Chapter 22...

FALLING SLOWLY

Eve was exhausted.

It was a Saturday, and for the first time since she'd started working in 7-Eleven, she was rushed off her feet. They'd had a new delivery of Slurpees, and it was as if the Beverly Hills Junior High kids had some kind of Slurpee radar, as there were crowds of them, pouring into the store. Luckily, Eve had Kelly there for moral support, as it was very overwhelming.

"I'm home!" Eve called out, as she came into the entrance of her home, and placed her jacket on the coat rack. "Is anyone home?"

"We're in here!" Her step-father's voice flooded in from the living room. There was a definite smell of fresh coffee, and Eve followed the smell. Shocked was an understatement, as Eve saw her mother and Andrew sat on the sofa, opposite a surprisingly comfortable-looking Jack.

"Jack, what're you doing here?"

"I didn't realise you were working," He began, putting his coffee cup down on the table. "So I came round to see if you wanted to do something-"

"-We told him you'd be back soon, and that he could wait around." Carol was smiling warmly at Jack. "I must say, Eve, you've got yourself quite a catch here."

"Mom, do you want to date him?" Eve felt the colour in her cheeks rising. She was partially embarrassed, but Jack seemed so laid-back about it that it didn't bother her as much.

"Maybe if I was thirty years younger," Carol got up from the sofa and signalled that Andrew followed her. "We'll give you kids some peace." She gathered up the coffee cups and left.

Sitting down on the sofa, Eve gave Jack a quick kiss on the lips. "Sorry about that."

"No problem, your family are cool." He nodded, easily. "So do you wanna catch a movie or something?"

"Sounds awesome," Eve agreed, before pinching at her polyester shirt. "Do you mind if I get changed out of my uniform first? I hate this shirt."

"Go ahead."

"You can just wait and watch TV or something-" The sound of a car pulling up outside made Eve look out of the window. "Or Kofi's here. You can talk to him." She gave him one more kiss before skipping upstairs.

Looking around the living room, Jack was impressed. Sure, it was no Swagger mansion, but it was a sizeable house. That wasn't even what impressed Jack; Eve had a family that really cared about her, and their house felt like a home. Just from talking to Carol and Andrew, Jack could sense they were proud. Even Andrew – who wasn't even Eve's real father – spoke of his step-daughter with such pride.

"Hey man," Jack looked up and saw Kofi was stood in the doorway of the living room. "What's up?"

"I'm waiting for Eve. We're going out and she wanted to get dressed." Jack felt awkward; he and Kofi were good friends, but they never spoke of Jack's relationship with Eve. It was taboo or something. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure," Kofi sat down on the arm of the opposite sofa.

"Do you have a problem with me dating Eve?" He instantly regretted asking this. "Because I care about Eve a lot, but I don't want things to get weird between us-"

Raising a hand, Kofi stopped Jack before shrugging, "It's fine." And he was. Jack and Eve seemed pretty happy together, and his sister's happiness was his main concern. "Just...make sure you're good to her. Eve's a great girl, and she deserves a great guy."

"I know." Jack smiled. "Believe me I know." He knew this was getting way too sentimental for either of them, so he quickly changed the subject. "So, are you coming to practise tomorrow?"

"Yeah, it's ten o'clock on the outside courts, right?" Kofi confirmed. "So where are you and Eve going?"

"Just to the movies. Zack pretty much slammed Iron Man 2, but I wanted to see for myself." He grinned; Ryder's word was often wrong. "What're you up to tonight?"

"Not much." Kofi was planning on inviting Kelly over to eat Chinese and watch his Sons Of Anarchy box set – she'd never watched it, and he thought it was the best show on TV – but Kofi decided to keep that secret. This cheerleading-basketball circle was a close one, and word would definitely get back to Alicia. "Maybe I'll watch Sons of Anarchy."

"You ready to go?" In the doorway, Eve appeared wearing a pair of tight jeans and a floral top. She held out a hand for Jack to take, before they were said their goodbyes and left Kofi.

Making his way up to his bedroom, Kofi threw himself onto his bed, his heading crashing against his pillow. He dug into the pocket of his jeans and pulled out his cell phone, beginning his text. 'S.O.A & Chinese... what do you think?' He sent it to Kelly.

Two minutes later he got a response. 'Is that a good idea?'

'What do you mean?'

'I dunno if Alicia would be too happy'

'We're just friends'

'I'm not sure Alicia sees us that way.'

Kofi decided not to text back.

