Chapter 1
I've got my tray in hand and this is the part I was dreading most about coming to a new school. Finding a new group to hang out with. Let me fill you in. Name: Haley James. School: Tree Hill High. Status: new girl. So I already went through the painful 'class meet the new student Haley James' part this morning but now it's lunch. And I know I look like a fool just standing here but I can't help it. Ooh I see an open spot.
So I head to the chair in the cafeteria, but about 10 feet away I realize that's the cheerleaders table. And I definitely don't want to sit there. Trust me, I've seen all the high school drama movies. As soon as I turn around I run into someone and of course just like in the movies my try gets smashed up against me and my 'first day back to school' outfit.
"sorry" the guy mutters and goes back to his every day rituals. I look down at my sweater and see the milk stains. I knew I shouldn't have gotten milk.
I'm about to head straight for the girls bathroom when I see a napkin held out in front of me. I take the napkin then follow the hand to the warm smile of the stranger trying to help me.
"thank you" I say.
"no problem, some guys can be real jerks. Why don't you sit down" he says and pulls out a chair. I smile and take the seat beside him. "I'm Lucas Scott" he introduces himself.
"Haley-"
"-James" he finishes. Creep. "yeah, I know, I think you're in my math class period one, right?"
I think back to my schedule and low and behold math is period one. "that's right" I finish cleaning off my shirt and I notice Lucas slide half is sandwich over to me.
"turkey on rye." He says. "I know it's no caviar or anything, but it beats nothing"
"no, actually turkey on rye sounds really great right about now" I say taking a bite of his sandwich, god this guy is nice, and pretty cute.
"hey man" another guy sits down. Dark hair, hot body, I think I'm starting to like this school.
"hey. Nathan this is Haley, Haley, this is Nathan, my brother"
"hey" I say quietly he gives me a genuine smile and pulls out his lunch. Which just happens to be something along the lines of a feast. He pulls out two sandwiches, a pre packed pasta salad, a helping of spaghetti, two large drumsticks, a large bottle of water, and two yogurts. I look over at Lucas who only has half a sandwich, a bag of chips and a soda.
"well, it looks like I know who the favourite son is" I mutter and both boys laugh at my lame joke.
"different moms, I guess" Nathan says.
"but I thought you were brothers"
"half" both guys say at once. Well I guess that clears things up. Not.
"you guys are screwed up, you know that?" I ask.
"yeah" they both reply again. That's starting to get creepy.
"you can blame Dan for that" Nathan says. Dan? "our father" he adds in. Must have read my mind.
"oh, okay" I say knowing they probably don't want to go into further detail than that. "so what's with this school like?"
"Tree Hill High? It's alright" Lucas says. "sometimes there's a lot of drama, but other times its just like every other school"
"yeah, because every other school has elites" Nathan mutters. Am I missing something?
"elites? What are elites?" I ask getting a chuckle out of Nathan.
"okay, lets see…" Lucas says craning is neck around looking around the cafeteria. "those" he points discretely. "those are the elites"
I follow his direction and see three girls sitting at a table. "see the girls who look like they're sitting in a spot light with everyone fawning over them?" Lucas asks. They do kind of look like they're sitting in a spot light.
"yeah"
"they are the three elites. They basically run the school and everything in it." What is this Mean Girls?
"they are the hottest, richest and all around most popular girls in school" Nathan adds.
"and why exactly are they the 'elites'?"
"they're best friends, they don't let anyone in, and they don't let anyone tell them what to do" Lucas starts. "Rachel Gatina, the red head, is queen of party central. There is not a single good party that goes down without her help. She's got a fake I.D. that works basically everywhere."
"the blonde, is Peyton Sawyer" Nathan says. I look over and see the curly blonde haired girl with her leather jacket. Doesn't really seem like the popular type of girl. "she controls the music scene around this area. She works down at Tric, the club around here, she gets what ever band she wants."
"and the brunette?" I ask. The hot brunette might I add.
"Brooke Davis" Nathan and Lucas say at the same time.
"without Brooke Davis, the other two girls are nothing. She's not their leader or anything, it's just she kind of brings them together. She controls the social hierarchy of the school. She says who's popular and who isn't. She decides who's invited to what parties and who's not. Basically she controls your reputation, and no one even knows how she does it." Lucas says.
"and not to mention they get their own off-the-record parking space right in front of the school." Nathan says. "no one dares to step up to them, afraid of what they'll do, because we all know they will do something"
"what do you mean?"
"in grade 10 some guy tried standing up to them…" Lucas started.
"… and a week later he disappeared" Nathan said with a straight face. Too bad I burst out laughing.
"oh, god, you're kidding me right?" I look up to see two straight faces. "oh, god, you're not kidding. Okay, well that just sounds absurd."
"that may be, but that's just the way it is" Nathan says. "okay listen, I got to go see Whitey, but don't forget to tell her about the rules" he says and gets up. "bye Hales"
"bye" I say sweetly.
"okay, so the rules…"
"I've seen the student hand book" I interrupt him, getting a chuckle out of him.
