“Alright,” Tess said an hour and a half later. “Spill it all Maria. We want the dirt and we’re not taking a half-assed answer this time.” “Yeah,” Isabel said as she scooped up a bite of ice cream. “What is going on with you and that degenerate I have the fortune of calling my brother?” “Nothing,” Maria said, oddly quiet, looking anywhere but at her friends. A deep blush was working its way fast across her entire face. “There is absolutely nothing between us.” Maybe if she just repeated that one enough it would magically become true. “Nothing,” Tess repeated as she sipped her milkshake. “Uh huh, and what was that in Alex’s backyard? And don't even get us started on how long you've been holding out on the Prom issue.” “Damn,” Maria mumbled to herself, she had thought that maybe they hadn’t noticed it at Alex's. “I don’t know alright,” she added in a louder, almost horrified tone. She put her head on the table, “What’s wrong with me?” “I would say you’re mental if you are willingly kissing on Michael,” Isabel said calmly. “But that’s just my opinion as his sister. I’m supposed to think that kissing him is nasty.” Maria groaned and kept her head on the table. “Come on Maria,” she added in a softer, extremely gentle tone, “I’m just kidding. I think it’s great.” “Not great,” Maria groaned again with her head on the table. “Horrid.” Her head flew back up and she turned terrified emerald eyes on her friends. “You guys have no idea what it’s like. I’ve hated Michael, well not hated, but fought with him my whole life. Now I suddenly have to deal with the knowledge that my nemesis is the one person in my life that will ever make me complete. I can’t even sing in front of an audience of more than stuffed animals and I’m supposed to be okay with this. This is everything and I don’t think I have the capacity to deal with it. Plus, what if he doesn’t feel the same way?” “Oh please,” Tess snorted. “Michael’s been in love with you since birth. Why do you think he picked on you so much? It’s just like Jessie and Trent now. Maybe he’s just finally admitting to himself now that he feels a lot more than ‘friendly’ towards you, but he’s never seen you as his nemesis, not really, no more than you’ve ever seen him as one. His fooling with Courtney and your fooling with Doug was just a way to stall the inevitable. If ever there were two people that were meant for each other it’s you two. Even when you’re not speaking to each other, neither of you can stand to be ten feet apart.” Maria stayed quiet. There was no arguing against that last point. Even at they’re maddest, she and Michael had never strayed physically far from the other. She hadn’t gone twenty-four hours in her life without some sort of physical contact with the boy. Hell, she had shared a playpen with him, Alex, Is, and Tess when they were little. “What we want to know,” Isabel said as she leaned closer. “Is what it’s like to kiss your soulmate.” “It is indescribable guys,” Maria said, not bothering to deny the truth of Michael’s status in her life. She was a talented liar, they all were, they all had to be, but she couldn’t lie to them, she never had been able to. “There simply aren’t words to explain it. It’s not really just a simple experience. It’s more like everything you feel, are capable of feeling, all at once. It’s an explosion of colors and smells and images and thoughts and…God…and everything else. It’s painful and perfect and once you’ve done it there is absolutely no turning back. I mean it. I’ll never be able to partake of meaningless kisses or boy-toy games with Sohn again. Your brother,” she glared at Isabel, “has ruined me for life. There may be times when we’re apart, like now, but now that I’ve gone ahead and done it, there’s no turning back. I hate Michael Guerin.” “Maybe,” Isabel said with a sigh uncharacteristic of the ‘Ice Queen’. “But you love him even more.” Maria didn't respond, she just put her head back on the table with a tortured groan. TBC

Part 7