Live Entwined

Chapter Two: Balls

Olivia was in a loose jersey, track shorts, shin guards, knee-length socks, and cleats by the time the warning bell for sixth period rang. She was in the field with a couple of other girls on the soccer team, juggling her ball. When Olivia had the black and white checkered ball at her feet, her focus was solely on the game. She lived and breathed soccer; it was her passion. She played since first grade, was an All-Star in fourth grade, and in sixth grade played for an AP team. While there were many clubs that offered her a position, Olivia could never afford to be on a traveling team. However, that never stopped her. As a freshman, she tried out for and made the varsity soccer team for New York City High. Many of the seniors gave her a hard time for being so young and so talented, but by the end of the season, they came to respect her.

Olivia was the type of person to have a couple of close friends and many acquaintances. She really didn't trust people, but those that she did had her undying loyalty and unwavering support. Her one and only close friend was Casey, but Olivia had a couple of friends that she talked to during classes she had without Casey. Soccer happened to be one of these classes. Casey was incredibly intelligent, but she was also athletic. Her sport of choice was cheerleading. Like Olivia, when Casey put her mind to something, she would stop at nothing to attain it. Casey was a junior varsity cheerleader her freshman year, and a varsity cheerleader this year. So while Casey was busy cheerleading, Olivia was juggling, waiting for her team to commence.

"Hey, Liv!" a voice greeted.

Olivia looked up, placing her arm over her forehead to block out the sun. She smiled when she recognized who it was.

"Hey Sarah," Olivia returned.

Sarah was a sophomore like she was. With light brown hair pulled up in a ponytail and blue eyes, Sarah was incredibly pretty. She was short, but she was fast and was incredibly successful as a right forward while Olivia usually defended as a sweeper. Sarah was the closest person to Olivia on the team, not only because they were the only sophomores, but because they shared the love for the sport.

"How were classes?" Sarah asked as she juggled her ball.

"The usual," Olivia replied, shrugging. "You?"

"Same ol', same ol'," Sarah returned. "I'm glad the day's over."

"I hear ya on that one," Olivia said, grinning.

Soon, everyone had gathered, and then the coaches made their way out to the soccer field. New York City High was divided into two sections; there were the academic buildings and then the athletic fields. The track was closest to the parking lot. Adjacent to the track was the soccer field, and then finally, with the most portion of land, was the football field. Tucked away in a far corner, at the very end of the football field, was the baseball field. When sixth period rolled around, one could make their way down to the field and see the cross-country team jogging around the track, the soccer team working out for the upcoming soccer season, the football team practicing, and the baseball team practicing for their spring season. On occasion, the cheerleading team would practice on a small portion of football field, as it was today.

"Good to see everyone today," the head coach, Coach Ramon, said. Ramon was a tall, strong black man with a bald head and brown eyes. A white visor wrapped around his head and he was wearing a black jersey and matching pants with tennis shoes on his feet. His assistant coach, Brian, stood beside him. Brian was white, shorter than Ramon, with a navy blue beanie over his blond hair. Brian was a couple years younger than Ramon, his blue eyes hidden behind black shades. He was wearing a plain dark shirt and track pants, cleats on his feet.

"Alright, let's stretch, warm up, and then start practice," Ramon continued. "Priscilla, why don't you lead them in stretches, okay?"

Priscilla nodded, and the twelve girls formed a circle and silently followed Priscilla's stretches. Olivia loved stretching because of how it relaxed her. She let her mind wander as she effortlessly touched the ground with her palms without bending her knees. The guy, Elliot, was definitely attractive. Those blue eyes penetrated the wall she had built around her heart, and that smile, that charming smile, made her heart flutter. She didn't know why she was disappointed when she found out he was seeing someone else because she wasn't looking for any relationship. In fact, she never really had a relationship. Never knowing who her biological father was made it hard to trust guys, but that didn't stop Olivia from looking. She was human, after all, and she wasn't blind. In fact, Elliot Stabler would make very nice eye candy. With a smile, she began to jog around the field with her teammates.

Casey walked out to the football field in the usual cheerleading warm-up attire; a tank top, short-shorts, and tennis shoes. Her strawberry-brown hair was up, her bangs pushed to the side so they were out of her eyes. As per usual when the cheerleading team came out to practice on the football field, the varsity football team would catcall and whistle. As a hazing experiment, some would dare the fresh/soph team to steal a pompom or some other childish trick. Casey rolled her eyes at the attention she and her team received, shooting the guys a dirty look and flipping them off. Of course, this only fueled their harassment.

"Hey Kath, what's up?" Casey asked, going over to her blonde friend. Casey already could see her friend's blush easily across her pale skin. She watched as the blonde girl glanced at a particular football player and then looked away again, finally meeting Casey's stare.

