Hey, guys! So, I'm back with an update. This chapter is the race. This is full of drama but I also tried to write some funny stuff as well. Let me know how I did, I can always try something else if comedy's not my thing. Thank you all so much for the awesome reviews I've gotten! They are the best. Anyways, hope you enjoy this chapter. Let me know what you think. :)
Chapter 13
Haley didn't want to be found.
She was running as fast as she could. Away from the school and away from the Scott brothers. She had taken her shoes off but she didn't know where to run. She couldn't go to her house because that was the first place they would look. She also didn't feel like talking to Taylor. Haley knew that Taylor would only try to make her feel better by trying to get her to talk to Nathan and Lucas and that was the last thing she wanted.
She couldn't go to River court or the café either.
Haley found herself at the docks, looking at the ocean. She went to sit on one of the wooden benches that was there. She had never been there before so she was quite certain she wouldn't be found. She pulled her knees up and hugged them.
She had never felt so betrayed. The past week she had been trying to talk to Lucas and explain that Nathan was a good guy and not the same person he was before. And all that time Lucas had been saying she was wrong and how Nathan was gonna break her heart. He had made her feel awful for dating him.
Then she found out that Lucas had been dating Brooke all along. He had lied to her face while making her feel guilty about everything she did.
Then there was Nathan. Haley had never really dated anyone. Just few one night stands with some random college guys she had met when she had partied with the girls in the soccer team. But Nathan was the first guy she had any feelings for. Opening up to him and letting him see the real her had been so hard for her and now she felt like her feelings for him had been thrown back to her face.
Nathan only went after her because he wanted to know their driver. There was some definite irony in there since she was actually the driver and he didn't even know about it. She wanted to believe Nathan when he said that it wasn't about the race for him but she couldn't help but remember him asking her about it at his party.
But the thing that hurt the most when it came to Nathan, was that Lucas was actually right about him. All that suffering she had done the past week had been for nothing, because he had been right all along.
Then there was also Jake and Peyton. She had really started to get to know Peyton. Haley knew that she shouldn't have lied but she felt like Jenny wasn't her secret to tell. Now they were both mad at her.
Haley sighed in sadness and wondered when her life had become so damn complicated.
"Gods must really hate me..." Haley muttered while running her hands up and down her arms. It was cold.
Haley didn't know how long she sat there looking at the ocean but when she saw the sun starting to rise, she knew it was time to go home. Haley walked slowly towards her house.
The hours Haley had sat on the dock had made her realize that she still needed to race. She didn't care about East or West anymore, for all she cared they could hate each other for eternity. The reason she wanted to race, and also to win, was because she needed closure. She had said that after the race she would want nothing from neither of the Scott brothers. She knew she wasn't ready to let either of them go for good but she needed a lot of alone time. But first she wanted to get over with the race.
She needed to win it.
Haley noticed that she was in front of Keith's auto shop. She took the small spare key from under the welcome rug so obvious, she thought, and opened the front door. She closed it and made her way to the back of the store where her car would be. She looked at the car and sighed. She sat down on the small bench on the side of the wall and lifted her knees up again. She massaged her feet and toes a bit so she could get the blood circling. All that walking on the cold ground without her shoes had made her feet numb.
Haley sat for a while inside the dark room. Suddenly the lights went on and she saw a very surprised, very shocked looking Keith Scott standing on the doorway.
"Jesus Christ, Haley. You trying to kill me here?" Keith asked while holding her heart. Then he took a better look at Haley. She was wearing a black formal dress with no shoes on. Her hair was a bit messed up and she looked like she hadn't slept at all.
"Haley, are you alright?" he asked while walking closer to Haley. Haley looked at him and smiled brightly. He could instantly tell it was fake.
"Yeah, I'm great. Just came to pick up my car." She said while pointing at the black car.
"At..." he looked at his watch "...seven thirty in the Saturday morning?"
"Yeah." She said and forced a smile.
"What happened, Haley? I know last night you kids had some dance that had some stupid name. It looks like you never went home." He said and took out a thermostat from his bag. He held it up in the air. "Coffee?" Haley smiled a real smile.
