Hello Chapter Eight :)

EMOTIONAL COVER-UP

As she sat at the empty table in her school library, Eve contemplated her options leading on from Saturday night's party. Her friend's boyfriend had made a move on her. Sure, Jack was drunk but she'd never been put in that position before; should she tell Maryse? Should she keep it to herself? If there was one thing Eve did know, it was that she was in the library for a reason, and that reason was not to contemplate her social life.

She picked up her history textbook, and began reading in preparation for a test she had later that afternoon.

"Miss Crane isn't in this afternoon, so we don't have a test." Eve looked up and noticed that she was not alone, as Jack was standing over her desk, a hopeful smile on his face.

"Thanks," Eve muttered, closing the book and slipping it into her bag. "I guess I'll see you in history, then." She went to walk away, however Jack grabbed her arm, pulling her back in front of him. His eyes collided with hers, an unlikely fear clouding Eve's insides.

"You haven't said anything to Maryse, have you?" His voice was low, and severe. Eve tried to pull away, but his grip was strong.

"I told you I wouldn't; I'm the kind of girl who keeps my promises." He let go. "Besides, if she found out, I don't think either of us would come off that well."

"I'm sorry about Saturday night." He followed her as she walked out of the library. "I was wasted, and I said some stuff-"

"Jack," Eve spun on her heel to look at him. "I told you, its fine. Let's just drop it, and forget it ever happened."

He did, but continued to follow Eve through Beverly Hills High, as the brunette made her way towards the main hallway. "You can't blame me though," Jack shrugged innocently, leaning back against the lockers, as Eve fished out her biology textbook. "I mean, you're a good-looking girl."

"And it's comments like that that are going to get you in trouble." Eve tapped Jack lightly across the head with the biology book. Her smile quickly faded, as she leaned back against her own locker. "Maryse is a sweet girl, and she cares about you a lot; don't hurt her." Before Jack come give Eve a response, the bell rang through the school, sounded the start of the school day. "See you around, Jack." Eve smiled, before crossing the hallway to her biology classroom.

Eve had never been keen on biology, however seeing a familiar face in the corner of the room, proffering the available seat next to him, she felt a little bit better.

"Is anyone else sitting here?" Ted shook his head, and Eve made herself comfortable, as the pair began setting up their science experiment. "How was the college party?"

"It was okay." Ted focused his eyes on lighting his Bunsen burner; he wasn't going to tell Eve that he wasn't in the mood for partying after she left. "How was the rest of your party?"

"It was okay." It had been okay, just not brilliant. Everyone was nice, the music was good, but it was missing something, and Eve wasn't entirely sure what. "I'm sorry about Saturday." She twiddled with the ring on her finger, before slipping it off and carefully placing it down on the desk. "Y'know, for going back inside-"

"Nice ring." Ted commented, not wanting to talk about it anymore.

"It's my mom's; I wear it everywhere." Eve smiled down at the ring, silver, with a delicate flower design. "I really wanted to come with you guys-"

"But Maryse would've given you hell." Ted finished. "I get it."

"We're still friends, right?" After her conversation with Tiffany, Eve had no intentions of losing anymore friends.

"Eve, I care about you a lot – as a friend." He quickly added. "But we're in different social circles. Cheerleaders will always come first with you, and I get that. It's not your fault."

"I'm not like those other girls." Eve's defence was quiet.

"And that's a good thing." Ted reassured her. "Never lose who you are, especially not to a bunch of cheerleaders."

Their conversation was stopped by the sound of squealing cheerleaders from the corner of the room, as Rosa Mendes and Alicia Fox had spilt the contents of one of their test tubes over both the desk, and their cheerleading skirts.

"It burns! It burns!" Rosa squealed.

Ted raised an eyebrow, "I thought we were just working with salt water."

Eve couldn't help but smile.

"Kofi has a d-aaaa-te!" Eve chanted, coming into her brother's room and making herself comfortable on his desk chair. She observed his smart clothing. "Someone's looking dapper."

"Good." Kofi slapped on some cologne. "A nice restaurant should do the trick, right?"

"That's not your scene, is it?"

Eve was right; if Kofi had his way, the date would've been much more low key. He was thinking maybe a basketball game. Or even a trip to the beach. Fancy restaurants definitely weren't his scene; he was swimming out of his depth, for sure. "Yeah, well apparently these Beverly Hills cheerleaders are pretty high maintenance." Kofi took a moment to look at his sister. "Well, except you."

"Shut up," She scanned his desk for something to throw, before picking up a small inflatable basketball and lobbing it in his direction.

"So is there anything I should know about Alicia?"

"Both of her parents work in real estate, she has a dog called Juicy, and she's a pretty good cheerleader." Eve recited all she could remember about Alicia. "Oh, and she really doesn't like salt water."

"What?"

"Never mind." Eve shook her head and smiled. It was definitely a 'you had to be there' moment. "Oh, and she loves the beach, so she's looking at colleges in Florida."

"But I thought you said she hated salt water?"

Eve giggled, banging her head against the corner of Kofi's desk.

"Whatever." He shook his head. "Well, get out of my room, because I'm going."

"Can you give me a ride to Maryse's house? We're going to work on some routines." Eve ran into her bedroom, and quickly picked up her handbag, before coming back to greet Kofi on the landing.

"Eve, I've got a date..."

"Mom, Kofi won't give me a ride to Maryse's house!" Eve moaned through the door of the study, where their mother was – as usual – working hard. She shot her brother a mischievous grin.

"Kofi, that car is your sister's as well!" Carol's voice flooded onto the landing. "And you know that both of you have eleven thirty curfews, so pick her up on the way home as well, Kofi!"

Kofi groaned, grabbing the car keys and making his way out of the front door, closely followed by his sister. "Come on then." The evening was warm, and despite it being seven, it was still bright outside-

"Kelly!" Kofi's head snapped over to his sister, who was greeting their beautiful blonde neighbour as she sat on her front lawn, scribbling into a notepad. "What's going on?"

"Working on my English assignment." The blonde rolled her eyes, before looking up at Kofi. Her expression instantly changed, an innocent smile flashing across her beautiful face. "Hey Kofi."

"Hey," He grunted, caveman-style, before looking down at his watch. "Eve, we've gotta get going-"

"Where are you guys going?" Kelly's eyes were fixed on Kofi.

"Well, I'm going to Maryse's house, but Kofi's got a date with Alicia." Eve winked.

Kelly frowned for a moment, allowing a slight twitch to hit her left eye, however she quickly composed herself, before allowing herself to smile again. "I hope you guys have fun."

"Come on, Eve, let's go." Kofi practically bundled his sister into the car, before quickly starting up the engine and firing off down the road.

"What the hell is your problem with Kelly?" Eve exclaimed, slamming a fist against the dashboard. "Everytime you see her, you act like she's the plague."

"I've got nothing against Kelly-"

"Well it sure doesn't seem that way!"

"Kelly's not who you think she is." Kofi stated, his eyes focused on the road ahead.

"What are you talking about?" Eve squinted. "She's not who I think she is? What's that supposed to mean?"

He lightly chuckled. "How much time have you got?" At that very moment, the car came to a stop, as the red light forced Kofi to pull the car to a halt.

Eve turned to her brother, "I'm listening."

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