I practically skipped all the way up the stairs to Blake's apartment, excited to spend the whole day with him, just the two of us. His birthday might have been the next day, but since it was a school day, there wasn't much I could do then.

I knocked on the door about four times, waiting for him to answer the door. When he finally did, he sure looked surprised to see me. And kind of... scared?

"Leah," he blinked, his eyes going wide. "What are you doing here?"

"Your birthday is tomorrow, but we have school," I said, as if he somehow didn't know. "And I thought we could spend the day together today, since I didn't get to celebrate your birthday last year."

I thought Blake would be happy or excited about this, but he definitely didn't look like he was. Before I could even ask why, a new voice now said, "Who's at the door, Blake?"

My heart jumped right out of my chest. At first, I thought it was Carrie, and I thought that we were finally going to get caught after hiding our relationship for so long. But when I saw who had bounded around the corner, it was so much worse.

"Leah!" Mona smiled, but I was frozen. "I didn't expect anyone else to come over! You're here for Blake's birthday, right?"

I said nothing; I only stared at her. What the hell was she doing here?

"Yeah, she is," Blake answered for me, obviously very uncomfortable but seeing that I was in no state to answer Mona's question.

Mona giggled. "That's great! Is everyone else coming, too?"

I wanted to strangle her. I was so angry that the only thing that was stopping me from pouncing on her was Snowflake, who waddled his way toward me and licked my ankle.

"Yeah, but it was kind of a last minute decision," I swallowed, trying my hardest to force my anger down. "I completely forgot to call everyone and invite them over! You don't mind doing it for me, do you, Mona?"

My voice was sickly sweet and full of ice, but Mona didn't seem to notice that I really wasn't trying to be nice to her. She only smiled at me and said, "Yeah, of course! I'll be in the living room!"

She turned away and made her way back into the living room, and I gave Blake a look. He frowned at me. He was about to say something, but I only humphed before sticking my nose in the air and making my way into the living room as well.

It was awkward waiting for everyone to show up. Mona kept talking to me, and she just didn't seem to understand that she was the last person I wanted to see right then.

Cassie and Sean were the first to arrive, and I gave them a standard greeting, but otherwise ignored them. The smile Cassie was giving Mona and Blake really pissed me off.

Jane and Thomas came next, and I gave him a look. He rolled his eyes at me, so I was sure that he had yet to ask Jane out. But since I hadn't talked to her yet, I shouldn't have been that surprised that he hadn't made a move.

When Christian walked in behind Jaz, I couldn't help but frown. Blake was definitely not going to like that Christian was here, but he was just going to have to deal with it. I didn't like that Mona was there, but there she was.

Of course, it was his birthday party, so it did make me feel a little bad...

"Hi, Leah," Christian smiled at me.

I forced a smile onto my face. "Hi, Christian."

He hugged Mona as they greeted, and I couldn't help but make a face. Why did everyone have to be such good friends with her?

When both Derrick and Leslie arrived, separately, they didn't even look at each other. I would catch both of them steal glances, but I knew they weren't about to interact. I was just glad that they both decided to show up.

I watched all my friends play some type of game while I stood back, leaning against the wall a little ways away from them. I didn't really feel like joining in on all the fun. I didn't even notice right away when Thomas made his way up to me.

"Are you ever going to talk to Jane?" he asked me.

I let out a sigh. "I will, Thomas," I assured, even though I had no idea when that will be. "But I can't right now. I have a lot of other things I have to deal with."

His gaze followed mine, and it landed on Mona and Blake. "Are you really worried about the two of them?"

I scowled. "You can tell, huh?"

"Well, you make it kind of obvious." He rolled his eyes and leaned up against the wall next to me. "I'm surprised no one else noticed that you're standing over here glaring at the two of them."

I bit the inside of my cheek and continued to stare at my boyfriend and the girl that just couldn't seem to leave him alone. She was giggling just like she always was, and even Blake was smiling at her. It really annoyed me.

