2015 (Short Story)

3

I hardly even remember what happened, fully. 

Jake and I kept kissing. People in the room were whistling and chanting, and I even heard some guy yell "Get a room," but we couldn't stop. Even as my cheeks felt like they were on fire and he wrapped an arm around me, but suddenly I couldn't breathe. 

Pulling away sharply, I gasped for air.  Jake's emerald eyes were widened slightly, his lips parted, an eyebrow quirked, as if surprised that I tore myself away from him. But his cockiness quickly returned, seeing me trying to breathe, that he cracked a smirk.

"I guess I took your breath away," he said, "was it too much, sweetheart?"

Some people laughed, but I realized that it was really getting hard for me to breathe. With the cold night air, the smoky fire, and my recent air-loss, something was really getting to me. 

"Shut up, asshole," I managed to sneer in between coughs. "It's not even your crap kiss that's causing me... (cough)... to freaking suffocate!"

Everything was silent, only the crackling of the fire was to be heard over the screaming wind outside. 

"Nell, come 'ere," Heather said.

She took my hand and began to pull me up, but I stayed sitting on the floor in my sleeping bag. "No," I pushed her away, "I'm fine. Just a little breathless at how much of a jerk this guy turned out to be."

Jake genuinely seemed offended. 

"O-kay!" Lacey said, laughing nervously, "We still have, like, 20 minutes until the New Year. How about I get some beer from the kitchen and we can just enjoy each other's company and try to keep warm!"

Shivering, she got up and hobbled into the kitchen, clutching a blanket around her. Heather and I got up and followed, and, as we entered the kitchen, we heard the people in the living room murmuring. We found Lacey sitting at the counter, head in her hands.

"Lace, are you okay?" I asked softly, sitting next to her.

"What do you fucking think, Noelle?" she cried. "This party is a disaster because of the stupid snowstorm. We're all freezing our asses off instead of what we're supposed to do at parties, and random drama is just popping up, and Jake is an asshole, and everything sucks!" She looked up at me. Her mascara was running slightly, and her blonde curls seemed limp. 

"Hey," Heather comforted, sitting on her other side, "it's all okay. The storm is not your fault. Most of us are having fun. It's also not your fault that boys will be cocky boys."

"Yeah, but what about Dana? What about our families, Heather? Who knows what they're doing now, if they're even alive!" Lacey continued to sob. "I'm breaking down, guys," she said quietly into her elbow.

Neither of us knew what to say to that. I supposed that we were failing as friends. 

Instead, Heather and I helped Lacey out by bringing all of the cases of beer into the living room, and then we helped her clean up. Once she was feeling a bit better, we all shuffled back into the room, dozens of eyes on us, and sat down together on a chair by the fire. 

"Ten more minutes," Jake said solemnly, taking a swig out of his beer can. 

I grabbed one myself, sipping the bitter liquid, trying to stop thinking about what would happen to us all. 

~

We remained silent for ten minutes, just staring at the clock on Lacey's wall. Ever so slowly, ten minutes turned to eight, and the seconds ticked closer to a new year. Outside of the window, the snow still fell faster than bullets, and continued to pile up outside. The snow was up to the middle of the door on the house across the street. I wondered if, in there, too, was a group of people whom were just waiting out the storm.