Chapter 6
2 weeks later
For the past two weeks Jamie was usually never home. She was always at the café, Haley and Nathan's, school, or Lucas'. Jamie loved spending time with Lucas and his mom. She loved getting to know them all over again, even if they didn't know who she was. She also enjoyed hanging out by the river court and talking to the gang. They had all accepted her quickly and Tim even began to be nice. She knew that it was because of what Haley and Brooke had said, but she thought that Lucas and Nathan could have been an even bigger reason. John was not very happy with Jamie avoiding him, but he could never talk to her. He saw her maybe seven times in the past two weeks, and those times he made her pay. She knew that she was supposed to be home, but she made plenty sure that she would come home after he had passed out. As she usually did after school, Jamie was down at the river court with Lucas. He was playing a game with his long time buddies, Junk and Skills, and of course Nathan and Tim. They had planned on another guy from the team to show, but he never did. They didn't want anyone sitting out so they just shot around. As two of the balls collided at the basket, one went rolling towards the river, but lucky for Nathan, Jake was there to catch it.
"Hey man, nice to see you here." Lucas said shaking Jake's hand.
"Yea, I figured that I have done enough running. I'm back for good. Peyton and I went down to Savannah and picked Jenny up."
"We've missed you man, even though you can't get a rebound to safe your life." Nathan said with a slight chuckle.
"I've missed you guys too; there really is only one Tree Hill. It was so weird not having you guys or basketball. I was too busy to even pick up a basketball. I might be a little rusty for training camp."
"I think we have a way to help you get the rust off. Why don't you play a little pick-up game with us? We need another guy with some skills." Lucas said.
"Sure, that sounds fun. Peyton is watching Jenny at my parents' house, so I am free for a little bit." Jake looked around and saw Jamie talking to Mouth in 'the booth'. "Who is that talking to Mouth? I leave for like a month or so and Mouth gets a girlfriend!"
"Actually, that isn't Mouth's girlfriend." Nathan said looking over at Jamie.
"Oh, who is she?" Jake asked now really confused.
"That's Jamie, my girlfriend." Lucas said with a look of complete adoration. Jake had never seen Lucas like this over a girl, not even Brooke or Peyton.
"Really? How long have you two been going out?"
"Um, two weeks today actually." Lucas could not get the grin off of his face. And then finally snapping back into reality, "Why don't I introduce you and then we can start our game." Jake shook his head in agreement and they walked over to Mouth and Jamie. "Hey babe," Lucas said when they reached 'the booth'. "I want you to meet a friend of mine. Jamie this is Jake, Jake this is Jamie, my girlfriend." Jamie still couldn't believe that she was going out with Lucas Scott. Not only was he one of the most popular guys in school, but she had had a crush on him for six years (without even knowing what he had looked like or turned out to be).
"It is nice to meet you Jake. I have heard quite a bit about you and your daughter."
"Nice to meet you also. I'm sorry to say that I have heard nothing about you except that you and Lucas have been going out for two weeks." The guys start playing while Mouth and Jamie just watch. Jamie would watch Lucas for hours when they were little. She knew that he would go far with his basketball skills. After they had played for two hours, they finally called it quits. Jamie and Lucas walked to her house. She knew that John wouldn't be home for a little while and she wanted to spend time at her house. When they got there, they walked into the kitchen and sat down.
"Do you want anything to eat Luke?"
"Hello, I think we go over this every time we sit in the café. After basketball I need to eat." He said sarcastically and sincere at the same time. "What do you have to eat?"
"I don't know. Go check the refrigerator and/or the cupboard. I am going to go get some pop from my room." Lucas walked over to the cupboard and saw the Cheetos. He grabbed the bag and walked back over to the refrigerator and grabbed the bottle of ketchup. He looked around the kitchen for a plate. As soon as he found one, Jamie walked down the stairs. She went over to the cupboard, grabbed two glasses and then sat down next to Lucas. He had already started dipping the Cheetos in the ketchup.
