Well, I told you I would either keep going with Youth of the Nation, or start a continuation. Here's the continuation! It might help you to read the first story, since, um..well it is mostly based off it. This story will be slightly less dramatic, I'm hoping you will all still like this. I don't want to lose readers! Then I'll like cry or something....kidding. But I really love reviews and I'm hoping maybe, just maybe I can beat my record. Too bad that's over 200 reviews. So start reviewing....NOW! Well, first maybe you should read...

The car ride to school was silent, no one knew what to think. Sure, it was a normal day for Marissa and Ryan, but Seth and Summer hadn't been to school in a month. Marissa drove while Summer sat next to her. Seth sat behind Summer, holding her right hand that she slipped back. They were both scared, Summer had her eyes shut, trying to calm down. They had to go back, and face the world.

"We're here." Marissa announced and Summer opened her eyes, frantically looking out the window. There was the school. Every memory Summer tried to forget came flooding back. She squeezed Seth's hand as hard as she could. He tried to squeeze back, but his hand had lost all blood circulation.

"Summer.....I need my hand." Seth joked with her, but she let go unwillingly.

"Sorry." She whispered. Opening the door, she inched herself out, slightly falling. Seth caught her in time. "Thanks." She told him, getting her balance. She grabbed her purse from the car and interlocked her hand into Seth's.

All four of them walked up to the school, that was when Summer's knees buckled. It was the second time she had collapsed in two minutes.

"I can't do this Seth." She cried, afraid of entering the school.

"Yes, you can Summer. We'll do it together. One of us in is almost every class, and if we aren't, we're right by you." Seth helped Summer up.

"Yeah, Sum. Ryan's in you first and third class, Seth is in second and seventh, and I'm in eighth and tenth. We all have lunch together, fifth, you'll be all right." Marissa assisted.

"What about fourth?" Summer asked, that was the class she was scared about. That was the class she was in when it happened.

"I'm right be. If you need me, just leave class. The teachers'll understand." Marissa answered.

"Okay." Summer nodded, not fully sure. She clung to Seth, not wanting to leave him. Seth was apprehensive also, but he had to be strong for Summer. The school scared him horribly. This was the place where he almost died.

They walked to the doors, and joined the crowd entering the school. Summer practically disappeared, Seth wouldn't have been able to find her if he wasn't holding onto her.

They then got in the lobby and reached the memorial. Seth stared at it, seeing his picture stare back at him. He knew Marissa had to have put it there, Ryan didn't own a camera. He took the picture off the board and handed it to Marissa.

"Won't need it anymore." Seth said to her, and Marissa smiled, amazed at his braveness. This had been where his life almost ended, and yet, he acted as though none of it ever happened.

After telling Summer's homeroom teacher about her, they all headed to their homerooms. Summer went with Ryan, and Seth and Marissa went into theirs. The homeroom teacher smiled at Marissa, but it disappeared when she saw Seth. She stared as he walked in, Marissa didn't notice. Her eyes were the only ones not following Seth as he walked down the row and into the back seat. Marissa sat next to him, finally noticing the stares. She checked on Seth, who was already busy writing something down in a notebook. His hands shook slightly, he played with his pen. Seth wasn't dealing very well.

The bell rang and Seth waited until everyone had left except Marissa to get up. She knew they would be late, hopefully the teacher wouldn't mind. Seth followed her without saying a word, she was worried about him. Marissa could see Ryan and Summer walking down the hall. Summer suddenly stopped, in the middle of the hallway. Marissa was about to go help when she saw Ryan get her to continue walking.

Seth hadn't said a word yet, and somehow stares followed him everywhere he went. He didn't even know this many people knew who he was. Summer had it far worse, she could hear the whispers follow her. She was tailing behind Ryan, so she ran up to him. He always looked back to check on her, his eyes moving around like a hawk. He wanted Summer to be okay, they couldn't screw this up. Like Ryan, one false move and she was gone.

Summer seemed ten, not seventeen. She was so small, too small for a high schooler. She tried to hide it, wearing jeans and one of Seth's shirts, but nothing would work. You could still see the pasty skin, the bones, the frailty.

The bell rang again, Marissa and Seth just got off the staircase. Then Seth saw it. To any other person, it was just a normal locker. But to Seth, it meant so much more than that. He had hoped he wouldn't have had to see it, but he was wrong. Set stopped in front of it, staring at it. Marissa kept going, but stopped when she realized Seth wasn't with her.

"What is it?" Marissa asked, walking back over to Seth.

"This is it." Seth said, not looking over to see Marissa's perplexed look.

