Tree Hill made Effy feel like she was a very small fish living in her own little bubble whilst being in a rather big pond. She was surrounded by countless people but Effy constantly felt like she was living a lonely and isolated life even though Tree Hill was one of those small towns where everyone kind of knew each other in some roundabout way. However, Effy tended to feel very invisible as nobody really saw her, no one really knew her. She had friends, Effy could pretty much count on her hands the people who she classifies as being her actual friends and everyone else were just classmates or acquaintances. Most people only saw her as Elizabeth Scott; the cheerleader and Nathan's twin sister. That's all any one tended to see her as and because of that, Effy tended to live in relative anonymity and she liked that most of the time. Effy liked having her own space as it gave her the freedom to do whatever she wanted to do and not worry about anyone bothering her. However, there were occasions that she wanted to be seen, she wanted to be seen as more than Nathan's sister or the girl who lived down the hall by her family. She wanted to be seen as actual person, Effy wanted to be seen as Effy Scott; someone who actually existed. Effy didn't mean that in terms of popularity but just in terms of being seen as someone in her own right especially by her family, but because she wasn't obsessed by basketball she was deemed kind of irrelevant by her family. In particular her dad and her own twin brother, then her mother was always busy working to ever be around when Effy needed someone. She didn't really have anyone who understood how lonely she was.

On the days where the loneliness got really bad Effy blew off all her activities and just went skateboarding, it was something that she did to pass the time. Effy just aimlessly skated around Tree Hill and allowed her mind to drift off to wherever the hell it wanted to go. Sometimes it was like there was nothing going on in Effy's mind, it was like it was this vast and empty blank space. It was pretty bad today and Effy had been aimlessly skating around and much to her surprise she ended up at the River Court; an outdoor basketball door that some of the kids that Effy went to school with hung out at. She didn't spend much time in this side of town, not in the day time anyway. As she skated around the River Court, Effy came to a stop when she noticed a group of boys playing basketball and it took her mere moments to recognize one of the boys as Lucas Scott. Her half-brother who older than Effy and Nathan by only a hundred days. Their dad Dan had gotten Lucas' mom pregnant after high school and left her for Effy's mom and ended up getting her pregnant too. They hadn't grown up together given Dan's subsequent abandonment of Lucas and unwillingness to acknowledge his eldest son. In the Scott house, they didn't talk about Lucas they pretend that he didn't exist and even when he was mentioned they acted like he wasn't related to them. It was weird but that's how the dysfunctional Scott family operated.

They had all kept their distance from each other, for the most part up until the other day, after Nathan's joyride half the basketball team were suspended for the rest of the season. Somehow Nathan and his idiot friend Tim got off without anything and Effy knew that her father had something to do with it as Dan couldn't have anything ruin the plans he had for Nathan. But no one had counted on Coach Durham approaching Lucas about playing for the Ravens and that sent everything to hell, both Nathan and Dan were losing their minds over it and Effy thought it was damn hilarious. But now Nathan had challenged Lucas to a one on one game to prevent Lucas from joining the team. From what Effy heard Lucas hadn't accepted yet. Intrigued by the whole thing Effy picked up her skateboard and made her way closer to the court to watch the group of boys play. To Effy's surprise Lucas was good, better than very good and perhaps even better than Nathan. Eventually one of the boys noticed Effy and brought it to Lucas' attention and Effy watched as her blonde haired brother eyed her carefully before making his way over to her.

"Are you lost?"

"That would mean I actually had somewhere to go." Effy wearily replied as she pushed a strand of hair behind her ear. Effy couldn't recall if she had ever had an actual conversation with Lucas before, at least a proper one. Sometimes she saw him at their Uncle Keith's garage and they swapped the occasional hello but other than that, they barely interacted. It was like there was this great divide between them despite the fact they were siblings. Effy didn't know much about Lucas except for the fact that he seemed to like reading and the fact that he seemed to be happy for the most part, probably because he wasn't living under Dan's roof.

"Are you here to tell me not to join the team? That I'm not wanted?" Lucas began in a polite yet hostile tone of voice and Effy was expecting the frosty reception, people tended to think that her and Nathan were the same just because they were twins. They couldn't be further from the truth if they tried.

