A/N: So originally I wrote this story, and even posted like 20 chapters of it on here and I loved it. I love the original characters I've created. They're a piece of my heart, not just part of a story. However, I went back and I read the original story I wrote, and somehow was disappointed in myself. I knew that I could have done better. There were a lot of storylines that I dropped simply because it was easier to do it that way. There were mistakes and overall I felt that the story was written in a very juvenille manner. So I decided to re-write it. For those of you who read the story the first time around, you might be a little confused at first. If this is your first time though, I hope you enjoy it. Feedback is greatly appreciated as it will probably lead to changes in how I perceive everything. I would also love to have a beta so if anyone is interested, please e-mail me at Read on.

Introduction

The Past and the Present

Savannah Carter sat on her bed watching her room disappear around her. The fluffy red pillow she clung to was her only lifeline as the movers took box after box of her belongings from the room. The walls were bare. The dresser was now empty. In fact, the pillow she held was the only decoration left on the bed. She was being forced to move and she wanted to hold on to this moment for as long as she could.

"Ms. Carter, we're gonna have to take the pillow. Your father told us not to leave a single thing…"

"I know." Savannah closed her crystal blue eyes letting a solitary tear fall down her cheek as she handed the pillow over.

With everything but the furniture gone, Savannah looked around the room and made herself stop crying. It wasn't worth it, she told herself. This was just a room. A room she should be glad to get rid of. There were too many bad memories here.

In her mind she saw them. All the memories flashed before her eyes; studying with Jackson, kissing Jackson, holding Jackson, making love to Jackson… watching Jackson make love to Chenille on her bed.

She jumped off the bed and glared at it as if the bed could be held at fault for everything that was going on around her. They each held their ground, Savannah and the bed, facing off until Savannah could handle it no longer. She turned and fled from the room, down the stairs and to her car, pausing only to grab her purse and jacket from the front hallway. She jumped into her silver Lexus and pulled away from the house not a moment too soon. She had a 4,000 mile trip ahead of her and as one more wave of memories flooded her mind she sped up and pulled onto the freeway.

She couldn't get away fast enough.

A few hours later, pulling out of Los Angeles and heading out onto the open road towards North Carolina, she realized that hours alone on the road left her with only one thing to do; think. Her thoughts turned again to her ex-boyfriend, Jackson, and she saw once again the image she had tried to erase from her memory to no avail. Chenille who had once been one of her best friends lying on her satin sheets looking up at Jackson who was thrusting in and out of her, moaning with pleasure. Savannah wasn't sure how long she had stood there, watching them in horror, but when they finally realized that she was there, it was too late. The damage had been done.

They had tried to apologize of course with the usual excuses; it just happened, we didn't mean to hurt you, we're sorry that it happened this way. Savannah didn't believe a word they said and she made it clear she considered both of them traitors and no longer her friends. Maybe that was the reason that Chenille had hated her so much from then on out then. Maybe it was because Savannah had given her the brush off so easily. Then again it could have been because she realized that Jackson didn't really love her, but instead still loved Savannah. It could have been for any number of reasons, including the fact that her mistake had cost her a friendship and gotten her pregnant. Savannah couldn't help but think that her ex-boyfriend and ex-friend had gotten what was coming to them for the hurt they had caused her. Their parents had forced them to get married. Jackson dropped out of school to get a job and take care of Chenille, unraveling his dreams of playing basketball professionally.

With every punishment Chenille received though, her hatred for Savannah grew. Eventually she had decided to get revenge because in her twisted mind she blamed Savannah for everything, even though she had brought all of it on herself.

The marijuana was found in Savannah's locker after an anonymous tip had informed the principal's office of illegal drug presence in the school. They questioned Savannah for hours about it, but Savannah insisted that the drugs were not hers. She would never use drugs. She was a student athlete with potential. Why would she risk everything to get high? No one could answer her questions and no one got answers to theirs. Finding the drugs in her locker was evidence enough and they immediately kicked her off the girls basketball team, banning her from playing high school basketball ever again. She would have been kicked out of school too, but after her drug test came back negative for any illegal substances, they told her she could stay in school until the end of the year. She would then have to find somewhere else to go. Beverly Hills Preparatory School would no longer allow her to attend.

She knew that Chenille had been the one to plant the drugs even before confronting her. The girl was 5 months pregnant and surprisingly still attending classes but Savannah cornered her and although she was never able to get a direct answer, the smile on Chenille's face when Savannah told her she'd been kicked off the basketball team and banned from returning to BHPS told her all she needed to know. The plan for revenge succeeded and Savannah, in the end, was once again the one being hurt.

Her parents, who were usually MIA in her life, had returned from wherever they had been previously when they found out about all the things that had happened. They however did not see Savannah's side of things, and saw only that she had been kicked off the team and kicked out of the most prestigious private school in Beverly Hills. She was to be sent to live somewhere else, and they would decide where at a more opportune time.

The decision came the day after classes ended. Savannah, her best friend since 3rd grade Camille, and the basketball team that had stood behind her throughout the whole ordeal had organized an end of the year barbecue at Savannah's house. They were swimming and having a good time when her parents had appeared, kicking everyone out of the house immediately. Savannah protested, of course, but they told her they had made up their minds and everyone needed to leave. They were going to tell her where she would be living from now on.

Savannah and Camille had discussed it previously. They figured she'd be sent to New York, where their fathers owned a joint plastic surgery practice, and her father would be able to keep an eye on her from there. This outcome she really didn't mind. Despite the fact that her father wasn't usually around, she loved her dad. She didn't mind being around her dad. She didn't think they'd ever come up with the solution they had though.

Deacon and Veronica Carter sat Savannah down that day and looked her straight in the eyes. North Carolina, they said simply. A small town on the coast where she wouldn't be able to get in much trouble. They had already bought the house and arranged for her to start school at the public school there in the fall. She'd leave within a week and drive, a moving van following her with her belongings in it. Tree Hill was a nice town, they said, they had visited before making their decision. And then they were both gone again and she was forced to pack up her life, and move it across the country.

She arrived in Tree Hill, North Carolina with the moving truck behind her, engrossed in her thoughts. The life she had lived for the past 17 years was over. Her fancy private school, rich friends, beloved basketball team… they were all left behind. Here she would have to start over and as she looked around she was flooded with a sense of panic. She had no idea where to start.