Disclaimer:I do not own the characters in this story, the credit for that goes to Josh Schwartz. Grr.

Chapter 3

"I finished sewing the sails," Summer said.

"Uh-huh," Seth said distractedly as he skimmed through his Physics book. He and Summer were sitting in the Student Lounge, it was their lunch hour and Summer had needed her caffeine fix before her afternoon classes.

"I'm going to put them up later," she continued.

"I can't work with you on the boat today. I have work."

"I know. I'm going to get Chino and Coop to help me," she said brightly.

That got Seth's attention, he closed his book. "You're going to get Ryan and Marissa to help you work on my boat...together?"

"Yeah. What's the problem?"

"Well, wouldn't that be a little awkward for them, maybe?"

"Why would it be awkward? They're friends," Summer said, sipping her coffee. "Besides, didn't you say that ever since Lindsay left, Ryan's been a little-"

"Depressed? Yeah," Seth nodded.

"Coop and I cancheer him up!" Summer grinned.

Seth kissed her quickly. "Your enthusiasm is cute, but I don't think pink paint is going to lift Ryan's 'blue mood'."

"Haha," Summer rolled her eyes at his lame joke. "Pink is the new blue," she stuck her tongue out at him.

Seth laughed and started tickling her. Summer squealed and batted his hands away.
"Co-hen!" She giggled, taking his Physics book and attempting to use it as a shield. Something caught Summer's attention out of the corner of her eye and she hit Seth with the book to get him to stop tickling her.

"Oof," he reeled back a little as the contact of the book against his chest knocked the wind out of him slightly. "Ow, Summer."

"Look!" She pointed at Ryan and Marissa who had just walked in, talking and laughing, looking immersed in their conversation.

"Ryan doesn't look very 'blue' right now, does he?" Summer smiled smugly.

"Well, he doesn't look 'pink' either," Seth said sarcastically.

"Coop!" She called out, waving them over once she caught their attention.

"Hey guys," Marissa said, sitting down on the couch across from them. Ryan nodded his grettings, taking a seat next to Marissa.

"I have a favor to ask you guys," Summer said sweetly.

Ryan raised his eyebrows at Seth, already not liking the sound of this. Seth merely grinned in response.

"What is it?" Marissa asked, neither girls noticing the silent exchange between the boys.

"Cohen has to work after school and I need help with the boat. So if you guys are free..." she trailed off.

"Yeah, I'm in," Marissa smiled. "It sounds like fun and I got all my errands done yesterday."

"Marissa and errands. That's two things I never would have thought to put together," Seth mumbled to himself.

Summer nudged him with her elbow. "Ignore him," she said to Marissa. "What about you, Chino?"

Ryan shrugged. "Yeah, sure."

"Great!" Summer said enthusiastically. She turned to Seth and stuck her tongue out at him again.


Summer led the way to the small shed at the docks where The Summer Breeze was being storeed now that they've started painting it.

"Wait 'til you see it, the boat is so cute," Marissa told Ryan excitedly.

"Yeah, uh, I heard it was pink," Ryan said not so enthusiastically.

"Well, I had to make the boat as pretty as it's namesake," Summer quipped.

Ryan wisely chose not to comment. "What do you need us to do?" he asked as they entered the shed.

Summer handed him two cans of paint and held up three paintbrushes. "We're going to paint. Cohen and I only got one side done."

"I can't believe Seth let you paint his boat pink," Marissa laughed, taking a paintbrush from Summer. Ryan opened the cans and the three of them got settled in and started painting.

Summer raised her eyebrows. "I have excellent powers of persuasion."

Ryan coughed.

Summer turned to him. "What was that, Chino?"

"Did you threaten him with a knife too?' Ryan asked.

Marissa's eyes widened. "You threatened Ryan with a knife?"

"It was just a butter knife," Summer said dismissively. "And you're such a baby, Chino. It's not like I was going to stab you or anything."

