Chapter Seventeen

Everyone makes mistakes in lives. Some of these mistakes are repairable. We have already said how people deal with these mistakes, and now there is a new way, which I didn't mention before. This is when you face your mistake, when you know it, learn about it, and decide to try and repair it. There are people who want to do this and can't, and there are those that can and will not do so. Some of these people succeed and others don't. Either way, it is good that you try and horrible that you don't.

Try to fix your mistakes, try to make them better, even if you can't, even if it means everything in your life, just do it.

Newport, California

Marissa stood before Ryan, her heart and body dampened by the rain. She watched as his eyes quickly grew large, then slowly softened. She smiled gently at him, but then stopped, seeing that he was in no mood. "Why are you here?" he asked, angered. "I thought that you chose him. Gary or whatever. Why are you back here? Did you forget something? Need to talk to Kirstin or Seth? Maybe you want to have an affair with Zach and then break his heart and tell him that it was all a big mistake, that you are still in love with Gary and that you don't want him. Well, guess what: I don't want you back here."

"Please, Ryan," she begged. "I love you…I made a big mistake."

"It's too late," said Ryan. "You should have realized your mistake before you told me that you don't love me—that you don't need me, that you love whatever his name is. Well, I am tired of your shit, Marissa. I gave my whole fucking heart to you and look what you did. You took it and then you loved it for a while, then you got tired of me and ripped it up. You fucking ripped up my whole fucking heart. I am tired of your shit, Marissa. I don't love you any more, just like you said that you didn't love me."

Marissa was sobbing now, though you couldn't tell what were tears and what were raindrops flowing down her cheeks.

"Please, Ryan," she begged, taking his hand. "I am so sorry. I know that I made a mistake now, I know that I need you, that I want you."

Ryan's eyes narrowed to slits. "Go back to Gary." And he slammed the door in her face.

An Hour Later

The doorbell rang again and Ryan was just thinking: "How many FUCKING times do I have to tell that girl that I do not want her. I do not want her back, and I am confident that I never will. She betrayed my love and my trust. I will not let her back into my life." He hurried to the door and pulled it open, a look of fury on his face, ready to breathe fire from his mouth.

That was when he saw that it wasn't Marissa.

It was Carter.

New York City, New York

Summer lay in Seth's arms sobbing hard. It had been several hours since Yugi had died and she had been crying ever since. "What will I do? Will they put me in jail? Will they say that I am guilty? Oh, God, Seth! I don't know what to do!"

"Shh," he said to Summer. "I am here for you. I will make sure that everything will be okay." He kissed the top of her head and then began to stroke his hand along her stomach. The truth was, he was unsure. He didn't know if everything was going to be okay himself. "You want something to eat?"

"No!" she sobbed.

Seth sighed. What was he going to do?

The Cooper Residence

The doorbell rang and Kaitlyn put aside her homework. She stood and walked over to the front door, prepared to fight in case it be Monique or Gerry or someone who would love to smash her face in as of then. When she opened the door, though, she was shocked at who she saw.

There was Marissa, soaking wet. A blue Mercedes sat out in the driveway. Marissa was sobbing.

"Marissa?" she said, shocked.

"Kaitlyn," she sobbed. Then she embraced her sister, crying harder. What had happened to Marissa to make her so upset? Had she broken up with Gary? Something was seriously wrong. She hugged her sister close to her body, trying her best to comfort her, but knowing that she couldn't.

The truth was, Kaitlyn herself needed some comfort, some TLC.

And with that, Kaitlyn began to cry also.

The Cohen Residence

Kirstin was very happy to see that Carter had come to visit. She immediately poured him a glass of wine and sat down to talk. They hadn't seen each other for a while, and she was so glad to talk to him again. She hugged him upon encounter and they were immediately discussing what had been happening in their lives. Finally, when their conversations began to draw towards a close, Carter asked her something. Kirstin was shocked to hear this, she hadn't been expecting it, but she couldn't say that she was sad that he had asked. Actually, she was quite happy.

Carter had asked Kirstin Cohen out on a date.

Meanwhile

The phone rang

Ryan hurried to answer it, but was upset that he had done so. On the other end was a crying Marissa.

"Ryan?" she said, sobbing.

"Yes?" he groaned.

"Ryan, I need to talk to you."

Ryan sighed. He couldn't keep living like this. Finally, he gave in. "Where do you want to meet me?"

Marissa thought for a minute, then finally said, "The Bait Shop."

"The Bait Shop?"

"Yeah."

Ryan stood there in silence for a few moments. Finally, he said, "Okay, I'll meet you there in about thirty minutes or so."

Marissa sighed and hung up the phone.

She could only hope that he would really listen and think about what she had to say.