TROUVAILLE | BROOKE DAVIS

forty-one.

"Graduation is next week!" Grace squealed as she entered the kitchen, "I have tickets for each of you, Brooke you can just take my Dad's since he's a flake."

"Grace," Jessica said, a hint of warning in her voice.

Grace forces a smile, "Sorry, allow me to rephrase that. My father is a working man that does his best to provide for this family."

"Better," Jessica tells her daughter with a grin, "Have you finished your speech?"

"Yup and I've had it proofread. Tree Hill's first biracial valedictorian. I'm making history!" Grace exclaimed. Jessica smiled at her daughter's excitement while the other teenagers at the table seemed less enthused.

"Yippee," Parker mutters, "Let's talk about something important, like how I got the photojournalism internship in New York!"

"You're going to New York?" Jesse asks, "That means I'll be an only child for the summer!"

"See dreams do come true," Parker tells him with a laugh. She glances over at Brooke who offers her a smile.

"Congrats," she tells her, "You deserve it."

"Thank you," she says grinning, "Though New York has nothing on California."

"Tanning will be my only hobby in California," Brooke tells her, "Well, that and shopping."

"I would surf," Jesse says as he holds his hands out, pretending to be balancing on a surfboard. Brooke laughs at the sight and Parker shakes her head at her younger brother.

___

"There are two tragedies in life. One is to lose your heart's desire. The other is to gain it. Now little did Shaw realize at the time that his words would be the basis of your final. I'd like you to write an essay on the meaning of Shaw's quote. It's due on Monday and then your school year will be over."

Parker twirls her pencil between her fingers as she thinks about the final assignment of the year. From what she knew she had gained and lost her heart's desire. Yet what did it mean? Was it worth it to face tragedy if it meant that you got what you wanted, even for a limited amount of time?

Parker stared at the empty desk that had once belonged to Haley and found Lucas doing the same. She missed her best friend. Both of them. She had filled their void with Nathan, but it wasn't the same. She had started the year with Lucas and Haley. She wanted to at least end it with them as well.

She skipped lunch and instead went to go find Nathan who spent most of his free time in the gym since he got off of his crutches.

"Hey there," Parker said, "No pain no gain, am I right?"

Nathan rebounded the ball from the basket and shook his head at Parker, "You are embarrassing."

"I'm currently your best friend. Be nice to me," Parker tells him.

"What's up?" Nathan asked.

"English final! I was thinking we could get espresso shots and pull an all-nighter," Parker said beaming. She was joking of course, but she wanted to see Nathan's reaction to the suggestion.

"Yeah, no thanks. I do my best thinking on decaf," he said with a laugh, "What's the essay about anyway?"

"Our favorite topic. Loss."

Nathan chuckled, "Well this shouldn't be too hard. Maybe we can pull half a nighter."

"I never do things halfway," Parker teased hold up her hands. Nathan raised an eyebrow and passed her the ball. Parker took a dribble and then shot it into the basket with a swish. She grinned as Nathan looked at her slightly surprised.