Nathan smirked in amusement at the look of annoyance on Haley's face. He couldn't help but admire her restraint as she took her bag from him and didn't swat him or anything. He could definitely tell she was angry or at least irritated with him. "So, what have you been up to, Hales?" Lucas asked.
"You just saw me this morning," Haley pointed out. Lucas shrugged.
"What's happened since then?" Brooke asked for him.
"Nothing much," she replied opening her lunch bag and bringing out her bottle of orange juice, turkey sandwich and a granola bar.
"Where'd you get that?" Peyton asked.
"From my kitchen," Haley replied as if the question were ludicrous. Peyton smirked.
"Most people I know buy their lunch from the cafeteria," Peyton said.
"Well, the prices in there are ridiculous and I happen to like good food, not the mush they serve that passes for food," Haley explained. Peyton laughed.
"It is horrible, isn't it?" she asked. Haley nodded.
"Where's your food?" Haley asked, noticing the lack of food in front of Brooke, Lucas, Nathan and Peyton.
"Oh, Jake went to get us something from McDonald's," Lucas explained.
"I think we have a class together next period," Peyton said. Haley shrugged.
"What do you have?" she asked.
"History," Peyton replied. Haley shook her head.
"No. I have vocal next period," Haley said.
"You sing?" Brooke asked. Haley nodded.
"Are you any good?" Nathan asked, looking at her. Haley shrugged.
"I do fine for the class," Haley replied. Lucas shook his head.
"Don't listen to her. She's amazing," he said.
"Why don't you ever perform?" Peyton asked.
"I have," she replied. Every one looked at her in surprise.
"She performs at the café a lot. When my mom learned that Haley could sing, she made me drag our piano over there and set up a little place for Haley to sing when she feels like it," Lucas said. Now that Nathan thought about it, he did remember seeing a piano with a microphone set up in a corner near the window of the café. He nodded in surprise.
THAT NIGHT (TUTORING SESSION AT NATHAN'S HOUSE)
"Mom, I'm home," he said as he and Haley walked into the house after school.
"Hi, Nathan," his father called. His mother actually came to the front door and smiled.
"Hi, honey," she said. Then, she looked at Haley and smiled. "Oh, hi, Haley. Are you tutoring today?" she asked. Haley nodded. "Will you be staying for dinner?" she asked. Nathan turned to look at Haley. He shrugged as she looked at him questioningly.
"I guess so," she said cautiously. Nathan smirked. Deb smiled as she went back into the kitchen.
"It will be served at seven," she called. He led the way downstairs to the den. There was a table set up there with chairs. They usually worked in the kitchen, but he didn't want his mother pestering them every five minutes. He grabbed his books from his room and came back downstairs and was surprised to see Haley already sitting down with her books piled in front of her.
"Where do you want to start off?" she asked.
"History?" he suggested. Haley nodded, grabbing her binder and textbook. He and Haley had three classes together: English, French and History. History was second period, English was first and French was third. And they both had fourth lunch.
"You know, until you started tutoring me, I never realized how many classes we have together," he said. Haley smirked.
"Well, we won't have any classes together next semester," she said.
"Why not?" he asked.
"Because I loaded up on English and science courses next semester," she explained.
"Like what?" he asked.
"Well, I have biology first period, general science second period, grade twelve English third, and then Writer's Craft fifth period," she replied. He whistled.
"All university preparation?" he asked. She nodded.
"Well, you're right about that then because I stopped taking science in tenth grade when it was no longer required," he said.
"Let me guess: you're taking more PE courses," she said. He nodded.
"I like gym and I'm good at most sports. Might as well stick with my strengths, especially since I want to be a professional basketball player," he said. She nodded.
"You're going to college, right?" she asked. Nathan nodded.
"Yeah. I want something to fall back on," he said.
"What would you major in?" Haley asked.
"Probably advertising or technology," he said. She nodded and smiled.
"Not bad choices," she said.
"Thanks. So, why are you taking so all of those courses?" he asked.
