Chapter 16- It All Comes Crashing Down

Looking at her watch Haley was started to get nervous. Nathan was never late picking her up for school. He knew how important it was to Haley to be at school on time.

Looking out the window she gazed up and down the street, hoping that his blazer would come racing into view, that he would hop out apologizing profusely for making her late. But minutes passed and still, no Nathan.

Haley headed over to the phone and dialed his house, maybe he had overslept or something.

With each ring Haley's worry increased. Finally his sister picked up. "Hello."

"Hi, it's Haley. Is Nathan there?"

"No, he left a while go for school. Why, hasn't he picked you up yet?"

"No, he hasn't. Are you sure he left on time?"

"Yep, he was actually a little early. Sorry Haley." With that Nathan's sister hung up.

Haley's worry increased ten fold, she wondered what was wrong. She hoped he hadn't been in an accident or anything like that.

Grabbing her books and purse she headed towards the door, thank goodness she only lived 15 minutes walking distance from the school.

The whole way to school Haley listened intently behind her, hoping to hear his blazer roar up behind her. But no matter how hard she strained, the noise never came. Nathan never came.

Bursting through the door to school Haley was thankful to have orchestra that morning, her teacher loved her and wouldn't mark her down for tardiness. She rushed to class and got herself situated.

About ten minutes later a senior girl that Haley kind of knew walked in and looked at Haley. 'What happened to Nathan?' She mouthed across the room.

'What do you mean?' At that moment Haley wished she was better at reading lips, she never had been good at it.

'Pulled over…cops…pulled out of car.' Was all Haley got. With that her worry mounted to epic proportions.

She wondered if it could be, if her worst fear was coming true. What if it was a drug bust? He said he was getting out though, he said he wasn't going to do it anymore. Haley was so confused.

Somehow Haley made it through the first half of the day. Sure, she didn't pay any attention in any of her classes, but at least she didn't lose it. She was going out of her mind with the possibilities.

Rushing to the lunch room she hoped for answers. Forgetting any insecurities that she had she walked right over to the table where Nathan's friends ate lunch. Three of his buddies were already there, surely they knew something.

"Haley, hey, I've been hearing stuff all day, what happened?" Nathan's friend Jake asked.

"I don't know, I was hoping you guys knew something. All I knew is that he didn't pick me up this morning, didn't call or anything. And now he hasn't showed up to school at all." Haley took a deep breath, "People have been saying things. That he got pulled over and thrown up against his car this morning. Do you know anything about that?"

All three boys shook their heads negatively, Jake spoke up again, "None of us know anything, that's all we have heard too."

"Do you think that it was a drug bust?" Haley prayed their answer would be no.

Again Jake answered her, "I don't Haley, it's a possibility though. Try not to worry about it, I'm sure he will call you as soon as he can and let you know."

"Yeah right, not worry." Haley started to walk away, "Thanks guys." For nothing, she thought under her breath.

Walking towards her own group of friends she prayed that Brooke would be there. Brooke didn't have the same scheduled lunch period as Haley, but she was pretty sure that if her friend had heard the rumors she would fake sick or something to be there for Haley. As luck would have it, Brooke was there.

"Oh my god Haley, are you okay?" Brooke cried out as she ran towards Haley, wrapping her arms around her tightly.

"No, I'm not." Haley couldn't hold it in anymore, she burst out crying. "I just don't know what happened Brooke, but it doesn't sound good, not at all. They are saying that Nathan got pulled out of his car and handcuffed. I'm freaking out, I have been all day."

"Do you think…?" Brooke trailed off, not wanting to say it.

Haley knew what she was insinuating, she searched for her words but could find none, all she did was nod.

"Okay well, we don't know for sure yet. It could be anything, it could even be a mistake." Brooke tried to sound convincing, not only for Haley, but also for herself.

"I do, I know for sure. What else could it be? I just can't believe it Brooke, he told me he was getting out. Last week, on New Year's, he told me that he was done with it, done with it all. How could he lie to me?" Haley sobbed harder. "I really thought I could trust him."

"Hey now Haley, you don't know that he lied to you. Why don't you deal with one thing at a time? Wait until you talk to him and can find out what happened, until then don't start jumping to conclusions, okay?"

"Yeah, you're right." Haley took a deep breath to calm herself. "How did this happen Brooke? How did I get myself involved in something like this?"

"You can't help who you fall in love with Haley, you just can't."

ooooOoooo

Haley somehow managed to make it through the rest of the day. She raced home and dialed his number. It rang a few times and the machine picked up. She frantically dialed his cell phone, but there was no answer on that either.

Haley was really starting to lose it. Glancing at the clock she realized her mother would be home any minute, she definitely didn't want to talk to her right now. She didn't want to let her know what she thought was going on. The last thing she wanted her mom to know was that Nathan got pulled over on the way to school and it could possibly be a drug bust. Her mom would love that.

Haley ran up to her room, barely missing her mother. Cranking up her music she laid down on her bed with the phone in hand, willing it to ring.

Finally, more than an hour later, the phone finally rang. Haley answered it before it even rang a full ring.

"Hello?"

"Haley, it's me."