A/N: Now that I'm finally finished with 7 Deadly Sins, I'll be concentrating on this a lot more. I don't anticipate this being terribly long, but even though it won't be very long, it willbe filled with lots of juicy drama. Please continue to review, guys :) Hope you enjoy this chapter.

Hugs go to And for all of her support and patience.

Chapter 2

All eyes were on Maria as she entered the arena, or at least it seemed that way, anyway. Only two short months had passed since the split with John, and even though people had been quite shocked that the redhead had had the guts to just pack up and leave John—after all, he wasn't just any ordinary guy, he was John Cena—Maria was proud of herself. She'd never felt more free in her entire life, and as Mickie had pointed out, it allowed her more time to train, to improve her skills so that she could be taken seriously as a singles competitor. Maria was tired of being viewed as a backstage announcer who only got in the ring to show off her body to the millions of her adoring male fans. For the past year, Maria had been putting in grueling hours, taking bumps and trying out new moves, determined to prove all the doubters and their snarky little comments wrong.

The Chicago beauty smiled as she made her way down the hall, waving at the crew and camera people while she walked. She was a bit nervous about tonight's show, but not because it was the night of the much anticipated—and in some cases, most dreaded—2008 Draft. No, Maria was more apprehensive about seeing her former boyfriend and the Diva she'd once thought of as not only a best friend, but a sister. Maria just wanted to go out there, find out whether or not she was going to be drafted, and then get back to the locker room before Candice even had a chance to speak to her. Confrontation was not something Maria had the patience for tonight.

She was sure that John would show up at some point during the night, but Maria couldn't think about that right now. The only thing on her mind was the impending draft—in a way, Maria was excited about it, but at the same time, her stomach was churning with anticipation. Would she get to remain on RAW, which had been her home for so long, with the people she considered her family, or would she be forced to start over on SmackDown, a new and unfamiliar territory, but relatively less dramatic? Maria wasn't sure how she'd adjust. In fact, she didn't really know anyone on the show, except for Jeff.

A smile played against Maria's lips as she envisioned being on the same show as the self-proclaimed Legend Thriller. The two of them had been friends for about two years, and had grown even closer during her time as a backstage interviewer. When she'd finally mustered up the courage to enter the ring, Jeff had been right by her side, offering advice and helping her train and get in shape. When her relationship with John had began, though, she stopped talking to Jeff, and the seemingly unbreakable bond that they'd had had indeed been broken. It was quite sad, now that she thought about it, that she'd allowed a man to take control of her life the way John had. Maria made a mental note to talk to Jeff later, maybe after the show.

A hand ran through her hair, absent-mindedly, as Maria rounded the corner and opened the door of the Divas locker room. She sighed a little, setting her bag down on the smooth brown bench in front of her. The redhead pulled her I-Pod out of her small purse, hoping that maybe music would help calm her nerves a bit. She slipped the small headphones into her ear and closed her eyes, completely shutting out everything around her. Maria was so the soothing sounds of the classical music that she didn't even notice a body sitting down beside of her. A bit startled, she pulled the headphones out of her ear and, tucking the I-Pod into her purse, turned to the other person.

"Oh gosh, Candice. You scared me," the Illinois native explained, putting a hand on her chest. She tried to smile despite the situation, not because she had forgiven and forgotten, but because tonight was not the time to discuss the fact that there was a knife in her back, planted there by Candice. There would be time to talk about it later.

"Sorry, hun," Candice replied, as she pulled her dark hair into a loose ponytail. "I wanted to catch you alone before you went out there…do you think maybe we could talk for a minute?"

"Sure, what about?" Maria asked warily. She had a sneaking suspicion that Candice was going to bring up the breakup with John, and she didn't want to hear it. Maria knew Candice was going to spew some bullshit apology; that was just the way she was. Why they had even been friends was a total mystery to Maria. Yes, she'd been that spoiled, stuck up girl in the past, but she'd grown up a lot since then. Unfortunately, the same could not be said for Candice. She was snobby and gossipy as ever, and in a way, Maria viewed the situation with John as a blessing in disguise. She now knew Candice's true colors.

