2003 ― Tree Hill, North Carolina

"So, that's the boy who beat Nathan?" Brooke Davis asked her best friend Aurora James as the girls were in the gym at their school. It was game day and Lucas's first game as a Raven because that was part of their bet. Whitey had offered Lucas a spot on the team, and at first, he wasn't going to take it, but then he made his bet with Nathan. Lucas bet that if he won the game, Nathan would stay on the team because he knew it would be the last thing Nathan wanted.

"Yes, he is," Aurora responded.

"Well, he looks good from behind," Brooke said, and Aurora shook her head while rolling her eyes.

"Gross," Aurora mumbled. She was sitting on the ground and stretching out her legs, but when she saw the guys starting to get into formation, she stood up from the ground and brushed off her skirt. Her position has always been between Brooke and Peyton, she never knew why, but they were always lined up that way.

Nathan was at the center of the court for the tip-off, and he tipped the ball over to Lucas, who went for the catch, but it slipped from his hands and came straight for the cheerleaders. Aurora and Peyton jumped out of the way as the ball sailed past them.

"Nice hands." Aurora teased Lucas as he ran through to grab the ball. Lucas looked her up and down before responding.

"Nice skirt." He said. Aurora rolled her eyes while Lucas ran back onto the court, and she noticed that he was not playing very well in this game. He looked like a completely different person than who was on the river court the other night. Lucas wasn't doing that well on defense, and the other player was able to score on him.

"Hey, which side are you on!?" Nathan snapped at him. Aurora shook her pom-poms together, and Peyton had a fake smile on her face as she shook her pom-poms.

"Go Ravens!" She exclaimed.

Lucas was thrown a pass, and Aurora winced when he missed the shot. She looked up at the stands and noticed that her sister and Keith were at the game and cringed at the fact that Lucas missed the shot. Lucas was passed the ball again, and he missed his shot again... and again. Nathan had enough, took the ball from Lucas, and made the basket himself.

Then Whitey called a timeout.

After the timeout, Aurora noticed that Lucas stayed on the bench while the rest of the team returned to the court. As the game went on, Lucas remained on the bench, and the Ravens ended up winning the game, adding to their perfect record, making them 6-0 overall. But Aurora did feel bad for Lucas. It was his first game, and he played so horribly that he got benched.

It was time for another one of her pep talks.

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Aurora predicted that Lucas would come to the river court, so that's where she headed after she went home to change, and she was right. Lucas was there. He was shooting some baskets, but he kept missing, so she knew that had to be extra frustrating for him. Aurora didn't know if he played so badly because he was nervous or because he had to play with Nathan instead of against Nathan. She didn't know what it was, but she knew something was going on, resulting in him not playing his best.

"I guess misery really does love company, huh?" Aurora said as she sat down at the picnic table. Lucas looked over at her but didn't walk over; he stayed on the court.

"What are you doing here?" Lucas asked when he looked at her.

"I figured you'd be here," Aurora said as she shrugged her shoulders. She changed out of her cheerleading uniform and had a pair of leggings, a t-shirt, and one of Nathan's basketball jackets. He has a ton of different basketball jackets and hoodies since he's played AAU, and playing for school since middle school, a lot of the stuff Nathan grew out of; Aurora could still fit since she has a more petite figure, so he's given a lot of things to her.

"You know, I shoot the ball, and it goes in. I don't ask questions. I don't think about it. It's just the way it is." Lucas said, and Aurora shrugged her shoulders.

"Or the way it was." She said. Lucas said nothing in response, and she sighed. "Luke, it's just a game. Who cares if the entire school, most of your friends, half the town, and me saw you suck?" Aurora said, and Lucas laughed a little while shaking his head.

"So... you've clearly come to cheer me up." He said, and Aurora smiled.

"I think I know what the issue was," Aurora said. Lucas raised an eyebrow as he walked over to her and joined her on the picnic table.

"What would that be?" Lucas asked.

"I didn't kiss you before the game. So my luck couldn't work its magic. So, I'll take part of the blame. I'm sorry you sucked." Aurora said, making Lucas laugh as he wrapped his arm around her, and she laid her head on his shoulder.

