Tree Hill High School, Senior Year
"I think roll call today is a good example of the disease commonly referred to as Senioritis. It cripples the town of Tree Hill, North Carolina, once a year, from mid-May all the way to June 16th, when most of you finally get your little scrap of paper fondly referred to as the diploma and throw your caps into the air," Mr. Durham sighed as he counted off six students in attendance out of twenty-eight. He passed out the writing assignment that would serve as the final thirty point assignment for the course. As his eyes landed on the body occupying the back row seat, he chuckled, "Fancy seeing you here, son."
"What can I say? I have a thirst for knowledge, Coach." Nathan Scott smiled and tucked the sheet of paper handed to him into his bag without glancing at it. He looked around, proud of himself for his own smart mouth comment, but to his dismay, he didn't receive the approval of any of his classmates. He shook his head, mumbling to himself, nerds.
"So, Nathan, what brings you to class on this beautiful Friday morning?" Coach Durham asked, already knowing the answer. "I heard your teammates talking about sun, sand and babes in bikinis as they were leaving practice last night."
"I told you sir, a thirst for…" Nathan muttered less enthusiastically as the first time. The reminder of what his friends were doing while he was stuck in class put a serious damper on his mood. A teammate's cousin had scored them three cases of beer for their beach barbeque, and according to his loyal sidekick, Tim, the new cheerleader Rachel Gattina had hinted that she'd bought herself a mini gold bikini that she planned on showing off today especially for Nathan's benefit. Everyone knew Gattina had a thing for Nathan. Sure, her obvious flirting stroked his ego, because she was smoking hot and all, but for some reason, Nathan just didn't have the desire to score with her like his guys were urging him to do.
"I see that, son, you got a thirst alright!" Coach Durham smiled, breaking Nathan from his thoughts, "A thirst for those 28 points you need out of the 30 available on this essay to pass this class and graduate. You know how to rise up to a challenge, I'm sure you'll do alright."
Coach Durham always gave his star player a hard time, but at his heart, he was always rooting for Nathan to succeed despite his flawed trait of self-destruction. Looking at the other five pupils, all of whom were A-students who wouldn't think of cutting class, Coach had a light-bulb moment. "So, the rules of this assignment are simple. Since there are six of you, we won't have any issues. This will be a collaborative essay effort. Each of you will have a partner with whom you will write an essay discussing your thoughts on the following quote by George Bernard Shaw:
"There are two tragedies in life:
one is to lose your heart's desire,
the other is to gain it."
Nathan looked around nervously. Aside from him, there were three other guys in the class, which meant two girls. He needed Coach to pair him with a girl. His grade depended on it. Closing his eyes, he listened as the names were read, hoping he would be paired with a chick so he could turn on the old Scott charm and trick her into doing the assignment for him. He wasn't a writer. He wasn't sure what that quote meant. All he knew about his desire was that his heart's desire was graduating from Tree Hill High with the rest of his friends, and he would do anything to avoid the tragedy of not gaining it.
"Nathan Scott and Haley James," Coach Durham called out the last two names, walking over to the girl sitting in the front row as he smiled apologetically, "Hope you still consider me your favorite teacher after this, dear."
"Of course, Mr. Durham," She smiled, nodding her head as she began jotting some notes down into her notebook at furious speed.
Nathan took a moment to study her for the first time. Sure, he'd seen her around; for Tree Hill was a small town. But, he'd never spent a second to really focus on her. Haley James. She had a bucket hat pulled over her head, with a loose braid of honeyed-blond hair running down the side of her back. Her jeans were form fitting, and frayed at the ends. She had her legs crossed and her black converse was tapping away at the leg of the chair she was sitting in. Nathan's eyes focused on the handwriting on the bottom ledge of her shoe, trying to make out the letters she had written in black marker. Traveling up her body, trying to ignore the ridiculous hat on her head, Nathan noticed the pen she was holding in her hand. The tip of the pen disappeared in her mouth. He squinted to make out the outline of her lips around the pen. He had seen the girl before through the years, and couldn't remember ever having said a word to her. But, sitting there with his eyes transfixed on the profile of her mouth, Nathan was dumbfounded. He didn't know how long he sat like that, or why he hadn't heard the final bell ring, but the next thing he knew, she was standing in front of him and smacking an index card onto his desk, avoiding his gaze as she mumbled, "I'm not going to do your work for you, so don't be late."
