The girls were standing in Summer's bedroom surveying their clothing choices. "I still can't believe you talked me into going on a double date. Everyone's going to see us!" Summer wailed. "I'm not ready to come out of the closet with Seth Cohen yet." She sat down on the edge of the bed. Hopefully Marissa would see the error of her ways and change their plans.
"Relax, Summer, everything will be fine. It's up in Huntington Beach; we're going to go to dinner and then hang out at the pier. No one from Newport is going to see you and Seth Cohen."
She looked at Summer, trying to find the best way to say what was really on her mind. "Summer, you know you're going to have to start treating him a little bit better, Anna's certainly waiting in the wings and you don't want to push Seth away."
Summer turned to Marissa "Yeah, I know Coop, but I'm not like you, it's harder for me to say 'screw you' to popularity and go with my gut."
*
"So do you think I should wear my X-Men boxer shorts or what, dude?" Seth was nervously fidgeting with his shirt. He looked at Ryan; he could tell he was also a little nervous, but was hiding it better.
"I think you're wearing enough hair product to be considered a fire hazard," Ryan said with a smirk. "C'mon, let's go pick up the girls."
*
After dinner at Duke's, the foursome started walking along the sidewalk in front of the beachfront homes.
"Hey, Atwood, is that you, man?" Ryan turned to see a guy Trey's age, leaning over the ground-floor balcony of a house with a party in full swing. He recognized the guy, his name was Craig, and he'd been really good friends with Trey. He and his parents had moved to Orange County to get him out of the "bad element," as Craig's mother had called it.
Ryan walked towards Craig a bit. "Yeah, man, how's it going? These are my friends, Seth, Summer, and this is Marissa."
Craig leaned over the railing. "I heard that Trey was in lock up; come on in man, you and your friends are welcome to come in and enjoy our little shin-dig."
Ryan turned to see what everyone wanted to do, and Seth and Summer were already making their way to house.
*
The living room was large and crowded with bodies, most of them twenty-something, all of them drunk and, or, high. Ryan started to get a little nervous, it hadn't been too long since he'd been confronted with drugs; he didn't want to get hooked again. That was a part of his old life. He saw Seth and Summer, they were already drinking, and Marissa was heading over to the makeshift bartender. He followed her and tried to put the mirrored trays of cocaine out of his mind.
*
"Ry, would you take a look at this place?" Seth asked. He sounded like a little kid in a candy store. He'd had a lot to drink, Ryan had lost count. Hell, he was trying to keep tabs on Marissa, Seth, and Summer. So far it helped him keep his mind off the coke that was a few feet away on the coffee table. The whole party seemed to be one big free for all.
"Hey guys, I really think we should be going, you know?" Ryan looked at his watch. He'd lost track of Marissa again. He looked at Seth and Summer; she was all over him. He wasn't positive, but he was pretty sure he'd seen Summer doing a line when Seth was getting another round of drinks. He was going to have to ask her about it at some point. He didn't think Seth had ever even seen coke.
"Anyone seen Marissa?" Ryan asked, glancing around the room.
"Relax man, she's around here somewhere. You look like you need a drink." Seth reached behind him, to the bar, and grabbed a drink off the counter, handing it to Ryan.
Ryan set it down; the last thing he needed was a drink right now. He'd lose what control he had and start doing lines if he wasn't careful. He wanted to get them out of there, but didn't want the Newpsies to know about his little habit. Ex-habit.
Marissa came around the corner from the bathroom. Ryan was pretty sure she'd only had one drink since they got there. After her little stunt in Mexico, he didn't want to see her lose control either.
"Hey, honey, this party is pretty cool, don't you think?" Marissa asked, eyeing the living room.
"Yeah, it's a real blast, but I think we should go, we don't need this kind of trouble right now." Ryan motioned for Seth to grab his inebriated date, and for the four of them to head out the back way.
"Ryan, my man, where're you going?" Craig asked. "Hey, can you and I talk for a sec, just a little one-on-one." He eyed Marissa, who caught the look and turned to Seth. "Hey, let's get one of those margaritas the bartender's making."
Ryan and Craig walked over into the hallway near the bathroom where there was a pretty steady stream of people wandering in and out.
"Hey man, your girlfriend's pretty hot. You know, I know things must be pretty fucked up with your family and all. You haven't been given too many breaks in life, but you seem to have turned out pretty well. You know, I used to think of you as a younger brother."
Ryan looked at him. Other than this little trip down memory lane, he wasn't sure where Craig was going with this.
"So, little bro, if you'd like, I'll give you and your woman the key to my bedroom. I keep it locked during these kinds of parties, I don't want group orgies going on in there." Craig held out his hand to give Ryan the key right as Marissa walked up.
"Is everything okay?" she asked, looking at the two guys.
"Yeah, sure; everything's fine. I was just offering Ryan and you the opportunity for some alone time, if you'd like," Craig said, indicating to the key he was still holding out to Ryan.
Surprising them both, Marissa grabbed the key and gave Craig a smile. "Thanks, I think that would be great!" She grabbed Ryan and started dragging him down the hall.
"Wait, Marissa, what about Seth and Summer?" Ryan asked. Knowing those two, something bad was going to happen.
"Oh, they'll be fine. I bet they'll be finding a room of their own." Marissa found the only bedroom that had a key lock on the outside, and inserted the key into the lock. The door opened and she pulled Ryan inside the bedroom with her.
Ryan and Marissa turned and looked at each other at the same moment. This is it, Marissa thought to herself.