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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 15
Jackass, Nathan thought as he hung up Haley's cell phone. "Who was it?" He asked and handed the phone back to her. "You ok?" he was obviously concerned when she didn't answer him, but instead, had closed her eyes and put her hand to her head as if she was trying to remember something.
That voice had been so familiar to her; she just couldn't seem to place it. Although she couldn't remember who the voice belonged to, she couldn't help the slight recognition and dread that spread through her entire body upon hearing those 4 little words. "Um, yeah, it was just a stupid prank call." She answered with a forced smile and then continued forward.
Nathan didn't believe her, she was a terrible liar. He decided to try and let it go for now since she apparently didn't want to talk about it, but if that asshole called again, he would surely give the bastard a piece of his mind. What kind of loser prank calls a girl in the middle of the day and purposely scares the shit out of her? What did he say anyway? "Are you sure?" Nathan asked carefully in order to keep from upsetting her.
"Oh, yeah, it sounded like a little 12 year old." She lied again. It definitely didn't sound like a 12 year old, and Nathan could tell that from the way she had reacted from the phone call in the first place. Her whole body had stiffened up, her eyes grew 5 times wider, and she had frozen in place. Either this call had really spooked her, or she was just really gullible.
"You're probably right." He mumbled as the two started again to walk back towards the stairs to return to the third floor now that their work was finished.
As soon as the pair reached the top of the first flight of stairs, Haley's cell phone started to ring again.
"Let me answer it." Nathan pleaded. He wanted to 'have a word' with the punk on the other end that kept calling her phone.
"It's my mom." She said as she let out a relieved breath after looking at the caller id. "Hey, mom."
"Haley, thank goodness I got a hold of you." Lydia said frantically.
"Mom, what's wrong?" Nathan looked at Haley and tried to figure out what the conversation was about from the expression of worry written on her face.
"Your uncle, Bobby, escaped from jail last night." Her mother answered somberly.
The news hit Haley like a ton of bricks, for a second she had to remind herself to breathe. "Ok…well…have they found him yet?" She forced out. Nathan grew increasingly more concerned as he watched her face go from happy at hearing her mother's voice to completely petrified of whatever she had just told her.
"No…Haley Bub, please be careful, ok? Tell Lucas, or some other big guy to keep an eye on you." Lydia warned.
"Um, yeah, ok, I will. I love you mom." Haley was very close to tears by now; it couldn't be true, could it? Had her uncle really escaped from jail?
"I love you too, sweaty." Her mom hung up as a salty tear escaped from Haley's eye, this did not go unnoticed by Nathan.
"Hey, hey, it's ok." He soothed as he pulled her into a hug. He had no idea what Lydia had just told her, but the fact that it made her cry said a lot. "What happened?"
"Um, my uncle…he escaped…from jail." She said as the tears started to flow freely into Nathan's shirt as she buried her head in his shoulder.
Flashback
"But mom, I don't want to eat the peas!" A ten year old Haley protested as her mom shoveled peas onto her dinner plate.
"Haley Bub, they are good for you. You have to eat at least 2 bites of them before you can get up." Lydia said simply.
"Daddy, tell her that I don't have to eat them."
"Just shut up and eat you peas, Haley." Taylor called from across the table as Haley stuck her tongue out at her.
"That's enough girls. Haley, eat your peas. Taylor, stop instigating trouble with your sister." Jimmy warned sternly, but still in his usual lighthearted tone.
"What's for dinner?" Bobby called as he entered the James' household. He was the older brother of Jimmy James, but no one would ever guess it. Bobby had light hair, where Jimmy's was brown. Bobby was, let's just say, round, while Jimmy was thin. Bobby was naturally in a bad mood all the time, while Jimmy seemed to always be in a good one.
"Fried chicken." Lydia sing-songed from the stove as she turned off the oven that held the rolls. Bobby had been staying with the James's while he tried to get back on his feat after losing all the money he had betting on high school basketball games.
"Sound's great." Bobby looked over at Haley who had not touched the food that was on her plate and then to Taylor who had already finished half of hers. "Why aren't you eating?" He demanded sternly, receiving no answer from Haley. She had gotten in the habit of not speaking to him, for fear of being yelled at.
"Haley Bub, we already told you that you have to eat your peas." Her father said.
"Is that the problem? You don't want to eat your peas?" Bobby laughed. "I think we should have a little talk, Haley."
