Micah lived not far from Juline. Basically, she lived right in the middle of us and was also the center of our trio. We always did everything together, shared our secrets and even helped out with each other's bigger problems, but then that stupid kiss happened that broke the balance. I didn't even know why we kissed. All I knew was that after that he started dating Leyla and barely got in touch with me, which was really hard for me to accept at first. "That's not Micah's house, is it?" Juline asked me, startled, directing my gaze forward again. Instead of the usual few people who came to his parties, even his front yard was full of guys from our school I only knew by sight. "I'm sure it's Leyla's fault," I whispered to Juline, who pulled me by the hand to the front door. Leyla was really popular at our school and because of her, Micah was accepted by everyone, which really pissed me off at the moment. After all, I just wanted to have a quiet drink and put my thoughts away, but this party looked like trouble was inevitable. "You here too?" We were immediately greeted by a slightly drunk Micah, who caught us in the hallway and eyed us both with a smile. As our eyes met, and his green pierced me, I avoided his gaze and looked over to the living room, where several girls were sitting at the table, laughing heartily. "We're not going to miss that," said Juline and hugged the brown-haired man. Feeling out of place and out of touch with the situation, I just walked into the kitchen, ignoring them both, and grabbed one of the mugs to mix myself a drink. "You okay? Are you still worried about the kiss?" Juline asked me, suddenly appearing next to me. "No, it's just weird," I replied succinctly and then looked out the window next to me into the garden, where nobody was because of the light rain. When Juline got into conversation with a girl I didn't know, I took my chance and disappeared inconspicuously through the patio door to sit down on one of the garden chairs in the dark. I didn't mind the rain, nor if anyone could see me here. I just drank my mug and enjoyed the quiet around me. "You're a jerk, Cody," I suddenly heard a male voice behind me, and as I turned curiously, I watched as three boys pushed another between them. I didn't know if they knew each other, if it was for fun or serious, but then as I watched them throw him to the ground, I got up energized and walked over to them. "What's that about?" I asked the one who had pushed the boy and gave my hand to the one who was lying on the ground to help him up. "Ohhhh, Cody. Is that your babysitter?" one of the three asked, looking nothing like a bully in his plain clothes. Before I could help that Cody to his feet, that freak pushed him again and I almost fell onto the wet grass with him. "Tell me it's okay, you idiot!" I hissed at this stupidly grinning Spacko, but he just laughed stupidly and turned to the other two. I too turned my gaze to them and suddenly got caught by those cold, brown eyes that scrutinized me so intensely that his eyes rushed through my whole body. "What's going on here?" Luckily Micah came out and put his arm around my waist. While I was terribly uncomfortable being so close to him again after everything, I was also incredibly grateful that he showed up and that he saved me from getting lost in those hazel eyes. "I'll help you," I gave Cody my hand again and then pulled him up to his feet. "I didn't know that you have another girlfriend besides Leyla," said the simply dressed man and grinned stupidly at me, before taking a step closer to Micah. "Or doesn't Leyla know anything about it?" he asked in a voice that gave you goosebumps, she was so much threatened. "Let's just go inside," I whispered to Micah, and then as I took one last look at the others, I noticed that the cold brown eyes were still fixed on me. I wanted to ask him if he had a problem, but I didn't want to cause any more stress. Micah, Cody and I turned and walked back in the patio door where Cody immediately thanked me. "It went without saying," I replied, and here in the light I really realized who this Cody actually was. I recognized him as the boy who was often beaten up at school. I didn't know why that was because he looked normal and seemed really nice to me. Presumably these idiots didn't need a reason to choose someone to bully. I could really be happy to be so invisible, because I certainly wouldn't be able to hold out for long and would probably even drop out of school. "What would you like to drink?" Cody asked me and then I felt Micah's piercing gaze on me, which then mingled with the crowd again. Was he jealous? How did he even know we were outside? "Earth to unknown girl?" Cody snapped me out of my thoughts and somehow I had to grin at his goofy ways. "My name is Mia," I replied smiling and he just winked playfully. "What would Mia like to drink?" he then asked again. "Mia would like some tequila," I replied, giggling, and then followed him back into the kitchen, where Juline was still deep in conversation. "How come those three put you through their paces like that?" I then asked Cody after he handed me the drink and looked at me with a smile. "Jealous of my good looks," he replied, laughing, and I laughed along, but also recognized the pain in his eyes. Of course he didn't want to tell me the truth. He didn't even know me and that was okay with me. Just as I was about to put the cup on and drink, I looked into the green eyes of my mother, who hysterically came up to me and roughly grabbed my arm. "You're coming home right now," she yelled and suddenly all eyes were on us. The embarrassment was hard to beat and inside I seethed with anger at her.