Hi everyone, before you start reading I'd like to apologize in advance for any grammatical/syntax error you may find in this story. I'm actually french and this is a translation from a story I wrote in French long ago. I hope you'll enjoy it !
A REAL NUTCASE
Brooke Davis
To this very moment, I had never realised how much the game was part of me. But it was already too late, I was trapped by a disease eating me from the inside, day after day...
Ding.
When she heard the front door bell ring, Brooke knew clients had come in. She didn't move an inch, though. She stayed on her stool right behind the counter, and read the page she was on as fast as possible. Once she was done, she closed the book she was reading, got up from her seat and put on the apron that was patiently waiting next to the cash register.
She slowly walked towards her new clients and when she reached their table, took out the notebook from her apron and the pencil that was behind her right ear.
"Welcome to Karen's Café," she said to them. "What can I get you ? " she asked with a smile.
With quick movements, she wrote down their order and went straight to the kitchen to attach the small piece of paper to the order wheel, completely empty till now. It wasn't surprinsing, since it was a Sunday afternoon... And since recently, Deb had been complaining quite a lot about having too much work, it wasn't such a bad thing that their afternoon had been very quiet.
A few minutes later, she was back to the main room with a tray in her hands to serve her clients. She was heading back to her spot behind the counter when she briefly looked at the only other customer she had, who had not moved a lot since he had arrived.
He had come in an hour ago and when she had welcomed him he had stated not wanting anything. Apparently he just wanted a place to sit down quietly. Usually, Karen wasn't fond of people coming in and out without ordering anything, but since he was the only client at that time and since he looked decent enough, Brooke didn't kick him out. All he had done was take out a notebook and a pen from his bag, placing them on the table in front of him, only to stare at them.
The stranger had a familiar face though... She knew she had seen him before but couldn't recall when or where. She knew for sure it wasn't at the Café, not because she remembered every single face of the people coming in, but because she remembered the handsome ones. And with that face, she would have defnitely remembered him.
He looked like he had tanned a little... Which was very weird, considering the sun had not showed up during the whole month of february. He was propably back from a trip, somewhere very south of Tree Hill. Australia maybe, or India. Brooke had always wanted to go there, but her mother couldn't free herself from work easily. Their last family trip had been years ago to Spain, and Victoria had left midway to go back to her company in a hurry, economical crisis oblige. Not that it bothered Brooke in any way, since she'd rather spend time with her father.
Brooke hesitated a bit and finally decided to go and see her mystery client before going back to her reading.
"Still not hungry ? Or thirsty ?" she asked him with a polite smile.
He raised his eyes to meet hers, gave a faint smile before shaking his head and staring back at his notebook.
"I don't mean to be nosy, but can I ask you what you're doing here ?"
"What do you think I'm doing ?"
She frowned, taken aback by his answer.
"I don't know, that's why I'm asking you. You've just been staring at this notebook for almost an hour now..."
She looked at it again and realised she was wrong. He had written quite a few sentences on it but had then furiously crossed them out.
"Do you like reading?" he asked her with a hand gesture towards the seat in front of him, inviting her to sit there.
She hesitated, not willing to leave the cash register on its own. But then, from her seat, she could still keep an eye on it.
"You've been reading a book since I came in," he said once she was in front of him. "So I guess you do like reading ?"
"No I don't," she said, making him smile.
"But then why –"
"Karen – I mean, my boss asked me to. It's actually her son's first novel."
"Huh ?" he said with surprise.
"I've already read the two other books he wrote after this one, but I hated them."
His smile broadened quickly and turned into a laugh that startled her.
Didn't he know he was being rude, laughing at her for no specific reason ? She didn't say anything though, his laughter had quite a nice sound.
"So," he said after regaigning seriousness, "do you hate this one too ?"
"Actually I don't... That's probably why Karen insisted so much that I read it when I told her I didn't like the other two. She must have known..."
"So you're saying it's different from the other two books ?"
Why was she feeling like this was an interrogation ?
"It's – " she said, carefully choosing her words, "It's more authentic. When I was reading the other books, it felt like at some point even the author himself didn't believe a word he was writing. I'm really not a bookworm but these two novels were awful to read. The only reason I forced myself to finish them was because of Karen."
