Chapter 2: Head Games

Sydney sat in the library at a table with Lucas during study hall. She tapped her pencil against her notebook paper trying to distract herself from the fact that Lucas was stalking Peyton Sawyer at the next table, despite the fact that the girl was sitting at a table with her boyfriend. It was all so damn complicated and Sydney knew that she didn't quite factor into the equation. So, she tried to focus on math. Math didn't give a damn who she had a crush on nor the fact that he didn't see her like that.

As she wrote down the answer to number three on her paper, she could still see Lucas watching Peyton with her peripheral vision. Nope, she couldn't keep doing this. Sydney elbowed Luke in the ribs. "Hey," he hissed before knocking her elbow away with his. His brow furrowed at he looked at her "What was that for?"

"You were drooling," Sydney commented with a nod toward Peyton. "You need to get your work done so we have enough time for a decent game tonight." There was no way that she was going to tell Luke to stop watching Peyton because it bothered her.

Lucas raised an eyebrow at her before he shook his head and went back to reading his book. It wasn't homework, but it was better than him creeping on Peyton Sawyer. Sydney slipped the eraser end of the pencil into her mouth and chewed. It was a bad habit and she knew it, but half the time she didn't even realize that she did it.

A few minutes later, Sydney sat up straight and cracked her neck. She caught sight of Coach Durham walking into the library. Sydney didn't really think anything of it because most of his team, at least what was left of it, was in the library for study hall. But then he looked in their general direction, "Scott!" he called.

Nathan's head immediately popped up and responded, "What's up, coach?"

Coach Durham shook his head. "Not you," he said before pointing at Lucas. "You."

Sydney looked at Lucas with a similar reaction to the one on his face. Shock. "What does he want?" she whispered to Lucas. Lucas looked at Sydney and shrugged. "You should probably go," Sydney whispered.

Rather reluctantly, Lucas stood up and shoved his paperback book in his back pocket. He stuck his hands in his front jeans pockets and awkwardly shuffled toward Coach Durham. Coach Durham then turned back toward Nathan, "But you," he said pointing at him. "Read a book or something."

Sydney couldn't help but snicker. Nathan turned and narrowed his eyes at her as Lucas and Coach Durham left the library. Sydney just rolled her eyes before she returned her attention to her math assignment. Absently, her pencil made its way to her mouth again as she concentrated on her math.

"You're not supposed to put those in your mouth, you know." Sydney's head popped up and she accidentally shoved the pencil against the roof of her mouth when she saw that Jake Jagielski was standing in front of her. He smiled. "See?"

Sydney cleared her throat before responding, "That wouldn't have happened if you wouldn't have scared me."

He chuckled and put his hands up in defense. "Fair enough."

"What do you want?"

"I was hoping you'd be gracious enough to let me sit at your table." Jake flashed her a grin. "I promise I won't bother you again. You can even pretend that I don't exist."

Sydney raised an eyebrow at him and nodded toward the table with Nathan, Tim, and Peyton. "Aren't they more your crowd?"

Jake shook his head. "I'm just going to ignore the fact that you assume just because I'm on the basketball team I'm automatically one of them. Instead, I'll argue that I can get more homework done over here. Please? I'm not going to have time to do it tonight."

"Hot date on a school night?"

"Something like that."

The James girl looked behind Jake to find Tim Smith watching them. Tim slapped Nathan's arm and then they had Nathan's attention. Sydney put the end of her pencil back in her mouth and looked back at Jake. "Fine. But just so you know, I'm doing it to piss Nathan off. Nothing more."

Jake looked over his shoulder and saw Nathan and Tim. He turned back around and put his hands together like he was praying. He then bowed toward Sydney before he sat down at the table with her. Sydney and Jake worked in silence until the bell rang. Without saying anything, Sydney left the library and headed for the library to hopefully meet up with Lucas to find out what Coach Durham wanted with him.

Sydney rationalized that the two most likely places for Lucas to go with Coach Durham were the gym and the boys' locker room. She was almost to the gym when she found Lucas outside in the parking lot kicking a rock. "Luke," Sydney called. But he must not have heard her because he just continued to kick that damn rock.

The warning bell rang. Sydney figured she could talk to him later. She really needed to get to history class. So, she turned on her heel and power walked to her next class. She had just made it through the door before the final bell rang. Mrs. Bloom looked at Sydney and shook her head, "Have a seat, Miss James."

Sydney nodded her head and took her seat beside Mouth. "Hey," she said in a whisper. She dropped her backpack to the floor and pulled out her history textbook, a notebook, and a pen.

"Hey, Syd," Mouth said nodding his head and tapping his pencil against his history book. "What's new?"

Sydney shuffled the items on her desk before she answered. "With me? Absolutely nothing. Lucas, on the other hand, I think he is going to have something to tell us."

Mouth's brow furrowed as he looked at Sydney curiously. "Really? Why?"

