Disclaimer: I do not own The O.C. or any of its characters. I only own Sam; she belongs to me. Anything else that you may recognize belongs to FOX, Warner Brothers, & Josh Schwartz.

Sam's POV

My name is Sam Atwood and my life sucks.

It starts with my family:

My mother, Dawn, is an alcoholic who spends pretty much every waking moment drunk. And then she could become just as bad as my father and all those other men she dates.

My father, Frank, is prison and has been since I was nine years old. He was convicted for robbery, though there are a bunch of other charges he should be in there for. Like, domestic violence, child abuse, rape, ect. He used to have a few drinks and then beat up my mom; it was just her at first. But then he started to do it to me and my brothers. Then I was eight years old when he raped me. The only ones who know are my brothers. Well technically, after dad was arrested I did tell my mother, but I'm sure by now she's forgotten. But it's for the best. One minute she didn't believe me and the next she was telling me it was my fault.

Then there are my mother's multiple boyfriends over the years after my father got arrested. They are all scum. They would sit around all day getting drunk and beating the hell out of me and my brothers if we pissed them off; that wasn't too hard to do. Some of them also liked to do things to me.

My oldest brother, Trey, is a criminal. He's gotten arrested a couple times but has gotten off lucky. He was able to come home. He always gets me and Ryan into shit. One day, going along with his stupid shit Trey does is going to come to bite us on the ass.

My twin brother, Ryan, is the only one that makes my family redeemable. He protects me. He is the only one that cares about me more than himself. He's my best friend. He's the only one I trust completely. We're almost always together. He'd do anything for me and I'd do anything for him.

But even with Ryan, my family—which now consists of my mother, Trey, Ryan, and my mother's boyfriend A.J.—sucks.

We live in this dump in Chino, California. I'd rather be anywhere else; but I know I'm never going to get out of here. I remember when I was little, I used to dream about getting out of Chino and actually having a decent life. But I lost hope in that a long time ago.

I accepted the fact that this is my life and it sucks.

Sometimes I wish I could just end it.

One night, Ryan and I were walking with Trey. He apparently wanted to teach us something. I didn't know what, but I had this feeling it was probably illegal. I knew I probably shouldn't have gone, but I wasn't going to stay at the house. A.J. had already had his third beer for the night so I figured whatever Trey wanted to do couldn't be as bad as whatever A.J. could do, right?

"I'm your big brother. If I don't teach you guys this, who will?" Trey says as he goes up to a car and smashes the window. Ryan and I looked at each other; we both knew this wasn't a good idea.

"I don't know, Trey." Ryan shakes his head.

"Quit being a little bitch and get in!" Trey yelled as he got into the car. Ryan slammed the door to the driver's side and started running over to the passenger's side.

"This is a bad idea." I said, running after Ryan. I knew that he knew it was too.

"Come on, get in! Ryan! Sam! Let's go!" Trey yelled.

I had a really bad a feeling about this and that was confirmed as we watched as a cop car backs up and the sirens are turned on.

"Damn it!" Trey says as he manages to get the car to work and starts driving away. Ryan and I run after him and manage to get into the backseat. Trey starts speeding up as the cop behind us starts chasing us. But we are cut off by another cop car; basically we were screwed.

"No, no, no, no, no." I said, shaking my head. This is really bad.

"Police! Put your hands up! On the dash where I can see them! Now!" One cop yelled, walking towards the car followed the others. Trey, Ryan, and I did what they said.

It seemed I was wrong; this was worse than staying home.

Ryan and I were in juvie. We were separated for a while into different sides of the prison as we are different genders. We had no idea what happened to Trey but I'm pretty sure he's going to be in jail for a while. I mean, he did steal a car and have a gun on him. Ryan and I were brought together into a visiting room the next day. We were uncuffed and we met by a man with dark hair, holding some files; I guess that would be our lawyer. They said we would be appointed an attorney.

"Ryan?" He looked to Ryan and then to me. "Samette?" I rolled my eyes at hearing that name. Legally, that's my name; Samette Atwood. I hate it. Apparently the story goes, when my mom was pregnant with Ryan and I, she thought she was having twin boys. They were shocked that they had one boy and a girl—me. When they told them 'it's a girl' he said 'Damn it!' so they decided to call me Samette—Sam for short. It's some sick joke that my mom came up with while she was high off pain meds. But it stuck.

I hate my name.

"It's Sam." I corrected.

"I'm Sandy Cohen. The court's appointed me as the public defender for you both." I looked at the man as he extended a hand out to me and then to Ryan when I didn't take it; Ryan didn't either. We both sat down next to each other without speaking.

"You could do worse." Sandy added as he sat down across from us. He opened the files, putting them on the table. "You okay? They treating you alright?" He then asks and I almost want to laugh. We are in juvie. How do you think you get treated in here?; the people here certainly aren't nice.

"Where's our brother?" Ryan asks.

"How is he?" I ask.

"Uh, Trey is over 18. Trey stole a car; Trey had a gun in his pants, an ounce of pot in his pocket, a couple of priors. I'm guessing right now, Trey's looking at three to five years." He tells us and I pretty much saw that coming. I didn't know he had pot, but I don't know why I'm surprised because of some of his friends.

"Anyways, Trey isn't my concern." Sandy says. "This your first time in lock up?"

He looks both of us over and we both nod.

