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“It’s back on! The TV’s working again!” Maureen calls through the doorway.
I raise my brows and sigh. “Shall we?”
She downs the rest of her Guinness in one gulp. “Let’s go.”
Back in the living room, there are just five minutes left until midnight, and everyone is huddled in front of the TV for the last performance before the new year. Sophie leans against the edge of the sofa, watching the screen. I poise myself on the opposite side of the room from Maureen because I’m sure she’ll try once more to convince me to kiss her at midnight if I give her the opportunity.
I study Sophie while she isn’t looking at me. I know her honesty with me tonight wasn’t planned. She’ll probably regret it tomorrow, so I make a conscious decision not to bring it up again unless she does.
Nick crosses over to her. He flings a lazy, drunken arm around her shoulder and leans in, whispering something into her ear. She slides out from underneath him and steps away. She’s clearly no longer interested after the act he pulled tonight, but he isn’t catching the hint at all.
As the seconds tick down until the new year, I look around the room, realizing that no one here will kiss anyone at midnight. Brent is texting his girlfriend, Leah is watching the screen intently, Maureen is practically pouting that I’m not paying her any attention, Nick is so drunk he doesn’t even realize how disrespectful he’s being, Sophie just wants to leave, and me? I just want to be alone with her. I want to be sitting with her in a quiet room, letting her tell me more about herself, listening to her fears and her dreams, and doing anything I can to make this night a little less horrible for her.
3…
2…
1…
The bright, crystal ball drops to the bottom of its pole, and all at once, sparkling, extravagant fireworks explode on the screen as confetti falls from the skies and the camera cycles through dozens of happy couples kissing their husbands and wives, their boyfriends and girlfriends, the ones they love the most.
I blink away from the screen and look at Sophie. She’s finally distanced herself from Nick, who’s sunken down onto the sofa with half-lidded eyes. She glances at me for a moment. Neither of us speaks. Neither of us needs to. She knows I truly saw her tonight, and even if her honesty was mostly fueled by the Guinness that runs through her veins, I know she trusts me more than she did before. And even if that trust will only ever be applied to a friendship, tonight it’s still the most important thing in the world to me.
FIFTEEN
Sophie
The morning of January 1st, I open my eyes to the bright white ceiling of my small studio apartment. I rub my forehead, trying to recount the last twelve hours, which are slightly fuzzy. I lost count of how many beers I consumed, which is out of character for me.
Too quickly though, the memory of Nick’s devious smirk hits me with perfect clarity. I groan, and waves of embarrassment wash over me again as I remember what he asked and the shame he made me feel for answering the way I did. I hate any party games that take place in the presence of alcohol because the topics always turn sexual. And I always come out looking like ‘silly little innocent Sophie’ in the end. Nick did an A+ job of making me feel even worse about it last night.
Any glimmer of interest I had for him is now long gone. He’s like all the rest; enticing at first glance, but a complete ass once his true colors come out.
I remember looking out the window and wishing I were on the other side of the glass, in another building, out of sight, away from him. But then Kai dared him to spill water down his pants, and somehow, that almost made everything ok again.
The look on Kai’s face as he watched it happen told me everything. He wasn’t amused like everyone else was. That’s how I knew he did it for me. And in my intoxicated state, I viewed him through a different lens. Through the drunken filter of my mind, he was like my knight in shining armor, come to save me from the unrelenting grip of the dragon, Nick.
The memories continue to fade in slowly. The evening didn’t end there. Kai and I spoke…on the balcony. Oh, no. We talked about me.
I roll over and bury my face in my pillow, groaning again.
“What’s wrong?” Leah comes through the door, rubbing her eyes.
I turn my head and glance at her briefly before letting out a long breath. “You know how I get really talkative and honest when I’m drunk?”
Leah sits on the edge of my bed and yawns. “Yeah, that’s when I get all your secrets out of you.”
I bury my head again. “Well, Kai got to me last night…”
“Uh oh, what did you tell him?”
I push myself up onto my knees and run my hands through my hair. “I told him about Jarret and what he did to me… And Chris and how dull he was.” I pause as the memories start to flood in quickly. “I told him I was looking for adventure.” My heart stops. “Oh my God, I told him I want to be ravished.” I wipe my hand down my face and stare at her in shocked desperation. “Oh my Godddd…please kill me now…”
Leah has her lips pressed together like she’s trying to hold in a smirk. “Oh, Soph…I’m sure it wasn’t that bad.”
I shake my head and groan once more. “No…it was… Now he knows how inexperienced I am, and worse, he probably thinks I want to get…like…freaky in bed…”
Leah laughs this time but tries to stifle it with her hand. “Well, do you?”
