Shelter
A/N: Thanks to everyone who read and to the ones who sent reviews. And also thanks to othfan1919 for betaing the story . Now, on to the next part!
Chapter Three: Tree Hill
XXX
So what do you do now, Nathan? Get wasted and then hook up with a random girl on your first night in Tree Hill?
He smiled to himself and knew the answer would be 'Yes'. Haley told him about some party at a guy's house, and since he was already wanting a beer or two and having some fun, he could use going to this and enjoying himself a while. It was nice to do whatever he wanted without thinking about Dan showing up and spoiling all his fun.
So, what was the girl's name again? He didn't remember at all. Especially when he was so drunk that he couldn't even remember how he got in that bedroom in first place. The party was nice, actually, and he found himself having some real fun after he had a few shots.
"I never saw you around before, hot shot." The girl smiled down to him, while her hand roamed on his body.
"You'll see me around a lot from now on…" He winked at her and went back to devouring her lips, while his hands were now on her butt. She didn't mind it at all and Nathan could tell he was pretty much happy about that.
On the other hand, Haley was not having so much fun.
She was outside, trying to get out of the madness for a little while, and since her friends were all too busy at the moment, there was nothing else she could do. She sipped a bit of her soda and sighed. She wanted to go home already, but she didn't have any ideas of where Nathan would be by now, and her parents wouldn't be very fond of the idea of Haley letting him behind, when he knew no one yet and probably would get lost on his way back.
How great was that? She instantly regretted having invited him to this stupid party. Last time she had a glimpse of him, he was hanging out with some guys of the basketball team, while a girl was all over him. Literally.
So what? Did she think that Nathan was at least a little different from other guys? Maybe, secretly, she really thought and wanted that. Now he proved her wrong on his first night there.
"Tired, already?"
Haley turned her head and saw Lucas smiling down at her, taking a seat besides her. Haley smiled back.
"A little, yeah… I wish I could go home." She breathed out, her eyes wearily gazing at something.
"Seems like Nathan isn't up for it yet. I saw him going upstairs with this blond chick like five minutes ago."
"Oh, how nice." She rolled her eyes.
Lucas gave her a sympathetic smile and then stretched his long legs, making himself more comfortable.
"It's your fault after all. Why did you bring him here anyway?" He asked her, a hint of humor on his voice.
"Well, he asked if he could come too. What would you expect me to say?"
"I wish you said no." Lucas pointed at her, laughing lightly at her expression and Haley rolled her eyes again. But, deep inside, she knew that Lucas was probably right about it.
"It would've been rude."
"It was rude of him asking to come to a party where he doesn't know anyone."
"Well, I can say that he already made some friends." She stated.
Lucas shook his head.
"Haley, I told you he was trouble" Lucas told her, now looking away and with a serious voice. "Look, he arrived at your house like what… five or six hours ago and he's already messing things up. He is totally wasted and having sex with a random girl from school and how the hell you think your parents will be ok with that? I mean, it's getting real late now and they'll want you to go home anytime soon. Besides that, Nathan getting home in that state is not a great thing. They'll start regretting helping him out, and not even a day has passed." Lucas sighed. "I imagine what stunts he'll pull at school."
"Ok, I got it, I made a mistake. I told you guys it was better if I just stayed home tonight… now, what can I do? It's not like I can go there and make him go home with me… and I also can't go home alone. Especially not today. He doesn't even know how to get there, my parents would be mad if I did this."
Lucas nodded his head. She was right. He didn't want Haley to get in trouble with her parents, and especially if the cause of it was Nathan. He knew the idea of him coming to live in Tree Hill would not be a good thing, and Haley was now in the middle of it. She was now in the middle of his family problems, and for sure it would mess with her life too after some time. She didn't deserve to put up with Nathan's problems, she was a good girl.
"I can drive you home now, and then, later, when Nathan is around, I can ask Jake to drop him at your house." Lucas offered.
"I don't know. My parents would be upset the same way."
"Haley, your parents are cool, you know." He tried to calm her down. "I'm really worried about you…"
"I'm okay, Lucas." She assured him. "I just don't want my parents thinking it was a bad idea to let him stay with us."
"I can't understand why you care about it." He rolled his eyes and she made a face. "Well, let's get you home, Haley. I'll talk to your mom or dad when we arrive there, ok? Jake will lead Nathan home after that."
"Okay, then. Let's go. I'm really tired."
X X X X X X X X X
Nathan stumbled while making his way through the people, grabbing another beer in the process. A girl made a move on him, but he was so drunk by now that he didn't even notice her at all.
