Haley sighed and plucked an apple from the fruit bowl in the middle of the kitchen table. Her mother, who was standing at the sink washing dishes, looked over her shoulder. "Enough with the sighs. We get it, Honey. You're upset that we had to move."

"All the way across the country!" she complained.

Lydia pulled the dish towel down off her shoulder and wiped her hands on it. She walked over to her daughter and gave her a quick hug. When Haley didn't hug her back, she reached down and picked daughters arms up and placed them around her own waist. Reluctantly, Haley hugged her mother. Lydia pulled back and smoothed her daughters' long hair away from her face, placing a kiss on her forehead. "There are no two ways about it, Haley-Bop. It sucks. You had to move just before your senior year and I realize that it doesn't seem fair to you."

"Because it's not," Haley muttered, looking down.

Lydia took a step back from her daughter and crossed her arms. "Is there anything I can do to make this better for you?" she asked sincerely.

Haley shook her head. "No," she said honestly. "It's not your fault, Mom, and I know that. Dad wasn't given a choice. I'm not mad, just a little bit devastated."

Lydia laughed. "Honey, I'm not sure that devastation comes in measures. The word itself suggests that it's huge."

Haley nodded in agreement. "I know."

"Are you all unpacked?"

"Yeah, I'm all unpacked."

"Remember that café we went to for supper the other night?" she asked.

Haley nodded.

"Remember those basketball hoops we passed on the way here?" she asked her daughter.

Haley's eyes lifted to her mother's and for the first time since she'd gotten home from High Flyers, she saw that gleam in her daughter's eyes. She didn't even realize it had been missing until it reappeared. Her daughter had a zest for life, and Lydia loved her all the more for it. "Why don't you grab your basketball out of the garage and go…shoot around?" she suggested.

Haley grinned. "Because it's not in the garage," she said.

Her mother rolled her eyes. "Did you and Mr. Waffles sleep with your basketball again last night?" she accused.

"Basketball's familiar, Mom," Haley said, defending herself.

"Uh-huh, right. And it wouldn't' have anything to do with that fellow at High Flyers who gave it to you, right? What was his name again?" her mother teased.

"Scott," Haley said softly, smiling at the mention of him.

"Right. Scott. The one whose name can always put a smile on my girls face."

"Mom!" Haley groaned on her way out of the room.

777

Haley headed up to her room and threw her hair up in a pony tail, then changed into a pair of track pants and a fitted t-shirt. She grabbed the basketball off her bed started walking out of her room. She came to an abrupt halt in the doorway and turned back around. "Catch, Mr. Waffles," she said, tossing the ball back on her bed next to the stuffed bear. On second thought, she didn't want to use that ball. Scott had given it to her, and she didn't want to get it dirty.

She left through the side door in the kitchen so she could go through the garage, and after rummaging through a few boxes, came up with a sorry looking basketball. She grinned at the sight of it. All of her basketballs were sorry looking because she used them so much. She walked out of the open garage and took a left at the end of her driveway, heading for the hoops she had seen earlier in the week.

777

Nathan was in his Dad's SUV driving to his friend Tim's house when he saw her. He almost did a double take, but then stopped himself. His first two days home from High Flyers had been fine. But the last two had been ridiculous. He thought he had seen her at a café here in town a few nights ago, and now he found himself actually looking for her everywhere he went, which was stupid for two reasons. Number one, she told him that she lived on the west coast, and number two, he'd decided that he was going to try to forget about what Peyton had done, and give her a second chance. Nathan sighed and turned the vehicle down the next side street. He really needed to get over this girl. They hadn't even exchanged last names. They'd decided to keep it simple, which had worked well for him. She hadn't asked if he'd had anyone back home, and he hadn't asked her either. It was a good thing, because after getting to know her, he knew he'd be devastated if she did.

777

Haley was at the foul line and had just put the ball up, nothing but net. "Nice shot," she heard a voice behind her say. She spun around and saw a guy with blonde hair and a muscular build standing there. He had a friendly look on his face.

"Thanks," she said uncertainly.

He walked towards her and held out his right hand. "Lucas Scott," he said.

"Haley James," she said, reaching out and shaking his hand and giving him a smile.

