Chapter 5: First Day at School Pt. 5

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the One Tree Hill characters. I only own my original characters.

Everyone had finally settled down to eat lunch and for that Kaiana was extremely relieved. After all, a girl can only take so much excitement in one day and the day wasn't even over yet. She found out during conversation that Tuesday was the only day that they would eat the cafeteria food because that was the day the school served pizza and burgers. Everyone usually brought his or her lunch on the other days since the school food basically sucked. After some indecision, everyone just settled on getting pizza and sodas. Of course being new, the conversation seemed to yet again center on 'the new girl'.

"So Kaiana, what did you choose as your major," Brooke asked.

Before she could answer, Haley replied, "Little Ms. Computer Girl here majored in Information Systems. I hope that means she'll be able to fix my computer when it crashes."

"I'll have to think long and hard about that," said Kaiana playfully. "Maybe I might decide to not help you on that."

"So in other words, we have another nerd on our hands," said Nathan with a grin.

"Nerd," Kaiana responded with a laugh. "What…do you and Lucas share a brain or something? He said the same thing this morning."

"Ooh," said Tim as he starting laughing. "Nice burn. I like her. Hey Nate can we keep her?"

"Can you keep her," Haley asked in mock indignation. "The girl is not a dog! But to answer your question, yes we can keep her."

Kaiana rolled her eyes. "Thanks Haley".

Haley smiled devilishly. "Anytime," she replied.

"Oh Kaiana I almost forgot," Brooke exclaimed. "The school is forming a new dance squad to perform at games along with the cheerleaders and I was wondering if you felt like maybe trying out for it."

"Wait, try out for a dance squad," Kaiana asked slowly. She regarded Brooke carefully, raising an eyebrow in speculation. "How do you even know if can dance?"

"I-I do-don't know," Brooke stuttered. "I'm not sure if you can dance or not. I just thought maybe you would think it would be fun or something. Plus, you'll be able to meet new people and you can always use it as something to put on your college applications for extra curricular activities."

Brooke had that "deer caught in headlights" look on her face. Kaiana narrowed her eyes in suspicion at her, but decided to let it go for now. Her suspicions were growing that Brooke knew exactly who she was. Her biography and entire life was often displayed in various magazines. It wouldn't have surprised her if Brooke had read all about her. What did surprise her was that no one else seemed to recognize her. She would have to wait until later to have a private conversation with Brooke. She wanted to stay a nobody for a little while longer, because she was enjoying being a normal teenager. Hopefully, Brooke would understand that and keep her secret, granted that she even knew her secret in the first place. But maybe Brooke had a point. Joining this dance squad could be a way to make some more friends and interact with other people.

"Ok, I'll think about it," said Kaiana, giving a small smile. "When are the tryouts anyway?"

"They're on Friday," Peyton told her. "You had better think fast, because you only have between now and Friday to come up with an original routine for auditions. I think the tryouts start at 3:30 in the gym…right Brooke."

"Yeah," Brooke answered cheerfully. "They're holding auditions right before the guys start basketball practice. Please, say you'll come. It will be so cool to have you on the dance squad! You'll be able to go on trips with me and Peyton when the basketball team plays at schools out of town! Come on Kaiana please say yes."

"Oh we're not having tryouts today," Tim said, his mouth full of food. "Coach went home sick with the flu."

Jake looked at him with disgust. "Dude, please don't eat with your mouth full," he said, cringing outwardly at the sight of food falling out of Tim's mouth.

"Yes mom," Tim joked. "So anyways…I think you should try out for this dance squad Kaiana. I would love to see you in those cute little outfits I'm sure they're going to make you wear." Tim winked at her, but the loud burp that escaped his lips ruined his flirting. He mumbled a 'sorry' to everyone.

"Are you and Peyton trying out for this dance squad too," Kaiana asked, ignoring Tim for the moment.

Peyton snorted. "Nah not me," she said, rolling her eyes. "Being on the cheerleading squad is enough rah rah for me."

Brooke gave Peyton a glare. "Ignore her Kaiana," she said forcefully. "Come on it will be fun! Both Peyton and I are already on the cheerleading squad so we'll be right there at auditions to cheer you on."

Kaiana raked a hand through her hair, sighing heavily. "All right Brooke, I'll try out," she said, shrugging her shoulders. "Like you said it might be fun." Brooke let loose a squeal of delight and clapped her hands.

"Oh no," Haley said dramatically. "They've lured her to the dark side. Kaiana you do realize you'll have to be shaking your thang in tiny little outfits in front of a lot of people right?"

"Don't mind Haley," Brooke said, shooting Haley a dirty look. "I haven't been able to convince her to try out for cheerleading yet, but I'm wearing her down."

"There's not a chance in hell that I will ever tryout for cheerleading," said Haley forcefully. "I'd rather poke my own eyes out. Besides I'm not that flexible to do those splits and stuff."

Nathan gave Haley a saucy look. "Well I can always help you work on your flexibility," he told her, slinging his arm around her waist.

Haley elbowed Nathan in his side and he responded with a small grunt of pain. "You're such a pervert," she said with a smile.

"Yeah I know," said Nathan. "And knowing that, you still love me." He then leaned over and gave her a kiss on her forehead.

"Unfortunately," Haley mumbled.

"Hey…I heard that," said Nathan, in mock hurt. Kaiana turned her head to the side to look at Lucas, just to find that he was already looking at her rather intensely. He hadn't said much during the whole conversation. He only interjected every now and again with a small chuckle. But right now he was giving her a look that was making her very nervous.

The rest of the lunchtime was spent just talking about various non-important topics. Before we knew it the bell was ringing signaling the end of our lunch hour. Everyone got up, gathered their stuff together, and departed to go to 6th period. Before Haley left she gave her cell phone number to Kaiana and offered to give her the notes for English. She also invited her to some sort of café, where they would supposedly go over the notes. Kaiana thanked her and told her that she would meet her out front after school.

After everyone left, Kaiana made her way back outside since she had a free period. She remembered seeing some benches out there and figured she could sit there and read until her next class. She found an empty bench and sat down, pulling out her History textbook. She tried to focus on what she was reading, but soon realized she was reading the same page over and over. She knew why she couldn't concentrate. It was because of him. She had never had such an instant reaction to a guy before and it scared her. Lucas seemed to be interested in her as well. At least she thought he was. She could be jumping the gun here, but the signals he was sending seemed clear to her. What she was sure of was that getting involved in a relationship right now was not a good idea.

She was not completely sure misleading him and the others was a good idea either. She hated lying to them, but it was the only way she could test the waters. She needed to find out if they could like her for her, instead of liking her for what she could buy them. Not to mention, it was too early for her to be starting that kind of a relationship with a guy. There were others things she had to focus on, like getting her phone and cable turned on for instance. She also had a couple more modeling jobs to do to fulfill her contract. She needed to get some more stuff to finish furnishing her house. There were too many other things to consider and take care of. Getting involved with Lucas was not one of them.

What about her living situation? What if they find out about that? How was she going to explain the absence of her parents? She wondered if Brooke knew that her parents were dead. It had been printed in some newspapers and magazines so she might have already found out. She still didn't understand why no one had recognized her. She knew that her hair was jet black when she was into modeling, dyed that way to make her look slightly older. She also wore a lot more makeup that made her appear dramatic and sophisticated, a far cry from the much simpler makeup she was wearing now. Her makeup was suited for a 17-year-old girl. That could be it. Maybe she looked so different now that they didn't know who she was. All she could do was hope it stayed that way for a little longer. Let's see how long this façade can last.

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