The Unkindness
Prologue Part 2: Rebels Like Teen Spirit
She twirled the loose curls of her chestnut hair around her finger, in a sultry, flirtatious manner. Her lips upturned into its signature sexy smirk. Just like her hair, the brunette knew that she had the two boys in front of her wrapped around her fingers. Getting people to do favors for her was just too easy. She wondered why she hadn't discovered it sooner.
Their petty, lust filled faces hung onto every word she was saying and every motion she was making. It probably helped that she had a body to die for, dimples that made guys go weak in the knees, and thousands of dollars to her name. She could request for people to jump off a bridge and they would ask, 'which bridge'; all for her. She giggled and whispered dirty nothings into the soccer player's ear as a certain blonde cheerleader eyed her from the other side of the room.
"Well, if it isn't Brooke Davis," the cheerleader feigned enthusiasm; hatred spewing from her words. The brunette sighed with frustration. She didn't need to turn around to know who was standing behind her. Only a certain blonde would call her Davis; everyone who was anyone at school knew that the brunette preferred to only be known as Brooke. Sort of like how Madonna was just Madonna.
And that's how most people knew her as, just Brooke. Well, either that or President Brooke; she was, after all, freshman - sophomore class president. And her position as junior - senior class president would begin in a few days. Even a head cheerleader knew the title of class president alone held just as much power as a certain cheerleading captain. And if a last name had to be used, the only last name Brooke ever wrote on the top of her exams was Montgomery, never Davis, despite what her birth certificate said.
At the mention of "Davis," heads turned, wondering if Tree Hill's brunette sweetheart would react to her supposed last name. Tree Hill's blonde sweetheart watched as Brooke issued her lackeys away and stood up to face her.
Brooke Davis and Peyton Sawyer, or rather, Brooke Montgomery and Peyton Sawyer – two of Tree Hill's most adored, each the leader of the two major cliques that ruled the school, and mortal enemies since the seventh grade and till the end of time…well, at least till the end of high school.
Peyton walked up slowly towards her enemy. "What the hell are you doing here, Davis?" she stated with annoyance. She noticed Brooke's tight and revealing choice of clothing – definitely not something preppy, Abercrombie cloned, council members would have the guts to wear. But Brooke wasn't just any council member.
"Could ask the same about you, Sawyer," Brooke retorted, crossing her arms in disgust. She scanned the cheerleader that stood in front of her; Peyton Sawyer in all her non cheerful glory, and wearing tomorrow's new rocker chic trend. It was certainly not the preferred choice in clothing of the rest of the girly girl, Bebe cloned, cheerleading squad. But Peyton was no regular cheerleader.
"You're not invited here," the blonde told the brunette. Her comment resonated throughout the room. The girls could sense the number of people who stopped talking so they could watch the cat fight that was sure to ensue. They were, after all, used to the disgusting amount of attention they received from their peers.
"Last I checked, this isn't your party," Brooke replied with calm smile.
"Last I checked, whores aren't invited to this side of town," Peyton smiled mockingly.
"I didn't realize I entered Slutville," Brooke replied with a laugh as she took a few steps closer to the blonde. "Tell me, Sawyer, what's it like to give it up for free?" She asked with a smirk and cocked eyebrow. Peyton's eyes widened; disgust and hatred glowing from her pupils.
"You bitch."
Within seconds, Brooke felt the sting of a cold hard slap on her cheek. She also found her own hands shoving Peyton into a wall. Others watched as the two girls went at it, colliding into lamps, screen doors, and any other object or person that stood in their way. But just as quickly as the fight started, it was brought to a stop when the girls were pulled apart.
And that's when Brooke's eyes locked onto a pair of blue eyes that she hadn't seen for the past two months. His eyes flashed with pity and confusion and for a moment she was ashamed at the spectacle she had made of herself.
"HEY!" he yelled, "What the hell is going on?" His blue eyes looked to Brooke for answers, instead of at the blonde girl he was holding in his arms.
"I was just about to kick your girlfriend's scrawny ass," Brooke responded with a raspy voice. Her eyes avoided his as she attempted to put on the charade that she was supposed to put on: Brooke the Bitch.
"Come on, Brooke; we should go." Brooke rolled her eyes at the comment that was whispered into her ear. She turned to face the gray eyes that she knew all to well.
"Do not tell me what to do, Ryan," Brooke demanded as she pulled her arm from his grasp.
"Atwood, get your girlfriend out of here," Peyton's boyfriend requested, now holding Peyton in a caring yet possessive embrace.
"His girlfriend? Well, you would like that, wouldn't you N. Scott?" Brooke said as she shifted her gaze to Peyton and then to Ryan.
"What the hell are you talking about, Brooke?" he replied, trying to search her eyes for answers again.
"Open your eyes, Nathan," Brooke scoffed. The two stared at each other as everyone looked on in silence, wondering what would happen next. And with that one comment, Brooke left in her typical Brooke fashion – leaving behind a very bewildered guy wanting more from her. Peyton, on the other hand, could not believe what the hell just happened; her boyfriend failed to stand up for her.
"Next time, you better not let your sister convince you to invite those losers to anything of ours, ever again," Peyton scowled to her boyfriend and went off to the kitchen in search for her car keys.
"She's your best friend, why don't you talk to her?" Nathan complained. His tall and muscular body leaned against the granite countertop, ready for another round of Sawyer vs. Scott.
To the rest of the school, Peyton Elizabeth Sawyer and Nathan Royal Scott were the epitome of couple-dom.
Right after freshman year ended, Tree Hill's youngest varsity basketball player and the captain of the junior varsity cheerleading squad had the kind of summer romance only heard about in catchy musical numbers. So naturally, the relationship turned "serious" and supposedly "exclusive" at the beginning of sophomore year. And as a result, they were appropriately named the prince and princess of Tree Hill High within weeks of declaring exclusivity.
