Of course a few others had caught, and were suffering from, a bad case of flu but Maria always seemed to catch illnesses quicker than anybody else in Roswell.Her best friend Liz Parker was still well, she always managed to keep healthy even when everyone else were as sick as parrots.

There was a soft knock at the bedroom door.

“Come in,” she said, her nose blocked so much that she only just, sounded from this planet.

Liz gently opened the door and crept in.

“I come bearing gifts,” she said smiling as she shut the door quietly behind her. Liz held up a bag of grapes and sat on the edge of her bed.

“Grapes? Gee thanks couldn’t you .….”

“Grapes are good for you, but I also brought you a milkshake from downstairs.”

The Parker’s owned a café called ‘The Crashdown.’ Maria and Liz worked there serving tables on weekends and sometimes after school.

“That’s more like it!” She graciously accepted the milkshake. “I feel kind of bad about all this.”

“Maria, you’re my best friend and my parent’s love you! Honestly it’s fine with them.”

Maria lived with her mother, Amy. Her dad walked out on them when she was very little so she never really knew him. Amy recently got a job in the city leaving Maria on her own most nights. Liz had insisted that while she was ill she could come and stay with her, an idea that Maria wasn’t fond of.

“So how’s the headache? If you feel better maybe you could come downstairs. Max and Michael are there.”

Max, Michael and Isabel were three, newly discovered by her and Maria, aliens .At present they only knew of them three but they were all trying hard to discover more of their kind.

“I don’t think so. Although anything will be better than sitting through another episode of ‘The View.’”

Liz smiled. “Come down if you want, I’ve just come up to change into my uniform, we’re short staffed, as usual.”

“Alright. I’ll put on some clothes.”

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

Michael and Max were sitting at a table at the ‘Crashdown.’

“What is up with you?” Max asked his friend. “You’re pretty quiet.”

Michael shook his head. “I think I’m getting the flu.”

Max smiled. “Flu? Can we even get flu?”

“I’m not sure but…”

“Hey guys,” Liz chirped. She was dressed in her uniform; Maria was at her side, looking down at the floor.

She was wearing a pair of Liz’s old baggy jogging bottoms, and a baggy black jumper; this was far from what she would normally wear. Her short hair was scooped up in a high messy ponytail and her face, as white as sheet.

Maria sat down on a chair opposite Michael, who was seated next to Max.

“What?” Maria snapped at him.

“Nothing but nobody invited you to sit there,” Michael snapped back.

“Leave it Michael.” He turned to Maria. “Ignore him, ” Max smiled at her.

“Don’t worry, I will.”

“I’m off, I’m around if you need me, Maria.” Liz said as she walked away.

Maria rested her head on the table.

“If you’re that sick then why don’t you just go home?”

Maria didn’t move. “Because, Michael I’d rather be here. My house isn’t fit for human life.” She paused for a second. “Hey maybe you should move in.”

“She’s staying at Liz’s for a while.” Max said to Michael before he could pick up on her insult. “You’re mom’s gone away, right?”

“Right,” Maria answered, her head still on the table. “Liz reckons I need a babysitter.”

“Maybe you do,” Michael said with a grin.

“Do you want any food?” Max interrupted.

“Nope, I’m going home.” She held up her keys and lifted her head to look at him. “ I heard Mr Parker talking to Liz and it sounded like I’ve outstayed my welcome so, as much as I hate it, I’m going to have to go back to the hell I call home,” She stood up slowly.

“Don’t be stupid, you can’t even lift up you’re head, how are you going to drive?”

“I’ll manage thank you very much.” She stood up. “Tell Liz that I was feeling better and that I’ll pick up my things tomorrow when I’m back at work.”

Michael sighed. “I’ll drive you home.”

“And what makes you think I want you to?” She said nastily.

Michael stood up and walked over to her so they were opposite each other. “Give me the keys,” He said looking down at her.

“Excuse me but…” She stopped as she felt a wave of sickness. “Fine.” She handed him the keys.

“See you later Maxwell.”

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

Michael sat in the driver’s seat of Maria’s car. He drove at a steady speed and kept his eyes firmly on the road. Maria was lay across the back seat, her eyes closed.

