It had been one week since Kirsten Cohen walked out and the three men she lived with had been in bed since. After a couple of days Julie and Hailey couldn't stand to be in the house because it was starting to smell and they were not used to quite Seth and Sandy. Jimmy's visits were less often and shorter but he still made sure they were all alive. Marissa was there day and night with Ryan. He never said anything but she would just sit there with him and work on homework or whatever she needed to do. Summer hadn't tried calling or coming over she didn't know what to say to Seth after there last talk so she didn't say anything at all. Seth was laying in his bed awake but unsure of what time of day it was. He had heard Jimmy Cooper come in the house earlier but all he said to Seth was a simple hi followed by the door shutting. His bedroom door was being opened again and he pulled the covers over his head not wanting to be bothered. That didn't stop the guest who went over and pulled the shades to his window allowing the sunlight to brighten the room. Then Seth felt the guest pull at his blankets and because Seth wasn't expecting this they were removed quickly and with little of a fight.
"What the" Seth said covering his eyes.
"C'mon son, I know you don't want to get up and believe me I would love to spend some more time in bed, but the world hasn't stopped and we can't stop anymore" Sandy said surprisingly cheery
"I am not getting out of bed" Seth said trying to grab his blankets back
"Yes you are because I am your father and I am telling you that you are going to get out of bed and go to school" Sandy said sternly and Seth could see from the look in his father's eyes that this was killing him.
Seth rolled out of bed and mumbled to himself while walking into his bathroom. Sandy gave a small triumphant smile and walked out of the room and went to the pool house to do the same with Ryan. After both boys were up Sandy went back to his room and finished getting himself ready.
Seth and Ryan walked into the kitchen at the same time. Neither had seen or talked to the other since Kirsten left.
"Hey" Ryan said pulling out two coffee cups.
"Hey" Seth said grabbing the cereal and bagels and throwing them on the island. Both boys sat down Ryan handing Seth his coffee.
"What's up with your dad?" Ryan asked after an awkward silence
"Who knows, I heard Jimmy Cooper come in"
"Must have given him one hell of a speech"
"Guess so"
Seth took a sip of his coffee "I noticed Marissa was here a lot"
"Yeah, I heard that Summer wasn't""Yeah"
Ryan looked over at Seth waiting for him to explain as to why she wasn't, but was met by silence.
"Wanna talk about it?" he asked no longer able to wait
"Not really" Seth said as he dad walked in
"Hey boys" Sandy said then going to pour his own coffee. "Ready for school?"
"No" Seth said
Sandy sighed "I know this is hard, but nothing is going to change it so we just have to make the best of it and hope that your mother comes back sooner rather than later"
"Yeah, because that has worked so well in the past" Ryan said both Seth and Sandy getting his reference to his own mother.
"What else do you think we should do?" Sandy asked a little annoyed
Neither one of them said anything "Exactly, this is the best we got. Until you can get better ideas then just live with it" Sandy said pouring out his coffee and setting the cup in the sink.
"I am going to work, you boys can take the Range Rover" Sandy said throwing the keys on the counter in between the boys. "I will be calling to ensure you make it to school… on time" Sandy said then left
Seth followed his dad actions from before "Let's get this over with" he said Ryan grabbing the keys.
When they got out of the Range Rover there were two pairs of eyes on them instantly that being Summer and Marissa.
"I am going to go to class" Summer said but Marissa stopped her before she could walk away
"Talk to him"
"Coop he doesn't want to talk to me right now. I mean my mom left for the same reasons and still hasn't returned. I remind him that she may not come back"
"Still he needs you" Marissa said dragging Summer over to the boys.
"Hey, didn't expect to see you guys here" she said when they were standing in front of each other.
"Yeah apparently your dad gives one good motivational speech or something because Sandy is ready to get over this" Ryan said
Seth and Summer did everything they could to avoid eye contact until Marissa finally intervened.
"You two need to stop this and start talking because Seth like it or not right now you need Summer so get out of your little mood and just accept it"
Seth looked at Marissa with a look that scared and surprised all three of them.
"Maybe you should just mind your own fucking business" he said bitterly then walked away
The other three looked at each other "He is taking this harder then I thought" Ryan finally said
"Yeah, I am gunna go to class" Summer said uncomfortable talking about Seth like this no matter how worried she was about him. Them talking about him behind his back was not going to help the matters any. In fact they would only end up making them much worse.
Seth was walking toward his class when he got shoved into a locker by one of the water polo players.
