A BRAND NEW LIFE (Chapter 6)
Summary : What if Ryan had entered the Cohen’s life when he was five years old?
Beta : I couldn’t have published this chapter without two incredible people who helped me a lot.
So I’d like to say a huge thanks to
anne35 for all the really pertinent suggestions she made. Some of the sentences of this chapter are hers! They're really making this fanfiction much better!
And a huge thanks to
ally_1423 who’s had the infinite patience to correct all the grammatical and spelling mistakes and all the errors in punctuation! (I'm gonna get used to the american rules!) And there were a lot of them!
So thank you!
Disclaimers : The characters and the universe were created and are owned by Josh Schwartz.
All mistakes are my personal property.
No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
It was Monday morning, and Seth walked slowly into the kitchen dragging his backpack behind him.
“First day of school, are you excited?” asked Kirsten, before giving him a glass of orange juice.
“Yeah, I’m really looking forward to being locked in the bathroom by Luke and his stupid friends.”
“Seth, don’t say ‘stupid’. Remember, you’re not in kindergarten anymore. This year will be totally different. After all, you’re a big boy going into the first grade,” explained Kirsten.
“Yeah, I’m sure they’ll only put mustard on my dessert. Or pour some water in my lunch. Really I can’t wait!”
Just then Ryan walked sheepishly into the kitchen. Unlike Seth, he was hugging his backpack tightly to his chest. Kirsten knew that he was anxious about starting school. She tried to catch his eye and offer some reassurance, but he refused to look at anything other than the glass of milk she placed in front of him.
“Ryan’s gonna be with you. Hello sweetie!”
“Yeah. At least this year I won’t be alone. And I’m so glad I’m not going to be in Marissa Cooper’s class. She’s in Miss Applegate’s.”
“Jimmy’s daughter? But didn’t you think she was nice?”
“No! I don’t know her. She doesn’t speak to me. I’m Invisible Seth. She’s not nice at all.”
“Hello!” exclaimed Sandy.
“Hi honey, how was surfing?”
“Cut it short, I wanted to see the boys off. First day of school, are you excited?” Sandy walked over to the table and looked down expectantly at both boys.
“Not you, too,” mumbled Seth.
Ryan didn’t know what to think about starting school, except the thought scared him. He had barely slept at all the night before, his nerves keeping him awake. Trey didn’t like school, and only went when forced to go by their mother or the truancy officer. Ryan didn’t really know why Trey hated school so much. When Ryan asked him about it the only thing Trey would tell him was that it was a waste of time. Ryan couldn’t understand that at all. He liked to learn new stuff.
However, he didn’t know about the school here. All the kids would be rich like Seth. Maybe he wouldn’t fit in. Maybe they would make fun of him for being poor.
The think that worried him the most was the teacher. He had hoped to get Miss Applegate, the teacher who had given him the test. She was seemed nice and she smelled strawberries. He liked her. But the Cohens had told him that their teacher was a man and that scared Ryan...a lot. Ryan’s mom, the social worker, and now the Cohens all told him he was smart, but what if they were wrong. What if he really was stupid like his mom’s boyfriends always told him. What would the teacher do to him if he couldn’t keep up with the rest of the class?
Sandy knew the boy had to be terrified. The first day of school was huge adjustment for any kid. And Ryan had already had a lot thrown at him in just a month’s time. He gently placed his hand on Ryan’s shoulder, trying to ignore the shudder that ran through the child in front of him.
“It’s going to be okay, kid. You’ll have Seth with you the whole time, and if you need us, Kirsten and I are just a phone call away.”
Ryan looked up at into the expectant faces of his foster parents and tried to muster a smile for their sakes.
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“I’m Mr. Patterson. Welcome to first grade! I hope you’ve had a terrific summer! This is a very special year in your school career! First grade is a time to experience a lot of new things and learn a lot of new skills. During the year, you will learn how to read, write stories, add, subtract, and so much more. We will have lots of fun reading, writing, and learning new things together. Do you have any questions?...If not, I’d like to present the ABC's of A Successful Year. Listen carefully! A is for Attend school regularly. B for Be prepared for class. C for communicate your needs to your teacher and parents. D for develop a positive attitude.”
