The Donnie Challenge Keesha (Sep 03)
Disclaimer: The characters and situations of the TV program "The OC" are the creations of Fox and have been used without permission. No copyright infringement is intended.
Placement: Within "The Outsider". What happens between the scene where Ryan and Donnie go off to the first party together without Seth and the next morning when Seth and Ryan have breakfast.
Part 1
Ryan glanced over his shoulder at the receding form of Seth as he followed Donnie down the walk. The kid from Chino felt a twinge of guilt leaving his housemate behind. Seth had said he did not want to hang with Donnie and him though his denial had been a half-hearted one at best. Ryan debated about turning back and applying a little pressure to Seth to get him to come; it would not take much, he suspected. However, Donnie clapped him on the shoulder diverting his attention towards the two girls standing on the edge of the sand waiting for them.
"These are honeys, not like the girls in the OC. These women are hot, ready to play and they know how to party," Donnie said wrapping his arm around Ryan's shoulder in a conspiratorial fashion.
Ryan shrugged, partly as a reply and partly to dislodge Donnie's arm. It was a bit weird. Donnie was acting like they were old-time buds, not two guys who hooked up eight hours ago because they worked in the same place and both came from the wrong side of the tracks.
Donnie was also wrong about the girls from the OC. Having been to some of their over-privileged parties, Ryan could say from experience that the OC girls partied as hard as everyone else did. The rich kids just did it with more expensive clothes, food, drinks and drugs. The results however, were the same, drunkenness and debauchery.
By the time Ryan thought to glance over his shoulder again, Seth had departed. Oh well, he rationalized; no one said I had to hang with Seth 24/7. He was his own person and could have friends other than Seth here in the OC.
Squinting over at Donnie, Ryan did momentarily question his choice for a new friend. The blond teenager was no fool. He knew kids like Donnie and he knew hanging with them was like playing with matches; it was exciting but sometimes you got burned. Still, it was nice to have someone to relate to here that understood where he came from. Ryan decided to play out the hand and see where this budding friendship led.
When they reached the beach babes, Donnie wrapped his arms around the tall blonde's neck, drew her into an intimate embrace and gave her an ever-deepening kiss. Ryan stood there awkwardly trying to appear cool with the situation and wishing it would rain and cool the two ardent lovers off. He slanted a look sideways at the other girl standing there, who was shorter with dark hair. "I don't bite," she offered puckering her lips in an exaggerated manner.
Ryan cleared his throat self-consciously and gave the brunette a sidewise glance. "Yeah, but how 'bout we start with 'Hi I'm Ryan'," he said a little unsurely.
Tossing her hair and laughing at him, she stuck out her hand in the classic 'how-do-you-do' handshake position and replied cheerfully, "I'm Sherri." Answering with a half-grin, Ryan reached out and shook her hand. Maybe this wasn't going to be so bad after all as it seemed like this girl had a sense of humor.
"So, how long have Donnie and ah."
"Pam," Sherri helpfully supplied.
"...Pam known each other?" Ryan inquired as the aforementioned duo continued their tonsil diving contest.
"Last night, maybe the night before? We met at a beach party."
Ryan took a deep breath, raising his eyebrows in surprise. Getting a bit embarrassed by Donnie and Sherri's public display, Ryan shifted uncomfortably and peered at the ocean for a change of scenery. Finally, Donnie came up for air and threw over his shoulder, "Ryan Sherri. Sherri Ryan."
"We've met," Ryan acknowledged with a glance in Sherri's direction.
"All right then," Donnie said contentedly as he grabbed Pam around her waist and pulled her close to his side. "Let's go party!" Pam giggled and the couple started up the boards leaving Ryan and Sherri awkwardly standing there.
Ryan looked from the retreating Donnie to Sherri and shrugged again. "Ready?"
Sherri nodded and started walking. Ryan fell in step alongside her. "Do you go as far as holding hands on the first date, Ryan?" Sheri teased as they strolled along.
"Guess."
The dark-haired siren reached out and took his work-callused hand in her tanned one. "There, this is not so bad, is it?" she purred.
"Not too bad," he mocked.
"How about this?" She released his hand, plastered herself to his side and inserted her now free hand in the far-side rear pocket of his jeans; their hips grinding together as they walked along.
Ryan wasn't sure he was comfortable with this new arrangement but he also couldn't figure out how to get out of it without seeming totally uncool. Sighing inward, he decided to go with the flow and hope that he wasn't spotted by, say, Marissa. Boy, that would really salt his game. Oh, well, it was promising to be an interesting evening, more so than video games with Seth.
