel and Max had convinced their parents that it was a good idea to let them visit the cabin with their closest friends for a brief vacation. Now Isabel just had to convince Maria. Which, for some reason, was turning out to be much more difficult than she had expected. She had come to The Crash Down, where Liz and Maria both worked, right after it closed on Monday night to invite the two girls. She knew Liz would love to have the time to spend with Max, and she had readily agreed, before heading into the back room to check on stock. Isabel had to admit that she was glad Alex had also agreed to come. She found herself becoming increasingly interested in Alex, and she was looking forward to spending a long weekend with him. She had thought Maria might object a little bit at first when she found out that Michael would be there, but she figured she would get over that quickly and agree. Isabel knew how much Maria usually enjoyed hanging out with her friends, and she was determined that Maria would not miss out on this trip.

Isabel had had enough of Maria’s indecision and decided there would be no more dancing around the subject. “It’s because Michael’s coming, isn’t it?” she asked bluntly.

Maria didn’t meet Isabel’s gaze. “No, it’s uh, I um, have a lot of work to catch up on. And I told mom I’d help her at her shop,” she said lamely, concentrating on the rag she was using to clean the counter.

Isabel sighed again. “Maria, why are you letting him do this to you? I know you two have had your problems, and I don’t blame you for being upset with him. Believe me, I know very well how frustrating and infuriating Michael can be at times. But you can’t just let the problems between the two of you keep you from hanging out with your friends. Especially when we’re all going to have such a blast up there. Just think about it. The six of us in the cabin with no parents and no school for almost four whole days. Besides,” she added, narrowing her eyes as she delivered a shot she figured was guaranteed to change Maria’s mind, “do you really want to let Michael win like this? He’s not letting whatever’s going on between you two keeping him from coming with us. Why should you let it keep you from coming?"

Maria groaned. “Not fair, Isabel,” she complained. “That was so below the belt.”

“But you know I’m right,” Isabel said calmly. “Don’t let him keep you from having a good time, Maria.”

Maria’s shoulders slumped and she sighed, defeated. “Fine, I’ll come,” she said. “But if Michael pulls any of his crap this weekend, you and Max better be prepared to use those healing powers of yours. And they won’t be for me,” she added darkly.

Isabel just smiled. “Great. Max and I figured we should leave Wednesday right after school That way we won’t get there that late, and then we’ll have all day Thursday, Friday, and Saturday to hang out up there before we head back sometime on Sunday. We’re gonna meet at our house, so just bring your stuff over after school. Oh, and if you can borrow your mom’s car, that would probably be a really good idea. Cramming six people into the jeep, especially with its cover on, for several hours, is not my idea of a good time.”

Maria nodded. “I’ll ask my mom tonight. She probably won’t care. She’s heading out tomorrow night to go to some convention in Palo Alto and she won’t be back ‘til after we are.”

“Great, just let me know if it’s a problem,” Isabel said, sliding gracefully off of the stool. “Well, I’d better get going. I haven’t even started packing yet.”

Maria couldn’t help but laugh. “Isabel, it’s only Monday. We’re not leaving ‘til Wednesday.”

“I know,” Isabel said. “I hope I have enough time. It kinda takes me awhile to pack for trips.”

“No lie,” Maria said sarcastically.

Isabel opened the door to The Crash Down. “See you in school,” she said. “I’m really glad you’re coming, Maria,” she added sincerely.

Maria looked up, surprised at the sincerity in Isabel’s voice. Things certainly had a way of changing a lot in such a short time. “Me, too,” she said, and was surprised to find she really meant it. No matter what the problems were that she had with Michael, she was looking forward to getting away from Roswell for a little while with her closest friends, and she was glad Isabel had talked her into it. Isabel smiled and headed out of The Crash Down, locking the door behind her with an almost imperceptible wave of her hand.

The moment Isabel was gone, Maria’s doubts immediately returned. “Maybe this is a bad idea,” she said aloud to herself.

“What’s a bad idea?” a voice behind her asked.

Maria jumped. She had been so caught up in her own thoughts, she hadn’t heard Liz come through the swinging door that separated the front and back of The Crash Down. “Hey Lizzie,” she said. “Done with the inventory?”

Liz nodded. “Yeah. So, what’s a bad idea?”

“This trip up to Max and Isabel’s cabin.”

“Come on, don’t you think it’ll be fun?” Liz asked. “I’m really looking forward to spending time up there with everybody.”

“And the fact that Max Evans is one of those “everybodys” doesn’t hurt, right?” Maria said.

Liz blushed. “Well, yeah,” she admitted sheepishly. “Now that Max and I have worked out our problems, it’ll be nice to spend time together. And it’s gonna be great, Maria, really,” she insisted.

“Yeah, maybe for the happy couples,” Maria muttered.

Liz looked at her friend sympathetically. “Oh Maria,” she said. “I’m sorry. I know you and Michael have had your problems, but maybe this’ll help you two get past that. You know, maybe you’ll even be friends by the end of the weekend.”

Maria snorted. “Don’t hold your breath.” She glanced at her watch. “Anyway, I’ve gotta go. I have to get started on that French grammar soon or I’m never going to sleep tonight. Besides,” she added mischievously with a wicked grin at Liz, “I’m off the clock. My shift’s over,” she called over her shoulder as she headed to the backroom.

Liz laughed as she followed her back to the lockers in the break room. “Yeah, I think we’re done here anyway. Go ahead, I’m gonna lock up in a few minutes.”

“Okay, Lizzie. Call me later, k?”

