February 14, 1990

Turning sixteen had been a big deal for Olivia. She didn't have a Sweet Sixteen party or get a car like most of the other sophomore girls at her school, but she did have a list of goals that she had made during her freshman year and she had already accomplished them by her second year of high school. She had earned a spot on the varsity softball team, made the honor roll, and learned to drive. Everything was starting to look up for Olivia, except where her love life was concerned. She was still in love with Alex and Alex was still making out with Casey any chance she was given. Now that Casey went to the same high school as they did, Alex was with her everyday at lunch and Casey was on the same softball team as Olivia. While they were in the locker room, Casey would brag about her sexual exploits with Alex even though the two of them hadn't done anything other than kissing. There was no getting to second base like Alex had hoped or giving each other little love bites. Olivia had nothing against Casey; in fact, she liked the freshman. Casey had no idea Olivia was in love with Alex and there was no way Olivia was going to tell her for fear of putting Casey in an awkward position when it wasn't her fault that Olivia didn't ask Alex out in the seventh grade.

Mr. and Mrs. Cabot weren't going to be home that night and Casey was grounded so Alex had decided to invite Abbie and Olivia over to her house for a Valentine's Day get together. Olivia was hesitant about going, but once Alex had reassured her that Casey wasn't going to be there, she was all for going. After school, Alex drove her two best friends to her house in the red 1985 Mercedes that her parents had given her for Christmas.

When they arrived at Alex's house, the girls played video games for an hour until Abbie had what she considered to be the most brilliant idea of her life.

"Your parents' liquor cabinet is open!" Abbie said excitedly.

"So?" Alex asked.

"They left a liquor cabinet open with three unattended teenage girls? That must mean they want us to drink," Abbie pointed out.

"It'd be stupid if we did," Alex told her.

"No, it'd be stupid if we didn't," Abbie corrected. "Liv?"

"I'm in," Olivia said nervously. She had never had any type of alcohol before, but she figured trying some with Alex and Abbie at Alex's house would be better than trying some at a party where something bad could happen to her.

"Fine," Alex said reluctantly. "Let's do this."

"Alright!" Abbie said and high-fived her two best friends. "We have vodka, tequila, rum, and gin. Take your pick."

"None, please," Alex insisted.

"Do any of you know how to make any drinks?" Abbie asked.

"I know how to make Long Island Iced Teas!" Olivia said excitedly. "I've never made one myself, but my Aunt Olivia makes them all the time."

"What is it?" Alex asked.

"A mixture of all of this stuff," Olivia said. "And tea."

"Long Island Iced Tea isn't exactly tea," Abbie told her. "I think they use something else instead. I heard it was cola and some syrup."

"Umm…yes, it is tea," Olivia argued. "Otherwise, it wouldn't be called Long Island Iced Tea, would it?"

"I guess," Alex said reluctantly. "We have a little bit of Nestea in a two-liter bottle."

"Awesome!" Olivia said excitedly. "You two just sit back and I'll be the bartender."

Olivia grabbed three large glasses from the cupboard and started to mix the drinks. She filled a fourth of the glass with rum, a fourth with vodka, a fourth with tequila, and a fourth with gin. There really wasn't room for the tea, but she splashed a tiny bit on top and stirred the drink. She took a sip from hers and wanted to spit it out, but there was no way she was going to be the wimp out of the three of them. She was grateful that she had taken that sip while she was in the kitchen because it gave her a preview of what she was in for.

After all three girls had their drinks, they gave each other nervous glances and debated who should take the first sip.

"You two are such babies, I'll take the first sip," Olivia said, trying to be brave. What her friends didn't know is that she had already had that practice sip in the kitchen. When she drank it without so much as a flinch, Alex and Abbie were impressed.

"So, there's nothing to it?" Abbie asked.

"It's just like drinking tea," Olivia lied.

"Eww!" Abbie said as she spit out her drink. "This tastes like the seventh circle of hell!"

"Maybe it's an acquired taste," Alex suggested. "Just keep drinking."

The girls chugged half of their drinks in less than five minutes, hoping the faster they drank the more they would actually like their drinks.

