Title: Last One Standing
Author: TypoKween
Pairing: Wouldn't you like to know...
Summary: The game is simple… tell the truth. Eight students went into that room to win a scholarship. But only one will be left standing.
Rating: TEEN/ADULT; Language, Adult Content
Disclaimer: I am in no way, shape or form, affiliated with One Tree Hill, Mark Schwan, any of the actors, or The CW. I own jack shit but the ideas in my head.

Please Note: This is practically all AU. I will make reference to things that may have actually happened on the show but unless told otherwise nothing on the show has happened. No love triangles. Some characters are out of character, some are not. Also, there will only be 5 parts to this story. I have it written all the way up to 3 so I'm almost done. Thanks for reading! Hope you like it.

This fic is dedicated to LORI (l a c 18) because without her this would have never left the ground! Thanks girl, I love ya!

Oh, and I made a banner. Just take out the spaces.

h t t p / i m g 1 6 9 . i m a g e s h a c k . u s / i m g 1 6 9 / 8 9 5 1 / l 1 s c y 6 . j p g

Last One Standing

Prologue

To our brave competitors:

The game is simple. Tell the truth. Under no circumstances will you lie. You can't lie, because we know everything about you. We've asked your family and friends extensive questions about you in order to get to know you. You were asked the most private of questions by our staff before you even knew what the challenge was.

So as we said, we know you.

In this game, there are three rounds. There can be no more than one winner and there will be no second and third place winners. If by round three more than one of you remains, you will then participate in the final tie-breaking round. A round where the questions are harder, more intimate and other members (including those who have been eliminated) will be able to vote you off, or vote you to win.

If at any point in the game we think you are not fully telling the truth or are lying, a red light will flash and you will have thirty seconds to tell the truth or continue on in your charade. If we prove you're lying. You're eliminated. If another player thinks you could be lying, they will speak the word: bullshit, and you will have thirty seconds to tell the truth or fake your lie. If the player who called you on your answer is wrong, they are eliminated. If they are right, you are eliminated.

If at any point in the game you feel you are unable to answer a question truthfully or you decide you do not wish to continue any longer all you have to do is speak the word: pass. You will then be eliminated from the game.

ROUND ONE (1): Truth

There is a stack of flashcards in the middle of your table. Taking turns each player will read the card aloud and answer the question truthfully. After the card is answered you will pass the stack to your right and that person will then read their card aloud and answer truthfully. Some questions will be directed towards the individual reading out loud and some will be directed towards the room as a whole. This will continue until the buzzer ahead blares signaling the end of the round. Remember, we'll know if you're lying.

ROUND TWO (2): I Never

In this round you will drink from the cup provided to you each time a question read aloud applies to you. Each person around the table will either choose a card from the middle or make up their own I Never. This will continue until the buzzer ahead blares signaling the end of the round. If everyone at the table has already stated an 'I Never' question and the buzzer has not gone off, anyone can say an 'I Never' in any random order. But remember, we'll know if you're lying.

ROUND THREE (3): Free For All

All bets are off, in this round anyone can ask anything to whomever they choose. Each person at the table will ask someone else a question of their choice. This will continue until the buzzer ahead blares signaling the end of the round. Remember, we'll know if you're lying.

BONUS ROUND (X): Last One Standing

Congratulations are in order if you should make it this far. In this round, the questions are harder and very personal. Eliminated players may come back to ridicule you; break you even, or just plain mess with your head. Also in this round we will bring in special guests that you know on a very personal level. You will have to answer intimate questions with these persons present and will be asked questions by them as well. In this round, there will be no warnings. You lie and you are dismissed. End of story. Good luck.

And as always, remember we'll know if you're lying.

Participants: Brooke Davis, Rachel Gattina, Jake Jagielsky, Haley James, Marvin McFadden, Peyton Sawyer, Lucas Scott & Nathan Scott.

-x-

Oh boy was this stupid game going to be easy.

Piece of cake. Piece of pie. Piece of—

"—ass!" Brooke Davis hissed out her window at the red Mazda that cut her off on the highway. She was already 15 minutes past her planned time of arrival and as the seconds ticked away her stomach knotted tighter.

Could she really do this? Sure she could, she had to do this. It was her only ticket to freedom. Lord knew she didn't have the grades or the SAT scores to get a decent scholarship to NYU. If only she stayed in class instead of skipping to go ride in cars with boys she barely knew.

Life as a teenage screw up was vastly coming to an end. Brooke would rather die than ever utter the words: Would you like to supersize that? Hell. No. She had no choice but to do this. Asking daddy to pay for college was completely out of the question. Besides, if she could, why the hell would she even want to participate in this ridiculous challenge?

Her future was clear. Tell the truth, win a scholarship. Get the hell out of Tree Hill.

Three cars behind her Rachel Gattina sat behind the wheel of her black Denali and bobbed her head. The beat of the song was fast and alive, making her put her whole body into the dance. She sang along with the censored lyrics and ignored the strange looks from passing cars.

She didn't need a scholarship, she was just in it for the fun. She didn't plan to go to college, she was already rich. So her plan was simple: get famous. Or marry a rich celebrity. This game was just that, a game. A chance to get back at every person in that room that thought they were better than her.

Rachel had secrets. She had lots of them. But unlike her counterparts, she did her homework. If she had to dish out the dirt on herself, she was taking people down with her. She'd spent the better part of a week doing some deep digging on her competitors. The stuff she came up with could turn even the bravest man to stone. Oh yeah, she was ready alright.

