So here I am. In my car. On the way to Haley James's house. This is so weird. I've known her for what? Little more than 48 hours? But I just really want to hang out with her. Have you ever had a feeling about someone…and you didn't understand the feeling or where it came from, but it's still there? It's like that. I don't have a crush on her…at least I don't think so….but I don't want to hang out with her just to be her friend, you know?
I knock on the door and when no-body answers I'm actually semi relieved. I wasn't to sure how I would explain my being there. I'm half way down the steps when I hear the door open and I turn around quickly.
There's Haley….carrying a small child. Could this be? Haley James- teen mom?
She seems to be able to read my stare and rolls her eyes at me.
"She's not mine you nitwit. My sister and her family are here for the weekend."
"I didn't think she was yours…" I say unconvincingly.
There's a moment of a silence before we both start laughing. I look at the little girl in Haley's arms. She must be about 3, and she's peering shyly up at me. She's adorable- with big green eyes and a halo of auburn curls.
After our laughter subsides there's another moment of silence. A little more awkward this time.
"I just wondered if maybe you'd want to hang out today?"
A big smile slowly spreads across her face.
"Come in," she says, "oh, and this is Amy"
I follow Haley into the house and smile at Amy who's watching me over Haley's shoulder.
"Hey there Amy.."
She giggles one of those gloriously happy hicupping laughs that only very small children can achieve and buries her head back into Haley's shoulder.
I take in my surroundings. The James household is everything the Scott household isn't. It's warm and friendly. There are family pictures all over the walls and children's toys scattered all over the floor.
She leads me into the big sunny living room. A good looking middle aged woman is sat on the floor playing with another little girl. This one looks a little bit older than Amy and looks a lot different- she's got a thinner face, black curly hair…in fact the only similarity is those big green eyes.
A lady who looks a bit like a slightly older version of Haley sits on one of the big armchairs with a tiny baby cradled in her arms.
"Mom, Becca this is Lucas" Haley says putting Amy down next to the other little girl.
"Hey" I mumble, raising my hand slightly in greeting and giving all the ladies in the room a sheepish smile. I feel so uncomfortable. Not because they're making me uncomfortable….but I guess it's just…I just wanted to hang out with Haley and I seem to have stumbled upon some huge family gathering.
"this is my mom, my sister Becca and her kids- Lori," she gestures to the dark haired girl, "Sam," the baby I'm assuming, "And you've already met Amy."
I wave awkwardly again. God I feel so stupid…
"So you've stumbled into a house full of women…" Becca smiles at me, "Dad and Jerry couldn't hack it, they've gone off to do their manly things. Sammy here's the only real man in our family…" she laughs. She looks at bit like Haley when she laughs.
"Have a seat Lucas." Haley's mom says as if she's known me forever.
"We're actually gonna go out mom…."
We are? Thank god. Not that I don't like Haley's family…They seem really awesome. Definitely cooler than my family, but I've only just decided I'd like to get to know Haley better…I'm not sure if I'm ready for a full on family get together.
I follow Haley as she goes to get her coat (a plain black woollen one- surprisingly normal for her)
"So we're headed out?"
"Yea- sorry I didn't ask you, but I just assumed babysitting my sister and her brood wasn't exactly what you had in mind when you suggested hanging out."
I grin, "Not really no."
"So what do you want to do?"
I shrug, "I'm pretty hungry"
She rolls her eyes, "Of course. Typical boy." she grabs a wallet off the side table and that god awful hat, "Let's go to Angelo's"
"Who's Angelo? And not that I have a real problem with it but why, WHY do you wear that hat?"
"Angelo's is an incredible place that makes the best pizza in the history of the world…not that you would know that, as you and your little posse don't tend to venture any further then Starbucks…and I wear this hat because I like it."
I laugh at her playful jibe. I know from her slight smile she's joking. "I resent that…I hate Starbucks and I certainly don't consider myself part of a posse."
She looks me dead in the eye and prods my chest with her index finger.
"You insult my hat, I insult you….Guess we're even."
I go to get into the car but she tells me we should walk. So we do. It's a 20 minute walk and it flies by. I don't think I've ever met a girl so interesting.
