Author's Note: I don't own anything. Thank you so much for the reviews. This chapter may be a bit confusing as far as the couples are concerned, because a lot of the characters are feeling torn right now, but hang in there with me. :)


Ryan lied on his bed, tossing his hackey sack in the air and catching it so rhythmically that he was hardly aware of it. He'd had a good time at the beach with Lindsay the night before, and he hadn't felt that carefree in a long time. It'd be nice having her right next door. Since he first arrived in Newport, the one thing he'd missed the most was sneaking into Theresa's room through her window and talking half the night about nothing at all, and when they got older, fumbling around in the dark. If he hadn't spent most of his life thinking of her as someone to play soccer with or do homework with, he figured he probably could have fallen in love with her.

Lindsay was new, and in her own way, she even managed to take his mind off of Marissa. He refused to admit it to anyone, including himself, but he still had a huge crush on the girl. He knew he shouldn't like her, and he was trying to forget about her, but so far, he hadn't been very successful. He glanced over at the clock. It was time to go meet Sandy. He hopped onto his bike and rode to the Crab Shack.

"Ryan!" Sandy greeted him with a big smile. "How are you? Everything going okay?"

Ryan nodded. "Yeah, things are good."

"Because you know-"

"I know," Ryan cut in, offering a small smile. "Thanks."

"Are you ready to start school tomorrow?"

"I guess," he said and Sandy could hear the timidness in his voice.

"Nervous?"

Ryan smirked sarcastically. "Why would I be nervous?"

Sandy chuckled. "It'll take some adjusting, but I'm sure you'll be fine. And if not, you'll always have Seth."

Ryan couldn't help but grin. "My neighbor is also starting harbor this year."

"Really? Did he just move here?"

"She. Transferred from Newport Union."

"Ah, the girl next door," Sandy replied with a knowing grin.

Ryan raised an eyebrow at him, and for a moment his thoughts drifted to Marissa. "How are things coming along with Mr. Cooper's case?"

"Well, the good news is, he's not going to prison. The bad news is he'll have to sell the house."

"How's Mrs. Cooper dealing with that?"

Sandy sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "They're getting a divorce."

Ryan stared at him silently, wanting to ask about Marissa, but refusing to let himself.


Summer went through her closet, trying to pick out her first day of school outfit. As much as she tried to push Seth out of her mind, he kept popping into her thoughts at the most random moments. She wanted to know what exactly was going on with him and Anna.

She and Ryan seemed to have drifted into the 'just friends' stage without her even realizing it. It was probably for the best, because the more she got to know him, the more she saw that they just didn't click like that. It might have had something to do with the fact that she had completely fallen for his best friend.

The next morning, Ryan and Lindsay arrived at school together, both thankful that if they had to be outsiders, at least they would be outsiders together. As Lindsay stepped out of the car, she noticed a group of cheerleaders looking at her oddly. "Um, I'm new. Is it okay if I park here?"

The girl tossed her hair, and replied in a snotty tone, "Sure, if you're not embarrassed."

As soon as the girl turned around, Lindsay rolled her eyes, and Ryan gave her a reassuring look. "Come on, let's get to homeroom."

"Ryan!" Someone called from behind them.

He and Lindsay turned to see Seth quickly walking towards them. "Hey, man." They greeted each other with a fist bump. "Lindsay, Seth; Seth Lindsay."

They nodded and then Seth snatched Ryan's schedule out of his hands. "Dude, we're in the same homeroom!"

"What teacher do you have?" Ryan asked Lindsay.

"Greenberg."

"Sweet, that's right next to our room," Seth stated with a grin.

Lindsay wasn't sure what to make of Seth, but Ryan seemed at ease with him, so he couldn't be too bad. "Awesome."

As they were walking into their rooms, Holly came out from the room Lindsay was headed into and pulled Ryan aside. He gave her a disgusted look, but stepped out into the hallway with her. He stared at her waiting for an explanation.

"Okay, you can stop with the death glare!"

He rolled his eyes, but tried to appear slightly less ticked.

"Here's the thing...I know you're totally into Marissa, and I like Luke."

"I'm not-"

"Please, Chino. I'm not blind."

"She's with Luke," Ryan said firmly.

Holly shrugged. "Exactly."

"Huh?"

"Look, I know that Marissa likes you, and I have a feeling that if I could get Luke away from Marissa for five minutes..."

"No."

"Come on, all we'd have to do is pretend to be together for a little while and soon we'd have them eating out of the palms of our hands." She stepped towards him, backing him into a wall.

"This is a really bad idea."

"Since when did that ever stop you?" She looked up at him seductively.

"I have to get to class." He refused to show any reaction to her advances and ducked away from her.

"So we've got a deal? I get Luke, you get Marissa, it works out for everyone."

He glared at her one last time before disappearing into the classroom.

Holly looked up to see Marissa standing at the end of the hallway, watching. Holly smiled and waved at her, feigning innocence.


Anna walked into homeroom and sat down at an empty table. She nervously tapped a pencil, waiting for the bell to ring. The sooner the day started, the sooner it would be over. She had hoped to run into Seth before school, but she hadn't been able to find him. At least they had the same lunch.

She pulled out her planner, doodling on the pages that she wouldn't need to use. Finally, the bell rang, and the seat beside her was still empty. She noticed several people staring in her direction, and she managed a smile, hoping they weren't staring at her because they thought she was some kind of freak.

The door opened, and Summer walked in, looking slightly frazzled, but somehow still perfect. After an annoying exchange with the teacher, Summer looked for a place to sit. The only empty seat was beside Anna, so she hesitantly sat down.

"Hey. Summer, right?"

"Yeah. What's your name again?" Summer asked as if she hadn't been wondering what was going on with this girl and Cohen for the past several days.

"Anna."

"Right, Cohen's girlfriend." She couldn't keep all of the hostility out of her voice and it made Anna cringe.

She wasn't sure if she should object that or not. Instead she just turned away from Summer and pretended to be listening intently to the teacher.

After homeroom, Luke waited for Marissa by her locker. "Hey babe."

She leaned over and gave him a quick kiss. "I can't believe summer's over and we're back in school already."

"Look, Marissa," he started, his voice lowering. "I want you to know that whatever happens this year, you know with everything going on with your parents...we'll get through it together."

She offered him an unsure smile. "Thanks, Luke."

Since getting back from Tijuana, Luke had done a lot of thinking and decided that regardless of whether he had feelings for Holly or not, he still felt strongly for Marissa and he couldn't leave her now, when everything else in her life was going wrong. Hopefully, there would be no more drama with that punk from Chino, but somehow, he knew it wasn't over. "Did you and Holly smooth things over?"

"I guess."

At the mention of Holly's name, Luke noticed that Marissa's tone became very bitter. He wondered how long it would be before she turned back into the Marissa he loved...or if she ever would.