Thanks for the reviews! I think that's the most I've gotten on a chapter :) Also to Cait, congrats on graduating too in however many more days. It doesn't hit you until the next week or so! Anyways onto the next chapter:
"I don't need bodyguards," Haley commented as Peyton pulled up to the school. Brooke got out from the front seat and opened the door for her sister. "Guys, I'm serious!" She quickly added in as Peyton stood next to Brooke.
Brooke snorted and watched Haley get out of the car. "That's the understatement of the year." She shut the door and linked her arms with Haley's. Peyton joined her on the other side and did the same. Haley sighed as the two girls practically dragged her up the walkway. "We're going to be on your cute little ass like a fly on the, wherever flies are," she looked at Peyton for some help.
"On the wall, Brooke," Peyton said with a laugh.
"Right," Brooke said pointing her finger at Peyton, "we're going to be on your ass like a fly on the wall." Haley rolled her eyes and stopped dead in her tracks once they got to the front of the building. It had been at least a week and a half before she decided to go back to school. She was getting bored at home and Brooke was starting to drive her nuts. She knew she was just doing it out of love, but Brooke didn't know when to stop.
She took a deep breath and tried to get out of the death grip the girls beside her had her in. "Okay, maybe this was a bad idea." She took a step backwards but was quickly pulled back to her first position by Peyton and Brooke.
"Come on, Haley," Peyton said in a comforting tone. "It's going to be okay." Haley looked at Peyton and realized she was telling the truth. Maybe it was all going to be okay. After all, Peyton was pretty trustworthy.
"Yeah," Brooke added in, beginning to walk up the steps. Peyton and Haley did the same. They unlinked arms and Brooke opened the door, following the girls as they went in. "Besides, if someone says anything to you, I'll kick their ass," she grinned proudly, breathing a sigh of relief when Haley let out a little laugh.
The three girls walked down the hall, arms linked together again. The mess of kids in the hallway began to stare. Haley felt all the eyes on her and began to panic. She took a deep breath and started to walk faster than the other two, causing Brooke and Peyton to jerk forward with her. The word spread around school pretty quickly courtesy of Olivia Jones. Her father was the police chief and he had asked her about Nathan Scott. Unfortunately for Haley, Olivia was the biggest gossiper in the school. Brooke told her to ignore the looks and she did as Brooke said.
"Okay," Brooke said while fiddling with her locker combination. Peyton rolled her eyes and pushed her out of the way, opening the locker within a second. "Thanks, Blondie. Okay so, I've got this all figured out."
"What do you mean?" Haley raised an eyebrow, trying to avoid the stares and sympathetic smiles people were giving her. "Brooke, what are you planning to do?"
"Nothing!" Brooke exclaimed trying best to cover her smile and must an innocent face. "I took it upon myself to transfer me and Peyton,"
"Peyton and I," Haley corrected. Brooke rolled her eyes. Haley was slowly beginning to go back to her old self, correcting other people's grammar; something that annoyed the hell out of Brooke.
"Right, Peyton and I," Brooke mumbled, continuing with the story, "I took the liberty to transfer Peyton and I into all of your classes!" She squealed in excitement, and Peyton became wide-eyed.
"They let you do that?" Peyton asked, raising an eyebrow. She had to admit, school would be much better if she got to spend every class with the James girls. She knew Brooke needed all the help she could get to help keep Haley sane.
"Of course they did. Mr. Daniels owed me a favor anyways." Brooke looked at Haley, who stood there speechless.
"So let me get this straight," Haley said while scratching her head, "you transferred into all of my classes? Like every single one?"
Brooke nodded with a huge smile on her face. "You're going to be seeing our pretty faces all day, babe!"
"Great," Haley mumbled, leaning her head against the locker. It was bad enough Brooke followed her around at home. Now she would have to go through it at school too. "You guys do realize I'm in AP English, right?"
Peyton looked at Brooke in shock. This was not sitting well with her. The less work she had to do the better. "Brooke! I can't believe you put me in AP English! I can barely survive regular English."
Brooke made a face and tried to look as innocent as possible. "Whoops?" Peyton groaned and banged her head against the locker. "I'm sorry! I forgot she's really smart. Besides, isn't Jake in your class?" Haley nodded, making Peyton smile.
