Ryan woke up the next morning with everything still weighing heavy on his
mind. He heard what Dr. Colefield had said the day before. It was his
fault that this woman was coming from Child Services, and it was up to him
to fix it. He wasn't exactly sure how, but he knew it was up to him. It
wasn't Atwood luck that caused this to happen, it was him, Ryan Atwood. He
had no one else to blame but himself. And if he wanted to stay in Newport,
he knew that whatever questions she asked, no matter how personal or
embarrassing, he would have to answer, honestly and without getting mad.
Otherwise, he knew he would be gone.
He knew this and he accepted it, but at the same time, he was also very confused with the way all the Cohens had acted the night before. They acted like nothing was happening. They got home about an hour after him, carrying take out Chinese and talked about everything but the investigation. Ryan had hoped to grill Seth about it after dinner, but Seth never came to the pool house. So Ryan went to bed, not knowing what they were doing or why they were doing it.
It wasn't until after Sandy dropped them off at school that Ryan was finally able to talk to Seth.
"Ok, man," Ryan said, "What's up?"
"What's up with what?" Seth asked.
"Seth, come on, what happened yesterday," Ryan leaned close to Seth and so no one would hear him whispered, "You know, Dr. Colefield."
Seth tried to play it off like it was no big deal, just the way they discussed the day before after Ryan left.
"Nothing happened, Ry." He said, "You know, she's a real nice lady. Seems to really like you. Gees, it seems you're even good with the, um, older ladies as well!"
"SETH!" Ryan demanded. He needed to know what they talked about. It had to help.
"Ok, look, I'll tell you. It really was no big deal, but Mom and Dad don't want me to discuss it with you. They said they want you to work through this without my help." Seth knew he was rambling, especially when he saw Ryan's stare. So he told him,
"Look, Dr. Colefield just told us to stop dwelling on it. Go on as if nothing was wrong, and just let the investigation happen, since it's going to happen anyway. She said we couldn't continue to stress over it, because it doesn't help you, you know, get over feeling bad. So that's what we decided to do. We're all thinking about it, but we're just not going to talk about it. Oh, and I've just got to tell you, she gave Mom and Dad hell for Julie Cooper."
Wow, Ryan thought, Dr. Colefield told the Cohens to not talk about something. That had to be a first for them. He knew he liked Dr. Colefield for a reason. She asked way too many damn questions, but at least she knew when he didn't want to talk about something. He couldn't figure out, though, why she would be mad about Julie Cooper. She agreed with Sandy and Kirsten not to tell him.
"Why would she be mad about Julie Cooper?" he asked Seth, figuring Seth was there, so he would know.
"Because Mom and Dad were supposed to tell you. She said they agreed to keep it from you until they knew more, and then apparently there was some confusion with Dad's contact at Child Services, and they thought they had more time before the letters went out, and Mom and Dad kept putting it off and then, well, Julie Cooper showed up. And now you trust Mom and Dad less, and well, you know." Seth knew he was saying more then he was supposed to, but he thought Ryan had the right to know.
"It has nothing to do with not trusting them," Ryan said, "Yeah, it would have been better if it wasn't Julie Cooper getting her high off telling me, but well, I can't blame anyone else. This is all my fault. Everything that's happening is because of me."
"Ryan," Seth started to say, but was unfortunately interrupted by Luke.
"Hey, Cohen, Ry. How you feeling?" Luke knew Ryan was out the day before. When he had asked, Seth mumbled something about not feeling well.
"Like I want to be any where else but here." Ryan told him.
"So, let's jet. Go down to the dock, take my father's boat out and relax." Luke said. He figured Ryan probably needed a chance to unwind and chill. He doubted the Cohens gave him much chance to do that, and hey, any reason to blow off school was fine by Luke.
"You know, sounds good. Let's go." Ryan said. Even with blowing off the day before, he had absolutely no desire to sit in school. Not today. There was too much happening to sit through his classes, pretending to listen, and pretending to care.
Seth, however, didn't think it sounded good.
"Ryan, man, I don't think that's such a hot idea. You really need to be here. In school."
"Seth, I can't. I just can't sit there, like nothing was going on. I need to think, and not about school, either. You wanna come with us?" Ryan told him.
"Nah, like I said, I don't think it's such a hot idea, but I can't stop you. I'll stay here, try to protect your cover." Seth said.
"Protect my cover?" Ryan asked.
Seth explained, "Yeah, you know, Dr. Kim. I'll tell her that you're still under the weather. That way, she won't call home, or Dad or Mom. You do have your cell phone on you, don't you?" Seth didn't agree with what Ryan was doing, but he knew he could at least help Ryan get away with it. Have his back, so to speak.
"Yeah, thanks, man. I'll see you later. At home." Ryan waved and was off, with Luke. To hang, unwind, relax and think. But not drink. Ryan knew he didn't need the alcohol to work through his problems.
Seth watched them both leave in Luke's truck. He knew Luke was trying to help, in his own twisted, water polo playing way, but he knew Ryan was asking for more trouble. If his parents found out that Ryan was skipping school, after already missing all that time due to his suspension, they would come down hard on him. Seth figured he could at least do what he could to try to help Ryan get away with it. He set off to find Dr. Kim and tell her that Ryan was still sick. That way, she wouldn't call either one of his parents.
Seth found Dr. Kim in the hallway outside her office. He thought it was better that she was there, and not actually in her office. That way, he could try to make it look like he wasn't really looking for her, but just ran into her. He really wasn't all that good at lying.
