One Tree Hill- Taylor Scott

Chapter 13

My life never seems to slow down or at least become steady. One thing gets better and another gets worse, over and over. Things are perfect between me and Jake, but a lot of other things have happened recently- good and bad. Last week when Jake and I left the party, a lot happened. Brooke got drunk and made fun of Haley. Peyton and Lucas almost had sex but then Peyton freaked out when Lucas told her how much he cares about her. 

Thankfully a few days later Nathan and Haley finally made their relationship official. Nathan and I are getting along again. Lucas's mom is in Italy for six weeks for a cooking school and my mom is helping out at the cafe while she's away. I've managed to avoid Dan for the most part. 

Also, a few days after Peyton rejected Lucas, him and Brooke got together. They went out to a bar and Brooke convinced Lucas to get a tattoo and now they're officially dating. So some good things have happened and some bad, but my life is definitely a roller coaster right now. 

Right now I'm helping Peyton put up flyers around town that she made. The flyers are for Karen's Cafe. My mom thought of an idea for Open Mic Night at the cafe and when Lucas called Karen to ask her about it she thought it was a great idea. Haley then enlisted Peyton to make the flyers. 

"You know," I say to my best friend after stapling yet another flyer to one of those posts that hold up power lines. "I really think this is a great idea."

"Yeah and you know what would make it even better?" Peyton starts suspiciously and I hesitantly look over at her. She walks over to me from the store front window that she was taping a flyer to. "If the most talented singer in Tree Hill showed off her talent at the first ever Open Mic Night."

It doesn't take a genius to figure out that Peyton is talking about me. Ever since I sang in front of Jake he's been talking with Brooke and Peyton about it and they've all been trying to get me to show off my talent. It's starting to get on my nerves. 

"I'm not that good," I mutter to my friend. Do I love music? Of course. But it's not like I have the talent to actually make it in the music industry, so what's the point in singing anywhere? "Dan has made it quite clear that Nathan is the Scott chile with all the talent."

As soon as the words are out of my mouth I regret them. I don't want Peyton's pity and I don't was her to try and console me. She walks up to me and puts her hands on my shoulders, forcing me to look her in the eye. "Taylor, you are one of the most talented people that I know. Dan's head is so far up his ass that he won't ever be able to see it, but that doesn't mean it's not there."

Don't get me wrong- I'm so grateful to have a friend like Peyton who is there for me when I'm down, but right now I don't want her to be telling me how 'great' I am. I just want to drop the subject of me singing and how my father treats me. 

"It doesn't matter, Peyton. Just drop it," I say and right then my phone vibrates in my back pocket. Right on time, at least now I don't have to continue this conversation. I pull out my phone to see that it's a text from Nathan, and I relay what it says to Peyton. "Turns out the 'father son trip' that Dan planned was really supposed to be for Dan and my mom, but she forced him to take Nathan."

Yesterday morning my brother and father left for a nice hotel to have a weekend together, just the two of them. Dan made it seem like it was his idea and he set the whole thing up so that he could bond with his son. It's no surprise that all that was a lie. 

My hope was that the drama with Nate and our dad would distract Peyton from trying to get me to sing tonight, but no such luck. We continue placing flyers everywhere, and Peyton apparently knows exactly what I was trying to do because she shakes her head at me. "Oh no. Don't think you're getting out of this conversation that easy. Why are you so reluctant to do something for yourself for once?"