Forever and A Day | one tree hill

four.

The Burning Boat was an annual ceremony that took place each year in Tree Hill. The citizens would toss things that they wanted to get rid of into the boat and watched their bad karma burn away. However, Valentina didn't believe in that so while everyone in town was burning their bad karma, she was in her bedroom, trying to figure out the lyrics to her song.

"There's beauty buried beneath, the surface of what we seek," Valentina reads, "What the hell are we seeking? Why is this so hard!"

She falls backward on her bed and stares up at the ceiling. She should take a break before she fell into a songwriting slump, and it would be weeks before she found her next lyrics. She should probably check in on her younger brother after their game that night. Lucas had scored 12 points and had also hit the game-winning shot to the dismay of her brother and father.

She was happy Lucas was paving a path for himself, but she also knew that Dan and Nathan would be threatened, and Valentina could only teeter on the fence for so long.

At school the next day, Valentina spots Haley at her locker and makes her way over to her.

"Hi Haley James," Valentina greets the tutor as she's grabbing books out of her locker. Haley looks up at her and drops one of her books which Valentina quickly drops to pick up for her. She rises to her feet and holds the book out to Haley who slowly takes it from her with a blush on her cheeks.

"Thanks," Haley says.

"So, you must feel pretty weird now," Valentina says and Haley's brow furrows.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean now that your best friend is popular," Valentina says, "I saw like seven girls go up to Lucas and congratulate him. I was kind of jealous."

Haley laughs, "You have nothing to be jealous of and neither do I. Lucas may be a star on the court, but I dominate in these classrooms."

"I don't doubt it," Valentina says with a grin. Haley stares at her a moment with a smile of her own. However, the moment doesn't last.

"Who do you think you are?"

Valentina looks away to see Peyton standing there in her leather jacket and a frown on her lips. She knew exactly what Peyton was talking about, but she was in the mood to play games.

"What are you talking about?"

"You submitted my sketches to Thud Magazine," Peyton states.

"I bet they liked them. They had to if you're pissed at me," Valentina states, and Peyton glares at her.

"That's not the point."

"Peyton for like the millionth time, your sketches were amazing and while it would have been cool with only the two of us at the concert, I felt like you could appeal to a wider audience," Valentina tells her. Peyton glares at her a moment longer before heading down the hall.

"What was that about?" Haley asks as she watches Peyton's retreating figure as well.

"That was me doing something nice for someone and them getting mad at me," Valentina says, though maybe she was in the wrong. Maybe she had no right to submit Peyton's work, no matter how much she liked it. It wasn't her place to submit it.

"Then again maybe it was me being an ass," Valentina mutters.

Valentina plans her apology to Peyton throughout the day, thinking that she finally has it right in weightlifting. As she heads out of the locker rooms into the hallway, she spots a naked Lucas, covering his junk with two basketballs. She lets out a scream as she shields her eyes.