"Oh come on, girls! We have to get it right! The classics are in two weeks and if we want to have a chance at winning, we'll have to get it right! We are not leaving until we have this right!" Brooke Davis yelled at her cheer squad. It was only the beginning of the year and they already were practicing every school day for two hours and quite frankly, Brooke had a little enough of it herself. But since this was her senior year at Tree Hill High, it was her last chance of going to the Spark Classics National. Last year they just came second after the Beak Creek Warriors, but it was so close. But Brooke wanted to do better this year. And win the Spark Classics National, like her mum did 3 of the 4 years when she was cheerleading captain of the Tree Hill Ravens.
Brooke looked as the girls did the performance; Brooke had spent many summer days thinking through. Her best friend Peyton was now on top of pyramid, with her eyes in the air. Smiling. Because that's what each cheerleader is supposed to do. "Okay girls! That was perfect! I'll see you tomorrow after school," Brooke said as her team grabbed their things and went to the dressing room.
Brooke was putting her pompoms in her bag when Peyton, with her perfect blond curls, walked over to her. "Hey B," she started, "you don't have to be so hard on yourself, you know!"
"I know, but I have a feeling I have to. I have to make my mum proud of me, you know!" She replied.
"Trust me, Brooke, she's proud of you," Peyton reassured her as they walked by the still training basketball team. A certain blue-eyes, blond-haired boy crossed eyes with Brooke, which caused her to smile.
"So what's going on with you and Lucas, by the way? There's been so much tension and vibes between you lately. The whole crew senses it." Peyton asked as they reached the dressing rooms.
Brooke sat on the benches and sighed. "Honestly, I don't know. He's sending these signals, I think, about possible getting back together. But I don't want to ruin the friendship who have established for the last year and a half."
"You have feelings for him?" Peyton asked.
"There was never a question about feelings. It's just, I don't know if I can trust him with my feelings!"
"Well, I would say you two have to talk this through. To see if you want to try again, or you just want to stay friends," she said, "But for what it's worth, I think you would make a great couple!"
Brooke smiled and the two best friends left the dressing rooms.
-
"Okay, class. The school year has only just started and already there are students who are failing my class," Mr. Jones told as he walked through the class room. "So that's why I'm going to give you all an assignment. Including the ones who have good grades. And not an ordinary one. You see, literature is something from all ages. The Egyptians wrote stuff on papyrus rolls. In the middle ages myths and legends were written down after being told from father to sons for ages. We have the Brönte sisters who all wrote wonderful novels. And we have our contemporary authors from the twentieth century. And in all those years, centuries there were always written beautiful love stories. So that's what we are going to do."
Every student in that class room was surprised. Were they really going to write a love story? He couldn't be serious, right. Brooke eyed Peyton who apparently found it a quite amusing assignment. All students were talking. But Brooke noticed that Lucas was just sitting there, staring out of the window. It was quite unusual for Lucas not to pay attention during English. It was after all his favorite subject.
"So anyway, since teenage love is everywhere nowadays, for the ones of you who has their boyfriend of girlfriend in this class. He or she will be your partner. For the ones who have an ex-boyfriend of girlfriend in this class, he or she will be your partner. And for the rest who doesn't have both, we will fix you someone …" he told and the whole class had mixed responds. The boy- and girlfriends of course were happy. The exes were not happy. Brooke looked behind her and saw that her old boyfriend wasn't staring out of the window anymore, but he was staring right at her. And he was smiling. Brooke didn't know what to feel about that.
"We'll start with our favorite couple of two years back. Our shooting guard Lucas Scott and captain of the cheer squad Miss Brooke Davis. Who knows why they ever broke up?" Mr. Jones told and it made both Brooke and Lucas feel uncomfortable, to know that everybody in the school was so 'in' to their relationship. "You two will write a story about your relationship. How you met, how you fell in love, how it ended, but write it in a way like Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, like Ovidius's Dido and Aeneas. Let it feel contemporary!"
Lucas was glad that he was partnered up with Brooke. It was a perfect excuse to have some alone time with her. Of course they had hung out the last time, but also with their friends. Mostly there were some of his squad members or Brooke's friends like Peyton and Bevin. But never alone. And Lucas thought it now was the time to have the talk he wanted to have for such a long time. But only he wasn't glad about the assignment. Writing about their relationship would only open old wounds, and that wasn't what he needed. They needed to let the past be the past and start to make a new future, possibly together, if Lucas had any say in it.
Brooke was taking the same thing. Their relationship had been the most precious one she had ever had, but she didn't felt comfortable reliving it all together again.
Meanwhile, Mr. Jones had finished with all other couples in the room. Peyton was paired up with Mouth, since her boyfriend Jake wasn't in this class. Bevin and Skills were also partners; hence they were boyfriend and girlfriend. Ironically Brooke and Lucas were the only exes. Speaking of coincidence.
"Your assignments will be due the end of this month," he said and at that moment the bell rang and people left the class room. Brooke was one of the last one of the students to leave the class room, only Lucas was behind. Was she slow on purpose? Or was she really not satisfied with what she just had heard and it had caught her off guard?
"Hey Brooke," Lucas said as he walked towards her with the books under his arms. "So, we should get together for this task, which by the way, I think is very stupid!" he tried to make her smile and he accomplished a little.
"Yeah, we should." Was this the only conversation they were going to have?
"You are free this weekend?" he asked as they were walking in the hall on their way to their next lessons.
"Actually, I'm not. I'll be going to New York for the weekend with my dad and Brynn!" she responded.
"Okay. Next week then?"
"Sure," she said. But she didn't even look at him anymore. She just walked into the classroom.
-
The crowd was going wild. Everything was sold out. There wasn't a place that wasn't taken. This was their big chance. The band members waited for their announce, so they knew it was their time to take the center and do their thing. The three boys and two girls waited as the crowd was indeed going wilder and wilder.
"Madison Square Garden, let me hear you!" someone said as the audience screamed, "Okay, tonight for the first time in New York and tonight will be the only time they will be opening for the Plain White T's. New York, get ready for Black Tissue!" And the audience screamed even harder.
The five some entered the stage. One girl grabbed her guitar like a boy did also. One went behind the drums, while the third boy was going to play the piano. The other girl was staring at the ground as she walked toward the micro. She was the singer. She looked up and smiled. "One, two, Three, let's go!"
Look at the skies,
And tell me what you see.
Do you see the same as me?
Yesterday was gone.
And I don't even know what
I'm supposed to do.
They sang five songs, before the Plain White T's took over. "Oh my god! You were great!" one girl said as they were back in their dressing room. She couldn't believe they sang before a sold out Madison Square Garden in New York City. It was a dream come true. "Sis, you were great!" the girl said as she took off her wig.
"Brooke, you were the bomb!"
