"Oh my god, ew!" Summer cackled, at the picnic table in the quad. She
was surrounded by Marissa and some of the other social elites at their high
school.
"Could she be any louder?" Seth asked, unusually annoyed at Summer, to Ryan. Actually, lately this wasn't unusual for Seth, thought Ryan. Summer and Seth had continued to their usual bickering, except now, it was driving Seth insane instead of sending him hope. Ryan sighed, it was hard for him to feel bad for his best friend when his love life was going so well. Speaking of, Marissa kept giving him lustful looks from across the quad. He returned the look, as she laughed along with Summer and the other girls. "Earth to Ryan." Seth spat out, flipping through his notebook.
"Sorry," Ryan stammered, still having his eyes locked on Marissa.
"Right." Seth gathered his books, "I have to get away from. . .this." He said abruptly, leaving Ryan alone at the picnic table. Marissa saw this and quietly took the opportunity to surprise him. She plopped down next to Ryan, who's eyes lit up at the sight of her.
"Hey, no smiling, Atwood. You might ruin your rep as a professional brooder." Marissa joked, settling in his arms, her favorite spot.
"Very funny." He slipped in a kiss, embracing her.
"So, is Seth still being. . . Seth?" She asked, not sure of how to word herself.
Ryan chuckled, "Yeah. I've learned to ignore it. I'm sure he'll be back to himself soon."
"Let's hope."
"Has Summer said anything?"
"Well, she's improved. Now, when I mention Seth Cohen to her, instead of shrugging indifferently, she yelps EW and changes the subject."
"Great improvement, then." Ryan said, standing up slowly, with her. "Time for class."
"Great!" Marissa laughed, as they walked hand in hand to chemistry.
"Aren't they like, the cutest couple, since . . . Marissa and Luke?" Kate, a member of Summer's worshippers, er. . . friends, asked.
"Totally!" Another one shouted, way too excitedly. "What do you think Summer?" They all turned for her reply, their watery freshman eyes glaring at her, admiringly. She hadn't felt this admired, since. . . he who shall not be mentioned.
"Personally, I think when they make out, its gross. But otherwise, Coop's happy, so I guess they're ok." She shrugged, her eyes landing on a tall, scrawny boy in a bright blue tee shirt, her eyes wandered to his curly, black hair and she shielded her eyes quickly. "It's bright out here. I'm going inside. Besides, we have class soon."
"Good idea!" Kate exclamored and they all huddled into the school. Summer followed, but then stopped short. The last time she had spoken to Seth was that day on the beach, when they decided to 'try' to be friends. But, Seth was ignoring her completely. And she even caught him mocking her to Ryan.
Now, it was Monday, at school. And she had completely forgotten that Seth Cohen was in her first period class, conveniently, until now. Oh, and he happened to sit right next to her. Great.
Summer walked right into U.S. History as confident as she could be, swaying right past Seth, who she noticed, didn't even look up.
She slid into her seat, placing her bag down by her ankles, grabbing her notebook. She yawned, examining her nails carefully. This was boring, school was boring. She glanced back at Seth, who was busy scribbling something in his notebook. She yawned once more, trying to get his attention. It worked, and he looked up, giving her an inquisitive look. She smiled gently and rolled her eyes at him. Why couldn't she just be nice?
"Guess I'm not your kryptonite anymore." He whispered his tone furious and deep with regret.
Summer examined her manicure, unfazed. "What on earth are you talking about?" She said, quietly, making sure no one was watching them.
Seth snorted, starting to scribble again.
By the end of class, he was dying. Summer had played every trick in the book to make him sweat. And the worst part, it worked. When she had gone up to the teacher's desk, swaying her hips, flirtatiously. When she dropped her pencil, bent down to pick it up, with just enough cleavage showing to make him break down. Every little thing he didn't want to notice, he was noticing. He sighed with relief when the bell finally rang. He knew Summer had a free period, and so did he. They used to always sit outside by the picnic tables. Seth would flip through a book, while Summer would babble on incoherently, usually pointing out every flaw within him. Today, as he walked outside towards the tables, Summer was sitting down underneath a tree, resting in the shade, reading a book. What was that? He didn't think Summer could even read, at this point. He had never seen her near a book. His mind flashed to the weekend, when he promised to try to be her friend. Might as well, he thought, as he walked up to her.
