A/N Please stick with this story. I know this chapter is stupid, but things will get better, I promise. Thanks for the reviews on the last chapter. R/R, enjoy!

Chapter 3: Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you

Ryan didn't know why, but he couldn't sleep. He'd always been able to sleep before, even when he lived in Chino. Insomnia constantly plagued his mother and even his brother, but he could always rest his head just about anywhere and fall asleep a few minutes later. Even when his parents were arguing so loud that he was sure the whole world could hear them, he would close his eyes and just imagine being anywhere else, resulting in the calmness of sleep to wash over him.

So now he was utterly confused as to why he'd been laying here in bed for three hours and still couldn't fall asleep, and didn't even feel slightly tired. He sighed and rolled over onto his side so he could see what time it was: 1:00 A.M. He rolled onto his back and stared up at the ceiling disguised with darkness. He sat up and rubbed his eyes with his middle finger and thumb tiredly. Why was it so hard for him to just close his eyes and fall asleep today?

Marissa

He heard the name whispered to him and for a moment he thought there was someone else in the room with him until he realized it was just his own crazy mind. He groaned to himself and got up out of bed. Why was a girl bothering him? What made her different that everyone else? She was pretty – well, beautiful, but that was beside the point – and he'd only had maybe two real conversations with her, both of which were for a stupid school assignment. He really didn't like the fact that she seemed almost snobby in her views towards everyone else, and he was pretty confused by what Seth had said earlier that day, or rather, yesterday.

He sighed and thought back to earlier that night when he had called her so that they could 'finish their project.' Well, that's what he said it was. In actuality he had just been looking for a chance to talk to her and maybe even get to know her. Who knew, maybe they could be friends. Or more. Not that he was thinking about that.

He nervously stared at his phone and contemplated if he should call her or not. He'd programmed her number into his phone right after class so all he had to do was look up her name and press dial. It would take a few seconds at most, so why was he so afraid? It wasn't like he was asking her out or anything, or even talking to her about something really important. He was just calling to finish their assignment for Speech, that's all.

When he was done talking himself into it, he anxiously reached for the phone and called her number before he could stop himself. He listened as it rang and tried to calm himself down. She was just a girl, he told himself. Yeah, a really hot one, he retaliated in his mind. He was interrupted from his thoughts by a breathless, "Hello?"

"Um, hey, it's me, Ryan..." He managed to get out, slapping his forehead at how dumb he sounded.

"Ryan..." She prodded, and then he realized she probably didn't know who he was. 'Wow, am I that forgettable?' He thought bitterly

"Ryan Atwood...from Speech class," he said.

"Oh..." she said, still sounding unsure.

"We sit next to each other," he said with a sigh. "We shared the muffin..."

"Oh, Ryan," she said, recognition finally in her voice. "I told you that!" he thought to himself. "So, what's up?" she asked after a moment.

"Well, we had that speech assignment, remember?" He reminded her.

"Mhmm, what about it?" she asked, her tone giving no indication that she understood the importance of the call...even though she'd been the one to give him her number so that they could finish this assignment.

"Well, we still need to finish it, and I figured it now was a good time..."

"Oh, so you want to talk?" she asked, a smile in her voice.

He shook his head and said, "No, not talk, just finish the assignment. You know, so that we can get a good grade..." She was quiet for a minute and he asked, "Marissa, you there?"

"Yeah, I'm here," she said. "But you said you didn't want to talk, so I was being quiet."

He rolled his eyes and heard a small giggle come from the phone. "Very funny."

"I know, I'm pretty hilarious if I do say so myself," she said with amusement attached to her words. "So, what do you want to talk about?"


He shrugged even though he knew she couldn't see him and said, "I don't know."

"You're very helpful," she replied sarcastically.

"Oh, I know."


She was quiet for a moment as she thought and then said, "Okay, what do you plan to do when you graduate?"

He though about it and then said, "I honestly don't even know. I never really thought of it before..."

"You do realize it's our senior year, right?" she asked incredulously.

"I know, I just...I never had a reason to think about it before," he replied quietly.

"Well, what do you think you want to do?" she asked.


