It was the end of the day and Olivia was waiting for her best friend Elliot by her car. After looking at her watch for the 5th time in the past 10 minutes, she finally saw Elliot sauntering over.
“Sorry about that. Kathy needed to see me and it took longer than expected.”
Olivia rolled her eyes and responded, “Yeah, sucking face tends to make you later than usual.”
Elliot blushed and opened the door, throwing his backpack in the backseat next to Olivia’s. Looking for an abrupt change of subject, he asked, “So what are your plans for the weekend?”
Olivia put her car in reverse and backed out of her parking spot. “Well, I’m gonna hang out with Alex Cabot tomorrow.”
Elliot turned to face her, shock registering on his face. “Alex Cabot? Varsity cheerleader and daughter of the wealthiest man in town, Alex Cabot?”
“Yep. What’s the problem?” Olivia asked, sparing a glance at Elliot.
Elliot shifted uncomfortably in his seat and mumbled, “Nothing really. It’s just…I didn’t think…I mean…”
“Spit it out Elliot,” Olivia ordered, getting slightly annoyed.
“She just seems really stuck up. That’s all.”
Olivia glanced at him again, feeling the need to defend Alex. “Well, she’s not. She’s actually really sweet.”
Suddenly, realization dawned on him. “You’re interested in her, aren’t you?”
Olivia blushed furiously. “No, I’m not. She asked me if I wanted to hang out sometime after the game and I told her I was free Saturday. That’s all.”
Smirking, Elliot said, “Uh huh.”
“Enough Elliot!” Olivia snapped, her face turning redder.
Elliot raised his hands up in defeat, knowing the conversation was over. “Ok, ok. Forget I said anything.”
They drove the rest of the way to Elliot’s house in silence. When Olivia pulled up in Elliot’s driveway, he got his stuff from her backseat and got out the car. Turning around, he said, “Hey, let me know how it goes this weekend with the ice princess.”
Olivia rolled her eyes and responded, “Don’t count on it” before pulling off.
Ten minutes later, Olivia pulled into her own driveway. Putting her key in the lock, she turned the knob carefully, hoping her mother wasn’t home yet. She really didn’t feel like cleaning up vomit that evening. After surveying the house and discovering that Serena Benson was nowhere to be seen, Olivia headed down the hall to her room and flopped down on her bed. She decided to take a quick nap before waking up to plan her weekend outing with Alex.
**************
Meanwhile, Alex Cabot lay on her bed, looking dreamily up at the ceiling. She couldn’t keep the huge smile from spreading on her face as she thought of what the next day held in store for her and Olivia. Not able to keep the butterflies from fluttering in her stomach, she grabbed her cell phone and scrolled down to Olivia’s entry in her contact list. Smiling at the sight, she debated calling Olivia. But not wanting to seem too eager and freak Olivia out, she put her phone on her nightstand and hugged her pillow, soon drifting off to a peaceful sleep.
A couple hours later, Alex awoke to the sound of her phone ringing. She absently reached to grab it from her nightstand and when she saw that the caller was Olivia, she quickly answered. “Hello?” she said almost a little too excitedly for someone who had just woken up.
“Hi Alex. It’s me, Olivia. Are you busy right now?”
“No, I just woke up. What’s up?” Alex responded.
“Oh sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you. I can give you a call back later?”
“No, no, it’s fine,” Alex said a little too quickly. “I’m fully awake now. Besides, I needed to get up anyway.”
Olivia smirked on her end of the line. So she’s excited to hear from me, Olivia thought. That’s a good sign. Pleased with herself, Olivia went on with her plans for the next day. “Ok, cool. So…I was thinking that we could have a picnic at the lake and then maybe catch a movie later?”
Alex grinned, fighting the urge not to squeal into the phone. “That sounds perfect! What should I bring for our picnic?”
“Well, you can bring dessert and I’ll take care of the rest. Oh, and bring some sunscreen and some Off. And a frisbee or football if you want.” Olivia snorted and said sarcastically, “Well, not that I would expect you to have a football.”
Alex giggled and said, “Hey now! I may not have a football but I do have a frisbee.”
“Good, good,” came the reply from the other end of the line. “I’ll come by and pick you up tomorrow at 1:30?”
“1:30 is fine. Any preference for dessert?”
Olivia smiled, fighting down any naughty thoughts or snide remarks that came to mind. After deciding on a safe answer, she responded, “Something with chocolate.”
Just like the color of your eyes, Alex thought. “Ok, chocolate it is. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Just as she was about to hang up the line, Olivia remembered that she didn’t know Alex’s address. “Hey, wait!”
“Yeah?” Alex asked.
“Uh, I just realized I have no clue how to get to your house,” Olivia answered.
Alex smiled and gave her directions. After they got off the phone, she ran in the kitchen to look for items to make dessert. She decided on chocolate chip cookie bars. As she was mixing the dough, her mother, Madeline Cabot, walked in the door.
“Hello, Alexandra,” Mrs. Cabot said as she gave her daughter a quick kiss on the cheek. “Whatever are you trying to make, dear?”
“Chocolate chip cookie bars, mom. I’m going on a picnic tomorrow with my friend Olivia Benson and I’m bringing dessert,” Alex said over her shoulder as she continued to mix ingredients.
Mrs. Cabot laughed and responded, “Well dear, just don’t set the stove on fire this time.” Alex rolled her eyes as her mom continued. “Olivia Benson. That name sounds familiar. Is that Serena Benson’s daughter who plays on the basketball team?”
“Yeah. She’s really good, too,” Alex said, smiling.
“So I hear.” Giving her daughter’s shoulder a quick squeeze and turning to leave the kitchen, Mrs. Cabot called back, “Your father will be late tonight, so dinner won’t be served until 8. Do have the kitchen cleaned up so Janice can begin the meal soon.”
“Ok, ok mom. These things don’t take that long to bake,” Alex said with a sigh.
Smiling over her shoulder, her mother turned and laughed. “They may if you are doing the baking.” Throwing a towel at her mother, Alex finished her creation and then spread the mixture in the pan to bake. Setting the timer, she then bounded upstairs to begin looking through clothes to wear. After trying on various outfits and discarding them all, she heard her mother screaming from downstairs, “Alexandra! Alexandra! Your cookies are done!”
Alex rushed downstairs just as her mother was turning off the oven. “Dear, you have to keep better watch over your cooking.” Alex pulled out her cookies, thankful that they weren’t burned, and sat them down to cool. She then ran back upstairs to try picking out another outfit that she thought Olivia might appreciate her in. Hell, what am I thinking? For all you know she could be straight. Just because she plays on the basketball team doesn’t mean she likes girls. Plus, you’ve seen her with Elliot Stabler a lot. They may be dating, Alex thought.
Not coming to a conclusion about what to wear, Alex sat down on her bed and began outlining her notes for AP bio. Quickly getting bored, she threw down her textbook and notebook and trotted back downstairs to clean up before dinner.