Liz nodded. “I will. Get home safe. And remember, we’re going to have fun this weekend.”

Maria rolled her eyes. “Whatever you say,” she said, her tone clearly showing that she didn't quite believe her best friend. She tossed her antennae into her locker and shut it. “Good night, Liz,” she said as she pulled on her jacket and headed out the back door.

“Good night, Maria,” Liz called as the door closed behind her best friend. “I really hope I’m right about this weekend,” she murmured to herself. Then she set out to finish the last minute things that needed to be done in the café before she was able to finally turn off the lights and head upstairs to her room.

Wednesday afternoon Maria sat in her last period class studiously ignoring her teacher, who was droning on about something or other. Maria had no idea what was being talked about in class that day, and to tell the truth she really didn’t care. All she could think about was the clock in the front of the room right behind her teacher’s head. She couldn’t decide whether she wanted time to speed up or just stop. She was torn between wanting school to end and her vacation to start, and just staying in class forever and avoiding the awkwardness or fighting that a weekend with Michael was sure to bring.

Finally (or was it already? Maria still wasn’t sure) the bell rang and Maria’s classmates fairly leapt from their seats, excited at the prospect of four whole days of freedom ahead of them. Maria gathered her books and headed into the hall and towards her locker. When she rounded the corner she saw that Liz was already standing in front of her locker, her backpack on her back and her jacket in hand.

“Hey. How’d you get here so fast?” Maria greeted her as she opened her locker.

“Mr. McMillan let us go a little early,” Liz told her. “I already saw Max and Isabel. They were waiting for Michael and then they were going to head to their house. I told them I was going to catch a ride with you. You don’t mind, do you? We’ll have to stop by my house to grab my stuff.”

Maria shook her head. “Of course not, chica. I have to stop by my house and get my stuff, too.” She closed her locker with a bang and turned to Liz. “Let’s get this party started.”

Liz grinned and linked her arm through Maria’s. “I’m really glad your mom let you have the car,” she said as they walked toward the student parking lot. “I was really not looking forward to the six of us being crammed in the jeep the whole way to Colorado.”

Maria nodded. “Tell me about it. Mom was so easy about it, too. ‘Sure, hon, no problem. Just drive safe and have fun.” The girls climbed into Maria’s car and she started the engine. “Hey, do we need to wait for Alex?” she asked suddenly.

Liz shook her head. “Saw him, too. He had last period free today. Mr. Foster didn’t show up for class or something, so he went home a while ago to get his stuff and get dropped off.”

Maria shrugged. “Ok, then I guess we’re off.” She pulled out of her parking space and the girls headed off to their homes.

Twenty minutes later Maria pulled the car into the Evans’ driveway. Max, Michael, Alex, and Isabel were already standing in the driveway and were in the process of loading up the jeep. Well actually Max and Alex were packing up the jeep, Isabel was standing to the side and telling them where to put everything, while Michael stood off to the side ignoring Isabel’s commands.

Liz fairly hopped out of the car and headed over to the group by the jeep, while Maria followed behind her much more slowly. “Okay, there’s definitely not going to be enough room in the jeep,” Isabel announced. “So can we put a lot of this in your trunk, Maria?”

“Sure, no problem,” Maria said. “Liz’s and my bags are already in there.” She handed the keys to Isabel. “You can just toss your stuff in.”

Isabel looked ready to hand the keys over to Alex, but seemed to think better of it and picked up a bag instead and headed for Maria’s car. Max and Alex exchanged a grin at Isabel’s sudden ability to carry her own bags, then grabbed two of her other bags and headed to the car behind her.

When the two vehicles had been loaded up the six teenagers met again in the middle of the driveway between the two vehicles. “Okay, so driving arrangements,” Max began.

“Easy,” Isabel said. “You take the jeep and Maria takes her car. Alex, Liz, and I come with you because we can all drive stick and this way we can switch off on driving. That leaves Michael to go with Maria.” Both Michael and Maria looked like they were going to protest, but Isabel cut them off before they could open their mouths. “It’s what makes the most sense,” she said innocently. “Now come on, let’s get going so we can get there before midnight already.” She turned and headed to the jeep, with Max and Alex close behind her. Liz paused long enough to give Maria a sympathetic glance before she followed suit.

Maria couldn’t look at Michael. “Let’s go,” she said, walking quickly to her car.

Michael watched her for a moment and then, with a sigh, followed after her. *This is not going to be easy,* he admitted to himself. He still had feelings for Maria, hell his feelings had never changed, he had been interested in her since their trip down 285 South together and over time his feelings for her had only intensified. But he also knew these feelings could be a very dangerous thing- they could put all of them in danger, and he knew they would probably end up only causing Maria heartache in the end. No, it was better this way. *Yeah, but better for who?* he thought to himself as he climbed into the car next to her.

Maria forced herself not to look at Michael as he climbed into the car next to her. *Please just let me get through this,* she prayed silently. She felt like pulling the vial of cypress oil out of her pocket and taking a deep, soothing sniff of it, but she restrained herself. She was not going to let Michael see how much of an effect he still had on her. He needed to be apart from her, he needed to be a “stone wall,” then fine, she would give him room. She would stay away from him and make herself forget about him. About the way his lips felt beneath hers, the way she felt so safe and protected in his strong arms, the way- No! She shook her head to dispel these thoughts and turned the key in the ignition. She could see Michael staring at her out of the corner of her eye, but she ignored him. *Yes, that’s it. Ignore him,* her inner voice commanded. Easier said than done when he was sitting so close to her. Maria bit back a groan of frustration. This was not going to be easy.