Brooke was heading to the gym after her classes when she noticed her friends giving her worried looks. 'It's like they think I'm on my deathbed or something,' she thought to herself.
She just moving unless she could find a way to stick around, and she wished she didn't have to rely on Dan's help. Finally in the gym, after changing into her cheerleading uniform earlier with Felix, Brooke couldn't help but smile as she strolled through the hallway.
Inside the gym, she found most of the cheerleaders eagerly waiting for her, and she grinned seeing Peyton keeping them engaged until she arrived. 'Hey,' Brooke greeted as she approached the blonde. 'Hey, Brooke,' Peyton greeted back with a smile.
"What are you having them work on?" she asked as she watched as some of the girls were doing a few stretches. "Just some stretches til you got here, and we might have a new member joining if you want to have her do a tryout," Peyton said.
Brooke nodded as she listened to the blond. "We can. I think it'll be good to have a new member. You can tell her we can do a tryout now if she wants since there isn't much to do at the moment," the brunette said.
Peyton nodded, "That sounds good to me, since she's already waiting I don't want to have her come back the next day and do it," she said as the two of them turned to the girl on the bleachers.
Brooke walked over to the redhead who sat on the bleachers with a smirk on her face. "So what are you two talking about?" She asked as Peyton followed.
"If you want to join, would you be able to try out today? I mean right now," Brooke said, earning a smug smirk from the redhead.
"Sure, I can do that, I hate waiting," the redhead said with a grin. "Oh, by the way, the name's Rachel Gatina," she added. Brooke couldn't help but roll her eyes at Rachel's attitude but stayed quiet.
"Okay, then show us what you got-" She tried to finish when someone called out to her. Brooke flinched upon seeing Dan approaching them, who ignored the stares from Nathan, Lucas, and other basketball players.
"What's he up to?" Nathan asked, making sure only Lucas and Jake could hear. "Who knows, he might have found away for Brooke to stay in Tree Hill," Jake guessed, having heard about it from Lucas earlier.
"Mr. Scott, is there anything you need?" Brooke asked, trying to sound calm, as she looked at Dan, who scanned the gym before focusing back on Brooke, his eyes running up and down her slender form.
"Can we talk, Miss Davis, in private?" he asked, not noticing his sons approaching.
Brooke noticed Dan, then saw Lucas and Nathan walking behind him. She was about to respond, but Nathan interrupted, saying, 'If you have something to say to Brooke, say it here, dad.' Nathan got his father to turn around.
'I don't think it's anyone else's business what I need to talk to Miss. Davis about,' Dan said, looking at his sons. 'Plus, I'm sure Miss. Davis wouldn't mind talking to me on her own.' He turned to the frozen brunette. 'Is that right, Miss. Davis?' Dan asked.
'I'll talk with you alone. Peyton, can you watch Rachel try out and tell me how she did?' Brooke asked Peyton, not wanting the others to get hurt or involved in Dan's plans. 'Are you sure? I'm sure Mr. Scott can say whatever he wants here,' Peyton said.
Rachel was listening to the conversation, observing Brooke's movements and she could tell that the brunette was nervous about something.
'Blondie is right, it's probably not cool for a grown man to be chatting with a teenage girl,' she remarked, which made Brooke smile slightly.
'Nah, I'll be okay. It'll just take a few minutes at most,' Brooke reassured, as Dan nodded in agreement. 'That's all I need,' he said, trying to remain patient. Brooke then nodded and followed Dan out of the gym, glancing back to see both Scott brothers looking concerned.
" Should we follow them?" Lucas asked.
Nathan shook his head" Wish we should but I don't want Brooke to get hurt, we'll wait and talk to Brooke when she's back."
( Brooke and Dan)
Brooke followed Dan down the hallway and let him lead her to a room that had nobody in it and he shut the door. 'Is it necessary to shut the door?' the brunette said. 'You've been doing that lately.' Dan chuckled at her words.
'Well, we don't want others hearing our conversation,' he said walking over to her. 'I had talked to your parents and I got them to agree to let you stay in Tree Hill,' Dan said, getting Brooke to look at him, trying to keep a few feet away from him.
'And what's the catch for your help? I know you won't do it because you have a good heart,' Brooke retorted. She knew what he was doing to Lucas or had a hunch of what Dan was doing. Dan looked at the brunette and couldn't help but laugh.
'Who said there was a catch?' he said, earning a glare from Brooke. 'Mr. Scott, just tell me what you want!' she demanded and yelped when Dan backhanded her across the face.
The hit was hard enough to send Brooke flying into the wall behind her, and then Dan grabbed her throat, saying, 'Careful what you say, Miss. Davis!' He sneered while locking eyes with her wide hazel gaze. Brooke struggled to respond, only managing a squeak as Dan's grip tightened.
'You're a clever girl, and I need something from you,' he said, leaning in despite her gasps for air. 'It's pretty simple, trust me. Just follow my lead and timetable,' Dan whispered in her ear.
'And what exactly does that involve?' Brooke gasped as Dan released his grip. Without giving her a chance to recover, Dan continued, 'Give me a dance this Saturday, and I'll explain what comes next. I'll take care of the remaining two weeks for you.'
"Hey, you're crazy if you think I'm going to dance with you, you old perv!" Brooke exclaimed as she tried to move past Dan who grabbed her arm.
"You better do what I say, Miss. Davis. You know what I can do, and if you don't want to stay in Tree Hill, then I can just call your-" he started to threaten.
Brooke shook her head to stop him. "No, don't," she interrupted, turning to look at him and flinching at his smirk. "Fine, I'll do what you say," Brooke reluctantly agreed, causing Dan to laugh.
"That's the spirit. I'll see you this Saturday at my beach house," he said. The brunette nodded nervously and left the room to contemplate her decision. "And remember, don't tell anyone about our little deal," Dan added from behind her.
Brooke hurried back to the gym but stopped halfway when she felt a sharp pain in her lip and the throbbing sensation on her neck. She rubbed her neck in discomfort.
"You alright, Brooke?" Mouth's voice startled her from behind. She jumped and turned around. "Oh, yeah, um, I'm fine," she stuttered.
"Are you really okay, Brooke?" Mouth asked as he caught up to his best friend and noticed how avoidant she was being.
"Yeah, I'm fine, thanks Mouth. I should head out; can you let the others know I'll catch up with them later?" Brooke lied.
"Oh, okay, but I think you should-" Mouth started, only to be cut off by a kiss on the cheek from Brooke.
"Thanks, just say I had stuff to take care of," Brooke said before quickly leaving, not wanting to have to explain her busted lip and bruised neck to Mouth. Mouth frowned as he saw Brooke rush off.
"Brooke?" He sighed, realizing he needed to speak to Nathan and Lucas about what he had witnessed and see if they had any insights.