First Date

Earlier the week, Jake invited Brooke to a couple of drinks. She agreed, but close to the date, she started having second-thoughts. She kept remembering the night at the beach where after taking care of Jake the whole night, he called out Peyton's name. She liked Jake so much, and she didn't want to ruin anything between them. But she realized that no matter what she did, she would never be able to compete with Peyton for Jake's feelings. They were engaged, and even though she was gone, Jake still held Peyton close to his heart, and it didn't seem she was leaving anytime soon.

Haley came over to Brooke's house, and found Brooke lying on her bed. "Hey. I thought tonight was you date with Jake. Why aren't you getting ready?" She sat beside Brooke.

"I don't know it's not for a couple of hours. I was actually thinking of canceling it." She said, staring at the phone beside her.

"Canceling it? Don't you think it's kind of late notice? I mean, it is at 7 tonight." Haley told her.

"I just don't want to go and thinking that it might be something more than just drinks, and ending up being disappointed." Brooke said staring sadly at her best friend.

"Well, than don't think about that." Brooke scoffed. "Right, okay, well than just go tonight with no expectations and just talk with Jake. Don't think about anything more than what supposed to happen." Haley said.

Brooke smiled at Haley, and nodded. "Okay." They just stayed where they were, and started talking.

Jake arrived back home after the gym. He started running upstairs, and his mother was calling him. "Jake! Jake!"

Jake didn't hear his mom because of the earphones. "Jake!!!!" She yelled angrily.

Jake stopped and stared at his mom, "Yeah?"

"What are you doing?"

"I went to the gym.'

"Where are you going?" His mother stared at him with angry eyes.

"Mom…I'm going out with Brooke." Jake said.

His mother nodded angrily. From her tone, Jake knew she already knew. She stayed quiet, and looked away hurt, like she lost her son.

"Mom, what?! What is wrong with having drinks with her mom?" Jake asked.

"Jake, I don't like people like her…"

Jake cut her off. "People who are decent? People who have a good heart? Mom she saved me. She took care of me. You should at least give her a chance."

"Honey, I know girls like her, she's going to screw you over." His mother scolded him.

"Mom, it's just drinks. You're not going, I am, so don't worry about it." Jake left the room, and went upstairs to his.

It was about 5:45, and Jake was in the shower. His mother quietly snuck into his room, and found his cell phone on his nightstand. She took it, and found Brooke's number. She walked outside his room, and dialed the number.

Brooke was inside her bathroom getting ready. She heard her cell phone ringing and saw it was Jake calling. Se picked it up, "Hey what's up?"

"Hi Brooke. It's Elizabeth, Jake's mother."

Brooke was caught by surprise, and was confused. "Hi, where's Jake?"

"He wanted me to call you and tell you that he's sick. He can't make you date tonight. He's really sorry. But he wants to go out again, and he'll call you soon."

Brooke nodded, like she was expecting this to happen. "Okay, thank you. Bye." Brooke hung up, and sighed.

It was seven, and Jake was waiting for Brooke. He was at the bar an hour later, until he decided to go home.

He arrived home, and his mother was on the couch. "You're home early. Date didn't go very well?" She asked.

"She didn't show up." Jake said upset.

"Oh, honey…"

"Mom, seriously, I don't want to talk about it." He went back to his room.

His mother smiled mischievously.

The next day was Saturday, and Brooke was out jogging. Jake was driving, when he saw Brooke jogging. He opened hi window, and drove along next to her. "Brooke!" She didn't hear him at first. "Brooke!!!"

Brooke glanced to her right, and saw Jake. She looked angry, and began running faster. Jake didn't understand, so he sped up, and drove along side her again. "Brooke! We need to talk." He said loudly.

"Leave me alone, Jake!" She said, running as fast as she could just to get away from him.

But Jake wasn't leaving too easily. He drove his car in front of her, making her stop. He got out of his car, and walked up to Brooke angry. "Brooke! What the hell is your problem. I'm trying to talk to you."

"Really?" She paused, taking her earphones out of her ears. "It seems like you got a lot better. I guess it was just the midnight flu, huh?" Brooke said upset.

"What are you talking about, midnight flu?" Jake asked in confusion.

"You know playing dumb doesn't really suit you." Brooke said, "Your mother called and said you were sick. That you couldn't make it. You know, I didn't need to be lied to. If you didn't want to go out, all you had to do was say so." Brooke concluded.

"Brooke, I wasn't sick."

"Oh, wow, thanks for clearing that up." Brooke scoffed, as if that's why she was angry.

"No, I mean, I went to the restaurant last night, and you didn't arrive so I thought that you stood me up." Jake explained. "I thought you didn't wanna go out." Jake paused, holding her athletically toned arm. "I was actually excited for last night."

Brooke didn't know what to say. "If you went to the restaurant, why didn't you call me when I didn't show up?"

"Because I thought you didn't want to go out. Maybe you weren't looking forward to it."

"I was." Brooke confessed. "To be honest, I was really excited, and a little bit scared." She looked down embarrassed.

"Scared?" Jake asked.

"Yeah, I mean I was going to have drinks with my deceased cousin's fiancé, it was kinda weird." They both let out a light chuckle.

"Well, what about a second chance? Huh? Maybe we can go out again, tomorrow night?"

"I don't think so." Brooke said staring down at the floor.

"I promise no outs. I'll be there, sick or not." He chuckled.

"Okay…" Brooke agreed. She was actually more excited than ever. It was their first official date.