Charlene's POV
New Years Eve. The last day of 2016, the day where we leave the past behind us. The day we prepare for a whole new 365 day long chapter of our lives.
It's also the day I feel most like a complete cat obsessed loner, next to Valentines Day, of course. That's right, in about 14 hours every couple is going to suck each others faces off as they watch the ball drop on TV. And then there's me, sitting on my chair, cringing at all the kissy noises around me.
I've literally been laying in my bed for 30 minutes since I've woken up, just imagining everyone tonight. Jon hosts a New Years party every year, and pretty much half the school shows up. Even people who he hasn't talked to the whole year show up. His parties are literally legendary. I honestly love them. I love awkwardly dancing with my friends. I love counting down and watching the ball drop on the big screen. The only part I don't like is when everyone pairs up and kiss each other, whether they're dating or not. The worse part is that I can't even mock everyone with my friends because they're too busy doing it themselves.
Last year, Francesca wandered off to the "bathroom" and disappeared for like 30 minutes (Now I know she was lip locking with Jon the whole time). I wasn't as close with Evan this time last year, since we were all still fighting, but we did catch up at the party and just as the clock hit 12, he grabbed Cathy Anderson and kissed her right on the lips. And then there was Ricky, making out with some random girl way before the clock even struck 12.
Classic Ricky.
My stomach twisted at the thought of all the girls he's kissed at this party all these years. I'm not the jealous type, but the number of cheap kisses he's received infuriates me.
Who am I kidding, I'm just bitter because everyone has someone they enjoy kissing and I'm just here like a potato watching in the corner. I would love to be one of those couples, sharing they're first kiss of the year. But I'm a single pringle, and I'm not a big fan of kissing a random person on the lips. Last year, a blonde kid who didn't even go to our school ended up grabbing me by the waist and pulling me in for a kiss, but I turned my head before he could go for it. He ended up kissing my cheek and we made awkward eye contact for the rest of the night.
I slapped my head in frustration and flicked some hair from my face. My fingers felt damp as I touched my hair and forehead. This is weird. Why is my hair wet?
As a matter of fact, the whole night was weird. I could've sworn I heard someone talking to me last night when I was in bed, but I have no idea who it was. Oh well, it was probably just my Dad coming home from work and giving me a kiss goodnight or something.
I got out of bed and walked towards my window. I climbed up on the seat connected to it, and examined the view outside. I'm guessing it was raining really hard last night. I climbed off the seat, and walked towards the door. I felt my fuzzy socks go cold and wet. I looked at the floor to find a trail of water leading from the door to my bed. Silly Dad, why didn't he take of his soaking wet shoes before he came inside the house?
I opened the door and headed downstairs to get a few paper towels to clean up the water. I walked over to the kitchen and grabbed the paper towels off the counter. As I walked around the counter, I saw a note. I walked over to it and snatched it off the granite.
Hi Honey,
Your father decided to be extra romantic today, and took me to Manhattan for a date day. We won't be back until tomorrow morning. Have fun at Jon's New Years party. Go and get a kiss from your special someone (You know who I'm talking about)
Love,
Mom
I couldn't help but smile at the note. Not because she was talking about Ricky, but because of the fact that Dad still takes her out on dates after 20 years of being married. I swear, she still blushes when he's around. It's absolutely adorable. They're literally relationship goals.
As for her statement about Ricky, I know it's not gonna happen. I would be lucky if I even saw him today. He disappears with this annual New Years girl pretty quickly. Plus, I wouldn't want to start my year off with another almost-kiss from him.
I trotted up the stairs, and walked back to my bedroom to clean up the mess.
-
I looked at the clock as I swiped some gloss across my lips.
10:50
That leaves me with 10 more minutes before I had to leave for the party. Well, it started hours ago, but I always come late because I usually spend most of the night with my parents before I head over there. My parents aren't even home tonight, but it still a habit for me to go at this time.
I smoothened out my lacy black dress, and tugged on my black heels. I checked my hair, in case I missed some strands and didn't curl them. Luckily, I curled all the strands and I didn't have to reheat my curling wand. I grabbed my camera off of my dresser and stuffed it in my purse. I grabbed my coat off my hanger and tugged it on. I slowly walked towards the door and headed downstairs, making sure I wasn't going to fall. I didn't need to rush anyways, Jon lived right across the street.