Angelo's turns out to be a small building in a row of shops down a street that I swear I've never seen before…which is weird since Tree Hill is so tiny.
It also turns out to be one hell of a pizzeria and I strongly recommend it.
It's lighting is warm but not dim. I hate restaurants with dim lighting…Brooke loves them, thinks it's romantic or something- she was always dragging me to them…and I promise you- the dimmer the lighting, the more expensive the food. None of the tables and chairs in this place match, it's packed with people and it's loud and noisy- you can hear loud laughter and the clanking of plates coming from the kitchen…everything is ridiculously haphazard- the paintings on the walls range from Monet knock offs to canvas's by unknown artists from Tree Hill. I find myself in love with it immediately. Ever since I can remember, everything in my life has been so freakin orderly. My mom always insists on matching towels and everything in the bathroom has to have the same scent on whatever. That's why I liked Haley's house and that's why I like this place.
Haley walks up to the young guy behind the counter.
"Hey Haley" he greets her with a shy smile.
"Hey Jeff, you wouldn't have any spare tables would you?"
It just so happens they have one spare table right near the window. Haley's favourite table, weirdly enough.
It takes about 10 minutes to even get to the table as Haley seems to be stopping to greet one of the waiters or the chefs every 5 seconds.
"So you know these people pretty well?" I ask once we finally get seated.
"Yeah, I guess…we've been coming here since I was like 5."
"Well if it isn't one of the James clan!" A loud voice comes from across the room.
Haley stands up with a huge beam on her face and throws her arms around the owner of the voice…a tall, lean, grey haired man with a heavily lined face, full of character.
After being introduced I figure out the following. The man is called Roberto and owns the restauraunt…an old family friend apparently. He points out a picture on the wall- it's a framed photograph of Haley's family. Once Roberto leaves, Haley points herself out on the picture.
"I was such a runt," she says laughing at the picture, "I wanted to be just like my older sisters…"
Not only do I find myself liking Haley more and more, I also find myself envying her more and more. She has this incredible family. A family who care for and support each other. A family who everybody knows and loves…they have their picture on the wall of a restauraunt for Gods sake….
They have less people in their house then we do in our house but where our house seems empty, their's is over flowing.
I watch Haley eat her pizza (and she's right by the way- best pizza in the history of the world) and I find myself wondering again about her. Why is she so different to all the other girls at school? Well, when I say all the other girls, I really mean Brooke…. I picture Brooke in my head and compare her straight, polished dark brown hair to the tangled, auburn mess falling over Haley's shoulders. I compare Brookes sharp, sultry features to Haley's soft, pretty face. Brooke's fashionable, pale green cashmere coat to Haley's plain black wollen coat. I try to imagine Brooke playing with or carrying a 3 year old girl…letting her tug on that glossy hair. I can't see it.
Suddenly a pizza crust hits me on the side of the head.
"What was that for?" I splutter
"Don't watch me eat." she says grinning.
He's here again. I mean he's hanging out with me again.
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.
For once, Nathan Scott is not counting the seconds till the end of his bio class. For once he is not tapping his pencil impatiently on the desk or doodling on the cover of his exercise book. But he isn't working either.
He's never noticed Haley James before, but since Lucas mentioned her he's found himself taking an interest.
She sits a row in front of him, two seats to his right. He watches her carefully- not his usual type…but kinda pretty. He tends to go for skinny blondes and blue eyes are always nice. Haley James has brown hair- thick, glossy and obviously unstyled. He hasn't really looked at her eyes yet- he's thinking maybe a dark green.
She turns around to talk to some girl and she catches his steadfast gaze. Brown eyes he notices- kind of a nice golden brown. He keeps his eyes fixed on hers, unfazed that she's caught him looking at her. Nathan isn't easily embarrassed, and he's very competitive. No way is he gonna be first to look away…
She breaks it quickly. He wins- but it's something of an empty victory. He wouldn't have minded keeping the connection for a little while longer.
