Authors Note: So this episode is kind of a filler episode. It kind of sets the scene for the next few Chapter which are going to be crucial! I'm not completely happy with this Chapter but I wanted to update as soon as possible because I won't be on my laptop the next week or so as I will be visiting family and getting ready to go back to school. So I thought I'd update before I say goodbye to the internet for a week :( Chapter 6...
February 2029-
"I can't, it really is too much to ask and..."
"BROOKE!"
"We want you to have our baby!"
Brooke couldn't believe how she had ambushed Nathan and Haley like that, the whole scene had been replaying in her mind since Saturday night. Typical Brooke, just jump into the deep end head first, she thought to herself. What made the whole situation worse was not the fact that Brooke had been worrying about it for two whole days but it was the fact that Haley had not been in contact with Brooke during this time. This was extremely unlike Haley. Her and Brooke would be in contact every day, even if it was a quick text or phone call; even more so when they were having problems. But Brooke hadn't heard from Haley since her and Nathan left their house swiftly Saturday night.
"What was I thinking Peyton? Why do I have to mess everything up?" worried Brooke. She was sat on the couch, in her living room, with her legs on top of Peyton's, who was sat on the opposite side. Brooke had decided to tell Peyton about the 'Saturday night fiasco' which it had come to be called in the Baker residence. Julian and Lucas were discussing some notes at the dining table, in preparation for the start of production of 'An Unkindness of Ravens'.
"Brooke, you're worrying too much. There is no easy or simple way of asking someone to carry a child for you. You asked the best way you could," Peyton tried to reassure Brooke whilst passing the tub of cookie dough ice cream over to Brooke. Peyton was having serious ice cream cravings and Brooke always ate when she was worried.
"I just shouldn't have asked at all."
"Don't be stupid Brooke, there's no harm in asking. Honey you are worrying too much over nothing," sucking on her spoon, trying to make the most of the little ice cream that was left on there as Brooke didn't seem to want to share the ice cream at this moment in time.
"Really? Then why hasn't she called or text me. She's been ignoring me Peyt, you know she has," Brooke said defiantly with a pout, still eating the cookie dough ice cream.
"Best friend I'm going to be honest with you, I don't know why Haley hasn't been in touch with you but I will make sure Lucas finds out for you okay?"
"Okay thanks Peyton," Brooke smiled; feeling slightly reassured because if anyone could win Haley round it was Lucas.
"Good now dude pass me the god damn ice cream, baby Scott is getting rowdy. Turns out he's just like his Aunt Brooke; a cookie monster." Finally something that made Brooke laugh. She handed the tub off ice cream over to Peyton after piling her spoon high with creamy deliciousness.
The best friends continued to devour the ice cream whilst Luke and Julian ran through how production was going to go.
"So we need to start the audition process straight away Luke. It's going to be tight if we're going to have the movie finished for Christmas. But I do think that that's the best time to have the premiere. What do you think?" Julian asked Luke for his opinion considering he was an exec producer on the movie.
"I think it's more of a summer film but we don't really want to be waiting till next year so Christmas sounds good."
"Great! Now first things first. We already have a lot of people lined up for employment. We're agreed that Peyton can work with a music supervisor so that we get the authenticity and the music that you guys think reflected your feelings and emotions at the time." Lucas nodded in agreement to this idea. "Hey Peyton, you're in right?"
"Well I really wanted to play Deb in the movie," Peyton kidded.
"Too bad, you're too old."
"Hey!" Peyton gasped throwing a pillow at Julian.
"Assistant music supervisor it is." Julian scribbled some notes on to his note pad. "And Brooke has promised to be the costume designer, haven't you wifey?"
"Sure have husband!"
"Then we've got you writing and producing, me directing and Nathan has offered to be sports co-ordinator which is going to save us a lot of money."
"Sounds like you've got it all figured out Julian."
