'…and now he's hooking up with that new girl, Lindsay." Marissa finished telling her story to Summer, over cookie-dough ice-cream and Diet Coke. They were lying on Summer's huge purple sofa in her room, the T.V. tuned into The Valley of course.
"Hold up. You've got me confused; I thought you were with the hot yard guy?" Summer replied, spooning more ice-cream out of the tub into Marissa's bowl.
"His name's D.J., and yes, I am with him. But I want Ryan. Ryan's all I've ever wanted. He's my first true love." Marissa sighed turning onto her back, staring dejectedly up at the ceiling.
"God, you sound like that old lady from Titanic." Summer rolled her eyes. "Anyway, I thought Luke was your first love?" After that comment, Summer received a death glare from Marissa. "O.K, O.K, wrong thing to say, sorry. Coop, you and Ryan are, I mean, were, like, the perfect couple, and if it's meant to be it will be. And when it is, we'll be like the four musketeers! Me, you, Ryan and Zach."
"What about Seth?" Marissa wondered aloud, cheered up a little by Summer's words.
"What about him?" Summer shot back, rolling her eyes. "He is ancient history. I don't know what I saw in him in the first place." Marissa laughed. "Sum, you were like in love with him! And you dressed up as Wonder Woman for him and he totally picked you over Anna in the end."
"Yeah, I know!" Summer moaned. "But people change! Hey, let me show you this dress that I really want from Versace, it's on their website." Summers said, hastily changing the subject. She rolled off of the sofa, and turned her computer on. She sat down in her chair and turned back to face Marissa.
"If I get it, I would totally buy those pink vintage Manolo Blahniks to go with it, and maybe if I wore my silver Tiffany bracelet Daddy got me, or would that be too much with the silver earrings as well… Coop? Coop? What are you staring at?" Summer broke away from her mental shopping list and turned to her computer screen which Marissa was so intently staring at, with a smirk on her face.
"Sum, if you're definitely over Seth Cohen, how comes you have a picture of him as your desktop?" Marissa laughed, having caught her friend out.
"Well… I was gonna change it…I just haven't had the time!" Summer blushed red, and clicked onto Internet Explorer.
"Sure, sure. Whatever you say, Sum!" Marissa smiled, as she picked up the magazine which was lying on the floor.
"Okay, okay." Summer sighed, giving in. "Maybe I still like him, maybe, just, maybe I'm still into him." She placed her head in her hands, peeking up to see Marissa's reaction.
"I knew it! I knew it from the moment you started going out with Zach! You were on the rebound!" Marissa said, excitedly. "Why didn't you tell me?!"
"I don't know, maybe because you two have been like best friends over the past few weeks! If I told you, you would have totally spilled it to him."
"And that's a bad thing because…? Sum, he still wants you, you still want him, where's the problem?" Marissa said, picking up her bag.
"The problem is…he's not getting away with just sailing away that easily." Summer said, matter-of-factly. "He needs a taste of his own medicine. What do you think Coop?"
"I think that's a good idea. But I can't plan 'Operation Revenge On Seth' right now; Dad's taking me and Hailey out to dinner. So, I'll see you at school tomorrow okay?" Marissa replied, slipping on her shoes, and beginning to walk out of the door. "Oh, and by the way Sum, I wouldn't get your wallet out when you're out with Zach."
"Um, why?" Summer replied, picking up her pink wallet off her desk.
"'Cos it's like a shrine to Seth and Summer! Take a look and see for yourself. Anyway, gotta go!" Marissa walked out of the door.
"Yep, see ya!" Summer replied, undoing her wallet. She looked at all the pictures and felt her heart ache, adding to the millions of times it had already done so.
"So, what's it to be? Need For Speed or Tekken? If I was you, I would go for Need For Speed because you have the tendency to go really fast around corners and not skid, whereas I always do. I tend to think that I fit more into the 'fight' genre, while you, the 'racing'." Seth rambled on, setting out all of the games on the coffee table as he and Ryan sat in the Cohen's lounge after school.
"I don't mind." Ryan replied, setting down his controller and taking a sip of his ice cold water. He was used to Seth's normal rambling; after all he had lived with the Cohen's for a year now. Apart from the couple of months he spent with Teresa. Which he regretted so much after he came back and found the trouble it had caused. Seth gone, Marissa drinking again, and Summer was left heartbroken. Not to mention Kirsten and Sandy. But that was over now. Not that it would go back to normal. Seth and Summer hadn't even got back together, and he didn't even want to think about him and Marissa right now. The last he heard was that Summer was dating some water-polo jock.
