Blue you sit so pretty west of the one Sparkle light with yellow icing just a mirror for the sun Just a mirror for the sun Just a mirror for the sun

- Red hot chili peppers -

*****

Maria stood by herself on the school's parking lot, feeling rather alone. Neither Liz nor Alex had arrived yet and she couldn't see anyone she might be able to talk to. All three of the busses had arrived and she was starting to get worried that her friends wouldn't show. "Jerks", she muttered to herself. It was them who had talked her into going on this stupid road trip in the first place. Alex and his band had been asked to play two of the nights, and seeing as she pretty much was their official singer, he had begged her to come along. And then Liz had said that she wanted her to go, so that the two of them could get some quality time on the long bus ride. She thought they'd been hanging out too little lately.

Right now Maria couldn't possibly feel less enthusiastic about this trip. When the school first had announced it she was determined not to go. A five-day trip through the desert with the whole grade, with lots of bonding and meeting-new-friends opportunities just sounded a bit too cheesy for her. But then Liz and Alex just wouldn't get off her back about it, so she had agreed to go, although she felt like warning them about the terrible trap they were falling into. She herself would be able to keep her cool through the trip, with a bit of spiritual help from her oils, but she feared that her friends might return all perky and Pleasantville-y. "Oh well," she thought. "I'll just have to keep an eye on them and fish them out when they're getting in too deep.".

Maria suddenly spotted Max and Isabel on the other side of the parking lot. And she suddenly felt very irritated. This was probably the reason Liz had wanted to go on the trip. Maria had just assumed that their alien acquaintances wouldn't be going, at least not Isabel, being the icy, sophisticated girl she was. But now she clearly saw that they were planning on participating, and she knew that Max and Liz were up to something.

*****

Michael rummaged through his drawers, pulling out anything that didn't look too unwashed. He stuffed the clothing he had chosen into an old tattered bag, before rushing into the bathroom to fetch his toothbrush and toothpaste. He was late. Not that he usually was on time, but right now he was devastatingly late, verging on missing-out-on-all-the-fun-late.

He was really looking forward to this trip. Unlike Max, he only saw this as a fantastic way of not having to go to school. His alien companion, on the other hand, saw this as a dangerously intimate five days with Liz. Michael knew it scared Max to be going on a trip with Liz. All that sexual tension that they'd been experiencing, it was enough to set fire to the fuel tank. But Michael had managed to convince Max to go with him, and then Max somehow had managed to convince Isabel, who at first wasn't at all pleased with the idea of driving around in the desert, but then miraculously had changed her mind (Michael had noticed that the sudden change of heart came when Isabel saw the trip schedule and found Alex's band on the list of entertaining events).

There was, of course, one downside to it all. And her name was Maria. For some reason the blonde had been avoiding him lately, and at the few times he'd met her, she'd been like a vicious machine gun, throwing out evil remarks about everything. Michael could not understand this. He'd thought they'd gotten along so well that morning when she'd come by his place and apologized, and he had told her about how he really *had* seen those red sneakers of hers. The way he saw it, it was one of their finest moments, with serious bonding. But ever since that morning she'd acted like he was the last being on earth that she wanted to talk to.

Oh well, Michael thought to himself as he threw the bag over his shoulder and exited the apartment. He would just have to keep out of her way.

*****

Maria started making her way down the aisle of the bus. It was the Law of the Jungle inside the vehicle, everyone was pushing and shoving to get to their seats.

Liz and Alex had finally showed, but so late that she'd just about been ready to start making her way home again. Liz had apologized no less than fourteen times, and Maria had felt powerful when she was the one who for once got to play the forgiving part (although she had made sure to keep that hurt look in her eyes, she didn't want them to get off that easy).

Maria finally reached their seats and managed to get into a sitting position. She sighed. This was just too much, already. If these five days would all be as hectic and stressing as the first ten minutes, she would surely have gray hair when she returned. Liz reached the seats too and sat down next to her friend, panting.

"Honestly," she said. "A hundred Wunderbaums wouldn't be able to clear the air in here from the sweaty smell." Maria miled. "Yeah," she agreed. "And I think 50 percent of the odor is coming from Mrs. Carlton." Liz laughed. Alex seated himself behind them with a band mate, and Isabel placed herself all the way in the back with four of her friends. Maria sneaked a peek at her before turning back to Liz. "Now there's a chick who doesn't know the meaning of dressing down," she said. Liz nodded, but then suddenly became tense. A silly smile spread over her face as she stared down the aisle. Maria rolled her eyes as she saw the expression on her friend's face. It could only mean one thing: Max Evans was approaching.

