Who are you?, Ryan and Marissa! (pure love!)

[marissa cooper]

Marissa Cooper hated the days when Seth was busy, giving sailing lessons or whatever he was doing. What was she supposed to do to pass her time, now? It wasn't like she was a Harbor uppercruster with a hundred fifty different phone numbers packed into her cell phone belonging to people who she liked or liked her. Most of Harbor thought she was a loner and liked the fact that there were kids that they could confidently say they were more popular than, and Marissa didn't care because they were jerks anyway. That didn't mean that she didn't want more people to hang out with. Just not the typical spoiled Harbor student. But who was she kidding, Marissa Cooper was spoiled, too.

Thus, having no one else to spend her day with, Marissa had spent a couple hours wandering aimlessly around her house before deciding that she would go crazy if she had to stay still any longer. She grabbed her keys, put on some flip flops, and headed out the door, deciding to walk around Newport--just see where she ended up.

Marissa hadn't gotten far--she hadn't even reached the end of her street--when she noticed a large truck parked in front of a house. Mildly curious, she kept her eyes on the house as she approached it. Just then she saw two men carry a couch out of the truck and inside the front door. Someone was moving in? Since when did that actually happen? Everyone in Newport knew each other for the most part, and new members to the community were few and far between. It was probably some old couple who was retiring to a rich community; that happened pretty often.

Or not... As Marissa passed the truck, she spotted a boy her age on the sidewalk. A cute boy.... which meant that he was probably going to join the ranks of water polo players at Harbor in the fall. Too bad. Still, she had to admit she was curious. "Who are you?" she asked, walking off the street and onto the sidewalk near where the boy stood, peaking inside the truck in the process. By the looks of things, they still had a ways to go before they'd be completely unpacked.

[ryan atwood]

from what ryan could see, newport wasn't gonna be that bad. sure, it was gonna be entirely different thanks to the fact that they were a whole class higher, but wasn't that for the better? as the atwood family drove through newport beach, the high school junior looked at the life he was soon going to be living and found nothing to complain about. in fact, as his big brother trey said on the way down, "we've made it little brother."

and with the views that ryan had seen - the beach, the places, the girls - this place looked like it would be a lot of fun. and from what his parents had been telling him about the school and stuff, and it was ... it was going to be different. how different, he couldn't even begin to fathom. waterpolo, social committees ... his father did promote the soccer team pretty well, so maybe that was a plus for the blonde.

once they had pulled into the driveway of their new home - a massive place to live, in his opinion - the moving vans pulled in behind them, and soon set to work unpacking. well, not the atwoods themselves, but the movers who came with the truck. taking out his soccer ball, ryan asked trey to come out and pass the ball around with him, and when his older brother agreed, ryan was happy. of course, trey then ran into the house to claim his room, but ryan decided that whatever room was 'left' would be fine. after all, the size of the house? well, the rooms would be pretty awesome as well.

walking down to the end of the driveway, ryan was about to start juggling the soccer ball when he heard a voice. "Who are you?" looking up, ryan found himself looking right at a tall, thin, and incredibly beautiful blonde girl who looked to be about his age. as he was looking at the girl, he missed the ball and faintly heard it bounce against the hard ground, but he was too busy taking in this tall beauty. "that depends," he started as he cocked his head to the side as his deep blue eyes locked with hers, "on who you want me to be," he finished, now mentally scolding himself. that did sound so much cooler in his head, but now he said it, and he couldn't take it back.

[marissa cooper]

"that depends," "on who you want me to be,"

Oh boy, a pick up line? Clearly this boy didn't know who Marissa was or he probably wouldn't be wasting his time giving her one of the corniest lines she had ever heard. Cute guys like him just didn't spend time with girls like her who went unnoticed. She raised her eyebrows a little, resisting the small urge she had to laugh. "Okay..." she answered. She had been caught a little too off guard to actually have anything to say in response.

Marissa had to admit, though, that despite the fact that he would probably end up one of the kids rulilng Harbor, seeing him drop the soccer ball was endearing. Had she done that to him? She wasn't used to getting this sort of attention from a guy... especially not from someone like this guy... she might as well take advantage of it until he realized that she was pretty much unpopular. "Does that mean I get to decide what to call you or do you actually have a name?" she asked.

