Story of Us
Chapter 1
Disclaimer: I do not own One Tree Hill or any of these characters. This is an AU.
So, I'm not the popular guy at school; and I'm not the coolest guy, either. With that being said, I guess I should begin by explaining myself and how things piled up to get me to where I am now.
Honestly, I don't know where to start. I guess i'm just a pretty indecisive person. I don't dance, I can't sing, I don't really socialize, but I am pretty smart. I'm a Junior at Tree Hill High. I love to read. I read a lot. But I think I love writing more. There's just this sense of freedom that comes along with writing, and I just embrace that. You can say that I'm a nerd. It's not like people don't call me one anyways.
My parents aren't around much, so it kind of gets lonely around the house. But then again, I don't really mind. They're off on business trips all the time and I'm used to being alone so I've learned to like it.
But there's this girl that I've had only the biggest crush on since my childhood. She doesn't really know I exist, but that's fine. I never really expect her to acknowledge me. She's just the prettiest girl in all of Tree Hill... That's no big deal...
They say that if you've had a crush on the same person for more than 4 months, you're considered to be in love with that person.
It's been 11 years.
I'm Nathan Scott; she's Haley James. This is the story of us.
"Oh, I'm sorry." I said aloud as I was accidentally bumped into on my way to first period. I was so used to being treated as if I didn't even exist. I really didn't have an importance in this school but I've learned to be okay with it.
8:06AM. First period bell has rung. I looked around and saw an empty seat right next to me. I always sit in the back row because I didn't want to act like a know-it-all teacher's pet that always wanted to sit in the front.
8:12AM. "Alright class, turn to page 207 in your textbooks," our teacher spoke.
The entire class turned their heads to the door as it flew open. I clenched my pencil, feeling myself slightly tense up as I saw her come in.
"You're late, Miss James. Again."
"I know," she said, handing him a tardy pass as she took her time to occupy the desk that was beside me.
"You can't afford to be tardy anymore, Haley," he spoke, "One more and you'll get yourself detention."
Haley just nodded, gathering her textbooks and putting them in a stack on the floor between us.
I didn't say anything. I didn't even look at her. I didn't want her or anyone else knowing that I had a crush on her; that'd be so embarrassing. She's so out of my league. I tried to pay attention to the teacher, or at least, I tried to make it seem like I were paying attention. I think I usually do good with that.
"Hey," she tapped me on the shoulder and whispered to me, "What page are we on?"
"207," I replied coolly, facing her for nothing more than 2 seconds. I swear I felt my heart stop the second she tapped my shoulder.
...Wow, I'm such a loser.
So I made my way to my usual lunch table; alone, in the library. I told the librarian that my excuse for this year is that it's my junior year, and I really have to focus because this year is the toughest. We're about 4 months into school and I've sat here everyday since the first day. But in all honesty, I do have a lot of homework and I'd much rather spend my time doing it at school than at home.
I guess I'm pretty socially awkward, but that's a long-shot attribute considering I've never really tried to socialize. I wouldn't say I'm a loner because of my physical appearance or personality, I'm more of a loner by choice. And trust me, there's a big difference between the two.
But it's not that I don't want to have friends... I do. I really wish I had friends. But it's better to be upfront about being lonely than it is to be a try-hard loser. I think that's what I worry about most of all.
"Is anyone sitting here?"
I looked up and saw a girl standing in front of the table with a stack of books. I looked around, noticing tons of other empty tables, wondering why she chose to sit across from me of all the other vacant seats.
"No," I shook my head, not wanting to be rude.
"Cool," she said, sitting across from me, "So, what're you working on there?" she asked, referring to my stack of work.
I shrugged, not looking up from my paper, "I'm just writing."
"Nice."
I tried to ignore her in a polite fashion. It wasn't in my nature having someone talk to me so casually.
"What's your name?" she asked.
"Nathan."
"Well, I'm Brooke."
It was then did I jerk my head up to take a good look at her. Her name sounded so familiar, and it was.
She laughed at my sudden facial expression, "I take it you've heard of me before?"
I looked around and sat up in my seat, "Why are you talking to me?" I whispered.
She shrugged, "You're the only other person in this room. Besides, I'm just here to study."
"But you're a cheerleader."
"Oh, so you're a stereotypical-type of guy."
I stared at her, confused out of my mind. I had no idea what she even meant.
"I still like to have good grades. I'm failing like 2 classes right now."
"How?" I asked.
"Personal reasons. Anyways, I promised my best-friend Haley that I'd bring my grades up. She worries about me and I kind of always give her a reason to so I'm trying to prove her wrong."
I nodded, not really knowing how to carry the rest of the conversation. I'm still trying to process the fact that a cheerleader is actually talking to me.
"Anyways, I'll shut up and let you continue writing."
The next day was even weirder. I found myself walking towards my locker after second period, not even paying attention to where I was heading. I kept my eyes on Haley, who was walking towards my direction from across the hall. I saw her walking with Lucas Scott, my cousin.
I wasn't close with Lucas or his dad, my uncle, Keith. They always seemed to be around while my parents were out of town, so family gatherings didn't really occur often. I've always felt inferior to Lucas, only because he's particularly popular in a sense that I'm not. But don't get me wrong, he seems like a really nice guy. From what I can tell.
As I was unintentionally walking to my third period class, I bumped into a rather smaller female body. That seemed to be a growing pattern for me.
"Oh, God, Nathan. You're lucky it's you. Otherwise I would totally kick your ass just now." Brooke said, adjusting the strap of her satchel on her shoulder.
"I'm sorry," I apologized, scratching my neck.
She examined me, "Gosh, are you usually this flumsy?"
Before I had the chance to answer, I noticed two other people join our conversation.
"Hey, Brooke." Lucas said before looking over at me, "Oh, hey Nathan." He said in a rather surprised tone as he stuck his arm up for some sort of hand-hug, "Long time no see."
"You two know each other?" Brooke asked.
Lucas nodded, "He's my cousin."
Brooke suddenly looked at me as if I was actually normal, "Oh. Well, Hales, this is Nathan. I met him in the library yesterday at lunch."
Haley gave me a half-smile that seemed genuinely welcoming, "Hi."
By now, my heart was literally racing faster than I even thought was possible, "Hi."
"Is the library always open during lunch? I used to try to get in there but it'd always be closed," Haley asked me.
I nodded awkwardly, "They barely made it available during lunch this year." Gosh, I seemed like such a nerd knowing when the library was open.
"Oh, sweet," she said, turning to Lucas and Brooke, "I think we should start eating in there for lunch."
I raised an eyebrow, pushing my luck, "Why?" I asked.
She faced me again, "We're all kind of sick of eating out in the lunchyard. And we have some catching up to do with studying, anyways."
I nodded, hearing the bell ring, saving me from this conversation. "I should get to class."
"Okay," Haley agreed. "It was nice meeting you."
Did she really just say that? Was it really nice meeting me? Or, was she just saying that to be polite?
"Do you think you'll be in the library today?" Lucas asked me.
"Yeah," I replied surely.
"Cool. That seems like a better scene than out in the lunchyard," he told me. "Alright, well I'll see you later." He shrugged.
As they all went their separate ways, I was left confused.. Did I just make friends?
AN: Oh boy. I've been working on this story for quite a while now and I've been so anxious to start posting it. I really hope you guys like this one because I've put a lot of extra thought into how I'm building the characters/plot-line!