in Rhode Island, albeit at different schools. Summer has also dealt with several changes in her home life, such as her stepmother, an unseen character, leaving and divorcing her father. Also more recently she has had to deal with her father dating her best friend's mother, Julie Cooper (Melinda Clarke). She eventually accepted the relationship and recently announced engagement, however, seeing the happiness it had brought her father despite her own reservations about Julie. Season 4 Summer is adjusting to life in college without Seth and Marissa in an unexpected fashion. She tries to separate herself from Orange County and her former materialistic lifestyle. During the final season, she and Taylor go from being rivals to best friends. Whilst attending college she befriends another college freshman, Che (Chris Pratt), an environmentalist, and Summer becomes one as well in an attempt to take her mind off Marissa's recent death. She attends protests, stops shaving her legs and rearranges her dorm to fit her new lifestyle. After some time, she tries to return to her old lifestyle, but realizes that she prefers having a purpose in life to her former comfortable, but shallow, existence. She decides to find a balance between the two extremes, but her environmental activism occasionally creates trouble for her, such as when she and Che release lab rabbits from a science lab. When Brown officials investigate the incident, she remains truthful aside for not naming her accomplice. Unfortunately, Che puts the blame on her, which results in her year-long expulsion. Summer moves back into her old Newport house with the Coopers and Taylor. Upon hearing of her expulsion, Seth decides to put off college until the following fall so they could return to Providence together. Close to New Year's Eve, Summer has a pregnancy scare, and Seth proposes to her. Although Summer finds out she is not pregnant after all, she and Seth decide to move ahead with their engagement. In "The French Connection", Summer meets up with former best friend Holly Fischer (Ashley Hartman) to find out what life is like as a "Newpsie-wed". Summer realizes that she has changed and no longer belongs in her old world; she fears that she does not know who she truly is, and breaks off the engagement with Seth in order to find herself. She slowly works toward this as she and Seth re-connect. Later, Summer helps rescue a groundhog