Chapter Six: Are they going to pretend forever?
Disclaimer: It might come as a shock…but I don't own the O.C.
Summary: Sure, we all know Ryan's "fish out of water" story. But what if Marissa was the fish out of water?
A/N: Thanks for all the reviews! Keep them coming. Answering all of the requests to choose between the girls…don't worry. That should appear in the next chapter, along with a little Marissa butt-kicking action! And I'm sorry about the late update, I forgot my ff.net password and had to get a whole new one. I know I left this chapter off with hardly any R/M love, but next chapter will be chock full of it!
"What are you doing tonight?" Rocky asked, putting his hand over Marissa's.
"I don't know…I was thinking about catching a movie with someone. But it all depends on if they want to go with me," Marissa told him. So what if that someone was Ryan? Ryan would probably not pick up on this, and Rocky would assume it was him.
"Really? Because I was planning on going to the movies too," Rocky grinned. He was falling for this girl more and more every day. She was fantastic. Everything about her was everything he'd always wanted in a girlfriend and more.
"It's a date," Marissa decided, feeling slightly miserable when Ryan moved his knee away from hers. At the same time, she was happy. So he was jealous. Good. Maybe now he would get to thinking about what he was going to do. Because they couldn't keep kissing and acting like nothing ever happened.
"Not trying to break up your plans or anything," Ryan cut in, "but you promised me, Summer, and Seth that we could study for World History together tonight. The test is only in two days…and there's a hell of a lot more information than we can cram in one night."
Rocky groaned. "I forgot about that test. Shit."
Marissa's eyes narrowed. Two could play that game, if that's what Ryan wanted. "Well, why don't you come over too, Rocky? You don't mind, do you, Ryan?"
The girl was slick, Ryan had to admit. "No, not at all," he lied. "Be at my place around six. We're ordering pizza, then hitting the books."
"Gotcha," Rocky winked. He stood up, bent down to kiss Marissa on the cheek, then said, "I have to run. I forgot to print my play for French. And you know how Ms. Badeau gets…"
The other boys left soon after, grumbling about cleaning their lockers or something. Marissa and Ryan were left sitting alone at the table.
"What the hell did you do that for?" Ryan asked angrily. "It was just supposed to be the four of us!"
"Chill, Ry," Marissa said calmly, "what's one more? Besides, Rocky's like, this incredible genius. I'm sure he'll be able to help all of us."
"I get the same grades as him," Ryan protested, wanting Marissa to recognize his virtues as well.
"I'm sure you do," Marissa smiled, patting Ryan on the knee. Wait, what was that? Had she felt it too? Because Ryan had sure as hell felt the static electricity running through his leg when she touched it.
She stood up. "If you're worried about being the fifth wheel, just invite Grace. She's in the other World History class, but they've got the same test coming up."
Hmm…Ryan thought. Was the "enemy" aiding him? Whether it was a trick or not, Ryan fully intended to take Marissa up on her offer. He was getting more and more jealous by the hour. It was only fair that she experience her fair share of it.
As Marissa walked away, Ryan's eyes remained glued to her retreating figure. He was concentrating on her "assets" so intently that he didn't even notice when Grace came up and kissed him on the cheek.
"Earth to Ryan," Grace giggled, waving her hand in front of his face. "What were you staring at?"
"What? Oh, hey babe. I spaced out for a minute there, sorry," Ryan hugged Grace and gave her a quick peck on the lips. He gently sucked her lower lip, leaving her begging for more. "Me, Seth, Summer, Marissa, and Rocky are having this study group thing tonight for the World History test. You wanna come? It's going to be like, a couples thing."
Grace clapped her hands excitedly. "Ooh, sounds like fun! I'll be there. Your house?"
Ryan nodded. Just then, the two-minute bell rang. "I better get to class," he excused himself, and walked off towards French.
