I Don't Want To Be

Standard Disclaimers Apply.

------- … scene change/break or indicated flashback

Italics … thoughts

Bold … emphasis

I Don't Want To Be: Chapter 7: One Friend Equals More Friends

"I don't think this is a very good idea Haley."

Lucas was struck with that 'I'm being ignored' feeling as the petite brunette just dragged him along anyway. School had been torturous for Lucas. All the kids kept asking questions and trying to poke at the remaining bandages. Lucas, who shied away from such attention, didn't take it too well.

He had almost gotten in trouble for upsetting some kid that just refused to take the hint and leave him alone. One frosty glare from his intense blue eyes sent the boy scrambling over to his desk. Lucas almost felt guilty, but was too irritable to really feel it. The only reason he didn't get in trouble was because the teacher had been Mrs. White, the only teacher that seemed to not be offended by his presence.

When school had ended, Lucas had rejoiced, more than ready to just go home and sleep. He was tired and his arm had started to ache in English, but not so much that he felt the need to go to the nurse. It wasn't so bad and there was no need to have his mother and Keith freak out over nothing. He'd get over it soon enough, right? Right.

But back to his plans of going home and sleeping. Or rather, the change in those plans.

It seemed that Haley had no intention of letting him just go home. No, she insisted that he meet her other friends. Lucas didn't know why it was so important for him to meet them. He had made his exception to the 'no attachments' rule – and that was Haley.

Only Haley.

He didn't want two, three, maybe four more new friends. That was too risky. When they – being he and his mother – moved, he'd be crushed. It would be only slightly bearable with just Haley to be hung up over. But more? That was like multiplying the pain. And believe it or not, Lucas Scott was no glutton for punishment. Or he didn't think so anyway…

But how could he explain that to Haley? She had believed Keith when he assured her that Lucas wouldn't be moving away from Tree Hill anytime soon. Trying to convince her of seeing things his way was just a waste of time. Not that that helped him with his current situation.

"Seriously Haley, I just wanna go home."

"And you can," she said, "after you meet my friends."

Lucas sighed. "Come on, can't we do this on some other day?" You know, one day, maybe months from now when I'll probably be gone?

She paused and for all of five seconds Lucas believed that Haley would give in. "Well yeah...but today is best." Silly Lucas, of course she wasn't going to cave.

Haley wondered why Lucas was so resistant to the idea of meeting her friends. He had grown very silent after her last refusal to let him go home. Of course, he could always force me to let go. Theoretically, Lucas was probably stronger than her. Not that he'd do anything. Lucas just didn't strike her as the type to do something like that.

But back to the question at hand – why was Lucas resisting this so much?

Sure, he was shy. And yeah, he didn't seem to like being around a lot of people at one time. And he was more anti-social than she was. And he wasn't much of a talker. And Lucas had never mentioned having a friend besides her…

"Oh I get it!" She stopped, forcing Lucas to halt as well. The hopeful look in his eyes disappeared after Haley made this statement:

"You're nervous!"

Ignoring his sigh, she continued on. "It'll be fine Lucas. I know you don't like to be around people very much, especially strangers, but they're really nice – I promise!"

Lucas looked around the basketball court. He had passed by this place many times and often sat by the river. He would come and shoot some hoops by himself too. It was just something he did occasionally during his walks. "They're not here," he stated plainly to the annoyed brunette in front of him.

"They'll be here – they just have no sense of time."

Lucas prayed that Haley wouldn't have the patience to wait it out. He sat down on a picnic table and Haley paced around, occasionally looking over to make sure that he didn't try and make a run for it. That was a good thing, since he really was thinking about it. The tiny brunette wouldn't be able to keep up with him.

But…she had looked so pathetically hopeful on the way over here. The girl only wanted to introduce him to her other friends. She just didn't want him to be so alone. It was understandable. As his friend, she wanted him to have more than just her to talk to. It was sweet of her, really, and he didn't want to upset his only friend. So here he was, waiting with her.

"Hey Haley!"

Lucas blinked as two girls came running up. More girls, just what I needed. The blond boy had always thought it weird that, no matter where he went, his first friend was always a girl. And more often than not, the majority of his friends were female. At this point in his life, any male friends he had would make fun of him for it. That is…if he had any. Children – tch.

