Chapter 3:
Rachel sat up in her bed abruptly
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you" Haley put her hand over her chest.
Rachel had startled her when she jumped up.
"No its find, is everything ok?" she ran a hand through her hair, throwing the covers to the side.
"Yea everything is good, but you should really get up and get ready, you and the girls have to go register for school today" Haley explained
"uh…ok, I'll be down in a bit" she nodded.
Rachel yawned as she crawled out of her king size bed and walked over to the door that was next to her empty closet. She turned the knob and opened the door to reveal the biggest bathroom she had ever seen.
"A girl could get used to this"
She hopped in the shower and turned the water on. She couldn't help but remember
"I'm going to shower, if you want to come" she smiled coyly as she pulled the sheets around her body, skipping away from the bed and into the bathroom.
She had turned the water on hot and let the bathroom fill with steam as she waited. She waited and waited. Was he going to come in or not?
She began to feel nervous as she let the warm water trickle down her back and over her body.
The shower door suddenly opened and she smiled.
"Cooper-" she smiled
"I just wanted to tell you your breakfast is here" he whispered and than he left
She only needed one draw for all of her clothes.
She searched through it. But all she had was 'work clothes' or t shirts. She did thankfully have her favorite pair of jeans and her converse sneakers. She ran a brush through her hair and walked across the hall.
Haley looked over her shoulder and smiled "yea?" she asked Rachel.
"Uh…I was just wondering, I don't really have much, I thought...If maybe…I could-"
"Raid my closet, be my guest" Haley laughed
"Thanks so much, I didn't really…uh…get a chance to pack much" she stated, it was true.
"That's ok, It just means we get to go on a shopping trip" Haley smiled.
Rachel looked through the racks and racks of clothes. She looked over to her right there was a picture of Haley and a brunette they were smiling and hugging.
"Who's that?" She asked out of curiosity.
Haley looked up. She pressed her lips together.
"That was my best friend, Brooke" she told her as she walked over and studied the picture, it was the last day of school.
"Was?" Rachel wondered as she studied Haley.
Haley seemed sad.
"She died" she whispered
"I'm so sorry" Rachel whispered as they both studied the picture.
There was no denying that both the beauty and happiness of the brunette in the picture was overwhelming.
"I know what your thinking" Haley nodded as she put the picture back on the wall
"You do?" Rachel continued to look at the clothes.
"You want to know how she died" Haley filled her gym bag.
Rachel looked over her shoulder. Haley looked up at her.
"Car accident" Haley nodded
"Oh" Rachel whispered
What else could she say?
"On a lighter note" Haley smiled "hurry up, pick anything you want and I'll be downstairs, and its cold, so bring a coat" Haley warned her with a smile before heading down the stairs.
Rachel sighed. Maybe she wasn't the only one with a tough life.
She quickly picked a top and walked back to her room changed and grabbed her coat. She trotted down the stairs and into the kitchen.
She paused and tilted her head to the side. Darcy and Willa were smiling and laughing, sitting at the counter eating cereal. It was the first time in a long time that she had seen them do anything normal like that.
"What can I get you for breakfast Rachel? Cereal? Toast? Eggs?" Karen asked, ready to please
"Cereal is more than fine" Rachel stated as she sat down at the counter next to Haley.
It all seemed so odd. She hadn't done this or acted this way or felt this way since she was a little girl.
"So when exactly is the first day of school?" the always talkative Darcy asked
"tomorrow, but today is practice for the cheerleaders" Haley pointed to herself "and the basketball players and the last day to register for fall classes" Haley explained
"So you made it just in time" Keith nodded.
"Do you girls want a ride to school?" Karen asked as she watched the four of them.
It was sort of odd how her family had grown overnight.
"No, we'll be driving" Haley held her hand out.
"Hales, how about we just drive you?" Keith crossed his arms.
"Dad"
"Hales"
Rachel sat silently, wondering how this would work. She was never disobedient.
"Call me when you get there" Keith handed her the keys
"I'll call you before we leave to" Haley nodded
He was about to walk out the door when he turned around
"Look out for this guy. I just hired him at the shop, he said he was registering at the high school today. Tall, short hair" he explained
"Cute?" Darcy wondered
"Dreamy" Keith rolled his eyes leaving the girls laughing.
"You ok Willa?" Karen studied the girl who had been silent for much of the morning
"Yea I'm fine, just a little nervous" she shrugged.
"Ok" Karen nodded
"Well, we should get going" Haley smiled as she escorted the girls out the front door
"Have a good day!" Karen called after them.
"This place is huge, and I bet its filled with boys" Darcy rubbed her hands together
"Could you think about something else for like five seconds?" Willa asked as they entered the school.
