"So skipping school" Nathan asks as he and I are at the Swan House, I'm packing some of my things and Nathan here is helping "to pack?"

"This is a two bedroom house" looking his way as I grab one of my large clear storage tubs "my uncle's daughter is coming and I'm sharing a room with her, so I need to make room"

"I did not" heat and blood rushes up my face seeing Nathan hold up a thong "picture you to be a thong girl"

Yanking the thong from him "Let's work on your Spanish? Okay?" He nodded his head "now, let's start off with the basics. Joder"

"Joder?" Raising his eyebrow "what does that mean? How do you even spell that?"

"Fuck" he is taken aback "what? It's a word everyone should know, basics" he lets out a snort of laughter "before we get into spelling and writing anything down, we're going to work on pronunciation and being able to recognize the word. So for instance when I say Pásame mi sostén I'm saying..." Nathan just stares at me, stopping what I'm doing "what does pásame sound like?"

"Pasta?" he asks

"No" shaking my head "break the word down. Pás"

"Pass" he repeats

"Me" I say

He repeats the word "me"

"Not put what you just repeated together" waving my hand.

"Pass me?" He asks

"Now say pásame" he does and I stare at him expectantly "between the pass me and pásame"

"The word sounds like pass me" he realizes

"Exactly" nodding my head "pásame means simply pass me or hand me, it's an action word"

It takes us about an hour before needing to go back to school "Hey, why does this door have a lock on it?" Nathan notices the lock to the basement "Got someone locked up down there?" He jokes

"No" I don't think so "this door has been locked for...actually I'm not sure what is in the basement, my uncle has ordered this door stay closed"

"Why?" He asks

"I don't know" we leave the house then but for some reason this uneasy feeling goes through me, looking back I notice from one of the windows that goes to the basement this white colored bony hand pull away from the window "if I had to guess...it's his man cave"

"So are you going to the basketball appreciation game my dad is hosting tomorrow?" When I think of the word party, his dad does not come to mind. At least not in a good light.

"Why?" I ask

"Because it's for the team" he explains "and you are apart of the team, it's the one time a year everyone acts civilized for my mom. It starts at three.

❤️‍🩹

"You" Lucas looks at me as I sit in the back of the car with him, while his mom and Keith are up front. Uncle Charlie couldn't make it tonight, a missing person's case "look really hot"

"I know" he snorts while I check my makeup. I'm wearing this backless high neck black colored body suit with no sleeves, there's this wire that pushes my tits up and the body suit has a deep v neck. To go with it, instead of wearing a skirt I'm wearing a high waisted black colored pants with pockets and black heels with this leaf like design on the front. My hair is swept to the side, in this long lightly waved manner, some easy eyeshadow that makes my eyes sparkle a bit with red lipstick.

"You look stunning Karen" I say to her "and you men look handsome"

Both Keith and Karen have dark brown colored hair with light colored skin and brown eyes, they are in their thirties. Karen has Lucas when she was nineteen I think? She had him when she was in college, that's all I know. Keith is amount same height as Lucas while Karen is a couple inches shorter than me and looks older than she is.

"Thank you Mal" they all say

"Keith?" I ask "I have a question for you"

"Yeah?" He asks

"In the Swan House, there's a lock on the basement door" Uncle Charlie always dismisses me, changes the subject or orders me to forget the basement "the lock is this iron padlock with a skull on it"

"A skull padlock?" Lucas asks

"Yeah" looking at Keith as he drives "have you ever been down to the basement or"

"No" shaking his head no "you know I always wondered what was down there myself but my mom always told me never to go down there, I think the only people who have been down there is your uncle, dad and Dan. You might want to risk your luck and ask him"

When we get to the house "Hey guys" Lucas suggests as we get out "maybe we should have a signal, you know? In case one of us wants to leave"

"Maybe we should just leave?" Keith suggests

"That's no fun" I say "maybe we should have a secret word like...Bob?"

"Bob?" Karen asks

"No?" They shake their heads no

"How about" Lucas suggests "caw!"

He sounds like a raven cawinf "Caw?" Karen scoffs

"Yeah, like a raven" we start to caw like ravens laughing as Lucas exclaims "That's the spirit! So when one of us wants to leave we caw"

"Are you ready Karen?" I ask

"Ready as I'll ever be" she doesn't like going to events with Dan, because for a long time she has felt humiliated about how she allowed Dan to be apart of her life for so long and how naive she use to be "you know, maybe the best plan is to just avoid him all night and then that way"

She stops when Dan Scott opens the door offering us a smile, he's an asshole. An asshole I see right through. He has short dark brown hair, light colored skin with blue eyes and a clean shaven face who stands taller than Lucas and Nathan.

"Come on in" he offers

Walking into the house "You made it" A blonde woman comes over smiling "you must be Mallory" the woman with short blonde hair, light colored skin and brown eyes who is also wearing pants. Good I'm not the only one, I saw a lot of women walking this way in dresses. I'll wear a dress at times, but I just wanted to wear something different tonight "hi, I'm Deb"

"Nice to meet you Mrs. Scott" we shake hands briefly "you have a lovely home"

"Why thank you" she motions to our jackets "Karen? Mallory? I can take your jackets" it takes me a moment before I hand her my jacket and some of my physical scars that I gained are on show but thankfully my back is to the wall so no one sees them "you have very beautiful hair, is your hair naturally red or"

"It's naturally red" I have this natural fiery red hair that I'm always asked if it's natural or not. A color that is similar is Arctic Fox's Ginger Flare and Wrath mixed together to make this red color.

