Episode 10 Ch. 3 Fearless

Peyton walks into the design studio with Natalie and Lucy in tow. "Mommy, can we play?"

"Yes but only with the few toys that you brought. Do no play with my paints or any of the equipment." Peyton warned them, especially Natalie. She was the worst about getting into the paints.

"Yay," they both ran to the couch in the back and began to play.

Peyton smiled and walked over to her desk. Things had been really busy for her since Spencer wasn't around. She had to get a little work done before the new week started.

Someone walked into the studio. "Mrs. Scott…." The woman walked further into the place.

"Hi…you're Mrs. Elliot right?"

"Yeah…I'm Charlie's teacher. I have been trying to contact you for weeks, but ever since Charlie changed your contact information on his sheet I can't seem to reach you. I thought I'd do better if I just came and found you."

"My contact information hasn't changed."

"Charlie told us that it did."

Peyton didn't like the sound of this.

"Well I probably need to have a little talk with him then." Peyton tried not to get upset, but she didn't like it when Charlie lied. It wasn't like him at all.

"I'm actually here on a more important matter."

"And what's that?"

"Charlie's grades are awful, and I was sure that you or your husband would contact me, but you never did."

"I haven't seen any grades." Peyton was becoming more and more confused.

"We've been sending papers home. He's failing math and Language. And I really think it is because he's not putting forth the effort."

Peyton was stunned. "We're going to get to the bottom of this. I'm sorry." Peyton didn't know what else to say.

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Jake walks into Red Bedroom Records to see Mia at the desk. "Oh hi Mia…Is Peyton around?"

"No…sorry Jake….She tries not to work on Sundays."

"Oh okay…" He starts to leave.

"Are you okay?" Mia could sense that something was wrong with him.

"I've just been having a bad week, and I can always talk to Peyton about it."

"Well you can talk to me. You know if you want too." Mia smiled at him.

Jake didn't know Mia that well, but her offer did seem sincere.

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Brooke and Nathan are walking around the neighborhood. "I'm scared," she finally spoke up. "I don't want us to continue to fall apart. I want us to get back to normal again."

Nathan stopped her from walking. "Julian made me realize that I made a lot of mistakes these past couple of years, and I don't deserve you to forgive me."

"I do forgive you. We both made a lot of mistakes."

"Brooke I treated you like crap and forced you to turn to someone else."

"Nothing happened…."

"But it could have, and it would have been all my fault."

"No…Nathan…"

"I want us to get back to the way we were, but it isn't going to be as easy as I thought. I saw the way you looked at Julian last night. You have to figure out if maybe just maybe you fell in love with him while I was an ass." Nathan started walking again, and Brooke followed behind him. She didn't fall in love with Julian. She loved Nathan. She just wished that he could see that.

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Hunter finally has a few seconds by himself when the doorbell goes off. He opens the door to see McKenzie standing in front of him.

"What are you doing here?"

"I needed to check on Ally Ray."

Hunter looks at her coldly. That wasn't part of the plan.

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Peyton, Mrs. Elliot, Lucy, and Natalie walk in the house to see Charlie sitting on the couch playing videos off.

"Turn it off," Peyton said sternly.

Charlie looked over at the door and when he saw Mrs. Elliot he knew he was in a lot of trouble. The look on his mom's face helped with that thought too.

"Charlie's in trouble….Charlie's in trouble…" Both Natalie and Lucy sang.

"Go get your father," Peyton glared at them, and they ran upstairs. They didn't want to be in the way of their mother's wrath. She was scary when she was mad.

"Mom I didn't do anything."

"I beg to differ." Peyton looked at him. "You are in so much trouble young man. What were you thinking lying to us?" Peyton questioned him.

"You've always been such an upstanding trouble, but ever since you came back from winter break your grades have been horrible." Mrs. Elliot looked at him. She wanted to get to the bottom of everything.

"It's no big deal." He shrugged.

"It is a very big deal." Peyton disagreed with him.

Lucas came walking down the stairs slowly. "What's going on? The girls came upstairs and told me that Charlie was in trouble. What did you do?"

"Nothing dad…" Charlie lied.

Peyton glared at him.

"My grades aren't that great." He finally admitted.

"What do you mean by not that great?"

Charlie looked at his mom and then at his teacher.

"What are your grades like?" Lucas asked again.

"I'm failing math and Language."

"What? How can you fail Language?" Lucas had always loved English. He didn't understand how his son couldn't like English. It was interesting.

"It's boring."

Lucas was entirely confused.

"He's been lying to us for weeks Lucas."

"I didn't realize that he wasn't telling the two of you about his grades. His papers always came back signed."

"Who signed the papers?" Lucas was the first to ask.

"I signed them myself. I practiced mom's signature." He lied, but he didn't want Savannah to get in trouble too.

"I can't believe this." Peyton started pacing around.

"Listen I want Charlie to end up with much better grades. I'm willing to do one on one sessions with him everyday after school until his grades up." Mrs. Elliot told the worried parents.

"No," Charlie protested. "That's when I do my other stuff."

"Not anymore," Peyton told him as she shook her head. "Thank you Mrs. Elliot. I assure you that this will never happen again." She looked at Charlie as she spoke. He wasn't getting away with this one. He was going to learn that actions had consequences.

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Isabella and Cliff are sitting together. "So what's my surprise?"

"I know you're going to love it." He reached under the bed and pulled out a bag. "I know your mom hasn't let you drink or use any of these." He held up a thing of pills. "We're going to have so much fun tonight."

Isabella looked surprised. She had been trying to quit, and she knew that she didn't need to start drinking again.

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Keith is waiting in the park. He got an urgent text message from Jacey. She needed to see him. He was hoping that she was finally going to tell him the truth.

Jacey ran into his arms when she saw him. She was an emotional wreck with tears streaming down her face.

"Jacey, what's wrong?"

"I need you. I need you to save me."

He tried to calm her and assure her that he was there for her, and he would never let her go again.

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Yay so finally...Jacey is going to tell Keith the truth or is she? Let me know what you think. And don't forget to read the previous chapter. I'm posting these kind of closed together because I'm so far ahead I'm ready to share my secrets with you guys.