Disclaimer: I do not own One Tree Hill or any of its characters.

It belongs to the creator (though screw that guy after all he did tbh)

On that note, I do not support Mark Schwann's actions nor condone them.

I just love the show that's all.

Synopsis: Lydia Scott sticks out like a sore thumb, the black sheep, despite her family's best efforts. On a whim she decides to join the girls basketball team to help them achieve the impossible: the state championships. And on a journey ranging from teamwork to romance and coming out of her shell, she learns to believe in herself and find her own strength as a champion, warrior and leader.

Author's Note:

Okay trying something new let's see how this goes. This chapter gets straight to the point in many cases because it is a loose introduction of who Lydia is, her world, how she feels, etc. But there is more to unravel, I promise. Also, remember this is fiction and all for fun. I will do my best to bring aspects of the show we love to life as much as I can while also writing for the new generation.

Send your thoughts! Hope you all enjoy!

She couldn't imagine a life without basketball. And for most of her life, she wasn't even the one who was playing.

Her dad could be considered a legend: former NBA star, captain of the basketball team in high school, state championship winner and an all-star athlete that worked his way up after the injury that almost broke his spirit. That life was left in the dust by the time she was born and he was able to raise the family he never got growing up.

But then again in a small town like Tree Hill, the whispers never really stopped.

Her brother wasn't too different. He broke his old man's record barely in high school, a prodigy who was known to get offers for exclusive academies and programs for his raw talent and skill starting at the small age of seven. He always declined, wanting to live a 'normal' life with all his friends and family causing chaos and playing basketball. However it was kind of infuriating: Jamie never bragged about his talent and was always raised to humble himself, which made him even more obnoxiously perfect.

Having two overwhelming basketball stars in the family meant she could not be raised without knowing the bare fundamentals of the game. Her mother may have been clueless (then again she was a valedictorian rockstar in her own right so naturally she got a pass) but the Scott boys would not let their daughter and sister make the same mistake. At the very least she would know how to play.

And she didn't even mind: she enjoyed the game and what it stood for, what it really came down to, past the overpriced athletes and their prima-donna treatment. How a group of twelve players strategized to win the game. How teamwork, along with a few winning games, could change a group of athletes dragged in the mud to the biggest stars in the sports world.

But usually it was the bonding experience between her dad and brother. It was the thing that connected them, the thing they shared that made their relationship so special. And they were both so good at it. Add her talented musician of a mother, who became a successful café owner, and you had a shining family that could be considered a beacon of success.

And then there was her.

It wasn't like they singled her out, at least not intentionally. At home she was loved, included and valued just like everyone else in the family. Dinners were warm and lively with a lot of smiles and typically validating conversations. She was listened to and the successes she had were celebrated.

But sometimes she felt like she missed out: like they all shared a lifetime before her. After all her parents had Jamie in high school, back when her father was suffering the burdens of being Grandpa Dan's son and how they were trying to figure out a life where all their dreams could be accomplished. By the time she came around all of that was mostly figured out.

And also people talked: Nathan, Haley, Jamie... oh and Lydia. Forgot about that little one.

She just wondered when she would be considered apart of the team, finally viewed for her competence and as herself, not as the unspoken but seemingly evident 'black sheep' of the Scott family to the rest of world.

"Hmmm.. basketball tryouts."

Lydia Scott was dragged out of her sleepy daze, cleaning out her locker for her english book, by Evelyn Brumage's declaration that morning. "What?"

"Didn't you see the morning announcements last period? The boys and girls Varsity basketball tryouts are starting next week."

"Oh." Usually she was caught dozing off, or even sleeping, during the the first class of the day. It was AP statistics and math, naturally, was her least favorite subject. Jude was always poking her shoulder for nodding off in class. "No I didn't."

"So..." Evelyn peered at her best friend's face, still tiredly examining the contents overflowing her locker. She really wished she shared her mother's cleanliness streak. "You gonna tryout?"

"What? No." Lydia pushed the overflowing books and papers scattering the small space inside and slammed her locker shut. "Why would I?"

"Because I've seen you play and you're really good. You always leave the Baker boys and their friends scrambling in the dust whenever they compete against you. Plus, the girls team could really use some new players."

"The girls team really just needs a new coach." Lydia interjected as the two walked off to their next class. "Coach Synder is in his ailing 70's and is still trying to enforce old concepts and ideas that don't work anymore."

"See even I didn't know that." Evelyn teased, bumping her arm lightly. "Someone has been keeping up with the sports at Tree Hill High."

"No I haven't." The other girl denied. "I just hear things in gym class."

"Sure."

The arguing continued, and even carried, all the way to their AP English class, where they sat in the back seats like they always did with their group of friends. After all it was the only class they all had together.

