Unfortunately for me, I do not own One Tree Hill.

By the time that the final bell rang, I was exhausted. All I wanted was to sleep, but I had to go to that stupid burger place for work. I had worked in a restaurant before, and figured that it wouldn't be that hard to catch on.

I pulled my uniform shirt out of my bag and over my head, and just as I was about to get in my car, I heard someone yell my name. I turned to see the girl from last night running towards me. I let her catch her breath before I asked her what she wanted.

"I was just wondering if you were working tonight," she panted heavily.

I nodded and she smiled. "Awesome, I'll see you there!"

She ran off again and I rolled my eyes. I was getting too old for this bullshit.

New starts always hard, but as I walked into Andy's, I knew that this one was going to be much easier than school was. Despite the awful uniform that I was pretending to be happy about sporting, I liked the vibe of the place. It was set up like an old fifties diner, and it was kind of perfect for an outcast like me. It was one of those places were everything just felt right, no matter how much of an outsider you were.

I was greeted this time by a girl who had maybe half as much spunk as Haley. She was wearing a name tag that said, "Ask me about our new beefed up cheesesteak!" However, I had a feeling that if I asked her about such things, she would probably punch me in the face. Underneath that message was one word, in careful writing. "Nikki."

I walked to the counter and she looked me over carefully. "You must be the new girl."

I flashed her a weak smile and said, "I am. My name's Brooke."

She gave me a smile that was actually closer to a grimace and said, "Nikki. Tristian's in the back."

I nodded and took a step behind the counter into the back room. There was a sink to my left and a counter that was coated in ketchup in front of me. I walked farther and saw a red headed young man snoozing on a desk that was hidden by filing cabinets. I looked around for a moment, awkwardly trying to figure out what to do. I settled on poking the guy, but he just let out a soft snore. Plan B it was. I shook him and he jerked awake.

"Nikki, how many times have I said…oh. Hi. You must be Brooke."

I smiled at my boss, who was obviously an insane person and said, "Yep. You're Tristian, right?"

"Yes ma'am. I'm the manager here and it's nice to meet you. I see that Luke got you all set up uniform wise. Good. I'll show you around."

He led me around the small store, and I followed like the fresh faced new employee that I was. "This is the back room, where we store everything. This is the prep sink, that's the dish washing sink and the drying racks, that's the cook line, this is the custard station, and that's the floor. It's pretty straightforward. You take the order, give it to the cook, take it back out and ring customers up. I'm sure you'll catch on pretty fast."

I smiled again, momentarily at a loss for words. He gave me a quizzical look and said, "Follow me. I'll take you to the most important spot in the store."

We walked through the back room and out a door that led to outside. A petite girl stood there, a cigarette sticking out of her mouth. "Shit. You're still here, Peyton?" Tristian asked.

She nodded, took a long drag off her cigarette and said, "You know me, boss. Committed to the job and all. Plus, I told Luke that I'd wait for him to get here from class. Who's the new meat?"

"Peyton, this is Brooke. Brooke, this is Peyton. She's the head waitress here, so if you have any questions, she's the best person to get here."

I shook the girl's hand and smiled. "Do you want a cig?" she inquired.

I shook my head and laughed. "Nah, I don't smoke. Clean body, clean soul and all that."

She scoffed and said, "Yeah, that's what they all say at first. I did too. Don't worry, you'll start soon. Luke is the only one that I've seen resist."

"Are you and him like an item or something?" I asked.

She smirked. "Or something."

Just then, a blue Chevy Cavalier pulled up next to a black Comet that I'm assuming was Peyton's by the way that she leaned up against it protectively. Lucas hopped out of the driver's side door, singing Fall Out Boy and jamming out on an invisible drum set.

"That's dangerous, you know."

Lucas offered Peyton an inquisitive look and she answered, "Being a douche whilst driving. Totally dangerous."

He shot her a glare and said, "Well thanks, sunshine. Nice to see you too. Hey, new girl."

I nodded in recognition as Tristian walked back out of the back door. "Oh good. You're here. Listen, Luke. We're out of bacon and running low on American cheese. If you need anything, just send Haley to the store. I'm out of here."

"Oh great," Lucas said. "Working with Haley and new girl. Terrific."

I took a moment to be offended before I brushed off his harsh words. I would not let this admittedly adorable jackass ruin my first day.

Lucas walked over to Peyton after he finished getting his work clothes out of his backseat and wrapped her in a warm hug. I looked away quickly, just because it felt like I was witnessing a moment that I shouldn't have. I expected the hug to only last a few moments, but after about two minutes of the two simply enjoying the arms of each other, I decided it was time for me to go inside.

The moment I walked through the door, Nikki descended upon me like a vulture. "Good. You're here. Okay, here's the deal. My daughter is sick, so I need you to clock in a little early. Lucas can get you all set up on the register. And ice needs to be stocked, bathrooms need to be cleaned, dishes need to be washed and you need to clean the custard machine. Can you handle all of that?"

