LATER THAT PERIOD
Lucas walked up to Haley's locker and sighed heavily when she wouldn't turn around to talk to him. "Haley," he said. She didn't respond. "Are you going to talk to me?" he asked.
"That depends," she replied. He waited. "Are you going to try to reason with me about him?" she asked. He bit his lip.
"Yes," he admitted.
"Then, no," she said, putting her books in her locker.
"Haley, you're being a little dramatic, don't you think?" Brooke asked. Haley slammed her locker door shut. She turned around and glared at Brooke.
"Stay out of this," she warned. Brooke's eyes widened in surprise.
"Haley, you need to forgive him," Brooke said. Haley scoffed.
"Or what?" she asked, not the least bit threatened.
"Or you're going to regret it," Brooke said. Haley shook her head in disbelief.
"Don't shake your head at me. I know what I'm talking about. Nathan's not going to wait around forever. You don't appreciate how lucky you are that you caught his eye. He's one of the most wanted guys in the school and once he gets tired of the way you're acting, he's going to move on with another girl and it'll be too late," Brooke said.
"Lucky?" Haley repeated. She shook her head. "I'm not like every other girl here. I don't bow down to Nathan because he's popular. In case you haven't noticed, I don't give a damn about how popular or wanted he is. If he can't treat me with respect, then, I don't want him," Haley said.
"Oh, please. It's obvious that you care about Nathan, Haley. Spare me the 'if he can't treat me right, it's over' act. It's a little played out, if you ask me," Brooke said. Haley rolled her eyes and Brooke scoffed. "Everyone in this entire school knows how you and Nathan feel about each other. It's written all over your faces when the other one is mentioned. I know you're new at this so you don't realize how rare it is to find something like that your first time out in the field. Don't throw this away, Haley," Brooke said.
"I'm not the one who threw it away," Haley said, before she walked away.
FOURTH PERIOD (HALEY'S VOCAL CLASS)
"Ok, everyone. I want you to try your hand at writing songs. You have the whole period to think it over and choose what you want to write about, just make sure it's something personal. You don't have to clear it with me. Just keep it PG-13, ladies," she said. The girls chuckled as they were allowed to disperse around the room and out in the hall to work in peace. Haley asked if she could work out in the hall. Her teacher had nodded. "Just make sure you're out of the way," her teacher said.
"Oh, I'll be out of sight," Haley promised. Her teacher smiled. "Do I need to come back before class ends?" Haley asked. Her teacher shook her head. Haley nodded. The great thing about being her was that most of the teachers trusted her. She could go anywhere she wanted when they were allowed to work out of the classroom because the teachers knew that she wouldn't start any trouble and that she'd actually do her work. Haley grabbed her bag and sheet music and headed out of the classroom. She walked to a hallway near the gym, but not too close. Jake Jagielski was walking down the hall and stopped when he saw Haley.
"What are you doing down here?" he asked.
"Planning a bank heist. I'm here to recruit partners," Haley replied sarcastically.
"Recruiting the athletes in case they have to make a quick get away. Smart," he said, playing along. Haley laughed.
"I'm working on an assignment for my vocal class," Haley said. Jake nodded in understanding. "Don't you have class?" she asked.
"No, I have spare," he said.
"Then, what are you still doing here?" she asked.
"Oh, I stick around to wait for Peyton. You know, to give her a ride home," he said. Haley nodded.
"That's sweet," she commented.
"Peyton had me trained before tenth grade ended," he admitted. Haley laughed hysterically.
"I always wondered how she got her boyfriends to do so many things for her," Haley joked. Jake laughed.
"What's the assignment?" he asked.
"Writing a song," she said. Jake nodded.
"That doesn't sound too hard," he said.
"It has to be about something personal," she said. Jake smirked and nodded.
"Interesting," he said. Haley's face clouded in confusion.
"What?" she asked.
