Lessons Learned-
Four- Square One
Disclaimer: The O.C. isn't mine, neither are Botkier bags. I wish I had one, though.
A/N: Sorry for the delay, but when I finally got to finishing the chapter, the site broke down so...Very bad of me, it's Thanksgiving and I don't have my Thanksgiving fic done! That'll be up tomorrow (Giving Thanks) for those of you reading that. But right now, it's drama time! This isn't as fluffy as I expected.
I open my eyes and I'm lying by myself. I look over at my alarm clock. 8:24, it's too early for a Saturday.
I hear the bathroom door to open and Cohen walks over to my bed. I sit up. "Feel better?" he asks.
I nod. "Last night…thanks," I say.
He shrugs. "My mom was pretty pissed," he says.
I bite my lip. "Oh, sorry," I apologize.
"It's not your fault. Wanna get some breakfast?" he offers, standing.
I get out of my bed. "Sure,"
Oh, shit. The step-monster's probably up.
"Damn it! Who drank all the red wine?"
Yeah, the beast has awoken. Oh, God, and Seth's here! This will be so awful. She'll tell Daddy I'm slutting it up and…He's gonna ground me!
"Cohen, you have to get out of here," I exclaim.
"What?" he asks.
"My step-mom's awake, if she sees you, it'll be hell. You gotta get out!" I shriek.
"Calm down, Summer. I'll just go through the back," Cohen replies.
Damn it, why's he have to be all smart? Assface.
"Fine, go through the back," I say.
We're making it downstairs pretty well. We get into the backyard.
"I'll see you Monday," he says before walking around to the front.
He's really been way too sweet. I don't get it. I mutter, "Wait,"
He turns around. "Why'd you do that for me?" I ask.
He steps forwards to come closer to me. "Cause you're Summer," he replies.
Wow, shitty answer. Like that makes any sense. I know I'm Summer, is there a deeper meaning?
"I'll always take care of you," he mumbles, looking at the pool. He's avoiding eye contact. I don't know if I'm annoyed or flattered.
"But…I'm kind of bitchy to you," I whisper.
We're really close now. It's such a teen movie moment. I think I might vomit, it's so cheesy. Nope, did that last night!
"I'm always gonna be there…still," he says. He's being so quiet I can barely hear him.
"Every time you've ignored me, yelled at me, bitched at me, has been made up for every time you've smiled at me, been nice, actually cared…" he trails off.
It makes sense now. He actually really likes me. I feel so stupid that I haven't even figured it out. For one second all the barriers that keep us apart have been knocked down, and we're just staring.
He moves in but before we can actually kiss, I hear footsteps from inside the house.
We pull apart. "Shit! Get in the pool!" I hiss.
He looks at me, confused. I can see how he might be a little puzzled. I'll solve that problem. I push him into the pool quickly and turn around just to see Daddy walk out of the house.
"Princess…What was that splash?" he asks.
He's in his bathrobe, so he's just gotten up. Good sign.
I shrug. "Abby is making me and Jess some breakfast. Want any?" he offers.
I shake my head. "I got a little sick last night," I answer. I'm just leaving out the part where one of the biggest dorks in the school took care of me and we spooned in our sleep.
It's just a minor detail!
"Really, we have—" he starts, but then I remember poor Cohen in the pool.
"I said no!" I yelp.
Daddy nods and goes back inside, shutting the door. Cohen's head pops out of the pool, gasping for air.
"I'm so sorry!" I say.
"Don't…Mention it,"he says for spitting out some water.
Coop and I are meeting for lunch at Natalie's Beach Café. She's a little late, but I'm not annoyed. She walks in looking guilty and nervous.
"Hey, babe!" I greet, getting up to hug her.
"Hey Sum," she greets back, quickly sitting down.
"Does this skirt make my thighs look huge?" she asks.
I shake my head. "You don't have to worry about your thighs, Coop," I reply.
The waitress comes by. It's the usual one, Kelly. She's a bitch.
"Do you guys know what you're gonna order yet?" she asks impatiently.
I'm sorry, but I know that's not proper waitress etiquette! You're supposed to be all, "Oh, hi, can I take your order?" and all that crap.
"I'll have the grilled cheese," I say. I'm letting go this weekend.
"Um…Caesar salad," Marissa orders quietly. Something's up.
Kelly nods and walks away. Bitch!
"Coop, what's going on?" I ask.
She doesn't even look at me, she just turns away and takes a sip of her water.
"I don't really feel like talking," she murmurs.
