Thank you so much everyone for the reviews! I must admit I was very
surprised at how many people actually liked the story, although I am also
surprised that there aren't more like them. You're right Millie, it is
spelled 'Cocoa' somewhere my tired brain wondered about that but I ignored
it. Thanks for reminding me. I really have no clue where I'm going to end
this or how, since I didn't expect people to like it, or I thought someone
would offer to rewrite it for me. I charge all you people who like the
story to write more like it! Seth is my favorite character although I
adore Ryan too, but I get tired of all the romance fiction, even though I'm
sure most of them are very good. Anyway, here's the next chapter. Don't
ask me when I'll get the third one up, since I have no idea what should
happen next.
The Enemies
Chapter 2: Jealousy
Seth awoke the next morning in a haze of pain. How had he managed to sleep? He wondered, since every small motion he even thought about doing hurt incredibly. Sighing, he realized that he was still in the clothes he had worn yesterday, and that he had smeared blood on the sheets and covers of his bed. Stifling his groans of pain he slowly took the sheets off his bed and dumped then in his hamper before walking to the small bathroom adjoined with his room. As he had guessed the night before, he looked pretty bad. Still, except for some cuts and dried blood on his face, there was nothing too obvious.
By the time he had gotten cleaned up and changed, his head was pounding. A loud banging on his door didn't help him either.
"Seth, you still in there?" He heard Ryan call out. A rush of relief went through him; so Ran didn't suspect anything, although he vaguely remembered Ryan asking him something about the kitchen last night.
"Um, yeah. You know what; I'm not feeling that great again. I don't think I'm quite over this bug, so maybe I'll just stay home today,"
On the other side of the door, Ryan's suspicions were proved true. Something was definitely wrong with Seth, but he was trying to keep it from Ryan. Feeling annoyed, after all, Seth was always trying to convince Ryan that he could tell Seth anything, he said,
"Hope you feel better," and went to see if Marissa could give him a ride again. In his room, Seth breathed a sigh of relief. Rummaging through his closet, he pulled out a sweater and put it on to cover the bruises on his arms, and then he made his way to his parents' bathroom.
There, he found it; his mother's makeup. Feeling exceedingly foolish, he found what he was looking for. Some sort of foundation powder, cream, stuff. It took him a few tries to get the right amount on; he only wanted enough to make the bruises and his black eye very hard to see. Only Marissa or Ryan, and rarely Summer, ever got close enough to notice anything anyway.
Finally getting it right, he dashed, or rather, he hobbled, out the door, glad that Ryan hadn't taken the car, and drove to school.
The morning went by smoothly; no one noticed anything, or if they did, they didn't mention it to Seth. Ryan had given him an odd look when he had entered their English class, but he hadn't had time to question him once the bell rang. After the class was over, Seth had left before Ryan could catch up to him. Despite his apprehension every time he spotted Bra, Guy, Chris, or Mat, they only jeered, and once Mat had brushed against his shoulder hard enough to make Seth stumble. Besides that, they appeared to be interested in other things besides Seth, which suited him just fine.
The next period found him sitting in the library, studying, when he noticed someone walk up to him. Freezing, he turned slowly, and then his jaw dropped as he realized it was Summer.
"Hey, Cohen. You understand this stuff, mind explaining it to me?" Her tone of voice and her expression left no doubt that she was ordering, not asking. Seth felt like he was dreaming, if he was, it was a good one. Summer-looking beautiful and perfect as ever-sat down across from him, obviously not enjoying this, but resigned to her fate.
"I wasn't aware you cared so much about history class," he stammered as she handed him the text book. She glared at him as she answered,
"Don't be an idiot; of course I don't care, but for some bizarre reason my dad and step mom do. If I flunk another test, they threatened to take my credit card away," she got out her homework and waited for him to open the text book.
"Ah, a fate worse than death," he replied, giddy with happiness as he opened the text book.
"What's wrong with your face? And why are you wearing a sweater? It's like, eight degrees," she asked in a condemning tone. Luckily, Seth had already practiced his reply.
"I'm touched that you care, really. I'm recovering from illness, so" already bored, Summer said,
"Whatever," and started looking at the text book.
For about the next ten minutes of his life, Seth was in heaven. Summer's snide remarks died down as he answered her questions and explained the material to her. Although she was obviously uncomfortable at sitting with him, or being seen with him, just the fact that she was there was good enough for him.
