Chapter 26 is here...

ARTISTIC DIFFERENCES

All of the students are Beverly Hills High loved Ms Iris Gilligan; she was the schools' resident art teacher, and longest serving member of staff. Everyone knew her life story; born in East End London, she ran away to America at the age of sixteen and fell in love with a much older art dealer, gaining an appreciation of her lover's craft. The pair got married and settled down in Beverly Hills; however the love didn't last as Mr Gilligan ran away with another younger woman, leaving Ms Gilligan with millions in divorce money. Three husbands later, she was living comfortably. Iris may be coming up to seventy, but she still had that sixteen year old glint in her eye.

Kelly, in particular, had always been fascinated by Ms Gilligan; how she came from nothing, and despite a turbulent beginning, she'd made something of herself, and never pretended to be anyone other than who she was.

"Today, my darlings, is the start of a new project." She watched as Ms Gilligan glided into the room, wearing one of her art deco kaftans that you had to squint at to see. "We're going to be looking at impressionist art, the Ms Gilligan way. Now can anyone tell me what that is?"

"Like, Weird Al." Dolph piped up from the back of the room.

"Not quite, sweetie." Ms Gilligan winced, before glancing over at her star pupil. "Kelly?"

"It's like...finding something like a piece of music, and just expressing it in your own way. Guys like Monet, Pissarro and Alfred Sisley."

"Exactly."

Turning around, Kelly saw Kofi sat behind her, a bored look on his face. The pair hadn't spoken since their awkward encounter on Christmas day, and to say things between them were sour was an understatement.

She hated feeling this way; feeling so obsessed with how their relationship was. At this point, it wasn't even about her crush on him; it was his friendship she missed. Just being able to sit in his room and play Xbox, or the way they'd both watch a film at their houses, and text each other throughout, despite the fact they were mere metres away.

"-so I'm going to put you into groups, and you're going to work together to express the emotion I give you." Ms Gilligan began arranging trios, as Kelly sank down into her chair, preferring to work on her own. "Right, Kofi and Alicia, I'm going to put the pair of you with...Kelly."

At that point, Kelly wanted the ground to swallow her up whole. Alicia hated her, Kofi probably hated her, and now they'd have to work together in a somewhat cohesive unit. Art was Kelly's favourite class, and it was officially ruined. Could things get any worse?

"And your emotion," Ms Gilligan pondered for a moment. "Your emotion will be jealousy."

It just did.

Reluctantly, Kelly picked up her chair and manoeuvred it so she was facing both Kofi and Alicia; she was like she was about to audition for American Idol. That is, if Paula Abdul and Simon Cowell were sleeping together – which Kelly always assumed they were.

"I'll go get some supplies." Kofi spotted Dolph heading into the art store cupboard and immediately followed.

"Listen to me, and listen good, or things will get ugly." Alicia hissed. "You're going to go find Ms Gilligan, and you're going to swap groups. I don't care how you do it, or who you do it with, but by the time Kofi gets out of the cupboard, you'll be gone. Got it?" As much as it pained Kelly to obey Alicia, they both wanted the same thing.

"Excuse me, Ms Gilligan?" Kelly approached the aging art teacher, who was rifling through a selection of paint pots with liver-spotted hands. "If it's okay, I'd like to swap groups with someone."

Ms Gilligan tipped her spectacles down to the bottom of her nose, and raised an eyebrow at Kelly. "Darling, I put you with Kofi and Alicia because I believe you have so much you can teach them. You have an artistic gift, and I want you to share it with them."

"Things are awkward between us." Kelly whispered.

"Why don't you tell me about it outside?" Ms Gilligan led Kelly out of the classroom and waited until the corridor was cleared, before allowing Kelly to tell her everything. No stone went unturned; her secret love of Kofi, their falling out, her rivalry with Alicia. Perhaps Ms Gilligan would be able to use some of her life experience to give Kelly some good advice.

"-so putting me in a group with them, making us express jealousy; it's all a little too...real."

"Why, it's perfect." The art teacher was more enthusiastic than ever. "This is how you create art; through real experiences. Channel all your pent-up frustrations into this painting. Let everything out in the open-"

Kelly didn't want to let everything out in the open.

