Hey guys! I finally got another chapter up! Sorry it took me so long to get this up, I had a bit of writers block… okay, a lot… anyway, I've changed the style of writing; it's so much easier to write like this and also easier to read, or I think so anyway. As always, please R&R! Enjoy.

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Kirsten and Julie sit in the kitchen alone, eating the takeaways they had bought. Marissa and Rachel had made their excuses and left, conveniently escaping giving any sort of an explanation as to how they knew each other. Julie sighed.

"Why is it that, every time things seem to be going back to normal, Marissa some how comes out and creates another big drama for me?" Kirsten just smiled. Seth and Ryan were the same way. She enjoyed it though; without them, life would be boring. She wasn't looking forward to them leaving for college. "Oh well, guess it keeps my life interesting."

"When has your life ever been un-interesting?" Julie pulled a face at Kirsten.

"Haha," she said sarcastically. She sighed again. "So what do I do with this? Do I ask her about it, or leave her, see if she tells me?"

"I'm sure she'll tell you when she's ready. Or Rachel will. Lets not push it or we may never know." Julie looked thoughtful.

"But where could they know each other from? Rachel is a lot older than Marissa." Kirsten frowned. "Any number of places, I guess…"

"Must be something embarrassing, or they wouldn't try to avoid being asked about it."

"And they're on first name terms, so it can't just be an I've-seen-you-around type thing,"

Julie's eyes glistened with excitement; she loved a good gossip session, even if it was about her own daughter. "I guess we'll just have to wait and find out," Kirsten offered a box of Thai to Julie. "Dumplings?"

Marissa lay on her bed, wondering how her life could get to be any more of a mess. How could it be Rachel? This was just wrong. Embarrassing, and wrong.

Ryan sat beside her on the bed, the question on his lips, trying not to say it. But he couldn't stop himself any longer. "How do you… How d'you know Rachel?" he asked tentatively. Marissa sighed and was silent for a long while. Ryan thought she wasn't going to answer, when:

"She's one of… One of… Alex's… friends." Ryan sat there in shock, absorbing what she had just said. One of Alex's friends…? The way she said friend made him think there was something more to it. He was going to ask, but before he could, Marissa cut him off.

"I really don't want to go into detail." Ryan paled as he thought of what that could mean. Alex was... "Oh my God." He said.

"We didn't… I mean, it wasn't… but it's just… it was a phase, and she… what would Kirsten say? I don't know if she's… or if it was… Oh God, this is really embarrassing." Ryan was still in shock, thinking of what she had said. Then, he started laughing.

"It's not funny!" Marissa huffed.

"Yeah, it is," Ryan choked, still laughing. Marissa smiled despite herself. "You gotta see the irony." Eventually, Marissa laughed too.

"I guess it is kinda funny," she laughed.

Rachel didn't find it funny. "Oh my God, oh my God, OH MY GOD," she muttered to herself. She was back on the lifeguard stand, unknowingly stealing Marissa's favourite thinking spot. "Why didn't I put two and two together? Marissa. Dating Ryan. Newport…" She smacked herself on the head. "This is bad, very, very bad." The whole lesbian thing had been a stage for her, the same way it had been for Marissa, and she thought it was behind her. But no, things had a way of coming back to haunt her. "So STUPID!" she muttered.

"Talking to yourself, eh?" Rachel jumped and looked up at the speaker. It was Seth. He grinned at her and sat down beside her. "Mom and Julie are worried about you."

"Yeah?" was all she could think to say. Seth sighed.

"Listen, I know we haven't exactly made things easy for you since you've been here,"

"You got that right," Rachel muttered. Seth rolled his eyes.

"Oh yeah, you're a Cohen." Rachel stared daggers at him, and he cleared his throat to continue. "I haven't been the most welcoming of people, and I'm sorry about that. This is all just so new to me. It's hard. I… especially because I knew nothing about it. I felt I had been betrayed, and somehow found a way to blame you. I see that wasn't fair now," he said, looking at his shoes now, obviously embarrassed. "Anyway, I hope you'll forgive me." Rachel looked at him. She could see he was sincere.

"I forgive you," she said, smiling. "All I really wanted to do was get to know my family. I never meant to uproot everyone like this. I never dreamed you wouldn't know about me." Seth grimaced.

"Well. I guess mom was worried of what we'd think. If it's any consolation I think the worst is over. And Julie seems to like you, so that's a bonus. You seriously don't want to get on the wrong side of Julie Cooper." He shuddered. Rachel laughed at his apparent fear. "She seems nice."

"Not a word I would use, but sure, if you want." Rachel grinned again and hit him lightly on the shoulder. Seth laughed. "Well, you're welcome to hang out with us sometime," he said. "That is me, my girlfriend, Marissa and Ryan." Rachel grimaced at the mention of Marissa's name. "Am I missing something?" Seth asked, seeing the look on her face. Rachel sighed. May as well tell him. "Well, you see, turns out Marissa and I have already met." Seth looked puzzled.

"You have? When?"

"Through Alex." Seth looked at her, the meaning of her words dawning on him.

"Wait, you knew Alex? As in Marissa and I ex-girlfriend Alex?"

"Oh, so you're Seth!" Rachel said, realizing. Seth grinned.

"I see you've heard of me."

"I don't know why I didn't put two and two together. I guess things have been a little weird around here lately…"

"Tell me about it." Silence. "So, are you…? I mean, are you a…" Rachel cut him off.

"No. I think it was… a… a phase or something."

"Oh. So you like guys then." Rachel nodded.

"I'm sure Ryan will vouch for that." Seth looked puzzled again.

"What?" Rachel realized what she'd said.

"Nothing. We should probably be getting back, it's getting cold." She stood up and brushed the sand off herself. Seth mimicked her, and they both walked up the beach together. Seth was talking a mile a minute, as usual, and Rachel couldn't help grinning to herself. She finally felt at home.