“So your mom isn’t at home?”

“Nope,” she said without opening her eyes.

“Are you alright on your own?” He said casually as he looked at her in his mirror.

“I’m used to it thank-you.”

Michael slowed the car down as he approached her house.

Maria slowly sat up. “Thanks.”

“Anytime.” He got out of the car, as did she.

“Wait, how are you going to get back home?”

Michael thought. “Can I use your phone to call Max?”

“Um...well I …”

“I drove you over here, didn’t I? The least you could do is let me use you’re phone.”

Maria looked embarrassed. “Before my mum left she forgot to pay the bill. We’re cut off, along with electric…”

“I’m sorry I …”

“Doesn’t matter, although you didn’t help financially when you tossed my cell phone out the window, my mum wasn’t to pleased with me.”

“Sorry.”

“Forgiven. Why don’t you take my car and we’ll sort it out in the morning?”

“Okay. So I’ll pick you up for school tomorrow, right?”

She nodded.

“Bye.”

“See you tomorrow.”

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

Maria lit a candle. She was cold and without heating, hungry and without food and trapped without a car.

There was a knock at the door.

Uh-oh, all the horror movies she’d ever watched flashed before her eyes.

She answered the door. It was Sheriff Valenti.

“Hi, sheriff, what can I do for you?”

“Is Amy home?”

“No, she’s not can I take a message?”

“No,” he looked closely at her. “Are you okay?”

She nodded, maybe a little too eagerly.

He looked around, checking no one was within earshot, and then he lowered his voice, so that it was barely audible. “Maria I need to talk to you about Max Evans.”

“Max?” She squeaked.

“Yes. I want you to know I’m onto him. I want you to decide who’s side you are on, you’re mother thinks….”

“My mother thinks?” Mara repeated. “What’s she got to do with this?”

“She doesn’t want you hanging around the Evans’ especially when…”

“When what?”

“Let’s just say all will be revealed tomorrow at school.”

He turned to leave. “Goodnight.”

She shut the door after him. Tomorrow? At school?

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

Liz Parker looked around her room. “I think that’s everything,” she murmured to herself. She was picking up the rest of Maria’s clothes, so she could give them her at school.

“Talking to your-self is the first sign of madness, honey,” Mr Parker said as he appeared in her open doorway.

Liz turned around and glared at her father.

“What was that for?”

“Did you tell Maria that she had to leave?”

“I most certainly did not.”

Liz stopped what she was doing and sat on her bed. “Well she left yesterday and she told Max that she felt she wasn’t welcome.”

“Nonsense Liz, we love Maria, she’s always welcome.”

“So I can ask her to come back?”

Mr Parker walked into the room and sat down next to his daughter.

“Sure, if you want.” He kissed her lightly on the top of her head. “Now hurry up if you want a ride to school.”

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

Maria jumped at the sound of her car horn. Grabbing her bag she ran out of her house, shutting the door behind her.

She ran to the car and jumped inside.

“You look… okay this morning,”Michael said.

“If that was meant as a compliment thank-you, if not..” she paused to get her seat belt on. “Oh it doesn’t matter. Michael something’s wrong, today at school, Valenti came around and said…”

“Okay will you rewind a bit? And slow down.”

“I can’t there isn’t time!”

“Well you’re going to have to make time.”

“Fine. Valenti came to my house last night looking for my mom, he told me not to hang around with Max and that all will be revealed today.”

“And?”

“And, the way he said ‘revealed’. He meant Max would be revealed, as in his identity.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m always sure! I looked in my diary. Today’s the day of the flu jabs, I think…”

“I get it,” Michael said as he started the engine. “Get out of the car.” ”What? This is my car! You can’t keep taking it like you own it!”

Michael turned to her. “I need to get Max and Isabel. If Valenti’s using this ‘flu jab’ as some kind of experiment we….”

“Michael don’t you think it will cause suspicion if the three people he suspects as being aliens don’t turn up for school because of a jab?”

“That injection probably isn’t a flu jab, it might be something else okay? Something … I don’t know but I’m not taking it and you shouldn’t either.”

“Whatever, but you better know what you’re doing,” she got out of the car and slammed the door.

