A/N: This chapter gets into some other subjects in the story. We get to look a little at Nathan's home life and Brooke might get on your nerves a little. But, I hope you all like it. It's kind of long.
Thanks for all the great reviews. It inspires me to write more. I really love reading them!
JUST ONE SHOT
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Chapter 5
Having Just a Little Fun
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XxxxX
Nathan smiled at his mother before swiping a pancake from the stack she had sitting out and folded it in half before biting into it. "Mornin' Mom." His mouth was half full.
"Nate." Deb smiled pertly. "Your brother already left."
"Why so early?" Nathan wondered with a little laugh.
"Something about picking some girl named Holly up to take her to school." She remembered.
Nathan glowered with a snort. "You mean Haley?"
"Yeah, as in Haley James." His father interrupted from the door. "She's trouble. I don't know why your brother's even hanging around her. I thought he was the only son I had with a sensible head on his shoulders." He quipped, glaring pointedly at Nathan.
Deb gave her husband a warning look. "Dan…"
"What?" He blinked innocently. "I'm just being honest." He said, opening a cupboard and grabbing a cup. "Clarence gave that kid up for a reason."
"Just because he's your friend doesn't mean you have to defend him." Nathan growled with a scowl.
"At least his realdaughter has some sense." Dan scoffed. "The girl actually uses her athletic talents. You just let it go to waste."
"I don't want to play basketball, Dad." He lied. "Just because you did doesn't mean I have to."
"Why couldn't you be more like your brother?" He wished aloud. Lucas had actually played for a while until he blew out his knee, killing his chances of ever playing again. "At least he knew what was good for him."
If you only knew, he thought. "Whatever." Nathan sighed, grabbing his bag from the floor. "Bye Mom." He kissed her cheek quickly. "Love you."
"You too, honey." She replied sympathetically, watching him leave. Then, she glared at him pointedly. "Nice going, Dan." She sneered before spreading butter on her toast a little too hard.
xxxxx
She wasn't in that good of a mood, she decided after the talk with her mother that morning. Clarence was a complete asshole and he really was making her life, right along with her mother's a living hell. Apparently, Clarence had said or did something that was slowing down traffic at her mom's café—which wasn't all that great to begin with. Her mom had put her heart and soul into that business and he was ruining it because Haley wouldn't quit the team.
She offered to quit the team, but her mother refused saying—a direct quote—we can't let him win. But if she had anything to say about it, he was winning. He was causing them even more financial turmoil than they already had. How she despised that man. Obviously, the talk Brian had told her he had with Clarence the other day hadn't really helped any, which was pissing Brian off further. He clearly hated seeing his 'two favorite girls' going through such a difficult time. He offered his help around the café and some advice that Haley was beginning to think twice about—stay on the team, don't let him win. Haley snorted, that crap was for the movies.
And to make this day even worse, her history teacher had just informed her that she was failing another class. What an f-ing day, she thought sarcastically. But she had to put all that behind her and focus on the now. She had a very important game tonight, which wasn't only important to her obviously as she scanned the halls of Tree Hill.
Haley walked through the crowded hall of Tree Hill High, glancing in slight fear at all the students. Today was game day and most of them had blue and white paint on their faces. When majority of them walked past her, they found it mandatory to yell "Go Ravens" in her face and zipping off in a crazed frenzy. It was official—majority of Tree Hill's population had gone crazy.
"I forgot how crazy it got during the playoffs." Jake shuddered as he made his way up to her.
"Whoooo Ravens!" A random guy yelped from the end of the hall. He had on a Letterman's jacket and she vaguely remembered him being from the boy's league. Their season started in a few months, she remembered as he ran up to her. "Are you gonna win the game tonight?"
Haley smiled dryly with one hand on the handle of her locker. "You bet."
He winked at her before smiling widely. "I'll be routing for you, James." He backed away before turning around and yelling something about the Raven's again.
Haley turned her head to Jake slowly. "Does he have any idea that I had no idea who he was?"
"That's Josh Graham. He's like, the best free throw shooter that the boy's league has." He reminded when the name hadn't rang a bell.
"I guess I didn't read the latest Tree Hill edition of Star magazine." She rolled her eyes.
"So you really wanna go to Rachel's party tonight?" He asked doubtfully.
She shrugged. "Yeah, why not. Chase is gone on some stupid football convention thing and I haven't been to one in a really long time." She briefly glanced at him while she stuffed books and necessities in her backpack. "Why? You're not?"
"I don't know…" He said indecisively.
She smirked. "Peyton's going."
"Yeah, I might." He changed his mind casually without missing a beat.
Haley laughed and shook her head before closing her locker. "I can't believe you traitors." She half joked.
"What?" He said defensively.
"You guys both start liking 'them'." She glowered playfully with quotations.
"Hey, technically Lucas and Peyton aren't 'them' anymore. And what can I say? Peyton's hot." He shrugged.
Haley laughed as they walked. "Those who are blinded by the blondes." She recited, smirking at his dangerous glare.
"She's cool too. She can draw. Did you know that?" He bragged about his knew interest.
"Yeah, because you only told me about five billion times." She rolled her eyes. "You and Brooke could make a deaf person contemplate cutting their ears off."