"Hey, Dr. Kim," he said, "Just the person I was looking for. Well, not looking for, but well, glad to see. Well, not glad to see, but um," God, he was blowing it. He knew it, especially when Dr. Kim looked at him, annoyed and told him,
"Seth. What is it? What are you trying to say?" She always had such a snippy, annoyed tone to her voice.
Be cool, dude, Seth thought.
Seth told her, "Nothing. Just, Mom told me to tell you that Ryan was still sick, so she kept him home again today, but not to worry. He should be back by tomorrow."
"Thank you, Seth. Please tell Ryan I hope he's feeling better." Dr. Kim said, still with that annoyed, uppity tone to her voice, "I'll see to it that his teachers get his work together and get it to you by the end of the day. I think you're late for class. You better be going."
Seth wanted nothing more then to stick his tongue out behind Dr. Kim's back as she went back into her office, but instead he just walked off to class. One less thing for you to worry about, bro, he thought as he walked, at least this time, I got your back.
Luke and Ryan got to the docks and took off in the boat, towards the bay. Luke didn't try to get Ryan to talk. He didn't want to pry or bring up what happened that night. All he knew was that there was some kind of investigation, and Ryan might have to leave Newport because of it.
"Hey, man," Luke asked when they got to the bay, "You want a cold one?"
"Ah, Luke, it's not even 9:00 o'clock in the morning. Don't you think it's a little early?" Ryan answered.
"Ok, so why don't we just tool around. Here, I'll show you how to drive this baby, and you can go where you want." Luke told him.
After a while of just driving around, Ryan finally found himself heading back to the bay to hang out. It was great just driving around in a boat. He liked it more then sailing. He could see why Seth loved being on the water. For a while, any way, he had no worries.
"So, now it's almost 11. Is that late enough to ask if you want a cold one?" Luke finally said. He was going to have one, and figured Ryan would want one, too.
"I don't know. It sounds good, but well, after last time..." Ryan started to say.
"Hey, man, no worries. Hope you don't mind though, cause I need one." Luke told him.
"Look," Luke continued, as he began to drink his beer, "I talked to Julie the other night. I told her that I knew what she was planning on doing, and that I didn't think it was such a good idea because you knew. About her and I. So, she's not. Going to do anything bad, she said."
"Thanks, man." Ryan said, deciding to have a beer, just one. Because if they were going to talk about Julie Cooper, he could use a beer.
"Yeah, well," Luke told him, "She's not going to do anything about you, but she's also not going to do anything with me. We're done."
"Oh, um, I'm sorry." Ryan said. Even though he could never understand the warped relationship between Luke and Julie, he still felt bad. It was once again his fault.
"Nah, no worries," Luke told him, "It was already weird, hot, definitely hot. But getting way too weird. So, well, I guess it's best this way."
Luke thought about it for a minute before telling Ryan,
"I gotta say, though. That it was definitely the hottest romance I've ever had. Nothing hotter then a divorced older woman...."
"Luke," Ryan said, "I really, really don't need to know this." Just the thought of it made Ryan want to drink more.
Luke only laughed. It was fine by him not to have to talk about it, either. He figured they could just hang out, relax and down some beers.
Shortly after noon and two beers later, Ryan's cell phone started to ring. He figured it was Seth calling on his lunch hour. But when he looked down at the display, he swore he felt his heart stop. Instead of Seth's cell phone number, he saw Sandy's office number.
"Um, hello?" Ryan said. He knew this wasn't going to be good, not good at all.
"I'm leaving my office right now. I'll be home in about fifteen, twenty minutes. I strongly suggest that you be there when I get home." Sandy told him.
No doubt about it, Ryan thought, he was mad, really, really mad.
"Um," Ryan started again, "I'm not sure if I can be there by then."
"Why, where are you?" Sandy demanded, "And so help me God, Ryan, if you say Chino..."
Ryan quickly interrupted him, "No, I'm not in Chino. I'm just a little further away then fifteen minutes from home, that's all."
"Where are you, Ryan?" Sandy again demanded.
"I, ah, I'm out with Luke," Ryan tried to explain, "In the bay. On his dad's boat."
"Drinking." Sandy said. It wasn't a question. It was a statement. One that Ryan knew was going to get him in a whole lot of trouble.
"Um." Was the only thing Ryan could think to say. He didn't want to lie and say no he wasn't drinking, but he didn't want to admit to drinking either. Not on the phone.
But "um" was enough of an admission for Sandy,
"Yeah, ok. You better get home NOW, Ryan. You have no idea how much trouble you're in."
"Sandy, I'm sorry. I just..." Ryan started to plead.
But Sandy cut him off,
"Home. Ryan. Now."
Ryan just stared at his cell phone after Sandy hung up. He was in trouble. A lot of trouble. His thoughts were interrupted by Luke,
"I guess we've got to go."
Ryan nodded and said,
"Yeah. How quickly can we get back?"
As Luke headed the boat back towards the dock, Ryan called Seth. Unfortunately, Seth had no idea how Sandy knew Ryan cut school. He told Ryan that he had seen Dr. Kim in the morning, and told her that Ryan was still sick. Since she seemed to believe him, and Seth hadn't heard anything from her during the day, he had assumed that he had safely covered for Ryan.
Ryan walked through the front door a half hour later to find Sandy waiting for him, in the kitchen. Ryan didn't even walk all the way into the kitchen before Sandy started,
"Exactly what were you thinking? Huh? Why would you cut school two days in a row? Go out drinking with Luke, again. Why, Ryan?"
"I don't know." Ryan said, as he sat down at the bar, on the same bar stool as the last time he was in trouble, and the time before that, and the time before that. Damn, lately it seemed like he was sitting on that bar stool a lot. When he saw the glare that he was getting from Sandy, he knew he had to try to explain,
"I just couldn't sit through school. Not with everything going on. I just couldn't concentrate."
