I'm finally back with an update. I was extremely happy to get all the reviews from so many of you. Please keep them coming and I will try and update as soon as possible.
***
Seth turned around as Ryan walked into the kitchen. He strolled straight over to the counter and the cereal and began pouring some out into a bowl, neatly avoiding Seth's curious gaze.
'I never thought cereal was so interesting,' Seth said pointedly as Ryan refused to even consider looking up. He knew that if Seth did manage to catch Ryan's eye that he would be caught in an endless torrent of questions and he really didn't want to lay his soul bear at that moment in time. Not only was it too early but he also wanted to keep the thing with him and Marissa to himself, atleast until he worked out what was going on with them. He was confused and afraid that everything last night had been part of a dream. He could vividly remember the smells and the sights and the sounds and if it was a dream then his senses were playing an extremely cruel game with his heart.
'Come on, you have to tell me something.' Seth pushed on with his line of questioning.
'No, I don't,' Ryan replied, hoping that he was giving nothing away with his body language.
'Something happened between you and Marissa, I can tell,' Seth continued. He reached across Ryan to grab the milk and poured some into his own bowl. He knew he could break Ryan sooner or later. His constant annoying presence would eventually lead Ryan to tell him the truth. And when that moment came Seth would be eager to listen to anything Ryan had to say, before he inevitably switched the conversation round to himself and started talking about his endless list of problems with, possibly some comic interludes.
Ryan didn't reply. He didn't want to tell Seth anything, especially not over breakfast. What happened was private and Ryan had always valued that. He would tell Seth when he was good and ready and not a moment before then. And he knew that despite Seth's curiosity he understood that as well as Ryan did.
'We should get going or we're gonna be late for school,' Ryan said.
'You haven't finished your breakfast yet,' Seth pointed out.
'I lost my appetite,' Ryan replied before placing his bowl in the sink and walking out of the room, towards the pool house to collect his stuff for school. It was still a little weird to him, getting up early, eating breakfast and then getting a ride to a building where he learnt things all day. He never would have gotten up that early back in Chino and even if he had it hadn't been for any educational purposes. It was weird but he felt a lot more secure knowing that he was doing something so normal, for a teenager atleast.
He heard footsteps make their way across the backyard and rolled his eyes. He should have known Seth wouldn't give up that easily, he was like a dog with a bone.
'I'm not going to tell you anything about last night, so you may as well go away,' he stated over his shoulder.
'Well, then its a good thing I was there.'
Ryan spun round and looked straight into the eyes he had stared into the night before. Marissa leant against the door frame of the pool house, a smile on her face which presented her amusement to him. He smiled sheepishly in reply and resumed shoving books into his rucksack.
She watched him as he turned his back on her and got ready. She could have watched him for hours. The corner of her mouth lifted as she remembered the night before. She hadn't quite been able to believe it when she had leaned forward and their lips had met. She could remember the tingle that had swept its way up and down her spine. It returned everytime she thought about Ryan's mouth on hers. She could feel a warm glow rising up her neck and flushing her cheeks. She hoped her tan hid the brightness of the blush from Ryan's eyes. Marissa considered herself to be a quite open person. She talked about her feelings, if not with everyone atleast with Summer. But with Ryan it was different. It wasn't that she couldn't talk to him, the other night had proved otherwise. It was just that she couldn't talk to anyone else about him. Summer, her mother, the numerous rich Newport socialites Marissa was used to hanging out with at school, none of them would understand how she felt about him. It was different to her and Luke. He was the most popular guy in school, she was the most popular girl. They were both adored by the general population, it was only logical that they should end up going out with each other. But Marissa had never loved Luke, in fact a lot of the time he had annoyed her with his incessant macho posing. It had really been inevitable that they would break up, eventually if not sooner. They didn't have a lot in common, they didn't open up to each other at any point in the relationship. It had been pretty much a foregone conclusion.
