Chapter 3: Day off
"Oh my god! No way!" Summer screamed.
She ran towards Marissa to give her a hug. Both girls hugged each other tightly as if it had been years since they last saw each other. Summer couldn't remember the last time they were apart from each other so long.
"It's really you. Are you back to stay? Oh please say yes."
"Yep, but no one really knows except you. I wanted you to be the first one to know."
"Oh Coop. I've missed you so much. Talking to you on the phone does not compare to seeing you here at my house."
"I know. I'm sorry that I didn't call as often, or email you."
"That doesn't matter now cause you're here now. Come up to my room. We have things to catch up on."
"Before we go, Happy Birthday Summer. You didn't think I would forget did you?"
"Thank you and I'm glad you didn't forget, or else I would have to kick your ass."
Even though Summer knew what went on with Ryan, she decided that if Marissa asked she wouldn't say anything. If she wanted to find out she had to go to him. She did not want to become the middleman between them. Luckily his name never came up in their conversation.
When Ryan's shift ended, Seth was waiting outside with his skateboard so they could hang out somewhere before he left for the weekend with Summer. Ryan didn't mention that he thought he saw Marissa because it couldn't possibly be her. Plus he might start asking questions about what if she did come back and what would he do about it.
Seth decided to go to none other then the arcade. Ryan was fine with it even though Seth spent most of his time playing games at home. After playing for an hour and a half, they went home to have dinner. Both were a little late and the food was slightly cold. Kirsten informed Seth that Summer called so he finished dinner quickly to return her call. Ryan went back to the pool house to unwind after a long day.
After three rings Summer picked up the phone.
"Hello."
"Hey Summer. My mom said you called. What's up? You didn't change your mind about this weekend did you?"
"No, not even close. Guess who came by today?"
"Umm, Grady Bridges."
"I wish, but no.... Marissa."
"Get out. You're joking. Ryan would have said something."
"He doesn't know. Well only I knew, but I just had to tell you. She told me not to tell anyone, but you know me."
"Why doesn't she want him to know?"
"Well isn't it obvious. She's afraid that Ryan won't take her back. He's got Olivia now thanks to you convincing him that he should move on."
"Well he was suffering for two months without her. I didn't want to keep seeing him unhappy."
"I guess you are right. I mean she did leave me behind too, but I forgave her and I hope Ryan does too."
"I'm sure he will, but it won't be easy for him."
"At least we don't have that much drama between us. As much as they fight, I still want them to be together."
"As do I." Seth agreed.
Marissa thought over and over again what she was going to do next. She was relieved that at least now Summer knew she had returned, someone to turn to again. In New York there was hardly anyone. When she began to date again there was nothing special there. It just gave her a reason to have something to do. There were never any real feelings there. She just couldn't help, but think that only Ryan made her feel special.
That night Marissa had a wonderful dream. She was spending the day at the spa releasing all the tension and worries she was having after coming back. After having taken a mud bath, she decided to have a deep tissue massage. In the middle of her session she felt the person leave a trail of kisses on her neck and shoulders. Shocked to have the worker doing this she turned her face to the other side to see Ryan starting back at her.
Before she had a chance to ask questions Ryan kissed her lips. It felt so real that when she woke up at that minute it was morning and she was just clutching only her pillow.
That was just too real. Damn it was only a dream, a mighty fine dream on top of that. If I only could just go over there and make it more than just a dream.
"So Ryan are you going to miss me?" Seth said.
"You haven't left yet." Ryan replied.
"Still trying to be the funny one. Well I guess someone has to take over while I am gone."
"Tell Summer again that I said Happy Birthday."
"Will do. See you on Monday."
Ryan helped Seth put the last suitcase into the car, and waved goodbye. He was left by himself now since Sethummer were gone and so was Olivia. Kirsten and Sandy were already at work and he had the house to himself. It was too early to call Luke since he was still probably sleeping. Not wanting to go back to sleep, he decided to take a swim in the pool. Today was his day off so he was going to make the most of it.
After an hour and a half swim he got out of the pool refreshed and took a shower. Now seemed like a good time to call up Luke.
"Hey Ryan. What's up?"
"Are you busy today? I have the day off."
"Nope I am not. What would you want to do?"
"How's a game of soccer sound. Get us ready before the season starts."
"Sounds good. I'll call the other guys and we'll meet up at the park in an hour."
"Great. See you then."
Marissa ate lunch alone since Caitlin and her grandmother went out shopping for some new clothes and she didn't feel like tagging along. She was still upset at seeing Ryan with someone else. There was no one to blame, but herself for that and this killed her the most. When she turned on the radio there was just sappy love songs being played. She held back form crying and shut the radio off.
I need to get out of the house. Get my mind off of things. Where could I go with no car?
