Disclaimer: None of the characters are mine.
A/N: So, it's summer, there's no O.C. for months...we need something occupy ourselves with. While this story is short and random, perhaps it will temporary do the trick. So, read it in good humor, and enjoy.
Summer Roberts had spent more then twenty-four hours, without sleeping, working on the project that would be the final grade in her biology class. And so, by the time she arrived at Harbor High, project in hand, she was having a hard time putting one foot in front of the other and keeping her eyes open. She found her boyfriend, Seth Cohen, sitting on the couch in the student lounge and she dropped down beside him.
"Hey Summer." Seth greeted and turned to look at her. "Geez, you look like Hell." He noted the circles under her eyes, frizzy hair and wane skin.
Summer didn't snap off a usual retort. Instead, she said, "I've been up for twenty-four goddamn hours working on my damn biology project."
Seth looked at her once again and nodded. "Yeah, you look like it. Can I see your project?"
Summer reached into her purse and pulled out the perfectly folded brochure she'd toiled on and handed it to Seth. "Hepatitis C" was labeled in big red letters across the top and there was a photo of a nasty looking purple growth below it.
Seth looked through the brochure, wrinkling his nose every time he came to another picture; dutifully, he read the symptoms of Hepatitis and the ways to avoid catching the disease, despite the fact that he was certain his girlfriend wouldn't notice if he read it or not. Summer was halfway to dreamland by the time he finished reading and he tapped her lightly on the nose with the paper, causing her to jerk awake.
"Well, your brochure has made me frightened but aware." Seth told her with a crooked smile on his face.
Giving him a confused look, Summer mumbled, "Huh?" She didn't look very pleased to have been woken.
Seth handed the paper back to her. "Aware, about Hepatitis C." He clarified.
Looking confused, Summer continued to stare at him. "Hepatitis C?" She repeated.
"Yeah. Now I know how to avoid getting Hepatitis; I have to stop doing drugs, stop giving birth to infants with Hepatitis C and quit my job as a social worker." He grinned at his words.
The confused look never left Summer's face. "What are you talking about?" She questioned.
Seth figured that she was more tired then she had first let on. "Your brochure, on Hepatitis C." He had been trying to cheer her up, but now it seemed that she was too tired even more that.
Summer looked down at the paper in her hands, suddenly more awake. "Hepatitis C!" She repeated again, voice growing louder. The other students in the room looked over at her with confused looks on their faces. "But my project wasn't on Hepatitis C!"
Despite the fact that Seth tried to get her to lower her voice, Summer continued shouting. "I spent all damn night working on the wrong project? Holly Fisher has Hepatitis C!"
Several of the students heard Summer's words and hurried off to tell all their friends the news.
While Summer was reeling over the news that she had spent twenty-four hours working on the wrong project, Marissa Cooper walked into the lounge and saw her friends. "What's wrong with her?" She questioned of Seth, gesturing toward the girl beside him.
"She found out that she spent all night doing the wrong topic for her biology project." Seth explained.
Marissa looked confused. "But Summer," she began, "that project isn't due until tomorrow."
Summer's tired eyes went wide. "Tomorrow." She repeated. She leaned forward and her forehead banged against the surface of the coffee table in front of her. The dark-haired girl didn't move.
Seth nudged his girlfriend. "Summer?" He got no response. "I think she needs a moment." He muttered to Marissa as he stood up.
They headed out into the hallway, which was abuzz with gossip. "What's this I hear about Holly Fisher having Hepatitis C?" Marissa asked Seth.
Seth fought down a smile. "I have no idea how that started."