Opposites Attract

Introduction

This story is kind of an alternate universe. It still takes place in Tree Hill and the names are still the same and most of the same characters are still in it and are not really that different from who they are (personalities and what they're interested in, i.e., Peyton's still a cheerleader and an artist), so here's the deal:

Nathan Scott is the star player of the Tree Hill Ravens basketball team. He is the king of the school and he knows it. He also acts like it. His father is the overbearing, former basketball-obsessed player who tries to relive his glory days through his son.

Haley James is the best tutor at Tree Hill High and has one of the highest GPA's in her class. She is the best friend of Nathan's cousin, Lucas Scott (the son of Karen and Keith Scott), who is also on the Ravens basketball team. While Lucas and Nathan are as different as day and night, they have one common love: basketball. So, they are generally civil towards one another.

Basketball Players vs. Tutors (Chapter One)

Nathan Scott walked out of his bedroom with his gym bag clutched in his hand. He walked into the kitchen and smiled as he saw his mother dressed for work. His mother had just become his Aunt Karen's business partner last year after Karen had gone to Italy for a while to take some cooking lessons. "Nate, where are your books?" she asked. Nathan stopped to think.

"They're in my locker at school," he replied.

"You didn't have any homework over the weekend?" Deb asked. Again, he stopped to think.

"Uh, no. The teachers didn't assign us anything on account of the long weekend. They wanted us to enjoy our vacation," he explained. Of course, he wasn't sure if that was true. He had no idea if he had homework. He rarely did homework because he had barely any time for it and he didn't want to do it. Besides, once he explained to his teachers that he had a late practice the day before, they let him get away with it and almost always forget to ask him about it the next day.

"Aren't you going to eat?" Deb asked. Nathan grabbed the toast off the plate.

"I'll eat as I go," he said.

"Come by the café today after practice, ok? Maybe you'll get a decent meal in you for once," his mom said. Nathan laughed as he left the room.

"Bye, Mom. I'll see you later," Nathan called as he walked out the door. He smiled as he saw that his father had already left for work. The last thing he needed was another lecture about how not to slack off during practice after a long weekend. He got into his car and started the engine. He pulled out of the driveway and started the ten-minute drive to school. Then he drove into the school parking lot and parked. He looked at his watch and sighed as he realized he was late again. He knew his teacher wouldn't make a big deal out of it, but he hated seeing the other students in his English class rolling their eyes. He got to his locker and pulled his books out and headed into his classroom.

"Mr. Scott, you're late," his teacher, Ms. Doyle, said. He nodded as he sat down.

"I'm sorry," he said. Ms. Doyle looked at him and he gave her a tired expression.

"I'll let it slide this time, but if you're late again this week, I'm going to have to give you a detention," she said. He nodded. Then, he turned to his friend, Tim and smirked. When the teacher asked a question about the book they were reading, there were at least a three minutes of silence until a brunette raised her hand and answered the question. "Very good, Miss James," Ms. Doyle said.

Nathan rolled his eyes. He didn't know who that girl was but he knew she always answered the questions right. He figured that she must have absolutely no life if she had time to do the reading. What kind of a sixteen-year-old had so much free time? He wondered to himself. Then, Tim tapped him on the shoulder and he forgot about the girl.

TWO HOURS LATER

"Hey, Hales," Lucas Scott said to Haley as he walked up to her locker.

Haley slammed her locker shut in frustration as she said, "Unbelievable!" Lucas looked at her in surprise. She was one of the most even-tempered people he knew.

"Something wrong?" he asked, smiling in amusement. Haley rolled her eyes.

"Ok, so you know my mom was sick over the weekend and my dad was out of town so I had to take care of her. I didn't get to type up an English paper, but I did get it done. The one time I don't hand in an assignment on time and Ms. Doyle says she's going to dock me 10 because it'll be late," Haley said, as they started walking towards the cafeteria. They sat down at their usual table and Lucas looked at her sympathetically. He knew her grades were very important to her. "And then Nathan walks in twenty minutes late, probably didn't even start the assignment, let alone finish it, and she just says, 'I'll let it slide this time'. It just amazes me how differently a person is treated because they have the talent to throw a ball through a hoop," Haley fumed.

"Gee, thanks," Lucas said, looking at her. Haley looked at him and realized that she had insulted him. "You know, Haley, not all of us get treated like Nathan does, or if we do, we don't take advantage of it the way he does. And one could also argue the same about you," Lucas said.

"I can't throw a ball through a hoop," Haley said. He smirked at the memory of trying to teach her how to play basketball once. She couldn't even do it granny style the first few times she tried.

"I meant that because you're smart, people treat you different. Imagine how some teachers must treat Nathan. A lot of people know that he doesn't do so well in school," he said. Now, Haley was insulted. She was a tutor so she understood that everyone has different strengths and learns at different paces. So she took it very personally when people accused her of looking down on other students because they may not get good grades.

