The New Beginning
Chapter Eight: The Cinematic Adventure
"Just how does one dress for this 'drive-in'?" Summer inquired, standing in the middle of Ryan and Marissa's room.
"Summer, it's a drive-in movie theatre, not Cotillion." Marissa said, laughing. "I'm betting jeans are fine."
"How do you know, Coop? Could be an elegant establishment."
"Have you ever known Ryan to suggest anything 'elegant'?" Seth asked, raising an eyebrow from the chair next to the bed. "No offense man."
"Believe me, none taken."
"Well, fine! I'll wear jeans then!"
"You didn't bring jeans, did you Summer?" Marissa asked, already knowing the answer.
"Um, I brought skirts?" She said, biting her lip. "Cohen, I'm wearing your jeans!"
"What? Why? A skirt is just fine by me."
"Perv. I feel like jeans. You have jeans. Break bread." Summer declared.
"What does that even mean?" Seth shot back.
"You know, Jesus, last supper, duh." Summer tossed her hair off of her face. "Even you should know that, Jew Boy."
"There is this word we have in the English language, maybe you've heard of it? It's called 'share'. It is usually associated with the word 'please'."
"Seth!" She shouted, crossing both arms in front of her chest. "May I please borrow a pair of your jeans? Please."
"Wow, I can't believe that really worked! Can I get a pretty please?"
"Don't push your luck, Cohen." Though she said it just as sweetly as she had asked for his jeans, her glare spoke volumes.
"Right, jeans, got it." Seth said, getting up from the chair.
The two of them went back into their room, closing the door and getting ready for the movies. Ryan and Marissa still sat on the bed, unable to keep from smiling. They glanced at each other, and wordlessly kissed.
"We need to shower before we go." Marissa stated. "And I'm going first. You take girl showers."
"I like to lather." Ryan said, shrugging with one shoulder.
"Oh, that's what they call it?" Marissa laughed, pushing him back onto the bed.
She rose and walked toward the bathroom, gathering up the clothes she would be wearing as she went. She had just put them in the bathroom when a quiet knock sounded at the door. Her initial thought was that Seth had been kicked out of the room, as had happened before they went to the beach, and had to get in through their room, so she didn't hesitate to open the door.
"Summer throw you out of your own-" Marissa began, stopping in mid-sentence. "Oh, Oliver."
Ryan was up in a split second, crossing the room as fast as he could. He hadn't expected in a million years that Oliver would have the audacity to stroll right up to their room and knock. It threw Ryan off, for he had spent the entire weekend concocting ways that the troubled teen would try to sneak into their room.
"Hey, I was wondering if I could speak-" Oliver began, shifting nervously from one foot to the other.
"I have nothing to say to you." Marissa cut him off, scowling at the boy she had once trusted.
"I wanted to talk to Ryan."
His words caused Marissa's head to jerk back a little, as she was stuck between being put off and relieved. It definitely wasn't the response she had been expecting.
"Yeah?" Ryan said, placing a hand on Marissa's shoulder.
Marissa stepped back, not taking her eyes off of Oliver, and walked back toward the bed. Ryan stood at the door, not willing to allow Oliver to actually enter the room. He placed a hand on the jamb, making his intentions clear.
"I just… wanted to apologize." He said slowly, though his next words came out in a rush. "I never had a problem with you. I'm sorry that I put you what I put you through, both of you. I almost caused you to be kicked out of school and lose the woman you so clearly love. It was just that in my screwed up mind, I thought I was doing the right thing. I know that sounds stupid, but that's why they put me on meds, right? I know now that I was wrong, and, well, I'm sorry."
Oliver took a breath. Obviously he had rehearsed the speech, which implied that he truly did realize what he had done, and wanted to apologize for it. Ryan wasn't sure if he could trust a word of it, but he also knew he was able to see through Oliver when he had lied before. He had somewhat of a radar for it. And right now, his words weren't being picked up by it.
Ryan glanced back at Marissa, and saw her standing in confused silence, unsure of what to do with herself. She chanced a small smile at him, as though she knew he needed her support. Ryan had expected, as she had, that Oliver had come to talk to Marissa. He didn't know how to cope with being apologized to by someone he had thought he despised without end.
"I know we could never be friends." He said finally, slowly. "But I didn't want us to be enemies. The least I could do is let you know I didn't hate you, like you do me."
"I don't hate you, man." Ryan said calmly.
Oliver's smile was shy, and not self absorbed like it had been during the Trask Incident. He seemed genuinely pleased with the knowledge that Ryan didn't hate him. That shocked Ryan even further.
"Thanks." Oliver said, extending his hand to Ryan.
Ryan stared down at it for a long moment, unsure of what to do. He wouldn't trust Oliver, hell, he never had. But he did have respect for the courage it took for him to come face to face and apologize. He couldn't deny that Oliver deserved a second chance in life, as he had. He couldn't deny him at least some form of closure.
So Ryan shook his hand, firmly and respectfully. He didn't smile, like Oliver was, but remained solemn.
"Okay." Oliver said finally, releasing Ryan's grip and clapping his hands together. "You kids have fun."
With that, as suddenly as he had come, Oliver was gone. Without another word to Marissa, and without any of the creepiness that had so easily been picked up on by Ryan every time before. For a long moment Ryan stood there dumbfounded, until Marissa came up and took his hand. Then he shut the door, forced himself not to think about Oliver, and held his trembling girlfriend.
"Wait, so you actually shook his hand?" Seth asked, sounding positively scandalized.
