Chapter 1

Of beaded bracelets and snarky chicks

"To be understood is to prostitute oneself"
— Fernando Pessoa

Song Muse "Just the girl by the click five"

The hierarchy was something to be reckoned upon in tree hill generally and tree hill high specifically; that was the reason Nathan Royal Scott, star shooting guard for the tree hill ravens, son of the infamous loaded Dan Scott and boyfriend of the ever popular cheerleader Peyton Sawyer felt entitled. That was of course before his illegitimate half-brother Lucas turned things around, securing himself a spot in Nathan's basketball team, and aiming for his girlfriend.

That was why he needed to bring Lucas down a notch or two, and that was where Haley James came into the picture.

Haley James was Lucas's best friend, has been since they were eight years old, and if she weren't Nathan probably would have never noticed- nor given her the time of day. She was an over achiever, with the best GPA in the school, a tutor to people doing less than well in school and an employee in Karen's café- Lucas mother's Cafe . In short, a nerd, so the idea of her and Nathan crossing paths was highly unlikely.

Until Nathan saw her with peripheral vision as he looked over at Lucas, the girl was so tiny; he felt as though she could fit into his pocket, with a smile too big for this world.

"Hey who is that girl he is always hanging out with?" Nathan asked his own best friend and sidekick Tim.

"Who knows? Why you feel like slumming?" said Tim jokingly, Nathan scrunched up his nose in mock indignation and shoved Tim playfully- as if that would ever happen.

Still his father's words rang in his head 'If someone isn't on his side then they are his opponent, the only way to deal with an opponent is to identify their weaknesses and attack them'

Nathan fully intended to exploit Lucas' weak points. He followed Tim to their next class.

###

Haley was walking out of the tutor center when she heard someone whispering her name loudly. She stopped dead in her tracks, school was deserted; students had gone home but she stayed later than usual to go through some notes, she had prepared for a D+ student she was tutoring.

"Psst, Hales!" the voice called again and she looked around.

Lucas' head was peeking out the door of an empty classroom.

"Luke?"

"I need help" said Lucas through gritted teeth.

She moved closer "Wow! Wow! Damn it Lucas. My eyes! What happened?"

Her friend was stark naked, aside from two basketballs giving him some coverage. He looked absolutely pissed. "What do you think happened? Guess who took my clothes in the locker room?"

She sighed loudly; Nathan Scott was the epitome of scum.

"Well?"

"Well what?" Haley asked confused.

"I need clothes!"

"I would be very happy to help you Luke, but I am still wearing mine, and I don't think they would even fit you"

"Very funny" Lucas dead-panned "just help"

He pushed himself back into the classroom and shut the door.

"So how exactly did that happen?" Haley asked fifteen minutes later, she had run to his house, grabbed something for him to wear and returned to school in record timing

"I took some extra time in the shower" Lucas explained as they walked away together "I came out and all my clothes were gone"

"Enter your savior" she said, giving a fake courtesy.

Lucas chuckled, throwing an arm around Haley. "Well, your damsel in distress is eternally grateful"

###

The tutor center was a place Nathan hasn't gone to before, but there he was; a paper assigning Haley to be his tutor in his hand. When he signed up, there had been four other tutors available to help him, but he insisted on Haley. That way he was hitting two birds with one stone; first, he actually did need assistance with his grades, if he didn't improve, he would end up working in his father's dealership, and second, he would be messing with Lucas big time and that was the best part.

"Hey!" Nathan smiled sweetly as he walked through the door, moving closer to Haley didn't make her seem any bigger.

Haley stared in what seemed to be confusion and resentment for a split second, before asking "Can I help you?"

"I hope so, you are my tutor"

She eyed him from head to foot before laughing cynically and looking away "Right! I don't think so"

"You are Haley James, right?" He confirmed, looking down at the paper in his hand. Haley was quick to grab it, huffing in annoyance, and then she saw her name. Perfect, that was just perfect. She was already doing all she could to be a professional and not tell him off for what he was doing to Lucas.

"I am sorry" said Haley "I am best friends with Lucas"

"Well then I am sorry too" joked Nathan.

"Forget it, I will find you someone else" said Haley dismissively.

She attempted to step out when Nathan's lean form blocked her way "Whoa! Whoa! Look! Look! There is nobody else; I would be fine with it if there was"

"If there were" corrected Haley.

"See you are helping me already"

"Look I can't help you and on top of that I won't help you, okay?"

Haley quickly walked away but not before spotting a confused frown crossing his face. He was flabbergasted in fact; it usually took him a much lesser dose of puppy-dog eyes to get what he wanted from a girl.

