ok so this is the prologue to mine and mickei's (Broody_4_Cheery) new story 'thats when it all changed'.
description about the story: 'That's when it all changed' is a One Tree Hill fanfiction and focus' on the lives and relationship of Brooke Davis and Lucas Scott, though in this version there will be a lot of differences, it is essentially very AU. Lucas is the bad boy who isn't all that bad, Brooke is the good girl who hasn't always been so good, and though their lives have always been entangled it's not until a series of chance meetings, perhaps destiny, brings them together that their worlds come clashing together with forever changing consequences. Can they find a way to be together, and if they do can they find a way to stay together?
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Prologue: Two Sides of Every Story
You can choose to blame your circumstances on fate or bad luck or bad choices. Or you can fight back. Things aren't always going to be fair in the real world, that's just the way it is. But for the most part, you get what you give. The rest of your life is being shaped right now, with the dreams you chase....the choices you make....and the person you decide to be. The rest of your life is a long time, and the rest of your life starts right now…
~one tree hill
Lucas
The very air was thick with sex, drugs, and alcohol, so thick with it my body felt like it was drenched in oil. Too much beer coursed through my system and the world looked blurry but I had a sudden urge to get away, to suck in fresh air and wash my body. Fumbling my way through the crowd, knocking party goers as I go, I force my way through until I finally step outside where the music is just as loud and the crowd just as packed.
Through the haze of my vision I look up to the night sky twinkling with stars but something else draws me, I’m not sure what so I follow some instinct that tells me to go down the deck onto the beach. I stumble down the steps straight into the arms of a gorgeous blonde. Her curves push against me and hell I am a guy, so I smirk down at her and quickly slur my usual line. I’m not sure it comes out the right way; however, the blonde doesn’t seem to mind. She leans in a little closer and giggles something.
In the back of my mind I feel someone staring daggers at me, the hairs on my neck stand up to attention. I turn my head slightly and see Peyton leaning against the other side of the deck right next to the stereo. Her blonde curls glow in the light of the bonfire but her eyes are cold as they watch me. Ignoring her jealousy I look down at the blonde in my arms and lower my mouth close to her ear, “wanna get out of here?”
She freezes, as if trying to decide what to do and then she grabs my hand. It’s all too easy. I send Peyton a quick look and a satisfied smile, and then watch as my former girlfriend clenches her jaw before abandoning her drink to storm inside.
The blonde leading me back to the party gives me a coy smile and suddenly I’m no longer interested, it’s all too easy. What ever happened to a challenge? Changing my mind once we’re inside I tell her I’ll grab us a drink and for her to wait here. With my conscience clear I escape outside again following the throbbing in my veins, following that instinct from before but this time I’m not interrupted.
My shoes hit the beach and I kick my shoes off and feel the cold grains of soft sand under my feet and between my toes, hands in my khaki pants I walk away from the dancing and the music, towards the beach.
I few people are running around and we share polite smiles, Rachel sends me a wink before going back to her latest conquest. I shake my head at my redheaded friend and remember to ask her if she even bothered to get this ones name.
The further I walk the stronger my heart beats and the faster I move. The music in the background becomes nothing but a faraway buzzing and soon I’m so far away everything is almost black.
The ebony sky is broken by twinkling stars and a full moon affording me a little light, enough to see the crashing of the waves as they hit the shore. A sigh escapes me and my hands bury deeper in my pockets, it fees like I should stop so I do.
For a moment I think I see a flash of movement but I shake my head and it’s just an endless strip of sand and ocean stretched out in front of me again.
I can’t explain it but something feels different as if while I stand here my world is shifting under my feet, and then I see her.
That flash of movement again but I know I’m not imagining it. She sits alone, her pale feet waiting for the very ends of the waves to tickle them as they make there way slowly to her. Dark hair whips around her face in the breeze but she doesn’t seem to notice; she doesn’t seem to notice anything and I tilt my head and observe her longer.
Like a siren form the sea calling to me tempting me into her underwater world, a humming in my blood and heart. Which is foolish. If I told Nathan I thought such rubbish he would hand me another drink before telling me I need to get laid. Maybe I should blame my mood on the alcohol and just drink myself sober.
But what is she doing out here in the middle of nowhere? She isn’t from the party if her attire is to tell me anything and I would have noticed her no matter how many people were around.
My siren was a goddess, even with blurred vision and the blanket of night I could still make her out enough to know that especially as I adjusted to the darkness and she came into more focus.
I wonder if her pale skin would be cool or would it burn me to touch.
The music from the party gets louder and suddenly she turns, her eyes snap to me. Can she see me as clearly as I see her? She doesn’t seem to but her mouth parts slightly and I can almost imagine her sighing my name and a picture enters my mind. Her legs wrapped around me, that plump mouth gasping my name as her neck arches back exposing her smooth pale throat. I wish I could see her eyes clearly, know what colour they are, and know if they are dilating if she sees me standing here. Then the image is gone and I’m left standing on the beach feeling like I’ve trespassed on forbidden territory.
Feeling uncomfortable and awkward is not an emotion I am use to. Not knowing what to do I turn away slightly and look out at the ocean and away from the girl.
I would like to think it’s my imagination when I feel her attention move away and for a moment I look back towards the party in the distance and when I turn back around she is no longer there.
Regret? Curiosity? Boredom? I am not sure what this feeling is but it’s time has passed. I return to the beach house and back to the drinking and dancing until my body has nothing left to give.
With a few farewells I leave, jumping into the driver’s seat of the convertible my dad gave me as either another guilt present or an attempt to buy my loyalty, I’m not sure which one it was this time. Throwing that thought away I drive off not caring if I go a little too fast.
The deserted road is long and quiet, so I switch on my IPod and let the music pound the silence away note by note. When the sirens started, I think it was the flashing red and blue lights that caught my attention.
Swearing I pull over, already cursing the asshole as he stepped out of his car.
“Do you know how fast you were going?” he asks before he even looks at me and then recognition hits “well, well, Lucas Scott.”
“Hi Officer-” I should probably remember his name but I don’t so I stop and just grin.
His beady eyes take me in then he flashes his torch into the car, “step out of the car” he instructs and gritting my teeth I do so, slamming the door behind me.
“License.”
I open my wallet and he looks at it to me and I already know he’s locked onto my birth date, “have you had anything to drink?”
Busted, “don’t want to get dehydrated, officer” I smirk.
“Still a smartass.”
“Still love the donuts?” I shoot back, “how bout we make a deal, you let me go and-”
“How about you take a breathalyzer and then I decide whether to handcuff you or not.”
I’ll tell myself later that I should have kept my mouth shut; I should have stopped there but then again I was never really good at seeing a line and not crossing it.
Brooke
Sitting at the beach in the middle of the night is a ritual for me. I know what your thinking, but before you say anything its my backyard. Who has the beach as a backyard you ask? Well you usually do if you live in a beach house. That’s all besides the point anyways; where was I? Oh yes…the beach, ritual, got it.
It’s my getaway. Being able to have the feel of grainy sand between my toes as the water slowly glides up and washes it away; smelling the sweet moist air of the ocean; feeling the swift breeze as I watch the waves crash into the shore; it’s a dream, there‘s nothing like it.
On most nights I come out here to get away from everything, to try and clear my mind of thoughts that I don’t want to be thinking about. Most of the time it works but on the rare occasions that it doesn’t I have to go to that place that I don’t want to, the place that takes me days to get out of.
I quickly shake those thoughts away and stare back out into the ocean.
There’s no need for those thoughts right now; especially after my life took a turn for the best. I should be the happiest person in the world right now; I should be jumping up and down, screaming at the top of my lungs for my good fortune; but I’m not. Why is that? I can’t even answer that question.
Anyways, on other nights like tonight, I come out here to experience the beach. To be able to watch my surroundings in peace.
