Kathryn sat by the sea, dangling her feet in the water. She looked at her reflection in the water, but didn't recognise the girl looking back at her. She could see the reflection of another person in the water. It was Ryan.
"Did you know I would come?" he asked in his easy, level tone.
"I didn't want you to come," she looked up into his eyes, the blue eyes that forced her to tell the truth. "I hoped you would."
He sat down beside her, playing with his fingers, staring at the moon, and she sat, playing with her toes, looking at everything that didn't remind her of him. She looked at the moon, but that reminded her of his penetrating eyes. She looked at the pebbles on the beach, but they reminded her of the pebbles at the pool, where she had never felt as weird. She eventually just stopped looking at anything at all. She felt him put his arm around her waist, lace his fingers through hers, and she rested her head on his shoulder.
He picked up a shell that was lying next to him, and wrote a message in the sand. It said:
"I think I'm falling in love with you." She felt him leave her side, and walk away.
"I don't know what to do..." she had never cried over a guy before, but now she let the tears spill over. "I wish..." she wrote in the sand, but what she would have wished, she never knew, because at that exact moment, the sea came up, and any trace of how they felt about each other was washed away.
Run, running all the time
Running to the future
With you right by my side
Ryan sat and listened to the song on the radio. He was confused. He was falling out of love with one girl and falling in love with another. He didn't know what to do.
Me, I'm the one you chose
Out of all the people
You wanted me the most
Ryan remembered that Marissa was still in love with him. He didn't want to let her down.
And I'm so sorry that I've fallen
Help me up, let's keep on running
Don't let me fall out of love
He was sorry, but it was too late. Ryan listened to another verse as he watched it rain, not only outside, but on his life.
Be, be the one I need
Be the one I trust most
Don't stop inspiring me
Ryan remembered kissing Kathryn. He remembered everything about her. When he was with her it was like...it was like a dream. It was unreal. It wasn't like that with Marissa anymore.
Sometimes it's hard to keep on running
We work so much to keep it going
Don't make me want to give up
He couldn't help it. Marissa wasn't right for him. He was giving up.
"Hey."
"Hey Seth! Come in!" she paused. "What are you doing here?" she was slightly confused as to why he was at her house.
"Well, I was wondering if I could take a look at your graphic novels?"
"Oh sure! You want to come upstairs?"
"Uh-huh." He followed her to her room, which was covered in posters of Death Cab for Cutie and Dashboard Confessional. He was shocked. No other girl he knew liked them. Granted, he didn't know that many girls, but Summer and Marissa had the same taste as the entire school, almost, so it was a pretty safe bet.
"Oh, wait. Before I get them out, do you mind if I get changed? It's just, I had kickboxing this morning and I haven't had chance yet."
"Oh no, go right ahead." Seth didn't mind at all.
She took off her shirt, and let it fall gracefully to the floor. She picked out a green, vintage t-shirt, and it fit her perfectly, going in and out right where she did. She unbuttoned her jeans, and stepped out of the heap that they made on the floor, and put on a different pair of stonewashed grey jeans. She pushed her hair back into a messy, but chic, bun. She pulled a box out from underneath her bed, and blew the dust off the top. She took off the lid, and almost immediately Seth started pulling volumes out.
"Oh my God! These are all so rare! Oh my God you have the original Batman!"
She nodded and smiled proudly. "The first ever one. I got it at a convention. It cost me a thousand bucks."
"Holy...and it's in really good condition too! I'm just...wow," he breathed.
He rested his head on her shoulder while they read the comic books, and every time he moved, his hair brushed her neck, and she giggled.
"What?"
"It tickles," she laughed some more. He moved in, and kissed her. She kissed him back, at first, but then drew back.
"No, Seth, I can't do this. I can't let you do this."
"Why not?"
"Because I like someone else...and he likes me too, I think."
"Ryan."
"Uh-huh," she dropped her head. "I'm sorry."
"No, it's not your fault. But...what about Marissa?"
"I...I don't know. I don't really know anything right now. Would you just...would you just hold me?"
"Sure," and Seth took her in his arms, and they sat on the floor, like that, until Kathryn's mom came and sang to them about dinner.
"Hey Ryan."
"Marissa," she kissed him, but he drew back.
"Is something wrong?"
"No...yes...I mean..."
"Ryan, what is it?"
He took a breath. This wasn't going to be easy.
"I think we should break up."
"What?" Marissa cried. Literally. "Why?"
"It's just..."
"Just what? Is there someone else?"
"Of course there's someone else!" he wanted to snap at her, but he had to keep his cool, or they would end up not even being friends. "No...well yes, but it's not just that. Things haven't been the same since I came back from Chino. Haven't you noticed?"
Marissa sighed. She should've known he was going back to Theresa.
"Who is it? The other girl?" she asked, even though she knew what he would say. Ryan paused. He hadn't planned on telling her – at least not yet.
"It's..." he looked out of the window, where he could see Seth and Kathryn playing an all-too-real version of Batman. They were rolling around, pretending to shoot each other with their fingers, laughing and screaming.
"Seth?" Ryan looked at her, his 'not-funny-right-now' look.
"Kathryn." Marissa looked at her, daggers in her eyes.
"I'm sorry," he left the room. She promptly sat down on her bed and got out the Kleenex.