"Well, your song is supposed to be about something personal and I noticed that you're pretty close to the gymnasium," Jake said.
"So?" Haley asked.
"So, that's Nathan's class right now," he pointed out. Haley looked at him.
"And?" she asked.
"And I know that you and Nathan are on a bit of a break because of some stupid thing he did, right?" Jake asked. Haley nodded.
"Well, it's kind of interesting that you'd pick this spot to write your song when you're so angry at him," Jake said. Haley nodded, following his train of thought. Then, she shook her head.
"I'm in an angry mood. Nathan tends to bring that out of me," she said, dismissing Jake's hints. Jake's face softened as he sat down beside her.
"Haley, I'm not going to try to lecture you or anything, but do you mind if I tell you something?" Jake asked. Haley sighed.
"Why not? Everyone else seems to put their two sense in. At least you asked first," Haley said. Jake smirked.
"Nathan does a lot of stupid things, I know, but he really is a good guy. And he cares about you a lot. I know he hurt you and I'm not saying that he doesn't need to make up for what he did, but how's he supposed to make it up to you when you won't talk to him?" Jake said. Haley didn't answer. Jake smiled knowingly. "I think I'll leave you alone to ponder that," he said. Haley shook her head and then thought to herself. She knew part of what Jake said made sense and Haley was usually a sensible person. But, then again, she had never really been in a romantic relationship before and she had never been hurt this badly before. Even when she first met Nathan and they were basically at war with each other for weeks, it didn't really affect her that much since she thought Nathan was a jerk that wasn't worth her time. But now things were different. She had grown to like Nathan and possibly even… No, she thought to herself and shook her head. I couldn't possibly feel that way so soon, she assured herself. Then, she started stood up and walked to the doors of the gymnasium. She looked in through the glass on the door. The class was playing basketball and she could see Nathan running with the ball to the other side of the court. She saw him jump up and attempt to dunk the ball into the hoop but took a wrong step somewhere and he fell. Haley was about to run in and see if he was alright, but he got up just as quickly as he had fallen. She sighed with relief and then mentally hit herself on the head. Nathan had hurt her like hell and here she was concerned if he was ok. She wasn't able to let him go even when she wanted to.
Nathan sighed as he got back up. He had never missed a score like that so far. Even when he was preoccupied with other things while playing, he still made the basket. But he realized that he was thinking about Haley and he was concentrating more on the thought of her than the game. Whitey yelled at him to pay attention to the game or get off the court. Nathan realized he was still where he had fallen. He quickly moved off the side of the court and gave Whitey an excuse as he pushed the gym doors open. He stopped moving when he saw Haley backing away so the doors wouldn't hit her.
"Haley," he said. She stared at him for a minute. Then, as if she suddenly remembered something, she turned on her heel and started to walk away. "Haley, wait!" he called after her. Haley stopped moving. "Could you please just talk to me?" he asked. She sighed heavily and turned around to face him. He sighed with relief as he hoped that she was finally ready to let him hear his side of the story.
"I have to get back to class in a few minutes so I don't have time for a staring contest. If you want to talk, then talk. Otherwise," Haley lied and she started to turn around.
"No, wait. Ok," he said. She turned back around. She looked at him expectantly.
"What I said…" he started. Haley's eyes narrowed. "I didn't mean it," he finished.
"Well, then, you shouldn't have said it," she said.
"I was drunk, Haley," he said. Haley scoffed.
"Don't try to excuse it with drunken babbling. That's weak," she said.
"But that's what it was," he said. Haley smirked.
"Do you even remember what you said?" she asked. He nodded. He wished he didn't. What he said was awful and he even remembered the heartbroken look on Haley's face. Then, he remembered something.