"Well, it looked like it!" Ryan defended.

"I don't understand," Marissa said.

"I came over one morning, Cohen wasn't there and Chino wouldn't tell me where he was," Summer explained.

"So she threatened me with a knife and hot coffee."

Summer rolled her eyes. "You're so melodramatic."

"And you caved in," Marissa concluded. "It's okay, Ryan. I know how scary Summer can be sometimes," she tried to say it as comfortingly as she could, but couldn't help the giggle that escaped.

"I was not scared," Ryan said through gritted teeth.

Summer laughed. "Yeah you were, Chino."

"Alright, maybe a little," Ryan caved.

The girls laughed even harder. Marissa hi-fived Summer.

"Ryan scared of a girl," she choked out.

He rolled his eyes and decided a change of subject was now in order. "So Summer, you excited about your trip?"

Summer decided to take his bait and let him off easy. "Yeah I am," she said.

"How long are you guys going to be gone?"

"Just two weeks. We'll spend a week in Catalina and a week in Santa Barbara,"

Summer got a dreamy smile just thinking about it. "We'll probably just rent a small beach house or something."

"What does your dad think about your trip?" Marissa asked.

Summer looked away guiltily. "I kind of haven't told him yet."

"When are you planning on it? You are going to tell him, right?"

"Wouldn't he notice if you're gone for two weeks?" Ryan spoke up.

"I doubt it. He'll be in London for the two weeks that I'm gone, and I think the step-monster is going to drag him on a sidetrip to Paris after," Summer said, a hint of bitterness laced in her voice.

"So you're not going to tell him?" Marissa said incredulously. "I thought you and you're dad were close?"

"We are," Summer said defensively. "And I am going to tell him, I just have to find the right time."

"He does know that you broke up with Zach, right?"

"Of course! I got a lecture to end all lectures about how rude and inconsiderate I was for leaving at the last minute when Zach's family had paid for everything and for backing out of the wedding."

"It was kind of inconsiderate," Ryan reasoned.

"Whatevs," Summer dismissed. "A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do."

"Yeah," Marissa nodded.

"Like moving out of a palace to live with your girlfriend," Summer grinned at Marissa.
Marissa playfully tossed a rag at Summer.

"So, uh, how is that going?" Ryan asked. "Living with Alex?"

"It's good," Marissa smiled. "It's really good."

Ryan nodded and went back to painting.

"I'm probably going to have to get a job though," she said thoughtfully.

"Coop working? Never thought I'd see the day," Summer said sarcastically.

"Okay, now you sound like Seth," Marissa told her.

Summer made a face. "I do, don't I?"

"What kind of job are you getting?" Ryan asked Marissa.

She sighed. "I have no idea. It's not like I have any marketable skills."

"You could be a waitress," Summer joked.

Ryan laughed. "I can't picture Marissa as a waitress."

"Why not?" She frowned.

Summer and Ryan looked at her.

"Okay, fine, I see your point," she said grudgingly. "But I'm sure I can find work somewhere. Even Seth was able to and he's like the laziest person on earth."

Neither Summer or Ryan argued with that.

"You could work at The Bait Shop," Summer suggested.

"And have my girlfriend be my boss?" Marissa shook her head. "I don't think so."

Summer turned to her excitedly. "I have an idea!"

"What?"

"You could take a summer job at the Newport Group."

"Work for my mom?" Marissa scoffed. "Yeah right."

"You could work for Kirsten," Ryan said. "Maybe be an assistant or something. I'm sure it would all be paperwork stuff."

"But I'd still be working at my mom's company, I'd have to see her everyday."

"You could at least talk to Kirsten, try to work something out. I'm sure she'd love to help you."

"It's a good idea, Coop," Summer piped up. "And I bet it will be good money..."

"Yeah," Marissa sighed."I guess it's worth a try."

"You guys could come over for dinner tonight," Ryan offered. "Run the idea past Kirsten then."

