My Journey with 'One Tree Hill'

One Tree Hill was “the little show that could”. It always had promise, yet the views during the first season were so low, we weren’t sure if we would get a second season or not. We did, and we go a third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth. Wow. 187 episodes.

I never thought I would love a TV show as much as I had loved Charmed. Those witches stole my heart, Piper being my favorite, and I can’t even tell you how broken I was when the show ended in 2006. That is, until One Tree Hill came on.

I remember seeing the previews for it on what used to be the WB back then. I was 10 years old at the time and I remember asking my mom if I could watch it. Even from the previews it looked like an “adult” show, and my mom said no. The night of the premiere I remember sneaking down to watch it on our little mini couch (for my brothers) in our family room in my old house in Pennsylvania. I was hooked from the first episode.

Naley, or Nathan and Haley, became my favorite couple from the beginning. I shipped them and loved them so much. I watched every single episode live, and eventually my mom found out I was watching it, but didn’t stop me.

In Season 2 before my move to Massachusetts, I slowly and steadily became a Lucas and Peyton fan. Although they weren’t dating, I had loved their connection in Season 1 when they liked each other. I slowly transitioned from liking Naley to being in love with Leyton.

Watching OTH was different when I moved to Massachusetts. I now watched it on our HUGE big screen TV in the basement. Shortly after, I joined othforums.com and loved the interaction with fans about the show. I started a fan-fiction on the forums called ‘The Journey is the Destination” with Lucas and Peyton being the main characters.

When I realized just how much inspiration I got from One Tree Hill and the characters, I decided to write more One Tree Hill stories and self-publish them into books. In the first few months of 2008, I self-published two Leyton-based books, “Because His Writing is a Metaphor” and “Don’t Ever Forget That I Love You”. I don’t remember ever working or being as determined with anything as I was with those books.

I was writing the finale scene in DEFTILY one day; an exchange between Peyton and her father. While writing the scene I broke down in tears and cried my heart out while writing and finishing the scene. I felt so connected to Peyton and to my story. It is to this day the most memorable writing experience I’ve ever had.

While finishing the formatting for the book, I decided to add a quote to the third page. The one I found fit perfectly.

“No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader. No surprise in the writer, no surprise in the reader” Robert Frost.

To this day it resonates so strongly with me and I think about it every time I write a creative piece. I have the first 2 lines tattooed on my ribs, and they’ll never leave my side or my mind.

Writing my books to this day is one of my biggest accomplishments. Despite them technically being “fan fiction”, I got so much praise from friends and family and the feelings I was reminded why I want to be an author when I’m older. They were sold online, could be bought as hard-cover books, and eventually became ebooks sold on Itunes and Barnes N Noble.

This January, my books were removed from the site for being “fan fiction” – something that wasn’t allowed on that site that I missed when reading the agreement. I was devastated. Everything I worked so hard for was gone, everything, all of it. But knowing that I worked so hard, and having copies of my book around me, reminds me that it wasn’t for nothing.

In June of 2008 I bought my first LP engraved ring. It says LP on the outside and “True Love Always” on the inside. I wore it every day, on my thumb, even to bed. I loved having my love for LP so close to me, and with me always.

A year later I lost the ring at the outlet mall at my beach house. I had another one overnighted to me because I couldn’t be without it.

When Lucas and Peyton left in Season 6, I can’t even describe how miserable I was. I debated not watching the show anymore, but I knew I couldn’t. Starting in Season 7, something was different about the show because my favorite characters of all time were GONE. It was still my favorite show, but there was something missing. And something wrong. Seasons seven, eight, and nine were fairly disappointing and overall just sad because every episode I would wish Lucas and Peyton were there and I knew that if they were, the episodes would have been better.

Last night in the finale, all I wanted was for Lucas and Peyton to be there. I was hoping there would be montages of them, anything, but all we got was mention of Lucas. When I watched the last few minutes of the show, with the characters that had only been on for a few seasons, I wished SO BADLY that it were Lucas and Peyton there. They were part of the core 5, and the show should have ended with the core 5. I’ll never forget that Lucas and Peyton weren’t there.

This show, this wonderful show, has given me more inspiration and insight to life and love, more than anything else I’ve ever known. A part of my heart feels like it’s dying now that it’s over, and I don’t think you’ll truly understand that unless you’ve felt this way about characters or a TV show. I would do anything to see Lucas and Peyton in a new episode again, but I know that I have the freedom as a creative writer to write one myself, and maybe I will when this heartache goes away.

One Tree Hill will always be my favorite show, and how it has affected me will stay with me every day of my life.