Hello! Thank you SO much for all the wonderful reviews... i Love getting them! Which means.. here's another chapter... AND ... REVIEW PLEASE:D LOL... Enjoy.. I hope!

Disclaimer: I Do Not Own One Tree Hill Or Any Of The Characters Used In This Fanfic

Michelley. P

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Chapter Fifteen: Torn From Familiar Surroundings

Haley stood in a crowded hall, being pushed around by passing strangers. This was how she liked it, there wasn't one person here that she knew, she could start all over, without any reminders of the pain she was facing back home. At her side she carried just one small suitcase, with only a little clothes, and a picture of her and Faith. She packed a lot more, but on her trip there, she kept throwing things out, things that reminded her too much of Nathan, Lucas and Brooke... and sometimes even Faith. She looked around at all the people as she made her way towards the dean's office, and for a second she wondered if she chose the right place. She had three options in front of her. Stanford, where Nathan would be. Duke, where Lucas would be. Or here, in Connecticut, where she'd be alone. So she chose to be alone, with no reminders of her old life, she wanted to start over, and happy. And as she looked around again at all the unfamiliar faces, she knew she would be. She was already feeling some excitement bubbling up in her, grounding out her guilt for missing Faith's funeral, but she wasn't stupid, she knew that guilt would never go away, she wasn't going to kid herself.

"Scott?" The female dean raised her eyebrows at her, directing the question at her. Scott? No! That wasn't her. Haley felt her breath catching in her throat when already something sent her heart flying back home.

"That's me!" A voice called from behind her, as a handsome guy with blonde hair pushed pass her, smiling as he met her stare. He's not Lucas, or Nathan. But he is a Scott. Haley thought. Number one priority, stay far, far away. She laughed to herself. She sighed and sat on the bench behind her, letting her small over night bag fall to her feet as she leaned her head back and relaxed in the unfamiliar surroundings.

"You seem just as excited to be here as I am." Another voice said quietly as she felt an arm brush past her's as the person sat next to her, plopping a much bigger suitcase in front of him, much bigger! Haley glanced over at the male next to her. He was good looking, but not the usual good looking, like the blue eyed blond. He had brown hair, not dark like Nathan's, and definitely not light like Lucas's, but brown, in the middle. He smiled as he too took in her features. His smile. Haley thought. Was unbelievable. But she could see through it. He had that look, in his eyes. And she gasped when she saw it, it made her whole body go weak. It was a look she had saw just this morning, in the mirror. He was hiding something, and he was breaking because of it.

"I actually am." Haley smiled at him sweetly, which made his heart melt too. "Fresh start." She nodded. His eyes widened with happiness as he heard her say it, like she was a new friend.

"I know what you mean. All I wanted was to get away from home. Here in this place, there's not one person I know, and it feels good." He smiled, and blushed a little at opening up so much to a person that he only met a couple seconds ago.

"Exactly." Haley whispered, smiling in disbelief. Maybe there was life outside of Tree Hill. "Haley James." She smirked, but caught herself in the act. She learned that smirk from someone who could only conquer it himself, and if she did it, it would only set herself up to be back on memory lane. She held out her hand to him, and he grabbed it, losing his own breath at her touch. He saw her look too, he saw her already hiding herself from the chance of getting hurt. But he held on reluctantly.

"Im Mark Lane." He smiled, as they kept the hands together long enough to be interrupted by the Dean. She swung open the door and peered out around, flipping through a page on her clip board.

"James and..." Haley held her breath when she realized she was about to hear who her roommate was. "Lane?" She asked herself, not sure if there was a student around by that name.

"That's us." Mark smiled at Haley. Haley just smiled back, she was already liking this school, as long as this guy didn't screw it up too. "Hey Roomie." He smiled again. He kept doing that, smiling. And Haley wished he wouldn't because he had one of those smiled that would make you fall for him, even without knowing him. Everything you needed to know, was hidden behind that smile. He can't hide it from me. Haley thought. Im the expert at that game. She just smiled back as she bit her lip.

"You guys will be in room. 3...23." The dean smiled politely. But Haley barely heard it, because she had her eyes fixed on Mark.

"Let's go." He smiled as he jumped up, grabbing his own gigantic suitcase, and Haley's. Haley jumped up also, following his lead down the hall. "Room 323.. Here we come." He smiled. Room WHAT? Haley screamed to herself.

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"I can't believe she's gone." Lucas sighed as he plopped down on Nathan's bed and threw his basketball in the air. Nathan ignored the comment, wishing it wasn't true, but not wanting to seem so weak in front of his brother. Shrugging, he stood in front of his mirror and fixed his jacket.

"You ready to go?" Nathan said as he kept hi back to his brother, not wanting to look him in the eye. He was afraid that he'd see the same look in his eyes, as he saw in his own as he glanced in the mirror. They had both just lost the girl that they both cared about so much. And Nathan never knew that Lucas had cared so much, until he saw the look on his face during the car ride home from Haley's.

"I guess." Lucas whispered sadly, Nathan could see him behind him through the mirror, and he watched his brother as he wiped away a small tear. Nathan sighed and walked out the door.

"This is all your fault, you know that?" Nathan said as he walked by his brother's side down the stairs and out the door towards his car, twirling his keys around his fingers casually.

"My fault?" Lucas gasped, throwing a harsh look across at Nathan. "Why the hell is this my fault?" He said as once again another tear escaped his eyes.

"Because!" Nathan yelled. Stopping before he got in the car, to breathe deeply and keep his composure, being sure not to fall apart. He pulled open the door and hopped inside, Lucas did the same. "If you hadn't came into my life and took her from me, you wouldn't have cheated on her, I wouldn't have known, I'd be leaving to go with her, instead of going in a different direction!" Nathan yelled again. Once more he took a deep breath, getting afraid as his lip began to quiver. He put his hand over his mouth and held his breath for a second to try and get the pain to go away.

"If you didn't get so obsessed with your popularity, and get so embarrassed by her, I wouldn't have had to be there for her!" Lucas yelled back. This was where him and his brother were different, because as Nathan sat up straight, staring straight ahead as he made sure he didn't show any sign of emotion from missing her already, Lucas was making it pretty obvious that he was dying, having to face this day without her, as he sat down, falling apart next to his brother. And Lucas's break down was making it that much harder for Nathan to keep it together. Nathan was quiet and just looked around the town that he had grown up in, as images blurred past his window. All Nathan could think was how funny it was, that he grew up here, but now, without Haley, he didn't recognize this place at all.

"You're right." Nathan finally whispered. "It's all my fault."

"No... it's our fault." Lucas said as he sniffed a little from the tears, starring sadly out the window at all the vacant cars that were parked near the school.

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Okay.. there it was... things are bound to start changing now... review please... :) I hope you liked it!

Michelley P.