Chapter Seven
Hey guys! So sorry for the delay, real life has been getting in the way a lot lately. There are a couple of hints in this chapter as to who Lucas will be with so don't miss them! Not the most exciting chapter, but it is necessary to the story and next chapter is going to be a big one! Enjoy :)
The harsh sound of the hotel alarm woke Haley in a fright. She quickly shook her head, trying to wrap her thoughts around the morning. Rubbing her eyes, she shut off the alarm and looked at the empty space beside her. Events from last night came rushing back into her head.
Oh My God.
Quickly, the sinking feeling in her heart descended and enveloped her stomach. No wonder she was so tired, she had spent practically all night tossing and turning. Looking at the clock, she saw that it was 8:01AM.
Springing out of bed, Haley ran over to her suitcase and quickly changed into clothing suitable to wear for breakfast. Coach K had arranged for them all to have breakfast together at exactly 8:15AM. As she pulled a plain white t-shirt over head, Haley noticed that his suitcase was still in the room. She stared at it for a few moments before snapping herself out of her trance.
Just don't think about it, Haley.
Haley quickly fixed her hair in the mirror and put on some light make up to make herself look somewhat presentable. She then grabbed the room key and headed out the door, intent on finding Peyton and Brooke. Not that she had any idea what room they would be in.
Just as Haley shut the door to her room, she heard a deep voice from behind her.
"Haley!"
Haley whipped her head around, giving a half hearted smile to Lucas. "Hey."
"I heard Coach K caught you and Jake." Lucas began, looking worried. "What happened? Where did you go?"
"Um, well I basically just banged on every door until someone let me in." Haley lied, hoping he wouldn't ask whose room she had been let into. "But how did you know about me and Jake?"
"Oh, well you know your cheer captain, Jessica?"
"Yeah." Haley nodded.
"Yeah, well she came to my room by accident and we got a call from Stacy saying not to move because she'd seen Coach K yelling at you from the hallway." Lucas replied. "Sorry that it had to be you Hales. If you had just waited a second longer, somebody else would have been out there checking what was happening."
Haley grimaced, then shrugged her shoulders. "Yeah, oh well. Might as well have been me if it was going to be someone. Did you find out what happened with the lists and stuff?"
"Kind of." Lucas said, before going on to explain. "Apparently the girls had made a different list first but had to change it because they ended up with three people in one room and two people by themselves or something. Anyway, Sarah printed off the wrong one and gave it out to the guys and, well, here we are."
Haley nodded. That made sense as to why Nathan was by himself.
"So, did you have to spend the night with Jessica?" Haley asked.
"Yeah." Lucas replied. "It wasn't that bad though. She's pretty nice and we just played Scrabble the whole time. Turns out she's a total nerd like us too."
Haley smiled. "I knew I liked her."
Lucas threw his arm around her shoulder. "It's good to see you smile, Hales. I've missed it."
Haley glanced up at him as they walked towards the lift together. "I smile. I smile all the time."
"Yeah, but they're not real smiles." Lucas replied with a knowing grin. "You're forgetting how well I know you, James."
Haley gave him a soft smile as she leant into Lucas. She was grateful to have him and she did miss him a lot. They hadn't been able to see each other as much since it happened.
They got into the lift and headed down towards the ground floor.
As soon as the elevator doors opened, noise filled the air. Lucas and Haley walked into the buffet breakfast room where most people were seated already.
Haley quickly glanced around, checking to see if he was here. He wasn't. Haley sighed in relief.
"Tutor Girl!" She heard a raspy voice screech from beside her.
Brooke bounced up to Haley, eyes filled with curiosity. Before Haley could blink, Peyton was by her side also.
"Oh my god, I heard what happened." Brooke said. "Poor you!"
Just as Haley was about to respond, Brooke cut her off. "But also poor me! I was stuck in a room with Will Roberts trying to feel me up the whole night."
Brooke made a disgusted face. "Seriously, it's like he didn't even care that he was supposed to be with Stacy."
"I don't think any of them really cared who they got paired with as long as it was a girl." Peyton stated bluntly.
"Apparently the same applies for some of the girls." Haley added. "I heard some pretty interesting noises coming through my wall last night."
"Ew, what a slut!" Brooke exclaimed, then laughed at herself. "Hey, now I know what it's like when people talk about me!"
Haley and Peyton laughed.
"Where did you go last night, Hales?" Peyton asked.
Haley didn't hear the question. She was too distracted, looking around the tables to see if a certain raven haired boy with a cloud of anger surrounding him was sitting down. He wasn't.
"Haley?" Brooke asked, grabbing Haley's attention.
"Sorry, what?" Haley asked.
"Where did you go last night? After Coach K told you to go back to your room?" Peyton asked again.
"Um, well..."
Haley let all her rational thoughts shut off as soon as he started kissing her. It didn't stop her heart from beating a million miles an hour though, and she was sure he could feel it. She wanted to feel his heart, to see if it was beating like hers was. She was hoisted up around his waist, with his arms secure around her. She removed her hands away from his face to lift up his water soaked shirt and pull it over his head. She did it smoothly and quickly, like no time had passed at all since the last time she had done so. She held her hand up to the middle of his toned chest, feeling his pulse thumping underneath his damp skin. She couldn't help the smile that formed on her lips as she kissed him.
