Chapter 11: Now that she's gone, won't you please stay?
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.
A/N: So I've been really bad about updating, I know I keep promising quick chapters but I had an audition yesterday and then I had about four hours of homework…and Wednesday night I also could type up my notes because we went out for my best friend's birthday…so, yeah. I'm not promising anything, but I should have Chapter 12 up by Sunday night. Don't get mad if I don't though.
Sis2ACesarSalad- Don't worry about it. You're like my most faithful reviewer, so I value your opinion. Thanks for apologizing though. Grace is a dumb slut who doesn't think before she acts…and since this is somewhat following the storyline of the O.C., I think you can guess who Ryan likes more…
Theresa- I totally agree!! Who would cheat on Ryan? I know I wouldn't…
Benzbabidoll-Thanks so much
Carpanthers21-Here's the update, a little later than I said, but it's here!
Iloveben14- Thank you! Glad you think "it's the best". You make me smile…
C-Yep, Grace is a slut. Don't worry, Ryan and Marissa are, like, made for each other ;)
Natalie- You're addicted?! Wow!!
Sleeping-Lisa17-Aww, thanks!
HOTTERTHNU-Glad you realized all those connections. I try to put in stuff that might not be so obvious, but you've got it down pat!
Emily-Hope this doesn't disappoint you…
Lora-I like long reviews, they let me know what you like and don't like in the story. Hopefully some of your questions will be answered, if not, ask me again, and I'll try to answer them. One quick answer…in the last chapter I said that all the girls got Tiffany bracelets for their sweet sixteen's. But since Marissa wasn't there when they had them, Ryan got her one because it's a sweet present. He got Grace one for her sweet 16.
Reviewer-The next chapter's got more R/M…more mistakes and confusion too!
Diablo17-Glad to hear I'm improving a little…I'm trying, really I am! Luke's role in the story is going to be brought up later…but maybe you're right!?
BenIsSexy- Nope, Grace isn't drunk this time…but will Ryan believe Marissa?
On with the story…
"Hey," Ryan slid into the seat next to Rocky. "I'm starved."
"Hey," Rocky muttered. While they had agreed that it had been a drunken, mistake-filled weekend that should be forgotten, he was still somewhat pissed at Ryan. The kid had a serious girlfriend, and yet he got Marissa an expensive bracelet? Sure, Rocky himself had made a few mistakes, but they were drunken mistakes. It wasn't as if he actually liked Grace.
"What did you think of the chem. Lab?" Marissa asked, taking a sip of her Perrier. She drank so elegantly, Ryan noted.
Ryan smiled. "Joey Higgins passed out."
Marissa's eyebrows shot up. "That short kid with the glasses?"
Ryan nodded enthusiastically. "You should've been there." Rocky shot him a look, and he quickly composed himself.
Rocky possessively took Marissa's hand. "We're going to San Diego on Friday. Marissa's always wanted to ride the trolley."
"Ever since I watched Full House," Marissa explained, "I've wanted to do that."
"That'll be fun," Ryan managed. Just then Grace skipped over. Marissa's face tightened at her sight. "Hey, babe." Ryan kissed Grace. She sat down across from Rocky.
"I'm no longer failing algebra," Grace announced proudly, avoiding eye contact with Marissa.
"That's great, Grace," Ryan smiled, and nuzzled her neck. "Let's go out tomorrow night to celebrate."
Eric, Jake, and a blonde boy named John came over to the table. "Rocky, coach wants us at practice now."
Rocky cocked his head apologetically. "Sorry, Marissa," he kissed her on the lips. "See you later, guys."
He walked away with the guys on the basketball team, leaving Ryan, Marissa, and Grace sitting uncomfortably.
"I—Uh, I'm gonna head out. Later, babe," Ryan muttered, kissing Grace on the cheek. He waved to Marissa and, taking a bite of a red apple, hurried away.
"Marissa," Grace began, "What you saw before, it wa—"
"How could you do that to Ryan?" Marissa cut in angrily. "He loves you."
Grace waved her hand dismissively, eyes narrowing. "What's it to you? Believe me, you'll be better off if you pretend it never happened. Because that's what I plan to do."
