Chapter Two

Phoenix, Arizona

4:30 P.M.

Dr. Brown's Office

Marissa nodded. "Yeah, it's just...I've been getting flashbacks lately...I mean...I can't stop thinking about the past."

"The past...hmm...tell me about what you are thinking about. What has been reoccurring in your thoughts lately?"

"Well," said Marissa. "It's about my last year in Newport."

"And that is where you grew up?" questioned Dr. Brown, writing something on his clipboard.

"Yes," said Marissa.

"What happened that year?" There was a long silence after Dr. Brown asked Marissa this question, and he had to look up and ask what was wrong.

"Nothing," said Marissa. "It's just, it wasn't really what happened that year that I am remembering as much as it is what happened that summer."

"What did happen that summer?" asked Dr. Brown. He took a sip from his glass of water and sat it back down on the desk.

"Well," said Marissa. "It began that May. My boyfriend, Ryan, had a brother. He had been in Newport for a while and he was nice and all…" She clenched her hands together in her lap. "One night, when Ryan was gone during spring break, I was hanging out with Trey…"

"Trey?"

"Ryan's brother and…and he forced himself on me…" Marissa began to sob.

"It's okay, let it out," said Dr. Brown.

"Later, I didn't tell Ryan, but I told my friend, Summer, and she told Seth…and Seth…Seth told Ryan…"

"And let me guess? Ryan went psycho and beat up his brother?"

"Yes," sobbed Marissa. "But Trey had the advantage…and then Trey went to smash Ryan's head in, and I had to kill Trey."

Dr. Brown, holding the glass of water up to his lips, suddenly spit up the water he had half swallowed. "What?" he gasped, astonished. "You killed him?"

"Yes, I had to…" cried Marissa. "He was going to kill Ryan if I didn't."

Dr. Brown, still shocked, said, "Please continue."

"Well," said Marissa. "I went to court. And during the trial, the prosecuting attorney tricked me. She made it so that it was like I had no reason to kill Trey. You see, he was going to smash Ryan's head in using a phone. But the woman, the prosecutor, said to me, 'Why couldn't you have just shot him in the hand?' I didn't know what to say. I was really nervous at the time. And, when Trey was about to smash Ryan's head in, I hadn't been thinking. I wasn't rational. I just knew that I had to stop Trey from killing Ryan."

"Yes," said Dr Brown. He was resting his chin on the palm of his hand. "How could they expect you to have thought everything out? You had, what? Fifteen seconds at the most?"

"Then she made it where I didn't know if I hadn't made the first move on Trey. The night Ryan was gone, I mean."

"What are you saying?"

"Well, that night we had been drinking, me and Trey. I was really drunk, and I didn't really know what was going on. One moment I thought we were watching The Notebook, the next I was lying on the beach, Trey on top of me, struggling to pull off my top."

"Hmm," said Dr. Brown. "So she made it like you could have possibly put the first move on Trey?"

"Yes."

"What happened next?"

Marissa began to talk.

Five Years Prior

Marissa began to descend down the courtroom steps when she saw Ryan near the road by her limousine. He usually rode home with her after the hearings, but today he had a stern look on his face.

"Why the FUCK did you not tell me that you and Trey were drunk that night?" asked Ryan.

"I…I don't know why. It must have slipped my mind."

"So really there wasn't a reason for my brother to die then?"

Marissa stood there, flabbergasted. "What?"

"For all you know, you made the first move on Trey."

"But I didn't!" sobbed Marissa. "I swear I didn't!"

"But that's just it. You don't know, Marissa. You don't know. And so my brother's life was worthless. Everything. And for all you know, he could have made something out of himself."

Marissa watched as Ryan turned to walk down the sidewalk. Her mother and father were descending down the stairs behind her. "That's it! Then we're over now?"

Ryan turned around. "You killed my brother."

"For you!" screamed Marissa. She ran towards him. "I did it for you! I killed him because if I didn't, he would have killed you!"

