"Where?" Maria asked nearly dropping her lunch tray.

Tess nodded toward the right, "Over there."

Maria looked and saw the girl from the picture sitting down eating lunch with a cute guy. "Well what we waiting for? Let's go introduce ourselves."

"Now!" Tess looked a little nervous.

"Come on," Maria took her by the arm. "Don't forget to put on your happy human face." Tess smiled at the funny saying they made up when they were ten.

Maria asked as they arrived at their table, "Hi, can we join you?"

The guy sitting there said, "Actually we're kind of in the middle of something."

"You're the new girls right?" Isabel asked with interest.

Maria nodded, "I'm Maria and this is my sister Tess. Uh…we can go to another table if you guys want."

"No sit here," Isabel told them rearranging her tray so they could fit theirs.

Maria and Tess both sat down, "Thanks."

"I'm Isabel, and this is Alex," Isabel introduced.

"Hey," Alex said seeming slightly annoyed.

Tess spoke up feeling more relaxed, "It's nice to meet you both."

"So how do you like West Roswell High so far?" Isabel asked.

Maria looked at Tess, "It's pretty cool, better than our last high school, and the one before that and the one before that."

"Wow, you guys must be pretty used to this by now," Isabel commented.

Tess joined in, "Yeah, but everyone here has been so much nicer. Especially the guys, but I think they want to know if we want to jump their bones. And the girls just want to know if we want to jump their boyfriend's bones. You must get that a lot."

Isabel playfully rolled her eyes, "Unfortunately, and it makes it harder to know who your real friends are. Oh my God, I do that too." Isabel watched Tess pour a pack of sugar on her yogurt.

"Really, I thought Maria and I were the only ones. I hate it when they don't use real sugar," Tess laughed.

"Nothing can never be too sweet," Maria added already liking the girl.

Isabel smiled, "Let me see your guys' schedules I wonder if we have any classes together."

Feeling completely left out Alex got up to leave, but Maria gently grabbed his sleeve, "No don't go, we're sorry for leaving you out."

"No it's okay I have to go…do something. I'll see you later Iz," Alex looked a little crestfallen as he walked away. Maria felt a little sad that they had come between Isabel and Alex. Maria would have analyzed her thoughts to death if Tess hadn't pulled her out of her reverie.

"You were getting that far away look in your eyes," Tess said. "My sister, when she gets lost in though she really gets lost."

"Sorry," Maria pushed a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "Tess is really good about bringing me back to reality."

Isabel confided, "Sometimes I wish I had a sister, but I'm glad I have a brother though."

"Really," Maria pretended she didn't know. "What's his name?"

Isabel told them, "His name is Max."

"Oh wow!" Tess exclaimed. "I always liked that name." Maria had to bite her lip to keep from laughing.

****************

"So it seems like you and Liz are getting closer," Michael headed for the Evanses refrigerator.

"Can we not talk about this right now," Max grabbed a bottle of juice from the fridge.

Michael jumped onto the counter and opened the juice, "Well it kind of involves me, don't you think?"

"Wait, hold on, I think I missed a step. How does my personal life with Liz affect you?" Max asked leaning against the fridge.

Michael reminded, "Well she did see stars."

"Did someone mention stars?" a girl Michael didn't recognize entered the kitchen along with another blonde girl.

Michael jumped off the counter, "Who are you?"

"They're my friends," Isabel said following them into the kitchen. "This is my brother Max, and our friend Michael."

"I'm Maria," Maria found herself saying even though she felt like she didn't remember how to speak. "And this is my sister Tess."

"How come we've never seen you guys before?" Michael demanded a little harsher than he intended.

Isabel gasped in embarrassment, "Gosh Michael can you be anymore rude!"

"It's okay," Maria told them with a smile breaking across her face.

Tess finished for her, "Yeah, we've dealt with worse. It's actually a little refreshing."

"Everyone has been incredibly nice I was beginning to think that they were pod people," Maria joked, but her and Tess were the only ones laughing.

"Pod people," Isabel gave a fake laugh. "That's funny." She handed both of them a bottle of juice. "Let's go back to my room shall we."

"Isabel," Max said in a tone that gave Maria chills.

Isabel smiled at them, "I'll meet you guys back in my room."

"Okay," they said as they went to Isabel's room.

Michael was the first to speak, "I don't trust them. They could be a plant just like Topolsky was."

"They aren't plants for the FBI, they're transfer students Michael," Isabel couldn't believe how paranoid he was being.

Max jumped in, "Isabel, I think Michael is right, you don't know anything about them."

"God Max! It's not like I'm going to fall in love with them, tell them our secret and therefore compromise our very existence," Isabel stormed out of the kitchen, and on her way back to her room she ran into Maria. "Maria! You scared me."

"Sorry, um…where's your bathroom?" Maria sweetly asked.

