Hello Chapter 9, you very long update... ;)

YOU CAN'T PLEASE EVERYONE

Walking down the street towards his house, Kofi felt a wave of relief over him. As much as he was enjoying school, he loved knowing it was Friday, and that he had two days of freedom. He was very excited about the weekend ahead.

He was spending Saturday practising with the basketball team, and in the evening the guys were getting together at Ryder's house. Sunday, he and Alicia were going to the beach. That being said, Friday was his only chance to relaxed, and he planned on taking full advantage; that meant Chinese take-out and Xbox in his bedroom.

Just as he was deciding whether to call Montel and ask to borrow his latest edition of Call Of Duty, the girl he seemed to be seeing everywhere happened to appear again.

Everywhere Kofi seemed to look, Kelly was there. This time, she was sat on her front lawn, with her earphones in, listening to her iPod and enjoying the late afternoon sun. Just looking at her left a guilty feeling in the pit of his stomach. Ever since Eve told him the truth about Kelly's pregnancy, and then miscarriage, he'd wanted to tell her how sorry he was, but he wasn't sure how.

"Hey Kofi," Kelly looked up from her iPod to smile at her neighbour. Today, her blonde hair was scraped back into a ponytail, showing off her pretty facial features.

"Hey," He stopped outside her gate; this was his opportunity. "I was hoping I'd see you actually. We need to talk."

Kelly got up from the grass, and opened the gate, letting Kofi inside. "I'm starving, do you mind if I get something to eat?" She asked, not waiting for an answer as she led Kofi inside to her kitchen. Kofi watched as she dug around in her cupboards, before pulling out a bag of chips. "Did you want anything?"

"No thanks."

"Go ahead." Kelly took a seat at the table, and signalled for Kofi to sit opposite her. "What's up?"

"I wanted to apologize." He managed to say, attempting to keep some of his manliness intact. "About all those rumours."

"Why? It's not like you're the one that started them?" She shrugged.

"Yeah, well I believed them, and I shouldn't have." Kofi admitted. "I'm not a judgemental guy, y'know."

Kelly smiled lightly, placing down her packet of chips. "I never said you were."

A silence settled on the table, as both Kelly and Kofi debated what to say next. It was Kelly that was first, however she didn't speak, instead loudly, crunching down on one of her chips and causing her to grin. Kofi managed a smile, before erupting into laughter at the sight of the giggling Kelly.

"Oh God, I'm a mess." Kelly grinned, a tear laughter sliding down her cheek.

Kofi waited until he'd composed himself to say, "I'm sorry."

"You already said that," She smiled again.

"I mean, about what actually happened to you." He said gently. "I don't know what to say, except that it sucks."

"It does suck," Kelly said, viciously screwing up her packet, before tossing it clear into the trash can with a smile. "But we've all got to move on. And that's what I'm doing. Moving on."

Kofi nodded a little, and watched Kelly across the table. He couldn't help but notice that she was watching him straight back, and their eyes collided somewhere along the way. He was with Alicia, and he knew he shouldn't have been feeling that way, but in that moment, something clicked.

"Are you doing anything with Alicia tonight?" Kelly asked casually, breaking the moment as she grabbed a Diet Coke out of the fridge and tossed it in Kofi's direction, before grabbing one for herself.

Kofi shook his head. "It's me and my Xbox tonight."

"This might sound lame, but I told my Mom that I'd go support my little's brothers swimming contest at the local middle school." She paused, as if contemplating whether she was asking the right thing. "Do you want to come with me? It's not a date," Kelly quickly added. "I just...wanted some company."

Kofi had some contemplating of his own to do. Was this okay? Was it right? It wasn't a date, so it was okay. But if Alicia found out, she'd be annoyed. After all, Kofi wouldn't like it if she went out with other guys...

"Hey," Kelly snapped her fingers in front of Kofi. "Sorry, but you haven't said anything in like...thirty seconds. Did you want to come or not?"

"I'd love to."

"Your Dad closed the restaurant just for us?" Maryse cooed, her fingers laced through Jack's as he helped her out of his car, and up the path towards the restaurant. Maryse grinned; kudos to Mr Swagger for being one of the top restaurant entrepreneurs in Beverly Hills.

