Chapter 7: Alcohol Is For Lovers
- - - - -
"What? What did I do?"
"Oliver had just told me that he was trying to calm himself, that he was
trying to make things right! And you screwed it up by bringing those people
here. Who were they anyway?"
"I'm sorry, but no matter what comes out of his mouth, I don't trust him!
You saw what he did last time we met him. And they are taking him back to
his hospital, this time for good hopefully." Marissa just stared blankly at
Ryan, while he tried to snap her out of her trance. "Oh c'mon. You don't
actually believe what he said, do you? This is Oliver we're talking about!"
"I know, it's just, this time he sounded like he really meant it."
"Look, why don't we go back to the poolhouse and just chill out for the
night? Just you and me?" Ryan grabbed Marissa's hand and gave her the puppy-
dog eyes; something Marissa couldn't resist.
"Alright, but I should ring my..." Marissa picked up the phone and started
to dial.
"When I said we should chill out, I meant we?" And with that, Marissa
dropped the reciever back on the hook, and she left with Ryan.
- - - - -
"Hey dad, can I ask you something?"
Seth was in the kitchen reading comics on the table, bored out of his mind.
Sandy had come in, and Seth was itching to have a talk about Summer.
"Erm, what's it about, son?"
"It's about... Summer."
"Didn't see that one coming," Sandy chuckled, not to the ammusement of
Seth. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding. OK, what's up with you too?"
"I don't, you know? She's been acting weird lately. Firstly, there was the
whole propose thing..."
"Wh-wh-what now?" Sandy dropped a bagel he had picked out of the basket,
and just stared dead on at his son. "Propose?"
"Oh, it's not like that. I used it as in 'What do you propose we do?' in a
sentence, and she flipped out," Seth replied, much to the delight of Sandy.
He picked up his bagel again, wiped it slightly, then bit on it. "Dad,
that's just... anyway. Then she came on really strong, and now she
basically broke up with me! It's all messed up."
"Look, son. You need to understand that, unlike us men, women think. A lot!
Summer undoubtedly will be thinking soon of starting a family, settling
down with someone she can trust and knows will take care of her."
"Thanks dad, you've inspired so much confidence," said Seth, with his
typical 'sarcastic' look.
"Just doing me job." Sandy took another bite before leaving the kitchen,
while Seth was still considering what to do. He had thought things over in
his head, and decided it would be best to just confront Summer about
everything. Yeah, that would work. Maybe.
- - - - -
At the end of the stressful night, Ryan and Marissa eventually made their
way back to his house. They were acting as if nothing happened that night,
but they knew it did.
"Seriously, she said that?"
"Yeah, but don't talk about it in front of Seth or anything. He's freaking
out about the whole thing," replied Ryan.
"When does Seth not freak out?"
"Good point. Anyway, we're here now? What do you want to do?"
- - - - -
"C'mon, pick up! Oh, hey, is Summer there?"
Seth had decided to call her to find out what was going on. He had no idea
what was bugging Summer, but he was hoping it wasn't anything big, anything
which would break the two up.
"It's me jackass."
"Hi to you too. Look, erm, can we talk?"
"Sure, what about," said Summer, laid back and unaware of Seth's concern.
"And make it quick, I'm going to bed soon."
"Well can I come round? It's pretty important?"
"Cohen, what is this about?"
"I'll tell you when I get there," replied Seth, as he went to put the phone
down in haste.
"Wait..." But it was too late. She heard the door slam as the phone hung
off the table. Summer walked up to the mirror and quickly straightened
herself out. She grabbed a hairbrush and started brushing, then quickly
applied a bit of make-up. "The catalogue!" Summer ran to the bed and picked
up a magazine, and ran aruond the room looking for somewhere to store it.
She heard a knock on the door, and just decided to throw it in the bin.
Summer wiped her forehead, and then ran downstairs and opened the door.
"Hey. Can I?"
"Sure. Yeah. Go on. So, what's this about? Is it about you or me or...?"
"It's about us."
- - - - -
Back at the poolhouse, Marissa and Ryan were tighly tucked up in bed. It
was pretty late, around midnight, and Marissa couldn't sleep. She rolled
over to the other side, waking Ryan.
"Hey you," she said cutely, trying to avoid conversation.
"Something wrong?" Mission failed, then. "Can't you sleep?"
