A/N: Thanks for all of the feedback, everyone. It's really helping me shape the next few chapters. :)

Olivia sat down in her trigonometry class and noticed the empty seat next to her, the seat that was always taken by Abbie. Olivia had received a phone call from Mrs. Carmichael the night before asking if she knew where Abbie was and that's when it dawned on her that Abbie had never gone home after meeting Mark. Nobody had heard from her, but Olivia knew who she was with. She decided to tell Mrs. Carmichael that she was with her and Casey and Mrs. Carmichael bought the entire story, not that it surprised Olivia. Mrs. Carmichael didn't care all that much about her daughter and Olivia couldn't believe she had even called asking for her daughter.

Mrs. Warner, their math teacher, was about to start class when Abbie came barging in the door with a somewhat wilted daisy chain in her hair.

"How nice of you to drop by, Abigail," Mrs. Warner said sarcastically.

"I forgot it was Monday," Abbie told her. "I lost track of time."

"Take those flowers out of your hair," Mrs. Warner ordered her. "You know I don't allow any hippie paraphernalia in my classroom."

"Paraphernalia?" Abbie asked in a shocked tone of voice. "This is my life, not some trend. You know what your problem is, Mrs. Warner? You're working for the man and you're training all of us, the youth of America, to work for the man. There's so much beauty in the world, beauty and free love. We shouldn't be restrained."

"Abigail!" Mrs. Warner yelled. "I will not have you talk to me with such disrespect."

"If I can't speak my mind, I'm leaving," Abbie said and got up. She slammed the door behind her, which made several of the girls jump in their seats.

"I'll go talk to her, ma'am," Olivia told their teacher as she left her seat to follow Abbie.

Olivia found her sitting in the grass just outside their school. The early October weather was chilly, but Abbie wasn't wearing a jacket or anything other than a short dress. Now that she wasn't wearing her usual school clothes, Olivia could see that she had lost a lot of weight. She had always been thin, but her bones were now protruding more than ever before. Casey and Olivia had once thought Abbie could be the next Twiggy—the next It Girl—but her looks had started to fade ever since she started using drugs.

When Olivia approached her, Abbie started screaming at her. "Get away from me, Olivia!"

"Abbie, what the hell are you doing to yourself?" Olivia asked once she looked at Abbie's arm. There were little drops of blood pooling at the surface and Olivia knew those wounds were self-inflicted.

"They were attacking me," Abbie said frantically.

"Who or what was attacking you?" Olivia asked.

"The bats," Abbie told her. "They were biting my arm."

"Abbie, there aren't any bats here," Olivia pointed out. After hearing that, she tried to do everything she could to stop herself from crying. Her best friend was so far gone and she had no idea what to do. She held Abbie close to her, or, more like restrained Abbie to keep her from digging into her own skin. Regardless of how hard she tried not to, Olivia began crying into Abbie's hair.

Olivia looked at her watch and noticed twenty minutes had passed. Mrs. Warner was probably expecting her, but at that moment Olivia didn't care about school. The new drugs that some young people were experimenting with were foreign to most adults and even most young people, including Olivia. She had seen Abbie on one her "trips" before, but this was unlike anything Olivia had ever seen. She practically had to fight Abbie for her car keys, but once she had them, she held Abbie's hand as they walked to her car. Most adults were unfamiliar with drugs, but Olivia knew this didn't apply to police officers like Mr. Stabler, Elliot's father. Knowing she didn't have time to spare, Olivia drove to the Stabler residence.

"Liv," Elliot said with a surprised look on his face when he answered the door. "Shouldn't you be at school? You're such a hooligan now."

"This isn't the time to make jokes," Olivia said frantically. "Is your dad here?"

"Yeah, it's his day off," Elliot said nonchalantly. "Liv, what's wrong?"

"El, I need you to help me," Olivia told him as she started crying. "I need you to get Abbie out of the car. She's passed out and I can't lift her."

Without asking any further questions, Elliot hurried to the car and lifted Abbie from the passenger seat. She was dead weight, but Elliot was the strongest person Olivia knew, so he had no trouble getting her out. Olivia held the front door open and they quickly made their way to Elliot's bed. He carefully laid Abbie down and they were pleasantly surprised to see that her eyes opened. It wasn't much, but it was a small victory for them.

"Hey, Pop!" Elliot called out.

"Mr. Stabler!" Olivia joined.

"What's the commotion?" he asked once he entered the room. "Abbie? What happened to her?"

"She's on drugs," Olivia blurted out. "I don't know which one. I've seen her high before but never like this. She was gone all weekend with some hippie and she came to school like this. She's been picking at her skin and she's been full of rage and she—"

"Liv, it's okay," Elliot said as he held her. "Abbie is going to be okay."

"I don't know what to do," Olivia admitted. "I feel like I'm losing her—like we've already lost her."

"Olivia, you sit on the chair at Elliot's desk," Mr. Stabler ordered. "Elliot, stay with me in case we have to hold her down. She's little, but I've seen girls smaller than her who have near superhuman strength while on these drugs."

"Get me out of here!" Abbie shouted. "I hate you, Olivia! Why are you doing this to me?"

"Abbie, sweetheart," Mr. Stabler said to calm her down. He had known this girl since she was five and he couldn't believe what was happening. "What did you take?"

"Nothing!" Abbie shouted.

"Abbie, we need you to tell us," Elliot insisted.

"We love you," Olivia added. "We just want to help you. Do it for me?"

"I hate you!" Abbie shouted at her. "I hate all of you!"

"Abigail!" Mr. Stabler said forcefully. "What did you take?"

"I—I don't know," Abbie stammered. "Mark gave it to me."