Pushing his way through the crush of bodies, Ted made his way over to the refrigerator to get himself a beer. He'd managed to get his brother Mike to invite him and Cody to Mike's best friend's birthday party, but he couldn't help but feel bored now he was here. Mike had slunk off to one of the bedrooms with his girlfriend, and Ted hadn't seen Cody since he tagged on after a group of drunken college chicks went off to buy beer. All Ted wanted was to be back at home, or at least to be in the company of someone he actually liked – this, of course referring to Eve, however he wasn't exactly going to admit that.

"Someone looks a little down." Ted was no longer alone, as the spot next to him was now filled. Short and slim, the attractive blonde had long curly blonde had, streaming down her back and small eyes that were outlined with electric blue eyeliner. She was the same age as Mike, as Ted remembered briefly speaking to her at Mike's high school graduation. Back then, she smelt of flowery perfume, now it was beer and cigarettes. "You're Ted, right? Mike's brother?"

"Yeah," He confirmed. "We met at his graduation, but I can't remember your name."

"Rachel." The blonde smiled. It was difficult for Ted to avoid the fact she was the exact opposite of Eve. Eve was tall, tanned, curvy and brunette, whereas Rachel was petite, pale and blonde. Rachel pulled a packet of cigarettes out of her skirt pocket, and offered one to Ted.

"I don't smoke," He shook his head, before making his way outside for some air. He didn't expect her to follow, but she did, lighting a cigarette as she did so.

"You look a little down." Rachel repeated, tucking her hair behind her ears. "What's wrong?"

"You really wanna know?"

"We've all got problems." Shrugging, she sat down next to Ted on the grass. "Like, earlier on tonight, I caught my boyfriend making out with some high school tramp." She began tugging at innocent stems of grass. "I don't think I've ever been so humiliated."

Thinking for a moment, Ted pursed his lips, before letting a smile spread across his mouth. "There's this girl I like. She's called Eve, and she's nothing short of perfect."

"So ask her out."

"I wish it was that simple; she's got a boyfriend." Ted screwed up his paper cup and threw it across the lawn. "He's the captain of the basketball team, and he doesn't understand her. He doesn't get her like I do." Ted paused and winced. "Y'know, for a little while, I was stupid enough to think she liked me back. But she likes Jack, not me."

"She'll learn the truth." Rachel observed, resting hand on Ted's shoulder. "If he's not the one for her, she'll work it out. Girls are intuitive like that, and she'll come looking for a guy that does care about her." Waggling a finger in Ted's direction, she mouthed 'you!'

"Please," He scoffed. "What would a girl like Eve want with a guy like me?"

"My thoughts exactly."

Realising they weren't alone, both Rachel and Ted turned around to see the figure of a French-Canadian blonde walking towards them. And Maryse was not alone; she had Miz by her side.

"You again?" Rachel hissed at Maryse before telling Ted, "This is the skank that made out with my boyfriend."

Maryse simply rolled her eyes. "Whatever." She cast her glance over to Ted. "Who'd have thought the outsider with fall for the cheerleader? How cliché."

"You don't know what you're talking about, Maryse," Ted muttered.

"Well, I think I do, seeing as I've been stood here long enough to hear you whine and moan." There was a knowing smirk on her face; as if she was fully aware of the damage she could cause.

"You can't tell her." Ted made his way towards the demonic duo. "You'll be hurting her just as much as you're hurting me."

"Even better."

"Face it, DiBiase." Miz spoke up. "Eve is fast becoming one of the most popular girls at Beverly Hills High, and she's only been here for two months. Soon enough, she's not going to care about you, and all your going to be known as is her desperate admirer. The guy that could never have her-"

Ted wanted to be able to ignore it, but instead, his fist connected squarely in Miz's face, causing the self-proclaimed Chick Magnet to tumble back onto the ground, nursing his now split lip. Rachel grabbed Ted by the collar of his shirt, pulling him away.

"He's not worth it." She looked him in the eye. "You're better than that!"

"What's going on?" Ted's brother Mike ran out of the house and ran towards Ted. He looked down at the fallen Miz and put the pieces together. "Dude," He lowered his voice. "I pull strings to get you invited, and you show me up like this? What's the matter with you?"

"Mike," Rachel said, "Ted was provoked-"

"I'm outta here." Ted held up his hands and began walking down the road. Eve didn't even have to be around to be a huge part of his life; she was an addiction he just couldn't shrug.

Hmm... where are we gonna go from here?
Is Maryse going to tell Eve about Ted? And I'm sure Miz won't react kindly to being embarrassed...
And what about Kofi and Kelly?
Leave a review and enjoy the next chapter!