Chapter 2 – It's Going To Be A Long Fall
Seth and Ryan emerged from Sandy's exceedingly polished car with the squinted eyes of experienced sun connoisseurs. Seth surveyed the landscape of the most expensive high school in Orange County, seeing kids getting out of the most expensive cars in Orange County while wearing the most expensive clothes in Orange County. The brazen opulence of it all disgusted Seth but there was no denying that money could buy beauty. Despite this day being renounced for new beginnings Seth engaged in a familiar habit. He desperately scanned the faces of the young Gatsbys in search of his Summer. She was nowhere to be seen. Probably going for that whole fashionably-late thing, he thought. He never did understand that. Why does arriving late make you fashionable? What's fashionable about getting stuck in a traffic jam? Rich people really do have some strange customs. Maybe having lots of money affects your brain. Maybe rich people spend so much time thinking about being rich they don't have time for other things. Wait a minute, wasn't he rich? Nah, he was more upper middle-class, very upper upper middle-class, with a mansion and pool view of the ocean.
As Ryan got out of the car he noticed a massive SUV pull up a few spaces behind him. He looked more like a tank than a car to him, a very nice-looking tank with leather seats and cup holders. Out of this behemoth stepped a tiny little teenage girl of no more than sixteen years old. She had to jump to reach the ground. This was definitely like no school he had attended before. More money had probably been spent on watering the plants in this school than on all the computers in his old school. The kids were drowning in expensive brand names but that was no different. Actually he thought that on average they worn less designer gear, though, to be fair, the clothes these kids were wearing probably didn't just fall off the back of a truck. He looked over at Seth. He was intently inspecting the throng of people before him. He was probably looking for that Summer girl, thought Ryan. He had never known anyone so obsessed with a girl as Seth was with her. Sure, his friends fixated on girls but that usually only lasted a few months or just until they had gotten what they wanted. They would never have hesitated to introduce themselves, which usually involved a bottle of vodka and a bit of bump-and-grind. In a way he kind of envied Seth. To know exactly what you want saves a lot of hassle. At this moment Marissa entered Ryan's sight. Their eyes met. Ryan felt an unidentifiable feeling deep down in the pit of his stomach. Then the moment was gone.
Marissa arrived at school to find her best friend Summer hiding inauspiciously behind a palm tree. Every so often Summer would cautiously peek out from behind the trunk fervently glancing around then sneak back out of view in the manner of a woodland creature nervous of potential enemies. Marissa confidently strode up to her friend.
"Hey, Summer. What ya doing?"
Summer fanatically motioned for Marissa to conceal herself. Marissa did not. The palm tree was barely thick enough to hide Summer. Anyway, she had grown out of hide-and-seek games; at least she liked to think she had. Summer was oblivious to Marissa's refusal to hide. She peaked out from the tree once more, looked for frantically, and then shot back behind the tree.
"I didn't know weird was in this season."
"Huh?" Said a barely listening Summer.
"What's going on? Who are you avoiding?"
"What?" Summer tried to act nonchalant. "Nobody."
Marissa obviously did not buy it. "All right." Said Summer. "I'm hiding from Nick."
Marissa was confused. She couldn't think of a Nick. Then it struck her. "Nick Banford?"
Nick Banford was six-foot, two inches of all-American blonde-haired teenage machismo. His parents had a substantial fortune and the frequent first-class planes tickets to Europe to show for it. Everyone knew Nick Banford was destined for success, including Nick Banford. He was arrogant, brash, impulsive, and had the handsome charms to back it all up. The water polo team was his social group, but he was prevented from joining the team due to an unfortunate childhood incident that left him permanently afraid of the water. He had tried almost everything to get over the phobia but, in perhaps his only concession to his own fallibly; he could never quite rid himself of it. Summer had been after Nick Banford for quite a while.
"Why are you hiding from Nick Banford?"
Summer sighed with regret. "Okay. You know that party you didn't attend?"
