Okay, just to warn you in advance, this is going to be an extremely long author's note, but please read it in its entirety. Thank you!
Hi my fellow OTH fans! I want to thank those of you who have been reading this series since "All I Want For Christmas Is You." You've been on quite a ride, and I've loved having you along. You've watched our favorite TV characters grow up and have little ones of their own.
Now it's James and Jenny's turn to tell their story. We're going to follow them through high school and on into early adulthood, but you can be sure their high school experience and their lives after high school will be anything but ordinary.
Nathan and Haley, Brooke and Lucas, and Jake and Peyton are going to be in the story as well, along with all of their children, and the parents are going to have to overcome struggles of their own, but this story will focus on James and Jenny the most, because it's essentially their story.
I've got an idea for another story that's going to pick up almost immediately from where this one leaves off, but it's going to be about the rest of the kids when they're in high school. It's going to give Brenna, Anna, Ethan and Ashley the chance to tell their story. I'm really excited about that one, and I'm hoping you guys are going to like it, too. I'm not sure what the title's going to be yet, but I'll be sure to tell you when I figure it out.
Until then, enjoy the first chapter of "Carolina in My Mind." The title for the story is the title of an old James Taylor song. The song kind of inspired the story, and it's going to have some pretty great significance throughout most of the story, so if you've never heard it, I would love it if you could listen to it just once. It's wonderful.
Oh! As most of you know, I've chosen actors who fit what I imagine the characters to look like. Below is the "cast list," so check it out. If you ever forget who's who, just come back here to the first chapter and check.
Cast:
James Lucas Scott: Robert Adamson. He's currently playing Charles Antoni on a show called Lincoln Heights. I've got such a crush on this guy. He is the ultimate teenage James. Look him up on Google or YouTube please. You'll thank me. Hehe…
Jennifer Cassandra Jagelski: Blake Lively. Blake plays Serena on Gossip Girl. I think she's a great actress, and she's absolutely gorgeous. She's my perfect Jenny.
Kyan Tyrone Jenkins: Chris Brown. Chris is the only one I can imagine for Kyan, because he kind of inspired the character. He's just perfect for Ky.
Michelle Cherie Harris: Jordin Sparks. I know she's an American Idol singer and not really an actress, but she's almost exactly what I imagine Michelle to look like. Plus, she's from my hometown! Woo! It was so exciting when she won. Jordin also has some awesome chemistry with Chris Brown (have you guys seen her "No Air" music video?) which is nice, because Michelle and Kyan are going to meet each other in this story and… Yeah.
Brenna Brianne Scott: Ashley Greene. Ashley is going to play Alice Cullen in the upcoming Twilight movie (December is too far away! Gah!) Anyway, look her up. She's stunning. Ashley is how I imagine Brenna to look as a teenager, but I can imagine how she looked when she was younger, and that's how I see Brenna in this story (she's nine when the story begins).
Anna Elizabeth Jagelski: Sara Paxton. She's been in lots of tween movies, most of which I've seen, because my younger sister has them and watches them constantly. She's so pretty-- perfect for Anna. Again, she's how I imagine Anna to look as a teenager, but you get the idea.
Ethan Austin and Evan Ashley Scott: Taylor Hanson. Now, now. Anybody who's rolling their eyes can stop now. He's a perfect example of how I envision the twins. Oh, but just to be clear, never at any point will the twins have long hair. The way Taylor looked when he was about seventeen (he had short hair by that point) is how I envision the twins as teenagers. Please, if you have a minute, look up the music video for "If Only" on YouTube. The way he looks in that video is what I see in my head when I imagine the twins as teenagers. There's a part in the "If Only" video, at about 2:36, where Taylor's sitting by a campfire with his brothers and a bunch of friends, and a pretty girl glances at him, and he looks at the camera with this really cute crooked smile. That is exactly how I see Ethan; the expression on his face when he grins at the camera is so incredibly Ethan… It's unreal. Oh, just please watch the video. Just once. It won't kill you. If you honestly think it will, then you don't have to watch.
Samantha Renee: Danielle Panabaker. Danielle is a lovely young actress who co-starred in Sky High, another of my younger sister's favorite movies… Hehe.
Caleb Owen Foster: Jackson Rathbone. Jackson is going to play Jasper Hale in the up-coming Twilight move (Ha… can you tell I'm excited for that movie?)
