Marissa woke up with horrible headache to the ringing of the cell phone. She rolled over to see Alex reaching around for the ringing phone and finding it on the ground. "Hello?…Hey Summer…yeah I'll be there in twenty minutes…bye." Alex rolled out of bed and ran a hand through her hair on the way to the bathroom.
"Who was it?" A groggy Ryan asked.
The sick feeling in her stomach was back accompanied by a whirling in her ears. She threw the blanket over her off and searched for her shoes.
Ryan got out of bed and stretched, "What are you looking for?"
Marissa just glared at him.
"What?" Ryan asked.
Alex walked out of the bathroom, "Hey. How do you feel?"
"Where's my shoes and my…" She trailed off.
"Your shoes are under the bed," Alex answered walking over to Marissa, "And your flask is in the middle of the ocean."
"Where do you get off throwing my shit into the ocean!" Marissa yelled.
Alex was taken aback, "You need help Marissa," Alex took Marissa's hands, "Let me help you."
Marissa narrowed her eyes at Alex and yanked her hands away. She hissed, "Go to hell." And stormed out of the pool house.
Alex's mouth fell open and she fell back onto her bed. She held her head in her hands.
Ryan walked over to her and put his arm around her, "She's just lashing out. You're doing all you can."
Marissa turned back around for one last glance and saw Ryan with his arm around Alex. Tears started streaming down her face and she ran down the street to her house.
Alex got on her phone and waited for someone to pick up.
"Hey Alex," Summer answered cheerfully.
"Hey," Alex answered, pulling on some jeans, "Can we postpone the shopping for a little while? We have a huge problem."
"Marissa?" was all Summer asked.
"Yeah," Alex stated.
"I'll be right over," Summer replied.
Ryan went to wake up Seth and they all converged next to the pool, waiting for Summer. When she got there the first words out of her mouth were, "What happened?"
Alex shrugged, "You called then I went to brush my teeth. When I came out, Marissa was looking for her stuff. Then she yelled at me and stormed out." Lexi trotted out of the pool house and laid down next to Alex.
"You slept in the same bed as Marissa?" Summer asked.
Ryan shook his head, "Lexi was in bed with Marissa so Alex slept with me."
Summer hit Alex's arm.
"Ow!" Alex rubbed her arm, "What was that for?"
"She just does that sometimes…" Seth started to say, but stop when Summer hit him.
"How would you react if you woke up and found Marissa in bed with Ryan?" Summer asked Alex.
"Oh my God," Alex breathed and covered her face with her hands, "I'm so stupid."
"Let me go talk to her," Summer offered.
They all agreed and Summer was off to the Cooper house. She knocked and Julie answered the door. She smiled, "Hi Summer."
"Hi," Summer said, "Is Marissa here?"
Julie nodded, "She looked upset. Is she okay?"
Summer shrugged, "That's what I'm here to find out."
Julie let Summer in and Summer ran up the stairs straight to Marissa's room. She knocked on the door and when she heard Marissa call, "Go away." She walked in.
"I said go away," Marissa pulled the covers over her head.
"Coop," Summer sat on the foot of the bed, "What's wrong?"
"You probably already know," Marissa stated not coming out of the protection of her blanket.
"I know you freaked out when you saw Alex and Ryan dancing together and really freaked when you saw them in bed together," Summer stated.
Marissa pushed the blanket down, "You know what happened. So why are you here?"
"To tell you that it's all a big misunderstanding," Summer stated.
"Yeah right," Marissa pulled the covers back over her head. She blindly grabbed her iPod off the nightstand and Summer could hear the muted music coming from the headphones in Marissa's ears.
Summer huffed and walked out. She called Alex on the way out.
"Hey," Alex answered, "What happened?"
Summer sighed, "It's your turn now."
Alex stood from her seat next to the pool and ran a hand through her hair, "Thanks for trying."
Seth and Ryan watched Alex walk away.
"This is bad," Seth stated.
Ryan nodded, "I've never seen her this upset."
Seth stroked Lexi's fur, "So you're cool with Alex and Marissa?"
"Yeah," Ryan nodded, "Me and Marissa were a total train wreck every time. And you said it yourself, Alex is like the sister I never wanted, but got anyway. I want them to be happy."
"Ah the tangled webs we weave," Seth looked over the ocean.
Ryan raised an eyebrow.
Seth shrugged, "It seemed appropriate."
Alex saw Summer leaning on her car as she walked up the driveway.
"No car?" Summer asked.
"Seemed like a waste," Alex replied.
Summer crossed her arms, "I'll wait for you."
Alex nodded and ran inside. She took the stairs two at a time and soon found herself face to face with Marissa's door.
She knocked and was answered with a, "Go away. It's locked."
"Marissa," Alex called through the door, "Look. I know you might hate me right now and you might have the wrong idea about me and Ryan, but I want you to know I'd never do anything to hurt you." She paused waiting for a response. When none came she added, "I'm sure there's a million ways to avoid me so I'm not gonna try to talk to you if you don't want to and I'll give you your space, but the new opening of the Bait Shop is Monday night. I'd mean a lot to me for you to be there." Alex pressed her palm against the door and rested her forehead on it. She counted thirty seconds in her head and sighed. "Bye Marissa."
Alex walked down the stairs and back out to Summer.
"No luck?" Summer asked.
Alex shook her head.
"She'll come around," Summer stated getting in the driver's seat.
"I hope so," Alex added getting into Summer's car.
