Chapter 6

Marissa, Alex, Ryan and Summer were all sitting at the bar, watching Jodie go up to random girls, and flirting with them. Summer tilted her head, and looked at Jodie curiously before asking her sister and her best friend's boyfriend a question.

"Is Jodie gay?" Marissa nearly choked on the drink that she was drinking and Alex and Ryan gave each other nervous glances before answering.

"I-I don't know. She could be."

"She never mentioned anything before, but why would she be gay?" Ryan looked at Jodie again. "Besides the fact that she's going up to every girl and touching them. Rather pervertedly…" Ryan said the last part quietly but Alex heard him and hit him in the arm causing him to wince. "Maybe she's just being…friendly."

"Huh." Summer looked as if she was in thought for awhile before shrugging. "Well, she does seem nice, and rather sweet. Like earlier, she bought me a drink. She's such a nice girl." The three other people there gave Summer a funny look, but then Marissa asked Summer something.

"But, would it be a problem if she was?" Alex was surprised by Marissa's forwardness, when they were dating, Marissa never even tried to bring up the topic of gays and how Summer felt about them.

"I don't know. Probably not." As Summer finished, Jodie came back to the group smiling.

"Hey guys, what are you guys talking about over here?" Before Ryan or Alex could reply, Summer butt in.

"Oh, just talking about if you were gay or not." Jodie raised an eyebrow at her best friends and gained a really mischievous smile.

"Oh really?" Summer nodded and Marissa just looked away embarrassed. "And how'd that turn out?"

"We don't know. Are you, Jodie?" The other two girls and a guy's eyes widened. Marissa wanted to slap Summer for being so straight forward. Alex covered her eyes and shook her head, while Ryan watched on rather entertained. Jodie chuckled inwardly at her friend's reactions and put on another sweet smile for Summer.

"I can be, for you." Summer giggled and slapped Jodie on the arm playfully.

"You flatter me too much." She then turned to the other people, leaving her hand on Jodie's arm. "Isn't she the sweetest thing?" Alex sent a death glare towards Jodie, who in return, gave her a wink. Summer turned her attention back towards Jodie. "You're so sweet. I wish I could find a guy like you." Ryan started laughing and Alex just rolled her eyes.

"Excuse me while I go gag myself. Well, not really. But I do have to go to the restroom." Alex left the group and Marissa soon followed after excusing herself as well.

"So, Jodie, what have you been up to?" Jodie ignored him as she continued flirting with Summer.

"Hey Summer, you probably don't want to, since you probably get this asked all the time, but um, do you wanna dance?" Jodie motioned towards the dance floor as she asked Summer the question.

"Sure! Of course, I'd love to!" Summer smiled as she took Jodie's hand in hers and led her to the other dancing couples in the club. Ryan watched them go and then looked around.

"Great, talking to myself. Fun stuff." A girl came up to the bar and ordered a drink, while waiting for a drink, Ryan smiled and greeted her.

"Hi, there." She just gave him a look, took her drink and then walked away quickly.

"Hey, Alex, wait up!" Marissa tried to call for Alex, but the music was too loud and there were too many people in the way so she couldn't hear her. Once Alex got into the restroom, she turned on the cold water, and washed her face with it After a few seconds the restroom door slammed open, causing Alex to turn around and see a winded Marissa standing there.

"Marissa?" She was bent over, looking down at the ground, taking a few big breaths. "Are you okay?" Alex walked over to Marissa, moving her away from the door. Marissa then looked up and nodded, while doing so, she saw Alex's face and began laughing. "You have –" She pointed and laughed, not being able to finish, Alex looked into the mirror, seeing what Marissa found so funny. All of her makeup was messed up because of the water. She rolled her eyes as she reached for some paper towels.

"Gee, thanks a lot for laughing at my ugliness." She replied jokingly as she began wiping her face. Marissa walked over to her and wrapped her arms around the other girl.

"Aw, I still love you, Alex, despite your ugliness." Marissa laughed as she hugged Alex without realizing what she had said, but Alex heard her, and froze. Marissa felt her stiffen up and let go. "Is something wrong?" Alex turned around to face Marissa and Marissa was surprised by the hurt expression that was carried on Alex's face.

"You can't just say things like that, not anymore, Marissa. Not if you don't mean them. Not when you're with him."

"W-What? What'd I say?" Marissa tried to think of what she had said to upset Alex like that, but couldn't remember. Alex just shook her head as she pushed past Marissa and outside the restroom. And then it clicked. Marissa looked at the now swinging restroom door with a longing expression. "But I do mean it…" Marissa hung her head in defeat as she left the restroom.

As Alex began pushing through a crowd of people to get to the exit, she ran into Summer and Jodie, who were still dancing together, but now were on the floor.

"I know you have bad vision, but shouldn't you be able to see where you're going with your contacts on?" Alex got up first and then helped her sister up, Jodie stood up on her own.

"Why are you in such a rush?" Alex shook her head and then quickly looked behind her, seeing if Marissa was there or not, she wasn't.

"Sorry, I'm just not feeling well. Do you think I can get the keys to your car so I can get home?" By now, Ryan had made his way over to the three girls, seeing Alex run into the other two.

"I can take you home if you want. You can stay here and keep Jodie company. Do you think you could tell Marissa that I took Alex home?" Jealousy and pain flashed across Alex's face at the mention of Marissa's name and Jodie noticed.

"Nah. You stay here with Summer and Marissa. Have some fun, and I'll take her home." She pushed Ryan back slightly and then turned to Summer. "It was fun, Summer. I'll see you back at the house." She threw Summer a quick wink, and before the other two could disagree, or say anything else, Jodie had already dragged Alex away to her car. Ryan and Summer watched them go and then looked at each other.

"Do you think Alex is really not feeling well?" Ryan shook his head, unsure how to answer.

"I don't know anymore. I've never really seen her like this…" As Ryan trailed off, Marissa finally came back.

"Hey, where's Alex and Jodie?"

"Alex wasn't feeling well so Jodie took her back to the house. Jodie just told us to stay here and have fun. But it's not that fun anymore since they went. So do you guys wanna go back to my house?" Ryan nodded, wanting to check up on his friend.

"Yea, to make sure Alex is alright. Marissa?" Marissa was lost in her own world, and didn't realize that Ryan had asked her a question until he repeated her name. "Marissa?"

"What? Yea, sure. I'll meet you guys there, I just need to get something from my house first." Marissa left without letting them say anything, and they watched her go. After a few seconds, Ryan spoke up.

"You know, I think we've been walked out on way too much tonight. What do you think, Summer?" Ryan continued to look at the exit as he waited for Summer's answer.

"I'd have to agree." Summer shrugged and then they both left the Bait Shop.