Chilarie was sitting at a table at the Rivercourt, her earbuds in her ears and a book in front of her, idly twirling a blonde curl around her finger as she subconsciously blew a bubble with her bubble gum. She had assumed she was alone, so she jumped when she felt someone tug her earbud out of her ear. She looked around, trying to control her breathing, with a hand placed on her punding heart. She slapped her cousin in the back of the head when she saw his grin. "Damnit, Jamie, try not to give me a heart attack, won't you?" she admonished, putting her book mark in her book.
The blonde boy just grinned back at her. They were close, because they were so close in age, and because there parents were so close, but over the years it had grown into more than that. Not in a sick, incest way, but now they were best friends, hanging out together most of the time by choice, instead of obligation. "Ooh, I'm gonna tell on you. You know your mom would be angry to hear you cussing, Hope," he teased, calling her by her middle name, like she preferred.
She just rolled her eyes, picking up her book again, deciding to ignore the annoyance. She reached up to put her earbud back in, but he took it out of her hand, putting it into his ear, and leaving her with the other one. He winced at the music. Most of the time they had similiar tastes in music, but she had a wide range of music on her Ipod, mainly stuff from her mom, and some of it he just didn't like. So he picked it up off of the table, looking through the songs as she just continued to read.
After a few minutes, he chose a song and set it back down on the table. "I thought you were tutoring after school today," he questioned, because she had told him she would be. That was why he had planned to meet up with one of the guys from the backetball team, who, he realized, should probably be there soon. He had made Varsity this year, despite only being a Sophomore, and not just because his uncle was the head coach, like most people thought. He'd shown them, though; the team was on their way to winning the championship.
Without moving her eyes off of her book, she answered him. "I was supposed to be, but the person had to cancel, so I had some free time. I thought I'd spend it here, relaxing," she paused as she felt her phone vibrate. She pulled it out of her pocket and read the text, typing out a quick reply and sending it before replacing her phone in her pocket. "It seems that Nicci is meeting me here, though, so we'll probably chill here for a while," she added.
Nicci was her female best friend, the one she did all the girly things with, even though neither of them were particularily girly. Nicci was actually gorgeous, with staight jet black hair, and blue eyes, but she had no self-confidence, because she had glasses and braces. She had a nice figure, too, but she never showed it, choosing instead to wear more comfortable clothes. She was a freshman, and on the girls JV basketball team, and was more of a tom-boy/jock than anything.
Chilarie was more of a bookworm. She preferred to do homework instead of anything else, though she was good at basketball. It was something she had inherited from her dad, even though it wasn't really her passion. She enjoyed it, but she enjoyed tutoring, and reading, and even drawing more. She wasn't shy, like Nicci was, but she didn't like being in the lime light, so she and Nicci had just sort of stayed on the sidelines so far.
James was pounding a beat out on the table when two cars pulled up, practically simultaniously. Nicci got out of her mom's SUV, ignoring the wave Keirah gave her before she drove away, while a guy stepped out of a black Jeep with tinted windows, which looked brand new. Chilarie had her back to the Jeep, but Nicci's mom had pulled up where she could see, so she smiled, waving at her best friend, completely not noticing the guy behind her.
She pulled her ear bud out of her ear, noticing Nicci's eyes widening as they locked on something behind her. It was then that Chilarie heard the basketball bouncing on the blacktop, and she turned, setting her book down to see who was behind her. The guy was looking at her, too, and when she turned, her eyes met a beautiful pair of light blue-almost gray eyes. The guy had dark, chocolate brown hair and he was tall, taller than even James, who was tall for his age, at 6' and still growing.
The guy looked her up and down, and if she wasn't doing the same thing to him, she would have been offended. "Who is this, Scott, your little sister?" he asked, not even taking notice of Nicci, who had walked over to the bench and had sat down. Nicci was pretty used to not being noticed, but Chilarie did not like being mistaken for Jamie's little sister, especially since she was older than him, but it did happen, more often than she liked.