That is until the sound of music reaches me, and I can’t help but wince at the memory that it brings on.
A party. Can college kids be more predictable?
The thing that most people don’t get is that all parties are the same, the outrageously loud music that makes it so you can’t here yourself think; the numerous bodies grinding on random people just because; the random fights to prove yourself; the drunken one night stands; the only thing that actually changes from party to party are the locations.
I start to laugh at the absurdity of it all.
Who wants to wake up next to some random face the next morning because you were so wasted that you can‘t remember anything from the night before? Who wants to be throwing up with a throbbing headache because you drank to much? Who wants to be by people that just say shit behind your back the second you turn around? The irony of it is is that I use to be one of those people; that is until I had an epiphany a few years back and realized how stupid it all was.
The music gets louder and I have the sudden urge to turn around. I feel as though someone’s watching me but I don’t see anyone. That is until I see Haley standing on the porch with her arms across her chest. My mouth gapes open in shock at the realization of what time it must be. I know that I should get my ass in the house but I can’t move. It’s like I’m under someone’s hold and its so strong that I’m stuck in place. As quickly as that moment came, it went just as fast.
I quickly get up and dart towards the house, preparing myself for the famous Haley lecture.
I walk into the beach house, with Haley step for step behind me, “Brooke what are you doing?” she asks in exasperation.
I turn around in annoyance “If its that hard for you to grasp, I‘ll spell it out for you. I’m going to bed.”
“Don’t be a bitch Brooke. What were you doing outside? I thought I asked you not…”
“Incase you haven’t realized Haley your not mom, you’re my cousin. You have no right to tell me what I can and can’t be doing!” I bite out.
Haley’s face falls in pain for a split second until she masks it with anger. “I’m sorry that I’m worried about you! I didn’t know that it wasn’t allowed!” she shouts, storming past me up the stairs.
I trail right behind her, cursing my self for being such a bitch, “Haley…”
“Save it Brooke, I don‘t want to hear it” she says, slamming the door in my face.
I guess I’ll just have to make it up to her tomorrow.
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Lucas
The holding cell has always reminded me of an asylum or how I imagine one to look, with its white walls and bars and cold exterior with nothing loose or any chance to hurt your self. It’s bare, well except for me.
Want to know what is worse than a hangover? Try a hangover in jail.
For the first few hours I paced, then I managed to catch some sleep, and now I sit in the silence waiting for my escape. I could have been out last night if I called my mom but the last time I called my mom from this place she sent me to live with my uncle. It’s been nearly four years since then and I like to think I’ve learnt my lesson.
I stiffen my back as officer friendly walks over, he looks at me disapprovingly but I just smirk as he unlocks the cell and pulls open the gate, “your brother’s here.”
“Aw, I’m going to miss this place” not.
My younger brother, Nathan, waits for me and I can’t help but shake my head when I see him leaning one side against the wall as he chats up the only decent looking cop in Tree Hill. Walking by him I mumble, “come on, Romeo” and start to button up my white shirt. Nathan steps in behind me and the minute I’m outside the morning sun burns my eyes, wincing I slide down my sunglasses and lift my face to the sky.
Being sent away from Tree Hill had been a nightmare, and I had resented it for years with memories of my friends and the life I left behind haunting me. The thing is, now that I am back I miss the simplicity of my life with Uncle Keith, most of all I miss the constant sunshine and waking to the beach everyday.
“Dude, your Mom is so gonna kill you” Nathan thumps my back and I’m knocked out of my thoughts. Looking back down I follow him to his car and jump in, chuckling as I respond “not if she doesn’t find out.”
At 20 you would think it wouldn’t matter what my mother thought. Not only can she seriously be scary when the mood takes her but despite it all or how I behave I do genuinely care about what she thinks of me. I love the woman and respect her in my own way.
I just haven’t mastered the ability to show my emotions, I keep them buried under the brooding exterior I have perfected as my mask. It’s been like this for so long I’m not sure how to change who I am, one day though I hope… I don’t know, I guess I just hope to be different. To become something other than a Scott. Which is near impossible in this town and sometimes its just easier being and doing what others expect of me instead of breaking the mould.
Soon we’re parking outside my mother’s café and Nathan is leading the way inside, the moment I walk through the door the aroma of fresh coffee, bacon, and eggs fill my nose. It reminds me of my childhood and the weekends spent here as my mother worked before life distracted me and I chose the river court, my half brother and the popular gang over the lone, quiet existence I’d previously had.
And there they are – my people. I’d missed so much at the end of high school that by the time I returned they were practically strangers, the easy rapport we once had harder to bring to the surface.
Staring intensely at me are the pale green eyes of Peyton Sawyer, my first crush and serious girlfriend. She was many of my firsts but far from my lasts. Unfortunately where I had moved on after leaving Tree Hill, she’d clung to our past relationship or so she lets on. It’s hard to picture Peyton staying loyal to me while I was away and it certainly seems she has a line of exes mooning after her. I’ve tried to get across that, all I’m interested in is friendship yet she remains fixed on our past. Frustrated with the lost look she is sending me, one edged with jealousy and anger, I flit my eyes off her. Almost as soon they land on her, reserving my smile for the feisty red head who sits next to Peyton. Her flaxen locks fall over her face as she looks down at the table but I try to ignore Peyton’s behaviour, after all Rachel is all together more fun.
If there was one word to describe her hot would be it. She’s not gorgeous in the movie star way, there is nothing classical or elegant about her beauty, nor cute. Rachel is steaming, eye sex, don’t take her home to your mother hot! She’s the type of girl who smiles at you in a sinful way that makes you think of the dirtiest things your imagination can come up with. It gets some taking use to especially when you have no sexual interest in her, which I don’t. Rachel is a friend, I am not going to muddy the waters by giving into natural temptation. No matter how deliciously tempting.
“Hi gorgeous, hope you didn’t drop the soap” she wiggles her eyebrows and her lip curls up, sliding in across from her I pretend to glare at her but she just smiles and I fight the comeback that instantly comes to mind. Get into a verbal battle with Rachel and it could last for hours and though usually I love the challenge, right now my head is in too much pain.
“Dude, I get it, ha, don’t drop the soap, jail, ha” Tim says too loudly and I mentally groan, the girls aren’t as quiet. I’m not sure why Nathan lets Tim follow him around like a lost puppy but for as long as I’ve known Nathan his idiotic sidekick is not far behind. When we don’t respond he gets out between laughs, “I bet Luke dropped it on purpose”
“Shut up Tim!” Nathan says curtly and after a little chuckle Tim obediently becomes quiet, still completely unaware how stupid every word that comes out of his mouth sounds. Even if he was to say the exact same thing as one of us it wouldn’t come out the same, his stupidity is more in the way he talks and not the actual things he says. For instance he once mistook police officers for strippers and quickly found himself being arrested, not his best night but he smiled the whole time and it conveniently distracted the cops from the underage teenagers loading the keg into the car.
“Gawd” Rachel drones out, sighing loudly. “the service sucks in here” and through the corner of her eyes she gives a pointed look towards the waitress two tables away. Hallee or Hannah or whatever her name is, blushes but continues serving the table she’s at. I sort of feel sorry for her as Rachel starts criticizing her appearance, from the bland hairstyle to the comfortable but unattractive shoes.
Peyton manages to join in, her sharp sarcasm causing an even deeper blush to appear on the waitress and when Nathan makes a comment about tapping that if he could turn the lights off; a lone tear falls down her cheek. I finally put a stop to it, “guys, cut it out, I think she got the picture.”
Were we always this bad in high school? If I’d been around til the end would I still be catty to the people we deemed not good enough?
The thing is if this was somewhere else I probably would have joined in but my mothers café is my turf, no matter how long we had to wait or mishaps that happen here, this place is my moms and I can’t help but feel slightly protective of her staff even if I don’t know them personally.
