Seth rubbed his eyes as he walked up the driveway to his house. He hadn't
been this tired since the Magic the Gathering marathon a few years ago. He
blinked his eyes and looked around his yard, expected to see serious damage
from Aunt Hailey's party. He hadn't really looked around when he'd stopped
in to change clothing earlier. Surprisingly, the house almost looked
better than it had when his parents had left for their little vacation.
Seth walked around the gardenias to the back of the house. He passed a repairman on his way around the exterior of the house, and spotted Hailey inspected one side of the poolhouse. He winced as he remembered his little "breaking the poolhouse window" escapade from the night before.
"Well, there's the man with the fists of steel," Hailey popped up from underneath the patio table and walked towards Seth, hauling a huge garbage bag. "Be a dear and take this one over to the garage, will you? It's the last one, I promise."
Seth sighed and slung the bag over his shoulder, dropping it off on the small pile by the garage. When he returned, Aunt Hailey was reclined on one of the lounge chairs.
"Thanks for getting that window fixed," Seth gestured to the poolhouse and the new replacement window as he laid down on the chair next to hers. "Of course, it was kind of your fault for locking me in there with Ryan and Marissa all night."
"Yeah, sorry about that." Hailey turned to face him. "I didn't realize that there was somewhere you needed to be so urgently.
Seth blushed visibly as he recalled the previous night - Summer in her bare feet, running up his front lawn, kissing Summer on his sailboat as fireworks exploded overhead, waking up next to her, her conversations with Grandpa Caleb's friend, the sweet explanation of the study, finally seeing the Summer he knew had been underneath that protective exterior.
"Yoo hoo? Loverboy?" Hailey smirked as Seth's blush deepened. She settled into her chair, satisfied with herself. "I knew it had to be about a girl."
"Not just any girl," Seth corrected her. "Summer Roberts."
"Summer Roberts?" Hailey smiled. "Nice going, nephew. I'm impressed."
"She's impressive." Seth agreed, trying to contain his happiness and finding it impossible.
"I know you're in the love bubble right now kiddo." Hailey looked serious, and paused until Seth turned to meet her gaze. "But I remember Summer Roberts. Spunky. I always liked that girl. But you have to remember that girls like Summer - she's used to people leaving her. Make sure that she knows she can trust you." Her voice quieted. "When you're a girl who's used to disappointment, it's hard to expect anything else."
Seth was taken back by the statement. He'd always thought of Hailey as one of the lucky people who lived without a care in the world. As he attempted to wrap his head around her statement, she stood and slipped on her shoes.
"Alright kiddo," she smiled and looked like herself again. "I'm off. Tell your mother I'll come see her soon, k?"
Seth grinned in spite of himself. "K!" He mocked her tone.
She grabbed his nose and gave it a little twist, an old maneuver from when he was a kid and liked to pretend he was an elephant. She winked and hopped in her Jeep, waving as she pulled off and headed east.
Seth laid back down on the lawn chair. The sun was warm, and he quickly drifted off to sleep.
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"Seth?"
Seth groaned and sat up, rubbing his eyes with his fists. He really had to stop falling asleep outside.
"Ryan - hey. What's up?"
"Marissa is having problems."
"Thanks, Captain Obvious. I think we all got that one after this afternoon. C'mon inside, I'm parched." Ryan followed Seth into the main house, where Seth pulled two Mountain Dews out of the fridge and they settled around the kitchen counter.
The truth was, Seth hadn't been a big fan of Marissa's lately. She'd been great when Ryan had first moved in with the Cohens, even helping to hide him in Kirsten's model home. But lately it just seemed like she was getting Ryan into trouble - the drinking, the fender-bender at the Christmas party, the shoplifting, the placement test at Harbor. Seth hated to think about losing Ryan. He had become a major part of his life over the past few months.
"I can't be with Marissa anymore." Ryan sounded out the words as he spoke them, as if he were practicing the phrase. Seth's head popped up.