"Hey," He announced his presence, and she looked up at him, bewildered. "What are you reading?" She set down the book by her side, carefully folding down the page.
"It's Marissa's. On The Road." She scooted over, offering him a space by the tree. He took it, cautiously.
"That's my favorite book." He announced.
"I know." Summer paused. "Coop told me."
"Oh." He picked up the book, flipping through its familiar pages. "What do you think?"
Summer shrugged. "It's hard for me to concentrate on it right now." She let the words linger in the air for a moment.
Without skipping a beat, Seth laughed, "Too many big words?"
Summer playfully rolled her eyes. "No," She huffed. "How am I supposed to concentrate on anything Cohen, when I can smell that cheap cologne from a mile away?"
"Touché." Seth laughed. "I kind of went overboard on the Old Spice this morning."
"Kind of?" She raised her eyebrows. "This has been. . . interesting. But I have friends who are probably in dire need of my presence. You know what friends are, right Cohen?" She stood up, dusting her skirt off. He stood up, handing her the book.
"What we are?"
"Yeah, right." She blushed, let her eyes roll once more and clutched the book to her chest as she walked away, feeling his eyes on her.
Seth smiled to himself. Maybe being friends with Summer wasn't a bad idea, after all.
"Hey Ryan." Seth chirped during study hall.
"Woah, talk about a total 360. What are you so chipper about?"
"Oh, nothing." Seth smiled. "Listen, I have something to do after school today, so I'll just meet you by the Rover after soccer practice, okay?"
"Sure," Ryan agreed questioningly, "What plans do you have exactly?"
"I'll tell you later. I don't want to jinx it or anything." He tapped the library desk, smiling even wider, and walked off as Ryan just shook his head.
Summer tapped her foot impatiently by Seth's locker. During English, when she cracked open On The Road again, she found a tiny folded piece of paper. It was note, from none other then Seth Cohen, asking if she would meet him at his locker after school. That was five minutes ago.
"Summer Roberts." She looked up at her name, to see Seth, greeting her.
"About time, Cohen." She stomped her foot, glaring up at him. "You know, my world doesn't revolve around you."
"Of course not, it revolves around you." He bickered, shoving some books into his locker and shutting it to see Summer roll her eyes.
"So, what is this about?" She asked, realizing her and Seth were the only souls in the hallway.
"Summer, do I really need a reason to want to talk to a friend?" He draped his arm around her.
"Ew, who like, gave you permission to touch me? And yes, you, Seth Cohen, need a reason to talk to me." She declared, pointing to herself and pushing his arm away.
"Well, I was wondering if I could have my jacket back." He said flatly and she blinked.
"Like I'm supposed to know where YOUR jacket is?" She whimpered, turning around promptly to walk away.
"The one I let you borrow, yes, you are supposed to know. I want it back, Summer." He screamed out to her. She turned quickly to face him, an evil grin spread across her face.
"Oh, THAT jacket." She smiled. "I threw it away."
"Excuse me?"
"Consider it a favor, Cohen. That jacket was hideous."
"That was one of my favorite jackets!"
"Figures. I mean, you have really," She looked at his tattered jeans, "Bad taste."
"You leave a bad taste in my mouth, Summer." He muttered.
She laughed outrageously, "As if you would ever taste any part of me, especially in your mouth. Cohen, you crack me up." She turned around again, walking off once more.
"That's not how you felt last weekend!" He screamed at her, his eyes bulging. She briskly turned and walked back to him.
"That," She was on the verge of slapping him. "Never happened, remember?" Veins were popping out of her forehead, and Seth shrunk down a little bit. How a tiny girl like Summer could ever intimidate him, was anyone's guess.
"How can I remember it if it never happened?" He blinked widely.
"Ugh. . ." She shrieked, glaring at him, quickly walking away from him.
"That went well." Seth said out loud to himself.
"What went well?" Marissa asked, walking over to him.
