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Chapter 20: Getting Ready
That was awkward, he thought, as she climbed into his car.
He hated that he felt so guilty.
And it was the worst type of guilty.
He wasn't guilty of whatever Summer was accusing him of, because the truth was, he had no idea what she was pissed off about.
He wasn't feeling guilty because Summer was mad at him. Nope, not at all. A little sad, but not guilty.
And he definitely wasn't feeling guilty about Charlotte becoming so attached to him, clinging onto his legs like that, begging to go with him rather then stay with Summer.
Nope, he felt guilty because he had liked it.
He couldn't help the grin from appearing on his guilt-ridden face, and that's why he was feeling guilty in the first place. He was so happy to see how attached Charlotte had become to him, because he felt just as attached to her.
He didn't want to leave, even if Kirsten absolutely needed his help in the kitchen. Seth would skip one Chrismukkah meal if it meant he could stay with Charlotte and Summer all day long. Even with Summer mad as hell at him. It almost reminded him of their bickering in the past. Summer was revealing that side of herself once again, the angry tormented side. The side he was always turned on by.
How could he possibly be angry at her for blowing up at him over presumably nothing when she looked so gosh darn cute when she screams?
He shook off his grin, but it did no good.
He was in love.
But then again, he had never fallen out of love.
And he could tell that she hadn't either.
Yeah, that grin wasn't going anyway anytime soon.
*********************
"One second!" Summer screamed at the ringing phone as she grabbed it. "Hello?" She fell back down on the couch, catching her breath. She had gone to the bathroom for five seconds and of course, the phone had to ring.
"Sum!" Marissa's voice called loudly through the phone. So loud, that Summer held the phone away for a second.
"Coop?" Summer asked, watching Charlotte emerge from her bedroom, holding out a few hair clips.
"Mommy!" Charlotte screamed giddily, throwing all the hair clips on the floor. They were the girly kinds, the ones fit for a Barbie doll or a two year old girl. Pink, lacy barettes glimmered by Summer's toes and she looked down at Charlotte, demandingly.
"Hold on a sec, Coop." Summer placed the phone down. "Charlie, Mommy's on the phone right now."
"Which one should I wear in my hair?" Charlotte asked, falling down on the floor and sifting through the gleaming hair clips.
"Um," Summer paused, kicking one towards Charlotte, "This one." She picked the phone back up. "Coop, you there?"
Charlotte looked at her mother, displeased and angrily grabbed all the clips, except for the one Summer had kicked in her direction and went to the armchair, strategically placing them in her lap. Summer sighed, closing her eyes as Marissa droned on.
"So, Ryan and I were just reminiscing about the Harrison Kegger. You remember that?" Marissa laughed nervously.
"Of course I do."
"Of course you do, I'm so dumb." Marissa winced at her stupidity. "Anyway," Marissa stopped herself. What was she doing? Telling Summer that Ryan had spotted Anna that night would just make Summer's Christmas suck.
"Coop, get to the point. I need to get Charlotte ready for dinner, not to mention myself." Summer rolled herself over so she was facing the windows of her apartment.
"Um, I just thought it was quite the coincidence." Marissa paused, trying to fix this phone call, "That Ryan brought it up."
"Yeah." Summer waited for Marissa to speak again. "Is that all?"
"Um," Marissa tapped her purse out of frustration. "Yeah."
"Coop," Summer started, "I told Seth that I knew."
Marissa smiled in relief, "And?"
"He denied it." Summer spat out, watching the clouds stream against the clear blue sky.
"Summer," Marissa watched her words carefully, "Did you ever think that maybe you're. . . wrong?"
"I saw what I saw, Coop." Summer said sternly. "I kind of need to go."
"Ok, we'll talk about it later?"
"Sure, later." Summer said carelessly, and Marissa knew she wasn't going to talk about that for a while. Marissa hung up the phone, disappointed.
It was quite the coincidence. Anna being there.
But it didn't mean Summer was right.
Deep inside, Marissa just couldn't believe that Seth would do such a thing.
Summer hung up the phone bitterly and turned around towards Charlotte, letting her lips curve into a smile.
Charlotte had placed every clip in her hair, not leaving one strand down.
"Oh my god, Charlie . . ." Summer stood up, grabbing the girl's hand and pulling her towards her bedroom. They both sat down on Summer's unmade bed and Summer pulled each clip out carefully.