Maria leaned forward and opened her knapsack, which she had placed on the floor. She rummaged through it before finding the magazine she'd been looking for. I might need this, she thought, if Liz is going to be yearning throughout the whole trip. When she straightened up she saw a hair so fluffy and upright that Vidal Sassoon's talent scouts (if they had any) would make sure the owner of the hairdo wouldn't have to live in anything but luxury for the rest of his life. In other words, the hair of Michael.

Maria almost gasped. She managed to control herself, though, and immediately went into a stage of extreme irritation. "What the hell is he doing here?", she hissed at Liz. "Uh, what?" Liz said absently, studying the back of Max's neck. "Never mind," Maria said. She crossed her arms, twisted her lips into a frown and sank lower into the seat. Her sulking act would've worked perfectly well if Michael hadn't had to turn around and greet her, ever so nicely.

"Hi," he said half-smiling, peeking at her between the seats. At first she just stared at him, her eyes narrowed, but then she decided to give in to the part of her brain that wanted to be somewhat civil towards all creatures, and she sat up straight. "Hi," she answered, staring distractedly out the window. She could almost feel him eyeing her as he said "I've heard you're not too overjoyed about all this." She looked at him. "No," she said, simply. Then she looked out the window again. He sighed and turned back, facing the front again.

Maria was a bit disappointed. Not that she'd thought he would keep chattering on, trying to make her talk back, but he could've at least been a bit more persistent. She went back to sulking.

*****

Michael woke up from his afternoon slumber, only to find Max sound asleep next to him. He sighed. This was one boring trip, at least so far. He had talked to Max for about ten minutes before he'd started to doze off, probably because of the pills Isabel had made him take earlier, so that he wouldn't get carsick. He checked his watch and found that he'd been asleep for three hours.

To avoid boring to death, Michael scanned the bus to see if there was anyone he could talk to. Just my luck, he thought, when he found that everybody else was sleeping. Then he suddenly heard whispering from the seat behind. He realized that Maria and Liz were very awake indeed.

This would be a perfect opportunity for him to talk to Maria and find out what was bothering her. It was an understatement to say that he had been annoyed when she had been so blunt with him earlier. He knew he didn't deserve it. He'd been bending over backwards trying to be nice to her and all he'd been getting was hostility.

He carefully climbed over Max and into the aisle. As he took a squeaky step on the floor he got a few angry "shhhhh"'s, but he ignored them. He leaned over Liz who was crouched up, facing Maria. Liz turned up to check who it was and smiled when she saw him. "Hi," she mouthed. Maria, on the other hand, simply looked away. Michael gave her a look before leaning in closer and whispering something in Liz's ear. Liz nodded, almost looking pleased. She rose from her seat. This caught Maria's attention. "Liz!" she hissed. "Liz, where are you going? You can't leave me here!". Liz just smiled apologetically at her before climbing into Michael's seat, next to Max.

Michael seated himself next to Maria. He could feel her push herself up as far as she could against the wall, trying to stay away from him. And he was even more annoyed. "Okay, now what's that all about?" he whispered. Maria looked at him, frowning. "What's what about?" she whispered back. "I'm just trying to get some sleep!". Michael took a deep breath before answering. "So lean on me," he said.

Maria was obviously taken aback. Michael was a bit, too. He didn't like the way he'd said it, it sounded so corny, like some bad Danielle Steele TV-movie. He sighed when he realized that she wasn't planning on leaning against his shoulder. Instead she curled up in a ball and leaned against the wall.

"Maria," he whispered to the shapeless lump next to him. It took a while before she answered, but when she did, she suddenly didn't sound so hostile anymore. "Yeah?" she whispered, almost inaudibly.

"Maria, I think we should talk." She straightened up, much to his relief. "About what?" she asked, but he could tell she knew very well. "About us. About the fact that you've been acting like I'm some useless. car washing sponge." She giggled at his choice of words, and he smiled, knowing that he'd managed to crack her up. But then she sighed and he grew worried that that had been the only thing close to a laughter he would hear from her in the future.

"It's not you, Michael," she said. "It's not you who's been useless. Not at all. You've been perfectly alright. I, on the other hand." Her voice trailed off. When he didn't say anything she continued. "I have this problem with opening up. All those things I said to you that morning, they were a bit too much. A bit too much for me to confess in one day. I guess I just grew worried that you'd, I don't know. Make fun of me or something." Michael just sat silent. He didn't really know what to respond to these kinds of things. Maria looked at him expectantly, waiting for him to speak. But for some reason his mind blocked and he couldn't come up with anything meaningful to say to her.