Seth Cohen stood by his locker, attempting to open it continuously. After a couple of times, he banged it very hard until it swung open, slamming right into his face and then back into place. Well, wasn't this a start, he thought. He tried one more time and finally managed to open his locker successfully. He put in his lunch that his mother made for him and a couple of books that the school had asked the students to bring in. More importantly, he hung a picture of his all time crush, Summer Roberts. He looked at the picture carefully, smiling. The girl was perfect. She had beautiful black hair, a very pretty face, a great sense of style, and an excellent body. There was nothing he would change about Summer, except for one thing. He just needed to find out a way for her to notice him. His eyes then slowly trailed off of the picture and onto his schedule, and he noticed that he had bio next. Biology, he thought. Seth already knew biology. There was the water-polo team, the football team, the soccer team, the newspaper staff, the geniuses, and the science club. And then, of course, there was him, the sailing, video game playing, comic book loving, emo geek, who happened to be lowest in the food chain. And now, he was going to experience another taste of his regular life, as Luke Ward and his friends were about to pass by.

"Cohen," he said. He shoved Seth against his locker, and Seth smiled frightfully.

"Hey, Luke, how are you, buddy? Trying out for the water-polo team?"

"Shut up," demanded Luke.

"Shut up? Alright. You know, if that's what you want, Luke, I can do it. You know, I'm all for shu---"

"Do you want me to beat you, Cohen?"

"I should get going, you know, to class. I wouldn't want to be late to my first day. You know how it is---" Luke grabbed him by the throat and held him against his locker. Seth closed his eyes and turned his head to the side. Luke angrily dropped him, and he dashed off to class in a hurry.

"We really ought to piss in his shoes," Luke commented to his friends. He and his group walked to where they were headed.

Marissa Cooper wrapped her hands around seven books, her schedule between the top of the pile and her chin, as she ran down the hall and she lowered the pile of books. As she peeked at her schedule, she realized that she had arrived at her classroom. Slowly walking in, she noticed that her whole class was silently sitting in their seats. Marissa saw the teacher looking down at her desk and quickly slipped to the nearest empty seat, which happened to be right in the middle of her two best friends.

"Coop," whispered Summer Roberts, one of the girls. "Where were you?"

"How did everyone get here so fast?" she said.

"Well," began Holly, the second friend. "We weren't hooking up with Luke." She gave a mischievous smile to Marissa. Marissa smiled back and nudged her in the shoulder.

"Is he in any of your classes?" Summer asked.

"I think we have history and English together, but other than that---"

"That will be enough, Ms. Cooper. It's very nice of you to show up, but if you're going to disrupt this class, you're going to have to excuse yourself," she interrupted as she looked straight at Marissa.

"How did you…?" she asked.

"Marissa Cooper. You're quite a legend here in Newport," the teacher began contemptuously. "Now don't get me wrong, princess, we're glad to have you. But in this school, you're going to have to understand that you can't always be the center of attention."

Marissa blushed and slowly slid down her seat as the whole class stared. Summer looked at her and wiped her finger across her throat, signaling that Marissa wouldn't survive a day in this class.

"Now, as you can see, there are two textbooks on each of your desks. Sorry, Marissa, if I seem to be equating you to everyone else. But you remember the policy."

"Mrs. Goblin, is it?" Summer began as she looked up at the board, rushing to Marissa's defense.

"It's Groblint."

"Whatever. It's been like," Summer paused and took out her phone. She checked the time and put it away in her pants pocket. "Five minutes. And you've already personally attacked Marissa about three times."

"Sum!" Marissa whispered, slightly embarrassed

"Mrs. Roberts, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to exclude you. If you want to be a part of this, I have no problems. There's always room for two." Summer rolled her eyes as Mrs. Groblint walked to her desk and jotted something down on a piece of paper. Holly tore off a note and scribbled something down, and her arm extended towards Marissa's desk.

"Well, Mrs. Cooper. I can see you have a lot in common with your friends. Mrs. Fischer, would you like to read that note to the class?"

"Meh… I'll pass," she said casually.

"Well then why don't I save you the trouble?" She walked over to Holly's desk and picked up the note. She cleared her throat and began to read the note aloud. Party at my house, eight o'clock. Pass it on. I'll make sure to remind your parents about the party, Mrs. Fischer, when I speak to them tonight." Mrs. Groblint picked up the note and walked back to her desk, her knees barely moving due to the length of her skirt, and her high heels clicking against the floor.

"This is going to be some class," Holly said, sighing.

"Tell me about it," Summer said.

"Mrs. Cooper," Mrs. Groblint screamed, now writing on the board with her back facing the class. "What did I tell you?"

"At least you're not on the goblin's radar."

Caitlin Cooper sat on a couch in a beautiful living room, almost as big and beautiful as her own room. She grabbed her smooth, light brown hair and tied it into a ponytail. She waited for a moment, until she closed her eyes, now getting ticked off, and screamed for her mother.

"Mom!" she called in an angry voice. "Hurry up!"

"I'm coming, sweetie!" Julie Cooper rushed down the spiral staircase in her pink sweat suit, brushing her brown hair back and leaving a few strands in the front. "What's going on?"

"Can we go already?" Caitlin insolently asked. "Pearl is waiting for us."

"Caitlin, we already went through this. Pearl is not a healthy horse. She isn't going to make it," Julie began, sighing at the sight of her daughter's face. "God, honey, what is it that you want me to do?"

"I want another horse." Caitlin insisted.

"What?" Julie said as she jumped back, stunned. "You've got to be kidding me."

"You're the only reason that Pearl is sick in the first place," she accused. "If you would have just paid more attention to her, none of this would have happened."

