I've tinkered a little with the timeline of The Outsider
I've tinkered a little with the timeline of The Outsider. For my own purposes, Kirsten returns from her weekend after the car gets trashed but before Ryan's date with Marissa/ Donnie gets shot etc which I'm delaying by a couple of days.
No Return Policy-Chapter One
"So, this happened in the parking lot of the IMAX Movie Theatre?"
Seth shifted uncomfortably under his mother's gaze.
"You're unusually quiet, Seth. You know, I'm not used to this from you. Being out of the house till all hours? Drinking? Lying?"
Kirsten went in for the kill.
"You didn't go to the IMAX, did you?"
Seth weighed his options carefully and looked his mother straight in the eye.
"Like I said, mom, we went in to see the shark movie, and when we came out, the car was trashed. I don't know what else you want me to say."
"He's lying. He stood there blatantly and lied to me. And to you."
"You don't know that for sure."
Kirsten flipped open her overnight bag and started to remove her belongings methodically. She didn't look up.
"I know my son. And I know the IMAX Movie Theatre. There are security guards, security cameras. There's no way anyone could get away with doing what they did to my car without being spotted."
Sandy shrugged, tugging at his shoelaces as he sat on the corner of the bed. He was tired. He'd had too much beer and too little food. All he wanted was to crawl into bed and shut his eyes. He didn't want to get into it with his wife. Not now. He felt like he'd been walking a tightrope for the last two weeks as it was. Jimmy. Julie. Ryan. And now this. He knew what she was implying. She wasn't about to say it out loud, but he hadn't been married to this woman for the last eighteen years without knowing how her mind worked.
"Honey, can we talk about this in the morning? We've both had a hard weekend. You've had to deal with Julie, I've been helping Jimmy. We're drained. Let's discuss it when we're both feeling more awake, more refreshed." Sandy tipped his head pleadingly. "Why don't we meet for lunch tomorrow?" He leaned over to kiss her shoulder. She moved away, irritated.
"Just. Don't. OK?"
Sandy's shoulders slumped, his frustration beginning to get the better of him.
"Look, don't come home all pissed with me because Julie's a royal bitch!"
Kirsten slammed the lid of her suitcase shut.
"That is NOT what this is about!"
"No?" Sandy was wide-awake now. Wide-awake and pissed off.
"No! This is about our son. Lying. Staying out all hours. Coming home drunk."
"He came home drunk once! That's what teenagers do. They get drunk! They test the limits. Then they grow up."
"Seth has never been like that and you know it."
"I do know it. And I'm glad he's changing. I'm glad he's doing all the things a teenager should. I don't want him to be stuck at home 24/7 tied to his mamma's apron strings."
"He is NOT tied to my apron strings."
"No, but if it were up to you, he would be."
"That's not fair."
"What's not fair is you blaming Ryan for all this."
"I never said I blamed Ryan! Have I even mentioned Ryan in all this?"
"You didn't have to." The resentment in his voice was palpable.
Kirsten stood, tight lipped, as she watched her husband collect a blanket and pillow from the closet.
"Where the hell are you going?" she called after him.
"To sleep on the couch."
"You think you can just walk away from this? That in the morning it'll all be alright?"
Sandy stopped and looked at his wife.
"I think you need to remember that it was you who invited Ryan to stay in our home."
Kirsten bristled at that. That was a low blow.
"Oh, and you didn't want that, of course…" She couldn't believe Sandy had the nerve to say that to her. Not after she'd bent over backwards for the boy. Not after she'd swallowed all her concerns and worries for her family, for her own child.
"Of course I wanted it. You knew that. But YOU made the decision. You were the one who told him he could stay. And now you need to put your prejudices aside, otherwise this whole thing has no chance of ever working out."
Sandy's words were cold and threatening, and Kirsten's anger was suddenly gone. In its place was a lump in her throat and a prickling behind her eyes. She folded her arms protectively in front of her.
"I can't help it, Sandy"
She sat down heavily.