And now she was kissing the boy next door and she had no idea what to think. And there was no one she could talk to about it so blushing was about as confessional as she was going to get for a while.
Ryan stood up and swung his backpack over his shoulder. He could feel her eyes on him, watching his every move. It would have been intimidating if it had been anyone else but Marissa could watch him all day and he wouldn't have minded. He turned around and their eyes met in a gaze which wouldn't have been out of place in a romantic comedy straight out of Hollywood.
'We should go,' Ryan said, breaking the moment and the look as both of them blinked and looked away from the other.
He walked towards the door and as he passed Marissa he breathed in her scent. She was a breath of fresh air, despite the fact that he was almost outside the building and the sea was mere minutes away. Somehow, though it seemed he was destined never to know how his legs started working again and he walked through the garden into the house. He looked across at Seth, hoping that he wouldn't start asking questions or making pointed comments again.
Ryan frowned as he looked at Seth's face. He seemed a lot less at ease than he had been previously. As Ryan walked further into the kitchen he saw the reason why.
'You guys don't mind if Summer comes with us do you?' came Marissa's voice from behind him.
'No,' they both managed to get out before hesitation became rudeness.
Summer smiled nervously. She hadn't wanted to get a lift with Cohen and Chino but she hadn't really been given a choice in the matter. Her home life sucked just enough for her to want to turn up at Marissa's house at 11.30 at night. Summer had needed to talk to Marissa, the only person who truly knew anything about her. But she had not wanted to face an entire journey to school with Cohen, who would either not speak to her for the ride out of fear or would speak so much she would desperately want to slip him some of the valium her step mother liked to take so much; and Chino, the guy who had shown up out of nowhere and had since then caused Marissa so much trouble. She breathed deeply trying unsuccessfully to wake herself up a little bit.
'We should leave if we're planning on getting to school today.'
***
Summer pulled the dark sunglasses over her eyes. The sun shining through the back car window was way too bright for her to be able to handle at that time of the morning. Quiet music floated out of the speaker behind her head and she gave herself up to it. The strumming guitars, the beat of the drums, the gravely voice of the lead singer, all of them seemed to contribute to her mood. The act she would have to put on that day at school was going to win her Oscars. She had wanted to stay at home just so she wouldn't have to face school but she didn't even want to go back to her house.
She closed her eyes and squeezed the lids hard together, trying to remove any images of the last night. Flashing spots and flickering lines appeared in the dark and she reopened her eyes, allowing the dull light to flood in.
Seth glanced across at Summer. The usual insulting banter had been sorely missing from his morning. Something was definitely wrong with her but he was hardly in a position to ask about it. He and Summer had never been real enemies, let alone friends. She had never noticed him enough for their relationship to hit either of the two extremes.
Ryan looked up as the school appeared on the horizon. Unfortunately the horizon wasn't that far away. Ryan still wasn't entirely used to his new routine. Getting up early in the morning, going to school, staying there all day instead of going to the first lesson and deciding it was all way too boring to hang around. It was all very new to him. He didn't know if he ever would get used to it but having people like Seth and Marissa made it a whole lot more enjoyable.
Numerous cliques were hanging out inside school grounds. There were the girls who chose to wear very little, preferring to have as much skin exposed as possible so they could get the most even tan they could. The fact that that wasn't what school was for would probably never occur to them. The shouts of the soccer team practicing hard of a morning filled the air along with those of the cheerleaders, all of them screaming their lungs to pieces for the benefit of school spirit. Ryan would definitely never understand that obsession with keeping morale in high schools on an even balance. The slightly more alternative people were easily recognisable because almost all of them were hanging out as far away from the school propaganda machines as possible and all of them chose to look at people like Summer with some level of disdain, though, turning his head to look at the brunette he could see that she was so completely unfazed by it that it was almost an insult in itself.
