The Outing.

Haley walked beside Nathan as they entered Karen's Café - the others were already there. Lucas, Peyton and Brooke were sitting at a table near the window - the largest table available - and were talking in quiet whispers; they were talking about her, Haley was sure.

Nathan gave her a reassuring smile and walked over to his friends; Haley followed, slowly. It was silent when she sat down - awkward. Karen walked over to the table with a sad look upon her face - clearly, Lucas had told her about what happened. She took out her notebook and was planning on asking everyone what they wanted, but stopped when she saw Haley's bruised, beaten face - Karen was shocked, she gasped for air, trying to hold back the tears she felt coming. "Oh, Haley...," she whispered, eyeing Haley with pitty.

Haley sighed, she didn't want their pitty - she didn't want anyone's sympathy. She just wanted to be threated as if she were one of them - a normal person. She knew she could never be that; her soul was too dark for that, but she hoped that she could convince them she was.

"Mom?" Lucas said, sensing my uneasyness. She looked away from me at her son - who gave her a firm look that told her she needed to act normal - and conjured up a smile and asked for our orders.

For a while, while every was eating and laughing and talking about futile things, Haley felt at ease. Her body however, was tense, from sitting so close to Nathan. It wasn't out of fear; it was more like there was some kind of pull between them - it felt strange.

Soon, they began talking about an 'outing'; they wanted to go do something fun, all of them together. Haley really didn't feel up to having much fun - having Nathan there convinced her, though. She would've thought it would have been because Lucas or Brooke, but it was because Nathan. She had a feeling she would do anything for him. No - not anything - everything.

"How about mini-golf?" Lucas suggested, Brooke and Peyton groaned, while Haley chuckled and Nathan smiled. Brooke and Peyton hated any sports that didn't involve dance or basketball. Nathan was up for it, he loved anything that could briefly take him away from the pressure he felt by playing basketball. Even though his father didn't push him anymore, he still felt the need to perform better than anyone else. Haley chuckled because of the idea and the girls' reaction; she didn't like sports either, especially in her current condition.

"How about movie and a bite to eat afterwards? It's relaxing and fun. Besides, I don't think Haley will be up for walking around an entire night," Nathan said, Haley was surprised by him - he seemed to know exactly what she wanted and what she didn't. Though, she shouldn't be surprised that he surprised her - it was all he seemed to do, surprise her.

"I like that idea," Haley said, speaking for the first time in over half and hour. Brooke and Peyton smiled and nodded; they already knew what movie they wanted to see - the new Twilight movie that had come out, apparantly there was a very hot guy in that movie. "Then a movie and dinner it is," Lucas agreed, smiling.

They planned to go see it in the weekend, on saturday. They wanted to catch the early twilight showing so they would have plenty of time to eat and talk. Haley felt a little more exited about this 'outing'; she had read the Twilight Saga books and loved them, and really wanted to see the movie as well. So at least something good came out of it. Besides, a movie could take her away from her thoughts - movies took her to a magical world for a while, a world where nothing else matters. A world where all the beatings she had suffered disappeared for a short time - a world where she had no worries at all. That's the main reason why she liked movies and books; they transported her to another place and time. It had always been her escape during the past 5 years - it was welcoming.

TO BE CONTINUED