AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thanks for the feedback. The lyrics to "Landslide" were written by Stevie Nicks.
Fifteen minutes after Anna had walked out of the auditorium and his life, Seth remained seated, his head in both his hands. What have I done, he thought. He couldn't believe that after all he and Anna had gone through together, after all that they had shared; their friendship had ended like that. But, Seth thought as he straightened up, I've always been honest with her about my feelings for Summer. I have nothing to feel guilty about. But he did feel guilty. He had hurt her. The image of her stricken face was so engrained in his mind that if he were to take a rock and beat himself senseless, he still wouldn't be able to get rid of it.
Then all of a sudden, he could smell the faint scent of Chanel No. 5. He looked up to find Summer standing next to him.
"Okay Cohen, I'll allow you to take me to the mall this Saturday, come by my house at noon," she said then turned and walked away.
For the second time that day, Seth sat stunned. He had a date with Summer. After six years of dreaming about it and praying to any deity who would listen, it had finally happened. What about Anna, a nagging voice asked. I was always honest with her, he answered back. Please let me enjoy this.
***
Summer smiled as she headed to gym class. As usual, she was late, but thank god that this semester they had sex ed so she didn't have to change into her gym clothes. She entered the classroom and like a heat-seeking missile, she zeroed in on Anna sitting at the back.
Perfect, Summer thought as she sauntered over and took a seat next to her. She didn't know exactly why she hated the petite blonde-haired girl. Maybe it was because Anna seemed so confident and self-assured. From the very beginning, Anna didn't seem to care what people in Newport Beach thought of her. On those rare occasions when she was honest with herself, Summer wished she could be more like that. However, today was not one of those days. So after the class had settled down, and Ms. Cross had begun her lecture, Summer scribbled a note to Anna and threw it onto her desk. Anna looked over at Summer with a mixture of surprise and disgust but opened the note anyway.
- Guess who I'm going out with Saturday, it read.
- I don't care; Anna wrote back then tossed the letter onto Summer's desk.
- Oh, I think you will (Summer).
- Fuck off (Anna).
- Seth Cohen (Summer).
- I don't care (Anna).
- Really (Summer). Good, because I'm going to fuck his brains out.
Suddenly Anna's hand shot up. "Ms. Cross, may I be excused?" she asked shooting Summer a vicious look. "I think I'm going to be sick."
"Of course, Anna," Ms. Cross said with a concerned look on her face.
"Thanks," Anna said gathering her things. She rose and walked out of the room.
After five minutes had passed and still no Anna, Summer raised her hand. "Uh, Ms. Cross, maybe someone should go check on Anna."
"Go ahead Summer."
She gathered her things and immediately headed for the women's washroom down the hall. As soon as she entered, she could see Anna standing at the sink splashing water on her face.
At the sound of the door opening, Anna looked up and saw Summer's reflection in the mirror over the sink. She wiped her face with a paper towel then turned around to face the other girl.
"What do you want?" Anna asked.
"I just wanted to see how you were doing," Summer said as she joined Anna at the sink. "So, how are you doing?" she asked, raising her eyebrow.
"Like you really give a damn."
"Tsk, tsk. Such language."
"What do you want Summer?"
"Nothing. I'm here to give you something actually. A clue. I'm going out with Seth Cohen this Saturday."
"I'm happy for you," Anna said sarcastically.
"Be that as it may, I've won him - game, set, and match so back off."
"You know what Summer, you and Seth deserve each other."
***
"So," Ryan said from his position on the pool house floor. The floor was littered in pop cans and empty potato chip bags. He and Seth had been playing Grand Theft Auto since they'd woken up that morning, but now Seth was getting ready for his date with Summer.
"So what?" Seth asked as he rubbed gel in his hair. "Collar up or down?" he said referring to the collar of his yellow and black striped polo shirt.
"Down. Have you even spoken to Anna since you broke up?"
"Number one, it wasn't a break-up, we weren't dating. Number two, I called her house and I've tried talking to her at school, but no go. And three," Seth said turning to stare fixedly at Ryan. "I don't want to talk about it today."
"Seth …."
"No, I'm finally going out with Summer. I will not allow anything or anyone to ruin this day." Seth had dreamed about this day for years. Ever since she'd shown up at his house with that apple pie after Chris had died, he'd felt a connection with her. Summer was the one. And if she'd just take the time to get to know him, she'd see too that they were meant to be together.
At last, Seth pulled his mother's Range Rover out of the Cohens' driveway and drove to Summer's house. As soon as he pulled onto her street, he could see her standing in front of her Spanish-style house. He barely had time to stop the car before she jumped in.
"Let's go," she said.
"All righty then," Seth said then drove on. His eyes, seemingly of their own volition, landed on Summer's tanned legs and trailed up her thighs to the hem of her black Diesel skirt. He cleared his throat. "So what are we doing today?" he asked, trying to focus on the road. The last thing he wanted was for her to catch him scoping her. Plus, he'd have some explaining to do should they get into an accident.
"Shopping."
"Shopping?"
"I want to pick up a Juicy sweat suit and some Jimmy Choo's."
"Huh."
"Clothes and shoes Cohen."
"Oh."
For twenty minutes, Seth drove in silence trying to think of something witty to say. He'd never imagined that talking to her could be so hard. In fact, it had been much easier talking to her back when she didn't care about him. Once they reached the mall and Seth found a parking spot, he jumped out of the Range Rover and ran around to open the passenger side door for Summer. Without saying a word, she hopped out and began walking toward the mall's entrance. Seth stood for a moment looking at her retreating form. She was beautiful, just the stuff of a sixteen-year-old boy's fantasies – well-toned legs, firm butt, arched back, long flowing hair. Her sultry eyes, perky breasts, and pouty pink lips didn't hurt either; Seth thought as he locked the car's doors then ran to catch up with her.
