Chapter 3
"Brooke!" Peyton yelled as she grabbed the brunette by the arm and pulled her away from the hordes of guys that she was flirting with.
"Hey! I was working on something." Brooke retorted in annoyance. She shot the good-looking jock she was toying with an apologetic smile as she walked away with Peyton.
"Nathan's telling us what's up his sleeve, remember?" Peyton spoke quickly. She had been anxious all night over what elaborate plan Nathan had and what part she was going to have in it. Usually, Peyton took a backstage during the plan process—she'd just tell Nathan whatever it was he decided was a good idea. But the thought of participating in one of his master plans? A player? That wasn't her—Brooke maybe, but not her and that look in Nathan's eye before he had left the gym scared Peyton.
"Where is he?" Peyton moaned, as the two stood in front of Nathan's locker, but he was nowhere in sight. She looked down the hallway and Brooke rolled her eyes.
"He's probably still in bed. This is Nathan."
Just then Peyton pointed behind her and the two turned to see Nathan strolling down the hallway towards them. He had a cocky smirk on his face, as he winked and greeted a few students. Tim stood by him, laughing and making little comments to Nathan. Peyton couldn't help but chuckle at the thought that Nathan had been through what most people would label as the 'most humiliating night of their lives' and yet he sauntered the hallways the next day with his head held high and not one stain on his dignity and reputation. Lucas may have one-upped him one night, but his payback wouldn't stay with Nathan for the rest of his life—Peyton wasn't so sure Nathan's plan was as forgiving.
"Ah, finally our high school boy toy decides to show up." Brooke greeted Nathan as he finally reached them. He leaned against the locker on his side and shot Brooke a smile and brushed off the other guys that stood behind him. Tim stood next to Peyton, closing off the square the four had made that fended off any curious students away from them.
"So what's the plan, Nathan?" Peyton broke in a rushed tone. She was tired and nervous with all the anticipation. Nathan idly flicked one of her blond curls with his finger, only causing her to glare at him and he held his hands up as a shield.
"Fine, fine. I'll spill. I wouldn't want you to get your panties in a twist, Peyton." Nathan remarked, only to have Peyton give him a small kick to the shin.
"Just tell us what you are playing at?" She asked again, this time her tone was serious and determined to know an answer.
"Not a what, but a who." Nathan replied with a grin. His devious grin grew even wider as he looked past them at Haley opening up her locker and taking a few books out. Peyton and Brooke followed his gaze and simultaneously raised their eyebrows in surprise.
"Her?" Brooke exclaimed and Nathan nodded.
"I need to get Lucas back. Right in the heart. And who is closer to his heart than her—Little Miss Happy." Nathan declared cynically as he glared at the back of Haley's head.
"I don't understand, Nate," Peyton said, confused. "What does this have to do with me?"
"Look, she is Lucas' best friend, his sister or what the fuck ever. We hurt her, we double the hurt on him. He hates it when she's hurt, right?" He asked and the other three slowly nodded.
"So how are you planning on hurting her, Nate?" Tim asked, curiously—the question that was on all their minds.
Nathan paused, as he looked back at Haley and saw her smile across the hall and wave at someone. "That's the best part. To hurt her, we have to take away the one thing that makes her happy, the one thing that makes her annoyingly giddy, and we all know that our dear virgin queen over there has been really happy since…" Nathan began to explain.
"Jake." Peyton finished off for him, her voice quiet and Nathan nodded with a smile. Brooke was as surprised as Peyton as Nathan's plan began to make sense. She looked back and forth from Peyton to Haley.
"Wait—you want to break Tutor Freak and Jake up so he can…what, get back with Peyton?" Brooke wondered as Tim grinned in the background, loving the plan already. Peyton looked at Nathan curiously, contemplating the same thing and unsure if it was possible.
Nathan smiled at her and put his arm around Peyton. "Yeah. Great isn't it?"
"Nathan…I don't know…" Peyton faltered and Nathan smiled at her and lightly gave her shoulder a squeeze.
"Look, I've seen the pain in your eyes, Peyton. I know you're still hung up on Jake… for some reason. You still care about him, you still want him and you broke up over something that was stupid or whatever. But I also know, that you two were good together. Better than Jake is with her and with this plan, you can be good together again." Nathan replied, but he still felt Peyton's hesitance.
Nathan sighed. He loved Peyton, he really did—but a lot of the time he felt like yelling at her to stop being so uncertain and hesitant all the time. With a groan, he leaned against the locker, gazing right into Peyton's eyes.
His eyes always made her weaken—he knew that. He could just look at her for 10 seconds and she would agree to everything he said—and in that way she was just like every other girl in the school.
"I'm killing two birds with one stone, Peyton. You get Jake and you get to be happy again. Happy. Something you haven't been in a long time." Nathan said, pointing at Peyton and then pointed at Haley, "And she…she gets her heart broken and Lucas gets exactly what he deserves for trying to humiliate me."