"Whoa." Jude Baker called as the two girls sat in the desks next to and in front of him. "What are we arguing about today?"

"Basketball tryouts." Evelyn piped in before Lydia could say anything. "I think Lydia should try out and she won't listen to me. Isn't she a good player?"

"Yeah. Really good." Davis Baker butted in. He was texting on his phone in the desk in front of Lydia's. "She always annihilates Jude when they play against each other. She's ahead by 8 points every time."

"Well it's also not just me dumbass." Jude kicked his younger twin brother in the leg. "We play on the same team remember?"

"Yeah, well I'm the better player remember?"

"Can we focus here!" Evelyn snapped before the two of them would start bickering. Again. "We are talking about Lydia you morons. Don't be conceited."

"Says the girl who will stare at her face in the mirror for like two hours." Davis snorted, caused Evelyn to turn and smack him hard in the arm. "Ow! I was kidding!"

"I think you should do it Lydia." Jude said, ignoring his brother as he looked at her. "If anything it can be an extracurricular you could use to get out of the house. And also that means fun parties those popular kids throw at their beach houses. The sport teams are always invited."

"Correction: the boy teams." Lydia corrected him, sitting back with a sigh. "And that's more your scene, not mine."

"Wow captain of the basketball team and former NBA star Nathan Scott's daughter doesn't like to party." Davis teased lightly, resting his head coyly on his hand with his arm propped on the desk. "Who would've known?"

"Yeah." Lydia mumbled as the teacher walked into class, instructing everyone to move foreword and Davis to shove his phone in his pocket. "Who would've."

She dismissed it the rest of the day, even when it was brought up two more times. They were two years away from graduating: she had no idea why they were pushing this now. And while she appreciated them being good friends, trying to push and encourage her, they should know better not to pester her with that crap. She was a person who like to make her decisions alone and by herself, with little or no input from anyone else.

Yet even then she couldn't stop thinking about it for the rest of the day. Even after school ended and when she was at work.

"Hey, sweetie, where's your head?" Her mother patted her on the cheek as she passed by her into the kitchen. "Tables 4 and 8 need their food."

"Right." Lydia shook off her deep thoughts and grabbed the plates of burgers and steak, piling them on the trays before carrying them out to the tables of customers. "Sorry."

She was able to stay occupied for an hour or so after, able to bend into the craziness that was dinner session by serving food and wiping tables. When she was old enough to understand the concept of jobs and work it was evident that she would help her mother out with all the buisness at Karen's Café. And in terms of official first jobs after age fifteen it was a nice one to have. The cafe was still a safe space after all these years: when she was little, Lydia would steal snacks from the counter with Jude and Davis until their mothers would scold them from across the room. There was also seasons in her childhood when close friends and family would gather and eat together once a month at the café after closing hours.

The customers, for the most part, brought the same atmosphere. Unlike her mom and Aunt Brooke, Lydia didn't love small talk. She was a lot more introverted and withdrawn and those that have been coming here long enough seem to understand that. If they did make conversation with her it was decently short and of course, it always involved something like "you've gotten taller", "you have your mother's smile", "you look so much like your father" or something along the lines of there. And that was okay. She would normally just smile, say "thanks" and then ask if they wanted their coffee refilled or anything on their dessert or breakfast menu.

Regardless, working at Karen's Café passed time and before she knew it they were closing and cleaning up afterwards.

The other employees went home, wishing them a good weekend, as they suddenly reminded Lydia, oh crap it's Friday. Then it was just her and her mother, closing up the restaurant while her mother played music in the background. It was a peaceful way to end the night after the craziness of school that she endured all week.

Even while she was mopping the floor, however, her mind was still on a deep colossal dive thinking about the tryouts and also simply basketball. This, of course, didn't go unnoticed.

"Hey L-Bob." Haley James Scott called, using her endearing nickname for her daughter now that it was just the two of them. The younger girl looked up from the floor and at her as she snapped back to reality. "You seem a million miles away. Everything alright?"

"Yeah I'm fine." Lydia played it off quickly, holding the mop rod a bit tighter than she intended. "I'm just tired. School's already kicking my butt three weeks in."

"Hmm." Haley nodded quietly, allowing her to continue cleaning and not pester her concerns even though there was clearly more going on than what her daughter was letting on. But this wasn't unsurprising. The youngest child of the Scott family was a lot quieter than her parents and older brother. She remembered having to adjust to that difference as early as elementary school, especially after raising an ever loud and chipper Jamie. Lydia would claim she was fine when she was picked up from school, only to have the teacher call her later on claiming their daughter got in trouble with some of her schoolmates. Or she would sit in on parent-teacher conferences with Nathan to find out Lydia was not doing well in class, despite the latter insisting she didn't need help with anything involving schoolwork.

