Swallowed In the Sea
A/N:- So yeah, I kinda made this into a story. Consider the previous chapter a prologue. I hope you guys like this, because I have been debating whether to put this up for a long time, lol. Anyway, this chapter just sets up most of the story, k? Thanks for reading : ).
Chapter One
"I dunno…" Jimmy trailed off as he surveyed the room in front of him. "What do you think kiddo?" Marissa walked in behind in him, in turn glancing around the room. The room was supposedly painted light blue, but it was hard to see under the faded nicotine stains that graced the walls. A couple of beat-up couches and a bunch of wilted flowers on the marked coffee table were what appeared to be the only efforts that had been made to make the room, which they guessed was the lounge, presentable.
"Well, it's the best we've seen so far." Marissa replied, trying to make light of the situation. The estate agent clipped her pen onto her clipboard, and motioned for the two to follow her into the next room. House hunting in Denver wasn't exactly what you would call a joyous occasion. At least, not with the price range she had received from Mr. Cooper. The best she could offer them in the not so bad area was a two bedroomed apartment. Marissa wandered over to the caged window, and peered out from the fifth floor. She was a long, long way from Newport Beach. A layer of snow covered the icy roads, and grit had been laid down to prevent cars from skidding. Opposite the building, she made out the park, and the play area. Kids were contently playing, and screaming as they took part in a snow ball fight, makeshift shelters being made out of bushes and benches. She watched as a woman pushed her pram carrying a wailing baby down the street, smiling slightly as the baby's screams turned to a delighted chuckle as they approached a snowman.
"Marissa?" Marissa turned abruptly from the scene in front of her, to find Jimmy and the estate agent standing waiting in front of her. "We're gonna take a look at the rest of the house, you coming?" Marissa nodded, and followed them through to the kitchen area, where they were then led on through the rest of the house.
"And, I guess this would be your bedroom…" The estate agent said pointedly to Marissa, then opened the bedroom door. "It's not huge, but I think you will find it perfectly adequate, with a built-in closet, and ….park views from the window." She smiled, flipping over another sheet of paper on her clip-board. "So, I'll leave you two to make your decision, huh?" Jimmy nodded and smiled, as the woman left the room.
"Marissa, I'm so, so sorry…" Jimmy stated, looking down as he apologised to his daughter. "I never thought, that it would end up, you know…like this…" Marissa smiled, sympathetically.
"Dad, it's okay." Marissa replied, walking over closer to him. "I understand we have to make a new start, and there was no way in hell I was living with Mum." Jimmy nodded, smiling at her last statement, and composing himself.
"Besides, this isn't too bad, right?" Jimmy said, walking over to the window. "I mean, park views, what more you could you want?" Marissa laughed a little, walking over to join him at the window-sill.
"So, I saw you had a visitor at the airport." Jimmy said, looking at his daughter as she looked once again out of the window. Marissa looked down, and then smiled uncertainly.
"Yeah…" She answered, staring once again out of the window, seemingly contemplating Ryan.
"You two together, or what?" Jimmy replied, shifting so his elbow was leaning on the windowsill. "Not that you were ever really apart…"
"Yeah, we are." Marissa nodded, re-assuring herself, blinking back the tears fast enough so Jimmy couldn't catch sight of them.
"Gonna be hard, huh?" Jimmy said quietly, putting his arm round her shoulder, as she leant her head on his shoulder. "Come on, let's go."
…………………..
Ryan sat in his AP Physics class, books laid out in front of him, and pencil in hand. He stared blankly at the blackboard, watching as the teacher tried and failed to explain the theory of Relativity to a particularly gormless student. The teacher looked exasperated, and the whole class sighed as the student asked another pointless question. Ryan laid his pencil down, and turned his head to stare out of the window, once again zoning out.
It had been a whole 2 days, 3 hours and 13 minutes since she had left. He glanced at his watch as he made it 14 minutes. He didn't think it weird to be counting the minutes; it seemed like when finally everything was going right, it got cruelly ripped away from him. It wasn't that she had left, because he knew she hadn't left him. At the airport, he had thought of chasing after her, and refusing to let her go, but he knew that would make things even worse. The fact that things were suddenly so perfect between them made it that little bit harder for the both of them. He had known that Jimmy and Julie were having problems again, it wasn't obvious, but he could just tell from the way Marissa used to act. Even when they weren't going out, they still seemed to maintain a connection.
Now Marissa wasn't at school, it made it even more boring for Ryan. Seth and Ryan had cut Marissa's house out of the trip to school, which made it even more final. Marissa's locker had been taken over by some freshman, but not before Ryan had taken out the photos which Marissa had stuck up in there, he knew she wouldn't want them to be thrown away.
Ryan had spent a good deal of his lunch hour poring over the map of America that was somewhere near the back of his school planner. Denver was in Colorado. Which…he had no idea where that was. Geography wasn't exactly his forte. He understood why Jimmy wanted to move away, but was it necessary to move so far?
………………….
"You sure you're gonna be okay?" Jimmy asked, pulling up uncertainly in his rental car in front of Mitchell High. Marissa looked out of the window, towards the masses that seemed to be congregating outside the school.
"Yeah, of course I will." Marissa turned back to face her father, flashing him a small nervous smile.
"Well, I guess I'll pick you up after school?" Jimmy replied, once again looking out of the window, wishing this wasn't where he was dropping his daughter off.
"Can't I just get the school bus?" Marissa asked, grabbing her bag from the back of the car, and climbing out of the car onto the sidewalk.
"I guess, if that's okay with you." Jimmy replied, nodding his head. "Would be a lot easier for me, I need to go to work tomorrow." Marissa smiled, and waved him off as she watched Jimmy drive down the road. Turning to take in all of the school, she sighed, hugging her blue binder closer to her chest. The green in front of the school is full of people, and the snow made it even harder for her to walk less embarrassingly through the crowds. No-one seemed to notice her, and it gave her a surprise when she reached the front entrance and someone yanked her purse off of her shoulder. Marissa gave the man a look of shock, and in reply she got a single finger point to the metal detector that students were queuing up to go through.
"You new?" The security guard asked her, handing her back her purse having rifled through and checked it. He received a single nod from Marissa. "You should head over to the Administrative building." Marissa nodded again, and took her bag, heading down the corridor, before turning back when she realised she had absolutely no idea where she was going.
"That a-way." The guard pointed in the other direction as Marissa righted herself and walked in the correct direction. It was going to be a long day.
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A/N:- I know, I know, kinda boring right? And short, and majorly crap. But it gets better, I promise. Review!
