Thanks for all the reviews so far :) Here's chapter 9...
BUTTERFLIES
Scarcely opening her eyes to the blinding sunlight that streamed through the curtains, Kelly felt as if she'd been hit by a bus. Her eyes, head and limbs felt heavy underneath her and her mouth had completely dried out. She looked to her right and thanked God that Kofi was able to sleep through the attractive sight of his girlfriend dry-retching.
"What happened last night?" She muttered to herself, getting out of bed and rubbing her sore eyes.
At her bedside, the alarm clock read seven am; the rest of the house would surely be asleep? Everyone got in late the previous night so Kelly didn't expect to see anyone until noon. She walked towards the mirror and saw she was still wearing the same clothes from the night before, which were now much more creased. Slipping out of the dress, she grabbed some denim shorts and one of Kofi's t-shirts before tiptoeing downstairs.
The kitchen was a bombsite. Empty cartons of Chinese food lay around the worktops and by the looks of things, someone had an accident with some ketchup, as the sauce covered the floor. Kelly decided to take the mature approach as she found a mop under the stairs and cleaned up the mess, before putting the empty cartons into a couple of bin bags. Once she'd finished playing mommy, she made two cups of coffee and carried them upstairs.
During her chores, memories of her drinking came flooding back, along with leaving the club annoyed with Kofi and his talk of Morgan State and letting Randy walk her home. Nothing even happened between her and Randy, but why did she feel so guilty about it? He literally walked her to her door, just to make sure nothing happened to her on the way home. She vaguely remembered rattling about Kofi but very little came into her head.
As she re-entered the bedroom, she climbed back into bed next to Kofi, the coffee cup in her hands warming up her fingers. At the movement of the mattress, Kofi awoke and looked up at his girlfriend. After a couple of seconds, he shot her a weary smile and mumbled something that sounded vaguely like a 'Good morning'.
"You look like you could use this." She handed the mug to her boyfriend, before giving him a quick peck on the lips. "How're you feeling?"
"Not hungover," He said hopefully. "Just tired. I left with Cody, Ted and Eve at what must've been like...three am?"
"No wonder you're so tired." Kelly raised her coffee mug to her lips and drank.
"What happened to you last night? One minute, we were talking to that girl-" He clicked his fingers, trying to remember her name. "-Candice! Yeah, she was called Candice. Anyway, yeah, what happened? We were talking about college and you just...stormed off."
Kelly raised an eyebrow, showing that that was the problem.
"The college thing again?" Kofi groaned and tried sitting upright. "Babe," He pulled her into his arms, allowing her to tip her head so it rested against his shoulder. "Listen, you need to stop worrying about it-"
"I know, I know, but when you get so excited about Morgan State, it's hard." She admitted, her eyes wide and sad. "Things are so good right now and I don't want that to change. I know you have your heart set on Morgan State, like mine's set on Florida, but they're so far from each other and what if we can't make it work? I don't want to lose you, Kofi and I just-"
"Shh!" He could feel his girlfriend getting worked up, so he squeezed her a little tighter. "You're getting worked up again. Just because we're going to different colleges, doesn't mean we won't stay together. Loads of people manage to make it work, so who's to say we won't?" He sipped his hot coffee before putting it back down. "This summer's about having fun, so let's have fun, right?"
"Right," She nodded decisively, her thoughts now reassured.
"So what's on the menu for breakfast?"
"Honestly? I think all there is in the fridge is a lump of feta cheese and some barbeque sauce. We seriously need to go shopping." Despite her hangover, Kelly wanted to stay positive. "Maybe we could go shopping early and make breakfast for the rest of the house? Or y'know, lunch, judging by last night's shenanigans."
"What's with the charitable attitude?" Kofi grinned at his girlfriend, to which she shrugged innocently in response. "By the way, did you walk home on your own last night? I can't think Miami at night is the safest of places."
Randy crossed Kelly's mind and without even flinching, she shook her head. "I managed."
Maryse was the first to admit that she enjoyed being the centre of attention, especially when the attention came from a group of males. Lying on the beach in a tiny black bikini on her towel, she could feel the eyes of every man on her.
She sat upright and lowered her Jackie O sunglasses – she'd always seen herself as the first lady of Beverly Hills and hoped that translated to Miami – so she could scan her eyes around the beach for any potential males. A group of surfer boys were clustered down the lower end of the shore and she waved a hand in a small wave, which they all responded. Damn, she was good. Being in Florida hadn't stopped Maryse's womanly ways; she was just as irresistible to the opposite sex as ever.