Still small for her age, Chilarie was barely 5' and, quite petite, but that did not stop her from standing to her feet, glaring at the guy on the court, whose name she didn't even know yet. Something about him brought out the Sawyer temper in her. "For your information, I am his cousin, and I'm actually a few months older, and, despite my size, I bet I'm better at basketball, too," she said, her hands on her hips and fire in her blue-green eyes.
He took a step back, but there was amusement in his eyes. That only served to anger her more. James stepped in front of her, placing a hand on her shoulder to calm her down. "Chill out, Rambo, he didn't mean it. I know you're better at basketball than me, and I humbly accept it," James was lucky to have not received the cocky attitude his father had had in high school. He was good, and he knew it, but he preferred to show it with his skills, not with attitude. He liked a silent victory.
The guy behind James, however, was more arrogant and cocky, and he didn't have the advantage of having ever seen Chilarie play before. He laughed, a sound which, even in her anger, made Chilarie's heart beat faster, though she'd never admit it, or if she did, she'd chalk it up to the adrinaline rushing through her veins. "I don't believe that, and I can't believe you'd think that. Look at her, is she even tall enough to play?" he joked.
Bad move on his part, definately. With a female version of her father's smirk, she moved around Jamie, grabbing the ball from the arrogant jackass whose name she didn't know yet. She stood right in front of him, resisting the urge to stand on her tiptoes as she looked up toward his face. "You know what, why don't we play a one-on-one game, and we'll see who's better," she propositioned. He opened his mouth to refuse, but she cocked an eyebrow at him. "Unless you're scared," she added.
His jaw set and he shook his head, removing his tee-shirt and tossing it to the bleachers, leaving him in only his basketball shorts as he moved to the center of the court. Chilarie had to remind herself not to stare at his very nicely sculpted chest as she turned and pulled her sweatshirt off, tossing it onto the bleachers, leaving her in a black tank top. She was thankful that she had stopped by her house right after school, and traded her jeans for comfortable shorts. She tossed him the ball and pulled her unruly curls back into a pony tail, using the elastic she always kept around her wrist.
James shook his head as he walked off the court, taking a seat on the bench next to Nicci. Both of these people were the most stubborn people he knew, and he couldn't imagine that this could end up good. The guy, whose name happened to be Brett, was a Senior, and one of the most arrogant guys on the Varsity team, but he did have the skills to back it up. Actually, he was pretty much James's dad, from his high school days. As for Chilarie, she had her mom's temper, and she was stubborn, like both of her parents, and she hated being judged by her size.
Brett bounced the ball back to her as she stepped to the center of the court as well. "Ladies first," he said, which was a bad move, because she had her dad's jump shot. She smirked at him before stepping to the side, quickly sending the ball in a perfect arc. It made a swooshing sound as it went through the hoop. He walked over to get the ball on the rebound, then walked back, shaking his head slightly as he tossed her the ball again. "Beginners luck, but you can have the point. Let's go to eleven, by ones," he said, bending at the knees, waiting for her to start again.
Chilarie scored another goal with her jump shot, but the third time he gave her the ball, she moved around him, quickly taking it to the hoop and shooting. She made her third point, and he was still at zero. The next time she tried to move around him, he stole the ball from her, driving it to the hoop and dunking it. He sent her a smug grin when she made a sarcastic comment.
An hour later, they were still playing, because they kept extending the end score as one of them got close to it. James and Nicci were both getting tired of watching the game. They were tied at twenty-seven due to the jump shot Chilarie had just made, but when she landed, her ankle twisted underneath her and she skinned her knee when she fell to the ground, landing harshly on her palms as well.
James and Nicci ran onto the court, but Brett was kneeling by her side before they could even stand up. He helped Chilarie as she moved, so she was sitting on her butt, and he was taking off her sneaker and sock, to assess the damage. Nicci and James both knelt by her side as well, Nicci examining her hands, and James looking at her knee, which was bleeding. "I'm sorry, Little Scott, I shouldn't have let you play against me. I'll agree, you're damn good, but I think we better get you home so you can ice this," he said, gingerly touching her ankle, and noticing when she winced.