"I'm scared. Scared for Seth. I want to help Ryan. Really I do. I like him. It's just…I don't trust him. I don't trust him to keep Seth safe. I liked always knowing where Seth was. I liked that I wasn't one of those Newpsie parents who never know what their kids are up to. I liked that I didn't have to worry about him every Friday and Saturday night. And now he's off partying and goodness knows what. It's just not LIKE him. And this thing with the car? He's covering up something. My guess is he's covering up for Ryan. Maybe Ryan took the car somewhere and he's too afraid to own up to us?"
Sandy dropped the blanket and pillow and joined his wife on the bed. He slipped an arm around her shoulder and she rested her head on his.
"Look, Ryan's not perfect. He's not always going to get things right. But just because you think Seth is lying doesn't mean its Ryan's fault. I know Seth hasn't got into trouble before, but have you seen how happy he is since Ryan's been here? Have you noticed the spring in his step instead of the slouch? Have you noticed how little he's sat in front of that damned machine? Hell, he's even getting a bit of a tan! That's got to be a good thing, right?"
Ryan took a deep breath to brace himself before entering the kitchen. Six weeks in, and he still found the whole breakfast experience in the Cohen household an unnerving experience. Take Seth for instance. Ryan would shuffle over to the cereal cupboard to a tirade of Seth's observations about how his hair was looking this morning, what he had planned for the day and did Ryan think there was any chance of bumping into Summer in her bikini. Then there was Sandy. He'd let Seth have his ramble, look like he'd schmeared and was ready to go and then, all of a sudden, do an about face and land right next to Ryan, looking at him sharply like an eagle eyeing up its prey. And then the questions would begin. "How was he doing?", "Did he sleep well?", "How were things going at the Crab Shack?" "Was there anything he needed?" Ryan wasn't used to small talk first thing in the morning. He wasn't used to having questions fired at him one after another. He wasn't used to having to string an actual answer together. But most of all, he wasn't used to an immaculately coiffed woman walking past him, scent wafting in the air and the brittle tension it brought with it.
To say that Kirsten unnerved him was an understatement.
"Morning."
"Morning, Ryan." Kirsten turned from reaching into the cupboard for a coffee cup. Her smile was as polite as usual. As forced as usual. Ryan wondered fleetingly if it would be rude to just walk out again and come back later when Sandy or Seth was there to act as a buffer.
"Coffee?"
Too late. He was stuck, like it or not.
"Um, yeah, that would be great."
Kirsten nodded and helped herself to another cup. Ryan looked around briefly for something he could help with, failed to find anything, so retreated to the island and pretended to leaf through the morning's newspaper.
"Are you working today?" Kirsten asked politely.
"Uh, yes, I have a late shift. I probably won't be back till after dinner."
"We can eat late…"
"Um, no, that's OK. I can grab something at the restaurant."
"It's no trouble."
It is trouble, Ryan thought privately to himself. Everyone delaying dinner for him? Ryan already knew Seth went into decline if he hadn't eaten by seven.
"Um, really, I could be quite late. We're two people down tonight."
Kirsten frowned slightly and then shrugged.
"Well, if you're sure. Call us if it looks like you won't get to eat. We can at least put a plate aside."
Ryan nodded and let his eyes return to the safety of the Sports section.
Kirsten placed his coffee in front of him just as Sandy walked into the kitchen.
Ryan breathed an inward sigh of relief. Now he could leave the sanctuary of the newspaper and sit at the table where the cereal was already laid out.
"Ryan! How are you doing? You working tonight? Seth and I were going to set up a Play Station marathon."
Sandy leant in conspiratorially. "Between you and me, I could do with some moral support, otherwise I'm going to lose. Badly. You know I can't get a handle on those ninjas."
Ryan's face was apologetic as he put his spoon, laden with cereal, back into the bowl.
"Sorry, yeah, I have to work. I finish about nine. Can I join you guys then?"
Sandy looked disappointed.
"You know, you don't have to do all this work. Kirsten and I will happily give you the same allowance as Seth. You're part of the family now."
"Yeah, I know, but I can't let you guys do that. You've already done so much for me. Please, this is one thing I can do for myself."
Sandy nodded, understanding, and then muttered something about wishing his own son had such a philosophy.