"But yesterday I wasn't with Luke. Yesterday I was with Marissa." Ryan continued, hoping that Sandy would be a little less angry if he knew that he hadn't spent the past two days drinking with Luke. It didn't work.
"I don't care who you were with." Sandy told him, "You weren't in school. You need to be in school. With everything that is going on, Ryan, your records do not need to reflect truancy. And drinking? I can't believe we really need to go into the drinking, AGAIN."
"No, I'm sorry. I really am," Ryan said, "I just had so much on my mind lately that I just couldn't sit in school. Yesterday, Marissa and I went to talk, then having to talk to Dr. Colefield, after school, um, yesterday afternoon. I just didn't feel like talking or thinking or anything today so when I ran into Luke, we figured on just hanging out. Luke said no worries. Honestly, though, Sandy, I only had two beers. That's it. I'm not drunk."
"I don't care if you had two or ten or ½ a sip, you were still drinking." Sandy shouted, "So save it as an excuse, it's not going to fly with me. I told you before, that you are not old enough to drink, and I will not tolerate it under any circumstances. If you can't go out with Luke without drinking, then you can't go out with Luke at all."
"Look," Sandy continued, no longer shouting, but still very mad, "I agree that you are under a great deal of stress, but there is nothing I can do to change that. I wish there were. But that is not an excuse to skip school. You will be back in school tomorrow. If I have to walk you to each and every one of your classes, you will be there. Tomorrow, the next day, the day after that, and every day until graduation. Is that understood?"
Ryan nodded. He almost said "if I'm still here at graduation", but the look on Sandy's face told him it wouldn't be a good idea, so he just said,
"Yes. But what about Dr. Kim? Do I have detention again?"
"No," Sandy told him, "I told Dr. Kim that we've kept you home the past two days because of a stomach bug so there will be no repercussions at school."
Ryan was shocked. Given how mad Sandy was, he figured Sandy would have told Dr. Kim the truth.
"You covered for me?" Ryan asked. "Um, thanks. Thanks a lot."
"Oh, no, don't thank me." Sandy told him, "Believe me, you don't want to thank me. I didn't want your school records to reflect this total act of stupidity on your part. I said there would be no repercussions at school. I didn't say anything about here at home. You're grounded, my friend. You aren't to go anywhere or do anything or see anyone for the next two weeks. You will go to school and then come straight home. Is that understood?"
"Two weeks, but I...." Ryan started to say.
Sandy wasn't going to hear it.
"Do you want to make it three?" Sandy asked.
Ryan only said, "No."
He knew if he said another word, Sandy would make it three weeks. It didn't seem very fair. Ryan was afraid that he'd spend what little time he had left in Newport staring at the three windowed walls of the pool house.
"Fine," Sandy said, "The school is sending your work home with Seth. He'll bring it out to you when he gets home. Oh, and Ryan, you're telling Kirsten all about this when she gets home."
With that, Sandy walked out of the kitchen and headed for the bedroom to change his clothes. He was still really mad at Ryan, and needed to cool down because he knew as soon as Kirsten found out, it would be her turn to be mad. Really mad.
When Seth got home from school, he was relieved that whatever trouble Ryan was in was apparently over. He found Sandy in the kitchen, but no sign of Ryan. Seth figured Ryan was in the pool house, and hoped to make a quick exit out to see him.
"If you knew Ryan wasn't in school the past two days, why didn't you say anything to us?" Sandy asked Seth as Seth attempted to head straight for the back door.
"Well, ya see, Dad," Seth tried to joke, "I'm not my brother's keeper, as the old adage goes."
When Sandy didn't answer and only stared at Seth, Seth decided to try to explain how he thought Ryan was feeling,
"Look, Dad. Ryan has a lot on his mind. Maybe we can all pretend like nothing's going on, but Ryan can't. He's having a real hard time with this. I mean, didn't you think it was kind of strange that he doesn't seem remotely mad at you or Mom any more about hiding the investigation from him?"
Sandy thought about it for a minute before answering Seth,
"Well, since we only did it to protect Ryan and we explained that to Ryan, we assumed that he believed us and accepted that as the truth. What did he say to you about it?"
"Given that this is Ryan here we're talking about," Seth explained, "he naturally blames himself for everything. Everything that has happened or is going to happen is his fault. So I can understand why sitting in school is the last place he'd want to be."
Sandy sighed. He knew Ryan was blaming himself. Again. Like always.
"I know it seems harsh, but Ryan has to be in school. If Mrs. Dawson finds out that Ryan is skipping school in addition to everything else she's looking into, it definitely wouldn't work in our favor. Your Mom and I were already guessing that Ryan was blaming himself, but we can't excuse his behavior. We're still the parents here, and we're still trying to do what's best, whether you guys believe it or not."
"What's best...oh, the standard line." Seth smirked, "Yeah, let me guess. It was the standard yelling, lecturing and then the proverbial grounding. Does that sum up Ryan's afternoon?"
"Would you like it to sum up yours, too?" Sandy asked him.
"Look," Sandy continued, "Please just bring Ryan out his homework, but don't stay too long. Ryan is still grounded, whether either one of you like or not. We can't have him skipping school for any reason, and I will not tolerate his drinking no matter what."
"Oh, ah, ok." Seth stammered. He didn't realize Ryan was also caught drinking, again. Not good, bro, he thought.
"By the way, Dad," Seth asked as he walked out the door, "How did you find out Ryan wasn't in school?" It had been bugging Seth all afternoon.