"Well, we are those who are blinded by the blondes." He copied, smirking at her. "We have that effect sometimes."
Just as she was about to reply, she heard someone calling her name. She turned to see Lucas walking with none other than her worst enemies little flunky. "Luke, hey." She greeted smiling.
"Hey." He said then turned to Jake. "We're still on for tomorrow, right?"
"Yep." He nodded, sticking his hands in his pockets.
Haley glanced at Nathan quickly before forcing a bright smile at Lucas. "Are you going to Rachel's party?"
"Yeah." He answered slowly, shocked that she'd even thought about it. "Are you?"
"Yeah." She nodded with a laugh.
"Cool." He smiled. "I'm probably gonna do that thing we talked about there, remember?" He asked slickly.
It took a few seconds, but her face lit up in recognition. "Oh, yeah." He was going to dump her, she remembered with a smile. "Well, good luck with that."
"Thanks." He smiled and then looked to Nathan who was staring at Haley intently. "We're gonna go then."
"Okay." She waved. "Bye." After Jake said his low goodbye, she turned and was really surprised when she heard another voice call her name. She turned her head to him with a small frown. "Yeah?"
His soft smirk almost made her knees weak. "I guess I'll see you at the game then?"
She bit her bottom lip before nodding once and wordlessly turning and walking away with Jake.
Lucas chuckled and patted his brother's back. "I think you're a little too late for that one, bro."
"What?" Nathan was a little angry that she didn't say anything—but he'd done that to her. It was only right.
"Talking to her. You should've done that days ago, man." Lucas said as they were walking.
"What thing did you tell her about?" Nathan asked irritated. They had secrets now, too?
Lucas smirked softly and waved a hand. "Oh it's nothing, I'll tell you later." They walked in silence for a bit and Lucas could tell Nathan was thinking. "You can't publicly diss someone you like and then expect her to be all cool about it a few days later. She's a girl, Nate."
"What should I do?" He asked his brother thoughtfully.
Lucas broke into a wide smile, knowing exactly what he meant. "So you do like her?"
Stupid, Nathan berated himself. He hadn't even noticed that he didn't respond to that part of Lucas' comment. "No, I really don't. Not like that, anyway. I just want to be cool with her, you know?" Yeah, he hoped Lucas knew because he didn't really know. Did he like her that way? Lucas nodded quietly. "I don't think she should go to the party, Luke." He said after a moment of silence.
"Why?"
"Rachel and Taylor were talking about getting revenge on her for basically stealing you away." He explained quietly. "Rachel invited her and I think they're going to do something."
Lucas looked worried before stopping and looking around, as if in search of the culprits. "I'm going to talk to Haley and Rachel."
Nathan nodded in agreement. "Alright."
Lucas patted his shoulder. "Thanks, bro."
"Welcome."
xxxxx
Rachel ran up to Taylor happily, handing the girl the folder in her hand after checking their surroundings. "Here it is."
Taylor smirked as she flipped through it. "Anything juicy?"
"Looks like Haley's a little more dumb than we thought." Rachel proclaimed, pulling out a copy of Haley's progress report. "The girl is failing almost everything but PE."
Taylor perked her brows. "Wow. That's cool." She nodded, flipping through Haley's file.
"And, she's on free lunch." She giggled, like it was the most embarrassing thing. "She's poor."
Taylor looked surprised before laughing aloud. "Are you sure the school doesn't know about this?"
"Yep. And," she started, crossing her arms over her chest victoriously, "if she doesn't get those grades up by next month, she's off the team."
It made Taylor giggle giddily. She shut the file and smirked. "Guess who's gonna be so embarrassed tonight?" She questioned rhetorically. "And, I have a little surprise of my own for the bitch." She threw her arm around her best friend as they walked off.
Xxxxx
Nathan watched as she counted something off on her fingers and then scribbled it down. She looks really cute doing that, he said in his head before he could stop himself. It was okay to think she was cute, right?
"I can feel you looking at me." She stated abruptly before looking up into his cobalt eyes. "Why do you do that?"
"Because, I'm worried about you." He shrugged uncomfortably.
"Why?" She looked confused.
"Because, I know Rachel and Taylor and they're planning on doing something to you tonight at the party." He breathed the words out, his eyes holding true concern.
Haley narrowed her eyes at him. "What are they planning to do? Kill me?"
"No, but they're good for public humiliation." He said, surprised she hadn't yelled at him for bringing it up. He sat cautiously beside her.
"Is that where you get that from?" She asked sardonically with a dry smile.
"Why are you going anyway?" He changed the subject quickly, hoping she wouldn't remember that she hated his guts.
"I promised Brooke." She sighed out, sitting back. "Lucas is going and she really likes him. Then Peyton's going and Jake sort of likes her now, so…" She shrugged, briefly glancing up at him.
"So why are you going?" He questioned again, this time with more confusion.
"To be there for my friends?" She asked hopefully, as if he had the answer.
"Haley," he started, "they really are going to do something bad."
"I'm sure it can't be any worse than Taylor tripping me all the time in practice." She snorted. "Whatever it is, I'm sure I can handle it."
"Rather than just avoid it?" He said softly.