Marissa had been with Ryan and Seth that night. They had played video games and eaten Chinese food on the Cohen's living room floor. It didn't exactly sound like a stellar night out but Marissa couldn't remember a time where she had more fun. It turns out that Seth wasn't that strange, in fact, he could be quite funny at times. Then there was Ryan. Marissa didn't know exactly what she felt towards Ryan but it was certainly interesting and she didn't want it to go away. Marissa hadn't told Summer a thing about her new friends. It wasn't that she was ashamed of them, just that she didn't know how Summer would react. In Summer's world status was everything and if there was one thing Seth and Ryan didn't have, it was status.
"Yeah." Replied Marissa.
"I kind of got a little drunk and, well, you know, how I am when I'm drunk."
A thought suddenly dawned on Marissa. A thought of great significance. A thought that blew her mind. "Oh my God!" She shrieked. "You didn't…" She left the sentence hanging in the air unable to complete it.
Summer furrowed her brow in confusion. She couldn't work out what Marissa was trying to say. Then she grasped it and became wide-eyed in shock. "No!" She shouted. "No, I didn't…"
"Oh, didn't mean to…"
"No, it's okay. But I didn't…"
"Good, good. Not that it's good. Well, it could be good if you…but then you….you know…good. Is it good?"
"It's good."
"Good."
An uncomfortable silence descended between the two as both were embarrassed by the confusion. Finally, Marissa said with a smile, "So, what happened?"
"We kissed." Answered Summer in her matter-of-fact style.
"You kissed?" Again Marissa was shocked.
"Yeah."
"Like kissed kissed."
"Oh yeah." Summer stared into the distance remembering the event.
"So, why are you avoiding him?" Asked Marissa.
"What am I going to say to him? Hi, remember me? I'm the one who drunkly kissed then threw up on your shirt and passed out." Said an exasperated Summer.
"You threw up on his shirt?" Questioned Marissa.
"Yeah."
"Okay. Hiding, good strategy."
"Talking about hide-and-seek? Yeah, I love that game. It's a game of skill, intelligence, and, well, hiding." It was Seth. He had dragged Ryan over to see why Summer was hiding behind a palm tree. Marissa turned round and smiled. Summer turned round and looked at Seth with a mixture of confusion and contempt. She didn't quite know who he was but was sure he shouldn't be talking to her.
Seth glanced over at Summer and saw the look of confusion in her eyes. "Hi. I'm Seth. The confusion remained. "Seth Cohen."
"Cohen?"
"And this is Ryan."
"Oh, the boy from Chino."
Seth rolled his eyes in Ryan's direction.
"Hi guys." Said Marissa.
"Hi Marissa." Said Seth. "Oh, hey, did you get that chow mien stain out of your dress? Sorry about that. Those chopsticks are dangerous."
"Err…yeah."
Summer turned to Marissa. "You know these guys?"
"Yeah." Replied Marissa nervously.
"You have new friends?"
"Well, it's not…"
"I thought we told each other everything. I told you about Nick Banford."
"Nick Banford?" Said a surprised Seth.
"Who's Nick Banford?" Ryan quietly asked Seth
"He's one of the water polo morons." Answered Seth.
"Oh." Said Ryan.
"He's not a moron." Protested Summer.
"Come on! The guy can barely string a sentence together." Exclaimed Seth.
"Yeah, well, it's not exactly his words I'm interested in. Anyway, shouldn't we be getting to class?" Said Summer in the direction of Marissa.
Marissa had been quietly sneaking glances at Ryan and not following the conversation. "Huh? What?"
Summer ignored this and grabbed Marissa by the hand and strode off to class.
Seth and Ryan watched them go in silence until they were out of view. Ryan turned to Seth and padded him on the shoulder. "Smooth, man. Real smooth." Then made his way towards the school.
Seth stood momentarily alone before catching Ryan up.
And so the school year began…