Peyton glares at me, “new girlfriend Luke?” but then she shakes her head and looks back down at the sketch book in her hand.
The waitress, Haley I learn from her nametag as she gets closer, quickly comes to our table when she’s available. “Finally” Nathan mumbles and Haley’s eyes stay down the whole time she takes our orders and then hurries away.
“Don’t trip, Pippy” Rachel yells after her and starts to mock the Haley’s hairstyle. I have to admit her imitation is pretty spot on that I chuckle.
It all happens so fast none of us saw it coming, where the brunette came from I don’t know but suddenly a strawberry milkshake was landing down Rachel’s chest and a red faced girl said in apology “sorry, I must have tripped.”
Rachel was fuming but the other girl coolly got up and walked away with such grace that caught my attention. The subtle sway of her jean clad behind had me locked until she took a seat in one of the far booths, flicking her dark shoulder length hair behind her she sat down and started sipping from a glass already waiting at the table.
Nathan and Peyton continue to laugh at Rachel’s outrage but I study the other girl, she looks around our age, her skin almost too pale but her cheeks perfectly rosy. There was something about her, she had that elusive beauty and elegance that Rachel’s playboy appearance lacked, yet she had an oomph to her that Peyton’s slender, blonde good looks couldn’t produce.
She looks angry, all her emotions tightly held together but brimming at the surface and my mind flashes back to the hard glint in her dark mossy eyes as she’s stood up after she’d tripped, then the way she apologized so sharply with a tone that suggested she was anything but sorry, and then I remembered that graceful walk away, the walk of somebody without a clumsy bone in her body.
Still studying her I’m barely aware that at some point her eyes have shot up and locked onto me, her brow creasing in thought when she notices I am staring at her, but then our eyes meet in an uninterrupted stare.
Something drops inside me, a need I can’t explain. I am so focused on this pull that I’m unable to make a sound or move against my friends who have turned their attention to the girl who has me entranced. Their rude comments roll over me, I barely hear the words and then Rachel stands and all I hear is, “I’ll show that whore”
Before I know I’ve straightened up and stopped Rachel, then without a word my feet are moving and I’m going towards the girl.
Her eyes quickly go to the table behind me with Rachel, Nate, Tim, and Peyton, and then she glances at me again before determinedly shifting her back slightly towards my approach and opening the notebook in front of her. The pen in her hand writing in quick decisive movements as her jaw clenches forcing indents to frame her mouth and suddenly I have a compulsion to make her smile so I could see them form dimples.
“Hey” I smile when I finally reach her. In the past all I have to do is say ‘hey’ in that tone and a girls attention is locked onto me, hanging onto my every word but this one ignores me and continues to write. When I try to peak over her shoulder she slams the notebook shut and looks up, her eyes pierce me with a cold glare and then she flicks it to the hand I rest on the back of her seat, “are you lost?” she bites out and when she looks back up at me she adds on, “the men’s bathroom is five metres to your right”
Even as cold as she’s pretending to be she’s undeniably pretty, and right there and then with no name to match the face I dub her Pretty Girl. It’s not highly original however it rolls off the tongue while looking at her.
“I know exactly where I am” I reply and she takes it as a chance to continue to ignore me and look back down but her hand stays protectively above the book and she doesn’t move. I move slightly closer “Hi, I’m Lu-”
“Lucas Scott” she cuts in, my name comes out in a husky drawl marked with indifference; “I know” she scoffs.
“We know each other?” I ask confused.
When she looks at me this time there is the slightest bit of humour dancing in her eyes and the hint of a smile, “We only just went to the same school for…oh…ten or so years.”
I let out a breath and then chuckle, “well you know big school. I’m sorry our paths never crossed, I wouldn’t forget a smile like yours” I’m guessing I wouldn’t seeing I haven’t seen her smile and its no real surprise she knows who I am if we went to the same school at one point, everyone had known my name.
She kinks her brow, “I sat in front of you the entire sixth grade.”
“Oh” I try to think back but my mind draws a blank, so I settle with a, “that was so long ago.”
Her brow kinks higher, “two months, sophomore year, English project, ring any bells? No, because Lucas Scott you and your no good group never bother to notice anyone but yourselves, you’re heads are so far up your asses I’m surprised you know left from right but let me help you out – your table is thatta way where Dim is fornicating with the salt and pepper shakers” with one last cold stare she turns back to her book.
With limited options I turn around and head back to the table where Rachel and Nathan are laughing their heads off, “oh yeah you so showed her” Rachel murmurs as I sit back down. Tim is nodding his head and looking at me “rejected” he laughs and I just shoot at him, “shut up Dim.”
“Smooth Lucas but word to the wise, Brooke Davis doesn’t give us a second look these days” Peyton whispers but doesn’t look up, then she rips the page from her sketch book and hands it to me. A black and white 2D image of my Pretty Girl stares up at me, her eyes an endless tunnel of loss but a wide beautiful grin hides the darker look and the dimples drawn are just as I imagined them.
Brooke Davis. The name is so familiar and then it hits me, Book. Puny Brooke Davis or Book Davis as we use to call her, she always had her head in a book, her and that cousin of hers.
The waitress from before walks over to Brooke’s table and the two start whispering to each other, then Haley sends a worried look over to us before continuing the heated conversation. As I watch them together more memories of high school pop into my mind, the cousin’s name had been Haley and the two of them were always together at the bottom of the high school food chain. I’m starting to figure out why she remembers me so well.
Hell, I’ve never pretended to be a saint.
Lucas
‘Somebody told me that this is the place where everything’s better and everything’s safe.’
That’s the first thing I always look at whenever I enter Karen’s café. It’s another ritual of mine that I just can’t seem to break, one that I don’t want to break either. I say the words as I read them on the wall, and I can’t help but let a smile form on my lips.
It’s the place where me and Haley started to talk again; the place where I found a piece of hope; the place where I got a piece of my mom back.
Karen’s the owner of the café, I met her 2 years back. It was around the time when me and Haley started to rebuild our friendship. Whenever I was able to I’d go over to the café during Haley’s shift, and distract her. Even though she acted like she was pissed whenever I did it, we had a lot of fun. A little while later I started to talk to Karen.
She wasn’t like other owners that always ignored the teenage kids that came into their restaurants or the ones that constantly yelled at them. I’d go in and sit at the counter or one of the booths, usually depending on my mood or whether the place was packed or not; and she’d always come up to me and strike up a conversation.
It brought back a lot of memories that I was trying to forget at the time, because she reminded me so much of my mom. After a while though I realized that it wasn’t a bad thing to remember; it was a good thing.
I scan the café to try and find Haley; I don’t see her anywhere so I walk over to the farthest booth and sit down. Knowing it will probably be a while before I get to speak to her I take out my notebook and start writing.
Its nothing fascinating, its just me documenting things that happen in my everyday life. I started to do it a few years back when I was instructed to do so. I was suppose to write down how my day went, how I was feeling, what I ate for the day…normal stuff like that, boring stuff really. At the time I found it ridiculous, what did that stuff really matter? I knew why, I just didn’t want to admit it at the time. I kept on telling myself it was better to live a life that I’d remember, even if I didn’t write it down. But after writing a few entries, I found myself writing more and more about things that had nothing to do with what I was suppose to write, and ever since I’ve kept a notebook to write down that other stuff.
I look up and see a piece of apple pie with a glass of water in front of me. Its not hard to guess who did it. I look over and see Karen wiping down the counter, she smiles at me while I mouth a thank you to her. I smile a tiny smile as I close my notebook and take a bite of the pie. I close my eyes from pure bliss. Amazing is the only word I can come up with to describe it.
