Chapter 2

After a sleepless night in the diner, Sam goes into the restroom to try to clean up before work. She doesn't have many possessions to her name. Most of what she has she stole. None of her foster parents gave her anything. Not an allowance, pocket money, or even birthday or Christmas gifts. What she does have is in the black backpack she takes everywhere.

Sam pulls a toiletry bag out and brushes her teeth. She still smells like alcohol even after she changes into clean clothes. It's almost as if the beer seeped into her pores. She needs a shower, but she's not going to get one until the school reopens on Monday.

The first thing Sam does when she walks into Clothes Over Bros is spray herself with the tester perfume sitting out on the counter, hoping to cover up the smell of alcohol.

Brooke comes out from the stockroom, carrying two boxes. It looks like she's about to drop them, so Sam hurries over and takes one of them from her.

"Thanks, Sam. Did you have fun with Sawyer last night?" Brooke asks.

"Yeah, she's cool," Sam replies.

"I kind of like her," Brooke jokes. "Do you have the dress? I need to sensor it and price it."

"Yeah, here." Sam takes the dress out of her backpack and gives it to Brooke. "It was really nice of you to let me borrow it." She smiles gratefully.

Brooke can smell the alcohol on the dress. She holds it up and notices a beer stain. She frowns as she looks at Sam. "Sam, did you drink last night?"

Sam isn't stupid. She knows she's been caught red-handed. Lying will make it worse. Maybe if she's honest, Brooke will accept her apology. She nods in affirmation. "I'm sorry about the dress. I didn't mean to."

Hands on her hips, Brooke glares at Sam. "First of all, you are sixteen years old. Second, you ruined the dress. Did you corrupt my niece?"

"No, Sawyer didn't drink," Sam says quickly. She doesn't want Sawyer to go down with her.

Brooke stares at Sam, raising her brow, as she tries to figure out if Sam is telling the truth or not.

"Really. Sawyer drove," Sam says convincingly. She picks up her backpack and takes a few steps toward the door. She looks back at Brooke one last time. "I really am sorry about the dress."

"Where do you think you're going?" Brooke asks sternly.

Sam stares at Brooke, her eyes wide. "You're not firing me?"

"No, I'm not making it that easy on you. You're going to work for free until you've made enough money to pay me back for the dress you ruined," Brooke says.

Sam nods in acceptance of the pseudo-punishment. The free labor is going to cost her. Most teenagers get part-time jobs to pay for luxuries. Cars, prom dresses, expensive cosmetics. Sam got a job because she needed the money. Without her paycheck, she wouldn't eat. But, she knows Brooke is being fair. Sam doesn't have to show up for work on Monday. She could leave Brooke hanging, but she figures she owes her for the dress.

Sawyer's cell phone alert for a text message wakes her up. She groggily reaches for her phone and flips it open.

Sam

Brooke knows I was drinking last night but I said u weren't. Sorry. Hope u don't get in trouble.

Sawyer deletes the message in case her parents take her phone away. She knows Brooke will tell her mom.

Peyton and Lucas are sitting at the kitchen table eating breakfast when Sawyer joins them. Brooke has already called, so they both look at Sawyer to see if she looks hungover. She doesn't. She didn't drink that much since she had to drive home.

"I'll make you some breakfast," Peyton offers. She gets up and starts making Sawyer's favorite, pancakes.

"Thanks, Mom," Sawyer says uncertainly, trying to figure out if Brooke has talked to her parents yet. They don't seem mad, so either they believe Sam or Brooke hasn't called yet.

"Whose party did you go to last night?" Lucas asks.

Sawyer sighs. She knows her dad won't like the answer, but she can't lie. He'll probably hear basketball players talking about the party at practice on Monday. "Eric Willis."

"Sawyer, he's a jerk. I can't believe you're friends with him," Lucas says.

"Dad, I'm friends with all of the basketball players. I'm a cheerleader. It's not like he was the only one at the party," Sawyer says sarcastically, hoping her dad drops it.