He wonders if Lucas really is interested in her….then convinces himself no. Lucas can't be interested…he was just asking about her out of curiosity. Besides all his previous girlfriends hadn't been anything like this girl. Look at Brooke for gods sakes! Could Haley James, with her bookish interests and bad dress sense and pretty but completely innocent looks be any more different from the fabulous Brooke Davis? Lucas had his pick of the crop anyway- any girl he wanted could be his in a matter of days. Why would he pick some random girl that neither of them had ever even noticed before. No. Lucas can't be interested he only just broke up with Brooke after all. Not that that seemed to matter- Lucas had been absent from the Scott household for the whole weekend, including the bank holiday Monday. Hanging out with some mystery girl apparently. He had come home on Monday night happier than Nathan had seen him for a long time. Seeing the usually broody Lucas so chipper was a little unnerving for Nate. And since Lucas clearly had someone else on his mind then it wouldn't matter if Nathan was to do something unexpected…ask Haley James to the school formal say…
He had been wondering about who to take for a while. He had broken up with Peyton recently and she was so pissed at him, she probably wouldn't speak to him for weeks, let alone go to a dance with him. Aside from Peyton he couldn't really think of anyone he would like to take, until he noticed Haley James.
Well why not? He could plainly see that she was one of those nice girls. The kind that gave everyone a fair chance and was friendly with most people. She offered to be Jared Binchy's lab partner when he was (as usual) the only one left without a partner. And she did it in a nice way- that made it seem like she was glad to be offering and not doing it out of pity. He didn't know anyone else who would touch Jared Binchy with a barge pole. She was obviously smart and from the conversations he'd had with her when they did group work he knew she was easy to talk to. And funny. And she was very pretty.
"What're you thinking about Nate?" asked Rosemary Malone, the stunning red head Nathan had to blame for his breakup with Peyton. Well, technically it hadn't been completely Rosemary's fault that Peyton had caught them hooking up at Jake's party….but if she had looked a little less hot and worn a few more clothes it would have been a lot easier to resist.
He smirks at her flirtatiously. He swore he'd stay away from girls like Rosemary for a while. But sometimes he just can't help himself.
"Nothing much. Just who to ask to the formal…"
Rosemary simpers prettily, taking his flirtatious grin to be a hint.
"Well, no-one's asked me yet…"
Some girls are just so unsubtle Nathan thinks to himself, losing interest in the game already.
"That's surprising…"
The bell rings and Nathan wants to catch Haley before she gets away. He gets up abruptly, grabbing his bag and jacket.
"See you round Rose…"
He leaves Rosemary Malone with a shocked expression. She assures herself that he'll ask her to the formal tomorrow- or later on today perhaps.
Nathan walks quickly to catch up with Haley,
"Hey Haley." he calls out before she can disappear from sight.
She turns and look surprised but not displeased to see Nathan hurrying to catch up with her.
He hands her a thick notebook.
"Thanks for the notes…big help…"
She looks confused as she takes them back.
"Ummm….didn't I lend these to Rosemary? Unless I've had a sudden lapse in memory or something…"
As ever Nathan is unfazed. He's always been the charmer in the family. He grins that famous charismatic grin and replies.
"Yeah, I was having a bit of trouble so Rose leant me the notes you leant her. Hope you don't mind…"
"No not at all." she smiles gracefully and when he sees that smile, Nathan suddenly finds that he doesn't hold the upper hand in this situation at all.
As he walks away he makes his decision. He's definitely going to ask her to the formal. No question about it.
I stare up at my bedroom ceiling, deep in thought.
"Who're you gonna ask to the formal? "comes Jakes voice. He's sat on the floor at the foot of my bed playing x-box.
I shrug even though he can't see it.
"Dunno."
I do kinda know. I've been thinking about asking Haley…but there's so many things to think about. Is it weird to be asking someone I've only really known for like 3 days? Would she be comfortable with it? I mean, would she see it as a more than friends gesture? See I would only be asking her as a friend but would she know that? Do I even see her as only a friend? Would this be confusing and awkward and maybe ruin a friendship that's become so important to me in so little time?
There's so many questions you see. What if she wants to go with someone else? Like that Charlie guy she's always hanging out with…. Maybe she doesn't even want to go with any particular person…maybe she was thinking of a group type date thing. That would be kinda cool.
