Chapter 9: I Like It Like That
Brooke rolled her eyes when she heard a car honk outside.
"That boy." Brooke thought to herself as she gathered her things. Adam had ever so graciously agreed to give them a ride again this morning.
The horn beeped again and she went and opened the door.
"Alright already! I'm coming!" Brooke yelled.
Adam continued to honk the horn but Brooke could see a grin on his face, letting her know he heard her.
"You're a jerk, you know that?" was the first thing Brooke said as she approached the car.
Adam simply drove down the street causing Brooke and Peyton to shriek "Wait!"
Adam jerked to a stop and reversed to where Brooke was standing.
"You were saying?" Adam smiled sweetly.
"I was saying…" Brooke paused to make sure she was in the car before she finished.
"That you are a jerk." Brooke finished.
"You are just realizing this?" Peyton asked.
"Hey, what happened to defending family?" Adam asked, feigning hurt.
"That only goes so far when your family is a jackass." Peyton said triumphantly, high fiving Brooke.
"Such language Ms. Sawyer. I'd hate for Uncle Larry to find out his daughter's not the little princess he thinks she is."
"Now Mr. Jacobs, I don't think you want to go there with me. I'd hate for Aunt Sara to find out that Jenna spent the night in your room not too long ago." Peyton's eyes were narrowed but she was clearly enjoying seeing her cousin squirm.
"Good point." Adam acknowledged, shutting up.
"Nice one." Brooke mock whispered, making sure Adam could hear her.
"I hope you realize that you two are never getting a ride from me again. By the way, where is your third Musketeer?"
"She and Taylor had to do something before they left so she's getting a ride with Taylor." Peyton answered.
"I'm sure she's thrilled." Brooke remarked.
"Extremely." Peyton agreed.
"Taylor James is hot." Adam commented.
"Excuse me, don't you have a girlfriend?" Peyton laughed.
"That doesn't mean I can't look." Adam reasoned.
"You are such a man-whore!" Brooke exclaimed.
"An honest man-whore." Adam corrected cockily.
"Okay, enough of that." Peyton admonished, turning up the radio.
………………..
Peyton and Brooke were talking and laughing as they walked down the hallways of the school. Near Brooke's locker, Peyton saw Lucas and paused.
"What?" Brooke asked.
"Luke's right there." Peyton told her.
Brooke caught sight of him too.
"Go! I'll be at my locker." Brooke replied, pushing her best friend toward him.
Peyton stopped just short of Lucas, stumbling and her face red.
"Hey." Peyton said softly. She seemed incredibly awkward and almost shy. Lucas held back a laugh. Peyton Elizabeth Sawyer was never shy.
"Hi." Lucas replied.
It was one of the rare times when they were alone together.
"We need to talk." They said at the same time.
"You first." Lucas and Peyton chorused.
"I'll go first." Lucas told her.
"Look, I'm sorry for making things so weird between us. It was just a spur of the moment thing. It didn't mean anything, right?" Lucas apologized.
"Right." Peyton agreed.
"I just want to say I'm sorry for overreacting. I don't know what was wrong with me. It was just a bad day in general and I'm sorry I took it out on you." Peyton also apologized, meeting his eyes.
"I'm used to it. I still have a mark from when you pushed me into a pole because I told you your ice cream was falling." Lucas grinned.
"We were five years old!" Peyton exclaimed.
And just like that, they were friends again.
AN: Okay, my bad. I started working on this chapter shortly before I realized I was leaving the next day for Seattle. When I got back there was all kind of drama and I'm still extremely jet lagged. Sorry if this chapter is sucky. It's really just a filler because I had to finish the whole Leyton issue before I did a time jump. Thanks to everyone that reviewed!