"Thomas, you saw the two of them when they were together," I gulped, knowing that he was the person I needed to go to for information. "Just how close were they? Blake makes it sound like it was nothing, but then Mona makes it sound like it was a really big deal."

The face Thomas was making did not make me feel any better. I let out a shaky breath.

"I think Blake is either lying to you so you don't get upset, or he's an idiot and didn't see how things were between them," Thomas informed me honestly, and my heart plunged right into my stomach. He then looked down at his feet. "Of course, he had to deal with a lot because of his condition, so maybe he just chose not to acknowledge it."

"Do you think they were... like, in love?" I had to ask it. If Blake didn't see how close they had been when Thomas, and outsider, did... I couldn't help but feel nervous.

Thomas was still making that face, and it didn't make me feel any better. "Honestly? I couldn't really tell when it came to Blake. I knew he liked her a lot, but again, he was dealing with a lot so I'm not sure he even thought about it. But Mona... I mean, I don't know her all that well, but it sure seemed like she was in love with him. She was always there for him and supported him even after we found out about his schizophrenia."

I was always there for Blake, and I supported him even after I found out he had schizophrenia. But Mona... she had been with him since before he was even diagnosed. She was probably with him when he found out. And I wasn't.

I just stood there. I had absolutely no idea what I was supposed to say. I didn't want to hear any of this, even though I knew I had to. Mona was an even bigger threat than I thought.

"Thomas!" Jane suddenly called out, waving her toward him. "Come here, will you?"

Thomas shot me a frown before making his way over to Jane. He was smiling at her, and I could tell he really liked her a lot. I really was going to have to talk to her soon, unless Thomas finally decided to just talk to her himself.

I continued to watch my friends from the wall as I thought. I didn't know what I was supposed to do about Mona, considering Blake wouldn't believe anything I said about her. So I was completely stuck.

"I invited Carrie," Blake informed me as he came up and leaned against the wall beside me, taking the spot his brother had been in. "I knew she'd be mad if I had a birthday party without her."

"That's great," I replied sarcastically, a sour look on my face. "Is she going to jump me when she sees that I'm here?"

Blake frowned. "She still loves you, Leah. Just... not with me."

It didn't seem that she liked me at all anymore. I hadn't seen her since the day at the hospital, minus all the times I had to hide from her.

I saw how excited she had been when Blake had told her he was going out with Mona. She was about to love her a lot more than she loved me, that was for sure.

When I heard someone else entering the apartment, I didn't pay much attention to it because I assumed that it was only Carrie. But as they came around the corner, my jaw dropped when I saw who it really was.

"Elias?" I gasped, surprised to see the familiar blonde make his way into the living room. His eyes immediately landed on me, and he smiled broadly. "Elias!"

Pushing myself off the wall, I ran all the way across the room and practically pounced on him. He laughed, wrapping his arms around my waist as mine wrapped around his neck.

"Well, hello to you too," he laughed, English accent and all.

"What are you doing here?" I asked once I pulled away from him, ignoring the surprised look Carrie gave me when she saw me. It would have been best just to ignore her, because she was probably unhappy with the fact that I was here. "Didn't you go to college out of state?"

"I did," he nodded, and then grinned toward Carrie. She forced a smile and ignored my gaze. "But I felt like visiting to finally see her and the rest of my friends again."

I ignored the fact that Christian was watching us also and continued our conversation. "How long are you back for?"

"Just for two weeks," he shrugged simply, and I was sad to hear that. I was sure he was going to spend most of that time with Carrie, but that was understandable, so it wasn't like I could complain.

When his girlfriend eventually called him over and took him away from me, I decided to go back to the wall I had been leaning on. But before I could, someone slid in front of me to stop me from moving any farther.

"So..." Blake started, looking around the room full of our friends. "Are you enjoying the party?"

"Shouldn't I be asking you that?" I questioned snippily, still a little miffed that Mona was over here before I even was. But I had to forget about that for right then, since it was his birthday party and all. "I mean, it's your party and all."

He shrugged. "It's fun, but..." He looked around the room again before ducking his head closer to me a little. "I would have much rather spent the day with just you."

