a troubled boy whom he hardly knew. And to think he could be in Roswell running from aliens or the FBI right now.
Max decided to play along for a while and take some time to look around Jason's room. He had not really noticed the place earlier when he had gotten Jason to come downstairs, so he gave himself a private tour, hoping to find some clues to the attitude or, at least, some item over which they could bond.
The first thing Max noticed was that, like the rest of the house, this was by far one of the cleanest rooms he had ever seen in his life. There were no clothes littering the floor, and nothing looked out of place. Even the posters
on the walls were in frames rather than taped or thumb-tacked up. The more Max found out about Jason, the more intriguing the kid became to him.
Checking out Jason's desk, Max picked up a framed photo of the Lyles family. The three of them were sitting on ATVs in the middle of the desert. At first, it seemed unlikely to Max that the cleanest people he had ever met would go off-roading, but upon closer inspection he noticed that, while Jackie and Jason were covered in dirt, George had somehow managed to remain spotlessly clean. Max assumed that George was just tagging along while the rest of his family and whoever took the picture were out to have fun.
But, most importantly, Max had found their common bond. «You like to ride?» He held the picture out to Jason. «My dad took me out on these same kind of ATVs a few times when I was younger.»
Jason turned the page of his comic book.
«He used to call them bicycles with an attitude,' Max continued. «Eventually, my dad told me it was getting too expensive to rent them.»
«We own ours.»
He speaks.
Max considered suggesting that they take a ride out on them this weekend, as a bonding experience. He quickly realized that it was one thing for him to be there in secret, but it was quite another for him to take a twelve-year-old out on a dangerous vehicle without adult supervision. However, he was not going to let the opportunity slip away. «Maybe some weekend when your folks are home, I could come down and go riding with you.»
«Whatever.»
«No, it'll be fun. I'll ask your mom when she gets back,' Max knew he was pushing too hard, but he couldn't help himself.
There was a long pause as he tried to figure out his next move. «What are you reading?» Max tried valiantly to keep the small talk going.
Again, Jason just turned the page.
Wanting to make some kind of connection, Max reached out, placing his hand on Jason's shoulder. The kid immediately pulled away and shot Max an almost murderous look. Then, the hatred in his eyes receded as if he just shook it off. «Please don't touch me,' he said with his voice two levels softer than a whisper.
Undaunted, Max continued, but kept a distance so he didn't cross the line again. «Look, Jason. I know we just met,' Max pushed ahead in paternal mode, «but if there's anything you want to talk about, you can tell me… Maybe something you'd be more comfortable saying to me than Liz?»
No response.
«Trust me, I know how difficult it can be.» Max used his own personal experience, remembering back to the things he had wished someone would have said to him when he'd gone through life changes-though his changes had been a little more extreme than what Jason was going through. «You may think you're alone, but trust me: Every guy has gone through what you're going through.»
Jason gave him a look like he honestly had no idea what Max could possibly be talking about.
Not knowing how far he should go with this particular
conversation, Max paced the room as he chose his words carefully. «It's totally natural for these things to happen. You're just moving on to the next stage of your life.»
A smirk came across Jason's face as the boy realized exactly what this conversation was about. «What stage?» he asked coyly.
«1 think you know what I'm talking about.» Max read the boy's expression.
«Is this a sex talk?» Jason spat out.
«No!» Max quickly responded. He wasn't exactly sure how far this discussion was going to go, but he was fairly sure that Jason's parents wouldn't be thrilled if some teen they didn't know suddenly took it upon himself to tell their son all about the birds and the bees. «It's in the same general area, but I don't think that's a discussion you and I should be having. Look, Liz considers you a close friend. And since Liz and I are close friends, she wanted you and me to be friends as well. I'd like that too. And as a friend, I wanted to let you know that if you want to talk about anything… if you have any questions about anything… I'm here.»
«Are you and Liz having sex?» Jason leaned forward, giving his undivided attention for the first time in the conversation.
«I don't think that's really your business, but no.» Max didn't intend to answer the question at all, but he did want to make sure that if any of this weekend was relayed back to the parental units, Jason would get that part right.
«Why not?» Jason asked.
«That's really none of your business,' Max said. «And we're here to discuss you.»
«I'm not.»
«Well, I am,' Max said. «And that's the point I want to make. I know we've just met and you don't know me. But I'll be here for the rest of the weekend if you feel like opening up. Okay?»
Jason took a moment to think about what Max had said. «Okay.»
It was a small victory, but Max knew to take whatever he could. «I'll be downstairs if you need me.» He made his way to the door, but had one more fatherly piece of advice before he left. «You should get to bed soon. It's getting late.»
7
Hours later, when most people in both Artesia and Roswell were asleep, there was a loud knocking on Michael Guerin's apartment door. Maria knew that he was home and was not at all happy about how she had left their dinner earlier. Now, she was back to put an end to their fight once and for all.
If Michael would only answer the door.
«Who is it?» he groggily shouted.
«It's me,' Maria answered back with a much lighter tone than the last time she was at his door. «Who else would be knocking at two A.M.?»
«Around here? It could be anyone,' his muffled voice said.
«Can't argue with that,' she conceded, still staring at the closed door. «Are you planning on letting me in?»
«I'm thinking about it,' he said, finally opening the door for her.
«Look, I'm here to apologize.» She pushed past him and entered the still darkened apartment. Luckily she was familiar enough with the place that she could make her
way around without getting hurt. Far be it for him to turn on a light for me.
«Apology accepted.» He stumbled over to his couch. «Couldn't you have done that over the phone?»
Maria turned on a lamp so she could see, temporarily blinding Michael, which she saw as a minor victory in passive aggression. «No, because I need to explain why I'm apologizing.»
«Because you were wrong.» Michael was always great at cutting right to the chase in any situation. He reached over to turn off the bright light, taking his own little victory from her.
Maria counted to ten and resigned herself to the fact that this discussion was going to be held by the moonlight coming through the window. «I am willing to accept that I was wrong to assume that you would be comfortable performing in front of people.»
