8.
She really didn't want to go to school that day but she was Haley James and she never missed school.
She heard the whispers as she walked down the halls to her locker but she tried to ignore them.
She had left Nathan's early and walked back to hers to get ready for school then left quickly as she knew Lucas would come round to drive her to school and she was still cross at him, cross that he hadn't believed her.
She was not happy to see Lucas, Brooke, Nathan, Tim, Peyton and Jake all stood round her locker obviously waiting for her. She ignored them all and went about her business as normal putting stuff in her locker. They all seemed to be wearing fake happy smiles apart from Nathan who looked concerned and Tim who looked nervous probably worried to be around the supposed psychopath.
"Hey." Lucas said.
"Hey." Haley said turning to face them all "Is there something you want?" She asked them all.
"We just wanted to check you were ok." Peyton said.
"Well if I'd know all I had to do to be part of the cool crowd was slit my wrists I would have done it sooner." Haley said in a fake cheery voice.
Lucas looked at her annoyed and grabbed her arm to pull her to the side to talk to her but immediately let go when she gasped in pain and he remembered she had hurt her wrists.
She looked up at him hurt in her eyes, she knew he wasn't doing it on purpose but he wasn't making this situation any better, if they weren't going to believe her she just wanted them all to forget, them all hating her was better then the pity they all had in their eyes, except for Nathan who she had been avoiding looking at because just looking at him had started to give her butterflies.
"We should head off to homeroom." Peyton said and they all nodded in agreement.
"See you later Hale's" Nathan said as he walked off and the others followed all apart from Brooke who walked round the nearest corner and continued to eves drop on their conversation.
"Hale's I think you need to talk to someone." Lucas said looking at her the worry clear in his eyes.
"I didn't do this to myself on purpose." Haley said again wishing that he would just believe her.
"Hale's there's no evidence of a break in at the café, maybe you were tired and you imagined it." He said trying to find a plausible explanation.
"Nathan believes me." She said "about everything." He looked up at her.
"When did you guys start getting close?" he asked his voice strained.
"About the time we stopped being close." She replied harsher then she should have. He just looked at her for a second.
"I know after the stuff that happened to Brooke I shouldn't have just shut you out, it was a cry for help and I know it's been so hard for you since Grace died and your parents have been gone. I want you to talk to someone, a professional." He said sincerely.
Haley bit her lip in frustration; he thought there was something really wrong with her when really it was his psycho girlfriend, not that Haley was going to tell him that.
"I think it would be best if you went back to ignoring me." Haley said and walked off with out letting him say another word, she hurried off to class hoping to distract herself so she wouldn't cry.
Lucas just stood there watching Haley leave, he really didn't know what to do. He guess he needed to talk to his mum see what she had to say and Nathan too, he didn't like the idea that Nathan was indulging her. He sighed then relaxed when he felt the arms of his girlfriend wrap around him.
"The talk not go well." Brooke said kissing his cheek.
"Nope, she's just had so much to deal with maybe I should have been there for her more." He said sadly.
"At least you tried, Haley's had a lot to deal with what with Grace and her parents being away." Brooke said looking sincere. Lucas looked at her confused for a second.
"How do you know about Grace?" He asked.
"Well Haley mentioned her in one of the girlie chats we had a while ago." Brooke lied, she had no idea who Grace was but from listening in knew it was someone close to her.
"Oh she doesn't normal talk about it, I guess you wouldn't if you lost your baby sister. She blames herself, I blame her parents though, I mean I know they were upset by her death too but just taking off." He said sadly.
"Well try not to worry too much, come on I will walk you to class." she said linking arms with him.
She had sent Tim to the café to scare her and make it look like she was trying to get attention by telling fake stories but the fact everyone thought she tried to kill herself was perfect.
She could not be more happy, the pieces fell together now why her parents had left and why she had been sad when Nathan's daughter had gone too. She didn't know how yet but she could defiantly use this against her.
