Kirsten was in the kitchen when she heard the door open. She walked
in and saw Sandy.
"Look who I brought!" he said and moved out of the way. Behind him stood Ryan. And Kirsten ran up to him and put him into a hug. Amazingly, he returned the embrace.
"Hi Kirsten."
"I missed you so much! Sandy said he was going to try to persuade you to come back, not bring you!"
"Well, I am back. Not to be mean or anything, but where's Seth?"
"Comic book store. He should be back soon." At least that's what Kirsten hoped. She didn't fully trust him. Not since his little sailing trip.
"How long ago did he leave?"
"About a half an hour ago."
"Oh. Well, I'm just gonna put my stuff away."
"We kept the pool house the same."
"Thanks." Ryan left with his two bags.
"How did you do it?" Kirsten asked Sandy as they walked into the kitchen.
"I'm magic. I get people to do stuff. They teach you how to do it in law school, I swear."
"Oh, right." They kissed.
"See, made you do that."
"Um-hmm." They heard a car in the garage. Seconds later, the door opened and Seth appeared.
"Hey son."
"Hi. Did I ever tell you guys I love when new comics come in?" He jingled a bag.
"Yes. Every week when the new comics come in." Kirsten replied.
"Hey, it's the only thing I have right now. Comics and Captain Oats."
"Oh, check the pool house." sandy and Kirsten kissed again.
"Could you like save that for any time I'm not in the vicinity?" Sandy gave his son a thumbs up as he continued kissing Kirsten. Seth shuddered and left them. They stopped and Kirsten went to the phone.
"What are you doing?" Sandy asked.
"Calling take-out. Like I always do."
"Let's celebrate and go out. Ryan's here, so we have reason to celebrate."
"Then I'll call for reservations."
"Good." Kirsten set up reservations and looked over to the pool house. Only Ryan was in there. Kirsten hadn't noticed that instead of going to the pool house, Seth had went upstairs. Seth worried Kirsten. Seth had been just about missing for two months. He had called, sent postcards, but that was it. It had been the most depressing time of Kirsten's life. Both her boys had been gone. She had cheered up when Seth returned, but Ryan still hadn't been home. But now he was. So she would be much happier. Sandy hadn't told her what happened in Chino, but it must have been difficult, for everyone. With Ryan now staying with the Cohens, she worried about Theresa. What would she do? Theresa had decided to have the baby. But now she was alone. And Kirsten wanted to help. But she already had enough problems to deal with. She just hoped Theresa would make the right decisions and not regret them later.
Ryan finisher unpacking and headed back to the kitchen. Kirsten was there, but Sandy wasn't.
"Oh, Ryan. Seth's upstairs." Kirsten told him and then he headed up the stairs to Seth's door. He knocked on it and heard a muffled "come in" and entered. Seth was on his bed, headphones on, deeply engrossed in a comic book.
"Hey." Ryan said, but Seth didn't hear him. Ryan rolled his eyes and tapped Seth on the shoulder. He jumped and took off his headphones. "Hey." Ryan repeated.
"Ryan. Hey. You're here. What's up? When did you get home?"
"Like 15 minutes ago."
"Pool house. Now I get it."
"What?"
"Never mind. So you here for good?"
"Yeah."
"Awesome! And you know what I heard while eavesdropping on the even more dorkier people at the comic book store? There's a party. We should go."
"How did they hear about it?"
"Ya know, I think the one guy is like stalking some girl. I don't know."
"Right. So what did you do all summer?"
"Well, I tried to get to Tahiti , but that didn't work. So I pretty much sailed around for two months."
"Wow."
"Yeah. I left right after you did."
"Oh."
"Yeah, I had some 'me' time. Pretty depressing most of the summer, actually. But I am so happy school is starting."
"Why?"
"I'll have to see people. Like Summer."
"Haven't talked to her?"
"No. Not since Marissa became my step-aunt-in-law person thing. I don't know what relation we are to each other."
"I think it's step-aunt."
"Probably. Weddings confuse me. I just know you gain family."
"Right."
"So how was your summer?"
"Other than working and helping Theresa, nothing happened."
"Wow, that's exciting. So do you, like, have a job now?"
"Fired a couple days ago."
