She didn't know who she was begging to, exactly. Not God. She knew she really shouldn't be asking God for stuff like that. People were starving. People were dying. God really didn't have the time for things like making sure Maria was spared a little humiliation.

Please just let her walk on by, Maria begged again. If she had to look at Isabel, she didn't know if she'd be able to go through with the plan she'd come up with last night. The plan where she found Michael before school and told him that Liz was right, that he really did need to choose between her and Isabel-and fast because that was the only way Maria would be able to hang on to the single strand of sanity she had left.

No, if she had to look at Isabel, Isabel with her perfect body, and her perfect hair, and her perfect skin, Maria would lose her nerve. How could she even think about asking Michael to choose between her and all that perfectness?

Maria jerked on the knot she'd just made. She wanted to untie and retie it one more time to make completely sure Isabel had passed her before she stood up. The knot wouldn't come loose. She picked at it, and the nail on her ring finger broke.

Oh, great. Now she'd have to ask Michael to choose between her and Princess Isabel while one of Maria's fingers looked like-

"Hi, Maria."

Even Isabel's voice was perfect, low and a little throaty. Sexy. Guys would definitely think it was sexy.

Maria pushed herself to her feet. "Hey," she mumbled. She couldn't stop herself from checking out Isabel's hands. Every French-manicured nail was perfect, of course. If Isabel ever broke a nail, she could just use her powers to heal it.

You're totally delusional if you think guys ever look at her fingernails, anyway, Maria told herself. Maybe they occasionally look at your nails, but that's only because you don't have quite as many interesting body parts to look at as Isabel does. Well, you have them, sort of, but they aren't-

"He's at the museum," Isabel said.

"Who?" Maria asked. Isabel raised one eyebrow in response, and Maria felt heat flood from her hairline all the way down her neck. "Oh, well, I just wanted to tell him welcome back. I didn't really get to talk to him yesterday," she explained, tripping over her words.

"I'll tell him for you," Isabel answered. "I have guard duty with him tonight. All night." She gave Maria a little wave and continued down the hall. More than one guy's head turned as she passed.

Maria turned and rushed down the hall in the opposite direction. When she reached the main doors, she burst through and bolted across the quad. She didn't stop running until she got to the bus stop. She was going to the museum. Now. She had to. She had to talk to Michael before Isabel had guard duty with him. All night.

She yanked open her crocheted purse and dug around for a vial of her cedar oil. She needed to calm down. She didn't want to go flying into the museum and start babbling like an escaped lunatic. Her fingers closed on one of the little vials of aromatherapy oil. She pulled it out. Yes, it was cedar.

It was also empty. That figured. The last few weeks hadn't been exactly stress-free-with Ray Iburg getting killed by Sheriff Valenti, Max almost dying, and Michael getting captured, not to mention Maria telling Michael she loved him and Michael saying basically nothing in return. Maria pulled the cap off the vial and took a couple of deep breaths, hoping to get some fumes at least.

When the bus pulled up, she quickly jammed the vial back into her bag. Adults usually did not have good reactions to seeing teenagers with little vials near their noses. As if Maria would ever put anything close to a drug in her body.

The bus's doors opened with a whooshing sound. Maria climbed on and found a seat. She leaned her head against the window and stared out at the long row of fast-food joints and strip malls lining the north end of Roswell's main street. It would take about ten minutes to get to the museum, with all the bus's stops and starts. She decided to use the time to figure out exactly how to say what she wanted to say.

Michael, I can't have any kind of normal life until you decide between me and Isabel-

Too needy.

Michael, be a man. Choose. Now. Or lose me forever.

Yeah, right.

Michael, our friendship is really important to me. And so is my friendship with Isabel. And I know your friendship with Isabel is also very important. I think we're in a situation where all those very important friendships are in danger of-

Too guidance counselor.

Maria banged her head against the window a couple of times. She didn't have much more time to think of something. This was what she should have been doing last night instead of writing that essay on Julius Caesar.

Michael, Michael, Michael, lend me your ears. I come to bury Isabel, not to praise her.

Way too retarded.

Only one more stop. Okay, she thought. Okay, okay. I will come up with the exact right thing this time.

Michael, Isabel took me into one of your dreams. I saw you hugging her. The dream made it pretty clear that you're… that you have feelings for her. And that's totally cool. I just need you to tell me if-

The bus pulled to a stop in front of the museum. Maria sucked in a deep breath and climbed off. She'd just have to wing it. She hurried to the museum's back entrance, not wanting to lose her nerve. The door was open, so she slipped inside. Pieces of broken glass crunched under her feet as she made her way to the spiral staircase leading to Ray's apartment.

Michael, I.… she thought as she started up. Michael, I-Michael, I-It was like her brain had a stutter. That's all she could think. Just Michael, I-

Maria took another step, her head now high enough to see the living-room floor. Her eyes locked onto two pairs of feet. Feet standing very close together.

She tilted back her head and saw that the feet belonged to Michael and that Cameron girl. Their bodies were close together, too. And Michael was giving her that killer smile of his. The one that turned Maria's insides to warm goo.

What was he doing? He should be sitting off in a corner making a list of all the things he liked about Maria and all the things he liked about Isabel, doing the whole compare-and-contrast thing.

Instead he was standing there flirting with a girl he'd known for, what, a week? Maria hadn't liked the way Michael hugged Cameron yesterday, but she figured it was no big deal. Cameron was freaked. Michael was a nice guy, with a streak of big brother in him.

But he wasn't in big-brother mode right now.

Maria scrambled up the last few steps. Michael and Cameron both jerked their heads toward her.

"What's wrong?" Michael demanded. "Did something happen at school?"

"What?" Maria asked. She unsnagged her long skirt from the stair rail. "Oh no. I, uh, I just decided to skip homeroom. No big deal."

They both stared at her. Maria felt a rush of self-consciousness. She clasped her hands in front of her, which made her feel like a little girl getting ready to recite a poem. She linked them behind her. That felt weird, too. She crossed her arms over her chest instead. But wasn't that supposed to be defensive body language? She dropped her arms to her sides and ordered herself to stand still for one minute.

"Michael, I-" she began. Maybe she should have asked to talk to him alone. But it was too late now. "Michael, I-Michael, I-I can't deal with this anymore.… I'm going to end up in some kind of asylum if you don't-"

Oh no. What am I saying? What am I saying? This was worse than anything she'd thought of on the bus. So much worse.

"What are you saying?" Michael asked.

Maria gulped so loudly, she thought it could probably be heard in Texas. "If you don't do what Liz said and choose between me and Isabel."