She was gone, leaving Nathan with a confused expression on his face and the scent of vanilla and lavender in his nose. For a guy who didn't notice stuff like this about girls, and nerdy girls in particular, Nathan couldn't help but think that she smelled like heaven. He picked up the index card and saw the colorful ink, the immaculate handwriting: Café by the Docks 6:00 p.m. Be Prepared.
Nathan's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Prepared for what?
"Nathan?" Coach Durham looked up from his desk across the room with the hint of a smile on his face, "Close your mouth, son."
Haley James couldn't catch a break. She was neck and neck in the race for Tree Hill High's Valedictorian and the highest grade in Mr. Durham's English course could determine the winner. It really wasn't fair. After all, her competitor, Julian Baker was a transfer student to Tree Hill. God could only know how easy his last school must have been for him to get all perfect grades like Haley had accomplished. That goofball Julian didn't deserve to be valedictorian and take away her dream. Nothing was going right. Coach Durham was rooting for her to win, she knew that. That knowledge is what made it hard for her to believe he was pairing her with Nathan Scott, the biggest jerk in the whole school. Nathan hadn't even known her name until today, she was sure of it, so he probably also didn't know that she was best friends with his arch-enemy, his half-brother Lucas Scott. Lucas and Nathan shared the same vile excuse for a father, Dan Scott. Dan had never claimed Lucas as his own son, and worse, he had taught Nathan from an early age to hate his brother. All her life, Haley had watched Nathan Scott make her friend's life a living hell. She hated him. She had never hated anyone her entire life, but she sure as hell hated Nathan Scott.
At 5:55 p.m., Haley arrived at the café by the docks and was surprised to see Nathan already occupying a small booth in the back. She had expected him to be late, just like he'd made a point of showing late to every class they'd ever been in together. "You're here," She said, walking up to him and dropping her bags on the rounded booth bench, making sure she left an adequate amount of space between them before sitting down.
She glanced up at him and noticed he was staring down at his cell phone, oblivious to her. She shook her head, hating the situation she found herself in. After a minute of him completely ignoring her, Haley's temper got the best of her and she reached for his phone, pulling it away from his hand. As their skin connected, she felt a jolt of awareness race through her. She hoped she wasn't blushing as his conflicted eyes finally rose up to meet hers, his voice solemn, "I can't work with you tonight, Haley."
She should have been furious, but the truth was, she was still feeling a strange tingle on her skin and her mind was only focusing on one fact: This was the first time Nathan Scott had ever said her name. She closed her eyes for a brief second and remembered Lucas, the pain he'd gone through over and over the past four years at Nathan's bullying hands, and she was angry at him again. "What do you mean you can't work with me tonight? We only have the weekend, and I can't afford to mess this assignment up."
He looked apologetic, he truly did, but she didn't care. He shrugged, "I can't afford it either, but there's this bonfire tonight that I have to show up at."
"A bonfire?" She rolled her eyes and reached for her bag and books, shaking her head, muttering to herself, "Excuse me, I apparently forgot for a second that this was The OC and not Tree Hill. Obviously a beach bonfire takes priority over something I've been working my ass off for in the past four years!"
Not letting Nathan speak for even a moment, Haley was on her feet. Sending an apologetic waive to her friend Marvin McFadden who worked at the café weeknights after school, Haley tore out of there and started walking fast toward the docks. The benches by the water were "her place", where she went to when she needed someplace peaceful to sort out her thoughts. She couldn't go home this angry and she also couldn't bother Lucas with her predicament. She didn't want Lucas thinking of Nathan for even a second if he didn't have to. She was intent on keeping this assignment with her best friend's half brother a secret to the grave. The tables by the docks were luckily vacant. She took a seat at the one beneath the lamp-post and pulled out her notebook, trying to block the occurrence of the past ten minutes from her mind. She looked at the quote and tried to focus. What is your heart's desire, Haley James? She didn't have a clue.
