Chapter 7
The next day at school...
Haley was so worried about her "date" with Nathan at his house at 6 that she almost forgot to meet Luke by his locker after third period. When she got there, 15 minutes late, he was frowning.
"I thought you weren't showing up. You ready to go? I'm starving Hales!"
"Sorry I'm late Luke." She replied sheepishly. "Let's go."
They walked down the hallway to the cafeteria.
"So listen Hales, I was thinking, after practice this afternoon, maybe you'd want to hang out. You know, like we used to? We'll stay at your place and order pizza. My treat!" he said with a smile.
She was about to agree when she remembered she had to tutor Nathan after practice. She looked at the eager smile of her best friend and felt even worse than she did before.
"I can't Luke, sorry."
"Why not? You doing something later?"
"Uh, yeah. I have some stuff I need to take care of. But we can hangout on Saturday, that is, if you'd still want to..."
Luke chuckled, "Of course I want to!"
"Great! Saturday it is, then!" she said with a smile. "Oooh! There's licorice! Thank God they have some! I'm gonna go buy some, ok? You want anything?"
Luke smiled at his bestfriend getting all happy because of licorice. "No thanks. I'm ok. I'll go save us a table." He said as he walked to the only available table in the cafeteria.
As he sat down, someone tapped him on the shoulder. "That was fast, Hales! I haven't even been here for---"
"Hey there gorgeous! Surprised to see me?"
"Oh, hi Brooke." He said as she sat next to him.
"So, are we on this Saturday night?" she asked flirtatiously.
"Listen, Brooke, about Saturday, I didn't think you were serious."
"Well, loverboy, I was serious. You owe me, remember?" she said referring to the little incident when she helped him out of the locker room when Nathan thrashed his locker and soaked his stuff.
Luke smiled uneasily. Being around Brooke was making him nervous. "Could I just ask you one question, Brooke?"
"Sure thing gorgeous. What is it?"
"Why me?" he asked.
"What do you mean why you?"
"Well, I was just wondering what the Raven's head cheerleader wanted with a rookie varsity player like me?" he said with such genuine confusion that Brooke had to laugh.
"Look around you Lucas. See all the girls looking this way? Who do you think they're looking at? I know for a fact that they aren't interested in little old me."
Luke glanced around the cafeteria and true enough, found almost half of the population of high school girls in Tree Hill staring at him. He didn't really notice all the attention he was getting from his peers until now.
"So, I've decided that as the Raven's head cheerleader, it is my duty to go out with the hottest and most popular varsity player in Tree Hill."
Lucas had to laugh at that. Haley joined them at the table but she didn't notice Brooke immediately since she sat on the other side of Lucas.
"Hey Luke! Guess what today's special is! Meatloaf Surprise! God! I think I'm gonna barf!" Haley laughed as she saw Luke's expression. The kids at Tree Hill have long since learned not to touch the infamous Meatloaf Surprise in the cafeteria.
"Hey tutor girl." Said Brooke as she popped her head for Haley to see her.
"Oh, hi Brooke."
"So, as I was saying Lucas, we on this Saturday?" Brooke asked Lucas again.
"Uh, I kind of made plans with Haley this---" Luke stammered.
"No, no, its ok Luke. You should go with Brooke." Haley said with a small smile.
"Yeah, Golden Boy, I promise you'll have fun!" said Brooke with a gorgeous smile, revealing her dimples.
"Uh... Are you sure its ok Hales?"
"Of course its ok. Its not like she's your girlfriend or anything." Brooke commented before Haley could answer.
Lucas looked back and forth from the two girls and felt even more confused.
Haley gave him an encouraging smile that said, go for it Luke!
"Alright Brooke. What time should I---" Luke wasn't able to finish his sentence because Brooke kissed him on the lips and jumped up from her seat.
"Great! I promise you won't regret this gorgeous! We're gonna have the time of our lives!" she said as she winked at him. "I'll pick you up at 7 ok?"
Luke nodded and Brooke gave him another kiss on the cheek before leaving.
"Wow, that certainly went well." Said Haley as she rolled her eyes. "I promise you won't regret this gorgeous!" she said as she imitated Brooke's perky cheerleader voice and batted her eyelashes.
"Come on Hales, she's harmless!" Luke said as he laughed at his best friend's perfect Brooke impersonation. "Don't tell me your afraid of a little competition for my attention? You jealous Hales?" he said with a sly smile.
"Ha-ha. Very funny, Golden Boy." She said as she punched him on the arm. She took out her licorice from the candy bag and started munching on them.
"Ouch! You know, you really should try out for the team. You could be on defense!" Luke joked as he rubbed his arm.
Nathan overheard their conversation as he walked past their table and smiled to himself. Funny, I was just thinking that same thing last night, he thought.
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Later that day...
Haley was on her way to Nathan's house. She didn't have a ride, and since she obviously couldn't ask Luke to take her there, she had no other choice but to walk. She could get a cab, but she was short on cash right now and didn't want to spend extra. Besides, it was just about 7 blocks away, no big deal!
