Before you showcase your anger, I would just like to say, in my defense that IT WASN'T MY FAULT! I swear it! So on a sunny day I was working merrily on the fanfiction, and so my stupid cleaning guy comes and disconnects a USB device that is connected to my computer which has ALL the pictures I took in the past three years, over five-hundred NH video clips, just shy of 700 avatars and MY FANFICTION. And so I'm pissed off and try and reconnect my USB and it didn't work! I gave it to my dad to fix it and that wasn't successful, then went to my film teacher from last year (who also teaches AP computer something) and after checking it he says "It will never ever work again". And so I've been DEPRESSED. But then my dad gives it to someone in his university and BAM! The dude recovers all my material! But THEN my e-mail stopped working and I didn't know I could change my fanfiction e-mail until… well, today! And basically… that's my story… haha.

But I really am sorry, and I can't believe it's been so long since I wrote! A *break* like that NEVER happened to me… maybe a month or so but not… like this.

So the first half of this chapter was written a few months ago and the second half today (haha). I truly hope you enjoy it… spring break starts next week but I'll be in Switzerland the first half of it… and I'm actually really busy studying for my AP exams (I have this unbelievable schedule that consists of hours upon hours of studying… it ain't funny!) So I will try to squeeze in at least one chapter during spring break (maybe before I leave to Switzerland?) After my APs are over (which is after the first week of May), I will have insane amounts of time… I'm excited to finally be stress free and live without stress! =).

So this has been a VERY long author's note… so I shall be quiet and here is the next chapter… I hope no one gave up on me (or this story)!... although it's likely many did =O.

Enjoy…


Chapter Twenty-One

The Answer

After trying to ignore the noise that was coming from her window, Haley unwillingly opened her eyes and got out of her bed; noticing the time: four AM.

She frowned and walked towards her window to see the tree that was banging against the windowpane.

"Nathan!" she nearly squealed in surprise when she saw her boyfriend; his hands holding on to the windowsill and his feet on the tree that was conveniently located next to her room. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Hey babe," Nathan smirked, wanting to laugh at her expression. "You feel like letting me in?"

"Absolutely not," Haley stole a glance towards her door. What would her parents say?

"They won't wake up," Nathan said as if reading her mind. "But I might fall if you don't let me in. I'm only so strong."

"I hate you," she replied, opening the window a bit more so he could slide in. "Now that you're here you can exit quietly from the door in the front."

"Thanks for your hospitality," Nathan laughed.

"Shh," Haley warned, looking towards her door again almost wanting to push him back out the window. "What do you want, Nathan?"

"I was just thinking of the movie," Nathan said as he went to sit on her bed, "and how that Rick character was an idiot for letting her leave because I know I'd just run away with you. But then I started thinking, do girls like that kind of thing-?"

"Couldn't have this waited for four hours from now?" Haley asked in disbelief. She sighed and then went to sit next to him. "He saved her by doing that. You completely missed the ending."

"I didn't miss the ending. I understood why he did what he did, but think ahead ten years from then. Wouldn't you want the guy you love to come back for you? But no, she's going to be stuck with whoever the other guy was."

"You're not supposed to think of ten years from then," Haley said as she lie down on her bed, Nathan following her lead.

"Why not?"

"Because you're supposed to appreciate his present-day sacrifice," Haley laughed, placing her head on Nathan's chest. "But Nathan, you can't stay here, okay?"

"Yeah, sure," Nathan closed his eyes and placed his arm around her shoulder. "For the record, I wouldn't want to only 'have Paris'."

Haley smiled. "I knew you'd like the movie."


Nathan slowly turned around to see Haley brushing her hair, already ready for school.

"So what are the chances that you sneak out in negative two hours?" Haley asked when she saw he had woken up. "Because that was the plan if you can't remember. Even though the plan really was for you not to come in the first place."

"Good morning," he smiled and sat up lazily. "You look good."

"If my parents saw you then I'm pretty much dead," she ignored what he had just said.

"Aren't you the sweetest little thing in the morning?" Nathan chuckled. "Don't worry, I'll go out and I'll see you soon."

"Try in less than an hour," Haley got up and smiled at him. "Now crawl back out the window before my parents wake up and hear you."

