New Years Eve - A Short Story

New Years Eve - Short Story

1:00PM
It is at this hour that I realize I have no plans for the evening. It is the last day of the year, and everyone is planning their adventures for the night. They are laying out their outfits, calling their friends to ensure plans are set in stone, and enjoying an ice cold lager or glass of wine prior to their evening festivities.But I have not received a call or a text asking me to join in on an event. I have not been called upon to go to a club or bar in the beautiful city of Dallas.Perhaps it is a travesty to my outer self, but inwardly I welcome the night of calmness. After all, it is merely a Tuesday night. It just happens to be the Tuesday exactly three hundred sixty-five and one quarter day since we last reached this particular coordinate in our cycle around the sun.Perhaps I will crack open an ice cold beer tonight and play some Monopoly online. Maybe play some Pokémon on my Switch since I have yet to beat the latest game. Or maybe I'll call another friend who has likewise been excluded from the New Years Eve plans.Unfortunately, everyone in the city who I have made an acquaintance with has plans for the evening. And upon informing me, none of them made the gesture of inviting me. I guess it makes sense. Most of the year I am somewhat of a hermit.Perhaps I shall call my family and talk to them for a while tonight.

2:00PM
I have arrived home from the grocery store. It was not quite as crowded as I anticipated. I overheard a myriad of conversations about plans for the evening. It seems as though I am the only being excluded from the plans. All those around me spoke of parties in Fort Worth, bars in the Stockyard, and an evening in Sundance Square.Did the city believe I were invisible? I wouldn't doubt it. I didn't do much any other time of the year. There's something about New Years Eve that makes me want to be amongst the sweaty bodies. I want to feel a stranger's body push into my own as they dance to the music. I want to look at a random woman at midnight, lock eyes, and embrace in the cool winter wind as our lips lock together.I had never wanted such feelings until the last time I was here all those years ago. It was a New Years to remember. It was the reason I moved to the Dallas-Fort Worth area in the first place.Alas, I didn't change when I arrived here on that first day. I worked in the office from eight to five, arrived home, ate some dinner, and read until my eyes hurt.I never went out. The only friends I had were work friends and the occasional person I met at the Stars arena when the Nashville Predators were in town.I guess that's just the way of the anti-socialite.

3:30PM
I went down to check the mail and my neighbor invited me to come to their place if I wasn't doing anything. His name is Derek and he lives about three doors away from me in apartment 244. His husband Michael knows me from work. He's a manager and I'm an engineer. He hired me when I moved here and recommended this apartment complex when he offered me the job.Derek and Michael are nice enough people, but Derek told me they invited the whole floor and I think I'd rather just stay in my apartment on my own. It's nothing against anyone on the floor, I just don't do well in a crowd.But at least they offered. And that's all that really matters to me. I think that's the biggest part of it all. I want people to at least think of me and invite me to things, even if they know I will turn them down.That's the thing about being an introvert, I guess. It's nice to be included, even if you don't plan on being included. That's all I can ask for really.

5:15PM
Having a third story balcony gives you just enough cover to not be seen by everyone while being close enough to watch the people pass on their way to their parties. The early round of people passing by now are all older folks going to dinner. People who are young enough to not need assisted living, but old enough to where ten o'clock is far too late to be out.The people passing by at around nine thirty, ten o'clock will be the fun ones to watch. They all would have been out at friends' houses pregaming so they can be drunk and not have to pay an exuberant amount of money on drinks.I sit quietly as people pass by. I have a Yuengling Black and Tan in hand as I watch people go about their night. I notice one person in particular that peeks my interest. She's about five foot five with brown hair and subtle highlights. She has on a white sweater, stonewashed blue jeans, and a white beanie with a brown fur pom-pom on top. She's holding a couple of comic books and novels in hand. She looks anxious, as if she doesn't like to be in large crowds. Her head moves back and forth towards every person she passes by. Eventually, she walks into the apartment complex I am currently in.I think back to the few people who moved in after me, but can't remember her face. I wonder if she saw me gazing upon her from my perch. Her head never inclined, so it's safe to assume she did not see me.I sip my beer and continue gazing upon the thickening crowd.