Author's Note: So sorry for that lack of update in awhile, mainly because I've been really busy at school and actually having a life lol. This is the only time I have to update and head back to doing some homework. I had this chapter done for awhile, I just had to tweek it a little bit and make it better than the original draft. Once again, a little bit of everyone in this chapter, along with some drama between two good friends, but you're gonna have to read on for yourself. Enjoy & Review !
Chapter 10; Rip Me A New One.
It had been a week since Nathan and Haley had re-established themselves as friends, a week since Owen and Rachel were officially dating, and a week since Lucas had caught Jake and Peyton, hanging out, together. A lot of things had changed in the past week, a lot of situations had been reversed completely, and Lucas was having a hard time grasping it all. In fact, it confused him even more.
The whole week Lucas had lingered discreetly at school, watching everybody. More closely he was watching Jake and Peyton, trying to find any evidence that they really were more than just insult buddies. But so far he didn't see anything. It was like what he had seen last weekend didn't exist. A figment if his imagination.
Mornings were usually really slow and mellow, partly because he made it his mission to smoke a joint before driving into campus everyday. It was no secret that Lucas was a big smoker. He had smoked basically anything and everything, but weed was something that seriously calmed him down, and Lucas was a very uptight person, all the time. Yeah, it was bad for him, but what with his training schedule, there was no way he could lag.
His brother and the rest of the guys smoked also, but no one smoked as much as Lucas did. Jake had his music to calm him down, Owen had the gym, where he punched and pushed it all out until there was nothing left of him. And Nathan, well, Nathan had his sanity, which was more than Lucas had. Lucas had nothing that calmed him down like a nice joint. He couldn't play an instrument to save his life, and working out just made him even more wired.
Nathan also had basketball, and his twin's bond was way stronger with the sport than Lucas' had ever been. Or so he thought, he never stuck around long enough on the court to find out. He played on the basketball team, and he was pretty good, but once the game was over, he was off that court without a second thought. He remembered a time where he did like playing, genuinely loved it and there was this peace that he felt when he had a ball in his hands. That feeling was gone.
Popping some chewing gum in his mouth, he opened up his locker, glancing to the side. Peyton was at her locker as well, only a couple away, listening to her iPod while stuffing books into her bag for the day. It had been awhile since he had spoken with Peyton, and for the first time in awhile, he actually wanted to talk to her. But he wasn't looking for polite conversation, or even to ask if she wanted to meet him in the janitor's closet in five minutes.
Slamming his locker shut, he readjusted the shoulder strap on his bag and walked carefully towards Peyton, as if she would see him and bite his head off, which was a very big possibility. Taking a deep breath, he stopped right in front of her. She glanced at him before pulling the headphones out of her ears.
"Hey Peyt," Lucas greeted, nodding.
Her eyes narrowed at his greeting, just as confused at this picture as he was, "Luke? What are you doing here?"
"I go to school here," he smirked.
Peyton rolled her eyes, "You know what I'm talking about. Why are you talking to me?"
It was hard to believe that the two blondes had actually dated. It wasn't realistic to everybody that thought of it now but it made perfect sense back then. Lucas and Peyton were basically the same person split into two bodies. Nathan had joked about how Lucas and Peyton were the ones that were twins, not Lucas and himself. It seemed like the perfect match. Key word: seemed.
Lucas sighed, "Look, I know this is a little weird," he gestured to the space between them, "But there's a question that I need you to answer, and you need to tell the truth." After they broke up and just started hooking up, Lucas had lost his politeness for her, and she had lost her kindness for him, almost completely. The only time she was ever nice to him these days was whenever she was trying to come onto him.
"Why should I tell you anything truthfully anymore? You obviously haven't been truthful with me for a long time."
"Peyton, are we really going to get into this? I would really love to pick apart our whole relationship, but we're running on a schedule. You see, the bell's about to ring for first period in about two minutes. So are you gonna let me ask you my question or not?"
She rolled her eyes, "You can ask me the question, but it doesn't mean I'll answer you." Ever since their little breakup, of a relationship and hook up buddies, Peyton had made it her mission to give Lucas no satisfaction, in all areas.
"Is there something going on between you and Jake?" he asked, point-blank.
