Chapter Four

As he heard the door slam shut Nathan abruptly pulled off his blindfold to stare at the small package in his hands, carefully wrapped in paper with blue and white stripes. It took him a moment to get over the feeling of being somewhat dumbfounded and then he realized he was just standing there without doing anything. Putting the box away, temporarily, into his pocket he opened the door and stepped out of the closet.

At first, he couldn't see anyone. Then he looked around and saw Vegas on his left side and to his right were a bunch of girls, none of whom seemed like they were leaving; in fact they seemed to be approaching him, as if they were waiting to come inside the closet. Nathan looked behind them, trying to spot the mystery girl, but was suddenly shoved back inside the closet. "What! Rachel, what are you doing?" Nathan demanded, when he recognized the person pushing him backwards.

Rachel rolled her eyes at him before she quickly shut the door and locked it. "What do you think I'm doing here, Nate? Oh, you took off your blindfold," she pouted.

"But, I didn't need it. You already told me it was you the last time you came in here."

"I know, but I thought it was actually kind of sexy with you wearing that blindfold. Oh, I know!" she said, excited. "Put it on me and then we'll make out. Then I'll get to see if it really does heighten the other senses and everything."

"Actually, Rachel, I was just about to take a bathroom break," Nathan lied.

"That's why you came out?"

"Yeah." When she didn't move Nathan said, "So…"

"Oh, right." Rachel stepped to the side so Nathan could go past her. "But, remember," she added, "what just happened here does not count as part of our seven minutes."

"Okay," Nathan said with a fake smile. After he got out of the closet he darted down the hall before anyone could stop him. Wanting to talk to as few people as possible, he used his knowledge of the layout of the beach house to maneuver his way to the staircase through the narrow corridors where no one was. Spotting some of his teammates in the kitchen, he quickly jogged upstairs before they could notice him.

Upstairs was supposed to be off limits, but Nathan had had enough experience with these kinds of parties to know that some couples always wandered into the bedrooms so he had made a habit of locking his room door. Taking out his key, he unlocked his room door and flopped down on his bed.

Nathan's thoughts were racing after all that had taken place in the past eight minutes. The premise of the game had been straightforward enough; make out with a couple of girls, no strings attached, and whenever he wanted he could just walk out of the closet and find the keg. He hadn't counted on meeting anyone he didn't know already, but he had…sort of. Her voice was familiar, but the more he tried to think of who she could be the more his head ached. She must be in some of his classes, which meant that all he had to do was pay attention in school on Monday. But what if he didn't hear her talk or couldn't find her? And did he even want to wait until then? It was only a day away, but it seemed unfair since she was somewhere downstairs.

Nathan sighed as he settled back into the bed. The night was supposed to be simple, but that girl had just shown up and complicated it. He didn't really know her but she was…interesting. And she had even got him a present.

Nathan reached into his pocket and pulled the box out. As he observed the wrapping paper he noted the colours; blue and white, Ravens colours. Was that why she had chosen it?

Nathan sat up on the bed and then turned the box over to take off the paper. Once he had done that he put the wrapping paper down on the bed and tentatively lifted the lid off the small brown box, unsure of what to expect. Still, he certainly wasn't prepared for what he found inside.

Haley didn't take long to find her friends, but as she approached them she wondered whether she should have made a quick bathroom stop. She started to raise her hand to smooth down her hair when Peyton spotted her and waved. Haley smiled and put her hand back into her jeans pocket before going over to them and taking her place between Peyton and Lucas.

"Where've you been, Tutorgirl?" Brooke asked immediately. "You said you were just going to the bathroom."

"I did go to the bathroom," Haley lied, "but there was a really long queue and then I got a little lost on my way back."

"You should have just gone to an upstairs bathroom," Brooke told her.

"But I thought upstairs was off-limits?"

"It is," Peyton affirmed.

Brooke shrugged. "No one listens to that anyway. Plus, you know the home owner."

"No, I don't," Haley said quickly. "Well…not really," she added when Lucas gave her a strange look.

"But you know the owner's brother," Brooke continued.

"I don't see where this conversation is going," Jake stated.

"Me neither," Peyton agreed.

"So what have you guys been doing?" Haley asked, trying to steer the conversation away from anything involving her or her whereabouts.

"Nothing much," Lucas informed her. "Just talking."

"The music sucks," Peyton commented, causing everyone else to groan.

"Okay, you have been ranting on about the music for ages, P. Sawyer! Can we please talk about something else?"

"I second that," Lucas chipped in.

"So, Haley, did you see any good make out spots?" Brooke inquired.

'You mean, other than the inside of a closet?' Haley thought. Sighing, she shook her head. "Not really, Brooke."

"Well, then, why don't we go find one ourselves, Broody?" Brooke said to her boyfriend with a wink. Lucas blushed slightly, but before he could object, Brooke told the others, "We'll be back!" and led him away.

Haley, Peyton and Jake chuckled as they watched them leave. "You know," Haley said, "if you two want to go find one for yourselves too, you can. You don't have to stay on account of me." Besides, Haley could definitely use the alone time to cool down a bit, and figure out how she was supposed to not start blushing every time she saw Nathan after this; another thing she should have considered before she went into that room. Of course, if she hadn't then she wouldn't have experienced that kiss…

Peyton laughed at Haley's comment. "We're fine."

"You sure?"

Jake nodded.

The song ended, but Peyton sighed as the new one started up. "Who is this crap DJ? Does he know what music is supposed to sound like? This is just noise!"

Jake and Haley shared a look as Peyton started to rant again; however, Jake didn't mind indulging his girlfriend for a few minutes and it gave Haley a little time to think. She glanced around the room, at all the people enjoying the party, when she suddenly knew she was looking at Nathan's back. Her heart sped up at the sight of his light blue shirt and black hair. If he was out here now, then that meant he wasn't kissing anyone! Immediately, the thought popped up in her head that he was looking for her, and she was torn between wanting him to be and wanting him to never ever find out it was her.

However, he turned around and looked right past Haley and at some other girl; it wasn't even Nathan. Haley's heart sunk as she realized that Nathan really was still in that closet making out with someone else.

"Haley?"

"Huh?" Haley looked up; unaware that Peyton had asked her something.

"What do you think?"

"Uh…sure," she said. Peyton seemed satisfied with the answer as she carried on the conversation while Haley only half listened.

A/N: I know that not a lot happened in this chapter, but the next one will be posted very soon, and it has more 'action', so to speak.