"What do I care if you join the team or not? I may look like Nathan but just because we're twins doesn't mean the two of us are the same person. If you want to join the Ravens than that is your prerogative although why you would want to join is beyond me. If I had my way there would be no such thing as basketball in Tree Hill but I don't and there is this thing called free will and I'm kind of big on it. So who the hell am I to tell you what to do?" Effy retorted with a small shrug of her shoulders as she didn't really care whether Lucas joined the team or not. Regardless of what happened, Dan and Nathan would still be laying an egg over this whole thing and Effy would be forced to listen to them whine about it until it blew over. Although Effy was starting to suspect that this wasn't going to blow over anytime soon. Judging by what Lucas had already said to her, Effy could afford to assume that Nathan had made his feelings clear to Lucas about this situation.

"Oh… Sorry about that." Lucas wearily replied as he ran his hand through his short blonde hair, his face flushed with embarrassment and Effy found it to be rather sweet. It was a stark difference from what would have happened had this been Effy and Nathan. If she had called him out on some kind of mistake, Nathan would have got annoyed and stormed out in a huff without apologising.

"Don't be, I shared a womb with Nathan for nine very long months and so it makes sense that there is a strong possibility that I'm as much of an ass as him. It surprises me at times that I'm not a bigger bitch that I already am but Nathan is a big enough diva for the two of us. However, I do have my own moments, it sort of comes with having a larger than life personality." Effy quipped in an offbeat manner, not afraid to poke fun at herself and she managed to earn a genuine smile for Lucas, and she looked him for what seemed to be the longest moment and realised that they shared the same blue eyes. Never before had Effy noticed that her and Lucas had the same eyes, the two of them had never had a long enough conversation for her to take a real look into his eyes. But what struck Effy the most was this soulful expression that Lucas had, it was a far cry from the dead look she seemed to have in her eyes.

"Are you always this snarky?"

"I suppose that argument could be made… You know, I really should be thanking you for all of this. The news of Coach Durham inviting you to play for the Ravens has pretty much set my house alight, Nathan is being a toolbox about it and Old Man Dan is trying to play it cool but really he's flipping his lid. It's like putting my birthday together with Christmas and riding rollercoasters all day. If I didn't live in that zoo of a house, I would pay good money to watch what went on inside the Scott house. I find their dramatics so highly entertaining and that's all down to you Lucas Scott, you sure know how to shake things up." Effy replied with a small smirk although it faltered slightly when she saw the expression on Lucas' face when she mentioned their father. No doubt Dan was a bit of a sore point for Lucas, Effy could vaguely understand as she would probably have difficulty listening to someone talk about the father who had abandoned her, if the situation was reversed.

"Is that so?" Lucas questioned and Effy tried her hardest not to grin like the Cheshire Cat when she nodded, she was feeling awfully smug with herself.

"Yeah and even more surprising is the fact that for the first time in years, basketball has actually caught my attention. Normally I have no interest in it but this whole thing with you and Nathan has piped my interest especially with this challenge that my fun loving twin has issued you. It's very old testament with the whole Cain and Abel thing you have going on. The whole thing is kind of funny in a weird way as Nathan feels threatened that there may be someone here in Tree Hill who may be better than him. He's scared of being knocked off his golden throne and this whole challenge is some weird hail Mary of his, no doubt Nathan is under the that if he beats you then everything will go back to normal with him being the golden boy and pride of the team." Effy explained, making sure to leave out her opinions on this matter as she figure the last thing Lucas needed was another Scott telling him what he needed to do.

"And what do you think?" Lucas asked and Effy was actually impressed that he thought her opinion was of some worth as their father didn't seem to think it was. Neither did Nathan.

"Me? I think you could kick Nathan's ass."

"He's your brother."

"So are you." Effy retorted, not missing a beat.

"You really are not like him, are you?" Lucas questioned and Effy couldn't help but let out a weary laugh as Lucas had pretty much stated the obvious. Her and Nathan were nothing alike, they used to be two sides of the same coin but that had changed a long time ago. Both of them had changed, Effy used to blame her estrangement with Nathan on him. She claimed it was because he changed and became this huge jackass but deep down Effy knew that she had changed to. Effy wasn't the same person she was four years ago, she was a far cry from the girl who used to like hanging out with her family and go with Nathan to his early morning practices to keep him company. They used to be so close but now they were complete strangers.