"Yes, please." She said. She watched Keith take two plastic mugs from the cabinet and pour some coffee in both of them. He gave Haley the other cup and sat down next to her.
"Are you hurt?" he asked. "Do you need to see a doctor?" he asked worried.
"Just the kind that specializes in psychiatry." She said smiling a bit. She turned to look at Keith who still looked worried.
"No, I'm not hurt. No need for a doctor." Keith sighed in relief.
"That's good to hear." He said and took a sip from his coffee. Haley did the same. They sat in silence for almost 15 minutes drinking their coffees when Haley suddenly spoke.
"Jake's not talking to me. Lucas and Nathan betrayed me." Haley said. Keith turned to look at her with a surprised face. He hadn't expected Haley to say anything to him.
"Luke and Nate betrayed you? With each other...?" Keith asked a bit uncomfortable. Haley laughed loudly for the implication that Nathan and Lucas were gay.
"I take that as a no." Keith said smiling.
"Yeah, it's a definite no."
"Good, because that would've been weird." Keith said and congratulated himself silently for making Haley laugh.
"Not to mention incest."
"So, if they're not gay..." Keith started.
"It's a long story." Haley said and sighed. She drank the rest of the cold coffee.
"Ok. Whatever happened, I hope you are alright." He said and hugged her quickly.
"I am." Haley said but neither of them believed. "I will be." She corrected. She looked at the clock on the wall. It was almost 8 am.
"I should go home. Taylor's probably freaking out." Haley said.
"Taylor's back?" Keith asked surprised.
"Yep. It's a long story too. I'll tell you all about it next time. But now I gotta go."
"Do you want a ride home?" Keith asked while looking at her bare feet.
"No, I came to pick up the car, remember." She said.
"Oh, that's right." Keith said. "I already filled the tank yesterday so you don't need to worry about that." Keith said. Haley turned around and walked towards Keith. She gave him a big hug.
"Thanks for everything, Uncle Keith." She said while hugging him fiercely. Keith smiled. Haley had called him uncle since the first time she met him.
"No problem. You know you can always talk to me, right?" Keith said. Haley let go of him and smiled a little.
"Yeah, I do. Thanks for everything Keith." She said and gave him a small kiss on the cheek. Haley smiled again and opened the garage door and got inside her own car.
"Oh, and you look very pretty." Keith said to Haley.
"Thanks." She said sincerely. "And special thanks for not asking if I'm wearing a sports bra."
"That would've been my next question." He said grinning. Haley rolled her eyes but smiled at the same time. She turned on the engine.
"Take care, Haley." Keith yelled before Haley drove off. Haley waived back at him and headed towards her house.
It was the first time she was driving her new car and it felt awesome. She could hardly hear the engine because it ran so smoothly. She looked around at the quiet town of Tree Hill and wondered for a brief second what Nathan, Lucas and Jake were doing at that moment.
Haley got to her driveway and went to open the garage. She drove her car inside it and closed the door. She went inside the house as quietly as possible. She didn't have time to turn on the lights before she heard a panicked voice.
"Where the hell have you been?" Taylor asked panicking. She was still wearing the white slutty dress and her hair was messed up. She had dark circles under her eyes. She obviously hadn't slept at all.
"Out." She said and went to sit on the couch. Taylor followed her.
"Are you ok?" she asked concerned.
"Yeah. Just tired." Haley said.
"Yeah, join the club." Taylor mumbled and sat down next to Haley. "You should talk to Nathan and Lucas. They're worried about you." Taylor said. Haley turned to look at her with a confused look.
"How do you know that I fought with them?"
"You kidding? Nathan's been here three times asking if you're back and Lucas twice. And he mentioned coming back in the morning. They've also called non-stop." Taylor said.
"Looks like you had a busy night."
"Yeah, I could say the same for you. Where were you?"
"At the docks. I went to Keith's to get my car about an hour ago." Haley said.
"You spend the whole night at the docks?" Taylor asked.