"I don't know...does it matter?"

"Yeah, it's kind of important what you're going to do with your life," she pointed out softly.

He remained silent for a few moments. "I guess I want to be an architect or something like that."

"What about college?"

He gave a small snort. "Right, like I'd ever be let into college."

"Why not?"

"Because, I'm not really college material," he said, remembering his life in Chino. "Believe me."

"Everyone can be college material if they try hard enough to be," she said quietly.

"I can't. My future was decided for me long before we met," he remarked.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked confusedly.

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Oh, look at that, it's getting late. We should continue this conversation tomorrow or something. Bye."

"But –"

He hung up before she could finish.

He hadn't meant to be so rude, it just sort of happened. He couldn't talk about his past, not anymore. Going through it was hard enough.

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Marissa woke up the next day and yawned tiredly. She'd been up late doing all the homework from the first day of school, something she always thought was wrong. Seriously, why did there have to be homework on the first day of school?

However, that wasn't the only reason she had stayed up late last night. There was one more factor: Ryan Atwood. He'd been so adorable on the phone when the conversation started. She'd known immediately it was him, already able to recognize his voice, but she thought it was fun to watch him squirm. Playing hard to get was effortless for her, and it worked every time. She especially needed it to work this time because of her bet with Sarah.

Things had been fine, or at least she thought they had, but then Ryan got defensive again. He'd done that during class too when talking about his parents and it was really made her wonder what had happened to him. Ryan confused her, and she'd never been confused by a guy before. Guys were so easy to read because they all wanted the same thing: sex. Not that she'd ever had it with a guy. Nope, Marissa Cooper was a senior in high school and still a virgin...not that any of her friends – not including Summer – would believe her.

Back to Ryan. He completely vexed her. How could someone so good looking and fun in one moment be so defensive and brooding in the next? As she got ready and headed to school she thought of him. No boy had ever really gotten to her before like he had. She found that even though they hadn't known each other long she wanted to learn everything there was to know about him. He was really mysterious and completely fascinating to her. Not to mention the added bonus that he was also completely forbidden.

Her mom had found out about the new addition to the Cohen family and immediately freaked. "You will not go near that boy!" she'd shouted at Marissa, and Marissa had merely nodded her head and replied that of course she wouldn't go near him.

And this was after the bet she'd made with Sarah. She'd never lived so dangerously before. And based on everything she'd learned about Ryan in the past day, he did seem dangerous to her, though he didn't scare her. He had this darkness about him, almost like something horrible had happened to him, or maybe he'd been the one to do something horrible.

She shook the thought from her head and walked into the school, immediately heading towards the lounge so she could meet up with her friends. She entered and saw everyone in their usual corner so she started to walk to the spot when she felt a warm hand gently touch her shoulder. She felt a weird warm sensation and quickly turned to be met with a pair of gorgeous blue eyes.

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Ryan knew he was a jerk to Marissa last night and that he needed to do something about it, so he decided to apologize. Well, that was easier said than done since he'd never been the apologizing type, even if the person really deserved one. But things were different with Marissa, or at least he wanted it to be. He needed someone that he could just talk to, someone that didn't hold any extra baggage. Someone other than the Cohens. Considering she was the only person he'd really talked to , she seemed to be the number one choice.

So while he was waiting he tried to run over what he'd say in his head. After a few minutes of just thinking he'd decided he should take further action and present her with a gift. After all, as the saying goes, "Always have something to bring to the table because it makes you more welcome." He figured that it fit this situation. He'd made his way to the counter and bought a carton of milk and a really large cookie. He knew it was weird and that she probably wouldn't eat or drink his gift, but it was worth a shot, right?

When she walked in he was standing at the counter after just receiving his purchases. He didn't know why, but he stopped to stare at her for a second. She was beautiful, there was no denying it, and she had a really nice smile. He mentally kicked himself for thinking about her smile. What was it about this girl that had him like this?

