Chapter Two: Hello, Goodbye
*****
It all began four weeks earlier when Summer Roberts was called into the school's guidance office. Having been a solid B student the previous year, her counsellor, Ms. Macky was puzzled by her recent string of tardiness, unexcused absences, and dismal test scores. She suspected there were problems at home, but to this suggestion, Summer only responded with sarcasm and spite.
"What, you think my father is beating me? I wish - he's barely around. I'm just stupid and lazy, happy now?"
Summer stared into Ms. Macky's beady green eyes with contempt. She was known as a party girl, and for good reason. It mattered not who threw the party - if there were cute guys and beer, Summer Roberts was there. Surprisingly enough, she never let her active social life interfere with her studies and this was still true... her partying had nothing to do with her recent downswing.
"No, Summer, I'm not happy," Ms. Macky began. In fact I'm sorry I'm going to have to do this, but as of this moment, you're on academic probation. And if you can't bring your average above passing by Thanksgiving, you'll have to repeat the semester."
To this, Summer's jaw dropped and her eyes went slightly glazed. Academic probation meant no after-school activities. No after school-activities equalled no school dances. No school dances equalled no Larry. Larry was the hot new transfer student from Long Beach, and Summer's date to the dance on Friday. The thought of him being snagged by someone else, most likely her arch-nemesis Holly was not appetizing. She would no doubt parade him around like a trophy while Summer would be, in all likelihood, sitting at home in front of the TV watching Miss Match and eating fudge like a forty year-old spinster. She simply could not let that happen.
"Academic probation? You can't do that! I'll try harder - you know I can bring my grades back up, but you can't put me on academic probation - it means I won't be able to attend any school events!" she cried out, knowing full well she didn't deserve a break, but hoping Ms. Macky would give her one anyway.
"Since when did you care about participating in school events? In fact Summer, you haven't even signed up for a single after-school activity all year..." She trailed off as she caught glimpse of Summer's pleading eyes and sighed. "Tell you what, you sign up for any of the after-school clubs that still have openings AND bring up your grades to above passing by Thanksgiving, and I won't put you on academic probation. Deal?"
To this, Summer squealed, shook Ms. Macky's hand and promptly told her she would not regret her decision. She literally bounced toward the door but smacked into a familiar face. Seth Cohen was met by a scowl, which, after watching Summer over the last few years, he quickly interpreted as her way of saying 'Hello, how are you.'
"Oh Seth, you're here. Summer, if you haven't figured it out already, I've taken liberty of assigning you a tutor. You know Seth, in fact he's in all the classes which you're having difficulty with."
In fact, the classes which they shared were the only ones Summer was failing and skipping. This of course was oblivious to everyone including Summer. Nothing annoyed her more than his presence and the weird feeling she had in the pit of her stomach which he elicited. Summer's brain had been hard-wired for years to ignore social lepers, so the thought of being his friend let alone liking him in any remote way was unfathomable. Deep down, she had begun to become fond of Seth, but as with many things in her life, she simply resented it, repressed it, and denied it with every ounce of her being. Summer muttered an expression of disgust as Seth nervously ran a hand through his dark curly hair.
"Good to see you too, how's my house sound, seven o'clock?" he asked, wriggling his eyebrows.
Summer turned back to Ms. Macky whose stern expression dampened her spirits greatly.
"Ugh, fine! But I'm bringing Coop so I don't have to be alone with you."
"That's cool, Ryan and Marissa can get their groove on and maybe I can show you my room. Captain Oats would be happy to see you."
Summer seethed, snorted her nostrils and pushed him aside roughly, desperately escaping the environment which suddenly had made her claustrophobic. Seth ran after here, hanging on her coat-tails.
"You can't resist me forever!"
Later that night, Summer and her best friend, Marissa Cooper (who just happened to be Seth's neighbour) walked up the driveway to his house. Marissa comforted her as she read the list of clubs she had to choose from. They were slim pickings indeed.
"This sucks! Look at this list! There's nothing left but sports, and - chess club? As if... what's Magic: The Gathering? Stop it, this isn't funny!" she yelled out, catching a stifled giggle from her companion.
"No you're right, but you should really consider the Magic: The Gathering club," Marissa replied as they arrived at the front door. Seth, eagerly awaiting their arrival happened to be outside waiting for them.
"You should totally should join. We could use an Elven sorcerer."
Summer stared at him like he was an alien.
