Z
Chapter OneCollide
Nathan Scott is not the kind of guy you take home to meet your parents. He's not the kind of guy who gives you a goodnight kiss after walking you up to your front door and parting ways for the evening. He's not even the kind of guy who takes you out on a proper date. And he's most definitely not the kind of guy you fall in love with.
That's probably why none of it made sense.
Of course nothing made sense when it came to Nathan…how was it possible to hate someone so much but have this unconditional love for them at the same time? At first…it was only hate; it began with this undying need to strangle him and somehow…it turned into an undying need to be held in his arms or to taste those lips that made me moan embarrassingly out loud. He was luscious, yes and for a while, I thought that was what kept bringing me back…but that wasn't it at all, it was so much more…it was something that even I was unaware of for so long.
It began one night when I was at my best friend Riley's house. Despite the fact that we had been opposites our whole life, Riley Scott had been my best friend since the day she gave me a piece of bubble gum in the second grade.
I was a sucker for some good bubble gum…truth be told, I still am.
Anyway, she offered me a piece of gum and Stacy Goldberg snatched it from me immediately, causing tears to well up in my eyes. Riley was there in a matter of seconds, grabbing the gum out of Stacy's hands and knocking her to the floor.
And let me tell you, it was a damn good punch.
After a serious time out received by our teacher, I approached her and gave her my best thank you smile, resulting in an indefinite friendship that would get me through some pretty difficult times in my life. I never had any brothers or sisters, or even a strong adult figure to look up to or someone to stand up for me, but that was what I got from Riley that day in second grade. She taught me how to be a fighter.
And I was strong because of her.
But apparently not strong enough to endure the pain of falling in love. That was something, which she hadn't taught me…something that I would have to learn for myself, from him of course.
I didn't know who he was until the summer day he stomped irritably into Riley's room with a glare that stopped me from speaking immediately. Riley had so conveniently forgotten to mention that her cousin Nathan would be living with her for the foreseeable future. So imagine my surprise, when the tall, dark and of course handsome Nathan Scott opened the door and yelled in an ill-tempered voice that our music was "too damn loud". He looked like he had just woken up from a nap, but it didn't stop him from looking stunningly attractive and it didn't stop me from staring shamelessly. He didn't seem to care that we hadn't been introduced, or for that matter that I was even present. Instead, he just growled at Riley and she simply shrugged and hopped off the bed where we had been reading trashy magazines, turning down the music a full notch. "Happy?" I heard her say.
He growled in what appeared to be…ehem, appreciation and then left, slamming the door behind him.
I gave Riley a confused look but she just rolled her eyes. "That's my cousin Nathan. He got here this morning. Don't mind him…he's kind of an ass." I had no idea how I could have missed him when I ran up the stairs to her room but apparently, as she later informed me, he didn't leave his room much anyway.
"What's he doing here?" I asked curiously, still staring at the spot where he had previously been in the doorway. I was not only infatuated by his looks, but also completely confused as to how someone could be so rude and cold.
I later learned that would never be quite clear.
She shrugged, unfazed, still peeling through Seventeen Magazine and staring at the picture of Orlando Bloom. "I heard my mom talking to my Grandma last night about him being kicked out of school a month before he finished his junior year or something. My aunt thinks that sending him away will for a while help him shape up. She's kind of a dumbass."
I laughed lightly and then turned back to my magazine. "Have you ever met him before?"
"Yea, I see him at Christmas every year and on the occasional Thanksgiving dinner…sometimes New Years. Haven't I told you about him? Remember the kid who I caught having sex in the garage New Years Eve…and then on my aunt's birthday with the waitress in the girls' bathroom at Denny's?" She asked nonchalantly.
"No way! That's the kid?" I asked, looking back over to the spot where he had entered the room, bewildered. "He's gonna live with you? You hate him." I laughed. Riley had told me about Nathan and his various sluts and I always cursed him in front of her, thinking what a total pig he was. I couldn't believe that I had finally met him…or seen him.
Whatever; same difference.
She shook her head and shot me a warning glance. "I don't hate anyone, Haley." She said firmly. Riley was a strict believer in giving people chances. She was very non judgmental in her late teens, something that I most definitely was.
But hey, I'm working on it.
I dropped the subject immediately. "So what's for dinner, Ry? I could eat a cow…" I said dramatically, rolling off the bed.
She flipped onto her back and pulled herself up off the bed. "Let's go see what we have downstairs…my mom is out on a date tonight so…"
I clapped my hands together, giddily. "No way! You're mom such a hoe!" I laughed and Riley threw the nearest pillow at me. The two of us shared the same laugh and it was often hard to tell them apart. My dad used to tell us it was annoying…hence the reason we laughed even louder when we were around him.
Riley linked arms with me and the two of us climbed down the stairs, marching directly towards the kitchen. She opened up the refrigerator and frowned in disgust. "Dude, we have no food and I'm broke…"
I raised my eyebrow as she looked at me. "If you promise never to call me dude again, I'll pay for some pizza. Sound like a deal?"
She laughed and grabbed the twenty-dollar bill out of my hand. "Sure thing, dude."
I glared at her and tried to hide my teasing grin. "Bitch."
She mocked me. "Hoe."
I pretended to drop my jaw in offense and then launched myself at her as the two of us pretended to wrestle, giggling like mad. We were, however…interrupted.
