The following afternoon, Abbie wasn’t feeling much better. Even though Lexie had tried to convince her that a bit of sunlight and fresh air might help, she was too embarrassed by her facial injuries to go out in public. So her girlfriend had reluctantly met up with a couple of their friends and gone to the beach without her. She’d never felt so miserable in her life. Not only was her left eye swollen shut, but her cheek and nose were still swollen, too.
Throwing the sheets angrily off herself, she summoned the strength to force herself out of bed and slowly walked over to get her laptop. Since the rest of my Spring Break is ruined, I might as well just surf the net, she bitterly thought. She winced in pain as the pressure on her leg caused it to start throbbing, but she managed to hobble back to the bed. With her laptop carefully balanced on her lap, she grabbed her ice pack and held it to her face.
She decided to check Myspace. Even though she knew both Alex and Olivia’s profiles were private, she also knew that Alex had added Lexie. Luckily for her, she had watched Lexie type in her password that morning. Smiling to herself, she logged onto her girlfriend’s account so she could view Alex’s profile.
Her smile quickly faded when she read her “Who I’d like to meet” section and saw that Alex had written, “I’ve already met the one. Her name is Olivia Benson and she is the hottest, most amazing girlfriend in the world. I couldn’t ask for more.” Abbie put her finger down her throat in a gagging motion. She read her comments and groaned as she saw the ones from Olivia. Just a few of them were:
“I love you, too, baby! Only a few more hours before you’re in my arms again.”
“Hey, just doing Trig homework. It’s so fucking lame. But my TI-86 def makes it easier, LOL. Instead of solving cosine angles, I’d much rather solve this: U+me=x”
“Aly, where are you, babe? My mom just left (finally!) and I’m about to go crazy waiting for you to get here! P.S. That ‘no trespassing’ sign on my yard is for Tweety. LOL, jk.”
“Happy birthday, sexy. My name might not be Fred Flinstone, but after your party, I sure will make your bed rock.”
“I think we broke the backseat of your Mercedes last night!”
“Psst! Did you get the little love note I left in your locker? Maybe I shouldn’t have attached it to that Nestle Crunch haha. You probably ate it!”
“Baby, no one will ever come between us. In the words of t.A.T.u., ‘They don’t know. They can’t see who we are. Fear is the enemy. Hold on tight, hold on to me. ’Cause tonight, it’s all about us.’”
Not wanting to read anymore, she went to her pictures section next. Alex had made a photo album especially for the break. As Abbie looked through her pictures, she rolled her eyes. Are their lips permanently glued to each other’s or what? she thought in disgust. When she saw them laughing and playing in the water, she wished she could snap the surfboards in half. Upon seeing photos from the previous night of Olivia standing in the water and holding Alex, she actually let out a growl. The caption said, “She sweeps me off my feet!”
The “Sweet 16” album only made her angrier. Alex was absolutely glowing and she thought she looked so beautiful in all her dresses. She even had a few videos from the party. Abbie couldn’t help but feel jealous of Olivia as she saw her smiling wide next to Alex. “Alex should be with me, not you, bitch,” she grumbled.
Once she’d looked at some other albums, she closed out the page and checked her email. After reading a few of them, she logged out and checked the fake account she’d made to send the pictures to Olivia’s mom. To her delight, there was a reply from Serena waiting for her:
I don’t know who you are, but I am very curious as to how you procured these photographs. I’m not expecting you to reveal your true identity, but I feel that as a mother, I have a right to know what is going on with my only daughter. I also feel that you opened this door because you are privy to a certain extent of information that my daughter and Alex aren’t willing to divulge. So what more is there to this situation? Has Olivia been involved with any other girls?
Ignoring the threats Olivia and Alex had made, Abbie decided to reply. Since Serena already knew what was going on, she felt that the damage had already been done. Besides, at the moment she was more concerned with revenge than Lexie finding out she’d been unfaithful. Abbie Carmichael was not one to go down without a fight. She knew she had a lot less to lose than they did.
To my knowledge, Alex and Olivia have been dating for several months, starting with last semester. They claim to be very much in love and I have witnessed them being affectionate in several public places, including school. They act like they don’t care who’s watching. Dr. Elizabeth Olivet can vouch for this. I have been told that Olivia has a bit of a reputation with the ladies, but Alex has certainly been her longest relationship.
To seal the deal, she logged back into Lexie’s myspace and returned to Alex’s profile. She saved several pictures from her albums and then inserted them into the body of the email. As a lasting gesture she screen-captured her entire page. She thought Serena would especially be repulsed when she read all the gushy comments from Olivia.
As she clicked the “send” button, her smile spread. “You have no idea who you’ve fucked with, Olivia Benson,” she declared.
**************
Serena Benson had office hours that day until 5:30. After her last student left, she decided to check her email before going home. When she saw that her mystery mailer had replied, she felt apprehensive. Taking a deep breath, she opened the email. She was incensed by the time she had read Alex’s profile and viewed the pictures. In a way, she wished she hadn’t because she’d never felt sicker in her life.
When she’d found a condom wrapper beside Olivia’s bed a couple years prior, she had grounded her for three weeks. Her worst fear had been that she would become pregnant because she considered teenagers irresponsible when it came to sex, and she’d thought it would only be a matter of time before Olivia slipped up. Now she deemed pregnancy a lesser evil than this.
“I cannot believe Olivia is a filthy little dyke!” she muttered. She felt like a fool to discover that they had been open with their affection for months in so many places, but the wool had been pulled over her eyes. All she had had were suspicions without confirmation. How much do I really know about my own daughter? she wondered sadly.
She picked up the phone book and found Dr. Olivet’s home number. Although she knew she’d just be torturing herself more, she wanted to validate what the stranger said and find out as much as possible before constructing a game plan.
“Hello?” Dr. Olivet answered.
“Yes, Dr. Olivet? This is Dr. Serena Benson, mother of Olivia Benson. I wanted to schedule an appointment with you sometime next week to discuss my daughter’s progress in your class.”
“It’s nice to hear from you, Dr. Benson! Olivia is a wonderful student and it’s a pleasure having her again this semester. Hold on a second while I check my datebook.” After a few short moments, she said, “I’m free next Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday after school lets out. Which day and time would be best for you?”
“How about Monday at 4:00?” Serena asked.
Dr. Olivet wrote it down and replied, “Yes, that will be fine. I look forward to seeing you then.”
“Ok, it was nice talking to you. Have a good evening,” Serena said.
She gathered her documents and put them in her attaché case. She knew she would have a long night of grading essays, and it didn’t help that she was burdened with new knowledge of her daughter’s behavior. I need a drink, she thought. She knew she shouldn’t—especially since she had an AA meeting the next evening—but she felt a burning urge that would only get bigger until she satisfied it. She thought it was the only way she could flush the images and proclamations of love out of her head.
She turned out the lights to her office, locked up, and walked to her car. Even though she wanted to solely blame Alex, she couldn’t because of Olivia’s past with girls. Is she just doing this to rebel? she wondered. She didn’t understand why she would want to her hurt her this way. Maybe she’s just confused.
Regardless of the reasons, she didn’t like it and was determined to stop it. And she wasn’t going to let anyone stand in her way.