Caleb and Samantha won't be in this story, they're going to be in the next one (the one where Anna, Brenna, and the twins are in high school), but I wanted to add them to this cast list anyway, just so you could be introduced to them. You won't find out Samantha's last name until the next story, but I'll tell you that she's going to be involved mostly with Anna and the twins. Caleb is going to have a storyline with Brenna (What do you think of that, Brit? I paired Jasper and Alice together… Hehe… I love Ashley and Jackson. They're adorable together).
Okay, I think I've finally covered everything. Thank you again to all of the readers who have been with me from the beginning, and welcome to all of the newbies. I hope you enjoy "Carolina in My Mind." --Sarah
ONE: ABC
"James." 32-year-old Haley Scott poked her head into her 14-year-old son's bedroom and turned on his overhead light.
James's long, lanky body was sprawled across his bed and he was quietly snoring. When the light came on, he rolled from his stomach onto his back and squinted at his mother through sleepy brown eyes.
"Good morning, Sweet Baby James," Haley smiled affectionately. "Come on, it's six o'clock. You don't want to be late for your first day of high school." She still couldn't believe that her little boy was in high school already. It didn't seem possible that fourteen years had gone by so quickly. To her, it seemed like he had gone from being a little infant asleep in his crib to being the tall, handsome young man she saw now in the blink of an eye.
"Okay, I'm up," he yawned. He reached for the remote that controlled his stereo and in moments, his music was blaring. He was usually able to drag himself out of bed in the morning without much of a problem, but today he had an added incentive to be ready on time. Jen was coming by the house to give him and Kyan a ride to school.
Jenny Jagelski, who now insisted upon being addressed by either Jen or Jennifer and not the childish Jenny, was a young lady of sixteen. She'd had her driver's license for five months-- since April-- and she was often seen cruising around town in the fully restored 1967 Mustang Convertible that her parents had surprised her with on her birthday. It was a very soft, creamy yellow color, which Jen loved. She was such a girl.
James smiled as he slowly swung his legs over the side of the bed and put his feet on the floor. You'd always be able to hear Jen coming. She played her music at top volume, and when you'd turn to look, she'd speed by you on the street, with the convertible top down and her long blonde hair flying. She was so hot. And he was actually going to get to ride to school in her car! He couldn't wait to see how all of the other students would react when he pulled into the parking lot in Jen Jagelski's Mustang.
"Thank you," Haley snickered when his feet were on the floor. His dark brown hair was in complete disarray. Oh, he was such a cute kid. She made her way across the hall to nine-year-old Brenna's room with a feeling of dread. James was the easy one. Brenna was an absolute bear in the morning.
"Bren?" she said softly, poking her head through the doorway of her daughter's bedroom. There was no response. Haley turned the overhead light on and repeated, "Bren?"
"What do you want?" nine-year-old Brenna whined. Her entire body was hidden beneath her bedspread.
"It's after six, sweetheart. You need to get up," Haley said.
"Mmm," Brenna mumbled. She rolled over onto her side.
"Brenna Brianne," Haley spoke sternly now. "I said it's time to get up."
"I will!" Brenna shouted from underneath her blankets.
"Now," Haley said firmly.
"Okay!" Brenna yelled. Her disgruntled face gradually emerged from out of her blankets and she forced herself to sit up; her blue eyes flamed with annoyance and her long black hair was a tangled mess.
"Thank you," Haley smiled. "Breakfast will be ready in a few minutes, so hurry and get dressed."
"Okay," Brenna repeated, grumbling the word with a scowl. As soon as her mother left, Brenna cuddled up to her pillows and pulled her blanket back over her head.
OTHOTHOTHOTH
"Nathan, what're you doing?" Haley had just entered the kitchen to find her husband of fifteen years standing at the stove shrouded in a haze of smoke. She ran to his side and turned the stove's burner off. A skillet full of burnt bread slices sizzled at her. She turned her head and arched an eyebrow at her husband.
"I was trying to make French toast," he explained sheepishly.
Haley laughed at his embarrassed expression and took his face in her hands. She pecked his lips and rubbed the tip of her nose against his. "Thank you for the attempt. That was very sweet."
Nathan grinned and coiled his arms around Haley's waist. He kissed her back, but it was deeper, more passionate.
