One Tree Hill was my generation’s Saved by the Bell, The Wonder Years, and Melrose Place all rolled into one. It was also the backdrop to my over-anxious, bookworm-ish, braces-filled adolescence. Tree Hill was the kind of place I wish I lived…everyone was beautiful, even the popular kids were super nice, the plot twists were salacious and wildly dramatic, and, DAMN, could they turn a phrase.
My name is Lucas Scott. I’m a senior at Tree Hill High School. I play basketball…at least I used to. I have a girlfriend…at least I used to. And I have a best friend. Tree Hill is just a place somewhere in the world. Maybe it’s a lot like your world, maybe it’s nothing like it. But if you look closer, you might see someone like you, or someone like you. Someone trying to find their way. Someone trying to find their place. Someone trying to find their self. Sometimes it seems like you are the only one in the world who’s struggling, who’s frustrated, unsatisfied, barely getting by. But that feeling’s a lie. And if you just hold on, just find the courage to face it all for another day, someone or something will find you and make it all okay. Because we all need a little help sometimes – someone to help us hear the music in their world, to remind us that it won’t always be this way. That someone is out there. And that someone will find you… Lucas
There’s no shame in being afraid. Hell, we’re all afraid. What you gotta do is figure out what you’re afraid of because when you put a face on it, you can beat it. Better yet, you can use it. Coach Whitey Durham
I was thinking about the finality of it all – how somebody can leave your world in the blink of an eye and be gone forever. It’s too enormous to think about. It’s too hard. And then you’re just supposed to go on, right, like just deal with it, I mean really you’re only supposed to be sad for as long as the flowers last and then, oh, time to go back to telling jokes and reminiscing about the old days. Haley
You ever heard the expression ‘The best things in live are free.’ Well that expression is true.’ Every once in a while, people step up they rise above themselves sometimes they surprise you and sometimes they fall short. Life is funny sometimes. It can push pretty hard but if you look close enough, you can find hope in the words of children, in the bars of the song and in the eyes of someone you love. And if you’re lucky, if you’re the luckiest person on this entire planet, the person you love decides to love you back. Nathan
Have you ever wondered what marks our time here? If one life can really make an impact on the world… or if the choices we make matter? I believe they do. And I believe that one man can change many lives. For better… or worse. Lucas
Truth is still absolute. Believe that. Even when that truth is hard and cold, and more painful than you’ve ever imagined. And even when truth is more cruel than any lie. Lucas
I want to draw something that means something to someone. You know, I want to draw blind faith or a fading summer or just a moment of clarity. It’s like when you go and you see a really great band live for the first time, you know, and nobody’s saying it but everybody’s thinking it: “We have something to believe in again.” I want to draw that feeling. But I can’t. And if I can’t be great at it then I don’t want to ruin it. It’s too important to me. Peyton
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When life comes rushing at you out of the darkness who will you choose to face it with? Will it be someone you trust? Will they be wise? And will their love for you help them to guide you to the light, or will they lose their way in the darkness? Will they make noble choices? Or will that person be untested, someone new? Life comes rushing at you from out of the darkness. When it does, is there someone in your life you can count on – someone who will watch over you when you stumble and fall, and in that moment, give you the strength to face your fears alone? Lucas
Someone once said; ‘It’s the good girls who keep diaries. The bad girls never have the time. Me… I just wanna live a life I’m gonna remember. Even if I don’t write it down… Brooke
Seems to me we’ve lost track about what this game is supposed to be about, myself included. Now I want you to take this time and think about why we’re really out there. ‘Til then no practice. Coach Whitney Durham
You can choose to blame your circumstances on fate or bad luck or bad choices. Or you can fight back. Things aren’t always going to be fair in the real world. That’s just the way it is. But for the most part, you get what you give. Rest of your life is being shaped right now. With the dreams you chase, the choices you make, and the person you decide to be. The rest of your life is a long time. And the rest of your life starts right now… Haley
Happiness comes in many forms-in the company of good friends, in the feeling you get when you make someone else’s dream come true, or in the promise of hope renewed. It’s okay to let yourself be happy because you never know how fleeting that happiness might be… Lucas
Okay, guy in need of a clue. Here’s one. Women send signals. That was a brush off. Before you dip into your shallow pool of wit, let me paint us a picture and save us both the trouble. Here’s your evening. You are going to slink back off to your buddies, laugh this off, get wasted, go home, and make nice with yourself. But don’t be thinking of me because even your fantasy of me isn’t interested in you. Brooke
