Hey guys. Thank you so much for all the great reviews! Keep them coming, they really do mean the world to me! Sorry for the delay of the update. I hate school, is all I can say. :) Anyways, hope you enjoy it and please let me know what you think. Cheers. :)

Chapter 9

"I hate history. I swear to god Mr. Johnson hates me." Nathan said with a frustrated voice when he came into the tutoring center. It was still Monday. The Monday after the party where Lucas cut all ties to Haley. The Monday before the Weast dance. The Monday before the race.

"He doesn't hate you." Haley said opening her book.

"He's always giving me these mean, nasty looks. Like he's thinking of ways to ruin my life." Nathan said while taking his books out.

"That's not true. He hates everyone the equal amount." Haley said.

"Have you talked to Lucas?" Nathan asked.

"No, haven't seen him at all." Haley said.

"Maybe he's sick." Nathan said.

"His truck is in the parking lot. He's here." Haley said. "He's just avoiding me."

"Well, you're gonna see him soon." Nathan said.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, if he wants to join the basketball team, he's gonna have to show up for the try outs." Nathan said.

"You're right." Haley said.

"Of course I'm right."

"I'm gonna see him. I'm gonna make him talk to me." Haley said excited. She had that crazy gleam in her eyes that only meant trouble for everyone.

"Let's hope so." Nathan said quietly while watching her on the corner of his eye. He would never admit to everyone, but sometimes Haley scared him. And Nathan didn't scare easily. Living with Dan for years had taught him that.

"He's gonna listen to me. He has to. I'm gonna make him understand." Haley muttered while checking Nathan's worksheet for mistakes.

They didn't talk for the rest of the period. The only sounds in the room were the movement of papers, Haley's muttering about Lucas and Nathan's cursing when he miscalculated something.

After the bell rang they went to their lockers to get their stuff.

"You nervous?" Haley asked from Nathan. They were walking towards the gym.

"No." Nathan said. "I'm just anxious to see who else makes it." Nathan said.

"You're so sure that you're gonna make it." Haley said smiling.

"You don't think I'll make the cut?" Nathan asked a little bit hurt.

"Oh, don't get me wrong! I'm positive you'll make the cut. I just don't get it how you can be so confident." Haley explained.

"Probably because of my dad. All my life he's said I'm the best player in my school. I guess I've just started to believe him." Nathan said.

"I wish I had confidence." Haley said.

"Or maybe you just need someone to tell you you're the best." Nathan said and managed to wrap his arm around her even though he was carrying his books and basketball stuff. They opened the gym doors and walked in. A lot of people were already warming up and practising but no sign of Lucas yet.

"Maybe I do." She said smiling.

"You're the best." Nathan said and kissed her. "Gotta go change. Wanna hang out after I get done?" Nathan asked.

"Yeah, of course. Good luck, Nate." She said. "Not that you need any." Nathan smirked at her before leaving. Haley went to sit on the bleachers next to the gym doors and started to do her homework while waiting for the try outs to start. Soon she realized she couldn't concentrate because of all of the noise and the fact that she couldn't stop looking at Nathan. What's a girl to do? The guy's hot.

She tore her gaze from him for one second to notice that Jake and Peyton had just come through the doors. She heard Peyton say good luck and then saw them kissing. Jake started to walk towards the locker room.

"Good luck, Jakie!" Haley said loudly. Jake turned to look at her.

"Don't call me that..." Jake warned.

"Never do. Good luck, buddy." Haley said.

"Hey, Hales." Peyton said and went to sit next to Haley.

"Whaddup, Peyt." Haley said.

"Nothing. You here to watch the try outs?"

"Yep, you?"

"The same."

Right that moment Lucas opened the gym door. "Excuse me." Haley mumbled while quickly getting up from her seat and starting to walk towards him. Lucas saw Haley and started to walk faster towards the locker room.

"Lucas, wait." Haley said. He didn't say anything. Just kept going. He was midway through opening the locker room door when Haley came next to him and shut it before he had time to walk in.

"Please, just listen to me." Haley pleaded. Lucas glared at her.

"Out of my way." He said angrily.

"No, not until you hear me out." Haley said.

"Not now." Lucas said trying to open the door but Haley wouldn't let him.

"You're gonna have to talk to me sooner or later." Haley said.

"We'll see about that." He said and yanked the door open. Haley almost fell on the floor by the force of it but quickly recovered.