"Welcome back mama's boy"
Normally Seth let there nicknames go and just walked away but that was the past. He had a lot of anger and hurt in him right now that he didn't even think about it before he was running at the guy that shoved him and tackled him to the ground and started punching his face. The other water polo players stood there for a moment not used to seeing Seth fight back. Finally two of them pulled Seth off and slammed him against the lockers. The third guy got up and came and while the other two had Seth pined went to punch him in the stomach but Seth still had his legs and he kicked the guy hard right between the legs and watched him fall to the ground and kicked again this time kicking the boy in the face knocking him over on his back. The two guys both began to hold one arm and punch Seth over and over again in the stomach causing Seth to begin to throw up. Finally some teachers walked in and pulled the boys off of Seth. He fell to the ground clutching his stomach. The teachers were taking the two boys when they went to help the third up they were both surprised to find one of the water polo players and very confused.
"What happened to you?" one of the teachers asked
"Him" the kid muttered embarrassed, one of the teachers just smiled at Seth.
Summer was on her way to class when she noticed a mob that was in her way. Not really in the mood to deal with this she began pushing through not saying a word to anyone if she bumped into someone. She glanced to her left to see what was at least causing the commotion. Her mission to get to class was put off when she saw Seth hunched over a little holding his stomach and one of the water polo players getting help while trying to walk away. She changed her direction and pushed through the crowd that was now shrinking.
"Oh my god Cohen what happened?"
Seth looked over surprised to see Summer "Umm I got in a fight"
"An actual fight or just you getting beat up?" Summer asked slightly confused
"An actual fight" Seth said with a small smirk
"What?" Summer was shocked, she never really thought of Seth as the fighting type, hell he didn't even think of himself as the fighting type.
"I see why Ryan likes to punch people so much" Seth joked
Summer smiled just happy that for a second she had the old Seth back. "Okay Mr. Cohen… the principals office" one of the teachers said pointing in the direction to the principals office. Seth leaned down and gave Summer a quick kiss "See you at lunch"
Summers smile grew "Yeah"
Sandy Cohen walked into the office all he was told that was his son got into a fight, when he saw Seth sitting in the office he was perplexed. He knew Seth got picked on from time to time but never really fought back one reason being because he was always out numbered
"Seth" he said perplexed "You were fighting?"
"Uhh… yeah"
"With who?"
As Sandy asked this three water polo players one already bruising in the face walked out of the office with there parents who looked just as ashamed. Sandy's jaw dropped, now he had seen everything.
"Mr. Cohen" Mrs. Kim said while smiling "Come in"
"Thank you" Sandy said walking past the group coming out
"You as well Seth" Mrs. Kim said sternly then gave Seth a small smile
They all walked in and sat down.
"Now I want you to know Mr. Cohen that I called you down here to follow the procedures that I must go through"
"What do you mean?" Sandy asked
"To be completely honest and this does not leave this room… I am happy for Seth that finally those guys got some of there own treatment. I see the same handful of kids in here everyday because those boys are picking on them, but there parents are very influential people and they are some of our star players so the bored frowns upon on punishing them. As for me I think they should be expelled"
Seth smiled while Sandy just nodded his head "So what is Seth's punishment?"
"Well for appearance I will give him 1 week of dentition with me personally and Seth if I am not in my office when you get here just go home" Mr. Kim then winked
Seth nodded his head showing his understanding.
"That's it?" Sandy asked somewhat unhappy
"Is something wrong Mr. Cohen?"
"Is this because my wife is gone?" Sandy asked not wanting the pity to start already
"Not at all, I heard rumors but honestly I didn't believe them"
"Oh" Sandy said apologetic
"I am sorry to both of you" She said
"Thanks" they both muttered
"Is that all?"
"Yes"
Both men got up and walked out of the office "I don't think I will ever get used to that" Sandy said nodding his head back to Mrs. Kim's office
"The pity?" Seth asked
"Yeah"
"Me either, I don't know how Ryan deals with it"
Seth just shrugged his shoulders "Were gunna have to get used to it"
"She might come home soon" Sandy said trying to reassure himself more then Seth
"Whatever you have to tell yourself dad" Seth said sadly "I am going to class"
Seth and Summer were sitting at the table carrying on there usually banter. Marissa and Ryan walked up setting there food down.
"So is it true?" Ryan asked
"Is what true?" Seth asked playing dumb
Marissa rolled her eyes "Did you beat up one of the water polo players?"
Seth just shrugged his shoulders with a smirk on his face and both Ryan and Marissa looked shocked.
"I didn't know you had it in you" Ryan said after a moments pause
"I didn't either"
"What did Sandy say?" Summer asked finally joining the conversation
"Nothing really" Seth said then taking a drink of his water.
