Everyone-
Hey guys! Thank you soo much for your email. I loved hearing from you upon my arrival. God, I miss you all like hell. I'm trying to meet people here though too. Today I'm going to the Surf Shop here, Chilli's. I'll email you tomorrow to report back. Right now, I have just gotten to Maui. I'm on the beach with my dad. I have to go- my mom's gonna call and Julie Cooper does NOT like to wait.
Love, Marissa
Marissa woke up, put on her swimsuit, and scribbled a note telling her father where she was. Her red and white wedges looked great with her nautical anchor print AE bikini and white denim shorts. Walking down to the sandy shore, Marissa thought strangely of Seth. More like how her best friend, Summer, had Seth, but how she never seemed to find her Ross, her Chandler, her Seth, her Sandy Cohen. Approaching Chilli's, she looked up to see several teenagers that looked about her age.
"Hey," challenged a girl with long, beachy, red waves. As the silence was broken, a boy that appeared to be her twin scratched his head and smiled shyly at Marissa. He is KIND of cute… she thought.
"Hey…I just moved here for a few days," Marissa spoke to everyone's unanswered question. "Then, I'm going to Greece for a year on some rich family's yacht."
Resounding, "Ohhh…"s filled the air. A brunette with a pixie cut blurted, "You're not some rich New York princess are you?"
Marissa laughed. "I lived in Newport, California."
"Then you are a princess, huh?"
"Actually…no. How long will you guys be here?"
A raven-haired boy with a nametag that read Griffin answered.
"We work here, and my friends hang out pretty much all day." He motioned to 2 guys and a girl whose nametags read Jack, Will, and Allie, and then to the other 3 teens.
"Okay, I'm going to talk for a while. I lived in Newport since I was born. In fifth grade, I started going out with this guy named Luke Ward. My parents are Julie and Jimmy Cooper and I have a sister named Kaitlin. Anyways, everyone's life was altered when this guy from Chino came. His name is Ryan Atwood. I…I love him."
And as Marissa said this, she knew it to be true. She still loved Ryan and always would. And with that, she told her story. She told them everything, from the Model home to Volchock, from Seth to Zach, from Luke to Holly, from T.J. to Miami.
And when she was finished, no one said a word. Not for a few minutes.
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Ryan scanned through the morning paper looking for Kevin Volchock's name. As of yesterday, he would be in jail for 3 months for driving and injuring someone with a .08 alcohol level, and Ryan wanted to send a copy to Marissa with the story.
"Hey man," Seth walked in to the kitchen with Summer.
"Hey I was just cutting this out for Marissa. You see it?"
"Yeah…" Seth hesitated. "Listen, I think maybe you've been thinking about Marissa too much."
Ryan glared at Seth, who withered under the look, then understood what Ryan thought he was implying.
"NO! no no no no NO…Ryan, I just think you should take your mind off of her by going to this benefit tonight. My parents are going and so is Taylor Townsend, and I think Julie said she had a surprise for you!" Seth was smiling by now but catching Ryan's look again, the grin slid from his face like shower water. "Look, it's only for one night, and you get a Julie Cooper surprise!" Seth gave an enthusiastic thumbs up.
"Fine…" Ryan said shortly.
Seth looked at Summer in her gorgeous blue dress and gold shoes and felt a real jolt of sympathy that Ryan didn't have a girl that he could experience this feeling with. Speaking of Ryan, where was he? He was now 16 minutes late to the benefit.
"Hey…" Seth broke off to give Summer a kiss.
"Where's Ryan,"
"Ah…I don't really-"
A red 360z pulled smoothly into the driveway and out stepped Ryan and Sandy, the latter apparently not used to driving with Ryan. While Ryan usually went according to the law, to get to the Ward's old house, you had to drive on the beach because of all the cars, and Ryan on the beach was ALWAYS mind blowing.
"Hey Seth, Roberts," Ryan called over.
"Hey yourself Atwood…you clean up real nice!" Summer dusted Ryan's shoulders as she spoke, then looked at him critically.
"You do know I'm right here, no?" Seth joked sarcastically.
Ryan laughed before returning to his brooding disposition.
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Julie Cooper got out of Kaitlin's new Lexus, bringing with her a girl with reddish hair. Now, Marissa couldn't get her prince charming either. Without hesitation, she clinked a spoon to her recently acquired champagne glass and began.
"Everyone, I have a surprise guest. She has just moved here from the rough streets of Chicago and is now here to stay. Forever.
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Ryan looked at the girl on stage thinking Julie was trying to help him cope with Marissa being gone, but still couldn't believe it. "Lindsay?" he gasped.
Dun Dun DUUUN!! Read and Review pleasies!! Give me your suggestions, ideas, and criticism!
