"I got the most brilliant idea last night!" Stacey Scheinin cried. "At halftime we should spell out our team's name with our bodies! Can I hear a yeah?"

All the Stacey wanna-bes immediately screamed, "Yeah."

"Sounds fabulous," Isabel added.

Everyone on the cheerleading squad stared at her. It took Isabel a moment to figure out why. Oh, she realized. It's the first time I ever agreed with Stacey about anything.

That just showed what an incredible mood she was in. She had fuzzy-wuzzy feelings toward everyone in the whole world, even look-at-how-cute-I-am aren't-I-the-best-little-head-cheerleader-ever Stacey.

"Are you feeling okay? Because I'm suddenly in need of a barf bag," Isabel's friend Tish Okabe whispered in Isabel's ear.

"I'm feeling spectacular," Isabel answered.

Alex was back! Michael had a brother! And Sheriff Valenti was still dead!

Yeah, Elsevan DuPris was out there somewhere, but she wasn't going to ruin one of her best days ever thinking about that.

"You're awfully happy today," Stacey said, sounding suspicious, or at least as suspicious as someone with a Minnie Mouse voice could sound. She shot a sly look over at the bleachers. "The new boy must be good for you."

Isabel followed Stacey's gaze and saw Kyle Valenti staring at her. As she watched, he pulled out a lighter and flicked it on and off, on and off.

What a loser, Isabel thought. Does he think he's at a concert or something? She felt a tiny bit of her joy drain away. Little Kyle clearly had something on his mind. Something vicious.

Deliberately she turned her back on him. Kyle was an insect. When he became annoying enough, she would deal with him. "Some of my fans do get a little overadoring," Isabel told Stacey.

"I bet you're sorry you jettisoned Alex," Lucinda Baker called out. "I saw him bending over the drinking fountain. He's been doing his butt-building exercises, that's all I can say."

"Uh-huh," one of the Stacey wanna-bes added. "I can't believe I never noticed how yummy he is."

Alex had definitely come back home with something different about him. He'd been weak and scared, yeah. But when Isabel finally got used to the fact that he was really and truly home, she couldn't help notice that he'd undergone some kind of transformation. It was like he had a glow about him. But she wasn't going to stand around and discuss that with the squad.

"So do you want to practice the letter thing now?" Isabel asked Stacey.

"It's getting late. We'll do it next time. That's it for today," Stacey answered. She sounded sort of confused.

I have to remember this, Isabel thought. If I want to mess with Stacey's head, all I have to do is be nice to her.

"You don't actually have something going with Kyle, do you?" Tish asked as she and Isabel headed for the locker room.

"Did I just hear you ask me if I had something going with Kyle?" Isabel asked with mock horror.

Tish grinned. "Okay, but you do have something going with somebody. I can see it on your face. So come on. Confess. Did you get back with Alex? Because he is looking extra crispy." She held the locker-room door open for Isabel, then led the way over to their lockers.

"Tish, come back from the fifties, okay?" Isabel sat down on one of the peeling wooden benches and kicked off her shoes. "A guy is not the only reason for a girl to be happy."

Although she had to admit that Trevor had… possibilities.

"Don't even try giving me that superior attitude," Tish answered. "I know exactly how many times you saw the last Julia Roberts movie, okay?"

"I'm not saying I don't like guys," Isabel answered. "Guys can be very entertaining. I'm just saying there are other things in life."

She opened her locker and reached for her towel. She always brought her own. The ones at school were way too thin. Plus other people used them.

When she pulled the towel free, a doll fell to the floor with a soft plop.

"What a cute little cheerleader outfit it has on," Tish cooed. She picked it up, and Isabel saw the doll's face for the first time.

Make that the glob of charred plastic where the doll's face used to be.

Kyle and his lighter have been busy, Isabel thought. She took the doll from Tish and used the very tips of her fingers to deposit it in the trash. Now she really couldn't wait to get into the shower.

I suppose I should deal with that boy sooner rather than later, she thought.

"You're in trouble," Kevin said with a smirk.

Maria shut the door behind her. "Don't sound so happy about it," she answered. "Remember how many things I know about you-things that Mom would be very interested in, things that could put you in your room for life."

"I'm so scared." Kevin gave an exaggerated shiver that made his arms flop around like overcooked spaghetti.

"Maria, is that you?" her mother called from the kitchen.

"Yeah," she called back.

"Come in here for a minute," her mom answered.

"See?" Kevin mouthed.

Maria ignored her little brother and headed toward the kitchen. At least there is no way this will even get close to the meltdown between Liz and her dad, she thought. She took a deep breath and stepped through the door.

Her eyes immediately went to the mosaic of miniature candy bars laid out on the table in front of her mom. Uh-oh. Bad sign. Marias mom stayed away from candy except when she was in major stress mode.

"I heard from Mr. Ortecho that your trip to the caverns was unchaperoned," her mother said.

Unchaperoned. What a weird, old-fashioned word. Like they should have taken a prim governess in a long black dress with them. The thought brought a giggle bubbling up Marias throat. She covered it with a cough. Laughing right now would not help the situation.

"Yeah," Maria admitted. "But I didn't really soy Mr. Ortecho would be with us. You just interpreted-"

"Maria."

That one word, in that tone of voice, was enough to make Maria give up her feeble attempt at coming up with an excuse.

Her mother unwrapped one of the little candy bars and popped the whole thing in her mouth.

"Maria," she repeated, her voice softer now, more tentative. She peeled another candy bar, popped it. "Maria, have you…? Are you…?"

She reached for another piece of candy. Maria pinned her hand to the table, stopping her.

"I have to say, I have no idea what you're attempting to communicate here," she told her mom.

"I'm so bad at this," her mother burst out. "I've spent half the day trying to figure out how to talk to you about, um, intimacy."

Intimacy, Maria silently repeated.

Oh no. Oh. My. God! Her mother wanted to have a sex talk!

Maria grabbed one of the candy bars, unwrapped it, and shoved it in her mouth. Two refined-sugar intakes in one week. What was wrong with her?

"I'm not happy that you spent the weekend alone with some boys," her mother said. She pulled her hand free of Marias but left the candy on the table. "But I know that-that sex isn't something that can only happen on a weekend away from home."

She had started sounding somewhat robotic. Maria figured this must be the beginning of her prepared speech.

"Mom, you don't have to. I'm not… I haven't. It's not an issue," Maria stammered.

But her mother was unstoppable. "The most important thing to me is that you're safe. Now, we can make you an appointment with my gynecologist and get you a prescription for the pill. But as I hope you know, that won't protect you against AIDS or venere-"

"Mom, believe me, there's no one I'm interested in… being with," Maria insisted.

Except Michael, she added to herself. And there's no possibility of anything intimate happening between us. Not when he's still wrecked by Cameron leaving. Not when I'm going nuts pretending I'm just his buddy.