"Haley!" the four girls turned around.
Lucas and Jake were surprised to find so many girls in one spot.
"These are my two best friends Lucas and Jake, guys these are my cousins Rachel, Darcy and Willa…they just moved in" Haley explained.
"It's very nice to meet you" Jake shook there hands
"We'd stay and Chat but Whitey is already rounding the team up" Lucas explained
"Have you seen Na-" Haley was about to ask when the door opened and the wind gusted in.
Nathan Scott walked passed them with out even saying hello. Haley crossed her arms.
"How sweet" Haley pressed her lips together as she accompanied her cousins to the office.
Two hours later Rachel and her sisters walked out off the office
"So we are officially students at Tree Hill High" Willa studied her schedule
She and Darcy would be incoming sophomores, Rachel a junior.
"Looks nice enough, right?" Rachel asked them
"Better than any school I've ever been in" Darcy shook her head
"We should find the gym" Rachel looked down the hall.
That was were Haley told them to go afterwards.
15 minutes later after searching the huge school, they found it and slowly pulled the large door open.
On one side of the gym, cheerleaders were practicing and the other side had the basketball players stretching. It was just how you would have pictured it to be.
The three girls climbed up the to top of the bleachers and sat and watched. Haley waved to them and they waved back.
Nathan dribbled around the players and aimed for the hoop, scoring point after point. He was the best on the team and nothing would change that. Suddenly he was being double teamed, he looked left he looked right.
And than he paused. He saw something…someone. As if she was sitting there, cheering him on, like always. He stood up straight, the ball was stripped from his hands but he stood there. He focused in. It wasn't her. But it still brought memories back. He made his way to the bleachers.
"So?? What do you think?" she spun around in her room.
"It's a top" Nathan said confused.
His sister always insisted upon him giving his opinion about her outfit selection, even though he never had anything nice to say. She said she needed a boys opinion…but she also insisted that his opinion didn't really matter since he wasn't her target audience. Which just proved that this pointless ritual…was just that…pointless.
"A $250 top" She looked in the mirror
"Oh my god" Nathan shook his head,
"it's a one of a kind" she smiled at him.
There father was going to kill her.
"that's what I was going for" she winked as she jumped onto his back
"To the party?" he asked
"to the party!"
"What the hell?" Rachel asked as some idiot stood in front of her, furious.
Nathan snapped out of it
"Where did you get that?" he spat
"Get what?" she asked confused
Almost scared.
"That shirt!" Nathan grabbed her arm.
"That hurts-"
"Nathan, stop it" Haley grabbed him "She's my cousin" she explained
"She didn't know" Lucas said from behind.
"Let her go, moron" Darcy flicked him.
"Nate" Jake whispered.
Nathan slowly let Rachel go, everyone surrounding him. He pushed passed them all and headed out of the gym.
Rachel bit down on her lip, rubbing her arm. It was sure to bruise.
"You ok?" Haley asked her softly
Rachel nodded, pushing back any tears that had been brought forward
"What's his problem?" she asked as she sat back down.
Haley watched Nathan flee the school.
"That's Brooke's brother…and that's Brooke's shirt" Brooke pointed to her top.
Rachel looked down at the flattering red top. Figures.
Haley rushed out of the locker room, looking for another shirt to give to Rachel. She was moving so quickly she didn't watch her step and she stumbled down the last step. Thankfully a guy at the bottom of the stairs broke her fall.
"Oh my god" she laughed as they stood
"I don't think anybody saw" he whispered
"Thanks" Haley blushed, brushing her hair out of her face.
"Stephen Martin" he held his hand out
"Haley James" she shook it
"Oh…as in…Keith James?" he asked
"That's my dad"
"That's my boss" he nodded
Haley realized that this was the new mechanic. And her father wasn't kidding, he was dreamy.
It was than that she noticed, he was carrying his brand new THH Raven's shirt.
"Can I like…borrow that?" she laughed
"Uh, sure-"
"thanks!" Haley smiled, taking it and running away.
Stephen watched her skip down the hallway and disappear.
"Don't bother" Nathan said in passing "It's not worth it"
"So how was everybody's day?" Karen said as she finally sat down at the dinner table.
"It was great until Rachel got attacked-" Willa embellished
"It was just Nathan…he had a little…moment, you could say" Haley shrugged
"So he's still not any better?" Keith asked
"You really cant expect him to be, after the accident-"
Haley cleared her throat, ceasing her parents conversation.
Rachel wasn't sure whether it was because Haley didn't want to talk about it, or because she didn't want her to know.
But with her own stress and anxiety building, she came to a conclusion.
She was probably better off.