This story is completely AU. The setting is in Tree Hill, obviously, but no one is related except for Karen and Lucas, and this Tree Hill is bigger, so no one really knows anyone else in the beginning. The relationships will be obvious as the story progresses, with lots of little twists and turns. Enjoy, readers.
I do not own One Tree Hill in any way, shape or form. If I did, James Lafferty would have been my New Year's kiss tonight.
My mom has always been an awesome cook. Ever since I can remember, she's been making some mean macaroni and cheese. Every time I get sick, she makes me chicken noodle soup…from scratch. And Christmas cookies might as well be gourmet. All in all, the woman is a champ, and cooking is the only thing that really makes her truly happy, so it was no surprise to me when she told me six months ago that she was going to open a restaurant. The only thing was I had to move to some little town two hours away from my hometown for Mom to get that dream. I went without complaint. She needed to be happy, and if this restaurant in some little backwater town was going to do that; I was willing to relocate anywhere she wanted.
Construction went down pretty fast. Mom has always been one for efficiency, so I knew that it wouldn't be long before we were ready to open. The day that the store was projected to be ready to open was right around the start of school, so at the end of the summer, we packed up our stuff and moved to Tree Hill. Mom had already guaranteed me a job in the store, but today she had to interview some other kids to work as cooks and waitresses. For some reason, the woman wanted my input, so we arrived at the store at 10:30. Right about the time the first victim was supposed to be showing up.
I set up a table at the front of the store. It had three chairs around it and on top was a folder that held all of the applications that had been dropped off since we started accepting them. Our first interviewee was a boy named Nathan Scott. He was the captain of the basketball team and had absolutely no work experience. That counted as a strike against him for me, but knowing Mom, she'd hire him if he was nice enough. She has a soft spot for people that she feels like she can make better.
Mom and I got seated and waited patiently for the boy to show up. A tall brunette came running up the stairs soon enough, and when he walked in, he smiled at the two of us. Mom smiled back.
"Sorry if I'm late, ma'am. Basketball practice got out late." He shook her hand, and mine, before he took the seat that I motioned him into.
"It's perfectly fine, Nathan. My name is Karen Roe, and this is my son Lucas."
I smiled the most friendly smile I could muster and the boy grinned back. "It's very nice to meet you."
We went through the simple interview process. Mom asked him about his life, and the boy answered what seemed to be honestly. He smiled a lot, and seemed intelligent enough. She grinned at him after his interview and said, "Well, Nathan, it looks like you just became the first employee to be hired at The Corner Store. You start tomorrow."
The boy beamed. "Thank you so much, Ms. Roe. You won't regret it!"
He shook our hands and ran out, triumphant and employed.
I shot a look at Mom. "I hope you know what you're doing, woman."
She glowered at me, and elbowed me in the ribs.
We did the whole interview thing about a million times that day and ended up with a full staff. There was a peppy girl, who was the head cheerleader at Tree Hill High, named Brooke Davis. The moment she walked in, I knew that she was going to be mine. I've never been in love before, but it was like the moment I saw the tiny brunette, I knew I had to have her. Her best friends came in after her. Haley, a sweet little blonde girl, was sure to be a great waitress. She had great people skills and an amazing smile. Peyton, a curly Goldilocks looking girl, looked like she was going to have a lot of fight in her, but in a good way. A ditzy blonde named Bevin and a fiery redhead named Rachel rounded out the waitresses. They were all smiley and seemed like good girls.
The cooks were an interesting bunch. Along with Nathan, Mom had also hired a boy named Jake. His eyes locked in on Peyton the moment that she had walked in the door, and he seemed like a good kid. There was a nerdy boy named Marvin, but he preferred to be called Mouth, a black boy named Skills who seemed like he was going to be hilarious and a pretty boy type named Chris Keller who annoyingly spoke in third person, who looked like he was going to be trouble.
All in all, we had a good crew. They had better be, because they all started the next day.