Um, a couple more notes that I forgot to put in chapter one: There is no Hess in this story. It's too complicated and I'm too lazy to try and fix the story around him. So everything happened with Trey, but no Hess. Marissa got back into Harbor because of Seth and Summer's campaign, no help from Taylor.
Btw, I've had this story as a side project for a while now, so I've really grown attached to it. On that note, thanks so much to everyone who reviewed! I love you all.
Enjoy!
Music: like drinking poison, like eating glass
"Summer, let it go."
"I can't, Coop," she whined as they sat on the couches. "You weren't there, you should've seen her!"
"So she was pissed off, she'll get over it," Marissa rolled her eyes and took a sip of her coffee.
"That's the thing, though," Summer sighed back, leaning back against the sofa. "She wasn't pissed off. I was a horrible person to her, and she acted like she didn't care."
"Maybe she doesn't," Seth offered. Ryan could tell he just wanted Summer to feel better; he didn't actually believe the words.
He still remembered what it was like to get picked on.
Ryan noticed, then, that Summer was watching him, so he shrugged. He didn't know the girl. He'd never talked to her.
School officially sucked.
She thought it was bad before, when everyone either ignored her or made fun of her. But now… everyone was paying attention.
They were whispering about her, she could tell.
She wondered if it was 'poor Taylor Townsend, she lost her mother. How sad,' or 'Taylor Townsend's such a bitch. She deserves this.'
She couldn't decide which would be worse.
"Taylor." Summer Roberts stepped in front of her, blocking her path. "Hey."
"Hello, Summer," she greeted like she always did whenever someone decided to talk to her. Then she stepped to the side and continued walking.
"Hey," Summer followed her, much to her annoyance. "I wanted to say I was sorry."
"For what?"
"For being mean to you for… like, ever."
"It's nothing," she waved her hand at the other girl. She didn't need pity.
"You tried," Ryan offered, pointing his fork at his friend.
"But she just… brushed me off!" Summer protested, frowning down at her lunch.
"Can you blame her?" Seth asked quietly, not looking up from his sandwich. Summer looked – if it were possible – even more depressed than before.
She hated this place.
The lobby was cold and she was annoyed at having to wait. She was paying him, shouldn't he at least have the decency to see her on time?
She hadn't even gone home after school, she'd just come straight to her lawyer's office.
"Miss Townsend?" The squirrely receptionist called her name and she stood up and marched into his office.
"Miss Townsend," his slick voice greeted. She hated Phil McMahon; he was just the kind of sneaky, underhanded bastard her mother loved. Her mother always praised his ability to get her out of whatever trouble spot she happened to be in. She adored the man.
Taylor hated him.
She especially hated the way his eyes fixed on her chest and stayed there as he talked to her.
"It's about time," she told him, sitting in the chair he offered and folding her arms over her chest.
"What can I say?" he smiled, spreading his hands wide in innocence – like she bought that. "I'm a very busy man, Miss Townsend." She hated his smile – it was faker than hers. "My time is worth a lot, so I won't always have time to focus on your case," he explained, like she was a child. She wasn't. She was eighteen, which was why she had to go through all this shit. "Unless – of course," he continued smoothly, "you make it worth my while."
"I'll get it," Kirsten sighed, getting up from the table.
Ryan watched her leave, then returned his attention to his brother. Seth was talking about… something, he wasn't sure what, but he was sure it wasn't important. If it was important, Sandy would be paying attention, but the man's eyes were glazed over, so he figured he was safe.
"Sandy?" Kirsten reentered the kitchen, looking confused. Sandy turned to face his wife – and the girl that entered after.
What the hell was Taylor Townsend doing in the Cohens house?
"Miss Townsend," Sandy rose, holding out his hand for her to shake. The girl seemed taken aback by the gesture, but pulled herself together and shook his hand. "What can I do for you?"
"Well," she began, and it was then that Ryan noticed the very large – very heavy looking – file folder that she hugged tightly to her chest. "You said if I ever needed anything…"
"Of course, of course," Sandy stood aside and gestured at the table – for her to sit down. Taylor looked confused – it was probably obvious she interrupted dinner – but Sandy always got his way. She sat, placing the file on the table in front of her. "Now, how can I help?"
"You're a lawyer," she explained, shrugging. "I just wanted to know if you had any insight into which ones were good."
"I thought you had a lawyer," Sandy sat down as well, followed by Kirsten.
"I don't anymore."
Ryan thought it was strange when she didn't elaborate – Sandy looked confused as well, but he didn't say anything about it.
"Alright," he spoke up finally. "I'll look into it on Monday. Now, would you like some Thai?"
Her life was officially screwed up.
Her mother was dead and she'd just finished having dinner with the Cohen family.
She parked her car and went inside, ignoring the dull ache in her chest. The whole family dinner experience left a bitter taste in her mouth. Now she remembered why she didn't want the Cohens meddling in her affairs.
They were just so perfect.
Oh, she knew about Kirsten's little drinking problem – her mother had been all over that – and she knew they weren't the definition of perfect, but they were pretty damn close.
It made her chest ache – the way Kirsten looked at her family. Not because she missed her mom or anything. To be honest, it felt unreal; knowing she'd never have to listen to her mother again. She was free from that bitch. But dinner with the Cohens made her realize that she'd never had anything even close to a real family.
Every second she spent with them was like eating glass – tearing up her insides, making her bleed, but leaving no mark on the outside.
