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"happy birthday. i see you guys are already getting started partying?" i say, gesturing to the beer on the table.

"hey, it's my birthday. let me have my fun." micah replies, wrapping his arm around my shoulder and leading me to the couch. i sit down next to him and watch as the guys resume their video game. i take out my phone and look on the snapchat map to see who is making their way to micah's house. quite a few people are on their way.

"are you setting out any food or anything?" sylvie asks micah.

he shakes his head. "no, i don't want food everywhere on the floor and shit. that's even more mess for me to clean in the morning."

"when do your parents get back?" i ask him. i know his parents are out of town in annapolis on his dads business trip, hence why the party is at his house. our parents are pretty laid back, but they still would rather not be around to witness the underage drinking.

"they're supposed to be back tomorrow afternoon, which means you'll be helping me clean all morning." micah says, tapping my nose. i roll my eyes playfully.

a few minutes later, a bunch of people flood into the house. micah turns off some lights to set the "party mood." i see a few girls in my grade and sylvie, camryn, and i go over to say hi.

"ugh, kylen! your dress is so cute!" callie compliments.

"thank you! so is yours!" i respond. we chat for a little bit before i see micah coming towards us.

"hey." he says to me, ignoring all the other girls who tell him "happy birthday." he leads me toward his kitchen. i look back towards the group of girls and see that camryn and sylvie are smirking at micah and i.

"what's up with you?" i ask him when we get to the kitchen. everyone else is out in the living room, so we're alone. "you didn't even acknowledge callie. she's literally in love with you." i say.

"i wanted to let you know that a bunch of guys from lakewood are gonna be here. boston invited them." micah tells me. i close my eyes and take a breath.

2 years ago, i dated a guy from a neighboring town, lakewood. we were sophomores in high school at the time. rhett and i met at a party and hit it off immediately. we started dating after just a month of knowing each other. he was the perfect guy at first. after 3 months of dating, he began to get physical. he would often push me or hit me when he got mad. and he would get mad a lot. he never hurt me around other people, only while we were alone. i put up with it for about 7 months. the end came when i went over to micah's house to hang out and micah saw a bruise on my back from where rhett had hit me. micah immediately questioned me about it, and i eventually told him the truth.

micah. was. furious.

as soon as the words "rhett hit me" were out of my mouth, micah was racing down to his car. i ran after him, wanting to stop him from doing anything stupid. we got into his car, and micah drove the 20 minutes to lakewood and rhett's house. the whole time, i was pleading for him to turn around, but he didn't listen.

i sat in micah's car, scared for what was going to happen. micah got out and banged on rhett's front door. i saw rhett open it, and micah punched him in the jaw. rhett stumbled back, a little dazed, and micah turned around and stormed back to his car. but, much to my dismay, micah wasn't fast enough. rhett gathered himself and charged at micah. soon enough, the two were rolling on rhett's lawn, trying to beat each other up. in the end, micah won, because rhett laid on the grass, bloody and dazed.

as we drove back home to charlestown, i silently cried. the image of my boyfriend and best friend beating each other up was not something i expected to ever see.