Cleaning Out the Past
Disclaimer- not mines.
Rating- pg-13
Chapter 2
"I still don't get why we have to be there three days before the actual funeral, and why couldn't Marissa drive her?" Whispered Anna from the front seat of the range rover. Seth sighed as he switched lanes.
"Her mom died, she has to clean the apartment, and us being the good friends that we are, are driving her." Seth glanced back to make sure Summer was still asleep. "And Marissa has a family reunion this weekend, so she couldn't anyway." Anna frowned and looked down at the comic she was reading.
"Are we almost there?" Summer yawned from the backseat, as she sat up. Seth nodded,
"Yeah, about twenty minutes." Summer smiled weakly and gazed out the window at all the tiny houses, off in the distance.
Stretching out in the front seat Anna spoke again. "I'm hungry Seth, can we stop?"
"We're almost there, have a granola bar." Seth replied keeping his eyes on the road, and handing her a box.
"Thanks." Anna grumbled.
"So, where are we staying Summer?" Anna questioned as she munched on the chocolate covered granola bar.
"Uh, well it was sort of last minute so were staying at the..." She glanced at the sticky note she had plastered to the cover of Cosmo.
"Howard Johnson." Summer finished and turned back to the window.
*
"Here we are." Seth announced as he pulled into the parking lot for the hotel.
They each carried their own bags in, and Summer approached the desk to check in.
"I have a reservation under the name Roberts, two rooms." Summer said, glancing down at all the info she had written on the sticky note.
"Ah, yes, for three nights, is that correct?" the clerk replied, as he scrolled through the computer data. Summer nodded and placed her dad's VISA down on the counter.
She finished checking in and took the two sets of keys over to where Seth and Anna sat waiting.
"You guys get room 704, and I get 706" Summer announced, handing the keys to Seth. "Thanks" whispered Seth as he pulled his bag onto his shoulder.
The three teens took the elevator up to the seventh floor and walked down the hall to the left.
"Well this is my stop, tootles." Summer waved as she pushed the key card into the slot. The green light flashing as she opened the door.
In the room she dropped her bag and wondered over to the balcony. Peering over she noticed the four separate pools, with children splashing around, and the three hot tubs, placed between each pool.
"Weird." She mumbled, turning back into her room.
Around the room Summer noticed the mini bar. Inside were various kinds of pop, a couple beers, and some small liquor bottles on the side. Also were some snacks, and chocolate bars. She closed the fridge when she heard a knock at the door.
She slowly slid the chain out and opened the heavy wooden door to see Anna.
"Hey Summer!" she greeted.
"Hey Anna." Summer replied dryly
"Were going for dinner, want to come?" the blond offered.
"Umm… sure." Summer bit her lip and slid her flip-flops back on.
"Yay! Seth's already downstairs, lets go."
Summer grabbed her key and purse and followed Anna down the hall to the set of elevators. Anna pressed the down button, and the door clicked open.
The two girls walked in and pressed the button for the lobby.
"So how did your mom die?" Anna whispered solemnly.
"She was in a car accident, because her clutch failed and then she was impaled by her stick shift." Summer replied with a yawn.
"Oh god, that would hurt" Anna covered her mouth as the door opened onto the main floor.
"Yeah, I guess so." Summer shrugged and walked over to where Seth was sitting.
"Ready?" Seth questioned when the girls approached him. They both nodded and followed him out to the vehicle.
At the truck Anna was about to get in when she went a little pale. "Seth, is this a standard?" Seth looked up. "Yeah." He replied getting into the front seat.
"I think I'll sit in the back today." Anna whimpered as Summer climbed into the front, biting her lip so she wouldn't laugh.
"Who ever knew these things could be so dangerous?" Anna spoke from the back seat.
Summer stifled a laugh, knowing full well that her mom had died from a heart attack.
Seth shrugged and pulled out onto the main road. They headed for the downtown area to check out the restaurants.
They circled around downtown until they all decided on Tony Romas. Inside they had a ten-minute wait for a table, so they all glanced over the menu to save time after.
Once they were seated in a booth by the window they ordered their food and kept some small talk going.
When their food arrived they all ate in silence, having run out of things to talk about long ago.
Seth kept his head down while he ate his steak sandwich with french fries and coleslaw.
Anna had ordered ribs with a Caesar salad. And Summer had a tiny side salad that she picked at for half an hour until the waitress came to take the other plates.
"Well that was goo, we should go swimming when we get back!" Anna cheerfully said, only to lose a little pep as she climbed into the back seat.
"We just ate, we have to wait an hour" Seth wined as he started the rover.
"By the time we get back it'll have already been an hour." Summer rolled her eyes in the front seat, receiving a weak smile from Seth.
"Fine then, I'll go on my own" Anna snarled, crossing her arms over her chest and pouting.
"Okay honey" Seth replied and pulled into the hotel. The teens climbed out and headed up to their rooms. Anna went straight down to the pool after changing into her bathing suit.
Summer sat on her bed flipping through the pay-per-view movies, when Seth knocked on the door.
She stood up straightening out her gray sweat pants. "Hey, I'm getting a movie, want to help me pick?" Summer greeted. Seth nodded and plopped down on the double bed in front of the TV.
"Sure." Summer smiled and sat down next to him.
"So what exactly did you say to Anna in the elevator?" Seth questioned.
Summer burst into fits of giggles. "I told her that my mom was impaled by her stick shift, and that the clutch failed, I just wanted the front seat." Seth opened his mouth to say something but couldn't help but laugh. "Didn't she have a stroke?" Seth finally asked when he stopped laughing. "Heart attack" she replied.
After several disagreements the pair settled on watching X2, which Seth tried to convince Summer, was the 'all time coolest sequel ever'. Reluctantly Summer agreed.
Summer dozed off in the first half-hour but Seth was still into the movie and watched the TV screen intently, only to be woken from his little trance from banging on the door.
He slipped over to the door and saw Anna standing impatiently.
"Were supposed to be hanging out Seth, you promised! But no, you're hanging out in Summer's room." Anna yelled, not only waking up Summer, but half the people on the seventh floor.
"Anna, shut up, you're gonna wake someone up, lets go inside and talk" whispered Seth leading Anna to their room.
Summer stood up in her room and quickly turned the TV off. She walked over to the mini bar to get a bottle of water, but when she opened the door she decided on something a little smoother. She grabbed the tiny bottle of Smirnoff and downed it in one gulp. She coughed a little, gagging at the strong taste.
Summer wasn't used to drinking near as much usually, that was Coop's job. But as the night wore on, more empty bottles piled up in the trash can. Finally she passed out on her bed at 4am.
