Chapter 29- It Ain't Easy

Haley lay on her bed anxiously awaiting the phone to ring. Nathan had been gone for about three weeks now, and Haley had adjusted as best she could. She had managed to keep busy preparing for her senior year, but there was still a lot of down time where she was able to do nothing besides think of Nathan.

Haley was looking forward to starting her senior year, she knew that then she would be busy enough that she wouldn't think about Nathan so much. She knew that time would quickly pass and, before she knew it, it would be Thanksgiving and Nathan would be home to visit. Haley couldn't wait.

Finally, after what seemed like hours of waiting, the phone ring. Haley quickly scooped it off the bed next to her, "Hello?"

"Hey Hales."

Haley smiled at the sound of his voice. "Nathan, hi. I'm so glad it's you."

"Sorry I'm a little late. I had to finish up some reading before I could call."

"It's no big deal. You're there for school, remember? Schoolwork comes first, not too much ahead of me though, remember that." Haley teased.

Nathan laughed at Haley, "Right, not too much ahead of you. So…how's things?"

"Things are good. Brooke, Peyton and I spent all day at the mall today stocking up on new school clothes."

"Oh yeah, tomorrow's the big day. Are you excited?" Nathan never thought he would say it, but his girlfriend truly did enjoy school.

"Kind of. I'm not looking forward to this class load, but I'm looking forward to being busy again. I think it'll help with all this ya know?"

"Yeah, I do. There are days I don't know how you do it. I've been going non-stop since I got here and some days I think that that is the only thing keeping me from catching the next plane home. I don't know how I would be if I had more free time to miss you, I don't think that I'd be so okay."

Nathan knew that this was harder on Haley than it was on him. After all, Nathan had this whole new life that he was adapting too. His days were filled with classes and studying and much of his evenings were filled with clubs and intramural sports. Most nights he studied or hung out with his new friends. Even on the weekends he managed to stay pretty busy. Still, no matter how busy he was, there were those times were all he thought about was Haley and how much he missed her.

"I've found stuff to do to stay busy. Brooke and Peyton have been great too, coming over and keeping me entertained. Still though, school will be a welcome relief. It'll be weird to be there without you though. I can barely remember how things were before I was with you."

Haley had been a little nervous about all that. Before Nathan she was just Haley James, tutor and honors student. Sure, Haley had friends, but she certainly wouldn't be considered popular. Most people probably didn't even know of her, before Nathan that is. Once Haley started dating Nathan it all changed.

Almost everyone at Tree Hill High knew Nathan, so by association, most everyone at Tree Hill High came to know Haley. School became a totally different place to her. People said hi to her in the hallway, she got invited to parties, it was totally different. But now, how would it be? Would she go back to being the person she was before, or would the notoriety of being Nathan Scott's girlfriend linger? Haley was nervous to find out.

"You'll be fine. It's senior year, just sit back and enjoy it, it goes way too fast."

"Yeah, you're right. And don't worry, I will enjoy it. So what about you? How's school and stuff?"

"School's good. Classes are starting to pick up, I have a lot of reading to get through every night. I've been looking into different fraternities too, rush is coming up. I figure I'll participate in that and see if any of the fraternities want me."

"I'm sure they will."

The mention of fraternities made Haley nervous. She had heard stories of frat parties, and most of them hadn't been good. Many fraternity brothers had reputations of hooking up with tons of girls. Haley wondered how Nathan would resist that temptation. Haley worried that Nathan wouldn't be able to resist, and that things would happen and he wouldn't tell her. If Nathan didn't tell her she wouldn't ever know. That scared her, knowing that Nathan could do whatever he wanted and Haley would never know. Unlike with Haley, where anything she did would surely get back to Nathan. There was no stopping the Tree Hill rumor mill.

"Well, we'll see. Sorry Hales, but I have to run. I promised some of the guys on my floor I'd play a game of volleyball with them tonight. I hope that's okay?" Nathan felt a little guilty about getting off the phone so quickly.

"It's no big deal. Go have fun. I'll talk to you later."

"Thanks Hales. Good luck tomorrow, I'll call you tomorrow night to see how it went. Love you."

"Love you too, bye Nathan."

Haley hung up and phone and just sat there looking at it in her hand. As happy as she was so have gotten to talk to Nathan at all, she was a little upset that they hadn't been able to talk for longer.