"Are you for real? And what's that on your shirt?" she asked, pointing her finger at his chest with a gossamer touch. She quickly realized her hand was in contact with his chest and swiftly withdrew, the gesture not escaping Seth or Marissa's attention.
"Um, that's The Clash, greatest punk band to come out of the British Isles? London Calling? Career Opportunities?"
Silence.
"Oh my God, I have nothing to work with! I'm going to have to play you some of their records."
"Cohen, I thought you were rich - don't you have a CD player? Ugh, let's just get this over with," she whined, push her way past him once again.
"Real smooth, Seth," Marissa giggled.
"Did you see? She touched me... twice!"
Marissa wasn't a complete idiot. Something was going on between the two of them, though she didn't know exactly what. She sensed something had happened, but Summer was probably too embarrassed to tell her, even if she was her best friend.
And to her credit, something had happened. Summer, in a brief moment of temporary insanity, had succumbed to Seth's handsome face and sweet words. For a few seconds, the stars aligned, the world around them fell away, and the truth had shone through. According to Seth, it was a life-altering mind-shattering, not-enough-adjectives-to-describe kiss. To Summer, it was... an anomaly... which never happened, nor would it happen again. Not that it happened at all, she reminded herself on a daily basis.
"Listen if you really want to be with her, you've just got to chill out. Stop hanging on her every word, her every whim - it's a total turnoff. You're like her... well, her bitch."
"Don't be a bitch, got it," Seth nodded.
"Hey, is Ryan here?"
"Ah... yes he is. How's that going?"
"A work in progress..."
Ryan, a previously troubled youth, who Seth's parents had adopted, was Marissa Cooper's main love interest. Now that her jerk/jock boyfriend was out of the way, their dance was quickly coming to an end, their relationship hopefully coming to fruition. Seth had his own words of wisdom for her.
"I have some tips for you, m'lady. The way to any man's heart... video games."
"Video games?"
"Yes, video games. And for the more refined of the male species, Magic: The Gathering."
For two hours, Seth and Summer, studied, mostly in silence, Seth helping her with the occasional problem or two. He finally broke down, and couldn't help himself from complimenting her. He tried his luck with his quick tongue.
"So Summer, is that a new dress? It looks great on you..."
"Thanks..."
"And that's a really cool purse too, is it Prada?"
"Okay Seth, I get it. You like me, you like my dress, you like my purse, could you please stop with the compliments now?"
"Okay, it's obvious you need a break, I'll go get us some Tang. I did not just say that... wait did you just call me Seth?" he asked surprised by her use of his first name.
"Never mind! Just go!" Summer insisted.
With a short reprieve, Summer pulled out her clipboard with her list of clubs and scratched off Chess and Magic: The Gathering. Marissa, who for the last two hours had been making out with Ryan came by to see how they were doing.
"This is horrible. Out of the corner of my eye, I can feel him gawking at me like some kind of freak. What have you and Ryan been doing?
"Um... playing video games. It's the way to a man's heart, you know."
"A boy's heart maybe... look I'm doomed. I have to join one of these boring clubs or I'm going to be put on probation and miss the dance on Friday."
"Let me see the list, it can't be that bad... - hey what about this?"
"There's more on the back? Thank God... Foreign Exchange?"
"Look, they're planning to go to Paris."
"Paris? How cool is that? Plus it'd be two months away from Cohen!" Summer exclaimed with great joy.
As Summer was basking in the glow at the possibility of killing two birds with one stone, Seth was leaning against the doorway, two glasses of Tang in hand, eavesdropping with Ryan.
"Don't even think about it," Ryan urged.
"Two months, Ryan!"
"After two months, there won't be anything left of you, she'll tear you to shreds!"
"Okay, was it wrong that I was turned on by that thought?"
The next day, Seth spotted Summer signing up for the club. He waited until she was safely out of sight and signed up as well - he thought it'd be best to surprise her at the next meeting. Friday came, and Larry, unfortunately was hit by a garbage truck after hitting the bong one too many times before heading out for school that morning. So Seth and Summer, the two would-be kindred spirits ended up with the same fate that night - sitting at home watching Miss Match and eating fudge. When Monday rolled around, she was livid to see him at the Foreign Exchange meeting, but her anger turned to shock when the aforementioned trip to Paris was cancelled.
The club voted to split up into pairs and travel to several different destinations, to give everyone a different experience they could discuss and share when they returned. The club sponsor drew lots and Seth and Summer were paired together for an exciting journey... to Smallville, Kansas, population: 45,001.
