"So, when you are ready
Come on, take my hand
And we'll enjoy life together
Out on the loose..."
-- "On the Loose" (traditional camp song), Author Unknown.

Maria DeLuca grinned excitedly as she bounced everywhere. Up and down, her springy blonde curls flying every which way. "We're going on a camping trip!" she sang as she clutched her best friend Liz Parker's hand and squealed. Their entire 5th grade class was going, as a matter of fact. "Isn't it just the coolest thing ever? We get to stay outside all night and tell ghost stories and sit around the campfire and eat squishy marshmallows and s'mores and maybe look up at the stars and see that meteor shower and--"

Michael Guerin looked mockingly at Maria. "And throw up because stupid Fry-Curl Girls can't shut their flapper lips for more than five seconds at a time, and--"

"Shut up, Michael!" Maria screamed as she flew at him savagely, fists pounding, curls swirling around her face. Michael just watched her, amused.

Liz sighed as she pulled Maria off Michael. "Let's just get on the bus, Maria," she said.

"Later for you," Maria said to Michael in her toughest voice as Liz dragged her onto the bus. Michael had to bite back a smile. Famous last words.

He settled down to wait for Max Evans and his sister Isabel to show up, leaning against the bus doing his best fledgling young hoodlum impression. His upper body throbbed from Maria's hard-hitting little fists. He actually kinda liked it when she hit him like that.

And when they traded insults with each other, and when they got into that paint fight a while ago. Not to mention the M&M fight at the science fair, and countless other skirmishes between then and now... And when she kissed him a couple weeks ago on a dare. He still thought about that all the time. But he'd never admit it. Because it didn't matter. She didn't understand him, she could never understand him, and he wasn't about to give her the chance anyway. He had promised Max and Izzy.

Everybody had finally arrived, except for Mr. Raddish. "Where is he?" Liz wailed. She still wasn't completely over her crush on their dorky teacher with the big round radish head.

"He'll be here, Lizzie, don't worry," Maria reassured her as she braided Liz's straight dark hair.

As soon as she finished saying that, Mr. Raddish walked on the bus. "Good morning, class. Sorry for the delay. A little engine trouble on the way," Mr. Raddish explained.

Just then, his wife, the model-pretty Sylvia Raddish, stepped onto the bus, too. "That's right, and your teacher is not exactly mechanically inclined," she said with a smile, showing off a row of perfectly even white teeth.

Liz narrowed her eyes. "What's she doing here?" she whispered suspiciously to Maria. She almost felt like crying.

Maria shrugged. "Maybe she's too scared to stay home by herself." Maria could certainly sympathize. Her mom left her home alone a lot. It was scary, especially at night. "Come on now, don't cry, Lizzie."

But Liz wasn't paying attention. She boldly stuck her tongue out at Mrs. Raddish when Mr. Raddish was taking attendance. And she crossed her eyes at her when Mr. Raddish went down the aisle collecting everybody's permission slips. Mrs. Raddish was now the enemy.

Maria sighed and decided to talk with Alex, who was sitting by himself in front of them. She knew there was no use even trying to talk to Liz right now.

She tapped him on the shoulder and he turned around, grinning that infectious smile. "Hiya, Alex! Isn't this just so cool? We get to go camping..." And Maria's jabberjaw was off and running all over again.

Sylvia Raddish just smiled at the pretty little girl with the long brown hair. Her Jimmy had told her all about Liz, and even though her husband was perpetually clueless about such things, she'd known for months now that Liz was haboring a secret 'thing' for her Jimmy Raddish. Liz was sitting with little pixie-faced Maria, who was laughing and hooting and bouncing all over the seat as she talked a mile a minute to the other Muskateer, Alex Whitman.

And when Liz stuck her tongue out at her yet again, she just smiled patiently back. She remembered her own crush on one of her teachers. In fourth grade, that had been. Mr. Palmer. She shook her head, slightly embarrassed. She knew just how Liz felt.

But Liz didn't have to worry. Surely she would find someone much better suited to her. Not to mention closer to her age. Just as she had with Jimmy.

Sylvia watched as her husband took inventory of his little portable antacid pharmacy and smiled gently. She wondered if he would be able to handle this end of the year camping trip. He had been under so much stress lately. That's why she had offered to come along with him in the first place. Even though it was becoming clear to her that little Liz didn't like the idea of that very much.