"I'm assuming you both don't want to come back." He adds and I nodded—for the two of us—though I can't make any promises because unfortunately, I'm an Atwood. My family can always find a way to get me and Ryan into these kind of situations.

"Now your grades—aren't great." Sandy says, looking between our files. Well that probably had to do with the fact that we stopped going to most of our classes and doing any work. But there was no use in school; Ryan and I are going to be in Chino for the rest of our life.

"Suspended twice for fighting…" He trails. Maybe it wouldn't have happened if the people at our school weren't such assholes.

"Test scores…98 percentile?" He looks at us, shocked at the results. "Ryan, Sam, if you two start going to class...are you two thinking about college?"

Ryan and I snorted.

"Have either of you given any thought to your futures?" Sandy asks. Sure, I have given thought, but I knew that neither Ryan nor I were going anywhere. "Look, I'm on your side here. Help me out."

"Modern medicine is advancing to the point where the average human life span will be 100." Ryan says and glances at me.

"And I read this article which said Social Security is supposed to run out by the year 2025, which means people are going to have to stay at their jobs until they're 80." I continued.

"So we don't want to commit to anything too soon." Ryan finishes and in return, Sandy chuckles. At least someone found the two of us funny.

"I can plead this down to a misdemeanor. Probation." Sandy tells us, getting back to the matter of our situation. I guess that's a good thing. "But know this: Stealing a car because your big brother told you to is stupid, and it's weak. Now that's two things you can't afford to be anymore."

"Two more things." Ryan responded.

"Do you want to change that?" Sandy asks. "Then you have to get over the fact that life dealt you a bad hand. I get it. We're cut from the same deck. I grew up, no money, bad part of the Bronx. My father was gone; my mother worked all the time. I was pissed off. I was stupid."

I seriously doubt he could compare his family to mine. I doubt he's ever had the crap beat out of him. I also seriously doubt he's ever been raped.

"And look at you now." I responded.

"Smart kids like you two, you've got to have a plan. Some kind of dream." Sandy said. I used to have a dream, but then I grew up. I realized it's never going to happen.

"Yeah sure." I said, in disbelief.

"Let me tell you something. Where Sam and I are from, having a dream doesn't make you smart. Knowing it won't come true, that does." Ryan told him. It didn't matter what we wanted. Our dreams aren't going to come true. We're nothing. We are nothing. Sooner or later, we had to accept that. We'll be lucky if Ryan and I aren't like Trey when we are twenty-one.

Sandy didn't say much more to us after that. But he got us released out of juvie into our mother's custody; though that didn't really do much to comfort me. We got our belongings and we were waiting outside. Sandy had decided to stay until our mom arrived.

"My office will contact you to remind you both about your hearing." Sandy told us.

"We'll remember." Ryan said.

Suddenly our mother's car turns around the corner and then stops, half way up on the sidewalk in front of us. I guess mom was still driving drunk.

"Unbelievable!" Mom exclaims as she gets out of the car. She was pissed and I wasn't surprised. I was starting to wonder if I'd be safer in juvie than at home. "What kind of family I've got, huh? What the hell did I do to deserve this family?"

I ask myself that same question.

"Mrs. Atwood? I'm Sandy Cohen, Ryan and Sam's attorney." Sandy steps forward towards my mother.

"You should've let them rot in there!" My mother replies. "Like their father is doing and like their older brother is gonna. Let's go Ryan! Let's go Sam!" She gets back into the car. I guess she was ready to get back home and open another bottle. I was sure when we got home, A.J. was going to kick our asses or something.

I don't want to go home.

Ryan and I slipped our hands into the pockets of our jeans as we took a step towards the car, looking down at the pavement.

"Ryan. Sam." We both turned to face Sandy. "I'm going to give you two my card. My home number. If you need somebody, if things get to be too much, call me." I looked at him and down at the card as I slipped it into my pocket. Was this guy for real? It was nice; why was he being so nice to us?

"Let's go!" Mom yells, becoming impatient.

"Alright!" Ryan yells back and pulls me along. We had to get home to our wonderful life in Chino.

We got home and like usual, A.J. was sitting on the couch with another beer in his hand, watching a football game. All he does is sit around all day drinking. When he's not doing that, he's screwing my mother, beating the crap out of us, or touching me. My mom pushed past Ryan and I, going into the kitchen and pouring herself a drink. Ryan and I remained silent.

"I can't do this anymore." Mom eventually spoke after pouring herself a second drink.

"We're sorry." Ryan says and I nodded. Though I didn't know what we really had to be sorry for; we didn't steal the car.

"Ryan, Sam, I want you both out of my house. I want you both out!"

"What?" I asked; was she really kicking us out?

"But mom…where are we going to go?" Ryan asks. It's not like we really had anywhere else to go.

"You heard your mother. Get your stuff and get out." A.J. told Ryan. "But I think it'd be okay if Sam stayed."

"You are such a perv." I shook my head.

"What was that bitch?" A.J. turned around. I guess he pulled his head out of his ass long enough that he heard me.

"You leave her alone." Ryan stepped in front of me. "This isn't even your house."

"You a tough guy now?" A.J. stepped closer to Ryan.

"Ryan don't—" I pleaded. I knew if A.J. was pushed enough that he would start beating the crap of Ryan and maybe even the both of us.

