**
Jimmy Cooper looked at all the picture frames Sandy in his office. Pictures of Sandy and Kirsten. Kirsten and Seth. One thing he noticed was that in every single picture, all three of them were smiling as if they were always happy. He thought about his own family, how it all seemed to be falling apart.
"I have all your papers together," Sandy said, coming back into his office. "I can look these over by this weekend unless you need them sooner."
"No, this weekend is fine," Jimmy said. "Thanks again for helping me out. I know it's a big mess and…"
"Don't worry about it, Jimmy," Sandy said. He sat down behind his desk. "So, I never knew Marissa was into playing video games."
"What do you mean?"
"She and Seth were up all night playing video games at my house," Sandy said.
"She told me she was going over there, but I didn't know it was to play video games," Jimmy said smiling. "I mean, Marissa's the type to try anything once, but I thought it was more like bungee jumping or skydiving, not video games."
"They looked like they were having a lot of fun together though," Sandy said.
"That's good." Jimmy stuffed his hands into his pockets. "I'm glad to hear that Marissa was enjoying herself especially with what's going on right now."
"Now, don't be so hard on yourself, Jimmy," Sandy said. "You're trying your best to take care of this, and I'm going to look over these papers and hopefully we can come up with something."
"Thank you."
**
Summer hadn't talked or seen Marissa in four days. She avoided the hang-outs; she let her voicemail pick up whenever Marissa called her cellphone; and even tonight at Bobby's party, she went in the other direction whenever Marissa tried to approach her.
She hid in a corner with her plastic cup full of beer, her eyes observing the party over the rim. The rap music pulsated through the beach house. Her head was pounding from the bass and the alcohol. She managed to stumble out to the deck, bumping into a few people on the way, but she soon felt the soft sand beneath her bare feet as she stepped on the beach.
The ocean's waves lured her to them. The sound of party became fainter and the sound of the water and wind became louder. She sat down on the sand and gazed out to the ocean.
**
"Have you seen Summer?" Marissa asked Luke. She scanned the crowded house for her friend.
"Not since we got here," Luke said. "Did you guys have a fight or something?"
"I don't think so," she said, "but I think she's been avoiding me."
"Hey, Luke, we have one more seat open!" Joe Thompson said from the card table. "Are you in?"
Luke glanced at Marissa.
"Go ahead," she said. She stepped back out to the dance floor looking for Summer.
**
"Hey."
Summer looked up to see Ryan standing next to her. "Are you, like, stalking me or something?"
"Don't flatter yourself," he said. He pulled out his cigarette box. "That Bobby guy won't let us smoke inside the house."
"Do you have to do that around me?"
"I can go." He turned.
"Wait. You don't have to."
Ryan lit up the cigarette and took in a long drag. He let it out in a cloud of smoke. "So, what are you doing out here?"
"Thinking."
"About what?"
"God, noisy?"
"Sorry."
A moment of silence passed between them.
"It's just that life is so unfair, you know," Summer said. "It's like the only person who can't control your life is yourself. God, I hate my dad. He made me stop being friends with Coop. I mean, Coop and I have been friends for, like, ever and now he just wants me to stop like it's that easy. Like there's a button or something. He has no idea what a friend is. I mean, he has no friends. He's an old miserable man and I hate him."
Ryan sat down next to her and looked at her with awe. "You got that all out in one breath?"
"What?"
"Nothing," he said with a smile.
"Well, I'm glad you're amused with this," she said. "At least someone is having a good time."
Ryan raised his hands. "Who said I was having a good time?"
"Marissa's here," she said. "That's why you came, right? I mean, it's pretty obvious that you two want each other."
"She has Luke," Ryan said. He flicked his cigarette butt into the ocean. "I mean, I'm just this loser from Chino, right? I have nothing to give her."
"Yeah, you're right," Summer said. "You're not her type anyway."
"And what's her type?"
"Luke."
"You mean all muscles, no brain?" Ryan said.
"Hey, Luke has a brain," Summer said. "I'm just not sure if it's a big one."
Ryan burst into laughter.
Summer pushed him playfully. "And you better not tell him I said that either."
"Yeah, like me and Luke have a lot of meaningful conversations," he said.
"Look at us," Summer said. "Anything can happen."
They sat in silence again, looking out to the ocean.
"You're more my type anyway," Summer said.
Ryan turned to her. The statement seemed to come out of the blue. She placed a hand on his leg. "Summer.."
She moved her hand up with a seductive smile. "I like bad boys and I've been a bad girl, Ryan." She leaned in for a kiss.
Ryan felt her hot breath his skin as she brushed her lips on his. He raised his hands to touch her face when he noticed the empty plastic cup next to her. He knew better than to do this, to take advantage of this situation. Summer had been drinking and she was vulnerable. He gently pushed her away.
"What?" she said, her face filled with hurt.
"I can't do this," he said. He stood up. "I'm going to go back to the party." He waited for her to get up, to walk back with him, but she remained in place. turning away from him.
**
Seth stood in the crowded living room watching the dance floor for any sign of Summer. There were plenty of petite brunettes in bikinis in the room, but none of them were Summer.
"You haven't seen Summer, have you?" Marissa said, coming up from behind him.
"No," he said.
"I've been looking for her all night," she said.
"Is everything okay?"
"Yeah, I just need to talk to her, that's all." She watched Seth fidget in the crowd. He was clearly feeling uncomfortable. "What are you doing here, Seth?"
"What?" He raised his beer cup, which was still full to the top. "I'm here to have a good time, you know, get jiggy with it. People still say that, right?"
Marissa smiled. "Come on, let's dance."
"Me? Dance? No way."
Marissa grabbed his hand. "Come on."
"If Luke sees us dancing…"
"Forget Luke."
"He is bigger than me, you know."
It was no use. Seth followed Marissa as she led them to the dance floor. A hip-hop song was blaring from the stereo. Seth stood still, scratching his head as Marissa danced in front of him.
"You can do it, Seth." She took his hands and placed them on her hips. "Just move with the beat."
The beat. That involved rhythm and as far Seth knew, he had none; still, he started to move and soon enough, he had found a beat. His heartbeat. He smiled to himself while Marissa laughed and danced with him. His grip tightened on her hips as he became more confidant. She wrapped her arms around his neck.
"You got it, Cohen," she said.