"What gave it away? Was it the nose ring and the skateboard or the fact that I' m not a complete asshole? I know I'm a Scott but some of us are capable of becoming decent human beings. Nathan and I may be twins but we are not like most twins, we don't spent any time with each other and we certainly don't like each other. He's an asshole a lot of the time and just because Nathan is my brother doesn't mean I'm gonna kiss his ass and pretend like nothing is wrong. Don't get me wrong, I love him although it's because I have to but even I think Nathan needs a serious ass kicking in order to be taken down a peg or two and learn some humility. I've tried but he won't listen to me as since my life doesn't revolve around basketball my opinion is deemed worthless…" Effy quipped with a smirk on her face as she was very much enjoying this conversation as it went on. She had never really talked to Lucas before and now Effy was wondering why she hadn't earlier as he needed like a nice guy who had the misfortune of sharing the same brother and father as her. Although Lucas had the fortune of not having to live under the same room as either of them, which is probably why he was most likely the most sanest of all of Dan Scott's three children. Effy couldn't help envy Lucas as she'd probably be a bit more normal if didn't live with her insane family.

"No. It's something else…" Lucas cryptically replied and Effy couldn't help but let out a small chuckle as she picked up her skateboard and slowly began to back away, as much as she would have loved to sit here and chat all day she had things to do.

"Yeah I get that a lot… Look I gotta run but good luck for tonight! Although judging by what I've seen Lucas, you don't need it."

"You know you didn't have to do this Elizabeth."

"Do what?" Effy called back as she continued to walk backwards.

"This. Tell me that I can beat Nathan and how I deserve to be on the team no matter what he says." Lucas replied and Effy just shook her head, Lucas didn't understand but maybe he would someday. She wanted to him to know that Nathan wasn't the only Scott who could play basketball in Tree Hill, that Nathan couldn't control anything and not let anyone else have the slightest bit of attention given towards then. Lucas need to know something that neither Nathan or their father had ever told her; that she was good enough to do anything she wanted and that she had a choice. Not to mention Lucas had managed to do something that Effy had never been able to manage and that was getting her family's attention.

"Yeah I did, people deserve to know that they matter and you do matter Lucas, no matter Dan or Nathan say."

Effy smiled broadly and gave Lucas a brief wave before turning her back on him and walked away from the River Front, feeling mighty pleased with herself. There was a change brewing in the air and Effy was pretty certain that Lucas was the cause of it. He was different than what Effy had expected him to be, a lot kinder than what she always imagined him to be. Lucas reminded Effy of the Chaos Theory, with the whole flutter of a butterfly's wing could cause a tsunami halfway across the world. He was definitely the tsunami, that much Effy knew. Lucas was unknowingly and probably unwittingly shaking things up. There was already so much chaos in Effy's life that she knew that a little more probably wouldn't do her much harm. He was her brother and Effy didn't know anything about him. But that was going to change.

After her talk with Lucas, Effy had found herself wondering home which was probably a bad idea given how both her brother and dad was home. Because of this whole Nathan issuing Lucas a challenging thing and the wagers that had been set in place, things were slightly tense in the Scott household. The news that Nathan had bet his place on the team hadn't sat well with the Big Bad Dan and Effy was pretty sure that her dad would probably keel over and die if Nathan lost. As much as Effy held her father in utter disregard, she knew him well enough to know that just the idea of his pride and joy no longer on the ravens was enough to send Dan Scott to an early grave. That was more than enough to ensure that Effy was completely ignored for the next few hours in the lead up to the game, she could be walking around the house naked or throwing a party and her father wouldn't have noticed. Effy on the hand was rather nonchalant about the game as apart from hoping that Nathan would get his ass handed to him by Lucas, she really couldn't be bothered to care as she had better things to be worrying about. Such as her mother wasn't coming home for another week which meant that Effy was stuck with Dan and Nathan paying her no peace of mind for another seven days. Effy was already planning on spending as little time at home as possible over the next few days as she knew no one was going to notice in the slightest. Effy could die and her family wouldn't notice for about a month at least. Glancing at her watch Effy noted that there was at least an hour before the midnight game, Effy would rather not be there but since her brothers were having the hotly anticipated biblical showdown, she had to be there. Even her dad had been on case about going to the game saying how Effy had to show support for Nathan. Effy actually reminded her dad that Nathan wasn't just playing anyone but he was playing his other son. But as per usual Dan brushed Effy off and the subject was dropped completely. Aimlessly walking around the house to kill some time Effy walked past her dad who was having yet another conversation with Nathan, Effy thought it was going to be another lecture about how important it was for him to win this game. But it wasn't.

