So my original thoughts of how I wanted to end this baby got lost in the
corners of my mind somewhere! I haven't seen them for days! I know
several of you are waiting on this so here we go. I'm not sure where I
want this to go from here. This may be the end of the road....if the reviews
want more..I'll see what I can do! : )
CHAPTER 4 – GIRL? WHAT GIRL?
"Oh, Sandy, please wake up the boys for me. I have to get to the office early this morning and I don't want them to be late."
"You got it," he shouts heading down the hallway to Seth's room.
"Hey Seth! It's time to get up! Let's go!" Sandy can hear mumbling from behind the door as well as what he thought sounded like something falling over. Laughing to himself over the visual of Seth trying to stand up he continued on his way to Ryan's room. Giving the pool house door a quick knock, Sandy entered.
"Morning Ryan..."
Just as quickly as he entered the pool house, he slid back out and closed the door. He stared at the patio at his feet. "Nah," he thought to himself. He cracked the door open and peeked inside. After panicking a second time, he shut the door and rushed into the house.
Kirsten was trying to make her herself a bagel and a cup of java for the road when Sandy burst through the patio doors.
"Did you....I mean....are you aware that.....when did this....who is that?" Babbling incoherently he attempted to point toward the pool house.
"Sandy I have no idea what you're trying to say."
"We have a problem."
"Oh," Kirsten replied while nonchalantly getting the cream cheese out of the fridge. "What? Ryan changed his mind I'll bet. Can't say that I blame him. He'll work harder than ten of the Newpsie kids put together."
"Actually, the problem is a little bit bigger than that."
Pausing on her bagel prep, "Is he sick? What's wrong?"
"It's worse than that." A look of concern took over Kirsten's face while Sandy tried to think of a delicate way to break the news. When he couldn't come up with a way to sugar coat the situation, he finally just blurted out the news in a half whisper.
"He's got a girl in his bed."
"WHAT? Oh no, he doesn't."
"Oh yes, he does. They're both asleep. I didn't know what to do."
"Well we're waking him up for starters!" Kirsten strode past Sandy and out the door. Lagging behind, Sandy didn't want to admit out loud that he wanted to see just how this was going to get handled. This was something that, quite honestly, had never happened with Seth. Upon reaching the door, Kirsten turned the knob in true "surprise attack" fashion. Pushing the door open, she tiptoed up to the side of Ryan's bed. Sandy snuck in behind her as if Ryan had booby traps set up in his room. Ryan, still wearing his clothes from yesterday was laying on his side, on top of the blankets, facing Kirsten. Behind Ryan was a petite girl Kirsten had never seen before. She was huddled under the blankets and snuggled up to Ryan's back. Both were still fast asleep. The girl's hair had fallen across her face but Kirsten was able to see the bruising around her one eye. In an instant, Kirsten plugged the probable pieces of the mystery together. Turning on her heel, she shooed Sandy back out the door. To his disappointment, there wasn't going to be a grand wake up call like he was expecting.
Back on the patio, Kirsten had to wait through Sandy's fit before attempting to enlighten him.
"You didn't wake him up. What happened to all that in the kitchen? You know, the "oh no he's not" and the "let's get him" attitude? I gotta tell you, I'm rather disappointed. We never get to bust Seth like this. Come on! This is sort of...fun!"
"Sandy..."
"Oh no you don't! Don't go soft on me now when I need you the most! We said no sleepovers and that's definitely a sleepover! For all we know, that girl might have been a sleep-under!"
Folding her arms in front of her, Sandy watched the softness take over her eyes. "Sandy, this is different."
All of the excitement drained from Sandy's face. "What do you mean?"
"That girl isn't just any sleepover Sandy. And no, she's not a sleep-under either. She came to Ryan for help."
Wrinkling his face, "Where do you come up with this stuff? We caught him red-handed."
"Sandy, Sandy, focus for a minute and read between the lines. That girl was sleeping under the blanket, Ryan wasn't. He was turned toward the door and she was huddled behind his back. Not to mention the black eye she's sporting."
