Emily Van Camp as Natalie Keith Scott

Vanessa Morgan as Brianna "Bird" Taylor

"What does Lucas usually do after school?" I asked Haley as I sat down at her table. It hadn't been a wild guess that she'd be in the tutoring center. Nathan had mentioned, in passing, that she was tutoring him. He hadn't even been talking to me when he said it. He hadn't spoken to me since Monday.

Haley seemed a bit startled, but I couldn't blame her. I had just sat down, she hadn't even known I was there before I began speaking. "Uh, I don't know." She said. "It's Wednesday, so he might be at the River Court."

I nodded. "Great, thanks." I got up and made my way towards the door, but turned back a second later. Dropping into my seat, I startled Haley once again. "What's the River Court?"

"It's where Lucas and some of our friends play basketball." She told me. "It's right next to the river, hence the name. Just cross the bridge and you can't miss it." I nodded. "Why?"

"Well, I was writing a letter to my mother last night- per your advice." I left out the fact that it was a letter of lies. "And I realized that I have a better relationship with you, Brooke and Peyton than I do my own brothers, which is kind of pathetic. Since my relationship with Nathan is negative zero because of my stupid mouth, I figured I'd take a shot and see if I could try and be a good sister to my older brother."

"Or..." Haley stretched out. "You could apologize for whatever happened between you and Nathan." I pretended to think about it before shaking my head.

"One brother at a time." I decided before leaving the table and I heard Haley sigh as I left the tutoring center.

Since I didn't have a car of my own yet, I got Peyton to drive me to the River Court since she knew where it was. I invited her to come with me to see Lucas, but she just shook her head before telling me to have fun and driving off. I wasn't exactly sure what was going on with those two, but I wasn't anxious to figure it out.

"Hottie incoming." I heard as I neared the River Court where there were four guys playing basketball and two sitting in the stands with a girl. Lucas stopped where he stood on the court and turned. I could swear he grimaced when he saw me.

"That is not a hottie." He told the boy who spoke, tossing him the ball. "That's my sister." Lucas jogged over to me as I stepped onto the court. "Hey, what are you doing here?"

"Well," I started. "In my mission to get closer to both of my brothers and turn them into BFF's in the process," He grimaced again. "I screwed up with Nathan, so I came here to see if I would have better luck with you."

"How'd you know where I was?"

"Haley," He nodded. "Are you gonna introduce me to your friends or am I gonna have to keep standing here while they ogle at me?" Lucas furrowed at his eyebrows and turned around to see one of his friends- the bigger one he had tossed his ball to- making kissy faces at me. With a sigh, he turned back to me.

"Do I have to?"

"You better," I told him as I hooked my arm with his sweaty one. "Or I'll tell your mom you're being mean and she'll ground you again." Lucas sighed once more before pulling me over to his friends.

"Guys," He began, albeit, reluctantly. "This is Natalie...my sister. Natalie, these are the guys."

"Wow, I don't even get a name?" The muscular black one asked before looking at me. "I'm Skills,"

"Who gave you that nickname?" He grinned at me.

"You know-"

"No, she does not know," Lucas interrupted. "And it wasn't even in the way you're insinuating; you got that nickname when we were ten and you projectile peed in a bottle two feet away." Ew.

Skills' face scrunched up. "C'mon, man!" Lucas ignored his friend as he introduced me to the other as fast as possible. "That's Junk," Junk was the heavy set one who had been making kissy faces at me. "Fergie," Fergie was the only other black guy and he was much lankier than Skills. "Jimmy," Jimmy was fatter than Junk, but he seemed much more reserved from what I could tell when I smiled at him and he quickly looked away. "Mouth," And what an accurate nickname it was; Mouth was the thinnest of all the boys and was the epitome of the word geek. He, however, seemed very friendly and gave me a smile. "And Bird." Bird was the girl who sat at the top of the stands. She was black, but had a slightly lighter skin tone than Skills and Fergie. Her hair was light brown with pink dyed into it and she wore a light blue tracksuit similar to the one Brooke had loaned me before. She held up a peace sign. "She's Skills' sister."

