Ryan stood in his bathroom staring at the mirror. He was not sure he could do this. Most people would not be too concerned about their class reunion, except for Ryan Atwood. When he graduated from Harbor, he thought he had left a world of hurt, pain, suffering, and sadness in the past, until now, when his girlfriend, Alison Hamilton, convinced him that it might be nice to go to his class reunion. She told Ryan that it might be nice to see some old friends from high school, to show the world what he had been able to accomplish - the kid from Chino, and finally to show himself that he was not afraid to confront his past.
"Ryan, are you all right?" Alison wondered. She poked her head around the bathroom door to find Ryan staring at the mirror.
"No, I'm fine, I'll be right down," Ryan replied.
"Are you sure? Because it looks more like you're brooding, to me," Alison said.
Ryan smiled, "Is it that obvious?"
"Yeah, it is," Alison replied. "Are you nervous about seeing everyone because I know I wouldn't call you the most extraverted person around?"
"No, it's not the people, per se," Ryan answered.
"Then what is it?" Alison pressed. She folded her arms across her chest. She looked ready to sit down and listen to him. She was a pretty girl. A small girl in fact, with a height of only about five foot three. Ryan liked to make fun of this sometimes, stating how much taller he was than she. Alison was a beautiful blonde though, with nice sky blue eyes that made a person want to seize the day.
"I think this will bring back a lot of memories. Some good, and a lot of them bad," Ryan stated.
"Is that why you don't talk about your past much? I mean, we've been together for a year, and you hardly say anything about it. I know you have guardians, and a pseudo-brother, Seth Cohen, but other than that, I know nothing," she said.
"In a word, yes. That's why. It's just complicated," Ryan replied. Alison looked at him strangely. "It's nothing for you to be worried about, though. It's not like I was drug dealer or something."
Suddenly, Ryan's cell phone started to ring. He motioned to Alison to hold her thought, as she was about to speak. He took it out of his pocket and answered it.
"Hello?" Ryan asked.
"Hey, Buddy, it's me, Seth?" Seth said.
"Hey, Man, what's up? You goin' today?" Ryan wondered.
"Yeah, I am, but, Dude, I just wanted to give you the heads up about something," Seth began.
"Yeah, what is it?" Ryan asked.
"I talked to my mom today, and Marissa's going. I mean, I know everything that happened was a long time ago, but I just thought you would still like to know, Man," Seth said.
Ryan paused for a moment to take in the information. He would see Marissa Cooper for the first time in ten years. He began to wonder what might happen.
"Dude? You still there?" Seth asked.
Ryan snapped back into things and said, "Uh, yeah, I'm here. Thanks for letting me know, Man. I'll see you there." He hung up his phone and put it in his pocket. He looked at Alison.
"Who was that?" she wondered.
"Oh, it was just Seth," Ryan told her.
"Anything important?" she asked.
"Uh, no. He just wanted to say that he might be a little late because of traffic, so we should probably get going too," Ryan smiled. Alison turned around and walked out of the bathroom. Ryan followed.