I see Haley making her way over to me, so I set the fork down on the plate and quickly wipe my mouth with the napkin, “I’m sorry” I blurt out as she takes a seat across from me.
She takes my fork and digs into the pie, “its ok” she says before she shoves the bite into her mouth.
I laugh as Haley makes the same face I made moments ago, “so good” she mumbles as she covers her mouth.
It really isn’t though. Ok the pie is really really good but me snapping at Haley because she’s worried about me isn’t. “But it isn’t” she looks at me in confusion, “me snapping at you Haley, its not right.”
She looks at me sympathetically, “Brooke, its really…”
I cut her off, “no its not! You’ve been there for me through everything” tears well up in my eyes, “you were there for me when my parents died, even though I did everything I could to push you away. You even forgave me when I stopped hanging out with them, considering all the stuff I pulled during that time. You were there for me when I found out, and you’re still here for me!”
Tears fall down Haley’s face by the time I finish my little speech. “That’s because I love you tiger” she wipes at her tears, “no matter what happens, I will always be here for you, there’s nothing you can do to change that.”
Haley is the best person I know. She’s forgiving; and no matter how much shit a person might pull, she’ll look past it and will always find the good in that person. That’s just who she is.
“You shouldn’t forgive me” I add, to give her one last chance to be mad at me.
Being typical Haley, she chuckles as she moves the pie over to her, “I know…I guess me taking this pie makes us even then.”
She did not just take my apple pie!
I kink my eyebrow at her, “shouldn’t you get back to work?”
“Nope. When Karen saw you come in she said I can have a 10 minute break…so here I am eating this delicious pie” Haley teases with a full mouth.
I look at her in mock disgust, “didn’t anyone ever tell you that it was impolite to talk with your mouth full?”
Haley starts to laugh, “says the person that always does it.” I take this moment as my chance to get the pie back but her hand slaps my hand away before I can reach it.
“Owww” I say rubbing my hand.
“Get your own pie” she shields the pie from me.
“That was my pie.”
Haley eagerly puts the last bite in her mouth “not no more” she replies, taking the plate to the back.
I stare after her in shock. Haley’s never done that before but then again it shouldn’t be surprising considering it is Karen’s famous apple pie.
When I go to take a drink of water I see Peyton and Rachel enter the café with Tim following in their tracks. I can’t help but be happy that Haley’s in the back at the moment, that is until they sit in Haley’s section, and I curse them for being such bitches. I know they sat there to give Haley shit, and it really pisses me off.
Ever since I can remember they have always given Haley and I a hard time, when I joined their group junior year though I made sure that she stayed off their radar, she was not to be messed with or they had to deal with me (even though they still have to now); but as soon as I left the group, they’ve made Haley’s life a living hell. Always criticizing the way she walks, what she wears, how she does her hair, how she talks, just anything and everything about her.
Which is actually really funny considering Haley has better style then them anyways and if you add in the fact that she’s an all around better person then they are or will ever be, then it’s a no brainer when you realize who should be criticized.
I suddenly don’t feel so good so I grab my purse as I make my way to the bathroom. I don’t understand I thought this was all suppose to go away…apparently not. I walk out of the stall and go over to the sink and take out a tooth brush and tooth paste; luckily I’m so used to this by now, I carry them in my purse now as a safety hazard. After I finish I put my hands under the running water and splash it onto my face. It makes me feel a little less disgusted with myself after the deed I just did.
I look into the mirror and try to fix my appearance…if Haley saw anything out of whack with me, there would surely be a lot of her over protectiveness that I’m not in the mood for, and there’s also the fact that I don’t want her to get worried either; especially when there’s nothing to worry about.
The sight I see when I walk out of the bathroom makes my blood boil. Rachel’s hassling Haley, and before I know what I’m doing I’ve grabbed a strawberry milkshake off a tray, and I’ve made my way over to Rachel. I lean over the table and spill it as slowly as I possibly can down her dolce and gabbana silk blouse. Her face turns different shades of red, “sorry, I must have tripped” I say sharply as I stare daggers at her.
It takes every fiber in my body to not continue by punching her in the face but I know Haley and Karen would be disappointed in me, so I get up, make my way back over to my booth, sit down, push my hair out of my face, and start sipping from my water…in hopes it will help settle my nerves.
I look up to see if Rachel is going to retaliate, but instead I catch something completely different…Lucas Scott staring at me. I furry my brow in thought, why is he looking at me like that? Its not the usual I want to get in your pants stare that I usually get; its one that says he wants to get to know me.
I get butterflies in my stomach, and my skin starts to tingle. I‘ve always held feelings towards Lucas, even though I like to deny it.
Haley’s always known about these feelings. In the beginning she made fun of me for it, and now she tries to help me as best she can to get past them.
Haley’s always been able to tell when I’m lying, so when I try to tell her that those feelings went away towards him in 9th grade when he told the school that if they came within 10 feet of us they would get lice, is no exception. Trust me everything he did to us made me hate him, it made me despise him…in the end I ended up hating myself more. Cause no matter what he did no matter how angry he made me, my feelings for him never seem to go away.
He starts to move towards me. What the hell is he doing?!
I look back towards Rachel, Peyton, Nathan, and Tim to get the explanation for why he is walking towards me. I see Rachel with a wicked smirk; Peyton glares at me; Nathan winks at me…and Tim’s playing dolls with the salt and pepper shakers? They were no help.
I can’t be nice to him he doesn’t deserve my kindness, so doing the only thing I can think of to make myself angry I open up my notebook and start writing about what Rachel did to Haley. Writing down what happened helps bring back the anger full force.
“Hey” I try to ignore the way my heart beats faster when he speaks. I act as if he is not there until I sense him trying to read what I am writing. I slam my notebook shut, and glare at him. When I notice that his hand is on the back of my seat I turn my head to look “are you lost?” I bite out and snap my eyes back towards him “the men’s bathroom is five meters to your right” I add on.
The longer he stands there, the harder it is to keep up this wall.
“I know exactly where I am” he says smoothly. He thinks all he has to do is say one word to me and I’ll be putty in his hands like most girls, if only he knew how wrong and right he was.
You would think that the fact of my ignoring him would make him realize that I wanted him to get lost, he doesn’t seem to get the picture though.
I wonder if he can hear how my heart beats even faster as he moves closer to me? “Hi I’m Lu-”
“Lucas Scott” I cut in, trying to sound as if I don’t care. “I know” I scoff. If only he knew how much I didn’t want to know.
He squints his eyes in thought, “we know each other?” he asks.
I guess I got my answer for why he’s over here talking to me…he doesn’t remember me or else he wouldn‘t be here. I want to laugh, instead I just settle with a tiny smile “We only just went to the same school for…oh…ten or so years.”
Lucas chuckles, “well you know big school, I’m sorry our paths never crossed I wouldn’t forget a smile like yours.”
If only he remembered how well we really did know each other. I kink my eyebrow “ I sat in front of you the entire sixth grade.”
“Oh” it takes him about fifteen seconds to come up with something to say, “that was so long ago.”
Apparently he thinks I’m stupid or else he wouldn’t be spinning this crap. I kink my eyebrow higher, “two months, sophomore year, English project, ring any bells? No, because Lucas Scott you and your no good group never bother to notice anyone but yourselves, you’re heads are so far up your asses I’m surprised you know left from right but let me help you out – your table is thatta way where Dim is fornicating with the salt and pepper shakers” I look back down at my notebook.
Lucas finally takes the hint and starts to make his way back over to his group; I try to ignore the pain I feel in my chest.
I look up and see Haley looking at me with concern in her eyes, “Brooke, are you ok?”
I want to say yes, I want to lie to her, but she’ll see right through my lies, so I settle with the truth “no…no I’m not” I drop my head into my hands.
