Hey guys, thanks so much for being such loyal readers! I adore you! I don't know what the deal is, but for some reason, sometimes some of you can only see up to cartain chapters. I'm sorry about that and I have no idea how to fix it... anyway, next chapter is here…don't forget to review…please. hehe.
Disclaimer: If I could pick one thing to own that I don't already, it would be One Tree Hill or James Lafferty, but I can't. :-(
Summary: Nathan Scott is the most popular guy in school and Haley James is just an average girl who happens to be friends with Nathan's half-brother, Lucas. What happens when each of their groups of friends end up staying next door to each other all summer?
A Summer to Remember
Chapter 14
"That bad?" Haley questioned Nathan the next day as she spread wax onto the floor of Whitey's office. Apparently, it was looking a bit "dull".
"Yeah," Nathan confirmed as he recalled his parents' visit from the night before. Just the thought of them made him angry all over again. It was almost as if their purpose in life was to annoy him.
"I'm sorry. I really wish you could have a better relationship with them." She responded sincerely. "I don't know what I would do without my parents."
"Believe me, if my parents were yours, you'd do everything you could to stay away from them too." Nathan stood up and shot his bag into the bucket of warm wax. "Shit," he muttered when drops of wax splattered all over the area of the floor that he ahd just finished.
"Well, from what you told me about them, I was surprised that your dad didn't pay a visit to Lucas." Haley chuckled as she quickly wiped up the wet wax, she didn't want Nathan to have to do this whole space again.
"Thanks," he said when he saw her cleaning up his mess. "Yeah, he almost did go over to your condo." Nathan decided to let her think that Dan had wanted to see Lucas, it was just easier than having to explain why Dan wanted to see her and why Nathan wouldn't let him. Nathan didn't even understand that last part himself. He knew Haley could have dealt with Dan and probably easily convinced him that his own son was in the wrong, but somehow when Dan mentioned going to 'have a word' with Haley, Nathan had become extremely protective of her.
"What stopped him?" Haley asked curiously as she dipped her rag into the bucket and then walked back over to the place that she had left off in her waxing.
"Uh, I did. I didn't want him to cause a scene." Nathan said simply as he caught the rag that she threw back to him.
"Did I just hear that right? You defended Lucas? Against your dad?" Haley teased.
"No." I defended you. "Like I said, I just didn't want to get in anymore trouble with Whitey than I already am." Nathan looked down at the floor that his rag was currently coating with wax in hopes that she would drop the subject. She did.
"So, I was watching Shark week on the discovery channel the other day, and did you know that a shark's tooth can be bigger than 5 inches long?"
"What? Hales, I really don't want to know how big a shark's tooth can get when I'm living on a beach." Nathan laughed; it was so easy for her to make him laugh.
Haley smiled as his infectious laugh filled the room. She loved hearing his laugh. The truth was, it wasn't shark week on the discovery channel for a few more weeks and Haley didn't even know if her shark fact had been correct, but she also knew that Nathan wouldn't know. She had sensed some tension in the air from their previous topic of conversation and just wanted to lighten the tone a bit. "Ok, sorry, no more shark talk. Promise." Haley held up her hand as if to take an oath. "So, what do you want to talk about?"
"I don't know, how about basketball?" Nathan suggested playfully, knowing that it was one of her least favorite topics of discussion.
"Nathan, you know how I don't like to talk about basketball." She whined.
"Have you ever even played?" Nathan questioned with a laugh.
"Yes!" Haley defended herself. "But I stink; I didn't even hit the goal thing, or whatever it is, one time!"
"Well, how far away were you?" He joked. Was she serious?
"I don't know, like a few feet." She responded sheepishly. Lucas made fun of her all the time for her lack of talent when it came to sports.
"Wow, ok, um, how about I show you how to make it in someday?" He asked, more serious this time.
Haley was slightly surprised at his genuine offer. Lucas always made fun of her, but never offered to teach her how to really do it. "I would like that." She smiled.
"Where are you off to, Broody?" Brooke called from the living room as Lucas walked in wearing a nice polo shirt and some kakis.
"If you must know, I have a date." He answered with a chuckle.
"What?" Brooke tried her hardest to hide the hurt she was feeling. "During the day?"
"It's a day date!" Lucas defended himself.
"What kind of whore would want to go on a day date?" Brooke questioned under her breath.
"I'm sorry, are you mad at me?" Lucas asked incredulously. He never did understand women, how could they go from happy to pissed in about one second?
