Hey everybody! So I posted this story a while ago, but I stopped writing it because I lost interest for a while and then I had a semester of school that was extremely busy. So for anyone who read it before, I hope you still enjoy it. And for anyone new, welcome!

Haley James walked into the front doors of Tree Hill High. This was the third school she'd been in two years. Changing schools her senior year was not ideal, but she didn't have a choice. Haley lived with her mom, Lydia. It had always been just the two of them. Haley's dad ran out on them when she was 2. Because of that Lydia was always trying to find a new dad for Haley. However, nothing ever happened. Haley grew up with men in and out of her mother's life, and inevitably in and out of hers. She had only ever known men as disappointing and unfaithful. She couldn't think of one man she could truly depend on.

Whenever her mom's boyfriend left they packed up and moved. This was the third boyfriend that had dumped her mom this year. His name was Robert Morrison. He was a college professor with two children of his own. Haley actually really liked him. But like always, Lydia got "too much to handle" and he fled like all the others. Usually when they moved Lydia moved them from big city to big city. But this time was different. This time they moved to a very small town, Tree Hill, North Carolina. Lydia's friend from college lived here and was raving about it. So Lydia decided to give it a try.

So here she stood, outside a new school, in the middle of her senior year. She hated this part of moving. Each time she started a new school, the more difficult it was to make friends. Each time got harder to leave. But it always happened. This time Haley decided not to get too attached to anyone, because she knew it was only a matter of time before she had to say goodbye. This time it would be easy to pack up and move again. She wouldn't have anything to say goodbye to.

Haley looked around the school. She noticed a huge sign in the hallway that said "BIG GAME FRIDAY 7PM. BE THERE" and another that said "GO RAVENS!" Tree Hill Ravens. This was her school. She wondered what the big game was and if she should go. She quickly decided against it. Who would she sit with? What sport was it anyway? Would she understand anything that was going on? Brushing the thought away, she decided to spend the night with her mom pigging out on Ben & Jerry's and watching chick flicks. This was a mother/daughter tradition after Lydia got dumped. Her mom always said "Ben and Jerry, the only faithful men in my life."

While thinking about the night she was interrupted by the sound of the bell. Suddenly students standing in hallways began to scatter and enter classrooms. Haley looked down at her schedule and school map. How was she going to find this classroom? And when she did she would have to walk in late and then the teacher would ask if she was new and she would have to talk about herself. She hated talking about herself. Nothing about her was interesting. She quickly looked around to find a teacher or faculty member to ask for directions but saw no one. She decided to try and find it on her own and just hope that her teacher wouldn't make her talk.

As she was walking, she was looking at the map. Suddenly she ran into something. "Sorry," she said without looking up. When she finally did, her eyes connected with a pair of the bluest eyes she'd ever seen. It was then she noticed whom they belonged to. A dark haired boy was staring back at her, smirking. Haley noticed he held a basketball in one hand and was wearing a letterman's jacket. The name on the jacket was N. Scott.

"It's ok," he said. He stuck out the hand not holding the basketball. "Nathan Scott."

Haley shook his hand. "Haley."

"Well Haley, no last name, it looks like you could use some help finding your class."

Haley smiled and looked down at the floor. "Yea."

"Well, let's see," he said looking at her schedule. "AP English with Mr. Clark. That's room 213. You're gonna want to go all the way down this hallway," he said pointing. "And take a left. Once you get down that hallway it should be on the right."

"Thanks," Haley said.

"Wow, you must like school, huh? Lots of AP classes," he said, handing her schedule back to her.

Was he making fun of her? Who did he think he was? He just met her. So what if she liked school? It wasn't his business anyway.

"Yea I do like school. Is that ok with you?" she asked, with a hint of anger to her voice.

"Whoa! Retract the claws. I was just observing. Not need to get offended. There's nothing wrong with that. I'm kinda used to people liking school and being all kinds of smart. My brother, Lucas, is the exact same way. Actually I think he's taking all the same classes that you are. Maybe you'll meet each other."

Haley felt like a jerk. Here she was getting mad at him for judging her when she was doing the exact same thing. "Sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you. It's just, new school and new people. I never know how people are gonna be. Anyway, thank you again for helping me."

"No problem. I'll see you around, Haley no last name," he said smirking. He began to walk away.

"James," Haley yelled to him.

He turned around. "What?"

"My last name is James. Haley James."

"Well then, I'll see you around James, Haley James." With that he looked at her one last time before turning and heading down the hallway.

Haley smiled to herself. Well this was a good start to a new school. Maybe she was gonna like it here. Wait! What was she doing? She couldn't get attached to this place. Sooner or later she was going to have to leave. She wasn't going to make it any harder than it already was.

As Haley walked into room 213, the whole class looked at her. She felt so awkward. Her teacher, Mr. Clark, asked her if she was new. She nodded, praying he wouldn't ask her to talk about herself. He didn't. He welcomed her to the class and told her to find a seat. Mr. Clark started talking about the assignment for the day. The class was supposed to pair up with the person next to them and talk about the reading from the night before.