"Yes," said Ryan. "He probably would have. But if you would have told me the truth--"

"I didn't have the chance--"

"You had PLENTY of chances to tell me, Marissa. You could have told me any of the times when I asked you what was wrong. At the prom. At the Bait Shop. Anywhere, Marissa. But you didn't. Hell, you could have called me when I was on my fucking way over to Trey's place to beat his ass for YOU. I did that for you, Marissa. And because I loved you so fucking much, that I would give up my mother fucking brother for you, Trey is dead. Have a nice life, Marissa."

"And just like that," sobbed Marissa, wiping a few tears from her eyes, "I never saw Ryan again."

"Where did he go?" asked Dr. Brown.

"Some people say he went to Vegas, to live the party life. You know what I mean. Others say he went back to Chino, to live with Theresa."

"What do you believe happened?" asked Dr. Brown.

"Probably the latter," said Marissa.

"Hmm," said Dr. Brown. "And how do you feel about that?"

"I don't care," said Marissa, wiping a few tears from her cheeks. "Not at all. Right?"

Dr. Brown leaned forward in his seat. "You know what I think, Marissa? I believe that you still have feelings for Ryan. Feelings bottled up inside. He's the one you let go. The one that you can never have. The one you love. Your high school romance."

"It was more than that," said Marissa. "It was deeper…it was love…"

Dr. Brown nodded. "I think that you should confront him. Tell him your feelings. It would make you feel a lot better."

"That will never happen," said Marissa. "Never."

Dr. Brown looked at his watch. "Our time is up. It's been a good session today, Marissa."

Marissa stood and, grabbing her belongings, said, "I agree. Thank you, Dr. Brown." They shook hands and Marissa turned to leave.

"See you next time, Marissa?"

"Yes," she replied, slipping out of the door.

Marissa began to walk down the hallway when she heard her cellular phone ringing. Shock ran down her spine. She quickly reached into her purse and grabbed the cellular phone, flipping it open and lifting it up to her ear.

"Hello?" said Marissa.

"Marissa, is this you?"

Marissa gasped. "Ryan?"

It was Ryan. The guy who she had just been talking about.

"Yes, this is Ryan. Listen, I was calling you to tell you…I have some bad news, Marissa."

"What is it?" said Marissa, worried.

"It's about Sandy. Marissa, he's dead."

Marissa gasped, dropping the phone to the floor. Sandy Cohen was dead?

New York City, New York

"What do you mean he died?" asked Summer.

"This morning," said an upset Seth. "They said that they think he had a heart attack."

"Oh my God, Seth. I am so sorry." Summer ran a hand through her hair.

Yugi, clapping his hands in frustration, said to Summer: "Hello? Miss Roberts, the photos are due today! We can't afford to waste time!"

Summer glared at Yugi and, covering the receiver with the palm of her hand, snapped, "My friend just died, Yugi. Could you give me a sec?"

Out of shock, Yugi just stood there, staring at Summer. "Forgive me, Summer. I am sorry. The photos can wait."

Summer nodded and turned back to the phone.

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

"I'll be there as soon as possible," said Anna. She leaned against the bureau drawer and stared directly at her boyfriend. His name was Isaac and they had been dating for the past two months. Although their time together so far had been short, they were very much in love. In fact, the two had already had a discussion about getting engaged.

"What has happened?" asked Isaac.

"It's my friend, Seth…" Anna rubbed her head. "I don't know what to do…his father just died this morning."

"Oh no. That's terrible. Are you going to the funeral? When is it?" Isaac sat down at the dinner table.

"In three days. In Newport. I need to leave tonight. I…I need to start packing my things."

"Newport? Where's that?"

"In California. I lived there for a while a few years ago. Seth was one of my good friends."

"Oh," said Isaac, picking at the rice with his fork.

"Do you want to come?"

Isaac stared up at her. "Uh…no, I have to do that thing with work. The business trip. Remember?"

