Hello chapter 10 :)

SHE'S MY CHERRY PIE

"Eve Marie Torres, you've got some explaining to do!"

Scarcely opening her eyes, the brunette looked up to see her mother barging into her bedroom, hands on hips and a scowl on her face. Surely it was too early for a lecture? The sunlight was gradually streaming through the gaps in her curtains; it was nine am on a Saturday morning, was her mom insane?

"Ever heard of knocking?" Eve muttered, forcing herself to sit upright, before turning to her mom. "What's going on?"

"I should be asking you the same question," Carol paused. "Imagine my shock when I arrived home this morning to find an adolescent blonde boy passed out on one of our couches."

"Firstly, he wasn't 'passed out'." Eve sighed, burying herself under the duvet. "It's just Kofi's friend, Jack."

"So how come when I went into Kofi's room this morning, he had no idea Jack was even here?"

Eve sighed again, realising she had to explain everything to her mom. Awkward times were about to ensue, as she stuck her head out of the covers. "He's my friend as well. He got into a fight with his girlfriend and came looking for Kofi. Kofi wasn't home, so we hung out."

"So nothing...happened?"

"I think Jack falling asleep fully clothed on the sofa, and me being upstairs in my PJs suggests that nothing 'happened'." Eve confirmed, burying her head under the duvet covers, as she hoped the interrogation was over. It wasn't, however, as Carol lifted up the covers, once again exposing Eve to the natural light.

"Shouldn't you come downstairs and join the boy for some breakfast?"

Eve reluctantly got out of bed, and slid her feet into a pair of fluffy slippers, before padding down the stairs, the soft soles of her shoes barely making any noise against the carpet. Her footsteps got louder as she walked across the tiles in the kitchen, and as she noticed Jack and Kofi sat at the table, eating her mom's famous omelettes, she smiled. Carol Torres wasn't much of a chef, but when it came to eggs, she had the magic touch.

"Good morning," Eve smiled lazily.

"So was I not involved in this sleepover?" Kofi grinned, nudging his sister as she stood opposite the fridge and dug out a carton of orange juice.

Rolling her eyes, Eve stuck her tongue out at her step-brother. "Jerk."

Their conversation went on for a little longer, but Jack wasn't paying much attention. He couldn't keep his eyes off of Eve. Of course, he knew she was hot, but after the previous night, he'd started to feel a lot differently about her.

Her yellow pyjama shorts showed off acres of tanned leg, and her blue polkadot tank top exposed her flat, toned stomach. Her light brown hair hadn't been attended to yet, so it was still ruffled and slept on. Her hazel eyes were framed by long, dark eyelashes and perfectly plucked brown eyebrows, and her lips were permanently in a smile, making her seem accessible, despite her super model looks.

"Earth to Jack?" When he flicked back to reality, he realised Eve was grinning at him, waving her hands.

"Sorry, I was miles away." Jack apologized, watching as Eve took a seat next to him at the table. "What were you saying?"

"I was just wondering what you guys were up to today."

"Basketball practise, all day." Kofi chipped in. "What about you?"

Eve cautious looked over at Jack. "Actually, I got a call from Maryse before I went to bed last night, asking if I could go see her today."

"Did she sound upset?" Jack asked.

"More...angry," Eve chose her words carefully, not wanting to use the word 'furious', a more accurate description of Maryse. "Anyway, I don't even know if I'm gonna go. I've got work, and she'll have Rosa, Alicia and the twins; it's not as if she'll be alone." Eve swung her legs up onto the table, so her feet were pointed at Kofi. Jack, however, just got a great view of her fantastic legs.

"I think I'm gonna get going." Jack got to his feet. "Y'know, take a shower and stuff."

"See you at practise, man." Kofi said from his seat. "Twelve o 'clock at the courts, right?"

"Right."

"I'll show you out." Eve stood up and followed Jack to the doorway. She couldn't help but notice the way he looked at her. She'd never seen him look that way before. "Well, I'll see you Monday."

"Thanks Eve." He said, slightly sadly. "For...last night. For being a friend."

The brunette smiled, and reached over to give Jack a hug. "It's gonna be okay. You guys will sort things out."

You guys will sort things out.

Jack wasn't sure if he wanted to.

"...so then I come into my kitchen, and I see Jack sat at the kitchen table, eating omelettes and acting like nothing's even happened!" Kofi recalled his morning to the other guys on the basketball team, as they sat on the bleachers to take a break from their gruelling practise.

"I told you exactly what happened; she let me in, we talked for a little, watched a movie and then she said I could sleep on the couch, and she went up to her bedroom!" Jack explained.

"What movie did you watch?" Dolph asked, curiously.

