b e a u *
For New Year's Eve this year, my best friend Max invited me over to his house to his family's celebration. I get to his house at around seven o'clock that evening.
"Who else is coming?" I ask Max as he welcomes me into the house.
"My grandparents, my aunts and uncles, and some cousins," Max tells me, smiling at me.
I nod.
The Countdown to New Years live from Times Square is on in the living room, and I think it's turned on in every room that has a TV, to be completely honest with you.
"Hey, Beau!" Max's mom, Cammi, says as I walk into the living room.
"Hey, Beau!" his dad, Brad, greets me. Max's sisters Vanessa and Bailey look up as I enter the room. Bailey elbows Vanessa in the side as I smile and greet his parents.
Max pulls me aside, whispering in my ear. "Vanessa likes you, if you haven't noticed,"
"I noticed," I reply to him in a whisper. "It wasn't exactly 'hard' to when Bailey elbowed her in the side when I walked."
Max laughs and smiles at me. "Before the night is over, I want to talk to you,"
"Is everything okay?" I ask, looking into his eyes.
He nods. "But anyway, if you're hungry, we have some snacks in the kitchen. We've also got loaded nachos, some refried beans, tacos, a lot of Mexican food, to be honest,"
I laugh and he grabs my arm and drags me into the kitchen where we get food.
It's ten o'clock now and Max's family is here now. Vanessa and Bailey are sitting in the corner chatting with Faith, one of their cousins, and I know they're talking about me because they keep looking up at me and pointing. Max keeps looking over at me, I guess checking if I'm okay.
"Beau, this is Hayden," Max says, dragging me over to a boy around our age. "Hayden, this is Beau,"
"I've heard a lot about you," Hayden says, smiling and shaking my hand.
I smile back at him, not knowing exactly what to say and feeling awkward.
Eleven o'clock is here before I even realize it, and I'm pretty sure Max's Great Uncle Bob is hammered (drunk, I mean). I don't even know where Bob found the liquor because Max's parents don't drink. I point this out to Max.
"I'm pretty sure he was drunk before he came, but he also smuggled in a six-pack of beer and has already drunk them all, so,"
"Oh, Bob," I say, laughing.
There are people all over the place, some of Max's younger cousins are trying to stay awake and are hyper, and others have crashed on their parents or on the couch. I walk away from Max and go into the kitchen, getting a taco when one of Max's cousins, Lilah approaches me. Luckily, Max walks in behind her.
"So," Lilah starts, as Max stands behind me. "You have any plans for midnight?"
"Yes, he does," Max says. I turn around and look at him; I was unaware I had plans but cool.
The ball is about to drop, and I'm standing near a corner, trying to figure out if Lilah wanted to kiss me at midnight, or if she was asking for Vanessa...but I don't have much time to ponder over this as the countdown starts...
Ten.
Nine.
Eight.
Seven.
Six.
Five.
Four.
Three.
Two.
One.
When the word 'one' is barely out of my mouth, there are lips pressed against mine and cheering and clapping in the room. When we break apart, I find myself nose to nose with Max, and lean in to kiss him again.
12/31/19
I cannot believe it's 2020. Like WHOA! Happy New Year everyone and I hope that it's amazing! Also, I know this was very short, but I wanted to get it done before midnight.