"Oh, that's right," said Anna. She kissed Isaac on the cheek. "I wish you could come. I love you." Then she turned and hurried out of the room towards her bedroom and began to pack her clothes.

Charleston, South Carolina

"I'm so very sorry that I can't come, baby," said Arianna. "But you know that I have that doctor's appointment to find out the sex of the baby."

"It's okay," said Seth. He kissed Arianna on the forehead and turned, pulling his luggage towards the airport. Once he got to the revolving doors, Seth turned and waved goodbye to his wife.

"See you later?" asked Arianna.

"About a week," smiled Seth.

Arianna was wondering why Seth wasn't more upset that he was. She knew that if her father had died she would be in her bed unable to move, crying her eyes out. But that was something that she loved about Seth. How tough he was. Even in the hardest situations. What Arianna didn't know was that Seth wasn't always that way.

Seth used to be a frail, poor spirit. He couldn't uphold in the midst of tragedy. He depended on others to help hold him up. Keep him standing. But everything had changed about five years before.

Las Vegas, Nevada

Zach opened the door for Mrs. Sanchez, a regular at the casino. She always came as if on schedule, at nine o'clock every Friday night, and at eleven thirty-five on Saturdays. She loved to play the slot machines, because she basically always won. She also loved blackjack. And she loved Zach. Their secret rendezvous had been going on for several weeks now. The married woman loved to fuck the young boy, who, in his youth, was inexperienced, and gave Mrs. Sanchez the chance to teach him new things.

Zach, working at the casino as a job until the new Atomic County movie made him millions, met Mrs. Sanchez several months before when he first began his job. After months of just Hello's and Goodbye's, Zach was invited up to Mrs. Sanchez's penthouse where she had a special treat waiting for him.

Mrs. Sanchez quickly began to undress him, she wearing nothing but a robe. The robe came off in a flash, and they were in her bed rolling and tumbling, kissing and clawing, moving in heat and passion.

But they never revealed their relationship.

Not to anyone.

Later that night, when Zach was dressing after one of their encounters, his cellular phone began to ring. "Hello?" he said, answering it. It was a completely unexpected call. Seth was on the other end.

What Seth said was shocking. "Zach, my father died this morning."

Even though Zach barely knew Sandy Cohen, he had to be there for his friend in his time of grievance. So he told Mrs. Sanchez goodbye and that he wouldn't be able to speak with her for a while.

"What is the matter, Zachary?"

Zach told her, and she was dumbfounded. "I understand," she said, when he turned to leave. "I will see you when you return, no?"

Zach turned back to her and, wrapping his arms around Mrs. Sanchez, kissed her passionately. "Yes," he said, finally pulling away. "I love you, Gabrielle."

Then he turned and left.

Honolulu, Hawaii

He rolled on top of his wife and kissed her passionately, then stood up. "I need to go and cook dinner."

"Don't go," whined Julie.

"I'm starving," said Jimmy.

"So am I," growled Julie, crawling towards him on the bed. "For you."

That was when the phone rang.

And they received the shock of their lives.

Boston, Massachusetts

Kaitlyn was packing her bags. She had just received the news that her godfather, Sandy Cohen, had passed away that morning. She was filled with sadness, not at the fact that her godfather had died, for she barely knew him, but for the fact that she had to leave her boarding school. She said goodbye to Chelsea and Maria, and rode to the airport with Mrs. Harris. She said goodbye to the headmaster and walked off into the crowd. Somehow she knew that she would never return to the school ever again.

Portland, Oregon

"I'm coming now," said Luke, running to his room. "Let me pack my clothes and I'll be ready to go."

Seth sighed on the other end of the line. "Okay, see you when you get there?"

"Yes," said Luke.

He hung up the phone. He told his dad he was leaving, then turned and, carrying his suitcase, climbed into his large black truck. He missed his mom and little brothers, and now he would finally get to see them.

Later

They were all returning. Everyone of them. By plane. By train. By car. They were coming back to Newport. Back to the O.C.