Chapter Three
Thank you so much to all the amazing people who reviewed. Sorry I didn't get this up sooner. Shout out to iheartnaley23 for your enthusiastic review. You're beautiful!
Brooke plonked herself down on an empty chair with a thud.
"Woo," she said as she held her head, trying to make the room stop spinning. "I think I'm getting drunk!"
As Brooke began laughing hysterically, Peyton looked at her friend as if she were crazy. Although it was the kind of crazy Peyton was used to.
"You think you're getting drunk?" She asked. All Peyton got was more laughing in response.
Across the other side of the table, a guy named Andrew began tapping on a glass.
"Okay everybody!" He shouted, although only the people within close vicinity heard him. The party was still in full swing and it was almost impossible to hear over the loud music. "How about a game of 'I Never'?"
"Don't think that's such a good idea," Nick said. "I've only just met most of these people; don't want to freak them out just yet."
"Oh, come on." Gigi said with an enthusiastic smile, spying Haley across the table. "It will be fun."
Haley noticed the way Gigi was looking at her and frowned in confusion. Why would she want to play 'I Never' with me?
"Yeah, come on." Cam agreed from beside Haley. "Why not, right?"
Nathan was sitting at the end of the table in solitude in the furthest seat from Haley that he could possibly be in. He hadn't said a word since he'd come out of Gigi's bedroom.
"Good." Gigi smiled triumphantly. "Simon, you go first."
Simon, a shy boy with light brown hair looked up from beside Brooke. He hadn't really said much all night, he'd just been happily sitting there and laughing when everybody else did. Haley felt sorry for him, she knew what it was like to be in this kind of setting and feel left out.
"Don't put him on the spot," Haley said coming to his defence and earning a small smile from the boy. "Why don't you go first, Cam?"
Cam raised his eyebrows then nodded his head. "Alright. Um, I never...have been to a professional basketball game."
From the end of the table, Nathan scoffed.
"Seriously?" Lucas asked. "Never?"
"Never." Cam said. "I wish though."
Nathan, Lucas, Nick, Andrew, and Simon all took a drink.
"Okay, that was a boring one." Gigi laughed, turning to Nathan with a wicked. "Nathan, your turn."
Nathan's eyes jerked up at Gigi. "Why me?"
"Because the next person is always someone who just drank and that was you."
"Wasn't just me." Nathan deadpanned.
"Well, I chose you." Gigi laughed in an attempt to be cute that fell flat. "So, come on. Tell us all your secrets."
Nathan straightened up in his seat, clearly not happy at having to participate. As he began to think, a smirk graced his lips. Haley observed him from across the table and instantly became nervous. She knew that look. "I never had sex with someone for revenge."
Suddenly, Brooke's giggles came to a holt and she sat upright. She didn't feel so drunk anymore. Lucas and Peyton stiffened in their seats while the rest of the table looked at Nathan with confusion. Haley felt as if she was on fire. She couldn't believe he had just said that. She would have to drink now or else he would taunt her in front of everybody, she just knew it.
Gigi looked between Nathan and Haley curiously. She didn't think her plan would work this well.
Just as Haley picked up her bottle, Brooke quickly took the beer from Simon's hands and drank from it. Everyone looked at her with surprise.
"My ex-boyfriend," Brooke shrugged. "Yeah, big jerk. Big, big jerk." She continued with animated hand gestures. "Thought he had me fooled but you should have seen the look on his face when he found out what I'd been doing with his best friend that past weekend!"
Brooke began to laugh and the rest of the table did with her. Haley quickly took the moment to take a sip. She made eye contact with Nathan as she did it. He wasn't going to beat her. Not here, not this time. She was over letting him tear her apart in public.
She put her bottle back down on the table before anybody noticed that she'd even taken a sip. As Brooke began her 'I Never', Haley realised she didn't want to be here anymore. She looked over at Nathan who was obviously furious at Brooke's diversion. She couldn't leave while he was still here or else he would think it was because of him. Which it was, but that didn't mean she wanted him to know that. As if luck would have it, Nathan suddenly rose from his seat.
