-Chapter Two-
News travels fast in small towns, especially news like the murder of one of the towns most beloved daughters.
As Senior Detective Karen Roe and her partner Detective Marvin McFadden make their way down the halls of Tree Hill High School, talk of the tragedy follows close behind them.
Talk from the gossip ravenous high school students whispering behind locker doors eager to devour the next piece of information.
They reach the empty classroom that the principal of the school is kindly allowing them to use during the duration of their fact-finding visit to the school and start preparing themselves for a long day of questioning Tree Hill's finest young adults.
ORSXORS
Blair Waldorf has always prided herself on being cool, calm and composed; she'd been raised to rise above adversity with all the lady like poise a privileged young woman should be in possession of.
Nothing ever ruffled her feathers.
That is to say nothing but Haley Van Der Woodsen, who even now, on her way to being six feet under, managed to find away to put a kink in her polished demeanor.
"Miss Waldorf, can I ask you what your relationship to the deceased was?"
Blair levels her eyes at the detective questioning her, gives the woman an assessing glance and then answers "We were close friends once, now I'd categorize us as passing acquaintances."
"Why were you not friends anymore?" That question comes from the male detective, he's geeky looking and Blair guesses to be in his late twenties even though he looks like he could pass for high school aged still.
"We grew apart," There is more to the story than that but she really doesn't see how it's any business of the two detectives in front of her "I believe it happens a lot in friendships."
The detectives seem to sharpen their gazes on her obviously picking up on the condescension she'd managed to inject into her voice.
"When was the last time you had any contact with the victim?" Detective Roe, the female asks her and Blair cant help thinking that theirs something close to accusation in the woman's tone, accusation and disapproval, but she really could care less what some middle-aged civil servant thought of her, the woman has no real impact on the rest of her life.
"Friday night during the basketball teams Friday night Pep rally." she answers no hesitation in her voice as she thinks back to that night "I was there to support my boyfriend."
The rally had been by far one of the wildest Blair had attended and in the eight months she'd been Lucas Scotts girlfriend she'd attended a multitude of them.
Waiting for her boyfriend on the bleachers in the basketball ball arena had become somewhat of a ritual for Blair, and she can't help thinking to herself how fortunate she is to have this ritual, how lucky she is to have landed herself a boyfriend that was not only talented, intelligent and good-looking but also the Mayors son.
No one had thought she could do it, Lucas Scott had been a loose cannon in his past, he'd had somewhat of a reputation as being almost as big of a womanizer as his father and his older brother but Blair had managed to first capture his interest and then capture his heart and now he was hers.
She knew without a doubt there wasn't anything he wouldn't do for her and she could honestly say the same went for her in regard to him.
Her musings however are cut short when she hears doors swing open and she looks up in the direction of the noise to see Haley Van Der Woodsen make her way into the gym, no doubt coming from the girl's locker room.
She's wearing the navy blue track suit all the Ravens cheerleaders wear after games and rallies, she has a gym bag slung over her shoulder and her eyes seem to be scanning the area for someone or something.
She nods to Blair as she walks past her, her mouth in a grim line and Blair can't help but think she looks rundown and slightly jumpy.
If it had been just two years earlier Blair would have tried to find out what was wrong with her but it's not and Blair really can't bring herself to care.
She really can't pinpoint when her feelings towards her one time close friend and confidant twisted into what they now were. When she'd started viewing the golden-haired girl as a threat instead of an ally, she does however know that it wasn't one big reason in particular but more a collection of little things that built up until finally she'd exploded.
Words were exchanged, feelings had been hurt and in the aftermath the decision had been made by both girls to cut their losses and put an end to their friendship.
She watches Haley as she walks towards someone standing in the back of the room and as they walk out of the gym together Blair cant help but think it's slightly curious that Haley Van Der Woodsen just left the gym looking entirely too secretive with her best friends boyfriend.
"Am I done now?" she asks the detectives once answering their questions "Because I have a council meeting in ten minutes and as Student Body President it doesn't look good if I'm late."
"Yes Miss Waldorf we're done for now" Detective Roe nods a little "We'll be in touch if we need any further assistance from you."
Blair rolls her eyes discreetly before standing and gathering her things.
She can't be sure but she imagines she feels both their eyes boring into her back as she walks out the door.
ORSXORS
"Miss Gattina, can you tell us what your relationship was to Miss Van Der Woodsen?"
Rachel stared up at the two detectives in front of her in wonder, she really doesn't see how they don't already know what her relationship to Haley was, she'd thought someone would have filled them in, it was after all widespread knowledge that Rachel Gattina and Haley Van Der Woodsen hated each other with fiery passion.
"We pretty much couldn't stand each other."
"Why is that?" the younger male detective asked her resting his arms on the table in front of him and leaning forward.
He was cute in a bizarrely geeky kind of way and she wondered temporarily if he'd be up for a little one on one interview later in the evening, he didn't look the type to break the rules though so she probably won't ask.
"There needs to be a reason?" she asked smirking a little "I suppose we just rubbed each other the wrong way."
She really doesn't like being the new girl in school, everything is entirely to difficult, breaking into pre – established cliques can be murder and three days into being a student a Tree Hill High has shown her that the cliques in this school play to win.
Seeing the sign for Cheerleading try outs had been like a gift from the gods in Rachel Gattina's eyes, she wanted to rule her new school and at Tree Hill High the epitome of popularity would always be their athletics department and their Cheerleading squad was among the best in the state.