This summer was about three things for her; sun, socialising and sex. So far, she was two down but it was still early. And with the way things were going with Wade, it wouldn't be long before the third was ticked off her list-
"I don't know how happy Will would be if he found out you were flirting with surfers on the beach." The spot on the sand next to her was filled by Mike. "The last thing you want is a British psycho on your case."
"Firstly, he's not called Will, he's called Wade." Maryse corrected, waggling a manicured nail at Mike. "And secondly, we've been out together once. I doubt he's gonna get jealous if I have some harmless conversation with a couple of males."
"You know just how to sugar-coat everything, don't you?" He grinned, lying down next to Maryse and pulling out a pair of sunglasses of his own.
"You're a fine one to talk, Mr Mizanin." She smiled back slyly, tilting so the tops of their heads were touching against each other. "I saw you at the club last night with that blonde girl in the trashy dress. Don't tell me you didn't do the nasty with her. Nasty being the operative word; you could catch herpes just looking at that girl."
"Actually, that's the exact reason I didn't get with her." Mike pointed out. "So I got with her friend instead."
The previous night just proved to Mike that he could mack on every girl in Miami, but none of them would take his mind off of Maryse. Every time he looked over at her, she'd be either dancing with Wade, or making out with him at the bar, his grubby British hands all over her thighs and ass. Did he have any respect for a beautiful girl like Maryse? Apparently not.
"So when're you seeing Wade again?"
"He has my number. I'm leaving it up to him to call me." She shrugged, licking her already glossy lips at the surfers.
"Well...he'd be a fool not to."
"I'll have the lentil, feta and pomegranate salad."
"And I'll have the steak." Dolph handed his menu back to the waitress before looking across the table at Nikki. "Don't you ever just want like...a giant cheeseburger or something?"
"Sort of." The twin took tiny sips from her glass of orange juice. "As a cheerleader, everyone expects you to be super in shape so you can't eat shit and you get used to not eating shit because of it." She paused. "You've got a good body and you eat nothing but shit. How do you do it? Maryse would slaughter you if you were a cheerleader."
"Playing basketball just burns off anything you eat. It's so active and you're moving non-stop."
Nikki nodded in all the right places as Dolph continued to talk. Their relationship was a mystery to her. Was this a date? The previous night at the Quirk Club, they'd made out and gone home and well, you know, but that was always the way things went with them. Getting Dolph into bed wasn't hard; it was getting him to admit his feelings that she found difficult.
"So, what're we doing tonight?" Dolph asked as the waitress brought over their food and he cut into his steak, taking a huge bite out of it.
"I dunno, no-one's planned anything yet." Nikki shrugged, picking at her salad. She hated Dolph for bringing up cheeseburgers and she now so badly craved one. "What're you thinking?"
"Maybe we don't have to go out." Under the table, he placed a hand on Nikki's knee, his fingers tickling at the soft skin, bringing giggles out of her. "We could just...stay in."
She didn't have to answer, as Dolph leaned across the table and kissed her lips, his hands rested either side of her head. When he pulled away, he pushed the strands of brown hair behind her ears, showing off her beautiful face. Speechless, she bit down on her bottom lip and offered up a bright smile before returning to her salad.
As the midday sun reached its hottest, everyone had cleared off, leaving Tiffany in the kitchen surrounded by dishes.
"Without me, this place would be a pigsty." She muttered, piling all the plates into the dishwater. Considering the brilliantness of the previous night and it's slightly boring follow-up, she felt like Cinderella.
She'd had absolutely no reason to be nervous about her date with Drew. He didn't leave her side all night and treated her like a total lady, ending the evening by walking her home, placing a kiss on her cheek and promising to take her out again. It was everything she hoped it would be and just thinking about him gave her butterflies. He'd texted her earlier that morning inviting her out for dinner, so until then, Tiffany planned to spend every moment thinking about him.
The sound of footsteps startled Tiffany from her thoughts and when she turned around, she saw Jack Swagger coming down the stairs. "Shouldn't you be out with the guys?" She asked. He was still in the sweatpants he slept in – and nothing else – and his blonde hair stuck up in random tufts, making her smile. "I didn't realise anyone was home."
"Yeah, well I had a late night last night so I needed to catch up on some sleep." He came into the kitchen and sat down on one of the barstools. "Damn, did I miss breakfast?"
"It's two pm!"
In the past, she and Jack hadn't had much interaction – the captain of the basketball team wasn't exactly in her circle of friends. She tried not to make assumptions about people, despite what Eve told her about Jack, so when she found out he was coming to Miami, she vowed to be nothing less than pleasant to him.
"I am late, aren't I?" He chuckled back. "Guess I'd better get started on lunch then."
