Strings – Chapter Two: The Games

Brooke sat underneath the large tree, half-heartedly reading her book. She felt lost and more than a little vulnerable. Haley had turned out to be the anti-christ and she was stuck at this school without anyone to talk to. She sighed and watched as some other students milled about on the lawn, laughing at personal jokes and giggling amongst themselves. She was an outsider and she didn't like it.

But she wouldn't give in. She refused to sink to their level.

She tried to focus on the writing on the pages in front of her, but the world of Jane Austen became all the more ironic. Frustrated, she snapped the book shut and tossed it on the patch of grass beside her.

"Now what did that book ever do to you?" a familiar voice asked. Brooke jumped in surprise and faced Nathan Scott.

"Stop doing that," she replied.

Dropping down beside her, Nathan smiled. "Sorry...most people see me coming..."

She forced a smile. His phrasing was almost painful. "Yes, well..." She picked up her book, "I was distracted."

"Jane Austen," Nathan seemed impressed "You like her?"

Brooke nodded, "Yeah. You?"

Nathan shrugged, "I know most people think it's chick lit or whatever - but I think it's pretty cool. Just don't tell anyone I told you that," he gave her a cheeky grin as he leant in slightly, as if to tell her a secret.

Brooke nodded and smiled, "I promise."

"Most of her work can be applied to modern day times," he continued, attempting to remember a lecture he'd half fallen asleep in the previous semester. "I suppose adolescents have always had, and will always have, the same dilemmas..."

As he'd expected, she lapped it up.

"Dilemmas such as..." Brooke urged, genuinely interested in his option.

"Sex," Nathan said the word slowly so it sounded like the hissing of a snake. He leant closer towards her, in a somewhat intimate manner. "Relationships... Heartache..." His lips were almost brushing her earlobe, as he whispered the final word; "Desire."

"Morals," Brooke interrupted, pulling away from him, "Tradition... Love..." she told him, her heart beating at a thousand times its usual pace.

He nodded, "I suppose…"

"There's nothing wrong in the way things were done in her day. I don't understand why things changed."

Deciding he'd come on a little too strong, he pulled back and leant against the tree. "Technology, for one... and greed..." She began to warm to him again, thinking that perhaps she'd read too much into his 'come on', as she'd seen it.

"True," she mused, "The pursuit of those things corrupt our society, handing down tainted morals and beliefs to the next generation. That's something my parents always tried to protect me from."

"They seem like good people," Nathan commented.

"They are."

He found himself smiling a genuine smile. They were good people. She was good people...He stopped his train of thought there. 'No,' he told himself. 'No attachments. High Flyers.' That was what mattered here.

"They are." He echoed, pondering on the best way to change the subject and get into her pants. "So, what else do you do besides read Austen?"

"I write. Not much but I write. Poems, articles... the beginnings of novels I never have time to finish."

"Really?" He asked, mildly intrigued. After all, what sorts of novels would she write? Certainly none of that Mills and Boon shit that his sexed-up conquests had enjoyed. "Any chance I could read them?"

She blushed and shook her head quickly, "Oh no. No, that would be... you can read my articles but... I believe that poetry and novels come from the heart. It's a way of baring your soul. It's private."

He was getting close. He could feel it. "Fair enough," he conceded, "But, I promise to show you mine if you show me yours." She moved to protest, and he held up his hand. "When you're ready, I mean." He was hoping that the double entendre was perceived as playful. Otherwise, the entire gig would be up before it even had a chance to begin.

"Oh, um, you write?" Brooke asked, clearing her throat and trying to convince herself that he was only talking literature.

"Sometimes," he shrugged. "I keep a...scrapbook, of sorts. Random things, you know. Musings, clippings of things that...interest me..." He shot her a flirtatious side-long glance, before adding. "No-one else knows about it, actually..."

"Like a diary?"

Nathan winced, "Okay, now that makes me sound like a thirteen year old girl with braces. I prefer to call it a…" he tried to find the appropriate word, "…journal."

"Journal." Brooke nodded in agreement. "Can I read this journal?" she asked sweetly, her pink tongue slightly grazed the top row of her white teeth as she awaited his answer.

