Chapter Five:

"Do you believe that there are no accidents in life? Everything happens for a reason. Every person we meet will have a role in our lives, be it big or small. Some will hurt, betray and make us cry, to become stronger. Some will teach us lesson, not to change us, but for us to realize our mistakes and to help us grow, and make us a better person. And some would simply inspire and love us to make us happy".

Megan POV

It's pointless to be awake at this time, but there's no possible way I can fall asleep. Dad just came back about an hour ago and I know wherever he went made him upset. He's locked away in his office and just by stepping outside the door I can hear the slams of his fingers on the keyboard. That means he must have gone and visited Mom, the only time he ever really writes is when Mom is back. He forgets just how well I know him.

It's around two in the morning as I throw on my hoodie and sneakers. Whenever I have my restless nights the only thing the calms me down would be heading to the river court to play basketball. Usually if I call Jamie a number of times he wakes up and plays with me but I decide against it. I need to blow off a lot of steam on my own.

The walk to the river court takes about fifteen minutes as I plug in my headphones and try not to shut the front door to loud. I'm glad my Dad's to preoccupy in his next book to realize that I sneak out of the house almost every night this week. I'm pretty sure he would assume where I'm at; after all he's the person who taught me to love it. He used to tell me that with any difficult problem or situation I'm in to head to the river court to think it over. It helps to ease your mind and you'll understand to follow your heart. I wish he could take his own advice soon, but he hasn't stepped anywhere near this place since Mom left. It was and will always be their holy ground.

It's when I'm a couple of yards away from the court that I notice someone there already. I look around for a car but notice none. Trying to make out the figure I automatically notice it's not Jamie. The person is tall, in a grey hooded sweat shirt, and is playing with my basketball. The one Jamie and I keep under the picnic bench for close keeping. What the hell?

I take my headphones from out of my ears when I finally approach the black top and stare at the person. Well the person is someone I've never met before. He makes a three pointer and turns around to notice my presence. As soon as he looks at me our eyes connect. It feels like the air is getting kicked out from my lungs he starts to smile at me. Tingles go down my spine and I can tell I'm just staring like a love struck girl at this boy. I try to complete a sentence but can't form any words.

"Hey", the boy starts to say but I immediately cut him off.

"That's my ball", I yell and kink my eyebrows at him. He stares at me then and I stare back into his eyes. I didn't think I could be able to lose myself into someone's gaze before. He has a crooked smile on his lips that match his dimples. He's built, with dark brown eyes, and is the definition of gorgeous. This is not something you see every day in Tree Hill.

"Oh sorry I just found it", the stranger laughs and runs over to pick the ball off the ground. He picks it up and passes it to me. I catch it gracefully and start dribbling it.

It's an awkward silence for a moment when I look up to see him staring at me. I give him a questioning look and he looks away, blushing.

"What's your name", I suddenly blurt out and eye him up and down. Growing up in Tree Hill, you don't see a lot of new faces. But when you do, you recognize them quickly.

"My name is Ryder", he answers and takes a few steps to hold out his hand to shake.

I hold my hand out and squeeze it lightly. I try to ignore the weird sensation I felt when our hands touched and start dribbling the basketball again.

I step back to the side and make a perfect shot. Running to get the ball I dribble back out to the front of the court and see Ryder looking at my funny.

"You know when someone introduces themselves, it's nice to do the same", he states and walks over to face me.

I give him a small smile and ignore his stare.

"Tell you want, how about a game of one on one. First person to ten wins".

He looks at me shockingly but nods his head. "What happens if I win"?

"I'll tell you my name", I shrug and he laughs at my comment.

"Well what happens if you win"?

"I guess you'll just have to find out", I wink and with keeping eye contact I take a jump shot and smile when I hear the net make the swishing sound.

"Impressive", Ryder claps his hands and walks over to retrieve the ball. "Ladies first", he yells and bounces it to my hands.

"Game on", I laugh and step back to take another shot, swish again.

It's pretty aggressive towards the end when Ryder starts adding more pressure. I can't get a shot off of him since he's so tall and I'm not supposed to "over work" myself. But he's playing hard and is keeping up. He's a really good player and since I only got the first two shots I made, I'm sure he's going to beat me.

He knocks the ball out of the air when I go to make a shot and I immediately cringe. I haven't played this bad in forever. Nevertheless I guess I understand why I am so sluggish.

