Chapter 24 has arrived...

CATCHING UP

The January morning sun beat down on Beverly Hills High courtyard, as the cheerleaders sat around in a circle in the courtyard. Of course, the girls were on the benches, because sitting on the grass was a no-no; grass-stains could mark Maryse's pair of white jeans forever.

"-so then Mom said as long as I get the grades this semester, the BMW convertible is mine to keep," Rosa grinned proudly, waving the keys in her friends faces.

"What about the Prada purse?" Eve signalled at the red leather tote that had yet to leave Rosa's side. "Is that gonna be returned soon as well?"

"No!" Rosa giggled, "This was a present from Daddy!"

God bless having rich, divorced parents, Eve thought to herself, looking round the benched circle at her friends in awe; they were all so decked-out after the holidays. Eve had received a new laptop, but compared to these girls, that was child's play. Thanks to her mother's connections at Fendi, Maryse's closet was kitted out with all the latest looks, straight of the catwalk, Alicia had spent Christmas in her parent's sky villa in Tampa, plus Brie and Nikki had a new black Range Rover.

Each.

"You've got a pretty healthy glow to you, Torres," Maryse commented, pulling her blonde hair over one shoulder. She and Eve were still on icy terms after the whole 'virginity' incident, however both were keeping up a civil front for the sake of the squad; neither one wanted to be seen as weak. "I thought you were just staying in Beverly Hills?"

"Change of plans, actually." Eve was already feeling smug; she had a feeling she'd got one up on Maryse. "Turns out Jack's parents got him an extra special Christmas present; two tickets to join his parents in Bali."

Eve received five blank looks, all shot in her direction.

"Jack and I went to Bali together!" A series of excited squeals ensued, however none of which came from Maryse. In all the years they'd be dating, Jack had never taken her on holiday. Obviously there'd been the group spring breaks to Cabo San Lucas, but that was different; there was the cheerleaders and the basketball team. It was never just Maryse, Jack and his parents.

"Oh my God, that's insane!" Nikki jumped up and down in her seat. "That is such a big step! How was it?"

"It was absolutely beautiful," Eve smiled happily, thinking back on her break. "We were staying in this beautiful villa right by the water, so we could go swimming everyday; I've never seen anything like it. We went snorkelling, and sailing, and I swam with dolphins! I've never swam with dolphins before-"

"-and then we all lived happily ever after!" Maryse said with fake perkiness, getting up and picking up her bag.

"What was that?" Eve heard exactly what Maryse said, but she was in no position to cause fuss amongst the girls. There was a power struggle between the head cheerleader and the – honestly – more talented upstart, but some of the girls were too naive to see it, and Eve wasn't going to be the one to bring it to light. It was Maryse's problem, not hers.

"I just said-" The French-Canadian blonde paused, puckering her lips as she thought of what to say. "I've got a book to return to the library." Yeah right, like she'd ever set foot in the school library. "I'll catch up with you guys later." Maryse picked up her handbag and pranced out of the courtyard.

She was furious.

Leaning back against her locker, Maryse sighed. She was used to getting what she wanted. First day of freshman year, she was instantly made to feel special; her cheerleading tryout was successful, and she was the youngest girl on the squad. A year later, she was made captain, and was the first non-American girl in Beverly Hills High history to be in charge of the cheerleading squad. She'd worked damn hard to get where she was, and now, this new girl was coming in and taking everything from her; her friends, her position, hell, even her boyfriend.

"Excuse me," She looked to her left and noticed Ted DiBiase was trying to get to his locker, however Maryse was partially leaning against it. "You're on my locker."

"Ted DiBiase," Maryse smirked, moving so Ted could access his locker. "We haven't chatted since-"

"Can we not talk about it?" Ted sighed, referring to the night where he punched Miz, after he and Maryse managed to wind him up about Eve until he snapped. "I'm not exactly proud of it."

"I don't suppose you've heard about Eve and Jack's romantic trip to-"

"Bali," Ted finished. "You're too late to rain on my parade; Eve's already filled me in." His voice was filled with bitterness, as he remembered getting a call from an excited Eve two days after Christmas, telling him she and Jack were going off to Bali. All he could do was laugh along as she told him she'd bring him back a puka shell necklace.

"This must be killing you," Maryse, feeling down herself, wanted to make sure that someone was feeling just as bad as she did. "You act like there's nothing but friendship between the two of you, when really, you pine for her. But she's dating the captain of the basketball team, and, well let's be honest," Maryse let her eyes wonder over Ted. "You're no captain of the basketball team."

Ted shook his head, deciding to be the bigger person. "Go piss someone else off, Maryse, because it's not gonna work on me." He said, before leaving Maryse stood by the lockers, still as miserable as when she started.

"...so you're telling me-" Miz began, attempting to spin Jack's basketball on the tip of his finger, before Jack signalled for him to stop. "-that you were in Bali with Eve for a week, a whole week, and you didn't seal the deal?" He attempted another spin.

"Do you have no respect for your house, dude?" Jack rolled his eyes, follow Miz out of his living room and into the spacious garden, where he sat down on one of the patio chairs next to the pool. "No, we didn't have sex."

"You must be gagging for it," Miz smirked, rolling up the sleeves off his shirt at the heat. "Does that mean you haven't had sex since you and Maryse broke up?"

Unfortunately, Miz was right; he was a man with needs, and sometimes, those needs needed to be fulfilled. Obviously he was in no position to pressure her into anything she didn't want to do, so for the time being, he knew what he had to do; nothing, and like it. Besides, he'd learnt to enjoy the finer things in life; like Penthouse magazine – his father was an idiot if he thought Jack wouldn't find his collection. Not that he really read it anyway; he preferred just looking at the pictures-

"And the fact she's a virgin doesn't bother you?" Miz arched an eyebrow at his friend. Their Bromance was a long-standing one, and they knew each other inside out.

Jack sighed. "I mean, of course it'd be good if she was willing to have sex, but I can't force her to do something she doesn't want to do. I'm not like you; pressuring chicks isn't my thing."

"Ouch, that hurt." Miz said sarcastically, clutching his chest in mock-pain. "Hey, maybe Eve wants it too. Maybe she just doesn't want it with you!"

Now that was a slap to Jack's male ego. "Hey loser, I could have her if I wanted to."

"Oh yeah?" Miz could sense a wager of sorts coming. "Wanna make a bet out of it?"

It was Jack's turn to raise an eyebrow. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Hmm," Miz rubbed at his chin, wondering how high the price should be set. Neither one was too short of cash, so giving it away wasn't going to cause any bankruptcy. "Two hundred dollars says you can't get Eve into the sack by the end of spring break. That gives you four months, and hey, if you could have her, then you don't need for months."

"Are you insane?" Jack exclaimed.

"Like I said, it should be easy enough, right?"

"That's not the point. You can't make money off of her, she's...that's my girlfriend!"

"Dude, just think about it." Jack didn't even know how to respond, so he got up off the chair, and left his best friend's house.

Miz shrugged; Jack was a sportsman, a competitor, and he hated being proven wrong, and failing. If there was one thing Jack didn't like losing, it was his pride. Miz knew Jack all too well, and he knew his friend would be back to take up the challenge.

Ohhhh, yes, I went there!
Haha, so will Jack take the challenge?
The chapter's pretty short, I know, but I just wanted to set you up for what's to come!
Please be patient with me, what with it being exam season and all!
Hope you enjoyed :) and please leave a review.