Summer Roberts took a deep breath of the thick summer air and looked around at her new hometown, Tree Hill, North Carolina. It was a far cry from Newport, which actually worked in its favor. The Roberts family (Summer and her dad, Neil) had left Newport the week before with broken hearts.
Julie Cooper-Nichol had decided Neil wasn't enough for her and cheated on him with her ex-husband Jimmy, who was in town for the summer. Then Seth Cohen, her cowardly ex-boyfriend had sailed off to Tahiti when his foster brother went back to Chino when his – what-ever she was – got pregnant. Summer couldn't really be that angry at Ryan, there weren't a lot of guys in the world that would give up a life in Newport to take responsibility like that. Of course the same couldn't be said of that spineless yellow…
"Calm down Roberts." Summer murmured under her breath. "He's not worth the rage blackout."
"What's a rage blackout?" A voice asked from behind her.
Summer turned from where she had been sitting on a bench next to the river and saw a hunky blond standing there with a basketball in his hands. This had potential. Cohen who?
"Something that NO ONE wants to experience." Summer smiled flirtatiously.
The blond hunk smiled back and continued to walk toward her. "You must be new here. I'm pretty sure I would remember meeting you." He said, sitting down on the bench next to her and placing the ball on the ground beside him.
"Is that because everyone here knows each other, or were you flirting with me just now?" Summer asked coyly.
The blond shrugged. "To be honest you could say both reasons were accurate. So what's your name mysterious new beauty now gracing Tree Hill?"
"I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours." Summer replied enjoying the game they were playing.
The blond laughed and nodded. "Fair enough, Lucas Scott at your service." He told her offering his hand to shake.
Summer took it gracefully and her smile brightened at the warm feeling his touch gave her. "Summer Roberts. It's nice to meet you Luke – has anyone told you that you resemble Luke Skywalker?"
Lucas raised an eyebrow. "No, Star Wars fan?" He asked her. "Most people call me Lucas."
Summer's smile grew. "Ewe, no, but my ex forced me to sit through it. And I'm not most people." She told him, reluctantly releasing his hand. She already missed the warmth.
"I'm beginning to realize that." Lucas winked. "So what brings you to our neck of the woods?"
"My dad just took over as chief surgeon at the hospital here in Tree Hill. So here I am." Summer declared, leaving out the drama.
"Well you're not from the south, not with that accent – which is cute by the way. So where do you hail from?" Lucas asked.
"Newport Beach, California." Summer stated looking back towards the river. "Also known as Scenic Hell."
Lucas chuckled. "Didn't like it much?"
Summer shook her head. "Na, the town is beautiful and the beaches are amazing as well as the shopping. You just have to spend too much time wading through the plastic people; the backstabbing, lying, cowardly, greedy plastic people." She growled.
"Hate to break it to you, but except for a few gems, you'll find the same here – without the beaches and shopping." Lucas informed her.
"Great, so which are you – plastic or do you have gem-like qualities?" Summer teased, her eyes sparkling with mischief.
Lucas shrugged. "It depends on who you ask: my mom or the rest of the town."
Summer winced. "Ouch. How did you get black listed? No sorry – none of my business."
"Don't worry about it. It's common knowledge. I made the mistake of being born as the illegitimate son of the esteemed mayor Dan Scott a few months before his legit son Nathan Scott. It all kind of went downhill from there. My mom decided to stick around even though Dan married Nathan's mom Deb. I was pretty much out of the picture and being raised by my mom and Uncle Keith, who Dan hates. I had one best friend, Haley James, and I loved playing basketball with the guys here at Rivercourt. Then one day I got recruited to play basketball on the high school team where my brother was the big star. After a bunch of fights we finally got to the point where we were friends. Then we truly became brothers. That is until my best friend Haley married Nathan and then decided to leave him to start a music career and I found out that good ole' dad gave me something after all – his heart condition. Now Nathan's not speaking to me, I'm not supposed to be playing competitive sports, my girlfriend said 'I've got to go' before she boarded a plane for California right after I told her I wanted to be with her, and my uncle died a few months ago in a shooting which my mother partially blames me for." Lucas explained.
Summer stared at Lucas for a moment and then nodded. "Yeah, your life pretty much sucks. We should hang out."
Lucas was startled into laughter. "You think we should hang out? It could be social suicide to be seen with me."
Summer shrugged. "If you had met me a year ago, I would have been running in the other direction after that information. But I've realized that social status isn't as important as true loyal friends. It took a kid from Chino to teach me that."
"I take it Chino isn't as nice as Newport?" Lucas asked.
Summer chuckled. "Chino is like the ghetto. It's about an hour from Newport, but a world away. It's where my friend Ryan is from. Or rather my ex-boyfriend's best friend who is also my friend by association is from. Before Ryan arrived, I didn't even know Seth Cohen existed. I was all about the next party. All I cared about was The Valley, fashion and getting wasted. Then this rebel from Chino gets caught stealing a car with his brother, and one of the true white hats in Newport, his lawyer Sandy Cohen, takes him in after Ryan's mom abandons him – which I consider one of the best things she could have done for him, she was a mess. So now there's this totally hot guy who my best friend Marissa starts mad-dogging despite the fact she has a boyfriend. I'm not quite sure when it happened, but suddenly we were hanging out with Cohen and Chino all the time. One thing led to another, and I was dating Cohen. Then this spring Ryan and Marissa broke up and Ryan slept with his ex from Chino. She comes back and says she's pregnant, and Ryan – being the white knight that he is – goes back to take care of her and raise his baby. Cohen flipped out and ran away on his boat to Tahiti because he claimed he couldn't go back to being in Newport without Ryan. Which come to think about it sounds totally gay. Anyway, my dad's girlfriend cheated on him with her ex, so when the offer came for the job here, we decided to move."
"Wow. Yeah, we could hang out, but who's going to carry all the baggage?" Lucas teased.
Summer laughed and lightly punched his muscular shoulder. She couldn't help but think how he compared more to Ryan than Seth. She also thinks she should have pursued Ryan. God knows he would have stayed with her. But maybe there was hope with this new guy. Things were looking up.
"I think you have the muscles for it." Summer replied coquettishly.
Lucas smile grew. "Listen, I was going to shoot some hoops, but now I'm feeling a little hungry. Want to go get something?"
"Will there be dessert involved?" Summer asked tilting her head and tossing her hair back over her shoulder.
Lucas never missed a move as he stared back at her. "I promise it will be the best pie you've ever had." He said, standing and picking up his ball with one hand while offering his other hand to her.
"You do realize I've eaten pie made by Wolfgang Puck?" Summer informed him taking his offered hand and standing.
"Amateur." Lucas scoffed haughtily.
Summer laughed and threaded her arm through the crook of his elbow. "Well lead me to this amazing pie Skywalker."
Lucas shook his head and laughed. "I don't really look like Luke Skywalker." He pointed out.
"No, but your life resembles his. Your father went to the Dark Side and you were living in obscurity until your coach recruited you. Just like Luke Skywalker. Sorry, but once I give a nickname it sticks – just ask Chino." Summer explained. "Now stop stalling, you promised me pie."
"And pie you shall receive my dear Jade." Lucas teased.
Summer grinned. "Hmm, a dark assassin who ended up with Luke. I'll promise not to kill you."
Lucas took Summer's free hand and gallantly kissed it. "Thank you my Lady. How do you know about her? She was only in the books?"
Summer shrugged. "Cohen insisted on telling me the rest of the story. I thought her name was pretty cool."
"Hence why you are now Lady Jade." Lucas declared.
Summer laughed and Lucas hugged her to his side. Perhaps Tree Hill would work out after all.