Hey, everyone! First of all: thank you ALL for the more than awesome reviews! You guys are the best! And second: hope you enjoy chapter 3. It's not as long as the previous chapters and upcoming ones but I hope you bare with me. Moving on with the story... :)

Chapter 3

"There better be a fucking blanket and a pillow there." Nathan said while watching Haley unpack her suitcase. They had just gotten to Nathan's apartment. Haley glared at him and pulled a blanket and a pillow from her duffel bag and set it on the couch.

"What the hell is that?" Nathan asked when he saw Haley take off something from her suitcase.

"My most priced possession." Haley said while hugging it. "My coffee maker." She said and went to set it on the kitchen counter and to plug it.

"You're crazy." Nathan said.

Haley's loving gaze turned into an angry scowl when she turned to look at Nathan.

"If you as much as scratch this beauty, I swear to god I will chop off your balls and feed them to you." Haley said while holding the black machine protectively in her arms.

"Only if you don't fuck up my morning showers." He said matching her glare.

"Fine, you can have your morning showers as long as I have my morning coffees." Haley said.

"Deal."

"Deal." Haley said and shook Nathan's hand.

Maybe these two weeks won't be so bad after all. Haley thought smiling a bit.

"Ok, I want you to vacuum, do the dishes and buy some groceries. Oh, while you're at it, scrub the toilet." Nathan said with a smug grin.

Or then it will be exactly as bad as I thought.

"That's all?" Haley asked annoyed.

"For now." He said while flopping down on the couch on top of Haley's blanket. He took the controller and started to play NBA Live. Haley huffed angrily while looking at the huge pile of dishes and the dirty floors.

Four hours later Haley announced she was done.

"Now go buy some food." Nathan said without taking his eyes off the screen.

"I'm not paying." Haley said. Nathan paused the game and turned to look at her.

"Oh, yes you are. You're also living here." He said.

"And whose fault is that?" Haley asked annoyed. She would stay home if she could.

"Yours. You lost, remember." Nathan said smirking.

"Yeah, but I could just come here to clean and all. I could spend nights at home."

"But where would the fun be in that? Besides, what if I want you to do the dishes in the middle of the night and you're not here? How can I torture you if you're not here?" He asked while handing her a twenty-dollar-bill. "I want the receipt and the rest back."

"Whatever." She said.

"There's a Wal-Mart across the street." Nathan said while turning his attention back to the screen.

"Yeah, I know." She said before leaving.

Haley sighed angrily when she noticed it was raining. She cursed when she remembered she had forgotten to take an umbrella from her house. She thought about asking Nathan for one but quickly decided against.

She enjoyed being away from Nathan, even if it was a simple trip to the grocery store. She started to run across the street trying not to get too wet. She finally got to her destination soaked. She would've been more upset, if she hadn't realized something. A wide grin spread in her face.

Nathan hadn't told her what to buy.

With a wide grin, Haley took the cart and started to think all the possible things she could buy for herself with 20 dollars.

"Chocolate cookies, chocolate cake, chocolate ice cream... Anything non-chocolate-y?"

"That's not a word." Haley said. "But yes, there is." She said and showed the macaroni and cheese she had bought.

"Great. I'm living with a 5-year-old." He said. "So you bought two chocolate bars, chocolate milk, chocolate ice cream, chocolate cookies, 3 boxes of macaroni and half-a-pound-of-cheese." Nathan asked. Haley had been gone for over an hour and he was hungry.

"Yep."

"So let me get this right? You bought no pizza, no pop tarts, no Gatorade, no beer. What the hell am I supposed to eat?" he asked angrily.

"Your feet?" Haley suggested innocently while eating a spoonful of her favorite ice cream. "Like I care, Susan." Haley said and glared at him before going back to her ice cream. Nathan sighed deeply to calm himself down. Haley knew exactly which buttons to push to get him agitated.

"Fine, be a whore. But I expect some macaroni and cheese in 30 minutes."

"Or we could just order something or get take out." Haley suggested.

"Or not." Nathan said with a smirk.

"What's wrong with take out?"

"I don't like it."

"Or you just want to torture me."

