Ends of the Earth

Tim hesitated, then asked warily, “What do you want to talk about?”

Great question. “Uh, what have you been up to?”

“Since last night, or my entire teenage existence? Preteen too, actually.”

Jason shifted uncomfortably, picking up leftover dried grass with his toes. “I’m sorry.”

Tim sighed. “No, don’t be. I have to let it go. My girlfriend Regan says I need to release the past or I’ll miss creating beautiful memories for tomorrow. She’s into yoga and meditation and all that. Drinks a lot of smoothies. Burns a lot of incense.”

The name rang a bell. “Oh, right. The redhead you went to prom with? She’s really pretty. How long have you been together?”

“Since junior year. She’s going to UC Santa Cruz and I’m heading to Harvard, so I guess we’ll see what happens. How did you know we went to prom?”

He picked up more dead grass with his toes. “Your Instagram. I’ve followed it for a while now.”

“Huh. Okay.”

As silence stretched out, Jason searched for something to say. “What’s your major going to be?”

“No clue. Not business or law, but Mom and Dad are actually okay with it. They say I can do whatever makes me happy.”

“Whoa. Times have changed.”

Tim was silent a moment, then quietly said, “They really have.”

“I’m glad.” Another silence descended as words tangled on Jason’s tongue. Say the right thing! Okay, just say something at this point. Talk! He blurted, “Hey, maybe I can get your advice.”

There was a pause. “Really? Yeah, sure.”

“Cool.” Jason tried to find the right way to ask, his mind spinning uselessly.

“Uh, Jay? This is the part where you talk.”

He laughed nervously. “I know. Sorry. I suck at this.”

Tim laughed too. “No shit, bro. Hey, where are you? I hear shrieking.”

“At the park with Maggie and her friend.” They were on the swings now, little legs pumping as they tried to fly higher and higher, egging each other on.

“Are the paparazzi hiding in the bushes?”

Jason scoffed, but glanced around. “I don’t see any. It’s not like I’m Brad Pitt. I think they’ve moved on.”

“Guess you’ll find out. That’s cool Maggie’s okay with going outside. I’d probably be hiding under the covers.”

“That’s pretty tempting to me too, not gonna lie. But my—” He cleared his throat. It had been so long since he’d called them anything but “my parents” in awkward conversations if anyone asked about his family. “Well, Mom and Dad are going to pay for a shrink for her, which will be good.”

“What about for you? No offense, but I think you could use some time on the couch too.”

He laughed. “None taken. You’re probably right. I’ll look into it.”

“Mom and Dad would pay for you too.”

“I know. I think I need to start with talking to my friends and stuff. Like you, maybe? I mean, you’re my brother, but… I’d really like it if we could be friends too.” His heart thumped dully.

“Same here.”

Exhaling, Jason said, “Thanks. My neighbor offered to listen to my shit, and she’s really nice, but it would be weird to go from ‘Yes, this is an unseasonably cold spring’ and ‘Has the super told you about the new recycling bins?’ to unloading all this stuff in my head.”

Tim laughed softly. “Yeah, I get that. So go ahead. Unload.”

“Yeah?”

“Just spit it out, dude.”

“Hold on.” To the kids, Jason yelled, “Maggie! No jumping off the swing at the top! I don’t care if Max just did it! And Max, don’t do that again! You know the rules.” The last thing they needed was a trip to the ER. “Tim? Sorry.”

Tim just laughed. “Man, it is trippy that you’re a dad. You sound all grown-up and shit.”

“Well, I try.” He wriggled his feet in the grass. “So… Okay, you were right about Ben—the park ranger we met out there? I totally ran away from him. It was like… He got too close, I guess. So much had happened in only a few days with Maggie missing and us going after her. Things got…intense with Ben. Then Mom and Dad suddenly appeared, and it was like…”

“Circuit overload?”

Jason smiled. “Yeah.”

“I don’t blame you. How did you leave things with Ben?”

“I told him I needed time, and we’ve sent a few excruciatingly lame texts. I don’t know. Maybe he doesn’t even want to be with me anymore. We barely know each other.”

“Dude, what you guys went through? That’s the express version of getting to know someone. It’s like you went on fifty dates. Stressful, crappy, life-threatening dates.”

He laughed. “I guess that’s one way of looking at it.”

“So when was your last boyfriend? Have you been serious about anyone before? Assuming you’re serious about Ben now.”

“I am. I definitely am.” A flock of birds squawked, and he watched them soar in perfect unison. “I’ve never actually had a serious relationship. Or, um, any relationship. Or dates. Or anything. At all. I’m in way over my head here.”