Summary: Jamie, Lily and their friends are all grown up and have recently entered their Sophomore year of Tree Hill high which, just like their parents high school years, will bring the drama.
As Jamie takes his spot as star player on the basketball team, it begins strains his not-actually-a-relationship relationship with Madison. Andre will do anything to be as good of a basketball player as his brother was even if it kills him. Lily's too busy helping her brother with his confusing sexuality to even worry about anything else, including her relationship with Andre. Jenny Jagielski's trying to fight her attraction to the school's bad girl Miranda Pope while continuously fending off the advances of Chuck Scolnik who's sister has got her eyes on Jamie Scott. And all the while these nine high school Sophomore's must keep their problems from crashing and destroying their lives. Can they get through it? Or will these young, new ravens crash and burn?
I'd just like to tell you guys that I got a review asking if the other kids who are younger than Jamie and his friend are in this story. To answer your question, yes, I just hadn't put them or mentioned them in the previous story.
I've decided to keep the cast list on every chapter so you guys know who's who.
Jamie Scott - Chace Crawford
Madison Landry - Shailene Woodley
Andre Fields - Tristan Wilds
Chuck Scolnik - Austin Butler
Lily Scott - Jessica Stroup
Henry Hardgrove - Steven R. McQueen
Jenny Jagielski - Rita Volk
Miranda Pope - Taylor Momsen
Sarah Scolnik - Shenae Grimes
And away we go...!
Jenny was stumped.
She had been sitting in the garage of her house staring at the canvas that sat on her easel for the past hour and had no idea what to do.
Right now the painting was just a mess of colors and brushstrokes, but she wasn't worried, all her paints and drawings started off that way, but she at the same time she was worried. By now she usually had a pretty high def image in her head of what she wanted to paint, but just like her canvas it was just a mess of paint.
"I thought I'd find you here." A voice said and Jenny turned her head to see Lily's younger brother Henry walking up the driveway.
"Hey," She greeted putting down her brush as he got closer. "I'd hug you, but..." She gestured to her paint covered hands and clothes.
"It's okay." He told her. "Aunt Haley said you'd probably be here." He looked at her canvas. "What'cha working on?"
"I have no idea." She sighed putting her hands on her hips. "I just...really needed to start it and now I have no idea what it's supposed to be."
"Well what did you think it was at first?" Henry asked knowing her process.
"I thought it was...promise you won't laugh?" She asked looking to him.
"I don't make promises I can't keep." He told her.
"Fair enough." She said turning back to the canvas. "I thought it was Uncle Lucas riding a Pegasus." Henry snorted. "Shut up."
"I'm sorry." He told her. "What does it look like to you now?" He asked and she shrugged.
"It looks like someone taped paint brushes to a fan and threw it at the canvas." She said honestly. "I think I'm losing my mojo."
"Not possible." He said. "You just need some inspiration."
She shifted. "Well it's not like they sell in water bottles."
"Nope." He agreed. "You're gonna have to look for it."
They both stood there for a few more moments with their arms crossed staring at the painting. "I can't look at it anymore, it's making me sad." Jenny confessed turning around and going into the house knowing that Henry would follow.
"Why don't you go shower?" He suggested as they entered the kitchen of Jenny's longtime home.
"Why?" She asked.
"Because you're borrowing my car remember?" He asked, but she just looked confused. "So you can pick up your family from the airport?"
"Oh crap!" She exclaimed before going to the calender on the wall next to the fridge. "I forgot it was the twenty-second! Ugh!" She exclaimed startling Henry before running out of the kitchen.
"Girls." He sighed before going back to the garage to close the door.
(O)(O)(O)
"Mom, I'm home!" Jamie yelled as he entered the front door of his house. The entire living room was a mess, toys and shoes were strewn everywhere and the smell of something burning wafted through the house. Jamie could hear the voices of little kids shrieking and giggling, but didn't see them anywhere. "Mom?" He called hesitantly.
"In here!" He heard her voice call from the kitchen. Jamie dropped his backpack on the ground by the door before going to the kitchen. He was not prepared for what he saw.
The kitchen was a mess, there was food and juice boxes all over the table as well as the floor along with paint, brushes and paper. There were smeared hand prints all over the wall and it looked like someone had made a game out of throwing stuff at it.
A giggle pulled Jamie out of his thoughts and he looked down to see Jude...or maybe it was Davis...either way he was tied to a chair with a jump rope, but he didn't look like we was hurt. He was giggling and squirming like this was a game.
"Hi." He said looking up at Jamie with a smile. Jamie noticed that one of his front teeth that had been there yesterday was missing.
