Chapter 2: Anything for a Friend, Anything

Disclaimer: Though I wish I owned everything related to One Tree Hill, I sadly do not. If I did, I probably would not be sitting here, penning a story about it then.

Haley James quickly walked back down one of the hallways of Tree Hill High after her brief encounter with Brooke Davis, who was not only the most popular girl in school, but the wildest, most daring and nastiest girl she had EVER met in her life. Just because she hung out with other tutors and was a complete nerd did not mean that she wasn't fun to hang around with. That was the problem with most people. They based everything on looks and status, not the personality of the person.

On the outside, Haley James might've been quiet and reserved, but when she was with the people that she loved such as close friends and family, a different Haley shone through. The quiet and reserved Haley disappeared and in her place appeared a fun, energetic and enthusiastic girl who never backed down from a challenge! But those characteristics were never good enough. One had to be pretty as well. And sadly, Haley believed that she was lacking in that particular department.

'Oh well,' thought Haley. What was it to have good looks if one did not have many close friends? Haley had one close friend in particular and his name was Lucas Scott. He was the one person who stopped her from becoming completely invisible and from blending entirely into the background. Lucas paid attention to her; he liked her for who she was. Never once did he ask her to change any part of personality or her looks. And for that, she was grateful.

"Oooof!" exclaimed Haley, as she was pushed roughly to the ground. She looked up and saw that she had, while lost in thought, accidentally walked into Nathan Scott, the renowned bad boy of the school.

'Stupid! I'm so stupid!' Haley thought, silently berating herself. Of all the people she could've bumped into, she had to walk straight into Nathan Scott. At least Nathan didn't seem to care and wasn't making too big of a deal out of it. He just helped her up, smirked and walked away.

'Wow, he has the nicest blue eyes…Stop it Haley, stop it! You know he's Lucas's half-brother. It's either him or Lucas, and obviously, Lucas should be the one you side with.'

Haley shook her head and just continued walking down the hallway, towards the gym where she was supposed to meet Luke.

As she sat in the bleachers waiting for Luke to finish playing basketball, her thoughts returned to Nathan. She was quite sure that he wasn't as bad as he made out to be. He was just a lost soul. With a dad like Dan Scott, that's all he could be. Dan Scott was also Lucas's father and had conceived a child with Karen (Lucas's mom) unintentionally, while they were in their last year of high school. Of course, he was naive back then, and promised Karen that he would always care for her. Fat chance! He went off to University and proceeded to conceive a second child with Deb (Nathan's mom), all in the span of three months. As Deb was rich and had a social status that was far above Karen's, Dan abandoned Lucas's mom and went off to live with Deb.

However, as far as Haley was concerned, Lucas was the one who had turned out just fine. He hadn't ever been subjected to Dan's intense pressure, the kind of pressure that Nathan was currently under. Dan wanted Nathan to be the best basketball player Tree Hill had ever seen, and was constantly pushing his son, yelling at him to be a better player than his bastard child, Lucas Scott. And that had made Nathan a cocky, nasty bastard, who didn't care about any of the girls he fucked and who was in danger of becoming a clone of Dan.

"Hey Haley!" cried Lucas, interrupting her thoughts. "How are ya, friend?"

"Oh, just great! I talked to Peyton Sawyer, got dissed by Brooke Davis AND bumped into Nathan Scott. Could this day get any worse?" cried Haley, burying her head into her hands. "How 'bout you?"

"Got into another fight with Nathan, the cocky bastard. He thinks he owns the whole frickin' town, cause his dad's Dan Scott, mayor of Tree Hill."

"You know, I don't think Nathan's all that bad. It's just cause his dad's putting him under so much pressure to be a good basketball player. That's why he's so self-centered."

"Whatever," muttered Lucas under his breath. "He's so full of shit. Anyway, walk you home?"

"As always, best friend!"

The two jumped down from the bleachers and began the walk to Haley's house, hand in hand.

"Lucas?" asked Haley.

"Mmmm-hmmmm?"

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure thing."

"I know this may sound really superficial, but do you think I'm pretty? Like, really pretty?"

"No."

"Oh," muttered Haley, as tears began to fall from her eyes. Why was she caring so much anyway? She was better than this, she knew.

"Haley," said Lucas seriously, pulling her in front of him and putting his hands on her shoulders. "You aren't just pretty, you're beautiful!

And she was, though she hadn't realized it. She was no Brooke Davis, but she had the warmest chocolate brown eyes and lovely shoulder-length brown hair. Her smile was always bright and wide and she constantly walked with a skip in her step. Yup, Haley James was one pretty girl.

Haley, after hearing Lucas's comment, stared at him in shock. Quickly, she closed her mouth and jumped into his arms, hugging him with all her might. "Thanks," she muttered into his ear. "I really needed to hear that."

"Anything for you, buddy. Anything."