"I need some air." He said stonily to nobody in particular before retreating out of the room.
Haley breathed a sigh of relief and then turned to Cam. "Hey, would it be okay if I leave? I'm really tired all of a sudden."
Cam furrowed his brows in concern. "Yeah, that's fine. You sure you're okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." Haley reassured him with a smile. "I think I was a bit too eager to get to class this morning and got up too early."
Cam laughed. "Alright, I'll walk you to your dorm."
She smiled at him. "Thanks."
As Haley and Cam rose from the table, Brooke and Peyton looked at Haley with concern. She gave them both reassuring smiles and then mouthed "I'm fine, don't worry". Brooke and Peyton sunk back down into their seats, still slightly worried.
"I'll call you in a bit." Brooke said after her.
Haley smiled back and then walked out of the room with Cam.
As they approached the door of Haley's dorm, the conversation between Haley and Cam died down.
"Hey, I just wanted to say thanks for inviting me tonight." She smiled up at him. "I had fun."
"Really?" Cam asked, not looking all that convinced.
"Yeah, I promise." Haley let out with a light laugh, holding onto his forearm. "Coming back early had nothing to do with the party or you. This week is just catching up with me I think."
Cam smiled. "Okay, good."
The two of them stopped in front of the dorm door. Haley felt Cam grab a hold of her hand and looked up to see his bright green eyes staring at her like a cat.
"So does that mean I can invite you to something else sometime?" Cam asked hopefully. "Maybe with just you and me?"
Haley smiled at him but underneath it all she felt her stomach sinking. "Yeah, definitely. But um, look Cam..."
Cam's smile quickly faded and he let go of her hand. "Oh, you don't have to say it." He said dejectedly. "I get it, you want to just be friends."
"No!" Haley said, taking his hand back. "That's not it, I promise. It's just," She took a deep breath. "It's just last year, at school, I was in this relationship that was pretty serious and, I mean I know it's stupid because it was over ten months ago, but I'm just not ready for another boyfriend yet."
Cam's face softened. "Oh."
"Yeah," Haley said searching his face for signs of hope. "It was complicated and messy, and maybe I'll tell you about it sometime but for right now I just want to forget about it."
Cam nodded. "I understand, Haley. It's alright."
As he turned to leave, Haley pulled back on his hand.
"Wait." She said. "I'm not done." She let out a small laugh and Cam looked at her with confusion. "Even though I'm not ready for a full blown relationship, I need to move on. I tried a few really unconventional ways of doing so last year that didn't work out so well for me but, if you want to, I'd really like to keep seeing you."
Cam raised his eyebrows as Haley nervously awaited his reply. The corners of Cam's mouth began to lift and his eyes brightened.
"I definitely want to." He smiled at her. "Whatever you need is fine with me."
Haley smiled back. "Thank you Cam. I promise it won't be like this forever."
He nodded. Silence overcame the two and Cam began to intertwine his fingers with Haley's. Ignoring the feeling in her stomach, Haley allowed her eyes to connect with his and braced herself as she watched him lean towards her. She owed the poor boy this. Their lips connected and they shared a sweet kiss outside Haley's dorm room. As they drew apart, Haley gave Cam a final small smile.
"Okay, well I better get inside." She said.
"Yeah," Cam replied as he held the door open for her. "Have a good sleep Haley."
"Thanks, you too." Haley said and shut the door behind her.
Haley rested her bag down on the living room table and headed into the bathroom. As she removed her makeup, she let the dread of going to bed come over her. It was her least favourite part of every single day. It's funny, because not too long ago she used to love it. She walked out of the bathroom and into her bedroom, taking off her heels and throwing them into her closet. She quickly got changed from her jeans and top into a pair of pyjama shorts and an old oversize t-shirt that didn't belong to her. It was hard enough getting to sleep these days, but without that t-shirt she knew she would never be able to close her eyes. Letting her long blonde hair fall down her back, she climbed into bed and lay down. Haley stared at the ceiling for a good minute or so as she let all the barricades she held up during the day come crashing down, as if she didn't have an ounce of strength left in her to keep them up any longer. She felt a tear escape from her eye and slide down her cheek. She turned over in her bed and felt the cold emptiness that encompassed the other side. Then the tears began to flow much more rapidly as she felt every emotion she'd been holding in come spilling out. She closed her eyes and wished for things to be different. She wished to go back, she wished to go forward. She wished to be anywhere but here, to feel anything but this. For the next hour, Haley lay in her bed crying herself to sleep.
