Chapter 5
Morning.
Sunday morning.
7 oclock on a Sunday morning.
Peace and quiet. Till now.
„You're just to good to be true, can't take my eyes of of you... I wanna hold you so muchhh!"
He lifted his hand to look for the alarm/radio clock, that he thought was by his bedside. Looking... still looking... No, aparently, it had walked to the other side. He tryed with his left hand this time, but only managed to knock over a lamp. Wow, that was close. And the singing continues. What was that? And why it sounded so off-key? Sleeping on his stomach, I mean still trying to sleep on his stomach, he opened one eye to peak around the semidark room. He couldn't see a thing. Oh, that awful sound again. He thought he was dreaming. Yeah, that was it, it was a dream, a really bad one.
„Love is in the air, every second of the day..."
Oh, no. Not another one. What is this, some creepy 70's Special? That does it. He got up of his bed, without any hesitation, now ready to face what was making his Sunday morning peace and quiet time not so... peaceful and quiet. He looked around the room, didn't see a thing. He grabbed a t-shirt from his messy pile of clothes laying on the floor and headed for the living room.
Aha. There it was. Nice job, morron. I guess - don't make to much noise in the morning - meant nothing in his native language.
„Oh, you're so dead.", said Nathan from around the corner of the living room, surprising Mouth who was in the kitchen messing with a pan and a bowl, while trying to dance – Dance? That wasn't dancing, that just looked like some pilates/pleading the Gods for rain kind of move.
„Oh, Nate! You scared the shit out of me.", said an out-of-breath Mouth. „I mean, good morning, Sunshine", he tried this time more cheerful.
„What's so good about it? You already ruined it for me. And, look at the window, it's still dark outside, Sunshine", said Nathan, mocking Mouth's words.
„What do you mean?", Mouth tried, looking a little dense to Nathan's words.
„Oh, I don't know. You're just to good to be true in the morning, I guess", joked Nathan, now trying to sit on a barstool, in the small kitchen. „What are you trying to burn this time?", he asked looking at what Mouth was doing... or not doing.
„You know, the usual. Pancakes.", said Mouth, while showing Nathan the frying pan where he already poured something that used to look like pancake dough.
„Mmmm, great. Can't wait!", Nathan sing-songed, while trying to figure out if it was safe to go and make some coffee now, or after the disaster. Now it was better.
„So, what's with the the mood?", asked Nathan while seting the coffee machine on. He pushed the ON button, than dragged himself to the barstool again, for a little nap.
„What mood?", asked Mouth oblivious to what Nathan was implying or, for the matter of fact, to the smoke that was coming from the pan.
„The mood that could set this kitchen on fire again... Watch the hand!", said Nathan pointing to Mouth's hand that was too close to the frying pan.
„Oh, ouch!"
„See... this mood!"
„Okey... got it!", said Mouth, tosing in the near garbage can the first what-could-have-been-a-pancake.
„Allow me!", said Nathan pushing himself off the stool and heading for the pancake center. Pouring some dough in the pan, he began again „So, spill it. What's with the mood, the singing, the too early breakfast, the ruining my Sunday morning mood?"
„I kissed Ricky!", was all that Mouth could mutter.
„Wow."
„Yeah, wow!"
„Finally!", Nathan let burst. Well at least some one had a great time last night, he thought to himself. "So, how'd it went?"
"What? I'm not telling you anything. What's wrong with you?", said a shoked Mouth.
"What? No, man. I didn't mean… Eww, no! I meant what did she say, not… ewww!", said a very engrossed Nathan while throwing the first pancake into the plate that Mouth handed him.
"Ah, that thing. Well…" began Mouth, a little to shy for his early mood "during Truth or Dare."
Nathan was the shocked one, now. Truth or Dare? Well, here we go again, back to the whinning and the pinning. Mouth blew it again.
"Truth or Dare? And who got to do it? You or her?", asked trying not to sound too down about it.
"Me. At first I was shocked, I thought it was a joke. But everyone kept staring at me like they were waiting for Christmas presents or something. And guess who made me do it? I tell you… Biggy! Yeah! Friend, right? And now everyone was staring, Ricky was staring to, obviously shocked as hell… so what was I suppose to do? I just leaned in and… ask her permission.", Mouth blurted out in one breath, while making funny faces and moves with his nervous hands.