"Caitlin, this is ridiculous. It's nothing you can help. I'm sorry about your pony, but---"

"Mommy! I said I want another pony!" she demanded.

"Sweetie. You've had six ponies in the past six months. I'm sorry, but it's not happening."

"This one will last, Mommy! Please?" she begged. "Besides, I couldn't keep Pearl if I wanted to. Brown is out. White horses are in now."

"I'm sorry."

"This is so unfair! I never get what I want!" Caitlin stormed off and walked up the staircase. When she was about halfway up, Julie closed her eyes.

"You can have the pony," she said, rolling her eyes. "We'll talk about it with Daddy later."

"Good." she said with a smile on her face, walking into her massive room. Inside the room was a queen sized bed fit for a queen much older than eleven years old, a night table, a computer, a phone, and a giant closet containing a line of six rotating dressers. Caitlin jumped on her bed and grabbed a remote control from the table next to her. She walked over to her closet and spun around the dresser to her far left, revealing beautiful, expensive clothing in every different color. "Is this from last year?" she said, pointing to a beautiful maroon dress bordered with little jewels. "Ew." Caitlin threw the fancy dress on the floor and walked right over it to jump on her bed. She then pressed a button and her bed began to vibrate. For a moment, Caitlin closed her eyes and enjoyed the feeling. A few seconds later, though, the vibrating began to make weird noises and slowly stopped. "God, no," she began. "First the whole horse debacle, and now this? I am not having a good day today."

"Kirsten," said a man to a good looking blonde woman. "May I please have the model home?

"Oh, sure, Dad. It's right over there." She pointed her finger to a table across the room, holding a beautiful model of the typical size house in Newport.

"Great. I'm going to borrow that for a while. Are you all set for the meeting?"

"Honestly? Not at all," she admitted. "I mean, do you really think they're going to listen to us? Do we even have a shot?"

"Come on, Kiki. There is nothing to be afraid of. You're smart, beautiful… not the best choice in men, but that's okay."

"Dad. Are you ever going to accept Sandy?"

"Well, for one thing---"

"I would hope so, because we've been married for almost eighteen years. You're just going to have to get used to him."

"I can make no promises. I just don't get along with the man. That damn preacher thinks he knows it all. I can't stand it."

"Thanks, Dad. I really appreciate it," she said sarcastically.

"Kirsten Cohen?" called a voice from behind them. She turned around and noticed her secretary calling her. "The files are right here. I can hold onto them for you if you want."

"Oh, thanks, Linda," she said. "I'll just take them now." Kirsten walked over to her desk and looked at the files, satisfied by whatever it was that was written on them. She turned around to face her father, standing there curiously as he watched her read. "You should go, Dad. I need to finish up some things, and then it's time for the meeting."

"Alright. I won't be back for a few hours. Would you like me to bring you back some coffee?"

"Mr. Nichol?" called a voice from behind, this time a man who had just walked into the office. "I'd like to speak to you about the plans for the new project."

"Well I'm sure you do, but I have to go now. I'll see if I can talk about it after the meeting. So long, Kirsten." He leaned and gave her a peck on the cheek, walking right out of the office after that.

"Mr. Cohen," said a man with a deep voice over the phone. "You're a smart man. You can probably pick it up from there."

"Picking it up is not the problem," he began. "The only problem is that we have no case."

"You know he's innocent. You know it. You're not even willing to help."

"Of course I want to help. You know how I feel for these kids. But this one, he has no defense, nothing working in his favor."

"He has you."

"I'm sorry." He hung up the phone and came across a picture of his beautiful wife Kirsten on his desk. He also noticed his golden nameplate with Sandy Cohen engraved into it. He looked down at the paper before him, the words 'Social Services' written on it. He skimmed it and saw a picture of a muscular, tough looking kid with a tattoo and his shoulder. He closed his eyes for a moment, his bushy eyebrows scrunching up, and as he opened them, he discarded the file before him and put it in a box with the word 'rejected' written on it. Sandy, now staring at his closed office door, was immediately interrupted by a sudden phone ring.

"Mr. Cohen," began a woman. "I'm calling about my son, David Weber?"

"Yes."

"There's a problem with the case."

"Please don't tell me…"

"You know him. You saw what he's really like. Isn't there something you can do?"

"I'm going to have to call you back. I'm kind of tangled in another case right now. Listen. We are going to fight this no matter what. He deserves it."

"Thank you, Mr. Cohen," she said honestly, the sound of her voice revealing her to be crying. "You don't even realize how much this means to me."

Jimmy Cooper sat at his desk in his home office. Now that Caitlin and Julie were gone, the house was completely empty, aside from Jimmy's fluffy golden retriever. Jimmy, distracted from his financial planning, turned away from the computer and to his dog, who walked into his office. He began to speak to the dog as he brushed its smooth, golden hair.

"Hey, boy," he said. "Why don't we go for a walk?" He left the office and walked into his room. He put on his sneakers and grabbed a leash, strapping it onto the dog after he returned to his office. He walked it out of the house, and as he left the driveway, a man called his name from down the block.

"Jimmy!" the voice called from afar.

"Greg? Is that you?" He walked over to the man and stuck his hand out, the man happily shaking it.

"How are you folks? Julie, Caitlin, Marissa?" he asked in a friendly manner.

"Good, good. How about you? How's Marianne, and Holly?" he replied.

"They're great. I hear Holly and Marissa have some classes together."

"Yeah, that's what I heard," he said. "It's a good thing they have each other."

"Right. Still, I'm sure they'll make some new friends. So how's business going for you? Everything okay?"

"Business is great right now," he genuinely said. "Everything is perfect."