Just like she did every other night.
The weekend passed by in a blur with nothing too eventful occurring. Brooke had her first college hook up which Haley and Peyton did not stop hearing about and Haley had gone to see a movie with Cam on Sunday night. She had a good time. Cam was nice and sincere, but also funny and light hearted. She couldn't ask for much more than that. Well not for the moment, at least.
Cheer practise on Monday afternoon was a big wakeup call to Brooke, Haley and Peyton who began to feel the real effects of the weekend.
"Alright, everyone we're done for the day." Jessica, the cheer captain announced. "Good effort today girls, but let's not make it a habit to party too hard every weekend."
The girls giggled and nodded.
"Okay, so as some of you might not know we have the Annual Duke Devil's Weekend coming up in two weeks." Jessica said to the squad. "Otherwise known as A.D.D. Weekend." Jessica smiled.
Most of the cheerleaders began to laugh while Haley, Peyton and Brooke looked between each other in confusion. None of them knew what the weekend was.
"Basically, it's a charity weekend Duke puts on every year where the basketball players invite another college team to play them to raise money for a particular organisation." Jessica explained to the girls. "Tickets to the game are sold as well as merchandise made by both schools. It's held in a different place each year as the college organises for it to be held in a city between the where two colleges playing are located. Naturally, the cheerleading squads are given two sections of time to perform during the game. One short one per team at the beginning and a bigger halftime show."
A grin quickly emerged on Brooke's face.
"Wait, if we are going to be in a different city, where will we stay?" Brooke asked, hoping desperately that the answer would be what she was thinking.
Jessica smiled at Brooke. "I was just getting to that. Besides the actual cheering of course, the best part of the weekend, and pretty much the reason it's called A.D.D. Weekend, is because everybody gets put up in hotel rooms for three nights."
Brooke jumped up in the air. "Oh my god!"
"You know, usually Brooke and I don't get excited over the same things but this actually sounds kind of awesome." Peyton remarked with a smile.
"Yeah, it kinda does!" Haley laughed at Brooke's antics. Grabbing a hold of her friends hand she tried to calm her down. "Woah, Brooke. Pace yourself, it's not for another two weeks."
"Whatever Tutor Girl, I'm excited!" Brooke squealed. "It's three freakin' nights!"
"This year, we are playing the Boston University Terriers and we are staying in Washington DC." Jessica announced before the squad got too excited. "So for the next two weeks there will be practise every day to get ourselves ready for it. There is one catch though."
Brooke suddenly stopped moving and looked at Jessica seriously.
"We have a total of sixteen fantastic girls on this squad but unfortunately the school is only putting up six hotel rooms for cheerleaders per school. As there are only two allowed per room, that means only twelve girls will be able to attend the weekend." Jessica explained to the now sullen group of girls.
Brooke felt her stomach sink. "How will you decide who gets to go?"
"Well to make it fair," Jessica replied, "Tomorrow I will split you up into groups of four and teach you a quick routine to perform to me at the end of the practise. One person from each group will stay behind, but don't worry to those who don't make it. You will have priority at the next cheer event and are still very much valued members of the squad. No girl here doesn't deserve to be, you all have talent. If anyone if willing to nominate themselves to sit out of the weekend and make my decision a little bit easier, please let me know."
The squad fell silent for a few moments before Haley cleared her throat.
"I'll sit out." Haley said to Jessica.
"What?" Brooke exclaimed from beside her. "Haley, no!"
Jessica raised her eyebrows. "Are you sure, Haley? You don't have to."
Haley nodded. "Yeah, its fine. I know all the girls here are dying to go and it would give me a good chance to have some uninterrupted study time anyway."
