«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.»
«Thank you," Michael said. «Can I go back to sleep?»
«But," she continued, «you should have asked for help.»
Michael knew that she wasn't going anywhere until she got out what she had come to say. She was persistent like that. Of course, he certainly wasn't going to make it easy for her. «Help doing what?»
«Coming out of your shell," she said, joining him on the couch. «You're always so contained… so secretive. You need to bust out more. You don't even belong to any clubs at school.»
«I'm not really a joiner," he replied.
«Well, then, it's a good thing you're going out with me.» She slapped him on the knee to accentuate her statement.
«That's not the only good thing," he mumbled.
«Funny," she replied, swatting his hand away.
«So, where is this going exactly?»
Even in the darkness, her face could easily be seen beaming with excitement. «I'm going to teach you to sing!»
And for what was definitely one of the rarest occurrences in the life of Michael Guerin, he actually laughed out loud. In fact, he nearly fell off the couch because he was laughing so hard. It was easy to tell that it wasn't genuine laughter, but Maria tried to ignore his inconsiderate response.
She continued, undaunted by his reaction. «No, listen. I'll teach you to sing, and maybe we could even front Alex's old band together.»
«And then I could join the school choir," Michael said derisively, «and we could be the leads in the school play. I hear they're talking about doing West Side Story next year. I could totally see you as Maria… Maria.»
Maria immediately realized how ludicrous her own idea sounded when she said it out loud. Funny how it all worked well in my head. But she was not ready to give up. «Okay, what about sports? Something to get you out in front of people. Do you know that hardly anyone at school even knows who you are?»
«Yes," Michael replied. «That's how I like it. It takes a hell of a lot of work to be as invisible as I've made myself.»
«There's a difference between invisible and nonexistent," she replied.
To Maria, who intended to spend the rest of her life performing in front of others, either idea was an unheard-of concept. As such, she completely ignored him. If Danny could change for Sandy in Grease, then you can certainly
change for me. She knew enough not to say that to him, but she certainly thought it. And why has this conversation suddenly become about musicals?
She continued to push. «Come on, there has to be something you're good at.»
Leaning back into the couch, he closed his eyes, apparently giving up on the conversation. However, Maria had no intention of ending things without helping him find a way to focus his energy. She obviously knew what was better for him than he did.