Chapter 4: Reconciled Friendships from the Past
The party was in full swing when we entered the dorm. The yellow lights were dimmed and the neon lights were set bright. The party seemed to be taking place in the whole dorm, and the dorm was pretty big. Cheyenne and I looked at each other and quickly agreed not to lose one another. I could see random people dancing (or as I like to call "vertically fucking"). The music was blaring into my eardrums. I looked at Cheyenne for some guidance out of this hell hole, but she seemed to be eyeing a fine piece of eye candy. They were staring at each other intently, so I nodded at her to join him.
"Are you sure?" she asked me skeptically.
I nodded my head again. I could tell that she really wanted to forget about her problems, so I let her screw this random guy, but not before I slipped her some protection. She sure as hell didn't need a pregnancy scare. She smiled at me gratefully and walked toward her blonde eye candy. I have to admit, he was hot.
I walked off without a clue as to what I should do. Every now and then, some guy would come up to me and sexually harass me (either with verbal suggestions or some gesture), but I wasn't in the mood for that shit. I just wanted to think. So I bitched off at the perverts and walked out to the veranda.
When I walked out on the porch, I noticed a curly, blonde girl leaning on the railings and looking down below us. I didn't want to disturb her, so I quietly walked to the other side and thought about how shitty life is and about Cheyenne's twin. After 5 minutes of complete silence, I got bored and looked over at her. She looked so damn familiar. I noticed the girl turned around to me realizing that I was looking at her. She then spoke.
"Listen, I don't go that way... I'm a hetero-kind a gal."
"Well I don't either, so I guess there's nothing to worry about, is there... Peyton?"
"...Haley? O my God, it's you... what are you doing here?"
"To be honest, I was dragged by my friend who wanted to pimp me out."
She laughed lightly.
"Seriously Haley, no one from Tree Hill has heard from you. Everyone was wondering if you were even alive."
"Yeah well, I don't like to be the the center of attention or the life of the party to add to that (I looked at the on-going party with disgust)... Wait did you just say that people thought I was dead?" I looked at her startled.
"Well you haven't come to any of the school get-togethers."
"And why should I? I was treated like trash when I was there. I don't know about you, but I like to keep my dignity." I looked at her disdainfully. Peyton noticed my sudden change of attitude and looked guilty.
"Haley, I'm sorry about the whole high school bitch act. You were there for me and well, I wasn't there for you. I mean, Brooke and I got over the whole Lucas thing, but our friends still hated him. We wanted to just avoid him and you were always with him... We never meant for that to hurt you."
"I know, but he's my best friend... Look I'll forgive you, but I'm not a person to hand out letters of forgiveness everyday, so don't think this is gonna happen again."
She smiled.
"Still got that dry sense of humor? Thought you'd grow out of it, but not everything works like that."
"I agree, I mean, look at you. You're still the same tortured artist. Listen girl, if you don't cheer up in the next year or so, remind me to get you some Prozac."
"Hahaha, there you go again with that charming sense of humor. Now that I know you haven't changed that much, tell me about your life."
"Well what's to tell? Its boring as hell. I haven't had a boyfriend for 5 months. My ex was a jackass."
"C'mon, Haley. I know you, there has gotta be a story for you to tell."
"Well, I guess I'm just trying to find myself right now. My English professor told me that if I found some inspiration, my writing would become worthy of the Western canon. Umm... that's about all the most interesting key points in Haley James' Life."
"Wow, so your writing is going places? That's amazing; I wish my art could go places. I had to drop out of art, though. There's not much I can do with it. I'm studying psychology now."
"Are you serious? Peyton Sawyer, slut extraordinaire of Tree Hill, is majoring in psychology. Have I entered a new dimension? No, hell must've frozen over. Hmm... Maybe the world is gonna end soon–"
"Hahaha, but no. I actually like it."
"So..."
"So what?"
"C'mon, I know you wanna tell me about your steaming hot love life."
"Ughhh, I knew you were gonna ask about that. Well there's not much to tell. Nathan and I broke up before we went to college. Ever since then, it has been random one night stands for me."
"But don't you guys live in the same town?"
"Yeah, but we could never stand the mere presence of each other. He hates me; I think he hates me more than he hates you."
"Well look at the bright side, you're learning how to get good tastes."
"Haley, you know Nathan goes to Boston University, right?"
"Crap, I forgot about that. You think he may be here tonight?"
"Just giving you a heads up, but I doubt he'll be here tonight. He doesn't go to many parties on this side. To tell you the truth, I don't think he hates you that much."
"What do you mean?"
"You may have been oblivious to it back in high school, but I know Nathan. The way he looked at you and spoke about you. I knew you turned him down, but I also knew that he really liked you and just hid it. He's really proud of his manliness and well... you just blew him off."
"Yeah I know, but I was scared. Then he just does a total 180 and becomes a born-again jackass to me."
"Like I said, he's proud."
"You mean he's a cocky, egocentric bastard?"
"Yup."
"Where's Brooke?"
"Screwing some guy."
"Isn't it weird how our best friends have left us?"
"So very amusing. C'mon lets go find them."
Right before we go inside, she asks me a question.
"So Haley, are we friends again?" she said uncertainly.
"Yeah, all of your mistakes are forgiven and I am willing to reconcile our friendship."
We smiled at each other and I slid open the glass door. Together, we hopped back into the partying scene.
