Roswell High

Type: human
Aura: sparkling blue
Scent: rose
Physical Appearance: Maria is a bouncy short teen with curly blonde hair. She has soft smooth skin and a wide smile that can brighten anyone's day.

With a bubbly personality, Maria is the number one morale booster. She tries to find the good in every situation and her quirky jokes often lighten the mood. She is cute in an innocent way and almost seems childish at times. Despite her silly side, she is serious about her friendships and is not afraid to stand up for her friends.

Maria's father left when she was very young and so Maria grew up with only her mom, her brother Kevin, and her cat Sassafrass. Only Liz Ortecho and Alex Manes--her two best friends in all the world--seem to really understand her. When her mom decides to go out on a date wearing one of Maria's black shirts that shrunk in the dryer, Maria knows she can turn to Liz for support. With her mom being into new-agey type things, Maria finds a special interest in oils and aromas. Whenever she is nervous or scared or stressed, she sniffs a vial of the appropriate scent to calm herself. She takes her oils very seriously and wishes she could convert her friends to the wonders of aroma therapy.

One day, while Maria was working as a waitress at the Crashdown Cafe, she witnessed her best friend getting shot. Holding a towel down against Liz's stomach, Maria tried to stop the bleeding but it kept coming. From behind her, Max Evans, a quiet kid she knew from school, pushed her out of the way, telling her to call an ambulance. Before Maria even knew what was happening, Liz was back on her feet.

Watching Liz fumble back to her feet, Maria tried to find Max--but he had taken off. As Liz explained to Sheriff Valenti that she had fallen and spilled ketchup on herself, Maria wondered what exactly was going on. Later, after Liz had talked to Max, Maria learns that Max Evans, his sister Isabel, and their friend Michael Guerin are aliens from the 1947 crash.

The more Maria gets to know her alien friends, the more she wishes she could understand just what it is like for Michael, being so alone and scared on a planet with few others like himself. When she finds a ring that gives her special abilities to see what other people are doing across town, she thinks she's become psychic.

Excited about having a power like Michael--and hoping that it will help her to understand him better--she is crushed when she learns that every time she uses the ring, she is attacked by bounty hunters. The ring turns out to be one of the three Stones of Midnight from the teen aliens' home planet, and the bounty hunters are working for evil-alien Elsevan DuPris, who is trying to reclaim the stone.

Maria invites Michael over and they soon fall into a routine of watching movies together. It is during these casual dates that Maria falls in love with Michael--but by the time she realizes it, Michael is captured by a secret government organization called Project Clean Slate. While Michael is in prison, both Maria and Isabel Evans work as hard as they can to free Michael, each of them certain that they want to be with Michael as more than just friends.

After breaking Michael out of the Clean Slate compound, Maria demands an answer from him. Who does he love--Maria or Isabel? To her great surprise, Michael chooses Cameron Winger, a girl he had met while trapped in the compound. Though she hurt by Michael's rejection, Maria doesn't give up hope. She continues to help Michael and his alien friends fight DuPris and destroy the collective consciousness, which has taken Max Evans hostage. When Michael has an opportunity to return to his home planet, he seriously thinks about his life and decides to stay on Earth because Maria, he realizes, is his home and his love.