AFTER TWILIGHT
Chapter Three: Just A Tutor

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Author's Notes Happy Thanksgiving, everyone:)

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It was like any other ordinary day.

Well, almost. The morning was a sunny, cool one as he walked into Tree Hill High, being greeted by everyone as usual. Everything was routine from the moment he woke up until now. But there was a change in his mood. He didn't know why, but unconsciously, he believed that it was because he hadn't seen her or talked to her since yesterday afternoon. It seemed as if she was avoiding him—ignoring him when he called out to her, not answering her phone, pretending she didn't see him when she past him in the halls.

What had he done? Was she ticked off about yesterday morning when his friends had interrupted them? Was she finally fed up with it all? It seemed reasonable, he guessed, but would she really take it that far? After all, she did leave before he was able to avert them. But wait, would he have really pushed them away to walk her to class? He thought about the answer to that for a moment, and winced at the honest truth he came up with. No, he wouldn't have. If she had stayed long enough, he would've left her there alone, completely humiliating her once again.

"Hey Nathan."

Nathan looked over his shoulder to the curly blonde-haired girl who his half-brother was smitten with. "Oh, Peyton, hey."

Just as he said that, Haley walked past by with her best friend right behind her tail. His face dropped into a frown. Peyton noticed it and looked over at Haley and Lucas, who were now at the locker. She looked back at him.

"What's wrong, Nathan?"

Nathan shook his head, slamming his locker shut. "It's nothing. I'm gonna get to class now. Gonna be late. Later."

Peyton waved to him just as Brooke appeared by her side.

"What's wrong with him?" the brunette asked.

Peyton only shrugged her shoulders.

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"What's wrong, Haley? Come on, I know there's something wrong. You're not usually this pushy."

"I am NOT pushy!" she said harshly. "My day just started off like crap, that's all." She reached into her locker to grab her math book, which slipped out of her hands, dropping to the ground. When that happened, she glared at Lucas.

He retrieved her book for her. "What?" he asked as she continued to glare at him. "I didn't do anything!"

Haley closed her locker and let out a sigh.

"You look like you need a hug. If I give you a hug, you won't bite me, will you?" Lucas asked jokingly. It couldn't hurt, he figured, after all, he was only trying to lighten her up. And it worked.

She let out a little laugh. "I guess a hug wouldn't hurt."

Lucas leaned over and embraced her openly. It had been a while since Haley had been like this. And when she was, a hug from him usually calmed her down. Even if it was just a bit, it still worked.

She pulled away and began to head off. "Thanks, Luke. I have to get to class though. I'll talk to you later, okay? Bye."

Lucas stood there with a smile on his face as he waved to her. "Bye, Hales."

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"All right, pop quiz."

Everyone in the class seemed to let out a groan except for Haley, who was prepared for it. As she got the quiz, she passed it back to the person behind her, stealing a glance at Nathan. She wondered if he was prepared for it. If he failed, it would be her fault. She had not arrived at the tutoring session last night. Not only that, she never replied to any of his calls. Staring down at her sheet of paper, guilt slowly began to eat her up.

About five minutes into the quiz, Haley looked back to see how he was doing. He was clicking his pen against his desk as if he was confused. Then suddenly, as if he felt her stare, he looked up, catching her eyes with his own. She immediately tore her eyes away from him, turning back around.

A few minutes later, the teacher had stepped out of the classroom to run a quick errand. Haley, now feeling horrible, once again looked back at Nathan. His head slowly raised up, catching her looking at him again. Her face had guilt written all over it, and as if he understood her apology through her eyes, he felt himself cheering up quickly. She was giving him some encouragement. He gave her a genuine smile, indicating that he would do just fine.

The class did not let that go unnoticed. When Haley turned back around, she saw everyone staring at her as if she had done something horrible. This time, Nathan decided to save her some trouble.

"What are you guys looking at her for?"