"I have ideas but the sooner we start working on things, the better. The good thing is your script is good to go so to get the ball rolling we just need actors. I have a few preferences for some of the cast members but I'm going to get in contact with some agencies today and we can start auditions in a week or two."
Annie had decided to wait at Avery's locker in hope of talking to her. Avery hadn't been in school since last Tuesday and Annie hadn't heard from her. It was unlike Avery to miss cheer practice let alone a game. If she didn't come in soon, then she was going to miss the game this week too.
"Avery, you're in!" Annie exclaimed somewhat enthusiastically as Avery approached her locker. "Where have you been buddy?"
"I've had a virus that's all." Avery reached into her locker to get her history book out. Annie knew something was wrong by Avery's tone in her voice. She was no longer the peppy, cheery person that she usually was.
"Are you okay?" Annie asked worried.
"Why wouldn't I be?" stated Avery, rolling her eyes.
"Dude what's wrong with you?" shouted Annie which made a few nearby students stop and stare. "I'm only asking if you're okay. You've been gone for almost a week and didn't even send me a text. I'm supposed to be your best friend Ave! I bet you let the cheerleading squad know where you were." Annie turned her back on Avery and headed down the corridor, clearly annoyed. Avery imitated her friends annoyance by slamming her locker shut.
"How's my girl doing?" asked Nathan as he waltzed into Haley's classroom. He already knew the answer before she opened her mouth to speak. She was staring into space and biting her bottom lip; a clear indicator that Haley was worried.
"Not so good," she confessed.
Nathan made his way to her desk and leant on it so that he could talk to her properly. She looked into his ocean coloured blue eyes and a part of her worries washed away. Nathan had the ability to just look at Haley and she would go weak in the knees.
"Well you've got a lot going on at the moment," he justified.
"I don't know what to do Nathan. I hate not being in control..."
"But you are in control Hales," Nathan cut in. "You get to decide whether you want to go through with being a surrogate or not. And nobody is going to judge you, whatever your final decision is and it's going to be a decision that we make together, okay?"
"Of course." Haley leant up towards Nathan and closed the gap between them, leaving a quick yet soft and tender kiss on his lips. "Thankyou."
"For what?" Nathan asked wearing his ever so familiar confusing face.
"For being the man I always wanted you to be," she sighed happily, to which Nathan smirked.
"So when's your next class?"
"Now actually," Haley grimaced.
"What's the frown for? You love teaching."
"It's one of my junior classes, that boy that I was telling you about; Jonathan Carter is in that class. I wouldn't usually mind but I'm just not in the mood for his wisecracks today."
"Then don't put up with it Hales. If he causes you any trouble just send him to me and he'll soon behave," Nathan furiously said, his fists clenching.
"Thanks sweetie but I'm pretty sure that threatening a student can get you fired. I can look after myself baby."
"Don't I know it, Jaley," Nathan said using Haley's nickname from Brooke.
"Do you have to call me that?" Haley grumbled going a faint red colour. She had received the nickname off Brooke due to the fact that she had been arrested twice, one of the times for slapping a woman. Haley James Scott was clearly not a woman to be messed with.
"I'm sorry, well I best get going. Good luck with Carter," Nathan laughed and placed a kiss on his wife's lips. A kiss that was slightly more passionate than their first.
"I've got some of my own work to be getting on with today so I thought that I'd set you a paper to write and I want it in by the end of this double period," Haley declared to her full class after waiting for ten extra minutes for Jonathan to arrive to her lesson.
"A paper? Are you serious? You're supposed to be teaching us, not setting us random papers," complained Jonathan.
"I'm sorry Mr. Carter, I wasn't aware that you had been teaching since you were 23 years old. Oh wait that's because you haven't." A few students sniggered at Haley's comment. After their detentions last week, Haley's class seemed to have decided to behave from now on.
"Is Principal Jenkins aware of you're so called teaching style?" Jonathan mocked.