"Oh, is that the elusive Elliot I've heard so much about?" Casey teased as she watched said elusive Elliot get teased by his teammates for having a girlfriend on the cheerleading squad.

"Shut up, Case," Kathy said briskly, walking around Casey to get closer with the squad.

Casey's brow shot up in surprise. Everyone knew Kathy could be a bitch sometimes, but it usually only surfaced when provoked. Something had happened to get Kathy upset, and for some reason, Casey wanted to know why. Casey and Kathy weren't incredibly close, but they spoke often when they practiced, and Casey considered her somewhat of a friend. Kathy had told her about her boyfriend; apparently their six month anniversary was coming up later this month, but never had Kathy actually pointed him out.

Casey studied the guy. Why was he so familiar to her? After a moment of deep thought, her eyes widened in realization. That's why he was so familiar; he was the guy who sat in between her and Olivia. It was then that she chastised herself. Kathy walked in with him! He was cute, no doubt. She chewed the bottom of her lip. She had seen Olivia glance at him a couple of times throughout Algebra 2. She had also seen him stare at Olivia, a bit more blatantly. Maybe that was why Kathy was upset.

Oh, God, it wasn't even the end of the first day of school and Casey could already feel the recipe of a drama begin to sizzle.

"Alright, everybody, let's get into formation!" Alex, a co-captain, exclaimed.

Alex was Casey's favorite co-captain. She was the first freshman in City High to make the varsity squad. Casey more than respected her; she looked up to her. Alex also had a soft-spot for the sophomore, especially since when Casey was a freshman; Alex was her cheer-buddy. Cheer-buddies was a program that helped freshman cheerleaders adjust to the team, as well as New York City High. Even after Casey "graduated" from the program, she and Alex still remained close.

The cheer squad practiced, and practiced hard. They won national championships due to their determination. They took their sport incredibly seriously, and every member on the team did their part to make sure they were strong enough, slim enough, and smart enough to make their team the best it could be. While some at the school did not take cheerleading more than a flimsy routine that only added to a football game, many came to respect the effort the squad put into each and every one of their routines.

Casey was very proud of her team, and did her part to ensure that she did the best she could on the team. She was sharp, she was focused, and she was good. Damn good. In fact, 

Casey even helped choreograph part of their routine. That was how committed she was. Casey was a dancer on the team. Sometimes she would help hold up a lighter member of the squad, and catch them when they fell, but she mostly danced because that was her specialty. Alex was light; she was one of the cheerleaders that were tossed in the air. Kathy was also tossed into the sky, although Kathy danced at times as well.

They had an incredible team.

"Benson and Stabler, you guys are partners!" Ramon exclaimed, going down a list of players on his check-off list.

Olivia's brows pushed together as Sarah joined her. Stabler… Where had she heard that name today? Elliot! That was Elliot's last name! She knew Sarah's last name was Stabler, but never really put two and two together. Sarah was Elliot's sister. Elliot was Sarah's brother. How could she not have known.

"Are you okay?" Sarah asked. "You look like you ate something wrong."

"I didn't know Elliot was your brother," Olivia replied quickly.

Sarah's eyes narrowed. "Oh gosh, here we go again," Sarah said. "What did he do this time?"

Olivia grinned, but shook her head. "Oh, he didn't do anything," she said. "I have a couple of classes with him."

Sarah laughed. "Have fun with that," she said, grinning like a cheshire cat.

Olivia rolled her eyes as Ramon started to explain their drill. "Okay, you guys. Hey, pay attention! Alright, here's what you guys are going to be doing; one of you is going to punt the ball while your partner will trap it and then punt it back. Got it? Okay, let's go."

Sarah and Olivia separated a reasonable length, Sarah closer to the football field while Olivia deeper into the soccer field. Sarah punted the ball and Olivia managed to the trap the ball with her chest before letting the ball hit the floor. Then, Olivia grabbed the ball with her hands, dropped it, and punted it. Except it went farther than she intended it to go. It went over Sarah's head and soared over to the football team. Sarah shook her head, walking towards her so that she did not have to get the ball. Olivia's mouth dropped open as she watched her ball hit a football player's head. Sarah smirked at her and Olivia shook her head.

"I'm going to get you for this, Stabler," she retorted playfully and then began to make her way over to the football field. Oh well. At least football players wear helmets, right?

Elliot wasn't expecting a lot of things that happened on his first day of school. He wasn't expecting to get in a fight with his father. He wasn't expecting Kathy to ditch him when he was late, and then not answer his calls (or maybe he was). He wasn't expecting being immediately drawn (attracted?) to a sophomore, Olivia Benson. He wasn't expecting to share another class with her and his girlfriend. (He was definitely going to have fun with that one.) He wasn't expecting the cheerleaders to practice on the football field. He wasn't expecting to get ribbed for dating one of the cheerleaders. And last but not least, he did not expect to get hit on the head by a soccer ball.

