Here comes the next chapter!

MEMORIES REMAIN

"Where's Eve?"

Strutting through the hallways of Beverly Hills High, Maryse instinctively went over her posture techniques in her head. Cheerleading was all about 'tits and teeth', but in the school hallways, it was 'posture and pout'. With Rosa one side of her, and Brie the other, Maryse felt comfortable, and assured. She always stood in the middle; it was like an unwritten law.

"We've got a history test this afternoon, so she was planning to study in the library." Brie remembered.

Maryse scoffed as she approached her locker. "Couldn't she have just copied off one of the nerds?"

"She's really clever, actually." Rosa insisted, slightly absentmindedly as she fixed her hair in her pocket mirror. "She came over and helped me and Alicia in biology the other day; she knew what she was doing."

"Came over?" Maryse wrinkled her nose. Another unwritten rule; cheerleaders stick with other cheerleaders. They really needed to get this girl a manual. "Who does she normally sit with?"

"Ted DiBiase. I think they're friends or something."

Maryse didn't say anything, instead choosing to roll her perfectly made up eyes. "Whatever." She muttered. She'd speak to Eve at some point and fill her in. "If she weren't such a good dancer, she'd probably have been taken off the team by now."

"She's such a good dancer." Brie mused.

"Who's a good dancer?"

All three girls turned around to see Eve and Nikki stood behind them, Eve with a smile on her face. She knew exactly who they were talking about, but at the risk of sounding cocky, she kept schtum.

"I thought you were studying in the library," Maryse commented dryly.

"It was closed," Eve shrugged.

"Hey Maryse, isn't it nearly your anniversary with Jack?" Rosa may not have been the brightest spark in the box, but as she noticed the bored expression on the head cheerleader's face, she decided it was time to change the subject.

"It'll be two years this Friday." A genuine smile from Maryse was rare, so all the girls were shocked to see it appear. There weren't many people Maryse truly cared about, but Jack was one of them.

"I don't know how he's going to top last year." Nikki commented.

"What did he do last year?" Eve asked.

"We had a cheerleading contest, so they couldn't be together," Nikki began. "So Jack had 365 roses spread out over places she'd find them."

"Like where?"

"My desks in my classes, my locker, my bedroom, the cheerleading locker room," Maryse shrugged as if it were no big deal. "I'm sure he'll find some way to impress me even more."

"You guys are such a cute couple." Eve couldn't help but observe how Rosa was the Gretchen Weiners to Maryse's Regina George.

"Speaking of cute couples," As the girls reached the entrance of the cafeteria, they smiled as they noticed their fellow cheerleader Alicia Fox shoulder to shoulder with Kofi. All the girls cooed, but Maryse had a very different reaction.

"She shouldn't be eating fries."

"I had fun on our date the other night." Alicia picked a fry off of the plate, and popped it into Kofi's mouth. "I'm still waiting for you to ask me out again, y'know."

"Well, I've got basketball practise until five, but we could do something afterwards." Kofi replied. "What do you wanna do?"

"No meals; Maryse would kill me if she saw me eating fries." Alicia giggled, however the bell cut off their conversation.

"We could catch a movie?" Kofi suggested.

"Sounds good." Alicia leaned over to kiss Kofi. "Text me later." She said, before bouncing off to her next class.

As Kofi got up and made his way out of the cafeteria, he felt a goofy smile spread across his lips. It was early days, but he liked Alicia. He was sick of moping over Danielle, and no doubt she'd moved on, so why shouldn't he? She was sweet, cute, funny, and they had fun together. After being pulled away from Danielle, he didn't want much else from a girlfriend. Commitment was no longer something he longed for.

"You and Alicia seem close." Kofi's friend, fellow basketball player 'MVP', came up behind Kofi, and nudged the newest member of the team. "What's going on between you two?"

"We're just dating," Kofi shrugged. "No big deal."