Peyton sets a plate down in front of Sawyer. "Brooke called. Apparently your new friend was drinking and spilled beer on Brooke's dress." Peyton smirks at her daughter, raising her brow.

"She may have had a beer or two," Sawyer says.

"Please tell me you weren't drinking," Lucas says.

"I wasn't," Sawyer says quickly.

After Sawyer gets in the shower, Peyton looks at Lucas. "Do you think she's telling the truth?"

"I don't know. I hope so," Lucas replies.

"I know she's going to go to parties and drink. I just don't want her to do anything stupid like drinking and driving or letting someone she doesn't know get her a drink," Peyton says.

"Remember when Brooke took you to that party at Duke and that jerk drugged your drink?" Lucas asks, remembering how scared he was.

"I was lucky that Brooke stopped him before anything happened," Peyton says.

"Luck had nothing to with it. Brooke's a good friend."

"The best."

Julian looks up from the script he's reading and smiles when Brooke gets home. "Hey, wife. How was your day?"

"Sam, that teenage girl I hired to help me in the store, borrowed a dress from me and ruined it," Brooke says. She still can't believe Sam. She was trying to be nice and that's how Sam repays her.

"I'm sorry," Julian says sympathetically. He looks at Brooke. "So did you fire her?"

"No. I went easy on her. I told her she has to work for free until she makes enough to pay me back for the dress. Do you think I should have fired her?"

"I think it was nice of you to give her a second chance."

Brooke smiles at Julian's answer.

Sawyer is sitting on her bed reading when Eric calls her. She smiles as she answers the phone. "Hey."

"Hey. Last night was fun. How are you feeling?" Eric says.

"I am not hungover," Sawyer says proudly. "Are you?"

"Yeah. I was worthless until 2:00 this afternoon," Eric says, laughing.

"I'm sorry," Sawyer says sympathetically.

"I'm going to the river court with the guys. You should come. Hang out," Eric says.

"Okay," Sawyer agrees.

"Jeff likes Sam. You should see if she wants to come"

When Sam gets off work, she doesn't know where to go. She can't get into the school. She knows she'll wind up at the diner again because it's the only place in Tree Hill that's open all night, but she doesn't want to overstay her welcome, so she walks to the park. She sits down on a park bench and pulls a worn paperback novel out of her backpack.

Sam's been reading for about an hour when Sawyer texts her.

Sawyer

Hey everyone's going to the river court tonight. U should come

Sam doesn't have anything else to do, so she decides to go. By the time everyone else has to go home, it'll probably be safe to go to the diner.

Sam

K sounds good.

Sawyer

U need a ride? I can pick u up.

Sam

No thanks.

Brooke looks at her reflection in the mirror. She's wearing a black dress and black stilettos. She tries to put a silver necklace on, but fumbles with the clasp. Julian appears behind her. "Here. Let me." His fingers brush against the back of her neck as he fastens the clasp.

Brooke can feel Julian's warm breath on her skin. She turns around and kisses him.

"Do you want to misbehave one more time before the concert?" Julian asks, flashing his signature grin.

"We can misbehave at the concert like sex-crazed teenagers," Brooke says.

"Yeah, I like that idea," Julian says.

When they get to Tric, they go backstage. Peyton is talking the band's manager and Lucas is sitting on a couch looking at an email on his Blackberry. Nathan and Haley aren't there yet. They sit down next to Lucas.

"Hey, Luke. How you doing?" Julian says.

"Okay," Lucas replies absentmindedly, still looking at his phone.

"Where's my favorite girl?" Brooke asks.

"Sawyer went out with her friends," Lucas replies.

Brooke frowns. "Is one of these friends Sam?"

Lucas sighs, worried about Brooke's reaction. "Yeah. What's she like?" Peyton finishes talking to the band's manager and joins them. She looks at Brooke curiously, wanting to hear the answer as well.

"I don't know. She's only been working for me for a week. I like her, but I don't know if she's a good kid," Brooke says, feeling guilty.