"What? You asked her permission? To kiss her?", Nathan tried, this time a little to obvious. The pancakes where already suffering from that reaction. "Only you, Mouth, only you!"
"Well, you know me. You know what I feel about her. Having her slap me in the face in front of all those people wouldn't do too good to my already bruised ego, you know? So I asked her… but, I don't know why exactly, she said yes."
"Well, I know why, mister Oblivious", said Nathan, more to himself, trying to turn to the pan now.
"What? … Anyway, she said yes and I kissed her. End of story.", Mouth let burst, to cut the story short. He knew Nathan's easy temper when it came to his "approach tehniques".
"Okey", Nathan said finally, not wanting to get to much into it, too early in the morning. As long as Mouth was happy about it, it didn't hurt to support him, it, this.
While Mouth was setting the coffee, cereals and Nathan's pancakes on the kitchen counter, the door to the left of the kitchen flew over and two big figures entered the living room.
"What is going on here? We're burning the place down again, right?", asked a very sleepy TJ, while Biggy was still trying to figure out where the couch was again. He could get hold of the couch. Like it was running away from him. Well, then the floor would do it.
"Hey, early birds! Check this out. Coffee and pancakes. You know, to celebrate our coming back to school.", Mouth said, showing the guys the too festive breakfast on the counter, while Nathan just shrugged.
"What's there to celebrate?", TJ asked while getting himself up on the stool.
"Yeah, what gives? Oh, wait… Yeah, it's coming back to me now", Biggy grinned, now fully awake. "Mouth's little k-i-s-s.", he softly spelled, like he was a five year old.
"Heeey!", Mouth shouted from his stool, unhappy that Biggy was on the other side of the counter, because he knew he could get him. If only he could reach him.
"Watch it, Mousey!", laughed Biggy.
"Okey, ruggrats, stop it, now! We're having breakfast, we're back to school, Mouth kissed Ricky… get over it. I know I did. " Nathan tried to play the Father of the House role, as always. He knew that when it came to this part of the group, that part was necessary some time. Most of the time. Well, always. So he played it, and always successfully. Like now.
"I'm gonna go get Lucas too. If we all got to suffer from this early wake up, he doesn't need to get spared, does he? Sisterhood, right?", Nathan playfully joked, lifting his hand in the air and giving some weird sign that everyone was trying to avoid looking.
---
By noon, Mouth, JT and Biggy were the first ones to finish unpacking, how they did it, none of them knew. Or maybe it was because Mouth had already took out his equipment the moment he'd arrived the other day and that left him only with the small stuff. Or maybe because TJ and Biggy just threw their stuff around the room and in the closet, leaving them with the only possible time-sucking task: hanging out their basketball posters and trivia.
Nathan, on the other hand moved slow. Or not moved at all. He didn't knew why, but he just wanted to drag the whole thing. Unpacking wasn't his favorite task anymore. He got tired of it. He did it too often by now. Tree Hill. Boston. Tree Hill again. Now Durham. Then Boston again. Same old story. He knew it should really be easy by now, he memorised where everything went and how he could do the packing/unpacking thing really fast.
But now, it just felt weird and exhausting. He started with the clothes. Jeez, he had a lot of them. And then the snickers. Tons. That's why he needed all the space in his closet, and some from Mouth's. But that was him, his "passion", collecting snickers and bascket ball equipment, shirts, warm-up shorts, mostly all with the Boston Celtics logo. He just couldn't help himself when it came to Boston Celtics. In the end, he managed to get rid of most of the boxes and now was starting to sort out his books, posters, laptop, CDs. Everything needed to be out there, to fill the room, to make it more familiar, warmer, I guess. He needed this, he did this every place he went, put it all out to make the place his. To mark it.
---
They walked through the sunny campus, mostly making small talk, laughing at Mouth's almost successful night. They arrived at their court in no time. Their court wasn't the propper name for it, because it wasn't exactly a basketball court, it was just a playground where the gang usually hanged last year and decided to put a basket one day to make the hanging productive, as well. It came in handy, it was near their campus, yet there were only a few people that knew about it.
