Chapter 21...

YOU'RE SO NAIVE

It never got cold in California, but as November faded in, there was a definite breeze in the air. Kelly pulled her jacket around her tightly, shielding herself from the wind. Her mom was covering the night to morning shift at the hospital where she worked as a nurse, and it was Kelly's car she took with her. Now, Kelly had to wait around for her mom to come home and return what was rightfully hers; hopefully with a full tank of gas as an apology.

"You're gonna be late if you don't get a move on," Kofi called from his driveway. "What're you doing?"

"My mom's shifts are so inconvenient, and she should be getting back from work soon." Kelly rolled her eyes. "Her car was in for repair, so she took mine, but she's late."

"You need a ride?"

Kelly had felt awkward around Kofi ever since she'd spoken – if you could call it that – to Alicia in the bathrooms at school. If anything, Kelly had doing her best to stay away. "It's fine, I can walk to-"

"Kells, we're late enough as it is." Kofi chuckled, holding open the car door for her. "Come on, get in."

Reluctantly, Kelly stepped over the flowerbeds that separated them, and got into the car. "Thanks. So where's Eve?"

"She had a cheerleading practise and Maryse made them go in at like, seven thirty. My dad dropped her in on the way to work." He started up the car. "I've barely spoken to you recently; it's like you've been avoiding me." He was only joking, but it was the truth. Alicia had made Kelly so uncomfortable that Kelly had been intimidated. Too scared to talk to one of her closest friends.

"Definitely not." Kelly said with a smile. "So how're you and Alicia?"

Kofi pursed his lips. "We're fine." He occasionally wondered if that was the case, but it wasn't like Kelly cared. "I've been invited to hers for Thanksgiving."

"That's nice." Kelly commented, wistfully. "Normally it's just me and my brother eating a turkey dinner, minus the turkey."

"Why's that?"

"My mom works the Thanksgiving shift because it's extra cash. We may live in Beverly Hills, but we're not rolling in money like the Swagger's, or the Fox's," Kelly explained, carefully. "When I'm not in school, I work down at 7Eleven. I was the one that got Eve that job. My brother works too; he's had a paper round for years. We're a family, so we work together."

"I didn't realise things were so difficult."

"Not difficult," Kelly mused. "Just never easy."

Closing her locker with a hearty sigh, Eve piled her history binder into her bag and made her way down the hallway towards class.

She was exhausted; after receiving a call from Maryse to tell Eve that there was cheerleading practise before school, she'd managed to catch a ride with her dad, however it was pointless anyway. When Eve arrived, she got another call from Maryse, telling her it was a false alarm. None of the other girls showed up, and something told Eve that Maryse wasn't happy, and Eve knew there was nothing worse than an irate head cheerleader.

If Maryse was uncomfortable with Eve and Jack's relationship, Eve would rather have known about it, instead of being subjected to bitchiness. Friends came before guys in Eve's eyes and she wasn't going to go back on that.

She hadn't seen anyone in a while; it turned out karma was a bitch, because the day after feigning illness, Eve actually came down with the flu, and had missed four days of school. With her good health back in check, she was ready to face school.

"Hey guys," Eve slipped into the empty desk in front of Maryse and Rosa, before turning around to talk to her fellow cheerleaders. "What's up?" She noticed Jack sat on the other side of the room with Montel, but she decided to stick with the girls.

"We were just discussing Christmas." Rosa looked confused, until Maryse nudged her hard in the ribs. "You know, what with the holidays coming up.

"I remember those nativity plays we did at elementary schools." Rosa commented, checking out her manicure.

"Oh yeah," Eve smiled fondly, remembering her carefree days. "I was one of Gabriel's angels. I was so jealous because my friend Casey got to play Gabriel-"

"Really?" Maryse arched an eyebrow. "I'd have had you down as more of a...Virgin Mary."

"I'm sorry?" A confused Eve was caught off-guard, until the guilty look on Rosa's face told the whole story. "Wow, thanks Rosa." She said sarcastically.

Maryse didn't care; she was grinning like the cat that got the cream. "Sorry Eve, I didn't realise your virginity was such a big secret." Her volume increased, until she knew Jack was looking in their direction.

"What do you think you're doing?" Eve hissed.

"It's okay to be a virgin, Eve." Maryse's voice was dripping with sarcasm. Worse than sarcasm, it was pitying, and patronising. "Loads of famous people are virgins. Like the Jonas Brothers-"

"Shut up!" Eve slammed her fist down on her desk.