Where Ryan saw division though Marissa recognised the place she had called her second home for the past few years. She had never hated school like so many of her peers. For her it got her as far away from her mother. Her and Julie had never gotten along like Marissa and her dad. She was daddy's little girl and Julie had never been able to understand that. There would always be a rift between them and at the best of times Julie would snipe at her oldest daughter absentmindedly, not realising that she was pushing her further away. And Marissa had always been good at school. She wasn't the cleverest person in her class but she worked hard and thus it had always been relatively easy for her.
As they reached the top of the steps leading to the classrooms they arrived at the point where they would all split up, atleast for the morning. Ryan and Marissa looked at each, the desire obvious beneath their cool facades.
'So,' Marissa began. 'I'll see you at lunch?' she finished hopefully.
'Yeah,' Ryan replied eagerly, warranting smirks from Seth and Summer. Marissa and Ryan both turned to look at Seth and Summer, making it perfectly clear that their presence was at best inappropriate at that moment. Summer rolled her eyes beneath the dark glasses and turned her back on the newly loved up couple. She leant her forearms on the balustrade. She felt him lean next to her before she turned and saw him. She wished she hadn't looked at him. Seth Cohen was an unnecessary nuisance in her life. She had to hang out with him now that Ryan and Marissa were practically joined but that didn't mean she had to enjoy spending time with the geeky best friend. She felt his eyes blazing into her cheek and without even bothering to turn to look at him she opened her mouth.
'What?'
Seth continued to stare at her. He wasn't sure what entranced him so much about her. There had to be something specific but he couldn't distinguish it from the general feeling of love.
'Nothing,' he replied nonchalantly as he turned away.
She sighed deeply before turning back towards the adoring couple. She had definitely not had enough sleep last night to even attempt to work out the baffling mind of Seth Cohen.
'Coop? We gotta go if we're gonna get to class at any point today,' she called out, disturbing the earnest conversation of Ryan and Marissa.
Marissa turned around to see Summer looking impatient and, looking at Ryan's face she smiled openly.
'I'll see you later,' she said quietly. She knew exactly how the gossip mill worked in high school and she had absolutely no desire to fuel the rumours she knew would come in time.
***
Seth turned around as Ryan walked into the kitchen. He strolled straight over to the counter and the cereal and began pouring some out into a bowl, neatly avoiding Seth's curious gaze.
'I never thought cereal was so interesting,' Seth said pointedly as Ryan refused to even consider looking up. He knew that if Seth did manage to catch Ryan's eye that he would be caught in an endless torrent of questions and he really didn't want to lay his soul bear at that moment in time. Not only was it too early but he also wanted to keep the thing with him and Marissa to himself, atleast until he worked out what was going on with them. He was confused and afraid that everything last night had been part of a dream. He could vividly remember the smells and the sights and the sounds and if it was a dream then his senses were playing an extremely cruel game with his heart.
'Come on, you have to tell me something.' Seth pushed on with his line of questioning.
'No, I don't,' Ryan replied, hoping that he was giving nothing away with his body language.
'Something happened between you and Marissa, I can tell,' Seth continued. He reached across Ryan to grab the milk and poured some into his own bowl. He knew he could break Ryan sooner or later. His constant annoying presence would eventually lead Ryan to tell him the truth. And when that moment came Seth would be eager to listen to anything Ryan had to say, before he inevitably switched the conversation round to himself and started talking about his endless list of problems with, possibly some comic interludes.
Ryan didn't reply. He didn't want to tell Seth anything, especially not over breakfast. What happened was private and Ryan had always valued that. He would tell Seth when he was good and ready and not a moment before then. And he knew that despite Seth's curiosity he understood that as well as Ryan did.
'We should get going or we're gonna be late for school,' Ryan said.
'You haven't finished your breakfast yet,' Seth pointed out.
'I lost my appetite,' Ryan replied before placing his bowl in the sink and walking out of the room, towards the pool house to collect his stuff for school. It was still a little weird to him, getting up early, eating breakfast and then getting a ride to a building where he learnt things all day. He never would have gotten up that early back in Chino and even if he had it hadn't been for any educational purposes. It was weird but he felt a lot more secure knowing that he was doing something so normal, for a teenager atleast.
