Getting Reacquainted (Chapter 2)
Haley had moved the piano from her room to the living room. She had set her keyboard up in her room since it was smaller so it didn't take up as much space. She was all alone in the house and that didn't bother her one bit. It gave her the peace to work on her piano piece that she had received from the university. It was the piano part to "Stand Up For Love" and the students were expected to have it memorized by the time they got to school because on the first day, they would start playing their individual pieces. Each student had been assigned a different one. The vocal students that were in the class were expected to sing along to it as well. Haley put her hands across the cold keys and kept her eyes level with the music, being sure not to look down to see that her fingers were in the right place. She knew how to play the piano well enough now that she could just move her fingers across the keys. She started singing along to it as well:
There are times I'll find it hard to sleep at night
We are living through such troubled times
And every child that reaches out for someone to hold
For one moment they become my own
And how can I pretend that I don't know what's going on?
When every second, and every minute, another soul is gone
And I believe that in my life I will see
An end to hopelessness, of giving up, of suffering
If we all stand together this one time
Then no one will get left behind
Stand up for life
Stand up and hear me sing
Stand up for love
Peyton walked into the house and heard the piano playing and knew right away that the voice must belong to Haley. She was the only one in the house who sang. She walked to the living room and stopped to watch Haley. "Peyton, what are you doing?" Jake asked, as he came up behind her.
"Shh," she said, putting her finger to her mouth. "I want to hear this." Haley started to sing again:
I'm inspired and hopeful each and every day
That's how I know that things are gonna change
So how can I pretend that I don't know what's going on?
When every second, with every minute, another soul is gone
And I believe I will see, yeah
An end to hopelessness, of giving up, of suffering
If we all stand together this one time
Then no one will get left behind
Stand up for life
Stand up for love
And it all starts right here
And it starts right now
One person stands up and the rest will follow
From the forgotten
From the unloved
I'm gonna sing this song
And I believe that in my life I will see
An end to hopelessness, of giving up, of suffering
If we all stand together this one time
Then no one will get left behind
Stand up for life
Stand up and sing, yeah
Stand up for love
For love
She stopped playing the piano and Peyton broke out into applause. Haley jumped and turned around. "You scared the hell out of me. Don't you know how to knock?" Haley demanded. Peyton laughed.
"I called you and left you a message. Besides, I knew you'd leave the door unlocked," she said.
"I didn't," Haley said.
"Then Brooke and Taylor forgot to lock it," Peyton offered. Haley shrugged and smiled.
"By the way, that was incredible," Jake said. Haley smiled and nodded.
"That really was incredible, Hales. Going to those fancy music schools really did pay off. Your voice was always good, but now it's just… breathtaking, and I know that sounds kind of corny, but it's true," Peyton said.
"Thanks," she said. "Your sketches have gotten a lot better too," Haley said, gesturing to the issue of THUD Magazine on the coffee table.
Peyton looked down at them nervously. "What makes you think they're mine?" she asked. Haley scoffed and chuckled.
"Please. I'd recognize your high school characters anywhere," she said.
"Well, that's supposed to be anonymous, but thanks," she said. Peyton turned to Jake and kissed him.
"Thanks for dropping me off, hon. Go and play some ball with Luke and Nate," she said. He smiled and hugged her.
"Nice seeing you again, Haley," Jake said. Haley smiled and waved goodbye. She sat back down on the piano bench and Peyton pulled a wooden chair up to sit beside her.
"So, what was that piece for anyway?" Peyton asked. Haley looked at her in confusion. "It doesn't seem like one of yours," Peyton said.
"It's not. It's by Destiny's Child," she replied, chuckling.
"Oh!" Peyton said, laughing.
"It's for school," she said and then started to explain. "So, how long have you and Jake been dating?" Haley asked. Peyton stopped to think for a minute.
"Since ninth grade," she replied. Haley's mouth dropped open.
"Wow. That is a really long time. You must really love each other," Haley said.
"Well, that's because we do," Peyton said. Haley nodded.
"And how was school?" Haley asked.