"OK, guess I'll just have to annihilate as many as I can on my own. Maybe you'll be back in time to bail me out before Seth thrashes me completely."
"You know it, dad. Really, I wish you'd get some practice in-between games. Beating you hands down is like taking candy from a baby, except much less fun."
Seth appeared in the doorway, eyes bleary, pajamas hanging loosely around his gawky frame. He joined them at the table and reached into the cereal box for a handful of Frosted Flakes.
Kirsten approached with a mug of coffee and placed it in front of Sandy.
"Here. I'm off to work." Her tone was sharp and caught Ryan and Seth by surprise.
They exchanged glances and then looked at Sandy.
"See you later," he responded, equally as curt, and grabbed the paper. Behind the wall of newspaper, there was no telling what he was thinking.
Ryan shifted nervously in his seat, patting his cereal down into the milk with the back of his spoon, but Seth was not so easily fazed.
"Dad? Is everything OK? Why does mom have to work today? It's Saturday. She never works on a Saturday."
"Never say never, Seth."
Seth frowned.
"Is she still mad about the car?"
Sandy removed the newspaper from across his face.
"It's not about the car. But since we're on the subject, you can spend your morning taking it to the shop for the new paint job. They'll be expecting you."
"I told you already, I don't think you should go, Seth."
"Oh come on, Ryan, who are you, my mom now?"
"I just think Donnie is trouble. I wouldn't take him to a Newport Beach party."
Seth rolled his eyes.
"For goodness sake, just relax, will you? It'll be fine. I just wish you and Marissa would come too."
Ryan stood firm and ignored the whine. Besides, he had more on his mind than just his date with Marissa.
"I invited her here, not to a party. If we go to a party, we'll be surrounded by other people and that's kinda not the point."
Seth knew when he was defeated. He also thought Ryan looked uneasy, almost unsure. It wasn't like Ryan to worry about a first date, at least he couldn't imagine tat he would be.
"You seem kind of nervous…."
Ryan lifted his head from lacing his boots to glare at him.
"I'm not nervous. At least…. not about Marissa."
"I should hope not. You're like my benchmark for cool dating. If you're scared, what would I be like? If I ever get to the point of asking Summer out on a date, and if she ever actually says yes, I'm going to need a lot of hand holding, I can tell you."
"And you're not talking hand holding with Summer, I assume?"
"Man, I'm going to need you right beside me."
"That would make your date go real well, I'm sure." Ryan replied dryly.
"I'm not kidding, Ryan. I'll be a quivering wreck, incapable of coherent speech, coherent anything…"
"Let's hope she never says yes then…"
Ryan moved past Seth and picked up his watch.
Seth continued. "Anyway, enough about me…"
"Really?"
Seth ignored Ryan's raised eyebrows.
"What is it you're nervous about? Spill."
Ryan scowled but did at least sit down on the bed.
"Are you sure that thing at breakfast yesterday wasn't about the car?"
Seth shrugged.
"So what if it was? Mom has insurance. It's not like she'll have to pay for it."
"So you think it WAS about the car?"
Seth got up and wandered over to the kitchen.
"I have no idea," he answered, "She didn't seem particularly mad with me, more with Dad. Their door was shut early last night, and I don't think it was for, you know, the other…" He stopped , preoccupied, and gazed at a new TV sitting in its box unopened.
"Hey, did Mom buy you that?"
Ryan sighed and decided that any further discussion with Seth would be a waste of time. He was from a completely different world; a world where the repercussions of trashing a seventy thousand dollar car didn't enter his radar; a world where nothing was irreplaceable; a world where he didn't have to worry every day that he might be thrown out on his ass if he screwed up. If Kirsten was mad at them about the car, then Kirsten was really angry with him. She blamed him. It didn't take a brain surgeon to figure that one out.
tbc
Just one thing - lots of people seem to add my fic to their favourites, or alerts, because I get emails telling me and yet those people don't review. That kind of sucks, to know that people like it enough to read and add it to their faves but then don't care to review. Makes me wonder whether it's worth continuing posting here at ffnet.