Authors Note: So its been almost 2 weeks since the last OTH episode & I'm dying over here! I can't wait till tonight :D So I thought I'd post this now to get you all in the OTH mood! Thankyou to all of you who reviewed; Kaitie, Alex & Elle! Your constant support inspires me to continue writing for you guys. So here is Chapter 13, a bit of a filler episode but necessary...enjoy!
March 2029-
"This is getting ridiculous Julian," Lucas sighed as he leant forward in his chair, holding his head in his hands.
"Luke, don't worry okay? We'll find them," Julian replied optimistically.
"We've been looking for actors for the past 3 weeks and none of them have stood out to us." Julian and Lucas started the casting process back in February but had so far been unsuccessful. They quite liked a local old actor to play the character of Whitey, but other than him they had yet to find the perfect people to play the characters of the story. They had practically been living in Julian's production offices, Baker Productions.
"The right actors are out there, it's just going to take some time," he poured himself a glass of water from the jug on the table.
"But that's the thing, we don't have the time. We should have started filming already," Lucas cried out in despair.
"Right, I think someone needs to take a break and clear his head. I can look at some actors while you go for a walk or something."
"Fine," Lucas groaned as he pulled himself up from his chair and trudged to the door.
"Oh and Luke, bring us back an iced tea," Julian grinned.
Lanny and Ella were sat in the tutor centre drinking coffee, attempting their homework. It had become a routine for them to spend their spare time doing homework and then once that was done they would sit in the quad or the library. Ella was surprised at how easy it was to talk to Lanny. She had always struggled being friends with girls; she never thought that she'd be best friends with a boy. But that's what they had become; best friends.
"So I've heard that that new 'chick flick' is good," he said using air quotes.
"Oh yeah and where'd you hear that from?" Lanny couldn't help but stare a little when he talked to Ella, her beauty blew him away. Today she had her hair pulled back into a loose pony tail so that he blonde curls fell loose around her face. But it was her eyes that always captivated him. They were a silvery blue that sparkled like nothing Lanny had seen.
"Uhh, umm some guy in Phys Ed went to see it with his girlfriend," Lanny lied, and Ella could see right through it. She knew him more than anyone, even though they had only known each other for a month.
"What? A guy from your Phys Ed class said that a girl film, a romantic girl film I will add, was good?"
"Okay so I heard some girls mention it so I followed them to hear if they thought it was any good," he sheepishly confessed.
"Have I told you recently that your stalker qualities are a little scary sometimes?" she smiled. The truth was she didn't think that he was a stalker at all, just curious.
"You love them really," he said confidently. Ella loved how they were able to have such humorous banter. "Anyway, I thought that we could go this Friday, you know check it out?"
"As a date?" she asked.
"Maybe..." He didn't want to pressure her and therefore left the decision up to her.
"Lanny I've already told you that I'm not ready for a boyfriend. We could go as friends though?" she suggested to him. She might not want to be more than friends at the minute but she definitely did not want to lose him as a friend.
"Fine, friends it is. But I'm not going to give up, you get that right?"
"I'm beginning to," she said softly with a smile.
The bell at Tree Hill High rang to signal the end of second period. Quinley had just had calculus; he hated calculus. On his way to his locker, he noticed Avery walking with a few other freshmen.
"Hey Avery," he shouted across the school hallway, making a few people stop and stare. At the sound of her name being called out, Avery turned to see Quinley jogging towards her from his locker. She didn't know what he had done differently today but he sure looked hot, strutting towards her with that playful smirk of his.
"Hi Q," she said after waving goodbye to her friends. "What's up?"
"Not much, just heading to history. Where are you going?"
"Current events."
"Cool, I'll walk with you." They both headed in the direction of their classes. People were staring, questioning why Quinley Scott was walking with a freshman. "So how's everything at home?"
"Better I suppose. My mom and dad are still not together but they're relationship has improved. He's been coming round for dinner a few nights this week. It's great having him around but then he has to leave again. I don't get it you know; to me it all seems simple. They love each other so they should be together right?"
"I guess it's more complicated than me or you can imagine. You've just got to give it time Avery," he tried to comfort her.
"I know. So what's going on with you," she tried to change the subject. "Other than being the son of the famous Haley and Nathan Scott, popular jock and boyfriend of a cheerleader?"
"I live a hard life," he joked. "You know, you're a popular cheerleader too."
"I'm no Tasha Jones," she said almost in defeat. Although she hated Tasha for having everything that she didn't, she still admired her at the same time.
"No, you're Avery Adams and as far as I know, she's a pretty cool person to be!" They stopped outside of a classroom where Annie was stood at the doorway. "I believe that this is your class. I'll catch you later Ave." He smiled at her one last time and left round the corner.