"So, how's you and Summer?" Ryan asked, entering his name by his controller. Immediately after asking this, Ryan saw his face fall.
"Oh you know how it is. Generally when you sail off, things get a little awkward." Seth shrugged. "All I know is I'm still in love with her." Ryan looked down. Seth never really got sentimental, but Summer was a special case. Ryan knew Seth would always hold a place for her in his heart, and it would be hard for him to see Summer with her new boyfriend.
"Hey, I'm sorry, man." Ryan patted Seth on the back, and he nodded. He stood up, placing the controller down on the table.
"I need her, Ryan. I can't just sit here and watch her being romanced by some water-polo playing guy, when she's the love of MY life! No, I'm going round to her house right, now and say 'Summer, I'm not taking no for an answer, I want to be with you now and forever!' " Seth said, confidently, sticking a hand in the air as a kind of salute. Ryan bit his lip and tried hard not to laugh, but failed. Seth's hand went down, and he stuck both in his pockets, face turning red.
"Or…yeah, you know, I could just call her." Seth turned, walking out. "I think that might be a better idea. Yeah. I'll go do that." Seth walked out of the door, still talking to himself, leaving Ryan for an easy win on the game they were in the middle of.
"Hi honey! How was dinner with your dad?" Julie Cooper pounced at her daughter the minute she walked through the huge oak front door. She held out her arms for a hug, but the cold look in Marissa's eyes told her otherwise.
"It was good." Marissa's reply was short, and to the point. She didn't enjoy conversing with her mother. "Now, if you would excuse me." Marissa turned, and began to walk up the stairs.
"Wait, darling, could Caleb and I talk to you for just a minute?" Julie asked, trying her best to stay patient, gesturing towards the lounge.
"Um, I guess." Marissa responded, unsurely, dreading what was to come. In the past, when her mother had tried to talk to her, they had almost always ended up arguing, Marissa's hatred for her mother coming out in a spew of verbal abuse. She followed her mother through to the lavish lounge, catching sight of D.J out by the pool on the way. He winked at her, but in return all he got was a scowl. She sat down on the couch, arms crossed, her way of defending herself.
"Well? You wanted to talk?" Marissa said, jiggling her foot up and down impatiently. Her mother sat down beside her, and Caleb was sitting in his armchair.
"Yes, we did want to talk." Julie smiled nervously at Caleb, who in turn smiled back. Marissa rolled her eyes, those two were just meant for each other, and both were obnoxious and selfish. She snorted as she imagined what their offspring could look like.
"Marissa, your mother and I love each other very much, and we are now happily married." Caleb leaned forward and took Julie's hand. "And, well, basically, what we're trying to say is that your mother is expecting a baby early next June." Marissa took a minute to fully process what he had just said. She looked down, then back up at them, both of them were beaming nervously, and to their surprise, she started to laugh.
"You two! Having a baby!" Marissa laughed. "That's got to be the funniest thing I've heard this year!" Julie's expression of happiness turned to anger as she watched her daughter laugh. She untangled her hand from Caleb's, and tightened her fists.
"No." Julie said, through clenched teeth. "It's not funny." Marissa finally stopped laughing to see that the two were actually serious. "I can show you the pregnancy test if you want." Marissa's blue eyes widened, and stared at them both, her laughing turning into anger.
"Well. Congratulations." she spat out, and got up off the sofa. "All I can say is good luck to the baby. I mean it has to have you as parents." She turned and began to run out, only being held back by Caleb's hand.
"What did you just say?" he said, furiously. He was quite frankly disgusted with the behaviour of his step-daughter. Ever since she moved in with them, she had hardly said a word to them, and anything that did come out of her mouth was fowl.
"Get off me!" Marissa snapped, pulling back fiercely. "And I think you heard what I said." She shook her head at them both, not believing that there would be another one of them. A Caleb Nichol JR. Or even worse a Julie Nichol JR. She turned and strode out of the room as fast as her legs would take her.
"Well." Caleb said, after Marissa disappeared upstairs. "That went well."