***Marissa's POV***

"Does that seem unsure to you?" He asked gently. She was speechless and just stood there for a moment; his piercing baby blue eyes, watching her intently.

"Umm.no, that seemed---that seemed very sure." She stammered, trying to hold back a smile. She was so overjoyed, but suddenly she was overwhelmed with fears and doubts.

"How does your future look now?" He put his hand on her shoulders and rubbed them a little. She didn't respond. She just stared distantly. He touched her hair softly, moving down it and coming to her face. He caressed her cheek a little with his thumb. "Marissa?" He asked again, unsure what she was feeling. She broke from her trance.

"It looks---confusing and---and---God, I have to think about this. I'm sorry, Ryan." She pulled away from him throwing the towel on the ground, opening the pool house door and running back home."

***Ryan's POV***

He watched her run away, down the hill and back to her mansion. What was wrong with her? Wasn't he her future? Had he miss read her signals? Those were signals, right? He looked up at the big full moon and sighed. He raked a hand through his hair and gazed out into the darkness. A few seconds later he picked up her towel, took off his and threw them both over by his laundry.

Moments later he collapsed on the bed. The place he had started this night, only a few hours before. It was close to two o'clock now, he figured. Slightly damp, only mildly tired, and very confused, he drifted off to sleep wondering what the hell he did wrong.

***Marissa's POV***

Marissa ran up the stairs to her room. She didn't care who heard her come in. No one did. She turned on her radio, not very loud but audible.

'I'm crazy for tryin', And crazy for cryin', And I'm crazy for lovin' you.'

God, that was exactly the song she wanted to hear right now. She wasn't conflicted enough. She wanted to be different then these cardboard, cookie cutouts that she hung out with, but Ryan and her? There was no mistaking that she really wanted him---she might even be in love with him. She couldn't date him and go to school though. She'd be the laughing stock of the whole school. The boy from Chino, and the princess who's daddy is a thief. That'd make excellent gossip.

She lay down on her bed, grabbed a pillow and hugged it. She curled up and started to cry again. She wasn't sure why she was crying. She liked Ryan. He was all she'd thought about practically since he came. She wanted to be different, she wanted him, and she wanted to be with him. She wanted to be different with him. The question was, was she brave enough to be different?

****THE NEXT MORNING****

***Ryan's POV***

Ryan shuffled into the Cohen's house that morning, at about 9:45. He rubbed his eyes and Seth was sitting at the counter, as usual, reading a comic book. Seth noticed him right away.

"Oh, hey man. Breakfast is served." He pointed to the various boxes of fruity and sugary sweet cereals. Ryan poured himself a bowl and sat down too. He spooned his Cap' N ' Crunch silently. Seth looked over at him. "What's goin' on?"

"Nothin'", Ryan answered faking a reassuring smile.

"Come on, every time you say that it means that there really IS something going on. What's up?" Seth asked looking a little confused.

"It's just---Marissa came over last night." He conceded.

"Oh, really? She did---really? Well, what happened?" He looked surprised and put his spoon and comic down to listen.

"We---we talked, and sat by the pool looking at the moonlight."

"Ooh! Ryan Atwood, ladies man, strikes again."

"Seth!"

"Sorry, go ahead---and---"

"And---and, I kissed her."

"You kissed her?!" Seth held up his hand for a high five. "All right! How did that go?" Ryan looked at his hand, Seth put it down.

"Well, at first it seemed it went well, but then she freaked out."

"Seriously, that's psycho. Maybe she has some thing that when she kisses someone that isn't a Styrofoam man, she goes fruit loops."

"I doubt that, Seth."

"Yeah, you're right---it's most likely the lack of food in her diet."

"Would you shut up and eat your cereal?" Ryan jabbed.

"Nope, can't. Gotta be somewhere."

"Where do you have to be at 10am on a Saturday morning, in the summer?"

"Nothing you need to worry about, I'll be back in a little while. Don't forget to wash the whites, okay?"

"What?!" Ryan exclaimed.

"Nothing, never mind!" Seth grabbed his skateboard and left the house. Ryan was left sitting at the counter with his cereal. Puzzled at Seth's odd behavior, he shrugged and picked up the comic.

****OUTSIDE****

Seth set the skateboard down and skated down the sidewalk. He only went a few feet, and he walked up the side walk and rang the doorbell. She answered the door.

"Hey, I think we need to talk." He started. Marissa sighed.

A/N: Thanks everyone for the great response!! I love feedback so much! Well, hope you enjoyed that. I had to break up all this happy since it seems people want more than just 3 or 4 chapters. I can't promise that I'll make it long, but I'm gonna see where I go with it. Maybe a few more chapters, thanks again all! :)