"Dr. Kim called my office." Sandy told him, "You really are a lousy liar, Seth."
Seth just shook his head and walked out towards the pool house. Again he felt like he failed Ryan. For once, he wished he could say or do something right for him.
Ryan was lying flat on his back staring at the ceiling again when Seth came in.
"Hey, man." Seth said, "Here's your homework. I'm guessing you have more then enough time on your hands to get it all done."
"Yeah, thanks." Ryan said, sitting up to look through everything Seth brought him.
"So?" Seth hedged, trying to get from Ryan how long he was busted for.
"Two weeks." Ryan responded, knowing what Seth was wondering about.
"Two weeks? That's it? I would have guessed the drinking alone would have gotten you a month, not counting cutting school. Man, you got off easy!" Seth stopped short of telling Ryan that he actually thought his dad was right. Ryan was acting stupid. It wasn't going to help anyone, especially Ryan for him to continue to get in trouble. But Ryan stopped him before he could continue,
"Seth, not you, too. I know. I shouldn't be drinking. I shouldn't be cutting school. I got it already. From Sandy, and in a little bit, I'll be getting it again from Kirsten. So please, just save it."
"Look," Seth said, "I'm just saying what you're going though sucks, but you're really not handling it in the best way possible. I mean, drinking with Luke, lying about going to school....."
"I didn't lie about going to school," Ryan interrupted, "I just didn't tell them about not going. Obviously in this house, not telling is not the same as lying."
"Yeah, Ryan," Seth said, "A word of advise. I wouldn't compare Mom and Dad not telling you about Mrs. Dawson with you cutting class to hang out with Luke. It wouldn't go over real big, and those two weeks will quickly turn into a month, maybe even two. Maybe even a year!"
Ryan just rolled his eyes. He was smart enough to know not to compare the two. Not out loud, anyway. Well, at least not out loud to Sandy and Kirsten.
"Well, look, Dad said I couldn't stay too long." Seth told him, "So, I'm off to do my homework, maybe call Summer. I'll see you at dinner."
Ryan chose not to answer, but instead turned to the homework sitting on his bed. He knew he had a couple of hours before Kirsten got home, and Sandy would make him go over everything all over again. He wondered how and when he could become so attached to a family that liked to do a whole lot of talking.
Ryan quickly lost track of time, and was able to get through a great deal of his work before he heard Sandy calling his name. He looked over at his clock and realized that it was 6. Kirsten was probably home.
"Hey." Was all he said when he walked into the kitchen and saw Kirsten going through the take out, and putting everything into bowls.
"Hey. Dinner's almost ready. Why don't you get Seth." Kirsten said.
She didn't seem mad, so Ryan was guessing Sandy hadn't told her anything at all, and was really expecting Ryan to confess on his own. When Ryan looked over at Sandy, Sandy only nodded his head, confirming that this was in deed the case.
"Um, yeah, in a minute." Ryan said, "First, there's something I gotta tell you."
As Ryan sat down at that same familiar bar stool, he noticed that Kirsten stopped dishing out the food, and she was now staring at him. Ryan quickly looked down at his hands, and not at her when he told her,
"Yeah, um, look, I cut school."
"Excuse me, you did what?" Kirsten asked. She was pretty sure she heard what he said, she just couldn't believe it.
"I cut school." Ryan said, louder this time, "Yesterday and today. I didn't feel like going so I cut."
"You didn't feel like going?" Kirsten repeated, "What kind of excuse is that? What did you feel like doing then?"
Man, Ryan thought, I really can't believe I have to go into this again. He started to repeat what he had already gone through with Sandy that afternoon,
"Well, yesterday Marissa and I went to the beach and the pier, and today I went out with Luke. We hung out, um, on his father's boat, in the bay...."
"And drank." Kirsten said. Again, the statement that promised him nothing but trouble.
"But only two beers." Ryan quickly countered.
"Oh, only two beers." Kirsten said snidely, "and that's supposed to make me feel better."
She stared at Ryan for a moment before turning to Sandy, since she wasn't even sure what to say to Ryan next.
"What did you say about all of this?" she asked Sandy.
Sandy looked at Kirsten first and then at Ryan when he said,
"I told him he was grounded for the next two weeks, and I promised that I would personally walk him to each and every one of his classes if he attempts to cut again."
Kirsten then looked at Ryan and asked,
"Why, Ryan?" The same question Sandy already asked, this afternoon. Ryan found it a little annoying to have to sit through all of this again.
"Look," he told her, "I've already gone over this with Sandy. Earlier."
"Welcome to a two parent household, Ryan. Now go over it again." Sandy told him, in that sharp tone that Ryan was becoming a little to used to.
Ryan sighed,
"I just couldn't sit in school, and pretend nothing was going on."
"But that's exactly what you have to do." She told him. "I know it's not easy, and I'm sorry about that. But you have to go to school, maintain your grade point average and go on as normal as possible. Is that understood?"
Ryan only nodded. Yeah, he understood. Act normal. What the hell was normal?
Kirsten interrupted his thoughts when she told him,
"Since I'm sure you and Sandy have already covered the specifics of your punishment, why don't we just eat dinner. Go get Seth. Unless, of course, there's more I need to know. Please tell me that there isn't anything else."
Ryan just shock his head no as he got off the bar stool, and found Seth, eavesdropping at the top of the stairs.