Part 2
Kirsten was surprised when Seth came into the kitchen sans Ryan. She thought the two would have hooked up after Ryan got off from his first day at work. "Seth, where's Ryan?"
"Out," came the dark-haired boy's curt reply as he rummaged through the fridge.
"Could you be a little more specific?" his mother prompted.
"Geez, Mom. I'm not the guy's keeper, his warden, whatever." Seth paused a beat, and then gushed out, "All right, he made a new friend at work today and he and this new friend decided to hang tonight. Alone. Well, not really alone. There were these girls and, like, they did invite me but it was, I dunno, pretty awkward. Third wheel kind of. Not from the right hood. " Seth paused and stared at his mom. "OK? Satisfied?"
After digesting Seth's rant, she questioned, "This new friend of Ryan's does he or she seem... nice?"
"Guy Mom. A guy who works at the Crab Shack. Comes from Ryan's neck of the woods, which I think I already mentioned. Though," Seth added somewhat bitterly, "Ryan will probably have a new girlfriend by the end of the evening too."
"Why?" Kirsten questioned, lost again.
"Nothing, Mom." Seth kept muttering under his breath as he opened a can of soda and grabbed the bag of chips. "It's like the guy is some sort of chick magnet. He's barely here one day and Marissa is inviting him to parties, Summer is draping herself about his body like a towel and half the women at the country club are aching to have him serve on their court."
"Seth," Kirsten admonished catching the majority of her son's grumbling.
"Hey, no I mean it's alright. After all, I did get Anna." He thought a beat, "Though technically, she was Ryan's date for the debutante ball. He stood her up, which means then that I got her by default. Damn, Ryan won again," he cursed as he left the room.
Kirsten sighed. She wondered if there was going to be a problem between the boys. She thought, as a proud mother should, that her son was handsome, polite and smart. However, she also remembered what it was like to be a teenage girl. Guys like Seth, well eventually you come to realize that they are really the best guys, and the ones you want to marry. But up until that point, it's the 'Ryan's' of the world who get all the attention.
Speaking of Ryan, she realized that they had never laid down the house rules about curfew, dating, and calling home. It hadn't really been an issue to date as Ryan and Seth were always together. But now that they were doing things separately, well, Sandy and she would have to have a little talk with Ryan about expectations. Kirsten believed that all kids, even 16-year old teenage boys had to have a set of ground rules. She'd remedy that when she got back from the spa. In the meantime, she hoped Ryan would use good judgment.
Part 3
Kirsten most likely would have questioned Ryan's 'good judgment' if she could have seen the party he'd ended up at with the group. Donnie, the girls and he had started at a bar on the strip. Thanks to a fake id, he had no problem getting served. Ryan had consumed one or two 7-and-7 then nursed two beers. Donnie was drinking like a fish and the girls were not all that far behind him.
As the evening progressed, they hung with a bunch of working joes who invited them to a private party down the street. As the group walked/staggered down the road to the next party, Donnie threw through his arm around Ryan's shoulder again, partially because he was having a little trouble navigating a straight line.
"Whadda I tell you son," Donnie slurred. "These folks," he said gesturing wildly towards the empty cars lining the street. "These are real people." Ryan tuned his head away from Donnie's fetid breath and grunted in reply. Donnie was no featherweight to support.
The girls, hanging on to each other for support, were following behind, whispering and giggling. Ryan was the only one in the crowd who was not totally buzzed though he knew he was close to the edge. Wouldn't that be great? To show up at the Cohen's house drunk? Though Kirsten had said no fighting, he was pretty sure 'no coming home drunk' was on the list too and she just had not gotten around to mentioning it.
When they got to the house hosting the bash, Donnie dislodged himself from Ryan and headed for the booze. The girls wandered off somewhere else leaving Ryan alone. At some point in the bar, Sherri had turned her attention from teasing the 16 year-old Ryan to hitting on a 25-year-old hunk, which suited Ryan fine. Sherri was a bit more than he was looking for at the moment.
Ryan scoped out the joint. This party had been going on for a while based on the conditions surrounding him. A large number of people already appeared to have reached their alcohol tolerance level and were laying around in various states of consciousness. One coffee table was littered with enough drug paraphernalia to support a small third-world country's habit. The diehards drinkers had settled close to the alcohol supply, so they would not have to move to refill their glasses, assuming they could still move. Donnie had taken up residence with that particular group being almost to the non-moving stage himself.
