Claudia and Haley walked up to the empty roof that used to have their mini-golf course.

"Looks like we're gonna have to go to Augusta to get in a decent nine holes, huh?" Haley asked as her and Claudia walked onto the roof. Lucas smiled regretfully.

"I didn't think either of you were coming back so I... took the course down. It didn't feel right, letting it fall apart." Lucas explained and Claudia shook her head.

"You're just tired of me schooling your sorry butt." Claudia exclaimed laughing and Lucas handed his friends the paper. 

"I didn't think you'd remember." Lucas replied truthfully.

"Are you kidding me? Tomorrow's the first day of school. Every year we try and predict what the next year's gonna hold." Haley laughed as she unfolded the piece of paper.

"And... every year I realise how out of touch I was with the year before." Claudia laughed and the rest of them joined in. "Unless of course this says that I'd be married and separated by now." Claudia said as she unfolded her piece of paper.

"'This year, I'm going to kiss a boy'." Lucas read out nodding, Haley looked shocked. 

"That's mine!" She exclaimed as she snatched it back. "It's from seventh grade!" She laughed.

"Well, it finally happened for you then." Lucas explained raising an eyebrow. Claudia laughed as Haley smacked him. He was obviously indicating as to when they were dating. 

"Shut up!" Haley exclaimed before she read out the one she was holding. "'This year I'll talk to Peyton Sawyer!'" Haley said in a jokey voice. 

"It doesn't say that!" Lucas shouted taking it away from Haley.

"It does, look at it." Haley stated as she pointed to it. Lucas read it and nodded his head.(

"'Mom and Keith will finally get married'." Lucas read out and both of the girls smiled sadly at him. 

"'I'll date a musician'." Claudia frowned and the rest of them looked at her.

"Why do we do this again?" Haley asked and Claudia shrugged.

"It's supposed to be fun." Lucas replied and Claudia shook her head.

"How bout this year we wait and see how the first day goes before any predictions?" Claudia asked and the rest of them nodded their heads but they refolded the papers. 

"It's good to have you back, Haley, Claudia.  Couldn'ta done the senior year without you two." Lucas stated and they all hugged.

___

(Claudia's hair and outfit)

Lucas and Claudia were walking in school and everyone was staring at Claudia. 

"OK, I know in high school you always feel like everyone's staring at you but this is ridiculous!" Claudia exclaimed staring at everyone.

"Well, they're not used to having a celebrity in their mi-" Lucas explained and Claudia slapped him. "Ow!" Lucas groaned as he looked at her annoyed.

"Let's just find our lockers." Claudia said as she looked through her book. "I'm 141." Claudia read out and looked around. "What are you?" Claudia asked and Lucas looked at his hand where he wrote it down. 

"Uh... 143." Lucas said as he raised his eyebrows.  "It must be alphabetical." Lucas said and Claudia was shocked.

"Which means..." Claudia said with her widened eyes. They point and Nathan shut locked 139. He turned and looked at her. 

"You shoulda used your stage name." Nathan replied indifferently before he turned away

"Still would have been close to each other." Claudia muttered to herself and Lucas looked down at her sympathetically. 

___

Brooke walked up to Claudia outside of the school, they were chatting about how Brooke used her rent money on clothes. Claudia mentioned about she felt like an animal in a zoo and Peyton walked up behind them.

"You could always run away and join a rock tour." Peyton exclaimed and Claudia looked at her annoyed. "Oh, wait, you already did that." She exclaimed grinning and then she waved at Brooke before she walked away. Brooke smiled just to keep the peace. 

"She's had a complicated... year. I'll talk to her." Brooke said uncomfortably before she walked away. Claudia continued as she walked past a group of girls who made no show of hiding their curiosity and cruelty. Sue mimed air guitar and mouthed 'Rock Star'. Claudia walked past them rolling her eyes.

"Hey, you got a problem?" Sue asked and they all laughed. Claudia ignored them as she walked into school. Nathan watched it all happen from a far-off table. 

___

Brooke and Claudia were chatting and then Claudia brought up a question.

"By the way, have you talked to Peyton? I get why Nathan's freezing me out but it's not like I put Peyton up for adopti-" Claudia said and then stopped as soon they looked up to Nathan and Peyton. Peyton looked at her, daring to continue. "-on." Claudia finished and Mouth walked up to them. 

"Star forward, Nathan Scott and wife, Claudia, face-to-face." Mouth said and Claudia could tell that Peyton hated her. "How will her return affect his game?" Mouth asked into his microphone and Claudia sighed before she walked off. Everyone turned to face her and then walked away when the bell rang.

___

Claudia walked into detention. She got detention for being in the boys locker room when she went to ask Whitey if he could talk to Nathan about their relationship. 