"Hear what?" he asked, "This?" he grabbed her within a second and began tickling her.

"Nathan!" she laughed.

That was it- she was dead.


"Where is everyone going?" Haley asked, seeing a wave of students walking the opposite way of their homeroom where they'd usually spend their mornings.

"It said on the door to go to the auditorium," Brooke explained as if she actually knew something though she really was just as confused as Haley.

There was a sense of excitement in the air as the students roamed the hallways, all walking towards the same place. Some were speculating what was exactly the matter while others seemed to already know.

When Brooke and Haley walked through the auditorium doors the fervor was even greater. The first rows up until the middle were filled with Juniors while the latter part of the seats were occupied by Seniors. Walking down the long aisle, she spotted Chris with his friends laughing carelessly like royalty, some teacher screaming at them to put their feet down from the seats in-front.

The auditorium was nearly full. Whatever this was about, the people on stage were going to have a hard time getting everyone quiet.

"Here, we can sit right there," Brooke pointed to two empty seats in a pool of Juniors. Luckily for Haley, Emma was out of sight- something that, no doubt, Brooke kept in mind when looking for a place. Brooke hated for things to be awkward.

A few more minutes passed and the auditorium had around five-hundred students and over twenty faculty members.

Haley looked at Brooke, "Why hasn't anyone told us anything about some assembly during Friday's homeroom or something?"

Brooke shrugged. "I have no idea. Whatever this is, I'm just happy we're probably going to have shorter classes."

Haley smiled, that was something very Brooke to think. As far as she was concerned this could be some lecture about the nuclear atom and Brooke would have been fine with it as long as her classes were significantly cut in length.

"Where did you get those shoes?" Brooke asked, offhandedly, signaling towards Haley's old tennis shoes.

Haley looked down and shrugged. "I really don't remember. They're from two years ago or something," she laughed.

"Yeah, that's kind of noticeable," Brooke scrunched up her nose.

"Why do you ask?" Haley raised her brow.

"No real reason," Brooke scanned the room. "People were kinda talking about it on the site."

"The school gossip site, you mean?" Haley asked in disbelief. "About my shoes?"

"Ya huh," Brooke nodded, looking back at the shoes.

"That's unbelievable! What do my shoes have to do with anything?"

"Chris' shoes aren't from two years ago," Brooke said.

"So?"

"Have you ever thought of wearing high heels to school? You'll look so chic!"

"To school? High heels? What are you-"

"Oh! I have three amazing pairs at home that I can give you," she interrupted. "Don't you worry about it- your shoes won't be an issue."

"Don't be ridiculous, Brooke-"

"The Class of 2008 and the Class of 2009, I hope you're ready for this," a woman Haley didn't recognize said into the microphone from on-stage as the Seniors began cheering, obviously already knowing what was going on.

"Is this going to be some prank on the Juniors?" Brooke frowned, already dismissing her conversation with Haley.

"Next week- September 24th 2007 the Senior Class of '08 and the Junior Class of '09 will be leaving on the Upperclassmen Trip!"

A roar of cheers sounded as the auditorium darkened and a video presentation started. There were pictures of Jacuzzis, cabins, and mesmerizing geographical features such as a river, mountains, and a meadow. Carefree upperclassmen were fooling around as if the world of exams and essays didn't exist.

"My sister said that it was like the most amazing thing of her Junior and Senior year. Except for graduation and prom, of course," a girl sitting behind Brooke and Haley whispered to her friend. "It's insane!"

As the slideshow ended, the woman spoke again, "Are you guys interested in missing four days of school for this?" The cheers got deafening, the close-to-perfect acoustics of the auditorium didn't help much either. But Haley had to admit that the prospect of it really did sound fun.

It would be a complete break from all the stress of the monotonous daily life. She could be as carefree as the rest of those teenagers in the video- not caring for a second about the stress of high school. A place – where she would constantly be under the gaze of the Upperclassmen; where word of mouth would travel around her about how she's not worth much, how she's not good enough, how her shoes look too old and worn out.

Sure, the prospect was fun, and for any other teenager the experience was incredibly appealing. But for Haley, whose life was nothing but ordinary – leading a double, or even triple, life… she couldn't possibly survive in that atmosphere where she would have to hold up a certain image with no breaks.