Immediately, all eyes were off her. And she looked back quickly one last time, smiling at him in gratitude before fully concentrating on her quiz.

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It was finally lunch, and Haley had to practically drag herself out of the classroom. She was tired; Chemistry had been so boring, hearing the teacher lecture about principle quantum numbers and whatnot. When she got to her locker, she stuffed everything inside it before heading to the lunchroom.

"I feel so sick," she mumbled to herself as she scanned the lunchroom for Lucas. "But there's only two more periods left..."

"Hey Hales."

She turned around. "Oh, there you are Lucas." She headed over to him, and saw that Nathan had just turned around the corner, heading their way.

"Haley, tutoring—your place at seven tonight, right?" Nathan asked as he walked past her, "Oh, and thanks for the help during second period."

Haley nodded and turned back to Lucas when Nathan disappeared from her sight. He didn't look too happy. "Come on, Luke. It's all okay."

"Uh huh," he said skeptically. "And I suppose that I was to trust you when you told me that there would never be anything between you two besides tutoring."

Haley gave him an aggravated look. "It's not like I wanted it to happen, Luke. Things happen. Just like the things between you and Peyton. It wasn't expected, but it happens."

"That's different," he argued. "You never hated Peyton."

Exasperated, Haley decided to stop. "Let's just stop right here before we make a scene. We can argue about this later. This is not the time or place right now."

Lucas shrugged his shoulders as if he didn't care. "Fine."

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"You got it!" Haley cheered over his shoulder as he placed his pencil down. "You're doing great! See, it isn't so hard, is it?"

Nathan shrugged his shoulders before turning back to look at her. When he saw her ecstatic face, he found that it was too hard to resist as a smile spread across his lips. "I learn from the best."

Haley pulled back from him and sat down on the ground with her legs crossed. Her bright face slowly faded away as one question came to mind. She hesitated to ask, strongly fearing his answer.

"Haley?"

She took in a deep breath before finally deciding to ask him. "Nathan, I need to ask you something... and you need to be honest with me."

He gave her a curious look before nodding. "Sure."

"Okay... I just need to know why were you so persistent to get me as your tutor in the beginning."

"What do you mean?"

She sighed. "Nathan, there were others just as capable as me, if not more. So why did you choose me out of all the others?"

He cracked a grin. "So saying that you're the best won't work?"

She frowned. "I'm being serious here, Nathan. There must've been a reason."

Nathan pulled back a little and stared blankly at her, wondering if she knew the true objective behind why he wanted her as a tutor. By the look on her face and with the fact of why she asked, Nathan was convinced now that she knew. But it wasn't like that. At least, not anymore.

He sat straight back up before explaining himself. "Okay, I know you know. And here's the truth: it started out that way, okay? I admit that. In the beginning, you were just a use for me to get back at Lucas. But it's not like that anymore."

Her face hardened. "Why? Because I know the truth now?"

He shook his head. "No, because you, Haley James, turned out to be more than I asked for. I'm not using you against Lucas anymore, I promise. You're a tutor, my tutor, and that's it. Just a tutor. You're nothing more or less than that."

She didn't know what to feel. Should she feel low that she was only a tutor? Or glad because she wasn't being used anymore? Whatever it was that she should've felt, confusion took over her at that moment.

At least he was honest, was the only defense she had for him. It's not like that anymore, he says. But that means that I was used. Even if it was only for a little while, his intention to start off with was to hurt Lucas, and in the process, me.

"Haley...?"

She looked up at him, finally snapping out of her thoughts. "You know, you're getting better each time with telling the truth."

His face dropped into perplexity. "Is that a good thing...?"

She nodded, somewhat moving her head in a dejected way. "Yeah, just keep that up, okay? Don't ever lie to me."

He was still confused, but decided that it was the best thing to agree. "Uh... okay."

You're just a tutor, Haley, she told herself. Just a tutor. It shouldn't hurt anymore.

But it did.

It hurt a lot.

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