Chapter 3: The Cheat
"So what are we up to today? Movies, beach...?" Seth was surprisingly perky
this morning, while Ryan was still puzzled. "C'mon man, I'm in one of my
super-happy moods today. We gotta celebrate!"
"Celebrate what?" Today wasn't a special day; no one's birthday, nothing un-
normal.
"Erm... Ryan staying in Newport for longer than he should've-day!"
"Sounds... great." He knew that if they went to the beach, to the movies,
basically anywhere social, he would meet them. And how uncomfortable would
that be?
"Yeah, man. So, let's go get Marissa and..."
"No. I mean, she might be busy."
"O-r she might not be busy. It's a tough but fair choice."
"Yeah, bu-but she might be with friends. Like Summer? I mean, you don't
wanna act like, well, you, around Summer. Right?" He'd struck a nerve with
Seth, who pondered how the situation would last.
"I guess you're right. Plus Marissa might be with Luke. Yeah, so it'll just
be us two. Okay?" Ryan wasn't really familiar with that name. Luke, it
sounded so odd yet so normal. Ryan had forgotten about Luke when wondering
over the little escapade he got himself into. "Hey, man, snap out of it."
Seth slapped Ryan gently, who just stared Seth down. Seth backed away, and
opened the door.
"So, we should go, cos, you know, it's gonna get colder and everything
and...?"
"Yeah, sure. Just point me where to go." The two left the house, and
figured out where to go. At the risk of being seen by his two favourite and
new-found friends, Ryan disagreed with almost everything Seth picked. The
beach, nope. The cinema, no chance. The mall, well, Ryan just replied "The
mall?" to Seth then, but you get the picture. Eventually, Seth popped up
the idea of a new arcade which opened new the edge of town, and Ryan
thought the idea was perfect. Practically outside of town, hundreds of
games for mostly boys to play. He was certain someone like Marissa or
Summer wasn't gonna be there. So they left for the arcade.
"So what do you wanna do today, Coop? Movies, beach...?" Summer seemed
cheerful today, after her little run-in with Ryan. She knew he was going to
choose her, and pictured her in his arms. The beach was empty, the sun was
about to fall and the waves crashed against the rocks while they kissed
passionatly. But this image was broken when Marissa replied.
"Erm... I dunno. I should probably see Luke, I didn't see him yesterday."
Of course she knew why. She, unlike Summer, was already taken. She had a
real decision to make before going after Ryan or leaving him. "So, if I'm
gone, where are you gonna go?"
"I don't know yet. That's why I asked you. But if you already have plans, I
might just hang out at the mall, see if anything new has come in."
"God, Summer. You're like an animal in the mall." Summer fixed her eyes on
Marissa, and twitched her fingers next to the pillow she was standing
against. Marissa just shrugged, and Summer slipped her hand back into her
pocket. "It's true, I've seen you. In fact, sometimes there, I pretend I
don't even know you."
"Oh thanks Coop! Nice to know who my real friends are!" She must've been
hurt by that last sarcastic remark. But she couldn't pick it up. When she
gets the word 'mall' in her head, it sticks, and she becomes another
person. Sort of like another Summer, but meaner, more relentless and she
has a weapon. Her credit card.
"I was kidding, OK? Sorry." Summer stepped down, and picked up her bag.
"So, good luck finding something at the mall," Marissa again kidded.
"Oh, thanks Coop." And again, Summer didn't realize. She left the room,
leaving Marissa on her own. She picked up the phone and started tapping in
Luke's number. But did she want to call Luke? Or did she want to see Ryan?
She decided to wait, and put the phone down. She then went downstairs and
out the front door.
"Oh, c'mon man! You call that an aim?"