"Interesting..." he whispered, writing some stuff down on his notebook.
That was when she wondered... Was he a journalist ?
"Wait don't tell me you are – Actually who are you ?" she asked with a suspicious look.
"Oh sorry, I forgot to introduce myself !" he said with a smile. "It's just that since you were reading my book I thought you knew who I was."
Since she was reading his... Wait, what ?
"You are..." she muttered, suddenly blushing.
"Nice to meet you Brooke." he said holding out a hand to her.
Karen had probably told him about her.
She shook his hand, and cursed herself for her sweaty palms.
" Hum... Karen won't be back before an hour at least, so..."
" And she left you in charge ?" he asked, his eyebrows raising in surprise.
She nodded in silence. It had been a while since Karen trusted her enough to leave the café for a few hours.
"You must be a good girl then.' he said with another smile.
She blushed even more, which she didn't think was even physically possible.
"I guess so. But I'm not taking back what I said about your other books." she told him before getting up.
Once she was back to her seat next to the cash register, and when she was sure he wasn't looking at her anymore, she took out his book from below the counter and went to the first pages. That's where she had seen his face ! Why had she not read the preface ?
Lucas Scott, 20 years old when the book had been published, born in Tree Hill and raised by a single mom... She already knew all this stuff; Karen had told her numerous times her son's childhood story. She had also seen pictures, but the most recent ones were from more than ten years ago... No way she could have recognised him from these. And she wasn't expecting him to come here out of nowhere... Last time she had heard, he was travelling in South America and was not supposed to come back to Tree Hill anytime soon. If Karen had known he was coming back, she would have gone to fetch him at the airport. Did that mean he was coming unannounced ?
She sighed, still not believing what she had told him about his books. If she had known he was the author, she would have said the same things yes, but with a lot of sugar coating. But he didn't seem to have taken it the wrong way, it was quite the opposite; even if Brooke had no idea what he had found so funny in her critics. Wasn't he supposed to get angry at her ?
Lucas stayed for another half an hour and suddenly stood up from his chair and flashed her a radiant smile before leaving. She blushed again, before remembering who he was. Nathan would not have been very happy to learn she had sort of sympathised with his brother.
Half-brother, to be precise. Lucas was obviously the older one; Karen and Dan had been highschool sweethearts and they had raised him together until he was four and Karen discovered Dan was cheating on her with his new secretary, Deb. Unfortunately for Dan, Deb had gotten pregnant and it turned out she wasn't just a fling for him since he left Karen to be with her.
Yes, Deb, as in the Deb that was currently working in the café's kitchen. For years, she had never spoken to Karen until that fateful night a few years ago, at a charity dinner, where the two women had met and realised they could be good friends. That was almost four years ago and a year after Lucas had left Tree Hill to pursue his writing career. It had not been easy at first and according to Karen, her son had struggled several months before finally finding an editor for his first book.
Brooke had gathered all this information from Nathan and Karen, since she had never met Lucas before. He had left Tree Hill five years ago, when she was still in middle school. She knew from Karen he was a good person, but because of Nathan, she knew she couldn't get along too much with him. Nathan could forgive her for a lot of things, but fraternizing with Lucas was not one of them.
Speaking of, she was supposed to see him after her service. When Karen came back, she immediately told her Lucas had come by; at first, Karen thought she had confused him with someone else and when she realised it was true, she erupted with such joy that Brooke told her she would stay with Deb until closing tonight so that Karen could go and be with her son, since she hadn't seen him in a while. She genuinely hesitated but eventually accepted after a lot of insistance from Brooke.
When she called Peyton to tell her she couldn't come tonight, her friend said it was no big deal, she could come herself to the café. About twenty minutes later, Peyton was walking through the front door, accompanied by Nathan. When she saw him coming in, she immediately hid her book below the counter.
"Peyton said you're locked up in here," Nathan told her with a grin.
She stuck out her tongue at him while he was walking around the bar laughing and planted a kiss on her head. He then headed to the kitchen, most probably to greet his mother, and came back to sit next to her, his left arm hanging loosely around her shoulders.
"Karen had to go," she explained to Peyton who was still standing across from her, "so I'm staying here."