Dinner was really quiet. Not even Seth had much to say. Sandy and Kirsten kept looking at each other, and then at Ryan, who stared mostly at his plate, pushing his food around and only eating when he noticed Kirsten looking at him. Kirsten silently prayed that they would all be able to get through the rest of the week and the investigation and not lose Ryan. Even if they didn't physically lose him, she was worried about emotionally. This was all taking it's toll on her entire family, and she just wanted it over with so everything could go back to the way it was. No, she thought, it would be better then it was before. At least that's what she hoped and silently prayed for.
He knew this and he accepted it, but at the same time, he was also very confused with the way all the Cohens had acted the night before. They acted like nothing was happening. They got home about an hour after him, carrying take out Chinese and talked about everything but the investigation. Ryan had hoped to grill Seth about it after dinner, but Seth never came to the pool house. So Ryan went to bed, not knowing what they were doing or why they were doing it.
It wasn't until after Sandy dropped them off at school that Ryan was finally able to talk to Seth.
"Ok, man," Ryan said, "What's up?"
"What's up with what?" Seth asked.
"Seth, come on, what happened yesterday," Ryan leaned close to Seth and so no one would hear him whispered, "You know, Dr. Colefield."
Seth tried to play it off like it was no big deal, just the way they discussed the day before after Ryan left.
"Nothing happened, Ry." He said, "You know, she's a real nice lady. Seems to really like you. Gees, it seems you're even good with the, um, older ladies as well!"
"SETH!" Ryan demanded. He needed to know what they talked about. It had to help.
"Ok, look, I'll tell you. It really was no big deal, but Mom and Dad don't want me to discuss it with you. They said they want you to work through this without my help." Seth knew he was rambling, especially when he saw Ryan's stare. So he told him,
"Look, Dr. Colefield just told us to stop dwelling on it. Go on as if nothing was wrong, and just let the investigation happen, since it's going to happen anyway. She said we couldn't continue to stress over it, because it doesn't help you, you know, get over feeling bad. So that's what we decided to do. We're all thinking about it, but we're just not going to talk about it. Oh, and I've just got to tell you, she gave Mom and Dad hell for Julie Cooper."
Wow, Ryan thought, Dr. Colefield told the Cohens to not talk about something. That had to be a first for them. He knew he liked Dr. Colefield for a reason. She asked way too many damn questions, but at least she knew when he didn't want to talk about something. He couldn't figure out, though, why she would be mad about Julie Cooper. She agreed with Sandy and Kirsten not to tell him.
"Why would she be mad about Julie Cooper?" he asked Seth, figuring Seth was there, so he would know.
"Because Mom and Dad were supposed to tell you. She said they agreed to keep it from you until they knew more, and then apparently there was some confusion with Dad's contact at Child Services, and they thought they had more time before the letters went out, and Mom and Dad kept putting it off and then, well, Julie Cooper showed up. And now you trust Mom and Dad less, and well, you know." Seth knew he was saying more then he was supposed to, but he thought Ryan had the right to know.
"It has nothing to do with not trusting them," Ryan said, "Yeah, it would have been better if it wasn't Julie Cooper getting her high off telling me, but well, I can't blame anyone else. This is all my fault. Everything that's happening is because of me."
"Ryan," Seth started to say, but was unfortunately interrupted by Luke.
"Hey, Cohen, Ry. How you feeling?" Luke knew Ryan was out the day before. When he had asked, Seth mumbled something about not feeling well.
"Like I want to be any where else but here." Ryan told him.
"So, let's jet. Go down to the dock, take my father's boat out and relax." Luke said. He figured Ryan probably needed a chance to unwind and chill. He doubted the Cohens gave him much chance to do that, and hey, any reason to blow off school was fine by Luke.
"You know, sounds good. Let's go." Ryan said. Even with blowing off the day before, he had absolutely no desire to sit in school. Not today. There was too much happening to sit through his classes, pretending to listen, and pretending to care.
Seth, however, didn't think it sounded good.
"Ryan, man, I don't think that's such a hot idea. You really need to be here. In school."
"Seth, I can't. I just can't sit there, like nothing was going on. I need to think, and not about school, either. You wanna come with us?" Ryan told him.
"Nah, like I said, I don't think it's such a hot idea, but I can't stop you. I'll stay here, try to protect your cover." Seth said.
"Protect my cover?" Ryan asked.
Seth explained, "Yeah, you know, Dr. Kim. I'll tell her that you're still under the weather. That way, she won't call home, or Dad or Mom. You do have your cell phone on you, don't you?" Seth didn't agree with what Ryan was doing, but he knew he could at least help Ryan get away with it. Have his back, so to speak.
"Yeah, thanks, man. I'll see you later. At home." Ryan waved and was off, with Luke. To hang, unwind, relax and think. But not drink. Ryan knew he didn't need the alcohol to work through his problems.
Seth watched them both leave in Luke's truck. He knew Luke was trying to help, in his own twisted, water polo playing way, but he knew Ryan was asking for more trouble. If his parents found out that Ryan was skipping school, after already missing all that time due to his suspension, they would come down hard on him. Seth figured he could at least do what he could to try to help Ryan get away with it. He set off to find Dr. Kim and tell her that Ryan was still sick. That way, she wouldn't call either one of his parents.
Seth found Dr. Kim in the hallway outside her office. He thought it was better that she was there, and not actually in her office. That way, he could try to make it look like he wasn't really looking for her, but just ran into her. He really wasn't all that good at lying.
"Hey, Dr. Kim," he said, "Just the person I was looking for. Well, not looking for, but well, glad to see. Well, not glad to see, but um," God, he was blowing it. He knew it, especially when Dr. Kim looked at him, annoyed and told him,
"Seth. What is it? What are you trying to say?" She always had such a snippy, annoyed tone to her voice.
Be cool, dude, Seth thought.