Coop's being silent, and that's totally weird. I really wanna know what's going on! I'm not gonna pressure her. Not the way to go.
Okay…now it's awkward. Usually we can talk for hours but right now it's all…quiet. Kelly comes back with our food, and walks away. What, is she like a mute or something?
"Want some?" I offer.
She shakes her head and takes a bite of her salad. She picks around it with the fork. I think she's nervous, I don't know. I can't read her!
"I'm not hungry," she replies.
"Are you feeling okay and everything?" I ask. She seems really sad and down.
She shakes her head. "I'm fine! You don't have to ask like five million questions!" she snaps.
Okay, Coop is never, ever moody. If she turns into a bitch, she basically gives warning by flashing looks that scream, "Entering Bitch-Mode!"
"Coop, seriously, what's going on?" I ask.
Where'd the no pressure go?
"I mean, if you wanna tell me," I add.
She shrugs. "Last night…" she starts quietly.
"I almost slept," she lowers her voice even more, "with Ryan,"
Ooh! Not bad, Coop! Wait…something must be wrong? Oh my God, did he have a vagina or something? Oh, ew, I probably shouldn't ask that.
"Uh-huh…" I say.
"I didn't want to, after the whole Luke thing. I don't know, it was just…weird. I feel really…" she trails off.
"Uncomfy?" I suggest. It's a word...sort of.
She nods. "I wanna go home, maybe I'll call him,"
"Good idea,"
This could very well be the worst Monday of all time. I wake up sick, I forgot my Ancient Civ book, got yelled at in Gym, and I dropped my Botkier bag in a puddle of Sprite.
"Hey, Summer!"
Oh, great, it's Cohen.
"I'm not in the mood," I snap, turning to him. He's leaning against the locker.
"How are you feeling?" he asks.
"Just peachy. Don't you have some comic book convention to go to?" I reply.
He's quiet. "We have a tutoring session…" he says.
I cut him off and slam my locker."I know, can't wait," I say sarcastically.
"Sorry, I'm just having a bad day," I apologize.
"It's alright," he says, "I just hope everything's been okay…"
I grab his hand and nod. "I'm fine," I say quietly.
"Hey, Robbie!" I hear a group of people shout. It's a few guys and girls. I jump away from Cohen immediately.
"Ew! You freak, get away from me!" I yelp, swatting him in the arm.
"Hey guys!" I say with a smile before walking off in the opposite direction.
I can't get that puppy-Cohen look out of my head.
I'm walking to my car to go home and ditch Study when I feel a hand on my shoulder. I whirl around. Oh, it's Tinkerbell.
"What?" I ask.
"You're really screwing up," she states confidently. God, how has she ever had friends?
"Excuse me, Ashley?" I say. I'm going for the nonchalant thing again. Don't know her name…La la la...
She doesn't even flinch. "I know you like Seth. Just accept and move on from your little popularity beliefs, or he's gonna move on from you," she replies.
"Well, wouldn't you like that?" I ask in my bitchy tone.
"Seth doesn't like me that way, okay? So I'm gonna try not to like him that way either. You're lucky he's still giving you the time of day," she answers.
"I don't really have time for a lecture," I say, turning back around.
"Then fine. I'll see you around," she says before walking away.
Ugh, bitch! Who goes around lecturing people? Oh, right, Tinkerbell!
But did she make sense? Was it true?
Please, God, no.
I didn't even get into my car before I realized I had to meet Cohen in the library, so I decided to forget it.
"Okay, Cohen, I'm here," I say as I sit down at the table.
"You know my name?" he mutters without looking up.
"Cohen, don't. Let's just get this over with,"I say, annoyed. What gives him the right to be all asshole with me?
Okay, let's not think of that answer.
"I already wrote up the lesson," he says, holding out a few sheets of paper, "So you don't have to go through the awful torture of being seen with me,"
"Cohen…I'm sor—" I begin but he cuts me off.
"Don't even bother, alright? You're always saying sorry, but, you know what? You never mean it. I've tried to talk to you for the longest time, and I finally get your attention, and you can't even say a word to me in public. I really thought you'd turn out to be different, but you didn't, so I'm done. Good luck on the test," he says before getting up and leaving me alone.
Damn it.
My vision's blurring. I can't be crying actual tears over this loser. I don't like him. He's just a stalker-ish geek, and it was never supposed to even get beyond a glance.
But it got so much farther, but now it's back at square one. And I'm the one who wants it to go farther.
Square one's a bitch.