"Mac & cheese, bitch. Mac & cheese."

"Whatever." She said annoyed while starting to make dinner for her roommate and boss. Haley noticed that it was almost 10 pm and cursed Nathan because she hadn't had time to do her homework yet.

She took her books out and started to do some math calculations while making dinner. Haley turned to look at him and wondered when he did his homework. Had she actually cared, she would've asked.

"Dinner's served." Haley said sarcastically when she was done.

"Bring it here." He said from the couch. Haley rolled her eyes while taking his plate to him. Nathan took it without a word.

"You're welcome." Haley said annoyed and walked back to the kitchen to finish her dinner and homework.

They both sat in silence across the room for at least half an hour. Haley was doing her homework and Nathan was still playing. After few more minutes of silence, he got up and took the empty plate to the kitchen.

"Too much mac, not enough cheese." He stated. Haley said nothing determined to do her homework.

"Are you doing your homework?" Nathan asked.

"What does it look like?"

"Well, do mine too." Nathan said. Haley dropped the pencil she was holding and turned to look at him.

"You're kidding, right."

"No, I want you to do my homework."

"No."

"What? You can't say no!"

"Watch me, Jill." She said and turned back to her homework.

"The deal was-" Nathan started in an angry voice but got cut off by a bored Haley.

"The deal was cooking, cleaning, laundry, yard work, shopping and driving. No mention about homework."

"But I want you to do my homework!"

"I just said it wasn't on the list. And even if it were, I wouldn't do it. I'm a tutor, for god's sake. Doing someone else's homework for them is against everything I believe in." She said.

"Unbelievable." He muttered.

"You're just gonna have to do it yourself like normal people." Haley said getting back to her math book. Nathan huffed and went back to the couch. Haley rolled her eyes annoyed.

"Too good to do his own homework." Haley muttered angrily.

"What was that?" Nathan asked.

"You think you're too good to do your own goddamn homework, right." Haley said.

"You don't know what you're talking about." Nathan said through gritted teeth. He was still watching TV his back towards Haley.

"I've tutored assholes like you for the past 3 years. I know exactly what I'm talking about."

"Oh, really." Nathan said turning around on the couch to face her interested.

"Yeah, really. You're all players and not just when it comes to sports. You're all cocky, arrogant but vulnerable inside." Haley counted. Nathan looked like he was about to burst out laughing when he heard her say 'vulnerable'. But Haley wasn't done.

"You all have an attitude problem and it kills you to lose to anyone."

"Oh, now you're describing yourself." Nathan said but Haley ignored him.

"You all think you're the shit and you can control everyone in your lives but the sad thing is that in the end it comes down to the fact that you're failing and you need my help."

"Oh, who's all high and mighty now? You think everyone needs you? Think again!" Nathan said getting up. Haley knew nothing about him and it pissed him off more than anything that she thought she did. He walked to the other side of the counter so he was opposite from Haley.

"The last thing I think is that everyone needs me! It's actually the opposite." She said her face falling. She recovered quickly though but Nathan didn't miss the sad face she wore for that second.

"You're just a tutor." He said hitting a nerve. Haley looked at him angrily. How dare he.

"Maybe. But being 'just a tutor' will take me to a good university, maybe even Stanford. I'll get a good education and a good job that will last a hell of a lot longer than your basketball scholarship."

"You don't know that!"

"What if you get hurt? Bust your knee like your dad? Get into a car accident like Luke? What the hell will you do then?" Haley paused for a second. "You don't have the grades to go to a university so you'll end up working in the dealership with the devil himself." Haley said with a glare. The look on Nathan's face told her she had hit a nerve. He closed his mouth and swallowed hard.

"I really don't care what you of all people think." He finally spat out. He couldn't let her get the last word.

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

"You're just a tutor, James." Nathan said. "You'll never be anything great. You'll always be remembered, if remembered at all, as Lucas Scott's best friend." Nathan saw Haley's face fall but he couldn't stop. He was still hearing Haley's voice inside his head telling him that he would be just like his dad. It was like the words were just coming out of his mouth.

