Chapter Seven: Getting Them to Meet
Seth and Summer sat in their usual booth at the diner, quietly eating their short stacks. Even though it was lunchtime, pancakes supposedly made everything better in the OC. Seth shoved a fork of pancake into his mouth and exhale loudly as he struggled to chew. Syrup dripped from his chin which he quickly licked away once he swallowed a bit. "So that was eventful." he said with mouth full. Summer nodded, cutting her meal in little pieces. "Yeah, if I were Ryan I would've knocked Volchok's lights out." Seth grinned and pointed a finger, trying his best to look remotely tough. "Yeah, so would I! I'd-I'd…teach 'im! " Summer rolled her eyes and pushed Seth's hand down, shaking her head and looking at him pathetically. "You'd teach him all the ways to make you crumble to the ground." Seth mocked her facial expression and made a high pitched laugh. "Oh, zing…that was good." he said turning back to his plate.
"I feel bad for Atwood though." Summer continued. "I think we should do something nice for him. Make him feel better, you know?" Seth cut into his pancakes some more and set down his knife. "Like what? Make him dinner? Buy him wife beaters?" Summer shrugged. "I don't know…throw him a party maybe?" Seth grunted and took a sip of his water. "You think a Newpsie party will fix his depression?" Summer shook her head in question. "Who said I'd invite Newpsies?"
"Well who else are you gonna invite? His only real friends are you, me, and…well you know. " Seth said. "And it's not like Ryan would want a lot of people around when he finally does see Marissa…if he ever does." Summer leaned back in the booth, her suggestion shot down. "I guess you're right." The two continued eating, moaning aimlessly in satisfaction from their pancakes. Seth finished and sat back rubbing his bloated stomach. He watched Summer continue to chew and raise her eyes up to the ceiling. She played with her fork a little and was obviously thinking about something. Summer then dropped the fork on her plate and looked at Seth with a huge smile and bugged eyes. He looked behind him thinking she was looking at something…then glanced back at her wondering what was up. "What?" Summer grinned from ear to ear. "Cohen, you are a genius!" she screamed in excitement. "I know…" he said. "But why?"
"Ryan won't want to see Marissa with people around, so we have to come up with a plan to make them meet in private!" She explained her idea, feeling proud of herself. "Okay, but how are we gonna do that if we can't find her?" Seth asked, again salting Summer's game. "Well w-oh, yeah…damn." she muttered, leaning back again. "It's okay." Seth said. "That would have been a fool-proof plan if we knew the location of a certain Cosmo girl…" Summer pushed out her bottom lip and crossed her arms, a look of sadness on her face. "Cohen, I miss her." she said with a sigh. "I'm kinda getting sick of you." Seth pushed his plate away and let his hands rest on the sticky table. "That happens often." he said, looking around for a waitress. "I know, but that's why I need Coop." Summer stated. "I used to hang out with her so I could get energized for all your psycho babble and comic book reference vernacular."
Seth looked back at her, jaw slightly dropped with surprise. "Good word…" he complimented. Summer looked away from Seth's obvious impression. "Yeah well, my thesaurus is like the new Bible." she explained, tossing her napkin onto her half-empty plate. "Right." Seth said. "You wanna go? I feel bad leaving Ryan home alone." Summer nodded and slid halfway out of the booth. "Maybe we can all go to the Bait Shop or have a video game marathon tonight or something. Ryan will like that." Seth stated as he moved. Summer got to her feet and grabbed his hand, pulling him up. "I think you'll like it more than he will…just get the check." she said, looking around for their waitress.
After ordering a pancake meal to go for Ryan, Seth and Summer exited the diner into the cool Newport air. The pier was more crowded than usual, the lunch time buzz attracting hungry surfers. They zigzagged their way through, Seth leading Summer passed all the people, hoping to find their way back to where they had parked. Seth held the pancakes in one hand and Summer's hand in the other. They continued walking until Seth felt it hard to pull Summer along. He stopped short and looked at her, wondering what made her stop walking. Summer was looking straight toward something. Her face dropped and she lost almost all color in her face. Seth followed her gaze to whatever she was looking at…there on the side of the pier stood Marissa, leaning against the railing and looking out towards the water. Her clothes were dirty and wrinkled, her hair knotty, her eyes makeupless and blood shot. She looked completely drained and out of it…like she hadn't slept or eaten anything in days.
Seth and Summer just stood there watching…as more and more people passed before them, making Marissa disappear from view for just seconds at a time. Marissa turned to her side, standing up straight and releasing the mettle guard rail. Her eyes fell to the groups of people, two motionless figures standing mere feet away, gawking at her. She didn't move, or even change her facial expression. She just stood as they did…being the odd man out in their two against one staring contest…