For a few days after Kristine had stood up to Audrey, she felt liberated. Yes, Audrey was still pulling her crap, but Kristine didn't let it affect her anymore. She went from school to cheerleading practice, to work, and then home for dinner. Then after dinner she usually went to the Rivercourt to study with Sean. She was definitely active all day, but she found it wasn't as hard as she had expected it to be. She knew she had support in Sean, and she didn't even have the desire to fall back into her own habits, as she had expected to.
The thing that shocked everyone, was when another new kid showed up at the school. His last name was Baker, but he did have a striking resemblance to Brooke, and Kristine had heard many stories by the end of the day, but the central theme in all of them was that he was Brooke's son. She didn't actually see him, until her last class of the day, which, incidentally, she had with Audrey, Logan and Sean. She finally heard his first name, which was Justin.
A few minutes into class, a paper fell onto her desk, and she looked around, noticing that Sean was sending her a look. She quirked an eyebrow, and unfolded the paper, reading quickly before hiding it, so the teacher wouldn't see it and possibly take it away. She was called on, so she had to focus on the lesson for a second before she could think about the note that she had just read. Sean had written: 'Watch out, Audrey's probably on the warpath. I just broke up with her.' She didn't know what to think, or what to do.
He was right, though, Audrey was definitely on the warpath, from what she saw. The looks that Audrey kept shooting over at her were not nice at all. Things didn't get any better at all when their teacher announced that, in light of the new student, they were going to have a 'getting to know your classmates' exercise, that they hadn't had at the beginning of the year. It ended in a way that the teacher would have never expected, but then, he hadn't known the wrath of a teenaged girl scorned.
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After meeting Kristine at the Rivercourt that night, Audrey did not let up. She tried even harder to turn this girl into the pariah she should be. She wanted Kristine out of her life, away from her boyfriend, and out of her mom's club. She knew that Kristine was working the job that she had just quit. She also knew that Sean was tutoring Kristine, and she was trying to figure out a way to stop that, too. She just didn't know how she was going to do any of this without getting in trouble. She would figure it out though.
When the new guy arrived at school, Audrey made it a point to find him and introduce herself. She wanted Kristine to know that it wasn't impossible for her to accept a new person into her group of friends. It just had to be the right person. He was cute, she had to admit, but there were way too many confusing emotions regarding guys for her to actually pursue anything. She would file that away though, for a later date, in case she found some way to use it.
At lunch, she was hanging around, just chatting with some of her girlfriends, when Sean approached her, and asked her if they could talk alone. She was sure that it was nothing big, so she smiled at him and followed him away from her friends. "Well, Audrey, to be honest, you've been different lately. You've been a horrible bitch to Kristine, and she has done nothing to deserve this. I know this isn't you, but I love the real version of you, and until you find that version again, I think I'm going to have to call it quits," he said.
For a moment, the words didn't register in Audrey's mind. She couldn't believe it. She didn't even have time to say anything before he just shrugged and walked away. She wanted to scream. She wanted to yell and punch something, but she couldn't allow herself to show that much emotion. She gathered herself, got control of her feelings, and walked back to the lunch area. She didn't go and sit with her friends, though, instead she grabbed her stuff, and went left the lunch room again.
Watching her walk away, Logan saw the look on her face, and he knew that something was up, so he followed her out of the lunch room, and then down the hallway. He called her name, but she kept on walking, and he had to run to catch up with her. He grabbed her arm to stop her, but when he saw her tears, he kept on pulling her, right into his arms. "Shh, shh, it's alright, Aud," he started rubbing her back and let her cry on his shoulder because of Sean, again. "It's going to be alright, Audrey," he said again.
This time she pulled away, wiping her tears and getting a determined look on her face. He could tell that she was going to say something that he wasn't going to like. "Yes, Logan, it will be alright, because I will get her back for this. She may have caused Sean to break up with me, and he may think he wants her now, but I will not let her get away with this," she said, but she noticed his look and she forced a smile. "Like you said, it'll be alright. Don't worry," she leaned up, on impulse, and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Thanks for the talk," she said before she turned and continued walking again.