"Dude, you're the blue guy." Clearly, Seth and Ryan were having fun at the
arcade. They'd only been there a good 15 minutes and already were in a
trance, fixed on the screen. The two were playing a shoot 'em up, and Seth
was badly losing. That was until Ryan looked away for a second. A split
second, and saw Summer walking in with one of her friends. Seth
capitalized, and won the game. He threw his hands up into the air and
celebrated, as he had promised in the morning. But Ryan didn't notice. He
was busy eyeing Summer. She walked over the dance game with someone, and
started playing.
"Oh man, I told you I would win! Hey, Ryan? Erm, you're doing it again!"
Ryan didn't snap out of it this time, and Seth looked at where Ryan was
staring. He noticed Summer, and then Ryan. "Hey, is that Summer? In an
arcade!" Ryan then realized what he was doing, picked up his gun and shot
at the screen. "Hey dude, the game's over."
"Oh. I knew that." Ryan actually looked up at the screen, and noticed the
'Player 1 wins!' sign flashing. "Hey, why is Summer in an arcade? I mean,
isn't she the kind who shops, not shoots?"
"Mall must be closed, man. Hey, you think I should say hi?" Seth was
excited. Summer was in his territory now, and he felt pretty comfortable
around her there. But Ryan had other plans.
"I dunno, dude. I mean, what if you don't say the right words? What if you
studder? What if you throw her off her game? What if she..."
"Hey! Look, I gotta talk to her sometime, right?"
"Look, why don't you let me talk to her, and I'll try and get her to notice
you." Seth was a bit unfaithful to the idea, but Ryan reassured him. "You
know, I can say some good things about you? It'll work."
"I dunno, man. I mean, why would you talk to her, you don't even know her?"
Ryan felt a bit guilty after Seth had said that. He had no idea about the
little meeting that took place the other day, and Ryan knew eventually,
whatever happened, he would know.
"Yeah, I don't exactly know her. But she doesn't know me either. She
doesn't have to know about where I'm from. Look, just trust me." But before
Seth could worry some more, Ryan left the chair and walked over to her.
Summer was busy jumping away to the arrows on screen, and didn't notice
Ryan walk up to her.
"Hey," said Ryan, trying to be as cool as he could. Summer stopped jumping,
and turned around.
"Hey," said Summer, trying to act as sexy as she could. She stretched on
the bar, but Ryan just waved his hands sideways and pointed to Seth. Seth
looked on from the chair, and luckily didn't see Summer's flirting.
"Look, I was thinking about the other day..." Ryan started talking, but was
lost for words in the middle. "And, and I thought that maybe we shouldn't
do anything yet. I mean, I only just got here. If something doesn't exactly
go well..."
"Why wouldn't it go well?" Summer stared into his eyes, and right through
Ryan's skull Seth was staring back, smiling at his friend's work. "I mean,
no one needs to know if you don't want them too?" Ryan actually considered
it, but this was Summer. If something happened, she would know, and she
would tell. She was one of the most popular teens in Newport, and would use
that to her advantage.
"Erm... no. Look, i'm sorry. Trust me, I want this to happen. But, it's
just that..." Ryan wanted to tell Summer about Seth, but couldn't. If he
told her, she would hate him even more, and then what?
"What? What's wrong?" Summer innocently put her hand on his chest, and
looked up with puppy dog eyes.
"You know what? I shouldn't have come over here. I, I should be at the
house. We have this thing to do, you know what it's like. Well you... see
ya." Ryan backed away from Summer, and Summer stared. He walked over to
Seth, and she noticed him looking at her. Then she just looked away, as if
to ignore him.
"So, how'd it go?"
"Erm... not well. You know, I have to go to the bathroom. You know? I'll
tell you what happened when I get back." Ryan left and turned the corner to
go the the toilets. Seth then looked over to where Summer was playing. She
wasn't there. He scanned the building, and couldn't find her. After that,
he slipped more money, and carried on playing by himself.
Meanwhile, Ryan was outside the bathroom doors. Conveiniatly, the boy's and
girl's rooms were next to each other, and he had a pleasant surprise from
Summer.