"I didn't see the black eye. You really are good at this. So what do we do now?"
"I don't know. I don't think it's fair to accuse Ryan without giving him a chance to explain himself. Maybe this girl just needed a place to stay for the night and she'll be gone today."
Continuing to weigh their options, Sandy and Kirsten clammed up when Seth appeared on the patio. Sensing something strange, Seth turned on the charm.
"Good morning. And what brings us out to the patio today?"
"Oh you mother was just telling me her plans for the day. I better wake up Ryan. You guys are gonna be late." Sandy offered.
Panicking, Seth threw himself between his Dad and the pool house door. "You know, I'll get him up. He's really, really grouchy before his first cup of coffee. I wouldn't want to subject you to that at this hour." With that, Seth disappeared into the pool house.
A smile slid across Sandy's face and his eyes met Kirsten's.
"Sandy...no!"
"Just one little bitty....come on!"
In the mean time Seth was in the pool house trying to wake it's occupants from their slumber in a frantic fashion.
"Ryan! RYAN! Get up! The cavalry is coming! You've got to get up! We've got to hide Jorie!"
Ryan pried his eyes open and watched Seth dancing about the bed. He could see what was going on but it just wasn't registering. His mind was not awake yet. It became obvious that he was moving entirely too slow for Seth's liking when he watched him jump on the bed waving her arms wildly and whispering at the top of his lungs. If that's possible, that's what he was doing.
"RYAN!! I'm not kidding! They're right out side your door! One little turn of the latch and they'll be in here! We've gotta to do something!" Like an air traffic controller gone mad, Seth's arms took on a life of their own between motioning to Jorie and motioning to the door. This time Ryan got his point and realized what he was talking about.
"We gotta hide Jorie!"
"It's about time Sherlock! Get up!"
They heard voices out on the patio followed by the snap of the latch on the door handle.
"Jorie! Play possum!" Ryan commanded. Putting his feet on her hip, he gave her one hard shove sending her sprawling out of the bed and onto the floor just as the door opened.
"What was that noise?" Kirsten asked entering the room.
"Oh that was me. I went to sit on the edge of Ryan's bed and I kicked the board under here. I think I might have broken a toe." Ryan could always count on Seth to be over dramatic. Ryan was going to teach him the 'less is more' version of staying out of trouble, especially with parents, if it was the last thing he did.
During this little conversation, Sandy's eyes were scanning the room. Where was the girl? "Looks like you had a rough night by the tangled mess you call a blanket." Kirsten gave him a nudge and a warning look. "You mind if I grab a bottle of water from your fridge Ryan?"
"No. Help yourself."
Again Kirsten shot Sandy the look of death. She knew what he was up to. Cracking open his bottle of water in the kitchen area, he leaned against the counter and gaped into the bathroom doorway. "Is that bathroom faucet still leaking Ryan?" Looking for any excuse to search further, Sandy made his way into Ryan's bathroom. Empty. No girl. Retreating from the bathroom he caught Kirsten's look again. He knew that look all too well. If he didn't knock it off, he would be in more trouble than Ryan was. "Alright well, I can drop you guys off on my way into the office. I'm leaving in about 30 minutes."
Finally making his way over to the door, Kirsten gave him a push on his way out. "There's bagels and coffee in the kitchen boys. Make sure to grab a bite before you go." The door closed and Seth collapsed on the bed as if the stress from this little encounter was more than he could bear.
Jorie cropped up on the other side of the bed. Her hair was standing on end from her adventurous ride off the bed. She looked at Ryan who was trying to hold back a smile, "I'm going to kick your ass for that."
"Sorry," was all he could get out before a smile broke out across his face.
"Be careful Ryan," Seth advised. "I've got two words for you...Pop Rocks."
Wrinkling his forehead, Ryan decided he didn't want Seth's explanation on what that meant. "We better get moving before they make their way back in here."