"Which one looks prettiest?" Charlotte asked, clicking her tongue on the roof of her mouth.
"Why don't you use one of mine?" Summer asked, noting Charlotte's grin at this response. Summer grabbed one of the last "nice" things she owned. A tiny diamond encrusted pink and blue butterfly. She placed it in Charlotte's limp, brown hair carefully.
"Ohhhhh, That's pretty." Charlotte's eyes gleamed at the sight of the clip and she looked in Summer's mirror, pleased. She jumped off the bed, squealing out of delight.
Summer leaned back, dazed.
She hadn't been required to dress up in a long, long time. What on earth was she going to wear?
***************************
"Hey there, my friend." Seth chirped as he entered the kitchen, swinging his car keys.
"Hi," Ryan started, giving Seth a bemused look as Marissa reentered the kitchen. "Are you going to fill me in now?" He asked her as she sat down, staring at Seth.
"Oh, fill me in too!" Seth squealed, pulling up one of the chairs towards them. "What's the Newport gossip? Who's with who? Who's addicted to what?"
"Since when are you interested in gossip?" Marissa asked him cautiously.
Seth scratched his head. "Since now. Spill."
"Ok," Marissa said, wrapping her arms around Ryan. "This little tidbit is about someone who cheated on someone else, with someone who happened to be a threat to the cheated."
"Huh?" Ryan and Seth both looked at her, confused.
"Nevermind." Marissa screeched, letting go of Ryan and grabbing her purse from the counter. "I have to go get ready for later." She kissed Ryan on the cheek, giving Seth an icy glare and headed towards the front door.
"What's her problem?" Seth asked, shaking off Marissa' glares as he stood up.
"I'm not sure." Ryan said apprehensively, looking back towards Marissa as she left.
"Well, whatever it is, it must be contagious." Seth laughed as he started towards the staircase.
"What do you mean?" Ryan called.
Seth paused, speaking earnestly. "It really must be 'let's get mad at Seth Cohen' day."
"Oh," Ryan laughed. "No, that was last week. Today's Chrismukkah Eve."
"Yes it is, Ryan!" Seth danced a little. "Which means that today cannot be bad. So, by the powers infested in Saint Chrismukkah, I know that all the antisethism shall fade by dinnertime."
"Get out of here. Go get primped for Summer." He joked as he placed his dishes in the dishwasher.
"I do not primp, Atwood, I prepare. And speaking of primping, don't think I didn't notice the enormous amount of hair products in your bathroom, because I did."
Ryan gaped at Seth as he left the kitchen and let out a chuckle, running his fingers through his gelled hair.
***************
Somewhere between her mansion and the Cohen mansion Julie had gotton lost.
She had stopped herself, catching her breath, trying to force her anger to fade as she ran over what she should say to her daughter. After all, she dind't want to offend her.
Julie had lost complete track of time as she noticed Marissa's figure emerge from the Cohen's house, looking a little ticked of herself.
"Mom? What are you doing?" Marissa asked as she stepped towards her mother, who smoothed back her hair, placing her switch to 'bitch' mode.
"Admiring Kirsten's gardening. Not that there is much to admire." Julie cackled as she glared at the dying gardenias.
"Ok," Marissa said slowly, not sure of what to make of this.
"We need to talk." Julie said sternly, focusing in on her daughter's eyes.
Marissa rolled her eyes, walking ahead. "Later."
Julie grabbed Marissa's arm, threateningly and glared at her as she whipped around. "No, now."
"Fine." Marissa said softly, but her voice rising with anger.
Julie smiled to herself. "Well, not here." She walked on ahead, dropping Marissa' pulsating wrist. "Come along, Marissa."
Marissa stared at her mother in disbelief before swallowing back anger and trudging after her into their 'beloved' home.
************
Seth eyed his cell phone as the sounds of Bright Eyes filled his room. It was almost one hour until everyone was coming. Kirsten had opted for a caterer, thank god, so Seth didn't really have much to do, except wait.
And it was driving him crazy.
He had hopped into the shower, found the diesel jeans he had shoved in a box years ago and even though they were wrinkly and smelled a little musty, he had ironed them and threw them on, along with a plain blue button down shirt.
After debating whether or not to wear a tie, Ryan had come in and yelled, "No tie.", only to exit, along with Seth's cologne, which Ryan insisted was for his own protection. Ha, ha, ha.
