Disclaimer: I don't own The OC or the movie Stepmom to which I owe my inspiration for this story. I do however own any original characters, and the story itself. If you want to use this, or add it to your fan fiction archive/site, please email or IM ) me so I can have a link. Thank you, and enjoy!

(Lena's POV)

Bright rays of sunlight shone through my window, prying at my eyes. I rolled over and attempted to bury my head in my pillow. Instead of finding a fluffy pillow, I found the hard wood floor. Ouch. Bewildered, I sat up and looked around. Where the hell was I? Then it dawned on me, I wasn't home, in New Jersey in our nice roomy house. Instead I was stuck in Manhattan in my dad's apartment…with her. So whose the elusive her? No one other then little miss Summer Roberts, dad's new ditz of a girlfriend. Please. Could anyone be more fake? Seriously, I can't believe she's the woman who has taken my mother's place in his life. What is he on? No really, I think he's been snorting lines or something, because that's the only thing that could explain this. Shaking it off, I stood up, and looked around. At least my room wouldn't be so bad. Somehow I had looked out and they stuck Livvy with Devon instead of making me share my room. Surprisingly, this room was bigger then my room back in Jersey. Plus, I'm sure I'm going to have a lot more space here then with mom. Don't get me wrong; I love my mother as much as the next high school girl, but you can't get away with a whole lot. She understands, but I have a feeling Summer is going to be so clueless that I could get away with anything and everything.

"Lena, you up?" Speak of the devil.

"Yeah, I'm awake," I yelled, throwing open my suitcase. Pawing through it for a couple minutes, I finally found my black micro mini and an old NYU hoodie I had jacked from my dad's closet a few years back. Throwing them on, I quickly pulled my hair into a messy bun and then made my way to the kitchen.

"Breakfast is on the table," Summer told me as she walked through the kitchen and down the hall to the bathroom, clad only in a white terry robe.

"Great," I sighed, looking at the pan of scrambled eggs on the table. Devon was already sitting at the table, still clad in dinosaur pajamas. I sat down next to him, and shoveled the dry looking eggs onto my plate.

"How's the angst ridden teenager doing?" Devon asked between bites. Man, did he need to stop listening to dad.

"Shut up moron," I shot back, "Don't eat so fast, the food isn't going anywhere." He ignored me and kept eating like there was no tomorrow. I swear you'd think the kid would be 600 pounds and on an episode of Jenny Jones. I guess it's just the famous "Cohen" metabolism, because all three of us were skinny as rails with the appetites of sumo wrestlers. But hey- I'm not complaining!

"Morning," Dad flew past us, going straight for the coffee maker. He grabbed his "Number One Dad" cup and filled it as fast as humanly possible, "Sweet Moses do I need my fix."

"You know you should get help," I spoke up, taking a bite of egg, and then wishing I hadn't, "Like Coffee-aholics anonymous. I'll even sponsor you."

"Would you?" He asked, sipping his coffee, "But I don't think I could do it anyways. The withdrawal alone would break me like a toothpick, and we won't even talk about how easily I give in to temptation."

"No, we won't," I laughed, as I got up and made my way to the trash can.

"Just what are you doing?" He asked over his coffee cup as he leaned against the counter.

"Throwing these horrid things away," I answered without looking up. Crap…I was going to get busted for this.

"Your kidding, right?" He demanded, his "dad" voice flaring up, "There's nothing wrong with those eggs. In fact, they're delicious."

"You didn't even try them," I pointed out, as I laid my plate in the sink.

"No, but Devon seems to love them," He motioned to Devon who was spooning another clump of eggs onto his plate, "Don't you my man?"

"Love 'em," Devon nodded, giving dad a thumbs up.

"Yeah, but since when has Devon ever been picky," I laughed, "He'll eat Grandma's cooking for gosh sakes."

"That is a little gross," Dad cringed, "But that's besides the point. I'm tired of your attitude missy. You need to treat Summer with some respect."

"She needs to earn it first," I folded my arms against my chest. Nope, there was no way I was going to budge on this one.

"Fine, then until she earns it, your grounded," He replied, hopping off the counter.

"What? You can't do that!" I cried, following him to the door.

"Ha, yeah, I think I can," He smiled, grabbing his car keys off the rack by the door, "And I just did, so you're going to have to deal with that. Now I gotta go to work."

"Your so unfair," I shook my head, as I slumped against the wall. Just then Summer rushed into the room, Livvy tucked awkwardly under her arm.

"You're leaving?" Summer asked quickly, setting Livvy on the ground.

"Yeah, but I should be back early," Dad reminded her, before turning to Livvy. "Bye Princess."

"Bye Daddy!" Livvy squealed, throwing her arms around his leg. He leaned down and scooped her into his arms, hugging her tight. She squealed even louder, and erupted in giggles.

