"I mean, who does she think she is, sashaying up in here, all new and exotic with her red hair, and being all New York-y...and you know, she's probably not only kissing Seth Cohen, but Ryan too." Summer raged. No-one knew how she felt about Seth, and if you'd asked her the day before, then she wouldn't have known either. But feeling sick to the stomach at the sight of another girl kissing him? Well she thought it was pretty obvious how she felt now.
"Summer, Ryan would never do that to me. I trust him! And anyway, why are you so bothered about Seth Cohen? It's not as if you like him or anything!" Marissa didn't seem too concerned. She was more bothered about filing her nails into perfect ovals. Summer sat down slowly on the bed, disappointed.
"No, I guess not."
"Oh my God did you see her ass? It was like..." Seth tried to gesticulate as a way of describing Kathryn's butt. "And she likes graphic novels. And she knows about Enter the Matrix! She's like, my dream girl..." Seth stopped short when Ryan shot him. "Dude. You're on my team! Dude! Stop shooting me!" Seth pressed pause and the game stopped. "Dude, what is up with you? You're all...ponder...-y. and that's never good. So come on. Tell me what's up!" Seth waited.
"Seth...I think she's every guy's dream girl."
"Even yours?" Seth paused. "But what about Marissa?"
"I don't know. I mean...I love her, but from what you've told me, Kathryn does kickboxing! She's like...she's like Theresa."
Seth didn't know what to say. Theresa was like the female version of Ryan. Marissa wasn't. Marissa was too...she was too needy for Ryan. She was too emotional. Instead of pretending to be all bad-ass and be with Ryan, she should've stayed with Luke, but she lost her chance at that, because now Luke was with Holly. And if Kathryn managed to get Ryan, and Seth had no doubt that she wouldn't, then Marissa would be alone. Maybe that was how it was meant to be.
"Yeah, Mom, the spaghetti was delicious!...Huh? No, we didn't get homework on the first day! I'm going swimming!" Which Kathryn was going to do. But just not in her pool. She put on her bikini, the material straining to accommodate her large, but proportional, breasts. She picked up the rosemary she had borrowed from the Cohens', and headed back over there.
Ryan had picked up the Yu-Gi-Oh comic that Kathryn had been reading, and started reading it himself, when the doorbell rang. 'It's not bad,' Ryan thought, looking down at the comic. 'Don't know what's so special about it though.'
He got up, hoping it was Marissa at the door, because if it was Kathryn – well he didn't know if he could deal with it. But it wasn't Marissa.
"Hey." Kathryn smiled. "I just came by to bring the rosemary back – and I can't stay long – I'm going to the beach to have a little paddle in the sea, 'cause our pool isn't done yet." She handed him the rosemary, and started to turn away to walk down to the sea.
"Wait!" Ryan yelled when she was halfway down the driveway. She turned back, and he felt slightly embarrassed. "If you want, we have a pool right here..."
"Really? Thanks, Ryan! Would you and Seth care to join me?" Seth appeared out of the living room door.
"Well how could we say no?"
"Come on Coop!" Summer grabbed Marissa's arm and dragged her out of the house. "We have to go and talk to them!"
"About what?"
"About Kathryn, silly!" Summer rang the bell, and waited, playing a little tune on the wall with her nails.
"You rang?" Seth answered the door, dripping wet from the pool.
"Hi Seth!" Marissa gave him a sweet smile. "Do you think we could come in?"
"You mean come through – we're in the pool."
"Huh. Okay. Lead the way, Cohen." Summer poked him, and then wiped her finger on her jeans. Wet Cohen. Ew.
"So, apart from kickboxing, do you do anything else?" Ryan was asking Kathryn.
"Not anymore...I did judo for six years, and I went as far as I could with that. Trouble is, no-one's ever attacked me..." she noticed Ryan looking confused. "...so I could never practise on the element of surprise."
"Oh." Ryan smiled. "Could you show me a move?"
"Sure." She got up, out of the pool and pulled him up too. He looked into her eyes, and their lips moved closer to each other's..."Uh...so anyway, we'll get into the position, and I'll tell you what to do. Okay?" Kathryn suddenly burbled.
"Okay." Ryan sighed. He knew it was wrong to want her, but what could he do?
"Ladies, we're here..." Seth trailed off when he saw Ryan and Kathryn. Marissa looked around, and eventually she saw them too. She had her arm around his waist, her hips aligned with his, holding his hand, whispering in his ear.
"Okay, so I'll push up on you..." Kathryn started to tell Ryan.
"GET THE HELL OFF MY BOYFRIEND!" Marissa ran over and grabbed Kathryn by the arm. She pulled her away from Ryan. "YOU LYING, SLUTTY BITCH! HOW DARE YOU?" Marissa screamed.
"Marissa!" Ryan shouted. She stopped screaming, and slowly turned to face him. "She was showing me a judo move!"
"Wh...what?" Marissa said softly.
"She was showing me a judo move. We weren't doing anything!"
"Oh, my God..." she looked at Kathryn. "I am so sorry."
"It's...it's nothing." Kathryn said, through tears. She picked up her clothes and ran into the house. She ran in the direction of the front door, but tears blurred her vision, and she ended up in the living room. She sat down on the sofa, and wept.
"Hey." She felt a hand on her shoulder, and looking up, found it was Seth.
"Hey, Seth."
"Marissa says she's sorry. It's just that since Ryan ran away to help Theresa with their baby, she's become really protective over him – you understand, right?"
"Sure." She looked up. "I'm sorry – I probably look all wet and horrible." She barely laughed.
"You look wet, yes. Horrible, no. You look beautiful." She smiled shyly, and blushed. "Thanks."
Seth helped her up, and she pulled him into a hug. He smiled sadly and stroked her hair. It was probably the only chance he would ever get.