I'm Moving On… Or So I Thought (Chapter 5)
It was three months into the school year and Haley had already made a few new friends. One of them was Maria Campanelli. Maria was also a music student, but her focus was on instrumental. She had only taken vocal because she needed another class in her schedule and she only wanted to be taking music classes.
Maria was absolutely amazing in instrumental music, playing almost every instrument, including piano, guitar, trombone, clarinet (and bass clarinet) and saxophone. She also had a good voice, but needed to exercise it more. She'd always shrug it off. She knew she wasn't the best singer and she was ok with that. She wasn't like most of the other girls in the class, who would freak out if another student criticized their voice or tried to help them.
"We can't all be a triple threat like you," she would always say. Haley laughed it off. She had shown Maria some of the songs she had written and that's when Maria started referring to her as a triple threat. Haley wasn't the modest type. She knew she was good in music, but she wasn't very fond of rubbing it into the other students who didn't have her background. Haley had specialized in both instrumental and vocal. She played the piano, guitar, flute (and piccolo), and clarinet (and bass clarinet). Her strength was in vocal.
"Haley!" Maria exclaimed from the student cafeteria. Haley looked up from the book she was reading and smiled at her friend.
"What's up?" Haley asked. Maria walked over and looked around and smiled. Haley looked at her in confusion. And then she recognized the look. "You met a guy, didn't you?" Haley asked. Some things were just so predictable about Maria. Maria nodded and her smile widened.
"He's a basketball player," Maria admitted. Haley nodded.
"For this team, right?" Haley asked. Maria looked at her in confusion.
"Of course he is," Maria said. Maria was an avid sports watcher and a devoted fan to the Tree Hill University Ravens basketball team.
"He invited me to come to that club TRIC with him and a few of his friends," Maria said. Haley nodded. "And he said to bring along a friend," she said.
"For what?" Haley asked, looking up at her suspiciously.
"For his friend," Maria said. Haley laughed.
"Good luck finding one," she said, looking down at her book again. Maria sat down beside Haley and looked at her pleadingly. Haley smiled slowly. "He's not a basketball player, is he?" Haley asked. Maria looked down.
"I don't know, but I think so, yeah," she said. Haley groaned.
"Look, I know you're not a fan of basketball players, especially after what happened, but, I'm your friend and friends do favours for each other," Maria said. Haley smirked.
"And your point is…?" Haley asked.
"What are friends for?" Maria asked, shrugging innocently. Haley looked up at her in regret. Maria's face fell. "You're not going, are you?" she asked.
Haley shook her head. Maria sighed in frustration. "Mia, I'm really sorry, but I can't go out on a date with someone, even if it's a pretend date. I'm just not ready and I hope that, as my friend, you understand," Haley said. Maria looked at her in disappointment for a while but then a smile appeared on her face.
"Of course I understand. I know what it's like to be heartbroken and it really sucks that you are. You're like the last person on the planet who deserves it," Maria said. Haley laughed.
"Thanks for saying that, but who does deserve it?" Haley asked.
"That jackass who hurt you. I swear, I wish I could have five seconds alone with him, I'd put the fear of God in him for sure," Maria said. Haley chuckled softly.
"You're a really good friend, you know that?" Haley said. Maria nodded.
"I'm the best friend you'll ever have. Be sure not to forget it," Maria said.
"Have fun tonight," Haley said. Maria winked at her.
"Oh, trust me. I plan to," she said. Haley laughed again.
"So, what are you going to do tonight?" Maria asked.
"Go back home," Haley offered.
"And watch a little television, maybe a romance movie and cry about the way things should be?" Maria teased. Haley hit her with her book. Maria looked at her in shock.
"Well, well, well. Who would've thought that Haley James could be so aggressive?" Maria asked and started laughing.
"So you coming, Nate?" Tim asked. Nathan shook his head.
"No, I'm tired, Tim. I need to catch up on sleep," he replied. Tim shook his head in disappointment.
"I met this cool chick, Maria, and made her promise to bring a friend of hers for my lonely buddy," Tim said. Nathan smirked.
"I don't need help getting dates," Nathan reminded him.
"That's definitely true. You're a heartbreaker. Maybe it's a good thing that Maria's friend decided not to come," Tim said.
"Have fun tonight, Tim," Nathan said as Tim got up and left. Nathan didn't know why, but he found himself thinking of her. It was unnerving for him to care so much. She was just one of the many, another faceless girl that he went to do convince himself that he was still desirable, but for some reason, she stood out. Maybe it was her innocence. The fact that she had refused to give him what he wanted and so he'd gone to get it somewhere else. And she'd seen him.