He looked at her more closely. "Do I know you?" he asked.

She shook her head. "I don't think so. I just moved here from Washington."

"Are you sure? I feel like I've known you forever," he insisted.

Haley straightened, and crossed her arms over her chest. "Is that some lame come on line?" she accused.

Lucas laughed and stopped studying her. "No. You really do look familiar," he said. "So, how long have you been here?" he asked.

"Four days," she told him. "This was kind of a surprise, since I'd just gotten home from being away for six weeks and all of my stuff was in boxes. While I was gone, my Dad got transferred and almost as soon as I got off one plane, I got on another. So, this is where we ended up," she said lifting her arms out to her sides.

Lucas couldn't hold in a laugh. "Do you always ramble?" he asked, liking her immediately.

She blushed lightly and then laughed. She nodded her head. "Yeah, I do," she told him. "Nervous habit, I'm afraid."

"So," Lucas said, nodding his head toward the hoop."You play?"

She shrugged. "A little bit," she lied.

"Game on?" he asked.

"Game on," she agreed.

After that, Haley and Lucas spent the next few weeks glued to the other's side. He was the first person she'd met her own age in Tree Hill, and they soon became best friends. She found out that Lucas was very intelligent and quite a loner. That was fine with her. She wasn't really looking forward to meeting a bunch of new people anyway.

777

Two weeks later…

Haley looked at the stopwatch in her hand and clicked the stop button. "And…time!" she said. "Please put your pencil down and pass your test to me!"

"Haley…"

"I'm sorry, there's no one by that name here. I am known as room moderator," Haley said in a deep voice.

Lucas groaned. "But I only have one left!" he protested.

"Lucas—the rules of the pretend SATs clearly state that once time is up, you cannot continue your test in any form or fashion," she reminded him all in one breath. He didn't know how she did it. She lifted her hands and placed them on her hips. "I read them to you a mere three hours ago."

Lucas' eyes danced in amusement as he looked at his new friend. "I can't believe I let you talk me into this. Oh—by the way—this was the longest three hours of my life! And I'll never get it back!" he said.

Haley grinned. "Don't be such a pretend SAT basher. You can't even remember when you've had this much fun. Besides, I graded the Math part—and you did amazing!" she told him in a sing song voice.

Lucas laughed as he realized that Haley's comment was right on the money. It didn't matter what he did when he was with her, they always seemed to have fun together. "Hey, I have an idea," he told her, getting up from her kitchen table.

"What's that?" she asked.

"How about a tour of the school?" he asked.

"Tree Hill High?" she asked excitedly.

"The one and only," he said.

"Oh, that would be wonderful!" she exclaimed. "Right now?" she asked.

He nodded.

"Let's go," she squealed.

777

"Wow, this place is huge!" Haley observed as they walked through the halls.

"You think so?" Lucas asked, not really noticing. He'd been at Tree Hill High for three years now.

"Yeah, I think so," she said looking around in awe."You could fit three of my last school in here," she told him.

He laughed and put his hands in his pockets. "I guess I'm just used to it," he said.

She swallowed nervously. "Maybe this was a bad idea."

"What? Why?" he asked.

"Because now I'm scared to death," she admitted.

"Hales, it's going to be fine," he said.

Haley nodded, not quite believing him. "Hey, I just had a stroke of genius," she said eagerly.

"What's that?" he asked, half listening. He was looking at the picture of last year's basketball team. He scowled at the sight of his younger brother. Luckily, Haley didn't notice.

She took both of her arms and wrapped them around the one she was closest to, still walking by his side. "Pretend to be my boyfriend?" she asked sweetly.

"What?" he asked laughing.

"Pretend to be my boyfriend," she repeated. "Pleaaaase Lucas?" she whined. "I really think it'll help me on my first day of school to be dating the loner guy," she teased.

He stopped walking and turned to look at her. "Does it involve any kissing?" he asked.

She made a disgusted face. "Oh, God, no!" she told him. "I could never kiss you."

"Then I'm in," he said reluctantly.

"Yay!" she leaned up and kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you!" she said.

"Oh, and by the way, I'm one hell of a kisser," he told her confidently.

"I bet you are, Lucas Scott," she agreed. "But I'll just have to take your word for it."