"I can't change what I said, Haley. I really wish that I could. I am an idiot, but you already knew that. Well, I'm an even bigger one when I'm drunk," he said. Haley looked at him in confusion. Nathan walked over to her. He put his hands on her shoulders. She looked up at him. He could see the same yearning in her eyes that he felt. "I miss you," he said. He gently held her face and kissed her deeply. As the kiss grew, he wrapped his arms around her back and pulled her closer. Haley responded as she put her arms around his neck. Then, she came to her senses and pulled away.
"Damn it, Nathan!" Haley exclaimed. "You can't just kiss me like that and make everything go away. I miss you too, but I am not a doormat," Haley said as she grabbed her things and started to walk away.
THE NEXT DAY (Period 4)
Nathan excused himself from gym class for a few minutes by saying he had to drop something off to his tutor. He was lying through his teeth. He wanted to go see Haley. He knew she was up in the music room and he was hoping he might be able to steal her away for a few minutes so that they could talk. When he got to the music room, he saw that the students were sitting in chairs where the instrumental players usually sat while they were playing and paying attention to the front of the room. The teacher motioned for Nathan to come in once another student told her that he was there. "Just hold on a second, Mr. Scott," she said. "Okay, Haley, you can present," she said. Haley finished walking over to the piano. "What's your song called?" the teacher asked.
"Why I Can't Seem to Let Go," Haley replied. She glanced at Nathan and then got back to the piano. She started playing. A few seconds later, the words to her song came:
When we first met, I hated you
But still, I couldn't stay away
You came to me for help and I helped you
Then you turned on me
We danced around each other for weeks
Until you finally realized your mistake
I should've walked away that day
It would've been better for both of us to stay away
But I didn't
You hurt me that night
When you forced me to make a choice
You probably thought I would choose you
I don't understand it
It's something I can't explain
I still care about you
Even after what you did
The reason why is beyond my understanding
I had a tough shell
But when you came around me
That shell seemed to disappear
You made me trust you
I believed everything you told me
So maybe you can tell me
Why can't I let you go?
She stopped playing and singing. She looked at the teacher and the teacher was clapping. "That was brilliant," she said. Now, Nathan looked at the teacher.
"What did you want, Mr. Scott?" the teacher asked.
"I was wondering if I could talk to Haley for a few minutes," he said. The teacher was about to shake her head, but Nathan quickly said, "It's about something she's tutoring me in." Then, the teacher nodded. Haley quickly walked past him and into the hall. He looked at her for a minute.
"Your song was really moving, Haley," he said. Haley nodded appreciatively. "It really hit home for me," he said. Haley nodded again.
"It's about you," she admitted. He nodded now. He already knew that.
"I have an answer to your question," he announced. Her face clouded with confusion but it the confusion washed away when she realized that he meant the question in her song. "It's because we love each other," he said. Haley shook her head.
"We've only been dating for two months, Nathan. It's too soon for that," she rationalized. Nathan shook his head.
"Haley, love is complicated. There's no graph or timeline to tell you when it's there," he said.
"Then, how do you know it's there?" she asked.
"I know how I feel when I look at you, or when I think about you and I lose all my concentration. Or when I'm looking at you now and I can see the pain that you're in trying to stay away from me when you don't want to," he said. Haley shook her head in defeat.
"Fine. I love you," she admitted. Then she looked at him carefully. "But I don't trust you. Are you happy now, Nathan?" she asked. He shook his head.
"I know you're mad at me, Haley. The things that I said. I only said them because I was fighting my feelings for you," he said.
"Why?" she asked. He moved closer to her.
"Because I'm just as scared as you are, Haley. I've never loved someone the way that I love you. I've never needed someone as much as I need you," he admitted. Haley's eyes widened in surprise. "And it freaked me out a little, but it's there and I don't want to fight it anymore," he said. He was about to lose hope but then she smiled at him. She closed the distance between them. He put his arms around her back and she put hers around his neck. "I love you, Haley," he said. He bent down to kiss her but at the last second, she pulled away. He looked at her in concern, but her smile widened.
"I love you too," she said. He pulled her closer and kissed her.