Rachel was rich, she was sexy and she could move, the team would be lucky to have her, especially since the other girls who had tried out seemed second-rate in comparison.
But she couldn't be sure they'd take her, considering the captains of the team didn't really seem too fond of her.
Brooke Davis and Haley Van Der Woodsen had been the first two people she'd met at Tree Hill High and to say it was hate at first sight would be an understatement.
Juniors like herself, it became apparent to her almost off the bat that the two girls were the ones to get on the good side of, unfortunately for her she'd made the mistake of trying to hook up with Brooke's boyfriend at a nightclub the night before and by the time she was introduced to the school, Brooke had made it her mission to make her life hell.
"Gattina, Rachel." Haley called her name, much to the redheads surprise and she stepped forward confidently hand on her hip as she looked at the shorter girl in curiosity.
Haley didn't look at all happy, so Rachel figured the odds must have worked out in her favor. The captains who had been vehemently against her joining the squad had been overruled by the staff advisor.
The blonde haired girl thrust a uniform into her hand and a clip board folder "Practice is at seven sharp Monday and Wednesday mornings and nine am on Saturdays," Haley jerked her head toward the clip board, her whole attitude no-nonsense "Make sure you have the schedule and rules memorized before your first practice."
The blonde's Brunette haired sidekick spoke up then "And just so you know, you're on probation." Brooke smirked at Rachel condescendingly "Mess up once and you're off the squad."
Rachel nodded her head resolving to tow the line at least until her probationary period was over. She smiled secretly to herself as she left the gym, her uniform in hand, she'd play nice for now, but once she got herself on the map with Tree Hill's elite, Brooke Davis and Haley Van Der Woodsen were going to be kissing her boot heels as she took over their places in the hierarchy.
"Look detectives, this is high school, you don't need a reason to hate someone." Rachel explained to the man and woman in front of her "Sometimes the fact they exist at all is enough."
ORSXORS
She wasn't sure what she was doing here, talking to these two detectives, she hadn't even wanted to come to school in the first place and the fact that she now had to sit through questions from two people who had never known her best friend was starting to irk her.
Brooke had spent much of the previous night crying into her best friends pillow, trying to come to terms with the fact that she was gone, and now she didn't think she had the energy to spend an undisclosed amount of time talking about her, especially when she still hadn't really come to terms with it as much as she could.
She still keeps expecting to wake up from a real feeling nightmare.
"I know this must be hard Miss Davis, we'll try not to keep you too long."
The teenager smiles thankfully at Detective Roe, swiping at a stray tear as it makes its way down her cheek "Thank you." she sniffed a little trying to compose herself "What do you need to know?"
"You and the victim were friends right?"
"She was my best friend, we've know each other practically from the cradle." Brooke answered a small smile making her way onto her face thinking back over the times they'd spent together "Her family are like my own."
Twelve year old Brooke Davis stood impatiently next to her mother as the woman talked with Lily Van Der Woodsen, hoping her mom would stop talking and leave so that she could go seek out Haley, her best friend.
"Thank you again for this Lily. We really just couldn't deal with taking Brooke along with us on this trip; it's going to be busy as it is."
Staying at the Van Der Woodsen's was a common occurrence in Brooke's life. Her parents were constantly going away to some place or another and neither of them could really be bothered with taking their only child with them, Brooke would stay at Haley's house for weeks at a time and she hated leaving when her parent's returned.
"It's really not a problem Victoria, we love having her." Lily smiled down at the young brunette haired girl "Why don't you head down into the entertainment room, Haley is down there with Charles and Serena, she's been waiting for you."
Brooke grinned at the woman leaving her bags by the front door to take up later she headed down to her best friend not even bothering to say goodbye to her mother.
She heard Haley before she saw her, a loud shriek and giggles in the air, stepping into the room the sight of her best friend locked in a heated cushion fight with Chuck Bass, the fourteen year old best friend of Haley's older sister Serena.
"Are the three of you having fun with out me?" Brooke grinned as she stepped towards the couch grabbing hold of a cushion and hurling at Chuck's head with a giggle "Quit picking on my Haley, Chuck or I will be forced to take action."
The older boy smirked over at her but remained silent.
Haley smiled brightly as she skipped over and enveloped her friend in a tight hug "Tigger! Finally you're here!"
"I know Tutor – girl I thought my parent were never going to get their acts together."
Their nicknames for each other had been thought up when they were much younger, Haley was super smart even for a child and Brooke was super bouncy and the nicknames had seemed to fit.
"Well you're here now," the blonde haired girl pulled her friend over towards the couch where the two teenagers in the room were chatting amongst themselves "And that's all that matters."
Brooke settled down on the couch beside her best friend and sighed happily to herself.
She finally felt at home.
"How about the relationship between Haley and your boyfriend?"
"I'm not sure what you're asking me, they were friends."
"Miss Davis is it at all possible that the relationship between the Victim and your boyfriend," the detective glanced down at her notes quickly searching for a name "Nathaniel Archibald had a relationship outside of the bonds of friendship?"
Brooke met the eyes of the dark-haired detective sharply, her question whirling around her head; she really wasn't sure how she could be asked that.
She wasn't even sure why she would be asked that.
And now she wasn't sure how to answer it either.