Alex and Olivia hadn't spoken more than a few sentences to each other at school since their night at the creek, but it was only because they were both afraid of being seen together. While at the creek, Abbie had made a comment about how obvious the two of them were becoming. There was never any flirtation between the two of them and Abbie made the comment while experimenting with drugs, but Alex and Olivia didn't want to risk being found out. There was nothing for anyone to find out about them—they hadn't even kissed although they had both wanted to, but rumors would run rampant at Roosevelt High and Alex and Olivia had been the subject of many of them ever since the incident at the diner. The last thing they wanted was for their classmates to have something else to talk about.

The girls may not have spoken to each other at school, but they tied up the phone lines at home with their endless talk about movies, music, and politics. Now that Olivia knew Alex wasn't on the other side, politically speaking, she found it much easier to talk to her. While on the phone, they had exchanged the most mundane facts about their lives, but even those details about Alex had Olivia enthralled. There was something about these conversations with Alex that felt right for Olivia. Unlike her phone conversations with boys who had a crush on her, their conversations weren't forced and she never felt a lull or came up with an excuse to hang up. The only reason they would hang up is because either Alex's parents or Olivia's grandparents would want to use the phone. The moment the line was free again, they'd get right back on the phone with each other.

As much as Olivia loved being on the phone with Alex, there were times when she felt guilty about knowing what Abbie and Thomas had done. Neither Abbie nor Olivia had liked Alex at the time, but now that they did Olivia had the urge to tell Alex what had happened. She knew it wouldn't bring Alex any closer to her. In fact, Alex would probably think she was lying, but Olivia was starting to consider Alex to be one of her friends and she hated when her friends were lied to. While at school, the two of them pretended to be a happy couple even though Alex seemed disinterested and Thomas only talked to her about sex. Alex had told Olivia during one of their many phone conversations that Thomas was putting too much pressure on her and the last thing she wanted was for Alex to give in to him because she was feeling vulnerable.

"We have to tell her," Olivia blurted out when she and Abbie were walking to the only class they had together.

"What are we telling to whom?" Abbie asked, confused.

"We have to tell Alex about Thomas," Olivia told her.

"What about him?"

"That you had sex with him," Olivia said, frustrated. "Really, Abbie, you've never been this dense before. It's like you're not even the same person. Are you still using—"

"I'm not!" Abbie interrupted. "And if I were, it wouldn't be any of your business, Olivia. Stay out of this."

"You're my heart," Olivia told her.

"And you're mine," Abbie said reassuringly. "I'm sorry for having an outburst."

"It's okay," Olivia insisted. "Consider the subject. We're talking about Thomas Harrington."

"Don't remind me."

"You'd tell me if you were using, right?" Olivia asked.

"I tell you everything," Abbie responded.

"Everything except you running away to San Francisco," Olivia pointed out. "Abbie, that's so dangerous. You could have been raped. You could have been murdered."

"But I wasn't! And now I'm a better person for having gone over there."

She still didn't agree with Abbie, but she with only one minute left before class was scheduled to start, she didn't want to continue the argument. Besides, she knew it was nearly impossible to tell Abbie what to do. "Promise me we won't keep any secrets from each other."

"I promise," Abbie insisted.


That night, Alex was surprised to see Abbie standing outside her front door. Although they had started talking to each other more frequently, their conversations had always revolved around Olivia and had occurred whenever Alex was about to see Olivia. The girls had nothing planned for the night, so Alex was a little apprehensive when she saw how nervous Abbie looked. Something was off and Alex wasn't sure if she wanted to find out.

"How are you?" Abbie asked once they were seated on Alex's front porch.

"I'm fine," Alex responded. "What's your real reason for coming over here?"

"You're a few houses down and I thought I'd say hello. Does there have to be any reason other than that?"

"For you, yes," Alex pointed out. "You're with me on my front porch. Aren't you afraid people will see you with a Coquette?"

"I want to talk about Thomas," Abbie said nervously.

"What about him?"

"You need to break up with him," Abbie insisted.

"Why?" Alex asked, confused. "Is it because of Olivia?"

"Don't you want to be with Olivia?"

"Yes, I want to be with Olivia, but I can't. I have a crush on her but we can't be together."

"Then be with any guy in the world who isn't Thomas," Abbie said forcefully. "Please, Alex. I know we aren't the best of friends, but I'm on your side and I'm only telling you this because I'm looking out for you."

"What's going on?" Alex asked. She was becoming frustrated with Abbie's lack of details and all she wanted was for her to stop. She took another look at the way Abbie was composing herself. The usually confident girl was fidgety and averting her eyes.

"What's going on?" Alex repeated.

"He's cheating on you!" Abbie revealed a little louder than she had hoped.

"What?" Alex scoffed. "No, he's not. Thomas is in love with me."

"Then why did he lose his virginity to me?" Abbie asked.

"He did what? When?" Alex asked as she was trying not to cry. "When was this? Was it this week after I refused to have sex with him?"

"No," Abbie said and shook her head. "It was before that, much before that."

"When?" Alex asked angrily.

"Does it really matter?"

"When, Abigail?"

"I don't remember the date, Alex," Abbie admitted. "It's not like it meant anything to me. He's just another notch on my bedpost. Just between us girls, you aren't missing much."

Alex was taken aback. "He's my boyfriend. I was going to lose my virginity to him and he was supposed to lose his to me. You hurt me, Abbie, and it meant nothing to you. Are you even going to apologize?"

"Why should I apologize?" Abbie asked. "Apologizing would imply that I'm sorry about what I did and I'm not sorry, Alex. I'm glad I had sex with him because now you know what a jerk Thomas Harrington is. If anything, I did you a favor. Now you can break up with him and be with Olivia."

"So, that's what this is about?" Alex asked. "Olivia put you up to this. She doesn't have the nerve to ask me to leave him so she gets her slut friend to have sex with my boyfriend?"

"No," Abbie insisted. "This had nothing to do with Olivia. I didn't even know Olivia had a crush on you when I had sex with Thomas."

"Why are you like this?" Alex asked. "How could you possibly think this is okay? How could you possibly think anything you do is okay? You had sex with my boyfriend! You have sex with older men—older married men. You use LSD. You run away because you want to 'expand your mind.' What is Olivia doing with you? What is Casey doing with you? What is Elliot Stabler doing with you? They're all too good for you. How long is it before you start sleeping with Casey's boyfriend? Or have you already slept with him? No wonder your parents don't love you. Look at the things you do, Abbie."

"Was that supposed to hurt me?" Abbie asked as she started laughing. "You're a feisty one, aren't you?"

"Get away from me!" Alex commanded.

"Maybe now you won't live a lie," Abbie shouted back as she was leaving. "You wish you could be as free as I am."

Alex stormed into her house and slammed the door behind her. As much as she had wanted to break up with Thomas, she didn't expect this betrayal from Abbie. Just as she was letting her guard down and becoming accepting of Abbie, she realized exactly what Abbie was capable of. She wanted to call Olivia and ask if she could go over, but she decided against it. Her heart was broken and all she wanted was to be held by Olivia, but it wasn't the right time. If she were to kiss Olivia, the memory of their first kiss would be tainted by what had just happened. Instead, Alex laid on her bed and cried herself to sleep.