Palm Trees and Power Lines

Chapter 14: Extraordinary Girl

Summary: Sort-of future fic. Summer breaks Seth's heart and all he could think to do was leave… but will she find him again, and will he want her back if she does?

Rating: PG-13

Disclaimer: If I owned any of this… do you THINK I'd really be on ?

A/N: Okay so this update isn't THAT bad… I mean… like a week! I'm trying, I'm TRYING! Hehe… thanks for the reviews, again… keep them up… I'm loving them… hehe…oh song… it's Extraordinary Girl by Green Day… I should be back to Sugarcult fairly soon… but… all these other songs just fit so well… hehe… actually, I think this song just describes Seth and Summer… not so much the chapter… okay whatever… reviews make me smile (:

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She's an extraordinary girl

In an ordinary world

And she can't seem to get away

He lacks the courage in his mind

Like a child left behind

Like a pet left in the rain

"So you start in a few days," Summer questioned, looking down at the ground. She and Seth had spent the past few weeks together, occasionally getting in fights, but both tried their best to avoid that. Even if one got mad at the other, they kept it inside in order to avoid ruining something again. Both knew it wasn't the right thing to be doing, but it worked. Nothing mattered and nobody got in the way. But now, reality was coming back. It was August 29th, and Seth had to start college in a few days.

"September 4th," he sighed, laying his clothes back into his suitcase. He too had been dreading this day. The day where he couldn't just lay with Summer in his arms and do absolutely nothing. The day where he had to realize that Summer also had a life and she couldn't just hang around here waiting for him to finish college. "I have to check out tomorrow morning."

"Oh," was all she could say. There really was nothing more to say. Her father had called the other day, surprisingly enough, and told her that an acceptance letter to UCLA had arrived. From the moment she had told Seth, both of them were noticeably different, and she hated it. He obviously wanted her to stay here and heck, she wanted to stay with him-but she couldn't.

Seth packed in silence as Summer lay on the bed flicking through the stations over and over again. Finally, he was finished and sat down next to her.

"Wanna go grab something to eat?" he asked hopefully.

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She's all alone again

Wiping the tears from her eyes

Some days he feels like dying

She gets so sick of crying

Summer was eating her burger in silence- something she had been doing a lot of lately. All she could do anymore was think about what was going to happen. She would be going to UCLA in Californiaand he would be all the way in PennsylvaniaHow could they possibly keep their relationship going, and only see each other over the summers for four years?

"Sum," Seth finally spoke up, putting down his food. "Sum, please, talk to me. You know this hurts me too."

"Four years, Cohen," she said quietly. "Four years."

"No," he told her. "No. We will not be 3000 miles apart for four years. I'll transfer next year. They won't let me in now; it's too late but… I'll transfer to UCLA next year. It will work out, Sum. It's just one year. I'll come home for every holiday, and I'll even fly home on the weekends sometimes. I promise I won't let this end."

Summer just shook her head at him. "You can't go from Ivy League to UCLA, Seth. Not for me- I won't let you."

"Then what do you want me to do?" he sighed. "Summer, there is nothing else I could do. Stop closing me off."

The waitress came and dropped the bill off, and Summer picked it up. She pulled fifteen dollars out of her purse and left it on the table. "Come on," she said and walked out of the restaurant.

She sees the mirror of herself
And image she wants to sell
To anyone willing to buy
He steals the image in her kiss
From her hearts apocalypse
From the one called whatsername

Seth hurried after her, and climbed into the car. "Summer, stop it!"

"Stop what, Seth? Stop thinking about how I have to be across the country in a few days? Stop thinking about how we'll never see each other? Stop what?" Summer yelled, tears welling up in her eyes.

Seth suddenly felt bad for what he had said. He turned to her and took both of her hands. "I'm sorry, Sum. It's just… I can't take this either," he consoled, then after a moment spoke up again. "Stay here," he told her. "Stay here with me. We can get an apartment and… you can take classes at the community college down the street for the first year, then transfer to a better one for sophomore through senior year."

Summer just looked at him. She wanted to go back to Newport- she missed California. But she also wanted to stay here with Seth.

"Community college?" she asked. "Where am I supposed to go after that? They didn't accept me at your school Seth. I applied there! They didn't accept me. I never even got a damned letter, Cohen!"