"Liv, these are great," Alex said and clinked her glass with Abbie's.

"Aren't they?" Olivia asked as she laid her head on Alex's lap. Without realizing it, she spilled some of her drink on Alex's leg. "I'm so sorry, Alex. I'll get a napkin."

"You can just lick it off me," Alex suggested.

"Alex, you're such a perv," Abbie teased. "And I know Liv wants to lick every inch of you."

"I do not," Olivia said and started blushing. "Okay, I do, but Alex has a girlfriend."

"You do?" Alex asked. "It's okay if you do. I want you to. I mean, I want you, too—also. Wait. What? What's going on?"

"Alex, are you okay?" Abbie asked.

"Yeah," Alex responded.

"No, not like okay okay, are you okay?"

Alex started giggling. "Oh, like am I horny?"

"Abbie, how is 'okay' a euphemism for that?" Olivia asked.

"I don't know," Abbie responded. "But answer the question, Lex."

"Am I horny?" Alex repeated. "Every moment of every day. I know I said having a girlfriend is awesome, but not when your girlfriend is a tease. She always wears these low-cut tops around me because she knows I'm looking and she knows what I want. Then we start making out—like really making out—and then she says she wants to stop, but we stop before I can even get to second base. It's been two and a half years and I still haven't felt her up. I respect her so I stop and I don't say anything about it. I don't whine about it, at least not to her, but she always leaves me at the point where I get some but not enough. Maybe she does it on purpose. She makes it so I always think about sex, especially sex with her. That's her plan, isn't it? She has me right where she wants me because she knows I'll do absolutely anything if it means I could possibly get some."

"That's why you shouldn't date a freshman," Abbie told her. "They're teases, except for Serena."

"We know, we know," Olivia said, annoyed. "You always mention that she puts out, not that it matters, Abbie. She's single and she's always looking at you. Take the hint."

"Fuck, she looks at me?" Abbie asked. "Then why hasn't she made her move? I know she's already had sex with lots of girls. Why hasn't she tried anything with me?"

"Maybe she thinks you're the one," Olivia said dreamily. "And if you think a girl is the one you don't just make a move on her like that. It has to be special and romantic."

"Speaking of making a move," Abbie began. "I overheard Jenny talking about you in the locker room today."

"Jenny Jacobson? You did?" Olivia asked, intrigued. "What did she say? Tell me. Tell me."

"She was talking to Becky Albers and while she was saying this she was only wearing a bra and her cheerleading skirt, which only adds to everything she was saying. Anyway, she said, 'Bex, you know that girl, Olivia?' and then Becky was like 'Benson? Yeah, she's in my history class and my English class' and then she said other classes but I wasn't paying attention and then Jenny was like 'Yeah, that's her. Olivia is like so hot. I know I saw her last year and in junior high, but she looks different and she's like so hot now, like really hot. I wanna go down on her. Do you think she'd let me?' and then Becky was like, 'I dunno know, Jenny. Liv isn't the type of girl you can just have sex with.' And then Jenny was like, 'I'd never just have sex with her. She's like cute, too, you know? I think I'd want her to be my first girlfriend.' And then Becky was like 'Then ask her out.' And Jenny was like, 'I can't. I'm so bad at this. What if she says no?' And then she started going on and on about how hot you are and then the bell rang so she put on her sweater and left. By the way, she has a very nice rack, Liv."

"She's Jenny Jacobson," Olivia pointed out. "She has a nice everything. You have to be joking with me, though."

"It's the truth," Abbie insisted.

"But she's Jenny," Olivia repeated. "She's a junior. She's on the varsity cheer squad and she looks like she could be in Playboy. Jenny is so perfect."

"Liv, you're blushing," Abbie said, which only made Olivia blush even more.

"I can't help it," Olivia told her. "Jenny Jacobson having a crush on you is like Cindy Crawford having a crush on you or Michelle Pfeiffer having a crush on you. It's like what do you do when that happens? It's all so perfect. Do you think I could ask her out?"

"Why would you want to be Jenny's girlfriend?" Alex asked. "She's such a bitch."

