I apologize for making you guys wait so long, but once we moved, my computer refused to start, and I just got it back from the people that fixed it like... 1 hour ago. So I'm sorry if there are any spelling mistakes, or anything unclear/confusing, but I'm really annoyed at the moment. Hope you enjoy though, thanks for all your reviews they mean the world. Also - for those people who were asking/requesting... read on to find Jake!
Her foot crushed the gravel beneath her as heads swiveled to look in her direction. Brooke felt like she was in slow motion, no-where to go, no-where to hide. As she got out of the passenger seat, she looked over the roof of the car, at her twin who gave her an encouraging smile. It didn't help.
Nathan slowly got out of the car, avoiding looking at anybody but his sister. Her scared expression reminded him to be strong. He sent her a smile that he hoped she wouldn't see right through, but he knew she did.
Brooke and Nathan walked into their school with their heads held high. They knew that everyone within 100 meters was staring at them, but they didn't give in, not yet anyway.
Haley slowly got out of her car, and looked around. Everything appeared to be normal. She swung her hand-bag over her should and locker her car. She headed towards the entrance way of Tree Hill High, and it was about halfway there that she noticed people whispering. She picked up her pace as she opened the glass door to the locker bay.
As she walked through the hallway no-one would make eye contact with her. It's not that they didn't see her, she knew that they were deliberately ignoring her. She could see their eyes darting in every direction, but hers. She took a deep breath, tugged on the bottom of her denim jacket, and kept walking. She was going to stay strong. At least, those were her thoughts, until just like in the movies, the crowd parted and she saw her worst enemy standing no more than two meters in front of her.
"Morning Hales," Mark said, smugly.
Lucas turned the corner and was shocked at the size of Tree Hill High. For a small town the school was massive. Finding the girl that he'd dreamed of last night was going to be harder than he thought it would be. He wasn't about to give up though.
He continued walking, and didn't stop till he was inside the hallway of his new school. Looking around he saw people whispering, pointing, and gasping. "What the?" he found himself saying.
"What, you don't know?" said a short guy with curly sandy brown hair, who was conveniently standing right behind him.
"Know what?"
"Haley had sex with her step-brother," he said quietly.
"Who's Haley?" Lucas questioned. A few people turned to look at him, but Lucas didn't care.
"Who's Haley!" the short guy repeated quietly leaning against a nearby locker. "Are you joking? Haley James. Head cheerleader, School Captain, Head Social Chair, School Queen, and the second hottest chick on the planet," the short guy informed him.
"Riiight," Lucas said, not impressed.
"But that's not all. Brooke and Nathan actually showed up to school today… but judging by the look on your face you have no idea who they are either…," he took a deep breath.
"The Scotts. Wealthiest family ever. Nathan used to be Tree Hills king, basketball legend, and the alpha male… till the accident. He was driving his mates home from a party, and had too much to drink, he was speeding, and to cut a long story short Tim, Luke and Zach died. Brooke, well where to start with Brooke," he took another deep breath, and continued
"Nathan's twin sister, last years Queen Bee, till her best friend Kristin committed suicide. She fell into a depression, and tried to kill herself. Luckily she didn't succeed, and since then she's made it her life's mission to ignore everyone around her, except her brother," he looked down sadly, as people started to walk past again, and sighed.
Lucas just stared at him. "And you know this how?"
The guy smiled, and put out his hand. "Jake Jagelski, the guy who knows it all,"
Lucas didn't know why, but he liked this guy. He shook his hand. "Lucas Roe, new guy,"
"Yeah, I know. It's my job to show you around, let you get to know people, shit like that," Jake was about to continue talking when the bell rang throughout the corridor, and just as quickly as the students had appeared, they vanished into surrounding rooms. Lucas looked around and when he turned back Jake was already at the doorway.
"You know, for a tour guide… you suck!" Lucas yelled to him. Jake just gave him a slight wave, and kept walking.
Lucas took a deep breath and looked around him at the empty hallway. He pulled a piece of paper out of his jeans pocket, and looked at it. Locker Number 389, combination number 21, 12, 21. He slowly walked down the hallway, looking at lockers. He didn't see why they had numbers; everyone's lockers had their names written on them. He walked past Baker, Benson, and a few more until he came across a locker that looked different to the others; it was painted red, and was decorated with flowers, and cards.
