Summer in the City

Chapter 17

"Cohen, I'm going to take Coco on a walk." Summer announced to the half-dead body on the bed.

Seth mumbled something half-understandable to Summer and she shook her head and grabbed Coco's leash from the nightstand.

"Okay. Bye." She murmured to him and shut the door so the outside noise wouldn't wake him.

"Coco!" She called for the dog. The chocolate lab finally appeared and ran over to her master.

"Do you want to go on a walk, girl?" The dog jumped on her and licked her face. Summer attached the leash to the collar and looked up when she heard footsteps coming up the steps.

"Summer, you have a visitor." Kirsten voice announced as she walked in front of the visitor.

"Umm. Thanks Mrs. Cohen." She stood up and gave a wave to Marissa.

"Hey Coop. What's up?" She smiled at her friend who was standing in the hallway with a sort of nervous look on her face.

"Oh, nothing. Just coming to talk with you. Are you going somewhere?" Marissa scrunched her eyebrows slightly as she looked at Summer holding Coco's leash with the dog whining softly to get out.

"I'm taking Coco for a walk. You want to come?" She asked; maybe she could figure out some of the dire details she wanted to find out.

Marissa smiled. "Sure."

"Great. Well, let's go before Cohen wakes up. I always tell him when I leave but he never remembers when he gets up so he gets all worried about where I am."

"Oh." She nodded as they walked out the door.

"So does Ryan have Catalina today?" Summer asked softly, watching her dog run along the edge of the freshly-cut grass.

"Yeah, it's his day off and so I let him take her for the morning."

"He doesn't mind?" She raised her eyebrows.

"Nah, she plays with her dolls for hours and he just watches football."

"Oh." Summer chuckled as she pictured Ryan watching football. She had never seen him watch it once but neither had she with Cohen. They never seemed like football kind of guys.
"So are we going to the park?" Marissa asked as she didn't realize where they were going.

"No, I was just going to take her on a walk by the beach. I take the back route because it's much prettier then taking the road."

"Okay, I just didn't know. That's nice." Marissa walked a few steps behind Summer and quietly hummed a song.

"Are you excited for the Sunday night family dinner tomorrow?" Summer inquired after their walk had become uncomfortably silent for her.

"Yeah, I don't think Kirsten is as bad of the cook as you portray her as."

Summer almost choked laughing so hard. "Well, then you're in for a shocker. She's about as bad as a cook as could be imagined."

Marissa smiled. "I think you are over reacting. I am going to have faith in Kirsten's cooking."

"Well, you have a big 'I told you so' in your future." She giggled.

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They reached the beach in no time as they rated and graded all the guys surfing in the water.

"A-. He could work those abs harder." She smiled as a Marissa burst into a fit of giggles.

"Wait, you have Seth who has like no abs. I don't get it." She asked perplexed.

"A girl can dream, can't she." She replied snapping her fingers.

"Yes she can." Marissa answered softly.

She had been quiet most of the morning and the silence between them was unbearable to her. She couldn't stand not talking about her feeling to Summer. She needed to get things clear with her friend. No deep dark secrets that would haunt them for life. She needed to let out her knowledge of everything.

"Speaking of dreams," She paused but did not continue. Her voice was low but it signaled the point of the conversation she wanted to start.

Summer got what she was thinking and froze in her spot.

"you overheard us?" Summer inquired almost inaudibly.

Marissa didn't look at her and didn't reply.

Summer nodded to herself. "WOW." She mumbled. "Darn, I wish I could erase that moment so badly." She shook her head in disgust with herself.

"How much did you hear?" Summer asked, realizing she should know what Marissa knew.

"Your father raped you." Summer's best friend stated.

"Okay, well…" She began.

"Is there more?" Marissa eyebrows frowned.

"Let's just start with one thing, shall we?" Summer answered sharply. Summer had stopped walking a while ago and she knew they better sit down because this was going to be a long drawn out thing.

"Okay, before I tell you anything more, you HAVE to promise me that you cannot tell anyone- not Seth's parents and especially not Ryan. Promise?" Summer demanded, making herself seem strong even though she felt like she was dying on the inside.

Marissa eyed her friend and nodded. She couldn't tell her now that Ryan knew- she had to know what happened.

"Okay, When I was in freshman year, my dad started getting drunk after Pam left him. I was the only one left in the house. That's when I found him getting creepier. I'd find him in my room in my drawers or 'accidentally' opening my bathroom door during my showers. I thought I was going crazy by thinking this but one night he came into my room in the middle of the night and raped me." Summer repeated these details with as little emotion as she could.