"Jonathan, I'm not going to argue with you about whether my teaching methods are suitable. Now the paper has to be about decisions. I think you will all agree that 'The Comet' definitely has an element of decision making in there. Now this could be associated with a decision that you are personally facing at this moment in time or a fictional decision. 2000 words, start when you're ready," Haley instructed as she started to make a list of the pros and cons of being a surrogate mom. She was hoping that her student's papers would help her in making her mind up about helping Brooke. She was disrupted though by the tapping of a pen. As she looked up she noticed that Jonathan was staring straight at her, tapping his pen on his desk. From the look on his face and the way that he was staring at her, Haley knew that he was purposely trying to annoy her. He hadn't even started to write unlike the rest of the class. But she chose to ignore him as best as she could, so she got back to her list.
However, Sawyer could not ignore him. She wasn't a geek but she did quite enjoy Haley's Literature class. Plus, this boy managed to annoy the hell out of her. Just by looking at his stupid, cocky smile, he could make her blood boil. She couldn't understand. If it was anyone else, she would have just ignored their constant sarcastic comments and petty actions. But she could not ignore Jonny. And he knew it.
He noticed her staring at him out of the corner of his eye and it made him smirk even more. She just can't resist, he thought cockily. He had to admit that he was quite fascinated by her. There was just something about her. He loved how he got under her skin even though they hadn't had a conversation properly yet. As his pen tapping continued, he noticed Sawyer's hand being raised into the air.
"Sawyer?" Haley asked, wondering what the teenagers hand was in the air for.
"I was just wondering whether Jonny was going to do any work today or was he going to continue sitting there trying to annoy everyone in the room." She turned to shoot an evil glare straight at Jonny.
"Jonathan if you don't quit the pen tapping and get on with your paper then I will have to ask you to leave," Haley warned with a calm and steady voice. This seemed to work as the boy stopped the tapping and wrote his paper.
At the end of the class as her students were leaving, Haley asked for Jonny to wait behind.
"Are you ever going to turn up to my lesson on time Jonathan?" she questioned.
"I'm still getting used to the school Mrs. Scott," he said unapologetically.
"That's four times since you've arrived. It's got to stop if you want to pass finals. "
"Who said I want to pass finals?"
"Don't be stupid. You can put on a front and act like you don't care in front of everyone else but I know that deep down, you do!"
"You don't anything about me, so don't even try to analyze me," he bitterly threw his words at Haley and then stormed out of the classroom.
"Ella, hey wait up," Lanny shouted to Ella who was walking through the crowd of people. Anyone else wouldn't have recognised her amongst the many other teenagers in the school hall but she was the only person who Lanny had really spoken to in his first week at Tree Hill High. At the sound of her name, she turned around to find the person who had called her.
"Lanny, hi," she smiled happily to him. She hadn't really seen much of him the past week. They had crossed paths occasionally in the hallway, been in the tutor centre at the same time and sat in the same classes but because Ella was extremely shy, she tried not to socialise with people if they don't talk to her first.
"I was just wondering if you wanted to sit with me for lunch, I haven't really made many friends yet," he sheepishly grinned.
"I...uh...I can't," Ella stuttered.
"Of course, I didn't think. You're probably going to meet your friends. Well, I'll see you around sometime." He turned away and continued down the hallway confidently. Ella admired his confidence. He wasn't cocky or overly confident but he wasn't shy and timid either. He was just how Ella wished she could be.
"Lanny, wait," she said, almost hesitating slightly. Lanny stopped in his steps and turned to face Ella smiling. They continued to walk to the quad so that they could eat lunch together.
Once they had shared their lunch with each other, they had made their way to relax on the grassy patch of land near the quad. Ella thought it was strange how normal it felt talking and hanging out with someone who was practically a stranger to her. But their conversations continued to flow.
"So won't your friends be mad at you for blowing them off?" Ella hadn't got round to explaining to Lanny that she did not in fact have plans to meet with anyone at lunch.
