Thanks again for the amazing reviews. I know some of you are seriously getting anxious for Naley. But don't worry, more will be coming soon.

Chapter 7

"Oh crap," Haley exclaimed as she placed her tray down on the table.

"What?" Lucas asked concerned.

"I forgot to get a brownie," she replied.

"All that commotion for a dessert?" Lucas questioned with an amused face.

"Dude, it's chocolate. Enough said," Haley answered back causing Lucas to laugh. She then quickly got back up and walked over to the food line—which was considerably shorter now. After a minute or so, she finally made it to the desserts. There was one brownie left but it looked pretty far back. Haley reached over the edge of the large counter to grab it. She tried and tried but still couldn't get it. Damn my shortness! When Haley went for it again, someone beat her to it. Oh hell no. No one steals my chocolate! Haley was about to turn around and yell at the person until she saw who it was.

"You," Haley stated with contempt.

"Me," Nathan confirmed with a smirk. He had seen that she was having trouble so he decided to help her out. But he wouldn't give it to her just yet. He figured he could have some fun with her first.
For some reason, Nathan absolutely loved getting her all riled up.

"That's mine," she declared folding her arms.

"Really? Because I believe that I grabbed it first," Nathan replied.

"But I was reaching for it before you came along. So, technically, it's mine by default," Haley argued.

"What? That makes no sense," Nathan laughed.

"Yes, it does," Haley persisted.

"Well, you snooze you lose," he pointed out. Haley, getting frustrated, tried to make a grab for the brownie.

"Whoa, didn't your mother ever teach you that it was rude to take things from others?" Nathan scolded as he held it away from her.

"Not when it was mine to begin with," she retorted. Haley tried to appear mad, but she really wasn't. In fact, she kind of enjoyed the verbal banter. It certainly made things more interesting.

"I'll make you a deal. I'll give you your precious brownie if…" he paused and leaned in close to her for effect. At Nathan's closeness, Haley felt her senses automatically heighten. He was only an inch away from her.

"If what?" Haley asked—her voice coming out a little softer than she intended it to.

"If you…" he began but was interrupted.

"Nathan, there you are!" Stacey exclaimed. Nathan had to mentally keep himself from rolling his eyes. He had finally gotten Haley to talk to him for longer than two minutes and now it was ruined. At the girl's appearance, Haley immediately tensed a little. She was the same bitch who was picking on her during dance that morning. Great, this just keeps getting better and better, she thought sarcastically.

"Stacey," Nathan muttered dryly. "What's up?"

"Nothing much. Tim and Ryan are already at our table. We were all just wondering where you were. Apparently, the word around camp is that you're quite the basketball star." As Stacey blatantly flirted with Nathan, Haley felt herself getting even more uncomfortable. Screw the brownie, she thought as she started to walk away. Nathan's voice calling out to her, however, stopped her.

"Here, take it," he said handing Haley the dessert. "I'm more of a chocolate chip cookie guy, anyway."

"Thanks," Haley replied while giving him a small smile—which he seemed to return. After a few seconds, Haley finally looked away. She could feel herself being drawn into those blue eyes of his. Uh oh, this isn't good, she panicked. Haley then quickly looked back to the table where her friends were sitting. Luckily, they were all so absorbed in their conversation that none of them had seen the little interaction between her and Nathan. But Stacey sure seemed to notice. She was now shooting daggers at Haley. I guess that's my cue.

"Hey, James," Nathan called to her before she was completely out of earshot. "Don't be a stranger."

"Hey, Scott, don't be an ass," Haley replied. But she gave him a small smile a minute later so he knew she wasn't actually trying to be mean. She then turned on her heels and headed back to her table.

"She's rude," Stacey commented in a snotty tone. But Nathan didn't agree. Oh no, she's definitely something else.

Two weeks had passed and things had been going pretty well for Nathan. After the first few days of basketball practice, he had become the most sought after and popular guy at camp. There was one other kid, Brett, who seemed to trash talk a lot during games. He was even cockier than Nathan—if that was possible. But for the most part, no one could beat him at his game.

The only set back, however, was a certain blonde hair, blue-eyed roommate of his. Although he and Lucas avoided each other like the plague, they still had the occasional run in. Nathan just tried to go on about his business. But it sure as hell wasn't easy. The tension in the cabin was always high when they were in the room together—like right now, for example. Lucas was on his bed reading some boring novel. Neither one said a word. It wasn't until a few minutes later that the silence in the room was broken by a soft knock on their cabin door. Since Nathan was closest, he got up to answer it.

"Haley?" he asked surprised. He took in her appearance. She was wearing form fitting jeans and a yellow sleeveless shirt. She looked casual but incredibly pretty. Nathan had to make a conscious effort to not stare at her too intensely.

"Uh, hi. Is Lucas here?" Haley questioned while putting a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Yeah," Nathan answered with a twinge of disappointment in his voice. Ever since the brownie incident, they hadn't really talked all that much. If they passed by one another, they'd acknowledge each other's presence but that was about it.

"Hey, Loser," Haley greeted Lucas as she approached his bed. Even with her back turned, she could feel Nathan's eyes on her the whole time. She pushed that thought aside and tried to focus on her best friend.

