Chapter Two: Mean Girl?

Alex felt her heart breaking as the clique walked away from Olivia and her friends. She could not believe she was so cruel to her. Sure, she said stupid, smart comments to her all the time, but, she never went as far as to insult her mother. She had no idea where that came from. Maybe it was the pressure of being the mean queen all the time. Her blue eyes were filled with tears as they made their way to the lunch room. She couldn't let them see her cry, knowing she was weak.

She cleared her throat. "Hey, guys, I'm going to the bathroom for a second to freshen up. I'll meet you there."

"Want us to come with?" asked Ronnie.

"Nah, just go," she headed the opposite way of her friends to the nearest girls' room. Alex managed to keep her composure until she checked that the stalls were clear. Once she knew no one was there, she slid into a stall and bursted into tears. She cried for Olivia, whom she hurt so bad. She cried for her need to always push the brunette away. She cried because she couldn't stop these feelings she was having for the school badass no matter how hard she tried. Alex knew she shouldn't like Olivia this way, hell she shouldn't like any girl this way, but, something about her caring brown eyes and protective nature plus that sexy leather jacket she always wore made the blonde go weak kneed. She shook her head. God, why did she have to fall a girl? Especially a girl she was suppose to hate.

Alex felt a little relieved when her tears subside. She took her compact out of her bag and looked at her face. Her cheeks were flushed, her mascara was running, and her blue eyes were a navy color. For the first time in a long time, Alex thought she looked....human.

She was startled out of her thoughts when she heard the bathroom door open. She quickly pulled her knees to her chest with her bag resting on top, so, no one would have a clue she was in there. She used her compact to gaze from beneath the door to see who was there. Nina, a senior named Melinda Warner, and Monique Jeffries, all of whom Alex knew to be part of Olivia's group of friends, stood at the mirrors over the sinks.

"I can't believe that bitch actually did that," Melinda moved closer to the morrior, examining her pores.

Nina wiped an eyelash from her smooth cheek, "Yeah, she can never leave Liv alone for anything in this world."

"Cabot needs to be taught some manner," Monique said, trying to get a knot out of her dark brown hair with its natural blonde highlights.

Melinda snickered. "Who's going to be the one to teach her? YOU?"

"I can if I wanted to."

"Please, you'd get scared just like anyone else."

"Fuck off."

Nnia held up her hands. "Easy, ladies. No need to get hostile over trash."

Melinda nodded, "Is Livvie okay? I didn't see her on my way to lunch."

"Casey, Kathy, and Elliot took her out for lunch. She was about to cry. And, you know Olivia, it takes a lot to make her want to cry."

Monique put her hand over her heart. "Oh my. I feel so bad. No one deserves that."

"I hope Cabot burns in hell for this," Mellinda commented. The girls nodded in agreement. They picked up their stuff and headed out the door. A few seconds after, Alex came out of her hiding place, more mascara on her cheeks than before.

"You sure you're okay, hun?" asked Kathy Terrance, for the third time. Her and her boyfriend, Elliot Stabler, were parked outside of Olivia's house. Olivia was resting her head against the cool glass window. She knew she shouldn't of taken their offer of driving her home. Ever since her fight with Alex, everyone had been walking on eggshells around her. Melinda and Monique brought her favorite chocolate chip cookies from lunch, Casey offered to do her Chemistry homework(Olivia sucked at Chemistry), hell, even Odafin Tutuola and John Munch, two of her other friends, asked her if she wanted them to sing to make her feel better. She declined all the offers. All she wanted to do was go home, make dinner for her mother, and go to the dance studio.

Olivia lived for dance, it was her passion other than helping people. She started dancing when she was two years old when her mom signed her up for ballet lesssons. She thought she would hate it, but, it turned out, she fell in love with it. She felt so free when she was dancing, like she had no problems what so ever. Dancing helped her forget about her mother, and school, and just life in general. She loved the basics, like ballet and jazz, but, her true passion was for modern forms of dance. She hoped someday she could be a professional dancer.

She shook her head. "I'm fine, Kath. Really. Just a little tired."

