So, this takes forever to update. Right now, I'm working on like four stories: This, Scarred Youth, Stranded Memories and another one that isn't the O.C. or any tv show for that matter. After this, I have to type up Stranded Memories, so look for a Scarred Youth update around next Friday. That's all we can hope for. So, this story has changed a lot from when I started it, but tell me what you think. I've become a time jumper in here. Hehe. Oh, and to differentiate time differences, 00X00 means new time, and 000 means same time.
She walked down the hall with precaution. It had been the same for three months. Ryan was gone, and with him, he took their old life away.
She saw Seth and Anna laughing and being all coupley. They had been together for four months. She was sorta happy for them. They lived their life without worry.
"Hey!" Seth noticed her and the couple walked over.
"Hey Cohen, Anna," She greeted them with her fake smile.
"Hey Summer," Anna said to Summer, who had kept up the lies for four months. She secretly hated Anna with Seth, it killed her. Well, it used to. She had given up on Seth. He changed.
Not a really long time ago, the Cohens gave up on Ryan. He wasn't even mentioned anymore. Summer remembered him, she was the only one. Marissa slowly floated away from them, especially Summer and she got closer to Oliver. They were also a couple. Oliver had finally worked his way into Marissa's heart. Frequently, they would skip school and trek off to new and fascinating places. Marissa wasn't the same since Ryan.
"Are you doing anything tonight?" Seth asked Summer, he felt bad for her. She was so alone. She had tried her luck at other guys, but none worked. She had no one.
"No," Summer never did anything with friends. She didn't have many.
"Wanna come over? You know, we can play a little Playstation," Seth tried to be nice to her.
"Sure. Thanks. Um, I'll see you guys later," Summer made her exit and could see Marissa and Oliver walking up the other way. She hoped they'd notice her today.
But instead, Marissa gave Summer an evil scowl and the two went on their way.
Oh yes, this was hell on earth.
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Seth groggily woke up. His alarm was buzzing off, and he couldn't remember what day it as. Then it all hit him. Ryan tried to die last night.
The thought would haunt Seth forever. It was so disturbing. Ryan almost died.
Seth got changed and walked downstairs to find no one was home. His parents went back to the hospital. Oh well, he'd hitch a ride from one of his friends.
Anna's car was in the show and she was getting a ride from her dad, so that was a no-go. And Marissa...nah. His only choices were Summer or Luke.
Summer.
"Hello?" Summer picked up her cell phone as she rummaged through her things, looking for her necklace.
"Hi Summer," Seth felt strange talking to her voluntarily. She tried to win his heart, and he chose Anna. Seth knew he hurt Summer a lot, but she did an excellent job at covering it up.
"Oh hey Cohen. What's up?" Summer found her necklace and stuffed in her purse. She wouldn't be able to put it on while talking to Seth.
It bothered her a lot that he chose Anna, and she was trying her best to break them up, but sadly it wasn't working. She needed to try new guys. Just because the guy who's in love with you for around ever decides finally when you want to be together that he wants someone else, doesn't mean she was ruined forever.
"Listen, um, can you pick me up? My parents aren't home, and yeah," Seth explained to her. He didn't want to tell her about Ryan right away, those two weren't the best of friends. In fact, they barely talked. The last time Seth could remember Summer having an interaction alone with Ryan was...his first night. And Seth ended that.
"Sure, I guess. I'll be there in a few," Summer clicked the phone off and rushed out of the house and to the car. Why couldn't he just get his girlfriend to take him to school? Was that the only reason Summer was around? So she could do favors for people. Seth totally was using her. He was taking the fact that she had feelings for him and wrapping her around his little finger.
She shouldn't go. No, she couldn't do that to Seth. Damn her ethics.
Summer got to the house and slowly walked up to the door. She rang the bell about a million times, and Seth reluctantly got up from his comfort on the couch to answer up. She continued to hitting the doorbell.
"Hold on," He opened the door and Summer shoved the necklace at Seth before he even could say another word. She'd use him.
"Put this on," Summer ordered, and Seth took the necklace and laid it along her skin. It was this tiny little moment they had, where Summer sort of fell for Seth again. But she had to keep her head straight. He was gone.
Seth clasped the necklace together and let go.
"Thanks, I didn't have time to put it on. So, are you ready? Where's Chino?" Summer looked around the house to see if Ryan was hiding somewhere. She had forgotten he was still suspended.
