Hey guys, I was able to get on the computer and post this chapter. Since I'll be away for about 10 days I'm posting you chapter 7 too! Hope you enjoy. Leave reviews to let me know what you think. All of the reviews I have received so far rule. You all are awesome! Anways... onto the chapters!

Chapter 6

Haley sat in her third period class, looking at the clock. Ten minutes till fourth period, meaning ten minutes till she gets to work with Nathan. She wasn't going to lie to herself. She was excited. She liked Nathan, she'd basically had a whole "crush from afar" scenario going for five years, since sixth grade. And the weird thing is… she didn't even know why. There was just something about him that intrigued her, and it wasn't his looks. Well not that she didn't like his looks… because she definitely did. Those eyes of his were her weakness. But there was something about him, the person – Nathan Scott. She was drawn to him, too bad he didn't notice her. Well, except for their minor run-ins every now and again. 'Dang," Haley said to herself. "Now these are the times I wish I had my journal. Too bad I freakin' lost it. It's sad to say, but I guess I'll just have to buy a new one after school today and start over." She broke from her thoughts to look up at the clock. Five minutes till fourth period. Five minutes till Nathan Scott…

Nathan sat in his seat waiting for the bell to ring. There were about three minutes left until he had to face Haley. Not that she even knew what was about to happen, but he had to do it. A part of him wanted to keep the journal. Never give it back, just keep it… keep her… and never have to deal with what imight/i happen if he gave it back. But he knew he couldn't do that. He could tell this was something that obviously meant a lot to her. His only fear was how she was going to react to him. Would she a) Just be content that he found it (and not even think of the fact that he kept it and could have possibly written it); b) Automatically assume he read it (which he did) and use the journal as a weapon, smacking him silly; or c) Assume he read it, but then think "Well, I guess he knows… so why not!" and then jump into his arms and kiss him like there's not tomorrow.

To be honest, Nathan was partial to the last one, which was weird to him, since he hadn't ever really talked to her… only read her thoughts, and taken a deep liking to their owner, Haley James. However, he had a feeling at the pit of his stomach that C was not the scenario that was going to be played out. "Oh well," he mumbled, "I guess I'll just have to wait and find out."

The bell rang, "Nathan time!" Haley screamed in her head. "Wow, I'm pathetic," she mumbled as she entered the hallway.

"What was that?" Someone asked as they came into step beside her.

"Oh hey Mouth! That was uh, never mind!"

"So, ready for history?"

"You bet! So Mouth, I got a question for ya… you and GiGi…"

"Me and GiGi…"

"Are you guys like… you know, a couple?"

"What? No, uh, why, uh…"

"Mouth, no need to turn red, GiGi is my closest friend, and I saw you two yesterday in history. There was definitely a connection there. That, and a massive amount of flirting."

"Alright, you caught me. I like GiGi. I think she likes me too. Love is in the air!" He said, laughing at himself. "But, you know, me and GiGi weren't the only ones flirting yesterday."

"What are you talking about Mouth?"

"Well, you and Nathan seemed pretty cozy."

"Yeah, right. Me and Nathan," Haley stated, trying to hide the fact that she was screaming inside and rejoicing that someone had seen a spark between them. "Like that would ever happen. Besides, he's not my type. We were just laughing and reminiscing about childhood fads."

"Right…"

"Alright Mouth, let me have it. What are you holding back?"

"Haley, I know you're into the whole 'I-don't-need-nobody-I-can-make-it-on-my-own-and-I-especially-don't-need-anything-from-one-of-the-Scott-Dynasty' but you can't sit here and tell me you don't feel something for Nathan. I saw the way you stared at him and said something about him 'not being like the rest' when you showed me around school, and I saw you at Lafferty Pizza. You didn't think anyone noticed, but I saw the way you lingered in Nathan's arms, and the lust that took over your eyes as you looked up at him. You, my friend, like Nathan."

Haley didn't know what to say. Geez, Mouth was the insightful one. "I uh, I don't know what to say."

"You don't have to say anything, I'm just putting it all into perspective," Mouth said, easing Haley's anxiety.

"Well in that case… Is it that noticeable? I thought I was pretty coy about it. Am I too obvious? Do you think he knows?" Haley was going a mile a minute.

"Whoa, whoa, calm down there buddy! No, you're not noticeable. I've just moved around a lot cause of my parents and have learned to read people. Have no fear, your secret is safe with me."

"Good Mouth. Thanks. And can we keep it that way? Me and you are the only people who know. GiGi doesn't even know."