"I-I don't know, Nathan. I-it's like…okay, I do care about Jake. I really care about him, but he's not going to leave me for Haley and I-I'm not sure that hurting her is the way to go." Peyton hesitated. She did, deep down, like the plan—she was craving Jake, missing him and she just wanted the pain to stop. She just wanted him back in her arms—the way it should be.
"Peyton, why wouldn't Jake dump her for you? You're hotter, you're blonder and you're a cheerleader," Nathan replied and Peyton rolled her eyes, not getting the exact type of compliments she was looking for, "Plus, that girl's never going to put out for him and you will, right?" Nathan posed with a sneer. Peyton paused for a moment, surprised this conversation was really happening. Yet the plan and all its components were working in her favour and she did miss Jake, missed sleeping with him.
"I—I…"
"Just tell me, are you in?"
Peyton looked back at Haley for a second before shaking her guilty thoughts. "Yes. I'm in." Peyton said, to Brooke and Tim's surprise and gave Nathan an approving smile.
Brooke was completely baffled at her usually caring best friend's agreement, because even she thought the plan was a bit harsh. She neither cared for nor liked Tutor freak/girl/geek whatever, but breaking her heart? Were they really going to sink that low?
"Peyton, I don't think…" Brooke began but Nathan cut her off.
"Brooke, Brooke," Nathan said, pulling her closer to him. There was a hint of annoyance in his voice for having to coax both girls into the plan, but he hid that well with a huge fake smile, "This is the perfect plan, Brooke. I'm getting Lucas back like tenfold. He deserves this."
Brooke turned around to face him and shook her head, "Nathan, you know that's not true." She bit out and Nathan looked slightly taken a back by her words, but then he pulled her closer and leaned down to quietly whisper in her ear, so only she heard him.
"Fine. Don't do it for the revenge. Do it for Peyton, Brooke. You know how good her and Jake were together and she'll stop all that pointless moping she's been doing. She'll be happy again, which leaves her out of your hair—making you happy right?" Nathan could tell Brooke was weakening, but she wasn't completely sold. "…and I'll throw in a membership at that spa you always talk about too if you help Peyton out." Nathan ended with a sigh and that was when Brooke smiled and gave Nathan a hug.
"This is the best plan ever!" She exclaimed. The four laughed and then began quietly discussing potential ways for Peyton to win Jake back.
Haley stood at her locker after fifth period, pulling out a few books and putting a few back in a rush. A few fell out of her hands and she bent down for them when Lucas came up from behind her and helped her pick them up.
"Hey you," He greeted, stuffing a few of them into her locker for her, as she grinned at him in relief.
"Hey!"
"So what's up?"
"Nothing much really," Haley said and then paused, leaning in closer to him, "But I think you should look out, Luke. I think Nathan's up to something. I saw his groupies and him whispering in the corner before."
Haley was worried. She was always worried when one of the brothers struck the other—she had seen so many confrontations between the two in her life and she had seen some that were pretty out of control and she always worried when things got bad between the two.
"I can handle whatever Nathan's planning on throwing at me, Haley." Lucas said defiantly.
"I don't know if you can this time, Luke. It's going to be bad. I can tell. You guys hate embarrassment. Scotts hate embarrassment—I should know. And what you did to him? That was pretty damn embarrassing, especially for Nathan and he's going to try to get you back and it could be as bad as the time…" Haley began, but Lucas interrupted her by moving his hand up and down her arm.
"Don't worry, Hales. It'll be fine. I'll be fine, I swear."
"I can't help but worry." Haley sighed.
"Well try not to. You have no reason to," Lucas said and then leaned against the locker next to Haley's with his arms folded across his chest, "But speaking of worry, Mom was worried about you staying out so late last night and the night before with Jake," He chuckled.
Haley rolled her eyes and laughed, "She has nothing to worry about, Luke. I'll tell her that. Jake and I haven't done anything. You know that I'm still waiting…well waiting for the right time," She answered.
"Really? Because you and Jake have been staying out quite late recently and you've been going out for a while." Lucas said slowly, but Haley shook her head.
"Seriously, Luke we're not having sex. If we were, I'd be sure to give you all the juicy details."
Lucas cringed, "Then I'm really happy that you're waiting," To his surprise though, Haley didn't laugh back and suddenly got very quiet. "What's wrong?"
"I worry about it though, Luke. That I'm not ready yet and Jake's…" Haley drawled and Lucas shook his head.
"Jake's not that shallow, Haley. He loves you no matter what."
"Yeah? Yeah—I guess," Haley sighed as Lucas pulled her into a hug. She then moved out of the embrace and picked up her books again. "Well, I have to go meet the boyfriend anyway. See you back at home, okay?" She said, giving him a peck on the cheek before walking towards Jake's French class.
Jake started to quickly pack his things back into his bag—he was running late to meet Haley after his French teacher had made him wait after class to give him a lecture about being behind in some assignments.
"Hi."
Jake turned around to see Peyton standing behind him with a nervous smile. Jake suddenly tensed up, realising it was her—his ex-girlfriend and they were all alone.
"Hey," Jake said awkwardly. "Uh…I-I have to go." He quickly said, as he tried to move past her and leave.