"Yeah." Haley said with a tired voice and closed her eyes.
"You suicidal?" she asked.
"Only in the mornings." She joked with a tired voice. Then she suddenly opened her eyes. "Wait, did you say Lucas is gonna come here?"
"Yeah, he mentioned that he will come by in the morning." Taylor said. Haley got up and dragged Taylor up too.
"What are you doing?" Taylor asked when Haley pulled her upstairs with her.
"We're gonna change and then we're gonna leave." She said while trying to get the black dress off of her.
"Wait! Where are we going?" she asked.
"Away. Now, help me with this dress." She ordered.
"Away? Are we running away? Lift your arms. Running away doesn't solve any problems." Taylor said while giving her instructions on how to get the dress off.
"I know and we're not running away. Auch, that's my elbow! I just can't see Luke or Nate right now."
"Well isn't the race tonight? Tilt your head."
"Yeah, at six. What the hell are you doing to my back? You're coming to the race with me, by the way."
"Sure. The damn zipper is stuck. But you're gonna see them there."
"Not if you come with me and keep them away from me. Watch the arm."
"So, I'm like your personal bodyguard. Now, that's hot. Lift your legs."
"Both?"
"Do you know how to lift both legs at the same time? Just one, stupid. So, do I get a cool ear button like all bodyguards have? No, the other leg."
"Sure, if you find one. Stop pulling my left leg."
"Stop whining. Now, both hands up."
"I don't whine. Much. Hey, you got it off!"
"What can I say. Getting clothes off is my specialty."
"You ho."
"Thank you."
"You're welcome. Do you need any help with your white, slutty dress?"
"What did I just say? I'm excellent in getting out of clothes. Voíla!"
"Wow, that was fast. I hardly had time to blink."
"Shut up."
"You shut up."
"No, you-"
"Why are we standing here only wearing thongs."
"Because we're a couple of hot bitches, my friend."
"Fantastic. Hand me those sweatpants, will you?"
"Sweatpants? Haley, hot bitches don't wear sweatpants."
"Well, this hot bitch does. Pants, please."
"Fine, here you go. But someone's got to keep up appearances so I'm wearing leather pants."
"I would expect nothing less from you. Hand me that sports bra."
"Sports bra? You're kidding, right."
"Fine, give me that bra then."
"But it's beige. Beige is not hot."
"Who's gonna see it!"
"You'll feel it!"
"Fine, give me any bra you want. I don't care."
"Awesome. Here you go."
"It's kinda itchy."
"That's because of the feathers."
"I can see my nipples."
"I know, isn't it awesome?"
"Whatever. I need a shirt."
"Yeah, me too."
"This'll do."
"You gonna wear that?"
"Taylor, this is a perfectly fine shirt."
"Sure, if you're going to a soccer practise."
"Whatever. I'm still wearing it."
"Ooh, this is hot. I like this shirt."
"It's yours."
"Should've known."
"Have you seen my Keith Scott sweatshirt anywhere?"
"You're wearing sweatshi-"
"Taylor."
"Sorry, yeah it's in the kitchen."
"You ready? Let's go."
"Yeah."
"Take your purse with you. You're buying breakfast, lunch and dinner."
"There's food in the fridge."
"I know. But we're not coming back till after the race." Haley said while getting inside the car with Taylor and reversing from the garage. This time, without any injuries.
"Hey, did I ever tell you about that one time when me and Aaron went-"
"Aaron Whitman?"
"No, Aaron Dawson, my second boyfriend. Whitman was fourth."
"In junior year?"
"No, sophomore."
"Oh! Was Aaron Dawson the guy with the tongue piercing?"
"That was Greg Daniels. Oh, and also Jason Smith."
"The guy you met in Cancun in the Spring break of 2001?"
"No, you're confusing him with Jorgé. The guy I met in Tijuana in 2000."
"Who did you meet in Cancun in 2001?"
"I was in Cancun in 1999. In 2001 I went to Rio de Janeiro."
"I thought that was 2003."
"Nope, I went to Miami then. Don't you know anything?"
