AN: Quick thing guys, (since I know you are SOOO ready to ready what
happens next...right? Haha knew it.) just wanted to thank you for all the
great comments and support (especially Tiara, thanks so much for the
email!) Please let me know what you think about this chapter...I need
reassurance...(aka REVIEWS! I live for them, I really do!) hahaha. Still
looking for suggestions as to what happens next...remember, what happens in
this story is totally up to you guys! Let me know!
Disclaimer: I don't own anything, you all know that so on with the story...
ENJOY!
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Six months later...
"Haley, your turn for dishes!" Brooke called out gleefully, eyeing the huge pile that had been building up. Haley looked up from her homework on the couch.
"Nuh uh, it's not my turn. I did them on Wednesday." Haley protested. "Make Peyton do them."
Peyton ran her fingers through her blonde curls as she came down the stairs and into the kitchen, glancing at the small war zone that they called a kitchen. She whistled. "Phew, sure am glad that I did the dishes Thursday. That looks like its gonna be a bitch to clean."
Brooke open and closed her mouth like a fish, then slumped her shoulders. "Fine," She pouted. "I'll be the mature one here and clean up. But you two owe me!" She rolled up her sleeves and bracingly faced the monster pile.
It was a few months after Haley had left her apartment, to which she had only returned once for her things. Nathan hadn't even been there. She had grabbed all of her things and had taken his leather jacket because she knew it would piss him off.
She also left a surprise for him in his practice bag. She knew when he pulled out his stuff, dumping his bag on the floor like he always did before a game, he would be mortified to find a playgirl sitting with his stuff. His buddies would get a kick out of it, anyways. She had never looked at it when Brooke had passed it to her, but she figured maybe it would cause a little "sexual tension" in the locker room. Who knew Nathan was into guys?
She laughed at the thought, but stopped quickly when she realized it was still an insignificant blow to him considering how much she had gone through since that night.
So she had then left a little Ben Gay in his jock strap.
The following week Haley had permanently moved into the apartment with Peyton and Brooke. This was, of course, after she had stayed in Peyton's room for two days straight, mulling over her thoughts in an effort to stay sane. After two days, she gave up, giving herself fully to the feeling of remorse and regret. Regret that she had to see them together, regret that she had ever given all of her heart and self to Nathan, regret that she hadn't seen their problems sooner.
All of his late practices and study groups were suddenly making sense. Why he didn't always answer his phone anymore, why he was acting so strange all the time. She tried to think back to how long it might have been going on, but when she ran all this past Peyton she had just smiled kindly and told her that it didn't matter.
But still she hated Nathan, and didn't think that she would ever forgive him. Although a small part of her missed him, she was glad to be out there again, and out of his clutches.
The problem was, she still didn't quite know where "out there" was. She hadn't done much dating in the few months since the incident, despite Brooke's many attempts at blind double dates, all of which were horrible. Haley just couldn't look at another guy's face without wanting to break it for all the pain Nathan had caused her.
And so, here it was, March, and she had yet to get a boyfriend. Not that she was complaining. But Peyton and Brooke seemed to think differently. At every opportunity they would bring up the fact that Haley was "A wall-flower-book-worm-without-a-love-life". Just like a good friend would. Haley would counter that she was just concentrating on her work.
"Bah," Brooke would say. "You're just scared to get involved again." She would say. And as much as Haley would hate to admit it, Brooke was right.
She didn't want to be hurt again.
"Earth to Hales..." Peyton waved a hand in front of Haley. Haley jumped.
"S-sorry, what?"
"I SAID," Peyton called loudly, "I am going to a party over at Lucas's tonight. Do you want to come?"
"No." Said Haley flatly. Brooke looked up from her pile of dishes.
"And why not?"
"Because I don't WANT to," Said Haley defensively, bracing herself for the fight that was about to come.
"Come on, Hales," Brooke pleaded, elbow deep in suds. "We haven't seen Lucas in AGES..." She pouted.