"So, are we going to talk about last night or you're still running from it?", Lucas asked suddenly, after he got back the ball from Nathan's grasp.
It took Lucas only a half a day to bring this up. Nathan was stunned. It was like Lucas' words had slaped the hell out of him. Like they woke him up from his daydream. He thought he dreamed it, after all. When he was so gently woken up this morning, he still thought he was dreaming. About the night, about the party, about her. But after Lucas' words, everything became so real. Too real.
"What's there to talk about, Luke?", he tried thinking if he sounded clueless to Lucas he would just drop it.
"Nice try, but don't play the amniessia card with me. So let's have it, Nathan."
"What, Luke? What do you want from me, huh? You said it yourself, it wasn't her. She couldn't have been because she's in Europe, right? And it doesn't really matter, does it? So let's not do this."
"Maybe it wasn't her, but that still affected you. You couldn't have ran away fast enough. Admit it, Nathan… Is that a reason to shut yourself again, Nate? After all this time?"
"I'm not shuting anything. Jeez, what is it with you? It did nothing to me, nothing. Come on, Lucas, it's been awhile since that ship had sailed, remember. I'm not the same person anymore, I'm not pining after her anymore, I have a life now, so please, don't see to much into it, Luke. Please!", Nathan tried to sound confident and convincing.
"I know, Nate. But I also know what you've been through those years. And, I dont know, I kind of thought it all came back to you. I don't know… sorry, I think I kind of exagerate from time to time. So, if you're okey with it, I guess that should be alright, right?"
"Right!", Nathan agreed, trying to focus on the game again and put a stop to the subject.
---
The room was still dark for that time of day. She drew the curtains some time, last night. She didn't like it when the morning or the afternoon sun would wake her peaceful sleep. It was her thing. Not liking the bright morning or afternoon light. It wasn't some freaky transylvanian habit, she wasn't into those things, it just didn't please her to much. She liked her room dim and peaceful. Mostly in the morning. In the evening it was another story. She liked the evening glow of the day, the sunset...
An annoying ring fell the room. Once. Twice. Thrice. Okey, stop it, now! I mean it!
She streched her hand to the nightstand.
"Where is it...Come on…" she mumbled through short breaths. She hated to be waken up so suddenly. And it didn't do well to her state, either. She felt strangled, beaten, exhausted. She pushed the OK button and answered the phone.
"Hey, Sexy!", the other voice said, hoarsely.
"Hey, Horny!", Haley answered back, fully aware of who it was. It didn't take a scientist to put the two and two together. That was their greeting, after all. Well, in private, at least.
"How'd you knew?"
"C'mon, Brooke. It's Sunday… hmm, afternoon, I think, and you called me. So this mean that you're still in Tree Hill, hanging by the pool, instead of packing your stuff and saying your goodbyes. Still dragging it, huh?", asked a very awake Haley.
"No. And who said anything about a pool? If you want to know I already packed, I already said good-bye and… I already got myself out of the horny situation. Last night. Twice. Hah!", Brooke teased Haley.
"Wow! I sooo do not need to hear that. Honestly! My congrats and all, but that's it. No details. It's too early for me!"
"And I thought I'd surpise you with some hot new Duke stud… my bad, I guess, you still move slowly. Or don't move at all!", Brooke joked again. This time pulling her tongue out. Haley could already imagine it. She knew Brooke so well. Too well, she thought sometimes.
"Only in your dreams, Brookie!", Haley said playfully. Now she was up and trying to find her slippers.
"Ha,ha and haaa! Now, please, tell me what's with your latest blog entry? Are you okey? You got me all worried last night.", Brooke said, more serious this time.
"Oh, you read it. I thought no one visits that blog anymore. Especially you, missy! Didn't you have better things to do?", Haley tried to make the subject not so … serious.
"Haley, you know I read you everytime. Even when you babble on and on about your music/dancing crap, I read. So, come on, tell me. Something happened? I know it's Jake, but other than that… anything else?"