"No, she's not!" Olivia said defensively. "You're just jealous, Alex, because you're sexually frustrated and I'm going to be the first to lose my virginity. To top it off, I'm losing it to Jenny, the most perfect girl in the world."

"You won't be so thrilled about it when your doctor says you have syphilis or Chlamydia or something like that," Alex said angrily. "Jenny is so gross. She has sex with everyone."

"Everyone, but you," Olivia snapped back. "Face it, Alex. Jenny is hot and you're just—what does she call you—Four Eyes."

"Bitch!" Alex said angrily, trying her hardest to keep from slapping Olivia. Maybe it was the drinks or the fact that she was still in love with Alex, but Olivia had no idea what just came over her.

"Alex, I'm sorry," Olivia said and gave her a hug. "I know how much you hate that name and I shouldn't have called you that."

"It's okay," Alex said as she returned the hug. "I love you, Olivia."

"I love you, too, Alex."

"And I love both of y'all," Abbie said, joining their hug.

"And I love you too, Abbie," Alex told her.

"Yeah, me too," Olivia added. "I love both of you."

"And I love Oreos," Abbie announced. "Lots of Oreos. Alex, do you have any?"

"I think so," Alex said as she got up. The moment she took a step forward, her legs became wobbly and she fell down on the carpet. The girls wanted to see if she was okay, but judging by her uncontrollable laughter, they knew it was just the alcohol.

"You klutz," Abbie teased, but Alex was still laughing.

"Whoa…whoa," Alex finally managed to say. "Is it me or is there a lot of gravity in here?"

"She's cut off," Abbie told Olivia. "No more drinks for Alex."

"No!" Alex said as she grabbed her drink and started to chug it. "This thing makes me so happy. Let's play a game. I know—let's play tag."

"Okay!" Olivia said excitedly, but she sat right back down the moment she tried to stand up. "We'll play in five minutes. I think the room is spinning. Which one of you is spinning the room? Stop it!"

"Liv, you're the best bartender in the world," Abbie told her. "These drinks are great. We should do this everyday. No, two times a day."

"Three times," Alex said as she attempted to do a cartwheel. She began laughing hysterically when she fell yet again.

Abbie turned the radio on loud enough for the girls not to hear anything happening around them. Alex was about to jump from one couch to the next when the door opened and her parents walked into the living room.

"Mommy! Daddy!" Alex said as she tried to make her way over to them. "Have you tried this happy juice? It makes you forget all about trig and honors classes and just be happy. I don't care about being valedictorian or going to Harvard. Fuck Harvard. Yeah, I said it. I'm happy for once in my life and I want to hug the world, starting with Abbie and Olivia."

Olivia started shaking her head. She and Abbie were drunk, but it wasn't obvious, unlike Alex who had finished her entire drink and a few sips of theirs.

"We're really sorry," Olivia tried to explain. "It won't happen again. This is all my fault. I'm the one who made the drinks. Alex and Abbie had nothing to do with it."

"I am so horny right now," Alex said, frustrated. "Liv, wanna go upstairs and make a woman out of me?"

"What did you just say?" Mrs. Cabot asked angrily.

"I'm out of here," Mr. Cabot told them. "Once my little girl says that word, it's my cue to leave."

"I said," Alex repeated. "I want Olivia to make a woman out of me. Please, Liv. Let's go upstairs. You're so hot. Abbie, you're hot, too. Wanna join us? I can do things to you while Liv does things to me and then we can both do things to Liv at the same time, whatever she wants us to do."

"Alexandra!" Mrs. Cabot said angrily. "Not another word out of you for the rest of the evening."

"Word, word, word, word," Alex began. "I said it four times."

"You're grounded for the rest of the school year," Mrs. Cabot told her.

After hearing that, Alex finally stopped talking. Olivia's mom picked up the two of them and gave them a lecture on the dangers of alcohol, but Abbie and Olivia were too drunk to pay attention. Olivia wasn't grounded because Serena thought her hangover and the fact that she was throwing up the entire night was punishment enough. As she laid on the couch the next morning, she tried to decide whether she had the best or worst Valentine's Day of her life.