"Hey, Summer," the voice turned Seth's blood to ice.
"Ew, who gave you permission to talk to me?" Seth struggled not to grin at Summer's remark to Brad. He had come over to their table, smirking at Summer.
"Come on, you know you want to go out with me," Brad said, still grinning like a snake, despite Summer's reply. She turned in her chair to face him, eyes flashing with anger.
"Only in your sick, delusional dreams." She said scathingly. Seth was smiling openly now. Brad's eyes caught his and Seth's smile died. The pure hatred in Brad's eyes was disturbing.
"You can't possible prefer Cohen's," he spat the name out, staring at Summer incredulously, "company to me. He's a complete loser,"
"Like you're not?" she replied. With that she stood up, grabbing her books and glaring at Brad with disgust. "Just because some jocks think you're cool doesn't mean you belong here. Come on Cohen." Summer ordered as she turned and walked out. Seth stood up to follow her, but Brad grabbed his arm in a death grip.
"You're a dead man, Cocoa," he whispered before releasing his arm and stalking away. Seth stared at him for a moment before leaving the library. Apparently Summer had only wanted to leave with Seth to piss Brad off, because she was nowhere in sight.
Ryan was at his locker, about to go to lunch. His annoyance at Seth had turned to curiosity. Why had he told Ryan he was sick and then turn up at school anyway? He had been avoiding Ryan all day too. It didn't make sense; he couldn't piece any of it together in his mind. With a frustrated sigh, he slammed his locker shut, but as he turned he nearly walked into four boys standing in front of him in the almost deserted hallway. Eyeing them wearily, he asked,
"What do you want?" He scanned the four boys and wondered if they were new. The one in front of the others was tall and pale, with black hair and eyes that looked almost the same color. A muscular, red headed boy with a military hair cut stood beside him, arms crossed. Behind them stood two others, a blonde haired, blue eyed skinny boy and a dark brown haired boy with startlingly bright green eyes. The one in front answered his question.
"So you're Ryan Atwood? From Chino, right? Moved in with the Cohens?" Still eyeing them, Ryan inclined his head slightly, disliking the tone of voice the boy had used.
"I'm Brad, this is Mat," he jerked his head to the person next to him, "and Guy and Chris." Ryan wondered why they were talking to him.
"Well, you already seem to know who I am." With a stiff, dismissive nod, he started to walk past them. A loud snicker, accompanied by Brad's voice, stopped him
"How's Seth feeling?" Ryan turned around, suddenly feeling apprehensive.
"What do you mean?" he asked them, trying to look like he knew what they were talking about. The boys exchanged glances and stifled laughs, except for Brad, who kept smiling and gazing at Ryan coolly.
"Guess he didn't tell you, or show you. Smart of him." Ryan was quickly becoming annoyed at this guy, but he didn't let it show.
"What the hell are you talking about?" he tried to sound indifferent, since they were obviously relishing what Brad was saying. Brad shrugged, feigning an expression of innocence.
"We were just worried about him, last time we saw him he was laying on the ground bleeding." Brad had barely gotten the words out before Ryan rushed at him, seizing his collar and pushing him against the lockers. The others immediately pulled him off; Brad was laughing.
"What the hell did you do?" Ryan shouted, feeling intensely angry. It all made sense now, the blood and Seth's avoidance of him. For some reason he hadn't wanted Ryan to know he'd gotten hurt. Still with an innocent face, Brad held up his hands in a surrendering position.
"How do you know it was us? He hasn't exactly got many friends, has he?" Brad replied, still laughing. Ryan turned as Mat and Chris released him. They were all laughing and if Ryan could have, he would gladly have pummeled them all until their faces looked like rotted apples.
"He's got me." Ryan said in a low voice. The laughing halted enough for Guy to say in a high voice,
"One friend, huh? That's as pathetic as none at all."
"I'm not his friend; I'm his brother." Ryan said tersely. He didn't waste any more of his time with them, instead he turned and went to look for Seth.
The boy was nowhere to be found and to Ryan's irritation he had to go to class. With a curse, he swore that he'd find Seth before he left to go home.
For Seth, the rest of the day was spent trying to stay awake. He hadn't eaten breakfast or lunch, and his lack of sleep as well as his hunger made it difficult for him to concentrate on schoolwork. Of course, hearing Brad's threat of, "You're dead," didn't help either.