"I want to be a writer," she said.
"Journalist or like novel writing?" he asked. Haley smiled.
"Both," she replied.
"What about singing?" he asked.
"It's a hobby, besides I write my own songs," she said.
"So, technically, you already are a writer," he said. She laughed.
"I guess that's true," she said laughing.
TWO HOURS LATER
"That was delicious, Mrs. Scott," Haley said.
"Thank you, Haley," Deb said smiling appreciatively.
"Thanks, Mom. That was great. Come on, Hales," Nathan said as he led the way out of the living room. He had adopted Lucas' nickname for her a long time ago. She never seemed to mind. She followed him out of the kitchen. He led the way into one of the two living rooms in his house. The one that he led her into had a piano.
"Nathan, shouldn't we get back to work?" she asked.
"We're done. I just needed help with the homework," he reminded her.
"Okay, so then, I should get home," she said.
"All in good time," he said. She looked at him and seemed to notice something in his expression.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" she asked.
"Will you do me a favour?" he asked. Haley's face wrinkled in confusion.
"That depends on what it is," she replied.
"Will you sing for me?" he asked.
"Why?" she asked.
"Because I find it hard to believe that we've been friends for three months and not only have I not heard you sing, I had no idea that you could sing," he said.
"You promise you won't laugh?" she asked. He chuckled.
"Of course I won't laugh," he said.
"You can use that piano," he said, pointing towards it. She went over to the piano nervously and started playing chords. Then she started to sing:
I'll always love you
Even though you are far away
I will think of you
While you ignore me
No matter how many times you say
That you're over me
I won't believe that
And no matter how loud you scream
I know you still want to kiss me
Our love goes deeper than the lies that were buried
Our love is clearer than the shadows of doubt
And I don't want to lose this once in a lifetime
Let love win, please darling
Let love win
I have no excuses for my terrible choices
My heart was in the right place
Will you ever forgive me?
You trusted me; I trusted you
But now our love-our dreams-are fading
There's nothing else I can do
Except to pray that you'll come back
Our love goes deeper than the lies that were buried
Our love is clearer than the shadows of doubt
And I don't want to lose this once in a lifetime
Let love win, please darling
Let love win
Let love win, please darling
Let love win
She stopped playing and took a deep breath as she turned around to face him. She looked at him nervously. He started clapping as he smiled. "That was incredible, Haley! What was that song called?" he asked.
"Let Love Win," she said.
"Did you write it?" he asked. Haley laughed as she shook her head.
"No, it was written by Jane French," she said.
"Why don't you sing one of your own songs?" he asked. Haley shook her head insistently.
"Oh, no," she said.
"Why not?" he asked.
"Because I'm already very nervous," she said.
"Come on," he said. She sighed as she looked at him. He looked at her pleadingly.
"Please? For me?" he asked, raising his eyebrows. Haley laughed.
"All right. Just don't ever make that face again," she said.
"Can't resist the puppy dogface, can you?" he asked.
"Actually, I can. It looks ridiculous," she said, turning back to the piano. She started playing and then singing:
You're the one everybody's interested in
You see me, but you look right past me
You know who I am, but you don't know me
You assume I'm not worth your time
You'd think you would get it by now
I'm the one who's always around
Looking at people and hoping they're all okay
I'm the girl that nobody notices
I hide behind the mask that people around me have given me
It's not the only one that can fit me, but I wear it anyways
There is so much more to me than meets the eye
But when I'm around, no one notices
Nobody wonders what's going on with me
Nobody wonders if I'm okay
They're all busy trying to figure out who they are
I take comfort in the fact
That I already know who I am
The only thing left is for you to know too
Nathan watched her stop playing and was amazed by the power and volume of her voice. He had no idea that Haley James was so talented. He guessed like she said in her song, he never noticed. "What's that called?" he asked.
"It's Time That You Knew," she replied.
"That was great," he said again. She smiled at him.
"Now, I need to get home," she said. He laughed as he nodded.