Those words were the few words that Haley had grown to fear the most in the few months that Bobby had stayed with them. He always found something that she was doing wrong, and then had a 'discussion' with her. Her parents never objected because they had no idea what went on during these 'discussions' and they wouldn't know until she was finally hospitalized for a few days because of it.
"Come on, we'll go outside to the shed and talk." Bobby smiled. Haley had no choice but to go with him.
She followed him out to the tool shed where she awaited his cruel punishment as he locked the door. "Please don't." She begged, anticipating what was to come.
"Haley, you know what happens when you don't follow the rules." Bobby justified as he slapped her across the face. She started crying as he continued to beat her until he was satisfied with his show of superior strength and then returned inside to eat.
Haley cried on the floor of the shed as she held her hurt arm where her uncle's foot had kicked her just moments ago. Why did he always pick on her? She had contemplated telling her parents once about what he kept doing to her, but was scared away from the idea when Bobby told her that they wouldn't believe her and would be mad that she accused him of such things. So, she had hidden the bruises on her arms and legs by saying that she had just been really cold lately and wearing long sleeved shirts and pants.
"Where's Haley?" Jimmy asked good naturedly as Bobby re-entered the kitchen.
"She wanted to stay behind and think about her actions for a few more minutes." Bobby explained as he stuffed a whole piece of bread into his mouth at one time, not even caring that he had just hit his 10 year old niece to boost his own self esteem.
End Flashback
Nathan felt his throat tighten as she finished her story of who exactly her uncle was. So that's why she had had a cast on her arm for a few weeks in fourth grade. He felt anger rising in him as her sobs continued to stain his shirt.
The whole thing had been a long time ago, and when her parents found out, they had wasted no time in bringing the police into the matter. Bobby had gone to jail and Haley had moved on with her life, but not without quite a few emotional scars. All the memories came flooding back to her at this moment and she finally realized who had called her a few minutes before with the cryptic message and why she had recognized the voice. It was Bobby.
She dug her face further into his shoulder as he patiently stroked her hair and waited for her to calm down. It was obvious that this guy had traumatized her and even upon hearing his voice, she completely lost it.
All Nathan wanted to do was find the sorry excuse for a man and beat the shit out of him as he probably had done to Haley many times. God, just thinking about it made him want to punch someone. Nathan felt the same feeling he had felt at the party a few weeks ago wash over him again, he felt the need to protect the girl in his arms against anything that made her cry, anything that made her as scared as she was right now.
"Come on, let's go upstairs and tell Lucas what's going on." Nathan whispered in her ear.
She nodded slightly, not wanting to leave his strong embrace. She was scared out of her mind right now, thinking of her uncle did that to her, but somehow, she had never felt safer.
"I never realized how much I wanted this until now," Lucas breathed heavily as he and Brooke made out on the couch.
"Me neither." She whispered. She was happier at this moment than she could ever remember being in her whole life. Lucas loved her!
"Go out with me." He asked suddenly, in between kisses.
"What?" She laughed, she had not expected that.
"Tomorrow night, go out with me. To dinner, to a movie, I don't care as long as I'm with you."
Broke smiled and pulled her cell phone out of her pocket. She quickly dialed a few numbers and then spoke in French to someone on the other line. Lucas watched her, completely bewildered. "There." She smiled. "We now have reservations at the Beach Palm, the most exclusive restaurant on the east coast."
Lucas laughed as he pulled her in for another kiss, he just couldn't get enough of her.
The moment was broken when the door was pushed open by Haley who walked in with puffy red eyes. Apparently, Nathan had let her do this part on her own.
"Tutor girl, what's wrong?" Brooke said as she saw the pathetic state that her friend was in and rushed over to pull her into a hug.
"My uncle, Bobby, escaped from jail." Her voice was emotionless as she broke the news to a shocked and speechless Brooke and Lucas. Haley hadn't even noticed that Lucas and Brooke had looked awful cozy when she walked in…
"Oh my God, did you see him?" Brooke asked with wide eyes.
"No, my mom called me and told me." She explained. She went on to tell them the whole story as Brooke and Lucas stared at her in disbelief.
Lucas remembered the time in fourth grade when Haley had gotten a cast on her arm; she said she had fallen down the steps. Now he knew that it had been Bobby all along, Bobby was the one that Haley always sung about when she thought no one could hear, when she sung about hating someone so much and wanting to run away. Now he was out there in the world and Lucas didn't know what to do or say. How does someone just escape from jail?
Brooke just held her friend in a tight embrace and provided a shoulder to cry on as Haley voiced her fears and her thoughts to the two of them until she calmed down. What were they going to do?