Haley had imagined she and Nathan having conversations long into the night, especially since they didn't talk everyday. But, the reality of it was that they didn't talk long at all, usually five, ten minutes at the most, and only a couple times a week. She knew that it was because Nathan was busy, just as Haley would be once school started, but she couldn't shake the feeling that it was more than that. Haley hated to admit it, but she wasn't feeling so confident about it all anymore.

ooooOoooo

Brooke, Peyton and Haley headed into the school arm in arm.

"I so love my parents having bought me this car, now we get to arrive in style everyday."

Brooke's parents had bought her a brand new baby blue VW Beatle. It was Brooke's pride and joy. She swore that it would make their senior year that much better.

Peyton looked down at her watch, "I'm going to swing by the art wing before I head to homeroom. This class I wanted to get into was blocked out and I want to see about talking the teacher into letting me in anyways."

"Good luck with that." Haley knew first hand how tough it could be to get into the classes you really wanted.

"Hey, if all else fails just tell him you'll do anything, if you know what I mean." Brooke shot Peyton a look that could only be interpreted as purely scandalous.

"Yeah right Brooke, I'm sure that'll work on Mrs. Baxter. Anyways, I'm off, see you ladies at lunch."

"Bye." Haley waved to Peyton as she walked away and then turned to Brooke. "Well Ms. Davis, I'm going to stop here, I'm going to swing by the tutoring center on my way to homeroom, but I'll see you at lunch."

"Okay, I should go find that hot boyfriend of mine anyways. Later TutorGirl." Brooke headed off in the direction of Lucas' locker.

Over the summer Brooke and Lucas had gotten hot and heavy. As much as Brooke swore that she didn't do serious, it seemed that that was the case. Haley couldn't be happier for Brooke, it was rare that she found a guy she thought was worth her time to date, and especially for this long. Before Lucas, Brooke's relationships usually capped off at about a week. But now, she's been with Lucas for almost four months, it was quite the record for Brooke. Haley had to praise Lucas for his patience, Haley knew that Brooke wasn't always easy to deal with, but Lucas managed to do it anyways, and usually with a smile.

Haley ducked into the bathroom on her way to the tutoring center. She was relieved to see it empty, she wanted a few minutes of quiet before the full craziness of the day set in.

Haley heard the door open and what sounded like a bunch of girls walk in.

"So, what's the word on Nathan and that chick?" Haley heard one of the girls say.

"I heard they're still together."

"Ha," One of the girls laughed, "Like that'll ever work out. I mean seriously, look at her and then think of what Nathan must be surrounded by. Hot willing college girls, why would he stay faithful. I know I sure wouldn't, college boys, they're so hot."

"You are so right, there's no way he's not going to cheat on her. I give it a month, then it'll all be over. She'll go right back to being a nobody."

Haley's jaw dropped as she listened to these girls totally ripping apart her relationship with Nathan.

"You know the best part of that?" One of the girls asked. "If he dumps her he'll be totally available to hook up with when he's home on breaks. Ooooh, Nathan Scott, that boy is a dream come true."

All the girls laughed loudly at that comment.

Haley just stood there in the stall, not moving. She was mortified, she didn't want the girls to know that she had heard them. Even more than mortified though, she was devastated. Were they right? Would Nathan cheat on her? What if he had already? He was busy a lot, he barely had time to call her. Haley didn't know where he was most nights. Haley's mind ran wild with the possibilities.

Finally Haley heard the girls walk out of the bathroom. She waited a few seconds and then opened the stall. Walking over to the mirror she looked at herself. Examining her long brown hair that she did little with, and her lack of make up, she groaned in disgust. Who was she kidding, why would Nathan stay with her when he was so far away and surrounded by all those hot college girls? What had Haley been thinking? There was no way this was going to work.

ooooOoooo

Haley heard the phone ring, but was in no hurry to pick it up.

"Haley, the phone's for you, it's Nathan."

Haley reluctantly climbed off the bed and headed over towards the phone. Picking it up she felt tears cloud her eyes. She had been thinking about what happened in the bathroom all day and it was doing nothing but upsetting her.

"Hey Nathan."

"Hey Hales. How was the first day?"

"Fine, thanks." Haley tried to sound happy, but knew that she wasn't doing a very convincing job.

"You don't sound too sure about that. What's up Hales?"

"Nothing, it's no big deal. It was just a long day. I just did a lot of thinking, realized some stuff ya know?"

"Like what?" The tone in Haley's voice worried Nathan, but nothing prepared him for what he would hear next.

"I don't know, that maybe this can't work, maybe we should break up."