Olivia Benson, American Teenager
Chapter 2
"Hey," they reply, giving us smiles.
"Hi Olivia," Elliot adds separately. Everyone stares at him. "What?"
"Nothing," Donald (Don) Cragen answers, now giving me a weird look. It wasn't my fault I got a separate 'hello' from Elliot. "Who wants to play 'Spin the Bottle'?"
"Not me!" Odafin (Fin) Tutuola exclaims.
"That's WAY corny!" Melinda Warner agrees, giving her boyfriend a smile.
"What do you want to play?" Captain asks with a little bit of attitude.
"How about you take a chill pill and we play 'Seven Minutes in Heaven'?" John Munch asks with little sarcasm.
"Okay!" Elliot and I exclaim together, our faces turning red with embarrassment.
"Sure!" George and Casey agree with no embarrassment. They do not even notice.
With the game being chosen, Captain pulls out a black pen and a solid navy blue notepad – I don't have the SLIGHTEST idea why he has those with him – and starts scribbling numbers down. Emily, Alex, Casey, Melinda, Rebecca (Becca) Hendrix, and I randomly pick even numbers from a glass cup and Elliot, Don, Jack McCoy, John, Fin, George, and Mike (Rookie) Sandoval do the same but with odd numbers. At least Emily – who isn't a member because she isn't really interested in law – is here so the boy/girl ratio is almost even: six girls, seven boys. The first person to go is Munch, since he got the number one, and he calls out the number six. Of course, it's Emily. While they are gone, my mind wanders.
"Is anyone a two?" Elliot asks, interrupting my thoughts. "Someone has to be a two."
"Two?" I ask. "That's me!"
"Well, come on then," he tells me, getting to his feet and pulling me to mine. And, as we walk, I swear I could hear my all friends giggling. I don't care. I am walking to a closet with Elliot.
Once we are in the closet, Elliot turns his iPod to the song 'Iris' by Goo Goo Dolls and turns off the lights.
"Hey, Livvie." He grabs my hands. I'm glad he can't see how red I am.
"Hey, El. I'm sorry about earlier –" I am broken off by him kissing me.
I am surprised, but I kiss him back. I have butterflies in my stomach, but I do not care. This is unlike anything I thought it would be. He puts his hands around my waist and pulls me closer. I wrap my arms around his neck. The songs changes a few times. I do not know how long we would have continued is Becca had not opened the door and ended it.
"Times up," she tells us through clenched teeth.
"I don't want to play anymore," Elliot announces to everyone as we return to the living room. He is holding my hand. I look down at our entwined hands and smile.
"Me either," everyone else but Becca agree. (I think she is just jealous I got to kiss Elliot.)
"Is it cool if we listen to music and dance?" I ask.
"Mkay," Alex, Casey, Emily, and Melinda answer.
The boys hesitate, so I add, "And eat."
"Okay," Elliot, Rookie, Fin, Jack, and Don say.
"Sure," George and Munch reply.
Everyone is looking at Becca, who is leaning against the wall with her arms crossed. She hasn't answered. Feeling everyone's eyes on her, she agrees. I turn on some music. My friends begin to talk. I already have Alex by my side. All I need is Casey, who is talking to George. Alex and I walk towards the kitchen and I grab Casey on the way.
"What happened?" they ask me with excitement.
"Well, El turned the lights off and played 'Iris' and –"
"Such a beautiful song," Alex interrupts.
"and…we kind of made out," I admit.
"That's so romantic," Casey sighs. "I've NEVER been kissed."
"That was my first kiss," I remind her.
"You should've seen Becca's face when you and 'El' walked into the closet!" Alex says with a smile.
"It was classic!" Casey exclaims, each of us laughing.
We bring out the food a few minutes later. The boys stop what they are doing and rush towards the food. Even Munch, who was once again making out with my sister, was eating like there was no tomorrow. Casey walks over to George and they resume their conversation. I look at Alex and we giggle. The party is going great. A slow song ('With You' by Chris Brown) plays. I feel a tap on my shoulder. I turn and realize it's Elliot. He asks me to dance. Of course I agree. He puts his hands on my waist and my hands return to their place around his neck. I rest my head on his shoulder. We are the only two slow dancing, but I do not care. The song ends and a fast one begins to play.
"Hey Liv, can I…uh…ask you something?" he asks me anxiously. I nod. We walk into the kitchen. He leans against the counter. I sit on a chair. He is still nervous. I wonder what the big question is. "Will you go out with me?"
"Of course, El!" I smile. I stand up and embrace him. I even gain enough confidence give him a quick kiss.
We continue to dance for what seems like hours. Everyone is having a great time. Elliot and I kiss a few times. I don't leave his side until the boys have to leave at 11:30. Everyone exchanges hugs. I give Elliot a goodbye kiss. The seven of them pile into the back of Jack's mom's minivan. The six of us girls stand in the doorway and wave. Once the boys are gone, we close the door and head upstairs and get ready for bed. We are all exhausted from the night's festivities.
…
I awake at about ten the next morning to my phone ringing. I look around. Everyone else is still asleep. I try to ignore my phone, but it keeps ringing. I check the caller ID. It's Don.
"Yeah?" I answer, yawning.
"You and the girls, Emily included, need to meet us at John's, A.S.A.P." My eyes widen at his worried tone.
"Why? What happened?" I question, the hair on the back of neck standing up. But, of course, he hangs up before I can get an answer.