"A.J. stop. Ryan, you and Sam need to just leave." Mom said as finished her second drink. Once again, she was doing nothing to stop him. All she would do is stand there and drink; she never stopped them.

"Why don't you worry about your own kids, A.J.? Instead of freeloading off my mom and touching my sister." Ryan pushed it. A.J. then started to beat on Ryan.

"STOP IT!" I screamed.

Ryan punches A.J. back and then I kicked him in the knee. That's when he grabbed me leg, making me fall. He then pushed himself up and kicked me in the stomach and in the face. A.J. then drags us to the bedroom Ryan and I share. We pack a few things into our backpacks and then we leave the house quickly before A.J. could start beating us up again.

Ryan and I get on our bikes and we go into town where we find a payphone to us. Ryan tries calling a few of his friends from school; none of which can give us a place to crash.

"Looks like we're homeless." Ryan comments.

"You know…you could call him." I said, handing him the business card we got from our attorney only a few hours prior. I mean what do we have to lose at this point?

"I don't know." Ryan shakes his head. I rolled my eyes and I went to the phone. I called the number—we had nothing else to lose.

"It's Sam Atwood. Our mom kicked us out of the house." I said and I didn't have to say anything much more before he agreed to come get us; I was actually kind of surprised. I didn't think he'd agree to come get us. I told him where we were and we waited about twenty minutes before he pulled up.

"I told you." Sandy said after he rolled down the window. "You could do worse."

Ryan and I got into the car. He got into the front passenger seat and I got into the back. Sandy drove out of Chino. I leaned my head against the window and shut my eyes as my head was starting to pound. But not for too long. I didn't want to fall asleep. As we got out Chino, wherever we were, it actually looked nice. The ocean—for one—was beautiful. Eventually after it got dark, Sandy pulled into a gated community and then a driveway of a big house. Was this really where he lives?

"This is a nice car. I didn't know your type of lawyer made money." Ryan commented.

"No, we don't. But my wife does." Sandy replied. I wonder what she did and what she was like. Ryan and I took off our seatbelts but Sandy stopped us from leaving the car. "Um you know, why don't you two stay here for a minute? I'll be back."

I guess he had to tell the wife that he decided to bring two of his clients home with him.

Sandy takes the keys from the car and then hesitates; is he afraid we'll steal the car?

"It's no fun if the key's in the car." Ryan joked. Sandy left the keys in the car and then went inside the house. We sat there for a minute but then left the car, walking to the end of the driveway. Ryan lit a cigarette and I took in a breath of air; I felt like I could actually breathe. It didn't smell like Chino; that's a good thing. The neighborhood didn't look too bad either. We looked to our right and noticed a girl standing in her driveway next door.

"Who are you?" The girl asks, looking directly at Ryan.

"Whoever you want me to be." Ryan replies and I almost snort.

"Can I bum a cigarette?" She asks and Ryan hand her one. She holds it up to his which was sticking out of his mouth. She then takes a puff. "You don't smoke?" She looks at me.

I shook my head. I tried it once and hated it.

"Thanks." She then says, looking back to Ryan.

"And who are you?" I ask her.

"Isn't obvious? I'm the girl next door." She laughs. "So what are you two doing here, seriously?"

"Seriously?" Ryan asks and we look at each other; I wonder if he'll tell a story or lie. "We stole a car."

"Really?" The girl seems intrigued.

"Well actually our brother stole a car." I corrected.

"He crashed it. Anyways, he's in jail. We got out but then our mom kicked us out." Ryan continued.

"She was pissed and drunk." I added.

"And now Mr. Cohen took us in." Ryan finished.

The girl laughed. "So you're their cousins from Boston, right?"

So we told the truth and she doesn't believe it. Well, if I lived her life I don't know if I would've either. These people I'm sure living that life that's like living in a bubble. No bad stuff ever happens here. I guess it is better that she doesn't believe us; it's not like we'll be here long anyways.

"Right." Ryan nodded; he'd leave it at that.

"Hi Marissa." We turn around to see Sandy. At least now I know her name.

"Hi, Mr. Cohen. I was just meeting your niece and nephew." She replies.

"Right, my favorite niece and nephew: Sam & Ryan. All the way from Seattle." Sandy says and well that may have just thrown that lie out the window.

"Seattle?"

"Dad lives there. Mom lives in Boston." Ryan comes up with quickly.

"So we're really excited about your fashion show fund-raiser for tomorrow night." Sandy quickly changes the subject.

"Really?" Marissa questions.

"No."

Marissa laughs and I smiled a bit; well that was honest. I don't know if the girl was excited about it herself. I looked over at seeing a car pull up calling out for Marissa; I guess that would be the boyfriend. The cute ones always have a boyfriend. She gets into the car and they drive off.

"Let's go inside." Sandy tells us after Ryan puts out the cigarette. We walk into the house, taking in the surrounding. This place seemed to be bigger on the inside, it felt weird. It was big and it looked amazing. Sandy leads Ryan and I outside to back, past the pool and into what looked like a small house.

I guess it's a pool house.

"This is where you two will be staying." Sandy says. "Also, this is the queen of the manor herself, my wife, Kirsten."

"Hi Ryan. Sam. Welcome to our home." She says. She seemed to be very nice. I didn't understand why these people were being so nice to us; usually people aren't. "If you two need anything, Rosie can help you." I guess she is like their maid or something.