"If something is bothering you, you can tell me?" Summer got closer to
Ryan, and backed him against the wall.
"I like you. A lot. But, I can't..." But he didn't have a chance to finish.
Summer moved in on Ryan, and the two locked lips. After a few seconds, she
slowly took them off him, and opened her eyes.
"Why can't you?"
"Why can't I what?" Ryan put his arms around her and kissed her again,
without even considering Seth. He turned around, so she was against the
wall and they stayed there for a few minutes. After their little session,
Summer decided it was time to leave.
"Can you, not tell anyone? Please?" Ryan acted as if he was protective of
his new reputation, but he was actually protective against his new friend.
"Sure. I'll call you sometime." Summer walked off, with a big smile on her
face. Ryan slowly made his way back to Seth and sat down. He was still
playing, but after dying he turned around to see him.
"So? How'd it go?"
"Erm... pretty good. She gave you this?" Ryan pulled out the number Summer
had wrote down, and showed Seth.
"I, I can't believe this. You officially rock!" Seth grabbed the number,
only to have it taken off him by Ryan.
"I wouldn't ring her too soon? What if you lose it?" Ryan's pleading didn't
work on him, and Seth anxiously wanted the paper back. "You know what? I'll
hold onto it? OK?" Seth eventually realized he wasn't going to win it back,
and accepted Ryan was going to keep it. Seth picked himself out of the
chair and took himseld back to the doors. Ryan, however, got the number and
went to the information desk.
"Hey, man? You got like a spare piece of paper? Oh and a pen?" The person
behind the desk reached into a drawer and pulled out the paper, then
pointed to a pot full of pens on the desk. Ryan reached and grabbed one,
and wrote down the number. Halfway through, he changed it slightly, and
ripped the finished piece off. "Thanks."
Ryan ran to the doors, and met Seth.
"You know what, I think you can hang on to this after all." He handed Seth
the fake number, who was thrilled with the note. They left the building,
and Ryan clinched onto the note in his pocket, while Seth was dancing with
himself in the car park.
"So what are we up to today? Movies, beach...?" Seth was surprisingly perky
this morning, while Ryan was still puzzled. "C'mon man, I'm in one of my
super-happy moods today. We gotta celebrate!"
"Celebrate what?" Today wasn't a special day; no one's birthday, nothing un-
normal.
"Erm... Ryan staying in Newport for longer than he should've-day!"
"Sounds... great." He knew that if they went to the beach, to the movies,
basically anywhere social, he would meet them. And how uncomfortable would
that be?
"Yeah, man. So, let's go get Marissa and..."
"No. I mean, she might be busy."
"O-r she might not be busy. It's a tough but fair choice."
"Yeah, bu-but she might be with friends. Like Summer? I mean, you don't
wanna act like, well, you, around Summer. Right?" He'd struck a nerve with
Seth, who pondered how the situation would last.
"I guess you're right. Plus Marissa might be with Luke. Yeah, so it'll just
be us two. Okay?" Ryan wasn't really familiar with that name. Luke, it
sounded so odd yet so normal. Ryan had forgotten about Luke when wondering
over the little escapade he got himself into. "Hey, man, snap out of it."
Seth slapped Ryan gently, who just stared Seth down. Seth backed away, and
opened the door.
"So, we should go, cos, you know, it's gonna get colder and everything
and...?"
"Yeah, sure. Just point me where to go." The two left the house, and
figured out where to go. At the risk of being seen by his two favourite and
new-found friends, Ryan disagreed with almost everything Seth picked. The
beach, nope. The cinema, no chance. The mall, well, Ryan just replied "The
mall?" to Seth then, but you get the picture. Eventually, Seth popped up
the idea of a new arcade which opened new the edge of town, and Ryan
thought the idea was perfect. Practically outside of town, hundreds of
games for mostly boys to play. He was certain someone like Marissa or
Summer wasn't gonna be there. So they left for the arcade.