"Hey," Jamie said. "Where's my mom?"
"Over here." Jamie turned his head and saw his mother laying on the ground.
"Oh my God!" He exclaimed rushing over to her. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine." She said as though it were perfectly normal for her to be laying in the middle of the kitchen floor, but to be fair Jamie had seen her do stranger things.
"What're you doing on the ground?" He asked and Haley sighed loudly. "What happened to the house?"
"Your Uncle Skills and Aunt Bevin were supposed to watch all the kids." She said looking up at the ceiling. "They said they needed to do some stuff and asked me to watch them, said that they all had naps and already ate so I figured 'What the hell?'." She looked at Jamie. "What they didn't tell me was that they had a lunch of pixie sticks and their so called 'nap' was a sugar induced coma. They are now on my shit list."
"Oh mama." Jamie said taking her hand. "You didn't stand a chance."
"They're all so small and fast." She said shaking her head. "You were raised on Oreo's and root beer, but you never got so sugar crazed. I wasn't prepared for this."
"Mom-"
"I mean seriously," She continued. "There was one Thanksgiving where you literally only ate jello salad and you were still sane."
"Mo-"
"All I wanted to do was bake a cake for your aunt and uncle, but they just...they're monsters."
"Mom." Jamie said again.
"Why is our family so crazy?" She asked.
"That's a great question." He said taking her hands and helping her up. "Why don't you think about that while you finish your cake? I'll call Aunt Brooke and Millie to help you clean up and I'll take the tiny people to the park."
"Okay." Haley nodded. "Just...Don't bring them back."
"Well I kinda have to bring LB back." Jamie reminded her. "She's your daughter."
Jamie helped his mother gather her bearings before calling Brooke and Millie and telling them what happened. After they told him that they'd be there soon Jamie called his friends to ask if they wanted to meet up with him at the Rivercourt to help him with his sister and cousins. Most of them agreed, but neither Jenny or Lily were answering their phones.
"I love spending time with your cousins." Chuck's younger sister Sarah said once Jamie made it to the Rivercourt. He had piled all the younger kids into his family's van and released them into the wild once they were at the Rivercourt. "They remind me of me at that age."
"That's not a good thing." Chuck said on his way to the bleachers and Sarah jumped onto his back and tackled him to the ground. Andre laughed coming up behind Jamie and the two started towards the court where Madison was already chasing Davis and Jude's younger sister Evelyn.
"Why are you covered in paint?" Madison asked once she caught her.
"They emotionally scarred my mother." Jamie told her. "I don't think she'll ever be okay."
"Your family is so weird." Madison said shaking her head and Jamie scoffed.
"Says the girl who nearly tackled me during my first basketball game." Madison blushed.
"I was excited." She said. "You made the winning shot. How could I not hug you?"
"Hug me?" Jamie asked. "You dislocated my shoulder. I had to sit out the next game."
"One of the disadvantages of the coach being your uncle." Andre said passing them with Logan on his shoulders. Logan was still a bit short for his age, but he never let that stop him from playing basketball with Jamie and the other guys on the team.
Logan threw it in the hoop and Andre hooped and hollared, being careful not to knock Logan off balance.
"And he makes the basket! The crowd goes wild as they all shout out the name of their athletic savior! Logan! Logan! Logan!"
Now the younger kids had started chanting too as Andre jumped around with the blonde thirteen year old on his shoulders. Madison was a good sport and went along with it. She, much like Haley, had grown up around the Scott's and their extended family. Nothing really surprised her anymore with them.
"Now why is it that Logan can make a shot, but you can't?" Jamie asked crossing his arms and Madison scoffed.
"Logan was on the shoulders of a six foot basketball player." She reminded him and Jamie scoffed.
"That's crap and you know it." He said. "You just suck at basketball. How you can throw a perfect curve ball and not be able to shoot one into a net I'll never know."
"I'm gifted." Madison said with a smile and Jamie shook his head.
"C'mon," He said getting behind her. "I'll help you. Andre, ball!" Jamie caught the ball when it was tossed to him and gave it to Madison who turned it in her hands. "Alight, now bend your knees a bit." Madison bent her knees. "A bit more, that's it. Now hold the ball above your waist with your elbow under it." He said putting his arms around her and putting his hands over hers on the ball.
Madison turned her head to look at him and was surprised by how close he was. "Like this?" She asked pulling down her elbow and Jamie nodded.
"Now put your shooting hand under the ball with the other one on the side." He instructed as Madison turned back and did as told. "Perfect, now push up and shoot." Madison shot the ball and let out a happy shout when it actually went in. "You did it!"
