Danneel Harris, who plays Rachel Gattina on "One Tree Hill" has just signed a contract to become a series regular, should the show get picked up for a fourth season.

"Basically, any kind of trouble that starts at school, I'm responsible for," Danneel tells the April 11th - 25th issue of ABC Soaps In Depth.

"She's the quintessential new girl who moves into town and uses deceit to take over everything, including the cheerleading squad."

The actress also thinks she's very good at being bad.

"I always seem to play the bad girl. I don't know why -- maybe it's because I'm better at it?" she laughs. "To me, it's fun because it's like therapy. You can say all these mean things to people and yell at them, and then you turn around, and it's like, 'Okay, I don't really have to be mean to you or put any more energy into hating you because it's not for real."

The only downside to the job is that the show tapes in North Carolina - away from her long-time boyfriend, actor Riley Smith.

"Yeah, totally. It's bad. But what's great about primetime is that you do have a long hiatus. I'll have from April to July to just be able to go home and relax," she says.

When asked about the finale, Danneel had this to offer:

"I can't say [much about what's ahead] because it's quite drastic," she teases, noting Rachel's new friendship with Mouth.

"It's going to be more of me being deceitful every week. I'm sure it'll blow up eventually in my face, which is where they're going with it."