Marissa scanned the room for any signs of anyone she knew. She hated these parties, moreso now that she had no one with whom to enjoy them. And now that Seth and Summer seemed to be running late, she was in absolute agony. The thought of rushing the bar for whatever expensive liquor was unattended had crossed her mind several times.
"And there it is again," she said under her breath as she saw her mother approaching. "Mom," was all she said in greeting.
Julie Cooper-Nichol gave her daughter a wide smile and then hugged her thin shoulders. Her perfume was suffocating. "Marissa, you look beautiful," she complimented, her eyes running over her daughter's gold dress. "Is that the dress Caleb bought you in Paris?"
Marissa nodded. "Yeah," she answered in a clipped voice.
It wasn't as though she had expected to be met with any sort of excitement, but the way Marissa turned to ice in Julie's presence made her feel agitated and angry. "So," she tried to maintain her saccharine tone while being ignored. "Where's your boyfriend?"
Marissa gave her mother the best "get away from me" glare she had. "He's not coming," was all she said. She would be damned before she gave Julie the satisfaction of knowing he had broken up with her.
"Oh. Was there something else more important on his agenda?" Julie asked. It wasn't that she tried to be so bitter, but the boy wasn't good enough for Marissa and she wasn't going to pretend that he was. "A gala in the sewer, perhaps?"
Before she could respond, Marissa saw Seth and Summer making their way toward her. "I've gotta go," she said, slipping past her mom.
Summer pinched Seth's arm as her friend approached. "You know what to do, right?" she whispered.
Seth rolled his eyes. "It's not really even a plan, Summer," he reminded her, smiling widely at Marissa. "Hey, Marissa. How's it goin'?" He clapped his hands together.
With a small smile, she turned to Summer. "Can we skip the whole apology for the e-mail thing and just get away from my mom?" she asked hopefully.
With a hug, Summer giggled. "Of course, Coop. You were clearly stressed. Why don't you guys go find us some drinks? I have to go find," she stopped. She should have come up with some excuse. Dammit. "I have to go find Seth's mom. Super secret birthday stuff," she said, shooting a look at Seth.
"I thought your birthday wasn't until, like November," Summer heard Marissa say as her boyfriend pulled her best friend into the throng of party-goers.
Now all Summer had to do was wait until she saw him arrive, talk to Julie, and sit back to enjoy the fruits of her labor. Project Reunite the Fantastic Four was practically complete.
"Seth, are you sure that Summer said to wait for her out here?" Marissa asked, scanning the balcony of the second floor ball room for any signs of her friend.
Seth took another sip of his sparkling cider and kept his eyes straight ahead. He had never been great with the lying – especially to his closest friends – but if it saved him from a Summer Rage Blackout, he could get it done. "Yeah. She said she just had to talk to my mom for a little bit and then she'd find us." He sat his glass down and turned to her, trying to sound confident and relaxed – neither his strong suit. "So, where's Connor?"
She rolled her eyes. "Seth," she said knowingly. "I know Summer showed you the e-mail."
"E-mail? What e-mail? There was an e-mail? Summer doesn't believe in e-mail. It's for poor kids without blackberries," he rambled, as he usually did when he was completely nervous.
"It's okay. I'm over it. I thought things were good, but he's obviously over it, so I guess I will be to," she explained, trying her best to sound confident, to make herself believe the words.
Guilt washed over him again. More than anything, he wanted all of his friends to be happy. The sooner Marissa realized that Summer thought that meant Marissa and Ryan had to be together, the better off they would all be. "Listen," he said seriously, "if this is all because of what I said at lunch the other day, I'm sorry."
Marissa accepted the apology at face value. Seth didn't fake sincerity well, so if he sounded like he was sorry, he probably was. "I think there were more problems under the surface. He seems to think that I'm still in love with Ryan, too," she explained.
That was a good thing, wasn't it? If even Connor could see it, then she would have to believe it. Seth knew that gloating to a broken hearted woman probably wasn't the best idea in the world, though. "Are you?" he asked.
Her eyes flew to his face, wide with some sort of fear or confusion. "Am I what?"