"You can't avoid me forever!" she yelled after him. Lucas slammed the door shut. Haley sighed and looked at the closed door. She felt a hand on her shoulder.

"You ok?" Haley put her hand on top of Nathan's hand but didn't say anything.

"No, but I will be." She said and turned around to face Nathan. "He will listen to me eventually. I just gotta be persistent." she said hopefully.

"He'll come around." Nathan said. Right then they heard Whitey blow hard on his whistle.

"Anyone who wants to try out for the boys varsity and junior varsity teams: get here now!" he yelled.

"I'm gonna go sit on the bleachers." Haley said and kissed him. Haley headed back where Peyton was. She saw that Brooke was sitting there too. She went to sit next to Peyton who was sitting next to Brooke.

"Hey, Haley." Brooke said.

"Hi, Brooke. When did you get here?" Haley asked.

"Just a moment ago." She said while looking at the guys warming up.

"How did it go with Lucas?" Peyton asked from Haley. Brooke stiffened up at the mention of his name but didn't say anything.

"Not well. He won't even hear me out." Haley said miserably while looking at Lucas.

"Well, what did you expect!" Brooke snapped. Haley and Peyton turned to stare at her with confused looks.

"Excuse me?" Haley said after getting over the shock. Brooke realized she had made a mistake.

"I mean, you're dating his worst enemy. How would you feel if he dated someone you hated?" Brooke quickly said. Haley turned back to look at Lucas.

"I'd try to be supportive. He's my best friend." Haley said quietly. Brooke looked at Haley and then at Lucas. She couldn't help but think that maybe Lucas was overreacting. She shook the feeling off and concentrated on the looking at her secret boyfriend.

"So, how are things with Jake?" Haley asked changing the subject.

"It's good. But I still keep having the feeling like he's not telling me something." Peyton said.

"I'm sure it's nothing." Haley said quickly. "You dated Nathan, right? Got any embarrassing stories to tell?" Haley asked changing the subject.

"Well, there was this one time when he decided to steal a school bus..." Haley laughed at the start or the story and looked at Nathan and Lucas who were having a conversation with Whitey.

---------

"I don't care what kind of history you two have. In this gym you will put that aside and focus on the game. Is that clear?" Whitey asked from the two Scott boys who were glaring at each other. They both mumbled something Whitey couldn't hear. "Is that clear!" He asked a little bit loader.

"Yes, coach." They both said. Whitey left to get some papers from his office leaving the two boys alone.

Nathan looked at the bleachers looking for Haley. When he saw her he smiled and gave her a small nod. When Lucas saw that he narrowed his eyes in anger.

"So, how's life treating ya, little bro?" Lucas asked sarcastically. "Having fun screwing my best friend?" Nathan took a step forward and glared at him.

"Dude, don't start!" Nathan warned him. Sure, he wanted to kick Lucas' ass for making Haley miserable but he didn't want to do it in the gym in front of everyone, especially Haley.

"Or what! You'll ruin my other best friend's life! Sorry, but I think Jake's taken." He said getting angrier every second.

"I haven't ruined anyone's life. But you, on the other hand, are doing a pretty good job in it." Nathan said angrily.

"What did you say!" Lucas yelled and pushed Nathan hard on the chest. Nathan pushed him back.

"You heard me!" He said angrily. Lucas pushed Nathan angrily once more and was about to hit Nathan when Whitey came back in the gym.

"What the hell is going on in here!" he yelled. Lucas still thought about hitting Nathan, god knows he would've deserved it in his opinion, but the other guys got between them.

"Nothing, coach." Nathan said. Whitey looked between the guys and then nodded.

"Good, now let's get this circus going." He said. "Line up! Suicides!" Whitey yelled and laughed when he heard the whole group of boys groan.

Haley, Brooke and Peyton watched the try outs in silence. They, along with the rest of the gym, saw the fight that almost erupted between Nathan and Lucas. There were a lot of really good guys trying out but none better than Nathan or Lucas. They scored every time they touched the ball. They were constantly fighting for the ball and pushing each other.

About 35 guys tried out for the team and 15 of them made the varsity. Nathan, Lucas, Jake and Tim were among those 15 players.

Haley, Brooke and Peyton waited for the guys to come out of the locker room. Jake came first.

"Congratulations! I'm so proud of you!" Peyton yelled happily and hugged him.

"Air." Jake said when Peyton's grip started to cause some trouble in his breathing. Peyton laughed and let go.

