Ryan pulled on the best shirt he had and glanced in the mirror momentarily to check his hair and give himself the once over; he didn't look too bad.
BANG BANG! "Hurry up before my bladder explodes!"
Ryan closed his eyes and groaned, before unlocking the bathroom door and glancing at Stef, "Here, it's all yours" he side stepped past her gesturing grandly to the bathroom. He then sighed as she slammed the door behind her and he headed to the kitchen.
"Looking good Ryan" Sandy greeted the blonde boy, "for any particular reason?"
"The girl next door invited me to some party, so I thought I'd go check it out" Ryan informed him as he grabbed a glass.
"Marissa? She's a nice girl. I'm sure she'll make you feel welcome and at ease at the party" Sandy folded his arms and leant against the counter.
Ryan nodded as he filled the glass with water then sipped from it. Mmmarissa. When he realised he was smiling he quickly removed the expression from his face.
"Stef, you could at least dress up a little like Ryan has, and make an effort" Sandy's voice snapped his attention to Stef's sudden appearance.
"Why would I want to get dressed up to get a snack?" Stef raised an eyebrow.
"What, you're not going to Marissa's party with Ryan?" Sandy laughed and Ryan almost choked on his water.
"Do I look drunk and near naked? No. I'm not ready for any party" Stef commented, opening the nearby cupboard that contained all the crisps and junk food. "Besides, she only invited Ryan, so it looks like a night of star wars, pizza and Jacob's creek for me...the non-alcoholic kind, which I guess will be fruit juice"
"Nonsense Stef, if she's going to invite Ryan, she means to invite you to. Go make yourself pretty and go with Ryan; I'm sure he'll be glad to be going with someone he knows"
The two teens exchanged looks. "Uh yeah, that's if you want to go" Ryan said.
Stef sighed, "Oh how can I resist the begging and enthusiasm of two males... fine, give me a minute and I'll go with you" she chucked the packet of crisps back into the cupboard and left the kitchen.
"Thanks" Sandy said turning to face Ryan who merely blinked at him. "I know she's my daughter, but I believe she really does need to get out and socialize more. You'll keep an eye on her at the party won't you?" "Uh yeah sure" Ryan nodded as Sandy patted him on the shoulder and said good boy. "I hope she doesn't take forever, Marissa was going to give me a lift to the party, and it's near the beach or something"
"Ah, that's a favourite nightspot for the teens around here" Sandy smiled-
"Okay ready!" he was cut off as Stef returned – with a black shirt over her t-shirt and those ripped jeans still on. Kirsten had followed shortly after her.
"Okay, that was quick" Ryan blinked at her.
"What are you kids up to tonight?" Stef's mom asked as she glanced between them both.
"Marissa invited them to a party" Her husband told her, kissing her on the cheek as she passed.
Kirsten stopped and looked again from Ryan to her daughter. "Hunny, you're going dressed like that?" she asked and saw Stef roll her eyes, "you could put on a bit of makeup"-
"Mom, no! We're going to be late" Stef grabbed Ryan by the wrist and dragged him out of the kitchen to exit the house. "Bye mom, bye dad" Stef called as the front door swung shut behind them.
"So..." Ryan shifted on his feet, "Marissa should be picking us up in"-
"Okay, I know you don't want me around so you can flirt with all the pretty bimbos and try avoid being beaten up by their boyfriends, so I'll leave you to do your own thing and I'll...eat nachos and linger in the background" Stef blurted out.
Ryan stared at her, "I can't just leave you on your own... that'd be rude. Besides your dad wants me to keep an eye on you"
"How about for $20 you keep your eye on all the other girls instead?" Stef offered.
BEEEP! they both looked over to the car that pulled up and through the open window Marissa smiled over at Ryan and waved him over. Ryan swallowed and walked over towards the car with Stef following him.
"Hey Ryan, nice shirt" Marissa smiled and glanced to the side, "Uh Stef, are you coming too?"
"It's alright isn't it?" Ryan cut in.
Marissa flashed a friendly smile, "of course. You can both get in the back then we can get to the party, its going to be a good one tonight I can tell" her smile was more aimed at Ryan.
Stef rolled her eyes as she walked around the other side of the car, God that lying cow made her want to puke.
