DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT own One Tree Hill or its Characters.

CHAPTER 2

We have been here almost a full week and just about everything is put into its place. My room and my sisters room were done first and then we got to work on the rest. This house was a little bigger then our last so we had more room to put things. I had barely walked outside since being here. Tonight we decided to walk down to what my parents called The River Walk and have dinner. We were eating outside so that we could watch the sunset over the River, not that I cared but my mom and dad wanted to see it, I thought it was a little too hot to be sitting outside to eat but that was just me, apparently. We saw a few kids passing that looked to be about my age. I wondered where their parents were because they were obviously without any. After our dinner we had gotten ice cream and walked the short distance back our home.

We didnt have any cable yet and we didnt have our computer hooked up either so it was a little boring. My mother asked my sister and I if we wanted to go sit on the front porch with her and my dad. It was a humid night, not that I wasnt used to that because it would get very humid in Maryland too. A lot of people were out walking and when they would pass our house they would say "hello" or "What a nice night to be out". Wow people here are very friendly. While sitting there I couldnt help but think that we would be spending a lot of time out here on this porch. A few moments had passed when a dark haired women came to the fence and introduced herself as Karen.

"Hi." She said, "Im Karen Roe, I'd like to welcome you guys to Tree Hill. I live next door here"

My mother and father both stood and walked to the fence. My dad opened the gate for her. "Thank you Karen, Im Jason and this is my wife Trish." They shook hands and then called to my sister and I to come, "And these are our two daughters Kristin and Sophia." My dad continued.

Milo came to the gate to greet Karen as well. "And this is our dog Milo."

My sister and I shook her hand. "Its nice to meet you Ms Karen" My sister said. "Nice to meet you." I repeated.

"Oh call me Karen. Ms makes me sound old." She laughed leaning down petting Milo. "How old are you girls?"

"Im 14." my sister answered.

"And Im 11." I told her.

"Oh really? My son, Lucas is 11 also." She said. "I wish he was here so I could introduce him as well but he's playing basketball with his friends and The River Court right now."

My parents talked to Karen for a good bit about where we are from, what brought us here and how we liked the town so far. She also told my mom and dad that she owned a small cafe downtown, near where we were tonight for dinner. Her and my mom really hit it off. They talked for awhile and my sister and I played tag and ran around the front yard with the dog. We went inside with my dad while my mom stayed outside and talked to Karen.

The next day I was sitting outside reading a book when suddenly I heard "Hi, are you Sophia?"

I popped my head up from the book. There at the gate was a blond haired boy with a dark haired girl. 'Yes." I answered.

They dropped their bike and opened the gate and started to walk toward the porch I stood up.

"Im Lucas and this is my best friend Haley." he said pointing to the shy girl next to him, she waved. "My mom said that you guys just moved in and I wanted to say hi."

"Nice to meet you" I said.

"So where ya from?" He asked

"Maryland." I answered.

"Maryland?" he said looking a little puzzled.

"Yeah Luke, Maryland. Its north of here." The girl said to him in a 'duh' kind of way.

"Yeah its like 6 hours away or something." I told them.

"Wow, you moved six hours away?" Lucas asked. "Do you like it here so far?'

"Well I've only been here a week so I dont know." I said shrugging my shoulders.

Haley then spoke "You will, you'll love it."

"I hope so." I said to her.

"You will." Lucas said. "Well Haley and I were about to go ride our bikes, do you have a bike? Want to go with us?"

"Oh, I cant. We are still unpacking and I have to help. Maybe next time." I half lied. We were still unpacking but Im sure I didnt have to help but I just wasnt in the mood to go ride bikes with them.

"OK. Well if you want to join us, we are going to the park right up the street." He said pointing to the right. "Just come find us."

"Thank you, I will." I said waving to them as I walked back into the house.

My sister had become friends with a girl named Quinn who was also Haley's older sister. She was really nice, not shy like Haley. My parents like her. My sister and her would go to my sisters room, listen to music and hang out. Kristin was starting to ignore me but not any more then she did before. It was just that these last few weeks it has been just my sister and I. We talked a lot and did a lot together. I couldnt be mad at her it was just that I like having my sister around all the time. I was glad that she was making friends through. Me on the other hand I was going stir crazy in this house. When I came outside I saw Lucas.

"Hey Sophia."

"Hi" I responded.

"I was just about to go to Haley's house and then go to The River Walk, want to go? We can show you around" He asked.

"Sure, let me ask my mom." I said and then ran into the house.

"Mom!" I yelled for her.

"Up here." She yelled back from upstairs.

I went to the bottom of the steps. "Can I go with Lucas to Haley's? He said her house is on the next street and then we are going to go to The River Walk."