Since everyone was going to be leaving the house at the same time, the plan was to let Jorie hang out in the pool house until the boys came back around 2:00. At that hour of the day, Jorie would just be a friend in need of a ride. No big deal.
Jorie stayed tucked away out of sight in Ryan's room. After receiving Seth's "all clear" one time ring on Ryan's phone, Jorie scampered into the Cohen's kitchen for a bite to eat. She made sure to leave no evidence behind that anyone had been there.
Sandy dropped the boys home just after 2:00 before returning to work to finish his afternoon. The day had gone off without a hitch, so they thought. Entering the kitchen alone, Ryan ran into Kirsten who was sitting at the kitchen table with files scattered all around her.
"Hi. How was your day? Hopefully Seth was more productive and helpful this time around?"
Giving a chuckle, "Yeah it wasn't so bad. All I had to do was point to the chairs and he got back to work."
Chewing on the end of her pen, she gazed at Ryan. She wanted him to be honest and open about the girl in his room. It was something that had to be addressed. Knowing Ryan kept most things to himself, she knew she would have to be the one to start that conversation.
"Ryan, is there anything you want to....tell me?"
Ryan froze in his spot and his eyes immediately drifted to the floor. His life in Chino taught him that a question like that was usually a loaded question. She might know something and was prying for more information or she didn't know anything at all about, well, anything and it was just a vague comment. Problem was Ryan didn't know where she was going with this. "What do you mean?" he eventually asked, raising his head to look at her.
Kirsten took a deep breath and leaned back in her chair. Raising her eyebrows in a quizzical fashion, "I know you had a guest last night. I just wanted to give you a chance to explain. I get the feeling that's not just any girl."
Ryan's mouth dropped open but he quickly pursed his lips together and turned to gawk out the window at the pool house. He knew nothing happened and he also knew he didn't want to lie to Kirsten. For that matter, there was nothing to lie about. Slowly he crossed the kitchen and sat down in the chair across from her. Folding his hands on the table, he began the story of how Jorie ended up in his room. He could see Kirsten was concerned for her.
"Jorie lives in Chino, just down the street from my old house. She's a great kid. She's not a troublemaker. Although Seth seems to think she's like Pop Rocks, which I have yet to figure out. She doesn't deserve...." His voice trailed off, carefully avoiding mentioning the abuse many kids in Chino endured. "We ran into her at the video store. It was late and I told her I'd drive her home today if she wanted to spend the night. I thought one night being able to sleep worry-free would mean the world to her. Her house isn't exactly safe at night. I brought her here because she had no where to go."
"Ryan, you could have just told me. I would have made up the guest room for her. You didn't have to sneak her in."
Nodding in acknowledgement, he forced a crooked smile and looked down at the placemat. "I didn't sneak her in because of you, I snuck her in because that's what she could handle. I know you would have been nice to her. I'm sure by now you can understand that most kids from Chino have a hard time comprehending 'nice'. It can actually be intimidating."
Nodding in agreement, Kirsten wrapped her head around Ryan's comment. It had never occurred to her that a welcoming, safe environment could be intimidating, but he was right. Kids with a past like Ryan and Jorie's come from a world where nothing is nice. Kirsten went out on a limb for a minute and probed Ryan for something more. Something personal. "We're you...afraid...when you came here Ryan?"
"Yeah. You guys were all nice. I knew how to deal with yelling and screaming and fistfights. 'Nice' was unknown territory. That took time to accept that it was real."
Kirsten smiled at him. For a personal conversation with Ryan, he had revealed a wealth of information. She knew it was painful for him to talk about his past. She also knew it wasn't his style to reveal fear. In a matter of ten minutes, he had done both. Kirsten didn't want to ruin the warm fuzzy feeling at the table at the moment so she changed the subject.
"So Ryan, what should we feed Jorie before you take her home? You know I wield a mean take-out menu. What do you think she'd like?"
At that particular moment Seth entered the kitchen with a look of horror on his face. As if he were watching a mock tennis match, his head bounced back and forth from Ryan to Kirsten and back and forth again. "What are we talking about? Who's Jorie?"