"Oh, okay then," Peyton said with a smile. Haley smiled too. She thought about it for a minute and realized maybe it wasn't going to be so bad after all. She always wondered what it would be like to hang out with Brooke and Peyton at school. Now she was going to live it. The bell ran signaling the start of first period. Which was now French class for Brooke.
"Come on, guys, we don't want to be òn rétard for classe de français." Peyton said looking at Haley, who nodded. Brooke looked confused.
"Did you just call us a retard?" She asked in astonishment. At least she thought she said retard. Haley laughed and realized her sister was going to die in this class.
"Brooke, it's means late. No one called you a retard." Haley said reassuringly. Brooke smiled and nodded, realizing she didn't know a word of French. "Do you know any French?"
"Um," Brooke said turning away, trying to think of something to say. "Oh! Yes I do! Whatever they said in that Lady Marmalade song. Voulez vous coucher avec moi ce soir or whatever."
"Brooke, don't say that to the teacher." Peyton said quickly. Brooke rolled her eyes and shrugged.
"I know what it means, idiot. It drove Luke nuts," Brooke said, wiggling her eyebrows. Haley turned away at the mention of Lucas' name. She tried to shake it off while the girls walked up the stairs to class. The teacher was aware of what happened and the changes in Brooke's schedule. She tried to give Brooke a beginner's book to get her familiar with some of the stuff, but it was way over her head.
"And they call that the language of love?" Brooke commented as they moved onto their next class. "It just sounds like incoherent mumbling and gibberish combined. You better be grateful for this, Haley."
"Brooke, I didn't ask you to switch into of all my classes. I don't need you to babysit me," Haley snapped all of a sudden. She sighed and went back to her usual tone. "Sorry, it's just I'm a little on the edge here, going back to school. I can't take all this attention." Brooke looked around and realized a few people were staring at them. She put her arm around Haley's shoulder and led her away before she got too upset.
"Can you just give her a break?" Peyton said, while walking up to the group of people staring. They all nodded nervously and elbowed each other to speak up.
"Is it true?" One girl asked while the others nodded their heads. Peyton nodded too, leaving it at that. She walked away, glancing at her feet now and then. Haley was going to have a tough rest of the school year and she had to be there for her as much as possible.
…
Peyton and Brooke looked like they had just seen a ghost once they walked out of English class an hour later. "We have to read this whole book tonight?" Peyton said, flipping through the book. It looked like it could be used for a doorstop, not for reading.
Haley nodded while laughing slightly. She enjoyed watching the two squirm throughout the whole class. "It's not that bad. It's pretty interesting actually. Bit slow at first, but it picks up during the 4th chapter."
"You've read this before?" Brooke asked, shoving her copy of 'Emma' into her bag. Haley nodded while biting her nails.
"I read it last year."
"Good!" Peyton and Brooke said in unison. "You can just tell us what happened so we can skip the torture. Peyton flipped through the pages and made a face while reading one of the paragraphs out loud. "Emma spared no exertions to maintain this happier flow of ideas, and hoped, by the help of backgammon, to get her father tolerably throughout the evening."
Brooke groaned as Haley stopped outside the bathroom.
"Can I go to the bathroom myself?" Haley asked hopefully.
"Well, duh," Brooke said waving her off as if it wasn't a big deal. "I'll just wait outside the stall," Brooke said quickly, following her in but was quickly pulled back out by Peyton.
"Relax, Brooke. I'm sure she'll be fine in the bathroom alone." Peyton said, still skimming through the pages.
"P. Sawyer, put that thing away," Brooke said snatching the book out of her best friend's hand. "People are going to think you actually read," she teased while Peyton made a face. Haley emerged a few seconds later with a smile on her face.
"Now, did that kill you?" She asked Brooke, who shook her head and smiled. The girls made their way towards Math class, not looking forward to it at all.
"Brooke!" Theresa called out from behind them. Brooke groaned and turned around. "Jesus, Brooke where the hell have you been?" Peyton led Haley into the classroom and Brooke rolled her eyes.
"Look, I've had some personal problems, okay? You just need to give me some time." Brooke said looking Theresa right in the eye. She figured Theresa heard what happened seeing as the whole school was talking about it. Anything to do with Nathan Scott got around quickly.