That comment, of course, didn't encourage her to stop. She shook her head adamantly, brushing off her hands and pulling her ankle out of his grasp. She grabbed her sock and shoe and put it back on. "Oh, no, I'm not letting you off that easily. We're going to finish this, and you better not take it easy on me because I'm injured, because I won't take that excuse when I beat you," she said, holding her hands out to Nicci and James, for them to help her up.
All three of them had apprehensive looks on their faces, but Brett was the first to agree. "You really think you're going to win, do you?" he asked as he stood. James and Nicci stood as well, sharing a look, both knowing that Peyton and Lucas wouldn't like it when their daughter came home injured, especially if James and Nicci let her play on it. Still, they knew Chilarie wouldn't take no for an answer at this point, so they reluctantly helped her to her feet.
Of course, it did hurt to put pressure on her ankle, and her knee was stinging like hell, but she kept all pain off of her face. She knew her friends wouldn't let her play if they knew for a fact she was in pain. She covered her grimace of pain by turning it into a smirk. "Of course I'm going to win. In fact, I'm sure you're not going to score another point. We're going to thirty, make it, take it," she said, walking to the ball and picking it up, taking her place center court.
Nicci and James reluctantly went back to the bench, while Brett followed her to center court. She made one, then two jump shots, making the score twenty-nine to twenty-seven, in her favor. When she got the ball a third time, she faked left, then moved right, using her size and speed to manuver past him, driving it to the hoop, scoring the winning basket.
The ball bounced to the ground and she picked it up, turning to him with a smirk. He looked at her appraisingly, somewhat surprised that she had actually beat him. He couldn't say that he hadn't given it his all, either, because he had definately not been going easy on her. "I have to hand it to you, Little Scott, you're really something," he said, noticing for the first time how long her legs were, for her height. They were nicely toned, too.
She already hated the nickname he'd given her, and she couldn't help but toss the ball to him a little bit too hard, so that it hit him in the stomach. "Oops, sorry," she said sarcastically, walking over to the bleachers to grab her sweatshirt, as she pulled her hair out of the pony tail, shaking it out so it cascaded down her back once more. Once she grabbed her sweatshirt, she tied it to her waist, looking down to notice the dried blood on her leg from her knee.
Finally allowing herself to limp, she picked up her stuff, gesturing to Nicci and James that she'd give them a ride home. She was the only one who had a car because she was old enough to get her license, and she made enough money, tutoring and working the Cafe, to buy herself her own car. She had bought her mom's old Comet. As they were getting in the car, he called out to her. "I'll be seeing you." She didn't reply, but she had to hide the smile that wanted to appear on her face.
As she drove off the court, her hair blowing behind her because she had the top of her car down, she couldn't keep her mind off of the arrogant jackass, whose name she didn't even know. She knew she could ask James, but she didn't want to, because she didn't want to seem interested. The guy wasn't someone she would normally want to talk to, but she found herself wanting to know more about him. She thought maybe his tough facade was just that, a facade.
Brett, left behind on the court with only his basketball, was in a very similar predicament. He'd never met anyone as stubborn or firery as her, yet he wanted to get to know her. She was different from other girls, mainly because she didn't fall for his charm, and she wasn't afraid to call him on his BS. She had a lot of attitude, and it was wrapped up in quite a small package, but he kind of liked that. She was full of surprises, and he wanted to learn more.
A/N: So, here is the companion piece to Can't Stop Destiny and Can't Lose Hope. To those of you who have read both of those fics, and have been waiting for this one, I hope it doesn't disappoint. To those of you who haven't read those fics... Read them. Just kidding. I mean, I'd like you to read them, and review them, if you feel so inclined, but I really don't think it's necessary. Most questions will probably be answered as this goes on, but if you'd like to leave a question in a review, go for it. Oh, and I think I'm going to change things up a bit, and update every Sunday from now on. I can't guarantee that I'll have an update for every fic every week, but it's highly likely. Anyway, hope you like this, and hope you review. Let me know if it's worth continuing.
Disclaimer: I don't own One Tree Hill. I only claim this world I created, which I happen to like a lot.