On the Flip Side
Chapter 4: She's in trouble already?
Disclaimer: I don't own the O.C. or its characters. All I own is my piece of the story line, which has been done…too many times to count.
Rating: PG for now. May change in later chapters.
Summary: We all know Ryan's "fish out of water" story. But what if Marissa was the fish out of water?
A/N: This is my first fanfic, so please be nice. I've been reading stories on here for a while and I finally decided to register. I am trying to make Seth funnier and all…so if you have a suggestion I'd love to hear it. I'm not very good at writing his character for some reason. Also, in this chapter we see the introduction of R/M! I know you're all excited.
"Sum-sum, where's Marissa?" Ashley knocked on Summer's door. She pulled the covers more tightly over her head as Ashley flicked on the lights.
"I don't know, Ash. Did you look in her room?" Ashley was nice and generally didn't bother Summer, but sometimes she was such a ditz.
"I did," Ashley stated proudly. "I thought maybe she went for a run…but I wanted to see if she told you. Since she didn't leave a note."
Summer's mind traveled back to the night before. She'd seen Rocky and Tom, with Marissa in their arms, leaving the party. Had she seen Marissa since then? Summer couldn't remember, still slightly hung over from last night. But why was Ashley still home. She and Summer's father were supposed to leave on a "business trip" to Florence.
"Um…" Summer yawned, kicking back the covers and swinging her legs over the side of the bed. "I can't remember, honestly. I thought you were leaving for Florence today."
Ashley came and sat on Summer's bed. "We are, Sum. Your dad already went to the airport to meet a client whose flight came in early. I just wanted to check on you girls before we left."
Summer's face fell a little. Her dad had already left? Without saying goodbye? He even had to get Ashley to talk to Summer for him now? Was she that insignificant? "Oh. Well have fun. Don't worry about Marissa, I'm sure she'll be back soon."
Ashley considered this for a minute, then, kissing Summer on the cheek, "Okay, love. I'll have your dad call when we get to Florence, okay? Have fun."
She left the room and Summer went into her walk-in closet. After picking out a yellow Juicy hoodie and stretchy white capris, Summer put her Reef flip flops on and went outside to see where Marissa might be. Before she had even walked out the front door she heard Ashley screaming. Summer ran outside and saw Ashley hovering over an unconscious Marissa.
"Ohmigod, Ash. What did you do to her?" Summer asked, getting a little worried.
Ashley put her head in her hands and began to bawl. "Nothing, Sum-sum. I came outside to leave and found her lying on the driveway. What happened?"
Summer didn't bother to point out that her guess was as good as Ashley's. Instead, she walked over to Marissa and began to shake her gently. "Marissa…wake up."
Slowly Marissa opened her eyes. "Summer? Where am I?"
"Oh, Thank God!" Ashley dramatically put her hand over her heart. "I was so worried."
"I'm fine," Marissa tried to brush it off, but upon making an attempt to stand, she collapsed back on the ground.
"Where were you? What happened?" Summer asked.
"I don't know," Marissa whispered. Summer and Ashley helped her up, bringing her into the house so they could talk without the neighbors overhearing. Nothing was private in Newport, unless it went on behind closed doors.
"Summer, Marissa and I need to have a talk, alone," Ashley said. Summer shrugged and went upstairs. She had to get ready for school, after all.
When she went back into the kitchen to grab a frozen waffle for breakfast, Ashley and Marissa were going at it.
"While I'm away, you better not get into any trouble. Neil will be absolutely furious if he finds out about this," Ashley snapped.
Marissa rolled her eyes. "You can't stop me. And do you really think Summer can control me? I'd think again, Ashley. Look, it's not a big deal. I normally don't get like that. Maybe it's because back where I'm from, we're not used to the fancy, expensive liquor that is a lot stronger."
Ashley's celery colored eyes flared. "You're grounded. I'm calling up Winnie and she's going to stay with you and Sum-sum while I'm away. That way, you'll have a responsible adult watching out for you."
Summer bit her lip to keep from laughing. Winnie had been her nanny until she was eleven, and too cool to have a nanny transporting her everywhere. Still, whenever Ashley or her father needed someone, they called Winnie. And Winnie was a free spirited wild woman. She let Summer do whatever she wanted. Of which, Neil and Ashley knew nothing about, of course.