"My first husband and I had a very turbulent relationship, and you know how my love of art began? Jack and I would fight; he'd storm off to go sleep with a young floozy in a bar, and I'd paint. Art is about being true to who you are, so you're going to get back to that table, and you're going to show Kofi and Alicia that you're not afraid to be yourself, and to show that in your work."

Dragging her feet, Kelly made her way back into the classroom, and sat back down at the table with Alicia and Kofi, the female of the two looked stunned; she obviously hadn't prepared for Kelly's return.

The blonde took a deep breath, and smiled easily, "So I was thinking of using water colours..."

Taking her eyes off of her copy of Cosmopolitan, Eve gazed around the empty 7-Eleven, as if she were waiting for a rush of people to materialise into thin air. She'd been working for an hour, and had only served three customers; it was surprisingly empty for an afterschool; normally the kids from the junior high would come in and get all hyped up on Slurpees. Kelly would be coming in to help out in a little while, but until then, Eve picked her handbag up off the floor and pulled out her cell phone, before proceeding to text Ted.

Bored in 711. Entertain me? :) X

It was the sort of thing Eve knew she should have been texting her boyfriend with, but she highly doubted that Jack was bothered about her boredom – not that Ted was. Ted was funnier than Jack, but she wasn't going to hold that against her boyfriend; humour wasn't everything.

Now Ted had a girlfriend, would he want to text her back all the time? Maybe he'd want to text Layla all the time, and she'd simply be an afterthought; one of those friends that he'd see around school and smile at, but other than that, very little would happen.

"Wow, I thought maybe there'd be a queue, but I'm clearly mistaken." The store now one new customer; Cody Rhodes. Ted's best friend sauntered up to the counter and rested his elbows against the surface.

"Yeah, you don't have to worry about being trampled for the Slurpee machine," Eve winked back. "So what can I do for you, Mr Rhodes?" She followed his gaze. "You want a grape Slurpee, don't you?"

"I will have to drink it in the store. Fear of ruining my reputation and all that." His hands jammed in his pockets, Cody shrugged innocently. Eve smiled back at him; he was so cute.

"One grape Slurpee, coming up." Making her way over to the machine, she worked her magic. One of the main reasons she wanted a job at 7-Eleven was so she could operate the Slurpee machine; ever since she was a kid, she'd been fascinated by them. Well, not necessarily fascinated, but they were pretty damn yummy. She placed the cup down in front of Cody. "There you go, that's one seventy five."

Cody dug into his schoolbag and pulled out two dollar bills, before proceeding to drink his Slurpee.

"So where's Ted?" Eve asked innocently, as she sorted out Cody's change. "Aren't the two of you usually inseparable?"

"He's with this chick I set him up with a week ago."

"Layla?"

"Yeah," Cody nodded. "You know her?"

"I've got my sources." She shrugged, walking over to a rack of magazines and leaning over to neatly arrange them, before innocently asking, "So what's going on between them?"

"They're dating. I think they're getting along pretty well actually; just having fun, y'know?" Cody followed Eve over to the magazine rack, picking up a copy of GQ and flipping through before asking just as innocently, "Why? You jealous?"

"Please!" Eve scoffed, her head flicking up so quickly that she nearly knocked the Slurpee right out of Cody's hand. "I'm with Jack. I was just asking because I haven't heard much from Ted recently. I guess he's been busy with Layla, or something."

"Right," Cody nodded. Obviously his plan to take Ted's mind off Eve had worked perfectly; his friend had moved on. But what was with Eve? She seemed so-

"Sorry I'm late, I got held up in traffic," There were now three in the store, as Kelly came through the main entrance, before rushing towards the staff room at the back. "I'll go get changed and then I'll-" Stopping to look around, she realised there were only two other people there. "So there's no rush then?" She grinned, before going inside the staffroom.

"Well, I'd better get going," Scrunching up his now empty Slurpee cup, Cody tossed it in the nearest trash can. "I'll see you at school tomorrow, Eve." He put his copy of GQ back on the rack, before leaving the store.

Eve walked back to the till, and sat down again, resting her chin against her hand. Cody couldn't be more wrong; she wasn't jealous of Ted and Layla, in fact, she was happy that her friend had moved on. After all, what kind of a friend would she be if she was unsupportive of him?

