The next few days passed in a blur. Summer and Seth spent the remainder of
winter break together, and true to his word, he picked her up every morning
for breakfast. Continuing the tradition, he pulled up in her driveway at
7:30 am on Monday, January 5th. He grabbed his bag of breakfast takeout,
leaping out of his car and ringing her doorbell in one fluid motion.
"It's open!" Summer called from inside the house. Seth eased the door open and stepped inside as Summer began to skip down the stairs to the door. His breath caught in his throat as he watched her.
Summer's lithe tan legs were barely covered by a tiny red miniskirt. A fitted white oxford clung to her chest, the first three buttons undone, offering just a hint of what lay beneath. She had thrown a ribbed black cardigan over the shirt, and it drew attention to her dark hair and eyes. She was gorgeous.
"Oh, my god." Seth grabbed his chest and mocked a heart attack as Summer threw her arms around him and kissed him deeply. "So, let me get this straight. You're brilliant, my have a secret study where you create works of genius, my family loves you, you've funny, hot as hell, and so sexy that I have no idea why you're with me."
"Seth," Summer wrapped her legs around him and spoke in between kisses. "I'm with you because I'm crazy about you. So stop talking about my boyfriend, because he's awesome."
"Hey there!" Seth smiled. "You said 'awesome'! Very nice. We just have to get you rambling a little more, get you into a vintage tee - you'll have the total Seth Cohen makeover."
"That's alright." Summer smoothed her clothes and led Seth into the kitchen. "Just because I'm as smart as a dork doesn't mean I have to dress like one."
"That hurts me Summer," Seth grabbed his heart. "That hits here. And to think, I was going to give you my toast crusts."
"No!" Summer put her hands on her hips and pouted. "I love the crusts. Pleeease?" She batted her eyelashes and slid over to him. Seth felt his heart beating faster, and he swept her up into his arms. She spoke softly. "I'm crazy about you, you know that?" She smiled mischievously. "Now gimme those crusts, sugar!"
They playfully tussled over the breakfast, flirting as they ate before heading off to school.
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Summer swept into school, noticing every guy who checked her out. Seth had kissed her goodbye in the parking lot, since he had an early meeting of the literary magazine. Some crisis with the cover.
Candace came running up to her. Summer suppressed a groan. She hadn't seen Candace since she'd left the New Year's Eve party on an impulse to run to the Cohen's. One of the best decisions I've ever made, she told herself, and smiled. She was becoming a total softie.
"Ohmigod, Sum-Sum!" Candace embraced her in a faux-hug. "Your skirt is so totally cute! Juicy?"
"Um, no." Summer was distracted as Seth turned the corner of the hallway and began striding towards her. He was wearing one of her favorite vintage tees, a soft hunter green, and dimples were in full effect. How had she missed how completely hot he was for so long. "Burberry." Candace began blabbering on again, something about plaid, but Summer was watching Seth, a smile on her own face. She walked towards him, leaving Candace a few steps behind.
"Hey beautiful," he greeted her.
"Um, Seth Cohen?" Summer winced at Candace's voice behind her. "Like, what do you think, you're like, doing?"
Seth tilted his head back at Candace. "I'm like, talking, to like, my girlfriend."
Summer stifled a smile as she watched Candace's mouth drop. The blonde glanced back and forth at the two of them, then she grabbed Summer's arm and pulled her back a few steps. Seth stood a few feet away, looking puzzled.
"What?" Summer asked, aggravated.
"Ok, so, like, I don't get it. He's Seth Cohen!" Candace waved her arms at Seth.
"Yeah? So?"
"Oh. oh, I get it." A rare look of comprehension flicked across Candace's face. "It's like, a charity date - put in some time now, and maybe you can snag his family's money later."
"What are you talking about?" Summer stood up straight and put her hands on her hips. "Unlike you, some people actually date other people because they like them, not because they're golddiggers. And for your information, Seth Cohen is about a billion times cooler than you'll ever be and I'm crazy about him." With that she turned away on her heels, looped her arm through Seth's as they began to walk down the hall.
The two walked in silence for a minute.
"Oh god." Summer began to recognize the impact of what she's said to Candace. "That's it. I just cut every social time I've been building in this school for ten years."
"Hey," Seth rubbed her hand soothingly. "It'll be ok."
She smiled at looked up at him. "I know."
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"Marissa!" Summer bounded up to the taller girl after second period. Despite a rocky start with the Candace confrontation, the day was going remarkably well. Her English teacher had just announced a project on Shakespeare's sonnets and she had been paired with Seth for the project. "Marissa, wait up!"
