August 27th, 2015

12:50 AM

The Red Maple Club

Baltimore, Maryland

Despite everything organ in her body telling her not to, Olivia Carolyn Pope chugged down her fourth shot of tequila.

Dozens of underage students in the crowded bar abrupt in cheers, causing eighteen year old girl to grin. It was her last night in Baltimore and she was determined to make it count - even if it meant illegally drowning herself in alcohol paid for by random older guys, who were simultaneously trying to get Olivia to come home with them.

Olivia, slamming the empty shot glass down on the bar counter, looked up at her best friend Abby, who was watching Liv in amazement. "Abby...order me another."

The redhead grinned at her best friend. She knew better than to say 'no' to Olivia Pope - who had been like a sister to her ever since they began high school together, four years ago. After they sat next to each other in Spanish class, they instantly hit it off and had become inseparable ever since. In fact, they were moving to California together in three short days, where they would attend their dream school.

"Liv," Abby began, hoping her best friend could hear her over the loud music of the crowded bar. "You know I'm not judging you for getting so drunk you can barely stand up. But I have to ask - do you really think you can get away with acting like this when we start Stanford?"

Olivia rolled her eyes, not interested in hearing a lecture she could easily get from her father back home. "Are you gonna order me another one or do I have to get a random stranger to do it?"

Abby, being the one who could pass for twenty one, sighed. As much as she accepted Liv for who she was, a stubborn party girl, sometimes she took it too far. Still, not wanting to risk a random man ordering and drugging a drink for Liv, she signaled the oblivious bartender. "Can I get another tequila shot?...Thanks."

"Thank you," Olivia grinned and stumbled over to give her best friend a hug. "Thank you, thank you, thank you! I love you, Abs!"

Abby rolled her eyes, but finally gave in and returned the hug. "You're gonna get yourself killed one day - you know that, right?"

Olivia grabbed the shot placed in front of Abby and swallowed it, feeling the heavy drink burn her throat and warm her stomach. She smiled nonchalantly. "So what? We all die. You either kill yourself or get killed. But not today. Today, I'm dancing. Are you gonna dance with me? Because if you're not, I'm fine with dancing alone."

Abby sighed once again, but allowed Olivia to grab her arms and drag her along to the beat. Abby just glared on as an older guy, maybe in his late twenties, came up behind Olivia and clasped his hand on her thigh.

Olivia almost instinctively starting grinding on him, causing Abby to frown, her face riddled with concern. She was far from innocent but sometimes, the weight of Liv's reckless actions scared Abby shitless.

Staying past midnight with Liv wasn't ideal, but it was better than allowing her to go home with a strange man, which had happened already one too many times.

"How can you be so reckless?" Eli Pope demanded, throwing his hands up in the air.

Olivia rolled her eyes at her father's unnecessarily annunciated words. Did he really have to be so annoying? "Dad, I can explain-"

"No!" Eli cut her off. "How do you think I feel, Olivia? Getting a call at one am, informing me that my only daughter is in some foreign bar bathroom, puking her guts out? Do you think that's fun for me? Do you think that's what I want? Do you think I raised you like that?"

Olivia lowered her eyes to her dark skinny jean shorts clad lap. "No."

"No what?"

"No, sir," Olivia mumbled. "I don't think that's how you raised me."

Eli sighed heavily and lowered himself on to the couch in front of his daughter. He was used to her reckless, irresponsible behavior by now. He had been dealing with it for two years. Up until Olivia was sixteen, she was a well behaved, perfect young woman. And then, it was beyond him what happened. She was crazy. There was no other words for it.

It further concerned him that in just one, she would be out of his house and all the way across the country, where he couldn't keep an eye on her. She had Abby but that wasn't enough. Nothing was enough lately. "Olivia - what am I going to do with you?"

Olivia tried not to roll her eyes or reply to his rhetorical question with a sarcastic, sharp comment. She understood her father's pain but rather than feeling apologetic, she was just annoyed. It was her life and she wasn't hurting anyone but herself. The way she saw it, as long as she got good grades (which she did), Eli had no room to complain. "I'm genuinely sorry, Dad."

Eli looked at his daughter - her natural beauty masked with pounds of eyeliner, red lipstick and smeared mascara. She wore a skimpy lace camisole, black heels and incredibly tight Jean shorts. Where she got those clothes was beyond him. "I've heard that before, Olivia. I've spend so many nights, staying up, simply worried to death about you. You're a smart girl - you graduated the top of your class three months ago. And you go on and act like this?"

Olivia folded her hands. She knew what was coming. The whole 'twice as good' speech that she had heard one too many times.

"How many times have I told you," Eli cleared his throat, sure enough starting the lecture. "That you have to be twice as good to get half of what they have?"

"I'm sorry," Olivia repeated, not knowing what else to say. She didn't actively try to hurt her father's feelings, but it happened anyways and she was unapologetic about that. That, and she thought it was unfair he tried to play the race card to make her feel guilty. "I'm not a disgrace to the entire black community, okay?"

Eli frowned. "What I'm trying to say, Olivia, is that you need to clean up your act before you go to one of the most prestigious schools in the world."

Olivia nodded, without having any intentions of doing just that. Stanford, she had heard, was a party school, and she thought it deserved to be treated like such. "Of course. I just got a little carried away tonight, Dad. It won't happen again, I promise"

"Good," Eli nodded, being idiotic enough to actually believe his daughter. He got up and started to walk out of the foyer before pausing and turning back around. "Olivia?"

"Yes, Dad?"

Eli paused, then smiled. "I'm proud of you. For getting into Stanford, I mean."

Olivia genuinely smiled at that.

She was proud of herself too. Despite all the constant partying, drinking and just generally being a wild card, she had worked hard to make the grades to get into Stanford. She had graduated Blake High School with a 4.0 GPA unweighted and had acquired one thousand volunteer hours over her four years there. Even though she was clearly not the ideal honor student, nobody could deny that Olivia Carolyn Pope was amazingly smart and gifted. "Thank you."

"And Olivia?" Eli swallowed. "Your mother would be proud too."

Olivia's smile instantly dropped. Eli, noting her discomfort, decided to leave it at that and disappeared into his home office. Olivia felt another round of vomit come up from her stomach and instantly ran outside into the warm, summer air. Running down the steps of their elegant townhouse and into the busy street, she threw up immediately. She stared as the remainder of golden tequila blended into the cracks of the sidewalk.

'Damn' she thought to herself. 'I didn't even know there was any more left inside me.'

She sat on the steps leading up to the four story house and folded her arms on her lap. She watched as the cars went by the busy street and people walked into the convenience stores up the lane. At least two or three boys in a row walked by, whistled and/or tried to have a conversation with her. It wasn't new to her. She brushed them off, far from the mood to talk to anyone, much less hook up with.

Still, she hated the empty, idle feeling she was left with. Reaching into her back pocket, she pulled out her iPhone, unlocked it and scrolled her contacts until she found Abby. She wanted to go out again - she needed to go out and feel something other than the emotions hollowed in the pit of her stomach.

Olivia was an incredibly social girl but it was times like these where she felt completely and utterly alone.