Oh well. Was it really right to stand idly by and let Ashley falsely think she was pulling the reins in tighter? Hell yeah!
"Whatever," Marissa spat. "Have a nice trip."
She stalked out of the kitchen, presumably to go upstairs and freshen up for school.
Seeing Summer, Ashley brightened. "Hi, Summer. Sorry about that. She's a little rambunctious. But she's family, so we've got to put up with her. Don't worry. For your trouble, I'll have the newest fashions from Italy sent home to you."
She kissed Summer on the cheek and flounced out of the room. "Bye, love."
***
"So over there are the skaters." Summer was giving Marissa a tour of the lunchroom, where she could most easily see the social hierarchy of Harbor. "And over there, well, you want to stay away. Those are the mathletes, the nerds, and the bocce players. And two tables over, those are the nothings. They're not popular but they're not losers either. Basically they just float around by themselves. They don't affect the school in a positive or negative way. If you want to be known, don't go with them."
"Yo, Summer, over here," Eric shouted. Summer looked at Marissa, who shrugged. The girls walked over to the table.
"Hey, Cohen," Summer's face lit up when she saw Seth. "Guys, you remember Marissa."
There was a murmur of agreement. Summer saw Rocky and Tom wink at each other, but she didn't know why. Maybe they liked Marissa? She smiled, shaking that ludicrous thought of her mind.
"We saved you a seat, Marissa," Rocky said, as the guys made a space next to him for her.
"Thanks," Marisa replied curtly. For the life of her, she couldn't figure out why all of these guys were paying attention to her. Were they setting her up? Was this some kind of practical joke that Summer was in on, too? 'Make the poor loser think that everyone likes her'. She glanced at Summer, who was hiding nothing in her eyes. The only thing Marisa could see was love for Seth.
She sat down next to Rocky and felt his hand on her ass. Glancing at him a little curiously, he said, "We need to talk later."
Marissa shrugged. "Okay." She sat there sipping her Diet Coke.
"Aren't you hungry?" Tom pointed to the Diet Coke. "That's not a very filling lunch."
There was another one who cared about her. This, however, was not an easy problem to fix. Marissa had been skipping lunch, and breakfast, since she was about twelve, when she'd first noticed the baby fat. Of course, everyone around her insisted that there was no baby fat, because there actually wasn't. Since then, it'd just been a steady cycle.
"I'm fine," Marissa said. "I had a big breakfast."
She silently thanked God that Summer was so wrapped up in Sethland, she couldn't even point out that Marissa hadn't had breakfast.
"Okay," Tom seemed to accept this and went back to eating his three slices of pizza. He noticed Marissa staring at him, and grinned. "I'm a football player," he offered. "You want some?"
"No, really, I'm fine," Marissa insisted. Rocky put his arm around her.
"Leave her alone, Tom," Rocky said, keeping his voice level and friendly. But Marissa could sense the warning disguised underneath. It was a voice she'd heard all too many times, from her dad, her boyfriends, her dealer.
"You taste like chocolate," Summer announced, licking her lips.
"So do you," Seth challenged.
"But only because I got it from your mouth," Summer argued. The guys at the table exchanged looks of disgust.
"Keep it PG, please," Eric begged. "This is lunch; I'd like to get through it without being sick."
"Fine, you want PG, I'll make it PG," Seth grinned and began to nuzzle Summer's neck. He left a trail of kisses all the way up her neck, ending with a sweet, gentle kiss on the cheek. "There. You wanted PG, I gave you PG."
Summer slapped Seth. "The boys are right, Cohen. Let's go somewhere…more private?" This generated an ever larger groan from the guys. Eric pushed away his lunch. "I can't eat any more. I think I'm going to be sick."
Summer and Seth got up from the table and went off in search for an empty classroom to make out in. They didn't care where, just as long as they got some tonsil-hockey in. According to Summer, exercise was very important. And, Seth wasn't going to argue with that.
"Are they always like that?" Marissa asked, wrinkling her nose.
"It gets worse," Tom said. "You should see them in 5th period English lit. Ms. Monroe keeps on talking, not noticing a thing, while they're going at it in the back row."
