New Boys in School

Chapter 4

Brooke hadn't seen Lucas since she gave him a ride home as they didn't have any classes together on Thursday. On Friday, Brooke decided to skip school so that she could set up for the party. Haley, Jake and Peyton were going to meet her at the beach house straight after school.

Brooke's parents had purchased the beach house at the beginning of summer and that was the last time she had seen them as her dad's job took him all over the world. They were currently in Paris and were not due back until Christmas. Brooke didn't know whether she missed her parents or the idea of her parents because whenever they were in Tree Hill she never really got on with them. Her parents did regularly check up on Brooke; she would receive a phone call every week to remind her to pay the maid that looked after the house.

Brooke looked around the huge beach house with the amazing beachfront view and sighed. She wondered what her life would have been like if her parents had been poor; whether they would have cared about her. Just then Haley and Peyton walked through the front door, interrupting Brooke's thoughts. She put her parents to the back of her mind where they always stayed and then gave Peyton and Haley a huge smile.

Peyton and Haley took in the room and Haley shrieked: "wow Brooke this place is amazing! This party is going to be great. What do you need us to do?"

"I think I'm pretty much done so if you guys brought your clothes we can go get ready. Wait until you see the bedrooms they're huge. Where's Jake?" Brooke asked.

"He's just gone to pick up some more beer, he should be here soon." Peyton replied. The three girls then went upstairs so that Brooke could show Peyton and Haley where they would be staying. They put down their bags then went to Brooke's room to get ready. As soon as Jake arrived they began drinking so it took them a lot longer to get ready than normal. Brooke had brought a few outfits with her so that she could chose whatever fitted her mood. In the end she decided to wear a black mini-skirt and a red halter top with her favourite red heels. She wore her hair out but left it in slight waves. As they started drinking early they soon became quite tipsy and giggly and the conversation took a turn Brooke did not like.

"So Brooke, you've had a whole week and you haven't even kissed one of the new boys, what's up with that?" Peyton laughed. "You and Nathan seem quite friendly, do you think anything will happen tonight?"

"No, Nathan and I are just friends, it's not like that with us, he's like Jake is to me, more like a brother." Brooke replied.

"Ok, not Nathan, how about Lucas?" Haley asked.

"He hardly even speaks to me and when he does…" Brooke paused "No, basically I don't like either of them." Haley smiled at Peyton and Peyton grinned back when Brooke said this.

"What are you smiling at each other like that for? Stop it. Let's go downstairs, I think I can hear more people arriving." Brooke grabbed Peyton and Haley as she said this and dragged them downstairs before they could ask her any more questions.

There were already a lot of people at the party so Haley and Peyton went off to find Jason and Jake. Brooke went into the kitchen to get herself another drink. She was just pouring coke into cup which already had a generous helping of vodka when she felt someone put their hands over her eyes. She pulled the hands off her face and quickly turned around to see who it was. She smiled when she realised it was Nathan.

"Nathan! You scared me, you idiot." Brooke laughed. She then gave him a quick hug and noticed Lucas standing behind him. Lucas was wearing black jeans with a short-sleeved black shirt.

"Hi Brooke" Lucas said. Brooke saw his eyes wander to her bare legs but he looked up immediately and when his eyes met hers she said hi back and turned around. Brooke poured both Nathan and Lucas a drink then Nathan headed for the bathroom so Brooke and Lucas were left alone.

They stood side by side quietly sipping their drinks when Haley came over to them giggling.

"Hey Luke, so glad you could make it." Haley said. Brooke knew it only took a few drinks to get Haley drunk and it looked as though she was already pretty wasted.

"Maybe I should take you upstairs Haley, you can go to sleep for a bit." Brooke said worriedly.

"No, Brooke I'm fine and anyway I was talking to Lucas. I don't want to be rude and leave the conversation," said Haley. She looked determined so Brooke just promised herself to look out for her. Meanwhile, Haley continued talking to Lucas, "you seem like a good guy but sometimes you're a little rude to my Brookie, I think you should be nicer to her cos she's got a secret crush on you." Brooke looked at Haley in horror, unable to stop Haley's little speech.

