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Chapter Twenty Six

"I hate to say I love you

Because it means that I will be

With your forever

Or we'll sadly say goodbye"

Ground on down – Ben Harper

Ryan woke up the next morning lying next to Marissa on his bed in the poolhouse. His face was in her hair, with his arm wrapped around her waist. At first he thought he was dreaming, but then he remember he had fallen asleep last night when he was talking to her. He wondered if Julie was going to go berserk on Marissa when she returned home. Julie still didn't like him, even after everything that has happened. You'd think she would at least try to like him, but she didn't. And Ryan didn't mind at all because he wasn't with Marissa right now.

Ryan removed his arm from around her waist and sat up in his bed. He scratched his sleepy eyes and then lay back down on the bed and stared up at the ceiling. He thoughts wandered back over to the tape recorder. He wished Marissa hadn't of heard it and he regretted not throwing out the tape. He only kept the tape because he thought of it as a gateway out of Newport. As much as he hated Oliver and what he did to him, he believed Oliver. He wasn't meant for Newport, but Ryan also knew that he wasn't meant for Chino either. He didn't know where he belonged right now.

Ryan thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the poolhouse door. Without waiting for any reply, Sandy walked into the poolhouse.

"Ryan, I thought maybe – Marissa?" Sandy looked over to her sleeping body next to Ryan. "Ryan, you know you're grounded."

Ryan got off the bed and away from Marissa. "Sandy, truly, she came over last night and we just fell asleep talking."

"Right." Sandy grinned at him. "But, you know darn well that you were grounded."

"Sorry. It won't happen again." Ryan replied.

"Better not. Well, she better go home before Julie Cooper comes over here and causes trouble for you. Then I want you in kitchen, okay?" Sandy asked.

Ryan nodded his head and Sandy left the poolhouse.

Marissa turned over on her side and looked up at Ryan. "Sorry." She yawned and then got up. "I didn't mean to get you into any more trouble."

"It's okay, we fell asleep…That's all." Ryan blushed. "Well, you better get home before…" Ryan trailed off.

"Gotcha." Marissa smiled at him and walked over towards the door. "We'll talk later, okay?"

Ryan nodded his head and waved her a goodbye. He put on a pair of socks and then headed inside of the Cohen's kitchen.

Seth and Summer were sitting next to each other at the kitchen table, each eating a bowl of cereal.

"'Morning, Ryan!" Summer said, as Ryan took a seat across from her at the table.

"Summer…What are you doing here?" Ryan asked. He took the box of Captain Crunch and started eating out of it.

"Oh, well, last night, Seth and I fell asleep and yeah…" Summer replied and then looked at her watch. "I should really get going. Not that my dad would notice I wasn't home last night, but my stepmother would know and she'll rant and rave about stuff she doesn't know about…So, I'll save her the trouble of it and leave now." She explained and then kissed Seth. "Call me." She said and then left.

Seth watched her leave with a smile plastered on his face. He then turned to Ryan and said, "I hope you're learning something here, Ryan." He laughed. "Ah, what a great night." He leaned back in his seat and almost fell over.

"Yeah, well, you're not the only one who had a girl in his room last night." Ryan commented.

"You had a girl in the poolhouse last night? A hooker?" Seth joked.

Ryan threw some cereal at him and Seth caught some and ate it.

"Marissa ended up staying. We fell asleep and then your Dad walked in on us this morning and yeah…I think I might be in some trouble." Ryan replied.

"Welcome aboard to my boat, Ryan. Dad walked in on Summer and I this morning, too. We weren't making out or anything…But she was topless and under my covers, so that didn't go over as well as I had planned it would go."

"Damn." Ryan laughed. "So, where is your dad now?"

"Oh, who knows. Probably planning some mass punishment for the both of us. Or even worse…I bet he's – "

Sandy walked into the kitchen and Seth stopped talking. "Boys! Where are the ladies?" Sandy joked.

"Ladies? If you mean Mom, I think she's upstairs." Seth tried to play stupid.

"Seth." Sandy scowled. "Do you see me laughing?"

"Is that a rhetorical question?"

"Seth!" Sandy yelled at him.

Seth threw his hands up in the air. "Okay, okay! Summer's gone, Dad." He said and then asked Ryan, "Are those eyebrows scaring you? 'Cause they're really starting to scare me."

Ryan shook his head, trying hard not to laugh.

Sandy sat down at the table next to Seth. "Okay, boys, we have a situation here." Both Seth and Ryan nodded their heads. "Ryan, you were grounded last night and Seth, you know girls aren't allowed here when we're not home."