I stepped down the stairs and swung the front door open, revealing a gust of wind to run past my legs. I hugged my coat closer to my body, and walk as fast as I could across the street. If I didn't get their in one more minute, I'd probably get hypothermia.
I could already hear the music and screaming pumping from inside the house. I rung the door bell, and immediately a random guy opened it.
He looked at me with his dark green eyes, and sent me a smile. I wasn't so sure who he was, but I've seen him somewhere before. I smiled back and stepped through the door.
I took off my coat and placed it on a hanger. The boy closed the door and turned back to face me.
"Thanks for opening the door, uh..." I said, not knowing his name. He laughed and stuck his hand in front of me.
"Liam. Liam Attridge. And you're welcome." He said happily. I grabbed his hand and shook it.
"I'm Charlene Jones. Not to sound weird, but you look strangely familiar. Do you go to Everstone?" I said walking over the crowds of people to grab a soda with Liam by my side. He shook his head.
"Nope. I go to Riverhead. My school is a few miles away from Everstone. I'm on the football team, so you probably saw me on the field against your schools team." He explained loudly, trying to make sound amongst the blaring music. That's where I recognized him from. I mouthed an "oh" and nodded my head.
"So what brings you to your rival school's party? Aren't you suppose to be crashing it or something?" I said, wiggling my eyebrows sarcastically. His laugh rang around me.
"No, Jon and I are good friends. Don't tell anyone, but I think Everstone's a pretty cool school. If I wasn't part of my school's team, I would probably be rooting for yours." He chuckled, winking. I smiled and took a sip from my soda.
"Don't worry, your secret's safe with me. Well, it was nice meeting you Liam. I'll see you around?" I said, spotting Jon and Francesca at the DJ station.
"Definitely. I'll see you at the next game, Charlene." He waved, soon disappearing in the crowd. I turned around, and pushed past some dancing bodies. I finally reached the the happy couple, dancing behind their table. They saw me and waved.
"Are you having fun?" Jon asked, pulling one side of his headphones down to his neck.
"Obviously, who doesn't have fun at your parties?" I chuckled, putting my soda down on the table. He smirked and nodded.
"Good point." He laughed, glancing down at his laptop.
"I didn't know you were friends with kids from Riverhead." I said, referring to Liam.
Francesca head turned to me. She grinned widely, her face full of excitement.
"I know, right? I didn't know my little JonJon here could make friends." She said, snickering. Jon's face bobbed up, red as a tomato. He looked at Francesca and made a pouty face.
"You're so mean." He said, sounding like a little boy who just let go of his balloon. Francesca grabbed his face and gave him a peck on the lips.
"Aw, I was just kidding. You look really cute when you blush, though." She said pinching his red cheeks. He laughed and kissed her on the lips again. I rolled my eyes and chuckled. I have to admit, they're really cute, but right now, they needed to get a room. I, especially, didn't want to see their PDA.
"Guys, calm yourselves. It's not even 12 yet." I said, ruining their moment. They both pulled away and glared at me. I sent them an evil smile and stuck my tongue out.
"When her and Ricky are kissing, remind me to smack them both on the face." Francesca said to Jon, mockingly. He chuckled and plopped his headphones back to his ears.
"Ha ha, very funny. Speaking of Ricky, where is he anyways?" I asked, looking around the crowded living room.
Wait, why am I even asking a question that I already know that answer to? He's probably out his newest girl or something. A pang of jealousy shot through my chest. God, I really needed to stop being so bitter.
"He's out in the backyard. He's been out there for about 20 minutes now, and I don't know why. You should go talk out there and talk to him, or something like that." Francesca pointed to the clear door next to us, wiggling her eyebrows. I rolled my eyes and let out a laugh. I grabbed my purse off my shoulder, and handed it to her.
"Hold this for me? I'm gonna go see what's wrong with him." I said, grabbing the door handle.
"Go get him, girl." She cheered. I shook my head, and opened the back door. The cold air shot through my body as I stepped outside. It was too late to grab my coat, so I'll just find a way to keep myself warm. I hugged my arms tightly, and looked around the empty backyard to find a head of light brown hair.