"He's, uh, not here. Listen, I'll tell you in the car. Let's go," Seth quickly grabbed his backpack while Summer led the way to the car.
"So, what's up with Ryan?" Summer asked once they got on the road.
"He's in the hospital," Seth went over the night's events. Never in his life would he be thinking he'd tell Summer Roberts, who liked him, about Ryan Atwood, his first real friend, about a drug overdose. This was one crazy world they were living in.
"What? Why? How?" Summer was shocked. She had been a little freaked out by Ryan from what Marissa said.
"He, uh, took some pills," Seth informed the girl he had loved. He didn't even know if he felt the same way now.
"So he overdosed?" Summer guessed.
"Yeah," She was even more shocked. This was totally out of character for him. Marissa overdosed, Ryan brooded. Seth rambled, and Summer bitched. Those were the rules. You couldn't just change them.
"Wow. That totally doesn't sound like Ryan," Summer commented as she stopped at a red light. She looked over at Seth and now understood why he was seemed so out of it. His brother tried to die.
"I know. But I found him last night," Seth shuddered, and Summer felt worse.
"That's horrible. I hope he's okay," She let a silence come over the two and they didn't say a word as they parked in the school lot. Summer waited for Seth to leave to get out. She watched him catch up with Anna, and felt even more used. All Seth would want from her was just rides when he couldn't get on. He didn't care about her at all.
She continued to watch as a fear came across Anna's face, and the two walked together, holding each other close. Summer was jealous.
"Hey Sum," Marissa came up behind Summer, and she turned, only to see Oliver next to Marissa.
"Hey guys," Summer faked her smile and all three began to walk up to the school.
"Saw you with Seth. Anything going on there?" Marissa teased and Oliver grew cross. He hated when he wasn't in the conversation with Marissa.
"Ew! No!" Summer commented, but she felt the opposite.
"Did you see Ryan? Shouldn't he be coming back tomorrow?" Marissa still did have feelings for Ryan, but she couldn't trust him. Oliver was getting annoyed. Ryan should be gone if the plan worked.
"Um, he was sick," Summer lied as Oliver scowled. Why couldn't Marissa be over Ryan? Ryan was old news, done and over with.
"Is he taking any pills?" Oliver asked Summer, almost laughing. She eyed him strangely.
"I don't know," Summer answered as she noticed him interlocking hands. Marissa smiled. She felt safe with Oliver. Unlike Ryan. He was 'unstable.'
"Well, I hope he feels better. I'll see you later Sum. Come on, Ol," Summer immediately noticed that Oliver had gained a nickname from Marissa. They began to walk away from Summer.
"Yeah, see ya Sum," Oliver remarked evilly and she watched them disappear.
Hopefully everything would turn out all right.
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Summer knocked on the Cohens' front door. She heard giggling and the door swung open. Seth and Anna were all over each other, but immediately stopped when they saw Summer.
"Oh hi, Summer," Seth greeted her.
"Hey Cohen. Anna," Summer walked in, feeling a change in the house.
"We were just about to eat. You came right in time," All three went to the kitchen where Kirsten and Sandy were setting up takeout.
"Summer, hi! Welcome!" Kirsten smiled. You couldn't tell Ryan was ever there. Summer was thinking about the boy more and more often. She was just so sick of being here. She wanted to see him, see a glimpse of the past that they all had.
"Thanks for having me," Summer sat down and Seth laid a plate of takeout in front of her. They all sat down and began to eat, the Cohen banter took over.
Summer didn't pay attention to what they were saying, she didn't much care. She didn't even know why she said yes to this dinner. They weren't even acknowledging her. Like she didn't exist. Like she was Ryan.
Summer glanced out the window and saw the pool house. It was dark. It had been dark for a while. The lights never came back on after they turned it out the day after Ryan was gone.
"Um, Mr. Cohen?" Summer turned to him.
"What?" Sandy smiled. He was the only one of the three that did miss Ryan. Sandy saw himself in Ryan, and it pained him a lot to have to send him away. But he had to. He was unsafe. They couldn't trust him.
"Did you happen to see Ryan lately?" It was like she just spoke of how she would kill them all. They all stopped eating and stared at her. Kirsten began to get the memories she tried so hard to forget and soon, she was tearing up.
"Excuse me," Kirsten got up before anyone could see her cry and left the room.
