"So," Lucas said taking a bite of his salad. "My Mom says you're doing a great job."
Haley looked up from wiping the counter. "Really?" she said, her eyes shining. She sighed. "It was so great of her to give me this job, Lucas."
Lucas grinned. "I think she likes you better than she likes me," he said dryly.
Haley giggled. "Can you blame her?" she asked, snatching a cherry tomato from his salad and bit half of it off.
"Hey!" Lucas said laughing.
"So, yesterday when we were touring the school, I saw a sign for a tutoring center. Do you know anything about it?" she asked.
Lucas shook his head. "Not really," he said. "I've never needed to go in there."
"I think I want to be a tutor," she told him.
"Why?" he asked.
She shrugged. "I think it would be a good way to meet people."
"I guess," he said uncertainly.
"You don't think so?" she asked.
"I'm just not big on people," he stated.
She grinned. "I noticed," she said. "Do you know who I'd talk to about it?"
"Probably Principal Turner," he said.
Haley nodded and swallowed the last bite of her tomato. "So, what're you doing today?" she asked.
He shrugged. "I'm meeting up with the guys later at the Rivercourt."
"Later later?" she asked.
"Yeah, after supper. Why?" he asked hoping like hell that he wasn't going to get roped into playing pretend SATs again.
Haley grinned at him. "I'm going to go get some hi-lights," she told him.
"That's great," he said, studying at her hair. "But what's wrong with your hair the color it is?" he asked.
"There's nothing wrong with it," she said. "I just figured…new school year, new look."
He nodded, not quite certain what to think. His new friend was such a girl.
"Do you want to come with me?" she asked, placing her elbows on the counter and leaning forward.
Lucas laughed and then looked up and saw the serious expression on her face. "Oh, you were serious?" he asked.
She smiled and nodded.
"Yeah," he said carefully. "No. I'll pass."
"Lucas," she whined.
He narrowed his gaze at her. "Oh, don't whine, Hales," he told her.
"Please?" she begged.
He sighed. "How long do these hi-lights take?" he asked.
"Oh, about half an hour," she lied.
He groaned. "Fine," he said giving in.
Haley grinned at him. "Thanks, Lucas. You're better than any female friend I've ever had!" she teased.
777
"OK, number four," Haley asked. "Your idea of perfect sex is: a) on a bed missionary position, b) in the back seat of the car, fast and furious or c) in a hot tub slow and sensual.
"Huh?" Lucas asked, unable to tear his gaze away from the foil covering some of his friends' hair.
"Lucas! You're not listening," she complained.
He tore his eyes away from her head and met her eyes. "Haley, it's really hard to concentrate when you look like you've just arrived from outer space," he teased laughing. She leaned forward and hit him in the arm with the magazine.
"Shut up!" she said laughing.
"Welcome to planet Earth," he said slowly, as if she couldn't speak English very well.
Haley rolled her eyes. "You know, the fact that you wouldn't answer the quiz question leads me to believe that you're not having any sex at all," she said, getting his attention. "In fact, I have to wonder if you ever have," she taunted.
Lucas laughed. "I'll never tell," he said.
"So you're not, then?" she teased.
Lucas sighed and wiped his hands on his knees. "I didn't realize this hair appointment was going to be accompanied by a pop quiz," he said dryly. "I thought I had a few weeks left before I had to worry about that."
Haley shut the magazine and put it on the stand beside her. "Here," she said, pulling her cell phone out of her pocket and handing it to him. "Take a picture of me," she commanded.
"Are you sure?" Lucas asked uncertainly. "I would think you'd never want to be seen like this again."
Haley laughed. "I'm going to send it to Molly," she replied referring to one of her friends in Seattle. "It's kind of our thing. We always go to get our hair done together before school starts. She's actually getting her hair done right now, too."
Lucas raised his eyebrows and nodded as if he thought it was cool. Girls, he thought, snapping a picture of Haley. She took the phone from him and quickly sent it to her friend, then put it back in her pocket. Lucas cleared his throat. "Not that I'm keeping track, but you said half an hour, and we've already been here for an hour and a half," he said.
"We're almost done," she assured him.
"Is this one of those times where you just tell me what you think I want to hear?" he asked.
Haley grinned. "No, we really are almost done," she repeated as the stylist came in. She quickly checked Haley's hair.
"Ready to rinse?" she asked.
"I sure am," Haley told her then looked at Lucas. "See?" she said smugly as he rolled his eyes.
777
"So, I want to go to that pretzel place," Haley said, looking down into her bag for her wallet. "I think—" Haley was almost knocked off balance as Lucas gave her a shove into the store they were passing. She looked up and frowned. "I hate this sto—oh, that's adorable!" she exclaimed, picking up a light purple satin bra covered with black lace. They were in Victoria's Secret which was a place that Haley didn't usually visit because it was too expensive. Luckily for her, her father's promotion had included a hefty raise and her clothing allowance for the new school year had increased as a result. Actually—she thought it was as a result of her parents feeling guilty for moving her, but she was OK with that. She held the bra up to her chest. "What do you think?" she asked.
Lucas gave her a weird look and realized what a typical female his new best friend was. He wished she were atypical. "I don't know," he said uncomfortably. "I'm hoping never to see you in it, that's for sure!"
Haley gave him a playful shove. "It's too expensive anyway," she said, looking at the price tag and putting it back on the rack. "But you know what? I could use some lotion," she said, heading for that section. He followed her but stopped short when she came to a sudden halt in front of him. She spun around. "By the way, what was with that shove? Avoiding someone, hmmm? An ex perhaps."
Lucas laughed. "I wish," he said, his expression sobering. "My brother."
"Ahh, the mysterious brother. When are you going to give me the full scoop on that anyway?" she asked, turning back around and heading for the lotion again.
"He's a jerk, Hales. What else do you need to know?" Lucas asked.
"Well, when did you guys have a falling out?" She picked up a bottle of lotion. "Eww," she said after smelling it. She quickly closed the cover and put it back on the shelf, taking another one down.
"We never had a falling in," he clarified.
Haley turned to look at him. "You don't talk to your brother at all?" she asked stunned. She couldn't imagine not talking to even one of her five siblings.
Lucas shook his head and put his hand in his pockets.
"Come on, Luke. He can't be that bad," she said.
Lucas scoffed. "He's a bully. He has a cluster of followers who do whatever he tells them to do, and he has a great girlfriend who…he's awful to," he said, summing his brother up.
"Enough with the praise," Haley teased, looking back out into the mall. "Do you want me to beat him up for you?" she asked, trying to lighten the mood again. "I bet I could take him."
Lucas laughed. "You think so, huh?" he asked.
"Yeah," Haley said.
"He doesn't play fair," Lucas warned.
"Neither do I," she joked. "I'm not just another brain, you know. I have a ton of charm just dying to worm its way out of me."
Lucas laughed. "Funny I've never seen it."
She rolled her eyes. "Ha ha. I'm ready to check out now. Did you want to look at anything?" she asked.
Lucas gave her a dirty look. "Are you serious?"
"Of course. What was I thinking? The guy who wouldn't take the quiz isn't having sex. What would he need sexy lingerie for?"
After Haley grabbed a pair of knee length sweatpants and a fitted t-shirt off the rack closest to the register, impulse purchases, she and Lucas made their way back into the mall.
He casually draped an arm around her shoulders. "Just promise me one thing, Hales," he said.
"Anything," she said with a grin.
"Stay as far away from Nathan Scott as you can," he cautioned.
She kissed her friend on the cheek. "Done," she promised. She had no idea that it was going to be easier said than done.