Chapter 12

Haley and Nathan parked his car on the already packed parking lot. Like the name of the dance, the theme was East and West coming together and becoming one. There were Weast –signs all over the walls and here and there some compasses that had the East and West highlighted. All in all, it was one of those very tacky, homecoming-ish decorations everyone's seen.

Haley and Nathan entered the gym with Nathan's arm proudly around her shoulders. Half of the gym turned to look at them. Obviously they were the hot couple of the month that every American high school had. Nathan led Haley smoothly to the dance floor.

"What are you doing?" Haley hissed when Nathan stopped walking and circled her waist with his hands.

"We're dancing." He said grinning.

"Oooh, hell no. I do not dance." Haley said stubbornly.

"Come on. For me." Nathan said and gave her the puppy dog look.

"No, no, no, no, no..." she said but quieted down and put her hands around his neck. "One dance."

"Fair enough." He said and pulled her closer. He could feel Haley's skin under his fingers. He started drawing small circles on the small of her back.

"Now, this isn't so bad, is it?" Nathan asked smiling. Haley sighed deeply and looked around. She saw all those happy people dancing and laughing. She couldn't help but feel like one of them too.

"No, it's not." She said and smiled at him. She tiptoed as best as she could on her heels and kissed him lightly on the mouth before resting her head on his chest.

"Nothing can ruin this night." Haley said and sighed happily. She had the sudden urge to knock the wood again but she shook it off.

Maybe she shouldn't have.

After few more dances Haley and Nathan decided to get something to drink and see who else was there.

They finally found the punch that had a small line in front of it. They waited until it was their turn. Nathan poured them both some of the liquid and they both took a sip at the same time. And they both spit it back to the glass at the same time.

"Jesus Christ, what is this?" Haley asked while throwing the plastic cup in the garbage can that was already filled with the same cups.

"It's like a mixture of watery juice, warm Mountain Dew and..." Nathan said searching for a word.

"Sweat." Haley finished. Nathan nodded in agreement. "Who else is here?" Haley asked looking around the gym. Nathan did the same.

"Oh, there's Peyton and Jake." Nathan said pointing his finger towards one of the tables.

"Let's go there." She said and grabbed his hand. They walked through the dance floor to get to the table where Peyton and Jake were making out heavily.

"God, get a room." Haley said laughing while sitting down next to Jake. Jake and Peyton separated.

"Haley, hi." Jake said a little bit unenthusiastically.

"Mad cause I broke your suck fest?" Haley asked grinning.

"Well, since you ask-" Jake started but got cut off by Peyton.

"No, he's not. And neither am I. It's always nice to talk to friends, right?" Peyton said smiling.

"Right." Jake said. Then he turned to take a better look at Haley. "You're wearing a dress." He said.

"Yeah, Mr. State-the-Obvious." Haley said laughing.

"And no sports bra."

"Nope."

"But you always wear a sports bra." Jake said confused. "You sure you don't have one on now?" Jake asked confused.

"No!" Haley said and turned her back on Jake so he could see that she wasn't wearing a sports bra. Or a bra at all.

"That's weird." Jake said.

"You're weird." Haley said.

"Yeah." Peyton and Nathan said at the same time while staring at Jake.

"He's not used to seeing me wear a dress." Haley said.

"You're actually wearing a dress." Jake said again.

"Well, it is a formal dance." Haley said.

"I've never seen you wear a dress before."

"I know. I just said it." Haley said and sighed.

"Yo, dude! How's it hanging?" Skills asked coming behind Haley.

"Hey, man. What are you doing here?" Jake asked while doing a manly handshake thingy with Skills.

"Crashing the party with Fergie. We are the party crashers." He said grinning.

"Where's Fergie now?" Haley asked from Skills.

"He went to get- Haley?" Skills stopped in mid sentence when he noticed it was Haley standing in front of her.

"Yeah...?" Haley asked.

"Girl, you wearing a dress?" Skills asked while Jake started laughing. Haley glared at him for a second.

"Yes, I am wearing a dress." She said a little bit frustrated.

"You never wear a dress." Skills said.

"Today I do."

"No sports bra?"

"So, where's Fergie?" Haley asked changing the subject.

"Went to spike the punch." He said.

"Thank god." Nathan and Haley both mumbled.

"Oh, there he is!" Skills said when he saw Fergie.

"Do not try the punch!" Fergie said grinning madly.

"Too late." Haley said. Fergie turned to look at Haley.

"Haley?"