"Oh, hey Marissa. Just having some issues with your best friend." He said, as they walked towards the exit doors.
"I swear," She laughed. "You guys are more dramatic then Dawson's Creek."
"Yeah, well, what can I say? We're both drama queens, I guess."
Marissa giggled at this and opened the door to let herself and Seth out of the school.
"Kiss her." Marissa clamped her hands together as if this was a big revelation.
"Yeah, and get smacked? Great plan!"
"Well, that's one outcome." Marissa's eyes lit up. "Or, she could be really happy you did it. I guess you won't know until you try."
"That's so not happening, Cooper." He laughed, walking over to the Rover.
"Forget the drama, Seth. Just kiss her." Marissa smiled, assuring him. "Trust me, you won't be disappointed. And who knows better then her best friend?" She bowed and walked off to her own car, happy with what she had done. Seth, let Marissa's idea sink in, deciding it was worth a shot and climbed into the Rover, waiting for Ryan to come back from practice.
"Seth Cohen needs to die, slowly!" Summer shrieked. For the past ten minutes, Marissa had watched Summer burst into her room and pace around, complaining about Seth Cohen.
"Summer, don't blow a fuse about this, ok?" Marissa rolled over onto her stomach, praying that Summer would just shut up.
"Coop, you don't understand!" Summer whined. "He contradicts every thing I say, he swears that something almost happened between us. . ."
Marissa interrupted, "Maybe because something almost did!"
"Yeah, well," Summer huffed, falling back into a chair. "I never did thank you for interrupting us."
"Thank me?" Marissa glared at her.
"Yeah, if you hadn't had knocked, the freak might have kissed me and then. . . ew! I don't even want to think about it!"
"Summer, just admit it." Marissa said coyly.
"Admit what?" Summer stared at her blankly.
"You like Seth. You want to be with Seth. You want Seth to kiss you and you want to kiss him back." Marissa smiled wide at her obvious advice.
Summer felt like she was going to kill someone. "I don't like . . ." She stared at Marissa, in disbelief. "Shit, I like Seth Cohen."
"Duh!" Marissa threw a pillow at her. "Now, what are you going to do about it?"
"Could she be any louder?" Seth asked, unusually annoyed at Summer, to Ryan. Actually, lately this wasn't unusual for Seth, thought Ryan. Summer and Seth had continued to their usual bickering, except now, it was driving Seth insane instead of sending him hope. Ryan sighed, it was hard for him to feel bad for his best friend when his love life was going so well. Speaking of, Marissa kept giving him lustful looks from across the quad. He returned the look, as she laughed along with Summer and the other girls. "Earth to Ryan." Seth spat out, flipping through his notebook.
"Sorry," Ryan stammered, still having his eyes locked on Marissa.
"Right." Seth gathered his books, "I have to get away from. . .this." He said abruptly, leaving Ryan alone at the picnic table. Marissa saw this and quietly took the opportunity to surprise him. She plopped down next to Ryan, who's eyes lit up at the sight of her.
"Hey, no smiling, Atwood. You might ruin your rep as a professional brooder." Marissa joked, settling in his arms, her favorite spot.
"Very funny." He slipped in a kiss, embracing her.
"So, is Seth still being. . . Seth?" She asked, not sure of how to word herself.
Ryan chuckled, "Yeah. I've learned to ignore it. I'm sure he'll be back to himself soon."
"Let's hope."
"Has Summer said anything?"
"Well, she's improved. Now, when I mention Seth Cohen to her, instead of shrugging indifferently, she yelps EW and changes the subject."
"Great improvement, then." Ryan said, standing up slowly, with her. "Time for class."
"Great!" Marissa laughed, as they walked hand in hand to chemistry.
"Aren't they like, the cutest couple, since . . . Marissa and Luke?" Kate, a member of Summer's worshippers, er. . . friends, asked.
"Totally!" Another one shouted, way too excitedly. "What do you think Summer?" They all turned for her reply, their watery freshman eyes glaring at her, admiringly. She hadn't felt this admired, since. . . he who shall not be mentioned.