Okay. That's cool, man."
"Yeah."
"So. How's Theresa? Still pregnant?"
"Yeah. But she decided to go to Atlanta now."
"Oh, so the kid isn't yours?"
"Don't know. But I wish she would have stayed." Ryan leaned on the wall. He didn't realize how much he had missed the Cohens.
"Right. So, how about that party?"
"What about it?"
"Ya wanna go?"
"Sure."
"Great. The return of Cohen-wood."
"Cohen-wood?"
"Sure. I thought we could have this neat scary name that people would fear." Ryan glared at Seth. "Or not."
"Right."
"Hey, I'm telling you, with my sarcasm and your... punching abilities, we could overtake the school. Luke's not there, so there's an opening for school ruling."
"Thought hard about this?"
"Well, it gets lonely on a boat. I had to plan for if you were coming back or not."
"What was the plan for me not coming back?"
"Depression. But you know that's not gonna happen. Cause you're back and that's good." Seth smiled and Ryan actually smiled back.
Anna rang the doorbell. It was about eight, and she would have been there sooner, but she had to unpack. But she made it to the Cohens. The lights were on, but they weren't answering. She was about to let Seth see her on the first day of school when the door opened.
"Anna?" Seth asked, obviously bewildered. She turned around and looked at him. He hadn't changed.
"Hey."
"Wow. Uh, come in."
"Thanks."
"This is a good day."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, you're here and Ryan's back..."
"Where was he?"
"Oh, right. You weren't here. Let me fill you in. Ryan and Theresa. Theresa pregnant. Ryan, Chino. Me, boat. Um, me, back. Ryan, back. I think that's it. Oh, add some strippers and a wedding in there."
"Right."
"Cliff notes."
"Obviously very short cliff notes."
"You don't want to know the details. Heck, I don't want to know the details. There's way too many."
"Okay."
"So what are you doing here?"
"I moved back."
"Cool. Hey, you should come to the party too."
"What party?"
"One that's tomorrow." anna thought. She wasn't the hugest party goer. But every now and then she did enjoy one.
"All right."
"Neat. So, what made you move back?"
"Pittsburgh changed. A lot. And it didn't seem right anymore."
"Ah, I see."
"Yeah. But now I'm here. Hopefully for good."
"That's good. I missed you."
"Glad to know I was missed."
"Did you miss me?"
"Of course."
"That makes me feel better. And you can help me and Ry take over the school."
"Take over the school?"
"Sure. We could try."
"Cohen, you haven't changed at all."
"Well, I had thought I did. But hey, whatever." Anna smiled. She really cared about Seth. She kept denying she liked him, but she couldn't. He was so great. He understood Anna. No one else did.
"So how are you and Summer?" Anna didn't want to ask, but she had to know.
"Well, we haven't spoken for a while. I don't know if we're together."
"Oh."
"Why?"
"I just wanted to know." Anna looked at her watch. "Oh, crud. I have to go." She got up to leave.
"All right. I'll see you tomorrow. Is your phone number still the same?"
"Yep. Talk to you later." She began to leave.
"Anna, wait." Seth called back. She turned back around.
"Yeah?" Seth walked up to her.
"Can we maybe like try again? I really missed you."
"I don't know, Cohen. We didn't work before and..."
"But I was still deeply in love with Summer."
"Aren't you still?"
"I like her, but she probably hates me. She hasn't talked to me in forever."
"I still don't..." Anna couldn't finish her sentence. Seth kissed her. Anna smiled at Seth.
"What do you say?"
"All right. But I still have to leave."
"I know."
"Bye."
"Bye." Anna left the house. The air outside was warm. Very warm. Nothing like Pittsburgh. Where the warmest it might get was 79. Sometimes it might get hotter, but not a lot.
Anna headed to her car. It was dark and you could see every star in the sky. Her thoughts drifted from Seth to Milana. Anna had this heavy load of guilt and was ready to get rid of it. Now that she was in Newport, and Seth was there, she was hoped the party would do just that.
Summer looked back at herself in the mirror. She was just about ready. Even though no one would care what she was wearing, as long as there wasn't much of it, she still wanted to look her best. She was ready to forget about Seth. He was old news. No more. Summer hated him. He didn't deserve Summer.
