NOTE: I do not own any of these characters… you can thank FOX. If you have any questions or comment you can e-mail me at liverbrain22@hotmail.com
(Thanks for the Reviews!)
Chapter Seventeen
"As I recall with my stomach turning
I was hiding away from myself, away from you
Like nothing, though something was terribly wrong
And I admit that I was only waiting for the right time
Night time, the right moment for you to look away
Though you never did, I pretended for a while
So I could walk where I don't belong"
Pitiful – Blindside
After Seth left the poolhouse, Ryan paced the room. He was upset and he didn't know what to think. He needed to get out of Newport, or at least out of the Cohen's house for awhile. He decided to call the number his mom gave him. He dialed the number with his left hand nervously and waited for someone to pick up.
"Hello?"
It wasn't his mother. It was a younger girl's voice. "Uh, is Dawn Atwood there?" Ryan asked.
"She's out. Can I take a message for her?" The girl asked.
"Well…" Ryan hesitated. "Just tell her that Ryan called." Ryan replied and was about to hang up the phone when he heard the girl speak to him.
"Wait…isn't she there right now?" The girl asked.
Ryan looked at his watch. Of course his mom wasn't home, it had only been a half hour since she left. "Uh, she just left awhile ago."
"Oh, well I'll tell her you called then, okay?"
Ryan hesitated, "Wait—Uh, does she live there with you?"
"Yeah, I'm Jess. She lives with me and my dad." Jessica replied.
"Uh, would you by any chance let me have your address?" Ryan asked. Jessica didn't answer. "I might come over later…If that's okay?" Ryan asked.
"I really don't know….But I guess its okay. It's 847 West Lane Crescent, near the old—"
Ryan cut her off. "…Near the old run down movie theatre, right?"
"Yeah, that's it."
"Thanks." Ryan said, and then hung up the phone.
It was nearing ten o'clock at night and Ryan knew that the Cohen's would be settling in to bed. He didn't want to wake them, so he decided to leave a note by his bedside. He knew they would understand. Or at least he hoped that they would understand.
Ryan pulled out his wallet and checked his money situation. He had sixty dollars on him, which was plenty enough to get him a cab to Chino. Ryan called a cab, packed a light bag of clothes and then waited outside at the end of the Cohen's laneway.
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Summer and Seth were snuggled up together in Summer's bed, staring up at the ceiling. It was close to eleven o'clock and Seth knew that he should be heading home soon. He sat up in the bed and Summer pulled him back down, kissing him.
"Where do you think you're going, Cohen?" Summer asked.
"Uh, home…Believe me I don't want to go…But I think I should, before my parents go crazy."
Summer groaned. "Just tell them you're having a sleepover at a friend place."
Seth snorted at her comment. "Summer, a sleepover? At a friend's place?" Seth asked, then stuck up a finger and said, "One, in all the seventeen years of my life, I've never had a sleepover. Two," He stuck up another finger. "Guy's don't have sleepovers."
Summer laughed at him and rubbed her hand up and down his chest. "Are you sure you don't want to have a sleepover?" Seth shook his head. "You're not sure?" Seth nodded his head in agreement.
They wrestled around in bed for awhile, until Summer fell asleep on Seth. Seth looked up at the clock on Summer's night table. It was only eleven-thirty. Minutes later he drifted off to sleep.
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"This is it?" The cab driver asked, as he pulled up the laneway of 847 West Lane Crescent.
Ryan nodded his head and gave the cab driver his money. He got out of the car and examined the place. Not too bad, Ryan thought to himself. It was a small house, but at least it wasn't a dump like his old house in Chino. Ryan walked up to the front door and knocked. A tall, buff man came to the door and opened it.
"Yes?" The man asked. Ryan stood there, not sure what to say. Should he not say anything and run for it and forget about seeing his mom? Or should he say he's Ryan. The guy was pretty mean looking and not a visitor Ryan would want around, for sure. "Is there anything I can help you with?" The man asked, his voice was a little edgy.
"I, uh—I'm Ryan…Is my mom here?" Ryan asked.
The man opened the door wider and took out his hand. "I'm John, nice to meet you, Ryan. Come on in." Ryan accepted John's hand shake and followed him inside. The place was a lot cleaner than his old place. "Here, have a seat, I'll go get Dawn." John said, motioning to the empty couch. Ryan took a seat and waited. Seconds later his mom appeared.
"Hey, Ry…What are you doing here?" Dawn asked.
Ryan stood up. "You said I could visit you."
Dawn embraced him into a hug. "I invited you over to visit, yes, but not at midnight." Dawn commented. "Is there something wrong?" She asked.
Ryan shook his head. "No, I just wanted to see where you lived, that's all." Ryan said, looking around the place.
The whole room went silent.
