Chapter Nine

"So what's new in Tree Hill?" came Brooke's voice through the phone. I paused guiltily.

"Um. Well Taylor's back, and Chris hasn't left yet. And Keith and Karen are getting married," I said.

"Okay. What's happening with you?" she asked.

"Nothing. I'm postponing school, I'm trying to find a job, Karen's letting me handle more Tric stuff and she gave me a raise," I contributed.

"That's it? No scandal?"

"No, Luke's gone. Tell me about you," I instructed.

"Well. School's hard, honestly. They don't care if I don't show up for classes but you have to take real notes and people get pissed if you talk to your neighbor. I share a room with this girl, Rachael Stevens, and she's a bit of a do gooder but she's alright. I spend a lot of my time with Mouth, of course. He's taking way more classes than me and getting better grades, but he's so sweet about it. We went to this party last night-he's a great dancer, it's so nice to have a boyfriend that will actually dance with you. Oh, and I talked to Luke-he's already on the team and getting ready to set the world on fire. He said to say hi," she said.

"Weird, he hasn't called me," I said.

"That's not weird."

"Is too. He's one of my best friends, it's like you not calling me," I said. I could almost hear her frown.

"He might be one of your best friends, but he also happens to be in love with you," she reminded me.

"Is not. Sorry, I have to go," I said quickly, hanging up. I ran to the bathroom and emptied my stomach.

By the time I was through, my mind was clear as well. How could I not tell Brooke about my baby? I hadn't told anyone yet besides my closest circle-Haley, Nathan, Jake and Karen. But Brooke was in that circle. She deserved to know but I didn't have the heart to tell her.

In so many ways, Haley was more akin to me. But Brooke would always be my best friend. When my mom had died she'd been the only one brave enough to try and get close to me, when my dad had gone away again she'd helped me as much as she could. Even after her boyfriend had cheated on her with me she'd only been mad for a couple of months before we'd resumed our friendship in full force.

Haley and Brooke had almost nothing in common but managed to stay close in spite of it-their differences attracted one another, and Brooke came close to understanding why Haley, without a strong family to fall back on, would tie herself to Nathan so early. In ways that even I didn't truly understand, Brooke understood why Haley had left Nathan.

My life would be different without Brooke. She'd convinced me to take a road trip to New York to find Haley, and Haley in New York had convinced me to marry Jake and we'd brought back Haley. Brooke had played a major role in my breaking up with Nathan, and then in turn falling in love with Lucas, even if he had broken my heart. She was an amazing friend, even during the stretch that I'd lied to her about my relationship with her boyfriend. Brooke fooled almost everyone into believing that she was more than a beautiful face.

"Mommy!" called Jenny. I stayed in my position, leaned against the bathtub, and she quickly found me. Throwing herself at me, I held her tightly.

"How was your day?" I asked her.

"Good," she answered simply. Would it be nice, to have days that were simply bad or good?

"And yours?" I looked up at Jake, who entered the room behind me.

"Whitey's getting old," he said sadly. Whitey had always been old, but during our Senior year he'd had a minor stroke and had lost some of his vision-because of this, we'd recently learned that he was being forced into retirement. None of us understood why this seemed so crazy-he was, after all, in his late seventies.

"I know. Whitey's distant, but in so many ways he's a father to all of us," I said.

"We all have that, you notice? Whitey never had kids so he plays somewhat of a father to you and to even Luke and Nate. Karen only ever had a son so she mothers your and Haley. It's amazing, the place we live in," he said, sinking down beside me, glancing at my still flat abdomen as he did so.

"Yeah. Deep, by the way," I commented. Jenny grew bored of my lap and wandered over to the sink, and began to pull down the objects from it.

"Yeah. I'm just in that kind of mood-I saw Mom and Dad, they send their regards and congratulations and we've been offered a crib," he said.

"Well we don't need it-we have Jenny's everything," I said.

"But Jenny needs that."

"Jake, by the time baby is born Jenny will be too old for her high chair, her crib, her stroller and her changing table," I pointed out.

"Don't say those things," he said. I giggled.

Downstairs we suddenly heard the door open, and feet charge up the steps. To our surprise Karen appeared and thrust a magazine at us-we gaped at the cover.

"Taylor?" I said in surprise. I picked up my phone to call Haley.