But something or rather some-ones had slowly begun to chip away the trust between the exclusive couple a month before sophomore year ended. A summer apart hardly helped matters and now there was this. The seemingly formidable fortress of trust and love between Nathan and Peyton had just taken another blow – a blow in the form of Brooke.
And now that they would be captains of their respective varsity teams, the two were ironically going to celebrate their momentous one year exclusive anniversary at the same time as their status would surely be promoted to king and queen of Tree Hill. That is, if two things happen: 1. If the two stayed together till well after homecoming and 2. If Brooke Montgomery Davis doesn't find a "suitable" mate before Nathan and Peyton's so called expiration date. After all, class president is a few steps closer to the Queen's throne than cheerleading captain.
So, it was appropriate for Nathan and Peyton to become as frustrated as they did after Brooke left the party. All of the events that transpired not only put their 15 month relationship up at stake, but their status was in trouble as well. As much as they were at times annoyed by the shallowness and superficiality of high school, they became addicted to the many benefits of being considered teen royalty of Tree Hill. Neither was ready to go cold turkey just yet. Cold turkey from each other was even more inconceivable. Or was it?
"And you're my boyfriend, Nathan, why don't you defend me every once in a while?" Peyton countered, her golden locks shaking in frustration. She shoved past Nathan and out the front door, away from their intoxicated peers who would spill anything about the golden couple – the Brad and Angelina of Tree Hill, minus the kids.
"What do you call what I just did?" Nathan yelled after her with annoyance. The couple didn't bother to try and shield themselves from the rain that was coming down on them.
"Failure to counter Miss Presi-bitch's insinuation that I'm a cheating whore," Peyton exclaimed as she threw her belongings into the backseat of her car.
"She didn't insinuate anything; but now that you brought it up, are you one?" Nathan asked matter of factly. He quickly regretted his question and his inability to think before he spoke.
"No, that would be you, Basketball Captain," Peyton shot back, "Don't think that I forgot what happened at Bevin's party!"
"That was months ago, and you said you forgave me for that. Besides, it's not like I spent all summer with a certain ex juvie. You may not have done anything with that Atwood kid Peyton, but you still went behind my back." Nathan accused and interrupted her. He knew she hated it whenever she was interrupted, but he didn't care at the moment. He was just tired of the only one being in the wrong all the time.
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Fifty Cent's "In da Club" rang through Nathan's ears as he went on his routine morning jog. Random thoughts about his summer with High Flyers ran through his head. When he approached a familiar street, thoughts of regret for leaving behind his girlfriend for the summer soon surfaced. But as he neared her house, he noticed that she wasn't alone. He covertly hid behind a nearby tree and watched his girlfriend get out of some guy's car.
"Thanks for bringing me home," Peyton said with sincere gratitude as she exited the jeep with a large tote bag in tow.
"Not a problem," he replied from the back of the car as he grabbed her suitcase from the trunk. "I'm guessing you never told Nathan about the past two months," he noted. After all, he was the one she called to pick her up from the airport, not her boyfriend she supposedly loved.
"No," she shook her head adamantly. "Nobody can know about this, especially Nathan. He would flip if he found out that I only told you about going to rehab. Add the fact that you visited me a number of times, I don't know what he'll do." She forced her face to remain expressionless, but she couldn't hide the distraught in her voice.
"It's not like we did anything, Peyton. It was just checking up on you after I checked in with my mom," Ryan reasoned. He rubbed her arm sympathetically, attempting to reassure her. She continued to shake her head and gently removed his hand from her shoulder.
"Look, it's horrible enough that you're friends with Brooke, but you've been on Nathan's bad side since Bevin's party. All of which are reasons that you should be my second biggest enemy," Peyton explained. "But you can be my third biggest enemy because of your kindness over the summer," she smiled, sarcasm dripping from her words. The two laughed, unaware of a specific basketball player listening to every word they were saying.
After a few minutes of light conversation, Ryan decided to get to the point and bring up the truth that was bound to come up sooner rather than later. "So I guess this means this is the last time we hang out," he stated simply.
Even a few feet away, Nathan noticed the sadness in Peyton's expression. Nathan watched as Peyton nodded her head slowly, her doe like eyes full of melancholy with tears threatening to fall.
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Nathan watched as Peyton remained silent to his comment. Maybe he shouldn't have revealed that he knew that she didn't go to Australia over the summer. But just like any other person, he had grown tired of all the games and now that lies were involved…everything was too complicated for him to deal with. He didn't understand why she couldn't tell him about rehab. If there was one person Peyton could have trusted, he thought she would know it could be him. But after more than a year together, that obviously was not the case.
Peyton could not think of a counter to Nathan's words; she was trying to figure out how he found out about her and Ryan, wondering if Nathan knew even more about her than he let on. Nathan and Peyton stood in the rain, staring into each other's eyes, trying to figure each other out. Both realized it was something neither had done in a while, because they used to understand each other completely; that is, until a couple of months ago. The rain began to unmask their facades and both could see that each had changed so much within the last few months that they were no longer Mr and Mrs Tree Hill High, but rather just Nathan and just Peyton.
"What the hell happened to us?" Nathan whispered, breaking the silence between them. Peyton simply shook her head and began to cry quietly in Nathan's arms; as the rain grew stronger, Nathan could feel Peyton's grasp on him tighten. As Nathan stroked Peyton's soaking wet hair, trying to comfort her, he began to have knots in his stomach – knots telling him he was already missing his Peyton and he knew she felt the same way about him. "Talk about a shitty way to start the school year," he thought.