Marissa turned slowly, and the smile on her face evaporated as she saw Summer standing there. "Well, if it isn't Little Miss Tattletale herself."
"What?" Summer noticed that she was screeching, and tried to control her voice. "Are you talking about how I called you dad?"
"Yes, valley girl, I am." Marissa bit down on the words, sounding harsher than she ever had before. "Because of you, I spent the last few days in a rehab facility, talking about my feelings. And you know what my feelings are, Summer?"
The brunette was silent.
"This is all your fault. You're the one who always wanted to go party, and now that I've finally having fun, you can't stand it. So why don't you just run along with your new boyfriend or whatever, because we're done." Marissa spun on her heel and walked away.
Summer stood completely still. She knew that Marissa was wrong, but that didn't make her words sting any less. She began to move quickly, in the opposite direction as Marissa, when she collided head-on with another body.
Summer toppled backwards, and the other girl landed next to her in tangle.
Summer managed a smile. "Hey, Anna."
"Hey."
The girls stood up and began to straighten out their clothes. Just as Summer was preparing to continue walking, Anna spoke.
"She's just scared," Anna said, referring to Marissa. "Just give her some time, ok?" Summer nodded.
"Do you want me to talk to her?" Anna asked softly.
Summer nodded again, whispered a thanks to the girl she'd once considered a rival as she hurried off to her next class.
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Summer pasted a smile on her face as she slid into a chair next to Seth at lunchtime. She knew she could talk with him about her conversation with Marissa, but she really didn't want to dump all her problems on him.
"Hey sugar," she purred, kissing him quickly before unwrapping her sushi, courtesy of the Harbor Café.
"I don't know how you can eat that stuff," Seth looked at her sushi. "I don't get sushi. It's like going into a chicken coop, pulling the feathers of Mother Hen, and saying - yes, raw, that's the way to do it."
Summer gave him a shove and looked over at his brown bag lunch. "Peanut butter and jelly? Way to be a seven-year-old."
"Um, excuse me." Seth peeled the top layer off the sandwich. "Now this may look like an ordinary sandwich, but I have yet to add the secret ingredient that makes it a decadent gourmet meal." He opened a bag of barbeque potato chips and began layering them in the middle of the sandwich. He gently pressed the top half bag on and took a bite with a loud crunch. "Ahhh." He clutched his heart in ecstasy. "Heaven."
Summer looked skeptical. "C'mon," he held out the sandwich as an offering. "Give it a try. You know, sometimes the things we initially resist are the things we come to love the most." He winked at her.
Summer rolled her eyes and took a bite of the sandwich. She had to admit, it was awesome. Totally worth the carbohydrates.
"Am I right, or am I right?" Seth looked pleased with himself.
"Oh!" Summer started as she spotted Anna passing by the cafeteria door. She'd been dying to know if she'd spoken with Marissa. "I have to go. Can you meet me by my locker in about fifteen minutes?" She shoved her books over to Seth's side of the table, kissing him quickly as she ran toward the door. "Thanks!"
Seth sighed and took another large bite of his sandwich. Women. He reached over to grab his bag of chips, and knocked all of Summer's books to the floor. He began picking them up quickly. One folder had turned upside down, and the pages were everywhere. He grabbed them off the ground, and began to try and put them back into order.
He paused. The papers were applications - summer programs at Stanford, a writing institute at Harvard, a research grant from Fortune magazine, an internship with Barrett Financial Enterprises. He sorted the papers carefully, wondering why Summer hadn't mentioned any of this to him. He left the cafeteria and made his way to her locker. He'd be early to meet her, but he wasn't hungry anymore, a rarity for him.
He knew it was wrong, but Seth couldn't resist. He sat at the base of Summer's locker and opened the folder again. This time, he noticed a folded piece of paper wedged in the back of the folder. He closed the folder and began to unfold the sheet.
"Hey sugar!" Summer's voice lilted down the hallway. She was trying her best to be happy - Anna hadn't spoken to Marissa yet, but Anna seemed to think everything would be fine, which Summer took as a good sign.
Seth shoved the paper in his backpack discreetly and handed Summer the rest of her folders. She was busy looking at a poster for that weekend's winter dance, and hadn't noticed his maneuver.
"Thanks," Summer pushed him up against a wall and kissed him. "Take a walk with me before biology?"
