February 14, 1988

Fourteen-year-old Olivia Benson sat down in the backseat of her mom's car next to her best friend Abbie. They were on their way to Alex's house to work on their group history project and, although, she usually looked forward to spending time at Alex's house, this time she was dreading it. There would be no flirting with Alex, no Valentine's cards, and no kisses on the cheek because, for the first time, the girl of Olivia's dreams was taken. It had been three and a half months since Casey had asked Alex to be her girlfriend and Olivia had considered that night to be the worst night of her life.

It was the first Halloween that they weren't going to go trick-or-treating or wear costumes, so Alex, Abbie, and Olivia decided to have a sleepover at Alex's house instead. Mrs. Cabot had taken Alex to the video store to rent some scary movies and then to the grocery store to buy snacks for them. Olivia was thrilled about the sleepover until she showed up at Alex's house and saw Casey sitting next to her on the couch—in Olivia's spot. There were three cushions on the couch and the girls always sat in the same spots every time they watched a movie at Alex's house. Alex sat on the right cushion, Olivia sat in the middle, and Abbie sat on the left, but not that time—that time Casey messed up their routine.

"Liv, I'm sorry," Alex said after she pulled Olivia aside. "I know the sleepover is supposed to be the three of us, so she's not spending the night. She's just going to watch Texas Chain Saw Massacre with us and then her dad is going to pick her up. I promise."

"But, Alex," Olivia began. "You know how I feel."

"Please, Olivia," Alex practically begged. "She's so cute and I have a huge crush on her and I'm hoping she likes me, too."

"Oh," Olivia said, hesitantly. "Yeah, that's fine." She had felt like someone knocked the wind out of her and, although she wished she could call her mom and ask her to pick her up, she didn't want Alex to know how upset she was.

"Thanks so much," Alex said and gave her a hug. "You're the best."

When the movie began, Alex covered her eyes and buried her face in Casey's shoulder. When a violent scene would end, Casey would make it appoint to whisper in Alex's ear and Alex would smile and face the screen again. More than once, Olivia caught them holding hands and giving each other kisses on the cheek. She hated the way Alex was acting and she wasn't sure if it was because Alex had seen Texas Chain Saw Massacre over ten times and she was suddenly acting like she was scared or because three years ago she was the one with Alex's head on her shoulder and she was the one receiving Alex's kiss on the cheek.

As soon as the movie ended, Alex and Casey went up to Alex's room so they could get Casey's jacket. Mr. Novak was already on his way and Casey didn't want to keep him waiting. While they were up there, Alex let out a squeal, which Olivia knew was a bad sign because they were going to hear all about something Casey had told her even if they had no interest in hearing it.

When Casey was gone, Alex stood up in front of her friends and made the announcement Olivia dreaded: Casey had asked her to be her girlfriend and she had said yes. At that moment, Olivia knew her fate had been sealed and she would no longer have any chance with Alex, which is why she was so upset to see Casey on Valentine's Day.

It was like Halloween all over again. Alex hadn't warned them about Casey being there but she insisted that it would only be for a little while. That 'little while' was always too long for Olivia and she wished Casey wouldn't have been there altogether.

Abbie and Olivia shared the reclining seat while Alex and Casey sat close to each other on the couch. They tried distracting themselves with random videos on MTV, but Alex and Casey's constant kissing and sweet talking made Abbie and Olivia want to close their eyes and cover their ears. Better yet, they wished they could just go home and be as far away from the two lovebirds as possible.

"You're so pretty," Alex told Casey.

"No, you're pretty," Casey responded.

"No way, you're the pretty one."

"No, you are," Casey insisted. That little argument turned into a five-minute kiss fest, which then turned into one of their obnoxious conversations.

"Casey, you're the best girlfriend in the world," Alex said to a now blushing Casey.

"I was just going to say that about you," Casey said excitedly. "Alex, we think the same! That means we're perfect for each other."

"I was just going to say that!" Alex told Casey before giving her another kiss.

"Abbie, I'm about to throw up," Olivia said sarcastically.

"No way!" Abbie said. "I was just going to throw up, too. That means we're perfect for each other, Liv."

