What Drives Him… He's an Idiot (Chapter Two)

Nathan walked into the café and was shocked to see that Haley actually did work there. She was behind the counter, wiping it down. He walked over to where she was and looked at her expectantly. She looked up. "You can just take a seat. I've got about five minutes left on the clock," she said, gesturing to one of the seats in the café. He turned around and noticed an empty table in the corner. He shrugged and took a seat at one of them. He opened the sports magazine he brought and started reading.

"Haley?" His Aunt Karen called.

"What's up, Karen?" Haley asked. Nathan looked up and saw that Karen was standing with an older man that he didn't recognize. He looked like a truck driver or something. When Haley saw the man, a look of annoyance crossed her face.

"Did you pour water on this man?" Karen asked. Haley sighed as she nodded. Karen took her by the arm and led her closer to where Nathan was so she could talk to her in private. "You can't just pour water over a customer, Haley. This man may start talking and then I might lose business," Karen said.

"The pig didn't leave me much of a choice," Haley said. Karen looked at her. "He wouldn't stop hitting on me and then he grabbed me and pulled me down on his lap. I grabbed the pitcher of water and poured it over him," Haley said.

"Why aren't you wet?" Karen asked.

"Oh, I brought a change of clothes and changed into them," Haley explained. Karen laughed. Haley smirked.

"Look, I'll take care of him," she said. Karen eyed her carefully.

"I promise I won't pour anything on him," Haley said, as she walked over to him.

"Are you here to apologize to me?" the man asked. Haley laughed at him.

"No, I'm here to warn you that if you don't stop complaining, I might change my mind and actually have you charged," Haley said. The man shook his head.

"You can't prove a thing and it was just a little fun," he said.

"There was a room full of witnesses and the police have a different term for your 'little fun'," Haley said. He looked at her in confusion.

"Sexual harassment and sexual assault since you grabbed me," Haley said.

"There's no way you'd ever have the guts," he said.

Haley's face grew serious as she said, "Do I look like I'm scared?" The man looked at her for a second before he shrugged. "Oh, and by the way, I'm using my right to refuse service to you," Haley said, as he walked out. Karen came over and patted Haley on the back.

"Good job. Next time, please just ask one of the many customers in the room," Karen said, laughing. Haley shrugged, but nodded agreeably. She took off her apron and put it behind the counter and put the rag away in the back. When she came out, she had English books with her. She came over and sat down.

"You handled that guy pretty well," Nathan said. Haley nodded. "Where'd you learn to stick up for yourself like that? A lot of the girls I know are-" he started.

"Wimps?" Haley finished.

"Well, I wouldn't put it like that. I meant that they're just not the type to throw water on a guy for hitting on them. They're more likely to get their boyfriend to warn him to stay away or something," he said. Haley laughed.

"How about we get started?" she suggested. He nodded.

"Now, you were supposed to write a paper on what drives you in your life over the weekend," Haley said. Nathan looked at her and smirked.

"How do you remember that?" he asked. Haley shrugged.

"I write it down," she said.

"That's probably a good idea," he said.

"Now, how about I start by asking you this: Why didn't you write the paper?" Haley asked. Nathan stopped to think.

"I was playing basketball," he replied. Haley looked at him.

"All weekend?" she asked. Nathan laughed.

"Well, no. I had parties to go to too," he explained.

"Well, you're going to have to start putting homework before parties and playing basketball when it's not a practice or a game," Haley said.

"Why should I?" Nathan asked.

"Because if you want to stay on the team, you need to pass English and you need me in order to pass English. And if you don't change your priorities, I'm not going to tutor you because it's a waste of my time," Haley said. Nathan nodded.

"So, we need to do an outline, but first, we have to pick a topic," she said. She showed him what a proper outline looked like from one of her notes. He started copying. A minute later, he looked up at her.

"What drives you?" she asked.

"Girls," he joked. Haley rolled her eyes.

"Can you be serious?" Haley asked. He laughed.

"All right. What do you mean?" he asked.

"When you wake up every morning, what do you look forward to all day?" Haley asked. Nathan smirked.

"That's easy. Basketball practice," he said. Haley nodded.

"Why?" she asked. The reason she was asking was because in the paragraph about basketball, he had to give at least three reasons why. He stopped to think for a second.

"Well, I guess because I like sports and basketball is my favourite sport. It's also the one thing Lucas and I have in common so that keeps us from killing each other and it keeps the peace between our two families," he explained. Haley nodded. Karen and Dan had dated previously in high school, but Dan dumped her as soon as senior year ended. Then, Keith and Karen grew closer over missing Dan while he was away and they fell in love and within a few weeks, Karen was pregnant with Lucas. Dan had gone to college and gotten Deb pregnant and did the honourable thing and stayed by her side. Lucas and Nathan had grown up together, but they had never gotten along. Nathan was into popularity and all the profits that came along with it, while Lucas was usually happy sitting in a corner with a good book. Haley didn't know Nathan that well, since he never bothered to hang out with his cousin when it didn't concern basketball so they had never met until now.

"What else drives you?" she asked.