Nobody asked him if he was alright. In fact, he wasn't expecting them to. But they weren't laughing at him again. Instead, they were staring at the culprit who had kicked the ball. The very familiar culprit. The very familiar female culprit with chestnut hair and brown eyes and an hourglass figure (not that he noticed, of course). Olivia Benson.

"A little help?" she asked the football team, a brow quirked.

"Apparently we're the ones who need help," Elliot said, picking up the ball and walking over to her. "You know, with soccer ball flying everywhere, who knows where they might land."

"You totally nailed Stabler in the cranium!" a boy said, clamping his arm around Elliot's shoulder and pointing a finger at him.

"I didn't mean to," Olivia said impatiently, still waiting for her ball to be returned.

"Damn," the guy said. "Then I'd definitely be afraid when you do mean to do something." He flashed Olivia a grin and then stuck out his hand. "I'm Blake Harvey. Quarterback."

Olivia pushed her brow together but allowed him to shake her hand. She stole a glance at Elliot, only to find his blue eyes zoned in on Blake shaking her head. His jaw popped a couple of times. She redirected her gaze back at Blake, and then shifted it to Elliot, completely blowing off the senior's unspoken question of her name. This caused him to smirk a bit.

"Can I get my ball back, please?" Olivia asked. She stuck out her hip, placing a fist on it. Another sign of impatience.

"Did you really kick that?" Elliot asked as he handed her back her ball.

Olivia nodded, taking the ball from him and dropping it on the ground. She stepped on it with a foot and then looked back at Elliot. "Yeah," she replied, "I did."

"She could definitely teach Leech a thing or two, eh?" Blake said, turning to Elliot. He glanced back at Olivia. "Leech is our kicker, but I guarantee, he has nothing on you. Where'd you learn to do something like that?"

Olivia forced herself to not roll her eyes although it was very difficult. "Practice," she retorted flatly and then glanced at Elliot. "Sorry 'bout the ball hitting your head."

"I forgive you," Elliot said with a small smile on his face, "this time."

This time, Olivia could not refrain from rolling her eyes and then started dribbling the ball back to the soccer field. Elliot watched her the whole way.

"Damn, she was fizzine!" Blake exclaimed, using some slang he picked up from BET.

Elliot didn't hear him; he was watching her jog away.

Cheer practice went until four o'clock. For the most part. The girls were in line most of the time. There were a few episodes that caused the girls to become temporarily distracted… like when a soccer ball happened to hit Elliot Stabler square on the head. Alex actually laughed when she saw that happened. Hell, she wanted to go over and by the girl a slice of pie at the diner for her precision. She glanced at Kathy, Elliot's girlfriend, but oddly, she wasn't looking at Elliot to see if he was okay, she was looking at the girl who happened to have over-punted the ball. No, not looking. Kathy was glaring. Well, the girl didn't actually mean to hit Elliot in the head. Come on now. Alex rolled her eyes. This was why she didn't like relationships; way too much drama.

Although… the guy she happened to meet today (the same guy who tripped her) was relatively quiet. If she was dating him, there wouldn't be too much drama, would there? Bobby didn't seem like the drama-type.

Whoa, whoa, whoa! Dating Bobby, Alex? You just barely met him. Why are you even entertaining the idea?

Well, he is kind of cute. And he really didn't seem like one to get mixed in with all the drama. And he happened to be coming out of the gym in a basketball jersey with a grey t-shirt underneath and shorts, revealing his long legs. He was sweaty too.

Doomed, doomed, doomed. Do I have to remind you how-

"Alex?"

Oh shit.

"Oh hey Bobby," she said, glancing down at herself. Of course she didn't want to change so she could get home faster which meant that she was in a tank top and short-shorts. God, she hoped he didn't think she was a slut. Wait- why do you even care what he thinks?

Because he's freaking cute, that's why.

"Hey." Boyish grin. You know, the one that was going to freakin' kill her. "Where are you off to?"

"Oh, I'm just going home," Alex replied nervously. She stopped walking when she was a couple of feet from him. He was sweaty, and his nice shirt and jeans must be in the athletic bag he was carrying because he was wearing basketball shorts and wife beater. He had probably just gotten out of practice. His cologne was strong, mixed in with his musky, natural scent and made Alex think that the way he smelled was how a man should smell after just getting out of practice. His hair seemed to be glued to his forehead, and due to the sweat, his clothes seemed to hug his body just a little tighter. Alex couldn't help but stare at his fit body, thinking of the way she wanted to feel that body beneath her fingertips.

