Lucas Scott lived a quiet existence in Tree Hill, North Carolina. A life-threatening heart disease prevented him from doing what he loved: playing basketball.
When he was sixteen, he had been so sure of himself. He was the star of the Tree Hill High School varsity basketball team and he had been glad to finally call himself friends with his half-brother, Nathan. Perks had come with being a basketball star, of course. The biggest of these perks had been the attention of Brooke Davis.
As soon as he found her naked in his car, he had been smitten.
But Lucas had to shake away his thoughts as he continued to shelve books. A teenage girl with blonde hair was intuerupting his trip down memory line.
"Hellllo?" She snapped her gum impatiently. "You ARE the bookstore owner, aren't you?"
"Uh, yeah." Lucas turned to face her, a book in hand. "This is Lucas's Library, and I'm Lucas."
"Riight." The girl rolled her eyes. She didn't care who he was, as long as he could tell her where the book she wanted was. "Well can you tell me where John Steinbeck's books are? I'm supposed to read The Winter of Our Discontent for school, and I don't see it."
Lucas's eyes widened at the title. He liked to think that that book had brought him and Brooke Davis together. But that was ridiculous. She had left for California eight years ago and never came back. "It's over here," he said as he guided the girl towards a copy.
Across the street, Karen Roe was wiping down a table. The breakfast rush had just ended, and her last customer was trickling out. "Bye sweetie," Karen called after them as they shut the door. The little bell over the door tinkled.
Karen walked towards the back, where she flipped on her little television. Karen leaned against the wall as the excited squeals of Kelly Ripa filled the air.
"And, now, our next guest is Peyton Sawyer from the upcoming Romeo & Juliet!"
Karen gasped for breath as she heard the name.