Seth told her, "Nothing. Just, Mom told me to tell you that Ryan was still sick, so she kept him home again today, but not to worry. He should be back by tomorrow."
"Thank you, Seth. Please tell Ryan I hope he's feeling better." Dr. Kim said, still with that annoyed, uppity tone to her voice, "I'll see to it that his teachers get his work together and get it to you by the end of the day. I think you're late for class. You better be going."
Seth wanted nothing more then to stick his tongue out behind Dr. Kim's back as she went back into her office, but instead he just walked off to class. One less thing for you to worry about, bro, he thought as he walked, at least this time, I got your back.
Luke and Ryan got to the docks and took off in the boat, towards the bay. Luke didn't try to get Ryan to talk. He didn't want to pry or bring up what happened that night. All he knew was that there was some kind of investigation, and Ryan might have to leave Newport because of it.
"Hey, man," Luke asked when they got to the bay, "You want a cold one?"
"Ah, Luke, it's not even 9:00 o'clock in the morning. Don't you think it's a little early?" Ryan answered.
"Ok, so why don't we just tool around. Here, I'll show you how to drive this baby, and you can go where you want." Luke told him.
After a while of just driving around, Ryan finally found himself heading back to the bay to hang out. It was great just driving around in a boat. He liked it more then sailing. He could see why Seth loved being on the water. For a while, any way, he had no worries.
"So, now it's almost 11. Is that late enough to ask if you want a cold one?" Luke finally said. He was going to have one, and figured Ryan would want one, too.
"I don't know. It sounds good, but well, after last time..." Ryan started to say.
"Hey, man, no worries. Hope you don't mind though, cause I need one." Luke told him.
"Look," Luke continued, as he began to drink his beer, "I talked to Julie the other night. I told her that I knew what she was planning on doing, and that I didn't think it was such a good idea because you knew. About her and I. So, she's not. Going to do anything bad, she said."
"Thanks, man." Ryan said, deciding to have a beer, just one. Because if they were going to talk about Julie Cooper, he could use a beer.
"Yeah, well," Luke told him, "She's not going to do anything about you, but she's also not going to do anything with me. We're done."
"Oh, um, I'm sorry." Ryan said. Even though he could never understand the warped relationship between Luke and Julie, he still felt bad. It was once again his fault.
"Nah, no worries," Luke told him, "It was already weird, hot, definitely hot. But getting way too weird. So, well, I guess it's best this way."
Luke thought about it for a minute before telling Ryan,
"I gotta say, though. That it was definitely the hottest romance I've ever had. Nothing hotter then a divorced older woman...."
"Luke," Ryan said, "I really, really don't need to know this." Just the thought of it made Ryan want to drink more.
Luke only laughed. It was fine by him not to have to talk about it, either. He figured they could just hang out, relax and down some beers.
Shortly after noon and two beers later, Ryan's cell phone started to ring. He figured it was Seth calling on his lunch hour. But when he looked down at the display, he swore he felt his heart stop. Instead of Seth's cell phone number, he saw Sandy's office number.
"Um, hello?" Ryan said. He knew this wasn't going to be good, not good at all.
"I'm leaving my office right now. I'll be home in about fifteen, twenty minutes. I strongly suggest that you be there when I get home." Sandy told him.
No doubt about it, Ryan thought, he was mad, really, really mad.
"Um," Ryan started again, "I'm not sure if I can be there by then."
"Why, where are you?" Sandy demanded, "And so help me God, Ryan, if you say Chino..."
Ryan quickly interrupted him, "No, I'm not in Chino. I'm just a little further away then fifteen minutes from home, that's all."
"Where are you, Ryan?" Sandy again demanded.
"I, ah, I'm out with Luke," Ryan tried to explain, "In the bay. On his dad's boat."
"Drinking." Sandy said. It wasn't a question. It was a statement. One that Ryan knew was going to get him in a whole lot of trouble.
"Um." Was the only thing Ryan could think to say. He didn't want to lie and say no he wasn't drinking, but he didn't want to admit to drinking either. Not on the phone.
But "um" was enough of an admission for Sandy,
"Yeah, ok. You better get home NOW, Ryan. You have no idea how much trouble you're in."
"Sandy, I'm sorry. I just..." Ryan started to plead.
But Sandy cut him off,
"Home. Ryan. Now."
Ryan just stared at his cell phone after Sandy hung up. He was in trouble. A lot of trouble. His thoughts were interrupted by Luke,
"I guess we've got to go."
Ryan nodded and said,
"Yeah. How quickly can we get back?"
As Luke headed the boat back towards the dock, Ryan called Seth. Unfortunately, Seth had no idea how Sandy knew Ryan cut school. He told Ryan that he had seen Dr. Kim in the morning, and told her that Ryan was still sick. Since she seemed to believe him, and Seth hadn't heard anything from her during the day, he had assumed that he had safely covered for Ryan.
Ryan walked through the front door a half hour later to find Sandy waiting for him, in the kitchen. Ryan didn't even walk all the way into the kitchen before Sandy started,
"Exactly what were you thinking? Huh? Why would you cut school two days in a row? Go out drinking with Luke, again. Why, Ryan?"
"I don't know." Ryan said, as he sat down at the bar, on the same bar stool as the last time he was in trouble, and the time before that, and the time before that. Damn, lately it seemed like he was sitting on that bar stool a lot. When he saw the glare that he was getting from Sandy, he knew he had to try to explain,
"I just couldn't sit through school. Not with everything going on. I just couldn't concentrate."
"But yesterday I wasn't with Luke. Yesterday I was with Marissa." Ryan continued, hoping that Sandy would be a little less angry if he knew that he hadn't spent the past two days drinking with Luke. It didn't work.