"Four days, ladies and gentleman; three nights," the woman continued on, "The Seniors will be blue and the Juniors red. War of the Classes!"

"As if we even have a chance," Brooke whispered in Haley's ear as the roar of the Seniors, and the attempted cheer from the Juniors began to sound even louder.

"Friendly rivalry guys!" the woman on stage reminded the Upperclassman, as everyone laughed. "The point of the trip is to unite the grades, for each one of you to meet and befriend someone you never knew before or were never friends with.

"Each cabin has room for ten people- I'm going to say this first to get it out of the way but the rooms are not coed," many people began to boo, but even that didn't keep their excitement down for too long. "Every one of you," she continued, "is going to be able to choose only one of your roommates. The rest of the people in your room will be eight to nine girls or boys who you might have a lot in common with but never had the chance to speak to. You will most likely not find yourself in a room with the rest of your friends."

"The school is so lame sometimes," Brooke whispered to Haley.

"The Juniors' cabins will be on a higher plateau, the Seniors a few minutes walking downwards. Seniors, you get the river this year!" the Seniors cheered again.

"Whatever, we'll get it next year," Brooke rolled her eyes. "As if it's a big deal. That just means they can go skinny dipping in the middle of the night. But there'll be a curfew anyway so-"

"By midnight you must be in your cabins…"

Brooke laughed, "I so knew it".

"… although we suggest for you to go earlier. To get to know your roommates better, we will have some time where you have to spend in your cabin."

"CABIN LOCKDOWN!" someone screamed from the back of the auditorium.

The woman smiled. "You will get a booklet of information during your next homeroom because we don't want to cut too much class time…"

"Be my guest. Class time no importante," Brooke said to Haley again. The rest of the auditorium seemed to share Brooke's opinion as boos began to sound again.

What an ungrateful student body! Haley thought. Now she had to be stuck with them for the entirety of four days, in make-belief bliss, no escape in sight… and staying with her Junior non-friends for War of the Classes.

Haley felt a warm hand on hers. She looked to Brooke. "You want to be my roommate?"

"Are you sure? Don't you want to room with Emma or someone?"

Brooke laughed and rolled her eyes, "I'm asking you, aren't I?"

"Sure," Haley smiled and nodded.

"Good, now we just need to tell our homeroom teacher," Brooke signaled to the instructions written on the projector screen.

"So who's going to win?"

"Holy shit," Brooke put her hands on her ears after the roar of cheers coming from the Seniors. "How the hell aren't these stupid Seniors losing their voices from being so obnoxious?"

"Brooke, that's us next year," Haley giggled.

"I know! I can't wait!" Brooke grinned thinking of herself as a Senior. No matter what happened during her measly Junior year, as a Senior Brooke was bound to be the desirable Emma of this year only, most likely, not taken by anyone. She would play the game by her rules, with no guy restricting her.

The Upperclassmen's were finally dismissed to their classrooms and were ordered to go straight to first period.

"That cut off around twenty minutes from class," Brooke looked at her watch and then grabbed Haley's arms, "I'm so excited!"


A few hours after the assembly the feeling of excitement still remained in the air. "Upperclassmen Trip" were the words on everyone's lips. It seemed like even the teacher's began their classes with mentioning it.

"First thing, we should be able to choose all the ten people to room with us, there were only losers with me last year; second thing, it should be co-ed; third, we should be allowed to have Juniors and Seniors mixed," Alyson declared during lunch.

"Juniors and Seniors mixed or Haley mixed with the Seniors?" Chris laughed putting his arm around Haley and squeezing her shoulder. "Do you really want all those losers with us?"

Aly smiled, "You know what I meant. 'The Junior', obviously."

"I'm glad I'm considered the epitome of a Junior," Haley laughed.

"Just the only important one," Narayan winked at Haley while playing with Alyson's hand underneath the table.

"You know you didn't get along with your roommates last year because you were a snobby bitch, right?" Damien teased the blonde with taunting eyes.

"Lauren can tell you they were absolute losers. Isn't that right, Lauren?" Aly said a little louder so her friend could hear.

"Ew, don't even remind me," Lauren rolled her eyes, looked at Haley for a second and then back to Aly.

"You're asking the bitchiest girl in the school whether you were bitchy?" Damien chuckled. "You two are so full of yourselves."