"Hey, Nate, are you up for some tequila shots?" Tim asked him, patting his back a little later. They got along since the time Nathan arrived at the party, and he was already making more friends around. Nathan was a popular guy on his other school, and he had a feeling things in Tree Hill would be exactly the same. The girls were all over him, he was bonding with the male population too, and he was sure this was going to be nice. He was feeling free, and, to be more specific, Nathan was relieved. Dan was not around. He smiled to himself. He was feeling reckless that night, more than ever. And he felt good.
"Sure, why not?" He slurred and made his way to meet his new friends near the kitchen.
"Hey, you, handsome…" A brunette girl stopped him and he looked down at her. She pulled him into a hot kiss before he could even realize what was happening.
"Hey…" He breathed right after she took a little distance from him. She then shoot him a dirty glance and walked away, making sure he would get a good sight of her butt. "Yeah, I think I'll enjoy being in Tree Hill more than I thought I would." He told to himself before he started heading to where the guys were.
"You're making the girls go crazy around here, man!" Tim laughed and offered Nathan some tequila. He quickly drank it, making a face. "I heard you already scored Natalie, is that true?"
"I don't exactly remember her name… or face." Nathan mumbled. The guys laughed. "But I do remember she gave me a fucking nice…"
"Hey, Nathan Scott…" Jake tapped his shoulder, interrupting whatever he was about to say.
"I'm not really into guys, you know…" Nathan backed off, laughing. "No need to touch me, man.
"I'm Jake Jagielski. Haley's friend…" He told him, rolling his eyes.
"Haley?" Nathan frowned. "Who the hell is Haley? Look, if she's your girlfriend or anything, I can just say that I didn't know…"
"She's not my girlfriend." Jake interrupted him again. The guy was really drunk, and he tried his best not to be fed up with him. Besides all the things Lucas said, Jake still believed that Nathan deserved the benefit of doubt. "I'm here to drive you home."
"Drive me home? Why?" Nathan asked, frowning.
"Haley's parents must be worried about you, man."
"Who the fuck is Haley?" Nathan asked again.
"The tutor." Tim answered.
"Tutor?" Nathan seemed really lost.
"You're staying at her house, remember that?" Jake refreshed his memory and Nathan's eyes widened.
"Oh, Haley! Oh, damn, I totally forgot. Where is she? I was supposed to go home with her... but... I think I distracted myself a bit" He finished the sentence with a drunk smile on his face.
"Yeah, I can see." Jake told him. "Let's go, man, she's at home already."
"Crap…" Nathan took another tequila shot before going with Jake. "See you around, guys."
"See ya at school, Nate! Nice meeting you!" Tim waved and got back to the other guys.
Jake guided him to the car, not knowing what to say to him. He was looking bad, and probably didn't even know who he was at the moment. Perhaps Lucas was right about him, seeing as he was so drunk, and at his first night in the city.
"I should've headed home with her…" He said while entering the car.
"Yes, but she couldn't find where you were, so Lucas drove her home like three hours ago."
Lucas.
Right, he knew, like his dad had said, he was stepping into the lion's den. Of course he would have to meet Lucas sometime, but Nathan was not looking forward to that. In fact, meeting Lucas was something that would happen real soon, since they studied at the same school now, and he was best friends with Haley.
"Was he at the party?" He asked after some time, and Jake looked at him strangely before realizing who he was talking about.
"Yeah, he was. He got pretty worried when you didn't show up to go home with Haley…he left with her and then he asked me to drive you. So here I am."
"He did?" Nathan asked, his eyes closed, his head hurting now more than ever. It felt like it was going to explode. "Thank you." He said, and Jake gave him a small smile, without getting his eyes from the road. "I don't really know my way around yet…"
Yeah, but you sure knew how to get wasted at your first night here."
Nathan sighed. He was not in the mood for a lecture, especially from a guy he never met before. All he wanted now was a comfortable bed where he could sleep until
Monday. He was tired, both physically and mentally.
"I know." He simply answered. Probably Haley's parents would think he was some troublemaker. Well, he actually was… not that he wanted them to know that so soon, but he was. Nathan couldn't deny the fact that parties, girls and booze always made him lose the focus.
"Are you joining us?" Jake asked him after a while. Nathan didn't seem to understand his question, and just made a confused face.
"Joining who on what?"
"Basketball team." Jake told him, like it was obvious. "I heard you're a great player, so I'm asking. I'm on the team too."