"Hey Seth" one of the cheerleaders said as she walked by. This left everyone in the core 4 confused. She even smiled at him before turning away.
"What the hell was that?" Summer asked showing her jealousy
"I believe that was the head cheerleader flirting with Seth" Marissa said
Summer glared at her "But Why?" she said glaring at the girl as she walked away
Seth laughed to himself "Aww is Summer jealous"
"Can it Cohen, I'm not in the mood"
Seth's smile grew "Summer you have nothing to worry about" he said rubbing her back trying to reassure her.
"I know that, doesn't mean I like it"
"I'm sure it will wear off" Ryan said causing Seth to look a little offended
"And fast" Marissa added causing Seth's look to get more serious
"Thanks you two" he said offended now Summer had a smirk on her face
"Cohen your such a dork" she giggled and Seth's face returned to normal as he looked over at Summer. He gave her a quick kiss then began eating his food and going into details about the happenings of his fight.
Sandy Cohen was trying everything to find his wife and nothing was working. He wouldn't let Seth and Ryan know because he didn't want to get there hopes up, but his hopes were falling. He got up and went to the kitchen he made Seth and Ryan go to school so that he would have the whole day to look for Kirsten he had went to all the hotels in Newport. Nothing. HE tried calling her cell phone. That was dead. He called in a favor at the D.A. office. Still Nothing. He drove around Newport, but that was cut short when he was called into the school. Now he was at and just checked the credit card statement. Again nothing. He really didn't know what else he could do. He looked at the clock and let out a frustrated sigh. He grabbed his car keys and figured he should go back out and look for her.
The Core 4 walked into the Cohen house and all of them got quite by the silence of the house. They were all used to coming home and Kirsten and Sandy already being home talking in the kitchen. Now there was just silence.
"This is weird" Seth said
"Yeah" the other three agreed
They all walked slowly into the kitchen as if they were hoping suddenly Kirsten and Sandy would appear, but there was nobody. Seth sighed suddenly his good mood was gone. "I am gunna go start on my homework" he mumbled before turning around and going upstairs. They all watched concerned.
"I am gunna go talk to him" Summer said quickly before following him.
Ryan sighed "C'mon lets go to the pool house" Ryan said grabbing Marissa hand and leading her out of the room, not wanting a reminder.
"Cohen" Summer said as she walked in his room. He was sitting at his desk some textbook open but you could tell from his facial expression that he was doing nothing but thinking. He didn't even bother to look up at Summer because he didn't want her to see him like this. He didn't have much masculinity and this wasn't going to take everything from him.
"Are you okay?" Summer asked
Seth just shook his head no because he knew his voice would crack if he tried speaking.
Summer walked up behind him and wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him close to her from behind him. Seth let silent tears fall. They stayed like that for 10 minutes when they heard a knock at the front door open. Seth quickly wiped his eyes and stood up. Summer had already backed up. Seth was up and pulling her towards the door. As they came down the stairs Ryan was opening the front door.
"Hi we are looking for a Mr. Cohen" a police officer said
They were all scared "He's not here" Ryan said
"Do you know how we can reach him, its about his wife"
Seth was now downstairs "Is she okay?" he asked worried
"That is confidential information"
"That's my mom, I have a right to know" Seth said getting angry
Ryan grabbed Seth's arm to stop him from doing anything too stupid.
"Cohen, just go call your dad" Summer said trying to do the same as Ryan.
Seth glared at the officer for a moment before walking away. When he was out of the room Summer muttered an apology.
"It's nothing, I know how the kid feels but I could lose my job if I start talking to just anyone"
They all nodded there heads and Seth walked back into the room. "He is 5 minutes away, he said you can come in"
Both officers stepped inside "This is a nice house" one of them said trying to cut the tension
"Yeah" Marissa said while the other three just looked lost. "Can I get anyone something to drink?" she offered
Summer looked up at Marissa shocked. Seth looked over at Marissa amused "You are going to be the next Julie Cooper for sure" he joked
Ryan and Summer both held back there laughs while Marissa was now shocked "Excuse me for being polite"
"Or a newpsie" Seth added
Marissa rolled her eyes "Your lucky there are cops here otherwise I would kill you"
Everyone but Marissa was smiling when Sandy walked into the house. "What is going on?" he asked confused
"Marissa is the next Julie Cooper" Seth said
Sandy grew even more confused "We will get back to that , what can I do for you two gentlemen?" Sandy asked the officers
"We should speak in private"
Sandy looked at the for teenagers who now looked worried. "This is fine"
The officer looked around and sighed "We found your wife"