Thanks for those .:.wonderful.:. reviews! Told ya I'd crank out another in 2 days! (By the way, if the speech in this chapter sounds familiar, it's because it's Brooke's President Speech from episode 2.13… I couldn't think of one and write my chapter… it's been altered a little). Happy Reading!

.two.

"You think you know me but you don't; and that means you don't know what I can do. You see me as someone who's a geek… and has all the answers; that's not true. I may not always know what I'm doing, but I'll try make things better. And when I make a mistake, because face it, we all do, I promise I'll ask for your help. I can't do this alone, but if you'll take a chance on me, we can do great things together. I promise, if you believe in me, I'll find the courage to reach for your every dream. John F. Kennedy said the courage of life is a magnificent mixture triumph… and tragedy. A man does what he must, in spite of personal consequences in spite of obstacles and dangers and pressures and that is the basis of all morality." Haley finished her speech, and to toss a bit of humor into her speech, held up a 'Vote for Haley' button. She smiled and quietly walked off the platform.

She walked into the crowd filled with fellow candidates like Erica Marsh, Shelby Wojcik, and a bunch of other people. She wasn't nervous to give her speech, but hearing and seeing all the other likely candidates and speeches was making her want to throw up.

She raced back to her Algebra 3-4 class after the speeches and took her seat next to Randi Shelton. Randi was a great friend. She was great in math, and she always had a witty response, new information about celebrities, and gossip about boys, boys and more boys.

"Hey, you're speech was great!" Randi whispered excitedly. "I know that at least ¾ of this class votes for you. Everyone thought your speech was so sophisticated, and that button thing was so fresh!" Randi complemented, and their teacher, Ms. Lenard, shot them a glance but smiled at her two star students.

When the voting was over, Nathan Scott, who sat two rows over from Haley, elected to be partners with her and Randi for their upcoming assignment. Randi smiled. She had a crush on every guy in class, but Nathan was in her top three.

"Hmm, Nathan Scott, working with the brains of class… do you want answers or are you just here for our pretty faces?" Randi smiled more coyly this time and batted her giant eyelashes at him.

"Just felt like working with our future secretary," Nathan replied. Haley giggled and handed him a piece of paper. "Write you name and phone number in case I want to call you." He lifted his eyebrows. "Oh, I don't mean for like a date or anything, I meant for the project- oh never mind." She blushed and pulled the paper away. He grabbed it back and scribbled his number down. "And you can use that for this project," he leaned in close to her ear, "Or for personal reasons."

Her face was on fire. She was sure that he could feel the hot flames radiating off her face. She whispered, "Wow, new sense of confidence? You weren't like this last week." She decided that two could play this game. Screw sensitivity and morals, she felt like having fun.

He returned his attention back to his syllabus. She took this as her chance. She seductively ran her hand up and down the front of his thigh. They were covered by silky basketball shorts. She glanced down. Red, black and white. He didn't even flinch when she came close to… you get the picture.

"I've played this game before, and I can tell you, no one beats me in 'Nervous'." He said, without looking up from his paper. She decided to play it the hard way.

"Can I really call you for that date?" She questioned, plastering her best innocent look on.

He slowly looked up from his paper, into her eyes, as if he was checking her sincerity.

"Anytime."