She couldn't stand to be weak in front of Marissa. For years when they were in high school, Summer would be the best friend who would comfort and give advice when things got tough and unfair to Marissa; now the tables were turned and Summer didn't want to believe it.

"Oh my god, Sum. I'm so sorry." Marissa said to her friend. How could a father be so wicked to her daughter. "Why didn't you report it?"

"He threatened me. I know it sounds so freakin dumb now but when I was 15 it sounded so terrifying."

Marissa had a horrified look on her face. "What happened when your father died? Were you glad?"

Summer closed her eyes and felt tears cloud her eyes. "To be honest, I thanked any higher power for it. It was revenge for ruining my life."

Summer felt a hand go against her shoulder and hug her.

"I would have too, Sum. I would have too." Marissa assured her as she felt Summer's tears press against her skin.

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"Hey mom, Where's Summer?" Seth asked groggily, just waking up.

Kirsten was watching Opera and didn't hear her son.

"MOM! Where is Summer?" He asked urgently.

She looked up at him and gave him a 'what did you just say' look.

"Where's Summer? She's not in bed." He combed his fingers through his curls.

"She went on a walk, sweetie, with Marissa." She answered and went back to watching her show.

"When will she be back?" He asked again.

"Not sure, she never told me. She left a while ago. She should be back anytime now."

Seth nodded. 'at least she was safe.'

He walked into the kitchen and grabbed a plain bagel and popped it into the toaster.

The doorbell rang; "I'll get it." He called towards the family room where his mom was engulfed in her show. Seth never did picture his mom as an Opera kind of girl.

He walked to the door and opened it wide revealing Ryan standing there.

"Hey buddy!" He greeted and hugged his brother.

"Hey Seth, is now a bad time?" He asked seriously.

"No, I'm just having a bagel. Want to join in the festivities?" He raised his eyebrows waiting for an answer. Ryan nodded and entered the house.

"Sure, why not." They both walked into the kitchen and Seth grabbed another bagel out of the sack.

"So bro, what's the special occasion?" The toaster popped up his bagel and he stuck a fork into the bagel to get it out.

"I needed to talk to you about something. After." He eyed Seth which meant he was serious about what he wanted to talk about.

Seth nodded. "Okay, we can do that." He grabbed the cream cheese out of the fridge just as Ryan's bagel popped up. "In the mean time, wanna play some Playstation?"

"Sure."

"Great." Seth smiled and handed Ryan his plate with a freshly toasted bagel on it.

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Summer sat on the bench crying with Marissa about her father and the mugger.

"If your dad was alive now, what would you do?" Marissa was trying to get Summer to calm down and be relaxed about talking to her about Summer's fears.

"I'd smack him." Summer let out a soft laugh. "I'd smack him so hard."

"That's my girl. I'd smack him too. All the way to Jersey." She smiled. Summer had become less uneasy and she was actually talking about her feelings.

"Does Seth know about your feelings?" Marissa glanced at the ground as Coco lay panting on the sand.

"To some degree. I don't want him to feel sorry for me-That I wasn't brave enough to face my dad or tell anyone. I don't want that to happen so I try not to talk about it."

"Have you ever thought about going to a therapist that would help you deal with all the emotion that comes with this?"

"I think that would hurt me more than it would help." Summer sighed as she thought of this option. It seemed like nothing was going to help.

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After a series of bagels and video games, Ryan and Seth sat up in Seth's room. Seth didn't say anything but he could tell Ryan's mind was thinking in over-time.

"So…" Seth began quietly to jumpstart the conversation. "Let's get to business, shall we? What did you want to talk about?"

"I know about Summer, Seth. Marissa told me." He announced with an uneasy breath. "How could a father be so cruel and sick?"

Seth looked at his brother and immediately knew that Marissa had found out yesterday.

"Marissa told you?"

"Yeah. I promised I wouldn't say anything but I wanted to know if what happened was true." Ryan sat on Seth's bed.

"It's all true, dude." He sighed.

"Okay, will you not tell Summer about our little visit? Please." Ryan stood up again and looked at his brother for an answer.

"I don't know about this, Ry. Summer won't like me lying to her."

"Just don't mention it. That's not lying." Ryan pleaded. Seth nodded- technically it wasn't lying after all.

TBC

Please review. So now Marissa told Summer and while doing so lied to her about Ryan knowing. Ryan came to Seth about it and now promised he wouldn't tell her. What a lying group of friends.

I'd love it if you'd review! Thanks.

Next chapter of TSOKC hasn't been written yet but I might be able to write it today. I will try but I don't promise anything. Love ya all!