A/N Hey guys, thanks for the reviews! I really appreciate it. This chapter will take place on the first day of their junior year. Like I've said before I really want to take my time with this story to fully develop where I want it to go and for those of you wanting some Pathan, Laley or Brucas action please bare with me as it will take me a while for my story to get there. Oh! To answer some of your questions on the switching of the characters, it's not really that relevant to the story I guess. Just know that Peyton is Lucas's best friend and Haley,Brooke, Jake and Nathan grew up together and Brooke and Nathan are the Golden couple in Tree Hill.
"So she just said no. No explanation, no reason? Just no?" Peyton stepped out of the passenger seat of her car and hoisted her backpack over her shoulder. She slammed the door shut and gave her best friend a questioning glance.
He stepped out of the driver's seat and tossed her keys over to her. "No explanations were really necessary I guess. I mean it's not like I don't know why she's against it."
"I guess I can understand where she's coming from." Peyton looped her arms through his as they made their way towards the main entrance. "What are you going to do?"
"Well I'm not going to go up against her wishes if that's what you mean."
She shot him a surprised look, "What?" she shook her head at him, "Is this the same Lucas who told me he was going to be the hottest basketball player Tree Hill has ever seen?"
He sighed as they reached their lockers, which just happened to be right next to each other. He fiddled with the combination, "This is my mom we're talking about Peyton. I respect how she feels about this and you know I would never do anything to intentionally hurt her."
She leaned against her locker and gazed at him, "I know. But I also know that you're not one to give up easily when you really want something."
He shrugged and said nothing. She stared at him suspiciously, "Wait." She let out a small laugh, "I can't believe this. You're actually relieved." She realized.
He looks at her strangely, "What are you talking about?"
"You're relieved that she said no. Because now you don't actually have to go through with it."
He slammed his locker shut and turned to her, "That's crazy."
She shook her head, "No it's not. It's the truth and you know it. You're scared Lucas. You're scared because you know that joining the team will force you to deal with what you've been so content ignoring before."
He scoffed, "Oh really? And what would that be?"
Peyton opened her mouth to answer but paused as her gaze caught something across the hall. Nathan Scott and Brooke Davis had just made their grand entrance and were walking hand in hand towards them. She was chattering away and he was laughing at whatever she was saying. She turned towards Lucas, "You can't ignore this forever. Eventually you'll both have to deal with it." she said softly.
He glanced towards Nathan who at that moment happened to look up and notice the two of them by the lockers. Nathan frowned and turned to say something to his girlfriend, who in turn turned to look at them, smirking slightly.
Lucas sighed and looked back at Peyton who was eyeing him sympathetically, "Some things are better left alone." He said, pushing away from his locker and walking in the other direction.
"Not always." She muttered. She started to follow him but paused as she turned to look back at the handsome brunette couple across the hall. The pretty cheerleader was chattering away and he was looking down at her smiling but for the briefest of a second he looked up and watched the other boy disappear down the hall.
"What time is practice running till today?" Brooke looked down to inspect her nails as she leaned against the lockers.
He turned to look at her startled, obviously unaware of her question, "Huh?"
She rolled her eyes and sighed. "I said what time is your practice running till today?"
He shrugged and pulled out a book, "I dunno. Whitey's going to be in one of his moods today."
"Isn't he always?"
He laughed, "Yeah, but today a little more so than usual." She gave him a questioning glance, "Word around school is that Jacob West won't be back this year." He explained.
"Huh." She said, "What a waste."
He shot her a look, "Yeah, I'm sure you think so."
She giggled, "Wait, Cindy Talley's not coming back this year either." Her eyes sparkled curiously, "What are the odds of that? A member of the basketball team and a member of the squad both MIA on the first day of school? What do you think the story behind that is?"
He rolled his eyes, "I really doubt one thing has to do with the other. You're just looking for some good gossip."
She grinned, "Maybe. But what's wrong with wanting a little drama?"
He thought back to the earlier encounter with his rumored half-brother. "I think this school has more than its fair share of it." He muttered, slamming his locker shut.
She paused as she looked over at him. She chose to ignore his comment, knowing he wouldn't want to get into it anyway. She slipped her hand in his as they both started to walk towards their class. "So I guess this means Whitey's going to be looking for a replacement right?"
He shrugged, "I guess."
"And I'm holding tryouts today to replace Cindy." She grinned, "Two new members in Tree Hill's elite? Yup. It's definitely going to be an interesting year."
He rolled his eyes, "Who cares?"
She shot him a look, "I do. Besides this school needs a little shaking up. Things around here are starting to get a little boring."
He looked around the almost empty hallway, "Boring?" he grinned down at her and tugged on her hand backing her up against the lockers, "Wanna do something about that?" he whispered huskily, leaning down and tickling her neck with his lips.
She giggled and pushed him away slightly. She pulled him in by the shirt into the empty janitor's closet across the hall. She assaulted his lips with her own and he kissed her back hungrily as he fumbled with the buttons of her shirt, pushing it off her shoulders.
She ran her hands under his shirt as she kissed him back. She fumbled with the rim of his jeans as he pulled away from her long enough to slip his shirt over his head and leaned in to whisper in his ear, "Who said the first day of school was boring?"
"What's a hot girl like you doing all alone?"
Haley looked up from her lunch and stared up at Felix who was grinning down at her. She rolled her eyes as he sat down next to her, "Hey Felix."
