Author's Notes: Sorry it took me so long for updating the story. I've just been really busy with school and work, plus add to the fact that my muse has been very unkind. I'm not totally happy with this third part. Truthfully, I really hate it. I wanted this third part to kind of start setting up the back story of Len but then end turned out kind of blah. I might rewrite it or something, so if any of you have any ideas on how I could make it better, that'd be great. I'm also sorry that this part doesn't have any OTH characters in it, but as I said earlier, I was using this to set up my original character and her family. Anyway, now that I have the apologizing out of the way, I want to thank everyone for the wonderful feedback I received. You guys rock.

Hotpepper: Thanks for reviewing again. I want Lucas and Nathan to get close, too, but I'm not sure if they will in this story.

Nada: A lot of people I know are Laley people too. While I also like the idea of Lucas and Haley, I like Nathan and Haley a lot more.

Jess: Len just might be driving that car. Kidding, probably. Heh-heh. Anyway, I can't stand Dan either, if you couldn't tell by my last chapter. I also can't stand Peyton much either; she just so cardboard and blah.

Storywriter: Thanks, I'm glad ya like it.

Buffy: What a great name. It's a lot better than mine; Nicole. Thanks for the wonderful compliments. You're making me blush. :)

Lys: Thanks for the review. Glad you're enjoying it.

Anonymous: I will try to tone down Nathan's shallowness in future chapters, but it may take a while for that to happen. Glad you liked Len, and I did enjoy writing from her point of view, except maybe not so much in this chapter.

Complicateazngur: Interesting screen name there. Anyway, I'm definitely not planning on her being a third sibling, because that would ruin the possibility of hooking with Nathan or Scott, which I want to leave open. However, you'll find out in this chapter that Len has her own complicated sibling things going on.

Graceful Fall: Love you're screen name. I know Haley was slightly out of character, but I figured that sometimes her internal thinkings would clash with her outer persona and when she meets new people, her full personality doesn't shine through. I'm glad I got Deb and Dan right on, but I suppose Dan is so one-dimensional, it's hard not to get him right.

Anyway, now that I'm done with my shout-outs, on with the story:

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After Len Brody closed the door to her house, she walked to the dining room to peak out of a set of windows that overlooked the driveway. She smirked to herself when she saw that her new neighbor was still standing in the exact place she left him. A frown marred his face, leaving Len to wonder what the boy was thinking about so intensely. She watched as Nathan's attention moved towards his house, and followed his gaze to find that it led to a dark haired man who looked to be in his mid-thirties.

Must be his father, she thought to herself.

As Nathan walked towards his front door, a voice broke through her thoughts of observance.

"Is that you Ellie?" the voice called from another part of the house.

Her nose wrinkled in disgust at the nickname her father had for her. She hadn't been called that by anyone else since her middle school years, save her father of course.

"Yes dad. What's your location?" she called back.

"The den."

She made her way to where she remembered the den being and found her father sitting on their couch watching the local news. Next to him sat Len's stepmother Nora.

"Hello parental units. Miss me?"

"Always. Find your caffeine?" her dad asked.

"Yep, thank God. So, where did the other kiddies run off to?"

"Seth and Zane are in their rooms."

"Ah. Is Zane still doing his brooding thing?"

"Yes, and hes been up there since after dinner," replied Nora.

"Well, I'll take him up the coffee I got him. That should perk him up a little."

"I think it will take more than caffeine to perk that boy up."

"I'll figure out something."

"I don't know, he's always been a stubborn boy."

"Don't worry, I'm probably just as stubborn, right dad?"

"Definitely," he replied.

"Wish me luck."

"Good luck," said Nora. "You'll need it."

She walked out of the den and moved to the kitchen. Once there, she placed the two coffees into the microwave to nuke the drinks, then searched the cabinets for some sugar. After locating the sugar, she grabbed some cream out of the fridge and poured some into the plain coffee once it was heated up. She stirred a few teaspoons of sugar into the drink then grabbed both drinks and headed upstairs.

As soon as she reached the top step, she heard the blare of Linkin Park's music fill the hallway. Len followed the music down the hall and stopped in front of one of the closed doors. She was about to knock on the door when a voice interrupted her.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," a voice warned her.

She turned to find that it was her little stepbrother, Seth.

"And why not?"

"Zane's a jerk when he's in a bad mood."

"I think I can handle him."

"Okay, but don't say I didn't warn you."
She knocked on the door a couple of times with elbow and waited for a response. After a long pause of waiting and no answer, Len pounded harder on the door. Unfortunately, she still received no response, so she decided to invite herself in. She balanced the two drinks in one hand so she could turn the knob, then swung the door open. Upon entering the room she found Zane reading some magazine on his bed. He gave no sign of noticing her entrance, which she decided to take to her advantage. She set the drinks on his desk, then slowly moved in front of him. He took no notice of her, but as soon as she grabbed his magazine that was in his hands, he was fully aware of her presence in his room.

"What the hell are you-"
"Hey big bro," Len greeted him, cutting him off. "Still moping about the move, I see."

"I told you to stop calling me that," he snapped, tearing the magazine out of her grip.

"Sorry, I'll make sure to add the step' part next time."

She stood in front of him and stared down at him for a couple of moments without saying anything.

