TROUVAILLE | BROOKE DAVIS

forty-two

Parker had been dreading her inevitable return to Tree Hill. Of course, she had missed her family and her friends, but being in New York was like being in her element. She didn't care what people thought of her because there was no time to. Everything in New York moved so fast.

She had made plenty of friends during her internship and she had made some pretty questionable decisions that she might not have made if she were the same person at the beginning of her Junior year. She went to parties, drank, and other things that she sort of regrets.

She had written to Brooke for most of the summer, but then she realized that she couldn't move forward if she was still stuck in the past and Brooke was a large portion of her past. So, she stopped writing. Brooke didn't. She kept sending letters that Parker would never open, scared of what they might say.

Parker smiled as she saw her mom holding a sign that said her name in a nice large font. She dragged her suitcase along behind her as she wrapped her mother in a tight embrace, "Hi mom."

"Hey there sweetheart," Jessica said as she hugged her daughter tightly. She pulled away and held Parker an arm's length away, getting a good look at her, "You look like a New Yorker."

"After this year hopefully I will be one," Parker says with a grin, "The internship went really well, and they said that they could see me working there. As an assistant at first, but I could work my way up the ranks." 

"That's great," Jessica tells her.

"I learned a lot about myself mom," Parker tells her thoughtfully.

"You can tell me all about it. In the car."

Parker laughs as she recalls that they were standing in the middle of the airport, "Right."

Jessica throws an arm around Parker's shoulder as she grabs her suitcase and they begin making their way to the exit. As they drove home, Parker took in the sights of Tree Hill, remembering her home and a part of her despising it. She had never realized just how much Tree Hill held her back.

"So," her mother said, eyes steady on the road, "Tell me about New York."

"It was amazing! I met so many cool people! There was Stephan, Emma, Riley, Kevin, Emmanuel, Leah, Megan-"

"How many of these people did you hook up with?" Jessica asked jokingly.

"Like four," Parker joked back, but she wasn't entirely joking, however, her mother didn't need to know that, "And there were so many people there that were like me. Like Kevin! He was really gay and really open about it and no one cared!"

"What I'm hearing is that you want to go to college in New York," her mom deduces and she's right. Ever since her internship ended all Parker could think about was how badly she wanted to get back there.

"Yes," Parker answered, "Mom I know this may sound strange, but I felt more at home those three months in New York than I've felt in my seventeen years in Tree Hill."

"It doesn't sound strange at all," Jessica says, taking a glance at her daughter.

"This year I've decided to be unapologetically myself," Parker says as she glances at the window, "Even if it means stepping on some toes."

"As long as you aren't stepping on the toes of the law, I say go for it," Jessica tells her.

They pull up outside of their house and Parker smiles at the sight of her younger brother shooting in the driveway with some younger boy. Parker gets out of the car and rushes over to Jesse, wrapping him in a tight embrace.