As much as I would I love for him to hold feelings toward me; as much as I want to let my feelings be known…it won’t and can’t happen.
description about the story: 'That's when it all changed' is a One Tree Hill fanfiction and focus' on the lives and relationship of Brooke Davis and Lucas Scott, though in this version there will be a lot of differences, it is essentially very AU. Lucas is the bad boy who isn't all that bad, Brooke is the good girl who hasn't always been so good, and though their lives have always been entangled it's not until a series of chance meetings, perhaps destiny, brings them together that their worlds come clashing together with forever changing consequences. Can they find a way to be together, and if they do can they find a way to stay together?
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Prologue: Two Sides of Every Story
You can choose to blame your circumstances on fate or bad luck or bad choices. Or you can fight back. Things aren't always going to be fair in the real world, that's just the way it is. But for the most part, you get what you give. The rest of your life is being shaped right now, with the dreams you chase....the choices you make....and the person you decide to be. The rest of your life is a long time, and the rest of your life starts right now…
~one tree hill
Lucas
The very air was thick with sex, drugs, and alcohol, so thick with it my body felt like it was drenched in oil. Too much beer coursed through my system and the world looked blurry but I had a sudden urge to get away, to suck in fresh air and wash my body. Fumbling my way through the crowd, knocking party goers as I go, I force my way through until I finally step outside where the music is just as loud and the crowd just as packed.
Through the haze of my vision I look up to the night sky twinkling with stars but something else draws me, I’m not sure what so I follow some instinct that tells me to go down the deck onto the beach. I stumble down the steps straight into the arms of a gorgeous blonde. Her curves push against me and hell I am a guy, so I smirk down at her and quickly slur my usual line. I’m not sure it comes out the right way; however, the blonde doesn’t seem to mind. She leans in a little closer and giggles something.
In the back of my mind I feel someone staring daggers at me, the hairs on my neck stand up to attention. I turn my head slightly and see Peyton leaning against the other side of the deck right next to the stereo. Her blonde curls glow in the light of the bonfire but her eyes are cold as they watch me. Ignoring her jealousy I look down at the blonde in my arms and lower my mouth close to her ear, “wanna get out of here?”
She freezes, as if trying to decide what to do and then she grabs my hand. It’s all too easy. I send Peyton a quick look and a satisfied smile, and then watch as my former girlfriend clenches her jaw before abandoning her drink to storm inside.
The blonde leading me back to the party gives me a coy smile and suddenly I’m no longer interested, it’s all too easy. What ever happened to a challenge? Changing my mind once we’re inside I tell her I’ll grab us a drink and for her to wait here. With my conscience clear I escape outside again following the throbbing in my veins, following that instinct from before but this time I’m not interrupted.
My shoes hit the beach and I kick my shoes off and feel the cold grains of soft sand under my feet and between my toes, hands in my khaki pants I walk away from the dancing and the music, towards the beach.
I few people are running around and we share polite smiles, Rachel sends me a wink before going back to her latest conquest. I shake my head at my redheaded friend and remember to ask her if she even bothered to get this ones name.
The further I walk the stronger my heart beats and the faster I move. The music in the background becomes nothing but a faraway buzzing and soon I’m so far away everything is almost black.
The ebony sky is broken by twinkling stars and a full moon affording me a little light, enough to see the crashing of the waves as they hit the shore. A sigh escapes me and my hands bury deeper in my pockets, it fees like I should stop so I do.
For a moment I think I see a flash of movement but I shake my head and it’s just an endless strip of sand and ocean stretched out in front of me again.
I can’t explain it but something feels different as if while I stand here my world is shifting under my feet, and then I see her.
That flash of movement again but I know I’m not imagining it. She sits alone, her pale feet waiting for the very ends of the waves to tickle them as they make there way slowly to her. Dark hair whips around her face in the breeze but she doesn’t seem to notice; she doesn’t seem to notice anything and I tilt my head and observe her longer.
Like a siren form the sea calling to me tempting me into her underwater world, a humming in my blood and heart. Which is foolish. If I told Nathan I thought such rubbish he would hand me another drink before telling me I need to get laid. Maybe I should blame my mood on the alcohol and just drink myself sober.
But what is she doing out here in the middle of nowhere? She isn’t from the party if her attire is to tell me anything and I would have noticed her no matter how many people were around.
My siren was a goddess, even with blurred vision and the blanket of night I could still make her out enough to know that especially as I adjusted to the darkness and she came into more focus.
I wonder if her pale skin would be cool or would it burn me to touch.
The music from the party gets louder and suddenly she turns, her eyes snap to me. Can she see me as clearly as I see her? She doesn’t seem to but her mouth parts slightly and I can almost imagine her sighing my name and a picture enters my mind. Her legs wrapped around me, that plump mouth gasping my name as her neck arches back exposing her smooth pale throat. I wish I could see her eyes clearly, know what colour they are, and know if they are dilating if she sees me standing here. Then the image is gone and I’m left standing on the beach feeling like I’ve trespassed on forbidden territory.
Feeling uncomfortable and awkward is not an emotion I am use to. Not knowing what to do I turn away slightly and look out at the ocean and away from the girl.
I would like to think it’s my imagination when I feel her attention move away and for a moment I look back towards the party in the distance and when I turn back around she is no longer there.
Regret? Curiosity? Boredom? I am not sure what this feeling is but it’s time has passed. I return to the beach house and back to the drinking and dancing until my body has nothing left to give.
With a few farewells I leave, jumping into the driver’s seat of the convertible my dad gave me as either another guilt present or an attempt to buy my loyalty, I’m not sure which one it was this time. Throwing that thought away I drive off not caring if I go a little too fast.
The deserted road is long and quiet, so I switch on my IPod and let the music pound the silence away note by note. When the sirens started, I think it was the flashing red and blue lights that caught my attention.
Swearing I pull over, already cursing the asshole as he stepped out of his car.
“Do you know how fast you were going?” he asks before he even looks at me and then recognition hits “well, well, Lucas Scott.”
“Hi Officer-” I should probably remember his name but I don’t so I stop and just grin.
His beady eyes take me in then he flashes his torch into the car, “step out of the car” he instructs and gritting my teeth I do so, slamming the door behind me.
“License.”
I open my wallet and he looks at it to me and I already know he’s locked onto my birth date, “have you had anything to drink?”
Busted, “don’t want to get dehydrated, officer” I smirk.
“Still a smartass.”
“Still love the donuts?” I shoot back, “how bout we make a deal, you let me go and-”
“How about you take a breathalyzer and then I decide whether to handcuff you or not.”
I’ll tell myself later that I should have kept my mouth shut; I should have stopped there but then again I was never really good at seeing a line and not crossing it.
Brooke
Sitting at the beach in the middle of the night is a ritual for me. I know what your thinking, but before you say anything its my backyard. Who has the beach as a backyard you ask? Well you usually do if you live in a beach house. That’s all besides the point anyways; where was I? Oh yes…the beach, ritual, got it.
It’s my getaway. Being able to have the feel of grainy sand between my toes as the water slowly glides up and washes it away; smelling the sweet moist air of the ocean; feeling the swift breeze as I watch the waves crash into the shore; it’s a dream, there‘s nothing like it.
On most nights I come out here to get away from everything, to try and clear my mind of thoughts that I don’t want to be thinking about. Most of the time it works but on the rare occasions that it doesn’t I have to go to that place that I don’t want to, the place that takes me days to get out of.
I quickly shake those thoughts away and stare back out into the ocean.
There’s no need for those thoughts right now; especially after my life took a turn for the best. I should be the happiest person in the world right now; I should be jumping up and down, screaming at the top of my lungs for my good fortune; but I’m not. Why is that? I can’t even answer that question.
Anyways, on other nights like tonight, I come out here to experience the beach. To be able to watch my surroundings in peace.