Haley almost agreed to this at the thought of seeing her old best friend, but then shook her head. "No."
"Why not?"
"BECAUSE."
"Because why?"
"Because I don't want to go and deal with all of those people. Whatever you guys say, you are not making me go."
Peyton and Brooke looked at each other. First they looked disbelievingly at one another. Then they smiled. Haley shifted uneasily.
"You're going." They stated together bluntly.
~*~*~*~
A few hours later, Haley's hair was moused and tousled to perfection, her lips were tainted pink courtesy of Brooke, and She looked fabulous in a short jean skirt and an off the shoulder shirt.
Brooke nodded approvingly as she placed dangly earrings in Haley's ears, admiring her outfit. "Those white boots of mine really work your legs, Hales."
Peyton whistled. "You look goood babe. Them boys are gonna-" She cut herself off with a look from Brooke. Haley rolled her eyes. She surveyed herself in the mirror. She did look good.
Brooke herself was wearing red hotpants and a sparkly white halter, her eyes dancing and sparkling mischievously. Peyton had jeans and a black artsy top, with cute black boots.
They piled in the car and were on their way, Haley berating herself for allowing them to threaten her into coming.
When they arrived at the large house, Lucas opened the door and nearly died of shock. "Hey, Haley. You look great."
Brooke and Peyton cleared their throats and Lucas realized that they were standing next to Haley.
"Ex-CUSE me," Brooke said, tapping her heel-doned foot and flipping her hair with annoyance.
"Uh, hey guys. You all look good too, as always. Welcome." Lucas amended with a slight blush, his eyes never leaving Haley's face, which was by now blushing furiously.
"Hey." She said shyly, embarrassed but pleased at the same time. They went inside to find the house full to the brim with people. She got herself a drink, feeling slightly out of place again. She felt like she was at work, and she half expected to see Jerry sitting on his throne up by the kitchen, yelling at her to stop messing around and to get to work.
After a half hour or so, she began to loosen up a bit, dancing with Brooke and Peyton. Lucas found her a little while later, looking relieved.
"Hey. Didn't think I'd be able to find you in this crowd."
"Yeah, I know. Did you invite all these people?"
"Naw, that would be my housemates." He shrugged, getting jostled by the crowd. "Listen," He looked at her earnestly. "Wanna dance?"
Haley grinned and nodded, giving way to the crowd of people, clasping onto Lucas's hand as they made their way to the dance floor. This wasn't so bad, she thought as she let herself go with the music.
Why had she shut herself off from this? Dancing so close to Lucas, she thought of how nice it was to be with her friends again. She had missed Lucas, rarely seeing him because they were always both so busy.
But now everything was okay. Now that Nathan was so far away and Lucas and everyone were so close.
Someone hit her shoulder and she looked around, surprised.
"Sorry." He said it quickly and then did a double take. "Haley?"
"Nathan?" The music disappeared, Lucas disappeared, the whole world dissolved around Haley as she was left with Nathan and memories of him. Jessica was on his arm, and she painfully stayed in the picture.
Everything came rushing back to her...all of the nights she had spent in his arms, all of the smiles. Then the late nights he had spent at 'practice', the apologies, the night she had taken that double shift...
Haley turned on her heel and left the dance floor, both Scott brothers calling after her.
She was so stupid for not thinking that Nathan would be here. Why was she here? She didn't belong with these people. Her makeup was suddenly too much, the stench of people was overwhelming, and she couldn't breath.
She ran into Peyton on her way out. There were already tears on her face.
"What's wrong, Haley?" Peyton asked concernedly.
"I-I've got to go. Now. Car keys? I'll p-pick you guys up in a little while. I just n-need to leave."
Peyton looked surprised but nodded and handed the keys over to Haley, who took off at a run. She jumped in the car and was almost out of the driveway when Peyton came bounding out the door, Brooke at her heels, waving goodbye to Lucas on the doorstep who had a pained look on his face.
