Ravens: The Next Generation

Chapter 1 (continued): No Introductions Necessary

The buzzer had sounded fifteen minutes earlier and the school gym of Tree Hill High School was still packed full of the celebratory Ravens and their friends and family.

Nathan, Haley, Lucas and Peyton Scott, as well as their friend Brooke Davis, had all descended the stairs of the bleachers to join their daughters on the court, to congratulate the team on the win. Nathan Scott and Lucas Scott had both played on the team during their high school years, and now they were residing in Tree Hill. Lucas and his wife Peyton, Roe's mom and dad, hugged their daughter while Haley put an arm around Lydia.

"You were almost as good as us when we were your age," their Aunt Brooke said to them with a teasing smile and a wink. Roe rushed up to her mom's best friend and put her arms around her waist. "Almost, I said!"

"They were better," Haley said to the two girls and Lydia couldn't help but smile with pride. She was so glad her aunt and uncle had moved back to Tree Hill when their oldest daughter Sawyer had been 14, and Roe was twelve. Not having them around to see her grow up and only seeing them on special occasions had been hard for the whole family - and Jamie, her older brother, too, who was especially close with their Uncle Lucas - but now the family were all together again. It was almost like Peyton and Lucas had never left.

"Mom," Lydia began, turning to face her mother. "Can we go to the café tonight? Us and the team?"

Haley looked dubious. She knew what her group of friends had been like when they were younger. The boys especially. Glancing at her husband, who seemed indifferent but was smiling at her lovingly, she turned back to her only daughter.

"Of course you can, but don't break anything and tidy up after yourselves. No more than ten there, okay? You need to choose who will be going."

Lydia hugged her mother thankfully. "Thanks, Mom! We'll be good, I promise. It'll just be us and a few cheerleaders, a few players. That's all."

Something about Lydia's innocent tone caused Haley not to believe her daughter, but what could she do? The café belonged to Haley and Brooke, now they had been running it for just over ten years after taking it off Lucas' mom's hands, and Lydia and Roe loved to use it as a place for their friends to hang out after hours. They spent hours in there, making hot chocolate and chatting with their friends. Lydia's friends reminded Haley of her friendship group, and she knew her daughter would behave.

"Go on then," she said, kissing her daughter's head. Lydia didn't squirm away for once. Her mother pulled the keys to the café out of her jacket pocket and handed them over hesitantly.

"We're counting on you, girls," Peyton said to her daughter and niece. She stood close to her husband, their arms touching. "Don't mess up your aunt's café."

"Got it, Mom," Roe said, resisting the strong urge to roll her eyes. The adults, after making sure that they would be good in the café and clean up any mess they made and remember to lock up after they left, as well as making sure to be home at reasonable time, made their way out of the gym. Nathan and Lucas walked ahead, shaking their heads at their wives' overprotectiveness, while the three women brought up the rear, disbelieving at how fast their children had grown up.

Lydia and Roe, left in the gym with no adult supervision, turned to their friends. Mischievous smiles flitted across their pretty, young faces. "Ravens," Lydia called the team and cheerleaders to attention. Noah rushed over to her side. "Party at Karen's!"

***

Karen's Café used to be run by Roe's grandmother, Karen, who lived in New Zealand with her boyfriend Andy and her daughter, Lily. Roe missed her grandmother, who was also her namesake, and often wished that Karen lived closer to Tree Hill. She knew her father missed his mom, and Peyton missed Karen too.