I felt my heart swell. So he really did feel the same way I did.

I had the biggest urge to kiss him until Mona showed up, completely killing the mood.

"Blake, come look at the cake I baked you!" she giggled, completely ignoring me and grabbing onto his arm. With one last look at me, Blake followed after her as she yanked him into the kitchen.

I let out an exasperated sigh, turning away from them and plopping down on the couch. Too bad I didn't realize I had plopped down right next to Christian.

"So, who's that?" was the first thing he asked me, pointing toward Elias as he was across the room with Carrie, Sean, and Cassie. "You two seemed... close."

He was jealous. He was so obviously jealous, and it made me feel really bad. I really wished that he didn't have feelings for me, because it just made everything so much harder.

"A friend," I informed him, since it was the truth. "I haven't seen him in a while because he's been away at college."

Christian nodded, and then an awkward silence filled the air around us. It was almost like Thomas could feel it and he was a few feet away from us. He gave me a look, but I ignored it.

"I'm going to go get some water," I told Christian, gesturing to my throat but saying nothing else before getting up off the couch and heading toward the kitchen. I let out a long breath as I pulled a cup out of a cupboard.

When someone else entered the kitchen, it surprised me. I nearly dropped the cup before turning toward Carrie.

"Hi, Leah," she greeted, but it didn't sound like she used to when she saw me. She didn't sound so chipper. "I haven't seen you in a while."

I wanted to tell her that I'd seen her an awful lot, but I was only hiding behind couches and in closets. But I knew I couldn't say anything like that to her.

I nodded. "Yeah, it's been a while."

"So... that boy on the couch," she started now, and I almost choked as I took a sip of my water. "Is he your boyfriend?"

I remembered what Blake had said when I was hiding in his closet, so I simply said, "Yeah."

And Carrie smile that smile I had been so used to seeing when she saw me with Blake, and I couldn't help but get a very sour feeling in my stomach. Not only was I lying to her, but she was happy that I was with someone else that wasn't Blake.

"Okay, everyone!" Mona's high-pitched voice suddenly rang throughout the apartment, and I wanted to cover my ears. "It's time to sing happy birthday to Blake and cut the cake!"

That did not sound like a whole lot of fun. Even though I would have loved to stuff my face with cake right then.

They sang happy birthday, and even I sang along because I knew I would have felt guilty if I didn't. And when Mona handed me a piece of cake, I almost wondered if she poisoned it.

But I ate it anyway, since it actually really did look good. But I had to fight off a scowl the whole time because it actually did taste very good. As much as I couldn't stand her, that girl could bake.

"Leah," someone said to me as I was scarfing down my second piece. I looked over to see Christian reaching over and wiping frosting from my upper lip, licking it of his thumb and grinning. "You've got to calm down there, tiger. You're going to give yourself a stomach ache."

Blake was watching all of this. I ignored his stare. This was awesome.

When it was all finally over, I was relieved. Everyone left at a reasonable hour, but then there was Mona and me, who stayed until eleven o'clock on a school night.

I couldn't tell if she was annoyed with the fact that I was there or not. I knew that she couldn't tell I was annoyed by her presence, even though Blake sure could. I tried to act as nice as I possibly could, but it was difficult.

"Bye, Blake!" she smiled when she finally started to leave, wrapping her arms around his shoulders in a hug. Blake froze, but he placed his hands on her hips to not be rude. "I'll see you tomorrow! Happy birthday!"

The next thing she did nearly knocked me over. She pulled away from him, stared right into his eyes shyly, and then kissed him.

She. Kissed. Him.

Obviously embarrassed when she saw that I had been witness to this, she quickly said goodbye again and then bolted right out the door. I was completely speechless.

Had that really just happened, or was I finally going completely insane?

Blake turned toward me slowly, as if he knew I was about to explode. I waited for him to speak. "I know you're mad," he finally said.

"I'm not mad." I shook my head. "I'm furious."

Blake nodded, and took a slow step toward me, his hands up as if I was a wild animal about to attack him. "And you have every right to be."