That is until the sound of music reaches me, and I can’t help but wince at the memory that it brings on.
A party. Can college kids be more predictable?
The thing that most people don’t get is that all parties are the same, the outrageously loud music that makes it so you can’t here yourself think; the numerous bodies grinding on random people just because; the random fights to prove yourself; the drunken one night stands; the only thing that actually changes from party to party are the locations.
I start to laugh at the absurdity of it all.
Who wants to wake up next to some random face the next morning because you were so wasted that you can‘t remember anything from the night before? Who wants to be throwing up with a throbbing headache because you drank to much? Who wants to be by people that just say shit behind your back the second you turn around? The irony of it is is that I use to be one of those people; that is until I had an epiphany a few years back and realized how stupid it all was.
The music gets louder and I have the sudden urge to turn around. I feel as though someone’s watching me but I don’t see anyone. That is until I see Haley standing on the porch with her arms across her chest. My mouth gapes open in shock at the realization of what time it must be. I know that I should get my ass in the house but I can’t move. It’s like I’m under someone’s hold and its so strong that I’m stuck in place. As quickly as that moment came, it went just as fast.
I quickly get up and dart towards the house, preparing myself for the famous Haley lecture.
I walk into the beach house, with Haley step for step behind me, “Brooke what are you doing?” she asks in exasperation.
I turn around in annoyance “If its that hard for you to grasp, I‘ll spell it out for you. I’m going to bed.”
“Don’t be a bitch Brooke. What were you doing outside? I thought I asked you not…”
“Incase you haven’t realized Haley your not mom, you’re my cousin. You have no right to tell me what I can and can’t be doing!” I bite out.
Haley’s face falls in pain for a split second until she masks it with anger. “I’m sorry that I’m worried about you! I didn’t know that it wasn’t allowed!” she shouts, storming past me up the stairs.
I trail right behind her, cursing my self for being such a bitch, “Haley…”
“Save it Brooke, I don‘t want to hear it” she says, slamming the door in my face.
I guess I’ll just have to make it up to her tomorrow.
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Lucas
The holding cell has always reminded me of an asylum or how I imagine one to look, with its white walls and bars and cold exterior with nothing loose or any chance to hurt your self. It’s bare, well except for me.
Want to know what is worse than a hangover? Try a hangover in jail.
For the first few hours I paced, then I managed to catch some sleep, and now I sit in the silence waiting for my escape. I could have been out last night if I called my mom but the last time I called my mom from this place she sent me to live with my uncle. It’s been nearly four years since then and I like to think I’ve learnt my lesson.
I stiffen my back as officer friendly walks over, he looks at me disapprovingly but I just smirk as he unlocks the cell and pulls open the gate, “your brother’s here.”
“Aw, I’m going to miss this place” not.
My younger brother, Nathan, waits for me and I can’t help but shake my head when I see him leaning one side against the wall as he chats up the only decent looking cop in Tree Hill. Walking by him I mumble, “come on, Romeo” and start to button up my white shirt. Nathan steps in behind me and the minute I’m outside the morning sun burns my eyes, wincing I slide down my sunglasses and lift my face to the sky.
Being sent away from Tree Hill had been a nightmare, and I had resented it for years with memories of my friends and the life I left behind haunting me. The thing is, now that I am back I miss the simplicity of my life with Uncle Keith, most of all I miss the constant sunshine and waking to the beach everyday.
“Dude, your Mom is so gonna kill you” Nathan thumps my back and I’m knocked out of my thoughts. Looking back down I follow him to his car and jump in, chuckling as I respond “not if she doesn’t find out.”
At 20 you would think it wouldn’t matter what my mother thought. Not only can she seriously be scary when the mood takes her but despite it all or how I behave I do genuinely care about what she thinks of me. I love the woman and respect her in my own way.
I just haven’t mastered the ability to show my emotions, I keep them buried under the brooding exterior I have perfected as my mask. It’s been like this for so long I’m not sure how to change who I am, one day though I hope… I don’t know, I guess I just hope to be different. To become something other than a Scott. Which is near impossible in this town and sometimes its just easier being and doing what others expect of me instead of breaking the mould.
Soon we’re parking outside my mother’s café and Nathan is leading the way inside, the moment I walk through the door the aroma of fresh coffee, bacon, and eggs fill my nose. It reminds me of my childhood and the weekends spent here as my mother worked before life distracted me and I chose the river court, my half brother and the popular gang over the lone, quiet existence I’d previously had.
And there they are – my people. I’d missed so much at the end of high school that by the time I returned they were practically strangers, the easy rapport we once had harder to bring to the surface.
Staring intensely at me are the pale green eyes of Peyton Sawyer, my first crush and serious girlfriend. She was many of my firsts but far from my lasts. Unfortunately where I had moved on after leaving Tree Hill, she’d clung to our past relationship or so she lets on. It’s hard to picture Peyton staying loyal to me while I was away and it certainly seems she has a line of exes mooning after her. I’ve tried to get across that, all I’m interested in is friendship yet she remains fixed on our past. Frustrated with the lost look she is sending me, one edged with jealousy and anger, I flit my eyes off her. Almost as soon they land on her, reserving my smile for the feisty red head who sits next to Peyton. Her flaxen locks fall over her face as she looks down at the table but I try to ignore Peyton’s behaviour, after all Rachel is all together more fun.
If there was one word to describe her hot would be it. She’s not gorgeous in the movie star way, there is nothing classical or elegant about her beauty, nor cute. Rachel is steaming, eye sex, don’t take her home to your mother hot! She’s the type of girl who smiles at you in a sinful way that makes you think of the dirtiest things your imagination can come up with. It gets some taking use to especially when you have no sexual interest in her, which I don’t. Rachel is a friend, I am not going to muddy the waters by giving into natural temptation. No matter how deliciously tempting.
“Hi gorgeous, hope you didn’t drop the soap” she wiggles her eyebrows and her lip curls up, sliding in across from her I pretend to glare at her but she just smiles and I fight the comeback that instantly comes to mind. Get into a verbal battle with Rachel and it could last for hours and though usually I love the challenge, right now my head is in too much pain.
“Dude, I get it, ha, don’t drop the soap, jail, ha” Tim says too loudly and I mentally groan, the girls aren’t as quiet. I’m not sure why Nathan lets Tim follow him around like a lost puppy but for as long as I’ve known Nathan his idiotic sidekick is not far behind. When we don’t respond he gets out between laughs, “I bet Luke dropped it on purpose”
“Shut up Tim!” Nathan says curtly and after a little chuckle Tim obediently becomes quiet, still completely unaware how stupid every word that comes out of his mouth sounds. Even if he was to say the exact same thing as one of us it wouldn’t come out the same, his stupidity is more in the way he talks and not the actual things he says. For instance he once mistook police officers for strippers and quickly found himself being arrested, not his best night but he smiled the whole time and it conveniently distracted the cops from the underage teenagers loading the keg into the car.
“Gawd” Rachel drones out, sighing loudly. “the service sucks in here” and through the corner of her eyes she gives a pointed look towards the waitress two tables away. Hallee or Hannah or whatever her name is, blushes but continues serving the table she’s at. I sort of feel sorry for her as Rachel starts criticizing her appearance, from the bland hairstyle to the comfortable but unattractive shoes.
Peyton manages to join in, her sharp sarcasm causing an even deeper blush to appear on the waitress and when Nathan makes a comment about tapping that if he could turn the lights off; a lone tear falls down her cheek. I finally put a stop to it, “guys, cut it out, I think she got the picture.”
Were we always this bad in high school? If I’d been around til the end would I still be catty to the people we deemed not good enough?
The thing is if this was somewhere else I probably would have joined in but my mothers café is my turf, no matter how long we had to wait or mishaps that happen here, this place is my moms and I can’t help but feel slightly protective of her staff even if I don’t know them personally.