Seth didn't know how he managed to get through the rest of the day. Somehow he was able to though, and as everyone rushed to leave school, he hurried to his locker. His heart fell as he saw Brad and Chris leaning on either side of it, smiling. Without a second thought, Seth turned-and walked into Guy and Mat; Mat slung a 'friendly' arm around Seth's shoulders.
"I'm hurt Seth, aren't we cool enough to hang out with you?" Brad asked in a hurt voice as they walked over to Seth and his captors. "Ryan's cool enough to hang out with you," he continued. Seth's eyes widened, but he didn't say anything. Brad glanced at his frozen expression and said slyly, "We told him about our little get together yesterday. You know what?" he leaned in closer to Seth and said in a whisper, "He laughed; thought it was hilarious. Guess he didn't know you're such a wuss about bugs." Seth swallowed hard, he knew Brad was lying, he knew it, but the thought of Ryan laughing at him, really laughing at him, made it hard for him to breathe.
"We're having another party at my house, since you missed the last one, and you're gonna be the gust of honor, now that you're so popular with the ladies," Mat said softly, clutching Seth's shoulder tightly and turning towards the door The four boys, Mat's arm still around Seth, walked around him like an escort of body guards. To a casual observer, it looked like a group of friends. They walked out of the building, towards a black car Seth assumed was one of theirs. He was literally going into the den of the lion, he realize with an ironic clutch in his stomach.
Ryan had gone to Seth's locker first, since he knew the combination, he opened it to see if Seth had gone there yet. He must not have, since his wallet was inside, along with the skateboard he liked to use outside the school. Ryan decided to wait by Seth's car; to be sure he didn't leave without him. He walked outside, wondering why Seth was taking so long when he saw something that made his heart skip a beat. Brad, Guy, Mat, and Chris were getting into a black car at the end of the parking lot. Mat was shoving Seth into the backseat. Just before he went in, Seth looked up and saw Ryan; their eyes met.
"Hey!" Ryan shouted, running towards the car. Mat heard him and got in behind Seth, saying something to the others already in it. The car was gone before Ryan could catch up to them. He didn't know what to; he didn't know whose car it was or where they were going, but he had to try and find them. There was no way he'd just leave Seth to them for their fun. He turned to run back to the school. Marissa and Summer were leaving just as he walked in.
"I mean, ew, Brad Carsley? I mean, Seth Cohen's better than him." Her words caught Ryan's ear and he turned to them, ignoring Marissa's smile of greeting for the moment.
"Hey Summer, do you know Brad?" Summer's surprise at being addressed by him turned to a look of revulsion as she tossed her hair behind her back.
"Yeah, he tried to get me to go over to his house since his parents are out of town. I mean, how desperate does he think I am?" Ryan ignored her last words, saying
"Do you know where he lives?" she shrugged, Marissa eyed him curiously.
"Yes, unfortunately. He just moved to my street." she told him the address.
"Ryan, what's wrong?" Marissa called after him as he ran towards Seth's locker.
"I'll explain later Marissa." He called over his shoulder. Summer shrugged at Marissa's concerned expression and she pulled her out of the door.
Ryan opened Seth's locker again and searched his wallet. Sure enough, he had left his keys in them. Ryan had always lectured him about being so careless with his money and keys, but now he was glad of Seth's faith in the school's security.
He repeated Brad's address in his head as he got into Seth's car and turned it on. Of course, he was only assuming that's where they had taken Seth, but if Summer was right about his parents not being there, it made the most sense.
It took all his willpower to not speed down the road as fast as he could go, but getting pulled over by the police wouldn't help Seth at all. Reaching Summer's road, he noticed the houses were much farther apart than on the Cohen's street, so there was little chance any neighbors had seen Seth being taken in Brad's house. The black car was already parked, so he knew his assumption had been correct. Parking the car, he got out, already forming a plan in his head. Ryan walked up to the posh door of the large house and knocked hard.
No one answered, even though he kept knocking. Stopping for a moment, he put his ear against the door to see if he could hear anything. There was silence for a minute, then a crash and someone's shout. It was enough to convince Ryan to just try breaking in. He was completely taken aback then when he tried turning the handle and instead of finding it locked, the door swung open. It seemed awfully strange of them to have left the door unlocked, but perhaps they had been too distracted with Seth to remember to lock it.
