A/N: Hey! Thanks for the reviews. You guys are awesome. I have to apologize for this chapter...I'm not a cheerleader. As a result,the cheers used in this chapter probably suck majorily. I tried, guys. I really tried. I hope you enjoy it, nonetheless!

Disclaimer: I don't own One Tree Hill.

Chapter Four: Basketball anyone?

January 24th 2006

I never got a chance to thank her. Or even talk to her. She just sort of left. I guess she might have been afraid of my reaction or something. I can be cold sometimes…ok, a lot of the time. I'm afraid to let people in. And most recently, I've been rebuilding my walls. So, I can understand why she might have thought her music would set me off. If anything, it did the opposite. It chipped away at the bitterness.

I'm still brooding though. In fact, right now, I'm in my room painting over my closet doors. The ones that had a list of boys (and Anna) Brooke and I were claiming for the year. I've been wanting to get rid of it for awhile, but I didn't know what to put over it. So, I decided to paint it dark purple this morning and write the lyrics to the song Haley sang over it. This is brooding because I have a frown on my face as I do it. I'm thinking of Ellie and my mom. Whenever I do anything artistic, my thoughts always stray to them. Lately, I've really been missing my mom, even more than usual.

"Peyton!" Rachel calls as she enters my room. She's been sitting downstairs for a couple hours.

"What?" I start putting away my brushes and capping my paint.

"What are you doing tonight?"

"What I do every night, Rach. I'm going drinking at TRIC."

"No you're not," Rachel says pulling on my arm for me to stand up. I groan at her attempts but oblige nonetheless.

"Where am I going then?"

"To the basketball game." I let out a very unfeminine snort which I try to cover up as a cough.

"Why would I do that?"

"Because who doesn't want to watch Brooke fall flat on her ass! She lost half the squad in less than a month," Rachel says as if it's the most obvious thing in the world. I place my index finger on my chin and mull over the choices. Drinking or enjoying Brooke's suffering. Both sound like a good night.

"Ok, I'm in, but only if we stop by TRIC afterwards," I decide.

"Fine, but before we go, you might want to wash your face."

"Why? What's wrong with my face?"

"You have a big glob of purple paint on your chin," she says giggling.

So after I've cleaned off my paint covered face and changed into my Ravens long sleeved t-shirt and tight dark blue jeans, I'm ready to face the crowd. Bevin picks us up at around seven and we're off in her corvette with the top down, wind blowing through our hair. When we get there, I feel a sudden unsettling fear rise in the pit of my stomach. Rachel and Bevin hook arms with me, and they basically drag me into the gym.

We sit all the way at the top of the bleachers so we can rest our backs against the wall. Bevin and Rachel take off their jackets revealing their Ravens cheerleading tops and I can't help but grin. I didn't even notice they were wearing them, but I can tell this is going to be trouble. It seems Brooke's little stunt has lit a fire in Rachel. Her boldness is slowly reappearing in front of my very eyes.

"Hey, Peyt," Rachel says, "Look who's here." I glance down a couple rows and see Lucas making himself comfortable with the River court guys, including Mouth and Skillz.

"Oh no!" Bevin says, her face blanching, "Skillz is here?" I see the panic in her eyes and immediately calm her down.

"Relax, Bev. He probably didn't spot us."

"Hey Mouth!" Rachel yells. I give her a shocked look, wondering why she would do that.

"Hey Rachel," Mouth says a little shyly. He's not commentating tonight, just watching the game with the rest of us. Lucas and Skillz turn around and look at us. Bevin forces a wave and I just sort of nod. Mouth and Rachel continue having their conversation across the rows. Eventually Skillz turns around and Bevin starts talking to the girl on her left. Meanwhile Lucas and I engage in a stare off. He looks disappointed and sympathetic, and I'm trying my best to look cold and apathetic. I'm sure I'm failing miserably because I can't lie to Lucas. He always knows exactly what I'm thinking. So I decide instead of torturing myself like this I'm going to roll my eyes and look away. Unfortunately when I do that, he doesn't turn around and when I look back to see if he's gone, he gives me a knowing smile and lets out a small laugh before turning around. See what I mean! He knew I'd do that! He knew I'd look back! I glare at his back for a while before Rachel informs me the game's starting.

Just like Rachel figured, the cheerleaders are having an awful time. It looks as if Haley didn't show up tonight so there are only six of them. They stick mostly to chants, but no one can hear them over the crowd.

"This is sad," Bevin whispers almost sympathetically.

"I think we need to restore some honor to the cheering of Tree Hill High," Rachel smirks.

"What do you mean?" I get my answer a moment later.

"LET'S GO RAVENS! SHOW YOUR SPIRIT! IF YOU GOT PRIDE, THEN LET ME HEAR IT!" Rachel yells. The crowd around her roars loudly.

"R-A-V-E-N-S! THAT'S THE WAY WE SPELL SUCCESS!" Bevin shouts, joining in. She and Rachel continue exchanging cheers and I'm slowly getting a headache. The crowd is really reacting to them, now. At first, it was just our section, but now it's everybody. I feel the adrenaline pumping, and like I said before, it's making me forget all about my issues and even my headache.

"COME ON RAVENS SHOOT THAT BALL! NATHAN SCOTT CAN'T MAKE THEM ALL!" The words just sort of fall out of my mouth when I see Nathan double teamed in the corner and Tim still looking for a way to get the ball to him. The crowd laughs and cheers back, "SHOOT IT TIM!" He does and it goes in. Nathan sends a smirk my way and I wink. So there's one thing I got out of our relationship. I remember some stuff about the game.

"Good job, Peyt," Rachel says patting me on the back, "I was wondering how long it would take you to get into it."

A half hour later, the game's over and everyone's filing out of the gym. It was a success. The Ravens won, and the entire gym was on their feet with the help of us, three. My throat is sore and my ears are still buzzing. Rachel and Bevin stay behind for a little to talk to some of the girls while I head out.

"Hey, Peyton. Great job!" Mouth says as I pass him. I notice Lucas is watching us as inconspicuously as possible.

"Thanks, Mouth," I reply, shoving my hands in my pocket, "Just trying to help out the team."

"It seems like you've got cheerleading in your blood." I avert my eyes to the floor.

"I guess," I shrug. I'm saved from the awkwardness when Rachel approaches me and wraps an arm around my shoulder.

"I believe I owe you a drink, Ms. Sawyer," she says.

"That you do."

"Well then we better go! Mouth you feel like joining us?"

"Alcohol and I don't mix well," Mouth says, "Maybe another time."

"Give me a call," Rachel says with a smile as she pulls me off.

"Bye, Mouth," I call back turning around to wave at him. I see Lucas giving me another disappointed look. I ignore it again. Suddenly, I feel like I'm going to need something stronger.