Peyton stared at him for a moment, as if she was thinking of her answer. Suddenly the bell ring, and her plan to completely annoy Lucas to no end was starting to work. "Oh look, there's the bell. No time to answer that question, not that it's any of your business."
Lucas grinded his teeth. There was no other person on the face of the planet that pissed him off as much as Peyton Sawyer did. But he wasn't going to give up on this. He needed the answer and he needed it from her. "Peyton, I need to know the truth, and I know you're the only one that give me the honest answer."
"Alright fine," she shrugged, "I'll talk to you about it later though. I don't have time to talk to you about it now unless I wanna be late for class."
"That would be a shame," he mumbled. "How about we meet at my mom's cafe after school?"
"Fine," she snapped before disappearing down the hallway.
Sighing, Lucas turned around to head to his own class. He was constantly asking himself, 'Why Peyton?' That seemed to be the question. Why not Jake? Lucas knew the answer, he just didn't want to admit that it was because he didn't trust his own friend.
Lucas did trust Jake, to a certain extent. He knew that if he asked Jake, he would lie to him, because he didn't want to bug his best friend. As much as he didn't want to talk to Peyton at all, she was a not bullshit person, and would tell it like it is.
He came into English class just as the bell rang, and ironically, he had the class with just about everybody. No one really paid him any mind, except for his brother. Nathan's eyebrow quirked up questioningly, his eyes following him suspiciously as he sat down in his seat in front of him.
He leaned forward. "What the hell is going on?" he hissed accusingly.
The two twins had heard of the whole 'twin senses' thing, the one where you're supposed to know exactly what each other was thinking, at all times. Lucas and Nathan knew when the other was up to something, and knew whenever they were needed of assistance, no matter what it was. But it wasn't like Nathan knew right down to the very 't' what Lucas was up to.
Lucas glanced back, "I'm getting to the bottom of something. That's all I can tell you right now." He faced the front of the class, trying to pay attention, but his mind kept on wandering to the weekend. Brooke sat next to him, kind of taking notes and kind of staring out the window aimlessly. Feeling humorous, Lucas continued to stare at her, not caring if it seemed kind of creepy. If there was one thing that could get his mind off of Jake and Peyton, it was definitely Brooke Davis.
It took her a good thirty seconds before her eyes met his. He continued staring at her as she let her eyes rest back onto her notebook. But she looked back up at him to see if he was really staring at her. Her eyebrow quirked in that sexy was that it did. Lucas smirked, and she shook her head and chuckled quietly. For two people that were supposed to be friends, he was having a hard time looking away from her.
'When the hell am I ever going to need to know this bullshit?' Rachel thought to herself as she sat in the middle of Mrs. Kwan's English Literature class. She absolutely hated this class, and was very close to failing it, if it wasn't for the nerds that did her homework for her.
Rachel aspired to be an actress/model, not a writer. As far as she was concerned, this was a pointless class to even take, along with every other subject that she had this year. She just couldn't wait until graduation, where she could throw her cap up in the air, say 'fuck you' to all her teachers, and walk out.
So far this relationship that she had formed with Owen over the past weekend had been working out pretty good. It only took her the second day to realize that there wasn't much difference between her friends with benefits with Owen and an official relationship with Owen. They did all the same thing, and then some. Maybe being exclusive wasn't so bad afterall.
Wanting to rip her ears out from listening to Mrs. Kwan talk about E.E Cummings, she turned her attention to Brooke, who happened to be making ga-ga eyes at Lucas, who was reciprocating. This 'just friends' bullshit wasn't cutting it to Rachel. But it also didn't help that she had seen Lucas and Peyton talking very secretly just before the bell rang for first period.
Rachel wasn't that much of an idiot. She had been in Tree Hill for years and knew Lucas way before Brooke came to town. It was common knowledge that Lucas was a player, they all were. Nathan got the girls with that crooked smirk, Jake with his voice and guitar skills, and Owen with his muscles.
But Lucas, it wasn't just a physical appeal that most girls fell for, although that played a part. It was an emotional connection too. Maybe it was those baby blue eyes that drew them all in, but everytime they got shot down and spent weeks crying over a guy that obviously didn't care about them. And just because he was friends with Brooke, that wasn't going to change the womanizer in him.