"Is there something you wanted?" he asked, slightly annoyed.

"Not really. I just was being nice and bringing you up some coffee," she told him, nodding her heads toward the desk where the coffees sat. "But if you don't want any, I'll just go."

She walked over to the desk, picked up the two coffees, and then started to leave.

"Look, I'm sorry. Don't go," he said as she reached the door.

She turned back around and faced him. A small smile of satisfaction spread across her face as she walked back to him, then handed him his coffee. He took a sip of the coffee and grinned at her.

"How did you know how I like my coffee?"

"Every time we went out for coffee, you had the same boring, simple drink. Three spoonfuls of sugar and a splash of cream is not hard to remember."

"Well, thanks for the coffee."

"You're welcome."

She took a sip of her own drink, then sat next to him on the bed.

"So, you ready for school tomorrow?" she questioned him.

"As ready as I can be. You?"

"Basically. I've never been the new kid before. It's kind of weird."

"I know exactly what you mean."

"Well, at least we have each other."

"At least."

There was another short silence as the two quietly enjoyed their coffee.

"Out of curiosity, how long do you plan on moping about the move?" she asked him teasingly, breaking the silence.

"I don't mope."

"Sure you don't. That pouty lip thing you do isn't moping at all."

"I don't do a pouty lip thing."

"Yes, you do. Its cute."

A deep sigh escaped from Zane as he ran a hand through his light brown hair.

"It's just going to take me a while to adjust, alright? A lot of stuff has been thrown at me in the last few months."

"Really? I hadn't noticed," she replied, the sarcasm not lost on Zane. "You know, since the same shit was thrown at me too, but I'm dealing with it somehow."

"I know. Look, I'm not saying you aren't going through the same stuff as me, but unlike you I don't see the world through rose-colored glasses."

"Rose-colored glasses? That's rich. Trust me, I am the most pessimistic person in the world."

"Really, then why did you take our parents' marriage and the sudden move so easily?"

"Because I didn't exactly have a lot of options. I don't have another parent to cling on to. It's my dad or no one."

"Trust me, I didn't have any other options on the parental front either. I just dont understand how you could just let your dad uproot you in a matter of weeks."

"You wanna know why I didnt care about the move? The reason I had no problem with it is because unlike you, I didn't have a lot going for me back home. I wasn't in the in-crowd like you, Mr. Popularity. Hell, I wasn't even in an out crowd. I started last year with a gaggle of friends and then ended it with none. Every night I went to bed dreading having to wake up the next morning, knowing that at the end of the day the only person I have is myself. So, excuse me if I wasn't too sad when I was given the opportunity to leave that all behind."

Len stood up and started to leave the room. When she reached the door she turned to look at Zane.

"I'm sorry you're not happy about our parents' marrying and I'm really sorry that because of my problems our parents' decided to move us to this nowhere northeastern town and you had to leave your high-life behind, but I'm not sorry that I've come to terms with it and am not wallowing in my own self-pity."

Finished with her rant, she swung open the door and closed it behind her as she left. Zane stared at the door for several minutes wondering what the hell just happened. He had no idea that Len had so many problems. He knew she didn't really hang out with people, but he didn't know it was that bad. He absentmindedly took another sip of his coffee as he pondered further on the Len situation.

At the same time, Len stormed to her room that was a few doors down. She angrily brushed away the hot tears that trailed down her cheek with free hand and as she reached her door, she heard Seth talking to her again.

"I told you he was a jerk was he was in a pissy mood."

"Shut up," she snapped at him before flinging her door open and slamming it behind her.

She tossed her coffee into the trash can in her room, then moved to her stereo and opened the CD case that sat next to it. She searched through her collection and then took out a CD marked Feel the Angst. Len placed the CD into the stereo, turned the volume up, then pushed the play button. As the first song started to fill the room, Len plopped onto her bed and let the music soothe her.

Len closed her eyes and willed herself to sleep. She wanted to drift off to her dreamworld where she could forget about her problems. However, several factors would not allow her to do so. The fact that her body was still on Pacific Standard Time and her brain wasn't planning on shutting down her any time soon was working against her. For the rest of the night, thoughts flew through her head a hundred miles an hour and she did the exact thing she told Zane she wasnt going to do, wallow in her own self-pity. Thoughts about everything that led up to this point in her life filled her mind. By the time she finally began to feel sleepy in the wee hours of the morning, she found resolve and a game plan. No longer would she be the loser with no friends. No one here knew her past, and for that she was grateful. She was going to put herself out there; gain some friends. Maybe that cool chick from the café who let her feed her addiction or possibly cute neighbor boy, even if he had an aura of arrogance that radiated off of him. Things would be different in Tree Hill, that she would make sure of.

END PART 3

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Sorry that was so awful guys, it will never happen againI hope. Anyway, from now on, the story will be less Len-centered. And I promise all of your favorite OTH characters will be present in the next part. So, now that more of my apologizes are out of the way, what did you guys think? Was it as bad as I thought it was? I really was stuck on this one. Got any suggestions on where I should take the story or how I should change this chapter? Just let me know. I can take it, really. Oh, and if anyone wants to be my beta reader, that'd be great. Just email me at fearlesspixie@yahoo.com or say so in your review and tell me your email address in it. Thanks.