"No, I mean. I was just thinking about everything that happened."
"Look, it's OK. You saw them. They are taking him away and locking him up
for good."
"You wasn't there. Right before you came to the house, me and him were
talking. He was actually opening up to me."
"Oh not this again!" Ryan sat up in the bed and stared down at the laying
Marissa. "Remember everything that happened last year? Everything that
little punk put us through? And you're falling for it again! You have to
trust me, he's still the decietful Oliver he always was! OK?" Marissa
nodded, then sat up and fluffed her pillow and threw it back down before
falling into it and back to sleep. Ryan quickly followed, and the two fell
alseep, facing opposite ways.
- - - - -
"OK, I just want to know what's been up with you lately? I mean, there was
around the start of term you were so clingy and you never left me alone,
and now it's like you don't want anything to do with me. I mean, It's like
I don't even know you anymore, Summer. Seriously, what's wrong?"
Summer bit her lip and took a breath before dropping on her bed. She stared
at the ground, but made a quick glance at the bin before looking back.
"I don't know, Cohen. I just feel that nothing is really happening anymore.
I mean, yeah, we have fun together and, of course, the sex is great and
everything. But don't you ever wonder if we can go any further?"
"What you mean the sex thing? Cos I'm willing for anything you wanna do?"
"Cohen?" Summer would've usually got pissed at Seth at something like that.
The very few times that she opens up to him, and he jokes about it. But
this time, she just lay back on her bed and stared at the ceiling.
"OK, I'm sorry. I just don't know at the moment. I mean, we're at school,
we have our whole lives ahead of us."
"I know, everyone has been telling me," Summer slipped in.
"So what do you want?" Summer bit her lip again, this time hard enough to
break the skin and cause it to bleed. She licked it off and began to sweat
slightly, and she was about to say what she wanted.
"I... I..." Until she got stage fright. "I don't know. What are couples
like us supposed to do to take it further?"
"Summer, there's no one thing you can do," Seth laughed. "Look, I'm sorry I
put all this pressure on you and everything. Why don't you say we just
forget about this whole thing?" Seth climbed on the bed and got on top of
Summer, then winked at her.
- - - - -
"Wow." Summer sat up against the back of the bed in shock.
"Yup." Seth shortly followed.
"We should like, discuss stuff like that more often."
"Yup."
"I mean, it was always... you know? But tonight was..."
"Yup."
After a few minutes of staring at the opposite wall, Seth eventually got
out of bed and get dressed again. Summer stayed in the bed, and just laid
back on the pillow in her own little dream world.
"Where should I put this?"
"Just drop it in the bin," Summer replied, as she stared in a trance at the
ceiling. Seth walked over to put it in the bin, and noticed a book in
there.
"Hey what's this?" He pulled out the small magazine and showed it to
Summer, who instantly fell out of her fantasy world, and back to reality.
"Tiffany's?"
"I can explain." She looked around the room for a way out of the situation,
but there was nothing. "Erm, it's my dad's. Yeah, he's seeing this woman
who he is thinking of..."
"Why have you got your Dad's catalogue for jewellery in your bedroom?" Seth
started flicking through the magazine, and noticed a page with a fold in
the top. "Wait. This is your writing."
"Um..." Summer pulled the duvet up to cover herself, then sat up properly.
She faked a laugh, trying to get Seth to join in, but to no avail. "Fine,
you caught me. This is what was bugging me. I just knew you'd act all, well
you know, like this if I told you."
"I, I..." Seth was in shock from the news, and a bit lost for words. "I
need to go."
"Wait!" But it was too late. Seth ran out the door, dropping the catalogue
on the 'Rings' page he found it on. Summer shed a small tear, but wiped it
away quickly. She then got up, grabbed the catalogue and tore it into
pieces.
- - - - -
Next morning, Ryan woke up to see Marissa come out of the bathroom. They
had no plans for the day yet, but they both wanted to celebrate Marissa's
safety. Yet neither had the courage to say it yet.
"How long have you been up? It's like 9 'o clock!"
"I got up about half an hour ago. Wanted to look nice for you," she
replied, walking over to Ryan. "Oh my mom called, apparently she has
something she wants to talk to me about. Said it was urgent so I think I'm
gonna go soon. And Seth walked in earlier, but you were asleep. He said
that he knows what's wrong with Summer."
