DAY 3: THE ANGRY MANAGEMENT

MORNING – COHEN'S KITCHEN

Sandy and Kirsten were having breakfast. Ryan walked in.

"Hi"

"Hi Ryan – Sandy greeted him, surprised - why are you ready so early?"

"I don't wanna be late for school. Plus, I couldn't sleep."

"Bagel?", Kirsten offered.

"Thanks", Ryan took one bagel from the table. In that moment, Seth walked in.

"Everyone is early this morning! Are you sure I'm not still dreaming?", Sandy asked happily surprised.

"Don't worry, if you want I get back to bed in no time", Seth replied in an annoyed tone.

"Oh come on!", Sandy said while giving him a pat on the back. Seth faked a painful expression.

"Well, I'm gonna go", Ryan stated, grabbing a cup of coffee to go.

"Wait for Seth to get dressed so he can give you a ride, since we're leaving in a few minutes", Sandy continued.

"No, thanks, I'd rather walk."

"Yeah, walking is good for thinking about your errors", Seth intervened.

Ryan ignored him and turned back to Sandy and Kirsten. "Drive safe and have fun in Palm Springs!"

"Thanks, we will! – Sandy answered – And, kids, are we sure you two will be ok here?"

"That was what I was thinking – Kirsten stepped in – Because we can always call the hotel and cancel the reservation, considering what happened..."

"No, really, don't worry. We'll be fine", Ryan replied.

"Worst case scenario, Ryan is gonna burned down also this house", Seth concluded sarcastically. Ryan made a little smirk.

Sandy felt the urge to intervene.

"Seth, I know you're angry, but you should really considering giving him another chance."

"Don't you have to load the baggage? You're gonna be late", Seth changed the subject.

"Yeah, it's true – Sandy realized - I'm counting on you, ok?"

Kirsten hugged both the guys. "Bye, and if there is any problem, call us, ok?"

"Yeah, don't worry", Seth confirmed.

"And no rave party in our house, are we clear?", Sandy added while they headed for the door.

"Oh, damn, I had everything set up, now I'm gonna have to make 200 phone calls to cancel", Seth answered.

"Bye!"

Sandy and Kirsten left.


MORNING – SCHOOL CORRIDOR

Ryan approached Marissa at her locker.

"Hey."

"Hey! - Marissa smiled – How are you?"

"No comment", Ryan shook his head in frustration.

"I guess you have talked to Seth."

"Summer did it."

"Oh...and how did he take it?"

Ryan glared at her. Meanwhile, Summer joined them.

"Hi Coop! - then, feeling it was rude to ignore him – Ryan."

"Hey."

"Ryan, I know that we had decided not to tell him, but I felt so guilty and-

"No, it's ok. I would have told him anyway if you hadn't done it", he rushed to interrupt her.

Summer nodded, before an awkward silence fell between them.

"So – Marissa felt the urge to fill the void and turned to her – how are things going with Seth?"

"We haven't spoken since yesterday, so I hope I can do it today."

"Everything will be ok, I'm sure – Marissa affirmed with confidence – after all, you and Ryan are not in love, aren't you?"

"Ew, no, not at all! - Summer declared in her typical disgust tone. Then, turning to Ryan, she continued - I'm sorry Ryan, it's not that I don't like you, but-

"Don't worry, I understand. It's the same for me."

"Good – Marissa concluded – Then, all we need to do is wait for Seth to put the whole story behind his back."

Ryan nodded. In that moment Seth appeared.

"I don't know why, but I heard my ears ringing from the parking lot", Seth stated.

"Hey Seth", Marissa replied.

"Marissa, Summer, my ex best friend", Seth continued with a smirk.

"Well, Ryan, I think we have to go to Spanish", Marissa said.

"Yep, good idea."

Before going away with him, Marissa winked at Summer. Left alone with Seth, Summer had no chance but to talk to him.

"So...how are you Cohen?"

"Good. Very good. If I wasn't Jewish, I think I could reach the Nirvana, but maybe focusing a little..."Seth started to ohm loudly.

"Come on, stop it! Anyway, do you wanna hang out after school?"

"Today I can't. There's the comic book club."

"Oh...", she sighed disappointed.

"But my parents left for the weekend, so you can come over tonight and maybe we can watch a dvd."

"Deal! But let's not rent some movie with monsters or decapitated heads because they're just gross."

"Never seen a movie like that."

"Ehm."

"Ok, maybe one time."

"Ehm."

"All right, a couple...Ok almost always, let's say that I pick you up and we go choose it together, 'right?"

"Perfect! See you tonight."

Summer came closer to kiss him, but feeling it was awkward she then just left.

"Yeah...", Seth looked her walking away with a bit of sadness.


EVENING - COHENS' HOUSE

Seth and Summer entered the main door, talking.

"Well – Seth continued – I still think that Brad Pitt is one of the most overrated Hollywood actors."

"Again? Have you finished it? It's all envy."

"Me envy of a guy who does highlights and shave his chest? Come on."

"You wished you had HIS chest to shave..."

"Ouch!"

As they reached the TV they noticed Ryan, playing the Play Station.

"Hi Ryan", Summer greeted.

"Hey! - Ryan replied with surprise - I thought you went out, do you need the TV?"

"I have three dvds in my hands, what do you think? - Seth replied harshly – Anyway, we can still go to my room."

"No, no don't worry. Plus, I was just about to go to Marissa's." Saying so, Ryan put down the controller and got up.

"Even better", said Seth.

"If you go to Marissa's, remind her that tomorrow she absolutely needs to bring me her physics book", Summer added.

"Ok...bye."

Ryan left.

"Bye", Summer whispered.

Seth sat down next to the TV set, showing her the dvd boxes: " So, the moment of truth has come, who's gonna win?Will it be the Branjelinas with their super accessorized machine gun, the tiny automobile of Cars or the wonderful world of Narnia?"

"No, wait."

"What? Don't tell me that after all this effort you still wanna see something else!"

"No, the movies are ok. It's just...do you mind if before that we talk?"

"Usually you do that after you saw the movie."

"I mean about us."

"Oh."

"I wanna explain to you what really happen on Thursday", Summer said, becoming a little anxious.

"Trust me, I really don't need to hear all the details about what you did."

"And that's the problem! Because you're making up a wrong mental movie about it. What happened was simply that I came here to talk to you, but, as always, you were at the comic book club-

"Wait, what do you mean 'as always'?", Seth interrupted her.

"Oh come on, Cohen! You're always there, I won't be surprised if you start bringing there a sleeping bag!"

"I'm little too claustrophobic to use a sleeping bag, anyway, I'm sorry. I didn't know that being with you meant I should give up all my hobbies!"

Summer started to get mad.

"I don't need you to give up comic books, I just want you to be more present, that's all! Why is it so hard for you to get it? That's exactly what I was saying to Ryan the other day!"

"And since when Ryan is your confidant? Marissa wasn't enough anymore? Oh yeah, how dumb, she wouldn't have kissed you to console you...Or would she?"

"All right, look, I've tried to explain to you what happened and apologize, but clearly you have no intention to listen to me or to forgive me, so I'm just gonna go home."

Summer got up and started walking while Seth stayed on floor, rolling his eyes. Half way to the door, she turned back just to see Seth leaving the dvds and going back to the couch, restarting the ninja game. Discouraged, she left.