"Well, I'm going to the Art Institute in Raleigh. I commute back and forth," Peyton replied. Peyton began to tell Haley all about her life so far. How her biological mother had shown up out of nowhere, posing as some reporter from a magazine that wanted to do an article on the club she'd helped Karen and Deb Scott get off the ground. That she had died, but that Peyton was fine and had actually began a search for her biological father, but turned up nothing.
"Well, enough about me. What about you?" Peyton asked. Haley shrugged.
"What about me?" she asked.
"Please. You lived in LA and New York City on your own for six years, Hales," Peyton said.
"Well, if you're thinking I went to wild parties or hooked up with soon-to-be-actors, you've got the wrong James," Haley said. Peyton burst out laughing at the thought.
"I know you've changed, but no one changes that drastically," Peyton commented.
"You've changed too," Haley said.
"Come on, Hales. I told you about my life, Ellie and I even let you tease me about being a cheerleader in high school," Peyton said. Haley burst out laughing again.
"It's just so absurd. You're the least cheery person I know. Now, Brooke and Taylor, on the other hand, fit right in with them," Haley said chuckling softly now. Peyton rolled her eyes.
"You're avoiding the subject," Peyton whined. Haley chuckled.
"I don't know what you want me to say, Pey. I left to go to school and focus on music. That's what I did," Haley said.
"You're telling me that you didn't have one boyfriend?" Peyton asked. Haley smirked and shrugged. "You're kidding me," Peyton said in disbelief.
"Well, I went out on dates, but none of the guys I met seemed right, if that makes any sense," Haley said.
"You've always been a sensible and cautious person, Hales. It makes sense that you wouldn't go out with just anyone. So, I understand. I'm just surprised that you didn't have at least one boyfriend for even a few weeks," Peyton said.
"Well, I didn't. I was too focused on what I went there for," Haley said.
"Well, at least you went out on some dates," Peyton said. Haley smiled.
"And they were fun, but I guess I'm looking for something other than just fun," she said.
"So, what university did you say you were going to?" she asked.
"Tree Hill," Haley replied. Peyton nodded.
"Oh, that's a good school. Nathan goes there," Peyton said. Haley frowned. "What?" Peyton asked. Haley shrugged at her in confusion. "What's that look about?" Peyton asked.
"It's just there's something about Nathan that bothers me, that's all," Haley said.
"Like what?" Peyton replied.
"Well, the way he acts. He seems like he's a little…" Haley said, but her sentence trailed off.
"Guarded and arrogant?" Peyton asked. Haley nodded.
"Exactly. And the way he's similar to Taylor isn't impressive at all. God, he's just like her, but in pants," Haley said.
"Well, he kind of is like that, at least on the surface," Peyton said. Haley looked at her in confusion.
"He's got an ass of a father or something who rides him a lot. But he can be a good guy," Peyton said. Haley shrugged.
Jake walked over to the River Court and Nathan threw him the ball. "So, where have you been?" he asked.
"I had to drop Peyton over at the James'," Jake said.
"What for? Brooke and Taylor are out shopping and Peyton doesn't even really like them anyways," Lucas said.
"She's there visiting Haley," Jake explained. Nathan nodded.
"So, let's just stop for a second and talk about Haley," Lucas said. Jake and Nathan looked at him.
"What do you guys make of her?" Lucas asked. "She's nice enough, don't you think?" he asked. Nathan and Jake nodded.
"She's not bad looking either," Nathan commented. Jake and Lucas looked at him in surprise. "Don't even get any ideas in your heads. I can notice that a girl is hot without wanting to date her," Nathan said.
"She's one hell of a singer, I can tell you that," Jake said. Nathan and Lucas looked at him for a minute.
"How would you know?" Lucas asked.
"When Peyton and I walked into the house, Haley was in the living room playing the piano and singing. Peyton made me wait at the door until she finished the song. It was awesome. I got goose bumps," Jake said, pointing to his arms. Nathan and Lucas smirked at him in amusement.
"I'm not kidding. You should have heard it," Jake said.
"We believe you, Jake. We just think you're amusing sometimes," Nathan assured him. Jake nodded as he put on a mock upset expression.
"Well, as long as you believe me," he said. Then he cracked a smile and started laughing as Nathan rolled his eyes.