"You look so hot tonight,"

"Thank you," Words had never been Jack's forte, however Maryse couldn't help but feel flattered, as she smoothed out the soft fabric of her glittery black dress. She definitely chose the right outfit to wear.

"Shall we go inside, m'lady?" Jack held out an arm for Maryse to link hers around, as he led her into the restaurant, which was completely lit by candles. All of the tables had been pushed to the side, except for one, which was already set up with food and drink.

"You must've gone to so much effort." Maryse cupped Jack's chin with her hand, and planted a kiss on his lips. "I love you so much."

"I love you too." Of course, Jack wasn't going to tell her that he'd had his father's waiting staff set everything up. "Two years; who'd have thought we'd last this long?" He said with a smile.

Maryse couldn't help but agree. Thinking back to her first basketball game as a cheerleader, she remembered looking out across the bleachers and noticing a fellow freshman - a tall, good-looking blonde boy – performing a mean slam dunk. They'd been inseparable ever since and Maryse wouldn't have had it any other way; he was her soul mate. Sure, at times he could be a total bonehead, but no-one was perfect.

No-one except her, that is.

"I certainly didn't expect it," Maryse replied, sipping at her champagne. "But I can't imagine a life without you." Before Maryse could say anything else, the buzzing of her cell phone in her clutch purse caught her off-guard. "It's Rosa, do you mind if I take this?"

"Go right ahead."

Maryse made her way to her feet, and tottered over to the bathrooms. As cliché as it was, Jack hated to see her go, but loved to watch her leave.

He grinned; he was lucky to have a girl like Maryse in his life. She was everything he wanted – and needed. She grounded Jack, motivated him, made him strive for more. Sure, in his life 'more' meant shooting more baskets and cutting out carbohydrates to keep his six pack in check, but at this stage in his life, he didn't need pressure.

"What did Rosa want?" Jack asked, as Maryse sauntered back over to their table, a scowl on her face.

"Apparently Eve rejected the offer of sleeping at Rosa's house tonight, because she's going to a party with DiBiase and Rhodes." Maryse was furious, practically spitting out the last two names. "DiBiase and Rhodes? Someone needs to tell this girl who she can and can't be friends with."

Jack chuckled, "You can't do that-"

"What?" Maryse's eyes widened.

"Ryse, you know I hate those guys just as much as you do, but seriously? Eve's a big girl, and she's not gonna listen to you." Jack defended the newest cheerleader.

"I'm the head cheerleader; everyone listens to me." Maryse reaffirmed. "If they don't, well...let's just say the consequences aren't going to be good."

Jack shook his head, laughing lightly. "This is too much-" He tossed his napkin down on the table, and got to his feet.

"What do you think you're doing?" Maryse screeched.

"Getting out of here!"

"Are you breaking up with me?" Maryse followed Jack out of the restaurant.

"No. I just...I need some space. I'll call you later."

"What do we have here then?" Cody lifted the sheet off of the karaoke machine in the DiBiase's entertainment room, and smiled at he picked up the microphone. "Sing us a song, Britney."

"You're real funny, Rhodes." Ted commented, settling down on one of the sofas.

"Another Friday night in the DiBiase household, another Friday night spent with Ted contemplating the existence of his balls because he hasn't got the guts to ask Eve out." He boomed, grinning.

"Like I said, real funny." Ted said absentmindedly, as he looked up at the living room ceiling. He jokily pointed down at his crotch, "And just so you know, my balls are definitely existent. Maybe you should check yours, Jackass."

"That sounded so gay, dude." Cody laughed, sitting down in the armchair opposite Ted.

"Whatever. And actually, we do have plans tonight. Did I not tell you that Mike was having a party at his dorm room? He said we could go along."

"Sounds awesome." Cody paused, thoughtfully. "Maybe you could invite Eve along."

"She's probably doing some cheerleader stuff." Ted shrugged, coming to terms with Eve's separate life. He definitely liked her, but he wasn't going to admit that any time soon.

Cody reached over to the coffee table, and grabbed Ted's cell phone, before handing it to his friend. "There's only one way to find out." Reluctantly, Ted sat upright, and scrolled through his contacts until he found Eve's name, before dialling. It was only about three rings before Eve picked up.

"Hey Ted, what's up?" Eve's voice came through brightly.

