Chapter Four

Seth looked up as Kaya wandered into the kitchen, talking animatedly into the portable phone. After a few seconds of pretending to casually read his newspaper while actually eavesdropping, he realized she was talking to Zannie Atwood.

"Kai, pass," he stage whispered. She scowled at him in a perfect replica of her mother.

"Talking here," she whispered back, while Zannie spoke.

"I know, to Zannie," said Seth.

"And you desperately need to talk to Zannie?" asked Kaya, dropping the phone to speak to her father.

"No, to Ryan. We're supposed to go sailing," explained Seth.

"Oh, gotcha. So it's a sailing emergency," said Kaya, accompanied with an eye roll. "Zannie, can you get your dad? Daddy wants to talk."

"Dad went with Mom to go visit Aunt Kaitlyn. He said to tell Seth he was sorry, they'd reschedule," said Zannie.

"Daddy, Ryan and Marissa went out," said Kaya briefly.

"What? We were supposed to sail!"

"And then he went out," said Kaya, moving to bring the phone back to her ear. As her father's angry expression turned to sadness, she couldn't help but feel pity for him. The kind of people that were like Seth would always envy those like Ryan, and feel inadequate.

"Zannie, I'm going to have to call you back. I'm going sailing," said Kaya. Seth looked up sharply at his teenage daughter. At the best of times they didn't communicate well. She was sixteen, and much more like Summer than like him. And he hadn't grown up with sisters.

"You don't know how to sail," said Seth slowly, after Zannie had said goodbye.

"Then you could teach me. Fathers and daughter sail, Daddy," she said. He still looked completely lost without Summer around to interpret her.

"What Fathers and daughters sail?" he asked suspiciously. Kaya floundered for a moment.

"Rachel from Friends. She used to sail all the time, remember? Now I'm going to get changed. You'd better hope I don't change my mind," she called, exiting the room. Seth smiled and shook his head ruefully. He'd never expected to have a daughter like that. However, when he'd been around her age he'd never imagined marrying Summer Roberts and becoming a multi millionaire.

Kaya looked dubiously at her father's boat as they stepped onto the dock. Seth easily and confidently stepped onto the boat and sat down. Kaya looked anxiously at how it bobbled in the cold, deep water.

"How..?" she asked. He stuck out his hand for her and she took it, quickly hopping in and sitting down. He handed her a lifejacket.

"See this? This is the boom. It'll hurt you. You uh steer with that, move the sail with that rope there. It's not that complicated," he said, pointing to the various parts of the boat.

"Okay."

"So if I said starboard, where would you go?" he asked nervously.

"Uh, the right. Duh, Daddy. I have been to camp," she said, throwing her dark curls back from her face.

"How could I forget?"

"So how far have you been on this thing?" asked Kaya curiously.

"Tahiti," he said.

"Seriously?"

"No, it was kind of a pipe dream. Back in the day, when I wanted nothing more than to get out of here," he said, fastening the compass around his neck.

"Then why didn't you go?" she asked. He smiled.

"Your Mom, I guess. Ryan. It became more bearable. And Summer wanted to stay, I guess," admitted Seth.

"I can't believe you wanted to get out of here," said Kaya, eying the coastline, the row of beautiful mansions.

"I wasn't like you, Kai," he explained.

"How?"

"I was an emo geek. I listened to weird music and I was incredibly unathletic and I read a lot of comics," said Seth. His daughter analyzed him for a moment, remembering with guilt how she and her clique tended to treat that sort of person.

"You still kind of are," she said mildly. To her relief, she laughed.

"I stopped needing to change when Ryan came on the scene and started beating people up for me, and when your Mom and I began to date," he said.

"It's pretty romantic, how she was so popular and you were so… you know, and then you fell madly in love," said Kaya.

"I always thought so. Your grandparents are coming back soon," said Seth. Kaya smiled. She had a good relationship with Kirsten and Sandy.

"Cool, we going over there?"

"Yeah. Next week. Uh, Julie'll probably be there," he said nervously.

"She's not a relation," said Kaya stonily.

"Sure she is. She's your… Aunt in Law, or something. Jimmy's cool though," said Seth.

"Yeah, he's alright. But they're not together," said Kaya.

"Yeah, but they were. A long long time ago."

"In a galaxy far, far away, right?" asked Kaya innocently. Seth reached over and ruffled her hair. She faked a grimace.

"So, you looking forward to cotillion?" asked Seth.