"I understand that, but Brooke, the squad is falling apart without you. Practice isn't the same without you there."
"I know, but I need to take a break from cheering, can you just understand that? Haley needs me right now and she's my top priority."
Theresa frowned and tugged at her hair. At the mention of Haley's name she got angrier and angrier. "Since when is Tutor Girl your top priority? We've always made fun of her and now you're going all buddy buddy with her. Has she brainwashed you or something?"
Brooke bit her lip trying to stop herself from lunging at the girl in front of her. "Look, Theresa I need to get to class," she snapped turning around on her heel, "I'll talk to you at lunch." Theresa sighed, trying to figure out how to get Brooke back. It almost seemed too easy. First she was going to mess with Haley's head and turn her into the person Brooke used to be. She grinned and made her way into the class, giving Peyton, Brooke and Haley a smug look.
"What the hell crawled up her ass?" Peyton asked, taking the empty seat behind Haley. Brooke sat down next to her and shook her head.
"Whatever it was, it probably died up there too. She smells like hot, wet garbage." Both Peyton and Haley wrinkled their nose in disgust and listened as Mrs. Mason began the class.
…
"Sit there," Brooke commanded, pointing to the empty seat that was next to her. Peyton took her normal seat across from Brooke and laughed. Haley was reluctant to sit down. The last time Brooke invited her to sit with them, she ended up kicking her stuff under the table, allowing the cheer nazi to sit down.
"Isn't someone sitting there?" Haley asked shyly, clutching her books closer to her chest and the other cheerleaders began to fill up the large table. Brooke rolled her eyes at her sister's reluctantly and got up from the table. She walked over to Haley and grabbed her hand, yanking her to the seat. She sat her down and patted her on the head like she was a dog.
"It's only Theresa. And I would much rather have you then her sit there. She smells like-"
"Brooke, we know," Peyton said, putting her hand up in hopes of stopping Brooke from finishing her sentence.
"What is this?" Theresa snapped from behind them. Haley looked at Peyton in fear and closed her eyes, hoping to avoid this conversation. "Um, Tutor Girl you're in my damn seat."
Brooke got up and glared at Theresa. "Hey, it's not your seat. It's Haley's seat now."
Theresa glared right back, in hopes of cracking Brooke. She was able to do it once before, she figured she could do it again.
"But, Brooke," her voice suddenly turning sweet, "I usually sit next to you. We've been doing it since 6th grade."
"Well this isn't 6th grade anymore, honey. I want my sister so sit here so you can please just find another seat?" Brooke tried to be nice but with Theresa you couldn't be nice. Haley was getting fed up with this banter and was on the verge of exploding.
"Brooke-"
"Jesus Christ, take your god damn fucking seat!" Haley yelled, before grabbing her books and storming away from all the drama. Theresa pretended to be offended and slammed her lunch tray on the table.
"Well that was rude," she bitched before sitting down. Brooke put her hand down, causing Theresa to jump up the second she felt her touch. "Brooke," she laughed in amusement. "Come on, she's gone now, you don't have to pretend to be nice." But Brooke didn't budge. Instead she put her books down on the seat.
"Go find another seat, Theresa, this one's taken," her voice was low and cold but she didn't give a damn. She had let Theresa hurt Haley so many times in the past. It was all ending now and she needed to make sure Theresa knew it. Theresa rolled her eyes before storming away, Bevin and another cheerleader right behind her.
Haley sat in the bathroom stall, trying to stop the tears falling down her cheeks. She was many things, but strong was not one of them. She sniffled when she heard the door open, freezing in her current position.
"Who the hell does she think she is!" Theresa bitched, checking out her makeup in the mirror. Haley's eyes widened at the sound of her voice.
"Just ignore her," Bevin said while doing the same, "she'll get over the 'be nice to Tutor Girl phase' eventually. After all, Nathan did try to rape her. I'm sure she's just going to help her through this and turn back into her regular self until little Haley is better."
Haley began to tremble as they continued to talk about her and Brooke. They knew all about Nathan and they were going to throw it into her face as much as possible, until they broke what was left of her. It wasn't much, but they were definitely going to do it.
"Please," Theresa scoffed while running a brush through her hair, "I bet she's making it up to get us to leave her alone."
And the tears fell right down Haley's cheeks one after the other. She buried her head into her arms to try and muffle the sobs escaping her.
