𝐬𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥 ─ nathan scott

deb with the glock

𝐄𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐚 𝐭𝐢𝐩𝐭𝐨𝐞𝐝 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲, the wooden floor creaking softly under her bare feet. She paused outside the guest room, where Brooke had been staying since her fallout with Peyton, and glanced at the clock. It was midnight.

She pushed the door open, finding Brooke sitting up in bed, her face illuminated by the glow of a bedside lamp. Brooke looked up and grinned. "Hey, what are you doing up?"

"Happy birthday!" Emiliana whispered with an exaggerated flair, throwing her hands in the air. Brooke's eyes lit up with excitement.

"Eighteen!" Brooke said, unable to suppress the giddy smile spreading across her face. She hopped off the bed and reached for Emiliana, wrapping her in a tight hug. "Can you believe it?"

"I can't believe my best friend is now an official adult," Emiliana teased, squeezing Brooke tighter. "Time flies, huh?"

"Feels like just yesterday we were dancing to the Spice Girls in your room, pretending we were on stage," Brooke said, pulling back with a nostalgic smile. She turned toward the dresser and grabbed their matching Spice Girls mugs from childhood. Brooke's was emblazoned with Posh Spice, all sophisticated and poised, while Emiliana's had Baby Spice with a playful grin.

"Still got these, huh?" Emiliana laughed, taking her Baby Spice mug from Brooke. "Cheers to us, B. Davis."

"To us, Emi Coop," Brooke said, clinking their mugs together in a mock toast. The sound echoed softly in the quiet room, a comforting reminder of years past. They both took pretend sips, playing up the moment as if the mugs were filled with champagne.

Brooke sat down on the bed, patting the space beside her. "Come on, let's look through this." She pulled a thick scrapbook from under the covers, one filled with glittery stickers, handwritten notes, and photos that charted their shared history. It was their birthday tradition to flip through it, reliving memories captured between the pages.

Emiliana sat next to her, leaning her head against Brooke's shoulder. "You know, I still remember when we made this. We were, what, ten? You insisted we needed to document our 'epic childhood.'"

"Obviously," Brooke said with a smirk. "I had a vision, okay? And look, it paid off." She flipped to a page filled with baby pictures of herself. Her tiny face peered up at them with big, curious eyes and a mischievous grin.

Emiliana pointed at one photo, where Brooke was dressed in an oversized hat that almost swallowed her whole head. "You look like you were plotting world domination," she teased.

"I probably was," Brooke said, giggling. "And you were right beside me, egging me on."

They both burst into laughter, the sound filling the room and washing away the tension that had lingered since Brooke's argument with Peyton. Emiliana traced the outline of one of the photos with her finger, feeling a wave of warmth. She turned to Brooke, whose eyes were misty with fond memories.