As he watched her, he could tell that something was going to go wrong with her plan, and when he got to his last period class and the teacher started a 'getting to know you' group discussion, he knew that it was going to go wrong. "So, you're Brooke Davis's son?" Audrey asked the new guy, who nodded, and before he could as someone a question, which were the rules, Audrey smiled wickedly, and looked over at Kristine, "Well, I guess it didn't take your mom long to replace you. How does it feel to realize that your mom's secrets never stop coming?" she smirked.
Instead of letting this affect her, Kristine smiled sweetly back. "At least I know who my father is," she answered, and she could tell she had hit a nerve with Audrey, but she didn't stop there. "How does it feel to know that everyone in your life likes me better than you, including your own mother?" she kept her tone calm and even, but she kept the curiosity in her tone. The teacher tried to stop it, but before he could gain control, Audrey had crossed the couple of rows separating her and Kristine and she had hit the other girl, which started a fight in class.
While both teenaged girls were sitting in the office waiting for a permission to leave, the door opened, and Lucas walked into the room. He looked at the principal, who had just finished lecturing them. "Haley wants Kristine to wait with her in her classroom until she's finished working," he said, and the principal nodded, dismissing Kristine, who immediately left the room. He looked at Audrey, and then back at the principal. "She can go, can't she, since she's legally emancipated from her mother now," he prompted, and the principal dismissed her, too.
Quickly dropping the ice she had been holding to her hand, Audrey pushed past Lucas and headed down the hallway, but Lucas wasn't letting her go that easily. He caught up with her and kept pace as she continued walking. "Audrey, will you come with me to my office?" he asked, and she looked like she wanted to say no, but she sighed instead and just followed him into his office, sitting down at the seat he pointed to in front of his desk as he walked around it and sat in his own chair. "Want to tell me what this is about?" he asked her.
Rolling her eyes in a way that reminded him exactly of her mother, Audrey looked down at her nails before looking back up at the man who was her father in DNA only. "I really don't have to be here, do I? I mean, you're not my teacher. You may be my father, but you haven't cared up to now, so why start getting involved? Let's just say that I was having a bad day, and I hate her, and that was it," she snapped, getting out of her seat and making her way to the door.
Clearing his throat, Lucas knew she was right, but he just didn't want to let her leave like that. "Wait," he said, and she did, turning to look at him again. He stood up, and she just raised an eyebrow at him, wondering where he was going with this. "Audrey, I know you blame your mother, and you don't know me, but she was just doing what she thought was best for you, and I honestly don't know what I would have done back then. She loves you, though, and she would do anything for you, so just don't hate her. She doesn't deserve that," he said.
Waiting a few moments, Audrey realized that he wasn't going to say anything else. She knew he was trying to come to terms with the fact that he had a daughter, too, though, so she couldn't really blame him. "I just need time. I don't hate her, I just don't trust her anymore, and I need time away from her so I can try to wrap my mind around why she did this to me," she paused, and he nodded. "That doesn't mean we can't get to know each other, though. I shouldn't blame you for something she did. Maybe we can go have coffee sometime, and talk," she suggested.
Grinning, Lucas nodded again. "That would be great. It's different, knowing I'm a father. This is all new to me. I can understand if you don't want people to know that I'm your father, but as long as we can still get to know each other, that's alright with me. How about Saturday morning? Maybe before practice we can meet at the Café for breakfast, or something," he offered, and she didn't say no, so they agreed upon a time to meet and then she left his office.
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Brooke was in the parking lot, waiting for her son who had yet to show up, when Lucas was leaving the school. He approached her car slowly, and she watched him cautiously, because they hadn't really had a chance to talk since she had shown up at Tric and told everyone who Kristine's father was. He wasn't sure what to say to her. "Your daughter got into a fight today, with Audrey Sawyer. She's in Haley's classroom right now. She's been suspended for three days because it was her first offense. I just thought you should know," he said shortly before turning to walk away.
For a moment, Brooke didn't know what to say, but then she grabbed Lucas's arm before he could get away. He turned to look at her again. "Thanks for telling me," she said, and then blew out a sigh, running her hands through her hair. She turned away from him, but he stood rooted to the spot, because a part of him knew she wanted to talk. "How did everything get to be like this, Lucas? My own daughter hates me. My son probably will too after living with me for a while. How did I screw up so badly with my kids. I never wanted to be my own parents, but it appears I'm even worse than them," she said, sounding utterly hopeless.