"Seth..." Ryan tried to bring him to a halt before he made a train wreck out of the quality Ryan and Kirsten chat.
"You told her," Seth pouted. Throwing himself on a chair next to Ryan. "Dude you completely ruined Operation Sneak Out!"
"Seth!" Again Ryan wanted to impose his concept of 'less is more' before he kept it up.
"You called it 'Operation Sneak Out'?" Kirsten inquired.
"Yes. 'Operation Sneak In' was a great success. It went off without a hitch and 'Operation Sneak Out' was following closely in its triumphant steps until its mission was broadcast at the dinner table."
Ryan and Kirsten exchange a look. Clearly Seth's life in Newport had been entirely too boring if sneaking Jorie in and out of the house was such a good time.
"Seth, Ryan and I thought it would be nice if we could all have dinner together before Jorie had to go home. Ryan, why don't you go get Jorie, we'll let her pick out dinner tonight."
Kirsten noticed Ryan had a bit of a bounce in his step as slipped out the door and headed up the pool house. She was sure relief was the reason behind it. Relieved that their conversation about the girl in his room was over and that it went rather well. She smiled after him. Turning her attention to Seth who was still pouting at the table, "I'm sorry I ruined your game honey."
"This wasn't a game Mom. This was a very organized stealth mission with a human life at stake."
"Seth. You need to lay off the playstation."
"Oh ha ha! You say that because you haven't met the Jorie yet."
"What's she like?"
"Oh I love the Jorie! The Jorie's great. She's a lot of fun. She's frighteningly like Ryan though in a lot of ways. Yesterday I actually told Ryan to make her turn off her Chino-ness. It's creepy at times. They're very protective of each other. It's like they have this invisible bond. But she's fun. She's super sweet. Unfortunately, just like Ryan, trouble seems to flock to her without much doing on her own part. I wish she could stay longer. She's like a breath of fresh air around here."
Kirsten threw a bunch of take-out menus on the counter as Ryan was entering with Jorie.
"Hi! You must be Jorie. I'm Kirsten," extending her hand to Jorie, they shook hands and then Jorie immediately pretended to brush her hair away from her face in an attempt to hide her black eye. Even though Kirsten noticed this she made a point of pretending she didn't see a thing. "So Jorie, we'd love it if you would have dinner with us before you headed home. I'm sure Ryan probably mentioned that the kitchen is not my strong area so we have many menus here. Pick whatever you'd like and don't let Seth decide for you."
"Okay, so I do get a little weird around food," Seth finally admitted bringing a smile to Jorie's face for the first time since she entered the room.
"Hello, hello!" Sandy shouted just before he entered the kitchen. "Oh we have company." Jorie's smile disappeared in a heartbeat and she stepped behind Ryan and grabbed his hand.
"Ryan, I should go now. I should...." Whispering to Ryan, clearly she was suddenly uncomfortable.
"Jorie, it's okay. This is Sandy. He's the one that got me out of Chino. He's one of the good guys. He's safe."
"Oh. I didn't realize....Hi," Jorie finally offered with a nervous wave.
"Sandy, this is Ryan's friend, Jorie," Kirsten introduced them. "She's staying for dinner tonight."
"She's not just staying for dinner, she's choosing dinner. So Jorie I got three important words for you...feed the Monster!" At that Jorie let out a laugh and Ryan allowed a smile to sneak across his lips.
"I would love for Jorie to stay for dinner. Anything you want is at your command just tell the chief order maker over here," pointing at Kirsten. "I think I'll just get out of this suit while you guys go through the menus. Oh and Jorie, whatever you do, don't let Seth help you with picking out the dinner. The Monster likes to be heard when he's hungry."
"Come on man! Feed the monster! Let's go!"
