A/N: So many of you wanted faster updates but my exams don't finish until next week so I decided to split this into 2 because it turned out to be longer than expected. The first part answers your questions from the last chapter so you don't have to worry about those cliffhangers! Thank you to everyone who reviewed. I would like to especially dedicate this update to everyone who thought Rachel's box had condoms in it! Enjoy!

Chapter Twenty

Part A

Nathan was at his locker on Monday morning when he heard someone come up behind him. He turned around and smiled at Brooke. "Hey."

"Good morning," she sing-songed with a wide grin on her face.

After closing his locker, he asked, "What's got you in such a good mood?"

"Oh, well, that could be the fact that I have very good news. Lots of it, actually."

"Really?" As they started walking down the hall, Brooke linked her arm with Nathan's. "This news wouldn't have anything to do with a certain cheerleader, would it?"

She looked up at him and gasped. "You know! But I wanted to break the news," she pouted.

"All right," Nathan chuckled, "Then tell me what you know."

"Only if you tell me what you know," she propositioned.

Nathan smiled. "Deal."

"Okay, so, Rachel Gattina got busted for possession of drugs this weekend! Now she's in juvie! How awesome is that?"

"Awesome? Brooke…"

"Well, she's where she belongs…Anyway the cops busted her in the middle of a date! I wonder what happened to the poor boy…"

Nathan grinned, but said nothing.

"Now tell me what you know."

Rachel had been carrying a small variety of minor – but still illegal – substances. He pretended he didn't know what some of them were so that she would name them and the mike would pick it up. After Rachel had said what they needed to hear Fergie, Junk and Mouth knocked on the door of the Gattina household. Pretending not to know Nathan, they searched the house and, after they found her stash, took her down to the police station. She had tearfully confessed to possession immediately, but claimed she wasn't a dealer.

Which was why Nathan was still pretending to be a student, much to his irritation. He and Jake had spent all weekend on the case, but, try as they might, Rachel's story held up and they couldn't tie her to any of the cases that had originally led them to Tree Hill High. Rachel Gattina took drugs and passed some extras around to her friends, but that appeared to be the extent of her dealing. Her lawyers were in the process of making a deal with the judge to reduce her time in juvie in exchange for information on her supplier, which she was ready and willing to give.

Not that Nathan could tell Brooke any of that. "Pretty much the same as you," he said finally. "Except I heard her date was good-looking."

"Really?" Brooke seemed mildly interested, but then shrugged it off. "Still, something must be wrong with him if he went out with her. I didn't expect you to have more information than me anyway."

Nathan smiled, then remembered something. "Hey, you said you had lots of good news."

Brooke nodded. "I do - well, maybe - but I want to find Lucas before I tell you. Where is he?"

"I'm not sure what subject he just had, but I know his next lesson is just down this hallway," Nathan pointed to their left.

"Then, let's go!"

Brooke led Nathan down the hallway and they arrived at Lucas' class just before he went inside.

"Hey. I didn't think you guys had class around here."

"We don't," Nathan informed him. "Brooke has news."

She looked at both boys and grinned. "You remember how they said the cast list would be up today?"

"Oh, yeah! I completely forgot," Lucas admitted.

"Well, I thought they would post it after school but Bevin said it was already up this morning on the notice board outside the gym so I thought we could go look together?"

"You haven't seen it yet?" Lucas wondered.

"Yeah, from the way you were talking I thought you already knew," Nathan added.

Brooke shook her head. "No, I don't know. But, come on, the gym isn't far – let's go see."

Soon, they were in sight of the board. Nathan was the first to notice that Brooke had stopped walking.

"What's the matter?"

"I can't look."

Lucas turned to her. "What?"

"Can you look for me?" she asked sweetly. "Just to see if my name is even there on the list?"

"Brooke, I'm sure your name is somewhere on the list," Nathan reassured her.

"Somewhere on the list?"

"At the top of the list," Lucas jumped in, "is what he meant. Look, why don't we both go see where our names are on the list together, okay?"

Brooke nodded. "Okay."

Brooke and Lucas went towards the notice board, with Nathan trailing behind them. As Nathan searched for his friends' names on the list, he was startled when Brooke emitted a shriek.

"I'm the lead! Look!" Brooke excitedly pointed it out to her two friends, and didn't see the glare she was getting from a girl next to her, who was part of the chorus.

"That's great, Brooke."

"And, look, Lucas, you're in the main cast too. You were worried over nothing!"

"Congratulations, man."

"Thanks, Nate." He just had time to nod at his cousin, before Brooke encased him in a bear hug. Delighted by the resumption of Brooke's openness with him, Lucas grinned and hugged her back.