"I know, you probably think this is gross, but I can't help it. Skills made me try it when I was younger and I haven't been able to quit eating it. I won't even let my mom buy Cheetos anymore because I would eat it all in one day." Lucas said.
"I don't think it's gross. Besides, that is the reason that we have Cheetos in this house. I love dipping them in ketchup. I don't know why, but I like the cheese and ketchup taste together." Lucas couldn't believe what he was hearing. He never knew anyone that liked Cheetos and ketchup together. Every person that would see him eat the concoction thought it was disgusting and he was nuts. He couldn't believe he found someone else that liked it.
"Let's take this stuff up to my room. I have the new Green Day CD that I want to listen to." They grabbed the chips, ketchup, and pop and headed up to Jamie's room. Lucas had only been in her room one other time, but he had remembered everything about it. They didn't even notice how quickly the time passed as they sat and talked over the Green Day CD that was playing in the background. All of a sudden Jamie heard footsteps coming up the stairs. She knew that there was no way to get Lucas out of the house without John seeing.
"Shit that is my dad!" Jamie said in a whisper. "I need you to hide in the closet. Please Lucas, I don't want him to see you. I will be in so much trouble. You have to promise that you won't come out until I tell you to."
"I don't want you to get in trouble."
"Just promise me that you will stay in the closet until I tell you to come out!" Jamie said with a whispered yell.
"Okay, I promise you." Lucas went into the closet and shut it just as John opened Jamie's door.
"Hey John, are you hung…" Jamie couldn't even get her sentence out before John slapped her. Lucas couldn't see what happened, but he did know that he heard a slap. He wanted to jump out of the closet, but he had made a promise to Jamie to stay in there. He could hear Jamie trying to hold back the tears whenever her dad hit her. All of a sudden, something slammed into the closet door pushing it open enough so that Lucas could see what was happening to his girlfriend. Finally after what seemed like an eternity he heard Jamie's door slam. He didn't come out until he saw Jamie sitting on the floor by the door crying. She had her legs tucked into her chest. Lucas got out of the closet and walked over to her. He sat down next to her and put his arm around her. When he did, he saw her jump and kind of back away before she looked up and saw who it was. As soon as she saw Lucas' face she buried her head into his shoulder. He didn't know what to say so he just held her. Finally, he couldn't stand the silence anymore.
"Jamie, babe…" Lucas still didn't know what to say, but he didn't need to say anything.
"Lucas…" Jamie said through racked sobs. "You cannot tell anyone about this."
"Why not Jamers?" Lucas said still whispering for the fear that her dad would hear him and come back.
"Don't worry, he has either passed out by now or left for some other bar. And you can't tell anyone because I have no one else. And if my dad gets taken away then I will have to leave Tree Hill and go in a foster home. And it is my fault, I shouldn't have been gone so much. I have only been home like seven times in the past two weeks. And on top of that, I was talking back to him and I know better than that."
"That gives him no reason to hit you and it is definitely not your fault."
"Lucas, just promise me."
"I have another question for you. Has this ever happened before?"
"Why do you ask?" Jamie said nervously.
"Everything makes sense now. I have never seen you trip or anything. You are like the least klutzy person that I have ever met. Has he ever hit you before?"
"Lucas…I…yes, he has. This isn't the first time, but each time I do something stupid."
"This is not your fault. Don't ever think that you deserve to get hit."
"Lucas, promise me." Jamie said starting to cry again.
"Okay, I prom…I promise you." Lucas stammered out. Jamie couldn't say anything. She didn't want to thank him because she wanted him to tell, but she didn't want to leave Tree Hill. She buried her head into his shoulder and cried. He held her while she cried herself to sleep. Lucas picked up his cell phone and called his mom.
"Hey mom, I am staying at Nathan's house tonight. We are playing PS2 and I figured that we don't have school tomorrow so it is okay."
"Yea, that is fine. Thank you for calling. I'll see you tomorrow." As Lucas hung up the phone he decided to call Nathan and Haley to tell them about his little white lie.
"Hello," a groggy Haley answered the phone.