"Well, it's not the easiest job in the world. I don't understand how you can do it."
"Do what?"
"Connect the names with the faces."
"Oh, that's because I don't connect the names with their faces, you know."
"Huh?"
"When I hear a name, I only remember the size of their di-"
"Yeah, gotcha. That's so gross, by the way."
"Whatever. It helps me remember, you know."
"So, you were telling me something about Aaron."
"Whitman?"
"No Dawson."
"I can't remember. But Whitman and I had sex in the bath tub."
"Why are you telling me this?"
"Cause you're my hot bitch."
"You're unbelievable."
"Thank you very much. Hey, my cell's ringing."
"Who is it?"
"Oh, it's Nathan."
"He has your cell phone number?"
"Yeah, well after he came over the third time I just decided to give him the number."
"Don't answer it."
"I have to!"
"Don't answer it."
"Ok, I won't."
"Good."
"Hi Nathan."
"Taylor!"
"Yeah, that's her... She's sitting next to me... We're in a car... Haley, Nathan wants to talk to you."
"Shut the damn phone off!"
"Haley is unavailable right now. Can I take a message?... Ok, I'll tell her that. Haley, Nathan says he's really sorry and could you please talk to him."
"Shut off the damn phone before I do!"
"Sorry Nathan, gotta go. See you at the race. Bye."
"Did you have to answer!"
"Yeah, because last night after the second time he called, I promised him I'd let him know as soon as I heard from you so he could stop worrying."
"Worrying?"
"Well, he didn't call me four times just for the kicks."
"Oh."
"Where the hell are we going anyways?"
"Towards the race track. We're gonna hang out at the town till 6 pm and then I'm gonna race and I'm gonna win and then we can come back home."
"Sounds like a plan."
"And a damn good one, might I say."
After about an hour of driving they finally got to their destination. They went to an all-you-can-eat brunch buffet around 10 am where they stayed till the place closed which was at 2 pm. Then they went to sit on the beach where they remained till about 5 pm. Taylor slept the whole time on the beach but Haley just couldn't. Her mind was so restless that she couldn't concentrate on anything. Plus she had drank about a liter of coffee at brunch.
"Mmmm, Michael, that feels good..."
"Taylor, wake up."
"Wha- Hey, you're not Michael." Taylor said after opening her eyes.
"My apologies." Haley said dryly. "We gotta go now." Haley said and got up.
"What time is it?" Taylor asked while they were walking towards the car.
"About 5. The race is in an hour."
"Did you get any sleep?" Taylor asked concerned.
"No." Haley said and sighed. She was so tired but she knew that she couldn't sleep even if she tried harder.
"When was the last time you slept more than 4 hours a night?" Taylor asked suddenly. Haley was in the middle of opening her front door when she froze.
"I can't remember." She said shocked and got inside the car. She started driving towards the race track. "It's been like a week. Last Saturday was Nathan's party where Lucas got all hypocrit-ty on me. I haven't really slept after that. Then finally yesterday morning when we did make up, the Weast came. And I definitely didn't sleep last night."
"Do you think it's smart to race if you haven't slept well?" Taylor asked worried.
"The amount of coffee I drank during the brunch would keep Shrek awake for a month."
"True. After you went to ask for a refill for the –was it- seventh time, the lady looked like she was gonna tell you to make your own damn coffee." Taylor said laughing. The rest of the ride went in silence. They finally got to the huge race track. Haley saw that the gate was open so she just drove in. As soon as she did it, a good looking dark-haired man came to stop them.
"Who the hell are you?" the man asked when Haley rolled down her window.
"I'm here for the race." She said smoothly. She could see the dark haired guy checking out Taylor who was more than happy to flirt back. Haley glared at the guy.
"Nice car. You the racer?" he asked from Haley.
"Actually that's supposed to be a secret till the end of the race. I'm just driving this here for our racer so he won't get recognized beforehand." Haley lied smoothly.
"East or the West side?"
"East." Haley and Taylor said at the same time. They guy was still checking out Taylor. Taylor grinned and offered her hand for him to shake.