Relieved at the bell ringing, she grabbed her bag and met Owen at the threshold. She would never admit it to any living soul on the earth, but the idea of having a boyfriend kind of sent Rachel into a whirlwind of giggles and butterflies.
"Where's your head at, Raye?" Owen asked, nudging her a little in the arm.
She shook her head, "Nothing..." she trailed, before sighing. "Is it just me, or is Brooke and Lucas getting flirtier by the day?"
Owen shrugged, "I don't know, I haven't been paying attention, but I guess they're friendlier than usual."
"They were staring at each other all through English," Rachel explained. "Do you think there's something going on with those two?"
He smirked, "Oh I know there is. There's no doubt about that."
"It's too bad though, I saw Lucas talking to Peyton this morning too," she informed him, fiddling with her combination lock.
"Luke was probably just asking Peyton if there was something going on between her and Jake."
"Wait, what??" she demanded. "Peyton and Jake? Where did he get that idea?"
"Lucas was driving home last weekend and saw Peyton and Jake sitting on her front porch. I guess he's got it in her head that they have a thing for each other."
"Huh," Rachel said, shutting her locker. "Do you think there IS something going on?"
"It's hard to tell, but I do know that Lucas isn't gonna let this thing go."
Rachel rolled her eyes, "Seriously, what the hell does Lucas care? Him and Peyton have been over for God knows how long."
"Yeah I know. He just doesn't want Peyton and Jake getting involved. You know how Peyton is," Owen said knowingly.
"Yes I do have an idea of what a conniving bitch she can be."
"Why don't you stop worrying about that and just let me walk you to class?" Owen suggested.
She shrugged, "Well, I guess I can let it go, for now."
With a quick kiss from her boyfriend, Rachel slipped into Anatomy class, the one of the very many classes she had with Haley. Rachel was kind of a nerd at her other school, which led for her to be in a lot of challenging courses when she transferred, which she chose to ignore at the pinnacle of her high school career.
Haley was already sitting in her seat, reviewing last night's homework with her book already open, being the geek that she was. Excited, Rachel popped into her assigned seat next to her, pulling out her homework too, which she actually did by herself.
Haley glanced at Rachel, "What's with your peppiness this morning as opposed to your 'I don't give a shit' front you have everyday?"
"Well there's the fact that I have some gossip to share with you, or the fact that I have the hottest boyfriend in school. Either one could be your answer."
She smirked knowingly, "So how is the exclusive life treating you?"
"Good. But you never guess what I just heard?" she asked.
"What ever is it that you heard that's so important, Rachel?" Haley asked sarcastically.
"Apparently there's something going on between Jake and Peyton," Rachel stated confidentally.
She closed her book, "Wait, what?"
"Exactly, I'm kind of lost there too. But Owen just told me that Lucas was driving home and saw Jake and Peyton hanging out on her front porch. How fucked up is that?"
"What's so fucked up about it? They're not doing anything wrong."
"Not necessarily, but it's more twisted than fucked up. Which explained why Lucas was talking to Peyton this morning."
"Well whatever it is that's going on with them, why is everyone concerned? I mean, Lucas and Peyton had been done for a long time, why does he need to get into their business?" Haley asked.
"Maybe Lucas isn't getting into their business, maybe he just wants to know, like me," she shrugged.
"That's getting into their business, genius," Haley said, rolling her eyes.
"Whatever, this is big. Luke will definitely be pissed if Jake and Peyton are into each other."
"Why? They're not together, they're not even hooking up anymore."
"Yeah, but you know Lucas. Plus, if I were him, I wouldn't want my bitch of an ex-girlfriend hanging around any of my buddies," Rachel stated matter-of-factly.
"Okay Rachel," Haley said, tired of gossiping about Jake, Peyton, and Lucas. "So, how's Owen?"
"He's, great," Rachel grinned. "I never thought a relationship could be so, cool. It kind of works for me."
"That's good. Now aren't you glad you gave Owen a chance?" Haley asked.
"More than glad."
Physical Education was by far Nathan's favorite class, partly because he was acing it with flying colors, which was less than he could say for the rest of his grades. He was relieved that Haley had decided to forgive him, because not only did he have his good friends back, but he had his miracle worker of a tutor.
