Hours and hours go by as Luke practices down by the river.

Back at the manor, Tim says to Nathan, "So your pops finally mentioned the bastard spawn, eh?" They raid the fridge. "They say he's got game." Nathan struts away: "Hey, man, I can get us to the state championship with three blind guys and a cripple, which is practically what I got left with you guys." Tim says, "Nice." I feel dirty just typing out that dialogue. The jock jerks set out for the park.

Rock, well, rocks in the background as Nathan arrives on Luke's home court. There's a lot of intimidation from Nathan: blah no one wants you on the team, blah my girlfriend doesn't want you, blah you're an outcast blah. Um, for all Nathan knows, Luke and Peyton have never met. He wasn't there when she almost ran him over. The most he might have caught on to was the fact that Luke looked at her in study hall. Dear writers: Please stop forcing storylines and relationships upon these characters before they've even had a chance to develop. Anyway. The end result? Nathan challenges Luke to a game of one-on-one. The stakes? If Nathan wins, Luke doesn't join the team. If Luke wins, Nathan quits the team.

Haley and Luke walk around town. Luke carries a basketball. Luke always carries a basketball. Haley wants to know if Luke's going to play Nathan. He says he doesn't have anything to prove. Haley says it's not about that; it's about showing Nathan the what-for sometimes. Hear! Hear! Haley, that's the first intelligent thing you've said all episode. A bunch of birds flutter around her. She freaks out. Luke blabs on about murder of crows and parliament of owls and exultation of larks…that's why he's weird. Luke tells Haley he would like to show Dan what a mistake he made by not being in their lives. But Dan's such an asshole, why would Luke even want him as a parent?

Aw, Peyton's attitudinal car shows some attitude of its own by smoking up by the side of an awfully familiar road. Do you think Pacey's brother is patrolling right now? Maybe he could help. She lifts up the hood. Like she knows what's under the hood of a car. Heh.

Luke works with Keith in his garage. Keith asks him why he wouldn't play. Luke replies that he plays every night: "What makes it less of a game if people don't see it?" Blah if a tree falls in the forest, blah memories of great basketball legends, blah fatherly advice blah. Keith insists that Luke plays with the same kind of poetry as the old masters. The phone rings.