━━━━ chapter one.
NO STRINGS ATTACHED,

▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄

            BEING PRESENT DURING ONE OF TREE HILL'S BASKETBALL GAMES FELT almost like an out of body experience. All Capri Martin saw as she stood on the sidelines shaking her pompoms were specs of white, blue, and red as both teams ran back and forth across the gym floor.

You were there, but you weren't. You could hear the cheering in the stands and the announcements being made but at the same time all the sounds mixed together as one. You could watch the players carefully and still miss a shot or a fumble. It was all exciting and confusing all at once. The kind of moment that you just had to be there to understand.

The Martin girl was so in her own head that she didn't even realize Coach Durham sat Nathan Scott out of the game or that her baby brother was having one of his worst games yet. It's like her eyes were focusing but her mind was running wild. In all honesty, she couldn't tell you one thing that happened in this game.

"Ten seconds remain!"

Suddenly Nathan was back in the game. This slowly brought Capri out of her trance. It seemed her brother wasn't the only Martin off of his game tonight. Slowly but surely she fell in tune with the routine her cheer team was finishing.

"Now five. Scott for the game!"

The room fell quiet as all eyes carefully watched Nathan shoot the ball into the net. The ball steered clear of both the rim and the backboard, going straight into the net, causing the crowd to go wild.

That was it.

Tree Hill had won yet another game.

Capri stood still, watching as the players all ran up to Nathan, praising him like a God. She wondered if they'd even care about him if he wasn't probably the best player in Tree Hill at the moment. Hell, they all surely seemed to forget about her after she lost her mom. She just wasn't as exciting anymore.

She wondered how much time did she have left to re-spark everyone's interest before she was officially labeled a nobody.

Capri began to smile when she looked over to see Kairo, instead of cheering with his teammates, run up into the bleachers straight toward their younger brother and father. It was refreshing to see that some things didn't change.

Once she turned around to head back to the locker room for her things, Capri glanced over at Nathan who had his arm wrapped around the waist of his punk rock girlfriend, Peyton Sawyer.

Nathan Scott.

God, did she hate that man. Well, strongly disliked. He was arrogant and entitled, he was rude, cocky, shady, and annoyingly attractive but all together a dick. Ugh, she hated him.

So much.

Maybe a little too much?

After grabbing her things and saying her goodbyes to her squad, Capri walked outside toward the parking lot where all of the crowd was dispersing. And that's when she saw him.

Jake Jagielski.

Now, him...he was beautiful. He was kind, he was honest, caring, and giving, And though most times he was super to himself, still he was so excruciatingly perfect.

The complete opposite of Nathan Scott.

But he was also her best friend.

"Capri!" she heard her name being shouted. She stopped in place to allow her younger brother, Kairo, who was running toward her with his usual grin to catch up. "We won!"

Capri lightly smiled, nudging his shoulder. "Yeah. I was there, remember?" she reminded him, though her eyes kept trailing over to the remainder of the team where a certain teammate stood.

Kairo laughed, amicably following her wandering eyes. But before he could make some comment about her little crush, their father walked over toward them hand in hand with their baby brother, Asaad.

Their father, Calvin, stopped in front of them, watching as Ace ran to Capris side, "I was thinking maybe we could head over to Karen's and celebrate."

"Actually," Kairo hesitated. "The team wanted to celebrate," he told them, looking over at Capri for assistance. "I was just seeing if Capri wanted to come."

"Thanks but no thanks." Capri chirped, seeing Nathan walk out of the gym doors. She absentmindedly tightened her grip on both her cheer bag and her baby brothers hand. "I'm gonna call it a night."

Seeing the look on her father's face, in his eyes, Capri stared down at her shoes. Whether it was worry or disappointment, the look was there very sternly. Capri hadn't been out since her mother's death. Not to a party, a sleepover, or any other outing—— she mainly kept to herself. And he really worried about her.

Calvin looked down at Asaad before looking back up at the two of them. "Well, I was just gonna take Ace out for some ice cream. Thought you two would want to join, but I get it, you're teenagers now."

"Dad, really?"

"Oh, come on!"

"No, I understand." Calvin stated, playfully placing his hand over his heart. "At least, Asaad still wants to hang with his old man."

"Sorry, daddy," Asaad giggled, shrugging his tiny shoulders. "I just want ice cream and sprinkles."