Elliot turned in the passenger seat to face her, "Maybe you should skip dance tonight, Liv. You can come with us to see that new Tom Cruise movie."

Olivia smiled. "No, its okay. Have fun on your date. Besides, I don't want to miss another lesson. Fenir will have my ass if I do," she grabbed her stuff and got out of the car. Elliot rolled down the window as they drove away.

"Love you, Livvie. Have fun shaking your thing," Olivia giggled, opening the metal gate that led to her house. She ran up the stone porch steps, unlocking the door, and heading inside. The scent of Bacardi and cigarettes hit her nose immediately, causing her to start coughing and sneezing. She pulled the black baggy sweatshirt she wore to school over her nose as she went through the house, looking for the cause of the scent. Olivia heard voices from the kitchen, so, she followed them. When she got the kitchen, she saw her mother and a guy she didn't know laughing and sharing drinks. It was obvious they were both drunk out of their minds.

Serena looked up from her tumbler of vodka and at her daughter, "Oh, Olivia, there you are. This is Juan, he works at the liquior store."

'Why am i not surprised?' She thought. She shook her head, "Nice to meet you. Mom, do you want me to help you to bed?"

"Excuse me, Juan, I have to speak to my kid," she stumbled a little as she grabbed her by her sweatshirt and pulled her into the living room. She flung her in front of her, "What the hell are you doing?" Serena spat.

Olivia stepped back slightly, "Mom, you're drunk out of your mind. There's some strange guy in our kitchen. You need to sleep it off and he needs to leave."

"Don't tell me what to do," she held her hand back and slapped her across the face. the force from the blow caused her to fall to the ground, clutching her cheek. Wide brown eyes gazed up at her mother. Gritting her teeth, she stood up, grabbed her abg, and headed to the door. "Where do you think you're going?!"

"Fuck you, Mom!" Olivia screamed. She slammed the door shut, heading up the street to the only place she felt safe when her mom beat her.

Alex waved goodbye as Ronnie drove off in her black Range Rover. She walked into her huge house, looking for any signs that her parents were home. Jane, her house keeper, met in the foyer with a mug of her special white hot chocolate with extra melted marshmallows. Alex knew that met only one thing; her parents had left her again without saying goodbye. She sighed, looking at the older woman whom she considered to be another mother.

She accepted the mug, "Where'd they go this week?"

"Milan," Jane answered, "Your mother had to look over the final outfits and your father had to deal with some banking issues with the show." Alex rolled her eyes and headed up the stairs.

"Shall I have Steven be ready at the usual time?" Steven was their family driver.

"Please tell him to be ready in half in hour. I want to be at the studio early today," Jane nodded, going to make the preparations. Alex went up to her room, closing and locking the door.

Alex considered her room to be her safe haven. She had a queen size bed pushed against the farthest dark pink wall, a smooth light brown wooden desk with a paper thin off white lap top on top, a huge walk in closet consisting of some of the most beautiful and expensive clothes and shoes around, her very own bathroom, but, the best part of her room was the giant window with an attatched balconey the gave her the most beauitful view of her property. She could sit out there for hours and just stare into the sunlight.

Alex placed her bag against the foot of the desk and headed for her closet. She tied her hair into a loose bun, examining all of her dance gear. She choose a blood red leotard, black tights, black cotton short shorts, and a red mini vest. She grabbed her ballet and jazz slippers and a change of clothes, stuffing them into her dance tote. Alex was heading towards her bathroom to grab some make up for after class when she heard her iPhone blast Jem's "It's Amazing". Running over to her school bag, Alex dug through it til she found her phone. She saw she got a text message from Abbie.

Abbie: Can I still come 2 ur class?

Alex: course. u remember where it is?

Abbie: ill use the gps lol

Alex: lol k

Abbie: Btw, nice job dissing dyke-livia. u rely put her in her place

Alex: yea, u no me....

Abbie: u k?

Alex: yea. just a lil tired. i gotta take a shower b4 class. c u l8r

Abbie: peace3

Alex put her phone in her tote. She couldn't believe that she couldn't confide her true feelings to the girls she considered to be sister in fear that they would reject her and make her a social outcast. She turned off her light and left.

