As the bell rang, the students of Harbor High swarmed out of their classrooms and rushed out of the school. Marissa squeezed herself through a large crowd of people, holding large binder in her hands. She opened the door to a classroom with a teacher waiting at a desk with a coffee on it.
"You're here for Social Chair, I assume?" she asked.
"Yeah," Marissa said nervously.
"I'm sure you'll do great," said the woman, smiling. "Marissa, right? I thought I'd see you here."
"How did you…?"
"This is Newport, honey. Word gets around." Marissa smiled.
"Well, it's not really working in my favor," she began. "For some reason, I'm not too popular with one of my teachers. Appearently, she's been doing her research."
"She doesn't have to research, Marissa. When your parents came to Newport, things just weren't the same. Hell, even when your father brought your mother to prom, people were shocked. I mean, no offense, but your mom wasn't the most classy lady there. Nobody expected to see a Riverside street rat with Jimmy Cooper. And nobody took it worse than Pamela Groblint. I remember that prom like it was yesterday. Anyway, I should get back to the point---"
"Hold on a second. Pamela Groblint?"
"Yeah. As a matter of fact---"
"She's a teacher here. My teacher," said Marissa.
"Ouch. Talk about bad luck. Buckle up, Ms. Cooper. I think it's safe to say that this year is going to be rough."
"Well," began Marissa. "When I start with her, I think this whole little game of hers can reverse," Marissa said. The woman just laughed.
"My name is Mrs. Carlson," she said courteously. "So do you think anyone has the guts to come in here and face you for Social Chair?" The two of them looked outside and notice girls about to walk in, but running away at the sight of Marissa. After a couple of seconds, Taylor opened the door and walked in, already talking.
"So, I decided that we should get started on the carnival soon," she started. "It is in two and a half weeks, after all. So, I have the plans in my locker---"
"Hey! I'm guessing you didn't notice Ms. Cooper," said the teacher, smiling falsely while she felt like it was about to get a little louder in the room.
"Well, is Ms. Cooper lost?" Taylor asked, giving off her typical, perky smile.
"Your concern for her is very overwhelming," said Mrs. Carlson. "But I think we're all in the right place. We should get started."
"Wait," Taylor started. "If it's just the two of us, we might as well settle it right now."
"Well, if you would let me continue---"
"It's Taylor."
"Taylor, then maybe we could start. Now, I'd like to inform you both that you are going to each give speeches at Freshman Retreat. The winner will be decided then, and will not be announced but instead the two of you will be e-mailed the results. Clear?"
"Marissa, did you write that down?" asked Taylor as Marissa shot her a look. This girl was really bothering her right now.
"Now, the winner of the election will not only get an e-mail saying that she won, but also instructions for the carnival. I'm not going to say much, but this year's carnival looks like it will be quite interesting. Marissa seems to know what she's doing. And you Taylor… well like I said, it will definitely be quite interesting. Any questions?"
"I'm just anxious to get started. It's pretty clear that I'm going to win. I assume all is done here?"
"Yes, Taylor. Feel free to leave," said Mrs. Carlson. Taylor walked out of the room, the teacher standing there with Marissa. The two of them gave each other a look. That girl was something else.
Seth sat at a desk in an empty classroom with the newest issue of Legion. He picked it up, and as he opened it a large ball slammed into the window of the classroom. A kid walked out of the large pool outside and went to get the ball. As he got back in, Seth curiously watched the kids in the pool, playing the sport that had changed from a game into a phenomenon – water polo.
"I never really understood this water-polo thing," he said to himself. He walked back to his desk and picked up his comic again.
Outside of the classroom, a massive group of kids exited the pool, grabbing towels as they got out. As everyone dried themselves off, the coach took out a pad and begin to make an announcement.
"Okay, everybody, I've decided to allow fifteen students to the next cut," said the coach. "If I call your name, please stay with me for a couple of minutes. If not, you're free to go. Okay, here we go. Bret Jones, Jason Nordland, Mike Tyler, Adam Shefsky, Luke Ward, Josh Geller, Dan Eidus, Jake Ringer, Jordan Skyler, Blake Thomson, Nick Morris, Kevin Iceman, David Sennet, Sam Leerer, Marc Short… please stay for a moment. The rest of you may leave." A large group of people started exiting the pool area, and Luke and a couple of his friends remained along with a couple of other kids. "All right, all of you have made it to the next cut. I expect to see you all tomorrow after school, right here. You don't show, you won't make it. It's as simple as that. Now, get going, guys," said the coach, now walking off. All of the boys dispersed, Luke and Nordland the only ones left in the area.
"You know, we're all going to the beach tonight, dude," said Luke to Nordland. "You should come."
"Yeah? Would that be cool?" he asked.
"Definitely. Just be there at eight… but I'm warning you, there are going to be some hot girls there," Luke said, smiling.
"Definitely up for some of that," he replied, smiling back at Luke.
"Cool," said Luke, taking out a pen and a little piece of paper from his bag and hastily scribbling something on it. "Here's the address."