"So, what are we doing now Mr. Varsity player?" Peyton asked.

"I gotta go home for a while." Jake said to Peyton.

"What? I thought we were gonna hang out." Peyton said with a disappointed voice.

"We are! But just later. I gotta go home and shower and stuff. But we'll hang out later." Jake said. Truth was that he needed to go home to take care of Jenny for a while. Jake looked at Haley.

"Good job, buddy!" Haley said and went to hug him too. Jake hugged her back.

"Taking care of Jenny?" Haley whispered in his ear so the others couldn't hear.

"Yep." he whispered back. Haley let go of Jake.

"Don't I get a hug?" Came a voice behind Haley. She turned around and hugged Nathan as hard as she could.

"Oh my god, you were amazing!" Haley said grinning.

"Thanks for coming here." He said hugging her.

"Wouldn't have missed it for the world." She said and kissed him. "So, what are you gonna do today?" Haley asked.

"Hang out with you." He said grinning. He looked over Haley's shoulder and suddenly his grin turned into an angry scowl. Lucas had just come out of the locker room. He stared at Nathan who was still hugging Haley for a second and then started to walk fast towards the exit that just happened to be where Haley and Nathan were.

"Lucas is coming." Nathan said and let go of Haley. Haley turned around to see Lucas with an expressionless face coming their way. Haley took a deep breath. She had to make him listen to her.

"Lucas-" Haley started when he was closer to them.

"Don't even start." He just said and walked right past them.

"Luke, come on! Just hear me out." Haley said but he was gone already. "Goddammit!" Haley yelled. She stared at the closed door for few seconds.

"You ok, Hales?" Jake asked and put his hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah, just dandy." Haley said emotionlessly.

"Do you need anything?" Peyton asked concerned.

"No, I just need to get out of here." She said.

"Come on, let's go." Nathan said and wrapped his arm around her.

"Later Jake. Peyton." Haley said and waived them. She was gonna say goodbye to Brooke but couldn't find her.

"Where the hell did Brooke go?" Haley asked. They all looked around for a moment. "Doesn't matter. Later guys." Haley said.

"Bye, Hales." Jake said. Peyton waived her goodbye.

"Let's go, Nate." Haley said and they started to walk towards Nathan's car.

"Where do you wanna go?" Nathan asked.

"You should be the one deciding. You're the one who just got into varsity." Haley said.

"Like that's anything new." Nathan said grinning.

"Maybe not but we should celebrate nevertheless." Haley said.

"Fine, what do you wanna do?" Nathan asked. They got to his car. He opened the passenger side door for Haley and then walked around and got in.

"I told you. You should decide." Haley said.

"Fine. I decide that I'm taking you out for dinner." Nathan said. Haley turned to look at him with a big grin on her face.

"Really?"

"Yep, but first I need a shower." Nathan said.

"You didn't shower at school?" Haley asked quickly.

"Nope."

"Why?"

"Because Lucas did."

"So, you need a shower now?"

"Uhhuh."

"At your house?"

"Yeah."

"Let's go to my house."

"I don't have any extra clothes there."

"You can borrow my brothers'." Haley said. Nathan turned to look at her. He raised his eyebrows. "I don't wanna go to your house." Haley finally said.

"Why?" Nathan asked. Haley mumbled something. "What?" Nathan asked.

"Because I don't wanna run into Dan." Haley said and sighed.

"It'll be ok. He probably won't even be home." Nathan said.

"But what if he is? He won't accept me. I'm an East. My family doesn't own a Range Rover. We don't have a beach house. We don't live in mansions! We don't-" Nathan silenced her with a kiss.

"None of that matters to me, Haley. You do. It's gonna be fine. Don't worry." He said and started to drive towards his house. Haley stayed quiet during the ride. When they got to his driveway Nathan pressed the button to open the garage door. It was empty. He turned to look at Haley with a smile.

"See, he's not home." Nathan said and parked the car. They got out of the car and went inside. Haley couldn't help but stare at the house in awe. It was the biggest house she'd ever seen.

"Want a tour?" Nathan asked when he saw Haley's look. Haley just nodded. He showed her the basement first.

"I love pool." Haley said when she noticed the pool table. Nathan looked at her surprised.

"You do?" Usually girls didn't like pool.

"Yeah, Skills and Fergie taught me." Haley said.