"Hey, I'm Taylor." She said in a flirty voice. Haley rolled her in eyes in annoyance.
"Call me Cooper."
"Nice to meet ya, Cooper." He said and turned to look at Haley. He waited for her to introduce herself. Instead Haley just looked at him annoyed.
"Nice to meet you too." She said annoyed. Taylor elbowed Haley.
"So sorry, Cooper. This is my little sister Haley." Taylor said.
"Hey, Haley." He said but Haley just glared at him. "I'm Cooper. I own this race track."
"Wait, you're Cooper? As in uncle Coop? As in Nathan's uncle?" Haley asked not believing the odds. Cooper just nodded in confusion.
"Of course you're related to him. Everybody in this frigging state is related to him." Haley muttered in an even more annoyed voice.
"You know Nathan?"
"You could say so..."
"Wait, you're name was Haley, right. Haley James. Nathan's Haley." Cooper said in excitement.
"I am Haley. Just not Nathan's Haley anymore." Haley said trying to hide her sadness.
"What?" Cooper asked shocked. "What the hell happened? Yesterday when I talked to him he wouldn't shut up about you. He was so excited to take you to some dance with a weird name."
"The Weast." Taylor said. Cooper looked at her in confusion.
"What? 'The Weast?' What the hell kind of a name is that?"
"It's what you get when you combine East and West." Taylor explained.
"Clever. What happened there?" Cooper asked from Haley while leaning on Haley's door.
"I'm sure Nathan will be more than happy to give you the details." Haley said annoyed. She was tired of his questions.
"Ok, don't get your panties in a twist. So, you here for the race? There's a private area on the field for both sides. East on the right, West on the left. Enjoy!" he said and winked at Taylor.
"Bye, Cooper!" Taylor yelled when Haley started to roll the window up again. Haley drove towards the center of the field. There were two small buildings, more like big garages, in the middle of the race track. Haley drove to the one that was on the right side.
There were few couches, a fridge, equipment in case something happened to the car, and a coffee maker. Haley thanked the lord at that moment. The garage was very big but the best part was that there were only few small windows so it gave total privacy from the outside and that was enough for Haley. She parked the car inside the garage and went to shut the door. She and Taylor got out of the car and went to sit on the couch.
"Only 45 minutes till the start of the race. You nervous?" Taylor asked.
"Naw, not nervous. But the tiredness is starting to creep in." Haley said.
"Take a nap." Taylor said.
"If I sleep now, I won't be able to wake up."
"Ok, but after the race I'm gonna force you to sleep." Taylor said smiling. "For one week straight! You need the rest." Taylor said and grinned.
"Deal." Haley said and smiled.
"Promise me one thing." Taylor said.
"Anything. Except ever wear this bra again. I swear to god I'm gonna rip the feathers off any second." Haley said laughing but Taylor wasn't smiling.
"Promise me you won't get hurt out there." She said with a serious face.
"Yeah, or course." Haley said.
"No really, promise me. Don't do anything stupid." She said.
"Yeah, I promise." Haley said.
"Good. Now, what was the West driver's name again?" Taylor asked.
"Tim." Haley said.
"Is he any good?"
"Well, he'll probably have the fastest car from Dan Scott's dealership –so fucking unfair- and he's best friends with Nathan. So yeah, he's probably good." Haley said.
"Well, you're better. Just be careful." Taylor said.
"I will." Haley said and put her head on Taylor's lap. They spent about 15 minutes just lying there talking about their lives when suddenly the garage door opened. Haley turned to look at it fearing that it was Nathan or Lucas. But it was Cooper. Haley saw that Taylor quickly pulled her shirt a little bit lower to show more cleavage.
"Hey, girls." He said while making his way towards them. He was carrying a helmet and huge overalls.
"What's up, Coop?" Taylor said with a flirty voice.
"Not much. Your racer here?" Cooper asked.
"No, he's getting ready for the race. Do you want to leave a message?"
