Disclaimer: I do not own One Tree Hill or Gossip Girl...I own nothing but this story's plot!!
In Another Life
Part 7:
It Feels Like Tonight
The next morning Blair wanted to do anything but go to school. Unfortunately that was exactly what she was being forced to do by one skinny blonde in a cheerleading uniform.
"Get dressed, B," Peyton instructed as she threw a royal blue and black uniform in the girl's face. "You know if we miss any part of the school day then we won't be able to cheer tonight."
She grabbed the clothing right before it hit her and sat up in her queen-sized bed. "I'm up, I'm up," she said in defeat. She guessed she wasn't getting the option of rolling back over today.
"Well get dressed or you can find another way to school," Peyton warned her as she turned and left the room. "I'll be waiting in my car. Five minutes, I'm serious."
Blair just looked at the blonde's form as she retreated from her room. Just who did she think she was? No wonder her boyfriend was cheating on her.
So Blair complied. She didn't know if the version of herself they were expecting here in Tree Hill would or not. She was sure as hell the girl she remembered from New York would not tolerate that attitude. And if anyone questioned her actions she would just chock it up to feeling extra gracious today.
In about three minutes Blair was exiting her house and heading straight to Peyton's car which she couldn't help but think looked exactly like a death cab. I mean how old was this thing, wasn't it time for an upgrade? Then she looked up to Peyton—was she actually scowling at her?
"What's up your ass?" Blair asked as she sat down on the red leather seat. Then she pulled her long hair into a ponytail in preparation for the ride in the convertible.
Peyton turned and gave her a death glare, before turning her eyes back to the road. Then she peeled out of the driveway practically on two-wheels.
And Blair took this as her sign not to ask the girl anymore questions. Hey, she was just trying to be nice. And if Peyton didn't want to talk it wasn't hurting her in any way. Let her be mute!
A little while into the ride Peyton's phone began to ring. She picked it up and then chunked it on the floorboard under Blair's feet screaming, "Asshole!"
Blair pulled her feet up into the seat and turned to Peyton. Taking this as her opportunity to get some information, she asked, "Who? Nathan?"
"Of course Nathan!" She shrieked at the girl in the passenger's seat as if the answer to the question was absolutely obvious without having to be asked.
"What's going on with you and Nathan? Did you guys have a fight or something?" Blair continued to pry. She desperately wanted to know what was going on…hoping it didn't have to do with her.
"No we didn't just have a fight," Peyton snapped. "We had the fight. And he broke up with me!"
Blair's face turned sympathetic. It wasn't an emotion she usually showed, but for some reason she felt sorry for Peyton. Maybe it was the whole sneaking around with her boyfriend thing. "Oh, I'm sorry, P. Sawyer," she told her, the nickname falling off her tongue like an old habit.
Peyton looked from the red stoplight to Blair. "God you're an awful actress!" She accused. "Don't even try to pretend like you're sad. You know you have wanted Nathan and me to break up since we got together. You were always saying how he treated me like a shitty piece of property and I could do better. But you know what Blair? Maybe I didn't want better, maybe all I wanted was Nathan!"
Blair just looked at the girl, her mouth hanging open. This didn't sound like the Nathan she had caught a glimpse of the other night at the party. He didn't seem like such a bad guy, but then again, she would never have pegged herself as the backstabbing best friend.
Blair had never been so glad to be at school as she immediately bailed from Peyton's car, not even offering her so much as a wave before she disappeared into the crowd of students.
She was thankful that she was just as organized in this life as she was in the one she could remember. Thanks to that trait she had her class schedule and locker number and combination tucked neatly in the clear front of her binder.
She went to her locker and slowly opened it. It was filled with smiling pictures of her and the various girls she had met at the party the night before. It also had a mirror in which she quickly checked her reflection and reminded herself never to ride to school with Peyton again as she smoothed down her hair with a black headband she retrieved from the locker.
She grabbed her history book, which seemed to be her first class and locked the locker once more. Then she looked at her schedule. It said history was in room 23. There was just one problem; she had no idea where room 23 was. She wasn't even sure as how to point herself in the right direction.
So she stood there, watching the students run off to various locations. She looked in each of the four ways she could choose to go…if her locker wasn't at the crossroads her choice wouldn't be so damn complicated.
"Hey are you feeling alright," she heard a male's voice ask as she felt a hand rest lightly on her shoulder.
Turning around quickly she realized it was Lucas Scott asking her this question. "Is that like you're catchphrase or something?" She quickly retorted back with a laugh. It seemed like every time she ran into the boy he was checking up on her.