"Coach Durham, if I said something to upset you earlier, I'm really sorry." Claudia said sincerely as she held out the detention slip. Whitey took the slip and placed it on the table.

"Take your seat." Whitey stated and Claudia sighed as she walked up to a desk. Nathan walked in and sighed as he saw his wife. 

"What're you doing here?" Nathan asked harshly and Claudia turned around to face him. 

"She's got detention, just like you." Whitey smiled.

"What, are we the only two people that got in trouble today?" Nathan asked just as a kid walked in. Whitey shoved him back to the door. 

"Get lost, kid. You're pardoned." Whitey said as he pushed him out of the door. Nathan shook his head as he took a seat, not next to Claudia. Claudia looked at Nathan but he avoided eye contact. "Today, we're gonna allow talking. I believe you two have some catching up to do." Whitey explained before winking at Claudia and she got it. She smiled thankfully at him.

___

"So, how'd detention go?" Lucas asked as he caught up with Claudia who was already on a mood.

"Oh, it was exactly what it was supposed to be: punishment. Nathan looked at me exactly once when my stomach growled funny and then stared at the clock for the rest of the hour." Claudia sighed.

"Well, gave you time to work on those prediction though, right?" Lucas asked and Claudia looked more upset.

"Are you kidding me? The way this year's going, I predict I'm gonna get my GED." Claudia exclaimed and he sighed. 

"I'll see you at lunch." He replied before he veered off in another direction. Claudia nodded her head and then she walked past the same bunch of girls. They looked at her and laughed again. One of them turned and called out to Claudia.

"Excuse me! Um, aren't you Kelly Clarkson?" Sue asked and Claudia stopped, keeping her back to them. The rest of the girls laughed. "Bitch!" Sue muttered and an irritated Claudia turned around. 

"You wanna try saying that to my face?" Claudia shouted marching up to her.

"You like to sing about headturners, how about I make your head turn?" Sue asked rhetorically as she pushed Claudia. Claudia stumbled back before she shoved Sue.

"I have never done ANYTHING to you!" Claudia shouted and Whitey intervened. 

"Hey, hey, hey, break it up!" Whitey shouted and forcefully separated them. "Break it up now!" She shouted and Sue grinned. She and her friends left. "I'm not gonna have any catfights on my watch." Whitey shouted and Claudia breathed harshly as she watched the girls leave. "Fighting in school – that's a detention." Whitey said and Claudia was so annoyed.

"Coach, she started it!" Claudia shouted outraged.

"Talking back to a teacher – that's two." Whitey said and Claudia looked sad. 

"Whitey, I really appreciate it but I don't think it's gonna work." Claudia explained closing her eyes.

"Calling me Whitey... is three Mrs Scott." Whitey said sternly.

"OK, I think two's enough. I have to work at the kids centre." Claudia explained depressed,

"I'm serious about that third one. I'll see you in detention." Whitey stated and Claudia sighed before she stomped off. 

"Life you suck ass!" She shouted as she walked into the corridor everyone saw her and mumbled. Claudia forward to see Nathan and Peyton. Peyton was grinning and Nathan looked expressionless. She just walked past them, she wasn't in the mood to see Nathan with another girl. 

___

Claudia was sitting in detention looking into space, Nathan was doing homework and then looked over at Claudia. 

"Did you really, uh,... knock out Sue Garvey's front tooth?" Nathan asked laughing and Claudia looked at him, surprised Nathan was evening talking to her.

"Wh-what? Where did you hear that?" Claudia asked groaning.

"It's all over school." Nathan grinned and Claudia leaned on one elbow.

"Great, add 'bully' to my resume now." Claudia groaned as she ran her a hand through her hair stressfully. "You know, I've played for some tough crowds on the road... nothing compares to the hostility I feel walking down that hallway." Claudia explained and Nathan nodded. "What'd I even do to make those girls hate me anyway? They don't even know me." Claudia asked rhetorically.

"It's high school. They don't need a reason. Try missing the winning shot at a home game; you'll feel hatred at a whole new level." Nathan said smiling, Claudia smiled back sympathetically. 

"Nathan-" Claudia began to say but Nathan cut her off.

"I should get back to this." Nathan said flipping through his textbook. "I don't have a tutor anymore." Nathan muttered and Claudia's happiness disappeared, she sighed. 

"Nathan, I can help you right now if you want. We don't have to speak about anything just math." Claudia replied and Nathan shook his head not looking at her.

"It's fine." He muttered and Claudia rolled her eyes. Jack rushed into detention.

"Claudia!" Jack shouted and Claudia looked up worried. 

"Jack, what is it?" Claudia asked standing up.

"I have news." He said and then he turned to face Nathan. "Sup Nate. Oh did I walk into marriage workshop." Jack continued and Claudia looked at him wary.

"Good news, bad news?" She asked and Jack looked over at Claudia.