Since the Ravens were a pretty good basketball team, Coach Durham had made it his business to include basketball all year around as their sport. For the people like Nathan, who was serious about basketball, it was a good time to get a good practice in. Everyone else, like the girls and the uncoordinated people, sat on the bleachers, talking about the latest computer software or trading fashion tips.
Brooke was among one of those people. She was sitting with these two cheerleaders, Theresa and Bevin, probably talking about something pointless. Bevin was an airhead and all Theresa talked about was herself. He would know, they used to be hook-up buddies.
Now Nathan wasn't exactly sure what the deal was, mainly because his twin brother had failed to fill him in, but there was definitely a sense of attraction that he felt between his brother and Brooke Davis. He wasn't surprised, Brooke was definitely a gorgeous girl, probably the hottest one in school. If it wasn't for the fact that she and his brother already had something going, Nathan wouldn't have had a second thought in asking her out.
It was already more than halfway through class and Nathan was getting tired of showing up all the other guys. It was one thing to be good at basketball, and it was another to be better than everybody else. They had a game coming up on Friday night, and Nathan was looking into breaking the school record. If only he actually had some competition out on the court.
His brother Lucas had made it his mission to avoid the sport unless he actually had to. Things had been that way since their father died, and basketball just wasn't the same for his twin. The only reason Lucas played in the first place is because Nathan would never let him quit it completely.
It felt good to play basketball with nothing on his mind. Haley had forgiven him, and now all he had to look forward to is the next game, the next fight, and the sets of drama that would ensue later in the week, especially since he had heard that rumor that something was going on between Peytn and Jake. It was a weird thought, but Nathan wouldn't put anything past anybody with the crazy shit that has happened the past couple of weeks.
Looking behind him, Brooke was over at the water fountain. Smirking, Nathan tucked the basketball under his arm, strolling toward her. No, he wasn't going to hit on her, he was just gonna ask her some questions, questions that he had been wondering for awhile now.
"Hey, Davis," he greeted.
Brooke smiled, "Hey Nate, what's up?"
"Nothing, just playing ball. Why are you at the water fountain? You haven't done shit since you walked out of the locker room."
"Haha, ass," Brooke said sarcastically. "And it takes a lot of effort to look this good, so I've done my fair share of activity."
"Alright, fair enough," Nathan said. If there was one thing he liked about Brooke Davis, it was how much she reminded him of himself. Seriously, they both had insanely good looks, knew they were good looking, and had no problem voicing it out. And he was pretty sure she could throw a mean punch as well.
"Okay, if it's about the whole Jake and Peyton thing, I'm just as clueless as you are," she said, throwing her hands up.
Nathan chuckled, "Well that is a pretty interesting topic around school today, but that's not exactly the couple I'm talking about."
"Ohhh," she droaned, "You're talking about you and Haley. Nathan, if you wanted advice then all you had to do was say so..."
If there was one person in this world he had to trust, it was Lucas. But if there was one girl in this world, it would definitely be Haley. He didn't know what people meant by 'you guys are cute' or 'you guys would make a great couple' because all him and Haley had ever been were friends. Good friends in grade school but then they kind of drifted away at the start of high school. But when you reach closer to graduating, you don't really care about who you talk to, and Nathan wanted a good friend other than the guys.
He was having a hard time visualing it, Nathan and Haley, exclusive, dating, together, etc. Everyone else had been able to see it, but himself.
"No Brooke, me and Haley are friends, which is less than I can say for you and Lucas," he smirked.
"Nathan, me and Lucas are friends too, just like you and Haley," Brooke corrected him.
"See that's the thing, I don't think so," he shrugged. "You guys totally like each other, I can tell."
"What makes you think that I like him?"
Nathan rolled his eyes, "Oh I don't know, maybe it was the fact that you were staring at each other all throughout English, and the fact that he listens to everything and anything that you say, and whenever he needs something he goes to you."
"That's because we're friends, friends do that for each other."
"Yeah, but you can't say that you weren't interested in him when you first got here."
Brooke sighed, "Okay Nate, you're right. When I first moved here, I was attracted to Lucas, it's not a secret. But we decided that it would be best to just be friends. Plus, I don't want to get involved in this whole Pucas bullshit."
"Puc- what?" Nathan exclaimed.
"You know, Peyton/Lucas, Pucas," she shrugged.
"Brooke, they broke up like, years ago," Nathan said bluntly.
