Chapter 14: Are they together or not?
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: Sorry for the late update, I was in New York because my close relative is in the hospital. I promise a quick update—Chapter 15 will be up later today, or early morning tomorrow. Thanks for all the reviews!
"Hey," Ryan said, as Marissa opened the door. "I brought you breakfast." He pointed to the bag of food in his hand. "And flowers."
Marissa gratefully accepted the long stemmed roses, and opened the door widely so Ryan could come in. "Hold on just a second," she said, when Ryan leaned in for a kiss. She ran up the stairs and into her bedroom, where two open bottles—vodka and Bacardi Razz—were sitting on the desk. She quickly screwed their caps back on and shoved them under the bed. Then she went into her bathroom and brushed her teeth, and swished mouthwash around.
She walked calmly down the stairs, holding onto the railing for support. Not having had too much to drink—at least not in her book—Marissa still wasn't sure when—or if—the effects of the liquor would start to surface.
Entering the kitchen, Marissa bit down on her lip, feeling a slight bout of lightheadedness coming on. Ryan wrapped his arms around her and softly nibbled on her neck. Marissa let herself go in his arms, thankful Ryan was there to hold her up. Hopefully, he'd think she was lightheaded from him, and not alcohol.
Summer walked downstairs, dressed in a jean skirt and halter-top. "Eww, like, get a room," she said, disgusted. "Is Cohen here?"
Ryan shook his head. "He had to go register for that skating tournament this morning, so I'm taking you to school."
"Oh," Summer said. "In that case, Marissa's sitting in the back with me. No way am I going to watch you guys get all touchy-feely this early in the morning."
Ryan grinned and kissed Marissa on the lips again. "Okay, that should tide me over for a little while."
Summer rolled her eyes. "I'll be waiting in the car."
--
"I'll catch you later." Marissa kissed Ryan lightly, giving him the tiniest taste of her sweetness and leaving him begging for more. She smiled at him and walked down the hall to class.
Ryan walked into his classroom, grabbing the only empty seat…which happened to be next to Grace.
"Hi," she smiled too widely at Ryan. "How are you?"
"Grace," Mr. Fink warned, "you can talk with your boyfriend after class."
The students erupted in giggles and whispers. From the back of the room, someone—Ryan wasn't sure exactly who—yelled, "They're not going out. Ryan dumped Grace because she's a cheating skank."
More laughter followed. Ryan shifted his eyes uncomfortably. Much as he despised Grace for what she had done, he didn't want her being the butt of jokes and gossip. She was the first girl he'd ever possibly loved, and didn't want to see her hurt…much.
When the commotion had settled down, Mr. Fink turned to the board and began to write, in big block letters.
THE EGG-BABY PROJECTCollectively the class groaned as the dusty chalk words were written. It was the dreaded project, where students were paired up and had to take care of an egg, their 'baby'. They also had to create a budget, and choose occupations from a hat.
"…and Ryan, Grace, you'll be together. Come up and get your baby and careers," Mr. Fink said. Ryan dragged his feet up to Mr. Fink's desk, while Grace bounced up cheerily.
He picked from the hat. His slip of paper read Movie Star- $13 Million a year. Well, at least he had a good job. Grace squealed when she unfolded her piece of paper. "I'm a part-time waitress," she wailed. "I make $4000 a year!"
The class laughed. Grace pouted. "At least I have a rich husband. I knew it was meant to be, Ryan."
Ryan rolled his eyes as a few people sniggered.
"Settle down, people," Mr. Fink said impatiently. He began to explain the purpose of the project and handed out a few pages of guidelines and forms.
The bell rang and the students quickly gathered their books and eggs. One kid, Ronnie Parker, grabbed two more eggs and began to juggle. Until he dropped two of them. Lindsay Abele screamed.
"You murdered my baby!"
Mr. Fink whistled loudly and all the students but Lindsay and Ronnie left the room. Ryan waited until Mr. Fink had chewed Ronnie and Lindsay's ears off before approaching the teacher.
"Is there any way I could change partners?" he asked.
Mr. Fink shook his head apologetically. "I'm sorry, but I chose the groups while you and Grace were still going out. But you're capable of doing this project with Grace, Ryan. I know it."