Marissa shrugged. "It's your conscience. But I wouldn't play around with Ryan's heart like that. Someone else might see you, and they'd probably tell him what they saw."
"I think I know how to handle my problems," Grace said icily. "Just remember, you saw nothing."
"Bye, Grace," Marissa stood up from the table. "Don't worry, I won't let it get around."
She stalked off, leaving Grace to wonder how the new girl had possibly gained the upper hand on her.
"Summer," Marissa yelled, trying to get the dark haired girl's attention, which was quite hard considering the throng of people gathered in the hallway. "Summer!"
She sighed, Summer hadn't heard her, and had sauntered away, probably to find an empty classroom to make out in with Seth.
Someone tapped her on the shoulder. "Hey," Marissa recognized the girl as Nikki, one of Summer and Grace's friends. "You're Marissa, right?"
"Yeah."
"Grace wanted me to tell you to forget…or else," Nikki smiled helplessly. "She's a bit demanding at times. But she'll grow on you."
"Thanks, Nikki," Marissa replied, trying to sound cheerful. What could Grace do to her? Marissa was the one who had the vital information, not Grace. But still, Ryan needed to know. It wasn't fair to him, or Marissa, if Grace was leading him on. Actually, make that any girl in school who had a crush on him.
Marissa went off in search of Ryan. She found him in the library, looking at a book on Greek mythology.
"Hey," she put her hand on his back. "I have to talk to you."
Ryan turned around, his face a mask of concern. "Is everything all right?" They hadn't really been talking lately, so it was only natural that he thought something was wrong.
"I don't know," Marissa bit her lip. "I—uh…I saw…"
"Go on," Ryan prodded.
"I saw Grace kissing this guy in a classroom earlier," she blurted out, then, seeing the Ryan's blue eyes begin to pool with disbelief, regretted it.
"What?" Ryan's jaw dropped, as he blinked furiously to hold back the tears.
Grace was his girlfriend, she loved him, and had promised never to cheat again…The only logical explanation was that a jealous Marissa was trying to break them up.
"You bitch," he spat at Marissa, the look quickly turning to one of disgust, "Can't you accept that Grace is my girlfriend and I love her? I can't believe you, I thought we agreed to be friends."
"Ry…" Marissa put her hand on Ryan's shoulder, but he angrily brushed it off. "I'm not lying. I do want to be friends, I just don't want to see you get hurt."
"Then stay out of my life!" Ryan's words nipped at Marissa's heart, slowly eating away the edges. He stormed off, probably to go find Grace and bitch about Marissa to her. She sighed, leaning against a bookshelf. Shit…that hadn't gone exactly as planned.
All day, Marissa noticed people looking at her. And they seemed to be angry, or pissed off. For the life of her, she couldn't figure out why. She spotted Seth in the hall and walked over to him, hoping that he, too, wasn't going to give her a weird look.
"Seth, hey," Marissa forced a smile. The curly haired boy turned at the sound of her voice. In his eyes, there was something other than anger; it was pity.
"Marissa…uh, hi," Seth glanced around nervously. "What's going on?"
"I don't know." Marissa planted her hands on her hips. "I was kind of hoping you would tell me."
Seth's brow creased into a line of worry. "Um…well, you see…"
Luckily, he didn't have to answer, because Grace, Summer, and a few of their friends came over to them, fuming.
"Why did you tell Ryan I cheated on him?" Grace cried heatedly. The other girls stood behind her for support, arms crossed menacingly.
"What—I uh…I thought he should know," Marissa admitted, feeling her cheeks flush. They weren't going to believe her. Only Grace knew the truth, the rest of them would believe anything she said.
"Well I didn't cheat on him, you bitch." Grace's eyes were flashing with a cold-blooded hatred.
"You're just jealous because you can't get a guy like him. I don't know why Rocky likes you, you're such a conniving bitch," Nikki snapped.
Marissa looked from Grace, to Nikki, eyes finally resting on her cousin, Summer. Summer gave her a somewhat merciful look, and then said, "I know you're my cousin, and all, Marissa. But what you did was really low. I can't believe you."
