After Nathan dropped her off in front of her house, Haley walked slowly through the door. When had closed it behind her and finally turned around she found her mom sitting on the sofa folding laundry.
"Hi, sweetheart." She said not looking up from the shirt she was folding. Haley froze. What had happened since yesterday? Her mom was talking to her now?
"Hi." Haley responded as she set her stuff down on the coffee table. She continued to stand, not sure what to do.
When Lydia finally looked up, she put the shirt she was folding in the basket and smiled. "Come here for a second." She said, patting the spot on the sofa next to her. Haley walked over and sat next to her mother. She was really confused now. Lydia took her hand, "Haley, I just want to apologize. I don't know what came over me this weekend. I was just really upset about what happened on Friday and Robert ending the relationship. I shouldn't have acted the way I did. You don't deserve that. I've always told you that you can tell me anything. And then when you do I get angry. So I'm sorry." After she finished, Lydia's eyes were teary.
"I'm sorry too, mom. I didn't mean to talk to you that way. I was just really mad that you didn't get that this situation is a big deal to me. And I'm sorry about Robert."
"Oh, I'm better off without him. And honestly, he wasn't that great of a kisser."
"Mom, I really don't need to know stuff like that." They both chuckled. "But really, I'm sorry. He could've been a great guy."
"Well obviously he isn't the one for me or I would still be with him." Lydia pulled Haley into a hug.
When the two finally let go, Lydia grabbed Haley's hand again. "So did you want to order in tonight? We could get Chinese or something."
"Actually I already ate. Sorry."
"When?"
"I was talking to my friend Nathan. I told him I was a little hungry so he took me to this really amazing place. It's called Karen's Café. His mom owns it. It's so adorable, mom. I have to take you there sometime."
"Nathan, huh?" Lydia said, smiling.
"Now you sound like Brooke. He's just a friend, mom."
"Alright. Well I'm gonna go order some Chinese for me." She said getting up and walking into the kitchen.
Haley was really glad that she and her mom had made up. She hated when they fought. Her mom was her best friend and she needed her. She was also glad that her mom might be realizing she didn't need a man to make her feel good. Haley just hoped this lasted a while. Her mom did not need a new guy right now. She just needed to be Haley's mom.
Friday at school everyone was talking about the big party at Rachel's house. Honestly Haley didn't really want to go. She really was not looking forward to the glares she would receive all night from Rachel. On Tuesday Rachel had approached her and invited her to the party. She knew Brooke had talked to her about it. It was obvious that Rachel really didn't want to invite her, but Brooke was forcing her. Haley was almost tempted to turn down the offer, but she told Brooke she would go.
The only thing about the party she was excited about was Nathan. She felt like they had gotten a lot closer ever since their conversation at the river court. She could honestly say that Nathan was becoming one of her best friends. She didn't understand how, but slowly she was letting her walls down around him. It was a different feeling for her, one that she kind of liked.
As she approached her locker she saw Brooke standing next to it. Brooke smiled when she noticed her.
"Hey, Brooke." Haley said as she opened her locker. "What's up?"
"Well seeing as it's Friday and the party is tonight I'm here to find out when Peyton and I should come over to get ready."
"You don't need to do that. Brooke, I can just get ready by myself and meet you guys there."
"Oh no, this is your first big party. You have to look amazing. Will 5 o'clock work?"
"Brooke, the party doesn't start until 8!" Haley said smiling.
"And?"
"It's not gonna take that long to get ready."
"Maybe you won't take that long, but I need at least an hour and a half. So does 5 work?"
"Sure, 5 o'clock works." Haley said, shutting her locker.
"Yay! Ok so I'm gonna go tell Peyton and I'll see you tonight." Brooke said. As she walked away Haley shook her head and smiled. What was she going to do with that girl? As Haley turned around to head to her class she came face to face with Rachel.
"You know the only reason you're coming to my party is because of Brooke, right?"
"Ok?"
"Just know that I don't want you there. So don't expect me to be cordial to you tonight." She didn't give Haley a chance to respond. She simply walked away with a cold glare. This was just great. This party thing was a bad idea.
At 5 o'clock on the dot, Haley's doorbell rang. She quickly came down the stairs to open the door. Brooke had her hands full. She was carrying two garment bags, a huge makeup case, and another bag on her shoulder. She noticed Peyton behind her with almost nothing in her hands except her own outfit and a cd. "Hey guys, come on in." Haley said opening the door wider for them.
"Thanks, tutor girl." Brooke said, walking past her. "Where should I put this stuff?"
"Oh, um, I guess we can get ready in my room. It's upstairs the second door on the left." She watched Brooke struggle with all the stuff in her hands as she climbed the stairs. After what seemed like forever, Brooke got up the stairs. Haley smiled and turned her attention to Peyton. "Really? A CD? All that stuff in her hands and all you carry is a CD?" she asked, chuckling.