Ryan sighed. "Okay." He walked out of the classroom.
--
Ryan twirled his lock, licking his lips and tasting Hershey's chocolate and Marissa's lip-gloss. They'd split a candy bar for lunch and had ended up kissing under a tree on the quad.
Lunch had never tasted so good before.
"Hey," Summer said, leaning against the lockers, while Ryan twirled his lock even harder. It didn't budge.
"Hi, Sum." Ryan didn't look up. He struggled with his lock, and, admitting defeat, kicked the locker in aggravation.
"Move," Summer ordered. She expertly spun the lock and it clicked open.
"How'd you do that?" Ryan asked. "Wait…where'd you get my combination?"
Summer just smiled knowingly. "I heard about Fink's class."
"Yeah…"
"And I think…it's funny, and so not a big deal, but I think you should let Marissa know. Just so it doesn't get back to her…the wrong way. You know how rumors spread like wildfire around here."
"Okay." Ryan got his books out of his locker. "Gotta get to class. And I still want to know how you knew my combination." As if on cue, the bell rang.
"Tell her!" Summer warned, walking off to find Seth, because they both had a free period.
She walked down the hall and entered the student lounge. Seth was bound to be in there…or somewhere.
Two small, manicured hands covered Seth's eyes. "Summer," Seth groaned, as she began to kiss his neck. He was playing Ms. Pacman in the student lounge and was on level 6.
Summer removed her hands and lips from Seth's body, not without pouting. "But Seth," she whined, "I thought we were going to spend our free period together."
"We can," Seth said, focusing intently on the game. He paused for a minute, licking his lips and biting the bottom one nervously. "You can watch me play, you know, cheer me on!"
Summer rolled her eyes at her boyfriend. "Because that's my idea of fun." The game began to emit noise and Seth turned around and kissed Summer on the forehead. He whipped his head back around a second later.
"I'm on level seven, Summer!"
Summer stood there, watching, for a few minutes. It was enough. Enough was enough. She wasn't going to waste her free period watching Seth play a video game he had at home.
"I'm leaving, since playing a game you own is so much more appealing than spending time with your girlfriend," she mumbled, walking to the door.
Five, four, three, two, Summer counted mentally.
"Wait, Summer!" Summer heard Seth calling her name, his footsteps growing louder. She walked out the door coolly, pretending she didn't hear him.
Suddenly she was spun around by the shoulders. "I want to spend time with you Summer."
She glared at Seth. "Oh really?"
"Yes, really," Seth answered, kissing Summer on the lips. Summer pulled away.
"Uh-uh," she said, grinning while Seth began to mope. "Kidding." She returned the kiss, and looped her fingers in Seth's belt loops.
Mr. Fink walked down the hall. "Don't you two have somewhere to be?" he said, furrowing his brow disgustedly.
"No, actually," Summer told him.
"Well don't loiter in the halls. Go somewhere. You can't be in the halls," Mr. Fink said, and then shuddered at his own remark. Summer and Seth grinned like idiots at each other. Had a teacher just told them to pretty much 'get a room'?
"You have a good day now, Mr. Fink," Seth called after the teacher, who was hurriedly retreating. He wrapped his arm around Summer and began to walk down the hall. They exited the school and walked out to a shady spot on the quad. They sat down, Seth's head in Summer's lap, and she began to idly play with his brown curls.
"You've got gorgeous hair," Summer commented.
"Why, thank you," Seth replied in a girlish, high-pitched voice. "I got it done just last weekend!"
Summer rolled her eyes and kissed Seth's nose. "You look funny from this angle."
"Thanks," Seth smiled. "I am still adorable, though?"
"Of course." Summer rumpled Seth's hair. "Do I look funny?"
"You never look funny," Seth answered, and got another kiss. "I feel like Spiderman."
"Why?"
"You know, that upside-down kiss he had?"
"What a loser…" Summer smiled tenderly, and lay down so her shoulder was touching Seth's.
--
"Psst…Ryan." Ryan looked around to see who was whispering his name—and failing miserably.
Mrs. Douglas was writing notes on the board and most of the class was copying them down. Behind Ryan was Rocky, who was trying to get Ryan's attention.
