Chapter Nine

Nathan woke the next morning in a very good mood. Although things had ended a little sooner than he had expected the night before he was confident that it was only a matter of time till he and Haley would continue what they had started at the beach house. He was no longer thinking about the challenge, what he had found with Haley was something so much more then he could ever have imagined. Smiling he looked at the clock and headed to the shower wanting to give himself plenty of time to get to Haley's house to take her to school. Although they hadn't discussed it he assumed that she would be waiting for him to drive her.

Haley was also in a very good mood that morning. She dressed for school with extra care to make sure that she looked good for Nathan. She could hardly wait to see him again. Humming to herself she was startled by the sound of the doorbell. With a welcoming smile she went to the door to greet him only to find reality waiting for her in the shape of her best friend Lucas.

"Morning Hales, are you ready to go?" he greeted her.

Haley stood for a moment just staring in shock "Lucas umm hi. Yeah I'm ready let me just grab my bag."

Lucas walked back to his truck to wait for her.

Lucas is back. What am I going to do? Thank God Nathan didn't come to pick me up. Although I guess it was pretty unlikely that he would. He never said that he was going to. Picking up her bag she climbed into the truck neither of them noticing the black SUV that had turned into her street and was now following them down the road.

That looked like Lucas' truck but it couldn't have been. What would he be doing at Haley's Nathan asked himself as he drove towards the school keeping the truck with Haley inside in sight. Pulling into the parking lot he sat there dumbfounded as he watched Haley and Lucas get out, Lucas' arm around Haley's shoulders as they walked. What the FUCK is going on here?

Haley walked into the hall keeping her eyes peeled for Nathan but so far there was no sign of him. There was an air of discomfort between her and Lucas but she assumed it was all coming from her. After all I'm the one with the secret. Resolving to try harder with Lucas she turned to him with a grin.

"So I bet you're glad to be back," she joked. Lucas lost in his own thoughts took a moment to comprehend what Haley had said

"Oh yeah I'm just thrilled" he answered his sarcasm evident. "The only thing that could make this any better would be to see my baby brother" he responded cynically.

It was at that moment Haley knew that there was no way she would be able to explain to Lucas what had been happening with her and Nathan. Any hopes that she could make him understand were obliterated in an instant.

Seeing Peyton at the other end of the hall Lucas turned to Haley "Hales I gotta go. I need to see some of my teachers about the work I've missed. I'll see you later."

"Ok Luke talk to you later" she responded mechanically madly trying to work out in her own mind what she should do about the Nathan situation. Luke walked away Man I hate keeping secrets from her.

"Why were you with Pukass" Nathan's voice grated in her ear.

Looking up at him Haley could see the anger clearly in his eyes but she also thought that there was a trace of hurt but it was gone before she could be sure. "Lucas" she emphasised his name "is my best friend. I thought you knew".

"How the fuck was I supposed to know that? You certainly weren't volunteering the information".

Haley was amazed at his apparent anger "come on Nathan its not like I deliberately kept it from you. I thought you knew," she reiterated.

"Guess that explains Tim's choice" he muttered under his breath. Nathan stormed off down the hall in search of Tim wanting to hear it from him.

Haley having heard Tim's name wondered what the fuck does Tim have to do with this?

"Hey Nate" Tim cheerily greeted him as he approached menacingly "so how's the latest challenge going?" he asked with a laugh.

"You knew that she was friends with Pukass when you set this whole thing up didn't you?" Nathan's voice was low but his anger was obvious.

Tim appeared a little nervous at the look on his friends face "Umm Yeah I knew" Tim admitted.

"Then do you mind explaining to me "What the FUCK you were thinking" his voice becoming louder with each word.

"Hey man you asked me to make it challenging so that's what I did," Tim pointed out honestly.

Nathan groaned, his anger abating as he realised the truth of Tim's words. Yeah he had asked for a challenge and that's exactly what he had been given. How on earth was he going to get a chance with Haley now? He knew as soon as Lucas found out about the two of them he would do his best to convince her to stay away from him. He was after all her best friend chances were good that she would listen to him.

After the way Nathan had confronted her Haley had been doing some thinking of her own and she had come to the conclusion that if her friendship with Lucas was important to her then she was going to have to stop seeing Nathan. She honestly didn't want to stop but her friendship with Luke meant far too much to her. Besides what Nathan and I have is just a physical thing she tried unsuccessfully to convince herself. Judging by his reaction to my friendship with Lucas I don't think he's going to want to continue anyway she sighed. It seemed whatever she had with Nathan was over before it had even really had a chance to begin.

The rest of the day had dragged on for Haley and she had never been so glad to hear the last bell of the day as she was then. Walking morosely to her locker she found Lucas waiting for her

"Hey Hales so what time do you want me to pick you up tonight?"

"Tonight?" she looked at him blankly.

"Yeah Haley you know the Valentines Day Dance that you begged me to take you to? Remember you said you were sick of missing out on Valentines Day just because you don't have a boyfriend so you asked me to come with you?"

"That's tonight but its not Valentines Day" she gulped.

"Yes well tomorrow is Valentine's Day in case you've forgotten and it's also a Saturday which is why they decided to have the dance tonight. God Hales where's your mind today".

"Pick me up at 7:30," she mumbled despondently.

"Ok see you then. I better run don't want to be late for practice".

This day just gets better and better she told herself sarcastically.

A.N Ok don't hate me for this chapter but I couldn't have everything go smoothly for the two of them. Where is the entertainment in that? Please let me know what you think.