"Are you sure about this, Sandy?" Kirsten whispered, leaning against the kitchen counter.
"No," he shrugged, pulling his tie off. "But I talked to every family law lawyer and honey, they all have too many cases and I have a feeling Miss Townsend won't settle for being put last on the list."
"Sandy…"
"Fine," he relented with a slight smile. "I can't help it, I feel bad for the girl."
"But offering to be her lawyer?" Kirsten moved forward to rest her head against her husband's chest as he looped his arms around her. "You don't even do that sort of thing."
"Doesn't mean I'm not qualified," he defended. "I just… I can't throw the girl to the wolves." His wife didn't answer because she knew there was more. She always knew. "She reminds me of you, a little," he admitted, voice low. "When I first met you. Alone, scared, proud."
"My hero," Kirsten grinned into his shoulder, earning a chuckle from him.
She stared down at the phone.
Great.
No, this was just perfect.
Mr. Cohen had found her a great lawyer. The only problem? It was him.
Actually, she would have no problem with Sandy Cohen as her lawyer, because there was something about him that made her… relax. The problem was that he came with that pesky family attached to him. If he was her lawyer, she foresaw many family dinners with the Cohens in the future.
She didn't want family dinners.
She didn't want to sit there and watch them talk and laugh.
She just wanted to be alone.
So why had she said yes?
"It's kinda like being celebrities," Seth muttered. "Just in the worst possible way."
Ryan had to agree. Every single person in the school was staring at them. It was like they were back in sophomore year, when everyone had been shocked that the new boy and Seth Cohen were hanging out together.
He kind of wondered how Taylor was handling this.
She must be getting the same attention, right? After all, this was about Sandy being her lawyer and all. Apparently the Newpsies had been all over that bit of news. Those women really liked to feed on the bloody remains of tragedy.
He had a feeling Julie Cooper was behind this. She was the only person – outside their family and Taylor – that knew. Hell, Sandy had only offered yesterday, for fuck's sake.
"Hey."
Thank God.
"Hey Summer," he greeted back as Seth looped his arm around the girl. Summer could handle the gossip. She could make the wolves back off.
"Hey."
Except that one.
"Hey, Coop," Summer said quietly, shooting him a look.
"So what's with Sandy being Taylor Townsend's lawyer?"
Wow. She definitely wasn't a full blown Newpsie yet. They were usually better at being subtle.
"She needed one, dad offered."
"Yeah, but Taylor Townsend?" She snorted, shaking her head. "Good luck with that."
"Thanks?" Seth was, obviously, on his side.
He knew he liked the guy for a reason.
Fuckers.
If this was anywhere else – if she were anyone else – she'd have flipped them off by now.
But this was Newport and she was Taylor Townsend, so she just ignored the stares and whispers. Her favorite one – by far – was the rumor that she was trying to get in good with the Cohens so she could steal Seth away from Summer.
Thank God it was the end of the day.
She opened her locker and shoved her books inside, not even bothering to put them in class order like she always did. Fifth period's book went on top of eighth's; six's went under third's. Not in the proper order at all.
"Hey Taylor," a hopeful voice sounded from the other side of her open locker door. She didn't have to look to know who it was.
"Summer."
"Hey, the Cohens were gonna have a big dinner for everyone tonight. You wanna come?"
She turned and looked at the girl's face. Summer was obviously trying to sound nonchalant, but Taylor could see the buried hope that it wasn't too late to make up for her past.
But it was too late.
"Sure, I'd love to."
What the hell?
"Great! We'll see you at six!"
She watched Summer run back to her friends, and the two boys shot her a look before they walked away.
She shouldn't go. She should tell Summer it was too late – being nice wouldn't make a difference now. Because it was too late.
She was her mother.
She closed her locker and wondered if her mother had gone through life with this hollow ache in her chest.
"Marissa's coming?"
Kirsten turned to him with a frown. "She's your girlfriend, why wouldn't she be coming?"
"Oh mother," Seth grinned and shook his head as Ryan glared.
"We're 'on a break' right now," he grumbled. He didn't feel like explaining this.
"What's 'a break'?" Kirsten questioned, flipping through the menu.
"Exactly."
"Well, she and Julie are already invited, so we'll just make the best of it." She picked up the phone to call in their order.
"You do know Marissa hates Taylor, right?" Seth continued. Kirsten frowned further, but didn't answer. Instead, she walked out of the room to talk. "This should be fun."
"Extended dinners always are," Ryan replied in monotone.
Oh yeah. This should be fun.
She pulled her car up to the Cohen house, but didn't shut off the engine.
She recognized Julie Cooper's car.
Which meant Marissa was probably here, too.
Great.
They all sat around the table in silence.
"Where's Taylor?" Summer finally spoke, voicing the question they all had. They were waiting for her to start eating and she was twenty minutes late.
"Does anyone have her phone number?" Kirsten asked, still frowning. No one spoke.
"It should be in her file," Sandy broke the silence, getting up. "I'll give her a call."
The phone rang, but she ignored it.
She knew it was the Cohens, playing the role of concerned adults, but she didn't feel like dealing with it. And she knew it was rude to flake on people – to not show up and not call, but she didn't care.
She didn't need them.
Sandy was just her lawyer – it's not like they had any obligation to actually be nice to her and she had none to them. Sandy would figure out her mother's will and then he'd go away.
The Cohens would go away.
That's all she wanted.
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