Peyton, Jake and Haley were sitting down at a booth at TRIC when Taylor, Joe, Lucas, Brooke and Nathan all walked in. Taylor and Brooke looked over at their sister. "Hey, Haley's here. Let's go over and join them," Taylor said. They all nodded and walked towards the booth.
"Are you serious?" Peyton asked. Her smile was wide with amazement and it was directed at Haley.
"Do you guys mind if we join you?" Taylor asked. Peyton rolled her eyes, but Haley shook her head.
"You're going to need to pull up a few chairs, though," she said.
"No, the tables can be pulled together," Brooke said. Haley shrugged and started to move down to the part of the booth at the corner. Peyton and Jake moved down too. Everyone started moving in to sit down and by the time they were all sitting down, there was no room on the other side of Peyton. There was only room right beside Haley. So Nathan shrugged and took a seat beside her. Peyton was holding up a burned CD in a case.
"So, this is really all you?" Peyton asked. Haley nodded. "So cool. I can't wait to listen to it," she said, putting it in her purse.
"Thanks for making her CD collection even bigger," Jake said sarcastically. Haley laughed. Peyton jabbed him in the gut.
"This one is different. It's actually a friend who probably worked really hard on it," Peyton said, shaking her head in disappointment. Haley smirked. She knew Peyton was trying to make Jake feel bad. It worked. He looked down and then up again.
"Sorry, Haley. I didn't mean anything by it. I was just joking. You should see her CD collection," Jake said.
"You can never have too many CDs," Peyton argued. Haley laughed.
"What are you guys talking about?" Lucas asked.
"Haley just gave me a CD with some songs that she made while she was away," Peyton explained. Lucas widened his eyes in surprise.
"Cool. They original songs?" Lucas asked.
"There are a few on there, but most of them are covers I did for school," Haley said.
"Is it a CD that you actually released?" Lucas asked.
"No, it was a project. We had to partner up and were assigned certain times to go into the recording studio and record the songs. One student was the singer and the other was the producer. And then we switched roles for the other person to do their CD," Haley said.
"And who produced yours?" Peyton asked.
"My friend, Jason Wright," Haley replied. Then "Right Here Waiting" by Monica came on. Taylor jumped up in excitement.
"Oh, I love this song. Joe, let's go dance," she said. Joe nodded and Taylor pulled him over to the dance floor. As usual, Brooke followed suit and dragged Lucas onto the dance floor. Peyton turned to Jake and looked at him questioningly.
"One dance," he said, holding up one index finger for emphasis. Haley chuckled. Peyton smiled and slid out of the booth. Haley cringed.
"What's wrong?" Nathan asked, startling Haley. She had momentarily forgotten that he was there.
"Dancing," she said. He looked at her intrigued.
"What, you don't like dancing?" he asked, looking at her in surprise.
Haley sighed. "Not that kind," she replied, pointing to Taylor and Brooke who were doing moves way too fast for the song. Nathan had to smile. Taylor had always been a little off beat and never concerned about the tempo of a song. That was one reason Nathan could be thankful that he was not dating her anymore. And Brooke usually did whatever Taylor did and vice versa.
"I know what you mean," he said. Haley started laughing all of a sudden. He looked at her in confusion. "What?" he asked.
"I just forgot that you dated her for like four years. That means you were once in Joe's position," Haley said. She was moving into hysterics now. Nathan started laughing too.
"Actually, I danced with her once and then I never danced with her again," he said. He looked at her.
"What happened to your arm?" he asked. Haley looked over on her elbow and noticed a bruise. Haley smiled to herself.
"Oh, that's from when I fell this morning," she said as if it happened all the time. Nathan looked at her in confusion. "Gravity and I aren't exactly on the best of terms," she explained.
"Did you ever fall off stage?" he asked. Haley looked away rather quickly. Nathan had to smile. "You did?" he asked. Haley turned to him and her face was bright red.
"Three times," she said, "During the same performance." Nathan cracked up.
"Hey, it's not funny. I had to go to the hospital. I got a concussion and I was knocked unconscious," she said defensively. That just made him laugh harder.