Time

[AN: Sorry for the long time to update, but I had a few versions of this chapter going through my head. HUGE DRAMA coming up. This chapter is mostly cute, and the next one is a return to the themes in Water is Thicker Than Blood. I do not own Time, Chantal KreviazukOh, and I know that acceptance letters don't come all at once, but in this story, they do. :P

Summer woke up first on this particular day, and she yawned. She slipped her feet into her slippers and stumbled around her room, grabbing her dresser to steady herself. She could hear the shower on, Marissa was obviously taking one. In her daze she tripped over her school bag, and landed on the floor. Pushing her thick hair out of her face, she noticed that a calendar was sitting on top. She observed that Monday was Senior Photo Day. She had to read it a few times before she believed it. She was graduating high school in a mere few months. She felt a wave of nervousness and anticipation wash over her. And she also noticed that today she should be getting her letters from colleges about acceptances. She felt a nausea tsunami come on.

Time, where did you go?

Why did you leave me here alone?

Wait, don't go so fast

I'm missing the moments as they pass

Now I've looked in the mirror and the worlds getting clearer

Summer started to cry for what felt like hours. Eventually, Marissa happened upon her in her pathetic heap. Marissa pulled her hair into a towel-turban and entered.

"Sum, what's wrong," Marissa asked soothingly. She pulled Summer close.

"We're graduating...in like...soon...and I feel like..." Summer stuttered between sobs.

"Sum, Sum, I understand..." Marissa said as she began to tear up too.

So wait for me this time

I'm down I'm down on my knees I'm begging for all your sympathy

But you (I'm just an illusion) you don't seem to care (I wish that I could)

You humble people everywhere (I don't mean to hurt you)

"We're a mess," Marissa whispered as tears streamed down her cheeks.

"I know, I know..." Summer mumbled into Marissa's shoulder. Seth and Ryan entered the room grinning, and were surprised to find Marissa and Summer on the floor in bath robes, crying.

"Hey..." Seth said as he joined the girls on the floor.

"Yeah," Ryan added for no particular reason. The two boys exchanged knowingly glances, figuring this had something to do with Senior Photos.

"Let's skip school," Summer muttered as she turned to face Seth and Ryan.

"Sounds good," Seth answered, and Marissa and Ryan nodded.

Now I've looked in the mirror and the worlds getting clearer

I'll take what you give me. please know that I'm learning

So wait for me this time

I should've known better

"So...whaddya guys wanna do," Ryan asked as he helped Marissa to her feet.

"We could wait around til the mail comes and then drive up the coastline to...Long Beach or Santa Barbara, or we could go down to San Diego if you guys wanted" Seth suggested.

"Sounds good," Marissa said, grinning widely and genuinely for the first time in a long time. Life with The Newlyweds had been tough, as had the fact that Kaitlin had been hanging around all the time. She was transferring to Harbor. Plus, all four of them had been dealing with increased pressure where grades were concerned. Meanwhile, Jimmy and Hailey were now living on Jimmy's boat at the docks, while Sandy and Kirsten worked towards stabilizing their relationship, which had yet to completely work out all the kinks that had been there before Kirsten had gone to rehab. The four friends fell into a comfortable silence.

"You should go change," Summer said to Marissa as she comfortably settled into Seth's lap.

"Good idea," Marissa replied as she padded into her room.

"Look at you, the idea guy," Summer smiled.

"I've had some winners today, have I," Seth smiled lazily as he kissed Summer's cheek.

"I'd say so," Summer replied contentedly, dozing off in Seth's warm arms. She snuggled into his soft sweater tiredly.

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"So what exactly was going on earlier," Ryan asked Marissa as he entered her room.

"Oh, nothing much, just Senior Year-related angst," Marissa shrugged as she slipped into a soft pink cashmere sweater.

"I think we'll all feel better once we see where we've been accepted," Ryan said as he picked up Marissa's favorite silver chain. She smiled at him appreciatively as he hooked it around her neck.

"Definitely," Marissa smiled. The two of them walked over to Marissa's bed and sat down.

"So, what do you think about this trip Seth's got in mind," Ryan asked.

"Sounds like a lot of fun, but I have a feeling our parents will all go insane," Marissa replied, a tinge of worry in her tone.

"Well, all we have to do is tell Sandy and Kirsten we're going, they basically suggested it," Ryan remarked.

"Well...Dr. Roberts and my mom...probably won't care. So it's settled then," Marissa beamed.

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I shouldn't have wasted those days

And afternoons and mornings

I threw them all away

Now this is my time

"Let's make breakfast," Seth sing-songed as he slid down the banister.

"Cohen! Be careful!" Summer cried as she raced down to meet him at the bottom.

"Seth, you are such a retard!" Marissa yelled.

"At least I'm an awesome retard who's dating Summer," Seth said, sticking his tongue out at Marissa indignantly.

"Yeah, that's your one redeeming quality," Marissa retorted. Ryan choked back his laughter.

"And your one redeeming quality is...hmm, wait...can't think of one sugar!" Seth snapped back, causing Summer and Ryan to burst out in peels of laughter. Seth and Marissa looked on at their friends like they were insane.

"Ok, you're both retarded," Marissa deadpanned, without a hint of irony.

"I agree," Seth added.

"They're the crazy ones," Ryan whispered to Summer, who grinned and nodded in agreement.

"But that's what makes Coop, Coop, and Cohen, Cohen," Summer commented as she got up from the end of the staircase, dragging Ryan along with her.

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"Spatula! Seth cried.

"Check," Summer answered.

"Batter," Marissa questioned.

"Check," replied Ryan.

"Alright, we're set, get to work you three," Seth smiled in a self satisfied way as he ambled toward his chair. Summer grabbed his arm quickly.

