'It's quite special that we're invited to this party. I mean, only us and the Coopers are going of the people I know. I wonder how we got invited.' Seth had not stopped talking about the party for the past hour, and Ryan was getting slightly bored.

'It was probably something to do with the fact that your parents are like king and queen of Newport. I think we're just included in the Cohen family invite. Why are you obsessed with this party anyway?'

'Ryan? Have the Franklinsnot entered your orbit yet? Their house is soooo amazing, it's like right on the sea. And it's such a cool house and they know such cool people. It's an opportunity for use to boost up our social status' even further.' He nodded at Ryan, and then added as an after thought: 'If that's possible.' They were interrupted by Kirsten walking in the front door.

'Hey mum.' Said Seth. Kirsten looked blankly around and then spotted them on the sofa.

'Oh, hey. Good day?' she asked but in a voice that did not promote a reply. She spoke almost in a monotone, with no life or expression in what she said. Her face looked like a blank mask. Even Seth noticed there was an obvious problem.

'Mum, are you sure you're ok? Where's dad- shall I ring him?' Kirsten froze at the mention of Sandy. Her shoulders then drooped once more and she replied 'No' with a sort of laugh. She went into the kitchen, leaving Seth and Ryan looking after her in puzzlement and concern.

'Mum! Dad! We need to go now! We should have departed ten minutes ago. I'll go by myself if you're not down in thirty seconds.' Ryan raised his eyebrows at him and Seth shrugged like a son well-practised in getting what he wanted from his parents. Kirsten was in the bathroom applying mascara. Suddenly Sandy appeared at the door and her hand jerked, narrowly missing drawing a line of mascara across her face.

'Are you ready?' He asked softly. She put down the mascara, nodding. Sandy made as if to turn away, but spoke again, unexpectedly saying:

'You look beautiful.' Then he cast his eyes down and hurried away. Kirsten looked after him, unsure of how to react. Sandy reached the bottom of the stairs just as Seth reached the count of twenty-six. He walked out the door and was surprised to find that Seth accompanied him.

'Dad, what is going on with you and mum?' Sandy started to deny anything but Seth interrupted him:

'No dad, don't deny it. She looks like she's about to, like, break down or something. And you look pretty rough too. And in my head I make a connection, the problem must be between you two.'

'Son, I don't know whose brain cells you inherited but you owe them a lot.' Said Sandy, trying to end the conversation. However Seth was not this easily shut up.

'Well, you really need to sort it out…'

Sandy interrupted: 'Seth, I wish I could. But to tell the truth I don't know what to do at the moment. And I'm not open to suggestions.' Seth opened his mouth and closed it again, realising that he wasn't and couldn't help solve the issues that were going on between his parents. It wasn't until Ryan appeared behind him and tapped his shoulder that he remembered the party which had been his only thought up until three minutes ago.

'Hey, it's time to go at last.' Ryan said, expecting this to stir Seth up into another bout of verbal diarrhoea. Seth said nothing and got into the car at the same time as his mother. For Ryan, the journey that followed was one of the most uncomfortable he had experienced as no-one spoke or even looked at each other.

Two hours later they arrived at the party, and Ryan understood from the first glimpse why Seth had been so excited. The house was a giant, low-lying building, lit everywhere by tiny white lights. Even the trees were covered in lights. A man dressed in some sort of uniform greeted them and pointed Sandy to a space where he should park. The same man led them inside, taking their silence to be awe, which of course it partly was. The inside of the house was spectacular as well, covered in expensive and beautiful decorations some of which were permanent but some, like the three metre tall champagne fountain, were obviously just there for the party. They entered a long room which was filled with people: the end of the room closest to the sea was made of panes of glass, two of which were doors. A passing couple greeted Kirsten and she walked off with them, accepting a glass of champagne gratefully.

'How come mum knows all these beautiful people, and I don't?' complained Seth. Sandy looked after her and said quietly:

'Because she is a beautiful person.'

'There you go dad, just go and say that to her face and everything'll be ok. Yeah? Good idea, I know!' Seth looked at his father hopefully, but Sandy smiled sadly at him.

'Sadly, it's a bit more complicated than that. I'll see you guys later. If you're going to go swimming, do so before you get completely smashed.' He walked off to join some old Berkeley friends of his, leaving Seth staring after him in disappointment.

An hour later, Kirsten extracted herself from a group of women discussing the faults of their husbands.

'Oh my god, I can't believe yours does that as well. Isn't it just the most annoying thing ever?' she smiled at Mrs Franklin, who was talking about how her husband never put the washing machine on the correct setting. Kirsten was feeling claustrophobic and out of place. After sixty minutes of trying to blank out her unhappiness with a mixture of champagne and gossip, she had accepted that she had failed. She decided to navigate her way towards the open doors at the far end of the room, and after squeezing her way through and past groups of people involved in increasingly animated discussions she at last felt fresh air on her face.

'Kirsten. There you are.' She sighed, hoping Julie wasn't going to talk about what she expected.

'Jimmy?' She said in surprise as she saw the man standing next to Julie.

'Hey.' He hugged her, and over his shoulder she saw Julie scrutinising her face; apparently the fact that she was about to cry was obvious on her face, no matter how much she tried to hide it. When she pulled away from the hug, the tears came and she turned away from them, trying to gain some sort of self-control. Julie and Jimmy each put their arms round her while she sobbed.

'I don't know what to do.' She sobbed. Julie took hold of both of her arms and bent down so she could look at her face.

'You need to and see him. Tell him, prove to him.' She said, squeezing Kirsten's arms.

'How? I can't, I can't bring him back after what I did to him.' Julie hugged her now, and through her tear blinded ears she saw Jimmy point in the direction of the beach.

'He's over there. Kirsten, he loves you so much. You can't lose him.' Jimmy spoke in a matter of way, but she detected in his voice a slightly wistful note. Through her tear blinded eyes she saw Jimmy's face, and realised that he was speaking the truth. Even now, when she had thought Sandy was going to leave her, she could tell that Jimmy knew more strongly than ever that he would never get Kirsten back. She took his hand and squeezed it gently.

'I know.'

Julie and Jimmy watched as Kirsten walked off towards the beach.

'If Kirsten and Sandy break up, what hope is there for the rest of us?' said Julie, laughing, but they both knew there was some truth in what she said.