Ryan Atwood is a troubled teen from Chino, arrested for stealing a car along with his brother Trey in the first episode. He�s appointed an attorney, Sandy Cohen, and is basically told, �Don�t do it again, you�re on parole�.
His alcoholic mother then kicks him out of the house and Ryan finds himself with nowhere to go. He finally calls Sandy and asks if he could crash at his place just for a little while. Sandy happily agrees and brings him into the New Port bubble, in the Orange County, California.
New Port is literally snob/rich person central. Ryan is instantly out of place. Yet, through it all, he meets Seth Cohen, son of Sandy and Kirsten Cohen and they instantly become good friends. Seth, like Ryan, is socially awkward, having no friends and an overactive imagination that sets him apart from all the other New Port breed children.
Ryan�s first night there, he meets Marissa Cooper, the bad girl next door and her possessive boyfriend Luke. Luke and Ryan instantly dislike each other and fight after fight after fight quickly ensues.
Now, Ryan has been adopted by the Cohen�s and is trying to fit in to a community that just refuses to accept him.
