Chapter Six: How Far You'll Go
Lucas was miserable, but Haley was happy.
Karen Scott, completely unexpectedly and inexplicably, had decided to accompany the cheerleaders, the basketball players and the assorted fans along to the hotel in Charlotte, where they would stay for a weekend to cheer and watch the Raven's play. An outing considered one of the highlights of the year, where you could party all night, do whatever you wanted with a significant other away from the watchful eyes of your parents.
Unless, of course, your girlfriend happened to cleverly manipulate them into coming along.
"It wasn't even difficult," reflected Haley, as she climbed onto the bright yellow school bus. "All it took was a couple of stories from last year, of sneaking out and getting drunk, and how one girl got pregnant, and suddenly Karen couldn't wait to come along."
Haley knew that such a traitorous act, making his mother follow him to Charlotte, should have made her feel guilty. She also knew that she should have relished the idea of some good, old fashioned alone time with her boyfriend. But try as she might to deny it, try as she might to bring back the old flame, Lucas' betrayal of her the previous year made it impossible for Haley to truly love him as she once had.
Nathan and Brooke were sitting on the same seat near the front of the bus. The sight of them made Haley grin. Their coming along fit in perfectly with her plan, yet had happened completely by chance.
"Kind people are so easy to manipulate," thought Haley. "All I had to do was to mention something about alone time with Luke and Karen couldn't wait to come along."
"Bevin! Here, come sit with me," she said desperately, as Bevin and Lucas came onto the bus together, talking. Lucas looked surprised but easygoing Bevin joined Haley and began to talk eagerly about the routine they'd created.
Haley rolled her eyes and leaned forward to whisper to Peyton Sawyer in the seat ahead of hers while Whitey began to recite the rules of the weekend in his southern drawl. She'd heard them before. She'd never bothered to abide by them. Haley James was above rules. She knew it, everyone around her knew it. Even Whitey knew it.
After two hours of the humid, un air conditioned bus, everyone was glad to come off of it, claim their luggage (and their pompoms) and take the elevators up to the floor they'd been assigned to.
Haley and Lucas sneaked off as Whitey began to drone on about curfews and regulations. They met up in a supply closet. He reached for her.
As Lucas placed his loving kiss on her lips, Haley couldn't help but think of his other woman. He'd sworn there'd only been one and since his confession he'd never so much as mentioned her name, yet she continued to haunt her. To haunt them. To always stand between them.
For a moment she thought of his face, of his heart, if her plan with Nathan would succeed. If she got all she'd hoped for with Nathan. Lucas would be destroyed. On some level, Haley knew that he did truly love her. It was almost enough to back out on her plan, to let Brooke and Nathan live happily, always in the corner of her eyes.
But it wasn't quite enough.
They arrived back in time for room assignments. As Whitey reached the J's he tosses Haley a key on a large key chain, inscribed with the number 438. She shrugged, and smiled when she noticed that Jake and Nathan had been assigned the same room as hers: right across the hall. Obviously it had never occurred to Whitey that this would pose a problem-Lucas was all the way down the hall.
"Jussy, you got 438?" she called down the hall, guessing that their last names would land them in the same room.
"Nope, I'm 437. Right here," she said, entering the room down one door to the right. Haley frowned as she saw Bevin (Gilmore) enter a room with another cheerleaders, and wondered who she'd end up with.
Haley gasped as she entered the room and saw, sitting on the bed closest to the window, a familiar figure, calmly arranging her things.
"You have got to be kidding me…" she gasped, slumping down against the wall.
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