The family of four burst out into laughter in the parking lot as Calvin walked up and threw Asaad over his shoulders, spinning him around. Capri's laughter died down as she watched her family be overtaken with joy. It was nice to see them have a good day, especially after all of their bad days when their mother was sick.

Calvin looked over at his only daughter, sensing her mood and set Asaad down. "Well, we'll let you two get to it. Be home before eleven, you hear me? It's still a school night." He pointed at Kairo who threw up his hands with a nod.

Once Calvin and Assad walked away, Kai's arm wrapped around Capri's shoulders, and she leaned into it. "You okay?"

"Yeah, just tired." Capri turned toward him, attempting to laugh it off. She looked up to see her brother's eyes focus completely on her like he was searching her for the truth. Once he opened his mouth to speak, Capri playfully pushed him away. "I'm fine, I promise. Now, go! Go celebrate."

"Okay, I'm going."

The basketball team began walking toward their cars, chanting about their win. And of course, Nathan was front and center, guiding them along followed by his little puppy, Tim Smith. Kairo walked off to catch up with them while Capri's eyes, once again, fell onto Jake who then looked up at her. However, Nathan's eyes found her as well.

"Hey, Martin!" Nathan called out, causing her to force a smile as she glared up at him. "You looked good tonight."

"So did Peyton." Capri reminded him while grabbing her keys from the side pocket of her duffle bag. She ignored the smirk on Nathan's face. "Now if anyone looked good, it was Jake. Ready, Jake?" She batted her eyelashes as Jake slightly blushed.

When it came to Jake, Capri was as soft as they come, but when it came to Nathan, in that moment it was only him and her followed by their mutually but complicated hatred and/or attraction.

Nathan mumbled something looking at Tim before walking away. "Sweet dreams, Martin."

"See ya, Capri." Tim shouted as he followed along with the Scott boy. Capri scoffed, rolling her eyes as she watched them walk away with her little brother in tow, leaving the behind Jagielski boy.

Jake smiled, digging his hands into his pants pocket. "So, was that all true or...?" he joked, watching as a smile crept onto her lips.

"Oh, wouldn't you like to know?" Capri grinned. Her voice got quieter and less confident but she answered. Jake watched her for a second before motioning with his hand for her to give him her cheer bag. He always carried it to her car. Once she did, he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and started to walk alongside her.

A chuckle escaped from the Jake's lips as he shrugged his shoulders. "I always knew you had a little thing for me."

Capri let out a fake gasp, "Little?" she continued to play along. "My life motto is live, laugh, love Jake Jagielski, obviously."

"Obviously." Jake repeated sarcastically. After a while, his shoulder brushed against hers as she stopped, signaling that they were at her car. "You still coming over? I know Jenny misses you." He gave her his million-dollar smile.

The Martins were super close with the Jagielski's, so of course they knew about Jake's daughter. The eldest Martin, Calvin didn't want that sort of life for his daughter but as long as she and Jake were just friends, he never minded. He knew Jake was a good kid who made a mistake but he also knew Jenny would be the greatest mistake he'd ever make.

"Um, no, not tonight, J." Capri spoke up, running her hand through her dark curly hair. "I think I'm just gonna head home."

Jake's smile slowly faded but he nodded his head in understanding. "Okay...next time. It's a date, Martin."

"I'll hold you to that."

In another life, this would have been the part in the story when he would have brushed her hair back behind her ear and leaned in, but everyone knew Capri was super closed off and wouldn't give any guy the time of day. Plus, Jake had enough going on in his life at the moment and he had his hands full with his daughter. The only girl he needed.

But something in their friendship changed over the past few months. Of course, in denial, Capri blamed it on the fact that her mother died and he was just helping her grieve.

The boy chuckled as he handed her back her cheer bag. "Goodnight, Capri."

"Night." The girl waited until he turned his back to let out the deep breath she'd been holding. Her rock hard exterior was definitely for show and was sometimes hard to let back down. Before Jake could get too far, she called out for him. Jake turned on his heel and the girl placed her hand on her hip, "For your information, I like lots of food and I want to be romanced."

Jake furrowed his brows but smiled at the girls' statement. "I'll definitely remember that." This made the girl leap into a blushing fit.