As he listened to the teacher speaking, Ryan felt a lump forming in his throat. He tried to swallow, but couldn’t. Mr. Patterson had to be at least six feet tall. He was even bigger than Jake, his mom’s last boyfriend. He didn’t sound like any of his mom’s boyfriends, though. He had a soft, kind voice, but Ryan knew better than to trust any man too quickly. His mom’s second boyfriend, Ted had been nice....for about a week. Then one night, after their mom had passed out from drinking too much, he had come after he and Trey with a belt. He had been mad at them for making too much noise when they were playing with their toy cars.
Ryan shivered.
He heard Seth whisper to him, “Are you okay?”
He forced himself to calm down and quickly nodded to Seth. He realized that he must have zoned out because he heard Mr. Patterson announce:
“Z for zero in on your strengths and build upon them.” Ryan already knew the alphabet, so he figured out that must be the end of the ABC stuff.
“Now, I’m going to give you a model of handwriting. And I want you to copy it as well as possible. It’s not a race, so take your time and be careful!”
Ryan began to write the letters. Although he was concentrating on the assigned task, he kept watching his teacher’s every action. Ready to bolt if the man decided to hit. Ready to defend himself. Ready to defend Seth.
“I’m sure you can do better, James,” he heard Mr. Patterson saying. “Those ones are good, but these…keep concentrating!...that’s pretty good, Veronica…Oh, I think we have a winner…That’s good, Ryan. You’ve got really neat handwriting.”
Ryan stayed silent and kept his head down.
Mr. Patterson patted Ryan’s shoulder. Ryan quickly jerked away, giving the teacher one quick terrified glance, before returning his gaze to his desk.
Mr. Patterson frowned. Was there something wrong with this boy?
The teacher looked down at Ryan. The child was gripping his pencil so hard his knuckles were turning white. Mr. Patterson half expected the pencil to snap in two under the pressure. He knelt down next to Ryan, and heard the boy’s sharp intake of breath.
“I’m sorry,” Ryan whispered.
It suddenly dawned on Mr. Patterson that he was the one causing the boy to be so frightened. He wasn’t prepared to deal with that at the moment, so he decided to let it go for now, and move on to the next student.
“Seth, that’s great! Be careful with your O. It could be rounder. Jessie, why is there ink all over your paper?”
Ryan didn’t look up from his paper until the lunch break.
Ryan was almost to the door when he heard Mr. Patterson call his name.
“Ryan, can I see you, please?” Seth stopped too. “Seth, this won’t take but a minute. You can wait for Ryan in the hall. Shut the door on your way out, please.”
“Busted,” thought Ryan. He had made the teacher mad. He knew it. What was gonna happen, now?
The kid looked terribly uncomfortable. He kept his head down as Mr. Patterson began to talk.
“You’re doing very well, Ryan. Miss Applegate told me you already can read grade-level chapter books, and in a couple of months, I’m sure you’ll be able to read at even more advanced levels.”
Ryan kept his head down and shrugged his shoulders. He wished he knew what the teacher really wanted.
“Don’t forget: “J”: Join in on all class activities and discussions. And “V”: Voice your opinions. “Y”: you are capable of great things. I want you to talk, Ryan.”
Ryan nodded.
Mr. Patterson leaned closer to Ryan. “V is for Voice your opinions.”
“I will, Mr. Patterson,” he murmured
“That’s better!”
While he was talking to him, the kid had continuously backed away from him, reminding Steve of the way one backed off from a potentially dangerous dog that one did not want to turn his back on. With his last words, Ryan had reached the classroom’s door.
“Have a good lunch, Ryan.”
He nodded and quickly exited the room.
As soon as Ryan had left the room, Mr. Patterson decided he needed to talk to the schools principal. He walked slowly to the office, weighing his words carefully. He was just about to knock when Mrs. McCallister suddenly opened the door.
“Mr. Patterson!” she exclaimed, surprised to see the man. She was always more than happy to speak to any of her teachers, but it was only the first day of school, and the afternoon’s classes hadn’t even started yet.
“May I speak to you?”
“Yes, of course. Come on in.”
