By now they had reached their table and were seated. This forced Maria to stop talking for a few seconds, but as soon as they both sat down, she began again. "He was just so cool, Liz," she said. "And apparently, he can play all kinds of instruments!" "Sounds like someone who would suit you rather well," Liz said. "I know, that was what I was thinking!" Maria exclaimed. Liz looked down before speaking. "But what about Michael?" she said. "I'm not allowed to see him during the trip," Maria said, but immediately looked a bit ashamed. "I know," she went on. "I feel awful. He was all nice last night, but I mean. this is, like, a real guy, Liz! He's real! From this planet! And he's so perfect, and he's charming, and he's nice to me. I mean, the number of times Michael has been nice to me can be counted on one hand." Liz nodded. Seeing that the subject suddenly didn't make Maria that happy anymore, she decided to change it. "So, what time's the show tonight? I can't wait!" she said. "I mean, I sort of missed out on your singing, that last time." "Nine o'clock," Maria informed her. "And if you don't show up I'll grill you." Liz smiled at her.

When Maria looked towards the entrance, she saw Michael and Max enter the room. When she saw Michael she couldn't help but smile. He obviously hadn't changed since the softball, 'cause he came in wearing his sweatpants and T-shirt. He caught sight of her and waved, with something as close to a smile as she could expect him to go. Then he signaled something to her that she interpreted as "Screw the teachers." She grinned at him. Then she felt a pang of guilt. Why? She asked herself. It wasn't like she was being unfaithful. And it certainly wasn't like she and Michael were going out. Technically she was free as a bird.

She looked back at Liz, only to find her making serious goo goo eyes at Max. She shook her head and opened the menu.

*****

"Oh, oh my God, I can't do this."

Maria swallowed hard and closed her eyes as she heard the noisy crowd. Alex came over and sat down next to her. He laid an arm around her shoulders. "Calm down," he said. "It's okay, you've done it before. No need to panic." "Panic is my way of warming up," Maria said through clinched teeth. "I'll be fine as soon as I get on the stage."

Fran entered the room at that moment, causing Maria to shoot up. He smiled at her. "Ready?" he asked. She just nodded, stiffly. "Okay," he said. "Now I have to visit the bathroom. Wouldn't want any accidents to happen on stage." He grinned at her and she smiled back. Longingly she watched him walk towards the bathroom. Things had gone great when they had rehearsed the song earlier, their voices had harmonized perfectly. Now she just hoped that her voice wouldn't crack when she was on stage with him.

There was a knock on the door and Michael poked his head in, curiously. He caught sight of Maria and waved her over. She walked over to him. "Hi," he said. "Just wanted to tell you, you know. to break a leg. Although, not literally. Just, you know. go get 'em." She felt all warm inside when she heard his words. He was really trying. And it only made her feel worse about her confused feelings towards the mysterious Mr. Vivas. "Thanks," she said to Michael, smiling. "I'll do my best." "Okay, and I'll just be. I'll be in the audience, with my pom poms, cheering you on." She laughed at the thought of Michael in a cheerleading outfit. He nodded at her, and was about to leave, when he hesitated, as if to say something more. But he changed his mind and gave her a quick smile before leaving. Maria stood by the closed door for a while, thoughts racing around her mind. How could she ever, ever, *ever* have even thought about having feelings for this Fran guy, when she had Michael?

Just then Alex grabbed her arm. "We're on, Maria," he said, pulling her over to the stage entrance where the other guys were waiting. The announcer, Mr. Greuby, grabbed the microphone and caused some distortion before managing to introduce them. The crowd cheered and made Maria's heart beat at double speed. "Okay, here we go," Markos said, giving the others an encouraging smile.

They entered the stage and found their places. Maria grabbed the microphone and suddenly felt very self confident. She racked her brain to find which song was to come first, and furrowed her brow when she remembered.

"Okay, hi everyone," she said. "It's great being here tonight. We're going to start off this show with a song called Apples and Oranjes, by the Smashing Pumpkins." The last seven words were spoken with a tiny bit of disgust, but this didn't prevent the crowd from cheering outrageously. Maria narrowed her eyes at Chris, who was, she thought, slightly overdoing the gloating act. Then he counted in the song and the intro started playing.

"What if the sun refused to shine? What if the clouds refused to rain? What if the wind refused to blow? What if the seas refused to wave? What if the world refused it's turn? What if the stars would hesitate? What if what is isn't true? What are you going to do?"

*****

Michael and Isabel were both smiling broadly as they watched the band play. Max subtly tapped his fingers on his leg, and every now and then he glanced over at Liz who was standing with a bunch of friends. "They're great!" Isabel yelled at him through the noise. He nodded.

Michael was just plainly enjoying the sound of Maria's voice. She had a lovely voice. And he had just loved the way she had presented the song. One could tell from miles away that she hated it. But still somehow she managed to give life to it, to put her heart into it. And it was more than fair to say that she looked amazing, too. He couldn't wait 'til after the concert when he could find her and they could sneak away to some private place and he could kiss her and tell her how great she was on stage and how beautiful her voice was and how amazing she looked.

The song ended and he applauded fiercely. There was a pause as the band checked their instruments and Maria took a glass of water. Then she walked up to the microphone and grabbed it again. "Okay," she said. "Now, for this next song, I'd like to present to you my vocal partner-in-crime for this trip. Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Fran Vivas."

Michael watched in confusion as some guy who looked a bit older than the rest of them entered the stage, walked up to Maria and gave her a quick hug. He also noted how she smiled nervously as he did so. Michael narrowed his eyes. Could this be competition?

"Okay," Maria said. "The song we'll be doing is called The Difficult Kind and is written by Sheryl Crow." Michael crossed his arms with a concerned look on his face as the intro was played. He didn't like the look of this. But as Maria started singing he couldn't help but soften and listen intently.

"I think I was wrong I think you were right That all my angry words Would keep me up at night Through the old screen door I still hear you say Oh honey won't you stop Treating me that way"

Now Fran raised his microphone and started singing with Maria. And Michael noticed, much to his frustration, that he had a great voice.

"If you could only see What love has made of me And I'd no longer be In your mind The difficult kind 'Cause babe I've changed"

"Man, that guy can really sing," Isabel yelled at him. Michael didn't say anything. He hated this. He hated that the guy could sing. He hated that he was on stage with Maria. He hated the way they looked at each other and smiled as they sang. He shook his head before pushing his way through the crowd and leaving the hall.