Pouring through menus, the trio laughed how events had transpired over the past twenty-four hours. Seth did his best to try to influence the dinner decisions and Ryan did his best to threaten Seth with putting him on a chair facing the wall. Jorie took it all in. For what it was, 'nice' wasn't so bad after all.
CHAPTER 4 – GIRL? WHAT GIRL?
"Oh, Sandy, please wake up the boys for me. I have to get to the office early this morning and I don't want them to be late."
"You got it," he shouts heading down the hallway to Seth's room.
"Hey Seth! It's time to get up! Let's go!" Sandy can hear mumbling from behind the door as well as what he thought sounded like something falling over. Laughing to himself over the visual of Seth trying to stand up he continued on his way to Ryan's room. Giving the pool house door a quick knock, Sandy entered.
"Morning Ryan..."
Just as quickly as he entered the pool house, he slid back out and closed the door. He stared at the patio at his feet. "Nah," he thought to himself. He cracked the door open and peeked inside. After panicking a second time, he shut the door and rushed into the house.
Kirsten was trying to make her herself a bagel and a cup of java for the road when Sandy burst through the patio doors.
"Did you....I mean....are you aware that.....when did this....who is that?" Babbling incoherently he attempted to point toward the pool house.
"Sandy I have no idea what you're trying to say."
"We have a problem."
"Oh," Kirsten replied while nonchalantly getting the cream cheese out of the fridge. "What? Ryan changed his mind I'll bet. Can't say that I blame him. He'll work harder than ten of the Newpsie kids put together."
"Actually, the problem is a little bit bigger than that."
Pausing on her bagel prep, "Is he sick? What's wrong?"
"It's worse than that." A look of concern took over Kirsten's face while Sandy tried to think of a delicate way to break the news. When he couldn't come up with a way to sugar coat the situation, he finally just blurted out the news in a half whisper.
"He's got a girl in his bed."
"WHAT? Oh no, he doesn't."
"Oh yes, he does. They're both asleep. I didn't know what to do."
"Well we're waking him up for starters!" Kirsten strode past Sandy and out the door. Lagging behind, Sandy didn't want to admit out loud that he wanted to see just how this was going to get handled. This was something that, quite honestly, had never happened with Seth. Upon reaching the door, Kirsten turned the knob in true "surprise attack" fashion. Pushing the door open, she tiptoed up to the side of Ryan's bed. Sandy snuck in behind her as if Ryan had booby traps set up in his room. Ryan, still wearing his clothes from yesterday was laying on his side, on top of the blankets, facing Kirsten. Behind Ryan was a petite girl Kirsten had never seen before. She was huddled under the blankets and snuggled up to Ryan's back. Both were still fast asleep. The girl's hair had fallen across her face but Kirsten was able to see the bruising around her one eye. In an instant, Kirsten plugged the probable pieces of the mystery together. Turning on her heel, she shooed Sandy back out the door. To his disappointment, there wasn't going to be a grand wake up call like he was expecting.
Back on the patio, Kirsten had to wait through Sandy's fit before attempting to enlighten him.
"You didn't wake him up. What happened to all that in the kitchen? You know, the "oh no he's not" and the "let's get him" attitude? I gotta tell you, I'm rather disappointed. We never get to bust Seth like this. Come on! This is sort of...fun!"
"Sandy..."
"Oh no you don't! Don't go soft on me now when I need you the most! We said no sleepovers and that's definitely a sleepover! For all we know, that girl might have been a sleep-under!"
Folding her arms in front of her, Sandy watched the softness take over her eyes. "Sandy, this is different."
All of the excitement drained from Sandy's face. "What do you mean?"
"That girl isn't just any sleepover Sandy. And no, she's not a sleep-under either. She came to Ryan for help."
Wrinkling his face, "Where do you come up with this stuff? We caught him red-handed."
"Sandy, Sandy, focus for a minute and read between the lines. That girl was sleeping under the blanket, Ryan wasn't. He was turned toward the door and she was huddled behind his back. Not to mention the black eye she's sporting."
"I didn't see the black eye. You really are good at this. So what do we do now?"