“I’d like to talk to you about one of my students, Ryan Atwood,” he began.
“Is there a problem with him? He did very well on the placement exams...”
“No, that’s not it.” He shook his head. “True, I’ve only had him just this one morning, but he seems to be a very bright kid. I’m afraid it’s much more serious than that.”
“What is it?”
“I think he’s afraid of me.”
Mrs. McCallister shut the door. “The Cohens, his foster family, told me he was uncomfortable around adults. I got the impression that he might have come from a troubled home life. They didn’t give me all the details, but I do know that has only been living with them for a few weeks.
“The kid isn’t uncomfortable with me...he’s completely terrified of me. How am I supposed to teach a child if he’s too scared to even listen to me. You know I only want what’s best for my students. I just think, for now, Ryan may be better off with a female teacher. Perhaps, Miss Applegate, I know she’s the one who gave him the placement exams. He already knows her, maybe he’ll feel more comfortable around her.”
“You may be right. I’ll do some checking and see if we can switch two of her students to your class.”
“Two?”
“Yes. The Cohens were very adamant that they wanted Seth and Ryan to be in the same class. Don’t worry, I’m sure I can sort this out by the time recess is over.”
“Thank you.”
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Mrs. McCallister walked Seth and Ryan to their new classroom. She had just finished a very hectic hour making phone calls and rearranging schedules. She had to decide which two students to transfer to Mr. Patterson’s class and receive their parent’s approval. Then she had to contact the Cohens and tell them about this morning and tell them of her plan. They were very supportive of any decision she made. They only wanted what was best for their sons.
“Miss Applegate,” she began. “There has been a change in classroom assignments. Joe and Steve please gather up your things. You are going to be in Mr. Patterson’s class from now on.”
The boys looked at each other and shrugged, but quickly gathered their things together. They didn’t really care who their teacher was, as long as they didn’t give too much homework.
“Seth and Ryan will be in your class from now on. I’m assuming that is all right with you?”
“Yes, of course it is. It’s very nice to see you two boys again.” She smiled at them warmly.
Ryan was relieved. He already knew Miss Applegate was nice and she stilled smelled good. He didn’t think she got mad very easy.
“Seth, you can sit next to Summer Roberts, and Ryan you take the seat opposite Marissa Cooper. Summer, could you please explain to Seth what we did this morning? Marissa, do the same thing with Ryan, please?”
Seth looked at the girl sitting at the desk next to him and blushed. She was beautiful. The most beautiful girl he’d ever seen.
“My name’s Seth. Seth Cohen.”
“Whatever.” She rolled her eyes and flipped her hair. “Okay listen up, Cohen. I’m only going to explain this once. It’s not my fault that you weren’t here this morning. We’re working on a story called Thomas goes Fishing.” She stared at him for a second before hitting him in the arm. “Hey, are you listening to me?”
The truth was he hadn’t heard a word she said. He couldn’t get over how beautiful she was. He thought he could look at her forever. She was even better looking than the girls in his comic books.
“Cohen?”
“Yeah?”
“You need to shut your mouth. You look like one of the fish that Thomas has in his boiler.”
“Sure.”
“Still open, Cohen!”
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“I’m so in love with her. She’s the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen in my entire life,” announced Seth while munching on his cereal.
“What’s her name?” asked Sandy, hiding a large smile behind his mug. The truth was he was going to scream if he heard the name Summer one more time. Seth had been talking nonstop about her for two weeks. Ever since the first day of school it was “Summer this…and Summer that….” Sandy almost skipped his morning bagel just so he wouldn’t have to hear how bagels were Summer’s favorite thing to eat for breakfast.
“Summer,” answered Kirsten, Seth and Ryan in unison.
“She’s got this pretty dress. The purple one. Do you remember it, Ryan?” babbled Seth.
“Sure,” answered Ryan quietly.
As Seth rambled on about Summer, Kirsten studied her foster son as he was eating some Captain Crunch cereal. He looked so tiny, sitting at the table in his dark blue jeans and his light blue shirt. He had filled out a little in the five weeks he had been living with them, but he was still painfully thin and short for his age. He was eating some Captain Crunch, dry as usual. Seth loved pouring milk over his cereal. Ryan liked it dry and drank his glass of milk separately. She was beginning to get to know her foster son’s habits and what the meaning was behind them. One day she opened the refrigerator door, just to show him the amount of food that they had. Her heart broke when he stood there in complete awe.