"I don't care who you were with." Sandy told him, "You weren't in school. You need to be in school. With everything that is going on, Ryan, your records do not need to reflect truancy. And drinking? I can't believe we really need to go into the drinking, AGAIN."
"No, I'm sorry. I really am," Ryan said, "I just had so much on my mind lately that I just couldn't sit in school. Yesterday, Marissa and I went to talk, then having to talk to Dr. Colefield, after school, um, yesterday afternoon. I just didn't feel like talking or thinking or anything today so when I ran into Luke, we figured on just hanging out. Luke said no worries. Honestly, though, Sandy, I only had two beers. That's it. I'm not drunk."
"I don't care if you had two or ten or ½ a sip, you were still drinking." Sandy shouted, "So save it as an excuse, it's not going to fly with me. I told you before, that you are not old enough to drink, and I will not tolerate it under any circumstances. If you can't go out with Luke without drinking, then you can't go out with Luke at all."
"Look," Sandy continued, no longer shouting, but still very mad, "I agree that you are under a great deal of stress, but there is nothing I can do to change that. I wish there were. But that is not an excuse to skip school. You will be back in school tomorrow. If I have to walk you to each and every one of your classes, you will be there. Tomorrow, the next day, the day after that, and every day until graduation. Is that understood?"
Ryan nodded. He almost said "if I'm still here at graduation", but the look on Sandy's face told him it wouldn't be a good idea, so he just said,
"Yes. But what about Dr. Kim? Do I have detention again?"
"No," Sandy told him, "I told Dr. Kim that we've kept you home the past two days because of a stomach bug so there will be no repercussions at school."
Ryan was shocked. Given how mad Sandy was, he figured Sandy would have told Dr. Kim the truth.
"You covered for me?" Ryan asked. "Um, thanks. Thanks a lot."
"Oh, no, don't thank me." Sandy told him, "Believe me, you don't want to thank me. I didn't want your school records to reflect this total act of stupidity on your part. I said there would be no repercussions at school. I didn't say anything about here at home. You're grounded, my friend. You aren't to go anywhere or do anything or see anyone for the next two weeks. You will go to school and then come straight home. Is that understood?"
"Two weeks, but I...." Ryan started to say.
Sandy wasn't going to hear it.
"Do you want to make it three?" Sandy asked.
Ryan only said, "No."
He knew if he said another word, Sandy would make it three weeks. It didn't seem very fair. Ryan was afraid that he'd spend what little time he had left in Newport staring at the three windowed walls of the pool house.
"Fine," Sandy said, "The school is sending your work home with Seth. He'll bring it out to you when he gets home. Oh, and Ryan, you're telling Kirsten all about this when she gets home."
With that, Sandy walked out of the kitchen and headed for the bedroom to change his clothes. He was still really mad at Ryan, and needed to cool down because he knew as soon as Kirsten found out, it would be her turn to be mad. Really mad.
When Seth got home from school, he was relieved that whatever trouble Ryan was in was apparently over. He found Sandy in the kitchen, but no sign of Ryan. Seth figured Ryan was in the pool house, and hoped to make a quick exit out to see him.
"If you knew Ryan wasn't in school the past two days, why didn't you say anything to us?" Sandy asked Seth as Seth attempted to head straight for the back door.
"Well, ya see, Dad," Seth tried to joke, "I'm not my brother's keeper, as the old adage goes."
When Sandy didn't answer and only stared at Seth, Seth decided to try to explain how he thought Ryan was feeling,
"Look, Dad. Ryan has a lot on his mind. Maybe we can all pretend like nothing's going on, but Ryan can't. He's having a real hard time with this. I mean, didn't you think it was kind of strange that he doesn't seem remotely mad at you or Mom any more about hiding the investigation from him?"
Sandy thought about it for a minute before answering Seth,
"Well, since we only did it to protect Ryan and we explained that to Ryan, we assumed that he believed us and accepted that as the truth. What did he say to you about it?"
"Given that this is Ryan here we're talking about," Seth explained, "he naturally blames himself for everything. Everything that has happened or is going to happen is his fault. So I can understand why sitting in school is the last place he'd want to be."
Sandy sighed. He knew Ryan was blaming himself. Again. Like always.
"I know it seems harsh, but Ryan has to be in school. If Mrs. Dawson finds out that Ryan is skipping school in addition to everything else she's looking into, it definitely wouldn't work in our favor. Your Mom and I were already guessing that Ryan was blaming himself, but we can't excuse his behavior. We're still the parents here, and we're still trying to do what's best, whether you guys believe it or not."
"What's best...oh, the standard line." Seth smirked, "Yeah, let me guess. It was the standard yelling, lecturing and then the proverbial grounding. Does that sum up Ryan's afternoon?"
"Would you like it to sum up yours, too?" Sandy asked him.
"Look," Sandy continued, "Please just bring Ryan out his homework, but don't stay too long. Ryan is still grounded, whether either one of you like or not. We can't have him skipping school for any reason, and I will not tolerate his drinking no matter what."
"Oh, ah, ok." Seth stammered. He didn't realize Ryan was also caught drinking, again. Not good, bro, he thought.
"By the way, Dad," Seth asked as he walked out the door, "How did you find out Ryan wasn't in school?" It had been bugging Seth all afternoon.
"Dr. Kim called my office." Sandy told him, "You really are a lousy liar, Seth."
Seth just shook his head and walked out towards the pool house. Again he felt like he failed Ryan. For once, he wished he could say or do something right for him.
Ryan was lying flat on his back staring at the ceiling again when Seth came in.