"Come on," She waved me up. "Haley and I usually get banished up to the top row while the boys play." I began climbing up the bleachers and the boys went back to playing while the other two- Mouth and Jimmy- continued on with the faux commentary thing they had going on. "You know," Bird began. "Lucas never mentioned he had a sister."

"Yeah, well, Lucas and I were never close," I still felt bitter when I thought about what my mother had done. "We've actually only met once before I moved here- I lived in Alliance with my aunt." Bird and I fell into an easy, comfortable silence as we watched the boys play, but we eventually got bored and Bird suggested we force our way into the game. "Don't worry," She said as she went down the stands and I followed her. "Haley and I do this all the time." She jumped off the third row and landed right by Skills who she skipped past and stole the ball from.

"Really?!" He sighed and she put on a face of faux-surprise.

"Oh, I'm sorry," She apologized insincerely. "Did you want this? See, I didn't think you did since you were playing like a little bitch."

"Hey," He pointed a finger as her as he started towards her slowly. "What did mom tell you about calling me a bitch?" I should've known they were siblings.

"Not to let her hear me say it!" Skills ran at his sister only for Bird to dodge him and run up to the closest basket and toss the ball in. "And, as usual, Bird beats her little bitch brother!"

"You're older by one minute, Brianna!" Bird gasped.

"I know you didn't just call me Brianna, Antwon!" Grabbing the ball from where it was still bouncing, she threw it at Skills who immediately caught it, causing him to be off guard when he was tackled by his sister. The ball bounced and I grabbed it, turning to Lucas.

"What do you say?" I asked, bouncing the ball. "Two on two; brother vs. sister."

If anything, Lucas seemed annoyed. "I say-" He took the ball before I even realized what was happening and shot it into the basket behind my head. "You better bring better game than that." He did not...

"Ladies and gentlemen, it seems that an challenge has been issue between the two Scott siblings." I heard Mouth announce from the stands. I wondered if that was his thing; commentating when no one was there to listen. "Lucas Scott and Skills Taylor versus Natalie Scott and Bird Taylor; this is the place to be as the two pairs of brothers and sisters square off..."

"So, who won the game?" Karen asked as we made our way through the store.

Even though Brooke and Peyton had taken me shopping for sanitary products the other day when they Mission Impossible'd their way into my house, I wasn't able to use the stuff we got as I wasn't entirely comfortable using tampons just yet- even though they had taught me how to use them. There was no way I was going to ask Deb, Dan, or Keith to drive me to the store for period pads, so I called Karen who- at the moment- was the only adult I felt comfortable doing this stuff with.

I had just been regaling her with the tale of Lucas and my's legendary basketball game when she asked me that question. "You know, we were all having so much fun that we weren't really keeping sco-"

"Lucas told me that you lost," That traitor.

"Only because Bird kept tripping Skills and calling him a bitch." I defended immediately. It was as if those two hadn't ever grown out of the sibling rivalry part of their childhood. "Thanks again for coming with me. I couldn't exactly ask Deb for help."

"Why not?" I shrugged.

"I don't know," I admitted. "I just...I don't really know her like I do you. I mean, I met her before when I was a kid, but that was only for a couple of hours before she and Dan went out and I know that I never met you before I came to Tree Hill, but I felt like I already knew you." I told her. "My aunt was always telling me how you and my mom were inseparable- plus, Keith couldn't shut up about you."

That seemed to surprise her. "Really?"

I nodded. "He talked about you so much that I thought you were his wife or, at least, his girlfriend. I mean, it's like he knew everything and anything there was to know about Karen Roe."

"We're close," Karen smiled. "Your father was never really in Lucas's life, so Keith stepped up; he taught him how to fish, how to ride a bike, let him know that it was okay to climb into bed with your mom if you're scared- you know, things fathers are supposed to teach their sons. I honestly don't know how Lucas would've turned out if it wasn't for him."

