Chapter 6

The next few weeks at school were harder than they should have been. It took everything he had for Nathan not to walk straight up and put his arm around Haley in the school hallways. Whenever he walked by her he could smell her perfume and see the inconspicuous wink she'd give him and it made him want to pull her to him. But he couldn't. Not when Damien could be anywhere.

To Damien, girlfriends were like poison. They started by sucking the life out of you and eventually leaving you helpless or sometimes dead. Girlfriends held them back from having fun, but really, Nathan thought Damien didn't like them because it kept the "brotherhood" apart. Peyton was the only girl Damien really liked and it was because she was a pushover. She never kept Nathan from Damien because Nathan knew that dealing with a moody Peyton was better than dealing with a mad Damien. But it was different with Haley. She wouldn't just pout on her webcam like Peyton did. She'd leave his life forever if he treated her the way he treated Peyton. And she wouldn't forgive him as easily as Peyton did either. Because for Haley; sex wasn't a bribe. She'd made it perfectly clear that she was saving herself for marriage, and in some way, Nathan respected her so much more for it. Not that he disrespected Peyton in any way. It was just different with Haley. She was different.

Ever since Nathan and Damien had become friends, it was always Damien's way or no way. There was no highway option. Damien's father was one of the most wanted men in the state for fraud, grand theft auto, forgery, and attempted murder on his ex wife who stole half a million from him. It was because of this life of crime that kept Damien hostage at his grandmother's house. Damien was always looking for ways out, even if she was one of the sweetest ladies Nathan had ever met.

Come to think of it, Nathan couldn't even remember why he'd wanted to be part of Damien's group anyway. Probably because he was rebelling against his mom's love affair with almost every man in Tree Hill. After Dan Scott left Deb Lee for his high school sweetheart Karen Roe and her son Lucas, Deb was never the same. She was a drunk, addicted to pills and a complete bitch to everyone. Nathan rarely wanted to be around her. And what would happen when Haley asked to meet his family? Would he take her home to meet his alcohol-crazed mother? Sure, Dan had offered to help Nathan when he was thirteen or so; allowed him to move in at one point, but after a night in the Scott house, it wasn't working out. Nathan couldn't live this lie. He wasn't brought up in that house. Lucas was the star of the show, playing basketball and hanging out with his dad like some prince. Karen waited on their hands and feet while they ran around the house like they were kings of the world. He wasn't one of them.

Of course, all of that was just in Nathan's mind. After getting to know Lucas for the past two months, he knew that he was nothing like that. Nathan had just been bitter about his father leaving his mother for someone else, and causing her to give into the pills, the men, the drinks.

Upon entering English with Mr. Dabney, Nathan's presence was certainly known among his peers. He was one of those students who skipped class more than he went to it, but today was a test, and in order to stay on the basketball team, he needed this A. He'd studied with Haley the night before and was going to do well, he told himself.

After sitting down he saw two arms reaching over his head and land around his neck. "Hey matchmaker." Nathan felt the hotness of Brooke Davis's breath in his ear and smelled the minty freshness of her gum.

Nathan, staring down at his English notes on Poe said in a quiet voice, "I thought you sat up front, Brooke."

"I do," she said removing her arms and getting out of her seat behind him to sit on his desk. His notebook was instantly replaced with a cheerleading skirted lap and a pair of perfect alabaster legs. "But I asked that Mouth kid to switch with me. I need to know if you've talked to Lucas about me yet?"

Nathan had talked to him in fact, but Lucas seemed less interested in Brooke as he seemed about Peyton. He'd asked Nathan to tell him about Peyton on more than one occasion. And after practice last week they'd walked out to the parking lot and seen Peyton waiting for Jake by his car. He'd greeted her with a hug and kiss that shook Lucas up a little bit. After some pressing Nathan got Lucas to admit that he'd had a thing for Peyton since before she and Nathan started dating. She was always "that girl" to him.

"Yeah I did," Nathan finally said. "But he's really busy right now with basketball and school. So I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't ask you out right away." He tried to pry his notebook from under Brooke's butt, but she didn't budge.

"No boy is too busy for a little B. Davis action," Brooke stood up, freeing Nathan's notebook and she promptly went back to her seat in the front as Mouth stood up when she got there. Nathan watched as a panic stricken Mouth hastily got up, bowed, and then returned to his seat behind Nathan.

"Did I really just bow?" he asked himself, Nathan overhearing.

"Don't worry, man," Nathan reassured him. "We've all felt inferior to Brooke Davis. We've all felt helpless against her charms."

After school, Haley had finished with her first student for the afternoon and then patiently waited in the tutoring center for her new tutee. He was already five minutes late, but she caught up on homework she had for some AP classes and looked up at the clock every few minutes. After fifteen more minutes, she finally gave up and decided to go home.

Walking around the halls when school was out was kind of surreal. There was no one around; even faculty seemed to disperse after the bell rang. Almost like they didn't want to be here anymore than the students did.

Walking by the gym, Haley peered in and saw Nathan sitting on the bench drinking from a large Gatorade bottle. His bicep muscles protruded from his arms and have him the chiseled look. How had she never noticed him before Lucas's party? Surely, she would have seen him around school before then. She smiled a slight smile and then all of a sudden all the boys on the team came barreling out of the gym doors.

Immediately, she backed up against some lockers to let them pass and she wasn't even sure if they saw her anyway, until Lucas passed by. "Hey Hales," he said, heading toward the locker room. Nathan passed by last and smiled a quick smile. He didn't say anything, but Haley heard everything. His smile was reassuring as he walked away. Finally, Whitey followed suit, staring at his clipboard as he did.

"Haley," he said as he passed, his eyes glued to the board. As he walked away she breathed, picked up her book bag which had fallen off her shoulder in all the commotion, and headed to her car.

On the way to work, she drove by Dan Scott Motors where three police cars were parked in the parking lot with their lights on. From what Haley could see Dan was talking to the police officers and there was a person in one of the cars but all she could see was the back of the head.

When she got to work Karen was in a fuss. She was running around trying to get people's orders, while talking on the phone. Haley quickly grabbed her apron and took the two plates Karen was trying to juggle while balancing the phone between her ear and shoulder.

"I understand that, Jim," Karen said into the phone, "but I need that shipment tomorrow or my customers won't have anything to eat." She looked at Haley and rolled her eyes as he talked. He was speaking so vehemently that Haley would hear him mumbling through the phone. "Well if you can't get my shipment on time, when I suppose the next one will be free, correct?" There was a hesitation on the other end and Karen stared ahead into space expectantly. Then some mumbling came again and Karen smiled. "Okay, Jim, I will see you tomorrow." Exasperatedly, she hung up the phone. "That was so much easier than I thought. His wife must be giving him trouble again."

Haley laughed. "Um, Karen," she said.

"Yeah," Karen said getting a grilled cheese ready for a customer.

"What's with all the commotion at Dan's?"

"Oh," Karen said rolling her eyes. "Just another thorn in our sides." She let the sandwich sizzle on the pan. "Someone tried to steal one of Dan's cars last night and made a run for it when the police showed up. But they just found him this afternoon. Turns out he goes to your school. I told Dan not to press charges, but he's eighteen, so it doesn't matter. He's getting in trouble anyway."

"He goes to my school?" Haley asked. "What's his name?"

"Damon." Karen said. "Damien? One of those. Anyone you know?"

So it was Damien. Haley wasn't surprised, from everything Nathan had told her. "No," Haley said finally. "No one I know." And with that she went back to work.