Brooke Davis smiled as she made her way down the halls of Tree Hill High School en route the female locker room. Head held high, there was an amazing confidence that seemed to ooze through her. She was pretty, popular and rich but it was more than that. People were somehow inexplicably drawn to the Student Council President and cheerleading captain. Outside the weather was beautiful and a severe case of senioritis lingered in the air. After four long years of high school, soon it would all be over.

For Brooke it was mixed emotions. Part of her looked forward to the college years. She maintained high hopes for Clothes Over Bros, the already successful fashion line she had started at the age of 17. But the excitement and craving for independence that fueled most of her peers, couldn't have mattered less to Brooke. An only child, she had been virtually independent since birth. Her parents, both members of Tree Hill's social elite, had paid little attention to their daughter. She was clothed, fed and provided a roof over her head. That combined with all the cash and credit cards a teenage girl could dream of, had been the extent of her interaction with her mother and father.

When Brooke's father's job called for the family to relocate, Brooke had opted to finish out school with the friends she had grown up with. With her parents in California, she had started off in a one bedroom apartment with Haley James Scott, tutor, waitress, sometimes rock star and one half of the student body's only married couple. With the Scott marriage on temporary hiatus, the girls had roomed together but after a reconciliation, Brooke had moved over to the Sawyer home, house of her lifelong best friend, Peyton. The bliss and sisterhood had only lasted a few months and Brooke found herself without an address until the unlikely aid of her fair weather friend and sometimes rival, Rachel Gatina. But surprising all, including themselves, the move had turned out well and the roommates, with Rachel's parents supervising about as much as Brooke's would have, had grown close.

On the other hand, Brooke loved high school and everything that it stood for. For about 800 days or so, she reigned supreme. Every boy wanted to date her and every girl wanted to be her. She was the queen bee of her clique, which included the most popular kids in school. High school, for the most part, had been safe and fun but senior year had swooped in and changed everything.

His name was Lucas Scott. She had known him almost all her life. He was the broody, scruffy blonde haired boy from the other side of the river. He was relatively quiet in school and his mother owned that café downtown that sold the really good desserts. He was also the subject of the town's most scandalous and worst kept secret…the illegitimate son of wealthy bigwig, Dan Scott and half brother to popular, arrogant jock, Nathan Scott. From kindergarten through sophomore year, the two had barely exchanged words but everything had changed when Ravens coach Brian "Whitey" Durham invited Lucas to join the school's, Nathan's, basketball team. Everything had changed and all hell had broken loose. Leave it to Brooke to sexually initiate the newest team player but her usual "hide half naked in the backseat" trick had backfired. So all guys weren't the same. Lucas was definitely different and Brooke had fallen head over heels in love for the first time.

He'd originally had a thing for her best friend, Peyton, but nothing had ever panned out. Peyton was always too busy with her own drama and had brushed Lucas off. So Brooke had taken the opportunity and ran with it. For the first time in a relationship, she had been valued and respected and loved. Lucas had treated her like a queen and life had been perfect until the accident.

It was a car wreck that nearly took his life and Brooke, the ever tearful, dutiful girlfriend had remained by his hospital bedside. But he had broken up with her anyway and the reason why, later revealed, had devastated her entire world. The chemistry with Peyton had never been extinguished and they had been carrying on behind her back. Humiliated, hurt and angry, it had taken Brooke a while to pick up the pieces but finally she forgave them both. Moving on to a short relationship with new kid on the block, Felix Tagano, Brooke's heart had healed and she had renewed a solid friendship with Lucas. But the love was still there. He wanted her back and she had spent a whole summer on the other side of the country wanting him, too. She wrote him a letter every day and during the eagerly anticipated senior year, they rekindled the romance.

It was to be short lived. Both had changed. It was over but harder to say good bye and Brooke's anger had been refueled further with Peyton's second interference. Not only had she kissed Lucas in a moment of distress during a school shooting but she'd had the nerve to later confess to Brooke that she was still in love with him. It had been too much and the relationship with Lucas as well as the Brooke and Peyton friendship, was over. In a matter of months, Brooke's world had been flipped upside down. She had managed to forgive Lucas yet again and even Peyton but things just weren't the same and she wondered if they ever would be again.

