TWO MONTHS LATER
Haley walked out of her fourth period class and walked towards the gym. She smiled when she saw Nathan heading towards her in the hallway. He looked up and saw her coming and shook his head in anger. He turned around and walked the other way. "Nathan!" she called. "Not now, Haley," he said. "Come on, will you just talk to me?" she called after him. He turned around.
"My mom gave me some advice once: If I don't have anything nice to say, I shouldn't say anything at all," he said. Haley scoffed. She couldn't help but think of all the horrible things he'd said to her and other people.
"And you're choosing now to follow that advice?" Haley asked sarcastically. He glared at her. "Sorry," she said. He shook his head and turned around to walk away. "What you think you saw; you're wrong," she blurted out.
"I don't want to hear it, Hales. I told you Friday: It's over. We're done," he said.
"Will you at least let me explain?" she asked.
"There's nothing to explain. If it had been someone telling me, I wouldn't have believed it, but I saw it with my own eyes," he said.
"You've got the wrong idea about what happened with me and Brian," she insisted.
"No, I think I got a pretty good view of you alone together in a room, him on top of you and you being basically naked," he said, storming away. Haley tasted the tears in her mouth before she realized she was crying. She walked all the way to the tutoring centre and was happy when it was vacant. She pulled out some of the songbooks that she had brought from home to find a song for her latest vocal project. They had to find a song from the sixties and sing it. She flipped through the book.
AN HOUR LATER
It was after school and Haley was walking to her locker to put her books away and Lucas, Brooke and Peyton came up behind her. "Hey, Hales," he said. Haley nodded at him but didn't turn around. "Are you all right?" he asked.
"Nathan won't hear me out," she said. Brooke scoffed.
"You can't exactly blame him, can you?" Peyton asked. Haley turned around and looked at her. Brooke smiled and shook her head in amusement.
"You are such a hypocrite, Haley. Remember a month ago when you were pissed at Nathan because he said those things to you while he was drunk? You wouldn't talk to him for days. And then you turn around and cheat on him and now you're acting surprised because he's mad at you. You're unbelievable," Brooke said. Her voice dripped of hate. Haley narrowed her eyes. Brooke started to walk away but Haley pulled her arm and whirled her around.
"Listen to me carefully," Haley said angrily. Brooke pulled on her arm but Haley pulled it harder.
"Haley, come on, let-" Lucas started, but she ignored him.
"Whoever the hell you think you are you're not that person. You don't get to judge me. I didn't cheat on him," Haley exploded. She let her go. Brooke chuckled.
"Haley, I was there. I saw what happened," she reminded her. Haley shook her head.
"No, you didn't," she said as she threw her backpack on her shoulder and walked away. Peyton ran after her.
Over the course of the past month, Haley and Peyton had gotten to know each other a little better and had actually become friends. When Brooke had first told her what happened, Peyton could hardly believe that Haley James would cheat on her boyfriend. Then when Nathan had confirmed that it was true, she had been overcome with anger at Haley and sympathy for Nathan. She thought that Haley was cruel, but Peyton saw something in Haley's eyes as she glared at Brooke. Something that led her to believe that there was more to the story than what Nathan and Brooke had told her. She finally caught up to Haley as she was waiting for her bus. "Haley, can I talk to you for a minute?" she asked. Haley shook her eyes.
"My bus is here," she said, a she pointed to the yellow bus that was pulling in the driveway.
"I'll give you a ride home," Peyton offered. Haley looked at her cautiously. "Please?" Peyton said. Haley shrugged as she followed Peyton to her car. They drove in silence for a long time.
"I thought you said you wanted to talk to me," Haley said. Peyton pulled over to the side of the road. Haley looked at her in alarm.
"Haley, what did happen on Friday night?" Peyton asked. Haley froze.
"I thought Nathan told you," she said.
"He told me he caught you cheating on him. But you've been insisting that that's not what happened," Peyton said.
"It isn't what happened. I would never cheat on him," she said.
"So, tell me what happened," Peyton said. Haley widened her eyes in fear as she remembered what happened that Friday night.
(FLASHBACK)
"I need to talk to you for a minute, Haley," Brian Chase said as he grabbed Haley by the arm.
"Brian, I can't right now; I'm busy. I can't find Nathan," she said trying to wrench free.
"It's about that test I had today," he said. Haley shrugged and let him lead her to a room upstairs. She had reluctantly agreed to come to another party at Brooke's house. She had been tutoring Brian for a few weeks now and already he had started to improve in his grades so she figured he wanted to tell her how it went. "What's up?" she said. He didn't say anything. He just smiled at her wickedly and pulled her to him and kissed her. Haley cringed and pulled away from him.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" she demanded. He laughed.
"Oh, come on, like you don't know. You've been throwing signals my way for days now," he said. Haley looked at him as if he were crazy.
"Look, Brian, I think you may have misunderstood our relationship. It's strictly tutoring. I'm not interested in you that way," she said. He scoffed and brought her to him. He threw her roughly on the bed and mounted her. She screamed for help and he covered her mouth as he began pulling down her skirt and underwear. He zipped open his jeans and pulled them down and then in seconds he was inside her. Haley let out a muffled scream in pain. She began struggling but it was no use.
(END OF FLASHBACK)
Peyton looked at her in shock. "About five minutes later after it happened, Nathan and Brooke walked in," Haley said in a choked voice. She was crying now. Peyton's heart broke for her.
"Haley, do you realize what you're saying?" Peyton asked. Haley nodded.
"Yes. I'm saying that Brian raped me," she said.