Sometimes the only person who could really get to her was Lucas. He and Peyton moved back to Tree Hill when their daughter, Sawyer, was just barely starting middle school and he always made time for Lydia, who experienced a lot of loneliness when Jamie left for college. Nathan would joke that she was secretly his and Peyton's kid because she loved the books he gave her for her birthday every year and, by the time she was a teenager, was always alone in her room writing and listening to music through her headphones.

But Haley knew that he was only teasing: now at sixteen years old, Lydia was nearly the spitting image of her father. She shared his cerulean blue eyes, the ones that crinkled in the corner whenever they both laughed, and his raven dark hair that was cut in a bob just a little below her chin. However her warm smile, in an environment where she felt comfortable, was nearly identical to her mother, along with the mole right under her lip.

She also had Haley's nose, along with that little habitual scrunch she always did, only for Lydia it was when her mother attempted to snuggle her to death or when Nathan tried embarrassing her in public.

It made Haley feel a sense of deja-vu, remembering when she was a young teenager in the original version of Karen's Café eating dinners with Lucas and helping Karen out around the place.

Seems like such a lifetime ago.

"Your dad's coming home on Monday."

"Really?" Lydia looked up from her phone, sprawled on the couch. It was where she spent her evenings after work before trudging upstairs to bed in the early hours of the morning long after both of her parents fall asleep. "Is he staying for the rest of the year?"

"Yep." Haley smiled softly, her dark eyes dancing happily. Even if she didn't want to admit it Lydia could tell her father's absences for extended seasons, ranging over the summer, end of the year to early in the year, left a toll on her mother. After all he was her rock. They were just starting to get use to Jamie's absence after he left to coach the Charlotte Bobcats this year, after moving back home a few years ago when he suffered his horrible injury during his 3rd year of college.

The Scott boys were definitely the louder individuals of the four and brought a lot of energy into the big house. With them gone it was pretty silent, except when Haley worked on her music, and decently lonely. That was probably why in the warmer seasons the Scott ladies spent all of their time outside by the pool or on the patio steps leading into the backyard.

Haley sat down on the other end of the couch, looking soft and cozy, in her faded flannel pajamas Jamie and Lydia teased her about all the time. She sat Lydia's extended legs on her lap before fixing an intent gaze on her daughter. "Alright fess up. I've given you the drive home and the rest of the evening. What's going on with you that is making you extra distant today?"

"Nothing. Just school." Lydia shrunk her body down more on her end of the couch, almost like she was trying to avoid her mother's heavy stare. It didn't work. "What it's true! Just something about tryouts."

"That's right." Haley said aloud, nodding in realization. "They're next week."

Lydia held her phone to her chest as she peered curiously over at her mother. "Wait how do you know that?"

Her mother gave her a look. "Guess."

"...Uncle Skills."

"Bingo."

"Right." Lydia sighed, realizing just how much of family and their close friends were involved in basketball at a small town like Tree Hill. It seemed like she couldn't even tip a toe quietly into a court without being swarmed. "Is he involved with the girls team at all?"

"No they had some old man coaching up until this season."

"Wait, he got fired?" Lydia sat up suddenly, pulling her legs off her mother's lap and back into a crisscross position in her corner.

"Retired. Skills was telling Uncle Lucas and Uncle Mouth about it when they all went out last week."

"So who's gonna replace Coach Synder?"

"I have no idea." Now Haley looked over curiously, scrutinizing her daughter's sudden interest in a conversation about basketball coaches of all things. "Why are you so curious? Are you gonna try out?"

"What? No." Lydia shut down immediately, looking down at her phone again. "Evelyn just brought tryouts up today."

"Is that why you've been occupied in your thoughts all evening?"

"...maybe."

It was quiet for a moment and Haley knew that was all she was gonna get out of her. At least in terms of details. So she sighed and got off the couch.

"Well if you want to try out I think you should go for it."

Lydia looked up again. "Why?"

"Because it would be the first extracurricular you have ever signed up for since you joined elementary school choir and who knows? You just might enjoy it. After all you loved playing with your dad and brother since you were little."

"That was different. They always let me win."

"Trust me." Haley looked down at her with arms crossed. "It wasn't always. I have proof. But if you have doubts still, talk to your father about it. See what he says."

"Maybe." Of all the people she was hesitant to bring it up to it was her father, Nathan Scott. His hovering presence as a basketball king in such a small town like Tree Hill is one of the reasons holding her back in the first place. If she joins people will talk. A lot.

And Lydia's not sure if she's ready for that.