Better Man (P.L.)

Prologue

They called her broken.

A slut that cared for no one, but herself.

And she took it all.

She took it all with a sarcastic laugh and an insult to throw back in their faces. She took it all with a pill already being popped into her mouth and her eyes rolling.

She took it all and didn't have a care in the world.

Olivia De Costa really had it all while living in Washington, DC with her mother. She was intelligent, beautiful, confident, and popular, everyone loved her. She was head cheerleader and student council president, and she was dating the star football quarterback.

Of course, with a life that good, there had to be some lows.

She took too many drugs, mixed them with a little too much alcohol. She and her boyfriend were in a toxic relationship, where they always broke up and cheated on one another, but always got back together at the end of the day. She didn't have friends, just followers and admirers, people who wouldn't hesitate to stab her in the back if the opportunity arised. And, most of all, she hated herself and the life she led.

Her mother, Ariana Amadio, never noticed what Olivia truly got up to, always too busy to get close to her daughter because of her top notch job in the government. And Olivia's father, Leonardo De Costa, lived halfway across the country, in the small reservation of La Push, Washington, where he had been born and raised. Perhaps if he were closer, he would have known, but he wasn't closer, and was just as oblivious as her mother.

No, it wasn't til one fateful night, after a party, that they discovered the truth.

Olivia got home, high, drunk, and staggering. Ariana was already asleep, and Olivia had practice of sneaking in on nights such as this one.

She took off her high heels and went to the kitchen, feeling dizzy and nauseous. She grabbed a glass of water and drank it, taking it with her to her bedroom.

It was going up the stairs that she began to feel the worst effects of her night, the pain of the bruises covering her neck, courtesy of her boyfriend.

Her vision became blurry, black spots dotting the little she could see. She paled, her head pounding.

And so, when she got into the hallway, despite her efforts to stay up, she collapsed, the glass in her hand shattering. Her hand pulled down a picture of her and her mother when she was younger, the frame cracking.

Ariana ran into the hallway, screaming bloody murder at the sight of her daughter, lying on the ground with a bloody hand and her eyes rolled to the back of her head.

They rushed to the hospital, Ariana sobbing as the doctor explained that Olivia had overdosed. "It is becoming common in teens", he had explained, "she seems to have a history of doing drugs as well."

Ariana denied it, shoving the man in hysterics. "No, she couldn't be on drugs. She's a good student, a cheerleader, and President of student council, she's a good kid."

The doctor smiled sympathetically. "Most drug addicted teens are."

He then went on to say that they had stabilized Olivia and recommended sending her to rehab for the summer. Afterwards, he expressed his and the nurses concern over the bruises coating her neck, saying that they had contacted the police about them.

If Ariana hadn't been shocked to discover her daughter was not only doing, but was addicted to drugs, she was shocked to know that Olivia's boyfriend was abusing her.

Olivia woke up the the news that her boyfriend had been arrested, due to multiple eye witnesses from the party that saw him roughly drag her into a room after a confrontation and that she would be spending the summer in rehab.

She also discovered that after rehab, she would not be coming back to DC, instead moving with her father for her senior year.

Olivia didn't even attempt to object, the disappointment on her mother's face enough to make her feel guilty and agree.