"I don't know, Brooke. I just… I really don't like it here. At all. Yeah, it's Jake, and, as a matter of fact, that makes it so much worse. He's moving out of his dorm. He wants to find himself an appartment and leave me all behind. I don't know, I don't want to sound selfish. It's just… he made me come here and I'm all alone, I don't have you and now… I won't have him either.", explained Haley in only one breath.
"I know, babe, but that's no reason to panic like you did. You know you're a big girl now, right? Do I need to remind you that you're almost 20 and you already travelled half the planet, all by yourself, by now?"
"No, Brooke, thanks. It's just… I don't think I can handle being here and being by myself, at the same time. When I was touring, I liked it. I liked traveling, I liked visiting, I loooooved dancing on different stages, in different places, every night. And that's the difference. I don't like it here. I don't belong here.", Haley was almost crying by now. She could already feel the tears from her eyes on her cheeks.
"Oh, Hales. I'm sorry! God, this must be so difficult, I know. But, honey, you gotta try a little too. Maybe it's not so bad, once you get used to it. And, just remember this, at least you got 3 more years there, instead of four, right?", Brooke really tried to make some sense in what she was saying. She knew Haley, she also knew that almost anything new scared the shit out of her. That at least till she got used to whatever it was. So, if she needed cheering, encouraging or simply banter, she always got it from Brooke.
"Thanks, Brooke. Really! I know I shouldn't complain, after all, I still get to go to college and do my dancing, too. It's just hard being some place new, you know, without my friend or my annoying brother", she laughed at her situation. Talking to Brooke about anything for that matter always did that to her.
"Glad to imagine you smiling, sweetie. So, guess what!"
"What?", asked Haley, really glad that they've droped the subject.
"Yesterday I ran into Quinn at the Center. She said the Center just re-opened and everyone was so happy about it, you now? God, how she does it, I don't know. But anyway, she asked about you."
"Oh, god, I haven't talked to Quinn since I got here. I just didn't have the guts to call home. I really wish she would get a cell phone, damn it. But what she said? How is she?"
"She's good, Hales. She's looks good, too. But she misses you and Jake, and she's so sad that you two are gone. But she says she has the Center, the kids, and that's what makes her happy. God, sometime I wish we weren't so divided. I miss the old US, you, me, Jake, Quinn, Tree Hill. But enough with the teary conversation.", she finished more chearfully.
"Yeah, you're right. We should just suck it up, it's not like it's gonna be like this forever. It's just a phase, right?"
"Right.", said Brooke with force, grinning widely. "So, what are doing today?"
Haley began whinning again. She was remainded again she was still there, sulking.
"Unpacking, I guess. You did it on purpose. You ruined my 5seconds-positive-thinking again, Brooke!", Haley complained, getting off the bed and heading to the pile of clothes that still hang around her bed and on the floor. Jeez, she was a messy one.
"You're welcome and you haven't unpacked yet? You're there for a week now and you're still sulking. Got ya!", Brooke said in victory. "Go unpack right away or I won't call you tomorrow, when I arrive in the OC…"
"Okey, okey. Don't go all Hollywood on me again. God, this Calli thing is really doing things to you!" she complained. "So, if you want me to unpack, gotta go and so do you. You're ok, right? Bags, my pic, ticket, food, sexy plane outfit?"
"You know it, sister. I'll call you when I get in, okey?"
"Okey, Brookie!", Haley sing-songed.
"And Haley, just… hand on, okey? Things will come around eventually, it's just hard in the beginning, you know?"
"I know, Brooke. Thanks… for everything. Have a safe flight, okey? And call me. K-i-s-s."
"I will! K-i-s-s right back atcha!"
She hanged up, took the clothes that she picked up and headed for the bathroom. She felt better now, much better, after the Brooke talk. It was always like that, Brooke was her biggest fan and her toughest pylon. And even if they were miles away from each other, their bond was always strong. They always got each other, even when they didn't spend time together. They've learned this lesson with Haley's tour. That was what made them stronger than ever. And that's when they knew that distance would ruin them, ever.
She got back to her room, fresh and clean, with a wide smile on her face. She said it, and now Brooke said it too, it was time to give this place a chance. Really.
