Hello, new chapter :)

KILLING ME SOFTLY

"You let Jack stay over at your house?" Brie exclaimed, as she and Eve walked through the doors of the Beverly Hills High cafeteria. Monday lunchtime had come around, and Eve had reluctantly filled her friend in on the gossip from Friday night.

"Yeah," Eve shrugged, innocently. "So?"

"That's Maryse's boyfriend! I'm saying this as your friend, Eve; Maryse is going to kill you!" Brie's voice turned to a hiss, as she stopped the fellow cheerleader before they reached their usual table.

"We didn't do anything!" Eve replied. She didn't understand what the big deal was; it wasn't like she slept with the guy. "He came looking for Kofi, but Kofi wasn't in. So I invited him inside, we watched a movie and he fell asleep on the sofa and I went up to bed." She paused. "In my bedroom. No kissing, nothing inappropriate-"

"I believe you," Brie sighed. "I'm just...I'm not sure if Maryse will be happy."

"Maryse won't be happy about what?"

The two brunettes turned around to see their blonde friend stood behind them, a curious expression on her face. Today, her usually loose, blonde hair was scraped back into a classy chignon, showing off her sculptured cheekbones and sparkling eyes. Despite her beautiful exterior, she was still fuming over the events of Friday night.

"It's tater tots instead of salad in the cafeteria today." Brie quickly lied, to which Eve nodded along.

Maryse laughed. "Typical! Do they not realise us cheerleaders have bodies to maintain?"

"Maybe you should talk to Principal Kerrigan?" Eve suggested. Anything to keep her away from the subject of Jack. She blanked out a little as Brie and Maryse went into intense discussions about the lunch menu; if these girls cared as much about politics as they did dieting, they'd surely be eligible to run for the White House.

Eve looked over at the cheerleader's table, where the girls were currently mingling with members of the basketball team. She walked over, and took a seat between Rosa and Nikki, the latter receiving some unwanted attention from Dolph Ziggler.

"Oh, em, gee!" Rosa squealed, her eyes glued to her Blackberry screen.

"What's going on?" Brie and Maryse came over to the table.

"Guess who's coming back into town?" Another excited squeal came from Rosa. "Mike!"

"No freakin' way!" Dolph exclaimed. "Miz is back?"

There was a combination of groans from the girls, and the sound of hand slapping high fives from the guys. Eve and Kofi on the other hand, were just confused.

"Who's Mike...Miz...whatever his name is?" Kofi was the first to ask.

"Mike 'Miz' Mizanin is a legend!" Dolph grinned, excitedly. His best friend was back. "He is the chick magnet of the junior class, he's a player, he's the man! He can get any girl he wants to!"

"Sounds like a douche to me," Eve said to herself, quietly.

"I thought his parents sent him to boarding school?" Maryse queried, before filling Eve in on the subtext. "They caught him having sex with one of the Catholic school girls in his bathroom at the sophomore graduation party. They thought he had a problem and decided an all boys boarding school would be the best option."

"In the bathroom?" Eve scrunched up her face. "How classy." In Eve's opinion, this guy sounded like a total asshole. She'd met guys like him before; the guy that all the boys loved, and the girls hated.

Dolph made a 'Puh!' noise, in response to Maryse's question. "You know what a pushover his mom is; he told her he'd learnt his lesson, and she's let him come home." He turned to Rosa. "Do you know when he gets back?"

"Next Monday," Jack approached the table. "It'll be good to have my wingman back in school." The grin on his face quickly faded, however, as he turned to Maryse. She was still furious with him after their disastrous date, and they hadn't spoken since. Jack leaned over and rested a hand on his girlfriend's shoulder. "Ryse, can I talk to you alone?"

"Sure." Maryse got to her feet and followed Jack over to one of the available tables. She decided it was essential for her to keep up the Ice Queen exterior. "I take it you're here to apologize to me."

Jack had no idea how he was going to do this. "I guess leaving you at the restaurant wasn't my smartest idea-"

"It was extremely hurtful."

"Yes, and I understand that-"

"I'm just glad you've seen the error of your ways, and you're willing to accept full responsibility for your actions-"

"I'm breaking up with you."

A deathly hush fell upon their table. Jack was unsure of why he held a hopeful look on his face, as he looked across at Maryse. Her face was absolutely blank, her beautiful features holding nothing but emptiness.

"Ryse?" He needed her to something. Anything.

"Yeah?" She looked him directly in the eyes, and Jack was caught off guard to see no tears.

"I'm sorry, Ryse, I just-"

Maryse cut Jack off by simply getting to her feet, and holding a stoic expression on her face. It was better to come across as angry than to let him know that she was dying inside.

"All I ever wanted...was...to...make him..." Maryse sobbed through her words, as Rosa Mendes handed her a box of tissues. "I just wanted him to be happy!" She blubbed, before wiping at her dripping eyes. She was distraught, to say the least.

"It's gonna be okay," Rosa sat down on her bed next to Maryse, who's knees were resting underneath her chin, as she hugged her legs. When the French-Canadian told the Latina of her problem, the two had left school before the final bell had even rang, and Rosa had raided her mother's alcohol cupboard, pulling out the most expensive bottle of vodka for her best friend to drown her sorrows in.

Sure, Maryse was definitely in charge in their friendship, but she sure as hell appreciated Rosa. The two had met in freshman year of high school, and ever since, Rosa was always there with a shoulder for Maryse to cry on, or with a helpful word when the blonde was upset. Rosa was nothing without Maryse, but Maryse was nothing without Rosa. They needed each other.

"You'd better not tell anyone about this." Maryse glowered.

Rosa decided to ignore Maryse's comment, instead running her fingers through Maryse's blonde hair, soothingly. "Jack will come crawling back eventually. Next week, he'll realise he's made a huge mistake, and he'll come up with some big romantic gesture, and you guys will just...go back to normal."

Maryse began playing with the heart chain on her necklace – a present from Jack. "Well, we are perfect for each other." She smiled.

She genuinely believed that Jack was the guy she was going to marry. Maryse had it all planned out; they were both going to go to the University of San Francisco - she'd be in a sorority, him in a fraternity – and they'd both get through it together. They'd leave, get jobs, get married and have beautiful children, then grandchildren... Okay, so maybe Jack wasn't aware of this plan, but in Maryse's mind, it's bullet proof.

At least, it was bulletproof.

"He didn't even give me a reason," Maryse continued. "He just...did it. No explanations-"

"That's odd." Rosa commented.

"Well, I didn't exactly give him a chance to give me a reason, because I stormed off, but I think I know why this has happened." Maryse picked up the bottle of vodka and began drinking straight from the bottle. If the break-up was going to be difficult, she wanted to numb the experience as much as possible.

"Why?" Rosa questioned, carefully taking the bottle out of Maryse's hands, not wanting to spill the liquid. Her mother would not be happy to come into the bedroom and smell the stench of vodka.

"I think he likes someone else." Maryse admitted, unhappily. It was very rare she was vulnerable, but this was a rare moment. "Like, likes someone else."

"Who the hell would he break up with you for?" Rosa laughed at the absurdity of the idea.

"Eve Torres." Maryse said, assertively. "I think my boyfriend broke up with me for Eve Torres."

Uh oh... the golden couple are no more! Thoughts?
And what about Miz? What's he going to bring to the story?
Leave a review and maybe you'll find out :) XX