A/N - Thanks for the reviews!
~Lies-4~
Summer sped home wishing she'd never got out of bed and never dialed Seth's number that morning. What was she doing, letting him see her raw emotions like that? God, she'd cried in front of him for starters, then she'd asked to stay with him and practically begged him to snuggle with her! She hated him, right? He dumped her and it had hurt like hell, especially after she'd finally figured out what her feelings for him were. They were huge and it was terrifying that she cared so much. Admitting them to herself and then trusting him with them, well it like being in the tube of a monster wave with the peak hovering over you, knowing it was going to drop and you'd most likely wipe out and drown. Gnarly.
She'd been surprisingly happy hanging out with him and loved their rapid- fire banter, and was excited to get to know him better. He was so funny and smart and he looked at her like no one ever had before and listened to what she had to say instead of just staring at her tits and trying to get her clothes off. With the exception of Anna in the mix, everything had been good and then, of course, he dumped her. He didn't want her. That huge wave had broken and had she ever wiped out. She actually had a week or two where she was convinced she wasn't pretty or fun or anything special at all. Anna was smarter and tinier than her, but Seth wasn't with her either. Summer didn't get that at all. Had he just been playing with both of them? She finally gave up trying to figure it out.
So screw boys. And men. They were all just like her dad, wearing her down until she believed they could be trusted and wouldn't hurt her again. Then they canceled her last 5 special just-the-two-of-them birthday dinners because of 'business'. Or a sudden emergency at 'work' came up and they weren't coming home for yet another 2 weeks, or they dumped you after trying to get your attention and chasing you for 6 years. Whatever. She didn't need any of them.
She blinked hot tears out of her eyes and shuddered at the memory of how she'd clung to Seth and cried all over him. How embarrassing. He was probably laughing right now at how much she needed him when he'd made it perfectly clear he didn't need or want her. It had probably stroked his pathetic little geek-boy ego so much he'd be dialing up Natalie freaking Portman for a date next. She wasn't THAT hot. Just because she was a queen and wore those skintight outfits and long flowy robes and could shoot a laser thingy and kick the bad guy's asses in stupid "Star Wars" movies didn't mean she was cool. And what was all that big-assed crap she wore on her head about anyway? Talk about fashion faux pas. Who cared if she was royalty? NO one should go out in public looking like that. On the other hand, she did get to, like, have her hands all over that Hayden Christensen guy and THAT would totally not suck. Now HE? Was hot. But Queen Portman probably wouldn't get Seth's sense of humor understand his sarcasm and he certainly hadn't liked HER since he was ten, now had he? He didn't name his boat "Natalie's Breeze" either, did he? SHE hadn't helped him bust her suddenly slutty best friend out of the psych ward or lived through TJ with him. Really, Natalie was one impaired bitch if she thought she could get Seth Co-
Summer pulled into her driveway and realized she was breathing the air that crazy people breathed. This is what being around Seth did to her. She was actually having a jealous rant about an actress that Seth would never meet and a fictional character he would only get his hands on in his dreams. God. She needed a drink.
But it didn't mean she still liked him. At all. She hated him. She reasoned it was just because she'd been at his house and it stirred up memories. He'd been sweet and worried about her and grabbed her out of pity when she'd cried. It didn't matter one bit that while she hated him, her body had betrayed her and felt safe when he held her. And had turned traitor by desperately wanting to just go to sleep holding onto him while being smashed up against his lean hard body. It wasn't her fault. She hated him. Definitely.
****
Seth woke up when a pillow landed on his head. He shoved the pillow off and opened his eyes to see Ryan grinning at him from the chair. He looked around quickly. "Where's Summer?"
Ryan sat back in the chair. "What? Was she here?"
Seth fell back on the couch. "No, dude. Must have been a dream or something." He didn't want to tell Ryan she was here because then he'd want to know why and if they were back together and they weren't, and he certainly wasn't going to tell him the reason for her visit and where the hell did she go, anyway?
Ryan stared at him. "Is that why there's two plates of nasty food in the kitchen? Because Summer wasn't here?"