"What was so urgent ?" she asked with a frown.
"Well, actually..." Brooke hesitated, watching Nathan furtively.
"What is it?" he asked, intrigued.
"Well," she murmured with apparent nervousness, " her son is in town"
Peyton raised her eyebrows, suprised, while Nathan was clenching his teeth.
"Really," he said, apparently not suprised by the news, "and when did he get here ?"
"I don't know... recently I think. But why aren't you surprised ?"
"I knew he was coming back."
Since when did he know ? He hadn't said a word to her or Peyton.
"You know, my dad is part of the school council..."
"We already know that," Peyton interrupted him, "what does that have to do with Lucas ?"
"Did you seriously think Mrs Ogher was going to stay in school any longer ?"
Their litterature teacher was indeed pregnant, and already at her seventh month when their holiday had started, a week ago.
"So they got her a substitute", Peyton said as she understood, "and it's..."
"Yep. The infamous writer, Lucas Scott." he said with a bitter tone.
Oh god.
She had just told her new litterature teacher that his books were rubbish.
"Did you talk to him ?" Nathan asked her.
"Kind of, yeah. But I didn't konw who he was, he only told me before he left."
"Oh..." he muttered. "Well you will have to talk to him anyway, he's your teacher now."
But not his. Nathan felt probably very lucky right now not to be with them in litterature.
"He seemed a little... weird."
"No kidding," Nathan added, "the guy's a nutcase. But I bet you he'll be welcomed here as a semi-god. The prodigual son returning home."
Despite his obvious resentment, Nathan wasn't completely wrong here. Even if it wasn't the case for Brooke, his three books were extremely popular and had quickly been become bestsellers, especially here in Tree Hill. That was the main reason why he could afford all these trips around the world he had done the past year. Brooke knew that for a fact, since she was the one sticking up his postcards on the café's walls every week. He had covered almost every continent and made Brooke very envious at each new postcard.
Lucas Scott
Lucas was holding his coffee-filled mug with both hands, hoping to get warmer this way. Leaving Argentina and its hot weather to Tree Hill's cold winter seemed easier when he was still in the southern continent.
Karen poured herself a cup of coffee and came to sit opposite him, at their kitchen table. A smile stuck on her lips since he had greeted her earlier that afternoon, she sipped her drink before putting it on the table, staring silently at her son.
"Mom you're staring a lot," Lucas said diverting his eyes from her.
"When you'll have a kid who's gone for five years without coming home once, you'll want to stare at him too," she retorted. "I still can't believe you're going to teach here. And that you didn't say a word about it."
"That's called a surprise, mom," he said with a grin, "otherwise it's just not one."
"Well if it wasn't for Brooke, I would still not know you're here. The poor girl, I left her the whole afternoon at work when it's her last day of holiday."
"Then why don't you go back ? I wouldn't mind."
"She insisted a lot."
Why on earth would she do that ?
"That's just the way she is," his mother explained to him, reading his thoughts once again. "Brooke is always like that."
He nodded to that, remembering their meeting. She looked very... spontaneous, to say the least. Never had he met anyone so honest about his other two books. And the fact that she was willing to sacrifice her last holiday afternoon just gave him more reason to think his first impression of her was spot on.
"She's been working here for a year and a half ?"
"Yes, that's about right."
If he recalled correctly what his mother had told him about Brooke, she had only been looking for a temporary job at first. Eventually she felt comfortable at the café and was willing to work during week days too, after school. Three eveings a week and one afternoon per weekend. Exactly like Lucas when he was in school high, five years prior to her.
"Is she one of your students ?"
"Yeah."
He had indeed noticed her name on the list that had been sent to him by the school. And after their meeting, he had to admit he was eager to see her in class.
"I really hope my first day will be fine...", he whispered to his mom, his apprehension suddenly kicking in.
"Don't worry," Karen replied with a warm smile," you'll be a great teacher, I'm sure of it. And the students are gonna love you especially since you're from here, just like them."
He had never thought of coming back to Tree Hill, not so soon at least. After his first book was published, everything went on so quickly : the press tour, the press conferences, the fancy parties... And then he was asked to write another book, before the surprise effect of the first one could disappear. So he did it. Another success that he honestly wasn't expecting at all considering the way he had written it. Then he was asked a third book and again, he had done his job and the public had been here a third time.