Ryan decided he had seen enough, it was late, and he was going to head home. He did not need the type of trouble this party would eventually bring. He had to keep his nose clean if he wanted to stay with the Cohens. Wandering over to where Donnie was ensconced, he announced, "Donnie, I gotta jet."
Donnie stumbled off the floor and clapped Ryan on the shoulder. "So early man? We've barely gotten started. You haven't even scored with Terri."
"Sherri," Ryan interjected.
"Whatever, Sherri, Terri, berri-fine," Donnie sniggered
"Yeah, well. I gotta go," repeated Ryan. "I'll see you tomorrow at work."
"Let me at least walk you to the door," Donnie said holding up a hand to restrain his younger companion. "And I won't take no for an answer."
"As long as you don't want to kiss me good-night," Ryan muttered under his breath, allowing Donnie to take his arm and steer him in the general direction of the door. Ryan figured it was easier to work with a drunken Donnie than against him.
The two guys were halfway to the door when Donnie came to an abrupt halt and pointed. "Whoa. Gotta watch this, bro. It's gonna be good."
Ryan peered in the direction Donnie was gesturing. An argument was in progress, one that was about to escalate into a fistfight, or maybe a brawl. Ryan tried to inch away but Donnie dragged him forward closer to the action; not what Ryan wanted. The observers ringed the fighters as the festivities broke out. The two warriors started having at each other fast and furiously, though it was already obvious that they were not evenly matched. The fight quickly drew to a close because Opponent Number 1 was down on the floor, unmoving and Opponent Number 2 was not finding it stimulating to beat on a motionless lump. In frustration, Opponent Number 2 started scanning the crowd for a new victim.
Ryan broke free from Donnie's grasp, and attempted to escape out of the crowd. Opponent Number 2 saw the blond teenager turning to leave and took it as an offense. "Hey you! Where you think you're goin'?"
Ryan hunched his shoulders and kept walking towards the door, moving as fast as he could around the multiple obstacles on the floor. There was a certain risk factor leaving his back exposed to the charging bull, but probably no more than facing it head on. However, Ryan was drawn up short when a third party stepped in front of him, blocking his escape route. Ryan felt an edge of panic knife through his stomach. He vowed he wasn't going to allow himself to get drawn into a fight.
A sweaty, meaty paw descended on his shoulder from behind, spinning him around. Ryan knew what was coming next and he did the only thing he could think of to save his face from being rearranged, he ducked and dove to the left. Opponent Number 2's fist, which had been about to tattoo its' knuckle prints on Ryan's face, missed and instead connected with the face of the person who had been blocking Ryan's pathway to the door. It was a spectacular meeting of face and fist, which sent blood spurting. Opponent Number 2 wasn't all that particular about whom he fought. He forgot about his quest to pound Ryan and instead started in on the new guy. The crowd, wanting a fight, but like the fighters, not too particular on who they watched, closed in to ring the new warriors.
Ryan untangled himself from the furniture and people he had collided with during his diving expedition and climbed to his feet. He felt a bit shaky at his narrow escape, but other than that, he thought he had survived the ordeal without visible bumps, bruises or cuts. Amazing. Yes, his head felt like someone was pummeling it and his stomach was churning, but other than that he was pretty sure he could face Kirsten with a clear conscience, well, at least on the no fighting rule.
Donnie thrust a glass of clear liquid into his hand. Thinking it was water, Ryan raised it to his lips and gulped it down. Straight vodka burned down his throat and sent his head and stomach into a tailspin. By sheer determination, Ryan managed not to ralf all over the floor. "I gotta get out of here," he croaked as he stumbled towards the door. Donnie had already turned his attention to the fight. He waved a vague hand in Ryan's direction as he picked his way over to the combatants. Ryan took his leave.
The outside air, at least ten degrees cooler than inside the house, helped to sharpened his sense a bit. Didn't stop the hammering in his head, but it did ease up the spinning. His stomach settled into gentle rocking, something Ryan could handle.
Home. He hadn't considered how he was going to get back to the Cohen's. Calling for a ride probably was not a good idea. Kirsten was off at the spa, not that he would have called her or Sandy at 2:00 a.m. in the morning. As for Seth, probably not a good idea either. Ryan was willing to bet he was in the doghouse there, too.
Sighing, Ryan started walking back down the road towards the beach. His bike was there. He'd pick it up and ride home. Or, he thought as he swayed a little, walk it home. Either way, it seemed like his only option, so he put his head down and started trudging. If he was lucky he'd get home in time to catch two hours of shuteye before the sun rose again on the OC. What a night!