*****
It all began four weeks earlier when Summer Roberts was called into the school's guidance office. Having been a solid B student the previous year, her counsellor, Ms. Macky was puzzled by her recent string of tardiness, unexcused absences, and dismal test scores. She suspected there were problems at home, but to this suggestion, Summer only responded with sarcasm and spite.
"What, you think my father is beating me? I wish - he's barely around. I'm just stupid and lazy, happy now?"
Summer stared into Ms. Macky's beady green eyes with contempt. She was known as a party girl, and for good reason. It mattered not who threw the party - if there were cute guys and beer, Summer Roberts was there. Surprisingly enough, she never let her active social life interfere with her studies and this was still true... her partying had nothing to do with her recent downswing.
"No, Summer, I'm not happy," Ms. Macky began. In fact I'm sorry I'm going to have to do this, but as of this moment, you're on academic probation. And if you can't bring your average above passing by Thanksgiving, you'll have to repeat the semester."
To this, Summer's jaw dropped and her eyes went slightly glazed. Academic probation meant no after-school activities. No after school-activities equalled no school dances. No school dances equalled no Larry. Larry was the hot new transfer student from Long Beach, and Summer's date to the dance on Friday. The thought of him being snagged by someone else, most likely her arch-nemesis Holly was not appetizing. She would no doubt parade him around like a trophy while Summer would be, in all likelihood, sitting at home in front of the TV watching Miss Match and eating fudge like a forty year-old spinster. She simply could not let that happen.
"Academic probation? You can't do that! I'll try harder - you know I can bring my grades back up, but you can't put me on academic probation - it means I won't be able to attend any school events!" she cried out, knowing full well she didn't deserve a break, but hoping Ms. Macky would give her one anyway.
"Since when did you care about participating in school events? In fact Summer, you haven't even signed up for a single after-school activity all year..." She trailed off as she caught glimpse of Summer's pleading eyes and sighed. "Tell you what, you sign up for any of the after-school clubs that still have openings AND bring up your grades to above passing by Thanksgiving, and I won't put you on academic probation. Deal?"
To this, Summer squealed, shook Ms. Macky's hand and promptly told her she would not regret her decision. She literally bounced toward the door but smacked into a familiar face. Seth Cohen was met by a scowl, which, after watching Summer over the last few years, he quickly interpreted as her way of saying 'Hello, how are you.'
"Oh Seth, you're here. Summer, if you haven't figured it out already, I've taken liberty of assigning you a tutor. You know Seth, in fact he's in all the classes which you're having difficulty with."
In fact, the classes which they shared were the only ones Summer was failing and skipping. This of course was oblivious to everyone including Summer. Nothing annoyed her more than his presence and the weird feeling she had in the pit of her stomach which he elicited. Summer's brain had been hard-wired for years to ignore social lepers, so the thought of being his friend let alone liking him in any remote way was unfathomable. Deep down, she had begun to become fond of Seth, but as with many things in her life, she simply resented it, repressed it, and denied it with every ounce of her being. Summer muttered an expression of disgust as Seth nervously ran a hand through his dark curly hair.
"Good to see you too, how's my house sound, seven o'clock?" he asked, wriggling his eyebrows.
Summer turned back to Ms. Macky whose stern expression dampened her spirits greatly.
"Ugh, fine! But I'm bringing Coop so I don't have to be alone with you."
"That's cool, Ryan and Marissa can get their groove on and maybe I can show you my room. Captain Oats would be happy to see you."
Summer seethed, snorted her nostrils and pushed him aside roughly, desperately escaping the environment which suddenly had made her claustrophobic. Seth ran after here, hanging on her coat-tails.
"You can't resist me forever!"
Later that night, Summer and her best friend, Marissa Cooper (who just happened to be Seth's neighbour) walked up the driveway to his house. Marissa comforted her as she read the list of clubs she had to choose from. They were slim pickings indeed.
"This sucks! Look at this list! There's nothing left but sports, and - chess club? As if... what's Magic: The Gathering? Stop it, this isn't funny!" she yelled out, catching a stifled giggle from her companion.
"No you're right, but you should really consider the Magic: The Gathering club," Marissa replied as they arrived at the front door. Seth, eagerly awaiting their arrival happened to be outside waiting for them.
"You should totally should join. We could use an Elven sorcerer."
Summer stared at him like he was an alien.
