*** Chapter Two***

An 11 year old girl stood sulking beside her parents, a little to the back infront of a familiar house in Roswell, New Mexico.

"Don't slouch Maria, it doesn't look good." Amy directed towards her daughter who was steadily growing taller than most boys

Maria Deluca stood a bit taller when she squared her shoulders and stood upright, although she was still tiny since only being 11 years old. Her wild curls had been cut and were styled at a shorter length, bobbing around around chin, her flashing green eyes just a bit more mature, and her mouth just waiting to be turned on.

She turned on a dazzling smile and hugged Julia and Mike when they answered their door, just like so many years before.

"God your getting so pretty..." Mike Said with a smile, sometimes he wished for a daughter, but he had his nieces, and knew if he ever had a girl, she'd be the death of him.

"Thank you Mr. Guerin."

"Where's Sean?" Julia asked, slightly disappointed to see the boy in question not with them.

"Camp remember? He wanted to go to that camp, some girl..." Brian waved it off. His 15 year old son had become girl crazy, he hadn't expected anything else.....

Maria charmed the grown ups many times that summer, but most of the time she spent chasing after Michael Guerin and his cousin, Max Evans who was the same age as them.

******

"Hey Michael, Max, wait for me!" The little pixie girl called from across the large backyard of the Guerin place.

"Oh crap, not again. I thought we lost her.." Michael muttered to himself, he had dreaded this summer all along when Maria Deluca would once again show up, the only thing he hadn't expected was her to be around every single second, bugging him and Max when they tried to be alone.

He couldn't help but chuckle though when he saw his cousin's horrified expression. While he had spent so many summers with the girl and was used to her in so many ways, this was the first time that Max had ever stayed in Roswell for the summer, and the first time really having to deal with Deluca.

"I can't take anymore of her talking Michael..." Max whispered.

"Run to the club house.."Michael instructed quickly and just as Maria began to gain on the two boys, they took off across the yard, running towards a large branchy tree, and raced up a ladder into the club house that was up in the tree.

"You guys!" She cried, running after them. She finally reached the club house and banged on the door, not looking over the edge in fear she'd turn completely girly and cry at the height. "This isn't fair!" She cried out, her bottom lip quivering as she read the 'No Grls' sign that was suddenly thrown out on the door.

"Go away Deluca! Your bugging us to death, go play with your dolls." Michael called out through the small wooden door. "You should have gone to camp with your brother." He said cruely.

She sucked up her tears, anger settling in her eyes along with sadness. "Fine! I didn't want to play with a bunch of mean and dumb boys anyways." Later she would regret her next move. She got angry and kicked hard a few times on a board until it shifted. It was one of the main beams holding the club house up, and it brought the entire thing tumbling down.

The three kids were grounded for the rest of the summer, not that it would matter.

When the Deluca's left, their were no happy smiles about leaving or having fun that summer. A little girl left with a sprained wrist and a few scraps and bruises. Two boys sat in the living room, looking sour with opposite legs propped up, both broken from a nasty fall out of a tree house.

*** Three Years Later ***

Three years later, another summer visit by the Deluca's was being made to Roswell and to the Guerin's. This time, 14 year old Maria with her golden curls and flashing green eyes, wasn't forced to go on the trip, she had come happily.

"Julia!" The blooming young teenager grinned as she hugged the other woman who was almost like a second mother to her. "You cut your hair.." She said with wide eyes, it was the first time she'd ever seen her without her long beautiful locks. "I love it!"

"Your getting taller Maria.." Mike noticed, laughing as the young woman flung herself into his arms and he hugged her back.

"Well of course I am, how else am I ever going to beat Michael without being tall?" She questioned with a devilish smirk as the adults laughed.

"Well if your in a hurry to see Mikey boy, he's outback doing something I think." Julia told the girl as she ushered Brian and Amy inside, already knowing that Sean had decided to stay the summer at boarding school instead of going home or even to Roswell.

"That's alright, I'm gonna go get some cd's from the car, and then check out some of the town.... If that's okay." She turned those big eyes on her father who nodded and smiled.

A few seconds later, she was walking back down the steps towards her fathers car, but she stopped half way, hearing something to her left, and before she could figure out what it was, something wet hit the side of her face, then dropped to the ground. She made a face and quickly looked down to see a piece of tomato had been thrown at her. Her narrowed eyes hit the tree's and she huffed when she saw Michael grinning, holding a slingshot. She huffed more, forgetting her reason to the car and just started off down the street, Michael chuckles echoing after her.

******

"How do you play this so well?" Max asked later that day as he and Maria sat around a small table up in the atic, Michael scowled off to the side as he continued to play his gameboy, but listened to the two.

"Sean taught me when he came back from school over Spring Break..." The young woman smiled, her eyes lighting up softly as she looked fondly at the boy across from her. She had been going through boxes earlier, trying to find something to do since it was storming, and had ended up with an old dress pulled over her clothes and a large sun hat planted on her head. Max had admitted she looked cute, but Michael had simply snorted and looked away. "Your doing good though Max, your a fast learner." She batted her eyes at him as she reached across and squeezed his arm before pulling away, trying hard not to smile at his blush.

Michael scowled more. That's all the girl did, touch and compliment and flirt and it was really unnerving. What happened to the loud mouth cheese curl that wanted to do nothing but ride bikes and play outback, the girl that wasn't afraid of telling you exactly how she felt? This girl before him was an alien or something, she talked in that girly tone and batted her eyelashes, and was always running her hand across the arms of people. She'd done it earlier to him when she'd gotten back from her walk to town, it had left a weird feeling in the pit of his stomach, he didn't like it at all.

"You know Max... I didn't think I'd like it much this summer when my mom told me you were gonna be here again, I thought it'd be like that one summer with the club house incident." Maria said, and blushed as she thought of what she'd done, but denied for so long, saying the beam had just magically fell out of place, she hadn't touched it. "But I'm glad your here, your making this summer better."

"Shut your trap goldie locks." Michael said with a roll of his eyes, "Max isn't going to fall for it, he aint' gonna do it." He looked up, and cursed as he looked at Max's expression, then quickly looked around to make sure no adults were around to hear his cursing. "Maxwell, you cannot seriously be thinking of doing this?! Can you?"

"Well... what's so wrong with it Michael? It'll make Maria happy."

"SHE WANTS TO HAVE A FASHION SHOW!" Michael boomed with wide eyes at Max, not believing his cousin at all, "We are men, Maxwell, we don't dress up and parade around for anyone, especially our parents!"

15 minutes later, a grouchy Michael was being dragged around by Maria downstairs, decked out in an old dress of his mothers, grumbling about pressure and stupid chesse girl curls that didn't know have to take no as an answer.

Lets just say he couldn't wait for her to leave.

Leaving day came soon enough and he couldn't keep himself from being giddy. He'd get his room and life back and Deluca would be gone.

He stood in the doorway, leaning against the frame as the goodbyes were said, he stayed a few extra minutes as his parents went into the house and the Deluca's went to their car. He turned when he saw Deluca getting in, and started inside, but froze when something large and wet exploded against the back of his head. He touched his hair and found red... tomato!! He turned quickly and saw Maria sitting in the car as it backed up, a large smile on her face as she waved a sling-shot at him. HIS SLING SHOT!

Oh he couldn't wait until next year, he'd get her back.

TBC