Sorry if Abbie seems a little out of character; I'm not really used to writing her and I'm still getting the hang of it. I think I'm more comfortable with Alex and Olivia, but I'm expanding my horizons. And Abbie is my favorite ADA from the mothership. Enjoy!

Abbie's mother was waiting at the front for her when the bell rang. "How was school, honey?" she asked as Abbie climbed into the passenger seat.

Abbie considered the question. She was glad to have made some friends – Olivia and Alex had been very nice to her. Even Elliot and Trevor were friendly. The classes were relatively easy and none of her teachers were particularly mean to her. The school was large, but Olivia had stuck by her side for most of the day.

But then there were the memories. The boys had reminded her of her old boyfriend, whom she was trying so hard to forget. And she was worried about Olivia and frustrated that she didn't know what was wrong. Abbie was a person of action, not empty words – when she learned of an injustice, she would fight tooth and nail to right the wrong.

So she just shrugged her shoulders as she buckled her seatbelt. "There's no point in having a car in New York, Mom. No one else does."

Her mother laughed. "You can walk home with your friends if you'd prefer, Abbie. I just thought you might like a ride today."

Abbie leaned her head back on the seat and sighed. She closed her eyes and turned away from her mother, indicating that the conversation was over.

When she got home, she went straight to her bedroom. That was another thing that would take some getting used to – when she'd lived in Texas, they'd lived on a large ranch with acres of space. The apartment wasn't cramped by any means, but it was much smaller than what she was used to, and there was only one floor.

She climbed onto her bed and lay down, staring at the ceiling, trying to sort out her thoughts. She was exhausted, but she wouldn't – couldn't – sleep. Every night since it happened, she'd woken up screaming, nightmares assaulting her from every which way. Her mother had had to come into her bedroom and soothe away her terrors, holding her and rocking her in her arms like she was a child. But their move was going to be a fresh start. They'd wanted to get as far away as they could, and they'd succeeded. Abbie wasn't going to let her demons follow her here.

The next day at school, Abbie suffered through a French class. French had always been her least favorite subject, but Alex was in her class, and the two sat beside each other. Abbie wanted to ask the blonde about Olivia, but she held back, knowing the question would be unwelcome. She didn't want to alienate Olivia just when they'd started to be friends.

She didn't really have much to say to Alex, which was fine, because Alex was actually paying attention to what Mme. Rochman was saying. She was actually taking notes and raising her hand to answer questions. She'd given Abbie her notes to copy and Abbie was trying to focus on doing so, but French was so boring, and it was hard.

Finally, the bell rang for period two, and Abbie all but ran to her science class.

Olivia looked up when Abbie plopped down in the seat beside her. "Wow," she said mildly. "Someone's eager to get to class."

Abbie shrugged and pulled out her textbook. She noticed a water blister on Olivia's hand as her friend put away her backpack. She pointed to it. "What did you do to your hand?" she asked.

Olivia's head snapped up and she pulled her hand away. "Nothing," she said quickly.

Abbie watched her for another moment, then dropped the subject.

Olivia turned her back on Abbie and opened her own textbook. She started to copy out last night's homework questions. Abbie didn't want to upset her, so she didn't say a word. Olivia was definitely hiding something, but it wasn't Abbie's place to pry. She didn't want to destroy their friendship before it had even begun.

After school, Alex invited Abbie and Olivia over to her place. They walked the three blocks to Alex's penthouse apartment.

Abbie was impressed. She'd figured that Alex's family was well-off, but she hadn't realized they were this affluent. The apartment was huge and immaculate, and everything in it was white. Abbie was careful to take off her shoes and neatly arrange them by the door before going inside.

Alex made them popcorn and grabbed them all Diet Cokes, and they lounged on the bed in Alex's room. Abbie's family wasn't poor by any stretch of the imagination, but Alex's walk-in closet was at least as big as Abbie's bedroom. She had a canopy bed with a purple duvet and her walls were a light turquoise. She had her own flat screen television and a pink laptop computer. On her dresser was a hodgepodge of stuffed animals, old teddy bears and china dolls and a bunch of Minnie Mice. There were five American Girl dolls beside the Minnies and Abbie couldn't help but stare at them. They looked like collector's items and they were beautiful.