“You have enough to eat for an entire year,” he had said, sounding so relieved that Kirsten had felt tears welling in her eyes.
“Yes, sweetie, we do. You don’t need to worry about having enough to eat ever again.” Kirsten only hoped that he believed her.
“Mom! Moooooomm!” called Seth, interrupting Kirsten’s train of thoughts. “Can I invite Summer for my birthday party?”
“Of course, sweetie. I’m sure she’ll be glad to come!”
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Ryan and Seth were playing on the playground before school started.
“Ewww, he’s back!” stated Seth.
“Who’s back?”
“Luke Ward. Remember? I told you all about him. He’s the biggest jerk in school. He’s been away staying with his aunt because his mom just had the twins, Brad and….I can’t remember.” He shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. He’s just back and he’s going to make my life miserable.”
Seth had no more than finished the statement when the tall blond boy approached them.
“Cohen.”
“Luke. I’ve missed you so much. When are you going back at your aunt’s?”
“Shut up. Who’s that kid?”
“This is Ryan. He’s my brother,”
“Yeah, sure, your ‘brother’. So you’re the kid the Cohens bought for entertaining their real child? You’re awfully short. I hope you were half price. The Cohens can afford to buy a normal sized kid, can’t they? You’re their new charity case, I guess.”
Ryan swallowed hard, the anger flashing in his blue eyes.
“Luke, shut up!” exclaimed Seth. He cast a concerned glance at Ryan: his foster brother was visibly trembling.
“Don’t listen to him, he’s stupid, he’s just jealous because he’s just had two brothers and he has to share his mommy, now,” Seth explained.
“I’ve already told you to shut up, Cohen. Is your new brother too stupid to talk for himself? Did your parents buy him or did they just find him in the trash?”
Seth nervously looked around. Several kids had gathered. Two of them joined Luke.
“Hey, cousin, what’s up?”
Seth frowned. The two kids were way older than the kids in their class. They were at least eleven.
“That’s the Ryan kid mom was talking about. ‘Be nice to him, it must be hard for him to live with a new family’. Poor baby.”
“So your mom sold you to the Cohens,” asked the taller of Luke’s cousins. “I heard Julie Cooper explaining to Aunt Nancy, that your mom needed the money to buy her booze and her drugs. Have you seen Scarface? Or Pulp Fiction? That Uma Thurman chick OD’s. Just like your mom’s gonna do.”
Ryan gasped. The words were echoing in his head. “Sold you to the Cohens. Booze. Drugs.”
“He really is stupid, isn’t he?” Luke scorned.
One of Luke’s cousins laughed and pushed Ryan hard. He fell on the ground.
“I’ll come back,” exclaimed Seth. He had the feeling that something bad was going to happen. He had to get some help.
“No, don’t go…” whispered Ryan.
He suddenly felt alone and unprotected without Seth by his side. He felt exactly the same way when Trey ran away and left him all alone with his mom’s boyfriend.
He looked around. He had to run away. But before he could run, Martin and Thomas hemmed him in. There was nowhere to go. He tried to push his way between them, but they pushed him back down, his backside making a solid connection to the hard cement ground.
“Ryan, don’t be such a pussy.” Trey would have said.
He suddenly stood up and, throwing his weight back, he toppled into Martin dragging Luke down with him. The three kids ended up in a pile on the ground.
"Boys! That’s enough!"
A teacher Ryan didn’t know ran over and broke up the fight.
Ryan sat on the ground catching his breath.
Seth watched Ryan, an anxious look plastered on his face. Ryan’s chest was heaving up and down with each forced breath and he was audibly breathing hard. As he got up the blood rushed to his head and began to pound harder, making the world spin slightly before his eyes. “She sold you to the Cohens. She needed the money to buy her booze and her drugs.”
“Kid, are you all right? What happened? Somebody call Mrs McCallister, right now!”