"Don't think so." Nathan told him in a low voice. His head was now pounding so hard he thought he would die. Never going to drink again. Ever. Well, maybe a beer or two at the next party.
"I bet Whitey would want you in the team. Whitey is our coach… he can be pretty tough, but he's a good guy after all… We're doing great so far, well, the season is just starting but I already know we're doing I nice job."
"I'm not interested." Nathan said quickly. He didn't want to talk about basketball, let alone play it.
"Really? Look, man, I have nothing to do with all this, I don't even know you, but… Lucas won't be in your way if you want to play with us and…"
"I already told you I'm not interested, man, just drop it, will you?" He said, this time in a harsh tone.
"Ok, then…" Jake raised his eyebrows and kept quiet until they reached Haley's house.
Nathan closed his eyes and tried to focus on something else than basketball, or that awful headache he was feeling now. His night was over now, but he knew some things were just getting started.
X X X X X X X X X X
Nathan sipped on his coffee and flinched, since it was beyond hot. Lydia smiled and shook her head. Haley was sitting besides her dad and they were watching TV. Well, Nathan wasn't, since his head was still killing him.
"Are you feeling all right?" Lydia turned her head to him, still smiling.
"Yeah, I'll be good in no time." He answered and took another sip. He saw Haley roll her eyes at his statement and he frowned. What's her problem?
Jimmy looked at Nathan and then turned the TV volume down. The younger man knew it was not a good sign.
"I'll... call Brooke." Haley made an excuse and got out of the living room.
"Nathan..." Jimmy started. "We do have some rules around the house... I want you to know that I already told Haley off about coming home without you last night, it was not a good thing to do, since you didn't even know how to get back on your own."
"It was not her fault, Mr. James... I lost track of time. I'm really sorry."
"You should remember to be back a little bit earlier than you did, Nathan." Jimmy said, nodding his head at what Nathan said before. "Besides, I don't think you should be drinking."
Nathan sighed.
"I'm sorry. I don't wanna cause you any trouble here."
"We know that, son." The older man smiled down to him and patted his shoulder. "Aren't you hungry at all? Haley and Lydia made an apple pie and it's on the kitchen table."
Nathan gave him a half smile and got up, entering the kitchen without letting go of his coffee. Haley was at the kitchen and she was eating some pie. She looked up at him and he took a seat in front of her, asking her with the eyes if he could have a piece of it.
"Go ahead." She nodded before pouring some milk on her own glass.
He served himself and then started to eat, without really looking at her. Now it was kind of awkward.
"So, you had fun last night?" He asked, trying to make a small talk. He was somewhat curious about her. Haley was not his type, he knew that, but he wanted to get to know her anyways. They would be living together for some time, it was better this way, wasn't it?
"Not as much as you, I suppose." She raised her eyebrows, her voice showing a little hint of anger.
Nathan chuckled and nodded.
"Yeah, right." He said, now just smiling. "I actually had some real fun. Pretty good idea you had of asking me out."
"I did not ask you out." She shot him a look and then he chuckled again.
"Oh, you did it. Kind of, but you did it."
"If I remember well, you were the one who invited yourself to go. I was going to meet my friends there."
"Whatever you say, Haley." He smirked and she narrowed her eyes at him. Was he just trying to wind her up? Oh, god, that was all she wanted right now. "You know, you'd have much more fun if you were with me last night."
Haley looked at him. He was smirking, his face showing that something was implied in what he said. What?
"Well, I don't think so."
"We'll see about that." He nodded and pointed his fork at her before returning to his pie. "I bet there'll be plenty of other opportunities for us to have some fun... like... 'one-on-one' real fun." He smirked again and almost laughed when he saw she was getting so aggravated by his words.
Haley rolled her eyes at him, blushing like crazy. What a jerk!
"Well, you can just lose your hopes on that." She told him pretty quickly. She could not believe how full of himself he was, although she could not exactly say if he was just trying to annoy her or really making a move on her. At the moment, Haley prayed it was the first option.
"So, what are our plans for today?" He asked, totally ignoring her last comment.
"Plans?"
"Yeah." He put his fork down and stared at her, his blue eyes gazing on her brown ones. "I mean, we partied yesterday, now today's a Sunday... what do you have in mind?"
"Nothing." She answered quickly again, totally surprised by the way he was acting. "And we didn't partied yesterday. You did."
"I'm beginning to think you were jealous of me, Haley." He laughed lightly and her face instantly got red again. He though it was nice to see her like that. "You could just have looked out for me and we would have done something more... I don't know... exciting?"
