Hello everyone. Thanks for the reviews… they make me smile. Feel free to keep sending your opinions on whether or not I write a sequel or a new story…I would appreciate it a lot! Well, enjoy chapter 30!
Disclaimer: I think you all know this by now, but just in case, I do not own One Tree Hill or any of its characters.
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 30
"So, are you excited?" Haley questioned playfully as she lined up her putter and hit her bright yellow ball towards the hole a few feet away. It bounced off the wall and went right in.
"About what?" Nathan played along. It was a Friday night, and to celebrate another week of cleaning finished, Haley had decided to treat Nathan to a round of miniature golf.
"Your party." She replied with a smile as she bent down and up her ball. "It's in 2 weeks."
"First of all, it's Tim's party." He laughed as he attempted the same shot that Haley had just made with his dark blue ball and missed. "And second of all, stop distracting me. Look what you made me do?" He feigned annoyance as he pointed to his ball that was a good 3 feet from the hole.
"Oh please, I had nothing to do with you missing that shot." She said defensively. "You lined your putter up all wrong with the ball and you banked it in the wrong spot."
"Excuse me. I know how to play putt-putt. Thank you." He laughed. "And how would you know that anyway?"
"It's simple geometry." Haley explained. "You have to hit the ball in the exact right spot for it to be deflected into the whole."
"Oh, is that so?" Nathan softly tapped the ball into the whole and followed her to the next hole. "If it's simple geometry, then let's see you make a whole in one on this one."
Haley studied the hole carefully. There was a small bridge that seemingly led right to the whole and a large slanted hill to the side of it. Upon farther inspection, Haley realized that if the ball was sent across the bridge, the velocity would be so great that it would bounce off the rim of the whole. However, sending the ball over the hill would curve it and give it just enough momentum to fall gently into the hole. She smiled smugly to herself as she placed her ball on the beginning mat and pointed the putter towards the hill.
"Ok, I'm going to help you out a little, um, you want to hit the ball over that bridge right there." Nathan laughed cockily.
"No…I know what I'm doing." She responded smugly as she flashed the smirk that she had learned so well from him. With that, she hit the ball and sent it swiftly rolling over the hill and straight into the hole. "Yes! Hole in One!" Haley cheered for herself.
"That, right there, is not right!" Nathan pouted.
"Oh, poor Nathan, did I embarrass you?" Haley said playfully.
"No, because I can get a hole in one too." He said indignantly as he bent down and placed his ball on the mat.
"Fine, but if you want some help, just aim right here." He pointed her putter to a spot right at the top of the hill.
"I don't need help. That's where I was aiming anyway." She laughed at how big his ego could be at times. He was acting just the way he had when she changed the tire. It was very amusing. Nathan hit the ball into the exact spot that Haley had pointed to and easily made a hole in one.
"Wooh! Go Nathan!" Haley cheered as he bent down to grab his ball.
"Have you ever considered being a cheerleader?" He asked playfully as he walked up in front of her and wrapped his arms around her back.
"No. No, no, no. No." She said adamantly and with a little giggle. "Why?"
"Because you're good at it." He shrugged. "And because you'd look sexy as hell in the uniform." He joked.
Before he could say anything, She swiftly pulled his head down to hers in a passionate kiss. "No cheerleading." She whispered.
"Ok…" Nathan managed as he eagerly kissed her back. Then, he realized that they were in the middle of a miniature golf course and pulled away. "Maybe we should…"
"Nathan, come here." Haley grabbed his hand and led him over to a nearby bench where they both sat down. "We've never really talked about this and I think it's time that we do."
Nathan was a little confused at this point. What was she talking about?
Noticing the slight confusion in his eyes, she decided to continue. "I know that you know that I want to wait until I get married to have sex." She had wanted to have this conversation for some time now, but had been putting it off.
Nathan was taken completely off guard by this. He had not expected her to want to discuss this now, here, in public. No one was near them, but it still surprised him that she wanted to bring it up here. All he did was nod his head.
She smiled a little at his shyness. She looked around and saw that the closest people were all the way back on hole number two. Nathan and Haley were a good 10 holes ahead of them. They had time to talk… "I just wanted to thank you for not pressuring me…and I kind-of wanted to know what you thought?"
Nathan looked up at her and saw a certain vulnerability in her eyes. No doubt she had had this conversation with at least one other person and apparently they had not been happy with her decision.
Haley's heart was racing now, the last time that she told a guy that she wanted to wait, he was gone in the blink of an eye. Sure, Nathan already knew, but she had never actually told him directly once they started dating, and she was absolutely terrified of losing him.
"Honestly?" Nathan watched her carefully nod her head and brace herself for the worst. "Haley, it only makes me respect you more." He answered sincerely.
She looked up at him through almost surprised eyes that were dancing with happiness. "Really?"
"I love the way you're not easy like half of the other girls at school." Nathan assured her softly. "And I want you to know something, Hales, I'll wait as long as you want." He was careful not to say anything that would lead her to believe that he thought they would get married in the future, because he had never really even thought of the possibility, he was only 17!
A wide smile graced her face as she lunged at him and pulled him into a searing kiss. "Thank you." She whispered as she moved to kiss him more deeply.
"Hey, fancy running into you guys here." Chris Keller laughed as he came up behind them.
Haley and Nathan pulled away from each other quickly and stood up. "Chris! Are you, like, following us or something?" Haley questioned as Nathan shot him an evil glare. Why did it seem like he was everywhere?
"No, I thought you guys were following me." Chris said innocently as Nathan rolled his eyes.
"Is there something you want?" Nathan asked finally after about a minute of uncomfortable silence.