Cautiously he walked in and looked around. The house was huge, but there was no sign of any of the boys. Then his eyes caught a door to his right; a stand was next to it and a plant with a broken vase lay in front of it, the dark soil contrasting heavily against the white carpet. Carefully he walked over to the door and opened it. A staircase lead downstairs; he walked down it slowly, until he heard someone talk. The staircase turned a corner, so he waited against the inside of it to hear what was happening.
"Since when does a girl like her choose an ugly bastard like you over me?" Ryan heard Brad's voice shout. He heard a loud smack follow it, a punch by the sound of it, and another crash. "Well, maybe if we put you back in your place you'll stay away from her, and from normal people in general," Ryan heard a groan of pain from Seth; it was all he needed to run down the rest of the stairs. All four boys were standing in a sort of circle around Seth. Brad's back was turned to Ryan and the others' eyes were on Seth, who was huddling on the cold, hard, tile floor. Brad kicked Seth to his back after his last words and Ryan saw Seth's face was covered in blood. To his shock, he saw Brad take out a switchblade and start to bend over Seth. "I've heard it's extremely painful to have your nostrils split. Want to see if that's true?" he heard Brad say.
"Get away from him," Ryan yelled; they all turned and stared at Ryan in disbelief. Seth tried to get up but Mat, behind him, kicked him to the ground. Seth's head hit the floor and he lay still. The room smelled like beer, and it was obvious by the cans lying around that they had been drinking. Brad sneered at Ryan.
"Or what? I kinda like our odds against yours," snickers followed this, and Ryan felt anger sweep through him.
"I'm not stupid. Want to beat me up too? Fine, I'm sure the police will understand. I've got a friend who's gonna call them if I'm not back with Seth in ten minutes." He held his breath, waiting to see if they bought it. Brad didn't appear to, but the other three exchanged nervous glances. At last, with a disgusted shrug, Brad stepped away from Seth.
"We were getting bored anyway," he said. They stood back, arms crossed, and Ryan quickly went over to Seth, who was unconscious. With a grunt, he picked him up and walked as fast as he could up the stairs and out of the house.
Seth woke up as they were driving back home. Ryan glanced at him with a worried expression.
"You ok?" he asked, it was a dumb question, he knew, but he needed to know how seriously hurt Seth was. Seth didn't answer though; he merely groaned. Blood was gushing out of his nose and from a gash on his head, he held his arm at an odd angle, but that was all Ryan could see as he drove. When they got back to the house Ryan helped Seth inside, practically having to carry him again.
"Man, you're heavier than you look," he complained. This time, Seth said in a weak voice,
"Yeah, I'm all muscle." Once inside, Ryan tried to count Seth's wounds. Even to him they looked painful, and he had seen some very bad injuries before. Seth's face resembled a plum in color, except for the blood, and his hair was matted with blood. Checking his chest, Ryan found that it too was dark with bruises, as were his arms and legs.
An hour later Seth was cleaned up and fully conscious, still cradling his right arm, which wasn't broken, but badly sprained from Mat twisting it behind his back.
"We should call your parents," Ryan said as they sat on the couch. Seth tried to shake his head but winced.
"No, don't," Ryan stared at him in disbelief.
"Why not?" he asked. He'd have thought Seth would be eager to have his parents come home and have his dad sue the boys' families or something.
"Cause there's no point." seeing Ryan's confusion, he continued, "If we report them, the worst that's going to happen is that they'll get suspended and come back angrier at me than before. Besides that, we only have our testimonies. No offense, but the court is probably more likely to think you beat me up and I'm too scared to tell the truth than that a couple of rich, 'upstanding' citizens did. Trust me; I've heard it all from dad." Seth fell silent again, head falling against the back of the couch. Ryan nodded his understanding; Seth had a point. They couldn't prove the boys had been drinking and owned a weapon.
"Well then," he said eventually, "we'll just have to come up with a revenge that's enough to make them leave you alone for good," Seth shrugged, a wry smile on his face.
"I tried to come up with one of those for almost seven years," he murmured. Ryan smiled, and for a split second Seth was reminded of Brad.
"I wasn't here to help you with it though, was I?" he asked, and Seth shook his head. He liked the idea of revenge, but the odd glint in Ryan's eye made him wonder if he would still like it when he heard Ryan's plan.