The doorbell rang. That was Marissa. Summer applied a fresh coat of lip gloss and rushed downstairs. Marissa was by the door, along with Summer's father.
"Hey Coop." Marissa hugged Summer. She actually seemed to be in a good mood.
"Hey. So, who's car do you want to take? Mine or yours?"
"I don't care."
"Mine it is." They began to leave.
"Bye Dad." Summer said to her father.
"Don't get into too much trouble. I don't want a call from the police."
"We won't." He waved goodbye and they shut the door. Marissa unlocked the car and Summer sat in the passenger seat. The car ride was mostly silent, save the light noise from the radio.
Sara Tierney's house wasn't that far form Summer's house. It only took about ten minutes to get there, and the party was already in full swing by the time they arrived. The place was trashed and the scent of beer was intoxicating. Summer and Marissa slowly made their way through, hoping not to trip over someone already passed out.
Marissa was the first to see the beer and she tugged on Summer's arm, urging her to follow. Summer followed, tripping on anything because Marissa was pulling so hard Summer didn't have time to look down. But they made it to the beer in record time. And then, Summer saw him.
Seth was sitting on a couch, talking to Ryan and Anna. Summer had to do a double take just to make sure it was Anna. Hadn't she moved away? All three had a beer in their hand, and soon Seth and Anna kissed. This extremely irked Summer. The two left the couch, leaving Ryan lost in thought. Summer grabbed a beer, and they both chugged theirs down, but for different reasons. They grabbed another, walking aimlessly into the sea of drunks.
Ryan sipped his beer carefully. Strangely, he was still on his first. He had a reputation for being a partier. Ryan had only arrived not long ago, with Seth and Anna. He hadn't seen Anna in a long time, or anyone in Newport for that matter. Seth was almost done with his first beer, and Anna had barely drunken any of hers. The two made a good couple. Ryan had learned That they were back together right when Anna had come over. They liked a lot of the same things, so they worked perfectly. Except Seth might still be deeply in love with Summer. He doubted this now, but you never knew. It could have changed over the last three months. Seth had said he wasn't in Newport for most of the summer. So he didn't know.
He checked his watch. It was already past two. How had it gotten so late so fast? Ryan looked around. Seth and Anna weren't anywhere. He walked around, looking for them. But before he could look for them, he saw Marissa. She was more beautiful than before. Or That could be the beer talking. He slowly approached her, taking one last swig of beer before he spoke to her. She was turned away from him, so he tapped her shoulder.
"Hey." Ryan said, hoping not to sound drunk. She turned around.
"Ryan. What are you doing here?" She looked confused.
"I just came back."
"What about Theresa?"
"Uh, she's going back to Atlanta."
"Oh."
"So how was your summer?"
"Fine." The conversation wasn't going as well as he envisioned it in his head all summer.
"Well, that's good. Mine want that exciting either."
"Oh. Well, it was good seeing you."
"Yeh."
"I missed you."
"Same here." Marissa walked away, chugging down what Ryan thought was her first beer. Ryan took a sip of his, and went in search of Seth and Anna. He headed outside first, to get some fresh air. Luckily, Seth and Anna were out there. Seth was talking to Summer, who looked peeved and bored at the same time. Anna stood next to Seth, who also looked a little peeved. Ryan walked up to them.
"Ryan, my man! What is up?" Seth exclaimed.
"Seth, how much beer did you lave?"
"Only like three. Or four."
"You're not driving."
"Fine with me."
"So, Chino, how are you?" Summer asked Ryan.
"Fine."
"Good. Talk to Coop?"
"Yeah, I did." Summer looked around. People were already leaving.
"What the hell? The party's already over?" At that moment, Marissa walked up to them.
"Sum, we should go."
"All right." she turned to Seth, Ryan, and Anna. "Do you guys need a ride?" Ryan and Seth looked to each other.
"We can just leave the car and get it tomorrow. I really don't feel right driving."
"Cool with me. Let's go." Everyone followed Marissa to her car. She took the driver's seat, and Summer took the passenger seat. The others pilled into the back, Ryan sitting uncomfortably in the middle.
It was a slightly open road, with cars around. Marissa began to pull out, denying to herself she was drunk.