With no other option, she put on a pair of sneakers to jog with. The weather was just perfect for a quick run. She brought a hat with her to block out the sun's rays from her eyes. Upon packing in New York she must have forgotten her favorite pair of sunglasses. Now that she was ready she locked up the house and left.
"Ryan over here. I'm open for a shot." Chris yelled.
Ryan kicked the ball over to him and Chris scored a point for their team. Now his team was winning 3-1.
"Ryan Atwood, I think you have a great shot for Luke's position. I would be afraid if I were you Luke." Chris added.
"Hey if he's better than that's good for the whole team. Maybe we could finally win a championship this year." Luke said.
"Well you guys better improve because I could only hold up the team for so long." Ryan joked.
"Don't get too cocky with my comment Ryan." Chris laughed.
"I'll be right back. I'm going to get a drink out of the water fountain over there." Ryan said.
There were two kids horsing around with the water fountain and splashing a girl who was trying to drink some water next to the one they were using. Ryan knew how to deal with the two of them.
"Hey! You want me to kick each of your asses!" Ryan yelled.
The kids looked at Ryan and ran as fast as they could away from him. Marissa turned around to see Ryan standing there.
Shit he saw me. I can't just walk away. Should I say hi?
"Marissa?" Ryan was sure that it was her under that hat.
"Hi." Those were the only words she could think to say.
Ryan couldn't believe she was in front of him. Then it must have been her at the Crab Shack he thought. He didn't know what to say, or how to react. He had been thinking a lot lately about how their reunion might be, but never imagined it to be in the park, or so much later than originally planned.
"Come on Ryan! Hurry your ass over here, or we are going to start without you!" Chris yelled out loud.
Ryan stood there for another moment then just ran back to his soccer teammates. Marissa just stood there watching him run back. She didn't know what to think at that point.
Why didn't he say anything? He just ran off and left me here standing. I know it was my fault for leaving, but he should have at least talked to me. We never officially broke up. I guess he doesn't really want me here so I'll just go home instead of waiting for him
Marissa ran back faster than when she arrived. She had the motivation now to escape her surroundings. If Ryan had only spoken to her then maybe she wouldn't feel as uncomfortable there than she was.
"What took you so long?" Luke asked.
"I just needed to scare away some kids acting like punks."
"Nice going man. Make them run back to their mommies."
That's not all I saw. When did she get back? Was she really back, or just visiting?
Ryan looked around to see where she went, but she was nowhere to be found.
"Oh my god! No way!" Summer screamed.
She ran towards Marissa to give her a hug. Both girls hugged each other tightly as if it had been years since they last saw each other. Summer couldn't remember the last time they were apart from each other so long.
"It's really you. Are you back to stay? Oh please say yes."
"Yep, but no one really knows except you. I wanted you to be the first one to know."
"Oh Coop. I've missed you so much. Talking to you on the phone does not compare to seeing you here at my house."
"I know. I'm sorry that I didn't call as often, or email you."
"That doesn't matter now cause you're here now. Come up to my room. We have things to catch up on."
"Before we go, Happy Birthday Summer. You didn't think I would forget did you?"
"Thank you and I'm glad you didn't forget, or else I would have to kick your ass."
Even though Summer knew what went on with Ryan, she decided that if Marissa asked she wouldn't say anything. If she wanted to find out she had to go to him. She did not want to become the middleman between them. Luckily his name never came up in their conversation.
When Ryan's shift ended, Seth was waiting outside with his skateboard so they could hang out somewhere before he left for the weekend with Summer. Ryan didn't mention that he thought he saw Marissa because it couldn't possibly be her. Plus he might start asking questions about what if she did come back and what would he do about it.
Seth decided to go to none other then the arcade. Ryan was fine with it even though Seth spent most of his time playing games at home. After playing for an hour and a half, they went home to have dinner. Both were a little late and the food was slightly cold. Kirsten informed Seth that Summer called so he finished dinner quickly to return her call. Ryan went back to the pool house to unwind after a long day.
After three rings Summer picked up the phone.
"Hello."
"Hey Summer. My mom said you called. What's up? You didn't change your mind about this weekend did you?"
"No, not even close. Guess who came by today?"
"Umm, Grady Bridges."
"I wish, but no.... Marissa."
"Get out. You're joking. Ryan would have said something."
"He doesn't know. Well only I knew, but I just had to tell you. She told me not to tell anyone, but you know me."
"Why doesn't she want him to know?"
"Well isn't it obvious. She's afraid that Ryan won't take her back. He's got Olivia now thanks to you convincing him that he should move on."
"Well he was suffering for two months without her. I didn't want to keep seeing him unhappy."
"I guess you are right. I mean she did leave me behind too, but I forgave her and I hope Ryan does too."
"I'm sure he will, but it won't be easy for him."