"I promised Brooke I'd go with her." She said sheepishly. "She's my best friend. And besides, I'm not scared of Rachel or Taylor. Especially in the honor of my best friend." Haley shrugged shamelessly. "I think I'll roll with the punches for her." She grinned bashfully.
Nathan was somehow intrigued with how loyal she was. "She's lucky to have a friend like you." He concluded with a soft smile.
"Why are you being all nice?" She questioned cautiously.
"Why wouldn't I be?"
"Uh, because I've been a bitch to you." She answered shyly.
"You had very good reason. I would've been a bitch to me, too." He laughed.
Haley laughed also. "You know, at first I was mad at you but I guess I just started getting so angry with myself because I let myself believe you were different."
Nathan looked down at his hands regretfully. "You know, Haley. If I could go back, I would have never done that to you."
"Why not?" She asked curiously, trying to ignore that feeling in the pit of her stomach telling her that they were slowly drifting into a 'moment'.
"I know I've only known you for a short time, but you're one of the best people I know." He said gazing at her seriously. "You give everybody a chance. Even if just one, you do. You're strong but you really want what's best for the people you care about and the people around you." He swallowed slowly, the way she was looking at him was making him feel a little weak. Be a man, he told himself. He threw on a sexy smirk and then shrugged. "And you're hot."
Haley laughed and broke their gaze, hoping he hadn't noticed the way she blushed. "Nathan," she started, looking down at her homework.
"What? You are." He insisted, bumping her shoulder. "I'm just really sorry about what I did, okay?" He said on a more serious note.
She nodded once. "What do you say we forget about it for now?"
He smiled, truly grateful. "I say that sounds good."
She knew he might still shun her off at school, but she wasn't worried about that anymore. She told Lucas she might cut him some slack, seeing as how he was supposedly having it rough at home, but something else told her to let him off easy, too. A little voice in the back of her head was saying that he'd come around—to what? She wasn't sure. However, something told her to give him another shot and he wouldn't let her down, not a second time.
"So where is your boyfriend? I don't see him anymore." He grinned at her as she closed her books. He couldn't believe she was actually talking to him, he needed to keep this going as much as he could.
"A football convention in New York." She smiled softly.
"He's a jock?" He questioned doubtfully. She didn't look like she'd like those types.
"Yeah. So?" She said slightly defensively. "I'm a girl!" She squealed as if that should've explained it all.
"Just didn't seem like you went for that type, that's all." He held his hands up. "When's he coming back?"
"Tomorrow night." She answered easily.
"So, you really don't have a thing for Lucas?"
"Uh, no! What's with the twenty questions?" She chuckled.
"Just making conversation." He defended again. Man, she was so pretty when she laughed. He hadn't seen her laugh a lot—well, when she was with Lucas, but hardly around him. Every time she was around him, she ended up scowling or trying to stab him with a pencil.
"I have to cut out of here early." She said glancing at her watch. "Can you like, not tell Andy?"
"Yeah, sure." He stood up when she did. "Good luck with the game tonight."
"Thanks." She smiled before gathering her things and walking off.
Xxxxx
Haley noticed somewhere close to the end of the fourth quarter that they were sitting in the bleachers. Sarah Teddy had fouled one of the Pinkerton's again and Whitey called her out of the game, sending Rachel in for the remainder of the time. Obviously, Rachel and Taylor saw Haley glancing towards their boyfriend's when they narrowed their eyes briefly before plastering on fake smiles.
It made her smile softly when she saw the two Scott brothers waving at her. She nodded her head at them and glanced at Peyton who was watching her with a grin. "What?" She asked slightly. At first, she hadn't know whether to trust the blonde or not, but Peyton was just so care free and funny that it was hard not too.
"Nothing. Just watching you watching Taylor's boyfriend." She chuckled before leaning over to rest her hands on her knees.
"I'm not." She declared, though she felt like she was lying. But she wasn't. She really wasn't watching them. She took the time that the sucky Pinkerton player shot her horrible free throws to catch her breath and wipe her sweaty face with the bottom of her jersey, watching as the lanky girl from the opposite team shoot another backboard shot, the ball bounced into the hands of Taylor.
She dropped her jersey and got open. "Over here!" She called. Yeah right, like she'd really pass it.
Obviously, Taylor's stalling was pissing Peyton off. "Pass the ball, Taylor." She demanded as if she was the captain.
"I got it." Taylor gritted, running around the girl who was guarding her. She noticed when it was too late that the ball was stolen mid-escape from her offender. She cursed under her breath and ran to catch her, but obviously she was too late. Haley was already there, grabbing the ball easily from their opponent and tossing it to Peyton. The blonde dribbled it easily, smirking cockily at the opposing girl who'd just darted in front of her.
Haley glanced at the clock. It read that there was only eight seconds left. She knew God loved her then, because by the suggestive look on Peyton's face, she was going to pass her the ball and she was going to make the night's winning shot—again. Maybe life wasn't so bad after all.
As she predicted, Peyton pretended as if she was about to shoot the ball but skillfully passed it to Haley, who caught it and ran up to the hoop before doing a perfect lay-up. The crowd cheered and the buzzer went off, Peyton and Haley slapped their hands together, hugging each other lazily.