"Bye Dev!" He yelled after putting Livvy down. He then turned to Summer, "Bye babe." He wrapped his arm around her waste and kissed her. Ew.

"I think I'm going to be sick," I mumbled, as I began to walk away.

"I love you too, Lee!" He laughed, and I couldn't help but smile, "Can I get a hug before I go?" I crossed my arms over my chest, and attempted my iciest glare, but it just didn't work. He gave me the pout lip, and finally I caved. Wasn't I the one supposed to be wielding the pout lip?

"Fine," I sighed, and gave him a hug, "No go, before you get fired for being late."

"Alright, alright, I'm gone," He laughed, stepping out into the hall, "Be good!" And with that he was gone.

"Okay, so now we have to get ready because you all have school," Summer recited as if she had read it off of her planner 100 times.

"Um, no, we're off today," I explained, picking up Livvy off the floor, "Teacher In-service."

"Oh…I see," she nodded, "Then I have to get ready for work. Did you all have breakfast?"

"Yeah!" Devon shouted from the table, a smile spread across his face.

"Well besides for you, Dev," Summer laughed, and man did I want to scream. Could she be anymore like a valley girl? Oh wait, she was a valley girl.

"Yeah, Livvy has to eat, but I've got that covered," I answered, "But what are we supposed to do all day? Just sit around here?"

"Uh…no, you can come to work with me," She thought up quickly, "Can you just get Livvy put together for me? Please?"

"Yeah, I'll do it," I nodded, wanting to say something rude. Luckily, I was able to restrain myself.

"Thanks, Lena," She smiled warmly before disappearing down the hall.

"Alright Livvy," I sighed looking down at the jovial 4 year old, "Let's go get you set up."

"Hi Coop," Summer greeted Aunt Marissa, who had just pulled up in her silver BMW. Wait…how did Summer know Aunt Marissa??? "C'mon guys, get in." Summer opened the back door, and ushered us in. Once we we're all in the car, Marissa turned in her seat to look at us.

"Hey guys!" She smiled, pushing her sunglasses to the top of her head, "What's up?"

"Aunt Marissa!" Livvy yelped and scrambled up front. She perched herself on Marissa's lap, and put her tiny hands on the steering wheel. Aunt Marissa had always let us drive when we we're with her, which had actually started with me. Now Livvy was the only one small enough, so she acted as if it was her privilege alone.

"Not much," I answered for all of us. Devon was too busy playing with the window controls, and Livvy was concentrated on the road in front of her, even though she wasn't actually doing any real driving. "How do you two know each other?" Curiosity had gotten the best of me, and I wanted to know what exactly was going on here.

"Summer's my business partner," Marissa explained, "She co-owns the boutique."

"Really?" I sighed, "What a small world."

"Not really," Marissa shrugged, "We all went to High School together."

"Wait…what?" I questioned, leaning forward in my seat.

"Yeah, actually your dad and I we're high school sweethearts," Summer smiled, and I could tell she was feeling nostalgic. "We went to school from pre-k to college."

"Wow," I sat back, unable to believe what I was hearing. So Summer wasn't just any woman that dad had met in a bar or at work. They had a history together. Then something dawned on me…they had been High School Sweethearts. I ticked the years off on my fingers, remembering that dad had graduated in 2006, and I had been born in March of 2007. That means…whoa. Was I a product of Dad cheating on Summer with mom?

"Yeah, so I've got a lot of dirt on your dad," Summer laughed, "So next time you need to blackmail him, let me know, and I'll help you out."

"That'd be great," I nodded, putting on a fake smile, though my head was swimming with questions.

"Are you all ready?" Mom asked as she pulled up the curb.

"Mommy!" Livvy yelled, launching herself into the car, dropping her "Hello Kitty" bag in the process.

"Hey Princess," Mom smiled, kissing Livvy on the forehead, "How was the weekend?" Mom turned her attention to me.

"It was fine," I shrugged, getting into the front season as Devon got in back. My hand instantly flew to the radio, but she stopped me.

"Well, give me details, what did you do?" She questioned, and suddenly I knew where I got the curiosity from. Before I could answer her, Dad jogged over to the car.

"Hey Anna," He greeted, trying to sound as nice as he could as he leaned on my door. "How have you been?"

"Great," Mom smiled brightly, "And you?"

"Wonderful," He nodded, "So I just wanted to specify the shipping plans."

"Well, you get the kids Wednesdays from after school until 9 because I have to work late those days, and then of course weekends," Mom explained, "And I'll take them Thanksgiving, because I know you'll want them for Chrissmukkah."