"Hey, she wants to bring all that crap, that's her choice. She can carry it all. I brought the only thing I need besides my outfit…music."
"Hello! We only have 3 hours! Get your asses up here!" They heard Brooke yell from the stairs. They both laughed, and walked up the stairs.
Haley sat in a chair in her bathroom while Brooke worked on her hair. She'd been in the chair for the past half hour and was anxious to get up and move. Peyton had already done her makeup, so as soon as Brooke was done with her hair she could get dressed and she would be ready. "Are you almost done, Brooke?"
"Yea. I need like one more bobby pin and then I'll be done." She felt her put one last bobby pin in her hair and then she sprayed it with hair spray. "Ok, tutor girl. You are all set." Haley got up and looked at herself in the mirror. Peyton had done a smoky eye for her makeup. She had never seen herself with that much makeup on. Brooke had curled her hair and then pinned half of her hair back. She actually really liked the way she was looking. "And may I just say, P. Sawyer and I did an awesome job. You look amazing, Haley." Brooke said with a confident smile.
"Thanks, Brooke. I love it."
"Good. Now go get dressed. I want to see the whole thing."
Haley went into her closet and found the outfit she had bought last weekend when she went shopping with Brooke and Peyton. Brooke had insisted that she buy it. When she finally finished changing she walked back into the bathroom. She was really nervous. She wasn't sure she could pull something like this off. She was about to find out.
"Oh. My. God. Haley, you looking freaking amazing!" Brooke squealed. "I knew this outfit would look fabulous."
"Really?"
"Oh my gosh, Haley. You look fantastic." Peyton added. "Nathan's not gonna be able to keep his eyes off you."
"Peyton, we're-"
"Just friends." Brooke and Peyton both finished.
"Doesn't matter. He's still not gonna be able to stop looking at you." Peyton said.
Suddenly Haley was not so confident in this outfit. She didn't want guys, especially Nathan staring at her all night. She just wanted to blend in. She really wanted them to be wrong. But somewhere deep down, she knew they were right.
When the three girls pulled up to Rachel's house in Peyton's car, the party was in full swing. There were people everywhere. As she got closer, Haley noticed that there were tons of couples making out on the front lawn. There was also a huge group of drunken people cheering about something.
The music was blaring when the three girls walked into the house. Haley looked around and noticed that Rachel was obviously loaded. She could probably fit 2 of her houses inside the foyer. Brooke and Peyton led the way inside the house. When they got into the living room all the guys turned to them and shouted "Hey!" in unison. Brooke and Peyton walked toward all of them and sat down on the couch. Peyton sat next to Lucas, who put his arm around her. Brooke just sat in the middle of all the guys.
Out of the corner of her eye she saw Nathan talking to Julian. She turned toward him, hoping he would notice her. Nathan glanced up for a second and then did a double take. Haley smiled and awkwardly waved at him. He said something to Julian and made his way over to her. As he got closer Haley noticed him looking her intensely.
"Hey." She said.
"Hi. You look…amazing." He said, not taking his eyes off her.
"Thanks."
"Do you want to dance?" He asked, holding out his hand.
"Sure."
They walked hand in hand to the dance floor. Luckily a fast song was playing. They both danced with each other smiling and laughing. Haley was loving this. She was able to let go around him without trying. As soon as the thought came into her head, a slow song started playing. It was Gavin Degraw's More Than Anyone. Nathan put is hands on her waist and she looped her arms around his neck.
As the song continued to play Nathan tightened his grip on her waist, pulling her closer to him. Haley placed her hands around his back and her head on his chest as they continued to dance. Nathan was falling hard for Haley. He knew that she only saw them as friends, but he couldn't help it. He pulled away slightly to look at her. She glanced up at him and noticed the way he was looking at her. "What?"
"Nothing. I just…you look beautiful."
"You said that already." She smirked. "But thank you. It's all Brooke and Peyton's doing."
"I highly doubt that. They can only do so much. You can't make something beautiful unless it already is."
Nathan continued to stare at Haley. He was about to lean in and do the one thing he'd been waiting to do since he first saw her…until he heard the music stop. He inwardly cursed and turned to see who had done it. Rachel.
"Ok, game of I Never in the kitchen in five minutes!" she screamed over all the people. She turned the music back on, but before he could go back to dancing Brooke ran over to them. She grabbed Haley's arm and hurried her over to the kitchen. Nathan followed closely behind.
In the kitchen sat Rachel, Peyton, Lucas, Julian, Brooke, Haley, Nathan, Tim and Bevin. As Rachel explained the rules to everyone, Haley began to get nervous. She hated this game. It never ended well. And with Rachel playing with her, she was sure something was going to happen.
"Ok, everyone got it?" Rachel asked the group. They all nodded their heads. "So…who's first?"