---
"Hey, you forgot the beer, Mouth. Biggy, go and take some.", said JT while he scanned the list in his hands. They almost covered all. Food, check. Soap, shampoo, check. Body lotion for Biggy, weird and check. Coffee, whipped cream, cereals, check. Bandaids, alcohol, check. Bla bla, check. Oh, forgot this.
"I forgot something. I'll be right back, Mouth!", said JT starting to run like a maniac through the aisles of the supermarket. How did they forget about it? Even when it was written down. That's weird. No one ever forgets about it.
Mouth was reading some random magazine, when he heard a soft cough. When the cough became stronger, he lifted up his gaze to see what was disturbing his reading.
"Ahm, excuse me, but I want to… look around, and you're kind of in my way. Sorry!", said Haley with a genuine look on her face. She didn't want to disturb this guy's reading, but she needed some of the magazines up there and he really was in her way.
Mouth steped aside and let Haley continue her shopping, not fully aknowledging her. After he got tired of his magazine, he turned to put it back where it belonged. And that's when he got to take a really good look at her.
"Hey, I know you. You were at last night's party, right? Rick's, remember?", Mouth blurted out, sudenly realising he remembered the girl. The one that helped Ricky with the bar, at the party. I mean, it looked like her, he thought. He could say he had a pretty good memory.
"Ahm, yeah. I was there last night.", said Haley trying to remember the guy in front of her. He didn't look familiar, though. She thought back at the party, at what she did, what she said, who she'd met. No, don't see this one, she pondered.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. You were at the bar, you're the girl that helped Ricky last night, right?"
Haley just nodded in agreement. She didn't know what to say to this.
"I'm Mouth!"
"Huh?", Haley said with a loud burst and eyes wide open.
"Sorry. My name it's Marvin, but everybody calls me Mouth."
"Mouth?", she asked increduously, looking, obviously – too obvious, Haley - at his… mouth.
Mouth saw the look on her face, oh, that familiar look that everyone he'd just meet, got. The look of confusion. Yeah, and you're not too obvious, thank you.
After recovering some of her sense, Haley started. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean… to stare. You… have a lovely mouth, Mouth!", she blurted out, not fully realizing what she just said. Obvious, again. And obviously blushing, too.
Mouth just laughed at her comment. Well, that was a first, he said to himself.
"I'm sorry. I really am. I didn't mean. I mean… not that you don't have a lovely mouth. Not lovely, just a mouth. No, that didn't came out right. I mean… god. I don't know what I mean. I wasn't implying anything, honest. It just… came out. It was right there, and it came out. I didn't think. Oh, god. I'm rambling again.", Haley babbled a very confusing and out-of-breath speech. While all this time Mouth was still smiling, trying hard not to laugh out loud.
"Okey. Then I'll just take it as a random compliment, how's that sound?", Mouth tried to cool the atmosphere and to calm Haley's sudden reaction.
"Oh, great!", she said blowing out a loud breath.
"And you are?"
"I'm sorry. I'm Haley. It's nice to meet you… Mouth!", she said the last part a little to obvious. Again.
"Nice to meet you too, Haley. Are you a student here or just visiting? Because I haven't seen you around here…"
"I'm a student, sophomore, actually."
"Really? I'm sophomore too.", he said, trying to figure out if he'd had any classes with her last year. Nothing came to mind, though.
"Yeah? Great, I guess we'll be seeing much of each other… or not. The campus is so big, you can definitely get a use from those maps they keep handing to you."
"Well, not after all this time. I mean, for me it's no biggie. But that's maybe because I'm good at memorizing stuff… places, faces."
"I'm new. That's why I said that. I'm a transferred, actually."
"Really? From where?"
But when she was about to speak again, two large figures came behind her and threw some things in Mouth's pushcart.
"Hey, guess what JT forgot? Condoms. Like, come on, man, how can you forget that. But, I guess that's because his ass is whipchained and he easily forgets about us, mortals. And, look, all he got was regulars… come on!", Biggy complained and grinned at Mouth, oblivious to the fact that Haley was still there, clearly hearing his whole banter.