"Fine by me!" He said as he ushered her into their history class, taking a seat beside GiGi as Haley took a seat next to him. Nathan wasn't there yet, but the bell was going to ring any second now…

Nathan had gotten bombarded by some teammates on his way to fourth period, so he was running down the hall just to make it to class in time. And, sure enough, he entered the classroom right as the bell rang, taking a seat between Haley and Brooke.

"Alright class, just get with your partner and continue working on your projects," their teacher stated as Nathan and Haley turned their desks so they were now situated across from each other. Haley had bent down to get her notebook from her bag, and when she came back up, her eyes were greeted by a smirking Nathan Scott.

"Hi." He said simply, not breaking eye contact.

"Hi." Haley said a bit flustered. "So, I guess we should get working on The 90s."

"I did a little research last night. Let me get it out." Nathan stated, which was actually a fib, he just figured now was a time as good as any to give her the journal, so he found a reason to go in his bag. His fingers skimmed the semi-torn cover as he grasped the journal. He cleared his throat, "Uh Haley…"

"Yeah?" she looked up inquisitively from her notebook.

"I uh, I have something for you," he stated, his voice a little shaky.

Haley looked at him. 'A present?' she thought to herself getting excited. She watched as he slowly slid the rectangular object across the two desks, and knew immediately what it was. "My journal!" she exclaimed. "I've been looking everywhere for this! Where did you find it!"

"Uh, in the, uh, library a couple days ago." Nathan stated, never being so unsure of himself in his life.

"I knew I had left it there! I'm not going crazy," Haley said, smiling to herself that she finally had her journal back. But then, reality hit her. Why hadn't he returned it till now? And why had he taken it in the first place? "Nathan… what were you doing with my journal?"

'Uh oh,' Nathan thought to himself. The moment he had been dreading. So much for scenarios A and C, looks like we're going for B. Hopefully without the hitting. "Well, you see, that's a, uh, funny story."

"Ha-ha," Haley said sarcastically, "let me have it."

'There's that sarcasm of hers,' Nathan thought, noting what he had noticed while reading her journal. "See, I was in the uh, library the other day, working on the essay that was due for this class, and uh, I saw this journal on the desk. So I looked at it, but it had no name. So I uh, just put it in my bag for safe keeping."

"I see… did you read it?" She asked inquisitively.

"Well, uh. Sin-since there was no name, I uh, read some of it, to uh, try and find out who's it was, but uh, it never said someone's specific name. And then uh, yesterday I saw Jake and he found the uh, journal in my bag, and uh, said it might be yours. And uh, then I looked at it had the little initials, you uh, told me about," Nathan stated while thinking to himself 'Whew, is it just me or is it getting hot in here?'

"I see…" Haley said, thinking to herself. She was annoyed at him, yes, but she did note the fact that he had remembered about initials, causing her to feel little butterflies.

"Yeah…"

"Alright, one last question for ya. After you found out it was mine, did you still read it?"

The question he had hope wouldn't come. He could just say no, and not tell the truth. But Nathan wasn't like that. He couldn't lie to Haley. 'Either way this probably wouldn't work out good,' he thought to himself, remembering Haley's 'trust issues' she had noted numerous times in her journal.

"Yes."

"So you read my journal?"

"Yes."

"Even after you found out it was mine?"

"Yes."

"I can't look at you right now." Haley stated in a whisper. She was astonished at the anger she felt towards Nathan. Never in a million years had she thought she would be mad at Nathan Scott. But, here she was fuming at well, Nathan Scott. And never in a million years did she think she would be in the situation she was. Nathan had read her journal. He knows her thoughts, he knows her passion, he knows… her. And that scared the crap out of Haley. She doesn't let anyone in. Ever since what she refers to as "the incident" she has built up walls and never let anyone in. And now, Nathan Scott has just bulldozed his way in. Then she came to the mortifying realization that he now knows of her pining for him. She couldn't take it anymore. She couldn't be in that classroom, at that moment anymore.

"Haley…"

"Nathan please. Just, leave me alone. You don't even know me," she said, looking disheveled, and noting the irony of that statement.

"But I-" he began to say, then stopped, thinking better of it. Before he knew it, Haley had her hand raised, getting the teacher's attention.

"Yes Ms. James?"

"Uh, may I please go to the nurse? I'm suddenly not feeling that great."

"Of course. You are looking a bit under the weather."

"Thank you," Haley stated, grabbing her books, making sure to get her journal this time and steeling a quick glance at Nathan; then left the room, bypassing the concerned looks of Mouth and GiGi.

Nathan couldn't take it. He had just crushed Haley James. When she looked at him, she didn't have eyes filled with anger or annoyance. She had eyes full of confusion and disappointment; something much worse. He looked at the now vacant desk across from him and put his head in his hands. "What have I done?" he stated to himself, letting out a huge sigh.