"Of course, but you of all people should know she keeps on coming back."
"She's a bee, I know. But think about it, if this whole Peyton/Jake thing turns out to be true, Lucas can finally get rid of her. There's no other girl anymore."
Brooke chuckled, "Nathan, it's cute that you're trying to play match-maker with your brother and me, but it's not happening."
Whitey had blew his whistle, signaling the end of class. Briskly Brooke walked away, heading towards the girl's locker rooms. It seemed like Brooke was even more stubborn then Lucas, and that was saying something. But he wouldn't worry too much about it, everything would happen sooner or later.
By the time lunch rolled around, Lucas was on the verge of ripping his hair out. Everywhere he went, people looked at him in question, like they were just wondering what he was going to do next, which in turn made him even more desiring to do something. He had a reputation for blowing his top at any given moment, and with the shitty day he had been having, that was bound to happen sooner or later.
He sat at the usual spot at the end of the quad, near all the trees and such. None of the guys had shown up yet, so he made himself at home with the plastic chairs. His lunch consisted of two double cheeseburgers and extra fries, since he was so cute and charming with the lunch ladies. Taking a sip of his Coke from the tall styrofoam cup, his eyes wandered around the different tables.
Brooke, Haley, and Rachel were sitting at the one directly across from them, although it was kind of far away. They had been a threesome since Brooke's arrival, and Lucas knew that the girls would remain a constant trio for the rest of the year, which was a good thing. They seemed to get along real well. He wished he could say the same for his own crew, but now he wasn't so sure.
It wasn't that he was pissed that Jake and Peyton were getting involved, it was that one, he didn't know about it, and two, to put it lightly, Peyton was a nutcase. She was filled head to toe in issues, which meant a lot of drama and mood swings. Jake was a pretty mellow guy, he didn't let things get to him, and all he had was his music. Although Peyton was a music junkie, Lucas didn't understand why this was happening. Being with Peyton made Lucas even more problematic in the head, and frankly being with her made him crazy and gave him issues as well. He didn't want the same thing to happen to Jake.
"What's up, man?" Owen greeted, setting down his gargantuous meal. A whopping five double cheeseburgers and two baskets of hot steaming french fries. A little freshman with terrible acne and no style was revealed behind him with a cup of soda, setting it down next to Owen's food. "Thanks, kid," Owen said, sitting down and digging in.
"Did you pay that kid to carry your drink over here?" Lucas asked.
Owen scoffed, offended, "No, why would I pay anyone to do that?"
"Wasn't like he had a choice," he smirked. When Owen approaches you and tells you to do something, Lucas was pretty sure no one asked questions or demanded any sort of fee. They just did it.
"So you hear what's been going on around school?" Owen asked innocently.
Lucas groaned, "You had to ask? Apparently me and Peyton are secretly together and Jake's trying to split us up. Seriously, where the hell do people get this shit from?"
"They get it because of what they see. You were probably talking to Peyton this morning, so people just think of stuff that doesn't make sense. I wouldn't worry about it though, it'll all blow over by tomorrow."
"I was talking to Peyton this morning, but it was about her and Jake!" he exclaimed. "On no level, do I want to get back with Peyton."
"You don't have to tell me that," Owen said, looking around. "Where is Jake, anyway?"
"I don't know, probably didn't want to come to lunch since he heard that I wanted to kick his ass," Lucas stated. "I swear, once I find out who's starting these rumors I'm gonna beat them to a bloody pulp."
"Well before it comes to that, maybe you should find out from Peyton, or Jake," Nathan suggested. Lucas tended to over-analyze just about everything, always thinking about something, always worrying. Nathan was there to calm him down. Nathan didn't really care about anything. It just took too much energy.
"No way in hell am I getting my answer from Jake. He wouldn't tell me the straight up truth. I'm meeting Peyton at Ma's Cafe today after school to talk about it," Lucas explained, taking a sip of his Coke.
"You're meeting Peyton after school? God, she must have been loving that," Owen chuckled.
"Not really. We're pretty sick of each other as of right now. She was ecstatic to get away from me."
"Okayy," Nathan trailed. "So I got a text from Cooper last period. He says he wants to meet with all four of us tomorrow at the Pit."