"Who?" Nathan asked with a hint of jealousy in his voice. Haley smiled at that.

"Oh, the guys from River court. I've known them almost as long as I've known Lucas."

"Don't you have any friends that are girls?" Nathan asked laughing.

"Besides Peyton? No." Haley said smiling. She walked around the corner and suddenly froze.

"What is it?" Nathan asked when he saw the look on her face. He walked next to her and looked at the room. There was nothing in there except for the tv and the couches. "What is it?" He asked confused.

"You..." she just said and pointed at the wall where the tv and the stereos were.

"What?"

"You've gotta a 42-inch plasma tv." She whispered harshly. Nathan chuckled at that remembering Haley's words from his first party.

"Come on, let's go." He said and dragged her back upstairs. He showed her the kitchen and the living room before heading upstairs. On their way there Haley noticed a lot of framed pictures of a younger Nathan. He was either with his mom or dad but he was always holding a basketball in his hands. In the early pictures he was grinning but in the latest ones he just glared at the camera. There were also newspaper articles about him framed on the walls. Haley took one picture of Nathan in her hands.

"Please tell me the costume was for Halloween." Haley said while laughing at the young Nathan in a pirate outfit.

"Give me that." He said and took the frame from her. He hid it behind some other pictures. "Moving on!" he announced and took a hold of Haley's hand and started to pull her.

"So, this is your room." Haley said when she got in Nathan's room.

"Yep." He said and started to take his clothes off until he was only wearing his boxers. Haley tried really hard to keep her attention on the pictures and posters on his walls but couldn't help but take little peaks every now and then.

"I'll be right back. Don't snoop around too much." He said, winked and left the room. Haley grinned at him. Haley sat down on his bed and turned on the tv. She changed the channel to MTV. Loud rap music filled the room. Haley took a sports magazine from the floor and started to flip it through.

She heard her favorite song 'Diamonds from Sierra Leone' by Kanye West and turned the volume louder.

Had she not done that she might have heard the garage door open and someone slam a car door shut. She might have heard someone open the front door. She also might have heard someone's footsteps on the stairs and a deep male voice yelling Nathan's name. She also might have heard someone open the door to Nathan's room. She did however hear a male voice.

"Who the hell are you!" Haley turned around to find a very pissed off Dan Scott standing by the door. She quickly got up from the bed.

"I'm Haley." She said but realized that Kanye West's voice was blocking hers. She pressed the mute button from the remote.

"Hey, I'm Haley." She said again and offered to shake his hand. Dan stared at the hand coldly.

"What are you doing here, Haley...?" he asked her last name.

"James. Haley James, sir. I'm here with Nathan. He's taking a shower." She said and lowered her hand. Right that moment Nathan came back in the room wearing nothing but a towel around his waist. He looked between Dan and then Haley who was looking at the floor.

"Dad, I see you've met Haley." He said.

"Yeah, I was just about to ask her how you two know each other." Dan asked.

"Haley's my tutor." He said. Nathan went to stand behind Haley and put his arm around her. "And my girlfriend." He said. Dan looked at Nathan and Haley.

"I see." He said coldly. "Haley James your name?" he then asked. Haley looked at him with a surprised face.

"Yeah, that's me."

"Any relation to Brian and Chris James?" he asked with narrowed eyes. Haley smiled a little.

"They're my brothers." She said.

"Good players. I saw them playing against West on the first round of state tournament some years ago." Dan said remembering the game.

"Yeah, I saw that game too." Haley said smiling a little. She was so happy that the conversation with Dan was going well.

"Do you play basketball?" Dan asked.

"On my free time yes but not in a team." Haley said. Dan wasn't too pleased with that.

"Haley plays soccer." Nathan said.

"Uhhuh." He said with an uninterested voice. "How did the try outs go?" he asked from Nathan.

"Good." Nathan said.

"Only good? Good is not enough for the scouts." Dan said.

"I know, dad." Nathan said with an annoyed voice.

"I expect more from you, Nathan." Dan said before leaving. Nathan slammed the door shut angrily.

"You ok?" Haley asked.

"Yeah, he's just so..." He said looking for a word while taking clothes out of his closet.

"Demonic?" Haley suggested and jumped on the bed while turning the tv on again. Nathan chuckled at the suggestion.

"Hey, you ready to go?" he asked. Haley turned around to look at him and noticed that he was now wearing a pair of jeans and a t-shirt.