[ryan atwood]

"Does that mean I get to decide what to call you or do you actually have a name?" well, at least she didn't laugh in his face and walk away - so that meant she either just wanted to know who he was, or she had some sort of ... shut it atwood, you don't even know if she likes you he mentally scolded himself before speaking once again in response to her question. "uh, yeah. i'm ryan," he introduced as he extended his right hand to shake hers like he had been taught to by his father. that crash-course in manners during the drive had been useful, at least right now, as compared to then when ryan and trey were trying their hardest not to fall asleep earlier.

"we just moved here from santa barbara," he explained, having noticed her look into the moving van and wondering if she was one of the new neighbors. if she was, then ryan was definitely going to like newport. of course, if all of the girls looked like this mystery blonde ... then he was really going to have trouble with just one girl. but she seemed different, she seemed like a few of the girls back in santa barbara. finally getting the brainpower to do something other than stare and come up with cheesy lines, ryan gave her one of his infamous half-smiles and raised his eyebrows at her. "what about you? do you have a name, or am i just going to have to call you whatever i want?" he asked with a comic and amused tone and paralanguage.

[marissa cooper]

"uh, yeah. i'm ryan,"

Marissa glanced down at Ryan's hand for a moment before shaking it. She hadn't really expected a hand shake... but then she hadn't expected he'd want to talk to her, either. "Well, Ryan, nice to meet you," she greeted in a mildly mock formal tone.

"what about you? do you have a name, or am i just going to have to call you whatever i want?"

"Ah, but you don't get the choice. I'm not the one who used the 'who you want me to be' line," she teased, ginning. Her smile softened a little as she turned more serious. "I'm Marissa... and as it turns out I'm one of your neighbors," she explained. "I live down there a little ways," she said, pointing her thumb towards the direction from which she had come.

[ryan atwood]

she was his neighbor? hmm, then ryan definitely was going to like newport. it was beyond a doubt in his mind that she was attractive, and with her smile, ryan could feel the invisible barrier he had promised to keep up around girls turning into mush. that smile ... god, he was going to be getting into so much trouble now, he could tell. "hey, you know you liked that line," he protested with a scoff as she made fun of the line he used. he could make fun of it in his head, or later when he was talking to his brother, but now? that just stung.

"are all of the neighbors this mean, or are you just the exception?" he asked, the smile on his face evidence of his teasing nature. yeah, ryan atwood is funny, let's all stop the presses. "so, i assume you go to harbour?" he asked, figuring he might as well find out if his new friend was going to be his classmate, and then make that decision if he was going to like the harbour school or not. after all, the people made the high school, right?

[marissa cooper]

"are all of the neighbors this mean, or are you just the exception?"

God, he was even cuter when he smiled. She shrugged her shoulders a little at his question. Seriously or jokingly, there wasn't really a straight answer to that question. "Well.... that depends on how you define 'mean,'" she said, tilting her head to the side. "You might find that I'm one of the nicer people here... and since evidently I'm mean I guess that doesn't leave much hope for this neighborhood," she finished, flashing a grin.

"so, i assume you go to harbour?"

Marissa nodded her head a little. She wasn't too excited about it, but she tried not to let it show. If this guy was the waterpolo jock type, he'd love it no matter what she would say about it... and in the small chance that he wasn't... well... let's just not get the boy's hopes up quite yet about enjoying the school. "Yup. I'll be a junior this fall. That where you're going to go, too?" She wasn't sure what she thought of him going there. If he turned out to be a cool guy, that'd be great... but let's face it, it would suck if he ended up an uppercruster.

[ryan atwood]

so she was going to harbour, and she was going to be a junior? score one new friend for ryan atwood. "yeah, junior as well. not really looking forward to it, ya know?" he asked, assuming that she was some popular queen and had all of the reason in the world to like school. and ryan? he was going to be the new kind from santa barbara and have only a few friends when the year started. and then he'd try out for soccer, and not make the elite list. but then again, he was popular back home, although not 'elite' material. but it wasn't as if he minded, he had friends and that was all that mattered.