Haley took the only seat left, next to a blonde-haired boy. She noticed he had on the same jacket that Nathan did. As she got closer she noticed the name on the jacket. L. Scott. So this was him. Nathan's brother. She studied him. They didn't look a like at all.

"What?" he asked.

Haley looked at him confused. "What?"

"Do I have something on my face? Cause you're staring at me like I do."

He caught her staring. Crap. "No. Sorry. I just noticed your name on your jacket. I met your brother, Nathan earlier and I was trying to see if you guys looked alike. I didn't mean to stare."

He smiled. "No problem. I'm Lucas.

"Haley."

"So you met Nate, huh? What'd you think?" he asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Well usually whenever a girl mentions his name they giggle or make some kind of awkward noise. God only knows what those noises mean. I mean I'm pretty sure I know, but frankly I don't want to think about it. What was I saying? Oh yea, when you said his name you didn't do anything. So I'm curious about what you thought."

"Oh. He was nice. He uh, saw me standing awkwardly in the hallway looking for this class and helped me find it." Haley answered.

"Well, it's because you're very pretty."

Haley giggled She'd never stayed in one place long enough to get close to guys, so it wasn't often she heard this. "Are you flirting with me?"

"No, that's Nathan's job." he smiled. "My girlfriend would kill me. But no, Nathan's a good guy. He'll do anything to help anyone."

"So then I'm not pretty?"

"What? No, I mean you are, but-"

"Kidding." Haley giggled.

"Haha. You're so funny." he said sarcastically.

Haley smiled, "Thank you."

The two continued to talk through the rest of class. She discovered she and Lucas had a lot in common. They both really liked school and enjoyed reading. Lucas gave her some recommendations of books to read. Haley really liked him. What was it about these Scott men that made Tree Hill feel so welcoming?

After her science class, Haley went to the lunchroom. This was another part of starting a new school that she hated, the awkward moment when you don't have anyone to sit with at lunch and then have to sit by yourself.

Suddenly she heard her name behind her. She turned to find Lucas behind her with his lunch. "Hey. Would you like to join me and my friends for lunch?" he asked.

Lucas Scott was now her favorite person in the whole world. "Yes, please." Haley answered gratefully.

Following him to a table, Haley noticed three other girls and another boy. As they approached the table, Haley suddenly got nervous. What if they didn't like her? Who was she going to sit with then?

Lucas' voice broke her thoughts. "Guys, this is Haley," he said pointing at her. "Haley, this is Julian, Brooke, Rachel and this is my girlfriend, Peyton," he said pointing to each person.

"Hi." Haley said meekly as she sat down.

The red head looked Haley up and down and then went back to her conversation with the brunette. Haley felt kind of self conscious about the look she gave her. What had she done to her?

The blonde girl suddenly spoke. "So Haley, right?" Haley nodded. "How is your first day going?" she asked.

"Ok. I like my English class, but I'm not a big fan of my Physics class."

"I totally feel you. I hate science too." She leaned in and whispered, "So have you met any guys that you think are cute yet?"

Haley was taken back by this question. Had she met any cute guys? Well obviously that was a yes. But she couldn't talk about Nathan in front of his brother's girlfriend. She was about to say no when a familiar voice said her name. "James. Haley James."

She turned to see Nathan Scott heading towards the table with a smile on his face. "Nice to see you again."

"Yea. Your brother offered to let me sit with him and his friends today."

"Cool." he said taking a seat. Why was he sitting down? Does he always sit with them? Oh crap, he does. What was she supposed to do now?

Nathan turned to the rest of the group, "Sorry I'm late guys. Coach needed to see me. So what'd I miss?"

Rachel spoke up. "We just met this new girl, Holly."

Nathan looked at her, "Actually I think you mean Haley."

"How do you know that?" Rachel asked, hint of jealousy in her voice.

"We met this morning." Nathan answered, not taking his eyes off of Haley. He continued to stare and Haley wasn't sure what this meant. "So Luke, you ready for practice?" he asked when he finally took his eyes off of her.

The rest of lunch continued with Haley being mostly silent. She was asked the occasional question, but other than that she kept quiet. The only thing that bothered her was the glare Rachel had been giving her since Nathan sat down.

When they finally got up to go to classes, Haley felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned to see Rachel staring at her. "Do you honestly think you have chance with him?"

Haley looked back at her. What was she talking about? Nathan? "What are you talking about?"

Rachel glared, "You know exactly what I'm talking about. Nathan. Stay away from him. He is mine. If you think I'm gonna sit here and let some new chick, who isn't even that hot, swoop in out of nowhere and steal him, you've got it wrong. I have been waiting two years for a date with Nathan and I'll be damned if I let the new girl get a date. Your time here at school can be great, but I can make your life a living hell."

"Is that a threat?" Haley asked, not letting Rachel intimidate her.

"That's a promise. You can ask anyone at this school. I keep my promises." And with that she walked away.

Well that was interesting. Now all the looks at lunch made sense. Great, day one and she already had an enemy. What was she supposed to do now? This day couldn't get any worse.