"They're not?" Seth asked.

"No, I thought I told you that before."

"Well, I've never had a girlfriend before Summer, or an actual real friend before Ryan."

"Seth, that's besides the point. The point is, those girls slept over last night. And I don't allow that." Sandy turned to Ryan. "You're no longer grounded, Ryan."

"I'm not grounded?" Ryan repeated. "I'm not in trouble?"

"He's not grounded?" Seth asked in disbelief.

"Oh, believe me, both of you are in trouble, which is why I'm both giving you part time jobs. You know, to fill in the extra time on the weekends. And hey," Sandy laughed. "I'll be there to watch you, too. You'll be working at the Lighthouse."

"I thought you didn't want me having a part time job? You made me quit the Crab Shack once I started school."

"Yeah, what about school?" Seth added. "If we have part time jobs our grades could go down." Seth said and then whispered. "And we all know that's bad, don't we?"

"If you're grades slip, it won't be because of your job. You'll be working on the weekends, not during the week." Sandy replied and then turned to Ryan and said, "You're getting into more trouble on the weekends, so I think a job will be good for you."

"Hey, how come I have to have a job? I know Ryan feels bad about taking your money, but I don't." Seth added.

"Seth, it doesn't work like that. I'm the parent, I make up the rules."

"Where's Mom?" Seth asked.

"She's at the lighthouse right now with Jimmy, helping him set things up. Tonight is the opening night and you two are going to be on your best behavior."

"We don't have to work tonight, do we?" Ryan asked.

"No, not tonight." Sandy replied. "Starting next Friday night, you both will be working, understand?"

Seth and Ryan nodded their heads and Sandy walked away, pleased at how the conversation went.

Seth scratched away at his Jew-Fro. "I would have rather had a weeks grounding…. Hey, even a month's grounding," Seth moaned. "I can't believe I'll be working for my own Dad. You know how bad that looks? It will be like Mom and Grandpa. Those two hate each other now."

"I'm sure it won't be that bad, Seth. Think of it this way…You get to eat free food." Ryan added.

"It was free before I started working there." Seth stated.

"Well…I don't mind. It's better than being grounded."

"Maybe." Seth replied. "Well, I'm going to go call Summer and ask if she wants to come to the Grand Opening of the Lighthouse. Are you going to bring a date?" Seth asked.

Ryan shrugged.

"You can invite a friend…Hey, how about Marissa?" Seth asked. "Or you know, you can always ask Luke. But, with his Dad being gay…It might look bad, if you know what I mean, man."

"I don't know." Ryan replied. "Maybe I'll just go solo."

"Whatever, Dude." Seth said, leaving the kitchen.

Ryan sat at the kitchen table and contemplated on going over to Julie Cooper's house and asking Marissa out to the Grand Opening of the Lighthouse, as a friend though. He went back to the poolhouse and got dressed and then decided to call Luke.

"Hello?" Luke answered the phone.

"Hey, it's me."

"Oh, hey…What's up?" Luke asked.

"Nothing. Are you coming to the Grand Opening of the Lighthouse?" Ryan asked.

"Yeah, Kirsten invited my Mom and the rest of the family. Are you going?"

"Yeah, I have to. Are you bringing anyone?"

"Well, I was thinking of asking Chelsea." Luke replied.

"Luke, don't do that! She thinks you're like twenty something. Sandy and Kirsten know her and you'll for sure get caught." Ryan yelled at him. Luke hesitated over the phone. "You already asked her, didn't you?" Ryan asked.

"Yeah. It kind of slipped out. I mean, things were getting hot and she wanted to get together with me tonight, but I told her I had this party to go to and I couldn't just tell her she couldn't go." Luke replied. "Shit." He mumbled. "I'm screwed, aren't I?"

"Yeah." Ryan replied. "But, don't worry. Just keep a low profile."

"We live in Newport." Luke stated.

"Right."

"Well, maybe if I call her now and tell her I've had a change in plans…"

"Yeah, do that. I'll see you at the party, then. And you better be solo."

"Oh, I will be." Luke replied and than hung up the phone.

Ryan put down his phone and walked outside. He went to the side of the house and looked down at Marissa house. He was still contemplating on asking her to the party.

He walked down the Cohen's driveway and then up Julie Copper's driveway.

He knocked on the door and waited.

The door opened.

"Ryan, what a surprise. Can I help you with anything?" Julie asked.

"Is Marissa here?" Ryan asked.

"I'm afraid not. She just left with Summer. They're at the mall looking for an outfit for tonight's event. Can I help you with anything?" Julie asked.

"Uh…No." Ryan said and then left.

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