"Sort of. It's kind of weird, the whole coming out thing. Kind of overplayed," she said.

"I always thought so. Jimmy Cooper got in a fistfight at ours," said Seth. Kaya giggled and dangled her fingers in the water as they sped through it.

"And not Uncle Ryan?"

"Nope, not that time," said Seth.

Kaya stared at her father for a moment. It was hard to be close to him-he was gone all the time, and Summer spent a lot of the time complaining about his faults, which made it harder for his good points to shine through. And he was fairly emotionally unattached. Knowing more of his past made him make a lot more sense to Kaya.

"I'm glad Uncle Ryan couldn't make it," she said suddenly. Almost instantly she felt embarrassed, for saying what she thought so plainly, but Seth smiled and struggled for an answer.

"Me too, Kai," he said at last. Kaya smiled at her father as they lapsed into silence.

The two of them stopped for Balboa bars on the way home. Summer was surprised and slightly envious when they arrived back, talking and laughing, smelling of the sea.

"Hey Summer," he said, greeting her. Hoping she was in a good mood.

"Cohen," she responded. Kaya looked on while she put her arms around his neck and kissed him. She couldn't help but smile as they moved closer together.

Kaya decided to leave them alone and moved quietly up the wide, sweeping staircase and then up to the third floor.

She paused tentatively on the landing when she heard a thumping in her room. The third floor was solely hers. She had a whole suite of rooms that her parents rarely had the courage to intrude on.

Cautiously she stepped onto the polished wood off the hallway floor and into the third door on the right-her bedroom. Her heart leapt when she saw a blondish male with his back to her. She relaxed when he turned-Garrett. Of course.

"Oh, thank god it's you," she breathed.

"Oh yeah?" he said, smirking.

"I thought you were a predator. How the hell did you get in here?" she asked. She approached the window, looking down the three floors into the enormous back yard and the sparkling blue infinity pool, with the luxurious pool house beside it. She turned her face to him again.

"Your Mom trusts me, remember?" he said.

"Good thing Daddy wasn't home," she said.

"You guys have a good time?" he asked.

"Oddly enough, yeah. We sailed, we bonded, he told me a lot about the old days," said Kaya.

"It's surprisingly interesting to hear about all that. Sometimes it seems like their lives were more dramatic than ours ever will be," he said.

"All the time. But I'm going to make my life dramatic," she said firmly.

"Want to start now?" he questioned. She walked forward and kissed him. They fell backwards on the bed, their movements practiced and confident. Kaya groaned as Garrett slid his lips down her abdomen and began to service her.

"So does Zannie know?" asked Garrett, once they were finished. Kaya sat up, naked except for the sheets wrapped around her, and watched as he dressed.

"No. She thinks I'm a virgin," said Kaya.

"Like her?" he asked, in an odd moment of protection for his slightly younger sister.

"Hey. I keep your secrets, I keep hers," said Kaya, walking on her knees to the edge of the bed and kissing him again.

"That's cool. I have to go," said Garrett.

"Why?"

"Kaya, you have to go to. Cotillion rehearsal? Like, now?" he reminded her. She leapt out of bed and began throwing on her clothing.

"I don't even have my date! Josh is out of town for the weekend! Oh, I'm so screwed," she moaned.

"I'll dance with you. Come on!" he said, taking her hand and practically dragging her out of the room and down the hall.

Summer raised her eyebrows when the two of them arrived downstairs, hand in hand, but said nothing when Kaya dropped his hand and made a show of wiping her hand on her skirt.

"We have to go," she said.

"Yeah, rehearsal starts soon and I have to start decorating with the other Newp… with my friends, and you guys need to waltz. I'll drive you," said Summer. The two of them followed her out.

They ran off to the ballroom together. Summer immediately took charge of the Newpsies, ordering them what to put where while Garrett and Kaya joined the others on the dance floor.

Garrett confidently put his hand on the small of her back while she put hers on his shoulder. Drawing closer together, they began to move to the hand clapping while the rest of the Newport looked on curiously.

"Everyone's already talking about you," whispered Zannie during a break.

"Oh, let them talk," said Kaya, throwing caution to the wind.

"Huh. Calvin's a terrible dancer. Where's Josh?"

"Oh, somewhere. Visiting someone. Your brother's good," said Kaya.

"Very aware of it, too," said Zannie, while the two of them began to laugh at his expense.

Next chapter: In which grandparents are encountered.