- S i x -
The chatter and hype was currently buzzing in the halls of Tree Hill High as new students acquainted themselves with their foreign surroundings, while old students acquainted themselves with friends and routine. For some it had been as if they had never left and for others it was just as terrifying as plummeting fifty feet into the unknown.
Like the start of every new school year, people lingered in the hallways and outside for as long as possible, catching up on the already circulating gossip or discussing the next party that was already underway of being planned.
The freshman were treading water, waiting for the inevitable pecking order to begin. It was a known fact that the first couple of weeks in high school determines where you are placed in the social ladder.
Some were automatically placed on top and these would be the people who could make or break your social existence.
One of those who had been pegged at the top in their freshman year had been Brooke, who was briskly walking towards the entrance of the building. With every step, she felt as if she was going in the wrong direction.
She glanced around her, taking in the scenes and the annual ritual which was the first day back. This being her fourth year, Brooke was bored of watching the struggle. Sure it had been fun the first couple of times but was it worth the cruelty they all put themselves through.
The brunette had seen how school popularity could tear a person down. She had done it herself.
Maybe Peyton has the best idea, she thought with a slight shake of her head.
Brooke let out a sigh at the thought of the blonde, who was still asleep when she left this morning. Peyton and Brooke had stayed up the night before watching creepy horror films, Peyton promising to take Brooke home so she can get ready for school the following day.
The only problem, which had not been considered at the time, was that the two would fall asleep, huddled under the blanket on the couch.
Consequently Brooke had found herself this morning with no books and no car and with no time to stop by her house before going to school. This had led to a lot of cursing and the damnation of the girl, who laid peacefully wrapped in the soft blanket.
Although she was running late, Brooke spared sometime to watch Peyton and noticed how her features would contort briefly before returning to the calm, gentle expression. When she finally pulled herself away, she groaned at the prospect of her walk to school.
Sure, Brooke could have burrowed Peyton's car but the brunette was well aware of the girl's attachment to the classic vehicle and would have probably reported it stolen before checking for a note Brooke would have left to explain the 'theft'.
No, it was safer to walk, she thought as she walked the halls of Tree Hill High, needing to collect this year's schedule. Part of her was hoping and praying that pity had been taken on the students and lunch would cover the majority of the week. I could dream, she mused.
---------
"Hi Brooke." Lucas greeted the brunette in between classes.
She was stood by her new locker, having decided she was bored of lugging her bag from class to class. It was easier to leave it in her locker and collect it later.
Brooke glanced at the tall boy, sending a pleasant smile. "Hey. The swellings gone down." she noted, taking a look at Lucas' slightly shaded eye.
"Yeah. No damage I couldn't handle." he smiled charmingly.
"Clearly." she laughed in response.
"So, how's your day going?"
Brooke turned her attention back to her locker momentarily, sending Lucas a sideways glance. "Kinda uneventful. Schedule looks to be easier this year and I have cheerleading try outs later. Other than that, it's like I never left." she smiled with a roll of her eyes. "You?"
"Same." Lucas chuckled. "Well not the cheerleading try outs."
"Good thing. You in one of our uniforms would be a worrying sight." she deadpanned, eyeing the blonde up and down before smirking.
"Hey. I'll have you know, I have a pair of amazing legs." Lucas joked, causing Brooke to laugh. "Speaking of, where's Peyton?"
Brooke's laughter stopped as she contemplated the situation and options she had. "Peyton is not in school." she spoke, closing her locker and turning to face the older Scott brother.
"She sick?" he questioned, puzzled by the response.
"No, she doesn't go to school." Brooke answered, trying to take the ice out of her voice. She still could not figure out why Lucas' attention being fixated on Peyton bothered her so much…but it did.
"Oh." he stated, having been lost for words. "I thought…um…isn't she our age?"
"Yeah she is but she doesn't go to school."
"What do her parents say?"
Suddenly the bell rung, signalling they were now late for their next class. Brooke sighed a little out of relieve and annoyance.
"As much as I would love to continue talking about my Goldilocks, I really have to go before I'm even more late." she announced, turning around and leaving the awkward tension with the blonde boy behind her.