"You know what, you're a jerk."
"Ouch, Hales, that really hurt my feelings." Nathan smirked. "So you like to play hard to get? I'm all in for it. Let's see how much you can handle..."
"Oh, shut up." She got up from her chair. Maybe Lucas was right after all and Nathan Scott was just a big jerk. She couldn't believe he was actually hitting on her after being at her house for less than a day. Haley knew his type very well, and she could say that Nathan meant trouble. She didn't need anything else to prove her that, he already showed her how things were with him. So now what, he was thinking about staying at her house like he was in a hotel and then think he could use her to have some fun while in there? Oh, he was so wrong if he thought she was this type of girl...
He got up too, and before she could reach the door Nathan grabbed her arm and spun her around, in order to face her again. He could tell she was really pissed by now, but he couldn't care less.
"Two can play this game, you know that?"
"Let go of me, Nathan." She demanded, now totally mad at him. Was he crazy?
"Like you really want that to happen... yeah, I can see that." He mocked her, laughing. But he let her go anyways. He was just wanting to wind her up a little bit, not trying to make her parents pissed at him or something.
"Don't touch me again." She hissed and then quickly made an exit, leaving him alone at the kitchen, with a smirk on his face.
"Yeah, like you can resist forever..." He said to himself, while watching her go upstairs really fast.
X X X X X X X X X X X
Nathan was now kind of worried.
It was Monday morning, and after an uneventful Sunday – after his funny encounter with Haley at the kitchen – he was finished getting ready for school.
At first, when he got up, Nathan was somewhat curious and maybe thrilled to go to his first day on Tree Hill High. Without Dan always breathing in his neck it actually felt good to do things like this. He didn't have to worry about basketball practices anymore, so he though he would have plenty of time to do other things, like having some fun and making new friends. It was not easy to have fun when your dad is always trying to get you down every day of the week.
But now, while he waited for Haley outside her house, he was feeling like he was never going to get rid of Dan Scott.
Twenty-one missed calls: Dad
He was so glad he did not hear any of those... but he knew his dad would be pissed. Then he noticed his dad had texted him too, around eleven P.M.
It's not like you can pretend I don't exist, son. Call me. We need to talk.
"Yeah, right, like I want to talk to you..." He muttered to himself.
Shit. He wasn't in the mood for calling Dan, or let alone answering his text messages or anything like that. He just wanted to get him out of his head for a long while and enjoy himself.
He wished he could do it, but Nathan knew it was not possible.
"Let's go." Haley opened the door and stepped outside, not really waiting for him in the process. She was walking fast, and Nathan presumed she was still a little mad at him about the way he acted around her yesterday. He had to jog in order to get to her, and then he started walking by her side not really saying anything. He was not in a good mood anymore, so he decided to let her be.
"I'll show you the way to school, it's not that difficult. So just pay attention, 'cause you'll need to head home by yourself today. I have tutoring after class and I won't be home early." She told him, not looking at him. Nathan was walking by her side with his hands on his pockets, his mind traveling far away.
"Ok." He simply answered. "Are you having difficulties already?"
"What?" She looked at him quizzically.
"You said you have tutoring after class today." Nathan explained, now looking at her for a brief moment while they walked.
"Not really, I'm a tutor." She answered and he raised his eyebrows.
Nathan nodded and remember briefly when Tim told him she was a tutor, back on Saturday's night party. How could he have forgotten that? Oh, she was a nerd.
He didn't answered that one. They walked the rest of their way to the school in silence, and Haley kind of wondered what was wrong with Nathan. Yesterday he was talkative and really outgoing, but now he was all lost in thoughts. He then put his earphones on and she could almost listen what he was listening to.
He didn't want to talk that morning.
For a few minutes, she really thought he was actually hitting on her on Sunday, but now, seeing as he was all serious and not really caring about her anymore, she was completely sure that he was indeed only trying to aggravate her and have some fun. It's not like guys like Nathan Scott really would look at me that way.
She was not disappointed at all.
When they arrived, Nathan didn't bother to say anything. He just made his eyes through the people, and left Haley behind, like they didn't know each other. Well, they actually didn't.
"Hey, Haley!" Lucas greeted her and smiled. She smiled back, and started walking down the corridor with him. "How was Sunday?"
"Oh... normal... I guess. And pretty boring too"
She didn't want Lucas to know what Nathan did, so she decided to let it go. It was not like anything was really happening, and for what she saw that morning, there was nothing to worry about. Nathan was a tease, nothing more.