"I don't know. I don't think it's fair to accuse Ryan without giving him a chance to explain himself. Maybe this girl just needed a place to stay for the night and she'll be gone today."
Continuing to weigh their options, Sandy and Kirsten clammed up when Seth appeared on the patio. Sensing something strange, Seth turned on the charm.
"Good morning. And what brings us out to the patio today?"
"Oh you mother was just telling me her plans for the day. I better wake up Ryan. You guys are gonna be late." Sandy offered.
Panicking, Seth threw himself between his Dad and the pool house door. "You know, I'll get him up. He's really, really grouchy before his first cup of coffee. I wouldn't want to subject you to that at this hour." With that, Seth disappeared into the pool house.
A smile slid across Sandy's face and his eyes met Kirsten's.
"Sandy...no!"
"Just one little bitty....come on!"
In the mean time Seth was in the pool house trying to wake it's occupants from their slumber in a frantic fashion.
"Ryan! RYAN! Get up! The cavalry is coming! You've got to get up! We've got to hide Jorie!"
Ryan pried his eyes open and watched Seth dancing about the bed. He could see what was going on but it just wasn't registering. His mind was not awake yet. It became obvious that he was moving entirely too slow for Seth's liking when he watched him jump on the bed waving her arms wildly and whispering at the top of his lungs. If that's possible, that's what he was doing.
"RYAN!! I'm not kidding! They're right out side your door! One little turn of the latch and they'll be in here! We've gotta to do something!" Like an air traffic controller gone mad, Seth's arms took on a life of their own between motioning to Jorie and motioning to the door. This time Ryan got his point and realized what he was talking about.
"We gotta hide Jorie!"
"It's about time Sherlock! Get up!"
They heard voices out on the patio followed by the snap of the latch on the door handle.
"Jorie! Play possum!" Ryan commanded. Putting his feet on her hip, he gave her one hard shove sending her sprawling out of the bed and onto the floor just as the door opened.
"What was that noise?" Kirsten asked entering the room.
"Oh that was me. I went to sit on the edge of Ryan's bed and I kicked the board under here. I think I might have broken a toe." Ryan could always count on Seth to be over dramatic. Ryan was going to teach him the 'less is more' version of staying out of trouble, especially with parents, if it was the last thing he did.
During this little conversation, Sandy's eyes were scanning the room. Where was the girl? "Looks like you had a rough night by the tangled mess you call a blanket." Kirsten gave him a nudge and a warning look. "You mind if I grab a bottle of water from your fridge Ryan?"
"No. Help yourself."
Again Kirsten shot Sandy the look of death. She knew what he was up to. Cracking open his bottle of water in the kitchen area, he leaned against the counter and gaped into the bathroom doorway. "Is that bathroom faucet still leaking Ryan?" Looking for any excuse to search further, Sandy made his way into Ryan's bathroom. Empty. No girl. Retreating from the bathroom he caught Kirsten's look again. He knew that look all too well. If he didn't knock it off, he would be in more trouble than Ryan was. "Alright well, I can drop you guys off on my way into the office. I'm leaving in about 30 minutes."
Finally making his way over to the door, Kirsten gave him a push on his way out. "There's bagels and coffee in the kitchen boys. Make sure to grab a bite before you go." The door closed and Seth collapsed on the bed as if the stress from this little encounter was more than he could bear.
Jorie cropped up on the other side of the bed. Her hair was standing on end from her adventurous ride off the bed. She looked at Ryan who was trying to hold back a smile, "I'm going to kick your ass for that."
"Sorry," was all he could get out before a smile broke out across his face.
"Be careful Ryan," Seth advised. "I've got two words for you...Pop Rocks."
Wrinkling his forehead, Ryan decided he didn't want Seth's explanation on what that meant. "We better get moving before they make their way back in here."
Since everyone was going to be leaving the house at the same time, the plan was to let Jorie hang out in the pool house until the boys came back around 2:00. At that hour of the day, Jorie would just be a friend in need of a ride. No big deal.
