A/N: It's taken me a while to get the wording right. I deleted it so many times, but I finally finsihed it, proofread it, etc. Hope you like it. Leave some words. Enjoy :-)

Chapter 7

Nathan was still frozen to the spot as Brooke and Lucas caught sight of him. They shot him a weary look as they looked at each other inquiringly. They seemed to come to a silent agreement and then separated. They headed towards Nathan and Haley. "Hey," Brooke said.

Haley watched as his eyes darted to Brooke. His gaze was cold and wounded. "Hi," he managed to say. Haley could see his hand shaking.

"How are you doing?" Lucas asked. Nathan sighed and shook his head at the question.

He opened his mouth to answer but then closed it. He just looked at Brooke and then at Lucas and turned around, walked away with them staring after him. Then the first bell ring.

Haley stopped watching Nathan walk away. She turned back to her locker and scrunched her eyebrows because she couldn't see her bag. It was no longer on her shoulders. Wait. Didn't I give it to Nathan to hold while I put my books away? She nodded at her own question and reassured herself that Nathan had it. She was about to turn to his locker to ask him for it when she remembered that he wasn't there anymore.

She stared down the hallway, no longer able to see him. She was going to have to go after him. Then she looked down the other side of the hallway where the tutoring centre was. Then she looked down at her knee and slammed one of her crutches down on the ground as she exclaimed, "Oh, this is just great!"

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Nathan threw the ball and it went through the basket as if they had some sort of agreement. He was thankful that he had gym this period. It was a good way to get his frustration over seeing his brother and ex-girlfriend together. He could not believe that after what they did to him and Anna that they had the nerve to show up the week after the shooting and act like they had been dating for months. That thought made his anger build again. He started to wonder exactly how long they had fooled them. A few seconds later, Whitey had started yelling at him for some reason. He turned around and looked at him.

"Do you want to tell me why you just threw the ball at Aaron's head?" Whitey asked, his big voice booming with annoyance.

"I'm sorry, Coach," he replied and looked at Aaron apologetically.

Aaron shook his head. "Coach, it's ok. He didn't hurt me or anything. It was an accident. I don't even think Nathan knew he was throwing the ball at the time," he said.

"Why are you so distracted?" Whitey asked.

"I had a bad morning," Nathan replied. Whitey eyed him carefully and then shook his head.

"And?" Whitey asked.

"And I've been a little distracted," Nathan said.

"Troubles with your girlfriend?" Whitey teased, lifting an eyebrow on his wrinkled face. Nathan looked down. "Whatever it is, it doesn't matter. At least, not when you're in this gymnasium." Then he looked to the rest of the players.

"Now I've told you boys countless times to check your personal life at the door. I don't care if your girlfriend's pregnant, if you're just realizing your sexual preference, if mommy and daddy are fighting or whatever else passes as problems in your lives. That kind of crap should stay at home where it belongs. Basketball is not going to make those problems go away, I realize that, but at least I won't have to pay an ambulance bill for someone with a concussion because you've got your head up your ass," Whitey said. Some of the guys cracked a smile.

Whitey was known throughout the school as someone who would tell you exactly what he thought of you and he was not one censor his language either. He was as candid as they came and he had his own style when going about it too.

Just then, there was a knock on one of the gym doors. Right away, everyone knew this person was an outsider. When you wanted to come into the gym, you didn't knock, even if there was a class going on. You just walked in and went about your business. Nathan looked harder and could see crutches. The first thought that came into his mind was Haley but he shook his head, realizing that there was no conceivable reason that Haley would hobble all the way down to the gym, especially since the tutoring centre- which was her "class" right now- was on the other side of the school.

One of the doors opened and sure enough, Haley crutched in and looked around. "Miss James, what brings you here?" Whitey asked, looking her up and down, his eyes resting on her injured knee for a few seconds.

"I need to talk to Nathan. Is that ok, Whitey?" Haley replied, looking around the room, most likely searching for him. A few of the other students chuckled and Whitey cleared his throat.

"You're the only student who actually has permission to call me that," Whitey began and swallowed as he looked around at the other students, "However if you continue to do so in front of my class, Miss James, I will give you detention for the rest of the week." Whitey looked at her with an oddly soft gaze. Haley cracked a smile and shifted her weight onto the right crutch.

