A Lot Can Happen At Boarding School (One Tree Hill FF)

Chapter 35

Chapter 35: A Tree Hill Raven always knows to take the moment and let it run, that is, until you can't anymore.

"Shit," Lucas grumbles, listening to the last of his voicemails. He's pacing Whitey's office, where he dashed for privacy as soon as he saw his phone.

"Think you can steal my office, son?" Whitey says gruffly, moving past Lucas to sit at his desk.

"Sorry Coach, having a bit of an emergency," Lucas says, unsettled.

"Take a seat," Whitey says, opening his top drawer.

"Coach, I really –" Lucas starts.

"Take a seat," Whitey repeats, grabbing two tumblers and a bottle of whiskey out of his desk. Lucas takes a seat as Whitey pours.

Whitey slides one of the glasses to Lucas, tipping his own in cheers before they each take a sip.

"Now, what's the problem," Whitey asks.

"I can't really get into it. You wouldn't have the patience for it anyway," Lucas says.

"Try me" Whitey pushes.

"There's a media story about Nathan that's really not looking good," Lucas warns.

"Did anybody get killed?" Whitey asks.

"God, no!" Lucas brushes off.

"Then tell me," Whitey confirms.

Lucas hesitates for a moment, but if there's one person in the world he can trust, it's Whitey. With a sigh, he begins, "Someone's leaked Nathan's annulment papers to the press. They were sealed because he was underage at the time, this shouldn't even be possible."

"Lucas that's certainly an invasion of privacy, but it's not like Nathan actually did anything consequential," Whitey reminds.

"Whitey you don't understand. It was bad enough watching my brother sign away his marriage because my dad told the court he didn't have parental consent. Nathan was nearly catatonic that summer, barely speaking. It was one of the worst things I've seen in my life," Lucas recalls.

"I know son," Whitey says supportively.

"But that's not what this paperwork says," Lucas sighs. "These copies, they cite fraud. They say Haley entered the marriage for financial gain and did not disclose the familial bankruptcy or legal issues of her guardians, of which she was still a dependent. That's not the grounds for annulment either of them agreed to."

"What are you saying?" Whitey asks.

"That either this is really good Photoshop or someone altered the paperwork after they signed," Lucas states. "All you'd have to do is swap out the first page."

"Do you know someone who would do that?" Whitey insinuates.

"I'd like to think not, but we both know I do," Lucas sighs. "Shit."

"Why leak it to the press?" Whitey asks.

"That I don't know. I honestly can't imagine my dad doing that, but so few people knew this marriage even existed. God, this will be a mess," Lucas groans, leaning back in his chair. "The messages I'm getting are already painting Haley as a gold digger. And the media already preys on anything related to Nathan's love life. Half the time they claim he's dating Brooke because she's one of the only women he's seen with."

"I sure hope not," Whitey jokes.

Lucas rolls his eyes. "This is spreading like wildfire. We've got inquiries from TMZ, New York Times, LA Times, Good Morning America, ESPN, Sportscenter, People and a million others. Our publicist has about 12 hours to respond before this goes live tomorrow morning. To be honest, I don't even trust that timeline since TMZ is such a wildcard, it could happen sooner."