"Touched a nerve, have I?" Maryse smirked. "Well, it's not like you've been touched anywhere else-"

Eve didn't want to listen to anymore. She got to her feet, and bolted out of the classroom, leaving all of her stuff behind. It was as if she were sprinting from her troubles – Maryse – and it was impossible for her to stop running; her feet were outrunning her body, and she was moving faster than she ever had before. That was until she reached the courtyard and collided with some innocent passerby.

"Whoa!" She flew back onto the grassy ground, and looked up. It was Ted. She'd just steamrolled into Ted.

"What's going on?" Ted asked, kneeling down next to her.

There was some attempt from Eve at formulating words, however all that came out was a tearful croak, and she burst into tears. Why had she let Maryse get to her?

"Shh, it's okay," Ted leaned over and wrapped his arms around her. It was comforting; his arms were strong and supportive, as one of his hands rubbed circles across her back, and the other stroked her hair. She allowed her head to nestle into his neck, so she could smell his cologne.

"I'm such a mess." Eve burbled, wiping her eyes. "Oh God, I'm probably covered in mascara, aren't I?"

Using the tips of his fingers, Ted gently wiped underneath Eve's cars, before smearing any black excess over his jeans. "Doesn't matter, you're still beautiful." All Eve could do was smile; he was such a gentleman. "So what's wrong?" Ted asked, examining Eve's sad features.

"Ted, I'm a vir-"

"Eve," They both looked up and saw that Jack was coming into the courtyard. Ted knew his time with Eve was gone. "I can take it from here," Jack told him, coolly.

Ted simply shot Eve a look, as if to ask if she was going to be okay. In response, Eve nodded, and kissed him on the cheek, before he left the courtyard. His ego was bruised, but he had received a kiss from Eve. That had to be worth something.

Jack held out a hand and pulled Eve up off the ground, and led her over to a nearby bench. "Maryse was out of line back there."

"It's fine," Eve forced herself to smile. "If you don't want us to see each other anymore, I get it. It's fine-"

"No, it's not." Jack replied. "Eve, your virginity doesn't bother me. If you want to have sex, that's great, but if you don't, that's alright too. I'm not gonna cry over it." He chuckled. "And neither should you."

"You still want to be with me?"

"Of course," He laughed again, resting his hand on her knee. She noticed he moved it no further north. "I just wish you'd have told me on our date, because then I wouldn't have come across as such a jackass pervert-"

"I think I was the one that came across worse. I jumped out of your car like there was a bomb onboard." Their laughter faded away, and Jack leaned over to tenderly kiss Eve on the lips. She pulled away smile. "I do want to have sex with you," She admitted. "Just not yet."

"All in your own time, Eve." He said, before looking down at his watch. "We should probably get back to class."

"-so they come back into class together, holding hands like love's young dream! As if nothing even happened!" Maryse furiously recalled, as she recapped what Alicia had missed in history. School was over, and the two girls were making their way out to the parking lot towards Maryse's car. "Jack is not going to last without sex, he's an animal in the sack. Seriously, what does he see in her?"

"I like Eve." Alicia said, however she wasn't really listening to what the head cheerleader had to say. On the other side of the parking lot, a petite blonde was waiting outside the reception area for someone, as she occasionally looked down at her watch.

Kelly Carlyle was not going to steal her boyfriend.

Alicia observed the blonde's appearance; she'd certainly regained her pre-pregnancy body, as showed off in a pair of white, low-rise skinny jeans and a cropped black blazer which hugged her upper-body. She was an attractive girl, surely she could find her own boyfriend, and not Alicia's? It was rare that Alicia felt so vulnerable.

"Eurgh, just look at her." Maryse scoffed, as she followed Alicia's gaze over to Kelly, who was talking to Evan and Drew, a couple of guys from her class. "What a hoe." Maryse looked around, before lowering her voice and saying, "You spoke to her, didn't you?"

"Sort of." Alicia replied, getting into Maryse's car.

Maryse had suggested that Alicia confront Kelly face-to-face, however Alicia wasn't Maryse. She didn't have her confidence, so she chickened out, and threatened Kelly through a bathroom door. It was the wimp's way out, but it was effective. Kofi hadn't brought Kelly up in days, and everytime Kelly looked in Alicia's direction, her eyes were instantly averted.

So if she'd got what she wanted, why did she feel so guilty?

Okay, so on my profile, it says I'm taking a hiatus, however I will still attempt to update. It just won't be as regular as it usually is.
Hopefully you still stick with the story because you like it!
Anyway, please leave a review :) Xx