Chapter Eight

The first grade trip to the botanical gardens had gone off well in the adult's minds. No one had disobeyed them as yet or stepped on any exotic plants (although at one point Tim had come close to doing so). In the minds of the children…their views were a little more varied. Some had enjoyed it; others had thought it sucked, while Haley felt a mixture of both.

As soon as they had got down from the bus Mr. Durham had announced that they had to get into pairs so that people didn't get lost. Haley had looked for Lucas to pair up, but he had decided to pair with the brunette again. It was a good thing that she and Lucas had patched things up last week or she would have thought he was still mad at her. Fortunately for Haley it turned out that the brunette, whose name was Brooke, was friends with Peyton, who was then also left without a partner.

Haley and Peyton had thus become a pair and soon discovered that they had a lot in common, especially listening to old music with their Dads. They had liked looking at the different plants, and Peyton had wanted to draw everything. She had even drawn a quick sketch of Haley from the side when they were watching a slide show, and Haley had decided that Peyton drew even better than the man who drew Snoopy.

However, as happy as she was that she had made a new friend, Haley couldn't help the feeling that Nathan was trying to avoid her gaze. As much as she tried to tell herself that she was over-reacting, throughout their trip Haley kept on getting the feeling that someone was looking at her. When she turned around, Nathan was always nearby but staring intently at some plant or tree, and the feeling had gone.

Finally, it was time for the kids to have a snack before they went back to school. After a morning of talking, rather than looking at much nature, Lucas and Brooke made their way to the area where the teachers and parents had laid blankets on the grass for the children to sit on. As they were walking, they saw Nathan and Tim standing a few steps in front of them staring at something in the distance. Brooke thought that Lucas might like to go around them to avoid Nathan, but surprisingly Lucas moved towards Nathan and followed his gaze.

Lucas saw that Nathan was watching their mothers seated next to each other on a table with the other grown-ups, and they were talking animatedly. Lucas thought that it should feel odd seeing his mother acting so friendly with Nathan's mother, but it didn't; it looked…somewhat natural. Nathan turned around to look at Lucas, and they both raised their eyebrows at each other, before going in their different directions.

Brooke and Lucas soon found the blanket Peyton and Haley were sitting on. Lucas was slightly afraid that Haley would be mad at him for not partnering with her, but she and Peyton seemed to have got on well. When Haley saw Lucas she smiled at him and patted down the place next to her for him to sit, so he knew that they were fine.

As he was sitting down Lucas saw Jake walking on his own, and called out to him. "Hey, Jake? Wanna sit with us?"

Jake nodded, and jogged over to them to fill up the remaining space, between Brooke and Peyton.

"Where's your partner?" Peyton asked.

"My friend Brian was sick so he couldn't come and I got paired with Harold."

Haley and Lucas both made a face, but Peyton and Brooke were confused. "Who's Harold?" Brooke wondered.

"The guy who sits on top of the monkey bars during break every day," Haley explained.

Peyton's eyes widened. "The guy who eats food people drop on the floor?"

"That's Harold," Lucas told them.

"Ew!" Brooke exclaimed. "You poor thing." She patted Jake's hand sympathetically, and Lucas felt oddly jealous.

Just then, two adults came with plastic plates and a container of food for the children, and everyone started eating.

"What's this?" Peyton sniffed her sandwich.

Haley and Brooke had already bitten into theirs. "I don't know, but it's really good," Haley said.

Jake shook his head. "The sandwich tastes funny. The muffin tastes better."

"I'll have your sandwich then," Brooke offered.

At the end of the snack, Jake, Lucas and Peyton got up to clear the plates while Brooke and Haley both lay down on the blanket, stuffed from having shared (without exaggeration) three-quarters of the others' food between the two of them.

"This is nice," Haley commented.

"Being so full you can't move?"

Haley giggled. "No. Lying down in the grass; looking at the trees and the sky. The gardens are really pretty."

"I didn't see them properly," Brooke admitted.

"How come?"

"I was talking to Lucas," she said with a blush.

Haley laughed, but didn't say anything.

"Peyton thinks we're too young to like boys," Brooke said suddenly.

Haley looked at her. "I don't think so…"

"Why; who do you like?" Brooke asked.

Haley's face turned bright red, so she looked the other way. Before Brooke could prod her for more information, she noticed a boy walking their way. Haley saw it was Nathan and quickly sat up. "Hi."

When he saw her he smiled. "Hey."

"So…how do you like the trip?"

"It's okay. Kind of boring sometimes."

Still lying down, Brooke watched them silently, a grin spreading on her face. Looks like she wouldn't have to ask Haley after all! She was eagerly awaiting more when a group of boys appeared on the scene.

"Hey, Nate!"

"Hey, look, its Nathan's girlfriend." Mike recognized Haley from the previous week.

Haley blushed, and Nathan stuttered, "She's n-not my girlfriend."

"So you don't like her?" Tim asked.

"No."

"But you're talking to a girl!" One boy squealed.

At this, Brooke sat up. "What's wrong with talking to a girl?" she demanded.

"Girls! Ew!" the boy replied.

"Cooties!" another chipped in, causing Brooke to roll her eyes.

Nathan was starting to get really uncomfortable and wanted to get away as soon as possible. "Look, let's just go. I was only talking to her to be nice."

The frown on Haley's face dissolved, and now she just looked blank. She slowly got up and walked away from them without a word, in direction of where Lucas, Peyton and Jake had gone.

Tim laughed. "She must have thought you liked her because you didn't met us break her sandcastle. Stupid girl."

"You're stupid," Brooke told him. She got to her feet and pushed Tim so that he fell backwards onto the grass. All the other boys took a few steps back, wary of catching cooties. Brooke glared at Nathan before following Haley.