Take It How You Want It

Hopefully you all still like this story, I know how its going to end, and depending on the feedback there might be a sequel but i dont know this story doens't seem to be generating much reviews/any feedback...so i dont know if you guys want me to continue it or not...anyways feedback/reviews are MUCH APPRECIATED.

Part Three: Tonight

Summer walked into the house that used to house her best friend and almost sister. She walked into her room and looked at the picture from graduation she had printed off almost instantly. Marissa's smile was forever encased in the little 4x6 frame. What amazed her was how so much could happen in such a few short hours.

She took her phone out of her bag, and looked at the number of missed calls. Of the eight there were five messages. There were two from Taylor, one from Seth, one from Luke, and one from a blocked number. She pressed play and sat on her bed listening to the messages.

"Hey Summer, its Taylor. I just wanted to see if you wanted to go to the mall or go do something. Anyways call me back." Summer disregarded the message and pressed next, skipping the next one from Taylor as well.

"Hi, I'm just seeing if you're okay. So call me back." Summer pressed next again, she knew Seth meant well but it was obvious she wasn't okay.

"Summer, its Luke. I just heard about Marissa….I'm going to be in Newport in a few hours, we should meet up tonight. Call me." Once again Summer pressed next; however this time she made a mental note to call Luke back.

The next message began but she didn't hear anything, it was just breathing. Then she heard a click, and thought she had either been pranked or someone had dialed the wrong number. She didn't think much of it.

She called Luke back and they made plans to meet at the Bait shop later that night. After she hung-up with Luke, she tried to take a nap and forget about everything else.

When Ryan had returned home, Seth gave him a few hours to himself and then proceeded to question him.
"Ryan, come on are you okay?" Ryan gave no response.
"Are you going to say anything?" Again he gave no response.
"Ryan, please tell me what happened." Ryan didn't even look at him.
"Do you want to play some play station?" Seth asked, hoping he could help make Ryan feel better. Ryan lay down on his bed and rolled over looking away from Seth.

At around 8 that night, Summer waited by the entrance of the Bait shop for Luke. He arrived within minutes and hugged her. They made their way inside and sat in one of the few open booths. Neither knew how to start the conversation, because Marissa had been a big part of both their lives. Summer spotted Alex near the bar and excused herself to go say hello.
"Hey" She said as she walked up to Alex.
"You want one?" She asked handing Summer a beer.
"Yeah, actually can I get another one for my friend? You should come join us." Summer said gesturing to where Luke was sitting.
Summer introduced Luke to Alex and then handed him his beer and he accepted gratefully. The three of them fell into easy conversation, avoiding the topic of Marissa. Absentmindedly Summer had begun to peel the label off her empty bottle.
"Do you want another?" Alex asked glancing at the small mess on the table.
"Um yeah, sure." Summer responded distractedly.
"Here, I'll go get it." Luke offered, getting up.
"No, I'll get it you two sit, talk." Summer insisted getting up and pushing Luke back into his seat.

At around eight thirty, Seth called Taylor.
"Do you know where Summer is?" he asked.
"Isn't she with you?"
"No, I haven't seen her since this morning. You haven't heard from her?"
"She didn't call me back, should we go look for her?"
"Yeah, where should we start?"
"Maybe the Bait shop? I'll see you there in ten minutes?" Taylor offered.
"Okay." He quickly responded, closing his phone and heading towards the car.

Seth greeted Taylor at the entrance and together they made their way inside. They spotted Summer almost instantly; she was carrying three beers and making her way to a table.
"Summer, wait!" Seth yelled over the music. She stopped a couple inches from the table. Luke and Alex both turned their attention towards Seth.
"Summer, what are you doing?" Taylor asked.
"Getting beer." Summer responded dryly. Seth stood near Summer and didn't say a word.
"We should get you home." Taylor said, taking a few steps towards her.
"Why?"
"Maybe you've had enough."
"I know my limits." Summer countered back.
"I'm just trying to help you Summer."
"Well don't, your not my best friend."
"I never said I was." Taylor stated, hurt by what Summer had said.
"Summer, she's just trying to help." Seth offered, putting himself between the two girls. Alex and Luke rose from their seats and stood next to Summer.
"I never asked her to help me."
"Summer, come on. Stop."
"Stop what Seth? You have no idea what I'm going through. You have no idea what I'm feeling; you have no idea what its like to lose your best friend. You still have Ryan." Summer turned her attention to Alex and Luke, "let's get out of here." The three of them walked out, and headed towards the beach while Seth and Taylor stood surprised at what had just happened.