"You want me to make you a sandwich?" Tiffany offered, already going into the cupboards and pulling out bread. "Kofi and Kells went shopping earlier so we're stocked up on food." Rifling through the fridge, she called to him, "How does turkey sound? Or are you vegetarian, because we've got cheese."
"Turkey sounds awesome." Jack replied, watching as she started preparing it. "You're totally the new Jovita."
"Who's Jovita?" She held up a jar of mustard, to which he gave a thumbs up in response.
"My housekeeper back in Beverly Hills. At home, she does everything for me...in fact, when you've made my lunch, maybe you could get started on my laundry?"
Of course he was joking but that didn't stop Tiffany rolling her eyes. "Hey, I work in a restaurant, I'm used to giving people sneeze food!"
"Waiting staff really do that?"
"We prefer spit food actually." She smiled cheekily. "Much more discrete."
"Okay I trust you." Jack cautiously took a bite out of the sandwich Tiffany put in front of him, wondering how discrete she could be. "It's not bad. So what restaurant do you work at?"
"The Grape Vine." She responded, once again clearing up. "Do you know it?"
"Yeah, I've been there a couple of times. Although I might not now you've mentioned the spit food."
Truthfully, Jack hadn't paid much attention to Tiffany before. It was nothing against the blonde, she just hadn't crossed his radar but the more he looked at her, the more notice he took. Today, she looked pretty and polished, in a short denim skirt and a floral tank top, with her hair neatly pulled back by a pink Alice band. She wasn't what you'd call sexy or hot but very all-American. And nice. Nice could be good.
Jack finished up his sandwich in silence, as Tiffany continued to clean around him. When he was done, he said, "So, what're you doing for the rest of the day?"
"Oh, I dunno." Tiffany shrugged. "I'll probably see what the girls are doing and tag along with them. What about you?"
"Nothing planned yet." He replied before casually adding, "Once you've finished clearing up, maybe we could hit the beach or something?"
Tiffany hesitated for a couple of seconds. "Yeah." She eventually decided. "That would be great."
"Well, do you need any help with the rest of this mess?" Jack Swagger had never cleaned in his life.
"That'd be great too."
"Hi," Eve approached the front desk of the Miami Community Centre, offering a polite smile for the receptionist sat at her computer. "I was wondering if you could tell me what room Frederick Torres is running his class in."
"It's on the third floor and will be the first door when you get out of the elevator. It'll have a sign on the door saying 'Journalism For Beginners'."
"Thanks."
Walking towards the elevator, Eve could feel her heart beating faster and faster. She decided against telling the rest of the house about her plans. She made up some lie about going shopping for some aspirin as she still had a headache after the previous night. There were so many people she wanted to tell – Ted, Kofi and Kelly most of all – but she knew she couldn't. If her dad turned her down or told her that he wanted nothing to do with her, then how was she supposed to go back to them and admit she'd been rejected? That would be almost as hard as the rejection itself.
She was finally here, about to meet her dad for the first time. How was she going to go about it? Just...introduce herself to him? 'Hi Dad, it's me, the daughter you abandoned'. No, definitely not good to make a scene. Perhaps she could quietly pull him aside at the end of the class and let him know, as politely as possible. There wasn't going to be an easy way to do this, was there?
The elevator bell rang and Eve stepped out and saw the sign reading 'Journalism For Beginners'. Here she was.
Through the glass on the door, she did her best to get a glance at who was inside. The frosted glass made it blurry and she could only see the outlines of the backs of people's heads, as well as a man talking at the front of the room that she assumed was her dad. That outline suddenly began to move even closer to the door and in what seemed like the slowest seconds of Eve's life, the door handle turned and Frederick Torres appeared.
Eve made sure she had no expectations of her father so when he came to the door, she wasn't surprised or relieved. He must've been in his early fifties, tall with slightly greying hair. His face was reasonably handsome and line-free, considering his age. He wore a pair of dark jeans, a white shirt and a brown jacket that was smart without making too much of an effort.
Giving her an easy smile, he said, "Hey, are you here for the course?"
"Umm...yes." She stuttered, suddenly unable to look anywhere but down at her feet.
"Great. Come inside." He held open the door for her and once she was inside, closed it again. "Sorry, I didn't catch your name."
"I'm Ev-" She stopped. Perhaps giving her real name wouldn't be the wisest idea. "I'm Lea Florres." How discrete, she thought once she words were out of her mouth.
"Great. Take a seat, Lea, and let's get started."
Plenty going on in this chapter!
With this story, I'm trying to fit in as many stories as possible, as well as the main Eve/Ted & Kofi/Kelly goings on.
So, please leave a review, my lovelies :)