"Look who I brought!" he said and moved out of the way. Behind him stood Ryan. And Kirsten ran up to him and put him into a hug. Amazingly, he returned the embrace.
"Hi Kirsten."
"I missed you so much! Sandy said he was going to try to persuade you to come back, not bring you!"
"Well, I am back. Not to be mean or anything, but where's Seth?"
"Comic book store. He should be back soon." At least that's what Kirsten hoped. She didn't fully trust him. Not since his little sailing trip.
"How long ago did he leave?"
"About a half an hour ago."
"Oh. Well, I'm just gonna put my stuff away."
"We kept the pool house the same."
"Thanks." Ryan left with his two bags.
"How did you do it?" Kirsten asked Sandy as they walked into the kitchen.
"I'm magic. I get people to do stuff. They teach you how to do it in law school, I swear."
"Oh, right." They kissed.
"See, made you do that."
"Um-hmm." They heard a car in the garage. Seconds later, the door opened and Seth appeared.
"Hey son."
"Hi. Did I ever tell you guys I love when new comics come in?" He jingled a bag.
"Yes. Every week when the new comics come in." Kirsten replied.
"Hey, it's the only thing I have right now. Comics and Captain Oats."
"Oh, check the pool house." sandy and Kirsten kissed again.
"Could you like save that for any time I'm not in the vicinity?" Sandy gave his son a thumbs up as he continued kissing Kirsten. Seth shuddered and left them. They stopped and Kirsten went to the phone.
"What are you doing?" Sandy asked.
"Calling take-out. Like I always do."
"Let's celebrate and go out. Ryan's here, so we have reason to celebrate."
"Then I'll call for reservations."
"Good." Kirsten set up reservations and looked over to the pool house. Only Ryan was in there. Kirsten hadn't noticed that instead of going to the pool house, Seth had went upstairs. Seth worried Kirsten. Seth had been just about missing for two months. He had called, sent postcards, but that was it. It had been the most depressing time of Kirsten's life. Both her boys had been gone. She had cheered up when Seth returned, but Ryan still hadn't been home. But now he was. So she would be much happier. Sandy hadn't told her what happened in Chino, but it must have been difficult, for everyone. With Ryan now staying with the Cohens, she worried about Theresa. What would she do? Theresa had decided to have the baby. But now she was alone. And Kirsten wanted to help. But she already had enough problems to deal with. She just hoped Theresa would make the right decisions and not regret them later.
Ryan finisher unpacking and headed back to the kitchen. Kirsten was there, but Sandy wasn't.
"Oh, Ryan. Seth's upstairs." Kirsten told him and then he headed up the stairs to Seth's door. He knocked on it and heard a muffled "come in" and entered. Seth was on his bed, headphones on, deeply engrossed in a comic book.
"Hey." Ryan said, but Seth didn't hear him. Ryan rolled his eyes and tapped Seth on the shoulder. He jumped and took off his headphones. "Hey." Ryan repeated.
"Ryan. Hey. You're here. What's up? When did you get home?"
"Like 15 minutes ago."
"Pool house. Now I get it."
"What?"
"Never mind. So you here for good?"
"Yeah."
"Awesome! And you know what I heard while eavesdropping on the even more dorkier people at the comic book store? There's a party. We should go."
"How did they hear about it?"
"Ya know, I think the one guy is like stalking some girl. I don't know."
"Right. So what did you do all summer?"
"Well, I tried to get to Tahiti , but that didn't work. So I pretty much sailed around for two months."
"Wow."
"Yeah. I left right after you did."
"Oh."
"Yeah, I had some 'me' time. Pretty depressing most of the summer, actually. But I am so happy school is starting."
"Why?"
"I'll have to see people. Like Summer."
"Haven't talked to her?"
"No. Not since Marissa became my step-aunt-in-law person thing. I don't know what relation we are to each other."
"I think it's step-aunt."
"Probably. Weddings confuse me. I just know you gain family."
"Right."
"So how was your summer?"
"Other than working and helping Theresa, nothing happened."
"Wow, that's exciting. So do you, like, have a job now?"
"Fired a couple days ago."
Okay. That's cool, man."
