A/N Hey guys thanks for the reviews! So anyways this chapter was really hard for me to write because I don't know much about cheerleading, but either way I hope you guys like it. Some scenes might be familiar to you and honestly I don't think it was my best chapter but either way please let me know what you think!
Lucas cleared his throat as he looked over at the older man, "What did you want to talk to me about Coach Durham?"
"All my players call me Whitey." He said pointedly as he swung open the gym doors and stepped inside.
Lucas paused before following him inside, "Well forgive me for pointing out the obvious, but I'm not one of your players."
Whitey picked up a basketball off the bleachers, "Look I've never been one to bullshit." He smirked, "Just ask my boys. So I'm going to cut straight to the point. I've got an opening in my lineup. Chance of a lifetime. What do you say?" he tossed the ball over to him.
Lucas caught it easily and stared at it for a second. He straightened out his shoulders, "I say Jacob West was a hell of a player. Good luck finding a replacement." He tossed the ball back to the older man and walked past him.
Whitey caught the ball and set it aside, "I was under the impression that I already had. In fact I have it on pretty good authority that you were planning to join. What changed between then and now?"
He turned around, "I've had time to think about it." He shrugged, "And honestly? It doesn't hold the appeal it once did."
"For you or for your mother?"
Lucas takes in a sharp breath, "With all due respect Coach Durham, you don't know what you're talking about."
Whitey smiled at him regretfully, "Sadly, I do son. You forget I've been coaching at this school for more than 20 years." He paused, "Want to know something? When Dan told me Karen was pregnant I encouraged him to follow through on his scholarship and head to college."
"Well trust me when I tell you that you did me and my mom both a favor." He replied sharply.
"Look son. Just think about it will you? I know you want to protect your mother and maybe even yourself from a potentially hurtful situation…but from what I hear, you've got potential. And I could really use you."
Lucas paused for a second, thinking over the older man's words. In the next instance he shook his head determinedly, "Trust me, Coach Durham, I'm not what you're looking for. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a class to go to." He strode past the older man, leaving him shaking his head sadly as he watched him walk out of the gym.
Brooke rubbed her temples and groaned quietly. She looked up and regarded the chubby blonde girl in front of her, "Thank you Jenny. That's all for today."
She looked at her eagerly, "Did you like it? I mean it was totally unique right?"
"That's one way to put it," Brooke said under her breath. She heard Haley snickering next to her and sent her a quick glare. She turned back to Jenny, "I'll be posting who made the cut tomorrow by the gym."
"Can't you just let me know today?"she said in her whiny voice.
Brooke bit the inside of her cheek to keep from screaming. She took a deep breath and smiled sweetly at her, "Jenny, this is your third year trying out. You know the routine."
"Oh well okay!" the chubby blonde beamed and picked up her pom-poms off the floor. She turned and waved at them enthusiastically before stepping out.
Once she was gone, Brooke dropped her head on her hands, "What am I going to do?" she wailed, "They were all awful. Not one of them was even remotely okay. Not one single one!" she ran her fingers through her shiny locks in despair, "What am I supposed to do now?"
Haley placed a hand on her best friend's shoulder sympathetically, "Brooke they weren't all that bad."
"You're right. They were terrible!" she cried.
Haley bit back a smile at her best friend's dramatic antics, "Look, why don't you sleep on it?" she said, ever the sensible one. "I'm sure tomorrow it won't seem as bad. And you can always hold a second tryout." She pointed out.
"Maybe you're right." She sighed, "Are we done for tonight?"
Haley glanced down at her clipboard, "Yup. That was the last one."
Brooke gathered her stuff and stood up, slinging her bag over her shoulder, "That was totally depressing," she sighed dramatically, "I'm in dire need of a hot fudge sundae, with the works. And a new lipstick. And maybe some new shoes. You wanna head down to the mall with me?" she gave her the puppy eyes, "It's still early."