"I kind of think it's the other way around." I said and she looked at me. "I know Uncle Keith used to have a drinking problem- I mean, he managed to hide it for the couple of days a month that he visited me- but he straightened all that out because he needed to be a good role model for Lucas, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. I always think about how Keith would've turned out if it weren't for Lucas." By the look on her face, I could tell that Karen't hadn't really thought about it that way before, but she was now and so was I- well, the other way; how would Lucas turned out if it weren't for Keith? Would he be a huge douche with a heart of gold like our brother? Or would he just be so full of resentment and anger at Dan that he'd be something worse? It made me remember what Nathan said during my first week in Tree Hill; "I think that's why I'm such a dick to Lucas; he got raised by the good brother."

"They're good for each other," Karen finalized and I nodded.

"Yeah," I agreed. It was better to leave it at that.

My conversation with Karen got me thinking about my conversation with my mother- or my lack of. I hadn't spoken to her in so long and the last time I reach out to her, I sent her an E-mail full of lies. Maybe Haley was right; maybe I should've just told her the truth about everything.

So, I did. I told her about how I was getting closer to Nathan and then screwed that up and I told her how I was getting closer to Lucas and was trying not to screw that up; I told her about the new friends that I had made; I told her how things in Tree Hill were nothing like I expected; I told her how I met Karen and how I was pissed about her being the reason I didn't have a relationship with Lucas, growing up; I told her how pissed I was about the fact that I hadn't seen or talked to her in almost a year and the only contact I had was her was an unanswered E-Mail and a talk with her boy-man assistant- I told her everything and anything that came to mind.

I was up all night writing and I ended up falling asleep at my desk where I was writing this four page letter all by hand. When I woke up the next morning I didn't think about getting something to eat or going to the bathroom, I just continued my letter because, when I saw it, all the feelings I had experienced the night before while writing had come rushing back. Then, like before, I ended my letter with the same truth as last time; that I loved her.

Grabbing an envelope from Dan's office, I folded the papers inside before sealing it and scrawling out the names and addresses on the front. It wasn't that hard to get them from the boy-man assistant once I made it clear I'd keep calling and disrupting his work until he gave me what I wanted. He- after the fifth call- told me that my mother was staying at a hotel in Hong Kong and would be there for the next two weeks doing whatever it was that she did. When I saw her- if I saw her, I'd have to ask what it actually was that she did for a living.

After putting a stamp on it, I left the house- passing Deb on my way- and went up the driveway towards the mailbox. Luck was on my side that day, permitting me to show up at the exact same time as the mailman- well, woman, technically.

"Hello," She greeted as she dug into her bag. "You live here?"

I nodded. "Yeah, for the next month at least." That was an unnecessary amount of information to give to a stranger. Thankfully, the woman did dwell on it. Instead, she gave me a polite smile before handing over the mail; a Vogue magazine, three bills, a piece of junk mail, and a large manila envelope for me...from my mother...

Furrowing my eyebrows, I opened up the envelope and pulled out the papers inside.

PETITION FOR REMOVAL OF MINORITY

Emancipation papers...this was her big fix for not coming to Tree Hill when she promised she would? Emancipation papers? I could barely contain my disbelief and confusion and...whatever the hell else I was feeling as I flipped through the pages; she had already filled everything out. All that was left was for Dan and I to both sign our own signatures...what the hell?

The mail carrier was oblivious to my state of shock. "Do you have anything for me, hon?" She asked and I looked up from the papers, just barely registering the thick envelope under the mail she had given me.

"N-" Shaking my head, I cleared my throat. "No, I don't. Thank you." She gave me another smile before continuing on down the sidewalk to the next house. Feeling numb, I turned around and made my way back to the Scott house.

Okay, I'm not going to lie to you guys, this was a filler chapter. I haven't updated in a very long time, but there wasn't anyway for me to transition from my last chapter to the next while still doing everything that I wanted to do. I hope you don't hate me for it, but leave your thoughts in the box below!