Ahh! You guys are incredible! I thought I was pushing it by posting up last night and asking for five reviews, but you guys are the greatest! So, here is your next chapter! I'm really cranking them out lately, and I hope y'all don't mind (I don't know where I got the "y'all" from, seeing as I'm from north Jersey, but whatever lol) but whenever I start a new story, I just have to keep the momentum.

At The Heart Of It All

Chapter Five

All I Get From "Love" Is A Love Song

It was a rare occasion when Brooke Davis had a crush on a guy. In kindergarten, she had liked a boy named Blake, and dreamt about the perfect wedding, the perfect children, and how all their names could start with a B. Blake moved away that summer, and seven-year-old Brooke decided, looking at her parents' marriage, that it never would've lasted anyway.

Brooke wouldn't go so far as to say that she'd had a crush on Felix. That would imply that she was actually after a relationship with him, which couldn't have been further from the truth. He infuriated her. He intoxicated her. Honestly, yes, she wanted to sleep with him, and she wanted him out of her system… but he just wouldn't go. And so began their relationship, full of (forged) feelings, (phony) sentiments, and (plastic) passion, as she now realized. On Brooke's part, it wasn't "love"…

But it was pretty damn close.

The moral of this story was that Brooke Davis just didn't do love and longing, and the whole hold-me-tight-so-I-don't-fall-from-waaaay-up-here-in-heaven-esque emotions. She knew, from both experience and example, that love was just an excuse to get hurt. Who liked to hurt? Seeing Felix still burned her, and filled her with a desire to get as far away from him as possible to spare herself further pain… but lately, another boy had been kind of occupying her thoughts. She didn't crush on a boy so much as long to screw him—which is exactly what she currently felt for a boy. The worst boy possible---

"Lucas? Are you listening?" snapped the shrill voice of their literature teacher. Lucas looked up from where he had been sitting with Nathan, Skills and Mouth.

"Of course, Mrs. Gilmer! You know that this is my favorite class of the day," he said with a smile that made even their thousand year old teacher swoon.

Class resumed as normal, but the dinosaur in front retained a blush on her cheeks. Brooke continued to stare at her best friend, wondering exactly when he'd gotten so…handsome? Hot? Unbelievably gorgeous? He caught her eye and grinned, making her heart flip over inside her chest.

"Damn it! God, are you kidding me!" Brooke whispered roughly to herself, angrily flipping the pages of her book.

"Chill Tigger! What did Steinbeck ever do to you?" Haley whispered, her voice laden with amusement. Haley had been sitting with Brooke and a few girls from the cheering squad for a few weeks now, and Brooke was really starting to see her as one of her closest friends. Besides, she occupied the seat previously taken by Theresa. Theresa had been exiled from both the table and the cheer squad, and definitely from Brooke's inner circle. She currently sat in the back with Felix and the other slackers, probably trying to see just how much fooling around they could get away with in Gilmer's class.

"What's up Brooke?" asked Haley, this time seriously.

"Humm… let's see. I haven't had a boy, neither a boyfriend nor a boytoy, in weeks, all of Tree Hill High thinks I'm losing my touch and that I'm hung up on my lying cheating scumbag of an ex, and I'm currently filled with the impossible desire to have sex with my best friend."

"Huh. Is this about last Sunday?"

"I guess. It's just, it feels like everybody has somebody—"

"Hey! I don't!" Haley objected.

"Okay fine, we'll pretend that I didn't walk in on you making out with Jake Jagelski in the tutoring center on Tuesday," Brooke said with a grin and a little roll of her eyes.

"Okay, lets!" Haley whisper-exclaimed, a pretty blush crossing her face. "Anyway, I think that the real issue here is that you want to screw your best friend."

"Ew… please, don't put it like that. It's Lucas!"

"Yes, it is! It's Lucas Scott! Please Brooke; the desire to sleep with Luke is hardly an original one."

"Hales!"

"What? It's true!"

"I think we need to move away from this issue before my head explodes…" Brooke whispered, rubbing her temples.

"But… um… I have been meaning to ask you how you've been holding up lately. We both know that the gossip mill's being anything but kind to you lately. People are kind of tearing you up for quote "being hung up on a boy who just used you" end quote. Anyway, now that I've babbled and tossed in some details that are probably causing you pain, what I really wanted to know is if you were okay."

"Honestly, I can't stand it. I hate being the girl who's looked at as pathetic. I hate what he did to me. I hate what he's still doing to me," Brooke whispered, her voice breaking.

"Well, as you know, I'm not usually gung-ho for the whole vengeance thing, but I think that perhaps you should start thinking about it. Even me, yes, I, Haley James, tutor girl, friend, thinks that you should get revenge. God, never thought I'd say that."

"Girls! Pay attention!" Mrs. Gilmer snapped, directing the class's attention to them.

"Sorry!" they both said with false perkiness.

Brooke's bright eyes skimmed the class with renewed interest. Her conversation with Haley had certainly changed her outlook on everything. If even Tutor Girl thought that she should get revenge, then she definitely should. Opting to take the chance that she could still invoke Felix's caveman-like jealously, she looked around the class for the one guy that would really get to him. A slow smile spread across her face as sunlight glinting off blonde hair directed her sight to the hottest guy in the class, perhaps even the grade, and the one who would definitely be most inclined to help her.

Well, what do you guys think? Sorry, I meant to make this part of a longer chapter, but I just decided to dash something off to keep you guys interested. It's pretty short, I think (mostly dialogue) because I wanted to better establish the Brooke-Haley friendship and set up for chapter six… and because I have softball in about a half-hour and need to go get ready. But expect another update today! Thanks for reading!

Xo Sam