Part Two
Three months have gone by.
To Join a New World or To Not (Chapter Six)
Lucas Scott walked into school on Monday morning and went to his locker. He put his stuff away very quickly and grabbed the books he'd need for the next few periods and shoved them into his bag. He put a few pens and one pencil as well as an eraser in his pocket and was all set to go. He walked towards his best friend's locker. Since he and Brooke were all right in their relationship at the moment, he'd decided to hang out with Haley more often. Since he started dating Brooke, he knew he'd neglected time with Haley and he wanted to see how she was doing. He was near her locker, but slowed his pace down when he saw his cousin, Nathan at her locker. It'd been a few months since Haley and Nathan had buried the hatchet and become friends, but it was still unusual to see Haley hanging out with Nathan. He walked up to them, but neither had noticed that he was there. Haley was holding a math textbook in her hand as well as a piece of paper. She was explaining sine from trigonometry to Nathan. "Thanks, Haley. You've saved my life. I think I might actually pass the test today," he said taking the textbook from her and put it in his bag. He turned around and smiled as he saw Lucas.
"Hey, Luke," he said. He started to walk away, but then turned around. "We're still on for tonight, right?" he asked Haley. Haley nodded and smirked.
"Hey, loser," she said to Lucas. Lucas smiled.
"Hi, buddy," he said.
"What's tonight?" he asked.
"Tutoring session at his house," she replied.
"You're going over to his house?" Lucas asked. Haley nodded.
"Why?" she asked.
"Have you met his dad?" he asked sarcastically. She nodded.
"I've been there before," she said. Lucas' eyes widened in surprise.
"You two certainly seem to be spending a lot of time together lately," he commented. Haley's face scrunched in confusion.
"No more than when I tutored you in ninth," she said.
"Haley, we spent all our time together in grade nine," he pointed out. Haley laughed.
"Well, that's true. That was back when it was just the two of us against the world and no Tigger, but what I meant was the time I spent actually tutoring you," she said, closing her locker and putting the lock on it. Lucas stopped for a minute.
"Why do you call Brooke 'Tigger'?" Lucas asked, suddenly overcome with curiosity.
"Because she's so bouncy," Haley replied. Lucas looked at her in confusion.
"What?" he asked as if she were crazy.
"I'm serious. She's got a bouncy personality. She never stands still; she's always bouncing on her feet. Tigger from Whinny the Pooh bounced on his tail," Haley explained. Lucas laughed hysterically getting what she meant. That totally explained Brooke.
"That is true, but I don't think Brooke would appreciate that," Lucas said. Haley shrugged.
"Why not?" she asked.
"Because the way you say it sounds like you're insulting her," he said. Haley shrugged.
"Well, it's not an insult," she said. Lucas started walking again.
"Are you sure?" he asked. Haley looked at him. It was her "you better tell me what that means or else" look.
"I know you don't like Brooke," he said.
"And?" Haley asked.
"Well, I just want to make it clear that I don't want you insulting her. Brooke means a lot to me, Haley, and I would really like it if you two would get along or at least be civil towards one another," he said. Haley laughed.
"What is it with you and trying to get me to get along with your new friends?" she asked. He looked at her for a minute, but she continued as she said, "Next thing you know you're going to start asking me to eat lunch with the whole gang." He decided to drop the subject. Sarcasm was part of Haley's personality, but when every other word was sarcastic, he knew she was starting to get snarky. They walked into class and sat down.
AN HOUR LATER
Lucas ran into Brooke in the hall at her locker. She smiled when she saw him in the mirror that was on her locker door. "Hey," she said, putting on some lip-gloss. He smiled at her.
"So, I'm free tonight if you want to do something," he said. Brooke frowned. She turned around and looked at him.
"I thought you were doing something with Haley tonight," she said.
"I neglected to check to see if she didn't have plans already," he said.
"And she does?" Brooke asked in surprise. Lucas nodded.
"Doing what, homework?" Brooke joked.
"Tutoring session," he said. Brooke nodded.
"Who's she tutoring?" she asked.
"Nathan," he replied. Brooke's eyes widened in surprise.
"Again? Nathan blew me and Peyton off yesterday for a tutoring session," she said. Lucas shrugged.
"I guess he needs a lot of help," he said.
"Or he needs to see a lot of Haley," Brooke suggested. Lucas looked at her in confusion.
"What are you talking about?" he asked. Brooke smiled at him suggestively.
"Come on, Luke. I know you don't pay a lot of attention to things happening around you but no one is that oblivious," she said. He shrugged.
"Nathan and Haley," Brooke said.
"What about them?" he asked.