"Ooo…cat fight," said a masculine voice from behind me. I turned around to find Nathan leaning against the doorframe, his hands folded across his chest and an annoying smirk revealing his perfect white teeth. After watching the two of us stare at him blankly, with a look of amusement on his face, he stalked to the refrigerator and pulled out a bottle of water, taking a gulp. "Is there going to be any scratching involved?"
I couldn't gain the composure to speak, so I instead looked to Riley for help. She just rolled her eyes. "You trying to start something, Nathan?"
He didn't answer; he was looking me up and down and studying my features as I fidgeted unnervingly. "Stop." I whispered, but not loud enough for anyone to hear.
He laughed when he noticed how uncomfortable I was. "Aw," he mocked "…am I making you uncomfortable?" He was still eyeing me up and down and I could feel his glance stop right below my neck and at my boobs.
I huffed with annoyance. "You really are a jackass." I grumbled.
This just caused him to laugh even more and before I could launch myself forward at him and smack him silly, Riley grabbed my arm to hold me back. She knew me too well and she knew that I was very close to snapping. "We're ordering pizza. You want anything?" She asked, still holding my arm.
He rolled his eyes, fully aware that Riley was holding me back. "Sure…I'll have whatever." He turned back around and made his way up the stairs after giving me a seductive and taunting wink.
Oh, how annoyed I was.
I found myself complaining about him constantly to Riley as we waited for the pizza to arrive and I could tell that even she was getting annoyed with my bitterness. She jumped up immediately when she heard the doorbell ring and as she ran to the door I heard footsteps behind me. I turned instantly and came face to face with Nathan and his beautiful blue eyes.
Ok, so he may be the most infuriating person ever, but he did have beautiful eyes.
"You're Riley's friend?" He asked nonchalantly and it was almost as if he didn't really care but was more just trying to break the silence. Why he would want to, was beyond me.
I bit my lip and stared back at him. "Haley." I was almost sure that I hadn't blinked since I had turned around to face him, there was something intoxicating about his presence and I feared that it would cause a problem in later meetings.
He turned away and nodded. "I'm guessing you know who I am…" he laughed.
"I've heard stories…" I said, clearing my throat and moving farther away from him…my feet were sensible enough to keep me away from him but my brain was pulling me closer.
He laughed. "Don't believe everything you hear, now."
I rolled my eyes. "So what…I'm guessing that the waitress at your Aunt's Birthday tricked you into sleeping with her in the girls bathroom."
He got that triumphant smirk on his face, slapping himself on the back for his conquest. Oh, how it disgusted me so. "Oh well…that one was true…"
"Of course it was." I scoffed in his direction and got up to walk away, finding Riley still at the door, bargaining with the pizza man. I tried to contain my laughter as she flirted shamelessly. It was a good five minutes before she closed the door again. "Any change?" I asked as we walked back to where we had just left.
She gave me a devious grin. "Maybe…" she teased and then after I glared at her she threw the five dollar bill in my face, rolling her eyes. "Some people are so touchy."
When we made our way back over to where I had just left Nathan was nowhere in sight. I scratched my head nervously and Riley simply threw the pizza box on the table and dug in. When I laughed at her, she just shot me a death glare. "What?" She asked.
I just rolled my eyes and laughed. "I'm going to go wash my hands…" I had been raised with good manners my whole life and it was something that I couldn't escape from, even if I tried. I had to wash my hands before every meal or I'd feel dirty…it was like a weird OCD.
I made my way to the bathroom and the door was half opened so I didn't knock, though I realized later that I probably should have because Nathan was beginning to pull down his pants, already shirtless, obviously about to step in the shower. Why he was taking a shower in the downstairs bathroom, I had no idea. My hands flew to my mouth and my body tensed up as I turned and ran out of the bathroom, closing the door behind me. I could only hear the sound of his laugh as I stood outside the bathroom door, leaning against the wall, completely flustered.
It couldn't have been more than ten seconds before he opened the door, with only a towel tugging at his hips. "Can I help you with something?" He smirked.
My hand touched my pink cheeks and I tried desperately not to let my glance fall on to the towel. My body tensed once more. "I just have to…" I couldn't remember why I had come in the first place "…um…" I was a complete mess "…wash my hands."
He opened the door wide and walked back into the bathroom. When I didn't follow him, which apparently I was supposed to do, he turned around and cocked his head inside the bathroom, indicating for me to come in. My eyes widened and I knew that I shouldn't follow him but my feet carried me in and I couldn't stop them. "Close the door behind you? Will ya?" I heard the shower turn on as I lathered my hands with soap and looked up at my reflection in the mirror. I could see the back of his head and his upper back in them mirror behind me but it wasn't until I heard the towel drop to the floor that I realized he was now naked.
Did that just happen?I stiffened up. How could it be possible that he had the nerve to stand in front of me completely naked? Ok, so maybe I couldn't exactly see him…but he was literally inches away with absolutely nothing to cover him. Without thinking, I turned around but then quickly turned back to face myself in the mirror. I gave my reflection an anxious look as I heard him laugh behind me. "Nervous Haley?" I bit my lower lip as he caught my glance in the mirror.
"No." I squeaked. "I gotta go."
He laughed. "What? You don't want to join me?" Something about the tone made me realize that he was serious and I got even more anxious than I already was.
"Um…no…" my voice cracked "…I really should get back to Riley. See you later." I scurried from the bathroom and back to Riley who just looked at me with curiosity and asked if I was okay. I simply shrugged it off and tried to get the picture of his exposed body out of my head.
It wasn't as easy as I thought it would be.