"Are you for real? And what's that on your shirt?" she asked, pointing her finger at his chest with a gossamer touch. She quickly realized her hand was in contact with his chest and swiftly withdrew, the gesture not escaping Seth or Marissa's attention.
"Um, that's The Clash, greatest punk band to come out of the British Isles? London Calling? Career Opportunities?"
Silence.
"Oh my God, I have nothing to work with! I'm going to have to play you some of their records."
"Cohen, I thought you were rich - don't you have a CD player? Ugh, let's just get this over with," she whined, push her way past him once again.
"Real smooth, Seth," Marissa giggled.
"Did you see? She touched me... twice!"
Marissa wasn't a complete idiot. Something was going on between the two of them, though she didn't know exactly what. She sensed something had happened, but Summer was probably too embarrassed to tell her, even if she was her best friend.
And to her credit, something had happened. Summer, in a brief moment of temporary insanity, had succumbed to Seth's handsome face and sweet words. For a few seconds, the stars aligned, the world around them fell away, and the truth had shone through. According to Seth, it was a life-altering mind-shattering, not-enough-adjectives-to-describe kiss. To Summer, it was... an anomaly... which never happened, nor would it happen again. Not that it happened at all, she reminded herself on a daily basis.
"Listen if you really want to be with her, you've just got to chill out. Stop hanging on her every word, her every whim - it's a total turnoff. You're like her... well, her bitch."
"Don't be a bitch, got it," Seth nodded.
"Hey, is Ryan here?"
"Ah... yes he is. How's that going?"
"A work in progress..."
Ryan, a previously troubled youth, who Seth's parents had adopted, was Marissa Cooper's main love interest. Now that her jerk/jock boyfriend was out of the way, their dance was quickly coming to an end, their relationship hopefully coming to fruition. Seth had his own words of wisdom for her.
"I have some tips for you, m'lady. The way to any man's heart... video games."
"Video games?"
"Yes, video games. And for the more refined of the male species, Magic: The Gathering."
For two hours, Seth and Summer, studied, mostly in silence, Seth helping her with the occasional problem or two. He finally broke down, and couldn't help himself from complimenting her. He tried his luck with his quick tongue.
"So Summer, is that a new dress? It looks great on you..."
"Thanks..."
"And that's a really cool purse too, is it Prada?"
"Okay Seth, I get it. You like me, you like my dress, you like my purse, could you please stop with the compliments now?"
"Okay, it's obvious you need a break, I'll go get us some Tang. I did not just say that... wait did you just call me Seth?" he asked surprised by her use of his first name.
"Never mind! Just go!" Summer insisted.
With a short reprieve, Summer pulled out her clipboard with her list of clubs and scratched off Chess and Magic: The Gathering. Marissa, who for the last two hours had been making out with Ryan came by to see how they were doing.
"This is horrible. Out of the corner of my eye, I can feel him gawking at me like some kind of freak. What have you and Ryan been doing?
"Um... playing video games. It's the way to a man's heart, you know."
"A boy's heart maybe... look I'm doomed. I have to join one of these boring clubs or I'm going to be put on probation and miss the dance on Friday."
"Let me see the list, it can't be that bad... - hey what about this?"
"There's more on the back? Thank God... Foreign Exchange?"
"Look, they're planning to go to Paris."
"Paris? How cool is that? Plus it'd be two months away from Cohen!" Summer exclaimed with great joy.
As Summer was basking in the glow at the possibility of killing two birds with one stone, Seth was leaning against the doorway, two glasses of Tang in hand, eavesdropping with Ryan.
"Don't even think about it," Ryan urged.
"Two months, Ryan!"
"After two months, there won't be anything left of you, she'll tear you to shreds!"
"Okay, was it wrong that I was turned on by that thought?"
The next day, Seth spotted Summer signing up for the club. He waited until she was safely out of sight and signed up as well - he thought it'd be best to surprise her at the next meeting. Friday came, and Larry, unfortunately was hit by a garbage truck after hitting the bong one too many times before heading out for school that morning. So Seth and Summer, the two would-be kindred spirits ended up with the same fate that night - sitting at home watching Miss Match and eating fudge. When Monday rolled around, she was livid to see him at the Foreign Exchange meeting, but her anger turned to shock when the aforementioned trip to Paris was cancelled.
The club voted to split up into pairs and travel to several different destinations, to give everyone a different experience they could discuss and share when they returned. The club sponsor drew lots and Seth and Summer were paired together for an exciting journey... to Smallville, Kansas, population: 45,001.