"I was wondering what you were doing tonight." Ted began.

"Well, it's Maryse and Jack's anniversary, so probably sitting around my house, waiting for one of the cheerleaders to call me up and give me a thrilling account of what happened." Eve said, sarcastically. "Why? Are you and Cody going to come sweep me off my feet and take me somewhere interesting?"

"Well, Mike's having a party at his dorm room, and he said I could bring some buddies, and seeing as my 'buddies' pretty much consist of you and Cody, I wondered if you wanted to come." Ted tried to hide the hopefulness from his voice.

"I'd love to!" Eve squealed. "What time are you guys picking me up?"

"Um...eight-ish?"

"See you then!" She squealed once more, before hanging up the phone. Ted hadn't expected such a good reaction from Eve, and when he looked over at Cody, who had a smug smile sitting on his lips, he couldn't help but join him.

"Go reward yourself with a cigarette in my backyard." Ted laughed.

"See?" Cody got up from his seat, and walked over to the doorway, before pulling out his packet of cigarettes. "That wasn't so difficult, was it?"

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" Eve called. She smoothed out her newly-straightened hair once more, before running down the stairs as fast as her heels could carry her.

Ted and Cody must've been early, as Eve was only partially ready. Her hair was finished, and her dress was on, but her make-up was only half finished. Both her parents were out at dinner with their friends, and Kofi was somewhere beyond Eve's knowledge, so she had the house to herself, pumping out music and taking up the top floor of the landing with her clothes. She'd attempted to tidy up a little before she left, but the knock at the door distracted her.

"Jack?" Jack Swagger was the last person she'd expected to see on her doorstep. "What're you-?"

"Is Kofi around?" The blonde boy asked, walking into the Torres-Kingston house, and sticking his head around the kitchen door.

Come in, then. Eve thought, sarcastically.

"He's gone out." Eve replied, stoutly. "And I don't know when he'll be back." The brunette paused to look Jack up and down. He was wearing a suit, but it was worn shabbily; his tie loosened, and the sleeves of his white shirt rolled up. It then dawned on Eve what night it was. "Shouldn't you be with Maryse?"

"We got into a fight." Jack announced, sitting down at the kitchen table. He looked exhausted, mentally.

"You guys haven't broken up, have you?" Eve could only imagine the uproar at school; the golden couple of Beverly Hills High breaking up? Pure devastation all around.

Jack shook his head.

"Do you want something to drink?" Eve handed Jack a bottle of water from the fridge.

"Thanks." He unscrewed the lid, before swigging the contents. "No, I just needed to get away for a bit. Maryse may be my girlfriend, but she can be so-"

A knock at the door stopped Jack mid-sentence, and left Eve frozen. Now that was Ted and Cody. "Excuse me for a moment," She closed the kitchen door behind her, before once again, making her way to the front of the house. She had a decision to make.

"We've got beer!" Cody announced, holding up a six-pack as he and Ted stood on Eve's doorstep. Ted's eyes were slightly glazed over, as he took in Eve's beautiful appearance.

Eve winced, "Guys, I-"

"You're blowing us off again?" Cody yelled before Eve was even finished talking.

"Ignore him, there's a reason why our six-pack is only a two pack." Ted rolled his eyes, causing Eve to produce a beaming smile. "It's okay, I get it."

"You don't even know why I can't come," Eve winced.

Ted shrugged. "See you on Monday, Eve." Ted said weakly, before making his way back down the garden path, closely followed by a stumbling Cody.

As she closed the front door behind her, Eve slid down the wall, guilt taking over her. What was she supposed to do? Tell Jack he had to leave because she had a party to get to? That wasn't right, was it? But Ted and Cody were her friends, and friends-

"Are you okay?" Jack came out into the hallway, and noticed Eve slumped against the wall. "Do you need me to leave?"

"No, it's fine." Eve said, quickly. "Now where were we?"

Uh oh... Trouble In Paradise... and I'm not talking Kofi Kingston :P
Eve has some tough decisions on her hands. Is she finally going to appreciate Ted?
Are we going to see the end of Maryse and Jack? Or is this just a one-off fight?
Is Kofi falling for Kelly?
And will Cody ever stop being a douche?
Subscribe and review, and maybe you'll find out next time ;)

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