Unsure of what to do, Lucas finally followed his instincts and pulled her into a hug. He knew she needed it right now. "You're not worse than your parents, Brooke. You've tried your best. Yeah, you've made some mistakes, but there's still time to fix them. Kristine's a good kid, she won't hate you forever, and I'm sure your son will want to hate you, but be here for him now, show him you love him, and you do care, and you can make things right with him. There's always time to fix things, Brooke," he said as he rubbed her back before letting her go.
Looking up at him, she smiled, because somehow Lucas Scott always knew the right things to say to make everything better. She saw her son approaching and she nodded. She wanted to go see if Kristine would talk to her, but she knew that she also needed to have a talk with Justin. She didn't know what to do. "Don't worry about Kristine. I'm sure Haley and Nathan will talk to her, and I might even go have a few words with her myself. I know she'll need her mom at one point, but so does your son," he offered, and she sent him a thankful look before he walked away.
Walking past her and getting in the car, Justin didn't say a word, and Brooke sighed as she walked around and got behind the wheel. She started driving, but she knew she needed to break the silence. "I'm so sorry for letting your father take you. There hasn't been one day that I haven't thought about you, but I was already a single mother, and I didn't know how to be a mother to a daughter, much less a son too. I thought he would be better able to take care of you. I thought it would be best for you," she finally said, and he scoffed.
Knowing that she deserved that, Brooke didn't comment on it. "I'm not lying, Justin. At that time I barely had the money to support myself and one child, much less too. Your father proposed his idea, and I knew it wasn't going to work out between me and him, so I accepted. I never planned on staying out of your life forever though. I knew I wouldn't be able to get you back while you were still a minor, because I had signed the papers handing you over, but I was planning on finding you when you were 18 and seeing if you would get to know me then," she continued, and this time he didn't scoff.
Taking a moment to think about her words, he could tell she was telling the truth, but he didn't know if that made things any better. "I guess it could have been worse," he finally said, and she looked relieved for a moment, before he continued speaking. "I mean, look at Kristine, she actually was raised by you, and she seems far worse off than I am," he finished, but something in his tone told her he was only partly serious, and he was trying to joke around with her. She knew it wouldn't be perfect, but she would accept whatever start he would give her.
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Following Haley out to the car, Kristine didn't say anything. She knew her step-mother was going to want to talk to her, but that didn't mean she had to start the conversation. She spotted Lucas walking towards them, and was surprised when he stopped them. "Hey, Hales, do you mind if I drive Kristine over to Tric today? I just think it'll be a fun uncle/niece bonding moment, since I do know a few things about fighting in school," he offered and Haley could tell he wanted to do this, so she just nodded and let Kristine go with Lucas.
Once they were in the car, Lucas could tell Kristine was reluctant to break the silence. "I'm not going to yell at you, and, just for the record, I'm sure Nathan and Haley won't either. Yes, they'll be upset, but they won't yell," he paused, and she just waited, sure that he had a point. "So, how do you feel, about your new brother, going to school with you. It must be weird, right, going from having no siblings, to having two teenaged brothers, and a couple of younger siblings to be an example for," he offered as a conversation starter.
The young brunette was still curious as to why Lucas had asked to drive her to work. "I don't know, I guess it's different, but I really love Daniel and Lillian. They're fun to play with, and their innocence is really charming. James is alright. We get along normally for a couple of teenagers that just found out they were brother and sister. Justin," she paused and sighed. "Well, I don't really know Justin yet, and I don't know if he's going to want to get to know me, or if I want to get to know him. I just can't believe that more of my mom's lies are coming out. What's going to be next? Maybe Nathan isn't my real father, and I'm going to have to get used to a new family all over again, or maybe she just isn't my mother at all," she rolled her eyes.
Parking in front of Tric, Lucas could see that Kristine was still feeling very angry at her mother. He knew that she needed to let go of that anger, but he couldn't find the right words that wouldn't make her mad at him too. "Listen, Kristine, your mom may have made a lot of mistakes, but remember, she's your mother. You only get one in life. You may be mad at her now, but just don't keep your anger for too long. You're mad at what she did, and you have every right to be, but don't hold on to the anger until it's too late. Anything could happen, and if you don't fix things with your mom soon, it might be too late," he knew his words were running in circles, so he decided to cut himself off and let her get out of the car.
A/N: Well, tell me what you think about this chapter. That's about all I have to say.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything.