Chapter 13

Facing the Second Day Pt. 4

Disclaimer: I do not now nor did I ever own any of the One Tree Hill characters.

Thanks to everyone who has reviewed this story. It was my first attempt at writing fan fiction and that means a lot to me that people appreciate my work. Special thanks to tardychick06 and Dracos-wife, who have reviewed my story the most and have given me so much encouragement (Especially you Dracos-wife, because you have been there since I was under another name). To Aragon-lover4, OTHlover04, BHappy107, X-identaty, I appreciate your reviews as well! On to the story...

Kaiana closed her eyes, sighing deeply from the conflicting feelings raging inside her. It felt so good to be held by Lucas, but another part of her was screaming that this was all wrong. She thought she had made her decision, that she would avoid any entanglements, at least until she got her life into some semblance of order. But now she was beginning to realize just how hard it would be to stick to that decision. She let out a small chuckle at the irony of her agreeing to start a relationship, in spite of her vow to not get into any. The relationship was only for pretend...for show...but still. She slowly disentangled herself from Lucas and turned around to face him. She laughed softly again at how much drama she had allowed herself to become involved in and it was only her second day of school.

Lucas raised a brow as he stared at her, hooking his thumbs in his belt loops. "What's so funny," he asked softly.

"Nothing...it's just---," she began uncertainly. "It's just this is only my second day of school and I've managed to gain a sort of stalker and a pretend boyfriend. Isn't there something wrong with this picture?"

Lucas frowned slightly at the term 'pretend', but then quickly caught himself and smiled instead. "Nope...nothing wrong here," he joked. "See that's how I know you're new to Tree Hill. Haven't you heard that all the weird stuff usually happens in small towns? You're stuck in the twilight zone now."

Kaiana snorted. "Who you tellin'," she responded. "I seem to have a front seat for all the new episodes." They both stood uncomfortably staring at each other, before the bell rung. "Anyway...I have to get to class so..." she trailed off, feeling that same awkwardness that always surrounded them.

Lucas nodded, shifting on his feet. "Yeah sure...so I'll see you at lunch," he questioned hopefully. She nodded wordlessly and took off down the hall before he could even say goodbye. Lucas dropped his head backwards and his head hit the back of the locker with a thud. He cursed himself for jumping into something so stupid. He was never one to be impulsive, so he didn't know what he had been thinking. The couple times he had a stroke of impulsiveness had always ended in catastrophe and now here he was making the same mistakes all over again. He had just been so angry at Justin and his possessive instincts had taken over. He wanted Kaiana for himself, he admitted that now, but the way he was going about it wasn't right. Lucas sighed and pushed himself off the locker and began heading down the hallway to class. He would try to talk to Kaiana about it later.


Nathan burst out laughing at something idiotic that Tim had said, throwing a piece of crust from his sandwich at his friend. "You're such a bonehead Tim," he said, his body still shaking with laughter. He couldn't understand how a guy could play basketball so well, but yet still be so stupid. Nathan was no genius, but Tim just managed to say things that made absolutely no sense. Tim was currently trying to explain to everyone at the table how much better short guys were than taller guys at sex...saying something about 'they had to make up for their height somewhere'. Nathan noted that Tim actually seemed to have convinced himself that was he was saying was true.

Peyton made a rude noise and looked at Brooke in disbelief. "Is he serious," she asked incredulously, a small giggle escaping her lips. Brooke nodded vigorously in between her own giggles, leaning her head down on her friend's shoulder to support herself. Peyton laughed harder, Brooke's infections laughter urging her on. Peyton's gaze strayed to Haley, who was sitting so close to Nathan that they looked practically attached, and she saw her friend's mouth twitching at the corner while she rolled her eyes playfully.

Haley hadn't joined in the laughter, but she was obviously amused at 'Tim's new theory'. Then she locked eyes with Peyton and that was all it took for her to explode into laughter herself. This was why they loved Tim. He could always be counted on to make their lunch hour interesting, even if the jokes were sometimes at his expense. The only person who was not joining in on the laughter was Lucas, his own troubled thoughts preventing him from enjoying the joke.


Kaiana listened with only half an ear to what Jake was saying, her thoughts focused on something else important. She had bumped into Jake in the hallway and they had both decided to just walk together towards the cafeteria. She was so confused and this new situation with Lucas was not making it any better. It was bad enough that every time she was even remotely close to Lucas, hell just looking at him, caused a blast of heat to go through her. And somehow she knew that Lucas was attracted to her too. That thought both electrified and scared her.

"Hey are you even listening," Jake asked, nudging Kaiana with his elbow gently. She did not respond. Jake chuckled, as he waved his hand frantically in front of her face. "Are you ignoring me on purpose," he asked teasingly. Kaiana jumped and Jake placed a gentle hand on her arm. "Hey I didn't mean to scare you," he told her. "Are you okay?"

Kaiana released a shaky laugh. "Yeah...I'm...fine...just a little...distracted," she responded, catching his concerned eyes. At his now amused expression, she laughed again. "Okay so maybe more than a little distracted," she added. "Just got some stuff on my mind."

"Hmm...would that stuff have anything to with dating Lucas," Jake asked casually. They were just about to enter the cafeteria, but Jake stopped with his hand paused on the door handle when he realized she was not next to him anymore. He turned around and chuckled again. Kaiana was standing a few feet away, rooted to the spot, her mouth hanging open. "So I'm guessing you don't know about the rumors," he concluded, his head cocking to the side.

Kaiana shook her head wildly in answer. "Is that what everyone is saying," she questioned, closing the distance between her and Jake. Jake nodded, a small smile still on his lips. "Oh god...you have got to be kidding me," she blurted out, placing a hand on her hip.

"Nope," Jake responded simply. "That's what I heard in fourth period...that Lucas is dating the 'new girl', which would be you. So are you denying it?"

"Well no...we are...kind of...you know...but not really," she stuttered. Kaiana closed her eyes in frustration. "It's complicated," she finished weakly.

"Really," Jake commented, raising a brow mockingly. "How exactly does one 'kind of" date? Can you explain that to me?"

Kaiana debated on whether or not she should explain to Jake about the 'pretend relationship', but then quickly made her decision not to. The less people who knew about this...the better. "I can't really explain," she said finally.

Jake shrugged. "I'm just kidding around," he replied. "You don't have to explain anything to me. Come on. Let's just go meet up with the guys." Jake pulled on the door handle and held the door open while Kaiana entered the cafeteria, before entering himself. The both of them said nothing further until they got to the table. Kaiana and Jake both turned to look at each at the same time, wondering what the hell was going on as most of the people seated at the table were giggling uncontrollably.

Jake slid in on the bench next to Peyton, throwing her a smirk. "What did we miss," he asked her. Peyton forced herself to stop laughing, but a loud snort escaped instead. "Sorry," she said finally, her mouth still twitching. "Tim was telling us about another one of his theories." Jake rolled his eyes and then looked over at his teammate. He should have known Tim was the cause of the hysterics at their table. His eyes looked up and noticed Kaiana was still standing there looking quite uncomfortable, her eyes directed of course at Lucas. Jake leaned forward, resting his arms on the table as he peered around Brooke and Peyton's heads to look at his friend curiously, who was running his hand through his hair nervously, furtively glancing at Kaiana and then pulling his eyes away. For a couple that was supposed to be dating, they didn't look so friendly. As soon as that thought entered Jake's mind, Lucas got up from the bench and faced Kaiana, as if he somehow read Jake's mind.

Lucas lifted a hand to touch her, but then pulled his hand back quickly. "Hey," he said softly, allowing a small smile to form. She smiled back, but didn't answer. Her eyes floated to every member of the table, who had now quieted down and was openly watching her and Lucas, before returning back to look into his blue eyes. "Hey," she answered back shyly. She knew that they would probably have to act like a couple whenever they were around each other in public, but right now with everyone staring, felt weird. His eyes were now silently asking her if she was okay...if she was okay with what they had agreed. She gave a slight nod and Lucas closed the distance between them, placing his arms around her waist and kissing her gently on her cheek.

Kaiana wound her own arms around his neck, as she fought the heat that she felt on her face. Lucas held her a little longer and then he withdrew from her, taking her hand in his. He took her tote bag off her shoulder and held it for her, while she sat down. Lucas resumed his seat after he set her bag down on the window sill behind him. He tried to ignore the stares that were directed at them, as he placed an arm around her shoulders to give her a comforting squeeze. She stiffened slightly, but then immediately relaxed. She startled him then by leaning her head on his shoulder. Lucas inhaled sharply, the fresh scent of her hair invading his nostrils, suddenly making it hard for him to breathe.

Nathan smirked at the expression on his brother's face. He so had it bad for that girl. "Luke man you alright," he asked nonchalantly, his eyes glimmering with mischief.

Lucas glared at his brother for a second, biting the inside of his cheek to not respond with a rude remark. "I'm fine," he replied evenly.

"You sure...you look a little...hot," Nathan commented impishly. "How about you Kaiana? Everything okay over there?" Kaiana glared at Nathan briefly, refusing to answer, instead closing her eyes to block his arrogant face from her view. He knew damn well what was going on and he was deliberately bating her and Lucas. After the probing questions Nathan had fired at her today, this was the last thing she had expected to transpire. She had denied that she had a thing for Lucas and now here she was, laying her head on his shoulder, while he held her close to his side. Nathan was probably pretty satisfied with himself now, thinking that he had indeed been right. Kaiana fought the urge to jump across the table and ring his neck. She didn't have to fight that hard because she was completely exhausted...and she still had three more periods to go.

"Nate everything's fine," Lucas said between clenched teeth, wishing that his brother would just lay off so that they could just go back to enjoying their lunch hour.

"Yeah apparently it is," Nathan responded, his grin flashing brightly at his brother. He felt Haley nudge him in his side. "What's up," he asked her, his smile still wide. Haley gave him a pointed look. "Why don't you ask Luke...it's his business," he told her.

"Um...Luke...what's," Haley faltered, her brown eyes wide with curiosity. She had been trying to play match maker yesterday, but she hadn't expected it to work...and so fast. Nathan obviously knew what was going on between Lucas and Kaiana, judging from his smirk, but he had left her out of the loop. She couldn't push down the small sense of annoyance she felt at that. She had wanted Lucas and Nathan to become closer...she really did...but not if they were going to keep things from her.

"Are you guys like together now," Tim asked abruptly, not waiting for Haley to continue. Haley glared at Tim for his bluntness. "What...like you weren't thinking the same thing," he said brusquely.

Haley blew out a breath of irritation, glancing at Lucas again. "Luke, what Tim is trying to say is, that yesterday you guys just met and now you're well---," Haley began uncertainly, before Lucas cut her off.

"We're dating," Lucas said hastily. He glanced down at the female pressed up against his side, who had her eyes closed. "At least we're going to try to," he continued softly. "It's still new...you know."

"Uh huh," Haley, said skeptically.

Lucas sighed loudly. "Hales, can we talk about this later please," he asked, a little too harshly. Haley bit her lip at the tone in his voice. "We'll talk later...I promise," he added more gently. Haley only nodded and turned her attention back to her sandwich. The table was left in an uncomfortable silence that stretched on for a couple more minutes...until Tim started explaining his 'new theory' again. Soon the table was once again filled with occasional laughter and chatter, the subject of the Lucas and Kaiana temporarily forgotten. Even Haley joined in on the laughter, although she was still annoyed with both Nathan and Lucas for keeping such a big secret from her. But Lucas was her best friend and he usually had good sense of judgment. She would just have to trust his decision to jump into relationship so fast...again.

One person, however, was not partaking in the conversation. Peyton chewed her sandwich slowly, the particles suddenly feeling like sawdust in her mouth. She was only eating mechanically, not really tasting her meal at all. She thought her feelings for Lucas were gone. Judging by the knot pooling in her stomach caused by Lucas's recent 'announcement', they weren't.

Note: Finally another update. Sorry I always take so long, but don't give up on me yet guys. Please provide feedback.