Chapter Nine: Existentialism On Prom Night

Anna, Lucas, Brooke, Felix, Nathan, Haley, Peyton and Jake sat at a table a little away from the dance floor. They had arrived almost two hours previously and it had only been the latter couples that had graced the dance floor together more than once. Brooke and Felix, and Lucas and Anna were all confined to sit at the table, shooting glares at each other.

When Felix asked Brooke to dance, Lucas immediately asked Anna, knowing that her brother would not be pleased. Lucas was right about that because he got satisfaction from seeing Felix sending him a look during the song they were dancing to with their respective partners. After that, neither Felix nor Lucas asked their dates for a dance and so sat at the table, making small talk with anybody but each other.

"I love this song," Peyton exclaimed trying to break the tension, "How about a dance, Jake?" she asked. Jake agreed and they two left for the dance floor. Haley turned to Nathan, who shook his head immediately.

"Don't even think about it," he warned her.

"Nathan, you're not that bad, really. Plus, you've already danced three times. Once more won't hurt," she insisted, "Please?"

Nathan hated to see his wife plead so he sighed and nodded his head, "Fine, fine. But you owe me big time." As Nathan left the table, he cast a glance at Lucas, who promptly cleared his throat.

"Anna," he said being met with a glare from Felix, "would you mind if I asked Brooke to dance?"

"What?" Brooke said turning her attention away from the dance floor once she heard her name.

"Um, sure," Anna said as Lucas got up and waited for Brooke to join him on the dance floor.

Brooke gave Lucas a look but got up anyway, deciding that it would provide her with a good opportunity to talk to him about his attitude.

"Um, Felix do you mind?" she questioned. He gritted his teeth and shook his head.

On the dance floor, Brooke and Lucas awkwardly danced together.

"Is this rivalry between you and Felix ever going to end?" she questioned. Lucas shrugged.

"It's been going on since he moved here so I don't think so," he told her. She sighed.

"So, uh, there's this party at Tim's dad's beach house and Felix was wondering-"

"You can't go," Lucas said. She looked at him.

"What do you mean I can't go? You're my dad now?"

"Look, Brooke, I don't trust Felix and I know what goes on at these parties… I just, I want you to be careful, okay?" Brooke noted that his tone had lowered and he genuinely seemed concerned.

"I will be careful," she told him, "But I think you're wrong about Felix. I think his intentions are perfectly honorable." Lucas shrugged.

"Fine, but please tell me you have a good right hook."

"Lucas…"

"Fine, fine!" he sighed, "I think Anna and I will tag along."

"Lucas…" Brooke began to protest but decided that it wasn't worth her effort, "Just make sure you keep away from Felix."

"That's fine. I was planning on keeping Anna busy anyway," Lucas groaned when Brooke hit him.

"That's gross," she said making a face, "Let's hope she has a good right hook."

The dance had quickly come to an end and most had headed to Tim's beach party, including Lucas, Brooke and their respective dates.

Upon arrival, Felix and Brooke had made sure they kept as far away from Lucas and Anna as possible – which was alright with Lucas, who'd decided that Felix shouldn't hinder his plans with Anna anyway.

To his excitement, Anna had led Lucas up to a room and locked the door behind her, giving him a seductive smirk as she did so.

"Hey," she said. Lucas grinned.

"Hey, yourself. I never pegged you as the dominant type," he said. She simply smiled and kissed him firmly on the lips.

Some way into the kissing, Lucas found his hands roaming the back of Anna's dress, in his search to find the zipper. Suddenly, Anna slapped his hands away and pulled away from his grasp.

"What's wrong?" he asked. She looked at the floor.

"Nothing. Nothing is wrong, I'm sorry," she apologized before kissing Lucas again.

However, it didn't last long and suddenly, the girl had bust into tears. Lucas was astounded.

"Um, are you okay?" he ventured again. She cried further and Lucas began to panic, "Hey, um, you're not going to tell your brother about this are you? I'm sorry I pressured you or anything."

"It's not that," Anna said in between sobs.

"Then what is it?"

"I don't like you."

"Huh?"

"I…I don't want this. I was lying to myself about it for so long and I thought that if I went out with you, then maybe I'd know for sure, or these stupid feelings would go away, but they haven't and now I know that I can't fight this and I have to deal with it and the worst thing is that I've made an idiot of myself in front of you!" she said all in one breath and near hysterics.

Lucas looked at her, trying to make sense of what she'd said.

"Great, now I'm a blubbering mess," she sighed.

"I have no idea what you just said, Anna," Lucas told her, "Care to run that by me again, but slower?"

Anna sighed.

"I'm gay."

"Oh."

"But I'm also straight."

"Oh."

"And now you hate me, don't you?"

"No, no!" Lucas said, sitting down next to her, "I mean, it's a shock, I wasn't expecting it but… wow. Does Felix know?" Anna shook her head.

"No, and you can't tell him. Or anyone! I… it's something I've been battling with for a while and I guess I wanted to just make sure. I really was hoping that I could do this, especially since you're Lucas Scott, but I'm just not attracted to you," she told him.

"You don't find me attractive?" Lucas questioned, wondering how much worse this could get.

"Sorry," Anna said. Lucas pouted slightly.