Oh God, Alex, you have to think of that now… in front of him? Calm yourself. You're not a middle school boy, you know.

"Where do you live?" he asked her, crossing his arms over his chest. Hello, biceps. Now she was imagining herself being held by those strong, muscular arms… Get a hold of yourself, Eames!

"Um… a few blocks away," she told him.

"Do you want a lift?" Bobby asked, gesturing towards the senior parking lot with his free hand. Alex opened her mouth to protest, but it was as though Bobby could read her mind because he interjected quickly, stopping her from refusing his offer. "New York is a pretty dangerous place. You never know what could be out there."

"I'm a big girl," Alex said, feeling her face flame. He was offering her a ride. She could barely control her impure thoughts, how the hell was she supposed to control her actions with him… in a car… alone? Not that she would jump him, of course, she did have self-control, however minimal it was.

"That may be the problem," Bobby replied, giving her body a quick glance before returning his dark eyes to her face.

"ALEX!!"

Alex shut her eyes. Of course Kathy would call out now, out of all the times she could open her big mouth. She really did have perfect timing, didn't she? Alex decided to kill her once she got the blonde sophomore alone.

"Am I interrupting something?" Kathy asked tauntingly once she got over to Alex and Bobby.

"No," Alex replied. Kill! Kill! Kill!

"Hey Bobby," Kathy greeted. "How's basketball?"

"It's good," Bobby replied.

How did Kathy know Bobby? Alex didn't like thinking she was a jealous person. Jealousy was irrational and illogical, and Alex knew that she was neither of those two things. Therefore, she wasn't jealous. However, Alex could willingly admit that she was incredibly territorial. Her eyes narrowed at the younger girl. Was she flirting with Bobby? Her boyfriend did play basketball… maybe she knows him that way?

She would give Kathy the benefit of the doubt, but that would not stop her from killing the girl for interrupting their moment.

"So Alex," Kathy said, turning back towards the junior. From the corner of Alex's eye she could see Bobby shift uncomfortably. "Elliot's going to give me a ride home, and I wanted to know if you needed one since you live on the way?"

Not just kill, but brought back to life and then killed again.

No ride! Bobby was going to give her a ride!

She glanced at Bobby, obvious disappointment in her light brown eyes, but nodded nonetheless.

"Sure Kath," she said. "That would be great, thanks." She gave Bobby one last look. "Thank, Bobby, for the offer."

"Another time, then?" Bobby said politely.

Alex nodded. "Of course." Looking forward to it is more like it, bub.

With that, the two walked away, in separate directions.

"So, Alex, I didn't know you had a thing for Bobby!" Kathy exclaimed from the front passenger seat in Elliot's car. She was practically straddling the seat backwards had it not been for her seatbelt. Her blue eyes were filled with excitement.

"I mean, he's cute in a geeky sort of way, but he's way tall," Kathy continued, obviously ignoring Alex's glare. Either that, or she was just immune to the thing. Alex had shot Kathy her glare too many times to count.

"Bobby's a good guy," Elliot put in. Was that a smirk on his face? Elliot was another person on Alex's To Kill list. "He's a genius."

"I do not have a thing for Bobby Goren," Alex clarified tightly, crossing her arms over her chest. "That ball musta hit you on the head harder than we initially thought."

"Har-har," Elliot said with a roll of his eyes, but a small smile played across his lips.

Kathy was suddenly quiet. She was facing the right way, just looking at her nails and inspecting her cuticles. Alex wasn't sure why Kathy had suddenly shut up. The girl was known for drastic mood changes, that was for sure. Alex experienced them firsthand. Whatever the reason, Alex was glad the young girl did shut up. She leaned her head against the cool glass of the window, and sighed silently. She didn't need people telling her how she felt, especially when she had a sinking suspicion that Kathy may turn out to be right.

Author's Notes: Hey guys. To those of you that did review, I tremendously appreciate it. However, it really bothers me to see how many people who have this story as their favorite, or have this story on their alert list, and yet five people have reviewed. And these aren't short chapters. I really do take a lot of time writing this, and it takes two seconds to review. I would really appreciate the encouragement or I won't be as inspired to write. I don't need a big review, a couple of words would be nice though. So please review, or chapters will start coming out less and less. If you guys don't give me any feedback, how am I supposed to know how I'm doing? I'm going to say it one more time; please review.

Okay, I'm done ranting. If anyone has any suggestions, please tell me because I'm taking this one chapter at a time. Any help you can offer would be greatly appreciated. Also, feel free to comment on the characterization. Am I on, or off with the characters?

Thank you very much, and have a great Memorial Day!