"Yeah okay," Marissa said and Summer nodded in agreement.

They all painted in a comfortable silence for a few minutesbefore Marissa spoke up again. "What are your plans for the summer, Ryan?"

He shrugged. "I'll probably get another job in construction. I've got nothing else to do and the extra money would be nice. But first..." he trailed off.

Marissa looked at him. "What?"

"I think I'm gonna visit Lindsay in Chicago," Ryan said hesitantly.

Both girls looked surprised. "I didn't you guys were still in touch," Marissa said.

"Yeah, we email each other, call once in awhile. I still have to talk to Kirsten and Sandy though."

"You guys doing the long distance relationship thing?" Summer questioned.

"No. I mean, we're just friends."

Marissa and Summer exchanged a look. "Right..." They said.

Marissa actually smirked. "When are you planning to go?"

"Probably around the time Seth and Summer leave," he said. "I'll be gone for a week at the most.

"Well, this summer is definitely shaping up to be better than the last," Summer said brightly.

Marissa and Ryan laughed. "Definitely," they said at the same time and smiled at each other.

Summer turned her full attention back to the boat and was surprised to see that aside from a few last finishing touched, they were pretty much done. She looked down at her watch and saw that a little more than two hours had already gone by.

She turned to Ryan and Marissa. "See, this was fun, right?"

"Yeah, it was," Marissa agreed and Ryan nodded.

"You guys tell Cohen this was fun," she demanded.


Seth walked over to the bar and sat down on a stool. "Oh, Ms. Bartender!" He called.

Alex rolled her eyes and walked over to him. "Very funny, Seth. What are you doing? You're supposed to be working."

"Alex, really, there's only so many times I can scrub the toilets and a bathroom floor. It's so clean in there I can see my own reflection in the tiles. Now unless you want me to move on to the ladies' bathroom…"he raised his eyebrows.

Alex shook her head. "You're impossible. And you'll be working in the back tomorrow, we have a delivery coming in."

"Aw, heavy lifting?" Seth whined.

"You're such a baby," Alex laughed.

He pouted. "Summer told me that about a week ago."

"Yeah, Marissa told me you and Summer were back together," she smiled. "Finally."

Seth nodded. "Finally," he leaned forward on the counter. "So how goes it between you and Marissa, huh?"

Alex shot him a warning look. "Seth…"

He held out his hands. "No no, I'm not asking like that. I'm just asking…you guys happy?"

Alex softened. "Yeah. Yeah we are."

"Good, I'm glad."

"What about you and Summer? How are you guys?"

"Summer is…." Seth trailed off, his eyes losing focus as he stared into space. Alex couldn't help but grin, the boy was so far gone. "I'm the happiest I've been all year," he said honestly.

"I can tell," Alex nodded. "So, about Summer. I think I'm gonna give her a call."

"Why?"

She shrugged. "To see if she wants to hang out or something."

"Why?" Seth repeated.

"She's Marissa's best friend. I just want to get to know my girlfriend's friends," she said, a little defensively. "Summer seems like a great person. She and Marissa have been friends since forever and you're obviously crazy about her."

"She's amazing," Seth said. "But, I'm sorry, it just seems a little weird."

"Why? Because she's your girlfriend and I'm your ex?" Alex asked.

"Well, yeah."

She rolled her eyes. "Don't worry, you're not invited. And I'm not asking for your permission, it's Summer's decision."

"Okay, fine," Seth relented. "Summer will actually probably like the idea of hanging out with you. Just don't….turn her or something."

Alex swatted him with her rag. "She's dating you, Seth. I'm sure she'll be switching teams in no time, with or without my help," she laughed.

Seth put his hand over his heart. "Ouch! That hurt me right here, Alex," he said dramatically.

Alex waved him off, still laughing. "Go, get out of here. I'll see you tomorrow."

He stood up from the stool and mock saluted her. "See ya boss."