1Chapter Two
OLIVIA
I sigh and reluctantly get out of bed to go to school. It is my first day back after a long summer. I didn't get to spend much time with my friends, although I did, however, spend a lot of time at a summer program for smart kids age seventeen and younger. I stayed there for three long months studying law, and it didn't get me much of anywhere. I still know the same things. I know my rights and everything. I honestly don't know why I even went. I knew I should have picked music theory.
My alarm clock is still going off, but I leave it alone because I hate the silence. Silence is too loud for me. Any thoughts can come into my head at any point in time, and I usually regret those thoughts. I grab a tank top from the top of my pile of clean clothes. It is a reddish-pink color that I absolutely adore, plus it is from my favorite clothing store, American Eagle. It just had it's grand opening, and as soon as they cut the red ribbon, I was in love.
I slide my tank top on over my bra and pull on a pair of light jeans. My jeans are rolled up, because I can't go anywhere with my legs completely covered. It is just unnatural for me.
My sneakers are still dirty from softball practice yesterday, and I don't feel like making my first impression to my sophomore teachers as someone who wears dirty shoes and doesn't care what other people think about it; honestly, I am the opposite of that. I care what other people think about me. If someone thinks I am to smart, I will purposefully fail a test. If someone thinks that I am not smart enough, I will stay up all night studying. If someone thinks my outfit is ugly, I do whatever I can to get a new outfit before the end of the day.
I decide to put on my bright pink Converse high-tops instead of my running sneakers. I take one quick look in the mirror before I head downstairs to retrieve the breakfast that I always have: a bowl of cereal and an iced coffee.
My mother is on the couch sleeping when I arrive in the kitchen. She must have gotten drunk again and fallen asleep before she ever got to bed. I sigh and head into the kitchen. I write down on a small piece of paper, "Off to the first day of school... I'll be back at around 4, I am stopping by the batting cages with Elliot after school. Love, Liv." I put the piece of paper in plain sight on the counter where my mother will be able to see it. My iced coffee is waiting on the counter, just as I always ask for it. I smile and take a small sip of it before deciding that coffee is enough for me this morning and that I should get to school early.
I grab my backpack from next to the door and slowly and carefully step outside, closing the door behind me softly as to not wake my mother. Today, I have decided to walk to school instead of taking my usual ride with Elliot Stabler and Alex Cabot, my two best friends. They know that if I am not waiting outside for them, I have decided to walk.
I venture down the sidewalk, not knowing what the day will bring.
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"Okay, class. It's your first day back from summer break. You may talk, but don't get too loud. And try not to fall asleep, either," called out my home room teacher, Mrs. Smith. Last year she was known as Miss Valentin, but she was married over the summer, and now she wants us to call her by her new name.
I turn and look at the vacant seat next to mine. I wonder if there are any new students coming to the academy this year that I have not heard about yet. I sigh and look in the opposite direction at my good friend, Elliot Stabler. "So, how was your summer?" I ask, letting the boredom show in my voice.
He sighed. "It was okay. I didn't do much of anything except for write you letters. How was that thing, anyways?" he asked, obviously curious.
"It was all right. I didn't learn much of anything, though. I knew I should have signed up for music theory."
"And what would that have done for you, exactly?"
I shrug. "I don't know. But at least I will have learned something."
Suddenly, I can hear Mrs. Smith calling after me. "Olivia, raise your hand please!" I turn and look at her and see two people standing next to her. One of them I can recognize from last year, but the other one I have never seen before. I lift my hand in the air and wave it about.
The young woman who I have never seen before begins walking towards me and takes the empty seat that I had been wondering about before. She extends her hand out to me and says, "Hi. I'm Casey Novak. I was really forced here against my will." She laughed.
I took her hand and shook it. I thought back to my first day here, exactly one year ago. I hadn't wanted to come here either, but I figured that I would do a hell of a lot better at the academy rather than Adams High. "I'm Olivia Benson. Join the club." We laugh.
I let go of her hand and turn to look at Elliot, who is grinning wildly. I look back at Casey and say, "Please excuse me for just one moment while I go strangle my dear friend Elliot." We laugh, and I turn around and stand up. I walk towards the other side of the room where no one can hear us and motion for Elliot to follow me. "What the hell are you smiling about, Cheshire?" I ask, trying not to smile and look over at Casey.
He is still smiling. "Oh, nothing. Just smiling. Smiling, smiling, smiling. Yep, that's me. Just smiling like an old fool." He is good at this game, but I am better.
"Oh, of course." I look at him seriously, and his smile fades. "Why the hell are you smiling so much? She's probably straight."
He looks at me like I had just said that there's going to be an alien invasion within the next twenty-four hours. "Liv, it's so obvious that she's not straight, no matter what she is. Bi or lesbian, either way, it works for you."
I roll my eyes and look at Elliot. "Not a chance that she's not straight. I mean, look at her." I look over at Casey and can't help but smile. "She's got the looks, the brains, and the personality, from what I know of her. Guys have to be all over her."
"Well, that's why you make your move before they can." Elliot grins again and returns to his seat. I follow him and return to my seat.
Casey seems eager to know that I have returned. "So, I've never been here before. What are the classes like?" she asks me, obviously excited about something.
I sigh and think back to the previous year. "Well, they're not too hard. They are definitely more of a challenge than what a regular high school would give, but they're nothing that I bet you couldn't handle." I smile at my new friend. "Can I see your schedule?" I ask, hoping that I didn't seem too bold.
Luckily, I don't. She nods and takes her schedule of classes out and hands it to me, and I take it and compare our schedules. "Well, what do you know? We have the same schedule!" I say, sounding a bit too excited.
Casey smiled. "Really?" she says.
I look up at her and hand her schedule back to her. "Yep. That means that I get to guide you around the school all day. Trust me, you will get tired of me very quickly." I laugh and examine Casey, trying to see any hint that she might not be straight. She's wearing a black mini-skirt with white leggings. Her shirt looks almost exactly like mine, except that hers is a jade green color. "That's my favorite color," I say to break the silence.
She looks down at her shirt. "Oh, this color? I love it too. It's my favorite." She looks at my shirt, and I can tell where she is looking, too. Let's just say she isn't looking at my stomach, my back, or my shoulders. "I like yours too." She smiled and looked back up at my face.
I look at her flamboyant outfit and then back up at her, and our eyes meet. But not only that, they connect. Her eyes are a nice light shade of green that I had always wanted my eye color to be. She looks like she is full of wisdom, like she knows everything that is going on with me and exactly how I feel at all times. And I know that she is thinking the same thing about me right now. I can see it in her eyes. Well what am I thinking right now, Miss Novak? I imagine myself saying.
I come out of my fantasy land with the sound of her voice interrupting me. "You have the most gorgeous eye color."
I can't help but saying it... "I wish I could look at yours all day." I immediately look away and cover my mouth. I try to cover up what I just said by making excuses. "I meant... I didn't mean to... What I wanted... I love your eye color too," I manage to eventually say. I can tell she is still looking at me, but I don't look back at her. I look over at Elliot instead. I mouth the words, "I am an idiot," over to him. He nods and looks up to the front of the room where Mrs. Smith is sitting, about to take attendance. I can hear Casey mumble something next to me, but I don't bother to ask her what it was. I am too embarrassed that I just said that to her to even think of what she wants to say to me. It is probably something like, I'm straight. Go fuck off, lesbo. Or, Excuse me? Do I look like a dyke to you? But what I'm really hoping that she said was, You have no idea how badly I wanted to hear that from you.