Brooke Davis sat at the end of Capri's bed, painting her toenails a rosy pink shade. Her head was nodding to the music coming from Capri's speaker. Meanwhile Capri stood in front of her closet, going through some of her clothes.

Capri held up a neon pink tank top just enough for Brooke to see. "B, is this cute or...?"

Brooke's eyes lit up as she paused painting her toes. "Yes! Wait on me or you?" she grinned, hoping the girl would gift her the shirt.

"I don't have the boobs for it anyway." Capri playfully rolled her eyes, throwing the shirt over beside her friend on the bed. Her eyes focused in on the pink nail polish in Brooke's hand. "If you drop that on my bed, you're dead."

As if on cue, the door pushed open and Brooke jumped, dropping some polish onto Capri's yellow and pink floral comforter. Her eyes widened as she stared at the Martin who was staring right back at her with dark eyes until Peyton stormed in.

"Ugh, Nathan's such a jerk!"

As Peyton laid back on the bed, holding a pillow to her chest, Brooke continued with the nail polish, "Tell us something we didn't know." she sang.

Capri let out a low chuckle, shaking her head at the brunette before turning her attention to the blonde. "What happened, Peyton?"

Peyton stared off in frustration, "He just...ugh, he just-" She stood up, throwing her hands in a strangling position as Brooke and Capri stifled their laughs. "Why do I even put up with him?"

Brooke lifted her head. "Because you feel the need to fix broken things."

Capri walked back into her closet. Come to think of it, there was nothing Nathan did to even be worthy of her friend much less any girl. Nathan had to have something good about him other than basketball, right?

"Caprim Reaper?"

Rolling her eyes at the nickname given to her in middle school, Capri poked her head out of the closet. Peyton tilted her head, staring up at her. "Every time we talk about Nathan, you go mute."

"True.." Brooke hummed.

Capri shrugged her shoulders, picking up some hangers off of the floor. "Because I know you don't want to hear what I have to say."

"How would you know? You never say."

The Martin girl looked over at Brooke who had her brows raised, waiting for her response. "Okay.." She walked toward the two girls before sitting beside Brooke on the bed. "Brooke's right."

"Hey!" Peyton exclaimed in offense while the Davis sat with a grin.

But Capri continued. "Nathan's a dick. Everyone knows that but even with all the slaps to the face, you're the only one who keeps going back for more. Well, I mean other than Tim. You're attracted to broken things but Nathan's not broken. He just enjoys tearing people down, being on top."

"My mom used to tell me stories about my dad and when they were younger, he was just like Nate. Selfish and conceited, not caring about anyone but himself. And my mom threatened to leave him but he knew that meant losing the best thing in his life. So, I'm not telling you people can't change, but I am letting you know that Nathan won't. And there's no point in wasting your time."

Capri looked up to see Peyton staring down in thought  while Brooke had wide eyes before blinking. "Woah, you're like a shrink."

Capri chuckled, pushing Brooke's shoulder as Peyton looked up at her. The energy in the room seemed low and dark until Peyton smiled. "You're good."

"I know." the girl laughed. Brooke and Peyton tackled  her in a hug as they all giggled, forgetting all about the Scott for a moment.

"Ughh! Come on!"

Capri leaned her head against the school's vending machine as her black and white converse repeatedly kicked at the bottom of the machine. She was already stressing over the upcoming quiz in her next class and to add the cherry on top, her period decided to pop in its ugly head.

So here she was at the vending machine just trying to buy a Twix but the machine ate her dollar and left her empty handed.

"What did that vending machine ever do to you?"

"Stupid machine took my money," Capri sulked, turning her head. "That's wha-"

Nathan stood in front of her with his usual smirk, holding his backpack over his shoulder as his other hand rested in his jeans pocket. His eyes shamelessly scanned her petite figure. Capri wore a black Scream tee with a bright white long sleeve underneath which both resided just right above her hips. She wore dark low rise jeans that exposed just a little skin and her clean but worn out converse.

Feeling his eyes on her body, Capri slowly moved her arm in front of herself to block her bare stomach. Nathan took the hint and brought his eyes up to her face which wore little to no makeup but a tinted lipgloss.

Nathan let out a low chuckle. "You okay?"

The Martin hummed in response with a nod. "I'm fine."