"What the hell?! It's every person for themselves. You make your own pancake," Summer commanded.

"My job is to be–" Seth tried, but Summer quickly cut him off.

"Make your own god damn pancake, Cohen."

"Make it for me, Summer."

"Do it now, or I'll rip out your jugular."

"You talking dirty to me, woman?"

"Want me to make good on my promise, ass hat?"

"Alright, I get it, I'll make my pancake, but if I burn down your dad's McMansion, don't blame me," Seth admonished. Summer rolled her eyes.

"That's such a good idea," Marissa gushed. Everyone's eyes fixated on her in surprise. "Kidding," she added quickly. "Sorta, anyway..."

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"Wow, these are really delicious," Summer smiled.

"Whose idea were the chocolate chips, hmm?" Seth smirked.

"Tripping over my foot and accidentally spilling some of the chocolate chips you were hoarding onto a pan does not make it 'your idea'," Summer eye rolled.

"Those were my chocolate chips," Marissa muttered angrily.

"Like you would ever have eaten them," Seth mumbled.

"You have a smaller waist than I do," Marissa returned. The two of them, Seth, and Summer got into a yelling match while Ryan devoured the remaining pancakes.

"What the hell, Ry," Summer demanded, and Ryan just shrugged.

"You're not gonna punch him or anything," Seth asked, "Now, where the justice in that? You would've kicked my ass," Seth grumbled.

"Well, Ryan actually made some of them well, unlike you," Marissa said.

"That's my mom's fault," Seth replied. Marissa and Seth began arguing over that, meanwhile, Summer and Ryan heard the mail truck come.

"You guys, shutup!" Summer cried.

"What? Why..." Seth muttered.

"Mail truck," Ryan said in a low voice. Indeed, the rumbling of a mail truck could be heard from the Roberts-Kitchen.

"We should open all the letters at once," Summer said.

"So, let's get ours, and drive over to you guy's house reallllly quickly," Marissa suggested as the four of them bolted for the door.

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––I'm going to make this moment mine.

(I shouldn't have wasted those days)

I'll take what you give me. please know that I'm learning

I've looked in the mirror

My world's getting clearer

The four of them arrived in the Range Rover right as the mail truck was dropping off the post.

"This is it," breathed Marissa as Ryan put the car in park and the four of them jumped out. Seth stumbled out of the car and tripped over his untied shoe laces.

"Nooooo," he yelled as he fell and waved his arms.

"You're gonna hurt yourself jackass!" Summer cried as she pulled him to his feet.

"The mail box is chalk full," Marissa observed as she and Ryan heaved a bunch of letters into their arms.

"C'mon you guys, let's go to Seth's room," Ryan said. On the outside, he was his usual calm, collected self, but on the inside he was a nervous wreck.

"Ry, your hand's shaking like hell," Summer muttered. She knew Ryan liked to appear collected, so she didn't exactly blare it out.

Once they got to Seth's room, they sat down slowly on the floor. For a minute, they just stared wide eyed at the stack of letters before them. They sat in a circle, hand in hand, Summer between Seth and Marissa, and Marissa between Ryan and Seth.

"I'll open my Brown letter first," Summer offered bravely. Everyone knew that she felt Brown had a certain something that she liked, and this one was close to her heart because she wanted to prove her worth. She picked up the envelope and opened it up quickly in a smooth motion, and she bit her lip as she opened it. And her wide eyes started filling with tears. Marissa and Ryan exchanged worried glances, but Seth smiled broadly.

"You did it Sum! I'm so proud of you," Seth whispered in her ear as he pulled her into a hug.

"How'd you know..." Marissa questioned Seth. He simply shrugged and wiped the tears of of Summer's eyes.

"I guess I can open my Stanford letter...I mean, there's no way...but still..." Marissa murmured as she picked up the application with trembling hands. Usually, Ryan would've stepped in and offered to open it. But not this time. Marissa burst out laughing when she read her letter.

"What is it," Ryan asked Marissa confusedly.

"They...accepted me...this is so funny...me...they accepted me!" Marissa cried joyously.

"Riss! This is so great," Ryan beamed.

"C'mon Ryan, open your Berkeley one," Marissa urged. Ryan ripped it open.

"I...I'm going to college?" Ryan inquired in disbelief as he stared at his letter intently, like it was some kind of practical joke.

"Ryan!" Marissa exclaimed, wrapping her arms around him.

"Congrats man," Seth said, clapping him on the back.

"C'mon Seth, open one of yours." Summer tugged on Seth's shirt anxiously.

"Alright...but just so you guys know, I'm opening my NYU one and my RISD one, and my Stanford one at the same time, cuz I wanna know about them equally," Seth grinned.

"How are you gonna do that," Summer wondered aloud. Seth opened one with his teeth and one with each of his hands.

"Wait listed at NYU Tisch," Seth groaned. He went on to the next one. "In at RISD, in at Stanford!" Seth exclaimed in surprise. He quickly picked up his Brown envelope. "In at Brown!"

"I should check my Stanford one, I guess. The councilor didn't think I had a shot, cuz of my 10th grade grades," Summer mumbled as she opened her envelope. "In! WOW! Someone was blind," Summer said seriously, causing everyone to burst out laughing.

So, all in all, they got accepted everywhere they applied, though Seth got wait-listed at Tisch, most likely because he'd turned in his app. late.

"What to do when you're in February of your Senior year and you've just gotten accepted to all your dream schools?" Marissa asked her friends as they walked down the stairs.

"Dunno," was the general consensus.

"Let's drive up the coast, but maybe we could visit Stanford or Berkeley," Summer said.

"Or both," Seth chimed in.

It was settled.

So wait for me this time