That's when his editor retired. It was now his daughter who was going to care of him, Lindsay. Much to his relief, Lindsay turned out to be her father's opposite, and when he told her he needed a break to put things into perspective, something he hadn't had time to do in four years, she gave him her absolute approval. So he went on a world tour, looking for, well probably inspiration. It wasn't just inspiration he was missing, there was something else too but he could not put a word on this void he was feeling. All he knew was that he hadn't found it in all the cities he had visited, so he had naturally decided to come back to his hometown. By chance, the high school was looking for a litterature teacher and directly contacted him. He hadn't even applied to anything but for some reason they had thought of him, even if he didn't have a teacher degree.
His mother pulled him from his thoughts. : "do you have a list of your students ?"
"It's in my bag... Wait a second." he said standing up. He went to his room and took out a green sheet of paper from his suitcase. "There you go." he said once back in the kitchen.
She thanked him with a smile and quickly scanned through the list.
"He's not in here."
Karen looked up at him, frowning in a confused way.
"The one you're looking for," he explained, "he's not one of my students."
"How do you know..."
" I know you mom," he simply said with a smile, "and honestly I'm glad Nathan is not on this."
It was one of the first things he had done when he received that list. Not that he was scared of him, but...
Nathan wasn't really the friendliest person in the world when he was around Lucas. Only when he was around Lucas.
He hadn't seen him in five years, so of course he might habe changed... Maybe he would even stay calm if they met in school. Even if Nathan wasn't one of his students, he was bound to see him there.
"You know Nathan has changed a lot in five years..."
"I don't doubt that mom, but I'm pretty sure he still hates me."
He didn't even know why his brother despised him that much. What could be his reasons, when Lucas was the one who had to grow up without a father ? He wasn't the one ignored by Dan... Lucas had nerver understood where all his hatred came from, but his defense mechanisms had always pushed him not to take any shit from Nathan.
"Well you'll see him at the café anyway."
"What do you m– oh right, I forgot that Deb's working with you now."
"That's not why," Karen retorted, "I'm talking about Brooke."
"What about Brooke ?" he asked, taking another sip of coffee.
"Didn't I tell you ?" she asked back in surprise, "they're dating, so Nathan often comes to see her when she's working."
Lucas almost spat out his drink; he cleared his throat, his hand on his lips, and gave an incredulous look to his mother.
"For real ?"
"Yes," she said, her brows furrowing, "why do you sound so surprised ?"
Well... He didn't know really why. He just coudn't picture them together. But then again, he didn't Brooke, or even Nathan.
"It's just the way she talked to me... I thought if Nathan had a girlfriend he would have forbidden her to even look at me."
"I doubt that", Karen told him with obvious disapproval, "and anyway Brooke is not the kind to quietly listen to orders."
That, he could have guessed on his own.
"How long have they been together ?" he asked, his curiosity piqued.
"Well, they were already dating before she got the job, so... I guess it's been two years now ?"
Two years... That meant she knew Nathan really well and explained her embarrassment when he told her who he was. That, and the fact that she had denigrated his books right to his face.
"What about you ?" his mother asked him, "you still have no one to introduce to me ?"
Lucas looked up at her, amused by her curiousity.
"I think I'm gonna rest a little..." he said standing up, holding back a smile.
"That means there is someone !" she cried.
Brooke Davis
Once Nathan had closed the café's door on his way out, Brooke could finally get back to her book.
"It's not that big of a deal if you're reading his book !" said Peyton, rolling her eyes.
"Are you kidding ? Whenever he sees one of these he wants to go all pyromaniac on them !"
Peyton got up from her seat and walked around the corner to sit next to her best friend.
"He doesn't really have a choice here" she added, "he's our teacher now."
"I know, but... He's the most stubborn person I know."
"Mmh, no," Peyton said, pretending to ponder on it, "there's you before him."
"Ha ha", she retorted with a smile. "Well it's not like he's never been like that before. Do you remember when he asked me out ?"
"He litteraly harassed you," she rolled her eyes, "and me too, at the same time."