"Here are the overalls and the helmet for him. Let him know that the race starts 6 o'clock sharp. They drive 3 rounds and naturally the first one across the finish line after three rounds, wins. No rules except don't get killed. Can you tell him that?" Coop asked while giving Haley the helmet and the overalls.
"Yeah, sure." Haley said and expected Cooper to leave but for her surprise, Taylor got up also.
"Wait, where are you going?" Haley asked with a panicked voice. "You can't leave me alone."
"We'll be right back. We're just gonna go check that everything's ready for the race." Taylor said and linked arms with Cooper. Haley sat down defeated and started to bite her nails. She didn't want to be alone. Maybe the God was listening because right that moment the doors opened again.
"Haley." Lucas said when he saw her. Haley got up from the couch the second she heard Lucas' voice.
"Get out." Haley said angrily while trying to push him through the door. Lucas being almost twice her size, didn't move.
"Haley, we have to talk." Lucas said.
"No, we don't. In fact I don't ever want to talk to again. Leave!" she said.
"No, you have to hear me out. I didn't mean to hurt you. Believe me, that was the last thing I wanted."
"You knew damn well what you were doing! You lied to my face, Lucas. You made me feel guilty and miserable for dating a West, when you were doing the exact same thing! You even said that I was becoming one of them! So, don't try to give me that bullshit!" Haley screamed.
"Haley, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I'll do anything. What do want me to do? What do you need me to do?" Lucas pleaded. Haley looked at him with an emotionless face.
"I need you to leave me alone. For good." Haley said.
"I'm not gonna do that, Haley." Lucas said. "I'm not gonna give up on us."
"You should, Lucas. Because I have." She said. "Now, leave." She said and opened the door for him.
"Ok, I'm gonna go now and let you get ready for the race. But I'm not giving up on us, Haley. I never will." He said and left. Haley took a deep, shaky breath and went to sit down on the couch. She had her elbows on her knees and she leaned forwards so her head was resting against her palms. Haley didn't know how long she stayed like that but it couldn't have been more than five minutes. Suddenly she heard the door open again.
"Lucas, I said I don't want to talk-" Haley froze when she saw that it was Nathan at the door. She got up quickly.
"Haley, we need to talk." He said and started to walk towards her. Haley took few steps back.
"The hell we do." She said angrily.
"You need to know the truth." Nathan said.
"I think I know enough."
"But you don't know the truth." Nathan said.
"Yes, I do! The only reason we got together was so you could find out our racer! Everything between us has been a lie! And unlike you, I can't stay in a relationship that's based on a lie!" Haley yelled. She was starting to lose control. All of her emotions were starting to come out.
"It hasn't been about that in a long time, Haley. You've got to believe that."
"You're lying!"
"No, I'm not. I'm telling the truth. Trust me." Nathan said and took a hold of Haley's shoulders so he could really look her in the eyes.
"But see, the thing is that... I don't." Haley said in a quiet voice and took a step back. "I don't trust you, Nathan." Haley said with a broken heart. Nathan looked down with a matching face. "And if there's no trust, there's nothing." Haley said and looked down while trying to keep the tears away.
"Haley, I know you're mad at me and I understand it." Nathan said in a quiet voice. "But this past week has been the best one in my life." He said and paused for a second.
"I'm gonna respect your wish and give you your space. But I'm not gonna give up on us. I care about you too much." He said and gave her a small kiss on the cheek before leaving. When he opened the door, Taylor came in at the same time. They both nodded to each other in acknowledgement. Taylor closed the door and looked at Haley in a worried look.
"You ok?" she asked and went to stand in front of her.
"No, I'm so not ok." Haley said upset and started to change her clothes.
"Just calm down, everything's gonna be alright." Taylor said. Haley turned to look at her with a pale face.
"Alright? Alright! Everything is not alright! In fact, it's the total opposite!" Haley yelled upset. "Everything's been turned upside down and I feel like I'm losing it! My best friend betrayed me, my boyfriend lied to me and my other best friend won't talk to me! I'm so sick of all of this! I haven't seen my parents in weeks and I have slept about 10 hours in the past 7 nights!" Haley yelled hysterically.