"Is Nathan being nice to you?"
"Well, we really didn't have a chance to talk at all." She answered him.
"Yeah, I saw how he walked away as soon as you guys got here."
She nodded.
"He's probably trying to find Tim and the other guys."
"Maybe. He was so drunk at the party that I don't really know if he remembers anyone." Lucas chuckled and Haley nodded her head, laughing along. "But don't be bothered 'cause he's not talking to you, ok? I mean... I told you..."
"I'm not bothered by it, Luke." She rolled her eyes at her friend. "You know that you're the only Scott that I want in my life."
"I'm flattered, Miss, but I have to say that I already have a girlfriend." He said with a mocking smile and Haley elbowed him playfully.
"Like I can forget something like that, since you and Brooke are always sucking each other faces everyday."
Lucas laughed at her comment and they decided it was time to head to class after all. It was going to be a busy day.
X X X X X X X X X X X
When Nathan managed to get to class, the teacher was already there, and was going on about something. It was Math class, and he just rolled his eyes when he thought about how that would be painful. Nathan was not in the mood to it.
"Glad you could join us... Mr. Scott." the teacher told him. He was a middle age man, who seemed to be really strict, since everybody was quiet, just watching his explanation. "I was waiting for you."
Nathan rolled his eyes and made his way to the desk near the window. He never took his earphones off, and the teacher was now back to his explanations.
Good. Nathan thought, as he noticed that the teacher didn't pay much attention to him anyway.
His mind was running a thousand miles per hour. He knew his dad would call him, it was not like he was just going to forget and let him be for some time like... forever. Nathan knew this would happen. Well, he also knew that he should call his dad soon, before he actually wanted to come down here and make a little visit. His dad wasn't very fond of the idea of coming to Tree Hill, but if Nathan was there now, probably the idea would cross his mind sometime soon and he should be prepared for that. Besides, Dan was not happy about the fact that he decided to go along with his mom's idea and move out from their house. Nathan didn't know what he would do after some time. He knew he couldn't live with the James' forever, he would have to go back home sometime. Nathan just wished that it would be a time very far away.
How sad is that? He sighed to himself, gazing through the window. I find myself more at ease living with these strangers than I felt all my life at my own house.
He felt like he would always be a prisoner. He couldn't fight the feeling that things might never be ok to him, that his dad would give him some space. Maybe Lucas was lucky after all, seeing as Dan was not really interested on what he was up to. Nathan somewhat wished his dad would give him some time before he started bullying him again.
"So, what would be the answer to this one, Mr. Scott?"
Nathan never answered that one. Music was still blasting through his earphones and he was deep in thought about his dad. Math was not the first and most important thing on his mind right now.
"Mr. Scott?" The teacher asked again, now louder. Someone tapped Nathan's shoulder and he looked up quickly, the teacher looking at him expectantly. What was that all about?
Nathan took his earphones off and finally took the hint: his Math teacher asked him a question and was now waiting for an answer.
"What?" Nathan asked, his voice showing how he was uninterested about whatever was going on there.
"I think I asked you to solve the equation, Mr. Scott... but I think you are kind of busy."
"Maybe I was. So... why don't you ask someone else?" Nathan smirked and now everybody was paying full attention to the conversation.
"I want you to do it." The teacher said, his voice now sounding harsher.
"Well, I surely don't want to."
He put his earphones back on and that was it. Some kids were laughing to themselves, others seemed to be shocked. Nathan didn't care about any of this, and he surely didn't care about his teacher.
When he felt the older man tapping his shoulder, his temper rose. He the took his earphones off again, but this time showing how pissed off he was.
"I think I told you I'm not interested in whatever you're doing! Got it now, mister?" Nathan said in a louder voice, but the man was not taken aback by his harsh words.
"I don't need troublemakers in my class, Mr. Scott. So, since you're obviously one of them, please, let me show you the principal's office."
"That's great news, actually!" Nathan said, grabbing his backpack and walking back to the door. "It means that I won't have to stick around to this stupid class after all."
He made his way to the door and then quickly put his phone back on.
X X X X X X X X X X
Nathan was sitting outside the school entrance, looking down. He got a detention on his first day, and that was certainly not a good thing. Well, it's not like he was worrying about it anyways, but Haley's parents would probably get to know about his little tantrum at Math class that morning.
He looked at his watch and thought she would be leaving anytime soon, so he decided to wait up for her. But as the minutes started to pass and she didn't show up, he was starting to feel bored of waiting.