"Geez, what's burning?" James came into the kitchen and stumbled to a stop. "Ugh," he sneered at the sight of his parents making out. "Thanks guys, now my appetite is totally and completely gone."
"Siddown," Nathan instructed, pointing at the kitchen table with a crooked grin. The teenager obeyed with an identical crooked grin. He dropped his backpack to floor next to the table and flopped into his chair.
James was a perfectly adorable blend of his father and his mother. He was tall and leanly muscular like Nathan, and he had striking, chiseled facial features, as well as a pair of big brown eyes that were framed by long dark lashes. He wore a dark red shirt this morning, along with blue jeans and a new pair of Nikes. His dark brown hair was carefully gelled into short, deliberately disarrayed spikes.
Haley smiled proudly at her handsome boy. He'd doused himself in so much cologne she could smell him from across the room.
"What, Mom?" James asked, flushing red when he noticed her staring at him. He checked himself to see if something was out of place.
"Nothing," Haley smiled again and shook her head. "Where's your sister?"
"I don't know," James took a swig from the glass of orange juice his father handed him. "I didn't see her upstairs. I thought she was down here already."
Haley rolled her eyes and clenched her jaw to hold in a screech of exasperation. She stalked out of the kitchen, headed for the stairs.
Nathan and James exchanged a wide-eyed, uh-oh kind of look.
"Brenna Brianne Scott!" Haley shouted from the bottom of the stairs. "You have three minutes to get your rear end down here!"
At that moment, 14-year-old Kyan burst through the kitchen's back door, toting his backpack. He wore a plain white T-shirt, loose dark blue jeans, and a red baseball hat that sat sideways on top of his head.
"Mornin' y'all," he grinned. Then his nose wrinkled. "Dang, what's burnin'?"
"Mornin', Ky," Nathan chuckled. He was scraping his charred French toast into the garbage.
"Hey, Ky," James smiled. He held out his right hand, which was balled into a fist, and Kyan bumped knuckles with him.
Haley re-entered the kitchen, looking angry. "Hi, Ky," she said, flashing a tight-lipped smile.
"Hi, Mrs. Scott," he replied, confused about why she was in such a bad mood. He glanced around the kitchen, realized Brenna was nowhere to be seen, and knew instantly what was wrong. Brenna had slept in.
A scowling Brenna trudged into the kitchen three seconds later. She was dressed, and her hair looked like she'd dragged a brush through it, but her eyes were still clouded with sleep; she obviously hadn't been awake very long. She plopped down across from her brother at the breakfast table and glowered when he smirked crookedly at her.
"I cannot believe you, Brenna," Haley grumbled, placing a bowl of cereal in front of her and another in front of James. "I'm supposed to be at school early, and now I'm going to be late on the first day." Haley taught choir at the high school. Nathan worked there, too; he taught gym and coached the boys' varsity basketball team with his brother Lucas.
"I'm sorry," Brenna pouted. She propped her head on her hand and stirred her cereal with her spoon.
The honk of a car horn in the street out front had James scrambling to his feet. Kyan choked back a laugh as he watched James stumble over his backpack. James tried really hard to keep his feelings for Jen hidden-- especially now that she had a very big, very buff boyfriend-- he tried really hard to act like he was satisfied with just being her friend, but his face would light up whenever she came around. James could play it cool with anyone else, but with Jennifer, he always wore his heart on his sleeve.
"It's your girlfriend, James," Brenna teased with a giggle.
James chuckled under his breath and gave the back of his sister's head a playful, gentle shove as he passed her.
"Hey!" Brenna protested, smiling while trying to glare at him.
James pressed a quick kiss against his sister's rosy cheek. "Love you, Bren," he said as he rushed out of the kitchen. Kyan was right on James's heels, and he offered Brenna a farewell wave and an affectionate smile, both of which Brenna reciprocated.
"Love you, James!" Brenna shouted after her brother. "Have a good day at school!"
"You, too!" James hollered as he jogged out the front door.
OTHOTHOTHOTH
James skidded to a stop on his front porch and Kyan slammed into his back.
"Ow!" Kyan grunted in irritated surprise.
"Sorry," James mumbled absently. He was riveted on Jennifer; she was sitting behind the wheel of her creamy yellow Mustang, and she was smiling at him.