"Marissa, will you get that?" Summer yelled from upstairs, where she was putting on makeup and doing her hair. Marissa wasn't quite sure why Summer kept a cabinet full of makeup at the Cohen house. She guessed that Summer always wanted to be prepared, you know, in case an eyelash fell out of place or something drastic. Seth was outside grilling hotdogs and hamburgers—a slight change in the menu—and Ryan was nowhere to be found.
"Got it," Marissa shouted back, running to the front door while trying to pin up her hair in a loose ponytail.
"Hey," she greeted Grace, who, Marissa was pleased to see, was wearing sweatpants and a Harbor Hornets sweatshirt that was embroidered with her name in yellow. Marissa herself was wearing UCLA sweats and an I (heart) NYC t-shirt—courtesy of Summer.
"Hey," Grace greeted Marissa as if she hadn't seen her in a few weeks. After hugging her, she asked, "Where's Ryan?"
Marissa shrugged. "I haven't seen him. My guess is that he's helping Seth grill or being held hostage by Summer until he agrees to put the bronzer on again.
Grace stared at her strangely after the last part. "Bronzer?"
Marissa felt slightly guilty, remembering that Grace hadn't been there the other night when Summer had attempted to give Seth and Ryan makeovers. Well, she succeeded with Seth…but Ryan could only be convinced to put on some bronzer. And the tiniest bit of concealer under his eyes. But that was besides the point.
"Never mind," Marissa said. "I think we're going to be in the poolhouse."
Grace walked outside while Marissa went back into the kitchen.
"Hey sweetie. Seth tells me you're seeing Rocky?" Kirsten Cohen smiled when she saw Summer's cousin. Even after all of those rumors of Marissa being this delinquent, Kirsten hadn't seen any signs of it—and had no reason to believe it. The girl was a total sweetheart.
"I don't know if you would call it 'seeing', yet," Marissa replied. Kirsten noticed that she bit her lower lip after saying that. And there seemed to be a distant, troubled look in her eyes. Almost as if she was reluctant to become anything more than casual daters with Rocky.
"He's a nice boy," Kirsten said. He actually was. Everyone said that about Rocky. He'd even been voted Sweetest Guy in 9th and 10th grade. And he was a dead ringer for this year, too, even though the yearbooks hadn't come out. Seth had been voted Funniest Guy, while Ryan was Guy with the Prettiest Eyes. Those were both true, too. Summer, of course, had been voted Most Popular. While she limited her close group of friends to a mere handful, there was no doubt that Summer was friends with everyone who was anyone.
"Yeah," Marissa shrugged. The doorbell rang, saving her from an increasingly awkward conversation with Kirsten. "I better get that."
"Hey, Rocky," Marissa slapped a smile on her face. Rocky bent down to kiss her. Another good thing about Rocky--he was tall. With him, she didn't have to worry about her height. She was nowhere near his 6"5 frame, at 5"8.
"Is that pizza?" Rocky sniffed the air.
"Hotdogs and hamburgers," Marissa grinned. Hey, to top it all off, the guy had a sharp sense of smell. Could he pole vault, too?
She grabbed Rocky's hand and led him outside, where Summer, Seth, Ryan, and Grace were laughing over something.
"Rocky!" Seth yelled, extending his hand for a high-five. Rocky rolled his eyes at Seth, ignoring the hand. Seth slapped himself five, "the only person I can count on is myself," he huffed.
"I think the food is burning," Grace said, as smoke filled the air.
"I think you're right," Seth yelped, running over to the grill with Ryan. Quickly they flipped all of the hotdogs and hamburgers onto a tray with a spatula. Grace and Summer choked dramatically, complaining that the boys couldn't cook. Marissa rolled her eyes. They were such drama queens.
After getting their food, the six sat down at the table by the pool to eat.
"Shit, Seth, I never knew you could cook," Rocky grinned, taking a bite out of his hotdog.
Seth shrugged. "What can I say? Emeril doesn't hold a candle to me."
Laughing, Summer added, "Well…he's got his own TV show. And he's not destined for the Cohen eyebrows. Which is more than I can say for you."