Nathan lowered her down onto the bed, never breaking contact with her lips. Deep down, Haley knew it was because the second they stopped and had a moment to think, he would be out of the room – and he really wanted to be in there. They continued kissing ferociously, like it was the last chance they would ever have to do so again.
Nathan reached for the hem of her shirt, and while he did so he started tracing a number with his finger on her lower back. He knew there was nothing there anymore, but old habits die hard. As soon as she realised what he was doing, Haley was pulled back into reality and felt herself go cold.
"Well, what?" Brooke asked impatiently.
"Well the noises I heard were actually coming from my original room so I knocked on the door of the room next to mine." Haley explained, trying to decide whether or not she was going to tell them the truth of the next part of the story.
"Who was in there?" Peyton asked.
"Nobody." Haley lied, deciding it was best not to tell anybody the truth about this. "Coach K ended up letting me into that room because he has a key to them all. It must have been Peyton's loner room."
"What!" Peyton yelled. "So basically we switched places."
"What do you mean?" Haley asked, slightly confused.
"I was with Cam." Peyton replied. "So while you got my room all to yourself, I was making delightfully awkward conversation with your boyfriend."
Oh, that kind of switched places.
"He's not my boyfriend." Haley stated. "And sorry. But there were worse people you could have been put with."
"True." Peyton nodded. "He really does like you, Haley."
Haley smiled. "I know. I like him too."
Peyton nodded, not quite believing her. "Good. Because we spent the whole night talking about you and he kept asking me about where he should take you to dinner and what he can do to make you like him more."
Haley felt horrible. Cam deserved better than her. He was nice and going to all this effort for her, and he didn't even think that she liked him back.
"Don't worry, Peyton." Haley replied. "I like him."
"Okay, well now that we've got that sorted, can we get some food?" Brooke butted in. "I'm starving, there is like, no food in these hotel rooms."
The girls filled their plates up and sat down along the large table set up for them. Once again, Haley looked around to see if Nathan had entered the room and once again, he hadn't.
"Anyone seen Scott?" Coach K's voice boomed across the room.
Lucas looked up at the Coach curiously.
"Not you." The coach replied, eyeing Lucas. "The darker Scott. My star player who obviously thinks he's too good to come and join us for breakfast."
Haley tried not to smile. It was funny because it was true. It was just like Nathan to think that because he was the star player, he could do whatever he wanted.
"Haven't seen him, sorry Coach." Lucas said as he moved down the table, seating himself next to Brooke.
Lucas turned to Haley, who was now sitting in front of him. "You seen him?"
"Me?" Haley questioned, feeling her heartbeat begin to race. "Why would I have seen him?"
"Yeah, I guess." Lucas smiled. "Anyway, I was thinking later on after we all finish practise, we could go out? I think everybody is going to this club that James found."
"Sounds fun." Brooke replied enthusiastically, her eyes fixated on Lucas. Lucas smiled at her in return.
"Good. That's at least one excited response." Lucas said, throwing his arm around Brooke's shoulder.
"I suppose I'll go." Peyton said without any eagerness or disinterest. "If Haley goes too."
Haley's eyes flashed over to Peyton. "Uh, yeah I don't know guys..."
"Haaaaley!" Brooke whined. "No! Please, you have to come!"
Haley squirmed. It wasn't what she felt like doing at all.
"Well..." Haley began, ready to gently let Brooke down.
"Wasn't he wearing those clothes last night?" Brooke cut Haley off, eyeing off somebody behind her.
Haley turned to see Nathan walking across the breakfast room, dressed in the same white shirt that she had torn off his last night.
"Trust Nathan." Peyton said, rolling her eyes.
Haley gulped. Was he going to look at her? She knew he knew she was there. He always knew. But his eyes weren't connecting with her side of the room. He was avoiding her. Haley could always tell when he was doing that. Not that it was hard to notice, as it seemed to be the only thing he did these days.
"Good to see that you've graced us with your presence Scott." Coach K said sarcastically.
Nathan nodded at the coach, choosing to ignore his sarcasm and act as though he was being serious. Coach K didn't like it.
"Ten extra laps of the court at practise for you Scott. You better get there early." The coach said in an aggravated huff.
Nathan shrugged. He didn't care. Ten laps was like a walk in the park for him.
"So Nate," Sarah lent across the table to Nathan. "Everybody is going to this club that James found for us tonight, you in?"
"Of course he's in." James butted in. "We're going to find ourselves some fine ladies tonight, aren't we Scott?"
Nathan nodded.
"Sounds good." He said without smiling.
Haley felt her heart drop a fraction. She then grabbed hold of herself and shook the feeling off. She saw Cam waving at her from the other end of the table. She smiled at him and waved back. Suddenly she felt awful. They weren't going out, but she knew she had done the wrong thing by him and she hadn't even thought about it. She needed to make it up to him. He was so good to her.
"You know what Brooke?" Haley said, grabbing the attention of the brunette across from her while eyeing Cam. "Tonight sounds awesome. I'll be there."
