The Seeker

speed you're moving, we might as well spend the night in here. Everyone else is already gone.'

'Sorry,' Maria mumbled. 'I was spacing. What did you ask me?'

That was so unlike Maria. Maybe some people spaced out once in a while when their friends were talking to them. Even their best friends. But not Maria. She had the gift of listening with almost maniacal attention.

'I wanted to know if you think guys have a hidden on-off switch,' Liz answered. 'Something that makes them kiss, totally, completely kiss you one day and then treat you like the girl who works behind the counter at some convenience store the next day. Some girl they say hi to when they buy pork rinds. Some girl whose name they don't even really know. Some girl who looks sort of familiar. Some girl-'

'Stop,' Maria begged. 'I not only get the picture, I get the whole photo album. You. Max. He loves you. He loves you not. Do you want to hear my theory?'

'Please.' Liz grabbed her brush from the top shelf of her locker. She whipped it through her long dark hair.

She hoped Maria could help her figure this out. She couldn't stop thinking of that kiss. That incredible kiss. Every time her mind touched on it… whoa. It was like her stomach dropped down to her toes and bounced back up again. A scientific impossibility, yes. But that's how it felt.

'I just don't understand how Max could kiss me like that and then shove me away,' she muttered. 'Unless… unless maybe he doesn't feel the same things I do. But I mean, he was trembling when I touched him.'

'Hello? I'm giving my theory,' Maria reminded her.

'Sorry.' Liz took a deep breath. 'Shoot.'

'Okay. First, I think Max is totally and completely in love with you,' Maria said.

'But then why-' Liz began to protest.

'Wait, I'm not done.' Maria pulled off her other sneaker and tossed it in her locker. 'Second, Max thinks the closer you get to him, the more danger you're in. So he pushes you away and treats you like you're the girl who sells him pork rinds to keep you safe. It's actually sort of sweet.'

'But I don't care about being safe.' Liz brushed her hair so hard, it crackled. 'All I care-'

'I'm still not done,' Maria interrupted. She pulled off her gym shorts and pulled on a long saffron yellow skirt. 'Third, the kiss. The important thing about the kiss is when and where it happened. Sheriff Valenti was this close to finding you. You were in a we-could-die-any-second kind of mode. And when you think you're going to die, you do things you wouldn't usually do.'

Liz threw her brush back in her locker and slammed the door.

'So all I have to do to make Max kiss me again is to almost get myself killed.'

Maria pulled off her T-shirt. 'Yeah. So next time try and almost get killed somewhere where there's candlelight, maybe some music. Somewhere romantic.'

Liz tried to smile. But if Maria's theory was correct, and it made total sense to Liz, then Max's on-off switch was pretty much locked in the off position.

Maria reached for her camisole. Liz caught sight of a ring on a chain around her neck. 'Nice,' Liz said, reaching for it. 'What kind of stone is that?' The color shifted from purple to green and back with each movement Maria made.

'I'm not sure exactly,' Maria answered. 'I've never seen one like it.' She pulled on her shirt, slid her feet into her sandals, and grabbed her purse. 'Let's get out of here.' She led the way out of the locker room.

'So do you think I should send Valenti an anonymous note?' Liz joked. 'Tell him he can find Max at one of those dark tables at the Rings of Saturn restaurant, where I'll just happen to be, too, doing the just-friends thing?'

'That's one possibility,' Maria answered as they crossed the polished wood floor of the gym. 'Or, and I know you're not going to like this…'

There were times when Liz knew exactly what Maria was going to say before she said it. This was one of them. 'You think I should go out with other guys,' Liz said before Maria could. The words hurt coming out of her mouth.

'Got it in one,' Maria answered. 'There's more to life than getting straight A's and raking in the tips at your dad's restaurant. You should have some fun.'

'Like you're out with a different guy every night of the week,' Liz teased. Maria wasn't exactly a party girl lately, either. And Liz thought she knew why. Liz had known Maria since the second grade. She'd seen her go through some major crushes. But she'd never seen her look at a guy the way she looked at Michael.

And Maria hadn't said a word about him to Liz. That meant she felt something big. So big, she couldn't even confess it to her best friend. Liz wondered if Maria had even confessed it to herself.

'Hey, I'm still a junior,' Maria answered. 'I have time. I'm not an old woman like you.'

'Ha. Ha, ha,' Liz muttered. She pushed her way out the big double doors leading to the main hallway.

'You know I'm right,' Maria pressed. 'If you keep going this way, you'll end up at your own senior prom with a just-friends guy.'

That was a depressing thought. Liz still remembered back when she and Maria were eight years old. Every time they had a sleep over they would haul out the Barbie and Ken dolls and dress them up in their formal wear. Then they were off to the prom.

At one of those sleep overs Liz had called her papa and asked him if she could stay up until midnight on prom night. She hadn't thought there was anything silly about asking permission ten years in advance. He'd pretended to think it over very seriously, then said yes.

'And what about after high school?' Maria pressed. 'What about college? What about the whole endless rest of your life? Are you going to spend all those years thinking about Max?'

Liz's stomach lurched. Maria had a point. She was starting to feel like she had some kind of obsessive- compulsive disorder, one where she had to think of Max sixty times a minute.

Maria grabbed her elbow. 'You want a good place to start,' Maria whispered. 'A training-wheels guy? Look over there.' Maria gave her chin a jerk toward the far end of the hall.

Liz glanced over and saw Jerry Cifarelli standing in front of his locker. Jerry was one of those guys who seemed like an extra in the movie of high school. Always in the background. Sort of cute. Sort of smart. Sort of athletic. Sort of… sort of in every way, just not outstanding in even one area.

'Go on,' Maria urged. 'He's had a thing for you since you beat him out of the finals for the science fair when you were freshmen.'

'First year,' Liz corrected automatically. 'Freshmen is a sexist term.' She took another quick look at Jerry.

'At least go talk to him,' Maria urged.

Max had made it totally clear that he wasn't going to let her get too close. She could either cry herself a river or move on.

'Okay. Time to move on,' she muttered. She smiled at Maria. 'I'll call you later.'

A huge grin broke across Maria's face. 'You better. I want to hear every word.'

Liz felt calm as she walked toward Jerry. Totally calm. Calm in a way she never felt around Max. Not that she felt nervous around Max, exactly. Being around Max made her feel like she'd just taken a shower with a loofah sponge-all tingly and alive.

I sound like a bad commercial, Liz thought. Use loofah sponges and feel like you're in love.

In love. That was the whole problem. She was in love with Max. And that made every other guy seem sort of.

Too bad, Liz told herself. You're not getting out of this.

She tapped Jerry on the shoulder. 'That pop quiz in bio was killer. I can't believe either of us is still standing.'

'Yeah,' Jerry agreed. 'I stayed up till three, studying for a French test. I barely got through that, then- bam, pop quiz.'

'My friend Maria always tells me to drink a peach smoothie after monster days. She says that peaches are antitoxins. Or that the smell has a soothing effect. I can't remember which.'

Okay, that was a nice, not too obvious hint, Liz thought. But did the boy get it?

Jerry heaved his backpack over his shoulder. 'You, uh, want to go get one?' he asked.