"Haley," Lucas replied while playfully rolling his eyes. "What's up?"

"Nothing much. I just wanted to see my bestest friend in the whole wide world," she stated smiling.

"You want something, don't you?" Lucas questioned with a knowing smile of his own.

"No!" Haley answered indignantly. "How come every time I give you a compliment you always assume the worst?"

"Because I know you," he replied.

"Ok," Haley conceded. "I just need to borrow your basketball…and you."

"Why?" At the mention of basketball, Nathan's ears automatically perked up. He continued "reading" his magazine while listening in on their conversation.

"Brooke signed us up for girl's basketball tomorrow," Haley explained. "You've seen me in gym class. I'm basically doomed."

"So what do you need me for?" Lucas asked still confused.

"For such a book worm, you sure are slow. Either that or you've taken one too many basketballs to the head," Haley teased. Nathan found himself chuckling at that. He must have been a little too loud because both Haley and Lucas turned around and stared at him. Haley seemed a little amused while Lucas just glared.

"What's so funny?" Lucas called to him edgily.

"Besides your face, nothing," Nathan retorted smirking at him. Haley could see Lucas' jaw tightening. Not again, she thought with dread. She didn't feel like witnessing another Scott family smack down.

"Anyway, I desperately need your help. And you were so determined to teach me how to play so here's your chance. I'm actually agreeing to it willingly," Haley continued on—trying to get Lucas' focus back on her. "So what do you say?"

"I guess I could take some time out of my busy schedule to help you," Lucas teased.

"Gee, thanks," Haley laughed.

"Just let me change." Lucas then grabbed some clothes off of a nearby chair. He sent Nathan another glare before he went into the bathroom. For the next few minutes, there was complete silence in the room.

"So, exactly how bad are you?" Nathan found himself asking.

"Didn't your mother ever teach you that it's rude to eavesdrop on other people's conversations?" Haley replied mirroring his words from a couple weeks ago.

"Well, my mother was never around so I guess not," he answered. He meant it to come out a little more carefree than bitter. His mother had, in fact, called him this week. Apparently, the divorce was no where near over. It was getting worse. Nathan had originally hated the idea of coming to camp. But after hearing his mother talk about how Dan was making things so difficult, Nathan was glad for the time away. Haley, on the other hand, didn't know what to say. Nathan's relaxed behavior seemed to become more troubled.

"Well, you're the basketball superstar. You have any pointers?" she asked trying to change the subject—and maybe cheer him up.

"Try to actually care whether it goes in or not," he simply stated.

"What?" Haley laughed at his answer. She then got up off of Lucas' bed and made her way over to Nathan's. She took a seat a couple of feet away from him at the end.

"I'm serious," Nathan said sitting up and putting his magazine on the nightstand. "A lot of people who suck at sports do badly because they just don't give a damn." He saw her mulling it over.

"Do you like basketball?" Nathan asked trying to prove a point.

"No."

"Why?"

"Because I'm a total klutz and I don't like giant balls flying at my head," she answered. As soon as the words left her mouth, she regretted them. Oh. My. God. I did not just say that. I am such an idiot! A naïve and completely clueless idiot! When Haley heard laughter, her head snapped up to stare at Nathan. He was clutching his stomach he was laughing so hard.

"Someone please kill me," she muttered as she placed her now red face in her hands.

"That was great," he cracked up.

"No it wasn't. It was horrible," she argued. Nathan just kept on laughing. He had never seen Haley like that. And he certainly would have never expected something like that to come out of her mouth—even if it was by accident.

"Please just forget I said that," she pleaded.

"Oh, it's definitely too late for that now," Nathan responded with a sexy smile. Haley, despite her best efforts, couldn't tear her eyes away from his. As if it was infectious, she soon found herself laughing, too.

"Well, I'll be on the court tomorrow," Nathan stated once he'd calmed down. Basketball was the only thing he really participated in. He did a few other sports and went fishing a couple of times with Tim—who ended up falling right out of their boat one day. His "big catch" turned out to be some kid who was snorkeling in the lake. The hook latched onto the ass of the kid's bathing suit. Poor guy didn't even see it coming. "So if you need any extra help, I'll be around."

"Thanks," she replied giving him a small smile. Nathan was about to say something else when the bathroom door finally opened. He saw Haley quickly jump off his bed and move away. Nathan couldn't say he blamed her. Lucas probably would have blown a gasket if he saw them. If it was up to him, he'd say bring it. He could hold his own. But he knew it was different for Haley.

"You ready?" Haley asked Lucas.

"Yup," he answered as he grabbed his basketball—oblivious to the tension emanating off his best friend. Haley had all of a sudden felt really guilty. Technically, she hadn't done anything wrong. She could talk to anyone she wanted to. But Nathan was a completely different story. Haley didn't know what possessed her to go over and talk to him. It wasn't like they were friends or anything. He was Lucas' brother/enemy. If anything, she was supposed to be completely repulsed by him. So then why did she keep finding herself being drawn to him all the time? She had no idea—and she wasn't sure she particularly wanted to find out.