Chapter 17

"I can't believe your parents are actually letting you go!" Ty exclaimed excitedly. She was lying across her bed, one hand holding her cell phone up to her ear while the other hand doodled idly on an empty page in her sketchbook.

"I know, I couldn't believe it, either, but Mom said that she and Dad totally trust Chris," Steph said from on the other end of the phone.

"What are you going to wear?" Ty asked curiously, writing C-Dawg's name elegantly all over her paper.

"I don't know... Ames is coming over to help me choose in a few minutes," Steph replied. "I wish you could come over, too..."

"I know, so do I... But I can't, because my parents want me to stay in today," Ty said regretfully.

"Only you? Is Trish staying in, too?" Steph asked.

"Who knows? Probably not," Ty replied with a heavy sigh. "She's so spoiled. She gets whatever she wants, and it sickens me."

"Don't worry. Pretty soon she won't even have Chris anymore," Steph said. She paused for a minute, then went on. "Chris is picking me up at eight, and that's in about three hours, so I have to go."

"No problem... Go get ready for your man," Ty said with a laugh.

"That sounds about right..."

After a few more minutes of conversation, Ty flipped her phone shut and tossed it somewhere near the head of her bed. She looked down at her sketchbook and smiled at what she saw. C-Dawg's name was everywhere, his real name, and her name was there also. There were hearts everywhere, too, hearts that she had subconsciously drawn... She closed her eyes and C-Dawg's face instantly appeared...

"Well, well, well... What do we have here?" Trish asked, snatching Ty's sketchbook off the bed. "Looks like someone has a crush on one John Cena..."

"No, I don't," Ty protested.

"Sure you don't," Trish scoffed. "By the way, when's the wedding? When will you be Mrs. Tyra Cena? Because that's what you have on this paper..."

"Ok, just because I wrote that-" Ty began, but Trish interrupted her.

"I don't have time for small talk," Trish said, cutting he little sister off. "I came here because I need some information... Let me make it more clear. There's information that I need, and you are the one who has it."

"And? What's that supposed to mean?" Ty asked, sitting up and looking at her older sister.

"Just what it sounds like," Trish snapped. "Don't play dumb with me, Ty... You're dumb enough without adding that extra bit to it."

"Oh, and you want information from me?" Ty asked with a scoff of her own. "Good luck with that. You come in here talking to me like total crap and then you expect for me to just give you information about something?"

Trish frowned and opened her mouth to yell, but then she sat down on the bed and held her head in her hands. "I'm sorry, baby sis... I just... I don't have anyone else who can help me and I don't know what to do."

"Ok, what's wrong with you?" Ty asked curiously. "You haven't called me baby sis in years."

"It's Chris," Trish whispered.

"What about him?" Ty wondered.

Trish sighed and raised her head, looking over at her sister. "He's cheating on me with your friend Stephanie," she whispered, her voice cracking.

"Wh... What makes you think that?" Ty whispered back.

"Stace... She saw Chris and Steph kissing in his car Thursday afternoon after school, and she told me about it," Trish replied, sighing again.

"How do you know that Stacy's telling the truth?" Ty wondered, even though she knew it was indeed true.

"Because she's my best friend, and she wouldn't lie to me about something that she knows would have the potential to really hurt me," Trish replied, looking pointedly at her sister. "She wouldn't lie to me."

Ty shifted uncomfortably in her spot on her bed. "Oh," she said after a brief moment of silence. "Well..."

"Look, I just need one teeny, tiny favor from you," Trish said. "Just one miniscule favor..."

"And what would that be?" Ty asked, feeling the guilt flooding through her body.

"I need for you to let me know what Steph wants for her birthday," Trish said immediately.

"What?" Ty asked in disbelief. "Why in the world would you want to know something like that?"

"I want to make peace with her," Trish answered simply. "I want my boyfriend back, and I was thinking that maybe if I bought her the perfect birthday present, she would respect my relationship with Chris and back off."

Not likely. Those two are meant for each other, Ty thought, but she noticed how pitifully sad her sister looked and felt even more guilty. It seemed like the "old" Trish was back, the one who had taught Ty so much when she was younger. She didn't seem to be the bitch that she'd turned into lately, and Ty would be lying if she said she wasn't happy to have her sister back...

"Fine," Ty said, letting out a deep breath. "I'll help you figure out the perfect gift for Steph."

"Really?" Trish asked happily, and Ty nodded. "Do you think you could help me figure it out, like, sometime really soon? Because her birthday is next Saturday, a week from today, and I was hoping that I'd be able to make it to the mall within the next hour or so..."

