Beating the Odds

One Tree Hill A.U.

Chapter Two: Not Just A Statistic

After almost hitting that guy, Peyton made sure to get home quickly and without any other incidents. Before long she pulled her comet up into the driveway. Despite the fact that it was only seven, the house was dark. This wasn't a surprise to her, however. She and her younger brother lived not dull but definitely not normal teen lives.

She cut the engine, grabbed her bag, and headed up to the door. Her keys jingled loudly as she opened to door and she quickly stuffed them into her jacket pocket. Her eyes blinked from the light of the living room television screen. She stopped in the doorway, smiling, as she was greeted with the sight of the two sleeping bodies on the couch.

Her younger brother Jake was sprawled out on the couch on his back, his infant neice Jenny asleep on his chest. One of his arms was around the baby and the other across her legs. Jenny's fingers tightly grasped her uncle's shirt. Peyton quickly tiptoed over to the bookshelf and grabbed one of her many sketchbooks and pulled a marker out of her back pocket. She sat down on the armchair across from the two and the marker flew across the pad. Soon the picture of an uncle and his nece appeared on the paper along with the words 'What makes it all worth it'.

Satisfied with her creation, she brought her bag and the picture upstairs to her room. The Ravens cheerleading bag was forgotten at the door as she crossed to the wall space beside the bed. She peeled the adhesive off the back and pressed the drawing on the red wall next to dozens of other drawings. She stepped back and looked at the big picture.

She loved to draw . . . it had always been the one thing she was good at. It allowed her to escape the crappy world she lived in and just focus on what she wanted to be. Not another teenage mother who was adopted because her biological parents were too young when they had her and now her adoptive parents . . . well one was dead and the other was never around. She hated that she was just another statistic . . . she was so much more than that. So what if she had a baby and was only 16 . . . she was still going to school and supporting not only herself and her baby but her 15-year-old brother as well.

Of course hardly anyone knew about Jenny . . . just close friends and family. It wasn't that she was ashamed of Jenny . . . she loved her daughter and didn't regret in the slightest having her. But she knew how people—especially people in high school—could be and wasn't ready to expose her own flesh and blood to the horrors of the world yet. She'd hid her stomach when she was pregnant . . . thankful that it wasn't during cheerleading season. Once Jenny was born she quickly shed the baby weight and was back to her old skinny size. The only way anyone would know by looking at her was the single scar on her stomach where the doctors had to do a c-section.

“Peyt?”

The blonde turned, seeing her brother in the doorway with a crying Jenny in his arms. She took her baby girl in her arms and held in the infant close. Soon Jenny was back to sleep and Peyton continued to rock her. “Thanks for watching her this late, Jake.” Peyton whispered. “Brooke took forever with tryouts for the new year.”

“It's fine, sis,” Jake shook his head. “Don't worry about it.”

“I just hate relying on you so much,” Peyton sighed.

“What's family for?” Jake smirked. “I ordered a pizza for dinner . . . it's in the fridge when you're ready for it.”

“Great, thanks,” Peyton smiled.

“Jen had a bottle about an hour ago but it's been a while since she's had a diaper change,” Jake told her.

“Okay . . . I gotta get her night clothes on anyway and I should give her a bath too,” Peyton decided.

“Oh . . . and your counselor called. She wants to see you over lunch tomorrow,” Jake said.

Peyton groaned, “Wonderful . . . nosy bastards butting in where they don't belong.” With the exception of Coach Durham she hadn't even told anyone at school yet about Jenny . . .

“Pretty much, yeah,” Jake nodded. “I'll be in my room doing homework.” He left the room, closing the door behind him.

Peyton sat down on the bed, snuggling her daughter close. The baby's bright blonde hair glinted in the moonlight coming from the window and her soft breath against Peyton's chest was a comfort to the young mother. There were times when she questioned why the hell she'd kept the baby when she'd found out . . . but there were moments like this when Jenny was asleep in her arms when she didn't regret for a minute choosing to keep her daughter.

Jenny's father had sure put Peyton through so much hell . . . but what he left behind made enduring all of that for so long worth it. Thankfully he was gone . . . Peyton had Jake to help her. She didn't need him. She wasn't just a statistic and she would raise Jenny right.

To Be Continued . . .