"Yay!" Brooke squealed in delight, high fiving Lucas.
Lucas laughed. He forgot how funny she was. He needed some of that back in his life.
Haley got out of her seat. "I'll be right back."
She walked directly past Nathan, conscious not to look at him. If he wanted to be a jerk, he could be a jerk. She wasn't going to sit around and hurt some innocent boy and herself by letting him know that he affected her.
"Cam!" She greeted the blonde boy cheerfully.
"Haley." Cam replied with a smile. "Missed you last night."
"I know, I'm sorry about all that." Haley said, as she sat herself down in his lap.
"What are you talking about?" Cam asked her, wrapping his arm around her waist. "It's not like it was your fault. Besides, there's always tonight right?"
Haley smiled. "Of course there is. You going to this club thing?"
"Yeah, I was thinking I would but if you'd rather stay here..." Cam trailed off.
"No! It sounds good to me. We can make up for lost time." Haley replied, reassuring him. "I feel like I haven't spent time with you in ages."
"I know what you mean." Cam replied. "It hasn't even been a week!"
Haley laughed. She honestly liked Cam. He was fun and sweet and he treated her so well. He didn't yell at her or call her names or kiss her while he was dripping wet in a hotel room out of nowhere. The boy who did do those things to her was sitting further down the table, pretending not to listen to their conversation.
"Well after practise, I'll get ready and swing by your door." Haley said to Cam. "Or, I guess, our door."
Cam smiled. "Yeah, sounds good."
Haley smiled back. You're happy about this. You're happy about this.
She got up out of Cam's lap and walked back past Nathan again. Even though she made sure she didn't look at him or show any expressions of unease, it didn't save Haley from having flashbacks of last night as she walked by him.
Nathan slid his finger across the smooth skin on her back as he kissed her, before realising she wasn't responding anymore. He lifted himself up, looking down at her face to see what was going on.
"I'm sorry." Haley said, pushing her hand into his bare chest and forcing him off her. "We can't."
Nathan felt a weight drop in his stomach but instead of showing his disappointment he resorted to anger.
"Whatever." He said roughly, standing up and picking his shirt up off the floor."Since Gigi wasn't here I thought this would be my only chance of getting any action tonight."
Nathan pulled his shirt over his head and walked towards the door. Haley felt his words rip through her. She knew they weren't entirely true, but she couldn't help but doubt herself.
"Who knew, even you have standards." Nathan spat out before slamming the door to the hotel room shut, leaving his stuff behind.
Haley felt the tears well up in her eyes. He just couldn't let it go.
"Tired, Tutor Girl?" Brooke asked as they walked out of the hotel gym.
Haley wiped the sweat off her forehead. "No, it's more that I just feel disgusting."
"I know what you mean." Peyton said beside her, holding her water bottle to her flushed cheeks.
They had been practising the routine for tomorrow's game for four hours straight and now Jessica had finally let them leave.
"I'm just looking forward to having a long, relaxing bath." Haley said, smiling at the thought.
"In what room though?" Peyton asked. "What's happening with all of that? Do we go to the ones we were in last night now or are we switching straight away? If so, nobody knows the right rooms to go to."
Haley frowned. She hadn't thought about that.
"Oh, Gigi said that we'll change when we get back from the club tonight because they need to figure out what list they are going to give everybody or something." Brooke interjected. "So go to your room from last night."
Haley nodded. Good, that means I can just go to the room I was in with Jake. Seeing as that was my room anyway.
They got to the elevator with Haley and Peyton getting off at the second floor while Brooke rode on up to the third.
As she walked down the corridor to Room 230 with Peyton, it occurred to Haley that all her things were still in Nathan's room.
"Crap." Haley said out loud.
"What?" Peyton asked.
"Uh, I left my stuff in the other room and I don't have a key." Haley said.
"Oh." Peyton said. "Well who were you in the room with? I'm sure whoever the girl in there was would let you in to get your stuff."
"I wasn't with anybody, remember?" Haley said.
"Oh yeah, how annoying." Peyton replied. "Well, come with me and I'll give you a singlet and shorts to change into and then you can go up to Brooke's room and borrow one of the twenty dresses she brought with her."
"Thanks, Peyton." Haley said with a smile.
After putting aside the top and shorts Peyton had given her, Haley turned the taps of the bath on and put her hand under the running water until she felt it turn searing hot. She loved hot baths. She put the plug in the hole and added the hotels supplied bubble bath to the water as it rose.
As she waited for the bath to fill up, Haley removed her Duke cheerleading jacket. She looked at herself in the mirror, staring at the bare skin present between the top of her skirt and the bottom of her cheerleading top. Quickly, Haley spun around to check her lower back and sighed in relief.
All that sweating didn't rub it off.
Haley grabbed a hand towel resting next to the sink and quickly wet it under the tap. She watched in the mirror as the white hand towel quickly turned to a light shade of brown as she wiped it across her lower back. Before her eye's, Haley saw the number '2' come into view quickly followed by the number '3'. She put the make-up covered hand towel down and looked at her tattoo in the mirror for a moment longer. Nobody knew that she still had it. Especially not the person she had gotten it for.