Sydney looked around to make sure no one was listening to their conversation before she leaned across the aisle and whispered, "Coach Durham pulled him out of study hall."

"For what?"

"I don't know, but there has to be a reason."

Mouth pondered Sydney's words for a moment. "Do you think he asked Luke to play?"

Sydney shrugged. "Maybe."

"Miss James, Mr. McFadden is there something you'd like to share with the class?" Mrs. Bloom asked from the front of the room as she leaned against her podium staring at Sydney and Mouth. Mouth's face blushed bright pink and Sydney grinned sheepishly. "Unless it's something that you think would be pertinent to a class discussion, I suggest you wait until after class to continue your conversation."

Both Sydney and Mouth nodded their head. Sydney looked at mouth apologetically and mouthed the word sorry to him. He just nodded his head and then turned to face the front so he could focus on Mrs. Bloom's lecture. But Sydney couldn't focus on the lecture. She was sure it was really good. Mrs. Bloom had a way of making history interesting and relatable, but Sydney's thoughts were already preoccupied.

In her peripheral vision, she noticed that everyone else was opening their history textbooks, so she cracked hers open as well. Sydney looked over at Mouth's book to see that he was back in one of the appendixes, so she flipped hers to the back as well. She pretended to scan the page for something, but then she found something that caught her eye.

No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.

Sydney absently brought her pen to her mouth and began to chew as she pondered the words of Title IX. Did they apply to her and her situation? And what would it mean if her rights were being violated? Would it mean money or even a chance to play?

"Miss James. Earth to Miss James," Mrs. Bloom called and the other kids laughed. Sydney blinked several times and looked at her teacher innocently. "You need to pay attention. All of you need to pay attention to history otherwise…" Mrs. Bloom looked at Sydney.

"We're doomed to repeat it," Sydney answered as she tucked a strand of blonde hair behind her ear.

Mrs. Bloom smiled. "Exactly! Now, don't repeat the cycle of someone not paying attention in history. Break the cycle." Sydney smiled softly and nodded her head. Her thoughts were just going to have to wait for later.

At the end of the day, Sydney walked to her locker, hoping to find Lucas waiting for her. Instead, she found her sister, Haley. "Hey, Syd," Haley said from the other side of her locker.

"Hey, Hales," Sydney responded with a sigh as she opened her locker.

Haley poked her head around her locker door and looked at her little sister. "Your day was that bad, huh?"

Sydney shook her head. "It was more exhausting that bad."

"Ah, one of those days. If it helps, I don't have to tutor today. We can head to Karen's and I can wait on you, hand and foot." Haley bowed toward her sister which made Sydney laugh.

"Sure, the one time you offer I already have plans down at the Rivercourt."

Haley slammed her locker shut and then leaned against it. "Is your homework done?"

"No, Mom, it's not. But I'll do it tonight. So don't give me the procrastination and time management spiel again, Hales. I'm such a good time manager that I know exactly how much time I can devote to procrastinating."

Haley rolled her eyes as Sydney slammer her locker shut. She then looped her arm through her younger sister's arm and they headed out of school. They were about halfway across the parking lot when a blue Volkswagen Beetle almost hit them. The person driving slammed on their breaks and lay on the horn until Sydney and Haley moved. "Can you two walk any slower?" Brooke Davis called from inside.

"Yes!" Sydney called back and Haley elbowed her.

"Don't egg her on," Haley groaned as she pulled her sister. Brooke Davis' tires squealed as she took off again. The older James girl looked at her sister. "I would prefer to keep my anonymity intact when it comes to Brooke Davis."

Sydney took the ponytail holder off her wrist and put her hair up in a ponytail. "Well, I'm tired of letting people like her and Nathan Scott walk all over people like us. Don't get me wrong, I'm not like Ariel wanting to be part of their world, but a little decency would be nice."

"Yeah, I guess," Haley responded. She then wrapped her arm through her sister's again before the two of them began to hum Part of Your World from The Little Mermaid as they walked.

Sydney walked Haley to Karen's Cafe before she headed down to the Rivercourt. Lucas was shooting free throws with Skills and Fergie walked off the court. Junk wasn't able to join them because he had to work, but Fergie and Skills had been up for a pick-up game earlier. They waved at her as they walked away. Sydney was definitely confused. Something was up. She walked over to Lucas and stole the ball he had just shot.

"What's that about?" Sydney asked, protecting the ball to keep him from stealing it.

"Nothing, I don't wanna talk about it," Lucas grunted.

Sydney raised an eyebrow. "Someone's grumpy." Lucas stared at her pointedly with his arms folded across his chest. "Tell you what. Let's play a game. For every shot I make, you have to answer one of my questions."

"And for every shot I make?" he asked.

She shrugged. "Dunno hadn't thought that far."

"How about we just play?"

"And then we can talk?"

Lucas groaned. "I'm not getting out of talking, am I?"