Isabel gave a little laugh, "Oh it's down the hall."

"Thanks," Maria said heading to the bathroom.

"I can't believe Isabel sometimes," Michael fumed as he and Max sat in the kitchen. "These are dangerous times, and we need to be careful with the people we meet."

"She hasn't done anything dangerous," Max reminded.

"Not yet anyway," Michael started walking out of the kitchen. "I'll be right back."

He headed down the hall to the bathroom and just when he was going to turn the knob, the door swung open. "Oh God! You startled me," Maria held her hand to her chest as she tried to catch her breath.

Michael felt his cheeks grow warm, "Sorry." He let Maria by. "Have we met before? I feel like I know you from somewhere."

Maria smiled, "I don't think so, this is my first time in Roswell."

"Oh," Michael said closing the door behind him.

Maria stood rooted in her spot, she could have sworn she saw disappointment in his face. Maria felt really guilty for lying to him, because all she wanted to do was tell him the truth. She probably had a lot of the answers to the questions he had been searching for his whole life.

****************

"Max is so completely gorgeous," Tess declared when they returned to the motel from Max and Isabel's.

"I like Isabel she's really cool," Maria said laying on her stomach with her legs in the air.

Tess agreed sitting cross-legged on her bed, "They all are, even Michael. I think buried under all that hostility is…"

"A lost little boy," Maria finished her sentence.

Tess nodded, "Yeah."

"It just seems weird though," Maria began resting her cheek against the comforter.

Tess asked, "What?"

"That they seem so human, and completely normal. I mean Max and Isabel were adopted into a wonderful family. Sorry to point this out, but Max has a human girlfriend, and Isabel is like the most envied girl in the whole school. They have their own happy little life," Maria babbled as usual.

"Except Michael," Tess reminded. "He doesn't have the most happy life."

Maria sulked a little, "At least he got to stay in one place."

Tess admitted not wanting to hurt Maria, "But I feel drawn to them as if we are connected."

"You are connected to them. I just wished I felt the same way. If Nasedo hadn't told us I probably would have thought they were average teenagers," Maria pointed out turning over onto her back and started staring at the ceiling.

"But no matter what we will need you Maria. I mean you have access to powers I only dream of having. Other than Nasedo you are the most advanced," Tess told her.

"It doesn't matter where we go, or who we are with it doesn't change the fact that we'll always be hunted by the Special Unit," Maria said feeling a little shaken up.

Tess grew angry and stood over Maria looking down at her face, "Stop it Ria! You're beginning to sound like Nasedo. He's making you scared and dependent on him."

"I just don't want to lose what little family I have," Maria spoke the truth.

"Once THEY find out the truth about their destinies they'll have to accept us," Tess tried convincing her.

Maria looked away, "I hope you're right Tessie. I hope you are right."

****************

Maria pulled her long blonde hair back so it wouldn't get wet when she sipped from the water fountain. After wiping the remaining water away from her lips she glanced at her watch and she had five minutes until her next class.

She was about to head there, but a dark-haired girl accidentally bumped in to her. "Sorry," the girl quickly said without stopping.

Maria called out to her, "That's okay!" She wasn't sure if the girl heard her or not, but that wasn't what interested her. The girl headed straight to Max Evans.

Maria pretended to look for something in her bag, but she was intrigued by the conversation between the two. She couldn't hear any of the conversation, but she could see their facial expressions pretty clearly. Maria recognized the girl from her biology class, and from the way Max was holding her she guessed the girl was Max's girlfriend.

From Maria's view the girl looked upset about something, and when she told Max he then looked upset. It could have been nothing, but Maria stuck around until they parted.

"Hey," Maria called to her as she passed by her again. "You're in my bio class right."

"Uh, yeah," Liz said looking a little pre-occupied. "I'm Liz Parker."

"Maria Harding," Maria said. "I don't really know that many people and so I want to get familiar with the other kids in my classes."

"Oh, isn't your sister also in that class?" Liz asked seeming a little jumpy.

Maria nodded, "Yeah, her name is Tess. Are you feeling okay?"

"Yeah, it's nothing," Liz said quickly.

"I also saw you talking with Max and…" Maria started.

"You know Max?" Liz interrupted snapping her full attention to the conversation.

Maria noticed her reaction, "I just met him yesterday when Isabel invited me and my sister over. I met his friend Michael too."

"Oh," Liz began to relax. "Isabel invited you over."

"I didn't really get a chance to talk to him, but he seemed real nice," Maria told her.

Liz smiled, "He's the greatest." The bell rang overhead.

"I better get to class, uh…I'll see you in bio," Maria said sweetly.

Liz's still had a sincere smile, "Okay." Maria began walking away. "Hey Maria."

Maria quickly spun around until she was facing in Liz's direction, "Yeah."

"Welcome to Roswell," Liz told her wanting her to feel welcomed.