Chapter Twenty-Two

Brooke paced outside the main entrance to the Whitey Durham Field House. Lucas hadn't arrived and she was starting to get a little nervous, as much as she loathed admitting it, even to herself. They were just going to watch the basketball match. She had injured her left hand on Wednesday during cheerleading practice and three of her fingers were still bandaged together. She had to let her hand heal so she wasn't on the squad for this match, but Bevin had coerced her into coming for the game. Brooke had decided she didn't want to suffer alone and so she'd asked Lucas and Nathan to come with her. Both decided to come, so it was far from a date. Not that she wanted a date with Lucas Scott. Of course she didn't. The Ice Princess might be out of the picture, but that didn't change the fact that he had liked her and – oh, who the hell was she kidding! Lucas still hadn't asked her out, nor had he made any indication that he was planning to. 'Boys!' she thought bitterly.

She was walking up and down so much that she almost missed Lucas and Nathan when they finally turned up, mere minutes before the game was about to start. "What took you so long?"

"Well, Lucy here," Nathan jerked his thumb in Lucas's direction, "took extra time pampering herself and then we had car trouble."

"I wasn't 'pampering' myself," Lucas protested. "And stop calling me Lucy."

"Never mind. Let's just go. We'll be lucky if we get good seats though."

Having known Brooke for some time now, both boys were aware of her habit of linking arms with the person next to her as she walked. It didn't escape either boy's notice as they made their way to the bleachers that it was Nathan's arm, and not Lucas's, that she took in hers.

Doing his best to ignore Brooke's actions – and trying even harder after he saw her grin and wave at Mouth when she hadn't even really smiled at him yet – Lucas managed to find them a place near the back with three seats available together. Lucas slid down the row first, Brooke second and Nathan last, just in time to see the start of the game.

The Tree Hill Ravens gained the lead quickly and managed to keep it up to half time. By then, Nathan was practically starving, having forgotten to get something to eat before they left Lucas' house. After the half time buzzer rang he stood up and informed Lucas and Brooke that he was going to get refreshments. "Do you guys want me to get you anything?"

Lucas shook his head. "No, thanks."

Brooke thought for a moment. Then she said, "Why don't I come with you?"

At the look on Lucas' face Nathan interjected, "You don't need to. I'm sure I can manage to carry everything."

"Yeah, but I can't decide what I want so I'd rather see what they have." Before either boy could say anything she had already stood up and looked at Nathan expectantly, waiting for him to move.

He did and the two of them were out of the bleachers quickly and started the long walk to the refreshment stand.

"So, what's going on with you?"

Brooke looked up at Nathan curiously. "Nothing, why?"

"Just…you and Lucas."

Brooke looked at her feet as she walked forwards. "There's nothing going on with me and Lucas."

"Well, of course there isn't if you start running every time you two might be alone together."

Brooke immediately stopped walking. "Hey! That is not fair!"

"I'm sorry, Brooke," Nathan said, and he meant it too when he saw the look on her face. "I just thought that you two were gonna get together."

Brooke folded her arms. "So did I. Guess that didn't work out, huh?"

"It can still work out, Br-"

"Not after Rachel. Well, not so soon after that," she amended. "He obviously had some sort of attraction to her and if she wasn't in juvie now they might be together."

"Brooke, trust me, that wouldn't have happened."

"But, it could have. And I can't just pretend like it didn't happen."

"So where does that leave you?" Nathan asked.

"Friends, like we said." When Nathan looked like he wanted to argue the topic some more she pulled him by the arm, "Come on. If there's a crowd and we get really late in line we'll never get our food before half time is over."

As they resumed walking someone came from the other side of the bleachers, on Nathan's right, and as she was busy talking on her phone, she didn't see Nathan or Brooke. Since she was quiet now Nathan wasn't sure that Brooke had seen her either; but Nathan had definitely spotted Miss Haley James. She had walked in front of them and reached the refreshment stand first, so Nathan and Brooke took their places in line behind her.

Brooke immersed herself in reading the menu on the board while Nathan watched Haley from behind. She was more casual than she was at school, simply wearing a pair of jeans and an orange tank top, but the look suited her. Her hair was loose and long, reaching halfway down her back, which was how Nathan liked it. When she closed her phone and put it in her jean pocket the movement drew Nathan's attention to her shoulders, which were revealed by her sleeveless top.

"Hey, how big are their popcorn sizes?"

"Huh?" Nathan looked at Brooke.

"Their popcorn; how big are their sizes?" Brooke repeated.

"Uh…small, medium and large."

Brooke laughed. "No, I mean, is their medium really a normal medium or is it a bit larger?"

Nathan shrugged. "I don't know." Brooke went back to perusing the menu, while Nathan tried to make himself stop staring at Haley, who was patiently waiting her turn, oblivious to Nathan's attention from behind.

Unable to look at anything else, Nathan forced himself to close his eyes. Then he saw a lot more skin than just her shoulders. He didn't open his eyes again until he felt Brooke nudge him in the elbow.

"Why aren't you moving?"

Nathan saw that Haley was now at the counter and paying for what she wanted, so he and Brooke took a step forward. When Haley turned around, coke in hand, she saw both Nathan and Brooke and smiled at them before leaving. They smiled back, with Nathan's gaze following her retreating figure for so long that Brooke had to nudge him again and remind him he hadn't asked for his food.

After Nathan paid for their refreshments they headed back, but Brooke stopped him before they reached the bleachers. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure," Nathan replied and took a sip of his coke, assuming they had gone back to their earlier conversation regarding her and Lucas.

Brooke glanced around to see if there was anyone near them before continuing. "Do you like…Miss James?"

Nathan sputtered on his drink. "Wh-what? N-no!"

Brooke couldn't help but smile. "You do, don't you?"

"No, of course I don't. I just said I don't. I –"

"It's okay, Nathan. I mean, she's a pretty cool teacher. And she's pretty and not really that much older than you anyway."

Nathan was able to refrain from informing Brooke that she was actually one year younger than him because he was still in shock. "I really don't like her – I don't know why you would say that –"

"You always look at her. Like, in class, you never look anywhere else."

"I look at her so I can hear what she's saying to take down notes."

"You never write anything in your books, Nathan," Brooke said, and he knew he couldn't argue with that. "And it's not just in class; whenever she's around that's where you're looking. And you talk to her a lot."

"She's giving me extra lessons to help me with my work."

"Then why aren't your grades really, really high?" Brooke asked.

"Maybe I'm just not smart enough," Nathan countered. "And how do you know what grades I get?"

"I sit next to you in class; I can see your papers. And we have other classes together so I know that you actually are quite smart."

"I don't like her."

"It's okay that you do."

"But I don't!" Nathan protested again.

Brooke seemed to be considering this; then she grinned. "Don't worry. I won't tell." Before Nathan could argue some more she turned on her heel and walked up the stands to where they had been sitting, leaving Nathan no choice but to follow her.

Brooke slid down the row where Lucas was waiting for them. "What took you so long?"

Brooke smiled. "We just had a little chat."

"Oh." Lucas glowered at Nathan before turning his gaze back to the game, which had just restarted.

Startled by Brooke's revelation, and the fear that she wasn't the only person who had noticed, Nathan tried to concentrate on the game instead of searching for Haley's face in the opposite bleachers. Just as his willpower started to weaken he heard a loud noise emit from the crowd. He looked back at the game and saw that the Ravens had dropped the ball, and the other team had taken it down their side of the court.

"Hey, look," Brooke called Lucas and Nathan. "Is he okay?"

Their attention was drawn to the boy who had dropped the ball. He was shaking all over. And then, suddenly, he collapsed.