"Jesus, are you training for the Olympics or something?" Nathan asked, finally catching up to her. He watched her stare at her notebook, ignoring him. He'd been lost in his own thoughts when she'd shown up at the café, but now that he found a moment to focus, he noticed how pretty she was. Pretty! Nathan Scott had never called a girl pretty before. She had changed after school because now she was dressed in a thin black v-neck sweater and faded jeans. Her Converse sneakers were peeking out from underneath the table, but this time they were white, not black. Her hair was flowing down the side of her left shoulder, in soft curls. She must have undone the braid after school.
Nathan felt his phone vibrating in his pocket for the tenth time in ten minutes, but he found himself ignoring it. Something about this girl was clouding his head and making it hard for him to concentrate on anything but getting her to talk to him. "Listen, I wasn't blowing you off, Hales."
She looked up at him angrily, "Don't call me that. My friends call me that."
"Whatever," He shrugged, smiling despite himself. He liked to see that fire in her eyes when she was snapping at him. Even by the dim light of the lamp-post above head, it was plainly easy to see that there was a red blush creeping up her neck. Something inside his chest constricted at the thought that he was able to bring out such a strong reaction in her. "It's not about the bonfire, it's my dad…"
He cleared his throat, uncomfortable to be sharing this information with a girl he didn't even know. Somehow, he could trust her with this. He knew she wouldn't use it against him or laugh at him for it. He just had a feeling about the kind of girl Haley James was. She didn't let him explain, "Oh, your dad, right. He needs you at the bonfire, right? He's probably planning on roasting little kids and cute pets over the fire... You're the kind of guy who blamed the dog for eating your homework in middle school with a straight face, aren't you?"
His face fell. For a minute, he thought of the jumble of words that had just passed from her mouth. The image of his dad roasting kids and puppies over a fire stuck in his head. Usually, he'd be defensive to a stranger, even about an asshole like his dad, but something about Haley just felt natural. He began to chuckle softly and she looked at him with a scowl on her face and an unmistakably curious look in her eye. She thought he was nuts. He shrugged, "I can imagine Dan doing that, you know."
She furrowed her eyebrows and then after a moment's silence, she tilted her head down so he wouldn't see her face clearly. He could swear he saw the hint of a smile break against her lips. When she looked back up at him, her expression was blank, "Go to your stupid party, you're probably not going to be able to concentrate on the assignment anyway. I'll write it for the both of us."
This morning, those words would have been all Nathan wanted to hear. But, hearing them from Haley James, he felt a pang of regret in the pit of his stomach. "It's not about partying, Hales."
Her eyes shot daggers at him and he cleared his throat, "I mean, Haley. It's at my family's beach house and I'm expected to be there so the guys can …"
"Just go." She urged, wanting to get rid of him, "Getting a perfect score and being named valedictorian means the world to me, and if it means doing the work of some privileged jock who doesn't own up to his responsibilities, so be it."
She was disappointed in him. Nathan's father had shown disappointment in him all his life and Nathan hadn't cared. But, seeing the fire dim in Haley's eyes, Nathan grabbed his cell phone from his pocket and turned it off. "Let's go."
"I'm not going to the bonfire…" She watched him grabbing her books and stuffing them in her bag for her, "Hey… stop that!"
Once he had her book bag on his shoulder, he nodded toward the café, "If we're going to be working on this paper, I'm gonna need some coffee and pie, do they have pie?"
She looked at him like he was an alien. "Are you bipolar?"
He laughed, "You think I can't be responsible, well I'm going to prove you wrong."
"You're going to skip your own party?" She asked, skeptical.
He had a smirk on his face as he shrugged, "What's your heart's desire, Haley James?"