"Still in love with Ryan?"
Marissa wanted to vehemently deny – as had become her MO over the last year. But with Seth, it seemed safe to be honest. "Does it matter? I mean, he's not interested in giving us another try. You said it yourself, it's never going to happen," she felt her shoulders sag with each word she spoke.
Seth put a hand on her shoulder. "Summer seems to think it might. I know he likes Macy, but it's new. I mean, it could end in a week, or a month, or a year. I don't know if it's what you guys had," he conveyed honestly. "The important question is this: Do you really want him back? Or do you just want the right person and you, like Summer, can't get over the idea that it might not be him?"
Marissa sniffled another unbeckoned tear. "I don't know," she answered.
"I think I might know someone who can help you figure it out," came the voice from above her.
Marissa turned, shock resonating as she stood to face Connor. "What are you doing here?"
He shrugged. "I was a little hard on you the other day." He shot a look to Seth, who had gathered his glass and was wandering off in search of a refill, or Summer – Connor didn't really care. "Look, Marissa, I don't want to be your substitute Ryan. But I miss you."
"It's been two days," she smiled, wrapping her arms around his neck.
He turned his head slightly to the side. "Yeah, but that's, like, forty-eight hours without hearing you laugh or bitch about your mom. That's a lot of hours without you," he stated.
"I miss you, too," she grinned. She did. She missed the feeling of his arms around her like this, and the smell of his knock-off cologne, and the sound of his low voice. She missed the security that he provided when her mother came looking for her in the crowd, trying to introduce her to people she didn't want to know. "Dance with me?"
"I'd love to," he grinned, leading her back into the ballroom.
"I thought she said he wasn't coming," Julie spat as she watched Marissa twirl the dance floor with Connor.
Summer took the opportunity to help herself to a champagne glass from the tray of a nearby waiter. "You really don't like him, huh?" She knew that, of course, when she had e-mailed him, apologized for getting all up in his business, and begged him to give it one more shot with her friend. It was manipulative, she knew, but she needed him there for her plan to work.
"It's not that I don't like him, Summer," Julie clarified, her eyes narrowing as she watched Marissa laugh at something Connor was saying in her ear. "It's just that he has no real future. His father works for the sewage department, for God's sake. Do you know what they do there?"
Summer's nose scrunched up. "I don't even want to," she answered. "But if he makes Marissa happy, I guess that's what's really important, right?"
"The only thing that makes Marissa happy is pissing me off," Julie informed the girl's friend.
"I thought she was pretty happy with Ryan," Summer said smoothly, watching for a reaction.
What she got was a shoulder shrug from Julie. "She was. But unless you have a memory-altering potion in that stunning handbag, I don't think he's going to just forget the way she ended things the last time," she mused, her eyes drifting around the room. Something caught her eye. "Speaking of Ryan," she nodded.
Summer turned to see him in the entry, suffering an uncomfortable introduction to Robert Campbell. "Oh, yeah – he's dating Macy Campbell now," she said.
"He does have taste," Julie muttered.
"Yeah, whatever," Summer waved her hand. It was time to move this plan into Phase Three. Or was it four? She couldn't remember. "Listen, Mrs. Cooper, everyone knows that Marissa doesn't belong with Sewer Boy over there, and we also know that Ryan will never be accepted into the Campbell clan."
"What do you have in mind, Summer?" Julie always appreciated someone with a conniving mind – it was what she understood best.
"I think we can work something out – something where we both get what we want."
"And what do we want?"
"Ryan and Marissa back together and order restored the universe," she said simply.
Julie nodded and motioned toward an empty corner of the ballroom. "Let me grab a drink and we'll chat."
There was a slight feeling of guilt creeping into Summer's gut, but she shoved it down. This was for the best. Ryan would be spared the embarrassment of not fitting in, again. Marissa would be spared the misery of regret that came every time she thought about breaking up with Ryan. Seth would be spared migraines that came with hearing Summer complain about Marissa and Ryan. And Summer would be spared the relationship doubt she'd been having ever since her version of the perfect couple called it quits. It was for the best. Definitely.