No Guidelines

Chapter 19

31, Dec. 2015 thu
Audrey

   Natalie's New Year's Eve party was what her Christmas party was supposed to be. Quiet, small, and fun. It was only the writing club, minus Emma of course. The music wasn't as loud and they played board games. They still drank, it was something Audrey would just have to get used to. However, Audrey didn't pick up a drink. She didn't feel the need to. She didn't want to. She was comfortable with the people around her and didn't feel the need to be intoxicated to fit in.

  It was ten minutes to midnight. Ten minutes til the new year. Natalie invited everyone out to her balcony to see the fireworks.  Fireworks were already going off despite it not reaching 12 am. Natalie handed everyone sparklers in the meanwhile while they waited.

  "Who's got the time?" Jacob said.

  "I do," Sam said"

  "Same here," Danielle said.

  "Awesome!" Natalie said. "Let's take a group photo! I want to have enough to make a collage!"

  Everyone squeezed in for a photo. Jacob took the picture since he had the longest arms. Natalie took more candid photos of everyone and their sparklers.

  Just two minutes before twelve, Adrian went downstairs. He was gone just enough for Natalie to be worried he'd miss the countdown.

  "I'll go see what he's up to," Audrey said.

  She walked downstairs. The house was dark. Flashes of bright color flashed through the windows followed by magnificent explosions of sound. Adrian was in the kitchen, drinking a glass of water.

  "You okay?" She asked.

  He turned around, startled. "Oh, yeah I'm okay, just thirsty."

  "You know you can always talk to me if something's wrong," she said.
He nodded. "Yeah of course, and you, me."

  Audrey couldn't tell if he was just saying that or if he was actually okay. She hugged him, just in case he wasn't.

  "Are you okay?" He asked. He was smiling as if a hug out of the blue was a weird thing.

  "Yeah, I'm okay," she said, "have any New Year's resolutions?"

  "That's the question," he said. He thought for a moment.

  "You're really thinking hard about this," Audrey said.

  He laughed and nudged her arm. "I don't want to give you a scripted answer, it has to mean something but I can't think of anything. I guess maybe to write more?"

  "That's not a bad resolution, I'd say that's my resolution too."

  "But it's not true, I've written a lot. It's all I ever do. Whether it's good or not is not up to me—" he paused as if some realization struck him. "Thats it!"

  "What?"

  "I want to be better, like I want to improve myself."

  Audrey laughed. "So much for not giving a cookie cutter response."

  "Wow, you're bullying me now? What's your resolution, huh?" He said.

  "We'll let me see," she said. She looked at him, and adored every second of it. Wishing again that she could freeze time.

  "I think I want to live more."
From upstairs Natalie yelled "you guys are going to miss it!" As the others were counting down from 3.
2.
1.

  Happy new years! The group shouted upstairs. Audrey and Adrian stared at each other. Audrey felt the intense urge to kiss him. She was going to. She was cute, he's a boy. She didn't think he'd mind if she kissed him. They had chemistry.

  But what if he didn't reciprocate those feelings? What if one kiss was all it took to flush down a friendship 4 months in the making. She wanted so badly to kiss him, to be his, for him to be hers. She knew it was crazy but she genuinely loved this boy. But she loved the way things were now. She couldn't risk messing that up.
She pulled him in for a hug and he graciously embraced her back.

  "Happy new year!" They both said to each other. Another warm hug from him. It wasn't a kiss like she wanted and had been dreaming about for ages, but she was content with just being his friend for now. There would be plenty of time for them to be together in the new year.

THE END

Authors Note
It's finally done!
This is just a rough first draft. It's a compilation of scenes that were in my head that I pieced together despite not fully understanding what I was trying to say.

I now know what I was trying to say and what I want to say in this whole series. So I can't wait for the improved second draft. I might even try to get it published. I have that much faith in it. But for now I hope you enjoy what you read and thank you for joining me along this adventure!

Happy New Year!

A huge thank you to
Elem
naomi14
Eric_Authority
You guys have been so amazing and so helpful! I appreciate the support and wisdom you all offer!

Songs
Name:Artist
Next Year: Two Door Cinema Club
Are You Satisfied?: MARINA

Now that the story is over the full soundtrack will be on Spotify and YouTube! I'll post them up! And put links too.
What song and cover was your favorite? (I didn't get to make covers for the ending chapters)