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Peyton had woke with a lack of understanding and had glanced round her living room in disorientation. For a moment or two, she could not comprehend why she was on her couch when a perfectly comfortable and inviting bed was merely meters away. Secondly, she was trying to shake the feeling of something being missing.
It finally clicked that she had been watching a film last night and must of fallen asleep. She also clearly remembered Brooke having been there as well.
Peyton shook her head and proceeded to head for the bathroom. She was greeted with a note, which had been tapped to the bathroom mirror, causing the blonde to laugh at the peculiar placement.
She pulled the piece of paper off with a grin gracing her features.
P Sawyer
'Bout time you got your ass up. I did try to hang around, hoping you'd offer me a ride but I was already running late and waking you is like waking the dead. Your lucky I keep spare clothes here and can handle a walk, otherwise I would so be reconsidering this friendship.
B. x
She chucked, while going into the bathroom to get ready.
A little while later when Peyton was awake and refreshed, she sat idly flicking through the channels wondering why she had nothing to do on her day off. Glancing at the clock and noticing the time, she pulled out her phone deciding she needed to talk to someone.
"Awe, you miss me already, P Sawyer." Brooke greeted sweetly into the phone, immediately causing a grin to spread across Peyton's face.
"Brooke? Oh crap, I must have dialled the wrong number."
"You're hilarious, Goldilocks. Like you have someone else to call."
Peyton sniggered at the indignation seeping through her friends words. "How's your first day back at the breeding pool for overzealous hormones and tortuous adolescent behaviour?"
"Do you have to put a dark and twisted spin on things?" Again the blonde laughed, mainly as she could tell Brooke was grinning. "Most people are calling this school these days."
"I'm not most." Peyton shrugged.
"Your right, your not." the brunette laughed quietly, followed by a sigh. "It's like I've never been away. Lunch is good though."
"I'm sure it is with me on the phone."
"I'm so glad your not here in person, with an ego like that, there'd be no air left for the rest of us." Brooke chided in response.
"Now isn't that the slut calling the whore a sleaze." Peyton shot back playfully.
"Are you implying I'm a slut?"
"Never." she retorted dramatically, hearing a soft giggle escape her friends mouth. "So, thank you for my note."
Soon the sounds of talking and general clatter surrounded Brooke. "Your just lucky I didn't tape it to your forehead. I was not amused this morning."
"Hey, the fresh air probably did you good."
"Yeah, well next time you promise to take me home, follow through because now I have to walk home too." Brooke whined, as the noise behind her increased a little more.
"I'll come get you." Peyton offered quickly.
"You don't need to do that."
"It'll be my penance." Peyton argued kindly.
"I have try outs after school." Brooke replied, believing her friend would probably pull out on the offer now.
"Okay, I'll come meet you afterwards. When do they finish?"
"Should be done by five at the latest. You don't have to, Peyt, seriously." Brooke stated, as someone called for her attention in the background.
"I'll let you go as your groupies are calling." Peyton mocked, feeling slightly envious of the people who surrounded Brooke. They may not be true friends to the bubbly girl but they still got to be around her when she couldn't. "I'll see you later. Don't miss me too much."
"You don't have to go. I still have twenty minuets left."
"No, it's cool. You go give them something to groupie about and I'll meet you after school, B Davis." she laughed.
Brooke sighed a little. "Okay, I'll meet you outside about five-ish." she relented, as another holler of her name coursed over the chatter behind her.
"Man, they so love your ass." Peyton mused, while a knock resounded on her door. "Oh, to be head cheerleader." she sighed jokingly.
"Stop with the mocking already and answer your damn door." Brooke laughed.
"Fine but only because you asked so nicely." she quipped, while opening the door to a grinning Benny and Dev. "Speaking of groupies, mine have arrived."
A disgruntled sound left Brooke's lips, which Peyton caught despite the noise level around her friend.
"Hey, I do not groupie." Benny moaned. "I can't help it if your company is more stimulating then Dev's here."
