Chapter 12 – It's Getting Hot In Herre

The sun, as usual, beat down in all its glory on the privileged private school. Thanks to a large amount of humidity the heat was oppressively unbearable. Ramshackle figures slumped around the school soaking their designer clothes in a swath of their own sweat. Everything from books, magazines, to hands was engaged as makeshift fans in a vain attempt to provide some relief from the intolerable temperature. Orange County was experiencing a heat wave.

Ryan tried to find some respite from the heat in the form of large drooping tree and the shade it provided. Even with this protection he was still sweating so much that small droplets pinged off his nose and fell to the ground where they almost instantly evaporated. "Come on, Seth." He said to himself. He had been waiting for his friend for ten minutes and it was far too hot to wait ten minutes for anyone. If Seth didn't arrive soon Ryan would leave, find the nearest body of water, and jump in. Another droplet of sweat dropped from his face. God it's hot.

Summer and Marissa were sitting in the library trying to study for the upcoming biology test. Trying may be too strong a word. They had their books open at least. It was just too hot to study. Marissa lay practically motionless on the sofa sweat glistening on the exposed parts of her body, which considering she was wearing a tiny pair of shorts and mid-drift revealing top was quite a lot of it. Summer was examining her hair only to be disappointed by the frizzness of it. She threw it down in disgust and slouched back in the sofa. God it's hot.

Seth came out of the classroom along with several other exhausted fellow students. Mr. Trope had decided that today of all days would be perfect for a presentation on the history of the Assyrian Empire and if that wasn't bad enough the presentation run over by ten minutes. Seth knew he should have skipped school and gone to the beach like most of the rest of the student body. At least he was finally out of the incredibly hot classroom and into the slightly less incredibly hot corridor. Seth made his way to his locker. He touched the metal door only to jump back in shock at the heat of it. He managed to open it by using his t-shirt as protection for his hand. He got out his bag and slung it round his shoulders, almost hitting the girl who had quietly approached him from behind. She jumped backwards making Seth aware of her presence resulting in him spinning round and whacking his locker door with his bag. The loud noise made quite a few of the other people in the corridor to turn and look. Seth smiled sheepishly. Blood rushed to his head and his face became bright red. God it's hot.

Charity smiled seductively at Seth brushing away a damp strand of hair from her eyes. "Hi Seth."

Seth looked around for a second until he was sure she was talking to him. "Err…hey Charity."

"What happened last night? You just left?" Charity asked.

Seth adjusted the bag strap on his shoulder. "Yeah, there was an incident. Punches were thrown."

"Oh, really." Charity said impressed. "Well, I was just wondering if you wanted to hang out this afternoon."

Just then Seth looked past Charity to see the figure of Summer at the end of the corridor staring back at him. Seth's mind took him back to his thoughts at the party. As much as he liked the idea that a girl like Charity would be interested in him he knew why she was really talking to him. "Sorry, I can't. I've got a thing. Can't get out of it."

"Oh." Charity said with disappointment.

Seth looked at his watch. "Actually I'm late so…" Seth couldn't think of a way to end the sentence and paused for an uncomfortable moment. "Okay, yeah. Bye." Then Seth turned round, shut his locker, and headed away from Charity down the corridor.

Inside the library Marissa still had not worked up the energy to do any studying. She lazily scanned the occupants of the library. There was a girl in a horrible dress, a spotty little geek in the science-fiction section, and a crusty white-haired old librarian behind a large wooden desk. Her eyes drifted to the window. The sun was still as high as ever with hardly a cloud to block the brilliant blue sky. She continued looking. She saw a boy standing under a drooping tree checking his watch. She looked closer. It was Ryan. She turned to Summer, "I don't think we're going to get any studying done."

Summer nodded in agreement.

"Why don't we go to the beach instead?" Marissa suggested.

"Great idea, Coop." Summer replied.