"It's okay, I guess. Although I kind of wish I'd know before…"

"Well, look at it this way; at least you managed to keep Felix's hands off your girlfriend."

"Brooke isn't my girlfriend," Lucas told her.

"I know that, but you want her to be, right?" Anna asked. Lucas shook your head.

"You have no idea what you're saying," Lucas said, "She's a girl who lives in my house. For all I know, we could be related or something. Plus, she hates me. I hate her."

"Then why were you so concerned about Felix and Brooke together?"

"Because, no offence, your brother is a royal ass and I don't trust him," Lucas explained, "And that in no way means I like Brooke, because even though she is tolerable, there are no feelings of that kind!"

"Okay, don't be so defensive. I must have made a mistake," Anna apologized.

"Yes, you must have. So, what do you want to do now? Go back downstairs and we'll do our own thing. No hard feelings?" Lucas suggested.

"No, I think I just want to go home. I have a lot of thinking to do and I still can't believe I humiliated myself in front of you."

"Forget about it. I'll drive you home."

"Lucas," Anna stopped him, "Will you keep this between us? Just until I get things sorted out?" Lucas nodded.

"Of course," he said, "But for the record, I broke up with you."

Anna snorted, "Why do you get to be the one who dumped me?"

"Because it'll keep my reputation intact."

Anna rolled her eyes, "How about we just say we decided things weren't going to work out and we leave it as friends?" Lucas nodded.

"Okay. But unofficially, I'm the one who dumped you."

Lucas closed his car door and walked back into Tim's father's beach house after dropping Anna home. He bumped into Mouth on his way in.

"Hey, Mouth, have you seen Brooke?" he asked. Mouth pointed inside the house.

"She was with Felix last time I saw her," he said. Lucas inwardly groaned and proceeded inside.

He looked around for Brooke but spotted Felix with some friends near the bar.

"Hey, Tarago, where's Brooke?" he questioned. Felix shook his head and shrugged.

"How should I know?" Felix asked, "She ran off a while ago. That's the last time I ask her out," he grumbled.

Lucas grabbed Felix.

"If you've hurt her…" he began only to be pulled away by Jake, who'd been watching.

"Come on, Lucas. Let him go. I know where Brooke is," he said easing Lucas far away from Felix.

"Where is she?" Lucas asked, getting worried. Jake pointed out at the beach.

"She's been there for about twenty minutes. She looks pretty upset and said she wanted to be left alone," he explained, "Maybe you should go and talk to her."

Lucas merely nodded and made his way out onto the beach, noting that the weather had cooled down considerably. He shuddered slightly, dressed only in his formal pants and white shirt.

She was trying to keep herself warm by rubbing her hands gently up and down her arms, and failing miserably.

"Room for one more?" he questioned as he came up besides her. She looked up at him briefly before turning away.

"It's a free beach," she said quietly. Taking that as a confirmation, Lucas sat down on the sand next to her.

"They said I'd find you here. You okay?" he asked, deciding it'd be best if he made the first move. Brooke shrugged in reply.

"I've been better," she said, her voice a little husky.

"Do you… maybe… want to… talk about it?" Lucas ventured.

"Not really."

"That's okay. We can just sit in silence." Lucas said knowing that Brooke couldn't keep her mouth shut for too long.

"Where's Anna?" she asked.

"I took her home. It didn't work out so we decided it'd be best if we left things where they were."

"Oh. Sorry."

"I'm not. She's pretty cool. Sucks being Felix's sister," he said. Brooke let out a snort in agreement.

"You can say that again," she said looking at Lucas. She sighed before continuing, "I found out that Felix was only interested in my body… and getting back at you. Apparently I was just the perfect pawn to rile you up," her face was becoming so numb from the cold; she didn't realize that tears were running down her face.

"Really?" Lucas said, silently making a note to castrate Felix the next time he saw him.

"Yeah. And here I was actually thinking that he was a nice guy who wanted to get to know me. Who I could go out on dates with and share jokes with, and just be with, instead of just being used to annoy a rival," she sighed heavily.

"Felix is an ass. It's not your fault. It's not worth getting upset over," he said drawing attention to her tears. She laughed.

"I'm not crying because of him," she told him.

"You're not?"

"No, I'm upset because… you were right! You were right about everything and I… I didn't listen to you and I got burned and… you were right!"

Lucas let out a small chuckle, "Yeah, I can see how that might suck," he said. Brooke smiled.

"I'm sorry," she told him, "for not listening to you."

"Don't be. Guys lie and usually to get into girls' beds. I'm really sorry you got hurt," Lucas said honestly.

"That's it? No 'I told you so'? Come on, Lucas, you warned me about him and I didn't listen and I got hurt, and there isn't going to be any… gloating? That's not like you."

Lucas shrugged, "I just think it's been a long night and we've all learnt a lesson."

Brooke looked at Lucas questioningly, "What was your lesson?" she asked. Lucas shook his head.

"Don't worry about it. Let's just go home, okay?" Brooke nodded.

"Okay." Lucas stood up first and extended his hand for Brooke. She looked at it and then at him, and hesitated before taking it. Lucas helped her up and the two walked silently down the beach together.

To Be Continued…