Peyton sighed in exasperation and moved in front of him, stopping him from leaving the classroom. "So what? Now you can't even talk to me, Jake?"
"Peyton…" Jake said slowly. He was worried about their close proximity, Peyton could tell as he moved a few steps back, but as he did she moved the same steps forward.
"You know, before we every got together—we were friends, Jake. It hurts that you can't…I-I just…" Peyton trailed, unable to find a way to tell Jake how she felt.
Jake was none the wiser though and just looked at her accusingly, "What are you up to, Peyton?"
"I'm not up to anything, Jake," Peyton declared, feeling insulted at his tone. "Do you hate me so much now that you can only think the worse of me?"
Jake sighed and shook his head, "I-I don't hate you, Peyton," He said softly.
"Yeah. Well it seems like you do."
"I don't," Jake raked a hand through his hair in exasperation, "I-I do still care about you. You were really important to me."
"And now she's important to you." Peyton said bitterly. Her words angered Jake though and he groaned in frustration.
"Look, don't give me that, Peyton. I don't know what you're trying to pull…" Jake began and Peyton cut him off with a sigh. She took a step forward and grabbed his hand in hers.
"I-I just…I miss you, Jake. I really miss you. I can't stop thinking about you and I—it just hurts. Hurts not talking to you, telling you stuff. It hurts seeing you with her." Peyton replied honestly.
"You're the one who broke up with me, Peyton. Remember that? We moved on." Jake groaned, as he let go of her hand.
"No. You moved on. I couldn't, because I thought what we had was special and apparently you didn't!"
"I did!" Jake exclaimed and then sighed, his tone getting softer, "What are you doing, Peyton? What is this?"
"I don't know. I honestly don't know," She said and then laid her hand against his cheek, gently stroking it, "I-I just can't help this…I still love you, Jake." She declared in a low voice.
"Peyton…" Jake said, but he found himself slipping into an all too familiar place. A place where it was just him and Peyton and nothing else seemed to matter. And so, in that moment, he forgot about Haley. For just an instant he forgot her and that was the edge Peyton needed. She saw the flicker of excitement in Jake's eyes for a second and so she boldly leaned in, pressing her lips against his. She kissed him and waited for him to ferociously push her away…but he didn't. To Peyton's surprise, Jake started to kiss her back. For just a small moment, he did—
Until Haley walked into the room.
Haley's eyes widened as she saw her boyfriend and Peyton kissing and a loud gasp left her lips. It was then Jake realised what he was doing, it was then he realised he had slipped and quickly pushed Peyton away.
"Haley!" He exclaimed noticing her. He quickly came towards her, but she moved back.
"You swore you were over her!" Haley declared, hot tears forming in her eyes. Peyton saw the tears fall and she suddenly felt incredibly guilty, "God, you've always been in love with her haven't you? You've been in love with her this whole time and you've been playing me!"
"No, no! Haley, it's not like that at all!" Jake protested. "I'm just so sorry, Haley. Try to understand. Peyton and I—we're just…" Jake stammered, but he couldn't find the appropriate word. For some reason Jake wasn't able to tell Haley that him and Peyton were nothing and Haley saw that.
She looked at him, horrified and pissed off at his explanation and shoved him away from her as he tried to pull her closer to him, to listen to him.
"Stay the hell away from me, Jake. I never want to see you again!" Haley yelled and turned on her heel out of the door, running down the hallway.
Jake was left standing in shock at the sudden turn of events. He was still unable to comprehend what had really happened in the past few minutes.
"I'm sorry." Peyton mumbled quietly from behind him.
"You should be." Jake spat hotly, turning to face her.
"Don't be hostile with me, Jake. You didn't pull away." Peyton shot back and her words suddenly stung Jake as he realised he hadn't. He had fallen for whatever Peyton was playing—hook, line and sinker.
"I-I…I just need some space." He finally declared and Peyton sighed.
"Okay," Peyton said and Jake slowly started to make his way out of the door, but Peyton suddenly took a hold of his hand, holding him back. "But I do still love you, Jake. Remember that."
Jake looked at her confused for a second before nodding and leaving the classroom.
Haley collapsed on her bed in a flood of tears as she cried into her pillow, mumbling 'asshole', 'bastard' through her sobs until Lucas walked into the room and sat down next to her. He ran a hand through her hair and pulled away loose strands from her face, telling her it would be okay.
"I just—I can't believe it." Lucas said softly. In the car ride back from school, Haley had just cried and after a lot of pleading Haley had told Lucas what happened, how she had walked in on Jake kissing Peyton.
"Well believe it. I fucking saw it." Haley cried bitterly.
"I can't believe Jake would do that," Lucas said, as he clenched his fists, "I bet you Nathan's behind this."
"It's always about you and Nathan, isn't it?" Haley groaned in frustration. "Even though Nathan probably sent Peyton—Jake responded. He kissed her back, Luke," She cried. Lucas sighed and wiped away her tears with his finger and then pulled her into a hug, as she sobbed into his shirt.
"I hate them both, Lucas. I hate Jake for this—and I hate Nathan for being the cause of it. I just hate them both so much."
TBC