Ok, there, I wrote the second chapter. Thanks again to all who reviewed. If anyone has an idea for the next one, let me know, cause I'm racking my brain for one. Don't expect the next chapter so soon either, unfortunately I've got work to do. Still, this was fun, and I hope you all enjoy this chapter as much as the first one.
-Luna Sealeaf Runicprincess@aol.com
The Enemies
Chapter 2: Jealousy
Seth awoke the next morning in a haze of pain. How had he managed to sleep? He wondered, since every small motion he even thought about doing hurt incredibly. Sighing, he realized that he was still in the clothes he had worn yesterday, and that he had smeared blood on the sheets and covers of his bed. Stifling his groans of pain he slowly took the sheets off his bed and dumped then in his hamper before walking to the small bathroom adjoined with his room. As he had guessed the night before, he looked pretty bad. Still, except for some cuts and dried blood on his face, there was nothing too obvious.
By the time he had gotten cleaned up and changed, his head was pounding. A loud banging on his door didn't help him either.
"Seth, you still in there?" He heard Ryan call out. A rush of relief went through him; so Ran didn't suspect anything, although he vaguely remembered Ryan asking him something about the kitchen last night.
"Um, yeah. You know what; I'm not feeling that great again. I don't think I'm quite over this bug, so maybe I'll just stay home today,"
On the other side of the door, Ryan's suspicions were proved true. Something was definitely wrong with Seth, but he was trying to keep it from Ryan. Feeling annoyed, after all, Seth was always trying to convince Ryan that he could tell Seth anything, he said,
"Hope you feel better," and went to see if Marissa could give him a ride again. In his room, Seth breathed a sigh of relief. Rummaging through his closet, he pulled out a sweater and put it on to cover the bruises on his arms, and then he made his way to his parents' bathroom.
There, he found it; his mother's makeup. Feeling exceedingly foolish, he found what he was looking for. Some sort of foundation powder, cream, stuff. It took him a few tries to get the right amount on; he only wanted enough to make the bruises and his black eye very hard to see. Only Marissa or Ryan, and rarely Summer, ever got close enough to notice anything anyway.
Finally getting it right, he dashed, or rather, he hobbled, out the door, glad that Ryan hadn't taken the car, and drove to school.
The morning went by smoothly; no one noticed anything, or if they did, they didn't mention it to Seth. Ryan had given him an odd look when he had entered their English class, but he hadn't had time to question him once the bell rang. After the class was over, Seth had left before Ryan could catch up to him. Despite his apprehension every time he spotted Bra, Guy, Chris, or Mat, they only jeered, and once Mat had brushed against his shoulder hard enough to make Seth stumble. Besides that, they appeared to be interested in other things besides Seth, which suited him just fine.
The next period found him sitting in the library, studying, when he noticed someone walk up to him. Freezing, he turned slowly, and then his jaw dropped as he realized it was Summer.
"Hey, Cohen. You understand this stuff, mind explaining it to me?" Her tone of voice and her expression left no doubt that she was ordering, not asking. Seth felt like he was dreaming, if he was, it was a good one. Summer-looking beautiful and perfect as ever-sat down across from him, obviously not enjoying this, but resigned to her fate.
"I wasn't aware you cared so much about history class," he stammered as she handed him the text book. She glared at him as she answered,
"Don't be an idiot; of course I don't care, but for some bizarre reason my dad and step mom do. If I flunk another test, they threatened to take my credit card away," she got out her homework and waited for him to open the text book.
"Ah, a fate worse than death," he replied, giddy with happiness as he opened the text book.
"What's wrong with your face? And why are you wearing a sweater? It's like, eight degrees," she asked in a condemning tone. Luckily, Seth had already practiced his reply.
"I'm touched that you care, really. I'm recovering from illness, so" already bored, Summer said,
"Whatever," and started looking at the text book.
For about the next ten minutes of his life, Seth was in heaven. Summer's snide remarks died down as he answered her questions and explained the material to her. Although she was obviously uncomfortable at sitting with him, or being seen with him, just the fact that she was there was good enough for him.
"Hey, Summer," the voice turned Seth's blood to ice.
"Ew, who gave you permission to talk to me?" Seth struggled not to grin at Summer's remark to Brad. He had come over to their table, smirking at Summer.
"Come on, you know you want to go out with me," Brad said, still grinning like a snake, despite Summer's reply. She turned in her chair to face him, eyes flashing with anger.
