Chapter Four
Nathan pulled up to my house and I groaned. "What?"
I sighed. "I just remembered I have to climb through my window to get in," I explained and he laughed. "It's not funny, Nathan."
"Come on. It's a little funny," he said and I smiled.
"Fine, maybe a little, but I'm never gonna be able to get up there by myself," I said. He opened his door and got out. Confused at his actions, I did the same. "What are you doing?"
He grabbed my hand and started towards my house. "Helping you out, what else would I be doing? Now, where's your room?"
I took him to the side of the house and pointed up. "Right there."
He whistled. "How did you get down from there, Haley?" he asked, quietly.
I shrugged. "I'm very agile when I need to be. Plus, I was pissed. I didn't know what I was doing, really."
He sighed. "Okay, do you have a ladder or something?" I shrugged again. "Well, then. We're gonna have to do this the hard way. Start climbing and I'll direct you on things you can use to help you, okay?"
I looked skeptical. "I don't know, Nathan. I could fall and hurt myself or-"
"Hales, I'm not gonna let you fall. I'll be here to catch you," he said and I smiled at the nickname. Only Lucas called me Hales, but it sounded like heaven from Nathan's lips. "What? Why are you staring at me?"
"No reason," I replied. I stepped forward and kissed his cheek softly. "Thanks for tonight, Nathan. You're a really great person to hang out with."
He grinned. "I should be thanking you for tonight. No other girl has stood up to Rachel like that since... ever," he said and pulled me into a hug.
I was happy in the moment until I heard a voice clearing by us. I turned to see Lucas. "Where the hell have you been, Haley!" he said loudly.
I ran up and clamped my hand on his mouth. "Shut up! Are you trying to get me into trouble?" I whispered harshly.
I took my hand off his mouth and he said, "Maybe. You deserve it! I had to lie to mom and dad, say you didn't feel well."
"Listen, Luke. You pissed me off today and so I went out with some friends, no harm done," I explained.
"Yeah, man. It's all my fault. I didn't know she wasn't allowed to be out. She wanted to go back home but I convinced her to stay," Nathan said, taking the blame.
Luke looked at him with evil eyes. "Yeah, I'm sure. My sister can be very convincing of innocence," he said to him then turned to me. "What the hell is wrong with you? You just met him today and you're already sleeping with him?"
I slapped him, hard. "How dare you! You are such an ass! I'm friends with Nathan and he has a girlfriend! I can't believe that you think so little of me!" I pushed him and then started to climb up to my room. I was successful and looked down once I was in my room. "See you later, Nathan."
He waved up at me. "Later, Hales." I closed my window and got ready for bed.
The next morning I was woken up by incessant knocking. I groaned and walked to my door. There stood my mother. "Good morning, sweetheart. Feeling better?"
I nodded. "Yeah, a whole lot better."
She smiled. "Good. Some boys that you met the other day brought some friends over they wanted you to meet. They offered to take you out to breakfast. So, why don't you go get dressed and then meet them downstairs, huh? How does that sound?"
I smiled and just started getting ready. I took a quick shower, dried and curled my hair, did my makeup, then put on my clothes. I grabbed my purse and looked at the clock. It only took me 15 minutes total. God, I'm good. I ran downstairs and saw everyone from the night before. "Hey, guys!"
Nathan jumped up. "Hey Hales. This is Brooke, Peyton, Jake, and Bevin. Guys, this is Haley," he introduced, for the sake of my parents being in the room.
I smiled. "Nice to meet you all," I said, nodding to them. "Okay, mom. dad. We're leaving and I'll see you later," I said quickly, trying to leave before-
"Haley, wait! Don't you want to tell mom and dad that-"
I ran over to my annoying brother. I knew he was going to ruin this for me. "Yes, I do. Mom and dad, I love it here. I'm glad we moved. Luke, want to come with us?" I asked through gritted teeth.
He grinned, winning for now. "Yeah, I do. Thanks Haley!"
He went outside and everyone followed after him. I smiled at my parents before following after them. Once I shut the door I growled and threw a little fit to myself. Once I composed myself I turned to see everyone watching me. I ignored them all, except Lucas. I walked right up to him. "Listen here, Lucas. Don't ruin this for me, okay? I don't want you to talk to me today. I'm sick of you blackmailing me into stuff like that! That's not fair. So, steer clear of me today, got that?"