"Summer, you know you love me, eyebrows or no eyebrows," Seth grabbed her hand and squeezed it. Beside them, Grace leaned over and kissed Ryan. Speaking of eyebrows, Marissa's shot up at this sight, and she turned to Rocky and shoved her tongue in his mouth. It wasn't as much fun with him, she had to admit. But Ryan was making her jealous, and she'd always learned to fight fire with fire.
"Can we get through dinner without any making out?" Ryan asked, disturbed that Marissa was going at it with Rocky.
"Look who's talking," Summer snapped, pulling Seth's head towards her own. She kissed him for a second, and then pulled away. "Now we can stop with the kissing, since it makes Ryan so uncomfortable."
Ryan glared at her, but didn't say anything. In Ryan's case, less was more. His friends never knew how he did it, but more could be said with one look by Ryan than a whole speech by Seth.
Once they were done eating, it was study time. Well…it was time to get in studying before the real studying took place: the study of one's body.
"Here's an easy one, Grace. In 1492, blank sailed the ocean blue," Seth read aloud from his textbook. "I think we learned that song in third grade."
Squeezing her eyes shut as if the answer would pop out, Grace answered, "Washington."
Seth made a noise like a game show buzzer. "That is…incorrect. For 100 points, Marissa?"
"Christopher Columbus," she stated. God, Grace really wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed. Besides, this was supposed to be the easy stuff, the information put on the test to ensure that students would get a somewhat decent grade.
"That is…correct! And Marissa takes the lead," Seth said in his best Bob Barker voice, which was, in fact, quite terrible.
"Seth, enough with the game shows. Some of us want to learn the information we don't know," Summer barked.
Seth threw his hands up in the air. "I try to help…but apparently you people don't need my help. I'm going upstairs to study. By myself."
Huffing, Seth grabbed his notebook and textbook and stomped up the stairs.
Summer sighed. "You guys are so lucky you don't have to put up with that."
"Excuse me? I live with him," Ryan retorted, grinning. "You should see him when we don't have company, if you think this is bad."
"Whatever, Ryan. You can think you've got it worse. At least he doesn't start rambling nonsensically in the middle of sex with you!"
Rocky and Grace burst out laughing, while Marissa allowed a smile to pan out across her face.
"I don't know what Seth's been telling you, but we don't have sex," Ryan snapped. But even he could not refrain from cracking a smile. Pretty soon, the five of them were in hysterics. Marissa and Summer had tears in their eyes, while Ryan and Rocky were writhing on the floor. Laughing that hard hurt. Grace clutched her stomach, tears streaming down her face.
Summer sat up, wiping the tears off her face and biting her lip to stop laughing. "I should go check on him…"
Grace, still doubled over from laughter, said, "I could really go for a Balboa Bar."
Marissa frowned. "What's a Balboa Bar?" And, more importantly, what planet was Grace on?
Rocky raised his eyebrows. "You've never had a Balboa Bar?" he asked incredulously.
She shook her head. Grace whined, "Ryan, I really, really want a Balboa Bar."
"Fine," Ryan shrugged, "I don't mind taking a break from studying. Anyone want to come with?"
"I will," Marissa offered nonchalantly. "I suddenly want to try one."
"I'll stay here. I really need the time to study. Grace, c'mere. Do you know what Totalitarianism is, and when it began?" Rocky gave Marissa a quick kiss on the cheek, and walked over to Grace.
Without kissing his girlfriend, Ryan grabbed his jacket and keys and walked out of the living room. Marissa followed. They got in the car without saying a word to one another, and this continued for the majority of the ride. Marissa finally got sick of the awkward silence.
"You seem content," she observed.
"Do I really?" Ryan snorted. When it was just him and Marissa, there was no need for façades and fake cheerfulness. He could be truthful, at least about Grace.
Marissa shrugged. Come to think of it…he didn't seem that happy. No one else had noticed it. But she saw those grim, almost frowning looks that he threw in Grace's direction every once in a while.
"Well, I'm not," Ryan stated.
"I could make you happy," Marissa found herself whispering.