Grinning, Nathan gave her a dose of her own medicine. "Well, as you said, it's private...baring of the soul and all that..." He, taking a leaf from his sister's book, looked away bashfully. "I'm not sure I'm ready for that just yet..." He looked back at her as innocently as possible. "Not that I don't see myself trusting you..."

The edges of Brooke's lips tugged slightly into a smile, "I understand," she replied.

"So, let's talk about you," Nathan said as he picked up a random leaf from the ground.

"Me?" she echoed.

"Yeah... I assume that since you're so... good," he stressed that last word, "You probably have never had a boyfriend, right?"

Brooke narrowed her eyes and shook her head, "On the contrary. I just don't think sex needs to be part of the dating game. And neither did he."

He raised his eyebrows slightly, "So what happened to your mystery man?"

"What makes you think we're still not together?"

Nathan smirked, "Because you said 'did'. Which means that you broke up and he found someone else to sleep with," he glanced at her. "Sorry, if I'm bringing up bad memories. I'm sure it must have hurt-"

"Actually," she said, clearing her throat, "Lucas and I are still good friends. And I broke up with him. There's no bad feelings between us. We're friends."

In his mind, he chuckled. How many times had he used the 'remain good friends' line? Outwardly, however, Nathan feigned an apologetic look. "I'm sorry, " he said, hoping it sounded genuine. "I'm just...not used to that happening around here, you know..." He had to stop himself from batting his lashes. "Forgive me?"

Brooke sighed, "You've never been friends with a girl, have you?" she correctly guessed.

He was vaguely offended. "I'll have you know-"

"-I said 'friends', not 'friendly'."

There was a distinction? He wondered.

"Well," he pulled himself up into a sitting position, "I could try... if you let me."

At the smirk on his face, she frowned. "Do I have to go through the 'friends' spiel properly?"

"Look, Brooke. I can already see that this is going to be different. I would love to be friends with you, and believe you me; you'll need someone like me around here."

"Because I'm a virgin?" she cocked her head to the side.

"No," he told her, displaying the first ounce of sincerity she'd seen, "Because you're different."

"It's the same thing, isn't it?" She folded her arms over her chest, determined to be petulant. "I'm a grown woman. I can fend for myself. I don't want you to be my 'protector' or whatever."

He shook his head, "Brooke, it's not going to make you more vulnerable to have me around. It's just going to make you fit in more. Make you feel less secluded. And if any guys try and get fresh with you, you'll have me. It's my way of looking out for you."

"Er..." She blushed, not really certain that anyone would want to get fresh with her, once they discovered her virginity. "Thanks...I think..."

"No problem," he got up from the ground, and held out a hand for her, "Shall we go and check out the cafeteria? Lunch is almost ready."

Acting impulsively, she extended her own hand and allowed him to help her up. "That sounds great."

From the upstairs window, Haley bit her lip and raised her eyebrows slightly.

Maybe she'd underestimated both Nathan and Brooke.

She knew that if she wanted any chance of going to Italy, she'd have to pull out the big guns and put a few hurdles out in front of Nathan.

Picking up the phone, she dialed a number, "Bernice, hey... I need a favor... what do you know about Brooke Davis?"

Haley listened to some of the information that came through, rolling her eyes at all the charitable work Brooke had done and how loved she was at her old school.

She seemed hopeful, however, when she heard something else from Bernice. Writing down a name and number, she thanked Bernice and hung up the phone.

As she dialed the new number, she waited impatiently for it to pick up.

"Oh hello, my name is Haley James-Scott. You must be Lucas... right?"

-------

After three days in Nathan's company, Brooke had found herself becoming more and more relaxed. They talked about literature, about school, and about family. Brooke sympathized with Nathan growing up with a neglecting father, and a step-father who sided with Haley all the time.

Nathan, for his part, found himself enjoying Brooke's company. This surprised him, as he'd never known a girl to be interesting in anything other than the bedroom. But she wasn't the type of girl he usually spent any time with. No; she was opinionated and intelligent...In fact, her IQ was probably far larger than those of each of his conquests combined...and he rather liked that.

Of course, it wasn't to say Nathan had neglected his other activities. He still had girls streaming in and out of his room at all hours. He just had to pay more attention and make sure Brooke never found out.

