The One with the Move and the Choice
Part Seven
A/N: I do not own Rasputina. Or Gilmore Girls, where the last scene slightly comes from. Some of the dialogue is taken from there. And just so everyone knows, I am not planning to put Lucas and Peyton together right away! They need to be friends first; otherwise the relationship won't work out. Don't worry though, all in good time.
At lunchtime the next day, Haley walked into the cafeteria to find Nathan, Brooke, and Lucas sitting at a table. She sat down on Nathan's lap.
"So, guys, what's uppers?" she said.
"Um, uppers, Hales?" Lucas replied while trying not to laugh. She narrowed her eyes at him.
"Yes, uppers! I mean, God, why does everyone have such a problem with that? It's not like I'm crazy or anything." Brooke laughed, Haley stuck her tongue out at her and stole a fry off Lucas' plate. He slapped her hand.
"Uppers, I mean it's kind of cute in a very hyper chipper sort of way," Nathan mused.
"Yep, I'm a real chipper dipper!" Haley said perkily. Nathan laughed. Haley spotted Peyton across the cafeteria and jabbed Nathan in the ribs with her elbow.
"Ow!" he complained while rubbing his elbow, then exclaiming "Oh!" when he noticed Peyton. Haley hid her smile.
"So, Brooke, Nathan had that...thing he wanted to show you, right Nathan?" Nathan was biting his lip.
"Yeah, Brooke, there was that thing. Oh, we could go into the home economics room to talk about it. That's far away from here. As long as no one notices I'm in there, last time I was there I accidentally knocked over 5 bowls of matzabrah." He said sheepishly. Lucas laughed and Haley patted his shoulder.
"It's ok, honey," she said. She got up off of Nathan's lap and he and Brooke left.
"Peyt! Hey, Pey Pey! Get your ass over here!" Haley yelled across the cafeteria. Peyton pulled up a chair next to Haley.
"Hales, how many times have I told you not to call me Pey Pey? I hate that." Peyton said dryly. Haley looked at Lucas innocently.
"Hardly any! Just like, once. Or twice. Maybe three or four times. But that's it, I swear. Tell her Luke!" Lucas raised his eyebrows at her.
"Yeah, I'm going to agree with Pey Pey here," he said teasingly. Haley glared at him and Peyton reached across the table and smacked him across the back of the head.
"Ouch." Lucas muttered, "Too many women have been doing that lately." Peyton laughed and Lucas grinned. He liked making her smile.
The table fell into an uncomfortable silence. Haley nervously looked back and forth between Lucas and Peyton without saying anything. They were both keeping their heads low and eating. Haley raised her eyebrows and did the first thing that popped into her head.
"Anyway, guys, I'm going to go help Nathan and Brooke with their...thing. Have fun!" She pushed her chair back with a loud screech and ran off.
"So..." Lucas said nervously.
"So..." Peyton said in a chipper tone. They sat in silence and ate for the rest of the period.
-
"Okay, everyone, this is the start of your new gym unit. Volleyball! Let's get cracking and if you don't try hard, I'll have your ass. Get to work!" Coach Boleita called. "Team 1: Scott N, James, Illianrit, Riconson, Jagielski, Srecert. Team 2: Scott L, Davis, Sawyer, Bonart, Hirit, Lariat. Play!".
Haley smirked and pulled Nathan over to their side of the net. She watched and Lucas stood uncomfortably between Brooke and Peyton. Jake was standing on Brooke's other side. She decided to have some one.
"Score: 13- 13," Franny Bonart called. She served as Haley started motioning to Peyton with her hands. She swung her finger back and forth between Lucas and Peyton and drew little hearts in the air. Nathan was trying not to laugh and jabbed her with his elbow. She mock glared at him and kept motioning. Peyton was blushing and kept nodding her head over to Brooke, who thankfully hadn't noticed. Haley grinned. The ball was served again.
"14-13," Franny called. "Game Point!". The ball was tossed back and forth until Haley hit it directly in the middle of Peyton and Lucas. They both reached for it and their arms touched. The ball went flying to the other side of the room.
"Yo, spaz attack much, guys?" Nathan called. Peyton stuck her tongue out at him and Haley laughed.
"And that's game!" Haley called. She drew a little heart in the air and Peyton smacked her on the back of her head.
"Ouch," she muttered, "I'm not Lucas, you know." Peyton glared at her.
"Really? I never would have guessed!" she yelled sarcastically. She blew out her breath in a large, exaggerated sigh.
"I'll meet you after school, Hales," she said. "There's this really cool new record store that I want to check out." She walked away.
"Score one for Hales, score zero for Lukie and Pey Pey," Haley said happily under her breath.
"Haley Baley, stop keeping score," Nathan said. She pouted at him.
"But I like it," she whined after him. Then she frowned. "Haley Baley? Eww! No way on your life are you ever calling me that again! Get back her, you jerk!". She ran out of the gym after him.
-
Peyton put her books in her backpack, slammed her locker door, and turned around and bumped into someone. They dropped their books.
"Oh my God, I'm so sorry," she said and knelt down to pick them up. The person knelt down as well.
"It's ok," Lucas said. Peyton squeezed her eyes shut and bit her lip. Why, why, why did he always show up at her worst moments?
"So, um, I should be going, and you should be going, and we should both be going, so I'm going to go, and you should too, so, um, I, um, yeah!". Oh god, she was babbling. She never babbled. He laughed and she felt a small smile come across her face.
"So I, um, just wanted to give this to you," she said, shoving a few CD's in front of her. She looked at them.
"Rasputina?" he asked, "Who's she?".
"She's a really good singer, more rock and metal than anything," she replied. "I thought that you might like to try something different." She shrugged.
"Awesome," he said. "I'll listen to them right away!"
"Ok," she said. She waved and turned around. He leaned against her locker holding the CD's and smiled.
He went home and locked the door to his room later. He put in the CD and the loud beat of Rasputina's Transylvanian Concubine came over the speakers. Lucas raised his eyebrows at the stereo and laughed. Karen came into the room a few minutes later.
"Um, phone for you," she said with an odd look on her face.
"'k," he replied and took the phone from her grasp. "Hello?" he asked.
"Hey," Peyton replied. He smiled. "Hey,". They sat in silence for a moment. "So, why'd you call?" he asked. He heard a sharp intake of breath on the other side of the line.
"Um...," she said.
"I'm glad you called," he said. Lucas could practically feel her smile through the line.
"Really?" she asked.
"Really," he replied. "So now maybe you can explain to me what the hell this crazy lady's singing about." She laughed.
"Come on, Lukie, you have to get into the beat. I mean, don't you like music about concubines? You have to!"
"Yeah, concubines aren't really my thing," he said. "I mean, they're probably yours though, right Pey Pey?".
"Oh, yeah, absolutely," she said jokingly. "And mental smack for that!" he sighed.
"Do you know how many women have been doing that to me lately?" he said dramatically.
"Yes," she said. "So, anyway, about those lyrics, aren't they the funniest? I mean,...".
They talked for hours into the night.