Ryan turned around, and in a low voice, "What?"
"What's the deal with you and Marissa…or is it Grace?"
"Grace and I are over. I caught her with Mr. Jarrett." Ryan turned around when Mrs. Douglas cleared her throat. The woman cast a stern look in Ryan's direction, then began to write on the board again. "And Marissa and I…we've gone out a few times."
"So is she your girlfriend?"
"Mr. Atwood, please pay attention," Mrs. Douglas snapped, and Ryan turned his head around.
"Sorry," he mumbled, and began to copy down the notes on the board.
Mrs. Douglas nodded curtly and wrote a few more things on the board. Ryan turned back around. "I guess so," he whispered to Rocky.
Rocky grimaced as soon as Ryan's back was turned. "Dude, why'd you have to take over my territory?"
"I'm sorry…but she likes me, Rocky. Don't you get it?"
"Some friend you are."
--
Ryan slammed his locker shut and swung his backpack over his shoulders. He hadn't seen Marissa all day for some reason…and he had this feeling he should tell her about Fink's class as soon as possible. That, and his fear of Summer, propelled him to search for Marissa.
He walked down the hall alongside Nikki, Leah, and a few of Grace's friends…if they were still her friends. He could hear them gossiping—what else was new?
"I heard that Marissa wanted Seth, but since Summer already had him, she settled for Ryan."
"Really? Like, I so thought that she wanted Summer…but obviously couldn't have her!"
"She's had it in for Grace since she arrived. But at least Ryan's not with that cheating bitch any more."
"Who would cheat on Ryan? I wouldn't."
"I wouldn't!"
"It's not fair that she got him though…why should she get him? She's only been here for, like, a couple of weeks!"
Ryan spotted Marissa and his face lit up. He slowed down his pace though, wanting Nikki and her posse to pass before he spoke to Marissa. But they stopped in front of Marissa's locker, where she was gathering her books, and at the same time stopped their vicious talking.
"Hey Marissa." Ryan heard Nikki say. He stopped where he was and listened to their conversation.
"We were wondering…do you want to go shopping with us?" Leah asked. She had long, light brown hair and was impossibly skinny for a girl her height. Being 5 foot 8 and a size 2 was freakishly thin.
"Um…sure," Marissa replied. "But I don't think Grace wou—"
"Grace isn't coming," Leah interrupted.
"Okay," Marissa said slowly.
"Great! We'll go tomorrow after school," Nikki smiled, waved, and sauntered off. Leah and two other girls followed suit, but one girl, Tiffany, stayed to tell Marissa something.
Ryan felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around to see Grace, egg in hand, smiling suggestively. "I was abou—"
"Your 'girlfriend' is busy right now," Grace said coolly. "You can spare a second."
"What do you want?" Ryan ran a hand through his sandy colored hair.
Grace pointed to the egg. "We need to discuss our egg-baby project, hubby."
"Don't call me that," Ryan sighed, but followed Grace into an empty classroom.
Marissa finished talking with Tiffany, who'd invited her to movie night at her house on Saturday. Of course, Tiffany said for Marissa to bring Ryan. Speaking of Ryan, Marissa could've sworn she'd seen him during her talk with Tiffany and her friends. But now, the halls were pretty much deserted, and Ryan was nowhere in sight. Maybe he was in the parking lot or on the quad with his friends.
She heard two people discussing the events of Mr. Fink's class. Something about him mistaking Ryan for being Grace's boyfriend and how they were partners for the egg-baby project…
Marissa walked by a classroom and heard voices, so she peeked into the open door. Ryan and Grace were sitting at a table, and Grace was hovering over Ryan.
"Come on Ryan, it will be good for us," Grace was saying.
"I don't know," Ryan answered.
What were they talking about? Marissa wasn't sure, but it sounded suspicious…
"Baby, we should be together, even the teachers agree," Grace said, stroking Ryan's shoulder.
Ryan stood up so he was facing Grace. Their faces were really, really close, too close for comfort in Marissa's opinion. "Grace," he began. But Marissa didn't wait to hear what he was going to say next. She'd heard enough…
--
"Hey Sum," Ryan said, when Summer answered the phone. "Is Marissa there?"