"Biggy, man. cough This is Haley! cough", Mouth desperatly tried to introduce Haley to the gang.
They turned to where Haley was. Noticing the tiny caramel-blonde haired girl, they both felt their cheeks flushed. They couldn't get more embaraced then this. Haley just stared at them, cheeks lightly blushed.
"Haley, these are my - often stupid - friends. This is JT", Mouth pointed to the tall, blonde Matt Damon look-a-like. JT just smiled at her. "And that one, over there, that's Biggy, can you tell why?", Mouth joked.
Haley said her greeting at both of them and sized them up. God, they were big. Looking at her and Mouth again, she swallowed the lump in her throat. Big and tall. Small and little. Odd combination, she thought to herself, sighing. Don't go there, Haley, she said to herself.
They started immediately talking, well mostly rambling on and on about their new friend, where'd she came from, where'd she stayed, how she liked this place, but mostly about Ricky's parties. They put her in theme with the tradition at Duke. Study, study, run till you puke, study again, then relaxing at Rick's. That's where they all agreed. To her surprise, Haley agreed too. Her time at last night's party was … enjoyable, at least.
Soon, they arrived at the cash register, throwing their stuff on the counter. First came Haley, then the guys. They noticed that they kind of bought the same things, well, for Haley, in smaller quantities. Beer included. The boys tried not to be shocked but they couldn't help it. Haley just shrugged, not wanting to explain herself to three barely friends she just met. After everyone got their stuff, the headed out of the super market. Heading to their car, in the parking lot, Mouth tried to be friendly – she really seemed scared of them - , while the others put the bags in the trunk.
"Hey, Haley, do you need a ride? We can drop you off, if you want."
"No, thanks, Mouth. I think I'll just walk, it's not that far, really."
"Ok, if you're sure. I guess I'll see you around. At school. It was really nice to meet you."
"Yeah, me too. I'll see. Nice to meet you, guys!", Haley said to the other and than started walking to her dorm.
First step. Met 3 persons - with Ricky last night, 4. It was a start, right? She said to herself while peacefully walking aroung campus, the grocery bag in hands. She enjoyed this kind of walks, she loved being all alone, but not strangely alone, you know. Just the peaceful and relaxing alone. The weather was perfect for her walk, there weren't to many persons around her to distract her, nor did she felt like she was carrying a thousand pounds on her sholders. Well, in her hands, maybe, but not on her sholders.
She scanned the campus' outdoor and sighed softly. At least this is nice, this place, this moment. Actually, it's quite beautiful. The flowers, the trees, the gardens, the old buildings. All. Suddenly she stopped, a little confused and now aware that she had diverted her road home, and was standing in front of an unfamiliar place. A beautiful, secluded, but still unfamiliar place. She sighed again.
Great, now I'm lost. Just great. Where's you head at, Haley, she laughed sarcastically at herself. She looked around and saw no one. Now she could start panicking. At least she was still on campus teritory, right, in broad daylight. And she wasn't five anymore, right?
The place looked so untouched, secluded and, at the same time, abandoned, like no one even cared about it anymore. It seemed to have been something beautiful and taken care of, appreciated, once. Not so much, anymore. Like it didn't even belong to Duke. Everywhere you looked you only saw trees, big and leafy trees, and on the ground there were beautiful wild flowers. The place looked so out of context, like it didn't belonged, like it wasn't suppose to be so close to the civil life.
She fully took in the sight, amazed. How come I ended up here, in the first place, she asked herself. It wasn't like her to walk around like that, so… clueless. But she was happy that she did that, this time. It felt right, it felt good. She suddenly felt at peace there, like it was meant for her, made for her, like it had always expected her. She tooked a mental picture of the place, she needed to do this. It was amaizing and she needed this kind of distraction from time to time. She looked around, noting every flower, every tree, every piece of old pavement.
The bench. A single bench, by that big old, kind of ugly, tree. She looked around again. No, that was the only bench there. How come, she pondered. She started walking, slowly towards it. She sat on it, placing her shoping bag on the ground.
God… this is peaceful, this is heaven, she thought.