"Hey Hales, I didn't think you would be sleeping right now. I just wanted to call and let you and Nathan know that I told my mom I was staying at your house tonight. I am over at Jamie's. She needed me to stay with her while her father is gone so I said yes."
"Okay, I just don't feel very good so I fell asleep on the couch while Nathan and I were watching a movie. I'll tell Nate so we don't ruin your lying streak."
"Thanks Hales, you're the best. I'll see you tomorrow."
"Bye Lucas." They both hung up the phone. Lucas didn't know what to do so he picked Jamie up and carried her over to the bed. After he tucked her in, he laid on top of the sheets. He held on to her all night not wanting anything else to happen to her. He felt like he had just fallen asleep when his cell phone rang.
"Hello…" Lucas said groggily.
"Hey Luke, do you want to come down to the River court and shoot around?"
"Yea let me wake Jamie up. We'll be over in about ten minutes."
"Sweet, see you then. Oh yea, your mom called a little while ago. She wanted to talk to you because you didn't answer your phone."
"What did you tell her?"
"I told her that you were in the shower and you would call her after you got out. So, you better call her now."
"Thanks Nate. I'll see you soon."
"Bye Luke." Lucas hung up the phone and then called his mom. She wanted him to invite Jamie over for lunch. After he got off the phone with his mom he shook Jamie softly.
"Morning babe," Lucas said smiling at her trying to wake up. "Are you okay?"
"Morning and I am fine. I am just a little sore. Did you stay here last night?"
"Yea, I didn't want to leave you…and you kind of fell asleep on me."
"Oh, sorry, but thank you, I appreciate it a lot. So, what are you doing today?"
"I was going to go down to the River court with Nathan and Haley, and probably other people and I was wondering if you wanted to come. And my mom wants to know if you want to come over for lunch. And I have a feeling she won't accept no for an answer."
"Sure, why not. I guess I have nothing else to do. But you have to remember that you promised that you wouldn't say anything. You have to go along with whatever I say."
"If you don't want to go to the River court that is all right. I don't have to go down there if you don't feel like seeing anyone."
"Luke, if I don't go, then people will get a little suspicious and I want to. Besides, I have never stayed in my room when this happened. Why would I start now?" Lucas didn't know what to say. He couldn't believe how she had already gotten over last night's events. He could never imagine even Dan hitting him or Nathan. "When are we meeting everyone?"
"Um, we are supposed to be at Haley and Nathan's in about ten minutes. Is that enough time?"
"Yea, it won't take me too long to get ready. I'll be out in a couple of minutes." Lucas was tying his shoes when Jamie came out. If he wouldn't have witnessed the beating, he wouldn't have even known. She did a good job of covering up the bruise on her face (it wasn't as bad as some of the ones in the past) and she had put on the sweatshirt that she had borrowed from him on their first date.
"Are you ready? We can probably grab some food at the café before we get to the court. My mom will have some bagels if you want."
"Sure, that sounds good to me. I'm pretty hungry." Lucas and Jamie went outside and walked across the street to get Nathan and Haley. Before Lucas could knock on the door, it opened and Nathan squeezed out.
"Hey guys, Haley isn't feeling well. Let's just get going I have to go to work this afternoon." They got in Nathan's car and drove to the river court. When they got there Lucas and Nathan started shooting around and Jamie just sat by and watched. Lucas had been trying to get Jamie to shoot around with him for the past two weeks. She always said no, but never gave a better reason than that she wasn't very good. She had played for a long time and she was okay, but she hadn't been able to play anything for a year.
Flashback
Abby had been outside with Andrea throwing a softball back and forth. They were both excited because softball was about to start and now they weren't stupid little freshman. Everyone respected Abby and Andrea because they were good middle infielders and they respected everyone, from the seniors to the freshman (even the ones that were mean to them). They had made the varsity team and beat even upper classmen out of the middle infield positions. They had been throwing the ball around for about an hour and a half when they heard John come outside.
