I have the next chapter written, &it'll be posted tomorrow or thursday :)

love you,
addie j*

I Couldn't Save You

Thursday
January 8th, 2009

God bless the good patron who created block schedule.

You only have four classes a day opposed to seven or eight. You get an extra night to do homework that would otherwise be due the next day. You don't have to deal with the same teachers everyday, sometimes it's a whole three days before you see them again.

But the best thing about block schedule is Nathan Scott.

Wait, no, not like that. I mean you get a break from Nathan Scott. Well, not you, but I do.

Seriously, I give him one answer in history class, one itty-bitty answer, and now he's everywhere. In the hall, outside my classroom, in front of my locker, lurking around the girl's bathroom: everywhere. In history yesterday, he was staring, and not mindlessly into nowhere; he was staring at me. It's truly creepy.

Oh, and another thing; every time I see him, he tries to talk to me. Nathan Scott, in all my four years at Tree Hill High, in all my seventeen years of life, has never intentionally tried to talk to me. I just gave him one freaking answer.

That'll teach me; never be nice to anyone, ever.

But today was one of those precious days in which Nathan Scott could not stare at me through history class. Today I had no students to tutor in the morning and therefore did not get to school until five minutes before the bell, which meant no time for Nathan Scott to stalk me. Today I left every class exactly as the bell rang and walked the opposite direction to my class, allowing no time for Nathan Scott to intercept me. Today had been a wonderful, happy, educational day. Today I had made it through the whole day without so much as a peek at Nathan Scott.

At the moment, I am seriously considering performing some sort of happy dance as I stride to my car. I had gone many years with days like this one, days that I never saw Nathan Scott, and not one of those days felt this good.

I walked past the quad with a sort of skip in my step. In less than a minute I wouldn't have to deal with dodging Nathan Scott for a whole twelve hours. I smiled brightly, obnoxiously in fact. I smiled with a delightful enthusiasm.

"Haley!" A voice called from across the quad.

I so just jinxed myself with that smile.

I quickened my pace, six parking spaces until my car. I can see it now, keep walking, just keep walking.

"Haley James!"

"Keep walking, keep walking," I mumbled to myself.

I was pretty sure this would have been a weird situation for an onlooker to witness: me, the awkward nobody practically sprinting from the popular, incredibly hunky jock.

And when I say incredibly hunky, I mean ugly. Really, really, ridiculously, desperately ugly.

As I reached my car, trying untenably hard to keep up my quick pace, I felt a hand on my shoulder. How is it even possible that he caught up to me? I must have been going at least sixty-something.

"What?" I asked rudely, and slightly out-of-breath, as I turned around to face my stalker.

He looked a little taken aback at my abrasive manner, but quickly regained his composure, "I was just wondering…" He paused slightly before continuing, "You work at Karen's Café, right?"

I quirked an eyebrow, what was he up to? Nathan Scott, the captain of the Tree Hill Ravens, the All-State stud himself, the master of the universe did not ever, ever, ever talk to someone as lowly as me, and to talk about my work? There had to be a catch.

"Why?"

"Um…" He scratched his head, which might have actually been a little adorable if he wasn't totally creeping me out. "My parents, they're um… planning this basketball thing for the seniors, and they were thinking of hiring a catering service." His manner seemed to increase in confidence as he continued to speak. "Does Karen's Café cater?"

I'm pretty sure my face is unmeasurably distorted at this exact moment, as it is a very well known fact that Nathan's father, Dan Scott, used to date Lucas's mom, Karen Roe. It is also a renowned fact that after high school Dan got Karen pregnant, and then left her to raise her son all by herself. Dan knocked up Nathan's mother, Deb Scott, a few months later. Classy, right?

Thenceforth, it can be pretty well inferred that Nathan's parents would never, not in a hundred million thousand years, hire the mother of his father's illegitimate son to cater a Raven's basketball party, or any party for that matter.

Nathan Scott was up to something.

"It depends." I stated, trying my best to appear indifferent.

"On what?" He asked, seemingly innocently.

"On what you're up to."

He smirked, "Why don't you like me?"

I rolled my eyes, "Not everybody is obliged to like you."

He laughed, I scowled. "Yeah, but most people do anyway."

Wait, did you hear that? Yes, yes, that was fate, laughing in my face. It's official: God hates me.

"How awesome for you." I mumbled sarcastically. "Listen, if you really want good catering, I'd check out Moes' or Casarita, but I'd stop in and talk to the manager directly, so you know they understand exactly what you're looking for."

Nathan raised an eyebrow, "You're pimping someone else's restaurant? Couldn't that get you fired?"

I huffed, fed up, "Okay, I was trying to be pleasant, and help you out. But at this moment you're making that incredibly difficult because you're incredibly annoying. The only thing that could possibly get me fired at this point is you making me late, so if you'll excuse me." I turned back around to my car, opened the backseat door and threw my backpack inside. I slammed the back seat door and opened the driver's side door, slid in, started the car and sped off, leaving a partially flustered, partially amused Nathan Scott in my wake.

How's that for a dramatic exit.