Taylor glared across the court at Haley, Rachel came up behind her friend and grabbed her arm as if to hold her back from attacking. "Tay, relax. She's going to the party. We'll get that bitch then."
That brought a smirk to her face. "You're right." She snuck a glance at her father—who was royally pissed by the look on his face—and looked away in what seemed like fear. "I can't wait to crush that bitch." She gritted, walking to the locker room with Rachel while the rest of the team celebrated on the court.
Xxxxx
"Good game, good game." Whitey patted the girls on the back as they filed out and then narrowed his eyes on two in particular. "James!"
Haley and Taylor looked up at him, Haley was pushing her arms through her shirt and Taylor was tying her shoes. They both didn't answer though, confused as to who he was calling.
"Both of you." He clarified, walking to his office. "Follow me."
Haley gave a skeptical look at Peyton who was across from her before grabbing her basketball bag and reluctantly following behind Taylor who had already started. When they got to his office—which he held the door open—he shut it and waved towards the chairs. "Have a seat." He ordered.
They glanced at each other blankly before listening and taking a seat. "What is this about?" Taylor finally demanded.
"We won the game." He said evenly. "Eighty-two to eighty-one." His eyes darted back and forth between the two sisters. "But I'm used to my team winning by much more."
"You should tell people to pass the ball more." Haley muttered, glancing evilly at Taylor.
"You and Sawyer were doing a good job of not passing the ball either tonight." He said casually, letting his eyes fix on her.
"Yeah, whenever we got the ball." She mumbled.
"That's not the point," his voice rose a little, "Now, you girls are gonna have to put all this other bull crap behind you when you're on my court or you're off my team."
Taylor frowned. "Coach, what the hell? This is my team."
"This is my team, girl! And I'm not gonna let you two's bickering destroy it!" He boomed, hitting his fist on the desk he sat behind.
Taylor jumped at his voice. "Don't pop a vein." She said quietly.
"I'll be popping your veins if you cost me a game due to your stupidity!" He glared at the two of them. "Whatever beef you two are having, settle it outside of my court."
Taylor had to smirk at that. "We will, Coach."
"If you ask me, you two are mad at the wrong people. You need to be mad at that father of yours." He gave them a stare, as if to silently enforce his words and then waved a hand. "Get out of my office."
Taylor hopped up quickly and Haley reluctantly followed, a little surprised to find Brooke, Peyton and Jake waiting for her outside the locker room doors. Brooke squealed as soon as she seen her. "You were great, Haley."
"Thanks." She mumbled with a modest smile.
"No really, you were." Jake added. "I taught you well."
"You play basketball?" Peyton asked him; obviously impressed.
"Not for Tree Hill or anything. But I play."
Brooke wrapped her arm around his waist, smiling up at him. "He's really good." She ensured.
"Yeah, just I'm better." Haley explained to the blonde casually.
Peyton laughed and shook her head as they all walked out. "Maybe you can show me a few of your moves sometimes, Jake." She suggested with a sexy smirk.
Jake swallowed nervously and nodded his head vehemently. "Sure." He squeaked and then cleared his throat. "I mean, sure." He said deeper.
Haley and Brooke laughed and he snuck a glare in there directions—where their expressions had suddenly shifted to innocent ones.
Xxxxx
So, she hated the bitch but the girl had 'banging' parties, only she didn't really know that many people there so it was kind of not 'banging' for her. Brooke, Jake and Peyton seemed to be having a 'banging' time. She watched them dance from her spot against the wall. She was doing okay, she was past being buzzed and Rachel and Taylor hadn't tried any of the 'evil plans' that Lucas and Nathan had been warning her about majority of the day. But, her time wouldn't be that good she knew, because Nathan and Taylor were ultimately going to make her puke.
She was sitting on his lap and drunk as hell—which meant not only was there PDA, but there was drunken Taylor and Nathan PDA. She felt herself shudder, then she rolled her eyes away from school's little 'dream' couple. She hated that bitch.
Not because she had Nathan or anything though—he was just too good for her, in Haley's opinion. Even though he had humiliated her in front of the bitches, she still didn't believe he was an all around ass. He was a guy—he did stupid things sometimes. Or maybe she was halfway to La-La Land and wasn't in her right mind.
"Lonely over here?"
"Not really. Just enjoying the booze." She raised her red, plastic cup slightly before downing the rest of it.
He laughed in minor amazement. "I take it you're a drinker."
"One of the best." She smiled, tossing the cup to the ground. Who cared, it was only Rach-ho's house.
"Where's Brooke?" He questioned innocently, scanning his eyes over the crowd.
Haley pointed to a direct spot. "Right there with Peyton and Jake." She noticed that her voice slurred a bit and shook her head with a frown. Yeah, I'm nearly wasted, she thought. "You should go talk to her. She came here for you, you know?"
"Yeah, I know." He sighed while watching her then looked to Haley. "But I kinda wanted to break up with Rachel first." He whispered.
Haley stuck out her bottom lip, pouting. "But it'd be so much better if you cheated on that skank with Brooke and then dumped her at school—lunch time is preferable—telling her that you'd fallen head over heels for Brooke—who has real boobs and a real nose by the way—and then go on about how much better Brooke is than her." Haley grinned, thinking of how happy Brooke would be if that really happened. "And then you should proceed to do Brooke on Rachel's lunch table." She said in finality.