"My life is falling apart!" she yelled and threw her sweatshirt across the room in anger. Taylor looked at her concerned and pulled her in for a hug.
"It's ok. Everything will be ok. I promise." Taylor said while hugging Haley. Haley stood there motionless without saying anything. "It's ok, you can let it all out." Taylor said when Haley didn't say anything. Haley took a step back and looked at Taylor.
"I'm not gonna cry." She said with a numb feeling inside of her.
"It's ok to cry, Haley." She said. "You can't hold it all in forever. You shouldn't hold it all in." Taylor said looking at Haley with an even more worried look. Right then Haley looked so small and weak. Her hair was a mess and she was wearing huge men's overalls. She was pale and shaking a little bit.
"I'm ok, Taylor." Haley said and sat down on the couch. Taylor sat down next to her. Haley put her head in her lap.
"How did you manage to change?" Haley asked suddenly.
"Change what?"
"Your whole life. You were this party girl/alcoholic for such a long time. What made you change?" Haley asked. Taylor sighed and started to play with Haley's hair with her fingers.
"One morning, it was like a Tuesday or something, I woke up in a town I'd never been to. I didn't remember how I had gotten there and it just freaked me out. I knew I needed to change. I found a bus stop and decided to take the first bus that came. It was a bus to New York and that's how I ended up there." Taylor said. Haley didn't say anything so she decided to continue.
"But I haven't changed my personality or anything. I'm still the same wacky ho from the East side." Taylor said smiling. "I've just left all the physical negative stuff like men and booze out. It was starting to eat me alive. I felt like I was dying slowly." She said.
"So, it was kind of like cancer?" Haley said.
"Yeah, that's one way of looking at it." she said. "Why. What are you thinking?" she asked from Haley.
"I think Lucas and Nathan are my cancer." Haley said in a weak voice.
"No, don't say that." Taylor said.
"I don't want to but I think it's true. They've caused me nothing but pain." Haley said and sat up.
"That's not true. Lucas is your best friend and Nathan adores you."
"I can't trust either of them anymore. I'm just so sick of feeling like this. So lost. It's like everything around me is changing and I just can't keep up. I need to move on. But I don't think I can do it with Nathan and Lucas." Haley said sadly.
"Oh baby..." Taylor said and hugged her. Haley looked at clock on the wall and noticed that it was 5.55 pm. She stood up from the couch.
"The race is in five minutes." She said and started to put the helmet on. Taylor quickly got up and hugged her before she had time to put it on.
"Promise me you'll be careful." She said.
"I promise." Haley said.
"Good. Be safe out there, sis." She said and kissed her on the top of her head.
"I will." Haley said in a monotone voice and put her helmet on. "Can you open the doors for me?" Haley asked while getting inside her car.
"Sure. Be safe." She said and opened them for her. Haley drove outside and noticed that a lot of people had showed up. The starting spot had people on both sides. She could tell that all the Wests were on the left side and all the Easts were on the right side, waiting for Haley to get there.
She drove slowly to the starting line and looked around. She had tinted windows and so did the other racer. Also they were both wearing overalls and huge helmets so there was no way they could identify each other inside their cars.
She could see a lot of Easts on the right side of the car. Haley didn't see Lucas anywhere. She assumed he was most likely somewhere in the East crowd, trying not to get seen by any of the Wests before the start of the race.
Haley noticed Fergie and Skills chatting with Jake. They were all standing close to her car. Jake seemed to be looking for someone, probably Peyton. Haley's and Jake's eyes met for a brief second. Jake stared at her in the eyes and then turned back to Skills and Fergie. Haley sighed and turned to look at her left. She was so tired of everything.
She saw that the West driver was staring at her. Haley couldn't see his face because of the helmet and he couldn't see her face either. Haley just sighed again not really caring about anything.
All the fights with Nathan, Lucas and Jake, not sleeping at nights etc. were starting to take their toll on Haley.
She saw Cooper come in front of the two cars. He motioned for them to lower their windows a bit so they could hear him.