As Rachel passed through the intersection towards Tree Hill High, Peyton Sawyer sat at the red light nervously tapping her fingers on the wheel. She needed that scholarship. She didn't have money like Brooke, Nathan or Rachel. Or the smarts like Lucas, Mouth and Haley. She, like Jake, had a dream, a talent, and not enough confidence to pursue what she wanted most. All she had going for her was a useless creative talent that would take her nowhere in life.

Or could it? She wanted so badly to go to that art school in New York, she wanted it more than anything she'd ever wanted in her entire life. Even more than having her dad home for birthdays or holidays. Her grades were average, she'd be lucky to get an in-state scholarship to the local NCU, and even then it would only cover half the tuition.

Peyton had plans, dreams even. So she wasn't going to let a little game of truth get in the way of those bright ambitions. No way. So as Peyton mulled these thoughts over in her head and pressed her foot to the gas as the light ahead changed green—Lucas and Haley walked leisurely down the street a block from their school.

"You nervous?" Lucas Scott asked his best friend since childhood, Haley James. He laughed when she looked up at him wide eyed, clearly nervous. "Aww Hales, you'll do fine. Besides, what secrets could you possibly have anyways?" He chuckled at the thought.

She lightly laughed along with him, gulping down the lump in her throat. Today could possibly be her undoing, and Lucas was completely oblivious. "Yeah," she said softly in answer to his previous question.

Had Lucas been a little more attentive friend he'd have noticed the shake in Haley's voice. Unfortunately for them both, Lucas had worries of his own. He too had secrets that even his best friend didn't know. Secrets that made him unsure of the state their friendship would be in towards the end of the game.

Yet they both needed that scholarship. Lucas for his dream to become a writer and study in Boston. Haley had her dream of attending Stanford in the fall. She'd already opened her early acceptance letter a month before and since then had been working triple shifts at Karen's Café. She'd never save enough for four years worth of expenses and tuition. However, despite it all she wanted Lucas to win. She knew he needed it, he needed something to hold on to ever since the death of his uncle Keith.

Sitting on the steps of Tree Hill High, Marvin McFadden (better known as Mouth) contemplated how the hell he got to where he was. He'd seen the flyer tacked to the schools current events board. He'd gone to the interviews, and passed. He wanted that scholarship but honestly he didn't need it. He just wanted it, it would make life easier.

He'd gotten a full ride to his second choice school and was perfectly fine with it. However, Amherst was at the tip of his fingers if he could just make it past the third round and then past the final round of eliminations. He'd gotten up early that morning and was the first to arrive. Alone he thought about all the things he'd heard about his fellow classmates from the sidelines. Being invisible to everyone had its perks. Yet he'd rather have been visible. Especially to one cheerful brunette.

The soft sound of approaching footsteps snapped Mouths head up to see who was coming. He visibly relaxed when he realized it was just Jake Jagielsky. A guy who barely made it to class and was half asleep the entire time. It was understandable though, seeing as how he had a one year old daughter to raise on his own. If anyone, it was Jake who may have deserved the prize the most.

As for Jake himself? He just wanted what was best for his little family of two. This opportunity was perfect, the scholarship could take him places he'd never even dared dream to go. He was talented, he was smart. But he just never had the time to fully apply himself with Jenny around. Not that he'd ever regret her existence, she was the single best thing that had ever happened to him. But life was hard, and even the good ones hoped for something more for themselves.

"Hey Mouth, what's up?" Jake's warm eyes looked down with kindness.

Mouth nodded his head in acknowledgement and stood up, "Nothing much, just trying to psyche myself out for this game. It could make or break you, you know?"

Jake nodded, "Yeah," He looked down at the floor, "I know." He whispered.

As the majority of the contestants arrived at their destinations, all nervous and hopeful, Nathan Scott lay tucked away in bed. Asleep. Snoring the morning away without a care in the world. He'd get there when he got there. He squinted up at the clock as the alarm went off for the fifth time that morning and slammed a hand down on the snooze button.

"Nate, you planning on getting up anytime soon babe?" Deb Scott stuck her head into the doorway of her sons room. He waved a hand in her direction and rolled over in bed.

"Nathan get your lazy ass out of bed right now!" His father, Mayor Dan Scott stormed through the door and into the room, jerking the covers from the bed. "You see what I'm talking about. This is what I mean when I say he's irresponsible!" He thumped a hand onto Nathan's bare back, a loud slap splitting through the air.

"Fuck!" Nathan winced painfully and shrunk back into the bed.

"Watch your language boy and get up. You have a scholarship to win today. It would be nice not to have to foot the bill to Duke. This could be a great opportunity boy, even better than the half-assed scholarships being offered by those asinine recruiters." He snorted and exited the room.

Rubbing a hand over his face he slowly turned to the side and looked over a shoulder to see the dark red handprint his father had left behind. Rolling his eyes he mentally added that to the growing list of reasons he hated his father.

He wanted that scholarship, not because he necessarily needed it but it was the only way he'd get out of Tree Hill unharmed. He wanted to get as far away from his father as possible. Without the scholarship he'd be forced to attend Duke University under the ever watchful eye of his father.

Basketball used to mean something to Nathan Scott, but that was until Dan shoved it down his throat. Dan didn't want it for Nathan, he wanted it for himself. He wanted the glory, the fame. The game just wasn't the same anymore. Nathan wanted out, and the only way to get out was to go to school in California, half way across the country. Dan would have an aneurism before he sent his son away to study anything other than basketball and even then California was too out of reach.

If Dan couldn't unexpectedly drop by whenever he chose to, then Nathan was not allowed to attend that college. Simple as that. With a grunt he ran fingers through his hair and stood up to take a shower. He'd win that damn game, and not just because he had to. But because it's what Scotts do.

They win.