"Yeah. Let's go, handsome." She said and slapped him in the butt when he opened the door.

-------

"I'm so full." Haley said while holding her stomach. "That was so good." She said when Nathan paid the waiter.

"It's just mac & cheese." Nathan said smiling.

"Just? Just! Oh, honey you're so wrong." Haley said smiling.

"You're crazy." Nathan said laughing.

"Shall we go?" Haley asked.

"Sure." He said and got up. "You want me to take you home?"

"No, unless you have to go home."

"Hell no. The less I see my dad the better." He said while opening the passenger side door for Haley.

"Wanna just drive around?" Haley asked.

"Sure." He said and sped off from the parking lot.

"Hey, do not touch the stereos." Nathan said when Haley started to go through the radio stations.

"Just drive." She said smiling. "Where are all your cd's?" Haley asked when there was nothing good on radio.

"In the glove compartment." He said. Haley opened it and chose a cd from there.

"You listen to Ludacris?" Nathan asked surprised when he heard the music start.

"Who doesn't?" she asked while going through the rest of the cd's. "Ooh, I love Kanye." She mumbled.

"Wanna go hang out at the beach?" he asked.

"Yeah, I haven't been there forever." She said. Nathan drove them there and they sat down on the warm sand.

"I gotta ask you something." Nathan said suddenly. Haley turned to look at him. She was sitting between his legs, leaning on his chest.

"What is it?"

"Will you go to the Weast with me?" he asked. Haley looked at him.

"Nathan, I really don't like formal dances."

"Me neither. But we still gotta go. It's compulsory for us."

"I'm just gonna call in sick or something."

"Or you could just go with me."

"I hate dancing." She said.

"Me too. Come on, Hales. We'll go there, spike the punch, make fun of the teachers... It'll be fun." He said.

"I don't know..." Haley said. Nathan saw that Haley was starting to cave in already.

"I don't wanna go without you." He said while kissing her neck softly. Haley moaned at the feel of Nathan's lips on her neck. Nathan kissed her some more while rubbing his hands on her stomach.

"Ok." She said weakly after few seconds. She turned around and they laid down on the beach Haley on top. They were making out pretty heavily when suddenly Haley heard some noises. She sat up.

"Did you hear that?" she asked and looked around.

"Hear what?" Nathan asked and looked around but all he could see was sand because of still lying on his back.

"I swear to god I heard someone." Haley said and looked down. She was sitting on top of Nathan, legs on both side of him. Haley blushed at the position and got up.

"It's creepy in here." She said and shivered. Nathan got up and wrapped his arm around her.

"Don't worry, I'm sure there's no one here. But we should leave anyways. It's getting late." He said and they started to walk towards his car.

"I can't believe I said yes to going to the stupid dance with you." Haley whined.

"I can be quite persuasive." Nathan grinned.

"That you can." She said.

"It's gonna be fun, don't worry." Nathan said while opening the door for her.

"I have to get a dress." Haley whined while getting in.

"You can ask Brooke or Peyton to help you." Nathan said.

"Peyton." Haley said. Nathan turned to engine on and started to drive towards Haley's house. After the car was out of sight, two persons behind a tree sighed in relief.

"That was close." Brooke said.

"Did you see them?" Lucas asked angrily.

"Yeah, they were kissing." Brooke said bored.

"More like making out."

"Well, they are dating." Brooke said.

"But you saw them, right? He was practically forcing her to take her clothes off." Lucas said.

"Luke, she was on top." Brooke sighed.

"Whatever." He said.

"Remind me again why I put up with this." she said. Lucas took her in his arms and kissed her gently.

"I'll tell her after the race." He said.

"I still don't understand why we can't tell her now." Brooke said.

"She just has a lot of going on now." Lucas said thinking about the race. Sure, he was mad at Haley but he still wanted to win the race.

"What makes you think it'll be any different after Saturday. Let me remind you it's already Monday. The race is this Saturday."

"It'll be different, trust me." He said. Lucas was certain that after the race when Nathan found out that Haley was the racer, he would break up with her.

"I hate this sneaking around." Brooke whined. Lucas kissed her once more. "Although it's pretty sexy." She then said smiling.

"Good, because you're sexy too." Lucas said while kissing her neck.

"What do you say we finish what the Tutor-couple started?" Brooke said. Lucas responded by taking her in his arms and carrying her towards the beach.

So, what do you think? Good? Bad? Would you change something?

-Fes-