My mom appeared at the top of the stairs, " Stay together and be back before dinner."

"OK." I yelled back running out the door.

"My mom said it was OK, I just have to be back before dinner." I told Lucas walking through the open gate. "No Milo you stay here." I said to the dog shutting the gate behind me.

The walk to Haley's house was very short. It was almost literally across the street. Had there not been houses in the way I would be able to see her house from mine.

"Hi Lucas, hi Sophia." Haley said opening her front door to let Lucas and I in. Her house was a lot like mine. Everything was pretty much the same just flipped. Everything that was in my house on the right was on the left in her house and everything that was on the left at my house was on the right at hers. I wondered if Lucas' was the same.

Haley's mom came into the living room.

"Mom , this is Sophia. She just moved in on Orange St. next door to Luke." Haley said introducing me to her mom. "Sophia this is my mom, Lydia."

"Well its very nice to meet you Miss Sophia." She said shaking my hand. "How do you like Tree Hill?"

"I like it." I really didnt know much about this place. I had only been here almost two weeks but I guess I didnt not like it so I was kind of telling the truth.

"She is Kristin's sister, Quinn's new friend Kristin." Haley informed her mother.

"Oh yeah. Well its nice to put a face to the name. Quinn has has talked about you." Her mom gave me a smile.

"Hey Luke, how are ya? How is your mom?" She asked him.

"Good." He answered.

"OK mom, we are going to go to The River Walk." Haley told her mother as we made our way to the front door.

Be back before dinner." Her mom called after us.

"OK." She replied and we were off.

Getting to The River Walk only took about 15 minutes. It was weird that these kids walked around this town by themselves even at night. Where I was from we were allowed to walk around but not like this. I guess this town was safer then most which was a good thing. We came to a cafe called Karen's cafe. Im guessing this was the place Lucas' mom owned. It was a very homey kind of place. A counter where people could sit and a few tables scattered around the floor. All the tables were full, only a few placed at the counter were open. Lucas, Haley and I walked over and sat down.

"Hey guys, what brings you here?" Karen asked

"We just wanted to show Sophia around." Lucas told her.

"Oh good."

"Can we get drinks to go?" He asked.

"Sure thing. What would you guys like?"

"Lemonade." Lucas said.

"Can I get a sweet tea, please?" Haley asked.

"Can I have a Root Beer, Please?" I finally asked.

"Coming right up." Karen turned to get our drinks.

"This is very nice here." I said looking around.

"I love coming here." Haley said.

"Its cool." Lucas said twirling in his chair.

Karen came back with our drinks and sent us on our way. The cafe was right on the River. as soon as you walk out the door the water was right there. We walked around for awhile and went into the little shops. People stopped and talked to Haley and Lucas every few minutes, they asked things like "How is you mom?", "Hows your dad?", How is school?" A few even asked who I was and Lucas or Haley would say "This is Sophia, she just moved here from Maryland." And they would always ask me the same questions, "How do you like Tree Hill?", "What brings you here?", "Is it different then Maryland?"

"Geez, you guys know a lot of people around here." I said.

"Small town." Haley replied.

"Yeah everyone knows everyone around here." Lucas added.

Back home we knew are neighbors and maybe two or three on either side but other then that, that was it. We may have ran into someone we knew at the grocery store or at the mall but never just walking down the street were we stopped like this. We walked a little bit longer laughing, having fun and talking. I knew I was going to be really good friend with these two. Lucas and Haley seemed to have a brother sister relationship more then a best friend relationship. Lucas said that Haley came around a lot because she thought that Karen and Lucas could use her more then her own family because her family was so big. Haley told me she had two older sister and 1 brother, she was the youngest and then it was Quinn then Taylor then Jackson. Lucas had a brother who he didnt see, he said they shared the same dad but he didnt see his dad either. He didnt seem bothered by it at all. It started to get a little dark so we decided it was time to head home. We went the same way we came so that we could walk Haley home and then Lucas and I walked to our houses. I really had fun with Lucas and Haley today.

At dinner my mom and dad wanted to know all about my day with Haley and Lucas. I told them everything and how much fun it was. For the first time since being here I was actually happy about it. Not that I wasnt happy before I was just against living here. I didnt want to like it. I was always this happy go lucky kid. Nothing bothered me. I let everything roll off of my back. I was always going to miss my old house and my friends and family but I was really starting to think that I was going to like it here. My sister told us that Quinn had introduced her to her other friends and she really liked them as well. She said they all liked the same music and movies and liked to do the same things. I knew my sister was starting to like it here as well. maybe Tree Hill wasnt so bad after all.