"Summer told me they always get the back row because the teachers spit," Marissa said thoughtfully. "But I realize that's not the only reason."
Rocky and Eric laughed, while Tom cracked a smile. It was hard for him to do much else; his mouth was stuffed with pizza.
"Who do you have next period?" Tom asked, wiping his greasy mouth with a napkin.
"World History with Dobson," Marissa sighed. "I've had him for one day and I've already learned that he gives at least an hour of homework every night."
"I've got him too," Rocky said. "Funny, I didn't see you yesterday."
"I had a tutoring session. But from now on they're going to be after school," Marissa explained. "Dr. Kim wanted me to have one right away though."
"Well, we can go to class together. And I'll help you with the homework if you want," Rocky offered. Marissa nodded her head. They got up and left the table.
"Dude," Tom said to Eric, as soon as Rocky was out of earshot, "I like her."
Eric smiled grimly. "So does Rocky. Look, I'm not touching that. It's between you and him and I definitely don't want to get in-between Rocky. Sorry, man."
"It's not really up to Rocky though, is it?" Tom asked. "I guess we'll see who Marissa likes better."
"I don't know…" Eric replied. "It's your shit though. I'm not getting involved, okay?"
***
"What are you doing this weekend?" Rocky asked Marissa as she got her books out of her locker.
"I don't know yet," Marissa chose her words carefully. "It all depends…"
"On what?" Rocky asked. Was she playing games with him? He liked girls like that…and none of the Harbor girls ever did that.
"Oh, I don't know," Marissa replied coolly.
"I was thinking we could do something. Together," Rocky told her.
"I'll think about it," she said, shutting her locker and walking away. Rocky hurried to catch up with her.
So she was playing hard to get. He could deal with that. Even learn to enjoy it.
"Let me know," Rocky said. He took her arm and steered her into the classroom. "Here's Dobson's class."
"Hey," Summer grinned as she slid in the seat on the other side of Marissa. She leaned over and whispered in her ear. "Rocky likes you."
"I know," Marissa giggled back. She wanted Ryan, God knows she did. But for now, she could settle for Rocky. There was definitely a physical attraction to him, if nothing else.
"Miss Roberts, settle down," Mr. Dobson walked into the room, leather briefcase in hand.
"Sorry," Summer said. She was so excited though! One of the most popular guys in school liked her cousin. That, and the fact that Marissa was Summer's cousin, almost automatically made her a shoe-in for the popular crowd.
After class, both Rocky and Ryan came up to Marissa.
"So, how'd you like it?" Rocky asked, not noticing Ryan standing behind him.
"It was overwhelming, to say the least," Marissa admitted.
"I can still help you with the class," Rocky offered. "And let me know about this weekend. Later."
He winked and walked away from Marissa. Marissa saw Ryan and said, "Hey, Ryan."
Ryan's face remained expressionless, like a slab of stone. "Hey. You're not going out with Rocky this weekend, are you?"
Marissa felt her face flush with indignation. Who was Ryan to put down Rocky? "As a matter of fact, I am," she snapped. "Do you have a problem with that?"
The corners of Ryan's mouth twitched. "Watch out for him, Marissa. I'm just trying to protect you, that's all."
"Well, thanks, but I don't need your advice. Especially when you don't even know me," eyes narrowing, Marissa's heart was secretly jumping. Was Ryan doing this because he liked her? She didn't know, but had a growing suspicion.
"Just wait and see," Ryan warned, and walked off to his next class.
***
"You look hot," Rocky said, kissing Marissa on the cheek. "Here, these are for you."
Marissa smiled as he handed her the flowers. "Thanks, Rocky. You didn't have to do this."
"I know," Rocky grinned. So far, so good. "I wanted to."
Rocky held open the door to his silver BMW convertible and helped Marissa get in. They drove off to some fancy restaurant; Marissa couldn't even pronounce its name. Some Chez- French place. Rocky even had to order for Marissa, since the whole menu was in French. She felt so inferior compared to Rocky, who spoke French, Latin, and Spanish, as well as English.
All the while she was having a lovely time with Rocky, Marissa couldn't stop thinking about Ryan. Rocky was really nice. But compared to Ryan, he just didn't cut it. But Ryan was so obviously unattainable that she might as well give Rocky a shot.
