Midnight

“Okay, so do you want like a drink or just a plain drink? Because I think you need at least something to throw in my face if I say something stupid. That, or just to celebrate. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you commit an act of violence before. Jesus, Leslie. You should have seen poor Marissa’s face.” Benjamin held a red Solo cup in one hand, and the other was thrown over my shoulders, laughing in between words. The cold night air wasn’t so bad now that I had a warm jacket on; the two of us stood on the balcony overlooking the road, watching as Adam’s car pulled out in the impossible traffic, Marissa sitting in the passenger seat.

“I’ll have a drink, thanks.” I responded jovially. Ben handed me his cup and wandered back inside. The noise from inside spilled out through the door; screaming and laughing and music all blended into a cacophonous blend of noise and entertainment. Inside, the large flat screen was tuned to MTV, the glittering ball so close to the platform. The timer on the screen still had a few minutes on the clock.

My phone buzzed in my pocket. I withdrew it from my jacket and glanced at the screen before opening the message.

FROM: Hanners
Where are you? I saw Adam with a bloody nose a couple seconds ago...

I sent sent a reply and in a matter of seconds, Hannah and a couple of our other friends were climbing out onto the balcony with me.

“You have some explaining to do, missy. Why does Adam have a broken nose? And since when do you drink?” Hannah hissed, getting a whiff of the cup’s contents.

“Sorry, it’s Ben’s. He was just out here with me.” I moved the cup to the other hand, away from my friends.

“And since when do you and Ben hang out so much?” She pried, shooting me a suspicious look. I smiled in return.

“I don’t know, but it’s been nice, you know? I haven’t seen you guys since we got here.”

“Yeah. So what happened to Adam?”

“Do you have some tissues or something handy? Just in case I start getting really emotional or something.”

“Jesus Christ. What did he do? And do you know where he was headed? What the fuck happened?” Hannah crossed her arms, rubbing her hands down her exposed biceps. Kali and Ash were both wearing coats.

“Quick, Les, if you don’t tell her she’s going to go on a rampage.” Ashley quipped, earning her a hard slap from Hannah.

“Earlier, I saw him making out with Marissa--”

“Whore! Trollop! Where’s a baseball bat when I need it? Do you know where she went?” Hannah screeched. I laughed a little in response and continued with my story.

“She went with him to the hospital. Anyway, I saw them kissing earlier, and I just got really angry and came out here, and then Ben came out and we talked for a while. And then when I made up my mind to break up with him, I found him impregnating her, unknowingly or not. And so I might have gotten a little angry and punched him.”

“Sweetheart, he doesn’t deserve you if he wanted that skank. You did the right thing. So, why was Ben out here?” Hannah inquired.

“He was making me feel better.”

“Why’d he leave?”

“Why do you ask so many questions? Because he was getting me a drink, if you must know.” I retorted. We all turned as Benjamin shut the sliding door behind him and handed me a cup full of soda.

“Here’s your gross beer back. And I found Hannah, by the way.” I told him. Inside, a cheer went up as the final minute counted down. Out in the street, things got rowdier as well.

“Okay, we’re going to go back inside because I’m going to freeze to death out here. You two have fun being penguins.” Hannah hugged me before leading her little group back inside. A warm blast of air escaped the room as they all fit themselves through the door. Some of the guys inside noticed their arrival and whistled as they passed. Hannah waved a flirtatious hand in their direction before making herself melt into the crowd. The timer on the screen flashed with each second.

“I guess you went out with a bang, peach.” Ben said, leaning against the railing and putting his arm around my shoulders again.

“I guess so. I wish he didn’t have to be such a tool. Really, things could have worked out just fine--”

“If he wasn’t the person he was? Yeah, okay.”

“Hey, it’s true.” I said, my voice being drowned out by the loud counting. “So do you have any New Year’s resolutions, Ben?”

“Yeah. I want to get a new car, since my old one’s a piece of shit, and get my grades up, I guess. Among other things. How about you? I mean, you have to have at least one after what happened tonight.”

“Well,” The two of us watched as the timer counted down the last thirty seconds, “I want to get awesome grades, forget about Adam, and have a really awesome New Year’s kiss. You know what I’m saying?” I raised my voice to be heard over the din rampaging through the streets.

“I do, actually! Oh, look, ten seconds!” A wide smile spread across his face as everyone around us counted down at the top of their lungs.

“TEN...NINE...EIGHT...SEVEN...SIX...FIVE...FOUR...THREE...TWO...ONE...” We screamed in unison with the rest of the east coast. Chaos reigned, everyone inside and outside making as much noise as possible. Overhead, fireworks lit up the sky and released clamorous booms that shook the city. I looked up to marvel at the sky for a moment before meeting Ben’s grey eyes and without a word, leaned into his kiss.