One Tree Hill: Proving a Point

Author: L

Disclaimer: I do not own One Tree Hill or any of its characters.

Author's Note: I really love One Tree Hill and this is the first story I've ever written for the show so I hope it turns out okay.


Chapter 1


"Sam!" Brooke called, knocking on the bedroom for the third time that morning. "Wake up! I've let you sleep for an extra fifteen minutes but if you don't get up now, you're going to be late."

There was an annoyed muffled groan from the other side of the door as something thumped against it. Shaking her head, Brooke hurried back to the kitchen just in time to take the saucepan off of the cooker as the eggs started to burn. She took the knife and fork off of the table and cut the burnt parts away before piling them onto a plate.

While she was in the midst of pouring a cup of coffee, there was a knock on the front door and she hurried towards it, hands still occupied as she shouted over her shoulder, "Sam! Wake up now!" Awkwardly balancing the jug and the cup, she opened the door to reveal her best friend. "Hey, what are you doing here so early?"

Scurrying back to the kitchen, she called once again, "Sam! You have a minute to get your ass out here now or Haley and I will launch a double-attack on you." Turning back to Haley, she offered her the half-filled cup in her hand and reached into the cupboard for two more. "Haley, can you do me a huge favour please? Victoria is insisting on a meeting this morning and I won't have time to drive Sam to school. I was wondering –"

"I'll drive her," Haley interrupted with a smile. "Actually, the reason why I'm here this early is to talk to you about Sam." Taking a sip of her coffee, her gaze darted towards Sam's still-closed bedroom door. She didn't want to ruin the surprise for her.

Brooke, on the other hand, didn't interpret Haley's words optimistically. At this moment, she was more worried than curious. "What did she do? Tell me she didn't back-chat to any of the teachers or get into any fights," she pleaded.

Haley laughed and quickly cleared away any misunderstandings. "No, it's nothing like that. I just wanted to tell you that you should make room on that fridge for another A-plus essay." She laughed again at Brooke's reaction as she squealed happily. "She's doing really well in class."

The bedroom door opened and Sam walked out, arms hanging by her side as she dragged her feet to the kitchen. "Okay, I'm up and I'm dressed. You don't have to squeal so loudly." She took the coffee from Brooke and glared at her. "You're not forgiven for waking me up this morning."

Rolling her eyes, Brooke placed the plate filled with the non-burnt eggs in front of her as Sam muttered a grumpy "good morning" to Haley. Instead, Sam reached for the other plate and started eating. When Brooke started to protest, she mumbled sarcastically with a mouthful of food, "I prefer the burnt eggs."

"Don't talk with your mouth full," Brooke reminded her as she made a failed attempt at switching the plates. "Sam, stop eating the burnt eggs."

"If you didn't want me to eat them then you shouldn't have burned them in the first place." She was surprised to find that Brooke didn't retort to her sarcastic remark. Looking up, she realised that Brooke was smiling happily at her. Sam, who was confused by this, pushed away from the table and muttered, "You're freaking me out. Come on, you said we were going to be late."

Haley slid off her seat and walked after her. "I'm taking you to school today. Your mo– Brooke has a meeting," she informed her, hoping that Sam didn't notice the slip. Haley saw no problem in referring to Brooke as Sam's mom but Brooke had put a taboo on the word because she didn't want it to scare Sam away.

"I'm really sorry, Sam," Brooke said from the kitchen. Draining her coffee, she called, "Have a good day and stop by the store after school if you want. I promise I won't make you help out."

Sam rolled her eyes but let a smile play on her lips. "I'll see you after school," she told a grinning Brooke before following Haley to her car.


Unlike with any of her other lessons before lunch, Sam wasn't desperately longing for it to end because she thoroughly enjoyed Haley's – Mrs Scott's – English Literature class; not that she would ever admit it. To her right, she could hear a girl counting down from one hundred and twenty.

"Okay, I know it's nearly time for lunch so I'm going to make this quick." Haley smiled as she stood up from her seat and started returning the latest homework assignment to the students. When she passed Sam, she whispered, "Stay behind after class."

Disappointment coursed through Sam as she picked up her paper but it was quickly replaced by a smile when she saw her grade.

"What did you get?" the girl on her right asked.