Marissa felt like a kettle about to whistle. Why were they all cast under Grace's spell? Couldn't they see? She'd have to make them see.
Marissa ate lunch alone—for the second time that week. Of course, it was only Tuesday, and Marissa knew she'd be eating in solitude the other three days of school. Summer wasn't speaking to her at home, and her parents had called Monday to say that they were "held up" and wouldn't be coming home until the following week. It wasn't as though Marissa wanted to hang out with them anyway, although Ashley wasn't half bad.
No one at school was talking to her. Even the teachers had seemed to get the vibe from the students; they'd stopped calling on her regularly and when she was the only one who raised her hand, they ignored it. Marissa blinked back tears when she was in school, but in her bedroom at the Roberts' house, she let every single one of them escape. Why hadn't she let Ryan find out on his own? Then her life wouldn't be one giant sinkhole.
The next day, Wednesday, Marissa finally spotted Rocky. He'd been at the hospital getting stitches yesterday, the result of a split knee at Monday's lunch practice. She didn't know if he knew what had happened between her and Grace, and hoped he was still on speaking terms with her. Even Seth rarely talked to her, although he'd paired up with her in Home EC when nobody would be her partner. It was getting pretty lonely.
"Rocky, how are you feeling?" Marissa fell into step with the boy who resembled Ryan.
"Hey, I heard about what happened," Rocky said, but he smiled. "Grace can be such a bitch."
Marissa felt a surge of relief pass through her body. So at least one person was talking to her. "Yeah," she agreed. "Now nobody will talk to me."
Rocky lowered his voice. "Did you really see her…making out with that guy?" he asked confidentially.
"I swear, Rocky," Marissa whispered. "But Ryan won't believe me and all of the other assholes at this school won't either."
"I believe you."
"I know." Marissa ran her hand through her tousled hair. "But…this life isn't all its cracked up to be. I just want to make everything right before I leave."
"You're leaving?" Rocky clutched Marissa's hand. "Don't leave…you can't leave."
"I have to," Marissa sighed, and sniffed slightly. "I don't belong."
"I'll talk to Grace, and Ryan, if you want," Rocky offered. "Things can't be that bad."
"They're not that bad," Marissa admitted, "but this isn't who I am. You don't know me at all, not one bit."
"Marissa…" Rocky struggled to find the right words, but came up empty. "I—uh, I guess I'll see you later. Don't leave without saying goodbye."
"Bye," Marissa responded lamely, patting Rocky on the back. Shit, she needed to get out of here. She needed to go find some of her old friends and drink her life away. Her eyes flew open, remembering the tiny bottle of Absolut Vodka she'd stashed in the new bag Ashley had bought for her.
Quickly, she found the girls' bathroom and went into a stall. With mounting urgency Marissa unscrewed the cap and took a long swig of the vodka. Its sharp taste burned her throat like wasabi, but it was comforting. Familiar. Another two gulps and she decided that it was enough…for now. After replacing the bottle in her bag, Marissa stuck a piece of gum in her mouth and hurried out of the bathroom. Feeling slightly more confident and self assured than before, Marissa spotted Ryan and resolved to make things better, at least a little better, before she left.
"Ryan," Marissa shouted. Three sandy haired boys turned around, interrupted from their conversations. She headed towards the one with the intense blue eyes. "Ryan, can we talk?"
Ryan turned his back on Marissa and said something to the guys he was talking with. He sighed, ran a hand through his impossibly stunning hair, and approached Marissa.
"What?" Ryan sounded tired, and Marissa wondered if he was because of her.
"Can we talk?" Ryan hesitated, his eyes darting around Marissa. "I have to tell you something important."
"Fine. But can we go somewhere quiet?" Ryan pointed in the direction of a classroom. He and Marissa walked down the hall until Ryan stopped in front of the Home EC classroom. "Let's make it quick. I don't need Grace thinking I'm cheating on her or anything…"
His words stung Marissa's ears and eyes, but she refrained from an equally biting comment. Ryan opened the door and they heard the sounds of kisses and moans. The lights were off, but Marissa could make out a shape pressed up against one of the stoves.