"Of course I have every right to be!" I practically screamed, my hands going to my hair and tangling themselves through it as my fingernails dug into my scalp. "Another girl just kissed my boyfriend right in front of me and I can't even do anything about it!"

Blake said nothing, so I just continued to stand there, fuming. I didn't even know how I was supposed to let all my anger out, because it wasn't like I could go yell at Mona!

"You were right," he muttered, his head hung low. "Mona does still like me."

I still didn't say anything. I didn't want to tell him I told you so, even though I totally could have, so I just kept my mouth shut.

"Leah, please say something," he tried now.

"If I hadn't come over, would you have even told that she came over here?" was what I asked, not wanting to discuss the fact that I had been right about Mona.

Blake still wouldn't look at me. "Probably."

"Probably?"

"Well, I knew you'd get mad if you found out she came over!" he almost shouted, and I could tell he was getting angry as well now. "It's not like I wanted to lie to you or anything!"

I knew he didn't want to lie to me. The last thing he wanted to do was upset me. But seeing Mona here on the day where it was just supposed to be us really angered me. And it only angered me more when she kissed him.

"I just..." I choked now, shaking my head. I refused to cry. "I just wanted to have the day alone with you, to celebrate your birthday! I didn't want anyone else to be here, especially not Mona!"

"Well, you seemed pretty happy when Elias got here," he muttered, almost in a pouty way.

"That's because I haven't seen Elias in months!" I groaned, running my hands over my face. "I could have dealt with not seeing the rest of them just fine, considering I have to deal with them tomorrow!"

"As much as I would have loved spending the day alone with you," he sighed, "I actually had fun with everyone today."

And I was glad that he did. It was his birthday, so I was happy that he had fun with our friends. If that was what he wanted to do, then I'd be fine with it. Hanging out with our friends was fun, most of the time. If only Mona wasn't a part of it.

"Are you going to stop seeing her now that you know how she really feels about you?" I had to ask, my curiosity getting the better of me.

Blake was silent and looked at his feet.

"I can't believe this," I huffed, laughing without humor. "You're still going to see her even though you know she likes you and obviously wants you back?"

"You still hang out with Christian even though he likes you," Blake snapped now, and I took a step back away from him. "I saw how he was looking at you today. He couldn't keep his eyes off you."

"And that's my fault?" I demanded, growing angrier and angrier by the second. "And I have a reason to be around Christian, Blake. You know this. We're both the leads in the play!"

Blake's eyes narrowed at me. "But would you still hang out with him even if you weren't in the play together?"

Honestly, I couldn't say that I would have stopped hanging out with him, because even if we weren't in the play together, I'd want to still be friends with Christian. I was being a hypocrite, but Mona and Christian were just... different. But that was because Blake and I were both different as well. I had told Christian that I wasn't interested, but for some reason, Blake just wouldn't tell Mona that.

"See?" Blake said now. "If you can still be friends with Christian, then I can still be friends with Mona."

"Words cannot even describe how much I hate her."

"Leah..."

"No, you can like her all you want," I snapped, waving it away as if it was nothing even though it wasn't. "But I can't stand her."

When he groaned and held his head, I stopped and said nothing else, even though I had planned on doing so. "What is it?" I asked.

Blake shook his head, it still in his hands. "It's nothing."

I took a step toward him. "Blake."

He took a step back away from me, his grip on his head still tight. I swallowed, afraid. What was going on? He seemed to be in so much pain, and I was really starting to get worried.

"Blake, please tell me what's wrong," I whispered hoarsely now, my tears threatening to fall even more now. "Please tell me!"

"It's just..." He let out an exhausted sigh and looked back up at me. "It's the voices."

My eyes went wide. "You can still hear voices?"

"Not really," he sighed, dropping his hands from his hair now. "But... when I fight with you, I can hear them a little."

I bit the inside of my cheek before I said, "Well... what are they saying?"

Blake shook his head. "You don't want to know."

"Yes, I do."

"Well, I'm not going to tell you." He shook his head once again and turned away from me a little. "I don't want you to know."