A/N: Thanks to those that reviewed the last chapter. As a treat, I'll be posting the next chapter in a day or two but this will mean that I might be AWOL for a bit while life takes over. I'm apologising in advance as I'm not from America so I might have got a couple of things wrong like I'm sure the basketball season starts later but for the purpose of this story it starts now. Hope you enjoy.

Cold Shoulder

Brooke had arrived at school early and noticed that Nathan's car was also parked at school. She was quietly cursing herself. It had been a week and Peyton wasn't returning any of her phone calls. Luckily the two of them didn't have to do their presentation yet as only half the class actually had the chance of presented their work and the two of them were further down the list.

As she approached the quad she noticed Peyton sitting with a sketchpad. She was hoping to creep up to her without her noticing and then she would be able to explain her actions. It was like Peyton had a sixth sense as she looked up, straight into Brooke's eyes, closed her pad and quickly stomped off. "Peyton." Brooke called but to no avail as Peyton picked up the pace and ran off. Brooke exhaled with pure frustration and headed straight to the gym.

Nathan was shooting hoops in the gym. He had run out of the house as soon as possible as his parents were having another row. He could hear footsteps getting closer and closer to him. "Whitey won't like your heels on his freshly polished floor, Brooke." Nathan had his back to the entrance that she walked through.

"How did you know it was me?" She asked.

"The way you walk, like you own the place, plus we haven't spoken since yesterday and I knew you would be looking for me." He took another shot and looked round to face her.

"Am I that predictable." She had both hands on her hips.

"Yes." He laughed.

"Are you ready for the game, Nate?"

"Ready as I'll ever be." Nathan threw another shot in the basket.

Brooke walked over to where the ball had landed and threw it to him. "How is it with the parents?

"More arguing as usual. I swear sometimes they're arguing over stupid things like salt. She kicked him out but he's still there everyday. He was there this morning, shouting at the crack of dawn."

"Look at us. Your parents can't stand to be around each other and mine can't stand to be around me." Brooke decided she was going to take a shot and manage to get it through the basket. Hearing the hint of sadness in her voice, Nathan pulled her into a hug. "Now why don't you give me hugs more often Nate?"

Nathan pulled away. "It's bad enough people think I'm dating you, they can't be thinking I'm soft." He said with sarcasm in his voice.

Brooke was just about to hit him on his arm when he moved out of the way. "You didn't think I'll let you do that to me again. I can't have the ladies thinking I'm being battered by you either."

Brooke decided to steer the conversation slightly differently and ask a question she had asked before, hoping she would actually get an answer this time. "Talking about ladies, who are you secretly seeing Nathan?"

"Why do you hate Peyton so much?" Brooke looked at him blankly, unwilling to give an answer. "We all have our secrets Brooke but we're both not willing to share."

"Why is that when we tell each other everything?" She questioned.

Nathan took a deep breath, thinking about his response until he spoke. "I'm not sure, maybe we're not ready to admit what we're hiding, and maybe we can't. I can tell you this. That day will come soon, maybe sooner than you think."

"For me, I think that day is now." Brooke looked away like she was checking no one was eavesdropping on the conversation. "Come over after the game and stay over. You can get away from the parents and I can finally tell you the truth."

Thinking that maybe some questions might finally be answered, Nathan responded. "Ok. I guess I could do some confessing too."


Haley walked up to the lockers and found Peyton sorting out her books. "Hey, where have you disappeared to the past week? I thought you had skipped town again."

Peyton gulped at the question and avoided eye contact with her friend. "I just needed to get away from it all and clear my head."

Haley stood with her back to the lockers and leaned against them. "I hope you haven't let Brooke get to you too much. I'm not sure what her problem is but I'm done defending her."

Peyton's eyes shot up at the turn of conversation. She was hoping that Haley wouldn't try and pursue it too much. Peyton didn't want to say anything and she just looked at Haley and smiled. "Are you coming to the game then?" Haley asked. Peyton was relived that the subject was now changed.

"You know basketball has never been my thing so I doubt it very much." She replied.

"Come on. Are you telling me that you're not going to support your own cousin? You wouldn't let him down would you? It won't be just him that would be disappointed, I will be too and who does that leave you to talk to." Haley simply smiled at her own words.

"Are you trying emotional blackmail on me Haley James? Is this what you've turned into while I've been gone?" Peyton closed her locker and fully turned, facing the other girl.

Haley put her hand on her heart feigning injuring form Peyton's words. "I'm upset that you would think such things of me. I take it that you're coming then?"

Peyton rolled her eyes before responding "I guess I am. I have a while to prepare myself for the torture later."

The two girls started to move away from their standing position and walked along the corridors. Coming around the corner was Brooke. Peyton's face instantly changed when she spotted her and her uncomfortability was evident. "Peyton, can I talk to you please?" Brooke asked as soon as she saw her. Peyton ignored the question and turned to Haley. "I've got to quickly grab something." Peyton walked in the other direction before either of the girls could say anything.

After seeing Peyton flee, Haley turned to Brooke. "I think you went too far the other day." Brooke's eyes quickly moved from where Peyton was standing to Haley. "Did she tell you what happened?" Brooke was secretly hoping that her answer would be no. She knew how private Peyton could be but she feared that maybe she had pushed the other girl too far and that she might want someone to know as payback.

"What do you mean, I was there. I asked you to be nice, it wasn't much but you couldn't do it anyway."

Brooke sighed with relief that Haley wasn't talking about what happened at the beach house. "I apologised to her and I am trying. Come on, I even called her by her first name. That's me trying."

Haley rolled her eyes. "I'm just tired of defending you to her. I keep telling her that you're not bad and then you do something that kills my point. I just thought that if you two got along more then we could hang out together and then I wouldn't be caught in the middle."

"I get it Tutor girl." Brooke put her arm around Haley and they walked in the direction of class.


Jake was sitting outside the principle's office, waiting for him to be available. He was nervously tapping his foot as the office secretary was watching him. He smiled at her nervously but she didn't respond. This made him more uncomfortable and he was hoping that the waiting would end soon.

Jake stood up as the door opened. "Principle Turner." He greeted.

"Mr Jagielski." He held out his hand and Jake shook it. "Please come in." He moved from the door to let Jake through. "Have a seat." Jake sat down, looking around the office. It was the first time he had actually been in his office. Turner sat down, "Sorry to hear about your father, how is he doing?"

"He hasn't woken up yet. My mother has been at the hospital all night." Jake replied.

"What can I do for you then?" Turner asked.

"It's gonna be a while before my father will get out of hospital let alone work. I need to help and support them more. I need to leave school and apply for my GED."

"You know that you need to be eighteen to qualify." Turner was trying to find anything to deter Jake from taking this step.

Jake started to sound more confident than when he first entered the office. "Well my birthday is this month. I've looked into it and it's something I need to do."

"Are you sure you've thought this through?" Principle Turner questioned

He nodded, "Yes, in great detail. I have a daughter to think about in all this and it will take some of the pressure off my parents."

Turner sighed. "It seems you have your mind set up." Jake got up from his seat and held his hand out for Turner to shake. "Thank you." Jake said before leaving the office.