"Jack told me you worked here, but I didn't think I'd see you today," The store door opened again, but this time, it was Miz that came in, the usual smirk sat upon his lips. He was pretty rich, so he probably pitied her for having to work for her money.

"What are you looking for?" Eve asked with as much patience as possible. They'd gotten over the whole party incident, but there was still something suspicious about Miz; his aura was too cocky for Eve's liking.

"Actually, I was wondering if I could exchange some notes for coins," Miz dug his wallet out from his pocket. "I need to pay for some petrol at the gas station across the road."

"Well, I'm not allowed to on behalf of 7-Eleven, but I've got some change in my purse." Eve picked up her bag and pulled out her own wallet, before issuing the exchange.

"Thanks," He smiled, before stepping backwards. She couldn't help but notice how, despite the fact she was sat behind a till, he was checking out her appearance, making her feel a little bit uncomfortable.

"Can I help you with something?" She raised an eyebrow. "Are you checking me out?"

"Of course not." He smirked, before making his way out of the store. "Thanks again, have a nice day, Eve."

"What was that about?" Kelly appeared next to Eve at the till, watching through the window as Miz got into his car and began driving off down the road.

Eve also noted he did not stop at the gas station across the road, instead driving straight past. "I have no idea." She muttered.

Lying stomach down on her bed, Eve yawned lazily, still thumbing through her copy of Cosmopolitan. She knew she probably should have been doing something more useful – like studying for tomorrow's Spanish paper – but she really didn't have the energy. Plus, she felt slightly put off by the fact Ted still hadn't texted her back.

It was only a little thing, and Eve knew it shouldn't have bothered her as much as it did, but normally, Ted replied to her straight away. It had been six hours, and he was still MIA. Just because he had a girlfriend didn't mean their friendship had to dissolve, did it? After all, Eve was dating Jack long before Ted and Layla, and Eve was still a great friend to him. It made no sense to her.

She leaned over to her bedside table, and picked up her cell phone. Flicking through her contacts, she went straight to the 'Ts', before picking out Ted's number and dialling.

'Hey, you've reached Ted. I'm not around, so leave a message and I'll call you back'.

"Hey Ted," Eve began. "It's Eve. I just wondered how you were, and I-"

"Who're you calling?" The door of Eve's bedroom door creaked open, and in came Jack. Having completely forgotten her boyfriend was hanging out with Kofi that evening, Eve almost jumped out of her skin when she saw him. She'd barely seen him all evening; when she'd got in from 7-Eleven, she'd taken a shower and had dinner, before deporting up to her bedroom.

"Just Brie." Eve lied, getting up off her bed to give her boyfriend a quick kiss on the lips.

"You look cute in pyjamas," Jack murmured into the kiss, just as Eve realised she was wearing little more than a pair of girl boxers and a tank top.

"Yeah, well I wasn't expecting visitors-" She was cut off, this time by a kiss from Jack. It wasn't just a quick one this time, as she could feel his hands on her upper thighs – dangerously close to her ass – and a certain throbbing in the front of his pants. She was definitely thankful his eyes were closed, as her cheeks were getting hotter and hotter. Even more thankful was Eve when she heard her phone ring. "I should probably get that." She pulled away.

"I'll see you in the morning, Eve." Jack said, before leaving the room and closing the door gently behind him, careful not to wake up Carol and Andrew, who were already asleep at this point.

Eve breathed a sigh of relief, before going over to her ringing cell phone. "Ted?"

"Hi, can I speak with Janice?"

"Sorry, I think you've got the wrong number," Eve muttered before hanging up with a sigh. What was wrong with her? She didn't want to have sex with her boyfriend, and now she was obsessing over her best friend's love life. Desperate to shake off whatever she was feeling, Eve climbed into bed, and continued flicking through the pages, however her mind wasn't on it.

Not even the article which bluntly stated 'Is your boyfriend pressuring you into sex?'

Has Ted moved on from Eve? And is Eve starting to have feelings for Ted?
And when will she realise what Jack's up to?
Plus, what will happen with Kofi/Kelly/Alicia on their project?
Please review :)