“Don’t go to school until we find out what it is,” he said to her through the open window. “Chances are it will only be harmful for us but...”

“Michael they can’t infect half the school with a virus just so they can tell if any of us aren’t human, there are laws you know!”

Michael ignored her and started driving.

“Michael!” She yelled angrily after the car. “Damnit!” She said to herself. “That’s just great!”

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

Isabel Evans looked at her reflection in the mirror.

“Max!” she shouted for her brother.

Max wandered in to Isabel’s room. “Yes?”

“Can we get the flu?”

Max laughed. “I’m not sure, I don’t think so.”

“So we don’t need the flu jab today?”

Max smiled and shook his head no.

“How are we going to get out of it?”

“I don’t…” He was interrupted by a car horn.

Isabel looked out the window. “Okay it’s Maria’s car with Michael in it. Do they both own it or what? Michael is always in it!”

“I don’t know but I think he’s giving us a lift, come on.”

Once Max and Isabel were in the car Michael explained the situation. He explained about how he thought that the ‘flu jabs’ were made up by the sheriff.

“Okay Michael if that is right why would the sheriff warn Maria? And what exactly can he find out in an injection? He can’t take anything out of us!”

Isabel shook her head. “He could put something into us.”

“No,” Max said. “ I say we go to school. The sheriff probably told Maria a bunch of lies because he knew she would warn us, he wants us away from the school.”

“We’re not going and that’s it.”

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

Liz walked around Roswell high school, looking for her friends. It was already the beginning of second period and she hadn’t seen Maria all morning. Max and Isabel didn’t turn up for their English class, period one, and as for Michael, well he hardly ever came to school anyway.

“Are you lost Miss Parker?”

Liz spun around. “Sheriff Valenti, hi, no I’m not lost I’m on my way to History.”

“ It’s 10.00, don’t forget the flu jabs start at 10.30, you’re Parker so you’ll have longer to wait in the queue I’m afraid,” he paused to put on his hat. “Wouldn’t want you getting sick would we?”

“No,” she said as he turned and walked away. She took her cell phone out of her bag and started to dial Maria’s home phone, and when it wouldn’t connect she tried Isabel’s cell phone number; it rang.

“Isabel?” Liz asked at the sound of her voice. “It’s Liz, is everything okay?”

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

As instructed by Isabel, Liz crept into the nurses’ room. Looking around, and finding it empty, she sneaked into the walk in medicine cupboard and sat down, making her- self comfortable as she was going to be in there for quite a while.

Liz peeped through the shutters so she could see clearly into the nurses’ room. She wasn’t sure what was going on, all she knew is what Isabel had explained and that she had to wait in there until she found out if the ‘flu jabs’ were really flu jabs and if they were safe.

She tensed up as the door opened and the slightly overweight, middle-aged nurse came through the door carrying a folder under her arm. Walking closely behind her was Sheriff Valenti followed by Andrew Akins.

Andrew Akins, a boy in Liz’s year, had an extreme phobia of needles. He was first in the register which meant he always had to experience everything first. Liz watched as the nurse gave Andrew an injection, which looked, to her, like any normal injection and then he was on his way, quick, painful and as far as she could tell it was a flu jab.

Liz sighed. She was stuck now. Stuck in the medicine cupboard watching the nurse give flu jabs. I suppose I should be thankful it’s not anything dangerous, Liz thought to herself. She closed her eyes and tried to think of something interesting to pass the time.

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

Maria was almost there. She looked at her watch. 11.30 it read.

“Well I’ve only missed two lessons, that’s not bad,” she said to herself. She wasn’t about to let Michael tell her what she could and could not do, so she had decided that car, or no car she would get to school.

She walked through the school gate and then started to jog, not wanting to be any later than she had to, she was already behind after just three days off.

Once she was inside the school she was surprised to see that a long line of people were taking up most of the corridor.

“Excuse me,” she said as she tried to make her way through the bodies. Mrs Topolski stopped her abruptly.

“Miss De luca, are we trying to skip the queue?” She said smiling.

“Actually, no I’m not having the jab.” Although she didn’t want to admit that Michael might be right she wasn’t totally convinced that she should have it done until she knew it was real.

