Onyx, Chapter 4
The following day, Seth tried to pull himself together as he walked into school. He remembered what his cousin told him about just walking up to Summer and telling her that there was a change in her party plans.
As Seth walked towards his locker, he saw Summer standing next to Marissa and Holly at Marissa's locker at the other end of the hall and realized, this is going to be a hell of a lot harder than I thought.
Seth took a deep breath and walked towards Summer as he repeated what Ryan had told him last night - just be your self and have confidence in yourself. Easier said than done.
Before Seth realized it, he was a few feet from Summer and it was now or never.
"Uh, hi Summer," Seth said in a shaky voice.
Summer turned to face Seth as Marissa and Holly did the same, each had their eyebrows raised.
"What do you want?" Summer asked.
"Well, there is a change in plans, for your party I mean," Seth said.
"Who are you to make changes to her party, dweeb?" Holly snapped.
"The changed plans involves the party taking place somewhere other than Summer's house," Seth explained.
"I thought you weren't letting geeks go to your party Sum?" Holly asked as she turned to her friend.
"I have to or my dad won’t buy me a car," Summer explained regretfully.
"Anyway, here is where the party will be, just tell everyone. Everything else will be taken care of," Seth said as he held out a piece of paper.
Summer took the paper and glanced at Marissa and Holly, while Seth walked off. Summer opened the paper stared at it in shock. Marissa took the paper and read it with Holly looking over her shoulder, they knew that address, everyone in Newport knew it.
"Are you serious?!" Summer demanded as she ran to catch Seth, stopping him by grabbing his arm. He froze and looked at the hand on his arm, following it to the rest of his dream girl’s body. He tried to swallow the lump in his throat.
"About what?"
"We’re are having my party at Caleb Nichol's mansion?"
"Yeah, grandpa said it was fine and he will be in LA on business anyway," Seth replied.
Summer shrieked and hugged Seth tightly before running back to Holly and Marissa to discuss what this meant, while he felt like he was going to faint from his contact with Summer.
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"You are the greatest!" Seth declared as he hugged his grandfather as he walked into the front room of his grandfather's mansion.
"I know," Caleb said with a smile.
"So I take it everything went alright?" Ryan asked from the couch.
"Better than alright, she hugged me! Summer Roberts hugged me!" Seth exclaimed as he fell backwards on the couch.
"Well, can you blame her?" Caleb remarked.
"Not really, I mean, look at this body," Seth joked as he flexed his arms.
Ryan laughed. "Relax, Seth."
"Whatever. So, is everything ready for Saturday?" Seth questioned.
"The food will be delivered and Ryan has taken care of the entertainment," Caleb informed his grandson.
"So they are in?" Seth asked as he looked at his cousin.
"Yeah."
"Yes!" Seth said as he punched the air above him.
"Again, relax!" Ryan exclaimed with a laugh.
"How can I? I need to find what I’m going to wear," Seth said as he stood up.
"I’ve seen your clothes Seth. If you want to catch this girl’s attention, you’ll cool clothes," Ryan pointed out.
"What? My clothes are totally cool."
Ryan just stared at him.
"Fine," Seth sighed.
"You can borrow some of my clothes for Saturday," Ryan offered.
"Then everything is ready," Seth said as he rubbed his hands together and smiled.
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After finding a parking spot, Summer and Marissa walked up the drive way towards the packed mansion. Summer still couldn't believe her birthday party was at Caleb Nichol's mansion of all places.
"How do I look?" Summer asked after grabbing her friend’s hand.
"You look good," Marissa responded.
"Good? Is that all?" Summer asked with a sigh.
"What's the matter ? Are you trying to impress someone Sum?" Marissa said with a giggle.
"No, it’s just... not everyone gets to have their birthday party at the biggest mansion in Newport, a mansion that is owned by the man that practically owns Newport."
"Everything will be fine," Marissa reassured her before they continued walking up the drive way and into the mansion.