"This is so exciting!" she squealed, after she released Lucas from her embrace. "We'll be working together on the play – Nathan too, when the backstage crew joins us."

"I'm still a little nervous, though," Lucas admitted, as the three friends started walking down the hall.

"Oh, don't worry. You got a really good part despite your nerves, so if we just work on it you should be fine by opening night. If you want you can come over to my house and we can work on our lines together," Brooke suggested.

"Thanks," Lucas said, thrilled by the offer, and even more so when he casually put his arm on her and she didn't do anything to move away.

Unfortunately for him, the second bell rang, which meant all three of them had to go their separate ways – and fast – if they didn't want to get scolded by their respective teachers.

"See you guys at lunch?"

Lucas and Nathan both nodded, knowing it was the period after their next lesson.

When they did see her at lunch, both boys noted the strange look on her face.

"Is everything okay?" Lucas asked.

"Today is the weirdest day!" Brooke exclaimed, sitting down next to Lucas, opposite Nathan and taking out the sandwiches her housekeeper had made for her from her bag.

"More news?" Nathan guessed.

Brooke nodded emphatically. "First, I'm going to be on the cheerleading squad!"

Lucas looked at her from the side and smiled. "Really?"

"Yeah. Now that Rachel's in juvie, Bevin's been made captain and she's having tryouts this afternoon."

"So then you're not on the squad yet," Nathan told her. "I mean, there's only one spot and other people will try out too."

"That's what I told Bevin, but she said there's no limit to the number of people who can be on it, if the people are good. So it looks like ice princess just told me that because she didn't want me on the squad! But, she's in lock-up now, so there's nothing she can do about it, ha!" Brooke took a break from speaking to have a large bite of her sandwich.

"Well, I'm glad you can be on the squad like you wanted."

"Thanks, Lucas."

"But, why did you say today's weird?" Nathan wondered.

"That's because of the other news I heard."

"More gossip?"

"Yep – about teachers."

"Teachers? What teachers?" Nathan questioned.

"Miss James and Mr. Keller broke up."

Nathan took a long sip out of his drink so he wouldn't have to show any sort of facial expression. "Where did you hear that?" he asked when he had finished.

"From Bevin – she'd heard it from Amy, who'd got it from Theresa. And you know who Theresa is," Brooke said to Lucas. When the name didn't register with him, she added, "Who her sister is?"

"Oh, Theresa as in Sarah's sister? Yeah, I know who you mean."

"Who?" Nathan asked them, completely lost.

"You know how there's the main lunch ladies in the cafeteria and then there's one who's a lot younger – almost our age?"

Nathan cast his mind back to standing in the lunch line just a few minutes ago and recalled the slim blond who stood out among her colleagues since they were all at least forty years older than her. "Yeah, I remember. What about her?"

"That's Sarah. She used to go to school here. She graduated last year – well, this year, but last school year - but now she works here as part of the catering. I don't know why – I didn't really know her to ask, but I knew of her. Her younger sister Theresa is in our year – she's in our biology class," Lucas told Nathan, hoping to jog his memory.

"But what does Theresa have to do with Miss James and Mr. Keller breaking up?" Nathan demanded.

"She doesn't," Brooke shook her head, "but Sarah does."

"Sarah?"

"Mr. Keller was cheating on Miss James!"

"What?" Lucas exclaimed, drowning out the sound of Nathan choking on his soda.

"Sarah was sleeping with him while they were going out, but they broke up this weekend and so she and Mr. Keller got together for real, so she told Theresa about the whole relationship – including the cheating – which turned out to be a stupid move since Theresa couldn't keep her mouth shut and now it's all over school!" Brooke finished in one breath.

"Whoa…that sucks for Miss James," Lucas said, noticing Nathan was still silent.

"I know! I don't care that everyone is talking about Mr. Keller and Sarah – I don't know either of them – but I feel really bad for Miss James. I mean, it's bad enough that your boyfriend cheated on you; you don't want the whole world talking about it! And I don't know what's wrong with Mr. Keller. Miss James is so cool – and pretty! Sarah is just…fat. And, you know, she's not even a real blond!" Brooke said disapprovingly. "I wonder if she came to school," she added suddenly.

"We saw Sarah in the cafeteria," Lucas told her.

"No, not her. I mean, Miss James. Come to think of it I never saw her in school today…"

"She must be in school," Nathan spoke up finally, "since the cast list is up."

"Oh yeah. I forgot that," Brooke admitted. "Well, Rachel will be upset that she wasn't headline news in school for once. Hey, what's your next lesson?" she asked Lucas.

Lucas thought for a moment before Nathan reminded him it was, "Lit. We all have lit next."