Lucas laughed and looked down in his own cup—which was not nearly as empty as Haley's had been when he'd found her. "I'm not that cruel."
"You should be." She commented, glancing at Nathan and Taylor again who were engaged in a heavy lip lock. She rolled her eyes. "What's up with your brother?"
"What do you mean?" Lucas asked, also glancing in that direction.
"He's being all nice and weird around me." She searched his face.
Lucas shrugged and conveniently took a swig of his beer. "Making up for lost time." He mumbled afterwards.
"What lost time? The three years we spent not even acknowledging each other?" She snorted before pushing from against the wall and going towards the kitchen with Lucas behind her. "Or the few days I stopped acknowledging him after he pulled his dick move?" She noticed the blonde boy's eyes fixated on her in modest shock. She flicked her hand at him. "Ignore me, I'm drunk."
"Just give him a chance," Lucas said tiredly, "and how many beers have you had already?" He asked when he realized her walking imbalanced, holding onto the walls for slight support.
"Luke, don't do that." She said over her shoulder. "I've been drinking for years. Before I even knew what high school was." She exaggerated with a smile, making it to the kitchen and pulling open the fridge.
He decided to leave it at that. "Has Rachel or Taylor even bothered you?"
"Nope." She shook her head while pouring the beer into a red cup. "You and Nathan are just paranoid." She concluded with a snort.
"Well, I'm going to go find Rachel and try to get this out. Will you be alright?" He questioned, coming to stand behind her and placing a hand on her back.
She looked up with a small smile—neither of them noticing the boy in the doorway. "I'm fine."
He nodded and smiled back, keeping his position. "Find me if you need anything."
"I will." She assured before watching him walk away and noticing the taller boy he passed in the doorway. Her eyes widened. "Oh, so you're done sucking face with Taylor already?" Shut up, Drunk Haley, she warned herself.
"Only if you're finished sucking face with my brother." He said somewhat sarcastically, finally walking in the kitchen. He noticed her sway as she drank from the cup. "You didn't strike me as a drinker." He muttered, coming beside her to open the fridge.
"You didn't strike me as a guy who striked anyone as anything." She rambled and then frowned afterward, hoping she made sense.
Nathan laughed as he grabbed two beers and closed the fridge. "As much I've seen you drinking tonight, you're not really that wasted." She had at least taken six down, he was amazed she wasn't passed out somewhere.
"You've been seeing me?" She smirked, stepping a little closer. Liquor always did make her a little bit bolder—or as Chase called it, sluttier.
His humor fell and he looked nothing but nervous. "Uh, maybe." He smirked nervously.
How cute, she mentally squealed. That nervous smirk was just…hot!Or maybe I'm just drunk. "I drink a lot." She explained, backing away from him.
"I've noticed."
They stared at each other for a moment and she felt like some of her sober-ness was returning under his gaze. Did he not care that Taylor was just in the other room? "So Taylor and Rachel haven't done anything." She decided to say after clearing her throat and breaking their gaze.
He looked down at the ground. "Yeah, well the night's not over, Hales."
Hales? Did he really just call me that? Only people I know well call me that. "Thank God." She laughed. "I needed a night like this. Drinking and having…well, having just a little fun." She inched her thumb and finger centimeters apart.
He was about to say something when an obviously drunk Jake crashed through the doorway. He leaned against the door, slicked his hair back and shook his head while chucking his thumb towards the party. "Peyton's hot." He said breathlessly.
Haley giggled at his demeanor. "Jake, we know you like Peyton already." She rolled her eyes and then looked to Nathan. "I'll see you around." She waved with two fingers, the other's were occupied being wrapped around her cup as she slipped past him.
He watched her leave with a small grin. "You too." He whispered.
Xxxxx
Haley stumbled through the crowd. She knew her limit was like—eight or was it seven? No, it was nine, wasn't it? But she totally broke it whatever it was. Why, you ask? Because she was stupid and lonely—thanks to all the PDA-ing couples that had decided to come tonight that made her remember she was alone— and her father didn't like her and was conveniently trying to make her family poor, then her boyfriend was at some stupid football convention probably hooking up with random girls and she'd never know. And then there was a tad bit of anger in there for her nemesis who'd been sucking face with Nathan since the moment she arrived. It didn't bother her much, if he was with a nice girl, it wouldn't matter (not sure)—but he was with the devil.
"Whoa, whoa." Lucas grabbed her as she almost toppled over onto a table. "How much did you drink, Haley?"
"I just drunk a lotta-bit." She slurred, standing on her own and pushing his hands off. "Where's Brooke? I have to talk to her." She had already started looking for her friend. "Brooke! Brooke!" She yelled, searching for her.
Lucas winced, a second away from covering his ears. "Haley, calm down."
"Where is she?" She asked frantically. "Lucas, is she okay?"
Lucas found it hard to hold back his laughter. "Calm down Haley, she's in the kitchen. They're doing a keg."
Haley nodded in recognition. "Ooh, well, I'm going in there." She decided and then smiled. "Thanks for the help, Lukey." He tried to call her back but she took off swiftly for the kitchen, bumping into someone else on the way. "Oh." She said when she realized who it was.