"What is?" Marissa questioned.

"The locker." Seth answered, he was very vague, Marissa didn't understand him.

"What about the locker? Seth, we have class." She argued, knowing that if they were too late, they would get detention or something similar. She doubted Seth would, but mostly definitely Marissa.

"This is locker that I fell on. This is the exact place I stood when I watched the shooter and then felt immense pain." Seth pointed to the locker handle. "That's the handle I used to stay up after I saw the blood." Marissa looked to the handle, for a moment, and she could imagine Seth there. He then pointed to a spot on his chest. "This is the exact spot that the bullet went in me." Seth paused, Marissa didn't know what to say. "This was the place where I died." Seth finally walked off, leaving Marissa to stand there, looking at his back in amazement. He scared her with what he said.

She caught up with him, silence was around them. Seth could remember every foot step he had taken, every thought that had gone through his mind. It was haunting him, he could see everything play in his mind.

"You're late...." The teacher said to them as they walked in. She saw Seth and froze, everyone again stared. "Seth. Welcome back."

"Thanks." Seth took his seat, with Marissa following. The teacher didn't say another word to them, she seemed a little lost when he came in. People would look back, and Marissa sat with Seth at his lab table. His hands were still shaking, a bit more violently than before, and he looked down at his notebook again.

"You okay?" Marissa whispered to Seth after the teacher finally began teaching.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry about earlier. I just, never thought I'd actually come back. I had thought I was dead." Seth answered, without looking up. People kept glancing back, it pissed Marissa off.

"Well, you're not. And everything's gonna be okay." Marissa reassured him.

"I hope you're right." He commented, finally looking up at the board so he could take notes. Marissa followed suit, figuring she would need to pass. It was the last year of high school, Marissa couldn't screw up. But she still took out another piece of paper and began a note to Summer. This note would actually get to Summer, unlike the thirty-so Marissa had written over the course of time Summer wasn't in school. Marissa wrote a note every day, it seemed more like a journal than anything. She hated writing in journals, they were too long, she couldn't keep up with them, but this was a shorter form of it. She could write her emotions, her fears, her weaknesses. It didn't stop the drinking much, and she hid them in a shoebox in her closet. She would fold them intricate ways, over the years, Marissa learned all the designs.

She finished the note to Summer, it was rather short and sweet, to the point. She folded it like a frog, he favorite way to fold a note. Summer wouldn't want to open it and ruin the frog, Marissa could guarantee that. So she took out another piece of paper and folded that one also like a frog. The bell rang and Marissa gathered her stuff. Seth and Marissa left the room, going different ways.

"Seth," She called to him, and he looked back. "Summer's this way." Seth was used to going down the other staircase, just to avoid Summer. They were in the same class, but they sat as far away from each other as possibly.

Seth followed, slowly getting comfortable with the stares. They would follow him for a while, he should get used to them now. He walked with Marissa down the stairs, and there, at a corner, stood Summer and Ryan.

"Figured I'd wait with Summer until you guys came. Since we have class together." Ryan explained. Mostly he wanted to make sure Summer was okay, she couldn't deal with all the stares.

"So, we'll trade our guys, Sum." Marissa joked, the only one at least attempting a smile "oh, and I wrote you a note." Marissa handed the first frog note to Summer.

"I don't wanna unfold it. It's really pretty." Summer said after she took the note and looked at it.

"That's why I folded you a second note, plain inside, so you don't have to unfold this one." Marissa just wanted Summer and all of them to be happy. That was all.

"Thanks." Summer thought the gesture was really sweet. Marissa grabbed Ryan, while Seth held out his hand to Summer. She took it, and they went to history. Everyone acted as though they saw ghosts, it was if Seth Cohen and Summer Roberts had died. No one had expected them to come back. Hell, Seth wouldn't have if he had had a choice. He was so far behind, he wanted to take some time to catch up. But no. Kirsten and Sandy made him go.

Marissa and Ryan got into class, Marissa taking her usual seat. She expected Ryan to sit next to her now, since she thought they were closer now, but he didn't. He went to his usual seat, far away from Marissa. She called him, motioned him to come, but he shook his head. Ryan's mind was way too confused to Marissa now. Marissa was hurt, she wanted to try and have a relationship with Ryan. But it seemed he didn't. What had she done? They had gotten through all the drama, they should be together, right?

Summer and Seth also made it to their room, no one said a word as they sat down. Everyone stared back, while Summer held back tears. She couldn't take this.

"So, how was last period?" Seth asked her after some of the class stopped staring.

"Other than Ryan almost punching someone out because they were making fun of me? It was okay." Summer whispered, practically calm, thinking about last period.

