“Hey Maria.” Alex Whitman suddenly placed himself in front of her, blocking her path.

Maria stopped short, with a feeling of frustration. As much as she loved Alex, he was like a brother, she didn’t really want to see him at the moment. Her and Liz hadn’t shared their secret with him yet, because they’d decided that the less people who knew, the better.

Maria felt kinda bad about it too. It wasn’t as if she didn’t want to tell Alex, it was just it was too big of a risk if he knew. He could be kind of protective on occasion, and Maria did not want a chaperone when she was with Michael. She giggled at the thought.

Alex stopped speaking mid-sentence at her little outburst and Maria realized she hadn’t heard a word he said. “Sorry Alex, what were you saying?” she asked, checking to see if Liz was still there. Yep.

Alex raised his eyebrows at her. “I was just asking if you were feeling alright. You look kinda pale is all.” He replied with concern.

Maria rolled her eyes at him. “Yes Mom, I feel perfectly fine.” She teased.

Alex glared at her then grinned. “I was just checking. You can never be too careful.”

Maria looked back over at Liz, then smiled apologetically at him. “Sorry Alex, I really gotta to talk to Liz…” She trailed the sentence off, waiting for what would come next.

Alex also headed towards Liz’s locker. “That’s cool. What about?” he asked.

Maria searched for a cover up story. “Um, you know, girl stuff. I’ve been getting these really bad cramps lately and I just want to see if….”

“See ya later Ria.” Alex made a hasty exit.

Maria couldn’t help but shake her head. Alex hated girl talk. He thought it was strange chicks talked about their problems so openly.

Maria finally was alone to talk to Liz. She walked over and leaned against a locker. “Hey Liz.” She said casually.

Liz looked up from her biology book with a smile on her face. “Hey Maria. What happened to Alex?”

“He suddenly had to leave.” Maria laughed. “I went all girly on him.”

Liz laughed as well. She knew all about Alex’s ways.

When she stopped she shot a glance at Maria. “So, uh, how’s Michael?” she asked in an amused voice.

Maria couldn’t stop the wide grin spreading across her face. “He’s doing great.” She replied. “How’s Max?”

Liz nodded. “Great.”

“Good.”

“Good.”

Liz shut her book. “Okay, now the details.”

Maria giggled. “He’s so annoying, you know?” She slowly led the way to their biology class. “But in a cute way. He’s always late, always has a quick comeback.” She paused. “But god, can he kiss!” She sighed at the memory.

Liz nodded understandingly. “I hear you, believe me.” She agreed. “Max’s kisses can leave me reeling for hours.”

They both laughed again. Maria thought for a second. “Maybe it’s, uh, like a, um, Czechoslovakian thing.”

Liz frowned. “Czechoslovakian?” she asked in confusion.

Maria looked around her and whispered, “Insert code name here.”

“Ohhh.” Now Liz understood.

“Maybe these Czechoslovakians are far more advanced in the language of love than the rest of the universe.” Maria continued with all seriousness. “Who knows what they can do.” She wriggled her eyebrows at Liz.

Liz giggled. “Wow, I never thought about that.” She said thoughtfully. “But it’s definitely a perspective we should look into.” She concluded.

Maria vigorously nodded her head. “Definitely.”

Meanwhile Michael couldn’t keep his mind off Maria. It wasn’t as if he concentrated on his classes anyway, and it was a good distraction.

The bell rang for first break, and he eagerly climbed out of his seat and headed for the door. He met Max in the hallway outside his biology classroom, and together they walked to the cafeteria.

“So Maxwell,” Michael questioned. “How’s it going with the Liz thing?”

Max looked at Michael curiously. “Good. It’s going good.” He replied. “How’s it going with Maria?"

Michael grinned. “Great. Couldn’t be better.” He said with a smile. “I show up late, she doesn’t care. I make blunt comments about certain things that would usually offend a girl, she doesn’t care.” He shrugged his broad shoulders. “We are totally comfortable with each other.”

Max couldn’t keep the surprised look off his face. He had never heard Michael talk that way about anyone before. It was definitely a first for him.

“Hey Max.” A perky voice interrupted his thoughts. Inside he cringed, knowing exactly who the voice belonged to. Forcing a half-smile on his face he turned around.

“Hi Tess.” He replied. “How’s it going?”

Tess smiled, revealing her perfectly white teeth. She liked to make it known to everyone that she liked Max, including Max himself, who did not appreciate it one bit. She was always following him, and always just happened to be where ever he was. It drove him crazy. She thought she was irresistible, yet so did most of the guys at New Roswell High.

But it was Max she wanted. He also knew that once she ‘got’ him, she would lose interest fast and then begin her next ‘project’. Max had been her project for at least 8 months. And he was sick of it, but he never said anything. Because he was never going to be hers.

Michael shook his head. He didn’t know why Max put up with Tess. She had a chirpy voice that sounded like fingernails on a chalkboard, yet Max would never just tell her to leave him alone. He was too soft.

“So what did you do for your weekend?” she chattered, slipping her arm through his as they walked along, like it was the most natural thing to do.

Max dis-entangled his arm from hers and took a slight step away. She continued telling them about her weekend, barely even noticing his action.

‘God, take a hint already.’ Max thought to himself. He could see Michael roll his eyes next to him as they walked. “Uh, that’s great Tess.” Max sighed. Tess gave him a sideways look.

“So tell me, what did you do again?” she asked

Max shrugged. “Michael and I just kinda hung out at home. Nothing special.” He answered, hoping she would take the hint that he didn’t want to talk to her.

She gave a tsk-tsk sound. “This weekend you should come over to my place.” She said, trying to be as subtle and coy as possible. “We could watch movies together or something.”

Michael thought he was going to gag. He knew the last thing on her mind would be movies if Max ever went there.

Looking for a way to escape, Max noticed the men’s toilets. Shooting a glance at Michael, he gave a curt nod in that direction.

Michael nodded, and started to veer off. “Sorry Tess,” Max said as Michael ‘dragged’ him away. “Nature calls.”

Tess nodded and waved. “Okay, Max, see you around!”

Max turned his back and gave a sigh of relief. “Wow, that girl can do some major damage.” He said with a laugh as he washed his face in the bathroom.

Michael shook his head again. “Why don’t you just tell her you don’t like her.” He exclaimed. “Just tell her you’re already seeing someone, which technically, you are.”

Max groaned. “Right. I’ll tell her all about my girlfriend Liz. I’m sure that will work.”

Michael slapped his friend on the back. “Well, you better think of something.” He replied as they walked out. “Or that girl is never going to leave you alone.”