Suntans and old friends, Summer and Marissa

[marissa cooper]

Who said you have to be popular to want to tan? More importantly, who said you have to bring at least one friend to the beach if you want to tan there? If those were unwritten rules for how things worked in Newport, then Marissa was breaking both of them. She knew the chances of getting Seth to come with her to the beach to lay out were slim to none, but she didn't really care. True, if she went tanning alone she would risk looking like a loner, but everyone already thought she was one, so what harm would be done? She figured that if she went to the beach before noon that she'd be able to go home, shower, and then go to Seth's place. Or did he have a sailing lesson today? She couldn't really remember.

The beach was surprsingly crowded that morning, which was probably because at least half of the people there were tourists. You could always tell who the tourists were. For one, they were usually paler, but they also brought more things with them to the beach. Marissa was trying to block them out, keeping her earphones on with her volume up as she laid out on her stomach, propped up on her elbows. And there was someone else Marissa wanted to block out. Summer Roberts at ten o'clock. The two hadn't talked since school got out for the summer... and Marissa didn't really care to change that. Just how Seth could be interested in someone who could just up and leave a friend behind was beyond her, but then again that wasn't for her to decide.

[summer roberts]

summer arrived at the beach fairly early. she had a few errands to do later that day, but it was a beautiful day and she refused to let it go to waste, so the beach was where she ended up. after applying her tanning oil, she put her towel down and sat on it. the beach always made summer feel better. and going alone was something summer enjoyed from time to time. she would just come here, pop her i-pod on and soak up the sun. summer kicked off her flip flops and put her oversized sunglasses over her eyes. summer did a quick scan and immediately noticed marissa cooper. lovely. summer couldn't help but roll her eyes. no surprise that marissa was there by herself. she didn't have any friends anymore.

as summer starred at her, their eyes locked. speaking of marissa stupid cooper, summer had a cd of hers in her beach bag. perfect time to give it back. so summer got off her towel, slipped her feet into her flip flops and walked over to where marissa was, purposely standing in front of her so no sun could hit her. "here's one of your lame emo cds that i had in my car." she said, aimlessly throwing the cd down beside marissa.

[marissa cooper]

When Summer broke their eye contact, Marissa rolled her eyes a little. She couldn't help but think that Summer was probably avoiding looking at her or something. It was like she wasn't even acknowledging her. Clearly, miss high-and-mighty was too good for her, now. Marissa closed her eyes, determined not to let Summer get to her. She had let Summer affect her too much already. There was no reason to let her ex best friend get to her after all this time.

Marissa opened her eyes, squinting a little when she realized that her sun was blocked, expecting to see that a cloud had passed over the sun. Actually, believe it or not, it was Summer. I guess she wasn't avoiding her after all. "Can I help you?" she asked impatiently, more wanting Summer to take a step to the side than to actually answer her question. Summer had made it quite clear she didn't want to be associated with her anymore, so couldn't she just stick to that and let Marissa tan alone?

"here's one of your lame emo cds that i had in my car."

Oh. Marissa looked down at the CD that Summer dropped, feeling a jab of regret if only for an instant. She had made that CD for Summer when they had still been friends. She hadn't expected that Summer would give it back. "I'm sorry," Marissa said sarcastically, "if I had known you'd leave me for the waterpolo players I would have made it something you could shake your ass to."

[summer roberts]

when she heard her comment about making a different kind of cd, summer simply rolled her eyes. why was she even bothering? marissa cooper wasn't even worth her time. "whatever, marissa. you enjoy your loser life. i mean...you're at the beach by yourself because nobody likes you. i'm by myself because i choose to be." she said, placing her hands on her hips as she glared down at marissa. sometimes, summer missed marissa. actually, more then sometimes. daily, pretty much. but summer would never admit that to anyone. but she missed her old best friend. nobody got summer the way marissa did, but that was in the past. now summer was best friends with taylor and marissa's bff was seth cohen.

"wait, you do have a friend! seth cohen! i forgot. but since he's pasty white, i doubt he comes out into the sun." she said, smirking down at marissa.

[marissa cooper]

"whatever, marissa. you enjoy your loser life. i mean...you're at the beach by yourself because nobody likes you. i'm by myself because i choose to be."

Those words stung mroe than Marissa would ever admit. 'Nobody likes you.' That isn't exactly something you can brush off and unhear. She knew this wasn't exactly true, but it felt like it sometimes... ever since Summer had abandoned her. The only reason that it didn't drive her crazy was because she didn't let it be obvious how much it had hurt when Summer had left her. She knew if she left those wounds open to the public it would just make the whole thing harder to deal with.