Summer marched ahead of Luke and Alex still holding the three beers. Alex ran up and put her hand on Summer's shoulder, trying to stop her.
"Are you okay?" Luke asked when Summer had slowed her pace.
She didn't bother to answer, but kept walking. When she arrived at the beach she took a seat on the sand and opened her beer. Chugging half of it in one breath.
"Should we be stopping her?" Luke asked watching Summer.
"I think she needs this." Alex said taking a seat next to her and taking the cap off her beer and following Summer's lead.

Summer was the drunkest out of the three, after her second beer, she had begun to get tipsy. "Guys, it's really hot." She said fanning herself with her hand.
"Well we are in California." Luke offered suppressing a grin.
"I need to cool down." Summer stated, standing up. Once she regained her balance, she ran towards the water and jumped in. Alex and Luke watched as Summer got knocked down by a wave.

After a few seconds they noticed she still had not stood back up, fearing the worse Alex jumped up and headed straight for the water, not bothering to take her shoes off. Luke was seconds behind her. Within minutes, Alex and Luke had found Summer, one of her arms around each of them. They dropped her gently on the sand, and tried to wake her up.Alex knelt in the sand and racked her brain for a way to get Summer back up.
"Summer, summer can you hear me?" Alex asked softly. Luke knelt on the other side of her, and felt for a pulse. "She has a beat; I think she'll be okay."
"What should we do?" Alex questioned glancing at Summer's drenched body.
"We should get her someplace safe."
"My apartments a couple blocks from here, do you think we can make it?"
"Yeah." Luke said standing up and offering a hand to Alex. He scooped Summer into his arms, and followed Alex back to her apartment.
"Do you have a place to stay?" Alex asked as they walked along the quite California night.
"Yeah, I'm staying with my mom."
"Well you're free to crash here if you want." Alex said opening the door.

They opened the foldout couch and put Summer in the middle. Luke offered to stay with Summer while Alex got cleaned up. When Alex came out of the bathroom, Luke was asleep and Summer was staring at her.
"Hey you're up." Alex said walking over to the couch.
"Yeah, um do you have a change of clothes or something I can wear?" Summer asked, "my clothes are wet."
"Yeah hold on." Alex returned within seconds and threw Summer an oversized white shirt. Alex offered Summer a hand and helped her get up.
"The bathroom's down the hall."
"Okay, thanks."

When Summer returned, Alex was sitting next to a sleeping Luke who was snoring very loudly. Summer started to giggle as she realized there would be no way she could fall asleep next to him. Alex realized what she was giggling at and told her to follow her to her room.
"Here you can sleep in my bed, I'm sure it's quieter than out there." Alex said.
"Where are you going to sleep?" Summer asked.
"I can sleep out there."
"No just sleep in here, I mean if you want to. I share a bed with Marissa all the time…well I used to anyway." Summer said getting quite. Alex's eyes started to glaze as she remembered Marissa. Summer got into the bed and patted the area next to her. Reluctantly Alex got in next to her. Both girls turned to face each other in the middle.

"We should hold a memorial for her." Summer whispered, looking at Alex.
"Yeah, I think she'd like that. I can only think of one place where we should have it."
"The beach." Both girls said in unison.
"Can I ask you something?" Alex asked.
"Yeah go ahead."
"How come you didn't ask why your clothes were wet?"
"Oh, because I know you guys took me out of the water."
"how did you know that?"
"Because the last thing I remember was jumping into the water, and then I heard you saying my name but I didn't say anything."
"Why?"
"Because then I probably would have had to walk here, instead of being carried. You were really worried huh?" Summer asked with a hint of humor in her voice.
"Yeah."
"Now it's my turn to ask why." Summer giggled.
"I don't know, I guess I just was…" Alex trailed off, while Summer closed her eyes listening to the sound of Alex's breaths.

After a few beats of silence Summer started whispering to Alex.
"tell me about Jodie." She began.
"How do you know about her?" Alex asked amazed that Summer even knew the girls name.
"When you and Marissa were together she mentioned her name, and I never found out."
"What else do you know about me?"
"that you worked at the Bait shop, and that you and Marissa had something special."
Alex didn't know how to respond, flashes of Marissa danced before her eyes, tempting her to give into her emotions.

What'd you think? I hope you all liked it! Please reviewww i wanna know what everyone thought of this.