He was almost getting up and heading home when he was surprised by hands running up his back.
"Hey, handsome."
He could barely picture who the girl was, but he quickly took a hint when she did kissed him right away. She was blonde and really hot, and he looked at her in a curious way.
"Hey." He answered after that, not really in the mood for making out either. He just wanted to be left alone.
"So, you remember me? I'm Natalie... I think we met Saturday..."
Oh, yeah, he could remember her. I remember you giving me the blowjob of my life. He chuckled to himself and nodded at her.
"Good. What are you doing here all by yourself?"
"Nothing really." He shrugged.
"So why don't we head out to my house?" She offered, her lips now tracing some hot kisses on his jawline. "My parents are out of town, and I'm feeling lonely."
"I bet you are." He answered her, kind of enjoying himself.
"I heard you got a detention." She let go of him, a dirty smile on her face. "You know, I have a thing about bad boys..."
Nathan smiled to himself. Suddenly he forgot all about Dan. He had to have some fun while he was here, and that's what he would do. He was thinking of waiting up for Haley, but since he got this great offer, he could not turn it down.
"Let's go, then." He got up and held his hand out for her to take, which she did pretty quickly.
Haley was walking down the corridor and she arrived just in time to see how Nathan was happily walking away with a girl, his hands keeping her close while they walked.
He is unbelievable.
Now she was sure he was a big jerk after all.
X X X X X X X X X X
Nathan arrived home around seven pm and found Haley was outside reading a book. She looked so peaceful there, that he almost felt guilty to disturbing her reading.
He reached the porch and smiled down at her, who didn't bother to even look back at him.
"Hey, Haley." He said, taking his earphones off.
"So you learned your way around Tree Hill pretty quickly I guess." She told without retrieving her eyes from the book.
"Yeah, I can learn fast."
"I bet you can. What were you up to?" Haley decided to act like she didn't see a thing. Nathan shrugged.
"Nothing really."
"Yeah, right."
"You know, I can make friends real fast. I was just hanging out with some of them." He smirked. "Why, jealous again, Haley?"
"You know what, I'm just going."
Haley got up and shoved her book on her purse, heading to the street.
"Going? Where exactly?" Nathan turned around to look at her, now curious about how fast she was leaving.
"I'm visiting Luke." She answered, stopping to face him for the first time. "My parents are doing some shopping, they should be home soon."
"Oh." Nathan nodded. "Ok, then."
Then she disappeared down the street and he found himself alone. Now, Nathan was not in the mood to be alone. He decided to go for a walk.
X X X X X X X X X X
"Hey, man!"
Nathan waved at the guy and could remember him very well: it was Jake, the guy who gave him a lift back to Haley's house on Saturday. He was practicing some free throws at a basketball court not so far away from her house, and Nathan thought if it was a good idea to be in a place like this. Jake smiled at him and made a gesture for Nathan to approach him.
"I didn't see you at school today." Jake told him, the basketball now in his hands.
"I was there. Didn't see you either." Nathan pointed to the court. "Do you always come here?"
"Sometimes. I kind of need to improve my free throws."
Nathan just nodded.
"Wanna help me out?" Jake handed the ball to Nathan, but the brunette boy just shook his head and took a step back.
"I'd rather just watch it." Nathan tried to smile.
"You sure?" Jake asked. "It would be fun. And I could really use some advice."
"Like I said to you, I'm not playing basketball anymore." Nathan mentioned the conversation they had two days before. Jake smiled and nodded.
"You must have your reasons; I'm not going to ask." Jake told him. "Whatever, man, I'm tired already, and it was not like I was going to beat you anyway."
Nathan laughed and shook his head. Jake seemed like a nice guy, and even though he was not interested in making friends with anyone involved with Lucas and/or basketball, he could enjoy his company.
"I'm hungry." Jake told him while tapping his arm quickly. "Let's grab something to eat. My house is down the street."
Nathan frowned.
"Are you inviting me?" He asked to make sure. He knew Jake was one of Lucas's friends, and he wasn't sure about it.
"Yeah, c'mon. My mom baked something earlier and she'll enjoy having someone else to gave her compliments about her cooking."
"Okay, then. I'm curious now. Is her food that good?" Nathan asked, while they started walking down the street without a care in the world.
"It's the best, man!" Jake answered. "My mom knows lots of recipes and..."
The boys kept walking and talking, like they were old friends. And Nathan thought that it was probably a good start after all.
TBC