Story Title: The Best Years
Synopsis: He had a passion for basketball, she had all the right connections to make his dreams possible. How far would you be willing to go to make your dreams happen?
Rated: PG -- for some minor language
Chapter Summary: (Don't read if you don't want to know.)
Cheerleading tryouts are a disaster as Haley meets an old acquaintance who slept with her boyfriend in high school. Peyton second guesses her relationship with Lucas as Nathan meets the Coach's daughter, Haley.
Chapter 2: Apple Candy
Another injury forced upon another cheerleader. Another open spot needed to fill. "You know, I don't even understand why we're doing this. Why can't we just let Stacy and... I don't know, Rachel, do these stupid tryouts? It's not like we want to be here... getting traumatized." Peyton complained for what was the fifteenth time that day as her and Haley waited for the next person to come into the gym.
"Because, you know you can't trust Rachel to pick the most qualified person. She'll choose the girl with the shortest shorts, or the girl that does the sluttiest dance. Much like she did; why is she on the squad again?" the blonde shook her head with a small laugh as she tapped a pen on the table in front of her. "How long does it take to walk through a door?"
Peyton laughed as a brunette walked through the door, CD in hand. Handing the music to Haley, she put the CD into the player and eyed the girl. "Ready?" she asked as the brunette nodded her head and the blonde turned the music on, leaning back in her chair immediately afterwards.
As the minutes went by and the music soon faded out and came to a stop, Haley opened up the CD player and nodded slightly before looking at Peyton and handing the CD back to the girl. "Brooke Davis, right?" she spoke up finally as Brooke nodded a yes.
"Yeah." Brooke spun the CD around on her finger as she ran her free hand through her hair, glancing from the two blondes, looking for any type of sign that she did alright. "I actually tried out earlier, but I didn't get it. I personally didn't really understand why, the other girl that was here last time said I was great."
Haley shot a glare towards the girl that was standing in front of her as her fingers played with the earring in her ear, trying to figure out why the girl didn't understand the situation at hand. "Well, when you try to steal someone's boyfriend that's usually what happens." she spoke up, her voice full of agitation towards the girl. She had some nerve.
Peyton bit the bottom of her lip, a hand shooting to the back of her neck awkwardly. She knew what Haley thought about people to cheated, and she knew that this was the girl who had tried to steal Lucas before, and had actually succeeded one night when Haley and some girls walked in on them during a tournament in high school. She turned her attention back towards Brooke, who was now shuffling her feet awkwardly on the ground as if she didn't know what to say so she made the noise with her feet to make up for the silence.
"You can go now." Haley said simply.
"I'll see you two later, I've got to go see if my dad's still around." Haley announced to Peyton and Lucas before kissing Lucas and waving to the both of them. Lucas watched carefully, waiting for Haley to disappear into the distance before he shot a glance towards Peyton quickly and led the way to the library; their usual meeting place. Lucas may be a jock, but he did enjoy a few good books here and there, and Peyton's excuse was just to get some peace and quiet to work on her drawings. Which is where the two met, where the two had first started these little rendez-vous.
Pulling Peyton into an aisle of the book cases, he pinned her up against the fantasy section and crashed his lips upon hers. But, for some reason, Peyton wasn't as enthused as she usually was. The interaction with that girl, Brooke, had made her a little nervous, not to mention it made her feel like the worst best friend in the world. Lucas Scott was Haley's. Everyone knew that. They were supposed to get married, and have hot little basketball playing children, and... well you get the picture.
"What's wrong?" Lucas asked, concern written in his voice after pulling away and looking the girl in the eye.
"Nothing..." Peyton lied, but she was hesitant about her answer. If there was anything she had learned the past few years, it was that Lucas knew her inside and out. He could read her like an open book, even if the girl had gotten very good at hiding her emotions from everyone else. Lucas eyed Peyton, not even opening his mouth to tell her thatt he knew that was crap. "Fine. I'm lying." she said with a sigh falling from her lips as she finally joined Lucas' gaze. "It's just, remember that girl, Brooke?"
Lucas moved his glance down to the ground, he had to admit that cheating on Haley with Brooke definitely wasn't one of the smartest moves he could have done, but lets think about this - was cheating on Haley with her best friend any smarter?
"Yeah, exactly. You should have seen it, the way she looked at her. I don't want to be that girl, Luke." she told him honestly. Peyton had always had her insecurities about what they were doing, but the fact was that they had already done it. And the blonde was falling for Lucas with each moment she spoke to him, each moment she saw him and she couldn't help it. She couldn't stop herself either. Like people say 'you can't help who you fall in love with'.
"I know, and I don't want to be that guy." Lucas told her honestly. For a while in high school, he was. He got those death glares and those 'jerk' remarks that he knew really meant words that Haley was too nice to say, but you always knew that that's what she really meant. He didn't want that. Not only would it hurt his basketball career, but it would hurt Haley, and that was the last thing he wanted. Although he knew that he wasn't totally in love, sparks fly, butterflies come out everytime he sees her - that kind of love, he still loved her with all his heart. And there once was a time where it was like that, but he just guessed over time... those sparks went out, and those butterflies died or flew away.
"I can't keep lying to her." she confessed. "I mean, she's my best friend! She's always been there for me, and I've always been there for her. When my dad died, she was the one there for me. She slept over for weeks and cried with me, refusing to go home until I stopped crying and got my butt out of bed."
"We'll tell her." Lucas reassured her. Of course, he always said that but they never did. Peyton eyed him, her eyes saying exactly that. "We will. We've just... got to find the right time to do it."
Walking into the sports area of Duke's campus, she headed towards the Coach's office, knowing that's where her dad usually was. Discussing sports and whatnot. Things that Haley knew nothing about, and was quite damn proud of that factor. She was no sports fan. She definitely wasn't dedicated to the Charlotte Bobcats, but she always went, mainly to support her father and his job that kept them well fed and warm during the winter. Heading down the hallway, she got closer to the office before finding herself tuning out and soon bumping into someone. "I'm so sorry." she spoke up, repeating those words over and over before meeting the gaze of the guy she had seen earlier.
"It's okay, really." he reassured her for the fifth time with a small smile and a nod of his head.
"You're Nathan Lee, right?" she questioned as he nodded his head. Haley took note at the questioning expression on his face, and knew he was wondering how she knew his name. "Oh, uhm, I was at practice this morning. Waiting on Lucas."
"Ahh, the 'star' of the team." Nathan added sarcastically.
"Hey! He's not that bad." the blonde defended Lucas, but knew when it came to basketball he was. Too many girls giving him a big ego trip while throwing themselves all over him. And lets not even start on the publicity.
"What's all this racket out here? Lee, I thought I told you to-" Coach "Whitey" Durham announced his presence, loud and clear, as he came out of his office to figure out what had gone on. "Oh, Haley. It's nice to see you again."
"It's nice to see you too Coach." the blonde said with the same welcoming smile plastered on her lips as she soon noticed her father wasn't around.
"You just missed him - your father. He had to get back to his office, I believe." the elderly man quoted.
"Oh, okay. Thanks Coach. It was nice meeting you 'Lee'. I guess I'll see you at the game tomorrow night." she said simply before turning around and heading towards the parking lot to go home.
"Who's her father?" Nathan turned his attention to his new Coach.
"Coach James. You know him, he's the guy you want to get to notice you. Coach of the Bobcats. If I were you, I'd stay on that girl's good side. Although, it's kind of hard not to. Sweet girl." he said, before disappearing back into his office, leaving Nathan to stare at the path Haley had just used to walk away.