"Yeah." Chris smiled. Haley and Nathan gave him an expectant look. "Oh, you want to know what it is?"
"Not really." Nathan mumbled before Chris started speaking again.
"I want to challenge you guys to a match." Chris winked as he bounced his pink ball up and down on the concrete sidewalk.
"Ha. We'll pass." Haley said mockingly. If they played this game, there was a good chance that Nathan would accidentally get hit with Chris's putter. Nathan has had enough black eyes for one summer, She thought.
"Come on! If either of you guys win, I'll move out of the condos and leave you alone for the rest of the summer." Chris pleaded.
"I'm in." Nathan said quickly. Sure, there were only about 2 weeks left of summer, but it was worth it. He was brought out of his thoughts by a pointy elbow softly hitting him in the ribs. "Ow."
"What if you win?" Haley asked skeptically as she took a drink of the Gatorade Nathan had bought her.
"I get to go out on a date with you." Chris smirked.
Haley choked on her drink. "No way in hell." Nathan said loudly. He wanted Chris out of the condos, but not enough to make Haley suffer by going out with him. He still remembered the last time that Chris was alone with her… not good.
"Ok, ok, fine. I win, you have to invite me to your party." Chris said eagerly.
"What party?" Nathan played dumb. How did Chris find out about the party?
"The party that you and Tim are having in 2 weeks," Chris said in annoyance. "You know, the end of summer party on the yacht? Yeah, I heard that you need an invitation to get in and I think mine must have been sent to my New York penthouse by accident. So I need a new one."
Haley looked at him carefully. She did not want Chris to be there to push both her and Nathan's buttons.
"Fine, we're in." Nathan announced as he glanced at Haley.
"Sweet! I'm going to go get the putter that Tiger Woods gave me from my car. I'll be right back." Before either Nathan or Haley could protest, Chris was retreating back to his "car" that happened to be a golf cart.
"Did he actually drive that thing here?" Nathan mumbled before turning to see Haley staring at him with raised eyebrows.
"Can I ask why you agreed to this game?" She said in a serious yet playful voice.
"Hales, you are amazing at putt-putt. There is no way that we won't win." Nathan said confidently.
"Got it!" Chris called as he approached them with a new putter in his hand. "I'm first!" He quickly lined his ball up on the mat and sent it right past the hole. Then, something bizarre happened. The ball was a good 3 inches past the hole and it started to roll backwards until it dropped in.
"What the hell?" Nathan grumbled as he watched Chris triumphantly make his way to the metal cup that was the hole and bend down to pick up his ball.
Haley couldn't help but laugh a little when Chris had difficulties picking up the ball, it was as if the little golf ball was too heavy for him.
"Hole in one!" Chris proclaimed proudly.
"Shut up, Keller." Nathan warned. There were no rules to this game that said that Nathan couldn't pound his face into the ground.
Nathan was next and got a 2 on the relatively easy hole. Next, Haley made him proud by getting a hole in one as well.
"Nice one, Hales." Chris cheered. He quickly shut up when he saw the warning glance that Nathan was giving him.
The next few holes moved quickly with about the same scores. Chris miraculously got a hole in one on every hole, all of them being very strange shots like the first. Haley was behind Chris by 2 shots and Nathan was down by 6.
As they approached the last hole, and most difficult, Haley was having trouble believing that Chris was able to make such amazing shots without some kind of outside force. He lined his white ball up and hit it, and what do you know, another hole in one.
"Wooh! Chris Keller, champion!" Chris proclaimed loudly as he held his putter in the air. "Looks like I just got myself invited to the party."
Nathan started muttering a string of curse words under his breath as Haley realized something that she hadn't before. Chris had just hit a white ball into the hole, the one that he had when he first arrived was pink. She was sure it was pink because she despised that color and had noticed it immediately as he annoyingly bounced it up and down.
"Not so fast, Chris." She started. "Why did you switch balls before we started playing?"
Nathan looked up at Chris suspiciously. He hadn't noticed a change of golf balls but he trusted what Haley was saying.
"What are you talking about?" Chris laughed nervously.
Now Nathan knew that Chris had switched balls for some reason. "You heard her. Why did you switch balls?" He inquired.
"I wanted to use my lucky one." Chris defended himself as he uneasily watched Haley make her way over to the basket that collected the balls at the final hole and Nathan follow her.
"I knew it." Haley whispered after picking up the ball and noticing that it felt way to heavy to be a golf ball.
"What?" Nathan asked. He didn't understand until she took the ball over to the hole and attached it to the side of the metal covered hole.
"It's magnetic." She explained bitterly. They both looked to where Chris had been standing moments before, but he was gone. Nathan looked over to the street to see Chris driving his little golf cart into the open traffic and heading back towards the condo complex.
"asshole." Nathan said. That seemed to be the only word to describe Chris, and Nathan used it for that purpose quite often.
"Did you find anything?" Dan questioned gruffly over the phone.
"Well, she's leaving the miniature golf course with some guy, but I can't see who it is." Tom said into his cell phone as he hid in some bushes by the parking lot. He was sorry that he didn't have any better information for Dan because he was getting paid a lot of money to spy on this Haley girl.
"Did she say anything while she was there? Anything that could help us?" Dan barked. He was a little aggravated to be receiving Tom's call right now because he was on his way to the salon to get his chest waxed.
"She said something about a party." Tom offered.
"Ok… Tom, I'm going to need something better than that. So unless you have some worth wile information, don't call me!" Dan promptly hung up the phone.
Tom furrowed his brow and watched as Haley got into a large SUV with the guy he had seen her with all night. Who was he? Maybe he was the key to bringing her down?