"Yeah, sounds great," Dad nodded. This was so odd…seeing them talking so formally, and corporate like. "Oh, and we have to meet with that shrink on Tuesday, right?"

"I would prefer if you didn't refer to the kids psychiatrist as a shrink," Mom responded calmly.

"Noted," He mumbled, stepping away from the car, "See you Tuesday then."

"Yeah, Tuesday," She sighed, gripping the steering wheel so tight that her knuckles whitened. She started the ignition and told us to all fasten our seatbelts.

"Bye Daddy!" Livvy shouted from the back seat, as she leaned out of her open window for a hug. Dad gave her a quick hug, before making sure she was buckled in.

"Bye Dad," Both Dev and I said in unison.

"Bye guys," He smiled, "Love you." Mom stepped on the gas and pulled away from the curb, heading towards home.

"So anyways, what'd you do?" Mom asked again as we went over the bridge. I didn't really feel like being the go between, but someone had to do it, and I was the only one old enough.

"Not a whole lot," I shrugged, "On Friday we went to work with Summer and Aunt Marissa, and on Saturday we all went to the park and out for dinner. Then we rented Wizard of Oz and Finding Nemo, and that was pretty much all of it."

"Well that sounds like fun," Mom said cheerfully, using one hand to pull her shoulder length hair into a bun with chopsticks. "What do you think of Summer?"

"I'm not sure," I rolled up my window and rested my head against the glass, "She pretty annoying and ditzy. And I have no idea what Dad sees in her."

"Well at least your giving her a chance," She responded, satisfied with my answer. I could tell she was probably itching to agree with me, and maybe throw in a few slandering words in too. But you see, Mom wasn't like that. She was a genuinely nice person. That's what I loved about her. That, and she gave the best advice. She always new exactly what to do, and she never acted like my problems were unimportant. Why couldn't Dad see this? Why didn't he see how great of a woman she was?

"So how does the divorce make you feel?" A silver haired woman asked me from behind her dark wooden desk. I sunk back into the leather chair, wishing I could be anywhere else. The room smelt like varnish and ginger. It wasn't the worst smell in the world, but it sure wasn't pleasant. What was really getting to me were her eyes. They we're like little black beads peering at me and burning wholes into my skull. Maybe she was some robot out to steal my thoughts and ultimately, rule the world. Okay…I just proved Mom's point, I DO need to see a shrink!

"It makes me feel bad," I replied, figuring I should just tell her what she wanted to her, "I think they should have thought about us instead of just themselves."

"But what you have to understand, Catalina, is that they we're thinking of you," Silver woman explained, "They didn't want you to grow up in an unhappy home."

"The thing is I'm already grown up, and it wasn't an unhappy home," I spat back, picking at the run in my nylons, "It was a perfectly fine home up until Dad moved out."

"As a teenager, you probably just learned to tune things out, and to see things in a different way," She reasoned, "You learned how to pretend that everything was perfectly okay."

"Sure," I rolled my eyes, "You're the pro, so I'll take your word for it."

"If you don't trust me, nothing is going to get through to you," She told me straight forward, "You need to realize that things are better off this way."

"Look, lady," I stood up out of my seat, "You don't know crap. You don't know me, and you don't know my parents. So let's just skip the psychoanalysis and move right on to the point where my parents realize that this is bull shit." I grabbed my jacket and stormed out of the room.

"Where are you going?" Mom shot up from her seat.

"Let's go, I'm sick of this," I practically growled, heading for the car.

"Wait, what happened?" She followed me, watching in confusion as I furiously stabbed the elevator button.

"I don't need some senior citizen to tell me how I feel," I shouted, "I know exactly how I feel! I'm pissed off! I'm pissed off at you! I'm pissed off at Dad! I'm pissed off at the entire freaking world, and I just want the freedom to keep my freaking feelings to myself!"

"Calm down," She put a hand on my shoulder, but I shook it off.

"I just need to go home," I sighed, warm tears forming in my eyes.

"Okay, we'll go," She nodded as the elevator doors slipped open. Both of us stepped inside, and she pushed the lobby button. As soon as the doors shut, a sob escaped my lips, and I couldn't hold it any longer. Huge tears streamed down my face, and choking sobs crept up my throat. "Oh sweetie." And before I knew it her arms we're wrapped around me, and she was cradling me as if I was 3 again. I threw my arms around her neck and sobbed into her shoulder, wishing that I really was still 3.

A/N: Thanks so much for all the feedback everyone! I've never gotten that many reviews for one chapter before! And yeah I know, the kids seem kinda bratty- but I'm just trying to keep it ture to life. Give it time. But thanks again for reading and reviewing, because reviews really really do inspire me to write more.

Also, I'd like to invite you all to join my new OC fanfiction board. Here's the link:

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Stephanie