At The Kiss Of Midnight

Original | Chapter Four

"Banner, do you know that you're the best big brother in the entire universe and that I love you dearly?"

I resist the urge to laugh as I stare into my bowl of chocolate chip cookie cereal drowned in chocolate milk—not the most healthiest option ever but certainly more delicious than the egg whites and fruit (because apparently turkey sausage is 'too fattening') that I'm forcing Kelsie to eat.

"What do you want?" I deadpan, shoveling another spoonful of cereal and milk into my mouth.

"Can I please spend tonight with some friends?" She begs with a desperate puppy dog face.

"No," I bluntly reply, wiping milk from my chin with the back of my hand.

"Why not?" She whines. "Do you not trust me or something?"

"It's not you that I don't trust you, Kels. I trust you better than myself sometimes," I sigh, mumbling the last sentence under my breath

"Well, then, why can't I go?"

"I don't trust other people. For all I know, you'll go out and surround yourself with drugs, alcohol, and sex."

She wrinkles her nose in disgust.

"Sounds like something you'd do."

I shoot her a 'not impressed' look. She innocently grins at me.

"Look at it this way: if you let me hang out with some friends, you can go out and celebrate however you want to," She points out.

"What makes you think I want to celebrate?" I shoot back.

"Who doesn't want to celebrate the New Year?" She snorts.

I glance down at my bowl, frowning when I realize that I've already ate all of the cereal. With a shrug, I bring the rim of the bowl to my mouth and tip it, slurping the remainder of the sugary, chocolate milk. When finished, I loudly set the bowl back on the table and wipe the back of my hand against my mouth. Kelsie flashes me a disgusted look.

"What?"

She shakes her head. There's a peaceful pause before she breaks it by releasing one of her famous squeals. I raise an eyebrow in silent questioning.

"If you go out tonight-since it's New Years Eve-you can kiss a girl at midnight!"

"One problem: I don't have a girlfriend," I remind.

"You can kiss a random girl."

"One: that sounds extremely cliché, in my opinion. Two: I'd rather not get slapped by a girl. Three: I'd prefer not to have my face broken by some protective boyfriend. Four: I-"

"Okay, okay! Bad idea, I get it," She grumbles, her gaze lowered to her barely touched breakfast.

"It wasn't a bad idea," I reassure.

"I was just thinking..."

"Just thinking what?"

She raises her gaze to meet mine.

"If today was your last day, tomorrow was too late, wouldn't you want to savour it and live carefree?"

"You sound like that Nickelback song," I observe, silently pondering what she's telling me.

She smirks.

"And would you find that one you're dreaming of? Swear up and down to God above that you'd finally fall in love if today was your last day?" She sings.

"I will not be falling in love on New Years Eve; that I can promise you."

"You never know," She chimes.