Well, here it is, the sequel to Twisted. It's set a couple of months were we left off, and Nathan and Haley are at college now. Um... enjoy?
Oh yeah, and there is underage drinking here (I'm english, and by the time I remembered the drinking age was 21 in America, I'd already done three chapters. Still, I'm sure college kids drink all the time anyway, regardless of age. Right? Right?) so I apologise if that offends you.
Little White Lies
Hear You Me
Haley
The cue ball hits the red snooker ball with a thud and it zips smoothly into the corner pocket. I straighten up and blow the end of my pool cue like it's a smoking barrel.
"You are such a dork," my friend Gwen laughs. I smile at her and raise an eyebrow.
"A dork that's beating you down girlfriend," I say in a valley girl accent, which causes Gwen to laugh more, her pale green eyes sparkling with laughter. You know, I really love having a friend who thinks that I'm funny. It's great. To her I'm not 'tutor girl' (though I did come to love that nickname), I'm just Haley, a friend who happens to be a little bit funny. I don't know, maybe the changes in my life have changed me too. Internally.
Nah. I'm still a geek.
I go for another ball and it narrowly misses the pocket. "You're up," I tell Gwen, who pushes a strand of almost-black hair behind her ear and considering all angles as if she's in some kind of championship pool game, instead of an after-class friendly game with her dorm mate. She takes her shot and misses by about a mile. God, I love this girl. She tries so hard and she just never gets it right. She reminds me of me in this game… until Nathan taught me all the tricks and stuff. Now, I'm pretty damn good if I do say so myself.
"Do you want another drink?" I ask after I've potted the black and Gwen is pouting like the sore loser she is. "Because uh… I think you owe me this one too." I wink at her and go to the bar anyway. She smiles at me and sends telepathic waves of thanks. We kind of decided to give them to each other in the first week. You know, telepathic waves of desperation (like "Oh my God, this loser is chatting me up. Help me!"), waves of contentment (like "Um… major cutie here/Nathan is here. Please don't disturb me in the dorm room later"), and waves of thanks (like "I know that this is the fifth time you've kicked my ass at pool and technically I owe you a drink, but thank you for realising that I am a poor student"). Basically, we just read facial expressions, though we have got confused in the past. Getting waves of desperation and contentment mixed up is particularly annoying. Ah, the memories. The first time Gwen met Nathan was a particularly fond one (not at the time, but now we laugh… well, I do), but maybe that's a story for another time.
"Same as usual?" Jan the Sexy Barman asks. Gwen nicknamed himit, and unfortunately it's kind of stuck. I always feel a little pang of guilt when I think it, even though Nathan has heard me call him it and just laughed. A lot. It was kind of insulting actually.
"No, I think I'm going to mix it up a bit Jan the sexy barman. Give me two dry martini's. Shaken, not stirred," I ask, doing an impression of James Bond at the end that, I must admit, I am more than a little proud of.
Jan raises an eyebrow and shows off his lovely white teeth. I tell you, if I wasn't taken… I would be desperately unhappy actually. But still, I'm sure Jan the sexy barman could cheer me up a little.
"So… two beer's then?" Jan asks, already getting the bottles from the fridge.
"You know me too well Jan."
"What can I say? I'm just great at my job…"
"And you're great at ogling Gwen."
Jan laughs. "Oh yeah, that too."
I throw the money on the bar top and grab the two bottles, taking them to the table that Gwen has bagged us. She's obviously given up on Pool. Well, if I was being beat that badly, I would have given up long ago, I'm telling you.
"Jan likes you," I say in a sing-song voice, handing Gwen the beer. She takes it and swigs it back quickly, but not before I see her cheeks flare up furiously. She thinks I'm teasing, which is ridiculous because Jan has asked her out on a date more than once, but I don't think she actually believes he likes her. They both look like supermodels, but Gwen doesn't seem to notice that. It's kind of cute though, and one of the campus's greatest 'will-they-won't-they' love affairs.
"Hey guys, two beautiful ladies over there."
Me and Gwen turn at the same time to see a group of boys we've never seen before walk into the bar. They look older than us - maybe sophomores - and they're obviously quite full of themselves. Strutting towards us with leers on their faces. Me and Gwen exchange a glance and then take another swig of our beer, waiting for the onslaught.
I can see now that there's four of them, and the leader of the pack - the one who spoke - comes towards me now, leaning on the table. He obviously doesn't get the phrase 'personal space.'
"Hey, I'm Rick," he says with what he assumes is a debonair smile. I look over at Gwen who is rolling her eyes as the other three seem to be fighting over which one approaches her.
"Yeah," I say in a bored drawl, hoping he'll get the hint. I'm tempting to add 'and?' but I manage to restrain myself.
"Can I buy you a drink?" he goes on, leaning closer so that I can smell the mint on his breath. Well, you've got to hand it to the guy, he comes prepared. Unfortunately, he's not so good at getting the hint.
"Already got one thanks," I hold up my drink in front of his face, and thankfully he moves back a little so that it doesn't whack him in the nose. Maybe he'll go away now…
Maybe not.
"You're so gorgeous, you know that?" He asks in a voice that makes me want to gag. I can hear Gwen giggle and think that she's laughing at Rick's pathetic attempts, but I look up and see that she's laughing at something one of the guy's has said to her. Genuinely laughing! Honestly!
