This should feel so weird. It should feel weird that Lucas Scott,. the most popular guy at Tree Hill High, has spent his weekend hanging out with me- Haley James. But the only weird thing about this is how not weird it feels.
Not only is Becca (and family) still here, but my brother Phillip decided to pay an impromptu visit along with his fiance Sal and their 5 year old brat of a child Marc.
My mom decided to make the most of this spontaneous family gathering and made us get a picnic ready to take down to the river. And when I opened the door, ready to leave, there was Lucas. Stood on the doorstep, waiting for me. And I wasn't even surprised.
"We're going to the river," I said to him, "wanna come?"
"I don't want to intrude if it's some sort of…family thing…" he said sheepishly
I assured him that he wasn't intruding on anything, and then my mum assured him, and then Becca did the same. I'm sure he just agreed to come because he was completely overwhelmed by the assurance of a bunch of James women.
So here I am, sitting in the shade of a tree. Watching him play basketball with Lori and Marc. He's surprisingly good with kids.
I catch his eye and he waves to me before being dragged back into the game by a jealous and persistent Lori.
He wanders over soon after and collapses on the grass next to me.
"Your nephew and niece are a handful. A good handful…but a handful."
"I think Lori has a crush on you" I whisper to him, nodding over to where Lori is sat with her mom, eyeing us suspiciously.
He smirks as he rolls on to his side to look at me, propped up on his elbow.
"Well, you can hardly blame her."
I chuckle and lean back against the tree. He smiles, seemingly pleased that he made me laugh.
He picks a daisy from the ground and twirls it around in his fingers.
"Tell me about your family.."
"What all of them? Cos that would take around a century…"
He laughs "Just the ones present if you prefer…"
"Ok…" I look around and Phillip is the first to catch my eye, "Phillip is the oldest of my siblings and he was always the nerdy one in our family,"
"Really?" asks Lucas in mock surprise, "I thought that was you…"
I give him a look but carry on regardless "As I was saying Phil was the nerdy one- I mean the truly nerdy one. In high school he was tiny- really weedy. He had the glasses, the bad hair cut- you name it- he had stereotypical nerd stamped all over him. I don't think he ever got bullied or anything though- he was pretty confident, y'know- one of those obnoxious nerds. Thought he knew everything- still does really…Marc's the same…like father like son I guess. He married Sal pretty much out of college and now he's an accountant"
He smiles and looks over to where Marc is seemingly instructing Lori how to eat a sandwich. Man, I swear that kid actually thinks he rules the earth.
"Yeah- Marc seems pretty similar to his dad. How about Becca?"
"Becca…there isn't much to tell really…As the oldest of us girls she was kind of our leader. We all looked up to her- me especially. I wanted to be just like her. But in the end I guess it was just because she was the oldest. My sister Taylor was the instigator of pretty much all the mischief when we were kids- Becca just encouraged us all to go along with it."
"Hmmm, Taylor sounds fun- when do I get to meet her?"
Hopefully never- I think to myself. Taylor is prone to hooking up with any guy I have the slightest bit of interest in. But of course I don't say that.
"Who knows…Taylor's known for her spontaneity. She'll come home and won't leave for a month and when she does leave we might not see her again for a year. Now it's your turn…tell me about your family."
I knew I was treading thin ice mentioning his family but to my surprise he doesn't get defensive. He just sighs deeply and looks straight at me. His clear blue eyes drilling into mine. If I was standing up, my knees would be jello right about now. He reaches over and tucks the daisy he was playing with behind my ear and smiles thoughtfully.
"Well my family is nowhere near as cool as your family. Until I was about 12, I thought my dad was pretty much a god. I guess when you're 12, you don't really see what's going on around you- your dad is your hero and that's it. Then this one night, I think it was the night of my birthday- I'd just had this big party and mom had a headache and didn't clean up. Dad came home and he got so freakin angry- over a few balloons and streamers. He didn't know I was watching but I saw him. He wouldn't stop yelling at my mom and then he raised his hand like he was going to hit her- I was so scared- I actually thought he would. He didn't but that was enough to change the way I saw my dad. Oh and plus, he's constantly reminding me what a waste of space I am."
I look sadly at Lucas who's planted his gaze firmly on the ground. I try to think of something a little less intense to change the subject to.
"What about your brother? You seem to get along with him…."
He grins "Yeah. Nathan's alright."
I smile. Some boys try and be so subtle about how much they care for people.
He gets up abruptly and holds out his hand to me, gesturing to the court.
"C'mon. Lets play."
"Ohhhhh no- you do not know how bad I suck at basketball…."
"Whatever…"
"anything athletic in fact- I'm just the worst, I can't throw, I can't.." I'm cut off by a basketball hitting me squarely in the stomach.
I glare at him "Oh you did not…."
He grins mischievously and runs backwards onto the court.
"C'mon James, what're you scared of?"
I look down at the basketball in my hands…What the hell? I might suck. But it could be fun….
So I run onto the court, and get ready to lose a game of basketball to Lucas Scott.