...You Gotta Work For It
Three weeks later, Nathan lay in the bathtub, feeling his muscles slowly seize up despite the scalding hot water, and wondered what in hell he'd been thinking. Nothing, no family, no father, no brother-if-only-in-name, was worth this.
First there was Dan and his basketball obsession. Nathan had noticed that he seemed fixated on it in Nevada, but that was nothing compared to what he was like back on his home turf. And it turned out the rest of the town shared in his obsession. Everywhere he went, everyone ate, drank, and spoke Tree Hill Ravens as if invoking a collection of deities. In the high school the starting lineup, as far as he could tell, could get away with anything. The teachers, the other students, noone seemed to put any limits on them. Lucas was one of the worst, walking around the school like he owned it. The one saving grace was that for now he was basically ignoring Nathan, only speaking to him to tell him not to touch any of his stuff.
Dan had woken him up the first morning to go on "a little run," which turned out to be three miles. The air was so humid he was dying after the first 10 minutes, but nothing was stopping Dan Scott and his quest to get Nathan on the varsity squad. In addition to the running, which turned out to be a daily event, there was training on the court in the park next door. Endless drills, shooting over and over again. Working on out weight equipment. And then, when they finally stopped the physical side, Dan would put on tapes of basketball games so he could "study the form." He'd already dragged Nathan in to meet with Whitey, who'd seemed like a nice enough guy, if a little cranky. Whitey had fortunately for Nathan been firm. He wasn't putting a boy with no prior experience on a "real" team directly onto the varsity team, no matter whose son he was. "He'll work his way up, just like you did, Dan, and that's it." So Nathan had joined the JV team, much to Lucas' and Dan's delight, although for different reasons. Nathan was just happy not to have to ride the same bus as Lucas. He had a feeling that would have been unbearable.
Otherwise, it wasn't as bad as he had been expecting. Karen, when she wasn't around Lucas or Dan, turned out to be a very nice lady. After school he would go to the caf‚ she owned to do homework until Dan picked him up after work. She had a girl working there, Haley, who was really nice, and had even offered to tutor him and help him get caught up. A few other people in school had made an effort to speak to him, although he noticed it was never when Lucas or any of his cronies were around. Except for one person. He'd found a convenient tree to eat lunch under, away from the rest of the students since he and Lucas had the same lunch period, when a blonde girl stood up from Lucas' table and came over to him. "Hey. You're Lucas' brother, right?"
"That's the rumor," he replied utterly baffled by what this girl, who he knew for a fact was a varsity cheerleader, was doing talking to him. The only thing he could think of was some kind of scheme Lucas was hatching. "I'm Nathan. Carver," he hastily added. He'd already had more than one person call him Nathan Scott and he wanted it very clear his last name was not Scott. He'd lost his mom, but he wasn't going to lose her name. Plus it reminded him of when she would get mad at him and use both his first and middle names. That was always a sure sign to get outta Dodge.
"Hey, I'm Peyton. Sawyer," she said, exactly matching his intonation. "What do you think of Tree Hill so far?"
He shrugged. "It's okay, I guess. I'm having trouble getting used to how green everything is. I've lived in the desert all my life."
"Yeah, I heard. Las Vegas, right?"
He nodded. She sat down next to him and took a bite of his sandwich. "I suppose it doesn't help that your brother is being a total prick." Nathan was startled. That was certainly the last thing he expected her to say. "Oh, don't get me wrong. Lucas can be a great guy when he puts his mind to it. But he's really got it in for you. Only child you know. Not used to sharing. And the divorce doesn't help."
Nathan continued to not respond, gawping at this girl who seemed to be on Lucas' team, but his side. "You can speak now, you know," she teased him.
"It's just.... why are you being nice to me? I mean, I saw you get up from his table. Usually when he's around I'm, like, invisible."
"Yeah, I know. He put the word out to do that. Like I said, total prick. But I am going to change that, because it's wrong and stupid. People see me talking to you, that should help break him. He can't tell me what to do."
"Why you?"
The blonde girl smiled and Nathan felt his heart leap a little. "I'm his girlfriend." And right back down it went.
"Oh," he said, feeling sick.
"Oh cheer up. I've seen you play. You'll be on varsity in no time, and then you can give him the what for. In the meantime, I've got your back." She stood. "See you later."
"Sure," he replied, dazed. "No, wait!" She turned back. "You didn't answer my question. Why are you being nice to me?"
A shadow passed over her face, and for a minute he saw that there was a lot more going on there than a perky cheerleader. "I... my mom died too. A long time ago. I guess... I guess I'm just doing for you what I would want someone to do for me. But don't tell anyone, okay? Let'em think I'm trying to make Lucas jealous."
Nathan returned her smile and said "Deal. And... thanks." She nodded and went back to the A- List table, from whence Nathan could feel Lucas' eyes burning into him like laser beams.
The nice surprise other than Peyton and Haley had been Keith. Dan hadn't mentioned he had a brother, but there he was, Keith Scott, waiting for them when they got off the plane. "Hey there, new nephew," he had said, not as big as Dan and a lot scruffier. "Welcome to the family. You like working on engines?"
"Um, I've never really done it, sir," Nathan had replied, a little taken aback.
Keith waved Nathan's response away. "Cut the sir crap. It's Uncle Keith. And I'll get you all set up. If I left it all up to little brother here, you'd never learn your way around the underside of a car hood." Nathan could believe that. He had the feeling that despite Dan's chosen profession, he really didn't like getting his hands gunked up with engine grease if he didn't have to. And Keith had followed through on his promise, taking him to the garage he owned whenever Dan had to work late and showing him around, explaining all the different equipment and teaching him the basics. Nathan wasn't sure he was going to like auto mechanic work, but he did know he liked Uncle Keith. Dan said his older brother didn't have enough ambition, and was a poor role model, but Nathan liked his easy smile and laugh. Unlike Dan, he seemed happy.
This week was also the last week of living in a stranger's room. Dan had finally found a three bedroom house to rent, and they had been packing for a few days to get everything moved, so he could finally get his own stuff out of storage and really move in. Overall, things could be worse. Karen was a nice lady, Haley was helping him with his school work, and Peyton was going out of her way to be nice to him at school. Keith was a nice bonus. The social worker, all business, had visited a few times and pronounced the new house okay. He didn't get Dan and his obsession with basketball, but hopefully that would be fixed by time. It was just Lucas. They were trying to get all this stuff packed up so they could move quickly. Even Karen had come over a few nights to help, but Lucas still hadn't come to pack up his room. Nathan was pretty sure he was going to wait until the bitter end, after Nathan was completely out of it. He grimly reminded himself of his promise to Mrs. Plumber. He would make the effort, even with Lucas.