"Thank you." I said.

"Thanks very much." Ryan says.

They left us alone after that. The bed was big so I guess we could share the bed. We shared a small bed in Chino for most of our childhood, so this was nothing compared. This is really nice.

While Ryan fixed the bed, I went into the bathroom. I lifted my black tank top and saw a big bruise on my stomach that was fresh. I had other healing bruises and cuts on my arms and face. At least I don't have a black eye this time. My face and stomach still hurt from the beating, but I'd get used to it. I have had much worse than what I got today.

I won't cry.

I splashed water on my face and took a breath. It would fine. I tried to convince myself out that. I left the bathroom and laid down on the right side of the bed. I shut my eyes, feeling exhausted, I just wish I would be able to sleep through the night.

Ryan's POV

Sam woke up screaming a little past two in the morning. At least it was earlier than the night before. This has happened every night for the past few years. Sam has night terrors and I'm always here for her; someone had to be. I rubbed her back to calm her down—or at least stop the screaming.

"You're okay." I told her.

"Sorry." She apologizes; she always does.

"Want to talk about it?" I ask.

"You know the answer." She replied; she never does.

"I'll get some water, okay?" I told her. I left the pool house and tried to carefully enter the main house without making a sound. I don't want to disturb anyone. I walked into the kitchen and the lights were on. I see Sandy standing at the stove.

"Couldn't sleep?" He asks.

"I did for a bit."

"You okay?"

"Yeah, my sister just has bad dreams. So I'm getting some water." I explained. I didn't really want to go into detail about that; it wasn't my business to tell.

"Would you want to try some tea? It might help her sleep. It always helps Kirsten." Sandy offers and I reluctantly nodded, only because I knew he had already been making some. Otherwise, I wouldn't have bothered. "Does she have bad dreams a lot?"

"Yeah." I shrugged.

"Is she okay?"

"She will be." I said. I was used to this.

"Do you two need anything else? It's not a bother—"

"We're fine." I insisted. They had none enough already. A few minutes later, he handed me a cup of tea and brought it back to Sam. She drank some of it before going back to sleep. I stayed awake until I was sure she was asleep, like I did every night.

Sam's POV

Ryan and I woke up in the morning. We stood outside the pool house, just looking around. It was quiet here. We weren't used to the quiet; it was nice. After a while, Ryan and I went into the house. We wandered into the living room where we found a boy—probably around our age—sitting on floor, playing video games. That must be their son.

"Hey." He said.

"Hey." Ryan repeated. I just waved, shyly.

"Want to play?" He asks, looking over to the TV. I hadn't really ever played video games—well I hadn't played one in years. I remember they were fun. Ryan shrugs, but the two of us sit down on opposite sides of the boy as he then handed us each a controller. He then started a multiplayer game.

"I'm Seth." He tells us.

"Ryan."

"Sam."

Ryan nor I knew how to play this game but by the second game we had an idea. Seth was better than us—mostly because we still were learning what to do.

"Oh, looks like someone is trying to be a hero, but he got a little cocky." Seth says, in a trash talking tone. He then killed Ryan in the game. "What happened to your head, dude? Did someone die?"

"So did you." I said as I then managed to kill Seth's character.

"Hey wanna play grand theft auto? It's pretty cool. You can steal cars…" He trails off as I give him a look. I wasn't sure if he knew about that's sort of how we ended up in jail. I can vouch for the fact that stealing cars isn't cool. "Not that that's cool…or uncool…I don't know…"

I chuckled amusingly. Seth seemed excited; it might because he had some people to play with. I got the feeling he didn't have many friends.

"I see you three have met." Sandy says as he walks in. "Now Seth what are you doing inside on this beautiful day? Why don't you show Ryan and Sam around?"

"Yeah because it's so great here." Seth replies sarcastically. I'm sure that there was more to do here than in Chino; at the very least there is more stuff to do here that's legal.

"What do you guys do around here?" Ryan asks before I could.

Sandy then gives us some suggestions and then Seth suddenly jumps up with an idea after hearing his dad mentioning that he was going down to the beach to surf. Apparently Seth had his own boat. I wouldn't mind seeing it. We went down to the harbor and Seth showed us his boat 'Summer Breeze'. Seth wanted to take Ryan and I out sailing on it.

"C'mon, it'll be fun." Seth urged.

"You two have fun." I said. I was terrified of water. I don't swim. I don't get into pools—unless it's shallow—and I don't get into boats.

"No, Sam, please it'll be fun." Seth apparently was not satisfied with my answer. I don't get on boats. I don't get in the ocean.

"Sam, it'll be fine." Ryan urged, trying to get me on the boat.

"We'll only go out a few feet." Seth offered.

"I'm feeding you both to the sharks first." I growled as I finally walked onto the boat. I sat down in the middle of the boat and held onto something. We didn't go very far out, thankfully. We just kind of sat there on the boat as it drifted a few feet out. I mean, it was okay—it'd probably be better if I was someone who wasn't afraid of water—or drowning.

"I have this plan. I don't know what you guys would think but next July, I want to sail to Tahiti. With the trade winds shifting west, I can do it in 44 days. Maybe even 42." Seth tells us.

"That sounds really cool, man." Ryan replied.

"What do you think, Sam?" Seth asks.

"You don't want to know my opinion." I said. Personally, I thought it sounded insane, but I'm not the best judge on this subject. "Try asking someone who isn't afraid of the water."