"Uh, sorry," Ryan gave a nervous laugh, "We'll find somewhere else to talk."
"Oh, don't worry about it." A female voice that sounded suspiciously like…
"Grace?" Ryan flicked on the lights skeptically.
Marissa's jaw dropped, and, although she didn't dare look over at Ryan, she sensed that he was in a similar state of shock.
"Grace?" Ryan repeated, as though he couldn't believe his eyes.
"I can explain, Ry. Mr. Jarrett force me to ki—"
"Save it. I'm sure our teacher forced you to cheat on me. Marissa was right about you."
"Ryan, I'm sorry," Grace whimpered. Marissa shook her head and tried to suppress a giggle. Not only was Grace pathetic, but also she was incredibly naïve.
"Sorry that you got caught?" Ryan spat. "We're over, Grace."
"Ry, wait…" Sniveling, Grace watched Ryan sprint out of the classroom.
Mr. Jarrett and Marissa left the Home EC classroom at the same time, leaving Grace to herself.
"I—uh," Mr. Jarrett began.
"It never happened, as far as I'm concerned…" Marissa found herself smiling a bit. It wasn't her place to tell everyone what had gone down between Mr. Jarrett and Grace, and, quite frankly, Marissa couldn't care less.
Walking down the hall, Marissa felt a wave of satisfaction envelop her mind and heart.
That had worked out better than she could've planned herself. She hadn't even had to trick Ryan into going into the classroom where Grace was. He'd led himself to the truth.
"Thanks," Mr. Jarrett hurried away. Marissa was sure of one thing: she'd be getting an A in Mr. Jarrett's Home EC class for the rest of the year.
The next day, Marissa was greeted with more than a few friendly faces. It seemed as though word had gotten out, that she'd been telling the truth about Grace. And she'd single-handedly made Ryan Atwood a single man.
As she was walking across the quad, Marissa overheard a group of sophomore girls gossiping and giggling.
"Did you hear? Grace and Mr. Jarrett were, like, getting it on, and Ryan walked in on them!"
"I know, she is such a slut. Who in their right mind would cheat on Ryan?"
"I wouldn't."
"That Marissa girl doesn't seem so bad, after all."
Smug with contentment, Marissa thought back to her earlier conversation with Rocky. Much as things in Newport were looking up, she still didn't belong here. Chino was home…even if she didn't actually have a home. She'd find some friends to stay with, or she'd make some quickly enough.
She wanted to tell Ryan though, let him know what he was going to be missing. A tiny tug at her heartstrings was ignored. Well, she ignored it as much as possible. They obviously weren't meant to be, Marissa told herself. Otherwise, Ryan would've dumped Grace for her long before he found out about Grace's cheating streak.
"Hey," Marissa heard Ryan's voice from behind her.
"Hi." Suddenly, Marissa wasn't looking forward to breaking the news to Ryan.
"I owe you an apology." They passed a shady oak tree. "Do you want to sit down?"
They sat in the shade of the tree, leaning up against the thick trunk.
"Look, Ryan…before you start," Marissa said. Why was her heart beating so uncontrollably? She took a few deep breaths, trying to calm herself down, but to no avail. "I'm going back to Chino."
"What? Why?" Ryan's icy blues melted Marissa's heart. So he was concerned. But it was too late.
"I don't belong here," Marissa stated simply. It was the truth, not the whole truth, but it was the only truth Ryan was going to know. She didn't want him to know that seeing him gave her a sharp pang in her chest. She didn't want him to know that she was craving a drink, or some pot. And she definitely didn't want him to know about the self-inflicted wounds. It was easier in Chino. No one asked questions there.
"Marissa, please stay." Ryan was groveling, and both he and Marissa knew it.
"Why should I?" Marissa asked dully, even though she knew what his answer would be.
"Because I want you to," Ryan answered, taking hold of Marissa's hand.
"I can't." She had to get away, before he could change her mind. This was too hard. It wasn't supposed to hurt like this.
Marissa saw the hurt and confusion in Ryan's pools of blue, but she forced herself to look ahead, and back to the life she had just left.