A Season in Purgatory
Chapter 10
Nathan practically bounced into the locker room, happy to be heading into practice after a great day. He'd gotten a B on his English paper and he'd convinced Haley to ditch Lucas and eat lunch with him. He nodded at a few of his teammates as he made his way to his locker. He'd barely gotten the lock off when he felt someone standing behind him, totally invading his personal space. Spinning around, Nathan found Lucas barely three inches from his face. "Man, you are seriously asking to get hit," Nathan warned, not liking the way he was effectively boxed in between the bench, the locker and his bastard half brother.
The team watched in an uneasy state of silence, knowing that the two brothers could start brawling at any moment. Jake and Tim eased closer, waiting to pull their respective friend out of the way in the worst-case scenario.
Lucas refused to back down, staring Nathan down, even as he moved closer. "If you hurt Haley, I will destroy you. Bank on it," he said quietly, but firmly enough that Nathan understood he was completely serious. Lucas fought the urge to hit the creep on principle but between their last fight and breaking curfew Friday night, he was already in a world of trouble with his mom.
Nathan noted the detached, cold look in Lucas' eyes and decided that he was not joking around. He tensed up, getting ready to reply, when the team parted like the Red Sea, revealing their coach. Whitey took a quick look at the two, toe to toe with clenched fists, and knew enough of the situation. "Scotts, both of you, in my office now. The rest of you hit the floor with gut drills," he barked, before retreating to his office. Jake caught a glimpse of a smile on the older man's face and knew that something big was going down. Whitey didn't look that happy when they won tournaments. Jake didn't want to know what had put such a grin on the man's face outside of playoff season.
Whitey sank down into his old faded chair and swiveled around to face the two boys. They were still in their street clothes and were sitting as far a part as the small office would allow. "In all my years of coaching, I've never seen such a disgusting, self centered act of hooliganism as Friday night's game." He paused a beat, gauging their reactions and was ticked when neither of them looked the least bit remorseful.
"I've witness female players on boy's varsity, integration during the 60's, and everything related to Dan Scott's ego. And Friday night left me speechless, boys."
He waited for someone to speak before realizing that they were too wise to try to justify their actions. He pointed from one brother to the next and smiled. "We're starting a new game plan today, boys. It's called the "brotherly love" plan."
Nathan glanced over at Lucas in confusion, startled by the near look of absolute joy on their coach's face. "I'd ask if you hit the bottle early today, Whitey, but you might take that the wrong way." Lucas remained silent, knowing that anything he said would get back to his Uncle and more than likely straight to Karen herself. He'd spent a good portion of his life biting his lip and fighting back retorts.
Whitey stood up and paced a few steps before turning to look at them. "Today something that I never expected took place. After a visit from our esteemed principal, who reminded me that fighting on school grounds was an automatic week's suspension, your parents showed up at my doorstep. We had a nice little chat, Dan, Karen, Principal Mathews and me," Whitey causally commented, noting the looks of horror on the boy's faces with something akin to glee.
Lucas finally found his voice. "Why were they at school?" he asked, not liking the idea that his mom was being forced to associate with Dan.
"Always prescient, Lucas. I like how you always cut through the BS and get straight to the pint," Whitey noted, giving Nathan a sly look. Whitey continued his narrative. "Your mom and dad spent a good hour explaining to Principle Matthews why the two of you can't manage to get along." Lucas frowned, not liking the idea of anyone telling a stranger why he hated his own brother, noticing that Nathan wasn't even paying attention to the coach.
"I suggested that you both be suspended from school and school activities per school policy for fighting," Whitey casually mentioned. Luke's heart constricted. He was sure that Nathan couldn't care a less about being suspended, but Lucas couldn't afford to miss that much school. His future depended on getting academic scholarships and his grades would suffer if he missed a week of school. While Nathan's classes were on the easy level, Luke's were mostly college level prep courses. He leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes, knowing that Karen was going to kill him.
Nathan shrugged his shoulders with little concern. The principals pride and joy was his winning basketball team. The chances of him suspending the two best players were next to nothing.
Whitey sat back down, his eyes narrowing at Nathan's laizzez-faire reaction. "Well, Principal Matthews is willing to forgo a suspension." The boys smiled despite knowing it wasn't the wisest reaction. A smirk appeared on Nathan's face, as he glanced over at Lucas with an "I told you so" expression.
Whitey continued. "He's willing to forgo suspension, but your parents and I are not as accommodating," he finished, pleased that at least Lucas understood where this was going.
"In an earth shattering move, Dan and Karen have decided to pull you from basketball due to your behavior Friday night," Whitey stated, his famous grin creeping across his face.
Nathan bounced out of his chair. "You're lying. My father wouldn't pull me from a game if my internal organs were falling out, and he sure as hell wouldn't be making back room deals with his mother," he spat out, pointing derisively at Lucas.
Whitey folded his hands behind his head and leaned back in his old chair. "Boys, you've just entered a brave new world of parental cooperation. Dan and Karen are fed up with your behavior. As of today, you two are suspended from basketball for two days. Each subsequent fight or confrontation, such as what I walked in on in the locker room, will result in a suspension of incremental days."
Nathan's brow furled in confusion, until Lucas explained. "He means the next fight will get us a four day suspension and the next will get us an 8 day suspension," Lucas clarified, stunned at how dense Nathan could be.
Shaking his head, Nathan stood up. "There is no way my father agreed to that. You're just trying to scare us," he said, knowing that basketball was more important to Dan than anything in the world.