"Only in your sick, delusional dreams." She said scathingly. Seth was smiling openly now. Brad's eyes caught his and Seth's smile died. The pure hatred in Brad's eyes was disturbing.
"You can't possible prefer Cohen's," he spat the name out, staring at Summer incredulously, "company to me. He's a complete loser,"
"Like you're not?" she replied. With that she stood up, grabbing her books and glaring at Brad with disgust. "Just because some jocks think you're cool doesn't mean you belong here. Come on Cohen." Summer ordered as she turned and walked out. Seth stood up to follow her, but Brad grabbed his arm in a death grip.
"You're a dead man, Cocoa," he whispered before releasing his arm and stalking away. Seth stared at him for a moment before leaving the library. Apparently Summer had only wanted to leave with Seth to piss Brad off, because she was nowhere in sight.
Ryan was at his locker, about to go to lunch. His annoyance at Seth had turned to curiosity. Why had he told Ryan he was sick and then turn up at school anyway? He had been avoiding Ryan all day too. It didn't make sense; he couldn't piece any of it together in his mind. With a frustrated sigh, he slammed his locker shut, but as he turned he nearly walked into four boys standing in front of him in the almost deserted hallway. Eyeing them wearily, he asked,
"What do you want?" He scanned the four boys and wondered if they were new. The one in front of the others was tall and pale, with black hair and eyes that looked almost the same color. A muscular, red headed boy with a military hair cut stood beside him, arms crossed. Behind them stood two others, a blonde haired, blue eyed skinny boy and a dark brown haired boy with startlingly bright green eyes. The one in front answered his question.
"So you're Ryan Atwood? From Chino, right? Moved in with the Cohens?" Still eyeing them, Ryan inclined his head slightly, disliking the tone of voice the boy had used.
"I'm Brad, this is Mat," he jerked his head to the person next to him, "and Guy and Chris." Ryan wondered why they were talking to him.
"Well, you already seem to know who I am." With a stiff, dismissive nod, he started to walk past them. A loud snicker, accompanied by Brad's voice, stopped him
"How's Seth feeling?" Ryan turned around, suddenly feeling apprehensive.
"What do you mean?" he asked them, trying to look like he knew what they were talking about. The boys exchanged glances and stifled laughs, except for Brad, who kept smiling and gazing at Ryan coolly.
"Guess he didn't tell you, or show you. Smart of him." Ryan was quickly becoming annoyed at this guy, but he didn't let it show.
"What the hell are you talking about?" he tried to sound indifferent, since they were obviously relishing what Brad was saying. Brad shrugged, feigning an expression of innocence.
"We were just worried about him, last time we saw him he was laying on the ground bleeding." Brad had barely gotten the words out before Ryan rushed at him, seizing his collar and pushing him against the lockers. The others immediately pulled him off; Brad was laughing.
"What the hell did you do?" Ryan shouted, feeling intensely angry. It all made sense now, the blood and Seth's avoidance of him. For some reason he hadn't wanted Ryan to know he'd gotten hurt. Still with an innocent face, Brad held up his hands in a surrendering position.
"How do you know it was us? He hasn't exactly got many friends, has he?" Brad replied, still laughing. Ryan turned as Mat and Chris released him. They were all laughing and if Ryan could have, he would gladly have pummeled them all until their faces looked like rotted apples.
"He's got me." Ryan said in a low voice. The laughing halted enough for Guy to say in a high voice,
"One friend, huh? That's as pathetic as none at all."
"I'm not his friend; I'm his brother." Ryan said tersely. He didn't waste any more of his time with them, instead he turned and went to look for Seth.
The boy was nowhere to be found and to Ryan's irritation he had to go to class. With a curse, he swore that he'd find Seth before he left to go home.
For Seth, the rest of the day was spent trying to stay awake. He hadn't eaten breakfast or lunch, and his lack of sleep as well as his hunger made it difficult for him to concentrate on schoolwork. Of course, hearing Brad's threat of, "You're dead," didn't help either.
Seth didn't know how he managed to get through the rest of the day. Somehow he was able to though, and as everyone rushed to leave school, he hurried to his locker. His heart fell as he saw Brad and Chris leaning on either side of it, smiling. Without a second thought, Seth turned-and walked into Guy and Mat; Mat slung a 'friendly' arm around Seth's shoulders.
