Chapter 717: Tree Hill Hall

Friday, March 18th, Late Morning

When she was growing up in New York, if she were told she would enjoy the woods, she would've laughed in your face. Now at thirty-three years old, she enjoyed the serenity of her home in the woods. Her husband was off doing his thing in the woods as game warden of the estate. Her kids weren't home either; the oldest was working, and the other four were down the hill at their aunt's home.

So, Chase decided it was time for me time. She had music playing, a hot herbal tea, and sat on her couch. In one of her old, forgotten-about NYC moving boxes, she found her last yearbook from the Convent of The Sacred Heart. It hit critical mass when her casual fling went to Italy for the summer, and she met an older guy at a party, but he used her. She was alone and decided to nope out of there permanently. Waking up in the hospital, her life changed after rehab and moving to Tree Hill.

After a sip of her tea, she opened her yearbook. Inside the cover, she found a set of nice handwriting. She attended an all-girls school, so everyone who signed it had feminine handwriting. One set stood out on the flyleaf.

Love Bites, but so do I.

Chase snorted a laugh at it as memories came up. She flipped through the pages and looked at her younger self. Next, she stopped and looked at a picture of several friends from her year, pausing at the "C"'s. Next, she flipped to the sports teams and remained on the basketball team. Next, she flipped to the lacrosse team; in the team photo, Chase could see herself and Izzy. But there was also the same blonde from the framed picture she found earlier in the week. Chase sighed as that blonde was in several of the action shots of the lacrosse team. It was so long ago, but sometimes the memories were just so fresh. It was a different time, place, and life for Chase.

By choice, Chase rarely returned to New York City. She only recalled doing so once: the December after she moved to Tree Hill as a mother and children weekend. She almost returned when Trin ran and hid in the Fashion District; Izzy went instead of her, because she had been pregnant with PJ, which stopped that trip. The only other time was when Wyatt was born. The trip with Huck was to see Ashlyn and Angela play the New York Liberty. There were also a few modeling gigs. That's what she remembered, mostly, but it had been at least five or six years since Chase returned to the city of her birth. In some ways, Chase was happy it stayed that way.

Chase put the yearbook down and the teacup. She got up to check her smartphone, which sounded like a notification. She wandered over to the phone and inspected it. She responded to the text from her sister-in-law Kelly. With a sigh, she put the phone down and was glad she didn't have to feed her younger kids, which she called The Horde. Chase put her smartphone down with a smile and returned to the couch.

Sitting down, Chase reached over and grabbed the yearbook to close it. Something fell out of the book. Chase closed the book and put it back on the coffee table. Reaching down on the table, Chase reached down and picked up what fell out. Chase looked down at the item, a picture. Cocking her head, she got comfortable and reached over for her cup of tea.

Chase sipped her tea, flipped the picture over, and looked at it. It was a picture taken on the steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. When Chase lived on the Upper East side of Manhattan, it was a common meet-up place for her and all her friends. Many days going to school, all their friends would meet and get coffee at the Met, then walk the last few blocks to school.

The picture must've been taken after school when they were heading home. Chase wondered why they stopped that day, but they did. It was a warmer day, as they wore warm weather uniforms. Chase sighed and tried to remember who had taken the picture. Based on the image, it must have been taken on a disposable camera. Chase looked the picture over and nodded.

The picture was of Chase, as her seventeen-year-old self, standing next to a tall blonde that was around the same age. They were good friends and spent a lot of time together. Chase remembered their closeness and times on the lacrosse field. On the weekends, they would go to the Village at her dad's coffee shop/bistro-type place. Chase shook her head and put the picture down.

Slowly, she sipped her tea. Why was this stressing her out? It was over sixteen years ago. Yes, it ended, Chase ended it, that last night in New York City, she told her she was moving to Tree Hill. There were tears shed on both sides; Chase's were in private. In effect, Chase cut off a whole part of her life; she never expected to see Fallon or Candi again. Yet with Fallon and Candi, they also embraced the new location and the ability to have a fresh start, but did Chase really have to go scorched Earth on New York?

The blonde she saw one more time at Chase's wedding to Huck. Chase invited her, and the blonde saw Chase become the first Beaulieu Bride. Chase wondered if it was a hard day for the blonde.

Chase finished her tea, put the picture back in the yearbook, and stood up. She went to the storeroom and looked over her boxes. She went through each and every one of them. She pulled out a Lacrosse Stick and held it in her hands.

The stick felt comfortable in her hands as she spun it. It had been sixteen years since she held that stick in her hands, and Chase smiled as she went through several drills with it.

Finally, she tossed it into the box of stuff she was keeping. Chase went through a few more boxes and picked out a few more items she was keeping. Once she was done, she carried the box to her small office. The box was stuffed in a corner.

Chase went back to the living room and grabbed the yearbook. She returned to her tiny office and dumped the yearbook in the box. She checked her watch and saw she had an hour before she would have to head into Club TRIC.

Slowly, she returned to the kitchen and started to boil more water. Chase returned to the living room and retrieved her mug. Picking out the next herbal tea she would drink, Chase waited for the water to boil. Once it boiled, she poured water into her cup. Chase looked over her living room as she waited for the tea bag to steep. Suddenly, the quiet of the house she craved was empty, and she missed the noise of the Horde. Finally, she went to sit in the living room and enjoy her tea.

As she sat down, her phone chimed. What now? Chase thought and answered the text. Kelly had sent Chase a picture, which was quite funny, of PJ, Key, and their cousin Phelan. Chase smiled, shook her head, and started to cry.