"Yeah," Summer said tiredly, "I'll get her in a second." Ryan heard her calling Marissa's name. "So, did you tell her? She seemed, like, kind of upset after school. And why didn't you give her a ride home?"
"Um…she left without me?"
"I'll go get her," Summer sighed and put the phone down on the counter. "Marissa, phone's in the kitchen.""Hello?"
"Why'd you leave without me today?"
"Why'd you not tell me about Fink's class? And why are you getting back together with Grace?" Marissa spat out angrily.
"Wait a second…I was going to tell you about Fink's class, I didn't think it was that big of a deal so I didn't rush to find you. I couldn't find you. And why would I be getting back together with Grace? I'm with you," Ryan answered, puzzled.
Marissa walked out of the kitchen with the cordless phone and up the stairs. "That's not what I saw—and heard—earlier."
"What are you talking about?" Ryan wondered.
"Don't play stupid—I saw you in that classroom with Grace. And you guys were making up!" Marissa went into her bathroom, opening the cabinet and taking out a bottle of Tylenol. She reached behind the toilet for a small, travel size bottle of shampoo…only there was vodka in there, not shampoo.
"We were not making up!" Ryan retorted. "Why were you spying on me? We were just discussing our project, you know, the egg-baby project that Mr. Fink made us partners for? Maybe if you came to me instead of assuming, you'd know!"
"But you guys were so close…almost kissing. And you were talking about getting back together," Marissa paused, shoved two pills into her mouth, and took a gulp of the vodka to wash it down.
"Grace was talking about getting back together," Ryan amended.
"I have to go," Marissa replied.
"Are you mad at me?"
"So what if I am?" She clicked off, leaving Ryan with a dial tone and a mind racing a million miles a minute. She shoved two more pills into her mouth and crawled to her bed, reaching under it for a bigger bottle of vodka. She washed the pills down with four generous gulps, then two more for effect.
Screw Ryan. She didn't need anyone. Marissa was already alone, as far as she was concerned.
--
"This boat is so unsafe," Summer complained, as Seth raised the sail.
"Yet you still come on it, time after time," Seth remarked, and Summer smacked him on the head. "Hey! Watch it, I'm trying to put the sail up."
"I don't want to go anymore," Summer pouted, pulling Seth down on top of her.
"We…Okay, we could just do this," Seth decided, "But let's go out to the middle of the marina; it'll be more private."
He finished raising the sail and they quickly caught the wind. When they'd gotten pretty far out, Seth lowered the sail.
"Much better," Summer complimented Seth, before pulling him down on top of her again. They began to kiss, Summer running her hands through Seth's curly mop of hair. They rolled over so Summer was on top of Seth, beginning to intensify the kisses. More passionate and more wild, more urgent, Seth lost track of time and whereabouts. Only when Summer sat up did he return to Earth.
"The sun's setting," she said. "We should probably head back."
Seth nodded his head, stole one more kiss, and began to raise the sail again. While they were headed back to the docks, Summer let out a loud "Eww!"
"What?" Seth asked in a bored tone. He was used to Summer saying "Eww!" to just about anything and everything. He turned around when Summer didn't answer and saw a fish flopping around on Summer. "You caught a fish!"
"Get it off me Cohen," Summer screamed, a murderous look in her eyes. Seth lunged for the fish, but it slipped out of his fingers and landed on Summer's face. "Eww!"
Seth couldn't help but laugh but he quickly bit his tongue after seeing the deathly glare in Summer's eyes. He knew he'd be getting hell later. Gingerly, Seth slid the fish off of Summer's body, and pushed it into the water.
Summer spluttered and spit in Seth's face. "Cohen! That was so…eww!"
Seth leaned over and kissed Summer, and made a face. "Eww is right."
"Shut up!" Summer wrapped her arms around Seth's neck and began to kiss him.
"Well, fish is my favorite dish," Seth told Summer, once he'd come up for air.
"Oh, Cohen," Summer rolled her eyes and kissed her boyfriend again.
--
"I don't know what to do," Ryan told Seth on the way to school. Mr. Roberts, making a rare appearance, had shown up last night and insisted upon driving Summer and Marissa to school, before he left on yet another business trip.