"So what do you wanna do today, Coop? Movies, beach...?" Summer seemed
cheerful today, after her little run-in with Ryan. She knew he was going to
choose her, and pictured her in his arms. The beach was empty, the sun was
about to fall and the waves crashed against the rocks while they kissed
passionatly. But this image was broken when Marissa replied.
"Erm... I dunno. I should probably see Luke, I didn't see him yesterday."
Of course she knew why. She, unlike Summer, was already taken. She had a
real decision to make before going after Ryan or leaving him. "So, if I'm
gone, where are you gonna go?"
"I don't know yet. That's why I asked you. But if you already have plans, I
might just hang out at the mall, see if anything new has come in."
"God, Summer. You're like an animal in the mall." Summer fixed her eyes on
Marissa, and twitched her fingers next to the pillow she was standing
against. Marissa just shrugged, and Summer slipped her hand back into her
pocket. "It's true, I've seen you. In fact, sometimes there, I pretend I
don't even know you."
"Oh thanks Coop! Nice to know who my real friends are!" She must've been
hurt by that last sarcastic remark. But she couldn't pick it up. When she
gets the word 'mall' in her head, it sticks, and she becomes another
person. Sort of like another Summer, but meaner, more relentless and she
has a weapon. Her credit card.
"I was kidding, OK? Sorry." Summer stepped down, and picked up her bag.
"So, good luck finding something at the mall," Marissa again kidded.
"Oh, thanks Coop." And again, Summer didn't realize. She left the room,
leaving Marissa on her own. She picked up the phone and started tapping in
Luke's number. But did she want to call Luke? Or did she want to see Ryan?
She decided to wait, and put the phone down. She then went downstairs and
out the front door.
"Oh, c'mon man! You call that an aim?"
"Dude, you're the blue guy." Clearly, Seth and Ryan were having fun at the
arcade. They'd only been there a good 15 minutes and already were in a
trance, fixed on the screen. The two were playing a shoot 'em up, and Seth
was badly losing. That was until Ryan looked away for a second. A split
second, and saw Summer walking in with one of her friends. Seth
capitalized, and won the game. He threw his hands up into the air and
celebrated, as he had promised in the morning. But Ryan didn't notice. He
was busy eyeing Summer. She walked over the dance game with someone, and
started playing.
"Oh man, I told you I would win! Hey, Ryan? Erm, you're doing it again!"
Ryan didn't snap out of it this time, and Seth looked at where Ryan was
staring. He noticed Summer, and then Ryan. "Hey, is that Summer? In an
arcade!" Ryan then realized what he was doing, picked up his gun and shot
at the screen. "Hey dude, the game's over."
"Oh. I knew that." Ryan actually looked up at the screen, and noticed the
'Player 1 wins!' sign flashing. "Hey, why is Summer in an arcade? I mean,
isn't she the kind who shops, not shoots?"
"Mall must be closed, man. Hey, you think I should say hi?" Seth was
excited. Summer was in his territory now, and he felt pretty comfortable
around her there. But Ryan had other plans.
"I dunno, dude. I mean, what if you don't say the right words? What if you
studder? What if you throw her off her game? What if she..."
"Hey! Look, I gotta talk to her sometime, right?"
"Look, why don't you let me talk to her, and I'll try and get her to notice
you." Seth was a bit unfaithful to the idea, but Ryan reassured him. "You
know, I can say some good things about you? It'll work."
"I dunno, man. I mean, why would you talk to her, you don't even know her?"
Ryan felt a bit guilty after Seth had said that. He had no idea about the
little meeting that took place the other day, and Ryan knew eventually,
whatever happened, he would know.
"Yeah, I don't exactly know her. But she doesn't know me either. She
doesn't have to know about where I'm from. Look, just trust me." But before
Seth could worry some more, Ryan left the chair and walked over to her.
Summer was busy jumping away to the arrows on screen, and didn't notice
Ryan walk up to her.
