CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

MIDNIGHT MEMORIES — ONE DIRECTION
You and me and all our friends
I don't care how much we spend
Baby, this is what the night is for

THE DAYS BETWEEN Christmas and New Year's Eve felt like one big time warp. Everyday felt the same to Olivia and if it wasn't for the nightly phone calls with Luke, she wouldn't know Sunday from Tuesday.

After Luke's visit on Christmas Eve, Olivia found herself completely consumed by the thought of him. There was shift in her attitude towards him. He was the first thing she thought of in the morning and the last thing she thought of when her head hit her pillow at night.

He gave her this anxious feeling in her stomach, one that she didn't mind having, one that filled her with the giddiness of a school girl. She wore his necklace everyday and every single time she saw the piece of gold in the mirror, she broke out in a toothy grin. Even now, as she stared out the window of her mom's car, there was a small smile on her face.

"You know," Sylvia said, snapping her daughter out of her thoughts, "your dad called again."

Olivia's jaw clenched as she the streetlights passed them by. Her father had sent a Christmas gift—a cheap greeting card with a twenty dollar bill in it—to her house and had been trying to get in touch with her after ignoring her (and Mikey's) existence for a year. All of his attempts were ignored with bitter resentment.

Olivia was already nervous about the New Year's party she was going to tonight and she worried that talking about her father would make her nerves worse. She knew her mom was only bringing him up now because it was New Year's Eve. Parties were great distractions. If she was in a bad mood, it would help her forget. If she was in a good mood, she was more likely to have fun. New Year's parties brought about new beginnings, but if you asked Olivia, sometimes new beginnings were bullshit.

With a heavy sigh, Olivia asked, "What did he want?"

"What do you think he wanted, Livy? He wanted to talk to you." Sylvia turned onto Harmony Lane and the car slowed as they approached the Patterson residence.

Olivia's eyebrows raised and she shook her head. "It's been a year. I tried reaching out to him, it's his turn to see what being ignored feels like." Perhaps she was being childish, but she had her reasons, and in her opinion, her decision was justified.

Her mother parked the car in front of Luke's house and she let out a sigh. "I know that things didn't end on the best terms," she acknowledged, "but he's still your father."

Olivia almost laughed at the sympathetic look she was receiving. She didn't care if he was her father, he lost that title the day he walked out on her without a second thought. "Yeah," she scoffed, "he's a pathological liar too."

"You should give him a chance."

"Why? So he can just leave again? Because that's what's going to happen."

"You don't know that, Liv."

"Yes, I do," Olivia snapped. "Even if we rebuild whatever relationship we used to have, he's going to go home and it's not going to be to us."

Guilt filled her as soon at the words left her mouth and her eyes fell to her lap. He was the love of her mother's life, of course she was going to give him the benefit of the doubt, even if he betrayed her in the cruelest way possible. Silence filled the air as Olivia debated her next words. "Does Mikey want to talk to him?"

Sylvia shook her head. "No, he doesn't."

"I'm not talking to him until Mikey's ready to." Both of them knew Mikey might never be ready to talk to his father again, not after what happened.

Sylvia decided not to push the topic any further. "Alright." She gave the girl a reassuring smile in hopes of extinguishing the stiff tension that grew between them. "Have fun at the party, okay? And be safe."

Olivia nodded without a word and got out of the car. The door shut behind her and she walked up the long driveway of the Patterson's house. Through the living room window, she could see her friends waiting for her.

She took a moment to collect herself before ringing the doorbell. She didn't want to ruin the night with her sour mood and placed a fake smile on her face for the sake of the boys. Her hand lifted, but before she could ring the doorbell, the door opened.

Luke gave her a boyish grin. His gaze fell down to her necklace then to the rest of her outfit. She wore a black skirt that stopped mid thigh, a mesh top and a leather jacket. As respectfully put as possible, she looked hot.

"Whoa, trouble, you look more like a heartbreaker than usual."

His expression faltered when he saw her smile. Usually a comment like that would warrant an eye roll and a bright grin, contagious like her laugh. The smile he received was small and forced, nor did it reach her eyes.

He was about to ask if she was alright, but the sound of her name being shouted behind him cut him off. Alex, Reggie, and Bobby came up beside the guitarist with wide smiles.

"Took you long enough!" They said loudly, walking out onto the porch and patting her shoulders.