He sat at the edge of the beautifully decorated gazebo, which was lit by string lights. It looked amazing, Mrs. Klaasen has always been great at interior and exterior decorating. Although the backyard was illuminated by the lights, you could see the twinkle of the stars. The stars are part of the reason why I loved my town so much. In New York, you don't expect to see stars, it being a big city and all, but in Everstone, you can catch them even in the brightest nights.
I walked over to him, and sat down on the bench next to him. I looked at the sky and admired the beautiful sight.
"Stargazing?" I said, not breaking my gaze. A smile formed on his face, his eyes also diverted to the sky.
"Yea, looking at them is more entertaining then the intense grinding happening in there." He laughed, looking back at party. I noticed Jon and Francesca quickly turning their heads, trying to pretend like they weren't spying on us. These idiots. Ricky seemed to notice too, his head shaking as he turned to look at me with a smirk on his face.
"Huh, I thought you were into that, Mr. Make-out-with-a-random-girl-every-New-Years." I mocked him. The smirk on his face quickly fell into a frown.
"I know I was bad, but I'm different now, Charlene. I'm still a jerk at times, but I'm trying to change. I really am." He said softly, grabbing my hand from my arm. My cold skin instantly burned from his touch and I felt my cheeks heat up. I interlaced my fingers with his and gripped his hand harder.
"I know. It's really hard to believe, but I know you're trying. I could see it." I said, looking straight into his eyes. A small smile reformed on his face.
"And don't stop being an annoying jerk, at least not to me. Life wouldn't be the same if you were a nice guy. As much as I hate to admit it, it's kinda fun fighting with you." I nudged his arm, a laugh escaping my lips. He laughed and nodded.
"I won't. I'll be bugging you until we're 90 and walking with canes." He said nudging me back. I shot him a glare, causing him to smirk.
"What are you gonna do, push me down with your brittle bones?" I scoffed sarcastically.
''Maybe." He said chuckling, most likely at the thought of me falling on the side of road as an old lady.
"Then I'll drag you down with me, and I'll pull out your precious grey hair. Oh wait, I almost forgot. You won't have any because you're gonna be a bald, saggy, bitter old man." I smirked. Ricky gasped and released my hand. He put his hand up to his head, and felt his hair.
"Not the hair. Criticize anything but my hair." He said, his eyes slightly bulging. I exploded in laughter as Ricky fixed his now disheveled hair.
"See? I don't know what I would do without our pointless, little fights." I said, smiling at him. I hugged my chest and rubbed my arms, trying to warm myself up. Ricky suddenly shifted beside me.
"Here, wear this. You look like you're gonna turn into a human popsicle." He said, taking his jacket off and handing it to me. I shook my head and shoved the jacket back in his arms.
"No, it's fine. I don't want you to freeze and get-" I refused, before I was cut off by the jacket being placed on my shoulders.
"Just wear it, babe. I'll be fine." He said, assuring me. I sighed and tugged my arms in his large leather jacket. I smelt his musky scent wrapped around me, making me feel all flustered inside. In about a split second, Fancy by Iggy Azalea blared through the speakers inside the house.
Ricky head turned to me, wearing his infamous smirk. He got up and grabbed my arm, pulling me up from the bench. He bobbed his head to the beat as we walked to the middle of the gazebo. Ricky was flailing me to beat of the music like I was some dummy. He let me go, and I twirled him like he was a ballerina. We burst out laughing as we danced idiotically to the song. Just as Ricky was about to do the robot, the song switched off to Hero by Enrique Iglesias. We looked at eachother with wide eyes. Ricky and I used to listen to this song all the time when we were little. It was actually the first song he ever sang to me. It brought back so many good memories. He sent me a small smile, his eyes gleaming at me. I could tell he felt nostolgic as well.
We both looked back inside the house to see Jon and Francesca wiggling their eyebrows and giving us two thumbs up. I have such evil best friends, I swear they'll be the death of me. I hid my face in the palms of my hands in embaressment as I heard Ricky's silly laugh next to me. He grabbed my hands off my face and sent me a cheesy grin.
"Would you care to dance with me?" He said, revealing his irresistable dimples.
"I would love to love to, Garcia." I said. He pulled me closer to him and placed his hand on my waist. I wrapped my arms around his neck, and soon we were swaying softly with the melody. I rested my head on his shoulder, and carefully listened to him hum the melody of the song above my ear. It sounded as beautiful as before, if not more. His voice made me feel like I was standing on a cloud with how angelic it was. I could listen to him sing forever and, I swear, I'll never get tired of it.