"Personally, I think when they make out, its gross. But otherwise, Coop's happy, so I guess they're ok." She shrugged, her eyes landing on a tall, scrawny boy in a bright blue tee shirt, her eyes wandered to his curly, black hair and she shielded her eyes quickly. "It's bright out here. I'm going inside. Besides, we have class soon."
"Good idea!" Kate exclamored and they all huddled into the school. Summer followed, but then stopped short. The last time she had spoken to Seth was that day on the beach, when they decided to 'try' to be friends. But, Seth was ignoring her completely. And she even caught him mocking her to Ryan.
Now, it was Monday, at school. And she had completely forgotten that Seth Cohen was in her first period class, conveniently, until now. Oh, and he happened to sit right next to her. Great.
Summer walked right into U.S. History as confident as she could be, swaying right past Seth, who she noticed, didn't even look up.
She slid into her seat, placing her bag down by her ankles, grabbing her notebook. She yawned, examining her nails carefully. This was boring, school was boring. She glanced back at Seth, who was busy scribbling something in his notebook. She yawned once more, trying to get his attention. It worked, and he looked up, giving her an inquisitive look. She smiled gently and rolled her eyes at him. Why couldn't she just be nice?
"Guess I'm not your kryptonite anymore." He whispered his tone furious and deep with regret.
Summer examined her manicure, unfazed. "What on earth are you talking about?" She said, quietly, making sure no one was watching them.
Seth snorted, starting to scribble again.
By the end of class, he was dying. Summer had played every trick in the book to make him sweat. And the worst part, it worked. When she had gone up to the teacher's desk, swaying her hips, flirtatiously. When she dropped her pencil, bent down to pick it up, with just enough cleavage showing to make him break down. Every little thing he didn't want to notice, he was noticing. He sighed with relief when the bell finally rang. He knew Summer had a free period, and so did he. They used to always sit outside by the picnic tables. Seth would flip through a book, while Summer would babble on incoherently, usually pointing out every flaw within him. Today, as he walked outside towards the tables, Summer was sitting down underneath a tree, resting in the shade, reading a book. What was that? He didn't think Summer could even read, at this point. He had never seen her near a book. His mind flashed to the weekend, when he promised to try to be her friend. Might as well, he thought, as he walked up to her.
"Hey," He announced his presence, and she looked up at him, bewildered. "What are you reading?" She set down the book by her side, carefully folding down the page.
"It's Marissa's. On The Road." She scooted over, offering him a space by the tree. He took it, cautiously.
"That's my favorite book." He announced.
"I know." Summer paused. "Coop told me."
"Oh." He picked up the book, flipping through its familiar pages. "What do you think?"
Summer shrugged. "It's hard for me to concentrate on it right now." She let the words linger in the air for a moment.
Without skipping a beat, Seth laughed, "Too many big words?"
Summer playfully rolled her eyes. "No," She huffed. "How am I supposed to concentrate on anything Cohen, when I can smell that cheap cologne from a mile away?"
"Touché." Seth laughed. "I kind of went overboard on the Old Spice this morning."
"Kind of?" She raised her eyebrows. "This has been. . . interesting. But I have friends who are probably in dire need of my presence. You know what friends are, right Cohen?" She stood up, dusting her skirt off. He stood up, handing her the book.
"What we are?"
"Yeah, right." She blushed, let her eyes roll once more and clutched the book to her chest as she walked away, feeling his eyes on her.
Seth smiled to himself. Maybe being friends with Summer wasn't a bad idea, after all.
"Hey Ryan." Seth chirped during study hall.
"Woah, talk about a total 360. What are you so chipper about?"
"Oh, nothing." Seth smiled. "Listen, I have something to do after school today, so I'll just meet you by the Rover after soccer practice, okay?"
"Sure," Ryan agreed questioningly, "What plans do you have exactly?"
"I'll tell you later. I don't want to jinx it or anything." He tapped the library desk, smiling even wider, and walked off as Ryan just shook his head.
Summer tapped her foot impatiently by Seth's locker. During English, when she cracked open On The Road again, she found a tiny folded piece of paper. It was note, from none other then Seth Cohen, asking if she would meet him at his locker after school. That was five minutes ago.