"At least we don't have that much drama between us. As much as they fight, I still want them to be together."
"As do I." Seth agreed.
Marissa thought over and over again what she was going to do next. She was relieved that at least now Summer knew she had returned, someone to turn to again. In New York there was hardly anyone. When she began to date again there was nothing special there. It just gave her a reason to have something to do. There were never any real feelings there. She just couldn't help, but think that only Ryan made her feel special.
That night Marissa had a wonderful dream. She was spending the day at the spa releasing all the tension and worries she was having after coming back. After having taken a mud bath, she decided to have a deep tissue massage. In the middle of her session she felt the person leave a trail of kisses on her neck and shoulders. Shocked to have the worker doing this she turned her face to the other side to see Ryan starting back at her.
Before she had a chance to ask questions Ryan kissed her lips. It felt so real that when she woke up at that minute it was morning and she was just clutching only her pillow.
That was just too real. Damn it was only a dream, a mighty fine dream on top of that. If I only could just go over there and make it more than just a dream.
"So Ryan are you going to miss me?" Seth said.
"You haven't left yet." Ryan replied.
"Still trying to be the funny one. Well I guess someone has to take over while I am gone."
"Tell Summer again that I said Happy Birthday."
"Will do. See you on Monday."
Ryan helped Seth put the last suitcase into the car, and waved goodbye. He was left by himself now since Sethummer were gone and so was Olivia. Kirsten and Sandy were already at work and he had the house to himself. It was too early to call Luke since he was still probably sleeping. Not wanting to go back to sleep, he decided to take a swim in the pool. Today was his day off so he was going to make the most of it.
After an hour and a half swim he got out of the pool refreshed and took a shower. Now seemed like a good time to call up Luke.
"Hey Ryan. What's up?"
"Are you busy today? I have the day off."
"Nope I am not. What would you want to do?"
"How's a game of soccer sound. Get us ready before the season starts."
"Sounds good. I'll call the other guys and we'll meet up at the park in an hour."
"Great. See you then."
Marissa ate lunch alone since Caitlin and her grandmother went out shopping for some new clothes and she didn't feel like tagging along. She was still upset at seeing Ryan with someone else. There was no one to blame, but herself for that and this killed her the most. When she turned on the radio there was just sappy love songs being played. She held back form crying and shut the radio off.
I need to get out of the house. Get my mind off of things. Where could I go with no car?
With no other option, she put on a pair of sneakers to jog with. The weather was just perfect for a quick run. She brought a hat with her to block out the sun's rays from her eyes. Upon packing in New York she must have forgotten her favorite pair of sunglasses. Now that she was ready she locked up the house and left.
"Ryan over here. I'm open for a shot." Chris yelled.
Ryan kicked the ball over to him and Chris scored a point for their team. Now his team was winning 3-1.
"Ryan Atwood, I think you have a great shot for Luke's position. I would be afraid if I were you Luke." Chris added.
"Hey if he's better than that's good for the whole team. Maybe we could finally win a championship this year." Luke said.
"Well you guys better improve because I could only hold up the team for so long." Ryan joked.
"Don't get too cocky with my comment Ryan." Chris laughed.
"I'll be right back. I'm going to get a drink out of the water fountain over there." Ryan said.
There were two kids horsing around with the water fountain and splashing a girl who was trying to drink some water next to the one they were using. Ryan knew how to deal with the two of them.
"Hey! You want me to kick each of your asses!" Ryan yelled.
The kids looked at Ryan and ran as fast as they could away from him. Marissa turned around to see Ryan standing there.
Shit he saw me. I can't just walk away. Should I say hi?
"Marissa?" Ryan was sure that it was her under that hat.
"Hi." Those were the only words she could think to say.
Ryan couldn't believe she was in front of him. Then it must have been her at the Crab Shack he thought. He didn't know what to say, or how to react. He had been thinking a lot lately about how their reunion might be, but never imagined it to be in the park, or so much later than originally planned.
"Come on Ryan! Hurry your ass over here, or we are going to start without you!" Chris yelled out loud.
Ryan stood there for another moment then just ran back to his soccer teammates. Marissa just stood there watching him run back. She didn't know what to think at that point.
Why didn't he say anything? He just ran off and left me here standing. I know it was my fault for leaving, but he should have at least talked to me. We never officially broke up. I guess he doesn't really want me here so I'll just go home instead of waiting for him
Marissa ran back faster than when she arrived. She had the motivation now to escape her surroundings. If Ryan had only spoken to her then maybe she wouldn't feel as uncomfortable there than she was.
"What took you so long?" Luke asked.
"I just needed to scare away some kids acting like punks."
"Nice going man. Make them run back to their mommies."
That's not all I saw. When did she get back? Was she really back, or just visiting?
Ryan looked around to see where she went, but she was nowhere to be found.