"Sounds good, we have an electricity bill coming up, and what with all the people that have been in and out the past month, it's gonna be high," Luca said. Just thinking about the bills gave him a migraine. There were so many numbers involved, and it was hard to take care of it all just with his brother. Sometimes he hated his mother in times like these. Sure, she sent them a check for the bills, but it wasn't enough, and Lucas didn't have the heart to tell her it wasn't.
"You know we can pitch in if the bill's too high. We practically live there," Owen said.
Nathan shook his head, "No way man, you have your little sister to think about. Don't worry about us. All we have to do is win like two fights, and we're good. Right Luke?" The blonde stared at his brother, nodding silently, but wishing that they could have some help with the bills.
"Anyways," he started. "I'm still pissed as hell that you got that fight with Felix, Nate."
"It wasn't a big deal. The guy's a pussy anyway. You didn't miss anything," Nathan said.
"That's not the point, though. I can't stand that guy on so many levels. He's tried to cause trouble for me ever since his ass landed here."
"Yeah well if you're extra nice to Cooper, he might just give you that match," Owen said.
"I don't think I could ever be extra nice to that man," Lucas said. It had been quite awhile since he had been back on the mat, and apart of him kind of missed it. He knew that the other guys probably couldn't say the same thing, because they weren't going through what he went through. Not even his own brother could ever understand. It was a sick thing to love beating the shit out of somebody, but he couldn't help it. It felt damn good, too.
-
She was really running out of places to go in this damn prison they called a school.
Their friendship was kind of on the outs and for the first time in quite a long time she couldn't really stand Lucas. So that meant that sitting in a court yard filled with people that either didn't like her or wasn't talking to her didn't sound like a way to spend her period.
Wandering the halls, this was when Peyton liked the school best. When it wasn't infested with nerds and sluts and assholes. It was a pretty decent place to do some thinking, maybe just want time by yourself. That didn't come around often, but for Peyton she had been getting more time on her hands lately.
Peyton wasn't always like this. No, there was once a time when she wasn't a bitter person. A time where she was actually happy sometimes, and even smiled. Right now she would give anything to have those times back. Maybe that was why she couldn't let Lucas go.
She'd tried time and time in her head to find the reason why she couldn't let go of him, but she couldn't find an answer. Lucas was like a drug to her. She wanted him all the time, no matter how bad he treated her sometimes. She knew he didn't mean to be a jerk, but Peyton just couldn't get over him. She wanted to, she really did, but whenever she thought about it, she couldn't because she was still so in love with him.
Or maybe she was in love with what they used to be, before things got so complicated that it diminished their whole relationship. The connection was there, and it probably would always be, but Lucas didn't love her like that, and what with the weird stalker persona she had inhabited, she wouldn't love herself either.
Jake Jagielski wasn't someone who struck her as annoying. He liked music, and secretly she respected him for that. Music was Peyton's outlet out of life, to just move along with the lyrics, completely turning her brain off to anything and anyone. He was a pretty good guitar player, also. He was a charmer, but never a complete asshole like the other guys were with girls. Jake was actually kind of sweet from what she had seen from the background.
Which was why she was completely confused and irritated when he never left her alone. Peyton was all about having her space, having time to herself to just do what she wanted, not having to talk or answer to anybody. Jake never let her have that time as long as he was around, and lately he'd been around quite a lot.
But he did have one thing right. She didn't like being left alone, because that meant she really did have nobody in the world. Jake had seen right through that, and understood it, although he did act in a ridiculous way.
In a way she felt bad because now Jake was getting the crap for hanging out with her. She knew that Lucas didn't like it one bit, which meant that Nathan and Owen wouldn't, which meant that Jake would be forbidden to even speak her name ever again. Lucas always had the last word.
He was standing at his locker, emptying out the morning's books for the afternoon's. She hadn't seen him around that much at school, and she kind of felt bad for that. Jake was probably nervous as hell what with all the rumors that had been going on. In Art class she heard that Lucas wanted to beat Jake's ass in the next fight night at the Pit. Peyton knew it wasn't true personally, but you never knew.
"Hey, I heard we're lovers," Peyton called out down the hallway. Her reputation had already been sent to crap this year, so she couldn't take this whole rumor mill seriously.
He glanced at her, returning to what he was doing, "Yeah, I heard something about that."