"Wow, erm... that's cool. I guess I should get up then?" Ryan wiped his
eyes and yawned, then got out of bed and threw on some clothes. "Hey I was
wondering if you wanted to do something tonight? Like see a movie, hang out
on the pier?"
"I was thinking more of a nice dinner for 2, candles, wine...?" Ryan
started to go a little red, and Marissa just chuckled. "I'm kidding.
Whatever we do is fine as long as you're there!" She lent over and gave
Ryan a kiss, then fell back and walked out of the door.
"How about the cinema at 8?" Ryan shouted.
"Alright, meet me there," Marissa replied, as she walked through the
Cohen's kitchen, passing a nearly dead Seth on the way. "Hey Seth, what's
wrong?"
"I just found out my girlfriend is a compulsive, clingy, wedding-crazy
woman," he slurred.
"That's nice. I gotta go, seeya." Marissa walked out the door, where Julie
was ready to pick her up. "So what's up?"
"Don't 'what's up' me, lady! You are in serious trouble!" The two drove
away, with Marissa confused at what Julie had said.
As the car pulled up to the Cooper mansion, Marissa still wondered what was
wrong.
"Mom, seriously! What did I do?"
"Why don't I show you?" she replied, as the two walked into the house.
Julie sped ahead of Marissa. Something was up. She climbed the stairs and
headed for Marissa bedroom, and Marissa was still stumped on what was so
bad. "How do you explain this?"
Julie pointed inside Marissa's room, where a dozen empty bottles of alcohol
lay. Several had been smashed, but most were lying on the floor.
"Mom, they're not mine! I swear."
"Marissa, I know you had this problem last year but I thought we got you
recovered! Some of these, no. All of these are, well, were mine!"
"Please, I didn't drink any of these. You have to believe me!"
"Why?" Julie opened her purse and scanned around for her phone. Once she
found it, she looked through the address book. "I'm calling your
psychiatrist, Marissa. I can't believe you would... hello?"
Julie walked away and turned from Marissa to talk to the shrink, while
Marissa still wondered where all these bottles came from. This time, these weren't Marissa's.
- - - - -
"What? What did I do?"
"Oliver had just told me that he was trying to calm himself, that he was
trying to make things right! And you screwed it up by bringing those people
here. Who were they anyway?"
"I'm sorry, but no matter what comes out of his mouth, I don't trust him!
You saw what he did last time we met him. And they are taking him back to
his hospital, this time for good hopefully." Marissa just stared blankly at
Ryan, while he tried to snap her out of her trance. "Oh c'mon. You don't
actually believe what he said, do you? This is Oliver we're talking about!"
"I know, it's just, this time he sounded like he really meant it."
"Look, why don't we go back to the poolhouse and just chill out for the
night? Just you and me?" Ryan grabbed Marissa's hand and gave her the puppy-
dog eyes; something Marissa couldn't resist.
"Alright, but I should ring my..." Marissa picked up the phone and started
to dial.
"When I said we should chill out, I meant we?" And with that, Marissa
dropped the reciever back on the hook, and she left with Ryan.
- - - - -
"Hey dad, can I ask you something?"
Seth was in the kitchen reading comics on the table, bored out of his mind.
Sandy had come in, and Seth was itching to have a talk about Summer.
"Erm, what's it about, son?"
"It's about... Summer."
"Didn't see that one coming," Sandy chuckled, not to the ammusement of
Seth. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding. OK, what's up with you too?"
"I don't, you know? She's been acting weird lately. Firstly, there was the
whole propose thing..."
"Wh-wh-what now?" Sandy dropped a bagel he had picked out of the basket,
and just stared dead on at his son. "Propose?"
"Oh, it's not like that. I used it as in 'What do you propose we do?' in a
sentence, and she flipped out," Seth replied, much to the delight of Sandy.
He picked up his bagel again, wiped it slightly, then bit on it. "Dad,
that's just... anyway. Then she came on really strong, and now she
basically broke up with me! It's all messed up."
"Look, son. You need to understand that, unlike us men, women think. A lot!
Summer undoubtedly will be thinking soon of starting a family, settling
down with someone she can trust and knows will take care of her."