Okay, so I'm alone. That's okay. I can handle that, I've handled worse after all. I put my drink down and hold my left hand up. On my wedding finger is a yellow gold band with a solitaire diamond on it, bought graciously by Dan Scott. Unfortunately, he doesn't know it yet.
"Uh huh, and I'm so married. Bad luck, huh?"
Rick practically chokes looking at my finger. "But… but you're what… a freshman?"
"That's right. Congratulations."
"And you're married?"
Wow, he's slimy and slow. What a winning combination. "That's what I said. Are you having trouble understanding? Do you want me to explain it to you in manageable bitesize chunks?"
"Who are you married to?" Rick goes on, still practically spluttering. I throw Gwen an 'is this guy for real?' look and an grateful when she narrows her eyes at him.
"look dude, she's not interested. Just… move on, okay?" she says. I want to hug her from gratitude. That's exactly what I should have said - 'Look dude, I'm not interested. Just… move on, okay?' Except I so couldn't have pulled off 'dude'. That's such a West Coast thing. Seriously.
"Oh, so that ring is just a device to get rid of guys?" Rick asks with a cocky grin. Uh-oh, what is he up to? "Why didn't you just say?"
I'm about to open my mouth and tell him that it's not just a device, but he doesn't give me a chance as he cuts in, "Because then I would have turned up the charm."
Oh my God! Who is this guy? "For your information…" I start, but once again, I'm cut off. Only this time, the interruption is entirely more welcome.
"Can I help you gentleman?"
JAN! oh he is such a lifesaver. I want to jump up and give him a kiss.
Rick turns to him and laughs. "Oh, let me guess, you're her husband, right? Man, this system is a bit elaborate, but I'll go along with it. I promise I won't bother you anymore. Satisfied?"
Almost as if on cue a tall dark-haired guy walks into the bar and scans it with his cerulean blue eyes. I could tell you how many lashes that guy has around his eyes because I've counted them. I could tell you every fleck of green and amber in his eyes, every frown line, every kind of smile, every kiss. That guy has my life, and I have his.
"Nathan," I shout, waving my hand. Nathan turns to me and grins, making his way over in a pair of loose jeans and a blue t-shirt. His eyes raise at Rick and I'm expecting a confrontation - not that Nathan would normally confront any guy who speaks to me, that's just wishful thinking on my part - but that's not what I get. Instead he smiles again and he and Rick do that stupid man-hug thing.
"Rick, what are you doing here? This isn't normally where you hang out, right?" Nathan asks, pulling away. Rick shrugs.
"Wanted to check it out. So you know this chick?" Rick asks, and Nathan raises his eyebrows.
"Yeah," he answers and he looks at me with a grin. I grin back, even though I'm slightly annoyed that he knows Rick, though I am perfectly aware that's not his fault.
"Oh, so I'm sure she's used the 'marriage' brush-off on you too, right? Man, the freshman get crazier and crazier every year… no offence man. I mean, you know I think you're cool."
Nathan smirks and nods. "Oh yeah, the uh… the 'marriage' brush-off huh?" Nathan nods, looking like he's about to burst out laughing any minute. "But Rick, let me tell you a little something about Hales…"
"Who?" Rick asks.
Nathan steps around him and puts his hand on my shoulder. Rick looks confused but doesn't say anything.
"See, you know my name is Nathan Scott right? Well, this is Haley James-Scott… and she's not my sister."
"Man! That was hilarious," Nathan laughs, throwing a beanie bag up in the air and catching it. "Did you see Rick's face? I wish I'd had a camera, I could bribe him with it for months."
I roll my eyes and sit down on the edge of my bed, where Nathan is lying on his back. Gwen is at the library reading some book on the Greek's or something. It's my turn for the for the dorm. It really works out because Nathan and his roommate Kinn have a similar alternate night system, and when it's Gwen's night for our dorm, it's Nathan's turn for his dorm. Everybody wants to help out the newlyweds.
"What I don't get," I say, staring at the closed floral curtains, "is how your team-mate didn't know you were married." I'm not annoyed or anything… oh, okay, so I'm a little annoyed. I mean, everybody who knows me knows that I'm married. I practically burst from wanting to tell them. If I could, I'd annoucne it on the college radio. And yet Nathan's team-mate, who he spends so much time with, doesn't know.
I feel Nathan's hand on my waist and allow myself to be pulled back so that I'm lying on my side, face-to-profile until Nathan turns to and props his head up on his elbow. "It's our personal business Hales. Besides, it's never came up. What am I supposed to do? Slip it in amongst talks about ball skills? Um… 'I can do 53 dribbles in under a minute.' 'I can throw a hoop from 12 meters.' 'I can go and screw my wife tonight'?"
Despite myself I giggle. "Screw, huh? Presumptuous aren't we Mr. Scott?"
Nathan smiles and kisses my nose, shifting his hand from my wait up to my temple, and brushing my hair back. "Would I come off better if I said hopeful, Mrs Scott?"
Hearing him say my name like that makes my skin fizz. "Say that again," I order.
"What?"
"My name. Like you just said it."
"Well… I might, if I get something in return." Nathan's cocky smirk never fails to get my heart racing. I lean forward and kiss him on the lips, pushing myself closer until there's nothing between us and our bodies are practically merged together. We pull away at the same time.
"Does that count?" I ask breathlessly.
"Mrs Scott," he says. I smile and tug at the bottom of his shirt. He lifts up a little so that it comes off and I kiss his chest. "Mrs Scott," he repeats with a laugh. "Mrs Scott, Mrs Scott, Mrs Scott."