"wait, you do have a friend! seth cohen! i forgot. but since he's pasty white, i doubt he comes out into the sun."

Marissa could feel her jaw tighten a little. Where did she get off making fun of Seth like that? She didn't know anything about him. "Actually he gives sailing lessons but you wouldn't have known that, would you?" Sometimes Marissa couldn't stand the person Summer had become. She couldn't believe how much one person could change. "All I can say is at least the friend I have now isn't going to change who he is just so he can say that he has friends."

[summer roberts]

summer's jaw dropped. how dare she say she had changed! summer roberts was the same person she always was. "i changed? no marissa...you did." she said, finally moving out of the way so the sun could hit marissa. she was mean, but not that mean. and marissa had been looking a tad pale lately, so she needed the sun. "it doesn't matter anyways. you went your way and i went mine and your world doesn't have room for me." she said, shrugging her shoulders as if it were no big deal. summer refused to let marissa see how much this whole thing actually hurt her. she was perfectly fine with marissa thinking she was a heartless bitch.

"besides...i don't hang with losers." she said, giggling a bit after the words came out. mean? yes. but that was the route both of them had taken with each other.

[marissa cooper]

"it doesn't matter anyways. you went your way and i went mine and your world doesn't have room for me."

Okay, so that was clearly bullshit and she was pretty sure Summer knew that. As her ex friend so 'kindly' pointed out, Marissa didn't exactl have a surplus of friends. It wasn't like she had no room to fit anyone else in her life. If anyone was too busy to make new friends, it would have to be Summer.

"besides...i don't hang with losers."

"Well you know what? That's fine with me because I don't hang out with snobs or people who desert their friends." If Summer was going to call Marissa a loser then there was no reason for Marissa to hold back on name calling, either. Marissa picked up the CD that was sitting beside her and glanced down at it for a second. She had no idea what she was going to do with it now that it was back. Should she hold onto it as some sort of bitter-sweet reminder, or should she throw it out?

[summer roberts]

summer smirked. whatever. sticks and stones. this was immature for both of them and summer was over it. "whatever, marissa. i'm over this. so you enjoy your lame life." she said, nodding her head firmly as she turned around to head back to her spot. but she wasn't done yet. she had a couple other things to say to her ex-best friend before she walked away. summer always needed to get the last word and maybe she would throw marissa a big zinger.

"i guess i'll see you at the charity event. it's kind of funny how your mother is cooler then you are. and i mean...if seth happens to disappear for a bit at the event, come find me. i'll be with my awesome friends and my bestest friend, taylor." she said, knowing that one hurt marissa. and already, summer felt bad about saying it, wishing she could take the words back.

[marissa cooper]

"i guess i'll see you at the charity event. it's kind of funny how your mother is cooler then you are. and i mean...if seth happens to disappear for a bit at the event, come find me. i'll be with my awesome friends and my bestest friend, taylor."

Marissa couldn't help but feel like Summer made a big deal about taylor being her 'bestest friend' just to get to her... and it did. She didn't like that someone like Taylor had replaced her as Summer's best friend. Taylor was just too... quirky and bubbly. Marissa wasn't sure how Summer could stand her. "Trust me, that's not going to happen because Seth doesn't leave me hanging."

There was also the fact that she knew that Ryan was going to be there, but Summer didn't have to know about that. In fact, Marissa didn't want her to know about Ryan because she was a little afraid that someone was going to lure Ryan away from her. Truth be told, he was the only reason why Marissa thought that this event would be a little more bearable. Ever since the last time she had seen him, seeing him at the charity event was all she could think about. It brought butterflies to her stomach that she wasn't used to feeling. She liked it. She wasn't used to feeling like there was someone who might be interested in her. Marissa almost felt like if she used this bit of knowledge to defend herself against Summer that she'd be jinxing it--that she'd realize she had imagined it all and that Ryan wasn't attracted to her. "How about you go and pretend not to notice me like you always do, and I'll do the same."

[summer roberts]

suu mmer smiled and nodded her head."don't worry, i will. it was nice catching up, though coop!" she said in a fake perky tone, then turned and went back to her towel, sitting down and pulling out her phone from her beach bag and texting taylor to let her know about bumping into marissa. no problem, summer could ignore marissa even though they were so close to each other at the moment. she would just close her eyes and soak up the sun.

but she couldn't get stupid marissa out of her head. she hoped that eventually, they would get over all this and be friends again.