A beat passes while Mike tries to think of an intelligent response.

"Okay scarface, what's your fucking problem?" His voice is angry, but he maintains his distance from her.

"Right now," Ollie stands to her full height, which isn't much, and doesn't break eye contact, "I will give you one guess."

"Oh come on, we were just talking," he glances at me and back at her,"I don't know why your trying to make a big deal out of it." He thinks for a moment, before adding on, "Don't be such a bitch."

Dumb Drunk Mike.

"Okay, first off just because you are attempting to flirt with someone doesn't mean they have to accept your advances. It's also a dick move to keep trying to force them to talk to you, when you are obviously making them uncomfortable.  Haven't you ever heard of personal space? She doesn't want to smell you, man. Also, I may be a bitch,  but in this instance I'm not for calling you out on your shit when you are being an ass." Her voice grows louder with every word and she never averts her cool gaze, staring daggers at him.

Once Olivia is finished, she tilts her head waiting for his next move. Mike must not know how to come back from this, choosing to stay silent. 

"Well," she drawls like they were just making small talk, "I would love to stay here all night and keep insulting you, but I will never do as well as nature has." With that she offers me her hand, and I hesitate a second before letting her pull me upwards. Olivia heads back towards the kitchen, grip tight on me the whole way. She doesn't look at me as I follow behind her, which I am thankful for. I'm busy wondering if my hands feel sweaty, when we reach our destination and she abruptly lets go. I miss the warmth of her hand, very briefly, before she turns to inspect me. 

The kitchen is still crowded, but Ollie finds a space to lean against the counter and I gravitate closer to her.

"Do you want me to have Justin kick him out?" She questions, turning towards me. I shake my head, not wanting to make a big deal out of it. I've had enough attention directed towards me tonight.

"Can you handle another drink or do you think you will have an accident again?" She looks around through the mess for cups.

My face reddens and I fluster for a response. With us standing so close together,  my body is very aware of her every movement. She smiles, with a quiet chuckle at my expression.

"Teasing you, Beck." She turns to survey the limited remnants of alcohol, before knicking the half empty bottle of peppermint schnapps. "After dealing with that I thought you would need a shot."

Ugh, I don't know about drinking any of that shit. She holds it up to me in question, and I keep my complaints to myself, nodding instead. The nerves rolling in my stomach say liqour is the answer, needing some liquid courage for this endeavor.

She finds two plastic shot glasses and inspects them before slowly filling with the clear liquid. Olivia hands me the poison, a slight smile still on her face. I grip the flimsy plastic with my fingers as she offers hers up with a cheers before tossing it back in one fluid swallow. I gulp the harsh liquid, an icy fire igniting in my throat as it crawls it's way down. I have to refrain myself from coughing, my body wanting to revolt against the vicious assault. She doesn't make a face at the taste, so neither do I. She holds up the bottle again, and I nod. So we take another. And another. 

After the fourth one, my lips are numb. We stand there awkwardly, watching people around the room. I should say something about earlier, right? She's helped me twice now, and I'm eighteen years old for crying out loud. I shouldn't be afraid to have a conversation. I realize I haven't said anything since she rescued me from that asshole, and that is so rude.

I look at her and she turns to meet my gaze. I feel on edge when she's around, and the alcohol doesn't do anything to slow my heart. Maybe I shouldn't say anything.

"Thanks," I blurt. My mouth apparently deciding I was not going to fuck this up and miss a chance to speak with her all on its own.

"He's a human version of a headache." She shrugs.

"Yeah," I mumble, desperately wracking my brain on where to go from here, when Emma comes charging into my side, almost knocking me off balance. 

"We're back!" Jade shouts as her and Lucas join us. "Hey Olivia! How's it going?"

"It's all right. You guy's having fun?" Her gaze diverts to my friends, and I didn't even manage a whole sentence. Mother fucker.

"Yeah, we were just talking to Justin outside. He was wondering where you were, he's starting to stagger a bit," Jade laughs. 

Ahh, Justin. I had momentarily forgotten his existence. 

"Oh shit. He better not get sick, that fucker does this to me every time." She shakes her head, but she seems more amused than angry. "Well, I better go check on him. See you guys later?" She nods at us and heads out back to find her friend. Or boyfriend. Or whatever.

"Look at you talking to people!" Emma jokes, "Did you make a new friend?" 

I force a laugh and wave her off, my smile fake. 

I tell myself I'm not upset at them interrupting us, that my friends saved me from an awkward conversation. I should be grateful, but for some reason I feel irritated. I keep looking back at the door while my friends talk, everytime it opens checking who is coming inside. It's past one at this point, and more people are starting to leave. The blonde I'm watching for doesn't appear as time stretches on. They still haven't appeared after another half hour, and I'm distracted when Lucas snaps his fingers in my face.

"Earth to Beck." I turn to focus on him, the three of them looking at me.

"Huh?" I had lost track of the conversation a while back.

"Always zoning out." Jade chastises with a grin.

"How much did you drink while we were gone?" He laughs. "You ready to go? It's getting pretty late."

"You sure you can drive?" I ask, checking his eyes. 

"Yeah, it's been hours now and," He holds up a bottle of water and shakes it, "I've been hydrating. I'm fucking starving though, so we need to get food before we head back home." 

"Yesssss, McDonald's!" Emma votes and my friends quickly dissolve into an argument over which fast food place is better.

"Well I'm cool with whatever, I'm gonna go say bye to Justin real quick." Jade says before heading outside.
I would go with her, but would that be weird? I don't know Justin or Olivia that well, so I decide to stay with my two bickering friends and watch her go. When she returns, the food choice is still undetermined.

"Dude, we don't have that much money anyway. It's cheap!" Emma protests to Lucas as we leave the kitchen, with me at the back of the group. I look over my shoulder one last time, but I don't see who I'm looking for.

We gorge ourselves on greasy fries before the long car ride home. I do my best to join in on the conversation, and we sing our hearts out with the windows down. The feeling of the cold air rushing through my hair feels nice, and I scream and laugh until my throat is sore. Making it to Emma's finally, I'm pretty sure we wake her mom up as we stumble inside. The long night catches up with everyone as we get ready for bed and I have to force myself to brush my teeth before crawling under the covers.

I feel exhausted until the lights are turned off. I stare at the ceiling, fixating on a few random stars in the corner. Emma had insisted on putting those up, and then took them down a week later. It was a pain in the ass removing them, and she was too lazy to get those by the time she noticed them. Even though I ate, I still feel a little drunk from laying down. I feel dizzy and my world tilts a bit as I think about the evening's events. Even though the end of the night was fun, it wasn't worth it. 

I think about telling them this, but the room is already quiet and I can hear Lucas snoring obnoxiously. I need to sleep, or tomorrow I'm going to feel like shit. Or today technically. I try to not resent my friends for how easy they can sleep. At the thought of my impending hangover, I decide to never go to a party again, no matter how much they beg me. I concentrate on those glowing plastic shapes until I think I can close my eyes without risking getting sick.

I slow my breathing, to force my stupid brain to succumb to sleep. I'm almost successful, until I smell mint on my breath. The thought of a quiet voice and blue gaze fill my head, along with a burning fire in my gut. This time not alcohol induced.

I don't need to think of her, or those bright eyes. Or her clear voice that has no problem saying what she's thinking. She must be a decent person, since she helped me multiple times tonight. But so what? I need to get her out of my head. Why am I so intrigued, when I know nothing about her?

I think it's that damn smile.