He nodded. "I'm not coming for you, anyways. I want to hang out with the guys," he said and the boys went into 2 cars while Brooke, Peyton, and Bevin led me to Bevin's car.
Peyton sat up front with her while Brooke and I sat in the back. "Haley, your brother is a total hottie!"
Brooke said and then licked her lips. "He is totally mine by the end of the week, I guarentee it!"
"EWWW BROOKE! He's my brother! That is something I don't want to know about!" I whine and they laughed at me.
We all sang along with the radio until we made it to our destination, Deb's Diner. We put a couple of table together and then sat down. On one side it was Bevin, Skills, Fergie, Mouth, Peyton, and Jake. Then on the other side it was Nathan, me, Brooke, Lucas, and Tim. Luke was introduced to the girls and Jake and then conversation went on as normal.
"So, Lucas, what do you like to do for fun," Brooke asked.
"Well, basketball is my favorite thing to do," he replied, getting closer to her.
"I see," she said. "Well, I'm a cheerleader and I'll be cheering for you today when you guys play at rivercourt."
I turned to Nathan and mouthed 'gag me!' and he chuckled. Everyone else was engaged in another conversation so I decided to tune out Brooke and Lucas. "So, Nate. How was the rest of your night?"
"Well, I went back to the party," he said quietly.
"And..?" I prodded.
"And Rachel wanted to talk to me. She was really drunk..."
Nathan's POV Flashback
"Natey, can we talk about this? I mean, you know we're going to get back together, so why delay the inevitable?"
I looked down at Rachel. She had the look on her face that I used to not be able to say no to, but now things are different. "No, Rachel. It's over, for good this time. I'm sick of everything. You treat me like crap and then the next day you expect everything to be okay again. Well, this time I'm sticking up for myself. We're done. Now, leave me alone!"
I turned to walk away but she grabbed my arm. "Natey, you don't mean that! You know you want me! I mean, you told me you loved me!"
"Because I thought I did! And I thought you loved me, too, but I found out it was all a bunch of lies, Rachel!"
"I do love you, Natey! You're the only one for me!"
"I'm done, Rachel, and theres nothing you can do to change my mind, got it?"
She was quiet for a minute and then she walked away. I sighed and went back to everyone else.
End Nathan's POV/flashback
"Wow, so you really ended it for good," I said, impressed.
He nodded. "Yeah, I did. Listen, I know you don't want to start dating me until we know each other better and I'm complete over Rachel, but I'm telling you right now, I'm over her, okay? She doesn't mean anything to me anymore. I don't even know if she ever did," he admitted.
I smiled up at him. "Lets just see where things go, okay?" I asked and he nodded, putting his arm around me in a friendly manner.
After breakfast we all headed to the rivercourt. Since there were already even teams with all the guys playing, I decided to sit and watch with the girls. The teams were Nathan, Skills and Tim versus Fergie, Lucas, and Jake. Mouth was the sports castor and all us girls were the cheerleaders. Bevin and I cheered for team Nathan and Brooke and Peyton cheered for team Lucas.
We were all having so much fun that we didn't hear Rachel walk up. "Well, well, well. Look at what we have here." The guys were still oblivious to her, too ingrossed in the game.
"What are you doing here, Rachel?" Brooke asked, obviously annoyed.
Rachel ignored her and walked up to me. "Listen up, Haley, and listen good," She started and I crossed my arms. "Nathan is mine. Always has been and always will be, got that? So, any ideas that you had about being with him are pretty much shot to hell. He's with me and we're happy."
I smirked. "Really? Cause he told me that he told you he was done. Well, if thats the case, Rachel, I'll just back off," I said, as sincerely as I could.
She smirked back. "I knew you were smart, Haley." She started to walk off.
"Hey, Nathan!" I shouted catching his and her attention. He noticed Rachel, but quickly turned to me. "Don't make plans for saturday night. You're taking me out, hot stuff," I said with a wink.
He grinned. "Sounds perfect, Hales," he replied and then went back to his game.
I looked over to Rachel who was seething mad. "This isn't over, Haley!"
I laughed. "I think it is, Rachel. See you around," I said as she drove off.
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