It was Wednesday afternoon and Haley was working at her parent's diner; it was called Roe's Paradise. After school she would come and work in the diner to help her parent's out and earn some money on the side. Today, her parents had to go into the city for an appointment so she was running the place by herself, with Al in the back cooking. The mid-afternoon rush was just dying down when her best friend Jaime walked in.

"Hey Hales."

"Hey Jimmie Jam, how are you?" Haley said, grinning to Jaime.

"Hales…"

"Alright, sorry. Hello, Jai-me." Haley emphasized.

"Thank you." Jaime said smiling to Haley, "I've gotten too old for that nickname."

"Yea, because you're really kicking the bucket."

"Shut up." Jaime replied as Haley laughed. She headed to the kitchen to grab a plate of fries. There were only a few people in the diner so Haley decided to take a break. On her way back to Jaime she saw a group of boys sitting down in a booth. As Haley got closer she cursed to herself. It wasn't just a couple of boys, it was Nathan Scott and his minions.

"Oh god, I'll be right back," she said to Jaime "I have to go serve King Scott and his royals, urgh, the jackass."

Jaime turned around and looked at them, "I hate that guy," he said shaking his head.

"I'll be back." Haley took a pen and pad and walked over to them. Haley began to feel intimidated, as much as she put on the brave face of not caring, Haley was scared.

Nathan Scott was the king of the school with his good-looks and family fortune. He had moved to their town last year and quickly made a name for himself. He was the best basket-ball player and helped bring their school team to the State Championships for the first time. He was worshipped like a god by girls and boys alike. But all that glitz didn't faze Haley, because the kid was also an asshole. He knew he was worshipped and took advantage of that. The worst part for Haley was seeing how much he had changed over the years. Sometimes Haley wondered what happened to the nice boy she once knew.

As she got closer, Nathan looked up and right at her. Those blue eyes held her gaze and suddenly Haley's stomach was doing flip-flops. She hated that he could do that to her, so she looked away.

"Hi, what do you want?" Haley asked uninterested.

Tim, one of Nathan's minions replied, "Well you and a pair of hot-cross buns." The other three guys snickered and looked at each other.

"Oh I don't know Tim, this diner may be open for business but I'm pretty sure she isn't." Joe, another minion, replied looking right at Haley with a grin on his face.

"You know what, if you're not going to get anything, then you can get the hell out." Haley replied. She was quickly losing her patience. She didn't have to put up with their bullshit, it was her diner and she could refuse to serve.

"Oh feisty, I like that!" Tim said, reaching out and rubbing the back of Haley's leg.

From the counter Jaime saw Tim touch Haley and his blood boiled. He quickly went over. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" Jaime said and grabbed Tim by his collar pulling him out of the booth and pushing him backwards.

All of a sudden the other boys got up.

"You better watch it boy." Nathan said standing in front of Jaime. Nathan was slightly taller and broader than Jaime, but Haley could tell that it didn't faze Jaime. Haley knew that if she didn't stop this now Jaime would have no chance.

"Just get the hell out!" Haley said, getting in between Jaime and Nathan.

Nathan looked down to her and she could see the anger slowly disappear in his eyes but the intensity of his gaze made her knees weak. What was he doing to her? She broke the trance and looked at the boys behind him. "I mean it, get out!"

When she looked back at Nathan, she thought she saw regret, but it quickly disappeared when he looked at Jaime.

Nathan turned around and they all left the diner.

"Assholes." Jaime snickered as he walked back to the counter, but Haley continued to look out the window from the booth and watch them get into their car. As Nathan was getting in, he turned back to the diner and found those brown eyes staring at him.

Haley couldn't look away from him. She was trying to understand him, searching for a clue in his beautiful blue orbs. But Nathan just grinned back at her, got in the car and drove off.

"Wait so you knew him before?" Sam asked, putting down her cup of tea.

"Yes, I guess you could say that." Haley replied.

"From where?"

"One year, after grade 9, my parents sent me to a summer camp. And he was there. We became friends, at least I thought so."

"So what happened when you he moved to your town?"

"I don't know, he acted like he didn't know me. So I just did the same." Sam could see pain surface from Haley's expression. "The funny thing is when I re-read my diary, the hurt I felt all those years ago comes back and affects me the same way. It's a funny thing."

It was the first day of sophomore year and the halls of Tree Hill High were loud with excitement. Haley had just finished class and was walking to her usual lunch spot in the cafeteria where Jaime and her friends would be waiting.

After she grabbed her food, she spotted a familiar face in the cafeteria. She wasn't sure if it was him so she walked over to his table. As she got closer she realized that it was in fact Nathan Scott. She was so excited to see him that without realizing what she was doing, she found herself standing in front of him.

"Nathan?"

Nathan looked up and found himself staring into familiar big brown eyes. "Haley?"

Before Haley could reply, Tim interjected, "Well, well, Nathan, I didn't know you liked slumming it." Then a wave of laughter erupted from the group.

Haley broke away from Nathan's gaze and looked to the rest of the table. She found pairs of confused eyes and raised eyebrows staring back. She hadn't realized Nathan was sitting with the popular kids. Haley looked back to Nathan and saw him turning red with his head down.

"So Nathan, how do you two know each other?" Nicki, the class bitch, asked with attitude. She stared at Haley grinning.

"Oh, uh, we don't really, I just went to their diner with my folks once." Nathan replied, not daring to look at Haley.

Haley felt her heart drop to her stomach. She realized what he was doing, that she wasn't good enough anymore; that they couldn't be friends. She could feel the tears forming and willed herself to keep a straight face.

"Oh that's cute." Nicki said with a smile which quickly disappeared. "You can go now." Everyone at the table snickered and turned back to each other, ignoring Haley standing there and continued their conversation.

Haley was so shocked by what just happened. She looked back at Nathan, but found him looking down at his tray of food. She quickly turned around and headed for the cafeteria doors, dumping her food out on the way. She felt a tear land on her cheek but wiped it away; completely unaware that Nathan Scott was watching and cursing himself for hurting her.