She stood up and walked down the aisle toward Liz's seat and smiled comfortingly down at her. "Liz Parker?"

Liz crossed her arms and refused to look at her. "What do you want?" she asked sullenly.

Sylvia tried not to laugh at the sweet little 11 year old girl trying so desperately to appear intimidating. "You're a very smart girl, Liz. I think you have a very bright future ahead of you. And I'm sure you'll have lots of boyfriends someday."

"Yeah?" Liz looked hopeful.

"I think so," Sylvia replied with a smile.

She peeked into the seat behind her and noticed that another dark-haired boy with beautiful eyes and ears that stuck out slightly was watching this whole exchange very intently. Max Evans, of course. She gave him a subtle smile and then turned to Liz again.

"Yes, I definitely think so," she repeated as Liz smiled gratefully at her.

"This meteor shower is gonna be so cool!" Maria bounced on the seat a few times until Liz put her arms around the blonde.

"Stop it, Maria!" she giggled at her best friend. "You're making me sick!"

When her best friend settled down, Liz grinned at Alex, who was hanging over the seat in front of them. "This is supposed to be the best star-watching night of the century." She grinned, her hands already aching to break out the telescope.

Alex grinned back. "I still can't believe you brought your telescope, Parker. Gonna play Ms. Scientist all night?"

Liz smacked at him playfully. "The stars are really really important," she said seriously. "I mean, what if Galileo had never looked up at the stars? Then we'd still think that the universe revolves around the earth."

That was one of the things he loved about being friends with Liz and Maria. He could be arm-wrestling with Hurricane DeLuca one minute, and having a philosophical discussion with Liz the next. But the best part was that Liz was just as silly as he and Maria were, and no one could beat Maria for loyalty and courage. And with the two of them on his side, Alex thought he could do anything, even save the world someday. They'd kept him from moving back to California, after all.

"What are you talking about, Liz? We still think that."

And she grinned. "You grew up in Roswell and you can still say that?"

He grinned back. His parents were two of the few adults who didn't work at an alien-themed tourist trap. "When I meet an alien face to face, then I'll change my mind. But I don't believe in aliens."

"Come on, Alex. It's possible. Just think of all the stars out there-- billions and billions of them." Liz's face got that dreamy look which meant she was thinking of science, or their radish-headed teacher. She was such a dork sometimes that she made him look normal.

"And on all those billions and billions, life as we know it evolved on one, Lizzie. No visitors have stopped by yet to say, hey, welcome to the neighborhood."

Her grin widened. "Unless that wasn't a weather balloon that night. But seriously, Alex, wouldn't that be cool if someone were looking at our sun on the other side of the galaxy? Like we weren't all alone in space and time?"

"Space, the final frontier," Maria whispered solemnly. Her hazel eyes danced.

And they all laughed. It was kind of cool to think about other minds out there, searching for someone to talk to across the loneliness of space. But until he had actual living proof, they were alone in the universe. Though he would always be open to changing his mind.

Isabel sat across from her brother and Michael, quietly listening to the conversation from the seats in front of them. Gracie and Maggie were jabbering about Nora Wells behind her-- probably because she wore the same high-tops that Maggie did this morning. Like anyone was really looking at their shoes. But appearances had to be kept up, and appearances meant everything to the security of her world.

Max was too busy staring out the window to really pay attention. But from the
way Michael kept shooting her looks, she knew he was listening.

So Alex didn't believe in aliens, but Ms. Scientist was willing to give it a chance. Somehow, she thought Perfect Parker's mind would probably change if she knew that her lab partner wasn't as human as she thought.

When the conversation ended, Michael jumped across the aisle to sit beside her.
Gracie and Maggie were so lost in their own conversation that they didn't notice him slipping his hand into hers. It was weird, to be sitting with Michael and thinking about who they were and other philosophical things. They never talked about it-- where they came from, what it meant... It was enough that they'd all shared that memory at the Crash Festival back in September.

And judging from how hard Michael squeezed her hand, she knew he remembered too-- the darkness, the smell of burning ozone, that last feeling of love before their pods thudded to the ground.

And his face quirked into half of his usual smirking grin. "Do you believe in aliens, Izzy?"

Max woke up from his daydreaming at that, and looked over at them.

And she gave both of her brothers the look Max called her "Princess Isabel" look. "Of course not. Aliens are just evil monsters anyway." And she pretended to look out the window for a while, letting the breeze from the open window dry her tears.