"No, no, actually I - uh - the one egg looked funny and I didn't want it to like, give the other eggs something bad if there WAS something wrong with it, cuz you know as well as I do how things are going around; one day one person's sick then the next day it's 10 more, and the next, on and on - so I put it on a different plate. You know. Just in case."
Ryan nodded slowly. "Right. They're EGGS, Seth, not people."
"I know this. Eggs and people. Not the same. Absolutely." He scratched his head. "You can never be too cautious with one's health. And one's eggs. Learn it, live it."
"Uh huh. So you didn't eat any of them?"
"Tired, you would not believe how tired I was. I thought I was hungry so I cooked but then I had to lie down because I almost fell asleep standing at the stove and oh my god - would THAT have hurt if I'd done a face-plant into the skillet."
Ryan was shaking his head. And obviously not buying it at all. "What's your deal today?"
"Deal? I have no deal. No cards to deal, no deals to make, no big deal."
Ryan raised his eyebrows and stared expectantly.
"All Right! Geez, lower the eyebrows of truth, already. She was here. It didn't go well. It's embarrassing and I'd rather not talk about it." Seth hoped fervently that he'd let it go.
"That's all you had to say. Instead you babble about eggs." Ryan stretched and fell back in the chair. "Did Marissa call today?"
"No. Nobody called. How was the site and architect and stuff? Awesome?" The last thing he wanted to talk about was Marissa.
Ryan's face lit up and he went into detail about the guys and all the stuff they'd showed him and how nice they were to him. They answered every question he asked in detail and let him watch the architect figure and draw up plans and had even let him loose on some plans of his own. Seth had never seen him so excited. The entire time Ryan talked he felt like a traitor for not telling him about Marissa. He would want to know if it was Summer screwing around on him. If they were together, but not the point. His friend looked so happy and stoked, and that pretty much never happened in Ryan's case, and he couldn't bring himself to take that away from him. God knows he hadn't had much to be stoked about the last 16 years.
Ryan turned down a game of Playstation to catch up on some homework, and as soon he left for the pool house, Seth ran upstairs and grabbed his cell phone. Time to call Summer and see which way her mood swing was swinging now. He was guessing she'd freaked and remembered she hated him when she woke up, since she hadn't stuck around. He'd take his chances, though. They had to decide what to do about Marissa.
****
Summer was just unscrewing the top of the vodka bottle when her cell phone rang. Taking a fast look at the caller ID, she shut the ringer off. She stared at the bottle in her hand, then capped it and set it back down behind the bar. Having Coop for a best friend was like living out an after school special. Students of All Ages! Take heed! Drinking away your problems until you're in a coma will result in your friends dumping your ass in the driveway in front of your house. Doing shots at a bar and then discovering your boyfriend vertically dry-humping one of your best friends will result in you downing a bottle of pills, having a near death experience, then coming thisclose to meeting some men in white coats that had a special jacket just for you. It matched the one Lex Luthor had gotten at the end of November sweeps. Whoo, that guy was hot. Wait. So off topic. And of course, don't forget that celebrating the win of that sparkly new crown declaring you "Miss Newport Shoplifter" with a bottle of vodka will result in a drunken scene at a Christmas party, then a near miss at getting your new boyfriend, who incidentally is a good guy that actually cares about you, arrested and sent back to what was it called? She couldn't remember. Um, back to someplace horrible. Where boys were afraid to drop the soap or something. She hoped to God Coop was drunk when she'd decided to do Jake, not because being drunk was an excuse, but because it tied into her after-school special public announcement so well. She loved Coop like a sister, and wanted her to get better and be happy. It was so totally frustrating watching her fall apart and not being able to do anything about it.
The house phone began to ring and she whirled around, watching as the machine picked up.
"Summer, it's Seth. I really need your help with that - that one thing. We need to talk. I hope you're ok. I was kind of - I thought - uh - I was worried when I woke up and you were gone. Call me."
He sounded kind of sad and she had an urge to call him, but then pushed it away. Ryan had probably just kicked his ass at some stupid Playstation game or he'd spilled his milk on one of his beloved comics. She bet he'd cry like an eight year old over either one of those things.
She was painting her toenails twenty minutes later when Seth knocked, then walked through her door.