Lucas had offered her a lift home but it was her turn to ignore him now so she walked. After the incident at the café Karen had given her the week off.
Her wrists were still hurting and she was taking pain killers after she had got her homework done and fixed herself some dinner she wasn't sure what to do.
She was just doing the washing up when she noticed Nathan's hoody that she had borrowed to walk home in that morning.
She grabbed it and before she could change her mind decided to go round to Nathan's to return it, she told herself that if he wasn't in it was fine and she would just leave it on his doorstep.
When she got to his she couldn't decide whether to ring the bell or just leave it on his door step, not wanting to be a nuisance and disturb him.
She decided to just dump in on his step and was just walking away when she saw him coming towards her, looking like he had just been for a run.
"Hey what are you doing here?" He asked then mentally told himself off, he hadn't ment for it to sound like he didn't want her here, he was just surprised he thought she would still be keeping her head down. He had been going to phone her later to check on her but wasn't sure if maybe she just wanted some space.
"oh I was just um returning a jumper I borrowed this morning" Haley stuttered out shyly "Don't worry I wasn't planning on staying. Thank you for the jumper." She said and walked past him but he gently grabbed her on the shoulders.
"You can't go now, I've just been for a jog which means I deserve cake and Karen made it so you need to stay and have some." He said light heartedly then added in a more serious voice. "Plus you can't walk alone out here at night we don't know who's out there."
"Well if there's cake." Haley said smiling happy that she wouldn't have to spend a night in on her own.
Nathan showered and changed and came back out to join Haley who had been watching tv. Nathan came and sat next to her handing her a plate with cake on.
"I didn't know boys really liked cake." Haley said thoughtfully as she started to eat her cake.
"You are very random Haley James." Nathan said fondly smiling at her. Haley blushed at his comment.
"How are you feeling today?" He asked her.
"Well Lucas thinks I need to talk to someone. I don't think he was very happy that you believe me." She said sighing she really didn't know what she was going to do about Lucas she didn't not want to talk to him but at the moment she didn't see any other option.
"Yeah he said he wanted to talk to me, I'll try and talk some sense into him." He said seriously.
"It's so stupid he's ment to be my best friend, I've known him for years and years and yet he doesn't believe me yet you have no problem believing me." Haley said as tears poured down her cheeks. Nathan put their plates of cake down on the table and put his arms around Haley pulling her into a hug.
"Why wouldn't I, you are the kindest, most honest, warm hearted person I have ever met." He said moving her head back so he could look in her eyes so she could see how sincere he was being.
He slowly closed the gap between them and kissed her gently on the lips. Haley didn't respond for a second as she was so surprised but the feeling of his lips on hers was magical.
The gentle kiss soon turned into a passionate one and it wasn't long before they were lying on Nathan's sofa him on top of her making out.
His hands were stroking her cheek and rubbing small circles on the side of her stomach while one of her hand was tangled in his hair while the other was holding onto his muscley arm. Haley was slightly scared by the situation having never done this before, she had kissed a few guys before but they had all been brief goodnight kisses. Although she was scared she couldn't help but be completely engrossed by the situation, that was until she felt something vibrating by her hip.
Nathan moved off her slightly and removed his phone from his pocket and sat back when he saw who it was, Lucas.
"Hey man." Nathan said trying not to feel too guilty, he couldn't help himself she had been in his arms and her red lips had looked so inviting but now he knew he was taking advantage of her in her vulnerable state; Lucas was going to kill him.
"Yeah sure we can meet up. …….Now, um ok I'll meet you at the river court." He said and hung up. Before he could speak to Haley she had jumped up.
"I should go home, I'll see you." She said and quickly raced out of the apartment not even giving him the chance to offer her a lift home.
She had been in heaven but the look of guilt that washed over Nathan's face when Lucas had called just went to show how much he regretted what he had done.
God she thought as she quickly walked home Lucas is going to kill me and as an after thought if were ever back to speaking again.