As we swayed to the music, I caught a glimpse of Evan slow dancing with Annabelle. His eyes were shut, and there was a wide grin plastered on his face. I lifted my head and bobbed my head, signaling Ricky to turn his head in their direction. He looked at them, and smiled.
"I guess Evan found his girl." He said turning his head back to me.
"I'm happy for him. And he found her right before 12." I said, a smile forming on my lips. He tightened his grip on my waist.
"Speaking of 12, who are you going to be kissing tonight? Did you meet anyone?" He asked reluctantly.
I thought back to about half an hour ago. Liam. I mean, he wasn't a complete stranger. And he was really nice from when I talked to him.
"I did, actually. His name's Liam. He's not from our school though. He was really nice." I rambled. Ricky avoided my gaze and stared at the plants behind me.
"Oh." He said as he twirled me. He pulled me back into his arms, and went back to our usual positions.
"But I don't want to kiss him tonight. New Year kisses are supposed to be special. Like, the person you're kissing is going to be the first person you share a moment with in the year. It'll be the first memory you'll make in 365 days. If I did kiss someone at 12, I want the first feeling I consume to be butterflies. A pure, fuzzy feeling in my stomach and chest, accompanied by a sense of happiness. I don't want to waste that with someone I don't care about. I want to share that moment with the person I think about most." I said, still swaying in his arms. Ricky sent me a small smile, and looked down to the wooden floor.
"You know, Charlene, a year ago I would've been messing around with a random girl I found in the middle of the street by now. I wouldn't even know her name, and I wouldn't care. I would just be with her for the pure pleasure of it. And when that clock struck 12, she would ask for a sweet and simple kiss, and I would give it her. By the end of the night, she would leave, and I would feel empty. And I would never know why. But now, now I know. I know that I'll never be content if the person I'm with is someone I don't give two shits about. I know that things as simple as a New Years kiss are meant to make you feel something. They're meant to make you feel alive. And they'll only make you feel that if you're doing it with the right person." He rambled, lifting his head at the end of this speech. I lifted one of my hands to his cheek, and stroked it with my thumb.
"So what does this mean for your annual New Years kiss?" I asked. He looked up at me and smiled.
"I'm going to share it with the person I think about most." He said gently. I opened my mouth to say something, but I heard the door swing open to my side. Evan's head popped out with a smirk on his lips.
"What are you guys doing?" He yelled, trying to speak above the crowd of screaming people inside.
"We were just dancing to Hero." Ricky said, detaching his body from mine. I threw my arms to my side.
"That song ended 15 minutes ago." Evan said, laughing.
15 minutes ago. Were we slow dancing to nothing for that long?
Ricky and I stayed silent as Evan glanced between the two of us.
"Anyways, you guys need to come inside. We have 10 seconds left! The ball is about to drop!" He yelled, slamming the door shut and running back inside. I felt my eyes go wide.
"We need to go, I need to watch the ball drop!" I squealed, grabbing Ricky's hand, and tugging him off the gazebo. I already heard people counting down from inside.
"Wait-" He started.
6
"C'mon, we need to go!" I yelled, pulling him towards the door.
5
"Charlene-" He said, not budging from his spot.
4
"Ricky!" I screamed, using all my strength to tug him. I sighed. There was no point.
3
"Oh for God's sake." I heard him mumble from behind me. He pulled my arm, making me crashing into his torso.
2
All I could see at this point were his beautiful green orbs directly above mine. His breath mingled with mine. He gently cupped my cheek with his hand. My head swirled into a big mess. I couldn't think coherently.
1
And in a blink of an eye, it happened.
No, it wasn't another one of my clumsy, idiotic, falling moments.
No, it wasn't another one of our awkward almost-kisses.
This moment made me look past all of those.
Ricky's lips were connected with mine.
That's all I could process. That's all that was clear to me.
Ricky Garcia was kissing me.
I sure as hell didn't feel butterflies.
The feeling in my stomach was more like a tsunami tide.
My chest didn't feel fuzzy.
It ached. I craved him. I craved the feeling of his lips on mine and the burning sensation of his skin on my skin.
And all of these sensations weren't accompanied with happiness.
No, happiness wasn't strong enough to describe what I was feeling in this moment.
What I was feeling was pure bliss.