Brooke's smile broadened while thinking about it. She had no idea at that time what she was walking into, but had never regretted her decision. Nathan was genuinely nice and she was happy to have met him, even under such unusal circumstances.
"I have to go", Peyton said, "but you'll be fine, right ? You look so absorbed in that book... Is it that good ?"
"For now, yes," she said with a smile, "I hope his lessons will be just as interesting."
"Well, it's not like he can do worse than Mrs Ogher." Peyton said with a laugh.
She wasn't wrong on this; Mrs Ogher's litterature lessons had been the most boring hours of Brooke's entire life. And they were also associated to her worse grades ever, hence the importance of her grades to come and the fact that getting on the wrong side of her new teacher by criticising his writing skills was probably not the best thing to do.
Lucas – or rather, Mr Scott didn't say anything about that the next morning, when she saw him on the parking lot. His car was three spaces next to hers, and she couldn't help greeting him when she saw him getting out of his car.
"There are parking spots for teachers."
He turned to her, his eyebrows raised, and smiled at her when he recognised her.
"They're next to the gym," she added with a smile.
"I didn't know that... Thanks.", he said while locking his car doors. "So, are you in a hurry to go back to school ?" he asked her while they were walking towards the main entrance.
Strangely enough, he was walking very slowly, his hands were shaking, and he was looking stealthily around him.
"Not really, no. But you look kind of... nervous."
"Re-really ?" he stuttered. "I might be a little stressed about my first class."
Brooke couldn't help but be moved and smiled; she had to tell this to Karen tonight.
"Don't worry, it's all gonna be fine. Actually, don't tell anyone I said this to you," she whispered, "but everyone hated Mrs Ogher so they're really glad we have a new teacher," she added with a wink.
It seemed like he managed to relax a little before they reached the entrance door.
"Thank you." she said when he opened the door for her.
"Well then I guess I'm going... This way, I think." he said pointing at a corridor on their left.
"Yes," she replied with a grin, "that's the way to the teachers' lounge. See you later then !"
The good thing was, he didn't seem mad at all about their encounter in the café. So he really was amused by her criticisms.
When she got to her locker, she looked for Peyton but didn't see her. Taking out her phone, she called her but got no answer. Instead, a few seconds later, she received a text from Peyton telling her she was at the library.
What was she doing there so early ? She decided to join her before heading to her class, and when she arrived in the library, noticed that it was completely empty, apart from the librarian of course, and Peyton who was in the music section.
"What are you doing here ?" she asked her friend once she was behind her.
Peyton jumped up with fright and turned around, relaxing when she saw Brooke.
"I just came to give back a CD I borrowed before the holiday," she shrugged, "and I'm picking another one."
She glided her fingers on the row nearest to her, reading the album names at the same time.
"Can you hurry ?" Brooke pressed her. "Nathan is probably waiting for us."
"Well he can wait a little, it won't hurt him." she said with mischief.
Brooke rolled her eyes, now used to the constant bickering between Nathan and Peyton. Ever since they knew him, so basically since she was dating him, Peyton just seemed to take any opportunity she had to fight with him.
"You're being mean P. Sawyer."
"No, I'm being funny." she retorted. Peyton stopped checking the CDS in front of her and turned to face her friend, "What is going on with you two anyway ?"
"We are dating in case you didn't notice.", Brooke said nervously.
"Brooke there's no one here apart from us and Tommy the librarian who couldn't care less about our problems," Peyton said, leaning against the shelf behind her. "I've noticed for a while now, you act differently around him."
Brooke sighed, shaking her head with resign : she had noticed it too.
"I don't know what to think him... Of us.", she admitted softly. "He went from stranger, to fake boyfriend, to real friend while being a fake boyfriend and now... I have no idea where we're going."
Peyton raised a brow and said, "Are you telling me that your fake couple might become a real one ?"
"No," she denied with absolutely no conviction. "I don't know, maybe ?"
Peyton opened her mouth, ready to reply but stayed silent when they heard something fall. A book, or any object resting on one of these shelves that someone had dropped. Just like Brooke's, her eyes got bigger all of a sudden, when they both realised they had been heard. Her little secret with Nathan was out.
And that's it for chapter one. Again, I hope my English is not too awkward... Feel free to review :)