Drown in You

26. Well hello there

Truth be told, the next week was one of the happiest of my life.

Christmas day with the o'Neils hadn't been too bad. I got two books and a winter coat. And, Bill put the door to my room back on the frame— thank god. I was still surprised that the o'Neils had gotten me anything at all. Thankfully, I remembered to buy them gifts with the pocket money they gave me while I was buying my gift for Noah— I got a watch for Bill, a necklace for Carol, and a gift card to a sports store for Elliot.

Today was New Year's Eve, and we were spending the night with a few other friends at Jessica's house. I looked around at everyone, gathered around the TV, waiting for the ball in times square to drop. We were just a few minutes out now.

I took the moment to reflect on everything that had changed in my life over the last three months. Before I came here, I was completely numb to the world and surrounded by walls of defense. I was a loner at school and a punching bag at home. And even though things were far from perfect now, they were so much better. The walls I'd built up had crumbled just the slightest bit, but that small change had brought big rewards.

"Ten, nine, eight..." Everyone began to chant.

Sitting there, surrounded by my friends, and even someone closer than a friend, I realized for the first time in a long time that I was lucky. I finally felt secure in the knowledge that the past was behind me. I finally felt like I could take whatever the future threw at me, and not in a desperate, broken way like i had in the past. Even more, I finally felt a little more like I was alive.

"Five, four, three, two, one!" Cheers erupted both on screen and around me as we entered the new year.

Noah leaned over the back of the couch and planted a kiss on my cheek, pulling me out of my thoughts. "Happy New Year."

I smiled and quickly kissed him back on the lips. "Happy New Year to you."

Jessica appeared with a bottle of Champagne. "Alright, we're being classy tonight."

Vic reached out to take the bottle but she slapped his hand away. "You can have a glass once you say your resolution."

He pouted. "Fine, let's see... My resolution is to get drunk tonight."

"On champagne? Good luck," Jessica rolled her eyes. Everyone in the room burst into laughter. "Take your glass, mr. wasted."

After that, everyone else began sharing their resolutions. There were a lot of silly resolutions like Vic's, but there were also a lot of serious ones.

Eventually, it was Noah's turn.

"This year, I want to try auditioning for a community theatre," He said excitedly. "Hopefully I can build my resume a little."

And with that, all eyes were on me. "Uhh..."

I thought for a moment longer about what I should say. In reality, my goals for this year were pretty simple: stay here and stay with Noah. Don't fuck it up. But saying something like that out loud wasn't as simple. Instead, I decided to go with a slightly different version.

"I just want to enjoy the year."

•••

Later that night, we finally left Jessica's house and were loitering by Noah's car.

"I kinda want to spend more time with you tonight," I remarked quietly, sensing that both of us were lingering.

"Same."

"Too bad we can't go to your place." His parents wouldn't be happy.

"Yeah," He sighed, pausing for a moment. "What about your place?"