"Wait" he chased after her and had barely grabbed her arm, before she jerked it away from him, quickly he raised a hand "Sorry, sorry, look I don't understand"

"Then you do need help, because I made myself loud and clear, I will not help you"

"But Ms. whatever her name is, told me you were available to tutor me"

"Ms. Mckee" she rolled her eyes.

"Right"

"I never said that I didn't have time. I said I refuse to help you" she spoke every word slowly as though he were an idiot.

"Why?"

"Why?!" she looked at him in disbelief "How about I make your life miserable in every single way possible, and then you will know why!"

"I don't even know you"

"Yes, but I know Lucas, and I know what you did to him in the locker room"

Nathan stifled a laugh, she flared her nose "and see there it is, now, excuse me, I need to go"

"No, wait" his face turned serious "Sorry, I just…"

But she was already out the door.

Agitated by his very presence, Haley was thankful the day was over, she all but stomped her way home. He was a major-insufferable-up to no good- jerk and he had every word she said coming, strutting around like he owned the world. Figured he was Dan Scott's son, though underneath the façade Haley could almost spot remnants of a human being, she almost felt bad; actually she felt terrible; so terrible that her heart ached. Something about him seemed so innocent, young even; she guessed that if he were to murder someone, convicting him was highly unlikely. After all who could suspect the charming boy with bright blue eyes and a coy smile?

"No" she whispered to herself.

On the other hand, Nathan was still scratching his head in confusion; never has any girl talked to him that way, even before his rapid rise to popularity, girls seemed to take an interest in him, he found that out at fourteen when a smoking hot senior, Taylor, pulled him into his room at his parent's beach house and slept with him, he hadn't even initiated it. In fact, as he remembered it, he was incredibly nervous, but that seemed to make him even more desirable, adding to the fact that it was also a party held in honor of him joining the varsity team; that was an epic night.

Then there was Peyton, he got to know her shortly after and they talked a lot, soon enough he asked her to be his girlfriend, and they were happy, 'were' being the keyword. She was too much, always irritable, cranky and melancholic, so what if he hung out with his friends? She didn't expect him to devote every waking moment to her. As well as the fact that she was crushing on Lucas, that on its own made his blood boil, she was his girlfriend. During their latest fight they were in his car and she was acting like a total bitch, she threw a fit and decided to walk home; in a beat Nathan threw her pompoms out the window and left her on the side of the street. Sure they were alright now, as alright as it can get anyway, he likes Peyton, she is his girl and the sex is amazing but if she was going to be like that, then he didn't need the added drama. Which brought him back to Haley, he actually felt ashamed at being scorned by her, he knew he should have retorted, but something about her demanded his respect and he was willing to give it to her; that was new.

###

"You wanted to see me, Mr. Kelly"

"Yes, please, come in Mr. Scott" the teacher peered at him over his glasses.

Nathan moved closer standing at the teacher's desk, a test held tightly in his hand with a big 'F' marked boldly in red.

"So, if this is about my grade…"

"Yes, Mr. Scott, it is in fact about your grade, I assume you are aware that you need to maintain a certain grade point average to be able to participate in any athletic activities"

Nathan rolled his eyes, and spoke through gritted teeth "Yes"

"And you are falling behind, I am afraid you might not be able to play basketball anymore if you don't turn it around"

"I know" Nathan said annoyed.

"Perhaps you could try tutoring; we have some fine students who are more than willing to help"

He didn't attempt to even hide his sneer.

The teacher sighed and spoke softly "Listen, Nathan, I know that a young man in your position might find it embarrassing to ask for help, but it beats the alternative, that is if you want to keep your position on the team. You do want that don't you?"

Nathan nodded briefly.

"Then I think you should go to the tutor center right away, it is the seventh room on your left" he pointed out the door. Nathan grabbed his test, and made for the door.

"If you could" Mr. Kelly interrupted, making him turn around "see if Miss Haley James is available to tutor you, she is quite promising and I am not supposed to show favoritism, but I must admit, she is the best"

Without a word, Nathan clenched his jaw and headed to the tutor center. Not only did Lucas take his spot as shooting guard on the team and his girlfriend's affections, he was indirectly stealing his entire basketball future all together.

"Hey" Nathan walked in with a melancholic expression "I just wanted to let you know I will be fine"

"Great" responded Haley, carelessly.

"I mean F is for fine, right?"

He lifted his test briefly to show her the grade before turning around and walking away. Haley could only stare after him mouth agape in shock, she stood that way a little, before rolling her eyes and shrugging, what was she supposed to do?

"You could tutor him" a small voice in her head whispered. But she pushed that thought away quickly, it didn't matter how sincere he looked.

###

He highly doubted that there would never be a sound that aggravated him more than his father talking to him about basketball. Nathan loved the game, the rush and the crowd's adoration, but when it came to Dan Scott, everything between him and his son was about sports, whether it be his next game, his faulty (according to his father) techniques or how unlikely it was to beat the older man's score from when he was in high school. Nathan was sure he could do it, but it really hurt his feelings that his dad seemed to think so little of him.

