"Let me down!" she yelled. "I think I'm going to be sick." The second her feet touched the ground, Maria bent over, wrapping her arms around her stomach.

I don't mean anything to him, she thought. He can just leave. Maybe kiss me good-bye. Maybe not. Just see ya. Adios. I'm outta here.

A moment later she felt Michael's hand rubbing her back. "Was it too much power, you think?"

She jerked her body away. "No. I'm fine. I just got dizzy."

"There's not much point in doing more experiments with Maria," Trevor said, pocketing his Stone. "It can only tell us so much about what will happen with Max."

"We'll just have to go for it. Tomorrow the two of us will connect and see what happens," Michael answered.

"No!" Maria snapped upright. She was in full panic mode on so many levels, she had no idea why she was thinking clearly, but she was. Maybe panic was the key to a clearer mind. "I just realized that now that the consciousness is aware of what's going on, Trevor can't go near Max."

Michael blinked, and Maria knew he was impressed she'd thought of something that hadn't occurred to him. Not that it mattered to him, really.

"She's right," Michael said. "It would go ballistic if it saw you. It knows you're one of the rebels who want to destroy it."

"So now what?" Maria asked. She struggled to keep all her attention focused on the Max crisis. If she let herself think about Michael anymore, she'd lie down right here and never, ever get up.

"So I make the connection to Max and use both of the Stones myself," Michael answered.

"I don't know if that's such a good idea," Maria said.

"I'm doing it," he said in that firm Michael way that left no room for questions.

And that was that. There was nothing Maria could do once Michael had made up his mind.

SEVEN

"I drove your car to school today-again, since you didn't pick it up-again," Maria told Michael as she came up behind him in the hall after the last bell. "It's in the lot."

He nodded. She'd already told him that at lunch.

"My mom's threatening to make you pay some kind of driveway rental fee," Maria continued, pulling her curls back from her face and letting them bounce right back again.

"Sorry," he muttered as they headed out to the parking lot to meet up with the others. He'd kept putting off going to Maria's last night, afraid he'd find her sleeping in his car again, and he just didn't feel like he could deal with that. Not kissing her had been hard enough the first time.

Man, why had that moron Alex asked him what he wanted in a girl? The question had gotten stuck in his head somehow, and every time he thought of an answer, it had something to do with Maria. Now he couldn't stop thinking about the girl, which wasn't exactly making Operation Cold Turkey easy to carry out.

About halfway across the lot Maria grabbed the back of Michael's shirt with both hands and pulled him to a stop. He turned to face her, and their bodies brushed together, sending a shiver straight through him. He could smell eucalyptus oil on her and the cedar oil she always used when she was stressed. Mixed with that, something sweet and flowery. Michael took a step back. "What?" he said, his voice coming out harsh and hoarse.

"I know you never listen to me. I know I have no influence over you. But Michael, I really don't think you should try to shatter the consciousness alone," Maria said in a rush, her blue eyes wide. "What about Isabel? Couldn't she-"

Michael took another step away from her. Her scent was fogging his brain. "Isabel hasn't had any practice with the Stones," he answered.

Maria closed the distance between them until their bodies were almost touching again. "So take a couple of days and let her practice," she begged in a whisper.

"I can handle it," Michael told her. He turned and started toward the Cadillac again, Maria trotting to keep up with his long strides. "And if it's dangerous, it's better that only one of us is at risk."

He heard a horn honk and glanced over. The Jeep was pulling out of the lot with Isabel, Liz, Trevor, and Alex inside. Which left Michael and Maria making the trip to the UFO museum in the Caddy-alone. Great. Yeah, this was great. He needed to be concentrating, focusing, getting ready to shatter the freaking consciousness.

Now all these Maria thoughts would keep invading his head. Not to mention all the Maria smells. And the closeness of the Maria skin. Michael climbed into the car and slammed the door as hard as he could.

The second Maria got in beside him, he threw the gearshift into reverse and jerked the car out of its parking space. He saw Maggie McMahon getting ready to pull out, but he cut her off. There was no time to be nice and polite. The sooner he got out of this car and away from Maria, the better off they'd both be. It was only fair to Maria to taper off his contact with her. And as for touching of any kind-even basic friend touching-there would be no more of that. He really had to go cold turkey. Maybe it would help if he imagined her skin was… cold turkey. Instead of soft. Instead of warm. He glanced at her bare shoulder peeking out from her tank top. Instead of very, very tempting.

"You nervous?" Maria asked, fidgeting with her colorful beaded bracelets.

"No. Of course not," he snapped.

"Oh." She reached over and ran one finger lightly across the back of his hand, and he almost veered into oncoming traffic. "So the way your knuckles have turned all white, that's just normal?"

Michael realized he was gripping the wheel way, way too tightly. He forced his fingers to relax, letting the blood flow return to them.

"Don't touch me while I'm driving, okay?" he said. He checked the rearview mirror. He checked the side mirror. He checked the street in front of him. There was a little splotch on the windshield, and Michael hit the button to squirt some water on it, then started the wipers. Lots of stuff to think about when operating a vehicle, he thought. Lots of non-Maria stuff. He snapped the wipers off and scanned the gauges-no attention available to think about Maria. Or the way her lips really were almost the color of raspberries. Juicy raspberries. Sweet raspberries.

"Michael, we just passed the museum," Maria announced, glancing behind them, confused.

Crap. Michael made a squealing U-turn, eliciting a little squeal from Maria, and pulled into the museum parking lot. He got out of the car in record-breaking time without a second glance at his passenger.

The rest of their friends were waiting outside, and Trevor walked over to Michael as he hurried toward the outdoor stairs that led to his apartment.

"I'll wait down here," Trevor said. "Come get me as soon as it's over. Or have someone else call me if…"

He didn't finish the thought, but Michael knew what he was about to say-if you're getting beaten so badly, you need backup just to get out alive.

"I will," Michael promised solemnly. It seemed like there should be something else to say, but he couldn't think what it was.

"You two could hug, you know," Maria said from behind him. "You are brothers and everything."

Michael and Trevor stared at each other. Then, with a what-the-hell shrug, Michael jerked his brother to him and hugged him tightly, releasing him with a thump on the back. Very manly.

"We'd better get up there," Michael said. He reached into his pocket and wrapped his fingers around the Stones, then trotted up to the stairs and took them two at a time. Isabel, Liz, Alex, and Maria were right behind him, causing the steps to creak and moan as the crew pounded upward. Michael was comforted to know they were there, but he was ready to get this thing done.

"Is there any way we can help once we get inside?" Alex asked, just behind Michael. It was better than having Maria right there, Michael supposed.