Once inside, they could see out to the huge backyard and noticed that it was packed with kids from Harbor; some kids were standing just inside the patio doors, while others were still arriving.
"Wow. This place is huge!" Marissa stated the obvious.
Summer merely nodded as they walked out to the patio and to the refreshment table. After she got her drink, Summer turned and saw Seth standing at the end of the table while he talked on his cell phone and held a finger in his other ear, trying to hear the person on the other line.
Summer excused herself from Marissa and walked towards him, saying hi to people that she passed and told her happy birthday. When she reached Seth, she tapped him on the shoulder. He turned and quickly said bye to whoever he was talking to and turned to face her.
"Uhh, hi," Seth said.
"Hey," Summer said. "Thanks for letting me have my party here."
"Don't worry about it. Besides, I’m not finished yet," Seth added with a wink.
"Get lost geek," A voice said from behind him.
He turned and saw Luke along with a few of his water polo friends.
"Hi Luke, guys. Glad you could make it," Seth said sarcastically.
"Luke, not now!" Summer said forcefully.
Luke shook his head before walking off with his friends.
"So, what else do you have planned?" Summer asked Seth as he turned towards her.
"Your present of course. " Seth responded mysteriously.
"Alright, it’s present time!" she shouted.
Seth laughed and said, "Pick two friends and meet me on the stage."
"Stage ? " she questioned.
Seth pointed towards the stage before walking through the crowd towards it.
Summer tried to think what his present could be, but couldn't think of anything. Once she found Marissa, who was talking to someone from school, and Holly, who was making out with Luke, she made them come with her to the stage.
Once they were on stage, Summer nodded to Seth that they were ready.
"Ok, read this when the music starts," Seth said as he handed them each a piece of paper.
"My present is me singing on stage," Summer asked in a confused tone as she looked at Seth.
"Just do it!" Seth exclaimed. He set a microphone stand in front of the each of them before tapping on one of them, catching everyone’s attention.
A moment later, drums began playing over the speakers.
"Give it to me baby," Summer, Marissa and Holly said at the same time.
"Ah huh, ah huh," a voice said.
"Give it to me baby," the girls repeated.
"Ah huh, ah huh," a voice said.
"Give it to me baby," they said again.
"Ah huh, ah huh," A voice said as it got louder. Everyone began cheering, causing Summer, Marissa and Holly to turn around and find that the curtains had opened, with Ryan Nichol and the rest of Onyx singing.
"And all the girlies say I'm pretty fly for a white guy.....Uno dose trace, quatro, sinco, sinco seac. " Ryan said as he walked farther out on the stage.
You know it's kind of hard
Just to get along today
Our subject isn't cool
But he fakes it anyway
He may not have a clue
And he may not have style
But everything he lacks
Well he makes up in denial
So don't debate, a player straight
You know he really doesn't get it anyway
He's gonna play the field, and keep it real
For you no way, for you no way
So if you don't rate, just overcompensate
At least you'll know you can always go on Ricki Lake
The world needs wannabe's So do that brand new thing
"Give it to me baby."
"Ah huh, ah huh," Ryan said.
"Give it to me baby," the girls said.
"Ah huh, ah huh," Ryan said.
"Give it to me baby," Summer, Marissa and Holly said at the same time.
"Ah huh, ah huh and all the girlies say I'm pretty fly for a white guy."
He needs some cool tunes
Not just any will suffice
But they didn't have Ice Cube So he bought Vanilla Ice
Now cruising in his Pinto, he sees homies as he pass
But if he looks twice They're gonna kick his lily ass
Now he's getting a tattoo
He's gettin' ink done
He asked for a '13', but they drew a '31'
Friends say he's trying too hard
And he's not quite hip
But in his own mind He's the dopest trip
"Give it to me baby."
"Ah huh, ah huh."
"Give it to me baby."
"Ah huh, ah huh."
"Give it to me baby."
"Ah huh, ah huh. Uno dose trace, quatro, sinco, sinco seac."