"You would seriously make me hobble all the way to detention for four days straight, long after my bus has left the school, thus causing me to hobble all the way home?" she asked, raising her eyebrows in astonishment.

"Well, I…" Whitey started, obviously flustered, and then turned to Nathan, "Scott, go talk." Nathan nodded and headed over to her. He held the door open and followed her into the hall.

"What's up?" he asked.

"You're a thief," Haley said accusingly. Nathan wrinkled his brow and Haley cracked a smile. "You had my book bag and left it in your locker. I need it."

"I'm so sorry, Haley. Hold on a second. Just let me go tell Coach," Nathan said, heading back into the gymnasium. He came back a few seconds later.

"Thanks," she said as he helped her up from the bench she had sat down on.

"So why does Coach let you call him 'Whitey'?" Nathan asked.

Haley smirked as she said, "It's a long story."

"Well, we have a long walk ahead of us especially at the rate you're going. Jeez, a wounded snail is probably faster than you," he quipped. Haley scowled at him and stopped.

"Have you ever been shot in the leg before?" she asked. Nathan went silent. "I didn't think so. So when you've been shot in the same leg twice, gone through plate surgery and dealt with the constant excruciating pain, then you can mock my speed all you want. Until then, shut up."

Nathan was speechless. "I'm sorry," he said. Haley cracked a smile.

"Man, guys are so easy," she commented.

"That wasn't funny," he said.

"Uh, actually it was. Whitey and his wife, Camilla, were my last foster parents. After she died while I was there and Whitey slipped into a depression, I was taken out of their house because it was considered an 'unsuitable environment'. Anyways, while I was there, I would call him 'coach' and he got annoyed so he told me to start calling him 'Whitey' and I have ever since," Haley retorted.

"I never would've pictured him as the type to be a foster parent," Nathan said. Haley laughed and shook her head.

"Oh, he wasn't. Camilla was and I was their first and last foster kid," she replied.

"He must've taken a liking to you if he let you call him 'Whitey'," Nathan commented.

"I guess he did. Or maybe it was that I spent a lot of time with Camilla while he was away or whatever," Haley said.

"No, he likes you," Nathan said. They continued to walk in silence for a while until they came to their lockers.

"So, how is gym?" Haley asked. Nathan smiled.

"Haley, if you want to ask how I am, you can," he replied.

"Really? Because I would be annoyed with everybody constantly asking me how I am. Actually, I do get annoyed," she said, gesturing to her leg.

"You're not just anyone," he said. Haley looked at him in interest. "You're a good friend." She chuckled.

"Okay, friend. How are you doing?" she asked.

"Honestly?" he asked.

"Uh, hopefully, otherwise this isn't much of a friendship," she commented.

"I know I should be pissed about it and I guess a part of me is given how I walked away like that, but I'm… indifferent," he said thoughtfully.

"Maybe the pain is too raw," she suggested. He looked at her.

"Maybe, but I don't think it is. I mean, when I first found out, I was mad as hell. I wanted to kill Lucas and find a way to really hurt Brooke. I spent so much time being devoted to her and she just played me," Nathan said.

"I guess Neil was right," Haley said. Nathan looked at her quizzically. "Well, I remember in his time capsule he mentioned that nine times out of ten the face people are showing you isn't their real one. I think in a way, he had it nailed. It is so hard to tell who somebody really is because you really just never know if they're being sincere. Take Brooke, for example. She seemed like she really loved you and that she wanted to be with you and I guess, at one point, she did but then… she said what she said on her capsule and I could tell that she really meant it."

Nathan looked away. "I'm sorry," she said.

"No, it's ok. I know that they both meant it," Nathan said.

"It's so scary to think that people can act so well the way Brooke and Lucas did. Neil really did know what he was talking about," Haley said.

"In some respects, he did. But he was wrong about you," Nathan said.

"How do you know?" she asked.

"Neil said that you didn't really care about everyone but he was wrong. When people approach you for help or advice, you don't hold back. You do everything you can and nothing less," he said.

"Thanks for saying that," she said, taking her book bag from him.

"I'm not just saying it. I don't do that kind of thing," Nathan said. Haley just nodded.