Maria decided it would be really cool to lean up against the window on the bus. That way she could see everything that was going on. Nothing would get past her! Her eyes landed on Michael, and it was completely not on purpose because he was a stinky Goatcheese Boy.

He was sitting next to Isabel Evans, of all people. Isabel? Maria wrinkled up her nose. Isabel was always so mean to her. In fact, Isabel was mean to everybody. And she was so stuck-up. Just because she had her big boobs now didn't mean that she was the greatest girl on the planet all of a sudden.

Alex said that Isabel was a really nice person and there was a lot more to her than met the eye. Even Liz said Isabel could be okay sometimes. But Maria didn't buy it. Alex only said that because he had a crush on Isabel since the beginning of the year and she probably put a voodoo on him like she did on Liz when she got sick a couple days before the play. Just because Liz had made a miraculous recovery didn't mean anything. Because maybe Isabel had her evil henchgirls Maggie and Gracie listen in on their conversation and then Isabel had done some more voodoo to cover her tracks. Yeah.

She didn't even think Michael and Isabel were friends at all. She thought they just hung out together because of Max. But there they were, talking together. In the same seat. They both had that super-serious intense look on their faces that they got sometimes.

They weren't paying attention to her anyway so she looked even closer. Oh my God! Michael was holding Isabel's hand! For some reason, she felt sick. "I don't feel good," she said weakly to Liz as she sat back down again.

"What's wrong?" Liz looked concerned.

"I dunno... Um, would you mind if I moved to another seat? I wanna be by myself for a while."

"I guess not," Liz replied. She stood up to let Maria pass. She slumped in the seat across from Liz, all of her bounce and vigor gone.

"Should I get Mr. Raddish?" Liz asked anxiously.

"No..." Maria felt like crying now. "Just leave me alone for a while, okay?"

"Um, sure," Liz replied, exchanging worried glances with Alex but doing what Maria wanted.

Michael's head peeked over the back of the seat. Isabel was still looking sadly out the window. And he was pretty bored. So he thought he'd spy on Maria for a little while. Maybe get into a little name-calling match with her or something. But she wasn't in the seat with Liz anymore.

He looked down, and there she was, curled up on the seat right below him. He looked furtively around. Liz was talking with Alex about something. Isabel was staring out the window. And Max was reading some dorky science book. Nobody was paying attention, so maybe it would be safe to... Say something kind of nice to her.

"Hey, Barfbreath," he poked her. "You okay?"

She rolled over and watched him, surprised. "You talking to me?"

"You see me poking anyone else?"

"I guess not." She sat up, wiping at her eyes a little.

"Hey, uh..." He leaped into her seat and grinned at her. "Knock, knock."

She giggled a little. "Who's there?"

"Boo."

She smiled. A real smile. Her happy little Maria smile, which warmed him somehow. "Boo who?" she asked, even though she already knew what he would say. It was probably the oldest Knock Knock joke in the world.

"Don't cry, I was only kidding," he answered, looking intently at her.

"You are such a Baloney-head! That joke is older than... than... George Burns!" she burst out. But she was happy and that was all he cared about.

He pretended to ignore her as he casually took a package of M&M's out of his jean jacket pocket. He opened it up and poured out a handful. Would he be able to handle that much without the Tabasco? Didn't matter anyway. He'd probably end up throwing most of them at her. "Want one?"

She picked out a green one and ate it, watching him the whole time and thinking about the science project they had both done about the mystique of the green M&M's. Then he also took a green one and grinned at her while he popped it in his mouth.

Maria wrinkled her nose and reached for a red M&M. She tossed it at his head. "Toiletbowl cleaner!" she yelled.

"Raw sewage face!" he returned without missing a beat as he threw a yellow M&M at her. He wanted to get in as many of his best insults as he could before Mr. Raddish came over and yelled at them.

And that is what started another historic Great M&M Fight between Michael Guerin and Maria DeLuca. She snatched the bag out of his hands and poured herself a handful. "Need ammo," she explained with a smile.

"Yeah," he answered, nodding his understanding.

"Ready?"

"'Course I am."

"Go!" she yelled with delight as they began pummeling each other with the M&M's.

Red, yellow, orange, light brown, dark brown, and even green M&M's were hurtled through the air. "You are such a Cootiebreath!" Maria exclaimed as she tossed M&M after M&M at Michael.

