The Rebel

"You're not that much older than me," Michael reminded him, clamping down on the sentimental trash in his head. "I probably would have gotten invited to all the cool parties and had to take you along."

"Would not," Trevor countered.

"Would too," Michael joked.

Maria laughed. "You really are brothers, aren't you?"

"Definitely," Trevor answered. "I paid special attention to all the materials the Kindred gave me on sibling relationships. I wanted to make sure I treated Michael right." He reached over and socked Michael on the arm. "Is that right? Or should I be giving you a wedgie?"

Michael felt himself starting to grin like an idiot and tried to get a grip.

"What I studied didn't mention that friends take responsibility for their friends' siblings," Trevor added.

"You lost me," Michael admitted. He drained his soda in a long gulp.

"The way that Max took charge of Kevin just now," Trevor explained, jerking his chin toward the office.

"That's not so usual," Maria told him. "It's just that in our group, we're almost more like family than friends. I guess that makes Kevin kind of an honorary little brother to Max."

"I definitely think of him as my little brother," Adam volunteered.

As far as Michael knew, this party was only the second time Adam had ever seen Kevin. But Michael wasn't about to bring that up. Not when Adam was trying so hard to prove he was one of them.

"So, okay, you guys. Back to the important topic of bu

"You have to tell me what you're on," Michael teased. "I want to be sure to avoid it."

Maria tilted back her head and stared him in the eye. "Just a little tangerine oil, which is very invigorating," she answered, all serious.

"Can I have some?" Trevor asked.

"Of course." Maria opened her ridiculously small purse and pulled out a vial of oil. She took out the stopper, dabbed some of the oil on her fingers, and then rubbed it into the base of Trevor's throat.

"You could have just given him the vial," Michael muttered. He wanted Trevor to experience pretty much all the cool things earth had to offer-but not getting touched by Maria.

"It's better if it's on a pulse point," Maria explained, still smoothing the oil into Trevor's skin.

"Feels good to me," Trevor answered. He pressed her fingers back to his throat when she started to pull them away.

Michael felt his face start to flush. Was Trevor hitting on Maria? Exactly what "local behavioral norms" had he learned before he showed up here?

"Feels good to me, too," Maria told him. "Did you know fat-free cookies can taste amazingly like the fat-full ones?"

Was she hitting on Trevor? That oil was long gone, and she still hadn't taken her hand away. Michael narrowed his eyes, studying her. Maria's aura was sparkling, little silver flecks scattered through the silky blue.

Michael shoved his hands through his hair. Yeah, there was a very real possibility that she was flirting. He shot another glance at her. Make that she was definitely flirting.

"I've never had a fat-free cookie," Trevor answered, smiling down at Maria.

"Don't listen to her. She doesn't know anything about cookies. She doesn't even eat cookies," Michael informed him.

"I might start," Maria said, still looking at Trevor. Although Michael thought he caught her giving him a lightning-fast glance out of the corner of her eye.

Is she trying to make me crazy?

"So, Trevor, what do you-" Maria began.

Then the lights flickered and the crowd gave an oooh of anticipation. "Get ready to bop!" someone shouted.

"Give me a friggin' break," Michael muttered. He took a step toward the guy ma

"Come on, Michael. We have to give Trevor and Adam the chance to experience the bop," she said.

Michael groaned. But he knew Maria well enough to know that she'd be relentless until she got what she wanted.

"There wasn't anything about the bu

Trevor nodded, glancing around at the lines of people starting to form up and down the aisles of the museum. "Bu

"You swing dance?" Maria exclaimed. "I would love to learn that."

"One of the guards taught me the bu

"Okay, well, both of you should know that Roswell has its own special version of the bu

"There's nothing to be afraid of," Maria said.

"Except looking like a dork," Michael interrupted.

She ignored him, focusing on Adam and Trevor. "What you do is, you put your arms around the waist of the person in front of you." She moved up behind Michael to illustrate, standing close enough that her breasts brushed lightly against him.

Suddenly Michael didn't think the bop was such a horrible idea. Especially since Maria was demonstrating on him and not Trevor.

"Then you kind of bend your knee one way while you twist your foot the other way," Michael said, looking from Trevor to Adam.

"Excellent party!" Maggie McMahon called as she bopped past, followed by her boyfriend, who was dressed in a guy version of the outfit Maggie was wearing. Pathetic.

"Would I give any other kind?" Michael shouted back.

"What do we do after the leg-bending thing?" Adam asked.

"You know what? It's easier if you just watch everyone else and imitate what they do." Michael grabbed Adam by the back of the shirt.

"Now, you grab onto Trevor," he said, before Trevor could wrap his arms around Maria.

Adam obediently linked his fingers through Trevor's belt loops. "Now what?"

"Now we bop!" Maria shouted.

Isabel sat at the top of the spiral staircase, staring down at the party happening below. She liked being able to see everyone in her little group at once, well, everyone but Liz, who was practically being held prisoner at home. Somehow it made her feel safe to see them all together, and safe wasn't something she'd had enough of in her life.

Her eyes ran from person to person-Michael and Trevor scarfing pizza with sugar off one of the display cases, Adam stretched out on the floor with his head next to the boom box, Maria saying something to Max that was making him laugh by the front window, and Alex getting hit on by Stacey Scheinin near the entrance to the coffee shop.

Wait… what?

"Uh-uh. Not go

She could see why Stacey's guy ante

And that was fine. Good for Alex. Really. But Stacey was not getting her Princess Pink nails into him. She'd said way too many nasty things behind Alex's back in the past.

"What do you think of Trevor?" she asked, deciding that was the easiest way to go.

"I think none of us really knows him yet," Alex said slowly "I think until we do, we should be… cautious."

And I think Alex is getting a case of the jealous, Isabel decided. But she wasn't going to let that ruin the night for any of them. She snuggled up closer to Alex and rested her cheek against his chest.

"Cautious. That makes sense," she mumbled.