Lucas' eyes widened as he got a good look at the girls. It wasn't that they were pretty –well they were, but that wasn't why he was staring. They were the two girls that had been harassing him since his first day at school! They hadn't been so bad since the accident though. All they did today was tell him that they hoped he would feel completely better soon.

Now let's clear something up. When Lucas says/thinks/whatever 'they', he's really just talking about the energetic Latina chatting it up with Haley right now. The blonde that had strolled up behind the bouncy brunette had yet to say anything.

Actually, now that I think about it…she hasn't spoken…ever – not even today. In class, it was the brunette that wouldn't leave him alone. Today, the brunette had done the talking as well. The blonde had only smiled and nodded in agreement. He just bunched the pair together since he had yet to see them apart.

"Lucas, are you even listening?"

Luke blinked, before looking up at the two irritated brunettes. The blonde was just looking on in amusement.

"Ummm…."

Haley sighed at him. "Like I was trying to tell you – Lucas this is Mia Montego. Mia, this is Lucas!"

"Hi!" she greeted.

"Um, hi…"

Haley motioned for the blonde, who was taller than both brunettes, to come forward. Apparently, the girl was moving too slow because Haley linked their arms and hurriedly pulled her forward. Unbothered, the girl simply stood there. Her green eyes drifted over to Haley, as if asking what she was supposed to do now.

Another sigh came forth. "Luke," something Haley had taken to calling him, "this is Emily."

The blonde said nothing at first, but several pokes from Sofia prompted a quiet, unsure "Hello."

Good, at least someone was as wary of this situation as he was. "Hi."

"Where is everybody?" asked Mia. She had just made herself comfortable sitting by Lucas. Lucas' response was to edge away ever so slightly, hoping she wouldn't notice. She did, but it didn't upset her. All the girl did was grin at him before turning to Haley.

"Late as usual."

"They're always late. Did they miss the lessons on telling time in like – what? – kindergarten?"

You didn't really learn that in kindergarten, but Lucas didn't care to point that out.

"I guess not. Where do you think they are Emma?"

The blonde had settled on the bench on the opposite side of the picnic table he was sitting on, directly behind Mia. Emily shrugged, and went back to reading. This made Lucas curious. What was she reading? And more importantly, where had that book come from? I didn't see her carrying that. Go figure.

Mia sighed. "I'm bored Emma; entertain me."

Could've sworn her name was Emily, Lucas thought. Nickname?

The blonde gave her friend a blank look before pointing towards the road.

"Your entertainment has arrived!" a boy declared loudly.

Lucas looked up from trying to get a glimpse of the title of Emily's book. Four guys were approaching. The one that had spoken was a sort of chubby, but not fat, boy with a big grin on his face.

"You're all late," Haley informed them.

"Not my fault!" a particularly scrawny-looking boy defended. He pointed at a bald African-American boy. "He took forever because he didn't take out the trash when his mom had told him to; then we had to wait while his mom fussed at him for, like, an hour and—"

The boy with the shaved head held up a hand. "Dang Mouth, they didn't need to know all that. All you had to say was 'We got held up'."

"Were."

The boys turned to Haley. "What?"

"Were. 'We were held up.'"

They all groaned. "You're going to be an English teacher when you grow up, aren't you?"

Haley shrugged before plopping down on the other side of Lucas. "I don't know."

Lucas watched the entire exchange, and thought it very funny. The ghost of a smile on his lips said as much. Haley was delighted. "See? I told you it'd be fine!"

This drew attention to the 'mysterious' boy seated by Haley. "Who's this?" an afro-sporting boy asked.

"Oh! This is my friend Lucas; the one that saved me from that huge truck!"

A faint shade of red spread across Lucas' cheeks as they crowded around him.

"For real dawg?"

"Yeah, check out the patchwork."

"Those are bandages…"

"Same thing man."

"Um…"

"That is so cool!"

"I remember hearing about it on the news, but the dude's mom was giving static."

"Do you even know what that means?"

"I don't…"

"Guys…"

"It just means they wouldn't talk to the reporters."

"That's okay, reporters are so nosy.."

"Hey!"

A period of silence followed Lucas' outburst. He didn't say anything after it and nobody knew what to do. Haley stepped up to breaking the silence. "Give the poor guy some space, people have been crowding around him all day."

Mia chimed in as well. "Yeah, give the guy some breathing room."

The boys backed up as Haley and Mia went about pushing them a little.

"My bad dawg."

