A/N: Ohmy. I am SOOOO sorry I haven't been updating! I had finals and hadn't had a chance, but here I am, ready to write!
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Seth
Marissa, Summer, and Seth were walking on the cracked sidewalks of the Newport area with all the lower-class houses, the place their feet always took them when they were being troubled by something.
"God, I feel so bad for these people. I mean, look at these houses. One story..what's the word?"
"Hovels? Shacks? Crackhouses?" Seth volunteered, walking behind Summer with his arms around her waist, as he so often did.
"Yeah, shack, that was the-Ryan."
Seth let go of her waist unconciously, looking around for the boy that stalked his dreams. "Ryan? Where?"
"Straight ahead. Oh my god. He must live in there, in that house!" They all turned in the direction of the finger Summer had extended to the left, the run-down, one story buliding that looked like it would collapse at any second. And there was Ryan, clearly visible in the window, washing a glass.
Seth started walking, not waiting for the girls, to where Ryan was. "Dude. What the hell? You live here?" He was at the front door, yelling through the decaying wood. He jiggled the handle, opening the door, and walked in. Summer and Marissa came running in after him.
"Cohen, stop, you don't need to-" Too late. Ryan was standing there, in front of them, stunned.
"What are you doing here?"
"Dude, man, I saw you in the window. You live here?"
"Y-yeah. After the tuition for school was paid, this was the only house that was in an affordable price range for what I had." He looked like he was dying.
Marissa just gazed at him, her eyes filled with spite. "You lied to me." And off she went, running out the door and up the street. Summer looked to Seth, and he nodded, and then she ran off after Marissa. Seth put his hand on Ryan's shoulder, though it was hard for him not to squeel just because he touched perfection.
"Ryan. I don't want you to live like this. My POOL HOUSE is bigger than this." And then it hit him. "Pool house. You can come live with me, you can live in my pool house."
"Seth, no."
Seth wouldn't have it, "I want you to move in with me, at least for a little while." He smiled, and Ryan couldn't refuse, not with Seth's smile beaming in his face.
"Only for a little while."
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Marissa
"What is his problem?" She was crying on Summer's bed, with Summer sitting beside her listening intently.
"He told me he lived in a different part of town, but he said it was a mansion. Why didn't he tell me? He could have been honest. I would have helped him out!"
Summer just stroked Marissa's hair, whispering to her, "I am sure he had his reasons, maybe he was just embarassed about being poor." And as Summer continued to console her, Marissa's tears dried up. "Thanks, Sum, your a great friend."
And Summer just smiled and nodded.
-o-x-o-x-o-
Ryan
"And if you read between the lines, you will notice the hidden meanings in this. Like, in the line-" The teacher paused to scribble something on the whiteboard, "In the line where the Prince asks the commoner if her tears were from as deep a well as he suspected, it could be interpreted as-" Another pause and scribble, "Am I the reason for your pain. See what I mean?" The class mumbled an unenthusiastic 'Yeah' and went about their doodling and whispered conversations.
All the students except for me, I was paying more attention in English class that I had in my whole life. My hand was in the air, and my mind was tyring to form the question I wanted to ask.
"Mr. Atwood, you have a question?"
"Yes."
"Well, on with it."
"So, anything anyone says could be interpreted. Like, in example, if someone were to say something along the lines of 'I want you to move in with me, at least for a little while,' it can be interpreted as 'I want to be with you. At least for now.' Right?"
The teacher rolled her dull eyes, "Yes, I suppose so."
And that was the answer I was looking for.