"So Cohen, what do you usually do for fun?" Summer asked turning her head to face him.
"Sail, surf, skateboard. I also read comics."
"Oh."
As soon as he'd said it, Seth wished he hadn't. Even to his own ears, his life sounded lame. "Well what do you do for fun Ms. Roberts?"
"Hang out, party, shop."
A niggling thought tried to push its way through Seth's consciousness, but he quickly brushed it aside. Now was not the time to get negative. After years of wanting to be with Summer, he'd finally done it.
For two hours, they maneuvered their way through the mall, stopping at Nordstrom's, Abercrombie & Fitch, and Nieman Marcus. As they were leaving Tower Records, they spotted three girls from school.
"What's up Summer?" Ashley Farnsworth, a tall blonde, said eyeing Seth suspiciously. "You two together?" she asked cocking her head in Seth's direction.
"Exactly what do you mean by together? If by together you mean we happened to be in the same store and we happened to leave at the same time, then 'yes,'" Summer said avoiding Seth's eyes. "What are you guys up to?"
"We're going to go see the new Viggo Mortensen movie. Do you wanna come?" Morgan Koontz asked.
"I can't. I have to volunteer at the hospital," Summer said rolling her eyes.
"I hate that community service shit. I can't believe it's mandatory at Harbor. See you later Summer," Ashley said turning to walk away followed by Morgan and a girl named Tammy Ferguson.
As soon as they were out of earshot, Seth turned to Summer, a tense look on his face. "What was that about?"
"Nothing Cohen, chill."
"Could you define chill? If it's anything like your definition of together, it should be interesting."
"What's your problem?" Summer asked as she ran her hand along Seth's arm.
"Nothing," Seth said turning away from her and walking toward the mall's entrance. He could hear Summer's heels clicking against the linoleum floor as she ran to catch up with him.
"Where are you going?"
"Home. I don't know. Are you ashamed to be seen with me?"
"Don't be silly," she said turning away.
"Look at me," he said grabbing her by the arms and turning her to face him. "Are … you … ashamed … to be seen with me?" Seth didn't know why he was pushing the point. Did he really want to know the answer?
"It's not that simple," Summer said her shoulders beginning to slump. "You don't understand. I like you Cohen. I don't know why, but I do. But …."
"But what?" Seth said holding her up.
"The kids at school wouldn't understand."
"Why do you care what they think?"
"Get real Cohen. This isn't one of those comic books you like to read. In the real world, what your friends think matter. But of course you wouldn't understand that," she said straightening up then pulling away from him.
"What is that suppose to mean?"
"Nothing."
"No, what do you mean I wouldn't understand?"
"Well, you're not exactly the most popular guy at school. You're not under the same pressures I am."
"I see." But truthfully, he didn't. If he liked Summer and she liked him, shouldn't that be enough?
"Why don't we go to the food court? I'm starving."
"I'll pass. In fact, I need to head home. A family thing. You know how that is."
"Yeah," Summer said uncertainly.
They didn't speak on the ride home. He'd spent the entire day with Summer and didn't know any more about her than when they'd started except that someone like him didn't fit into her world.
After pulling into her driveway, Seth turned to her and said, "I had a nice time."
"No, you didn't," Summer said reaching out and brushing his cheek with her hand.
Seth opened the driver's side door of the car and climbed out. He walked around to the passenger side door and opened it for Summer.
"Have a nice life Cohen."
"We still go to the same school Summer, and with Marissa and Ryan dating, we'll be seeing a lot of each other."
"I know, but it won't be the same after this," she said leaning against his chest, then kissing him softly on the mouth. As he drew her close, he noticed that she tasted like strawberries and her hair smelled like freesia. Almost immediately, she pulled away. "Bye," she said then walked up her front walk. After unlocking her front door, she turned, gave Seth a small wave, then walked into the house, closing the door behind her.
Seth stood for a few minutes just looking at Summer's front door. His impulse was to run up her walk, ring the bell, bang on the door, and beg her to take him back but he knew that wasn't the right thing to do. Suddenly the lyrics to Fleetwood Mac's "Landslide," a favorite of his parents, flooded his mind:
Well, I've been afraid of changing cause I've built my life around you
But time makes you bolder
Children get older
I'm getting older too
His and Summer's time had come and passed. Anna was right; he had invented his own Summer. But, he realized as he walked around to the driver's side of the car and let himself in, that that wasn't such a bad thing after all. His fantasies of Summer had provided him with a purpose during those lonely years before Ryan had come into his life, when it would have been so easy for him to crawl into a hole and die. But he was older now, and as 1 Corinthians 13:11 says "When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became and adult, I put an end to childish ways."
***
Monday morning, Seth waited by the entrance to the Harbor School's main building for Anna. He'd thought about nothing and no one else over the weekend. Finally, after ten minutes, he saw her walk across the quad toward the building. As she got closer, a chill came over him. He had to push through though, his very life depended on it.
"We need to talk," he said as she approached him.
"I have nothing to say to you," she said barreling pass him like a bulldozer.
"Look Anna, I'm sorry about everything."
"Too little, too late," she said.
Seth stood unable to move as the other students swerved to avoid walking into him.