"Yes, I'm Haley. Yes, I'm wearing a dress. And no, I'm not wearing a sports bra." Haley said irritated.

"I was just gonna ask that." Fergie said laughing.

"Come on, guys. Get over it." Haley said smiling.

"You lookin' fine tonight." Skills said when he took a better look at her.

"I agree, give daddy some sugar!" Fergie said and opened his arms for Haley to give him a hug. Haley giggled while getting up and giving Fergie a big hug. Nathan glared at the two boys. As soon as Haley let go of Fergie, Nathan wrapped his arm around her shoulders while glaring at the boys. Fergie and Skills laughed at the look on Nathan's face.

"Down boy, we not here to steal her." Fergie said grinning.

"Yeah, Haley's like our lil' sister." Skills said matching Fergie's grin.

"Yeah?" Nathan asked relaxing a little bit.

"Yep, so that makes us kinda like her big brothers." Fergie said still smiling.

"And like any good big brothers would say..." Skills said. Suddenly both of their grins turned into to glares which were directed to Nathan.

"You hurt her, we hurt you." They said and then started grinning again.

"No worries." Nathan said still holding Haley.

"Good, but we gotta leave now." Skills said.

"Yeah, I think the principle saw us spiking the punch. Later, guys. And Peyton." Fergie said deliberately leaving out Haley's name. Haley just rolled her eyes and sat down next to Jake again.

"I'm gonna go to the bathroom." Peyton said and left. Nathan saw Tim motioning for him to go over him.

"Hales, I'm gonna go talk to Tim. Be right back."

"Ok." She said and watched him leave.

"Things going well with you and Nathan?" Jake asked.

"Yeah, couldn't be better." Haley said smiling while thinking about Taylor and Lucas. "I'm so happy, Jake. Taylor's back and she's really changed, Lucas and I are friends again and I couldn't ask for a better boyfriend." Haley said smiling.

"I'm really happy for you, Haley." Jake said. The band started to play a loud rock song.

"Have you seen Lucas?" Haley asked.

"What?" he asked over the music.

"You seen Lucas!" Haley asked louder.

"No, why."

"No reason, need to go over few things with him. Tomorrow's the race, you know."

"Yeah, at six pm right!"

"Yeah. Hey, how are things with you and Peyton?" Haley asked.

"What!" Jake asked. He couldn't hear her because of the music.

"You and Peyton ok!" Haley asked louder.

"Yeah, I guess!" Jake said hesitating.

"You haven't told her about Jenny yet?" Haley asked.

"No!" Jake said embarrassed.

"You have to! She's your daughter!" Haley said.

"What!" Jake asked loudly again. He really couldn't hear anything besides the band. But right that moment the band stopped playing.

"She's your daughter!" Haley yelled. When she realized the music had stopped playing it was already too late.

"I guess it doesn't just happen in the movies..." Haley muttered. She then turned to look at the rest of the gym who were all staring at Haley and Jake. Haley turned to look at Jake with a horrified face but his eyes were directed to Peyton who stood about 10 feet from them frozen. Jake quickly got up and walked to her.

"Peyt?" Jake asked quietly and touched her shoulder. That seemed to snap her out of his shock.

"You have a daughter!" she yelled. The whole gym was watching them. This seemed to be the best kind of drama for them. Even the teachers just sat there doing nothing but stare at them.

"Peyton, please calm down. Let's get out of here and talk-"

"You have a kid and you didn't tell me about it! I'm your girlfriend!" Peyton yelled ignoring Jake's request.

"I'm so sorry, I just didn't know how to tell you-"

"How about 'Hey Peyton, I have a daughter, by the way.' Who's the mother! Is it her!" Peyton yelled pointing at Haley who was standing next to Jake.

"No!" They both yelled at the same time.

"You don't know her." Jake said.

"How could you not tell me you have a daughter?" Peyton asked but before he had time to answer, Peyton turned to look at Haley with a death glare.

"And you! You lied to my face! I asked you twice if there was something going on and you lied straight to my face!" Peyton yelled at Haley. She knew she shouldn't blame Haley but she felt like it was her fault the truth came out like this.

"Peyton, I'm sorry but it wasn't my secret to tell." Haley said apologizing. Nathan came to stand behind her.

"You lied to me! You're almost worse than Jake! I asked straight from you and you still lied!" Peyton was furious.

"Peyton, please. Let's just get out and talk." Jake pleaded.

"You! I have nothing to say to you! Nothing! Stay away from me!" Peyton yelled and ran off. Jake stood next to Haley motionless.