"He so better mean stimulating in the none sexual way, P Sawyer." Brooke responded, while Dev and Benny argued over his comment.
"Eww, Brooke, that's disgusting." Peyton gagged.
Benny and Dev's attention was brought back to Peyton after her statement. "You speaking to Princess? Let me talk to her." Benny instructed.
Peyton laughed. "B Davis, I better let you go. Benny's wanting to have a stimulating conversation with you."
"Please, the boy couldn't stimulate a cow." the brunette spat back, causing Peyton to snort.
"Speaking from experience?" the blonde jibed.
"Eww, gross. On that note, I'll leave you with Dumb and Dumber. Meet you later?" Brooke asked, deciding to change the topic before she was sick.
"Sure, I'll meet you after your cheer-groupie session."
Brooke laughed sarcastically at the comment. "Your insufferable at times."
"You wouldn't have me any other way." Peyton continued to tease her friend, while she watched both boys make themselves comfortable on her coach as she stood by the now closed front door.
"Ha, sure, Goldilocks. I'll see you later."
"Bye." Peyton closed her phone and made her way to the pair on her coach, jumping in between them both. "So what should we do with our unoccupied time?"
----------
Peyton found herself walking the halls of Tree Hill High, which was surreal for the seventeen year old. She may not of left school too long ago but just being in one brought back some rather disappointing memories. It was odd how schools could seem all the same. Rows of lockers; badly decorated walls; the school colours covering everything.
She was now regretting her decision at attempting to find her cheerful friend but after sitting in the car for fifteen minutes, she had grown bored and restless. Peyton also found it annoying as she couldn't even blame Brooke for her arriving at half past four.
For that, she blamed Benny and Dev. They had ran out of ways to keep her occupied that did not result in a hospital visit.
Therefore the blonde was now trespassing on school property, trying to determine where the auditorium was. The freshman she had asked for directions from had informed her where the try outs were being held but had no clue how to get there.
Although asking for her number so he could 'call her when he found it' was not her ideal way of compensating for his lack of knowledge.
Peyton rolled her eyes at the memory of the guy's disappointed face. They have to learn, she silently thought before spotting the auditorium sign and the giant cheerleading banner that hung above the door.
"Who says I have no sense of direction in life?" she muttered to herself.
The green eyed girl carefully opened the door and silently slipped in. Peyton took note of her new surroundings and found Brooke sat up on stage with a few of the other cheerleaders. There were about ten girls remaining in line, which meant Peyton still had some time to kill.
She slipped into a chair hidden in shadow, trying to keep from being seen. Last thing she wanted was to be escorted of site for intruding.
"Okay. Thank you." Brooke smiled too brightly for it to be real, as she indicated for the girl to leave the stage. "Next." she called.
Peyton silently sniggered at her friend's actions. Although Brooke was good at disguising her distain, Peyton could see right through her and knew she was bored and mildly pissed at her current situation.
The younger girl watched as the girls in the cue lessened and Brooke's impatience increased. Peyton had to admit, the majority trying out were terrible and had no concept of what was actually required of them. She knew none of the girls would have been accepted back home, which made her sympathise with Brooke.
Especially when she started rubbing her temples. A clear indication Brooke was getting a headache.
Another twenty minutes and the last girl was shown the door, which elicited groans from the cheerleaders on the stage. Each of them, including Brooke, looked dejected.
"Well thanks for the help girls. We'll go through the handful of potentials tomorrow, right now we can go home." Brooke sighed, sending them all a soft smile, which boarded on empathy.
"See you later, Brooke." one sighed, grabbing her bag and jumping of the stage. The other two soon followed, leaving the brunette alone.
"Give me a H. Give me an E. Give me a Y. What's it spell?" Peyton teased, walking down the aisle towards Brooke, who had turned around at the impromptu chant. Peyton was actually quite proud of herself for getting the older girl to smile genuinely.
"Hey." Brooke laughed, folding her arms in front of her chest keeping her eyes on the playful green ones.
"At least your spelling will be up to scratch."
"What are you doing in here?" the brunette asked, deciding to ignore Peyton's light-hearted jibe.