"Seth? Can you..." Sandy started.
"I'm on it. Anna, wanna help?" Seth looked to his girlfriend.
"Sure," The couple got up and followed Seth's mother. That left Sandy and Summer.
"Mr. Cohen, I am so sorry," Summer told him.
"It's okay. Kirsten refuses to hear about him. Sometimes I don't like to either, but I miss him. It's just all the pain that he caused, it really hurt Kirsten and Seth. A lot," Sandy explained to the girl. He used to think Seth and Summer would end up together, but Seth seemed to be with Anna.
"I know, but I figured he deserved a visit," Summer said. Sandy hadn't realized how much he missed his second son. It seemed forever ago that they walked out on him.
"No one's seen him since the first visitation. He probably hates us," Sandy commented, and he was right. Ryan had given up on the Cohens a while ago.
"Well, where is he?" Summer wanted to see him.
"At a facility up north called Killian Psychiatric," Sandy answered. He thought back to when Ryan had been a member of the family. Those were the best times the family had. Ryan made them complete.
"Do you know when I can visit?" Summer asked, she knew she had to visit now.
"This weekend. They call us every time there is a visitation, and usually Kirsten deletes the message before I hear it. But I got her this time. I picked up," Sandy replied.
"So you're positive it's this weekend?" Summer wondered.
"Positive."
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Kirsten's eyes drooped down, but she pinched herself to stay awake. Kirsten had gotten a call from Sandy that she had to get to the hospital. She had rushed out the door, not even leaving a note for Seth.
Ryan groaned and both Sandy and Kirsten shot up immediately, staring at the pale boy. He groaned again and opened his eyes.
"Where am I?" Ryan sat up right away. He was confused. His stomach was in excruciating pain, and he seemed to be in a hospital.
"You're in the hospital, Ryan," Sandy answered as Kirsten teared up.
"Why am I in here? What happened?" Ryan began to get defensive. There were too many things missing from this puzzle, and he needed to find them.
"What do you remember last?" Sandy asked. He couldn't believe the situation he was in. This was beyond comprehension. He felt so disappointed in Ryan. Plus, Sandy should have seen the signs that Ryan was getting depressed. But Sandy blew them off.
"I remember sleeping in the pool house," Ryan thought back to hopefully the night before. He had taken two sleeping pills and fell asleep.
"Do you remember taking any pills?" Sandy continued on with the interrogation. Kirsten just kept letting the tears slowly fall. This was killing her inside.
"Yeah, two sleeping pills," Ryan had begun to get suspicious. What were Sandy and Kirsten getting at? What had Ryan supposedly done?
"I think you miscounted," Kirsten whispered to her son, feeling sick. And then Ryan started to catch on.
"Do you think I overdosed?" Ryan recounted last night. He knew he had only taken two pills. He knew that for a fact.
"Seth found the empty pill bottle," Kirsten was choking up. This was too much for her. Never had she dealt with something like this with Seth.
"I didn't overdose," But Ryan was doubting himself. How else would the bottle have gotten there? Maybe Ryan never put the cap back on and knocked the rest down. He needed a way to prove himself.
"Then how would you explain the pill bottle?" Kirsten was falling apart, she couldn't hold it together.
"I don't know," Maybe Ryan had overdosed. No, he would remember. And Seth would trick Ryan, would he? No, it had to be someone else. But who?
Oliver.
"Oliver! It was Oliver! He did it!" Ryan accused.
"What?" Sandy was confused by his son's outburst. What did Oliver have to do with this?
"It was Oliver. He came over yesterday! He must've planted the bottle. Was the bottle closed? Because I did overdose, I wouldn't have bothered to close a pill bottle," Ryan began to exclaim the thoughts that came into his head.
"Do you hear yourself!" Kirsten practically screamed at Ryan, completely breaking down. "You're talking nonsense! Why do you keep blaming Oliver! You did it! You wanted to die!"
"We'll let you alone for a little bit. Come on, Kirsten," Sandy helped his sobbing wife up and took her out of the room.
Wouldn't Ryan have known if he overdosed? It's not something you forget. No, Oliver had set him up.
Except no one saw it.
Well, that ends the third chapter. I am working on the next one, but first I have to type up Stranded Memories, then a new chapter of Scarred Youth. I have a ton written for Scarred Youth. Like a lot, but I'm just not the most fun typer. Please review, I love reading them.