"i mean ... new school, no friends, should be a breeze to fit in, right?" he asked with a half-shrug of his shoulders, showing that he was kidding ... sort of. sure, ryan was smart - incredibly smart - but school was never for him. he didn't try his hardest, homework was a waste of time, and dawn usually had to lock him up in a small room to do his homework or actually study in lieu of his traditional sneaking out of the house to avoid schoolwork. as stoked as ryan was to be living in newport beach, school was one of two parts he was not looking forward to the most.

[marissa cooper]

"yeah, junior as well. not really looking forward to it, ya know?" "i mean ... new school, no friends, should be a breeze to fit in, right?"

Now this was interesting. It didn't necessarily mean much, but clearly Ryan was nervous about fitting in. Cocky waterpolo players don't exactly worry about that sort of thing, they just walk in fully believing that anyone who doesn't like them isn't worth it. "I'm not looking forward to this school year either and I'm not the one that needs to worry about first impressions," she admitted. In fact, she was counting down the days until she could graduate and get to see some new people.

Noticing that the soccer ball had rolled to her feet, she bent down and picked it up, rolling it between her hands. "But you know... I think you'll do alright," she said honestly, glancing down at the ball in her hands before looking back up at Ryan. Of course, whether he would want to fit in with the in crowd was a different story. She spun the ball between her hands and then threw it back to Ryan. "Just be careful who you choose to be your friends."

[ryan atwood]

seeing marissa toss the ball back at him, ryan caught it skillfully and tucked it underneath his arm, catching her comment about taking care of who he chose as his friends. "from the friend i have thus far, i don't think i can do any better," he shrugged his shoulders, somewhat honestly. when she said she wasn't looking forward to school, it gave ryan the impression that either she really hated it, or she wasn't as popular as ryan thought. but who would he have to worry about, that was his worry.

"but ... who should i avoid? i mean, you know the school better than i do, so maybe a few pointers?" he asked towards the end of his statement, hoping at least that she'd entertain him for a little bit longer - although the word 'entertain' might not be the best word of choice - so that he could say he met someone, and trey hadn't yet. yeah, the brothers got along fabulously, with trey usually bringing ryan along into trouble, and ryan getting them out of it, but they always had that sort of friendly competition between them. and in terms of friends and girls, ryan was already winning.

[marissa cooper]

"but ... who should i avoid? i mean, you know the school better than i do, so maybe a few pointers?"

Marissa looked thoughtfully over at Ryan, trying to decide what to say. Should she be blunt and reveal her honest opinion about how to deal with the students there, which part of her really wanted to do, or should she be more careful about what she says in case she insults some of his future friends? She knew that if she gave up her honest opinion, then she would practically be giving herself away as an outsider... she wasn't sure she wanted to do that. She didn't want Ryan to know quite yet that, well, she had chosen a life of being dubbed a "loser." Maybe for once she could keep pretending that she wasn't the girl who stayed in the shadows.

"Well...." Marissa started, deciding that she wasn't going to say anything to give away her social status. After all, what's wrong with a little mystery? "if you want to go to all the best parties then you're probably best off with the waterpolo players and their girlfriends... if not... then you pretty much become friends with anyone else." The social hierarchy really was that black and white.

[ryan atwood]

waterpolo, huh? honestly, ryan had no idea what the thing even was, because they didn't have waterpolo at his old high school. however, before he could answer, he heard the sound of running feet down the driveway and turned his head, seeing trey come running towards them. "hey little brother," the older atwood greeted before looking at marissa and elbowing ryan's arm. "mom said we can go out for a little bit before we've got some dinner thing to go to, so she wants to take us shopping," the elder of the boys spoke before raising a hand in greeting towards marissa. "hey, i'm trey," he greeted before knocking the ball out of ryan's hand and jogging up the driveway towards the old family car.

shrugging his shoulders with a sheepish smile, ryan raised a hand in a sort of wave to marissa. "guess i gotta go," he explained as he lamely waved at her. "i'll be seeing you marissa," he added on as he started walking backwards up the driveway, making eye contact one last time before turning mid-stride and finishing the jog, opening the passenger side door and climbing in, waiting for trey to start the car and get them to the beach or the park, wherever they were going to play before they had to go shopping.