"Thanks dad, you've inspired so much confidence," said Seth, with his
typical 'sarcastic' look.
"Just doing me job." Sandy took another bite before leaving the kitchen,
while Seth was still considering what to do. He had thought things over in
his head, and decided it would be best to just confront Summer about
everything. Yeah, that would work. Maybe.
- - - - -
At the end of the stressful night, Ryan and Marissa eventually made their
way back to his house. They were acting as if nothing happened that night,
but they knew it did.
"Seriously, she said that?"
"Yeah, but don't talk about it in front of Seth or anything. He's freaking
out about the whole thing," replied Ryan.
"When does Seth not freak out?"
"Good point. Anyway, we're here now? What do you want to do?"
- - - - -
"C'mon, pick up! Oh, hey, is Summer there?"
Seth had decided to call her to find out what was going on. He had no idea
what was bugging Summer, but he was hoping it wasn't anything big, anything
which would break the two up.
"It's me jackass."
"Hi to you too. Look, erm, can we talk?"
"Sure, what about," said Summer, laid back and unaware of Seth's concern.
"And make it quick, I'm going to bed soon."
"Well can I come round? It's pretty important?"
"Cohen, what is this about?"
"I'll tell you when I get there," replied Seth, as he went to put the phone
down in haste.
"Wait..." But it was too late. She heard the door slam as the phone hung
off the table. Summer walked up to the mirror and quickly straightened
herself out. She grabbed a hairbrush and started brushing, then quickly
applied a bit of make-up. "The catalogue!" Summer ran to the bed and picked
up a magazine, and ran aruond the room looking for somewhere to store it.
She heard a knock on the door, and just decided to throw it in the bin.
Summer wiped her forehead, and then ran downstairs and opened the door.
"Hey. Can I?"
"Sure. Yeah. Go on. So, what's this about? Is it about you or me or...?"
"It's about us."
- - - - -
Back at the poolhouse, Marissa and Ryan were tighly tucked up in bed. It
was pretty late, around midnight, and Marissa couldn't sleep. She rolled
over to the other side, waking Ryan.
"Hey you," she said cutely, trying to avoid conversation.
"Something wrong?" Mission failed, then. "Can't you sleep?"
"No, I mean. I was just thinking about everything that happened."
"Look, it's OK. You saw them. They are taking him away and locking him up
for good."
"You wasn't there. Right before you came to the house, me and him were
talking. He was actually opening up to me."
"Oh not this again!" Ryan sat up in the bed and stared down at the laying
Marissa. "Remember everything that happened last year? Everything that
little punk put us through? And you're falling for it again! You have to
trust me, he's still the decietful Oliver he always was! OK?" Marissa
nodded, then sat up and fluffed her pillow and threw it back down before
falling into it and back to sleep. Ryan quickly followed, and the two fell
alseep, facing opposite ways.
- - - - -
"OK, I just want to know what's been up with you lately? I mean, there was
around the start of term you were so clingy and you never left me alone,
and now it's like you don't want anything to do with me. I mean, It's like
I don't even know you anymore, Summer. Seriously, what's wrong?"
Summer bit her lip and took a breath before dropping on her bed. She stared
at the ground, but made a quick glance at the bin before looking back.
"I don't know, Cohen. I just feel that nothing is really happening anymore.
I mean, yeah, we have fun together and, of course, the sex is great and
everything. But don't you ever wonder if we can go any further?"
"What you mean the sex thing? Cos I'm willing for anything you wanna do?"
"Cohen?" Summer would've usually got pissed at Seth at something like that.
The very few times that she opens up to him, and he jokes about it. But
this time, she just lay back on her bed and stared at the ceiling.
"OK, I'm sorry. I just don't know at the moment. I mean, we're at school,
we have our whole lives ahead of us."
"I know, everyone has been telling me," Summer slipped in.
"So what do you want?" Summer bit her lip again, this time hard enough to
break the skin and cause it to bleed. She licked it off and began to sweat
slightly, and she was about to say what she wanted.
"I... I..." Until she got stage fright. "I don't know. What are couples
like us supposed to do to take it further?"
"Summer, there's no one thing you can do," Seth laughed. "Look, I'm sorry I
put all this pressure on you and everything. Why don't you say we just
forget about this whole thing?" Seth climbed on the bed and got on top of
Summer, then winked at her.
