I don't own the O.C.
The song at the end is the Against the Odds originally by Phil Collins, but I hightly reccomend the Postal Service cover.
"C'mon Coop. The water polo team only goes to regional like once every century," Summer sat on Marissa's bed in the Roberts' house.
"You wouldn't go if Zach wasn't on the team," Marissa told Summer.
"Please?" Summer pleaded, "I don't want to go alone."
"Fine," Marissa smiled, "I can't help it when you beg like that."
Summer giggled, "Awesome. C'mon we have to go. It starts in an hour."
Marissa got up and followed Summer out the door.
"I wonder what's going on at the beach," Marissa looked across the parking lot from the water polo arena.
Summer looked around, "I dunno." She spotted the entrance and pulled Marissa to it. Once inside the polo arena, they took a seat and watched the ongoing match.
"Is that Zach?" Marissa asked.
Summer shrugged, "They all look the same with those things on their heads. Go Harbor!"
Marissa raised an eyebrow. "So they're trying to get the ball in those little net things?"
"I have no idea," Summer smiled, "But there are a lot of hot guys in Speedos down there."
Marissa looked around and sat back in her seat. She didn't really want to be there. This wasn't her scene anymore. Of course right now she didn't know what her scene was. But this definitely wasn't it.
"Hey," Zach walked up to them after he changed in the locker room.
"Hey," Summer stood up and kissed him, "You did so good."
"Thanks," Zach smiled, "There's a couple hours before my next match. Do you two wanna go check out the surf regionals across the parking lot."
"Yes," Marissa said and stood up quickly, wanting to get out the polo crowd as fast as possible.
Once they were outside, Summer and Zach held hands while walking across the parking lot while Marissa played with the phone in her hand, following them.
They got some seats on the bleachers with a great view of the water.
"Why isn't anyone surfing?" Summer asked.
"They're tallying the scores of the first heats," Marissa answered.
Summer raised her eyebrow.
"I watch a lot of surfing," Marissa shrugged.
"I'm starving," Zach told the girls, "I'm going to get some nachos. Do you two want anything?"
Summer shook her head.
"Water please," Marissa told him.
Zach nodded and walked off.
"Now," Summer scanned the crowd, "Let's find you a hot surf guy to get your mind off Ryan."
"What?…oh," Marissa sighed, "It's not on Ryan."
"You've been thinking about someone," Summer put her sunglasses on, "I know that look in your eye."
Sometimes Marissa hated the Summer knew her so well. Truthfully she hadn't been thinking of Ryan, but right then it seemed like the right answer to keep Summer from asking any more questions. Who she was actually thinking about would spark a whole slew of questions Marissa wasn't ready for. She opened her mouth to tell Summer when the announcer came over the loudspeaker.
"After the first round the heats," the announcer boomed, "The two high schools heading to the finals are Oceanview High School and Huntington Beach Prep."
The crowd erupted and a cheer came from the tents that the teams were sitting under.
"Cool," Zach walked back to them, "The finals." He handed Marissa her water and sat next to Summer.
"Thanks," Marissa took the water.
"And the surfers competing for Huntington Prep are Will Barnett and Reagan Isley," the announcer called, "And competing for Oceanview High are Conner Benson and Alex Kelly."
Marissa felt her hear stop. She quickly recovered telling herself that there were probably more Alex Kelly's in the world that the one she once dated and had coincidentally been thinking about all day.
All her fears were realized when she saw her Alex trotting out to the water with her surf board. The same surf board Alex taught her how to surf on. The same surf board they laid on under the stars after the lesson was over. The same Alex that she fell for.
"Coop?" Summer's voice broke into her thoughts.
"Huh?" Marissa asked.
"I said your name like ten times," Summer told her.
"I just…never expected to see her here," Marissa sighed.
"She did say she was going back to school right?" Summer asked.
Marissa nodded.
Summer's mouth dropped open, "You haven't been thinking of Ryan all day. You've been thinking about Alex."
Marissa sighed, "Today would have been the day we would have been together for six months. We were going to drive up to the mountains and she was going to teach me how to snowboard. We were both saving up for it."
"You miss her?" Summer asked.
Marissa shrugged off the question. Of course she missed Alex, but she couldn't admit it especially since she was the one that dumped Alex.
"She's good," Zach watched Alex catch her first wave. "She the one that used to work in the Bait Shop right?"
Marissa nodded, "Yup."
After a phenomenal run by Alex, she caught a small wave to shore with her teammate and was greeted by the rest of her ecstatic team.
"The scores have been tallied," the announcer said, "And the winners are Oceanview High."
The group of surfers from Oceanview cheer and hugged each other until the officials walked over with the giant trophy. They handed it to Alex who raised it over her head and laughed.
Alex looked happy. It hurt Marissa to see Alex happy. Maybe she was being selfish, but Marissa was kind of hoping that Alex was feeling like she was right then.
Summer nudged Marissa, "Go talk to her."
"I can't," Marissa shook her head.
"Just go say congratulations," Summer stood and pulled Alex up. Zach followed them toward the Oceanview group through the surfers who had been waiting for the competition to be over so they could surf.
Marissa caught a glimpse to Alex through the crowd. She was talking to an older man who was wearing a baseball cap. He handed her a shirt and she smiled. Then he gave her a business card and walked away.
Alex turned back to the group and said something. A guy stepped out of the crowd and picked Alex up, spinning her around.
Marissa turned around and started walking away, but Summer caught her arm, "You're such a chicken."
"I think we've been spotted," Zach told the girls.
Marissa's head snapped in the direction of where Alex was. Their eyes immediately locked and Marissa's breath got caught in her throat.
"C'mon," Summer said, "It's too late to back out now."
Marissa walked with Summer toward Alex. Alex started making her way to them. She was wearing the tank top that the man gave her. It said UC Berkeley Surfing.
"Hey," Marissa shoved her hands in her pockets and let out a breath.
"What are you guys doing here?" Alex asked quietly.
"We came to watch the water polo championship," Summer explained seeing as how Marissa was apparently not going to do much talking.
Alex nodded and saw Zach, "Oh yeah."
"You were really awesome out there," Zach broke in, "Are you going to UC Berkeley?"
Alex nodded, "It looks like it. They're starting a surf team and he offered me a scholarship to go."
"Wow," Summer smiled, "Marissa just got accepted there."
"Oh," Alex looked at Marissa who wasn't really talking, "Maybe I'll see you around. I…um…I gotta go."
"Hey!" a guy walked over to Alex and saw who she was talking to, "Hi. I'm Steve."
"Hi," Marissa smiled politely.
"We're having a party to celebrate the awesomeness that is Alex," he smiled and handed them a flyer, "You should come."
"I'm sure you have like a water polo something to go to," Alex told them and pushed Steve away. He smiled at her and walked off.
"Alex!" someone else called, "We're leaving!"
"Um…it was nice seeing you," Alex told them and walked off.
Marissa sighed, "That went well."
"She still feels something for you," Summer stated as they walked back to the polo arena.
"Yeah right," Marissa crossed her arms. She felt like going home, getting into bed and never coming out again.
"Really," Summer stated, "It wouldn't have been all awkward like that if she was over you. We're going to this party." Summer handed Marissa the flyer.
"What's the point?" Marissa sighed.
"You're going to see if you can get her to get back together with you so you'll stop moping around," Summer stated, "You've had plenty of missed anniversaries with Ryan and you never got this upset."
"I hate it when you're right," Marissa sighed.