"Did you just walk to class with Q?" Annie asked but Avery was staring at the corner that Quinley had just turned round. "Hello, earth to Avery!" She waved her hand in front of Avery's face.
"What?" Avery asked, finally looking at Annie.
"Never mind, all I'm saying it that my cousin sure has been talking to you a lot these last few weeks," she replied walking into the classroom.
Avery followed thinking about what Annie had said and the more that she thought about it, the more that she realised that Annie was right. Quinley had been walking her to class, offering her a ride home, talking to her at her locker...what had changed between them?
"Hi honey, what are you doing here?" Peyton asked as Lucas entered his office at home where she was sat at the desk surrounded by paper. She had music playing quietly in the background.
"What's all this?" He picked up some paper from the desk questioningly. "You've hijacked my office."
"It's some unsigned artists that are playing in the area soon, I thought that we could check them out. I really need to sign someone soon."
"Why? You're going on maternity leave soon. You're gonna have a baby to look after."
"Don't you mean we're going to have a baby to look after? You're gonna help too mister."
"Of course, all I'm saying is, you're not going to have a lot of time to focus on a band."
"Please Luke, I really want this. I'll work round it somehow," she looked up at him with her big green eyes, which he could not refuse.
"If it's what you want then I'll stand by you, you know that. But I just don't want you getting stressed," he put his arm around her so that she leant her head on his stomach. "I just want you and the baby to be good okay?"
"Thanks Luke, but we're going to be better than good." He kissed the top of her head and she let out a sigh in enjoyment. "Hey you never answered my question," she remembered. "What are you doing home? I thought that you were casting today."
"I had a...uhmm...a diva moment," he said under his breath.
"I'm sorry did you just say that you had a...a diva moment?" she said trying to hold back her giggles.
"Yes, I had a diva moment. I completely stressed out and Julian sent me home. I guess it all got to me," he admitted.
"Wow, Brooke," she joked.
"Okay, ha ha I had a Brooke moment."
"So you still haven't found the right people?" she asked more seriously.
"No. I think I've been looking for us and I need to realise that I'm not going to find us."
"Don't worry honey, the right actors are out there."
"You sound just like Julian, and that is too weird for me," he said to which Peyton responded with a laugh.
As they laughed about Peyton and Julian's resemblance, Sawyer trudged up the stairs unaware of her parents being home as she had her iPod on. At the sight of walking past the office door, Peyton and Lucas both looked at each other questioningly.
"Sawyer?" Lucas called out but Sawyer couldn't hear him.
"Sawyer Brooke Scott!" Peyton shouted louder than Lucas and this time Sawyer did hear.
"Huh?" she grumbled walking into the office to see her parents.
"Shouldn't you be in school?" Lucas asked puzzled.
"Errm I had a free period," she lied.
"Nice try missy but it's not going to work. Are you skipping class?" asked Peyton.
"No, I've got a free."
"Don't even try and work your way out of this one Curly, it's not going to work. Come on, fess up."
"I'm just skipping a few classes, no big deal."
"Sawyer, you know that it is a big deal to skip school. I can't believe that you're acting so cool about this," Peyton said shocked.
"I can't believe that you're going all Psycho Derek on me. It's just school mom, you did worse when you were my age," she defended herself.
"I don't get you sometimes Sawyer. One minute you say that you don't want to be like your mom and then you use your mom's actions to defend your own," Lucas chuckled at the contradiction.
"I guess I'm just a riddle that you'll never solve," Sawyer replied, in a matter of fact tone.
It was like a light bulb had switched on in Lucas' head. This was it, how could he not have seen this. His perfect actress, that he had been looking for to play the most important role in the film, lived under his very roof.
"Lucas, honey are you okay? You've got that goofy squint thing going on and I think you're freaking Sawyer out," Peyton asked looking up at Lucas' lit up face. She could see all of the thoughts running through his head. "What are you thinking?"
"Come on Sawyer, I've got a way that you can get away with this," he said, coming out of his trance.
"No punishment?" Sawyer asked confused. She hated it when Lucas had a plan because he usually kept it to himself for a few hours.
"No punishment, just come with me. I need to see Julian."
"I don't think so Luke. She's only sixteen-"
"Almost seventeen," Lucas interrupted Julian.
"Whatever, the point is, we were looking for someone older so that we didn't have any problems with any of the scenes."
"But she's my daughter Julian and I think she'd be perfect for the role." Lucas had been grinning the moment he had entered Julian's office ten minutes ago. He had left Sawyer with Julian's assistant so he could talk to Julian about his idea but Julian was proving to be a little uncooperative.