He laughed, "Wow. How's that for a greeting?" he looked around the quad, "So you didn't answer my question. Where's your posse?"
"Posse?" She shrugged her shoulders and bit into her lunch, "I dunno. I haven't seen Brooke and Nathan since this morning."
"Looks like they decided to make the most out of their lunch hour huh?" he laughed as he nodded towards the parking lot.
Haley looked up and saw her two friends making out by his car. She couldn't help but smile, "Right. What's more fun than hooking up every chance you get on the first day of school?"
He looked over at her grinning, "What about you?"
She glared over at him, "What about me?"
He laughed and held up his hands innocently, "Damn, James. Don't get all defensive. I was just going to ask you how your first day's been going so far."
"Yeah, right." She muttered. She shrugged, " The teachers are nice. A little boring maybe but…so far so good." She looked over at him, "What about you?"
He grinned, "My day's going pretty well." He leaned over to her and whispered in her ear, "In fact it just got much better."
She looked at him and sighed, "Felix…will you just stop?"
"What?" he asked pulling away innocently. "I just want to be your friend Haley."
She rolled her eyes, "Please Felix. Like I don't know what that means." She looked away from him and her gaze landed on a blonde boy a few tables away eyeing them, frowning slightly. Their eyes locked and she unconsciously slid away from Felix putting some distance between them.
Felix seemed to not notice as he continued chattering away. About what, she wasn't sure. She was looking over at the blonde boy, eyeing him curiously. There was something about him…about the way he was looking at her…that she couldn't quite pinpoint. She had noticed it the day before when she had literally run into him at the mall. And she had noticed it today when he had walked in and sat behind her in AP Literature. It was almost as if he was trying to figure her out. As if with one look, he could reach inside her soul...
She shook her head and looked away from his intense gaze. Felix was looking at her questioningly, "I'm sorry what?" she asked.
He shook his head at her confused. "Where's your head at?"
She opened her mouth to respond, but was cut off as someone plopped down next to her.
"Yo! What's up gang?" Tim grinned over at her and she laughed.
"Hey Tim." She smiled over at Bevin and the rest of the team as they all sat around her, all of them chattering away about how their first day of school was going. She turned towards them and laughed along with them, pushing away her curiosity towards Nathan's rumored half-brother to the back of her mind. At least for now.
Lucas bit into his sandwich as he watched her laughing along with the rest of the cheerleaders and basketball team. Felix, he noticed, was still sitting dangerously close to her. She, it looked, didn't seem to mind at all.
His chest tightened uncomfortably as he saw the two of them laughing together. He knew what kind of guy Felix was. He'd heard the rumors. And Haley had never struck him as that type of girl. Sure she was beautiful and popular and a cheerleader and he was well aware of the fact that he probably wasn't the only guy in the entire school with a crush on her …but still…Felix didn't seem like the type of guy she would go for. In fact, he was pretty sure he'd never seen them together before. Sure they ran in the same circle but still….
Maybe a lot had changed over the summer.
"Ugh! Is this day over yet?" Peyton grumbled as she dropped her tray on the table and slid in next to him.
He turned towards her laughing, "Rough day?" he asked.
Peyton rolled her eyes and bit into her food, "You have no idea! First of all I was extremely late to English….."
He smiled as he listened to her rant, pushing his infatuation with the blonde cheerleader across the quad to the back of his mind. At least for now.
"Nathan! Stop!"
Lucas looked up annoyed from his book. They were at it again and they weren't exactly being very subtle. He rolled his eyes as he saw her push him away giggling only to have him lean further into her so he could kiss her. He sighed frustrated. Didn't they realize there were other people in the library that were actually trying to get some work done?
He looked up at the librarian who only shook her head in disgust and turned away. Of course she didn't say anything, Lucas thought. Why would she? They're Nathan and Brooke. Tree hill's Golden Couple. They could pretty much get away with anything and they knew that. Still, why couldn't they do that somewhere else? He shook his head and turned back to his work, trying to block out the nauseating sight of the two of them.
Just then Coach Durham entered the library and shook his head at the sight of the two popular teens in the middle of the room. "Hey Scott!" he called out subtly enough as to not disturb the other students, but loud enough to catch the attention of the two boys.
Nathan pulled away from Brooke and directed his gaze to Whitey, "What's up coach?"
Whitey shook his head, "Not you." he glanced over Nathan's shoulder and pointed to the blonde boy who's looking at him curiously. "You. Come with me."
Lucas looked at him startled and stood up, gathering his books. As he walked past the two brunette's he caught Nathan's angry glare.
So did Coach Durham, who turned back to his star basketball player, "And you. Get your mouth out of your girlfriend's mouth and read a book or something." He smirked, walking out with Lucas close behind him.
Nathan sighed and turned to look back at his girlfriend. She smiled at him softly and placeda hand on his shoulder, "I'm sure it's nothing to worry about boyfriend." She says trying to sound reassuring.
He shakes his head, "Right. Cuz Whitey makes it a point to be friendly to the entire student body." He muttered. He gathered his books and pushed his chair away from the table, looking at her pointedly, "You did say things needed a little shaking up around here didn't you? How's this for interesting?" he shook his head in amusement and got up.
She stood up as well and slipped her hand in his as they both walked out of the library. She looked over at him, "Well whatever happens just don't do anything stupid okay?"
He didn't say anything as he stared angrily ahead at him, trying to wrap his mind around the possible situation. She bit her lip and sighed. Somehow she knew he wouldn't heed her warning.