John finally spoke up, "Look, you can stay here tonight if you want." John looked over at Dawn. Ryan wasn't sure if John was being friendly towards him or just being plain annoyed at him. "I'll go get some sheets for the couch." He said, leaving the two of them alone.
Ryan sat back down on the couch. "It's nice, Mom. John seems nice too." He added.
Dawn nodded her head. "He is. So, do the Cohen's know you came to visit?" Dawn asked.
"Yeah," Ryan lied. "They thought it was a good idea."
Dawn went up to him and brushed his hair away from his face. "Are you sure, you're okay? You're acting a little strange, Ry."
Ryan shrugged. "I just wanted to see where you live, Mom." He then hesitated. "I don't really want to talk about it right now, okay?"
Before Dawn could say anything, John came back with sheets and a blanket. "Here, make yourself comfortable." Ryan accepted the sheets and blanket and thanked him.
"'Night, kid." Dawn said, kissing him on the forehead." She then retreated back to her bedroom with John following her.
Ryan made up the couch as best as he could, only using his left hand. His right hand was not working for him right now. He could hardly feel it. He lay down on the couch and stared up at the ceiling. "What have I gotten myself into?" Ryan mumbled to himself. Slowly but surely, he drifted off to sleep.
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"SETH?" Sandy yelled up from the bottom of the staircase. "It's time for you to wake up!" He retreated back to the kitchen where Kirsten was reading the Sunday newspaper. "Those two kids sure like to sleep on Sundays." Sandy commented, taking a seat at the kitchen table.
Kirsten nodded her head and continued reading.
"So, I guess the way things went last night, Ryan won't be seeing Dawn again."
Kirsten put down her paper and stared at Sandy. "Why would you think that?" She asked.
"Well, the way she left in a hurry last night. Something wrong was said." Sandy replied, taking a sip of his coffee. "Maybe I should go talk to him."
Kirsten shook her head. "Just let him sleep."
Before Sandy could protest, he heard the front door slam shut and Seth came strolling into the kitchen. "Morning." Seth said, grabbing a muffin off of the kitchen counter.
"Uh, morning?" Kirsten replied. "Where have you been? We thought you were sleeping upstairs."
"Oh, I, uh, well you see…" Seth stopped for a moment and stared at his parents. "I woke up really early and decided to watch the sun rise with Summer."
"Oh, really?" Sandy asked.
Seth nodded his head. "Dad, it was awesome. You two should really wake up early next time and watch it." He patted both his parents on the back. "Is Ryan up?" Seth asked, walking over to the patio door and looking out into the poolhouse.
"He's still sleeping." Kirsten replied.
"Well then, I will go wake him." Seth said strolling out of the kitchen. He knocked on the poolhouse glass door, and then walked in. Ryan wasn't there. He went over to the bathroom but he wasn't there ether. He noticed a note on Ryan's bed and picked it up. He could hardly read it, since Ryan was right handed, not left handed. The writing looked like a five year olds writing. Seth looked at it and read it out loud. "Hey, I…had?" Seth tried to read it. "Yeah, I had to go to my mom's place in Chino." He stopped and tried to make out the next word. "Don't worry, I will be back by tomorrow….I just had to get out of here. I will talk later. Ryan."
After reading the letter, Seth sat down on Ryan's bed. What had he done? Seth thought to himself. Seth knew he was right last night. He knew Ryan didn't want to live here anymore. Was it something he had done or said? Seth thought to himself. He took the letter and made his way back into the kitchen.
"What's wrong, Seth?" Kirsten asked, noticing the look of shock on Seth's face.
"Ryan—He's gone."
"What do you mean he's gone?" Sandy demanded, standing up and facing Seth. Seth handed Sandy the note he had just read. Sandy took it and read it. "I'm sure there's a perfect explanation for all of this." Sandy replied, handing the note to Kirsten so she could read it.
"But, Dad, last night he pretty much told me that he wanted to go back to Chino." Seth commented. Last night was becoming a blur to him already. He was tired when he went to go talk to him and wasn't sure how he acted.
"Why would he?" Kirsten asked.
Seth threw his hands up in the air. "He said he had issues that he needed to sort out and that life in Chino is different than life in Newport." Seth stopped. "I didn't know he was going to run out last night."
Sandy shook his head. "I'm sure he's fine, guys. He wrote down that he would be home later today. Don't jump to any conclusions."
"But—." Seth started to protest.
"Seth, we just have to wait and see, okay?" Sandy said.
Seth nodded his head and walked off to his bedroom.
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Ryan woke up to the sound of laughter. He wasn't sure who it was who was laughing so hard. He opened his eyes and look off out into the kitchen where he saw his mom and a girl about his age talking and laughing. He got up from the couch, in the same clothes he had worn yesterday, and walked over to the kitchen.
"Ry, you're up." Dawn said. "This is Jessica, John's daughter." She said, motioning to the girl sitting across from her. Jessica smiled at him.
