Clarity
A/N: Just another W.I.P. that I'm working on. Don't Let Go is still my top priority but The Beautiful Dance is getting pushed a little further back on the update list.
Chapter 1
Lucas Scott was every parent's dream child. He got good grades, always made curfew, listened to his mom and never got into trouble. Lucas was the good kid, the dependable kid, the responsible kid. But he thought sometimes he wanted to be more than that. He wanted more to his life than studying, homework and worrying about college application essays that were more than a year away.
Most people didn't know that the good boy Lucas was actually a really lonely guy. Being a responsible young man may have earned him the respect of adults and his teachers, but it left him singled out by his peers. Getting on the Dean's List every semester wasn't exactly the ticket to friends and popularity.
But he managed to find friendship in another social outcast by the name of Haley James. They had been friends for years and she was the only person he ever confided in. But little did he know that someone was going to come into his life and change everything.
The large moving truck parked in front of the house next door caught Lucas' attention as he left early one morning for school. The woman who had lived in the house for years had decided to move back to Chicago to be closer to her family, her house was sold only days after it had been put on the market. But Lucas didn't know much about the new neighbors.
All it took was a curious glance towards the house as he passed by on his way to meet Haley. As soon as he caught a glimpse of her Lucas knew he was a goner for sure. The most gorgeous head of tight blonde curls he had ever seen was walking up the porch steps carrying an overflowing moving box. Lucas didn't notice that he had stopped walking until the blonde girl dropped something from her box and while leaning over to pick it up she locked eyes with him. She gave him a mysterious smile before he quickly looked away and continued the way he was going.
Much to Haley's chagrin, Lucas couldn't stop talking about the girl he had seen that morning. She had been the topic of conversation on the morning walk to school, at lunch and on the walk home from school. Haley was convinced that Lucas hadn't even noticed the fact that she had gone home.
The blonde girl was still on his mind as he slowly climbed his porch steps, trying in vain to catch a glimpse of her again. He walked inside and dropped his backpack near the front door. As he walked past the living room he was surprised to see his mom sitting with an older man and his mystery blonde girl from earlier.
"Lucas you're home. Come in here for a minute and meet our new neighbors." Karen patted the empty seat next to her on the sofa. He walked cautiously into the room and sat down near his mom. "Lucas this is Larry Sawyer and his daughter Peyton. Peyton is your age and she'll be going to Tree Hill High School with you. Larry suggested that you might want to show Peyton around town."
"I have some homework and a test that I need to study for." Lucas found himself unusually nervous around his new neighbor. He really didn't know what he was saying as the words clumsily spilled out of his mouth.
"All you ever do is study Lucas. You're more than ready for whatever test you have to take. Why don't you go out and have some fun, show Peyton around." Karen urged.
"We don't want to interrupt Lucas' studies." Larry remarked. Lucas looked over at Peyton and could have sworn he saw a flash of disappointment on her face.
"No that's alright. I can study later." Lucas, now with a burst of confidence, agreed to show Peyton around.
The car ride around town had been fairly quiet. He'd shown her the school, the mall and the movie theater and was running out of sights in the small town. Out of the corner of his eye he would occasionally catch her staring at him.
"Is there anything else I can show you?" he asked.
"Let's have dinner?" Peyton said quickly.
"You want to have dinner with me?" Lucas couldn't hide his surprise very well.
"Why do you sound so shocked, hasn't a girl ever asked you to dinner before?"
"No, actually a girl has never asked me to dinner." He admitted sheepishly.
"Then I'll be your first."
Fifteen minutes later they were sitting across from each other in a booth in the small diner near the school.
"So tell me Lucas Scott's life story." Peyton asked with eyebrows raised.
"My life's not that interesting." He confessed.
"It's always the most interesting people that say that. So spill."
