A/N: Thanks for the reviews! I appreciate it a lot. I am so sorry for not updating for a while. I was so busy with the holidays and everything. Okay, here's another chapter, it might suck a little, though. I'll update later in the week.

This chapter doesn't really have anything important in it.

Chapter Two

Brooke passed through the crowded halls, feeling everyones' eyes on her. Word gets around fast, Brooke thought. By the next school day, everybody knew that Brooke and Lucas had broken up. It was being whispered into ears, scrawled on notes, yelled across the hallway. Brooke and Lucas are over.

She scanned the crowd for Haley. She was the only one left for Brooke to turn to, and Brooke had been looking around for her all day. "Haley!" she called out as she pushed her way past a group of wannabes. "Hales!"

Haley whirled around the first time she'd heard her name being called. When she saw Brooke, a look of worry washed over her face. "Hi," she said, "How are you feeling?"

Brooke's stomach dropped. How did she find out? I never told anybody.

"I..." Brooke stuttered, searching her brain for the right words, "I'm okay...."

"Are you sure?" Haley asked. A puzzled look took over her face. "Because if Nathan cheated on me, I wouldn't just okay."

A wave of relief washed over Brooke. Thank God, she thought, She doesn't know.

"Well," she said, "I guess I'm pretty pissed at the both of them. I don't have anyone to talk to, now that my best friend is...not my best friend anymore."

"Hey," Haley replied softly, putting a hand on Brooke's shoulder, "You have me. And Nathan."

Just then the bell rang, signalling the beginning of classes. Teenagers started heading to their classes.

"I thought Nathan hated me," Brooke muttered as she began walking to English.

Haley walked alongside her. "He thinks he does," she told her, "He probably has a soft spot for you somewhere in him."

Brooke felt like laughing, but all of her giggles had been wasted on Lucas. She had no happiness left in her. "You're making it sound like he's secretly in love with me," she said.

Haley stopped walking. "I meant as friends, Brooke."

Brooke forced herself to smile. She lightly punched Haley in the arm. "I know," she replied, "Look. I gotta go...put some more lipgloss on. I'll see you in class."

"Okay, see ya." Haley waved and disappeared into the crowd of students.

Brooke turned and ran into the girls' room. She made sure no one was inside before she locked herself into the handicapped stall. She dropped her purse to the side, pulled up the toilet seat, and threw up.

A few minutes later she emerged from the stall and went over to the sinks. She looked at herself in the mirror and sighed. She then dumped the contents of her purse onto the counter. She was too tired to search around for her stuff.

Wallet, chewing gum, car keys, cellphone, mascara, lipgloss, lipstick. Brooke picked up the lipstick and remembered that it was the one she had bought the previous weekend. She hadn't used it yet. She broke the seal and twisted up the lipstick. It was a dark shade of red. Brooke decided not to use it. She put the cap back on and put it back into her purse.

Brooke took the lipgloss and smeared it onto her lips. She heard the second bell shriek it's last warning, butshe didn't feel like gathering up her things and get to class. No, she told herself, I'll just skip it.

She put her things back into her purse and left the washroom. The hallways were deserted. She heard her footsteps as she made her way outside. She hadn't taken her English books out of her locker before class, so she didn't need to put anything in her locker.

Brooke opened the main doors and jogged through the cold to her car. Her jacket had been left inside it that morning by accident. She took out her keys and jammed them into the ignition. The car engine roared, and she pulled out of the parking lot.

Where am I going? She asked herself. She hated winter. Piles of snow were heaped on the curbs and all of the trees looked dead. The only time when winter felt peaceful was in December, when the first snowfalls were gently floating from the sky. In January, the fierce wind would throw snowflakes at your face, stinging it and turning your cheeks bright red. It was like this now.

Suddenly, her cell phone rang. She jumped in surprise and reached into her purse to answer it. She didn't bother looking at the caller ID and pressed the Talk button.

"Hello?" her voice came out scratchy and hoarse. Maybe she was coming down with something.

"Brooke? Why aren't you in class?" Lucas' voice floaded through her ear.

Shit, Brooke cursed silently as she turned onto her street. What is he doing, calling me?