"Yeah, I'll just hit the high seas and catch fish off the side of the boat. Grill them right there. Just total quiet; solitude." Seth says.

"Won't that get lonely?" I ask.

"I'll have Summer."

"I think that's kind of implied." I laughed.

"No, not the boat. It's the girl the boat's named after." Seth explained. Oh, that made more sense. That's actually kind of sweet.

"She must be stoked." Ryan says.

"She has no idea." Seth says.

"What?" I ask. This was confusing. So he was taking Summer with him but she had no idea about this boat or anything? How did this make any sense?

"I've never talked to her before." Seth explains. I guess that makes this whole trip plan, a dream, in which he takes the girl of his dreams with him. It'd be interesting to see who this Summer is; maybe Ryan could convince Seth to talk to her.

Soon after that, at my request, we docked the boat. We had just gotten back to shore when Sandy found us, clearly after he had finished surfing.

"Hey, I thought we'd head over to the fashion show around seven." Sandy said. Oh right, I had forgotten about that thing that girl Marissa was throwing. I think she invited us—well Ryan—to that.

"Yeah, have fun." Seth said. He seemed to like the idea of going as much as I would.

"Seth, it's a new school year."

"It's the same kids dad." He replied. "Why do we need a fashion show? Every day is a fashion show for these people." I laughed as I could see the potential in that being true.

"Yeah well, Ryan and Sam have to go. Marissa invited them." Sandy said.

"Marissa invited them?" Seth looks at us.

"She invited Ryan." I said. Though I was almost completely sure she had a boyfriend, she seemed to like Ryan.

"Seriously? I've lived next door to Marissa pretty much my entire life. Literally, like forever. Her dad almost married my mom even, and she's never even invited me to a birthday party." Seth pouts. Wow, that seemed to be pretty heavy stuff.

"That's not true. They didn't almost get married." Sandy said; of course he'd deny that. I wonder what the story with that is.

"Maybe Summer will be there." Ryan said.

"That's interesting. She is Marissa's best friend. You said 7:00?" Seth nodded and then turned to his dad whom nodded.

"You can count me out." I said.

"You should go too." Sandy said.

"I wasn't invited and it's not like I have anything to wear." I said. I didn't really want to go. And I'm not sure my tank tops and t-shirts accompanied by some ripped jeans would be appreciated by these people. I'd be fine staying in the pool house by myself; I might as well enjoy it while it lasts.

"I'm sure Kirsten can loan you something." Sandy offered.

"No, it's fine." I said, not wanting to be a bother.

"Sam. You and Ryan have to go. Please, I cannot suffer through this thing alone." Seth said, practically begging me.

"You can't make me go alone either." Ryan added. Seriously? Were they all ganging up on me about a stupid party? Ryan and I aren't even supposed to be here. It's not like anyone would miss us—or at least me. But I guess I had no choice in the matter.

When we got back to the house, the three of us played some video games and had some lunch. Today, at least so far, had been fun. I had never had much fun before, at least like this.

Eventually it was time to get ready for that party. I took a shower. I had stolen some of my mother's makeup before we left, so I put that on my face. I had to cover the bruises. I even covered some that were visible on my arms. I did not want anyone asking questions as Ryan and I are supposed to be Seth's cousins. When I came out of the shower, I found that Kirsten had left a dress for me. She also left a necklace and a pair of shoes. It was a tailored dark blue dress that actually fit me well. I then put the shoes on and attempted to walk in them; I tripped on my third step.

Ryan caught me. "Careful." He said as he put on something that I figured that Sandy had let him borrow for tonight.

I look at the necklace. It's beautiful but I don't know if I should wear it. I mean, it's all too much. But then pushed that feeling away. I didn't want to seem ungrateful or anything. I had Ryan put it on me and then I attempted to put my hair back into a braid while Ryan attempted to do his tie; neither of us were having luck. We didn't have experience with doing the other so we couldn't help each other. We kept trying, but it wasn't happening.

Maybe I'll just leave it down even with the mess it is and Ryan can just go open collar.

We turned around as we heard a knock and then Sandy walked into the room.

"Hey." Ryan said.

"Look at that. It looks like a perfect fit; both of you." Sandy said and I slightly grinned. I didn't look awful in this dress either.

"Tell Kirsten thanks for me." I said.

"Where's your tie, Ryan?" Sandy then asked him as I attempted to do my hair again; no luck.

"I'm not going to wear one." Ryan said, not wanting to admit he couldn't tie a tie. "Open collar is a good look."

"I didn't know how to tie a tie until I was 25." Sandy said, not buying into Ryan's excuse. "Come on, give me your tie."

Ryan sighed and turned around as I continued to try and do my hair. I watched from the mirror as I did so as Sandy did Ryan's tie and told him how to do it. I'm glad I'm a girl so I don't need to know how to do that.

"Sam, do you need help with your hair?" Sandy asked.

"No, it's okay." I said. I doubted he knew how to do it anyways; Ryan doesn't know either so it wouldn't bother me.

"Humor me." Sandy said and I nodded as I handed him the brush.

"I had a younger sister when I was growing up so I learned how to do braids." Sandy adds and I grinned a bit. I probably could have done it myself if my mother had taught me, but she never did. I'm lucky that I know how to put my hair back in a ponytail.