"Oh, really? Tell that to the dent in the vending machine." Capri's head dropped to see if there was really a dent when Nathan began laughing. "I'm kidding. You sure you're okay?"

"You mean other than the fact that it feels like my body is at war with itself? And the fact that this stupid machine won't give me my Twix? Just peachy." The girl pinched the bridge of her nose before looking up at Nathans confused stare. "Cramps."

"Oh." He awkwardly scratched his eyebrow before motioning to the vending machine. "You need some help?"

"Nope."

"You sure?"

"Positive."

Capri took this as her moment to leave so she grabbed her backpack from the floor and turned on her heel, getting swept away into the crowd of students. She still had a few minutes left before her next class so she figured she'd go find her brother.

After a minute, she found him standing at his locker with Brooke at his side. She was leaned up against the locker beside his as he closed his own.

"You're disgusting," Capri heard Kai say when she approached them.

Brooke smirked. "I know." Her eyes lit up at her friend's approach. "There's my favorite Martin!" She pulled the girl into a side hug as Kairo rolled his eyes. One minute he was her favorite, the next it was Ace and so on.

"Brooke, do you have any Ibuprofen?"

"Cramps?" Capri nodded and Brooke pouted, rubbing her best friends arm. She dug into her bag, searching for her kit. As she looked up, her eyes focused in on Lucas Scott walking with that girl he was always with. "Yum." Brooke stated, seductively.

It had been a few days since Lucas Scott joined the Tree Hill Ravens and since he butchered his first game. But ever since he'd become center of attention, he'd been on Brookes list of suitors.

Capri grinned. "Really? You only like him because you haven't slept with him."

"Yet." Brooke giggled. She handed the pills to her friend who took them with a playful eye roll.

Meanwhile, Kairo had his eyes stuck on the brunette with Lucas that had passed them up. Haley James. He'd seen her around a lot and had a class with her but he was never sure what her relationship with Lucas was so he kept his distance.

But she was perfect.

The day had been long and tiring, so Capri was definitely not staying after school for cheer. She'd already said her goodbyes to Jake, Kai, and Tim who had to stay behind for practice. So now she was making her way to her car to go pickup her little brother.

"Martin!"

As she was throwing her cheer bag in her backseat, she looked up to see Nathan running toward her with a bag in his hands. She closed her door and walked to the back of her car, waiting for him to come to a stop.

"I got you a little something for the," he pointed his finger toward her stomach, uncomfortably. "Y'know the..."

Capri furrowed her brows, "For the cramps?" He nodded his head as the girl grinned. "Nathan, it's not a bad word."

Nathan laughed, scratching the back of his head before holding the bag out toward her. "Here just take it. I looked up what helps and this was all I could find so..."

"Um, thank you?"

"Yeah." He watched as Capri dropped her head and until eyes found the ground. Her brown curly hair dropping down her forehead. "I have to get back."

"I don't get it," Nathan furrowed his brows and Capri spoke up again. "What do you think you're getting in return?"

"Nothing." When she didn't say anything in return, he rolled his eyes. "It was just a nice gesture. Seriously, no strings attached."

Her eyes squinted. "When I think of you, nice doesn't exactly ring a bell. I seriously can't name one time you've been nice to anyone, especially for no reason."

"You think about me?" Capri rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. The boy chuckled before holding out his hand. "Can we just be friends?"

Capri looked down at his hand but didn't shake it. She turned back to her car, "Goodbye, Nathan."

Nathan dropped his hand, a smirk growing on his lips as he stood there for a second. He looked up at the girl as she unlocked her door before turning around. Once he finally walked off, Capri hopped in the drivers seat of her car. Curiosity got the best of her and she searched the bag which consisted of a water bottle, a bar of dark chocolate, and a Twix. As much as Capri despised Nathan, she couldn't help but smile at the idea of him looking up what helped with cramps.

Her head turned and she saw Nathan standing beside Tim as her fingers tapped the steering wheel. "Nathan Scott, what do you want from me?" she mumbled before throwing her car in gear.

Meanwhile, Tim furrowed his brows staring up at his best friend. "What was that?"

Nathan smirked. "Act one."

𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗲 ,,

❧ i don't know how i feel about this chapter but oh well...

❧ dedicated to my love -novxscomet for all your help!

ravensshome_