She could tell that this day had bothered him on some level, hearing all the horrible things said about him. "Okay, I don't normally do this, because I'm not a nice person, but I wouldn't worry too much about it. Lucas doesn't want to beat your ass."
"I know he doesn't," he shook his head. "He doesn't trust me, and that's what pisses me off."
"You don't know that..."
"Actually I do, because if my friend did trust me, he would've confronted me about it today. I've had three classes with him, and he has yet to say one fucking word to me. And you're meeting him later to talk about it, so it looks like he'll take your word above mine."
"Jake, I'm going to tell him that there's nothing going on. You don't have to worry about that."
"That's not the point," Jake mumbled. "I know there's nothing going on, you know there's not."
"Are you going to tell me why you've been talking to me a lot lately?" This had been on her mind for quite some time now, but she never actually got a change to ask him. Either she was too thoughtful on why he was talking to her or she was so pissed that he was bothering her it never came to her mind in the moment.
"Uhm, I don't know," Jake shrugged. "You look funny when you're pissed off. There's nothing else to it."
"So that shit about how you know I want people around was just some ploy?" she asked. It kind of pissed her off. It just went to show her that all guys were the same. They always say things they don't mean.
He shook his head. "No, I wasn't just talking out of my ass, Peyton. I truly do believe that. But I'm not looking to ruin your life or embarass you like you thought."
Okay, so maybe that wasn't the case. He did mean it. "For the record, I hope you and Lucas are cool."
It was as if perfect timing was running a little early, because right when she said that, the one they were both thinking about turned the corner. Jake could tell Lucas was looking for him, like they had something to settle. Oh, they did alright, but not in a brawl, or so he thought.
"Peyton," Lucas said, standing not four feet away from them. "Would you mind if me and Jake talked?" he asked, more of a demand than a question. Hostility was in the air, and she sure as hell didn't want to be involved if things got out of hand.
"Uhm, sure. See you guys later," Peyton said, walking away. Maybe her and Lucas weren't meeting later afterall.
'Whoop-dee-fucking-doo,' Lucas thought. He was in an empty hallway with his friend, who up until about a week ago, he trusted completely. But now he wasn't so sure. He hated to say it, but he couldn't shake the uneasiness in his stomach.
"Hey," Jake nodded, shutting his locker. "So you finally tracked me down."
"What is that supposed to mean?" Lucas asked.
"You know what I'm talking about, Luke. I've known you far too long for you to play that bullshit with me. So go ahead, ask me what you need to ask me."
Lucas stared him down, "Look Jake, I don't want it to get this way. But I've been hearing all this shit..."
"Yeah, that's right, you've been hearing shit. We've all been hearing it. But I expected you, one of my best friends, to at least come to me and talk to me straight up, man. But I see it now though, you don't trust me worth a shit."
"I don't trust your ability to tell me the ugly truth. J, you're all about being optimistic and always trying to sugarcoat everything. And I'm not saying that's a bad thing. But, I don't want sugarcoating this time. I need to know what's really going on."
"What's going on," Jake recited. "What do you think that means exactly?"
"Well, are you screwing her??" Lucas asked, suddenly feeling very awkward talking about his ex-girlfriend like that.
"It sucks that you even have to ask that," Jake said. "But no, we're not screwing."
"Then why the hell are you always hanging around her?" he demanded.
Jake chuckled, "Do you think I talk to Peyton just because I like getting my head chewed off? Get real Luke, you know Peyton hates talking to anyone else that isn't you, and seeing her pissed off is pretty fucking funny."
"So that's it? You talk to her just to piss her off? Why? She doesn't even like you."
"She doesn't have to like me, and I don't have to like her. But I can mess with her every now and then, and that's about the only thing I'm guilty of."
"Why didn't you just tell me that in the first place?" Lucas asked. "Why couldn't you just tell me--"
"And have you not believe me?" Jake interrupted. "You've been running all around school today, listening to what people were saying. Hell, you even wanted to meet with Peyton, and hear what she had to say instead of what I had to say. You don't fucking trust me, because if you did, I would be the first person you went to."
So maybe schools in North Carolina were a tad bit harder than what Brooke had originally thought. After all, the California school system was a freaking joke. It was a surprise if she even learned anything in one day. Brooke had already set up meetings with all of her teachers to see if there was some extra credit work that she could do to boost her grades up. Brooke wasn't a smarty pants by any means, but she actually wanted to do good. She was a senior after all. The days of fucking around and not doing shit were gone and replaced with studying and doing homework.
