Title: Yesterday's Tomorrow

Author: Mihika (littlemissfalloutboy)

Rating: T

Pairing: Nathan/Haley

Spoilers: None – Completely AU

Warning: Use of strong language and references to drugs, alcohol and sexual situations.

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the clothes on my back and my trusty computer.

Chapter 1 – That Other Girl

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens us most."

Maryanne Williamson

As human beings we are always looking for approval. Whether we're six years old or sixty five, all we want is for someone to notice us, to smile when we do something, to tell us "I'm so proud of you!"

For some of us, however, there comes a time in our lives when we stop looking for the approval. We give up because it's no longer worth it. Simply because no one else seems to care.

Haley never used to be that girl. But things change. People change.

Three years ago, her mother died. Plain and simple. She was a depressive and eventually it got the best of her. She grieved for months - crying and locking herself inside her room as though that would shelter her from the truth. And then, one day, the day Haley finally left her room, she was a different person. It was like she left the old Haley behind the door. The Haley who helped people, who blushed when someone told her she'd done something great. The Haley who smiled.

Now Haley is that other girl. The one who every girl's mother tells them not to talk to. The one who gets called 'easy'. The one who steps on her cigarette with high-heeled boots in the middle of the street, like she thought she'd only ever see in the movies.

Somewhere along the way, while she sat in that room, crying, everything Haley cared about slowly slipped away with her tears.

That's why, at seventeen, she has a tattoo on her left wrist that reads 'screw it' and her best friend alternates between Jake (the guy she first did a line with) and the ever finishing bottle of tequila. It's also probably why she's currently sitting in a lawyer's office with her father.

The lawyer shuffles some papers, and drones on about how irresponsible it was for her to be cruising down the street in someone else's car with a bag full of marijuana in the back. She smirks at this and by the look on his face; it isn't the response he was hoping for. Her father just sits in the chair next to hers, looking pissed off and asking 'when this will be over'. Haley taps her fingers on the lawyer's desk and rolls her eyes. A few phone calls later, the lawyer informs the two that a court date has been set for next Tuesday, and that they better be there. Haley nods uninterestedly and saunters out the door. Her father walks out behind her, yelling that she's now cost him a fortune in lawyers' bills. Haley flashes him her middle finger and makes her way to the bus stop.

It's Tuesday morning. An alarm sounds and Haley curses as she pushes back the covers and stumbles out of bed. Glancing at the clock; it reads 7:00 AM. Too early to shower, she tells herself. She picks up a sweatshirt and a pair of jeans from the floor and pulls out clean underwear from her drawer before heading in to wash her face. About an hour later, she's dressed and ready. Downstairs, her father sits at the breakfast table and she greets him with a surly 'good morning'. One black coffee, a power bar and only a minor argument later, they slam their way out the front door.

So it's been decided. She has to do five a month's worth of community service at the North Carolina Correctional Facility for the Youth. Basically, a month in a shit hole. Haley argues with the judge. It's not like she killed anybody. Why can't she just stay in Tree Hill and do the community service? The judge informs her that she's just earned herself another month at the facility in Raleigh. Fuck, she mumbles to herself, slumping back in the chair. Just fucking great.