The party was in full swing when we entered the dorm. The yellow lights were dimmed and the neon lights were set bright. The party seemed to be taking place in the whole dorm, and the dorm was pretty big. Cheyenne and I looked at each other and quickly agreed not to lose one another. I could see random people dancing (or as I like to call "vertically fucking"). The music was blaring into my eardrums. I looked at Cheyenne for some guidance out of this hell hole, but she seemed to be eyeing a fine piece of eye candy. They were staring at each other intently, so I nodded at her to join him.
"Are you sure?" she asked me skeptically.
I nodded my head again. I could tell that she really wanted to forget about her problems, so I let her screw this random guy, but not before I slipped her some protection. She sure as hell didn't need a pregnancy scare. She smiled at me gratefully and walked toward her blonde eye candy. I have to admit, he was hot.
I walked off without a clue as to what I should do. Every now and then, some guy would come up to me and sexually harass me (either with verbal suggestions or some gesture), but I wasn't in the mood for that shit. I just wanted to think. So I bitched off at the perverts and walked out to the veranda.
When I walked out on the porch, I noticed a curly, blonde girl leaning on the railings and looking down below us. I didn't want to disturb her, so I quietly walked to the other side and thought about how shitty life is and about Cheyenne's twin. After 5 minutes of complete silence, I got bored and looked over at her. She looked so damn familiar. I noticed the girl turned around to me realizing that I was looking at her. She then spoke.
"Listen, I don't go that way... I'm a hetero-kind a gal."
"Well I don't either, so I guess there's nothing to worry about, is there... Peyton?"
"...Haley? O my God, it's you... what are you doing here?"
"To be honest, I was dragged by my friend who wanted to pimp me out."
She laughed lightly.
"Seriously Haley, no one from Tree Hill has heard from you. Everyone was wondering if you were even alive."
"Yeah well, I don't like to be the the center of attention or the life of the party to add to that (I looked at the on-going party with disgust)... Wait did you just say that people thought I was dead?" I looked at her startled.
"Well you haven't come to any of the school get-togethers."
"And why should I? I was treated like trash when I was there. I don't know about you, but I like to keep my dignity." I looked at her disdainfully. Peyton noticed my sudden change of attitude and looked guilty.
"Haley, I'm sorry about the whole high school bitch act. You were there for me and well, I wasn't there for you. I mean, Brooke and I got over the whole Lucas thing, but our friends still hated him. We wanted to just avoid him and you were always with him... We never meant for that to hurt you."
"I know, but he's my best friend... Look I'll forgive you, but I'm not a person to hand out letters of forgiveness everyday, so don't think this is gonna happen again."
She smiled.
"Still got that dry sense of humor? Thought you'd grow out of it, but not everything works like that."
"I agree, I mean, look at you. You're still the same tortured artist. Listen girl, if you don't cheer up in the next year or so, remind me to get you some Prozac."
"Hahaha, there you go again with that charming sense of humor. Now that I know you haven't changed that much, tell me about your life."
"Well what's to tell? Its boring as hell. I haven't had a boyfriend for 5 months. My ex was a jackass."
"C'mon, Haley. I know you, there has gotta be a story for you to tell."
"Well, I guess I'm just trying to find myself right now. My English professor told me that if I found some inspiration, my writing would become worthy of the Western canon. Umm... that's about all the most interesting key points in Haley James' Life."
"Wow, so your writing is going places? That's amazing; I wish my art could go places. I had to drop out of art, though. There's not much I can do with it. I'm studying psychology now."
"Are you serious? Peyton Sawyer, slut extraordinaire of Tree Hill, is majoring in psychology. Have I entered a new dimension? No, hell must've frozen over. Hmm... Maybe the world is gonna end soon–"
"Hahaha, but no. I actually like it."
"So..."
"So what?"
"C'mon, I know you wanna tell me about your steaming hot love life."
"Ughhh, I knew you were gonna ask about that. Well there's not much to tell. Nathan and I broke up before we went to college. Ever since then, it has been random one night stands for me."
"But don't you guys live in the same town?"
"Yeah, but we could never stand the mere presence of each other. He hates me; I think he hates me more than he hates you."
"Well look at the bright side, you're learning how to get good tastes."
"Haley, you know Nathan goes to Boston University, right?"
"Crap, I forgot about that. You think he may be here tonight?"
"Just giving you a heads up, but I doubt he'll be here tonight. He doesn't go to many parties on this side. To tell you the truth, I don't think he hates you that much."
"What do you mean?"
"You may have been oblivious to it back in high school, but I know Nathan. The way he looked at you and spoke about you. I knew you turned him down, but I also knew that he really liked you and just hid it. He's really proud of his manliness and well... you just blew him off."
"Yeah I know, but I was scared. Then he just does a total 180 and becomes a born-again jackass to me."
"Like I said, he's proud."
"You mean he's a cocky, egocentric bastard?"
"Yup."
"Where's Brooke?"
"Screwing some guy."
"Isn't it weird how our best friends have left us?"
"So very amusing. C'mon lets go find them."
Right before we go inside, she asks me a question.
"So Haley, are we friends again?" she said uncertainly.
"Yeah, all of your mistakes are forgiven and I am willing to reconcile our friendship."
We smiled at each other and I slid open the glass door. Together, we hopped back into the partying scene.