"Are you okay? Did Ryan hit the guy?" Seth was concerned about Summer.

"I'm fine. And the teacher stopped him." Summer felt like she was going to cry again.

"Don't cry." Seth could tell she was going to. They weren't having a very good first day back.

"I wasn't gonna." She lied, trying to sound strong.

"Yeah, you were. Just breathe." Seth told her. Neither said another word, Seth knew people were staring. When would they stop? Would they ever? Had every person who was out of school for a bit because of the shooting received this? A better question was, had there been any people who got out of the hospital before them? Who had survived, who died? Who had the shooters been? What had they accomplished? Were they satisfied? Satisfied in destroying so many lives?

Seth touched the scar on his chest. He'd have it forever. A reminder of that day, the day everyone wanted to forget. They all had scars. The scars from bad moments in their lives. From times that made them into what they were.

If Summer just made it through this day, she'd be okay. It would get easier, it had to get easier. She saw the people look back at them and then quick write something down or whisper something to their friend. Summer hated it, and she couldn't stop it. She still had Marissa's note, folded brilliantly like a frog. She opened it, it didn't have much written in it. Normal note, bored crap, a few descriptions of class, and Marissa also wrote in, "It'll be okay." Just those few simple words made Summer feel a little better.

Summer was so wrapped in thoughts that when she heard the bell ring, she jumped. Seth walked her to the gym, where Ryan and her had P.E. Ryan appeared, so Seth took his leave.

"I'm not doing P.E." Summer announced as they walked to the locker rooms.

"You have to. It'll be fine. If anything happens, just leave. I'll cover for you." Ryan was being really good with Summer. He protected her.

"Promise?" She asked.

"Promise." He answered and they separated. Summer went into the girls' locker room and immediately regretted it. She went to her locker, opened it, barely remembering the combination. Summer changed in a bathroom stall, not allowing anyone to see her. She kept her wristband on her arm, covering the scar. It was still wrapped up, but she didn't want anyone to see. Summer went to the mirrors and pulled her hair back, making her face more sunken in. She took a deep breath, and left.

It had begun to rain, meaning class was inside. Volleyball nets were put up, the absolute perfect sport for Summer, Seth would've said. Summer saw Ryan on the other side of the gym, and the teacher told them to run three laps around the gym. Summer didn't move, Ryan sped off right away. She was afraid to run, afraid to do this.

"Summer." Ryan called to her, reaching her already. He motioned for her to run, she finally did. She was slow, not exercising a whole lot over the past month two months. Ryan changed his pace to stay by Summer, noticing she looked worse than ever. They didn't say a word, by the third lap, Summer was ready to collapse. "Stop. You're gonna hurt yourself." They slowed down to a walk to let her breathe. They reached the rest, where the teacher assigned them into groups.

"Roberts! Over here!" The teacher called and everyone looked to Summer. She walked to the teacher, feeling every eye on her. "Wristband." The teacher held her hand out.

"No. I can't do volleyball." Summer knew this wouldn't go over so well.

"Roberts, you better take off the wristband and play or you'll flunk for the day." The teacher made it clear to Summer.

"Then I flunk." Summer walked out. She could hear the whispers follow her, and "anorexic" was heard more than three times. Ryan watched her leave, not knowing what to do. Summer went into the locker room and grabbed her clothes, she still didn't feel right changing in the open. She wanted to cry, and Summer wondered if she really could make it through the day.

Summer spent the rest of the period curled up, sleeping. Hearing the door open and people's voices, she stirred awake and was met with a new set of stares. Summer grabbed her books and rushed out of the room. No one else was out there, other than the P.E. teacher. She gave Summer an evil glare, shaking her head slightly before walking off. Simmer was left alone until some of the kids began to some out of the locker rooms. Ryan was among them, keeping his gaze on her. She felt sick. Ryan was almost there when she ran the other way, to the bathroom, to throw up the tiny bit of food she had eaten. Ryan wanted to run after her, he saw the pain in her eyes, but what could he do? He could only help her so much.

Summer heard the bell ring as she washed her hands. She saw herself in the mirror, the horribly wreck that she was. Next period was it. The class that ultimately ended in her looking like this. Summer exited the bathroom, walking slowly to the library. She could practically see the flocks of people running. The hall was empty, like it always was between these periods.

Summer approached the library and stopped. She saw the corner where she hid. It stared at her, the memory came back to Summer. An image of her and Marissa played in her mind. Summer felt like she was kind of eavesdropping. She could see the tears, the pain in her own eyes. Fear was plastered on their faces, it made Summer sick once again. She ran away from it, into the library. People stared again.

