Chapter 2: What You Can't Have, Fuels You

- - - - - - - - - -

"Any last words before...?"
"No. You've done everything you can for me."
"Fine, I'll see you around sometime."
"Oh, and nurse..."
"...?"
"Thanks for everything. You've been really great to me, and I can feel
myself regaining control of my life once again. When I'm done, I'm going to
call my family and friends and tell them of my achievements, and then I'm
going to call her."
"You got a girl waiting for you outside?"
"I will do..."

- - - - - - - - - -

Marissa stood still with the note in her hand, and her eyes fixed on the
words in it. Ryan grabbed her by the shoulders, and Summer bit her lip. And
then, she dropped the note and ran out of the doors. The others looked on
as she left, and then Ryan bent down to pick up the note. After he scanned
it, Ryan slammed his fist into the locker, causing it to dent. But before
Seth had a chance to ask, Ryan screwed up the letter and threw it in the
bin, then walked out after Marissa.

"Well?" Summer nudged Seth further towards the bin. "Go get it!"
"No way, it's the trash. I could get like germs or something. If you want
it so badly then why don't you get it?"
"One word, Cohen. Ew! I'm not sticking my hand in some stinky garbage!" The
two stood around for a while, as the rest of the students rushed off to
class. Finally, after staring at the bin and edging ever closer, Seth
reached in and picked it out. He scanned through it, and then handed it to
Summer.
"I'm not touching it! Hold it in front of me!"
"God, Summer. You're like, being Summer again." She eyeballed him and then,
after covering her hand with her sweater sleeve, grabbed the note.
"Oh my God! We have to do something!"
"Who'd you think it's from?"
"Look, I have to get to class, Cohen. I'll meet you in the cafeteria at
lunch, then we'll discuss it. Cool?"
"Yeah, I guess..." Summer wiped the note a bit with Seth's sleeve after
grabbing him, then stuffed the letter in her pocket. The two kissed, then
split to go to class.

- - - - - - - - - -

"Marissa! Marissa, wait!" Ryan had caught up with Marissa, and she
eventually stopped at a bench and sat down. After Ryan got to the bench and
sat beside her, she broke down in tears and looked up.
"It's from... him," Marissa roared, wiping the tears from her face. Ryan
wrapped his arms around her while she continued, and looked at her. "It is,
isn't it?"
"We don't know, I mean. I don't want to be the one to say it, but it could
be from... Luke?"
"No, I know who it's from, and it's not Luke!" Ryan continued to hug her,
as she eventually stopped weeping. She looked around and realised what she
was doing. "You know what? I don't need this! I mean, it's the start of a
new year, I'm just getting to grips with school life again. I'm, I'm just
going to ignore it. I mean, he's in hospital! What can he do?"
"I suppose, that seems like the best thing to do at the moment. I mean, we
have to try and make this year a lot less dramatic than last year, eh?"
Marissa nodded, and rested her head on Ryan's chest. "You know we're
skipping school, right?"
"Yeah, I wonder what they'll say!" Marissa chuckled a bit, and Ryan
smirked, who eventually started laughing more as Marissa did. "So, we have
the day to ourselves. What do you want to do?"
"You know what I want to do?" Marissa stared at Ryan, and raised her
eyebrows. Then the two moved closer together, and their lips touched. The
feeling of that kiss was exactly how Marissa had pictured it, and
afterwards, the two got up and went out. It was their day, to themselves.

- - - - - - - - - -

It was the end of class at Harbor, and Seth was waiting in the lockers,
beside the same bin he fished the letter out to be precise. Summer walked
out of her class with 2 friends, and waved goodbye to see Seth. She walked
up and hugged him, then dragged him around a corner.

"Hey, kinky..."
"Trouser it, Cohen. I don't want anybody hearing about the you-know-what.
People in this school spread rumours like sickness."
"Yeah, it's one of your lesser attractive qualities," Seth smartly replied,
and won a friendly punch for his remark. "Alright, alright. So, about the
letter?"
"Do you think it's you-know-who?" Seth looked blank at Summer's sentence,
and then waved his arms hopelessly. Summer fake-coughed, squeezing an
"Oliver!" in the middle.
"Oh, erm. Oh, I never thought of that. Cos that means Oliver still wants
Marissa, and Marissa doesn't want Oliver, and that isn't good, is it?"
"You're a regular detective, Cohen! Look, what are we going to do about
it?"
"It's not our business. I say, until Oliver shows up or does something
drastic, we stay out of it. I mean, what do you propose we do?"
"Propose?" Seth looked kinda puzzled at Summer. She wasn't the kind to
judge his choice of wording, as she'd put up with it for the last year.
"What? Fine, what do you suggest we do?"
"Erm... yeah. I think you're right. Alright, I have to go home straight
away tonight, so I won't be able to come over."
"What's wrong? You're 'doing lunch' with your dad?" Summer tilted her head
at Seth, who looked down straight away. "You're doing lunch with your dad,
aren't you?"
"Yeah, so I'll see you tomorrow." She quickly pecked him, then walked back
out of the corner and greeted her friends again. Seth walked around and
waved her off, then went over to the lockers.