"Hey." Ryan said, taking out his hand. They both shook hands and Ryan took a seat at the table.
"So, did you sleep well?" Dawn asked.
Ryan shrugged. "Yeah." He lied. He hardly slept at all until this morning. The couch was not exactly like the bed he had at the Cohen's.
Jessica laughed, "Yeah, right. That couch is like sleeping on the floor."
Ryan smiled at her. "A bit." He admitted. He eyed the girl. She was pretty good looking, but a little young for Ryan. She had short black hair with blue eyes and wore an army green tank top with a pair of baggy pants.
"So, Ry, I just found out that I have a job interview later this morning." Dawn said, standing up. "I have to leave soon."
"Oh, well, I guess I should go then." Ryan said.
"I'm sorry, kid. I know you wanted to talk to me and—."
Ryan cut her off. "No, it's okay. I should leave anyways." He stood up. "It was nice meeting you, Jessica."
"Jess." She corrected.
"Nice meeting you, Jess." Ryan said, and then headed back into the living room to get his bag.
Dawn went up him, "Ry, maybe we can see each other again?" She asked.
Ryan shook his head. "Yeah, sure."
"Okay, well, do you need a drive?" She asked.
Ryan shook his head. "No."
Jess walked into the room and said, "Why don't you stay awhile, Ryan?"
Ryan looked at his mom then back at Jess. He knew he didn't want to go back to the Cohen's just yet, because he knew that when he got back he would have to explain why he left, and then he would have to talk with Marissa. He just didn't need that right now. "Sure." He replied.
"Cool, I was going to go over to a friends place. But I can change that." Jess said in excitement. She really liked this Ryan guy. Not only was he hot, but very friendly.
"No, don't cancel."
Dawn left the living room to go change for her interview.
"Well, do you want to come with me then? Maybe you know her, she's a year older than me. Her name is Chantal Keeler."
"I know a Brandon Keeler." Ryan replied.
"Sweet, Bran's her twin brother. That works out good then."
Ryan laughed. The last time he saw Brandon, they were thirteen and at the police station. They were caught at night trying to get into a bar. The officers just scared the shit out of them and then let them go. "Sure, I guess, I'll go." Ryan replied.
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Summer was rummaging through Seth's dresser drawers. She wasn't sure what she was looking for, but she was bored and he was taking way too long in the bathroom. Finally, Seth came out of the bathroom.
"Um, Summer what are you doing?" Seth asked.
"Trying to find something good. Do you have anything in here that I don't know about? Like some woman clothes?" Summer laughed.
"Woman clothes? Wrong room, Summer. You'll find those in the poolhouse." Seth told her, sarcastically. He went up to her and started to make out. They made their way over to Seth's bed. Seth started to remove his shirt, when there was a knock on the door.
Seth groaned. "Why is it every time we make out, there's a knock on the door!" Summer laughed at him and stood up. "Come in!" Seth yelled out.
Sandy came in the room. "Has Ryan called yet?" He asked.
"No, not yet…" Seth mumbled and looked at his watch. "It's only four, I'm sure he'll call, or come home soon. It is a school night and you know how much Ryan cherishes his school work." Seth replied, dryly.
Sandy shook his head. "Ok, but if he calls you on your cell, tell me."
Seth nodded his head. "Will do…Now can we have some privacy?"
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"So, were you good friends with Brandon?" Jess asked, as they walked over to his and Chantal's house.
Ryan shrugged. "We were when we were kids. We stopped talking after I started hanging around with Trey's friends."
"Trey's your brother, right? And he's in jail?" Jess asked.
Ryan nodded. "Yeah."
"So, do you like living in Newport? I've never been there."
"It's okay…different. It's a lot different from Chino. Have you always lived in Chino?" Ryan asked.
Jess shook her head. "No, I used to live with my mom up north. We lived in Toronto."
"Toronto, as in Canada?" Ryan asked.
Jess laughed at him. "Yeah, it's a lot different here…I guess we're kind of in the same situation." She added.
"How's that?"
"Well, we both live in places that are different from our home life…and we both hate it." She said, and then smiled at him. "I take it the reason why you're here is because you hate it there in Newport."
"Well, I don't hate it. The people that I live with, the Cohen's, are great." Ryan admitted. "It's just that everyone there has got something, and I don't." Ryan stopped talking and stared at his right arm, which he hasn't felt all day today. "It's been a little crazy there…I just needed to escape from it all, that's all."
"Your mom told us about what happened with your arm and about that kid that shot himself."
"Yeah…that's probably the main reason why I'm here." Ryan replied. He could see Brandon's house in sight. The last time he was there was 2 years ago.
"Well, whatever Ryan. It doesn't matter; you're here now, in Chino, and we're going to have some fun."
Ryan laughed at her and imagined what the Cohen's were doing right now. They were probably worried sick over him. He knew he should call them soon, but he didn't want to spoil any fun he was about to have.
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