"Hey, Brooke."

"How's it going?"

"Brooke, what's up?"

She smiled, nodded and waved to those trying to get her attention, some of them she didn't even know. It was like she was a celebrity and in those halls, she was. Entering the locker room, she changed into her sporty practice attire and gathered her notes detailing musical choices, new cheers, and choreography. Walking out to the gym, she took the shortcut near Whitey's office. Not paying much attention, she walked through the tiny corridor right into a large, warm object. She hit with force enough to make her stumble backwards but the real awkwardness came when she got a good look at what she had bumped into.

"Brooke", they both gasped with literal astonishment.

"Hey", she couldn't think of anything else to say.

Peyton, embarrassed, looked up at Lucas as their former friend and girlfriend, respectively, brushed right past them.

"Brooke…"

"I'll meet you on the floor."

"Brooke…"

But she was already gone. Peyton cursed out loud.

"Maybe you should try talking to her", Lucas gently suggested.

"Yeah because that's worked so well before."

"I know Peyt but I hate to see you guys like this. It sucks. You and Brooke were best friends once."

Peyton closed her eyes as she made her way back to the floor and the other cheerleaders.

"Yeah", she sadly repeated. "Once."

Warm ups began as thee cheerleaders took their positions on the mats and began stretching.

"Alright girls. Get all the kinks out, we've got a new routine today!" Brooke called out.

"Can I talk to you?" Peyton knealt beside her.

"Depends", Brooke never looked up. "Is it about practice or cheerleading or routines?"

"No. It's about us."

"Peyton…"

"Brooke, I don't know what else to say. I hate it that we're fighting like this."

"We're not fighting. We go to the same school, we're on the same squad, we run around in the same social circle. I deal with that."

"Yeah but we don't talk, not like we used to."

"Well, what do you expect? Nothing is like it used to be."

As much as she hated to hear it, she knew it was the truth.

"I'm sorry. I don't know what else to do, what else to say."

"It's fine, Peyton."

"Obviously it's not because you're still hurting and you're still angry. Look, I know it must be tough for you to see Lucas and me together like that but…"

"Is that what you think this is about?" Brooke asked, finally looking her in the eye. "Because it's not. What happened with the whole stupid love triangle thing the first time, I let go. I forgave both of you. As far as Lucas and me, us getting back together was a mistake. We weren't right for each other but neither one of us could admit it. I was finally prepared to let him go but it was still hard. If I'd had the chance to do that, then nobody would have been hurt as much, I could have leaned on my best friend for support and then we all could have moved on. But it didn't happen that way. You didn't let it happen that way, Peyton. Look, believe it or not, I'm at peace with you and Lucas together even though sometimes it still makes me cringe thinking of how you two got there. That whole soul mate thing? Okay, so maybe that is you, too. I get that. I'm okay with that now but it doesn't mean we can just go back to way things were."

"When?" Peyton asked sincerely. "Can we ever go back to that?"

"I don't know but...I hope so."

A wave of hope and relief washed over Peyton as she put her hand on Brooke's arm.

"Cheerleaders, up and over here!" Brooke pulled away and stood, yelling to summon the other girls.

Peyton swallowed hard and walked away, joining her fellow squad members

"And what the hell was that all about?" Rachel, co captain, asked, joining her roommate.

"It was nothing", Brooke shrugged it off.

"Looked like something to me. Looks like you're ready to make nice."

"Not so fast and by the way, why do you care again?"

"Because I'm an inquiring mind, because I'm your roommate and because uh, I saw those two making out in the shortcut hall."

"That really doesn't bother me anymore."

"I know."

"You know?"

"Yeah, which leads me to my next question. Why are you still holding a grudge? You don't want Lucas, Lucas doesn't want you, he and Peyton belong together and you don't even care anymore. So what's the problem? You know Blondie over there misses the hell out of you. Why don't you go ahead and put her out of her misery?"

"I don't know. I'm not ready yet."

"When will you be?" Rachel teased. "When you find a hot stud muffin, Prince Charming of your own?"

Brooke rolled her eyes and laughed.

"That'll be the day. I think Tree Hill is fresh out of stud muffin, Prince Charmings."

"You never know, Brookie. You never know."