Disclaimer: Don't own it.

AN: This is my first attempt at an O.C. fic, also my first post. It's not, hopefully, a one-shot, I wanna write a series. It's SS, by the by. Review, please!

Unappreciated

Chapter 1

Confessions About A Friend

"There's this pressure coming down on me. I can't take it for much longer. She's asking, without out really asking, for too much. But every time I can't help her, I feel so guilty, like it's all my fault she's the way she is, you know?" The girl, at the tender age of seventeen, sitting in the chair, sighed. "Marissa's the type of girl who can make you feel really shitty for having a doc's appointment after school when she's in need of… reassurance."

"Reassurance?" The owl-eyed man, sitting at his oak desk in front of the girl asked.

"Yeah, like, telling her that she's totally in the right, that she's the most popular girl in school, that everyone wants to be her. That kind of reassurance. She just really wants to always be right, always be perfect, always wants others to think she's perfect."

"Summer, have you told her how you feel?"

"No. I can't."

"Why can't you?"

"She'll find a way to make me feel guilty."

The doctor sighed. He opened the folder on his desk and wrote something in it, while Summer watched intently. Then the doctor leafed through a few pages and stopped at a particular one, eyeing it skeptically.

"What about Seth? Have you talked to him since July?"

"Seth's back, actually." Summer said, in a low, hushed, voice. She looked down at her black jeans with a bit of a wear in them.

"You never mentioned that."

"Yeah, I'm trying not to think about it so much."

"Maybe you should?"

"I have Zach now." She stated as if she just realized it was true.

"But…"

"There is no but. Seth is my ex. Zach is my current, that's it."

But that wasn't true. As much as Summer Roberts would like to deny it, Seth Cohen was always on her mind. He never left, every little thing she looked at, heard, or said, reminded her in some way of him. She knew it, just like she knew she was using Zach to try and forget him. Seth Cohen was unforgettable, though. When she saw him that first day of school, she nearly passed out. She knew he would come back, of course. But it was still a surprise. She tried to ignore him, she really did. But she couldn't, obviously. She couldn't help but laugh at his nervous rants. It was one of those quirks that made him undeniable, like he had once called her. He had a way of making her forget why she was ever mad at him in the first place, but she always ended up remembering. Only, sometimes she really wanted to forget.

Then there was Zach. He was sweet. Popular. Hot. But not Cohen. And that's the reason why it would never work out. But she wouldn't dump because of Seth. Because if she broke up with Zach, Cohen would think she did it because she wanted him back. Even if that was semi-true. Yep, that was Summer's logic. But there was no way in hell she was going to give that stupid, idiotic explanation to her two-hundred-and-fifty dollar on hour shrink. He would just think she was stupid.

Oh, thank god. Five minutes, Summer thought to herself.

"Maybe you should think about that a little more."

"I'll think about it, Doc." She didn't care that he hated that title, it made the situation easier.

"Well, Summer, that marks the end of our session." The doctor paused for a minute, than looked towards Summer, who was almost at the door of his office. "You should tell Marissa how you feel. A true friend should never make you feel that way."

Seth never did.