TREE HILL HIGH

Lonely Lies


Lucas drove the car to the side of the road and put it in park mode.

He looked out of his window and saw her sitting there.

Haley James. A.K.A. 'Tutor Girl'

She sat on the steps, her feet separate, but her knees rubbing against eachother, her hands locked underneath them and her head buried in-between.

All alone, except for the numerous boxes that surrounded her from side to side.

Lucas suddenly felt a sense of pity for her. He felt like this was a glimpse of her everyday life.

Peyton nudged Lucas and brought him back to the present, he twisted his head to Peyton and realized that he had been staring at Haley for slightly too long. He honked the horn.

Haley's head jumped out of her knees, she held her hand to her chest, horrified. Her terror-tinted eyes soon relaxed as she saw that it was only Lucas and Peyton.

Standing up and dusting her behind, she grazed around her at the many boxes. She bent down and carefully hoisted one of the boxes up in her arms and walked over to the car. Carefully, she placed it in the back of the truck.

Not looking up, Haley muttered a 'hey' to Lucas. She quickly returned back to the boxes, her eyes glued to the ground. Lucas shook his head and followed her, helping her with the boxes.

Peyton remained in the car, playing with the stereo. She popped her head out of the side of the car and asked, "Need a hand?"

Lucas glanced at her from the boxes. "No." he said, before hauling up two stacked up boxes and carrying them to the car.

A few more boxes and they were fully loaded. "That's it…?" Lucas asked, looking at Haley who was still avoiding his eyes.

"Uh…yeah." she said quietly, nervously crossing her hands over her chest. After a few moments of awkward silence, Haley looked over at the car. "We should…maybe get going…" she suggested.

"Yeah, yeah sure." Lucas agreed, hopping over to the drivers seat. "Luke!" Peyton called out, leaping out of the car. "Two car seats?" she said, raising her eyebrows as though the problem was obvious.

Lucas frowned at her, not comprehending what she was signifying.

"Three people, two seats dumbass." she said, crossing her arms infront of her.

"Ooh." Lucas said, finally getting the point. "Well…I mean…you could…" Lucas stuttered, his hands gesturing everywhere, not a clue about what the resolution was.

"I can just…call up a friend." Haley said, pointing over at her house.

Lucas was hesitant. "You sure…?"

Haley nodded and forced a smile. "I'll be fine."

Lucas looked over at Peyton, she merely shrugged.

"Alright, well, we'll see you at – home?" Lucas asked awkwardly.

"Yeah-" she said quietly, but her tone quickly boosted, "but I might be kinda late, cause I have some things to do."

Lucas looked at her, unconvinced, but nodded. "Alright." he said, climbing into the car.

Haley waved at them as they drove away. Once they were safely out of sight, she sighed and raised her hands to her head.

"Right," she mumbled. "'Things to do'" she said, mocking herself. She unhurriedly walked over to the back of the house, fighting the bushes to pull out her bike. She sighed as she flipped her leg over it and steadied it on the paddle before cycling off to Lucas's house.