“Oh yes you are.”

Maria wasn’t sure if she was serious or not. “Infact I was looking for you. Vicki Delaney has just gone in, it looks like you’re next.”

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

“It’s been over an hour since I spoke to Liz, I think we should do something,” Isabel insisted from her seat in the back of Maria’s car.

“There’s nothing to do!” Michael yelled.

“Liz is taking care of it,” Max said to his sister.

Michael rolled his eyes at Isabel through the rear view mirror. “Oh thank god for saint Liz,” he muttered.

“Hey, she’s doing us a favour.”

“Well I’ve had enough of her favours thanks, it’s getting boring watching you two ‘love birds’…”

“Michael?” Isabel interrupted. “How’s Maria?”

Max smiled as Michael’s cheeks reddened.

He cleared his throat. “How should I know?”

Isabel smiled to herself. “I heard she likes you.”

“She might, I don’t care, anyway back to…”

“Michael how did you get hold of her car?” Max asked.

“Does it matter? Come on guys we have more important things to discuss.”

“Like?”

“Like what we’re going to do next.”

“And what are we going to do next?”

“We go back to school and find Liz.”

There was silence in the car.

“Agreed?” Max asked.

“Agreed,” Isabel said.

“Agreed,” Michael said reluctantly. “First I’ve got to check on...” he stopped to re phrase his words. “First I’ve got to go to Maria’s.”

“Whatever.”

“To see if it’s alright to keep the car for a bit longer,” he insisted to his friends.

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

Liz was bored. She’d sat in the medicine cupboard for over an hour watching each person in turn but still nothing out of the ordinary. She had decided to revise for her geography test in her head in the hope of relieving the boredom, no such luck. She shut her eyes, but quickly opened them again at the sound of a familiar voice; it was Maria.

“Morning Maria,” the nurse said as Maria walked through the door.

“Hi.”

“I’m here to supervise,” Sheriff said with a grin.

Maria sat on the chair, facing the nurse.

In the medicine cupboard Liz watched intensively. She knew Maria wasn’t that calm when it came to injections. She was sitting helplessly, looking at her friend when there was a loud knock on the door.

“Excuse me one moment Andrea,” Miss Topolski said as she too entered the room, carefully closing the door behind her.

“Of course, what’s the problem?”

“I’m sorry to do this.” Topolski moved closer to the nurse.

“Do what?”

The nurse got her answer when, with one swift movement Miss Topolski plunged a needle into her arm.

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

Michael knocked on the door of Maria’s house for the third time.

“Okay, Sherlock, where is she?” Isabel cried sarcastically.

“She’s here. She’s probably just doing whatever it is that you ladies do in the bathroom that takes so long.”

Isabel shook her head and let out an annoyed sigh.

Max pushed passed the pair and gently hovered his hand over the lock. When he heard it click he took away his hand and pushed open the door.

“There’s only one way to find out.”

The three Aliens walked slowly into the hallway of Maria’s house.

“It’s smaller than I imagined,” Isabel said. “And messier too.”

Michael scowled at her. “Why don’t you wait in the car Isabel, Max and I will take a look around?”

Isabel obediently accepted and walked quickly out to the car.

“I don’t understand, she has no car.”

“Maybe she got a lift?”

“Damn it!” He shook his head. “What is her problem? I tell her to do one thing, just one thing, and what does she do? The opposite!”

“We don’t need Maria anyway, everything’s sorted.”

“Yeah, well I’m taking your absence as a sign I can keep the car,” he said as if she were standing in front of him.

“Come on, let’s go get Liz,” Max stepped out of her house and jogged lightly to the car. Michael followed

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

In the cupboard Liz’s heart was pounding so hard that she was convinced everyone could hear it. She nervously started chewing her lip and wished this wasn’t happening. Think Liz, what can you do? She quietly got her cell phone from her bag and dialled Isabel’s number, praying she would answer.

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

Maria stared at the nurse; she was out cold.

A frightened yelp escaped her lips as she watched Miss Topolski drag the unconscious nurse over to the side of the office. She stared in disbelief at the limp body across the room.

Maria shut her eyes and started taking deep breaths.

