Chapter 9: Confessions
Brooke sat alone in the kitchen early in the morning, looking visibly absorbed. She played with her cereal as she blankly stared into one corner of the room. She didn't even hear Peyton walking in. "It's almost Saturday...it's almost judgment day..."she kept telling herself as she continued to play with her bowl of Cheerios with her spoon.
Peyton stood still as she leaned on the kitchen counter while looking curiously at her friend. "Hey, are you going to eat that? It's getting soggy, you know," she remarked as she grabbed herself a bowl and a spoon.
Brooke looked at her best friend and let out a sigh, "Did you ever get the feeling that the best day of your life will also be the most mind-wrecking one?"
Peyton posed a tell-me-about-it look, "Oh yeah, try heart-wrenching."
Brooke suddenly stepped out of her concerns and looked curiously at her friend. She gave Peyton a curious smile, "Peyton Sawyer broke Lucas Scott's heart once again, I believe."
Peyton nodded as she slightly pouted, "Yeah and Jenny was there to see it too."
Brooke just laughed, "Well, that's a first. So, did you give him the I-just-want-us-to-be-friends line again or did you make up a completely new script?"
Peyton laughed as she poured herself a bowl of Cheerios, "There was a supporting actor actually, Sean."
Brooke looked at her friend quizzically, "Oooh, this is trouble....is he cute?"
Peyton playfully hit Brooke's arm, "Do you think Luke would be upset if he wasn't?"
Brooke nodded, "You're right..."
Peyton took a spoonful of cereal before speaking up again, "So, why was your mind drifting miles away from here awhile ago?"
Brooke sighed as she went back to playing with her cereal, "Well...I keep thinking about spending the weekend with Ethan and his family." She suddenly looked straight into Peyton's eyes with a desperate look on her face, "I really want them to like me so bad, you know. I keep thinking that they'll see something in me that they don't like and ask Ethan to break up with me...worse, stay away from me and....I just don't think I can deal with that."
Peyton put a sympathetic arm around her friend's shoulder, "Look, you're doing the worse-case scenario thing way too much. You just need to chill...go shopping!"
Brooke turned to her friend, looking even more exasperated, "That's the thing...shopping isn't helping me take all this anxiety away either! I mean, I found myself buying the most conservative outfits I've never imagined I would hang in my closet ever!"
"Well Brooke, you can always give them to me," remarked a smiling Haley as she emerged into the kitchen. Humming a tune, she got herself a bowl and spoon then settled herself into the breakfast table.
"Well, somebody's in a good mood," commented Peyton as she intriguingly looked at her friend.
Brooke turned to Haley with a matter-of-fact smile, "She should be, she spent the whole afternoon with Nathan yesterday."
Haley smiled as she tried to be defensive, "Okay, it's not that..." She found herself unable to continue her defense, "Really, it's not that!"
Peyton laughed, "Then, what would it be? C'mon Haley, we know that smile...it's the one reserved for Nathan."
Haley finally gave up. She took a deep breath, "Well, I'm just glad we could be friends again. We hang out together yesterday and it was something...well, I missed a lot."
Brooke looked at her curiously, "Did you two make out on our couch yesterday?"
Haley playfully tossed a piece of cereal to Brooke, "How dare you? Of course not! We're J-U-S-T friends!"
Brooke laughed as she tossed the sweet nugget back, "Well, I don't think that J-U-S-T status is 'gonna stay between you two for long."
Haley just looked down into her cereal, making whirls in the bowl with her spoon. She took a deep sigh, "I don't know...I mean, I don't know if I want us to be more than that. I just want things between us to stay...pleasant."
Brooke looked at her intently, "Well Pleasantville is just a short distance to Love Ville honey, so...something just might happen."
Haley just let out a sly smile, "I'm not so sure about that..."
Lucas was reading the newspaper intently in the kitchen. He was leaning on a chair and had his feet resting on another. His food was still untouched, something in his face clearly said that he wasn't feeling pretty good. "How did she meet Sean?" he found himself asking in his mind. He's been trying so hard all morning to erase Peyton and Sean from his thoughts. Somehow, though, the sight of them getting all intimate with each other seems to be haunting him.
Nathan walked into the kitchen and went straight for the fridge. He took out a bottle of grape jam and set it on the table. He was about to make himself some toast when he noticed his brother's dead silence, "Hey man, what wrong?"
Lucas didn't bother to look up as he held the newspaper on one hand and tried to fix his coffee on another. "What do you mean? Nothing's wrong," he half-heartedly answered as he pretended that nothing was bothering him.
Nathan just let out a laugh, "C'mon man, I know something's up with you and it's definitely not good."
Lucas still didn't bother to look at his brother as he continued with what he was doing, "And how do you know that, Nate?"
Nathan turned to look at him squarely, "Well, you're putting orange juice in your coffee for one."
Lucas suddenly turned to look at the coffee he was making and realized that his brother was right. "Oh, shit!" he exclaimed as he stood up to toss the disgusting drink into the sink.
Nathan just laughed as he shook his head, "Now do you want to tell me what's going on?"
Lucas let out a heavy sigh, "I was with Peyton yesterday. Things were going great and then...this Sean guy shows up."
Nathan looked at his brother curiously, "Was he making a move on her?"
Lucas looked at him intently, "Undoubtedly...I know I have no right to be jealous but...I just am!"
Nathan gave Lucas a pat on the back, "Maybe...she's just trying to make you jealous."
Lucas's face suddenly turned sad, "Or maybe...she's trying to check what else is out there!"
Nathan shook his head as he laughed, "C'mon man, there's no point wallowing in misery when you're not even sure about that!"
Lucas sighed as he turned to his brother, "That's easy for you to say...you and Haley are pretty close to getting back together again."
Nathan took a bite of his toast and sighed, "I'm not pretty confident about that man...I mean, we were together yesterday but, she was treating me more...well like... you."
Lucas suddenly looked surprised as he laughed, "What?"
Nathan smeared a generous serving of grape jelly onto his toast as he continued, "She was treating me like...her buddy."
Lucas gulped some orange juice before he answered, "Well, that's a start. C'mon man, think baby steps." "That would be giant steps for me," he said to himself as bit into his already cold and hard toast.
Brooke looked out into the window of Ethan's Lexus. She still felt quite nervous about the upcoming big weekend. She suddenly turned to look at her boyfriend who met her eyes and smiled. Ethan just continued to drive, feeling happy to have his girlfriend with her. After another long look out the window, Brooke turned towards her boyfriend with a curious smile on her face, "Tell me about your family."
Ethan just laughed, "We've gone through this over and over again, baby. Why don't you just ease up? They'll like you, I'm sure of that."
Brooke just gave him a sly smile, "I don't know, tell me about your sister again...please!"
Ethan just smiled, "Alright, there's my older sister Bridget who's so career-focused. She considers any guy as a mere distraction. Then, there's the youngest in the family, Nicole. She's Bridge's complete opposite. She's crazy about guys..."
"Like me," Brooke continued with a smile.
Ethan looked at her with concern, "I thought that all changed."
Brooke giggled as she leaned towards him, "Yeah, it did...when I met you." Taking advantage of the red light, the two kissed passionately before continuing to drive away.
A/N: Thank you so much for all the reviews...you've all given great encouragement for me to keep doing this story. Hope you enjoy this one! I hope to hear from all of you again! =)