He walked over to her and tapped her shoulder, then became transfixed with the odd feeling he got after he touched her. Was it his mind playing tricks on him, or were there...sparks? Geez, he sounded just like one of those romance books he'd caught Kirsten reading. She turned to face him and their eyes connected. He swore he'd never seen eyes like hers. "Um, hi.." he managed to get out after a minute of intense staring.

"Hey," she replied quietly, ripping her eyes from his so that she could look down at her fidgeting fingers.

"Um, I, uh, well, I wanted to give you this..." he stuttered out, remembering that he was holding a carton of milk and a large cookie. He lifted the gifts so she could see. She looked first at the milk and cookie, then back up at his face with an amused expression.

"Um, thank you?" She said, more of a question than a real showing of gratitude.

"Well, you know what they say..." He said with a shrug.

"Actually no, what do they say?" She asked, raising one eyebrow at him in wonder.

He thought about it and then said, "I really don't know..." He rubbed the back of his neck and looked down at the milk and cookie. "I don't know why I said that..."

She let out a small laugh and then quickly covered her mouth. She took the milk and cookie from him and amusedly said, "Well, thank you for my milk and cookie. I will enjoy them..." She turned to leave.

She couldn't leave though, he hadn't even apologized yet! "Wait, I have something else for you."

She turned around and looked at him. "Not anymore food, I hope?"

"Hey, what's wrong with my food?" he joked.

She laughed and said, "Nothing, I just think that this is enough." She looked at him for a long time and when he didn't say anything asked, "So, what's up?"

He looked into her eyes intently and softly said, "I wanted to apologize about last night. I shouldn't have hung up on you. It was rude of me and I hope you can forgive me because I really only know you and Seth in this school, and being forced to only spend time with Seth is a violation of the eighth amendment of the Constitution." She looked at him with a bewildered expression so he added, "You know, cruel and unusual punishment. Seth never stops talking and it can get really annoying. I mean, how many times can you hear about sailing or comic books or some weird Japanese crap that he's into? I mean, come on, it really gets annoying when somebody just won't be quiet..."

"Ryan," she interrupted with a small smile. "You're rambling."

He blushed a little and said, "Oh, right, um, sorry."

She bit her lip and said, "And by the way, apology accepted. I should be apologizing too. I went a little too far last night."

He shrugged and said, "It's fine."

"Marissa, come here already!" he heard some girl shout. He didn't take his eyes from hers though and she didn't take hers from him.

"I should probably go, duty calls," she said after a moment, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

He nodded and quietly said, "Yeah, I guess I'll let you get to that then." She turned to walk away again but then he asked, "Wait, can I call you again tonight?"

She tried really hard to hide the smile starting to form on her face. "Whatever you want. Bye Ryan."

He watched her walk away from him and stayed glued to the spot he was in, unable to take his eyes off of her. How could one girl affect him so much? Did he seriously just ramble? She got to the table with her friends and he turned around to find Seth. He needed a distraction so that he could stop thinking about someone who could quite possibly be the most beautiful girl in the world.

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"Oh my god, he was like, totally just checking you out," Summer whispered to her friend when Marissa sat down.

Marissa tried to hide her smile. "He's so adorable. He seriously bought me a milk and cookie as an apology gift. How sweet is that?"

Summer laughed and asked, "Seriously, Coop? That is so cute!"

Marissa took a bite of her gigantic cookie and looked over at Sarah who was glowering in her seat. She smirked and said, "I know. I don't even have to do anything and he's already falling for me."

"Oh please, a milk and cookie are far from love," Sarah interjected with an annoyed look.

"Says the girl who's cookie-less," Marissa taunted, smirking at the girl. "Admit it, Sarah, I'm totally going to win this bet."

"It's only day two of the whole thing. Who's to say he won't end up hating you by the end of the thing?" Sarah asked with a raise of her eyebrows. "I mean, everyone that knows you for more than a day ends up hating you anyways." Her taunting eyes drove Marissa mad. What made it worse was that she actually did strike a chord with Marissa.

"Whatever, Sarah. Just wait and see," Marissa said, getting up and leaving the table. "Bye guys, I need to get to class." Marissa quickly fled from the lounge before anyone could see her tears.