"You're so pretty, Abbie," Olivia said in a mocking tone.

"No, you're pretty," Abbie responded.

"This is so boring," Olivia told her. "I wish we were at my house right now, playing Duck Hunt or doing anything else but this."

"Okay, you guys," Alex said, frustrated. "I'm sorry, Case. My friends are assholes."

"No prob," Casey told Alex and kissed her one last time. "I think I just heard my dad honking."

"Bye, Most Beautiful Girl In the World," Alex said and gave her a goodbye hug.

"Bye, Most Perfect Girlfriend In the World," Casey responded.

"Alex, get me a spoon," Abbie said once Casey was gone.

"Why?" Alex asked.

"So you can gag me with it," Abbie said sarcastically.

"Yeah, that was so gross, Alex," Olivia added.

"That's not gross," Alex said defensively. "That's what love is like. You two will learn all about it when you have girlfriends—if you two ever have girlfriends."

"One thing is for sure, when I have a girlfriend, I'm still going to be normal," Abbie pointed out. "We're not going to be kissing all the time or saying stupid things. We're going to be cool."

Alex's last statement kept replaying in Olivia's head until she just couldn't take it anymore. "You've become a real creep, Alex."

"Excuse me?" Alex asked, completely shocked.

"Yeah, you're a real bitch now," Abbie told her. "You used to be cool."

"I'm still cool," Alex insisted.

"No, you're not," Olivia told her angrily. "You're so bogus, Alex."

"I'm not bogus, Olivia."

"Yes, you are," Olivia said, frustrated. "We can never do anything without Casey being around. I liked it better when it was just the three of us. We had a good thing going. I was the tough one, Abbie was the funny one, and you were the smart one. What the hell is Casey? She's nothing. There's no cool groups of four, Alex! There are only three stooges! There are only three musketeers! And Charlie only had three angels!"

"And there's only three amigos," Abbie whispered to Olivia.

"And there's only three amigos!" Olivia repeated as she held up three fingers.

"There's only three members in the Supremes," Abbie told her.

"That's right!" Olivia agreed. "All of the '60s girl groups—all of the good ones, anyway—only had three members."

"The Shirelles had four," Alex pointed out. "And they're better than the Supremes."

"You think the Shirelles are better than the Supremes?" Olivia asked in total shock. "What is wrong with you, Alex? Now I know you're crazy!"

"Olivia, you've lost it," Alex told her. "Just accept that I have a girlfriend and you don't. There's no need to be jealous."

"Jealous?" Olivia asked angrily. "Jealous?"

"Too far," Abbie told Alex. "Too far."

With that being said, Olivia stormed out of Alex's house and Abbie had no choice but to chase her. Their project was due in a week, but there was no way Abbie was going to make Olivia work on it that day after what they had just experienced with Alex. As soon as she caught up with Olivia, she wrapped her arms around her best friend and tried her best to comfort her.

"Wanna go to Foster's?" Abbie asked. "It's only a few blocks away and ice cream might do us some good."

"Okay," Olivia said hesitantly. It was 40 degrees outside but she was in no mood to turn down ice cream.

"Abbie?"

"Yeah?"

"Why is she such a jerk?" Olivia asked as they were walking.

"I don't know," Abbie shrugged. "I guess that's what happens to people when they're in relationships."

"Do you want a girlfriend?" Olivia asked.

"Maybe when I'm older," Abbie told her. "I'm in no hurry."

"I still want Alex to be my girlfriend," Olivia confessed.

"Can I tell you something?" Abbie asked nervously.

"You're my best friend, Abbie. You can tell me anything."

"Sometimes the one who you're meant to be with is right in front of you."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Olivia asked. She had waited for an answer, but instead Abbie leaned in and kissed Olivia on the lips. The kiss was quick and both girls were too much in shock to realize what had just happened.

"What the hell did I just do?" Abbie asked.

"I don't know," Olivia responded. "But that was my first real kiss."

"Yeah, same here," Abbie said and averted her eyes. "But let's not get weird about it."

"No, never," Olivia agreed. "Happy Valentine's Day, jerk."

Abbie couldn't help but laugh at their awkwardness. "You, too, creep."