Chapter 1

"Hey P. Sawyer! Wait up, will ya?" cried Brooke Davis, running down the hallway at quite literally, the speed of light. "These heels cost me a fortune and I am NOT going to break them at your expense! These are designer I'm warning you...Dolce & Gabbana! Will you little grade nines scatter please? I'm in a hurry here! Come on people, move it!"

Hurricane Brooke tore down the hallway of Tree Hill High, destroying everything in her path, freshmen and sophomores alike, in pursue of her best friend, Peyton Sawyer.

"Damn girl," panted Brooke when she finally caught up to her friend, whom she'd given the nickname "P. Sawyer". "Didn't you hear me calling you from all the way down the hall?" Oh, little, insensitive, self-centered Brooke did not realize that Peyton was already engaged in a private conversation with someone else.

"Dude, you were in a hallway on the other side of the school!" laughed Peyton. "I was supposed to hear you, how? Oh, by the way, this is Haley James. Haley, you've probably already met my best friend, the oh so sensitive Brooke Davis."

"Oh?" Brooke smirked, noticing the short, almost invisible girl standing next to Peyton. "Have we met? No, that's right, you hang out with those tutor friends of yours, don't you, Tutorgirl? Anywho, you won't mind if I steal Peyton away for just awhile, will you? It's an emergency!" And with that, the most popular girl in Tree Hill High...heck, probably the entire universe, sauntered off, dragging her poor best friend along.

"See ya later, Haley!" cried Peyton, feeling helpless, as Hurricane Brooke was most definitely not a force to be reckoned with.

"Yeah...bye," muttered Haley. With a sigh, she walked away, pulling her hood up over her head to avoid the stares of all she passed.

In Peyton's car...

"Can someone please remind me why I'm in a car, driving all the way to the mall? Why I'm cutting class to go SHOPPING? Why in THE WORLD-" Peyton's rant was cut off when Brooke firmly placed her hand over her best friend's mouth.

"Okay, okay, so maybe this isn't that big of an emergency, but there's like this huge sale going on at the mall and I have to be there because well, I want to be? It isn't like you're missing any important classes. Pfft...since when is English important? Hell, we speak it enough and now, we have to take classes on it? There are so many better things that I could be doing with my time, like shopping and saving a load of money on all the clothes that I normally would've bought at their full price and blah, blah, blah..." continued Brooke without a care in the world.

Peyton sighed and just let her best friend rant. When Brooke started talking, it was best to let her continue speaking without any interruptions. Plus, it gave Peyton some well-needed time to think. Lucas Scott. Just thinking that name made her spine tingle. Hell, being around him made her want to hyperventilate. She shouldn't even been thinking these thoughts in the first place. She already had a boyfriend who was great to her and everything. The only problem? The name Nathan Scott had never and never ever will make her spine tingle. He was basically her fuck buddy, someone just there to have sex with when she needed a distraction from all the worries of the world. Life was never fair! She and Nathan had been together for six months and everybody thought they were still going strong. And she couldn't blame them. They were never there when the imperfections of their relationship shone through. Whenever they weren't having sex or putting on an act for their friends, they argued. And after each argument came the same, sad routine. He apologized, she apologized, they kissed and made up and life went on. And life did go on...until she met him. Lucas Scott saw through her façade, through her and Nathan's pitiful excuse for a relationship. He saw her true colours shining through and each and every time they talked, she wished that her life were different. That she would have the strength and courage to break it off with Nathan, that she would have the strength and courage to let Lucas near her. Peyton let out a bitter laugh. As if that would ever happen. She was too scared, too scared of herself, of the world, of the future, of what would happen if she let Lucas come any closer to her than he already had.

"Time to get rid of these thoughts," Peyton muttered to herself. "My life is perfect. I have an awesome boyfriend, a great dad, Brooke as a best friend, my art, my music... I don't need anymore."

Then why wasn't she happy? Was that too much to ask for? To for once be happy and satisfied with whatever she had?

"Life is a bitch," sighed Peyton.

"Damn straight," agreed Brooke, interrupting Peyton's thoughts. "Life is a damn bitch."

Brooke sat in the car beside Peyton, silent for once and thinking of the past, of the present, of the future. Her parents were never home long enough so she was always lonely. If not for Peyton and her company, Brooke would be partying 24/7, never bothering to even come to school. She was grateful to her best friend for that. Her best friend who looked after her and cared for her, almost like a mom cared for her daughter. Hell, her mom was never home long enough to realize that Brooke was deeply unhappy and lonely, and that she had almost committed suicide on several occasions. Sure Brooke was rich. But being rich came with its own problems and repercussions.

And boys...she didn't even want to think about the opposite sex. When would she find a soul mate? Likely never. She jumped from guy to guy, fucking them once, discarding them and running into the arms of another guy. It was a wonder she hadn't contracted an STI by now. Hell, it was a miracle! Would she ever settle down with one guy? Would she ever find herself? Would she ever stop being lonely? Life was so full of questions.

"You know what Peyton?" asked Brooke.

"What?" muttered Peyton, concentrating on the road (sort-of).

"I think I've figured out the meaning to life!"

"And what would that be, B. Davis?"

"Life is soooo full of questions and the purpose of one's life, is to discover the answers to those questions and to gather experiences along the way! Oh, who's smart?"

"Whoa Brooke... that was one deep answer!"

"I know? What do you say we ditch shopping, grab some ice cream and a couple of chick flicks and head on over to my house for some major girl-bonding? I never knew anything that ice-cream couldn't solve!"

"Gotcha!"