A/N: hey, second update this month. lol, that's sad. i wrote the bulk of this yesterday after having a breakthrough in the big ole boulder that is my writer's block. yay. hope you like.
to the six of you guys who reviewed the last chapter- thank you so much. your reviews are always very much appreciated. they always make me smile and keep me going with this story.
Chapter Twenty: Space
•••••
"Brooke!"
She turned around to come face to face with Lucas. "Hey, Luke," she said, producing a smile, dimples and all. He joined her on her walk to her next class.
"Can I talk to you for a second?" He asked. She stopped and turned towards him. She could tell he was worried about something. "It's about Peyton."
"What about her?" If he didn't have her full attention before, he did after mentioning her best friend. Lucas took a step toward her.
"Is she okay? I mean, I know about what happened down by the river last week. But I don't get what caused it to happen, you know?" Brooke nodded.
"I don't either. I tried talking to her about it. She admitted she wasn't drunk but wouldn't tell me what was going on."
"You don't think she was high or anything, do you?" He asked.
"No. She'd never do anything like that." She answered quickly. "But lately she's seemed fairly normal. Nothing unusual's really happened."
"Yesterday, she was down by the Rivercourt again." Brooke raised an eyebrow.
"When?"
"After school, around four. Haley went over with me to hang out while I practiced, and Peyton was there, sitting under a tree. The two of them talked for a little bit, then Haley drove Peyton home in Peyton's car."
"Why?"
"I don't know. Peyton seemed fine." Brooke nodded. After a long pause, Lucas asked softly, "what's going on with her and Haley?" Brooke raised an eyebrow.
"What do you mean?"
"They seem like they're getting to be really close."
"What's wrong with that?"
"Nothing. It's just strange." He paused, thinking over what he was about to say. "The other night at Nathan's party, I saw them holding hands." Brooke froze, not knowing what to say to that. The bell signaling the beginning of class rang.
"Crap, I'm late. Bye!" She said quickly then sped off down the hall to her third hour, not allowing him the opportunity to say anything else.
•••••
Peyton sat down in English. The events of the previous day ran through her mind. She almost hoped Brooke wouldn't be there. She didn't want to face her or her questions. The bell rang signaling the beginning of class. A few moments later, she noticed Brooke walk through the door to the classroom. Instantly she grabbed her sketchpad and pretended to be working on a drawing.
She didn't pay attention to the instructions of the teacher. Her brain didn't feel like working. She felt her stomach contract in pain. Her pulse raced. She felt her body's temperature shoot up. A side effect. It's only a side effect, she thought. A note flew into her lap. She looked over to Brooke who gave her an apologetic smile. Peyton reached for the note.
"Ms. Davis." They both looked to the front of the room. The teacher was looking at them. "Ms. Sawyer. You need to go to the office." All eyes in the classroom were suddenly on them. Peyton watched Brooke stand up then did the same. They both walked slowly out of the classroom.
"Should we go?" Brooke asked Peyton as soon as the door closed.
"We'll get in trouble if we don't." Peyton said. Brooke nodded slowly.
"I have a feeling we're going to get in trouble if we do." Brooke said softly as they walked down the hallway to the main office. Brooke stopped at the door and turned to Peyton. "We don't have to."
"Yes we do."
"Haley really is rubbing off on you, isn't she?" Brooke said with a smirk as she opened the door. Instantly, one of the receptionists took notice of them.
"Principal Turner wants to see you," She said. Brooke looked at Peyton and raised an eyebrow. Peyton shrugged. "Girls?" The receptionist motioned towards the Principal's office. Reluctantly, they both stepped inside.
"Close the door." Peyton did as he said. "Have a seat." Both girls sat down in chairs opposite his desk. "I bet you're wondering what this is all about, huh?"
"Slightly." Brooke said sarcastically, earning a small chuckle from the principal. The laugh didn't help Peyton's nerves any.
"Security cameras caught the two of you skipping yesterday."
"We can explain-" Brooke started.
"I'm sure you can. I'm sure there's some valid reason why both of you felt the need to skip out of third hour." Peyton couldn't tell if he was being sincere or sarcastic. She guessed sarcastic. "But rules are rules."
"But-" Brooke tried again. Principal Turner held up his hand to silence her.
"Ms. Davis, you'll have to report this Saturday and the next for Saturday school."
"But Principal Turner-" Peyton could tell Brooke was offended. She'd never had to do Saturday school before.
"It's Saturday School or a three day suspension, your choice."
"So, when? This Saturday?" Brooke said with a smile, hoping to get him to forget his mention of a suspension. He nodded briefly.
"Now, if you'll excuse us, Ms. Sawyer and I have some business to discuss in private." Brooke looked from the principal to Peyton and back again in surprise. "Ms. Davis?" He said and motioned towards the door. She stood up and slowly walked over to it. After opening it, she looked back at the two. "I trust you'll go back to your third hour?" Brooke stared at Peyton for a moment before nodding. "Good. Goodbye." Brooke hesitated then left, closing the door behind her. Peyton could feel her hands begin to sweat. The principal turned towards her.
"This incident brought your recent attendance problem to my attention." Peyton nodded slowly. A pain shot through her stomach again. She tried her hardest to keep a straight face. "I have on record that you've missed eighteen days so far this semester." She nodded again. "Is there any reason. Are you having any medical problems or anything?"
"No." Peyton croaked out. She could feel her hands begin shaking. The principal nodded slowly.
"Then I'm sorry. You've missed too many days to receive credit for this semester. But there are still options for you. You can come back next year and be a junior again for the first semester. Your transcript is strong enough that you'll be able to graduate in time as long as you get some credits this summer. Or, if you feel that high school isn't challenging enough, or you just don't want to be here, you could go after your G.E.D." She nodded once. "I'm sorry, Peyton." She could see that he meant it.