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Ryan nervously paced around the pool house that night just like he had last night. He knew he shouldn't be afraid of calling a girl, but as pathetic as it sounded, he was terrified. He sighed and sat down on his bed, picking up his phone and dialing Marissa's number. "Here I go making a fool of myself again," he mumbled to himself as the phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Um, hey Marissa..." He said, rubbing his face tiredly. "It's Ryan."

"I know," she said with a smile in her voice. "I recognize your voice now after all that talking you did earlier today."

"Don't remind me," he groaned, rolling his eyes at himself.

"I thought it was completely adorable of you to be so nervous around a girl," she teased.

"Okay, stop right there, Cooper," he said. "I, Ryan Atwood, am not adorable. No even close. So get that idea out of your head right now."

She let out a small burst of laughter. "Oh, sure you're not," she teased.

"I'm not," he argued. "I'm just a little...uh..."

"A little what?" she prodded. "Shy?"

"No! I'm not shy either! I'm just..." he sighed and exasperatedly said, "I don't know!"

She giggled and said, "You're adorable. Absolutely adorable. But you know what, it's okay."

He rolled his eyes. "Whatever."

"So, I take it that there was a point to you calling me besides this?" she said, moving the conversation along.

"Yeah, we still need to finish our conversation from last night," he pointed out.

"Oh, right, that. Where were we?" she asked, suddenly sounding bored.

"Well, I think I need to know what you want to do when you graduate since you pestered me about it."

She was silent for a while and then said, "I honestly think I want to be a teacher or something like that. I want to help people, you know?"

"And a teacher is the best fit for that? Why not be a doctor or something?" he asked, completely curious from her choice.

She sighed. "I thought about that, or maybe being a nurse, but I think that I could help out more this way. I would never tell my friends, but I think that teachers are so cool. If you have a good teacher, you'll always remember what they tell you. I had this teacher once, Miss Reeves, and she was just so neat. I learned everything from her, like how to write correctly and stuff. I want to be that to somebody....I want to be the person that make such an impression on someone that I can't be forgotten."

"Believe me, you won't be forgotten," he softly said.

"How do you know?" she argued.

"I just can," he said. "Now, onto the next question..."

"I want to ask one," she butted in.

"Okay, fine, what do you want to ask?"

She thought about it and then asked, "What's your favorite band?"

"That's easy: Journey."

"Journey? They're alright, I guess," she teased.

"They are awesome. Why, band do you like?" he asked with a roll of his eyes, yet a smile plastered on his face.

"Well, right now I really like Rooney because I went and saw the in concert over the summer," she informed him.

"I've never heard of them," he admitted with a small smile. "But I'm sure that they're great..."

"Yeah, they are. So what do you want to talk about now?"

He didn't know why he said it, but suddenly he blurted out, "Do you think maybe you'd want to go out with me sometime?"

"Like, on a date?" she asked carefully.

"No, not a date per say, just a..." He didn't know how to continue. "Okay, yeah, a date." He really hoped she'd say yes.

"Yeah, I guess that could be okay," she said, trying to keep her tone neutral.

"Okay, yeah, that's great," he said, trying not to seem overly excited about it.

He heard some weird noises in the background and her cursing under her breath. "So my friend just arrived out of the blue so I have to go, but we can talk about this tomorrow at school?" She hopefully asked.

He smiled widely and said, "Yeah, sure, that's fine."

"Bye, Ryan," he heard her say softly and perhaps a little shyly.

"Bye Marissa," he said and then hung up the phone and threw it on his bed, dancing a little bit.

"So Ryan I was thinking we could play...are you dancing?" Seth asked, smirking at his friend. "Wow, I can't believe this."

Ryan pretended to glare at Seth and said, "I was not dancing."

"But you were moving your body in a way that resembled a 'happy dance' buddy. That's called dancing."

"Whatever Seth, I think you're seeing things. But come on, let's go play the PS3 in the living room," Ryan said, patting his friend's shoulder as he passed him to get to the main house.

Seth followed after Ryan and scratched his head in puzzlement. "I swear he was dancing," he mumbled to himself, and then followed Ryan so that they could play video games.