Now, cologneless and tieless, Seth was bored. And frustrated.
So he stared at his cell phone, wondering whether or not he should call her.
He could just imagine it, her racing around, trying to find a certain pair of shoes and get Charlotte's hands clean as she wished she had said some kind words to him before he left or given him a passionate kiss so that he would have been consoled. If that's how she was, he had to call, right?
He dialed her number, letting it ring.
"'Ello?" A tiny voice screeched into Seth's ear, followed by another screeching voice screaming about a pair of earrings.
"Charlotte?" Seth asked tenderly.
"Cohen?" Charlotte screeched giddily and then he heard a bang, which caused him to jump.
"What was that, is everything ok?" Seth asked demandingly.
"Um," Charlotte squealed. "I think Mommy found her earrings."
"Oh." Seth laughed. "Can I speak to her?"
"Hold, p-w-ease." Charlotte giggled, proud of her phone etiquette and she dropped the phone quickly.
Seth heard her scream for Summer, followed by more clashing and then a throat being cleared.
"Hello, who's this?" Summer's voice rang out politely.
"It's Seth." He heard her sigh, clearly annoyed.
"I'm busy." She said quietly. He could almost hear her eyes roll.
"Same here." Seth said, glancing around his room.
"Right." Summer spat out. "So, I have to like, go." She wrapped the cord around her fingers, wondering what would happen if she had wrapped it around his neck.
"Yeah. Me too. I think I hear Michelle calling me to help her zip up her dress." Seth said sarcastically.
"Who the fuck is Michelle?" Summer's voice rang out shrilly and Seth laughed at her obvious envy.
"Mommy!" He heard Charlotte scream. "You said the bad word."
Summer sighed, turning her attention towards the phone. "Good job, Cohen."
"Hey, I didn't MAKE you say the bad word. You did that all on your own, pottymouth."
"Oh my god!" Summer threw the phone down in humorous anger.
Seth hung up slowly, realizing their conversation was done.
That wasn't the apology he was expecting, but at least he got to hear his voice.
He glanced at the clock by his radio.
Only 45 minutes to go. He glanced around his room, humming to the Bright Eyes song playing, once again bored out of his mind.
Chapter 20: Getting Ready
That was awkward, he thought, as she climbed into his car.
He hated that he felt so guilty.
And it was the worst type of guilty.
He wasn't guilty of whatever Summer was accusing him of, because the truth was, he had no idea what she was pissed off about.
He wasn't feeling guilty because Summer was mad at him. Nope, not at all. A little sad, but not guilty.
And he definitely wasn't feeling guilty about Charlotte becoming so attached to him, clinging onto his legs like that, begging to go with him rather then stay with Summer.
Nope, he felt guilty because he had liked it.
He couldn't help the grin from appearing on his guilt-ridden face, and that's why he was feeling guilty in the first place. He was so happy to see how attached Charlotte had become to him, because he felt just as attached to her.
He didn't want to leave, even if Kirsten absolutely needed his help in the kitchen. Seth would skip one Chrismukkah meal if it meant he could stay with Charlotte and Summer all day long. Even with Summer mad as hell at him. It almost reminded him of their bickering in the past. Summer was revealing that side of herself once again, the angry tormented side. The side he was always turned on by.
How could he possibly be angry at her for blowing up at him over presumably nothing when she looked so gosh darn cute when she screams?
He shook off his grin, but it did no good.
He was in love.
But then again, he had never fallen out of love.
And he could tell that she hadn't either.
Yeah, that grin wasn't going anyway anytime soon.
*********************
"One second!" Summer screamed at the ringing phone as she grabbed it. "Hello?" She fell back down on the couch, catching her breath. She had gone to the bathroom for five seconds and of course, the phone had to ring.
"Sum!" Marissa's voice called loudly through the phone. So loud, that Summer held the phone away for a second.
"Coop?" Summer asked, watching Charlotte emerge from her bedroom, holding out a few hair clips.
"Mommy!" Charlotte screamed giddily, throwing all the hair clips on the floor. They were the girly kinds, the ones fit for a Barbie doll or a two year old girl. Pink, lacy barettes glimmered by Summer's toes and she looked down at Charlotte, demandingly.
"Hold on a sec, Coop." Summer placed the phone down. "Charlie, Mommy's on the phone right now."