"I'm hurt Seth, aren't we cool enough to hang out with you?" Brad asked in a hurt voice as they walked over to Seth and his captors. "Ryan's cool enough to hang out with you," he continued. Seth's eyes widened, but he didn't say anything. Brad glanced at his frozen expression and said slyly, "We told him about our little get together yesterday. You know what?" he leaned in closer to Seth and said in a whisper, "He laughed; thought it was hilarious. Guess he didn't know you're such a wuss about bugs." Seth swallowed hard, he knew Brad was lying, he knew it, but the thought of Ryan laughing at him, really laughing at him, made it hard for him to breathe.
"We're having another party at my house, since you missed the last one, and you're gonna be the gust of honor, now that you're so popular with the ladies," Mat said softly, clutching Seth's shoulder tightly and turning towards the door The four boys, Mat's arm still around Seth, walked around him like an escort of body guards. To a casual observer, it looked like a group of friends. They walked out of the building, towards a black car Seth assumed was one of theirs. He was literally going into the den of the lion, he realize with an ironic clutch in his stomach.
Ryan had gone to Seth's locker first, since he knew the combination, he opened it to see if Seth had gone there yet. He must not have, since his wallet was inside, along with the skateboard he liked to use outside the school. Ryan decided to wait by Seth's car; to be sure he didn't leave without him. He walked outside, wondering why Seth was taking so long when he saw something that made his heart skip a beat. Brad, Guy, Mat, and Chris were getting into a black car at the end of the parking lot. Mat was shoving Seth into the backseat. Just before he went in, Seth looked up and saw Ryan; their eyes met.
"Hey!" Ryan shouted, running towards the car. Mat heard him and got in behind Seth, saying something to the others already in it. The car was gone before Ryan could catch up to them. He didn't know what to; he didn't know whose car it was or where they were going, but he had to try and find them. There was no way he'd just leave Seth to them for their fun. He turned to run back to the school. Marissa and Summer were leaving just as he walked in.
"I mean, ew, Brad Carsley? I mean, Seth Cohen's better than him." Her words caught Ryan's ear and he turned to them, ignoring Marissa's smile of greeting for the moment.
"Hey Summer, do you know Brad?" Summer's surprise at being addressed by him turned to a look of revulsion as she tossed her hair behind her back.
"Yeah, he tried to get me to go over to his house since his parents are out of town. I mean, how desperate does he think I am?" Ryan ignored her last words, saying
"Do you know where he lives?" she shrugged, Marissa eyed him curiously.
"Yes, unfortunately. He just moved to my street." she told him the address.
"Ryan, what's wrong?" Marissa called after him as he ran towards Seth's locker.
"I'll explain later Marissa." He called over his shoulder. Summer shrugged at Marissa's concerned expression and she pulled her out of the door.
Ryan opened Seth's locker again and searched his wallet. Sure enough, he had left his keys in them. Ryan had always lectured him about being so careless with his money and keys, but now he was glad of Seth's faith in the school's security.
He repeated Brad's address in his head as he got into Seth's car and turned it on. Of course, he was only assuming that's where they had taken Seth, but if Summer was right about his parents not being there, it made the most sense.
It took all his willpower to not speed down the road as fast as he could go, but getting pulled over by the police wouldn't help Seth at all. Reaching Summer's road, he noticed the houses were much farther apart than on the Cohen's street, so there was little chance any neighbors had seen Seth being taken in Brad's house. The black car was already parked, so he knew his assumption had been correct. Parking the car, he got out, already forming a plan in his head. Ryan walked up to the posh door of the large house and knocked hard.
No one answered, even though he kept knocking. Stopping for a moment, he put his ear against the door to see if he could hear anything. There was silence for a minute, then a crash and someone's shout. It was enough to convince Ryan to just try breaking in. He was completely taken aback then when he tried turning the handle and instead of finding it locked, the door swung open. It seemed awfully strange of them to have left the door unlocked, but perhaps they had been too distracted with Seth to remember to lock it.
Cautiously he walked in and looked around. The house was huge, but there was no sign of any of the boys. Then his eyes caught a door to his right; a stand was next to it and a plant with a broken vase lay in front of it, the dark soil contrasting heavily against the white carpet. Carefully he walked over to the door and opened it. A staircase lead downstairs; he walked down it slowly, until he heard someone talk. The staircase turned a corner, so he waited against the inside of it to hear what was happening.