Olivia followed Abbie's gaze and rolled her eyes. "Yeah, the princess has a huge doll collection," she said, giving Alex a playful grin. "She still plays with them sometimes. See, that's why Felicity's hair is in pigtails and Elizabeth is wearing a riding outfit. Alex has three drawers full of accessories and clothes and furniture for them." She strode to her friend's dresser and showed Abbie.

"Be quiet," Alex told her, but even she had to smile. She pressed the drawer firmly shut, grazing Olivia's injured hand, eliciting a whimper from the brunette. "Sorry, Liv," said Alex immediately.

Abbie watched the dynamic unfolding before her. She didn't understand the nonchalance with which Alex treated Olivia's injuries. Then she felt left out again, because Alex clearly knew something that she didn't.

Olivia recovered quickly and smiled impishly. With a mischievous gleam in her eye, she grabbed one of Alex's dolls, the one with short, sandy hair.

"Hey!" cried Alex indignantly. "Leave Nellie alone."

Olivia laughed and rocked the doll gently in her arms, and Abbie knew she was doing it just to show off and to tease Alex. And it was working.

"Liv!" Alex pouted. "Don't touch my dolls."

Olivia made her best puppy eyes and clutched the doll more tightly to her chest. "But she's so perfect," she said with a smirk. "We have to imperfect her."

Alex put her glasses back on. "Imperfect isn't a verb. It's an adjective. You're misusing the word."

Olivia sighed theatrically and rolled her eyes. "Come on, I've already had one boring lecture on the proper use of the English language today."

"Put back my doll," ordered Alex in a voice that left no room for argument.

Olivia pouted but obediently replaced the doll on Alex's dresser. "Remember when we were little and we used to play with them? And you always wanted to make them into princesses."

Alex smiled. "And you always wanted to make them into, what, gangsters or something."

Olivia grinned. "I was a very creative child," she said proudly.

Then they seemed to remember Abbie's presence and stopped abruptly. Abbie was feeling a bit left out, because they were talking about times they had shared but she hadn't. But then she felt bad about disturbing their reminiscence. It just reminded her once again that, no matter how nice Alex and Olivia were to her, she was an outsider.

Alex started rummaging around in her closet and came up with a board game. "Let's play Clue," she suggested.

Olivia grinned. "That's my favorite game," she told Abbie.

"And she always wins," added Alex, starting to set up the game. "I want Miss Scarlett."

Olivia grinned. "I call Col. Mustard."

"I'll be Mr. Green," said Abbie. Clue was one of her favorite games too, and she was pretty good at it.

Olivia dealt the cards and Abbie set up the board. Alex went to locate writing utensils for them, then returned with three pencils. She offered them to Olivia. "Choose one, boss."

Smirking, Olivia took two pencils and handed one to Abbie. Alex rolled her eyes and sat down beside her friend. "You're incorrigible," she told Olivia.

The brunette grinned. "Thank you."

Alex rolled her eyes again.

Abbie looked at the cards in her hand. Great, almost all character cards. She had Professor Plum, Col. Mustard, Miss Scarlett, Mrs. Peacock, and Mr. Green.

Olivia won the game, of course. "I love this game!" she crowed. "Anyone up for a rematch?"

"No," said Alex firmly, shaking her head.

Olivia pouted. "You're the one who wanted to play."

"Yeah, once."

The old saying goes that three's a crowd, and Abbie completely understood. The two of them were clearly more comfortable with each other than they were with her and their friendly banter was making Abbie feel left out. But she didn't know how to join the conversation without feeling awkward, or like she was intruding. She was glad to be invited over to Alex's place, but she still felt awkward. She didn't really know either of these girls and while they'd been kind to her, they were still unfamiliar. They had a history that didn't include her.

Alex started to clean up the game and Abbie helped her. Heaving a theatrical sigh, Olivia sat back on her heels and crossed her arms over her chest defiantly.

Alex ignored her and smiled at Abbie before putting away the game. "Do you want to play cards?" she asked, directing her question at Abbie.

"Sure," agreed Abbie. "Do you know how to play Pig?"