Ryder takes a long jumper and it goes in. He just won the game. Ryder turns to look at me with a big smile on his face, waiting for me to say something.

"Good game", I muster up and go to sit on the bench. He's looking at me worried since I'm so out of breath but I just roll my eyes. "Sorry I haven't played a real pick-up game with someone in months", I laugh and try to steady my breathing.

"So you come out here in the middle of the night to play basketball with strangers a lot", Ryder questions and comes to sit next to me on the bench.

"I actually play with my cousin Jamie", I insist and he laughs. I stare at him then and can't help but think that he has a great laugh. There are a lot of things about this mystery boy that are great.

Ryder turns his head to look at me and I blush looking away.

"Well since I won the game, can I get your name", Ryder mumbles. He scratches the back of his neck then and looks nervous, how cute.

"My name is Megan", I smile brightly and reach out to shake his hand again. His grin matches mine and he shakes my hand tenderly.

"A girl with a killer jump shot like yours is hard to find", Ryder says and stands up from the bench.

"That's because I was taught by the right people", I smirk and lean back in the bench.

He shakes his head and chuckles lightly. I steal a glance at my cell phone that was in my hoodie pocket and realize I have a bunch of missed texts from Dad and Uncle Nathan. The first time this week Dad probably went to check up on me and realized I was missing. Of course Dad wouldn't come to find me here so he asked Uncle Nathan too.

And as if it was on cue I see headlights coming towards the court. It's the Range Rover.

"Oh crap there's my Uncle Nathan. I have to go", I yelp and start walking to the car. I send a silent prayer that Jamie isn't in the car to because I would never hear the end of this.

"Wait when can I see you again", Ryder screams and it makes me immediately turn around.

"Meet me here tomorrow night if you know what's good for you", I wink and start running towards the car with Ryder's laugh in the background.

I open the passenger door of the car and try to avoid eye contact with Uncle Nathan. He doesn't reverse the car yet and I can feel his eyes on me.

"You want to tell me who that was or want to tell your father first"?

I roll my eyes then and look at him finally. "It's nothing Uncle Nate. I just met the kid tonight; we played a game of one on one".

His eyes go wide then and I hold my hand up before he goes on his usual rant.

"Please stop whatever you were about to say. I just couldn't sleep and needed to play. You know how it feels don't you", I sigh and start pouting. He eyes me suspiciously for a second and starts reversing.

"I told you the pouting doesn't work with me anymore princess".

I roll my eyes at him and look towards the dashboard to see the clock says three in the morning.

"Dad called you right?" He takes a glance at me from the road and nods.

"Well thank you for doing that", I mumble and smile sadly at him. When we reach my house I notice the lights are all on and I immediately cringe at the talk I'm about to have with my Dad, especially if Uncle Nathan tells my Dad I was playing with another guy.

"How's he been lately", Uncle Nathan silently says before I get out of the car. I turn my head to look at him and frown. Dad has mood swings. He either writes to get out his emotions or turns to alcohol when writing can't. The bad days when he drinks I'm not allowed to be home, but that hasn't happened in a couple of months. And he promised he would stop after I gave him an ultimatum.

"He doesn't drink anymore. All he does is write usually. Which isn't a bad thing", I confess.

"Well if you need anything your Aunt Haley and I are just a phone call away".

"Thanks. I'll see you tomorrow", I answer and lean over to hug him from the seat. He squeezes me back and smiles when we let go. I get out of the car and start walking up the front steps. Before I can open the door, it slams open revealing an angry looking Dad. Crap.

I look him in the eyes and give him a small smile.

He doesn't move from the opening of the door way but instead steps out and closes it behind him. He walks up to stand in front of me and embrace me. I bring my arms around him as well and hug him.

"What this for", I croak when he kisses the side of my head.

He ignores my questions and goes to sit down on steps, bringing me down with him.

"You know I went in to check on you tonight because I just had to talk to you", Dad mumbles. He grabs my hand and laces our fingers together. Why does Dad have to talk to me at three am?

"About what", I whisper and notice how tense he is. His eyes are puffy and red like it seems he's been crying. Dad cried tonight? Why?

He sighs and takes a deep breath. "I think you need to know what really happened when we visited your Mom in New York three months ago".

I stare at him then, completely puzzled at what he is talking about. The only question I have in the back of my mind is there can't be anything else, right? Because the only thing I clearly remember was Mom telling me she was never coming back to Tree Hill ever again.

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