Her bedroom door was open, but Kyle knocked anyway, respecting her boundaries. "Hey, I just wanted to say thanks for making dinner- I was just kidding this afternoon when I said to make something."

Maria grabbed some of the random pieces of paper off of her desk and threw them in the trash. "I know you were. But I was making something for myself anyway, and I figured you would be hungry, so."

Kyle leaned against her doorframe, watching her clean. "It was really good. Where did you learn to do stir-fry like that?"

"Well, you eat tofu and alfalfa long enough you learn to make everything with a few extra spices."

He grinned at her joke. "So what are you up to tonight? Hot date with a random groupie?"

She paused to look up at him with a twinkle in her eye. "No. I just figured I'd relax tonight. You know get some rest. What about you? Hot date with a random cheerleader?"

Kyle smiled and shook his head. "I don't know where you got such a low opinion of me. I like girls who can form sentences- note that I dated your best friend."

Maria began to straighten out her closet as she spoke. "Yes, but after Liz you dated Vicky Delaney- walking, talking Barbie doll."

"The rebound girl is always a confidence builder," he stated matter of factly.

"Yeah, I guess so. She'd give 'confidence' to just about anyone who asked."

He pushed off the doorframe, ready to leave. "And so ends the nice polite conversation. Well, I'll do the dishes, and then I am just going to watch a movie. I want to get some rest- I am so sore from practice today, and it starts all over again tomorrow morning!"

"'Kay. I'm just going to clean and hang out in here. Have fun."

He walked away, and she attacked the dresser, pushing her clothes that were spilling out back into the proper drawers.

~~~~~

At 11pm, she had heard Kyle shout goodnight to her and head into his room. Cool, only one hour to go. She put in a CD and put on some sexier PJ's. She lit some scented candles and checked to make sure the window was unlocked. Having nothing left to do, she lay down on her bed, reading an old issue of Seventeen Magazine. She was reading the article on how to tell what kind of personality you have by the shape of your lipstick when she heard the window slide up.

Michael's head appeared, and she instantly sat up, placing the magazine on the floor next to her. "Hi. How was work?"

"Okay," he said as his feet touched her floor quietly. He began to kick off his shoes. "Some kids were really noisy and I got to kick them out, which was fun. Alex and Isabel came in to see some random horror movie."

"Oh, that's good I guess." There was an awkward pause for a brief second where they just looked at each other, drinking in the sight of one another. In the next instant, Michael was on the bed, crushing her lips with his, pressing her down to the bed with his body.

They were trying to be quiet, but Maria couldn't help but giggle every once in a while when Kyle snored especially loudly. Michael smiled. "How do you get any sleep with him next door?"

"I try to go to bed before he does usually. I sleep pretty heavily so I don't notice. And I wouldn't talk, mister- you snore sometimes, too."

"Do not!"

She playfully hit him with one of the small pillows she kept on her bed. "You know you do."

"No I don't!" He began to tickle her furiously, and she pushed at him to stop him. She didn't want to burst out laughing.

Eventually his tickles turned into caresses. As he kissed her collarbone, he said, "Maria, I have been waiting all day for this. Do you even know how worked up you got me this afternoon?"

She smirked, self-satisfied. "I can guess."

"Well, I think it's time we do something about that, don't you?"

"Oh yeah. Definitely time to do something." She leaned over to her right and blew out the candle, bathing the room in darkness.

~~~~~

Kyle was halfway down the street when he remembered that he hadn't put on his ankle brace. As if getting up to go run around the campus at 6 am wasn't bad enough; he was expected to be alert enough to remember things like ankle braces. Damn.

He spun the car around, heading back down the street. As he neared the house, he was surprised to see the light in Maria's room on. He hoped he hadn't woken her up when he left. Trying to be considerate, he pulled the car over and decided to walk the rest of the way.

As he stepped out of the car, he was shocked to see a head pop out of the window in question. Moving closer, and stepping behind a bush, he waited to see what was happening.

Michael Guerin? Climbing out of Maria's window at 6 am? This was not good. The kicker was when she leaned out the window and kissed him, hard, and he returned the kiss like he meant it. They were whispering something to each other, and then he placed another kiss on her forehead before waving and running toward the road that led back to town. Maria closed the window and seconds later he saw the light go out.