Candice lowered her voice to a whisper and leaned closer to Maria as she spoke.

"I really think we need to talk about this John thing. I know you're still mad at me," she held up a finger to stop Maria from interrupting, "but really, this is just a big misunderstanding."

Maria rolled her eyes. Yeah, right. How is sleeping with your best friend's boyfriend a misunderstanding? However, she kept her mouth shut and let Candice continue.

"Bottom line, Ria…you have to know that this was not something that me or John expected to happen. It just did." Candice took Maria's hand and squeezed it tightly to emphasize her point. "I hope that you and I can put this behind us and go back to being best friends again."

Satisfied with herself and her apology, Candice stood up and, smiling brightly, bounced over to the mirror to check her makeup. Maria shook her head in disgust. What kind of apology was that?

"So, that's it?" she asked incredulously, still shaking her head. "You come in here and give me the lamest excuse for an apology that I've ever heard? Why don't you just admit that you didn't give a damn about hurting me... being a homewrecker didn't even cross your mind once." The tone of her voice was now laced with sadness. "I'm sorry; Candice, but I don't accept your apology. I can't." The redhead turned on her heel to leave, but was interrupted by the screeching voice of the Milwaukee native.

"Don't you act like Miss Innocent," Candice snapped, her normally bubbly demeanor fading as she spoke. "You act like I'm the only one who had a hand in what happened. Don't you think some of the blame lies with your boyfriend? After all, it's not my fault that he ended up in my bed." She paused for a moment, knowing that what she was about to say next would hurt Maria the most.

"Maybe if you knew how to please your man and didn't act like such a stuck-up prude, then maybe he wouldn't have found himself in my bed. And honey, he was more than content to stay there. The reason, the only reason he even came back to you is because he didn't want you to suspect anything." She smirked, proud with herself.

"I cannot believe you. Do you hear how heartless you sound?" Maria yelled, wishing that she could just shake the dark-haired Diva. "I've been your best friend for years, much longer than you've known John. I thought we were like sisters! How could you do this to me? HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME?"

The snobbish smirk had now disappeared completely from Candice's face, and in his place was fear. Maria knew that she shouldn't allow Candice to work her up this way, but she couldn't help it. After two months of trying to pretend like she was okay, after two months of enduring looks and whispers from the other Superstars, she was tired of it. Maria was tired of holding it all in and pretending like everything was okay when it clearly wasn't.

A finger poked Candice in the chest, hard, causing her to stumble back and look at Maria in surprise.

"Don't talk to me ever again," Maria hissed. "As a matter of fact, I want you to do something for me: lose my phone number, all of them. Forget that we were ever friends, and go back to being the bitch that I never thought you'd become. Bottom line, Candice?" she explained, repeating the phrase Candice had used earlier. "You are dead to me, and John's all yours. Enjoy my sloppy seconds."

Feeling relieved, Maria strolled out of the locker room, rather breezily. She didn't even bother to turn around to see the expression on Candice's face…she already could sense that the other Diva was fuming with anger, shock, and perhaps a little bit of hurt. What goes around comes around, the redhead thought. You get what you put in, and people get what they deserve. Her stomach now rumbling, Maria turned around and began making her way down the hall to catering. She crossed her fingers and silently hoped that her encounter with Candice would be the last of the drama for the night. After all, it was the night of the draft, and Maria was sure that there would be even more shake-ups to come. Whereas she had been nervous about being drafted to Smackdown initially, she now hoped that she was sent over to the "blue" show. A new start, a fresh beginning, with people that would gladly welcome her with open arms…it seemed like a win-win situation for her.

Unless, of course, John was drafted to SmackDown as well….

I thought it would be better to split this chapter in two so that it wouldn't be so long. The actual draft is in the next chapter, as well as some Maria/Jeff interaction and a confrontation with John. Please review, guys :)