Ryan's eyes visibly widened as he looked around in a dazed surprised kind of awe, wondering if he'd be able to blend into the scene.
"Coop!" A girl squealed and ran over to Marissa excitedly, giving her a hug, "I was wondering when on earth you'd get here girl, and Luke's been pining for you" she giggled then noticed Ryan, "Oh who is your new friend?" she smiled.
Stef folded her arms and rolled her eyes, as Ryan smiled at the dark haired girl.
"Summer, this is Ryan who has moved in with the Cohens, Ryan this Summer my best friend" Marissa smiled as they greeted each other.
"Don't mind me" Stef mumbled.
"Do I know you?" Summer asked raising an eyebrow.
"Stef... the Cohen's daughter, Marissa's neighbour for the past ten years, the girl who sits behind you in biology..."
"Oh, well then I won't mind you" summer said returning her attention back to Marissa and Ryan.
Stef gave a sardonic smile to Ryan, "Well I see drink, so I'm off, have fun with the airheads" she muttered and walked away.
"Bitch" Summer mumbled under her breath.
"You don't have to be blatantly rude" Ryan said and received looks off both the girls, "come on, I live with her" he glanced around.
"And believe me I feel for you" Summer laughed and smirked, "but anyway, let's not talk about her, let's go find Luke! Has Ryan met him yet?" Stef nervously stood at the table laid out with various food and drinks, feeling and knowing she was totally out of place. She sighed and picked at a napkin bored and miserable already.
She stumbled and almost knocked over the table of drinks when someone walked smack into her, "hey watch it" she snapped.
"No, you watch it" she looked up recognising it was Luke who had walked into her, she groaned thinking 'oh great', "what are you doing here anyway Lesbo?"
Stef made a disgusted annoyed 'bored of it' look, "Marissa invited Ryan and me, you know her neighbours. Well he's the new one; she seemed more interested in asking the bad boy from Chino actually"
Luke looked at her questioningly, before glancing over in Marissa's direction as she crossed the room towards them, with summer and a boy following persuit. "Chino?" he narrowed his eyes.
"Luke!" Marissa called smiling at him as she reached them. Luke immediately put his arms around her and pulled her close for a brief kiss before looking at her companions.
"So, Lesbo there tells me you're from Chino" Luke snapped.
"Luke" Marissa widened her eyes and spoke with a slight warning tone.
With a sigh Stef grabbed a nearby drink and took this as her cue of dismissal, shouldering her way past Summer and leaving the beach house. She's been fed up of this party before she'd even arrived anyway.
"Yeah I am, and I'm staying with the Cohen's" Ryan told him, "and why is everyone rude about Stef anyway?" he asked confused.
"Hello, that chick is a total psycho and has been for ages, and she acts like being a freak is totally acceptable" summer began, "I honestly don't know how a cool couple like the Cohen's ended up with THAT for a daughter"
"She seems alright to me" Ryan said which received some snorts of laughter. "And Sandy asked me to keep an eye on her, so if you don't mind I'm going to check if she's okay. Excuse me" he passed Marissa to go find her.
Marissa gave looks to Luke and Summer. "What?" Summer exclaimed."What, are you doing?" Ryan asked, walking across the road to where Stef was stood in the middle, clutching a bottle of alcohol and with a thumb held up.
"What do you think I'm doing? Trying to hitch a ride back home, don't worry about me, you stay here and party with your new friends"
"Don't be ridiculous, your dad told me to keep an eye on you. I can't just let you go, he'd kill me"
"Well I don't have a problem with that" Stef shrugged.
"I do" Ryan said taking the bottle off her, "And how the hell do you get so tipsy so quickly?" he took a hold of her arm.
"I don't know...I guess I don't get drunk slowly" Stef shrugged.
Ryan sighed and glanced around, "It won't take long to walk back to your house. I can sort of remember the way back"
"No, stay, really, you want to" Stef was shaking her head.
"Forget it, we're walking" Ryan said, glancing back to the beach house and began walking her up the road.
"But won't Marissa be disappointed?"
Ryan sighed, "She's got Luke, Summer and everyone else around, she won't miss me" he said as they continued to walk.
"Well they definitely won't miss me" Stef muttered.