Seth was shocked. She had never told him that she had applied there. He always knew she was smart. Behind the ditzy exterior, Summer was actually very smart. She got excellent grades and took both AP English and AP Economics in her senior year, but he had always expected her to apply to all California schools- the ones where she was still able to go to the beach.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked.

"Because I knew I wouldn't get in… and I didn't want to get your hopes up," she told him, lowering her head. "I'm sorry I'm not smart enough."

"No, no, Summer," he reached across and lifted her chin. "They were stupid if they didn't want you."

He leaned in and kissed her softly on the lips, then something struck him as odd. "You didn't get a letter?"

"You don't have to rub it in, Cohen," she glared, then turned to start the ignition.

"No, that's not what I meant, Summer," he replied. "I meant that you should have at least gotten a letter saying you weren't accepted. It doesn't add up…"

"My dad probably got it and didn't feel the need to make me feel worse because your stupid Ivy League school didn't want me," she shot, anger and sadness both lacing her voice. Seth hated seeing her this way.

"Your dad," Seth said as the wheels in his brain started turning.

"What about him Cohen? If you think he had anything to do with this, that's bull shit. You know he doesn't hate you anymore, and he's accepted us. Get over it," she yelled, as she looked from side to side, then pulled out of the parking space.

"Sum, you know that was all an act. He always thought you were too good for me- even when he pretended it was okay. Sum, the guy hates me!" he explained. "He may have smiled, but his eyes begged to differ."

"So what are you saying? Are you trying to tell me that I was accepted, but my dad knows you were too, so he lied? Because that's the biggest load of shit I have ever heard," Summer replied, as she stuck her middle finger out the window at the car that pulled out in front of her. "Jackass!"

"Maybe you should just call and see if you got a letter. What's the worst that could happen anyway? Maybe you'll find out that you were accepted, then we can be together," he pleaded with her. "Just call."

"God Cohen, my dad wouldn't do something like that! Seriously, maybe it's just best if I do go back. Maybe it's better if we spend some time apart. All we do is fight anyway. So what if we make up afterwards- we still fight. Maybe we need a few months apart…" she trailed off, pulling into the parking space at the hotel. She climbed out of the car without a word from Seth and went up to her room.

She's all alone again
Wiping the tears from her eyes
Some days he feels like dying
She gets so sick of crying

Quickly she started throwing shit after shirt, skirt after skirt, into her suitcase as tears clouded her eyes. She didn't want it to end this way. She wanted to go to the airport and say her heartfelt goodbyes to Seth. She wanted him to watch her until the plane was gone, and then turn around with teary eyes. She wanted to call him every day, and talk for hours until Chrismukkah, when he came home again. It wasn't supposed to work this way. They weren't supposed to have a fight, and she wasn't supposed to come home, throw all of her things in a suitcase, then run away. It wasn't supposed to be this way.

The tears were finally falling from her eyes as she threw the final shirt into her suitcase. She zipped it closed and looked around the room to see if there was anything she missed. Pulling her jacket around her, she picked up her suitcase and turned to look in the mirror. What had happened to her? She wasn't the girl she used to be. She used to not care- nothing mattered- she was carefree. But now, everything mattered. It mattered because Seth was finally the one thing that mattered- and she probably blew it again.

Shaking her head, she wiped the tears from her face and turned to the door. There was no way she could stay here anymore. Grabbing the keys from the table, she walked and opened the door. To her surprise, Seth was standing outside of it.

She's all alone again

Wiping the tears from her eyes

Some days he feels like dying

Some days he's not worth trying

Now that they're both up on it

She gets so sick of crying

"I'm sorry," he told her before she could say a word. "Summer, it's your last day here- we shouldn't be fighting. I'm sorry that I accused your father of lying to you. I'm sorry, okay? I love you, you know that. I wouldn't do anything if I thought you would be hurt from it. Summer, I love you, please just… just don't leave yet."

Dropping her bags, she collapsed into his arms. "I'm sorry too," she whispered meekly into his ear. "Just don't let this be over. We've made it through so much Seth-"

"Shh, Sum. I know. Come on, let's go," he grabbed her bags and walked her over to his room.

She's an Extraordinary girl
An Extraordinary girl
An Extraordinary girl
An Extraordinary girl

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A/N: Okay, so not my best chapter. I've had some writers block ,but I figured I should update a bit more quickly than I have been… so… tell me what you thought… reviews keep me going…