---
"Where did you two ran away, I thought we had plans today, right Lucas?", Mouth asked from the couch, looking straight at Lucas. He had the brilliant idea of them unpacking and shopping, preparing for school. Right. Let the others deal with it, he mocked, knowing that was Lucas' habit. Full of ideas, not that big on actions.
"Hey, we're back, that's good, right?", said Nathan trying to stop what he thought was about to happen. "Mouth, what is this? Vanilla and Musk? Since when do I use this?", asked Nathan in a very confused state, looking at the shower gel that Mouth bought for him.
"Oh, sorry about that. I think things got a little mixed up at the counter... " Mouth tried to reason, now wondering just how mixed where their things at the counter. Well, he'll talk to Haley when he sees her, at classes, he thought.
Everyone was already cleaning and arranging and putting stuff in the fridge or on the kitchen shelfs, a really unusual sight for someone who might come in the room and saw this. But for them it wasn't unusual at all, they weren't quite thrilled about the prospect of cleaning or moping or dusting, but they needed to make this place theirs, their style, their way. Nothing more. If they were suppose to spend almost an entire year there without anything else but basketball and studying, they most definetly needed this. That was their home now, right?
Lucas headed to his room and did the same, well except for the moping part, that wasn't for him. But he suddenly remembered that this won't be his home for long, anymore. Jake and him were moving out soon, they planned for this for almost a semester, but today, he totally forgot about it. Maybe it was because Jake wasn't there to remind him or perhaps because he got used to this routine for so long – unpacking, cleaning, this room – that he forgot about senior year. His last year. God, how things changed, how time flew by.
He sighed remembering all the good times that had passed, mostly outside campus, at parties or while the team was playing away, just everything that he and Jake shared there. But there wasn't time for this road down memory lane. I still have this year to finish, then the "real" fun could begin, he moked knowingly.
The door swoong open and a very tired and grumpy Jake entered and without any word, he threw himself and his bags on the couch, oblivious to the cleaning and… the whole nice and clean aspect of the room. He groaned loudly, now fully aware of Lucas' presence.
"Hey, man! God, I'm tired. And that Ashley chick, God, she has the effect of a lobotomy… if I hear another Nick&Jessica refference, I'll throw myself of a bridge.", Jake groaned again, this time more softly, mostly because he was too exhausted.
Lucas grinned knowingly. He knew the tourture that Jake put himself through just to go to that festival in New York. He felt sorry about it, about not coming with him in the first place, about the torment that meant Ashley Moore, the most annoying person he'd ever met. This thought exactly brought him back to the day when he actually wanted more than anything to meet her. He and Jake were sophomore and they just got into the Blue Devils after some serious drafting, and she was just another cheerleader, eager to meet the rookies. And so she did, she got his attention, he got hers, they dated twice, but that didn't work out too well. So they started this whole friends with benefits pact. But that, too, worked only a semester, usually at parties.
Going back to those times, to that person he used to be, he sighed regretfully. Yeah, he was a player, he loved the playground too. But now, he got tired of it and he began to think that Jake got tired of it too. In the end, he was the one that suggested they get an appartment and … how he put it? Oh, yeah, "get their shit together", Lucas smiled remembering that umbelivable moment. He still had some trouble adjusting to the idea.
He just didn't knew that he wasn't the only one having trouble with it.
"Jake… I need to talk to you about something. It's kinda serious.", tried Lucas, still not sure how to approach the subject. That topic wasn't really their favorite for all sorts of reasons, mostly Nathan related.
"Yeah. What's up?"
"Jake, where is Haley?", Lucas cut to the subject.
Jake immediately got the point and remembered that he hadn't discussed Haley's coming to Duke with none of his friends, he kind of forgot it, actually, with all that was happening. And now he was afraid of the discussion.
"Well, I guess you saw her. She's here, at Duke."
"What? Are you serious? What is she doing here?" asked Lucas, taking a seat on the couch. He hadn't expected Jake to be this direct, too.
"Let's see… how to put it. Ahm, she's a student here… she transfered from Juilliard this year."
"But I thought she was touring… she was in Europe, right? That's what you said."