"Nathan tells me you're tutoring him in Spanish?" She asks

"Yes" nodding my head "I won't say he's really well just yet but give it some time and with my help, he should be proficient enough to go all around South America or Spain picking up ladies down there"

She and Dan laugh "That's a relief to hear" Dan says

Any amusement is gone when Lucas and I were about to head to the back "Mallory" turning to Karen as she came over "your back..."

"Don't focus too much on it" the adults just stare at me as Lucas doesn't look at me "I don't" looking to Lucas "come on Lucas" going to the backyard seeing Nathan look towards us.

"You both came" he sounds impressed

"Wouldn't miss it" Lucas looks around the place, I wonder if he's thinking about how this could have been his life. I notice Nathan thinking the same thing.

"Nathan?" He looks my way "have you met Bella?"

He furrows his brows confused "Chief Swan's daughter?"

"I remember being told she threw a tantrum" he shakes his head "Never met her"

"Your going to" Nathan looks at Lucas confused "apparently Chief Swan wants the entire family to greet Bella when she arrives in a few weeks, which includes"

"You're kidding right?" He scoffs "I don't know the girl"

"Take it up with your mom" I say "it was her idea" Uncle Charlie told me about Deb's idea to have everyone greet Bella and know that she's welcomed to the family since she's family.

By the time everyone arrived, Dan is giving a speech "Spirit. The vital principal and animating force" I know some people are looking my way because my scars are on show, maybe I should talk to a therapist about this or go to the Prism and talk to my subconscious "within every human being. Of course" he jokes causing people to laugh "for some of you spirit simply means alcohol beverages. But this Ravens basketball team has a surplus of spirit. It's an incredible team with an incredible group of young men and woman" people look my way and I just have a blank face, I mean how does anyone want me to react? "Except for their crushing defeat by the Fathers this year. This team has been on a roll" I notice Lucas looking at Peyton giving her a small smile while she smiles briefly back, next to her is Brooks who thinks Lucas is looking at her "thank you for my lovely wife for setting up this event" we clap for Deb who nods her head smiling "but Raven team spirit also includes the parents and the local businesses whose financial support make this team great. Tonight's for you" raising his glass "enjoy"

"And here" the leader of the PTA, Sherry who is this huge slut "is to our host, Dan Scott"

"Can I" asks Jake, a member of the basketball team who isn't as bad as the rest of the team "ask or" Jake has short brown hair with light colored skin and brown eyes, he takes a lot of time off from basketball that there's a reason why. I just don't know it. He's like Lucas in being very deep with his feelings.

"You can ask" looking around the place "doesn't mean I'll talk—I'll be back" walking inside to where the bartender is, I notice Brooke and Tim talking lowly.

Tim is another member of the team, good friends with Nathan. He's got this southern accent, he moved here from Georgia I think? I don't know, I know he's from the south. He has short brown hair with light colored skin and dark brown eyes who is about as tall as Nathan.

"Hi" the bartender looks at me as I offer her a smile "Martini, extra dirty" I hand her my Fake ID.

She takes the ID and looks at it before handing it back and making me a drink "So, what's this event all about?"

Putting away my ID "Basically" she hands me the drink "the host there" motioning with my drink to the host "threw this party for everyone to kiss his ass"

She lets out a laugh, Brooke and Tim come over as I eat an olive "Soda or juice?" The bartender asks Brooke

Tim is amused while Brooke is a bit irritated "Actually I was going to ask if you knew how to make a screaming orgasm"

The bartender laughs "For a pretty girl like you, sure" having the strong burning liquid go down my throat "so Luna? How exactly does the host get his ass kissed?"

"He is a huge basket ball former player living his dream vicariously through his one son" pointing to Nathan "he plays point guard"

"And what position" she asks "do you play?"

"Offense" I say

"And you" she looks to Brooke "what position do you play?"

Tim laughs while Brooke tapped the counter "Cheerleader"

"Jocks and cheerleaders" she says "lots of hormones tonight" she whispers "don't go around advertising"

"Thanks for the drink" finishing the olive as she takes the glass back.

"Secret's safe with me" Brooke says, she takes my arm stopping me looking at me intrigued "Luna?"

"Like you don't have a Fake ID" walking back out to the Lucas and Jake "Thinking about the life you could have had?"

"A bit" he says "but then I remembered what kind of person Nathan is since he was raised by Dan and I'm glad Dan wasn't in my life"

I don't know how long it's been till I find Dan Scott by the bar "Mr. Scott?" He looks my way

"Mallory" he says

"Have you ever been to the Swan House" I ask "when you were younger?"

"Several times" he nods his head "why?"

Pulling out my phone showing him the picture of the basement door, watching his facial expression "Have you ever been down in the basement?"

"No" shaking his head "can't say I have"

"Really?" I ask, he is better at hiding his facial expressions than Lucas and Nathan but I can see right through it. He is nervous "cause I heard you once went down there with my dad"

"If I had" he hands me back my phone "it was probably so long ago that I can't remember. Excuse me" he walks away and I shake my head, what is in that basement?