"How not good are we talking about? On a scale of Haley James Scott to Brooke Davis?" Peyton asks.

"I was not that bad," Brooke says defensively.

"Yeah, you were a perfect angel," Peyton says sarcastically.

"Who was a perfect angel?" Haley asks. She and Nathan walked in at the tail end of the conversation.

Peyton rolls her eyes and smirks. "Brooke."

"What? According to who?" Nathan says sarcastically, laughing.

"You're one to talk," Brooke says.

"She's got a point," Haley says.

"You both changed," Lucas says, trying to end the pseudo-argument.

"I like to think Lucas and I had something to do with that," Haley says proudly, smiling.

"You had everything to do with it," Nathan says softly, so only Haley can hear.

When Sam gets to the river court, she sees most of the people who were at the party. The basketball players are showing off on the court and Sawyer is sitting on the bleachers.

"Hey," Sam says as she joins Sawyer.

"Hey. Was Brooke a bitch?" Sawyer asks, feeling guilty that she took Sam to the party and Sam got in trouble.

"No. She was actually pretty cool," Sam replies, knowing Brooke could have fired her or worse. "I'm sorry I wasn't more stealth. I hope you didn't get in trouble."

"If I was in trouble, I wouldn't be here," Sawyer says, knowing she would have been grounded if her parents knew she was drinking.

After Jeff makes a three-pointer, he flashes a cocky grin at Sam. Sawyer smiles. "I think he likes you."

"I don't think so," Sam says. She doesn't think anyone like Jeff would ever like someone like her. She's homeless, parentless and penniless.

"He totally does. Do you like him?" Sawyer says, smiling.

Sam shrugs and tries to act nonchalant. "He's not bad."

When the boys finish playing, Eric gets a twelve-pack of cheap beer out of his car. Sam and Sawyer join them on the court. Sawyer grabs the can Eric is drinking and takes a sip.

"You want a drink?" Jeff asks Sam.

"Yeah," Sam replies.

Jeff gets an unopened can and hands it to Sam. His fingers brush against hers as she takes it. Sam opens the tab and takes a drink. "Thanks."

"Do you like Tree Hill?" Jeff asks.

"Yeah. Everyone's really nice," Sam says, smiling shyly.

"Do you miss Charlotte?" Jeff asks.

Sam smirks. She didn't tell him where she moved from, so she knows he must have asked. "You've been doing your homework."

Jeff blushes and looks down. "No, I haven't. Tree Hill is a small town. Everyone knows everything about everyone else."

"That's what you think," Sam says, knowing he wouldn't be talking to her if he knew everything about her.

At 11:30, people start leaving so they're not late for curfew. Both Sawyer and Eric offer Sam a ride, but she declines, saying she doesn't live far and she feels like walking.

Sam does walk, but not home. She gets a coffee from the diner and sits down at her usual booth.

When the concert is over, Brooke and Julian walk out of Tric holding hands. Brooke starts pulling Julian in the opposite direction of their car. "Come on, I'll buy you a hot chocolate."

They walk into the diner. Brooke frowns when she sees Sam sitting in a booth. "Julian, that's Sam."

They slip into the booth, sitting across from Sam. Brooke looks at Sam, raising her eyebrows. "Isn't it a little late to be out alone?"

Sam looks down. "I was just leaving. Like you said, it's late." She takes a few dollars out and places them on the table.

"That was a little weird," Julian says as Sam leaves.

"Yeah," Brooke agrees.

"She must have cool parents if she doesn't have a curfew," Julian says, knowing his mom would never have let him stay out this late when he was sixteen.

Brooke laughs. "Yeah, I never had a curfew either. Trust me, it's not because my parents were cool. It's because they wouldn't have noticed if I never came home."

A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed, signed up for alerts or favorited! :) I'm glad you like the idea. I'm not going to drag out Brooke finding out that Sam doesn't have a home for too long. Just bear with me for one more chapter.