Luke rolled his eyes at them and turned back to let his parents know that they were leaving.

It was a short walk to the party, considering it was at Jason's house. Olivia listened to Bobby go on about Allie Nichols and how tonight would be the night he made a move on her. The others snickered when Alex brought up his previous failed attempts.

The house on Harmony Lane was packed with people. It looked like a scene from a cheesy 80s movie, if Olivia were to be honest. She knew that there was no way Jason's parents knew about this.

When Luke first proposed that they go to Jason's party, Olivia's immediate decision was to decline. She wasn't the party-going type. The only reason she went to parties in the past was because Jason took her and even then, she always found them less than enjoyable. He'd always ditch her the second they got there, leaving her to question what the point of her presence was in the first place. Going to a party hosted by him wasn't her definition of a fun night, especially when Luke and Jason hated each other.

But her friends did what they did best and convinced her to let loose for a night. She had stepped out of her comfort zone a lot in the past three months and she deserved to have fun as a reward for her growth.

The moment the band of five stepped into the house, they were met with the smell of teen spirit. There were people dancing in the living room, couples making out against the walls, and groups of people littered about and mingling.

Bobby was the first one to break away from the group, claiming to have seen Allie. Olivia was the second to leave. She couldn't shake her bad mood and had a strong feeling that alcohol could help loosen her up.

She shouted over the music, letting the boys know where she was going, and headed to the kitchen where the drinks were. By the look of the bottles on the counter, it seemed that people had gotten into Jason's dad's liquor cabinet. She shook her head, knowing that the man would freak out, and reached over to grab a solo cup from the plastic tower nearby.

She wasn't sure what drink was what, but she didn't really care as long as it got her drunk. Was she being reckless? A little bit, but she'd rather be recklessly wasted than sober and sad.

"What are you doing here?" A nasally voice questioned as she opened a random bottle. "You weren't invited."

Olivia barely glanced up at the girl beside her. "The invite went out to the whole school, Christa."

The sight of the Olivia was enough to make Christa scowl and the fact that the girl was right about the open invite made the whole thing worse. Her eyes narrowed and she crossed her arms. "Your little boy toy nearly broke Jason's nose," she stated, switching the topic. She was clearly trying to antagonize her.

Olivia shrugged, vividly remembering the day with Jason in front of the bakery. "Luke could've done worse."

Christa scoffed and scanned the area for any member of Olivia's band. "Look, I don't know if you brought the rest of the sunset nerds with you, but if Jason sees them, I'm not holding him back."

Olivia was over it. The last time Christa spoke to her for this long, she found out she was cheated on, and the last thing she needed today on top of her fatherly issues and her quick draining social battery was Christa White trying to get a reaction from her.

"Yes, you are," Olivia said in a matter of fact tone, turning to look at the girl. "Because if you don't, I'll tell his mom that you guys threw a party and that's why the vase she had imported from Ecuador was stolen."

There was a crack in Christa's tough exterior. "Her vase was stolen?"

Olivia smirked. "Not yet."

Christa wasn't used to this Olivia. She was used to the quiet girl who sat by Jason's side and barely put up a fight when she got made fun of. The girl in front of her now was more sure of herself and space she took up. She was okay with taking what she wanted instead of sacrificing it for another. It was clear that the boys of Sunset Curve had rubbed off on her. Christa didn't like it at all.

She let out a small chuckle and stepped closer to Olivia, eyeing her from head to toe. "I don't know why Jason keeps grovelling over you, because if I'm being honest, there's nothing about you that's worth it." She smirked, knowing just what to say to make her hurt. "I mean, at least with Megan, he gets laid."

Olivia didn't expect the attack, nor did she expect the mention of Megan Hardy. Despite nearing two months since the break up, it still stung to think that she wasn't enough for Jason. She underestimated the combativeness of the girl in front of her.

"What? Did that hurt your feelings?" Christa asked in fake concern. She scoffed and raised an eyebrow. "Get real, Olivia. On your own, you're nothing. Before your sorry excuse of band, it was Jason making you relevant. Without them, what are you? Nothing but a waste of space."

There was a sinking feeling in her chest and for a moment, she believed her words. Maybe she was nothing. The only thing keeping Olivia secure in her recently found confidence was the tiny voice in her head that sounded a little too much like Luke reminding her she was a star. But take that away and what was she?

