Twenty minutes until party time and the guest of honor had yet to arrive. In fact, no guests had arrived. Marissa checked her watch and then threw another look at Ryan, who's arm was slung carelessly on the couch behind her. She snuggled a bit closer to his chest and he felt her hand tighten on his thigh. She was, no doubt, wondering how he could appear so comfortable here, in this place so unlike home.
Ryan reached for the cigarette pack on the coffee table and lit his third in an hour, just as Cassie stomped her fourth into the ash tray. "So, what's the real story with you and Trey?" he asked easily.
Cassie's eyes clouded and she shook her hair. "I don't know, man," she sighed, standing. "You want another beer?" Ryan shook his head and she disappeared from the room.
"Wow, you're stopping?" Marissa asked with a playful grin.
"What's that supposed to mean?" He looked to the two empty bottles on the table before them, a twinge of guilt shooting through him. "You know I drink sometimes."
She nodded and pushed her hair behind her ear. "Yeah, but not during the day usually."
"Are you worried I might have a problem?" he asked, a smile teasing his lips.
Marissa couldn't take it. He wasn't the guy she was used to, but he was the guy that had first caught her attention – at the end of the Cohen's driveway two years ago. She leaned up and took his lips in her own, thankful that this one thing still felt familiar. Over the last hour, she had listened to him talk more than he had in two years in Newport. And the swearing? She had thought Luke was bad, but Ryan didn't seem able to make it through a sentence without "fuck" when he was around Cassie.
Cassie, who just sat in her chair, smoking and laughing about all the good times they had growing up. She brought something out in Ryan that Marissa doubted she would ever be able to extract. Their relationship was definitely more comfortable now than it ever had been, but with Cassie? He was at home. He was easy. He let go of the angst and rolled with the laughs.
"Glad you came?" she asked.
He nodded and turned his eyes to the door as Cassie came back to her chair. "My mom's gonna be here any minute," she sighed, just before lighting up another cigarette. "So look out, man," she winked. Turning to Marissa, Cassie wiggled her eyebrows. "My mother is in love with Ryan."
Marissa looked adoringly at her boyfriend and touched the side of his face with her palm. "I can't imagine why," she smirked.
Ryan blushed and rolled his neck, moving from her touch. He loved Marissa – loved having her with him. But this wasn't the environment for her sweet words and her touchy-feely romance. That was the kind of shit that would get his ass kicked. "She thinks I'm the only good seed left in Chino," he shrugged.
Cassie rolled her eyes. "More like the sneakiest," she shot. "I swear, man, you pulled more shit than anyone in this town for, like, ever. You just knew how to cover it up better than the rest of us."
He felt the pride welling up inside of him again. Yeah, he had moved on up to the good life. But the fact that someone still recognized him for who he was made him feel like he hadn't completely lost his way. Cassie was a dichotomy that Ryan found he needed. She had always believed, when they were growing up, that he could be the one to get out of Chino and make good for himself. But she was still the one that believed he could be pulled back at a moment's notice, that he hadn't gone completely soft.
The door burst open before he could respond, and a blonde bundle of energy ran into the room, waving something in his hand as he rushed his mother. "Check it out, Ma," TJ grinned wildly.
"What is this?" Cassie stamped out her cigarette and took the piece of cloth from his hand. "You win this or what?"
TJ rolled his eyes and grabbed it back, gingerly dangling it between his fingers. "It's the "C." I'm the captain. The team voted and I'm the captain!"
Holding her hand up, Cassie waited for her son to smack it. "Kick ass, Beckham. Look at you," she shrieked, pulling him into a hug. "Hey," she whispered loudly into his ear. "Look who came to wish you a happy birthday."
TJ turned, his blue eyes settling on the couple resting on the couch. His mouth dropped and he laughed. "Uncle Ryan?"
He bolted across the room and Marissa was jolted to the other side of the sofa as Ryan stood to grab his nephew in a mammoth hug. "How you been, little man?"
"I'm so good," TJ nodded, showing him the "C."
Ryan took it, sat back down, and pushed it against the boy's sleeve, holding it where it should be attached. "Looks good on ya," he nodded. He dropped the precious possession back into TJ's hands and then leaned forward to extinguish his cigarette. "So, you're havin' a birthday, huh?"
Nodding, TJ climbed onto the couch between Ryan and Marissa and turned to look at the stranger. "Who are you?"
Marissa laughed along with Ryan and Cassie and held her thin hand out. "I'm Marissa," she said.
TJ looked to his uncle for confirmation that this chick was okay. "You know this one?"
The statement, along with the feigned look of concern, made Ryan smile and nod. "She's my girlfriend," he winked.