"Nathan?" Peyton guessed, jumping shotgun. She still had a drink in her hand.
Haley said nothing but Brooke shook her head. "I know it hurts babe...but-"
"Let's just have a girl's night out, eh?" Peyton cut Brooke off, shaking her head then smiling.
"Great," Said Haley thankfully. She looked at Brooke and Peyton apologetically. "Sorry."
"S'alright." Brooke said.
It was quiet. Peyton turned on the radio and music came to Haley's senses. She had calmed down a bit, and was coming to terms with the fact that she had seen Nathan...and he was still with Jessica. It's okay, she told herself. Just forget about it.
"Wait! Turn it up, turn it UP!" Brooke squealed, cutting into Haley's thoughts as a man's voice came on the radio.
"...So if you are between the ages of 18 and 25, we want YOU to call up to enter our Spring Break contest! Winner will win an all-expenses paid vacation to Miami Florida over spring break with two friends! Caller number 9 is the winner! The number is..."
Brooke whipped out her cell phone quick as lightening and dialed the number as the man rattled it off. Peyton and Haley watched her.
"Hi! This is Brooke. Yeah, I'll hold."
She tapped her heels impatiently and looked at her friends with a wink. A moment later the guy on the radio came back on.
"Alright, guys. Are you ready to send some people to Miami? It's gonna be quite a trip...night clubs, beaches, their own private condominium fully equipped...alright alright, enough with the suspense. And here's...caller numberrrrr...9!"
"Hello?" Brooke's voice came on the radio. Haley and Peyton screamed and Peyton turned the radio down.
"Congratulations! You're caller number 9! Who's this?"
"Brooke," Brooke breathed into the cell phone, her dimples in full blossom
"Well, Brooke, are you and your friends ready to go to Miami?"
"Hell YEAH!" Brooke cried into the phone as Peyton and Haley laughed.
"Well then, Brooke, I'd pack your bags. You're goin to FLORIDA!"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Next time on Haley...bookworm or party princess?...(still looking for a better title): Haley gets ready for what might be the biggest trip of her life, and she gets an unexpected call from an old (almost!) forgotten friend. If you want more, you know what you gotta do.
Come on...you know you wanna review! (
Disclaimer: I don't own anything, you all know that so on with the story...
ENJOY!
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Six months later...
"Haley, your turn for dishes!" Brooke called out gleefully, eyeing the huge pile that had been building up. Haley looked up from her homework on the couch.
"Nuh uh, it's not my turn. I did them on Wednesday." Haley protested. "Make Peyton do them."
Peyton ran her fingers through her blonde curls as she came down the stairs and into the kitchen, glancing at the small war zone that they called a kitchen. She whistled. "Phew, sure am glad that I did the dishes Thursday. That looks like its gonna be a bitch to clean."
Brooke open and closed her mouth like a fish, then slumped her shoulders. "Fine," She pouted. "I'll be the mature one here and clean up. But you two owe me!" She rolled up her sleeves and bracingly faced the monster pile.
It was a few months after Haley had left her apartment, to which she had only returned once for her things. Nathan hadn't even been there. She had grabbed all of her things and had taken his leather jacket because she knew it would piss him off.
She also left a surprise for him in his practice bag. She knew when he pulled out his stuff, dumping his bag on the floor like he always did before a game, he would be mortified to find a playgirl sitting with his stuff. His buddies would get a kick out of it, anyways. She had never looked at it when Brooke had passed it to her, but she figured maybe it would cause a little "sexual tension" in the locker room. Who knew Nathan was into guys?
She laughed at the thought, but stopped quickly when she realized it was still an insignificant blow to him considering how much she had gone through since that night.
So she had then left a little Ben Gay in his jock strap.
The following week Haley had permanently moved into the apartment with Peyton and Brooke. This was, of course, after she had stayed in Peyton's room for two days straight, mulling over her thoughts in an effort to stay sane. After two days, she gave up, giving herself fully to the feeling of remorse and regret. Regret that she had to see them together, regret that she had ever given all of her heart and self to Nathan, regret that she hadn't seen their problems sooner.