"What was I supposed to do?" Ryan asked from the backseat, as Seth parked the Range Rover.
They had driven down to Imperial Beach, just north of the Mexico border, to the drive-in theatre there. Old fashioned drive-ins were few and far between, and Ryan had been lucky enough to be able to enjoy them as a child. The three Newport teens, however, had not yet been graced with the experience that was the drive-in. Ryan had instructed Seth to back the SUV into the parking slot, so that the rear end was facing the screen.
"Well, you could have slammed the door into his crazy face, for one." Seth said, still talking about Oliver.
"He seemed… different." Marissa said, both hands holding one of Ryan's.
"He did. I don't trust him, but it looks like he's changed for the better."
"I choose not to believe that."
"You were sure fond of him when he gave you backstage passes to Rooney." Marissa pointed out.
"Well, yeah, because he wasn't a whack job then."
"He was always crazy, Seth, it didn't happen after you got nice things from him." Ryan replied.
Seth turned to look over at his girlfriend in the passenger seat, who had her tongue protruding between her lips in concentration. She was staring at the back of her ticket, apparently reading something.
"Summer, what are you doing?" Seth asked, leaning over to try and read the ticket.
"Shush, Cohen, I'm figuring this out."
"Don't shush me, inferior sex."
It was a show of Summer's concentration that she only glared at him, where normally he would be in physical agony by now. In response to Summer's lack of physical brutality, Marissa leaned forward and punch Seth in the arm. He tried to act like it didn't hurt.
"It says here we have to turn the radio to this station." Summer said, holding up the ticket for Seth to see.
"Weird. Okay." He said, flipping through the digital display until he landed on the correct frequency.
Immediately the heard the sounds of the theatre through the car speakers. Seth laughed, obviously thinking it was about the coolest thing the Range Rover had ever done. He even leaned forward to plant a small kiss on the steering wheel.
"That's a good Rover."
"Freak." Summer replied, raising an eyebrow before turning to look at Ryan. "One problem, Chino. The screen is behind us."
"It is?" He asked, feigning ignorance, which Summer didn't buy. "Watch and learn."
Ryan climbed out of the SUV, circling to the back as his friends watched. He opened the large back door, motioning for Marissa to get out as well. She did as she was told, and he folded the back seats down on themselves. Now they understood why he had taken two blankets from the hotel rooms. The open door and folded seats made a perfect space to lay down.
"Ryan, sometimes your genius rivals even mine." Seth said, clapping.
"Don't call my boyfriend stupid." Marissa said sweetly, ignoring Seth's ineffective glare.
"Hey!" A voice sounded near them, making Marissa jump.
Ryan looked around, but didn't quite discern the source of the voice. He almost expected it to be Oliver, trying to jump ahead from the not being enemies part to the being friends one. Definitely wouldn't work, at least not for awhile.
"Yo, Chino." Came the voice again, and this time Ryan recognized it.
"Marco." He said, nodding as Marco approached him.
"Didn't expect to see you high class Newport types here." He said, smiling at Marissa as Seth and Summer got out of the Range Rover. "Let me guess, Ryan dragged you here?"
"Yeah, pretty much." She replied, smiling as well.
"You're Seth, right?" Marco asked, nodding.
"You remember?" Seth asked back.
"I'm good with names. But I didn't get yours." He stated, eyes locked on Summer.
"Oh, I'm Summer." She replied, not expecting to be spoken to.
"Summer. It fits, with you being hot and all." Marco said, nodding knowingly, before moving on.
"I wanted to say I'm sorry for not running to your aid last night, all of you. If I had known what was going on, I'd have been right behind you Ryan."
"It's cool."
"And Seth, that was one helluva punch."
"Yeah, I'm kind of a big deal." Seth said, shrugging it off.
"You know people." Marco replied with a smile, nodding to Ryan. "I wanted to say I was sorry to you, too, Summer. I don't know who brought those pricks there last night, but they won't be coming back."
"It's fine, but thank you."
Ryan, Marissa, and Seth turned as one to frown at her. Was Summer Roberts thanking someone sincerely? It appeared so. The three of them got over their shellshock quickly, turning back to Marco.
"Oh, Ryan, I meant to tell you." He began, snapping his fingers. "After you guys left, and the cops were packing up, some kid showed up."
"What kid?"
"Didn't get his name. Scrawny, dark hair. Said he knew you, and asked if everything was okay."
"Oliver." Marissa said quietly.
"What the hell was doing following us?" Seth asked, his face contorting.
"Who knows." Ryan said, narrowing his eyes. "Did he ask anything about us?"
"No." Marco responded, shaking his head. "Just swung by to see if everything was okay."
"Maybe he was gonna apologize to you last night?" Marissa chanced, raising both eyebrows.
"Maybe…" Ryan trailed off.
"Well, I gotta head back to where my boys parked. Chino, if you're ever in the area and need a place to crash or just hang, you got my number."
"Thanks Chula." Ryan said with a smirk, clasping hands with Marco before he left.
"Why is it everywhere we turn, Oliver's there?" Summer asked nobody in particular, scoffing at the idea.
"Who cares." Said Ryan. "Let's just watch the movie."
The spread the blanket out across the back of the SUV, before climbing and snuggling into their pairings. The movie was full of laughs, jokes, and love.
Author's Note: This chapter isn't very long, but it has closure with Oliver, so it is important. I wrote it rather quickly, and I'd hate to say it, but we're getting toward the end of this little story. I was working on the last chapter tonight, when the network went down and lost all four pages I had already done. I was beyond furious.