Ok,
first things first…..something I should have addressed last
chapter:
Good to see new readers; parks586,
kalexgurl, glad you started
reading and even more that your posting your reviews…everyone else,
thanks for sticking with me and posting reviews…always love to read
them. Hopefully you find the chapters funny at their respective
parts…I take pride in writing those situations more than any other
and im trying to stay original but still true to the characters.
So
about this chapter… its mostly filler and pays its dues to the
title (They're not chosen at random!). I felt I was drifting apart
from some of the feelings of Seth and Summer that I had established
early on in the story, so Ive tried to come back to that in the
beginning and end of the chapter...dont worry I haven't forgotten
about Seth's note on the boat in chp1…for those who haven't
forgotten either)…Pretty much this is quality S/S/R time… and yes
there is such a thing….its Darwinism…deal with it.
Anyways,
read, enjoy and post a goddamn review you fools!
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We Never Change
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Seth bolted out the door of the restaurant and surveyed the immediate area around him. Chasing Summer had slowly begun to be a regular occurrence on their trip.
He stopped searching when he was a lonely figure on a bench at the side of the building, overlooking the ocean. The restaurant resembled the Yacht Club in Newport because of its spacious interior and the location in relevance to the beach.
Seth slowly made is way over to the tranquil brunette on the bench. He sat down neither of them bothering to speak.
As soon as Seth sat down he had an arm around her and she leaned into him. This was an automatic motion for them both and always happened without notice.
"So" Seth broke the silence for he could almost hear the gears turning and grinding in her head.
"So" She replied, both calmly looking out into the ocean.
"Listen Summer, I just want you to know how sorry I am for all this…"
"Cohen stop, it's not your fault"
"It's not?" Seth looked at her sceptically…It was almost always his fault.
"Okay maybe a little bit but not completely"
Seth nodded in acceptance, knowing that Summer blamed him, even if it was only a small amount.
Seth is not an ignorant person. He knew these situations all too well now but somehow he could never foresee the events before they happened. He became oblivious to the difference between what he doing and what he should be doing. This was his major downfall.
Seth
had been assessing his actions from the night before in his mind.
Many moments throughout that night and much of today he had been
piecing meanings together with their actions. As he and Summer sat
there on the bench in complete silence, it gave him more time to
reflect on everything.
Finally, he had reached a decision. It was
entirely his fault.
He could not blame Sam, it was not her fault. She had no idea that Seth had a girlfriend, something that should have been unveiled within the first 10 minutes of him meeting her. There was no one to argue Seth's claims, no one to tell him it wasn't his fault. This was something that Seth needed to hear but since he didn't, he only fell deeper into self doubt.
"Hey"
Ryan broke Seth and Summer's concentration.
"Hey" Seth mouthed and simply waved whereas Summer merely smiled.
"Listen, I was thinking maybe we should all find something to do…" Ryan sat down next to Summer and joined the stare out into the ocean.
"Together" he added.
Seth and Summer looked at each other and shrugged in approval. Anything could be better staring at water.
"What'd you have in mind" Summer smiled curious to know Ryan's plan.
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"Okay, where in the brochure does it say this is fun?"
Seth trailed behind Ryan and Summer as they all climbed the spiralling trail.
Ryan's suggestion of sight seeing intrigued everyone. They were on vacation after all and they had already found the very thing they had tried to escape from.
The day had been relatively planned out; their first stop was the famous Diamond Head State Monument.
The three were only a quarter ways up the trail when Seth's complaining started.
"Come on Cohen, where's your inner-Jew? I thought your people were used to long trudges down dirt filled paths." Summer smiled and just continued to walk ahead.
She was more than happy to take the long trek up to the monument for it was a great cardio workout for her.
"She's got a point man" Ryan smiled at Summer then back at Seth, whom was slowly trailing further and further behind.
Ryan was also somewhat eager about the little event. He always had an innate sense of culture about him, especially when it came to architectural-esque places, but was more than reluctant to show any sign of it.
Seth
was taken by Summer's comment. It was a shot on her part and it had
him completely speechless for once. He stopped and pondered at some
sort of response, not being able to let Summer bask in the glory of
shutting him up.
"I'm not Jewish enough for this hike" Seth
shook his head as he stared at the rest of the long trail ahead of
him. Seth punted a small stone in front of him before continuing
onward and upward.
Seth's head shot straight up when he felt something small crash into his chest. He saw Summer glaring at him twelve feet away.
"Did you just throw a rock at me!" Seth stared at her confused and a little infuriated.
"Did you just kick a stone at me!" Summer shot back immediately with more intensity than Seth.
"That was an accident! You deliberately threw a rock at me!"
Summer just looked at Seth, feeling a smidgen guilty about the mistake but there was no way she was going to show Seth any remorse!
"It was a stone" Summer dead panned.
"It was a rock!" Seth fought back, rubbing the sore spot on his chest.
Ryan
looked down at Seth's feet where the one inch pebble that Summer
threw at him lay. He looked at Seth, his face emotionless.
"Dude,
please" Ryan turned and continued to walk.
Summer smiled and whipped around, walking alongside Ryan.
Seth just stood there in disbelief, his jaw dropped, staring at the two.
"Come on!" Summer yelled not turning around to look back at Seth.
'Come on' Seth inaudibly mocked as he dragged his feet after them.
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"Hey look, more steps" Seth mumbled to himself at he looked up at another set of steep stairs.