Seth smiled, vowing not to think about the paper. He already felt guilty about taking it, but there was nothing he could do about his actions now.
"Sure." He held her hand gently as they moved outside into the sunshine.
"It's open!" Summer called from inside the house. Seth eased the door open and stepped inside as Summer began to skip down the stairs to the door. His breath caught in his throat as he watched her.
Summer's lithe tan legs were barely covered by a tiny red miniskirt. A fitted white oxford clung to her chest, the first three buttons undone, offering just a hint of what lay beneath. She had thrown a ribbed black cardigan over the shirt, and it drew attention to her dark hair and eyes. She was gorgeous.
"Oh, my god." Seth grabbed his chest and mocked a heart attack as Summer threw her arms around him and kissed him deeply. "So, let me get this straight. You're brilliant, my have a secret study where you create works of genius, my family loves you, you've funny, hot as hell, and so sexy that I have no idea why you're with me."
"Seth," Summer wrapped her legs around him and spoke in between kisses. "I'm with you because I'm crazy about you. So stop talking about my boyfriend, because he's awesome."
"Hey there!" Seth smiled. "You said 'awesome'! Very nice. We just have to get you rambling a little more, get you into a vintage tee - you'll have the total Seth Cohen makeover."
"That's alright." Summer smoothed her clothes and led Seth into the kitchen. "Just because I'm as smart as a dork doesn't mean I have to dress like one."
"That hurts me Summer," Seth grabbed his heart. "That hits here. And to think, I was going to give you my toast crusts."
"No!" Summer put her hands on her hips and pouted. "I love the crusts. Pleeease?" She batted her eyelashes and slid over to him. Seth felt his heart beating faster, and he swept her up into his arms. She spoke softly. "I'm crazy about you, you know that?" She smiled mischievously. "Now gimme those crusts, sugar!"
They playfully tussled over the breakfast, flirting as they ate before heading off to school.
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Summer swept into school, noticing every guy who checked her out. Seth had kissed her goodbye in the parking lot, since he had an early meeting of the literary magazine. Some crisis with the cover.
Candace came running up to her. Summer suppressed a groan. She hadn't seen Candace since she'd left the New Year's Eve party on an impulse to run to the Cohen's. One of the best decisions I've ever made, she told herself, and smiled. She was becoming a total softie.
"Ohmigod, Sum-Sum!" Candace embraced her in a faux-hug. "Your skirt is so totally cute! Juicy?"
"Um, no." Summer was distracted as Seth turned the corner of the hallway and began striding towards her. He was wearing one of her favorite vintage tees, a soft hunter green, and dimples were in full effect. How had she missed how completely hot he was for so long. "Burberry." Candace began blabbering on again, something about plaid, but Summer was watching Seth, a smile on her own face. She walked towards him, leaving Candace a few steps behind.
"Hey beautiful," he greeted her.
"Um, Seth Cohen?" Summer winced at Candace's voice behind her. "Like, what do you think, you're like, doing?"
Seth tilted his head back at Candace. "I'm like, talking, to like, my girlfriend."
Summer stifled a smile as she watched Candace's mouth drop. The blonde glanced back and forth at the two of them, then she grabbed Summer's arm and pulled her back a few steps. Seth stood a few feet away, looking puzzled.
"What?" Summer asked, aggravated.
"Ok, so, like, I don't get it. He's Seth Cohen!" Candace waved her arms at Seth.
"Yeah? So?"
"Oh. oh, I get it." A rare look of comprehension flicked across Candace's face. "It's like, a charity date - put in some time now, and maybe you can snag his family's money later."
"What are you talking about?" Summer stood up straight and put her hands on her hips. "Unlike you, some people actually date other people because they like them, not because they're golddiggers. And for your information, Seth Cohen is about a billion times cooler than you'll ever be and I'm crazy about him." With that she turned away on her heels, looped her arm through Seth's as they began to walk down the hall.
The two walked in silence for a minute.
"Oh god." Summer began to recognize the impact of what she's said to Candace. "That's it. I just cut every social time I've been building in this school for ten years."
"Hey," Seth rubbed her hand soothingly. "It'll be ok."
She smiled at looked up at him. "I know."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------
"Marissa!" Summer bounded up to the taller girl after second period. Despite a rocky start with the Candace confrontation, the day was going remarkably well. Her English teacher had just announced a project on Shakespeare's sonnets and she had been paired with Seth for the project. "Marissa, wait up!"