"I know. See, I kinda lied about that. She left the tour a year ago and she got into Juilliard. But… the reason that I haven't told you about it, was… well, I don't know, there were several reasons. First, she left us in the air with the tour and the college thing, we only found out this spring when she came home. She and dad got into this huge fight about all sort of things, mostly about her lying to him about getting in to Juilliard… and all ended with her transfering her. That's kinda the short story. And, seeing that we haven't quite talked for more than 5 minutes on the phone the whole summer, I don't know… I didn't hide it or something."
"Waw… so it was her. We saw her last night… but, I don't know, I just thought it wasn't her…"
"We?"
"Yeah… me and Nathan."
"Ouch. I guess I didn't expected that to happen so soon. You know, she doesn't know he's here. I really am in deep shit now", he murrmured more to himself. He completely forgot to put the pices together – Haley to Duke, Nathan to Duke, both to Duke. Well, that really sucks. Because he had the habit of avoiding this topic with Lucas, but Nathan… that was never even considered as a topic. Period. And now, things looked like it would become more than a topic.
---
Nathan was still in his room, now propped on his bed. He was tired again. He sighed remembering the night he had and finally admitting that he needed some serious rest if he wanted to start the semester in full action. Now that he was a sophomore, it was time for him to make the big team, the Blue Devils, and that was his sole purpose this year. Well that and getting himself in a better shape, which meant tougher workout, earlier running, better alimentation, the whole package. Because that was the plan. He needed to stick with the plan. His plan.
Since they were little, both him and Lucas where familiarized with a wide range of sports and activities to get themselves occupied. That was their parents wish, that's what Deb and Dan wanted for them from the begining, to grow as two healty and active kids, to play, to have fun, to get used to doing sports and having a healthy life. The sports part came from Dan, former NBA player for the Knicks, now a big time endorsment manager, still for the NBA, representing the East-coast. As for the healthy life part, that was Deb 100, former topmodel in her youth, now managing a small stylist agency in Boston. She and Nathan moved there five years ago, after the divorce, leaving behind, in Tree Hill, a very upset Lucas and a very hurt Dan. But that was oblivious to both Nathan and Deb, even to the present day.
He sat there, in complete silence, just thinking, staring at the ceiling, waiting for sleep to come, when he heard a knock on the door. It was Lucas.
"Hey, wanna come and play some GTA or NBA Live? We're all in the living… oh, and Jake came back, but he was tired, I guess, so he passed."
"I'll pass, too. Same reason as Jake, I guess…", murmurred Nathan, not getting up from his bed. Luke would get the point and leave. He always knew when to take off, when it involved Nathan. They were brothers, after all.
"So believable I might ask the guys to turn the sound and music off so you can have your beauty sleep.", joked Lucas from his spot, near the door. "You just make sure you're up and awake tomorrow to go to class, ok, bro?"
"Sure, mom, whatever you say." And with that, Lucas turned and closed the door behind him, not knowing that sleep will mostly avoid Nathan again that night.
---
"Oh, come on. Again? It's the third time, in half an hour. And, yeah, she's still talking about love.", sing-songed Haley from her oddly sleeping position. "GOD!", she screamed.
Yeah, it looked like someone was in a Simpson family mood – and not the cartooned one - because the L-O-V-E fiasco was on repeat for almost forever… well, that was what half an hour seemed to Haley. But could you blame her, after the three hour Jessica Simpson special, with just a touch of Nick on the side? Yeah, it was torture for Haley. A bittersweet midnight torture, that kept her awake still. I'm gonna be so dead-man-on-campus tomorrow, she thought, now fighting with her pillow, after she lost the battle with the sheets. She was so upset, to say the least, so angry, so annoyed, so sure she was going to kill someone if they had the missfortune to pass her room.
She didn't knew that someone would most likely be her victim tonight, if he would just get the courrage to knock on her door. Ok, here we go!
Getting up from the bed, annoyed and bored as ever, she wondered who could knock at her door, this late at night. Well, whoever it was, he/she will get it, for sure. Opening the door, she couldn't believe what she saw. Blinking one, blinking twice… yes, it still was there.
"Jake, what…?", before she could end her question, someone behind Jake stepped aside, shocking the hell out of Haley.
"Brooke?"