"Yeah."
"So. How's Theresa? Still pregnant?"
"Yeah. But she decided to go to Atlanta now."
"Oh, so the kid isn't yours?"
"Don't know. But I wish she would have stayed." Ryan leaned on the wall. He didn't realize how much he had missed the Cohens.
"Right. So, how about that party?"
"What about it?"
"Ya wanna go?"
"Sure."
"Great. The return of Cohen-wood."
"Cohen-wood?"
"Sure. I thought we could have this neat scary name that people would fear." Ryan glared at Seth. "Or not."
"Right."
"Hey, I'm telling you, with my sarcasm and your... punching abilities, we could overtake the school. Luke's not there, so there's an opening for school ruling."
"Thought hard about this?"
"Well, it gets lonely on a boat. I had to plan for if you were coming back or not."
"What was the plan for me not coming back?"
"Depression. But you know that's not gonna happen. Cause you're back and that's good." Seth smiled and Ryan actually smiled back.
Anna rang the doorbell. It was about eight, and she would have been there sooner, but she had to unpack. But she made it to the Cohens. The lights were on, but they weren't answering. She was about to let Seth see her on the first day of school when the door opened.
"Anna?" Seth asked, obviously bewildered. She turned around and looked at him. He hadn't changed.
"Hey."
"Wow. Uh, come in."
"Thanks."
"This is a good day."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, you're here and Ryan's back..."
"Where was he?"
"Oh, right. You weren't here. Let me fill you in. Ryan and Theresa. Theresa pregnant. Ryan, Chino. Me, boat. Um, me, back. Ryan, back. I think that's it. Oh, add some strippers and a wedding in there."
"Right."
"Cliff notes."
"Obviously very short cliff notes."
"You don't want to know the details. Heck, I don't want to know the details. There's way too many."
"Okay."
"So what are you doing here?"
"I moved back."
"Cool. Hey, you should come to the party too."
"What party?"
"One that's tomorrow." anna thought. She wasn't the hugest party goer. But every now and then she did enjoy one.
"All right."
"Neat. So, what made you move back?"
"Pittsburgh changed. A lot. And it didn't seem right anymore."
"Ah, I see."
"Yeah. But now I'm here. Hopefully for good."
"That's good. I missed you."
"Glad to know I was missed."
"Did you miss me?"
"Of course."
"That makes me feel better. And you can help me and Ry take over the school."
"Take over the school?"
"Sure. We could try."
"Cohen, you haven't changed at all."
"Well, I had thought I did. But hey, whatever." Anna smiled. She really cared about Seth. She kept denying she liked him, but she couldn't. He was so great. He understood Anna. No one else did.
"So how are you and Summer?" Anna didn't want to ask, but she had to know.
"Well, we haven't spoken for a while. I don't know if we're together."
"Oh."
"Why?"
"I just wanted to know." Anna looked at her watch. "Oh, crud. I have to go." She got up to leave.
"All right. I'll see you tomorrow. Is your phone number still the same?"
"Yep. Talk to you later." She began to leave.
"Anna, wait." Seth called back. She turned back around.
"Yeah?" Seth walked up to her.
"Can we maybe like try again? I really missed you."
"I don't know, Cohen. We didn't work before and..."
"But I was still deeply in love with Summer."
"Aren't you still?"
"I like her, but she probably hates me. She hasn't talked to me in forever."
"I still don't..." Anna couldn't finish her sentence. Seth kissed her. Anna smiled at Seth.
"What do you say?"
"All right. But I still have to leave."
"I know."
"Bye."
"Bye." Anna left the house. The air outside was warm. Very warm. Nothing like Pittsburgh. Where the warmest it might get was 79. Sometimes it might get hotter, but not a lot.
Anna headed to her car. It was dark and you could see every star in the sky. Her thoughts drifted from Seth to Milana. Anna had this heavy load of guilt and was ready to get rid of it. Now that she was in Newport, and Seth was there, she was hoped the party would do just that.
Summer looked back at herself in the mirror. She was just about ready. Even though no one would care what she was wearing, as long as there wasn't much of it, she still wanted to look her best. She was ready to forget about Seth. He was old news. No more. Summer hated him. He didn't deserve Summer.