"No!" Brooke yelled, obviously upset about something.
"Are you mad that I have a date?" Lucas looked into her eyes and for the first time, saw something he had never seen before. He couldn't quite place it.
"No."
"You are aren't you? Why are you mad that I'm going on a date?" Lucas was completely intrigued and was anxious to hear her answer.
"Because I love you!" She shouted out before slamming the palm of her hand to her mouth. Did she really just let that one slip?
Lucas stared at her with his eyes wide. Brooke was his friend. I mean, sure he had thought about her in that way a few times, but always dismissed the thoughts because of their friendship. Now that he knew her feelings, he couldn't help but feel the surfacing of similar feelings of his own.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say it like that, I don't know what came over me, I just was feeling a little jealous I guess-" Brooke was cut off from her rambling as his mouth crashed down upon hers. She had never felt so many emotions in her life, happiness, love, excitement, confusion…
"What about your date?" She whispered after pulling away a few moments later.
"I was supposed to go to a crab house, alone, the only purpose of it was to get over my fear." He laughed as he nuzzled her nose with his. "And I love you too."
Brooke smiled and pulled him into another kiss as the rest of the world faded around them.
Peyton lazily flipped through the different records that she held in her hand, looking for one that would pique her interest. Nothing. Nathan had to work today, and Tim had some sort of party to got to, leaving Peyton alone to be bored all day. Who goes to a party in the early afternoon anyway?
She had wondered down the street to the nearest record store and begun to browse through the entire collection that the store had, only finding about 5 that actually interested her.
She was surprised when she heard a bell ding above the door and looked up to see a tall dark haired guy with a baby enter. Jake! Peyton was excited to see him, she really felt like they had made a connection a few weeks ago, but also felt childish for being nervous around him. She hadn't even talked to him since the party…
"Hey Peyton," He called as he grinned and waved at her.
She walked over to him and waved to Jenny. "Hey Jake, how are you?"
"I'm ok. Sorry I've been kind of avoiding you lately. Jenny was sick and I didn't want to give anything to you." He said sincerely.
"It's perfectly fine." Peyton responded quickly with a smile. "Hey girlie, how are you?" She asked as she bent over the baby.
Her answer was a loud string of 'goos' and 'gahs' to which she laughed good naturedly. "So what have you been up to?" Peyton asked, turning to Jake again.
"Oh, not much really. Beach, work, Jenny. I actually had half of the day off today so I decided to come down and get some new music." He reached over and picked up a Fall Out Boy CD.
"You like Fall Out Boy?" She asked with a smile.
"Yeah, you don't?"
"Are you kidding? I love them! The way they mix good music with deep and entirely random lyrics really makes the songs fun to listen to." Peyton responded.
"Are you a musician?" He questioned curiously.
"No, God no. I can't carry a tune to save my life. I just appreciate the music."
"Oh." He smiled and then looked at his watch. "Listen, I really need to get going, I have to start work in an hour, but, if you want, maybe we could get a bit to eat tomorrow night? I'll be baby free." Jake grinned as he thought of the prospect of going out on a date with the beautiful girl in front of him.
"Yeah, sounds good." She beamed.
"Great, I'll pick you up at 7:00?"
"Yeah." They said goodbye and then Jake and Jenny exited the store. "It's a date." She said to herself as she felt butterflies forming in her stomach.
"So then what happened?" Haley questioned as she and Nathan finished up for the day and walked toward the closet that held the cleaning supplies to return their buckets and rags.
"Nothing, I totally got let off the hook." Nathan laughed as he recalled one of the times had snuck out, gotten drunk, and then returned to find his parents waiting for him…good times.
"That is unbelievable!" She laughed. "If I would have pulled a stunt like that, I'd be grounded for weeks."
"At least your parents care enough to ground you." Nathan said solemnly, changing the mood.
Haley gave him a sympathetic look before her cell phone went off, breaking the silence.
"Hello?" She answered after rooting through her bag to find the origin of the loud ringing.
"Hello?" She asked again when no one answered. "Anyone there?"
She was about to hang up when a low voice spoke from the other side of the connection. "I'm coming for you."
Haley froze, something about the voice was vaguely familiar to her. Nathan noticed that she had stopped walking with him and approached her. Noticing the petrified look in her eyes and the silence from the phone, he quickly grabbed it.
"Who the hell is this?" He asked in a slightly annoyed tone, mostly because the idiot on the other line had obviously said something to upset Haley. All he heard was the dial tone.