Can You Feel This?

Chapter Two


Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from OTH. Originals, however, are mine.

Summary: AU - Instead of Jake Jagielski meeting Peyton Sawyer, he meets Regina Stone, a girl with a loud mouth who speaks her mind but has a good heart. Regina's wild personality makes Jake wary and he refuses to open up to her but will a shared tragedy bring them closer together or tear them apart? Rated M for future content.


Sitting in the tutor room with an open notebook on the table, Regina Stone doodled mindlessly as her eyes darted back and forth between her notebook and the clock. It was fifteen minutes until eight and Regina had yet to see Jake. She recalled him saying something after she had given him instructions but she didn't bother going back for him to repeat what he had said. She simply thought he was agreeing.

Sighing loud enough to disrupt those who were studying, Regina stood from the table and slammed her notebook shut. The students surrounding her glared in her direction but, surprisingly, Regina brushed them off and left the room.

Regina was walking down the hall, shoving her notebook into her backpack when she bumped into Lucas.

"Whoa," Lucas said as he bent down to pick up the book he dropped after running directly into Regina. "Sorry about that, I wasn't paying attention."

"It's fine, I wasn't paying attention, either," she said. "Hey, you're Lucas, right? Do you know where Jake Jagielski is?"

Lucas raised an eyebrow, slightly surprised that people knew who he was. It was a new world to him. "I'm not sure. He misses school a lot so… Yeah…"

Tucking a strand of blonde hair behind her ear, she smiled. "Well, thanks.

Smiling back, Lucas headed down the hall towards his class while Regina went the opposite direction. Her first period class was history and she didn't expect Jake to be there. When she entered, she was right.

She sighed as she headed over to her desk and plopped down. A second after the bell rang, her friend Carrie Hennessey walked in and sat in the desk beside her. Regina stared at her for a moment or two, not saying anything because Carrie looked upset. It was completely unlike her to come into the classroom without saying a word but she had.

"Are you okay?" Regina asked, turning her body towards Carrie.

Carried didn't reply right away. Instead, she turned away and got her history book out of her backpack. Regina waited a second or two before she pressed the situation. This time she scooter her desk closer and began to whisper.

"Did something happen at the party last night?" She wondered, referencing the party the Carrie went to the night prior.

Sighing, Carrie propped herself up with her elbow and rested her chin in the palm of her hand. "That bitch Brooke Davis was there. She was drunk and I was talking to Lucas Scott and she basically threw a fit and said I was trying to steal her man. For the record, they're not even dating. When we were talking, he kept mentioning Peyton Sawyer, which you obviously know is her best friend. She just said some really cruel things so I'm still kind of pissed about it." She explained.

As Carrie continued to explain what exactly Brooke had said, Regina found herself zoning in and out of the conversation. As hard as she tried to pay attention, Jake Jagielski kept popping up in the back of her mind. It didn't help when Jake entered the classroom fifteen minutes late and didn't bother looking in Regina's direction.

"--then she went to dump a drink on me but she missed. Thank God. I really think Brooke has some iss--"

Carrie was still rambling on about her run-in with Brooke but Regina was focused on Jake who was finally giving her attention. He glanced over at her and gave her an apologetic smile which made Regina return the favor with a smile of her own.

"Miss Hennessy, please stop talking." The history teacher instructed, his eyes narrowing as he looked at Carrie. "Now, we're going to start a new project. I want you all to get into pairs and then--"

Before the history teacher could even finish what he was saying, Regina darted from her chair and over to Jake. Her action further put Carrie in a bad mood, considering she and Regina were partners for absolutely everything.

"Hi, Jake." Regina beamed as she slid into the empty desk beside him. "We're going to be partners, okay?"

Regina had a tendency to be a little bossy. She was also many other adjectives that weren't exactly positive. With her in-your-face type of personality, a lot of guys were turned off by that but she was too oblivious. She was also too oblivious to see that Jake wasn't interested in her at all.

"Well, I… Uh…" Jake stuttered, trying to think of a good excuse to get out of being her partner.

Regina didn't take the hint. "Great! Then it's settled. Are you good at history? I'm not. It's so boring. I just can't concentrate on it. I especially can't concentrate on it when there are cute boys in my class." She rambled, throwing a wink in at the end.

"So, I just wanted to say sorry about not meeting you this morning. I had some things to take care of. I tried telling you last night but you were already gone." Jake explained.

Regina didn't speak for a moment. She had completely forgotten that Jake had stood her up. Now that it was brought up again, her mood was slightly soured. "It's okay, I guess." She said shrugging, trying to pretend like she didn't care.

An awkward silence settled between the two as the history teacher gave out instructions. Every now and then, Regina would steal a glance at Jake and found that he was stealing glances, as well. Her cheeks grew hot and she was sure they were a bright shade of pink or even red. Every time Jake looked at her, she felt herself melting faster and faster.

"So, I was thinking we could work on this dumb project tonight at my house. I figure if we get it done real fast, we could just hang out during class and just chill. Does that sound good?" Regina turned her body towards Jake and smiled.

Frowning, Jake ran his fingers through his hair. "Well, Mr. Carter said we wouldn't have to work on it outside of class…"

"I know but we could get it done quicker if we did it outside of class."

"I'm pretty busy so we'll just do it in class." Jake said firmly.

Feeling defeated, Regina stood up from her chair and began walking back to her own desk. Picking up her backpack, she swung it over her shoulder and began heading to the door. The second she stepped outside of the classroom, the bell rang.

Despite her bad mood, a sly grin spread across Regina's lips when she saw Nathan Scott coming out of his classroom. She quickened her pace so she could talk to him before moving onto her next classroom. Despite him being popular and her not so much, the two meshed well at parties. They meshed well in more ways than one.

"Nathan!" Regina called out as she approached him.

"Hey," he said, smiling his usual sexy half smile. "Are you comin' to the party tonight?"

"Only if you're going to be there."

"It's at my beach house so, uh, yeah." Nathan laughed.

"Then let me reword that." She smirked. "Only if you're going to be there naked in your bedroom and waiting for me."

"As long as you arrive half naked, then yes, I'll be waiting for you." He leaned down, pressing a hard kiss against her lips before walking off.

Despite Regina knowing that Nathan was constantly getting around with different girls, she didn't mind. She was pissed at Jake and needed something to take her mind off of things and Nathan happened to be the perfect thing. Since Regina was a somewhat vindictive person, she hopes that Jake would show up at the party so she could attempt to make him jealous.