The Good Life

The New Beginning

3:00PM: The time when every high school student feels free, and escapes teachers, homework, and the awful feeling of failure. When that final bell rang, the students of Tree Hill High felt that sense of escape, but it certainly wasn't an escape from all the drama in their lives. The first semester of their junior year had come to an end, but most importantly, it was a new beginning.

Lucas Scott walked to his locker and placed his textbooks on the top shelf, but he was surprised to find an invitation that someone had slipped inside. Lucas looked to his left, assuming that Brooke Davis was responsible. Brooke Davis was the most well-known girl at Tree Hill High. She was a kind-hearted, funny, intelligent, strong-headed, beautiful brunette. At least that's how Lucas saw her. Everyone else only saw her as the party girl, but Lucas knew that there was more to her than that.

Brooke looked back at Lucas as she held a similar invitation in her hand. Brooke nearly melted when she gazed into his green blue eyes. He was one of the few genuine guys left at Tree Hill High. One thing she loved about him was that while everyone else was out at a party, Lucas could enjoy a quiet evening with a Steinbeck novel in his room. Brooke couldn't tell Lucas how she felt though, because they were just friends. Ever since her last boyfriend, she was afraid to open up her heart again.

Peyton Sawyer stood next to her, also presenting the same invitation. All three looked at each other in confusion. There was only one other person who could be responsible for the invitations. Marissa Cooper. Second in line to Brooke Davis as Tree Hill High's social queen, and she hated that everyone constantly reminded her of it. Lucas, Brooke, and Peyton all glanced over to see Marissa Cooper standing with her arms crossed and a smile on her face.

Meanwhile, Ryan Atwood, the Tree Hill bad boy, watched the scene from behind a classroom door.

"Well, I see you've all received the invites, but since you clearly aren't going to open them any time soon, I might as well tell you about my party in person," said Marissa with a flip of her hair.

"Clearly," agreed Brooke as she raised her eyebrow. Lucas smiled to himself. He always loved when she kinked her eyebrow like that. It was one of the many things he loved about her, but she only saw him as a friend.

"My parents are hosting this charity event, and I decided to spice it up a little bit. I'm inviting all of my friends. It's very formal, so don't show up in jeans or else you will be kicked out. Ryan and I will be there around six. Don't show up before us." Marissa widened her eyes and looked at the three of them as they nodded with blank stares. "Okay, see you guys later!" Marissa turned quickly on her heels, and waltzed to her locker.

Brooke was completely fed up with her. Marissa was always trying to outdo her. Last weekend, Brooke threw an extravagant party at her house, and everyone had been complimenting her about how fun it was. Marissa was obviously just jealous, and she needed to throw a party of her own. Brooke grabbed her best friend, Peyton, by the arm and dragged her out of school. Lucas watched them leave and headed home in the other direction.

After seeing what had happened, Ryan walked over to Marissa to talk to her. He leaned against the locker next to her while she put away her books.

"Hey, babe, what's up?" Marissa kissed Ryan on the cheek, but he didn't say anything. "What?"

Ryan Atwood was never a man of many words. Ever since he came to Tree Hill High from Chino, he has always been seen as the mysterious bad boy. He hated that people saw him as a criminal, and Marissa was one of the few people who didn't. When Ryan first came to town, Marissa befriended him despite what everyone was saying about him, and they had been inseparable ever since. Lately, Ryan was becoming annoyed with Marissa's ambition to outshine Brooke Davis.

"You know what. I thought you were done with this whole Brooke thing," said Ryan angrily.

"I am…I just…I'm sorry. I promise after tonight I am done messing with her. I just want people to see me as something more than second place to Brooke Davis…not to mention that it really pisses me off that Lucas is like in love with-"

"That's it isn't it…Lucas" interrupted Ryan.

"What are you talking about?" asked Marissa trying to avoid what she already knows.

"You like Lucas, don't you?"