"You came." Rachel smiled sweetly, like she hadn't known that Haley was there.
"Yeah, I did." She eyed the redhead suspiciously.
"Are you already too drunk?"
"Too drunk for what?" Haley asked.
"To play 'I Never'. Or in our case, 'I Never Will/Did'." Rachel asked innocently.
"'I Never Will/Did'," Haley repeated in confusion.
"Yeah, silly." Rachel giggled, which would've sounded extremely fake if Haley wasn't drunk off her ass, then she grabbed the girls hand and led her to a table—where around it sat Taylor, Sarah, Nathan, Tim and now her and Rachel. "She's playing." Rachel announced, clapping her hands.
"She's way too drunk." Nathan realized when Haley had to catch herself from falling out of the seat Rachel had offered.
"I'm not!" She argued with him, slapping her hand on the table. "Pass the cards." She demanded, looking around the table—heading to the kitchen long forgotten.
Rachel and Taylor shared 'what-a-loser' looks before going back to normal. "Remember, we're playing 'I Never Will/Did'." Rachel reminded, trying not to laugh.
"Oh yea, a skanked-out version of 'I Never'." Haley nodded. "I'm in."
"Haley, you're already drunk enough." Nathan pressed, frowning in concern at her. "This is whiskey." He motioned to the bottle in Tim's grasp.
"If she wants to play let her play." Taylor snapped at him, glaring.
"No, Taylor. This is wrong. She could get alcohol poisoning." He tried to reason angrily.
"That'd make my life a whole lot better." She muttered, studying her nails at the time.
"Taylor," Nathan warned.
"I'm fine!" Haley assured cheerily, flashing him a reassuring grin.
"I'll even start!" Rachel snatched a shot glass away from Tim, who'd been pouring them, and held the whiskey-filled dish up, eyeing the girl next to her evilly. "I never will/did…join a team where I'm not wanted."
"Oooh," everyone said with the exception of Nathan.
"Rachel," Nathan hissed, fed up with the two.
As Taylor, Tim, Sarah and Rachel laughed, Haley got her own cup before downing it, then held her hand up to Nathan. "Stay out of this, Scott." Haley held up her glass with a cheesy smile directed towards Rachel. "I Never Did dye my hair red…" Her smile grew as her eyes scanned the table, lingering on Taylor. "Or blue, or red, or green, or orange." She cackled crazily as she was the only one who didn't drink up.
Rachel looked defeated and glanced to Taylor. "You're turn."
Taylor smiled smugly, looking dead to Haley. "I never will/did have a dad who doesn't want me."
More "Oooh's," floated throughout the group as Haley narrowed her eyes. Did this Taylor bitch know that she got a little crazy when she was drunk Obviously not, by the way she was sitting there smiling.
"Drink up, Haley." Tim insisted, earning a glare from Nathan.
"Taylor, that's messed up." He told the girl sternly. "You're being an asshole."
"Drink up, Haley." Taylor repeated Tim's words, staring straight at Nathan. He was going to tell her not to drink up when Haley held up her hand.
Haley smiled only lightly. "Nah, Taylor. I think this drink's for you." She said plainly before throwing her booze in Taylor's face. Taylor gasped and hopped out of her chair, clearly appalled as she wiped her face with her hands.
Rachel scooted out of her seat too, shocked as well. "You bitch!" She shrieked, causing people to notice. Quickly, she ran to Taylor's aid.
Taylor grunted and watched as Haley got up and tried to walk away. "Wait a minute, bitch." She gritted. "I'm not done with you."
Haley turned to face her. "What other pathetic plans do you have left?" She asked expectantly.
She nodded her head at Rachel, signaling for the humiliation to begin. With a satisfied smirk, Rachel went to stand on the table that the game had just taken place. "Everyone! Everyone!" Rachel called with a smirk. Immediately, she earned the attention of majority of the crowd and the music was suddenly put to a halt. "We're celebrating our win tonight, and our coolness." She began. "We're celebrating the Ravens." The crowd yelled and cheered, throwing their hands and cups in the air. "But I'm sad to say, we may be losing a player pretty soon." She announced as if she was sad about it, and the crowd 'awed'.
Haley propped a hand on her hip, honestly confused. "What are you talking about, Rach-ho?"
Rachel concealed her laugh. "I'm talking about you. Being as dumb as a post." Taylor supplied her with the evidential piece of paper and she held it out to the crowd. "You can't play on the team with all D's, dummy."
"Don't you know that a D stands for Dumb." Taylor giggled. "Haley got a lot of them." She smirked at the girl.
Haley instantly snatched the paper out of her grip and looked around, feeling self conscious for the first time. Yeah, maybe she should've listened to Nathan and Lucas when they told her not to come. She swallowed back a lump in her throat. "This isn't…" She couldn't fix herself to talk much. She sighed sadly and dropped her head helplessly.
Nathan stood up instantly and grabbed Rachel by her arm. "Get down, Rachel. This isn't right." He demanded her. "You're being a bitch."
She yanked her arm away, glaring at him before returning her attention to the audience—then directly to Haley. "I'm sure your mom could afford some kind of tutoring for you if you weren't so…poor." She and Taylor laughed—they were the only ones laughing.