"I thought that's what you liked Damy, baby," Aly flipped her hair to the side and bit her lip.

"Damn, I'm so glad we have the river this year," Damien entered the world of his imagination.

Haley looked at Narayan. Was he okay with this clear mutual adoration? Or was it not mutual adoration and just harmless flirting? This group of Seniors completely confused her. Whatever happened, she wasn't going to understand it.

"We're rooming together again," Lauren looked at Alyson, stating it more than asking.

"No duh."

Damien and Narayan both looked at Chris, waiting to see if he was the one to make the decision. But he was relatively unconcerned.

"Chris, we gonna room?" Damien asked.

Chris looked at Narayan, "Yeah, sure. Who are you with?"

"Vegas," Narayan replied the name of another guy on their basketball team; the guy who was both Narayan's and Damien's second choice.

He nodded and then looked at Haley, "Are you excited, gorgeous?"

Haley shrugged, and looked up at him. "Being a Junior sucks."

Alyson, Damien, Narayan and Chris laughed.

"You'll have a great trip, Haley. Next year when we're gone is gonna really suck. All you need to worry about now is us harassing you," Alyson winked. "You'll be fine."


Being a Senior was amazing, she looked at herself in the mirror and admired her confidence. She was ready for all that life could throw at her, but for now she didn't want to think of the future. There was only the present. In a few minutes Lucas and Lindsey would come to pick her up and they'd go somewhere to hang out.

How she missed them! Her weekend nights were usually dedicated to Nathan, but before him the threesome had a long tradition of going out and compensating for their serious lives by acting childish, or when they really wanted to, having an intelligent conversation.

Haley felt her phone vibrating in her pocket and once she saw the message, rolled her eyes, a smile tugging at her lips she closed the cell phone and threw it to her bed. Ever since she told Nathan that she was going to be hanging out with her friends he wouldn't stop texting her, asking if she was positively sure… "How r we suppsed 2 'have Paris' if we cant even hve a night 'Tree Hill'?" was by far her favorite, but still not very convincing. That movie was really having an impact on him.

She laughed just as she heard her mom call her from downstairs.

Haley went out of her room and skipped down the stairs. "Haley James, you're beautiful."

"Lindsey Strauss, I love you," she hugged her. "You too, Lucas Scott," Haley smiled and hugged him. Turning around she faced her mom, "Night mom. Night dad," she called to the living room.

"I think you're forgetting something," a second James girl entered the hall wearing pink short shorts and a tight white tank-top, a phone in her hand. "Hey Luke," she smiled at her sister's guy friend.

"Taylor," he acknowledged her and quickly looked to his shoes, then to Lindsey who was fighting a smile.

"You or me? Because you're definitely forgetting a lot of clothes," Haley teased, disregarding Taylor's adoration of Lucas.

"Mom!" Taylor turned to Lydia, "Why aren't you giving her a curfew? That's not fair. I always have to be home by a fucking early hour and Haley can stay out all night. Why?" she whined.

"It's what you get for being born last," Lydia said, grabbing her youngest's cheek.

Haley laughed, "So after our little Freshie said what she had to say, can I go now?"

"Why the hell not? Go get drunk, get high, whatever… just be here before sunrise," Taylor huffed and crossed her arms. "You look really nice by the way."

"Thanks," Haley smiled at her younger sister. "I'll see you… at sunrise or something."

The threesome said their goodbyes and left Haley's house, where Taylor remained, the time already being way over her curfew.

The curfew time was not the only thing Taylor was jealous of. Haley was confident, intelligent, wanted and beautiful. She was miles ahead of Taylor and everything she wished she was. She really couldn't help being jealous of her sister. But even with that jealousy, she adored her to no-end. Secretly, she looked up to her, but she would never admit it.

Haley heard that same annoying buzzing which took her away from fantasy land. She got up slowly, trying to realize what she has just seen. And just like that, realization dawned upon her.

She jumped out of bed and ran to the empty neighboring room, grabbed the book and flipped the pages until she found the one she was looking for. And with the confirmation in her hand, she finally figured out her mysterious dreams.


A/N: I know! I know! no present day Nathan… I'm sorry but no worries, I shall compensate later on! Please review!