"So how did it go?" Dan Scott asked "with practice"

Nathan shrugged "I am small forward"

"And what did you do about that?"

"What do you want me to do dad?"

"I told you, I want you to eliminate the competition" Dan stated firmly.

"You mean your son?" said Nathan venomously.

"Don't call him that"

"I am going upstairs" he said quietly, walking out of the room. His father already had too many high hopes on him being the star athlete, he would go insane if he were to know that Nathan might have to be forced to leave the team because of grades all together, that was a school rule and even Dan would have a hard time switching it around in their favor like he does.

He drew a shuddering breath as he laid down on the couch, picking up the phone, Haley's number was inscribed on the paper where she had been assigned as his tutor, it was Karen café's number, where she worked, she had thought it useless to use her house number since she was hardly there unless at late hours of the night when people shouldn't even be calling. It rang a couple of times before she picked up.

"Karen's café" she answered.

"I am calling for Haley James"

"Yeah, this is her"

"Hey! It's Nathan Scott" he sighed, Nathan had planned to apologize for whatever he had done, and to ask her for help once again, perhaps this time she would be yielding "I really need your help"

"Sorry, this isn't her"

She hung up the phone on him quickly, not even allowing him to get a word in edgewise. Nathan put the phone down dejected, she had turned him down too many times so far, yet, he continued allowing himself be treated like a doormat. Heck, he wasn't proud of it but he was sure he would try again.

"What was that?" Karen, who was standing at the cash register, asked her.

"Uh, wrong number" improvised Haley.

"But you just said 'this was her'. Did you forget your name?"

Haley chuckled softly, hoping they could avert from the subject, however she still felt Karen's eyes bore into the back of her head.

"What's up?"

The girl turned around, struggling to find the proper words to explain, 'the son of your ex-husband (the one who abandoned you and your child) is asking me to tutor him, oh and by the by, he has been bullying Lucas relentlessly. However now I am on the edge of caving and agreeing to it because he has a distressed quality that is tugging on my heartstrings' didn't seem proper, so instead she said "This…guy… wants me to tutor him and I said no 'cause he is kind of a bad guy"

Karen raised her eyebrows "You know him?"

Haley was silent for a beat, feeling slightly ashamed "Not really, I just know of him" she answered, avoiding Karen's gaze, by pretending to clean the counter.

"Dangerous?" pushed Karen.

"No" said Haley, curling her lips and trying to act nonchalant, she caught Karen with a skeptical expression "What you got that look?"

"What look?" asked Karen, playing dumb.

"The look that my mom always gets when she wants to throw her two cents in, What?" replied Haley sheepishly, gesturing for an explanation.

"Well, Haley, I think you have pretty good instincts. I am not trying to tell you what to do" Which meant she was "but just to play devil's advocate, if this boy came for tutoring, maybe he's trying to change"

Haley opened her mouth for a second, unable to find counter words, she sighed heavily; her logic had been defeated. Karen moved closer, placed two cents on the counter and said "Might be something in there worth saving" before walking away.

They younger girl, bit her lips uncertainly, the idea of saving Nathan Scott in anyway seemed farfetched.

###

It was a beautiful day, the sun shone brighter than ever, birds were chirping, and a gentle breeze ruffled the tree leaves around her. Yet, Haley sat fuming. She had her first tutoring session with Nathan, having finally agreed to doing it the night prior, right after he kidnapped Lucas to humiliate him and throw his phone away, and she loved Luke, he was like a brother to her, even more so than her actual brothers, so after a few tears, she went over to Nathan's house and decided to stop him once and for all; her way. When he answered the door, he was definitely surprised to see her, it even came more as a shock when she told him she would tutor him, Nathan was absolutely sure she wouldn't after Lucas told her. So, he was more than gleeful, even readily accepting her two conditions; first, Lucas doesn't know, and second, he leaves him alone. Both seemed like a fair price, and he was more than happy to pay. As she left, Nathan stood there watching her for a few seconds, a sincere smile on his face, she was kind of cute.

Haley had the textbooks already out as she fidgeted on the bench, most of her sessions took place in school, but due to the anonymity of the situation, she had told him to meet her at the dock, take it or leave it.

"Breakfast of champions; want some?" said Nathan as he walked up to her and placed two cups of latte and a box of cracker jack on the table.

"You are late" Haley didn't spare him a glance as he sat down.

