Chapter 14: The Vanhooi boys.
Bart and Eric were sitting on the couch having breakfast. Both young men were only wearing their boxers. Bart was finishing his pre game bagels and Eric was having a bowl of cereal. They were sharing their only common interest; watching cartoons.
"You're coming to my game tonight right?" "I don't know. I've never been a big basketball fan." "Eric, you have to go. Unlike back home, people actually watch basketball games here." Eric thought things over. "I think I'll pass." Bart looked disappointed. "There will be cheerleaders." He knew that the thought of beautiful girls prancing around would convince his brother. "In that case. I would love to. After all I've got to support my big brother." Eric said sarcastically. "The things you do for me." Bart sighed.
"You want some orange juice?" Bart got up. "No thanks." Eric replied. Bart had just walked into the kitchen when the doorbell rang. "Eric could you get that!?" Bart shouted. Eric sighed, put his bowl of cereal on the coffee table and made his way to the front door.
Eric opened the door and his mouth fell open at the sight of two beautiful girls standing in front of him. One was a blonde and the other a brunette. The girls gave him a puzzled look. "I know I've only been just in town but apparently word travels fast." Eric arrogantly said. His face turned a little red when he saw the girls laughing. "How old are you, 12?" The blonde said. "I'm old enough to handle you." Eric was still trying to play it cool. "Right, you certainly look like it." The blonde sarcastically replied. "Is Bart home?" Eric looked shocked at her. "Yeah he is but what do you want with old Mc. ugly when you can have me?" Both girls shook their heads and pushed him aside so they could enter.
Bart heard the door slam. "Eric who was it?!" He shouted. He was surprised when Peyton jumped on his lap. She kissed him immediately. "Wow you seem better." Bart said when she let go off him. She just nodded, smiled and kissed him again. He decided to go with the flow.
"You guys seriously need to get a room." Brooke had taken a seat next to the couple. Peyton unlocked her grip. "Sorry, Brooke." Peyton said a bit embarrassed.
"You've got to be kidding me. This is Peyton? The girl you're seeing. What's she doing with you?" Eric was looking at the couple in disbelief. Brooke was really annoyed by this arrogant s.o.b. "Who are you?" Brooke said with an irritated tone. "Oh, sorry girls this is my brother Eric. He arrived yesterday." Bart answered her question. Brooke's face lit up. "Hmm the Vanhooi boys. I think Nathan and Lucas have some competition when it comes to hot brothers in town." She winked at Eric. "I'm sorry. Brooke was it." Eric took a seat next to her. "I've always been into hot brunettes." "Who hasn't?" Bart interrupted grinning which quickly faded when Peyton hit him on the shoulder. "So what do you say beautiful want to grab dinner or something." Eric continued. Brooke smiled. "I'm sorry but I like blondes that's why my boyfriend's one." Eric's face fell and he grabbed his bowl of cereal and leaned back on the couch. "Whatever." He quickly said.
"You have to forgive my brother ladies he looks like a jerk at first but deep, deep down he's a nice guy." Bart said a bit embarrassed at his brother's behavior. Eric gave no response and kept watching cartoons. "Anyway, you girls want some breakfast. I've got bagels." Both girls nodded. "Follow me." He got up and went into the kitchen.
"I'm sorry Bart but I don't like your brother." Brooke made sure the door was closed so Eric couldn't hear her. Bart shrugged his shoulders. "I know he seems like it but he's 16 and two beautiful girls just walked in. I have a theory." Both girls looked skeptical at him. "It says that there are 2 kinds of 16 year old boys. My brother's a fine example of the first 1 which are guys who act real smooth but don't really know what their doing and therefore come over as jerks. Now the other kind are guys who don't talk to girls because their to embarrassed. They just wait and hope a girl will speak to them which almost never happens. I was one of those guys." Bart concluded.
"What makes you think you're not still one of those guys?" Peyton asked intrigued. "I got you didn't I?" He proudly replied. "You sure did." She grabbed him again and they started making out. "God P. Sawyer what's up with you today?" Brooke asked disgusted. The couple let go of each other. "I'm sorry Brooke, it's just I haven't seen my man in almost a day now." Peyton playfully pinched Bart's butt. "Ouch babe watch the moneymaker okay." "I love your moneymaker." Peyton smiled. They started making out again. "You know what forget about the bagel." Brooke said while backing out off the kitchen. Bart and Peyton waved at her without releasing each others lips.
Brooke took a seat on the couch but she made sure there was enough room between her and Eric. She looked closer at Bart's brother and found no resemblance. The two didn't seem related at all. She saw that Eric was trying to say something but wisely kept his mouth shut.
"Brooke, I would like to apologize for my behavior." Eric finally spilled out. "It's just, you know I'm 16 and suddenly two beautiful women are standing in front of me. I guess I was nervous and when I'm nervous I tend to be an arrogant jerk to cover that up." Eric blushed.
"It's okay but don't do it again." Brooke pointed her finger at him. Eric smiled and put his hand out. "I'm Eric Vanhooi, Bart's brother." Brooke shook his hand. "Nice to meet you Eric, I'm Brooke Davis." She smiled. "If you would have done that the first time you would seem allot nicer." Eric nodded. "I'll keep that in mind Brooke."
"So Bart and Peyton how did that all happen?" Eric asked. He seemed more relaxed. "Where to begin?" Brooke thought for a while making sure she wouldn't slip up. "In a nutshell: they met on the first day of school. Immediately hit it off. Went on their first date a few days later and have been together and happy ever since." Brooke concluded. "That's good. I'm happy for him. He's always had it hard being the oldest. With dad leaving he always had to take care of us because mom had to work extra shifts." Eric sighed. "Don't tell him this but I actually missed him. I even listened to his games on the internet." Eric blushed. "Don't worry your secret's safe with me." Brooke reassured him. "Can I ask you one more thing though?" Eric asked, Brooke replied by nodding. "What's up with that announcer's name? What kind of parents would call their son Mouth sounds like an ex con who was someone's love toy or something." Eric looked confused. Brooke laughed. "Ask him at the game tonight."