"Ryan, I love you. I don't have feelings for Luke. End of conversation. I'll see you tonight," she slammed her locker shut and walked away, leaving a frustrated Ryan standing in the hall.

Lucas searched through the drawers of his dresser for a tie. He wasn't usually the type to jump when someone said party, but he knew that Brooke was going to be there. Lucas and Brooke were good friends, but he wanted more out of their relationship. He wasn't exactly sure if she felt the same way, but he had to find out someday. 'Tonight, I will tell Brooke Davis how I truly feel about her,' thought Lucas as he still struggled to pick a tie. Suddenly, there was a knock on his door. Lucas' best friend, Haley James, walked in the room.

"Hey Hales! What's up?" Lucas walked over and hugged her.

"Well, I actually wanted to talk to you…about Brooke…" said Haley hesitantly.

Lucas sighed. "Okay, well I need help with this tie, so can we multi-task?" Lucas raised a tie towards her.

"Sure. Luke, I really want you to be careful with Brooke, okay? I just don't want you to get hurt," said Haley sincerely.

"Hales, I'll be fine. Hey, why don't you come with me?" Haley finished putting on his tie.

"I can't. I wasn't invited. We aren't all popular like you, Luke. Besides, I think I'm going to go write a new song."

"Alright, I'll call you later," said Lucas. Haley said her goodbye, hugged Lucas, and left.

Haley and Lucas had been best friends since they were five years old. Haley was one of the smartest people Lucas knew. She was the most reliable tutor at Tree Hill High, and she was very critical of who Lucas dated. Not because she was jealous or because she had feelings for Lucas herself. But because he was her best friend and she wanted him to be happy. Lucas was the same way with Haley. He was extremely protective of her, which she liked because she wasn't interested in dating in high school anyway. Haley was also a very talented singer/song writer. Nobody knew about this except for Lucas. He was the only one she ever sang in front of. Haley knew she had talent, but she was afraid to fail.

Brooke sat in front of a mirror in Peyton's room applying her makeup.

"Why are we even going to this stupid party?" whined Peyton.

"Because Marissa doesn't think I will go. She seriously thinks she can throw a better party than me!" said Brooke with anger.

"Brooke, chill. Everyone knows you throw the best parties…including Lucas" said Peyton hesitantly adding in that last part.

"What? What does Lucas have to do with this?"

"Oh my God, Brooke, it is so obvious that he likes you," answered Peyton with a small laugh.

"Yeah, as friends. Besides, I plan on playing the field tonight, so it would probably get a bit awkward if he confessed his love for me or something," joked Brooke.

"Okay, whatever you say…"

Brooke finished putting on her makeup, grabbed her purse, and followed Peyton out the door.

Ryan ran across his room to meet Marissa as she walked in his room. He hugged her with one hand at the small of her lower back and kissed her. Marissa wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back.

"Someone's in a better mood," said Marissa as she pulled away smiling.

"Yeah," Ryan laughed slightly, "I'm sorry about earlier. I just…I freaked out."

"It's okay. I completely forgot about it. You ready?"

Ryan walked to the other side of his bed. "Let me just grab a good pair of shoes…" He picked up and put on a pair of black loafers from underneath his bed. "Okay, let's go."

It was nearly 8:30PM and the party was in full swing, if you could call it that. It was a charity event filled with a bunch of adults making fat donations to the children's hospital to show off their wealth. Jimmy and Julie Cooper, Marissa's parents, were the hosts of the event.

Peyton was standing near the bar when she saw Lucas. Then she smiled when she saw that Lucas was looking at Brooke, but she noticed a sudden change in his expression. First it was as if he was admiring Brooke, but then he looked angry and disappointed. She walked over to him.

"Have you told Brooke how you feel?" asked Peyton.

"What? I don't have feelings for Brooke," answered Lucas as he continued to glare in Brooke's direction. Lucas turned to glance at Peyton, and then stormed off.