"At least these ones are spiralled" He grabbed the makeshift railing attached to them as he slowly pulled himself up, one step at a time.
Ryan and Summer just glanced at each other at Seth's conversations with himself. They smiled, shrugged it off and continued up the stairs.
"We're almost there Cohen" Summer said trying to ease him.
"To what, the next flight of stairs?"
"Well maybe if you looked up instead of staring at the ground all the time, you wouldn't trip all the time AND you'd notice that the top is less than a mile away" Summer turned around waiting for him to get to the top of the stairs her and Ryan finished climbing.
Ryan looked at Summer confused and then looked at the distance to the Observation Station, which was no more than a fifteenth of mile away.
When Seth reached the top, he repeated Ryan's actions and then looked back at Summer.
"What?..less than a yard?" Summer's eyebrows were raised, as she searched for the 'correct' expression from Seth.
Seth and Ryan both shook their heads in disappointment. Seth looked down at the spot three feet in front of him…nope no Observation Station there…
"Whatever" Summer sighed and turned around and head towards the last set of stairs.
Seth and Ryan looked at each other once more before breaking out into laughter.
Summer looked over her shoulder to sneer at the boys. She had taken but three steps before she tripped over a groove in the dirt path.
Both
guys quickly rushed to her, helping her up.
"Careful. You gotta
watch out for the 'top'" Seth smiled at the snide comment and
his wittiness.
As soon as Summer was standing and Ryan and Seth let go of her arms, she smacked Seth hard on the chest.
"That's not funny, it hurt!" She gritted through her teeth.
"I'm sorry" Seth stilled his chuckles, wrapped an arm around her and kissed the side of her head.
Summer smiled widely at him and batting her eyelashes at him.
"I'm not carrying you" Seth said through his smile and started walking ahead with Ryan.
Summer's smiled faded quickly into a frown.
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When the three reached the top, they all let out a sigh of relief.
All three sighs were quickly replaced by 'wow' as they all looked out across the land from the great view they had.
They all just paused for a moment and took in everything. They had all seen enough ocean over that past 2 weeks to be sick of it, but the view they had from over seven hundred feet up made everything seem different.
The three sat on the edge of the large piece of stone and stared out onto the city.
"We should probably get some pictures" Seth mumbled; all motionless.
"Yeah" Ryan nodded, his head still forward.
"Did you bring the camera?" Summer spoke in turn, still not moving.
Seth froze….even more so, his eyes grew wide as he quickly remembered Summer calling to him from the bathroom to pack the camera. He had been more interested in the amount of porn channels the television got.
"Yeah, Ryan did you bring it?" Seth tried to nonchalantly pass the blame onto Ryan.
Unfortunately to Seth's surprise, Ryan pulled out a camera from his pocket and handed it to Summer.
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The three teenagers then proceeded to create a multitude of pictures. Sentimental poses of the three, and then each other coupled off. Some pictures of the them but mostly to capture the scenery. The last final batch consisted of a single picture of each teen acting completely outrageous and then one composite of all three for the poses that made all the other tourists around them cry out in laughter.
The three had spent the latter part of the day up at the top of site. They sat, hung out like old times but somewhere inside each of them they still felt incomplete. All sitting in a row on the ledge, they all looked over to the vacant spot next to Summer where a lanky blonde would normally be perched. They would have small moments of silent remembrance when together. Although it seemed like a mood killer, it was, in truth, a great way to end it.
Seth leaned over and wrapped Summer in his arms and kissed her head softly. He looked at the other two a looked at the setting sun.
"I think its time we go" No answer was given and they all got up and started their long trek back down, side by side.
Ryan stopped after a couple feet, looked at Seth and then turned around back towards where they had been sitting. He picked up their camera and put it into his pocket. He then rejoined Seth and Summer, but not before pushing Seth into the wall that wrapped around the stairs.
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The night ended with the classic dinner and a movie, something the three made more than a habit out of. After the movie, Ryan went to his room and Seth and Summer prepared themselves for a much needed rest.
Seth crawled into bed after Summer. They lay facing each other and just smiled.
"Hey" Seth whispered propping himself up with one hand.
"Hey"
"You alright?" He could tell by the look in her eyes something was bothering her and he had a good inkling as to what it was.
"Yeah….it's just sometimes I just really miss her." Summer forced a smile as she struggled to keep her composure.
Seth moved his free hand onto Summer's arm and slowly massaged it up and down.
"I know" Seth had no idea what to say to Summer. They had many small talks about Marissa, or lack there of but like every other time words were at a loss for him.
Seth wriggled closer to Summer and leaned over to kiss her forehead.
Again she forced a smile knowing Seth was trying his best to console her.
"But the three of us, we do okay though…..right?" Seth looked at her face uneasily, unsure if he should have said anything at all.
"That's not what I mean though" Summer's voice no longer sounded like it was on the verge of a break down but rather closing up. She looked away from Seth's eyes.
"What do you mean?" Seth moved his head around trying to catch her eyes in his again.
"You wouldn't understand" Summer mumbled as she rolled over, turning her back at Seth.
Seth looked at her sympathetically and put his hand on her arm. She pulled her arm away, obviously not in the mood to talk…anymore.
Seth gave up and lied on his side facing her back. He sighed and just watched her quietly sob. Eventually Seth fell asleep, his head leant up against the back of Summers.