"Jake, I am so sorry." Haley said feeling awful. "I didn't know- I had no idea- I'm so sorry." Haley said. She didn't know what to say.

"You couldn't keep your mouth shut!" Jake asked from her angrily.

"Jake, it was an accident. I didn't mean to." Haley said feeling even worse.

"Well, you still did!" Jake said angrily. "I gotta find Peyton."

"Jake-"

"Haley, don't talk to me! Not now!" he yelled and ran out of the gym. Haley stood motionless staring at Jake's retrieving back.

"Jake has a kid?" Nathan asked from behind Haley.

"Yeah." She whispered. "I gotta talk to him." She said and started to walk towards the exit. Nathan followed her. As soon as they were gone, the noise level rose to a maximum at the gym. This was the kind of drama that just didn't happen in Tree Hill.

Haley ran outside. She couldn't see Jake or Peyton anywhere.

"Where are they?" Haley asked.

"I don't know. Do you think it's wise to try to find to them now? They probably have a lot to talk to about." Nathan said.

"I have to find. Make them understand." Haley said while starting to walk the side of the building.

"You can do it tomorrow. Give them some space now." Nathan said.

"No! They need to understand that I'm sorry. That I didn't mean it." Haley said with a desperate voice. She walked around the corner but froze when she saw two persons in front of her. Making out. She immediately recognized the blonde hair.

"Lucas?" Haley asked confused. Lucas turned around revealing the girl he was making out with. Brooke. Haley stared at her.

"Haley?" Lucas asked. He had that deer in headlights look in his face. Haley looked between Brooke and Lucas and suddenly everything made sense. The reason why Lucas had acted so weird the whole week, why he sounded so out of breath when he answered his cell, why neither of them had appeared on lunch the entire two weeks, why Lucas had locked his door after the party, why Brooke had come right after Lucas on the try-outs and why she had disappeared right after Lucas left.

"You two..." Haley started.

"Listen to me, Haley! It's not what it looks!" Lucas said.

"What! So you two just didn't have your tongues in each other's throats! You two are not dating! Because that's what it looks like!" Haley screamed.

"Haley, calm down." Lucas started. Haley's eyes flashed.

"No, I will so not calm down! Lucas, you lied to me!" Haley screamed.

"Haley-"

"You made me feel like crap for dating Nathan when all this time you went behind my back! You made me miserable with your speaches and all this time you were dating her!"

"Haley, please-"

"I even asked you once if there was something going on between you guys and you lied to me! You lied to my face!"

"Haley, please. I had my reasons-"

"Yeah, you did! Your reason is yourself! You don't care about anyone else besides yourself! You're a hypocrite!"

"Haley, you have to listen to me-"

"Shut up, Lucas!"

"Don't talk to him like that." Brooke said.

"Excuse me! Did you just talk! Brooke, you better not open that mouth again or I will slap it shut." Haley said angrily. Brooke narrowed her eyes in anger. Nobody talked to her like that.

"Oh, I will talk, Haley. Why don't you give Lucas a break. It's not like your boyfriend here is Mr. Innocent either." Brooke said. Nathan looked at her with a warning glare.

"Brooke, don't." Nathan warned. Lucas and Haley turned to look at him.

"Nathan, what's she talking about?" Haley asked with narrowed eyes.

"Nothing. She doesn't know anything." Nathan said quickly.

"Oh, don't I? Is Haley aware of why you were interested in her in the first place?" Brooke asked while glaring at Nathan who was busy glaring at her back.

"Brooke, you don't know anything." Nathan said. Haley turned to look at him.

"Apparently she knows something. So why don't you just spill it out." Haley said angrily. Nathan just looked between Brooke and Haley.

"Well, if you ain't talking, then I am." Brooke said and turned to look at Haley. "The reason you guys got together in the first place was so he could find out who your racer was." Brooke said. Nathan looked at the ground and Haley turned to look at him.

"What?" she asked in shock. She had almost told him the truth about the driver. She felt beyond betrayed. "Everything we've done... It's all been because of that stupid race?" Haley asked feeling betrayed.

"No, that's not true." Nathan said while taking a step towards Haley. Haley took one back.

"So, you didn't wanna try to find out who our racer was when you first met me?" Haley asked with narrowed eyes.

"I did- But then I didn't- It's not like that- It doesn't matter." Nathan said trying to find the right words.

"It damn sure matters!" Haley yelled. "Don't you get it! Everything between us has been a lie!" She said.