"I hate to say it…but Summer was right," Seth grinned. "You should've told her right away. But just keep telling her you're sorry. Eventually, she'll forgive you."
"I don't know…Marissa's different," Ryan tried to explain it to Seth.
"Summer is the hardest girlfriend to please. If I can do it with her, you can definitely do it with Marissa," Seth said confidently. He turned into the parking lot of Harbor and pulled up between a Boxster and a Lexus. "I'll put in a good word for you, if you want."
"Thanks man."
They walked onto the quad, where most of the students were milling about before first period. A bunch of Ryan's jock friends were throwing a football around, and of course the cheerleaders were trying to look cool and casual but really scoping out the guys. Seth saw Summer and waved. "Summer!"
Summer brightened when she saw Seth waving and hurried over to the two boys. "Hey," she gave Seth a kiss on the cheek and Ryan a smile.
"Where's Marissa?" Ryan asked. He was going to have to try and make her talk to him, listen to him. He knew he could make her understand. It was all a big misunderstanding.
Summer looked around. "I don't know. She ditched me as soon as my dad dropped us off. Maybe she had to talk to a teacher or something…"
Seth found the opportune moment for putting in a good word for Ryan. "So, Summer," he said casually, "I was telling Ryan we'd do him a favor and put in a good word with Marissa…"
"And?" Summer raised her expertly waxed eyebrows expectantly.
"I was hoping you could put in a good word…" Seth finished, smiling.
"Okay, but only if you come with me." Summer dragged Seth away by the arm, leaving Ryan standing by himself. His friends were way too perfect for each other.
"Hey!" A voice from behind Ryan. He turned around and saw Tom. "How's Marissa?"
"Good, I guess," Ryan said. He didn't need Tom knowing he and Marissa were in a fight, because it was common knowledge that Tom liked Marissa.
"Good." Tom seemed to be searching for something to say. "So…uh, you guys are dating?"
"You could say that," Ryan shrugged. Were they dating? He wasn't sure at this point.
"Oh," Tom said. "Well, I'll see you in Dobson's class, I guess."
Ryan nodded as Tom walked away. That had been awkward. He walked over to John and a few other guys on the team, and began to talk about sports.
Meanwhile, Summer and Seth were walking around, looking for Marissa. They found her talking to Leah and Tiffany, two of Summer's good friends. Once they were done, Summer and Seth went up to Marissa.
"Were they giving you trouble?" Summer asked worriedly. The last thing she wanted was her friends being mean to her cousin, whom she now liked.
"No," Marissa smiled slightly, her eyes traveling past Summer, "We're going shopping after school. You can come, if you want."
"Good for you! That's okay, I have a date with Seth," Summer said. Wow. Her friends actually liked Marissa? She hadn't even had to intervene! Summer had to give Marissa credit; the girl was good at making friends—and enemies as well.
"So, Marissa," Seth began, ignoring the warning look from Summer. "I have to tell you something important, so please just hear me out."
Marissa crossed her arms. "Go ahead." Her head was still throbbing from last night's drinking and Tylenol binge. She hadn't been able to cut herself, for some reason. She guessed she was no longer capable of that much pain in one night. Had she ever had the capacity to do that much damage to her body?
"Ryan likes you. A lot. And he was going to tell you about Fink's class, but he didn't get to you in time. And he most definitely wouldn't get back with Grace, not after what she did…and especially not after you," Seth told her. Marissa's heart softened a little. Seth was a great guy. Summer was truly blessed.
"I don't know…" Marissa began. "The whole thing just seems fishy to me."
At the word 'fishy', Summer snorted and began to crack up. Seth shook his head. "Long story. Don't mind her. But at least talk to Ryan. He cares about you and doesn't want to lose you…he's barely had you!"
"Okay," Marissa considered this. "Thanks, Seth." She gave Summer a weird, questioning look and walked away, hopefully in search of Ryan.
A/N: So this chapter was kind of dull, I guess, but it's leading up to some good stuff! I promise you, there will be a few cute R/M moments and as always, some S/S awwness. Chapter 15 should be up by tonight; I've got it written down and just need to type it up. I also have Chapter 16 written, so that'll be on your screens soon! Sorry if this chapter sucked, hopefully 15 will make up for it! Review, please.