Sam immediately dropped her smile and shrugged as she slung her bag over her shoulder. "It was an average grade."

Hovering behind, she waited for the classroom to clear out before making her way to Haley's desk. "Why did you want me to see me? I didn't think I did that badly," Sam said while twisting her lips into a smile for a brief second.

"I wanted to congratulate you," Haley replied warmly. "Well done, Sam. I've been really impressed with your essays and I know Brooke is going be really proud of your A-plus."

"Are you sure you're not being biased?" smirked Sam. "You are Brooke's best friend."

"Trust me Sam, if your work was not good enough to be an A-plus then I wouldn't have graded it an A-plus. You earned it. Your essay was amazing." Gesturing towards the door, Haley told her, "Keep it up, Sam. You can go and enjoy lunch now."

Allowing herself to smile a little longer, she thanked Haley, although not without a hint of playful sarcasm, and left the classroom, closing the door behind her. Before she could take another step, she heard someone clear their throat loudly. The girl who had sat next to her before was leaning against the wall with a smug expression.

"What do you want?" snapped Sam.

Swinging her brunette hair over her shoulders, the girl lazily pushed herself off of the wall so she was stood in front of Sam. "Wow, what a geek."

Seething instantly, Sam only remembered to keep her temper down when she saw Haley through the window on the door. "I am not a geek," she gritted angrily through her teeth.

"You don't look like one," continued the girl. "Yet you act like one. I mean your idea of an average grade is an A-plus and that's your fourth A-plus in a row since I transferred to this school." Smirking at Sam, she added, "Of course, seeing as the English Lit teacher is friends with your mom, I guess you can get good grades and not be a geek at the same time."

"Why are you even talking to me? Is it your duty as a cheerleader to rip the geeks apart?" Sam had put air quotes around the word 'geeks' and her voice was miles away from calm.

The girl looked offended as she retorted, "I am not a cheerleader."

"Really?" smirked Sam. "I saw your grade and with a D like that, how can you not be a cheerleader?" Sam felt bad about the remark because Haley had been a cheerleader but she was also the smartest person that Sam knew. Brooke and Peyton had also been cheerleaders but as far as Sam knew, they got decent grades.

"Getting a D doesn't make me a cheerleader," the girl told her matter-of-factly.

"Getting an A-plus doesn't make me a geek," Sam responded smoothly, getting extremely bored of the conversation. She didn't even know her name let alone pay any attention to her in lessons so why were they having such a long conversation?

"I guess I set myself up for that one," Sam heard her mutter as she started to make her escape. "Wait!" she called when she realised that Sam was walking away. "I'm Jo," she offered as she fell into step with her.

"Look," Sam began in a less-than-sincere voice with a matching expression. She stopped and turned to face Jo. "I don't even know you aside from the fact that you sit next to me in my English Lit class so I don't get why you're trying to pick a fight."

"I'm not trying to pick a fight," Jo muttered.

Sam shot her a sceptical look and laced her words with heavy sarcasm. "Oh yeah, calling me a geek and accusing me of only getting good grades because the teacher is best friends with my m– well, it's hardly the ideal way to make friends."

"Sorry," Jo intercepted quickly. "Well, I couldn't help overhearing your conversation with Mrs Scott so I was just curious."

Rolling her eyes, Sam muttered, "Don't worry about it; every frigging person in this school stereotypes or is stereotyped."

Ignoring her comment, there was a mischievous glint in Jo's eyes as an idea came to mind. "Why don't we test my theory out?" she smirked.

Narrowing her eyes at the girl suspiciously, Sam asked, "What are you talking about?"

They pushed open the double doors and strode outside, welcoming the breeze with open arms. "Well, if Mrs Scott is really as honest with her grading as you say she is then there wouldn't be any harm in switching our essays."

"You want me to hand in your D-grade work?" questioned Sam incredulously, not waiting for a reply. "What makes you think I want to break my A-plus streak?"

"What's the matter? Do you not want to be proven wrong?" Jo shot her a smile full of fake curiosity but deep down, she knew that no one would be able to back down if they were asked a question like that.

Without thinking it over, Sam tried to hide her irritation as she muttered, "Fine. We'll meet out here tomorrow morning and switch them before we have to go to class."

Sam glared at her as she started towards the school vending machines, leaving Jo looking impressed by her attitude.