Title: Ryan's First Ski Trip
Summary: Ryan and the gang go to a ski resort for the weekend.
Disclaimer: I own nothing related to The O.C..
Chapter 6 - After Dinner
After dinner, the six of them went over to one of those areas in front of a fireplace that Ryan had noticed earlier in the day. They all settled in on couches and got hot drinks. Most of them got coffee, but there was also tea and hot chocolate. They had a nice view of some night skiing through a big window. Seth and Summer were going to be heading off to their sleigh ride soon. The others were trying to decide what to do this evening.
While they were discussing it, Seth's cell phone rang. He disentangled himself from Summer and got the phone out of his pocket. As expected, the caller id showed that it was his father. He let out an exaspirated sigh. No one else's Dad called them to make sure they were OK. You would think he'd relax since Luke's Dad was here, but no...
Seth answered the phone. "Hey, Dad.... Yes, everything's fine... We just finished dinner..." Seth looked over at Ryan. "Yeah, he's right here..."
Seth got up and indicated to Ryan to follow him. Ryan got up too, and the two of them headed over to an empty corner of the room. On the way, Seth handed Ryan his phone.
"Hey, Sandy..." Ryan rolled his eyes.
Anna noticed Marissa watching Seth and Ryan talking to Sandy on the phone. At least, she assumed that was what Marissa was looking at. They were behind the couch that Anna was sitting on. Anna got up and moved over to sit next to Marissa. She started to watch them too.
Anna and Marissa looked at each other and exchanged a small laugh.
Anna asked, "You're still into Ryan?"
"Yeah. You're still into Seth?"
"Yeah."
Marissa and Anna both sighed and continued to watch the boys that they wanted to be with, who didn't want to be with them. Anna kind of envied Marissa, because at least Ryan wasn't with someone else. Not yet, anyway. Marissa kind of envied Anna, because at least she and Seth could be friends, because they had so much in common. She and Ryan were trying to be friends, but it wasn't really working out. Marissa and Anna both sighed again.
Marissa soon got fed up with the brooding that she and Anna were doing. "Hey, how about we head over to the spa? We can get a manicure, or a massage..."
Anna wasn't usually into that sort of thing, spas and stuff, but she was a little sore from skiing for the first time in a while and a massage sounded really good. "Sounds good. Let's go."
So Marissa and Anna took their leave of their friends and headed off to the spa, together.
After Seth and Ryan got off the phone with Sandy, Seth and Summer went off to have their sleigh ride. This left Ryan and Luke.
Luke laughed. "I guess it's just us, again."
"Where'd Marissa and Anna go?"
"To the spa."
"Ah."
"So... You said something about a party?"
"Yeah." Ryan checked his watch. "Ramirez -- he's one of the busboys -- he's going to be off soon. We can catch up with him around the back of the kitchen. He can give us a ride."
"A ride? Why do we need a ride? Why don't we just take my Dad's car? Then we can get back whenever we want."
Ryan couldn't believe that Luke just suggested that. Ryan didn't want a repeat of what happened to the Cohens' Range Rover in Long Beach.
"Luke, do you really want to take a brand new Lexus into that kind of neighborhood? Trust me, you don't."
Luke was taken aback. "Yeah. OK."
Luke realized that he really had no idea what kind of neighborhood they were going to. It never occurred to him that something might happen to their car.
Ryan, meanwhile, was concerned about going to a party and staying out late, or maybe even all night, with Luke's father at the hotel, chaperoning them.
"I don't know, maybe we shouldn't leave the resort. What about your father?"
"My father doesn't care."
Ryan said, in a hard voice, "Your father cares."
Luke took a long look at Ryan. He thought he heard a hint of anger in his voice that Luke would say that his father didn't care. Luke thought about it for a second. He remembered what Ryan told him about his own father to help him feel better after finding out that his father was gay. Ryan said that his father never went to his games. He didn't even know or care what sport Ryan played. Luke looked down. Now he felt bad. He had no right to complain about his father, compared to Ryan. Luke knew that his father cared about him.
Luke looked back at Ryan and said, apologetically, "Yes. You're right. My father would care if he knew. But right now he's so busy with his new... friend... that he's not paying attention to us, so we don't have to worry about him. So let's go to this party, what do you say?"
Ryan did want to go, hang out with his new friends. "Yeah. Let's. But we should let someone know we're going, just in case."
"We could call Cohen..."
"He's with Summer."
"Right."
Ryan didn't want to bother Marissa or Anna at the spa, but there didn't seem to be any better alternative. "I guess we're going over to the spa, then."
"I guess."
So Ryan and Luke headed over to the spa. When they got there, Ryan stepped forward to talk to the lady behind the counter.
"Hi, we're looking for Marissa Cooper or Anna Stern."
The lady consulted her books. "Yes, they are both here. They should be done in --"
Ryan interrupted her, "We just need to talk to one of them for a minute."
"We could give them a message..."
Ryan exchanged a glance with Luke. "Actually, we'd rather talk to one of them, in person, please."
"I'll see if one of them is available. Please wait here."
So Ryan and Luke stepped to the side and waited. In a minute or so, Anna came out.
"Hi, guys, what's up?"
Ryan pulled her over to the side, so they could talk without being overheard.
"Luke and I are going to that party I mentioned at dinner. We just thought someone should know where we are, just in case. I'm not sure exactly where the party is, but Luke has his cell phone. Do you have his number?"
Luke spoke up. "Marissa has it."
"Right, of course."
Anna smiled at them. "OK. Have fun, guys."
Ryan and Luke nodded to Anna and went off to get their coats and head out to the party.
To Be Continued