"It's not your fault." She said, forcing a smile. "It's mine." She stood up. "I guess I should go get my stuff." She started walking to the door, wanting to get out of there while she was still composed. Her stomach was still aching.
"Peyton." She turned to look at him. "It's going to be fine. You're a bright, talented young lady. This isn't that much of a setback." She nodded and left his office. She wanted to get the hell out of the school before she had a nervous breakdown. Instead of going back to class to get her stuff, she went out to her car. She wanted nothing more to go home and pretend like today had never happened.
•••••
She put the cd into her computer and waited for the machine to recognize it. In order to cheer herself up, she went down to the music store and bought herself some new cds she had been eyeing. Currently, she was putting them on her Mac to get them onto her iPod. She clicked the import button and watched as Fall Out Boy's newest album was downloaded into her computer.
She heard her front door open and footsteps come towards her room. Earlier, she had meant to lock it, just in case Rick had decided to make an appearance. She didn't know that she was strong enough to fight him off today. She turned towards the doorway and waited, praying it wasn't him.
"Hey, best friend." Brooke said as she and Haley came into Peyton's room. Brooke laid down Peyton's books from English class on her desk and sat down on her bed. Haley had already made herself comfortable there.
"Hey." Peyton said to the two of them.
"Brooke told me you two got sent to Principal Turner's office today?" Haley asked. Peyton swallowed hard and nodded.
"We got caught for skipping yesterday. After all these years, I don't know why they suddenly care." Brooke said with a laugh. Peyton forced a small smile to hopefully cover her nervousness. "So what punishment did you get?"
"I, uh," she took in a ragged breath, "I didn't actually get one." She watched as Brooke's eyes went wide.
"What do you mean you didn't get one? I get two days of Saturday school and you get nothing? I knew he never liked me." Brooke said in one breath. Peyton locked eyes with Haley.
"What happened, Peyton?" Haley asked. Peyton could tell that Haley knew there was more to the story than she was getting. Brooke looked to Haley, examined her expression then looked to Peyton expectantly.
"I have too many absences to get credit for this semester." She said softly. An uncomfortable silence filled the room as Haley and Brooke digested Peyton's news.
"So what does that mean? You're not coming back to school?" Brooke finally asked.
"Yeah."
"Peyt," Brooke started in a gentle tone.
"I'm fine." Peyton said abruptly. She didn't want to get emotional, not in front of the two of them. They didn't need to worry about her. She really was fine. "He said I could come back next year. Everything will be fine." She said and forced a smile. "I just get a three month extension on my summer vacation. Nothing to be sad about."
"Are you really not bothered by this?" Haley asked. She really couldn't tell if Peyton was telling the truth or not. Peyton nodded.
"I could really use the time off. Just a few months without any kind of pressure." Peyton answered. "And he said I could take summer school then graduate on time. So this really doesn't mean anything." She wished she believed her own words. She could tell Haley and Brooke actually did.
"So everything's okay?" Haley asked. Peyton nodded again, this time more emphatically.
"Everything's fine." She gave Haley her best smile. She really didn't want the brunette to worry about her.
"We're gonna miss you at school, P. Sawyer. English is gonna suck now." Brooke said causing Peyton to laugh.
"I imagine it will." Peyton said causing Brooke to smile. "I'm just so much fun in third hour and all."
"Oh, you are, goldilocks. Especially on Mondays." Brooke shot back.
"You know you're gonna find yourself missing my bitchiness on Mondays." Peyton said.
"Perhaps." Brooke said with a small smirk then got serious again. "So what are you going to do with all of your new free time?"
"I don't know. I haven't really thought about it. Probably same as always. A lot of drawing." Peyton said with a bit of a smile. Brooke shifted on the bed and pulled her phone out of her pocket. Haley and Peyton both looked to her. After a moment of looking at her phone, Brooke looked up at the other girls.
"Gotta go. Felix needs me to come over."
"Ew." Peyton said causing Brooke to shoot her a look.
"Get your mind out of the gutter." Brooke said, blew her a kiss goodbye and left. Peyton turned to Haley and smiled at her.
"You're really okay?" Haley asked, suddenly serious again. Peyton nodded again.
"Perfectly fine with it. This might surprise you, but most people don't like going to school." Peyton said. Haley's eyes went wide in fake shock.
"No? Really? I thought everyone loved it."
"Shows how smart you really are." Peyton said sarcastically. Haley stuck out her tongue at the blonde. "Ooh, and mature too!" Haley stuck her tongue out again, which prompted Peyton to do the same. A cell phone ring broke through the laughter of the girls.
"Sorry." Haley said as she answered her phone. Peyton nodded. "Hello?" Haley said into her phone. Peyton tuned her out and focused instead on the floor. She could still feel the pain in her stomach. She had been managing to block it out for a while. But now that she had nothing else to focus on, it was back. She looked up when she heard Haley say her name. "I have to go. Nathan has some pop quiz tomorrow that he's not ready for. Real surprise there."
"Oh. Ok." Peyton said and forced a smile. But she couldn't help but feel disappointed that Haley was leaving so soon.
"But I'll come back afterward. It should only take an hour." Peyton nodded.
"You should take my car." Peyton said causing Haley to raise an eyebrow.
"You don't mind?"
"Not in the slightest. The keys are on the table by the front door."
"Thanks." Haley said with a gentler tone. She stood up and walked over to stand in front of Peyton. Haley bent down and lightly pressed her lips to the blonde's. Peyton moaned into the kiss. "I'll be back as soon as possible." Haley said. Peyton watched the girl as she walked to the door and out of her room.
"I love that girl." She whispered, a smile appearing on her face. Today hasn't been all bad, she thought.