I nodded my head, though I had no idea what she was talking about. I was too afraid of this girl to say no. She looked like she might eat me if I did. Nikki smiled her appreciation and then bustled out of the door. I sighed. There were no customers in the store, and maybe if I was lucky, we would be dead all night. I walked to the back to ask Lucas to explain everything that Nikki had just said, but as soon as I reached for the door handle, it swung wide open. I swallowed before I spoke and Lucas walked in and looked at me quizzically. "What, new girl?"

"Um, the girl who has what seems to be a demon living in her just left me a bunch of stuff to do, but I don't know what any of it means."

Lucas laughed. "You're the first person to ever see the striking resemblance. Nikki's a little intense right now. She's trying to quit smoking and she's been grumpy. What'd she ask you to do?"

I released some of the tension I hadn't even realized I'd had building in my body. "Well, she asked me to do something with ice, something about bathrooms, wash the dishes and clean the custard machine."

Peyton walked in and snorted right as I finished. "Nikki didn't do shit, I see. What lie did she make up this time?"

"Sh-she said her kid was sick," I stammered.

Peyton rolled her eyes. "Yeah, and that's what her babysitter, my boyfriend, is for. Welcome to the first stage of working here, Brooke. Slowly, you'll get the backbone to stand up to the bitchy waitresses you will be forced to work with, but for now, they're gonna use you. Nikki left all that shit for you to do simply because she could. Next time, tell her to do it before she leaves. And don't worry about doing any of it. Haley will handle it all when she gets here. Alright?"

I nodded curtly, because I was more than a little pissed off. Someone doing that to me, taking advantage of the new girl; it's what I've strived to avoid every time that I've moved. Nikki had done it without me even realizing it.

Lucas patted me on the head and said, "See, new girl? No need to worry. Peyton's gonna take care of you."

I whirled around, and hit his hand away. "And I appreciate that," I said. "But I don't appreciate you constantly referring to me as new girl. I have a name, and it's Brooke. So how about you start using it instead of trying to degrade me, you narcissistic, arrogant son of a bitch."

I felt another pat now, this time on my back and it was from Peyton's warm hands. "And you just passed test one."

I smiled. As much as I felt like I was going to hate this place, it just got a little bit better. Lucas smiled at me appreciatively. "Looks like Brooke has a little bit of fight in her."

I smirked. "Boy, you ain't seen nothing yet."

Peyton let out a cheer and reached out for a high five, which I obligingly gave her. "Looks like this girl is already talking like she's from the south," she said.

I smiled to myself. I'd let them believe whatever they wanted about my past, for now. I wasn't ready to give these people all the dirty details yet. Especially when I wasn't sure if they could even be trusted.

The door rang, and we all ignored it as we heard Haley yell, "Where are all you bitches at?"

Lucas poked his head into the front room. "Don't you know that you should never end your sentence with a preposition?"

Haley shot him a look that would have stopped me in my tracks. "Don't you know that I'll chop off your balls if you speak to me about grammar ever again?"

I laughed and Haley brightened when she saw me. "BROOKE! I'm so excited to work with you."

I worked up all the enthusiasm I could as I said, "Same here."

Peyton chuckled to herself, and looked at the shorter girl. "Hales, you want a cig?"

Haley twitched her lips and furrowed her brow, like she was contemplating whether she was going to help herself to an early death or not. "Yeah. I'll be out there in just a second."

Peyton nodded, and walked out the back door, with Lucas at her heels. Haley went to one of the drink machines and started preparing a drink for herself. "So," I said. "What's the deal with those two?"

Haley sighed, and then sipped her Pepsi. "Classic love story, really. Girl likes boy. Boy is mean. Girl moves on. Boy then likes girl. Girl is completely oblivious and rubs new boyfriend in Boy's face every chance that she gets. Boy suffers quietly."

I nod, as if I had a clue what any of that meant. I guess, in a sense, I did. Felix and I had had a pretty twisted relationship before we had gotten together. Maybe there was hope for my co-workers.

Haley sighed again. "Look," she said. "I gotta go get some nicotine in me before my shift starts. Will you be okay up here on your own?"

I nodded, and smiled. "I'll get you if I need anything."

Haley turned on her heel, and ran out the door, desperate for a fix. I rolled my eyes. I would never understand smokers. I stood against the counter, thinking about how much I missed Ohio when suddenly the doors opened and the world stopped.

In front of me was the most gorgeous man that I had ever seen. He had amazing dark eyes, dark brown hair, he was tall and muscular, and he had a smile that pulled one side of his face. He was stunning.

Not only that, but he was also my boyfriend.

"Felix?" I said. "What…how…what are you doing here?"

CLIFFHANGER! Please review3