"Noah I can't go back in there." I hesitated outside the boathouse, listening to the loud music play and the chatter from inside. My heart was beating fast and I felt nerves rushing around my body, overtaking every other sense that I possessed.

"You'll be fine, I just gotta do something. You can be the distraction." He persuaded. I held back, not feeling brave enough to face my peers and Michael. Noah sighed and rolled his eyes, not encouraging or supporting my decision at all. Then he grabbed my hand, interlocking our fingers.

I looked down at the way our bodies connected, his soft fingers rested in mine and it gave me butterflies deep in my stomach. I didn't understand these feelings that Noah ignited inside of me, I just knew that with his hand in mine I felt confident enough to face any challenge. He guided me through the mass of drunken bodies as they hit it up on the dance floor and stopped once we got to the tables.

Noah picked up someones purse and started looking through it. My eyes darted back to the dance floor, making sure nobody was watching him.

"What are you doing?" I whisper shouted over the music.

"You're really not great at following the rules. I said no questions." Noah pointed out sarcastically as he pocketed a handful of notes before moving onto the next table and doing the same thing. He visited five tables and took cash from each and everyone of them. It was actually unnerving at the amount of people who left their bags unattended or their suit jackets alone.

"Mia you're back!" Gabi stumbled over and slung her arm around me in a drunken motion. Noah gave me a side smirk but I ignored the look on his face. "You know, I'm so glad you've left East Side, I just feel like Bell View is where you belong." She looked towards Noah, looking him up and down. "Who's this hunky guy?" She bat her eyelashes at him drunkenly.

Noah covered the smile on his lips and then stepped forward, invading her personal space. He put his fingers through her hair, and tucked a strand behind her ear. Smooth.

"I'm Noah. I'd love to get to know you more baby but I need to leave." He whispered close to her ear. It looked like his words alone were enough to turn her on and there was a sickening feeling of rage building up inside of me.

Not Gabi, I wouldn't mind him showing attention to anyone but her. Noah grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the door but this time I was a little less excited to have his hand in mine, in fact I wanted to squeeze his hand so tightly that I broke his fingers off. He got me outside and I released my hand abruptly, he looked at me with a questionable glance.

"You flirted with Gabi!" I shouted and his smile sparkled his eyes like the sun baking down on an beautiful autumnal day.

"Chill Mia, I put chewing gum in her hair. She'll have to shave it all off by tomorrow." My mouth dropped open but he ignored my shocked expression and just started counting his money.

"What?" I asked with annoyance.

"It's fine, her daddy will buy her a nice wig." He laughed at himself, his whole chest vibrated with his laughter and although he confused the hell out of me and I found him mildly irritating I couldn't help but laugh too.

"You stole all of that money from my friends." I directed the statement as a question and automatically he rolled his eyes at me.

"I got a thousand bucks tonight, you want five hundred?" He held half of his pile out to me but I didn't take it. I should have, I knew what five hundred dollars could buy me and my mom but it was wrong and I had morals to up-stand.

"It's wrong, why did you do that?" I kept my morals in tact. He ran his fingers through his almond-brown hair, pushing it back off his face.

"I do this all the time Mia, I've probably done it to you plenty of times in the past. Let me ask you something... do they even notice?" I was stunned into silence, not sure how to answer his question. Nobody ever mentioned their money going missing. I certainly didn't notice mine going missing but that didn't make it anymore right. Maybe Noah was capable of dark things.

We walked down the port together, I still wasn't sure how I felt about Noah. We seemed to be following the sound of music coming from the far end of the docks. I could see one of the yachts lit up and teenagers danced all around the port.

"Mia you came!" Joel greeted me into a hug, I learnt quickly that he was a very tactile person. He handed me a gold cup filled with what looked and smelt like beer. His eyes flicked to Noah and there was a powerful surge of male testosterone between them. Noah tapped his thumb against his thigh and eventually Joel hooked his arm around my neck and walked me towards the party.

"I told you to keep away from him." He whispered to my ear.

"He's not that bad." I laughed, turning around to look at Noah but he was gone. "I think." I added unsurety.

"Guys this is Mia, she's the princess transfer from East side." Joel introduced me to a group of his friends.

"Not a princess" I defended, taking a seat beside some guy who had several face piercings.

I got passed copious cups of beer and after I finished them I drank more. Joel's friends were surprisingly nice even though they looked a little rough around the edges. Never in a million years would I picture myself drinking cheap beer from a plastic cup and talking to guys with face piercings and heavily built chests. But I can't say it wasn't fun.

Joel pulled me up on the dance floor and together we bust a few moves, he made no attempts to flirt with me or try it on with me and I was a little surprised by that. Maybe he just genuinely didn't find me attractive.

I guess it was surprising to me because at East View I was that popular girl that all the guys tried to be with. I started dating Michael who was the top of every class. He was popular, intelligent and was the son of Harvard University's Dean but he didn't treat me well. I stayed with him to keep up pretenses but I was never really happy.

"Joel, are you gay?" I asked loudly over the music. Joel's eyes narrowed and he stopped dancing.

"Did Noah tell you that?" Joel asked.

I shook my head, wondering if somehow I had just blurted that out insensitively and offended him. Joel grabbed my hand and led me off the boat, pulling me into a dark corner of the port away from the music and the people.

"I'm sorry Joel, I didn't-"

"You're not wrong." Joel interrupted. "I'm not in the closet or anything like that. If someone asks me I'll tell them. I just don't want to make it public knowledge while I'm in high school. It's nobody's business, you know?" I nodded my head.

"You're actually the first person that has asked me, how did you know?"

"You danced with me for fun, not to rub your dick all over my ass. So do your parents know?" He smiled big.

"Of course they do, they've always known. It wasn't this big 'coming out moment.' I am who I am. I just don't announce it to everyone. The only person I ever needed to come out to was Noah. He had no clue and he was my best friend, I needed to tell him." His face changed to sadness and confusion.

"And how did he take it?" I asked, already knowing I wasn't going to like this answer. Joel sighed.

"He said I was disgusting and he couldn't believe he ever allowed himself to be friends with me." My mouth fell open and I clasped it with my hand.

"Joel..." I didn't know what to say, Noah made me so angry and he wasn't even here so I couldn't have it out with him.

"Now you know why we're not friends anymore." Joel muttered sadly.

"You know you're not disgusting, right?" I questioned.

"I know." He pulled me in close and gave me a hug. "Don't worry about it princess." He whispered with a smile and I pushed him away with a frustrated sigh.

"Not a princess!" I exclaimed.