"Does it really matter? What matters is that Jack totally hooked up with Eve!" Montel called over at Jack, who was sat at the other end of the bleachers, rolling his eyes at Kofi's storytelling. The rest of the boys whooped in response, minus Kofi.

"Woo, woo, woo, you know it!" Zack Ryder chanted, only to receive a whole lot of eye rolls from his team mates. "Seriously guys, it's catchy!"

"So is chicken pox." Montel grinned at the other guys. "So tell me something," He quickly changed the subject. "Is Eve any good in the sack?"

"Dude, that's my sister!" Kofi exclaimed.

"I didn't sleep with Eve!" Jack claimed. "I fell asleep on the couch. And besides, if you'd have been home, we wouldn't have gotten into this situation in the first place."

"I'm not going to hang around at home, waiting for you to get into a fight with your girlfriend so I can let you drink beer at my house." Kofi laughed.

"Where were you anywhere?"

"I went to the gym." Kofi quickly mumbled. "It's quieter in the evenings."

The truth was he'd had a brilliant time at the junior high swim contest with Kelly, watching her little brother. The swimming wasn't exactly Olympic standard, but it was Kelly's company he'd most enjoyed. He'd ended up coming home at midnight, when after the contest, they'd gone out to Taco Bell and sat in the drive through, just listening to Train on Kelly's car radio and laughing.

"I still can't believe you left Maryse alone in the restaurant." Dolph laughed. "I would never leave dinner without a girl like that."

"You'd have to get a girl like that before you could leave a dinner without her." Jack pointed out. "And you're certainly not going to with hair like that. And besides, Maryse isn't-" He wondered whether what he was about to say was the right thing.

"Isn't what?"

He brought his water bottle to his lips, glugged down the final contents, leaving the boys in suspense, before finally saying, "Maryse isn't all she's cracked up to be."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Kofi asked. He had a feeling he knew where this was going.

"At school on Monday, I'm breaking up with Maryse."

"What was that chick called last night?" Cody asked, as he and Ted scanned the aisles of their local 7-Eleven convenience store, after Mrs Rhodes asked them to run some errands.

"Which one?" Ted asked, distractedly.

"The blonde one with the impressive rack."

"Trish Stratus." Ted confirmed.

"Yeah, Trish." Cody said with a smile. "Do you think she knew that I was in high school?"

"Of course she did. She's a college senior, and you're a high school junior. She has a radar for guys like you." Ted held up two loaves. "Did your mom want white or brown bread?"

"Brown; she's big on us being healthy." Cody took the left loaf and flopped in the basket. "But Trish said I had a cute face."

"No, she said you had an adorable face, and she 'just wanted to pinch your cheeks'." Ted pointed out. "Now where do they keep the batteries in this place?"

"Aisle seven."

Both boys turned around, and noticed a very amused expression on the face of Eve Torres, who was surprisingly wearing a 7-Eleven uniform. As perfect an opportunity as this would have been to laugh at her, Ted couldn't deny that Eve worked the green and blue shirt. Besides, she was wearing a short denim skirt which made it a little better.

"Aww, food shopping together? Just get married already, guys!" Eve cooed, leaning over to pinch Cody on the cheek.

"Why does everyone keep doing that?" He hissed at Ted.

"I didn't know you worked here," Ted told Eve.

"This is only my second day. I usually work all day Sunday, but they needed me in today." Eve explained.

"Cool." Ted responded, as a frosty silence settled among the trio. Obviously the events of the previous nights still held serious tension.

"How was the party?" Eve asked, acting preoccupied by straightening out some items on the shelf.

"It was good." Ted shrugged. "It was a shame you couldn't come." He wished he knew why Eve had been so quick to turn them down after already agreeing to come.

"Sorry about that." Eve didn't want to hurt Ted by telling him the truth, so she decided to keep schtum. "I can work the Slurpee machine now. You guys want me to make you one? On the house?"

"Is that an apology?" Cody laughed, before turning to Ted. "Because I would love a Slurpee."

"They're not really on the house – because I'm paying for them – but it's my way of saying I'm sorry, and I will definitely be at the next party." Eve led them to the counter, as she began going to work on the machine. "That is, if you choose to invite me. Now what flavour?"

"Grape!" Cody said quickly, receiving questioning looks from both Eve and Ted. "What? We all have a favourite Slurpee flavour! Ted's is cherry." Cody informed Eve.

"Is that a cherry Slurpee for you, Ted?" Eve winked.

"I guess I could force one down." Ted grinned.

Eve leaned over the counter, until her mouth was mere inches from Ted's ear. "And for future reference, cherry's my favourite too."

Ted/Eve/Jack continues...
But I have to say, I'm developing a soft spot for the unlikely Kofi/Kelly pairing.
I think Cody is possibly my favourite character! Haha
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