You know, my pride says, “Yeah. that’s it. Just leave here knowing Haley is obviously intimidated by a sexual relationship.” But my heart says, “Forget about your pride, you idiot. You love this girl. And even if you catch pneumonia, your ass is gonna stay out here in the rain until you convince her to forgive you” So come on, Hales. Just meet me halfway here? Nathan
I’m sticking with the shoelaces. The hearts say I like you, but the shoelace part isn’t too mushy. Jamie
Anna, it’s not about who I am, okay. It’s about who they are. They are people who hate, and they divide, and they feed off of people who don’t fight back. Yeah I could laugh this off, but what about the girl who can’t? Who’s gonna help her. Silence only makes them stronger. Peyton
I’ve come to the conclusion that if having things turn out the way you wanted them to is a measure of a successful life, then some would say I’m a failure. The important thing is not to be bitter over life’s disappointments. Learn to let go of the past. And recognize that every day won’t be sunny, and when you find yourself lost in the darkness and despair, remember it’s only in the black of night you see the stars. And those stars will lead you back home. So don’t be afraid to make mistakes, to stumble and fall, cause most of the time, the greatest rewards come from doing the things that scare you the most. Maybe you’ll get everything you wish for. Maybe you’ll get more than you ever could have imagined. Who knows where life will take you. The road is long and in the end, the journey is the destination. Coach Whitey Durham
It’s the oldest story in the world. One day you’re 17 and planning for someday. And then quietly and without you ever really noticing, someday is today. And then someday is yesterday. And this is your life.
Albert Camus once wrote, “Blessed are the hearts that can bend; they shall never be broken.” But I wonder if there’s no breaking then there’s no healing, and if there’s no healing then there’s no learning. And if there’s no learning then there’s no struggle. But the struggle is a part of life. So must all hearts be broken? Nathan
It’s not my intention that one day this scholarship fund will erase the past. But it is my intention that one day it might eclipse it and remind a new generation of sports fans that what you do matters. And how you do it matters. Marvin “Mouth” McFadden
Most of our lives are a series of images, they pass us by like towns on a highway. But sometimes a moment stuns us as it happens and we know that this instant is more than a fleeting image. We know that this moment, every part of it, will live on forever. Lucas
At this moment there are 6,470,818,671 people in the world. Some are running scared. Some are coming home. Some tell lies to make it through the day. Others are just now facing the truth. Some are evil men, at war with good. And some are good, struggling with evil. Six billion people in the world. Six billion souls. And sometimes — all you need is one. Peyton
Some people believe that ravens guide travelers to their destinations. Others believe that the sight of a solitary raven is considered good luck while more than one raven together predicts trouble ahead. Lucas
There are moments in our lives when we find ourselves at a crossroad, afraid, confused, without a roadmap. The choices we make in those moments can define the rest of our days. Of course when faced with the unknown, most of us prefer to turn around and go back. Lucas
You ever look a picture of yourself, and see a stranger in the background?. It makes you wonder how many strangers have pictures of you. How many moments of other peoples life have we been in. Were we a part of someone’s life when their dream came true or were we there when their dream died. Did we keep trying to get in? As if we were somehow destined to be there or did the shot take us by surprise. Just think, you could be a big part of someone else’s life, and not even know it. Lucas
We fell in love, and at some point, the people we love forgot to love us back. Uncle Keith
Lucas: “Peyton! It’s you.”
Peyton: “What?”
Lucas: “When all my dreams come true, the one I want next to me. It’s you. It’s you Peyton.”
Yeah. You see, then a funny thing happened; Haley. She showed me that you can find the good in everybody, if you just give them a chance. The benefit of the doubt. Sometimes, people disappoint you. Sometimes they surprise you. But you never really get to know them…until you listen for what’s in their hearts and that’s what Haley did with Nathan. That’s what we should do for them. So for you skeptics out there, prepare to be surprised.
It’s a magical place, son. I’ve seen that magic in your eyes for the past nine years. There’s only one Tree Hill, Jamie Scott. And it’s your home. Hayley
Make a wish and place it in your heart. Anything you want, everything you want. Do you have it? Good. Now believe it can come true. You never know where the next miracle is gonna come from, the next smile, the next wish come true. But if you believe that it’s right around the corner, and you open your heart and mind to the possibility of it, to the certainty of it, you just might get the thing you’re wishing for. The world is full of magic. You just have to believe in it. So, make your wish. Do you have it? Good. Now, believe in it with all you heart…
The entire OTH cast