"Alright you two. It's one minute to 6. You go three rounds. No rules except don't get killed. But remember fair game, alright?" he asked. Both drivers honked in agreement and rolled their windows up. Haley could see that the West's car was the newest and fastest in Dan Scott's dealership. It was blood red and very shiny. You could tell that it didn't have many miles in it.
Then Cooper came with a big flag and went to stand in front of the two cars, in the middle. Haley put her hands on the steering wheel and took a deep breath. Coop lifted the flag in the air and waited for few seconds. And then he lowered it down.
Both cars sped off leaving tire marks on the ground. They were side by side untill the first turn where Nathan got in front of Haley because he was closer to the inside. Haley didn't react in any way. There were no cursing or hitting the wheel. Just calm, emotionless face.
They were now back at the start line and Haley could see that the crowd was going nuts. There was at least 100 people in both sides. The Wests were cheering on their driver and the Easts their own.
Haley was still right behind Nathan and she was starting to shake a bit. She needed to win this race. She needed the closure in order to move on with her life. She loved Nathan and Lucas more than anything, but she couldn't let them hurt her again. One time was enough. She knew that if it happened again, she couldn't take it.
They were now in the middle of the second round and Haley started to press the gas harder until she was side by side with the other driver. Haley pressed it even harder until she was in front of him. Suddenly she felt something hit the back of her car. Haley's car slowed down just a little bit, but enough for the other driver to pass her. He had deliberately hit her back bumper so he could get past her.
Haley pressed the gas hard until she was right behind him. She tried the same thing but he was prepared. He didn't slow down. Haley pressed the gas harder until she was right behind him. She could feel that her car couldn't last much longer. She didn't care. She pressed the gas again.
She could feel the car getting faster and faster. The steering wheel was starting to shake a little and Haley grabbed it harder. She looked at the road ahead of her and noticed that she was once again at the start up where the Easts and Wests were divided. One last time.
Those words, one last time, somehow got stuck in her head. She knew that it was the last round and the West driver was still in front of her. She realized then that after that last round, her life would become so much more different from the one it was now. She had told Nathan and Lucas that after the race, they were over. She wanted nothing to do with them. That moment was going to come in less than 30 seconds.
That thought finally brought tears to Haley's eyes. All the pain, the misery, the stress, the heartache; she could suddenly feel it all. I guess Taylor was right when she said that I couldn't block everything out forever. Haley let out a loud sob and pushed the gas pedal harder. She started to drive to the West's right side so she could get past them. Images of Lucas, Nathan, her family, herself as a kid came to her head. The tears were starting to block her vision and she could feel that the car couldn't hold much longer.
She didn't care about that. At that moment she didn't care about anything. And that thought scared her more than anything.
She was finally side by side with the West car. Through her tears Haley pressed the gas even harder but so did the other driver. Haley pressed it even harder and got in front of the West. But Haley didn't feel any joy. By that time she was crying so hard that her body was shaking hard. She was seeing images of Nathan and Lucas and this time Taylor too. Haley pressed the gas even harder, as if it would take her pain away. But it didn't.
She noticed that since she was driving so fast, her car was slowly starting to drift towards the outside of the race track. Haley saw that the wall was coming closer and closer but for some reason she didn't pull back. She just stared at the wall without feeling anything. It was like she didn't care if she was gonna hit it or not. She felt like she was frozen. Then, only few feet away from the wall, she grabbed the wheel harder and turned it sharply to the left so she wouldn't hit the wall.
But it was too late. The right side of the car hit the wall hard. Her car started to spin madly around and she couldn't look at anything because of spinning so hard. Haley closed her eyes and took a deep, shaky breath. She let out one last sob. The last thing she saw in her head was her and Nathan's first kiss.
Then everything went black.
-----------------
So, how was it? I realized after I wrote this chapter that I didn't write enough about the actual race, especially because it's kind of like the basic idea of this whole story. I'm just really not that good when it comes to writing technical stuff. And I also know nothing about cars. But I hope that my lack of knowlegde in cars didn't bother you. :) Anyways, remember to review!
-Fes-