"no, not those rules. The elite's rules."
"they give rules out to everyone?"
"no, it's just they have 3 rules between them. Rule number 1: never turn your back on your friends, rule number 2: never back down, and rule number 3: never apologize"
"that's a lot of nevers" I say.
"I know, I guess they have a lot of regrets. It's just something they have between each other."
"okay, so if these are the three most popular girls in school, where are their football player boyfriends?"
"oh okay, see they don't have any boyfriends, and it's not because they can't get them, it's more the fact that if they do hey don't have any time to spend with them, and because they don't let people in, emotionally. Well that and, well, rumour is Brooke swings the other way"
"really?" things just got a little more interesting…
"yeah, but don't let them know you think that… piss them off and they turn into some mean bitches"
So it's the end of lunch and the bell just rang, meaning we have all of 5 minutes to get to class.
"so Haley James, what do you have last period?" Lucas asks me.
"well Lucas Scott, it appears I have…" let me pull out my schedule. "chemistry." I say getting a small chuckle out of him. "what? Do you have it too?" cause that would be pretty awesome right about now.
"not me sorry, but uh, have fun in chem. … with the elites."
"great…" I say trying my best not to show my fear. One wrong move with these girls and I could end up being called the 'new girl' for the rest of my high school career.
"oh hey, Mouth!" Lucas calls over a friend I presume.
"hey Luke" the guy I assume who Mouth is. By the way, that's a really weird name.
"you have chemistry last period right?"
"yeah, just heading there now, why?"
"Mouth, meet Haley, Haley meet Mouth. Haley has chemistry with you, mind taking her?"
"sure thing" I feel like a piece of meat being passed around here.
"great! I'll see you later Haley" Lucas says.
"bye!" I yell. "so… Mouth is it?" what is with that name.
"yeah… don't ask" he says referring to the name.
"don't worry" I follow Mouth to what appears to be the chem. Room and we sit down towards the back. But I notice three seats in the very back row, that no one sits in. Hmm, I wonder who those are for. By the way, in case you didn't catch that, that's sarcasm. The weird thing is, the elites aren't here yet and the bell already rang.
About 10 minutes into class I hear the door click open and everyone turns around to see who it is.
"ladies, you're late" the teacher comments.
"yeah, we were talking to the principal." Rachel says as she hands him a note while the other two take their seats behind us.
"it's a fake" Mouth whispers to me. "they have a bunch of fake notes to get out of everything." I nod and glance back to see the brunette, Brooke staring at me intently. I quickly turn back around to face the front. She probably wasn't staring at me.
"is it true that Brooke is gay?" I whisper to Mouth.
"nah, it's just a rumour" damn.
"oh… okay"
"why? Looking for a girlfriend?" he asks. Does he know? He must.
"how did you…"
"… just a guess, but I can tell" he smiles. "don't worry, it's not that big of a deal around here." That is actually a load off of my chest.
"good. Thanks" 1 down, the rest of school to go. I turn around again, why? I don't know. Curiosity just gets the better of me. Anyways, I turn around and not only is Brooke staring at me, but now all three of them are staring at me. That is probably the last time I turn around. I mean, that's just intimidating.
I see Mouth turn around to see what I'm looking at and he turns back around.
"good job, on your first day here you've managed to grab the attention of all three elites. Smooth" he says with sarcasm. Yeah, it's probably not good that they are all staring at me like that.
For the rest of the class I manage not to turn around again, though I want too, and though I know they are all still staring at me. As soon as the final bell rings I get up and slowly put my stuff away, praying that they'll leave before me and not say anything. Well it doesn't really matter anyways cause I'm heading straight for the tutor centre after this. I've got to add some sort of things to my college application. I don't think going to 10 different schools in the last 3 years is much of an accomplishment. So the class is almost empty and I think everything's pretty much clear so I head out the door and just as I do I run into someone, but not just anyone.
Brooke Davis.
"oh god, sorry" I say bending down to pick up our books. Yes, our books. Better try and get on her good side now. After pausing there for a second, she finally bends down to help me.
"it's fine" she says. I kind of expected her to be a little more bitchy. But she's really not bad. Before I can say anything else I see a pair of converse and a pair of high hells stand next to us. I look up to see the other elites.
"watch where you're going" Rachel says to me on behalf of Brooke.
"Rachel" Brooke scolds her. We stand up and I hand her the books she was carrying. "are you new?" she asks me.
"uh yeah, I'm Haley" I say extending my hand to Brooke. She's about to shake my hand but Peyton steps in front of her and puts her hand down for her.
"what ever, Tracy" Tracy? That's not even close to Haley. I mean at least find something that rhymes with my name.
"it's Haley" I correct her. Oh and that was probably a mistake. I can tell by the surprised looks on her and Rachel's faces.
"uh huh" she says. "look, just watch where you're going next time, Haley" well at least she got my name right, but that may not be a good thing.
"sorry" I say directly to Brooke and Brooke only. I glare at the other two girls and take my leave. I think I just committed social suicide.