"It's always a big deal when cheerleaders are involved." Montel wisely replied as the pair made their way into the locker rooms for gym class. "I'd have asked Layla El out by now if it weren't for her love of bridal magazines."

"Bridal magazines?" Kofi practically shuddered, despite the grin on his face. "Dude, that's-"

"Why I keep her at arm's length." Montel finished, slipping on his basketball jersey. "Listen, I'm sure you had your fair share of chicks back in Colorado, and you know how crazy they can be. Cheerleaders are trouble."

Kofi paused to contemplate Montel's words; he had a point. Women were crazy, and cheerleaders even crazier. He liked to think he knew how to handle the ladies, but he definitely knew when he was in out of his depth. If Alicia ever pulled out the bridal magazines, she could hit the road.

Kelly laid out her history textbook on the kitchen table, and turned to Eve. "If I start reading out of the book, then you can copy it out and-"

"I've gotta ask you something Kelly," Eve placed her pen down, and looked up at the blonde. "It's been on my mind all weekend, but I don't know how to ask it." Ever since Kofi had told her what he knew about Kelly, Eve had wanted to ask her neighbour herself, but there was something holding her back, not wanting to hurt her.

Kelly huffed, rolling her eyes, and getting up to pour herself a drink; she was used to rumours being spread about her, and was wondering what this one was about. "What's this one about?"

Eve breathed in and reluctantly said, "Are you a mom?"

The glass Kelly was holding dropped into the sink bowl, as her eyes and mouth widened, taking in what Eve had just told her. There were a lot of rumours about her, but she didn't know that one was out. She couldn't lie anymore. A couple of seconds later, she blinked a couple of times, and shut her mouth. "I never got the chance to be a mom." Her voice wasn't much more than a whisper.

"Wait, I don't get it,"

"When I was fifteen, I was raped." Kelly revealed, making her voice as emotionless as she could. "It was on my way home from cheerleading. The guy just grabbed me, and did it in the nearest alleyway. It hurt so bad, and I couldn't do anything about it."

Eve was speechless. She wanted to say something helpful, but what would make it better?

"I got pregnant, but there was no way I was going to get rid of that baby, so I decided to drop out of school to raise it – my little girl. I got to about six months before she died." Kelly's eyes held a faraway look, before she snapped back to reality. "There was no point me moping around at home, so I decided to rejoin high school for junior year."

"I'm so sorry, Kells." Eve reached across the table to hold Eve's hand. "If I'd have known-"

"By your reaction, I'm guessing that's not the full story going around school." Kelly allowed herself to smile. "So what have people been saying?"

"They know about you being pregnant, but they don't know much else." She paused, thoughtfully. "Surely if you just-"

"I know what you're going to say, and the answer is no. I'd rather have the degrading looks than the pitying ones." Kelly nodded, asserting her decision. "I don't need anyone feeling sorry for me; especially not girls like Maryse that I used to be friends with."

"But if you just-"

Kelly held up a hand to stop Eve. "Anyway, who told you all this?"

Eve blushed, feeling the need to defend her brother, yet not wanting to lie to her friend. "Kofi." She admitted.

"Well, maybe you should tell your brother the truth and set the record straight, before he tells anyone else." Kelly snapped, picking up her textbook, and opening it to the correct page. "Come on, let's do some work."

The girls read their textbooks in frosty silence, as each contemplated what to say next, until it was Eve that spoke first. "Do you want me to go?" Kelly watched as the brunette stood up, and put her school bag on her shoulder.

"Eve," Kelly shook her head and insinuated for Eve to sit back down. "You know what? Screw history homework. Let's just watch a movie or something."

As the girls sat down in the living room, Kelly put the DVD in the player, and turned down the lights. She wasn't focused on the film at all; she was too preoccupied by her conversation with Eve. She did her best to ignore them, but peoples' comments about her hurt, but for some reason, knowing they came from Kofi just made them hurt that little bit more.

How will Kofi react to knowing the truth about Kelly?
And does anyone else sense some Eve/Maryse tension?
Please review :) XX