Although, something had started to weigh heavily on his heart. Every time he was with another girl, he didn't enjoy it, and began wishing he was talking to Brooke.

And when he was with Brooke, he couldn't help but feel like he was cheating on her.

It was almost like...

"Guilt."

Nathan snapped back to reality.

"Huh?" he asked. Brooke frowned.

"I said 'guilt'. Stanley has a lot of guilt towards Stella. That's why he's so nice to her. Especially after the poker scene."

Oh. Right. Nathan refrained from heaving a sigh of relief. Another close call like that and all his hard work would be for naught. He mustered a wry grin and opened his mouth to speak, only to be cut off.

"Say the 'Stella! Stella!' line once more, and I mean it, you'll be doing this essay on your own."

He rolled his eyes and nodded. "Alright, alright...So the Simpsons' quote-"

"Also black-banned."

Brooke couldn't help but stifle a grin as she scribbled down a few more notes.

"Can we watch the movie again?" Nathan asked.

"The essay is on the play - not the movie," Brooke chided for what felt like the millionth time that night.

"But the movie is-"

"So much more fun, I know." She shook her head. "And here I was thinking you were a mature adult, Nathan Scott."

Nathan grinned, "I could be grown-up..." he teased.

"And I could walk on the moon wearing bunny-slippers..." She shot back, scribbling notes onto a nearby piece of paper. Nathan watched as she brushed a stray lock of hair behind her ear, noticing, not for the first time, that she did that when flirting. It was like a nervous tick. He liked it.

And he could tell that his efforts were working.

"I was thinking," Nathan reclined back on her bed. She was sitting chastely at the desk, and turned her head to face him, "We've been spending a lot of time together lately..."

Despite herself, she blushed. "Oh...I...suppose so..." Was he bored of her company already? "I...er...I appreciate everything you've done for me..." She offered.

"-I want to spend more time with you," Nathan finished, effectively cutting her off. She stared at him.

"Uh... really?"

"Really." He scratched the back of his head, "So, do you want to... maybe... go out sometime?"

"But you barely know me..."

He smiled, trying to keep it as innocent as possible. "That's a yes?"

"I guess-"

"Great!" he jumped up, "Let's go out now!"

"Now?" she asked, as he pulled her up out of her chair, "But your essay!"

"It'll be there when we get back," he excused. "We've been studying for hours. It's time we relaxed a little," he took the opportunity to massage her shoulders briefly to emphasize his point.

Feeling her legs turn to jelly, she suppressed a shiver. The boy knew what he was doing, that was for sure...Her heart dropped. She didn't. She didn't want to either. Not for a while at least. But, as nice as he seemed, did Nathan want more?

She pulled away slowly.

"What's wrong?" He asked, knowing that he'd probably gone too far.

"Maybe we should finish the essay first..." she said, "Then go out for lunch tomorrow."

Well, it was better than nothing, he conceded. Time wasn't anywhere near up yet. He forced a smile. "Sounds like a plan."

She nodded with relief as she sat back down at her desk and stared at the notes. Suddenly she wished she'd put aside all her concerns and gone to dinner.

This essay seemed impossible.

There was a knock on the door and she frowned. Nathan was lying on the bed throwing a basketball up in the air.

"Want me to get it?" he asked. She gave him a nod, and he opened the door.

Coming face to face with another man, he scowled. "Who the hell are you?"

Brooke spun around at that, and her eyes widened in surprise, before she leapt up from her seat and pushed past Nathan. Flying into her visitor's arms, she cried; "Lucas!"

Nathan was not impressed.

"Hey crazy girl," Lucas laughed as he held his friend in his arms. "I take it you're glad to see me?" He let Brooke down gently and she punched him lightly on the arm.

"You didn't call!" she protested.

"But you love surprises," he gushed.

In the background, Nathan tried his best not to gag. This was just perfect.

Not.

Straightening himself up, he decided to use his role as alpha male of the school to his advantage. He sauntered to Brooke's side and slung his arm around her shoulders, daring Lucas to comment. Extending his hand, he spoke crisply. "Nathan Scott. My step-father owns this school." He smiled dangerously. "You wouldn't be trespassing now, would you?"

Brooke laughed. "Oh, stop messing around, Nathan..."