Haley laughed, shopping was Brooke's quick fix whenever she was remotely upset about anything, "Sure." She stood up as well."Let me just run over to the tutor center and-"
She was cut off as the gym doors swung open. They both looked over startled at the tall girl who was looking at them expectantly, "Sorry. I didn't sign up." She looked between them , "But, I'm not too late am I?"
Haley shook her head and smiled at her. Brooke, however, slumped back down in her seat, glaring at the girl in front of her, "You've got to be kidding me." she muttered.
"Have you seen Lucas?"
Karen looked up from her spot behind the counter, "Well hello to you too Keith." She smiled, "No I haven't seen him. Now that I think about it he was supposed to be here after school to help out. But I haven't heard from him. Maybe he's with Peyton."
"Or maybe he changed his mind…" he muttered to himself.
Karen looked over at him questioningly, "About what?"
"Oh. Nothing. Listen when you see him tell him I want to talk to him."
"Wait." She stopped him, "This, by any chance, doesn't have to do with him playing for the Ravens does it?" she crossed her arms in front of her, "Because I think I made it pretty clear last night that he was not doing it."
He looked back at her and sighed, "Have you ever thought that maybe this is something that he wants to do for himself?"
"I'm thinking what right did you have to go behind my back asking Whitey to give him a chance."
"That's not the issue here and you know it. Lucas is a grown boy and he can make his own decisions. You can't protect him forever from Dan. It's inevitable."
She said nothing and he pressed on, "Why does him playing for the team have to be about Dan? Why can't it be about him for once?"
"Don't you see? When it comes to the Ravens, it will be about Dan. Or did you forget that his legitimate son is their star player? I know Dan. And you know Dan. And he's not exactly going to be thrilled with this. I just want to spare him having to go through that. I'm protecting my son, like any mother would."
"You can't protect him forever," he repeated.
She sighed, "But why now? He's been doing okay for the last 16 years without him. And he's been doing pretty good just playing on the River court. He doesn't need that in his life. Not now."
"Because." He sighed, "He should know that he's good ...not just playground good, but good, period. And he could use that in his life." He gave her a small smile, "And just so you know. Before I talked to Whitey, Lucas had made the decision to try out for the team on his own." He gave her a small wave and left, leaving her thinking over his words.
Dan looked up from his spot on the couch as his son walked into the living room. "You're home a little early." he narrowed his eyes at him suspiciously, "Did you skip practice? Because if you did-"
"Relax Dad. I didn't." Nathan cut him off as he dropped his gym bag on the floor and headed towards the kitchen. He came out a second later with a coke in hand, "Whitey decided to call off practice." He flopped down on the couch opposite his father and took a huge gulp of the cold drink.
Dan shook his head, "On the first day back? What's his problem now?"
"Apparently he's a little upset that West won't be back this year." He shrugged, eyeing the college game his father was watching.
"Listen son. I got an interesting call today from Keith."
"I'm guessing he didn't call to invite you over to dinner." He said dryly.
Dan nodded slowly, "What's this I hear about Whitey asking.."
Nathan looked over at his father quickly, "What? Asking your other son to play?"
Dan exhaled sharply, "Do not call him that."
"Well what do you want me to call him? I mean he's got our last name Dad."
"Look the fact that he has my last name is only wishful thinking on his mother's part."
"Whatever. It's a screwed up situation. People talk about this shit."
Dan shook his head, ignoring his comment,"I always knew that old grouch had a few screws too loose. What was he thinking inviting this kid to play?"
"Beats me." Nathan muttered, his face darkening at the mere thought.
"Well you bet I'm going to have a talk with him about this." He paused as he regarded his son thoughtfully, "But in the meanwhile I want you to do everything in your power to get this kid to back off."
"What for?" he scoffed, "That punk is not going to take my spot in the lineup if that's what you're afraid of."
"No, but maybe you should be. You need to look at the big picture son. You really have a shot at something this year and you don't need anyone, let alone this kid coming in disrupting the offense taking away shots."