Peyton glares at me, “new girlfriend Luke?” but then she shakes her head and looks back down at the sketch book in her hand.
The waitress, Haley I learn from her nametag as she gets closer, quickly comes to our table when she’s available. “Finally” Nathan mumbles and Haley’s eyes stay down the whole time she takes our orders and then hurries away.
“Don’t trip, Pippy” Rachel yells after her and starts to mock the Haley’s hairstyle. I have to admit her imitation is pretty spot on that I chuckle.
It all happens so fast none of us saw it coming, where the brunette came from I don’t know but suddenly a strawberry milkshake was landing down Rachel’s chest and a red faced girl said in apology “sorry, I must have tripped.”
Rachel was fuming but the other girl coolly got up and walked away with such grace that caught my attention. The subtle sway of her jean clad behind had me locked until she took a seat in one of the far booths, flicking her dark shoulder length hair behind her she sat down and started sipping from a glass already waiting at the table.
Nathan and Peyton continue to laugh at Rachel’s outrage but I study the other girl, she looks around our age, her skin almost too pale but her cheeks perfectly rosy. There was something about her, she had that elusive beauty and elegance that Rachel’s playboy appearance lacked, yet she had an oomph to her that Peyton’s slender, blonde good looks couldn’t produce.
She looks angry, all her emotions tightly held together but brimming at the surface and my mind flashes back to the hard glint in her dark mossy eyes as she’s stood up after she’d tripped, then the way she apologized so sharply with a tone that suggested she was anything but sorry, and then I remembered that graceful walk away, the walk of somebody without a clumsy bone in her body.
Still studying her I’m barely aware that at some point her eyes have shot up and locked onto me, her brow creasing in thought when she notices I am staring at her, but then our eyes meet in an uninterrupted stare.
Something drops inside me, a need I can’t explain. I am so focused on this pull that I’m unable to make a sound or move against my friends who have turned their attention to the girl who has me entranced. Their rude comments roll over me, I barely hear the words and then Rachel stands and all I hear is, “I’ll show that whore”
Before I know I’ve straightened up and stopped Rachel, then without a word my feet are moving and I’m going towards the girl.
Her eyes quickly go to the table behind me with Rachel, Nate, Tim, and Peyton, and then she glances at me again before determinedly shifting her back slightly towards my approach and opening the notebook in front of her. The pen in her hand writing in quick decisive movements as her jaw clenches forcing indents to frame her mouth and suddenly I have a compulsion to make her smile so I could see them form dimples.
“Hey” I smile when I finally reach her. In the past all I have to do is say ‘hey’ in that tone and a girls attention is locked onto me, hanging onto my every word but this one ignores me and continues to write. When I try to peak over her shoulder she slams the notebook shut and looks up, her eyes pierce me with a cold glare and then she flicks it to the hand I rest on the back of her seat, “are you lost?” she bites out and when she looks back up at me she adds on, “the men’s bathroom is five metres to your right”
Even as cold as she’s pretending to be she’s undeniably pretty, and right there and then with no name to match the face I dub her Pretty Girl. It’s not highly original however it rolls off the tongue while looking at her.
“I know exactly where I am” I reply and she takes it as a chance to continue to ignore me and look back down but her hand stays protectively above the book and she doesn’t move. I move slightly closer “Hi, I’m Lu-”
“Lucas Scott” she cuts in, my name comes out in a husky drawl marked with indifference; “I know” she scoffs.
“We know each other?” I ask confused.
When she looks at me this time there is the slightest bit of humour dancing in her eyes and the hint of a smile, “We only just went to the same school for…oh…ten or so years.”
I let out a breath and then chuckle, “well you know big school. I’m sorry our paths never crossed, I wouldn’t forget a smile like yours” I’m guessing I wouldn’t seeing I haven’t seen her smile and its no real surprise she knows who I am if we went to the same school at one point, everyone had known my name.
She kinks her brow, “I sat in front of you the entire sixth grade.”
“Oh” I try to think back but my mind draws a blank, so I settle with a, “that was so long ago.”
Her brow kinks higher, “two months, sophomore year, English project, ring any bells? No, because Lucas Scott you and your no good group never bother to notice anyone but yourselves, you’re heads are so far up your asses I’m surprised you know left from right but let me help you out – your table is thatta way where Dim is fornicating with the salt and pepper shakers” with one last cold stare she turns back to her book.
With limited options I turn around and head back to the table where Rachel and Nathan are laughing their heads off, “oh yeah you so showed her” Rachel murmurs as I sit back down. Tim is nodding his head and looking at me “rejected” he laughs and I just shoot at him, “shut up Dim.”
“Smooth Lucas but word to the wise, Brooke Davis doesn’t give us a second look these days” Peyton whispers but doesn’t look up, then she rips the page from her sketch book and hands it to me. A black and white 2D image of my Pretty Girl stares up at me, her eyes an endless tunnel of loss but a wide beautiful grin hides the darker look and the dimples drawn are just as I imagined them.
Brooke Davis. The name is so familiar and then it hits me, Book. Puny Brooke Davis or Book Davis as we use to call her, she always had her head in a book, her and that cousin of hers.
The waitress from before walks over to Brooke’s table and the two start whispering to each other, then Haley sends a worried look over to us before continuing the heated conversation. As I watch them together more memories of high school pop into my mind, the cousin’s name had been Haley and the two of them were always together at the bottom of the high school food chain. I’m starting to figure out why she remembers me so well.
Hell, I’ve never pretended to be a saint.
Lucas
‘Somebody told me that this is the place where everything’s better and everything’s safe.’
That’s the first thing I always look at whenever I enter Karen’s café. It’s another ritual of mine that I just can’t seem to break, one that I don’t want to break either. I say the words as I read them on the wall, and I can’t help but let a smile form on my lips.
It’s the place where me and Haley started to talk again; the place where I found a piece of hope; the place where I got a piece of my mom back.
Karen’s the owner of the café, I met her 2 years back. It was around the time when me and Haley started to rebuild our friendship. Whenever I was able to I’d go over to the café during Haley’s shift, and distract her. Even though she acted like she was pissed whenever I did it, we had a lot of fun. A little while later I started to talk to Karen.
She wasn’t like other owners that always ignored the teenage kids that came into their restaurants or the ones that constantly yelled at them. I’d go in and sit at the counter or one of the booths, usually depending on my mood or whether the place was packed or not; and she’d always come up to me and strike up a conversation.
It brought back a lot of memories that I was trying to forget at the time, because she reminded me so much of my mom. After a while though I realized that it wasn’t a bad thing to remember; it was a good thing.
I scan the café to try and find Haley; I don’t see her anywhere so I walk over to the farthest booth and sit down. Knowing it will probably be a while before I get to speak to her I take out my notebook and start writing.
Its nothing fascinating, its just me documenting things that happen in my everyday life. I started to do it a few years back when I was instructed to do so. I was suppose to write down how my day went, how I was feeling, what I ate for the day…normal stuff like that, boring stuff really. At the time I found it ridiculous, what did that stuff really matter? I knew why, I just didn’t want to admit it at the time. I kept on telling myself it was better to live a life that I’d remember, even if I didn’t write it down. But after writing a few entries, I found myself writing more and more about things that had nothing to do with what I was suppose to write, and ever since I’ve kept a notebook to write down that other stuff.
I look up and see a piece of apple pie with a glass of water in front of me. Its not hard to guess who did it. I look over and see Karen wiping down the counter, she smiles at me while I mouth a thank you to her. I smile a tiny smile as I close my notebook and take a bite of the pie. I close my eyes from pure bliss. Amazing is the only word I can come up with to describe it.
I see Haley making her way over to me, so I set the fork down on the plate and quickly wipe my mouth with the napkin, “I’m sorry” I blurt out as she takes a seat across from me.