"Come on you guys!" Jen called, beckoning to them with a wave of her arm.
The boys were just about to get in the car when Haley came barreling down the front porch steps, camera in hand.
"Oh, no," James whispered under his breath.
"Wait, boys, wait!" Haley huffed and puffed for a moment when she reached the car, trying to catch her breath. She held up her camera with a smile when her breathing was back to a normal rate and she said, "I want to get some pictures of you on your first day of high school."
"Mom," James protested with a scowl. She was so embarrassing sometimes. "You, Dad, and Uncle Luke all work at the school. We'll probably be seeing each other all day, so can we just skip the pictures please? You're going to make us late."
Jen hopped out of the car, circling around it and positioning herself between James and Kyan on the passenger side. "Now, Jamie," she chided as she draped one of her slender arms around Kyan and the other one around James. "Don't be such a diva."
James's scowl intensified as Haley prepared to snap a picture. He hated when Jen called him Jamie; she'd always say it in a soft coo, like she was talking to a baby. When she called him Jamie, it made the fact that she saw him as nothing more than a little brother painfully obvious to James. He heard Kyan snicker, but he ignored the sound.
"James, would it kill you to smile?" Haley lowered the camera to frown at her son.
James opened his mouth to voice an impertinent response, but the unexpected sensation of Jennifer's soft lips against his cheek stole his breath. His cheeks burned a bright, hot red, and his heart thundered in his chest as a wide, glowing smile stretched across his handsome face.
Haley quickly took the picture.
Jenny pulled back and smiled triumphantly when James raised starry brown eyes to gaze wonderingly into her beautiful face. "I knew I could get you to smile, Jamie," she giggled, attempting to rumple his gel-hardened spikes in a sisterly way.
James felt his face drop.
"Drive safely kids," Haley cautioned as the three teenagers piled into the car.
"We will," Jennifer promised with a reassuring smile. The soft breeze toyed with her long blonde hair and her beautiful blue eyes shined in the early morning sunlight.
James stared at her in love-struck amazement from where he sat in the front passenger seat. She was… really, really pretty. And she smelled so good!
From his spot in the back, Kyan nudged the back of James's seat with his knee and loudly cleared his throat to let James know that he needed to snap out of it.
"Bye, Mom!" James immediately shifted his attention to his mother so Jennifer wouldn't catch him ogling her and waved as the car pulled away from the house.
"Have a good day! I love you!" Haley waved back at him as Jennifer's Mustang disappeared down the street. She sighed nostalgically, blinking back tears as she turned back toward the house.
Nathan, who had come out onto the porch, wrapped his wife in his arms when she was close enough. She hid her face against his chest and sniffled pitifully as her tears moistened the fabric of his shirt.
"He's in high school, Nathan," she whimpered.
"I know," Nathan murmured, rubbing his hands soothingly over her shuddering back. "I remember his first day of preschool. He started crying and he put his little arms around me, and he begged me to stay with him. I almost took him to work with me." The memory made Nathan's shoulders shake with a quiet, affectionate laugh.
"Now our Baby James is all grown up!" Haley wailed.
"Nah," Nathan said with a shake of his head, continuing to rub her back. "He won't officially be grown up for another four years. And our Pistol's still kind of little," he comforted his weeping wife. "Brenna's only nine."
"Going on twenty-five," Haley giggled through fading whimpers. She felt Nathan's chest vibrate with a deep chuckle and she pulled back to gaze lovingly into his eyes.
He bowed his head to press his lips to her forehead. "Come on, no more being sad," he murmured softly, keeping his lips against her skin. "He can't stay a kid forever."
"I just didn't think it would all go by so fast." Haley's shoulders slumped as she finally came to terms with the fact that she couldn't freeze time.
"Well, no matter what, he'll always be our son, Hales," Nathan tried to comfort her. "And… I don't know if this is going to help you feel any better, but you have me. You'll have me for the rest of my life."
Haley laughed tremulously and stood on tiptoe to peck his lips. "Oh, my husband," she sighed contentedly, snaking her arms around his strong, broad shoulders. "I'll love you for the rest of mine."
"Um, Mom?" Brenna appeared in the doorway behind her parents.