"Ah," TJ nodded in understanding and shook Marissa's hand. "You're pretty. I like you."
Marissa laughed and thanked him as Cassie stood and brushed her hands over her jeans. "Alright, Casanova, let's go get you washed up before your friends get here." She turned to Ryan. "I think you know everybody who's comin'. Just let 'em in when they get here." And the pair was gone, leaving Ryan with his girlfriend and an awkward silence.
"I thought you hadn't seen him in four years," Marissa spoke softly, now curled onto her own end of the couch.
Ryan nodded and turned to face her. "His second birthday party," he affirmed.
"He seems to remember you pretty well for a kid who last saw you when he was two," she accused.
Ryan shrugged. "It's a long story," he sighed. She was about to say that she had time, but he shook his head. "It's better if you don't know."
She had to accept the answer as a robust woman with the same black hair as Cassie came through the door and smothered Ryan in a flurry of hugs and kisses. The nagging feeling that she was losing him wouldn't leave Marissa alone, but if there was one thing she knew, it was how to put on a happy face and enjoy a party.
XXXXX
Summer was used to boys noticing her. What she wasn't used to was Seth being too preoccupied to be worried about it. For the last half hour, a group of tall, dark, and handsomes had been ogling her in the pavilion, and all her Prince Charming could do was regal Sara with stories of his high school misadventures.
"I can't believe you actually did it, man," Sara sighed, playing with her empty punch cup on the picnic table.
Seth sighed proudly and nodded. "What can I say? The ideas were all up here," he pointed to his head.
"In the hair? Like Samson?" Sara asked and Seth laughed. Summer wanted to vomit. It wasn't even funny. Who did this chick think she was? "God. Seth Cohen created a comic book! Unbelievable. I'd love to see it sometime."
Seth looked over his shoulder to the yard, to his car. "I actually have the first issue in my car. Let me just," he turned to Summer and then back to Sara, "let me just go grab it."
And he was off. He had left her alone with this skank? Who the hell was this guy? Because he certainly wasn't her stumbly, mumbly boyfriend. When he talked to Sara, he was Mr. Confident, Mr. Commanding. She leaned on her elbows and cast another side-long glance at the boys with some interest in their eyes. All she wanted was to see that look from Seth again.
"Ya know, if you wanna go make some new friends, I can keep Seth company," Sara offered, a smirk on her lips.
Summer leveled the girl with a glare. "Oh, I'm sure you can," was all she said.
"It's just that, well, Seth and I haven't talked in a long time, and I'm sure all this comic book talk is probably boring you, right?"
Everything civil inside Summer broke as she looked across the table. Rage blackouts were her signature, and she could feel one coming on. Maybe she wasn't into everything that Cohen was, and maybe she didn't laugh at all his stupid jokes, but she was his girlfriend. And she wasn't about to lose him to someone just as dorky as he was.
"I've actually been helping Seth with the comic, thanks. And it's a graphic novel, just so you know," she dismissed.
There was an awkward silence and Summer glanced over her shoulder to see him slam the car door, said "graphic novel" in hand. Sara's voice was low and hushed when she spoke. "Look, Summer, I know what's going on here, okay? I know guys like Seth, and more specifically, I know Seth. He looks at you, or even thinks about you, and he loses his damn mind, right? He sees the boobs and the clothes and the hair, and he just forgets who he really is."
"But you know who he really is?" Summer asked skeptically.
Sara leaned forward on her elbows. "I do. And I know that guys like Seth don't get girls like you until you see the potential for dollar signs. They're just big dorks until you find out about the video game they're developing or the film they're making or the comic they're drawing. And then, suddenly, it's geek chic, he's the next Bill Gates, and you're the Supermodel Trophy Wife." She gave an evil smile. "Am I wrong?"
"Hey," Seth's voice interrupted their conversation and Summer watched as Sara's expression changed to a pleasant grin. "Look at you guys, getting to know each other, talking." He seemed to sense the tension, but in typical Cohen fashion, he let it slide. This weekend was not going to be about insecurity. He left those in Newport. "So, here's the comic," he added, sliding it across the table.
Summer stared in disbelief. What did this ho know about her relationship with Seth? And why the hell did she feel guilty? She wasn't that girl, the one that Sara had described. But, for a brief moment, Summer wondered if Seth believed it. Did he see her that way? Was that his perception? That he loved her enough to overlook the fact that she was just using him?
"I'm gonna go get more to drink," Summer mumbled, stepping away from the table. She had to convince him that she loved him, that she was with him for the right reasons. And she had to do it before they went back to Newport.
