A/N: Hey there!
Ok, so this is my second OTH sisfic, but this character is totally different from my first one (Cassie, in 'The Glue that Binds). I know the summary completely sucks and I'm sorry haha hopefully the story won't be as bad.
Disclaimer: Anything you recognise isn't mine :)
This chapter is kind of short, and it's kind of introductory (I know what you're thinking, well duh, it's the first chapter, but bear with me haha). I promise Nathan and Lucas will be in the next chapter. I actually intended for them to be in this one, but it kind of felt finished here, so, you know lol :D
Please R+R! I love reading reviews! I find them so helpful in knowing how people like the story, and I fully believe that the feedback helps me to develop my writing. If you'd rather not leave a review, PM me instead! I really don't mind :D I'll even happily take criticism, as long as it's constructive, and ideas/suggestions are always more than welcomed!
Well, I'm going to shut up now and let you get on with it lol
Thanks,
xoloveJBox
Chapter One.
"You ready Kiddo?" Joanna Hart asked her sixteen year old daughter Tori.
"As I'll ever be." Tori sighed, climbing in behind the wheel of her beloved, though more than slightly battered red truck. Zach strode to the passenger side window as Joanna closed her door, and he looked sternly at two of the most important people in his life.
"I want to know the minute you get there." He told them seriously, and Tori rolled her eyes. It wasn't the first time she'd heard that instruction.
"Yes Uncle Zach." She chimed in a sickly sweet voice, with a slightly biting sarcastic undertone.
"Actually," Zach added quickly "I was you to call me when you stop to sleep tonight."
"Got it Zach." Joanna replied, matching her daughter's tone.
Zach diverted his gaze back to Tori "Look after your mom, ok?"
"I always do." Tori laughed "Jeez, we'll never get there if you don't let go of my truck."
"Alright, alright," Zach snapped playfully "Drive safe."
Joanna and Tori waved as they pulled out of the ranch. The sun was barely rising above Montana, but they'd decided to get an early start on their trip. As they drove past, Tori could see some of the horses being let out of their stables, and they cows were lazily grazing already. Despite how much Tori complained about the chores she had to do around the ranch, she couldn't help but think that she would miss them in the week she and her mother were going to be away.
For about an hour, the two sat in companionable silence, listening to the soft thrum of the radio filtering from the speakers.
"I still don't understand why we're even going." Tori announced when they finally hit the highway.
"We've been over this Tori-Jayne." Her mother sighed.
Tori chose to ignore the use of her full first name and continued "I don't get it though. You hated Tree Hill."
"No, I hated certain people there," Joanna corrected "It's different now."
"What if it isn't, mom?" Tori asked irritably "What if they're just like him? What then?"
"Nathan won't be. I know it." Joanna assured her confidently, though Tori clearly wasn't convinced
"You haven't seen him since he was six Mom. You don't know what he's like now." Tori argued "And what about the other one, huh?"
"You know his name Tori-Jayne. And you've read his book just the same as I have. You know that he grew up away from Dan, so there was no way he could get his claws into Lucas."
"And what if they're not interested in me Mom. What if they don't care?" Though her eyes remained firmly on the road in front of her, Tori's eyebrows were raised expectantly, but Joanna had already thought about that.
"Then you can just stay in Montana with Zach and Tess." She replied simply.
"If that's an option, why are we doing this in the first place?" Tori exclaimed incredulously.
"Because you'll need to be with your family Tori." Joanna replied casually, though her outward appearance was the polar opposite of her internal emotions.
"They don't even know I exist!" Tori yelled, her knuckles turning white as she clasped the wheel tightly.
"Well regardless of anything, they damn well need to." Joanna snapped back, feeling her hold on her temper loosen slightly. "I need to know that you're going to be ok when I-"
Tori cut her off sharply "We are totally not having this conversation right now."
"Fine." Joanna sang, reaching down to the bag at her feet and pulling out a book "But we need to have it eventually."
Tori gave a quick glance across at what her mother was reading and groaned loudly.
"You've got to be kidding me." She muttered after seeing the dog-eared copy of 'An unkindness of Ravens' that between them had been read countless times.
Joanna snickered and started to read.
"You mind if we stop soon?" Tori asked a few hours later "I need to stretch my legs."
Joanna looked over and smiled "Whatever you want my angel."
Tori nodded and kept driving. Joanna went to turn back to the book, which she had almost finished again, but instead looked at her daughter for a while. She saw the long, dark curls that were currently captured in a loose bun, with some strands escaping and cascading down her face. Engrossed in the task of driving, Tori didn't notice that her mother was watching her as she blew her thick, sideways falling fringe from her eyes. Eyes that, Joanna knew that if Tori were looking at her would be wide, bright, and dazzlingly emerald. Eyes that, if Joanna remembered correctly, Tori shared with Nathan. Curled up behind the steering wheel, it was hard to tell that Tori was long and gangly, though she wasn't inelegant with it. Despite the fact that she was slim, Joanna knew that her daughter was far from fragile; she was strong for her age and size, and she could happily hold her own and keep up with the grown men that worked on the ranch. Lord knows that she could defend herself, and would, a little too readily. Tori's skin was always lightly tanned from long days outside on the ranch, though she always made sure to do her homework too. Joanna couldn't remember the last time Tori had come home with less than a B in anything. Even now, when they were going away for a week to North Carolina, Tori had put in extra hours of school work to do the week's work ahead of time, so that she wouldn't be behind when she returned. It pleased Joanna to know that her daughter had the brains, motivation and dedication to do whatever she wanted with her life.
How can I leave her? Joanna thought bitterly. How can I leave this beautiful creature that I created, somehow making her perfect, despite all my own flaws?
"What are you looking at?" Tori asked, dragging Joanna from her thoughts.
"You." She answered without even hesitating.
Tori gave an amused grin "Why?"
"'Cause you're beautiful, you know that?"
Joanna laughed when Tori's cheeks blushed sheepishly "Mom." She whined self-consciously.
"I'm serious." Joanna chuckled at her daughter's reaction "One day, you're going to blow the whole world away."
Tori sighed and rolled her eyes dramatically, but Joanna could see Tori's cheeks glowing from the sudden compliment.
They stopped for the night a few hours later, as the sky was bleeding red, already a little more than half way to their destination. Joanna predicted that if they got an early enough start, they would arrive in Tree Hill around noon the next day, but she decided to wait until the morning to call Nathan again and tell him that. It had taken her a little while to get Nathan's number after so many years away from the small town she had once called home, but eventually she'd gotten it and she's set her little plan in motion, calling Nathan and asking if it would be ok if she and her teenage daughter could visit him. Nathan had been surprised, but had agreed all the same, seeming pleased at the chance to see her again. Joanna had thought about telling him everything on the phone right there and then, but she had stopped herself, thinking that it was a conversation best left for face-to-face.
Tori and Joanna checked into the first motel they found, dumped all of their things in the room before wondering off in search of a diner. While they were walking, Tori had called Zach to let him know that they had stopped, so that he and Tess, the grandmotherly housekeeper that cooked and cleaned for everyone at the ranch, could stop worrying about them.
They ate quickly before returning to their room, each one of them too tired to do more than shower and clamber into bed. Tori fell asleep pretty much as soon as her head hit the pillow, exhausted after a whole day of almost solid driving, but Joanna didn't succumb to slumber quite so easily. She lay on her lumpy mattress, thoughts swirling around mercilessly in her head, and she knew that the next day was going to be a long one.
A/N 2: Tadaaaa! If you're reading this, it probably (hopefully) means that you read all of the first chapter! SO thank you soooo much!
Again, let me know what you think
xxx