"No," he said, sticking his hands in his back pockets as he rocked back onto his heels. "I can't help it if you always seem to look like a damsel in distress."
At this Blair began to laugh profusely. "And what? You have some kind of hero-complex that you just have to come and check on me? Then try to right whatever might be wrong?" She asked him between laughs.
Now Lucas started to look embarrassed. "Well when you put it that way it does sound pretty crazy," he admitted, finding a sudden interest in his tennis shoes.
Blair bent down until she was directly in his line of vision. "Well today it might just pay off for you, Superman," she told him. "What would it do for your ego if I let you walk me to class?" She asked, standing up, and as she did Lucas's eyes followed her.
"I think it might just keep me from developing another complex from the complex you just brought to my attention," he laughed at her, reaching out and taking her books.
"Well, well, I guess you are a gentleman, Lucas Scott," she complimented, graciously handing him her books. It was just like school back in New York, except there she had to have one of the girls carry her books as the boys were not supposed to be in the girl's hall. "And see, I need to go to history, room 23," she added, pointing at her schedule in the front of her notebook.
"I think I can handle that," Lucas told her with a smile, one that was innocent yet mischievous at the same time. "Because that just so happens to be where I'm headed as well."
Blair smiled and nodded her head politely as she followed Lucas down the longer corridor to their left. All the while she was completely oblivious as to who had been watching their little exchange from behind the other wall.
Nathan Scott watched Blair and his "brother" walk off as if they were the best of friends, as he clenched his fists at his sides. Since when did she even know the guy? All he knew was Lucas better back off; this was one game that was way out of his league.
Uh, oh, Nathan. Green is not a good color for you. And B, what are you getting yourself into…flirting with both Scott boys is a recipe for disaster, but that doesn't mean we don't want to try it.
"B, you want me to take the girls out to stretch?" The redhead, Rachel, came up behind Blair and asked her. The girl must have noticed she was staring at Peyton who was in a misery spiral and realized she needed to deal with that instead of cheer warm-ups at the moment.
"Yeah, that'd be great," Blair answered her, waving a hand to send the girl on her way with the rest of the squad.
When she heard the door close one last time, and all the giggles and loud voices seemed to dim, she went to approach Peyton. But this time, she might not get the side of Blair she was expecting.
"Hey! What do you want?" Peyton snarled when Blair approached her and yanked the iPod earphones out of her ears.
"What do you think I want?" Blair asked her back. "You are a member of my squad and I want your skinny ass out on the court doing stretches like the rest of the girls."
Peyton looked at Blair as if she had just lost her mind. "You're kidding, right? Because seriously, there is no way you just said that to me," she snapped, standing up and placing her iPod gently on top of her cheer bag.
"Nope, this is reality," Blair told her flatly. "And just because your jerk of a boyfriend broke up with you there's no reason for you to go all diva and think you are too good for this squad. When Teresa broke her hand, she still got out there and cheered. And after all those rumors were spread about Rachel and that teacher, she stilled cheered. What makes you think you are exempt?" She asked her, her tone growing stronger by the word. She didn't know where this information had come from, but it was as if pieces were starting to come back to her.
"Because I'm not those girls, Blair," Peyton screamed. "Excuse me if the biggest thing in my world is not doing some lame ass cheers at a game I could care less about!" She screamed as she threw her pompons in Blair's face.
Blair caught the pompons and dropped them to the floor. "You have three second Peyton. Three seconds to pull it together and get out there or—" She was cut off.
"Or what?" Peyton challenged as she stepped closer to Blair's face.
"Or you're off the squad," she said plainly, stepping back at Peyton so that their noses were mere inches apart.
"Oh I wouldn't give you the satisfaction of kicking me off," Peyton said, "So guess what? I quit. Good luck finding a replacement for your precious competition this late in the season." And she grabbed her stuff and walked out, leaving Blair to watch her walk through the locker room and disappear.
Blair had to pull herself together before she left the locker room. Even though she could hold her own against the bitchiest, it still threw her off when she was faced with an unexpected opponent. Wasn't Peyton her best friend or something? She went to the sink and fixed her hair. Then she put a swipe of blush on each of the apples of her cheeks before she exited the now empty girl's locker room.
"There you are," a deep voice said as soon as she came out. "I've been waiting to talk to you," he added, grabbing her arm and pulling her to him.
"Nathan," she breathed as she felt her breath catch in her throat. "What? Why are you waiting for me?" She asked him, not wanting to seem overly excited to see him.
