It had to be at least the tenth time Summer had heard the high-pitched beeping of her alarm clock, and finally opened her eyes and hit the "Off" button with a smack, making a mental note to unset the alarm considering school was now over.
Her hair still had remains of curls from the wedding the previous day. She felt greasy and exhausted. The first morning of a lazy summer called for a long half hour shower.
She wrapped a towel around her body and lightly ran out of her bathroom, leading a trail of water behind her. Summer quickly changed into a pink ruffled skirt and a white wife beater. Maybe Seth would appreciate the small homage to Ryan. Who was she kidding? Seth probably wouldn't even notice if she walked into his house riding a goldfish wearing a clown suit and fairy wings. His first and best friend, his brother, had gone back to Chino. Sure, Chino was just 45 minutes away but it wasn't the distance, it was the fact that they were back in two separate worlds. Ryan would be raising a family now, trying to get a job, probably forgetting all about his education. Seth would be moping a lot, trying to find comfort in Summer, and possibly going back to life as a social misfit. And Summer? Summer was left to watch it all unravel helplessly. She wasn't sure what that meant for her and Seth's relationship.
As Summer walked to the hallway she saw a not left by the table by the front door. "Summer," it had scrawled in her father's messy handwriting, "Kirsten Cohen called. Call her back. You know the number,"
Neil was still a little bitter about Summer being with Seth despite his dismay. Summer had desperately wanted to please her father but it came to a point when she had to choose one: her father's happiness or her own.
She obediently walked into the kitchen and dialed the Cohen house number. It was true, she had memorized it by heart. Seth's number was actually the first of all the boys' numbers that she had memorized. She liked to think that meant something more then her social life had unimproved since she'd began dating the school emo geek and now she had a lot more time to spend on the phone with her boyfriend.
Ring one: Summer leaned against the cold kitchen counter and waited patiently, beginning to wonder why Kirsten Cohen would call her.
Ring two: Summer contemplated reasons; maybe Seth had been in an accident? No way. That couldn't happen. Where did he have to go? Chino. Oh.
Ring three: Summer threw away the car crash idea and her thoughts were interrupted by an answer of "Hello?"
"Hi, Mrs. Cohen? This is Summer. My dad said you called earlier," Summer replied brightly.
"Yeah, a lot of things happened yesterday and, Seth, he…" Kirsten paused and took a breath in. She tried to think of a way to tell the girl that her boyfriend had gone to Tahiti for the summer.
Summer waited for Kirsten to continue. Snapping at her boyfriend's relatives was never good. She had learned that the hard way. Oh well, Mrs. Goldman did have it coming to her.
"Why don't you just come over today? There's a lot, and I just, I can't tell you over the phone," Kirsten explained unhappily.
Summer suddenly stood straight up. Maybe Seth had really been hurt. Maybe he'd tried to commit suicide. He had been so upset the last time she had talked to him. Maybe he just couldn't go back to life as the outcast.
"He isn't hurt or anything, right?" Summer asked frantically.
"No, nothing like that. Just be over soon, please?" Kirsten asked calmly, stressing the final word as if she was begging.
"Yeah, sure," Summer agreed.
A/N: This won't be long; this won't be all about the summer. At the most it's gonna be a five-parter. But you never know. I know the first chapter was short. Sorry!