The weekend of avoiding things had come and gone. Haley had been just like her old self and hung out with her friends. She'd spent time with Karen and Keith working her shifts at the Café and even went shopping with some of the girls from the cheer squad.

It was Monday now and it was time for Haley to face the harsh light of high school.

"Are you ready for this?" Nathan asked his girlfriend as he entered the school next to her.

"As I'll ever be." She said sighing as she saw the glares and stares of the other students.

"Don't even worry about it. Ignore them." He whispered into her ear before grabbing a hold of her hand. "Come on." He said leading her to her locker and past all the looks.

Haley kept her eyes forward to avoid meeting anyone's gaze. She couldn't stand all this unwelcome attention.

"Hey tutor girl." Brooke said as she cheerfully bounced to Haley's side, Lucas following.

"Hey Hales." Lucas said leaning down to give her a quick peck on her cheek. "How you feeling today?" He asked.

Haley only shrugged her shoulders besides Nathan. Finally they came up to her locker. Opening the door she pulled out the books she'd need for the first half of the day.

"Slut." Came a voice from behind Haley.

"Hey!" Brooke yelled at the girl who'd just walked by Haley.

The girl ignored her and kept walking, her friends laughing besides her.

Haley didn't even bother turning around, she just continued pulling her books out of her locker. Once she was done she sighed a great big sigh and closed it, turning to face her friends. "Don't even worry about it Brooke. I should get used to it. In a small town like this news spreads fast and rumors just as fast. For the next few months I'll be known as the town slut who got pregnant and then killed her child in the school locker room. " Haley said as she picked up her book bag and began heading for her first class, leaving her friends to stare at her in sympathy.

Haley entered her first period History Class and headed straight for her seat, ignoring the stares from her classmates and even the look her teacher Mr. Harrison gave her.

Once the bell rang Mouth came by and took his seat next to her, giving her a slight smile. "Hey Haley. How you doing?" He asked.

Haley only nodded and sent him her own smile, but Mouth could tell she wasn't in a good mood. The girl he'd known since childhood was not smiling her usual bright smile. He'd known Haley since he moved to Tree Hill and only recently had he become accustomed to seeing her without her trademark smile. Mouth wondered when he'd see her smile a real smile again. It worried him that one of his closest friends was so sad and what made it worse was the fact that he could do nothing to help her.
Mouth sighed and opened his history book as Mr. Harrison began the days lesson.

After the bell rang, Mouth tried once more to reach out to his friend. "So Haley are you going to practice today?" He said shoving his books into his bag and walking around his desk to face Haley.

"Probably." She said a bit distractedly.

"Cool. Um…so want me to walk with you to your next class?" He asked with a smile.

Haley stood up and looked at her friend. Mouth had always been sweet guy and he'd always been like a brother to her, she began feeling bad that she was worrying him. She shook her head. "No thanks Mouth. I'm okay. I'll see you later at lunch." She said to him before leaning over and giving him a kiss on the cheek before heading out of class and to her next one.

Mouth only stared after his friend. Shaking his head sadly he followed her out the classroom and to his next class.

"Hey Mouth." Brooke called once he'd entered their Health class. "What's wrong?" She immediately asked once she saw the glum expression on his face. Mouth was never glum.

Mouth shook his head as he took his seat next to Brooke and in front of Jake. "Haley." He said sadly.

"Oh my god, what's wrong? Is she okay?" Brooke asked worriedly.

"She's okay Brooke. Sorry. I mean, she's okay physically I guess, it's just…" He sighed, frustrated. "I've known Haley for years and I can…I can't remember a time where she looked so sad." He told them.

"Yeah Haley's been through a lot the past few months." Jake said lowering his head sadly.

"She doesn't deserve any of this." Brooke mumbled under her breath.

"Nope, no she doesn't." Mouth agreed.

"Hey Haley." Bevin said happily as Haley entered their Chemistry class.

"Hey Bev." She answered as she took her seat next to Lucas, her lab partner.

Lucas smiled at Bevin before she turned around and faced the teacher. Once Haley had fished out her books from her bag he leaned over and whispered into her ear. "How's your day been?" He asked.

Haley seemed to ignore him once the teacher began talking. However she opened her notebook and scribbled something on the page. Once she was done she pushed her book toward the center of the lab table and let him read what she'd written.

I feel like shit. I hate being the center of everyone's attention. The center of all the gossip in school.

Haley had been friends' with Lucas for far too long to even think about lying to him. Now that she was dating Nathan, her other best friend, Lucas had become the one she could talk to, about things she couldn't tell Nathan.

Lucas was glad to see that she wasn't trying to pretend in front of him. He was glad to see that she still trusted him enough to tell her the truth.

He quickly opened his own notebook and wrote back to her.

I can't imagine how badly that must suck. Especially when the people talking are the ones who don't even know what happened. It must be hard to know that what they are saying is wrong, but be too afraid to set them straight with the truth. Especially cause the truth would probably just bring you much more attention you don't need or want. Just remember that I'm here for you Haley. Whatever you need you know that you can come to me for any thing. I love you Hales.

Haley read what he wrote, it brought a tear to her eye which she quickly brushed away. She looked up at Lucas and sent him a smile before mouthing a thank you to him.

Once the bell rang, Haley and Lucas headed out of class together and made their way to Trig which they shared with Peyton and Nathan.