"Which one should I wear in my hair?" Charlotte asked, falling down on the floor and sifting through the gleaming hair clips.
"Um," Summer paused, kicking one towards Charlotte, "This one." She picked the phone back up. "Coop, you there?"
Charlotte looked at her mother, displeased and angrily grabbed all the clips, except for the one Summer had kicked in her direction and went to the armchair, strategically placing them in her lap. Summer sighed, closing her eyes as Marissa droned on.
"So, Ryan and I were just reminiscing about the Harrison Kegger. You remember that?" Marissa laughed nervously.
"Of course I do."
"Of course you do, I'm so dumb." Marissa winced at her stupidity. "Anyway," Marissa stopped herself. What was she doing? Telling Summer that Ryan had spotted Anna that night would just make Summer's Christmas suck.
"Coop, get to the point. I need to get Charlotte ready for dinner, not to mention myself." Summer rolled herself over so she was facing the windows of her apartment.
"Um, I just thought it was quite the coincidence." Marissa paused, trying to fix this phone call, "That Ryan brought it up."
"Yeah." Summer waited for Marissa to speak again. "Is that all?"
"Um," Marissa tapped her purse out of frustration. "Yeah."
"Coop," Summer started, "I told Seth that I knew."
Marissa smiled in relief, "And?"
"He denied it." Summer spat out, watching the clouds stream against the clear blue sky.
"Summer," Marissa watched her words carefully, "Did you ever think that maybe you're. . . wrong?"
"I saw what I saw, Coop." Summer said sternly. "I kind of need to go."
"Ok, we'll talk about it later?"
"Sure, later." Summer said carelessly, and Marissa knew she wasn't going to talk about that for a while. Marissa hung up the phone, disappointed.
It was quite the coincidence. Anna being there.
But it didn't mean Summer was right.
Deep inside, Marissa just couldn't believe that Seth would do such a thing.
Summer hung up the phone bitterly and turned around towards Charlotte, letting her lips curve into a smile.
Charlotte had placed every clip in her hair, not leaving one strand down.
"Oh my god, Charlie . . ." Summer stood up, grabbing the girl's hand and pulling her towards her bedroom. They both sat down on Summer's unmade bed and Summer pulled each clip out carefully.
"Which one looks prettiest?" Charlotte asked, clicking her tongue on the roof of her mouth.
"Why don't you use one of mine?" Summer asked, noting Charlotte's grin at this response. Summer grabbed one of the last "nice" things she owned. A tiny diamond encrusted pink and blue butterfly. She placed it in Charlotte's limp, brown hair carefully.
"Ohhhhh, That's pretty." Charlotte's eyes gleamed at the sight of the clip and she looked in Summer's mirror, pleased. She jumped off the bed, squealing out of delight.
Summer leaned back, dazed.
She hadn't been required to dress up in a long, long time. What on earth was she going to wear?
***************************
"Hey there, my friend." Seth chirped as he entered the kitchen, swinging his car keys.
"Hi," Ryan started, giving Seth a bemused look as Marissa reentered the kitchen. "Are you going to fill me in now?" He asked her as she sat down, staring at Seth.
"Oh, fill me in too!" Seth squealed, pulling up one of the chairs towards them. "What's the Newport gossip? Who's with who? Who's addicted to what?"
"Since when are you interested in gossip?" Marissa asked him cautiously.
Seth scratched his head. "Since now. Spill."
"Ok," Marissa said, wrapping her arms around Ryan. "This little tidbit is about someone who cheated on someone else, with someone who happened to be a threat to the cheated."
"Huh?" Ryan and Seth both looked at her, confused.
"Nevermind." Marissa screeched, letting go of Ryan and grabbing her purse from the counter. "I have to go get ready for later." She kissed Ryan on the cheek, giving Seth an icy glare and headed towards the front door.
"What's her problem?" Seth asked, shaking off Marissa' glares as he stood up.
"I'm not sure." Ryan said apprehensively, looking back towards Marissa as she left.
"Well, whatever it is, it must be contagious." Seth laughed as he started towards the staircase.
"What do you mean?" Ryan called.
Seth paused, speaking earnestly. "It really must be 'let's get mad at Seth Cohen' day."
"Oh," Ryan laughed. "No, that was last week. Today's Chrismukkah Eve."
"Yes it is, Ryan!" Seth danced a little. "Which means that today cannot be bad. So, by the powers infested in Saint Chrismukkah, I know that all the antisethism shall fade by dinnertime."