****
~Lies-4~
Summer sped home wishing she'd never got out of bed and never dialed Seth's number that morning. What was she doing, letting him see her raw emotions like that? God, she'd cried in front of him for starters, then she'd asked to stay with him and practically begged him to snuggle with her! She hated him, right? He dumped her and it had hurt like hell, especially after she'd finally figured out what her feelings for him were. They were huge and it was terrifying that she cared so much. Admitting them to herself and then trusting him with them, well it like being in the tube of a monster wave with the peak hovering over you, knowing it was going to drop and you'd most likely wipe out and drown. Gnarly.
She'd been surprisingly happy hanging out with him and loved their rapid- fire banter, and was excited to get to know him better. He was so funny and smart and he looked at her like no one ever had before and listened to what she had to say instead of just staring at her tits and trying to get her clothes off. With the exception of Anna in the mix, everything had been good and then, of course, he dumped her. He didn't want her. That huge wave had broken and had she ever wiped out. She actually had a week or two where she was convinced she wasn't pretty or fun or anything special at all. Anna was smarter and tinier than her, but Seth wasn't with her either. Summer didn't get that at all. Had he just been playing with both of them? She finally gave up trying to figure it out.
So screw boys. And men. They were all just like her dad, wearing her down until she believed they could be trusted and wouldn't hurt her again. Then they canceled her last 5 special just-the-two-of-them birthday dinners because of 'business'. Or a sudden emergency at 'work' came up and they weren't coming home for yet another 2 weeks, or they dumped you after trying to get your attention and chasing you for 6 years. Whatever. She didn't need any of them.
She blinked hot tears out of her eyes and shuddered at the memory of how she'd clung to Seth and cried all over him. How embarrassing. He was probably laughing right now at how much she needed him when he'd made it perfectly clear he didn't need or want her. It had probably stroked his pathetic little geek-boy ego so much he'd be dialing up Natalie freaking Portman for a date next. She wasn't THAT hot. Just because she was a queen and wore those skintight outfits and long flowy robes and could shoot a laser thingy and kick the bad guy's asses in stupid "Star Wars" movies didn't mean she was cool. And what was all that big-assed crap she wore on her head about anyway? Talk about fashion faux pas. Who cared if she was royalty? NO one should go out in public looking like that. On the other hand, she did get to, like, have her hands all over that Hayden Christensen guy and THAT would totally not suck. Now HE? Was hot. But Queen Portman probably wouldn't get Seth's sense of humor understand his sarcasm and he certainly hadn't liked HER since he was ten, now had he? He didn't name his boat "Natalie's Breeze" either, did he? SHE hadn't helped him bust her suddenly slutty best friend out of the psych ward or lived through TJ with him. Really, Natalie was one impaired bitch if she thought she could get Seth Co-
Summer pulled into her driveway and realized she was breathing the air that crazy people breathed. This is what being around Seth did to her. She was actually having a jealous rant about an actress that Seth would never meet and a fictional character he would only get his hands on in his dreams. God. She needed a drink.
But it didn't mean she still liked him. At all. She hated him. She reasoned it was just because she'd been at his house and it stirred up memories. He'd been sweet and worried about her and grabbed her out of pity when she'd cried. It didn't matter one bit that while she hated him, her body had betrayed her and felt safe when he held her. And had turned traitor by desperately wanting to just go to sleep holding onto him while being smashed up against his lean hard body. It wasn't her fault. She hated him. Definitely.
****
Seth woke up when a pillow landed on his head. He shoved the pillow off and opened his eyes to see Ryan grinning at him from the chair. He looked around quickly. "Where's Summer?"
Ryan sat back in the chair. "What? Was she here?"
Seth fell back on the couch. "No, dude. Must have been a dream or something." He didn't want to tell Ryan she was here because then he'd want to know why and if they were back together and they weren't, and he certainly wasn't going to tell him the reason for her visit and where the hell did she go, anyway?
Ryan stared at him. "Is that why there's two plates of nasty food in the kitchen? Because Summer wasn't here?"