He heard footsteps make their way across the backyard and rolled his eyes. He should have known Seth wouldn't give up that easily, he was like a dog with a bone.
'I'm not going to tell you anything about last night, so you may as well go away,' he stated over his shoulder.
'Well, then its a good thing I was there.'
Ryan spun round and looked straight into the eyes he had stared into the night before. Marissa leant against the door frame of the pool house, a smile on her face which presented her amusement to him. He smiled sheepishly in reply and resumed shoving books into his rucksack.
She watched him as he turned his back on her and got ready. She could have watched him for hours. The corner of her mouth lifted as she remembered the night before. She hadn't quite been able to believe it when she had leaned forward and their lips had met. She could remember the tingle that had swept its way up and down her spine. It returned everytime she thought about Ryan's mouth on hers. She could feel a warm glow rising up her neck and flushing her cheeks. She hoped her tan hid the brightness of the blush from Ryan's eyes. Marissa considered herself to be a quite open person. She talked about her feelings, if not with everyone atleast with Summer. But with Ryan it was different. It wasn't that she couldn't talk to him, the other night had proved otherwise. It was just that she couldn't talk to anyone else about him. Summer, her mother, the numerous rich Newport socialites Marissa was used to hanging out with at school, none of them would understand how she felt about him. It was different to her and Luke. He was the most popular guy in school, she was the most popular girl. They were both adored by the general population, it was only logical that they should end up going out with each other. But Marissa had never loved Luke, in fact a lot of the time he had annoyed her with his incessant macho posing. It had really been inevitable that they would break up, eventually if not sooner. They didn't have a lot in common, they didn't open up to each other at any point in the relationship. It had been pretty much a foregone conclusion.
And now she was kissing the boy next door and she had no idea what to think. And there was no one she could talk to about it so blushing was about as confessional as she was going to get for a while.
Ryan stood up and swung his backpack over his shoulder. He could feel her eyes on him, watching his every move. It would have been intimidating if it had been anyone else but Marissa could watch him all day and he wouldn't have minded. He turned around and their eyes met in a gaze which wouldn't have been out of place in a romantic comedy straight out of Hollywood.
'We should go,' Ryan said, breaking the moment and the look as both of them blinked and looked away from the other.
He walked towards the door and as he passed Marissa he breathed in her scent. She was a breath of fresh air, despite the fact that he was almost outside the building and the sea was mere minutes away. Somehow, though it seemed he was destined never to know how his legs started working again and he walked through the garden into the house. He looked across at Seth, hoping that he wouldn't start asking questions or making pointed comments again.
Ryan frowned as he looked at Seth's face. He seemed a lot less at ease than he had been previously. As Ryan walked further into the kitchen he saw the reason why.
'You guys don't mind if Summer comes with us do you?' came Marissa's voice from behind him.
'No,' they both managed to get out before hesitation became rudeness.
Summer smiled nervously. She hadn't wanted to get a lift with Cohen and Chino but she hadn't really been given a choice in the matter. Her home life sucked just enough for her to want to turn up at Marissa's house at 11.30 at night. Summer had needed to talk to Marissa, the only person who truly knew anything about her. But she had not wanted to face an entire journey to school with Cohen, who would either not speak to her for the ride out of fear or would speak so much she would desperately want to slip him some of the valium her step mother liked to take so much; and Chino, the guy who had shown up out of nowhere and had since then caused Marissa so much trouble. She breathed deeply trying unsuccessfully to wake herself up a little bit.
'We should leave if we're planning on getting to school today.'
***
Summer pulled the dark sunglasses over her eyes. The sun shining through the back car window was way too bright for her to be able to handle at that time of the morning. Quiet music floated out of the speaker behind her head and she gave herself up to it. The strumming guitars, the beat of the drums, the gravely voice of the lead singer, all of them seemed to contribute to her mood. The act she would have to put on that day at school was going to win her Oscars. She had wanted to stay at home just so she wouldn't have to face school but she didn't even want to go back to her house.
