Sixteen year-old Nathan Scott sat on his bed, listening to his iPod. He only had ten minutes to waste before he had to be out the door, in the car that his parents let him use when he needed it, and on his way to basketball practice. He wouldn't have minded skipping practice and just hanging out with his girlfriend Peyton for the rest of the day, but Tree Hill was not a very large town, so if he was late for practice, his dad would be sure to hear about it.

Besides, he had to be on top of his game now for a couple of different reasons. Junior year was important, since scouts were already starting to look at him. But that was something his dad constantly talked about; Nathan didn't even start thinking about college. What worried him, though he'd never admit it to anyone, was Lucas Scott, Dan's bastard son. Ever since he had joined the team at the beginning of the year, it felt like the kid was snatching things from him right and left. Whitey had already given the kid his position and he heard people say that he was already considering making him captain. To top it all off, Nathan had seen him talking to Peyton a couple of times and it made him feel uneasy. They'd been fighting a lot lately and when she was talking to Lucas, she's just seemed so happy. The last thing he needed was for the bastard to snatch Peyton away too.

Dan, of course, was livid. Not about Peyton—he couldn't care less about who his son was dating as long as it didn't interfere with his basketball performance. Dan was furious with Whitey for even allowing his illegitimate son to join the team alongside Nathan and he was even angrier about the fact that the kid now held Nathan's position. It was unthinkable. As a result, Dan now pushed Nathan twice as hard as he did before, with the early morning runs and afternoons spent lifting weights. On top of all that, he also bugged Nathan about the fact that Lucas was still on the team, hassling him to do something about the fact that the kid is still on the team.

When Lucas first joined the team, Nathan couldn't have cared less. In fact, it was almost good that he had, since the team was in serious trouble following the stealing of the school bus that resulted in the suspension of half the team. It's when his father started hassling him about it that Nathan started to get fed up with Lucas. If it weren't for that bastard spawn, his dad would not be hammering him day and night. His dad would finally get off his back.

That was why Nathan made it his goal in life to get Lucas off the team. He almost felt like the reason Dan was so bothered by Lucas's being part of the team was because he understood how good he really was. It was almost as though he felt that Lucas was a threat to Nathan. Of course, Nathan was determined to prove him wrong, so he started the whole rivalry with Luke. He wanted to prove to everyone that Whitey had made a mistake when he let Lucas join the team and that the bastard didn't deserve to wear the jersey. He had to prove that he was the best.

With all of this in mind, Nathan got into the SUV and drove to the gym. As he was driving, his cell phone rang. He briefly thought of his mother, who would kill him for talking on his phone while driving, but picked it up anyway.

"Hey," he said, without asking who was calling. "Can't talk for long, I'm just heading to practice."

"Oh," Peyton replied. "Well, I just wanted to tell you that cheer got cancelled today."

"Why?"

"Lanie fell and sprained her ankle. By the time the ambulance came, it was nearly five o'clock, so the coach just told us to go home. So I'm free, if you want to hang out."

"I just told you that I have practice. I can't."

"Nate, you totally annihilated the last three teams. Everyone knows that you're good. Can't you skip one practice? You said that we'd see each other this week…"

Nathan considered the suggestion for a moment, but then thought of his dad. "Peyton, now's not a good time for me to skip practice. We'll hang out on Friday, OK?"

"You have a game on Friday," Peyton pointed out.

"Yeah, but after that we're all going to Tim's house to celebrate our win. You should come."

"Nathan, that's hardly what I would call us hanging out. Half the team will be there."

"Peyton, you know that I have to go," Nathan replied. "It's for the team. And since you are my girlfriend I want you to be there. We'll do something on our own some other time."

"Yeah, we'll go to another party or we'll make out in your car. Nathan, have you ever considered the fact that I might not enjoy hanging out with your friends. That I might want to do other things."

"Well what do you enjoy, besides your lame music and your stupid webcast? You never want to do anything fun."

Nathan stared at his phone for a moment, realizing that he had gone too far. "Look Peyt," he said when she didn't reply. "I'm sorry. You know I didn't mean anything, it's just that I'm under a lot of pressure from my dad and stuff. I'm sorry."

"Fine. Whatever," he heard Peyton's voice across the phone.

"So we're good?"

"Yeah. I guess."

"And you'll come to the party?"

"Yeah. Sure."

"Good," Nathan said. "Now I have to go, but I'll call you later, OK?"

He hung up without waiting for her to reply. If he had stayed on the line for a little bit longer, he would have heard her say, "It's not OK."