"I did it!" She yelled throwing her arms in the air. Jamie grabbed her around the waist and Madison laughed when he spun them around.
"When are they gonna realize that they like each other?" Andre asked sitting on the bleachers with Sarah and Chuck.
"They realize it," Chuck told him. "They just refuse to acknowledge it."
"Ooh," Sarah teased. "A three syllable word. Don't get too smart of NASA's gonna want to study your brain." Chuck rolled his eyes. "And Jamie does not like Madison, they've been friends for, like, ever."
"Jamie and Madison were practically married when we were little kids." Andre said and Sarah looked up at him. "And don't even get me started on the matching shoelaces."
Sarah looked away from Andre and back towards Madison and Jamie who were still spinning and could help the small pang she felt in her chest.
(O)(O)(O)
Lily had taken Haley's advice and instructions and the next day after school she had gone into the closet in Henry's room.
It had taken a while to get most of his stuff out before she found it in the corner under a box full of certificates her had collected during his elementary school days.
She managed to carry it back to her room, she figured it'd be easy, but it was a lot more than she could carry and she was able to lift Madison over her head, but to be honest Madison ate like a bird.
She took a quick break to breathe in the hall before pushing it the rest of the way into her room before sitting on top of it.
"Mom must have a lot of important stuff." She muttered before sitting on the floor in front of it and unlocking the latches.
The first thing she saw were a few photo albums. She recognized the babies on the first two albums as her and Henry, she must've flipped through them a million times, but she had never seen the baby on the other album before so she assumed it must've been Lucas's.
Putting her task on hold for a moment she picked up the book and sat it on her knees as she flipped it open.
The first picture was of her mother and Lucas a few moments after he had been born. On the same page were pictures of Lucas and two older people who Lily assumed were her grandparents, then a picture of Lucas being held by Lily's father Keith.
Seeing the picture made her stop breathing as she realized just how close he and Lucas must've been. She felt a small pang of jealousy and sadness as she realized would never have a picture with her father.
When she started flipping through the book again she began seeing things she would've guessed her mother would put in. A lock of Lucas's hair tied with a blue ribbon, pictures of him riding a bike, birthday parties, pictures of Lucas and Haley playing in a pool and Lily couldn't help but smile when she saw a picture of him and a nine year old Haley dressed to go to what she guessed would be a school dance standing back to back with their arms crossed and sunglasses on.
Lily closed the book and set it to the side with the others before continuing on into the chest. The next things she saw were her, Lucas's and Henry's baby blankets and a few other things from their childhoods, but nothing about her father. There were no other pictures, none of his things, nothing. Where the hell else would they be?
"Hey Lils," Her mother said poking her head into the room. "It's time to head over to Peyton and Lucas's. They're back from..." But she trailed off when she saw the chest and all the things on the floor . "...Australia. What's going on?"
"Looking for anything to tell me who my father was." Lily said looking up. "Haley told me this is where you keep everything that's important to you, so why isn't my dad in here?"
"You shouldn't have gone through my things." Karen said and Lily scoffed.
"Well how else was I supposed to find anything to tell me about him?" She asked. "You never talk about him."
"That's not true!" Karen denied. "I talk about him all the time."
"Yeah, things he said or things he did, but you never talk about him!" Lily claimed as she stood up. "You don't talk about the things about him that mattered. Things he liked, things he cared about, you have never shared a single memory of him with me."
"I don't have to listen to this." Karen said turning around as she began to feel overwhelmed. She started down the hall and Lily followed her.
"Yes you do!" She said when they stopped in the living room and Karen turned around surprised to see the tears in Lily's eyes. "I need to know! There is nothing I know about him that I didn't learn from Lucas's book and I deserve to know more! I love you mom. I love you so much, but not knowing is killing me and has been for a while now. Every time I do something a little voice in the back of my mind whispers 'Is this something your dad would want you to do?', 'How do you know what your dad would want for you if you didn't know him?', 'How do you even know if he wanted you?'."
"Lily-"
"You were the love of his life." Lily told her. "But I'm his daughter and it's not fair that I know nothing about him and the one person I want to tell me everything won't." Karen didn't say anything and Lily turned back before going back to her room and closing the door behind her. Once she was alone she didn't stop the tears from falling down her face.
(O)(O)(O)
It was around nine when everyone gathered at Peyton and Lucas's home to welcome them back and as usual it was a family and friends affair.
Haley had managed to finish her cake and comeback from her mini freak out after being ambushed by her nieces and nephews. Brooke still wasn't the best cook in the world, but had made a decent casserole while she and Millie managed the rest of the dinner so Haley could rest before going over to her brother-in-laws.