"Rachel, what the hell are you doing?!" Lucas boomed, causing the redhead to hop down in a hurry and Brooke, Jake and Peyton to emerge from the kitchen.
Haley glanced around at all the people who were staring at her and slowly brought her drunken arms up to hug herself. She eyed Rachel and Taylor. "You guys are so sad." Tears stubbornly rimmed her eyes before she ran out.
Instantly, Lucas rushed out after her. Jake was about to chase after them, but Brooke held him back. "Lucas' can handle it." She said bitterly.
Nathan sat idly for a moment before roughly scooting out of his seat and heading towards the door. Taylor gripped his arm. "Where are you going?" She scoffed.
"That was fucked up, Taylor." He gritted angrily, snatching his arm away from her. "How could you do that?"
"Oh right, she can humiliate me and dye my hair different colors, but I can't humiliate her?!" She shrieked, frustrated that her boyfriend was even taking up for that freak.
He shook his head before walking past her. "Grow up, Taylor." He said over his shoulder.
XxxxX
"Haley! Haley!" Lucas called, finally catching up to her. He caught her by her hand and twirled her to face him. "Haley, it's alright."
She sniffled and shook her head, angry with herself. "I feel like such an idiot." She groaned, running her hands through her hair. She could feel her heart tightening weakly like it always did when she got really stressed out—she took a deep breath to try and calm herself down.
"Don't." He said sympathetically.
"I can't believe I didn't listen to you and Nathan." She hiccupped, shaking her head. "I can't do this anymore, Lucas. I want to quit the team."
"Haley, no you don't." He cooed, pulling her into a hug that he knew she desperately needed. She clung to him crying, hating herself for even coming in the first place. "Don't let them win."
Brooke just snorted from the doorway and turned to leave.
Moments later, they both heard footsteps and then looked, Nathan was watching them. Lucas gave him a look, as if telling him that she needed him to be completely sympathetic right now because she was drunk, vulnerable and humiliated.
Nathan nodded. "Hey Hales, are you okay?"
Okay, why was this even more embarrassing than knowing that all those people heard Rachel? Nathan heard! Yeah, those bitches got me good."I'm fine." She lied, pushing away from Lucas and wiping the tears from her face. She sniffed and refused to look at either of them.
"I'm gonna call you later on, Haley." Lucas cleared his throat. "I have to go talk to Rachel." He nodded his head towards Nathan before walking off.
Nathan watched her sadly, wondering why his arms were itching to pull her to him and let her cry on him like Lucas had. "I'm really sorry about that."
"Don't be." She had her back to him. Wow, this was really embarrassing.
He watched her back for a moment before he scratched his head. "Do you need a ride home?"
Haley laughed humorlessly and turned to face him. "Nah, that didn't turn out too well last time."
"The ride did actually, it was just the aftermath." He said, clearly ashamed. For some reason, it bothered him seeing her this way. He was used to seeing her strong and standing up to Taylor. Not running out in tears. It made him feel guilty, like he had something to do with it.
"Yeah. And I'm not in the mood for any reruns." She wiped at her wet face.
"There won't be any. I promise." He promised softly. "I just want to take you home."
Haley gulped before nodding reluctantly. "Alright." She sighed, walking towards his familiar car without waiting for him. He had been opened the door for her and took off, they were at least ten minutes into the ride when she laughed at herself. "I wouldn't be surprised if you said 'I told you so'." She glanced at him.
"I wouldn't either." He joked lightly, glancing at her with a playful smirk. "But I wouldn't do that." When she said nothing in reply, he glanced over at her again, this time more seriously. "So is it true?"
"Which one?" She asked tiredly.
"Both?" He shrugged innocently.
Haley stared at the side of his face for a while before taking a deep breath. "Yep."
He frowned in confusion. "How is that possible? I see you do homework everyday."
Haley rubbed her forehead. "Yeah, but I've missed so much. Before basketball, all I did was party and…Chase." She grumbled, knitting her brows. "I've been trying to catch up, but I just don't get some of the stuff, you know? It's not like I'm dumb or anything." She pleaded softly.
"Trust me, I don't think you're dumb." He assured with a caring grin.
"I just hardly paid attention. It was a little difficult with recurring hangovers, you know?" She snorted.
Nathan would slap Taylor and Rachel right now if he were a girl. Haley sounded so sad and broken, how could they fuck with her like that? "You know, I can uh, tutor you if you want."
"What?" She smirked, clearly surprised. "Between working at my moms café in the mornings, school, basketball practice and community service, where do you think I have time to be tutored?"
"At Tree Hill Park." He offered. "You do your homework there anyway." His face scrounged up. "And what you just said brings me to my next question, if your mom owns a café…" He didn't want to finish the question.
"She owes a lot of money to the bank for loans and outages she took on mortgages. Then there's the bills and the café hasn't been doing that great lately." Her eyes rolled softly. "Since I joined the team and all."
"Clarence?" Nathan guessed knowingly. That guy was much more of a dick than he thought.
"Probably." She smiled wryly, looking down at her lap. "I would quit the team but my mom wants me to do this so bad." She said quietly.
