The Catch-22
And for one moment,
You were perfect.
Chapter 4 One Moment
Summer leaned on the counter of Holly's beach house as she told Marissa and Ryan about her life in New York - the fashion shows, parties, the houses, the money -essentially the WASP life.
Summer let her eyes wander around the beach house as Ryan and Marissa started to make out.
Hello, rude?
Holly's beach house was kick ass. Supposedly the theme was a wooden boat, but the rooms were painted an assorted amount of bright colors.
Britney Spears' "Outrageous" came in a modified version of beeps.
Marissa broke away from Ryan to retrieve a silver flip phone from her Fendi purse. She flipped it open.
"Hello?" Marissa put her finger over to ear to hear over the blasting stereo as Holly's after party was in full swing in the next room.
"Hey Dad." Marissa smiled. There was no question about which parent Marissa liked best. Julie Cooper was a mean psychotic social path climber.
Summer and Ryan couldn't hear the other end, but as they looked at Marissa's facial expressions, Summer whispered to Ryan, "You think this is good news or bad news?"
Ryan shrugged.
"I think it's good news." Summer mused.
Marissa grabbed a nearby porcelain vase and threw it against the wall.
Or not so good of news.
Marissa then threw her cell phone against the wall. The phone snapped in two.
"Is it bad news?" Summer asked.
Ryan looked at her.
The instant that left her mouth, Summer wanted to slap herself in the head for sounding like such a twit.
Marissa felt her eyes start to itch. "My parents are getting divorced." She said, breaking into a sob.
Marissa then took off, pushing some girl into the beer keg, effectively knocking it over. The spout squirted some beer into the eye of a guy trying to make a suave move on a girl.
"It burns!" The guy screamed. He hopped around, banging into chairs, tables and into a door that was just opened.
Everyone heard a crack as the door knocked him unconscious.
He dropped to the ground.
The person who opened the door calmly looked at the outcold guy and stepped over him.
Marissa ran up the stairs.
"You should go." Ryan said to Summer as they watched the fleeting figure of Marissa.
Summer nodded and ran towards the stairs. Once she got to the second level, Summer felt like she was in some alternate reality. The hallway was blue and there were about twenty doors of varying colors.
Summer didn't have a clue where Marissa was. She took a deep breath and opened the first door.
"Ew, ew, ew." Summer screamed as she instinctively swung her arm over her eyes.
There was a threesome doing some kind of tantric sex. When they heard Summer, they froze in their position which made the embarrassing situation even worse.
A few perverted guys peeked in. Summer opened her eyes and saw the guys.
"Go away you pricks." Summer screamed as she slammed the door shut.
They guys looked shocked at the petit brunette screaming at them.
"Wait, that's Summer." One of them in Abercrombie said meanfully.
A look of understanding crossed their faces.
"Sorry." A guy stammered out.
They quickly fled. Summer shrugged it off. Carefully, Summer opened the next door. Thankfully it was a bathroom.
Summer opened some more doors. Some had couples making out, groups of friends, or they were just empty.
Nearly at the end of the hallway, she only had two more doors to go. She decided to open the door on the right.
There was a couple making out in a bed. Summer was about to back track when she thought she saw a familiar face with a brunette.
"Luke?" Summer asked.
The blond turned to reveal that it was indeed Luke. But the brunette was not Holly.
Luke swore under his breath. "Fuck."
The brunette quickly dressed and exited the room, leaving Luke and Summer alone.
Summer gaped at Luke who was trapped in the bed with just a blanket as a barrier between him and Summer. "You're dating Holly! You're her boyfriend!" Summer didn't really know Holly, but Holly never did anything to her and was actually extremely nice, if not a bit obsessed with appearances.
Luke sighed and rolled out of the bed to reveal he was in his cargo shorts. He pulled on his dark blue polo shirt that was lying on a chair.
Luke had no chest hair . . . did he. . .
"Do you shave your chest?"