"Since when does a girl like her choose an ugly bastard like you over me?" Ryan heard Brad's voice shout. He heard a loud smack follow it, a punch by the sound of it, and another crash. "Well, maybe if we put you back in your place you'll stay away from her, and from normal people in general," Ryan heard a groan of pain from Seth; it was all he needed to run down the rest of the stairs. All four boys were standing in a sort of circle around Seth. Brad's back was turned to Ryan and the others' eyes were on Seth, who was huddling on the cold, hard, tile floor. Brad kicked Seth to his back after his last words and Ryan saw Seth's face was covered in blood. To his shock, he saw Brad take out a switchblade and start to bend over Seth. "I've heard it's extremely painful to have your nostrils split. Want to see if that's true?" he heard Brad say.
"Get away from him," Ryan yelled; they all turned and stared at Ryan in disbelief. Seth tried to get up but Mat, behind him, kicked him to the ground. Seth's head hit the floor and he lay still. The room smelled like beer, and it was obvious by the cans lying around that they had been drinking. Brad sneered at Ryan.
"Or what? I kinda like our odds against yours," snickers followed this, and Ryan felt anger sweep through him.
"I'm not stupid. Want to beat me up too? Fine, I'm sure the police will understand. I've got a friend who's gonna call them if I'm not back with Seth in ten minutes." He held his breath, waiting to see if they bought it. Brad didn't appear to, but the other three exchanged nervous glances. At last, with a disgusted shrug, Brad stepped away from Seth.
"We were getting bored anyway," he said. They stood back, arms crossed, and Ryan quickly went over to Seth, who was unconscious. With a grunt, he picked him up and walked as fast as he could up the stairs and out of the house.
Seth woke up as they were driving back home. Ryan glanced at him with a worried expression.
"You ok?" he asked, it was a dumb question, he knew, but he needed to know how seriously hurt Seth was. Seth didn't answer though; he merely groaned. Blood was gushing out of his nose and from a gash on his head, he held his arm at an odd angle, but that was all Ryan could see as he drove. When they got back to the house Ryan helped Seth inside, practically having to carry him again.
"Man, you're heavier than you look," he complained. This time, Seth said in a weak voice,
"Yeah, I'm all muscle." Once inside, Ryan tried to count Seth's wounds. Even to him they looked painful, and he had seen some very bad injuries before. Seth's face resembled a plum in color, except for the blood, and his hair was matted with blood. Checking his chest, Ryan found that it too was dark with bruises, as were his arms and legs.
An hour later Seth was cleaned up and fully conscious, still cradling his right arm, which wasn't broken, but badly sprained from Mat twisting it behind his back.
"We should call your parents," Ryan said as they sat on the couch. Seth tried to shake his head but winced.
"No, don't," Ryan stared at him in disbelief.
"Why not?" he asked. He'd have thought Seth would be eager to have his parents come home and have his dad sue the boys' families or something.
"Cause there's no point." seeing Ryan's confusion, he continued, "If we report them, the worst that's going to happen is that they'll get suspended and come back angrier at me than before. Besides that, we only have our testimonies. No offense, but the court is probably more likely to think you beat me up and I'm too scared to tell the truth than that a couple of rich, 'upstanding' citizens did. Trust me; I've heard it all from dad." Seth fell silent again, head falling against the back of the couch. Ryan nodded his understanding; Seth had a point. They couldn't prove the boys had been drinking and owned a weapon.
"Well then," he said eventually, "we'll just have to come up with a revenge that's enough to make them leave you alone for good," Seth shrugged, a wry smile on his face.
"I tried to come up with one of those for almost seven years," he murmured. Ryan smiled, and for a split second Seth was reminded of Brad.
"I wasn't here to help you with it though, was I?" he asked, and Seth shook his head. He liked the idea of revenge, but the odd glint in Ryan's eye made him wonder if he would still like it when he heard Ryan's plan.
Ok, there, I wrote the second chapter. Thanks again to all who reviewed. If anyone has an idea for the next one, let me know, cause I'm racking my brain for one. Don't expect the next chapter so soon either, unfortunately I've got work to do. Still, this was fun, and I hope you all enjoy this chapter as much as the first one.
-Luna Sealeaf Runicprincess@aol.com