"Hey, man." Seth said, "Here's your homework. I'm guessing you have more then enough time on your hands to get it all done."
"Yeah, thanks." Ryan said, sitting up to look through everything Seth brought him.
"So?" Seth hedged, trying to get from Ryan how long he was busted for.
"Two weeks." Ryan responded, knowing what Seth was wondering about.
"Two weeks? That's it? I would have guessed the drinking alone would have gotten you a month, not counting cutting school. Man, you got off easy!" Seth stopped short of telling Ryan that he actually thought his dad was right. Ryan was acting stupid. It wasn't going to help anyone, especially Ryan for him to continue to get in trouble. But Ryan stopped him before he could continue,
"Seth, not you, too. I know. I shouldn't be drinking. I shouldn't be cutting school. I got it already. From Sandy, and in a little bit, I'll be getting it again from Kirsten. So please, just save it."
"Look," Seth said, "I'm just saying what you're going though sucks, but you're really not handling it in the best way possible. I mean, drinking with Luke, lying about going to school....."
"I didn't lie about going to school," Ryan interrupted, "I just didn't tell them about not going. Obviously in this house, not telling is not the same as lying."
"Yeah, Ryan," Seth said, "A word of advise. I wouldn't compare Mom and Dad not telling you about Mrs. Dawson with you cutting class to hang out with Luke. It wouldn't go over real big, and those two weeks will quickly turn into a month, maybe even two. Maybe even a year!"
Ryan just rolled his eyes. He was smart enough to know not to compare the two. Not out loud, anyway. Well, at least not out loud to Sandy and Kirsten.
"Well, look, Dad said I couldn't stay too long." Seth told him, "So, I'm off to do my homework, maybe call Summer. I'll see you at dinner."
Ryan chose not to answer, but instead turned to the homework sitting on his bed. He knew he had a couple of hours before Kirsten got home, and Sandy would make him go over everything all over again. He wondered how and when he could become so attached to a family that liked to do a whole lot of talking.
Ryan quickly lost track of time, and was able to get through a great deal of his work before he heard Sandy calling his name. He looked over at his clock and realized that it was 6. Kirsten was probably home.
"Hey." Was all he said when he walked into the kitchen and saw Kirsten going through the take out, and putting everything into bowls.
"Hey. Dinner's almost ready. Why don't you get Seth." Kirsten said.
She didn't seem mad, so Ryan was guessing Sandy hadn't told her anything at all, and was really expecting Ryan to confess on his own. When Ryan looked over at Sandy, Sandy only nodded his head, confirming that this was in deed the case.
"Um, yeah, in a minute." Ryan said, "First, there's something I gotta tell you."
As Ryan sat down at that same familiar bar stool, he noticed that Kirsten stopped dishing out the food, and she was now staring at him. Ryan quickly looked down at his hands, and not at her when he told her,
"Yeah, um, look, I cut school."
"Excuse me, you did what?" Kirsten asked. She was pretty sure she heard what he said, she just couldn't believe it.
"I cut school." Ryan said, louder this time, "Yesterday and today. I didn't feel like going so I cut."
"You didn't feel like going?" Kirsten repeated, "What kind of excuse is that? What did you feel like doing then?"
Man, Ryan thought, I really can't believe I have to go into this again. He started to repeat what he had already gone through with Sandy that afternoon,
"Well, yesterday Marissa and I went to the beach and the pier, and today I went out with Luke. We hung out, um, on his father's boat, in the bay...."
"And drank." Kirsten said. Again, the statement that promised him nothing but trouble.
"But only two beers." Ryan quickly countered.
"Oh, only two beers." Kirsten said snidely, "and that's supposed to make me feel better."
She stared at Ryan for a moment before turning to Sandy, since she wasn't even sure what to say to Ryan next.
"What did you say about all of this?" she asked Sandy.
Sandy looked at Kirsten first and then at Ryan when he said,
"I told him he was grounded for the next two weeks, and I promised that I would personally walk him to each and every one of his classes if he attempts to cut again."
Kirsten then looked at Ryan and asked,
"Why, Ryan?" The same question Sandy already asked, this afternoon. Ryan found it a little annoying to have to sit through all of this again.
"Look," he told her, "I've already gone over this with Sandy. Earlier."
"Welcome to a two parent household, Ryan. Now go over it again." Sandy told him, in that sharp tone that Ryan was becoming a little to used to.
Ryan sighed,
"I just couldn't sit in school, and pretend nothing was going on."
"But that's exactly what you have to do." She told him. "I know it's not easy, and I'm sorry about that. But you have to go to school, maintain your grade point average and go on as normal as possible. Is that understood?"
Ryan only nodded. Yeah, he understood. Act normal. What the hell was normal?
Kirsten interrupted his thoughts when she told him,
"Since I'm sure you and Sandy have already covered the specifics of your punishment, why don't we just eat dinner. Go get Seth. Unless, of course, there's more I need to know. Please tell me that there isn't anything else."
Ryan just shock his head no as he got off the bar stool, and found Seth, eavesdropping at the top of the stairs.
Dinner was really quiet. Not even Seth had much to say. Sandy and Kirsten kept looking at each other, and then at Ryan, who stared mostly at his plate, pushing his food around and only eating when he noticed Kirsten looking at him. Kirsten silently prayed that they would all be able to get through the rest of the week and the investigation and not lose Ryan. Even if they didn't physically lose him, she was worried about emotionally. This was all taking it's toll on her entire family, and she just wanted it over with so everything could go back to the way it was. No, she thought, it would be better then it was before. At least that's what she hoped and silently prayed for.