"And the whole 'boo hoo my parent's died' routine is getting old too. They're dead, get over it and move on."
Bevin made a face and sighed. That was low, even for Theresa. "Now that was mean."
Theresa shrugged it off like it was no big deal.
"Well I am mean."
Haley heard the two stalls next to her slam shut and carefully peeked out the door to make sure the two cheerleaders were nowhere in sight. She took a quick glance in the mirror and realized her eyes were all red and puffy. She wiped them quickly and splashed her face with water before running out of the bathroom and straight into Brooke and Peyton.
"Hales?" Brooke questioned as her sister emerged from the bathroom. Her heart skipped a beat when she realized her sister was crying. "What happened?"
Haley quickly wiped her eyes with her sleeve and tried to brush it off. "N-nothing," she stuttered, hoping Theresa and Bevin wouldn't come out of the bathroom. "I just want to go home."
Brooke frowned, realizing that was impossible. "You can't go home, Haley. We've still got 2 hours of school left. Are you sure nothing happened?" She knew Haley was lying but outside in the courtyard was no place to call her out on it.
As if on cue, Theresa and Bevin came out of the bathroom looking satisfied with their last conversation. Brooke glanced back at them and back at Haley, putting the pieces together. "What did they say?" She asked, gripping Haley by the shoulders and looking her straight in the eye.
Haley sniffled and her eyes began to well up with tears again. "They, they said that I was making the whole thing about Nathan up." Brooke handed Haley to Peyton and ran to catch up with Theresa and Bevin. Peyton kept a tight grip on Haley and waited for Brooke's next move.
"Theresa!" Brooke called out in a fake voice. Theresa turned around and smiled, figuring Brooke had come to apologize.
"Hey Brooke, what's up?" She asked like nothing happened. Brooke's smile soon turned to a frown and the next thing Theresa knew she was pinned up against the wall. Bevin's eyed widened in horror.
"You think she's making this up?" Brooke seethed, glaring right at Theresa. There was no way in hell she was going to let her get away with this. She was done with them and they were going leave Haley alone once and for all.
"Brooke, stop, you're hurting me." Theresa whined, trying to loosen Brooke's grip. But her grip only got tighter and she dug her fingernails into Theresa's arms. "Okay, okay, I'm sorry Brooke!"
Brooke started to breath heavy before finally releasing her grip. Theresa rubbed her arms in pain and looked at Brooke in disbelief. "I swear on my parent's grave, if you ever, ever hurt my sister like you did just now, I'll hurt you so bad you won't even know what hit you."
What felt like forever, the end of the school day finally came. Haley had convinced Brooke after lunch that she was going to be okay and said she would meet her outside because Peyton and Brooke had to stay after in Math to get the work they had missed.
"Haley?" Theresa said nicely as possible. Haley turned around to see her and Bevin standing behind her. "Hey."
"Hey," Haley whispered back, running her hands through the glass. "If you've come to make fun of me you might want to hurry up. Brooke and Peyton should be here any minute now."
"I just want to say that I'm sorry," Haley turned around again with a surprised look. Was Theresa actually apologizing to her? "I didn't mean what I said and I was wondering if you wanted to go to the mall with me and Bevin."
Haley couldn't believe her ears, were they actually inviting her to hang out with them? But before she could answer, Brooke came storming over with Peyton in tow. She pulled Haley up off the ground and pushed her behind her. "I thought I said to leave my sister alone," Brooke said, waiting for a smartass comment to come out of their mouths.
"Relax, Brooke, we're just apologizing to Haley," Bevin said, "and we want her to come to the mall with us."
"She's not going to the mall with you," Brooke scoffed, grabbing Haley's arm and leading her away from the two. "Come on, Haley."
Haley took a deep breath. "No," she said firmly, making sure she got her point across. "I want to go to the mall with them," she said quietly. Brooke looked at her in disbelief and realized she was telling the truth.
"Fine," she mumbled, pushing her towards her two ex-friends. Theresa smiled and put her arm around Haley, leading her away from Brooke and Peyton and towards the few other cheerleaders that were waiting for them. Their plan was now beginning.
"Are you sure you're okay with that?" Peyton asked while they headed for her car. Brooke shook her head, unsure of her decision.