He didn't fall for girls anymore. He'd only ever fallen for one girl and that had even caught him by surprise. That girl had taken out his heart and spat on it. He wasn't kidding himself or anything. He knew that the relationship with Taylor wasn't going anywhere, but that didn't mean it hadn't hurt when she was the one who broke up with him. He had come to the conclusion that relationships were pointless. They never lasted. People got married, sure, but did they ever really stay happy with that one person? The fact that people had affairs told Nathan that the answer to his question was no.
And yet, even with this knowledge, Nathan always kept coming back to her. He still saw her face before he went to sleep. Their time together was more than short-lived, it was more like a split second, and it was so brief. But in that time, Nathan had caught himself actually being happy. Happier than he'd ever been with Taylor or any other girl. He sighed and decided to go out for a walk. He never imagined that he would wind up outside her dorm room. He was going to walk away but then he heard her coming. He knew it was her just like he knew he wasn't over her. As crazy as that sounded. She took one look at him and rolled her eyes.
"What are you doing here?" she demanded. Her fiery brown eyes were pinning him to the spot. The pain and anger came in hand in hand as if they were the best of friends. He didn't like seeing it in her eyes.
"I wanted to talk to you, Haley," he said.
Haley looked at him in detached amusement. She actually laughed. "You know what? You're unbelievable. Now? Now you want to talk?" she asked, shaking her head in disbelief.
"Look, I know that what I did was wrong," he said. Haley smirked.
"That's a pretty convenient way of putting it," she said.
"How would you put it?" he asked. Haley looked at him.
"Heartless. Cruel," she replied instantly. He nodded. "Coward?" she offered, shrugging.
"I didn't mean for that to happen," he said. Haley scoffed.
"That is weak. Mr. Big Shot Basketball Star can't even let a girl down easy," she said.
"Look, I'm sorry. I made a mistake," he said.
"So, you wish you could take it back?" Haley asked doubtfully.
"Not then, no, I didn't. But… I just needed time. It was getting to be too much for me," he said.
"It was a fight. People do argue from time to time, you know," Haley said.
"Well, I don't. It was getting too serious. I couldn't take it," he said.
"If you can't take it, then, you shouldn't even be in a relationship," Haley said. She unlocked her dorm door and turned to him. "Which, by the way, you're not, so everything's fine," Haley said, smiling at him. Nathan's face grew serious.
"It's not that simple, Haley," he said. Haley laughed at him.
"Of course it is," she said. She closed the door behind her, but Nathan caught it before it closed. He walked into the room. Haley turned around.
"In case you didn't get it, that was me shutting you out," Haley pointed out.
"I got it. I just don't agree," he said, looking at her solemnly. Haley shook her head.
"Just hear me out," he said. Haley shook his head.
"Uh-uh. You had your chance and you blew it," Haley said.
"Are you telling me you don't miss me?" he asked. Caught off guard, she looked up at him. She sighed.
"We went out for four weeks. You don't miss me, Nathan," Haley said. He looked at her in surprise. "You miss what I represent," she said. He looked at her in confusion.
"What do you represent?" he asked.
"Someone who took a chance on you. Risked everything, even her relationship with her sister, to be with you," Haley said. "Someone who trusted you," she added. She walked over to the door and held it open.
"But I'm not that person now," she said, gesturing to the door. He walked over to her. She almost backed away. He looked down at her for a few seconds, admiring her strength to push him away even when it was clear that she didn't want to. This was her protecting herself from being hurt again. He bent his head down quickly and kissed her deeply. He missed her taste and as much as he didn't want to, he pulled away and looked down at her.
"You're not the only one who took a chance," he said.
"What are you talking about?" she asked.
"It's been a while since I've let myself feel anything for a girl. After the last time, I made myself invincible. I made myself not care. But you broke through that. It scared the hell out of me, so I tried to deny what I was feeling and what you saw was my twisted remedy. Admittedly, the logic behind it was a little screwed up. But the point is, it didn't work," he said.
"I don't know what to say," she admitted. He shrugged.
"Don't say anything. Just kiss me," he said, smiling at her.
Haley couldn't help it. She laughed at him. Then she stopped. She reached up and kissed him lightly on the lips. He responded and pulled her closer and deepened the kiss. Then Haley pulled away. "It's going to take some time, Nathan," she said.
"I'm willing to wait, Hales," he said. She smirked.