Nathan sighed, "Look if Whitey wants this loser on the team, there's really nothing I can do to stop him okay? You've got nothing to worry about, he's not a threat to me whatsoever."
"You're still not getting it. You ever think this kid might be a little…I don't know…resentful…of the way things turned out? In his place in all of this? In your place in all of this?"
Nathan rolled his eyes, "Of what? As the chosen one?"
Dan nodded, "Exactly. What makes you think Whitey offering him a shot is not going to threaten your status in any way? First he comes in and tries to take your spot on the team…completely threatening everything we've worked for…what makes you think he'll stop there? Might even go as far as making a play for your girlfriend…."
Nathan looked up at him, his brow furrowing. He searched his mind trying to think of any time he might have caught the tall blonde checking out Brooke. Now that he thought about it, he had noticed him staring over at his lunch table quite often, his gaze intent on the cheerleaders.
Dan raised an eyebrow at him, knowing he'd struck a nerve. "Are you really going to let him take everything you've come to achieve?" he continued, "You're the star of this team Nathan. It's your team. And don't you forget that. The question is, what are you going to do? Are you going to sit back and let him try to take what's yours? Or are you going to go out there and show him what his place in all this is?"
Nathan nodded, "Okay.." he said slowly, "You're right. I can't just let that punk come in and try to take it from me." He stood up, a determined glint in his eyes, "I'll show him who's running things around here." He picked up his gym bag and strode up the stairs to his bedroom.
Dan looked after him a satisfied smirk on his face, "That's my boy." He said to himself smugly.
Nathan reached his room, pulling his signature basket ball jersey over his head. He dug around his gym bag pulling out his cell phone. He punched in a familiar number and held the phone to his ear, "Tim? Listen man I need you to come with me…"
"I know who you are." Brooke smirked at the curly blonde in front of her, "You're that emo chick who hangs out with the…uh…bastard son right?"
"Brooke!" Haley cried, horrified. She turned back Peyton. "Sorry. Long day." She said apologetically, "What's your name?"
"Peyton Sawyer." She said through gritted teeth, glaring at the pretty brunette, who was eyeing her Chucks and Ramones t-shirt critically.
Haley scribbled down her name on the clipboard, "Okay. We need you to do a series of routine-"
"So what's the story between you two anyway?" Brooke cut her off, directing her gaze to Peyton. "Rumor is you two are shacked up. Did he pull a Danny and knock you up too?"
Peyton fought the urge to roll her eyes. You have to be nice if you stand a chance. She reminded herself, Lucas's words from the other day echoing in her mind. She pushed a curly behind her ear and smiled tightly, "I didn't realize a background check was a requirement for trying out."
"And I didn't realize girls like you were into cheerleading. Why don't you tell me the truth really. Did your little boyfriend send you over here to dig up some dirt on a certain someone maybe? Because as you can see…basket ball practice has been cancelled, so you can run along now and stop wasting our time." she said coolly.
This time Peyton did roll her eyes, "That's so ridiculous, ever think maybe I just want to try out?"
Brooke smirked, "Okay. Fine, humor me. If anything it should be interesting to see your kind try to be cheerful. I mean because you guys are all darkness-is-my-friend-i-hate-the-world-slash-my-own-wrists right?"
"Brooke…" Haley said warningly, shaking her head at her in dissaproval. Turning back to Peyton, she gave her a warm, friendly smile. "Okay, as I was saying the try-out consists of two parts. The first part, you have to do a series of simple combinations. A triple-herky, a round-off back hand spring back tuck and finishing up into a landing jump in the splits…"
"You're familiar with those terms right?" Brooke asked her sweetly, "Or would you like for us to do a demonstration?"
Peyton bit back her tongue. "No demonstration is necessary."
Haley sighed, "Okay…and the second part consists of you performing a simple cheer or dance that you have put together yourself. You can do it with music or without. Your choice. Did you bring anything with you?"
Peyton fished around in the back pocket of her jeans and pulled out a CD. She handed it to Haley and stepped back from the table.
"Okay then. Are you ready?"