"I guess the picture we took didn't count, huh?" Lucas said, and Aurora shook her head. Before the game, when they both had their uniforms on, they had Haley take pictures of them with Aurora's polaroid camera. They took smiling photos and, of course, a few goofy pictures.

"I guess it didn't," Aurora said as she laughed. Lucas looked around and noticed that Aurora's car wasn't there, meaning she had walked to the river court. They don't live that far away from the river court, but he didn't know she would walk here along in the dark.

"Want a ride home?" Lucas asked. Aurora nodded, and the two friends stood from the picnic table and started to head over to Lucas's truck. Their ride home was mostly silent, but Lucas had the radio on. He told a few jokes here and there, but they didn't talk much. When Lucas pulled over to park outside Aurora's house, she turned to face him.

"Luke, can I ask you a question?" Aurora asked. Lucas nodded his head as he turned and faced her.

"You can ask me anything, shoot," Lucas said.

"Why did you decide to do it? Join the team? I'm not trying to knock you, but you know, you don't exactly fit into that world. We have our own world at the river court." Aurora said, and Lucas nodded his head.

"The game, I guess. I love the game." Lucas said, and Aurora rolled her eyes.

"Right. The same reason I cheer. It's all a big game. Why not stay on the river court, Lucas? You were always happy there. Why join the varsity team?" Aurora asked.

"Because I want to know if I'm good," Lucas said.

"Luke, you're one of the best basketball players I've ever seen. But, if you ask my opinion, we all just wasted a perfectly good evening. You, me, and everybody else in there." Aurora said.

"You know... I've never really asked you. Why do you cheer? I mean, do you really like it? Or is it just something to do?" Lucas asked. It was a good question, and Aurora had never thought of the answer. None of her sisters were cheerleaders, but when she was little, it was something Aurora wanted to do; then she found Brooke and Peyton through cheerleading, and then she and Nathan grew up with the basketball/cheerleader dynamic. It's always been part of her.

"If I say I love it, I'm just another cheerleader. If I say I hate it, I'm either a liar or a fake. Either way, I lose." Aurora said as she shrugged her shoulders. She turned to her house, and then she turned back to Lucas. "Do you wanna come in?" She asked.

"Haley and your parents home?" He asked.

"I don't know, but I'll find out when I go inside," Aurora said. Lucas laughed as he shook her head to decline the invitation, so Aurora leaned over and kissed him on his cheek. "Thanks for the ride, goodnight Luke." She said.

"Sleep well, cheerleader."

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The following day, everyone was in class. Peyton, Nathan, Lucas, and Aurora had the same class this period. Aurora's seat was more towards Nathan than Lucas, and Peyton was near them too. "Early in his career, Hemingway was frustrated. He was a good writer who wanted to be great. And eventually, he discovered that less is more. Peyton, describe Lucas using just one word." Mr. Kelly said.

"Choke," Peyton said, which made everyone in the room laugh except for Aurora. She rolled her eyes.

"Okay, be quiet, please. Thank you. Lucas, care to respond? One word to describe Peyton." Mr. Kelly said.

"Lonely." Lucas responded, which made everyone around the room 'ooh.' Then Aurora raised her hand to get Mr. Kelly's attention.

"Yes, Aurora?" He asked.

"I can describe Peyton in one word," Aurora said with a sweet smile on her face, and Mr. Kelly nodded his head, waiting for her to continue while all eyes in the room turned to her. Aurora turned to Peyton. "Insecure." She said. More laughs, 'oohs,' and snickers went around the room.

"I can describe Aurora in one word, too, slut." Peyton said, which made Aurora laugh.

"Aw, are you jealous that your boyfriend likes me more than you? There goes the insecurity I was just talking about." Aurora snapped back, making the room laugh even more, and everyone was waiting for them to start fighting, but Mr. Kelly was still trying to keep the room calm.

"Okay, okay, class. Everyone, quiet." Mr. Kelly said, and then he noticed Nathan's hand was in the air. "Yes, Nathan? Please, don't make this worse." He said.