"Depends." He said sitting at the desk beside her, Claudia grinned a little.

"Okay spill." She smiled and Nathan looked behind him to see what they were doing.

"The family are coming from Devon to here." Jack said and Claudia gasped a little.

"All of them?" She grinned a little worried.

"Every single one of them." Jack replied slowly and Claudia looked confused. "They found through the grapevine that you had a husband and went on a rock tour." Jack said pointing over at Nathan who looked down at his textbooks awkwardly.

"How long are they staying for?" Claudia asked. 

"As long as they want." Jack replied and Claudia groaned a little. Her family were a bit eccentric. 

"Grandma and Granda too?" Claudia asked and Jack nodded his head.

"The lot are coming." Jack replied and Claudia ran her hands through her hair. 

"Should we be worried?" Claudia asked and Jack looked over at Nathan than back at her.

"I shouldn't be, however, you and your husband should be." Jack answered and Claudia looked at Nathan sympathetically. 

"When are they coming?" Claudia asked and Jack stayed expressionless.

"Soon." He replied cryptically. 

___

 "That's fast." Claudia stated as she threw her papers over at Lucas. She thought it was the pizza guy. "You pitching in, you mooch?" She asked jokingly and Lucas smiled at with amusement. She opened the door to see Nathan, her smiled died. "H-hey!" Claudia said awkwardly and Lucas looked over at them, he was ready to step in if Nathan said anything.

"Nice place." Nathan smiled trying to make it less awkward. Claudia just looked up at him. "Can I talk to you?" Nathan asked with his hands in his pocket.

"Yeah." Claudia shrugged. "Uh Lucas, can I borrow your jumper?" Claudia asked smiling as she held his jumper. Lucas just nodded his head as he looked at Nathan. "Don't eat my pizza." Claudia smiled as she shut the door behind her. Claudia slipped the jumper on and smiled weakly at Nathan.

___

"I'm glad it's you that stopped by. Living with Brooke, you never know who's gonna come in for a late night booty call." Claudia said trying to break the silence.

"Look, um,... I've been doing some thinking about us.  About what we're gonna do, and, um,... I still have the annulment papers but if we get an annulment; that means that our marriage never happened. That'd be a lie. I mean, we had a lotta great times together, Claudia. I don't wanna pretend like we didn't." Nathan explained and Claudia sighed as she looked up at him.

"Neither do I." She replied honestly, Nathan felt bad for what he was going to say next. 

"So, instead of an annulment, I've looked into a divorce." Nathan stated and Claudia stood still, she felt nauseous and hurt. Her whole heart fell onto the floor and shattered into god knows how many pieces. Nathan realised that she had stopped walking and turned around to face her. "The state says we have to be separated for a year." Nathan stated and Claudia was still in shock. She stuttered trying to find the right words.

"Uh,... what're you saying?" She asked struggling to wrap her head around it. 

"I'm saying that I think we should see what happens between now and then." Nathan replied cryptically and Claudia walked towards him.

"Nathan, I love you." She said and Nathan looked down. "I know that we can work this out, and a year from now, things will be good for us again." Claudia explained, she truly believed that.

"Maybe... and maybe not. I guess we'll just have to see." Nathan stated and Claudia shook her head disbelievingly as she looked at the ground.

"You can't just do that. You can not decide everything Nathan." Claudia replied as she looked up to him with hurt in her eyes.

"Claudia-" Nathan began to say but Claudia spoke over him.

"No." She snapped. "You decided if I went on tour. You decided if I was allowed to work with Chris or not." Claudia stated trying to hold back the tears, Nathan was taken back. "Okay, you decided to go to high flyers and not speak to me." Claudia continued before she smirked at him with more confidence. "But Nathan, you know that I fight for what I want and I am going to fight for you. Whatever it takes." She finished before she walked off. Nathan didn't know what to do. On one hand he was happy that Claudia was going to fight for him and that she still did love him and on the other he was still pissed. "Oh Nate!" Claudia shouted and Nathan turned to face her. "If this tour made me realise anything, it made me realise how strong my love for you was." Claudia stated before continued to walk away. Nathan smiled a little.

___

It was a new day and students were milling through the hallway. Claudia was staring down the hall, she was getting really anxious and nervous. Nathan saw and walked up to her. Claudia looked up at him apologetic.

"Nate, I am so sorry for what I said last night. It was unfair of me to blame you for all of this. The divorce just made a little bit crazy. But what I said about loving you and getting you back was true." Claudia explained and Nathan just looked down at her.

"Come on, we're late for class." He said kindly before he smiled. Claudia gave him a weak smile as she walked beside him. They walked past Sue and Claudia was so close to sticking her middle finger up but she didn't it. She didn't want to ruin the perfect moment. Nathan placed his arm on her lower back as she guided her to class. Claudia smiled to herself. For once it was like old times.