Haley's eyes bulged out of her head and she hastily untangled her arms from around Nathan. "Oh, we're late!" she exclaimed, dragging her hands through her hair in a frazzled way. "Get your stuff! Hurry up, let's go!"
There was a frenzy of last-minute hugs and kisses goodbye, then Haley and Brenna hopped in one car and headed off to the elementary school, and Nathan climbed into the family's second vehicle and drove to the high school.
OTHOTHOTHOTH
"Who wants some music?" Jenny asked. When Kyan and James both stuck their hands in the air, she reached for the dial on her radio and searched through the various stations.
"Yo!" Kyan exclaimed, shattering the short silence.
"What?" James and Jenny asked in startled unison.
"Turn it back, turn it back, turn it back!" Kyan pleaded in a shout.
Jenny turned the dial back, trying to find the station he wanted.
"This one, this one! Stop, stop!" Kyan was practically bouncing in his seat.
Jenny moved her hand away from the dial and returned it to the steering wheel. She smiled when she recognized the song that was spilling out of the speakers. Kyan caught her eye in the rearview mirror and flashed his own smile.
You went to school to learn, girl
Things you never, never knew before…
Like I before E except after C…
And why two plus two makes four…
"This is my jam right here," Kyan began bobbing his head with the beat.
Now, now, now I'm gonna teach you…
Teach you, teach you…
All about love, dear…
"You and your Motown," James laughed.
"You can just shut up, 'cause you like it, too," Kyan shot back, kneeing the back of his friend's seat again.
"Yeah I do," James admitted with a chuckle.
Sit yourself down, take a seat
All you gotta do is repeat after me…
"This is a classic. It's also a really good first-day-of-school song," Jennifer grinned as she turned the volume up.
ABC
Easy as
123
Or simple as
do re mi…
"Come on you guys!" Jennifer shouted to be heard over the loud music, laughing as she rolled to a stop at a red light. "Let's do the shoulder bounce!" She and Kyan enthusiastically bounced their shoulders to the song's beat, but it took a nudge and an encouraging smile from Jen before James joined in. They all began to sing along with the music at the top of their lungs, continuing to move their shoulders.
ABC, 123, baby, you and me, girl!
ABC
Easy as
123
Or simple as
do re mi
ABC, 123, baby, you and me…
"Oh, dang!" Kyan suddenly started cackling hysterically in the backseat.
"Kyyyy," James chastised with a crooked grin, drawing the shortened version of his friend's name out in a long, playfully exasperated groan. "You're killing our groove, dude."
"Yeah," Jen spoke up. She and James exchanged a smile and snickered when Kyan began wheezing, laughing too hard to make any sound aside from a gasping noise. "What's the matter with you, Ky?" she giggled.
"Look… out… your window!" Kyan hiccupped, clutching his sides.
James and Jenny turned their eyes to glance out the driver-side window at the same time. When they saw the car that was stopped next to them, they both laughed until their cheeks hurt.
Nathan was sitting behind the wheel of his forest green SUV, watching the kids in the yellow Mustang next to him with arched eyebrows and amused blue eyes. Oh to be young again, he thought wistfully. He chuckled and lifted one hand from his steering wheel, palm out in a gesture of greeting, when a laughing James waved at him. Then the light turned green, and both vehicles resumed their journey to the high school.
Okay, so that's the first chapter. What did you guys think? If it seemed short, that's because I just wanted this to be sort of an introduction. The next chapter will be longer, and Jeyton, Brucas, and their kids will be in it. Just to warn you, the next few paragraphs will contain some spoilers, so if you don't want to know what's going to happen in the next chapter and the chapters after that, proceed with caution.
Basketball season will be in full swing by about chapter three, and Ky and James are both going to be on the varsity team, even though they're freshmen (they're just that good-- I mean, come on, James is a Scott! Haha…). Jennifer is going to be on the cheer squad, and there are going to be team parties, and the annual Boy Toy Auction, but that's not going to last long… Things are going to happen that will pull Jennifer's focus toward home and family. And James is going to find a passion for something other than basketball…
But never fear. The Scott Basketball Legacy will live on… in a Little Raven.
As for Brucas, the twins are also talented ball players, but one of them won't have the heart for it.
So, that's all for now. Please let me know what you think. If you have suggestions, please feel free to share them with me. Thank you for reading! I hope you liked it. -Sarah