Jorie stayed tucked away out of sight in Ryan's room. After receiving Seth's "all clear" one time ring on Ryan's phone, Jorie scampered into the Cohen's kitchen for a bite to eat. She made sure to leave no evidence behind that anyone had been there.
Sandy dropped the boys home just after 2:00 before returning to work to finish his afternoon. The day had gone off without a hitch, so they thought. Entering the kitchen alone, Ryan ran into Kirsten who was sitting at the kitchen table with files scattered all around her.
"Hi. How was your day? Hopefully Seth was more productive and helpful this time around?"
Giving a chuckle, "Yeah it wasn't so bad. All I had to do was point to the chairs and he got back to work."
Chewing on the end of her pen, she gazed at Ryan. She wanted him to be honest and open about the girl in his room. It was something that had to be addressed. Knowing Ryan kept most things to himself, she knew she would have to be the one to start that conversation.
"Ryan, is there anything you want to....tell me?"
Ryan froze in his spot and his eyes immediately drifted to the floor. His life in Chino taught him that a question like that was usually a loaded question. She might know something and was prying for more information or she didn't know anything at all about, well, anything and it was just a vague comment. Problem was Ryan didn't know where she was going with this. "What do you mean?" he eventually asked, raising his head to look at her.
Kirsten took a deep breath and leaned back in her chair. Raising her eyebrows in a quizzical fashion, "I know you had a guest last night. I just wanted to give you a chance to explain. I get the feeling that's not just any girl."
Ryan's mouth dropped open but he quickly pursed his lips together and turned to gawk out the window at the pool house. He knew nothing happened and he also knew he didn't want to lie to Kirsten. For that matter, there was nothing to lie about. Slowly he crossed the kitchen and sat down in the chair across from her. Folding his hands on the table, he began the story of how Jorie ended up in his room. He could see Kirsten was concerned for her.
"Jorie lives in Chino, just down the street from my old house. She's a great kid. She's not a troublemaker. Although Seth seems to think she's like Pop Rocks, which I have yet to figure out. She doesn't deserve...." His voice trailed off, carefully avoiding mentioning the abuse many kids in Chino endured. "We ran into her at the video store. It was late and I told her I'd drive her home today if she wanted to spend the night. I thought one night being able to sleep worry-free would mean the world to her. Her house isn't exactly safe at night. I brought her here because she had no where to go."
"Ryan, you could have just told me. I would have made up the guest room for her. You didn't have to sneak her in."
Nodding in acknowledgement, he forced a crooked smile and looked down at the placemat. "I didn't sneak her in because of you, I snuck her in because that's what she could handle. I know you would have been nice to her. I'm sure by now you can understand that most kids from Chino have a hard time comprehending 'nice'. It can actually be intimidating."
Nodding in agreement, Kirsten wrapped her head around Ryan's comment. It had never occurred to her that a welcoming, safe environment could be intimidating, but he was right. Kids with a past like Ryan and Jorie's come from a world where nothing is nice. Kirsten went out on a limb for a minute and probed Ryan for something more. Something personal. "We're you...afraid...when you came here Ryan?"
"Yeah. You guys were all nice. I knew how to deal with yelling and screaming and fistfights. 'Nice' was unknown territory. That took time to accept that it was real."
Kirsten smiled at him. For a personal conversation with Ryan, he had revealed a wealth of information. She knew it was painful for him to talk about his past. She also knew it wasn't his style to reveal fear. In a matter of ten minutes, he had done both. Kirsten didn't want to ruin the warm fuzzy feeling at the table at the moment so she changed the subject.
"So Ryan, what should we feed Jorie before you take her home? You know I wield a mean take-out menu. What do you think she'd like?"
At that particular moment Seth entered the kitchen with a look of horror on his face. As if he were watching a mock tennis match, his head bounced back and forth from Ryan to Kirsten and back and forth again. "What are we talking about? Who's Jorie?"