Sydney chuckled and shook her head. "Nope. I know where you live and I know where you keep the key for the outside door to your bedroom. You can run, but you can't hide."

Lucas chuckled and shook his head. "You know, you'd probably scare most people away with a line like that."

"And yet, here you are. You're not running. Part of my charm." She smiled and then shot the ball. Swish. It went in. She pointed to herself and said, "Point."

Lucas shook his head and took the ball. He jogged up to half court where Sydney was waiting for him. He faked right and went left before putting up one of his signature fadeaway shots. Lucas smiled and pointed at Sydney. "Point," he said.

The game went on for some time between Sydney and Lucas. It was practically a back and forth game, but Lucas eventually managed to pull one shot ahead of her. He won the game, but both teenagers had to play hard. Lucas didn't go easy on Sydney because she was a girl. He had learned better than to do that a long time ago. He smiled at the thought of the first and only time Sydney knew he had let her win on purpose. She had been furious and told him to never do it again. She hadn't wanted special privileges and Lucas admired her for that.

Sydney and Lucas moved to sit at a picnic bench to watch the sunset over the river and rehydrate. They sat there for several minutes in silence before Sydney dared broach the subject. "What did Whitey want?" she asked.

Lucas stared at the river for a few moments before he looked at Sydney and responded, "He asked me to play for him."

"Really? That's awesome, Luke," Sydney said with a smile, but Lucas just shook his head. Her brow furrowed and then she asked, "It's not awesome?"

"I'm not playing with them. I'm not gonna do it."

"But why?"

"Don't you ever just feel like we belong here? At the Rivercourt. You, me, Skills, Fergie, Junk, Mouth, Jimmy...it just seems right, you know?"

Sydney looked out at the river and sighed. "I guess, but you of all people know how badly I've wanted to play on an organized team. And then to have that opportunity drop in your lap and not at least try, it's a damn shame."

Lucas shook his head. "You sound like Skills. He said that you guys were my excuse."

"Maybe he's right." Sydney paused for a moment before continuing. "Unless there's something else that's holding you back."

"Like?"

"Your mom." Lucas looked at Sydney with a look of shock on his face which made her laugh. "Don't be so surprised. I know you better than you think. You don't want to make things awkward for her. Things are finally going good for her PD Post-Dan and you don't want to mess with that just to play basketball."

Lucas chuckled and shook his head. "What are you, my shrink?"

"Yup, I charge five cents and I pull the football away before you go to kick it. That's me." Lucas chuckled at her Peanuts reference. "Not that my opinion matters much, but I think you should talk it over with your mom before you decide anything. She might be cool with it which might change your mind about things. Just saying."

"Yeah, I can respect that," Lucas said with a sigh he looked at the watch on his wrist and then at Sydney. "Ma and Hales won't be done for another 30 minutes. You wanna shoot around for a bit?"

Sydney smiled. "Anything to procrastinate my homework."

Lucas and Sydney shot around for a while when suddenly the headlights of a vehicle blinded them. Lucas made his last shot before they both shielded their eyes until the lights finally shut off. People exited the vehicle, but neither Syd nor Luke could make out who they were. At least not until one of the people approaching started clapping. It was then that the warmup suit with the Michael Jordan logo became visible. It was Nathan Scott and he had dragged Tim Smith along with him.

"Nice shot," Nathan mocked, still clapping. "Think you can hit that with a double team, down by 2, packed house telling you, you suck? How about just two people telling you, you suck?"

Sydney defensively stepped in front of Lucas, placing herself between Nathan and Lucas. "Aww, isn't that cute," Tim mocked. "Do you see that Nate? She's…"

"I can see Tim," Nathan groaned.

Lucas rested his hands on Sydney's shoulders and gently pushed her aside. She now stood beside him, but he kept his right hand on her arm. Sydney wasn't sure if it was because he wanted to protect her or because he was keeping her from going after Nathan, but his touch made shivers go up her arm. "What do you want?" Lucas asked.

Nathan shook his head as he walked onto the court and began to circle Lucas and Sydney. "What do I want? What do you want, man? I mean, other than my girlfriend and my spot in the lineup, huh? None of us want you on the team, man. I don't want you. The guys don't want you. My girlfriend sure as hell doesn't want you. -but here's the deal. -You and me, one on one. You can name the time and place. If you win, I'll quit the team. If I win, you crawl back in your little hole and you remember your place in all this. Time and place, baby. Time and place."

With that Nathan took the forgotten basketball and took a shot. Swish. He made it. He then smirked at Lucas before he walked away with Tim and drove away. Lucas and Sydney stood there for a moment just staring blankly at the place where the vehicle had been. "That really happened, right?" Sydney asked.

Lucas nodded his head and responded, "Yeah, I think it did…"

Author's note: Thank you to everyone who has read/reviewed/followed/favorited. I never expected this response and it means the world to me. Still building things up. Hope you're enjoying it!