He tore into the box of snacks, fishing for the prize and said "Oh! Please let this be a cheat sheet". Instead he pulled out a plastic beaded colorful bracelet, the kind she used to make with her mother and sisters when she was five. Nathan looked between her and the bracelet a few times hesitantly, then smiled shyly and declared "It's for you"

"Stop it, it's just…"

"Come on" he interrupted, sliding the bracelet on her hand smoothly "Don't say I never gave you anything"

He looked too pleased with himself, and Haley grabbed a textbook "Do you see this book? Because this book is me, I am math"

"What's that supposed to mean?" he still smiled.

"It's supposed to mean, you can work your whole, I am Nathan Scott, Mr. big shot, scoring my touchdowns on somebody else, because I don't think.."

"I don't even play football" he said ludicrously.

"Whatever" she replied dismissing him "at the end of the day all your bluster and BS don't mean anything to Math, because Math don't care and neither do I"

"Well, does English care? Because I really suck at that too"

"Please don't waste my time" she spoke as patiently as she could muster "I am already taking a huge chance on you because my instincts are screaming that you are full of sh…"

Nathan stifled a smile, looking down and nodding his head, trying to keep on a serious mature facial expression.

"Let's just get started, okay?" suggested Haley in the most patient way she could muster, and he smiled again, his blue eyes gleaming "Page 81"

No sooner had Nathan looked at the book that Haley had to stifle her own laugh, his nose scrunched up in total confusion, as he read the problem out loud, frowning deeper with each word. "A class average mark in an exam is 70. The average of students who scored below 60 is 50. The average of students who scored 60 or more is 75. If the total number of students in this class is 20, how many students scored below?"

Haley was waiting for him to finish when he looked up and said "You know if I understood any of this, we wouldn't be here right now"

She huffed out a laugh, reaching for her pencil, as she slowly explained the problem, eliciting theories he could remember and offering up the ones he couldn't. Turned out, Nathan was actually quite smart, just needed to understand every step before he could be convinced to answer and it only took them around half an hour before he was answering summation notation problems mostly on his own. The way his face lit up with joy, actually made her smile sincerely, as he took on another problem without her asking.

Soon enough they were talking, though at first shortly and formally on her side at least, she found he armor breaking slightly and caught herself enjoying his company, his playful attitude made her laugh a few times. After they were done, he looked up at her and smiled brightly, this time, she smiled back.

"Thank you, Haley, really."

She nodded curtly, collecting her things "I will see you next time then"

"Whoa! Whoa! Wait" he got up hurriedly "There was no way; I could solve whatever gibberish was in that book"

Haley cocked an eyebrow "and?" she asked suspiciously.

"And I am buying you ice cream"

"Nathan…" she sighed.

"Look it isn't just for you, I like ice-cream and we have to celebrate this milestone, plus the fact that we have been together for two hours and you haven't screamed at me" his eyes were practically dancing and she chortled at his barely contained excitement, agreeing to one scoop before they parted ways.

"So how long have you been at tree hill high?"

"All my life" she laughed.

Nathan frowned, racking his brain; he whispered "Why can't I remember you?"

Haley raised her eyebrows in disbelief, though still smiling "Wow! Nathan Scott didn't know who I was? My mediocre reputation has been compromised"

He swiftly corrected "No, No, I didn't mean it like that, I swear, I just meant that…" he caught Haley staring at him with eyes narrowed mockingly "I should just stop talking before I make a total ass of myself"

"Good idea"

They arrived at a nearby ice cream parlor in silence, she saw Nathan digging for his wallet and asking her "What do you want?"

"It's okay, I will pay" she rolled her eyes "You already got me breakfast and the bracelet.

"Who invited who for ice-cream?" he asked bewildered.

"Fine" Haley sighed "mint chocolate chip"

"Cone?"

"Waffle"

"Excuse me, two mint chocolate chip ice-creams, waffle cones" he handed the man the money, and grabbed the cones as soon as the man scooped the ice-cream "There you go"

"Thank you" said Haley, savoring her treat, and making satisfied sounds "mmm, mint chocolate chip is heavenly"

"Yes it is" he whispered inaudibly, staring at her with a gleam in his eyes

"What are you looking at?" she snapped him out of his thoughts, jokingly, she had finished her entire cone in record timing "That is the only proper way to eat mint chocolate chip ice cream"

"You want mine" he offered, dangling half his eaten cone, in front of her face.

"Nah! it's okay" she said, clearly wanting it.

"Here, I saved it for you"

"I couldn't"

"I want you to have it"

He chuckled, when she grabbed it suddenly, saying a quick thank you and shoving her face in it.

They said goodbye shortly afterwards and parted ways. As Haley walked home, she felt a tiny trickle of melted ice cream on the corner of her lips, wiping it away, she caught a whiff of the earthy sandalwood scent of Nathan's cologne, still lingering faintly on her new bracelet, she wouldn't admit it but she smelled it all the way there, and a little after that.