Without You There is No Me

“Jared, I don’t want to go to your party,” Genevieve said as she fixed her hair in the mirror.

“Come on Genevieve, what else do you have to do tonight?” Jared asked from where he was sitting on Genevieve’s bed.

“I have a date tonight.”

“With that pretty boy you went on a date with a couple nights ago?”

“Oh yeah, that’s not creepy at all. You’re acting like Shia LeBeouf in Disturbia.”

Jared Monaco and Genevieve Lewis were next door neighbors. Genevieve had moved from Oregon to Phoenix over the summer. She had moved into the house next door to Jared’s and the two quickly became friends.

“Seriously, my party will be ten times more fun than your date. Plus you’ll get to meet my band mates.”

Genevieve rolled her eyes. “What is your obsession with me meeting the guys in your band?”

"Well they’re some of my best friends, first of all. Also I think you’d really like them. Face it Genevieve, your only friends in Phoenix are me and some people from your work.”

“I just moved here, Jare. Sorry that I don’t have tons of friends here yet.”

“You moved out here seven months ago. That’s enough time to have made more friends. You’re too worried about your job though to meet new people.”

Genevieve sighed, “Fine, let’s say that I do want to go tonight, I can’t just cancel my date.”

“Of course you can,” Jared smirked as he grabbed Genevieve’s phone.

“Jared, what are you doing?!”

“There, your date for tonight is cancelled which means I expect you over at my house in exactly one hour. I’m glad you’re coming,” Jared smiled as he stood up and walked out of her bedroom.

Genevieve wanted to be mad at Jared for cancelling her date but he was right; the guy was a pretty boy and Genevieve wasn’t that interested in him. She had just agreed to go on a date with him so she wouldn’t be alone on New Year’s Eve.

Genevieve finished doing her hair and make-up before going over to her closet to pick out a different outfit. She was wearing a “date” outfit but knew she needed to wear something else for the party.

She finished getting ready and began walking over to Jared’s. She walked in the door and was met with tons of strangers. She made her way into the house and walked around until she found Jared.

“Genevieve, I was beginning to worry that you were going to bail on me,” Jared yelled when he saw her.

“Jared, chill bro. I was ten minutes late. It takes some time to look this good. You wouldn’t know about that though,” Genevieve joked.

Jared rolled his eyes as the guys standing around him laughed. “Everyone, this is Genevieve my neighbor. Genevieve this is Pat, Garrett, and Kennedy.”

“Nice to meet you all. Are you the guys in Jared’s band?”

“Yeah, we are. We have another band member named John. He’s around here somewhere,” The boy introduced as Kennedy said.

“He’ll be the tall one with a beer in his hand. You can’t miss him,” Garrett said.

“Or the one dancing awkwardly. He only does that when he’s drunk though,” Pat laughed.

Jared cut in. “I think you’d really like John so you’ll definitely have to meet him. Once I find him I’ll introduce him to you. Until then though grab a drink, mingle and meet some people.”

Genevieve nodded and did as she was told. She grabbed a cup and mixed herself a drink. She walked around and talked to a few people but it was awkward. Everyone knew each other and she felt like the outcast. She ended up taking her drink and going outside to cool off for a little while.

“I feel as if I’m in Times Square with how shiny your dress is,” a voice said causing Genevieve to jump. She turned around and saw a tall, lanky boy with brown hair smoking a cigarette.

“I like this dress, thank you very much,” Genevieve said, slightly offended.

“No, no, I like it too. It’s very festive. I’m John by the way,” the boy said as he introduced himself.

“Oh, so you’re the infamous John. Jared insisted that I meet you. I’m Genevieve.”

“You’re Jared’s neighbor, right?” John asked and then continued after Genevieve nodded. “So Genevieve, do you have a nickname? I mean Genevieve is a bit of a mouthful.”

“No one’s ever given me a nickname. I’ve just always gone by Genevieve.”

“Well I’m going to give you one…what about Jenny?”

“Sounds good to me,” Genevieve smiled.

“So Jenny, what brings you to Arizona?”

“I got a job down here so I packed everything up in Oregon and moved.”

“Did your boyfriend move with you or are you doing a long distance relationship?”

Genevieve smirked. “Was that your way of asking me if I’m single or not?”

“I have no clue what you’re talking about,” John smirked back.

“Well for your information, I am single. Jared says I spend too much time with my job. He’s always telling me I need to find a nice guy in my life.”

“He tells me the same thing. Well he actually tells me I need to find a nice girl, not a guy. I understand where you’re coming from though. I love making music and any girl I date will have to understand that’s my job; I’m fully committed to it.”

“Don’t let Jared hear you say that,” Genevieve joked. “I was making my resolution list today and number one was to get a promotion at work. Jared flipped when he saw that. He said number one should be to find a guy since I spend too much time already on my job.”

John laughed. “That sounds like Jared. So, you make a resolution list?”

“Of course. You don’t?”

“I never have.”

“Well you should start.”

John and Genevieve spent the rest of the night outside talking. John was entranced by this girl. She was naturally beautiful yet didn’t rely on her looks. John could tell that she was extremely driven and passionate about her job.

Genevieve liked John also. He was funny, smart and adorable. She also liked how his eyes lit up whenever he talked about music or his family and friends. She could tell that he was a caring guy and very loyal.

John and Genevieve didn’t realize how much time had passed until they heard someone from inside yell, “one minute to midnight!”

“I guess we better go inside for the countdown,” John said.

Genevieve shook her head. “We can celebrate it out here, can’t we?”

“Well we could but I wouldn’t want to keep you from getting your New Year’s Eve kiss. There’s a superstition that says you’ll be lonely for the rest of the year if you don’t get a kiss at midnight on New Year’s Eve.”

“I don’t want to be lonely for the rest of the year. I don’t want to hear Jared nagging me about being lonely either,” Genevieve laughed.

“Well I guess I could give you your New Year’s Eve kiss. I wouldn’t want you to be lonely for the year either.”

“Right, you’d just be helping me out. In fact, you’d be doing the gentlemanly thing.”

John and Genevieve smiled at each other as they heard the people inside begin to count down from ten. As soon as they hit one John and Genevieve leaned in to share their New Year’s Eve kiss.