The doorbell rang. That was Marissa. Summer applied a fresh coat of lip gloss and rushed downstairs. Marissa was by the door, along with Summer's father.
"Hey Coop." Marissa hugged Summer. She actually seemed to be in a good mood.
"Hey. So, who's car do you want to take? Mine or yours?"
"I don't care."
"Mine it is." They began to leave.
"Bye Dad." Summer said to her father.
"Don't get into too much trouble. I don't want a call from the police."
"We won't." He waved goodbye and they shut the door. Marissa unlocked the car and Summer sat in the passenger seat. The car ride was mostly silent, save the light noise from the radio.
Sara Tierney's house wasn't that far form Summer's house. It only took about ten minutes to get there, and the party was already in full swing by the time they arrived. The place was trashed and the scent of beer was intoxicating. Summer and Marissa slowly made their way through, hoping not to trip over someone already passed out.
Marissa was the first to see the beer and she tugged on Summer's arm, urging her to follow. Summer followed, tripping on anything because Marissa was pulling so hard Summer didn't have time to look down. But they made it to the beer in record time. And then, Summer saw him.
Seth was sitting on a couch, talking to Ryan and Anna. Summer had to do a double take just to make sure it was Anna. Hadn't she moved away? All three had a beer in their hand, and soon Seth and Anna kissed. This extremely irked Summer. The two left the couch, leaving Ryan lost in thought. Summer grabbed a beer, and they both chugged theirs down, but for different reasons. They grabbed another, walking aimlessly into the sea of drunks.
Ryan sipped his beer carefully. Strangely, he was still on his first. He had a reputation for being a partier. Ryan had only arrived not long ago, with Seth and Anna. He hadn't seen Anna in a long time, or anyone in Newport for that matter. Seth was almost done with his first beer, and Anna had barely drunken any of hers. The two made a good couple. Ryan had learned That they were back together right when Anna had come over. They liked a lot of the same things, so they worked perfectly. Except Seth might still be deeply in love with Summer. He doubted this now, but you never knew. It could have changed over the last three months. Seth had said he wasn't in Newport for most of the summer. So he didn't know.
He checked his watch. It was already past two. How had it gotten so late so fast? Ryan looked around. Seth and Anna weren't anywhere. He walked around, looking for them. But before he could look for them, he saw Marissa. She was more beautiful than before. Or That could be the beer talking. He slowly approached her, taking one last swig of beer before he spoke to her. She was turned away from him, so he tapped her shoulder.
"Hey." Ryan said, hoping not to sound drunk. She turned around.
"Ryan. What are you doing here?" She looked confused.
"I just came back."
"What about Theresa?"
"Uh, she's going back to Atlanta."
"Oh."
"So how was your summer?"
"Fine." The conversation wasn't going as well as he envisioned it in his head all summer.
"Well, that's good. Mine want that exciting either."
"Oh. Well, it was good seeing you."
"Yeh."
"I missed you."
"Same here." Marissa walked away, chugging down what Ryan thought was her first beer. Ryan took a sip of his, and went in search of Seth and Anna. He headed outside first, to get some fresh air. Luckily, Seth and Anna were out there. Seth was talking to Summer, who looked peeved and bored at the same time. Anna stood next to Seth, who also looked a little peeved. Ryan walked up to them.
"Ryan, my man! What is up?" Seth exclaimed.
"Seth, how much beer did you lave?"
"Only like three. Or four."
"You're not driving."
"Fine with me."
"So, Chino, how are you?" Summer asked Ryan.
"Fine."
"Good. Talk to Coop?"
"Yeah, I did." Summer looked around. People were already leaving.
"What the hell? The party's already over?" At that moment, Marissa walked up to them.
"Sum, we should go."
"All right." she turned to Seth, Ryan, and Anna. "Do you guys need a ride?" Ryan and Seth looked to each other.
"We can just leave the car and get it tomorrow. I really don't feel right driving."
"Cool with me. Let's go." Everyone followed Marissa to her car. She took the driver's seat, and Summer took the passenger seat. The others pilled into the back, Ryan sitting uncomfortably in the middle.
It was a slightly open road, with cars around. Marissa began to pull out, denying to herself she was drunk.