Friendship Is Like Glass
Chapter One: The Fight

"Do you want a chaser?"

Seth shook his head in reply to Marissa's question, holding back from revealing his after-shot face. He set the shot glass down on the coffee table with a tiny clink. "I really don't like Jack Daniels."

"I was never really a big fan of J.D. either, but it's not so bad anymore," Marissa replied, taking a shot and chasing it with her Diet Coke.

The kids of Newport Beach didn't usually do shots. When they did happen to stray from their usual beer and drink hard liquor, they typically preferred mixed drinks to shots. But tonight, by request of Marissa, she, Seth, and Ryan were all currently buzzed on whiskey in Ryan's pool house.

Marissa poured the Jack in three glasses and handed one to each of the guys. "Cheers," she said, and the three clinked their glasses together and took their shots.

- - -

Ryan and Seth were sloppy-drunk. And Ryan was beginning to act belligerent. Marissa, who had cut herself off unusually early, had never seen Ryan act this way.

"Honestly Seth, remember when you had that thing going with Summer and Anna at the same time? How did you let that happen?" Ryan laughed. Ryan grabbed for the new Jack Daniels bottle, but Marissa stopped him.

"Ryan, honey, I think you've had enough," she told him. Ryan was normally a careful drinker, and a calm one. Marissa would never have guessed that he could act in such a way while drunk. "How many shots have you had?"

"I don't know. Allllot. A lot," he said with another laugh, but gave up trying to attain the alcohol. He turned back to Seth, who was looking a little sick on the sofa. "But Seth, as I was saying – what were you thinking, man? I'll admit it was pretty tight that you were getting lucky with two girls—" (a look from Marissa made Ryan change his tone) "—err, I mean pretty stupid, but Seth, really, you knew it was gonna happen."

"Can we not talk about it?" Seth asked.

"Why not? We never talk about it," Ryan slurred. "You act like you want me to help, but you never let me in."

"For one thing, I don't want to talk about it in front of Marissa, and for another, you're drunk right now and you're being an ass about it," Seth shot back.

"You're drunk, too," Ryan argued stupidly.

"I didn't say that I wasn't."

"Maybe I should go," Marissa said, slightly nervously. She stood up to leave.

"No!" Seth and Ryan said at the same time, but neither was looking at her. They were looking straight at each other, Ryan more focused now and Seth feeling a lot less sick. Marissa, uncomfortable from the tension in the room and not wanting to make the situation worse, sat down.

"Why don't we talk about you and Marissa and Theresa, Ryan? We never talk about your problems, do we? Don't you trust me enough to talk about them? Am I not a good enough friend?" Seth rebutted.

"My problems are different than your problems, Seth," Ryan said, dragging out the S in Seth's name. "You wouldn't understand."

"What do you mean I wouldn't understand? We're virt- virtu- virt... we're almost in the same boat."

"No, we're not. I've been through more shit than you can even imagine. There's no way you can relate," Ryan said, standing up.

"That's no fucking excuse. I want to help you. I want you to be able to talk to me. That's what I'm here for." Seth said this in an angry tone, and joined Ryan on his feet.

"You guys—" Marissa began, but Ryan snapped at her.

"Stay out of this." He turned away from an obviously hurt Marissa and stepped closer to Seth. "My problems aren't yours to deal with. So don't worry about it." With that, he gave Seth a light shove. That's all it took to set Seth off. Out of nowhere, Seth raised his right hand in a fist and connected it to Ryan's face.

Marissa jumped up. "Stop it!" She almost ran to the house to get Sandy and Kirsten to break the boys up, but she remembered that the two had gone out and that's why the three teens were safely drinking in the pool house.

Both boys ignored Marissa's plea, and Ryan mimicked Seth's punch and almost knocked the taller boy over. They continued tussling and throwing punches, some missing severely, some hitting right on.

Nobody expected it when Ryan's last punch set Seth stumbling into one of the solid glass doors at just the right angle to send him completely through it, glass shattering as Seth fell backwards into the outdoors.

Marissa screamed.

to be continued...