Lucas just smiled in return, "Actually, I just transferred. Basketball scholarship or something."

"Funny." Nathan remarked, "We don't have one of those."

"According to your sister, you do now." Lucas replied.

Haley would die. This was all her doing. Nathan forced a bark of laughter. "Oh, the request must have gone through then." He shrugged nonchalantly, "Haley doesn't tell me anything, these days."

To his annoyance, both Brooke and Lucas ignored his last comment.

"So, when did this happen?" Brooke asked pulling Lucas into her room, seemingly forgetting Nathan's presence.

"Uh, I got the call a couple of days ago, actually," Lucas replied, settling down onto the bed, in almost the exact same position as Nathan before him. "I wasn't even aware that Dad had contacted schools..."

"That's because he didn't, you idiot." Nathan seethed under his breath. Haley had a lot of explaining to do.

"And I decided that this is too good of an opportunity to pass up- so I got on board the first plane and came here. They've got a place in High Flyers so I'm working towards that."

Now Nathan was mad.

"High Flyers? That's amazing! Nathan, did you hear?" she turned to Nathan, expecting him to be as ecstatic as she was.

"Yay," he said somewhat miserably.

As if noticing his demeanor for the first time, she frowned. "What's wrong?"

Oh, my step-sister, who I occasionally fuck on the side, has just made my chances of getting into High Flyers even slimmer...Oh, and I think I'm actually attracted to you, intellectually and physically, and your ex has just shown up and will probably get you in bed before I get the chance.

"Nothing. Look, I've gotta get going. You guys...catch up..."

"We can go for dinner!" Lucas suggested, garnering Brooke's attention. She grinned.

"Oh, I'm so hungry. There's this great place on..."

Nathan slipped out of the door and groaned loudly. Kicking the wall in front of him, he marched straight to his step-sister's room.

She was waiting for him, wearing nothing but her black-lace number. He swore that was all she owned. Slamming her door shut, he hollered; "What the fuck are you playing at!"

"Ah, just on time," she said as she sat herself down on her recliner, "I see you got my gift."

"Why are you screwing this up for me?" Nathan asked.

"It's a challenge, Nate. I'm just making it a little more... challenge-y. You honestly didn't think I'd make it easy for you..."

"You're breaking the rules!"

She laughed wickedly, enjoying his torment. "Hon, I make the rules."

"High Flyers?" Nathan said, "You offered him High Flyers? That's mine!"

She pretended to inspect her nails. "Like I said...I'm making it more interesting..." She looked up brightly. "For me." She shrugged. "I was getting bored."

Nathan clenched his jaw and sighed deeply.

"You're not getting away with this," he said, "One way or another, I'll win and you're going to be fucking some guy to get me into High Flyers."

"Uh huh..." She rolled her eyes. His cranky-little-boy act was getting old. "Whatever you say, Nate."

With that, Nathan stormed out of the room and began strategizing. He had to keep Brooke with him. For all he knew, Lucas could be working with Haley to thwart his attempts.

A smirk crept upon his lips. He was going to dinner after all.

-----------

Brooke couldn't remember the last time she and Lucas had gone for dinner like this. It had obviously been before they'd broken up, which was more than four months ago; yet it almost seemed so natural.

"So St. James' seems like…" Lucas said as Brooke rolled her eyes.

"Oh gosh," she leant back in her seat, "Definitely not what it seems."

Lucas nodded his head, "Do you like it?"

Brooke shook her head, "It doesn't live up to the brochure. I don't like the students and they don't seem to like me," her mind wandered to Haley. "Most of them have two facades; the butter-wouldn't-melt-in-her-mouth look, and the femme-fatale look. No-one is real here."

"So, why don't you leave?" Lucas asked, "If you don't enjoy it…"

"And go to California?" Brooke shook her head, "No way. Plus, my parents would be so disappointed. St. James' is a really prestigious school and I'm not about to give up just because I don't have the same agenda as everyone else."

Lucas smirked, "Still the same old Brooke Davis, huh?" He asked. "You always wanted to be the pioneer of something."

"Yeah well… it's not all bad," she smiled slightly as she leant forward as if to whisper a secret. "There are some good people."

"And by good, you're talking about Nathan, right?" Lucas queried. Brooke shrugged.