Peyton looked closer at Brooke, and she realized why Lucas acted the way he did. Brooke was talking to her ex-boyfriend, Kevin Volchok.

"Brooke, I just want to talk, please," pleaded Volchok.

"What the hell are you even doing here?" asked Brooke in anger.

"Marissa invited me…look can we just go somewhere and-"

"Oh my God, that little bitch actually knew I was going to come," interjected Brooke. She stormed off in Peyton's direction. Volchok called after her, but Brooke didn't turn around. He sighed and watched her leave.

Brooke Davis and Kevin Volchok were Tree Hill High's golden couple. They dated for two years, until Brooke caught him cheating on her at prom. She only saw from afar and never figured out who it was that he cheated on her with. A week later, Volchok was expelled for using drugs on campus. Brooke hadn't talked to him since that night at prom. He made numerous attempts to contact Brooke and beg for her forgiveness, but she blew him off every time.

"Peyton Sawyer! You are not going to believe this! Marissa freaking Cooper invited Volchok here! He just shows up out of the blue to supposedly 'talk' to me," shouted Brooke as she approached Peyton.

"I saw…and so did Lucas…he seemed pretty upset when he saw you talking to Volchok," said Peyton. Brooke sighed.

"Okay, I kind of need to admit something…" started Brooke. Peyton smiled and nodded as if she knew what was coming. "I have feelings for Lucas…more than a friend type of feelings."

"I can't say I'm surprised. I know for a fact that Lucas has feelings for you, so just talk to him," said Peyton. Brooke hugged her best friend, and went in search of Lucas.

"Are you satisfied?" asked Ryan as he approached Marissa from behind.

"Very satisfied," said Marissa. Marissa leaned in to kiss him, but he pulled away.

"I saw what you did to Brooke…and Luke for that matter," said an agitated Ryan.

"Ryan, I…" Marissa tried to say something to Ryan…anything to help the situation, but he cut her off.

"Just stop with the lies. Stop with…all of it. You've always been jealous of Brooke. You are never going to be satisfied. You do have feelings for Lucas. And…this…we….us…it just isn't working…" admitted Ryan.

"I guess you've been holding that in for a long time…" began Marissa on the verge of tears. Ryan nodded sympathetically. "Well, you're right…about all of it…I…I have to go." Marissa ran off crying.

Ryan watched her leave, and then stared down at the ground.

Marissa sat on a loveseat crying. Lucas was walking through the living room of the house when he saw Marissa. He walked over and took a seat next to her. Marissa turned her head in the opposite direction, and wiped her eyes.

"Hey, Marissa, what's wrong?" Lucas rubbed Marissa's back compassionately.

"Ryan broke up with me…he found out that I have feelings for someone else, but I can't help how I feel, right?" Marissa turned to look at Lucas now.

"I know exactly what you mean…" said Lucas.

Meanwhile, Brooke was still searching for Lucas. She asked everyone she saw if they had seen him. Finally, she saw him sitting on the loveseat in the living room of the house. Brooke smiled and began walking towards Lucas, until she saw who was sitting next to him. Brooke stood against the sliding door where she couldn't be seen.

"Brooke, right?" asked Marissa, raising her eyebrows at Lucas.

"Not anymore…I'm 99% sure I saw her getting back together with Volchok. It doesn't matter…" answered Lucas. "So, who's the guy you have feelings for?"

"You," said Marissa quickly, before realizing that she had said it out loud. Lucas half smiled. He didn't know what came over him. Lucas leaned in and kissed Marissa.

Brooke immediately turned away and fled from her hiding spot. She went back out to the party and began searching for someone. Not Lucas, not Peyton, and sure as hell not Marissa. Then, she found who she was looking for. Brooke tapped him on the shoulder, and he turned around.

"Maybe, we can have that talk now," said Brooke.

"Okay, let's go to my place," said Volchok as he placed his hand on her lower back and escorted her out of the party.