Peyton looked at the two girls in front of her. Brooke was regarding her with an amused look, while Haley was smiling at her encouragingly. She took a deep breath and nodded. She took another step back and with one last look at the two girls proceeded to launch herself in the air into a triple herky, once back on her feet she ran at full speed and did a flawless round off back hand spring back tuck and effortlessly launched herself in the air into a perfect landing jump in the splits. She stayed in that position for a second trying to catch her breath. She stood up breathing heavily, looking at them in anticipation.
Haley grinned "Wow…Peyton that was awesome. Not one single flaw in those jumps. Right Brooke?" she asked pointedly.
Brooke looked at the curly blonde in front of her in surprise awe. She cleared her throat, "Sure, whatever. Ready for the second part goldilocks?"
Peyton smiled sweetly and nodded, not trusting herself to say anything nice. Haley popped open the CD player and inserted the CD Peyton had brought with her. Within seconds Joan Jett & the Blackhearts- I love Rock n Roll flowed through the speakers.
"Whoa, whoa, Wait!" Brooke reached across Haley and abruptly hit the stop button. She turned back to Peyton, "Are you serious? You do realize that you're trying out for the Cheer Squad right? As in you have to be cheery. News flash this is not the Emo Punk club okay? I mean our job is to pump up the crowd not drive them to suicide! At the very least you could've brought the Britney Spears version. It's more our generation."
"Okay, first of all the Blackhearts is hardly Emo Punk. Second of all, I didn't realize there was a specific musical selection for me to choose from for the routine. And you want to talk about music that will drive the crowd to suicide? Then let's talk about the generically overplayed bimbo that you call Britney Spears. I mean seriously, that-"
Brooke narrowed her eyes at her, "Look goldilocks I'm the captain and if I was you-"
"Okay, okay, enough!" Haley jumped in, "As much as I am enjoying this debate and as much as I appreciate your taste in music Peyton, let's get back to the task at hand okay? And this time." she looked at Brooke pointedly. "With no interruptions."
Brooke rolled her eyes, "Fine. Let's see what you got goldilocks."
Once again Haley hit the play button and both her and Brooke sat back and watched as Peyton threw herself into a simple dance. She strutted towards them and shook her hips from side to side, throwing up her hands in the air. It was unlike the other routines but there was something so sensual and flirty about her movements that would no doubt draw the attention from the crowd. Brooke, while she hated to admit it, knew it was good and it was a far cry from the awful tryouts from the past girls.
Once the song was over, Haley looked over at Brooke and smiled appreciatively. She took out the CD and handed it back to the blonde. She looked at Brooke expectantly.
Brooke sighed and ignored Haley. She smiled sweetly at Peyton, "Thank you goldilocks. That will be all for today. I'll be posting who made the cut tomorrow." She refused to look at Haley, knowing her best friend was glaring at her.
Peyton smiled back just as sweetly, "Sure, thank you for your time. It's always a pleasure." She turned to look at Haley and gave her a genuine smile. Haley gave her a smile and winked at her. 'You got it" she mouthed and Peyton couldn't help but smile at her. She grabbed her CD and her backpack and walked out of the gym, shutting the doors quietly behind her.
Haley turned back to the brunette, "Brooke…what was that about? You could've told her right here right now that she made the squad, instead you're making her wait till tomorrow?"
Brooke gathered her stuff quickly, not meeting her eyes, "She's not in yet Haley. I've got to go home..and..review the options before I make a decision."
Haley rolled her eyes, "What options? You yourself said they were all awful! I mean what's there to think about? Peyton's clearly ahead of all of them."
Brooke pushed her chair back and slung her bag over her shoulder, "Are you kidding me? She's not the cheerleader type. I mean you saw her…she's all chucks and dark eyeliner..not to mention her music taste sucks."
"Who cares? She's got the moves. Are you seriously going to stand here and tell me there's a type?" she placed her hands on her hips. "Uh, hello? I'm the honor roll student who tutors others on her free time."