"Summer Roberts." She looked up at her name, to see Seth, greeting her.
"About time, Cohen." She stomped her foot, glaring up at him. "You know, my world doesn't revolve around you."
"Of course not, it revolves around you." He bickered, shoving some books into his locker and shutting it to see Summer roll her eyes.
"So, what is this about?" She asked, realizing her and Seth were the only souls in the hallway.
"Summer, do I really need a reason to want to talk to a friend?" He draped his arm around her.
"Ew, who like, gave you permission to touch me? And yes, you, Seth Cohen, need a reason to talk to me." She declared, pointing to herself and pushing his arm away.
"Well, I was wondering if I could have my jacket back." He said flatly and she blinked.
"Like I'm supposed to know where YOUR jacket is?" She whimpered, turning around promptly to walk away.
"The one I let you borrow, yes, you are supposed to know. I want it back, Summer." He screamed out to her. She turned quickly to face him, an evil grin spread across her face.
"Oh, THAT jacket." She smiled. "I threw it away."
"Excuse me?"
"Consider it a favor, Cohen. That jacket was hideous."
"That was one of my favorite jackets!"
"Figures. I mean, you have really," She looked at his tattered jeans, "Bad taste."
"You leave a bad taste in my mouth, Summer." He muttered.
She laughed outrageously, "As if you would ever taste any part of me, especially in your mouth. Cohen, you crack me up." She turned around again, walking off once more.
"That's not how you felt last weekend!" He screamed at her, his eyes bulging. She briskly turned and walked back to him.
"That," She was on the verge of slapping him. "Never happened, remember?" Veins were popping out of her forehead, and Seth shrunk down a little bit. How a tiny girl like Summer could ever intimidate him, was anyone's guess.
"How can I remember it if it never happened?" He blinked widely.
"Ugh. . ." She shrieked, glaring at him, quickly walking away from him.
"That went well." Seth said out loud to himself.
"What went well?" Marissa asked, walking over to him.
"Oh, hey Marissa. Just having some issues with your best friend." He said, as they walked towards the exit doors.
"I swear," She laughed. "You guys are more dramatic then Dawson's Creek."
"Yeah, well, what can I say? We're both drama queens, I guess."
Marissa giggled at this and opened the door to let herself and Seth out of the school.
"Kiss her." Marissa clamped her hands together as if this was a big revelation.
"Yeah, and get smacked? Great plan!"
"Well, that's one outcome." Marissa's eyes lit up. "Or, she could be really happy you did it. I guess you won't know until you try."
"That's so not happening, Cooper." He laughed, walking over to the Rover.
"Forget the drama, Seth. Just kiss her." Marissa smiled, assuring him. "Trust me, you won't be disappointed. And who knows better then her best friend?" She bowed and walked off to her own car, happy with what she had done. Seth, let Marissa's idea sink in, deciding it was worth a shot and climbed into the Rover, waiting for Ryan to come back from practice.
"Seth Cohen needs to die, slowly!" Summer shrieked. For the past ten minutes, Marissa had watched Summer burst into her room and pace around, complaining about Seth Cohen.
"Summer, don't blow a fuse about this, ok?" Marissa rolled over onto her stomach, praying that Summer would just shut up.
"Coop, you don't understand!" Summer whined. "He contradicts every thing I say, he swears that something almost happened between us. . ."
Marissa interrupted, "Maybe because something almost did!"
"Yeah, well," Summer huffed, falling back into a chair. "I never did thank you for interrupting us."
"Thank me?" Marissa glared at her.
"Yeah, if you hadn't had knocked, the freak might have kissed me and then. . . ew! I don't even want to think about it!"
"Summer, just admit it." Marissa said coyly.
"Admit what?" Summer stared at her blankly.
"You like Seth. You want to be with Seth. You want Seth to kiss you and you want to kiss him back." Marissa smiled wide at her obvious advice.
Summer felt like she was going to kill someone. "I don't like . . ." She stared at Marissa, in disbelief. "Shit, I like Seth Cohen."
"Duh!" Marissa threw a pillow at her. "Now, what are you going to do about it?"