SLAM! Olivia hit the ground hard from her leap. She landed on her side, effectively knocking all the air out of her lungs. She layed there, gasping for air, trying to focus her now hazy eyesight. The marley from the dance floor burned the hand she tried stopping herself with and she could feel the blood alredy start to seep out of the wound.

After getting hit, Olivia headed uptown to Fenir Studio. Mr. Andre Fenir, a born Frenchmen, was once a world famous dancer in the classical world. But, after sustaining a knee injury after a performance, he was able to dance professionally. So, he opened up his dance studio to help encouraged kids to dance and follow their dreams. Andre was especially found of Olivia. He thought she had so much potential to make it in the business. Plus, he knew about her home life. Andre made her a special key for the back door of the studio, telling her to drop by anytime she felt unsafe or scared. Olivia was very grateful for that.

The brunette stood up, stumbling a bit since she still wasn't over her fall. She looked down at her hand, seeing the gaping wound and the blood pouring out of it. "Shit," she mumbled. Quickly, Olivia ripped a part of her sweatshirt off and wrapped it around the wound, tying the knot tight. She noticed the spots of blood and went to get the cleaning supplies so she could clean it up before anyone came for a class.

Alex thanked Steven for dropping her off and instructed him to pick her and Abbie up as soon as dance class was over. She made her way to the studio, shrugging off her vest and stuffing it into her bag. Alex nodded at the girl at the front desk who was filing her nails and barking into a headset. She looked at the wall where the dance class scheludes were posted. After checking that her class was still in classroom 5, the blonde made her way down the long hallway til she found her room. As she quietly opened the door, Alex could hear mumbled curse words and the sound of scrubbing. Alex poked her head inside to find a tall dark haired girl wiping down the floor with a rag. She quietly moved across the floor til she was a mere two feet away from her. Alex cleared her throat.

"Need some help?"

The girl, obviously unaware of her presence, jumped at her comment. She stood up and faced her. Alex stared into the same hazel brown eyes she dreamt about almost every night. The shock was mirrored on the girl's face. "Alex?" She asked.

"Olivia?" Alex whispered, loving the way her name felt as she spoke it. The two girls stood staring at each other in silence. Neither of them knew what to say. Alex took in Olivia's state of dress. She was clad in navy blue knee length shorts and a gray wife beater, her feet bare. Her brown hair was in a ponytail, but, some strands escaped and were stuck to her damp forehead. She unconciously licked her suddenly dry lips. Even though she wouldn't admit it out loud, inside she couldn't stop raving about sexy Olivia looked.

Olivia broke the silence. "What are you doing here, Cabot? Came to finish the job?" She grabbed the rag, heading for the locker room. Alex trailed behind her.

"I have a class here soon. What are you doing here? I didn't know you danced." She arched an eyebrow at her.

"Why would you know that?" Alex felt a pink blush creep onto her cheeks. 'Did she just blush?' Olivia thought. She shook her head at the thought.

"I don't know." 'God, Alex, stop acting like a fucking twelve year girl with a crush on the teacher.' She looked up and noticed a black and blue bruise start to appear on Olivia's cheek. She gasped. "What happened to your face?"

Olivia scowled, turning away from her. "Don't worry about it. Why would you care anyways?"

Alex swallowed the need to insult her back. She wanted to prove to herself that she could be nice to her without revealing her true feelings. "It looks like it hurts. Who did that to you?"

"I said don't worry about it."

"Olivia, please tell me. You should'nt get hit like that," Olivia's face softned, but, she soon realized who she was actually talking to. This is the girl who tortured her since the seventh grade, why the hell was she being so nice to her all of a sudden?!

She grabbed her bookbag out of her locker, slamming the door shut. Olivia faced her, her cheeks red. "Listen, Cabot, I don't know what fucking game you're playing at, but, I don't need you're fake pity. Save it for your band of skanks," she pushed past her to the exit.

"OLIVIA!" Alex cried. She heard the door shut and she was left in the locker room, alone.