"I'll help you, big sis," Ty said shyly, feeling like the little girl she had once been when she had looked up to Trish as a role model. The look on her sister's face made her smile. Trish looked proud of her again, like she used to be, and whether it had seemed like it or not, Ty had always loved making Trish proud of her...

"Oh, thank you so much, Ty. You don't know how much this means to me," Trish said in a choked voice. She pulled her sister into a tight hug, a hug that Ty eagerly returned. As she hugged her sister, Trish lifted her left arm up and looked at the expensive watch on her wrist, grinning. Only an hour left before I have to meet Paul... I swear, for all the sentimental shit I just had to go through, he better be able to get that little slut to sleep with him and leave my boyfriend alone... Or else, I'm going to have to take this thing to a whole new level...

If Ty had seen the look on Trish's face, she would've regretted ever agreeing to help her older sister in the first place...

An hour later...

"So what did you come up with?" Paul asked Trish for the fifth time in five minutes.

Trish looked across the small table at Paul and chewed lightly on the tip of the straw that she had been sipping her drink through. "She told me the kind of stuff her little brat of a friend likes, and I think I have an idea of what to get her."

"Well? Are you going to tell me, or will you keep me in suspense?" he asked impatiently.

"I think I'm going to make you squirm a little bit," she said, standing up suddenly. She pulled her wallet out of her purse, intent on paying for the bite of food they'd just had, but he stood up as well and put a hand on her arm, stopping her.

"No," he said, shaking his head at her. "I'm the guy. I pay."

"This isn't a date, Paul," she pointed out. "You don't have to pay my way. It's not like I'm poor or something."

"I never said you were poor," he said, still looking at her. His eyes slowly ran up and down over her body, and he licked his lips. "And it could be a date if you want it to be... I certainly wouldn't object to it..."

"I'm with Chris," she reminded him. She waited for him to put some money down on the table to cover the cost of their meal, then started to walk towards the exit of the little diner. "Come on, let's get to the pet shop."

"Excuse me? The pet shop?" he asked, putting one hand on her arm and making her face him. "I thought we were going to the mall... I asked you to help me find her something nice at the mall."

"So? Ty told me that Steph likes animals, so I think the best gift would be something from a pet shop... A turtle or a hamster or something," she explained.

"No. There's too much to do with getting a pet... Registrations and food and God knows what else," he said, shaking his head. "I propose that we just go to the mall and find her something nice and expensive and let that be it."

"You want this gift to be perfect, right?" she asked, getting in his face.

"Right," he answered, not moving away.

"And you want to get her in your bed, right?" she went on.

"Her and you," he corrected her, moving just a bit closer so that their noses were almost touching. "In all honesty, I'd much rather have you in my bed, because you know what you're doing."

"How would you know?" she asked, surprised.

"I know things that you'd never expect me to know," he replied mysteriously, cocking his head a bit to the side as he looked at her. "And I know that your dear boyfriend Chris... He's a virgin, but you? You're not."

"And how do you know this?" she asked curiously.

"I told you already," he said, grinning smugly. "I know things that you'd never expect me to know."

"How much more do you know?"

"A hell of a lot... But why don't we talk about that on the way to my parents' beach house?"

"Your parents' beach house?" she repeated, her tone full of wonder. He nodded, and she smiled a little, twirling a few strands of her hair around her finger. "And what exactly did you have in mind to happen once we got there?"

"That's up to you, Trish, but I know you know what I have in mind," he said, smirking at her.

"Don't be silly, Paul. I'm with Chris," she said after a minute of contemplating what he had said to her. "I may be a bitch, but I do have some morals...sometimes..."

"Right," he said, looking down. "But it was worth a try, though."

"Win this bet and I'm yours for the night. Don't forget that," she reminded him. "And I'm counting on you to win this bet, for your sake and mine."

"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked, confused.

"Just what it sounds like," she said simply. She grabbed his arm and looped her arm with his, then grinned up at him. "Forget shopping for her. Let's go catch a movie..."

"Why, if I didn't know better, I'd think you were asking me on a date," he joked as they walked out of the diner together.

"How do you know I'm not?" she asked, looking at him and giving him a flirty little smile.

He just shook his head and smiled. Even if he didn't win this bet with Trish, he was going to be rewarded. He could tell that much already. Of course, he wanted to get Steph to sleep with him. It would be quite an ego-booster! But that didn't really matter to him at the moment. He looked down at Trish again and his smile got wider.

Oh yeah, this is going to be fun...

A/N: Yeah, I know, it's short... But it's as far as I could take it, and I don't know why! Not much Chris and Steph here, but they'll be back, of course...since this story is supposed to be about them, right? Review if you feel like it... I'd appreciate it!