Marissa turned slowly, and the smile on her face evaporated as she saw Summer standing there. "Well, if it isn't Little Miss Tattletale herself."
"What?" Summer noticed that she was screeching, and tried to control her voice. "Are you talking about how I called you dad?"
"Yes, valley girl, I am." Marissa bit down on the words, sounding harsher than she ever had before. "Because of you, I spent the last few days in a rehab facility, talking about my feelings. And you know what my feelings are, Summer?"
The brunette was silent.
"This is all your fault. You're the one who always wanted to go party, and now that I've finally having fun, you can't stand it. So why don't you just run along with your new boyfriend or whatever, because we're done." Marissa spun on her heel and walked away.
Summer stood completely still. She knew that Marissa was wrong, but that didn't make her words sting any less. She began to move quickly, in the opposite direction as Marissa, when she collided head-on with another body.
Summer toppled backwards, and the other girl landed next to her in tangle.
Summer managed a smile. "Hey, Anna."
"Hey."
The girls stood up and began to straighten out their clothes. Just as Summer was preparing to continue walking, Anna spoke.
"She's just scared," Anna said, referring to Marissa. "Just give her some time, ok?" Summer nodded.
"Do you want me to talk to her?" Anna asked softly.
Summer nodded again, whispered a thanks to the girl she'd once considered a rival as she hurried off to her next class.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------
Summer pasted a smile on her face as she slid into a chair next to Seth at lunchtime. She knew she could talk with him about her conversation with Marissa, but she really didn't want to dump all her problems on him.
"Hey sugar," she purred, kissing him quickly before unwrapping her sushi, courtesy of the Harbor Café.
"I don't know how you can eat that stuff," Seth looked at her sushi. "I don't get sushi. It's like going into a chicken coop, pulling the feathers of Mother Hen, and saying - yes, raw, that's the way to do it."
Summer gave him a shove and looked over at his brown bag lunch. "Peanut butter and jelly? Way to be a seven-year-old."
"Um, excuse me." Seth peeled the top layer off the sandwich. "Now this may look like an ordinary sandwich, but I have yet to add the secret ingredient that makes it a decadent gourmet meal." He opened a bag of barbeque potato chips and began layering them in the middle of the sandwich. He gently pressed the top half bag on and took a bite with a loud crunch. "Ahhh." He clutched his heart in ecstasy. "Heaven."
Summer looked skeptical. "C'mon," he held out the sandwich as an offering. "Give it a try. You know, sometimes the things we initially resist are the things we come to love the most." He winked at her.
Summer rolled her eyes and took a bite of the sandwich. She had to admit, it was awesome. Totally worth the carbohydrates.
"Am I right, or am I right?" Seth looked pleased with himself.
"Oh!" Summer started as she spotted Anna passing by the cafeteria door. She'd been dying to know if she'd spoken with Marissa. "I have to go. Can you meet me by my locker in about fifteen minutes?" She shoved her books over to Seth's side of the table, kissing him quickly as she ran toward the door. "Thanks!"
Seth sighed and took another large bite of his sandwich. Women. He reached over to grab his bag of chips, and knocked all of Summer's books to the floor. He began picking them up quickly. One folder had turned upside down, and the pages were everywhere. He grabbed them off the ground, and began to try and put them back into order.
He paused. The papers were applications - summer programs at Stanford, a writing institute at Harvard, a research grant from Fortune magazine, an internship with Barrett Financial Enterprises. He sorted the papers carefully, wondering why Summer hadn't mentioned any of this to him. He left the cafeteria and made his way to her locker. He'd be early to meet her, but he wasn't hungry anymore, a rarity for him.
He knew it was wrong, but Seth couldn't resist. He sat at the base of Summer's locker and opened the folder again. This time, he noticed a folded piece of paper wedged in the back of the folder. He closed the folder and began to unfold the sheet.
"Hey sugar!" Summer's voice lilted down the hallway. She was trying her best to be happy - Anna hadn't spoken to Marissa yet, but Anna seemed to think everything would be fine, which Summer took as a good sign.
Seth shoved the paper in his backpack discreetly and handed Summer the rest of her folders. She was busy looking at a poster for that weekend's winter dance, and hadn't noticed his maneuver.
"Thanks," Summer pushed him up against a wall and kissed him. "Take a walk with me before biology?"
Seth smiled, vowing not to think about the paper. He already felt guilty about taking it, but there was nothing he could do about his actions now.
"Sure." He held her hand gently as they moved outside into the sunshine.