She takes my fork and digs into the pie, “its ok” she says before she shoves the bite into her mouth.
I laugh as Haley makes the same face I made moments ago, “so good” she mumbles as she covers her mouth.
It really isn’t though. Ok the pie is really really good but me snapping at Haley because she’s worried about me isn’t. “But it isn’t” she looks at me in confusion, “me snapping at you Haley, its not right.”
She looks at me sympathetically, “Brooke, its really…”
I cut her off, “no its not! You’ve been there for me through everything” tears well up in my eyes, “you were there for me when my parents died, even though I did everything I could to push you away. You even forgave me when I stopped hanging out with them, considering all the stuff I pulled during that time. You were there for me when I found out, and you’re still here for me!”
Tears fall down Haley’s face by the time I finish my little speech. “That’s because I love you tiger” she wipes at her tears, “no matter what happens, I will always be here for you, there’s nothing you can do to change that.”
Haley is the best person I know. She’s forgiving; and no matter how much shit a person might pull, she’ll look past it and will always find the good in that person. That’s just who she is.
“You shouldn’t forgive me” I add, to give her one last chance to be mad at me.
Being typical Haley, she chuckles as she moves the pie over to her, “I know…I guess me taking this pie makes us even then.”
She did not just take my apple pie!
I kink my eyebrow at her, “shouldn’t you get back to work?”
“Nope. When Karen saw you come in she said I can have a 10 minute break…so here I am eating this delicious pie” Haley teases with a full mouth.
I look at her in mock disgust, “didn’t anyone ever tell you that it was impolite to talk with your mouth full?”
Haley starts to laugh, “says the person that always does it.” I take this moment as my chance to get the pie back but her hand slaps my hand away before I can reach it.
“Owww” I say rubbing my hand.
“Get your own pie” she shields the pie from me.
“That was my pie.”
Haley eagerly puts the last bite in her mouth “not no more” she replies, taking the plate to the back.
I stare after her in shock. Haley’s never done that before but then again it shouldn’t be surprising considering it is Karen’s famous apple pie.
When I go to take a drink of water I see Peyton and Rachel enter the café with Tim following in their tracks. I can’t help but be happy that Haley’s in the back at the moment, that is until they sit in Haley’s section, and I curse them for being such bitches. I know they sat there to give Haley shit, and it really pisses me off.
Ever since I can remember they have always given Haley and I a hard time, when I joined their group junior year though I made sure that she stayed off their radar, she was not to be messed with or they had to deal with me (even though they still have to now); but as soon as I left the group, they’ve made Haley’s life a living hell. Always criticizing the way she walks, what she wears, how she does her hair, how she talks, just anything and everything about her.
Which is actually really funny considering Haley has better style then them anyways and if you add in the fact that she’s an all around better person then they are or will ever be, then it’s a no brainer when you realize who should be criticized.
I suddenly don’t feel so good so I grab my purse as I make my way to the bathroom. I don’t understand I thought this was all suppose to go away…apparently not. I walk out of the stall and go over to the sink and take out a tooth brush and tooth paste; luckily I’m so used to this by now, I carry them in my purse now as a safety hazard. After I finish I put my hands under the running water and splash it onto my face. It makes me feel a little less disgusted with myself after the deed I just did.
I look into the mirror and try to fix my appearance…if Haley saw anything out of whack with me, there would surely be a lot of her over protectiveness that I’m not in the mood for, and there’s also the fact that I don’t want her to get worried either; especially when there’s nothing to worry about.
The sight I see when I walk out of the bathroom makes my blood boil. Rachel’s hassling Haley, and before I know what I’m doing I’ve grabbed a strawberry milkshake off a tray, and I’ve made my way over to Rachel. I lean over the table and spill it as slowly as I possibly can down her dolce and gabbana silk blouse. Her face turns different shades of red, “sorry, I must have tripped” I say sharply as I stare daggers at her.
It takes every fiber in my body to not continue by punching her in the face but I know Haley and Karen would be disappointed in me, so I get up, make my way back over to my booth, sit down, push my hair out of my face, and start sipping from my water…in hopes it will help settle my nerves.
I look up to see if Rachel is going to retaliate, but instead I catch something completely different…Lucas Scott staring at me. I furry my brow in thought, why is he looking at me like that? Its not the usual I want to get in your pants stare that I usually get; its one that says he wants to get to know me.
I get butterflies in my stomach, and my skin starts to tingle. I‘ve always held feelings towards Lucas, even though I like to deny it.
Haley’s always known about these feelings. In the beginning she made fun of me for it, and now she tries to help me as best she can to get past them.
Haley’s always been able to tell when I’m lying, so when I try to tell her that those feelings went away towards him in 9th grade when he told the school that if they came within 10 feet of us they would get lice, is no exception. Trust me everything he did to us made me hate him, it made me despise him…in the end I ended up hating myself more. Cause no matter what he did no matter how angry he made me, my feelings for him never seem to go away.
He starts to move towards me. What the hell is he doing?!
I look back towards Rachel, Peyton, Nathan, and Tim to get the explanation for why he is walking towards me. I see Rachel with a wicked smirk; Peyton glares at me; Nathan winks at me…and Tim’s playing dolls with the salt and pepper shakers? They were no help.
I can’t be nice to him he doesn’t deserve my kindness, so doing the only thing I can think of to make myself angry I open up my notebook and start writing about what Rachel did to Haley. Writing down what happened helps bring back the anger full force.
“Hey” I try to ignore the way my heart beats faster when he speaks. I act as if he is not there until I sense him trying to read what I am writing. I slam my notebook shut, and glare at him. When I notice that his hand is on the back of my seat I turn my head to look “are you lost?” I bite out and snap my eyes back towards him “the men’s bathroom is five meters to your right” I add on.
The longer he stands there, the harder it is to keep up this wall.
“I know exactly where I am” he says smoothly. He thinks all he has to do is say one word to me and I’ll be putty in his hands like most girls, if only he knew how wrong and right he was.
You would think that the fact of my ignoring him would make him realize that I wanted him to get lost, he doesn’t seem to get the picture though.
I wonder if he can hear how my heart beats even faster as he moves closer to me? “Hi I’m Lu-”
“Lucas Scott” I cut in, trying to sound as if I don’t care. “I know” I scoff. If only he knew how much I didn’t want to know.
He squints his eyes in thought, “we know each other?” he asks.
I guess I got my answer for why he’s over here talking to me…he doesn’t remember me or else he wouldn‘t be here. I want to laugh, instead I just settle with a tiny smile “We only just went to the same school for…oh…ten or so years.”
Lucas chuckles, “well you know big school, I’m sorry our paths never crossed I wouldn’t forget a smile like yours.”
If only he remembered how well we really did know each other. I kink my eyebrow “ I sat in front of you the entire sixth grade.”
“Oh” it takes him about fifteen seconds to come up with something to say, “that was so long ago.”
Apparently he thinks I’m stupid or else he wouldn’t be spinning this crap. I kink my eyebrow higher, “two months, sophomore year, English project, ring any bells? No, because Lucas Scott you and your no good group never bother to notice anyone but yourselves, you’re heads are so far up your asses I’m surprised you know left from right but let me help you out – your table is thatta way where Dim is fornicating with the salt and pepper shakers” I look back down at my notebook.
Lucas finally takes the hint and starts to make his way back over to his group; I try to ignore the pain I feel in my chest.
I look up and see Haley looking at me with concern in her eyes, “Brooke, are you ok?”
I want to say yes, I want to lie to her, but she’ll see right through my lies, so I settle with the truth “no…no I’m not” I drop my head into my hands.
As much as I would I love for him to hold feelings toward me; as much as I want to let my feelings be known…it won’t and can’t happen.