"Andrea, your mom just called. She wants you to go home for supper." John walked back into the house with Andrea and Abby following. After Andrea left, John and Abby sat down to eat. Andrea didn't know that John had ever hit Abby, but she didn't think that Abby was as klutzy as she said she was. Everything went fine during supper, but then John decided that he needed some drinks. After he left for the bar Abby got on the phone with Andrea to talk about how they were going to go and practice their fielding after school. They talked on the phone for about forty minutes and then concluded their conversation online for another hour and a half because Andrea's little brother needed to use the phone. Abby hadn't heard John come in, but she was surprised when she felt a hand on her shoulder. When she turned around she saw how drunk John was and knew not to say anything to piss him off.
"Hi John, I was talking to Andrea. I didn't hear you come in…"
"How many times have I told you not to go online until you are done with your homework?"
"I am done…" she was stopped by John's hand hitting her face. He slapped her a few more times and then pushed her into her dresser and then into the closet. She felt her arm go numb and she didn't know what to do. After John left the room she waited for about ten minutes and then went downstairs and headed for the hospital. She knew that something was wrong with her arm and shoulder, but she couldn't tell what. Once she got to the hospital she was asked questions about what had happened. She knew that she couldn't tell anyone what really happened (mainly because they wouldn't believe her), so she told them that she had tripped down the stairs. The doctors examined her arm and then told her that she would need surgery on it because she had a full thickness rotator cuff tear and a dislocated shoulder. They told her that they had to call John to get parental consent for the surgery. John had somehow already slept off his drunkenness by the time they had called him and told him what had happened. He told the doctors that it was all right to perform rotator cuff surgery. When he got to the hospital they were already preparing for surgery. The surgery went fine, but the doctor told Abby that she would never be able to play softball again. The muscle in her arm would never be strong enough because a lot of damage had been caused to her arm when falling down the stairs.
End Flashback
She was brought out of her reminiscing by her stomach growling. Lucas and Jamie had forgotten to stop to get something to eat.
"Hey Lucas, I am going to go get something to eat, I am starving. Do you mind?"
"No, do you know where the café is?"
"Yes I do. We go there every day after you and Nate play basketball."
"Hey, do you want to take the car and we will just walk over when we are done." Nathan asked while shooting his free throws.
"Yea, if you don't mind I would love that. I didn't sleep very well last night and I am kind of tired of walking." Lucas knew that she had slept all night, so it must have been because of her dad.
"Geez Luke, did you keep her up all night? I thought you were going to take it slow this time?"
"Nathan how could you say that? Nothing happened last night between Lucas and me. We just talked and I fell asleep really early."
"Jamie, I'm sorry. I love to give Luke a hard time. I didn't mean to offend you." He felt bad because he knew that Jamie would never do that.
"It is okay, but I am going to take your car now. Have a nice walk to the café." She said as she waved good-bye and walked to Nathan's car. She drove over to Karen's Café and walked in to find the guy she had met the day before. She thought his name was Jake, but she wasn't sure. When she sat at the counter a lady that she had seen walking in and out of the café came over to take her order.
"Excuse me is that your car out there because my son has a car that looks exactly like it."
"No, it isn't my car. I borrowed it from my boyfriend's brother, Nathan."
"You are going out with Lucas?"
"Yes, we have been going out for the past two weeks. You know Lucas?"
"Nathan is my son."
"Oh, well, my name is Jamie. It is nice to meet you Mrs. Scott."
"It is very nice to meet you too Jamie, but please, call me Deb. What can I get for you?"
"Can I have four bagels and cream cheese, two coffees, a hot chocolate, and a banana nut muffin?"
"Of course, I will be right back with your order." Deb went to the back to get Jamie's order and Jake walked over to her.
"Isn't it a little warm out for hot chocolate?"
"Um, not really, it is never too warm for hot chocolate. It calms my nerves whenever I drink it. You're Jake right?"
"Yea, you're Lucas' girlfriend Jamie."
"Yes I am. So, do you have a girlfriend Jake?"
"Not exactly, there is this girl, but I don't think anything will ever come from it."