"No, no, actually I - uh - the one egg looked funny and I didn't want it to like, give the other eggs something bad if there WAS something wrong with it, cuz you know as well as I do how things are going around; one day one person's sick then the next day it's 10 more, and the next, on and on - so I put it on a different plate. You know. Just in case."
Ryan nodded slowly. "Right. They're EGGS, Seth, not people."
"I know this. Eggs and people. Not the same. Absolutely." He scratched his head. "You can never be too cautious with one's health. And one's eggs. Learn it, live it."
"Uh huh. So you didn't eat any of them?"
"Tired, you would not believe how tired I was. I thought I was hungry so I cooked but then I had to lie down because I almost fell asleep standing at the stove and oh my god - would THAT have hurt if I'd done a face-plant into the skillet."
Ryan was shaking his head. And obviously not buying it at all. "What's your deal today?"
"Deal? I have no deal. No cards to deal, no deals to make, no big deal."
Ryan raised his eyebrows and stared expectantly.
"All Right! Geez, lower the eyebrows of truth, already. She was here. It didn't go well. It's embarrassing and I'd rather not talk about it." Seth hoped fervently that he'd let it go.
"That's all you had to say. Instead you babble about eggs." Ryan stretched and fell back in the chair. "Did Marissa call today?"
"No. Nobody called. How was the site and architect and stuff? Awesome?" The last thing he wanted to talk about was Marissa.
Ryan's face lit up and he went into detail about the guys and all the stuff they'd showed him and how nice they were to him. They answered every question he asked in detail and let him watch the architect figure and draw up plans and had even let him loose on some plans of his own. Seth had never seen him so excited. The entire time Ryan talked he felt like a traitor for not telling him about Marissa. He would want to know if it was Summer screwing around on him. If they were together, but not the point. His friend looked so happy and stoked, and that pretty much never happened in Ryan's case, and he couldn't bring himself to take that away from him. God knows he hadn't had much to be stoked about the last 16 years.
Ryan turned down a game of Playstation to catch up on some homework, and as soon he left for the pool house, Seth ran upstairs and grabbed his cell phone. Time to call Summer and see which way her mood swing was swinging now. He was guessing she'd freaked and remembered she hated him when she woke up, since she hadn't stuck around. He'd take his chances, though. They had to decide what to do about Marissa.
****
Summer was just unscrewing the top of the vodka bottle when her cell phone rang. Taking a fast look at the caller ID, she shut the ringer off. She stared at the bottle in her hand, then capped it and set it back down behind the bar. Having Coop for a best friend was like living out an after school special. Students of All Ages! Take heed! Drinking away your problems until you're in a coma will result in your friends dumping your ass in the driveway in front of your house. Doing shots at a bar and then discovering your boyfriend vertically dry-humping one of your best friends will result in you downing a bottle of pills, having a near death experience, then coming thisclose to meeting some men in white coats that had a special jacket just for you. It matched the one Lex Luthor had gotten at the end of November sweeps. Whoo, that guy was hot. Wait. So off topic. And of course, don't forget that celebrating the win of that sparkly new crown declaring you "Miss Newport Shoplifter" with a bottle of vodka will result in a drunken scene at a Christmas party, then a near miss at getting your new boyfriend, who incidentally is a good guy that actually cares about you, arrested and sent back to what was it called? She couldn't remember. Um, back to someplace horrible. Where boys were afraid to drop the soap or something. She hoped to God Coop was drunk when she'd decided to do Jake, not because being drunk was an excuse, but because it tied into her after-school special public announcement so well. She loved Coop like a sister, and wanted her to get better and be happy. It was so totally frustrating watching her fall apart and not being able to do anything about it.
The house phone began to ring and she whirled around, watching as the machine picked up.
"Summer, it's Seth. I really need your help with that - that one thing. We need to talk. I hope you're ok. I was kind of - I thought - uh - I was worried when I woke up and you were gone. Call me."
He sounded kind of sad and she had an urge to call him, but then pushed it away. Ryan had probably just kicked his ass at some stupid Playstation game or he'd spilled his milk on one of his beloved comics. She bet he'd cry like an eight year old over either one of those things.
She was painting her toenails twenty minutes later when Seth knocked, then walked through her door.
****