Just like that, her personal growth took one step forward and three steps backwards.

A hand touching her lower back brought her back to reality. "Hey, Liv." Luke looked down at her, casting a cautious glance at Christa who was wearing a victorious smirk. "You good?"

"Yeah." She tore her stare away from Christa and nodded. She blinked away the tears that were threatening to build on her lash line. Her voice was airy and distracted. "I was just leaving."

She turned to leave, but before she could get too far, Christa called out in a smug tone. "Happy New Years, Olivia!"

When she and Luke were far enough away from the kitchen, she stopped and downed her drink in one go. It tasted like battery acid and burned her throat, but she needed to get the bitter taste of Christa's words out of her mouth.

"Whoa." Luke's eyes widened. "Are you sure you're okay, trouble?"

"I'm fine," she dismissed. A random girl walked by holding a shot glass of amber liquid and Olivia plucked it out of her hands. "Thanks," she mumbled before turning to Luke and raising in the air. "Salud."

Luke watched in mild concern as she knocked the shot back with a wince. Whatever Christa had said to her must've been really bad. But then again, there was something wrong with Olivia before they arrived at the party, so that could definitely be a contributing factor. Before he could say anything else, Olivia was walking away from him, stealing drinks from poor bystanders as she went.

His eyes followed her figure as she disappeared in the crowd of dancing teens. He looked down at his untouched cup of spiked soda and placed it on a nearby table. He wasn't going to drink tonight. He needed to make sure that Olivia was okay and he couldn't do that if he was as plastered as she was.

Olivia walked through the house alone, drinking as many drinks as she could in a short amount of time. Heat start to rise in her cheeks and her body started to feel fuzzy. Rose always teased her for her low alcohol tolerance when they'd share a beer at family gatherings, she should've known this would happen.

But her assumption earlier had been correct. Alcohol definitely helped her loosen up.

As the hours past, she lost count of how much she had to drink and it seemed that Alex had also.

She found the blond hanging off of Bobby's side. He was jabbering on about something in the guitarist's ear with his arm slung around his shoulders and a cup in his hand. Bobby looked like he was trying his best not to look annoyed.

Olivia moved through the crowd, nearly tripping over her own two feet. She stopped in front of the boys and Bobby's eyes lit up.

My saviour, he thought.

"Olivia!" Bobby exclaimed in greeting. He removed Alex's arm from his shoulder nudged him in the girl's direction. "Look, Alex! It's Olivia!"

"Livy!" Alex shouted happily. He raised his arms in the air, spilling some of the drink in his cup. His arm came down on her shoulder and he leaned down so he was very close to her face. "I was helping Bobby with Allie."

Olivia giggled at him before peaking over his shoulder. Standing in front of Bobby was a pretty girl with braided hair, who Olivia recognized to be Allie Nichols. Her mouth dropped as she gasped. "Allie!" Olivia exclaimed, greeting the girl like they were old friends. She pushed Alex off her and moved to hug the girl.

Bobby watched the interaction with a raised eyebrow. Olivia would never willingly hug someone she didn't know. "Jesus," he said, catching the attention of his bandmate as she pulled away, "how drunk are you?"

"5 foot," Olivia slurred, mishearing the question over the blaring music. She turned back to Allie, squinting as her vision blurred. "Bobby is a really good guy, like great. He's— He's a guy and he likes to pretend that he's not nice but he is," she rambled. Her finger came up to bop Allie's nose. "And you are great and you can be great together."

Allie raised an eyebrow in amusement and looked to the boy she was previously talking to.

"He's a softy," Olivia whispered loudly, her eyes wide. "Don't tell him I told you this, but he totally..." She leaned in like she was about to tell the girl a secret, but Bobby took her by the shoulders and pulled her back. Which was probably a good thing because she was going to tell Allie how much he liked her and it saved him a lot of embarrassment.

"Okay!" Bobby chuckled. He guided Olivia over to where Alex stood, drunkenly bobbing his head to the music. "Why don't you two go and dance? You love dancing!"

Olivia gasped loudly and turned to Alex. She pulled him towards the crowd of dancing people without a second thought, leaving behind a relieved Bobby and his laughing crush.

The pair danced together, both forgetting about their usual role of responsibility for the night. If anyone needed to let loose for a bit, it was them.

RAE SPEAKS !
drunk alex and olivia are such an iconic duo