19.

Olivia's leg was bouncing underneath the table and she couldn't focus on what the teacher was saying. Ever since Gwen had stopped by their table during lunch, she knew that there was going to be trouble. Elliot probably knew what Kathy had done by now, and knowing him, he wouldn't let it slide. She could only hope that this wouldn't interfere with his exams. He needed to focus on studying, not on the petty actions of his ex. She couldn't wait for this school day to finally be over so she could talk to him herself. They needed a game plan and fast. If she had to stay away from him until after all his exams, she would do it. Anything to keep him out of trouble.

…

Meanwhile, Elliot was pacing around the corner from Kathy's house. He knew she was home, he'd spotted her bicycle in the driveway, and the car wasn't there so her parents weren't home yet. It was now or never but he was trying- and failing - to get his adrenaline levels down first. What the hell had she been thinking? Did she have any idea how much trouble she could have gotten Olivia in? Probably not, he figured. Nobody knew that the high-and-mighty Ms. Benson was hurting her daughter. But she wouldn't for much longer. Not if he had anything say about it. That thought propelled him into action and he finally jogged up to the house and up the three steps to the front door.

He knocked loudly and called out his ex-girlfriend's name when she didn't come to the door right away.

"Kathy! Kathy! Come out here!"

The door swung open at last, revealing a very surprised Kathy.

"Elliot. What are you doing here?"

"I think you know," he said tersely. "You wanna do this here or inside?"

Kathy's eyebrows shot up and he thought he saw something click for her then. She quickly stepped back to let him in and closed the front door behind him.

"You talked to Ms. Benson?"

"I'm hearing you talked to Ms. Benson!" Elliot spat back. "Do you have any idea what you've done? Do you know how much trouble you could get Olivia in?"

Kathy took a small step back, creating some distance between them before she told him,

"Well … I thought that as a mother, she deserved to know what her daughter was up to, that's all."

"Bull shit!"

The blonde blinked at his harsh words.

"Elliot …"

"No. Don't you Elliot me, Kathy. You're trying to get back at me for whatever reason, I don't know. I'm not the one who cheated. This whole breakup is on you and it has nothing to do with Olivia so you leave her out of this, you hear me?!"

He was almost shouting now but he didn't care. He wanted Kathy out of his life and he didn't want her anywhere near Olivia either.

"This ends right here, right now. I was good to you, Kathy. You ruined everything and maybe you can't stand that I'm moving on. Well, I don't care. I am moving on, with a girl who would never do to me what you did."

"How do you know that?" Kathy said defensively. "You barely know her. Nobody in schools knows her."

Elliot stepped forward, into her personal space, and Kathy shrank back a little.

"I know her better than you think, and she knows me. And you're backing off or else."

"Or else what? What do you even know about this girl anyway, El? She's sixteen for God's sake. She's just a kid."

"Don't you give me any of that crap, Kathy. You were sixteen yourself just a couple of months ago. You're not that special."

"And she is?"

"As a matter of fact, yeah. She's very special and she's off limits for you and your whole gang of stupid cheerleaders."

"Are you sleeping with her?"

"Not that it's any of your business, but no Kathy, I'm not sleeping with her yet. You know the rules as well as I do. Not until she's seventeen."

She wasn't getting any more ammunition against them. Besides, it was the truth.

Kathy huffed and turned away from him. He guessed she needed some space because he'd been crowding her, but he didn't care. He only cared about Olivia's wellbeing right now.

"Well, the cat's out of the bag now, so what are you gonna do, right?" Kathy sneered once she felt that the distance between them was safe enough.

"Olivia managed to stuff that cat back into the bag for now and that's where it's gonna stay, alright? As far as Ms. Benson is concerned, you're just an angry ex trying to get back at me. And if you say or do anything to suggest otherwise, you have another thing coming."

Kathy laughed and it felt to him like she was pouring gasoline on a fire. She was laughing at him, figuring he didn't really have anything to threaten her with. Just then, they heard a key in the front door, and Kathy's mother came home.

"Elliot. I hadn't expected to see you here," Mrs. Malone said cheerfully when she saw her daughter's ex boyfriend in her living room. "Are you and Kathy making up?"

Elliot's head snapped back to Kathy and he glared at his ex. She hadn't even told her parents why they were no longer a couple? Even without admitting the sex, she could at least have told him she'd been making out with another guy. He could still read Kathy's face pretty well and saw the admission in her features. She hadn't said a word about it. It only took him a second to decide what to do and he smiled at Kathy's mom.

"No ma'am. That's never going to happen. I'm here because I feel that as a mother, you deserve to know what your daughter is up to."