"You could always go with Brooke… I mean I know you guys are broke up or whatever, but it kinda makes sense…you guys had everything figured out right?"
Correction. Brooke had everything figured out. Brooke loves formals, dances, proms- whatever. Any opportunity to wear a pretty dress and she would be all over it in half a second. She had my tux and her dress picked out in perfectly matching colours 2 months before this dance was even properly announced. Going with Brooke made sense….but…
"I don't think it's such a good idea."
"Fair enough" says Jake. I can hear the shrug in his voice. That's one thing I like about Jake. He takes things at face value. He doesn't constantly need to pick at everything.
If I didn't ask Haley, who would I ask? Peyton's always good for a laugh- would Nate be ok with that? He and Peyt only just broke up…he probably wouldn't care. He had such a casual relationship with Peyton. People only thought it was serious because it went on for so long.
I sometimes wish I was more like Nathan. He'll make a decision as soon as a choice is given to him. I'll mull over it for a long time- always scared of making the wrong decision. Like I said, Nate's the fireball- his impulsive decisions sometimes get him in trouble but more often than not he gets lucky. He doesn't worry about much and because of that, when he gets hurt or gets himself into a mess, he brushes it off quickly and easily. Yeah, being like Nathan would make life so much simpler.
For brothers- we're not very similar at all. I suppose we're both confident. But my confidence is more quiet. Nathan is loud and commands the attention of every room he walks in to. He laughs outright when something amuses him where I'll offer an amused smile. Our style on the court is a lot different to. Coach told me once that where I'm graceful and take my time, Nathan is snappy and his style is full of attitude. When Nate pays attention he can learn promptly and be brilliant, though he loses interest quickly. I have to turn my full attention to things and hate leaving them unfinished. I analyse and pick at things all the time. Maybe that's why I like it when Jake never does.
Overall I know that Nathan is easier to love. He's more charming and he puts himself out there. Something I never do. I hate letting people in. He's the perfect host for a party. Smiley, confident. Full of boldness and attitude. A lot of people would call him cocky. I suppose he is to a certain extent….but not so much that those who know him can't love him for it.
I don't mind being the quietly confident one. It's somehow managed to get me this reputation for being mysterious. But all my life- we've been introduced as "The Scott Brothers"- "This one's the quiet one and this one's the loud one. And they're both good at basketball…"
Maybe that's why Haley's so refreshing. She has no real preconceptions. She doesn't see me as "Lucas- the quiet Scott brother". She seems to be interested in every side of me. When I'm around her I can be charming and loud and I can laugh at her jokes because that role isn't already being played by someone else. I can be my complete self.
So should I ask her? Everything's telling me yes…but there's still that lingering fear of making the wrong choice. I'll wait for a little bit longer….maybe a couple of days. The only other person I can think of asking her would be her friend Charley. And that's alright- I mean their friends- I could still hang out with her for some of the night. Yeah…a couple more days- and then I'll see how I feel….
Nathan walks in eating a sandwich. He flops into the chair by the side of my bed and carries on eating.
"What's up with you and Peyton man?" Jake asks, still concentrating on the tv screen.
Nathan swallows his sandwich before answering "Yea we're done."
"Like your usual "done" or actually done?"
"Nah actually done. She's more pissed at me than usual and to be honest I don't really care. So it must be over."
See that- that's Nathan and girls in a nutshell. Someone breaks up with him cos they caught him cheating and he doesn't give a rats ass. Now, please don't get the impression he's some sort of jerk off cos he really isn't. It's just when it comes to girls he's a little immature.
"So who are you gonna ask to the formal?" comes Jake's voice repeating the question he asked me just minutes ago.
"Gonna go stag?" I ask with a chuckle knowing this would never be the case.
"Nah" he answers taking another bite of his sandwich.
He's being weirdly mysterious over this whole thing…usually he'd be bouncing off the walls, telling us who his latest conquest was about to be.
"Then who?" Jake asks with genuine curiosity this time.
Nate taps the side of his nose "I got someone in mind…" he says through a mouthful of peanut butter and jelly.