Lucas shrugged a little, ignoring how that hurt his arm a little. "S'okay."

Another silence went on before the boy the afro spoke up. "Oookay…right. So how about a game guys?" He had a basketball in his hands. The other two boys grinned, all for it.

Mouth, however, was a little less enthusiastic. "Come on guys…not again."

"What?"

"You know I'm terrible at this game, Fergie. I can barely move when it's over while you guys are still going - ready to play all day!" He pointed an accusing finger at the African-American boy with a small afro.

Fergie scoffed. "Oh don't be such a baby, Mouth. We'll just play one game."

"Yeah, we can't play with three people."

Haley stepped in, deciding help Mouth out a little. "Come on Junk…"

The slightly-chubby boy turned to her. "What? Just one game – it won't kill him."

Haley had to think quickly; otherwise, Mouth would have to play against his wishes. The proverbial light bulb appeared above Haley's head, fully lit - figuratively of course. I've got it! The brunette turned to a very unsuspecting blond boy on the bench. Her friend seemed more interested in peeking at whatever book Emily was reading this week. "Oh Luuuu-cas…" she said in a sweet, sing-song voice.

Lucas almost winced at the sound of Haley calling him. He knew that tone. It was that I-need-you-to-do-something-you-might-not-like kind of tone. But he would do it because Haley was his friend, his only friend, and he wanted her happy because that was his nature. It was like being taken advantage of, but Lucas didn't understand that concept yet so…yeah. He sighed. "Yes Haley?"

"Do you like basketball?" she asked innocently.

"Watching?"

"No, I mean yeah, but no."

"What?" Lucas frowned at the girl. She could be so confusing sometimes.

"Do you like playing basketball?"

"Sort of," he said cautiously. "Why?"

"Do you want to play?" Mouth asked suddenly. He had caught on to what Haley was up to and hoped that their newest buddy would go along with it.

Lucas gave them both suspicious looks. "Not really, I'm not that good at it."

Haley and Mouth both shot him pleading looks at the reply. "Please? I'll do your homework for a week, I swear, just please take my spot!"

"Yeah Luke, you may not play well, but Mouth can't play at all."

"Haley!" Mouth looked semi-offended.

"What? Do you want him to take your spot or not?"

Mouth gave a resigned sigh. "Yeah…you're right. But you didn't have to say it like that."

"Maybe not…but she's got a point dawg. You suck at this game."

"You too Skillz?" he said to the bald brown-skinned boy. The boy in question just shrugged.

"Are you sure?" Lucas asked. I don't think this is a good idea...

"Yes!" came Mouth's oh-so-eager reply.

Lucas sighed. Everyone was looking at him now. "I…oh, alright. I'll play."

"Yes! Yes! Oh thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!" Mouth did a little 'All Hail' type deal – Mouth on his knees, bowing at Lucas' feet – and Lucas shifted, not sure what to do.

"Um…you can stop now…"

"Okay!" Mouth hopped up, dusting himself off.

Just as Lucas was walking towards the other boys, who were doing rock-paper-scissors for teams, Emily spoke up. "Are you sure you can play?" Everyone turned to look. Lucas just gave her a curious look.

"Dang Em', that's cold."

The blonde shook her head. That's not what she had meant. "Your arm," she clarified. "Are you sure you can play with your arm still hurting?"

A collective 'Ohhh…' went around. Haley suddenly looked worried. "Yeah, maybe you should wait a while."

Mouth looked crestfallen, but started to get back up.

"I'll be fine," Lucas told them. I think.

Haley wasn't so sure, but let him go on. Mouth was quick to sit back down though.

"Okay, so me and Fergie –"

"—Fergie and I!" Haley broke in.

"How did she even hear that?"

Junk sighed. "Fergie and I will be on a team, and Lucas, you'll be on Skillz's team. Got that?"

Lucas nodded. "Yeah."

"Good. First team to…uh…thirty wins. Three's are from there," he pointed to one line. "Foul line's there," he pointed somewhere else. "Grass is out, blah blah blah, you know the deal."

All the boys nodded. "Okay, everybody ready?" More nods.

"Okay let's play!"

And there we are...another chapter. The next chapter or so will go to establishing a few more characters, or at least letting you know that they're there, and then I'll fast forward a little bit! Sorry for the wait, but I hope you'll still review! Questions, comments, constructive criticism – I welcome it all!