Chapter 30... can you believe it? :)

SO HEARTLESS

When Brie and Nikki said they had connections to a club in San Diego, this was not what Maryse had in mind. She has envisioned a place much like the ones in L.A, be it Les Deux, or The Viper Room, but this was not a club. Maryse almost wished she hadn't put so much effort into her outfit.

The whole junior basketball team and cheerleading squad were in California's second largest city for three days to compete in the state basketball finals. The first day was a torturous coach journey from Beverly Hills to San Diego – you'd think with all the cash these parents were splashing they could afford a nicer form of transport, and day two was training for the basketball team and tutoring and cheerleading practise for the girls. But on the third day, Beverly Hills High won the tournament, and both schools were out celebrating. Nikki and Brie, who had relatives in San Diego, had told the group they could get them into one of the city's nightclubs, which they had, however this was different to the classy lifestyle these kids were used to. It was dark, only lit by strobe lights and tacky neon wall signs, and everyone was sweaty and grimy, grinding against each other on the dance floor.

And the oddest part? No-one seemed to care apart from Maryse.

"Excuse me," Breathing in, Maryse pushed her way through a crowd of people in the dance floor and made her way over to the bar, before brushing down her dress and requesting the barman bring her another vodka and cranberry. This guy was so gullible, serving a bunch of kids. Then again, Maryse's powers of seduction weren't childlike in the slightest.

She hated being here alone. Everyone had quite literally segregated into their couples; Eve and Jack, Kofi and Alicia, Rosa and Zack, and now even Brie and Montel and Dolph and Nikki. And who did she have? No-one. It wasn't even like she could find someone; no-one in this club deserved her attention.

"You alright there, baby doll?" The barman asked her. It was dark, so she couldn't examine him properly, but he looked to be an Italian-American guy with a pea head, too much hair gel and muscles that weren't in proportion with the rest of his body.

"Ew," Maryse muttered, picking up her drink and moving away.

"Hey, don't give me that attitude, sweetheart, you're nothin' special!" He called after her. "I can do better than you!"

"Ha! Maybe Snookie's single, because if Jersey Shore's recruiting, you're a shoo-in!" She retorted, before stalking off. The club had booths – probably so the already sexually frustrated couples could get nasty – and Maryse was looking for a little peace.

The blonde let yet another sigh escape from her lips, as she entered one of the booths and sat down, her drink in hand. It took a couple of seconds for her to realise that next to her, there was a couple – she was almost certain they were from the team they defeated earlier that day, St John's, St Jude's... whatever – making out, however this time, Maryse couldn't even be bothered to give them the satisfaction of moving. Instead, she dug her Blackberry out of her clutch bag, and checked her messages.

'How's San Diego? U missing me? Miz X'

Maryse smiled; Miz definitely felt as if he was missing out. All of his friends were on the basketball team, yet he wasn't. There was no doubt he'd be pissed off at being left behind. She began replying, 'It's alright, we're out celebrating Bev Hills' victory at-'

"Excuse me?" The girl of the make-out pair removed her lips from her partners to turn to Maryse. Maryse noted a distinctive British accent. "Do you mind?"

With a roll of her eyes, Maryse left the booth.

"There you go," Kofi placed a glass of orange juice down in front of Alicia and sat down in a chair of his own next to her. "Didn't you want something stronger?"

"No, I've had a headache all day." This was a blatant lie, but Kofi didn't need to know this. Honestly, Alicia hated alcohol; it made her feel nauseous, be it the smell or the taste, but also, on the few occasions she had been drunk, it hadn't ended well. She became brutally, hurtfully honest, irritatingly loud and she would, for some reason, develop a Southern drawl.

Glancing over at Kofi, Alicia took the chance to observe him whilst his gaze was elsewhere. With a beer in one hand and his cell phone in the other, there was a slightly smile across his face, as he hunched over, texting. She couldn't but wonder what – or who – was making him smile.

"Who're you texting?" She asked, sipping her drink.

"Oh," He jumped, sliding the cell phone into his pocket. "My dad just texted me the Denver Nuggets score."

Alicia knew she should've been able to trust him, he was her boyfriend after all, but something told her he wasn't being entirely honest. "You guys must be happy that you won the final game,"

Kofi began talking, but Alicia wasn't focused on what he was saying, more how he was saying it. She liked to consider herself a psychologist of sorts, perhaps a young Oprah or Tyra. Normally when Kofi spoke about basketball, he was so enthusiastic, but he seemed...bored. It was as if he'd rather be anywhere – or with anyone – but there with his girlfriend. He'd keep his gaze on the back of the beer bottle, instead of on her, despite the fact she'd made an extra effort to make herself look fierce.