"Geez, man, I mean, I know that you and Marissa have something going, but I think that maybe it's a good idea to take a break for a little bit, let her get it all sorted out. I mean, she's Summer's best friend and your girlfriend, and I don't want to tell you what to do or to say anything bad about her, but I really, really don't want to lose you." There was sincerity in Seth's rambling that Ryan appreciated.
"Earlier, when we were at Jimmy Cooper's, after you and Summer left," Ryan stared at his Mountain Dew, "Mr. Cooper called the rehab center while Marissa slept. I was just sitting there with Anna, and she was really great. We were just talking, and she said something about how great I was to be there with Marissa. And you know - I realized that it's not great at all. It's just the same old thing as last year for me. My whole life, I've just been sitting by a bedside, wondering if the person I love is going to hurt themselves again. if this is going to be the last time. I just can't do it anymore." Ryan's voice had shifted from upset to a harsher tone tinged with anger. "I left all that behind."
Ryan swallowed a drink of his soda. "Hey, Anna was really awesome today."
Seth nodded. "That she was, my friend. She was surprisingly cool about me and Summer. Maybe she's found out that I'm not such a prize." He mock- insulted himself, hanging his head in exaggerated shame.
Ryan shot him one of his patented sideways glances, and Seth's head popped back up.
"Dude, I thought we talked about this earlier. Don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of the monologue; now let's work on the dialogue, okay?" Seth opened the refrigerator and began rooting around. "I need some sustenance, stat," Seth shuffled through the jars in the refrigerator. "We have a big honkin' nothing in the fridge." He turned to face Ryan. "Want to order Chinese?"
"Someone say Chinese?" Sandy's booming voice echoed through the house as the front door swung open.
"We're home!" Kirsten called.
"Hurray!" Seth cheered sarcastically as he and Ryan went to greet the Cohens. As he hugged his parents, a smile crossed his face. He took the bag of Chinese food from Kirsten as Ryan headed outside to help Sandy with the luggage.
"Well, my dear son," Kirsten tried not to laugh as she reached up and wiped a small smear of lipstick off Seth's neck. She held out the napkin and showed him the reddish color, raising her eyebrows inquisitively. "Have fun while we were gone?"
Seth walked around the gardenias to the back of the house. He passed a repairman on his way around the exterior of the house, and spotted Hailey inspected one side of the poolhouse. He winced as he remembered his little "breaking the poolhouse window" escapade from the night before.
"Well, there's the man with the fists of steel," Hailey popped up from underneath the patio table and walked towards Seth, hauling a huge garbage bag. "Be a dear and take this one over to the garage, will you? It's the last one, I promise."
Seth sighed and slung the bag over his shoulder, dropping it off on the small pile by the garage. When he returned, Aunt Hailey was reclined on one of the lounge chairs.
"Thanks for getting that window fixed," Seth gestured to the poolhouse and the new replacement window as he laid down on the chair next to hers. "Of course, it was kind of your fault for locking me in there with Ryan and Marissa all night."
"Yeah, sorry about that." Hailey turned to face him. "I didn't realize that there was somewhere you needed to be so urgently.
Seth blushed visibly as he recalled the previous night - Summer in her bare feet, running up his front lawn, kissing Summer on his sailboat as fireworks exploded overhead, waking up next to her, her conversations with Grandpa Caleb's friend, the sweet explanation of the study, finally seeing the Summer he knew had been underneath that protective exterior.
"Yoo hoo? Loverboy?" Hailey smirked as Seth's blush deepened. She settled into her chair, satisfied with herself. "I knew it had to be about a girl."
"Not just any girl," Seth corrected her. "Summer Roberts."
"Summer Roberts?" Hailey smiled. "Nice going, nephew. I'm impressed."
"She's impressive." Seth agreed, trying to contain his happiness and finding it impossible.