"Speaking of the game are you going Brooke?" Eric continued. "I have to go. I'm captain of the cheer squad." She smiled when she saw Eric's face. "Any chance there are some single 16year olds on the squad?" He asked hopefully. "Just one 16year old but she has a boyfriend, sorry." Brooke saw Eric quietly curse to himself.
After almost an hour Bart and Peyton finally entered the living room again. Peyton's hair was all messed up and she was carrying a plate with bagels for her and Brooke. "There you guys are! I almost thought you were abducted by aliens." Brooke said sarcastically as she grabbed a bagel from Peyton's plate. "We just had some unresolved matters to deal with." Bart coolly replied. Both Eric and Brooke gave them a skeptical look.
"So what are the plans for today?" Brooke asked with a mouth full. "Nathan wanted the team to come to the river court for some last minute plays." Bart replied he had already put his basketball clothes on and was tying his shoes. "What about you ladies?" "Shopping!" They lied. "What about you Eric want to come to practice? Meet some of my friends?" Bart asked, grabbing his car keys. "Sorry, big brother but if I have to choose between watching men sweat or hanging out with 2 gorgeous girls. I choose the girls. If you two don't mind me tagging along?" He gave Brooke a pleading look. "Uhm actually you can't. We have planned an entire day with some of our friends. The car's full and you would probably be bored with us gossiping." Brooke lied again. Eric sighed "okay Bart I'll go with you."
Bart smiled. "I've got to go right now. You girls finish breakfast. Make sure the door's closed okay." He gave Peyton a kiss and said bye to Brooke. Eric just nodded to the girls and followed his brother to the garage.
"No way, you drive this?" Bart nodded and got into the car. Eric followed his example. "Cool dice big bro!" Eric sincerely said. Bart smiled at him. "Now I'm positive you're my brother!" He turned his keys and drove off.
The girls heard the boys drive off. "I still can't believe you were so calm?" Brooke asked in awe. "I can't either. It was killing me inside. I just wanted to tell him everything." Brooke looked at her skeptical. "Okay, but that doesn't explain all the making out." Peyton shrugged her shoulders. "Sometimes the best defense is a good offence. I didn't want him asking how I was doing all the time. It would only make it harder for me to keep quiet." Brooke nodded. "We have to be at the doctor in an hour. So we better get going. Are you ready?" "No!" Peyton shouted. "Let's get going anyway." Brooke replied calmly. Both girls got up and left.
Half of the Ravens were already waiting at the river court. Most of them weren't in a good mood because they weren't used to getting up early in weekends. Bart and Eric had just joined the team. "Hey guys! Meet my brother Eric." The team nodded at him and Eric did the same. "Okay Eric why don't you take a seat on those bleachers over there. That's my friend Mouth so you have someone to talk to."
Eric took a seat next to Mouth and shook his hand. "So what's up with your name?" He asked right to the point. Mouth laughed and started explaining.
The team was joking around but kept quiet when Nathan and Lucas arrived. "Okay guys listen up! This game tonight's important. Whitey showed us some new plays and I want to make sure we know them!" Nathan shouted. It was creepy how much he sounded like Whitey. "Nathan do we have to? I want to watch cartoons." Tim whined. Nathan instantly gave him a glare of death. "Sorry Nate." Tim looked down. "Alright let's set it up!" Nathan threw his ball to Skills.
Peyton and Brooke were anxiously waiting for the doctor to come back with Peyton's test results. Brooke was holding Peyton's hand. They looked up when the door opened.
"Miss Sawyer your results are in." The doctor sat down behind his desk. Both girls were sitting on the edge of their seats. "Congratulations. You're pregnant." The doctor smiled but his smile quickly faded when he saw the girls reaction. "I take it that this is an unwanted pregnancy?" "No, just unexpected!" Brooke replied while hugging Peyton. The doctor sighed. "I know you're young but take these cards. One's my number so you can call when there's something wrong. The other is from social services, they will be glad to help out and prepare you." Brooke accepted the cards as the doctor got up and left again.
The girls sat in quiet for a while when Brooke started talking. "When are you going to tell Bart?" Peyton sighed. "I'm going to wait until Eric's back home. I don't want Bart worrying about me when his brother's in town. They need to enjoy their time together." Brooke nodded. "So we keep quiet until then."
Peyton and Brooke had just stepped out off the office when they bumped into Haley. Who seemed very nervous. "Brooke, Peyton what are you guys doing here?" "Nothing what are you doing here?" Brooke asked. Peyton wisely stayed out of it. "Uhm. I can't tell you." Haley blushed. Brooke crooked her eyebrow. "Okay so we're both hiding something. Tell you what Hales if you tell us why you're here then we will tell why we're here." Peyton said to end the awkward vibe that was going on between the three of them. "You first!" Haley quickly said. Peyton sighed and looked down. "I'm pregnant." She whispered. Haley hugged her. "Me too." She whispered back. Brooke and Peyton looked at her with big eyes. "What?" Haley just nodded. "For how long?" Brooke asked still in shock. "Almost 4 weeks." Haley looked down. "Does Nathan know?" Haley looked back at her friends with a tear coming from her eye. "No he doesn't. I'm waiting for the right time so please don't tell him." "We won't but Hales you've got to tell him." Brooke replied. Haley wiped a tear from her face and hugged her friends.