"Oh, come on. I highly doubt that, from what I have heard from Lucas I think you have a great chance with Peyton. Don't worry, I won't tell Peyton. But, why don't you ask her? I bet she would love to go out with you."
"I couldn't even think about it. Why would she want to go out with me? I am an ex-high school drop out and I have a daughter."
"Come on Jake, give yourself some credit. You came back to school and you left for your daughter. You were trying to protect her. And I bet Peyton would go out with you…she went out with Lucas AND Nathan."
"How do you know all these things? Are you sure you are new and not just finally coming outside?" Jake said with a chuckle.
"I'm sure I am new here, but Lucas and I talk a lot. And I have heard a lot from just sitting around and listening to people. That is my specialty; I am like invisible most of the time." Jake and Jamie stopped talking when Deb came back out with the food.
"That will be $10.73." Jamie handed her $15 dollars, said thank you, and walked out. Deb didn't know anything about this girl, but she had a feeling that she knew her from somewhere. She thought about asking Nathan the next time she saw him. Jamie hopped in the car and drove back to the river court.
"Hey guys, I know I told you to walk to the café, but I got you some food. I was guessing you would be hungry after all the basketball you played. Why don't you take a break for a little while and eat." The guys walked over and started eating the bagels that she had bought for them.
"Thanks James, this is good. How did you know what we wanted?" Nathan asked.
"Hello, I have been here for two weeks and every time you guys have breakfast at the café you get these things. I'm not stupid. I pay attention."
"I thought you only paid attention to two things, school and Lucas." Nathan said with a sarcastic smile.
"No, I only pay attention to…school…that is way more important than anything else. I just pretend to pay…" she couldn't get the last part out because Lucas started tickling her. For those couple of seconds she forgot about everything that had happened. That always seemed to happen, that was the reason she was always around the people that had become her closest friends. They helped her forget everything bad that had happened to her in her life without even knowing. She had grown close to every one of them.
"Hello, earth to Jamie. You are so good at spacing out." Lucas said waving his hand in front of her face.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I do that sometimes."
"What were you thinking about?"
"Um, I was just thinking about this new CD that I got a couple of days ago. I was wondering if you ever heard of them. They are called The Plain White T's and their album is All That We Needed. They are really good. I am a big fan of the CD."
"No, I haven't heard of that band. Peyton probably has though. You should ask her."
"Okay, I will ask her later." She knew that Peyton knew about the group because she was the one that introduced her to The Plain White T's. After the guys were done eating they shot around for another hour or so. Then they drove back to Luke's so that he and Nathan could get a quick shower in before they had to meet Karen for lunch. After they were done showering and Nathan had left for work Lucas sat down on the couch and motioned for Jamie to sit next to him. He didn't know how he was going to say this, but he knew he had to try.
"Jamie, I don't know how long I can keep this thing a secret. I don't want to see you hurt and now I know that every time I see you with bruises, I know that you were not being a klutz. I like you so much Jamie and I don't want to see you hurting. Please, let me tell someone. You could get emancipated like Nathan or someone in Tree Hill could adopt you…I just don't want to lose you."
"Lucas, no one will believe you if you tell them. My dad is one of the best bull-shitters in the world. He could lie well enough to make a nun swear. Lucas, he is good at making people believe him, he should have been a car-salesman. And besides, if he found out that you saw what happened, we would both get it. I am asking, no, I am begging you…do not tell anyone. I will be eighteen in a couple of years and I will be going off to college. I can take it for that long."
"But Jamie, what if next time it gets worse? What if the next time it goes from a bad bruising to him accidentally killing you?"
"Lucas, he has never gone that far. You have to believe me when I say that he isn't capable of that much harm. Please, promise me again that you won't tell anyone!"
"I have already promised that I wouldn't tell anyone and I am not one to go back on my word, but if anything serious happens, I will not be afraid to tell. Besides, my mom will believe me."
"Speaking of your mom, shouldn't we be headed for the café now? We don't want her to get worried." When they stood up to leave, Lucas leaned over and gave her a kiss on the cheek and promised that he wouldn't let her dad hurt her again. They walked out the door and headed for the café. When they reached the café, Karen was already clearing a place for them to eat lunch. The way she went about clearing a table and putting plates and glasses down brought back the memories of the day she told Lucas and Haley she was leaving.