Ryan looked down at the road as they continued to walk side by side in silence, "Can I ask you something?" he asked. There was a pause so he took it as 'go ahead', "Are you a... you know...like Luke said...a lesbian?" he asked wincing as he said it. He figured maybe that was the reason everyone seemed a bit off her.
Stef snorted with laughter. "He'd like to think so. Apparently if you don't fancy those arrogant jerks then you're a lesbian... I would have just thought it meant I was sober" she shrugged, "which I'm not quite right now, but still – no attraction to that jerk"
Ryan gave a half smile to her rambling, "Right...sorry if I offended you by asking by the way, I just thought...you know..."
"Ry, every school has the total outcast, the kind of person who is even an outcast of the outcasts, and that would be me. I don't conform to their kind of clothes, music tastes, or parties, and I see a shrink – so of course I stand out as the freak" Stef admitted with a sigh.
"Seeing a shrink doesn't make you a freak, you just have a few problems" Ryan carefully said.
Stef laughed, "That's exactly what my dad says. But he's not the one who has to sit there talking to a stranger who gets paid like $200 an hour to pretend to listen and care"
Ryan glanced at her. "Okay so maybe he doesn't get how you feel" he said unsurely, Sandy seemed the sympathetic understanding type to him, maybe Stef was just the drama queen type of person. "I used to see a counsellor when I was a kid, so I kind of understand"
"And look how you turned out" Stef sighed then stopped, "Sorry, I didn't mean, sorry, I meant"-
"Its fine" Ryan snapped cutting her off. They walked in silence longer.
"So why did you have to go see a counsellor?" Stef asked quietly.
Ryan glanced up the night sky as he answered, "family problems" quite rigidly.
"Ah" Stef nodded.
Ryan turned his gaze back to her in curiosity, "Why do you see a shrink?"
Stef sighed and smiled, "Well I figured you wouldn't notice" she pushed up a sleeve and extended an arm to him; under the moonlight his eyes widened as he made out faint silvery marks resting over her arms. "Mostly I like to keep them covered, I mean who'd want to look at these?" she rubbed at her arm, "but mom and dad prefer that I wear shorter sleeved stuff, they say to build back confidence and because its practical, that kind of stuff, but I know its so they can see I haven't done anything" she sighed.
"How long has it been since you last" Ryan trailed off.
"A month" Stef announced, not really sounding pleased or proud though.
"Well...that's good" Ryan said. "So, do they all know about" Ryan trailed off again and knew Stef understood who he meant by they.
"Of course. Nothing really gets kept a secret for long around here, so if some girl's going to cut herself and be sent to a shrink, of course everyone will know. They don't really say anything about it now...not after my dad went totally psycho at some bitch who said something not realising he was right behind her" she smirked and laughed, then trailed off with a sigh, "but they still look at me like they expect me to still be doing it, maybe even like I deserve it, and none of them care or anything... but I don't care about them so" she shrugged.
Ryan swallowed as they walked more and got to the end of the street where the house was situated.
"I'm sorry, you don't want to hear about any of that"- Stef closed her eyes and looked annoyed at herself.
"No its fine"-
"Its not"-
"Really"-
"You don't know me" Stef snapped. They stood still on the pavement. "I don't expect you'd want to either. I mean of course you have to be nice to me, what with my dad being your attorney, and you living with us, but then Marissa and Summer seem to like you so you shouldn't ruin your chances of friendship with them really by like hanging out with me or whatever, after all you LIKE Marissa, so, I've already tainted your 'reputation' as it is"-
"Can I interrupt and stop you babbling?" Ryan raised an eyebrow. "I'm not being nice because I HAVE to be nice; I'm doing it because I want to"
"Well, you're one of those rare kinds of nice people I suppose"-
"I don't care what Summer and Luke and them lot say, I think you're okay"
Stef raised an eyebrow. "Okay?"
Ryan nodded, "Yes, okay... You do play station and pizza, and you don't seem that girly, so yes I guess you're... okay"
"So you mean like, I'm like one of the guys?" Stef grinned.
"Uh, I guess so" Ryan said shifting his gaze to the house they'd stopped in front of.
"That's cool" Stef enthused, "Look, I know I've totally ruined your evening, but we could play Grand theft auto and eat pizza instead, it's no match but"-
"That's fine Stef" Ryan smiled at her and she smiled back as they walked up the driveway.