A few streets down, Lucas Scott was just walking into the door to his bedroom, immediately dropping his books onto his floor. He slipped his shoes off, kicking them under his bed.

School had been very typical, and he supposed he could take comfort in the fact that he'd scored well on all of his quizes in the past week. Though his grades wouldn't matter much if his game continued to suffer like it had been lately.

The reason was simple, although that didn't change the fact that it was rather degrading. It was your average Boy Loves Girl senario, in which he seemed to be finding himself in quite often.

Love was a touchy subject for Lucas, and if you asked him about it, he'd have a different answer each time, depending on when you asked him. Right now, he wasn't sure how he felt about things.

Brooke Davis was a complicated woman, to say the least, but he was pretty sure that he'd figured her out. Or at least, he thought he had. Normally he was good at that sort of thing. Summing a person up, figuring out what made them tick, it really wasn't that difficult if you paid attention.

With Brooke though, you never knew which girl you were going to get; the spontaneous, alcohol poisoned, under dressed Brooke. Or his personal favroite; the incredibly smart, undeniably sweet, under dressed Brooke.

Lucas was still standing next tp his door as he came out of his thoughts. He removed his hoody, straightening out the white T-shirt he was wearing underneath it. A computer sat on his desk, it was sort of old, but worked just fine. Sitting down on his little wooden chair, he moved the mouse slightly, removing his screensaver.

He still had a few windows open from yesterday. ITunes was open, exposing his full music library. He clicked the exit box, looking over at the other window.

Peyton's room maximized onto the screen, and the site was very familiar. He'd always loved her room, and could see the hundreds of drawings camafluaged over the actual wall paper. Her bed was a mixture of green, gold, and a dark crimson silk. She was there, sitting on the edge of her bed. He was about to exit out, feeling a bit odd at just staring at his friend without her knowlage, but someone else walked into the view of Peyton's webcam.

Brooke, looking just as stunning as she had at school today, was now sitting on Peyton's computer chair, her back turned to the camera. Peyton's mouth was moving, and Lucas's hand shot out to turn the volume up.

" ...wearing to this shindig? " Peyton's voice was in the middle saying. Brooke laughed once, pulling her hair into a pony tail unceremoneously.

" Something fabulous, of course. " She said, turning her head just enough so that Lucas got a glimpse of her slinder nose. You knew you had it bad, when the sight of someone's nose sent chills through you. He was laughing at himself, when, quite suddenly, Brooke turned around completely.

She was staring right into the camera, and odd look on her face. He got an intense impulse to look away, or close the window, and had to reassure himself that Brooke couldn't see him. She wrinkled her nose, glancing at Peyton once over her shoulder.

" This is creepy, some physco pervert could be listening to us right now, and you'd never know. " She sounded disgusted, but Peyton was already rolling her eyes.

" Oh yeah, because there's always a show going on over here. All anybody gets to see is me drawing, or listening to music - "

" Or getting naked. " Brooke interupted her, smiling a bit.

" That too... " Peyton laughed, and walked over to her walk-in closet. Lucas watched as Brooke threw no one in particular a dirty look into the camera, and turned around again.

When Lucas had been either dating, or pining over Peyton, he'd admit that he would watch her webcam. She kept it up twenty-four seven, for reasons unknown to him. It was on her web diary, where she didn't hesitate to write just about anything on. He'd never admit it to anyone, but he probably knew more about Peyton than even Brooke did.

Peyton and him were just recently learning how to be friends again, and he still cared a great deal about her. He knew all about Jake, considering Jake was on the Tree Hill Ravens basket ball team with him, not to mention he was a good friend as well. She'd written pages worth of feeling on her blog about Jake, never using his name, or Jenny's, and it was all very heart breaking. He wished she would come to him with things, but it was clear that they weren't at that point again yet. So he would settle for reading her blog, and leaving anounymous messages of comfort, in which she never replied too.

Brooke's voice brought him back to reality, and he saw that she was standing now.

" I'm sure Tim would love to meet with you. " She was saying, referring to Nathan's big shot, annoying side kick. Peyton was now out of eye sight, but Lucas heard he scoff from in her closet.

" Brooke, please. Even if I was looking, it would definately not be in his direction. " She said, as he arm extended out of the closet, with a black T-shirt, with the The Ramones written in a distorted sort of font on the front, hanging from her hand.

" Ew... don't you own anything without the word unisex printed on the tag? " Brooke asked, catching Peyton's remark a little late.

" Look, if your going to be picky about guys, you mind as well not look at all, because you could do a lot worse than Tim. " She finished, as Peyton withdrew the T-shirt from sight.

" The only reason I'm going to this party is because your forcing me too, not because I'm looking for some pig to go home with. " Peyton responded. There was a russle of what could have been hangers, and a crimson blouse, with a plunging neck-line shot out of the closet. Brooke caught it just before it smacked her in the face.

" That's better, I approve. " She nodded, laying the top out on the bed, before turning back to her friend.

" And I'm not forcing you to do anything, you're going to Felix's house tommorow night, because you want too, just admit it. " She said, tilting her head while looking in to the closet.

" Whatever... " Peyton muttered.

So... there was a party at Felix's house tommorow night. Brooke would be there, most likely on a mission to pick up a guy, or two. He didn't like Feilx, at all in fact. If Lucas bothered to show his face there, things could get ugly.

Or, he could end up with Brooke, if he was lucky. Which he wasn't. Parties weren't his scene, he never felt comfortable at them. He wasn't very big on alcohol, and he was sure there'd be plenty of that there, and that Brooke would be helping herself to it.