"Who is Mark?" Mr. Stabler asked.

"Some guy she's been shacking up with every now and then. He's twenty-nine," Olivia said, averting her eyes. "She met him when she ran away to San Francisco this summer."

"What did it look like?" Mr. Stabler asked Abbie. "What did the drug look like?"

"It was a pill," Abbie responded, trying to remember. "A yellow pill."

"PCP," Mr. Stabler told Elliot and Olivia. "That mother fu…that asshole gave a seventeen-year-old girl PCP."

"What's that?" Olivia asked.

"It's a hallucinogen," Mr. Stabler answered.

"Is it worse than LSD?" Olivia asked. "Is there anything we can do for her?"

Before he could answer her, Abbie's body started to convulse.

"What's happening?" Olivia asked frantically. "Abbie!"

"She's having a seizure," Mr. Stabler responded. Hearing those words made Olivia sink down into her chair.

The next few minutes seemed like seconds to Olivia. Everything was such a blur for her. Abbie was taken to the emergency room and, although Mr. and Mrs. Carmichael were called, they were in no hurry to see their daughter. Elliot, Mr. Stabler, and Olivia stayed in the waiting room, hoping for an update on Abbie's condition. Elliot's girlfriend Kathy soon arrived as did Mrs. Novak, but there was still no sign of Abbie's parents, the only people who could actually go in and visit her.

Alex took a seat at her usual lunch table, next to the same people she sat with everyday. Their conversations were nothing exciting or even anything new and she felt as if she was living the same day over and over again. Nothing changed with these people, but she knew she had changed the moment she kissed Olivia. Ever since that kiss, Olivia was all she could think about. She looked at the group of twelve she was sitting with, her three best friends were there along with eight other Coquettes and the four Coquettes-in-training who were proudly displaying their future member pins. Carol was going on about her boyfriend and Beverly was flirting with hers although he was at another table with the other football players. You're all living a lie, Alex thought as she continued to scan her table. All four of their boyfriends had cheated and neither of them had any intentions of telling their girlfriends. The knowledge of their infidelity was too much for Alex. She got up from their table and approached her boyfriend.

"Thomas, we need to talk," Alex said sternly.

"Whoa," Joyce's boyfriend said. "Nothing good is ever followed by a chick saying that."

"Lemme settle this girl," Thomas said to his guys. "I'll be back in a few seconds."

"A few seconds?" Alex asked when they were alone outside of the cafeteria. "Is that all you think it'll take to fix our relationship?"

"What's wrong with you?" Thomas asked. "You're like a different person now. I miss the girlfriend I used to have. I liked you when you would cheer me on at games and go on dates with me."

"In other words, you like trivial bullshit," Alex pointed out. "I'm growing up, Thomas, and we're growing apart. My world is bigger than the confines of this school and Lizzie's diner and the drive-in."

"Come here," Thomas said as he tried to hold her.

"I know you cheated," Alex said calmly. "I know you lost your virginity to Abbie. I know all three of my best friends have been cheated on. I know we're all living a lie and I won't stand for it. I can't be with you anymore. This will probably jeopardize my chances of winning Homecoming queen, but I don't care. None of that really matters to me anymore. There's life outside of high school and I'm not going to waste another second being your girlfriend."

"Alex, we can work this out," Thomas pleaded. "You and I are supposed to get married someday."

Alex was disgusted. "You think I'd marry you? You can't even be faithful to me in high school. Imagine what you would be like if we were married."

"You're going to regret this," Thomas warned her. "Wait'll your friends find out we broke up."

"They aren't my real friends," Alex told him as she thought about Olivia.

Alex felt confined, so she decided to go outside for the remainder of the lunch period. As soon as she opened the door, she saw Casey leaning against the wall. Alex knew they weren't the best of friends, but she felt compelled to talk to her.

"Are you okay?" Alex asked when she noticed Casey wipe away her tears.

"It's Abbie," Casey told her.

"Oh," Alex responded. "What did she do this time?"

"Aren't you a decent human being," Casey said sarcastically.

"I'm sorry," Alex said as she got closer to her. "Abbie and I have a rocky relationship if you haven't noticed."

"She's in the hospital," Casey blurted out. "My mom called the office awhile ago. I'm supposed to go directly over there after school, but I wish I didn't have to wait that long."

"You don't," Alex told her. She imagined Olivia being in the waiting room, crying her eyes out. Just the thought of Olivia crying made Alex want to cry as well. "We'll take my car and go right now."

"But we have class," Casey reminded her.

"What's more important?" Alex asked. "Two class periods or being there for your best friend?"

"You're right," Casey agreed. Alex was about to leave school with someone who wasn't a Coquette, a cheerleader, or a jock, but she didn't care. Olivia needed her and that's all that mattered. There would also be repercussions for breaking up with Thomas, but Alex wasn't worried about that—at least not at that moment.

When they arrived at the hospital, Alex was surprised that Mr. and Mrs. Carmichael weren't there. Casey grabbed her by the hand and led her over to everyone so they could find out what had happened. Alex was going to introduce herself to Mr. Stabler and Kathy, but she wondered if that was appropriate during a time like this. She wasn't a friend of Abbie's, so what should she introduce herself as?

"Alex!" Olivia said before she could even decide if she should introduce herself. When Olivia made her way over to her, Alex felt her heart sink. Olivia had been crying—she knew she would be—but there was something about actually seeing Olivia cry that broke Alex's heart. She wanted to kiss all of her tears away, but she knew she couldn't do that in front of everyone.

"My girl," Alex whispered into her ear as she hugged her. "I'll always be here for you."