"I know you're in the love bubble right now kiddo." Hailey looked serious, and paused until Seth turned to meet her gaze. "But I remember Summer Roberts. Spunky. I always liked that girl. But you have to remember that girls like Summer - she's used to people leaving her. Make sure that she knows she can trust you." Her voice quieted. "When you're a girl who's used to disappointment, it's hard to expect anything else."
Seth was taken back by the statement. He'd always thought of Hailey as one of the lucky people who lived without a care in the world. As he attempted to wrap his head around her statement, she stood and slipped on her shoes.
"Alright kiddo," she smiled and looked like herself again. "I'm off. Tell your mother I'll come see her soon, k?"
Seth grinned in spite of himself. "K!" He mocked her tone.
She grabbed his nose and gave it a little twist, an old maneuver from when he was a kid and liked to pretend he was an elephant. She winked and hopped in her Jeep, waving as she pulled off and headed east.
Seth laid back down on the lawn chair. The sun was warm, and he quickly drifted off to sleep.
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"Seth?"
Seth groaned and sat up, rubbing his eyes with his fists. He really had to stop falling asleep outside.
"Ryan - hey. What's up?"
"Marissa is having problems."
"Thanks, Captain Obvious. I think we all got that one after this afternoon. C'mon inside, I'm parched." Ryan followed Seth into the main house, where Seth pulled two Mountain Dews out of the fridge and they settled around the kitchen counter.
The truth was, Seth hadn't been a big fan of Marissa's lately. She'd been great when Ryan had first moved in with the Cohens, even helping to hide him in Kirsten's model home. But lately it just seemed like she was getting Ryan into trouble - the drinking, the fender-bender at the Christmas party, the shoplifting, the placement test at Harbor. Seth hated to think about losing Ryan. He had become a major part of his life over the past few months.
"I can't be with Marissa anymore." Ryan sounded out the words as he spoke them, as if he were practicing the phrase. Seth's head popped up.
"Geez, man, I mean, I know that you and Marissa have something going, but I think that maybe it's a good idea to take a break for a little bit, let her get it all sorted out. I mean, she's Summer's best friend and your girlfriend, and I don't want to tell you what to do or to say anything bad about her, but I really, really don't want to lose you." There was sincerity in Seth's rambling that Ryan appreciated.
"Earlier, when we were at Jimmy Cooper's, after you and Summer left," Ryan stared at his Mountain Dew, "Mr. Cooper called the rehab center while Marissa slept. I was just sitting there with Anna, and she was really great. We were just talking, and she said something about how great I was to be there with Marissa. And you know - I realized that it's not great at all. It's just the same old thing as last year for me. My whole life, I've just been sitting by a bedside, wondering if the person I love is going to hurt themselves again. if this is going to be the last time. I just can't do it anymore." Ryan's voice had shifted from upset to a harsher tone tinged with anger. "I left all that behind."
Ryan swallowed a drink of his soda. "Hey, Anna was really awesome today."
Seth nodded. "That she was, my friend. She was surprisingly cool about me and Summer. Maybe she's found out that I'm not such a prize." He mock- insulted himself, hanging his head in exaggerated shame.
Ryan shot him one of his patented sideways glances, and Seth's head popped back up.
"Dude, I thought we talked about this earlier. Don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of the monologue; now let's work on the dialogue, okay?" Seth opened the refrigerator and began rooting around. "I need some sustenance, stat," Seth shuffled through the jars in the refrigerator. "We have a big honkin' nothing in the fridge." He turned to face Ryan. "Want to order Chinese?"
"Someone say Chinese?" Sandy's booming voice echoed through the house as the front door swung open.
"We're home!" Kirsten called.
"Hurray!" Seth cheered sarcastically as he and Ryan went to greet the Cohens. As he hugged his parents, a smile crossed his face. He took the bag of Chinese food from Kirsten as Ryan headed outside to help Sandy with the luggage.
"Well, my dear son," Kirsten tried not to laugh as she reached up and wiped a small smear of lipstick off Seth's neck. She held out the napkin and showed him the reddish color, raising her eyebrows inquisitively. "Have fun while we were gone?"