"Because she knows what a great player you are." Nathan smiled sincerely at her—she smiled sincerely back. For some reason, that smile of hers just gave him butterflies. I'm gay, he yelled at himself.
"And really, I kind of want to stick it to Clarence." She said halfheartedly, laughing. Her chest pains had subsided and she felt a whole lot better when they drove up to her house—until she saw that familiar car. "Crap." She muttered.
"What?" Nathan asked worried. Her front door flew open and Chase walked out, eyeing the car suspiciously.
"Thanks for the ride." Haley thanked quickly, opening her door.
"No problem, Hales." He smiled and watched her climb out. "Hey." He called suddenly.
"Yeah?" She turned back around and grasped the door, trying to play off the fact that she had almost fell on her drunken ass.
"So what? You want me to tutor you or not?" He smiled at her.
She looked thoughtfully for a while before nodding her head. "Yeah, I think we could do that."
"Great." He pointed. "See you on Monday."
"See you then." Her eyes lingered on him for a while longer, until Chase called her name. She rolled her eyes. "Bye.
"Later." His smile quickly left when he noticed the way Chase wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her to him. Rolling his eyes, he drove away.
XxxxX
Rachel looked on at her boyfriend—or apparently ex-boyfriend in shock. "What did you just say?"
Lucas shrugged with a nervous look. "Rachel, we're just…it's not what I thought it would be."
She crossed her arms over her chest and fumed. "It's because of that Haley bitch, isn't it?"
"First of all, she's not a bitch, Rachel. If you're looking for one of those, you should look in the mirror." He told her in a calm voice. "Secondly, it's not about anyone else. It's about me and you. We don't click Rachel. We haven't for a while."
"Oh, so Haley's right, right? She gets to do whatever the hell she wants to us but we can't strike back?!" Had he forgotten the sprinkler incident?
"No, I'm not saying she was right. But she didn't put your most personal business out on the line, Rachel. What if she did that, huh? Wouldn't that be a little worse than tie-dying your hair?"
"Hold up for her some more, Lucas," Rachel waved her drunken hand through the air, "I mean, really. That's all you guys ever do anymore. You, Peyton, Nathan. I thought we were friends?"
Lucas gave her an even glare. "I did too, Rachel. But I guess I was wrong." He shook his head in pity at her. "I'll see you around."
"No, no, Lucas, wait." She said rushing up to him and then smirking sexily. "I can make it up to you, I promise."
He shook his head and pried her claws off him. "That won't be necessary."
She watched with her mouth open as he left her.
XxxxX
Haley groaned as she lay on the bed. The clock read 1:21am and she still couldn't sleep. Chase had left long ago, she had to feign sleep so he wouldn't bother her. But the feigning was good, nonetheless, because she felt like if she moved anymore she'd paint her walls with puke. Laying here blinking was working out just fine. She was still a little drunk, but nothing she couldn't handle. She'd dealt with this before.
She heard her door creak open and snapped her eyes shut. How the hell did Chase get back in? Her mom was going to kill her. "Haley?"
She opened her eyes at the sound of Brooke who stood there disheveled and in tears. She lifted her heavy head as much as she could. "Brooke, what—what are you doing here?"
"I've been trying to sleep, but I couldn't get some stuff off my mind." She chuckled nastily and shook her head, the bright moon giving them all the light they needed to see each other.
Haley was confused. "What are you talking about?"
"You. And Lucas." She slurred with a bitter laugh. "I mean, I had to be blind, right? Everyday, he's talking to you, going over to you. Hugging you." She spat.
"Brooke, please don't do this right now." Haley dropped her head back down on her pillow, coming to the decision that this wasn't that important to keep her head up. "You're drunk."
"I know what I saw! You were practically hogging him all night!" She shrieked.
"Okay, my mom is sleeping—well, I hope she still is after that." Haley snorted. "Brooke, lay down and go to sleep." She weakly patted the vacant spot beside her.
"No! How could you like Lucas and pretend to be doing this for me?!" Brooke continued, stepping further into the room.
"I don't like Lucas! I like Nathan!" She blurted, sitting up quickly—too quickly. She was going to barf. And what?? She liked Nathan?? Was that what she said??
"You…what?" Brooke questioned in a little confusion.
"You know what? You don't deserve an explanation. You're supposed to be my friend. Instead, you accuse me of liking your crush?!" Haley rubbed at her throbbing head and stood on her wobbly legs. "I sit there and listen to you day in and day out talk about Lucas! Lucas, Lucas, Lucas! We used to be friends, but I guess you just want me around to talk about Lucas now!" She knew she'd regret her drunken words in the morning, but that didn't seem to stop her from saying them.
And to tell the truth, it wasn't doing her floppy stomach any good right now. Any minute, she was going to blow—again, only this time, grosser.
Brooke made a pained expression. "That's how you feel? You're my friend…I…" She knew she wasn't that much of a friend right now, and maybe she did talk about Lucas a little too much, but only Haley knew how much she really liked him, which is why it hurt her so bad to hear those words…and which is why it probably hurt Haley so bad that she was accusing her. Her face automatically fell into a remorseful one. "Haley, I'm—" She jumped back—Haley barfed all over the floor. Brooke grimaced. "Ew." She muttered, watching as her friend took off to the bathroom to finish.