She closed her eyes and squeezed the lids hard together, trying to remove any images of the last night. Flashing spots and flickering lines appeared in the dark and she reopened her eyes, allowing the dull light to flood in.
Seth glanced across at Summer. The usual insulting banter had been sorely missing from his morning. Something was definitely wrong with her but he was hardly in a position to ask about it. He and Summer had never been real enemies, let alone friends. She had never noticed him enough for their relationship to hit either of the two extremes.
Ryan looked up as the school appeared on the horizon. Unfortunately the horizon wasn't that far away. Ryan still wasn't entirely used to his new routine. Getting up early in the morning, going to school, staying there all day instead of going to the first lesson and deciding it was all way too boring to hang around. It was all very new to him. He didn't know if he ever would get used to it but having people like Seth and Marissa made it a whole lot more enjoyable.
Numerous cliques were hanging out inside school grounds. There were the girls who chose to wear very little, preferring to have as much skin exposed as possible so they could get the most even tan they could. The fact that that wasn't what school was for would probably never occur to them. The shouts of the soccer team practicing hard of a morning filled the air along with those of the cheerleaders, all of them screaming their lungs to pieces for the benefit of school spirit. Ryan would definitely never understand that obsession with keeping morale in high schools on an even balance. The slightly more alternative people were easily recognisable because almost all of them were hanging out as far away from the school propaganda machines as possible and all of them chose to look at people like Summer with some level of disdain, though, turning his head to look at the brunette he could see that she was so completely unfazed by it that it was almost an insult in itself.
Where Ryan saw division though Marissa recognised the place she had called her second home for the past few years. She had never hated school like so many of her peers. For her it got her as far away from her mother. Her and Julie had never gotten along like Marissa and her dad. She was daddy's little girl and Julie had never been able to understand that. There would always be a rift between them and at the best of times Julie would snipe at her oldest daughter absentmindedly, not realising that she was pushing her further away. And Marissa had always been good at school. She wasn't the cleverest person in her class but she worked hard and thus it had always been relatively easy for her.
As they reached the top of the steps leading to the classrooms they arrived at the point where they would all split up, atleast for the morning. Ryan and Marissa looked at each, the desire obvious beneath their cool facades.
'So,' Marissa began. 'I'll see you at lunch?' she finished hopefully.
'Yeah,' Ryan replied eagerly, warranting smirks from Seth and Summer. Marissa and Ryan both turned to look at Seth and Summer, making it perfectly clear that their presence was at best inappropriate at that moment. Summer rolled her eyes beneath the dark glasses and turned her back on the newly loved up couple. She leant her forearms on the balustrade. She felt him lean next to her before she turned and saw him. She wished she hadn't looked at him. Seth Cohen was an unnecessary nuisance in her life. She had to hang out with him now that Ryan and Marissa were practically joined but that didn't mean she had to enjoy spending time with the geeky best friend. She felt his eyes blazing into her cheek and without even bothering to turn to look at him she opened her mouth.
'What?'
Seth continued to stare at her. He wasn't sure what entranced him so much about her. There had to be something specific but he couldn't distinguish it from the general feeling of love.
'Nothing,' he replied nonchalantly as he turned away.
She sighed deeply before turning back towards the adoring couple. She had definitely not had enough sleep last night to even attempt to work out the baffling mind of Seth Cohen.
'Coop? We gotta go if we're gonna get to class at any point today,' she called out, disturbing the earnest conversation of Ryan and Marissa.
Marissa turned around to see Summer looking impatient and, looking at Ryan's face she smiled openly.
'I'll see you later,' she said quietly. She knew exactly how the gossip mill worked in high school and she had absolutely no desire to fuel the rumours she knew would come in time.