"And you're an ugly Wormface!" he answered as he matched her shot for shot.

"Crusty old dried gymshorts!" Orange one that time.

"Fried-green Pusshead!" Light brown.

And, her old favorite. "Cheeseface!" Red again.

Then they laughed together for a minute while they used up the rest of their first-round ammo. "Need to restock," Maria breathed.

"Yeah. Hold out your hand," Michael replied as he poured some more out.

She picked out another green M&M and ate it, grinning impishly at him. She liked the way the green ones made her feel. Michael finessed a green one out of her hand too and scarfed it down eagerly. Then he poured out a handful for himself.

They got even wilder in the second round. Rogue M&M's flew all over the bus as they whacked each other and called each other by ever-more-vulgar names. Everybody on the bus just ignored them for the most part. They were used to Michael and Maria's little outbursts by now.

The bag was almost empty when the big mistake took place. In a particularly heated frenzy of M&M-throwing and verbal-abuse-exchanging, Maria threw a yellow M&M a little too hard. So hard that it sailed across more than half of the bus and plunked right down on Mr. Raddish's head.

They were too caught up in what they were doing to even notice until a shriek erupted and Mr. Raddish came charging up the aisle in a blind fury. They both paused in mid-throw and turned to look at their enraged teacher. "Mr. Guerin, Miss DeLuca!" Mr. Raddish cried.

They exchanged glances and gulped together nervously. "Give me the bag of M&M's," he ordered. "Now."

Michael silently handed it over. "Uh... Sorry, sir."

Maria grinned charmingly. "Yeah, not gonna happen again."

Mr. Raddish was too upset to even deal with them right now. He just turned and stalked back off down the aisle.

As Mr. Raddish walked away, his face all red and angry-looking, Maria shoved Michael playfully with her usual silly grin. And, looking at her, he thought that the 50 cents he spent buying that package of M&M's was probably the best 50 cents he had ever wasted.

Kyle sat in the very back seat of the bus with Rodney, Tommy, and Paulie, watching the musical chairs that was going on four rows in front of him. First, Michael went to sit with Isabel, then Maria sat on the empty seat across from Liz, and then Michael and Maria had one of their little spazz fights again. He hated how those six always seemed to be involved in some secret together. Like fate had already paired them off or something. Alex was Isabel's King, Max kissed Liz awake in the school play, and even DePukah-Luca and Guerin had that weird thing going after they were Mary and Joseph in the Christmas Pageant. It was conspiracy, just like Grandpa always said it was.

He still couldn't believe that dorky Mr. Raddish had such a pretty wife either. She was pretty in that supermodel way, like Isabel Evans was, not in the nice and sweet way, like Liz, or his mom. It seemed like everyone was automatically paired up with someone else but him.

So when Max started staring at Liz again with that stupid cow-look of his, Kyle decided to take matters into his own hands. "99 bottles of beer on the wall, 99 bottles of beer!"

Tommy grinned, punching him in the shoulder. "Good idea, Valenti." And then he joined in. "You take one down, pass it around...98 bottles of beer on the wall."

When they got to 96, half of the bus was singing. By 92, even goody goody Max was grinning. And by 87, Mr. Raddish had his face buried in his hands, whimpering softly.

"Here, Jimmy, try this." Sylvia handed her husband the bottle of pink cure-all, slipping an arm around his shaking shoulders. Her poor sensitive Jimmy. She hoped he could at least last out the year. But after the disaster at the play, and the rumors that she kept hearing about Michael Guerin and Maria DeLuca throwing M&M's at the science fair... sometimes she had her doubts.

Her husband gave her a grateful look before swigging down half the bottle of Pepto. It was good that she'd decided to buy stock in it at the beginning of the year.

"You sure you want to do this, Jimmy?" She stroked his pale hair back from his forehead, trying not to smile at the red mark on his forehead from where the M&M had ricoched off. "Twenty-four kids, and the two of us, all alone in the desert..."

But a bit of his old fire came back to his eyes. "A tent for two and a night under the stars--what more could I ask for?"

He glared in the direction of Michael and Maria, lustfully singing along with the rest of the class. "Maybe those two will kill each other eventually and put us all out of misery."

She only smiled a bit. She wondered how long it would take Michael Guerin and Maria DeLuca to figure out that they were in love.

Part II

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