- - - - - - - - - -

"She did?" Seth was busy telling Ryan all his problems, using him as an
agony aunt like he always did. "What's so bad about that?"
"She never just blanks out when I say stuff. That's how I speak, I'm
intellectual. Or something like that."
"I don't think you're intellectual, you just speak funny. Maybe it's
because of the comics?" Seth acted as if he'd just been shot, and bounced
back onto Ryan's bed.
"You didn't just... I mean... I need to read something!"
"Anyway, I still don't understand the problem?" Ryan finally picked out
some clothes, and walked into the bathroom as Seth continued pouring his
life our to him.
"Out of everything I've ever said to her, she stopped and picked at the one
and only Seth-language at lunch." Seth tossed from side to side on the bed,
then finally settled. "She picked at the word 'propose'." Ryan, with an
open-shirt and messed-up hair, stuck his head around the corner. "I know,
dude."
"Seriously? Summer stopped you when you said..."
"Don't say it, it scares me just thinking about it. It's like one of those
evil words like 'spinach' and 'swinger' and 'relationship' that no guy ever
wants to hear. But, they have to come out sometime. What am I gonna do?"
"Well, maybe she didn't mean it like that. Maybe she was freaked that you
used that word, and maybe she thought that you... you know...?" Ryan then
walked out of the bathroom, wearing a black suit, blue shirt and black tie.
"Wait... you think she thinks that I? Yeah, that must be it! Thank you,
again!" Seth took the pillow off of his face, and sat up, finally seeing
Ryan. "So, where are you going looking so gangster?"
"If you must know, I'm going on a date. With Marissa."
"Get the heck out! So you two back together?"
"I dunno yet, I think that if we are, we're just gonna take it slow. You
know?"
"Oh yeah, and freaky notes from obsessive guys are a great way to kick off
the new season." Ryan looked up at Seth, and then dropped his head again.
"Sorry man, it just..."
"It's not your fault. Look, Marissa is just ignoring it at the moment,
kinda acting like she never got it. So don't bring it up, and tell Summer
not to either! You know what she's like." Seth nodded, then swung his arm
across to the door to signal Ryan to leave.

- - - - - - - - - -

It was getting on for 7 'o clock now, and Ryan and Marissa were walking
down the pier. The sun was setting, the shops were closing and the streets
were getting less and less crowded, so the couple could relax and spend the
night to themselves.

"So, what do you wanna do?" Marissa turned to Ryan for an answer, who was
clearly just satisfyed with spending the night with her. "Are you hungry?"
"If you want me to be?" Ryan turned to face Marissa, who giggled at his
remark. The two, hand in hand, carried on down the wooden pier, and stopped
at a brick wall. Ryan sat down, then patted the space next to him, and
Marissa sat there afterwards.
"You think we'll get in trouble?"
"For what?"
"Leaving school. I mean, how is that going to look? On the first day of
school and us two just leave for no reason?" Ryan faced Marissa and put his
hand on hers.
"In all fairness, it wasn't for no reason." And then she looked up, and
faced him. "You were shocked?"
"Yeah, I suppose. Look, I said I don't..."
"I know. It's just, I was just answering. I won't mention it tonight."
"Promise?" Marissa asked as she picked up her bag to get up.
"Promise," Ryan answered, who followed behind her.

The two then spent the night like they did the day; they hung out eating
ice-cream, went to the park and talked about random things, and then to top
things off, they went to the IMAX and watched one of Marissa's favourite
films. After the movie finished, they stayed and talked in the reception.

"Look, do you want to come back to the poolhouse? I mean, if your mom
wouldn't mind?"
"And what makes you think I want to, eh?" Marissa jokingly asked, which
clearly wasn't seen by Ryan as he dropped his head. "I was kidding, you
fool!"
"Oh, I knew that. So?"
"Yeah, I'd like that. Of course, I'd have to check with my mom." She
laughed again, and this time, Ryan joined in. Then Ryan put his arm around
Marissa, and she looked up at him, and pecked him on the cheek. "That's all
you're getting tonight, mister!"
"I beg to differ," Ryan chuckled as he tickled Marissa. She ran down the
street to get away from his frenzied fingers, but he was to fast. Ryan
caught her up, and wrapped his arms around her, then pushed her against the
wall. And then they kissed. It's like they knew what each other wanted, and
after the passionate session, they continued walking down the street.

"You'll see, Marissa. You belong with me, I belong with you. And nothing,
nothing will stop me this time..." He walked the opposite way to the
lovebirds, and kicked a can at the wall, denting it in the process.