"I had a really good time, Rocky," Marissa whispered huskily, standing on the front porch of Summer's house.
"So did I," Leaning in, Rocky caught Marissa unawares and kissed her. Marissa was surprised, yet pleased. She wrapped her arms around Rocky's neck and forced herself to get lost in the moment.
Their perfectly romantic end to a perfectly romantic evening came all too soon. Summer opened the door, her eyes popped open, and re-shut the door. Embarrassed, Rocky and Marissa broke apart.
"I should go," Marissa said, after a moment of awkward silence. She opened the door to Summer's house and shut it behind her. Walking into the living room, Marissa saw Seth, Summer, and Ryan poring over a math textbook. They were all in Calculus, while Marissa was in Dynamics-Pre Calculus.
The three didn't notice her until she cleared her throat expectantly. "Hey, Summer," Seth winked. "How was your night?" He yelped as Summer hit him on the head. "Yes. That would be my head."
"It was great, actually. Thanks for asking, Seth," Marissa made sure to stare directly at Ryan while she was saying this.
"Rocky's a really nice guy," Summer observed.
"Rocky is really nice," Seth agreed. "I'm sure he's a great boyfriend…I mean, not that I've had any experience with being his girlfriend, but I'm sure he'll be great anyway. Why are you all staring at me like that?"
Summer rolled her eyes and kissed Seth on the neck. He let out a little moan, after which Ryan gagged, Marissa sighed, and Summer glared at him.
"Cohen, you are such a pansy. But I love you," Summer grinned. "I just hope you don't do stuff like that in front of your friends."
"Oh, believe me, he does," Ryan smirked. "All the time. I think the reason the guys don't tease him for it is because they're scared of you, Summer."
Seth shrugged. "No comment."
"For some reason, I can totally believe that," Marissa said, reminding the three that she was alive and kicking.
"So Rocky's a keeper, huh?" Seth asked, lazily rubbing circles on Summer's knee.
With three pairs of eyes focused on her, Marissa answered to the sharpest blue ones. "I think so."
Abruptly, Ryan's eyes flashed with…what was it? Marissa couldn't untangle the jumble of emotions in those cerulean liquid pools. He stood up.
"I'm going to get something to drink. Seth, Sum, you guys want anything?"
The two shook their heads simultaneously--well it was kind of hard not to when they were in a liplock.
"I'll come with," Marissa told him. Ryan chose to ignore this and went into the kitchen. She followed him, not sure of what she was going to say. But Marissa was a smart cookie, whatever came out of her mouth would be the right thing.
"Do you have a problem with me?" Okay, so bluntness was one of Marissa's specialties. Ryan didn't answer. Instead he walked over to the fridge and took out two cans of Yoo-hoo, sliding one across the counter to Marissa. She grabbed it right before it fell off the edge of the counter.
"Do you have a hearing problem?" Marissa asked, tweaking her question slightly. She knew he'd have to answer this time.
Sighing, Ryan opened his drink and took a long swig. When he was done he wiped his mouth on the back of his hand. "I'd like it if you didn't go out with Rocky anymore."
"And why the hell not?"
"Look," Ryan said, running his fingers through that gorgeous mop of hair, "you don't know him like I do. I'm telling you, he's bad news."
"Riight," Marissa drawled the 'I' sound. "A guy who brings me flowers, opens the door for me, and helps me read off the menu when I can't understand the language. That's exactly the kind of guy you want me to stay away from?"
Ryan lowered his voice. Engrossed as they were in a little one-on-one tongue session, Summer and Seth were still nosy teenagers with acute hearing. "I just don't want to see you get hurt."
"Oh, so just because you think that you're doing me a favor, means that I should think the same? You obviously know nothing about me," Marissa snickered.
The next thing Marissa knew, she was in his arms and his mouth was everywhere and her hands were around his neck. And she didn't want him to stop. He was kissing her with such a fervent passion that she felt like she was being abused, in the sensual sort of way.
"I want to know you better," Ryan whispered, running his hands through Marissa's hair.
A/N: I didn't think this chapter was going to get so long, so I've decided to cut it off here. I'll try to post Chapter 5, which is really just the other part of Chapter 4, within the next couple of hours. R & R!!