"So you and Ryan got to hang out with Seth." Sandy said, striking up a conversation as he did my hair. "Was that alright? He's an interesting kid if you get to know him." I grinned.

"I like him." I said.

"He's cool." Ryan added.

"Cool, huh?" Sandy says. I'm sure he was amused that somebody liked Seth and thought he's cool. I gathered by our conversation earlier that he doesn't have many friends, if any at all. It sucks, I mean, I like him. Sandy finishes my hair and takes a step back. I turned to the side and looked it over; it's perfect. "There you go."

"Thanks." I said with a genuine smile as I stood next to Ryan. This definitely beats a jumpsuit and sitting with a bunch of criminals. Maybe tonight wouldn't be as horrible as I dread it could be.

Ryan and I stood outside where the party was being held. There were a lot of people and it was kind of overwhelming—being here with these people. Ryan and I may look the part, but we are out of place. I just hope that no one figures out the truth.

"Welcome to the dark side." Seth comes out of nowhere.

"Yeah." I stood by Seth as a woman then started to flirt with Ryan, asking about how he could stand living in Boston with it being so cold. Then a woman approached me.

"Do you like Seattle?" This woman asks.

"It's okay. I don't really like all the rain." I said cleverly.

"I know, it sounds so depressing." She nods.

Eventually I managed to get away from her and found Ryan when another woman approached us; this was already getting tiring.

"Did I hear you two are from Canada?" She asks. Ryan and I look at each other for a moment, deciding on what to say.

"Yes we are." We say in unison.

Eventually the women of Newport left us alone and I walked over to the bar with Ryan.

"Can I get a Seven and Seven?" Ryan asked; that was one of my mother's favorite drinks. The bartender went ahead without asking for I.D. Ryan looked at me and then shrugged before taking the drink. I just took a water. I don't know if I'd be able to get away with it, but I wasn't going to take the chance. Besides, I don't want to end up like my mother.

Kirsten then walks over, eyeing Ryan after he took a sip. I guess I ended up making the right decision after all. Ryan handed her the drink.

"I want my husband to be right about the two of you." Kirsten says before walking away. I know that she was probably worried about us being in her home and being around Seth. I understood why but it didn't make me feel any better. I mean, we're not really criminals; and I knew that's what she thinking.

I decided to go find Seth. I found him as some tall guy pushed him aside and called him a 'queer'. So I guess there are a bunch of assholes here too; it doesn't surprise me though.

"My summer vacation was great. Thanks for asking." Seth says sarcastically as if that guy were talking to him. I looked him over—something about his voice was familiar; I don't know why.

"You okay?" I ask and as Ryan joins us.

"Summer's right over there. Look. I'm sorry." Seth says and we turned around to look, but only for a moment. She is pretty. She had long curly dark hair. "Don't look. Don't look."

"I think it's a bit late." I laughed as Sandy walked over.

"Hi dad." Seth said.

I didn't pay attention to whatever Sandy and Seth said as I was somewhat focused on whatever Summer and Marissa were saying. I noticed that were looking over here in this direction and it didn't take a genius to figure out they were probably checking out Ryan. I'm sure if they thought he was from here, they'd be all over him. I'm sure guys would also be trying to seduce me.

"Is that Summer?" I then heard Sandy ask as Seth awkwardly walks away.

"Way to salt his game, Mr. Cohen." Ryan comments as the two of us walk away from the scene.

Ryan and I followed Seth over to a table. I arched my eyebrow at realizing it was the table for the little kids, but the two of us sat down anyways. I didn't know if there was anywhere else. Oh well, the night is already awkward.

Marissa walked onto the stage. "Thank you. Thank you. Thank you all so much for coming. Every year, we put on a fashion show to raise money for the battered women shelter. It's such a good cause, you guys, and we couldn't do any of it without your support and the support of Fashion Island and all their great stores. All right, enjoy the show!"

I watched the fashion show and I liked pretty much all the outfits. I noticed that Seth was staring when Summer came out. I also took notice of how Marissa looked directly at Ryan the entire time she was showing off a piece. I looked over and noticed that the guy whom had been an ass to Seth earlier, didn't look too happy. He must be the boyfriend. I really hope this doesn't come back to bite the two of us on the ass later.

Finally, the party was over and I stood outside with Ryan. Then suddenly Summer came up to the two of us with another boy.

"Hi." She said, in a flirtatious tone.

"Hi." Ryan repeated.

"I'm Summer."

"We know." Ryan and I said in unison; Summer seemed to be flattered by that.

"I'm Ryan." He told her.

"Are you two…"

"Gross." I shook my head.

"My sister, Sam." Ryan told her.

"Anyways, this is my friend Ricky, anyways, we're going—there's a party at my friend Holly's." Summer explained; was she inviting the two of us to a party?

"You should come too." Ricky said, looking directly at me; I guess he thinks I'm cute.

"If you two need a ride…or if you," Summer added, looking at Ryan. "Need anything else. Let me know." She said before running off with the guy. They jumped onto the back of the truck and then motioned for us to come. Ryan put up a finger telling them to wait a minute; I guess he was going to try and bring Seth along.

"We should go to that party at that girl Holly's place." Ryan suggested when we found Seth.

"No, that's okay." Seth shook his head.

"Summer and Ricky invited us."

"Summer invited you?" Seth asked Ryan, looking hurt.

