Three.
"Dear Mum,
I'm here. Safe and sound, I guess. I've found a place to stay, a roommate who seems to know his way around. I'm kind of missing home, it's so cold here and the city's so big and I don't know anyone. I'm tired and jetlagged and everything hurts.
I miss you so much, I wish I could come home.
You know what the saddest thing about this is? You don't know how to use e-mail, so by the time the mail gets this to you, I may not even be here anymore and I'll never get your reply. Please learn how to use e-mail, please. =(
I love you, Mum.
Jesska."
"You ready yet?" JC yelled from the living room - aka, the dungeon.
Or, more realistically: the dungeon of the dungeon. What was the dungeon of the dungeon? Oh gosh this was ridiculous. I swiped one last bit of mascara on my eyelashes, and ran the hairdryer through my hair one more time. Not that it'd matter, because I was bound to get snowed on until it all stuck in my face again. But hey, I was starting to feel better. I walked the short distance from the bathroom to my room in a towel, scoring a wolf whistle from JC who'd meanwhile moved into his room, but left the door open as he got changed. I gave him the finger and mentally ran my head against the wall. What did I get myself into?
I changed into a dress that was unlikely to keep me warm outside, but I was hoping it was an indoor party we were off too, with enough people and a decent enough heating system to make sure I wouldn't be cold once we were there.
JC scoffed as we stepped out of the apartment and, for the second time that day, took his coat off and put it over my shoulders. Can't say I wasn't grateful. We walked a few blocks and the neighbourhood changed dramatically. We hadn't exactly reached the Malibu of Ohio, but while the houses and apartment blocks didn't get much bigger, they got newer and neater. Less worn down. The place got cleaner and the weird stench that hung around JC's place wasn't there. Well, our place now, I guess.
We stopped at a townhouse, one of those blocks of them. You know, where there's like, three of them and they're all attached to each other and they're all different colours? We walked up to the door of the one that, under its coat of snow, looked to be a baby blue one of the three. Next to it, a yellow and a red one. JC didn't bother knocking; he just opened the door and walked right in. And once that door was open, I realised why - no one would've heard him anyways. The music was loud, the people were louder, and as the warm air hit us I picked up on the smell of both food and booze. JC took the jacket off my shoulders and put it on the hanger by the door, then shut the door behind us.
As I guessed, the house was small, but neat - well, as neat as it could be a few hours into a New Year's Eve party. Close by the kitchen, there were two tables - one covered in champagne glasses, and being continuously refilled by what seemed to be a waiter standing by the two tables, and another with food - also being continuously re-stocked by the waiter on standby.
"So uhm, question. The people hosting this have enough money to pay for all this, yet live here? You know, as opposed to a really big apartment or a penthouse or something."
"What?" JC yelled over the music.
I yelled back, repeating exactly what I'd just said.
"Everyone that's here pitched in."
Suddenly I felt bad.
"How much?"
"Don't worry about it- you're my plus-one." He smiled.
"You sure?"
"Yeah."
"Thanks." I smiled back.
"I'll be right back." He disappeared.
I grabbed a glass of champagne, and sat on the edge of the armchair by the window and stared out at the falling snow. It glittered beneath the stars and the moon, and the lights coming at it from all sides of town. I wouldn't deny this was pretty. But as I got lost in the view, sipping my champagne, it began to turn to red dust. And dog house in the garden turned into a rusty old tin shed, and the breeze blew a cloud of dust, not snow. I saw the tractor in the distance, and the old ute standing under the shade of the big eucalypt tree.
Home.
When everything began to blur as the water built up in my eyes, I mentally slapped myself. I blinked a few times and downed the rest of my glass of champagne. This was New Year's Eve, I told myself. And I was in freaking America. I was going to make this one a memorable one - for better reasons than it was right now.
The whole remembering thing didn't end up going so well for me...
He came up to me soon after my fourth or fifth glass - who knows. Close behind him, a rather tipsy JC nudging him towards me.
"Hey, I'm Kirk."
"Jess."
I had a tendency to be short with people when I was unsure of their intentions. And I was very, very unsure of Kirk's. I looked questioningly at JC.
"He's a good friend. I lived with him for a while when I first came here." He explained.
"So JC tells me you're from the land down under?"
Home. The word echoed in my head. I felt a stab in my chest. I cleared my throat and took another gulp of champagne.
"Yeah. Couple hundred kilometres west of Brisbane."
"Oh nice. I've been to Brissy once or twice. It's pretty cool."
"Yeah, it is..." I mumbled longingly.
He noticed the empty glass in my hand.
"Care for another drink?"
"Yeah, sure. Why not?"
He grabbed my hand and pulled me with him towards the drinks table. JC had disappeared again.
Midnight was fast approaching, and as the champagne flowed so did conversation between Kirk and me. I got more comfortable with him. He was nice, didn't ask too many questions. No 'why are you here' or 'do you miss home' or anything. We laughed a lot. It was nice. I was starting to forget about the last forty-eight hours.
Too many drinks later, a drunken countdown began around the room. At five seconds to go, he began looking into my eyes. At three, his words became a whisper. At one, his lips were awfully close to mine. As the room yelled 'Happy New Year!' he kissed me.