“That did not just happen,” she said aloud.

“It’s nothing harmful, just a little something to keep her out of the way.” Miss Topolski explained to the sheriff. He nodded.

Maria opened her eyes and took a quick glance at the door.

“It’s locked, Maria.”

Maria sighed. “What are you going to do?” She asked, trying to keep her voice steady. “I’m guessing this is about something other than a flu injection.”

“We aren’t going to hurt you,” said Miss Topolski. “We just want to trade information, that’s all.”

Maria looked around the room and sighed. “You almost sound like a guidance councillor.”

She smiled. “Maria, are you going to co operate?”

“You can’t keep me here against my will, there is a huge line of people outside..”

The sheriff shook his head. “Not anymore there isn’t.”

“ So. Are you going to co operate?”

“I don’t have any information,” she lied.

“ Why don’t I believe you?

“Look I have nothing to tell. I’m just a regular girl who thought that today was about a flu jab, I don’t know what you are talking about.”

Miss Topolski glanced across to the sheriff who was closing the blinds.

“We need to do this quickly before Angela wakes up.”

“Do what quickly?” Maria said nervously.

Miss Topolski ignored her, walked over to the door. After she took out the key she put it in her pocket. She muttered something to herself and began preparing a needle.

Maria got to her feet. “What are you guys doing? I want to go now okay?”

“Sit down Maria it will only take a minute.”

“I don’t think you are listening, I want to go…”

Miss Topolski walked over to her and nodded to the sheriff, who seemed to take this as some kind of signal. He grabbed her arm, trying to keep it still.

“Hey get off! What are you doing?” She said as she struggled. She felt a tiny scratch as the needle touched her skin and after a few seconds she too was unconscious.

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

“Hello?” Isabel said down the receiver. “Hello?”

On the other end of the line Liz held the phone up in the air, carefully covering the earpiece so Isabel could not be heard. With any luck Isabel would be able to hear exactly what was going on in the nurses office, without her saying anything.

“I can hear Miss Topolski in the background!” Isabel whispered.

“It must be Liz,” Max said.

“You think?” Michael said sarcastically. “What is she saying?”

“She said I’m not going to hurt you I just want to trade…”

“Hurt who?” Michael snapped. “Trade what?”

“I don’t know!” Isabel hissed. “Wait… I think I just heard Maria.”

Michael slammed on the brakes and the car came to a holt. He snatched the phone off Isabel and listened. After a few seconds he hung up and restarted the car, driving 50 in a 20 mile an hour zone.

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

“Now what do we do?” Sheriff Valenti asked.

“We wait.”

“For what?”

“For her to wake up. It should only be a few moments.”

The sheriff smiled to himself.

“What?” Miss Topolski asked.

“In all my life I’ve never got this close before. Never so close to discovering aliens, proving everyone wrong.”

“Well this is going to work. It’s not hard core proof but it’s a step in the right direction.”

In the chair Maria stirred.

“She’ll wake soon.”

“ This isn’t going to do any permanent damage is it?”

“I’ve injected just the right amount, it won’t harm her and she probably won’t remember anything she’s told us, all we need to do is ask the right questions.”

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

“Michael! You can’t just march in there!”

“Isabel’s right, we need a plan,” Max said.

Max and Isabel were jogging lightly after Michael.

“Michael, will you slow down!”

Michael carried on walking towards the school.

Max caught up with him and grabbed his arm, stopping him from walking any further.

“Think about this. Think about what you’re going to do! If we walk in there it’s going to make us look…”

“To hell with that! If we don’t go in there now…”

“I agree with you,” Isabel cried. “But we’re only going to get ourselves in more danger of being found out! We need a plan.”

Michael sighed. “What do you suggest?”

“Topolski and Valenti are in there with Maria, right?”

“Right.”

“For all we know Maria could be out by now, but we need to get Valenti and Topolski out of there, if we want to find out.”

“How exactly?” Max asked.

“What’s more important to the sheriff than anything?”

“I don’t know...” Michael said. “His job?”

“Guess again.”

Max looked up at Isabel. “Kyle,” he said slowly.

“Exactly.”

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

“Why hasn’t she woken up yet?”

