The cell phone on Haley's nightstand started ringing, so she leaned over Lucas, who was lying on the other side of her bed to pick it up. She looked at the caller ID and rolled her eyes.

"Again?" Lucas asked with a grin.

"Yep," Haley said dryly, opening her phone. "Hey, Mom," she said.

"Hi, Honey," Lydia James greeted her daughter.

"Mom, you do know that you could just yell up the stairs to talk to me, right?" Haley asked in an amused tone.

"Well this house is so much bigger than our last one, and I just want to make sure that you can hear me OK," her mother said, defending herself.

"Mom, I can hear you just fine. You're standing at the bottom of the stairs," Haley said.

"How did you know that?" Lydia asked, surprised.

Haley laughed. "Because your voice carries," she said.

"Oh, OK. Well, I have to go, then," Lydia said as she hung up. "Haley, honey," she yelled from her place at the bottom of the stairs. "Your dad is done with the hoop!"

"Thanks, Mom," she yelled back.

Lucas laughed. "Your mom is something else."

Haley grinned at the comment. "Isn't she, though?" she agreed affectionately. Haley knew that her relationship with her mother was special. Most teenagers didn't get along with their moms as well as she did, and Haley never took that for granted. She turned to face Lucas. "How about a game of one on one?" she asked. "We can break in my new hoop."

Lucas groaned. "But I'm so comfortable," he said in a whining tone.

Haley stood up. "I'll spot you six points," she bribed.

Lucas looked up at her. "You think I need six points to beat your sorry butt?" he asked.

She smiled down at him. "I think it would increase your chance of winning, yes," she teased.

"That sounds like a challenge," he said.

Haley shrugged. "Whatever you want, Luke. Come on," she said, holding her hand out to him. "It's almost dark, but if we hurry, we can probably get in a good game."

Lucas lifted his hand to hers and let her tug him off the bed. "I am so sick of beating your ass at basketball, James."

Haley's jaw dropped and her eyes widened. "Oh, it's on," she said, grabbing her ball off the dresser and leading the way out of her room. They bounded down the stairs and through the front door.

Her father was standing in front of the hoop, arms crossed over his chest, looking up at it appreciatively. She walked up beside him. "Well done, Dad," she teased, her gaze following his upward to the net.

Jimmy James grinned down at his daughter then grabbed the ball from her. He put it up from where he was standing, and after circling the rim a few times, it went in.

Lucas was there for the rebound. "Nice," he said with a nod.

"Thanks," Jimmy said. "So, what do you kids say? A little two on two?" he asked. "You and Luke here against your old Mom and Pops?"

Haley grinned. "You mean the youth playing the elderly? How much of a game would that really be?"

Her father gave her a teasing glare. "Watch your mouth, Little Girl," he warned.

Haley laughed. "You need to watch your heart, Dad," she reminded him.

Jimmy grinned. "You never let me have any fun," he grumbled.

"How can you say that?" Haley asked with mock indignation. "We just had a rousing game of Parcheesi just last night," she reminded him.

"Yes, the fun never stops," he said dryly. He wiggled his eyebrows. "Speaking of which, I'm going to go see what your mother's doing."

"Oh, gross, Dad!" Haley said as her father made his way to the front door.

"Now there's a visual I wasn't expecting," Lucas said with a disgusted look on his face.

"Shut up and shoot, Lucas. And just—do whatever you have to do to get that thought out of my head!" she begged.

Laughing, Lucas passed her the ball. "Your ball," he told her. "And you're six points up," he told her.

Haley shrugged. "It was bound to happen anyway," she said with arrogance.

777

"Don't worry, Lucas," Haley said half an hour later. "I won't tell anyone that you lost to a girl," she teased.

Lucas laughed. "I let you win."

Haley rolled her eyes. "You know what? I'm going to stop this conversation right here and let you hold on to that tiny shred of masculinity that you have left. That's what I'm going to do for you, Lucas."

Lucas laughed and then changed the subject. "So, congratulations are in order," he announced.

"Really?" Haley said, her eyes lighting up. "Why is that?"

