Brooke took one last look around before opening the door. Chase had asked her to meet him there around 6:30 but there was no sign of him. Clutching her designer bag, she cautiously stepped her high heeled feet into the entrance of the Shady Oaks Nursing Home. Immediately a strong odor her delicate nostrils were not used to hit her like a ton of bricks. Inadvertently sucking in a breath, she began to choke.

"Miss, may I help you?" a friendly receptionist inquired.

"Ch…Chase Adams," she managed to sputter.

"Oh you're a friend of Chase's. How nice. He is one of our best volunteers. Let me page him for you."

"Please," Brooke gasped. "Hurry."

Frowning Brooke looked around. Spending her Friday night in a nursing home was the last place the pretty cheer captain expected to be. But she had been looking forward to being with her new beau, Chase. Most likely they would end up at a movie or a restaurant or even the beach. It didn't matter. They liked each other a lot and had fun together wherever they went. But first was the matter of them meeting up. He had mentioned the volunteer work he did twice a week. Brooke had written down the directions and in her custom, classic Brooke Davis best, there she was, sticking out like a sore thumb.

"Hi."

She looked around and saw a sweet little old lady in a wheelchair.

"Hi," Brooke smiled.

"I'm Hazel, what's your name?"

"I'm Brooke. Nice to meet you, Hazel."

The old lady frowned.

"How did you know my name?"

"Uh, you just told me…"

"Hi, I'm Hazel."

Brooke looked confused and uncomfortable.

"Yeah. You're Hazel and I'm Brooke. Um, hi…"

"You're pretty," the lady grinned.

Brooke looked around and flipped her hair, shrugging with that unmistakable dimpled grin.

"Well yeah…I mean, thank you."

"I'm Hazel. Nice to meet you."

The lady extended her hand. Brooke went to shake it until the woman wiped her runny nose.

"Um…" Brooke looked around for the quick escape.

Where the hell was Chase?

"That's Hazel," a young woman with long auburn hair approached them.

"I know," Brooke sighed, inching away from the snotty hands still reaching out for her. "We've met…a few times."

"Hazel is one of our oldest residents," she went on to explain. "She just celebrated her 101st birthday. She has been here over twenty years."

Brooke looked down at her. To be over a century old, Hazel looked pretty damned good.

"Wow."

"She has memory problems obviously. She repeats herself a lot. She only talks to people she likes. And for some reason, she likes you."

Brooke narrowed her eyes. She wasn't lost on the other girl's chilly demeanor and tone.

"Do I know you?"

"No…but I know you. Paula Anderson. I'm in a couple of your classes at school but of course you haven't talked to me since that time you made fun of my dress in like second grade."

"Oh," Brooke felt bad suddenly as she tried to break the ice with a joke. "Bitter, much?"

But Paula wasn't laughing.

"Hazel and I will just get out of your way," she turned to wheel her away.

"Wait," Brooke called out, stopping them. "I wasn't trying to be rude. Hazel is really sweet. I mean, the whole snot on the hands thing…well, you know. But I wasn't trying to be mean. And for what it's worth, I'm really sorry for what happened in second grade, although honestly I don't remember it. That was mean and I shouldn't have done it. Sorry it hurt your feelings so much."

"Wow. Brooke Davis apologizing."

"Amazing, right? Look, what is your deal? I was just trying to be nice. I came here looking for my boyfriend and…"

"Chase Adams."

"Yeah. How did you know?"

Paula rolled her eyes.

"Everybody knows. You and your crew are practically celebrities at Tree Hill High."

"You know Chase?"

"From school and from here too. He's a really sweet guy and he's a great volunteer. The residents really love him and he's so good with them."

That wasn't hard to believe. Brooke smiled, just imagining it. Chase really was a good guy.

"Yeah."

"Look," the girl sighed. "I know this is none of my business but…just don't hurt him, alright? Chase doesn't deserve that. He is a really nice person…and he really likes you."

"I like him too."

It seemed Brooke wasn't the only one.

"Yeah…"

"Look, Paula, I guess I have this wild and stuck up reputation. Whatever you think of me…no, it's none of your business but for what it's worth, people do change. And I have."

"People do change but not overnight. One day you're flashing your boobs at wild keg parties, the next you're a goody two shoes Clean Teen."

"Paula…"

"I'm just saying. Look, I don't doubt you like Chase. I mean, what's not to like? He's a really great guy. But you like him for him because you know the real him. Just hope he likes you for you because he sees the real you, not just the person you want him to see."

Brooke swallowed hard. Powerful insight from a stranger.

"Brooke, there you are."

They were interrupted by Chase's beaming smile.

"Hey," Brooke said as he kissed her forehead and Paula visibly winced.

"Sorry, I was late. I'm ready now. One of our activities ran a little over."

"That's fine."

He turned to Paula.

"Well, I guess I'm gonna get going. See you next Wednesday?"

"Wednesday," she cleared her throat.

"Oh man. Where are my manners? Brooke, you and Paula know each other, right?"

"Yeah," Brooke answered softly, still shaken. "We've met."

"And you've met this beautiful lady here?" he pointed to Hazel.

Brooke smiled.

"Yeah. She's pretty special."

"Hi. I'm Hazel."

"Hi Hazel. I'm Chase and this beautiful girl right here is named Brooke Davis and you know what? She's pretty darned amazing."

"Yeah," Hazel nodded, already fixated on the next thing as she slowly began to wheel away.

Chase and Brooke spoke their goodbyes with Paula's eyes on them as they exited the building.

"You okay?" Chase asked after a few minutes.

Brooke shrugged.

"Yeah, um, I'm fine. It's just that Hazel lady."

"What about her?"

"She's really sweet but it's kind of sad, you know?"

"Yeah but it's pretty remarkable at the same time. I mean, it's pretty cool that she has lived to be over 100. Yeah, her memory is not so good but physically for her age, she's pretty healthy. I think that's a blessing."

"Yeah. Hey Chase?"

"What's up?"

"You're the one that's pretty amazing. No matter what, I…I just want you to know that. Okay?"

He gave her a heartwarming smile.

"I love this place and it makes me happy. I don't want you to get all down on me. How about we do something fun?"

"Sounds good. Dinner, movie, what?"

A twinkle came into his eye.

"You ever skateboarded?"

Brooke looked around.

"Are you kidding?"

"It is fun and it's really easy."

"I'll take your word for it."

"I could teach you, you know, the basic stuff right now."

"Chase," she pouted. "I have on high heels."

"So take them off. Come on. Just one try. It'll be fun. It'll be…daring. And tell me, has Brooke Davis ever turned down a dare?"

Brooke cringed thinking of some of the crazy dares of her not so distant scandalous past.

"You have no idea," she said, kicking off her shoes.

"Okay," he put down his board. "Easy as pie. You can totally do it. Step onto the board, push off with one foot, ride a small distance, then step off."

Brooke playfully rolled her eyes as she mounted.

"If you ever tell anyone, I'll kill you."

"I'll do you one better," he grinned, snapping pics with his camera phone.

Felling silly at first, Brooke began to relax. It was fun and it wasn't that hard. She was still a bit awkward and clumsy and occasionally the board would get away from the two were having a blast. Who would ever have imagined the Brooke Davis from just a few years before having the time of her life skateboarding barefoot in the back parking lot of a nursing home on a Friday night with her Clean Teen boyfriend? But a new Brooke had emerged and part of it had been because of Chase Adams. She may have been a young woman with a past, but the one real thing they had was the present and the new man in her life was getting to know the new her, the real her, better than anyone else.