Was their relationship over? It was a drastic thought, but something Alicia had been pondering for a while. In the beginning, their relationship had been fun and easy, but the further in they got and the longer they were together, the more distant they became. It wasn't long before they discovered they had very little in common and therefore little to do together; even their sex had become boring. She still liked Kofi and wanted things to work, but she couldn't make him want her.

"Leesh?" He nudged her out of her thoughts, finally looking at her.

"Sorry, I'm exhausted." She rubbed at her eyes, but instantly regretted this, wondering if she now had panda eyes.

"Do you want to go back to the hotel?" This wasn't a sexual invitation, seeing as Kofi was rooming with Montel and Alicia with Eve.

She nodded sleepily, accepting the hand he offered her so he could lead her out of the bar.

It was a short distance from the bar to the hotel – just a couple of cobbled lanes away – but there was a silence between Kofi and Alicia the whole way. Kofi had to hold Alicia's hand, as her new Jimmy Choos weren't appropriate for uneven ground, but Kofi's grip wasn't as it used to be. Once warm and strong, it was now cold and weak; like holding hands with a stranger. Eventually, Alicia just took off her shoes – vowing to carefully wash her feet when she returned to the hotel – released Kofi's grip, and walked with about a metre between the couple, as her hanging shoes slapped against her bare knees.

When they arrived at the hotel, Kofi muttered something about walking Alicia to her room and the pair trudged up two flights of stairs until they reached room 209. "See you in the morning," Kofi gently pressed a kiss against her lips, before walking in the opposite direction, back towards the staircase.

"Kofi? Alicia called after him and he turned around to look at her. "I love you."

It wasn't the first time they'd said it to each other, but it had been a long time since one of them had uttered those words. When she said it, everything about Kofi seemed to drop.

"I love you too,"

They both knew he didn't mean it.

What is about drinking that makes everything in life so...awesome? Eve mused to herself, as she chugged back something called 'Blue Curaçao' that the twins brought along to the club with them. It wasn't all that nice – far too sweet for Eve's liking – but it contained enough liquor to make everyone seem like her best friend and for everything to go into soft focus. Eve was definitely in a celebratory mood.

"I should really give this back to the twins," Eve struggled to remember their names and faces, as she gazed around the slightly blurred room. "Where are they?"

"Brie and Montel are in one of the booths, probably making out and I saw Dolph and Nikki leave about twenty minutes ago for a party of their own." Jack took the bottle out of Eve's hand, and drank some himself. "Oh God, I'm rooming with Dolph!"

Eve laughed lazily, laying her head down on Jack's lap. "Aww, you're not gonna be getting any sleep tonight!"

"I can kick them out. If not, there's a couch in Ryder and TJ's room I could crash on," He leaned over to kiss her firmly on the lips, as Eve placed her hands either side of Jack's face. "Unless you had anything else in mind."

"Mr Swagger!" She mocked disapproval. "You're a bad boy!"

"Is that a no?"

"The night is still young," If Eve stayed this drunk, he'd definitely get her into the sack, and Miz's cash would be his.

"So, maybe you wanna take this into one of the booths?"

Nodding eagerly, Eve let Jack yank her to her feet and wrap his arms around her waist, pushing her across the dance floor. Apparently, any issues concerning her virginity had disappeared – along with the delicate star pendant that had been previously hanging around her neck; where the hell was it? – and whatever happened would happen. She was once so insecure about sex but with all the alcohol in her system, nothing seemed of great importance. The booth was dark, almost pitch black, however Eve and Jack managed to sit themselves down on the couch and start making out.

Regardless of her sex insecurities, Eve had always found Jack to be an amazing kisser. There was always the right combination of lips and tongue and Eve found she barely had to move a muscle; just sit back and let Jack work his magic. His lips moved off hers and grazed across her jaw line, just before tracing a path down her neck, eliciting a low moan from Eve's lips. Even when Jack's fingers touched the zip of her dress, she was too entranced by the butterfly kisses on her collarbone to care. However soon, something was wrong.

One hand rested on her thigh? Fine. Another toying with her zip? Fine. But an elbow digging into her back? That wasn't humanly possible for Jack to do.

"Jack?" Eve whispered into the darkness.

"What?" He replied.

"I think there's someone else-"

"Oh my God! Who is that?" An ear-piercing shriek filled the room. A British one.

Suddenly feeling very aware of her surroundings, Eve used the dim light of her cell phone screen to find her way to the light switch. When she turned it on, she instantly wished she hadn't.

"Layla?" Ted's girlfriend was sat on another guy's lap – one of the St Jude's basketball players – with her arms around his neck and his hands attached to her ass. Her dress had slipped so one black bra cup was exposed and her lipgloss was smudged and her hair disheveled. If that was what these rooms did to people, Eve feared her own reflection.

Then she remembered Ted's girlfriend making out with someone else.

How was she supposed to tell him?

Some of you guessed it, but you knew there was something shifty about Layla!
And are Kofi and Alicia finished?
Please review :):)