"I guess my friends do. I mean I don't like to see them in pain. Like my friends Peyton Sawyer and Brooke Davis, but of course, you must know her," Nathan said. Haley nodded. Lucas and Brooke were dating so Haley ran into Brooke all the time now, though she desperately tried to avoid her. She didn't know Peyton Sawyer that well, so she didn't really have an opinion of her.

"So, you like to hang out with your friends," Haley said. It was a statement, not a question, because she already knew that. Nathan nodded. "Do the guys on the team fit into that category?" Haley asked. Nathan nodded.

"Of course they do. I see them all the time, so I kind of know if something's bothering them. You know Tim Smith, right?" he said. Haley nodded.

"What else drives you?" she asked.

He smirked awkwardly as he said, "Well, I wouldn't say they drive me, but I like to see my parents every day. It's cool now that my mom works with my aunt so I get to see her more. I only see Keith and Karen on holidays or birthdays," Nathan said.

"Even though you live in the same town? Is that your point?" Haley asked. Nathan nodded.

"Well, there you go. That's your paper right there," she said. Nathan looked at her. "Seeing your family, basketball and your friends drives you and you know why now. Just put that into sentence format, drop it over at the Tutoring Centre on Saturday because I'll be there and I'll look it over," Haley said. Haley started to get up, but when she noticed Nathan looking at down like he needed help with something, she sat back down. "Nathan?" she said. He looked up and smiled. "Is everything ok?" she asked. He shook his head. She nodded and left the table.

Nathan thought she was going to help him with more than just a paper. He needed help in every part of English. He was not doing well in a lot of subjects. He sat up and put his books in his shoulder bag. "Nathan?" his mom asked. "Hey, Mom," he said.

"I can't believe you actually came here," she said. He smirked.

"I actually needed help from another student for something in school. We decided to meet here," he said. Deb smiled.

"Oh. Well, take a seat and I'll get you something to eat. On me, of course," she said.

"I can pay for my own meal, Mom. Besides, I can't. I have to get home. I'm meeting some friends later and I came here straight from practice," he said. He hugged her and took one last look around the café before leaving. Just then, Lucas and Brooke walked up to the door. Lucas looked so shocked to see Nathan there; he dropped Brooke's hand. "Hey, Brooke," Nathan said. He looked over to Lucas and nodded at him. "Hi, Luke," he said before leaving. Lucas walked up to the counter and smiled when Haley stood up from leaning down.

"Hey, Hales," he said. She smiled at him. Then she looked at Brooke and her smile vanished for a second, but she quickly smirked at Brooke.

"Hey, Tutor Girl," Brooke said cheerfully. A look of annoyance crossed her face and she rolled her eyes.

"It's Haley," she corrected Brooke.

"Can I get a soda?" Brooke asked. Haley shrugged.

"Ask someone else for it. I'm off the clock and I'm going home. I've been here since school ended and I have work to do," Haley said.

"You work yourself to death between the work at the café, your own homework and then you take time to help other people with their homework," Lucas said, smiling.

"And I get it all done. I'm the Energizer Bunny," Haley said. Lucas laughed.

"Bye, Hales, I'll see you tomorrow," he called as she left.

SATURDAY

Haley sat down at the computer and looked at the exam of a student she was tutoring. She pulled up his math exam and then his history exam. She made a few notes on the notebook she had in front of her and put the notebook in the file folder with his name on it and put it away in its slot. Just then, Nathan walked in. "You have your paper?" she asked. He nodded. She took it from him and looked at it. A few minutes later, she looked at him. She took a red pen and made a few marks on it.

"Just a few grammar mistakes. Just type it up again, using the corrections and then hand that copy in. You'll do fine. It's really good," she said, giving it back to him. He took it back from her and put it away.

"Thanks," he said. She nodded as she turned back to what she had been doing. He looked like he wanted to ask her something, but then thought better of it and started to leave. He wanted to ask her if she would tutor him for good now, but he didn't want to bother her. It was obvious that she didn't like working with him and since she didn't offer, it was pretty clear that she only wanted this to be a one-time thing. But he needed help. "Haley?" he asked. She turned around and looked at him. Then, Tim and a few guys from the team walked in.

"Nathan, what are you still doing here, hanging out with this nerd?" Tim asked.

Nathan put on a cool smile as he said, "I was just leaving. I'm just giving her a few seconds of the attention she's dying to get from me." Tim nodded in understanding. Haley's face hardened as she turned around and started doing something else.

"Let's go, Nathan. She obviously thinks she's better than us," Tim said.

"Cause she's so smart. Well, at least I get a date every once in a while," Nathan said to her back. She stiffened. Nathan left with his friends. Haley continued to put the files away even as a tear trickled out of her eye. She took a deep breath. How could she have been so wrong about Nathan Scott? For the few minutes they spent together in the café, he was really nice to her and two seconds ago; he was thanking her for helping him. She took the file she had been working on, on the computer out of the slot. She looked at the name. It said Nathan Scott. She took the notebook out of the file and ripped the one page of writing out of it. She crumpled the folder and threw it all in the garbage. There was no way she was going to continue to tutor him so she could endure that kind of treatment all year long.