"Hey," said Ryan, trying to be as cool as he could. Summer stopped jumping,
and turned around.
"Hey," said Summer, trying to act as sexy as she could. She stretched on
the bar, but Ryan just waved his hands sideways and pointed to Seth. Seth
looked on from the chair, and luckily didn't see Summer's flirting.
"Look, I was thinking about the other day..." Ryan started talking, but was
lost for words in the middle. "And, and I thought that maybe we shouldn't
do anything yet. I mean, I only just got here. If something doesn't exactly
go well..."
"Why wouldn't it go well?" Summer stared into his eyes, and right through
Ryan's skull Seth was staring back, smiling at his friend's work. "I mean,
no one needs to know if you don't want them too?" Ryan actually considered
it, but this was Summer. If something happened, she would know, and she
would tell. She was one of the most popular teens in Newport, and would use
that to her advantage.
"Erm... no. Look, i'm sorry. Trust me, I want this to happen. But, it's
just that..." Ryan wanted to tell Summer about Seth, but couldn't. If he
told her, she would hate him even more, and then what?
"What? What's wrong?" Summer innocently put her hand on his chest, and
looked up with puppy dog eyes.
"You know what? I shouldn't have come over here. I, I should be at the
house. We have this thing to do, you know what it's like. Well you... see
ya." Ryan backed away from Summer, and Summer stared. He walked over to
Seth, and she noticed him looking at her. Then she just looked away, as if
to ignore him.
"So, how'd it go?"
"Erm... not well. You know, I have to go to the bathroom. You know? I'll
tell you what happened when I get back." Ryan left and turned the corner to
go the the toilets. Seth then looked over to where Summer was playing. She
wasn't there. He scanned the building, and couldn't find her. After that,
he slipped more money, and carried on playing by himself.
Meanwhile, Ryan was outside the bathroom doors. Conveiniatly, the boy's and
girl's rooms were next to each other, and he had a pleasant surprise from
Summer.
"If something is bothering you, you can tell me?" Summer got closer to
Ryan, and backed him against the wall.
"I like you. A lot. But, I can't..." But he didn't have a chance to finish.
Summer moved in on Ryan, and the two locked lips. After a few seconds, she
slowly took them off him, and opened her eyes.
"Why can't you?"
"Why can't I what?" Ryan put his arms around her and kissed her again,
without even considering Seth. He turned around, so she was against the
wall and they stayed there for a few minutes. After their little session,
Summer decided it was time to leave.
"Can you, not tell anyone? Please?" Ryan acted as if he was protective of
his new reputation, but he was actually protective against his new friend.
"Sure. I'll call you sometime." Summer walked off, with a big smile on her
face. Ryan slowly made his way back to Seth and sat down. He was still
playing, but after dying he turned around to see him.
"So? How'd it go?"
"Erm... pretty good. She gave you this?" Ryan pulled out the number Summer
had wrote down, and showed Seth.
"I, I can't believe this. You officially rock!" Seth grabbed the number,
only to have it taken off him by Ryan.
"I wouldn't ring her too soon? What if you lose it?" Ryan's pleading didn't
work on him, and Seth anxiously wanted the paper back. "You know what? I'll
hold onto it? OK?" Seth eventually realized he wasn't going to win it back,
and accepted Ryan was going to keep it. Seth picked himself out of the
chair and took himseld back to the doors. Ryan, however, got the number and
went to the information desk.
"Hey, man? You got like a spare piece of paper? Oh and a pen?" The person
behind the desk reached into a drawer and pulled out the paper, then
pointed to a pot full of pens on the desk. Ryan reached and grabbed one,
and wrote down the number. Halfway through, he changed it slightly, and
ripped the finished piece off. "Thanks."
Ryan ran to the doors, and met Seth.
"You know what, I think you can hang on to this after all." He handed Seth
the fake number, who was thrilled with the note. They left the building,
and Ryan clinched onto the note in his pocket, while Seth was dancing with
himself in the car park.