“Be patient.” Miss Topolski said as she walked over and sat in the chair next to Maria.

“Surely she should be awake by now, it’s been ten minutes..”

“Alright!” Miss Topolski yelled. “I may have given her a higher dosage than I originally planned but….”

“A higher dosage?”

“It’s sodium pedothol it only works on some people, I thought if I gave her a higher dosage it would work better....”

“But instead all it has done is left us with a girl so drugged up she can’t even open her eyes! How are we going to fix this?”

“I think..”

She was interrupted by a loud beep. The sheriff looked down at his belt, where the noise was coming from.

“A pager, how cute,” Miss Topolski sighed. “Who is it?”

“It’s the hospital, Kyle’s been in some sort of accident.” He got up to leave.

“You’re leaving? You can’t!”

“My son has been in an accident, this is serious!”

“And so is leaving me here with two unconscious bodies! I need for you to stay here while I go to the lab and get some more supplies, I might be able to put this right!”

“I have to go...”

“We are on the brink of a major discovery sheriff! This is what you have been working towards your entire life. Are you really going to throw all that hard work away over a football injury?”

He put on his hat and walked towards the door.

“The key please Miss Topolski?”

She grudgingly gave him the key and he left, leaving her alone.

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

“That was easier than I imagined,” Isabel said with a proud smile. “The sheriff is out the way, for a while anyway so all we’ve got to do now is get Topolski out and we’re done.”

Michael rubbed his eyes. “That’s all well and good Isabel but how are we going to get her out?”

Max, Michael and Isabel were all gathered around in the old chemistry lab in the school that was never used. From their positions they could see the nurses office, from which the sheriff had just walked out.

“This is taking too long…”

“Wait! Topolski’s left the room!”

Michael sprang to his feet.

“Stop for a minute!” Max cried. “Isabel go and watch where she goes, the moment she starts to head back to the room…”

“I know, I will.”

Michael and Max left the room and ran across the corridor to the Nurses office.

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

As soon as Liz heard Miss Topolski leave, she was out of the cupboard like a shot. She ran over to the chair that Maria was in and frantically started shaking her in the hope of a response Thankfully Michael and Max came shortly after. As soon as she saw him Liz ran to Max and hugged him tight.

“It’s all right, come on,” he said soothingly.

Michael froze when he saw Maria lying in the chair. He looked at Liz.

“What the matter with her?”

“An injection,” she said quickly to Max. “Topolski gave her some type of injection. I think she said sodium pedothol…”

“Okay,” Max said, taking charge. “Liz I want you to go out into the parking lot and bring the car around to the back of the school we’ll meet you there, okay?”

Liz nodded. “Okay.”

“Michael? Give Liz the keys.”

Michael did not seem to hear him; he was staring at Maria.

“Michael?” Max repeated.

Michael snapped out of his thoughts and looked at Max.

“Michael, she’ll be okay, as long as we get out fast. Get your-self together okay?”

Michael handed Liz the keys and she moved quickly out of the office.

“I told her not to come but would she listen? No…” He was interrupted by Isabel’s presence in the room.

“She’s coming,” she said breathlessly.

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

Liz sat impatiently in the car at the back of the school, just as Max had told her to. She still had the engine on so she was ready to go at the first sign of her friends.

Liz felt scared for her friend, but mostly she felt guilty that she had sat watching it all happen and was unable to help.

She looked out of the window and saw Isabel running towards the car.

Isabel opened the car door and got in the front. “This is a nightmare,” She said shaking her head.

“Where’s the others,” Liz asked in a worried tone.

Isabel glanced out of the window. “Here they are.”

Max, closely followed by Michael with Maria were heading towards the car.

As soon as they were inside Liz slammed her foot on the accelerator and zoomed off as fast as she could.

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

The four of them were travelling in silence. Liz looked at Isabel next to her, her eyes were closed; but she wasn’t asleep. Max was staring out of the window and seemed deep in thought, and Michael, who was in the middle, seemed to be comforting Maria, who was now semi conscious. She couldn’t quite sit up so she had her head rested on Michael chest, her eyes shut. His arm was around her and every minute or so he checked to see if she was still asleep.