"I think Nathan likes Haley," Brooke said. Lucas laughed.
"Yeah, right. Haley is so not Nathan's type," Lucas said.
"So?" Brooke asked.
"Nathan's used to girls who are into like make-up, who drink, who are athletic or are cheerleaders and shop a lot. Haley's not like that. She likes to hang out and be comfortable, maybe read a book. Her idea of exercise is walking to school every morning," Lucas said.
"Depending on how far she walks, it might be exercise," Brooke said. Lucas looked at her.
"I know; totally not the point. But none of that matters. You can't help who you like, Lucas. You're not supposed to," Brooke said.
"They're complete opposites of each other. Haley's a sweet girl who doesn't like to be pushed around and Nathan's an arrogant jerk who is used to having his way and girls falling all over him," Lucas said.
"Opposites attract," Brooke said with a wink.
MEANWHILE IN THE TUTORING CENTRE
"Oh, it was awesome, Haley! I understood it," Nathan exclaimed as he walked into the nearly vacant room. Haley laughed.
"I take it the math test went well," Haley said. Nathan nodded.
"Better than well. It was..." he started.
"Awesome?" she teased. He laughed.
"Aren't you going to lunch?" he asked, looking at the table she was sitting at. She moved the chair beside her that had her bag on it and took out a lunch bag.
She pointed to it as she said, "I brought it with me." Nathan was not impressed.
"You're going to eat here?" he asked.
"Why not? I always do," she asked.
"All alone?" he asked.
"I have a book and music. I have everything I need," she replied. He looked at her with pity in his eyes. "Don't look at me like that, Nathan. It's not like I don't have any friends or anything. I do. I just prefer to eat here especially since I have work to do and it's quiet here and I have a computer to work on if I need it," she said.
"Why don't you come eat with me?" he asked. Haley laughed.
"Yeah, sure. Me eating with the jocks and the cheerleaders? How does that picture look to you? Because to me it looks like a big 'no'," Haley said sarcastically.
"Come on, it's not that bad," he said.
"What would I do their homework?" she asked.
"It wouldn't hurt. You'd definitely get on their good sides," he said. Haley looked at him in shock. He smiled to show that he was only kidding and she sighed with relief. He looked at her for a minute. "You could just sit and eat," he said. Haley shook her head.
"No, thanks. I'm fine right here," she said. He shook his head.
"Come on, Haley. What are you afraid of?" he asked.
"I'm not afraid," she insisted.
"Are you sure that you're not afraid that you might not be accepted by them?" Nathan asked. Haley didn't answer for a minute. Haley wasn't afraid that she might not be accepted. She was not the type of person who cared about what others thought of her. She was more concerned that she would be bored of her skull listening to them chat about sports.
"I don't like just sitting at a table and not saying anything when there are other people there," she said. He looked at her in confusion.
"You don't need to worry about that. They talk more than they eat," he said. Haley laughed.
"About what?" she asked.
"All sorts of things," he replied.
"Such as?" she asked.
"Well, about the team and the squad, of course," he offered. Haley's scrunched her face in disgust as she shook her head.
"No, thanks, Nathan," she said as she started to open her lunch. He shook his head. He walked over and grabbed her bag, portable CD player and her lunch bag. He put her things back in her bag and zipped it up. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" Haley demanded.
"Call it persuading you to come and eat lunch with us. You need to eat and since I have your bag with your lunch and I'm going to the cafeteria, you're going to have to come too if you want your things back," he said.
"Persuading, huh? That's a pretty big word, Nathan. How'd you learn that?" Haley teased angrily as she tried to get her bag back from him. He held up over his head and he was at least three feet taller than her so she couldn't reach it.
"Nice try. Insulting me is not going to make me leave you alone," he said.
"You realize this is childish, right?" Haley asked, getting her sweater and putting it on as she put the files away. He shrugged.
"Maybe so, but I accomplished my goal," he answered as they were walking down the hall. They walked into the cafeteria and grabbed a lunch from the line and Haley came and sat down with him. It was almost as if she'd never even been in the cafeteria before. She seemed to have no idea where she was going. Nathan led the way to his lunch table. Haley could already see Peyton, Brooke, Lucas, Tim and a few other guys from the team at the table. Lucas looked up at her and was shocked to see her. Nathan sat down and pulled out a chair in between him and Peyton for her to sit in.
"What are you doing here? Don't you have some work to finish?" Lucas asked. He sat directly across the table from Brooke and to Haley's left.
"Yes," she replied, glaring at Nathan. He laughed. "I convinced her to join us," he explained. Lucas looked at Haley carefully.