the yellow box

new year

Before she knows it, New Year's Eve is upon them. Holly is excited for New Year's Eve, since this year is the first time her parents are letting her stay up until midnight with the rest of them. Everyone is gathered in the Wheeler backyard, the adults drinking champagne and the teenagers drinking soda.

Mike's loud friends come over. Lucas and Dustin are passionately arguing about whether medium rare steak is better than medium well. But then again, Holly can't remember a time when they didn't argue about useless things like that.

Max is there, too, sitting in the grass next to El. Mike is beside Will on the steps. Jonathan and Nancy chat with the parents, Jonathan's arm around his girlfriend.

Mom asks Mrs. Sinclair where Lucas's sister Erica is. She explains that Erica is at her friend's place. Mrs. Byers asks Mrs. Henderson how her cat is doing. Mrs. Henderson assures her that Mews is in tip-top shape.

Suddenly, Holly feels incredibly lonely. She feels out of place. Everyone is talking to someone. Everyone is celebrating the end of the year. Everyone is leaving something in 1985. Everyone is expecting something new in 1986. This thought is too big for Holly to handle, and all she wants right now is a hug.

Her stomach hurts.

She slowly walks over to the steps, where her brother and Will are talking quietly. She sees a small smile on Will's face as Mike whispers something into his ear. She taps Mike's shoulder, bringing both boys out of their little bubble. Mike smiles kindly at her. This is the Mike she knows. When's the last time he smiled like that?

"Hey Hols," Mike says, straightening up. "Tired yet?"

"Kind of."

"You think you can make it til midnight?"

She doesn't respond right away. She sits next to him and leans into his side. He tenses at first, but almost immediately relaxes and wraps his arm around her shoulder comfortingly.

Her stomach doesn't hurt anymore.

An hour later, it's 11:56. The air seems to hum with anticipation. Mike gets up from where he was sitting and joins his girlfriend on the grass, leaving Holly and Will behind. Will visibly deflates, the small smile he had been sporting immediately vanishing. He gets up and pours some New Coke into a cup before joining Lucas and Dustin.

Holly makes her way to Mom, clinging to her leg like a baby. Three minutes later, they start counting down.

"TEN!"

Lucas and Dustin pause their debate to join the countdown.

"NINE!"

Max gets up from the grass and goes to stand with Lucas, Dustin, and Will.

"EIGHT!"

Lucas chugs some soda and burps, making Max giggle.

"SEVEN!"

Mike, still in the grass with El, looks back at Will for a second.

"SIX!"

Mike and Will hold eye contact for another second.

"FIVE!"

Holly's stomach starts to turn - from excitement or nervousness, she can't tell. Maybe both.

"FOUR!"

Mike turns back to El. He wraps an arm around her shoulder.

"THREE! TWO! ONE!"

Fireworks go off in the distance. She can hear the people in the neighborhood cheering. Everyone has a smile on their face. People are hugging, couples are kissing. Holly feels magical.

Mike is staring at the floor. Will is staring at him.