The bell rang at school. It was noon, which was lunchtime. Ryan walked out of his statistics class, and found Seth and Summer, down the hall. He walked over to them. Their lunch group just was not the same without Marissa anymore. Ryan had essentially become the third wheel. Seth and Summer tried their best to make him feel part of the group, but it was hard because they were a couple. They stood there for a moment. Ryan was facing Seth and Summer.

"So what do you guys want to do for lunch?" Seth asked. "I'm not really in the mood for tuna salad today."

"Yeah, wanna go to the drive-thru or something?" Summer brought up.

"Okay," Ryan replied. He agreed with them that it would be a good idea, to get away from school for lunch. The three of them walked towards the exit of the school towards the parking lot. They walked over to the Range Rover. They did not take Summer's car because it was nearly out of gas.

"I wish Coop were here," Summer sighed.

"Me too, but unfortunately... she isn't," Ryan replied. He unlocked the doors and was about to step into the car, when someone walked up to him. She was tall, but not as tall as Marissa. She had dark, long hair and eyes. Her skin was white, but darker than Ryan's, Seth's or Summer's. She was probably of Hispanic descent. She was not dressed quite as expensively as the other kids who went to Harbor. Ryan was speechless.

"Theresa, hey! What are you doing here?" Seth asked awkwardly. He smiled and waved, even though he was not happy to see her there. Summer just kept looking back and forth among the three of them, not sure what was going on, or what had happened.

"Actually, I wanted to talk to Ryan. I hadn't seen him in awhile," Theresa explained. "Ryan do you think we could talk somewhere?"

He looked at Seth and Summer. He felt bad abandoning them for lunch. Partly because he was hungry, and partly because he really wanted to spend time with them.

"Seth and I will take my car, and go somewhere, how 'bout that?" Summer suggested. "Ryan can take this car."

"Okay," Seth replied. "Dude, I'll see you later, all right?" Seth told him. He waved to Theresa and Ryan, and walked off with Summer to her car.

Ryan turned to Theresa from waving them off and said, "So where do you want to go?"

After about a five minute drive, the two of them got to the Burger King near by. In the car, she had not said much. They had just exchanged the usual greetings, and updates about their lives. This annoyed Ryan to no end because he knew that something was up for her to come all the way from Chino to Newport. He did not say anything though, and just drove up to where they ordered.

"What do you want?" Ryan asked her.

"The number four," she replied. He told the voice on the other end of the line their orders, and drove around to the window to pay and pick them up. After he had received their orders, he drove into one of the parking spaces, where he could stop the car, eat, and talk.

"So what did you really come to Newport for?" Ryan asked her, cutting to the chase. He took a bite of his cheeseburger, and looked at her. "I mean, I haven't seen you in months. We don't really stay in contact, so what's up?"

"Well, I might as well, come right out and say it," Theresa sighed. "Last year, when you went to Portland, I called you and told you that I lost the baby, remember?"

Ryan nodded and replied, "Does this have something to do with that?"

She sighed. Theresa knew she had to tell him, "Ryan I didn't loose the baby. I lied. My mom told me to tell you, so that way you could go back to your new life and be happy. At the time, I didn't know who the father was, but I know now. You can see it."

Ryan sat there for a second. The rage was building inside of him. Theresa was about to speak when Ryan said, "Oh that's it? God damn it, Theresa! Why would you lie about something like that? Something as important as that! And why would you tell me now!" He got more heated with every second that passed.

"I did it to make you happy," she replied.

"Well, am I happy, huh? Do I look happy? God damn it! Why tell me now!" Ryan demanded.

"I understand that this is a lot to take in, but you have to understand that I didn't want to tell you, I had to. My mom lost her job. I can't work a full week because I'm not eighteen, I have a baby, and I'm still in school... sometimes," Theresa began to explain. "We have no money."

"And you want me to pay child support?" Ryan asked. Theresa bowed her head down, almost as if in shame.

"Ryan, you should see him. His eyes. His hair. He looks like you," Theresa told him, trying to change the subject slightly.

"And you want me to pay child support?" Ryan asked, again.

Theresa nodded her head, "Yes, I do. You don't have to right away. You can meet him and spend some time with him first, if you want?"

The rage began to drain from Ryan's face. He was still angry, but he knew that he could not fight about this, or afford to be pissed about it. "What's his name?" Ryan wondered, aloud.

"Matthew," Theresa replied.

Ryan thought it over for a second, and replied, "All right. I'm going to go home, and talk to Sandyafter school, and why don't you and... your baby come over later, this evening."

Theresa nodded her head, and said, "All right, I'll see you then."

Ryan started the car and headed off back to school, and to drop Theresa off at her car. Things were different now. He knew that when he told Sandy, he would have to tell Marissa too.