He heard Kathy breathe in sharply and it gave him an evil sense of satisfaction. She knew what he was doing and there was nothing she could do to stop him. He calmly continued, telling Kathy's mother,

"You see, I broke up with her because she cheated on me. We'd been having sex for a while and then I found her screwing the Captain of the football team in a bathroom stall at school so … you will understand that I didn't want her back after that."

He immediately walked to the front door after he had finished speaking, and grinned as he walked out the door. Just before he closed it, he could hear the yelling start between the two baffled women. He had used Kathy's own words against her and ratted her out to her mother, just like she had tried to do to Olivia. He hadn't really had a plan when he came to her house but it had worked out perfectly. He didn't expect Kathy to bother him or Olivia again. She was probably going to be grounded for a month and soon, they would all be out of school anyway. The Malone's didn't have a clue that their daughter was sexually active, let alone with multiple boys. Well, they knew now and there was no taking it back. He expected to be rid of Kathy once and for all this time and that felt good. He had turned a new leaf and he was moving on with Olivia.

…

Olivia and her friends were waiting for Elliot to show up. They had gone to the spot they had agreed to meet him and Olivia felt nervous. Nothing could go wrong now. One wrong move, and she'd have her mother on her case again and that wasn't going to be pretty. She had a feeling her mother was escalating and had caught her drinking a little on a work night a few times. Soon, she would become her mother's target again to take out her frustrations on, and she didn't want to add anything else to the pile of reasons why the woman already hated her.

Her heart jumped up when she finally saw Elliot round the corner. Beth and Pamela were their lookouts, and Olivia rushed towards Elliot, jumping in his arms.

"I'm so glad you're here," she sighed. "But if we can't see each other anymore until your graduation, I understand, El."

Elliot held his girlfriend close for a moment but then looked at her when her words sank in.

"You'd do that for me?"

"Of course! Nothing can come between you and graduation now. You've got plans."

He smiled and kissed her sweetly on the lips.

"Yeah, I've got plans. But they include you, Olivia."

"I can't go with you when you enlist," she whispered, since her friends didn't know about Elliot's plans for the future yet. "I'm still in high school."

"I know, baby. But that doesn't mean we wouldn't get to see each other. I mean … if you're up for that? It'll just be weekends I guess. And what if I'm deployed?"

Olivia bit her lip. He was making it all sound so real. He was making some grown-up decisions and it was scary to think that far ahead. How would she get through her days without him? And with her mother?

"Liv?"

Olivia was chewing on her lower lip. She wished she was almost eighteen instead of seventeen. Life would be so much easier once she was eighteen.

"I'm fine, El," she assured him. "I just wish I was older."

"Even when you're older, you don't want to be a Marine," he said with a smile, and she could tell that he was trying very hard to ease her concerns, but he was a little concerned himself. "You wanna be a cop, remember?"

Olivia nodded.

"Maybe I'll go to college first. I don't know yet. Or take a break to be with my Marine boyfriend."

Elliot pulled her against his chest again and nuzzled his nose in her hair.

"If only, Liv. If only."

"I just gotta get away from her, you know."

He nodded and kissed her neck.

"Yeah. I know."

"She's giving us the benefit of the doubt for now, but I don't know how long that will last. If Kathy talks to her again, I …"

"She won't."

Olivia looked up at her boyfriend and raised one eyebrow.

"You seem pretty sure of that. You talk to her?"

"Yeah."

"What did she say?"

"Let's just say I gave her a dose of her own medicine."

"Huh?"

Elliot chuckled and then explained to her what had happened at the Malone house. Olivia covered her mouth with her hand in shock, and stared up at him. The other girls approached them to hear more about Elliot's talk with his ex, and soon, all four of them were laughing out loud.

"That'll show her!" Pamela giggled. "I bet she's grounded for a year!"

"You don't think she'll hit back?" Beth asked. "She has nothing left to lose now, I think."

Elliot shook his head.

"Nah. I think she got the message this time. She wants to graduate too, so she doesn't need any more school drama."

"Just like you," Olivia reminded him, tapping him on the chest. "You need to get home to study."

"Not before I get a proper kiss," he said with a shit-eating grin on his face.

Her friends knew it was their cue to stand watch again and they moved away to give the couple some space. Olivia smiled up at her handsome boyfriend, and for a few minutes, all their problems faded to the background. He moaned softly when she kissed him deeply, pulling his body tightly against hers as he pushed her up against the wall of the nearest building, and she could feel that he was getting aroused. She wanted him. She wanted it all with him, and she hated once again that she wasn't seventeen yet. Elliot refused to sleep with her until she was, although she wasn't a virgin anymore. She loved him for his restraint and in moments like these, she also hated him a little for it. But she trusted the payoff would be amazing eventually and when she finally got on the bus to head on back to Manhattan, a content smile stayed on her face for a long time. Elliot was worth it. This boy definitely was worth it.

…

To be continued