"Get out of here. Go get primped for Summer." He joked as he placed his dishes in the dishwasher.
"I do not primp, Atwood, I prepare. And speaking of primping, don't think I didn't notice the enormous amount of hair products in your bathroom, because I did."
Ryan gaped at Seth as he left the kitchen and let out a chuckle, running his fingers through his gelled hair.
***************
Somewhere between her mansion and the Cohen mansion Julie had gotton lost.
She had stopped herself, catching her breath, trying to force her anger to fade as she ran over what she should say to her daughter. After all, she dind't want to offend her.
Julie had lost complete track of time as she noticed Marissa's figure emerge from the Cohen's house, looking a little ticked of herself.
"Mom? What are you doing?" Marissa asked as she stepped towards her mother, who smoothed back her hair, placing her switch to 'bitch' mode.
"Admiring Kirsten's gardening. Not that there is much to admire." Julie cackled as she glared at the dying gardenias.
"Ok," Marissa said slowly, not sure of what to make of this.
"We need to talk." Julie said sternly, focusing in on her daughter's eyes.
Marissa rolled her eyes, walking ahead. "Later."
Julie grabbed Marissa's arm, threateningly and glared at her as she whipped around. "No, now."
"Fine." Marissa said softly, but her voice rising with anger.
Julie smiled to herself. "Well, not here." She walked on ahead, dropping Marissa' pulsating wrist. "Come along, Marissa."
Marissa stared at her mother in disbelief before swallowing back anger and trudging after her into their 'beloved' home.
************
Seth eyed his cell phone as the sounds of Bright Eyes filled his room. It was almost one hour until everyone was coming. Kirsten had opted for a caterer, thank god, so Seth didn't really have much to do, except wait.
And it was driving him crazy.
He had hopped into the shower, found the diesel jeans he had shoved in a box years ago and even though they were wrinkly and smelled a little musty, he had ironed them and threw them on, along with a plain blue button down shirt.
After debating whether or not to wear a tie, Ryan had come in and yelled, "No tie.", only to exit, along with Seth's cologne, which Ryan insisted was for his own protection. Ha, ha, ha.
Now, cologneless and tieless, Seth was bored. And frustrated.
So he stared at his cell phone, wondering whether or not he should call her.
He could just imagine it, her racing around, trying to find a certain pair of shoes and get Charlotte's hands clean as she wished she had said some kind words to him before he left or given him a passionate kiss so that he would have been consoled. If that's how she was, he had to call, right?
He dialed her number, letting it ring.
"'Ello?" A tiny voice screeched into Seth's ear, followed by another screeching voice screaming about a pair of earrings.
"Charlotte?" Seth asked tenderly.
"Cohen?" Charlotte screeched giddily and then he heard a bang, which caused him to jump.
"What was that, is everything ok?" Seth asked demandingly.
"Um," Charlotte squealed. "I think Mommy found her earrings."
"Oh." Seth laughed. "Can I speak to her?"
"Hold, p-w-ease." Charlotte giggled, proud of her phone etiquette and she dropped the phone quickly.
Seth heard her scream for Summer, followed by more clashing and then a throat being cleared.
"Hello, who's this?" Summer's voice rang out politely.
"It's Seth." He heard her sigh, clearly annoyed.
"I'm busy." She said quietly. He could almost hear her eyes roll.
"Same here." Seth said, glancing around his room.
"Right." Summer spat out. "So, I have to like, go." She wrapped the cord around her fingers, wondering what would happen if she had wrapped it around his neck.
"Yeah. Me too. I think I hear Michelle calling me to help her zip up her dress." Seth said sarcastically.
"Who the fuck is Michelle?" Summer's voice rang out shrilly and Seth laughed at her obvious envy.
"Mommy!" He heard Charlotte scream. "You said the bad word."
Summer sighed, turning her attention towards the phone. "Good job, Cohen."
"Hey, I didn't MAKE you say the bad word. You did that all on your own, pottymouth."
"Oh my god!" Summer threw the phone down in humorous anger.
Seth hung up slowly, realizing their conversation was done.
That wasn't the apology he was expecting, but at least he got to hear his voice.
He glanced at the clock by his radio.
Only 45 minutes to go. He glanced around his room, humming to the Bright Eyes song playing, once again bored out of his mind.