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Chapter 3
"Did you sleep at all, Jessie?" his mom asked as she set a plate of pancakes in front of him.
"He was out early," Ryder said.
"Doesn't look like it. Did you have bad dreams or something, sweetie?"
Jessie shook his head and stifled a yawn. He couldn't remember dreaming, waking up in the night, or anything. The flying saucer, though, must've been a dream. The local news had been on all morning, and there'd been no mention of a UFO at all.
"Well, it's probably the cold. I don't like you camping out this time of year. If you two are still planning on sleeping over at Ryder's house tonight, please sleep inside." She looked at Ryder. "Promise?"
"Yes, Mrs. Campbell."
She leaned over and spread a pat of butter over Jessie's pancakes before drizzling syrup over each one. Jessie blushed as he noticed Ryder doing his best to not laugh out loud. "Aw, Mom, I'm not a baby."
"I know, sweetie. You just look so worn out. I want to make sure you have a good breakfast. Maybe you should consider waiting a night before sleeping over."
"That's okay, Mrs. Campbell. There's an air mattress that Jessie can sleep on. He's always been comfortable on it before. Right, Jess?"
Jessie remembered that air mattress and nodded. It wasn't as good as his bed, but he had to admit it was way better than the chaise lounge from last night. "I'll be fine, Mom."
She opened her mouth to say something more, but to her credit closed it back up and nodded. "Your mom knows about tonight, Ryder?"
"I told her." As he attacked his pancakes, he said, "Like that means anything," out of the side of his mouth so only Jessie could hear.
Jessie suppressed a chuckle and took a large, gooey, maple-syrupy bite. He'd have been worried, but he knew that even if Mrs. Gonzalez did forget, she wouldn't mind. She'd set another spot at the dinner table and get one of Ryder's older brothers to fetch the air mattress from the attic. It'd happened enough times in the past.
"Aren't you two back in school yet?" came Dad's voice from the hallway. Jessie turned and saw the diet shake in his hand. He knew Dad would be regretting the post-holiday diet when he saw the pancakes.
"Winter break, Mr. C," Ryder said. "We still have two weeks to go."
"Two more weeks? Wow, you kids have it easy these days." Jessie saw the twinkle in his dad's eyes and had to suppress a giggle. A stifled chuckle to his left proved Ryder knew what was coming, too.
"They also have quite a bit shorter summer vacation than we ever did, Gerald." Mom was too late to head him off, though.
"Yeah, but they never had to walk uphill both ways to school. And it was either in a blizzard or 150 degree heat. But did I ever get a ride to school? Nope. I walked three miles! And that's one way."
Both Jessie and Ryder were laughing into their pancakes at this point, but Mom just rolled her eyes. "You grew up in Laguna Beach," she said. "The rest of the country dreamed of having year-round weather like you had."
"You forgot to remind him that he never had to walk further than four blocks to any of his schools, Mom," Jessie added.
Dad winked before hitting him with a playful frown. "Traitor."
That did it. Jessie and Ryder howled with so much laughter that they could only wave goodbye as Dad walked out the door for work. Even Mom wore a smile.
The boys spent the day inside playing video games. The crystal clear night had given way to early morning clouds which turned to rain by mid-morning. So instead of hitting the park for a pick-up baseball game, they made do with head-to-head battles on Jessie's Xbox. By mid-afternoon the worst of the storm had passed, and they walked over to Ryder's house.
Mrs. Gonzalez stood at the stove, stirring mac and cheese. "Hi, boys. Have a good day?"
"We stayed inside all day playing video games because of the rain," Ryder said.
"So, yes, a good day," she said.
Jessie laughed and she gave him a smile. He always enjoyed his trips over here. Mrs. Gonzalez did her best to make him feel welcome, and Ryder's three brothers went out of their way to make sure he was comfortable and happy. Ryder tried to spin tales about how strange his family was, but Jessie could tell they were like this even when no one was visiting.
"Are you here for dinner, Jessie?"
"Mom, I told you a couple of days ago that he was spending the night. Remember? When I told you I was staying at his house last night?"
She shrugged. "I must've said yes, so I can't back out now. Refresh my memory, Jessie. Bacon crumbled into the mac and cheese, or in strips on the side?"
"Crumbled in is good." He preferred it on the side, but he knew Ryder and his brothers loved it mixed in, so he'd go with the crowd.
"Okay, you two, go wash up. And, Ryder, go get your brothers. Dinner'll be on the table in five minutes."
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