"I didn't say anything about that. I never said Nathan was stupid," she said.

"You implied it when you said he didn't start his paper," Lucas said. Haley shook her head.

"I said that because he never does his homework. That implies laziness. It doesn't have anything to do with how smart he is," she said defensively.

"Well, whatever it was intended to mean, what you said was still insulting one way or another," Lucas said.

"I'm sorry," she said. She hated it when Lucas got defensive whenever something basketball-related happened. Haley had a right to be pissed off. She had worked hard on the paper and because her mother was sick, she had to lose ten percent of a grade she worked hard to earn. Lucas nodded.

"Look, I'm sorry about your grade," he said.

"Nathan Scott, report to room 222," the main office secretary's voice said over the PA.

Nathan walked into his English class. Ms. Doyle was sitting at her desk and nodded for him to come in. "Is something wrong?" he asked.

"You can take a seat," she said. He sat down at the desk behind him. "I'm concerned about you, Nathan," she said. He looked at her in confusion. "You're not doing very well in this course, you know," she said. He nodded. Everybody else knew it too.

"I'm trying," he said. Ms. Doyle looked down.

"Nathan, you've barely handed anything in. And the assignments that you handed in are not your best work," she said. "I'm very strung out over basketball and school work," he said, shrugging.

"Well, I don't think you want to give basketball up, do you?" Ms. Doyle asked. He shook his head. "Well, if your grades don't improve, I'm afraid that you won't be eligible to stay on the team," she said. He nodded.

"Now, is it because you really don't have time to do the work?" she asked. He looked at her in confusion. "Or are you having trouble understanding everything?" she asked. He was about to answer when a knock on the door. Ms. Doyle turned her head. "Miss James, what can I do for you?" she asked.

"I was hoping I could talk to you about something, but I can come back if you're busy," she said. Ms. Doyle looked at Nathan questioningly. He shrugged.

She looked at Haley and said, "Will it be quick?" Haley nodded. "Nathan, you can wait outside," Ms. Doyle said.

"No, that's ok. He can stay. I don't mind," Haley said.

"To answer your question, it's the second one," Nathan replied. Ms. Doyle nodded. Then, she turned her attention to the girl.

"I was hoping to talk to you about the assignment," Haley said. Ms. Doyle looked at her.

"Haley, I'm fine with you handing it in tomorrow on account of your track record with handing things in on time," she said.

"I know and I really appreciate it. But I was wondering if you would reconsider docking the ten percent?" Haley asked.

"Based on what?" Ms. Doyle said.

"The fact that I had it finished, but I couldn't type it up since I had to take my mom to the hospital because she has pneumonia," Haley said. Ms. Doyle's face wrinkled with concern.

"You said that she was sick. You never said that it was serious. Is she ok?" she asked. Haley nodded.

"She's fine now. They gave her medicine," Haley said.

"I won't dock ten percent. I'll dock three, but that's all I'll do. The assignment is still late," Ms. Doyle said. Haley sighed.

"Thank you," she said, starting to leave.

"Haley, wait a minute," Ms. Doyle said. Haley turned around. "Do you still tutor at the tutoring centre?" Ms. Doyle asked. Haley nodded slowly. The teacher looked at Nathan. "I have someone in need of tutoring," Ms. Doyle said. Haley nodded. "Would you be willing to tutor them?" Ms. Doyle asked.

Haley nodded. "Sure," she said. The teacher's face brightened.

"Nathan, is that ok with you?" Ms. Doyle asked. Haley turned to see that Nathan was looking at her. He nodded. Haley's spirits sagged. "Excellent," she said. Ms. Doyle got up and left, saying that she had to do run an errand and that they could both leave if they wanted. Nathan got up.

"So, when do you want to meet?" Haley asked. Nathan smirked.

"Never. Look, just make the paper look like I actually wrote it. And my name has two 't's at the end," Nathan said as he neared the door.

"Excuse me?" she asked. He turned around and looked at her.

"You heard me," he said. Haley shook her head. She couldn't believe his nerve.

"I hope that, for your sake, I didn't. I'm your tutor, not your slave," she said. Nathan shrugged.

"I don't need a tutor," he said. Haley looked at him in disbelief. He started to leave again.

"Fine. I hope you like watching basketball then," she said. He turned around and looked at her.

"What?" he asked.

"Because there's no way you'll be playing if you fail English," Haley said.

"I'll be fine. I can handle school," he said. Haley couldn't help it when she said, "Really? Teachers usually don't ask me to tutor students who are 'handling school'." Nathan frowned.

"After practice," he said.

"What?" Haley asked.

"After practice is ok for me to work," he replied.

"Ok. Meet me at Karen's Café," she said.

"Why?" he asked. He didn't want to meet at his aunt's business.

"That's where I work and I'll be free around the time practice ends," she said. He nodded.