"That's different. You're different."
"How so?"
"Well…you're not bitchy and weird…and you're also not the bastard child's girlfriend." She said quickly. "Her image is totally wrong and what were we talking about yesterday? Loyalty remember? We're on two opposites sides of the Scott War, remember that."
"That is so stupid, Brooke. And now you're just grasping at straws. Who cares about all that? Look the girl is good okay? And that's all that matters. We need someone like her and if you could just put aside your preconceptions of her you'll see that too."
Brooke sighed, contemplating her options, "I don't like her." She warned her, "But..I guess…fine she's good. She's very good." She admitted, "We'll just have to work on her image a little bit…but…"
Haley suppressed a laugh, somehow she doubted Peyton would let Brooke make her over. She slung an arm around her, "But?"
She sighed dramatically, "But she's in okay? Alert the media…there's a new cheerleader in town." She said sarcastically.
"I can't believe you shot down Whitey. Is you crazy man?" Skills shook his head at his friend, flabbergasted.
"Yeah." Junk piped up, "Aren't you the one that told us you were planning on taking the Ravens by storm?"
Lucas caught the ball Skills tossed his way and dribbled up towards the basket, "So I changed my mind. So what? I'd rather be playing here with you guys than with those guys." He tossed the ball up towards the net and smiled as it made the familiar Swoosh.
Skills caught the rebound, "Look dawg, I've been guarding you almost every night since we was 12 years old, right?
Lucas smiled smugly, "And I've kicked your ass how many times?"
Skills rolled his eyes and bounced the ball back to him, "It just seems like a big mistake dawg."
"No. A mistake would be playing with them. I don't owe them anything. And I don't have to prove anything to them. I know I'm good." He smiled, "You know I'm good. And I like playing here. We belong here. I belong here."
"Luke, man you know you're one of my best friends, right? Ain't nothing never gonna change that. But keep it real dawg. You don't belong here. You never have."
Lucas rolled his eyes, "Yeah thanks for that Skills." He dribbled up to the basket again and slammed the ball into the net.
"Nice shot." A voice called out behind him, "Think you can hit that against a double team, down by 2, 20 seconds on the clock, packed house screaming at you?"
Lucas turned around and frowned as he watched Nathan walking towards them with Tim, the trademark cocky smirk firmly in place. "What do you want?" he snapped.
He scoffed, glaring at him, "What do I want? What the hell do you want man? I mean, other than my spot in the lineup? Or maybe even my hot girlfriend? Huh?" he stepped closer to him and plucked the ball from him, "None of us want you on the team. I don't want you. The guys don't want you. My girl and her girls sure as hell don't want you."
Skills came to stand next to Lucas, "Look dawg, why don't you back off?"
Nathan looked over at Tim and laughed, "Isn't that sweet? Having your friends back you up and all that. Can't even defend yourself huh punk?" He smirked, "You're a bigger loser than even I thought."
Skills took a step towards him and Lucas placed a hand on his shoulder, stopping him. He turned and glared at Nathan angrily, "Look, why don't you just tell me what the hell you came here for." he snapped.
He dribbled the ball around them in a circle, "Look here's how it's going to go down. You and me. One on one. You can name the time and place. If you win, you can have my spot." He dribbled the basket up the court before slamming it down in the net. He turned and smirked, "But if I win, you crawl back in your little hole and you remember your place in all this." He bounced the ball back to him, "Unless you're too scared of course." He turned back to Tim, "Now why don't we get out of here and leave these little girls to their little game?" Him and Tim both laughed and as they were leaving, Nathan turned back around, "Time and place baby! Time and place!"
Skills let out an angry sound, "Damn Dawg! Why didn't you just let me take him?" he turned to him, "At least tell me you're going to take him on his bullshit challenge…because if you don't. Then I will."
"I told you before. I have nothing to prove to those guys. And especially not to him." He watched as the two basket ball players got in his car, "But I will. Not for me." He said quietly, he turning back to look at Skills, "But for my mom."