He looked at the name; Jack Brooker, he remember him from what Jake had said, Jack was one of the guys Nathan Scott had killed. He looked down the hallway, and saw four more lockers decorated exactly the same. He walked past Zachary Gardiner's, which was also covered in cards, and flowers, past Luke Henderson's, who was the same, and stopped when he saw Jake's name on a locker, not far from Zach's. Next to Jake was a locker that had been painted hot pink, and certainly stood out. "Haley James" was written neatly at the top of it. Lucas laughed out loud, and continued down the hallway.
He stopped when he spotted his locker that was conveniently placed next to another red one, decorated exactly like the others. The name about a red rose read; "Kristin Reed". Brooke Scott's ex-best friend. He looked to his right, and would you know it, there was Brooke and Nathan's lockers.
Haley came out of the girls restrooms, wiping tears from her cheeks, and sniffing. Why was this happening to her? Bevin had told everyone about her and Mark and the things people had been saying to her since she arrived to school were horrible. "Slut!" "Whore!" "Incest!" where only a few of the things that people had yelled at Haley as she walked through the hallway this morning.
She kept walking, and opened the glass doors leading to the corridor. She almost bumped into a guy who was getting books out of his locker.
"Watch it ass-hole," she said, as she shoved past him.
"Screw you," Lucas yelled back at her.
"Don't pretend like you know anything about me," she screamed. "None of you do. You have no idea what I've been through!" and with that she walked away.
"Psycho," Lucas muttered, slamming his locker shut. He was in a bad mood now. He looked down at the books he held in his hands; an English folder, a dictionary, and a timetable reading "Advanced English; Room A14". "I hope they give you credit for speaking it," he said, and went to find the room.
Nathan leaped through the air and executed the perfect jump-shot. Swish. The ball went through the hoop, and echoed throughout the empty gym as it bounced on the floor. Nathan collapsed on the floor as a searing pain ripped through his right side.
"So you're the killer right?" a deep voice said from the other side of the gym. Nathan fought against the pain, and stood up.
He turned to the voice, and found himself looking at a tall guy, at least six foot, with wavy black hair.
"And… you're the guy who's gonna regret saying that right?" Nathan said, gripping the basketball as tight as he could in an attempt not to show how much pain he was in.
"No, I'm Mark Johnson," he said, walking further into the gym, leaving only a few feet separating him and Nathan.
"Oh, so you're the ass who seduced Haley," Nathan said, grinning.
"All true, except for the ass part. She's a good lay," Mark smiled. "But you should know that right? Heard you two used to date," Mark said, folding his arms over his chest.
"Yeah, note the past tense. Now if you don't mind, I was practicing, so piss of," Nathan said, turning to take another shot.
"Sure, see ya around," Mark said, backing out of the gym.
"Hope not," Nathan murmured.
"Watch it ass-hole," Mark yelled, as he bumped into someone entering the gym.
"What is it with people in this place? Can't they just say "Hi"," Lucas yelled back, as he regained his balance from bumping into Mark. He watched him go and turned to face the gym. "Well, this isn't Advanced English is it" he said looking at Nathan.
"Sorry, no," Nathan said, turning back to play. He took a shot, but didn't make it. He walked forward to get the ball, holding his right side.
Lucas watched him for a moment, and put his books on the ground. "Injury?" he asked, folding his arms across his chest.
Nathan grabbed the ball and looked at him. "You don't know?" he asked.
"Know what?" Lucas questioned.
Nathan gaped at him. This was the first person he'd met that morning that didn't think he was a murderer. The first person who hadn't avoided looking at him. The first person who didn't scream at him, or call him names.
"Nothing," Nathan said. He thought about the situation for a moment. "You should go to class. Advanced English is in the main block, follow the corridor down and take a right. It's the last door on the left," Nathan said bluntly. He turned back to the hoop and looked up at it.
Lucas frowned. "Why do the people here close up thirty seconds into the conversation?"
Nathan didn't answer him, but he did offer him some advice. "Get used to it,"
Lucas stood there for a minute, staring at Nathan's back. He grabbed his books, and walked out of the gym.