"Us." I corrected; I might as well make it more irresistible. "Summer actually asked for you."

"She did?" Seth asked, not believing it. But then we turned around to see Summer, motioning for us to hurry up and get in the truck. I guess Seth took it as it was true as he then quickly ran towards the truck with Ryan and I following.

Maybe this could be fun.

"Wecome to the dark side." Ryan and I say as we look around at the party.

"Oh…cocaine…that's awesome." Seth mentions at seeing the guy snorting cocaine.

Ryan and I stay close together as Seth goes off somewhere. This party—I don't know what to think. I looked over and then saw Marissa's boyfriend—I think his name's Luke—leaving with another girl. What was that about? I decided maybe I should go to the bathroom—mostly when I saw Marissa approach Ryan. I left the bathroom quicker than I went in as it pretty much looked like there was a threesome going on in the bathtub; now I'll never want to take a bath again.

I then went outside where that guy Ricky approached me.

"Want a beer?" He asks and I shake my head.

"No thanks."

"Come on, have a drink. You should loosen up." He urges.

"I don't drink." I said. I wasn't going to take a step closer to becoming like my mother. I might not even have a drink when I turn twenty-one; I didn't want to chance it.

"Do you want to dance?" He asks.

"Sure." I agreed, hoping I didn't regret saying 'yes'. I smiled as we danced with some space apart for a while. In between he chugged down another beer—I hope he isn't too wasted, but I had to admit, this was actually kind of fun.

Then I watched as Ryan came outside and Summer came onto him.

"What's your name again?" She asks.

"Ryan."

"Ryan?" Summer laughs and then spills her drink on him as she wraps an arm around him. "Oops, I am so wasted!" I guess she was really drunk. I stopped dancing with Ricky and looked over as Seth walked over, looking confused at what was happening between Ryan and Summer.

"What's going on?" Seth asks as Ryan tries to push Summer away; this didn't look good.

"Excuse me!?" Summer said, getting pissed off at the rejection.

"What are you doing? I named my boat after her?" Seth asked.

"Ew, who are you?" Summer asked; this was really bad.

"Seth, it's not what you think." I said.

"She's really drunk." Ryan said.

"Are you seriously with this loser?" Ricky asks.

"Shut up." I pushed Ricky away and along with Ryan, went after Seth, whom was hurt and probably a little drunk; maybe coming here was a bad idea.

"Seth, wait." I said.

"Seth..." Ryan pulled him back.

"Don't touch me!" Seth yelled and suddenly the room was silent. He looked between the two of us—why was he yelling at me too? Summer wasn't flirting with me. "You know what? Why don't you two go back to Chino? I'm sure there's a perfectly good car in the parking lot you two can steal."

I looked at Ryan and then the two of us looked around as Seth went off to the beach.

"Chino? Ew." Summer said and walked away.

"I heard Chino girls like it rough." Ricky said and I spit in his face; he's a pig. I then quickly run out of the house, trying to go after Seth. I tried to stop him; he should get home, but I knew his mother wasn't going to be happy with us when she saw him drunk, but he really shouldn't be here.

"Seth—"

"What do you want?" He asked.

"Hey, I didn't say I was done with you." Ricky pulled me back and then slowly moved his hand up my dress and put his mouth on me. I pushed him away and then kicked him in the knee, causing him to fall onto the sand.

"Get away from me." I said, trying to go after Seth but found that these guys were messing with him. I then turned to see Ricky getting up, now standing with a few friends of his.

"Looks like we need to teach these bitches a lesson." Ricky said and I backed up as they walked towards me.

"RYAN!" I screamed.

"Hey! Put him down! Get away from her!" Ryan said as he came running onto the beach.

Luke puts Seth down and then goes up to Ryan. He pushes him. Then Ricky went up to me and grabbed my breasts.

"And what if I don't?" Ricky tested.

Ryan then punched the both of them and they returned the favor by starting to punch him. Then I tried to intervene, getting hit a few times. Seth then got hit by just being in the way; wrong place at the wrong time. Eventually I fell onto the ground with Ryan after getting hit hard in the face.

"Welcome to The O.C., bitches!" Luke yelled.

"This is how it's done in Orange County." Ricky added.

Ricky, Luke, and the rest of the team then left the three of us there on the ground.

I guess Orange County isn't all it's cracked up to be.

Ryan and I helped Seth up and we managed to get back to his house. We decided to just cut to the pool house. We set Seth down on the couch while Ryan and I laid down on the bed. My face hurts—well my entire body hurts—but my face for the most part. There were a couple things I regretted doing tonight. But overall, I think it goes back to going to that party. We never should have gone there.

"Well, I…I don't know what to say…" Seth says once Ryan and I had hit the bed. "…except that you totally had my back out there. We're, like, in a fight club or something. I don't know. You know what I think? Ryan, Sam, I think that if you were to teach me some moves, I think that we could totally take em next time."

I laughed. But I seriously couldn't imagine Seth ever fighting.

"That's what I think. Yeah. Oh also, that wasn't exactly the way that I first planned to talk to Summer, but I am now on her radar." I shook my head as I chuckled a bit. Well, I guess that's an improvement than before. "Do you think I should tell her about Tahiti?"

"Not yet." Ryan says.

"Definitely not yet." I added.