Brooke looked at Haley like she was crazy, while Jessica smiled at her.
"Okay, well I won't count you out just yet." Jessica said to Haley. "Just in case you change your mind, tell me your decision at practise tomorrow."
"Okay." Haley said.
The squad began to separate, collecting their things from the side of the gym while chatting about the upcoming weekend.
"Haley! What were you thinking? You have to come!" Brooke whined.
"Yeah Haley." Peyton added. "I mean, I can't deal with Brooke by myself all weekend."
Haley laughed. "Look guys, I know it sounds fun but you both know parties have never been a big deal to me. And while I love cheerleading, it wouldn't be fair to take the spot away from another girl on the squad who is dying to go."
"Who the hell cares!" Brooke exclaimed causing Peyton and Haley to laugh. "Screw the others. I'm doing nothing but lunges and high kicks tonight, you two better watch out. Nobody is beating me out of a position to that weekend tomorrow."
Across the gym, a rumble was heard as the basketball team ran in from doing laps outside. All the girls stopped to watch them run in, most of them sweating and shirtless. Haley quickly diverted her eyes as she saw the shine of Nathan's tanned chest enter the gym. It was the last thing she wanted to be looking at.
Gigi's eyes lit up as she saw Nathan run into the gym. She quickly rose to her feet and walked over to him.
"Hey Nathan." She said cheerily. "Looking good."
Nathan looked up after putting his water bottle on the ground.
"Thanks. You too." He replied causing her to giggle.
A few feet away, Haley stood listening to their conversation. She rolled her eyes at his lame attempt at a pick up line.
"So, you looking forward to the ADD Weekend?" Gigi asked him, obviously building up to something.
"Yeah, definitely. The Terriers are going down." Nathan replied as he pulled a shirt over his head.
Gigi giggled. "So, will you be sharing a hotel room with anybody in particular?"
Nathan raised his eyebrows at that. "Uh, nope. But I'm pretty sure we have to room with guys off the team anyway."
Gigi snickered. "Well there are plenty of ways around that."
Nathan laughed uncomfortably, then noticed Haley standing a few steps away and became hyper aware of her presence. "Yes, there are." He said to Gigi with his signature smirk.
"Great." Gigi replied. "Then I'll make sure I find a way around it then?"
"Definitely."
Haley felt her stomach squirm. She didn't need to hear that. Nathan and Gigi? He Who Should Not Be Named and the girl who seemed to have some weird vendetta out against her? This certainly was not going down well for Haley so she decided to do something about it.
She looked up to see Jessica walking out of the gym.
"Hey, wait!" Haley called out, running after her. "Jessica, hold on a second."
Jessica spun around and smiled at Haley. "Yes?"
"I was thinking, could you actually put me back on the list for trying out tomorrow?" Haley asked. "I would really like to come after all."
Jessica laughed. "Yeah, that's fine. I thought you might say that. Besides, I was kind of hoping you would. You're one of the best cheerleaders we've got."
"Thank you so much, Jessica." Haley said, honestly flattered. For someone who was a natural born klutz it was nice to hear something like that.
"Call me Jess." She smiled, then turned and walked out of the gym.
"Yeeeess!" Haley heard a high pitch, raspy squeal from behind her.
"Good work, Haley. Now we can all go to Washington together!" Brooke said excitedly, wrapping her arms around Peyton and Haley. "Okay, now back to the dorm for a quick snack and recharge and then we'll come back here to practise for tomorrow."
Haley and Peyton groaned. "No." They said in unison.
Brooke made an outraged face.
"Brooke, you're fantastic and you'll definitely make the cut tomorrow." Haley said, buttering Brooke up.
"Totally, I mean how could she not choose you?" Peyton followed up.
Brooke smiled. "You speak the truth."
"Good, now that means we can go back to our dorm and relax in peace." Peyton said with a smile as she grabbed Haley's hand. The two sprinted for the gym door together.
"Wait!" Brooke shouted after them. "That's not what I meant! We still have to practise!"
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