Chapter 20 – Falling Stars
Luke sat in his large black pick-up truck in the school car park, the radio blasting out a soft-rock classic, and the morning sun rising slowly in the brilliant blue sky. He ran a hand slowly through his hair. He pulled down the visor above his head and looked at himself in the tiny mirror. He violently flipped the visor back into place. A familiar brunette-haired girl passed in front of the truck and gave him a friendly smile. He smiled back. His gaze shifted to the entrance of the car park. Despite the early hour the heat was sufficient to distort the air. Luke looked through the haze concentrating fiercely on each car as it entered. As each car appeared his heart skipped a beat, he felt a peculiar feeling in his stomach, and his breathing became hard and fast. He ran his hand through his hair again.
Marissa's car entered the car park with a bump. Her eyes flicked sideways and she let out a laugh at the sight of Ryan's momentarily scared wide eyes. He recovered enough to send an uncomfortable smile her way. In the back seat Seth sat staring out of the window barely noticing the maniac driving of Marissa.
Luke's heart skipped for the umpteenth time but this time it did not go quickly back to normal. He recognised the car that entered the car park all too well. He tried to look at the driver but the distance defeated him. He grabbed the car handle as he prepared himself to talk to her. He went through what he wanted to say. He rehearsed the apology he had been working on since she had caught him. The words flowed with a practised ease. He took a deep breath and pulled the handle. The door opened. He started to push it but stopped. All this time he had kept his eyes fixed on Marissa's car. He watched it circle around for a spot. He watched it slowly park between two similarly expensive SUVs. He watched as Marissa jumped down on the driver's side. He watched as Ryan got out of the passenger's side and he watched as Marissa walked over to him laughing and smiling. Luke closed the car door and ran his hand through hair.
Marissa, Ryan, and Seth entered the school courtyard and became part of the mass of people milling around waiting for the bell to sound. Ryan walked in the middle with Seth and his right hand side and Marissa on his left. He strode confidently through the crowd, bag over his left shoulder, and shirt blowing slightly in the wind. Seth held a battered skateboard by the front axel in his right hand. Marissa scanned the faces of the throng of teenagers. The group of three stopped as they saw Summer walking towards them. She had a tiny bag under her left shoulder and a cell phone held up to her right ear. When she saw them she hung up the phone and slotted it neatly into her bag.
She smiled at Marissa mentally noting how close she was standing next to Ryan. Then she turned to Seth who looked at her uncomfortably. He held back from her unsure of what he should do. She smiled nervously at him, he smiled nervously back. "Summer." He said.
"Cohen." She replied in a similar tone.
A gust of wind blew through causing a strand of Summer's hair to blow across her face. Seth looked uneasily around then slowly moved closer to Summer. She glanced quickly around her then quickly pecked him on the cheek. Seth paused a moment but reluctantly moving away her.
In the distance hidden behind a tree Luke stood peering anxiously at the group of four.
The group went their separate ways with Seth and Ryan headed to their class and Summer and Marissa heading to theirs. Summer waited until she thought they were out of ear-shot of the boys and turned to her friend. "What's going on, Coop? One minute you're all maniac driving through a lightning storm to your boyfriend the next you're cuddling up with Chino. What gives?"
Marissa thought for a moment then ushered Summer to a nearby bench where the two of them sat down. "I caught him."
"Ryan?" Summer asked.
"Luke." Marissa stated with little emotion.
"Caught him doing what?" Summer asked innocently.
"Cheating on me." Marissa hesitated. "With Hope."
"What?" Summer exploded. "That slut! I'll kill her! I'll kill him!"
"Summer, Summer." Marissa said calmly down her friend. "It's okay. Well, it's not okay, but it's okay. Okay?"
"Okay." Summer said calmly.
"Anyway, I kind of kissed Ryan last night."
"You what?" Summer asked excitedly.
"Yeah. It was after you and Seth went upstairs." Marissa looked suggestively at Summer.
"Yeah, about that. We just talked." Marissa raised her eyebrows causing Summer to change tack. "Okay, we kissed a little. A lot. But nothing happened. Nothing else."
"Uh-huh." Marissa said smiling.
"So, what are you going to do?" Summer inquired.
"I don't know. I can't forgive Luke for what he did but…" Marissa trailed the last word.
"But you did the same with Ryan." Summer finished for her.
"Yeah." Marissa agreed. "What about you and Seth?"
"What about me and Seth?" Summer asked defensively.
"Are you two...?" Marissa paused. "A couple now?"
"I think so." Summer answered unconvincingly. "It's weird. We have this connection, a spark, something, you know? When we're alone I want him to hold me, to kiss me, to…" Summer looked up from her day-dream. "To, you know." Marissa nodded. "But then there's some other part of me that keeps saying, he's Seth Cohen. Seth Cohen! I'm not meant to date a Seth Cohen and he's not meant to date someone like me. We're just too different. It'll never work. So, what's the point in starting something will inevitably end? Why put myself through that? Why risk everything?"
Marissa thought for a moment. "I don't know. I think you just know if it's worth it."
The day passed slowly as school day inevitably do. Lesson after lesson, teacher after teacher, washed over Summer as one simple question dominated her mind, was it worth it? One minute she was convinced it was, the next minute she thought it could never work in a million years. She ran list after list through her mind weighing up the various options. Nightmare scenario raced through her consciousness ranging from Seth publicly rejecting her making her a pariah at the school forcing to eat lunch with the losers and the geeks to her living a life of unfulfilled love forever pining after the one she let go. Then it struck her. She had only known him for a couple of weeks. This wasn't the time for soul-searching life decisions. This was the time for fun. She should enjoy whatever it is they had and see what happened. She should just take it from there. Anyway, if people found out she could always just claim it was her geek phase.
Summer came out of her class at the end of the day determined to tormenting herself with her crazy thoughts. As she entered the corridor she saw Seth opening his locker and putting some books away. She smiled to herself. Now was the time for fun. She confidently walked up to him and placed one hand on the top of the lockers and struck a seductive pose. "Hey, Cohen."
"Hey, Summer." He said quickly shutting his locker. "What's up?"
"What are you doing later?" Summer asked.
"I don't know. Maybe a little Magic: The Gathering." Seth said.
"Magic the what?" Summer asked confused.
"Doesn't matter." Seth said dismissively. "Why?"
"I was wondering if you wanted to hang out." Summer asked provocatively.
"Err…yeah, sure. I told Ryan I would hang with him but, yeah, definitely." Seth mumbled.
"I'll see you later." Summer whispered in his ear before swaggering away shaking her butt from side to side.
He stared after her fully enjoying the view and smiled to himself. After Summer passed out of view he turned round and ran straight into a small blonde-haired girl knocking her over and sending her bag flying spilling its contents on the floor. Seth apologised profusely as he got down on his knees and helped the girl put the various items that now decorated the ground back inside the bag. Then he happened upon a comic book. He looked at it curiously. It was the latest edition of Teutonic Man. It was so new that he hadn't even had time to buy it. He turned from the comic book to the girl who looked back at him embarrassed. She snatched it from his grasp and thrust it into her bag. "Hi, I'm Seth Cohen." Seth said extending his hand as the two of them got to their feet.
The girl looked him up and down then put her hand in his and shook it. "Anna Stern."