He desperately wanted to talk to Isabella again. He decided to head down to the hotel restaurant to get something to eat-and hopefully see Isabella.

He walked down the hallway, hearing some noise from behind him. He turned around saw Maria and Tess, following him.

"Oh, imagine running into you here!" said Maria in a sickly sweet voice.

"Yeah, uh, sure," said Alex, wanting to get away from these girls as quickly as possible.

"Can we get your autograph?" asked Tess.

"Sure," said Alex, hoping that would get them to leave quicker. He took the pen Tess handed him and signed the little booklet insider her CD (The Whits: Hybrids Are Among Us).

As he was signing it he heard Maria say loudly, "Smile!" He saw a blinding flash of light.

Tess and Maria giggled and ran down the hall. "Damn flash cameras," Alex muttered, staggering blindly to the elevator. He got in and instead of pressing the button to take him to the first floor, he pressed the button to take him to the basement.

As the elevator came to a stop and the doors opened, he stepped out, still not able to see clearly. He walked until he hit a wall. 'Why is it so hot and dark in the lobby?' he wondered. He continued to walk around, holding his hands in front of him so he wouldn't run into any more walls. 'Where are other people?' he wondered, starting to get nervous.

As he was walking, his hand came to rest on something warm. He quickly pulled his hand back, knowing what he had touched.

"Oh my god! Alex?" he heard Isabella's beautiful voice yell. "What are you doing down here?"

"Isabella? Your sisters blinded me with a camera. I was trying to find my way down to the restaurant. Where am I?"

"In the hotel basement. So, you really can't see?"

"Not well. It's getting a little better."

"Ok. Good. Cause I was about to slap you. You kind of grabbed…my chest."

"Oh man. I'm so sorry! I really can't see! I was holding my hands out in front of me so I wouldn't run into something."

"It's all right. I've never been felt up by a star before." They both laughed uncomfortably.

"Well, my sight is coming back. I should head for the restaurant…"

"I could join you," said Isabella nervously. She really wanted to spend more time with him, but was afraid of looking too eager.

Alex smiled and nodded. "That'd be great! I need to hang out with some different people, the band is annoying sometimes."

They walked to the elevator and pressed the button to go up to the first floor. "So, why were you in the basement?" asked Alex.

"I was checking the furnace…it's been acting weird. The hotel keeps getting hotter and hotter."

Alex nodded, not sure what to say to the beautiful girl standing next to him.

As they were standing in nervous silence, the elevator made a loud screeching noise and jerked to a stop. The doors didn't open. Alex hit the button for the doors to open. Nothing happened.

"Why aren't the doors opening?" he squeaked in a high, frightened voice.

"I think it's stuck," said Isabella, opening the little door and picking up the emergency phone. "I'll call for help."

"Hurry," said Alex, sinking down to the floor. "I have this…uh, phobia."

"Phobia? Of what?"

"Getting stuck in an elevator."

"Oh," said Isabella, hoping Alex wouldn't start freaking out. "Just hang in there. I'll call to the front desk." She dialed, but got to answer. The answering machine wasn't even on. 'Great,' she thought. 'I bet Tess and Maria are supposed to be working the front desk…it figures that they aren't there.'

"We may have a teeny tiny itty bitty little problem," she said quietly to Alex.

"What?"

"I'm getting no answer from the front desk."

Alex closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Just great," he muttered. He continued to breathe deeply.

"Uh…maybe you should breath shallow," said Isabella. "There's probably not a lot of air in here."

"Oh god…" muttered Alex, getting more frightened. He covered his face with his hands and tried to get himself calmed down.

Isabella sat down next to Alex, wishing she knew how to calm him down. She tentatively reached over and placed her hand on his arm. He looked up at her and their eyes met.

They stared at each other, not knowing what to say. Both of them felt better, though.

Isabella broke eye contact, picking up the emergency phone again. She was visibly flustered, but tried to hide it by not facing Alex.

She dialed to the front desk again, and there was still no answer or answering machine message. She hung up and sat down again, stretching out her legs. "I think we're going to be in this elevator for a long time," she said.

"Oh goody," said Alex sarcastically. "But the good thing is that now we can get to know each other."

Isabella nodded. "Ok. But just so you know, this is really really weird for me. I've never been stuck in an elevator with a star before…"

"Yeah, I figured. So, you want to tell me what's up with your sisters?"

"Ugh, they are not my sisters. Not really…I'm the foster child."

"Really? That must be hard on you."

"Yeah. Amy found me in the back alley behind the hotel when I was three and took me in."

"That was kind of her."

Isabella laughed bitterly. "Not really. I've been a maid here my whole life. I have to pay for my room and do Maria and Tess's work. I hate it here. My friend Liz is the only thing that makes it bearable."

Alex nodded in understanding. "Sometimes I can't stand to be a part of the band. There's so much pressure…"

"But don't you like it most of the time? I'd love to be famous and get away from Roswell…"

"The traveling part of it is okay, but sometimes I feel like I just want to settle somewhere for good. And fame is exhausting. it may look like a fun life, but it is fun very rarely."

"I never thought of it that way…I've just always wanted to be a famous singer."

"So you are auditioning?"

"Yes…but like I said earlier, it's complicated."

"Would you mind explaining to me? Cause we're probably going to be here a while, and, well, your voice is really calming…and pretty." Alex blushed as he said that. He meant it…but he was always afraid that a girl would take compliments from him the wrong way.

"Well, thank you," said Isabella, taken back by comment. She was having a hard time believing she was talking to Alex Whitman, much less stuck in an elevator with him. And he'd just complimented her! (Plus there was the whole accidental groping thing before…)

"Well, see, I signed up for the auditions. My friend Liz even got me free singing lessons to help me out a little. Then Maria came down with laryngitis. And of course she blamed me. Amy believed that I really did somehow make Maria sick, and to punish me, she told me I was forbidden from auditioning."

"But aren't you an adult?"

"Yup. I'm 19. But she is in charge of the sign up forms and she said she'd rip up an form with my name on it."

"So how are you going to audition? The deadline for signing up was yesterday."

"My friend Liz and her boyfriend Max came up with a plan. They filled out a form for me with the name Star. And they helped me buy my outfit, which also serves as a disguise. I'm even going to dye my hair."

"Wow," said Alex. "I'm glad you're so determined to audition…I bet you'll kick ass."

Isabella laughed, no longer thinking about calling the front desk for help. Alex seemed to be thinking about something for a moment, and then he said, "Would you mind singing now? I'd really like to hear you…if you're ok with that."

Isabella nodded. "Uh, ok, let me think of a song I want to sing." She thought about it and finally decided on something. "I think I want to sing my favorite song of all time-Everything I Do, I Do It For You."

Alex nodded and waited in anticipation for Isabella to start singing. What she didn't know was that this was one of his favorite songs, too.

Isabella's crystal clear voice reverberated through the small elevator as she began to sing.

Look into my eyes
You will see, what you mean to me
Search your heart, search your soul
When you find me, then you'll search no more

Don't tell me it's not worth trying for
You can't tell me it's not worth dying for
You know it's true, everything I do, I do it for you

She stopped singing and looked down at the elevator floor. "I suck…I know," she said.