"Exactly and do you really want your almost seventeen year old daughter, filming sex scenes? Because last time I read the script, there were a couple of sex scenes."
"Okay so we need to rewrite a few scenes, but the sex scenes are not even that...revealing let's say. It's not like we're asking the actors to actually have sex Julian, its all part of the job. Please, just let her read one line, that's all I'm asking," Lucas begged.
"Fine," Julian sighed in exasperation, taking a seat behind his desk and picking up his telephone. "Louisa, could you send Sawyer through for me please?" He asked his assistant. No sooner had he put the phone down, had Sawyer entered the room. Lucas had already taken a seat next to Julian.
"I don't really know what I'm doing here, but no offence, can we go dad?" she asked with attitude.
"I just want you to read something to Julian for me and then we can leave."
"Fine, whatever," she shrugged. "What is it you want me to read?" Lucas pointed to a pile of paper on the table to her right. She casually walked over and picked one up to find that it was a page full of her mom's quotes. "Wait a minute. You want me to audition?" But Lucas did not answer, instead he just gave her the look and she knew to not question what he was telling her to do. "I guess I'm just a riddle wrapped in mystery inside a bitch!"
Lucas couldn't help but smile at the uncanny resemblance between his wife and their daughter. It was like looking at Peyton. She had the attitude, the look, and the same sarcastic tone in her voice. He looked at Julian who was smiling.
"Read the next line for me please Sawyer," Julian asked.
She read over her indicated line, though there was no use as she knew the words off by heart. She'd been told exactly what happened the day that her parents were locked in a library after her mom was shot.
"You're always saving me…If… I say I love you right now, will you hold it against me? Cause I've lost a lot of blood." She recited each word with the same desperation and pain that Peyton said them with. Her emerald green eyes glazed over in just the same way.
"So what do you think?" Lucas muttered to Julian so that Sawyer could not hear.
"I hate to say it, but you're right Luke. She's perfect for the role of Peyton. We're going to have to change the age range of actors now though; I say sixteen to twenty two years old is enough. As long as you're okay with it?" Lucas nodded in agreement. "Sawyer, we'd like you to play your mom in the movie."
"But I'm not an actress."
"Turns out, you don't need to be when you are exactly like Peyton without even trying."
"But what about school?"
"It's lucky that your Aunt is a teacher, your sister is a tutor and Julian over here was once a mathlete," Lucas explained.
"You really want me to do it?"
"We do, so what do you say?" Julian asked.
"Sure," she nodded, trying to hide her excitement. She had never been chosen for anything before and she felt honoured that she was to going to be playing her mom, in what would be the must watch movie over the Christmas break.
It was the end of the school day and Ella and Lanny were walking through the quad. She had still not budged on his persistent requests to go on a date.
"I was thinking that we really need to get started on that science project," she suggested.
"Yeah you're probably right. When do you want to start?"
"You could come my house tonight if you want and we could start planning it?"
"Are you asking me on a date Ella Scott?"
"No, I'm asking you on a study date."
"It's still a date though."
"You believe what you want to but for me it's just studying. So do you want to come?"
"Ahh I don't know El, will dinner be offered because you can't go on a date without dinner?"
"Its not a date but sure, I'll throw dinner in there too."
"Of course I'll come, lead the way."
Lucas came home from casting in a cheery mood. He was finally happy that they had found their Peyton Sawyer. They even had two good candidates for Keith, Karen and Haley. As soon as he walked through his front door, he was greeted by noise. Sawyer's emo-rock was playing from upstairs so loud that the lamp shade was shaking, Annie was walking around the house on the phone, probably to Avery and Ella was sat on the living room floor with a boy writing notes. He quickly made his way into the kitchen to find Peyton serving dinner.
"Hey baby," he kissed her lips affectionately. "And of course, baby number two," he said rubbing Peyton's rounded stomach.
"Wow, someone has come home in a cheery mood. Sawyer told me what you asked her."
"Yeah she's perfect Peyton, its like looking at you. Anyway, who's the kid," he pointed in the direction of the living room.
"That would be Ella's friend Lanny. He and Ella have a science project and he's staying for dinner. He's a good kid Luke. I'm happy she's got him." She left the kitchen carrying two plates of food into the dining room to place them on the table. Lucas followed with two more plates to find his family sat at the table with Lanny. This was the way life was supposed to be, he thought to himself.
Authors Note: So I understand that this has focused a lot of Leyton & their family but I had to develop the story involving Sawyer & the film. Plus Lanny & Ella because I love them & him. Hope you all do. So hit the review button, make my day :)
Next Chapter- Braley/Breyton scene, Bralex scenes, more Avery drama...