"I got bored and then restless, followed by a mild case of paranoia and as you have this power to….un-bore me, I thought I would come see you early." Peyton answered, walking up to the stage to face Brooke, who was grinning at the odd compliment.
"Yeah?" she chided, not really having anything else to respond with.
"Yep but this.." Peyton gestured around them. "..was rather entertaining too."
Brooke smile faded slightly at the mention of what she had just had to sit through. "Ugh, please don't remind me. I think we would be better of with a bunch of chimps this year."
"Don't insult and degrade the more intelligent primate. They have the whole better memory than a human thing working for them." Peyton responded, semi-seriously with a huge smile on her face. "It's amazing really." she added.
Brooke squinted at the blonde, somewhat suspiciously. "What did Dumb and Dumber give you?" her question being as light hearted as possible.
Peyton grinned and raised an eyebrow. "Nothing, why?"
"You seem very…chipper. It's not like you, P Sawyer."
"Can I not just be happy to see you?" the blonde beamed.
Brooke laughed, before slinging her arm around Peyton's shoulder while simultaneously grabbing for her bag. "I'm happy to see you too, my fake blonde Goldilocks. Let's go." she chirped, as they moved to the exit.
Brooke stopped as they made their way through the quiet hallways. "Crap, I've left something in my locker. I'll meet you out by your car?"
"Sure, okay. I'm just out front." Peyton nodded. "Um, is it just down there and to the right?"
"Yeah." Brooke laughed. "If you end up at the library, you've gone too far."
"Right." the younger of the two nodded to herself before continuing down the hall.
---------
Brooke pushed open the double doors, probably too hard as they ricocheted off the outside wall. She had planned on just stopping by her locker quickly and getting back to Peyton, who hopefully had not got lost on her way out.
There was one flaw to her plan and that had been Principle Turner. He had caught her off guard in the hallway and before she could get away, he was asking her of her plans for senior year, which she wanted to point out had only just started. Instead she nodded when appropriate and answered when questions were to direct for a nod.
I had to learn something from the parties my parents make me intend, she thought, as she spotted Peyton, her car and…Lucas.
The head cheerleader slowed her pace to study their body language. For all of Peyton's dislike of Lucas, she seemed rather comfortable, leaning up against her car, the sun shining off the black paint perfectly. The older Scott brother was stood in front of her, his hand resting on the strap of his bag, with an authentic and pleasant smile on his face.
In this moment, as Brooke watched the two, she felt herself disliking the blonde boy. She could not fault him as a person, from what she knew he was a great guy. She only wished he would leave Peyton alone.
The brunette was worried she would lose Peyton and that thought was rather suffocating.
"Hey." she greeted them both, approaching the classic car slightly timidly.
The two blondes turned their attention to her.
"Hey Brooke. How did try outs go?" Lucas asked, not removing the grin from his face, despite Brooke's pleas to God.
"Fine." she smiled forcefully.
"I was just telling Peyton that I might try out for the basketball team this year." he informed her, trying hard to keep a conversation going.
Brooke's eyebrow raised at the statement. "What about Nathan?"
Lucas shrugged, turning to glance at Peyton briefly. "Yeah, I was thinking the same. Blondie here, says I should try. No use living in a shadow."
"I agree." the older girl responded, looking intently at the curly haired blonde, who glanced up from her shoes after hearing Brooke's words. Peyton had known she had not been referring to just Lucas. "When do you try out?"
"Thursday. You two should come watch. I'll need all the support I can get."
"I have practice then." Brooke replied.
Lucas nodded at the answer, while turning his attention to the silent girl of the two. "Peyton?"
"We'll see." she smiled very gently, with a slight shrug.
Brooke was somewhat stunned at the change in attitude towards the guy. It had not been so long ago, Peyton would have yelled at him for even thinking she would accept.
Lucas chuckled softly. "I guess I'll have to keep an eye out then." he swept his gaze over the deserted area. "Right, I need to get home. I'll see you both around."
"See ya." Brooke smiled, climbing into Peyton's passenger seat.
