Dreamwalk

6

Ms both meals came to very different conclusions in Roswell, another dinner came to an end forty miles south in Artesia. Max finally was able to relax once all the pizza had been eaten, considering he had spent most of the meal worrying that they were going to spill something on the perfectly clean beige carpet. A few times, he suspected that Jason had been aware of his concern, since the boy kept holding his glass of soda precariously over the floor with an evil grin on his face.

Having spent a little time with Jason, Max had to wonder whether this was the same person Liz had grown up with. He didn't seem at all like the boy she had described. Talk about invasion oj the body snatchers, he thought. Then, for one infinitesimally brief moment he feared that was the truth behind Jason's behavior. Stranger things have happened. Shaking off the ridiculous thought, Max got up to clear away their mess.

After removing the remains of the slightly overcooked pizza, Max found one of those gross-out comedy movies

playing on cable. Although he really hated that kind of base humor, he knew kids seemed to like it, so he let Jason watch. It was the first bit of bonding they had done, although very few words were actually spoken. Unfortunately, the movie was only two hours long, and silence filled the air again as soon as the TV was clicked off.

«Your parents should be in Santa Fe by now.» Liz checked her watch. «They might be calling soon.»

«I wouldn't wait by the phone," Jason replied.

«What is with this attitude?» Liz asked.

«Nothing," he said. «I just don't expect them to call.»

«Well, if they do call, I want to ask you a favor," Liz said.

A smile crept to Jason's lips, but it was not warm and inviting. «Go ahead.»

Liz sighed. She knew that she could trust the Jason she had grown up with, but whoever it was sitting on the couch with her was totally different from the boy she had known. «It's just… they don't know Max is staying here.»

«And you want to keep it that way," Jason finished her thought. «Okay.»

That was easy.

«What's in it for me?» he added.

Max was caught off guard by the devious mind of the twelve-year-old, but even more surprised by Liz's sudden response.

«How «bout I let you live until morning.» She used a threat that was totally out of character for her, obviously not knowing what else to do.

«I'm going to my room.» Jason stood.

When Liz and Max said nothing in response, he left.

They both listened as he stomped up the stairs, remembering back to how they themselves would stomp around their respective homes when they were that age. They waited for the door to slam.

It did.

«That is not the boy I grew up with," Liz said once she knew Jason was well out of earshot.

Body snatchers, Max thought once again, not wanting to make the joke out loud, for fear Liz would think he was making light of the situation. «It's not easy being a boy at this age," he replied. «I know from experience.»

«Yeah, but you were dealing with other things too," Liz said.

«That doesn't matter," Max said. «I was still a boy. And I had my dad around to talk to about the nonalien things.»

«Somehow Mr. Lyles doesn't seem all that receptive to talking about»-Liz thought for a moment-«well… anything.» A lightbulb went off in Liz's head. «Maybe he just needs a guy to talk to. Someone closer to his own age.»

«I don't know, Liz," Max said skeptically.

«Hey, if anyone can talk to him about changes in life…," she replied.

«With someone he's only just met and hardly said two sentences to?» Max was not excited about the coming conversation. «Maybe he'd rather talk to you. In fact, this could be all about that. He wasn't expecting you to bring a date this weekend.»

«He refused to come out of the room before he knew you were here," Liz said. «It's something else.» She then hit him with the sad doe eyes that she could do better than anyone Max had ever met.

Moments later, Max found himself heading up the stairs to the second floor and knocking on the door to Jason's bedroom. «Can I come in?»

«No," Jason replied.

Max tried the doorknob, but it was locked again. «Would you like me to open the door like I did last time?»

Max heard footsteps, and then the door lock being turned. Well, at least that's one small victory. He waited in the hall, but for reasons he could only assume were territorial in nature, Jason never opened the door. Showing himself into the room, Max found Jason had already made his way back to his bed and had his head buried in a comic book.

The whole point of the weekend was for Max to get an idea of what his own fatherhood was going to be like. As he stood in the doorway looking at a sullen preteen who was trying to ignore him, Max's personal fears were suddenly justified. But he had to ignore those future dilemmas for the time being as he dealt with the problems of 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.»