"Thanks man," he said as he took the note from Luke. "Hey, do you know this girl, Holly Fischer?"
"Yeah, we went to elementary school together. Why?" asked Luke curiously.
"I saw her today, and…" he began.
"And?" Luke asked, smiling. "Are you going to go for her?"
"Should I?" he asked. "She's pretty hot."
"Are you kidding me? That girl is… tonight, man. You better go for her. She's known to be pretty easy, so you need to get her fast," he said.
"All right," said Nordland, smirking at him before walking away. Luke stood there a minute, as Seth approached the window. Seth just stared at Luke through the window, unable to continue with his comic book. Luke turned around and noticed Seth, making and angry face. Seth immediately got the hint and looked away a Luke angrily turned from him and walked out of the pool area. Seth stood there and stared out the window. What did these guys have that he didn't?
"I can't believe this. Where is Taryn?" asked Julie, infuriated.
"Julie, would you just calm down?" said Betty.
"This is yogalates. You need to let yourself relax and forget all about your situation," began a woman sitting next to Betty on the floor, coming a little closer to Julie as she continued. "Unless, of course, you want to tell us what's going on?"
"I am not saying anything until I fix this. I'm leaving," said Julie angrily as she got up from the floor.
"Julie!" said Joan.
"Goodbye, ladies," she said as she walked towards the door. She walked into the parking lot and got into her car, slamming the door as she began to drive. Speeding down the highway with her foot crushing the gas pedal, she slowly came into a beautiful part of Newport. She found herself surrounded by gorgeous flowers, incredible trees, crispy water, and enormous houses. Julie slowly pulled into the house, commonly known as the Baker Empire. For Julie, the property wasn't so great, because her house was valued at almost the same amount of money as the one she was in, and was equally beautiful. But for others in Newport, outside of the Newpsies, Taryn Baker's house was everything they had been dreaming of and more. Julie quickly got out of her car and stormed onto the doorstep, pounding on the door until someone answered.
"Julie?" said Taryn curiously as she opened the door. "This is a surprise."
"Save it, Taryn," she said hostilely as she walked into the house.
"What's going on?" she said as Julie looked around the inside of the house. "Julie, what are you doing?"\
"Why weren't you at yogalates?" she said, Taryn remaining silent. Julie rolled her eyes. "This is ridiculous. I'm just going to get right to it. I was pretty shocked to hear Betty and Joan tell me about Caribbean Night, considering I never told them. And when they told me it was your idea," said Julie, Taryn rushing to say something – anything.
"Wait – what?"
"Please, Taryn. I know you took my idea. You're going to pay for this, one way or another. Unless, of course, you plan on letting me take it from here?"
"Julie, you're in no condition to plan a big event," she said bluntly.
"Excuse me?"
"I'm not sure what the problem here is, but you should go. September eighteenth – be there." Taryn pshed Julie out of her house and slammed the door. Taryn stood against the door, nervous to see what would come out of this. On the other side, Julie did the same, wondering what she would do to solve this debacle. How could someone part of her own group grab hold of her idea like this?
"I'm coming," said Sandy as he quickly approached the front of the house. "Seth?" Sandy opened the door, Seth standing outside.
"Hey, Dad," he said imperceptibly. "How are you?"
"How was it?" asked Sandy delightedly, walking him into the kitchen where Kirsten was talking on the phone. As the two of them came into the room, Kirsten pressed the end button and hung up the phone, smiling. She turned to the two of them, and immediately walked over to Seth and hugged him.
"How was your first day?" she asked happily.
"It was, you know, as good as any other day in school."
"Did you make any new friends?" asked Kirsten.
"Well, there was the guy who… no, no. Scratch that," he said. "Wait. There was the kid asked me to pick up his pencil."
"Did you talk to Summer?" Sandy asked.
"Summer? Summer Roberts?" Seth asked, as if his father was insane. "Well that's an easy one. No."
"Come on Seth. I'm sure if you just talk to her, she'll love you. I'm sure if you talk to anyone, they'll love you. You have a quick wit, you love to read comics, you, you…"
"That doesn't get you to fit in with these guys, Dad," he said.
"Well, what does?"
"Um, I don't know. Shaving your chest?"
"Well, how are the classes?" Kirsten asked.
"They suck," he said naturally. "It's fine, just forget about it. It' not like school is any different than I expected it would be. Let's just not talk about it anymore," he said, pausing. "So, you're home kind of early today. What's going on?"
"Yeah. I needed a break from work. It's pretty crazy in the office," Kirsten admitted.
"And by it you mean Grandpa?"
"Yeah."
"Well, he owns this place. He defines crazy. What better man for the head job in the Newport Group than him?" Seth said.
"And what better man than the owner of Newport to hate me?" Sandy said.
"Get used to it, Dad. This is Orange County. Nothing ever works out," he said.
"That's not true," said Kirsten. The two of them shot her a look. "Not completely."