Yeah, right! Haley thought as she made her way on the sidewalk. By the time I get there I'd be as smelly as Mrs. Johnson's dog. Nathan better not be late!
(Honk-honk) "Hey, wait up!" said an all too familiar voice from behind her.
She rolled her eyes heavenward and turned around to face her tormentor.
"What are you doing here?!" she said in a pinched voice. "You are supposed to be still at practice!"
"Coach let us out early." Nathan said as he positioned his car beside Haley. "Aren't you going to get in?"
"Shhhh!! Someone might hear you! We're still near campus you know!" she hissed.
(sigh) "Come on Haley, no one's here. Just get in so we can get to my house faster."
"No thanks. I'll meet you there." She said stubbornly.
"Fine, suit yourself." He replied as he stepped on the gas.
"Hey! Nathan! Wait! Ugh!! The nerve of that guy!" she said as she ran after his car.
Suddenly the car stopped and Haley was able to catch up.
Nathan had a big smirk on his face when Haley opened the door.
"Not a word, Nathan. Drive!" she said as she slammed the door shut.
Nathan couldn't help but smile at his passenger's temper. "Someone's had a bad day." He thought aloud as he sped away.
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Nathan pulled up the driveway and parked his car. The short drive to his house had been silent, yet amusing for him. Haley was quiet, but he could practically see the wheels turning inside her head. She was obviously worked up about something. He was determined to find out what it was that was bothering her by the end of their tutoring session.
Haley stepped down from the car and saw Nathan's house for the first time. It was huge, well, it was the largest house she had ever been invited into.
"This way." Nathan said as he led the way to the back of the house.
Suddenly a huge German shepherd came bounding out of nowhere and was running towards them.
Haley let out a scream and jumped onto the nearest object she could get her hands on --- Nathan.
"Hey!" Nathan was momentarily startled, but then he instinctively tightened his arms around her. "I know girls can't wait to get their hands on me Haley, but don't you think your moving too fast here?" he said , amused.
"Get that thing away from me!!!" she screamed into his ear.
"What? Oh, Lance is harmless, don't worry. I'm gonna put you down now so we can---"
"NO! Nathan, please! I'm really, and I mean Really, scared of Dogs!" (bark-bark!)
"But I'm telling you, he's harmless. He just wants his ears scratched, right boy? Good boy." (bark-bark!)
Lance was sniffing at Haley's feet and she practically crawled on top of Nathan.
"Oh my god! He's gonna eat me! Get it away! Nathan!"
Nathan couldn't help but laugh at Haley's distress. "How will I be able to open the door and get us inside the house if you don't let go of me?"
But then he caught a glimpse of her face and saw tears forming in her eyes.
He instantly felt guilty. "Ok, I'm gonna get you out of here. Just give me a second, alright?" he said as he tried to open the door. (bark-bark!)
"Nathan, honey, is that you? What's going on out there? Are you alright dear?" said a voice as the door opened from inside.
"Yeah mom." Nathan said as he and Haley faced the woman by the door. Deb had to blink twice before she could register the scene in front of her. There was a girl hanging on to her son as if her life depended on it. She couldn't help but stare at the girl in her son's arms.
"Could you get Lance out of the way so I can take Haley in the house?" he asked.
"What? Oh, of course dear. Lance, come here boy!" Said a flustered Deb.
Nathan stepped inside the house and Deb closed the door behind them. He let Haley down and the three fell into an awkward silence.
"Um, mom, this is Haley. She's gonna be tutoring me this semester."
"Oh, its nice to meet you Haley."
All Haley could do was nod her head in embarrassment; her cheeks were so red she thought she would burst. Nathan smiled at the look on Haley's face. She's kinda cute, especially when she looks like she just got caught with her hand in the cookie jar, he thought.
"You need a tutor now Nathan? Are you flunking your classes? You'd better not let your grades interfere with your game Nathan."
"Hi to you too dad." Nathan said bitterly as he grabbed Haley's hand and led her to the kitchen.
"Sorry about that, my dad can be an ass sometimes." Nathan said as he got a can of soda from the fridge. "You want anything?"
"No thanks." She said as she looked sympathetically at Nathan.
"What?" he said when he noticed she was staring at him.
"Nothing." She replied. "You know, you should've told me there was a monster in here before you dragged me into your house." She said as she shook her head.
"Like I said, my Dad is an ass. I'm used to it."
"I wasn't talking about your dad. I meant your dog." She said with a visible shiver.
"Lance? He's harmless. Don't worry about it. I'll keep him on his leash when you're here, ok?"
"Ok." She looked at him oddly. Why was he being so nice all of a sudden? "So, um, let's get started. I need to get home early, and it looks like its gonna rain later."
"Alright, in here."
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hey guys!! Hehe... I know this chapter kind of sucked!! Please bear with me.... I promise the next chapters are gonna be more exciting.... I'm working on them right now actually!! Hehe... look forward to some Naley action!! And some Laley drama too... hope you guys continue to read and review!! Love you guys!!!