So don't debate, a player straight
You know he really doesn't get it anyway
He's gonna play the field, and keep it real For you no way, for you no way
So if you don't rate, just overcompensate
At least you'll know you can always go on Ricki Lake
The world needs wannabe's
The world loves wannabe's
So let's get some more wannabe's
And do that brand new thing
Once the song was finished, everyone continued to cheer, while Summer, Marissa and Holly moved towards the band as quickly as possible, while the band backed away from their microphones.
"I can't believe Onyx is playing at my birthday party!" Summer exclaimed.
"I couldn't let my cousin down," Ryan said with a smile.
"Cohen?" Summer asked.
"Yeah. He planned everything and wanted you to have the best party that you could," Ryan explained.
Summer was in shock. Everyone was mean to Seth in school and outside of school, even she was sometimes. But here he was planning her birthday party and throwing it for her in the biggest mansion in Newport, plus he got Onyx to play.
"That geek is your cousin?" Holly asked incredulously. Ryan simply turned and glared at her, causing her to back up a few steps.
"So, what other songs do you want us to play? You get to pick four," he said as he turned back to Summer.
"Umm," Summer began, "I want you to play 'The Gift', 'Heroes', 'If Everyone Cared' and 'When I'm Gone'."
"Alright, have fun," Hank smiled.
Summer nodded before pulling Holly and Marissa off the stage, so they could stand in front of it.
"First, on behalf of the band. We would like to wish Summer a happy birthday," Ryan said before the cheering got louder.
"Now, let’s get this party started!" George said.
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Once all the songs were finished, the band walked off the stage and began talking to people that swarmed them and signed autographs. Ryan excused himself and walked to the refreshment table to get something to drink.
"That was great," a female voice said from beside him.
Ryan looked up after he got a cup of punch and found himself looking at a tall beautiful blond that he recognized.
"Thanks Marissa," Ryan replied.
"You remember my name?" Marissa asked.
"Yeah. It’s not that hard, it was only last week that you fell and then I saw your sister…" Ryan said as he turned around and leaned against the table.
"Here I was thinking you wouldn't remember me, since you usually gets tons of women throwing themselves at you constantly."
"Sometimes. But I try not to think about it a lot," Ryan said with a smile.
Marissa blushed before asking, "So do you live here with Mr. Nichol?"
"No. I’m just staying with grandpa while my mom is on a business trip," he said.
"Your mom is Hailey right?"
"Yeah."
"Are you going to be staying in Newport or going back to LA ?" Marissa enquired.
"Well, my mom is having some remodeling done on our place in LA. So when she gets back, we’re going to stay here in Newport for a while."
"Cool."
"So, since I’ve been on tour for a while, it’s been a long time since I was in Newport. You think you could show me what’s changed around town?" Ryan asked hopefully.
"Are you asking me out ? Because I figure Seth has showed you around town already," Marissa said with a giggle.
"Yeah, I am asking you out. It’s just been a while since I had a chance to ask anyone out," Ryan admitted.
"Alright. Tomorrow, noon?" Marissa asked.
Before Ryan could answer, he looked up and saw Seth being pushed against a wall of the house by a big jock-looking blond guy. He ran over and pulled the guy off Seth and turned to his cousin.
"You alright?" Ryan asked.
"I'm good," Seth said as he fixed his shirt and looked past his cousin to see Summer with what looked like worry for him on her face.
Ryan turned to the blond jock and got in his face before asking, "You have a problem with my cousin?"
"What are you going to do about it rock star?" The jock jeered.
Ryan could tell he was drunk and so were his friends, who were chanting ' Do it Luke ! '
"You know what. I’ve been in trouble for hitting people I didn't really want to, since it was self defense. But I think I will make an exception for you. If you don't stay away from my cousin, I will hurt you," Ryan said with a hard glare.
A moment later, the guy he now knew as Luke was pulled away by Holly as she said "Come on babe, let’s go some where."
Ryan sighed and turned to Seth once more and smiled, before he walked back over to Marissa and said, "I’ll see you at noon tomorrow."