“It was sodium pedothol,” Liz said breaking the silence. “It’s truth serum. They were going to make her confess about who you guys are.”

“And did she?” Isabel said opening her eyes.

“Miss Topolski said she gave her a higher dosage to make it stronger but it was too powerful and she didn’t wake up…”

“So what happens when she wakes up?” Michael asked.

Max grinned.

“If it worked then she won’t be able to lie…”

“I meant, is she going to be alright?”

Liz nodded. She looked at Michael through her mirror. Maria and Michael had had a bit of a relationship, but Michael had called it off, claiming it was getting too intense. She never thought it was anything more than physical attraction; maybe she was wrong.

“Is this it?” Liz asked Michael.

He nodded. He had told Liz to drive to his house as his step dad was probably out.

Liz slowed down the car and stopped outside his house.

A little grumble escaped Maria’s lips and everyone turned to look at her.

She opened her eyes and slowly sat up. “What the hell just happened?”

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

Michael sat on his front doorstep. He picked up a stone and threw it angrily out into the open road.

“Are you okay?” Max asked as he came out of Michael’s front door.

He didn’t answer.

Max sat down next to him on the step. “I know how you feel...”

“How can you possibly know how I feel?”

“You want to be with her, but you know she’ll end up hurt. You try and stop your-self thinking about her because it only make it worse…”

Michael turned to his friend. “I hate it.”

“I hate it too, but it’s who we are. You’ve got to learn to live with it.”

“Today when I saw her in that chair, I realized just how much …” he paused. “But I know I’ll end up hurting her, whatever I do.”

Max sighed. “I think she wants to see you.”

Michael ignored what he said. “How can you be around Liz all day and it not hurt?”

“It does hurt,” he said quietly.

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

Michael opened the door to his room; Maria was standing next to the window. She turned around.

“What took you so long?” She said to him.

He walked further into the room, shutting the door behind himself.

“I was talking to Max.”

She looked around. “So, where is everybody?”

“Outside, waiting in the car.”

She walked over to him. “Thanks for bringing me back here.”

“I didn’t, Liz drove. I think she’s waiting to drive you back so you better hurry,” he said sharply.

“Why are you being like this? Liz told me you were worried about me, that you…”

“We all were. I think you better go now.”

She looked at him; he saw the hurt in her eyes.

“I thought you liked me…”

“Well you thought wrong,” he said. Although he didn’t mean it he thought it would be the best thing to say.

She pushed passed him to try and get out of the door but he pulled her back.

“I’m sorry,” he said.

She pulled away from him.

“So am I.”

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

Maria sat alone in her room. The day had been so long, the injection, her fight with Michael. She couldn’t figure him out.

At least the truth serum hadn’t worked. If it had she didn’t know what she would have said.

Liz had tried to convince her to stay at her house but she explained to her that she’d feel a lot better in her own house, on her own.

There was a soft knock at the door but she ignored it.

She got up to make herself a drink but jumped slightly when she saw Michael standing in the doorway.

“Generally, if people knock and there is no answer, that’s a sign for you to leave.”

He sighed and looked down at the floor. “I do like you.”

“What?”

“You asked if I liked you,” he looked up at her. “ And I do.”

“Sound’s like you’ve been on the truth serum.”

He smiled at her remark.

“And Liz was right, I was worried about you, more than I ever thought I could be.”

Maria moved closer to him. “And you’re telling me this because?”

“Because I want you to know.”

She looked at him for a second and then moved forwards to kiss him, but he moved away from her.

“We still can’t be together.”

She shook her head in confusion and anger.

“Michael, if you don’t want to be with me why come over and tell me you like me?!”

“Because I want you to understand that I do want to be with you, but I can’t…”

“Michael you can’t keep doing this to me!” She yelled angrily. “You’re confusing me. Can’t you just stay away!”

“I don’t want to hurt you…”

“Well you just have,” She looked straight into his hazel eyes. “I guess we can’t always get what we want, huh?” She had tears in her eyes as she said it.

“No we can’t, but it doesn’t stop us wanting them, does it?” He turned to leave.

For once Maria understood what he meant. She shouted his name for him to come back, but he didn’t.