She sat in her old usual seat, but had nothing to do. She glanced over and saw the table next to her. It was empty, but Summer knew who had once been there. He had been a star basketball player, helping Harbor win many championships. He had been smart, Summer dated him, back in ninth grade. One of the sweetest guys, but Summer wasn't one of his high priorities. Basketball mattered more. But that didn't make him deserving of getting shot. So many great people were killed or hurt. The guy next to her, Gabby, Seth. It just wasn't fair.

Seth was also having a hard time dealing with fourth period. He was tapping his pen viciously, just wanting to leave the class.

"Good to see you back." The girl in front of Seth said to him as they passed papers back.

"Thanks." Seth didn't even know the girl, but he thought her name was Riley.

"Can you believe the asshole who sat right over there was a shooter? Second floor, they all killed themselves. Caught 'em on camera." Riley looked over to the seat two rows over from her. Seth was speechless, that guy might have shot Seth. "You okay?" She asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. How many shooters were there?" Seth asked, trying to sound calm.

"Six. They had some underground-hate-everyone group. Killed 23. Injured 54. Thousands of lives destroyed. Pretty good statistics, huh? Beat Columbine." Seth guessed this girl was okay with the shooting, seeing he boldness in talking about it. "Where were you last month most people got out first week, rest never will."

"Coma." Seth choked out, feeling uncomfortable with the conversation now.

"That sucks. How long?" At least someone who noticed him didn't stare. She at least talked to him.

"49 days." Riley was somehow taking his mind off it, yet they were talking about it. It helped calm him, discussing it.

"Right in time for Christmas. Or Hanukkah. I don't know the dates."

"Yeah." Seth agreed. Riley looked back up front. Seth was happy she had stopped talking to him, but he was left wondering. The person who he had seen every day was one of the shooters. Most likely, the shooter who hit Seth. The asshole.

He stared up at the clock, the time that it happened was almost there. He dreaded it, not wanting it to come. His whole life changed, and soon, it would change again soon.

A little bit later, the bell had rung once again, and somehow Summer made it through class. She was shaken up, they had all planned to meet at the corner by Summer's locker. She hugged her books close to her chest. She had no one, everyone stared. She shook, hardly making it to her locker. She opened it and stuffed her books in, also grabbing some other books. She felt someone approach her. She thought it was Seth, so she looked over.

"Hey Summer." A water polo team member, John, said to her. More of the team was behind him.

"Hi." Summer responded back as sternly as she could, closing her locker.

"What's up?" John asked, his buddies circling Summer.

"Nothing." She couldn't go anywhere, John and his friends wouldn't let her leave.

"You're looking a little pale....and thin. Do you eat?" Summer squirmed, she felt uncomfortable.

"Yes. I'm fine." She told him, trying to believe it herself. She couldn't back away as they came closer.

"I don't know. You could be anorexic. Or bulimic. That's what I've been hearing. And I was worried. I mean, I care about you." John lied to her.

"No you don't." Summer didn't look them in the eye, either staring down or at the hallway, waiting for Seth or Ryan or Marissa.

"Well, I did. In the shooting. But I couldn't find you." But he had. He ran right past her, caring less. "When you didn't come back, I thought you were hurt." He got closer to Summer. "But then you weren't listed as injured as dead."

"Oh." She said, wanting to get away.

"So what did you do over the past month? Puke up your food or not even eat? Wallow in self pity over how you fucked yourself up? Cry over that wimp, jerk, asshole, whatever the hell he is, Cohen, and try to kill yourself?" John knew how to make a girl weak. Always had. He figured Summer would be the easiest girl to get with.

Summer was shaking, tears cascading down from her eyes. She felt horrible, she couldn't handle it.

"Aww, Summer. Don't cry. I'll make it all better for you." John was going for the kill. He was on her, she didn't want him there. She shook, he tried to calm her, pushing himself closer. "Ssshhh... it's okay." Summer cried harder, she was too weak to get him off her. She was scared, she hated John. How had she dated him? "Summer, calm down. I'll make it all better." John leaned in to kiss her. She knew it was coming, and felt a surge of adrenaline in her.

"GET OFF OF ME!" Summer screamed as loud as she could, hitting and pushing John away. The adrenaline passed, she felt the weakest she had ever. Her sobs were uncontrollable, and she fell. The other team members tried to come near, but she pushed them away. "Get away from me!"

What do you think? Weird way to end it, but I couldn't figure out another way. So review, I hoped you liked it, and I hope it is up to your expectations!