"That's what I thought. I just wanted to make sure we're on the same page." Seth replied. Yeah, but I'm sure if we told him to tell her, he would be telling her.

"I'm tired." I said. I have never in my life been so exhausted—well, I mean, in recent times.

"Quite a little night we had." Seth comments. "I'm never going to forget it."

Seth fell asleep shortly after that. I looked at Ryan and we both smiled. I had a feeling that Seth was going to forget most of what happened; he is drunk.

I laid down and then sat up after Ryan stood at the window of the pool house. I forced myself up and looked to see what he was looking at. Was that—it was Marissa, Summer, and that girl Holly. Summer and Holly just took off and left Marissa—whom is passed out drunk—on the driveway. She has some good friends, doesn't she?

Ryan went out and brought her into the pool house, setting her on the left side of the bed. Ryan then went and laid down on the other couch that Seth wasn't on. I laid next to him.

I knew in the morning, we were going to be kicked out; again.

The morning, I woke up at hearing the door to the pool house open. I saw Kirsten standing there, looking very pissed. I also noticed that Marissa's gone.

"Thank god." Kirsten says.

Seth waves.

"What happened to your face?" Kirsten asks him. Though the proper question would be what happened to our faces; but it's not like she cares about us; we're not her kids.

"I got into a fight." Seth admits.

"With who? Why?"

"I don't really know. I don't really remember. Um…I was really drunk. Yeah, I think I still am." Seth says, putting his hand on his head. Nope, that would be the hangover.

"Let's go. House. Now!" Kirsten pulls him away and I turned over looking at Ryan.

"We're screwed." I said.

We got up and changed out of the clothes Sandy and Kirsten gave us. I put my black tank top and ripped jeans back on and followed Ryan into the kitchen, where started to make breakfast. He cooked the bacon while I made some eggs. I hope they are okay with scrambled eggs with cheese, salami, and onions. That's my specialty as I always make that at home.

We looked out the window, looking at the pool and backyard. I knew we were going to have to leave, but I don't want to. For once, I didn't feel afraid to leave my bedroom. I actually had the strength to get out of bed in the morning. I felt happy for the first time in a long time.

But I should know nothing like that lasts.

I glanced behind me and there Kirsten was; I guess she was here to officially kick us out.

"Look, Ryan, Sam, I don't mean to play bad cop…it's nothing personal—" She says and we turn back to the stove. "Is that bacon? And eggs?"

"Scrambled with cheese, salami, and onions. I hope that's okay." I said.

"Sam and I usually make breakfast at home." Ryan said as we flipped the food over and then put it onto the plates. I then turned off the stove. "Our mom's not much of a cook."

I wasn't expecting breakfast to change their minds, but it's least we can do for what they did for us the last two days.

"I'm sorry, you seem like really nice kids." Kirsten said.

"It's okay, we get it." Ryan said.

"We're used to it." I added, walking away, trying to keep it together. Our mom had just kicked us out two days ago and I felt like I was reliving it all over again. I took a breath, keeping it together as we walk into Seth's bedroom.

"You're leaving?" Seth asks.

"Yeah." I said. It wasn't our choice. I wish to god we could stay, but it wasn't our decision; I'm not surprised by this outcome.

Seth gives us a hug. "You know, I'm going to come visit. I'll come down to Chino and you guys can show me your world."

Ryan and I smile.

"Sure thing." I said, but there wasn't much to see; Chino sucks.

"Hey, wait." Seth then hands me a map. "Maybe there's some place you want to go on here." I look down and see the map of the Pacific Ocean. Was he serious? I took the map and slapped him on the back of the head with it before throwing it back.

Ryan and I got our stuff. We got into the back of Sandy's car and we were gone. Marissa was standing in driveway. She looked at Ryan and he looked at her until she was out of view. I leaned against the window as Ryan wrapped an arm around me.

This sucks. I'm back to the life of constantly being in fear and pain. I'm back to life I wish I could leave. Well, at least, I hope our mom has cooled down enough that she changes her mind about kicking us out. I guess it's better than not having anyone.

When we got to the house, Ryan and I sat in the back. We didn't move or say a thing. We just wanted another moment before we walk into the hell fire.

"Thank you." I said.

"Thanks for everything." Ryan added.

"Sam, Ryan, I promise you two. I'm going to make sure everything works out." Sandy says. I wouldn't hold him to it. We're Atwoods; nothing works out for us.

Ryan and I get our bikes and push it forward towards the house. We tell Sandy we can take it from here on. We put our bikes there and then we went inside and just stared at the sight.

Everything is gone.

Ryan and I quickly go into the other rooms and to check and it's the same. Everything is gone. We then find this note on the counter. Our mom left us a note?! What the hell?

She's really gone. She really doesn't want us anymore. I know I've said the life here is hell and it is, but she's our mother. How could she just leave us? Why? I can't believe this. Ryan wrapped me into a hug as I started to cry.

I stopped crying at turning around to see Sandy, looking at shocked and maybe even as devastated as we are.

Ryan and I truly have no one now.

"Let's go." Sandy said.

I looked to Ryan and then Sandy. We pick up our bags and head back to his car.

A/N: I have finished watching the series twice and now I have finally gotten around to posting this. Sam is Ryan's twin sister and she is portrayed by Emily Osment. The other guy Ricky, is portrayed by Nathan Kress. Sets for this story are on my polyvore. Please don't forget to review.