Lucas laughed at Haley and said, "Ok, Haley I think Brooke is right, maybe you do need to lie down for a while."

Brooke took this as her opportunity to drag Haley away from Lucas so she grabbed Haley's arm and pulled her toward the stairs. Once they were clear of Lucas hearing Brooke immediately turned on Haley, "what on earth did you say that for? I don't fancy Lucas, I told you earlier."

Haley laughed in Brooke's face and said, "Brooke, Peyton and I both knew you were lying, I was just trying to do you a favour. I don't like that he's rude to you so I told him to stop." Haley paused and then said "I think I'm going to be sick." She then ran to the nearest bathroom and stuck her head over the toilet. Brooke followed her and sat down on the edge of the bath while holding Haley's hair so she wouldn't be sick in it. Brooke couldn't be mad at Haley because she knew that Haley was only trying to stick up for Brooke and mostly because it was the alcohol talking. Once Haley was done throwing up she said she felt a lot better and wouldn't be sick anymore. Brooke thought it best that she still lay down for a while so she took Haley to the room she would be staying in. This bedroom was at the back of the house so it faced the beach.

Haley went into the room and just as Brooke was leaving she said, "I'm sorry Brooke, I didn't mean to say those things to Lucas."

Brooke smiled at Haley and went to sit in the bay window overlooking the beach. "I know you didn't Haley. Its fine, Lucas thought you were joking anyway."

Haley got up from the bed and walked towards Brooke, "so you forgive my big mouth then?" She said as she hugged Brooke.

"Yes of course, you know I could never really be mad at you." Brooke replied. Suddenly Haley gasped and Brooke turned around to see what Haley was looking at. At first Brooke couldn't see anything because it was dark outside but then she followed Haley's gaze and saw that she was looking at two people kissing on the porch below them. Brooke could not quite make out who it was as the only light shining on them was the light from the kitchen. Then all of sudden, once she had registered Haley's reaction, she knew immediately that it was Jason kissing somebody else. She could tell for herself that it was him now and she turned to Haley to see her running out of the bedroom.

"Haley wait," Brooke shouted, but Haley didn't listen. She ran down the stairs into the kitchen and out of the back door. Brooke was right behind her and she could see that Jason was still kissing this random girl as he hadn't noticed Haley come outside.

"How could you" Haley said in a calm voice. Jason immediately dropped the other girl and saw Haley for the first time. "How could you" Haley asked Jason, this time her voice was not so calm.

"Haley, this isn't what it looks like," Jason said quickly. "It doesn't mean anything."

Brooke could see Haley was about to cry but could tell she didn't want Jason to see her cry over him. She stepped in front of Haley and said, "It's time for you to leave Jason, don't make me call Jake or someone else to literally throw you out." Jason looked straight at Brooke like he would like nothing more than to throw her out of the way. He took a step towards her but Brooke felt a strong arm grab her and pull her backwards. She looked up to see Lucas now standing in front of her.

Lucas was just inches away from Jason when he said, "get out and don't come back." Jason could see that Lucas was serious so smirked at him and said, "whatever." Jason then turning away from the house, put his arm around the girl he was kissing and left.

Brooke immediately turned to Haley who was now sobbing, put her arm around her and guided her through the house to Brooke's room. Haley had not spoken a word and Brooke knew better than to try and get her to speak while she was in shock. Haley lay down on Brooke's bed and Brooke covered her with the quilt. She went to sit down when someone gently knocked on the door. Brooke looked toward Haley who was no longer crying but had her eyes closed.

Brooke opened the door and there stood Lucas. He was holding a bottle of water in his hand and he looked genuinely concerned. "Are you okay?" He asked Brooke.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she answered.

"How's Haley? I brought her some water," Lucas said as her passed the bottle to Brooke.

"I'm not sure, I think she's shocked. I know I am. Thanks for the water though, I'm going to stay with her to make sure she's okay. Can you do me a favour?" Brooke asked and Lucas nodded his head in reply. "Can you tell Peyton and Jake what happened and ask them to make sure the house doesn't get trashed."

"Yeah I can do that. Don't worry Brooke, you just take care of yourself and Haley," said Lucas. He gave Brooke a small smile then turned around and went back downstairs.