"No, it hasn't. It doesn't matter. I never cared about the race or the driver." Nathan said.

"You asked me who the driver was!" Haley exploded.

"Lucas was right about you all along." Haley then said. "I didn't talk to my best friend for a week because I believed you were a good guy. But he was right all along." Haley said. Lucas smiled a little. Unfortunately for him, Haley saw that.

"You better wipe that fucking smile of your face before I do." She said glaring at him. "Just because you were right about him, doesn't make you the good guy. You lied to me for god knows how long and made me feel like shit while sneaking behind my back. So, don't for even one second think that we're cool." Haley said glaring at Lucas.

"Haley, listen to me." Nathan started desperately. "It was never about that! The whole race meant nothing to me."

"You asked me who the driver was!" Haley yelled.

"It meant nothing." Nathan said.

"Haley, I'm so sorry I didn't tell you about dating Brooke. I just didn't want to upset you." Lucas said in turn. He needed to fix things with Haley.

"It was never about the race. I really do care about you." Nathan said.

"You're my best friend, Haley. I would never do anything to hurt you." Lucas said.

"Both of you, shut up!" Haley screamed. She was sick of hearing them talk.

Haley turned to look at Lucas. "You were my best friend." Haley said angrily. Lucas flinched at the past tense. "I thought of you as my brother, Lucas. This past week has been hell for me. And it was because of you. You made me miserable. Best friends aren't supposed to do that." Haley said and then turned to look at Nathan.

"And you. Lucas betraying me doesn't even feel half as bad as the feeling that he was right all along. All the misery that I've had this week was for nothing. He was right about you all along. Everything between has been a lie and you really didn't care about me." Haley said upset.

"Don't say that-" Nathan started. He had to make Haley understand that the race meant nothing to him.

"Shut up!" Haley screamed. Brooke stared at Haley quietly. She hadn't said a word since she told Haley the news about Nathan. And now she was starting to wish she hadn't.

"Haley, just calm down." Lucas said soothingly.

"Just let me explain." Nathan said and then looked at Lucas. "Let us explain." Haley looked between the two.

"What a sight. Scott brothers finally agreeing on something." Haley said sarcastically. "Who knew you two had so much in common?"

"Haley-" they both started at the same time.

"Since the two of you seem to be getting along so well, let me say this only once. To both of you." Haley said and glared at the two. "'Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.'" she quoted. "I'm not gonna get fooled twice." Haley said and paused to look at the two.

"I don't want to have anything to do with either of you from now on. Stay away from me. After tomorrow's race, consider me out of your lives." Haley said seriously. She was sick of all the drama and bullshit that was in her life. She looked at the two one more time, then turned around and started to walk away.

"You can't just not see us anymore." Nathan said.

"Yeah, we won't let you just disappear." Lucas said. Haley turned to look at the two with a blank and dead expression on her face.

"I'm done with this drama and I'm done with you both. Stay away from me." Haley said and turned around. She walked away from them and when she got around the corner, she started to run.

Nathan, Brooke and Lucas stood at the same spots without saying anything. Neither of them really understood what had just happened. Nathan turned to look at Brooke angrily.

"Are you happy now!" Brooke looked at him with a guilty face. Lucas turned to look at Nathan angrily.

"Leave her out of this. This is all your fault!" Lucas said.

"My fault! If it weren't for Brooke and her big mouth, Haley wouldn't be mad at me!" Nathan said while pointing at Brooke.

"If it weren't for you, Haley and I wouldn't have fought in the first place!"

"If it weren't for you, she wouldn't have felt miserable for the past week!"

"Yeah, and I was right all along! You don't care about her! You just wanted to mess with her!" Lucas yelled angrily

"Shut up! That's not true! You lied to her face!"

"So did you!"

"Both of you, shut up." Brooke said angrily. "This is helping no one. Haley left. You might wanna try and find her." She said. Nathan looked at them both angrily before leaving.

"Luke, I'm sorry. I feel like it's all my fault." Brooke said.

"No, it's Nathan's fault. You only told the truth." Lucas said and hugged Brooke.

"We should go find her." Brooke said.

"Yeah." Lucas said sadly.

"Don't worry, we'll find her." Brooke said and ran her hand through Lucas' hair. Lucas sighed sadly.

"I don't know." Lucas said.

"Tree Hill is a small place. She has to be here somewhere." Brooke said while opening the passenger side door to Lucas' truck.

"If Haley doesn't want to be found, she won't be found."