The Decision

[I do not own the OC, I own the plot in this story. I made up the name of the high school in Paris, FYI I am from Bordeaux, France so yeah... Alright, the intro. This is an RT fic, with background SS possible sub plots. Ok. Then, enjoy the intro, and review if you like the concept, or if you don't and you think it needs an edit.

Orange County, California

Ryan Atwood sat on his bed in the pool house, grasping the letter in his hands that he'd received just yesterday from Harbor School. Next to him sat his good friend and brother Seth Cohen. Both were contemplating the same thing, to do a semester abroad, or not to do a semester abroad.

Seth had a list of pros and cons that he and Summer had made up the day before. The three of them had had excellent grades in their first semester of senior year, and had therefore been given the opportunity to spend their second semester abroad at the premier high school in Paris, Lycée le Mieux. They were three of only ten students being given the option to go. Unfortunately, Marissa could not go, seeing as her parents couldn't exactly afford to send her to Paris, not to mention the fact that she was currently enrolled at Newport Union. She was sort of not talking to any of the other members of the fab four at the moment, which was a sore issue with them all.

"So, the pros are: Invaluable experiences, improving our French, and hot girls, which is not written on the list." Seth explained.

Ryan rolled his eyes. "Uh, you have a girlfriend, a serious girlfriend, Seth." Ryan stated as he pointed at the picture sitting on the counter of Seth, Ryan, and Marissa, in which Seth was hugging Summer, and Ryan and Marissa were making faces at each other.

"Dude, so not talking regarding moi, I am speaking concerning vous." Seth elaborated nervously, half concerned Ryan would tell Summer about his comment.

Ryan laughed when he noticed Seth had mixed French into his conversation. "And, what are the cons?" Ryan asked as he stared at the picture of the fab four listlessly.

"Aw, well, there's...Marissa..." Seth started, and Ryan's face dropped, and both stared wistfully at the picture, showing Summer, Seth, Ryan, and Marissa as they belonged, best friends. "Uh, and well, you know our parents...though we could visit sometimes..." Seth added about a minute and a half later.

Ryan nodded, beginning to regain his composure. Just then, Summer burst through the door, and jumped in between Seth and Ryan onto the bed in the pool house.

"So, what's the word, Atwood, Cohen, are we going to the City of Chanel?" Summer asked excitedly.

"Dunno yet, Summer me darling, dunno yet." Seth responded. Ryan gained enough will to nod slowly in agreement.

"I really need something to, you know, distract me," Summer stated simply, speaking for the three of them in their current state of mind. Again, Ryan lethargically nodded.

"Oh so true Pumpkin, oh so true." Seth agreed. Ryan thought it over for a few minutes while Seth and Summer debated the issue.

"Let's go." Ryan stated simply as took out a pen, and checked the 'yes' box on his form.

"Sounds good." Seth said as he and Summer did the same. The three of them walked through the house chatting happily about their plans for Paris, and how awesome it would be. Seth wanted to see Musée du Louvre, Summer wanted to visit the original House of Chanel boutique, and Ryan wanted to soak up the architecture. It sounded like a great idea. The three of them stuck their envelopes in the mail, and went back inside, where a proud Sandy and Kirsten awaited, ready to shower them with praise.

"We're so glad you guys decided to go!" Kirsten squealed as she enveloped her two boys, and Summer, who was basically her daughter-in-law in a huge, smothering, motherly, bear hug. "But I am gonna miss you three so much!" Kirsten added tearfully.

"Mothers are so emotional about this stuff. But I'm a cool dad." Sandy explained in a 'chill' voice. Ryan laughed, Kirsten rolled her eyes, Seth twitched, and Summer grinned.

It was decided after the laughter and banter that ensued during all Cohen family meetings that Sandy, Kirsten, Seth, Summer, and Ryan would spend Winter Break in Paris and get acquainted with the city before the three teens started school there in January.

Paris, France

"Envoyez s'il vous plaît les formes?" Taylor Townsend requested as she walked down the hall of Lycée le Mieux. "Merci," She added when it was confirmed that her task was being correctly attended to. Whenever the foreign exchange students came to Lycée le Mieux, there was always a lot of work for her. Taylor walked into the teacher's lounge to get her official assignment-list for the exchange students. She read down the list she was supposed to give tours to. Her assigned school was the Harbor School, a very elite school in Newport Beach, California.

The top ten students who spoke French were on the list, in order of GPA. "Summer Roberts, Seth Cohen, Ryan Atwood..." Taylor trailed off as she read them aloud. "Interesting enough." She stated as she began to thumb through the transcripts. She was surprised when she looked at Summer Robert's. In her first 3 years of high school, she'd gotten B's and A's, which in Senior year had transformed into strait A's, AP courses, and a 2350 on the SAT. She was now poised to be Valedictorian. Seth Cohen, on the other hand, had strait A's all the way through, but a B in PE that put him below Summer GPA wise. Ryan Atwood, had transferred from Chino, CA, which Taylor knew was a rowdy neighborhood because of her past frequent visits to California. And now, he was burning up Harbor's classes, but had fallen behind in course work because of absences. All seemed interesting. She couldn't wait to meet them. Taylor Townsend had no idea what was coming.

[Sorry this was so boring, but I couldn't help it, it is after all an intro. Review what you want plot/character wise, and if you want much SS drama, or if you want them to be in the background. For everyone's info, this does not mean I have abandoned my Future Fic Series, I am just doing other stuff to. In addition, the school system in France is pretty different from the American one in some respects, so I am just going to simplify it.