"Because, uh, I wanted to talk to you," He finally got out. It was cute almost, the way he seemed to be finding the right words to say.
"Really? Well whatever is it about?" She asked him coyly, and then she leaned back against the wall.
"Uh, well, I guess you heard that I broke up with Peyton," he started, looking from his feet to her eyes as he spoke.
"Yeah, and unfortunately so," she said, her voice somewhat snappy.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Nathan asked, his voice growing deeper and more defensive sounding. "I thought that was what you wanted. All the times you were telling Peyton I was too good for her. You didn't think she'd run back and tell me, letting me in on your master plan."
"What master plan?" Blair asked, taken aback by his accusations. "You treated Peyton like shit and that was obvious to everyone but you I guess," she told him. "And it is unfortunate in consideration of your timing for this breakup, seeing as how Peyton was so eager to leave me short one cheerleader for the competition."
"And that's all you care about, isn't it?" Nathan asked her. "The fact that your little cheer routine might be a bit off. Not even considering that the reason I did all this was because of you."
Blair looked at him and her jaw dropped. Nathan broke up with Peyton, for her? Of course he did. How could she have been so stupid as to let that little detail of their sordid affair slip her mind at a time like this? "I," she began, but he wouldn't let her finish.
"You're right; it's all about you, isn't it?" He challenged her, not feeling the least bit sympathetic. If she wanted to write him off, he could do the same thing.
"No, that's not it at all," she pleaded, pulling him back to her. "I just, I was being selfish."
"Yeah, you were," he told her. "And I thought everyone might have been wrong for stereotyping you that way. But you know what? They were exactly right Blair. You're just another bitchy cheerleader who likes to string guys along for fun."
"What?" She asked him, taken aback by his words. She wasn't sure why they stung so badly, but they did, so much so that she felt herself visibly flinch.
"You heard me. I won't be another one you do this to," he said, pushing up closer to her, and backing Blair completely onto the wall. "I'm Nathan fucking Scott."
"What?" She asked once more, as if she was incapable of uttering anything else.
"I saw you. This morning, with Lucas," he stated flatly.
"You saw me what?" She asked him, pushing his chest back from her. "You saw him help me to class. Excuse me for having a blank out as to where my first period was," she said almost laughing. "Seriously Nathan, you need to chill because jealousy is really unbecoming of you."
Nathan grabbed her hands and pulled her tiny frame closer to him. "I can't help it. You are so damn frustrating, Blair. It's like you bring out the worst in me."
"Well thanks," she said sarcastically, laughing a little bit. Nathan didn't loosen his grip on her wrists, but for some reason she didn't mind. She just sent him a completely satisfied smile; she'd nailed his emotions to a tee.
"Damn it," he said, letting go of her with one hand and slapping it on the wall. "Why can't I stay pissed at you? You're like the biggest bitch ever."
"And you're like the cockiest jerk to ever walk these halls," she spat back at him. "So when are you just going to shut up and kiss me?" She asked him, grabbing the front of his basketball jersey and pulling him closer to her. She didn't know why, but every time she was around him she wanted to touch him, like there was some type of magnetic force between them pulling them together.
"I guess now," he answered, leaning closer to her and attacking her mouth with such force he pinned her up against the wall.
She wrapped her arms around his neck and he lifted her in his arms until she was sitting safely on the guard rail. Then she locked her legs around his back, pulling him closer to her and taking in his scent. She moved her mouth away from his to catch her breath and he immediately started covering her neck in kisses. She left out a small moan, feeling herself getting completely lost in the moment.
"Hck, Hmm," both teens heard the sound of someone clearing their throat. At this they immediately separated and turned to see who had just interrupted their heavy make out session.
"Coach," Nathan said, looking at the old man who had entered the hallway. His voice sounded like that of a child who had just been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.
"I came to see where my star player had disappeared to," he began. "But it looks like he was being held captive by the cheer captain."
Blair blushed and looked to the ground. "Ugh, sorry," she offered. Okay, so it was definitely embarrassing getting caught in the act by an old person.
"I suggest you run along Miss Davis," Whitey spoke. "Your girls are just about done stretching. And you," he said, turning to Nathan. "We need you thinking about other things, so go clear your head and all see you on the court in five, not a second later."
"Yes sir," Nathan agreed, heading back in the direction of the boys locker room as Blair walked towards the basketball court.
Okay, so here is the next Blair part!! And I LOVE it!! Idk what it is but her storyline has been one of my favorites that I have written in a while!! But that doesn't really matter...I hope you all enjoyed it! Let me know...also tel me if there is anything you'd like to see!! :)
Audra