All of his late practices and study groups were suddenly making sense. Why he didn't always answer his phone anymore, why he was acting so strange all the time. She tried to think back to how long it might have been going on, but when she ran all this past Peyton she had just smiled kindly and told her that it didn't matter.
But still she hated Nathan, and didn't think that she would ever forgive him. Although a small part of her missed him, she was glad to be out there again, and out of his clutches.
The problem was, she still didn't quite know where "out there" was. She hadn't done much dating in the few months since the incident, despite Brooke's many attempts at blind double dates, all of which were horrible. Haley just couldn't look at another guy's face without wanting to break it for all the pain Nathan had caused her.
And so, here it was, March, and she had yet to get a boyfriend. Not that she was complaining. But Peyton and Brooke seemed to think differently. At every opportunity they would bring up the fact that Haley was "A wall-flower-book-worm-without-a-love-life". Just like a good friend would. Haley would counter that she was just concentrating on her work.
"Bah," Brooke would say. "You're just scared to get involved again." She would say. And as much as Haley would hate to admit it, Brooke was right.
She didn't want to be hurt again.
"Earth to Hales..." Peyton waved a hand in front of Haley. Haley jumped.
"S-sorry, what?"
"I SAID," Peyton called loudly, "I am going to a party over at Lucas's tonight. Do you want to come?"
"No." Said Haley flatly. Brooke looked up from her pile of dishes.
"And why not?"
"Because I don't WANT to," Said Haley defensively, bracing herself for the fight that was about to come.
"Come on, Hales," Brooke pleaded, elbow deep in suds. "We haven't seen Lucas in AGES..." She pouted.
Haley almost agreed to this at the thought of seeing her old best friend, but then shook her head. "No."
"Why not?"
"BECAUSE."
"Because why?"
"Because I don't want to go and deal with all of those people. Whatever you guys say, you are not making me go."
Peyton and Brooke looked at each other. First they looked disbelievingly at one another. Then they smiled. Haley shifted uneasily.
"You're going." They stated together bluntly.
~*~*~*~
A few hours later, Haley's hair was moused and tousled to perfection, her lips were tainted pink courtesy of Brooke, and She looked fabulous in a short jean skirt and an off the shoulder shirt.
Brooke nodded approvingly as she placed dangly earrings in Haley's ears, admiring her outfit. "Those white boots of mine really work your legs, Hales."
Peyton whistled. "You look goood babe. Them boys are gonna-" She cut herself off with a look from Brooke. Haley rolled her eyes. She surveyed herself in the mirror. She did look good.
Brooke herself was wearing red hotpants and a sparkly white halter, her eyes dancing and sparkling mischievously. Peyton had jeans and a black artsy top, with cute black boots.
They piled in the car and were on their way, Haley berating herself for allowing them to threaten her into coming.
When they arrived at the large house, Lucas opened the door and nearly died of shock. "Hey, Haley. You look great."
Brooke and Peyton cleared their throats and Lucas realized that they were standing next to Haley.
"Ex-CUSE me," Brooke said, tapping her heel-doned foot and flipping her hair with annoyance.
"Uh, hey guys. You all look good too, as always. Welcome." Lucas amended with a slight blush, his eyes never leaving Haley's face, which was by now blushing furiously.
"Hey." She said shyly, embarrassed but pleased at the same time. They went inside to find the house full to the brim with people. She got herself a drink, feeling slightly out of place again. She felt like she was at work, and she half expected to see Jerry sitting on his throne up by the kitchen, yelling at her to stop messing around and to get to work.
After a half hour or so, she began to loosen up a bit, dancing with Brooke and Peyton. Lucas found her a little while later, looking relieved.
"Hey. Didn't think I'd be able to find you in this crowd."
"Yeah, I know. Did you invite all these people?"