"If I had wanted a daughter, I'd adopt one." Dan stated and Effy didn't have to see her face to know that it had probably dropped as her heart was currently sitting at her feet. Effy had always known that Nathan was the favourite in the family; her dad had made no attempt of hiding it. Most of the time Effy often thought of herself as the spare part of the family that was only brought out for family photos and to show unity in Team Nathan. No matter what went on in their zoo of a house, Effy knew that her parents specifically her dad loved her in some weird way, it may not be as much as he loved Nathan but it was some small amount. But he had never outright stated that he had never wanted her. Effy's eyes met Nathan and she could see that even he was taken back by what their dad had said.

"Dad…" Nathan began and Effy vehemently shook her head as she did not want to deal with this right now, she didn't want Dan to know that she had overheard him.

"What?"

"Lizzie's behind you." Nathan revealed and from where Effy stood she could see her dad tense, no doubt that was the last thing he was expecting. Effy couldn't help but roll her eyes as she didn't need a crystal ball to see that her old man was going to try and cover his ass and pretend like she had misunderstood.

"Hey dad." Effy hoarsely said, her voice cracking with emotion much to her surprise but she was loud enough to catch her dad's attention and Dan turned around and seemed to be shocked that Effy had been right there and had heard him. Effy was surprised about how upset she was getting over this, she had always suspected that her dad didn't really want her around but she never expected to hear the words come out of his mouth. She honestly thought that her heart was breaking in this moment, it was probably the harshest thing she had ever heard in her life in regards to herself. And she couldn't believe that her own father had said it, if it had been Nathan then Effy wouldn't have blinked an eye as the two of them argued constantly and Nathan always threw out stuff like that especially when they were kids. Effy always just used to ignore him but now she realized that Nathan had been right all along. Dan had never wanted her.

"Elizabeth, I didn't mean that, I was just joking around…" Dan began clearly trying to take back what he said but Effy couldn't ignore what she had heard. As much as her dad would try and deny it, he had said it and there must be some truth to that. It explained why he never wanted to do anything with her and why he preferred spending time with his beloved time with Nathan. It was because he had never wanted her, she was just a spare child that had come into the world a few minutes after Nathan the golden child.

"Sure you didn't dad, I'd believe if it wasn't the truth. I always knew that I didn't fit in to your grand little plan, that I wasn't special enough for you to pay me a tiny bit of attention even for five minutes. But I never thought that you didn't ever want me, I guess I was wrong. I'm sorry that for the last sixteen years you've had to deal with a daughter that you didn't want Dan, so I'm just going to go now. Maybe I'll even join the other child you didn't want. Perhaps he'll want me and we can make a club, the Dan Scott doesn't want us club!" Effy angrily snapped before turning her back on her dad and storming upstairs to her bedroom, furiously rubbing at her eyes as she did. When she got to her bedroom Effy slammed the door behind her. Heading towards her stereo Effy turned it on and put the volume on fall blast. After what she heard Effy wasn't going to stick around here, Dan Scott could screw himself now.

All this time Effy had been sneaking out in hopes of getting her parents attention but now she was going to stop caring. Effy was going to do whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted and not care what anyone else thought. They could all screw themselves; if they didn't care then she'd go find people who cared. Grabbing her backpack, Effy emptied out half the contents and added a book, torch and a jumper. Walking over to the window that she frequently used to sneak out of, Effy opened it and tossed her backpack out of the window and into the back garden followed by her skateboard. Effy gave one final glance at her bedroom before she climbed out of the window and into the darkness.