Luke hesitated. "Well . . ."
Summer waved him off. "Never mind. . . Actually I don't really want to know."
Luke stood in front of Summer. He towered over her. "If you don't tell Holly, then nobody will ever know. You cool?"
Luke didn't even wait for Summer's response, he just brushed past her.
Summer scoffed in anger. She went to the last door, hoping after all the effort, Marissa was in there.
Summer opened the door just a crack. She saw Marissa with a small bottle of vodka, violently drinking it down.
"Coop?" Summer whispered.
Marissa looked up at Summer with faded red, puffy eyes. Summer quickly entered, closing the door behind her. She sat on the bed next to Marissa and put her arm around Marissa's shoulders. Marissa rested her head on Summer's shoulders.
There was an undeniable friendship between them. There was a feeling of trust and security between them. They were natural best friends.
"What's it like having a stepmother?" Marissa whispered.
"Like hell." Summer wasn't one to lie. Marissa winced. "At first it's just pure hate. But eventually, the hate begins to ebb away. You just don't feel anything. I guess I'm lucky, my stepmother is like not even in this dimension she takes so many pills."
Marissa laughed a little at Summer's joke.
"It'll be okay. You just have to be strong." Summer said as she rubbed Marissa's back. "It'll be okay."
Marissa nodded. "Can I be alone?"
"Yeah." Summer walked out of the room and went downstairs. She past all the people mingling on to the deck.
Once she shut the glass sliding door, she could only hear the muted sounds of the party.
Summer breathed in the ocean air deep. It was black outside with only the lights from the boardwalk illuminating the night. Summer sat in a chair and let the night's drama float away.
"Beautiful isn't it?" A voice said.
Summer jumped up in shock. She saw Seth sitting in a chair nearby with a beer in his hand. "Seth, you scared the shit out of me."
"Sorry." Seth answered. "Word on the street is that you're the hard to get, ego crushing girl. Poor Ronnie."
Summer realized he was talking about the jock she put down earlier that day.
His name is Ronnie?
"Well word on the street is that you've been around the block more than a few times."
Seth put his hands up in defense. "At least I don't run w/ Marissa and Holly."
Summer changed the topic. "Do you always sit out here at all of these parties?"
Seth nodded. "There's too much drama in there."
"I know what you mean."
"I can't take this place. Newport. Everything is so fake. It's all about looks, clothes, cars, money, whatever. I like to be a lone." Seth looked at Summer. "Unless I get horny, then I go in."
Summer reached over and hit Seth. Hard.
Seth clutched his side. "I was only kidding."
Summer smiled sheepishly. "I suffer from rage blackouts."
Seth looked somewhat afraid. "Ah."
They sat in silence for awhile.
"You know I really misjudged you." Summer said.
Seth turned to face Summer. "How so?"
"I don't know. I thought you would be inside, doing body shots and flirting with girls. Like a typical high school player."
"What makes you think I don't got pimp juice?" Seth said doing a horrid ghetto impression. "Girls love my 'fro." Seth said, lightly patting his hair.
Summer laughed. "Shutup."
"Are you defying my pimpness?" Seth asked, mock-hurt.
Summer rolled her eyes. Seth was such a dork. But a hot one. All his actions were so sweet and cute. "You're so adorkable."
Seth turned really fast, making him pull his neck muscle. "Ow."
Summer laughed, Seth held his neck in an awkward position.
"What the hell does "adorkable" mean? Who talks like that?" Seth questioned.
"I talk like that." She said defiantly.
"Is that valley-girl for hot?"
Summer shook her head. "No. . . You're just . . . adorkable . . ."
"Whateva sista."
"That's ghetto."
"Whatever girlfriend."
Summer laughed.
Summer and Seth turned their heads to the ocean. They watched as the waves crashed against the rocks. They sat in silence.
It was perfect.
And finally the silence
Looking out, looking back across the sky
Trying to find a meaning