"I can describe Lucas in one word... Bastard." Nathan said, and Aurora's eyes widened. Out of all the things Nathan could've said, she wasn't expecting him to say that. The room erupted again, the class egging them on. And unlike Peyton and Aurora.

A fight did break out.

Lucas was quickly out of his seat, tackled Nathan out of his, and they ended up on the ground. Lucas was on top and started throwing punches while Mr. Kelly was trying to separate them, and everyone else was cheering them on.

"Knock it off! Knock it off!"

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After school, Lucas and Aurora were on the cafe's roof on their golf course. Lucas talked to Aurora about what she and Peyton said to each other during their class, where he fought Nathan. Aurora told Lucas that what Peyton said didn't bother her because she knows she's not a slut. She's only had sex with one person and hasn't had sex again. Sleeping with one person doesn't make her a whore.

"Any side effects?" The pair heard. When they turned around, Haley walked over to where they were, and Lucas raised an eyebrow.

"From what?" Lucas asked as she joined them. Haley didn't look happy. She had her arms across her chest and didn't look pleased as she looked at Lucas.

"Your amnesia," Haley said.

"Haley Bob James... What the hell are you talking about?" Aurora asked her sister.

"I'm talking about how Lucas must've gotten amnesia because I know he would've mentioned that he got in a fight today," Haley said, which made both of them sigh as they looked at her. "Are you okay, Luke?" Haley asked, and Lucas nodded his head.

"Yeah... you ever wake up from a really good dream and try to get back to sleep? Or you just got the flu, and you promise yourself that you'd appreciate normal so much more if you could just get back to it?" Lucas asked, and the girls nodded their heads.

"Yeah." Haley and Aurora said at the same time.

"That's the way I feel. I just want things to go back to normal, back to the way they were." Lucas said, which made the girls frown.

"With basketball?" Aurora asked.

"With everything."

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"Have you guys ever figured out your porn name?" Haley randomly asked while she, Aurora, and Lucas were walking down the sidewalk. Aurora looked over at her sister and raised an eyebrow. What the hell went through her mind sometimes?

"I'm sorry; what the hell are you talking about?" Aurora asked.

"Your porn name! You know, the name of your first pet and your mother's maiden name, and then you put them together. What was the name of your first pet?" Haley asked as she looked at Lucas.

"Remember, he had a dog named Rocket," Aurora said.

"Oh, yeah! Rocket! I loved Rocket! So your mother's maiden name is Roe. Rocket Roe, nice!" Haley exclaimed.

"Well... mine and Haley's will be the same," Aurora said.

"What is it?" Lucas asked.

"We had a bunny... named bunny," Haley said.

"You had a bunny named bunny?" Lucas asked.

"Yeah, and I never let Haley name anything after that. And our mother's maiden name is Beaugard... so nice. The Bunny Beaugard twins." Aurora said.

"Bunny Beaugard," Lucas repeated, and Aurora laughed.

"Dawson's Freak, starring Rocket Roe and the Bunny Beaugard twins," Haley said.

"Nice," Lucas said.

"Shut up," Aurora responded, and they all started laughing. "Hey... the game tonight... are you really not playing anymore?" Aurora asked. She was dressed in her cheer uniform and had her duffel bag with her, but they still had a few hours before she needed to be back at the school.

"No... you know, I've never walked away from anything before." Lucas said.

"I know," Aurora responded.

"But, I can't do it. And even worse, I don't know why I can't do it. You know, it's like, no matter how confusing or screwed up life got, the game always made sense. It was mine, you know. And in a lot of ways, it's who I am. But I can't be that person in their gym, their uniforms, or in... their world." He said. Aurora frowned, but she understood what Lucas meant. It's a hard world to be in.

"I hear you, Luke... but I also know you, and I know that no matter what happens, you're still going to be the same guy you always were. No uniform, no... whatever is going to ruin that, you know? Call me later; we'll go get some pizza." Haley said, and Lucas nodded his head.

"I'll see you guys later, okay?"

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─── AUTHOR'S NOTE
oh but we all know lucas will be back on the court.

don't forget to vote/comment. 

xoxo.