"Lucas, what are you still doing here?" she asked, startled that she wasn't the only student still on campus. What made her curious was the fact that he was sitting on the floor, leaning against a row of lockers, with a defeated look on his face. He glanced up at her before closing his eyes again.
"I'm an idiot," he stated monotonously.
Brooke raised an eyebrow, "Uhm, may I ask why?"
"I just am," he shrugged. "I let things get to my head and refused to believe my own friend."
"Ohhhhh," she trailed, sitting down next to him. "So you finally talked to Jake?"
"Yep," Lucas nodded. "And I completely made an ass out of myself. It turns out, there's nothing going on between them other than the fact that Jake likes pissing her off. That's about as far as it goes. I don't understand why I just didn't believe him in the first place."
Brooke nudged him, "Hey, don't be too hard on yourself. You jumped to conclusions, so does everybody else. Jake's your best friend, I'm sure he will have no problem forgiving you and letting it go."
"I don't think it's that easy. He was really pissed that I didn't believe him. Plus, I uh, kind of said some things."
"Like what?"
"I said that I trusted him, but I didn't trust him to tell me the real truth, especially about Peyton."
"Is that what you really think though?"
"Well at the time, yeah. I didn't think that he would be truly honest with me. Like I know damn sure that he wouldn't tell me if he actually liked her like that."
She smirked, "Do you really think Jake would go there, knowing you and Peyton's history?"
"Not really," Luca sighed. "I'm such a jackass."
"You're not a jackass, you're just a little bit too wound up. You take things too seriously all the time. So what if Jake liked Peyton? I think he's smart enough to know what she's capable of, and if you were really his friend, you would support him."
He groaned, "Yeah, you're right. I guess I just got caught up with the rumors and other stuff that I didn't stop and look at the situation more clearly. Now, I feel like the biggest dousche bag on the planet. Hell, I even confronted Peyton to know what was going on. I could not reach the highest level of stupidity that I've reached right now."
"For real, you need to stop being so hard on yourself. Yeah, you made a mistake, just apologize and learn from it. And I for one, cannot believe you wanted to ask Peyton before you asked Jake what was going on."
"I know, I know. Well, I have no idea why I'm here. I fucking hate school," he chuckled, getting up and dusting off his jeans. "What are you still doing here?"
"Had a meeting with all of my teachers. My grades kind of suck, so I'm scrounging around for some extra credit," Brooke explained as they walked together outside campus and to the school parking lot.
"Doing that bad, huh?" Lucas asked. "My grades are kind of slipping too."
"Oh, not as bad at me I bet," she chuckled. "This is the first time I've actually tried to do good in school. I don't wanna screw it up."
"Yeah I understand, and if you need help, I'm pretty good in the English department. We could get together and I could help you after school or something," he offered.
"Are you sure you have time?" she asked coyly. "That schedule of yours is supposed to be getting busier and busier, or so I've heard."
"You heard right. My break is nearing to an end, and it's time to make some more money again. But don't think that I don't have time for anything. Basketball is ending soon, so I have some free time. I wouldn't be offering if I didn't want to help a friend out."
"I'll think about it. I'll see if Haley's tutor list is full."
Lucas laughed, "It might not be full but she's gonna need all the time she can get with Nathan as one of her students." They were twins, but when it came to education and school, Nathan seemed to lean away from it, more interested in sports and girls. Even though Lucas was into both those things as well, his grades seemed to take an imporance to him.
"Well if you really want to help me, who am I to turn town assistance?"
"Exactly. Well, it's been a pleasant afternoon with you, Brooke Davis," he said as they stopped in front of her car. "Thanks for talking to me though."
"Still feel like a jackass?" she asked.
He winced, "Just a little, but I feel less pathetic, and I'm ready to go talk to Jake."
"That's good. I'm glad I could help."
"Yeah, so, I'll see ya later," he said, giving a geeky wave before heading back towards his car.
Brooke put her bag in the passenger seat before turning on the ignition. She was very satisfied with her friendship with Lucas, although sometimes she wondered if what was there when they first met was still in existence.