"Alright. It's been just my mom and I since I was born. My dad skipped town after my mom got pregnant. She owns a café over on Main Street. I work there a few times a week with my friend Haley. And when I'm not working my life consists mainly of studying and homework. I want to go to Stanford when I graduate, and my best chance is through a scholarship."
"Damn Scott. What do you do for fun?"
"Fun? I'm not really familiar with that word." Lucas laughed, mocking himself.
"Well it's a good thing I moved in next door. I've got to help you learn to lighten up a little bit." She smiled that same mysterious smile he had seen earlier that morning. He could only smile back.
They continued to talk until the waitress came by to take their order. When she left Lucas used the opportunity to slip away to the jukebox.
After flipping through the track selection a few times Lucas settled on a song and made his way back their table. He stopped in his tracks, and nearly tripped a waiter when he saw that his mystery girl was no longer alone. Nathan Scott was leaning over the table casually talking with Peyton. His all-American boy charm was working on overload. Lucas couldn't make out what Nathan was saying but he met eyes with Peyton who motioned him to come back over.
"That party sounds great Nathan but I'm actually here with someone else." Peyton pointed towards Lucas who was coming up behind Nathan.
Nathan turned to see who could possibly be more interesting than him and nearly laughed out loud when he saw Lucas standing behind him. "You're here with this kid. You are definitely not going to get far in this town hanging out with Lucas."
"Well thanks for the tip Nathan, but I think I'll take my chances with him." Peyton said while looking Lucas directly in the eyes.
"Your loss." He huffed as he walked away.
"You could have gone with him Peyton. Nathan is the most popular guy in school, he could probably help you meet a lot of people."
"Sorely lacking in the confidence department Lucas? If I wanted to leave with Nathan I would have. I'm here with you and I'm having a good time. Besides, there is nothing special about a guy like Nathan. There were a hundred guys just like him at my old school and I'm sure there's a hundred guys like him at your school. He's an ass Lucas." Lucas eased a bit at her words. "Are you related to him though?"
"What?"
"His last name is Scott. Is he a cousin of yours or something?"
Lucas didn't know how to answer the question without opening a large can of worms. But for some reason he trusted this girl completely.
"Nathan is my half brother." He watched as Peyton's eyes grew wide in surprise. "When I said my father skipped town after my mom got pregnant. I left out the part about him getting another girl pregnant three months after my mom."
"I can't believe that."
"He chose to marry Nathan's mom and I became the bastard son of Dan Scott. So Nathan gets to live in a huge house, drive a nice car and basically get everything handed to him." Lucas finished quietly, not wanting his words to come off as being bitter. He knew that he wasn't jealous of Nathan. Lucas had no interest in sharing a father with him.
"And you said your life wasn't interesting." She remarked sadly.
Lucas pulled the car slowly to the curb halfway between his house and hers and killed the ignition. The rest of the dinner had been quiet after Lucas' confession. He was angry with himself for seemingly blowing it with Peyton.
"I'm sorry about being the downer tonight, I should have kept my non-existent relationship with my father to myself."
"Just out of curiosity, why did you tell me all that stuff about your dad. It seems like something you don't share with anyone."
"It's not something I share with anyone actually. Other than my mom the only person I've ever really talked about it with is my best friend Haley. I don't know why I told you all that, I guess because I trust you which is crazy considering I barely know you."
"It's not that crazy."
A silence fell over the pair as they sat together waiting for the other to say something. Peyton toyed with the zipper on her black leather jacket as Lucas frantically searched his mind for the right thing to say. "I had a good time tonight with you Peyton. It was definitely better than studying." He smiled to himself.
"Are you free tomorrow night?" She asked, turning in her seat to face him.
"Yeah, why?"
"I was thinking we could go to a movie or something." A look of surprise danced across Lucas' face. "Why are you so surprised that I like being around you?"
"I'm just not used to it. Most girls don't give me the time of day."
Peyton grinned as she opened the car door. "Well I'm not most girls." She waved goodbye to him before closing the door and walking across the lawn to her house.