"If that's what she wants, then that's what she wants."
…
It was now almost 10:00 and Brooke was starting to get worried. She went into the bathroom and washed her face for the 10th time that night. She knew it was a bad idea to let Haley go to the mall. For all she knew she was probably tied up somewhere and left for dead. Brooke sighed and made her way out of the bathroom, Haley walking past her.
"Hey," she said, making Haley stop outside her bedroom door and turn around.
"Oh, hey. Sorry I got home so late, we went out for dinner afterwards," she placed the shopping bags down beside her and waited for Brooke's reaction.
Brooke smiled and nodded. "Oh, that's okay. It would have been nice if you called but it's okay." Haley rolled her eyes at Brooke's protectiveness. "How was Adolf Hitler and the cheer nazis?"
Haley sighed, realizing this new friendship wasn't going to sit well with her sister. "They're not that bad if you get to know them, Tigger."
Brooke laughed and leant against the wall, "I do know them and trust me, they are horrible people." But before Brooke could launch into another lecture, Haley picked up her bags and opened her bedroom door.
"Whatever. I'm going to bed, good night," Haley went into the room with Brooke in tow. She turned around and gave her sister a weird look. "What are you doing?"
Brooke returned Haley's weird look and laughed. "Um, doing what we do every night? Tucking you in."
"Brooke I'm not a baby," Haley laughed, "I don't need you to tuck me in anymore." She watched as Brooke's face fell and waited for her to leave. "Good Night," she said as Brooke stood there.
"Oh, right. Good Night," Brooke mumbled before walking out of the room with a sad face. She shut the door behind her and sighed.
"Brooke? What's wrong with you? You look like you just saw a ghost or something," Taylor asked walking up next to her.
"Huh? Oh, it's nothing I'm fine. I think Haley just grew up, that's all."
Taylor shook her head sympathetically. "Oh," she patted her shoulder before walking down the hall and down the stairs. Brooke sighed again and made her way into her room, trying to think of some excuse to go and check on Haley. She spotted Mr. Waffles on the floor and smiled, picking up the teddy bear.
"You left him in my room," she said while opening the door to Haley's room. Haley quickly threw her shirt over her head and glared at her sister.
"Jesus, Brooke don't you knock? I could have been naked or something!" Haley exclaimed making Brooke laugh.
"Relax, I only came into give you this." Brooke held out Mr. Waffles but Haley to take, but she wasn't moving.
"Oh, um, I don't need that thing anymore." Haley said, making Brooke frown. "Good night again for like the 10th time tonight." Brooke sadly walked out of her room and back into her own, collapsing on the bed.
"Well Mr. Waffles, it looks like it's just you and me tonight," she mumbled to the teddy bear in front of her. His black eyes stared back at hers. He was now going to be her comfort during the night, not Haley. She threw the covers on her and clutched Mr. Waffles tightly to her chest.
Hours later, Brooke found herself still awake, tossing and turning as the night went on. She sat up in bed and banged her head against the wall in frustration.
"Brooke?" Haley's voice called out from the doorway. Brooke smiled and opened her covers, waiting for Haley to come in.
"Yeah?" She said getting her hopes up that Haley was going to come running to her any minute now.
"Can you stop banging your head against the wall? The walls aren't sound proof you know."
"Oh," Brooke's smile turned into a deep frown, "sorry." She watched as Haley nodded and disappeared back into her own room. She took Mr. Waffles out from underneath the covers and laid him next to her, pulling the covers up on top of him.
"Goodnight, Haley," she mumbled, draping her arm over the teddy bear next to her. It was true indeed, her little sister was growing up and she wasn't looking forward to the days ahead of her.
Okay, so please don't hate me for that. It's only going to last 4 chapters at the most. And I haven't forgotten about Christian. I know exactly how I want Brooke to find out about that. So look for that in the next chapter or two. And about the whole Taylor thing, i'm not going to actually show her getting Emily, I'm just going to have her come in the next 2 chapters or so. But my main focus is of course Brooke/Haley. Anyways for like the 10th time thanks for the reviews and please keep them coming.
And for shamless promotion, please check out my new story Lonely no more. It's mainly Brooke/Lucas but there's also a focus on Brooke/Peyton/Haley because, what's not to love about their friendship?
Kristin