"Naw, that would be my housemates." He shrugged, getting jostled by the crowd. "Listen," He looked at her earnestly. "Wanna dance?"
Haley grinned and nodded, giving way to the crowd of people, clasping onto Lucas's hand as they made their way to the dance floor. This wasn't so bad, she thought as she let herself go with the music.
Why had she shut herself off from this? Dancing so close to Lucas, she thought of how nice it was to be with her friends again. She had missed Lucas, rarely seeing him because they were always both so busy.
But now everything was okay. Now that Nathan was so far away and Lucas and everyone were so close.
Someone hit her shoulder and she looked around, surprised.
"Sorry." He said it quickly and then did a double take. "Haley?"
"Nathan?" The music disappeared, Lucas disappeared, the whole world dissolved around Haley as she was left with Nathan and memories of him. Jessica was on his arm, and she painfully stayed in the picture.
Everything came rushing back to her...all of the nights she had spent in his arms, all of the smiles. Then the late nights he had spent at 'practice', the apologies, the night she had taken that double shift...
Haley turned on her heel and left the dance floor, both Scott brothers calling after her.
She was so stupid for not thinking that Nathan would be here. Why was she here? She didn't belong with these people. Her makeup was suddenly too much, the stench of people was overwhelming, and she couldn't breath.
She ran into Peyton on her way out. There were already tears on her face.
"What's wrong, Haley?" Peyton asked concernedly.
"I-I've got to go. Now. Car keys? I'll p-pick you guys up in a little while. I just n-need to leave."
Peyton looked surprised but nodded and handed the keys over to Haley, who took off at a run. She jumped in the car and was almost out of the driveway when Peyton came bounding out the door, Brooke at her heels, waving goodbye to Lucas on the doorstep who had a pained look on his face.
"Nathan?" Peyton guessed, jumping shotgun. She still had a drink in her hand.
Haley said nothing but Brooke shook her head. "I know it hurts babe...but-"
"Let's just have a girl's night out, eh?" Peyton cut Brooke off, shaking her head then smiling.
"Great," Said Haley thankfully. She looked at Brooke and Peyton apologetically. "Sorry."
"S'alright." Brooke said.
It was quiet. Peyton turned on the radio and music came to Haley's senses. She had calmed down a bit, and was coming to terms with the fact that she had seen Nathan...and he was still with Jessica. It's okay, she told herself. Just forget about it.
"Wait! Turn it up, turn it UP!" Brooke squealed, cutting into Haley's thoughts as a man's voice came on the radio.
"...So if you are between the ages of 18 and 25, we want YOU to call up to enter our Spring Break contest! Winner will win an all-expenses paid vacation to Miami Florida over spring break with two friends! Caller number 9 is the winner! The number is..."
Brooke whipped out her cell phone quick as lightening and dialed the number as the man rattled it off. Peyton and Haley watched her.
"Hi! This is Brooke. Yeah, I'll hold."
She tapped her heels impatiently and looked at her friends with a wink. A moment later the guy on the radio came back on.
"Alright, guys. Are you ready to send some people to Miami? It's gonna be quite a trip...night clubs, beaches, their own private condominium fully equipped...alright alright, enough with the suspense. And here's...caller numberrrrr...9!"
"Hello?" Brooke's voice came on the radio. Haley and Peyton screamed and Peyton turned the radio down.
"Congratulations! You're caller number 9! Who's this?"
"Brooke," Brooke breathed into the cell phone, her dimples in full blossom
"Well, Brooke, are you and your friends ready to go to Miami?"
"Hell YEAH!" Brooke cried into the phone as Peyton and Haley laughed.
"Well then, Brooke, I'd pack your bags. You're goin to FLORIDA!"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Next time on Haley...bookworm or party princess?...(still looking for a better title): Haley gets ready for what might be the biggest trip of her life, and she gets an unexpected call from an old (almost!) forgotten friend. If you want more, you know what you gotta do.
Come on...you know you wanna review! (