"No I wasn't meeting up with friends; I was actually heading to the library when you shouted me. It's where I spend most of my free time in school. Well there or the tutor centre," Ella confessed.
"That explains why you're so pale; lack of sunlight," Lanny joked.
"Hey I'm not that pale. I get it from my mom, not lack of sunlight. And I go outside sometimes, it's just I prefer the library. I can escape in there and not be bothered by anyone. It's peaceful in there."
"Don't your friends mind?"
"I...I don't really have friends," Ella looked to the grass as she made this statement. She was extremely embarrassed to admit to someone, whom she barely knew, that she was a loner.
"You're a loner?"
"I guess," she shrugged.
"That's cool. To be honest I think friends are overrated," said Lanny. That one comment comforted Ella. She had never thought that being a 'loner' was cool but apparently to Lanny it was. But she didn't understand how he thought that friends were as that was the one thing she wanted.
"Seriously?"
"Well yeah. I mean I think that everyone should have a best friend. You know that one person who will come and find you even if you never told them too, someone who knows all the little things about you and knows just what to do to make you feel better. But as far as having lots of friends goes, I've never really been that type of person. I'm kind of a loner myself. Two loners together. Sounds like a great combination if you ask me." He flashed his grin at Ella and it gave her that safe feeling that she felt when she was lost in a book or music. He seemed to understand her without even knowing that he did.
Maybe he was right. Maybe this was going to be the start of a great friendship.
"Hey Hales, can I talk to you please?" Lucas proposed as he joined Haley on the couch. It had been a long day for Haley especially as her head and her heart were in the ultimate turmoil. She had come home to relax and listen to some music when Lucas had called round. Nathan was upstairs with Quinley and Lydia, trying to help them with their homework. This was usually Haley's area of expertise but he offered to help tonight so that she could relax. It usually ended with Lydia teaching both Quinley and Nathan.
"Sure what's up Luke?"
"I saw Brooke today." Haley suddenly looked worried. "What's going on Haley? It's not like you to ignore a friend." Lucas was the one person, besides Nathan, who knew Haley the most.
"I'm not trying to ignore her Luke, I just want to be able to make a logical and reasonable decision without Brooke being there as she'll only make me feel guilty and I don't want to carry her child out of guilt Lucas."
"I understand that but she thinks that you hate her or something right now. She thinks that by asking you, she's done something wrong. It's hard for her Haley and I'm not saying that it isn't for you but just please let her know that you still love her."
"Of course I still love her; she's one of my best friends I just want to really think about this Luke. You know what I mean?" Haley hoped that she wasn't being irrational and by distancing herself from Brooke; it would make the whole situation easier.
"I understand Hales and Brooke will understand too whatever you decide to do. I assume you've made a pros and cons list?" Whenever Haley was unsure or torn about something she would always make a pros and cons list to make sure that she was making the right choice.
"When have I ever not done a list Luke? Of course I've done one but it's empty. I can't seem to fill in either side."
"Maybe you should talk to Brooke and see why she wants you to do it and it could give you ideas for the pros and cons list. I think you need to talk Hales," he patted her leg comfortingly.
Haley knew that she needed to have a talk to try and get an insight into what the best thing to do was and she knew just the person that she needed to see!
Authors Note: Not a lot happened this chapter but I just wanted to set the scene. I appreciate any reviews, they make my day when I read them. For a writer to be able to read that their work is entertaining people, it's the ultimate reward so thankyou for sticking with the story! I especially want to thank the ones who review every chapter; Kaitie,Elli & Alex {naley23love, TeamBrookie & arubagirl0926} Their support is astonishing so thankyou girls, you guys are amazing! So let me know what you think of this chapter; what you liked & didn't like. If there is anything in particular that you would like to read about in this FF, just ask I'm open to suggestions if I think that they would fit with the story :)
Next Chapter- Mainly focused on Haley and everything she is going through. Also Brooke too! {It's going to be tense guys!}