"Seth..." Ryan tried to bring him to a halt before he made a train wreck out of the quality Ryan and Kirsten chat.
"You told her," Seth pouted. Throwing himself on a chair next to Ryan. "Dude you completely ruined Operation Sneak Out!"
"Seth!" Again Ryan wanted to impose his concept of 'less is more' before he kept it up.
"You called it 'Operation Sneak Out'?" Kirsten inquired.
"Yes. 'Operation Sneak In' was a great success. It went off without a hitch and 'Operation Sneak Out' was following closely in its triumphant steps until its mission was broadcast at the dinner table."
Ryan and Kirsten exchange a look. Clearly Seth's life in Newport had been entirely too boring if sneaking Jorie in and out of the house was such a good time.
"Seth, Ryan and I thought it would be nice if we could all have dinner together before Jorie had to go home. Ryan, why don't you go get Jorie, we'll let her pick out dinner tonight."
Kirsten noticed Ryan had a bit of a bounce in his step as slipped out the door and headed up the pool house. She was sure relief was the reason behind it. Relieved that their conversation about the girl in his room was over and that it went rather well. She smiled after him. Turning her attention to Seth who was still pouting at the table, "I'm sorry I ruined your game honey."
"This wasn't a game Mom. This was a very organized stealth mission with a human life at stake."
"Seth. You need to lay off the playstation."
"Oh ha ha! You say that because you haven't met the Jorie yet."
"What's she like?"
"Oh I love the Jorie! The Jorie's great. She's a lot of fun. She's frighteningly like Ryan though in a lot of ways. Yesterday I actually told Ryan to make her turn off her Chino-ness. It's creepy at times. They're very protective of each other. It's like they have this invisible bond. But she's fun. She's super sweet. Unfortunately, just like Ryan, trouble seems to flock to her without much doing on her own part. I wish she could stay longer. She's like a breath of fresh air around here."
Kirsten threw a bunch of take-out menus on the counter as Ryan was entering with Jorie.
"Hi! You must be Jorie. I'm Kirsten," extending her hand to Jorie, they shook hands and then Jorie immediately pretended to brush her hair away from her face in an attempt to hide her black eye. Even though Kirsten noticed this she made a point of pretending she didn't see a thing. "So Jorie, we'd love it if you would have dinner with us before you headed home. I'm sure Ryan probably mentioned that the kitchen is not my strong area so we have many menus here. Pick whatever you'd like and don't let Seth decide for you."
"Okay, so I do get a little weird around food," Seth finally admitted bringing a smile to Jorie's face for the first time since she entered the room.
"Hello, hello!" Sandy shouted just before he entered the kitchen. "Oh we have company." Jorie's smile disappeared in a heartbeat and she stepped behind Ryan and grabbed his hand.
"Ryan, I should go now. I should...." Whispering to Ryan, clearly she was suddenly uncomfortable.
"Jorie, it's okay. This is Sandy. He's the one that got me out of Chino. He's one of the good guys. He's safe."
"Oh. I didn't realize....Hi," Jorie finally offered with a nervous wave.
"Sandy, this is Ryan's friend, Jorie," Kirsten introduced them. "She's staying for dinner tonight."
"She's not just staying for dinner, she's choosing dinner. So Jorie I got three important words for you...feed the Monster!" At that Jorie let out a laugh and Ryan allowed a smile to sneak across his lips.
"I would love for Jorie to stay for dinner. Anything you want is at your command just tell the chief order maker over here," pointing at Kirsten. "I think I'll just get out of this suit while you guys go through the menus. Oh and Jorie, whatever you do, don't let Seth help you with picking out the dinner. The Monster likes to be heard when he's hungry."
"Come on man! Feed the monster! Let's go!"
Pouring through menus, the trio laughed how events had transpired over the past twenty-four hours. Seth did his best to try to influence the dinner decisions and Ryan did his best to threaten Seth with putting him on a chair facing the wall. Jorie took it all in. For what it was, 'nice' wasn't so bad after all.