The two girls picked up their books, put them in their bags, and headed out of the library. Marissa was thinking of an excuse to allow her to go talk to Ryan when Summer saved her the bother. "Wait. I forgot something in my locker. I'll be back in two minutes." She said walking back into the school.

Marissa smiled, waited until Summer was out of sight, and walked over to Ryan. He was looking in the opposite direction and so did not see her approach. "So, why'd you punch my boyfriend?" Marissa demanded.

Ryan whirled round. "What?"

Marissa put her hands on her hips. "Why'd you hit Luke?"

Ryan squinted his eyes. "I had my reasons."

Marissa shook her head. "That's all you got?"

"I don't need to explain myself to you." Ryan said with a raised voice.

Marissa looked him straight in the eyes. "No, you don't."

Ryan broke the contact and slightly turned away. "Look, I'm sorry, okay? But he deserved it."

Marissa was about to respond but choose not too. The two stood in silence for a moment. Ryan looked up and caught Marissa's glance. Their eyes met. Marissa's features softened, a smile crept onto her face. "Look, Summer and I are going to the beach. You wanna come?"

Ryan looked at Marissa carefully. "I'm waiting for Seth."

"He can come too."

"You sure?" Ryan asked unconvinced.

Inside the school Summer had found her locker, gotten the cloth hair band out of it and tied her hair back with it. She headed back to where Marissa was waiting. She turned into a corridor only to stop dead in her tracks at the sight she was confronted with. Cohen and Charity were standing talking about half-way down the corridor. Charity was obviously flirting with him. Summer knew because she was doing everything that Summer would have done, flicking her hair, touching his arm. It was disgusting. How could she throw herself at him like that? Summer asked herself. You think he would notice that she was only after his family's money. What a gold digger. She didn't care for him at all. Summer completely regretted ever introducing the two. She thought it would be a nice way to say thank you to Cohen for getting her into the party, as well as go some way to relieving the guilt she felt at using him. What started out as a good idea had become a disaster. Charity would make Cohen fall for her, use him, and then dump him, leaving him heartbroken, and it would all be Summer's fault. How could Charity do that to Cohen? How could she just use him like that? It's not like Cohen was a complete no-hoper. He had some good points. He was kind of attractive in a geeky sort of way, and some of jokes weren't that bad, and he was an incredibly sweet guy, and…Summer stopped herself. A thought had just crept into her mind. "Oh. My. God." She whispered to herself. No, it couldn't be. There's no way. It just wasn't possible. How could she like Seth Cohen?

Seth approached Ryan and Marissa. "Hey."

Ryan showed Seth his watch.

"Yeah, I know." Seth said. "It wasn't my fault. "

"Seth, do you want to come to the beach with me and Summer?" Marissa asked.

Seth thought for a moment. "Sure." He said looking at Ryan.

"Great." Marissa commented.

Just then Summer emerged from the building. Marissa waved her over but she refused frantically waving for Marissa to join her, which she duly did.

Seth looked at Ryan slyly. "Beach date, huh?"

"It's not a date." Ryan said dismissively. He thought for a moment. "Is it?" He asked nervously.

Seth just smiled.

Marissa walked up to Summer who had on her sunglasses and was trying not to look in Seth's direction. "You ready?" She said impatiently.

"Yeah." Marissa replied.

The two girls walked towards the car. "So, I invited Ryan and Seth to join us." Marissa said nonchalantly.

Summer stopped. "You what?" She exploded.

"I invited Ryan and Seth to…" Marissa repeated.

"You can't!" Summer interrupted.

"Why not?" Marissa inquired.

Summer was about to reply but stopped herself. "You just can't." She finally said.

"Well, it's already done." Marissa said looking curiously at her friend.

Summer looked back in the direction of Seth and Ryan who had started to walk to their own car. She returned to Marissa then turned away and continued on walking. There was no way, she thought. It just wasn't possible. "God it's hot." She whispered.