It was nice having Peyton and Lucas back after being gone for so long, it had been a while since everyone in the honorary family had been under the same roof, but none of that matter once they were there.
"I can't believe I haven't seen you in two months." Haley said pulling her best friend into a hug and Lucas chuckled. "I missed you."
"I missed you too." He told her as he pulled back and was immediately pulled into a hug by his brother as their wives hugged. "Good to see you too man."
"Remind me to apologize to Whitey next time I see him." Nathan requested. "Coaching self entitled little assholes isn't as easy as it used to be."
"Chuck huh?" Lucas asked with a grin and Nathan nodded.
"Excuse me," Karen said pushing past her self proclaimed step-son. "I would like to hug my son."
"I missed you too mom." Lucas said pulling the tiny woman into a hug. "How have things been without me?"
Karen sighed and looked over to where her daughter was. She had just re-entered the living room and handed a soda to Jenny before looking over. Her face broke into a smile when she saw Lucas and she looked like she was about to go over, but stopped when she saw Karen staring at her and went back to talking to Jenny.
Karen sighed and Lucas followed her line of sight. "Not to great." She admitted just before Lucas was pulled away by Skills.
It wasn't long before everyone was back to how it usually was. Sawyer was running around the house playing with Bevin and Skills daughter, the Davis boys and Lydia, Lucas had been pulled away by Andre, Jamie, Chuck and his adult friends while Peyton was herded into the kitchen by the women.
"So, what's been going on around here?" Lucas asked his brother as he was handed a beer.
"Nothing much." Nathan told him. "The kids are alright, Bevin's still insane, Skills finally realized she was insane, the younger kids almost drove Haley insane and Chuck's douche bag jar has gotten bigger."
"Same old, same old." Lucas chuckled at Nathan's nonchalant attitude. "Jenny told me that there was something going on with Lily?"
"I have no idea." Nathan told him. "I haven't talked to Jamie since this morning. You might want to try asking Haley though. I know she talked to Lily earlier."
"Thanks man." Lucas said patting him on the shoulder before moving away from the group. He looked around for his best friend, but didn't see her or any of the other women amongst the chatting teens and drinking adults so he figured they were probably in the kitchen.
"Hales?" Lucas asked sticking his head into the kitchen. All the women were inside drinking wine and beer, or in Peyton's case soda.
"Yeah?" She asked with a smile after she stopped giggling.
"I need to talk to you," He said and then noticed the four other women looking straight at him. "Alone."
"Sure." She said putting her glass down and getting up from her seat before following Lucas out to the hall. "What's up?"
"I need to know what's going on between my mom and Lily." He said crossing his arms. "They've been avoiding each other."
"You should probably ask your mom." Haley told him. "I shouldn't be in it, I shouldn't have gotten in it."
"Hales," Lucas said taking her by the shoulders. "I know you and Lily have this girl code, sister-in-law thing, but I need you to put that aside for a moment."
Haley sighed knowing he was right. If Karen and Lily had a problem, Lucas was most likely the only one who could fix it. "Madison and the girls have a competition coming up and they need money so they're doing a few things to raise money."
"Yeah, I know." Lucas said nodding. "An auction, a talent show and a bake sale."
"Well someone suggested that Lily sing in the talent show and of course she said no because she hates singing in front of people," Lucas nodded in understanding. "But it's not just about that."
"Then what is it about?" Lucas asked. "She's got a great voice, she's got more confidence in her left pinky than most people have in their body and she knows it."
"She came into the cafe yesterday and she asked me..." Haley sighed. "She asked me if she thinks her father would want her to sing."
"Andy loves to hear her sing." Lucas said and Haley shook her head.
"Wrong father." And then he sighed, knowing exactly what, or rather who, the argument was about.
"Keith." He sighed leaning against the wall and Haley nodded.
"She doesn't know much about him Luke." She reminded him. "She didn't know him, not like we did and now it's finally starting to affect her life. She has so many questions about him and your mom is the only person she wants to answer them." Haley shrugged. "I guess she finally asked Karen and it didn't go so well."
"Thanks Haley." Lucas said and she nodded before going back into the kitchen.
Lucas knew that this day would come; the day where his baby sister started wondering about the man she should've been calling dad and started asking questions, questions he knew his mother wouldn't want to answer or even think about, questions that might sever the relationship between his mother and his sister long into their lives. He knew that this day was coming.
He just wished that it hadn't come so soon.
Chapter two: DONE!
I know it's been forever since I updated this story, but real life kept getting in the way of my writing (Don't you hate when that happens?). Anyway, please leave another lovely review.