"Rumor has it you're trying out for the basketball team," he said.

"I wonder who started that rumor," she said with a frown.

"I did."

"What?"

Lucas grinned. "You said that if I tried out, you'd try out," he reminded her.

"Yes, but—" It suddenly dawned on Haley what Lucas was trying to tell her. She let out a squeal. "You're trying out?"

Lucas nodded. "Yep. And as per our deal, so are you."

Haley grinned. "I guess I don't have much of a choice, do I?" she asked. "When my only friend makes the team, I'll have a ton of spare time on my hands if I don't have my own thing going on."

"Hold on, there, Hales. We don't know yet if I'm going to make it," he said with just an edge of tension in his voice.

"I know you are, Luke," she disagreed. "And I can't wait to see you in a Raven's uniform."

Lucas rolled his eyes.

"You're going to look so hot," she teased. "Those cheerleaders aren't going to know what to do with themselves."

He curled his lip up in disgust. "You talking about me looking hot is worse than your dad joking about sex with your mom," he said.

Haley rolled her eyes. "Thanks, Luke. Now the visual is back."

"For me, too," he said with a shudder. "Listen, I have to go. I still have some homework to do," he told her.

"OK. I'll see you tomorrow morning, then?"

Lucas shook his head. "Nope. First day of tutoring, remember?"

Haley grinned. "Oh, yeah. So I'll be at the school at like…dawn," she said excitedly.

Lucas smiled back at her. "Good luck," he said.

"Thanks. Night, Lucas," she said.

"Night, Hales," he said as he left.

Haley turned back to the hoop and shot around for a little bit. It was dark outside, but the outside light on the garage let off enough illumination so that the area around the hoop was bright enough to see.

"God, I missed watching you with a basketball," she heard from behind her.

She spun around just in time to see Nathan remove his earphones. He slung the cord around his neck.

"A game of one on one?" he asked with a gleam in his eyes.

"I'm not interested in playing ball with you," she said snootily.

He gave her a smirk—one that not too long ago, she'd adored. If Haley was honest with herself, a small part of her still did, but at this moment, Haley wasn't being honest with herself. "Who said anything about basketball?" he asked.

Haley sighed and pulled the ball to her stomach, wrapping her arms around it. "What do you want, Nathan?" she asked. She couldn't help but notice that his shirt was soaked with sweat and he was breathing heavily. She had to force herself to look at his face. It wasn't fair that his arms were right there in plain sight for her to see.

"I was just out for a run," he said.

"And you just happened to run by my house?" she asked doubtfully.

"I happen to run by this house every time I run," he admitted. "I just didn't realize it was your house. So, are you trying out for basketball?" he asked changing the subject.

Haley sighed. "As it turns out, I am," she told him.

Nathan grinned. "I can't wait to see you play."

Haley rolled her eyes. "Speaking of games, why did you even stop to talk to me?"

He stood there for a minute studying her face. "I thought we were friends," he said quietly.

Haley shook her head. "No. Lucas and I—are friends," she said firmly. "I don't know what the hell we are." She spun around and headed for the front door.

"See you tomorrow, Haley," Nathan said to her back.

"Not if I see you first," she muttered, letting the screen door slam shut behind her. Haley continued up the stairs, through her bedroom, and into her own private bathroom.

She hadn't worked up that much of a sweat when she'd played basketball with Lucas, but it was enough of one that she wanted a shower before she crawled into bed. She stepped under the water and sighed as thoughts of Nathan clouded her mind. She was still having a hard time reconciling the fact that the sweet, gentle, and patient Scott she'd met this summer was the Nathan she'd heard about from Lucas and Peyton. Their assessments of him had been less than flattering.

When he'd cornered her at school the first time, it had been easy to be angry with him, but Haley couldn't help but remember his words when he'd tracked her down outside of Tric. You know me, Haley. You know you know me, he'd said. She wished she could relive that moment again and really listen to the tone of his voice. Had there been a desperation to it? Haley sighed as she tried to answer the question that had been plaguing her for the last few weeks. Which Nathan Scott was real?