Whitey just smiled and walked around them to open his door. "Feel free to call Dan and ask him. Other than that, get out of my locker room and away from my gym. You two are toxic to any team building effort," he said, walking out before they could say another word.
Nathan stormed out of the gym with Lucas right behind him. The cheerleaders stopped mid cheer, watching as the two Scott brothers stormed across the hardwood floor and out the main door. "Wait up, man" Lucas yelled, slowing his younger brother in his tracks. "If you are calling the anti-Christ to find out what the hell is going on, I want to listen in." Nathan shrugged his shoulders as he flipped his cell phone out and hit the speed dial for his dad's office. "Whatever. I don't know what crack Whitey is smoking but there is no way that my dad agreed to those terms," he said, waiting for his dad's secretary to pick up. Lucas listened for a few moments, jumping back when Nathan slammed his phone shut and cursed.
"That doesn't sound good. What'd he say?" Lucas asked, not sure if he wanted to know after seeing Nathan's reaction. Nathan opened the door to his SUV and paused. "Oh he couldn't take the call because he wasn't in the office," Nathan explained, his voice heavy with an emotion that Lucas couldn't identify. "He wasn't in his office because he's at your mom's Café."
Luke's stomach dropped, completely unable to comprehend why Dan Scott was with his mother in the middle of the day. He stood there, gapping until he felt something whack him on the arm. Looking up, Luke saw Nathan motioning to his passenger seat. "Get in, we're going to get to the bottom of this."
Brooke dropped her pom poms beside the bleachers and grabbed a towel to wipe the sweat off her face. They'd run through all their routines three times apiece, perfecting each moment and position. She watched in silence as the rest of the team meandered off, some to take showers and others seeking escape from Task Master Brooke's critical eye.
Grabbing her water bottle, she closed her eyes and ran through a list of possible places she could crash for the night. Her mom and Trey was going to be gone for a week or so, that would buy her some time, but she hated being in the same house with him before he left on a trip. There would be the inevitable money meeting, where he'd go over all the cash she'd need for the time they'd be gone. Trey always used that as an excuse to get her alone in his home office, where he'd run his eyes over her body like the last stripper at a bachelor party.
He always found some excuse to touch her shoulder or the small of her back. Just thinking about it caused chills to course through her small frame. As bad as it was, the office visits were always better than when he spontaneously appeared in her room. There was such a predatory nature about her stepfather, one that she was at a loss to describe.
Shaking her head, she realized that it was pointless to worry about what might happen. All she had to do was find another place to stay, so she could avoid him all together. Her mother never cared where she was or if she came home, and it was just easier to not sleep in her own house than to find ways to avoid her step father while there. Hearing a noise, she turned and found Peyton standing behind her.
"Hey Pey," she neutrally greeted the blonde girl, trying to keep a level tone in her voice. She knew this was her best friend, but lately they'd been drifting apart. Brooke didn't feel that she could really talk to Peyton about how bad things were getting at home, and that silence just seemed to encourage more distance.
"Are you waiting for the guys to finish showering so you can wear them out too?" her comment was meant to be a joke regarding the harsh cheerleader work outs they'd all endured lately, but there was a mean edge to it, a connotation that Brooke was looking to do more than work out with the varsity team.
Brooke's shoulders stiffened, knowing that she'd engaged in plenty of sex in the past and that such comments were commonplace around school. But she'd always been honest about the guy she was targeting and hearing her best friend make sly comments about her sexual prowess was a bit too much. "No, I've got a more selective focus on who I do these days," she carelessly replied, not caring what gauntlet she was throwing down. Peyton's interest in Lucas went from hot to cold and no one else in school was willing to actively go after Lucas while her friend occasionally showed interest in the lanky ball player.
Dropping her bag, Peyton's eyes narrowed at her friend's words. "Yeah, the entire school knows whose next on your "to do" list, Brooke. Between the party on Friday and lunch today, the entire school is talking about you two."
Brooke stalked over to where the skinny blonde stood and straightened her shoulders. She'd done nothing wrong with Lucas. And while she knew that there was a ton of sexual tension, he'd not even tried to kiss her. Yet. "And so what if the entire school is talking? I'm allowed to hang out and talk with any guy that I want. Lucas is fair game," she said, her voice dropping to a sultry low tone to convey her stake in Lucas.
Tossing her shiny curls, Peyton shot her a level, distant glare. "Lucas didn't even know you were at the party Friday night until I blew him off," she asserted, getting closer to Brooke with each cruel word. "Aren't you afraid you won by default?"
Brooke's heart constricted a moment, knowing that there was some truth in her friend's vicious words. "Maybe if you'd down the latter we wouldn't be having this discussion at all," she countered, disgusted by the games Peyton played with Lucas. "And stop acting like a virgin, we both know your score card is as long as mine."
Peyton toyed with her own water bottle a moment, before putting it in her work out bag. "Let's face it, Brooke. Lucas likes nice girls. And sooner or later he's going to realize that you are the kind of girl that guys have fun with, but that they don't date."
She spun around and stalked across the gym, the heels of her boots tapping an erratic staccato beat across the shiny wood floor. Brooke silently watched her go, allowing the tears she'd been fighting to break free from her stoic eyes. "I guess that means staying at Peyton's is off the list," she muttered to herself, as she bent over to retrieve her own gym bag. Wiping her eyes, Brooke straightened her back and held her head up. She might be a slut, but she was a proud one.
Thanks for all the great replies! I really love reading them and what you think about the story and the characters. I hope to post more often. I'm forgetting to post!! Thanks for reading.