"You said Stanford? Luke's applying to Duke, as you know. Stanford's over 3000 miles from Duke and Tree Hill. What are you gonna do then? You won't have Luke. You're in a school filled with nerds so you won't be the smartest anymore. What are you gonna do then?" Haley listened to him without saying anything. She knew he was right as much as it pained her.

"You don't know anything about me." Haley whispered and blinked back the tears that were starting to form.

"And you don't know anything about me." Nathan said quietly while swallowing the lump in his throat. He turned around and went back to the couch so she wouldn't see how much her words had affected him.

Tuesday was spent mostly in silence. Other than the angry and hurt looks and the few comments, they did their best to avoid each other. Even though they lived under the same roof and shared three classes, avoiding was surprisingly easy. Nathan only spoke to her when he wanted something done, and Haley replied with a grunt. They were both still angry and hurt because of the other's comments on Monday night.

On Wednesday night Nathan had an away game and just to spite Haley, he demanded that she came there too. Since Haley didn't have her own car and Nathan would have rather cut off his own arm than let her drive his car, she had no choice but to drive with the team.

Whitey had no problem as long as she sat on the front, didn't disturb the players and would let them concentrate on the upcoming game. "Besides, I owe you for tutoring these morons enough so they can play." He had said to her. He had also asked her to take some notes from the game, knowing the math nerd she was.

After the game was over, they headed back to the busses and started the 2-hour-drive back to Tree Hill.

Haley was sitting at the front of the bus writing down her notes and just finishing her final calculations and graphics. She looked at the finished paper with satisfaction and looked up to search for Whitey. She saw him sitting at the back of the bus.

She started to make her way towards Whitey trying to look nonchalant while half of the team stared at her. Apparently it wasn't normal to have anyone else on the bus besides the team and the staff. She saw Whitey sitting between the Scott brothers while drawing something on his white board.

"Miss James, can I help you?" Whitey asked when she was in front of them. Nathan and Lucas lifted their heads up from the board and stared at her, as did the rest of the bus. Haley looked around uncomfortably cursing herself for taking the bus with the team.

"Yeah, umh, sorry to disturb but I have the notes you asked for." She mumbled and quickly handed him a folder. Whitey started to go through the papers inside the folder.

"The first page is overall points, assists, rebounds, free throws etc. from all of the players. The next 3 pages are individual assessments and the last two are graphics comparing the two teams and also our defence and forward players and their abilities to adapt." She finished like it was the most normal thing. Whitey and everyone who had heard looked at her with their mouths open.

"And you did this all during the game?" Whitey asked.

"Well, I finished it just now but I got the rough drafts done during the game." She said.

"Where have you been for the past 50 years?" he asked in shock.

"Umh, not born?" she asked confused.

Whitey then turned to look at the Scott brothers with an angry glare.

"And why haven't you told me about her before? Next practise: suicides!"

"What!"

"Miss James, or 'God's Gift to the Basketball World' as I'm starting to call you from now on, would you like to be our manager for the rest of the season? We could use someone like you for the rest of the games."

"Do I get a P.E waiver?" she asked and he laughed. "No, I'm serious. I need a waiver. I'm seriously flunking P.E."

"Deal." Whitey said and offered his hand.

"Deal." She said shaking it.

"You're definitely gonna come in handy, miss James. I wish I would've gotten to know you your freshman year. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna get to know this little thing a bit better." He said holding the folder. "You sit here and get to know the team."

Haley sat down on the seat where Whitey had sat and turned to look at Nathan with a smug grin.

"'God's Gift to the Basketball World.' Now how about that... Has he ever said that about you, Sara?" she asked but then turned around to look at Lucas not bothering to wait for Nathan's answer.

"So, good game Luke. Loved the little twist thingy you did at the end." Nathan rolled his eyes annoyed and went to sit next to Tim while Haley stared at his leaving back with a small grin.

So, any thoughts? Yeah, I know it ended kinda oddly but originally this and chapter 4 was one big chapter but I decided to cut it in two pieces so the character developments wouldn't be too confusing. It's hard to explain really but I hope you still enjoyed it. I'll update soon. Don't forget to review:)

-Fes-