- - - - -
"Wow." Summer sat up against the back of the bed in shock.
"Yup." Seth shortly followed.
"We should like, discuss stuff like that more often."
"Yup."
"I mean, it was always... you know? But tonight was..."
"Yup."
After a few minutes of staring at the opposite wall, Seth eventually got
out of bed and get dressed again. Summer stayed in the bed, and just laid
back on the pillow in her own little dream world.
"Where should I put this?"
"Just drop it in the bin," Summer replied, as she stared in a trance at the
ceiling. Seth walked over to put it in the bin, and noticed a book in
there.
"Hey what's this?" He pulled out the small magazine and showed it to
Summer, who instantly fell out of her fantasy world, and back to reality.
"Tiffany's?"
"I can explain." She looked around the room for a way out of the situation,
but there was nothing. "Erm, it's my dad's. Yeah, he's seeing this woman
who he is thinking of..."
"Why have you got your Dad's catalogue for jewellery in your bedroom?" Seth
started flicking through the magazine, and noticed a page with a fold in
the top. "Wait. This is your writing."
"Um..." Summer pulled the duvet up to cover herself, then sat up properly.
She faked a laugh, trying to get Seth to join in, but to no avail. "Fine,
you caught me. This is what was bugging me. I just knew you'd act all, well
you know, like this if I told you."
"I, I..." Seth was in shock from the news, and a bit lost for words. "I
need to go."
"Wait!" But it was too late. Seth ran out the door, dropping the catalogue
on the 'Rings' page he found it on. Summer shed a small tear, but wiped it
away quickly. She then got up, grabbed the catalogue and tore it into
pieces.
- - - - -
Next morning, Ryan woke up to see Marissa come out of the bathroom. They
had no plans for the day yet, but they both wanted to celebrate Marissa's
safety. Yet neither had the courage to say it yet.
"How long have you been up? It's like 9 'o clock!"
"I got up about half an hour ago. Wanted to look nice for you," she
replied, walking over to Ryan. "Oh my mom called, apparently she has
something she wants to talk to me about. Said it was urgent so I think I'm
gonna go soon. And Seth walked in earlier, but you were asleep. He said
that he knows what's wrong with Summer."
"Wow, erm... that's cool. I guess I should get up then?" Ryan wiped his
eyes and yawned, then got out of bed and threw on some clothes. "Hey I was
wondering if you wanted to do something tonight? Like see a movie, hang out
on the pier?"
"I was thinking more of a nice dinner for 2, candles, wine...?" Ryan
started to go a little red, and Marissa just chuckled. "I'm kidding.
Whatever we do is fine as long as you're there!" She lent over and gave
Ryan a kiss, then fell back and walked out of the door.
"How about the cinema at 8?" Ryan shouted.
"Alright, meet me there," Marissa replied, as she walked through the
Cohen's kitchen, passing a nearly dead Seth on the way. "Hey Seth, what's
wrong?"
"I just found out my girlfriend is a compulsive, clingy, wedding-crazy
woman," he slurred.
"That's nice. I gotta go, seeya." Marissa walked out the door, where Julie
was ready to pick her up. "So what's up?"
"Don't 'what's up' me, lady! You are in serious trouble!" The two drove
away, with Marissa confused at what Julie had said.
As the car pulled up to the Cooper mansion, Marissa still wondered what was
wrong.
"Mom, seriously! What did I do?"
"Why don't I show you?" she replied, as the two walked into the house.
Julie sped ahead of Marissa. Something was up. She climbed the stairs and
headed for Marissa bedroom, and Marissa was still stumped on what was so
bad. "How do you explain this?"
Julie pointed inside Marissa's room, where a dozen empty bottles of alcohol
lay. Several had been smashed, but most were lying on the floor.
"Mom, they're not mine! I swear."
"Marissa, I know you had this problem last year but I thought we got you
recovered! Some of these, no. All of these are, well, were mine!"
"Please, I didn't drink any of these. You have to believe me!"
"Why?" Julie opened her purse and scanned around for her phone. Once she
found it, she looked through the address book. "I'm calling your
psychiatrist, Marissa. I can't believe you would... hello?"
Julie walked away and turned from Marissa to talk to the shrink, while
Marissa still wondered where all these bottles came from. This time, these weren't Marissa's.