"Lucas, Jamie, nice of you two to join me here." She walked over and gave Lucas a hug. "How was staying at Nathan and Haley's last night? You didn't stay up too terribly late did you?"
"No, we fell asleep early, Haley wasn't feeling well." He looked over at Jamie to make sure she wasn't going to say anything to blow his cover. Jamie knew he hadn't stayed at Nathan's, but she didn't want Lucas to get grounded.
"What were you doing at Nathan's last night?" Jamie asked curious to what he told Karen.
"Oh, we just played PS2 and sat around and talked. Haley wasn't feeling well so we went to bed fairly early. I beat him a couple times in NBA Live and he beat me. It was a rather boring night." He said while giving a small glare over at Jamie.
"So, what's for lunch Karen? It smells amazing!"
"Well, I figured that I would make you one of Lucas' favorite dishes. I used to cook it when he was little, but he stopped eating it a couple years ago. It took me forever to find the recipe, but I thought you and Lucas would love it." Jamie thought back to the times when she would eat at Lucas' house. Karen had always made them BBQ chicken with cheesy mash potatoes, baked beans, corn, and dinner rolls for dinner with strawberry cheese cake for dessert. Karen thought that pop was bad for them, so she always made pink lemonade. Jamie had no idea that Lucas hadn't been able to eat his favorite meal after she left. That was the last meal that she had eaten with them. As they ate, they talked about what had been going on during the past couple of days in school and what plans they had for the summer.
"Jamie, do you have plans for the summer?" Karen asked.
"No, I don't have any plans. I should probably either get a job or do some summer schooling. But I am going to need money for college, so I will probably start looking for a job soon."
"Well, I need some one to waitress at the café and at TRIC. If you are interested, I would love for you to work here. You could start as soon as tomorrow if you wanted the job."
"I would love to help you out. It would be really fun. And I could definitely start tomorrow."
"Great, then I will see you tomorrow around ten. I need you here for the lunch shift and if you come early, then I can get you associated with the place. And don't worry, Lucas will be working tomorrow so you will know someone." Lucas looked shocked when Karen said he was working.
"Mom, do I have to work? That is so not fair! I don't get paid to work here…you just make me."
"Come on Luke, we will be working together. We can take a break at the same time and…" she looked over at Karen and saw a look of discomfort starting to come to her face. "We can hangout together all the time."
"Yea, I guess that will be fun. But, I promised Keith that I would come in and help him out at the garage. I'll see you a little later. Will you be around?"
"Do you want me to be around when you get back?" Lucas shook his head. "Yea, maybe I will be in the park or here or I don't know. Give me a call on my cell."
"Sure, I'll give you a call when I'm done helping. I'll see you later babe." He gave Jamie a small kiss. "Bye Mom, I'll be home for supper."
"Bye Luke, be home by 6:30." After Lucas left, Jamie and Karen sat around for a little while talking about lunch. When Karen started cleaning up, Jamie got up to help. "You don't have to clean up, go have fun. This was my mess. I'll clean up."
"No way, I helped eat, so I will help clean." They walked back to the sink and started doing the dishes. "What did you think I was going to say Karen? I'm not like that, don't worry. I didn't mean for you to think that I was trying to seduce Lucas. I don't want you to think badly of me."
"Don't worry Jamie. I know that you wouldn't do that. Sometimes I just have a hard time trusting Lucas after some things that happened this year. I know I should trust him, because he is a good kid, but it is hard to have that trust for him."
"I understand, but don't worry Lucas is a good kid."
"Because of you, Jamie. Lucas was on the wrong side for a while. I'm not saying that I hate the friends he made, but it was just weird that he went from hanging out with Haley who was a quiet A-student to going out with Brooke who was a wild party girl. I think they both have changed in good ways, but it is still hard for me to trust Luke completely." After that, they did the dishes in silence.