Olivia perked her head up with interest. "What's that?"

"I thought you just wanted to sulk," said Alex, but Abbie saw a mischievous glint in her baby blue eyes.

"No! I want to play."

Abbie and Alex looked at each other and laughed.

Abbie dealt them each four cards and explained the game. "The point is to get four of the same card. So the first person picks up a card from the deck and if they don't want it, they pass it to the second person. If they do want it, they can switch it with one of their own cards and pass that card to the second person. The third person is the trash can and they just put the cards at the side. When you have four of the same card, you stick your tongue out. If you see someone sticking their tongue out, you have to do it too. The last person to stick their tongue out gets a letter. When you get P-I-G, you lose."

"Sounds complicated," complained Olivia.

"Feel free not to play," Abbie told her.

Olivia looked surprised for a moment, then smiled sheepishly. "Sounds fun," she amended.

Abbie grinned. "Would you like to go first?" she asked sweetly.

"Okay," agreed Olivia, crossing her legs and folding her hands demurely in her lap.

Alex laughed. "You can be second," she offered Abbie.

Abbie agreed and Olivia picked up the first card. She discarded it and passed it to Abbie, who passed it to Alex. They played for a few moments before Abbie noticed that Alex had her tongue out. She stuck hers out too and they both looked at Olivia, waiting for her to catch on and trying not to laugh. Finally, she looked up and groaned. "Guys."

Alex and Abbie looked at each other and burst into laughter. Olivia pouted for a moment, then sheepishly joined in. "I get a letter," she said. "But next time, it'll be your turn!"

"Can I go first?" asked Alex.

Surprisingly, Olivia deferred to Abbie, who nodded. "I'll go last."

This time, Olivia was on the ball, and she noticed that Abbie's tongue was out before Alex did. She wasn't as good at staying quiet, though, and she cackled triumphantly. "You get a letter, Alex!" she crowed.

Olivia and Alex both ended up getting P-I-G and Abbie won. "Told you I was good at this," she told Olivia, smirking as Olivia folded her arms and sulked.

Alex clearly took pity on her friend. "It's okay," she said sweetly, then turned to Abbie. "Olivia just likes to be the best at things. Don't take it personally."

Abbie laughed. "I wasn't, but thanks anyway."

The front door opened and Abbie heard footsteps coming toward Alex's bedroom. She instinctively stiffened, then relaxed when she realized it was probably just Alex's parents. Then there was a knock on the door and Alex pushed the bowl of popcorn under her bed. "Come in," she called, then murmured to Abbie, "My parents are on this health food kick. I had to sneak in the popcorn."

"No," Olivia corrected her. "I sneaked in the popcorn for you."

"Snuck," Alex said automatically, then brought a finger to her lips. "Shh."

"Alex?" The door opened and a tall, blonde woman with fair skin and baby blue eyes that matched Alex's stood in the doorway. "Oh, you have friends over," said the woman who Abbie assumed was Alex's mother. She smiled at Abbie. "I know Olivia, but who's this?"

Abbie stood up and held out her hand, knowing instinctively that she should. "I'm Abbie Carmichael," she introduced herself.

"It's nice to meet you," said Mrs. Cabot.

"It's nice to meet you, too, ma'am," said Abbie politely, like the well brought up Southern girl she was.

Alex looked up at her mother. "Hi." She clearly didn't appreciate the intrusion.

Her mother smiled indulgently. "I wanted to tell you that your father and I are going out for dinner tonight, so you'll be on your own. But if you have friends over, it doesn't matter so much."

"I'm not staying," said Olivia quickly, checking her watch. "My mother – I should go. Bye, Alex. See you tomorrow, Abbie."

Alex and Abbie stared after Olivia, both confused at the abrupt departure. As Alex's mother left the room, Abbie looked to Alex. "What was that all about?"

Alex shrugged, clearly uncomfortable. "You'll have to ask her."

Abbie sighed in frustration, then immediately felt bad, because she was a guest in Alex's home and she shouldn't be asking Alex to speak behind her friend's back. But how could she be part of their group if Alex and Olivia refused to let her?

But then, it occurred to Abbie that that just might be the point.

Review if you want chapter three!