TROUVAILLE | BROOKE DAVIS

forty-five

"I'm here for Haley, not you," Parker says as she sees Brooke sitting on the couch. Brooke closes her magazine and looks up at the intruder a smile on her face as she sees the hanging bag Parker is carrying.

"Is that your costume for the party? Can I see it?" Brooke asks as she stands up, closing the distance between her and Parker.

Parker clutches the bag closer to her chest, "Stay away!"

"Parker let me see!" Brooke says reaching out for the bag. Parker runs away from Brooke to the kitchen and the cheerleader follows her, "Parker!"

"Brooke!" she exclaims, "I'm here for Haley not you!"

"What is going on – is that you costume?" Haley asks as she comes out of the bathroom and notices the bag in Parker's hand.

"Yes," Parker tells her, looking over at Brooke, "But someone is being extremely nosy!"

"I wanna see it!" Brooke whines.

"And Haley wants Nathan back. We don't always get what we want," Parker says earning a look from Haley. She turns to her best friend and mouths an apology, "Um so I was wondering if you wanted to get ready together?"

"She's getting ready with me!" Brooke exclaims, grabbing Haley's arm. Parker frowns as she looks at the two of them.

"Seriously Brooke! Why don't you get ready with John or Gabriel or Hunter?"

"Who are those people?" Brooke wonders.

"They're guys that you've probably slept with!" Parker exclaims, "You want Lucas? Fine! But Haley is off limits!"

"She's my roommate!" Brooke argues.

"Yeah, well she's my best friend and I would like it if you gave her back!"

"Guys," Haley intervenes, stepping between the two of them, "Stop it! Parker I promised Brooke I'd get ready with her."

"Ha!" Brooke exclaims causing Parker's jaw to clench annoyed.

"Fine," Parker says, "I'll just see you guys later."

"Parker," Haley calls after her, but parker ignores her as she drives over to Peyton's house. If Brooke wanted to steal her best friend, then she had no problem stealing Brooke's. She knocked on the front door, surprised that it was locked. The door opened to reveal Larry Sawyer, Peyton's dad.

"Hi, I'm Parker, a friend fo Peyton's. Is she home?"

Larry nodded and stepped to the side, "She's just upstairs getting ready."

"Thank you," Parker said as she headed to Peyton's room. When she opened the door, she saw Peyton in the mirror putting on makeup. When she saw the door open, she looked at Parker and smiled.

"What brings you here?" Peyton asked as she continued applying her eyeliner.

"Brooke stole Haley," Parker says, "So now I'm contemplating if I'm going to this stupid party."

"What's your costume?" Peyton asks and Parker glances at the bag that contains her costume.

"Beyoncé?" Parker answered, "Is that bad?"

Peyton shakes her head with a laugh, "No, why would you think it's bad?"

"I don't know," Parker answers, "I'm trying out this confidence thing but it's like everyone is repeatedly running over it."

Peyton laughs and takes a seat on the bed as she unzips the bag and looks out the outfit. It was meant to be as close to the last outfit Beyoncé wore in the Crazy in Love music video, an orange and pink dress with a really low V cut. Her mother had assured her that the dress looked almost identical, but that didn't silence Parker's worries.