Nathan kneeled down on the gym floor, and groaned. The basketball bounced next to him, and he stared at it. Anger rose up in him, and he couldn't hold it in any longer. He grabbed the ball and threw it as hard as he could at the opposite wall.
Lucas entered the main building and walked down the corridor. Taking a right he walked past the Principals Office, Science Room A & B, and finally found A14.
Brooke rolled her eyes as her teacher yelled at a bunch of guys in the back row that had thrown a paper airplane across the room. She looked up as the door opened and a guy walked in. She recognized him as the same guy from the grocery store the previous day. She didn't know why, but she didn't want him to see her. She sunk down into her seat, and hung her head low.
Bevin stopped writing and looked up as the door opened. "Ms Peters, new guy… or should I say man," she said licking her lips. Everyone laughed except for Brooke.
Ms Peters walked back up to the front of the class and eyed Lucas suspiciously. "You're new?" she asked. He nodded. "Lucas Roe?" she asked. He nodded. "Do you talk?" He nodded. Everyone but Brookelaughed. "Take a seat in the front row Lucas. Something tells me I'm going to have to keep an eye on you," she said, taking her seat up the front of the class.
Lucas just stared at his teacher. She pointed to which seat she wanted him to sit in, and he did as he was told. Looking around his class he saw the Jock's up the back, the bubbly cheerleader and her entourage right behind him, and presumably the nerds on either side of him. He was right as he looked to his left he saw three girls writing at a fast past, all with classes. Stereotypical much? He laughed. He looked to his right and almost fell off his chair. There she was. The girl; he'd spent all yesterday thinking about. All last night dreaming about. All this morning searching for. And she was right next to him.
"Lucas!" he snapped out of his day dream when the teacher called his name. "Copy down what's on the board, and if I catch your eyes wandering anywhere other than forward ever again, you'll spend the next ten years in detention. Do you understand me?"
He nodded.
Brooke smiled behind her hair as out of the corner of her eye she saw Lucas begin to copy down their notes. She knew that he had been looking at her, and she knew why. He'd heard about her. He thought she was a loony. He was probably laughing at her on the inside. Her smile faded, and sadness seeped in. Her eyes began to get glossy and she knew she had to get out of there as soon as possible. There was no way she was going to break down in front of everyone.
"Ms. Peters," Brooke said sweetly. Lucas's head shot up when he heard her voice, but he didn't dare look at her.
"Yes,"
"Can I please go to the bathroom?" Brooke asked.
"No,"
Brooke tried to stop her jaw from dropping to the ground and she almost failed. "I'm sorry?" she asked.
"No. I don't think that's a wise decision," her teacher said, not looking at her.
"And why is that?" Brooke asked.
"Oh you didn't hear?" Bevin said from behind her. Lucas and Brooke both spun to face her. "The faculty and students have all been told to keep a close eye on you. They're worried that you might slip into some old habits," Bevin smiled.
Brooke didn't even try and hide her angry. She spun back to her teacher. "Is that true?"
Lucas looked from the cheerleader, to his mystery girl, to his teacher. He also took a quick glance around the entire classroom and noticed everyone else was watching as well.
"Well dear…" their teacher fidgeted.
"I don't believe this," Brooke said, standing up.
Bevin couldn't help but say something. "Believe it sweetie. There is no-one in this school who wants to see you back to the way you were and the end of last year. It's because we're worried," Bevin gave Brooke the biggest smile, and continued. "I mean face it. At the beginning of last year, you were one of us," she looked at her entourage, smiling. "You and your brother ruled. But now… well… you're nobody,"
A tear fell down Brooke's cheek, as she turned and ran out of the classroom. Lucas jumped out of his chair and went to go after her, but his teacher stopped him. "Sit down Mr. Roe or that's a detention," she yelled. "Bevin, that was inexcusably rude. That's a detention for you,"
As Bevin almost fainted in shock, Lucas thought about the girl. She looked so upset, and he didn't even know her name.
Thanks for reading guys. I plan to post more tomorrow night after my dance class. Please review, and let me know what couples you ship, even if they're not conventional! If you want to see something happen with Mark and Brooke, or Jake and Haley, a couple like that, let me know!