"Bye." Peyton replied, sharing a brief look with Lucas as she too climbed into the car.
Once she was sure he was out of sight and ear shot, Brooke turned to the blonde and raised an eyebrow in puzzlement. "Are you sure your not on anything?" she questioned, a little harsher than what she had intended.
Peyton's eyes shot up from the CD she was currently placing in her stereo. "Sorry?" she bit back.
"You…being nice to Lucas. What's with the new attitude?"
The younger girls eyes returned to the stereo. She shrugged very slightly, as she started up the engine. "I know what it's like to have Daddy issues."
Brooke wanted to pry but kept silent as they drove away from the school, knowing by Peyton's body language the subject was now closed.
Sorry for the slight delay with this chap...but it's up now and hope your not disappointed!!
Also thank you for the amazing reviews. You guys are aces I and appreciate you taking the time to leave one. I said I was going to respond to them and as Christmas is upon us and me being in a giving mood...I shall.
Aliaschichita47; Thanks for all the reviews, although some of them I'm still trying to work out, lol. As this fic is mainly Brooke/Peyton I don't have any huge plans at the moment to make Nathan and Haley all Naley-fied. Plus I find them a little boring with the whole 'Always and Forever.' Anyway before I get into that; Thank you for your interesting feedback ;)
Vega; I'm glad you liked possesive Peyton. It can be quite fun to write and defensive Peyton too. Oh screw it, she's just cool to write in general, lol. As for Lucas, he will play a kinda big part in the whole Breyton-ness but you'll have to see. I have a plan! Nathan being an ass maybe a little extreme at times but as you said he's more series 1 Nathan...but without Peyton or Haley so he's now Dan Jr! Thanks for the reviews and for the support. Hope you like the rest!!
Tamarindo; I owe you huge. Firstly, you put my fic on your fav list by the first chapter, which was a little shocking for me. I began to question if you had read it, lol. Secondly you leave great reviews. I can't promise a lot of Nathan and Peyton interaction as you mentioned in your last one. I'm glad your liking it so far and hope you continue too! Thanks.
WritingMonkey; Thanks for the review and glad you like it so far. I think your writing is great so thanks for the compliment!
bohemianxx; I love writing the banter, I don't know why but I do. Sometimes though it can go completely of track and suddenly there's a lengthy discussion on cheese. I'm trying to keep Peyton's past under wraps and let out the tinest iddy biddy bits. Most won't come out till nearer the middle/end...if I've planned it right anyway. Thank you for the review and for reading!
marin; The stage is set and the drama is starting, lol. Thank you for the reviews, much appreciated.
lonely girl 23; Thanks for all your reviews and for always coming back...even though I can't give you the Leyton you want, lol. ;)
Yoohoo; Glad you like and I'm really happy you didn't stop reading, lol. Thank you for the compliment and for reviewing. :)
paulinemcc; Thanks for your reviews and I'll try to keep the updates as frequent as possible! Breyton being all coupley is kinda fun 'cause their oblivious to it at the moment. When will they open their eyes?? um...now that would be telling! Smacking Lucas? Go for it. I'll hand you the sledgehammer.
Aum; Thanks for your reviews too. Ass Nathan is great. Much better than Haley-whipped Nathan, lol.
physcob2002; Why thank you!
JillRJohnson; Thanks for the compliment. I'm glad you like the fic...so far. ;) I'll try to keep updates frequent to help with your addiction, lol. Thank you again for the review.
Last but not least - BleedLikeMe; Thanks for your continual support and reviews. They're always there to brighten up my day, lol. Your not crazy...your unique. That's what I tell people when they start calling me crazy or strange. Also you could never say too much. Long reviews are great even if they're completely of the wall and have a whole Dr. Seuss-ish feel to them. (Not saying yours do.) Makes life interesting! I may have to try writing Dr. Seuss stylie. Anyway, thank you! I now have to go catch up on your fic and reply with an equally thoughtful review. ;)
Now that I've wasted half your time, I shall let you all go.
Also Merry Christmas and to all a good Easter! (Hope you have a good one.)
;o)