Chapter One
Haley James stood nervously on the Scott’s doorstep. She had been standing there for the past five minutes trying to summon up the courage to knock on the door and do what she had come over here for. Taking one final deep breath, she raised her hand and knocked loudly. As she waited for the door to open, her nerves jangled and she internally debated with herself as to whether or not she had time to run and hide. Just as she was about to turn away, the door opened and there stood Nathan Scott. In just a towel.
“Haley, hi, come on in,” Nathan said smiling at the petite auburn haired young woman standing in front of him and opening the door wider so she could enter. He frowned when she made no movement.
The water droplets glistening on his tanned skin had captivated Haley and she couldn’t tear her eyes away from him. It had been months since she had last seen him and when she had come over tonight she wasn’t expecting to see so much, not that she was complaining.
“Earth to Haley, are you okay?” he asked concerned.
His words finally registered and she could feel her cheeks burning with embarrassment at having been caught blatantly staring at him. “Uh yeah, I’m fine,” she said lowering her gaze as she quickly moved past him to enter the house.
“Were you looking for Lucas ‘cause he’s decided to stay back in California for a couple more days?”
“No, I wasn’t. I actually wanted to talk to you about something, but is everything okay with Luke?”
“Yeah, he’s fine. He met this girl a couple of weeks ago and I think he just wanted to hang out with her before he comes home for the summer.”
Haley laughed. “Trust Luke. So, how’s everything going at college?”
“It’s great. It’s hard work but I’m still enjoying it. Listen, go and make yourself comfortable in the den while I go and get dressed. I’ll just be a few minutes.”
She nodded and as he walked away and went upstairs, she kept her eyes trained on him. Who knew when she would get to see him undressed again, she thought, chuckling to herself.
The den was a large room that Dan and Deb Scott had given the boys which they could use to entertain their friends. It had everything you could ever want in there from a large widescreen TV to the latest stereo system. Haley had spent many an afternoon hanging out with them watching movies or playing games on the various games consoles they had.
Flopping down into her favourite reclining armchair, she laid back and closed her eyes savouring the image of a wet, almost naked Nathan. In her head, she went over the words she had been practicing for a while now. Although she thought the world of Lucas, he was her best friend after all, she couldn’t help smiling at the fact that he wasn’t here now and so she could do this without worrying about being interrupted. Plus, if he knew what she had in mind, he would kill her. Overprotective seemed to be his middle name when it came to her.
Upstairs, Nathan was pulling on his jeans before grabbing a USC sweatshirt from the back of his chair. Shoving his feet into his sneakers, he took a quick look in his mirror and ran his fingers through his hair. As he descended the stairs, he wondered what it was that Haley needed to talk to him about.
For as long as he could remember, she had been a fixture in the Scott household. Lucas had been at the park one day when he was about eleven years old and had found her being picked on by Pete Iverson and his gang.
While Lucas may not have been particularly broad, he was tall for his age and he towered over the bullies. He was also well known for being the eldest son of the Dan Scott which may have been the main reason for them running away. Ever since that day, he was something of a hero to Haley and they became the best of friends. Nathan, naturally, became included in the friendship and he began to think of her as a sister and as such, he too was fairly protective of her.
Before going into the den, he had detoured to the kitchen and grabbed a couple of sodas from the fridge. Walking into his second favourite room of the house, the first being his bedroom, he paused when he saw Haley sitting in her usual chair with her eyes closed. He couldn’t seem to take his eyes off her and he was surprised to see how much she had changed in just a few short months. When he’d last seen her, she had still retained a little of her tomboyish nature but now… now she had blossomed into a beautiful young woman. It wasn’t hard to see that she had filled out since the last time he had seen her and it looked more than good on her.
When he and Lucas had attended high school with her, they had made sure to keep an eye on her there, especially after they had seen what had started being written on the boys’ bathroom walls. Her name was starting to appear on the lists that her best girlfriends, Brooke Davis and Peyton Saywer, had been making appearances on for a while. Being teenage boys themselves, they knew exactly the sorts of things going through their peers’ minds and so wanted to protect their best friend.
“I’m not asleep,” Haley’s voice suddenly announced bringing him out of his thoughts.
Nathan smirked at her. “Good to know ‘cause I figured I’d find out by shaking this can and opening it all over you.”
She laughed at him. “Oh really? I see you haven’t changed a bit.”
Handing her the soda, he took a seat in the chair opposite hers and opened his own drink. “So, what did you want to talk to me about?”
Busying herself with opening her drink, Haley shook her head. “You know what, it doesn’t matter. So, you’re enjoying college. How’s Lucas doing?”
“He’s fine but he can tell you that for himself when he sees you in a few days. “C’mon, tell me what you came over to say? You’ve got me all curious now.”
She took a long swig of her drink, savouring the feel of the cool liquid travelling down her throat which was suddenly feeling very dry. Her cheeks felt hot and she was certain she was blushing. “Honestly, it’s nothing. Do you feel like watching some TV or something? Or were you getting ready to go out? Maybe I should have called before I came over...”
Leaning forward, Nathan placed his drink on the low table in front of him before getting up from his seat and crouching down in front of Haley. Taking the can she was gripping out of her hands, he placed that on the table as well before taking her hands in his and squeezing them. “What’s going on, Haley? You’re starting to get me worried. Whatever it is you can tell me, you know that?”
Unconsciously, she found herself running her thumbs back and forth over his knuckles and looking into his eyes, she lost herself in the crystal blue of them. Knowing she couldn’t do this while he was looking at her so intently, she dropped his hands before getting up from the chair and pacing up and down the room. “Okay. Um, where are your parents?”
“They had a dinner they couldn’t get out of. They said we’ll celebrate mine and Lucas’ homecoming when he’s back home. Why? Do you need to talk to them too?”
“No, God no. Okay, just do me a favour and don’t look at me while I’m saying this. I can’t believe I’m actually going to do this but...”
“Haley, just tell me. Please.”
“Just don’t freak out on me. I know this is going to sound weird but please don’t freak out,” she said before quickly adding, “or judge me.”
“Fine, I promise. Now just tell me. Otherwise I’m calling Lucas and telling him to get his butt back home now.”
“NO! Whatever you do you can’t tell him. Swear to me this stays between us.”
Nathan walked over to where she stood by the door and he placed his hands on her shoulders forcing her to keep still. Moving one hand to her chin, he tilted her face up so he was looking into her eyes and said, “I swear I won’t breathe a word of this to anyone. But please, Haley, just tell me what it is because my mind’s going crazy here.”
Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and nodded before whispering, “Okay.” The next words out of her mouth though sent him into a tailspin. “I... uh... I want you to... um... teach me about sex.”