“I still think you and Courtney went together.”

“We did not go together, we just went together,” he protested.

“It’s the same thing!” Even in this wacky alt. Universe she’d slipped into, Michael Guerin never made sense. You’d think that there’d be a perfect Michael out there somewhere …

“Fine!”

Ah, getting mad. This was a less than foreign concept. Michael pulled the silver ring off his finger and presented it to her. Maria gasped.

“Maria, I want you to wear my ring,” he stammered. She flung her arms around him.

“Oh Michael, this means so much to me! I know now that you respect me,” Maria gushed. She quickly put a mental clamp on her mouth. Pathetic, pathetic.

*********************

Liz and Isabel stood in the bathroom at the drivein. Liz powdered her face. She took in a shaky drag of her cigarette, then threw it to the ground, stubbing it out with her toe. She took two pieces of gum out of her purse and chewed vigirously.

“Liz, whats up?” Isabel asked finally. Liz paled.

“I skipped a period,” she admitted.

“OMG, you think you might be P.G?” Isabel squealed.

“Don’t say anything, okay?”

“Sure, Liz, I’ll take it to the grave.”

Isabel walked over to tell Alex, who told Kyle, who told Tess, who told Maria, who told Michael, who told Max who wandered over to where Liz was walking past.

“Liz, I heard aboutyour, uh, situation,” Max said coolly.

“Good news travels fast.”

“Listen, I don’t run away from my mistakes.”

“Relax Max, it was someone elses mistake.”

“Oh. If you need anything -,”

“I’ll be fine.”

******************

Michael sat next to Maria. He leaned in to kiss her. She kissed him passionately for about half a minute, then broke off and glared at him.

“Get off me!” she screamed.

“Maria!”

“How could you? Have this piece of tin back!” she yelled, throwing the ring on the floor. She ran off.

“Maria! You can’t walk out of a drive in!”

Maria ran out the gate. She was at home before she realised what she’d done. What was wrong with her? She loved to kiss Michael. He could be known as the best kisser in the flipping galaxy. All of a sudden Maria clicked. Grease. She was stuck in Grease. The musical she’d loved as a child. And now it had caused her to break up with Michael. What comes next, she asked herself. Car race, she thought dismally. A car race. Then the whole …

She smiled. Maybe this could be a good universe after all.

********************

Michael sat on the swing, in front of a commercial advertising hot dogs. He felt awful. Maria had thrown the ring back in his face. Very bad feeling.