" You know, some people would consider that creepy. "

Lucas looked back at the screen, but after a second he realized that the voice hadn't came from the computer. He turned around to find Haley standing in his doorway, looking at him with amusement, She was one of the only peiple that knew that he sometimes found himself visting a certain webcam.

" Yeah well, some wouldn't. " He said, giving her a smile, as he turned back around quickly, exiting out of the webcam.

When he turned back around, Haley was sitting on his bed, picking up his Ipod and looking through it. She was wearing a pair of faded jeans, with a light orange T-shirt that read "Miami" across it's chest. Her hair was down, and it's wavy borwn locks reached a little past her shoulders.

Haley James Scott was his best friend, and had been since before he could walk. There'd been a time when they did everything together, without questions. Her recent marriage to Lucas' half bother Nathan Scott had changed things. She was still his best friend, of course, but she was now his sister-in-law as well, which made things complicated between them.

" And to what do I owe this immense pleasure? " He asked her, shifting in his chair, so that he was leaning on the back of it, facing her. She shrugged, placing one of the headphones into her ear.

" I just felt like spending time with my best friend, is that a crime? " She asked, with a very mock look of being hurt on her face. Haley wasn't a great lier, and it was just about useless when she was talking to Lucas.

" Nathan's not home is he? " Lucas asked knowingly. He hated to admit it, but the only reason Haley would be over at his house directly after school was if Nathan was somewhere she didn't feel like going, or couldn't. Haley's shoulders slumped, and she looked at Lucas.

" No... he's having a beer with 'the guys'. " She sighed, punching a button on his Ipod and falling into his pillows. For a second, Lucas' mind flashed back to years ago, when they'd have weekly sleepovers, during which Haley always managed to win the bed from him, leaving him on the floor. They'd tried to sneak and let Lucas sleep on the bed with her, but Lucas' mom hadn't let that go on for very long. He grinned, and removed himself from the chair.

He climbed his way next to her on the bed, laying on his stomach. She was staring at the ceiling, but looked over him once she noticed that he'd joined her.

" Guess what? " He asked, actually giving her a second to try and guess what he was going to say. He knew she hated it when he did that, but continued to do it anyway. She cocked her head, as if really thinking about it.

" I hate this game. " She stated simply, apparently getting bored with whatever she had been playing on the Ipod. She slid her finger in the circular pattern it required to search through the list of songs.

" There's a party going on at Felix's house tommorow night. " He told her, realizing how odd that sentence sounded coming from him. She glanced up from the screen of his MP3 player, long enough to wait for him to elaborate. When he didn't, she decided to comment.

" You hate Felix, and the last time I checked... the feelings were mutual. " She said, still running her finger along the menu of the Ipod. Lucas nodded, then flipped over onto his back, so that he was studying the same ceiling that she was, and not all all seeing her interest in it.

" I know... but I shouldn't let tha effect my social status. " He said, watching as a cob web floated back and forth, being swayed by the air vent. HE heard Haley laugh from next to him.

" Since when does Lucas Scott care about his 'social status'? " She asked, there was a hint of something else in her light hearted question, and it took him a second to realize that it may have been worry. Either that, or she was totally catching onto his little white-ish lie. Knowing Haley, it was probably the second choice.

" I don't, it's just that- "

" Brooke's going to be there isn't she? " She asked, a hint of a smile playing on her lips. She knew all about Lucas' infatuation with Brooke, because quite frankly, he had seen no reason in not telling her, consdiering she would have worked it out eventually.

He did nothing but nod, a little ashamed of being found out. Haley laughed again, this time a little softer than the last time. She lifted her hand and let it fall on his arm.

" I suppose I may be free tommorow night. " She told him, causing him to turn his head over to her. He smiled, thinking vaguely about Nathan. He probably already knew about the party, but wasn't letting Haley in on it. He'd told Lucas once that he didn't like bringing Haley to those sorts of things. He'd said that she was above drunken teenage parties, and everything they stood for. He was probably right, but Lucas knew that Haley would most likely like to have been at least told about it.

" Good. " He said, turning back to the ceiling. Haley's hand left his arm, and he heard the faint click of his Ipod. He decided to get her one for her birthday, so that maybe he'd actually get to listen to his own for once.

" Wow... " He heard her whisper in a way that seemed as if she hadn't really meant to say anything at all.

" What? "

" I'm... I'm in your Ipod. " She said it like it should have surprised him. He almost laughed, but settled for broadening his grin instead. He looked back at her, and she was still staring at the screen, eyes wide, and unblinking.

" Jesus, there's like... every song I've ever recorded on here. " She continued, scrolling down the list. He finally laughed, and it was his turn to put a hand on her arm.

" Problem? " He asked.

" No...it's just... I like how it looks. " She threw him a look, before turning back to the Ipod. She handed Lucas the other one of the headphone peices, and he stuck in his ear. She seemed to not beable to stop herself from smiling, and he heard her rendition of "Elsewhere" filtering through the mini speaker. Her voice was amazing, and he'd put her songs on his Ipod the second he'd received it. Mostly because he couldn't go very long without at least listening to part of one of her songs. They tended to bring him back down to earth, and it had become quite a habit to listen to her on a regular basis.

" Me too, Hales. "

Okay, so... what do you guys think? This is the first One Tree Hill fic I've ever attempted, being a strictly Harry Potter author myself, I'm trying to broaden my little horizon. R/R! I've been known to check out the stories of the people that review mine...