"We've been hanging around a little… a lot, actually." She noticed the scowl on her friend's face, "I know you probably disapprove…" she began.

"I've heard a lot about him-"

"A lot? Lucas, you've only been here half a day!"

"Hey, rumors travel fast," Lucas reminded her.

"And that's what they are, Lucas; rumors." Brooke replied as she took a sip of her drink, "I've heard some stuff about him too, and I have to say, the guy people make him out to be is not the guy I've been spending time with these last three days."

"I'm just worried," Lucas told her earnestly, placing a hand on top of hers, "I don't want you to get hurt because you're too… naïve."

"Lucas…" Brooke sighed with hint of annoyance.

"I'm sorry, Brooke. I know it's not my place to say, but at the end of the day; who are you going to trust? Your oldest friend, or some guy who is sweet talking you into his bed?"

Brooke clenched her jaw as she thought about Lucas' warning. Sure, she'd heard some stuff wafting through the school halls. But she was a cautious person. She didn't just jump into things without thinking things through. And so far, Nathan hadn't tested her trust.

Not like Lucas anyway.

Suddenly, Brooke was reminded of a dinner months ago where the two of them sat just like this and Lucas was begging her to trust him.

She had, only to find that he'd lied, cheated and broken her heart.

"How is Peyton anyway?" Brooke asked crossing her arms. She could see the visible flash of hurt cross his eyes. He looked down at his plate uncomfortably.

"We…uh, we broke up." He confessed.

"Hmmm…" Brooke couldn't help but be pleased. Lucas had slept with Peyton just hours after they'd broken up. She had suspected something was going on between the two 'lab partners', but, when confronted, Lucas insisted on his innocence and virginity.

After her back turned, however, chemistry took a different turn.

"Brooke, you know I'm sorry about that," Lucas apologized. "You and me… we're just different. I know what you want to do, and I respect that, but abstinence just wasn't for me."

"Let's not talk about this now," Brooke cleared her throat. Reliving past pain wasn't what she wanted to spend her evening doing.

'What are we talking about?" A new voice asked from behind her. Brooke turned to see Nathan standing over their table.

"A private matter," Lucas piped up, making no secret of his feelings towards the other man. Nathan ignored him and pulled up a chair, sitting in between them.

Brooke couldn't help but grin at him. "So... your other plans?"

He waved his hand about, "Cancelled. Would you believe it? Cancelled on me?"

"Somehow," she responded, casting her mind back to a mere hour or so ago, where he'd been intent on dragging her to dinner, "I think I can."

Nathan rubbed his hands together, "So I guess I'm free tonight. There's a great club nearby and the night is young. What do you say?" he asked Brooke.

"Well, I'm a little beat... jet lagged...so-" Lucas began.

Nathan looked back at him in mock disappointment. "Oh, that's too bad...You'd probably best head off to bed, then. What with basketball trials in the morning and all...Such a pity." He turned back to Brooke. "Looks like it's you and I then, toots."

Brooke's eyes flicked between the blonde and the brunette. She knew the sensible thing to do would be to go back to her room - but another part of her wanted to prove to Lucas that Nathan was a good guy, and that she could live for the moment.

"Sure," she gave Nathan a dimpled grin.

"What?" Lucas spluttered. "Brooke-"

She shot him a nasty look. "I want to go." She glanced back at Nathan, tucking her hair safely behind her ear. "I'd love to, actually."

Lucas bit back a growl as he saw Nathan give him a smug look, "You know, I'm not actually that tired-" he began.

"No, no..." Nathan patted his shoulder, "There'll be heaps of chances to go out as a group later...What you really want to do is make sure you're prepped properly for the scholarship trial in the morning. We'd hate to lose you so soon." His eyes, naturally, said otherwise.

Begrudgingly, Lucas watched as Brooke and Nathan got up and walked away from the table. Lucas' eyes narrowed as he saw the way Nathan placed his hand on the small of Brooke's back; a gesture Lucas was accustomed to.

Oh, Nathan Scott was definitelynot a good boy. He knew the signs well. After all, he'd exhibited them himself.

As he rose from the table and paid the bill, Lucas made his decision then and there; Nathan Scott was going down.

To Be Continued…